Bitten (Book 1 - Book 4) novel Chapter 5

A man stood behind her. Despite he had tattoos on his cheek, it didn’t lesson her apprehension. She didn’t know him.

“Come with me, please. Uri would like you to be near,” the man said without any introduction.

His nostrils flared twice as if smelling the air. Natalia felt somewhat cautious, remembering the man in the restaurant. However, this man remained a good six feet away from her. He stood there patiently, almost like a servant, while she made up her mind to follow or not. However, he wasn’t dressed like a servant. He looked like another businessman in a suit.

Natalia rose from the bench, waving a hand to indicate that he was to lead on. He obliged and walked ahead of her. She followed him, keeping her distance. They only walked a block further to what she guessed was a main thoroughfare since the road was two lanes wide in both directions. The limo pulled up a moment later, and the back door opened.

“Get in,” Uri said, reaching out a hand for her.

She noted a nodded exchange between him and the man she followed. She also noted that Uri’s tattoos were back. When she settled on the seat, Uri pulled her over, so they were touching. He again held her hand.

“You look nice,” he said, but he seemed to have hardly looked at her.

“Thank you.”

As soon as the door shut and the limo moved, she asked the question.

“How do you hide those?”

She touched her cheek.

“Special cover-up.”

His response was terse, and she felt he didn’t want to engage in any conversation, especially since he gazed out the window away from her. She turned away from him and did the same, catching the limo going through the gates and back into the main city.

The smog and traffic swelled around the limo. She found she didn’t miss it and was already missing the cleaner air of the Hollow City.

Hollow City…

That thought caused her to pause.

Viperia. The city of Viperia.

She still thought of them as Hollows but recalled that Uri said it was a derogatory name. She mentally repeated Viperia and Viperian so as to become more familiar with the terms. While she did so, she realized how sheltered she had been from the city around her. There was so much already that she didn’t know about. There was so much that was unfamiliar.

The limo pulled up in front of the main bank. Thomas was waiting. The doors to the limo unlocked. Thomas got in. The door locks clicked.

Natalia had the feeling the driver was both locking them in and the city out. The glass between them and the driver was dark, making her feel as if she was in a vehicle driven by no one.

“Evening, Uri.” Thomas said with a nod.

He sounded chipper.

“Thomas.” Uri nodded back sounding less happy.

Thomas’s smile widened when he moved his gaze to her. He ogled her before he reached up to his face. He picked at his skin until he seemed to have a piece, then peeled it off to reveal his tattoos. Natalia winced. Whatever he was pulling off pulled at the layer below. It looked painful.

The moment his tattoos were revealed, he changed from a pleasant looking old man to one who had a menacing look. His tattoos almost looked swollen and red, consisting of two swirling half-moons. Natalia felt as if they would soon be oozing blood. He suddenly seemed frightening to her.

“I see you’ve caused a bit of trouble with this one,” he said with a chuckled.

Natalia glanced up at Uri. He didn’t look happy and seemed to be ignoring Thomas.

“I know you hate it when you have to let A’ppollo officials into our city,” Thomas continued.

Natalia almost thought he was gloating.

“Everyone is looking for this one. Perhaps it’s best to better pick your woman for the night. Or best just to keep her only for the one night.”

He chuckled again as if he was being humorous.

Uri remained silent as if he was absorbed with watching the view out the window.

“I would be happy to take her off your hands.”

Natalia had the feeling that Thomas was intentionally trying to get Uri to react, but Uri appeared unaffected. She didn’t even feel any tension in his hand.

“I take it she will be accompanying us to the club. You know they hate that.”

Thomas did some tsking noises while he gazed out the window.

“Risking our operation because of a girl.”

He smiled and his nostrils flared.

“And you knocked her up, too. I don’t remember you getting a permit from the city to breed.”

Natalia was beginning to hate him.

Thomas chuckled and tsked more. Uri continued to gaze out the window and ignore him.

After a long drive, the limo slowed, then drove between two high metal gates. These were different gates, but she knew they were heading back into Viperia. Two men, dressed like construction workers, were quick to close the gates behind them. Twenty minutes later, the limo stopped in front of a building. It almost looked like one of the stately library type buildings near the older sections of town.

Uri pulled her out of the limo with him. She wasn’t ready for it and had to scramble to find her feet. He paused on the sidewalk as if he was letting her recover, but she could see he was just letting Thomas walk ahead of them. She managed to steady herself before he pulled her along and into the building.

“Thomas. Uri.”

The door attendant said their names in a clear voice, but ignored her. She felt as if he was announcing their arrival, however, his voice was very quiet.

Thomas led the way through the foyer, out into a large open area and then into an even larger room. There was a bar at one end, surrounded by men and one woman. All of them had the red-brown tattoos on their right cheeks. Everyone turned when they entered the room. Natalia felt as if everyone was staring at her making her feel very uncomfortable.

Uri headed for an empty table. Thomas headed for the bar.

Uri pulled her down into a chair that was against the wall. He sat beside her. She felt hemmed in.

“Evening, Uri.”

“Evening, Grazie.”

Grazie was a slender younger man. He looked barely out of his teens. His tattoos were three half-circles with swirls that ended at his ears. He sat across from Uri. While he had eyed her up and down before he sat, he ignored her after he had taken his seat and didn’t speak to her. Natalia didn’t feel human. She felt more like a pet on a leash. Uri still held her hand.

A waiter brought a tray of drinks to the table and served them all. Natalia had no idea what the black liquid was since she too was served. She took a sip to find it had a smooth feel on her tongue. It was hard to tell if it was sweet or not. This wasn’t anything she had ever tasted before, and she couldn’t identify it. There didn’t seem to be any alcohol in it that she could detect.

“Having a good day?” Grazie said after a long sip of his drink.

“Almost,” Uri responded. “And you?”

“Getting there.”

“Excellent.”

Grazie’s voice changed to an airy whisper as if he was but breathing the words. Natalia just understood what he said by watching his lips.

“The search is controlled. I think they were more interested in five missing guys than the girl. All the logs were checked. All is clean.”

Uri nodded and sipped his drink.

“Moralis.”

It was the door attendant's voice making another announcement. She barely heard it.

A man entered looking jolly. His tattoos were zigzag swirls.

“Evening.”

He directed his greeting at everyone and stepped up to the bar.

Uri didn’t seem interested in the new arrival. He and Grazie sipped their drinks and stared at each other.

However, after twenty minutes, Moralis approached them.

“Tsk Tsk, Uri. All you can think about is girls.”

Uri shrugged.

“Girls everywhere. No one seems to notice. One insignificant little girl.”

He grinned broadly, but he never glanced at her.

“You drinking tonight, Moralis?” Grazie said. “Darts?”

Moralis chuckled.

“I can do darts whether I drink or not.”

“You finish that drink then and we’ll play darts,” Grazie said.

Moralis laughed and walked off.

Grazie grinned at Uri.

“I love girls,” Grazie said.

Uri smiled and nodded.

Natalia didn’t think what she heard was what was meant, as if there was a different conversation being had. Uri no longer seemed unhappy and signaled to the waiter.

“I hear there are steak medallions tonight. We’ll have two.”

“And the lady likes hers?”

“She’ll take them as I take them,” Uri said.

Natalia sipped her drink, deciding it wasn’t too bad.

Grazie rose and went to the bar. Uri remained silent while he concentrated on sipping his drink.

Dinner arrived in a quick manner and, to Natalia’s dismay, was totally raw. There were four medallions of steak arranged in a puddle of blood. Sliced water chestnuts were on one side of the medallions as if a garnish. There was a chopped bowl of salad greens with sliced vegetables.

“You must be kidding,” she said in a hoarse whisper.

“Try it,” he said, giving her hardly a look.

He finally released her hand and concentrated on his meal.

Natalia started with the salad, which she found did have a sweet oil dressing.

“I would eat the meat while it’s warm.”

“It’s raw.”

“Try it.”

He had a bit of a dangerous tone to his voice.

Grudgingly, she sliced off a small piece of steak. It was hardly warm, but it wasn’t cold. The taste was that of a very rare steak and it was very tender. There was no fat on the meat. She took a second bite and decided it wasn’t bad. Considering she had eaten all her lunch, she found herself hungry. Before she knew it, she had eaten all the meat. She turned her focus to the salad and finished that off.

“Not as bad as you thought,” he said in a low voice.

He had finished his entire meal as well.

She didn’t answer him.

“Best when still warm,” he said.

“How do they warm it?”

He looked at her as if he didn’t or was quite sure how to say. His hesitation to answer caused a sense of dread to flow over her.

“Never mind,” she said.

Uri grinned.

“The animal is electrocuted, sliced, then served.”

She swallowed hard.

“You will be amazed at what this diet does for you,” he said.

“Will I grow fangs?”

There were a couple of chuckles from people around the room who overheard.

Uri grinned.

“No, but I will get a healthy baby. Your hair will become soft and lush. You will be able to breath, smell, hear and touch like never before.”

Natalia doubted that. She had heard of raw diets before. There were always fad diets out there. There was also always something wrong with the diets. Her eyes focused on her glass.

“What am I drinking?”