A Soul in Torment

by D. J Marteeny

  The wolf inside of her wanted nothing more than to rip out its enemy’s throat but Eva fought to keep her animal under control opting to slam Miller’s body against the solid marble wall of a large mausoleum. She experienced a moment of extreme satisfaction as she watched the stone erupt into a cobweb of cracks as it splintered from the force of the impact.

  “Start talking…”Eva growled the command, “…before I beat the answer out of you!” but Miller just continued to smile at her as he struggled to a standing position. Then, from somewhere behind her, a husky female voice reached her ears.

  “I’m afraid he can’t tell you what you so desperately want to know, my little she-wolf. He doesn’t remember a thing about that fateful night. He’s a newborn, you see, one of my pets own creations. And, quite honestly, newborns—or at least our newborns—are simple-minded creatures—even more so then humans. They act on instinct and instinct alone—and we like it that way. It makes them quite lethal, you see.”

  The wolf inside Eva’s body was waging a battle to emerge as it sensed something dark—dangerous—and inhuman— as Eva turned to face her enemy. Her eyes widened in surprise. The woman standing before her was not what she expected. This woman was beautiful, not some horrible monster from a Saturday matinee. She was tall and voluptuous, dressed in the height of fashion in a red sequined dress. Standing next to the woman were two men dressed in vintage clothing, their yellow eyes glittering in the sunlight as the stench of a thousand rotting corpses surrounded the strange figures.

  Eva, hand covering her nose, focused on the two men, years of police training alerting her to the fact that this was where an attack would come from. The woman was too polished—too well manicured to soil herself. No sir—she was the brains—the other two were the muscle. Her eyes never leaving the men, Eva questioned the woman further. “Who are you—and what’re you talking about—what creation?” but she already knew the answer. She could smell the wolf on Miller as soon as she touched him.

  “O come now—let’s not play dumb. You know very well what I’m talking about but, for the sake of convention, I’ll play along. Please, my dear Evangeline, allow me to explain. I am called Lilith and my friend Robert, here…” the woman said indicating the man to her right, “…has taken it upon himself to gift this miserable human…” she said indicating Miller, “…with immortality. Even though he’s less than worthy he did prove useful to us. The beast within him is a merciless killer—and that’s the best kind.”

  The woman’s words played over and over again in Eva’s mind until the first piece of the puzzle fell into place. Creature—wolf—killer, “Oh my god, you’re the heart attack killers. You’ve created a werewolf pack—that’s why the murders were so brutal!”

  The sound of the woman’s laugh grated on Eva’s nerves, making her cringe as the wolf inside tried desperately to warn her, No, no—this one is something more—much more.

  “Werewolf, well partially—the newborns are wolves but myself—paleezzze— I am no pathetic dog,” the woman sneered as she removed her sunglasses exposing red feral eyes.

  A jolt shot through Eva as she figured out the second piece of the puzzle. A beautiful blond woman dressed all in red, Selene’s words flowed through her mind. “You’re her—the woman with the old man—the one Selena talked about.”

  “Selene—what does that little tramp know?” The words were already out before the woman realized her mistake. She’d just confirmed what Eva already knew, she was the woman who’d been with the old man that killed Guillermo. “Enough conversation, I’ve already said too much. Grab the bitch! We need her to get to the priest.”

  “Plunk!” And the third piece of the puzzle fell into place. “Priest—Rick—so it’s you who’s after the vampire. Well you’re shit outta luck, bitch. You can’t have him!” Evangeline said, incredulous.

  “We’ll see about that, my little she wolf? I said get her!” Lilith screamed as the two hellhounds made their move. Roman attacked Eva from the right while Robert circled to her left. As the hounds closed in, Miller, driven into a frenzy by the scent of fresh meat, flew at Evangeline. He attacked her from behind, his hands, now sporting sharp claws, scratched at her head and neck.

  Eva, reaching behind her, grabbed Miller by the arms and pulled—hard—flipping the crazed man over her shoulder, tossing him directly into the path of the lunging hounds. The three creatures collided in mid-air tumbling, end over end, to land with a thud on the hard ground. Miller was out cold while the two hounds just shook their heads to clear the confusion brought on by the impact.

  “Get up, you worthless animals! If she escapes someone will pay!” screamed Lilith.

  Eva turned to run as the two hounds lunged for her, resuming their attack. She was fast—but not quite fast enough. Her long hair, streaming out behind her, allowed Robert to get a hold on her as he grabbed a handful and yanked. Off balance, Eva’s body was slammed against the taller man as his hand latched onto her throat and he began to squeeze—tighter—tighter—until her head was swimming from lack of oxygen. She scratched and clawed at the hands holding her but this only caused her captor to laugh in her ear.

  “It’s better if you don’t struggle, my little wolf. Relax—this won’t kill you. It will just allow us to get you where you need to be in order to lure the vampire priest.”

  The mention of Rick was all Eva needed to react. Her blood boiled with anger as she closed her eyes calling upon the strength of the wolf inside of her. It was all the help she needed. When she opened her eyes they were the amber/gold eyes of the Wolf Mother, and they stared with hatred into the yellow eyes of the hound of Hell. Her polished nails began to thicken and lengthen as she dug them deep into the hand wrapped tightly around her throat but Robert just continued to smile—his evil sneer driving Eva mad.

  The son-of-a-bitch enjoys the pain. Well, if its pain he wants—its pain I’ll give him. The thoughts ran rampant in Eva’s mind as she flung herself at Robert, smashing her head hard into his evil, gloating face. The impact did nothing to hurt him but it shook him up enough to release his hold on her as Eva fell to her knees onto the ground. She took several large gulps of precious air, her mind beginning to clear as she assessed the situation. Not good, she thought as she saw Robert as well as Roman bearing down on her. Definitely not good—what does it take to bring these guys down?

  Eva once again called upon the power of her wolf. She lunged at the man nearest to her, driving her head hard into Robert’s stomach. She heard, with great satisfaction, his loud “Hummph!” before he stumbled, falling head first onto the ground. Leaping high into the air, Eva next aimed the heel of her shoe towards Roman’s shoulder, feeling the impact as the rock hard object connected with flesh and bone.

  Eva landed on her hands and knees, lifting her head to enjoy the damage she’d inflicted on her assailants. But, much to her surprise, both men seemed none the worse for wear as they turned to face her, yellow eyes glaring with hatred. Robert was up and running towards her and Roman was right behind him.

  “What the hell?” Eva thought, “What are these guys?” “I don’t know what the hell you two are…” she said, “…but I will find a way to hurt you.”

  But before she could pull herself off of the ground Robert was upon her. He grabbed her by the front of her jacket and slammed her into a nearby maple tree. “Me first,” he sneered at her, his foul breath causing her to gag.

  “My turn next.” Roman shouted, grabbing Eva by the arm as he shoved Robert aside.

  “Stop playing around, you idiots, and end this—we don’t have time for games!” Lilith screamed at them both.

  “Well—it looks like playtime is over, sweetheart.” Roman whispered in Eva’s ear.

  Eva spat into his arrogant face—a face that began to morph right before her very eyes. The jaw extended, the teeth grew long and sharp as the yellow eyes watched her closely, enjoying
the shock on her face. The hand holding her arm began to bubble and crack while the other was raised high, poised to strike at her with long sharp claws.

  “Bang—bang!” Shots rang out as the bark of the tree high above the two struggling figures exploded.

  Everyone turned to focus on the woman in blue standing directly behind them.

  “Let go of her, mother fucker, before I drop you where you stand!” Shaniqua screamed out the order, the smoking gun held tightly in her hands.

  Roman released his hold on Eva, turning slowly to face the other woman. “I’d really like to see you try—human.” His voice came out in a hiss as his face bubbled and pulsed between human and hound.

  “What the he…” Shaniqua began but Eva’s voice cut off her words.

  “Shaniqua—runnn!”

  ‘Not without you, baby girl.” Shaniqua said, her mind still not registering what her eyes were seeing.

  Eva lunged forward in an attempt to help her friend but was grabbed by Robert before she could get very far as Roman and Lilith moved forward to join him.

  “Hold her.” Lilith ordered as she turned to confront Shaniqua. “Human—do you have any idea who you’re dealing with?”

  “Don’t know—don’t care, bitch. All I know is you have exactly five seconds to get them off of my friend before I put a round into your designer ass!”

  “Kill her!” screamed Lilith, red eyes blazing.

  Shaniqua lifted her revolver into the air and fired off another two rounds before pointing the gun directly at Lilith’s face.

  “Listen Barbie, in about three seconds half of New York’s finest are going to be here. Now I don’t know who you are or how you fucked up those eyes of yours, but I still have three rounds in the chamber—one for each of you mother fuckers!”

  Roman leaned towards Lilith, his words reaching Eva’s ears, “Mistress, if I kill her can I keep her heart?”

  “Noooo!” cried Eva, struggling to break free of her captor. Finally she was able to maneuver her arm so she could reach for her gun. Twisting sideways, she unloaded the entire clip into Robert’s chest. While it didn’t kill the supernatural hound, the force of the bullet’s impact shoved him backwards—farther—and farther—until he had no choice but to release his grip on her. Eva then slammed the heel of her shoe against the trunk of the tree and pushed off, vaulting over Robert’s head. She landed a good ten feet away from him—and the others.

  In one fluid movement she streaked towards Shaniqua, stopping for a moment as she reached her old friend.

  “Shani—do you trust me?”

  “What—yeah, of course I do.”

  “Then don’t freak out when you see what happens next. You know I’d never do anything to hurt you and I’ll explain everything if—and when—we get out of this mess.”

  “What’re you talking about, girl?” Shaniqua asked, her face a mask of confusion.

  “There’s no time for explanations. If we don’t leave right now we may not get another chance.” Eva closed her eyes to concentrate. Summoning the wolf within, she felt the power surge through her body. She could feel the transformation coming on but she didn’t have the time to wait for a complete conversion. When she felt strong enough she reached for the woman beside her, lifting Shaniqua’s ample girth into her arms with little or no effort. Holding her friend as if she were a small infant, Eva turned and, in a flash, was running down the hill literally faster than the eye could see. Propelled by adrenaline—and fear—she whizzed past the approaching officers of the Nineteenth who were finally responding to the gun shots they’d heard moments before.

  Eva could just make out the words, “What was that?” when an officer’s hat flew from his head as she sped by.

  “Go after them!” Lilith shouted out the order amid the chaos. “We can’t lose her now!”

  The two men, half human—half hellhound—sped down the hill after the fleeing women. As they, too, passed the oncoming officers, Robert lashed out with sharp claws, catching an unsuspecting officer across the throat. There was an explosion of blood as the injured man grabbed his throat before falling to the ground, his dying screams causing a panic within the police ranks.

  “What—what’s happening—who’s—who did this? Where’s this fucking wind coming from— I can’t see a damn thing!” Shouts and confusion reigned as the swirling wind caused the detectives to slam into each other as Eva and the others flashed by them. Shots rang out haphazardly but none of them even came close to hitting a target they couldn’t see.

  “Oh this is priceless.” Lilith cackled as she watched the chaos unfold. Then, when another sound captured her attention, she turned to find Miller struggling to a standing position. She moved forward, straddling the man as he shook his head to clear his own confused mind. Reaching down with long manicured fingers, Lilith grabbed him by the chest, lifting him high into the air. “It seems you’ve outlived your usefulness to me, human. Even as a werewolf you were sub-standard— sooo…”

  An evil grin crossed Lilith’s face distorting any trace of beauty her false image presented. Raising her other hand, nails now morphed into sharp talons, she slashed at Miller’s face and chest as his screams filled her ears. Then, with one quick thrust, she shoved her fist into his chest withdrawing his still beating heart, cutting short his second cry of pain and terror as he died instantly.

  Tossing Miller’s mangled body aside, Lilith raised her arms skyward and began to chant. Thick black smoke billowed up from the ground, swirling and writhing around her until her body was completely engulfed in it. One minute the black column was there—the next, it had disappeared—taking any trace of the demon Lilith with it.

  Somewhere off in the distance Evangeline was still running, past the mourners who were being herded into their cars and out of the cemetery. She bursts through the wrought iron gates and out into the bustling city streets without looking back. Only then did she begin to slow her pace—just a little—as Shaniqua squirmed in her arms.

  “Eva—you’re crushing my ribs. Put—me—down.”

  But Eva ignored the woman’s plea as she continued to weave in and out between the moving vehicles on the congested city streets as two rapidly moving streaks followed, seemingly having no problem keeping up with her.

  “I can’t!” she shouted to Shaniqua, “They’re still coming. We have to lose them, Shani. If they catch us—we’re dead!” Eva picked up speed, continuing on through the crowded streets until she saw the entrance to Bryant Park off in the distance. Heading in that direction she heard a voice surprisingly close behind her.

  “You’re no match for us, Wolf Mother—there is no escape.”Roman called out to her. “Surrender—come with us now and we’ll spare the human.”

  “She’ll surrender to no-one, you bastard—eat this!” Shaniqua shouted as she aimed her pistol and fired. Even traveling at the impossible pace that Eva was maintaining Shaniqua was a crack shot. The bullet hit Roman directly in the forehead, the impact, while not fatal, was enough to knock him off balance causing the hound to stumble and fall. His body careened out of control slamming into Robert who was close on his heels. As the two figures flipped and rolled, Robert’s body smashed into the grill of an oncoming delivery truck causing it to screech to a halt—which rippled into a domino effect as the cab directly behind the truck slammed into its rear-end and a hailstorm of crumpled, twisted metal ensued as car after car crashed into each other.

  The two hounds rose up from the center of the chaos as the injured wailed and screamed all around them. “Please…” a man, cut and bleeding, grasped Robert’s pant leg as he pleaded for attention, “…I’m injured—help me.”

  Without a second thought, Robert reached down and, grabbing the man’s head with both hands, twisted violently, breaking the man’s neck in an instant of pain. “There—now your injury will no longer trouble you.” Tu
rning, he followed Roman over to the crowded sidewalk where Lilith, arms crossed—stiletto heels tapping impatiently on the pavement, was waiting for them.

  “Well—where is she?”

  “Mistress…” Roman began, “…I tried to tell you not to under-estimate the she-wolf. She’s a formidable adversary and—well, we lost her.”

  “Slap!” The sound echoed around the three figures as Lilith hit Roman hard with the back of her hand. “Incompetence—why am I constantly surrounded by it?”

  “My lady, I…” Roman started to speak.

  “Shut up! There’s nothing you have to say that I want to hear right now. Just pick up that bitch’s scent again. Follow her back to Red Rock or Moon Lake or wherever the hell she’s running to and get me that vampire priest. And hurry—we can’t give that little she-devil a chance to warn him. Oh, and Roman, just so we’re clear on this—I want the priest in one piece so no rough stuff. That means you’re going to have to get creative and find a way to make him want to come back with you. Threaten his wolf friends, threaten his lady, I don’t care, just get him here. Wait—on second thought you can tell him we have something he wants—very much. That should pique his interest.”

  “But, my lady, the priest is no fool. What do we have that would ever make him come to us—willingly?”

  “You let me worry about that now—get going!”

  “Yes mistress, whatever you wish.” Roman bowed and, turning, disappeared in a blur of speed.

  “You’re damn right that’s what I wish.” Lilith said to no-one in particular, “And Robert…” she said, turning to the other man, “…you’re coming with me. I guess if I want something done right, I have to do it myself so—we’re going hunting—human hunting. The she-wolf isn’t the only one our good priest has feelings for. Come along, Robert, we have work to do. I hope you enjoy fashion,” she said with a laugh before disappearing in a cloud of flame and smoke.