Chapter Twenty-Six
This was a good break. Better than they could have expected or hoped for. William and Michael followed the two hotshot police dicks from the station house in Brentwood. They stayed a reasonable distance back in their van. The brothers didn't particularly care if they lost them. They knew which hotel they were staying at. They knew how to find them.
They even knew their names.
Kyle Craig, FBI. A DIC from Quantico. A'big case' man. One of the Bureau's best.
Alex Cross, Washington PD. Forensic psychologist to the stars.
There was a saying that William wanted to whisper in their ears: If you hunt for the vampire, the vampire will hunt for you.
That was the truth, but it also sounded too much like a rule. William f*cking hated rules. Rules made you predictable, less of an individual. Rules made you less free, less authentic, less yourself. And in the end, rules could get you caught.
William touched down lightly, tentatively, on the van's brake pedal. Maybe they shouldn't hunt the two cops down, then kill them like dogs, he was thinking. Maybe they had better things to do while they were in LA.
There was a special place here where he and Michael often went. It was called the Church of the Vampire, and it was for those who were'searching for the Dragon within'. It actually was a church: vast, high-ceilinged rooms rilled with funky old Victorian furniture, elaborate golden candelabras, human skulls and other bones, tapestries that portrayed stories of famous old blood seekers. The usual dreaded role-players came to the Church, but so did real vampires. Like William and Michael.
Exciting, very exotic, sado-erotic things happened inside the Church of the Vampire. Excruciating pain was transformed into ecstasy. William remembered his last visit, and it sent electricity shooting through his body. He had found a blond boy of seventeen. An angel, a prince. The boy was dressed all in black that night; he even had black eye contacts, absolutely gorgeous from every angle. To show William that he was a real vampire, the darling boy had punctured his own carotid artery and then drunk his own blood. Then he had asked William to drink, to be one with him. When he and Michael had hung the boy to drain him completely, it was out of love and adoration of the angel's perfect body. They were merely fulfilling their nature - to be sado-erotic.
William came out of his delicious reverie as the two cops entered a bar called The Knoll. It was just off Sunset Boulevard. Very mundane, a nothing spot. Perfect for the two of them.
'They're going drinking together,' William said to Michael. 'Cop camaraderie.'
Michael snickered and rolled his eyes. "They're just two old men. They're harmless. Toothless,' he said, and laughed at his joke.
William watched Alex Cross and Kyle Craig disappear inside.'No,' he finally spoke again. 'Let's be careful with them. One of them is extremely dangerous. I can feel his energy.'