Bitemarks 3.6

Bitemarks 3.6

Beauclair stared at Ed's cage then clambered over to him and gripped the bars. He pulled and strained against the alloy.
"What's going on?" asked Ed.
"There is... no time." said Beauclair, tugging with all his might, "They will come round... soon."
"They're not dead?"
"Dead? No... unconscious..." Beauclair gave up tugging on the bars. They had bent only slightly. He dived back out of the truck and returned a minute or two later with a set of keys in his hands. He tried the lock on the cage until he found the key that opened it. Ed raised his hands, showing the cuffs and Beauclair tried the keys on those too and found one that fit. Uncaged and unshackled Ed followed Beauclair from the vehicle.
"Follow me." said the vampire and led Ed off to the right of the truck. They scrambled up the embankment to where the road curled back on itself up above. There waiting was a red sports car. Ed turned back to look over the scene. The sun was already rising and bathed the smashed truck in a warm glow that contrasted sharply with the crushed front end and the heavy tree trunk it had struck. Beauclair fished another pair of keys from his pocket and tossed them to Ed.
"You drive." he said, opening the rear door and sliding himself onto the backseat. Ed didn't need telling twice. He yanked the driver door open, got in and fired up the engine.

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Skarletta yawned. She'd been sitting in the car for way too long waiting for the owner to show up and open his shop. She checked the clock on the dashboard. Any minute now. As if by magic, the shopkeeper appeared and raised up the shutters on the door. As he unlocked the door itself Skarletta made her move. In mere seconds she was out of the car, across the pavement and pushing the shopkeeper roughly inside the building. He tumbled into a heap on the floor and Skarletta thrust the Thrall upon him.
"Keys." she demanded and he handed them over.
Skarletta pulled the shutters back down and locked the door from the inside. That done she released the wretched creature from the Thrall. She couldn't afford to expend too much power so quickly. Back in control of his own mind the shopkeeper scrambled to his feet, fear evident upon his face.
"What the..."
Skarletta grabbed him by the throat in a grip that ensured he wouldn't dare fight back and stared deep into his panicked eyes.
"If you wish to remain alive you will answer my questions and do so truthfully." she said, giving him a few seconds to let the message sink in. She gave an extra squeeze, just to re-enforce her point. The man nodded gingerly.
"I..." he began.
"Irrelevant." said Skarletta. She pulled a piece of paper from her pocket. The scanned page of Karal text David had printed off.
"This writing. It's from a book you sold. You remember that book?"
The man gulped and nodded. The fear had made his breath grow ragged and his lips were dry. Skarletta loosened her grip a little. "Who did you sell it to?"
"A foreigner." gasped the man, "I don't remember the details."
Skarletta squeezed again.
"I have it stored on the computer." he squealed. "I'll show you, I'll show you. Please don't kill me."
Skarletta let go and the man fell to the floor once again. He scrabbled a few feet away and stood up.
"Show me." said Skarletta. "And I warn you. One stupid move and I can kill you in a second." To make sure he understood she took a step over to the shop counter and picked up the phone upon it. She held the handset in one hand and crushed it into pieces. The shopkeeper nodded. He got the message. He moved over to the computer and switched it on, looking nervously as Skarletta came up behind him to look at the screen. The operating system booted up and prompted him for a password. He tapped it in and waited for the desktop to load.
"What are you...?" he asked tentatively.
Skarletta gave a wry grin.
"That isn't important."
The man looked back to the computer screen and clicked the mouse.
"Just a sec." He said, clicking through a few folders until he found the file he wanted. "Here, here it is."
Skarletta pushed him back, away from the screen and looked.
"This man bought both books?" she asked.
"Yes and other related artefacts."
"That's his current address?"
"I... I don't know. It's the address he gave. I sent the books there."
Skarletta closed the file and the folders.
"That will suffice." she said, turning back to face the man.
"I did what you asked." he said, trying to edge away from her.
"And I promised you would live." she said. Her hand shot up again but this time not to grab his throat. It was a punch and a solid one at that, colliding neatly with his temple. If she had wanted she could have killed him with the blow but that was not her intention. She caught him by the neck of his shirt as his legs gave way and tilted his head to one side, exposing the bare skin of his neck. Her fangs shot down from their sheaths and she opened her mouth wide and then clamped down...