Cole's Haunting Melody (The Gods' Executioner Series)

by A. L. Bridges

  “Come on, Reyna.” I say and Reyna pounces.

  “I’m full!” Reyna announces a liter later. “Thanks Cole! Your blood almost seems like it’s more potent; I only need about half as much of it as I did when I was drinking from Jason and the servants.”

  “Well, I’m glad that I can help.” I tell her and leave the room.

  “She’s lucky to have you around, Cole.” Maria tells me while leaning against the doorframe in the hall. “When I was pregnant with Reyna and in the bloodlust stage, I accidentally killed dozens of servants. I nearly killed Babette, but she managed to pull through, which is why she became Reyna’s wet nurse. Thankfully, this stage will be over in a few weeks or less.”

  “It’s not like I’m doing anything special… speaking of, how did Babette come to be in your service? A live human in the Underworld is… uncommon, to say the least.” I inquire.

  “Babette has been in my service for many years. I still remember the dirty fourteen year old girl that I saved from that group of soldiers years ago…” Maria states while gazing off in the distance.

  “The dogs had cornered her in an alleyway in France when I happened to be flying over, returning from a summit with the previous Vampire King in Paris. Since I hadn’t eaten that night, I flew down to intervene. Dogs have always been good judges of power and ran off before I’d even changed form. The looks on the three soldiers’ faces as I turned were priceless. Their MP40’s were of little use to them that night and by the time I was finished with them, the streets were the same color as their armbands. I finished drinking from the last soldier before turning toward the girl that was too tired to cower. I walked over to her and asked if she would like to come with me, and the rest is history.” Maria recalls.

  Since the MP40 was developed by Nazi Germany and in combination with the armbands, it’s fairly obvious what Maria is talking about.

  “But wouldn’t that mean that Babette is in her eighties?” I ask and Maria smiles at me like I’m so innocent.

  “The blood of a vampire or azeman can do more than just change someone into one. In large enough doses, the blood results in the change; however, in smaller doses over a period of time, it slows the aging process. It also ties the lives of the two together.” Maria explains.

  “So if you die, Babette dies?” I inquire.

  “That is correct, in a sense. What would actually happen is she would slip into a state of unresponsiveness and her mind would die, although no one is sure why.” Maria answers.

  “You said the previous Vampire King; did you mean Byron’s father? Or the vampire that turned Byron?” I ask.

  “No, I mean the vampire that Byron killed to get the position. The Vampire King is decided through formal challenges; any vampire can challenge the current king for the right to be king, which is a rather barbaric way to go about things.” Maria replies.

  “How is it done with the azeman?” I inquire.

  “The throne is inherited.” Maria informs me.

  “Huh… Well thanks for the lesson, but I have a murder to investigate. I’ll see you later, Maria.” I reply.

  “Good luck, Cole.” Maria says as I walk back down the hall.

  I head back into, basically what is now Cheza’s and my room, and I pull on my holster and jacket. Cheza starts to put on her suit, but I stop her.

  “I’m going to make the Mount Olympus trip solo today.” I tell her.

  “Oh, okay…” Cheza replies, disappointed.

  I give her a kiss goodbye before making my way to Mount Olympus. I walk along the cloud path thinking that Cheza might be worrying about me because of last night.

  “Iris, if you’d please.” I ask at the fountain and the rainbow gate beams down; I step through the rainbow and make my way into the palace. Remembering the location of Juno’s private quarters, I make my way there and knock on the door.

  “Hello Feros. What can I do for you?” Juno asks.

  “May I come in?” I request and Juno moves to let me in. We walk into her living room and sit down.

  “I have determined how Jupiter was killed and I need you to subtly look for the weapon. It will be an edged weapon that is all black, most likely a dagger. You should know it when you see it by the material.” I tell her.

  “I think I can manage that.” Juno replies.

  “Alright, let me know when you find it; whoever has it is most likely the culprit, and right now I think the culprit is Neptune. I ask that you give the weapon to me when you find it so that I can destroy it.” I say; Juno gives me a suspecting look.

  “I can already kill gods without this weapon, so there is no increase in threat even if I were to keep it, but I wasn’t planning on it.” I respond and Juno thinks it over for a minute.

  “Okay, I’ll start searching for the weapon.” Juno says.

  “Good; now I’m off to go talk to Neptune… He’s back from his Sea Turtle Fuckfest, right?” I ask.

  “Haha! Yeah, he’s in his room; it’s this way.” Juno laughs and leads me out of the room, down the corridor, and down a second corridor that leads towards the back of the palace.

  “Here it is.” Juno says while stopping in front of a door.

  “I’ll get to work on that thing we talked about. See you later, Feros.” Juno adds and leaves. I knock on the door.

  “Ah, Feros. Yes, my brother mentioned that you needed to speak with me. Come in.” Neptune says when he answers the door.

  I follow him into his quarters and see that the walls are painted a sea green and the décor is all sea-themed, including giant clamshell furniture. There are nets and colorful glass balls dangling everywhere and buoy with a bell at the top is in the center of the living room. Imagine a mermaid whorehouse… that’s what Neptune’s quarters look like. I take a seat on the couch that is essentially a giant clam with cushions in it.

  “So what did you need to speak to me about?” Neptune asks.

  “Let’s start with you describing the crime scene when you arrived.” I suggest.

  “Well Pluto was already there, Jupiter was dead, and then we carried the body back here.” Neptune replies simply.

  “What were you arguing with your brother about two nights before he was killed?” I inquire.

  “What? I wasn’t arguing with him.” Neptune replies, almost imperceptibly nervous.

  “Really? Because Juno says she overheard you two arguing.” I reply and Neptune gets more nervous.

  “Oh, that, right… that was nothing, just an argument about how flying fish were encroaching on his turf…” Neptune says.

  “Riiiight.” I respond.

  “*Sigh* And also because I wanted to evolve a certain species of sea turtle to gain the ability to fly.” Neptune reluctantly adds.

  “Is that why you killed your brother? With him out of the way you could simply take over the skies and make all the flying turtles you wanted.” I accuse.

  “What? I didn’t kill my brother! If it was anyone, it was Pluto! When we originally drew lots to decide who would rule where, Jupiter was supposed to rule the Underworld, but he demanded a redraw; Pluto is the one with motive! He always hated that Jupiter was the King of the Gods despite being the youngest of us and the fact that Pluto wasn’t kept in the list of the Twelve Olympians despite being one of the original six!” Neptune exclaims; he is quite blatantly trying to throw me off of his trail by using Hades as a scapegoat.

  “Alright, I’ll go look into that.” I reply.

  I just need Juno to find the dagger and we can bust Neptune. I stand up, exit the room, and travel back to Niflheim. Now that my part in this investigation is finished, all I have to do is play the waiting game. I sit down on the couch in the bedroom and start reading a book on my phone when Sara walks in about a minute later.

  “Hey Cole? I want to talk about what happened last night. Cheza is worried about you.” Sara says as she sits down beside me.

  “What happened?” Sara gently asks.

  “I don’t really know… every time
I blinked, what I saw switched between reality with Cheza, and a memory with Addie’s corpse.” I reply.

  “This almost sounds like you’re suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder… I’m going to write a prescription for Fluoxetine and Nefazodone to help with your nightmares and intrusive recall. I want you to take the prescriptions to the Walgreens closest to the house and wait to pick them up.” Sara orders as she takes a prescription pad out of her pocket.

  “Wait, you’re actually licensed to practice medicine?” I ask.

  “Of course! What, you thought I was just digging around inside you and Rei to remove bullets without having any clue what I was doing?” Sara rhetorically asks and hands me two prescriptions. “Now go get those filled.”

  I grab my keys from the top of the dresser before touching my Haglaz rune to port to the house in Arizona. I unlock the door, go into the kitchen, and grab the keys to the Maserati from the rack on the wall. After pulling out of the garage, I drive to the Walgreens; it’s nice to travel like a normal person once in a while. I pull into Walgreens, head to the back to the pharmacy counter, and drop off the prescriptions before sitting down to wait the thirty minutes it will take to fill them.

  I’m vaguely aware as a pharmacist coming in for work punches in the access code to the pharmacy door, but stops part way through when she notices me. She turns towards me and starts shaking slightly.

  “You!” She exclaims and points a shaky finger at me; it takes me a few moments, but I finally recognize her.

  “CVS lady! How are you? Working at Walgreens now? It’s much better here, huh?” I pleasantly reply while she’s too stunned to respond. “You look good! I see that the past year and a half have been kind to you!”

  “The chinchilla deviant heroin addict! You do exist! And now you’ve come back to haunt me again!” CVS lady exclaims.

  “Whoa, I am neither of those things, let alone both of them combined. I’m just here to pick up a couple of prescriptions.” I explain while CVS lady reaches a shaky hand into her purse, pulls out a pill bottle, shakes a pill into her hand, and pops it into her mouth.

  “Mr. Treyfair? You’re prescriptions are ready.” A pharmacist behind the counter says. I walk up and pay for the prescriptions.

  “Bye Cindy!” I say as I walk away.

  “GAH! How did you know my name!?” CVS lady yelps.

  “That’s actually your name? Cindy was just the first name that starts with C that I could think of because I didn’t want to continue calling you CVS lady… Well, bye Cindy! I’ll see you at home!” I call out; I just couldn’t resist it.

  “AHHH!” I hear Cindy scream as I exit the store.

  I get back into the Maserati, drive home, drop off the keys, and port to Niflheim.

  “Hey Cole, how did things go?” Sara asks.

  “Fine; I saw an old friend who apparently works at that Walgreens now.” I reply.

  “A friend from school?” Sara inquires.

  “No, a pharmacist that I gave an anxiety disorder to before I died.” I say and Sara blankly stares at me in response.

  “Dinner’s ready.” Cheza comes in and tells us. We all head for the kitchen, finding everyone is already seated and eating fried chicken when we get there.

  “Hey Rei, do you want to come to my bachelor party?” Jason asks halfway through dinner, causing me to drop my chicken leg, wipe my fingers, and stand up.

  “Jason, can I talk to you for a second?” I request. Jason wipes his hands and follows me down the hall.

  “Why, in the name of fuckall, would you invite Cheza to your bachelor party!?” I angrily ask in a hushed tone.

  “Well she’s always been like one of the guys to me and all of us would hang out together before, so it doesn’t feel right to exclude her now.” Jason explains.

  “Yeah, but she’s my fiancée now! This means that she will be silently judging every feeling I accidentally send and every micro expression on my face!” I exclaim.

  “Shit… sorry bro, I didn’t even think of that!” Jason replies.

  “There’s a reason why women usually aren’t invited to bachelor parties.” I say and head back to the kitchen; Jason and I sit back down and resume dinner.

  “Thanks for the offer, Jason, but Reyna’s bachelorette party is also on Friday night.” Cheza says and I feel a wave of relief.

  “It is? Why didn’t you tell me?” Jason asks Reyna.

  “Because you never asked.” Reyna replies.

  “So I will have to decline, but you guys go and have fun… but not too much fun.” Cheza finishes with a glance in my direction that seems to imply that if I marry a stripper, she will murder me.

  “The same goes for you.” I think to her.

  “Don’t worry; I won’t be marrying anyone but you.” Cheza replies.

  I like how we’re on the same wavelength. I take both of my pills with dinner and head to bed.

  …

  [November 19th]

  That night, I’m awakened by the sound of my phone ringing at 3am.

  “Hello?” I groggily answer.

  “Feros, Juno has been murdered. Meet me at the gate to Mount Olympus.” Hades reports.

  “Be there in a few.” I reply, hang up, and quickly get dressed.

  “What’s going on, Cole?” Cheza sleepily asks while sitting up in bed.

  “Juno’s been murdered. I’ll be a couple of hours; just go back to sleep.” I calmly say.

  “Alright… be careful…” Cheza replies and yawns.

  “I will.” I say and give her a quick kiss goodbye before porting to earth.

  I wait the mandatory minute and touch my triskele to port to Mount Olympus. I see Hades leaning against one of the stone columns of the gazebo, smoking a black cigarette that smells of pine while waiting for me. He extinguishes the cigarette on the heel of his shoe when he sees me, snaps his fingers, and ports us to the entrance of the palace. Hades leads me back to Juno’s room where nearly every god in attendance is giving me a dirty look.

  “Hades, did you just get here?” Neptune asks.

  “Yeah, I was waiting for Feros at the gate.” Hades replies as I walk over and inspect Juno’s corpse.

  Juno is lying in her bed, wearing a low cut negligee. The entire room smells like pine, but I suppose that is to be expected with her potpourri. There are no signs of a struggle and no hints as to how she died… well, except for the giant hole in her chest. The melted-looking hole reaches from her neck down to her solar plexus and is almost halfway covered by the negligee; this means that the disintegration of the golden mass doesn’t melt clothing like it does to the skin and bone of gods… the murderer must have taken Jupiter’s shirt to hide the stab wound.

  I find it strange that Juno was killed the night after I asked her to search around for the murder weapon and accused Neptune of Jupiter’s murder… and by ‘find it strange,’ I mean I think she found something and Neptune killed her. I need to talk to Diana; if anyone knows if Juno found something, it’d be her. The only problem is that since this has already gotten Juno killed, I can’t exactly call out to Diana with everyone watching. I’ll just come back and talk to her tomorrow.

  “Well, I’ve determined that Juno was killed in the same fashion as Jupiter, possibly while she was sleeping, which is what I’m going home to do right now.” I announce and walk out of the room.

  I walk to the entrance, ride the rainbow road down to the fountain, and head towards the gate when Neptune appears in my path.

  “We need to talk. I’ll meet you at your house in six hours.” Neptune says before disappearing.

  I enter the gazebo/gate and touch my Haglaz rune. I strip down to my boxers and crawl in bed next to Cheza before going down for a six hour nap.

  …

  I wake up at 10am to an empty bed. I take a quick shower and get dressed in my armored suit that is missing below the knee of my right leg, but that’s hardly a problem since that part of my leg is now indestructible. After equipping my holster, I�
�m about to touch my Haglaz when I have the consideration to let Cheza know where I’m going.

  “Good morning, Cheza. I’m going to have a chat with Neptune at the house regarding Juno’s murder; just thought I’d let you know.” I think.

  “Alright, thanks!” Cheza replies and I port to the front lawn in Arizona.

  “What the fuck happened here!?” I exclaim when I see a shirtless Neptune with a gaping chest cavity lying in the grass, while Hades stands nearby.

  “I was hoping that you could tell me.” Hades says while smoking a black cigarette, filling the air with a pine scent. I notice that ‘Feros’ has been carved into the grass next to Neptune, presumably with the dagger that is lying in his open left hand; is that?

  (No, that’s just a normal dagger)

  “Shit! I guess this means Neptune didn’t kill Jupiter or Juno…” I inform Hades.

  “I take it by your response that you didn’t do this; this looks bad though… perhaps you should just lie low in Niflheim for a few days while I calm things down on Mount Olympus.” Hades suggests and puts his cigarette out on the heel of his shoe.

  “Yeah, I probably should… just watch your back; if you die, the whole Greek/Roman pantheon goes with you. Not to mention all the things that are tied to you guys… who knows, the whole peninsulas of Greece and Italy might just disappear.” I tell him.

  “I will. I need to get the body back to Olympus now.” Hades replies.

  “Alright, just be on the lookout for a bladed black weapon that will most likely be wicked-looking and made of a foreign material; whoever has that is the killer.” I warn him.

  “I’ll do that.” Hades says with a smile and hoists Neptune’s body over his shoulder before disappearing. I touch my Haglaz rune and port back to Niflheim.

  “Hey, how did things go?” Cheza thinks while taking a shower.

  “Well, Neptune’s dead and I’ve been framed again; this time my name was carved into the grass by the dead guy, which is impossible because the weapon used has a side effect of immobilizing people. Thankfully, Hades knows I’m innocent so he’s going to try and calm down the rest of the gods, but he suggested that I stay in Niflheim for the next few days.” I explain.