Chapter 2 of Almost super natural
This story takes place in a world that was inspired by Super Natural,
but it does not take place in that world.
The dates and times are mostly for me, to help me keep the story's time
line straight.
Hope you enjoy, and feel free to leave positive comments in a review.
August 24th, 2014, Saturday at 1300 PST
Doug leaned back against the head board of his hotel room bed. He was
still not use to this. Being in a teen-age girl's body, and on the run.
On the run was not the worst part but it was a close second, he liked
to have a place with his things, but here, he was sharing a van with
two people- Tom and Jake. Often they would get hotel rooms to rest in,
but it was the idea of hotel rooms not a home where he wanted to lay
his head.
He hated to move around.
Hated to have to answer to a variety of a allies- Terry Blankenship was
his primary allies, but he went by Jaime Douglas, and Daniella Stanley.
What was the worst, was the body- the period- two in thirty days- one
that started the day after he got his new body and now this one. Jordan
had suggested birth control pills to help with shortening it and making
it less painful. The first one sucked, this was just hurt.
Aside from that he hated being in the body of a girl. He had thought
about blowing his brains out more then once, or just taking a bunch of
pills, and leaving this fucked up life.
What did he hate about it? Periods. The looks he got from guys. Being
hit on by guys. Clothes- bras were the worst. Sitting to pee.
Masturbation- ahh, that wasn't so bad. Hair- not so bad either, he
liked long hair, always had, but had never wanted to get through the
growing part of it. Seeing someone else in the mirror was startling.
Boobs- he loved boobs, but not when they were on his chest. Walking-
the way he had to move to walk comfortably felt all wrong to him.
Having a pussy- he could never figure the dammed thing out, where to
rub, where to touch, what to do with it, sitting to pee.
He put his palms on his forehead and pushed his fingers through his
hair, breathing in and letting it out helped to calm his nerves. This
was- to use a phrase Jake would use, was freaking him out.
He rubbed his breasts, pressing them together, then looked into his
shirt, closed it and laid there thinking about how much life sucked in
that very moment.
There was a light tap on the door that separated the two hotel rooms-
his and Jake's from Tom's room.
"Ya," he answered.
He was supposed to be catching a nap, getting his thoughts together
while the others worked on some phone calls and other attempts to
locate information. He suspected that he could be in the other room,
but he had decided that he needed a moment to himself- not for any
reason, just to be alone to collect his thoughts.
In the month sense he had met Jake, they had become kind of close,
their common bond was the fact that they were both in female bodies.
Two night before they had gotten to California they slept together.
They had been sharing a hotel room in Colorado. Jake was trying to keep
his masturbation quiet (they both tried to keep that to themselves up
to that moment), after Doug had gone to sleep, something was not
working for him and he got up, crawled into Doug's bed and they started
kissing, feeling, and then licking.
Doug really liked her big breasts, and Molly had big breasts- D cups he
guessed, and Jake liked to have them sucked and rubbed.
(Molly Ann Stewart was the name of the woman that Jake had the body of,
she was a stripper, her body taken by some kind of spirit possessed,
power gathering servant of a demi god that wanted to be resurrected.)
Jake gave him a little smile as she peaked in- "Hay, we have a lead,
you up for some computer research?"
'Computer hacking, she meant,' he thought.
Jake was five four, a hundred ten pounds of beauty, he had dyed his
hair blonde and kept it tied in a ponytail or back, gray green eyes,
about twenty-two or so (he was not sure), she had a fantastic figure,
and Jake kept his body dressed in skin tight jeans, and a usual tee
shirt with running shoes.
In all this time he mixed his pronouns for himself and Jake often,
because it was so confusing.
He was up off the bed, feeling so youthful, twenty years younger.
Colleen Green, the girl next door, he had seen her more then a few
times, day dreamed about her. She was so beautiful. Seventeen, five
foot six, a hundred twenty pounds, reddish blonde hair that he had dyed
to a rich brown, her eyes were a bright- wonderful looking green. His
vision had begun to fade, but now in the body of Colleen he could see
perfectly well. He had fallen off the conditioning wagon some time
back, but now that he was young he had begun to jog again, and did
crunches with Jake in the morning as well as pushups and butterfly
kicks and leg lifts and such.
He was not a hacker a month ago, but he had been studying and
practicing, and had made quite an impact of some of their work. Impact
as in speeding their research way up.
Regarding his hacking- he- of course, had been playing with computers
sense the first one his parents had ever bought. He had gone to college
and gotten a degree in computer science, a teaching certificate, and he
had continued to take classes and such. Years later he suspected that
he should go back to university and get his Masters or maybe his
Doctoral.
He worked for law enforcement primarily throughout his career. Now he
was working with people that hunted ghouls, zombies, vampires,
werewolves, and such. It was hard to understand how and why this had
gone unnoticed by the general population, but it had.
Doug pausing as he was about to pass Jake- "you okay?" she asked.
Doug nodded- "Just thinking."
The sex had been longer then any other sexual experience of his life,
and with more climaxes then he had ever experienced in two hours. He
had been exhausted at the end as had Jake.
"Ya, not a good time to be thinking like that," Jake said with a lip
snarl, "I hate this shit."
Jake was on her period too, Doug figured.
In the other room sat Jordan- Jake's Mom. She was this tough looking
woman he had ever seen, missing one eye, a few scars, and a nasty way
of looking at people- 'don't fuck with me,' look that softened when
Jake was in the room. She scared him- a little. Like some of the cops
he had known, or some of the criminals he had dealt with.
She was also one of the hottest looking women that Doug had ever seen,
not that being a bad ass made her sexy, no, it was that she had a nice
hourglass shape- nice ass, perfect sized breasts to her body type (not
like Jake), and a narrow waist. It was the scares and the eye that made
her look so nasty and tough.
Like her son she tended to wear jeans that showed just how perfect her
ass and legs were, narrow waist under that tee shirt, and usually boots
of some kind- lace ups usually, right now it was suede, ankle height
and gray.
She was taller then most women he knew- five ten, she could have been a
model he supposed, but she had taken a different path. In the past
month he had seen her hair get longer and short, and then longer again
a couple times, it had taken him a day or two to realize that she
probably had some kind of hair extensions, which was fine.
As far as how bad ass she looked, Tom obviously was nervous around her
as well, even though the guy had known her for some time (how long he
had known her, Doug did not know). It was only Jackson and Jake they
did not fear her, maybe because they knew and loved her and she loved
them.
Jackson was calm, kind, and soft in tone, he loved his son more then
anything in the world, paid attention to details, demanded your best
and knew how to help you reach for it. He was a good leader.
Unfortunately, Jackson was on a supply run in Arizona and the group was
trying to save a couple kidnap victims, people kidnapped after his
departure this morning.
In the room was Jordan and Jake, a tenth of a second after Doug entered
the hotel room there was a single knock on the door- light and clear.
Doug moved to his computer, and the door opened, both Jake and Jordan
had their pistols in hand, but it was Tom- a pair of pizzas and a
cooler of drinks in hand. Pistols away, door closed, cooler on the
floor, pizzas on the dresser, nothing said.
Jake explained that they needed into the assessor's office, they had
finally decided to go with Doug's plan- property location, because even
a villain needed a place to rest his head.
The group was paranoid, watching all, packing weapons everywhere at all
times. It made him nervous, which was the third worst thing about this
whole thing- paranoid people that chased vampires, ghouls, spirit
swapping mages from eons ago, werewolves, and anything else that went
bump in the night.
The table near the window and just a step from the door was dominated
by his computers- two of them, custom built by him for him over the
last couple weeks.
The computer parts were all off the shelf, bought with cash and debt
cards bought with cash. When he constructed the computer it was done
with gloves, wiping everything down with alcohol. The idea was that if
he had to leave it behind anyone chasing them would be able to finger
print and use that to track them down.
He worked and ate pizza and drank a never ending flow of sodas (an
addiction that had come with the new body), while Jordan slept and Tom
rested.
It was something odd about the group- lay down in bed to catch a nap
and you might wake to find one or two other people there with you. The
first time that Doug had woke with a stranger in his bed it was
Jackson, he had bolted from bed that morning. Jackson had apologized
while Jordan and Jake woke up in the other bed in the hotel room. First
meetings after that. That was not the first nor the last time that he
would wake with someone in his bed. Luckily they would not, or had not
thus far, touched him in a way that was not invited- well except Jake
but that had turned out well enough.
Doug worked noticing that Jordan had curled up against Tom, her head on
his shoulder. Tom held her tightly at first then as she started to
snore he relaxed a little. An hour later he heard her moaning,
whimpering really, when he looked back Tom was holding her and the
fearful whimpers subsided, her fingers digging into Tom's chest, he
said nothing but clearly it hurt.
Nightmares was something they all dealt with- even Doug, these people
had been hunting the super natural for over twenty years, they had more
then physical scars to show for it.
Doug's nightmares were about the night that woman had come and pushed
him from his body, and being drawn to her old one. The creatures that
he did not recall in memory being around him, clawing at him plagued
his nightmares, made him seek shelter in a body he did not want.
Jake was reading an old book- not one from the van, but one from the
box that his Mom had brought with her.
As Jake flipped pages Doug slowed to watch her push her hair back from
her face. They had not talked about their interaction days ago, they
slept alone, and did not have any interaction that would be seen as
anything but professional. When Jake looked at him, Doug smiled, the
blonde haired woman smiled back and gave him a little wiggle of her eye
brows. Doug tried not to smile. They were both thinking about that
night and wanting to go off into the other room and do it again, but
that would be days away.
Jake was dressed in jeans, running shoes, and a Metallica Tee shirt.
Her blonde hair was hanging loose now, not the normal pony tail (pulled
out just an hour after he had entered the room).
Within a few days of getting this new body Doug was entertaining
himself with it. He had talked to Jake a week or so ago about it, about
being a woman. Jake had been raped in the nut house, one of the night
guys had taken advantage of the drugs and the straight jacket and Jake.
Doug hated the idea of having a guy inside of him, but he was a girl
now and figured, eventually he would do it just to try it if nothing
else.
It wasn't that he did not think about it. It was that he was a guy,
with zero interest in other guys thrust into the body of a woman-
female, and it seemed like something he would eventually try because of
the circumstances. He dreaded the day in this moment, the idea that he
would have a relationship with a dick, but knew it might happen, and
the thought of that day coming scared the hell out of him.
They needed him for one thing- the hack. They had once had a computer
specialist, they spoke of him but never said his name of the
circumstances of his departure. It was his job now...
The hack- what was the most important part of the hack was not getting
caught, so he had to get every bit of camouflage into place before he
could even start and that took time. Secondary, was the hack, getting
in and creating a back door for future access, because one never knew
what they would need in the future. That was usually pretty easy- just
set up an account, sometimes it was a little more in depth then that
but usually it was that simple. Third, the information itself.
Three hours passed of watching, typing and thinking, and reading and
creating.
"Got in. What was the name?"
"Randall Blake." Jake was at his side.
Tom touched Jordan and she woke instantly, whispering a 'thanks,' she
rolled away from Tom and moved to look over Doug's shoulder.
Doug wondered when they had last been sexual active, but said nothing
about it- how could you ask your new friends- 'hay, when was the last
time you cheated on your husband?' no, he would keep his suspicious to
himself.
Doug typed in the name and shifted through a couple properties, finally
finding the right Randall Blake.
"It's a house, and we know about that one," Jordan said with a sound of
disgust in her tone.
"Mom, chill-"
"Three hours, Jacob-"
"She is doing what she can, we have nothing else, so stop," Jake said
then placed her hand on Doug's leg. "It's okay-"
Doug was looking over the information, he backed up to some prior
information that he had gathered for them, then looked for something
else in the present hack. Jake clearly saw that Doug saw something that
would get them somewhere.
"Give me a minute- no, never mind," he said then typed and narrowed.
Randall Blake owned a number of companies, one of those companies owned
property.
'Why does it feel like some people just want to be caught?' he
wondered, glancing over at Jake, and her giant tits, 'God, I just want
to hold those against my face.'
Jake glanced down, but said nothing, and did nothing, just waited as he
watched Doug get back to work.
Twenty seconds after he had said- 'give me a minute,' he had two
locations, one between Watsonville and Santa Cruz, and another up on
the hill, between the valley and Santa Cruz, he knew were neither was
other then what the address said and where he thought they were.
In that moment Doug was not afraid of Jordan but rather annoyed at her,
he was closing on forty years old, had dealt with criminals and law
enforcement, why should he be bothered by a woman that looked like a
pirate?
"I would not say either of them is it for sure, but that is two
locations you did not have three hours ago," Doug said to Jordan with a
look that said- 'you annoy me.'
They all started to get up.
"Do not do that again, you can encourage or you can destroy with what
you say. Speak kindly, or do not speak at all," Doug ordered Jordan.
Jake and Tom looked at each other then at Doug- 'are you fucking nuts?'
written on Tom's face.
Jordan nodded. "You're right- I am sorry."
"Okay, let's roll," Jordan said to the other two.
Doug watched them hurry to get ready, then they left- Jake came back
in, looked at Doug and said- "thanks."
"Careful," he told her.
She nodded, started to leave then came to him. Their tongues wrapped
about, and in seconds Doug was finding this strange new body doing and
feeling ever odder to him.
"Not later, but a few days," Jake said with a smile.
"I know, today was my first day, last one lasted about four days," Doug
told her.
Jake understood. She was gone a moment later.
Quickly, Doug exited the system, leaving a few distant cookie crumbs in
China, in case anyone got that far. He doubted they would, but a little
extra ass covering never hurt.
Doug sat there a long while thinking then he checked on his ex wife's
social media. She was still freaking out about his death, and how the
police were stalled on it. She had put up his life insurance as a
bounty on the truth- the stuff that had taken place next door, and then
all that had happened in Doug's home- it was all to strange and she
wanted to know why.
He wondered how he could stop her. They had fallen apart slowly over
years but with his death, he imagined she had realized just how much
she still loved him, like he had realized months after their divorce.
Doug pushed his fingers into his hair, breathing, wanting to throw
something.
Instead he got up, went and changed into a pair of shorts, running
shoes, sports bra, tank top, and a loose fitting sweat shirt. Music was
from his cell phone piped into his head phones. He knew he should not
go for a run but it was not yet dusk and the team was after the
vampires so....
*
August 24th, 2014, Saturday at 1840 PST
Jake pumped the slide on his shotgun and blasted the guy again. Quarter
inch diameter silver balls, little slivers of toothpicks, and magnesium
slammed into the guy's chest, knocking him down- again. He started
screaming, clawing at his chest, begging- crying- "No!"
He was ash, burnt away from the chest out in seconds.
His Mom moved past, her Thompson machine gun to her shoulder, ready to
gun anyone down that looked the part of a vampire. The flashlight on
the underside of the gun illuminated where she was pointing the gun.
The slow moving .45 round did damage and often time became a problem
for the blood suckers- if the bullets were silver- which they were they
were a real problem.
All of them carried .45s- thigh holsters, though they had few .45
rounds left and ever fewer shotgun shells, each shell specially made
for hurting vampires, the .45 was generic and would work on a wide
variety of creatures.
Tom moved from cover to cover, shining a special light around into
shadows and places that were not so well lite in the abandoned house.
The light required a back pack of batteries, and a thick cord and a
strong arm to hold. The UV rays coming from the light were enough to
start a fire, kill bacteria in seconds, give cancer to a specific spot,
and kill a vampire in seconds. They used the light to make the vampires
move from hiding. For their benefit the light had a dozen LEDs to allow
them to see where the light was shining, because without the LEDs they
could not see the UV light.
Jordan froze, looking through a hole in the sheetrock up into the
ceiling. "DOWN!" she yelled, squeezing the trigger, her muscles
screamed as she tried to control the .45 as she waved it across the
ceiling, blowing fist sized holes in the sheetrock. Someone was running
across the trusses in the attic space, then they heard a scream above,
and rattling wreck of a fast moving body hitting trusses then falling
through the sheetrock back behind Tom in the hall.
Jake stepped and let the guy have it with his 12 gauge, the guy
flinched away avoiding much of the blast. Jake hit him in the arm,
almost blowing it completely off. Jake could see that the .45 silver
slug his Mom had put into him had punctured a lung. Silver was not
enough to kill a vampire, one needed wood, or fire, or decapitation for
that, and the 12g shells were made for the death blow while the .45 was
meant to wound so the shotgun could do it's thing, because they had so
few 12g shells.
Jake racked the slide back and forward, ejecting the spent and putting
a fresh shell in the chamber of his modified Remington 870. He pointed
the weapon from the hip and blasted the guy in the head. Decapitation
worked as well as a steak through the heart. Wood was best way to
finish off vampires and silver- the general rule was that it hurt all
super natural creatures with a few exceptions.
The vampire's head disintegrated right then and there, his body turned
to dust a second later.
Jake racked the slide-
Jake was hit in the side by a person moving through the sheetrock wall
to his side, slammed into and through the sheetrock wall to his left. A
woman- no, a child, eight or ten was on him. He had been clawed in the
shoulder and neck. He had the kid by the wrists and palms, shoving back
against a power house of strength.
She was screaming at him, demanding that he die.
Jake hurt all over, he would have a full body bruise later, right now-
breathless, and hurting he managed to grab the girl's wrists as they
struggled and rolled about on the floor.
Tom had been the closest to him, and his Mom was nearly empty on the
Thompson.
The girl was Carla Kelvin, he realized that, as he saw her eyes.
Tom brought the light to bare on the kid. She screamed, shielding her
eyes with her hands, scrambling back as the light burned her skin from
a pale white to a bright red in half a second.
Jordan sighted on the kid.
Jake scooped up the fallen shotgun sighted between his legs at the kid
in the corner and let her have it. The girl exploded into ash and dust.
Jake could hardly work the slide of the shotgun- his whole body hurt
from being shoved through two layers of sheetrock, lucky for him they
had missed the studs in the wall and went between two.
"Out!" Jordan ordered, turning back the way they had been headed when
she saw movement, she let out a burst. Nothing was hit. "We have
injured and they know it!"
Jake was up, bleeding, holding his shoulder and trying to keep the
vital blood from leaking from his body. Dragging the shotgun.
Blood soaked his Metallica tee shirt, it was torn and damaged beyond
repair. He had known better then to wear it.
They were outside in seconds, and the rest of Jordan's magazine was
emptied at shadows.
The sun was fading, but still visible so the vampires would not be
outside.
Tom focused the light in his hands on Jake's wounds, moving the light
over his skin might help to keep the infection down. They would know
more in the morning. Jake flinched away from the heat of the lamp,
knowing he needed to stay in the light to keep infection down.
"Light it up," Jordan ordered Tom.
"There are people that have been taken-"
"And already bit," Jordan said, "that was the girl that was taken
yesterday and the- Kurt Smith, was taken two days ago."
"Mom- there are two missing from today- go back in, I can tend to
myself-"
Jordan looked at the young lady that was her son, breathing,
considering.
"One or two saved or none, which helps our cause?"
Tom nodded- "We can, Jordan. We can save them."
Jordan took off her son's shemagh and placed it hard against his
wounds- "you get in the van and you lock it. Douse yourself in holy
water and you pray, you create a sanctuary. You understand me?
Reinforce the blessing in the van with holy energy."
Jake nodded offering over the shotgun, when she took it he dug the last
three shells from his hip pocket- "All we have left."
She nodded, grabbed his head and kissed her son on the temple for what
might be the last time, and then she and Tom headed back in.
Jake saw Tom grab one of the gas cans from beside the door-
His Mom turned back to him- "when it sounds like a war, you know what
to do."
Jake got a cold chill, then slowly nodded, but he said nothing in
reply, after that he hurried to the van. Inside, closed and locked in,
he laid on the floor in the back. He pulled out a couple vials of holy
water, he poured one over a towel and then poured the second into the
wound, pushing the towel against his wound, he picked up a Bible and a
cross and began a ritual on himself.
*
August 24th, 2014, Saturday at 1850 PST
Doug waited in line at the coffee shop, it was a short line, but it
felt hugely long because the woman he had held the door for had seven
coffees, three with very specific requests.
She was in her forties, heavy, dull brown hair, style change a decade
before, casual clothes, he tried to admire her ass, but it just was not
that nice. He wondered if he had been a man, if he could... he was not a
man, he was a seventeen year old girl.
"Makes you want to go postal," the guy behind him said.
Doug looked at the guy- "My Dad works at the post office."
"Oh," the guy said.
He was between twenty and thirty years old, in fair shape, blonde hair,
and a kind face. He was wearing a suit that was pulled and opened to
the- 'end of the day and I want out of this thing,' position. Why on a
Saturday, Doug wondered would the guy be in a suit, but this was the
twenty first century and lots of businesses were open on Saturday. He
had the look of a car salesmen.
"I guess then you did not get your Christmas gifts late?"
"Jewish."
Doug did not want to think about what his life would be like- Jackson
and Jordan had made a life on the run for their son, traveling North
American, venturing into South American, and even making it to Europe.
They used stolen identities, and what they found, sometimes there was a
lot of cash or precious metals at places and other times all they could
do was stay ahead of the authorities working minimum wage jobs, dying
their hair and pretending not to be who they were.
There was no way that Doug wanted to live as a thief, as a carrion of
sorts. He wanted something more, he wanted a life, settle down with a
woman, have some kids, a career, and grow old together.
That could not be for him now- or maybe it could, he could marry a
woman- new laws allowed him to do that, and they could adopt or he
could carry or she could carry. He wondered what that would feel like-
having something grow inside of him. He wanted to scream when he
thought about that to hard.
The woman was done with her order. Tom made his, a little over a dozen
and a half words were exchanged between the barista and Doug- from
"good evening what can I get you," to "it will be just a few minutes."
"You're a tourist?"
The guy was at Doug's flank.
"Ya," he answered without a glance. 'Get a clue dude, the teen age girl
you are hitting on is not paying you any attention,' Doug thought.
It had been part of Jordan's thing- a recommended course of action for
Doug and Jake, ignore and answer very few questions, put people into an
off balance position by making sure whatever they say is wrong.
"Your father must be very proud," answer- "my father was a rapist that
caused the suicide of my mother," and things like that. Generally shut
people down and up as quickly as possible, sometimes people did not
have a clue or understand and you just had to be blunt- "I have zero
interest in you, your breath smells, and you have no interest in me but
a fuckin' and I am not interested in what you have to offer."
"Where you from?"
Doug looked at him with a stern look- "Not interested, it's between-
get lost, and leave me alone."
He understood, and left Doug alone.
The woman was balancing all the coffees in two carriers as Doug walked
past her, he glanced at her and the coffees and let the door close
seconds ahead of her. She could have let him go first, and it annoyed
Doug that she had not, instead she made a huge order ahead of him. It
was his period he realized, normally rude people did not annoy him so
much.
*
August 24th, 2014, Saturday at 1850 PST
Tom stopped and listened, as the gas can leaked out in the area ahead
of them. He had opened it, laid it on its side and shoved it down the
hall. The five gallons of fuel leaked out.
Three was suicide on a nest, two was thirty percent more suicide.
The light scanned over the rooms, one by one, holes in sheetrock, rat
chew holes mostly, some through the old floor boards. The place was a
mess- twenty years past the time it should have been torn down, and
only forty years old. He wondered how many people had lived in the
house- up here in the rural area between Santa Cruz and Watsonville.
They finally found a hole in the floor big enough for a person. It
looked like someone had used a chain saw to get through the floor.
Outside the hatch that led underneath had been blocked with plywood,
screws, and two by fours.
Jordan looked at him, staring a moment, she took a breath, slowly
padding to the hole, careful of any noise. She took a breath. Tom
caught up to her almost as silent as her, shining the light into the
hole, then slowly held it above and shined the light three hundred
sixty degrees as he slowly lowered it. If there was any vampires in
there they would retreat from the light. He lowered and turned it,
driving them back further. Lowered and turned it, back and forth.
There was no noise and nothing to indicate that there was anyone down
there, but they could feel the undead creatures just below them.
Tom quickly reversed the direction of the turn and lowered the light
quickly a full foot. There was a hissing and scrambling.
From her pocket Jordan grabbed a couple chemical glow sticks, cracked
them and prepared to drop them as soon as they were in the cellar.
Jordan dropped past him looking in the direction of the hiss, she
landed on her feet, five feet below, dropped to a knee and fired the
shotgun from the hip. Tom dropped behind her just in time to see the
first of them hit, but he did not turn to ash. She did not waste a
shell on him, she turned, saw movement in the shadowy darkness and let
the shotgun bark again. They did not see the creature turn to ash, so
much as they knew that one did.
The underside of the house has been dug out, the supports that kept the
floor above from collapsing were- in most cases not even touching the
ground.
The light moved this way then that, circling them, driving back one,
then a second vampire. Jordan got a third target from the light,
blasted twice then reloaded fast as Tom kept the light moving.
The light sticks finally dropped from her hand.
She had four shells in the gun- the three shells that Jake had given
her and the one that had been in the gun, looked at the first one she
had blasted, then let his wounded form have another one shell. Three
shells left.
"If you leave we will let you live," a voice said from the shadows.
Jordan laid the shotgun down and pulled the Thompson from her back. She
was watching, and waiting for the light to reveal one of them. They had
little chance of getting out unless they killed every single one.
"You have been killing innocent people, we can't let you continue-"
Tom was interrupted by the same man- "I will move on."
"Ya, that is not going to work for us either," Jordan said.
"Then I will turn you too," the voice said, then ordered- "ATTACK!"
The Thompson took down the first one, knocked her down, but did not
kill her. Jordan turned, blasting another one with another five round
burst from her thirty round magazine. Another one crumpled.
Silver would not kill them, but it would hurt them more then anything
else they had- except the shot gun, but with three shells left she had
to save those for the kill shots, he knew.
Tom drove them back as he shined the light over his head horizontally,
he grabbed the Colt from his thigh holster and fired the gun empty into
a man he saw. The guy dropped. Jordan pressed against his back. The
light continued to move.
"No time to reload, going for my knife," he said, and had it drawn his
light driving one back but he had to keep the light moving and the
vampires were not willing to stay in the light just so he could kill
them.
Jordan sprayed the last twenty rounds in a horizontal line, hitting
two, but taking none of them down. She grabbed the shotgun and fired
point blank into one's chest, turning him instantly to ash.
Tom saw the one he had startled back rush at him, slapping the light
aside. Tom stabbed his silvered knife into the guy's chest as the guy
grabbed at Tom's throat.
*
August 24th, 2014, Saturday at 1905 PST
Jake heard the first gun shot.
He got up, opened the van and hopped out. He was still bleeding, but
the blood had slowed. Quickly he looked about, the sun was fully down.
He did not bother closing the van he just grabbed two road flares,
struck them against each other and lit them both then hurried to the
house.
Before going into the house they had had placed a couple dozen pressed
logs about the house, and doused them with gasoline- about twenty
gallons total. Plus the cans they had left inside the door. The place
would be an inferno in seconds.
He hated to do it with his Mom and good friend in the house, but if
they were meeting the resistance it sounded like they would need the
back up and this was all he could do.
He tossed one flare, it bounced and rolled and the gas caught fire, a
wall of flames went around the house, the pressed logs were engulfed
and would keep the house burning after the gas was gone.
Jake pulled the wet, blood and water soaked rag from his shoulder, the
cuts were nasty and would need stitches, he placed the rag back on the
wound, under the strap of his bra and tank top.
In his moment of wound inspection he was hit from above, slammed down
and- the two of them rolled, the woman bit him on the shoulder, then
screamed, rolling away, grabbing at her mouth. Jake stabbed the flare
into her chest, she scrambled back as her mouth was being eaten by what
looked like acid. She thrashed this way and that, wanting to touch her
mouth but daring not to...
Jake got up and pulled his .45 from his thigh and shot the woman in the
forehead. Her head snapped back and she laid still as holy water did
its trick, he walked over and laid the bloody rag over her forehead
wound and watched as the rag melted through skin and bone into her
brains, she was really screaming then, Jake just watched her with an
uncaring, unconcerned look. Only ash was left seconds later.
Jake looked into the burning house for a moment, circling it- "Mom!" he
called, "Tom!"
*
August 24th, 2014, Sunday at 0815 PST
"If we ever go on a run and do not come back within twelve hours, you
need to pack up and go to one of the safe houses, and wait there. If we
are not in touch in a week, we won't be," Jordan had told him during
their briefing.
There were two safe houses in the area- one was south but the one he
had chosen was north, Matt was the guy's name, he had a number and
address.
Jordan's car was with Jackson, so Doug had packed Jackson's van. During
the first briefing they had given him keys- to the three vehicles.
He looked about the room- every hotel room they had left had been wiped
down, and sprayed with rubbing alcohol, he did that. The sheets soaking
in the bath tub, both sides the blankets and bedding sprayed with the
alcohol.
Outside he rubbed his chin, thinking. The sun was up, and no Jake, no
Tom, and no Jordan.
He pulled out his phone, found Jackson in the phone's memory, and
pushed call.
After two rings- "Ya-?"
"Jackson, it's Doug, they went on their run last night and did not come
back. Protocols tells me to flee, but I-"
"They went to the nest without you? That was an all hands-?"
"Little to no combat training in years, and your wife thought it best
that we not chance it- we all agreed," Doug told him looking about.
There was a long pause then Jackson said- "I am almost to- there is a
military surplus store in Moss Landing, get something to eat then go
there," Jackson said then hung up.
*
August 24th, 2014, Sunday at 1105 PST
The counter guys had stopped talking to him, they only watched him as
he walked around, looking at swords, knives, clothes, military and para
military stuff.
After nearly a two hour breakfast/coffee stop he went to the store,
checked, then laid down in the back of the van and caught a thirty
minute rest, now here it was twenty minutes later and no Jackson,
almost three hours sense the call.
He was deep into looking at coats when he looked up and saw Jackson
standing there- "Talk to me."
They walked out into the parking lot and started walking.
"Vampire nest. Rich guy named Randall Blake was bit last year you guys
figured. We got onto his trail, and got nowhere after the one brief
fight that Jordan, you, and Tom had. You left to get more ammo, and
weapons- because we were nearly empty. Jordan tried some ritual
locating spell thing that did not work. I located the nest site by
giving Jordan addresses of houses owned by Randall and his companies.
Jordan said that he would be held up in a house. I found two, she did
not tell me which one was the right one," Doug said.
"Find out if there were any fires reported- they would have burned the
house down after it was over or if things were going to shit," Jackson
told him as they turned back towards the van, and his car.
*
August 24th, 2014, Sunday at 1155 PST
Jake's van was nowhere around, the local fire department had left a
single truck to keep the house watered down so that the fire would not
kick back up.
"You are a community college student, Monterey Peninsula College
studying journalism," Jackson said, "I am your Dad. Go find out what
happened, be nice, flirt, smile a lot, and get the information."
"No," Doug said.
"Why not?"
"Because I don't want to flirt with him," Doug told Jackson.
"You can get the information faster and easier with a little smile and
a whole lot of flirting, trust me, it will work," Jackson smiled at
him, "just go and try, you don't have to kiss him or anything, just
smile, and pretend like you find him attractive."
"There is no way I find him attractive," Doug muttered, took a breath.
"You are not the first person we have met that is in the wrong gender
body, use what you have to make this happen," Jackson ordered him
offering him a note pad and pen.
Doug took the little note book that Jackson offered then got out, then
went to talk to the firemen.
He glanced back at Jackson, taking a breath, noticing that the car had
Missouri plates on it now- Jackson had changed them in the surplus'
parking lot, but Doug had not cared to look.
One of the firemen nudged the other and that man turned to look at
Doug, his partner took control of the fire hose and continued to spray
water.
"Hi, I am sorry, Ms, but this is a crime scene." The guy was smiling at
Doug.
'Smile back, get the information,' Doug told himself.
"I am Heather.. ahh, Snow- I... I am a journalism student- I- ahh, I
really suck at this." Doug was nervous and decided to play it up.
Jim was quite a nice guy, kind and generous, wanting to help a girl
with her first big assignment. Doug felt a whole different level of
dirty as he flirted with the guy.
The fire started about dusk, there was a van spotted leaving the scene
twenty minutes later, yes, it was arson and the van had the lead
suspect in it, there was one fatality, and no they did not know who it
was, the body was in the fire. No, they did not have anything else.
Doug kept good notes. When he walked away it was with that one foot in
front of the other walk that he had been practicing with Jake, glancing
back at the firemen with a smile then getting into Jackson's car.
Jackson did not wait for him to get his seat belt on, he just started
driving to the end of the drive way.
Doug talked, told Jackson what he had learned. Jackson made suggestions
on what to ask and how to ask to get more information the next time.
Jackson tapped the phone that was in a holder on the dash, and tapped a
number in the memory. Again, the call went right to voice mail, Jackson
hung up, slowing at the end of the long drive way, he stopped like he
was waiting for traffic, thinking. Then he turned north towards the
highway, leaving the van behind.
"Where are we going?"
"A while back Jake helped a medical student with a... problem, the guy
moved to an area north of Santa Cruz, and became a veterinary
assistant," Jackson answered, speeding up, getting a little reckless in
his driving.
"Matt-?"
Jackson gave him a look.
Doug pulled his phone and dialed the number but no one answered.
"Why would they not answer?"
"Not home or working on someone that is injured or the phone is
silenced because he is working nights... lots of reasons," Jackson
answered.
When traffic got thick and room allowed Jackson went to the right of
the traffic and zipped along at twice everyone's speed.
"Can we not drive like this- Jake, Tom, and Jordan might need us not
involved in a car accident," Doug requested.
Jordan would have not listened, Doug thought but in true Jackson
fashion the man slowed and moved into traffic, seeing the logic, and
controlling his emotions.
"How did you and Jordan meet?"
Jackson glanced at Doug, with a dull look.
"The truth, I know lying is all part of survival, but can you tell me
how you guys met?"
Jackson thought a moment about it then said- "the truth is a closely
guarded secret that not even Jake knows, so no, I am not going to tell
you. I could tell you the cover story if you want?"
"Jake does not know how you guys hooked up?" Doug was a little startled
at that.
"Jordan doesn't want anyone to know," Jackson said.
"Who knows-?"
"No one in California- well, except Jordan and I," Jackson down shifted
and zipped through a hole just feet bigger then his car. He was still
speeding, but at least he was not using the medium.
Doug leaned back a little then rubbed his face.
"So we have to-"
"I am not staying with you guys, I need to have a place, somewhere to
settle down- I am a Cancer and Cancers like to have a place with their
stuff," Doug told him as Jackson up shifted, settling in behind slower
traffic.
"We need you-"
"No, you need someone on a phone that can do what you need. I can set
up a system anywhere in the world and do what you need," Doug told him.
Jackson was really thinking, Doug could see that.
"I would like for you to reconsider, think about it. Having you with
us.... It has helped..."
"How-?"
Jackson took a visible inhalation- "Jake is feeling pretty alone in all
this, that body is... it's something he wanted in a different way, not
the way he has it. You are the same way-"
"So I am Jake's support?"
"Not just that, but in so much as you are the new generation to this
all- Jordan and I are in our forties, we are getting to old for this,"
he said, "we need fresh blood so to speak."
"I have no idea what I am doing," Doug objected.
Jackson was silent for almost five miles, finally he said- "none of us-
well, except Jake, started life with the idea of being a hunter of the
super natural, and not a one of us started with the skills necessary to
do this."
"Jordan and I started when we were eighteen. The situation demanded
that we take action, we did, and- well, we had made mistakes and had to
leave or.... We have managed to rectify the situation we left in our wake
years later, but still it has not been easy learning to have this life.
We have made far to many mistakes. We could teach you, and you could be
wiser and smarter then when we started-"
"It's not that, Jackson, it's the whole- I am just not made for this
life. I do not like to travel, I do not like not having my stuff, and
I-"
"You are a fugitive- not wanted for any crimes but wanted for
questioning," he told Doug, "you have to keep moving or you might as
well go back and try to explain. And you know where that will lead
you."
Doug was quiet- 'nut house, funny farm, drugged, and raped by an
orderly.'
"Right now you have no real choice, I am going the wrong direction for
you to get out. And I have no idea what I am going to run into so I
need you to stay with me," Jackson said.
"Ya, I get that I am- you know what, never mind-" Doug stopped himself
and leaned back in the seat, eyes to the side thinking about what life
had dealt him and how much it sucked.
*
August 24th, 2014, Sunday at 1240 PST
Jackson pulled in behind the van, then hopped out of the car, Doug was
out, carefully closing the door as he followed after Jackson. They
moved down the passenger's side of the van- Jackson looking at the
ground as they moved passed the van.
"Blood," he pointed at the ground.
There were a few drops and a smearing of blood.
The front door opened and they saw Jake at the door.
He was wearing a man's tee shirt, much to big, there was a bandage
under the shirt on her shoulder, and blood stains on his pant legs.
They hurried to the door, she said nothing just let them in, closed and
locked to door before Jake's Dad gave him a hug- "What happened?"
"I was injured. They had to do it alone," Jake said looking emotionally
exhausted, "when the shit hit the fan I started Plan B. Mom was knocked
out, and Tom was tore up pretty bad trying to get her out."
"There was a body in the fire-?" Doug mentioned.
Jake gave a little nod- "must have been one of the victims."
"Where are they?" Jackson asked.
Jake pointed towards the garage door in the kitchen and let his father
go.
"They okay?"
Jake looked at Doug and shook his head- "Mom will be okay, but Tom will
probably die today."
"Sorry," Doug said lowering his head a little.
"We put an end to a vampire's nest, there might be a few straggler's
but by tomorrow there will be four more hunters in the area- we'll find
them and kill them," Jake told him.
Doug stepped up to the beautiful woman and hugged her, she hugged him
back.
"Listen I was cut, there was vampire spit and ash around me, I have to
get to somewhere sunny and stay there- come with me. There is nothing
we can do here," Jake told him.
"How can y- wait, you might be infected?" Doug pulled back, stepping
from the beautiful woman's reach.
"Ya," he nodded, "and by tonight I will be either okay or a blood
sucking vampire."
*
August 24th, 2014, Sunday at 1240 PST
Tom was unconscious. Jordan laid beside him, blood being transfused
from her to him then back into her, while Matt monitored. A homemade IV
was hooked up to Jordan. Jackson stood at her side, whispering into her
ear, she nodded saying nothing.
Doug thought their relationship was a little weird- they cared for each
other like two buddies, they had sex nightly, and they loved Jake, but
they did not hold hands, or kiss, or anything like that. In the instant
that Doug saw them Jackson had his hand on Jordan's shoulder.
"Your Dad is here, Jake, you and Doug should go," Jordan said with a
nod, "clean up the van and...."
Jake nodded, looking at Tom. He stepped up to his friend, placed his
hand on his head.
"I'm sorry, Jake," the guy Doug did not know said.
Matt was a fairly beefy African American, smart looking, glasses on his
brow, blood smeared scrubs.
The garage was a single car- small car, garage, the walls lined with
book shelves that were about half full of medical books, and all full
of trinkets. The table in the middle had a grid pattern under a sheet
of plastic, and Tom on the table.
Tom was cut on each limb to varying degrees of damage, his belly was
heavily bandaged, and bandages made of towels and sheets covered his
chest- all of them soaked through.
Beside the table was a couple garbage cans filled to capacity with
bloody cloth.
It was clear even to someone with Doug's minimal medical training that
Tom was on his way out.
"Thanks," Jake said to Tom.
"You should have had sex with me," Tom whispered, "you would have loved
it."
Jake laughed a little. "You pull through and I will bang the hell out
of you."
Tom smiled a little- "I am holding you to that," he whispered, then
added- "If I don't though, you have to bang Pete."
"Trying to get me laid?" Jake asked without a smile.
"You owe me a debt, I want Pete to collect if I don't get to- you could
make it a threesome with your Mom?" Tom was losing his fight with
consciousness.
Matt disconnected Jordan from the homemade transfusion, and Jackson got
her something from inside for her to eat, and something to drink, but
she refused them, just standing there watching Tom as he faded off.
*
August 24th, 2014, Sunday at 1530 PST
"You shouldn't blame yourself," Doug said.
Jake was feeling pretty down, his friend- the man who had saved his
life more then a half dozen times, had sacrificed his own life to save
his Mom, was dead, and now he was sitting on a beach, in the sun, in a
bikini and a half tee shirt.
"Thirty two stiches- that ante shit, I have gotten more-"
"Yes, and run the risk of even a greater chance of infection?" Doug
pointed out, "you could have endangered them."
Jake seemed to understand that, looking at his shoulder under his tee
shirt, Matt had done a good job cleaning up the wound and stitching it
up.
"You should put on some sunscreen," Doug told him.
Jake shook his head- "I would rather have every UV ray I can penetrate
my skin and weaken that bug that might make me a vampire."
"What about your Mom? She was cut up, and Tom- he surely is infected?"
Jake took a breath and exhaled- "Mom is immune to infection. She is a
universal donar, and a... she- ya, don't worry about Mom."
Doug felt that Jake was holding back on him again, but he said nothing
about it- 'there are to many secrets in this group.'
"Coming up behind you," Doug told him.
There were two of them- early twenties, fair shape, looking for action,
wanting to party.
Jake shut them down, and snarled them away, then laid back on his
towel, put on his sunglasses, adjusted his half shirt and the bikini
top under it then drifted off to sleep.
*
August 24th, 2014, Sunday at 1610 PST
His body was wrapped in a sheet.
The pit was dug, then they would set Tom on top of the wood, pile more
around it, douse it with gas, more wood, then more fuel and a road
flare would be tossed by each of them into the fire. They did not know
for sure, but they were pretty sure they needed to hurry, sunset was
coming and Tom would most likely rise as a vampire.
Jackson considered Tom as he worked. They had met a couple years before
on a job, a witness to a ghastly murder. Soon thereafter he had joined
them in their hunts.
Jackson finished the stack then with Jordan's help they carried him to
the stack and placed him carefully upon it. Fuel was poured over him- a
full gallon.
They had found a place east of Watsonville up in a small canyon off a
private farm road. Jordan had not been able to help him dig the hole
very much because of her concussion and blood lose- best guess was over
two pints.
It was starting to get dark when the last of the wood went onto the
pile. Gas was dumped over the whole thing again- a full two gallons,
stolen from a car down the way.
They backed up. Jordan struck one flare off another then lit the one
that did not light.
"Jake should be here," Jackson said.
"We have to get this done and he- and she, might be infected," Jordan
said with an exhale. She pulled back and Jackson mimicked her movement,
both throwing as one. Jordan missed the pile by two feet, Jackson
landed in the middle of the stack.
"Here," Jackson offered her a drink from his flask as the funeral pyre
went up.
Jordan took a healthy sip then paused- "water?"
"Holy water," he said with a smile at her.
She slugged him in the shoulder- "Already thought of that- I drank a
bunch in the van on the way to Matt's."
Jackson nodded taking his wife's hand. She gripped it.
"You should tell Jake," Jackson said, "he deserves to know his origin."
"She- and I agree, but I... I am his mother," she told him.
"He won't care, he loves you, and it will help him-"
"He's doing fine," she said.
"Tom! Thanks, you won't be forgotten! Love you, tell them all I love
them!" Jackson yelled to the sky.
Jordan took a breath, and bowed her head a bit, exhaling then nodded a
little. "Amen," she whispered then turned to walk away, but she
stopped, watching to fire for a moment.
"Thank you," she called to the sky, "for my life and my son and all the
people you saved. You... thank you."
Jackson took a breath, bowed his head and muttered prayers in Latin.
Jordan joined him, finally they were done. They quickly got into the
van and got out of there.
*
August 24th, 2014, Sunday at 1820 PST
They fended off eight attempts to- 'get a drink,' or 'go for a ride in
my sports car,' or 'Hollywood producer...' or 'hello.' Sometimes the guys
were stacked up, one or two waiting for their chance, they always
started with Jake- except for one, who was just about eighteen.
One guy that would not go away, Jake sat and talked to about religion,
and her mission to travel and convert people. When he finally said that
men and women only had sex to have children that was when the guy left.
In the end they laid on the beach in the wind, got sun burnt, drank
water, and read books.
They made it back to the van- Jake had left the van for his Mom and Dad
to tend to all the blood, and mess in the back. When they returned to
get into the car the car was gone and Jake's van was there. They
climbed inside.
Doug looked into the back and noticed that it was cleaner, the cleaning
chemicals smelled up the interior so they would have to leave it open
for a while. Jake moved past Doug into the back. "Come here," Jake
ordered him.
Doug followed, watching Jake strip off her clothes, then handed him a
bottle of lotion- "I had to burn to keep from being infected," she
said.
So Doug put lotion on her, all over, he was not shy.
It took almost twenty minutes of rubbing before the first kiss, then
feeling and petting.
"I started my period this morning," Doug kept her at bay.
"Ya, I know," she said with an exhale of disappointment. "Ya, okay-
let's get to Salinas."
*
August 24th, 2014, Sunday at 2210 PST
"Harder!" Jordan cried. "Harder!"
The bed was banging against the wall on the other side of the wall.
Doug rubbed her temples.
Jake moved over to her, leaving his bed.
"When I was a kid, most of the time we only got one room, so I got my
sex education early in life. They would be under a sheet trying to be
quiet, grunting and moaning, whispering to each other. Long showers,
and squeaking feet on the wet tub," Jake admitted, "eventually I
stopped even noticing."
"It's not the noise, it's the idea of which side of that I have to be
on now," Doug looked teary eyed.
She was grunting now.
"Ya, I liked to fuck too," Jake shrugged it off, "but this ante to
bad."
"Rather be your Dad right now."
Jake understood, and curled up into her.
"Oh, ya, one more, one more!" she cried out.
*
August 25th, 2014, Monday at 0910 PST
"We found two hiding in the woods," Blair told them.
Blair was an older southern boy, red neck, and clothing to match.
"Nothing else?" Jordan asked.
"Tracked the two- I think that was all there was," Blair said then put
out his hand, Jordan took it- "Sorry about Tom, he was a good man. And
Jake- he was a good son- strong, bright, well mannered- I liked him."
Jordan nodded her thanks- "Thank you."
Blair's sons- Avery and JB, were trying to talk to Jake, but neither
could make any sense to what they were trying to say and with their
stuttering- Jake felt bad for them, but he was kind to them, smiled and
made a few jokes.
The three of them left the hotel room without much more being said.
"I have got to get a breast reduction," Jake said with quirked lips.
Jordan smiled a little at her son as the door into the other room
opened- Jackson stepped through first, a bug scanner in hand, sweeping
about the room.
"Bathroom," Jordan pointed.
Jackson went and returned with a glass of water and a small electronic
device in the bottom of the glass. He searched a bit more and found one
more near the mirror above the dresser. Jordan almost laughed, smiled
and shook her head- "good night, Blair," she called before Jackson
dropped it into the glass. "Check the window," she told Jake.
It was ten minutes before they had all manner of electronic defense set
up.
"Jordan- it's time," Jackson told her.
She took a tired breath then gestured at the bed for Jake and Doug to
sit while she took a seat at the table in front of the window.
"Twenty five years ago, your father and I were both seventeen years old
going on eighteen- seniors in high school," she told them with her head
down a little.
"Your father and I were thick as thieves- friends sense we were six.
Our mother's sat for each other, we live next door to each other so-"
Jordan nodded a little- "this is tough for me to tell you, Jake," she
said, giving her son a meaningful look.
"I should go," Doug started to rise.
"Stay, this is for you too."
"Jake- I am not your mother."
*
June 26th, 1989, Monday at 1100
Julia Somers was Jackson's girlfriend- beautiful, kind and generous,
she smiled and the world smiled with her. She wore dresses eight out of
nine days, and looked the part of a dutiful housewife almost as soon as
she met Jackson.
Jackson played football only because his Mom wanted him to go to
college and his grades were poor, so there was little chance of him
getting a scholarship on academic merits, and as the third place star
of a team that had never made it to the semifinals it was doubtful that
he would get a college scholarship on athletics.
Each of them had friends, most of which are lost in time, but Jackson
had one friend, a small kid, Jackson's age- they were born within a
month of each other. Jordan was his name, not a smart kid but not
stupid either, small, picked on by larger kids, not athletic, pretty
much completely average except for his looks- those were below average.
Jordan was small, a little pudgy, glasses that were just past their
prescription, but with nothing better he stuck to them hoping he would
get new glasses soon. He had dark hair and hazel eyes, and his face was
a mess of blackheads, zits in various degrees of growth, and generally
not handsome at all.
Both- Jordan and Jackson, had almost identical family lives, stay at
home mothers, father's that worked on oil rigs- months on and months
off. The marriages were bad, both fathers cheated on their wives, no
one even tried to hide the secret.
The boys lived next door to each other in a forty year old complex of
single story duplexes in a small nothing town in the middle of Texas
called Halifax. There was nothing there twenty five years ago and even
less now.
"So the Navy- I am thinking the Navy-"
"You hate to travel and all you will be doing is sitting on a boat
travelling around the world," Jackson told him as he drove Jordan to
pick up Julia.
Jackson's Dad's truck was large, circled with tube steel, and
unnecessary roll bars, to many lights, and an engine that was the envy
of most muscle car enthusiasts. The money he spent on gas every month
was the same amount as a car payment, but he loved his Dad's truck and
wanted one like it to call his own.
The two became friends when Jordan's family moved in next door- eleven
years before. The two mother's traded back and forth babysitting until
the boys were twelve, by then the boys were old enough and mature
enough to take care of themselves.
"Well what are you going to do?" Jordan asked his friend.
"I have no idea- Mom has no clue how poorly I did on my SATs, and so I
am lying to her about waiting on letters I am sure won't come," Jackson
said pulling down the road that would take him up to Julia's drive way.
"So... what are you going to do? Can't work at Dairy Queen and drive your
Dad's truck around town the rest of your life," Jordan told him.
The question made Jackson uncomfortable, because he had no answer and
even fewer ideas about his future.
"Join the Army with me," Jordan said, "we'll take the same MOS and be
posted together, you can marry Julia, have kids, and help me find some
hot looking model-"
Jackson looked at his friend, almost laughing- "I am not joining the
Army any more then you are."
"Air Force then-? Come on, they get weekends off during basic, and
they-"
Jackson pulled to a stop and shut the engine off in front of a tired
looking tan house, one twelve year old car out front. Without another
word Jackson hopped out of the truck and hurried to the front door.
"Lucky bastard," Jordan muttered a moment later, just before the door
opened. Julia's mom was very pretty, he thought that Julia would look
much like her in twenty years- the hottest mother in town hands down.
Oddly Julia did not come out, and Julia's Mom looked concerned.
Jackson gestured to Jordan and Jordan jumped out of the truck and
hurried to the front door, adjusting his ill-fitting glasses.
"We saw Julia when yesterday?" Jackson asked him.
"Ahh- about five," Jordan said, to Julia's Mom, "we dropped her at the
station at eleven then went back with her lunch or dinner at five."
'Then you made me stand guard while you had sex with her in the front
seat of the truck,' Jordan thought, 'even after you had sex with her at
ten. Bet you had sex with her like three times on Saturday.'
Julia worked at the local gas station, taking money for gas, sodas, and
snacks. She often worked alone but last night she had been working with
Chris, Jordan said as much to Julia's Mom and Jordan nodded.
Julia's Mom went to her phone can pulled out her phone book, as the
young men stepped into the house to get in out of the heat. The morning
heat was about ninety five and promised to be up over a hundred ten in
just a couple hours.
Fifteen minutes passed- Chris' family was called, Julia's friends all
called, none of them had seen her sense the day before or further back.
Chris was at work, he calls to the station went unanswered, Jackson
promised he would talk to Chris.
Jordan and Jackson loaded into the truck and threw gravel and dirty
heading towards the gas station on the far end of town.
The look on Jackson's face made Jordan nervous, he had only ever seen
that look once, when Kenny Noonan had shove Jordan down in the fourth
grade breaking Jordan's wrist when Jordan fell against the curb.
Jackson had jumped on Kenny, punching the older boy, completely unaware
that Kenny was apologizing for the break just prior to the first hit.
Kenny lost a tooth, and his nose was bent a little sideways after that.
The beating had left Kenny on the verge of unconsciousness. Jackson was
suspended for a week. Kenny never spoke to either of them again.
Like he was some kind of race car driver Jackson tore around corners,
cutting other driver's off, making risky moves that did not need to be
made. Jackson went around a slow moving car then immediately made a
right turn into the gas station.
Jackson jumped out of the truck while it was still running and in
neutral, the break unset, Jordan scampered over the seat and stomped on
the emergency break to stop the truck, then he closed and locked the
driver's door.
Inside Jackson shoved past a customer and was talking aggressively to
Chris, Chris looked lost and was explaining, pointing in the end
towards Julia's house.
When Jackson came back out he grabbed the driver's door and tried to
open the door.
"You almost killed like three people," Jordan told him, "you aren't
thinking."
Jackson punched his father's truck, yelling at Jordan to get out of the
driver's seat and open the door.
"Do you know where she is?" Jordan asked.
"She walked home, now get out-"
"Do you have any ideas where she is?"
Jackson suddenly had an idea and hurried around to the passenger's
side. Jordan shut off the engine and pulled the keys and let Jackson
get half way in before he jumped out of the truck and went in to talk
to Chris. Jackson followed.
"Hay, Jordan," Chris nodded to him looking a little shaken by Jackson's
return.
'A better man,' was playing on the radio behind the register.
"Hay." Jordan was nervous and scared, he liked Julia and his best
friend was being stupid. "Julia left last night?"
"Well this morning, ya- she said she was tired," he said. "She's
missing?"
"Ya," Jordan said as Jackson grabbed the key