Moon Bayou

by J. R. Rain

  A blow only a doctor could deliver.

  My words sounded harsh and guttural from Talos’ mouth, my breath in ragged gasps, but he understood. So did de Boré, who howled and squirmed even as he tore at my throat. An agony like living fire consumed me, sending me spiraling down into blackness, oblivion…

  “Noooo!” shrieked Elizabeth inside me.

  I felt a thud, and the darkness lifted with a lurch. A matching scream blasted into my ear, nearly deafening me, followed by whimpers and a sort of pleading, animal sound. De Boré shuddered in my arms, then convulsed. At last, a black cloud leaked from his gaping, bloody jaws. It curled in the air above me for a moment, lost substance, and flew away, hissing. His Dark Master…

  His body stilled and began to decompose, like d’Avezac’s, his victim, had earlier in the evening. Pustules of rot and decay erupted all over his flesh, blossoming like the symptoms of Ebola on a corpse; then it turned to ash and began to collapse onto me.

  “Eww… gross!” I said, squirming out from underneath him a little too late.

  Somewhere along the line, maybe when I’d blacked out, I’d transformed back into human form again which left me as naked as Lalie, not to mention covered in a goopy muck made of dead man’s ash and rivers of blood. I stood there swaying and trembling for a few minutes, oblivious to everything else, as the terrible wounds on my body gradually knit back together and healed up. I’d lost a lot of blood, and I knew I would have a hellacious appetite pretty soon. Something of this must have shown on my face. I staggered back into the room at the end of the hall. All three of them—Dr. James, Colonel Bart, and Lalie—wrapped in a blanket and sobbing in her father’s arms—looked at me with fear and a kind of loathing, I guess. The doctor had known about my status as a vampire all along, and I assumed the old man had, too, but nothing could have prepared them for the sight they’d just witnessed: my transformation into a ravening, winged monster, complete with glowing eyes and dripping, feral fangs.

  I figured the colonel had likely changed his mind about that proposal, never mind whether I wanted it or not. He could never look at me the same way again. I had more important shit to worry about right that minute. The withering away of Victor de Boré’s corpse had stopped, and he looked like a burn victim.

  “There’s one more thing I need to do to make the process complete.” I glanced at Dr. James as I licked the last of the blood from my lips. Lalie shivered at the sight. “Do you have a bone-saw in your bag?”

  He nodded.

  “Bring it to me please,” I said. When he did, I sawed de Boré’s head off and wrapped it in what remained of my pantaloons. “You’d all better go home now,” I said. “I have other business to attend to.”

  I had the saddest feeling as the three filed downstairs, too frightened of me now to even give me a backward glance, that I would never see them again. Which might be why I felt like crying. This made no sense. How had I wound up attached to these people like a second family when I already had a family waiting for me back in my own time?

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  It had been a rather long time since I’d used my fangs to feed. Not long after leaving de Boré’s apartment, I crept out of an alley and took a meal from a horse hooked up to a carriage. My mental powers aren’t quite the same on nonhumans, but I whammied it enough to stand still and silent as I drank. What I took didn’t come close to filling me up, but it would at least keep me sane enough until I had the time to find a less out-in-the-open meal.

  That done, I headed as fast as I could walk to the home of the voodoo queen.

  ***

  I’ve brought you what you asked for,” I said to Marie Laveau, the Widow Glapion. I’d rousted her from her bed in the middle of the night, and she wore a nightgown and a sleeping-bonnet, which gave her the look of Red Riding Hood’s wolf in the fairy tale.

  I looked like Cinderella; soot streaked my face, and I wore some maidservant’s clothes I’d found in one of the wardrobes. I’d gotten a lot of attention from pimps and drunk sailors on the long walk over, but maybe the look on my face had warned them to keep clear of me.

  “And what might that be?” she said. Despite her fatigue and the lines of age in her face, Marie Laveau seemed to be laughing at me.

  “You wanted the head of a vampire. Well, here it is.” I unwrapped Victor de Boré’s head from its rags and deposited it on her kitchen table. “I’ve fulfilled my part of the bargain, now it’s your turn. I want you to send me back to my own time.”

  She silently picked the head up and stuffed it in a cooking pot, then turned and sneered at me. “You are a fool, Samantha Moon. Of course I will not send you back! I do not make deals with filthy vampires!” She spat.

  But even the voodoo queen stepped back from the fury that blazed in my eyes then. I almost transformed on the spot and tore her from limb to limb. She saw that I could do just that, and for the first time, looked scared of me.

  She made the sign of the cross and said, “Oh no, I do not think you will kill me, as you so much desire to do right now. Not only do my gods and spirits protect me, but you need me. Without me, you can never go back. So for now, you will do as I say. You will come when I call and do my bidding. And perhaps… yes, perhaps, when I do not need you anymore, then I will do as you wish. But for now, begone! I command this of you in the name of Baron Samedi of the crossroads!”

  I laughed. “Your magic has no effect on me,” I said, hoping it true. But hey, I certainly hadn’t much luck since I’d first arrived in New Orleans, so what did I know? Maybe I had been ‘fixed.’ “I’ll give you until this time tomorrow. After that, I’ll start destroying everything you care about. Bit by bit. Child by child. You have how many? Nine? I’ll kill them off one by one, I’ll burn this house down around your ears, and I’ll keep doing shit like that until you keep your bargain.”

  It was all bullcrap, of course. No way could I hurt any child, even hers. I relied totally on bluffing, but maybe she couldn’t tell that. A frightened look passed across her eyes for a few seconds.

  She was brave and stubborn, I’ll give her that. “No.” Marie Laveau shook her head. “You would not be such a fool. In such a ceremony, you are completely in my power. I can send you to the end of time, or to the pits of hell before the world existed. Go now, vampire. Do not return here until I send for you.”

  “Send me home now,” I said, forcing every ounce of my mental power over her mortal mind.

  Light flickered in her eyes, and a wicked smile curled her lips. “No.”

  With that, she shut the door in my face.

  Damn. What the hell just happened? No mortal had ever flat out ignored my psychic abilities before. Numb, I wandered away from the door and out the gate to the street. I had no other choice but to wait and hope to possibly placate her at some point. Part of me doubted that would ever happen. This woman would treat me like a secret weapon to unleash whenever she wanted, a dog jumping at a treat waved but never dropped.

  No… I had no faith that she would ever change her mind about me and actually want to do the right thing. This woman would never care enough about me to perform the ceremony correctly.

  We had reached a stalemate.

  I could see no way out.

  So I was trapped here, at least for a century and a half. The very thought of it hit me like prison gates clanging shut in my face. I’d be alone for a hell of a long time. So long I doubted I could stay safe and alive—tonight had at least taught me that. I might never see Kingsley and my children ever again…

  But I couldn’t just give in—never! Not ever, ever, ever! There had to be a way back that didn’t involve this wretched crone. I’ve seen things mortal Sam would never have believed existed. Ghosts, alchemists, magic… there had to be another way. There had to be even more out there I didn’t even know about yet.

  With a final sneer of disdain, I left Marie Laveau’s house behind, certain of only one thing: I refused to be toyed with by someone who would never give me what I ne
ed. There had to be someone out there with the means to help me.

  And I would find them, even if I had to travel the whole wide world and unlock every mystery it held. Marie Laveau would not win.

  My love for my family had more power than any voodoo curse.

  Several blocks away, a faint glimmer caught my eye from an alley. I crept closer, drawn by the odd shifting glow. There, in the dark, stood the transparent form of Caledonia Corneal, still naked as she had been at the moment of her death. Though, she looked at me with a grateful, calm expression. Perhaps she somehow knew I had avenged her death.

  Caledonia raised one hand toward me and whispered, “Go to Richmond.”

  Before I could open my mouth to say a word, she bowed her head, flickered bright for an instant—and disappeared.

  I gazed up at the stars, a brilliant display of twinkling lights in the dark, much clearer here than in my time. Had she gone back into the mix, so to speak? How long would it be before her soul reentered the world in another body? I found myself whispering to the sky, perhaps praying even, that her next life be happier than this one had been… free of such horror and violence.

  The girl had helped me, that much I knew. Whatever awaited me there, I didn’t know, but I decided to heed her advice.

  I would go to Richmond.

  The End

  Sam returns in:

  Blood Moon

  Samantha Moon Case Files #2

  by J.R. Rain and

  Matthew S. Cox

  Coming soon!

  ~~~~~

  Also available:

  Moon Dance

  Vampire for Hire #1

  by J.R. Rain

  Amazon Kindle * Amazon UK * Paperback

  ~~~~~

  Finally, if you enjoyed Moon Bayou, please help us spread the word by leaving a review. Thank you!

  ~~~~~

  Return to the Table of Contents

  Also available:

  New Moon Rising

  Samantha Moon Origins #1

  by J.R. Rain and

  Matthew S. Cox

  (read on for a sample)

  Chapter One

  Three Seconds

  July 2004

  Optimistic that I’m going to finally enjoy a nice relaxing day, I settle into my folding beach chair and stretch my weary legs.

  It’s been almost a year of barely-controlled chaos with us closing on the house, moving, Danny and his buddy Jeff Rodriguez starting their own law firm, registering Tammy for preschool, childproofing our new home so Anthony doesn’t get into anything dangerous… ugh. When I first started working as an agent for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, I never imagined I’d think of going to work as a break.

  But not today.

  It’s Saturday and for once, Danny’s caseload is balanced enough that he can slip away. Over the past fifty some odd weekends, he’s been away from the law firm maybe ten of them. Of course, that left me working on the house by myself while wrangling toddlers. I’m amazed he hasn’t complained about such long hours, but he’s got a much better chance of making the big bucks being the boss. Or one of the bosses. It is, however, a lot more work. With my relatively short tenure as a federal agent and his unpredictable income, taking on a mortgage has been… nail biting, to put it mildly.

  Anyway, enough of that. We’re here to unwind, at least for half a day. The sun’s perched high in the cloudless sky, making the beach around us glow with heat blur. It’s nice to finally be able to enjoy the warmth of catching a few rays. Back when I was attending Cal State Fullerton, I’d slip away to soak up the sun any chance I could get. Sadly, being able to do nothing on a Saturday hasn’t happened in a while, and this body of mine isn’t quite bikini ready. Oh, I mean I’m fit enough… the problem is, I think I’m blinding anyone who looks directly at me. Sorry, people.

  Tammy’s perched in a hole she’s dug to my right, between our folding chairs, playing in the sand while Danny uses one hand to shield Anthony’s eyes while spraying him with sunblock. Whoever invented aerosol sunscreen deserves the Nobel Prize. They were divinely inspired―or they, too, had tried to use cream-based sunblock on a two-year-old. Anthony fidgets and grunts in annoyance, but soon distracts himself by jabbing his little toy shovel at the sand.

  “You’re even prettier than the day we met.” Danny leans over and kisses me. It’s quick, since we are in public after all. Between his dark hair and deep, blue eyes, I could stare at him for hours. And kiss him for hours too. He sits on his beach chair and swings his legs up before lacing his fingers behind his head. “Coming out here today was the best idea you’ve had in weeks, babe. My eyes are vibrating from staring at documents.”

  I chuckle, watching Tammy work feverishly to expand her little den. “Don’t even get me started with documents,” I say. “Feels like all I do is stare at a computer.”

  He rolls his head to the right and smiles at me. “I sleep much better at night, you know that. If you’d gone FBI, I’d be a nervous wreck.”

  Anthony notices Tammy excavating, and decides the sand she’s pushing up the sides of her hole ought to go back in the hole. He babbles urgently while shoveling it on top of her head.

  “No! Anf-nee!” yells Tammy, whipping sand into the air as fast as she can move, spraying both Danny and me.

  My son babbles at her while flicking dirt into her excavation. He thinks the beach is trying to ‘eat’ her and wants to help her. Judging by my husband’s adoring grin, he’s also learned to interpret two-year-old.

  I stifle a laugh and hold up a finger to show Danny. “I got a paper cut Tuesday. Might have to pull desk duty until it heals.” My implication is clear: work as a HUD agent isn’t that exciting, although, in rare times, it can be.

  As Tammy begins to reach critical meltdown mode, Danny grins and tugs Anthony back. Seconds before the explosion of screaming and tears starts, she sniffles at me as if to say, ‘look what he did!’ and resumes her quest to reach China.

  Danny winks. “They should issue you protective gloves or something.”

  I lean back and close my eyes, basking in the warmth of the sun. It’s wonderful to finally have a moment to relax where I don’t have to do anything. Moments like this might be more common if I could ask my parents to watch the kids now and then, but they’re still not really talking to me. Also, their little village might not be the best place for kids. Unless I’m trying to raise a pair of hippies. The locals up there might randomly walk around with lit bongs, or with nothing on. And that’s not exactly a sight to appreciate. Their settlement is mostly old people who never quite got done with the sixties, weed, and free love. And, well, my taking a job for the government didn’t sit well with my parents. They don’t want my ‘mind control vibes’ around their sanctuary. I tried to explain what I really do, but Mom and Dad are both convinced I’ve ‘turned evil’ or been brainwashed by The Man.

  Oh well. Their loss. Not like they ever really got involved in my life beyond creating me. My older sister Mary Lou basically looked out for me when we were kids. She’s six years older with a strong nurturing instinct. Between my brothers and me, she never needed dolls.

  Right. Beach. Sun. Day off. Not time to dwell on my crazy parents.

  Tammy lets out a shriek like a miniature Xena. I open my eyes and start to sit upright as she springs at Anthony and whacks him upside the head with her little fist. He reacts by staring in total confusion. Tammy stomps her foot, points at the hole she’s been trying to dig, and yells, “No!”

  Anthony looks at her, blinks, and prattles. “No eee bee Tammy.”

  I think he’s saying he doesn’t want the beach to eat her. She draws her fist back to pop him again, but Danny grabs the boy and whisks him up into his arms.

  “Be right back.” He nods toward a distant Italian ice vendor. “Time for my old standby negotiating tactic.”

  “Bribery?” I wink.

  He rolls his eyes. “Peace offerings aren’t bribery. A gift with hope of something ha
ppening is not the same as a gift with the requirement of something happening.”

  “Right.” I grin at my attorney hubby before giving Tammy the stern face and tugging her close. “We’ve talked about hitting, haven’t we?”

  She flails her arms. “But Mom! I asked him’a stop ‘frowing sand on me, but he keep ‘frowing sand on my hair. He wouldn’t listen!”

  “I know, sweetie.” I brush sand out of her hair. “But hitting is the wrong way to handle a problem. What should you have done?”

  “Sued him?” Tammy tilts her head.

  It’s difficult to stay upset when exposed to that much cute. I can’t help but laugh. The child grins, knowing she got me.

  “Where did you hear that from?” I ask.

  “Daaaadddy.” Tammy digs her toes into the sand.

  Of course. Oh, please don’t let her grow up to be an ambulance chaser. “Well, sweetie. Suing people is―”

  Her gaze shifts to the left, looking past me the exact moment the sudden feeling of being watched falls on my shoulders like ice water. My heart slams in my chest. For an instant, I feel like I’m the girl in the horror movie with the monster behind her she doesn’t see. But hey, I’m a brunette. The dark-haired one usually survives.

  I whip around, one hand going for my purse (and duty weapon), but freeze at finding empty sand. The most menacing thing anywhere near me is a borderline-obese seagull with its head stuck in an empty French fry carton. Still, the sensation like I’m about to be sliced open by a serial killer hasn’t weakened. Despite my staring into open air, my skin crawls like I’ve come eye-to-eye with true evil.

  Beachgoers fade into the periphery of my awareness; the rush of my breathing roars as loud as Niagara Falls. In the middle of a sweltering beach, I shiver, my arms prickling with goosebumps. Any second now, I know I’m going to die.