Posted by The Black Knight on July 07, 2000 at 08:17:51:
Chapter 6
Late the next morning Luke stood beside a hospital bed. Charli lay on the bed sleeping.
"I never could stand these places." Angela said as she came in the door of Charli's room.
"Then why are you here?" Luke asked.
"Matty told me I would find you here. You were right an Assistant District Attorney stopped by my apartment this morning. He said they had found Greg Peterson's body in the river and concluded
that he had driven off the road while asleep. Being an orphan, they remanded Anna over as a ward of the state." Angela said.
"How many abusive parents have died since you have worked at the Social Services Department?"
"Six, why?" Angela asked.
"Isn't that a bit excessive in three years?"
"I've only worked there a year." Angela answered.
"Angie, we really can't afford to have the police or that annoying reporter investigating your past. Other wise they might accidentally find out that Angela Sexton doesn't exist." Luke said.
Angela nodded and walked over to Charli's bed.
"How did you manage to get her admitted here without any questions?" Angela asked.
"The hospital is strapped for money, a sizable donation from the Drake Foundation opened the door without any paper work."
"I had forgotten that famous family fortune of yours." Angela said.
"Most of it looted from the families of Europe. I would prefer that it go to benefit someone than be used to finance one of my father's schemes."
Angela smiled as she pointed at the pendant on Charli's neck.
"I gave it to her last night. At least my father won't bother her as long as she wears it." Luke said.
"He struck me as a charming man."
"He is, but he takes advantage of that." Luke said.
"Why do you dislike him so much. I could tell that you loathe him the minute you arrived."
"You don't know him the way I do. He enjoys causing as much havoc as he can. If he could get away with it he would take over more than his own little corner of Romania." Luke said.
"Why, with his power he could benefit humanity in so many ways." Angela said.
"He's always considered mortals below him. Puppets to be manipulated at will. He's followed Van Helsing and his descendants for the last hundred years because he says their the only mortals who have
ever been a challenge." Luke said.
"He's bored?"
"Basically. That is the major drawback to immortality, how do you fill your time." Luke said.
"I'm thinking about moving on. I can't stand working at Child Welfare. It tears me to pieces to watch those kids getting beat up and no one does anything about it." Angela said.
"You do something about it. It may not exactly be legal, but you do what you can."
"What about you? Are you going to be satisfied with being just a poor lowly college professor?" Angela asked.
"I can handle it. It's not exactly a stressful job and I could use a good twenty year rest."
"Then there is the added incentive of Miss Charlotte Watson. Who knows you might even change your mind and convert her too." Angela said.
Luke looked up at her and let out a low hiss. Angela's blue eyes widened as she stepped back.
"Easy there, I was just making a suggestion." Angela said.
"Bad suggestion." Luke fairly growled with his fangs showing plainly.
"Apparently I struck a nerve that I shouldn't have, so I'll just leave you two alone." Angela said.
Luke lay his hand on Angela's cheek.
"That didn't exactly come out the way I meant it." Luke said.
"Oh I believe you made your point exactly the way you feel it."
Angela pulled back and stepped toward the door.
"Angie." Luke said.
"I know the way you feel Luke. Even when we first met I knew that I could never touch the part of your heart that girl right there has. Enjoy it while you can Lucas, before that love tears you apart.
Before it becomes a rift between who you are and what you are." Angela said.
"Sounds like one who would know."
"I do, old friend, I do." Angela said as she walked out the door.
Luke shook his head and walked over to a chair beside Charli's bed. Charli slowly turned over and opened her eyes.
"Where am I?" Charli asked.
"A hospital."
"What about the guy who attacked me?" Charli asked.
"I'm sure that he agreed that it wasn't exactly his best career move for the last few seconds of his life. He's down in the morgue now. The police just can't figure out how he got all the way across
the city still clutching the bloody knife and with a broken neck."
"You killed him?" Charli asked.
"I kind of lost my temper. I never have appreciated people hurting my friends, much less anyone I really do care for." Luke answered.
Charli winced a little as she sat up.
"Death is so much a part of what you are. Are you so calloused to it that you don't even think about taking another life?" Charli asked.
"No, I think about it every time I have to. I would much rather have him in the morgue than you."
A doctor came in and walked to the end of the bed. He pulled a chart off the bed and looked at it.
"According to this Miss Watson, you will be able to go home probably tomorrow morning. Your father and mother are waiting outside if you want to see them." the doctor said.
Charli nodded and the doctor walked to the door. A man and a woman in their early fifties came into the room and the doctor walked out.
"Professor Drake this is my father and mother, John and Mary Watson. Mom, Dad this is my history professor and my boss, Lucas Drake." Charli said.
"What happened?" John Watson asked.
"Apparently she was attacked on her way to her car. I got there in time to chase the man away before he could do any serious damage."
Luke said.
"No serious damage? Why is my little girl in a hospital?" Mary Watson asked.
"Ah Mom, I'm not your little girl anymore." Charli said.
"She has a mild concussion, but I asked the doctors to keep her here for twenty-four hours just in case." Luke said.
"It's a good thing that you were around then, Mister Drake." John said.
"Just Luke, sir. I've always been lucky that way. I show up just at the right moment." Luke said.
"What about your bills Charlotte? I'm sure you scholarship won't pay for that." John said.
"I recently hired your daughter as my secretary. I took the liberty of paying her hospital bills myself, at least until her insurance kicks in." Luke said.
"Can you do that?" Mary asked.
"I can afford it, yes. I recently made a donation to the hospital so I have a feeling that she'll be in and out with the best of care." Luke said.
Charli smiled a little as Luke got up and walked toward the door.
"I won't interrupt you folks any longer. Remember Charli, you have a paper due on my desk by no later than Monday morning." Luke said.
"I thought that was tonight." Charli said.
"You can't write it in here." Luke said as he walked out the door.
"He seems like a nice man." Mary said.
"Yes, he does seem that way." Charli said with a smile.
John shook his head as his daughter lay back in her bed.
That night as the red sun sank behind the Tennessee hills Angela Sexton and Candice Dalton walked toward the doors of Walton State.
"I don't understand why the Child Welfare Department is still investigating Shannon Peterson's death. Even the police have dropped it and called it an unsolved murder." Candice said.
"I take it personally when a friend of mine is killed. Especially when it is so brutal."
"What about what happened to that girl last night here? That was really weird, don't you think?" Candice asked.
"Weird things have a habit of happening around Lucas Drake."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Candice asked.
"I have a bad habit of speaking before I think. Now, what can you tell me about Shannon Peterson?"
"She seemed normal that last night. It was her first night in my class and my first class, so I can't really tell you a whole lot." Candice said.
"What do you mean by your first class?"
"I just earned my doctorate last winter. I wouldn't have gotten this job if it weren't for my father pulling a few strings." Candice said.
"That's what we want to talk to you about, Miss Dalton. Your father's money." a man in a black ski mask said.
He stood by a blue van holding a small hand gun in his right hand. The side door slid back and two more men in masks holding guns sat inside. The driver also wore a ski mask. Candice stepped back and looked around frantically.
"Candice." Angela said softly, trying to calm the young teacher.
The first man grabbed Candice's right arm and pulled her toward the van. Angela stepped between them. He pushed the barrel of his gun into Angela's stomach.
"Listen, blondie, you stay out of our way and you won't get a bullet in the belly." he said as he shoved Candice into the van.
"Help me, please!" Candice fairly whined.
Angela grabbed the man in the ski mask by his right wrist and the throat. She pulled the gun away from her body and shoved him back into the van. The two men in the van fired their guns. Angela jerked
back as one bullet hit her left thigh and the other hit her chest.
"Angela!" Candice screamed as Angela crumpled.
The first man pulled himself to his feet.
"You can't just leave her like that. You've got to help her!" Candice said.
"Help her do what? She's dead." the man said as he climbed into the van.
He shut the door and the van roared off into the night. Angela rolled over on her side and smiled.
"You're going to pay for that one." Angela said as she looked for the van.
She jumped up into the blackness of the night sky. She flew up over the blue van as it came onto a busy downtown street. She dropped down onto the roof silently and dug her fingers into the metal frame to
keep from falling off. Moments later the van came to a stop in front of a warehouse. Angela stood up and jumped off the van onto the roof of the warehouse. The masked men got out and carried Candice, who was
now bound and gagged into the office of the warehouse. They threw her onto a bed in the corner and pulled a wallet out of her jacket. Angela smiled as she looked into the window.
"Amateurs." Angela said to herself as she pulled a cellular phone out of her jacket pocket.
She quickly dialed a number and held it to her ear.
"I may be a little late tonight, honey. I've got a minor kidnapping case. You remember Candice Dalton, the blonde you work with. She's at the old Kinset Warehouse. It's been closed for a couple of
months and these jokers just happen to have the key." Angela said.
She paused and smiled a little.
"No, I think I can handle these guys. Besides they made it personal. They shot me. I had forgotten how much lead hurts when it hits." Angela said.
She put her phone back in her pocket and jumped off the roof. She smiled as she flew in the window.
"I'm not that easy to kill." Angela said with her fangs clearly visible.
One of the men stepped toward her. Angela put her hand on his throat and lifted him off the floor.
"Dumb idea." Angela said nonchalantly.
She threw him back across the room and into one of the other men. Both men fell down limply. Another one of the men picked up a board and swung it toward Angela's head. Angela ducked and kicked him in the chest. He flew back and fell on a table, breaking the wooden
furniture apart. The fourth man drew a revolver and fired it point blank into Angela's chest. Angela grimaced as she slapped him. His head snapped back and she heard his neck pop as vertebrae were
shattered. Angela winced as the man fell spitting up blood. The other two men slowly struggled to their feet as Angela stepped over to Candice. Angela broke the ropes that held Candice and took the gag
out of her mouth.
"What are you?" Candice asked.
"That's not important. Right now you just need to get out of here." Angela said.
The man in the ski mask picked up a shotgun from the corner. Angela turned around just in time for him to push the barrel into her stomach. Angela bent with a look of utter shock on her face as he shot. Angela stumbled back with a huge hole clean through her
abdomen. She fell to her knees as the wound was already beginning to heal itself. The man in the ski mask slapped Candice back onto the bed. Angela let out a loud hiss as she forced herself to stand, even
though her stomach was still an open gaping wound.
"Vampires?" the man in the ski mask gasped as he backed away.
Angela smiled as her wound healed.
"Now it's time we end this little dance." Angela said confidently.
Angela was too occupied to notice the second man as he picked up a piece of the shattered table.
"No!" Candice screamed as the other man stepped behind Angela.
Angela closed her eyes tightly as a sharp wooden point came out of her chest.
"Candice." Angela gasped.
The second man spun as the other window shattered inward. Luke stood in the middle of the broken glass.
"Does no one use a door anymore?" the man in the ski mask asked.
"That won't really matter to you in a few moments." Luke growled.
Luke picked the other man up by the collar of his shirt and threw him through the wall.
"I take it you're not happy?" the man in the ski mask asked as he pulled out a gun.
Luke grabbed his wrist and pushed the gun barrel away from him.
"Good guess." Luke said.
The gun fired and Candice let out a scream. Luke looked over at her and looked down at the gun. Candice fell back with a shocked look on her face and a bullet hole in her right shoulder. Luke picked up the man by his belt and by his shirt collar. The masked man screamed as he was tossed out the five story window. Candice lay her hand on her shoulder and slumped back on the bed. Luke knelt beside Angela. Angela smiled and blood ran from the corner of her mouth.
"Looks like I got myself in over my head." Angela grunted.
"Yeah, you really did it this time, bright eyes."
"At least I'll get a little peace." Angela gasped.
Luke wiped tears away from the corner of her eyes.
"I told you before a face that beautiful shouldn't be streaked with tears."
"Actually it was a little more romantic than that. It really doesn't matter now, though does it?" Angela gasped.
She closed her eyes tightly, twisted her body a little, and let out a low grunt. Her eyes opened as she settled back to the floor, but her crystal blue eyes were devoid of life.
"I'm sorry about your friend, but I'm kind of dying here." Candice gasped weakly.
Luke closed Angela's eyes and got up. Candice kind of smiled when he stepped over her.
"Is it true, are you a...?" Candice began.
"Vampire? That's only half true. If you're lucky enough to live through this I might explain it to you."
He lay his hand over the wound in Candice's shoulder.
"At least it isn't life threatening." Luke said.
"Tell that to the nerves there." she quipped.
"Sense of humor even now, I'm impressed."
Moments later Candice stood looking down at her shoulder.
"I can't believe you can do that!" Candice said.
"Do you see it?"
"Yes." Candice answered.
"Then believe it." Luke said.
He lay his hands on the young woman's cheeks and turned her to face him.
"Look at me." Luke said.
Candice smiled a little as she looked up at him.
"Both you and Angie were kidnapped tonight. These men had a falling out. Angie was killed during the struggle." Luke said slowly.
Candice stumbled back like she was in a daze.
"Professor Drake how did you get here?" Candice asked.
"I just got here and found you like this. What happened?"
"We were kidnapped, but these guys fell apart. They killed Miss Sexton during the fight." Candice said.
"The police are on their way. We'll wait for them to take your statement, then I'll take you home."