by Resca Rojas
Nero rolled off the roof and felt to the ground. The whole block had been evacuated by the police force via orders of Kayla. He took deep breaths and wiped the black goo from his eyes as he tried to heal as much as possible before getting up.
•••
“We have to get Nero and then get the hell out of here. Now.” Dante ordered.
Klayton grabbed Kayla’s hand when he noticed that she had spaced out. “Hey. You with us?”
She had been thinking about how she was caught by surprise by this ambush, and how none of her people had come and saved her. Did they kill all of my people, or did everyone betrayed me? “Yeah. Let’s go. I have a place we can go to.”
Each picked up an assault rifle. The brothers could not risk being seen as werewolves in broad daylight. They entered the elevator and pressed the button to take them to the lobby floor. When it opened, the last two remaining huntsmen were now in front of them. Before Kayla and the brothers could react, the huntsmen casted a sleeping spell that knocked them back against the elevator’s wall as they lost consciousness
ACT THREE
24
Nero stepped inside a church with Fay next to him. Fay sat down on a bench, and closed his eyes, pretending to pray. Nero kept walking towards the confession booth.
Nero reminisced about a time when he would take his wife and kids to a church every Sunday morning. How he used to believe. How he was convinced that his purpose in life was to protect his country and a priest had told him to follow his heart.
That was the beginning of the end of his marriage and his family as one. He tried not think anymore on that as he went inside and sat across from the priest, having only the wooden window separating them.
“Hello, Father.”
“My son. Have you come to seek forgiveness?”
“No. I do not need forgiveness. At least not for now. I do have questions though that perhaps you could help me understand.”
“What troubles you, young man?”
Nero smiled at that comment. He was turning fifty one in two months, but because of his vampirism he still looked like a man in his early twenties. “Someone has hurt my friends, one almost to the brink of death. I cannot shake this anger in my heart and I want to kill him.”
The priest took a deep breath. “What is your name?”
“Oren.”
“Oren. Listen. Killing will never truly resolve things in life. Nothing good can come of it. If you go down that road you will not be able to undo the damage that you will create.”
“I guess, you are right, Father.”
“Let me pray over you and your friends. Could you tell me their names?”
“Yes. The friends who need a miracle to overcome this- well, their names are Klayton, Dante, and Kayla.”
The priest swallowed his spit and tried to smooth out his breath. He knew that he needed to relax and act natural.
“Father, are you there?”
“Yes, I’m sorry, Oren. I was preparing the prayer. Let us pray.” The priest tried to reach for his gun that he had inside a holster strapped to his left leg under his dress. “Our Father who is in Heaven, please watch over Oren and-“ He stopped when he heard Nero remove the safety from his gun as he was trying to reach for his.
Sweat began to drop from his forehead. “Please, don’t kill me.”
“You were about to kill me.” Nero whispered.
“Only if I had to, and only in self-defense.”
“Tell me where Ezekiel is keeping Dante, and I won’t kill you.”
“I swear, I do not know!”
“Father, I can hear your heart. I know that you are lying. Don’t do that. Not to me. I have killed for less. But the last thing that I want on my conscious is killing a priest inside a church. Now, I’ll ask one last time” he raised his voice, “tell me something that I can use to help my friends.”
“Okay. Okay. There is a new housing development ten miles from here. That is where they have your friend. Please, don’t kill me.”
Nero left the booth and as the priest took a deep breath, he gasped as Nero grabbed him by his shirt and threw him to the floor.
“Help! Somebody help me!” He screamed as he looked around. He quickly noticed that every member of the church that had come to pray ad worship, was sleeping, and his bodyguards were unconscious and on the ground. “What have you done?”
Fay walked and stood next to Nero. “I checked the church records. He’s not a real priest. His name is Otto. He’s just playing the part of a priest. One of the guards told me that they keep weapons and cash in the crypts below.”
Nero looked at Otto. “That’s messed up.” Then he looked back at Fay. “Can you place a spell on this building? Keep people from wanting to enter?”
“I already did.”
“Magic? Only demons deals can grant magic.” He screamed at them as he took out his gun and aimed it at Fay. He pulled the trigger and confetti came out of the barrel.
Nero sighed as he took out his pocket knife. “Not all magic comes from demons. Not at least in this story.” He then sliced open his palm and grabbed Otto. “Open wide.” He smeared his bloody palm all over Otto’s mouth as the priest desperately struggled to not consume any of it.
Otto gagged and spat on the floor. Nero punched the man’s jaw and knocked him out. “The more I interact with this huntsmen family, the more I hate them.” Nero said. “I’m going to put him in a room with one of the guards.”
“Okay. I’m going to start a levitation spell and bring all the weapons and cash up here. When you are done doing whatever it is you’re gonna do, bring the car to the back of the church.” Fay said.
“Okay. Then we call Kayla.
Nero picked up Otto and then carried him to an office in the back. Then, he went back and grabbed a random guard and took him to the same room that Otto was now in. He cut the wrists of the bodyguard and let him bleed out. He then locked the door behind him and jammed it close with a chair.
He had now successfully trapped Otto inside, assuring that he was going to feed, making it impossible to revert him back into a human.
25
Klayton was dreaming that he had just been picked up from his elementary school and was now sitting in his car seat with his brother next to him. He was six years old and was excited to be with his mom again.
“Are you guys buckled?” She asked them.
“Yeah, mom.” Dante said.
“Did you make sure that the belt is tight and not lose?”
“Check!” Klayton exclaimed joyfully.
“Well, someone is excited. What has gotten you all happy?” Layla asked as she saw him thru the rear view mirror as she drove away from the school.
“Because it’s Friday!” Dante yelled.
“And what is so special about Friday?” Layla played the part.
“Movie night! Movie night!” Both of them chanted.
•••
After the movie was done and the kids were in the car, Layla turned around and looked at the two most important things in her life. “Okay, little ones. Mommy wants to spoil you so bad tomorrow, but in order to do so, I have to work an hour or two for uncle Vincent, okay? You can use my phone or the tablet, it’ll be quick, okay?” They both nodded.
The dream flash forwarded to the moment when Klayton and Dante were inside the car, and were looking at Garrett who had just left the motel room after killing Layla and hurting Vincent. He had blood smeared all over his face, and he was grinning at the brothers.
But in this dream, instead of running away, Garrett walked over to the car, opened the door, and grabbed Klayton by his shoulders. He lifted his little body and as Klayton screamed, Garrett bit his neck.
Klayton woke up from his nightmare. He was only wearing black shorts and was damped in sweat. He reached for the lamp that was on the nightstand and turned it on. He noticed the tattoo that was now inked in his arm.
“It’s Enochian. Fay did it for you. This way, the next time
somebody uses magic against you, it won’t work as strong as it should.” Kayla said as she was leaning against a wall in front of him.
“Where am I?”
“In my private beach house.”
He rubbed his face in order to wake up and make better sense of things. He noticed that he had stubs on his cheeks, unlike when he was clean shaven when he met her. “How long have I been out?”
“Two days.”
“Jesus Christ. Is that how long I’ve been out? When did you wake up?”
“A few hours after we got ambushed. Markham and Nero helped us get out of there, and then Markham used a spell to wake me up from the effects that their sleeping spell had done to us.”
“What about me?”
“After that, he ran out of juice. Fay tried. He really did, but he was still reeling from the day you guys went head to find my bookkeeper. Antonio is not strong enough either. We could not take you to a doctor, with all the huntsmen after us. So we agreed that the next big thing was to sit out and wait for the best.”
He covered his morning wood with the blanket. “Where is Dante?”
The huntsmen have him. Nero, Ethan, Antonio, and Mila have been looking for him nonstop.”
“What? We have to join them and- “
“Stop. They got a lead. They are already on their way back to us and should be back tomorrow morning. Only twelve hours from now.”
“How’s Amber?”
“She is in Oakhaven. Don’t worry. Fay and Markham are with her. No harm will come to her.”
“What are they doing there?”
“She wanted to check on her brother and her parents. Also, Ethan wanted to see how the town was. I spoke to Markham. It is as if no one knows what happened.”
“What does that mean?”
“He said that it is as if the huntsmen sent cleaners into the town and wiped people’s memory of what happened.”
“They can do that?”
“It is actually better that way. If people knew what happened, or if the world found out about us, then that would be much worse.”
“So, what do we do for now?”
She walked to him and he noticed that she was wearing a revealing laced robe, with nothing else underneath but her bare skin.
“What are you doing?”
She wrapped her arms around his neck as she sat on his lap. “I want to continue what I wanted in that hotel room.” She smiled at him and then leaned down and kissed his neck.
He felt chills all over his body, but he tried to fight the temptation. “I can’t do this. Knowing that my brother needs us. They’re probably torturing him right now.”
She stopped sucking on his neck and looked at his eyes. “Nero, Mila, and Antonio are on their way. So is Fay, Markham, Amber, and Ethan. We cannot do anything but wait for them.” Kayla placed her palm on his chiseled chest and guided him to relax and lay down. “This may be the only time, for a long time, that we can do this.” She leaned forward and kissed his lips.
Klayton caressed her shoulders and then her back. He paused so that he could pull his pants down. She grabbed it and helped him slid it inside of her. She bit his neck and then kissed him as he held her tightly by her lower back, telling her with his hands how to move as he would thrust deep inside her as she rocked back and forth.
She scratched his shoulders and then ran her fingers down his biceps as she cut him open. He groaned in pleasure and then rolled her over. Now she laid on the bed as he was between her legs as she wrapped them around his waist. He moved with passion as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kept him as close to him as possible.
She kissed and drank the blood from where she cut him, and then kept biting his open wound. Her fangs hurt him as they pierced his skin, but he used the pain to concentrate as he made love to her.
A few minutes passed before he slowed down and kissed her, and she held his face with her hands as his wounds began to heal. She hugged him and held him as close as she could, moving her hips in a pattern to match his rhythm so that it would feel good for both of them as he made love to her for as long as he could.
She gasped in pleasure and looked at him with tenderness. “It’s okay. I’m about to so just go ahead.” She whispered to him when she saw Klayton concentrating.
After they finished, Klayton went outside and walked close to the shore. He sat on the sand and looked at the waves, then at the moonlight that was reflecting on the water. He closed his eyes and relaxed, enjoying all that his enhanced senses could give him.
He then began to pick up the smell of the salted water and the sounds that it made as it splashed against the sandy floor.
“Hey.” Kayla stood next to him. “I was wondering where you went. Could you sense that I was walking up to you?”
“Yeah. I have your scent now.” He looked at her, still unable to believe how beautiful she was, and was now only wearing a bikini.
“Is that so? What is my scent like? Can you describe it?”
“I would say, scented candles, or body lotion.” He smiled at her. “Lavender. Definitely lavender.”
“Let’s go for a swim.” She smiled as he did not hesitate and stood up and they began to walk to the water.
Kayla then let the water kiss her feet, and she smiled. “It’s freezing!”
“Really? It’s pretty warm for me.”
“Smartass, you’re a wolf. Everything is warm to you.” He tenderly pulled her close to him and she smiled. “What are you doing?”
“Stay close to me and I will make myself warmer. There’s more to my lycanthrope than just shape shifting into a wolf. I’ll emit heat.”
They then walked deeper into the ocean, and the level of water was now up to their chests. Kayla was as close to Klayton as she could be; facing him while he held her by her waist.
She was really quiet. “Are you okay?” He asked.
“Yeah. I have not felt this calmness since I became a vampire.” She looked at his eyes.
“It’s funny, isn’t it?”
“What is?’”
“How death and violence brought us together.”
“But will it tear us apart?” She asked.
“I sincerely doubt it.”
“Your brother and everyone else dislikes me.”
“Give them time. Besides, you have me and a whole vampire family, right? You’re not alone.”
“No.”
“What do you mean no?”
“I didn’t want to bring it up earlier but they are all either dead or have gone into hiding. The huntsmen attacked every single one of my bases. Out of everyone, only Nero, Markham, and myself remain. They had been planning this for months, and your brother’s Revenge Tour and the trail of dead bodies lead them to us.”
“I’ll take them all down. I know it won’t bring anyone back, but I swear that I’ll kill them and make them pay.”
●●●
3:00 A.M
Klayton was sitting on the couch watching a movie with Kayla while she drank blood from a glass cup. Klayton had been thinking about ways to bring up something that was on his mind and said, “I cannot get used to this.”
“Use to what?”
“Staying still. Doing nothing. Not fighting for my life or feeling like I am in a situation where it is kill or be killed.”
She chuckled.
“What?”
“I am sure that tomorrow will change that for you.”
“Kayla, when are we going to talk about the pain that you must be feeling? Loosing all of your people?”
“Never.” She stood up. “I’m going to go for a walk.”
“Come on. I know you are angry. I would be too. You can take it on me.”
Kayla began to walk away and he grabbed her wrist. “Kayla, just wait.”
She turned around and punched him straight on the bridge of his nose. He bled from his nostrils and then he looked at her.
“That’s good. Use me as a punching bag.”
“Fuck
you, Klayton. You and your goddamn brother ruined everything I worked for.”
Klayton stood up. “And every part of your body wants to take it out on me. You’re probably happy that they took my brother.”
She punched his face and then his gut. “I don’t want you to hold back. Take your anger on me.”
Kayla was irritated. She knew that the beat down that she was giving him was not hurting him. She knew that he was trying to make her feel good.
She tackled him to the floor and got on top of him. Then she began to punch his face over and over. With her right fist and then her left. Hurting his face. Making him cut his lip. His left eye was now swollen, and he smiled at her. “Don’t hold back.”
She was furious. Everything that she had taken years to build was destroyed in less than two months, and she was falling in love with one of the people who were responsible for all of her losses.
It irritated Kayla that no matter how much she tried to push her thoughts away about being with him, it was hopeless.
She took a deep breath and she looked at him as his face began to heal, and he smiled at her. “I’ll be your punching bag. I’ll be there for you.”
She landed her punches on his chest like a judge slamming his gavel inside a courtroom. Then she screamed and cried in his face and Klayton hugged her.
“I lost everything. Everyone because of you two.” She lifted her face and looked down at him. “I have nothing to live for.”
“You have me. And we can kill those who took the lives of your family.”
Kayla got off Klayton and sat on the floor next to him, leaning her back against the couch. “Everyone that I have ever met either feared me, or wanted to kill me. Don’t even get me started about how it was like when I was a human.”
“What’s your point?” Klayton stayed laying down on the floor. She kicked my ass.
“All this bad shit, and now, the person that I least expect it from, is giving me hope. Why is that?”