“The Face” excerpt from “Charmeine” the First Novel in “The Light-Bearer Series”

Wikimedia Commons.George Washington Bridge 2010, Gryffindor

 

The trip down US Interstate 80, across the George Washington Bridge through Manhattan was a long one.  He growled in frustration and yelled, “I hate traffic!”  He preferred driving only on Interstates.  Then he chuckled at himself and said, “What do you expect in New York City?  Should Mayor Bloomberg roll out a red carpet for you?”  Tabbruis laughed out loud at himself as he negotiated the curves and spaces like a trained NASCAR driver, always using his built-in radar sensor to avoid being stopped by Police or hit by a taxi.  Tabbruis grimaced when a taxi driver cut him off and hollered, “Good thing you are in a two ton piece of metal.  I would like to rip your arm off and beat you with it!”
Tabbruis headed for the Ritz-Carlton in Battery Park which is the southern tip of the City.  Tabbruis chuckled at the way everyone called Manhattan, ‘The City,’ like the other four boroughs were not part of New York City and yet the five boroughs had been consolidated since 1898.
Tabbruis arrived around the area where the Twin Towers used to be.  He had stayed at the Ritz-Carlton many times before the Twin Towers went down.  The area had changed very much without the majestic skyscrapers topping the landscape.  He remembered the day during the attack, like other dark days in human history, his fever ran high.  Tabbruis was anxious knowing something was not right in the world.  Tabbruis was in Australia, in the least populated of the states, the Northern Territory, hunting big game.
On that day, 9/11, Tabbruis became erratic, unable to be calm or at peace.  Feeling compelled to check the news; he headed for the Gulf of Carpentaria and went into the town of Cape Crawford, Australia.  When Tabbruis, like the whole Earth, heard what happened in New York City that day, he was hit with a profound wave of grief.
A Blood-Hunter Tabbruis was, but the pure inhumanity of the act made him feel depressed about those helpless human victims and the futility of the senseless violence perpetrated upon them.   Driving his Dodge Charger past the ominous site, Tabbruis thought maybe coming to America was not really a good idea after all.  He felt tense and a strange foreboding sensation.

Ritz Carlton Hotel Battery Park (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It was almost dawn, and Tabbruis wanted to rest.  The Ritz-Carlton had an enormous Penthouse overlooking the New York Harbor.  He enjoyed the view of the estuary and ocean.  The ocean always had drawn him.  When Tabbruis thought of the ocean, he began to calm down.
For several years Tabbruis was a sea voyager; however, a supply of blood was not readily available on the ocean.  He could go for a long time without feeding, but if there was trouble on the sea with delays in weather or sickness, he did not want the temptation humans had for him.
The ocean was Tabbruis’ solitude, his rest bit, and the only peacefulness he ever experienced on Earth.  Tabbruis appreciated the waves flowing in and out of the shore.  He could watch them for hours smelling the ocean breeze of salt and water.
Tabbruis would have spent his whole life by the ocean if he could have, but big game was inside the continents.  He had just driven from the mountains of Colorado.  Big game was plentiful there.  Driving toward the East Coast, big game was harder and harder to find.
Again, Tabbruis asked himself the question out loud hoping he would find the answer, “Why did I have to come here?”
Tabbruis pulled up to the Ritz-Carlton, got out of the car and straightened his clothes.  The parking attendant handed him a ticket and took his car.  Tabbruis walked into the Ritz-Carlton exhausted from the drive and the long night of agitation over the face.

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Filed under: Paranormal Romance, Snippet, Uncategorized Tagged: Angel, Angels, Australia, Battery Park, Cape Crawford, Charmeine, Desire, Emily Guido, George Washington Bridge, Gulf of Carpentaria, light bearer, longing, New York City, Ritz-Carlton, Tabbruis, The Light-Bearer Series, Vampire, Vampires, want