It was after 3pm Saturday when Tony arrived back inside Jeremiah's home from his shopping spree. The sun had taken its toll on him. The usual youthful sheen to his brown hair was now a dull and faded tan mixed with streaks of gray. His boyish face was aged with light blotches of discoloration, wrinkles, laugh lines, frown lines, crows’ feet, baggy eyes and sunken cheeks. His physique looked as it always did of late, and his demeanor appeared to be unfazed by these changes in his appearance. After entering the front door of the house, he went straight for the raw meat in the kitchen refrigerator. A stunned Jeremiah followed him. This aged and weathered look on Tony was a shocking contrast to the young man that Jeremiah watched leave his home that morning.
Charlie and Ben followed Tony into the house carrying multiple clothing store shopping bags each. They both made their way to the guest room that Tony was staying in and deposited the bags on the bed. After that, they made their way to the kitchen where Jeremiah was watching Tony devour a raw steak with claws and fangs bared. Jeremiah was fascinated by the small changes in Tony's features that kept appearing as he ate.
“Damn, boss!” Ben excitedly exclaimed at first sight of Tony. “Meat does a body good.”
“This cold, bloodless meat sucks,” Tony roared back at Ben.
Ben, Jeremiah and Charlie were alarmed by the suddenness of the outburst and by its deep vibrato.
“Blood?” A confused Ben questioned.
Tony ignored Ben's one-word question and continued ripping into the meat. Charlie and Jeremiah were equally confused by Tony's words. They all thought that the raw meat was satisfying his cravings.
“You want us to get you a live animal?” Charlie asked with a confused expression.
“No, you idiot. Blood. It's sustenance for this body. Raw meat is a decent enough substitute, but blood is the fuel my body wants.” Tony angrily lectured.
“How do you know that?” Jeremiah mildly asked with an inflection of curiosity.
“Because I crave it,” Tony yelled at Jeremiah in anger. “I can smell it. You all reek of blood.”
Jeremiah, Ben and Charlie made startled movements back in response to the fury in Tony's outburst. They did not know what to say in response and stood silent while Tony ate. It was about a minute later when Tony put the last bit of raw meat into his mouth and pushed the foam tray away. He took several more seconds to consume the meat and then sat back in his chair and looked up at Jeremiah, Charlie and Ben.
“Things are going to change, starting today,” Tony announced with enthusiasm.
“Like what, Tony,” Jeremiah asked hesitantly.
“We're going into the cocaine business,” Tony declared.
Charlie and Ben were surprised by that announcement. It alarmed jeremiah, and he promptly began to speak his mind.
“Cocaine?” Jeremiah questioned with a startled inflection. “Cocaine comes with a whole new set of risks.”
“We will deal with the risks,” Tony quickly countered.
“Trafficking in cocaine is a big jump up from making Ecstasy in a basement,” Jeremiah scolded. “You're talking about muscling in on territories controlled by powerful drug lords, and we won't be able to hide from them once we start selling. And the cartel that we buy from will talk. These are some heavy weight mobsters that we’ll be pissing off.”
“We're the new heavy weights,” Tony bellowed with defiance. “If they're not us, then they're middleweights at best.”
Tony knew that the police would be the least of their troubles. They would have to muscle their way into markets controlled by organized criminals.
“I'm going to need that building you're renovating,” Tony continued with insistence.
Jeremiah was surprised by Tony’s declaration. He had no doubt that Tony was talking about the commercial building that he was restoring. His plan was to sell the building for a hefty profit after the restoration. The four-story building had a retail area on the first level, apartments on the second and third levels, and a basement. It was a large investment that Jeremiah wanted to protect. The idea of sacrificing it for one of Tony's schemes conflicted with Jeremiah's money-grubbing nature.
“It's temporary,” Tony quickly added, anticipating Jeremiah's concern, “a couple of weeks at the most.”
“Why my building?” Jeremiah protested. “Why not your shop?”
“Because my name could be hot,” Tony growled back. “But nobody knows about you.”
Jeremiah grudgingly acquiesced when it became obvious that Tony was not going to change his mind. His decision was helped by the knowledge that he could survive a two week pause in the work. He was not convinced that a transition into selling cocaine in or near New York City was a smart idea, especially for him. Jeremiah had seen Tony come up with bad ideas before, and he watched them fade out when the facts and figures were laid out in front of him. Jeremiah suspected and hoped that this plan would die the same death.
Jeremiah had spent the whole of his criminal life in Tony’s shadow. He was content with being an aid and resource for many of Tony’s smaller criminal schemes. From his perspective, Tony was a way of getting money quick, easy and tax free. His great concern with this new plan was that he would not be able to remain anonymous. He knew that dealing in cocaine would attract attention from other organized criminal entities and the law enforcement community. He knew that there would be no hiding from either of these groups and that the likelihood of legal and/or violent consequences would be near to 100%. Jeremiah’s preference when it came to crime was to keep it too small to be noticed and to use the money accrued from it to boost his legal enterprises.
“Stop worrying,” Tony continued after a pause. “We’re going to own this city,” he finished with a sinister smile.
“Okay, Tony,” Jeremiah consented with a slightly downtrodden nod.
Jeremiah was not prepared to argue with Tony while he was in this state of mind, and even more so now that he was a vampire. The fact that Tony’s mind was so set on this path was intimidating to Jeremiah, but Charlie and Ben were mildly excited by the plan. Tony was elevated to near superhuman status in their minds. They were eager to rise with him, and they believed that Tony was going to do what he said.
“You two,” Tony called with a look toward Charlie and Ben. “I want you to get Mickey and I want you to set up a meeting with a representative of the Sinaloa Cartel to make a buy. I don't want any of the local crime bosses to know about this. …you understand? Tell Mickey that and tell him the sooner the better.”
Charlie and Ben hesitated to move. They were waiting for Tony to give them further instructions. Setting up a meeting with a drug cartel representative was a task unlike any that Tony had given them before. In the past, when they were not working as mechanics in Tony’s garage, their duties were collections and enforcement. Negotiating a meeting with a drug cartel representative was way outside of their comfort zone.
“Get out of here,” Tony ordered when Charlie and Ben hesitated a little too long.
Tony watched and listened as Charlie and Ben hurried out of the kitchen and then out of the house. He knew that he had given Charlie and Ben a task that was almost as daunting for them as his kill order on NYPD Detective Cassidy Tremaine had been for them a month earlier. The difference in this situation was that he knew this task would be easy enough to complete with Mickey Nevers’ help.
Mickey Nevers was a drug dealer that Tony frequently used to sell the Ecstasy that he produced. That kind of association was not unique to Mickey. Tony used many dealers to sell his drugs, but Mickey had a use beyond his clientele list. Mickey knew lots of key people in the illegal drug trade. In the past, Tony went to Mickey to learn the news on the street and the truth behind the news. Tony had no doubt that Mickey would steer Charlie and Ben to someone with a stand-alone connection to the Sinaloa Cartel.
When Tony ordered Charlie and Ben off, there was no anger behind his words. He was simply impatient to get things going. Muscling in on the cocaine trade in New York City was a big part of his plan, but there was nothing so urgent that required them to race out of the house. Tony's impatience was due to a need to get Jeremiah fully onboard with his plan.
“I need you behind me on this, Jerry,” Tony declared as he rose from his chair and stepped away from the table.
Jeremiah denoted no menace in Tony's words or movement. He knew from long experience that Tony compartmentalized information that he shared with his associates. He suspected that Tony was about to speak to him about things he did not want to share with Charlie and Ben, and he had no doubt that he was going to use that information to get him fully onboard with his plan.
“You're talking about going up against some heavyweight crime bosses,” Jeremiah softly disputed. “They're not going to stand by and do nothing while you push cocaine on their turf.”
“I'm the heavyweight here,” Tony calmly countered with a step toward Jeremiah. “I'm the big dog. When I'm done—when we're done, we're going to own this city,” he finished with insistence.
“Tony, we've been together for a long time,” Jeremiah nearly pleaded. “I've always had your back. I've worked the numbers for you; I've made investments in your ventures. When we were kids, we boosted cars together, but we were always too small to attract any heavyweight attention. When you stand out, everybody comes after you. We always knew that. Going into the cocaine business in New York is going to make us stand out big, Tony. There's no hiding from that.”
“We're not hiding, not anymore,” Tony spoke with finality. “Everything has changed, Jerry. Can't you see it? We're on the ground floor of something big—huge. This is the opportunity of a lifetime. Hell, this is the opportunity of a thousand lifetimes. We can't stand back and squander it. We have to act, and we have to act now.”
Jeremiah thought that Tony was drunk with delusions of grandeur. Up until now, he was reluctant to challenge the state of Tony's mind, but he was beginning to see that reason was not going to work.
“You're not a god, Tony,” Jeremiah harshly emphasized. “You CAN be killed; you do know that? This is a bad plan, and you're letting this… condition you have warp your thinking.”
To Jeremiah's surprise, Tony was clearly amused. A smile of satisfaction widened across Tony's face and lingered as Tony took two steps forward.
“I am a god,” Tony whispered from two feet away. “And you can be one too.”
Now Jeremiah was frightened. He froze and stared at Tony for a moment, hoping to see that Tony was not planning to do what he feared. Jeremiah attempted to take a step back, but Tony quickly grabbed him by his shoulders and pulled him to within inches of his face.
“Don’t do this, Tony,” Jeremiah begged.
“I need you all-in on this, Jerry,” Tony insisted with an intense stare. “We’re a team.”
Jeremiah paused just long enough to watch Tony’s canines grow into fangs.
“Tony,” Jeremiah huffed in terror. “You can’t do this. You… you… you don’t know how.”
“Let’s find out,” Tony returned with a maniacal smile.
Instantly, Tony grabbed Jeremiah’s head and pulled it to one side. He sank his top fangs into Jeremiah’s neck as deep as they would go. With his lips pressed against Jeremiah’s neck, Tony began to suck the blood that was seeping from the wounds. At first, Jeremiah struggle against Tony’s assault. A minute later, his body began involuntarily shaking as his consciousness started to fade. Nearly a minute later, Jeremiah’s body went limp. Tony continued to suck the blood out of the wounds inflicted by his fangs. Blood drooled out from under his lips and streaked down Jeremiah’s neck. Tony was more than two minutes into his feed when he heard Jeremiah’s last heartbeat. He was more than three minutes in when he discontinued his feed and dropped Jeremiah’s body to the floor. With his arms stretched out wide and his head titled up toward the ceiling, Tony began growling with satisfaction. Jeremiah’s blood was the fuel that his body craved. The rush of energy and vitality had him in an instant state of euphoria. Several seconds later, he looked down at Jeremiah as though he had forgotten something, he then knelt beside Jeremiah’s body and pulled his head up into his lap. Tony bit into the fleshy part of his own palm until blood oozed out of the wounds. He then pulled Jeremiah’s head back so that the blood could drip into his mouth. He allowed this to go on for several seconds, and then he scooped Jeremiah up into his arms and carried him off to his bedroom.
~~~~~Line Break~~~~~
It was Saturday night at The Cavern, and the club was at the height of its festivities when the vampires Adrianna (Brooke Chapman) and Sorin (Ronald Hollis) strolled into the main room. They were well groomed and elegantly attired without being conservative. Several steps into the room, they stopped to look over the crowd of people inside. They noted that booth three was empty and roped off with a reserve sign attached; this was as they expected. Booth three was reserved for them. A waitress saw them and offered to bring them their usual order: a sushi combo platter and sparkling water. Brooke and Ronald declined for the present and asked if they could speak with the manager first. The waitress agreed to check and then called into the manager’s office from the phone at the bar. She got a quick reply of yes before leading Brooke and Ronald to the door of the manager’s office.
“Come in,” David Burrell called out in response to the soft rap at his door.
The door opened and the waitress stepped in followed by Brooke and Ronald. David (Cristiãn) thanked his waitress, and she promptly left the office closing the door behind her.
“I hope we haven’t kept everyone waiting,” Ronald announced with overstated gentility.
“No more than usual,” David (Cristiãn) returned with a hint of sarcasm. “Have a seat.”
Seated in front of David’s (Cristiãn) desk were Alexandra Hays and Ryan Sandoval. Two additional chairs were positioned alongside the chairs that Alexandra and Ryan were sitting in. David (Cristiãn) was sitting behind the desk with his arms crossed.
“And we're all here,” Ronald tossed out as he and Brooke moved toward the open seats.
“Everyone except Stefan and Helga,” David (Cristiãn) returned with a cold edge.
There was a moment of silence after David’s remark (Cristiãn). Everyone seated in front of David deferred to each other a response.
“Well, I'm sure they would have come if you had invited them.” Ronald mischievously returned.
“What are they doing in New York?” David (Cristiãn) asked in a commanding tone.
Once again, there was a pause as the four seated in front of David (Cristiãn) waited for someone to reply.
“They're just checking up on things here, Cristiãn,” Brooke finally responded in exasperation. “There's nothing sinister about it.”
“If there was nothing sinister going on, then you would have told me that they were coming,” David (Cristiãn) hastily disputed.
“We didn't know they were coming,” Ronald argued back. “It was just as much of a surprise to us as it was to you, Cristiãn.”
“Is that true?” David (Cristiãn) questioned, looking toward Ryan and Alexandra.
“We didn't know anything until they showed up at our door,” Alexandra eagerly returned. “Honest.”
In support of Alexandra, Ryan shrugged and said, “they just appeared.”
Ryan and Alexandra were vampires too, and like David (Cristiãn), Sorin (Ronald) and Adrianna (Brooke), they were all more than two-thousand-years-old. The five of them were denizens of the territory that was known as Dacia when most of Europe was under the rule of the Roman Empire. During that time, Ryan and Alexandra went by the names Radu and Flavia.
“There has to be more to it,” David (Cristiãn) pondered aloud after a moment of thought. “All they had to do was call if they just wanted an update.”
Silence was the reaction from the other side of the desk; David (Cristiãn) used the time to rethink the situation.
“What did they ask you about?” David (Cristiãn) suddenly queried his guests.
Again, all four were hesitant to speak.
“They wanted to know about you and Cassidy,” Brooke finally spoke up.
“What about me and Cassidy?” David (Cristiãn) challenged back.
“They just wanted to know how you and Cassidy were getting along, that's all,” Ronald defensively assured. “I think they want to know that you're in control of things.”
Ryan and Alexandra nodded their agreements with Ronald.
“What did you tell them?” David (Cristiãn) asked back.
“Nothing, Cristiãn,” Brooke answered sharply. “What could we tell them? You don't tell us anything. Hell, I had to hear it from Cassidy that the last time you saw each other was more than a month ago.”
David (Cristiãn) was alarmed to hear that Brooke had spoken with Cassidy, and he instantly tightened his focus on her.
“You spoke with Cassidy?” David (Cristiãn) quickly asked.
“We saw her a few days ago at the medal ceremony,” Brooke grudgingly confessed with a nod toward Ronald.
“Why did you do that?” David (Cristiãn) sharply asked with a scowl.
“Stefan told us to do it,” Ronald answered flatly.
Ronald's answer astounded David (Cristiãn) momentarily. He then looked to Ryan and Alexandra for confirmation that they too were given the same instruction.
“Yeah,” Ryan concurred with a nod.
Alexandra smiled as she answered, briskly nodding her head.
“No,” David (Cristiãn) gruffly commanded. “You can't do that. Cassidy will…”
“Don't worry, Cristiãn,” Brooke calmly interrupted. “We're under orders not to do anything to her.”
“That's right, Cristiãn,” Alexandra excitedly supported. “Stefan just wants us to talk to her a little bit.”
David (Cristiãn) took a moment to huff his displeasure.
“Cassidy won't like it, and there's no telling where it might lead.”
“Relax, Cristiãn,” Brooke countered with a hint of exasperation. “I just asked her for some help with a problem. It's no big deal. She'll survive. Besides, if you and Detective Tremaine were on speaking terms, I wouldn't have needed to approach her at all. We would have you for information on everything Cassidy Tremaine.”
David (Cristiãn) was miffed by Brooke's rebuff, but he could think of no reasonable counter argument. He knew that his tacit vampire siblings were going to keep an eye on Cassidy with or without his help.
“What did you ask her to do?” David (Cristiãn) passively asked at the end of his deliberation.
“I asked her to get me out of a jury summons,” Brooke coolly replied.
“Really?” Alexandra excitedly interjected. “Are you going to do it?”
“No, Flavia,” Brooke quickly answered with an annoyed inflection. “I'm just giving Cassidy a chance to take care of it for me.”
“Wow!” Alexandra exclaimed with a wide smile. “So, she's doing it?”
“We'll see,” Brooke answered with indifference.
David (Cristiãn) passively listened to Brooke and Alexandra's exchange up until now. Disinterest caused him to shake it off in favor of his main concern.
“So, there's nothing else going on?” David (Cristiãn) asked his guests with an intonation of frustration.
“No, nothing,” Ryan spoke in response to a look from David (Cristiãn).
David (Cristiãn) turned his eyes toward Ronald.
“No, Cristiãn,” Ronald answered with finality, “or at least nothing that was said to us.”
David (Cristiãn) sat back in his chair and began reviewing all that he had just learned. He suspected the answers he just heard were truthful, but he also believed that Ronald's answer was an indicator that he too believed there was something more behind Stefan and Helga's visit. It made sense to David (Cristiãn) that Stefan would not share his true intentions with the four of them if he wanted to keep it a secret from him or Cassidy.
“Can we go now?” Brooke asked with a sigh.
“Yeah,” David (Cristiãn) returned with resignation.
David’s (Cristiãn) four guests promptly got up and started for the door.
“Enjoy the festivities,” David (Cristiãn) sarcastically called out just as Ryan opened the office door.
Alexandra stopped and turned back toward David (Cristiãn) before cheerfully responding with, “We always do.”
ns216.73.216.13da2
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