Another ghostwritten story. This time it was a vampire romance. It was a weird week and this story took more out of me then it probably should have. There are a lot of factors here, the full moon, almost a month in quarantine, a general frustration with vampire tropes. I was a wreck, usually my brain devises a logical progression to these stories that guides me along the way. I can churn out a thousand words an hour if I have that direction, but this story was a battle of attrition for some reason. That being said I think it still turned out okay. As always read and enjoy.
Chapter 1
Dirty piles of snow framed the city as they huddled in the car. His lips reached out to hers and lifted the chill from them. Her breath was ragged, but she could still feel the warmth rising from her core as she leaned into the kiss. Paul pulled her coat apart. Moments before she would have swatted his hand away for letting the cold in, but the cold was superseded by arousal. He groped at her breast and she moaned. The windows were already getting foggy. Nobody got her this hot before, but Paul had a kind of magic when his hands touched her. Their mouths had found a rhythm in their making out. She realized that she wasn’t doing anything with her hands. One was holding some of her weight on the seat, but the other hung awkwardly in the air clenched into a fist. She moved the idle hand to his thigh. As soon as her fingers touched the denim feeling came back into her hand. The sudden variation in temperature caused a strange almost pain that coursed through her hand and up past her arm into the center of her being. Paul broke away, “Kimberly.” He whispered into her ear.
“Fuck.” She breathed out as their mouths went back to their previous positions. She pulled her hands away from his jeans, but let her fingers graze past his cock, with purposeful intent as she pulled her coat off of her body. She broke away again and said, “Fuck me.” their eyes met and kissed again while pulling there clothes away from their body. Paul was quicker and pressed forward. His mouth kissed her navel as he pulled at her pants. He smelled her and let his tongue trace down from her navel through a small thicket of pubic hair to her engorged lips. Kimberly was crying out as his tongue lapped at her clitoris. She pushed away and it was her turn to push him down onto the bench seat. The cold was gone, there was only heat now and Kimberly could feel a trickle of sweat on her forehead as she impaled herself on him.
She kissed him hard on his mouth, their tongues tangled together as his hands massaged her chest and moved down her belly. Paul snaked a thumb into her and found her clitoris as she rocked into him. She broke the kiss and lifted herself up her hands bracing her against the ceiling of the car as he continued stroking her little head. The other gently tweaked one of her nipples. He raised his hip and braced his legs on the driver side armrest. “God!” She screamed.
There was no warning when the glass shattered behind Kimberly. One second she was riding Paul and the next she was gripped by two icy hands that pulled her back towards the steering wheel. Paul looked up to see a pale bald headed man tear into Kimberly’s throat. An instant later he was showered in blood. The warm red fluid burned his eyes as he tried to reach for the attacker. His pelvis was pinned underneath her and he couldn’t reach her. Instead, in a panic, he reached for the door handle on his side and cranked on it. The door flew open letting in the sub-zero air. Paul gripped either side of the door frame and pulled himself out to the cold. His naked flesh burned as it touched the icy ground. Blood was splattering from his face as he crawled along the ground. Paul lifted himself up and turned to face the car but there was no attacker, just the lifeless body of Kimberly hung limply over the driver side door half in and half out of the car. He cautiously approached the vehicle, the cold was starting to overwhelm him and there was a phone somewhere in the mess of blood, flesh, and clothes inside the old Chrysler New Yorker. He still had his pants around his ankles so he pulled them up and reached for his coat. He quickly pulled it on and fumbled for his phone.
He heard a snarl and looked around. The park around him was empty and snow was drifting from the sky above him and coating the world in a thin layer. The street lights were helping, but there were still huge swathes of ground covered in dark shadows. He pulled out his phone and dialed 9-1-1 before bringing it to his ear. His eyes were alive with fear and when a voice on the other end answered he started speaking in a deluge. “My name is Paul Lund I’m at Bde Maka Ska Park my girlfriend was attacked send an ambulance now to the parking lot near Lake and Thomas.” Those were the last words he said as his larynx was pulled from his throat and bit into like an apple. Paul was dead before he hit the ground seven feet from the open car door.
* * *
Detective Mallory Edy pulled onto the crime scene. This is the last winter I spend here, she thought to herself as the temperature display in her car read out -17 degrees Fahrenheit. She hated the cold, but got out of her car all the same to examine the scene. Seven police officers and five paramedics hovered around. The coroner hadn’t arrived yet, but was likely close if they got the call when she did. A cop on the scene intercepted her, “Detective.” He said as he matched her stride.
“What have you got so far?” She cut right to the chase.
“Paul Lund, 24, bartender. He was found here.” He points to the crumpled body surrounded by a halo of red brown snow. “In the car Kimberly Kroger, 21, heiress and part of the top 1%.” The name on the officer’s uniform read, Dubuque.
“What were they doing out here?” Mallory asked idly.
“They appeared to be having, ah, relations.”
“That much was evident, but money-wise why? They could go to his place, her place, a hotel, but instead they came here. Having sex in the car in a park on a cold night like this. Why?” She shook her head at the question. She left Officer Dubuque and surveyed the area. The hole in Paul’s throat looked vicious, a hollow gummy wound where his Adam’s apple once was. He was already covered in a thin layer of snow and ice was forming on his face and in his hair. She walked around the car and looked over Kimberly’s body. Her throat was also damaged, but the wound was different, more like a dog bite. Her hands were down at her side and her back hung at a painful angle in the car door.
The coroner had arrived and extracted the bodies while a tow truck hoisted the massive car. Detective Mallory found the girl’s cellphone after a minimal search and luckily it wasn’t covered in blood, but it was locked. It was too late and too cold to look it over so she threw it in a baggie and tossed it in the back of her car. She thought she saw someone standing among the skeletal trees at the park’s bike trail. She felt a chill crawl down her spine as though someone had walked over her grave, but shook the feeling away.
Inside the car her heater blasted her with warm air and she started to feel life returning to her body. “I swear this is my last winter in this tundra.” She said to herself. She watched over the scene and let the car warm. At this point she was wired and the sun would rise soon and she wanted to be the first on the scene before some slack jawed beat cop walked all over her evidence.
She watched the lights across the small lake twinkle and flash as she stared off into space. The heat was nice and soon she felt the warm syrupy feeling of sleepiness wash over her brain. She caught herself and slapped herself awake. Despite her frustration with the cold she decided to take a short break from the heat. The cold hit her like a punch to the face quashing the dreamy feeling. She thought back to the bodies and the way they were murdered. It was like an animal attack, but the driver’s side window was shattered from the outside and she had never known an animal apart from a bear to be able to shatter car glass like that. There was still a smattering of cubed safety glass where the vehicle once was. It was starting to circle in her brain which signaled a need to step back and wait. Answers often presented themselves through patience, although that was a trait that didn’t come naturally for her. That didn’t stop her from idly walked around the crime scene. It was just an inert piece of ground. The evidence here was fairly obvious. Blood, glass and an apparent path from the where the car was to where Paul had died. It started with dragging, then a few lingering hand prints until finally moving to footprints. She shook her head and tried to picture the scene in her mind, but there was something missing. Why were they here? She thought again. She thought to get witness statements, but that would be a needle in a haystack affair so she decided to wait to view any cctv footage or for a witness to step forward. It was still dark and at least another hour before the sun rose.
“I don’t have much time.” A warm honey voice said from seemingly right behind her. She drew her gun instantly and swiveled in place, but saw no one there.
“Who is that? Come out and identify yourself.” She ordered. Her heart was suddenly racing.
“My name is Bram.” She heard a step and turned to the sound. “I’m here to help.”
Everything was bathed in the yellow glow of the sulfur colored lights overhead. She saw him surrounded by a yellow-orange glow in silhouette so all she could see was that he was a well built man of about six feet in height, wearing a leather jacket, and jeans. “Get your hands up.” She ordered and he complied lifting his arms casually to his shoulders.
“I have information that will help your case.” He said calmly.
“Slowly come into the light with your hands where I can see them.” She didn’t like that she was so out in the open suddenly and worried that this strange man might have friends. She moved forward slowly with her gun raised.
He moved with smooth confidence which under the current circumstances made her incredibly nervous. Her car was over a hundred feet away so she couldn’t radio for help and he looked like he could be trouble if he decided to attack. The gun was her only current leverage and something in the back of her head told her that wasn’t enough.
He was an attractive man, and appeared to be biracial, but it was difficult to tell in this light. “I promise I am not here to hurt you. You’re an officer, a detective, correct?” She nodded, but kept her defensive posture. “In my, let’s just call it community, I have a similar role and I may be able to add some perspective.” He explained. His voice was calm and soothing and she noted an accent that she couldn’t place, possibly South African or Dutch.
“We can talk from here.” The cold was creeping into her limbs and her fingers were going numb despite her gloves. “What do you know?”
“I know who is responsible.” He started lowering his hands, but Mallory reacted, lifting the gun for affect. “Sorry, sorry, it’s just cold out here. I can see you shivering from here and I would suggest retreating to a warmer place.” He suggested.
She thought it over. “Put your hands behind your back and turn around.” He did as he was told and she holstered her gun and handcuffed him.
“Am I under arrest?”
“You are definitely a person of interest Bram.” She searched his pockets quickly. He didn’t have any ID, but had a wad of cash in his jacket pocket as well as two vials of red liquid that she assumed was drugs. “You have the right to remain silent…”
“I understand my rights.” He interrupted.
She loaded him into the back seat and started the car. There was a small store front the police used as a holding area and office in Uptown. Not exactly a police station, but close by and warm. She watched him in the rear view as she drove. There was something off about him, he wasn’t wearing gloves or a hat and didn’t seem cold although his hands were freezing as she hand cuffed him.
The drive was short and he didn’t say a word and he seemed unnaturally still as he sat in his seat patiently staring straight ahead. She pulled him from the car and moved him through the small office into the interrogation room. “Alright. Talk.” She said as she put him in a chair next to a small table. “Why were they in the park?” She asked as she sat across from him.
“I have no idea.”
“You said you knew who killed them.”
“I have an idea, yes. He was a creature called Drox.” He answered.
“Drox?”
“Yes, a homicidal monster and a kind of enforcer for the Sacri Sanguinis.”
“That sounds like Latin.”
“It is.” He paused before continuing, “Sacri Sanguinis is an organization that runs counter to my community. If they are in operation in your city then everyone here is in danger.”
“How did you know about the murder.”
“I have a friend who listens to police scanners for certain patterns.”
He was holding something back and she could feel it. “What is your community?”
His hands were still cuffed behind him. “I didn’t commit this murder and I am willing to help, but you have to trust me.” He said in that same smooth tone that seemed to cut through her body.
He didn’t seem to blink or breath, but he still had incredible magnetism that pulled Mallory in. The way he was looking at her as she interviewed him was making her knees weak. She tried to banish the thought, but once she pictured him alone with her in her home, in her room the image was embedded and refused to leave her mind’s eye. “I can’t do that.” She said, but part of her wanted to trust him. Part of her wanted to meet him elsewhere, but this was her life. This was her job and she had to follow the law.
“What will it take to earn your trust Detective?”
“Give me something I can work with for starters.” She implored.
“I wish that I could, but there are things in this world that defy explanation. Your murderer is one of those things.”
“I’m sorry to say this, but I need to leave shortly.” He said.
She felt dreamy like waking suddenly from a long sleep and she couldn’t seem to look away from his eyes. “I can’t.” Her mouth didn’t want to work. She felt her body slump in her seat.
“I promise we’ll talk again soon.” He said as he pulled his hands apart with a metallic clink from behind his back.
She saw him pull the hand cuffs apart like they were nothing. “No.” She tried to call out, but sound came out more like a whimper and she felt a tear trail down her cheek from her suddenly watery eyes. Her limbs were leaden as she felt the strength stripped from her muscles. All she could do was watch him walk out the door. She closed her eyes and felt herself drift into darkness.
Chapter 2
“Detective Edy.” She heard her name distantly and eye eyes shot open. There was a patrolman, Girard, standing above her in the interrogation room.
She sat up and saw the remains of her handcuffs on the floor, “Fuck!” She stood up looking around the small office space. “I had a suspect!” She moved from the room frantically. “security footage, where is it?” She asked Girard.
He showed her the footage and her hands started shaking as she saw herself enter the interrogation room, seemingly talk to herself for a few minutes and then pass out. “No, no, no. This isn’t right. He was here.”
Girard was stunned, “The door was wide open when I arrived.” He explained.
“Fuck.” She blasted from the office to her car and drove back to the scene of the crime. None of it made sense. There were footprints still visible from when she put him in the back of the car, there was the blood and the glass and a few guys looking over the scene. One was taking photos and the other was looking over the lake. She tapped him, “What did you find?” She asked.
He was wearing a heavy winter coat, his badge hung awkwardly from his lapel. “Detective.” He looked at her. He was a balding man in his forties wearing frameless glasses. “We’ve been collecting samples, but otherwise we haven’t discovered much except for this.” He pointed to footprints in the snow that trailed out across the lake.
“Bare feet?” She asked.
“Appears so. And check this out.” He pointed out across the lake and when she looked she saw police cars in front of a green art deco home.
Her phone rang almost as soon as she saw the cars. “Edy.” She answered. The voice on the other end explained the situation and she hung up. “There’s been another murder.” She kicked herself for letting her suspect get the best of her as she got in her car. “Motherfucker!” She screamed and pulled out of her parking space. She had him. Bram was the key to all of this there was no question of that in her mind. He said he knew who committed the murder. As she pulled up to the house she could see officers filtering in and out of the residence.
She smelled the blood before she entered the house. She is immediately greeted with upper torso of a middle aged man was sat upright on a couch. His lower half was tangled in front of couch on the carpeted floor. The second body was in the kitchen, a woman flung into the kitchen sink with half her arm shoved into the garbage disposal. Her face was submerged under half a foot of coagulated blood. She surveyed the rest of the house. She spotted Officer Girard and asked him, “When is CSI arriving?”
“On there way now.” He answered.
“Has anyone checked the rest of the house.”
“There are two officers upstairs, but no one has checked the basement yet.”
She nodded, “Okay, get everyone out of here until CSI has cleared it. I’ll check the basement.”
“Yes Ma’am.”
She moved through the house as delicately as she could. There was blood everywhere and those same bare footprints crisscrossing the seen. They lead to the basement. She opened the basement door and descended. She flicked the light switch, but nothing happened. She grimaced and pulled her flashlight from her belt. The beam did little to penetrate the gloom as she continued down the stairs. The basement was unfinished, but larger then she expected with walls covered in sheet rock. Straight ahead there was a rack of cleaning supplies and a hallway set to the right. She could hear a slow steady drip coming from somewhere deeper in the basement. To her left a washer, drier, and large utility sink. To the right a work bench with tools hung on a peg board above the bench. She stepped onto the cement floor and crept through towards the hallway and felt panic rising in her chest. She breathed out trying to lower her heart rate and keep her brain working. The short hallway had a door midway down and another at the end of the hall. She twisted the door knob to the middle door carefully and swung in with her gun raised. The room was more finished then the rest of the basement with a bed, a bookshelf, and a single rectangular window. There was nothing below the bed, but the closer door was parted slightly. Her heart was in her throat as she cautiously pushed the closet doors apart and let out a scream when an ironing board fell forward and nearly crowned her. “Shit.” She said. She could hear movement in the floor above and thought to return upstairs to greet the CSI crew, but decided to press on.
The door was cracked open so she pushed it gently with her gun and as it swung open she pivoted into a bathroom. The bathtub had a semi translucent shower curtain obscuring her view. The light from the window lit it up and she could see a mound in the tub. She swallowed and drew the curtain open. The mass was a pile of clothes and she breathed a sigh of relief and turned back to the door.
The door behind her was closed and she saw a massive pale chest illuminated by a ray of sunlight. The flesh was blistering where the light hit it. It moved towards her and his face came into view. It’s face was bestial with a wide mouth filled with rows of shark-like teeth and its forehead was crested with a bony ridge. It lunged at her and she fired her gun. The bullet hit and exploded out its back. Its taloned hand swiped at her tearing through her coat and dug into her flank.
Adrenalin pulled her to her feet. Mallory turned in time to see the creature burst through the window. She blasted through hole the creature made and chased it. The monster’s skin was blistering and smoking as it ran. Finally it stopped in the center of a street and lifted a manhole cover from the road and flung it in Mallory’s direction. She dropped to the ground as it came within inches of her head and smashed into a tree with enough force that it stuck there. She suddenly felt the wound in her side and howled in pain.
“What the hell hit you?” The paramedic asked as he looked at the wound.
“I don’t know.” Mallory answered. “Drox.” She said almost to herself as her mind conjured Bram from a few hours ago.
“We don’t have the ability to deal with this here. You’re going to have to go the the ER.” He informed her. “Whatever hit you cut into the bone.”
The ER was a tedious ordeal and took the better portion of her day and by the time she was out her body felt exhausted. She called the precinct and told them that she would be following up on leads in the evening. At home she examined the wounds and her body in the mirror. Her lithe body looked like one giant bruise. The winter darkness was already closing in and she tried to settle her brain enough to sleep, but the components of the case came crashing in the moment she started to doze. Her interview with Bram and her encounter with what she presumed was Drox replayed in her mind. Nevermind, the lingering question of the initial murders.
She poured herself some scotch and put a record on as she sat in near darkness with a single lamp on hoping the music and the liquor would lull her to sleep. Portishead filled her head and managed to calm her nerves. As her eyes fluttered and closed she was jarred by a knock at the door. She seethed to herself and tried to ignore the intrusion, but the damage was already done and a second knock broke the spell of sleep as relaxation was replaced with anger. She opened the door and was about to scream at the interloper, but stopped when she saw Bram’s face. His piercing eyes looked over her face. “I apologize if I woke you, but I felt bad about our last interaction.” She felt shame and anger and panic and in the end froze in place. she was in a t-shirt, sweat pants, no shoes, and her gun was locked away. “May I come in?”
“No.” She spat.
He nodded, “You’ve been hurt.” He said.
She covered her wound and regarded him, “Who is Drox?” She found her voice finally.
“He is a vampire,” Bram chewed on his next statement, “Same as me.” She laughed and shut the door on him. Bram said from behind the door, “You’ve encountered Drox, haven’t you? He is still out there and I am here to stop him, but I need your help.”
She opened the door again, “Why?” She asked.
“This is all very difficult to explain from the door. Would you please let me in.” He pleaded.
“I can hear you fine.” She knew that the door wasn’t remotely enough defense if he truly wanted to get in, but the psychological security it offered was helping her sleep deprived brain at that moment.
“I can’t really explain, but I can show you.”
Her instincts could usually tell her when someone was lying to her, but this man was completely unreadable. She didn’t see any of the usual signs of lying and he certainly exhibited superhuman strength and some form of hypnosis. Was it such a stretch to believe he was a vampire? In spite of her better judgment she opened the door more and said, “Come in.”
“Thank you.” He said demurely as she opened the door. The stood in the doorway inches from each other and she could feel that same magnetism. The half image of them alone returned to her unbidden. He couldn’t help, but look at his lips. Then the thought entered her mind that if he was a vampire perhaps this fascination was part of his magic. He had turned the tables on her that morning in the interrogation room, perhaps this was a trick. She didn’t want it to be a trick, but her rational brain had to take it into account.
Chapter 3
Mallory recognized the place, a club called Ground Zero. “Your taking me to the goth club?” she asked.
He nodded, “Yeah.”
“A little on the nose isn’t it?”
“Easier to hide in plain sight.” He offered.
The smell of sweat, liquor, and vomit invaded her senses as they entered the club and she felt a wave of heat hit her radiating from the mass of bodies dancing to the throbbing music. Bram lead her past the crowd to a door on the far side of the bar guarded by a single bouncer who looked like a brick if you covered it with tattooed skin. “She can’t come in.” He said after a brief cursory glance.
“She is Magi.” he said as Bram passed a folded bill into his hand.
The bouncer looked her over and looked back at Bram, “How?”
“The universe is a strange place.” Bram offered.
He slid the folded bill into his pocket and opened the door for them. “Appreciated.”
“Thanks Frank.” He patted the bouncer on the shoulder.
Once they crossed the threshold she grabbed him and turned him to face her, “Explain.” She said.
“I knew last night, but I wasn’t sure, but you survived an encounter with Drox. Humans can’t do that.”
She shook her head, “I’m human.” She said.
“Yes, but you harness magic, which elevates you to a different level. I assume you’re unaware, but you channel the chaos of the universe around you and center it in a direction, like tuning a radio. This is neutral ground where the supernatural gather we can speak in peace here. It also serves as an object lesson. Vampires, werewolves, fae, and magi all exist here hidden from the mortal realm in plain sight.” She couldn’t believe what he was saying. “Look around you.”
She scanned the room they entered, the red light made it difficult to see details. Most appeared to be normal bar patrons, but she could make out a man with four goat horns jutting from his forehead. There were others stranger still a lithe woman standing almost seven feet in height. Another creature stood about four feet tall with brutish musculature “What does this have to do with my case?” She asked still trying to wrap her brain around what she was seeing.
“Your case threatens to expose us. Drox is your killer, but he is extremely old and extremely powerful. Magi are rare and it is your abilities that will bring this beast to bear.” He lead her through the crowd to the bar. He leaned to the bartender, a green skinned woman with inhumanly sized black eyes that seemed to have some kind of nictitating membrane as well as regular eyelids. “I need to speak with Tolliver.” and slid a bill to the bartender.
The bartender slid a plastic cup in his direction. Bram smiled as he raised the glass to her. “Is that blood?” Mallory asked with more of a sarcastic tine then she intended.
“Actually, yes.” He answered.
“How do these people blend in?” She asked.
“The aesthetic of this club already lends itself to the unusual and beyond that Tolliver, the proprietor of this club, uses wards to distract the humans from those with more alien appearances.”
She looked over the bar at all the creatures that inhabited the place and despite the surreality of the situation she recognized the mannerisms that she’d seen at any bar she’d ever been to. Some were loud and animated, others were dancing to the music and yet others were quietly existing in their own space enjoying the environment. Tolliver was a foppish looking man in a black brocade coat, black pants, and a ruffled shirt with his chest exposed. He looked to be a man in his sixties, but his chest and abdomen were heavily muscled like he spent his life in a gym.
“Bram.” He said with a smile.
“Tolliver.” They hugged. “This is Detective Mallory Edy, a magi.” He presented.
A wide grin split his face ear to ear, “Fantastic!” He said with a mischevious glint in his eye. “Let me look at you.” He stepped back and looked her over. “It has been an age since I saw a magi in the flesh.” He turned his attention back to Bram. “Come with me.” He said and turned away from the pair.
Tolliver lead them to a smokey office with Nag Champa smoldering and a single small lamp on top of an ancient wooden desk casting a honey colored glow on the room. A bottle of absinthe and a single glass filled with the cloudy green liquid sat next to the lamp. He sat behind the desk as he motioned towards the seats in front of his desk. “Please.”
“So what are you?” Mallory asked.
“I am a faerie.” He said with a flourish. “as if that wasn’t already evident.”
“Drox is here.” Bram said with some urgency.
Tolliver’s demeanor changed and his face affected a more sullen expression. “Sacri Sanguinis.” he nodded. “How many know?”
“Lysander, myself, and now you.” He said.
“What do you need from me?”
“The knife.”
Tolliver took a sip of his absinthe and stood from his seat. “I’m afraid I can’t do that for you Bram. I’m sorry.”
Mallory noted the rapid change in the dynamic of the room. “What have you done?” Bram asked.
“Humanity is growing out of control and something needs to be done. Sacri Sanguinis has a plan and as the years pass I find myself more and more in agreement with their philosophy. It’s time to let the monsters out.” As he spoke Drox entered. “It was so nice to meet you Mallory and I apologize for the timing as you are just discovering your true nature.” Mallory’s eyes went wide as she saw his pale form and tried to pull her gun from its holster, but Drox grabbed her face with his clawed hand. Bram pivoted from his seat and launched at Drox striking him in the face with a series of lightning fast punches that had no discernible effect on the brute. Drox casually tossed Mallory to the side, shoved his claws into Bram’s chest, and lifted him off the ground. Mallory scrambled for her gun and fired. The bullet hit with a crack that sent a spray of blood across the desk.
Tolliver rolled his chair back and stood from his seat. “I’ll leave you to it.” Tolliver moved quickly to the door around the combatants.
Drox dropped Bram and turned his attention back to Mallory. His shark teeth came into view again and she fired two more rounds. The first hit solidly in the monster’s chest, the second struck him in the face stunning him long enough for Mallory to stand. “Bram!” She yelled.
Bram got to his feet, but collapsed again. Mallory tried to go to his aid, but Drox was already on the move again. He swiped at her, but she was able to dodge the claw and roll forward to Bram. She turned and landed against the wall next to Bram where she fired again hitting Drox again in the head blasting a chunk of his skull free. That shot was enough to drop him, but she could see he wasn’t down for the count as he was grabbing his head with one hand and pushing himself off the ground with the other. She pulled Bram off the floor and started moving for the door. “Mallory.” Bram said and pointed as she saw Drox was already standing. Despite his unsteady feet Bram put himself between Her and Drox as he nailed the beast in the face with a kick. “Run.” She did as she was told and got to the door and out. The crowd in the bar seemed oblivious to the gunfire so she used the crowd to cover her exit. She couldn’t see Drox or Bram. Bodies moved all around her and she saw the bouncer, Frank, obviously looking into the crowd. Mallory was able to slip out the door into the main bar where she holstered her gun and walked out trying very hard not to attract attention.
The cold air was a welcome change as she walked out into the winter air. She didn’t want to leave, she wanted to find Bram and save him, but the prospect of going back in seemed foolish so she did the only thing she could think to do and got to her car and started the engine.
Chapter 4
The morgue was cold at night. The bodies that arrived during the day were arranged in a row for processing in the morning. The stretcher that held Kimberly Kroger’s body twitched and moved. Her arm fell from under the sheet. Her fingers curled into a fist as she worked out the stiffness. She got up delicately and looked around the room. There was cold and she could interpret the sensation, but it didn’t matter. She didn’t shiver or feel any discomfort if anything she felt good. She hopped off the gurney and padded to a small mirror. Her face was pale, blood still trickled from her mouth, and she looked like she had bags under her eyes, but otherwise everything looked fantastic with her new eyes. There was something slightly unnerving about not hearing blood in your ears or feeling your chest rise and fall with the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the lungs. Then there was the hunger. She was famished in a way she had never felt and had a vague recollection of what she was told to do.
Before she left she pulled Paul’s sheet down and looked at him. He still looked as sexy as ever, she bit into his neck and tasted what little blood remained. She didn’t know if this would work, but she wanted to try, to feel his hands on her again and to be by his side. She wished she had thought to include him in the beginning, but things moved so quickly that she wasn’t able to convey her desires. The blood was bitter and cold, but it helped a little with the growing hunger. She needed something warmer. She finished the ritual by kissing him with her bloody lips and hoped it would work.
Her patience evaded her as the hunger motivated her exodus. The naked woman walked slowly down the hallway until she found the security office. She could smell the warm living blood on the other side of the security door. She knocked at the door and heard movement on the other side. He startled when he saw her, but she put her arms around his neck and pulled him into a kiss. He pushed himself away from her and started to speak, but she spoke instead, “I’m so glad you’re here.” She smiled sweetly as she pressed into him and became acutely aware of how much stronger she was then him. A phenomena that had never happened before. The man struggled to push her away, but she once again pulled him close and bit into his neck. The warmth and flavor of his fresh blood made her almost moan, but she wanted to be closer. The fluid bathed her tongue and fell down her chin, throat, and heaving chest. His struggling subsided as he dropped to the ground near death. She cut her wrist open with her new vampiric teeth and fed the poor security guard. She looked him in the eye and said, “You must feed and increase our number dear heart.” His eyes closed as she released him.
She heard movement behind her and was thrilled to see Paul standing confused at the security office. “Good morning Paul.” she said with a smile and a giggle.
* * *
Bram fell more then walked out of Ground Zero. Mallory was watching and jumped out of her car to help him. “Bram!” She yelled.
He reached for her and draped his arm over her shoulder. He said, “I told you to run.”
She helped him limp to her car and poured him into the passenger side. She started down the road when she spotted Drox in the rearview mirror. He was running at her car and surprisingly started to gain on her. She ran a red light and a car laid on its horn as it narrowly missed Mallory, but ran headlong into Drox. The hood crumpled and folded around his mass, Its back end tilted upward from the momentum. Drox grabbed the hood of the vehicle lifted it off the ground nearly five feet before slammed it back into the ground.
“Fuck.” Mallory breathed out. She looked at her passenger who looked like he had been hit be that car instead of the shark toothed nightmare that was chasing her car down. She got onto the highway to create some distance between. “Talk to me.” She said as she pulled into traffic.
He pulled out one of those red vials and downed its contents. “I just need time to heal.” He drank the second vial as well.
“Is that blood?”
He shook his head, “No, its a chemical solution that accelerates healing. Think of it like an antibiotic for vampires.”
“Okay. So what do we do now?” She asked.
“I need to get to Lysander. She is likely in danger.” He leaned back against the seat and looked at Mallory, “Are you alright.”
“Apart from a splitting headache I’m okay. Where is your friend located?”
“I’ll direct you.” They drove into the suburbs north until they came to a trailer park. The streets seemed to weave into strange curved streets that all looked virtually identical. She was asked to park in front of the trailer with Christmas decorations still hung in the windows.
Bram was already moving better. It was Mallory’s turn to feel beat down as the adrenalin wore off and she felt every bump, bruise, and wound she had accumulated over the last day. Lysander’s slender form met them at the door. She couldn’t have been more then twelve years old, but Mallory’s sense of expectation had altered since she left her house. The world was now filled with monsters and magicians and she was somehow connected to all of it. “Bram.” She said cordially.
“We’ve been double crossed.” He said.
“You guys don’t do small talk at all, do you?” Mallory noted.
“Come in. Do you need blood?” She asked as they entered the house. The trailer was small. The living room and kitchen were separated by a partial counter. He nodded and Lysander threw some blood bags from the fridge into the microwave. “To answer your question, we don’t really do small talk. Not often anyway.”
“Are you a vampire as well?” Mallory asked as she looked around the place.
“I am, and older than him to boot.” She offered. She was a young black girl with close cropped blonde hair.
“Really?”
“She taught me everything I know. About this condition anyway.” Bram added.
“Just how old are you?”
“A lady never tells.” Lysander answered. She handed Bram the blood bags.
Bram sat on the couch and said, “I was born in 1942 and have been a vampire since 1971.”
“Holy shit, that would make you…”
“78 come March.”
Lysander switched gears and addressed Bram, “What do you mean double cross?”
“Tolliver is with Sacri Sanguinis.”
“Shit. I’ll start packing.”
Bram nodded. “What’s happening?” Mallory asked.
“We’re moving. Tonight we stay here and tomorrow after dark we will need to leave the area.” Bram explained.
“Wait. You’re leaving?”
“We have to. Tolliver was right, we are outnumbered and the two of us alone can’t defeat Drox and the full strength of the Sacri Sanguinis especially if Tolliver has already opened the door for them. We need more allies and we can’t be sure of allegiances in the city.” He explained.
“I can’t leave.” She protested. “I have a life here, a job. If this organization is as bad as you say how can you just leave?” She felt her heart rate rising.
“This is a strategic withdrawal so we can formulate a better plan. This is a temporary measure.”
“You said I was a Magi and you needed my help.”
“That is still true, but you need training and we need the knife if we hope to neutralize Drox. I’m sorry, but we have no choice.” He stood and looked down at her and for the first time touched her shoulders. She was angry, but his sudden closeness did a lot to defuse her frustration.
“I don’t like running away.” She said quietly.
“I don’t either.” He said.
She didn’t realize that her hands were touching his thighs and suddenly her hands felt impossibly hot. They stood like that looking into each others eyes for what felt like an eternity. She raised her head to his lips and kissed him. He returned the kiss and her hands slid along the contours of his thick legs from his thighs to his hamstrings just below his buttocks. After an eon their lips parted. “We are spending the night here aren’t we?” She asked and he nodded. She smiled and returned to the kiss. He scooped her into his arms and carried her into a bedroom.
Their wasn’t any light coming from the windows, the room was pitch black. He laid her on the bed and she immediately pulled her shirt from her body. All worry and doubt left her as she felt his hands on her flesh. His hands were cold to the touch, but the contrast between her too hot living flesh and his ice cool skin was causing erotic spasms everywhere his fingers touched her. “Does it feel good when you bite people?” She asked and wondered instantly how long that thought had been in the back of her head.
“Yes.” He whispered as they peeled more clothes off and their hands explored each other’s bodies. His hand slid against her sex and she gasped as it sent a quiver through her pussy that made her whole body vibrate.
“Fuck, bite me.” He complied and his teeth sunk into her flesh as her hand found his rigid cock head and was happy that at least one part of his body was warm. She moaned as she felt the warm wetness between his mouth and her neck. She guided him into her and wrapped her legs around his as she pulled him deeper inward. She could feel her heart in her chest beating against her rib cage like it was trying to escape. Every nerve ending was alive and his cool skin was heating at her touch. He released her neck and lapped up the excess blood from her neck as he thrust deeper. She felt pressure in her abdomen and the fission of their love-making was bursting into from her and she screamed as she dug her fingernails into his back.
Light pierced the gloom and she dimly saw her phone through her haze of lust. Mallory reluctantly looked over to the phone and saw it was the coroners office. “Fuck!” She yelled as she grabbed the phone. “Hello.” Bram stopped his ministrations.
“The bodies are gone.” He said over the phone.
“What?”
“Kimberly Kroger and Paul Lund’s bodies are gone. The security guard is missing too.”
“Okay. I’m coming in.” She said and got off the bed.
The sting of lamplight caused her to wince and she saw Bram laying across the bed naked. She glowed at the image. She couldn’t help, but smile. “You, Christ God. I have to go. Two bodies are missing from the morgue and I need to go in.”
“Missing?” he asked as he stood and pulled her close to him.
“Yeah, their bodies were stolen.” They kissed again.
“I should go with you.” He said.
She nodded, “Yeah.” She pulled herself together, gather her clothes, and pulled her hair back in a pony tail.
Chapter 5
Paul had been silent and kept shivering. The security guard on the other hand seemed a marvelous acquisition. He was strong, confident, and seemed to adapt to his new lifestyle well. If Paul didn’t shape up she was tempted to break up with him. They found a house to set up shop and as much as she enjoyed walking around naked she decided she would need to wear some clothes. The home they invaded was luckily occupied by college girls and didn’t put up much of a fight between her and her security guard. Paul drank some blood from one of the blonde girls, but he didn’t really kill anybody so that was a huge demerit against him. She was camped out on the couch trying to cuddle with Paul, but he kept shivering which was very annoying so she ended up lounging on her own watching some reality show on the coeds television. She was dressed in Love Pink leggings and a tank top which Security Guard certainly seemed to be drooling over. There was movement outside. She could hear dogs barking somewhere and the heavy footfalls told her the person was big.
“Security Guard.” She said and snapped at him.
“My name is Randall.” He responded.
“Yeah, okay, could you check the door? I think somebody is outside.”
Randall got up and went to the back first and saw nothing. He opened the door and lit a cigarette. Breathing was weird as a vampire, it was like he had to relearn how to do it to take a drag off a cigarette. He was getting the hang of it when he saw him. A massive man naked standing over seven feet tall with bony ridges on his chest and forehead. His mouth was made of grisly looking shark teeth. He walked up the back porch and pulled the door off its hinges and tossed it aside as he entered. In a voice that sounded uncomfortably like dental drills the creature spoke, “Kimberly.”
She bolted upright and looked at the direction of the voice that called her name. She saw him in the kitchen. His bulk was enough to block er view of the back door. She moved to the kitchen, “Master.” she said and dropped to her knees in front of him.
“Why are you here?” Drox growled.
“:We needed clothes Master. To blend in.” She answered. Her heart swooned at his presence. His voice was like a summer breeze to her. In her heart she knew there was nothing she wouldn’t do for him.
“Go to your home. To your father and bring him into the fold.” He instructed. Paul wandered to the kitchen and knelt next to Kimberly. She rolled her eyes at his presence, she should definitely break up with him. Drox regarded the vampire. He grabbed Paul by the head and lifted him off the ground. Paul offered no resistance and was by his head and one of his legs. Drox sniffed at him with his skeletal nose and grunted. He pulled him apart. His leg came off at the ball joint and his neck was stretched in an awkward unnatural way. The leg spewed blood along the kitchen floor as he howled in pain. His vertebrae snapped and left him paralyzed from the neck down. His eyes rolled in his head as he looked at the blood dribbling from his hip where a leg once was. “Silence him disciple.” He said as he left the house. Drew snuffed his cigarette as he watched the thing leave the backyard.
Inside Kimberly looked around the kitchen and stopped when she found a heavy rolling pin. She hefted it and batted it against the opposite hand. She stepped over Paul and tilted her head as she looked him over. “It’s not working out babe. I will always love you, but I’ve moved on.” She lifted the rolling pin and brought it down. The first hit ailed him hard, but only left a welt on his forehead. On the second she heard a bone crack. He was still shrieking when she raised the rolling pin a third time. He stopped shrieking, but his eyes were still rolling in his head in a befuddled stupor. “It’s not me, it’s you.” She said as she brought it down again. “I think we should see other people.” The fifth hit seemed to stop his twitching jaw. She dropped the pin on the floor and walked out the broken door. “Are you ready to go boyfriend.” She asked with her arms crossed.
He nodded. “Paul?”
“He’s not coming with. Do you have a car? I should’ve asked that before.” She said as she descended from the patio.
“I do actually. I kinda spaced it.” He said as he pulled his keys from his pocket.
“Cool. We’re going to Edina.”
* * *
Mallory pulled up to the Morgue and parked the vehicle. “I’ll just tell anyone who asks you’re a consultant.” She stated across the top of the vehicle.
“Understood.” He said as they ventured in.
There was only a single police officer there when she arrived. She didn’t recognize him, but there were so many that it wasn’t an unusual occurrence. She saw the blood stains in the security office and saw the state of the morgue. Mostly just things knocked over. The lights were off in the coroners office and several bodies still there. “Do you think Drox was covering his tracks?” She asked idly.
“Not his style. I think she got up and walked away.” He said matter-of-factly.
“Okay,” She drew in a deep breath, “Do go on.”
“Well look here.” He pointed at the floor. “There are footprints. Small feet here and larger feet here trailing out into the hallway.”
She saw them and had a shiver run down her spine. “They’re vampires aren’t they?” Without looking over the details she did see dirt and grime in the larger prints consistent with Paul and his trek through the snow.
“It is very likely, yes.”
Gunshots echoed from the hallway. Bram and Mallory moved quickly to the door and saw Drox mauling the Police Officer. “Shit.” Mallory cursed.
“I’ll try to slow him down while you get out.” He stated.
She shook her head, “He nearly killed you last time. No we leave together.” She looked around the medical equipment here didn’t look formidable enough to do anything but annoy the monster. Instead she snapped at Bram, “We make a run for it.” She remembered he kept up with her car. They were too late he was already too close for them to have any shot at running
Mallory checked her clip and reinserted it as she stood back behind a cabinet. Bram hid on the other side of the room. Drox entered and scanned the room. “I can smell you.” His grating voice echoed in the room.
Bram stepped out. “Hello Drox.” He said.
“There is nothing for you to do.” He stood in the way of the door.
“No negotiation?” Bram had his hands behind his back.
Mallory clenched her eyes shut as they spoke and ran through scenarios in her head. Drox was blocking the only entrance out and she could fire on him, which managed to slow him, but not by much. She was boxed in and needed a solution. She thought back to Bram’s words before, ‘you channel the chaos of the universe around you and center it in a direction, like tuning a radio.’ She thought about chaos and coincidence and the single thought in her mind was that she wanted more firepower.
“What if I were to join Sacri Sanguinis? I relinquish the human race to your order and you let us go. I swear on my blood.”
Drox shook his head, “You are meat.” He crouched and drew his arms up and as he moved his back erupted from machine gun fire. The door was wide open allowing officers arriving on the scene to open fire. He turned to the gunfire in time to see a grenade launched at him. The explosion knocked Drox across the room into a wall where he seemed to be out cold
Bram smiled at their luck and Mallory yelled , “Run!” He moved for the door as the police were reloading. Mallory stepped out with her badge held in front of her like a ward. “MPD!” She declared loudly as she ran down the hall. She got behind the wall of officers and turned in time to see Drox already stirring.
“Detective Edy?” A gray haired officer addressed her.
“How quickly can you get SWAT over here.”
“In literal minutes.”
“Do it.” She ordered and he stepped away to give the order.
Someone yelled, “Incoming!” Drox burst through the door ripping through steel and sheet rock. The Police fired again and Drox still advanced. The grenade launcher fired again, this time Drox grabbed the grenade and threw it back towards the cops. Mallory pulled Bram down the hallway and out the door. The subsequent explosion shook the building and caused the lights to flicker and go out. The survivors were ripped apart as Drox tore into them with claws and teeth.
Mallory and Bram finally made it outside where she spotted several police cars and an ambulance. An idea flashed in her head. She jumped into the back of the ambulance in spite of the protests by the paramedics there and she spotted what she was looking for. “Bram, can you lift this?” She tugged at the oxygen tank. Realization hit and he nodded. Drox was finished with the officers and making his way down the hallway as Bram lifted the oxygen tank. “Throw it at him.” Mallory ordered. He nodded and chucked the tank down the hall with as much force as he could muster. Mallory lifted her gun and aimed at the tank. Drox caught the tank and pulled his arm back to throw it back at them. “Channel the chaos.” Mallory said to herself as she fired and hit the tank. The explosion blew out the entrance of the building and threw Mallory back against one of the idle cop cars.
Bram ran to her crumpled form. He could hear her heart beating, but her lungs were punctured by several broken ribs. “Mallory?” He looked worried for the first time since she met him. She could see him speaking, but the ringing in her ears blocked out everything he said. She wheezed and tried to catch her breath. With her lungs spasming she focused on Bram beautiful face. He pulled her up into an embrace and she felt his teeth bite into her neck. She barely registered the bite with all the other breaks and bruises overloading her senses. She closed her eyes and felt warm liquid touch her lips and tasted copper in her mouth. Her eyes darted open.
“What have you done?” She said as her body shuddered and her eyes closed. He hoisted her up in his arms and took her to the car.
* * *
Jim Kroger sat in front of a roaring fire with tears in his eyes. He was midway through a bottle of Laphroaig when his phone alerted him that someone was at the door. Through tear stained eyes he saw his daughter and a security guard at his front door. He wiped the tears away and raced to the door. “Baby!” He cried as he opened the door and pulled her into his arms.
She smiled and said, “I’m sorry daddy, I seem to have lost my keys.” She chirped in his ear.
“Oh baby. How? How is this possible?” He wiped the tears away as best he could, but they kept coming.
“You’re getting snot all over me.” She complained.
He beamed and hugged her again, “You’re freezing. Come in. Where is you’re coat?”
“I must have lost that too. Can my friend come in?”
“Yes. Of course.” They all entered the house and he closed the door behind them. The house was warm and she noted it in the same way she noted the cold. It was just different.
Jim ushered them into the room with the fire and she felt a momentary fear when she saw it, but just thought it was an old habit from when she was alive. “Who is this now?” He addressed the security guard.
“I’m Randall, sir.” He shook his hand.
“He’s my new boyfriend.” She beamed at him.
“Oh my you’re cold as well. Would you like some Scotch?”
He shrugged, “I don’t think I drink alcohol anymore.”
“Oh well that fine, please sit by the fire.” He sat them down and took his original seat. “Honey. The police told me you were dead.” He mind was awash with happiness tat his daughter was alive, but noted the frustration with such a cruel mistake.
“Well I was, for a little while, but my Master told me to wait for a while before I got up. It was really hard to tell time and I think I fell asleep for a long time.” She babbled at him as she patted Randall on the thigh.
“I’m sorry, Master?” He shook his head at her words.
“Oh for sure. I’m a vampire now Daddy and you’re gonna be a vampire soon too. It’s part of the plan.”
“What plan? Vampire?” His head was swimming from all the things she was saying and the half a bottle of Laphroaig certainly wasn’t making it any more understandable.
“Oh I don’t know, Master only told me this part.” She smiled at him cheerily. “Hey Randall?”
“Yes baby.” He said.
“Could you hold my daddy down for me please?”
“Yes baby.” Randall crossed behind the couch, grabbed Jim Kroger by the shoulders, and pinned him to the couch as his daughter stood still smiling.
“Hold still Daddy” She giggled and then bit into his throat.
Neon Rabbit 