Vampire Love Story Read Free Page B

hesitation, Lena pointed at Ron, who stepped back a little and gripped his bat. “Hey, man, I don’t know what she’s talking about.”
    “Of course not,” said Atticai. “Lena, get in the van and shut the door.” He looked back at Ron. “My little ginger-haired friend is going to be taught the correct way to treat a lady.”
    Lena grabbed the tall guy’s hand. “Atticai, please. Someone already took care of it. Just let it go.”
    Ron, hearing this, took a step back. He also raised the bat again. Atticai continued looking at Ron. “Yes, I can see that someone did some damage to the boy.”
    “Who you calling boy , punk?” Ron jutted the fat part of the bat in the direction of the tall figure.
    Atticai’s face hardened. He looked back at Lena. “Get in the van. Now.”
    Lena looked at me one more time, tried to smile, and then hurried over to the van. I want to say something, but I’ll admit, I was pretty caught up in the scene. Besides, Lena seemed to know these weirdos and didn’t seem afraid. Or, at least, she seemed less afraid.
    I had been in enough brawls to know one was about to go down, and I was pretty fought out for the evening. Getting hit in the back with a bat has a way of doing that to you. This is none of your business, I thought again. Leave now before this gets ugly.
    Easier said than done. For now, it was all I could do to suck in a deep breath, let alone walk away. Besides, there was the small matter of a little payback.
    Let it go, I thought. And get the fuck out of here.
    “So you play baseball, Fatty?” Atticai asked to Ron. From somewhere deep inside the tall guy’s trench coat, he removed a length of chain.
    Someone in the crowd gasped. Actually, a lot of people did. Lena was watching from the front seat. She looked sick.
    Ron dropped the bat. “Look, no harm no foul. You guys can just go.”
    “Oh, we can?” the tall began circling Ron. The chain hung limply from his long arm. “How very generous of you.”
    “Please—”
    “If only life could be so simple, Red.”
    “My name is Ron.”
    “Thanks for clearing that up, Red. So you met a pretty young girl at a bar, got her loaded, and thought that you and your buddies would do the unthinkable to her. But, somehow, your plans didn’t quite go as planned.” Atticai smiled at his small play on words. He continued circling Ron. The gaunt figure, easily a head taller than the cherub-faced Ron, looked at me and caught my eye. He nodded imperceptively and I understood the meaning. He was thanking me. Atticai looked back at Ron. “Unfortunately for you and your sick plans, you didn’t count on others helping her. You sick rapist fucks never figure that in...that people actually love these girls you hurt.”
    “Look, man. I’m sorry. I didn’t do anything. You can even ask her.”
    “I don’t need to ask her. Because I can see through you, Red. I can see your heart. I can see your soul. And you know what? You really aren’t a good person. So that is why I’m going to continue giving you the beating that someone else started.”
    Ron seemed whiter than normal. Then again, that could have just been a play on light. Either way, he started walking backwards—and promptly tripped over the hose. He screamed as if he had been shot, scrambled to his feet, and made a mad dash toward the front door of the house.
    Atticai watched him with a sort of bemused expression on his face, and I thought that was going to be it. Ron would run to his room and everyone would disperse, and I would limp my way home.
    I couldn’t have been more wrong.
    The tall man swirled his long chain like a lasso and what he did next defied logic and reason. He threw the chain, which whipped through the air, humming as it went. The chain wrapped around Ron’s legs perfectly and the big dope pitched forward onto the house’s concrete steps. My mouth had barely dropped open, when this Atticai character somehow, miraculously appeared on top of Ron.
    Then Atticai