Intertwined Fates 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.

***

"Have you discovered what happened yet?" asked the Queen.

"Yes, your highness. It was silver oxide. We have also found glass fragments indicating that it was in a vial," said the investigator.

"Thank you for your report. It seems that we have a problem. I must consult with the council," the Queen said as she dismissed the investigator.

"Yes, my Queen," the investigator said as he bowed and left the room.

***

"My children, it has come to my attention that our newest addition, Miranda Hoeberk, attempted a blood binding ceremony. It seems it was her intention to instead of using the power to do the binding properly, she intended to steal the power. She has an old master working with her. The death of our brothers and sisters was no accident. One of Miranda's followers poisoned them with silver oxide," the Queen said as she addressed the council.

"What is going to be done about this?" asked one of the council members

"I am authorising the use of the Sabres to track down Miranda and her henchmen. This little rebellion needs to be put down quickly," the Queen said.

The council members clapped at her decision. "Now lets move on to other matters," the Queen ordered as she sat down at the head of the council table.

***

"Is everything ready Markus?" asked Miranda.

"Everything will go as planned, Miranda. The traps have been set, and now it is time to leave this place. Follow me, my dear," Markus said in his rich European accent.

Miranda had a cloak on with its hood covering her burnt face, so all she had to do was silently follow Markus outside of the chamber. They walked down through a twisted underground tunnel before they came to a locked door. Markus called out to the people on the other side, "I am here, open up,"

The door creaked open and a man with a dark hood and cloak stood there and said, "Welcome, Markus. We have everything set out,"

Miranda and Markus walked into a cavern like room with a high ceiling and brass torch holders hung out of the walls, giving the cavern a 'torture chamber' feel and look.

"I noticed your surprise, my dear. Don't worry I have been building up my followers for quite sometime now," Markus told her.

"Then it looks that we can implement our plans sooner," Miranda purrs.

"There are still many more months of preparation left, my love. The royal estate is heavily guarded even in the daylight," Markus warns her.

"Yes I know that, Markus. I have been there before," Miranda replies.

Markus led Miranda over to a table where there were some vampires speaking quickly in Russian. "These are my friends and they will take care of you. I have some business to attend to," Markus told her.

One of the vampires regarded her and offered her his hand while saying "My name is Gregor. Myself and my friends will be taking care of you while Markus is busy." Miranda looked at him and saw that he had short spiky pale blond hair. She then looked into his pale blue eyes and said "My name is Miranda," and grasped his hand.

"This is Igor," Gregor said, gesturing towards the man sitting next to her with slightly longer light brown hair. "And this is Peter," he continued, gesturing to the man sitting opposite to her. He had long dark brown hair that spilled almost down to his waist.

"We are to be your bodyguard, Miranda," Igor told her in his rich Russian accent.

'Great looking bodyguards,' thought Miranda as she studied their masculine features.

"Gregor, Markus wishes to see you," called a rich feminine voice.

"Thank you, Emily," Gregor called back before he excused himself.

***

"You wanted to see me sir?" asked Gregor.

"Yes, I did. Have you found out what happened to Nicokali?" Markus asked him.

"No, I'm sorry sir. He has just seemingly vanished. We also have no idea where Carl is because Nicokali never reported back," Gregor tells him.

"This is a problem then. If we can't trail Carl, we will need to track Joy. It is obvious that Vladmir and Markoi failed. They have yet to return, and we need to draw Carl out so we can take him in," Markus mused.

"Do you want me to track Joy again sir?" asked Gregor.

"No, Gregor. I am sending Francis and Phillip to track her. I need you here since you're Miranda's bodyguard now. You are to protect her," Markus ordered.

"Very well. Thank you, sir," Gregor replied.

"Dismissed," said Markus

Gregor bowed and left the room.

***

Joy walked up to Carl's office to collect some of the work that she needed to get done that day and collided with a handsome and tall man who was leaving his office. After Joy picked herself off the floor she asked him, "Who are you? And what are you doing in Carl's office?"

"Sorry, Joy. My name is Adam and I'm supposed to give this to you," Adam told her as he handed her a note.

'Sorry for the unexpected surprise, Joy. Adam will protect you through the day. He's been set up as the new manager so you don't have all the extra stress. - Carl'

"So how do you know Carl?" Joy asked him.

"He used to be my best friend until I had to move away," he replies.

"Oh, so you're the friend Carl was talking about you on our camping trip. He said that you both used to go up there on weekends," Joy said.

"Yeah, those were good times. But then I got a really great job opportunity on the other side of the country, so I had to leave," said Adam.

"I need to call my friend and tell her to not bother with coming in. She was going to help me today, but I obviously don't need it anymore," Joy told him as she noticed that some of the work was already done.

"Julie, Joy here. Listen don't worry about coming in today. Enjoy your day off. Carl sent me some backup, so there's a new assistant manager now. It's also a plus that he's good looking," Joy told her after calling her up.

"That's nice, Joy. Thanks for calling since I was about leave. So how hot is he?" Julie asked her.

"Not as hot as Carl is. Also you wouldn't have a chance with him since he's wearing a ring on his wedding finger," Joy told her.

"Damn. Thanks for letting me know so I don't make a fool of myself," said Julie.

"No problems. Enjoy your time off Julie. I have a busy day ahead," Joy says before flipping her phone closed.

Joy then walked back into Carl's office and asked Adam, "Do you know what is going on with Carl?"

"Yeah I do and they assured me he's safe. They are looking after him, Joy. You don't have to worry about that," Adam told her.

"Why did they trust you with this? I mean your human, so why would they send somebody who could be beaten easily by anything those people can send?" Joy asked him.

"They know that they can't send anybody in here during the daytime. Security would have no reason to let them pass. At night you have people who are much better equipped to protect you," Adam told her. "And also Carl wouldn't let anybody he didn't trust near you. That's why they called me,"

"Oh...ok. Well its time for me to get down to work," said Joy as she picked up a few folders and left the room.

At the end of the day Joy couldn't believe how efficient he was. They'd gotten through a whole week of backlog in the one day.

"Come out and have a drink, Joy. You need to relax after such a long day," Adam suggested as he walked up behind Joy.

"Alright, but I warn you, I'm really tired, so I might just go home soon after," Joy told him.

"That's fine. It's just so I can learn more about you, Joy," Adam replied.

They entered the club and ordered their drinks. After sometime drinking and eating, Joy looked at her watch and said, "Its time for me to go home now. It's past 8,"

Adam swore and said "Really? I don't think it was that late. My wife is going to kill me,"

"Really? Now wouldn't that be a shame," Joy joked.

"She won't do too much damage, at least I hope," Adam replied as he grimaced.

"I will see you tomorrow then" Joy said as she got into her car.

"Sure, if I survive," Adam replied.

***

"I want to take you out tonight, Laura, and spend some more time with you. We have a lot of catching up to do," Aaron said to his wife.

"I know, but I am really busy right now. I have to do all this management stuff and I have to do all this work for getting my company off the ground. I'm sorry, Aaron. Maybe tomorrow?" asked Laura regretfully.

"Oh...ok. I can go out with Jake then," Aaron said disappointedly.

"I know its disappointing, Aaron, but I promise I'll make it up to you later," Laura replied.

***

"Do you want to go out some place Jake? Laura is still busy," said Aaron

"Sure, that's if Kally lets me. She's been really pissed at me lately," Jake said.

"Yeah, I know. But I would be too being left alone all the time," Aaron says in response.

"I got tonight off, but you need the company. I know Kally is going to be pissed, but I think you need it more mate," Jake tells him.

"Thanks, Jake. I really want to spend time with Laura but she's either sleeping or working. She hasn't had anytime for me lately," Aaron said disappointedly.

"Let's go," Jake said as he led Aaron outside.

They entered the club and took seats at the bar and ordered drinks, talking just mainly about random things, while two figures watched them. "I think Miranda would have some fun playing with Aaron, don't you think?" asked Sergei.

"Yeah, I'll take Aaron. You take Jake. I'm sure Miranda would love to question him over his betrayal," Fredrick agreed.

After quite sometime, Aaron and Jake made their way to the exit. The two vampires got up and followed them. As they were walking towards their car, Jake heard a scrabbling sound. "Did you hear that Aaron?" asked Jake.

"No, I don't have super advanced hearing like you," Aaron replies, shaking his head. Two black shapes swooped down onto them. Fredrick knocked Aaron out and picked him up while Sergei fought with Jake. By the time Jake had gotten the best of Sergei, he turned to see Fredrick disappear around a corner with Aaron. When he raced up to the corner they were not in sight.