William stood there looking at the shorter man. From what little he knew about him that did sound a lot more like the asshole he had come to know and not care for so much. If it was true, he could understand why Katherine didn’t want to talk about it. He found himself, despicable though his version of the story was, believing him.
“No, it doesn’t sound like rape. It sounds like you are just as a big an asshole as I always thought you were.”
“Hey, I have never claimed to be anything else, Setford. But I aint no goddamned rapist!”
“No, you’re just the worst kind of person imaginable, a sociopath who only sees people as objects for your amusement and pleasure.” William pivoted off his right foot and continued up the street. He didn’t care it Nick was following or not. Maybe he hadn’t tried to rape to Katherine but openly admitting what he said to her and what he really thought about her was just another reminder of why he had left home in the first place. It also proved the futility of trying to run from the negative parts of human society. The negative always seemed to find him, even under a massive volcano in the middle of northern California.
For hours they walked. Making left and right turns here and there, following their path they had carefully planned that morning. William had no idea how many miles they’d gone and no real idea of how far they still had to go. If they were walking four miles an hour, in ten hours they would have walked forty miles. He looked up toward their golden protector. The sun was well on its way to setting. He judged maybe two hours of daylight left. They were both hungry and the growling in their stomachs was a constant reminder of that.
They rounded right, around another building, and suddenly the desert opened up in the distance. The cityscape dissipated and for the first time they could see outside of L.A. William breathed a sigh of relief and glanced behind them. The sun was nearly touching the horizon; soon their world would be covered in shadows. Their advantage would be gone. William looked at Nicolas and jabbed his chin toward the end of the city. Nick looked out over the thinning city and shrugged his shoulders. They kept walking.
The sun disappeared behind them very quickly, and with it the warmth of the day. The brilliant reds and oranges of the sunset shot out overhead in a brilliant fire storm of color and light. But the temperature dropped noticeably too. William knew that this was going to happen though he had never lived in a desert. He wasn’t prepared for the sheer drop in temperature. They couldn’t see their breath, but he felt like they should be able to.
The coming dark of night is what really drove them. They were both hungry, but they shared the fear of what the night could bring down upon them. William had never fought a vampire, and he hoped he wouldn’t have to tonight.
By the time they reached the very outskirts of the desert along the quiet dark road they were traveling, all traces of the sunlight were gone from the void of space, to be replaced by the subdued myriad of the curtain of night, its pinholes shining their cold light from billions of miles away.
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This was the time that the desert was truly alive, and very dangerous. He didn’t know what his Shape shifting powers could do against the poison of a snake or scorpion and, that too, was also something he didn’t really want to find out tonight.
He led Nicolas off the road into the desert away from the still warm asphalt of the highway. The sands and stones of the desert were being brushed lightly by a breeze that never seemed to stop. He had to squint to protect his eyes from the gently flying irritants. The more they moved away from the city and the road, the more the wind seemed to gain in strength. It could have been his imagination, but what wasn’t part of his imagination, he was getting colder.
This place could have been Mars for all he knew, and just as alien. He knew that they could eat cactus, and rattle snake was a good protein filled meal. Unfortunately, he also knew that they needed water. Cactus again would be useful to them but he didn’t see any around. In fact, this place was just as barren as any planet on one of those old Sci-fi horror movies. A thud and a scrape behind him made him turn around.
“Well, Setford? I walked my happy ass all over L.A. to get here. Where’s the food?”
William really wanted to hit him. “If you wanted to be any help, you’d help me look for some cactus or snake or other rodents to eat.”
“Oh, you mean that crap Efraim tried to teach us a while back. Yeah sure, ahh let me look…nope! Don’t see any cactus! What else you got?”
In an incredible act of will, William calmed himself and replied evenly, “If you don’t like it, you are free to go back to the city. Say hi to Kenneth for me when you get caught…and you will.”
“What is your problem, man?”
William arched an eyebrow. “My problem?” He turned around and gazed up at the stars for a few seconds before answering. “I’m stuck out here in the middle of nowhere with a sociopath who doesn’t give a damn about anybody but himself. And when he has the opportunity to help himself, he bitches and moans about it being hard.”
William whipped around to face him. “Everything has been easy for you and the second something gets hard you quit and go home to your ‘loving’ parents who hug you, pat your head, tell you you’re the best son ever, and gives you whatever you want. I HATE people like you Nick! Always have. That’s why I left, to find a better life for myself away from fuck tards like you. But even after everything I’ve been through, I couldn’t get away far enough.” William stalked off into the ever darkening cold of the night desert.
“You don’t know a thing about me!”
William heard hurried footsteps behind him getting closer.
“Hey I’m talkin’ to you, asshole!”
William felt a hand on his shoulder and he was spun around to face Nicolas. Then his face exploded in pain. He reeled back on his heels but with great effort he was just able to keep his feet.
“Is this how you talk to someone, Nick? With your fists, you ignorant fuck?” William barked a cold laugh. “Just, what I would expect from you. Hear something you don’t like and out comes the fist a cuffs. Well…” William shifted. His seven foot tall, furred form now towered over the shorter man. “This time Nick, that won’t solve the argument.” William unleashed a backhand that caught the man square across the chest and threw him four feet in the air. Nicolas crashed down on his back eight feet away.