2.05
"So, you can imagine how much fun we had and while--"
Nicole stopped in
the middle of her story. She looked to her left. "Why are
you stopping
the car, Beverley?"
"I am not stopping it. It Oh no!!! Darn!" She banged
her head on the
steering wheel.
"What?!" Nicole asked anxiously.
"The gas! Were out of gas! Can you believe it?"
"But how is that possible? We only drove a mile or so."
"Indeed we did!" Beverley replied. "My guess is
Lestat has pulled this
trick on us. Of course he would not lend out his precious car
without
doing *something* to make sure we know just how much he hates
giving it
away."
"Well, he doesn't know *us* then! We don't let a small thing
like this
discourage us!" Nicole said confidently.
"Hmm, no I guess not. But what do we do now? There's a gas
station a few
blocks away. We could push the car over there, I suppose."
She thought
for a moment. "Okay, Nicole, you sit behind the wheel and
steer this
beauty, and I will push."
"But Beverley, I--" Nicole wanted to protest. The last
thing she wanted
was to be responsible for anything happening to one of Lestat's
favorite
possessions.
"No protests, Nicole! If anything happens, I will take full
responsibility. But don't worry, nothing will happen. And by the
way, if
anything would, just let me take care of Lestat then! I'll show
him!"
Nicole laughed as she placed herself behind the wheel.
"You're wicked!"
And off they went.
"How are you holding up, girl?" Nicole asked after a
few minutes, as she
looked in the mirror and saw her companion's flushed face.
"Are you
having fun yet?"
Beverley gave her a look and then said, "Okay, turn left
here. There's
the gas station. And a coffee shop as well. I sure could use a
cup!"
They arrived at the gas station and filled the car up. One of the
employees was absolutely taken by the beautiful vehicle and kept
polishing it. Beverley wanted to say that that wasn't necessary,
but
Nicole interrupted her and said, "Oh, leave him. He'll take
good care of
it while we are having our coffee."
*****
While cleaning a table, Toxygen was thinking what the hell she
was doing
in New Orleans pretending to be a waitress, when she much rather
would
do some sightseeing. The days were lovely here, but she had to
work.
Well, at least she would be getting off work soon. She smiled to
herself, wondering if she would meet any vamps tonight. No such
luck so
far, but never give up hope, eh?
She was then brutally shaken by the harsh voice of her boss.
"Hey, you
there! Stop day dreaming and serve those people! You want them to
wait
until tomorrow?! They're customers, you're a waitress, serve
them!"
Toxygen sighed, bowed her head and went back behind the counter.
She
went up to the customers, who were deep in conversation. She took
out
her notebook and pen, looked up and wanted to ask them what their
wishes
were, when she looked right into a familiar face.
"Beverley!" she
exclaimed.
"Tox? What on earth are you doing here?"
She grinned kind of sheepishly and replied, "I am supposed
to be a
waitress, but that was obviously not my calling. Remember my
desire to
travel? I quit my job in Holland, packed my bags and just went.
Well,
here I am! And--" Toxygen just realized something. "Oh,
please excuse me
for being so rude. Hello, I am Toxygen."
"Gathered as much. Hi, I am Nicole." They smiled.
"Hey and where did you go to?" Beverley asked.
"Well, first I went to Canada by airplane, stayed there for
a week, then
moved slowly southwards by public transport. Slowly, because when
I ran
out of money I had to find a job to earn some and then I was able
to
resume my journey. Just a few days ago I arrived here, in New
Orleans,
the whole purpose of my trip. But how about you guys, what are
you up
to?"
"You wouldn't believe it, if we told you." Nicole
smiled mysteriously.
"But first give us a cup of coffee please, then we'll tell
you all about
it!" Beverley said.
Toxygen went to get the cups of coffee and when she returned, she
leaned
on the counter, all ears while Nicole and Beverley told her the
whole
story. "Oh my god! You guys! I cannot believe it! But what
exactly is a
scavenger hunt?"
"Hey you! What do you think you are doing?! You think I pay
you to
entertain the customers? I should never have hired you. You are
the
worst waitress ever!" The boss shouted with rage. "Get
to work, or else
you can just leave!"
Toxygen turned around to face him, smiled and said ever so
calmly, "You
know what? You are absolutely right, I *am* the worst waitress
ever!"
She took off her apron and walked towards the man and put the
apron in
his hands. "You deserve a much better one! Good bye!"
The man looked very surprised and was speechless.
Toxygen went to the door of the coffee shop, opened it and waited
for
Nicole and Beverley, who gathered their things and came running
to the
door as well.
"Are you sure about this, Tox?" Nicole asked with some
concern.
"Yep! I do need a job, but a different one. This is just not
me!"
"Well, this is quite a change. Since when did you get so
defiant and
irresponsible?" Beverley asked.
"Since I reread Lestat's philosophies! 'I will do as I damn
well please'
is my motto these days." Toxygen could speak no more when
she saw the
car they were walking towards. "You're driving in
that?!"
"Certainly. Lestat was more than happy to let us borrow
it," Beverley
said with a wry smile.
Nicole giggled at the memory of what had just happened. Then she
had an
idea. "Hey Toxy, since you seem to be unemployed and free to
do what you
want right now, would you like to come with us?"
"Really? You mean that? I mean, I don't want to impose…"
"Nonsense. The more the merrier! And you don't really want
to miss out
on the opportunity to meet the vamps, do you?!"
"Go on!" said Beverley "Jump in!"
"And besides, we could use all the help we can get. The item
we have to
go get is nothing less than a postcard from Night Island!"
Nicole said,
while Beverley checked to see if there could be anything else
stopping
them from going very far.
"Everything seems to be allright now. We're off!"
Beverley chimed.
"Great," said Nicole. "Then I will explain to Toxy
what a scavenger hunt
is all about."
Toxygen sat back and smiled. "Oh goody-goody!"
Though slightly crowded in the two-seater sports car, Beverley,
Nicole
and Toxygen drove off into the night to fulfill their portion of
the
scavenger hunt.
=====================
2.06
“Okay! So we are all acquainted, or reacquainted, with the
scavenger hunt.
Now I just have one question.” Nicole said.
“Shoot!” Toxygen said from the front seat.
“How the *hell* are we going to get to Night Island? We can’t
possible drive
all the way to Miami then catch a boat there!”
“Well there’s always the idea about taking a plane.”
Beverly said.
“Um... Bev. I have like no money!” Toxygen stated.
“And I only have about forty bucks.” Nicole chimed in
After driving towards the New Orleans airport, and having both
Toxygen and
Nicole screaming they had no money, Beverly pulled up to an ATM.
“Bev, what are you doing?” Asked Toxygen.
“Oh, just making a withdrawal.” she replied with an
evil grin.
~~~~~~~~~
“A cookbook!” Exclaimed Marius.
“That’s what it says. Well it’s actually a
vegataren cookbook.” Jesse said.
“Now weren’t they specific?” Marius joked.
“Come on. Lets just run into a book store pick one up and be
on our way.”
Jesse said as the cab stopped. She paid the driver and they
started to walk.
Once inside the first book store they headed back towards the
corner where
the cook books were located. While Jesse looked for their
vegataren cookbook,
Marius would chime in with an occasional “Oh, Lookie! Doesn’t
this look like
something I could make?” At which Jesse would give him a
stern look.
“I just don’t believe it! They don’t have a single
vegataren cookbook! You
gotta be kidding me?” Jesse exclaimed after looking through
each book.
“Excuse me miss. But may I be of any assistance?” an
employ asked Jesse.
Jesse glanced down at Marius who was sitting on the floor with a
French
cookbook reading. Then looking back at the employ she stated that
they need a
cookbook.
“You know, I just sold the last vegi cookbook about an hour
early. Another
shipment will be in next month, if you can wait.” he said
apologetically.
“Well we sort of need it sooner then that. Is there anyway
you can maybe have
the shipment come sooner?” she asked him.
“Sorry. But we can order you one from another bookstore. It
will take about
week to come in.” he said.
Jesse took a deep sigh. A week. Could they wait that long? she
wondered.
Taking another sigh she walk to the counter to order the book
leaving Marius
on the floor reading.
~~~~~~~~~
“Not asking how you knew how to get money out of David’s
account.” Toxygen
said.
“Can you teach me how to do that?” Nicole giggled.
“It’s a long story. Come we got to get the airport and
get a plane to Miami
A.S.A.P!” Beverly said pushing her two companies into the
car.
Once at the airport Beverly went to get the tickets while Toxygen
and Nicole
sat down.
“I have good news and bad news.” Beverly said holding
three tickets.
“What’s the good news?” Toxygen asked.
“We got first class seats.”
“Bad news?”
“The flight’s at 4 am, which means we’ll land
about 7 am... I think.” Beverly
said with a frown.
Toxygen and Beverly had disappointed looks on their faces when
out of no
where Nicole exclaimed. “I’m a genus!”
Toxygen raised one eye brow.
“Okay we take the flight. *If* David finds out we were out
in the day someone
can convince him that if three ‘girls’ would break a
rule, what’s keeping him
from checking up on Lestat? Well he runs off to see what the Brat
Prince is,
or is not, doing and we get the postcard!” Nicole explained.
Toxygen eyes lit up at the idea while Beverly seemed passive.
After ten more
minutes of trying to convince Beverly that it would be okay the
three of them
heading down to the gate.
~~~~~~~~~~
“One week! We have to wait one whole week?” Marius
yelled furiously.
“Well it was one week or one month. Anyway this does give us
some more time
to find something else on the list.” Jesse said trying to
calm Marius down.
“Fine. So what is our next thing?”
=========================
2.07
“Champagne, sir? Or can I offer you something else to
drink?”
Lestat tried not to stare at the vein in the air hostess’
neck as she bent down over
Louis, flashing her ‘anything you require, I can get’
smile.
“No, thankyou,” Lestat reluctantly said, wishing he had
$100 for every time an air
hostess had offered him ‘something extra.’
“Do we know where Brad’s agent is?” Louis asked.
“Yes, it’s here on this card,” Lestat removed a
compliments card from his pocket, ‘Susan
A. Bryant, Agent to the Stars.’
“She’s probably overweight with a drinks problem,
shouldn’t be too hard to get Brad’s
address from her, a little Lioncourt charm, don’t you think,
my love?”
Louis sighed, “I hope you know what you are doing, Lestat,
kidnapping is a federal
offence.”
“Who said anything about kidnapping?” Lestat answered
with a wicked smile. “ I am sure
Mr. Pitt will be delighted with our offer of employment.”
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Lestat knocked firmly on the glass door of the agent’s
office.
“Come!” A voice from within.
The voice was sitting with its back to the vampires as they
entered the office, and was
very agitated.
“What do you mean some of the extras have food poisoning?
Where am I supposed to get two
lookalikes from at this short notice?” She swore under her
breath and swivelled the
chair around to face Louis and Lestat.
“Wow!” she said.
“Wow!” Lestat uttered.
Louis took one look at Lestat’s face and said,
“Don’t you ever think of anything else?”
Miss Bryant stood up and held out her hand to Lestat.
He brought it to his lips and kissed the back of her hand softly.
Miss Bryant blushed.
“How did you know to come?” she whispered, “I have
only just found out myself.”
Louis gave Lestat a puzzled look.
“It’s a great shame about your extras,” he said
with a smile, “do you think we stand a
chance with the casting director?”
Miss Bryant laughed. “With the extras parts, you two look
superb… and with the director
himself…my advice is don’t turn your back,” she
grinned.
Louis gave Lestat another puzzled look.
“I’ll explain later,” he whispered, wondering how
Louis had made it to this century and
stayed so innocent.
“Here is the address, but hurry you know what a pain Brad
Pitt can be if you are late.”
“Brad Pitt!” Lestat and Louis cried together.
“Didn’t you know? He is the star of the film. Antonio
had to drop out, something about
Melanie needing him home to make her new patio look pretty.”
Lestat and Louis were already heading to the door.
“Call back if I can help!” she said.
Lestat took Louis by the hand and hastily began to explain about
the casting director.
Miss Bryant sat down with a sigh and opened her desk drawer. She
removed a whisky bottle
and poured herself a stiff drink, “why are all the best ones
gay?” she muttered.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The door to the casting directors’ office was shut.
“Maybe he’s not in,” Louis said hopefully.
“Of course he is in…” Lestat began.
“And don’t come back!” A voice from inside the
office boomed out, then the door opened
and a nervous, middle aged woman emerged.
“We are Mr. Molloy and Mr. Reeves,” Lestat’s voice
startled her.
Louis opened his mouth to contradict this fact and shut it again
as Lestat glared at him.
“Oh my!” she exclaimed, “you two do look the part,
go in, if he gets any more upset he’ll
have heart failure.”
The casting director was muttering obscenities under his breath
as Louis and Lestat went
in.
His eyes fell on Louis.
“Bloody Hell!”
Louis gave Lestat a puzzled look.
“You are perfect,” the director took Louis by the arm,
“tell me have you acted before?
No…don’t answer that…you won’t have many
lines, you just have to play Brad’s vampire
lover, you roll about on the bed a bit and look breathless..can
you do that?” The
director gave Louis a look of lust.
“Ahem…excuse me..” Lestat was not enjoying how
this discussion was progressing.
The director gave Lestat an appraising glance and sighed.
“I suppose you would go in a scene with no close ups.
Really, dear boy, your make up is
much too dark for a vampire film and those fangs..they are
so…plastic.”
Louis gave Lestat a superior look.
“Come with me, I’ll introduce you to Brad,” the
director cooed, “he will adore you,” he
added with a wicked smile, aimed at Louis.
As they followed the director to the set, Lestat whispered to
Louis.
“Remember, we only came to find out where he was so we would
know when it was time to
acquire him.”
Louis gave Lestat an innocent look, but Lestat noticed a wicked
glint behind his glowing
emerald eyes.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
“I’ve made reservations at the airport hotel,”
Beverley said, as they hurried through
the airport lounge.
“With David’s money as payment?” Toxygen asked,
with a grin.
“Sure, why not? David has more money than he knows what to
do with. We need a decent
hotel room, I don’t know about you girls but I am
shattered!”
Nicole let out a shriek and dashed across to a newspaper stand.
In minutes she had returned with a postcard.
“Is this all they had?” Toxygen asked in disgust,
gazing at the scene of a swimming pool
adorned with half naked girls.
“It’s the back we need,” Nicole explained, and
turning it over Toxygen and Beverley
hugged her. The words ‘Images from The Night Island’
were written in bold type on the
reverse.
Beverley looked at her watch. “It’s 7.10am, my
nocturnal beauties, time we were all
tucked up in bed dreaming sweet thoughts.”
Toxygen whispered in her friend’s ear, “Is Armand as
delicious in the flesh?”
Beverley turned to Toxygen as they all entered the hotel lobby,
“Good enough to eat,” she
answered with an evil glint in her eyes.