Of A Darker Nature

by Clay, Michelle

  “I know. I just…” Emily did her best to shrug away the disappointment. “I'm trying to piece this all this together. A lot of it still doesn't make sense. And if you’d seen him you’d understand why I can’t get him off my mind.”

  Brenda slanted a glance at the clock. “Didn't you say you had to work tonight? We’ll talk while you doll up.”

  Emily dragged herself out of the chair. “Again, I'm sorry. I wanted to spend the night eating junk food and watching old movies with you.”

  “It's okay. I volunteered to cover another girl's shift tonight.”

  Brenda followed her into the bedroom. She inspected the items in Emily's closet and made a sound of disapproval. “Hey, is this my shirt?”

  Emily selected a pair of dark jeans. She also took the red tank top from Brenda’s hand.

  Her friend dropped onto the bed. “Those jeans make your butt look good. You're trying to impress Scott, huh? Or maybe it's Beau's eye you're trying to catch?” Brenda said the vampire’s name with a curl of her lip. “What is it with you and older men?”

  Emily chose not to grace her with an answer. Instead, she applied a pink shimmery gloss to her lips.

  “So what are you going to do about Starr Carter?”

  “What do you think actually happened to Starr's family?” Emily leaned close to the dresser to apply eyeliner. “Surely she doesn’t tell people vampires killed her family. Who would believe her?”

  “She tells anyone who will listen. She’s been trying to get an uprising against them for years. Of course, most people just think she’s fruit loops until they see her power.” Brenda tossed a pillow at her. “You realize redheads aren't supposed to wear red, right?”

  “Do you think she did it?” Emily tossed the pillow back onto the bed, annoyed at how quickly her friend was distracted.

  “Supposedly there was blood on the floors, the wall, and even the ceiling. She was seven when she witnessed her entire family being butchered. That’s got to fuck you up, right?”

  Brenda was excellent at telling scary stories. Emily's insides knotted, and goose bumps erupted across her skin. She fumbled with the necklace at her throat. “No wonder she hates them so much. Surely the cops didn't think a little girl was capable of all that?”

  Brenda cocked her head. “They probably grasped at anything half-ass believable to explain it away.”

  They grabbed their purses and headed for the front door. Emily snapped on the porch light and shut the door.

  Brenda followed her onto the porch. “So what does Scott have you doing tonight? The mortuary has been pretty busy, hasn't it?"

  “I’m not working tonight. I’m going to try to read a vampire.” She practically danced with anticipation. “At first, I was going to decline, but I decided to give it a try. Aside from Beau and my mortuary guy, I’ve never been in contact with one. I mean, I’m sure I pass them on the street all the time, but it’s not like they have neon signs above their heads.”

  Brenda frowned at her enthusiasm. “What happened to not reading bodies anymore?”

  “I'm just curious. This guy, David, says he's a friend of Beau's. He wants to remember his past.”

  Brenda crossed her arms. “Why don't you read Beau if you're so hot on finding out if you can do it?”

  “I guess I never thought about it.” Even Brenda's somber words couldn't extinguish the excitement of it all. “What if it doesn't work? It might be a complete waste of everyone’s time.”

  Brenda grasped her hand. “This is how it starts. You help Scott out a couple times, and then your friends start asking favors. Keep it up, and you’ll be doing it full time.”

  "I'm pretty good at it. And if it helps people, maybe I shouldn't keep it to myself.” Brenda wouldn’t understand, but Emily felt the need to explain it. “I'm hoping this guy is my John Doe."

  Brenda dropped her hand and stepped off the porch. “That's an idiotic idea.”

  Emily ignored her outburst. “He was beautiful. I mean, after his head was back to normal. And he had the palest blue eyes I've ever seen.”

  Brenda gripped Emily's shoulders and gave her a teeth-rattling shake. “You’re talking about a vampire! Are you sure you want to witness everything that he's done and seen?”

  Her words doused the giddiness. She was right. He could be the bloodthirsty monster Brenda made him out to be. In her rush to help Beau's friend and maybe learn something new about herself, Emily had forgotten about the promise she'd made. Too many times she wished for an end to this strange ability.

  “Oh, I almost forgot,” Brenda balanced the straw purse on the hood of Emily’s car. “The landlord sent this a few days ago. I forgot to give it to you.”

  She withdrew a wrinkled white envelope. Bill Duncan’s scribbled name was on the front.

  Emily used her keys to rip it open. She unfolded the crumpled paper and stared open mouthed. “He's given me the deed to the house and five acres.”

  A shadow flitted behind Brenda’s eyes, but she quickly hid it. “I wonder why he gave it to you. I’m the one who signed the lease. Let me see it.”

  A fierce scowl stained Brenda's features as she scanned it. She thrust the paper back into Emily’s hand. “Can we talk about this later? I need to get to work. If I’m late again, my pay will be docked.” Without apology, Brenda pushed past and got into her car.

  ***

  Emily parked the Bug near the decrepit gates. Now that she was here, she wished she could have scheduled the meeting for daylight hours.

  Wren had fielded the call when the client set up the appointment. Unfortunately, she hadn’t thought to get a reason why he couldn’t meet at the funeral home. Maybe this park held some sentiment that would jog his memory.

  Emily took a drink from her bottle of Dr. Pepper and sighed. Her thoughts drifted back to Brenda. Her friend had closed down her emotions after she looked at that stupid scrap of paper. That wasn’t like her.

  They’d known each other since they were fourteen, but something had changed between them. It wasn't anything explicit, just simple nuances and hints. Emily's heart gave a pained thud. Perhaps they'd simply outgrown their friendship.

  She shrugged the depressing notions away and tried to prepare herself for the reading at hand. There was a certain set of questions she asked to get acquainted with the client and to find out what it was they needed to hear.

  What they needed to hear? Maybe Brenda was right. Maybe this was how the vicious cycle started again.

  Emily leaned against the car hood and waited for Beau. He’d been surprised to learn of his friend’s call and insisted he come along.

  The sun finally sunk below the tree line, and she could barely make out the slide's arch against the horizon.

  Emily eased off the hood. She leaned into the car's open window and flicked the lights on. The headlights glow illuminated a lopsided merry-go-round and swings that hung from rusted, broken chains. The grass had dried up, leaving patches of dirt and tufts of dead fescue in its place.

  The air near her ear swirled in the soft breeze. She spun and bit off a scream. Beau, the vampire, stood inches to her left.

  He smiled, making sure the tips of his fangs were visible. “Scared you, didn’t I?”

  Emily put a hand on her hip. “Unless you want a face full of soda, back off.”

  He moved with supernatural ease. “Why are we meeting him at this old park? No one uses it anymore. Look at all this grungy equipment.”

  “Thanks, that puts me at ease. I’m nervous enough, you know?”

  Beau nodded toward the park. “Our client has awakened.”

  In the headlight’s yellow glare, the ground buckled in front of the teeter-totter. A single hand pushed through the dirt, fingers pulsing like pale worms. An arm thrust out of the blackened soil, followed by another. His hands wrenched his entire body from the ground.

  “Beau?” The attack at the mortuary sprang to mind, and she reached for the door handle. “Is this a good idea? I mean, won’t he b
e hungry?”

  “He will, but he won’t drink from you. I won’t allow it.”

  Emily was still unsure.

  “Relax, I brought blood.” He removed two lidded containers from where he’d left them on the roof of the car. “This should extinguish his appetite.”

  The vampire had freed himself from the ground now. He bent to dust himself off.

  “Blood?” She just couldn't wrap her head around the idea that the fluid would serve as a beverage.

  Beau pushed the rusted gate open and allowed her to pass through first. Together they walked toward the client, who sat on the rusty merry-go-round. As they walked, she noticed an old maintenance shed near the trees. Why hadn't Beau's friend sought refuge there?

  Emily pointed toward the headlights on the other side of the park.

  “Was that car here a minute ago?”

  “It’s probably just a couple of horny kids.” Beau laid his hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

  “Let’s call this off. It feels wrong.”

  The newly risen vampire turned to face them. It wasn't John Doe. She didn’t have time to contemplate her disappointment because Beau pushed her toward the Bug. “That's not David. Run!”

  Beau's eyes grew wide, and his mouth dropped open. He fastened a hand against his neck and fell flat on his face. Blue sparks of electricity jumped from his skin. His body writhed and convulsed, eyes rolled to show the whites.

  A handful of fast-moving shadows slithered into view. A large black man held the source of Beau's troubles – a stun gun. Beau clawed at the ground. A look of pained determination twisted his face into something ugly as he struggled to rise.

  Starr Carter’s familiar voice drifted in the darkness. “Keep him down, Ace. If he gets up, stake him.”

  The man withdrew a second stun gun and shot Beau in the back.

  “He ain’t goin’ anywhere.”

  A tall, homely woman with mousy brown hair moved closer. She pointed a stun gun in Emily's direction. They'd been clever, tricking her into coming to the abandoned park in the middle of the night.

  Trent and Pete pulled someone from the storage shed. Emily cringed at the sight of their hostage. It looked like someone had taken a torch to the right side of his face. One of his eyelids hung limp and closed over the eye. Strings of wet flesh hung from his jaw and dribbled pus and other viscous fluid. Raw muscles were exposed and peppered with bits of dirt and debris. His bare feet dragged on the ground between them.

  Emily's heart pounded in her ears, and her breaths came in shallow gasps. She averted her gaze from the man's ruined face. She wanted to haul ass out of there, but fear rooted her to the ground.

  Starr sat a lantern at her feet. The others forced the captive onto his knees. “I'd like you to read this fellow. He's being hardheaded and refuses to tell me what I want to know.”

  The captive swayed, too weak to stay up on his own.

  Emily's mind scrambled for any idea to ensure their safety.

  Trent must have found her horror-struck expression amusing. “He got some sun this afternoon. They had to dig him up and move him. It would've been a lot easier if you'd just gone to the cemetery like we asked.”

  Starr shoved Emily onto the grass by the injured vampire.

  The woman with the stun gun hovered nearby, giving Emily no choice. The double stun guns continued to incapacitate Beau.

  “I gave you a chance to do this on your own, but you insisted on doing it the hard way,” Starr sneered.

  “I don't even know if I can read him.”

  “For your sake, you'd better hope so.” Starr cracked her knuckles for emphasis.

  Emily looked into the face of the man who knelt in front of her. He seemed more angry than scared.

  “Will you let us go if I do what you want?”

  Starr’s expression was unreadable. “Sure.”

  Emily grasped the vampire's left hand. The skin squished beneath her fingers, and she forced down the bile that rose in her throat. Foul yellow-green pus dribbled across the thigh of her jeans. The smell of damp earth and rot entered her nostrils. She could even taste it at the back of her throat.

  The vampire turned his remaining eye toward the witch. “You're going to pay for this.”

  Beau's body continued to twitch. His hands clutched fistfuls of soil, and his chin dug into the grass. He fought to get up, despite the voltage that ran through him.

  With renewed determination, Emily clutched the man's hand.

  “Don't be stupid.” A fierce expression clouded the captive's face. “They've left me too weak to defend myself. She's going to kill us no matter what you tell her.”

  The vampire wrenched his hand free to point at Trent. “You’re a traitor! You all will get what you deserve.”

  Trent laughed. “Tell us where the old bitch is hiding.”

  Emily concentrated on viewing what lay within his mind. She found nothing, not even the faintest flicker. Her eyes opened in confusion and stared into his spoiled features. “I can't see anything."

  Starr stood behind the vampire. Her fingers stopped just short of touching his hair. “Are you trying to pull a fast one, Miss Cross?”

  “I can only read…”

  “Dead, I know.” Starr’s voice radiated hatred. She paced back and forth behind the captive. Finally, she looked at the gunman near Beau. “What do you think, Ace?”

  The big man shrugged. “He isn’t actually dead. Vamps are in an in-between state, aren’t they?”

  Starr nodded and leveled a cold gaze on the vampire. There wasn't enough time to shout a warning. Starr swiped a broken branch from the ground then swung her arm toward the captive with a shriek.

  The staked vampire roared as the wood splintered through his heart. He crumpled onto the grass as his hands clawed at his chest, tearing the shirt to ribbons. His body twisted and bucked. Blood bubbled from his mouth and nose. Finally and mercifully, he was silent. The odor of decay hung like a cloud over him.

  “Dead is dead, right?” Starr wiped the muck from her hands. “Try again. I want to know where the others have hidden the mistress of the city.”

  Emily crept forward. She didn’t want to touch him or smell him. Fighting back was not an option. She squeezed her eyes shut and concentrated.

  Several images flashed at once. The most prominent was the innocent sun peeking out from behind a marshmallow puff cloud. For just a moment, a sense of calm and absolution swept over her. The right side of her face, no his face, was seared by flame. The flesh melted off the bone. Tears slipped from the corners of Emily’s eyes, and the pain threatened to drive her insane.

  “I need you to focus! Where is the vampire whore?" Starr's hopeful voice sounded too near. "Is she dead?”

  “I don’t know! He doesn’t know. There was a fire.” People ran. Some were on fire and screaming, flames engulfing them. The scent of their burnt flesh was different than that of the crematory. The sense of hopeless became suffocating. Emily swayed on her knees. “Can’t get out. The sun is shining. Death waits outside.”

  “Some escaped. Where are they?” Starr's callous voice jarred her. “I want a location!”

  A gated mansion with gun-toting guards flickered in Emily's mind. The idea that the person Starr searched for was hidden inside nipped at the back of her brain. Through the tortured vampire, she also learned John Doe was there as well.

  Emily would not allow this man to die in vain.

  “He doesn't know.” The lie slipped easily from her lips. “After the fire, he was told to hide. No one has contacted him since, and he believes they’re dead.”

  Starr bent closer. An irritated expression knitted her brows. “I don’t think she’s dead. I want to know where they’ve hidden her.”

  “He doesn't think she got out of the fire.” Emily backed away from the disgusting, smelly mess. Her hands left a slick trail of goop where she wiped them down the thighs of her jeans.

  Starr growled in frustration and kicked the corpse
. The pile of rot splattered the merry-go-round and the grass beyond. “Kill her vampire friend.”

  Trent's gaze shifted to Emily. “What about her?”

  “She's coming with us. Get her to the car.”

  Despair and anger rocketed through Emily's entire frame. She surged to her feet.

  Starr's face twisted into a fierce scowl. Her hand lashed out, and Emily's head rocked to the side. Emily fell onto hands and knees. The coppery tang of blood was sharp on her tongue.

  The foul puddle that was the vampire's remains lay next to her – a reminder of what would happen to Beau. She screamed an obscenity and flung her purse at Starr. It came up short, striking the ground a few feet away.

  Trent gripped Emily's elbow and hauled her to her feet.

  Pete's gaze shifted in the direction of the car. “Did you see that? Someone just walked in front of the headlights.”

  The car lights went out, throwing them into panicked darkness. Someone screamed, and the sound of movement beyond the lantern's glow was eerie and chilling.

  Their lookout yelled, “We’ve got company!”

  Starr thrust the lantern out at arm's length in an attempt to see what threats approached. The limp, bloody body of the lookout slammed into her and knocked her to the ground. The lantern dropped from her hand and rolled onto its side. The flame sputtered but didn't go out.

  To Emily's right, a medium-sized dog leapt out of the darkness. Its jaws snapped at anyone who was close. Ruddy brown fur bristled from its slender body. Ace swung his arm around, but he wasn't fast enough. The animal's mouth clamped down on his hand. The canine came away with two bloody fingers in its mouth.

  The dog snarled and growled at the witch's entourage. The animal held his tail stiff and low, ears flat against his head. Blood dotted his muzzle and a murderous look glinted in his hazel eyes.

  Beau crawled on hands and knees. He struggled to stand on shaky legs.

  Emily lurched toward the woman who'd held her at gunpoint. The woman turned at the last moment, but was too late. Emily’s shoulder crashed into her and sent her tumbling to the ground. Emily gave her legs a kick for good measure.