“We need to fit in and look like we’re from the eighties.” Karla held binoculars up to her eyes, gazing through the window of their fourth floor hotel room. “Why would anyone want to set up an eighties bar here? Ah well.”
“What, uh… what’re we going to wear?” asked the boy.
“Leave that to me.”
“So what were you like in the eighties, anyhow?”
She lifted her head away from the binoculars and looked back at Chance with a smile. “God… well, I do my best to fit in so that when I cause a ruckus I can slip out the back door unnoticed afterwards. That’s why I live in California. It’s full of blond girls in skirts.”
“Don’t avoid the question,” he said with a grin. “What were you like in the eighties?”
“Well… I seem to remember those nights blurring together. In the back of a nightclub, with my thigh-high stockings. We called them leggings back then. I chewed Fruit Stripe Gum while acting ditzy. I wore a DARE t-shirt, getting plowed in the corner by a bouncer, and screaming, ‘Radical!’ over the ambient music, with a ton of slap-bracelets on my wrists. And what were you like in the eighties, Chance?”
“I still don’t remember much, but I do seem to remember someone complaining about the national debt, and… I’m pretty sure I didn’t care because I was just a little kid.” He shrugged his shoulders then asked, “How’s your rib?”
“It hurts. If you get your memory back and your name turns out to be Adam, I’ll just steal yours. God, though. The club is killing me.”
“Why are we going there again?”
“Because, the man in charge of security for the mirror is the head bouncer at this nightclub. We’re going to find out where it’s kept by interrogating the guy. If I need to, I’ll seduce him. Let’s just see how everything works out.”
Chance frowned. “Oh. Okay.”
She tilted her head and looked back at him again. “What?”
“Nothing, it’s cool.”
A smile crept across her face. “You don’t want me to seduce him because you don’t like the thought of me sleeping with him?”
“It’s what you do for a living. I’m not going to judge you for who you are, Karla. I just don’t want to watch, or be in the room as a look out, if and when it has to happen that way.”
“Oh, sweetheart. You silly boy, you.” She offered him a gentle smile.
He bit his lower lip again, melting inside at the way she said, ‘silly boy’ to him. He cleared his throat then pushed his hands into his pockets. “It’s my mental barrier. I promise I’ll break it down. I honestly don’t judge you. I’m not like that guy.”
“Ethan isn’t really like himself anymore, either. Thanks to you clobbering his ass and saving my bacon.” Her pink pouty lips tilted up at the corners. “Mmm… Bacon. How freaking delicious is bacon, right?”
“Uh, yeah, it’s pretty good for sure.” He smiled back. Once her eyes were back in the binoculars, he took a moment to look her over. As he became absorbed in her figure, he released his lower lip from his teeth and relaxed somewhat, letting his gaze dance over her frame. The curvature of her hips, the smoothness of her legs beneath the skirt. Chance’s eyes lifted again, slowly drinking it all back in a second time. He remembered having his hands on her back, earlier, and smiled at the memory.
“Chance?”
“Pardon?” He blinked away the mental image, summoned away from his reverie by the sound of her voice.
Karla eyed him for a moment then said, “You have a lovely smile. This is the first time I’ve seen you with a happy smile like that. What’s on your mind?”
“Oh, nothing. Just enjoying the quiet.”
A grin found its way to the corner of her mouth. “Don’t even try it. You get to figure out my thoughts. It’s unfair. So, be a sport and return that courtesy of unbridled honesty.”
“Un…bridled?”
She flashed a brilliant smile. “Sorry. Too many romance novels, I guess.”
“Now who’s the one with the beautiful smile? Definitely you.”
“You’re a sweet boy. I’m smiling because of you being so cute. So what had you smiling, huh?”
“I… uhm.” He rubbed his thumb and forefinger together. “I was thinking about earlier. Before we left California.”
The genuineness of her smile returned and she put the binoculars down then turned to him. “Chance, you’re a really good guy. I like you. I like myself when you’re around. You keep me honest and that feels good.”
His left hand began to mirror his right one, rubbing his thumb and forefinger together, with the rest tucked into his palm. “I… Thanks. I like hearing you say that. I just… I don’t bore you?”
She placed her palms on either side of his arms. “This is where you reciprocate. I won’t judge your feelings – quite the opposite. I like hearing sweet thing, too.”
Chance felt his heart began to race. His pupils dilated. He felt like he was starting to perspire. “I like you, too, Karla. I… I might be shy of your playful side, but you also know h-how to make me feel more at ease. You’re just… you’re just so beautiful and I’m so plain, and…”
She brought her right index to his lips. “Shh. Don’t put yourself down. Everything else you said… that was perfect. I appreciate hearing it. But don’t put yourself down.”
He spoke, slightly muffled, against her finger. “Why not? It’s true.”
“Because I don’t want anyone to put down the cute boy living at my house. He brings me breakfast in bed, fetches my robe, and makes me feel taken care of. I don’t usually have that. It’s nice to feel like someone cares. You don’t see me the way other men see me.”
“How do they see you?” he whispered, his lips dry against her fingertip.
“I imagine they see me as a place to relieve themselves.”
His eyes widened, as though offended at the idea that someone would see her so lowly. “Not me! I see you as the pretty girl with the soft skin and smooth shoulders. I see you as the girl who knows more about computers than I do. I see you as Karla.”
A devious smile returned to her glossy lips. “Okay, then,” she said, reaching for her metaphorical fishing pole. “And who is Karla to you?” she asked, fishing for compliments.
Chance took the bait. “You’re… Karla. You’re a freaking firecracker. There’re several sides to you. You’re complex. The kind of girl to do keg stands, go skydiving naked, play GoldenEye with a bunch of gamer guys, drive a Kawasaki Ninja in leather, and get in bar fights just to kill a Wednesday afternoon. But I also see you as sophisticated, and resourceful, and caring, and graceful, and shrewd. You’ve got a classy side you don’t show others, but you’ve shown it to me. You come to help others like ‘the cool big sister’ and you took care of me first. I saw that side of you the day we met, when you helped me get dressed and to walk. You used your StarWars force-thing to help me walk out of that hospital. And you use it to help me exercise when I start to ache, so I can get my body back. You’re not part of the bad girls club. You’re a good person to the core. You kick ass and chew bubble gum. And you look really good doing it.”
Karla’s eyes danced from left to right, as if studying his face, while listening to him. This time, she drew her lower lip between her teeth. After a brief silence, she placed her palms on either side of his face and leaned forward. Their lips met; they both held their breath.
At the back of Chance’s mind, beneath the layer of shyness and the blanket of his nervousness, he remembered what she told him, before. He recalled what she said she wanted to feel from a man, and how to be firm. He heard her words, jumbled about at the back of his skull. And, for some reason, he felt like they were both suddenly on the same level.
He felt as though she let her defenses down to make them even. It’s what he needed – to feel as though he wasn’t so far beneath her. He brought his hands up, trying not to think about what to do next.
His left hand came to cup the side of her face, beneath her ear. His right hand moved over her shoulder and he captured her hair in his hand. Then he closed his fingers, firmly fisting the strands in his grip.
Chance felt Karla’s head tilt. Her plush mouth slanted over his and it felt so damn good. She parted her soft lips, prompting him to do the same. She used her thumb against his jawline, to keep him from opening his mouth too much. Her touch was gentle and guiding yet coaching. He felt her tongue brush against his own. The dryness disappeared… or was possibly forgotten.
And for the first time since the kiss started, he drew in a deep breath through his nose. His left hand eased from her face, just the way she’d told him earlier. He grazed his fingertips against her cheek, tucking an errant lock of blond behind her ear. His left hand lowered, and came to her hip… then he reached around to the small of her back and pulled her close to him, possessively. It felt right to be pressed up against her.
He let her take the lead in the kiss – their tongues dancing together in a delightful duel of desire. His heart raced, pounding wildly in his chest. After a moment, with her hands still cupping his cheeks, she eased her head back, breaking the liplock. She whispered in a semi-coy tone. “You’re a natural.”
She looked so beautiful. A bit of her hair slid forward, covering her left eye. It gave her a coquettish appearance that made his heart flutter, only to resume the previous rhythmic cadence, pounding away in his chest.
He swallowed. Chance brought his hand up and captured one of hers. He brought Karla’s palm to his chest so she could feel his heart racing. “That’s… that’s what you do to me.”
Her breathing increased in pace. Karla’s thoughts became a mishmash of marbles rolling about in her head. She felt taken by his words. She tried to clear her mind, knowing he had an advantage as a telepath. Instead, she focused on the feel of the pitter-patter against her palm. A genuine smile returned to her lips. “I’m supposed to be this sultry, confident, seductive creature of passion and lust… Yet here I am, feeling undone by a virgin boy with a good heart and adorable big brown eyes.”
“W…what could I ever offer?”
She grinned, seeing that he was the one now holding the figurative fishing pole. “You’re telepathic. You may have to learn how to use it, and that’s fine… but you are empathic, and empathetic to my wants and needs. And that… that’s one hell of an offer. That makes you what women want.”
He felt breathless. “I… I don’t see how. Women like their secrets.”
“Some do. I have some, but you’ve not been invasive. God.” She eased back from him and sank onto the hotel sofa with a hard exhale. “I have a friend in the movie business. I should email her and tell her this would make a good romantic comedy. And you know the best parts about romantic comedies, don’t you?”
“I… no, what?”
Her seductive expression made her appear that much more desirable to him. She licked those pouty, glistening pink lips and his heart fluttered again. She patted the cushion adjacent to herself. “The good guy gets the girl every time.”
Chance settled on the sofa next to her. “Isn’t it against some sort of law to mention unnatural abilities to the public?”
Karla placed a hand on his knee. “Not in artistic depictions for the sake of entertainment. Makes you wonder how many movies, shows, comics, books and plays are based on real life, hmm? Chance, the last few weeks have been something I expected to hate. I was told I would have to babysit. But you’ve saved my life. You’ve run errands with me; you’ve done nice things for me – not because you felt obligated, but because you wanted to be nice. And you’ve made my life a lot less lonely. I just wanted to take the opportunity to tell you I appreciate you.”
“I… thank you. But, Karla, I’m the one who is grateful. You’ve been generous with your home, and getting me clothes, and being patient with me. I know it can’t be easy to put up with how shy I can be. I don’t know how to talk to people. My throat closes up. My head starts racing in circles and I can’t think straight. I always get frustrated with myself. I think I’m socially retarded, or emotionally broken or…”
Again she put her finger on his lips. “No, you’re not. I think you just have so much passion and emotion pent in your heart, you don’t know how to let it out.” She paused then laughed in spite of herself. “See? Even I say things before I think them through first. Life isn’t a romance novel. That’s now how people talk in real life. And to quote it is… well… cliché and silly.”
Again, his heart melted just a little bit at the way she said the word ‘silly.’
Karla reached for his hands and brought them together on her knee. “Chance, nobody is perfect. Sometimes people get lucky and find someone who is perfect for them, but most of us have to work at being the best we can be so we can be happy. We work to be what our boss wants us to be, what our spouse wants us to be, what our parents or even what our children want us to be…
“Did you know I was a resentful, jealous, selfish person until I met Nathan in 1907? He told me he knew for a fact I could be more, and that I could be happier with my life. And what else did I have to lose? Mean or nice, I’m lonely. But at least when I’m nice… I feel good about my actions at the end of the day. Chance, for the first time in my life, I feel like I haven’t been alone. These last few weeks have been enjoyable. Sex or not, I’ve had someone with whom I could share my thoughts and jokes, who was more than just a companion to my antics… For the first time, I have someone who will sit with me on quiet nights, take an interest in what I’m going through, and has been standing by my side during the ordeal. And for the first time in my life, I have someone who looked in my eyes and told me, on more than one occasion, that I’m pretty to him. I never knew what I was missing until now, and I’m delighted to have it.”
The boy cleared his mind to relax his nerves. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and leaned towards her lips. Just as he felt the newly familiar sensation of sticky lipgloss and plush lips against his mouth… his eyes shot open.
Chance shoved his hands forward and pushed her away hard.
Karla blinked with confusion in her eyes. She looked back at him and saw his eyes wide with fear, his pupils constricted. “W- …what, hon? What’s wrong?”
Chance turned his head, looking at a hole in the fabric of the sofa backrest. He swallowed a sudden lump down then dove towards her. His hands met her shoulders and he shoved her to the floor, between the couch and an ottoman.
Karla heard a sound… she knew it but couldn’t place it at first. Sudden realization kicked in – the cracking of glass. Another soft thump struck the sofa, causing the ugly hotel upholstery to split. “Are those…?”
“…Gunshots,” he breathed. Chance clung to her with a brilliant blush tinting his cheeks due to the realization that he was lying atop of her. “Can you teleport the sofa between us and the window? We need cover. Uhm… or use that other power to close the drapes.”
Karla winced, lifting her left arm up. She felt Chance begin to lift from her – he realized that his weight on her was adding pressure to her rib injury. She used her other hand to pull him back to her, despite the pain. “Stay down,” she hissed then waved at the window. The drapes swished shut. The sofa disappeared. It reappeared vertically, in front of the window, leaning against the drape-covered surface.
“Karla, are you okay?”
She replied with a dazzling smile. “Your first question was for my wellbeing? Boy, you’ve gone from ‘zero’ to ‘hero’ in a few days. I should teach classes on how to turn boys into men.”
He replied with a semi-incredulous laugh. “They better sign liability forms, since your classes are taught under fire. C’mon, we’ve gotta get out of here.”
“So you believe in our abilities now? That sofa didn’t move itself and… God, Chance, dodging that sniper was incredible.”
He got to his knees then to his feet and reached for her hand. “That’s a first.”
“What?” She took his hand and, gingerly, got to her feet. “What’s a first? You’ve already been shot at several times, now.”
“No, being called ‘incredible’ after a romance scene.” He grabbed her purse off a nearby table and said, “The binoculars are over by the window.”
Karla reached for them. Her palm incandesced briefly. The binoculars teleported into her hand. “Got’em, let’s move… and what do you mean romance scene? Didn’t I just say I have to remind myself that life is not a romance novel? You’re encouraging my bad behavior.” She opened the door to the hotel and gazed out into the hallway. “It’s clear.”
“Three weeks with you and I went from being afraid of women to making out with you. I like that you encourage bad behavior.” He turned out the lights and followed her into the hallway. “The least I can do is return the favor. And if my life is a novel, I really wish it wasn’t such a page-turner, because I’m scared to death what’s going to be around the next turn. I might not remember anything,” he said as they raced up the hallway, “But I’m pretty sure I never dodged bullets before now.”
She took his hand and pulled him to follow her. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure you’re right, babe. You’d have been an easy target in a coma.” She came around a corner at the end of the hall then stopped. “You had to make the metaphor about what’s around that next turn, didn’t you?”
Two men at the far end of the hallway began to approach them. They didn’t have guns, however both men had their hands held outwards, palms up, as though they were holding invisible objects.
Chance frowned. “Who the hell are…?”
“Move!” she shouted. Karla pivoted on her heel and shoved him back the way they came. “Go, go, go!” Her hands found his back and she pushed. They broke into a hard sprint, back up the hallway.
“What are their powers?” he exclaimed.
“You tell me!” she shot back. They raced past their old hotel room and continued up the hall just as the two pursing men came around the turn.
“Should we fight them?” he exclaimed.
“Not in close quarters! I can deflect bullets, but I don’t wanna test it whatever they’re using!”
Chance reached the stairs first and shouldered the push-door open. It swung wide on its hinges. The stairs went up and down. He reached back, took her hand and pulled her towards the staircase going upwards.
“Everyone goes up in the movies! It’s always a trap!” She hissed as they began their ascension to the next floor.
“You think down is any safer?” he huffed. “They probably have backup and snipers waiting for us in the lobby. I’d rather fight just one guy upstairs.”
Karla panted, wincing at the pain in her chest. “What makes you think,” she paused to pant, then asked, “just one?”
“They’ll split up on the stairs. Here they come, shh.” He opened the door to the fifth floor quietly and gestured her through silently. Down below, he heard them enter the stairwell.
He didn’t hear them speak and imagined that they were probably making silent hand gestures to one another, to split up. He eased the door shut on its hinges so it wouldn’t swing. Chance took Karla’s hand again and pointed to a nearby door. “Can you get us in there?” he whispered.
Karla looked at him then back at the door. Her purse disappeared from his other hand. The binoculars disappeared from her left hand. With her other, she offered his hand a gentle squeeze. All at once they appeared inside the hotel room, in the dark. She flipped on the lights briefly then turned them back off. She picked up her purse and the binoculars in the dark and guided him over by the bed. “Stay put.” She moved to the window and eased the drapes shut. “I’m going to have to call Nathan to rescue us.”
Chance swallowed and whispered back. “He’s in California. We’re in France. There’s no way he’ll get here in time.”
“Oh ye of little faith,” she said in a hushed tone. Karla fumbled for the cellphone in her purse, pulled it out and flipped it open. She squinted at the bright LCD screen in the darkness. She dialed a number and waited. After a moment, she cursed under her breath, snapped the phone shut and shoved it back into her purse. She moved alongside the bed to the nightstand and groped in the dark for the landline phone.
The demoness picked it up and started dialing. The number routed to the front desk. She sighed in frustration. In elegant French, she spoke, quietly, then rattled off a sequence of numbers. She paused. Chance opened his mouth to ask a question.
Karla reached back and patted his face in the dark room. “Shh,” she whispered. A moment later, she spoke in English. “Nathanial, get your ass here now. They were waiting for us. I don’t care about your stigma involving telepaths. You get your ass here right now and save us. We’re surrounded. We’re hiding in an empty room, but I don’t know how long it’s going to last.” She grew quiet briefly then said, “Well, no, the call is routed through the front desk. So they don’t know what room we’re in. Hell, I don’t know what room I’m in. My cell apparently hates me, or possibly France, and they’re hunting for us. We’re goddamn trapped in here and…”
She heard a reply over the line then, in a soft tone, murmured, “Yes, I’m in control of my emotions. Don’t fucking raise your voice at me. I’m doing my best, okay?” She waited for his reply then said, “Just get here. You’re the fastest friend I have, and the only one I can really count on. Please.” Another pause then, in a tone of appreciation, she said, “Thank you, Nathan,” with a sigh of relief. Karla hung up the phone and turned to Chance in the dark.
“Now what?” he asked.
“You haven’t seen anything until you’ve seen that guy in action.” She held her left hand up, palm out, and caused it to glow slightly. It was just enough incandescence to make it so they could see one another’s face. “But we have to lay low for a few hours. And he’s going to be cranky when he shows up.”
“I should have known. The nerd never gets to third base. I’m getting tired of being shot at. And I’m trying real hard not to be scared.”
“You’re not a nerd. You didn’t even know about wireless internet.”
He tilted his head, listening to the sound of footsteps in the hallway. Karla’s palm dimmed and everything became dark again. The footsteps began to fade. He put a hand on her elbow then leaned close and whispered, “You’re hotter than a Bunsen burner at full power.”
A secret smile found the succubus’ lips in the darkness. “Okay, you’re right… that was nerdy… and you’re whispering into my chin.”
“Oh… sorry.” He replied with a lame grin in the dark. “I, uh, I guess you’re taller than I thought.”
“You were doing a lot better, earlier, when you were talking about how much you like me.”
“They killed the mood. I’ll try and get it back.”
She snickered and gave him a playful shove. Karla slid off the bed and moved to the door then put her ear against it. She listened for a moment then crept back towards the king-sized bed, dragging her feet slowly so as not to stumble on wherever she left her purse and binoculars. Her knee met the mattress and she climbed up onto it and crawled over besides him. “My ribs aren’t hurting as much. Maybe it’s the adrenaline. We might have to stay here in the same bed tonight. You okay with that?”
“I hope I don’t snore,” he murmured.
“You don’t.” She reached up and felt around until she found his face, then she gave his cheek a gentle pat. “I came into your room to check on you the first few nights you were at my place. Not because I’m nice, but because I didn’t know you yet and I wasn’t sure if you were harmless or not at the time. Needless to say, hon, you don’t snore.”
“Oh… uh, well, okay that’s good to know.” He reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze. “You saved my butt again. I figured you’d use the wave blast thing and blast a door open. I thought it would be easier to fight him in an open room like this. The teleportation bit was awesome. I’m definitely a believer in your abilities, now.”
“Yeah, yeah.” She grinned, finally able to make out his silhouette. “The day I met you, I did that to get us in the car. I broke a heel. Part of my shoe fused with the bottom of the car. I didn’t make a big deal out of it, but… I liked those kitten heels. But we made it. And using telekinesis to position your body into a sitting position during teleportation… that wasn’t easy. My powers take focus and discipline. If I get excited, I lose potency and then nothing happens.”
Chance grinned ear-to-ear at a sudden thought. “Yeah, uh, that’s probably a good thing. It would be really bad if you got excited and flipped your house over in mid-orgasm.” He backed away from her, expecting to be swatted at.
“That was almost clever.” She grinned back, despite not being able to see his smile in the darkness. “Almost. Now, let’s keep our voices down. Better safe than sorry. Let them think we managed to get away. We’ll stay right here and wait it out, since it’s probably the last place someone would expect us to be.”
“I doubt I’m going to be able to sleep, knowing they might decide to check rooms. What should we do?”
“Like I said earlier. I’m glad I have someone around so I’m not doing this stuff alone. This is the part where you entertain me so I don’t get bored.” She chuckled softly then moved across the bed and pulled the covers back. Karla kicked her shoes off and wiggled down beneath the comforter, fully dressed. “It’s kind of cold in here. They’ve got the AC on.”
“Do you want me to turn it off?”
“No. It’s electronically controlled on the wall. I don’t know if it’s connected to a computer of some sort, down in the lobby. But if this room isn’t rented and the AC suddenly turns off… it might give us away. Let’s not change anything. I’ll be fine under the covers. And you’re warm. So get your butt under here with me.”
“Oh… right, um, sure.” He took his shoes off and felt his way around until he got to the top of the bed. Chance pulled back a corner of the comforter and slid down into it with her then pulled the blankets back up. “How long will it take that guy to get here?”
“A few hours at best. Trust me. He knows how to get around.”
“Never thought France would be this wild.”
Karla chuckled. “I’ll call Raymond Barre up and complain for you. How’s that?”
“Uh… who?” He tilted his head then asked, “That the mayor of Lyon?”
“Yup. You’re getting better with that head-thing you do.”
“You know, we got attacked a lot less in California. As in… not at all.”
“Uh huh.” She rolled onto her side then gingerly reached back, careful not to hurt her rib from over-extending her arm. Karla pulled on him, “C’mere. Don’t be shy.” She guided him closer until she felt his chest against her back. She wiggled herself back against him and said, “This is called spooning. It’s cute, it’s comfortable, and I don’t get it nearly enough.” She reached for her hair and pulled it forward, over her shoulder. “There, now you won’t get a face full of flaxen.” Then she reached back for his arm and pulled it around herself. “Hell of a night, huh?”
“Yeah,” he said, speaking the word slowly, so as not to stammer. Chance let her draw his arm around her body. It caused his heart to race again. “Yeah… hell of a night.” He hid his face against the nape of her neck then sighed. “I don’t know if I’m scared or turned on right now. This has got to be the wildest night so far, since I’ve met you.”
“Mmhmm. Let’s keep our voices down, just in case, and pray they don’t scan the building using thermal.”
“I don’t exactly know what that means, or what kind of power it is, but…”
She reached up, behind her head, and put a finger on his lips. “Shh. And it’s not an ability. It’s technology. Just relax and keep breathing on my neck. It’s warm.”
