11: Adjustment
As Carl walked up to the mansion, the dark shadow that had been following Carl was pulling out his phone when another dark shadow crashed into him, sending him sprawling into the ground. Carl climbed over the fence not knowing this and made his way to the entrance and walked inside where a considerably pissed off Laura was sitting in a large regal looking chair in the front room. "Carl, where were you?" asked Laura in a demanding tone.
"I'm sorry Laura, but I had to see Joy. I needed to speak to her," Carl told her.
"Did you know that you were being followed?" asked Laura angrily
Carl's eyebrows raised in surprise as he said "No...I didn't. I'm really sorry, Laura,"
"Well, you had better not pull a stunt like that again. If you need to go out again Carl you need people to go with you. Your shadow could have taken you out at anytime he wanted. It's a good thing that Miranda still wants you alive," Laura said.
Carl became anxious as Laura continued to rage at him. "I am truly sorry, Laura. It won't happen again. I promise you that," Carl said.
"Good, make sure it stays that way, Carl," said Laura in a much more cool tone.
As Carl gratefully left the room, he passed Jake who said to him, "Don't worry Carl, we will make sure that Joy is safe. Laura has set up somebody to take over running your business. He's totally human and he's been given a message to give to Joy. He will watch her during the day,"
"Thanks for letting me know, Jake," said Carl as he passed.
Jake grimaced as he passed by and thought, 'Damn, completely human. Why did I say that? He's as human as I am,'
***
"Joy, you really need to go out for once, relax. You need it," Julie told her.
"I know, but there's just so much work to do. I'm still puzzled to as why he left me in charge," said Joy stressed.
"Because you work just as hard as he worked and he knew it. Come on and come relax with me. I have a day off tomorrow. I can come and help you work through this stuff if you'd like," Julie offered.
"Oh really?? That would be such a relief," said Joy as she dumped the entered customer forms into the filing cabinet.
"Come on, have a drink. Relax," Julie coaxed.
"Alright, I will," Joy agreed as she picked up her bag and locked the door to her office.
When she stepped outside and locked the office doors, two shadows in a black car looked up. One said "Jake, she's leaving."
"She's going somewhere. She might need our services tonight, Damien," Jake warned as he started the car and pulled out, following Joy and Julie to the near-by nightclub. As they got out and walked inside, Jake and Damien got out and followed them inside. Using their vampiric vision to track them, they settled down at a dark table at the back of the club.
***
After they had a few drinks, Julie and Joy were laughing at some joke that Julie had told. Julie then suddenly turned to Joy and asked, "So, what is Carl like in bed,"
Joy spat her drink out all over the bar top and managed to reply with a "What??"
Julie smirked at her and said "Come on, Joy. I've seen the looks you give each other. It must be really hot sex,"
"Its...good," Joy told her, not really wanting to brag about her sort of dead boyfriend.
"Come on, Joy, spill. It must be more then just good," Julie needled.
"He's good in bed and that's all I'm going to say," Joy says.
"Wow, he must be great in bed if you don't want to spill the beans," Julie said as Joy blushed.
After a little more time chatting, Joy looked at her watch and said, "Sorry, Julie. It's getting late and I need to go home to get some sleep,"
"Ok, sure. See you tomorrow," Julie replied as she turned to the crowd, checking out the men.
As Jake and Damien followed Joy from the club, when they noticed that two shapes had attached themselves to Joy, following her away from the club.
"Looks like she does need our services tonight. Ready, Jake?" asked Damien
"Yeah. Let's do this so she doesn't know we are here," Jake said.
"Yeah, that would be best," Damien said as they trailed the vampires that were following Joy.
They used their enhanced hearing to listen in on the vampires who were following her.
"Remember Markus wants Joy alive, Markoi," said one vampire in a Russian accent.
"Yes, I know, Vladmir. You don't have to keep repeating yourself," said Markoi in the same Russian accent.
They followed her down a narrow alley, still not aware that they were being followed.
Jake motioned to the roof of the buildings on the alley. Damien nodded and jumped up onto the roof silently. Jake also made the jump silently. They began to creep along the roofs of the buildings lining the alleyway, until they noticed that the vamps were getting ready to make their move.
Damien jumped off the roof and landed onto Vladmir, snapping his neck before he could react. Jake used the distraction Damien created and jumped onto Markoi, snapping his neck. When Vladmir began to stir, Damien smashed his fist into his chest impaling his heart with rib bones. Vladmir's eyes blazed open as he exploded and turned to ash. Jake copied this action rendering Markoi to dust.
Joy thought she heard a noise, but when she turned she saw nothing. She shrugged her shoulders and continued on, exiting the alleyway and got into a cab.
