by Slay (epub)
The blow to my jaw was completely unexpected.
I hit the wall hard enough to leave the impression of my shoulder in it. My senses cleared just in time to dodge the size 11 boot that was aimed at my head. This guy was massive, but lucky for me, he wasn’t a fighter.
I could tell by how unsure he was on his feet. Yeah, he’d been recruited on size alone.
“Where we at?” Sass requested a report over the mic.
“Still working on it.” I dodged another blow. “I have the jolly green giant over here.”
“Two steps to your left,” Myra instructed, and I did as she said.
Not a second later a bullet cut through the giant’s skull and he fell to the ground.
For safe measure, I finished the job, removing the head from the body. It wouldn’t be the first time I’d witness someone take a bullet to the brain and come back swinging.
“Thanks.”
“That’s what I’m here for.”
There it was! The doorway to the now unprotected Alec. This was what I’d been waiting for. I approached the door listening for any evidence of an assault from within. No guns cocking, no scraping of a knife being drawn from its holder.
When I touched the doorknob, I felt it in my gut. Something wasn’t right. The door opened and as suspected, all that remained inside was the lifeless pile of bodies and a bloodstained carpet.
“He’s on the move!” I called out.
“I got eyes on him, nearly out the building.” Myra reported. “You want me to take him?”
“No, he’s mine.” I wiped the blood from my lip as I looked at my exit route. It was risky, but the most time effective.
Three deep breaths to calm the nerves and then I ran full speed ahead. As my feet carried me forward, I removed the gun from my holster and started firing. The thick glass finally shattered two seconds before I reached it and with the force of my body it exploded.
Gravity was a real bitch when dropping from the tenth floor, but as luck would have it my superhero move landed me right on the hood of his car.
Alec saw me and without thinking, he ran for it.
He made it about five feet when the electric net dropped from the poised Ms. Sass.
“Got his ass!” She cackled over the mic.
I waited for his guards to defend him, but money could only buy so much loyalty. As the storm clouds rolled in, they took off running.
“What the hell do you want from me?” Alec struggled beneath the net which had locked into the ground beneath him using mechanical claws. He was strong, but the continuous rounds of electrical voltage that rolled through the net made it nearly impossible for him to control his own actions. His body jerked and twitched on the ground. It was almost comical to watch.
“You know damn well what I want.” I knelt beside him. “It’s the reason you’ve been dodging me all these years Alec.”
“You’re one crazy bitch, you know that?”
“You took something from me, something that was precious to me.” I pulled the knife from the sheath again. “I think it’s only fair that I now return the favor.”
“What? What did I take from you?”
“My life.” Now I could have dragged this moment out longer, I could have given him a long speech about how what he did had changed me. But to be honest, I’d gone over that speech time and time again in my head and nothing ever sounded quite as good as the finality of his dying breath.
“You don’t know what you’re doing. You end my life and you’re only opening up a world of trouble for yourself.”
I kept my sob story to myself. A tap on the small button on the side of the handle turned my cute dagger into a massive sword. On swift motion and Alec was no more.
I’d have to hear Sass complain about the damage to the net, but it would be worth it. I lifted the mic to my mouth and in the words of my net throwing partner, announced. “Got his ass!”
I expected the cheers of my partners to ring in my ear. The usual celebration consisted of a few slurs here and there. Instead, there was silent. I turned just in time to see Sass; her body slammed against the pavement.
“Guys?” I taped the mic hoping for at least one confirmation of life. There was nothing.
Their silence was punctuated by the soft squeal of the brakes from the black SUV that pulled up in front of me. I knew what it meant. I’d messed up and Milton wouldn’t be running in to save me.
The door swung open, I turned to run, but they were on me before I could take a single step. Sass’s decapitated body lying on the ground was my last view as the hood covered my head.
I was thrown into the back seat of the vehicle and as I struggled, I heard the voice that made my stomach turn. The one that took me back to that moment.
Gritty corners. Dirty Streets. Sounds of pain and suffering. And something I’d forgotten, the smell of burning cedar.
“Well, Kyla. You’ve fought so long to find me. Now, what are you going to do?”
I wish I could say that I had some amazingly witty comeback about how I was going to kick his ass, but words were lost to me. Instead, I focused on that smell and the memory it brought to me. Along with the taste of pennies in my mouth. My own blood lingered on my lips even though the cut that it spilled from had healed.
The vehicle moved and I counted the number of men inside. Each had a distinctive breathing pattern, one in particular, the one who spoke, was calmer than the rest. Two in front, and four in back with, the mystery guest included. When we stopped my body was forced from the car, not without a fight and I was tossed over the shoulder of a man who had to be the size of a bear. I was left alone in a room with a crackling fire and the smell of burning cedar.
“Kyla.” The deep voice spoke again.
“Who are you?” Though the rest of my senses worked, my eyes were still blinded by the dark hood.
“You know who I am. You’ve spent all this time trying to find me.” He chuckled amused by a joke he hadn’t shared. “Pity about our little buddy back there. However, it would be a gross omission if I didn’t say that I’m happy to have that financial leech disposed of.”
“Look, I don’t know who you are.” I struggled against the bindings at my wrist. “Let me go.”
“Yes, you do. Just think about it real hard.” His footsteps carried him closer to the seat his minions had chained me to. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you, but you’re still just a beautiful as you were that night. A little more covered, but I supposed killing vampires require a bit more protective clothing than a night on the town with your girls.”
“If you have something to say, get it over with.”
“You’re right, enough of the cat and mouse.” The hood lifted from my head to reveal the man knelt in front of me. “Do you remember me now?”
I would have said no, until he smiled. That damn smile. I remembered it like it was yesterday. The club my friends begged me to go to, he was there, and he flashed me those pearly whites.
“You were there.” I scanned his face before finding his eyes.
“I was.” The man had the deepest shade of brown skin paired with forest green eyes and short black hair that complemented the sharp line of his jaw.
“You-,” the words caught in my throat.
“Yes, say it. I, what?”
My mind spun as the revelation settled in. “You did this to me.”
“I did. Although it wasn’t my intention to leave you there. Alec was simply supposed to transport you when I was done. Instead of doing what he was told, he acted like a child and made a mess of things.”
“What?” I shook my head. “This makes no sense; I was bonded with Alec.”
“Yes, I still haven’t figured that out. A conundrum, no doubt. But you feel it now, don’t you? Alec is gone and now I am here bonded to you.”
“I don’t believe this.”
“I understand. Believe what you will.” He looked at the chains that held me. “If you promise not to attempt to kill me, I
will unchain you.”
“Why would you trust me to keep that promise?” I sneered.
“Because we are bonded now. I am your true maker. Not Alec. I plan to earn your trust. Trust cannot be earned easily when a relationship begins in chains.” He stood to walk around me and within moments the chains fell to the floor.
“Why did you wait all this time to tell me this?” With my freed hands, I easily snapped the chains that held my ankles.
“You were not the easiest to find. Which is odd for a new vampire. Usually they are reckless, leaving a trail of blood in their wake. You, however, you vanished.”
“You knew I was after Alec.”
“Yes. I did.” He walked over to the small bar in the corner and pulled two glasses from the cabinet.
“You could have tried to stop me and explain things.”
“Like I said. Alec was another pest I was happy to have exterminated. I’ll have to properly thank you for that.”
“Keep your apologies.” I stood from the chair, rubbing my wrists. “What do you expect to happen now? You think I’ll just join your little crew and act as if you didn’t ruin my life?”
“I have no expectations of you Kyla.” He turned and handed me a glass of blood spiked whiskey. “My name is Xavier, by the way.”
I grabbed the glass and stared him in the eye until he downed his own. Instead of knocking back his peace offering I sat it on the table beside me.
“So, no to starting a healthy friendship.” He nodded at the rejected drink.
“I’m leaving.”
“You’re free to go whenever you please.” I followed his eyes to the door behind me.
This made no sense. Why would he snatch me off the streets only to set me free? It had to be a trap. I refused to be set up. If anyone was going to be caught off guard, it would be him. As I passed the chair I was previously strapped to, instincts kicked in.
In a flash I lifted the chair and smashed it against the floor, breaking off one of the legs. This would work well enough. I turned and lunged for the monster with the green eyes. As quick as I was, he was quicker. Before I could make it two steps he flashed and was behind me.
His arms wrapped around me, pinning my hands to my chest as he held my wrists in place. I struggled against him, but he was older and far more powerful that I had anticipated.
“I’ll give only so many passes for attempts on my life.” His hand whipped me around to face me. “I want you by my side Kyla. I am willing to wait for you to make that choice on your own. But trust me when I say, I am not Alec.”
His hold loosened and I pulled away from him. When he made no attempt to attack, I headed for the door.
“This isn’t over, Kyla.” That deep voice called from behind me.
“You damn right it isn’t.”
I thought I would feel lost after Alec was gone. As if I no longer had a purpose in life. I was wrong. Xavier was my new purpose. Ending his life had just become my top priority.
Shadow of Violence
Balogun Ojetade
Ojiji Thomas sat on her midnight blue Dodge Tomahawk motorcycle, looking out at the Atlanta skyline from the Jackson Street Bridge. Her tapered, teenie-weenie afro accented her broad, attractive nose and full lips. She wore navy blue tactical cargo pants, a navy blue Henley shirt, black leather motorcycle boots and an indigo café racer jacket.
Her dark skin blended with the night and matched her name: Ojiji—“Shadow.”
Ojiji leaned forward on her motorcycle. The bike’s four close-coupled wheels screeched as it took off.
The night air was cool. Following the intuition that had guided her right all 788923800 seconds of her life, she turned onto Old Wheat Street off Jackson Street and discovered a light on in Peters Funeral Home.
“At this time of night?” she said, pulling into the funeral home’s lot. “Strange.”
Three cars were parked in the lot next to a white hearse. The engines of the cars were running, but there was no one to be seen.
She parked her bike across from the cars and dismounted.
She crept up to the funeral home’s front door and turned the knob.
“Locked.”
She reached into one of her jacket’s pockets and withdrew two metal picks. In less than a minute she had unlocked the door’s three locks.
She darted through the cracked door then locked it behind her.
She breathed in deeply then took in the scene before her: a red carpet on the floor, over ten years old by the smell of it. A crystal chandelier turned on less than an hour ago based on the heat Ojiji felt radiating from the chandelier onto the tips of her fingers as she waved them slowly in the air. In the corner of the room was a mahogany table with brochures on it, and against the wall Ojiji faced was a white couch and chair with a matching floral pattern.
She sniffed the air.
“Four… no five intruders,” Ojiji whispered. “Sloppy, or overconfident, enough to leave a light on.”
At least they would be easy to find and kill.
She sniffed the air again, curious. There was no smell of blood or dead bodies.
“No smell of dead bodies in a funeral home?”
Ojiji continued searching the facility until she opened the door to the basement, where the bodies were embalmed, and she smelled blood. Human blood and lots of it.
She looked down into the darkness. She sniffed again.
Vampires.
She crossed her arms across her chest, reaching into both sides of her jacket. A moment later she withdrew her fists. In each was a large blackened steel karambit—a curved knife resembling the wickedly sharp talons of a harpy eagle.
Her night vision perfect in the dark, Ojiji descended the stairs and peered into the basement.
A figure emerged. The man stumbled around drunkenly. He wore a brown corduroy Trilby, a brown wool suit, white dress shirt and brown and black silk tie. His brown wing-tip shoes were highly polished. He cleared his throat and looked up at Ojiji for a couple of seconds.
“You here for a drink?” he asked, smiling and showing large canine teeth.
“Fresh blood in a funeral home? That’s a new one.” Ojiji said.
“Fresher than a pillow with a mint on it. It’s gon’ cost you plenty, though, ‘cause you’re new ‘round here.”
“Fair enough,” Ojiji said. “I’ve got money to burn.”
“Well come on down, then. Just remember, you pay before you get to bleed one of the herd.”
Ojiji descended the stairs, slipping her karambits back into her jacket. When she stepped off the final stair onto the basement floor, the vampire shook her hand.
“You come from New York?” he asked. “We get a lot of the Night Kin from Harlem and Manhattan down here.”
“Chicago, actually,” Ojiji replied. “Just riding through on my way to Miami.”
“Yeah, that Haitian blood is spicy, with a hint of sweet. Gotta watch out for them Houngans and Mambos, though. They can summon those Night Kin eatin’ Rugaru. Terrible shit.”
Ojiji followed the vampire down a makeshift pathway formed by lit tea candles on the floor.
“Do you have a preference?” the vampire asked. “White, Tejano, real Mexican, East Asian, Indian, Southeast Asian, Black? We got all kinds here.”
“All kinds?”
“Hell yeah, if you got the skrilla,” the vampire said. “We can even give you that Diesel if you can afford it.”
“Diesel?”
“We got some young white girls doped up on Meth and Molly,” the vampire answered. “Their blood gives you a rush like a mug.”
“I’m just here for a good old-fashioned feeding,” Ojiji said. “Something to hold me over until I get to Miami.”
They came to a door where the sound of music and laughter wafted out.
“Before you go inside, you need to be, well, looked over. You just stay put.”
The vampire opened the door wide and walked in.
Ojiji took a peek. Dozens of
vampires lay on rows of inflatable beds, draining the blood from the necks of their victims. Vampires clad in white polo shirts and trousers carried away the dead bodies on stretchers.
The smoke was heavy in the large room as nearly two dozen other vampires, both men and women, talked and drank from platinum goblets as they awaited their turn on one of the beds.
In the corner, four musicians on a lead guitar, bass, drums and a synthesizer played a cover of One Nation Under A Groove.
Ojiji stepped further into the room.
“Here she is,” said a voice.
Ojiji turned toward the source of the voice. The vampire who had first greeted her stood nearby and with him a hulking man with red hair brushed back into a man-bun and a thick beard.
“I told you, Stokes,” the vampire said. “She’s foine.”
Ojiji stepped up and smiled.
“Nice party. Good for us…Night Kin to have such a place to feed.”
Stokes stared at Ojiji stone-faced. He sniffed the air.
“You have no scent,” Stokes said. “I don’t hear your heartbeat. What business do you have here? You’re not human, but you’re not one of us, either.”
“True,” Ojiji said. “I’m not one of you. I’m just a simple traveler making my way to…”
“Enough lies,” Stokes spat. “What are you? Demon? Devil? Boo Hag?”
“So much for Southern Hospitality, huh?” Ojiji said.
“She is not Night Kin. She’s like nothing I’ve seen in all my years. Kill her!”
Ojiji reached into her waistband with lightning speed and drew her 1911 Sig Sauer pistol. She rapidly fired two rounds.
Both vampires fell.
Stokes staggered to his feet, clutching his chest. Blood poured down his white shirt.
“Silver in your guns! Damn you! You’re a hunter!” he barked.
“I’m a Kokou, to be exact.” Ojiji said. “The end of you and this feeding ground.”
Ojiji holstered her pistol then drew her karambits from her jacket and leapt toward Stokes. She punched downward at Stokes’ face, the sharp point of the karambit protruding in front of the bottom of her vertical fist.