Stereo Blast Volume 1 [MxM]

Chapter 8.2

"Louis."

Taylor was surprised. He'd expected the vampire—Louis, to say something snarky like "you don't need to know" or "my name isn't relevant". It was refreshing to hear the simple question be simply answered. It didn't make Taylor like Louis anymore. Nothing could make him like Louis, not even if he decided he would let Ryan and Taylor go now.

He wanted to be sure of himself that Ryan wasn't infected, but the fact was that he had no clue. Before he'd bust into that room and pulled Ryan up off the ground, there was so much time for anything to go wrong. It had and it was over, done with.

The fight was still clear in his mind. The yelling and screaming. He kept seeing Ryan's face flash in the front of his mind and no matter how hard he tried to forget it, it kept coming back.

The name echoed in his mind. Louis. It didn't sound like a vampire name. Vladimir, Victor. Anything that started with a v seemed more likely, but that might have been the cliche vampire movies rotting his mind.

He didn't know what to say after that. What could he talk about? What could he ask that would fill this silence and make him feel better?

"What exactly happened back there?" It was relevant and it was something that could take his mind off the impending decision in whether Ryan would survive this night or not.

His gust felt like it had been punched with a hot iron.

Louis wouldn't let Ryan live if he found out Ryan was infected. The bloody m******e of humans down by Tike's old shop would be Ryan's future if that was the case. Taylor pushed the impending thoughts away. He couldn't think about that right now. He would take one thing at a time and right now he just needed to get Ryan to wherever Louis was taking them without incident.

That seemed to be proving harder when all he wanted to do was slide the blade of his knife across Louis's neck.

"Have you ever heard of a drug called B+?" Louis led them around the same corner Taylor had carried Ryan down. The blue and pink lights were fading as the sun began to rise. Taylor hadn't realized how fast the time had gone. The sunlight cast deep shadows over the already dark and dingy streets of the district. The smell of blood and rotting flesh wafted through the air.

Taylor covered his nose with the back of his hand. "Never heard of it."

He almost gagged when the smell hit the back of his throat. Damn. He'd smelled dead bodies before and this was ten times worse. "What the f**k is that smell?"

Louis turned to look at Taylor and gave him a crooked smile. "That would be them. The infected."

The smell intensified the closer they got to Tike's. The small corner building had once been the center of the district. It still was technically since the death hadn't spread across town. The hours had gone by fast, almost in the blink of an eye, and here they were. Staring back at it now, the glow of the sign and the impaled vampire woman didn't seem like a joke anymore. The vampire seemed to be staring right back at them in an almost sly promise to get revenge for her own death. The woman with her spread legs, the sign of the other side of the store, looked just as menacing.

Fuck me, she seemed to say, and it'll be so good you'll die.

Taylor wasn't exactly a laughing person, but that thought alone almost made a small laugh fall from his lips.

Louis nodded towards the front. "You go ahead. I want to keep an eye on you."

Taylor snorted. "Like hell. You go ahead and I'll take Ryan."

Louis held on tight to Ryan. Taylor reached out to grab him with his knife held out with his other hand.

"Don't," Louis said with a hard look. Taylor stilled in front of him as he watched Louis transfer Ryan from his shoulder and to the ground. "You'll both be safe with me watching. I can't protect either of you if you decide to wander off."

"I don't need to be looked after," Taylor bit out. He thrust his knife out as if to make Louis see how much he could handle himself. "This isn't my first fight."

Louis looked down at the blade, contemplating it and Taylor's offensive stance. "You've never dealt with B+ or its effects. It'll be safer if you come with me."

Taylor didn't buy any of it. He was about to attack again, but before he could raise his hand, Louis grabbed the knife from his hand. He plucked it from Taylor tightly wound fingers as if he was picking a flower from the ground.

Taylor growled and tried to snatch the blade back. He crashed into Louis's chest. It was a rookie move and as he felt Louis's warm body underneath his, with his hand pressed against the hard muscles, his cheeks turned bright red. Heat flooded his face and burned the tip of his ears. The moment hung in time. He took a shaky breath, trying to calm his nerves and the feeling in the pit of his stomach. The feeling was back again, as rare as it was. His eyes flickered to Louis’s lips. He wondered what it would feel like to press his own against his. His tongue swiped across his bottom lip.

“Why must you be so difficult?” The question was taunting coming from Louis. His slow drawl made every sentence feel like it meant nothing and there was no danger in the situation. Though there was a pile of dead bodies just a block away, he was calm.

Taylor pushed away and Louis let him. Taylor straightened himself out, glaring as he held his hand out.

Louis handed him his knife and then nodded once more towards the building.

"Take him," he said, handing Ryan to Taylor. He lifted Ryan from the ground and held Taylor get a grip on him. His knife was still poised and he was ready to strike if he needed to. Though it was difficult to move around when he had to hold Ryan, it wasn't impossible.