The Supplicant

by Michelle Marquis

  Henry stopped the door a second time. "Perhaps dead, sir, but not buried."

  "What are you talking about?"

  "I'm talking about vampires. Real-life vampires, sir.

  Vampires that have taken your girlfriend and turned her into one of the undead," Henry said, his red-rimmed eyes growing large and round.

  "You need to go sleep it off," Dennis said dismissively.

  "I can prove every word I've said to you."

  "How?"

  "With pictures, of course." Henry reached into his pocket and pulled out several night pictures of the crash. In the first photo, the angle was of the crushed driver's side of the police cruiser with Sin's bloody hand reaching out. In the next, she 42

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  was out of the car being held up on her feet by a tall, lethal-looking white man.

  Dennis pointed to the man in the picture. "Who is this?"

  Henry smiled, showing stained and rotting teeth. Dennis took an involuntary step back. "It's her new vampire master, sir. She is currently in limbo, not human and not vampire.

  The full-blood vampires call them supplicants. She will remain a supplicant until she achieves the full change."

  "How long until she reaches her full change?"

  "It takes about two weeks for a new vampire to be properly groomed and trained by the master that created them. Your girlfriend has just begun her transformation into one of the undead, and once that happens, she will never know peace again. She'll be doomed to hunt the earth thirsting for blood for all eternity."

  Dennis's eyes burned with unshed tears. "But what can I do?"

  "There is only one way to help her find the eternal rest she deserves. You must kill her before the transformation is complete. It's the only kindness you have left to offer her."

  "But how do you know all this?"

  Henry grinned, and it looked like the action was painful to him. "I belong to a special group that is constantly at war with the vamps. We have been trying to destroy them for years to stop these unnatural transformations and set people's loved ones free. I'd be more than willing to provide you with everything you need to help your loved one achieve eternal peace."

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  Dennis chewed his lip. Sin a vampire! He had to do everything he could to help her. "I appreciate that, but I haven't the slightest idea what to do."

  Henry opened his grey woolen coat and took out a thick wooden stake with a black metal handle. "This is the weapon you must strike into her heart while she sleeps. You must do this when she is alone, or her new master, a most powerful vampire, will awaken and destroy you."

  "But I don't even know where she is," Dennis protested.

  He took the weapon and examined it. It looked like a prop in a house of horrors.

  "I know exactly where she is," Henry said. He handed Dennis a crude map drawn on lined notebook paper. His long, broken nail pointed to the address at the bottom. "This is the master's home. I keep watch over the house most nights, so I can let you know when the master leaves her alone. Then you can sneak in and do the deed."

  Dennis nodded, his mind reeling. "Okay. All right. But when can I expect to hear from you?"

  "Later on tonight, sir. Go to sleep as usual. I'll come and get you when we're ready."

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  The Supplicant

  by Michelle Marquis

  Chapter Eight

  "How's your new girlfriend?" Kat asked when Krysis came into Blackjack's house. Blackjack was a colossal black vampire with a lantern jaw and stern demeanor.

  "She's still sleeping." Krysis prowled past her and took a seat on the leather couch. Both vampires watched him cautiously. "Any new information on Henry and the other ghouls?"

  "No," Blackjack said. "They have it easier than us since they can walk around in the daylight."

  Krysis watched Blackjack cautiously wondering if his brother vampire was beginning to regret such a long life out of the sun. Then he realized that they were all on edge because of Sin. Krysis had brought new women into the fold before to be their queen, but so far, none of them had worked out. Kat was particularly sensitive to any new additions since she'd made no attempts to hide her desire for him. But Krysis knew her attraction had more to do with his status and power than any smoldering love for him. She paced by the sliding glass doors leading to the landscaped backyard, distracting him for a moment.

  "I don't see how Sleeping Beauty is ever going to make it as our Dark Queen," Kat mumbled. Krysis knew adding Sin to their group would annoy the piss out of Kat. She disliked authority figures and especially disliked female authority figures. "I'll bet you haven't even told her why you changed her," she said, turning to give him an accusatory stare.

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  Krysis studied her lovely face. Kat was Hispanic by birth, but there was a lot of ancestry mixed in there before that.

  Caucasian, Asian, even some African American, and each ethnicity complemented each other in pleasant but unexpected ways. Kat's skin, for example, was a deeper, richer brown than just her Hispanic blood could have given her, and her eyes were a dark and mysterious green with a slight Asian shape. Yeah, there was no denying she was a beauty, but she was emotionally haunted by a former life of drug abuse. Kat had died in an alley almost thirty years ago from a heroin overdose and, once changed into a vampire, had never lost that street edge.

  And it was because of her tragic past that she was completely unsuitable as their Dark Queen. Kat lacked self-restraint and was much too quick to anger in most situations, like this one. Already he could feel her chafing under the prospect of having to answer to the new vampire female Krysis was grooming to be their queen.

  "I plan to tell her why I changed her as soon as she wakes," Krysis replied.

  "And when do we get to officially meet her?" Kat asked.

  "I'll bring her over soon." There was no use sheltering Sin anymore. Either she'd make it as their Dark Queen and his mate or she wouldn't. And if she failed to survive her first meeting with the vampire colony, then he'd be burying another supplicant by daybreak. The thought filled him with anxious dread.

  But Krysis had a good feeling about Sin. She seemed tough and determined, and as a cop, he doubted she was a 46

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  pushover. He hoped she had enough strength to stand up to the colony and impress them. Krysis only wished he could help and shield her, but he couldn't. This was one battle Sin was going to have to fight alone. If he interfered and kept her protected from them, the others would just wait until he wasn't around and kill her then. No, Sin was going to have to face them down now, ready or not. Just like all the others had.

  "So how much longer do we have to wait for this new prospect?" Blackjack asked.

  "I'll go and get her and be back soon."

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  The Supplicant

  by Michelle Marquis

  Chapter Nine

  The mausoleum was cool and dark, just the way Henry liked it. The cemetery was long closed, and none of the lights was on, but it didn't matter. Henry and the other ghouls could see just fine without the lights. Settling into his favorite chair by a stained-glass window of blue and white flowers, Henry waited for his five fellow ghouls to settle down and stop chattering at each other.

  "Whenever all of you are ready," he grumbled. They all looked at him like he just appeared amongst them out of thin air. They all fell silent.

  Henry opened his mouth to begin addressing them when Margaret stepped forward chewing her lower lip nervously.

  "Permission to speak, Great One?"

  He sighed and slumped in his chair. "Permission granted, but make it quick."

  "Well," Margaret said, fixing her watery blue ey
es on him,

  "we're all wondering what you plan to do about this new vampire Dark Queen."

  "I was just about to address that matter," Henry said impatiently. "Now if you'll all just—"

  Paul waved his boney hands in the air. "Well, this one ain't like the rest, now, Henry," he said. "This one's an ex-cop.

  She's gonna be big trouble. You mark my words."

  Suddenly, the mausoleum was full of panicked voices. It seemed like every ghoul was speaking at once. Sometimes, Henry hated being the one in charge. "I know that, Paul. But 48

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  if you'd all just shut your traps and let me finish, I think I can set all your minds at ease."

  All the ghouls fell silent again. Most fidgeted impatiently.

  "As I was about to say," Henry continued, "I have a solution for that, and if it works out the way I planned, we won't have to do a thing."

  They all mumbled their agreement that Henry's plan sounded good so far.

  "Now this young woman had a boyfriend before she died, and he's still vulnerable. I've stopped by his house and spoken to this boyfriend and impressed upon him how important it is that he act to help his now-deceased girlfriend.

  I explained that she's fallen into vampire hands and is fixin' to become one of the undead herself. So he's on board with the whole 'killing to save her' thing."

  "Does he know what you are?" Margaret asked, her pale face wrinkling even more with worry.

  "No, he has no idea. He didn't ask, and I didn't tell," Henry said.

  Laughter filled the room. Finally, everyone seemed to be relaxing. "So what's the plan?" Paul asked.

  Henry leaned forward and smiled. "Tonight, when Krysis is out feeding with his cronies, the boyfriend is going to break into the house and put a stake in the girlfriend's heart."

  "What if Krysis comes home before the boyfriend succeeds?" Margaret asked.

  Henry shrugged. "Frankly, Margaret, that's not our problem. I'd say that's the boyfriend's."

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  For a moment, everyone was silent as they considered this. Then they all erupted into wild, cackling laughter.

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  Chapter Ten

  Sin woke up in the darkness alone and hungry. Outside the panoramic bedroom window, the moon had already risen and shone a silver trail along the tranquil ocean water. She sat up and slipped out of bed amazed at how accurate her night vision was. Another fascinating thing was how alive she felt despite her hunger. If she hadn't known she was dead, Sin would have thought that she'd never felt better.

  "Krysis?" she called, padding quietly over to the bathroom.

  It was empty. Perhaps he'd gone to the kitchen.

  But once she reached the kitchen, Sin realized he wasn't in the house at all. For a few tense moments, she felt wild butterflies tickle her stomach thinking Krysis might have left her, but then she quickly dismissed it. He just didn't seem like that kind of guy. If he hadn't been sure about turning her into a vampire, Sin was sure he wouldn't have done it.

  Then, her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of someone unlocking the front door. Sin was relieved until the door swung open and Dennis was standing there.

  Sin squinted to make sure it was him, but she wasn't mistaken. It was him, all right, and he was holding some kind of funky stick. "What the sweet lord do you want, and how did you find me?"

  Dennis stared at her like he'd seen a ghost, which, of course, he kind of had. "It's true." He took a few halting steps forward.

  "Who told you I was here?" Sin asked again.

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  "A good friend of mine." Dennis approached her until Sin held her hand up for him to stop. "Do you have fangs?"

  "Get out of here," Sin snarled and rushed Dennis with such ferocity that he stumbled back onto the front stoop. "I didn't want you in my life before the accident, and I sure as hell don't want you around now."

  Dennis pointed an accusing finger at her. "You're a vampire."

  "There's no such thing as vampires, Dennis," she replied coolly. "Now why don't you take your magic stick and go play Doctor Van Helsing somewhere else."

  From a dark corner of the room, Sin felt Krysis. He hadn't been in the house before, she was sure of that. It was almost as if he'd materialized out of thin air. "Who's this?" he asked, coming into the half-light cast from the streetlamps outside the open door.

  "My old boyfriend," Sin sneered. "I don't know how he found me or why he came because we were already through the night I . . . died."

  Krysis searched her face and let a cruel grin thin his lips.

  "What do you want?" he asked Dennis.

  Dennis seemed at a total loss now that he was faced with two vampires. He tried to hide the stake behind his back. "I just heard a rumor that Sin was still alive, and I came out here to see for myself."

  Krysis approached him and snatched the stake out of his hands. He broke the weapon in two and tossed it at Dennis's feet. "Please don't insult my intelligence. I know exactly why you came and who sent you."

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  "You do?" Sin asked, feeling more surprised than Dennis looked.

  "Yes," Krysis said to her. Then he turned his attention back to Dennis. "But I'm going to warn your boyfriend here—"

  "Ex-boyfriend," Sin corrected.

  "Ex-boyfriend, that he'd better leave and never come back, or he's going to regret ever meeting me."

  Dennis held his hands up defensively. "This is just a misunderstanding, sir." Then he backed out the door and ran off up the street.

  "You seem to have scared him away," Sin said after several minutes.

  Krysis grunted.

  "So . . . are you going to tell me what on earth is going on here?"

  Krysis smiled showing long, beautiful teeth. "Sure," he said. "But first you'd better feed. Then we'll have a nice long talk. And after that, I'll take you to meet the other kiddies."

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  The Supplicant

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  Chapter Eleven

  Sin walked along the beach beside Krysis enjoying the rich saltiness of the air. She was surprised by how much she enjoyed the ocean being that she grew up landlocked in the city. She was also growing more accustomed to being a vampire, but she couldn't help but feel her new life was all too easy. There was probably more to all this than met the eye.

  Krysis put his arm around her and hugged her close. "We are at war, Sin."

  "With who?" she asked, relived that they were finally going to get down to business.

  "The ghouls," he said, staring out over the crashing waves as they walked. "We are constantly hunting and killing them off because they are careless and dangerous. They are the forsaken ones, people who vampires bit and fed from but didn't help their victims complete the transformation."

  "Can't you complete their change now instead of kill them?"

  "No, because their change is long past it. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't change them from what they are. The same thing would have happened to you had I not taken you as my supplicant and cared for you."

  "So I take it I'm part of this war too."

  Krysis stopped and gave her a sober look. "I chose you because you were a police officer. I knew you had a lot of skills that would be useful to us to help us in our fight."

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  "It's not my fight," Sin said, feeling a little used.

  "It is now."

  "What do you expect me to do?" she asked after a brief pause.

  "I expect you to help us find their lair, and when the time comes, I expect
you to help us kill them off."

  "And if I refuse?"

  Krysis searched her face. "That's up to you."

  "What happens?"

  "That depends on how the others feel about your refusal,"

  he said with a cold detachment.

  "You mean if they attack me, you won't step in to help."

  "Sin," he said, "being a vampire isn't like what you've seen on TV. We are predators and have our own internal ranking.

  You are new to the group, and you're going to have to find your place among them. I cannot protect you. They will challenge your will to survive, and you're going to have to prove to them you've got what it takes."

  "Or they'll kill me," she finished for him.

  Krysis nodded. "I'm afraid so."

  "I had a feeling my life was a little too easy so far."

  "You have another choice," he said.

  His voice had taken on a dark, evil current, and Sin felt the tiny hairs on the back of her neck stand up. "And what's that?"

  "If you don't want this life anymore, I can take it from you."

  Sin ran her fingers down the side of his face feeling the muscles beneath the skin. "Would that be easy for you?"

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  "No, but I don't want to see you hurt, and believe me, the other vampires will hurt you if they detect weakness."

  And with those words, the mystery of why Krysis had no woman was solved. They apparently hadn't survived the initiation process. Sin wondered if she was going to have to fight all three of them off. That would be challenging even with her newfound powers. Then a new thought occurred to her.

  "They're waiting for me, aren't they?"

  "Yes."

  "Well," she said as a surge of adreline flooded her blood,

  "let's get this contest over with."

  "Are you sure you're ready?"

  "They don't scare me. I was a cop for seven years, and I've faced my share of badasses. They're usually just a lot of big, loud talk. But even if they are all that, I'm not going down easy, so they better bring their A game 'cuz Momma's ready to spar."