Witchling Wars

by Shawn Knightley

  After he had tasted me, he let a sly smile cross his face.

  “Definitely a kruxa,” he snarled.

  ‘You’re the type that plays with his food before he eats it, aren’t you? Why didn’t you just kill me?’

  “What do you want?” I finally managed to blurt out.

  “I want you to do as I say.”

  “What does that include?”

  Too sarcastic? I was never really one to hold my tongue when I needed to. Call it a character flaw. My filter just wasn’t particularly dense.

  He was so close to me. I could see every single feature of his face with such clarity even though I was visibly shaking. He was at least 6’ 2”. So nearly a foot taller than yours truly. Cool blue eyes and sandy blond hair that was shaved on the sides but longer and slicked back on top. His chin was dusted with a light beard and mustache that was perfectly trimmed. By the feel of his other arm still pinning me to the wall, he didn’t need to tower over me to gain the upper hand. He was stronger. I mean, all vampires are stronger than humans. Even the small ones. But he was really strong. I could see the curves of his muscular arms through his long sleeved button down white shirt and black jacket. He was straight up masculinity. The kind of man who commands the attention of a room the moment he walks in. There was nothing pretty about him. Perhaps a rough handsomeness, but not pretty. And he was so clean cut that he could have passed for a man headed to a corporate office if he just added a tie. How a vampire who feasted on blood managed to keep a white shirt clean throughout the day was beyond me.

  “I’ll get straight to the point,” he said.

  ‘Yes, please do.’

  “I know what you are. I know what you can do. I know the tricks your kind have played on vampires over the centuries and you won’t be trying that on me. If I even suspect you’re trying to scar me I will kill you.”

  Tricks? Ah. He could only mean one thing. The thing that got so many kruxa murdered. And not just by vampires. The trickery he spoke of wasn’t really trickery. It was a sort of balance. A way to negate the violence vampires brewed.

  Gran was the first one to tell me and Madison the stories of our ancestors. How the process was once called marking. Vampires called it scarring. But if you ask me, that’s a dramatic interpretation for what it actually is.

  Vampires are an imbalance in the world. Powerful beings that should never have been. A beastly watered down animal-like version of a witchling. A distant genetic abomination. The bottom of the barrel. Even lower than kruxa.

  The way gran told me the story, the kruxa were the counterbalance to their existence. Within our magical blood is a special pair-bonding process. And when our blood chooses a vampire for us to bond with, there’s little choice that we have in the matter. Or the vampire. They become drawn to us and us to them. And when they are around a kruxa for a long enough time, they become human. The distorted magic in their veins disappears and they are no longer caged to the night or forced to feed on blood. They can then live out one mortal life. A happy human life with all the pleasures mortality can bring. Things such as children and companionship. Then they die. Right alongside their loved one. Their kruxa. The kruxa are and always have been a cure to vampirism. A way for them to be brought away from a life of darkness and into the light of living out one mortal life then crossing over rather than staying a prisoner to blood cravings and darkness.

  See why they hate us? And why they hunt us? And most of all, why we have to keep a low profile? As if killing us for the ability to walk in the sun wasn’t bad enough, we served as a cure to their bastardized version of immortality. I guess I was just born lucky.

  This particular vampire obviously didn’t know much about how marking worked, because he thought I might just randomly decide to pair bond with him. I didn’t have control over that. And I certainly wouldn’t want to hang around him long enough to see if the magic in my blood thought there might be potential for such a thing to happen.

  “I won’t,” I said weakly.

  He must have believed me because he took a step back and finally let his eyes examine the rest of my study. I remained against the wall, unwilling to move and not really sure if he would permit me to do so.

  “He should have known better,” he said stiffly. “That police officer friend of yours. Andrew Parker. That’s his name, right?”

  I reached for my neck to feel what kind of damage he had caused. Not much by the feel of it. Just a small knick of the blade. I gave a nod to answer him.

  “Asking a kruxa to help is like asking for death to come to pay a visit for a cup of coffee,” he sneered.

  “Officer Parker doesn’t know what I am,” I blurted out.

  “But he does know that you’re special.” He leaned back against my bookcase with his arms crossed over his chest. “He wouldn’t have asked for your help with the Annabel Stiles case if he thought you were a normal human.”

  Officer Parker never told me her name even though he showed me the gruesome pictures. I guess he didn’t want me knowing too much until I agreed to help him with the case. But how did this guy know? Why did he even care about a small town murder in Sealing?

  “How do you know about that?”

  “We keep very close track of humans who might be getting a little too close to our coven.”

  Their coven? Utter asshole. Covens were once a witchling thing. They were for my kind. Not his. Vampires adopted the practice of creating unity within their ranks after the kruxa were defeated. I guess they liked the idea of having some sort of control and community like we once had. They were stronger in numbers when they stuck together. Atomized, they didn’t stand a chance. Which was exactly what the kruxa were now. Nothing but individuals fighting against those who work together as groups. It was pointless even trying to a gather a coven for my kind anymore.

  “And a small town cop gained your attention?” I asked.

  “No, him and another cop in Boston using the words Catach-Brayin over the phone was what caught our attention. We can track such things.”

  That was some CIA level mega spying crap I didn’t even know vampires had access to.

  “By that time we were listening in on all their phone calls,” he continued. “Including the one he made to you this morning. My coven master thought it best if we check and see why he felt so eager to gain your help. Imagine my surprise when I found you riding your bike in the woods and smelled your blood from a distance. Blood that wasn’t entirely human.”

  Did I say I was shaking before? Well, now I was trembling. And he saw it. He enjoyed it. He thought it was entertaining.

  “Did you tell your coven master about me?” I asked, trying my best not to sound as scared as I looked.

  “No.”

  No? How could he not tell him? Why wouldn’t he?

  Confusion crossed over my eyes.

  “I didn’t see the need,” he went on. “I’ll report to him that the girl Officer Parker called was nothing more than a small town psychic. A know-nothing kid who reads tarot cards to nerds with glasses and acne problems for a few extra bucks.”

  People who talked that way about Emily didn’t do much to win my favor. Even if it was true. I heard the kids on the school bus teasing her too much over the years. It took all the strength I had inside me not to get defensive at his nasty remark.

  “Why would you do that?”

  He stepped closer to me and brought his finger under my chin, making sure I looked at him directly in the eyes. “Because you’re going to be far more useful to me alive rather than dead.”

  Chapter 5

  “That’s fantastic news!” Officer Parker exclaimed from the other end of the line. I nearly moved my cell phone a few inches away from my ear. His excitement was that loud. I understood that he was in need of help, but he was already assuming he found a crack in the case.

  “When should I stop by again?” I asked.

  “Monday. Stop by on Monday. Any time between noon and four. Does that work for you?” />
  The vampire stood a few feet away from me, watching as I squirmed uncomfortably.

  “Yeah, that works. I’ll see you tomorrow then. Bye.”

  “Bye, Miss Ashwood. And thank you. I know this will be helpful. Just don’t tell people that you’re doing this. I don’t want it getting around to the other officers. Not only will they think I’m a bit crazy but this case has a particular level of confidentiality involved. I’m sure you understand.”

  “Of course. Bye then.”

  I ended the call and set my cell phone on my reading table.

  “Well done,” said the vampire, mocking me with his tone of voice.

  The way he gazed at me like he already had complete control over my entire life was nerve-wracking, to say the least. And it was probably true. The black cloud hanging over me during the previous months only felt more intense with this guy around.

  “Now we discuss the details,” he ordered as he sat down where Emily had been less than twenty minutes ago. He already forced me to agree to help Officer Parker. What more did he want? Was I going to be his personal toy?

  I didn’t respond. I decided only to listen for the time being given that he clearly wanted to set the rules.

  “If you discuss my visit here with anyone, or your visits with Officer Andrew Parker with anyone, including your family, I will have no choice but to kill you. If you reveal what you are to anyone who doesn’t already know, I will kill you.” He took my chin into his hand again to force our eyes to meet. “And if you don’t give me every single detail of what happens when you visit Officer Andrew Parker, I will kill you. And your entire family. Or whatever is left of them. You kruxa rarely last long.” He let me go with a shove of his hand and pulled his arm back.

  “Anything else?” The lack of a filter was back in action again. I didn’t mean to sound sarcastic, but it definitely came out that way.

  “There’s a party in your pitiful little town tonight. A party being held by Congressman Larsen. I want you there.”

  “Why?”

  “To sense anything you can about the Congressman’s daughter.”

  My eyes widened. “Emily? She’s harmless. What could she have to do wi-”

  He laughed. A very deep laugh that I have no doubt was meant to unsettle me even further. “No, not the nerd that just left. Samantha Larsen. Get close to her. Shake her hand. Accidentally bump into her. Whatever it takes for you to work your kruxa magic. Find out whatever you can.”

  “What exactly am I sensing for?”

  He sat back. “Whatever you can gather for the time being. Report what you sense to me and I will take it from there.”

  He didn’t want to tell me. Fine. The less I knew the better. I didn’t want to get more involved than I already was anyway. I’d come out of hermit-life if it meant just getting rid of him. But let’s be honest. If I did this, he’d be back one day needing something else. What a perfect form of blackmail he had going for him now. Do what he says or he’ll kill my family.

  He took out some cash and tossed it onto the table. Then he opened the knife he had shoved against my throat minutes earlier and started picking at his thumbnail. The blade shined in the light of the sun piercing through my window blinds.

  “What’s this for?” I asked. He couldn’t possibly be paying me for helping him. That would be too…nice.

  “I saw a beauty salon back in town when I came through. Go there and get yourself cleaned up. Trim your hair and have them style it. One of those nice updo’s that women love wearing. Then have them apply some makeup and use the rest to buy a dress. Something appropriate but upscale. These political people like to think themselves sophisticated.”

  He wanted me to get a makeover and buy me clothes? What the hell?

  “Don’t look at me like that,” he said. “You’re a mess.”

  “I have good reason to be.”

  His eyes wandered over to the set of pictures I had on the eye level shelf of the bookcase. Turned over just like the ones in my bedroom. The pictures of me and Caleb together on our honeymoon to Savannah, Georgia. The vampire obviously knew what the frames held because his eyes went from the turned over picture frames and right back to me.

  “I know you do,” he said.

  For the briefest moment, I thought I heard sympathy coming from his voice. Could I have misheard it? Well, if it was there at all, he quickly masked it.

  “How long has it been since you lost him?”

  Yep. He knew Caleb was gone. And what’s more, he thought it was his business. Then again, I wasn’t really at liberty to be keeping things to myself. That blade was continuously sending the reflection of the sun directly in my eyes every time he brought it back up to pick at his thumbnail. Gran once told me that vampires had nails that grew so fast that they clipped them nearly every day. What was probably daily grooming for him was creepy as hell to me.

  “Six months,” I answered him. I honestly could have told him the number of hours if he asked. I counted them every single day.

  “A long enough time for you to make a social appearance without raising any eyebrows. You’ll be fine.”

  Total asshole!

  “Get going,” he demanded. “I’ll wait here and we’ll leave together.”

  ‘Come again?’

  “What?” I asked.

  “You heard me right,” he said as he folded the blade back down, stuffed it in his pocket and leaned forward. “I will accompany you.”

  “But people will think we’re-”

  “Take the money and go.”

  I scooped the cash into my hand and stuffed it in my pocket. The weight of it was more than I expected. There was at least five hundred dollars in my jean shorts. I don’t know how much this guy expected me to spend, but he clearly didn’t want me looking like I simply rolled out of bed and went to an evening party. Which is how I looked most of the time these days.

  I grabbed my bike and walked down the front steps of my porch. As I hopped on and rode away, I could feel his eyes drilling into the back of my head. If I previously thought that the Georgia heat carried a certain weight to it, it was nothing like knowing a vampire had me within sight and could attack at any moment. And I still wasn’t entirely convinced that he wouldn’t.

  When I was out of sight from my house, I grabbed my cell phone from inside my pocket. The picture on the lock screen was of Madison’s twins. Two beautiful little girls in matching dresses with blue bows in their hair, holding flowers in a field. Madison had the photographs taken professionally and placed a few of them over my fireplace, removing Caleb’s turned over pictures without my permission. It was her way of reminding me that life went on. But apparently, life takes you on strange paths given that a vampire was now telling me what I could and could not do.

  I locked the phone again and stuffed it in my pocket beside the small deck of reading cards, forcing thoughts away of calling Madison and telling her to get out of town as fast as possible. I wanted to warn her. To tell her that I messed up. Or Officer Parker messed up. Lord knows this couldn’t be entirely thrown on my lap. But that wouldn’t stop a hungry vampire from attacking them if I didn’t do everything he said. Which now involved giving myself a makeover that I really didn’t want.

  I parked my bike in front of the white wooden hair salon. ‘Eliza’s’ was printed over the front in a fancy cursive. It was one of the more expensive hair salons in town. One I didn’t frequent. I could trim my long locks on my own and prided myself on saving the money. But now I had to walk in there as if I knew what to ask for.

  As I stepped inside I was overpowered by the smell of hair dye, bleach, and hairspray. It was nearly enough to knock me over.

  “How may I help you?” asked the woman at the front desk.

  “Uh…I’m not sure,” I answered.

  “Miss Ashwood?” a voice with a thick southern accent said from the back as a tall woman with a blond pixie cut appeared. She walked up to me with her hand outstretched. “It’s so nice to meet y
ou,” she said as though she were genuinely excited.

  I stood there in silence for a moment as I shook her hand, not sure what to make of things. “Yeah, you too Miss?”

  “Eliza. Just Eliza. We’re not too formal here,” she said as she beckoned me forward to one of her chairs in front of a large mirror with huge light bulbs going up the sides. It looked like a fancy setup one might see behind the scenes of a fashion show, which was the look I have no doubt she was going for. Most people in Dilton didn’t mind things being a bit more casual. But I gathered her usual clientele were the more upscale people in town.

  She took my hair into her hands and let her fingers roll through it. She ran into a knot and had to shake her hand to get it free. The look on her face was one of disgust, wondering how someone let their hair get into such disarray.

  I was about to speak when she started talking again.

  “Now, Nathaniel said that you were wanting a nice updo for the Congressman’s party tonight,” she said smiling, although it felt a bit forced after how she just removed her hand from my hair. “Would you like to look at my portfolio and pick something out for yourself based on that? Or did you already have something in mind? People often bring pictures. I’m awfully good at bringing styles to life from just looking at a picture in a magazine.”

  “Nathaniel?” That must have been the asshole’s name. “Oh, right. Nathaniel. Um…sure. I’ll look at some photos of your work.”

  “He really is a stunner, isn’t he?” she said. “If only I were a few years younger.” She gave a sigh and reached for her portfolio in one of the drawers of her booth. “He phoned this morning and told me you were in need of a little help. I’ll make sure you look dazzling for tonight.”

  ‘A stunner? Only if you include stunning me with his uninvited presence in my house.’

  I refused to say anything or confirm her statement. Nathaniel might have had the look of a Nordic god going on about him, but it wasn’t particularly appealing when you added the fact that he was a blood-sucking, life-threatening, knife-wielding beast.