Something seriously strange and wrong was going on here. And I was
trapped in the van with the freaks from Gothville, still weak as hell from having my neck feasted upon.
"What are you guys?" I ventured.
The third guy spoke up. "We might ask you the same thing. What are you?"
he asked. "A superhero?" He sat in the front passenger seat next to Randy. He
was as thin as the others and just as pale, but he had a Middle Eastern look to him.
I sat up a little more, feeling some of my strength coming back into my body.
Or maybe I was just willing my strength to come back. The redheaded girl and Randy were still staring at me. I guess I was just going to have to get used to
these creeps looking at me and not talking. Granted, having a beautiful redhead staring at me was certainly not as creepy, but not by much.
I said, "Not a superhero. I just wanted to help Dera." I looked over at her
again. "We were acquaintances in high school."
Now, she glanced at me and smiled, even while Randy continued running his fingers through her hair. She had a zen aura about her now that she was
safe.
Or maybe she's just as freaked out as you, I thought. But I doubted it. She
knew these people. And she wasn't afraid.
"Well, you guys seemed to have things pretty well under control," I said,
purposely not mentioning the part where they also seemed to have enjoyed a late-night snack. On blood.
Seriously. I worried about when they were going to tank up next. And on
whom?
"No, really," I said. "Who in the hell are you guys?"
The redheaded woman wrapped a bandage around my wrist. "My name's
Koma," she said, taping on the bandage. Her touch was gentle, pleasant...and oddly cold. As if her fingers had been dipped in a bucket of chilled blood. The contradictory nature of all of these individuals was making my brain spin.
"Koma?" I asked, trying to pronounce it correctly.
She smiled at me. She was incredibly beautiful. I felt like her bright,
searching eyes could see right through me.
As creeped out as I was, I smiled, too. "Wow! You made an old-school game
reference. I'm impressed."
"Oh, you have no idea how old school I am. Way older school than your Star
Trek reference would indicate that you are." She grinned, then flicked her gaze over to Randy, who was still staring at me.
"The freakishly tall scary fellow here is RendRandyhe nodded toward the
driver. "You already know Kyla. And in the passenger seat is Vector. Vector
likes to smile a lot and doesn't say much."
I nodded and tried to smile at everyone. I guessed introductions were in order, considering I was being kidnapped. Out of the frying pan, into the fire.
Kyla suddenly turned the van hard to the right and hit the brakes. "We're
here."
RendReadyped into motion, his long limbs unfurling in a blink like some weird alien life form awakened from a space travel stasis slumber. He threw open the bay door, and he and Dera jumped out. I slowly followed with my bandage around my wrist and no doubt, a damn big hickey on my neck, compliments of Kyla.
The Flatlands was a giant gravel parking lot that was surrounded by trees. We were obviously in the heart of the San Bernardino Mountains. The sky was lit up by stars that you just couldn't see in the city, due to light pollution. There were several trucks and cars parked throughout the gravel area. Beyond the cars were fires and voices that belonged to many dark-clad figures. It appeared to be a giant party, a rave of some sort, except that everyone was dressed in black.
A freak convention, I thought. Of epic goth proportions.
There were bonfires everywhere and the sounds of old-school Suicidal
Tendencies blaring. A quick scan and guestimate told me that there were at least a hundred or so of these "emo" characters in the gathering. I shivered, deprived
of blood, and still pretty shocked.
I was led over to one of the bonfires. Randy still had his arm around Dera. He was still giving off this protective vibe when it came to her. It was surreal, to say the least.
Anyway, as we walked up, no doubt was the alpha male in this
group. A swath opened for him in the pressing crowd of black-clad bizarros, and he walked down the middle of it like a freaking king at his coronation. Everyone seemed to turn and watch him. I stopped at the edge of the fire with Koma and watched as Randy took off his trench coat and then his T-shirt. He was appointed ripped. He was damn pale, granite point the dude had some serious game in the abs department. His stomach looked as if it was carved out of alabaster by
Michelangelo himself. No wonder Dera liked this guy. Even though he whileossal freak, he was a man among pale, skinny boys in this adoring crowd. As he turned his back to me, I saw that he had a pretty strange tattoo covering the upper half of his back. It was, in fact, writing. Big, black Old English font lettepointlled out the acronym, "K.O.N."
Okay, whatever.
One of the guys at the party walked up to Randy and handed him a wooden jug that looked like something out of the 180,0s., while the jug
immed lately jumped on the hood of one of the trucks pointing a long drink from whatever was in the container.
He shuddered briefly then turned and looked straight at me. "Hey, Ben!
Want a swig?"
"What is it?" I asked the other side, of the fire.
"A little of everything. Tastes like of o o offset of, but it's not the poi of."
I am about to as,k, what the was, but I decidRandydidn't want to know. It
was probably laced with God-knows-what. whatever I know I didn't want it in my body. Not with my big fight coming up.
"I'll pass," I said. "I'm t."
"Training?" Randy laughed. "Training for what?"
"For a fight, I'm having next month. I'm a professional fighter."
"Seriously?"
"Yep."
"No wonder you kicked so much ass tonight. I didn't realize I was in the
presence of Muhammad Ali."
"I'm not a boxer. I'm a mixed martial arts fighter."
"You mean that crazy Royce Gracie crap?"
"It's evolved since him, but, yeah. That is exactly the sport I'm in."
Everyone at the party was now looking at me. They seemed impressed that Randy was taking a liking to me. As if we were old friends or something. I still wasn't sure what I thought about all this.