Scarlet Dusk

by Megan J. Parker

  This time, however, was far more jarring.

  As Serena’s hand opened, the room went alive with a roar like static that made Nikki want to cover her ears. However, as Serena had warned her—albeit rather suddenly—her hands were needed.

  The skull of every corpse occupying the hallway whipped back then, the eyes of those that still had them peeling back in a mockery of shock a split-second before every one of their heads erupted under the force of the attack.

  And Serena, eyes fluttering, fell back into Nikki’s arms.

  Zane rolled free as Maledictus’ foot came down for a kill shot, leaving a crater in the pavement where his head had been.

  “Hold still, you cancerous nut-wart!” Maledictus growled, “Just let me kill you so I can move forward with my fucking life as the devil this world deserves!”

  Zane glared at him, rolling to his feet and standing. “You were a devil to me and my friends, Maledictus,” he narrowed his eyes at the Leiche, unbuckling the stifling and constricting leathers and letting them fall to the pavement. “And you’re even dumber than I thought if you think for one fucking second I’m going to let you be a devil to anyone else ever again!”

  “We’ll see,” Maledictus leered.

  Zane let his fangs extend as the memories of the past few years rolled in his mind; each and every horror he’d woken up to and been forced to take responsibility for due to the being inside of him that now stood before him. All because of that damned relic and the binding taroe tattoos that he’d been tortured with enduring when the curse had been set. Every time he’d lost control after that, those tattoos—channeling the energies through the taroe’s enchanted ink—would begin to glow, and he’d grown to despise the tattoos as a symbol of what was lurking beneath his flesh. Now, however, facing down the monster and everything he represented, Zane realized that the tattoos didn’t need to represent his curse or his rage…

  They could represent his perseverance.

  They could represent his survival.

  They could represent him.

  And, seeing the potential for a new world without Maledictus, he smiled.

  “Thank you,” he said, sincerity catching both Maledictus and himself off guard.

  The Leiche staggered and glared, “The fuck is that supposed to mean?”

  Zane nodded, pulling off the black tee-shirt and tossing it along with the other gear, finally taking pride in letting his tattoos be totally visible for the world to see. “Just that: ‘thank you.’ Thank you for giving me the chance to personally square off against everything I ever hated about myself.”

  In the back of Maledictus’ mind—deep down where the auras of all those he’d killed were kept, teeming like fine wine in a rocking chalice—he felt something churn, and he could swear he heard applause.

  A necessary tragedy.

  A necessary tragedy.

  He growled as the marine’s words echoed incessantly in his mind, and he felt his blood go hot with rage at a realization that he refused to let come to light.

  A necessary tragedy.

  “Come on, Serena!” Nikki chanted, patting her friend’s cheek and feeding more and more of her magic into her, “Come on, girl, we need you up. We gotta go help Zane!”

  Serena’s eyes fluttered open, “H-huh? Zane?” She sat up like a bolt, feeling a fresh wave of vitality from whatever Nikki had been feeding into her. “Jesus H—Nikki, my sister from another mister, there is some serious juice in what you’re packing there!”

  Nikki’s aura settled then as she smiled and shook her head, “Yea… well, after the show you just put on I had to do something; might not have been as badass as all that, but…”

  Serena smiled, jumping to her feet. “Trust me, it was truly badass,” she nodded to them, getting a firm grip on the chainsaw, “I gotta go save my baby-daddy. Think you guys can scout for any stragglers that I might have missed?”

  Nikki chuckled and nodded, “You mean more corpses? I kinda doubt you left any for us, but—yea—we’ll make sure they’re all dead… er, deader… uh, dead again.”

  Serena nodded and looked over at Isaac, “Zoey’s outside redirecting traffic, and she’s looking really hot in her jumpsuit.” She started off and paused again, “Oh yea, and great choice in piercings!” She winked.

  From behind her, she felt a swell of curiosity from Nikki’s aura. “Piercings?”

  Then a swell of embarrassment from Isaac.

  Serena saved her laughter, certain there would be more than enough time for it after she kept Zane from getting murdered by a death-hungry lizard rapist.

  Zoey-girl, do you read?

  Serena felt Zoey’s auric signature swell. Loud and clear, Serena. How’s it going up there?

  Oh you know, it goes. Blew up a bunch of zombie heads after breaking a jealous hussy’s neck; now I’m hauling ass like a pregnant Valkyrie into broad daylight—thanks to you, by the way; great job—so that I can use a chainsaw to carve a self-made devil from his pocketed crotch to his ugly, leering face. Same ol’, same ol’. Thinking I’m gonna get myself laid after all this and then take you out to a strip club so you can see what a normal dick looks like.

  There was a rolling sensation in Serena’s head as Zoey laughed. I knew you were my best friend for a reason, you crazy bitch!

  You know, sister. Look, I know you’re busy and all, but do you think you can give me a distraction in about fifteen seconds? Nothing major, just a little something-something to take Maledictus’ mind off of Zane for, like, half a second?

  There was a momentary pause. Then, Fifteen seconds? Like fifteen seconds from—

  Yup, from this moment right now!

  Sure thing, Zoey confirmed. One distraction in thirteen seconds.

  Serena smirked and began counting to herself as she threw her aura ahead of her, bursting through one of the office doors—sensing Zane’s aura just outside of the window and a few floors down—and shattered the window before diving through it.

  Eleven… ten…

  Maledictus snarled, growing more and more enraged by Zane’s newfound strength.

  A massive, bony-knuckled fist cut through the air.

  Zane ducked it in one fluid roll and countered with a series of jabs to Maledictus’ ribs; breaking them all over again.

  Maledictus roared in pain and tried to kick him away.

  Zane sidestepped it and drove his boot down on the monster’s grounded foot, shattering two of the three talons and causing another pained roar.

  Maledictus glared, “You can’t beat me, boy! You’re fucking nothing without me!”

  “That’s where you’re wrong, komodo-cock,” he smirked, driving a fist into Maledictus’ face and following it with an uppercut from his other hand that threw the Leiche back into his totaled car. “See, you were something when you were ripping the world apart with my body. Now, you’re nothing more than an ugly rerun; a festering side-effect of some truly heinous assholes doing what assholes do.” Zane fought to resist looking over his shoulder at the sound of a window breaking and silently prayed that it didn’t represent a loss for them. “Sorry to break it to you, Mega-dick-fist, but you were an accident.”

  “Zane!”

  “What the?” Zane turned, his eyes widening at the sight of Serena running towards him, her body framed in the reflection of the sunlight in the one of the windows behind her, and suddenly Zane remembered his dream.

  As furious as he was that she’d left the clan—as enraged as he was that she’d once again ignored his requests and just stayed safe—he couldn’t help but love her all the greater at that moment.

  Nine… eight…

  Serena kept feeding the auric countdown in his head.

  “Hate me later, lover, but I couldn’t stay away!”

  Seven… six…

  “Besides,” she swung a chainsaw around and held it up, “I brought you a gift! What do you think?” She hurled the chainsaw towards him, it shifting in the air as she snagged it in his aura to ensure sa
fe passage to his hands.

  Five… four…

  Zane threw out his hand and caught it just as Serena used her aura to start it in his grip.

  Three… two…

  Zane smirked as the tool roared to life in his hand. “Groovy!”

  “Gah! I can’t believe you said it! I’m gonna fuck you so hard tonight! Oh yea, and ONE!”

  Zane frowned, “What’s the countdown fo—”

  Sorry, Zane, Zoey’s voice chimed in, Serena asked me to do this.

  Zane turned, spotting a mailbox on the other side of the street beginning to rattle.

  Maledictus growled, turning towards the sound. “What the fuck?”

  Serena smirked, seeing Zoey’s blue aura twist and rend the mailbox—making all sorts of racket—before finally tearing it from the concrete and hurling it like a giant bullet towards Maledictus, who dove to avoid being liquefied by the metal projectile.

  Hitting the pavement right in front of Zane, whose aura swelled excitedly.

  “DO IT, BABY!” Serena cried out, throwing her aura out and wrapping it around the roaring chainsaw, reinforcing the weapons bladed belt.

  The weapon sank into Maledictus’ back, sending him into instant pained convulsions as he tried to worm free of the attack, only to have Zoey’s aura suddenly wrap around him and pin him to the street. Driving by the monster’s cries, Zane, aura swirling with the excitement, continued to saw through the monster’s body. Halfway through, the reinforced blade squealed against something cold and hard—the cursed relic that had once been the ancient Leiche’s prized chalice—and momentarily erupted in a stream of sparks from the ever-widening wound. Maledictus’ eyes bulged in agony, his cries growing in intensity as his aura whipped and writhed with the realization that he’d been beaten.

  Finally, the blade broke through it, and Zane, no longer held back by the obstacle finished sawing through the already dead ykali.

  Serena stared, awestruck, as the shimmering remains of the chalice rolled free and clattered on the sidewalk. As the magic in the relic began to die down, she became aware that they were being watched and, letting her eyes drift towards the city skyline, she spotted the ghostly silhouettes of the thousands upon thousands of auras that had belonged to the victims of the death-wizard, Meleilzsi Shaykh Naqshband. A short distance from the body, a shimmering green aura took shape; fading in-and-out as a man who, in his lingering moments, saluted her before turning to Zane and repeating the gesture.

  Then, all at once, the auras dissipated and swirled like smoke in the wind and vanished.

  Tears welled in her eyes as Serena suddenly felt overwhelmed by the combined feelings of gratitude from each and every passing energy signature.

  The top-half of the relic—still rolling to-and-fro on its uneven corners—came to rest, and the magic glow faded to obsidian-black. As the last of the magic left it, two more auras appeared over Maledictus’ body—an older looking man and a young girl who could’ve been Serena’s twin—and stared at one another for a long moment before moving towards one another and colliding in a misty embrace; their combined auras swirling and melding until they, too, vanished.

  “Serena? Are you alright?” he dropped the chainsaw and hurried to her, wrapping his hands around her waist and beginning to inspect her for any injuries, “What is it? What are you looking at?”

  “Just some restless souls that you’ve freed, baby.” Serena smiled and looked at him, taking in the sight of his exposed torso and his tattoos, which, while he probably wouldn’t like her admitting it, had grown on her. “Now why don’t you take me home and free me of this jumpsuit?”

  Zane smirked, “And into a pair of pregnancy pants?”

  Serena punched him in the arm and immediately after let herself fall into his arms, “Asshole!”

  Zane wrapped his arms around her. “Yea, but I’m your asshole.”

  Serena smirked and nodded, “Damn right you are.”

  “ZANE, PUT HIM DOWN THIS INSTANT!” SERENA called out, her voice carrying across the living room of their private quarters inside the Vail Clan’s new building.

  Zane turned in time to see his wife careening towards him and grinned at his son, “Uh oh! Looks like the Murdoch boys are in trouble, little buddy!”

  Gregory smiled widely at his father’s tone, exposing one of his fangs as he let out a stream of cackles. “Uh oh, Daddy! Twouble!”

  Zane laughed, setting Gregory down and turning to Serena, who had finally made her way to the two. “Zane! Your son’s birthday is tomorrow if you haven’t forgotten! And, despite it being two hours past his bedtime, he’s still awake and hasn’t even had his bath yet!”

  “Bedtime? Bath? On the eve of his second birthday?” he laughed, looking down at his son as he waddled to his parents’ sides. “What do you think of all that, Greg? Any of that sound like fun for the soon-to-be birthday boy? Boo! Boo to strict-Mommy and boo to pre-birthday baths and bedtime! Boo, I say; boo!”

  Gregory laughed again and jumped excitedly, “Boo! Boo boo boo! Boo, Mommy! No bath! No bed!”

  “And you, ya little parrot?” Serena couldn’t hold her stern face as she scooped up her son and planted a set of raspberries on his cheeks, earning another round of laughter. “Is a bath really so bad? Hmm? You know that’s when you get to play with Bertil, your squeaky bat-toy!”

  Gregory’s eyes lit up and he clapped, most of the passes of his hands missing and making him giggle more. “YAY! Bertil bath bat! Bertil bath bat!”

  Serena smirked and shot Zane a dirty look, “Now who’s got the cheers?”

  “Spoil sport,” Zane pouted.

  Gregory laughed and mimicked his father’s pouting face as Serena turned and started towards the bathroom. “‘Poil port! ‘Poil port!”

  “Your mother’s right, Greg; you are a little parrot!” Zane laughed as he followed after his wife and son.

  Serena laughed, “Be nice to your father, Gregory. He’s probably just as excited about the big day we have planned for you tomorrow, too, and it’s definitely past his bedtime!”

  Zane frowned, “Bedtime my a—”

  Serena spun around and leveled her pointer finger at him before he’d fully had a chance to stop himself in mid-sentence.

  “No! No, I stopped myself! Don’t take this one away from—”

  “Dollar. Swear jar. Now!” Serena spoke through clenched teeth.

  “Uh oh, Daddy in twouble!”

  Serena nodded and turned back, “That’s right, baby, and he’d better pay up or it’ll be his ass in a ha—aw, crap!”

  Zane erputed into laugher. “Ha! Who’s paying the swear jar now, bi—eh, heh heh heh. Nope, not getting me that easy.”

  Serena groaned, “He’s going to have enough to buy his own island by the time he’s five.”

  “Ooh! You hear that, little buddy? Our very own island!”

  “Don’t encourage your son, Zane.”

  Zane frowned, “Why the hell not? Damn! Damn… dammit… ah shit!” he sighed, “Fuck.” He finally dropped his face into his palms, “Just get the kid into the tub before I wind up owing him an entire continent?”

  Serena smiled and nodded, turning away and planting another raspberry on Gregory’s cheeks as she walked away.

  Zane smirked, admiring the view from his angle. The past two years had done nothing but amplify everything that had made her irresistible to him on the night they’d first met. She had grown into an even more beautiful woman and an absolutely perfect mother. She was everything both Gregory and Zane could ask for and more. And at that moment, watching his son and wife together gave Zane the peaceful feeling he’d always been looking for.

  Things had finally come together for them.

  He smiled, waving to Gregory as he and his mother disappeared around the corner and headed for the bathroom.

  It all seemed like a distant nightmare now.

  Maledictus. Keith. All of the psychotic plotters and schemers.

  Every one of them had become not
hing but an unpleasant shadow in the past. The Clan of Vail had grown in numbers over the years, Serena’s role as leader was solid and productive, and things were, at long last, peaceful.

  At least, they were more peaceful. Zane was thankful that there was still enough rogue activity and swells of crime to keep him and Serena in shape and far from being bored.

  But for how long?

  He knew that trouble, as it had a way of doing, would come back around to them sooner or later. Between the tales of the Maledictus-monster’s defeat by the taroe-cursed Zane and his crazy clan-leader lover and the ever-growing and trouble-brewing Xander Stryker, the craziest of the crazies were bound to come gunning at some point.

  Xander Stryker…

  The son of the legendary Joseph Stryker, and every bit the insanity magnet, it seemed.

  What next?

  “Zane?” Serena’s voice called out to him, “Incoming!”

  “Huh?” he looked up; seeing Gregory—naked and dripping—running towards him, leaving a trail of cackles and water behind him and waving his squeaky, bat-shaped bath toy in the air.

  “Fwy Bertil! Fwy! Mommy’s gonna get us!”

  Zane broke out into laughter, falling off the couch as he watched his son’s antics. Gregory, seeing this, dropped the toy and started laughing as well.

  “Mommy! Daddy and Bertil go boom!” he laughed.

  “Zane! Really?” Serena sighed, “I swear! You’re just as bad as he is!”

  “Ha! I guarantee you I’m at least twice as bad as him,” he smirked up at her.

  She rolled her eyes, “Give it time.”

  “You give it time, Mommy!” Gregory laughed.

  “Do you even know what you’re saying anymore?” Serena tried to grab at him, only to have him squirm away from her grip and starting running around the living room again. “Geez, where do you get your craziness, kid?”

  Zane scoffed, “Really? Like you don’t know?”

  “Okay! Fine! Maybe I do!” she laughed, eying her son’s movements like a predator before scooping him up. “Ha! Got’cha! Now let’s go! We still gotta get you dry, then I’ll send your father in to tell you a bedtime story.” She paused and looked back at Zane, “But no scary stories this time!”