Sacrifice (Dylan Hart Odyssey of the Occult)

by Gilmore, RM

  Something pressed against my back. I jumped, but it only took a second before I realized what it was and decided, in the same instant, I wasn’t going to do a damn thing to stop it. I didn’t move from my spot, but he didn’t care. So many things ran through my head, but thanks to my herbal enhancements, I didn’t bother to acknowledge any of them. His hands ran over my naked back and around my waist. He pulled me to stand upright and wrapped his arms around me, pressing the full length of him against my back.

  “Pretty brave of you,” I smirked.

  “I figured it’s the only way to be when it comes to you.”

  “Took you long enough,” I chuckled. He’d always seemed so poor-me pathetic when it came to him and me; it was more of a turn-off than he’d anticipated.

  “So…” he started, “exactly how high are you right now?”

  Balls! Busted.

  You’re taking this way too easy. You’re not going to chew my ass for this? Who are you and what have you done with Mike? Of course, I didn’t actually say all of these things. Instead, my stoned ass said, “Why?”

  You witty bitch, you.

  “I need to know what happens from this moment on, isn’t swayed by drugs.”

  “Does it really matter?”

  He was quiet for a minute. “Yeah. Yeah it does.”

  Honorable. Shitty, but honorable.

  “Fuck it.” I turned, still in his arms, and faced him.

  My boobs pressed against his wide chest, I stood on tiptoe to kiss him. He kissed back, but I felt like he was holding back. So, I pushed the issue. Naked and pressed together in such a fancy way, it wouldn’t take much to pull him into sex-fueled mania. He’d spent so long working for this very moment, and he was finally getting somewhere, yet his morals where going to thwart things? Not on my watch. Morals? Eh, fuck those guys.

  I used my weight to push him backward and against the wall behind him. Once pinned, I had all the control and he’d be forced to deal with it. I was high, sure, but I was also horny as fuck, and it was mostly his fault. This hour anyway.

  It only took a minute or so of my prodding and pushing before he finally gave in. His strong hands reached under my meaty thighs and lifted me up. He turned and pressed my back against the wall. I wrapped my legs around his body and held on tight.

  “I love you,” he said, breathless. His body pressed against mine held me in place so he was free to have his way with me.

  I inhaled sharply. “I love you too,” I said, and pressed my lips against his.

  “Dylan?” My name echoed in the bathroom, over the fan and the running water.

  I screamed and every one of my limbs flung outward. Mike promptly lost his grip and I slid to the floor of the bathtub. I looked up between Mike’s naked legs and saw my mom standing in the doorway of the bathroom through the glass doors of the tub. He tried to move from her view and tripped over the top of me. He slipped and his foot crashed directly against my lady parts. I grunted and fell to the side. Hey, it hurt. He kicked me in the cheek before gracefully slammed face first into the shower caddy and bust his lip.

  “Mom!” I screamed, as she rushed out of the room and shut the door behind her.

  I envisioned her fist pumping on the other side of the door. If she’d caught me in the shower with any other naked man, she’d have stood there while he got dressed and walked him to the door while spouting off about safe sex and STDs. But she’d caught me naked with her favorite person of all time. It was all good.

  I sat at in the tub with my knees pulled to my chest, or as close as I could get, and rubbed my now sore cheek. Mike leaned against the wall under the water and held his bleeding mouth. The scene pretty much summed up our entire relationship.

  “Well, that was fun,” he said, his lip getting fatter by the minute.

  I laughed at him, but instantly started to feel uncomfortable. It was too natural, too normal. Like nothing had changed. My heart was happy to be in a state of normalcy or the veil of it anyhow. I knew it wouldn’t last. Something would happen to fuck it all up. It always did.

  KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK “Honey…” Mom called through the door. “There’s a man here to see you.” She said man like it was a filthy thing she didn’t want in her house, but would allow because it was the humane thing to do. “He says it’s about Tatum and you need to hurry.”

  Like I said, something always fucks it up.

  I looked up at Mike and he looked at me. Last time he and I went hunting for Tatum, I killed two guys and shot someone who didn’t really need to be shot. It was a wonderful time to be had by all.

  Obviously, we got dressed as quickly as our new injuries would allow. The dated clothes in my drawer fit well enough to get me through the night. Jeans and a Smiths t-shirt still made up my current wardrobe, so it was as if I was at home. Mike just put back on the clothes he’d been wearing. He’d neatly spread out his slacks and blazer over the edge of the bed before sneaking in to play with my tits. Some things never changed.

  My mom wasn’t at the door when we emerged, thankfully. She was likely glowering at the man in her house. It was a man other than Mike who was looking for me. She wouldn’t have been so disdainful if it was some ugly old guy, or a cop, or shit, even Malcolm. There was only one other person I could think of that would hunt me down at my mom’s to talk about Tatum.

  Just as I suspected, Cyrus sat on my mom’s couch looking very uncomfortable. My mom sat in her recliner, the one by the dog bed, and glared at him. I wasn’t surprised to see him sitting there, seeing as though I already guessed he’d be there, but Mike was shocked. I could hear it in his grunt the second he caught sight of him.

  They each stared at each other, each sizing the other up. The last meeting between these two had ended with Cyrus bleeding on my floor. He’d been so pathetically defenseless he’d sort of turned me off. But now, he exuded raw energy as he stood his ground. It was all very ‘call of the wild’. And really very stupid.

  “All right, cool it. We have no time for this douchery.” I held my arms out between the two like you saw people do in movies between two drunk guys in a bar.

  Cyrus caught my eye and held it a second. I felt guilt so deep in that one glance, my stomach turned. I was sorry for Cyrus. I’d been a dick and he didn’t even know it. But, I was more heartbroken over the fact, that in the one glance, my love for Mike waned and he’d never know it. I had a shit ton of figuring out to do as soon as I got my life back. Until then, I was stuck in my mom’s living room with two men I’d tried to fuck, on the same day no less.

  I looked away from Cyrus before my expression could give anything away. In that motion, I saw my mom and the look she held. She knew. Mom always knows. Fuck.

  I looked at Cyrus. “Let’s start with how the fuck did you know where I was?”

  “It’s not hard to search a name on the internet,” he said matter-of-factly.

  “We’ll take care of that,” Mike responded to my horrified expression.

  “That’s not the point. I tried to call-“Cyrus started, but I quickly cut him off.

  “What’s wrong with Tatum?” I asked, praying she hadn’t chosen the dark side and sprouted a set of fangs.

  He sighed heavily and looked away from me. “Malcolm phoned not long after I left you.” Mike swallowed hard behind me. “She’s gone.”

  “She left him there?” Fuck yeah, go her.

  “No.” Damn. “She was taken from him.”

  “By who?” I scoffed skeptically.

  “You sound as though this is an impossibility.” He had a point. This scenario was very familiar. “Malcolm is certain you and he have a mutual enemy.”

  He didn’t need to say any more. “That bitch.” My heart sped in my chest. “When do we leave?” I asked without thought.

  “We are not going anywhere. I am going back to Louisiana to assist my Primus-“ Mike scoffed and Cyrus glared at him. “Malcolm needs my help and I am going to help him. I will find her, Dylan.” He finished the last with a look
to me.

  “You are well aware of why Azelie, the cunt face witch, would take Tatum. Me.”

  Mike listened intently, trying desperately to figure out what we were talking about. Doing his cop thing.

  “Haven’t you damned yourself enough?” Cyrus stopped and pinched his lips between his teeth. “Would she do the same for you?” His striking green eyes searched my face, prodded in my head, willing me to assess the situation more appropriately.

  Either he was psychic or he noticed her lack of friendship recently too. I didn’t know if he was right or not. Tatum was the closest thing I had to a sister and I couldn’t sit by and do nothing. Shit, it wasn’t as if I had a killer life to live or anything. I’d mucked it up pretty well for one lifetime.

  “What in the fuck are you guys talking about?” Mike finally asked.

  “I promise I will explain everything eventually, but right now, I just have to take care of this.” I patted his shoulder like he was a child. Mike didn’t need to know, so I wasn’t going to tell him. Cyrus hadn’t filled me in to protect me and himself, I was sure, and for the same reasons, I wouldn’t damn Mike to the same occult hell spiral.

  “Over my dead body.”

  “That can be arranged,” Cyrus said under his breath. He let out a heavy exhale and stood. “There’s no need to argue. I’m going back alone.”

  “The hell you are.” Tell me I can’t do something. I stomped over to the table in the entryway and snatched up my keys. I didn’t look back when I swung open the door and left them all sitting in there watching me walk away.

  I was halfway down the walkway when I heard Cyrus and Mike practically fighting each other to get through the doorway.

  “Dylan, stop!” Mike yelled, bossing me around as usual.

  “Dylan, it’s not safe for you and you know it.” Cyrus followed after him sounding more like a father than a lover.

  I didn’t listen to either of them. I made it to my car door before either of them had their hands on me. When the first grabbed my arm, I thought perhaps they’d clamber around together and carry me back inside. Instead, each yelled at the other not to touch me as they both held me tightly around each arm.

  “Get your hands off her! She’s not going anywhere with you!” Mike bellowed.

  “I don’t want her with me! She’s not safe with me!” Cyrus yelled back.

  If either of them took a moment to hear the other, they’ would have realized they were arguing when no argument existed. I rolled my eyes, practically crossing them in frustration.

  “Stop it!” I screamed and jerked my arms from their grasp. “I’m going to New Orleans to try and help my friend. I am either going alone or I’m going with your help.”

  “Don’t you realize what he’s done to you this year?” Mike pleaded.

  “I’ve done it to myself, dammit.” I pushed air through pursed lips as I let the full weight of my admission settle in. I’d done it to myself. I’d done it to her. “Fine, come with me. I don’t care who helps me. All I know is some fucked-up shit has happened to me in a very short period of time and I can’t really handle that very well right now. My best friend is in trouble and I am the cause of it. I am going to do whatever I can to save her because I love her.” I closed my eyes and honestly held back tears. “If you love me, you’ll help to save me in the process, no matter the situation.”

  They were both still for a long breath. Each huffed, “Fine.”

  “Thank you,” I whispered.

  I didn’t bother with Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum again. I turned to go back inside and actually grab a few things for the trip. Like Mom’s credit card because I’d maxed mine out paying bills over the summer. Hooray for poverty. She was standing in the doorway watching the whole thing go down.

  “Hey, Mom.” I hugged her.

  “What have you gotten yourself into?” She shook her head and it bobbed against mine.

  “Some heavy shit, Mom.” I fought the urge to cry.

  “When are you going to stop being an idiot?” Thanks, Mom.

  “When I’m dead.” I kissed her on the cheek.

  Without a word, she handed me her Visa. “If those two hunks can’t stop you, neither can your mother,” she smiled, but it was sad and scared, and I didn’t like it. “Bring our girl back, please.” I didn’t know if she was talking about me or Tatum, maybe both. She nodded her head over my shoulder. “Way to go,” she said with a wink.

  That was my mom for you. She’d kill me if I chose Cyrus over Mike. Shit, she’d kill me if I chose cheesecake over Mike; she loved him so damn much; but, she sure as hell wasn’t blind. She knew I had my hands full and in any other situation; those would be two very pleased hands. Still, this was life and death we were talking about. No time for love, Dr. Jones.

  “Thanks. I’ll bring your card back in one piece.” She touched my face, handed me my bag, and nodded me away. She knew me too well than to try to fight the subject. We all knew how it’d all go down if any one of them tried to stop me from trying to do anything.

  “You douches ready?” I asked as I sauntered past the two and got into Cyrus’s car parked at the curb.

  Leaving them no other choice, the two followed suit, and in a minute, we were all sitting in the car.

  “So you expect me to believe that you’re a vampire?” Mike said with snark.

  I’d missed a piece of conversation. A juicy piece it seemed.

  “No,” Cyrus replied in a tone that suggested Mike’s assumption was preposterous, but didn’t bother to elaborate. “The only thing you need to know is most of your knowledge is wrong.” Mike grunted a retort but Cyrus ignored him. “What you know of the world. Or what you think you know.”

  “Haven’t we had this conversation before?” Mike asked correctly.

  “Yes, once, before…before all this. Before you needed to be aware of other forces around you.”

  “Like what, Master Yoda?” Mike asked, in his true skeptical nature.

  “Everything you’ve ever heard or read is true,” he said, ominous tension filled the space in the car. “Except the sparkling, and the garlic, and Wolfman. Okay, so not everything,” he huffed. “Let me rephrase – things that people make movies and write books about are real. The facts are wrong, very wrong, but the bones are there.” Well, no need to sugar, or blood coat things.

  “You’re trying to tell me there are vampires and werewolves and witches and ghosts?” Mike asked. I could practically hear his eyebrows touching his hairline.

  “Basically,” Cyrus answered plainly. He had never offered up such an easy explanation to me. Maybe he feared another ass kicking.

  “And where exactly is it we are going?” Mike complained.

  “We’re going to kill a bitch,” I answered for Cyrus.

  We all slammed our doors in unison. The instant pressure in my ears made my eyes water and regret my gumption.

  “The hell we are,” he protested.

  “Look, I’ve gotten into shit you can’t understand and –“

  “What? Drugs? Dylan, why didn’t you tell me? I can help you. Do you owe money or something?” Mike tried to offer help as if my conundrum was a human variety.

  “Mike, you’re never going to accept the facts so please just stop.”

  “I’m the guy with the badge and the gun here. Let me decide what the facts are.”

  “You’re such an ass.” I sighed and dropped my head to my hands. Fuck it, I thought. “When I was in New Orleans, I pissed off an über powerful voodoo priestess and she sent a bunch of headless zombies busting through my living room door.” I stopped to take a breath. “Oh, and remember those kids I beheaded? They worked for her; those buckets of blood in that basement? Hers. Everything that has transpired since March was because of her. The dead girls, Reggie, Sam…it was all her.”

  He shook his head in disbelief. “You’re full of shit.”

  “I wish that was the case.” I reached up mindlessly and touched the medallion I wore.

 
“You guys are nuts!” he yelled and sat forward in his seat to yell at Cyrus closer. “It’s all you! You’ve put this shit in her head! You and your Goddamned shit sucking vampires!” He pointed angrily at the side of his head.

  Cyrus sighed heavily, “Listen. I understand you have a…relationship with Dylan, and I’ll respect the fact that you love her with your soul; and would never allow harm to come her way if you could prevent it, even if it meant your life, but you need to sit down, shut up, and shoot someone when I tell you to. Got it?”

  He wasn’t overly aggressive, but an extreme difference from the man huddled on my bedroom floor bleeding from his face. He’d been holding back with Mike, and likely because of me.

  Mike looked like he was about to shove his fist right through Cyrus’s face. His jaw twitched with rage. I held my breath, waiting for shit to hit the fan. I grabbed Mike’s attention— I was sure with my Jedi thoughts —and he looked away from Cyrus and at me. It was a quick look, but long enough for him to see the stress in my eyes. He swallowed hard. His eyes darted back to Cyrus and squinted.

  He let out a huff and hit the headrest of the driver’s seat. Cyrus’s head jarred with the inertia. He gripped the wheel, turning his knuckles white with the pressure. If I hadn’t been there staring them both down, they’d have likely killed each other. Well, my money was on Mike, but I couldn’t discount Cyrus. With all that had come to light I realized there was a lot I didn’t really know about the man. One of those things could be super human powers, who the fuck knew.

  Tension made it hard to breathe in that oversized cabin of Cyrus’s SUV. I took the liberty of cranking up the air, turning the knob quickly. Air blasted me in the face and my hair flitted around my eyes. Cyrus loosened his grip on the wheel. His head turned to me and he smiled. In one swift motion, he lifted his hand and brushed the loose hairs off my forehead. It was an intimate gesture and not intended for my benefit. I could hear Mike’s teeth grit and he clenched them together. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair to me and it definitely wasn’t fair to Mike.