“My parents hate me,” the boy said. “Ma always insultin’ me and Pa beats me whenever he feels like hurtin’ somethin’.”
“That’s terrible!”
“Then I gotta deal with the gangs and drug dealers livin’ all around me. I can’t catch a break!”
“Don’t worry, we can help you if you need it.”
“Nah. Y’all have done enough. I can find my way with what I got now.” He paused to shed more tears before continuing again. “I was gonna kill my parents ‘fore you came.”
“Don’t ever be that stupid,” Jayce warned him. “This world needs you. Empower yourself by pushing on. You could find your calling and accomplish your dreams. You could win the lottery. Your son could be the next president. You never know unless you live.”
Yet again, Jayce found it funny that he was lecturing people. Just before Mallory arrived, he didn’t mind wasting his life in a dreamy shootout with The Enterprise that’d look similar to the ending of The Wild Bunch.
“What’s your name?” asked Mallory.
“Rowdy,” the boy sniffed.
“I want to let you know something,” she smiled. “We love you, Rowdy.” Mallory squeezed the boy in a hug. Jayce just wanted the boy gone to ensure his safety, but she insisted that he join in on their hug.
After the boy left, the pair found themselves relaxing within the playground. Jayce didn’t mind how dirty it was. He was too busy wondering what was soon to come.
“So,” he began, “what happens after the bite?”
“You become connected to the Realm,” said Mallory. “You’ll be able to see things you’ve never seen before, use Gothic magic, and unlock stuff that is sealed to Sperns.”
“Do I become . . . one of you?”
“No, but sort of. You become a human ambassador of sorts.”
Jayce smirked.
I’ll be able to use magic AND keep my humanity? Seriously!?
“What do you get out of it?” Jayce asked.
“What do you mean?” Mallory gulped.
“Why are you doing this? Everything you’ve said really only applies to my happiness, not yours.”
“Maybe a lifelong friend?”
Jayce could sense the sadness in her voice. He felt her gloves clench his palms.
“I love you, Jayce Fletcher,” she admitted.
“You fall in love too easily.”
“Maybe, but you are one of the only people who spent time with me without wanting to harm me.” The princess remembered Rebecca. Then she remembered how much her nose bled despite Jayce’s nasty attitude when they first met. “I hope you don’t leave me.”
“I won’t if you don’t. I promise.”
Jayce kissed her forehead. The kiss sent Mallory into a trance. She stared at him in lust, ignoring his many “Are you okay?” questions. He felt her body shaking but would be feeling more soon enough.
Mallory wiped her nose and pounced on Jayce with a ferocious spark of energy. They rolled around the playground in ecstasy — Mallory loving the taste of his lips and the firmness of his grasp around her, and Jayce loving the taste of her tongue and the Angelic blood that dripped from her nose. He even questioned whether Mallory was edible. She didn’t taste like flesh, but chocolate instead. Then the flavor changed whenever his mind wandered. Pizza. Chicken. All the flavors he hadn’t eaten since switching to his vegan diet in protest of the food industry’s mass murder of animals he believed had the right to live as much as humans did. He swore God would punish him if he ate that way again, but did a Gothic Angel count? The few minutes they tumbled around together were the longest minutes of their lives. Jayce stopped after Mallory opened his coat completely. His abs felt her cold breath and droplets of Angelic blood on them.
“It’s almost time,” he breathed, pushing her away and covering his body. “We’ll finish this later.” He shared another kiss with the princess. Her face had blood smeared all over it. Tears were running down her red cheeks. “Let’s go. I want to take you somewhere.”
“I love you,” she proclaimed. “I love you more than anything, Jayce Fletcher.”
Midnight was approaching.
25
The Bite
Jayce took Mallory deep into Midtown Park to sit under the starry sky. Its illumination had begun to wane with a new moon approaching. The vast space that engulfed the moon and the many stars that gleamed in the clear sky were ripe for an awakening. Across from them was a giant clock tower.
11:55 p.m. Good.
“It’s almost time,” Jayce informed Mallory.
“I know,” she said. “I can feel it.”
The rustling trees didn’t matter. The lingering tourists didn’t matter. The occasional bug didn’t matter. All that mattered to the pair was what happened after midnight struck. The park bells would send them their signal.
“This is my last day as a virgin,” said Mallory.
Huh?
“Virgin? We’re not even having sex.”
“Virgin in the sense of Binding someone. You’ll be one of us after this.”
Jayce took out the wand box.
“How does magic work anyway?” he asked.
“I have no clue. Only human Sperns can use magic, really.”
“I thought your cloak was magical.”
“It is,” Mallory admitted. “But it’s different. Despy is enchanted. In that sense, Sperns can use magic. However, humans can use magic without enchanted items. The Death’s Dawn will allow you to control the universe. At least that’s what the rumors say.”
Jayce chuckled at the thought. He’d become Thanos without having to kill half the universe.
“Quick,” Mallory remembered. “Tell me about the shooting.”
“Huh?”
“The school shooting. I want to know what made you this angry.”
“Why?”
Mallory gulped.
“This bite may kill you.”
“Kill me!?”
“I told you, I’m a virgin still. If it doesn’t work, you’ll die.”
Jayce rose.
“You tell me this ten minutes before midnight . . .”
Mallory pushed him to the grass. She climbed atop his stomach and looked deep into his eyes.
“Do you want the wand or not?”
“At the cost of my life?”
“In exchange for the Realm’s greatest weapon.”
Jayce looked at the box. It’s power began to tingle through his gloves.
“You’d better not kill me.”
The princess lightly pounded his chest.
“What happened, Jayce?”
The young male sighed. Mallory would be the first person he told. He clutched the wand box and felt tears begin to form in his eyes.
“I should’ve known,” he sniffed. “He had all the signs. All the students mocked him. The teachers spread rumors that he was a creep. He bragged about his gun collection. He used to tell us all the time that he was sweating because The Enterprise was after him. And then he snapped.
“Mr. Miller killed eight people that day,” Jayce revealed. “He was my favorite teacher. He was quiet, read a lot, and got super geeky when talking about upcoming comic book movies, animes, conventions — all that sort of geeky stuff. He oozed ‘nerd,’ especially with the posters all over his classroom. But yeah, he taught English and loved his job. Our school could be rough at times. He survived constant defiance from students, the creep rumors, and even bullying from the other teachers. But he snapped after there was a claim that he had slept with one of his students. She was Lily’s best friends. They both died that day. He was going to kill me too but decided against it. He told me I was his favorite student. That he loved talking to me about Star Wars and arguing over his favorite sports teams. After the rampage, he told me to kill him. He gave me the gun to do it and apologized for Lily.
“But I was too weak. Too fucking weak!” Jayce burst into tears of anger. “Too weak to help! Too weak to kill him! Too weak to
kill — myself!”
The bell rung. Midnight had arrived. Mallory placed her finger on his lip before he continued.
“Shhh,” she said. “That’s enough.” The princess wiped tears from his face. Jayce felt goosebumps rise as her fangs grew. “I will make you strong.”
Mallory licked Jayce’s neck a couple of times to make the area wet. Then it came.
Crunch!
The vampire princess inserted her fangs into the side of her victim’s neck. Jayce felt her arms and legs squeeze around his body. The initial pain caused his body to jolt, but the power of her grasp was strong. Even if he fought his strongest, there was no way he’d break her hold. If this was all a trap, she played the game well. Jayce Fletcher would have been successfully tricked, trapped, and devoured by an Angelic Vampire.
But Mallory was serious about having a Dhampir. She felt his body shake beneath the Gothic power she began to inject, along with the blood she drained from his body. Unbeknownst to her, the sensation was so great that Jayce had an unexpected orgasm. He would never live the accident down if he found out, but he never knew. He fell unconscious. The Binding was too much for him. His fingers weakened their grasp around the box and it fell to his side. When Mallory was done, she released her fangs from his neck and gasped for air. The night’s breeze trickled past the string of Gothic blood connected from her fangs to the open wounds on his neck. Her nose was bleeding and her body was shivering in ecstasy. She struggled to open his closed eyes. They were pitch black. The operation was a success.
Mallory laid next to Jayce and smiled. She let her hand wander around his body before she found the key. She grabbed the box and opened it. Within the black velvet interior lay a matching wand. She picked it up and held it before the moon.
The legends were true. The Death’s Dawn is alive.
The princess felt a burn that caused her to drop the wand and close the box. She hid it within Jayce’s coat and swallowed the key. She turned over and wrapped her arms around her unconscious lover.
“You’re mine, Jayce Fletcher,” she breathed. “Forever.”
26
The Split
Gatsby, Pennsylvania (Midtown) — February 14th, 2018
Mallory received the best sleep she’d ever had in the one-hundred sixty-six years she lived. It was the first time she lacked nightmares, stress, or the fear of Lincoln returning to her life. Despite Jim’s doubts, she had done the impossible and befriended Jayce. Not only that, but the princess passed his glacial maze and became not just a potential lover — but his Gothic hostess.
However, when the princess woke up under the shaded sunlight of the park’s trees and the chirps of the park’s birdlife, she found nothing. No blood. No wand. No Jayce. Just herself and their doll.
Did he leave me? Why?
“Guess it’s just you and I, Vlad,” the princess said to the smiling vampire doll. She rose up and stretched her limbs. Today would be a good day, regardless.
It was simple, really. Mallory had what she needed with or without Jayce. She could bask in that glory and find him later. The memories they created were enough for a lifetime’s worth of fantasies. From Mallory’s bus stop drop-off to the pair’s promise to spend the day having fun. From the stand-off with Myron to the ice cream the princess ate to curb her anxiety. From the massage Jayce skipped out on to the fountain where they saw the crying lady. From their differences of opinions on Fifty Shades Freed to the life-changing tarot reading they received. From giving The Spirit Fellowship Center a helping hand to conquering Joshua, his friends, and the Midtown Arcade at the same damn time. From leaving Saturn’s Rose in exchange for McDonald’s to Jayce’s tearful reveal of what happened last year at Lampburn High School.
And then came the bite that would forever change their lives. The pair grew
a lot in such a short period of time. If they were to stay together, who knew what troublesome adventures they could stir up.
Mallory left the park. The princess skipped down the crowded Midtown street humming to the tune of Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah without a care in the world. Her stomach was growling. Although she desperately needed Ava Beans to fight the pain for good, a temporary fix of human food would do the trick.
The princess entered an IHOP and ordered all-you-can-eat pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage links, and hash browns. Without the help of the waitress, Mallory would’ve forgotten all about adding syrup to her pancakes. She was too distracted thinking about the future. The princess ate like a pig, causing curious stares and whispers from many of the other customers. But Mallory’s stuffed smiles and gleeful waves lightened some moods. She pretended to talk to Vladius — who she placed across the table from herself. She looked lonely . . . and maybe a bit crazy.
“Big day ahead of you?” her waitress asked.
“If the stars are right,” Mallory beamed. “Why do you ask?”
“Today’s Valentine’s Day. Most customers are either bummed out or jumping for joy. You seem happy.”
“Oh — that’s right,” Mallory remembered. She blushed. “Well . . . now that you say that . . . I do have a Valentine.”
“He must be special to have you blushing like that,” the waitress observed.
“You have no idea,” Mallory said, gazing over the new plate of hot pancakes the waitress brought over. This one was special, as it had vanilla ice cream and melted strawberries with butter on it’s top. Mallory poured out the syrup and rubbed her hands together.
This would be tasty!
But something was wrong. The first sign came when a crowd formed outside. They were standing beside her — on the other side of the window. They pointed towards the top of IHOP as if a dragon were sitting atop it.
The second sign came when she saw two vultures fly over. It looked like they would be flying toward IHOP’s roof.
Then came the third sign. She heard the door behind her open. Then the tapping of dress shoes and high heels. Her eyes widened. The princess nearly broke her neck turning around. But the suspect behind the weird feeling was standing just beside her.
Lincoln . . .
He didn’t look happy. In fact, he looked pissed off. And not just any type of pissed. I’m talking the type of pissed when someone grabs the back of your head, slaps your face on pancakes full of cream, melted strawberries, butter, and syrup, and then pours a glass full of milk over your disheveled hair. Lincoln did all of the above and horrified the bystanders outside, the customers inside, and the IHOP waitress that believed Mallory didn’t deserve such treatment.
“Did you like that!?” he snarled. “Because that’s how I feel about your little rendezvous!”
“Sir!” the waitress screamed. Fang stepped in front of her before she could intervene. The waitress felt two sharp items poking her stomach, threatening to enter her flesh. They were Fang’s gothic daggers.
“Mind your business,” he smirked.
Over Fang’s shoulder, the waitress saw Lincoln drag Mallory out of the restaurant, kicking and screaming. She was crying “I hate you!” so many times Despy planned to intervene. But before he could, Acorn grabbed him. Despy struggled to get out of her grasp, which made her look quite stupid to the humans watching since he looked like a normal cape. When Fang came over Despy stopped and sulked.
“Remember me?” he asked the cloak. Despy bundled up in Acorn’s arms. Vladius was almost left behind. Acorn returned to grab him.
Lincoln had returned. But what did he know? What didn’t he know? These questions were highly important at a time like this. It could save both the princess and the wizard.
Speaking of the wizard, Jayce returned home. The moment he stepped foot out of his Uber he ran like a madman to the house. He rang the doorbell but Abby didn’t answer. The teen was forced to search for the key in the garden beside him. He found nothing.
What? Seriously, Abby!?
Jayce had to run next door to get the spare key the neighbors held. He disregarded the sweet couple next door when they tried to pry into hi
s life by asking personal questions.
When he got inside, he noticed the dining room was messed up, one of the banisters was broken, and the kitchen was a pigsty. He must’ve really pissed Abby off for her to start breaking things. She was known for her calm demeanor above everything else.
After putting rubbing alcohol on the open wound Mallory gave him, he wrapped a bandana around his neck. He ran up to his room, took off his coat and shirt, and then pulled the wand box from his backpack. He could feel his body shaking as he went to open the box. After grabbing the wand, he smiled from ear to ear. It was plain beside the etched 6s all around it and an indent that looked like a button on the very bottom.
Fuck yeah!
However, despite his amusement, the wand did nothing. He tried everything. He waved it in every direction. He touched the button. He called upon God for strength. He even tried, “Wingardium Leviosa!”
But nothing worked. Suddenly, he heard a door close.
Shit! Now!?
Fearful that it was The Enterprise, Jayce clutched the black wand and made his way downstairs. His stealth tactics worked until he reached halfway down the staircase.
“Jayce!” came the voice of Abby. “Get down here and clean this mess up!”
Jayce breathed a sigh of relief. He entered the kitchen. Abby was collecting some supplies and putting them in a backpack. Her jacket, jeans, and beanie indicated that she was leaving.
“Where have you been?” Jayce asked her. “And what the hell happened?”
Abby turned to face Jayce. His eyes widened. She had a black eye!
“I got into a scuffle with some of your friends,” she revealed. “But that’s not the reason I left. I can handle them. I went over to Kristina’s to help her find her son. He’s missing, but she thinks he’s dead.” She paused. “I told you that wand would bring you nothing but trouble, by the way.”
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