A Hero's Death: Aris Crow Vampire Legend

by Rachel McClellan

  "Because I thought if you knew the truth, you would not stay on the path that was needed to save the city. But now I wonder if I have done more harm in perpetuating the lie."

  "I don't have time for this." I glanced at Oz. "Do you need anything for either of you while I'm out?"

  "I think we’ll be good for a couple days."

  I nodded and turned around before Roman could say another word. It bothered me that he was saying things that just couldn't be true. If my father were a different kind of man, then surely I would've heard about it. There would've been some kind of article contradicting the hundreds of others. All I ever found were words praising Jonas Crow, the city's hero.

  Feeding off the rage coursing through me, I hit several smaller drug houses. Men were knocked out and zip-tied. Police arrived shortly after and carted them off to jail with all the evidence they would need to put the losers behind bars for good.

  Victor's network was slowly dying. I was chopping off the limbs of the great beast, and soon I would be cutting out the heart. I couldn't wait for the day when I could look Victor in the eyes and tell him who I really was. It would be hard not to kill him then. Sometimes I wondered if even my father would have broken his rule for the chance to kill the man who murdered his wife.

  Dawn would come soon, but I wasn't ready to go back. Too much adrenaline pumping through my veins. Partly left over from the fight with Hacksaw, another part from seeing Victor, but the rest had everything to do with what Roman had said. Could I have been wrong about my father all this time? I couldn't believe it. No one had ever said anything bad about him.

  But I wasn't naïve either. Sure, he could've made mistakes. After all, he was still a man who had been cursed with special abilities—or blessed, depending on how you looked at it. Maybe it took him awhile to figure it all out. There had been no one to train him like I had Roman. It must've been tough for him.

  But if I truly believed that, why was I so angry?

  I didn't like doubting my father. It was an act of betrayal and I was mad at myself for even considering he’d purposely done something shady.

  I stormed through Pigtown to take out my aggression on the underbelly of the city. I prevented a man from robbing a car, I broke up a knife fight, I stopped a robbery, and I kicked a guy's ass for hurting a woman.

  The last of the dark night was filled with my heroic acts, one after another. People would know me. They would write articles about me and paint my picture. I would be their hero.

  Monsters belonged in the past, and I was going to keep it that way.

  22

  By sunrise, I felt a little better. I returned to Ironwood with my spirits up, but my body exhausted. There had been a lot of violence tonight, but I managed not to kill anyone proving Roman wrong yet again.

  I peeked in my home. Oz was asleep on the couch and Amy still rested on my bed. I crossed the street and sat on a bench cradling my head into my palms. At this rate, I could get to Victor by the end of the week. I was so close!

  Footsteps approached, but I didn't look up. If Roman wanted to argue some more, then I would find somewhere else to rest.

  "It's just like I predicted. Things have gotten worse."

  I looked up at him. Lines wrinkled his normally smooth brow. A sinking feeling filled my gut. "What have you heard?"

  "After Victor learned Oz escaped with help, he sent his men over to the apartment complex where Oz lives and questioned his neighbors. One woman admitted to seeing a man in a ski mask carrying Oz's sister out of the building. She called you the Crow. Victor's men hurt her and many others. Some serious enough to go to the hospital.

  I rubbed the back of my neck and inhaled a deep breath.

  "That's not all. Several policemen were killed. And the word out on the street is many more will be killed if they don't release all the men they have locked up over the last few weeks." He paused. "I fear what will happen next."

  "I'll deal with it." I didn't know what else to say. "Maybe I should just take out Victor now. I can get close to him."

  "Are you prepared to kill him?"

  "You know the answer to that."

  "If you have him arrested, he will be out of jail before you can blink."

  I pressed my palms into my eyes in frustration. "You don't know that."

  "You're being naïve, Aris. The time for your transformation is now. It's the only way."

  I looked up at him. "Earlier, when I mentioned that man I fought had yellow eyes, you got visibly upset. Why? What does that mean?"

  His chest expanded and lowered. "Wolves."

  "I don't understand."

  "I fear something dark has come to Coast City, far more dangerous than Victor. The man with the yellowed-eyes was most likely a werewolf."

  I leaned back, my mouth open. "They exist?"

  "You must become a vampire," he stated.

  "I need to rest." Those were the only words I could say.

  I took off my jacket and laid it on the side of the bench. It wasn't the most comfortable place to rest, but it would do. I stretched out and closed my eyes. Roman stayed there for a short time, probably deciding if he should press the issue. He must have thought it a waste of time because he turned away. The sound of his footsteps disappeared into the tunnels, but before they faded away entirely, he whispered, "Learn your truth."

  I squeezed my eyes tight as if I could block out his words. A werewolf in the city? If that were true, I needed to know if he was dangerous. The first time I had met Hacksaw, he hadn't attacked me, and he had only fought me last night because we were in a boxing ring. I needed to know more about the species.

  I couldn't think about that right now. Victor had to be my priority. So many people were being hurt and killed. These were the consequences of my actions, all because I wouldn't kill. But if I became what Roman wanted, then Amy would be right. A monster really would be living beneath the city.

  Unable to sleep even after lying there for two hours, I got up and prepared to go into Bodian. A deep seated rage had taken hold, and I couldn't shake it. My jaw ached from clenching my teeth and my nerves hummed with anxiety. I had to stop Victor, and I had to do it while remaining true to my father's legacy. Yet every part of me yearned to kill Victor. Had my father struggled with these same feelings?

  Roman told me to learn the truth. If there really was something in my father's past, some flaw in his character, then maybe I wouldn't be so hard on myself. Maybe I should talk to Kristen.

  It was difficult to go into work when I felt I should be out on the streets, but the thought of seeing Emma was too big of a pull. I craved the serenity that surrounded her and hoped some of that would transfer to me.

  I dressed quickly and quietly as to not wake up Oz or Amy. Before I left, I glanced at myself in the mirror. My eyes were no longer swollen, but they were both black, and the cut above my eye still oozed. I probably should've gotten stitches.

  After I bandaged the wound and covered my tattoo, I made the long trek underground until I reached the closest entry point to Bodian. I was twenty minutes early, but the lights were already on. I didn't see anyone in the open space, but sounds echoed from Richard's office.

  I knocked on his door.

  "Come in."

  I opened the door and frowned at Richard's appearance. His hair was disheveled and he had dark circles under his eyes. "Everything okay?"

  He didn't look up at me, only stared down at several scattered papers on his desk. "We're in trouble, Adam."

  I pulled up a chair and sat opposite him at the desk. "What is it?"

  He leaned back in his chair. "Last night at about midnight, Victor's goons showed up at my house. They dragged me to work, insisting I continue working on Victor's project or else. I didn't want to find out what they meant by that, so I did what they said."

  He finally looked up at me. "They asked me a bunch of questions about you." He frowned. "What happened to your face?"

  "I was in a fight," I said quickly. "What did
you tell them?"

  "Only what I know, which isn't much, and I want to keep it that way."

  "What about Roman? How did you explain hiring me?"

  "I said an old colleague called from CCU and recommended you."

  "Surely they asked his name."

  His gaze fell to his desk again. "They did, but I gave them the name of a professor in their science department. They can verify this, but if they speak to the professor they will know I'm lying. I may have to leave town for awhile."

  "That might be a good idea." I glanced down at the scattered papers on his desk. "How far did you get?"

  "Close. Too close. I figured out a way to duplicate the proteins in the blood. You were right about what you said. I spun it down and examined the DNA. From there it wasn't too difficult. They said they would come for my work this morning."

  "Victor must not have it."

  "Or what? What don't I know?" He shook his head. "Never mind. I don't want to know. I'll just do as I'm told and maybe I'll come out of this alive."

  I searched his eyes. He was scared, as he should be.

  "Give me what you have. I'll look through it and make sure everything is correct." I held out my hand.

  It was his turn to search my eyes. Slowly, he gathered up the papers and tapped them on to the desk preparing them into a neat stack. He opened the center drawer of his desk and handed me a zip drive along with the papers. "It's all right here."

  "I'll take care of it." I stood and left the room, the data feeling heavier than it should in my hands. All I needed to do was make one tiny change in the numbers, something seemingly insignificant, but important enough that it would cause a different result from what Victor expected.

  I settled into my workspace and plugged the zip drive into my computer. I was about an hour into the data, when I smelled a familiar, citrus aroma. My whole body relaxed, as if I'd been doused with warm water.

  "Hi, Adam," Emma said and stood next to me, looking over my shoulder. "What are you working on? Looks pretty intense."

  I turned toward her to answer, but she took one look at me and gasped. "What happened?"

  She pushed on my shoulder, making the stool I was sitting on rotate toward her. She bent close to me to inspect my wounds. Very carefully, she pulled the bandage away from my eye.

  "It's nothing, really," I insisted.

  She pressed her warm palm to my cheek. Her gentle touch ignited a fire deep inside me, and once again I had a primal urge to claim her as my own.

  "This is not nothing. You should have stitches on that cut. Wait here."

  I watched her walk away, her hips swaying with every step of her petite feet. Her hair had been tied back in a ponytail like usual, but she wore a red ribbon in it, where she normally wore blue.

  She returned a moment later with a suture kit and alcohol wipes. She rolled over a stool and sat opposite me, up close, until our knees touched.

  "This might hurt," she said and blotted an alcohol wipe to the cut.

  I stared at her face, memorizing everything about it.

  "Do you want to tell me how this happened?" she asked.

  "I was in a fight."

  Her hand hovered above my wound. "You don't seem to be the bar brawler type."

  "I'm not. It was a professional fight."

  She continued blotting. "I didn't know you did that."

  "It was just a one time thing."

  She bit her bottom lip and came up off her chair to examine the wound closer. I stared up at her. Her full lips were inches from mine. I inhaled the sweetness of her exhaled breath.

  "You may not need stitches after all. I bet I can use steri-strips. Unless you want stitches?" She moved away a little and her gaze met mine. Her light blue eyes flashed to my lips, and I just barely heard the whisper of a breath suck in between her teeth.

  "Emma—" I began.

  "Nobody move," a voice boomed from the entryway.

  Emma straightened. I jumped to my feet and whirled around, keeping Emma behind me. In the doorway stood the number two man on my list of bad guys—the Physician.

  23

  The Physician's powerful and primal presence filled the large space. It became even more crowded when Victor walked in behind him followed by four more of his men.

  "Richard!" Victor called. "You better have something for me."

  I glanced toward Richard's office. Through the window I could see him slowly come to his feet. He glanced over at me, and I nodded at him.

  "I've got what you need," I said. Their heads turned in my direction.

  The corners of Victor's mouth turned up, and he walked toward me. "Ah, my prized fighter. Risen from the ashes."

  "You fought at the Devil's Playground?" Emma asked. She didn't hide her shock.

  Victor leaned sideways so he could get a better view of Emma. "Now who's this beauty? I don't think I've noticed you before."

  "I have what you want," I said, trying to draw his attention away from Emma. I could practically smell her fear. No doubt Victor could, too. "Richard gave it to me this morning to finish up."

  "Let's hope it's complete. I'm in a foul mood and don't want any mistakes."

  I typed a few commands into the computer to transfer the data onto the flash drive. While it was downloading, I grabbed the stack of papers off to the side and slid them into a large envelope.

  The four men with Victor circled around us. I paid careful attention to each of their locations. The Physician walked around on the other side of the room, staring over the shoulders of the other six employees. They cowered at his presence.

  I unhooked the flash drive and causally stepped off to the side away from Emma. Victor turned toward me, no longer looking at her.

  "There you go." I handed him everything I had. "If you have any questions about the data, contact me. I can answer your questions."

  "I have some questions for you," Victor said. "I want to know where you went after the fight."

  I kept my heartbeat steady, afraid he might sense any deviation in its beat, and said, "I don't know what you mean. I went to the dressing room to get changed. You saw me."

  "No. I saw you about fifteen minutes after. I don't know what you were doing during that time."

  One of Victor's men, a tall beast of a man with a round, hard belly and thick neck, drew close to Emma.

  I returned my focus to Victor. "Whatever you think I might have done, I didn't. I was in the dressing room the whole time with a killer headache. What's this about?"

  Victor's eyes flashed to the Physician across the room, then returned to me. "I want you working for me."

  The beast man near Emma reached his hand up and ran his fingers through the back of her ponytail. She shivered and stepped away, but the desk prevented her from moving any further. She was trapped.

  "I already have a job," I said.

  Victor chuckled and waved his arms around the room. "Stuck in some stuffy old lab? Who wants to do this kind of work? Sure, it's necessary, and I pay good money for it, but let's face it. This job is for nerds and geeks. You're not one of them. You're a fighter. You've got an animal caged inside you." He rapped his knuckles against my sternum. "I want to free this monster."

  "Like I said last night, I don't want to work for you."

  When beast man dropped his hand to Emma's shoulder, I couldn't control myself any longer.

  "Don't touch her," I growled.

  Victor gazed at Emma, eyeing her longingly, as if she were a fancy car on a showroom floor. "I can see why you like her. She is a beautiful woman."

  He reached out as if to touch the smooth skin on her face.

  "What do you want?" Emma asked, her voice sounding stronger than she looked.

  "What do I want?" he repeated. "I want your boyfriend to work for me, but he keeps telling me no. Nobody tells me no."

  "First of all," she said, "he's not my boyfriend. And second of all, he should be able to decide where he wants to work."

  "Aren't you feisty? I l
ike that." He glanced back at me. "But you're right. He should be able to choose, and I'm going to make that choice very easy for him."

  "Squeeze that pretty neck," Victor ordered beast man.

  "No," I cried and lunged for him but was suddenly restrained by the other two men. I was about to throw them off, when the Physician appeared behind me and pressed his sharpened ring to my neck. I froze. If I got paralyzed again, there would be nothing I could do to help Emma.

  Beast man squeezed Emma's throat until her face turned red and her eyes widened. She clawed at his hands, but to no avail.

  "I'll do it!" I said. "Just let her go."

  "Let me make sure I heard you correctly," Victor said. "You agree to work as one of my bodyguards. I'll need you mostly at night. And to show you I'm not all that bad of a guy, I'll even let you continue to work in this nerdy lab if you want." He paused. "Is that what you are agreeing to?"

  Through gritted teeth, I answered, "Yes."

  "Let her go," Victor said.

  Beast man let go of her neck, and she gasped for air.

  I wanted to rush to her, but I still had a poisoned ring pressed to my neck. Victor stepped close to me. "I expect to see you tonight at seven o'clock at my house. You know where it is. Don't be late. I have an important first job for you."

  He walked past me followed by the rest of the men, including the Physician. As soon as I was free, I hurried to Emma's side.

  She held up her hand, stopping me. "I'm okay, but you… why did you get involved with that crowd? I thought I knew you."

  I searched her eyes, hating to see revulsion swimming inside their watery depths. But she was right. I should never have fought for Victor. I could've snuck into the Devil's Playground and saved Oz somehow. Had part of me wanted to fight? To show Victor what I was capable of?