Reborn: Chapter Thirty One "Hustlers"

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Chapter Thirty One

Will held up a twenty dollar bill and looked around at the men gathered by the pool tables. "Who wants to play?"

A burly hillbilly leaning against the far wall scratched his beard and eyed the brothers. "Not you," he said after a moment’s consideration, "but I'll play your buddy for forty." He pointed his cue at Josh and walked up to the table.

Will stood back to watch his brother go to work.

Anna viewed the scene with fascination. She had wondered how they made money since they weren't paid for their real job, and soon discovered they were a couple of hustlers. Not a surprise really. And it was perfect, something they could do in every town in America.

The art of hustling was not what she'd imagined it to be. She’d always thought that it meant tricking people and ripping them off, but the brothers didn't play like that, they didn't pretend to be terrible until the real money was laid down. They simply offered anywhere from five to fifty dollars for people to play, and most men were game for a little gambling. They could walk out of a place with up to three hundred bucks for just a few hours of shooting balls, and for the most part no one chased after them shouting and cursing.

Josh wiped the floor with Sir Beer Gut then offered to buy him a drink which the man grudgingly accepted. He was one of "those", the sore loser kind, but there was still no yelling or fist raising, just some grumbling about lucky shots. After Sir Beer Gut polished off his drink he suggested they go double or nothing.

Josh decided not to spank the guy too hard, missing a couple of shots his companions knew were purposeful. Beer gut looked like the type who could potentially start something if his ego was crushed too hard, and the boys liked to avoid pointless confrontations.

Josh won again and the guy pushed four twenties towards him with a scowl. "I think you boys should head on down the road before I decide you piss me off."

"Aw come on Randall," an older man with a scraggly beard who was missing a few teeth goaded, "that boy won it fair and square, you got no business fuckin' wid em."

Randall turned to the gap tooth and glared. "Maybe I should fuck with you instead."

Will inclined his head towards the door and they walked out onto the sidewalk.

Josh held the cash out and Will snatched it from his hand. "Am I ever gonna get to play a game, jerkwad?"

Josh laughed. "They are always fooled by my boyish charm."

"I think it's the dimples," Anna teased, "no one with dimples can kick ass at bar games."

Josh grinned showing off said dimples and Will pinched his cheek.

"Hey cut that shit out!" He flipped Will's hat off his head.

Anna giggled as they climbed in Will's car, the boys still bickering like children. She slid into the backseat and Will roared away from the curb, his classic rock drowning out Josh’s last retort.

They were currently in "small hick town" Virginia. They’d had a lead on some strange activity in the next town over but it turned out to be nothing. Well, nothing that concerned them anyway, just some juvenile delinquents causing trouble.

In the meantime Will had called some of his contacts to see if he could pull any more useful info on vampires. He'd learned that a vampire could both touch and communicate with demons. The general consensus was that a demon on its own was no contest for a vamp, but if there were enough of them they could do some damage, though not physically. It was their psychological powers that made them something to be wary of. Apparently vampires could be tainted by the demons they destroyed and they’d have to do some serious R&R to expel the effects, but all of Will’s sources were of the mind that there were few, if any, that bothered anymore.

They'd also learned there was another speed besides Olympic by which a vampire could travel. Faster than the eye could see, it was loosely translated into Blurring. Anna knew this was what Jake had done that made her dizzy, and had tried to figure out how to accomplish it herself, but so far no dice.

The only other piece of information that all of their sources agreed on was there were few female vampires left, and they could no longer breed. They hadn't been able to in well over a century. Some believed what Will and Josh had been told, that all females were evil to begin with, however two of their sources had heard an entirely different story. They attested that though many of the females were born with more aggressive and masculine traits, there were also a number who were born more like their mothers, gentle healers, and then somewhere along the way some bad ass vampiress was scorned and became a vengeful evil bitch. She, along with others she'd convinced, took out the gentler of their species, hunting them to extinction.

Anna was once again frustrated by the lack of anything truly concrete. Legends were just hearsay, holding grains of truth but normally wrong about many things.

She was mulling this over as they pulled into the parking lot of yet another dingy motel. A couple of times she'd convinced them to stay somewhere nicer on her nickel, but they seemed to have a thing against using her money. Men.

Josh's phone went off with an odd sounding ring as they were getting settled in their room.

"Dad?" he answered.

"Hey boy, where are you two?"

Anna loved her ability to hear both ends of the conversation.

"Virginia, some little town east of bumfuck."

"Really? That's great, I'm driving through the bottom of Pennsylvania so let's meet up tomorrow."

Josh gave him the location details and hung up.

"Dad's coming huh?" Will was smiling genuinely at the news.

During the two weeks she'd been with them, she'd learned that their feelings about their dad differed pretty greatly. They both loved him, of that there was no doubt, but Will was definitely closer to him. Josh seemed to harbor some resentment for their childhood, or lack thereof, and at the moment he looked decidedly un-enthused about a reunion.

"You know you could at least pretend to be glad to see him," Will said, picking up on the vibe.

"Don't start."

"He's not so bad."

"You're right, he's wonderful. I'm ecstatic." He plastered a fake smile on his face and Will shook his head then turned his attention on Anna.

"Did he say how long he was going to hang?" Will asked Josh, still looking at her.

Uh, no. He didn't. Does he ever?" He rolled his eyes.

"So, I guess we just tell him Anna's a healer and traveling with us for a bit then, huh?"

"No Will, I think we should tell our intolerant father that she's a bloodsucker." Josh smirked.

"Sarcasm doesn't become you."

Anna chewed her lip nervously, she was seriously hoping she didn't do anything to give herself away. The picture she had in her mind of Jack was of a great big bear of a man with a bushy grey beard and hands the size of baseball mitts. Not that either of the boys had ever described his physical appearance, it was just the larger than life way they viewed him that gave her that particular mental image. Even Josh who wasn't in love with the guy talked about him like he was a god.

Will flipped on the television and Josh sat down next to her. "Don't worry," he said softly, "there's nothing about you in general to suggest what you are. Just act the way you do when you’re out in public."

She nodded.

"You might want to take my vein tonight, so you can go a couple of days without." He suggested.

She'd found that three days was the magic number, after that she started feeling sick and light headed. She'd just drank yesterday, but it definitely didn't hurt to stock up. She alternated between the boys, it somehow kept it from being as personal or turning sexual. Although it didn't seem to have the same effect on Josh as it did Will. In fact the last time she'd drank from Will he'd picked a girl up at the bar across from where they were staying and went home with her.

For the most part the brothers treated her like a kid sister and she figured that in Will's case it was the virgin thing. He was what her friends, whom she'd kept in pretty constant contact with via texting, affectionately called a horndog. Yeah, he was definitely that, so with her it had to be the intact cherry. His taste in women tended to be of the more experienced and worldly variety. A love 'em and leave 'em kinda guy who at least had the decency to choose the kind of women who didn't mind.

Will was lounging on a worn armchair, leg draped over the arm of it as Anna drank from Josh on the bed. She was amazed at how nonchalant they’d become about it in such a short time. Sinking her fangs in their neck was just business as usual. Being no strangers to the strange seemed to make it easier. And she no longer cared if they were both in the room, it was too inconvenient to always send one of them away.

She finished and was surprised to find she was tired. It had been a long day but normally it gave her a boost when she drank.

"I'm gonna get some sleep," she announced.

Josh was still sitting next to her and he started to get up but she put a hand on his arm. "You know if it's more comfortable for you to sleep next to me, I don't mind, I'm much tinier than your brother."

Generally they only got one room with two beds and the guys had been sleeping together. She had thought about making this offer several times, but was concerned that it would lead to something. Lately however, with the brotherly way they treated her she was feeling pretty safe, especially with Josh.

He seemed to consider, then shrugged. "You sure?"

"Definitely."

"A'ight."

Will glanced over. "What's this, you ditchin' me bro? Who am I gonna cuddle with now?" He turned his lip into a pout.

Josh grinned, "Just think now you won't need the bathroom for your midnight wanker yankin."

"Shit, I don't need it anyway, just face the other way and I'm good to go."

Josh grimaced as Will waggled his eyebrows.

Anna laughed and was proud to find she wasn't blushing. With these two the locker room talk ran rampant and she was becoming desensitized to it.

She climbed under the covers and Josh got in with her, stretching out his big body. "Ahh, so much more room, so much more comfy."

Will hopped into his bed and sprawled out, "Not as much room as I've got."

Anna laughed. "Is everything a competition with you two?"

"YUP," they said in unison.

Anna smiled. God she was falling in love them. She closed her eyes and snuggled closer to Josh’s warmth.

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