Paranormal After Dark: 20 Paranormal Tales of Demons, Shifters, Werewolves, Vampires, Fae, Witches, Magics, Ghosts and More

by Rebecca Hamilton

  His phone rang, the annoying tone fraying what was left of his human thoughts. He barred his fangs, hissing as it vibrated along the concrete floor. He snatched the handset, and answered. He knew who was calling. Even though this dog was on a leash, his confining collar didn't stop him from wanting to bite.

  “You disobeyed my direct orders Edric, and I'm curious as to why?”

  The growl resounding in his chest died away as Edric battled to control his emotions. “I'm fucking hungry that's why. I need food.”

  The phone came alive in a hiss. “Then you should have waited, you dumb fuck!”

  Edric’s body screamed. His hunger was its own animal, tearing him apart from the inside. “I need to find pure, or I'll go insane.”

  “I told you to kill the detective and then go after the woman, didn't I? Must I do everything my fucking self?”

  God's anger was no more painful than his hunger. The twin pains were the same to endure. “I can't think... I can't... fucking stand this anymore. The constant hunger. The constant fucking pain!”

  A sigh echoed down the line and his torment eased. “I forget what a child you still are, Edric. I must admit I had hopes for you. High hopes, but it seemed I was mistaken. The one you seek has pure blood, you fucking idiot. That’s why she carries the prophecy!”

  God’s power dropped him to the concrete. He whimpered and scuttled away from the phone until a rock wall prevented him from going any further. He cried and rocked. The intoxicating power he’d been given so freely was ripped from him, its barbed veins shredding his immortal soul as it left him.

  “Now.” God reached through the phone to his vampire ears. “Kill the detective. Do whatever you want with the woman. But I want the child brought to me. Alive. Do I make myself fucking clear?”

  The phone stayed silent while Edric’s body convulsed.

  “I'll take your silence as a yes... don't piss me off again Edric, or I will end you.”

  He screamed as the sting of God's power returned, tearing through his body like a white-hot poker. The gut-wrenching sound halted life around him. Humans and animals alike froze and looked out into the night. The thunderous sound of their frantic heartbeats filled his ears. Whimpering, he curled into a ball on the ground. His crimson tears fell, soaking into the concrete below. He just needed…

  The vision God gave him returned. The detective and the blonde bitch stood inside the derelict house. He could hear the bitch and the detective talking about him. Their whispers of the hunter instead of the hunted disturbed him at first. Garlic, a cross, holy water.... He moved toward them, hovering just out of view, protected by the one-way shield God held in place.

  He stood behind them, mesmerized by the sound of pure blood pulsing through her veins. His hunger threatened to overcome him, but he held on, drawing out the pain. His tongue snaked along his lower lip. He moved closer while she spoke. “This is going to work, Adley. I'm sure of it. Once this sick son-of-a-bitch is gone, then the rest of our life is ours.”

  The detective wrapped his arms around her. Pulling her close, he kissed her hard. His words were muffled by her golden hair. “I love you, Eve.” A growl escaped Edric's gritted teeth as he lay huddled on the cement.

  He wanted to end the detective then. The idea of seeing her terror once again fueled his desire. He held on to that hope as though his pathetic existence depended on it.

  Edric relaxed his corded muscles. He unwound his legs from his curled position and slowly pulled himself up from the ground. With a renewed sense of purpose, desire and hunger drove him from the shadows and he headed toward the town.

  The house had looked bare, as though they hadn’t been there long. Edric knew they’d be moving around. Motels were where they would hide, the cheaper the better. Edric stepped inside the first phone booth he found. He flicked through the directory with lightning speed, tearing pages from their spine. He needed to think like them. Their vulnerability was repulsive and exciting all at the same time. He’d end the detective and take the blonde bitch and her child to God. Maybe God would let him keep her? He’d let her live if he could control himself from sucking her dry. The desire to taste pure blood was a drug, stronger than the need to use his knife. Stronger than the need for sex.

  Mercy told him of the rise of her kind. Vampires blended with the human population, until you could barely distinguish one from the other. Some of them held positions of power. He suspected God was one of them. Vampires were determined to ensure their survival, no matter the cost. So while humans slept, comforted by their illusions of safety and hope, vampires did not. Instead they spent their nights taking over the world.

  There was one problem with this plan. Without the vampires even knowing, humans were rising up to spit in their faces. For centuries, vampires fed on humans. Their hypnotizing gaze left the human weak, but alive, so as not to draw suspicion to their race. Those weakened humans became sick. The venom of a vampire’s bite coursed through their veins, forcing them to their beds with a fever. There once weren’t as many vampires as there were today. But the sickness had been enough to incite panic and the malady named a blood disease. This was before the days of medical science and their diagnosis had been archaic, at best.

  Some humans survived. They recovered slowly, until they became healthier than they’d ever been before. The vampire venom had changed them. It sheathed their human cells with a protective layer, rendering their blood tainted, unfit for vampires. In their ignorance, vampires continued to feast, spreading the disease from home to home, town to town, and city to city. Those humans who bred with survivors passed along this genetic mutation to their offspring. And before the vampire colony knew it, their food source had become almost non-existent.

  Pure blood was a rarity. Those humans who were found were kept on blood farms. They created a food source for the expanding numbers of vampires. These were perilous times for humans. Vampires were determined to succeed in becoming the apex predator by any means necessary. The blonde bitch was one of them, a pure blood. She and her child were an important find. This must be the reason God wanted this child so desperately, although Edric saw a greater need for the blonde bitch rather than the child she carried.

  Edric shoved the pages of the directory in his pocket and stepped out of the phone booth. He caught his reflection in the glass. The left side of his face was sunken and misshapen, hideous. The fucking detective would pay for this. He’d take his time before he tore him apart. Then she will be mine. He’d spread her out on the floor next to her lover and he’d spill his seed deep inside her. This image would be the last the detective would witness. But his violation would be only one of many for her.

  He set out into the night, hunting them from motel to motel. He searched for the dingy lodgings in his vision, the one where they would be waiting. He looked for the detective’s car, peering inside windows. He forced open locks on reception doors. The first two motels were a bust. There was no sign of them and he left quickly, moving onto the next one. The third motel, flashed its ‘no vacancy’ sign. This didn’t deter him. The town was frightened. They’d heard the Abortionist was coming and they were determined to keep him out. He broke the lock on the office door and made his way behind the counter. The vacancy book lay open at the last entry and he scanned the list of names stopping at the vehicle's description—Silver Commodore CMW-896—and its occupants, Adley Scott and Eve Johnson.

  The rooms were listed as 12 B and C. He looked toward the line of the darkened rooms. Edric stopped, trying his best to think, but as always, his hunger won. They were here, asleep in their beds. They had to be. He walked out of the reception area and headed toward their darkened doors. The detective would be first. Once he was out of the way, Edric could get comfortable. There’d be no rush.

  The blinds were closed and the car wasn't parked in the lot. They could have hidden the vehicle somewhere, although something didn’t seem right. He gripped the door handle and pushed down on the lever, breaking the lock. The door sw
ung open and Edric stared at the darkened room. A loud click sounded behind him.

  “Step away from the door, Mister. I don't know whatcha want with these folks, but the police are on the way.”

  Edric let the door spring back before turning. The first thing he noticed was the shiny, double-barrel shotgun aimed at his face. He stared into the eyes of a man he suspected was the motel owner. His torn, white singlet barely stretched across his stomach. But his eyes were all business, determined and deadly. The motel owner's gaze found the deformed side of Edric’s face and winced at the sight of him.

  “Hells bells,” he muttered. The tip of the barrel wavered slightly.

  “Lower the gun and fuck off.”

  “I can't do that. No, sir.” The motel owner steadied his gun. “Now, step away from the room and we’ll sort this out when the police arrive.”

  Edric moved before the fat fuck had a chance to react. One moment he was standing in front of the barrel. The next he stood behind the owner, with his hands gripping his throat. “Now, let’s try this again.”

  He squeezed slightly, just to let this human know who was in control. The soft flesh of the man’s thick neck dispersed under the pressure of his fingers and the grind of tendons and bones travelled up through Edric’s fingers and into his hand. He missed this… missed hurting for pleasure and not because of demands. The man grunted and then thrashed in his arms, throwing himself into a punch. The man used his round body as a lever, pushing Edric away. He let the man go and stepped back, his blows swinging wide.

  Edric made no effort to move as the barrel of the shotgun lifted toward him. He expected the blast, but the shards of metal that ripped through his body still hurt like hell. He stared down at the hole in his stomach and his torn, bloodied shirt before he lifted his gaze. He drew his lips back and spat. “That. Fucking. Hurt.”

  The wound in his gut burned like fire, the smell of gunpowder and his own seared flesh filled the air. The fat fuck stood there, mouth gaping, staring at the huge fucking hole in his body slowly knit together. “You should be dead…. What… are you?”

  Edric ignored the questions and took a small step forward. “Look at me.”

  The motel owner tore his gaze away from Edric’s stomach to his face. Edric moved again, his movements slow, shepherding the man inside the room. The motel owner staggered and stepped back.

  Darkness swallowed the human as he stumbled through the door marked 12B. Edric followed him inside and switched on the overhead light. The room was lit in a dusty yellow hue. The man glanced toward the office as Edric closed the door behind him, and then looked quickly away. Who did he look for? A wife… a family?

  Edric couldn’t help but smile. “I didn’t come here to kill you, only to find the detective and the woman he’s with. I’ll stand back and let you walk out of this room, as soon as you tell me where they’ve gone.”

  The man tried to speak, but all that came out was unintelligible wheeze. He stopped, swallowed and tried again. “You’re gonna kill these people if I tell you.”

  Edric kept his voice calm, his movements passive. “The detective and I are old friends and I wanted to catch up with him for old times’ sake.”

  “I don’t believe you. You mean this girl harm. Why else would they run?”

  “Listen to me!” Edric snarled and sprang forward. “Tell me where they are, or I’ll gut you like a goddamn fish.”

  Edric knew as soon as he said the words, his threat was wasted. His determined gaze was old school. “I served for my country in Vietnam, lost my mates, lost myself there for a while as well. So I made peace with death a long time ago.”

  Edric dropped his head slightly, his voice no more than a growl. “You might be willing to face your death, but is your wife? Your family? I’ll break them slowly. I’ll make them beg and scream before I kill them and then I’ll kill you.”

  The motel owner paled, and the glassy sheen of anger in his eyes dulled as Edric drew out his knife. “Tell me what I want to know.”

  “My wife, she means nothin’ to you.” The man lifted the shotgun and pumped another shell into the chamber. “And you won’t kill her if I’m already dead.”

  Edric moved fast as the human swung the muzzle around. But it wasn’t fast enough. The motel owner stared at the office as he aimed at his own chest and pulled the trigger.

  The blast tore through fat and flesh. Edric could only shove the muzzle out of the path of his heart. The shot tore into his side instead. The motel owner fell to the ground, his shirt black and bloody. He tried to stifle his screams by clamping shut his mouth, but the sound would still travel.

  “You stupid fuck!” Edric screamed. He spun as a light in the office building illuminated the closed blinds. He turned back to the fat piece of shit rolling on the ground. It’s been a while since he broke someone for just the hell out of it….

  Edric reached down and gripped the screaming man by the base of his neck. He tore open the door to the room and dragged the man across the parking lot and toward the brightly lit office. He’d get the information he wanted—even if it took him all night.

  Chapter 30

  Eve

  EVE STARED AT the emails scrolling across the screen. Emails from someone she didn't know, but who seemed to know a lot about her. They were dated well before Adley first picked her up. Well before the murderer had come for her. Eve’s mind was filled with questions. How and why?

  You must bring her to the mountain Lythe. Here, the Family will protect her. She didn’t know of any Family and she had none of her own. When she focused on these words, she felt no fear or caution, which was strange. Her lack of anxiety concerned her. Eve glanced at the name. This Rashda seemed almost desperate to get her to this mountain. How could someone she didn’t know, know so much about her? She glanced up, her gaze following Adley as he hastily repacked their bags. How could this Rashda know so much about him?

  “Okay, let’s go.” Adley hauled their bags and his laptop to the car and threw them in the boot while she made her way around the car and climbed awkwardly into the passenger’s seat. Eve could feel Adley’s fear and it called out her own. As he drove, he told her what had happened. She listened to him over the gunning of the motor, although she sensed he left out most of what happened out of his story. But the ending, he didn’t leave out the ending.

  His brutal battle with Edric had been cut short by the sound of sirens. Although Adley didn’t say the words, she could tell the arrival of the police had been the only thing that saved his life. Adley recounted how he shot Edric. How he emptied his gun into the side of Edric’s face and still the killer remained, not just alive, but standing. Adley’s voice sounded hollow, his words reduced to a whisper.

  “I couldn’t argue with what I saw with my own eyes, what I knew in my gut. The smug bastard was tormenting me, urging me to say the fucking word so I’d know once and for all how… untouchable he is.”

  Eve kept her eyes straight ahead as they weaved in and out of the residential streets. Adley needed get this out of his system, he needed to get what happened right in his own head and if she said a word, she’d frighten him off.

  “He wouldn’t leave me alone, digging and digging, getting under my skin. I had to say the word for myself more than anything. I’ve been trying to find a way around what I knew he was. The puncture wounds. His change of MO. It didn’t make sense. It was like he’d changed, not just his victims, but his entire life. I knew as soon as I said it, that it was true. Fucking vampire, do you believe that?”

  He turned to stare at her in the darkened car… “Yeah, I guess you do.”

  They drove the same street three times before Adley turned the car down a narrow driveway that led to the back of an old house. The hopelessness of their situation crept up like the cold to blanket her.

  If Edric possessed even half of the abilities written in books, or displayed on screen, then Eve knew it was only a matter of time before her stalker found them. And when he did... Eve gla
nced at Adley, forcing the branding of his profile on her memory. How much longer do we have together?

  “I'm sorry,” he murmured, turning his head to give her a look she felt, though she couldn’t actually see his eyes. “I know this isn't anywhere near good enough for you or the baby. But it’s the best I could find.”

  She was thankful for the darkness in that moment. Heat crept its way into places that took her breath away. The memory of his lips spread like a fever. Her body was weighed down by her son, but her heart soared. She wanted to reach out to him, to touch him, but she was a coward. The silence lasted for a heartbeat, a precious heartbeat and was gone.

  “I don’t want you going in until I’ve made sure it’s safe. I'll get the bags and take them inside. Then I’ll come back for you, okay?”

  “Okay. Wait, Adley.” He turned toward her in the dark. She could feel his gaze searching for her, needing her. If she angled her head forward, she could almost brush his lips with her own. The memory of that moment today felt so fresh, so real... and so wrong for him. She didn’t need him to love her out of pity—or worse—obligation. She muttered softly. “Nothing.”

  He paused before stepping out of the car. “Lock the doors behind me and sound the horn if you see anything at all.”

  He didn’t wait for her to answer. He shot out of the car, leaving her alone with her thoughts. She could feel his confusion. One minute, it seemed as though he wanted her just as much as she wanted him, and then… nothing. Like a tap. Off, on, off, on. And she was left hanging, that perfect world still out of reach.

  The jabs in her side increased. Her baby pressed harder, searching. It seemed it wasn’t only Eve who craved the touch of this man, or felt the need to belong to him. Vulnerability wasn't weighed on the fragility of the future, or what she had to gain, or to lose, but from the hurt she carried from her past. Pain built on pain created a fortress inside of Adley and she guessed his walls had been built to last. Before, she would’ve given up and walked away without a fight. Now, her need and her son’s need prevented that. She wouldn’t… no, she couldn’t allow that to happen.