Living Proof (Tyler G Book 2) (26 page)

"Do you play?"

It was the kind of thing that
people asked each other. Small talk, even though it wasn't really needed at the
moment.

"Yeah. I have an audition
thing, for a band, so I need to practice. My old one died a while ago. Sorry
about the mess in here. I helped take down a cult that was torturing kids a
week ago or so, and now they keep trying to kill me. Probably so I won't be
able to testify against their leader. Between them and the feminists I haven't
gotten a break in the last bit." He tried to smile, his face letting him
do that, even though it felt a little stiff.

He'd been hit in the head, but it
hadn't scrambled his thoughts too much. That was strange, but probably had to
do with magic.

Instead of asking how he'd
survived, which would have been what Tyler opened with, the man kind of started
to nod.

"It's just so hard to
believe, women doing things like that. Shooting people and bombing them? What
did you do to make them mad at you?"

He laughed then, because the
answer was interesting.

"Nothing. They seem to be
afraid that the Alede, the succubi? That they're going to undermine their
position in society, I guess. I was just nearby for the things. I don't even
really have a problem with them, except the kidnapping attempt. That targeted
me, for some reason. I guess because I didn't die correctly the first time?
It's a shame, since we could all be friends, if they'd tone it down a few
notches. I mean, I
like
people, in general." Which, he realized,
was true.

He didn't like what everyone did,
but if they agreed to cut that stuff out, the rest wasn't
that
big of a
deal. He could even forgive the things that had hurt him.

Shooting Calley wasn't allowed.
Not that he had to say much. They'd walked in, and he was shot. That was his
whole statement, and all that the police really needed from him.
They
thought he was a Vampire. Thankfully Edom got there, along with Eve and David
the Vampire, which meant he had people to explain that part for him. Eve did
the honors, going over how he was dead, but in a different way, and didn't need
blood to survive.

"He's
just
a person.
A Human, if kind of tough. Non-violent though, not like most of you. He only
fights when attacked, and doesn't get angry or anything. There's no need for
this kind of thing. It's just a group trying to suppress justice for their
crimes." She pointed at a woman who was wide eyed and fanatical looking.
"This is the one that stabbed him the other day. I hope you make sure she
doesn't get back out to do it again? I know that people make bail, but
seriously, this should kind of invalidate that, right?"

One of the cops, who wasn't that
old, and who clearly didn't care that the hot brunette was a Vampire, moved in
and spoke to her evenly.

"We don't control that part.
She
probably
won't be let back out now. You might want to keep your
boyfriend safe for the time being. Witness relocation, or what have you. Do
Vampires have that kind of thing?"

She shook her head, looking at
the officer very frankly.

"No. I guess we can move
him, or get a safe house. Really, his people should do that. The thing there is
that his people is
everyone
. Including you guys. He's the head of the
Coalition of Nations, which means that pretty much every group is going to be
up at arms over this when they hear about it. We can keep him safe,
but..." She shook her head and looked at the people on the ground.
"It might be best if they just didn't come after him again? We'll try to
protect them, but Tyler can only beg for their lives so many times before
people stop listening to him on the matter."

Instead of taking that as a death
threat, the police all seemed to get the point and agreed with it. That didn't
leave the downed Christians happy.

The stabby woman from the Fourth
made a very hard face.

"It's your job to protect us
from the monsters!" It was an accusation, and directed at the cute younger
cop, who was looking at Eve at the moment. When he turned a bit, his face was
dark, but seemed upset, rather than angry at the words. Like he knew that, but
couldn't really carry the job out.

It was wrong, anyway.

"No.
His
job is to
clean up after crimes, like this." Ty was sounding a lot better, and while
covered in blood, could walk almost normally again. He still had wounds, but
they were fixing themselves, really fast. "
My
job is to make sure
that people get along. There
are
no monsters. Just people you don't know
yet. So, please stop trying to hurt people? That's all anyone is asking
for."

That started a lot of praying,
and some yelling about how Jesus would protect them. Hopefully that played out
for them, since he was kind of sure that shooting in a Wal-Mart was going to
lead to prison time, even if he and Calley could heal up from it. What if
they'd hit the nice biker dude? Or the cool keyboard getting Manager?

They might have died from it, and
then where would they be? Without a keyboard, and with one of the cult men
being kicked to death. Ty really doubted that anyone else would get that.

They ended up being there for a
while, with Edom standing right by Ginger, along with David, who seemed ready
to fight the cops if he had to. The men and women in blue didn't seem like that
was
their
plan for the day, so everything stayed pretty calm. Eve, for
her part, moved over by him and Calley. Then she licked her lips.

"You both smell great. Maybe
you can move off a bit? Poor David is about to go full vamp over the scent. I
like him, but he's a bit low on that kind of control yet. A wimp that way. Like
a little school girl really." She spoke softly, and still got covertly
flipped off for it from the man, who was about fifty feet away. Ginger smiled
at the interplay, and Edom ignored the whole thing. He was black, but made up
for it in the minds of the police by dressing in very nice clothing. Rich
trumped skin color, almost every time.

It shouldn't have been needed,
but that was the world they lived in, so the man worked the system to his
benefit, it was clear. Nice clothing, a friendly smile with no fangs, and
polite forms of address all the time. There was a lesson in there for him too,
Ty knew. It was a form of mind control over the masses, that no one could
really call anyone on.

Looking down he nodded.

"I need better
clothing."

Eve faked a cough.

"I get you there. Those look
a bit hard used."

"Really I was thinking
something more... I don't know, professional? Suits and ties or whatever? I
look young, and that can work against me. Maybe something like Ed? Only, you
know, cheaper?"

Rather than tell him he was being
a dweeb, the girl nodded, then she stood back for a bit, and licked her lips.

"I'd wait a bit. Feel things
out and make sure you aren't going to be shot up in a five hundred dollar set
of clothing?"

Tyler tried to smile, not really
feeling like it, but not wanting to be morose either. The blood was starting to
dry, and while it didn't make him feel funny, it was going to be hard to clean
up.

"Well, you know, dead people
problems. I'd never really thought about it before, but they're different than
the ones that living people have. I mean, everyone has to worry about being
shot in their nice clothing, but the focus is a lot different for you and me,
isn't it?" He shook his head a bit and then wrinkled his nose. "My
big concern with the feminists is that no matter what I do, or how nice I am to
them, they'll never be kind in return. Yeah, being shot sucks, but instead of
feeling
bad
for that, they turned around and tried to kidnap me. Then
one of them accused me of
rape
for some reason, even though that wasn't
a real thing. I guess it was for her? What must her world be like then, if
every action or  thought someone else has seems like that? Her world has to be
a scary place, if someone saying hello is an assault to her warped mind."

For a moment he felt pretty bad
for those women. For all their yelling and stomping around, not one of them had
ever seemed happy to him. Even the men with them all seemed to be just riding a
train to misery the whole time. He'd been at work, and trying to make a living,
but had been more contented than they'd seemed.

Eve snorted a bit, and leaned in
to him, to whisper.

"It doesn't really matter.
The world is filled with people, and some of them will always be doing things
the hard way.
We
don't have to. Just be nice, and let other people take
care of themselves. I wish I had some great wisdom for you, but I think that's
all there really is. Just try not to judge, and dodge the bullets a little
better next time." She waved at the front of his shirt, which was stuck to
his body in places. It was just a t-shirt, but had been green, once upon a
time.

Now it was being kind of plum
colored in places. Bits of flesh that were puckered and pink showed underneath.
The red was gone already however.

Eve was right. Even blaming
people for what they thought wasn't going to help anyone. The Christians would
still do what they did, which would seem like hate to some people, and the feminists
would do their thing. Which would also seem like hate.

Anyone speaking out against them on
the matter would probably be labeled a hater as well. It was, he decided,
enough for him just to forgive and try to get along in the world. That, and
dodge better.

"It would be
so
cool
to have super powers."

Eve laughed, and rolled her eyes.

"No doubt. But here we are,
stuck with the tiny bits of things that we can actually do."

The police officer that clearly
wanted to bang Eve came over, asked for her phone number, which she gave him,
and then did the same with Tyler, though
that
one was probably about the
case, since he looked like crap at the moment. Then they were all allowed to
leave. Eve carried the new keyboard for him, to the car. Then she looked at him
closely, and smiled.

"You should run home.
Otherwise you'll make a mess in la auto. We can hose you off in the yard.
Ginger, you can drive, right?"

That got a funny look, and rolled
eyes.

"Of course I can. You taught
me, as you know. I even have my license, Calley. I hardly
ever
crash
anymore. Vampire senses and reflexes. Come on." They got the keyboard into
the trunk, and closed it with a pat on the top from Eve.

Then she turned to him.

"I'll race you. Ready?
Set... Go!"

For all she claimed it was a
race, they dashed along at speeds not too much faster than before. She moved
ahead of him, and kept speeding up, but only enough to get him to try a little
harder. It didn't take long for them to get back, but the car was already parked,
and the other girls inside, when they got there.

Eve looked at him and shook her
head.

"Pitiful.
Barely
thirty miles an hour. It's like you just have to be the turtle, from that
story, isn't it? Well, news flash, in real life the rabbit always wins. You
should get a car, given that. Maybe a van, so you can travel around and sleep
in the back? Or, you know, do other things back there, since you don't have to
waste time like most people anymore." She kept talking until they got
inside, to find that Calley was naked again, and not herself at the moment. In
fact, she was shorter, by at least a foot, had big pointy ears that were filled
with very short fuzz, the same color as her own head hair normally was, and had
turned nearly solid black underneath. Her nose was flat and wide, and in every
way that counted, including wings, she was a Bat.

It was impressive.

For one thing it was clear that
having changed meant her arm was all better. The bandage had been taken off
first, and was lying on the ground, near her clothing. Her legs were short and
awkward looking, but her eyes were a nice solid black color.

Ty nodded at her.

"Looking good! Give us a
twirl?" He was teasing, since it was the kind of thing that might be said
on a television show, but she did it, and then stretched her wings out, nearly
touching the walls on either side of the room before drawing them back. That
was nearly twenty feet, which was incredible really.

He clapped a bit, as she started
to stretch upward and shift back. Her skin lightened first, but the whole thing
was silent, and seemed like clay being molded, rather than the painful cracking
that some movies tried to present it as. Easy by comparison.

It was fascinating, but also a
lot faster than he would have thought. About a minute, maybe two, later, she
was standing there, looking her normal size and color. The cool ears were gone
too.

She rubbed at her middle.

"Okay, that's a secret. Most
Shifters need at least an hour between full form changes like that. I need to
eat now. I'm freaking
starving
."

Ty jogged to the kitchen and
started looking for something quick and easy to make. They had barbeque chips,
so he put them in a bowl and set them out for Calley, who'd gotten into her
sweats again, and settled on the sofa with the big green plastic bowl.