Chapter 31

The Crimson¹ Tide. That’s what William called their murderous tour.  He and Michael were on a roll now and nothing could stop them until the mission was over. Nothing - not rain, nor sleet², nor the FBI.  The Red Cross van drifted slowly along Fremont Street, the original Strip in LasVegas. It blended into the garish³ neoned scene.  Made them feel invisible. And like so many young males, William and Michael felt invulnerable. They would never be caught, never be stopped.
The killers⁴ took everything in - the ridiculous spouting⁵ fountains in front of nearly every casino and hotel, a wedding chapel⁶ with “Love Me Tender’crooning tinnily from a loudspeaker, brightly painted tour buses, like the one ahead of the van, from the United Union of Roofers and Waterproofers.
‘This is a true vampire’s city,’ William proclaimed. T can feel the energy. Even these pathetic worms on the street must feel alive when they’re here. It’s fabulous⁷ - so theatrical⁸, glittery, overly dramatic.  Don’t you just love it?’
Michael clapped his large hands. ‘I’m in heaven. We can be choosy here.’
‘That’s our plan,’ said William, ‘to be very choosy.’
At midnight they drove out to the new Strip, Las Vegas Boulevard.  They stopped at the Mirage⁹, where the Daniel and Charles Magic Show was advertised on a large, neon billboard¹⁰ that rose high over the busy street.
‘Is this such a good idea?’ Michael asked as they approached the box office inside the hotel. William ignored him and picked up two reserved tickets for the magic show. They were both dressed in black leather with black engineering boots. Nobody really cared what you wore inVegas anyway. The show was about to begin as they took two seats near the front.
Everything about the theater was spectacular and over the top. An enormous stage had been covered in spray-on black velvet¹¹. The backdrop was a thirty-foot-high metallic¹² structure covered in rear-projection pictures that kept changing. Half a dozen techies worked the spotlights¹³. The lighting¹⁴ conveyed spatial¹⁵ grandness if nothing else.
William used the candle on their table to light a cigar. ‘It’s showtime, my dear brother. Remember what you said - we can be choosy. Don’t forget that.’
The magicians’grand entrance onto the stage was a glittery nugget of eye candy. Daniel and Charles literally¹⁶ flew down from the rafters, at least a fifty- or sixty-foot drop.
Then the magicians disappeared, and the spellbound audience erupted in applause.
William and Michael cheered as well. The sheer speed with which the hydraulic¹⁷ mechanisms¹⁸ worked was impressive.  Daniel and Charles appeared again. The magicians led two small elephants, a white stallion, and a glorious Bengal tiger onto the stage.
“That’s me,’ William whispered against Michael’s ear. T am that beautiful cat. I am right at Daniel’s side. He should be careful.’ The sound system played Led Zeppelin’s ‘Stairway to Heaven’ in computerized surround-sound. The noise was as gaudy¹⁹ as the visual.  A powerful exhaust system vented²⁰ out the odor of urine and horse and elephant dung. A semi-pleasant vanilla-almond fragrance²¹ was pumped in.
On the stage, meanwhile, the two magicians were arguing about something.
William leaned toward a handsome young couple who had just been seated at the cocktail²² table to his left. The male and female were in their mid-twenties. He immediately recognized them from a hit TV show. He couldn’t decide which of the two actors was better looking. They were both so fly, so full of themselves. He knew that their names were Andrew Cotton and Dara Grey. Hell, he read EW and the tabloids²³ in his spare moments.
‘Isn’t this amazing?’he said.T love magic. It’s so kinky, and funny.
This is hilarious²⁴!’
The female glanced his way. Dara Grey was about to put him in his place when she looked into William’s eyes. Just like that - he had her.  Only then did he bother to check out the rest of her: an electric blue slip dress, vintage belt and jeweled shoes, embroidered²⁵ Fendi bag.  Nice, very nice. He wanted to feed on her.
This was going to be so good, so delicious.
Now he would seduce²⁶ the boyfriend. Andrew, dear sweet Andrew.
Then - then they would party until dawn.

1 crimson   

n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色

参考例句：

• She went crimson with embarrassment.她羞得满脸通红。
• Maple leaves have turned crimson.枫叶已经红了。

2 sleet   

n.雨雪；v.下雨雪，下冰雹

参考例句：

• There was a great deal of sleet last night.昨夜雨夹雪下得真大。
• When winter comes,we get sleet and frost.冬天来到时我们这儿会有雨夹雪和霜冻。

3 garish   

adj.华丽而俗气的，华而不实的

参考例句：

• This colour is bright but not garish.这颜色艳而不俗。
• They climbed the garish purple-carpeted stairs.他们登上铺着俗艳的紫色地毯的楼梯。

4 killers   

凶手( killer的名词复数 )； 消灭…者； 致命物； 极难的事

参考例句：

• He remained steadfast in his determination to bring the killers to justice. 他要将杀人凶手绳之以法的决心一直没有动摇。
• They were professional killers who did in John. 杀死约翰的这些人是职业杀手。

5 spouting   

n.水落管系统v.（指液体）喷出( spout的现在分词 )；滔滔不绝地讲；喋喋不休地说；喷水

参考例句：

• He's always spouting off about the behaviour of young people today. 他总是没完没了地数落如今年轻人的行为。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Blood was spouting from the deep cut in his arm. 血从他胳膊上深深的伤口里涌出来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 chapel   

n.小教堂，殡仪馆

参考例句：

• The nimble hero,skipped into a chapel that stood near.敏捷的英雄跳进近旁的一座小教堂里。
• She was on the peak that Sunday afternoon when she played in chapel.那个星期天的下午，她在小教堂的演出，可以说是登峰造极。

7 fabulous   

adj.极好的；极为巨大的；寓言中的，传说中的

参考例句：

• We had a fabulous time at the party.我们在晚会上玩得很痛快。
• This is a fabulous sum of money.这是一笔巨款。

8 theatrical   

adj.剧场的，演戏的；做戏似的，做作的

参考例句：

• The final scene was dismayingly lacking in theatrical effect.最后一场缺乏戏剧效果，叫人失望。
• She always makes some theatrical gesture.她老在做些夸张的手势。

9 mirage   

n.海市蜃楼，幻景

参考例句：

• Perhaps we are all just chasing a mirage.也许我们都只是在追逐一个幻想。
• Western liberalism was always a mirage.西方自由主义永远是一座海市蜃楼。

10 billboard   

n.布告板，揭示栏，广告牌

参考例句：

• He ploughed his energies into his father's billboard business.他把精力投入到父亲的广告牌业务中。
• Billboard spreads will be simpler and more eye-catching.广告牌广告会比较简单且更引人注目。

11 velvet   

n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的

参考例句：

• This material feels like velvet.这料子摸起来像丝绒。
• The new settlers wore the finest silk and velvet clothing.新来的移民穿着最华丽的丝绸和天鹅绒衣服。

12 metallic   

adj.金属的；金属制的；含金属的；产金属的；像金属的

参考例句：

• A sharp metallic note coming from the outside frightened me.外面传来尖锐铿锵的声音吓了我一跳。
• He picked up a metallic ring last night.昨夜他捡了一个金属戒指。

13 spotlights   

n.聚光灯（的光）( spotlight的名词复数 )；公众注意的中心v.聚光照明( spotlight的第三人称单数 )；使公众注意，使突出醒目

参考例句：

• The room was lit by spotlights. 房间被聚光灯照亮。
• The dazzle of the spotlights made him ill at ease. 聚光灯的耀眼强光使他局促不安。 来自辞典例句

14 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

15 spatial   

adj.空间的，占据空间的

参考例句：

• This part of brain judges the spatial relationship between objects.大脑的这部分判断物体间的空间关系。
• They said that time is the feeling of spatial displacement.他们说时间是空间位移的感觉。

16 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

17 hydraulic   

adj.水力的；水压的，液压的；水力学的

参考例句：

• The boat has no fewer than five hydraulic pumps.这艘船配有不少于5个液压泵。
• A group of apprentics were operating the hydraulic press.一群学徒正在开动水压机。

18 mechanisms   

n.机械( mechanism的名词复数 )；机械装置；[生物学] 机制；机械作用

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms. 这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He explained how the two mechanisms worked. 他解释这两台机械装置是如何工作的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 gaudy   

adj.华而不实的；俗丽的

参考例句：

• She was tricked out in gaudy dress.她穿得华丽而俗气。
• The gaudy butterfly is sure that the flowers owe thanks to him.浮华的蝴蝶却相信花是应该向它道谢的。

20 vented   

表达，发泄（感情，尤指愤怒）( vent的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He vented his frustration on his wife. 他受到挫折却把气发泄到妻子身上。
• He vented his anger on his secretary. 他朝秘书发泄怒气。

21 fragrance   

n.芬芳，香味，香气

参考例句：

• The apple blossoms filled the air with their fragrance.苹果花使空气充满香味。
• The fragrance of lavender filled the room.房间里充满了薰衣草的香味。

22 cocktail   

n.鸡尾酒；餐前开胃小吃；混合物

参考例句：

• We invited some foreign friends for a cocktail party.我们邀请了一些外国朋友参加鸡尾酒会。
• At a cocktail party in Hollywood,I was introduced to Charlie Chaplin.在好莱坞的一次鸡尾酒会上，人家把我介绍给查理·卓别林。

23 tabloids   

n.小报，通俗小报（版面通常比大报小一半，文章短，图片多，经常报道名人佚事）( tabloid的名词复数 )；药片

参考例句：

• The story was on the front pages of all the tabloids. 所有小报都在头版报道了这件事。
• The story made the front page in all the tabloids. 这件事成了所有小报的头版新闻。

24 hilarious   

adj.充满笑声的，欢闹的；[反]depressed

参考例句：

• The party got quite hilarious after they brought more wine.在他们又拿来更多的酒之后，派对变得更加热闹起来。
• We stop laughing because the show was so hilarious.我们笑个不停，因为那个节目太搞笑了。

25 embroidered   

adj．绣花的

参考例句：

• She embroidered flowers on the cushion covers. 她在这些靠垫套上绣了花。
• She embroidered flowers on the front of the dress. 她在连衣裙的正面绣花。

26 seduce   

vt.勾引，诱奸，诱惑，引诱

参考例句：

• She has set out to seduce Stephen.她已经开始勾引斯蒂芬了。
• Clever advertising would seduce more people into smoking.巧妙策划的广告会引诱更多的人吸烟。