Nadya's Nights: Road to Vengeance

by Indy McDaniel

  Rounding a corner, they entered the foyer. The air around them was filled with a layer of smoke. The fire had to be spreading rapidly. It didn’t matter. The exit was right in front of them and once they were outside, they could go their separate ways. Nadya would have to find her way back to the Maserati then she could return to Vladimir, get patched up and get on with her life.

  The ordeal was finally over.

  What about Ulbrecht?

  The voice! The damned, fucking voice! Again!

  Nadya cringed and fought the urge to slam her fist into one of the paintings that lined the walls of the foyer. Instead, she quickened her pace towards the front door, wanting to get out of the place before the voice drove her to run screaming into the raging fire that lurked in the hideout behind her.

  Moving past Bridget, she grabbed the handle to the door, turned it, and pulled the door open, stepping out.

  The cool night air felt refreshing against her face. There was a light breeze that made her blonde locks flutter across her forehead. Moving down the steps leading to the door, she stopped at the curb and lit up another cigarette. Turning her head, she saw Bridget exiting the hideout behind her.

  From the outside, the place looked like an abandoned hotel. Quite a difference from the well decorated, almost ritzy interior.

  Not for much longer, she thought, seeing the smoke pouring out of the building. Before long, the whole place would be reduced to ash and burning embers.

  Nadya offered Bridget a smoke and she accepted. Flipping her lighter open, Nadya lit it for her before taking a drag from her own. “We should probably put some distance between ourselves and this place.”

  “I don’t have anywhere to go,” Bridget responded. “My whole life, everything I owned, was here.”

  “Well, then it looks like it’s time to start a new life,” Nadya said, not really all that interested in what Bridget did or didn’t have. Now that Remy was dead, there was no longer a need for them to remain partners. She wasn’t going to kill the woman, but she didn’t want her tagging along either. “I’m sure you could find someone to lend you their clothes. Your furrier half is quite persuasive.”

  Bridget couldn’t help smirking at the comment. “Hell, I’m pretty sure I could be pretty persuasive as I am,” she said. “Not a whole lot of blokes who wouldn’t give a lass plenty when she’s naked.”

  Nadya turned and gave her a disgusted look. “I’d rather kill them.”

  The redhead laughed. “Hey, do you think you could give me a ri – “

  Her sentence was abruptly cut short as a distant gunshot ended in a red flower blossoming between Bridget’s pale breasts. Jaw dropping and brow furrowing into a hurt, confused expression, she looked down at the bullet hole that had just been drilled into her chest and through her heart.

  Nadya stared at the wound as well. She hadn’t been the one to cause it. Which meant she wasn’t as safe as she’d thought.

  She watched Bridget let out a wet cough, blood spraying from her lips before she collapsed to the ground. Nadya took a step closer, looking down at her. She coughed up more blood, looking up at Nadya with pleading eyes.

  “I don’t… w-want… to… be a.. v-vamp…” Her last ragged breath passed her lips and her eyes went blank.

  Hearing footsteps behind her, Nadya spun, reaching for one of her pistols. Her movements faltered as she set eyes on the woman approaching. It was almost like looking in a mirror. The same blonde hair, cut in a similar fashion. The same eyes, maybe a bit less haunted, but the color and shape were virtually identical. Even the way she walked, like a predator, seemed to be a mimicry of Nadya.

  The shock of seeing what could only be referred to as her double stalled Nadya’s hand as she reached for her pistol. In the moment of hesitation, the near-twin raised her own pistol, aiming it directly at Nadya and pulling the trigger.

  Sharp pain stabbed into her left breast and for a moment she thought she was about to be as dead as Bridget. As her eyes focused on the upraised weapon, she saw how it looked different than a normal gun. Looking down, she saw a dart sticking out of her chest.

  Numbness spread outwards from the impact site. She grabbed hold of the dart, yanking it free and tossing it aside, then tried to go for her gun again. Her fingers were clumsy with the drug pumping through her veins. She managed to slip the pistol free from its holster before promptly dropping it to the ground.

  She fell in slow motion, her eyes still locked on the alternate version of herself standing before her, tranq gun now lowered to her side. It was during her slow motion decent that she realized she’d seen the woman before.

  But where?

  The feeling of her back slamming into the ground took several seconds to register in Nadya’s drugged brain. Now all she could see was the night sky up above. Her eyelids grew heavy but she forced them open again as she saw the other blonde woman standing over her.

  Her lips tried to form the questions racing through her mind.

  Who are you?

  Why are you doing this?

  Where the fuck did you come from?

  But her lips were numbed – along with the rest of her body – and she couldn’t get them to work right.

  Three men came up behind the blonde woman. One had a sniper rifle slung over his shoulder.

  “Hell of a shot, Drago,” the woman said, eyeing Bridget’s corpse.

  It was getting hard for Nadya to hear things, but the voice or – more specifically – the Russian accent, only worked to further perplex her.

  “We need to finish it, though.” The woman looked back down at Nadya then to the hilt of the katana strapped to her side. She smiled. “Mind if I borrow that?”

  Nadya’s only reply was a soft groan which had started life as her attempt at saying, “Stay the fuck away from me, you freaky bitch!” But the drug was ravaging her, making it hard to stay conscious, let alone respond intelligibly.

  “I’ll take that as a ‘no’,” the woman said, still smiling. Using her foot, she pushed Nadya onto her side, her body so much dead weight. Her head hung loosely on her shoulders and as she was tipped onto her side, her eyes fell on Bridget’s body. Despite the fact that she really didn’t have much of an attachment to the woman, she felt sorry for her.

  Her sword was pulled free of its sheath and then Nadya was knocked flat on her back again. Her evil pseudo-twin now had her sword, stepping over her limp form to get to Bridget’s. As darkness crept in on her vision, Nadya heard the distinct sound of the sword swishing through the air before meeting, and cleaving through, flesh and bone.

  Well, looks like you’re getting your wish, Nadya thought. You’re not gonna be a vampire.

  Her eyes fluttered closed, unsure of whether or not she was next to be dismembered or if her almost-double had more sinister plans in store for her.

  Just before the drugs knocked her out, she found her thoughts turning to Ulbrecht. The annoying voice wasn’t saying anything and somehow that only made it worse.

  As the blackness consumed her completely, the thoughts followed along, dancing across the insides of her eyelids. And just before all thinking became impossible for her, the voice decided to speak up one last time.

  You’re totally in love with him…

  Nadya hoped they planned on chopping her up. At least it would put an end to that fucking voice.

  SPREADING THE BLAME

  The time has come to effectively and rightly call out those others who are responsible for the novel you’ve just finished reading.

  Blame Glukoza for inspiring the visual aesthetic of Nadya as a character. Blame Ryan Khatam (creator of the game Johnny Rocketfingers) for inspiring me to begin Nadya’s journey with a brutal bar brawl.

  Blame Brandi and Bryce for being the first ones to read Nadya’s tales as I wrote them out and posted them on LiveJournal all those years ago and, in turn, encouraging me to continue working on it.

  Blame Gramps for stumbling onto the second draft of Nadya as I was posting it on
my WordPress and falling in love with the character. He said she was a chick who didn’t take crap and kicked a lot of butt and he was not wrong.

  Blame Celldweller for becoming the unofficial soundtrack to practically the entire damn book, inspiring me to craft all the fast paced action insanity.

  Blame Britt, Stanfield, and Mitch for believing in Nadya and encouraging me to keep on fighting for her.

  Blame Morgan for how nice this book looks on the outside, double down on blaming Bryce for the awesome logo, blame Jeff for writing me a splendid foreword, and blame Stanfield again for how nice it looks on the inside.

  Blame everyone who’s liked, shared, commented, voted, or otherwise shown Nadya some love on Facebook and elsewhere.

  Blame Nadya for never shutting up and continuously kicking me until I told her tale and got it out into the world.

  And finally, as always, blame yourselves for picking up, purchasing, and reading this book. Stay strapped in. We’ve only just begun.

  - Indy McDaniel (February 2015)

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  BLACK MELT: A Sci-Smut-Horror-Fi Tale

  A recovered meteorite from the heart of the Atlantic Ocean proves to be far more interesting when extraterrestrial fungal life is found growing within. Dr. Madison Davis, a medical mycologist, is brought in as part of a team to investigate the new-found life and determine what secrets it holds and what dangers it might present.

  Descending a quarter of a mile underground to a top secret research laboratory, Madison discovers that sometimes the smallest things can be the most deadly.

  Pick up a copy of Black Melt today and GET MELTED!

  The Case of the Nixen

  A Nicholas Rampart Tale

  Private Investigator Nicholas Rampart is asked to assist in a multiple murder case on the small, isolated Fell Island. Arriving on the island, Rampart finds that the island's inhabitants are suspicious of his presence. Even stranger are the murders themselves. Each victim has been found drowned in their beds - far from the shores of the island. The only evidence in the case leads Rampart into the dark heart of Fell Island's mysterious history. But the deeper Rampart digs, the closer he gets to becoming the next victim...

  Indy McDaniel lives in Florida and has been writing stories since he figured out how to scrawl letters into dead trees.

  He’s had a slew of short stories published in a slew of anthologies, e-zines, and other places.

  His first novel, Black Melt, is the tender story of a medical mycologist and the space fungus that wants to eat her.

  Epilogue: Parts Unknown

  The blonde woman leaned over the lab tech’s shoulder, letting her breasts press against him. She felt the bespectacled young man tense from the touch and grinned widely. “Eyes front,” she purred into his ear. “This isn’t the time for hanky panky. How’s our guest?”

  “Still unconscious,” the lab tech stammered out, his voice trembling with unease.

  The blonde nodded. “Good. Make sure she stays that way. We don’t want her waking up before Father Frost’s finished laying out all his presents under the tree.”

  The lab tech turned to give the blonde an uncertain look. “If we keep her drugged until New Year’s, there’s a possibility of long term mental complications.”

  The blonde rolled her eyes and slapped the lab tech across the back of the head. “It was a figure of speech, jackass,” she muttered. “Besides, it’s not as if she doesn’t already have some pretty major mental complications.” The blonde’s eyes roamed over the computer monitor in front of the lab tech. On the monitor was a feed from the security camera in the room where their guest was being kept for the time being. Nadya lay still with her eyes closed and a couple of IV’s hooked into her. “Still, at least she’s easy on the eyes.”

  The lab tech gave the blonde another dubious look. “I’m sorry, but I’m not sure I fully grasp the point of this.”

  The blonde turned her gaze from the monitor to the tech, narrowing her eyes to dangerous slits. “That’s because you’re not supposed to. All you need to know is that the bosses signed off on this as a personal favor to me. And now I’m telling you to keep her under until everything is in place. Is that simple enough for you to understand?” She reached down and drew the pistol from its holster at her hip, pressing the barrel against the back of the lab tech’s head. “Or do I put two through your brain now and find someone who asks fewer questions to press the buttons and fuck me silly?”

  The lab tech lifted his hands away from the keyboard, holding them out to his sides as he struggled to reply to the blonde’s question. Before he could get the words past his lips, she squeezed the trigger. The front of the lab tech’s face disappeared in a sneeze of blood and brains. The gore splattered across the monitor as the tech’s body slumped forward over the desk, jerking slightly.

  The blonde let out a disappointed sigh as she holstered her weapon. “It’s so fucking hard to find good help these days,” she muttered before leaning over the corpse to wipe the blood away from the monitor. She smiled at Nadya’s sleeping form, tapping a bloody finger against the monitor. “Get nice and rested, kiddo,” she purred. “I plan on having a whole lot of fun with you.”

  Nadezhda Valentina will return in…

  NADYA’S NIGHTS: ALL M.A.D. HERE