by John O'Riley
When Josephine returned to her condo, she bustled through her morning routine and was ready for Alice and Helen when they arrived. The three of them gathered at the table. Josephine dealt the cards for the first game of rummy and couldn’t believe what a great hand she’d given herself. She couldn’t have done better unless she’d actually cheated. Josephine chewed on her bottom lip to keep from grinning with excitement. There was no way she could lose.
“That’s just great.” Alice regarded her with disgust. “I can tell there’s no hope of winning this one.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Alice adopted an innocent expression on her face.
Someone knocked at the door and Josephine went over to answer it. She left the wards up until she opened the door and saw Mark standing in front of her. Josephine deactivated the wards as a shiver of foreboding whispered at the back of her mind. Mark shot a telekinetic wave from his bracelet just as Josephine activated her shields. She wasn’t quite fast enough. Josephine’s body hurled backward and she slammed against the wall and landed on the couch. Mark stepped into the room and the glamour melted away from his exterior to reveal Lorcan. Helen and Alice activated their shields and shot at Lorcan but he’d already brought up his own protection.
“You don’t stand a chance against us.” Josephine pushed herself up from the couch and glared at Lorcan. “You broke our arrangement.”
“I’m modifying our deal.” Lorcan pulled a thin box about two feet long and opened it to reveal a small black wand.
Josephine gasped with horror as dark magic emanated from the wand. Alice and Helen flinched so she assumed they could also feel it.
“What in the hell is that?” Josephine asked.
“It’s an immortality curse. With a rogue vampire running loose, I need to be sure you’re firmly in my control so you don’t blab about their existence.”
“You’re the one who creates those things, aren’t you?” Josephine eyed him with loathing.
Lorcan leveled his wand at Josephine and activated it. A thick stream of black smoke gushed out of the end. The smoke occasionally flashed with blood-red energy as it swarmed over Josephine and pressed against her shields.
“It won’t give up until it has you,” Lorcan said.
Josephine couldn’t be seen beneath the swirling black mass of smoke. Helen and Alice attacked Lorcan but his protection was so strong it didn’t even make a dent. Lorcan put the wand in his left hand so he could shoot out a telekinetic blast at them with the rings on his right hand. Josephine gathered a dampening field around her and worked on making it as strong as possible. The curse continued to squeeze tight against her shields. Josephine was determined to keep it out. She wondered how long she could do this. She could hear Lorcan and her two friends exchanging fire. Josephine opened her second sight further so she could examine the energy matrix that comprised the curse. Even as she did everything in her power to keep her shields up and make her dampening field stronger, she searched for a weak spot in the immortality curse. It was so complex, she suspected it was a hopeless task.
With Lorcan’s next attack, Helen’s shield wavered then collapsed into nothingness. Lorcan took a step closer as a savage grin transformed his face. Alice stepped in front of Helen to shield her as her protection was still active.
“You made a mistake crossing me.” Lorcan fired another telekinetic blast at Alice.
“If you hurt my friends, I’ll kill you,” Josephine promised.
“You won’t be able to, my dear. You’ll be my slave,” Lorcan smirked.
“I’m going to kick your ass,” Josephine said.
“Promises. Promises.” Lorcan leveled an amused look at the black, writhing smoke swirling around Josephine.
Alice and Helen used the distraction to prepare another attack. Alice had gathered a large mass of energy with three of her telekinetic rings at the same time. Helen did the same. The two of them struck Lorcan while he was still taunting Josephine. Lorcan’s shield wavered and he was thrown backward. Lorcan lost his footing and he fell flat on his back. The wand slipped from his left hand and rolled out of reach. Lorcan’s shield was still active but weak and his eyes widened with panic as he made a desperate grab for his wand. Alice shot the wand with a telekinetic wave and it hurtled across the room and underneath one of the couches.
“You stupid woman! You don’t know what you’ve done!” Lorcan shouted with rage and fear.
The black smoke continued to flash with blood-red energy as it moved away from Josephine and gathered into a large roiling mass near the center of the room. Josephine retreated several steps from the curse which seemed to attract its attention. It moved several inches towards her but stopped when she did.
“What’s it doing?” Alice asked.
“No one’s controlling it so there’s no way to predict who it will attack now,” Lorcan said in a quiet voice.
Everyone stared at the curse as it continued to float in the air. Without warning, it twisted and streamed towards Alice and Helen. Both women gasped with terror and made a hasty retreat while Lorcan took the opportunity to retrieve his wand. The curse swept past Alice and began gushing into Helen’s mouth and nose. Helen screamed as the black smoke continued streaming into her body. When it had completely disappeared inside her, she continued screaming for several agonizing seconds. She clutched her head with both her hands and her knees hit the floor. Josephine and Alice rushed over to Helen. Lorcan’s smug grin returned as he watched the scene unfold. A wet, ripping sound could be heard as the curse infiltrated the cells in Helen’s body.
“What’s happening to her?” Alice threw Josephine a desperate look.
“I don’t know.”
Helen’s wrinkled skin rippled as though it were liquid. The wet, tearing sounds continued and made Josephine cringe with sympathy and fear for her friend. Helen’s eyes were squeezed shut and she continued to clutch her head. Josephine and Alice could only watch with helpless expressions on their faces. Soon, the wrinkles in Helen’s skin smoothed out and vanished. Her hair darkened until it was curly and dark brown. The disgusting ripping sounds ceased. Helen took a deep breath and opened her eyes. She lowered her arms to her sides as she rose to her feet and gazed around the room with wonder.
“Everything is so much clearer and focused now,” Helen said.
“Does this mean you’re a vampire?” Alice asked.
Josephine, Alice, and Helen turned to face Lorcan.
“It depends on the type of person she is,” Lorcan said.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Alice demanded.
“In any case, Helen is under my control.” Lorcan directed a chilling gaze at Josephine. “And you will cover up any cases the Valituras order you to. Otherwise, your friend will do terrible things.”
“I’m going to kick your sorry ass.” Josephine moved toward Lorcan as she gathered energy for an attack.
“Helen, stand on one foot and slap Alice,” Lorcan said.
Helen blinked with surprise as her body obeyed the commands without conscious thought. Her hand struck Alice in the face. Alice stepped away from Helen as she held her cheek. Josephine halted and turned to throw Helen a surprised look.
“I couldn’t help it. I’m sorry,” Helen apologized.
“She is compelled to do anything I ask,” Lorcan said.
Josephine turned to face Lorcan with an expression of dismay.
“I’ll do anything you ask if you remove the curse from her,” Josephine said.
“It can’t be removed. It’s permanent and there’s no cure except death,” Lorcan said.
Lorcan retreated out the door and it slammed shut behind him.
“I hate it when people slam my door,” Josephine griped.
Alice turned to examine Helen who now had flawless skin and not a single gray hair on her head. Her dark, silky hair flowed to her shoulders and her green eyes seemed more vibrant somehow. Helen now appeared to be in her mid-twenties like Josephine.
“Yes, you do,” Josephine agreed.
Helen smiled at her friends as she straightened to her full height.
“I guess if I was going to be cursed with anything, immortality isn’t so bad,” she said.
“You’re not looking at my neck right now, are you?” Alice eyed her friend with a speculative expression on her face.
“No.”
“Are you feeling hungry? Do you have an urge to drink blood?” Alice asked.
“I’m fine. Don’t worry, I’ll warn you if I have a sudden urge to bite your neck.”
“Good.” Alice was obviously relieved by Helen’s promise. “What should we do now?”
“We need to research dark magic and find out as much information as possible. Maybe there’s an antidote. Obviously, Lorcan wouldn’t want us to know about it so we can’t take his word on anything,” Josephine said. “I’ll call the station and tell them I’m sick.”
“You can’t do that,” Helen protested. “You’re still on probationary status. I think it’s important you keep your job. You have access to things that civilians don’t. Maybe you can do some digging while you’re on the job.”
Josephine hesitated. “All right. I’ll go to work. You shouldn’t be alone though.”
“Helen can stay with me,” Alice said.
Helen was stroking her arm and staring at her youthful, flawless skin with fascination. She crossed the room and stood in front of the large mirror hanging on the wall so she could take a look at herself. She stared at her reflection in stupefied amazement and brushed her fingertips against her cheek.
“Does it hurt?” Josephine watched her friend with sympathy.
“Not at all. The process was painful but it’s all gone now. I’ve never felt so alive in years.”
When Josephine made her way outside to her parked car, she had to pass through about a dozen picketers. Three of them held onto their walkers with one hand while holding their signs at awkward angles with the other as they couldn’t quite keep them straight with just one hand. One elderly woman marched over and planted herself directly in front of Josephine’s car. Josephine recognized the woman as one of the residents of the complex. Her name was Marjorie and she was in her late seventies. She’d never given Josephine any trouble before but had never been friendly either. She was always heavy-handed with her makeup which made her look like a clown. Today, her lipstick was cockeyed and smeared just a bit past her lips in spots. She wore a fashionable red wig with black highlights but it was lopsided and her natural gray hair poked out from the side by about three inches.
Marjorie waived her sign in front of Josephine’s face which read: “Stop stealing from the elderly.” Josephine kept her expression bland as she didn’t want to incite this crowd and encourage them to continue.
“Go back to where you belong!” Marjorie shouted.
Josephine sidestepped the elderly woman and used her remote to unlock the car so she could make a clean, swift getaway. Marjorie tried to lunge in front of Josephine but wasn’t fast enough. The crowd of picketers were moving in their standard sluggish pace towards the car. Josephine estimated that most of them wouldn’t reach her for another few minutes or so. Marjorie shouted and waived her sign in front of the driver’s side window like a madwoman. Josephine pulled out of her parking spot without any further delay as she didn’t want to give any of these protesters a chance to try to block her car. She saw a glimpse of Dale stepping out of the building to join the crowd. He must have been on a coffee break or something, Josephine thought bitterly.
Josephine tried to bury her grumpy feelings but the sight of the protesters kept popping up in her mind. Jake glanced up from his work as she approached her desk.
“Hey, Grandma,” he said.
“Hey, sweetheart.” Josephine flashed a smile at him as she sank into her seat.
“You look stressed,” Alex remarked.
“This morning has been brutal.” Josephine wished she could expose the Valituras to the public and land their sorry butts in jail.
She started using some of her search tools for information on vampires. Josephine was surprised to find statements about them. She hadn’t thought it would be so easy. The first person explained that it was a side-effect of an immortality curse. Josephine’s breath quickened and she read through the entire account. The individual was young but claimed he was in his eighties and had been cursed. He had suffered a heart attack while being questioned. He had been arrested due to evidence at a crime scene for murder. His victims had died of severe blood loss with no puncture wounds of any kind. There were some witness testimonies of seeing vampires attacking but most of them were dismissed due to credibility reasons. Josephine did see a couple of incidents that were checked out but the victims were fine with no damage to their bodies. Josephine surmised it must be easy to discredit witnesses and also no one wanted to believe in vampires.
Alex burst into boisterous laughter and choked on his coffee. Jake shot him a questioning look while Josephine narrowed her eyes at him with annoyance.
“This is hilarious! You’ve got to watch this!” Alex said.
Josephine couldn’t help herself. She was so curious that she circled around the desks until she was standing beside Alex who was watching the local news live. For several seconds, Josephine struggled to make sense of it. There were a bunch of picketers and the anchorman, a dark-haired man in his thirties, held the microphone up to a clown. Josephine gasped with astonishment when she recognized Marjorie.
“We feel that category six wizards should work their fair share until their conditions are similar to those of us who are normal and of retirement age. It’s absolutely ridiculous and criminal that they’re still in the prime of their life and they’re retired. It’s highway robbery!” Marjorie said.
“That doesn’t even make any sense! How is retiring the same as highway robbery?” Josephine scowled at the screen.
The camera drew back to reveal the condo complex. Dale took up a position beside Marjorie and wrapped an arm around her.
“It’s lucky you’re working because there’s a movement to pass legislature requiring sixes to wait until one hundred-ninety to retire,” Alex smirked.
“That’s completely unfair.” Josephine straightened to her full height so she was towering over him. She wanted to slap the donut out of his hand and dump his coffee in his lap. “You’re a pig, Whiney.”
“And you’re a spoiled little brat.”
Jake pretended not to notice the argument. Josephine returned to her desk and resumed her search. She needed to find a way to access ancient magic so she could create better defenses for herself and her friends and to possibly cure Helen of her vampirism.
Chapter 8
When Josephine’s shift ended, she made a quick stop at the grocery store for supplies Alice had requested then went over to Alice’s condo where Helen was staying. Alice had a roomy place like Josephine but it was packed with furniture. Two large couches, three armchairs, and four coffee tables were positioned in the room with large bookcases lining one of the walls. There was also a desk tucked away in the corner. The bookcases were filled with knickknacks and pictures of Alice’s family rather than books.
“How did things go today?” Josephine asked.
“It’s still the same.” Helen’s expression was puzzled. “I haven’t had any craving for blood at all. For some reason, all I can think about is chocolate cake, cinnamon rolls, and tiramisu. Luckily, Alice won’t let me go out or I’d end up stuffing my face and I’d lose my new good looks in no time.”
“I’m not keeping you prisoner here.” Alice regarded her with indignation.
“I know you’re helping.” Helen leveled a reassuring look at her friend. “And I appreciate it.”
Alice’s lips curved with an appeased smile.
“I didn’t find much because I have so much work. They really keep me busy at the station,” Josephine gr
umbled. “It’s enough to make me want to retire again.”
“You poor thing.” Alice cast a sympathetic gaze at her.
“I wrote down a few names of people who may know something helpful. I’m not sure if they have any knowledge of vampires or ancient magic but they’re all leads to follow up on.”
“Did you bring the cinnamon rolls and tiramisu?” Helen asked.
“It’s in one of the bags.” Josephine set the grocery bags on the kitchen counter.
Helen rummaged through the bags and grabbed the package of four rolls that came from the bakery. Helen took a large bite and her face lit up with bliss.
“These are just heavenly,” Helen said when she’d swallowed her first bite.
Josephine and Alice exchanged perplexed looks. Helen wolfed down all of the rolls in record time. She went into the living room and flopped down on the couch. Josephine and Alice sat down on the other couch facing her.
“Are you all right?” Josephine asked.
“I think I’m allergic to cinnamon rolls. My stomach hurts.” Helen clutched her belly with her right hand and a pained expression dominated her face.
“Normally, we eat one at a time,” Josephine pointed out. “I think you overdid it there.”
“I need something,” Helen said.
“Like what?” Alice scrutinized her friend with puzzlement.
“I need pizza.”
“You just said your stomach hurts,” Alice reminded her.
“I know but for some reason I’m still hungry.”
“Maybe it’s blood that you need.” Alice adopted an authoritative air. “Open your mouth so I can see your teeth.”
“How many times are you going to ask me that? They’re the same.” Helen leveled an exasperated look at her.
“You’re craving things even though you’re full. I think we need to figure this out.”
Helen jumped to her feet. “I need to get out of here.”
“If you leave, we’re going together. I’ll drive,” Alice said.
“She’s right. You don’t know what will happen,” Josephine interjected.
Helen hesitated with indecision. “All right. Let’s go.”