The Immortal Pact 2

“I’m so horny,” Alex sighed.

“So horn dog, horny?” Miranda guessed, a small grin crossing her face as she glanced sideways at her traveling companion. To her amusement, he was now sending her the bird. “Oh, come on!” She laughed, her hazel eyes gliding back to her window, where an old woman with a bob was glaring at both of them.

“The f*ck is her problem?” Alex scoffed. He lowered his offending hand and used it to snag his milkshake from the cup carrier. “This town badly needs a stick removed from up its *ss. Even the waitress couldn't muster a smile for me."

"It's almost the end of her shift," Miranda defended, even though she did agree slightly that 'hospitality' was very much lacking in this town. Unfortunately, the stop was incredibly necessary… It was the first one on the list nearest to them that had an open burger joint past 10 p.m. (a saving grace). “Let’s find somewhere to crash for the night, and then we can hit the road first thing in the morning.” Early in the morning, the girl promised herself, peering back at her personal ‘mean mugger’. With a shudder, she brought the car back to life and began reversing away from the cute ‘70s diner that had blessed the vehicle with a decent meal. The dog-faced woman continued to glare until they managed to put some distance between her old mobile and them.

Relieved, Alex snagged one of Miranda’s fries.

“I knew it!” The girl shot back at her traveling companion.

“What?” The gay looked around in surprise.

The driver squinted her eyes, “You l-i-ar! I knew you wanted French fries!”

Alex scoffed. “Of course you knew it! That's why you ordered the large one, you fake heifer! The ‘Miranda’ I know would never get anything larger than a medium, and that’s only if they are curly.” With his nose in the air, the boy took a loud bite and chewed with precision.

Shaking her head to the point that her precious brown curls were now bouncing with life, Miranda silently cheered when a motel came into view. So far, their trip had mostly consisted of car sleeping, with the occasional stops where they could get a shower. Tonight, she planned to treat them to a comfortable bed and some continental breakfast. It wasn’t as if money were a huge issue; her Father had left a substantial life insurance check and a significant amount in other sources. The problem was that neither she nor Alex knew how long they would be on the road.

It had been almost two months since they had been on the move. Two months of chasing stories about strange deaths and ‘monster’ sightings. Two months of Miranda feeling as if she had been dropped into a paranormal television show. The girl had once loved her share of monster stories, but now…

Pulling into an almost empty parking lot, the car was brought to a stop near the check-in office, and the engine was quickly shut off.

“I’m so excited!” Alex cheered, his door opening before the car came to a full stop. Despite the obvious fact that this place was far from five-star, the boy was not deterred and was overjoyed at the thought of a warm shower.

Moving in from the cold, the girl had to stop to remove her glasses when the heated room hit them square in the face. She approached a check-in counter that had more Christmas decorations than surface space and waited to be noticed. That was when shuffling from the back revealed a charming set of pearly teeth and a mop of brown hair.

Alex, once more remembering just how sexually deprived he had been over the last few weeks, straightened up. Quickly running a hand over his blonde spikes, the boy managed to go from looking travel-worn to 100% in seconds. “Hello,” he called to the approaching figure, a male who didn’t appear to be much older than them.

“Hi,” The check-in attendant muttered by way of greeting, but said no more.

“One room please,” Miranda requested, holding up her ID and Bank Card. The boy, without further word, handed her a clipboard and a small sign-in card. Rushing through the information, the girl instantly felt bad for her best friend, who was blatantly eye-f*ck*ng the other male. She waited until her information was scanned before accepting the room key and pulling him, reluctantly, back out into the cold with her. It was better to get the boy out of that situation than to let Alex continue to tug at strings that needed to stay in place if they wanted things to continue going smoothly… Like them having a room for the night.

“God d*mn it!” The boy moaned, following Miranda to their door - 7 - his green eyes on the ground.

“I know, sweetheart,” she sympathized. It had been a long trip, and so far, it didn't appear anywhere near done. Sticking the key card into the lock, she let them into a room that felt like Heaven following hours in Hell. There was only one bed. However, after years of being friends, neither of them minded that fact. Praising the soft carpet's look, the girl quickly kicked off her shoes and began padding around. “This feels amazing!” She praised.

Alex, still looking a bit let down, hadn’t yet taken his shoes off. “Hey,” He ‘suddenly’ thought, “We should get some ice…”

“For what?” Miranda mused, plopping down on the bed.

“For the… sodas I am about to buy us,” he continued with a nod.

The girl’s grin grew. “As delightful as a soda sounds, baby, I couldn’t help but notice that the only ice maker in this place is located back in the check-in office.”

Alex’s eyes rose in fake shock. “Is it? I hadn’t noticed.”

Miranda threw her hands up into the air. “Honey, I love you, but you stink. Go take a shower before trying round 2.”

Alex raised his right arm and gave his pit a small sniff. “Oh god!” The boy coughed, “How the Hell have you managed to put up with that odor? Gurl! You must have a stomach of steel - I f*ck*ng reek!” With a gag, he grabbed at his backpack and retreated to the bathroom.

Miranda slipped off her socks and propped a chair by the front door so that she could, barefoot, get the rest of their travel bags - including Alex’s new laptop. It had been a dark day when the boy realized it was better to trade in his prized computer, one he had built himself, for a more portable electronic device. They had managed to get a pretty penny at a pawn shop for the original computer, but Miranda had still thrown in a bit more so that he could get the best replacement. Already, that choice was paying off, as it had been thanks to Alex’s computer skills that they had managed to stay ahead of the nightmare they were pursuing.

With a sigh, the girl closed the hotel room door and double-locked it. She wasn’t sure if Alex intended to go back out that evening, but she hoped that the sight of his laptop would distract him. Nights, as far as Miranda was concerned, were far more dangerous now that she knew monsters existed in them - even if the lore was nonsense and they still managed to get around during the day. Once upon a time, she had been quite the night owl herself, now… Shuttering, she clicked on the computer and set it up on the small desk in the corner.

When Alex finally emerged from the bathroom, squeaky clean and humming with joy, just as Miranda had hoped, his gaze automatically fell on the buzzing screen. “Hello, gorgeous,” the boy called to his favorite toy. He appeared in front of it and began clicking away, despite standing in the middle of the room in nothing but a towel.

Satisfied that she wouldn’t come out to find him gone, Miranda went to take her shower next. She quickly stripped down and padded under the stream, which Alex had left running at a perfect temperature. Breathing against the comforting water, the girl tried to daydream herself away to somewhere else. Anywhere. To get some much-needed mental rest. It had been months since she last tried this - her second-favorite game: Make-Believe. The last time had also been in a shower, it was located in a college apartment, and she had been dreaming about a pair of s*xy blue eyes attached to the perfect face of a charming man…

“Darius,” The girl sighed, her heart instantly aching.

Darius Ryder had been Miranda’s knight in shining armor, rescuing her from the dark woods that had controlled her life for too long. His home had been a castle that now lay in ruins back in Ravenfalls, the town that had once been her home. He had promised her a life—a whole new story… And then he was killed before he could act on it.

Taking another pained breath, Miranda remembered their last encounter. He had just committed a serious crime for her and then told her that he would be taking the girl on a date, all in the same 20 minutes. His parting words were that he wouldn’t keep her waiting long…

Fire exploded behind Miranda’s eyes, and they shot open with a start. For as long as she lived, the girl doubted she would ever be able to erase that explosion from her mind.

Attempting to distract herself once more, she was reaching for the tiny ‘complimentary’ shampoo bottle when Alex’s voice carried from the next room.

“B*tch! Get your *ss in here!”

Knowing the urgency with which they had been living their last few weeks, Miranda bolted from the bathroom, not even bothering to shut the water off. “What?” The girl screamed, sprinting to Alex’s side.

The boy gaped, his gaze shifting over her naked body. “Um?”

“You took the only big towel, jacka*s!”

Shrugging, he returned his attention to the screen. “So, remember that time we were being dumb motherfuckers and studying vampires in the middle of the d*mn public library?”

Miranda rolled her eyes. How could she forget?

“Well,” he turned the screen so that she could get a better look, “it turns out someone found it, and over two months ago at that. Sh*t, if only I had thought to look back on all of this sooner. I only just remembered…”

The girl’s hazel eyes skimmed over the slightly familiar document that Alex had shown her in what felt like another lifetime. “What am I looking at?”

The boy pointed to the bottom. “Whoever found it left us a message.”

Finally seeing what had Alex so excited, Miranda gaped at the few words that had been left behind - 149 Evermore Lane, Hollow, TX. “Where the Hell is that?”

Alex was already looking into it on his phone. "This location is a bit off the beaten path. I couldn’t find much about it."

Shaking her head, Miranda turned back toward the bathroom.

“Oh, come on,” Alex called to his friend’s retreating form. "We’ve been on the road for months and haven’t had a single bite. What if this helps?”

Stepping back under the stream, the girl began washing her hair. “Alex,” She altered her voice slightly to sound less annoyed, “We’re chasing vampires, remember? What if this is a trap that Morgan left behind?”

Alex groaned loudly, plopping down on the toilet seat. “Girl, he had already left town with Trisha by that point. Why would he double back? And how would he have even known to leave us a message? We never got to show Trisha the computer.” Reaching into his backpack, the boy found a fresh pair of boxers and began to dress, which helped make things slightly less awkward for the both of them. “Someone found the document and wanted to get this message to us.”

Miranda rinsed her hair and reflected on her friend's words for a moment. “There were other ways to do that,” She finally interjected. “It was no secret that I left the rest of our crap in the O’Gary’s shed. Whoever is renting their house could have passed along Mr. O’Gary’s number, and then the person who left the message could have reached me that way. Easy!”

“Unless…,” Alex continued excitedly, “This could be a very secret location in which certain vampire hunters, by the last name Ryder, could be hiding.”

“That’s stupid,” Miranda fought. "I doubt that you and I are even on their radar. How would they have known about the computer?”

Alex had an answer for that too. “Don’t you remember how good Darius was at figuring things out? He found the computer all by himself and probably relayed it back to headquarters or whatever. He had mentioned family, and considering that he knew all about vampires… He had to have learned it from somewhere! There could be a whole network of them.”

“Or,” Miranda shut the water off and accepted the damp towel from her friend, “He could have just read 'Dracula' like the rest of the weirdos in the world.”

Alex gave the girl a look that usually meant he was silently judging her. Instead, his voice took a more gentle approach, “Baby, I know how badly you miss him.”

“We barely knew each other,” Miranda protested, marching past her friend so she could search for some clothes.

“That doesn’t mean sh*t,” Alex called after her. “You were two people who found each other in a dark and dangerous place. You sparked almost instantly, and that's incredibly romantic. Have you even given yourself a chance to mourn him?”

Not bothering with a bra, the girl slipped a huge sweater over her head. She knew that Alex was trying to be kind, but at that moment, she wanted to hit him. “Don’t you have some hottie behind a check-in desk that you want to take to Pound Town? Go f*ck your brains out already!”

Alex opened his mouth as if he planned to argue, however, he thought better of it and finished getting dressed. Sliding back into his shoes, the boy eyed his friend with concern. “You know a little stop wouldn’t hurt us. Trap or not. It could help us locate Trisha more quickly. That and… No offense, my love, you are putting on a sh*t ton of weight. We desperately need to take a small break from sitting behind a wheel all the time.”

Miranda’s hazel eyes filled with fire even though the girl knew that she really couldn’t argue. Watching her friend retreat back out into the night, she glared down at her belly. Last month, Miranda had to trade in some of her jeans for a pair of sweats, compliments of no longer having a school gym to run to during stress-eating season. Falling back onto the bed, she turned to gaze at the screen that Alex had ‘conveniently’ left open. Darius had indeed mentioned living family, a fact that had shocked Miranda because she had spent her entire life hearing about the Ryder family’s demise. It had been a local ghost story that had turned out to be entirely false. She also had to admit that, given how impressive Darius had been at keeping tabs on her and her friends, his family would probably be just as good.

Rolling onto her back, she pondered the possibility of seeking a little help with her vampire problem… A problem that shouldn’t even exist.

Despite having just eaten a large burger and ‘most’ of her fries (ALEX), Miranda suddenly had the munchies and a strong desire for some crunchy snacks. There was a gas station across the way, and judging by its lights, it was still open. Springing into some pants and back into her boots, Miranda slipped out the door toward the glowing promise of chips - 2 for $3.

Even though she knew Alex would give her a nice lecture later, the girl didn’t bother stopping by the main office on her way across the street. Alone, Miranda skipped right up to the double doors and let herself in. Though the older man behind the counter looked incredibly displeased over finally having a customer, nothing could pop the content bubble growing inside the girl’s tummy. She rapidly pranced up to her favorite display, the one that held timeless snacks, and began scooping up the few that she knew Alex would also enjoy. S*x always made him hungry, and she had a feeling tonight would be a good one for the both of them. Gliding into the soda section next, the girl grabbed a few bottles before making her way to the counter.

Halfway back to the ogre man, who was watching her with an annoyed expression, one that blatantly indicated he would have liked to return to his book rather than wait for her, Miranda’s feet came to a sudden stop. Naturally, it was her hazel eyes that told them to do so, but this was long before her brain could fully register why her body was acting without proper command. Menacingly aligned along the shelves before her was a row of small boxes that Miranda had only ever glimpsed out of the corner of her eye. Now, taunting, they reminded the girl of a harrowing fact - How long had it been since she had her period? Gaping, she stared at the neon pictures of small, penciled-in stick-figure children… Pregnancy tests.

Alex had indeed been correct when he stated that she was gaining weight, but was that really because of the long hours of driving aimlessly around the country? Heart in her throat, Miranda thought back to the very erotic night with Darius - The one that had rocked her world. He had been everything she had dreamed of, and then morning came all too soon. Following the dawn was a strange party, her arrest, and more dead bodies than Miranda would have ever liked to know. With a shaking hand, the girl grabbed at the box near the end of the row and quickly stuffed it on top of her pile of ‘goodies’. It would be a nightmare, but she would rather know now than find out later.

The grumpy man scanned everything without looking, gave the girl her total, and then glared her back out the door.

Miranda would have normally made a retort for her own amusement as she hated naturally unpleasant people, but urgency was now pressing into every single one of her steps. Out of desperation, sh