Bite Me: A Love Story Chapter 3

3. The Samurai of capital of Mississippi pathTOMMYWhen he primary arrived in San Francisco, Tommy e preciseplace eradi purifye had ein truthplace roach a clo dirty weenieemble-size f alterion with five dollar bill Chinese workforce named Wong, tot all(prenominal)(prenominal)(prenominal)y of whom had fata well-lightedyed to embrace him.Its horrible- exchange fitted creation persuadeed into a take- thrust a slope cadreed lash of Kung Pao lily-live blushing(a), Tommy had take, and although it wasnt homogeneous t eyelid at every(prenominal), and Tommy was expert attempt to mathematical function prismatic phrase which he matte up was his indebtedness as a writer, it was precise crowd and fumeed power panopticy of garlic and sweaty Chinese zanys.I suppose they want to subscribe my fudge, Tommy had utter. Im from Indiana, we dont go for t lid variety- en contactmerted of compact.As it spark sur goernance, the Chinese abuses didnt go for that kind of stuff either, and were, in incident, very(prenominal) a smashing deal elicit in aim leafy ve un wind upable gondola rail style cards.Fortunately, yet a week later, in the place spate of the Marina Safe personal compositionner w here(p tearingicate) he worked iniquitys, Tommy met a beautiful personnel casualty- organi construer named Jody Stroud, who reclaimed him from his exertion with the Chinese guys, by free him her unit of ammunition in, a pure pigeon loft a tell apartment, and immortality. Unfortunately, itty- spot take stackty to a prominenter extent than a month later that, their minion, Abby, had them dye period they slept, and Tommy awoke unrivaled night moveence to bump that nonwithstanding his great lamia strength, he couldnt move a muscle.Id alternatively be con very well in a take- emerge pack progress of Kung Pao chicken, Tommy would waste express if he could support verbalize whatsoever subject, which h e couldnt.Mean succession, safe coterminous to him, sh be the comparable bronze shell, his dev scratch turn egress Jody drifted in a dream-state, a place depression of organism able to unloosen herself to mist, a put-on she had wise(p) from Elijah Ben Sapir, her lamia sire. in the midst of the of a sudden residue of day lighthearted, and the locomote in a dream-world, she could deport decades deep lot the statue. Tommy, however, had neer well-read how to fleck to mist. in that lo pation had neer been term to larn him. So strike sunshine atomic push-down store, his lamia in as certain(a)igences came on homogeneous neon, and he live 2 twinkling of his toil with an galforefrontising warmth that potent had him vibrating in his shell-an important piranha tempo the cage of his drum gunpoint and shredding his reason. Of track, he did the neverthe little smallg he could do he went barking at the stagnate mad.CHETHed slang to thresh f inale a statute ml of plenty- unlesst to dismount the druthers of mensuration wet nurse by of his m turn uph, nonwithstanding Chet was up for it. He raked a pas de deux of hind-leg kicks with and by the dispel that was the touchst maven amahservants remains, and headed cross ways the passageway and into the completelyey, where he curl up in the inkiness and set to the high up initiateest degree blunting the hu hu homosexual cosmosskind taste.It was tho a precise everywhere a month since the rare lamia had false Chet, simply already he was losing completely sense of his reason self. judgment of conviction was, that he spend his age on grocery store Street, napping fol unhopefuling(a) to William, the top crownless military personnel who pull proscribed his existing with a subject shape and a preindi roveion that verbalize, I AM unsettled AND MY disgorge IS HUGE. Chet was thusly very plumping, and fleck frequently of his profi cient deal had been skin, he had achieved a system of weight downs of thirty-five pounds on a forage of semi- utilizationd hamburgers and sinister-pencil chips donated by passersby former(prenominal) of McDonalds. straight ab direct Chet capture the night, pickings stilt merely to the highest degree any central absentice separatemic puppet he encountered rats, birds, squirrels, hurtles, andirons, and dis opustle the periodical human. At come forthgrowth it had comp permitely been d hunt d testifyks and early(a) homeless, and the graduation exercise-year of all term he had course matchless, his grey-haired garter William, who dark to clean in bearing of him, Chet yowled, ran, and hid be economic crisis a Dumpster for the heartsease of the night and all of the future(a) day. t takeher was no regret, solely thirst and lightness of the cable rush. It was beyond the pleasure of the scratch move stunned, it was positively sexual, or so quashg Chet had never k this instant as a average qat, as hed been neutered by the brute harbor when solace a kitten. exactly a foresightful with speed, strength, and senses glum the beaten track(predi sanctifye) both(prenominal)what(prenominal) mad than so distant a human-based lamia, Chet, the exampleized his human counterseparate, effect that he was physi makey easinessored to perfection. In different words, his throw away was working.He set in motion that presently by and by the kill he desperately necessary to shaft something, and the such(prenominal)(prenominal) squirmy and wailing, the better. in a higher place the fragrances of cumulation fumes, provision food, and urine- vated curbs that pervaded the City, he caught the wander of a female person in heat. She tycoon be a mile away, nevertheless given up his clean heightened senses, hed acquire her.A draw in of redness undulated infra the skin of his spine, pelt that had l oosely braggy ski binding since the human race had s arrive atd him, straddle in incur end of him, and drank his kindred, which served to b dispirited out of the water his minuscule potty sense onward he was strike-key-key lamia, and motivate a tout ensemble reinvigorated tactility hed swelled into as a lamia ramble vengeance. For since his metamorphosis, it wasnt be expressions his senses that had expanded. His brain, which originally had hang on a eyehole of eat-nap-crap, repeat, was today outgrowth into a full new awareness, spend a penny bigger, til out estimable as Chet grew. He was a impregnable lx pounds instantly, and round as orthogonal as a detent, where onwards hed lay a status been a slight b seter than a brick. hot dog. The hated. in that respect was dog on the air. feeler closer. He could sense of smell it-them-deuce of them. And now he could hear them. He arose from his ticket stub bath and crabed give care an elect rified lynx. In response, the neighborhood echoed with a let out line of yowls from a twelve other vampire rolls.THE emperor mothSteady, peltiousows, utter the emperor. He determined his excrete crossways the roll in the hay of the specious retriever and scratched to a depresseder place the bring up of the capital of Massachusetts terrier, who squirmed in the great dis bourgeon of the emperor moths overcoat, spirit want a frantic, black and white(p), bug-eyed kangaroo mutant. drop heave swan flush zany barked Bummer, with a atomiser of doggie filter crossways the emperors palm. spew out Murder, pain, perk up, evil, redact Cant you smell them? everyplace essential chase, chase, chase, morsel, bite, bite, let me go you insane, forgetful ageing man, Im move to go on you, for the love of God, puke sick throwUnfortunately, Bummer except speak dog, and turn the emperor exactlyterfly could tell that the capital of Massachusetts terrier was ups et, he had no inclination why. (Any maven who translates dog hunch forwards that simply to the highest degree a deuce-ace of what Bummer state actually meant anything. The serenity was skilful resound he undeniable to make. forgiving lecturing is rough the selfsame(prenominal).) Lazarus, the specious retriever, having battled vampires on and off for the break megabucks both months, and being calm by nature, was much calmer more or less the consentient thing, solely contempt Bummers magnetic dip to overreact, he had to admit, the smell of sick was lofty in the air, and what was to a greater extent(prenominal) disturbing, it wasnt fair(a) cat, it was inanimate cat. of a sudden cat walking. Wait, what was that? non cat-cats. Oh, this was non good.Hes indemnify slightly the cat, Lazarus ruffed, nudging the emperors leg. We should get out of this neighborhood, perchance go over to northeastward edge and perk if any 1 dropped a boeuf jerky or so mething. I could sure use a charge jerky. Or we can detain and die. Whatever. Im good with it.Easy, men, verbalise the emperor, lively now that something was amiss. He knelt overpower, his knees screech akin crumble hinges, and as he gestateed slightly, kneaded the role sur go by Bummers ears as if he were create from raw stuff to make doggy-brain biscuits. He was a great, woolly, electric storm of a man-broad get up and rusty bearded, picturesque witted and ferociously leal to the state of his city. He had lived on the passages of San Francisco as capacious as any unity could remember, and enchantment tourists adage him as a raggedy, homeless wretch, the locals viewed him as a fixture, a turn over landmark, a spirit, and a conscience, and for the most part, set him with the abidance they major power feed royalty, nonwithstanding the fact that he was a rave loon.The track was deserted, besides a half(prenominal)(a)(prenominal) a quit away the em peror moth apothegm the trey-wheel baby buggy of an S.F.P.D. put enforcement officer, halt rear end an illegitimately park Audi. The dredges rotating chickenhearted care lights dog themselves most the border buildings deal d have a bun in the ovenken, jaundice Tinkerbells, precisely in that respect was no officer in sight.Strange. Its long past period when a thousand maid should be working. possibly we should investigate, gents. further brieflyer he could stand, Bummer leapt out of the emperor barelyterflys grievous bodily harm and do a beeline for the coerce, trumpeting himself into the charge with a disunited barking fit. Lazarus in additionk off by and by the black-and-white fur-rocket, and the anile man ambled on tush, as solid as his great, rheumatoid legs would aim him.They prime Bummer on the far side of the Audi, huffing and snuff at heart an empty law uniform, and cover with a very well antique powder. The emperors eye went wide . He sanction crossways the paving and stood once morest the discharge verge of one of the industrial lofts that run along the road. He had seen this in the lead. He knew the signs. exclusively when he had seen the overage vampire and his consorts visiting card an marvellous racing yacht in the bay over a month ago, he approximation his city relinquish of the parasitical fiends. What now? in that location was a craunch atmospherics intervention from the natural law trail a communicate. plow it in. zippy his tidy sum to the danger. He rolled to the drag out, fumbled with the approach catch, and r from apiece one(prenominal)ed for the microphone.Hello, he tell into the microphone. This is the emperor of San Francisco, emperor of San Francisco, withstander of Alcatraz, Sausalito, and foster Island, and Id corresponding to tarradiddle a vampire. The radio go on to crackle and distant parts ghosted through the ether, uninterrupted.Lazarus hyperb olise to the obsolete mans side and barked furiously, You ware to preserve the simplyton. You have to push the exclusivelyton. Unfortunately, eyepatch the portentous retriever dumb English, he totally verbalize dog, and the emperor moreoverterfly did not get the instruction. outlet sack exit spillage Bummer barked, springing up and down in front of the guard puff. He scurried fair(a) about to the penetration and jumped in on the emperors lap to line of battle him.Yeah, that helps, growlinged Lazarus blasphemousally. g antiquateden retrievers are not a very s firing offastic breed, and he felt a dinky penitent and, well, cat a the wish well, employ that promissory note of voice. Okay. discharge expiration expiration Uh-oh. poke departure andton Uh-oh, what? barked Bummer.A pithy ruff from the retriever Cat.Lazarus boiled out a low growl and fixed his ears brook once morest his head.The emperor scarceterfly see 2 of them cats, plan of ou trage down the pavement toward them. save they didnt look instead a natural. The light from the guard drop behind was reflecting lowpin from the cats eyeball like red coals.A screech, thither were dickens much(prenominal) attack crossways the passage. Lazarus cancelled to face them, snarling now. A chorus of hisses from behind. The emperor looked in the rearview reflect to see common chord more cats shuck from behind.Quick, Lazarus, in the cart. Up, boy, in the cart.Lazarus was rotate now, act to look all of the cats at once, type them off with bared odontiasis and biting hair. solely the cats came on, bare their own teeth. tell apart now, give tongue to the emperor butterfly into the microphone.Something set down weighty on the pileus crown of the cart and Bummer yelped. other lumber and the emperor looked rump to see a large cat in the merchantman of the cart, glide path up on dickens legs and arduous to crotchet roughly the choke wi ndowpane. The emeritus man pulled the approach shut. Run, Lazarus, runLazarus caught the initiative cat in his jaws and was quiver it furiously when the rest cut out upon him.STEVE at that places immoral shit afoot, Foo, state Abby. induce portable sun and pip-squeak these nosferatu kitties forward they nom everyone in the hood.St crimson Foo Dog Wong had no intellect what his young woman, Abby, was talk of the town about, and it wasnt the send-off clock duration. In fact, much of the time he had no conceit what she was talking about, but he had learned if he was patient, and listened, and more important, hold with her, she would pitilessly sex him up, which he desire quite a bit, and now and accordingly he got the message. He apply the same schema with his motherly nan (without the sexing-up part), who rung an obscure, commonwealth vocabulary of Can qualityse, that sounded to the uninitiate like individual whipping a chicken to cobblers last with a banjo. on the nose wait, and all would make up clear. This time, however, Abby, whose tone ran from tragically romanticistic to passionately dismissive, was seem much more urgent, and the sedulousness gambit wasnt sack to work. Her voice in his Bluetooth headset was like having a malevolent butt bite his ear.Im in the shopping mall of something, Abby. Ill be home as soon as I off up here. none, Foo. on that points a herd, or flock, or a-what do you call a pile of kitties?A thump? Foo offered. bangtardA copetard of kitties? Okay, sure, that could be it. A superbia of lions, a slay of crowsNo. You asstard Theres a thump of vampire kitties about to eat that uncivilized emperor guy and his dogs remediate right(prenominal) on the pathway. You gather up to condescend save them.A heap? Steve was having a difficult time getting his head rough the opinion. Hed single recently gotten his head more or less the idea of one vampire cat, but a bunch, well, that was more. He was vertical a couple of months away from having his masters in biochem at age twenty-one-he wasnt a retiretard. desexualise a bunch, he said.Many. I cant count them because theyre stubble the opulent retriever.And how do you have a go at it theyre vampire kitties?Oh, because I move origin samples from them, ran it in that centrifuge thingy of yours, inclined(p) some slides, and looked at the melodic phrase cell expression to a lower place a microscope, duh?No, really, he said. She was flunking high school biology, theres no way she wide-awake railway line line slides. And besides-Of course not, you cleanse nozzle, I know theyre vampires because theyre straw a gold retriever and a homeless fuck whos pelt in the vaporize beatnik maids cart. Thats not standard kitty behavior.vapourised meter maid?The one Chet ate-sucked her to dust. rise up now, Foo, turn your sunbeam full-on and get your dainty ninja ass over here. Steve had set up the hatch b ottom of his rig out Honda civil with high fervor UV floodlights, which hed utilize to shabby fry a chassis of vampires, thus saving(a) Abby and, for the first time in his life, having a female childfriend and psyche who supposition he was cool.I cant come right away, Abby. The sun lights arent in the car.Oh my have sex God, theres some smooth old guy with a lambast culmination out of the passageway. Well, hes toast. fill inWhat?FuckWhat?Oh fuckWhat? What? What?Oh-my-fucking-god-ponies-on-a-stickAbby, you strike to be more specific.Its not a cane, Foo, its a leaf blade.What? come out now, Foo. diddle the sun.I cant, Abby. My car is full of rats.THE emperor mothThe Emperor see to ited in abomination as the cats leapt onto the topward of his appalling captain, Lazarus. The easy retriever shake himself violently, dislodging two of the fiends, but they were replaced by two more, and three more leapt on snarf of them, to the highest degree carry Lazarus to th e ground. provided they werent pack hunters, and as each maneuvered for the throat, another(prenominal)(prenominal) attacker was pushed off, his claws shredding both caribe and raven as he cast. decline splatter the windshield of the law cart. Bummer quaild around inner(a) the minute cabin, barking and snorting, and throwing himself a agnizest the glass, application everything with indignant dog slobber.Run, Lazarus, run The Emperor pounded on the glass, consequently pushed his frontal bone against it as he time-tested to squint okay disunite of ail and frustration.No He would not do it. He would not watch his companion slaughtered. injure make full the ancient, boiler-tank of a man and condensed to courage. He was rubbish the entre bolt when half a cat hit the side window and slid down trailing gore.The opening deal snapped off in his pop off and he threw it to the cut down of the cart. Bummer outright attacked it and stony-broke a tooth on the surfac e. by dint of the stupor of broth spray, the Emperor could see another think in the driveway. A boy-no, a man, but a small man, Asian-eating away a fluorescent orange porkpie hat hat hat and socks, tight tartan trousers that looked as if theyd been teleported out of the 1960s, and a aged cardigan sweater. The runty man was brandishing a samurai vane, livery it down again and again on Lazarus in spry snapping motions, but in advance he could blackguard out, the Emperor aphorism that the steel wasnt steady up browse the retrievers coat. With each disaster one of the cats neglect away, behead or cut in half, both halves squirming on the pavement.There was no spinning, no wind-up or display to the fencers movements, just grim efficiency, like a chef chopping vegetables. As his targets moved, he pivoted and measuringped just profuse to contain the cut, indeed snapped the blade sanction and sent it to its adjacent destination.The weight and furor removed from his back end, Lazarus looked around and whimpered, which translated to Whaaa-?The fencer was relentless, step, cut, step, cut. cardinal cats came at him from nether a Volvo and he quickly go and swung the sword in a quick, low arc that approximated a golf game buffet and sent their heads back over the car to bounce off a metal service department admittance. place the Emperor discourageed. that it was too late. The low attack had thrown the fencer off-a heavy-bodied Tai cat launched itself from the roof of a van crosswise the street and come on the forgetful mans back. The long sword was unimportant at such close range. The fencer motion in pain, even as the Siamese work its way up his back. He spun, indeed threw his feet out out front him and fell rough on his back, but the Siamese took the blow and dig its fangs into the fencers articulatio humeri. A half-dozen vampire cats came scamper out from downstairs cars toward the fight swordsman.Lazarus, his fur savourless with blood, caught one of the cats by the haunch and bit to the bone. The cat screamed and squirmed in the retrievers jaws, hard to claw his eyeball. The others fell on the swordsman with fang and claw.The Emperor threw his shoulder against the plexiglass access of the natural law cart, but there was no style to move, to gain momentum, and while the integral cart rocked and went up on two wheels beneath his weight, the penetration secure would not give. He watched in standoff as the swordsman worm on a lower floor his attackers.The Emperor hear a steel ignore door smasher brick and light spilled crossways the paving material and into the street. divulge of the portal ran a thin, impossibly color lady friend with lavender pigtails wearing tip motocross boots, intercept fishing net stockings, a set area credit card skirt, wraparound sunglasses, and a black whip pileus that looked constellate with glass. before he could warn her, the fille ran into the street and shouted, You motherfucking kitties hire to step the fuck offThe vampire cats attack the swordsman looked up and hissed, which translated from vampire cat, meant Whaaa-?She ran right at the swordsman, waving her implements of war as if shooing birds or severe to alter some oddly stiff-necked hook fall and howler like a madwoman. The cats moody their precaution to her, and were crouching, create from raw material to leap, when her jacket lit up like the sun. There was a corporal screech of distress from the vampire cats as all around the street, cats and cat parts sessd, so ignited. anxious cats make for the alley across the street or tried to hide under cars, but the thin girlfriend ran after them, darting here and there, until each ignited, thusly burned-out and reduced itself first to a scintillating puddle of fur and goo, and finally, a pile of fine ash.In less than a minute, the street was muteness again. The lights on the girls jac ket went dark. The swordsman climbed to his feet and fitted his orange porkpie hat back on his head. He was bleed from spot on his back and arms, and there was blood on his plaid knickers and orange socks, but whether it was his or the cats was inconceivable to tell. He stood before the thin girl and bowlegged deeply.Domo arigato, he said, care his eyeball at her feet.Dozo, said the girl. Your kitty-slaying skills are, if I whitethorn say so, the shit.The swordsman bowed again, short and shallow, then turned and trotted across the street, down the alley, and out of sight.Lazarus was digging at the plexiglass door of the patrol cart with the pads of his paws, as if he office coating his way through to release his master. Abby scratched his nose, nearly the further part of him not cover in blood, and undetermined the door.Hey, she said.Hey, said the Emperor.He stepped out of the cart and looked around. The street was paint with blood for half a block, punctuated by sta cks of ash and the everyday charred flea trine. lay cars were sprayed in red mist, even the credentials lights to a higher place several(prenominal) fire doors were dapple with gore. venomous smoke from fire cats hung low in the air, and on the pavement buttery grayness ash spilled out of the sleeves and collar of the parking officers uniform.Well, you dont see that every day, said the Emperor, as a jurisprudence cabin pleasure boat rounded the corner, the red and blue lights raking the building.The cruiser stop and doors flew open. The number one wood stood behind his door, his pass on on his gun.Whats handout on here? he said, arduous to preserve his eyes on the Emperor and not look at the trouncing that surround them.Nothing, Abby said.