Padillas walked over to the wall where he displayed his collection of ancient swords. Grabbing a sheathed katana from its hooks, he turned and walked back to the body. The vampire pulled the long blade from its shark skin sheath. He admired the razor sharp blade for a moment. Then he took the handle into a two handed grip and stood over the body. He raised the sword over his head slowly, then slashed it down in a blur of metal. The blade struck Manny’s neck, slicing through muscle and bone. The head rolled off on the carpet, as a small puddle of blood flowed onto the floor.
“Now you can serve the master in his home, Manny,” said Padillas, bending down to wipe the fine blade on the dead man’s shirt. “In Hell, Manny. In Hell.”
Padillas resheathed the sword and returned it to its hooks on the wall. He then opened the door to the hallway and stuck his head out.
“Jake, isn’t it,” he said as he saw a man coming out of one of the bedrooms opening on the hall.
“Yes sir,” said Jake, hurrying over to Padillas. “What can I do for you sir.”
Padillas opened the door wide and gestured for Jake to come into the room. The man obeyed, walking through the doorway and coming to a stop as soon as he entered the room, his mouth opened wide.
“I want you to take out the trash,” said Padillas, gesturing to the head and body of Manny. “Make sure that it gets dumped someplace where no one will find it.”
Jake nodded his head, looking wide eyed at the boss.
“And get a carpet cleaner and go over the rug,” said the boss. “Use something that will get blood out.”
“Anything else, sir,” said Jake in a quivering voice.
“You don’t have anything to worry about, Jake,” said Padillas, putting an arm around the man’s shoulder and chuckling when Jake flinched. “As long as you work diligently for me and don’t ever fail me we’ll get along fine.”
The man nodded, his brow furrowed as his face assumed a worried expression.
“And I need that girl Manny got for me tomorrow night. You can send her away and ask her back this evening. You got that Jake.”
The man nodded again, looking back at the body.
“Good man,” said Padillas. “I’ll leave you to it. I’m going to get a little work done in my bedroom. Let me know when it’s presentable in here again.”
* * *
Lucinda could feel the presence of the new vampire in the house. She was sure that she could mask her own presence from one so young. There was no fear of Marcus this night. It will take him more than three days to recover from the burning of holy fire that he underwent, she thought. He would be laired up in darkness for at least a month, and she would be well out of this city and working another by the time he was ready to get back on her trail.
The vampire faded into the shadows as a figure passed along the fence line. Not that she feared any of his guards this night. But they might raise an alarm that would be inconvenient for her purposes. And the police, or more importantly the FBI, might come, and she would have a situation on her hands that she wanted to avoid.
Lucinda brought her hands into the air and concentrated on some of the many small minds that ran through the darkness. She could catch glimpses through their eyes as she gave a mental call. Their squeaks resounded through her ears, getting louder each moment, until…
“Fucking rats,” yelled one of the guards, scrambling back from the fence as dozens of the big sewer rats came under the wooden slats. There was more yelling from the yard as the large creatures ran into the yard.
“Don’t shoot them, you idiot,” yelled another voice. “You want to bring the cops.”
“I don’t want them getting on me,” said the first man.
“Then pick up a shovel or something and start banging on them.”
Lucinda smiled as she listened to the chaos she had caused. Enough to keep their attention focused on the ground. She raised her arms into the air and transformed. Flapping over the yard she looked down to see a trio of men swinging away with blunt objects at the rats, missing much more often that hitting. None of them looked up as she flew to the house and landed in some bushes that were in the shadows.
Lucinda transformed back to human form and listened at the window she was nearest to. Hearing nothing for a minute or so, she pulled at the window, breaking the latch with her unnatural strength. Having been in the house before she had no problem with entering the dark room. She soon found herself in a bedroom that was silent as death.
Lucinda took a minute to listen at the door to the bedroom. She could hear distant voices, and a couple of laughs. Probably enjoying the commotion with the men outside battling rats, she thought. And far enough away to not notice her as she slipped out into the hallway.
While she was trying to decide which door to try on this unfamiliar wing of the house a door opened suddenly and a man walked out. He stopped in his tracks and stared at her for a moment. Recognition dawned in his eyes and his mouth opened to let out a yell.
Lucinda jumped at the man she knew as Jake, her torturer, extending the fingers of her left hand into talons. The claw like hand hit the man in the throat, sinking though the soft flesh and into the windpipe below. With a quick jerk she pulled the trachea from the neck. Blood spurted as the man tried to gurgle the yell he had not had time to get off. His eyes widened as his hands went to the ruin of his throat. With legs wobbling the man sank to the carpet, then fell face first to the floor.
One piece of vermin taken care of, she thought, looking down coldly at the slack body. She felt a touch of hunger as she saw the carpet around the head darken with the flow of blood. She ignored it, knowing that the blood of the lifeless was of no use to her. Stopping for a moment she listened. She could still hear the voices from the living room area down the hall. They were still laughing. Meaning that they hadn’t heard her murder their compatriot. Now to find Padillas and take care of this matter once and for all.
Even though it hadn’t really been her fault that Padillas had been created, she still felt some responsibility for making him a bigger monster than he had been. She had been trapped and starved, and the only food offered to her had been the crime boss. For his own reasons of course. There was no way she could have resisted the hunger in that situation. But if she hadn’t been as she was he wouldn’t have come back.
Moving down the hall she noted that one of the doors seemed a little more ornate than the others. Sniffing the air she could scent the blood in the room, a slightly different odor than that in the hallway. Putting her ear against the door she could hear the rustling of papers. She placed her hand on the knob and turned it quietly, then pushed the door open and jumped into the room. A man looked up from a desk, a frown on his face.
“I’ve come for you, Padillas,” said Lucinda as she pulled the door closed behind her. “Your bid at eternity ends this night, before it really begins.”
* * *
George Padillas looked up as the door opened, slightly angered at being disturbed. He had been going over the combined books of several of his legitimate operations, seeing what money he could divert into the clandestine, and more profitable areas. His eyes widened as he caught sight of the woman standing in the doorway. She pulled the door closed behind her and stood there, staring at the man.
Padillas felt like his soul was withering under the gaze of the woman. He tried to open his mouth, to say something that was both brave and conciliatory. His vocal cords seemed to fail him and he stared into those burning eyes.
“Cat got your tongue, Padillas?” said the woman, walking toward the desk in a slow, seductive manner. “I would have thought that you had a lot to tell me.”
Padillas reflexively cleared his throat, then found that his vocal cords were working again.
“I had ordered that you would be let go,” he said in a halting voice. “If you hadn’t have broken out you would have been released, along with the priest.”
“You’re lying, of course,” said Lucinda, her eyes locking Padillas in
place. “I can tell when you are lying to me, so you had better tell the truth.”
“I’ll make you my partner,” said Padillas, feeling paralyzed in the chair. He tried to move his hands, to gesture along with his speech. But nothing seemed to work besides his mouth and eyes. “I’ll give you a piece of the action. I’ll even bring you someone to feed on, every night.”
“So you think I am like you,” said Lucinda, her eyes darting around the room, then focusing back on the newly made vampire.
Padillas could feel his muscles unlock when she took her eyes off of him. He started to make a move, then froze in place as her eyes came back to him and her burning stare ate into his soul.
“You were more evil than I before you turned,” she said. “Now you are ten times more evil. Did you really think I would allow one like you to survive? To spread misery across the planet over the centuries. No, George Padillas. You end tonight, as you should have ended days ago.”
Lucinda turned her gaze away from her prey for a moment, letting her eyes roam the room. Padillas felt his will return for a moment. He moved his fingers, then his arms. The woman turned her head from him and he felt that he had control of himself again. But for how long? There was a gun in his desk drawer, but he was sure that it would not even inconvenience the more powerful vampire. He looked at the wall where his ancient weapons were hanging, his gaze focusing on the katana that he had used to take Manny’s head. A thought went through his mind. Hadn’t he heard that a vampire could be killed by taking its head?
To think was to act, and George Padillas sprung to his feet and ran to the wall at high speed. In microseconds the blade was off the wall and in his hands. He slid the katana from the sheath, dropping the shark skin cover to the floor and grasping the sword’s handle in both hands. Spinning on his heel as he brought the blade up over his head, he moved toward the woman who had turned toward him with the same speed he was using.
Padillas looked down, keeping his eyes from meeting those of Lucinda. He could see enough of her body to know where to strike. He brought the blade down, glancing up at the last moment to true his aim. The blade struck the side of her neck and cut in. Padillas felt himself fall slightly off balance as the blade met almost no resistance. Then the sword was through, and Padillas looked up at the face of the woman with a smile on his own.
Lucinda looked at him with a slight smile on her lips. Padillas waited for her head to fall, wondering why it was still on her neck. He could not even see the wound that must be on there. The wound that had to have been created by the passage of her blade through the neck. His eyes widened in shock as the woman shook her head.
“You should have asked Father O’Connor more about vampires, Padillas,” she said, her eyes locking on his. “We are nearly invulnerable at night. Normal weapons cannot kill us while we are at the height of our powers.”
“But,” he said, feeling his fingers weaken and the handle of the katana fall to the floor. “I thought taking the head…”
“During the day, yes,” said the female vampire. “This is not a movie, George Padillas. We do not explode into dust when a blade cuts through our neck, or a stake goes through our chest. At night weapons are nothing to us.”
She took a step toward Padillas. He tried to move away, but his feet felt like they were rooted to the floor.
“I created you, George Padillas,” she said, reaching out with her hands and laying them on his shoulders. “Therefore I control you. You are mine to do with as I please.”
Padillas wanted to shrug the hands off of his shoulders. To run from the room and get away from the female. But she was right. As long as she was in his presence she controlled him.
“There is one weapon that above all others is deadly to us during the night,” she said. “Do you know what that weapon is, George Padillas? Can you guess how I am going to end you?”
Padillas felt overwhelmed with the fear that she was making him feel. He wanted to scream for help, but his mind was a prisoner of his own body.
“We are the only weapon that can destroy us during the time of darkness,” she said, baring her fangs. “A vampire can destroy a vampire, like this.”
Lucinda slowly moved her teeth close to Padillas’ neck. She breathed a cold breath on his skin, then moved her fangs across the skin. Padillas wanted to pull his neck back, but he couldn’t. Then he felt the sharp pain of the fangs piercing his flesh. They withdrew and the soft lips of the woman covered the wound, her mouth sucking strongly.
Padillas could feel the lifeblood flowing from his body into the woman who was bent over him. And with it the life force that was animating his body. He could feel some of his will returning while out of her gaze. He tried to pull away, using his strength against hers. He might as well have been a child struggling to get away from a strong adult. She was draining his strength, growing stronger as he grew weaker.
Padillas’ vision started going red as she continued to suck, pulling blood and life from him. This can’t be it, he thought. I was supposed to live forever. This can’t be it. Then darkness enveloped him, and he knew that he would not rise again from this darkness.
* * *
Lucinda let the body drop to the floor and stood over it, staring down at the man who wanted to live forever and become the greatest crime boss in the world. Why would anyone choose this existence? she thought. Why would anyone want to become a creature of the night?
She shook her head as she turned away from the dead meat that had been George Padillas. She had finally taken down the target. Another would rise to take his place. They always did. But maybe the next one would look over his shoulder, and wonder when death was coming for him.
Lucinda lifted the window of the room, opening it to the outside. She stepped back and spread her arms, willing the transformation. Within seconds the dark form of the large bat flew through the window and out into the night.
Epilogue
The Magic Kingdom was hours closed, as was MGM Studios and Sea World. But in some parts of the Central Florida Region the night was a time of continued business.
Lucinda followed the siren call through the night, walking the streets of Orlando. Where the police were heading was normally a place of interest for her. She could see the flashing of strobes on the windows. There were a cluster of police cars, men and women in uniform moving between the buildings while others kept the growing crowd away.
“Nothing to see here, people,” said one of the officers, holding her hands up.
“What happened?” asked Lucinda of an elderly black man standing near the front of the crowd.
“Another prostitute killed,” said the man, looking back at her. “Most likely by her pimp.”
“That happen often around here?” she asked.
“You not from around here, are you?” said the elderly man, looking over Lucinda. She was dressed respectfully tonight in slacks and a sweater, not playing the part of a whore this night.
“No,” she admitted, shaking her head. “Just visiting family.”
“Well the scum pimps kill their girls all the time,” said the man. “Or a John kills them. Not a good business to be in if you want to live a long life.”
“No,” said Lucinda, watching as an ambulance pulled up on the other side of the street and the medics got out. “But neither is pimping or drug dealing.”
She watched as the gurney was taken from the back of the ambulance and set up by the medics. It was then wheeled toward the alley. Lucinda allowed her eyes to roam the building after the gurney disappeared from sight. She could see many faces at windows, looking out on the frightening scene. She could feel the fear in the great majority of them. But there was one face that stood out.
Lucinda focused on the angry face of a big black man, scowling out at the scene. She could feel the rage radiating out of him. His eyes turned as he scanned the street. For a moment his eyes locked with Lucinda’s, and she could feel the lust breaking through the anger. And she could guess what he was thinking
. Someone to replace the one he had killed that night.
Bingo, she thought, a predatory smile coming to her face. She would meet with him, tonight. Though it would not go as he expected. Not at all.
THE END
About the Author
Doug Dandridge is an ex-professional student with degrees from Florida State University and The University of Alabama, and coursework in Psychology, Biology, Geology, Physics, Chemistry, Anthropology and Nursing. Doug has interest in all of the fantastic, including science fiction, fantasy and horror, as well as all eras of military history. Doug is a prolific writer, having completed 22 novel length manuscripts. He is still seeking a major publishing contract, but has decided that self- publishing is the way to go at this time. His work can be found on Amazon and Smashwords, as well as his own website. Doug lives with his four cats in Tallahassee, Florida, and currently has no social life, as he is too busy writing around his work schedule.
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