Feral Hearts

by Edward P. Cardillo

  There were some nods and rumbling from the crowd.

  “The Russians are harmless. They run a legitimate business in our town, bringing in valuable revenue.”

  “Harmless?” cried Stefania. “They’re breaking up families. They storm into our businesses like they own the town, scaring away customers. And now they’re murdering people!”

  “Murder?” asked the Mayor. “There’s no evidence of that.”

  “I have two witnesses here who saw them murder their friends.”

  Mayor Medici laughed derisively. “Americans? These are your witnesses? They probably had too much to drink or took drugs and hallucinated.”

  “They did not drink or take drugs at all on my walking tour last night.”

  “Did you spend all night with them?” asked Medici. “Who knows what they did when you went home, Stefania?”

  “Both women are willing to submit to toxicology tests, but we don’t have the time.”

  The Mayor laughed. “Toxicology tests? You’ve been watching too many American crime shows.”

  “We need to do something about these monsters. We all know that they are more than strippers and prostitutes,” said Stefania. There were reluctant nods and murmurs from the crowd.

  “What do you propose we do?” asked Mr. Lovallo, owner of the café across from the police station.

  “The policia aren’t willing to do anything about it. I say we storm their house on the outskirts of town—we all know where it is—and burn it down. To the ground.”

  “What you are doing is inciting a mob,” said the Mayor. “Policia, arrest her.”

  The officers began to make their way over to Stefania.

  “They’re taking our husbands, fathers, and sons from us!” shouted Stefania. “They’re ruining our businesses, our towns! They are murderers!”

  There were more murmurs as the din in the room began to pick up.

  “Yes,” said Medici, “we’re all aware of how your fiancé left you and how you blame Feral Hearts.”

  “They’re vampires!” cried Stefania.

  At this declaration, people began to shift uncomfortably in their seats. The police officers grabbed Stefania by each of her arms.

  “Silence!” shouted Father Poselli, pastor of their local church. “Stefania is right!”

  “You can’t be serious,” said the Mayor.

  “She’s right,” insisted Father Poselli. “You all know she’s telling the truth. The fact that none of us want to admit it does not change the fact that a terrible evil has taken over our town. Unhand her!”

  The police officers looked to the Mayor, who was dumbfounded. “Vampires? Really, Father? Have you all gone mad?”

  “No, you’ve gone mad, Giuseppe! This is still a good town. We are still a God-loving people.”

  “But we cannot just storm the house and burn it down. There’ll be repercussions.”

  “Not if we kill them all,” said Father Poselli.

  “He’s talking about the local boss,” said Stefania. “They’re receiving tribute from these Russian whores, but we must ask ourselves whose town is this…ours? The vampires’? Or the local boss’s?”

  “If we destroy the Russian’s bordello, Mr. Giovanni will take revenge.”

  “Not if we all stand up,” insisted Stefania.

  “You’re a foolish child,” said the Mayor. “You know nothing of how the world works.”

  “She’s right,” said Father Poselli. “If we all stand together, he cannot murder us all.”

  “Father,” said Mayor Medici, “Mr. Giovanni is a major contributor to the church.”

  “I’ll not have our church funded with blood money from Russian prostitutes, and vampires no less. Their very existence is a crime against God.”

  “I’ve lost my husband to these Russians, and my son sits in the insane asylum, wasting away,” said Filia Magnotta.

  “Boss Giovanni will tax us even more,” said Concetta Giorgio, owner of the general store. “Tributes will rise.”

  “We’re taxed to the maximum already,” said Stefania. “He cannot take what we don’t have.”

  “You’re a dead woman,” said Mayor Medici. “Stupid girl.”

  “I’m not waiting around to lose any more loved ones to these demon whores,” said Stefania. “After this, they’ll surely come after me, so I’m dead either way. At least my death will count for something. What do you stand for, Mayor Medici? The town, the mafia, or the vampire whores?”

  “My husband sleeps all day after spending all night in Feral Hearts and that house outside of town. I’m left to run the store by myself,” said Concetta.

  “So, who’s with us?” asked Father Poselli.

  The din rose as women and business owners mustered up the courage after losing their loved ones and businesses to the vampire blight. They were frustrated, as they lived in fear of these monsters, these outsiders, as the government and local boss looked on, lining their coffers with the blood of their people.

  Mayor Medici pointed a finger at Stefania. “Mr. Giovanni’s going to hear about this.”

  “I’m counting on it,” said Stefania. She nodded to Father Poselli, who addressed the mob.

  “We must strike during daylight, when they hide. Go home, arm yourselves, and meet out in front of the police station in ten minutes!”

  The police officers were still standing by Stefania. “You can lock her up, but you can’t lock all of us up in your jail,” said Father Poselli. “Help us or get out of the way.”

  The two officers backed away from Stefania and escorted the Mayor out of the lobby.

  “What’s going on?” asked Lucy.

  “The town’s agreed to storm the bordello outside of town. I want you to wait here at the hotel.”

  “They’ll probably be safer with us,” said Father Poselli. “The Mayor won’t take too kindly to two trouble-making Americans who were the reason for all of this.”

  “You’re right,” admitted Stefania. “Lucy, Jenna, you’ll be safer with us.”

  * * *

  The angry mob, led by Stefania and Father Poselli, stormed Feral Hearts and began trashing the club as the policia stood by and watched. Mayor Medici was nowhere to be found. They tossed the furniture and smashed the mirrors on the walls. They threw the deejay’s equipment on the ground and stomped on it.

  There were a couple of undead goons in the club, but Father Pocelli kept them at bay with holy water while the angry citizens of Derosso dispensed quick justice with the sharpened ends of mop and broom handles and broken chair legs, staking the two vampires in their black hearts.

  Lucy and Jenna were right alongside the mob, more observing than participating. They were looking for Angela and were thankful when the two vampires dispatched to hell were not her.

  After making quick work of the club, the mob took to the street and marched to the outer rim of Derosso where they all knew the Russian bordello stood. As they approached the house of ill repute, they saw a group of men with guns and farming tools standing out front.

  “It’s Mr. Giovanni,” gasped Stefania.

  “Let me handle this,” said Father Poselli.

  “I’m going with you,” insisted Stefania.

  Father Poselli nodded reluctantly. “But I do all of the talking.”

  “Agreed.”

  Lucy and Jenna stayed amongst the group, who waited back while their two leaders met with Mr. Giovanni. No one was in a rush to go to war against the local mafia.

  “Mr. Giovanni, I can explain everything,” opened Father Poselli, extending his hand. Mr. Giovanni shifted his pistol to his left hand and shook the Father’s hand with his right.

  “Who’s this?” asked Mr. Giovanni. “The young girl who started this?”

  Stefania swallowed hard. She looked as if she was going to say something, but Father Poselli held up a hand. Stefania held her tongue for the moment.

  “She’s the brave girl who brought this all to our attention.”

  �
�What exactly did she bring to your attention, Father?”

  “That there were vampires destroying our town, Mr. Giovanni.”

  “I see.”

  “Mr. Giovanni, we meant no disrespect. We know you’re the local boss. We told Mayor Medici what we intended to do, knowing that he’d inform you.”

  “That he did.”

  “There were some tourists who were murdered. Things had gotten out of hand. Our women miss their husbands, fathers, and sons.”

  “Nevertheless,” said Mr. Giovanni, “I am the local boss, and it is disrespectful to circumvent me in these matters.”

  “We know you’d do nothing about it,” interjected Stefania. “We know you get a piece of the bordello.”

  “Father, you should explain to this girl who it is she’s speaking to.”

  “She’s frustrated, Mr. Giovanni, as are the rest of the residents. When things escalated to murder, the townsfolk had had enough.”

  “The Feral Hearts club brings revenue into Derosso,” said Mr. Giovanni, “revenue that supports your church, Father.”

  Father Poselli puffed his chest out in resolve. “We need to draw the line. We are Catholics, and we cannot stand by and watch these devils corrupt our town and its people.”

  “Maybe you can’t control these Russian outsiders anymore,” said Stefania. “For all we know, maybe they’re controlling you at this point.” Father Poselli shot her a look for her boldness.

  Mr. Giovanni was silent for a moment. “To tell you the truth, we’re not out here to stop you.”

  “You’re not?” said Stefania incredulously.

  “No, we’re here to help. These Russian whores have gotten out of hand. We no longer want them here any more than you do.” He looked down at his feet for a moment. “My son disappeared a week ago. He was last seen going into Feral Hearts. My wife and I fear he’s dead…or worse.”

  Father Poselli gave Mr. Giovanni a sad smile. The man was a criminal and a sinner, but even sinners had loved ones. Father Poselli believed that all men were God’s children. “Glad to have your help. Why don’t you say we go kill some vampires?”

  “Let’s do it,” said Mr. Giovanni.

  Father Poselli blessed the house and then stepped aside while villagers torched it, burning it to the ground. There were a few vampires who, all ablaze, ran out screaming and disintegrated in the sunlight.

  Jenna tugged Lucy’s sleeve and pointed at the burning wreckage of the villa. They saw Angela standing in the flames, gazing out at them, and then she too was consumed by fire. Jenna looked away, burying her face into Lucy’s shoulder, her body racked with sobs. Lucy looked on stoically, but inside she was horrified and disgusted. She believed that she should’ve been able to help Angela, and she’d take that guilt all the way to her grave.

  Around seven o’clock, with the sun waning in the sky, the building burned to the ground and the flames began to die out. The villagers, making the most of the remaining sunlight, stormed the cellar and dispatched several more vampires, including Jamie, but Viktoriya, the master vampire, was nowhere to be found.

  That evening, many of the inpatients at the asylum in town were sent back home to their families, miraculously cured of whatever ailment they had been suffering from. Stefania thought it was proof that Viktoriya perished in the fire.

  Lucy and Jenna had their doubts.

  * * *

  One year later, Stefania was giving a tour in Prague. She was standing in front of the famous Dancing House, a modern architectural marvel, talking about the famous restaurant on the top floor. After she fielded several questions about the attraction, she took them to look at a church on the way to a microbrewery.

  When at the microbrewery, she let the owner take over the tour, and she waited outside. It was a beautiful summer day, and she wanted to take in the fresh air. Stefania loved Prague. It was more urban than Derosso, and it was an interesting juxtaposition of the old and the new.

  She often found her mind wandering back to her hometown and everything that had transpired. The town had returned to normal. Many of the men missing or held in the asylum had been reunited with their families. Feral Hearts was closed permanently, and there were no more strippers or prostitutes within town limits after that.

  Still, Stefania felt she needed a change. One of her friends had moved to Prague and helped set her up with a new tour company. There was no mafia shaking down businesses in Prague, or at least none that were obvious. It was a hip, modern place with plenty of young folk like her.

  She had met a Belgian young man, and they had been dating for a few months. He was a kind, gentle man who cared for her deeply. It was a fresh start. She was able to tuck her memories of Louie (her ex-fiancé) away, remaining only as a faint scar on the story of her life.

  Stefania was on her way to becoming happy.

  The streets of New Town were crowded, but it was a good energy. She felt comfortable amongst the crowd. Safe.

  She was about to turn to enter the microbrewery to check on her group when she felt it.

  She turned back to the street and gazed into the sea of people. There, standing still as people passed it by, was a lone figure with a white face and black eyes staring right back at her. The sight turned her blood into ice water, but she blinked and it was gone.

  Stefania wasn’t sure if she really saw what she thought she saw, but she shook her head and went back inside the microbrewery, chasing thoughts of unfathomable horror to the recesses of her awareness. Things were different here. Things were good.

  There’s an old Buddhist saying: “When you disturb something, you become entangled with it.”

  Stefania decided, at that very moment, that she would not get embroiled in another showdown with the undead. She hoped that her eyes were only playing tricks on her and stifled the notion that she had indeed disturbed something back in Derosso. She’d mind her business and live her life tangle-free.

  As if she had a choice…

  Chapter 12

  Alternate Ending #2

  A Little More Than They Bargained For

  Amanda M. Lyons

  Jamie breathed deep, choking on the words, sick with guilt. “What now? What could there possibly be left? You’ve already taken everything, even my goddamn self-respect!” He knew it was a foolish risk to speak to her this way; Viktoriya was nothing if she wasn’t proud and cruel, but he was tired and he didn’t know if he had any more give left in him.

  Her face went taut, the pale smooth edges of it going sharp as her eyes burned into him. There was that glimmer, that spark of humor she has always been able to muster when she knew she had him by the balls. The smile started in her eyes, slipped down to her mouth, and then spread out over her face, her teeth gleaming in the moonlight.

  “What is left?” she laughed. “I think you underestimate what I’ve left you. I think you fail to see that my cruelty could go so much further than this. You mourn your Mary and your Nico, the sad little life you had before I came. You beg me to give you freedom as if you know how far this could go! It is not so hard, this thing I ask of you, not after everything you have already done.” That smile went wide again, adding emphasis to her words and plunging daggers into his heart.

  He looked up at her, flinching at that gaze despite all of the times he’d looked at it.

  “What do you want me to do?”

  * * *

  Jenna’s mind raced a million miles a second, her eyes darting back and forth over the scene below. There were twelve lady vampires with almost no clothes. There were twenty-four scary-looking men covered in blood the color of the Blood Crave lipstick she was wearing.

  It didn’t matter that Jamie was down there on the street below. He was clearly not a bad person, so there must have been some mistake—maybe the number of the other groups was making him scared, maybe Jamie was as anxious about numbers as she was, maybe there was a good explanation…maybe he didn’t know they were bad people because there were a lot of times she’d messed up and
misread people too. That could be it…

  “Jenna, Honey? Are you ok?” Lucy could see the stress eating up Jenna’s mind, her eyes shifting back and forth, her hand trembling as she kept her eyes locked on the man and the monsters in the street below.

  They were going to have to get the hell out of here, find some sort of safety, but she’d be damned if she was going to leave Jenna standing here like this, lost in the grip of her OCD.

  “Jenna? I’m going to slip something into your hand, and I want you to tell me how many of them there are.” No response, Jenna’s eyes were locked, her mouth agape and starting to mutter bits and pieces of the facts rolling through her brain.

  Lucy reached into her pocket and slipped exactly five mini breath mints into Jenna’s hand, closing the fingers around them as she tried to regain control of this small part of their situation. Jenna finally looked down into her hand. She counted them and said, “Five.”

  For a moment, the fear in her face drifted away and Lucy almost thought that she’d be able to direct her now, but then Jenna’s eyes went wide and she started to speak in her too loud announcement voice. “There are twelve very scary vampires in the street with twenty-four very bad men standing there with them, and Jamie is in danger because he is only one!”

  “Fuck this shit! I’m getting the fuck out of here before those bitches get up here and finish the job.” Barry was charging across the floor, fear propelling him into motion, before Lucy had a chance to process everything that’d happened in the last several minutes. Caught between Jenna and the panicking jerk she’d been annoyed with all day, she took a deep breath and tried to take the situation in hand.

  “And where will you go? I’m not a real big fan of horror movies, but I know vampires are supposed to be pretty hard to hide from, and it’s more than a little likely we’re going to be facing those lunatics they brought with them, too. With that wound on your neck and the fear coming off you in waves, they’ll be on you faster than you can blink. A big guy like you, Mr. Needle, oughtta be able to take a breath and get your shit together.” There, that ought to do it.