So You Used to Be Human - Book 3 (Original Version)

Chapter 23: Hashtag Never Forget

-6-

We drove in silence.

There were just no words that any of us had to describe what we were all feeling and truthfully I can only speak for myself. My feelings were more of a system overload type of numbness. I couldn't even think of anything smartass to say if my life depended on it. I couldn't even imagine what was going through Jaime's or Sammy's minds since they had both experienced vastly different types of emotional overload that had sent them into a similar state of numbness.

I don't know how long we drove before we realized that the King's music was blasting out of the speakers. It was a loud bombastic number that had been playing nonstop on the radio, a fun song that really made you want to get up and dance, and now it had been ruined for all of us. It was while we were driving over the railway bridge and driving into the part of the city that I'd always thought looked a little like SimCity, that Sammy had reached over and turned the radio off.

"I hate this fucking song."

The silence was deafening, but it was what we needed.

About six police squad cars had blasted by us and we could hear sirens in the distance, no doubt heading to the King's condo which was presumably on lockdown. Gunshot blasts and violent fights do not go uninvestigated in that part of town and especially in that building. I looked back, but couldn't even see the building anymore. We were heading onto the Eastbound freeway ramp, Sammy gunning the engine expertly, the car responding to her like an old friend. She had obviously driven the car before and was exactly the right person to have gotten us the hell out of there.

The security guards who had been streaming past us into the garage had seen the car and then Sammy driving, and had just waved us by; nobody wanted to mess with the King's girlfriend or worse yet delay her from leaving and place her in the path of potential danger of whatever the hell was happening in the garage. It had sounded like Beatrice and Mr Bryce were currently throwing cars at each other, and nobody wanted any part of that.

I had looked back as we had raced away down University Ave and had felt sorry for the poor guards who really had clue what they were stepping into. Would Beatrice and Mr Bryce even care how many people they killed just from the being in the vicinity, or would it just be another situation that Harry would cover-up? How much of a disaster did it have to be before ordinary people started asking questions.

So we drove away from the chaos and the sudden but now seemingly inevitable betrayal, each of us in our own heads, and all I could think of was that I'd never gotten to raid the King's fridge and I was still fucking hungry. It's hard to think deep thoughts and look properly concerned when your stomach has decided to assault you for lack of feeding it.

I could at least have grabbed a Snickers bar, was what I was thinking, when Jaime turned, something on her mind. I tried to look like I was thinking of something much more profound.

"We never told anyone about Paolo," Jaime said in that dull, tired and emotionless voice. "We ran and we completely forgot about poor Paolo."

"Who's Paolo?" Sammy wanted to know. Jaime ignored her.

"Is this what we do now Bob? We run from one group of people trying to kill us right into the arms of yet another group who're also trying to kill us? Is this what being a vampire is about for you?"

"Technically no. People usually only to kill me on holidays and weekends."

"And what happens to the people like Paolo who get caught up in your mess? He was just a driver--"