Chapter 29: The Mirage, Part 6

"Okay, okay! Don't do it, man! I'll talk! I'll tell you everything I know!" Boy Blue sang like a canary. "I don't know the guy's name, but he came into the club last week and said he would pay a million dollars to anyone who found him! He said to bring the kid to the club and "V" would know what to do!" The guy was rambling. Funny how men decided to sing when faced with death.

I looked at Rick, questioning, but he shrugged his shoulders and shook his head.

I yanked Boy Blue's head back further, shoving the Ballistics knife closer to his throat. "Who's 'V'?"

Boy Blue's eyes went blank. "You know who 'V' is, Steve! You see him every day!"

"Who's 'V'?" I demanded, shoving the knife closer as blood trickled down his throat.

Then understanding dawned in his eyes. "You're not Steve."

Without loosening my grip, my body quivered and shook, my features changing and morphing until I looked like myself, a teenage female vamp with long wavy brown hair stretching down my back, with black skinny jeans, white T-shirt, black leather jacket, and black boots. "No shit, Sherlock. Now," I began again, "who's this 'V'?" I waited. "One, two, ..."

"We have company!" Rick yelled, heading for the van. Annie was behind me, having my back as Rick quickly pulled the car behind me, too, blocking the way. I looked over my shoulder to see what the fuss was about, and ten of The Others were walking purposefully toward us.

"Who the hell is 'V'?" I said, shoving the knife closer to his throat. I looked over my shoulder and The Others were coming.

"Star!" Rick yelled, warning.

"WHO IS 'V'?" I demanded.

"Alright! The bartender! Verus!" he yelled into my face.

"Verus? The Gladiator?" I asked, as the realization of who the bartender really was set in. I knew he looked familiar! "Here we go, Boy Blue!" I said, shoving him into the van, as The Others ran toward us.

"Let's go!" Annie yelled into Rick's ear as he spun out with the van, racing down the highway. The Others ran after us at vamp speed. Two jumped onto the van, but Rick shook off one, but not the other.

"Watch him!" Annie said, shoving Big Bird at me, still knocked out, as she opened the passenger side window. She literally sat in the window, and leaned around to get a clear shot, then pulled the trigger multiple times, emptying a clip into the vamp's brain. Then, he let go. He probably didn't survive.

"Way to go!" I yelled as Annie climbed back into the SUV.

"I've been dying to use this!" Annie said cheerfully, her cheeks flushed from excitement even though she was a vamp. "I just got it last week!"

"What the hell?" Boy Blue yelled, reminding us that we still had them.

"To the lake?" Rick asked, smiling, driving out of town.

"To the lake!" I agreed, grinning, as we headed down Broadway, making our way toward 26th Street to Cedar Lake. It was pitch black out, but the lights from the city shone brightly in the distance. But even without the light, we could all see perfectly.

Rick pulled up at Cedar Lake just as Big Bird started regaining consciousness. Annie grabbed him, restraining his arms. "What's going on?" Big Bird asked groggily.

"Oh, Boy Blue here was just telling us about 'V.' Other than that, nothing much," Annie said, matter of fact.

"You what?" Big Bird yelled at Boy Blue.

"Man, I had to!" Boy Blue defended himself.

"What else is there to know?" Annie asked, pulling his head back, shoving the gun to his temple.

"Nothing, nothing!" Big Bird yelled, his bright yellow Mohawk wilting a bit.

"Who is 'V' supposed to call?" Annie asked, shoving the gun to his temple.

Mohawk boy looked straight into Annie's eyes. "You're going to have to ask 'V.'"

"Not in the van, Annie!" Rick yelled, warning. He didn't want to have vamp brains and blood covering the inside of his van.

"That works," Annie said, matter of fact, pulling Big Bird from the van as I followed with Boy Blue.

"No, man, no!" Boy Blue shouted.

"Shut up!" Big Bird yelled. So, he was the one with the balls.

"What do you think?" Annie asked Rick, waving the gun, matter of fact.

Rick shrugged. "Go for it."

Then she turned to Big Bird and pointed the pistol point blank at his forehead. "Tell me what I need to know," Annie said in a sing song voice. "One ... two ... "

Nothing.

"Well, then," Annie said, matter of fact. "You won't mind if I waste your friend then." And she pointed the pistol point blank at Boy Blue as Big Bird cringed.

"Okay, okay!" Big Bird began to sing. So, he did have a crush on Boy Blue. "The only thing I know is that he has an English accent."

"That tells us nothing," I interrupted. "Half the vamps in New York have English accents!" Especially if they're from our era. "Go ahead, Annie, you do him and I'll waste this one."

"No man!" Big Bird yelled, singing again. "I don't know his name!"

"What did he look like?" I asked, shoving the knife closer to Boy Blue's throat.

"I don't know!" Big Bird said, shaking. "I didn't get a good look at him."

"Right!" I asked, grabbing a hunk of his friend's cobalt blue hair, shoving the knife closer to his throat.

"Okay, okay! He wore a power suit, had dark hair, and an earring!" Big Bird sang.

"Is there anything else you can tell me about him?" I asked, waiting.

"He's a vamp!" Big Bird yelled, his eyes wide. Boy Blue said nothing.

I rolled my eyes, now growing impatient. "Anything else?"

"No, man," Big Bird said, his eyes wide. "That's all I know."

"Well, thank you very much then," I said sweetly, as I slit his friend's throat and his head fell into my hands.