Chapter 230 - The Girls

On the top floor of a Hearn office tower, a young sat alone, staring at nothing. The only sound was the dial tone of the phone that still rested in her hand. Despite what the others had said, she had started to give up hope even though she was the one person who believed in him wholeheartedly.

But now, she knew for sure he was still alive. And not only that, but he was also totally fine.

She didn't think it was possible.

The thoughts going through her head were a mess and yet despite that, there was a smile on her face.

It was a good ten minutes before she put the phone down and picked up her tablet that was sitting next to her computer. With a quick movements of her finger, fours screens had popped up, dialing four different numbers at the same time. It didn't take long for the each call to be answered in turn.

"Yes?"

"Hello big sis."

"Hmm?"

"Oh? What's this now?"

Kennedy didn't say anything right away, instead she was trying to figure out what to say. She never had the chance to however as her smile gave her thoughts away quickly.

"Something good happened?"

"I haven't seen her smile like this in a while..."

"Yeah, it's been over a year...

"Wait a second..."

"HE'S ALIVE?!?!?!?"

Obviously, the four people she had called we not only her close friends, but also the people who knew her the best. And all of them were connected to her by the same person. How could they not figure out that the only thing that would make her smile like this was finding out some news about him who had been lost for over a year.

"Yes."

Even though she wanted to say a lot more, the only thing she could do was confirm their thoughts.

Each of the girls on the call had a different reaction that was easily read on their faces. It was hard to miss the very real feelings of surprise, relief, hope, and happiness that each of them felt.

At least at first.

Sadly for the man being discussed, each of these women were, in their own right, powerful. Along with that had come tempering of their character and baptisms in blood.

Therefore, after the initial relief faded, all of them started to show signs of anger and annoyance.

"So what the f.u.c.k has he been doing, hmm?"

"Good question. He didn't even bother to contact us and let us know he was alive?"

"I swear I will beat every tear I cried out of him."

"That boy.... is in trouble."

Kennedy couldn't help but laugh at this as she was feeling the same way. She was mad at him, to be sure, but she was also relieved. Needless to say, all the girls had questions, but she didn't really have any answers.

"Alright, alright. Calm down. I know everyone wants to hear what happened, but I don't have any answers yet. He randomly made contact with one of Blood Moon's branches in Louisiana and the leader there hasn't had much of a chance to talk to him. She reassured me that she would update me with any info she gets. My question is, should we make contact?"

This was the primary issue that all of the girls faced when it came to Laz. They weren't avoiding him because they didn't want to see him. They were avoiding him, as Vivi put it, because he needed to grow.

All the girls he was intimate with; Leona, Ruby, Kennedy and Malene and his 'little sister,' Vivi, became quiet after Kennedy voiced this.

"I've wondered if this is really the right thing? I mean, does he still think about us?" Malene asked, breaking the silence first.

"A better question is just how many girls has he been with since we lost track of him. Sure, it's not his fault that he is how he is. But that boy has a real hard time saying no," Ruby added.

"I'm not so sure... But... I know this has been good for us. No matter what, we need to grow without him in the same way he needs to grow without us. We can rely on each other, but would he really be willing to rely on us for everything?" Leona asked, bringing the main question up one more time.

"No." Everyone agreed on this point.

"Would we really find him attractive if he became lazy due to over nurturing him?" Leona followed up.

"No." There was no question here.

"Then we already have our answer. Still though..." Leona hesitated to say her next though.

"Still though, I miss him. Perhaps, we need to spend some time with him, individually?" Kennedy pondered.

"All of us?" Vivi asked, wondering why she was being included.

"Yes. All of us," Kennedy replied, smiling.

The amount of progress the girls had made was astounding.

Not only that, each girl was already in the mid foundation realm while Kennedy had advanced to the late realm, making her the strongest person any of them knew.

Before they were able to get into any other topics, Ruby posed a question.

"You said he was in Louisiana right? Which branch did he show up at?"

"Uh... well..." Kennedy didn't know how to answer that.

"Kennedy?" Malene asked, wondering why this pillar of their group would hesitate at such a simple question.

"Sigh... Heaven and Hell..." Her answer was almost a whisper.

"WHAT???"

"THE LAND OF SIN?"

"HE'S AT THE BLOOD SUCKER'S WHORE HOUSE?"

"THAT'S LIKE A FAT MAN IN A CANDY STORE. DAMN!!!!"

Although only Kennedy knew all of the branches she had aligned with, there were a few special ones that all of the girls knew, whether they had dealings with them or not and this was one of them.

"I already talked to Freya and she said that he didn't seem interested in that. Besides, you know those girls don't actually sleep with anyone, right?"

"Look. I'm not judging here. I know the situation there better than most and all of those girls are rather pitiful. But... what happens when mister 'let's his d.i.c.k hang out everywhere,' decides to take pity on them and maybe donate some of his own blood? Then what?" Malene asked, clearly disturbed by the thought.

"I've already warned her that his blood seems to have a weird effect on women. But, to be honest, I'm somewhat curious as well," Kennedy replied.

"Curious?" Ruby asked first.

"Well. You know Freya's ability. Not only does she get strength from blood, but she can also turn other females into vampyres. She is basically a typical queen type character. So what would happen if she did drink his blood? I mean, it kind of goes both ways. She leeches some of his strength but would also give him some strength in return. Unlike regular victims who she drains and leaves them in a weakened and euphoric state, what if she gave him strength in return? She can't turn normal men into vampyres and it would instead kill them. But what if it was Laz?"

All the girls got to thinking along that line with Kennedy, wondering what the outcome would be. None of them had even tried something like that despite knowing about Freya's ability since the outcome would be unknown. They didn't want to be turned into vampyres themselves. But since Laz wasn't a girl and by that reasoning couldn't be turned into a vampyre, then what would happen if she returned energy to him?

"You're using him as a test subject, aren't you?" Leona asked, with a bit of suspicion.

"Seems like we aren't the only ones who are upset by his disappearing act...." Malene follow up. Vivi and Ruby just giggled.

"Now now. I never said that. But I don't think he will be in any danger. If anything... it will just hurt quite a bit...."

Hearing Kennedy's explanation, all the girls burst out laughing, clearly aware that Kennedy was angry but just hiding it better than them.

After all, who asked him to make them all fall in love with him and then play a disappearing act after such a big incident?

"Anyway. As far as what he chooses to do... that's up to him. Now then, since we know where he is, I will come up with a schedule for us to go spend some time with him. But you all had better keep your lips sealed about what we've been doing. Not a word of it should reach his ears cause who knows how he will react. Alright then, who wants to go first?"

Unsurprisingly, all the girls hands shot up at once, even Vivi's, causing another round of laughter.

"Uh... fine.... I will figured it out randomly and let you all know. Make sure your going to be free in a few days."

"This random choice won't end up with you going first, will it?" Ruby asked with a sly smile on her face.

Kennedy paused right before she was about to respond. All the girls were looking at her with a half smile through the tablet screen.

"No. I said random and I meant random. I'll let Vivi draw names, ok?"

"OK!"

All the girls were in agreement. After asking a few more questions around the table about how everyone was doing with what they were working on, Kennedy hung up the call.

Sitting back in her chair, she couldn't help but look out of the massive, floor to ceiling window and watch the sun set.

'I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you. None of us would. Maybe you don't even know how much you've touched each of our lives, but how can we forget you?'

Kennedy reached over and set her hand on her c.h.e.s.t, knowing that underneath the fabric was the tattoo she had received, showing that he was a part of her.

After a few more moments of laziness, Kennedy finally got up and paged her secretary.

"Do we have any news from our people in Washington?"

"Yes miss. It seems the bill was denied yet again. They are going to try to find more backing, but they are running out of representatives to get on board. There are too many of them who will blow whichever way the winds blows and right now, they are all mostly against the changed rights. As long as their districts don't support it, they won't."

"You think it would be easier to find a member of congress with some form of a conscious. Is every elected leader just a power monger looking to stay on top?"

"Miss?"

"Nothing. Just talking to myself about how foolish these bastards are. They think they have the power to reject change and that because of that, nothing will change? How can change be stopped? Just because you say so? Doesn't work like that. All this means is that you won't survive. Darwin said it best after all. Evolution has a way of killing off those who refuse to adapt. Alright. Let them go forward anyway and just see who can be trusted. I never thought I would get anywhere with this anyway. Just a formality."

"Yes Miss. Anything else?"

"No. That's all."

"Miss. Some of the investors have been asking about the need to funnel money into something so pointless? After all, even if it is a good deed, good press should be something that appeals to more people, not just a small minority."

"If they want to ask about money, tell them I can always make more. If they want someone else to make money for them, tell them to put them in charge. But if they are happy with the job I'm doing, tell them to shut up, sit back and enjoy the ride."

Kennedy quit the call at this point before sitting back again.

'Looks like I need to finally get that majority of the stock locked down. They think they can try to tell me what to do? They will find that they lost control a long time ago.'

A seductive beauty poured herself a drink as she watched the skyline turn a bright red. She couldn't help but think about what she would say to her long missing lover once they finally reunited, causing her to smile.

'And if he thinks we are going to let him off easy...'