My Angels Have Demons (Users #1) by Stacy, Jennifer Buck Page A

our scars," Carter said, and he removed his shirt, turned to his cot, revealed a back covered in long scars, and pulled the blanket from his cot up tight to his neck as the lights went out. Jason gasped when he saw the whip marks on Carter's back, but it didn't bother Carter. He had buried that skeleton deep in his closet long ago. The same skeleton he had tried to drown in booze and drugs for all those years.
    *****
     
    He awoke the next morning to find Jason's cot empty. The young man turned junkie had probably fled the scene early that morning while Carter was fast asleep. He slipped his shirt and shoes back on and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Most of the other vagrants had already abandoned their cots in search of spare change to purchase a bottle of booze or a bag of dope, but Carter had other things on his mind. His experience with Jason the night before left him with a weight on his shoulders. The weight of an entire city bearing down on him.
    What started out as an evasion to get out of spending the night in jail, had turned into an assassination attempt on his life, which in turn had led him to face the ugliness that was the city's unfortunate drug addled youth. How many times had he contemplated ending his miserable life during those dark days of using drugs. If he was going to end it, he might as well do it doing something good for once. He laced up his shoes, tied them tight, and pulled the folded up piece of paper from his pocket as he headed for the door.
    Forty minutes later he was standing in a downpour. Water dripped from the rain soaked brim of his hat and ran down his face as he stared up at the towering multi-storied building. All around him the people of the city went about their business, business men in their fancy suits and brief cases passed him by without a second glance. A messenger wearing skin tight pants and riding a mountain bike blew by Carter on his way to a delivery. Cars moved at a crawl on the busy street behind him. But this was no ordinary day for him.
    The front of the building was made of solid glass. Carter pulled open the front door and approached a desk immediately to the right upon entering. A young man, barely older than Jason, in a fancy suit with a blue and red stripped tie, greeted him from behind the front desk.
    "How can I help you sir?" the young man asked. His name tag said "Bobby," in black letters against a gold background.
    "Yeah, I'm here to see the Vampire," Carter said, and poor Bobby's eyes went wide. The young man fumbled with something under the desk, and for a split second Carter wondered if the unassuming youth was reaching for a gun, but a moment later men in black and white suits entered the lobby through a side door next to the elevator, Carter hadn't even noticed. There was four of them, all wearing matching suits, and with similar well fit builds. Their faces were even similar, they had square jaw lines, dark sunglasses covering their eyes, and hair that was buzzed short along the sides and cut just slightly longer on the top.
    "We're going to have to ask you to leave sir," Bobby said as the four men approached.
    "Why? Is he not in?"
    "He said it was time for you to leave." One of the finely dressed bodyguards gave Carter a little nudge from behind. Carter turned on him, going nose to nose with the man.
    "You tell your boss I'm coming for him," Carter growled through gritted teeth at the guard.
    "I'll be sure to do that," the guard said, but Carter was already heading for the glass door. Having gotten what he needed, he hi-tailed it out of there. Carter had confirmed that Alaric's intel was correct and indeed the Vampire was located within the building, but most importantly he had discovered the location of the elevator and his way into the building. A crooked smirk crossed his lips. One way or another, this was all going to be over soon.
     
    *****
     
    He waited until the early morning hours, just after four A.M., to put his plan into effect. He squeezed