Companions Of The Night.
by Velde, Vivian Vande.
CHAPTER ONE.
WHEN IAN CAME into Kerry"s room to ask for a favor, it never occurred to her that her four-year-old brother could ask her to do something that might get her killed "What kind of favor^" she asked, sticking a finger in her book to keep her place It was almost eleven o"clock at night, her second period literature teacher had promised a test to- morrow. and she still had fifty pages to go. with the author seeming in no hurry to wrap things up "I left Footy at the laundry," tan said Footy was fan"s stuffed koala bear "lan," Kerry pointed out--the same thing she"d pointed out the instant he"d entered her room-"it"s the middle of the night- You"re supposed to be asleep in bed, I"m supposed to be asleep in bed. Dad is asleep . "
lan"s bottom lip began to tremble, and Kerry rested her forehead in her hand, "Don"t cry," she said Ever since Mom had left, Kerry couldn"t take it when lan cried- "Maybe you forgot him at Creg"s"-lan started shaking his head-"or in Daddy"s car?"
"No," lan said. "I was playing under the counter where you fold your stuff. You know the pink stripy one that doesn"t match the others?"
Kerry didn"t know, but she nodded to keep him going.
"I was using the laundry cart as a ton. i know that"s where I left him, under the pink stripy counter. Can"t you go and get him?"
Kerry shook her head. "I"ve only got a learner"s permit, so I"m not allowed to drive unless there"s somebody who hasa license with me," she explained. "I"d get in trouble with Dad and the police- Footy will be fine one night without you. It"ll be like a campout for him"
If lan had thrown a tantrum, he would have been easier to resist. But he stood there silently, tears running down his face Then, very quietly, he said, "It won"t be like a campout.
Somebody will steal him."
"lan, munchkin, the kind of people who go to laundries in the middle of the night are not the kind of people who steal ragged little koala bears."
"Footy"s not ragged," lan said, "And if it was Corny, you wouldn"t leave her."
Kerry looked to her dresser at the unicorn she"d had since she was two. Now that Kerry was sixteen, Corny rarely trav- eled farther than from the bed to the dresser, but lan had made his point. "All right, all right." Kerry took her finger out of the book. "But you stand by Daddy"s door and make sure you hear him snoring, or I"m not moving. And if Dad wakes up, tell him , . ," Tfll him what? What story would he possibly believe? And what am I doini) coaching a fow-year-old to lit7 Hadn"t there been enouifb lies in this family in the year before Mom mooed out? "Tell him I"ll be back soon," she finished, She shooed lan out of the room and pulled her jeans on, tucking in her IF IT"S MORNING DON"T TALK TO ME night- shirt. She"d be wearing her jacket, and anyway, she thought, if anybody stopped her, she was going to be in too much trouble to be embarra.s.sed by what she was wearing. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail without even checking in a mirror This was all her mother"s fault. They wouldn"t even have to go to the laundry if her mother hadn"t abandoned them, moving from Brockport, New York, to Somewhere-or-other, Florida, to study to be a private investigator-and only one postcard since. She had left the car because the man she went with had a better one, but she"d taken the washer and dryer,What kind of mother leaves her family. lettin
Stilt, once Kerry had tiptoed out of the house-and not counting the fear of getting stopped by the police-it seemed such a simple, safe little task FIVE MINUTES LATER, Kerry pulled up in front of the Quick- Clean Laundry The street was dark but not deserted Next door the Strand Theatre was all lit up. The movie must have just ended because there were people still coming out. Down the other way was a pizza place where the college kids hung out She could smell the tomato sauce and hear the music The laundry, of course, was always open. In a college town where half the kids lived off campus, there had to be a twenty-four-hour laundry Her dad hadn"t taught her parallel parking yet, and Kerry ended up a good three feet from the curb and overlapping two parking places That left half a s.p.a.ce behind her car before the comer, and a parking s.p.a.ce and a half before the last of the cars from the movie crowd, but she told herself she was only going to be here a sec and didn"t need to worry about getting ticketed As she opened the door, she was greeted by the smell of warm wet soap. All the lights were on-she"d seen that from the street because the place was half windows-but n.o.body was there Not even the little guy who ran the place, the one who made change and sold overpriced single-wash boxes of soap and fabric softener if you forgot to bring some from home, and yelled if he caught you leaving without cleaning out the lint tray Kerry had known that the little guy couldn"t be there all twenty-four hours that the place was open, but she was amazed there wasn"t somrbody around to make sure people didn"t come in and pry open the money boxes. She felt creepy being there all alone so late at night.Crab Footy. she thought, and then ^ri bomt. Fighting a yawn, she realized she was way too tired to tackle her literature project. She"d just have to bluff her way through the test.
She glanced around the shop and immediately identified the counter lan had been talking about. The counters were all white with gold speckles except that one, last remnant of a previous decor or an addition from somebody"s leftover something-or-other. She thought, Well. that was tasy.
Except, of course, Footy wasn"t there.
"Stupid bear," she muttered She crawled under the counter just to make sure. There was a paper pamphlet-probably one of the owner"s Bible tracts that he was always trying to pa.s.s out-and maybe Footy could be hidden behind it. The floor was gritty with spilled soap that stuck to the palms of her hands and, when she tried to wipe her hands clean, stung where she"d bitten the skin near her nails- She poked at the paper, wondering what the chances were of mice lurking around a place like this, No Footy, but at least no mice either. Only a razor blade, which someone had probably brought to open the boxes of detergent.
Ittiof Kerry thought at whoever had dropped it, remem- bering how lan had been crawling under here. Carefully she picked the blade up and backed out from underneath the counter Her good deed paid off, for it wasn"t until she put the razor down in the ashtray on the desk with the cash register that she noticed Footy sitting on top of the pile of religious pamphlets.
"You, mister," she said, picking up the bear and shaking a finger at him. Then she dropped her voice to a whisper because the only other sound was the hum of the fluorescent lights. "You are in deep trouble, and you"re grounded untilyou"re thirty-seven. Whatever that works out to in bear years"
She hadn"t even lowered her finger when the back door burst open.
The owner, Kerry thought as she whirled around to face whoever it was that was making such a commotion coming in. Mr. Quick-Clean. He must have stepped out to get a cup of coffee or a slice of pizza and then realized how long he"d left his place unattended.
As she turned, Footy smacked against the cash register and slipped from her fingers to the floor, instinctively Kerry bent down to pick him up, knowing, even as she shifted her balance, that this was the last thing she should do. She should call out "h.e.l.lo," step forward, let the owner see that she was here, look like a paying customer-or at least like someone who had a legitimate reason to be here and not like someone trying to hide or to break into the cash register.
But before she could straighten, she saw the people com- ing in through the door: four men, three of them dragging one who was-Kerry felt her heart stop, then start again at 3 frenzied pace-gagged and bloodied, with his hands tied behind his back.
Kerry dropped to her hands and knees under the desk.
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The prisoner tried to break away while their attention was diverted, but the man in front knocked him back so that his head cracked against the side of the tub- The third man reached over and grabbed hold of Kerry"s arm while the one with the rope returned to tying.
Still holding on to Footy, Kerry was dragged out from beneath the desk and hauled to her feet "She one of them?" one of the men asked. "Or Just a thief?"
"No," she whispered, unable to take her gaze off the young man, who looked on the verge of pa.s.sing out. They were going to kill him- And then they were going to kill her for seeing them kill him. "I- I- I-"
"Get the blinds down, you idiot," the other man said. "Do you want anyone pa.s.sing down Main Street to see what"s going on?"
"I-," Kerry said as, behind her, she heard the blinds crash down, one after the other, then the doors being locked, both front and back. "I-"
The one holding her pulled her in for a closer look. He was a black man, the only one of the group who was He was also about twice the size of anybody else there. Taller Broader, Kerry"s arm, even padded by her jacket, was lost in the ma.s.siveness of his hand. "She"s just a kid," the big guy said, which sounded encouraging, except for the fact that he was practically breaking her arm.
Kerry nodded emphatically.
"This other one"s barely more than a kid. They make "em when they"re still kids?"n.o.body said anything, and Kerry wasn"t sure what was the right answer She didn"t even understand the question No, she suspected Under the circ.u.mstances, no to everything except the suggestion that they send her home.
Before she could get her voice working again, one of the other two grabbed a handful of hair, and her head was forced around to face him "1 didn"t do anything," she managed, which seemed an even safer answer "Please don"t hurt me "
The black man, still holding her arm, used his free hand to feel over her arm Kerry felt her knees start to buckle Better lo be pa.s.sed out for this anyway, she thought But the man was moving down her arm, which was an unexpected direction, to her hand, which he jiggled as though to see how well it was attached Then he crunched her fingers together, but when she winced, he stopped "I don"t think she"s one of them," he said "I don"t think I"m one of them either," Kerry agreed "Shut up," said the man who was still holding her hair "Why are you here?" the third man asked, the one who"d been in charge of tying their prisoner And it was only when Kerry shifted her gaze to him that she recognized him the little guy who ran the place Mr Quick-Clean himself, who sat there all day reading the Bible and trying to get people to read his religious pamphlets "Why are you here?" he repeated, sounding even more menacing than before "I"m sorry," she whispered "I JUSI came to get my t.i.ttle brother"s bear" She tried to indicate Footy, but he was in the hand whose arm was being slowly pulled out of its socketFooty dropped and landed with a soft plop "You"ve seen me here before," she continued What"s he doing? she thought all the while Drug dealers and gang members don"t encourage people to read the Bible "You know me," she insisted "My name is Kerry Nowicki I come here with my father, Stephen, and my brother, lan My father always buys a helium balloon at the Lift Bridge Book Shop before we come here, and he ties it to lan"s wrist so that we don"t lose track of him because he"s shorter than the machines" She couldn"t tell from the man"s face whether he recognized her or not "We were in this evening after dinner lan forgot his bear under the counter near the door But you must have found him, or somebody did, because when 1 came in, he was up here by the cash register"
The man looked from her to the bear Finally, a.n.a.lly, he nodded "Yeah " He nodded again He told the others, They come in once or twice a week"
"Always after dinner?" asked the one with his hand still in her hair Whatever the significance of that question, the laundry owner looked straight into his eyes "No Sat.u.r.days, too, sometimes Sat.u.r.days, it"s mornings or afternoons "
The one loosened his grip on her arm, still holding on though she no longer had to stand on tiptoe, and the other let go of her hair entirely That one said, "Bad timing now, though"
You can say that again. Kerry thought Instead, he said, "She could"ve become one of them since last Sat.u.r.day "
Kerry"s heart sank at the look this possibility brought to the owners face"Maybe," he said "One way or the other," said the one who still had her arm, "we can"t let her go, not till this is over"
This" had to be their prisoner "This" probably meant killing him. She saw that he hadn"t lost consciousness after all She was tempted to promise that if they let her go she wouldn"t go to the police, she wouldn"t tell anybody what she"d seen But she couldn"t do that with him looking right at her And they wouldn"t believe her anyway "Don"t be afraid," the owner told her "Not if you"re what you say you are "
What? Kerry wanted to scream at him J hasn"t SAID I"m anything What do you THINK I am? But it was probably best not to say anything that might be construed as argument The owner said, "n.o.body wants to hurt you "
She had serious doubts about that, but she forced herself to nod "We"re just going to keep you here tilt morning Then we"ll bring you home ourselves "
"What are you going tp do to me between now and morning?" she asked, her voice quavering uncontrollably "Nothing," the owner a.s.sured her "Sit here quietly and don"t give us any trouble, and we won"t even have to tie you up "
Her voice got even more quavery as she looked at their prisoner "What are you going to do to him?"
The one who"d been pulling her hair answered, That"s none of your d.a.m.n business"
The owner gave him a be-quiet look To Kerry, he said,"If he behaves himself, we won"t lay a finger on him either"
"We won"t need to," the hair puller said "Let her go, Roth," the owner said to the man still holding her arm And slowly, as though ready to grab again if she even thought of trying to escape, the-big black man, Roth, loosened his grip.
"See," the owner said "We can be calm and reasonable Sit down"-she sat immediately, on the floor, right where
10.
she"d been standing-"don"t talk, don"t interfere There"s more to this than you could ever understand "
Kerry nodded She was sitting facing the young man There was a ghastly smear of blood on the floor where they had dragged him backward, indicating an injury to his leg, though she couldn"t see anything because he had his legs under him, which had to hurt And there was more blood mnning down the side of his face from a cut she could, thankfully, barely glimpse under his dark hair His eyes were blue-she"d noticed that when he"d first looked at her Dark hair, blue eyes, fair skin His coloring emphasized the redness of the blood that had spattered his white SUNY Brockport sweatshirt Of course, the shirt wasn"t proof that he actually went to the college But he looked like he might Probably a freshman-she guessed he wasn"t that much older than she, maybe nineteen, which would put him at about half the age of the two men Kerry had never seen before Roth, who looked like a football player, and the hair puller, who had the football jacket NEW YORK GIANTS, it read The laundry owner had to be in his fifties And none of them-none of them-fit Kerry"s picture of gang members or drug lords or international terroristsThe owner went to the pay phone on the wall behind the desk, where he dialed a number without having to look it up Whoever he was calling must have been asleep or away from the phone, for it took the interval of several rings before he said, "Marcia? Yeah We"ve got one of them At the laundry Ken"s dead I"ll explain later Marcia, there"s no time for that now Come around the back-the doors"re locked" There was a longer pause, during which Kerry thought she was going to faint from fear somebody was dead n already Then the owner sighed "Of all the Well, hurry up about it Yeah, I know" He hung up "What now?" the man named Roth asked "She needs to stop for batteries for the video camera"
"Dimwit" Roth said it with resigned lack of enthusiasm, as though they were used to this Marcia-whoever she was-being a dimwit On the other hand, judging by the look the laundry owner gave Roth, maybe Marcia was Mrs Quick-Clean "1 think," said the New York Giants fan, "we don"t need the camera to get started "
Everybody turned to took at the prisoner Kerry thought he was holding up a lot better than she would have His eyes, above the gag, looked scared but de- fiant She would have been crying and trying to let them know that she was willing to do or say whatever it was they wanted of her Of course, she thought, that was easier for her to think, since she didn"t know what they wanted of him "Take the gag off," Roth said "He isn"t going to cooperate," New York Giants saidDespite what they"d said earlier, he sounded like he was looking forward to the prisoner not cooperating "I think we should wait for Marcia," the owner suggested "Maybe closer to dawn he"ll be more reasonable"
New York Giants took the gag off anyway He"s waitmtffor him to say something, Kerry thought, something like "hutthead" or "a.s.shole," and then he"s going to beat the bell out of him But the young prisoner didn"t lash out at his captors He spoke, alt in a rush, to Kerry "My name"s Ethan Bryne When you get out of this, tell the police-"
i2 New York Giants kicked him, hard, in the stomach He doubled over, gasping for breath "Don"t give her any of that bull," New York Giants said "You don"t want the police in this any more than we do Less, even "
Tell them-"
He kicked the boy again, this time in the ribs, since he couldn"t get to the stomach Then he drove his elbow into the kid"s back, between his shoulders Kerry put her arms up over her head to avoid seeing And for protection "Stop it or t.i.t scream"" Though she recognized the safest course was not to get involved, Kerry was screaming already-or as close to it as she could get, with her throat constricted by terror "Stop it. stop it. stop-"
She was expecting that they would kick her, too, and she was expecting it to be in the face, because she"d just finished with her retainers after two and a half years of braces, and getting her teeth broken was close to the worst thing shecould imagine after all that But Roth was yelling at New York Giants, "Ceez, not in front of the kid," and-even though New York Giants was yelling back, "See, I told you she was one of them"-the laundry owner did nothing worse than clap his hand over her mouth to m.u.f.fle her noise He started dragging her backward, which she took to mean that they would continue to beat their prisoner but they wouldn"t force her to watch She tried to bite the owner"s hand, but it was sweaty and slippery, and she did little more than pinch him "Sidowski"" the owner hissed-another name to remem- ber, along with Roth and Ethan Bryne, if she ever aid make it to the police "Knock it off""
Kerry stopped struggling when Sidowski stepped reluc- tantly back from their prisoner Kerry was amazed that she had accomplished even that "She tried to bite me," the owner told the others, holding up his hand Sidowski took a step toward Kerry, looking ready to yank her head off, but the owner held him back with his other hand on his chest, still holding the bitten hand up "Look,"
he said "Look"
What"s be complaining about? Kerry thought She hadn"t even broken the skin or drawn blood But perhaps that was the point, for Sidowski backed off "See," the laundry owner said "Just a kid" He grabbed hold of Kerry"s shoulders and shook her "You don"t under- stand," he said to her "He isn"t human He isn"t alive"
"What?"
Kerry was still looking at Sidowski, but the owner said, "Him." nodding toward Ethan Bryne"What?" she repeated "He"s a vampire," the owner answered "One of the living dead He kills people to feed on their blood"
Their prisoner shook his head, wearing an expression of horror that probably mirrored her own Roth took him roughly by the jaw, forcing back his lips to reveal canine teeth that were slightly longer and sharper than normal but certainly nothing to get alarmed about A vampire. Kerry thought. They think he"s a vampire, an
CHAPTER TWO.
HE"S A VAMPIRE," Kerry repeated in a noncommittal tone Best not to let on that she knew they were out of their minds Roth and the owner of the Quick-Clean Laundry both nodded Sidowski was watching her closely, waiting-she could tell-for her to slip up and prove that she, too, was one Ethan, their bruised and bloodied vampire, was looking at her with an expression of dazed desperation Kerry won- dered if he had a concussion and how likely he was to go into shock from his injuries Somehow, despite the mind- numbing panic, she remembered that they kept talking about morning, and that they had called for a video camera Things began to fall into place 15"You"re going to keep him here till dawn," she said "Sec if the rising sun What? Causes him to melt? Burst into flame? What?"
Perhaps they thought she was making fun of their beliefs They just looked at her with those appraising expressions She didn"t dare vocalize the other She didn"t dare ask, Or do you plan to put a stake through his heart?
"Whatever you think he"s done-," she started, then quickly amended it to the less judgmental, "whatever he has done, is there any reason we can"t do something to try to stop him from bleeding to death between now and morning?"
Roth snorted "Not likely He"s not that badly hurt This is an act for your benefit"
Kerry moved to get to her feet, but the laundry owner put his hands down heavily on her shoulders, and Sidowski swept open his New York Giants jacket to reveal a gun nestled in a holster under his arm, a blatant reminder that they were men to be taken seriously "I just"-her voice was trembling as though she were talking through the spinning blades of an electric fan-"I wanted to get some of the paper towels from the desk To try to stop the bleeding"
"He"ll survive," Sidowski said "Vampires are stronger than normal people "
The owner released the pressure on her shoulders "Let her feel she"s doing something useful," he told them "Maybe it"ll keep her from doing something stupid"
"Thank you," Kerry said meekly But Sidowski didn"t move out of her way, which was probably meant to show her he disapproved, and she had to walk around him Still, the advantage was that when she reached the desk, all he could see was her backf6 She hadn"t been planning anything in the nature of what any of the three of them could possibly call "something stu- pid," but as soon as she got to the desk she saw the ashtray into which she"d dropped the razor blade she"d found on the floor under the counter Without any clear thought of what she would do with the blade but realizing that she"d probably never have a better chance to get it-knowing that if she hesitated, if she glanced to see if anybody was watching, she"d be caught-she reached for the roll of paper towels, sweeping her fingers through the ashtray on the way Though the blade sliced her fingertips, she worked at keeping her face blank They would hurt worse later, she knew, but for the moment she kept moving till she had the towels She pressed her fingers as tightly as she could into the roll of paper, trying to hide and at the same time stop the bleeding Turning, she found herself face-to-face with the laundry owner Now you"ve done it, she thought and braced herself for she wasn"t sure what, but she figured it would hurt a great deal He stepped out of her way, however, going around her The desk. she realized with a sigh that she quickly tried to disguise as a sniffle He had been heading for the desk-and not her-all along He righted the chair that had tipped when Roth pulled her out from under there, and he sat down, opening a drawer Kerry hesitated, still standing closer to the desk than to Ethan Sitting down is good, she told herself Sitting down is more niaxtd and means he"s IMS likely to hurt us Unless, of course, he had a gun in the drawer Instead of a gun, the owner pulled out his Bible Eitheri7 his place was well marked or he just opened to a random page and started reading Maybe he was trying to find guidance, Kerry thought She hoped he had opened to the part that said Thou shalt not kill"
Or maybe he was trying to look up justification for what they were planning Not likely he could find that, she thought But who knew how he could twist things? And besides, the Old Testament laws were strict and, in some cases, strange Unbidden the thought came to her An eye for an cyt. a tooth for a tootfe If they thought Ethan was a murderous vampire, they would certainly take that as justification for killing him Kerry fervently hoped the laundry owner would stick to the New Testament, which she remembered as being more lenient Mercifully, neither of the others tried to stop or delay her as she marched purposefully to Ethan and knelt before him She ripped off a sheet of toweling and immediately and none too gently dabbed at the wound at his temple, eager to have blood on the towel, on her hand, before anybody noticed she, too, was bleeding and wondered why Ethan flinched from her rough ministrations "Sony," she muttered, catching her first good look at his nasty cut The area around it was already swelling and turning purple. Easy. she warned her stomach It wouldn"t do her Florence Nightingale routine any good if she pa.s.sed out or upchucked now J hate this, she thought frantically If there was anybody else here that could take charge, anybody .
"It"s all right," Ethan told her, sounding calmer than he had any right to Kerry"s eyes shifted to his for a secondThis was no time to get herself distracted just because he is was good looking and trying to put on a brave front for her The towel was sloppy with blood already, his and hers, and she let the razor blade fall into it before she lightly crumpled it and shoved it into her jacket pocket, as though to get it out of the way She hastily mopped up some more blood and put that sheet into her pocket, too. With the third, she was able to catch a glimpse of her fingers The razor blade had cut two of them, but the bleeding seemed to be slowing down She pressed the fourth sheet against his head with the two injured fingers-not daring to press against the actual wound, which would hurt, only near it Every time she glanced at Ethan, he was watching her with those wary eyes Which might mean that he could tell she was up to something and was afraid that she was going to get them both killed in the very near future, or it might mean that the blows to his head and the loss of blood had him confused enough to worry she was working with his captors Or, more likely, the whole side of his head throbbed, and she was just making it worse Hold OH, she wished at him f don"t know exactly what I"m doim). but I"m trying to help Out loud she asked him, "Are you all right? Can you make it till dawn?"
He nodded, still looking-Kerry feared-awfully wobbly In a disgusted tone of voice, Sidowski swore and said.
"This is the most ridiculous-"
-at the same moment Ethan shifted position Kerry knew exactly what he was doing He"d been in the same kneeling position all along His legs had to be cramping up, even not counting that one of them was injured And he was tied to the laundry tub, which should be clear indication to all that he wasn"t going farBut Sidowski look the slight movement as a sign of intent t9 to escape Or he just used tt as an excuse He kicked Ethan m the chest and Kerry heard his head crack yet again against the laundry tub Ethan clenched his jaw-against an outcry of pain or just trying to maintain consciousness, Kerry couldn"t tell His head bowed submissively, he took a couple deep breaths before getting out the barest whisper "1 just need to move my leg Please "
"Poor thing," Sidowski said, not even sneering or sounding angry Just cold hatred in that voice Ethan glanced at Sidowski with a look that cut through the hazy befuddlement, a look that all but shouted, If I were a vampire, I"d np out your throat Or maybe it was just Kerry"s interpretation of what he sbouU be feeling In the next instant he closed his eyes and he asked, not quite begging but with a desperate edge, "May I-please- move my legs?"
Kerry looked over her shoulder to the laundry owner, who was still sitting at the desk, stilt holding his Bible, though the commotion had caused him to look up "It"s not like he can get away," she pointed out n.o.body said anything Which, eventually, Ethan took as permission Wincing, he leaned back and simultaneously raised himself the inch or so that the rope permitted, then gingerly managed to get his right leg out from under him and swing it around to the front That was the injured one Very obviously the injured one The whole side of his jeans was torn and b.l.o.o.d.y, from theknee down.
Ethan took a few seconds to catch his breath before mov-
20.
ing, with a singular lack of grace, to get his other leg out from under Kerry felt a dizzy sympathetic reaction "I"m going to get up now," she announced, not wanting to take Sidowski by surprise She indicated the fistful of towels in her hand "I just want to wet these down "
The laundry owner had resumed reading his Bible, which made Kerry so furious she wanted to knock it out of his hands and np it up in front of his face, though she"d never had these violent inclinations toward the Bible before Roth had moved to the main entrance, peeking out into the street from between the slats of the blinds So she got up with only Sidowski to worry about and went to the drinking fountain, where she figured the water would be coldest and most likely to numb pain There was a wastepaper basket next to the fountain, where she emptied her jacket pocket of all but the towel with the razor With these guys having vampires on the mind, she didn"t want them speculating why she"d want to hold on to b.l.o.o.d.y towels She wet the fresh towels using her left hand, so as not to get the fingers of her right hand bleeding again By the time she made it back to Ethan, he had gotten himself resettled He had his left knee up and was resting his head against it The injured right leg was stretched out in front of him "This is probably going to hurt," she warned Like he wouldn"t have guessed already Sidowski swore again "You think he"s just some poor kid we took it in our heads to beat up on?" he demanded "Youthink he"s on the verge of dying because we pulled him off his bike and he got a couple cuts and bruises?"