Chapter 15, C.J. Ruby

(Gabriela and Ursula go for a horsy ride with some unusual strangers.  Gabi makes a new smoking buddy.  Ike gets more than a suntan.)

Gabriela’s preparations for Gaspirilla are coming along and all will be ready for the celebration.  Ursula has been great aid in designing the floats and in the overall groundwork for Tampa’s yearly festival.  Uri’s car is sporting a new paint job for the acrobatic show that he’ll be performing during the 7 mile parade.  His costume is also finished as are the costumes for the rest of the crew.

It’s a beautiful Saturday and Gabi asks Ursula and her other Cultist friends to go out and party in laceName>YborlaceName> laceType>CitylaceType>’s entertainment district.  Gabi and Ursula ask Max, Macair, and Ike to join them, but only Max accepts the invite.  Macair says he’ll try and catch up later.  Ike Black intends to study his new books.  What bunch of stuffy old curmudgeons those Hermes are.  No wonder they never get laid.

Gabi, Ursula, Flower, Sapphire and Dillon take the limo to Club Hedonism, Max follows in his Delorian.  They are having a terrific time partying, dancing, drinking, and drugging when something really odd happens.  Five people on horseback make their way into the club.  They park their horses at the front bar, the horse are surprisingly well behaved.  They stand at the bar and drink their beer with out a sound.  (These are very polite and extremely healthy horses, though something is odd about them - Gabriela preformed a Life check on them.)

Two of the gentlemen approach Gabriela’s group.  They introduce themselves as Gallatin and Seal.  They are both very confident as well as handsome.  Gallatin sits next to Ursula and Seal next to Gabi.  “Are you in town for Gaspirilla?” Gabi asks.  They reply that indeed they are.  They introduce the other riders as Dragonov, Hack (a cowboy sporting six shooters), and McNair (a girl who watches the horses while the others mingle).

Ursula asks if she can ride Gallatin’s mount and Gabi cannot let Ursula have all the fun so she solicits a ride from Seal.  The gentlemen are happy to comply.  At this time Macair has made his way into the club and he and Max are concerned, something is obviously not kosher here.  Who the hell rides a horse into a big city club, they think.  Max and Macair assume the girls have lost their minds or are under a spell.  Actually the girls are just adventuress and this seems like a lot of fun.  Besides the guys are really handsome and have a lot of presence about them. 

Seal easily places the petite Gabriela forward of him in the saddle.  Gallatin may have grunted a bit lugging Ursula onto his horse (must be all that tap beer and day old donuts from Gators).

As the girls and riders duck their heads to exit the club Max runs up to Gabi and tells her that the warehouse where the floats are being stored has caught fire.  The riders (all five) say they will take the girls to the location on horseback; they say can get there as fast as any vehicle.  Gabi and Ursula become a bit worried, but part of them doesn’t want to miss the ride and part of them believes they’ll get there faster on horse back.

The unusual troop of riders maneuver their spectacular mounts through the nighttime streets of laceName>YborlaceName> laceType>CitylaceType> sometimes jumping over the hoods of cars.  At one point a cop car lights up, but Dragonov looks back at the police car and it drifts to the side of the rode the lights go out and the siren stops.  Now Gabriela knows something is unquestionably awry.  She lights a fresh cigarette (the eyes of Seal widen momentarily, but he regains his composure), and she looks forward to her own short term future.  She sees that she and Ursula will awake wore out and drained, presumably from a long night of carousing (it’s happened before). 

When they arrive at the warehouse district Gabi and Ursula notice Max’s Delorian (Macair got a ride with him).  Uri and Bradford are looking under the hood of a Volvo and there is a large gym bag near Bradford’s feet.  There is no smoke or firemen and the buildings seem fine.  Thank Gaia, thinks Gabi.  Gabi detects worry in the surface thoughts of her friends.  She and Ursula ask to be let down so they might inspect the warehouse and the floats.  The gentlemen agree and let them down.  The riders are now looking at the others who are obviously trying not to look obvious.  Gabriela gives the keys to the warehouse to Ursula and asks the riders if they’ve heard any of her songs.  Dragonov replies that he has and Gabi starts to sing one of her new tunes.   Suddenly she screams that there are snakes coming up from the storm gutters and in the minds of the horses there are.  They start to buck and run.  Gallatin is thrown from his horse, but lands on his feet.  The others scatter, but the riders regain control.  Dragonov glairs at Gabi who is now at the warehouse doors with Ursula making ready to enter in case bullets start flying.

A taxi arrives and Leandra gets out near Max’s Delorian, she looks nervous.  The taxi leaves going through the scattered riders, Gabi tries to manipulate the driver into beeping his horn, but fails.  Gabi and Ursula lock themselves in the warehouse.  The riders after regaining control advance towards the others and Dragonov warns them that if they try anything that it will not go well for them.  They believe him and attempt nothing while the riders leave.   Macair throws a wrench against the warehouse to tell the girls all is well.  It scares the demure Gabriela and she lets loose a scream, it doesn’t appear to bother the iron nerved Ursula.

Altogether the group goes back to Club Hedonism there they pick up the rest of their friends and a group of the beautiful club people including a hunk named Alex Jensen.  They all go back to Gabi’s home to party the night away.  On the trip home Bradford tells the enlightened that the riders where vampires, vampires that don’t seem to give a damn about keeping the Masquerade.  He believes Gabi when she tells him that her premonition didn’t show them being killed, but he explains that vampires can do other things to a mortal much more frightening than merely killing them.  He does not elaborate.        

The revelry floating down from the balconies doesn’t bother Ike Black his nose is shoved to far into his books to hear it. 

Gabi is setting on Alex Jensen lap when the jealous Ursula comes along swinging her hips.  Gabi moves slightly and avoids being brushed off her perch.  Ursula can only glare back at her, foiled again.

Alex tells Gabi he assist with legal disputes.  He also has a number of friends who help him:  Richard Carlson, laceName>BenlaceName> laceName>CavelaceName>, Wayne Castle, James Pierce, and Shawn Rascoff.  He pulls out a fine cigar from his suit pocket.  “Cuban,” he tells her and ask her if she smokes.  “I’d be delighted”, replies Gabriela.  The two talk and smoke, do a few lines of coke, then later Gabi invites Alex and his friends to attend her Gaspirilla celebration.  At about 3:30am Gabi and Alex retire to her bedroom.  In the morning Gabi is wore out and drained, but not from a blood sucking vampire, thank Gaia.  No just good healthy all American sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll. 

Gabi calls down and has breakfast prepared for those guests who spent the night.  She and Alex talk about the stock market and some other financial things, she notices that he doesn’t seem to be telling the truth when she speaks of the subject of some companies that sell arms to the third world.  He acts like he’s never heard of them.  The subject of unrest in southern China is broached, but again Alex seems to know more than he lets on.  Fine thinks Gabi, she could invade his mind, but she sees him as a friend and thinks it would be rude to view his private thoughts . . . for now. 

Ike comes up for a late breakfast after most of the guest and Alex have left and he is acting awful peculiar (did he get into Gabi’s stash?).  He keeps adjusting his garments and says he’s just trying to tan.  Gabriela invites him to the roof to do it properly.  There they can get into the buff and tan all over.   Gabi grabs some sun-block for Ike, he is an unsightly pale. 

On the roof Gabi disrobes (She’s not ashamed at all of her body).  Then she helps Ike and puts some sun-block on him, though he keeps squirming around and doesn’t look directly at her.  She just takes this as if from excessive shyness.  [Ike is actually suffering from a paradox flaw where his perspective keeps shifting.  He no longer is seeing with his eyes.]  Ike finally goes to sleep and Gabriela puts an umbrella up for him so he doesn’t burn to a crisp.  Gabi reads a book and thinks how wonderful Gaspirilla is going to be this year with all of her new friends to enjoy it with her.