Three Burning Red Runaway Brides

by Kevin James Breaux

  “What is that?” Cade asked as fear began to swell in his chest. “Is that a phone? You know you’re not allowed to have a phone, brother.”

  “I made a remote for your old fail-safe.”

  “My…my fail-safe?”

  It dawned on him as he said the words. Long ago, shortly after they’d moved into the caves, he and Nico had lined the roof with C4 explosives. If ever they needed to flee the space in a hurry, no proof of their time there would be found.

  Cade raised his eyes to the ceiling as he mumbled, “Dolby…”

  “Dunyasha asked a question. It was a fifty-fifty shot, right or wrong. But you see, I didn’t get a choice. She chose for me.” Dolby nodded. “But not just for me, Cade. She chose for you too.”

  “She what?”

  As Dolby spoke, he ran a finger over the buttons on the phone. “She chose—”

  The Big Boom Theory

  Nicodemus scooped Joe up and took cover a second before what seemed like the entire desert was rocked by a massive explosion. He tumbled several feet as dust and rock blew out from the entrance of the cave and showered him with debris.

  He would have heard it all rain down, but the explosion had deafened him. It was not the first time, and he doubted it would be the last. But about his hearing, his well-being, he did not care—his only concern was if Cade was okay.

  Nicodemus was a child of war; battle always found him, largely due to the fact that he sought it out.

  He stood slowly, flashes of WWII going through his mind. He forcibly shook himself, as if it would rid him of the memories like dirt from his coat.

  Of all the wars he had fought in, his first was the only one that still bothered him. The profane violence of the front, the despair and loneliness…the hunger…

  The only thing that had made it better was Cade.

  Nico reached ahead of himself, as he shuffled forward three steps. The dust cloud was so thick he couldn’t see five feet ahead. A boot met with a rock, small enough to move, but large enough for him to feel through his footwear.

  There was a rumble. In fact, the ground had not stopped moving since the explosion. Cutting through the fog in his head, he heard a high-pitched whistle.

  “The C4,” he said aloud, though it was muffled to him.

  “What the fuck was that?” Joe shouted as he peeled himself out from under the flaps of Nicodemus’s overcoat. “You almost splattered me. Lucky I reverted back to ooze as soon as your meaty hand grabbed me.”

  Nicodemus ran his hand over his shaved head. “Why do I hear you clearly?”

  “Look down, buddy.”

  Nicodemus looked down. Joe looked like nothing more than a gooey yellow stain, yet Nico knew he was much more dangerous. Through tentacles that were connected to his chest, the slime had interfaced with him.

  “Sliz![10] ”

  “Relax, we’re all friends here, and it ain’t like I’m in your head. I mean I am, but just connected so we can speak. Feel me?”

  “YA tebya ub'yu[11].”

  “Kill me? That explosion should’ve killed us both!”

  He knew the slime was right. “C4 designed to bring the mountain down on cave.”

  “Well, I think it worked, pal, but why?”

  “Protect truth.”

  “No one can know you all exist. I get that. But why did Cade blow that shit up? I mean, he was still inside.”

  Nico didn’t answer. He could not bring himself to question why Cade would do such a thing. Instead, he focused on rescue. Cade, ya idu[12].

  He stepped closer, wanting to enter the cave, but he still could not see through the dust.

  “Can you see anything, Sliz? “

  “No more than you can… Oh, wait. I do see something.”

  “What?” Nicodemus felt a great swell of hope. “Cade?”

  No sooner did Nico ask than he saw the truth of the matter—before him, where the entrance once was, was a fresh wall of rock and debris.

  “We ain’t getting in that way. No, sir.”

  “Chert voz'mi[13],” Nico grumbled and then shouted. “Cade!” He heard his own voice better; his hearing had somewhat returned.

  “He’s probably—”

  Joe did not get to finish his statement as Nico ripped him off his body and threw him to the ground. Nico would not allow it. Not again. Not after Leanne, and not to his own sire.

  “Cade!”

  “Hey!” Joe shouted as he took the form of a rat again. “Hey! I didn’t mean anything by it. I’m just being real here.”

  When Nico flashed Joe his mean face. “Cade!” he shouted as he grabbed a large rock from the piles in front of him and heaved it. “Cade!”

  He spotted motion from above; it was H.B. The gargoyle had completed his reconnaissance and returned. The rush of air that followed him blew up some of the dust and sand as he landed.

  Nico fanned his face and reached for another rock. “What did you see?”

  “Explosion… The coast…is toast.” H.B. said slowly.

  “Kakiye?[14]”

  “Big plume of dust…like volcano.”

  “Did you see Cade? Did he exit the caves from above?”

  “I saw no one. Nothing.”

  “Go back!” Nico shouted. “Search for him, gargoyle!”

  “Roger,” H.B. said and was off.

  Nico tossed a larger rock to the side and then another and another.

  “Pal, seriously, you guys are like me and my guys. Can’t you sense him or in his case…not sense him?” Joe squeaked from below.

  Nico wanted to yell at him, but the slime was right—and he could not sense Cade. But he could not sense any of this family now. They were all gone, but what did that mean? Were they gone or dead?

  “Hey, can you squeal or cry or something?”

  “Sliz! “ he grunted loudly as he tossed a large rock near Joe.

  “Yo, man, I mean, like when a baby needs its mother—let me rephrase that. Is there any way you can call out to your master, to Dunyasha? Shouldn’t she have felt this? Shouldn’t she be here now—here to help her children?”

  Again, the slime’s words rang true. “Gde ona?[15]”

  “Unless she was involved.” Joe stood up on his hind feet and lifted his front legs up in query. “Yo, you think she was involved?”

  “Go!”

  “Huh?”

  “Go!”

  Nico tossed a larger boulder from the pile and grunted—there were hundreds more like this one to move.

  “You and gargoyle, leave here. Leave me,” he grumbled.

  “You want us to go?”

  “Da.”

  “Fine by me, pally,” Joe said snippily. “Being around you guys is like having a target painted on my back. Can’t say how many times I nearly been—”

  “Go!”

  “Fine,” Joe squeaked. “Hey, H.B.!”

  It was some time before H.B. returned, but when he did, he reported right away. “Nothing. No one out there. In space, no one can hear you—”

  “Scream!” Joe finished. “Yeah, well this big Russian lug is gonna scream at you like he screamed at me, buddy. He don’t want us here no more, so I say we leave, like, pronto.”

  “Leave…friends?”

  “Nah, just this guy.” Joe pointed at Nico with a twitch of his nose.

  “And Cade?” H.B. asked as he slowly looked to Nico.

  “If Cade’s alive and needs us, he’ll know how to find us. Let’s go home.”

  “Home?”

  “L.A., baby.”

  H.B. nodded. “6777 Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles, California.”

  Having Children

  Jackson watched Natalia get dressed. He even snapped off a few photos of her on his cell phone. The ambient light from the moon, through the large wall of windows in their penthouse hotel room, lit her with a soft yellow glow that made her body look even more appealing.

  Had he not had sex three times already, he would have suggested another romp. But truthful
ly, his body was tired—it was his mind that was still awake and as active as ever.

  How did I get here? To this point? Is this wrong? What’s right and wrong anymore? Can’t just judge by human standards anymore—this is not just a human world.

  “Hey, how come you didn’t sire any children before this?”

  Natalia sauntered across the room and planted herself on his lap. Her body was cold and tight, like Jackson imagined a marble stature would feel if it came alive.

  “I was not allowed. Except for Bloke, we were not allowed.”

  “But Cade has Nicodemus.”

  Natalia laughed softly.

  “Cade is a rule breaker. Nicodemus is just one example of the many times he has broken the rules. Dunyasha always turned a blind eye… Not anymore.”

  “Sabrina told me he sired Nico during WWII. I think she said during the Battle of Stalingrad.”

  “Correct.” Natalia ran her finger over Jackson’s lips. “You did good tonight, darling.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Tomorrow night—”

  “I was thinking we should go out to dinner tomorrow night. Maybe go see a show or something. You like the ballet. Would you like to see if there’s one in town? We could go.”

  Natalia seemed to freeze as he spoke. It felt like he had somehow muddled her thoughts.

  “Natalia?”

  “No one…no one has asked me to go see a ballet in years.”

  “No?”

  “With the slumber and all, even before…” Natalia turned her body away and faced the window. “I always wanted Cade to ask me, but he never did. The last time I went, it was with Dunyasha…not long after she made me. It was before the Mikhailovsky Theatre closed. Ages ago.”

  “Then we should go.”

  “I’d like that.”

  Natalia leaned back into Jackson, with her body pressed to his he settled back into the couch he was seated on. She smelled good, like bath oils and perfume.

  He looked down at her golden hair and then over her shoulder at the tank top she wore; her nipples were hard.

  I can’t help myself around her, he thought as he glided his hands up her stomach and cupped her perfectly sculpted breasts to give them a light squeeze.

  She moaned and settled herself further back into him. “What do you want?”

  “I want to sit here with you, just like this.”

  “With your arms around me?”

  “Yes.”

  “And your warm hands tightly embracing my breasts?”

  “Yes.”

  “I can feel your heart beating. I can smell your blood.”

  “I can still taste your pussy on my lips.”

  Natalia moaned. She liked that. I knew she would.

  “There is still a little time.”

  “Until what?”

  Natalia turned her head over to face Jackson. “Until our little one wakes and needs instruction.”

  “You need to teach them?” Jackson had wondered what was next.

  “My children will awake confused. They will not understand what they are or what it means to be born anew. But don’t worry, my darling. I was there when Dunyasha sired the Vojvoda.”

  Jackson had never heard of that one before. “Who?”

  “Petar.”

  “Oh.”

  Natalia kissed Jackson lightly on the lips. “I know what they will need. But first, what do you need?” She reached her hand back and stroked his cock. He had already grown partially erect, but the moment she touched him, he was fully hard.

  “I need you, obviously.”

  “Mmmm.” Natalia stood turned and knelt between his legs. “I was hoping you would say that. I was hoping our night was not yet over.”

  As she worked to release Jackson’s cock from his pants, his cell beeped again.

  “This thing—”

  “I know. Such a stupid interruption should not be tolerated,” Jackson said, quoting a moment when Moselle got mad at his cell phone.

  Moselle… He had not thought of her in sometime.

  “Who calls?” she asked as she stroked his cock gently.

  “It’s that same girl from earlier, the one who sent me some shots of her boobs. I have no idea who this is.” Jackson handed his phone to Natalia who looked at the photos. “She’s persistent, I’ll give her that.”

  “Message this girl back. We’ll have her tomorrow before we go out to dinner.”

  Jackson smirked at Natalia who still stroked his shaft. “A snack before dinner?”

  “See,” she said and then licked the head of his penis. “You are thinking more and more like one of my kind, Jackson, darling.”

  He smiled as he typed in a message to the unknown girl, but when the reply came back, he nearly choked.

  “Oh shit.”

  “What?” she asked—her mouth hovering only centimeters over his manhood.

  He tilted the screen to Natalia. “She replied.”

  “That’s good, right?” Natalia looked at the screen and read the message aloud. “S.L. at your service.”

  “Yeah…” Jackson nearly lost his breath. “S.L., that’s Sabrina. Sabrina fucking London.”

  Natalia perked up. “All the better, my love. Ask her to meet with you.”

  “Okay… but…”

  Natalia tossed her hair. “Tomorrow, you will confront her for leaving you—for abandoning you as your home burnt. For running off with her former bodyguard and leaving you trapped to die.”

  Jackson nodded. “We could—”

  “Make her one of my children?” she interrupted. “Fairies do not turn—they simply die.”

  “Then she dies…after you drink her dry.”

  Natalia smiled before she placed Jackson’s hard cock in her mouth. The sensation of when it passed her soft cool lips made a chill run down his spine.

  Sabrina, I’m gonna watch you die for what you’ve done to me.

  All Washed Up

  Sabrina paced the dark beach.

  There were still a lot of people out and about. Some were clearly on dates—the rich and famous alike, out under the lights, dressed up in their high-end fashion, holding hands, even pausing for the occasional public display of affection. You never knew who watched you or where your photo might appear the next day.

  Others stayed closer to the shadows, the darkness. They were the homeless, jobless, lawless—the lost. They sought to score drugs or easy money or much, much worse things.

  Sabrina had learned a lot in the past months. The lost, they were no different than anyone else. Everyone who lived here in California had been lost at least once or twice.

  Sabrina knew Malibu Beach, and in many ways, she expected to be recognized, regardless of her disguise. A small part of her even thought that maybe someone would be there waiting for her. But who? No one knew she planned to leave the island or how, expect Zella.

  Sabrina looked back at the waves as her excitement waned. I wish someone were here to have seen that. Like Mira. I really wish Mira was here. She would’ve been so proud.

  Sabrina had used powers she had only just learned existed and traveled from the Water Kingdom’s island to Malibu Beach in little more than a few minutes. It was not only an amazing feat, but it also felt incredible.

  Sabrina sighed.

  I know your alive, Jackson. I know your reading my messages. After she retrieved her cell phone from the Ziploc bag it was stored in inside her backpack, she checked for a reply from Jackson. Nothing.

  I fucking messaged you before I left the island. Sent you a picture of my boobs, the address to this beach, and the time I would be here. Wait.

  “Fucking time zones,” she grumbled as she realized her mistake. “What time is it here?”

  She looked up the beach to one of her and Mira’s favorite restaurants, a placed called Paradis Cove Beach Café. Perfect, she thought as she pinched the wet Metallica shirt she had worn for the past day and a half. I can change into dry clothes and get a drink while I wait fo
r you to message me back. I know you’ll message me back soon…you have to.

  As she walked toward the restaurant her mind began to race. Her skin crawled and her back tingled to such a degree it burned and at times, felt like her wings wanted to pop.

  She had not felt this way in such a long time that she had almost forgotten exactly what this sensation was: danger. Sabrina sensed malevolent otherworldlies all around—more specifically, vampires.

  Aren’t those blood fuckers supposed to be asleep? But the closer she got to the larger crowds of people, the more of them she sensed. In fact, she guessed there might be half a dozen or more milling about the parking lots and nearby streets.

  “This can’t be right,” she mumbled to herself. “I mean, this is L.A. practically vampire paradise, but they are meant to be asleep.”

  As she walked past the gate into the parking lot, she spotted a tall, gorgeous, blond wearing a silver backless sequin dress. The sight of her was enough to stop Sabrina dead in her tracks.

  “Damn, girl.” Sabrina whispered to herself. I missed you, L.A.

  “Excuse me, miss?” A valet, a kid not much older than eighteen, called to Sabrina as he walked back to his station. “Miss?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Are you lost?”

  “Me? No.” Sabrina looked around. The closer she got to the restaurant, the more the fond memories began to flood in.

  “I didn’t see you pull up.”

  “Oh, no.” She flashed a smiled meant to charm. “I walked up from the beach.”

  “Walked, huh?”

  “Yeah, from—”

  “Miss,” he lowered his voice. “I am going to have to ask you to leave.”

  “Leave?” Sabrina could not figure why.

  “Yeah.”

  Sabrina looked down at herself, she was still wet—even dripping to the ground.

  “I was walking a little too close to the surf, got nailed by a crazy wave. I have a change of clothing in my bag.”

  “Miss, please—”

  “It’s fine. I used to eat here with my friend like every other week. I know the owners: Mike and Sarah.”

  “When was that?”

  “A year ago, maybe more.”

  “Well, the rules have changed some since then. New management.”