Bound By Blood - 2. Chapter Two

“All right, Austin. Make sure to turn off all the lights after you tucked the girls into bed. The leftover dinner is in the refrigerator for you all to heat up in the microwave and eat, so don’t use the stove or oven. And only eat at the dining table. Got it?”

Austin nodded, not looking up from his phone which was a major pet peeve of mine.

“And after I come home, we’ll be discussing your little escapade last night,” I said as I put on my brown leather jacket.

“Yes, sir.”

A knock on the front door signaled me to open it. Anthony stood at the other side of the threshold, and I stepped back to let him in.

“Hey, Austin! What’s up, man?” Anthony said.

My son looked up to see Anthony and quickly sprang from the couch. “Oh, hey, Anthony! Uh, nothing much. Just doing my homework.”

“On your phone?” Anthony said with a quirked eyebrow.

“Oh, uh…”

“Well, Austin. Anthony and I will be going out now. Stay in this house and watch the girls,” I ordered.

“Yeah…I will,” Austin said as he sat down on the couch.

“See you, Austin. Don’t get into too much trouble now,” Anthony said with a smirk.

Austin chuckled and nodded before returning his eyes to his phone.

Outside, I opened the car door and plopped on the passenger seat. I looked at Anthony who was tapping his thumbs rapidly on the screen of his phone before putting the device in his pocket and looking back at me with a bright smile on his face. I didn’t attend to reinstate my position as a bounty hunter; I really didn’t. However, the electric bill alone convinced me that this bounty was a godsend.

I remembered opening the bills while drinking my coffee. The girls were too busy throwing cereal at each other and my son was too busy ignoring me to notice my face paling upon seeing the four digit numbers printed at the bottom of the bills. I then looked at my kids who were completely oblivious of the struggles of life and wanted to do anything to protect that innocence for a little while longer. I faced so much hardship in my life; I didn’t want my kids to suffer as I did.

The next thing that I did was call Anthony to tell him that I wanted in on the bounty. I swore the guy must’ve bounced to the ceiling since he was shouting out in excitement. With my right ear still ringing, I then called my work to tell them that I was sick. That was probably the first time I ever asked for a day off, so my manager was very understanding. After that, I proceeded to prepare myself for the imminent mission to hunt a vampire who avoided his court appearance. All because he sucked on some person’s neck in a park. God, some of those freaks had no decency.

“So, Damien. Are you ready?” Anthony said.

“I guess so. Did you already talk with the bail bondsman?” I asked as I buckled my seatbelt.

“Yup, and I already did my research on all the possible locations the vampire could be at.”

“And?”

“He’s most likely at a bathhouse at the west side of the city.” Anthony cleared his throat. “It’s a…gay bathhouse.”

I could see the hint of blush on his face, and I just chuckled. “Well, I guess that’s the first place we’re going then.”

“Yeah. Let’s do this!” Anthony said confidently as he turned the engine on and backed out of the driveway.

As Anthony drove us to the location, I asked, “So, we’re getting a hundred thousand dollars from this bounty, correct?”

“Yup, and I promise you’ll get seventy-five percent of the cut.”

“I appreciate that… Do you know anything else about this bounty? I mean, us bounty hunters only get around ten percent of the total bail, so that means the bail for this vampire was set at about a million dollars. That seems a bit much for drinking blood in public.”

“Yeah, I was wondering that too. The bail bondsman just told me that this vampire is a repeat offender, hence the high bail.”

“What other offenses did he commit?”

“He wouldn’t elaborate. He just said that finding and arresting the vampire would be easy. That’s all I’m concerned with. I’ve learned to not ask too many questions and that curiosity can sometimes kill. So, let’s just get this vampire and receive our pay.”

“All right.” I laid back against my seat and looked through the side window. “Just don’t get distracted, while we’re in there.”

Anthony chuckled. “Don’t worry. This won’t be the first time I go there.”

I just rolled my eyes.

During the ten-minute drive, Anthony and I made small talk about how our lives had been treating us. I updated him on what happened with Austin last night, which I wouldn’t have known if I didn’t get off work two hours early. I still needed to talk with him. That was going to happen after I accomplish this mission, then I’ll be back home where Austin was babysitting the girls once again.

Anthony, on the other hand, was single and had no children to speak of. Lucky him. However, he was the hopeless-romantic type, emphasis on the hopeless part. He would always talk to me about how he couldn’t do one-night stands, even if he met the guy at a club, specifically in a stall in the men’s restroom. I kept telling him that he was looking for love at all the wrong places and that he should just be patient. Love would then come to him, like for me with Annabella.

Anthony always ignored my sage advice and continued going out with garbage men who ended up breaking his heart, leaving him behind to pick up the pieces. He didn’t deserve all the heartbreak he received. He was a good man as well as fit with a full head of hair. Along his classical good looks, he was also very caring, making sure everybody in the team back when I was part of it was mentally sound before embarking on a bounty mission. He was the perfect bachelor, and he just needed to reevaluate his life before jumping back into the dating scene.

Eventually we parked in front of the bathhouse with the Sun already below the horizon. We entered inside the surprisingly cool-temperated lobby room where the front desk was at.

Anthony walked casually to the man at the desk and said, “Hey, Jose! What’s up?”

Jose looked up from his book and smiled. “Hey, Anthony. Are you here to renew your membership?”

Chuckling, Anthony said, “Not today. My friend and I are actually here to find somebody. His first name is Clarence, we’re hoping he’d be here.”

“Yeah, he actually checked in about an hour ago.”

Anthony looked at me with a smirk before turning back to Jose. “We’d like to see him if that’s okay.”

“And why’s that?”

“Well, I haven’t told you this about me before, but…um…”

I sighed with impatience and said, “We’re doing a bounty hunter mission. We need to locate a man/vampire named Clarence because he didn’t appear at court with a bail set at around one million dollars. So, if you don’t mind, can we enter this bathhouse and get him.”

Jose’s eyes widened as he looked at Anthony who had his head down for some reason. “I see. Can you show me some badge or some form of identification, so I know this isn’t some trick to get free access to the bathhouse?”

I pulled out my badge and showed it to Jose. “Satisfied?”

“I guess, but I can’t just let you two in. I don’t want any of the patrons getting scared thinking police are raiding the place.”

“So, what do you suggest we do then?”

Jose smirked as he stood up from his chair and took two folded towels from a shelf before placing them on the desk. “Hope you two are ready to sweat.” The man then looked at me up and down.

I grunted and glared at Anthony who just shrugged. “Fine, if that’s how we’ll get in.”

Jose nodded. “Just go to your left and you’ll find a locker room to change in. I’ll be expecting you two to return soon with Clarence.”

Snatching the towels from the desk, I began walking to the locker room. This wasn’t what I had planned this evening, to change into nothing but a towel around my waist and be surrounded by other half-naked men.

“Jeez, I can’t believe you blurted out that I’m a bounty hunter to Jose,” Anthony said as he caught up to me. “His brother was assaulted by a bounty hunter in New York City, and I didn’t want him to think badly of me.”

“Does it matter? He didn’t look interested in you anyway.”

“True. He looked more interested in you though.”

Sighing, I continued walking until we reached the locker room. The temperature had already increased, while we changed and placed all our clothes and other belongings into the lockers. We then exited the room and entered the main area of the bathhouse. The air was thick with steam as men, at least two dozen of them, were sitting and chatting on stone seats and around circular pools of steaming water.

Several of the men turned their heads at us, some smiling as they rested their eyes at both Anthony and, unfortunately, me. I was never this naked in public ever since high school during gym class. I couldn’t deny the men were looking at my muscled torso that was sculpted from hours dedicated to boxing during my downtime. And with the light sprinkling of blond hair on my chest, I bet I was a well-done slab of meat based their lusty stares.

Ignoring them, I started cruising around the area, looking for Clarence based on the pictures that Anthony sent to my computer earlier today. The place was very warm, and I was already sweating. After looking around, it was clear that Clarence wasn’t in this area. We had to venture deeper into the bathhouse that had small steam rooms where men did more than sweat.

“He has to be in one of those steam rooms,” Anthony said as we entered a hallway with doors to the steam rooms on both walls.

“He better be. I want to get out of here as quickly as possible.”

“Why? Tired of being eye candy for all those men back there?” Anthony said, chuckling.

“I’d rather not be anybody’s ‘eye candy,’” I said as I opened a door to see an empty steam room.

“Why not? You have a great body and could use someone to help you out with your kids.” Anthony opened the adjacent door and apologized after a man shouted at him. “Anyways, it has been five years since…you know. I think it’s time for you to move on and find someone special.”

“Right now is not the time, Anthony.” I looked inside another steam room and saw a man get spit-roasted by two other men who weren’t Clarence. “Focus on your own love life, okay?”

“Okay, okay. I got it.”

We opened every door to the steam rooms, some unoccupied and others with men in the throes of lust and ecstasy. None of them matched Clarence’s descriptions. Only one steam room remained and it was behind the door at the end of the hallway and facing perpendicular to the other steam-room doors.

“He has to be in there,” Anthony said, pointing at the door.

I approached the door and opened it. Inside was a larger room where five men were at surrounding a square-shaped pool of water. Two of the men were fucking doggy-style, while another two were in a cowboy position. The fifth man was relaxing with his lower body submerged into the water. I looked at them and knew none of them were Clarence.

“Shit. He should be here,” I said.

“Who are you looking for?” the fifth man asked.

“A man named Clarence,” Anthony answered.

“Oh, he’s right here.” The man then dipped his hand in the steaming water and pulled another man’s head by the hair from below.

“Are you ready to fuck me?” the sixth man said.

“Clarence. There you are,” I said.

“Who the hell are you?”

“No one really. Just a person who knows you’ve missed your court appearance and is seeking a percentage of your bail. That’s all.”

“What are you… Oh, shit. You’re a bounty hunter, aren’t you?”

I nodded.

Clarence lifted himself from the water and wrapped a towel around his waist. “Look. Before you decide to take me to the feds, I have an offering for you that you can’t deny.”

“A hundred thousand dollars seems like enough of an offering for us,” Anthony interjected and crossed his arms.

“It’s not money I’m offering. It’s something more personal than that…and sexual.” Clarence eyed Anthony with lust in his eyes as he approached him. He then dropped his towel and exposed his hard length that pressed against Anthony. “I can fulfill all of your darkest fantasies, as well as your friend’s.”

Anthony seemed entranced by the vampire’s seduction, with his glazed eyes and open mouth, but I wasn’t having any of that.

Pulling the sex-crazed bloodsucker by the arm, I said, “Not today, pal. You’re not going to fuck your way out of this.”

Clarence huffed, but then he smirked at me, looking me up and down like the man at the front desk did. “Want to fuck me in my ass? I’ve been told by plenty of men that i was the tightest ass they ever had.” Facing me, he pressed his lips on my chest and began running his hand down my abs before reaching my cock that surprisingly hardened from his touch. “Oh, God. I can tell you’re so big down there. I want that dick inside me. Right now,” Clarence said as he moaned.

Desires that I’ve tried to severe and hide away for years suddenly came rushing out. However, I managed to use the remainder of my mental strength to push the vampire away from me. I then turned him around and clenched his hair, causing him to yelp in response. I wasn’t going to be seduced, especially not by a fucking vampire.

“Nice try, but that’s not going to work. Now we’re going back to the locker room where we’ll get dressed and after that, we’ll take you to the feds. Be nice, and you don’t have to ride on the hood of the car.”

The vampire grumbled but nodded.

I looked at Anthony who was still in an entranced state. “Anthony! Come on!”

Jumping, Anthony turned to me before saying, “Oh, right! Sorry.”

We were quick to get dressed and leave the bathhouse. It was hard since we had to take turns watching Clarence as the other got dressed, and then we had to watch him as he put on his own clothes. Jose said goodbye to us as we stepped back outside which was dark already with the streetlights and neon signs glowing on the street and buildings.

I honestly thought this was going to be the end of the mission, but I was so naïve.

As we approached the car, another vehicle, sleek in design and black in color, parked itself on the other side of the street. A man then appeared and approached us with two other men in black suits walking by his side. The man in the center, a person who had to be only in his early twenties, smiled at me. With his dark hair combed immaculately with a side part and his own suit tailored perfectly to emphasize the most defining, masculine angles of his body, I was stunned by his appearance to say the least. He put someone like Clarence to shame, and an incredible power somehow radiated from just his presence.

“I’m sorry to bother you, gentlemen,” the man said with a smooth, silky voice. “I’m here to retrieve the man you’re currently holding by the collar of his shirt. So, if you don’t mind…”

I sneered and said, “Or what? I’m sorry, but there’s a bounty on this guy, and I’m retrieving him for my share of the bail. So, if you’ll excuse me.”

I shoved Clarence towards the car and tried to open it, but it was locked. I looked at Anthony who had the hand of the mysterious man on his shoulder. Suddenly, my friend collapsed to the ground like a rag doll, and I immediately pulled my handgun from its holster.

Aiming my weapon right at the fucker’s forehead, I shouted, “Stay back and put your hands up!”

The man just smiled and did as I ordered; however, only one of his henchmen was in my view, and that was my major error. Feeling a sting-like pain on the neck, I quickly reversed and saw the other man who was able to sneak behind me. I tried pointing my gun, but my arms became too heavy to lift. My legs felt so weak that I fell to the ground. The last thing that happened was my vision blurring with the hazy image of that man standing above me before I passed out.