The Best Leaders Rely On The Facts, Not Intuition
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“Hey, guys,” called out the bartender. “You want to try our latest cocktail?” He held a glass in his hand with a clear liquid inside and what appeared to be ice floating on top of it.
Everyone’s attention went toward him as they looked up at me expectantly. “I’ll pass thanks.” I didn’t really like alcohol but if I had to have anything stronger than beer or wine, then whiskey was my drink of choice. I also preferred not to be hungover.
He gave us a look that said he wasn’t happy we weren’t drinking, then turned back to the bar. We watched as he mixed two drinks for some other customers and brought them over to where they were sitting. It made me wonder how much of a markup these cocktails had.
At least we could just order beers instead. They did offer some good brews here, and there wasn’t anyone who would notice us walking around while everyone else was drinking.
We continued looking around the place until suddenly we heard laughter coming from across the room. As soon as we saw the group, we all knew exactly what had caused the ruckus; the one man was wearing an eyepatch, and the woman had a huge grin on her face.
She was holding his arm tight while the three men stood off to their side and laughed at whatever she’d said. The guy she was with seemed pretty amused by the whole thing too. He kept laughing every time one of those assholes started cackling.
After about five minutes, the guy finally put his arm down on the table so the woman could take both hands in hers and give him a big kiss right in front of us. The guys’ faces fell when they noticed we were staring at them. They immediately shut up, though, and turned away from us and began whispering to each other.
They must’ve been trying to think of something clever because they all stared at their phones, pretending nothing was happening. But the way they were glaring at the couple told me they probably wanted to go kick the guy’s ass after watching them make out.
They didn’t get a chance, though, because the woman leaned forward and whispered something in the guy’s ear and he turned bright red. After that, they both walked over to the restroom together. That left only the woman who smiled at us, winked, and got up from her seat.
“Well, I should be going. My data will be waiting,” she said, putting her purse on the table. “I hope you have fun here and enjoy your drinks.” Then she headed over to where her friends sat.
When they left, a few more people moved into their seats, but none of them tried to start conversations with us. I figured this might happen after the couple left, even though they’d done absolutely nothing wrong.
It wasn’t fair to blame someone else for being caught in a bad situation, but most people couldn’t help themselves sometimes. Maybe the rest of us could just walk away, but since they’d already been seated, they were stuck. Plus, it wasn’t as if either of us had ever asked any of the others to leave.
As we continued drinking our beers, I noticed some new people come in and sit down at a booth near us. They didn’t seem interested in starting up a conversation with us, though. Instead, they kept quiet and stared at their phones. I glanced over at my brother to see what he thought of them, and he shrugged as he drank his beer. “Don’t know. Couldn’t tell if they were locals or tourists.”
“I’m guessing neither,” said the woman next to him. She’d taken a sip of her margarita before saying anything. Her long blond hair hung over her shoulders and she wore a white shirt with jeans. A small diamond stud peeked through the lobe of her right ear. I guessed she was probably in her mid-twenties, but it was hard to guess based on how many times she’d changed outfits since we’d gotten here.
“Probably tourists,” I agreed. “I don’t see them stopping to talk to strangers.”
The girl laughed. “That’s true. You can always spot tourists because they’re too scared to get close enough to say hi, even to fellow foreigners.”
My brother and I exchanged a look over the tops of our bottles. “Not sure you’d call us that,” said my brother. We didn’t feel like locals. Not yet, anyway. “But I’m not surprised to hear we are to the people who live here.”
“Yeah, I suppose you wouldn’t be,” said the girl, taking another sip of her drink. She set down her glass on the table and then reached out for hers again. “It’s a good thing this isn’t our first rodeo, then, right?”
My brother and I both nodded in response. I took another sip and decided to try some conversation. “You mentioned this is your second trip? What brought you back here?”
She grinned. “A certain someone,” she answered.
At the mention of a certain someone, both my brother and I looked at each other. He made a questioning gesture, and I raised my eyebrows in agreement. This was perfect for my plan. If we played it right, this would give us the excuse we needed to go talk to the couple we’d seen leaving earlier.
The two of us exchanged glances once again. Then we both grabbed our bottles and stood up. We walked over to the bar without saying anything and waited for the bartender’s attention to fall on us.
He turned around and smiled. “Hey, there! How do you guys want your beers today?”
We both pointed to the same thing. “Two more of those,” said my brother as we placed our empty bottles on the counter. I handed over the money and took both of them off the tray and slid one into the inside pocket of my jacket. The other, I held onto.
“Okay,” said the man behind the bar, looking up at me with a puzzled expression.
As soon as we returned to the table, the blond leaned toward us. “Sorry, did I say something funny?”
My brother and I looked at each other and gave a brief nod before turning our full attention to our target. As much as I wanted to take a picture, it would be better to make sure it was real first, so I pulled out my phone and put it in standby mode instead.
After giving us a moment, our target finally looked over at the group sitting next to the window, which happened to include the woman from before. I could still remember how pretty she was, but now that we’d actually gotten a good look at her, it seemed even prettier than before.
There were faint freckles across her nose, and a small scar above her upper lip ran diagonally to the corner of her mouth. The way her lips curved upward made it obvious that she was happy to see us. It was hard to believe anyone could have been as beautiful as her in the old world, but this girl was an example of how it used to be done. And she had to know it.
Our target turned to our table and frowned slightly. Her gaze passed over all of us and then landed on me. When she saw the bottle of tequila I was holding, a grin broke out over her face and she winked. “I hope you aren’t going to start playing games with me,” she said, smiling. “Because if you are, I’ll just have to kick your asses.”
***
I let out a little laugh, although my heart wasn’t entirely with it. The last time she’d talked to us, the girl’s voice had carried no hint of a smile. I couldn’t quite figure her out. But whatever, right? That was fine. If she didn’t like us, then we weren’t here to please her.
“No,” my brother said, leaning over the table to meet the girl halfway. “This isn’t a game at all. Just us being honest. We’ve got no interest in fighting you. In fact, we think we’ve got a pretty good idea of what you’re after, too. And I’d be willing to bet that’s not a good thing for you.”
Her eyes narrowed and she took a slow breath like she was considering everything we’d said. A few seconds later, she shook her head and shrugged. “Who knows?” she said. “Maybe we can make a deal for mutual benefit and then walk away friends.” She glanced over at us again and flashed another quick smile. “And besides, it looks like we’re gonna need every friend we can get in here.”
That sounded reasonable enough. I decided to go ahead and agree and see where it led us. “Absolutely. It might be nice to have someone else on our side,” I said. “I don’t know about you guys, but neither of us is a fan of the idea of fighting the monsters here.”
“Me neither,” agreed our new friend. “It seems that we all share the same goal: To survive. So let’s leave the fights to the others and try and find a way to keep our heads down for a while.”
Once again, the woman nodded. “Sounds like a good plan to me,” she said, reaching out to touch the hand of the boy next to her, who looked confused by the action.
My brother and I both reached for our beers at the same time. My brother was faster than me though, and he was able to bring the bottle up and drink before I could grab mine. We both took a long pull from our bottles and then set them aside on the table. “So,” I asked, glancing at our new friend. “Are you part of this group or just a guest?”
“Neither,” said the woman, her voice heavy with disappointment. “You’re the only ones we’ve seen outside of our regular patrols in ages. Most everyone in here is either one of the guards, a hunter who wants to be a guard, or someone like us: People we found and brought into our little club.”
“We’re not exactly a ‘club,’ but okay,” I said. “Why do you call yourselves a hunting team when most of the folks here don’t hunt anything?”
She sighed and shook her head. “Well, for the longest time there were just three of us, and we called ourselves a hunting team because we hunted things: Humans who needed killing. Then we found more people like us and recruited a fourth member. That’s how we came up with the name.”
At least our new friend seemed to know enough to answer our questions. That meant she must have been around for a while, which wasn’t much different from us. But it was still good news that she could tell us something about this place without sounding completely insane.
The waitress appeared and placed a glass full of ice in front of each of us, and we thanked her for her service as we drained the last bits of cold liquid. Our new friend ordered two shots for herself and then paid for everyone’s drinks. We followed suit and soon our cups were half empty and a thick cloud of smoke floated lazily in the air between us.
“Now,” said the woman, turning back to us. “Let’s see where we stand.”
There was a loud thud from beyond the barroom door, and the entire room started to shake. The floor creaked and groaned under our weight. Dust and debris flew through the air in small clouds as our feet kicked up dust. I held onto the edge of the table for support.
“What was that?” whispered my brother as the shaking stopped and the sound of pounding feet grew louder.
“I’m sure we’ll find out eventually,” said the woman, standing tall and pulling her shoulders back. “But for now, it’s probably best if we find somewhere to hunker down until we figure it out.”
With that, she grabbed hold of her gun and stood tall. She turned to the door and yelled, “Hunters! Attention! The gate’s opened! You need to come to take care of business!”
The pounding steps slowed and then came to a halt outside the door, but that didn’t mean we were safe. In fact, it made me think we weren’t going anywhere anytime soon. The hunters inside the bar were probably waiting to see what happened, trying to figure out how many monsters were coming and where they were headed.
We knew nothing except the direction of the attack; the rest would wait for the enemy to arrive.
We waited nervously as our new friends shouted orders, directing some of their fellow hunters to go upstairs in case they had to fight their way back through the upper levels of the building. At least, that’s what I thought they were telling them to do—it wasn’t clear, and it didn’t really matter at that point.
As our new friends and other members of the hunting team ran off toward the stairs, we stood there watching them go. They disappeared behind the door and then slammed it shut as we heard a series of loud bangs coming from above. The entire floor vibrated violently again and then stopped as quickly as it had begun, leaving us alone with no more warning than that.
Suddenly, we were very much aware of our nakedness and vulnerability. This was bad enough when the sun was out and people were free to look but in the middle of a dark underground cave? It didn’t seem wise to leave the barroom door open and hope for the best.
So, my brother and I grabbed our coats and pulled them on over our torsos. After checking that we had everything we needed (including our knives), we stepped outside into the cool night air.
We moved past the front counter and then into the parking lot where we’d parked our van. As we climbed in, I turned on the headlights and drove carefully around to the back of the building, stopping where the wall met the ground.
Once we’d got ourselves inside, we both looked around nervously before climbing into the van. My brother reached over and turned off the lights, keeping them bright enough to read by and dim enough to not attract any unwanted attention from our unknown enemies.
With the van set in neutral, he opened the hatch so he could climb up onto the seat and get comfortable. I followed his lead, pulling myself onto the seat beside him. I took a deep breath as soon as I was settled.
“So,” said my brother. “Are you planning on telling me why we’re here or are we going to pretend like we don’t speak English? Because either way, this is weird.”
I smiled. He hadn’t changed one bit since we were kids, even if he was older than me now.
“No, we speak English. It’s just that there isn’t much to say, at least right now. It’s going to be hard to explain things to you properly when we have to work our way up from first principles.”
My brother gave me a curious look but then shrugged his shoulders and let out a sigh. He leaned his head against the side window and closed his eyes. I felt uncomfortable knowing there was someone else in the vehicle with us, especially considering that we were completely naked.
“Why did we agree to this? Shouldn’t we have refused when they asked us to come to meet you?”
That was actually what I was hoping would happen, too. I’d been prepared for more fighting once we got to the city, but not so much that I was willing to give up on our plan just yet. And, besides, I couldn’t afford to lose my cover story, which meant having to tell my brother who I really was sooner rather than later.
Still, despite my reluctance to reveal my true identity, my brother had been right about one thing: Our only choice was to go along with whatever this crazy mission was, so we might as well make the best of it. That was another lesson our mother had taught us: If you’ve got a crappy job, you might as well learn all the tricks you can. It wouldn’t hurt us to know a few more, and besides, we were running low on options.
We sat silently and waited until I was certain there were no threats nearby before I spoke again.
“We’re here because these guys need help. These Hunters are looking for something called a vampire.”
I waited for my brother to ask questions, but after a while, he didn’t say anything. I tried to ignore the fact that we were still naked and focused instead on talking, figuring that was better than staring at each other in silence.
“The vampires, they have an army of these creatures under control. Well, at least most of them do… But there are some rogue vamps left alive.”
My brother nodded slightly. “Okay.”
I continued, thinking that maybe he understood more than I’d realized. “It seems that one of the last remaining members of this vampire army has decided he doesn’t want to follow orders anymore, and now he’s making his own rules.”
“Like how many of those vampires did you kill?”
I blinked in surprise, taken aback by his question. “Excuse me?”
My brother shrugged his shoulders noncommittally. “Just curious.”
“There weren’t any. There were a few others who died trying to stop us, though.”
My brother grunted, giving me a funny look. “Yeah, okay… Whatever.”
He fell silent for a moment before clearing his throat and asking in a voice devoid of emotion, “But, if you killed all the vampires… then how does that affect us?”
“These guys—the Hunters who hired us”—I glanced over to check on him—”they believe that the guy they’re tracking will lead them straight to the vampire, so we have to find the bastard before he can do that.”
I paused, glancing back over at my brother. “How long ago did you get your tattoo?”
His hand came up and he rubbed the spot between his shoulder blades. “When I was twelve or so. Dad had me get it while everyone else was working on their tats.”
I frowned. “Then, how old are you now?”
“Twenty-six.” He shrugged. “You know how old people are when they decide to join a gang.”
“Right.”
I sighed. “Listen, I’m sorry if I sound rude or pushy about this, but I’ve already told you as much as I can without blowing my cover… So, if you don’t mind…”
I shifted closer to him on the seat and whispered, “If you could just be a little patient for a minute, you’ll see it’s going to be worth it.”
My brother looked over at me with narrowed eyes and asked, “Are you sure we should trust them? What if they turn us over to whoever it is who wants to find us?”
“Don’t worry about that,” I said confidently. “I promise, we’re safe enough as long as we stay together.”
As soon as I made the suggestion, I regretted saying it. Now I wished I could take it back. My brother stared at me and then suddenly rolled down his window.
“Hey!”
My heart pounded in my chest as I reached up to grab the handle, but it was too late. The door had locked itself from the outside.
“Damn it! Open this damn door!”
I looked around, confused, but saw nothing but an empty street. We’d been parked near the edge of town, so I figured we probably hadn’t gone far yet. Then it dawned on me: They had a lock on the car.
“What the hell?”
I turned and leaned out the open window. “Hello? You bastards?”
A tall figure wearing black robes stepped into view behind the wheel of the SUV. His face was hidden behind the cowl of his hood, and even though I knew who he was, I couldn’t tell if his expression was friend or foe. “Get off my ride!”
My brother started toward him.
“No way, Jose. Back away. Don’t touch me, or you die tonight.”
My brother stopped. He took a couple steps back and glared at the vampire. “Fine. I got your message loud and clear… But what’s wrong with the door locking?”
The Hunter gave a short laugh. “Nothing’s wrong with the door locking. It’s just locked right now. And since we have a mutual agreement not to let either of us leave without permission, we’re both stuck inside for a while.”
I shook my head, trying to ignore the sudden surge of anger boiling up inside of me. The thing was, we were already trapped. At least until they decided to un-lock the door.
My brother crossed his arms defiantly over his chest and glared at the vampire. “We aren’t going anywhere till you explain why you’ve kidnapped us and why you have a key to our car.”
The man smiled coldly and said, “That’s exactly where you’re wrong. You two are going nowhere until you do what I say.”
He leaned across the seat and grabbed hold of my brother’s arm, pulling him forward. A second later, something invisible hit my brother hard. I felt his body jerk in pain, but it didn’t hurt as bad as I thought it would.
My brother groaned softly in his sleep. When I touched his shoulder, he moaned again and jerked away, rolling onto his side.
The guy in the cowl leaned back against the steering column, watching us closely as he scratched absently at his cheek, making it obvious he had no idea what to make of me. After a moment of silence, I cleared my throat and spoke, hoping to draw the attention off of me and onto my brother.
The End