Chapter 17 #3
“I came to know Marlowe and some of the regulars pretty well. Like I said, she has strict rules and enforces them. We all saw it just last night.” She waved toward him and Demmy, and everyone looked at them.
“You went there?” Dave said. “To a vampire bar?”
“Why didn’t you take us along?” Ollie asked.
“It was kind of an impromptu trip,” Demmy said. “We hadn’t planned it.”
“Tell us about these rules,” Clarabell said. “Are all the regulars at this bar vegetarians?”
Zenona glanced between Cody and Demmy before meeting Clarabell’s eyes. “Some are. But…” She took a deep breath and let it out. “But it’s also a place where people who want to provide for the regulars are able to do so, with a lot of guidelines.”
“Wait, provide what?” Agatha said, then her eyes widened. “Blood?”
“What?” Ollie and Dave said together.
“I…” Zenona trailed off, a muscle in her jaw clenching and releasing.
Demmy released Cody’s hand and took a step forward. “Marlowe has it set up well. We saw it. And she protected us when there was a…an incident.”
“What kind of incident?” Tracey said. “And how does she have it set up?”
Demmy looked at Zenona before continuing.
“Humans who want to provide blood voluntarily go to the bar. They mingle with the vampire regulars…” He looked at Zenona again.
“Please correct me if I’m getting any of this wrong.
” She nodded, and he continued. “The humans are allowed to visit once per week. The donations, I guess you’d call them, happen twice a week.
There’s to be no contact between the vampires and the humans outside of the bar. ”
“Does that actually work?” Ollie asked, eyes wide behind the lenses of his glasses.
“I don’t know that,” Demmy replied.
“It has worked for a very long time,” Zenona said. “But a vampire not in the group has been recruiting others from Marlowe’s bar to his own cause. These vampires have been turning people and taking others.”
“Taking them?” Jugs asked, then he said simply, “Oh.”
“His name is Bastian,” Cody said. “And he’s an asshole.”
“There’s always one,” Dave said.
“There is,” Cody said. “He was a follower of Xavier, and he has plans to expand on that asshole’s vision. He’s building up his gang. He turned a woman named Annie and a real prince of a guy named Leo.”
“Annie?” Lucia said. “Annie Wilkerson?”
Cody nodded.
“We’ve been looking for her,” Lucia said.
“You don’t want to find her.”
“There’s a BOLO out on her brother, Andy.”
“BOLO?” Agatha said.
“Be on the lookout,” Clarabell and Ollie said together, sharing a quick smile.
“You won’t find him,” Cody said. “Leo saw to that. And apparently Marlowe’s been good at cleaning up after her group if things get out of hand.”
Lucia gave Zenona a long, hard stare. Zenona looked away.
“So, what do we do?” Dave said. “Other than now we know what to look for?”
“Do you guys think we should get that bar shut down?” Agatha looked from Cody to Demmy and then to Zenona and Lucia. “What’s the final goal in all of this?”
“I don’t think it should be shut down,” Zenona said. “And not because I knew Michael and have gotten to know Marlowe and the others. I think she offers vampires a safe place that allows them to avoid the general population and coexist with humans in a controlled space.”
“How are there still so many of them?” Ollie said, then looked at Lucia. “I know Xavier’s followers scattered, but hasn’t the sheriff’s department been tracking them down?”
Lucia drew down her brows and narrowed her eyes as she stared back at Ollie. “We handle all police matters across a majority of the county with fewer deputies than we’ve had in years, all because no one in their right mind wants to work here.”
“But it’s so pretty here,” Jugs said in a dry voice.
“We can’t be out tracking down every potential vampire lead,” Lucia continued. “We don’t have that kind of budget or manpower.”
“They’ve been here a long time,” Zenona said quietly. “Longer than anyone realizes.”
A loud whump rattled the windows. Cody felt the vibration of it in the floor. He looked at Demmy who appeared as surprised as he felt. His stomach shriveled around the chicken parmigiana.
“What was that?” Ollie raced to the large window at the top of the stairs.
Cody looked over everyone’s heads and saw an orange glow in the darkening sky.
With a sick feeling in his gut, he realized the sun had set while they’d been talking.
He crossed the room and opened the French doors, stepping onto the deck into the humid air.
The rest of the group joined him, and they all stared out at the flicker of flames just visible over the trees and other rooftops.
“That’s coming from downtown,” Tracey said.
Sirens wailed through the night sky. Cody’s hands were in fists at his sides.
Lucia’s phone buzzed and she answered it. “What’s happened?” She listened a few seconds then started moving, going back inside and heading for the stairs.
“What happened?” Demmy called after her.
Lucia’s voice was hard, her words clipped. “Fire at Hollow Grounds. Stay here.”
“Robin’s working tonight,” Clarabell said, wringing her hands as she watched the fire.
Demmy turned to him. “Amelia’s downtown.” He looked over at Ollie. “And your grandmother.”