Blood for blood

by Tobi Grim

  Good question. Shit. Why hadn’t she been able to… of course. Brianna must have used some of her skin or hair or nails or blood…. The blood and skin under her finger nails from the fight. Fuck. She’d made this specifically for her. Very, very against Rule. Sledge pulled out a cloth of some kind and placed it against her arm, folding her arm in towards herself to apply pressure to it.

  “She made a fucking spell curse just for me. Wouldn’t hurt anyone else either. And… fuck. I should have been able to fucking feel it, but I didn’t. Very bad shit. Very fucking bad.”

  Lupa started pacing, still holding her arm against her chest and throwing her smoke on the ground, crushing it. “All this over some fucking guy? Who even fucking does that! Do you want a drink?” Lupa didn’t wait for a response, just went into the kitchen and poured them both a vodka, “She thinks she’s doing this for love, but if love makes you that fucking crazy, why would you fucking want it? You think this is rational fucking behaviour?”

  Sledge opened his mouth, then closed it again and picked up the glass. He tipped the drink back and placed it on the bench, Lupa did the same and refilled both their glasses again.

  “And another fucking thing, it’s against the Magickal Rule to use fucking spell curses against any Organization employee, especially one like this, but more than that it’s the second fucking time that she’s done it to me! I should go over to her place and spell curse every single fucking door in her house. Curse that bitch’s whole fucking world dammit! No… no that’d be stooping to her level. Fucking psycho bitch. I’ll fucking report her for this. Slasher will not be fucking happy with her. The whole damn Organization won't be fucking happy with her! She could be executed for such behaviour! Oh ho, then where would she fucking be, dead that’s where! And you can't be with someone when you’re dead… Though I suppose she wasn’t expecting you to be with me tonight… She could have killed me…” she looked at Sledge, stopping her angry rant, “If you hadn’t have been there... I could have actually died… Thank you.”

  Sledge shrugged, peering down at his drink with a slight smile, “Nah, tough little witch like you woulda been fine.”

  Lupa smiled at him, “Maybe. Thanks though. I fucking mean it. Good thing you agreed to come up for a drink, hey?”

  “Yeah, guessin’ so. So what’s I callin’ you? Can’t keep callin’ you witchy girl…”

  “Lupa… oh. Um, Little Red. Either one. I don’t mind.” She rarely gave her actual name to strangers, but after he’d just looked after her like that… she poured them both another drink and lit another smoke.

  “Wanna sit down?” Lupa raised her eyes to him, Sledge responded with a shrug, so she went and sat down, bringing the bottle with her. “So how strong is your magick? I mean… I know Hammer hides his, has he hidden yours too? No way would someone without magick in their blood have known.”

  He sat down on the couch with her, she heard the springs protest against his weight, but ignored it. Waiting to see what he’d say. “Yeah, he teachin’ me how to hide it kinda. I know how to do some of the stuff his mother teachin’, not like him though. And I aint got much magick, just… enough.” He shrugged, staring down at his fingernails, “I never really knowin’ why I need it though.”

  Lupa looked at him closely, but not too closely… “Can I see?”

  Sledge’s eyes wandered over her face slowly. He opened his mouth, appearing as though he was going to say yes, then shook his head. Fishing a packet from his jeans he averted his eyes and lit smoke. She leaned back, staring at the wall and downed the rest of her drink. Figured.

  “I aint… supposed to. Hammer’s my boss, he teachin’ me and keepin’ me safe. I aint supposed to, guessin’ you could say it’s Hammer’s Magickal Rule.”

  Made sense. She nodded with a smile. Hammer probably didn’t want people finding out about any magick in his… gang? If The Organization was watching his place too closely… well, she could be in the shit too. Sure The Organization, just like everyone, didn’t give a shit about drug dealers, or junkies, but they did give a shit if one of their employees were to get involved.

  Lupa sighed. “Shit, today has been nonstop,” she said, putting her feet up on the messy tabletop, “Will you be around when we attack the nest on Friday?”

  “Thinkin’ so. If Hammer be there watchin’, I be there too.”

  “Cool.” She smiled at him. “So um… Hammer gave me some pills… that are supposed to help increase my power… you ever tried them? I don’t really know what the fuck to do. A second opinion would be cool…”

  “I tried ‘em, anyone with magick did, some us feelin’ more magick, some of us feelin’ nothin’. Worked for me in a way, aint never felt so crazy. But I aint likin’ it. Never felt so outa control. Can’t be knowin’ what will happen to you, but I think don’t try it in the middle of a fight. If it makin’ you not right in the head, could be dangerous.”

  Lupa watched the smoke drifting up from her cigarette. He had a very good point. She was glad she thought to ask him. But she still didn’t know what the fuck to do. Probably best to just do nothing at all.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “They are your sisters, your brothers, protect them…”

  Lupa sat in the office waiting room at HQ. Slasher stuck her head out of her door and called her in smiling. “Hey Little Red, thought we were going to meet tomorrow? I’m still sorting out teams, I’ve got three on board so far, and four Protectors as lookouts… but that’s not why you’re here, is it?”

  “It’s Brianna.”

  “Shit. What’s she done now?”

  “Two things actually. Well… three, but two yesterday. She was spying on me at Demon’s, Grey rocked up and we were talking, then I saw her so I said we should leave, she followed us out and… well, I hit her. She had a herb stick with her, she tried to spell curse me again, so I kinda broke her nose.” Slasher frowned but didn’t say anything. “Anyway, Grey took me home, then… I went out. And when I got back she’d put a very specific spell curse on my door. But she ran off so…. She’s fucking lost it, Slash. She was watching my house the other night too, I thought she was going to leave me alone after I confronted her, but it’s escalating. She’s fucking crazy.”

  “Shit, Little Red.” Slasher looked worried, “Shane came in yesterday afternoon and said he was worried about her. Apparently she’s completely blocked him out. They’ve been bonded for a bit over twelve years now, and he was saying that he can’t even find her anymore, she’s managed to severe their bond somehow. He said it started just after the nest… explosion. Shane thought that she was pissed about missing out on a big raid, but now he thinks it’s something more. He thinks that’s when she started becoming obsessed with you and the whole Grey thing.”

  “Why the fuck is she coming after me!?” Lupa groaned and leaned her head back.

  “We haven’t been able to figure that out. Shane thought it was the break up that made her lose it, but now he’s wondering if there was something more going on even before that he didn’t know about. I think she’s probably had something happen completely unrelated to you, and now she’s obsessed with you as a way to ignore whatever is actually going on.” Slasher looked really worried. Fuck. What the hell was going on?

  “But Lupa, you need to tell me straight away if you see her again. I will have to report this to Central. These are some serious offenses. Brianna is quite a strong witch, she scored an 16 in her spell casting abilities. She could really hurt you, especially if she’s managed to get a hold of your blood or skin or something. I don’t want you to risk it, I know you can handle yourself, but if she’s lost it as much as you and Shane believe, then there’s no telling what she will do. I will have to contact her father too, he’s the mayor of Black City. Not that it means anything down here, but he won't want people knowing, so he should help us find her quick.”

  Lupa nodded. “Shit, hey. For all her numbers I managed to kick her ass though.”

  “And doesn’t that strike yo
u as strange?”

  Lupa rolled her eyes. Sure, all Hunters should be able to hold themselves, but pathetic, slobbering girls didn’t really have a clear enough thought pattern to do that… “Ok. Well… I’ll be back in tomorrow with Hawk. I promised I’d go round to his today so I better get going.”

  “Ok, Little Red, and I mean it, if you see her at all, call me straight away.”

  “Yeah, yeah. Bye Slash.”

  Lupa walked down the long hallway, not looking at anyone passing by in the eye. She wondered what Sledge was up to now… he stayed til she was pretty drunk then left when he got a call from Hammer. Was he still working on whatever job he was called out to? Or was he back at Hammer’s sleeping in one of those big beds… fuck, why was she even thinking about that?

  ⃝

  Lupa knocked on the door of Dameon’s place, tucking her hair behind her ear, still feeling strange about its length… she’d need to trim her bangs too, they were pissing her the fuck off. Whatever, when she had the time.

  “Hey, Little Red, come on in.” Dameon opened the door for her whilst he pulled on a shirt.

  “Hey, Hawk, how’s it going?” She asked, stepping through.

  “Not bad, Gran wants to talk to you. She’s in the lounge. I was making coffee, you want one?”

  Lupa nodded and walked into the lounge room. Marietta was sitting in her armchair, smoking her thick cigar. She was wearing a lot of purple today, Lupa wondered how she could move with so much material covering her…

  “Hello, Little Red hunter girl, sit sit, we have things we need to discuss.” Lupa sat down and nervously glanced over at the old woman. What the fuck did they have to discuss? Had Dameon been bitching about her or something? “I’m getting to it, dear, don’t look so nervous. Ah, Dameon, thank you.”

  Dameon handed his Gran and Lupa each a coffee and then went to fetch his own. “Wait, grandson of mine, you go sit in the kitchen a moment would you? Little Red and I have some womanly things to discuss. We’ll call you back when we are ready.” Dameon raised his eyebrows and looked from one to the other, then shrugged and left the room shaking his head.

  “Alright, now you won't have to feel uncomfortable about what I need to say,” Gran took a sip of her coffee and placed it on the arm of her chair, closing one eye and looking straight at her, “I had a dream about you, two nights gone, that troubled me very much. And then this night gone I had another dream which has me worried for you.”

  Lupa pulled out her cigarettes and lit one, waiting for the woman to continue. “The first dream I had, I saw a man with very long hair, and he was enveloping you in a dark magick. He was a very powerful witch, I could feel his magick covering me like nothing I have felt before. Pulling you away from a clear path, into a forest filled with wolves-actual wolves, dear, not werewolves- and when I woke, I felt like I was suffocating, does this mean anything to you?”

  Lupa shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Surely Marietta couldn’t have fucking seen Hammer? Shit. Didn’t really mean anything though… did it? “Um, could be. Sounds like someone I know, maybe.”

  Gran took a long puff of her cigar, blowing the smoke into the air and closing both her eyes. Lupa waited, as the old woman opened them again and stared at her hard. “I feel this man is dangerous, it was a very obvious dream. I want you to be careful, dear, very careful. His sex magick may be fun, but you are not from the same bloodline of witches as he, it may have some side affects you cannot control.”

  Lupa could feel her face heating up. How fucking embarrassing, she hoped the woman wasn’t planning on sharing this information with Dameon. Oh hell, she really hoped that!

  “Moving on, the dream I had last night was of a different man, a big strong man. He had tears in his eyes, and he was crying for someone very special lost to him.”

  Lupa’s heart started pounding, her fingers shaking. Was she talking about Tank? Was something going to happen? Something fucking bad… like… someone else dying…? Fuck.

  “Yes, I fear the same thing, dear, I fear it like I fear for you. In the dream he was on his knees, and he was trying to save you from drowning, he was trying but his grief had rooted him to the spot. Something very powerful is after you, Little Red, and I fear that it may catch you should you pick the wrong path.”

  “I… shit.” Lupa wasn’t sure what to say. What the fuck was she supposed to do?

  “I haven’t had dreams like this in a very long time, dear, and that is why I knew I needed to tell you. My Sight used to be very strong, when I was a much younger woman, but my pills and my age have dulled it to the point where I very rarely experience it. But these came to me, as a warning, or perhaps a premonition. But, sweet child, the future is never decided, and now that you know, perhaps it will change. Although I cannot be certain of either.”

  “What do you think I should do?” she nibbled her lip.

  “I cannot be sure, as these are not necessarily actual images of what will, or could happen precisely. I worry for you, and I worry that you are keeping things from my grandson. No, no, I understand it, a woman has many a thing she wants to keep to herself, I do not begrudge you that, but I worry that these things may be putting you in danger. And if he does not know of them, he cannot help you should something… go wrong.”

  “I… know. And I do appreciate your concern it’s all very… strange in my life right now. But I’m sure we will be ok. I don’t really want to share… some things with him. Not because I don’t trust him, but… well… you know.”

  “Of course, dear. But you’ve heard what I have to say, and I do ask you be careful.”

  Lupa nodded. “I will be. And I’ll tell Dameon anything I feel could be important. I promise. He’s my Protector and there are somethings we need to… talk about I guess.”

  “You choose, Little Red, I’m not telling you what to do, and I’m not trying to guilt you into anything. Now, shall we call the boy back before he starts to wonder what we’re talking about and comes to spy on us?”

  Lupa smiled, as Marietta called Dameon back in. “Everything ok?” he asked, an amused smile on his face.

  “Sure is.” Lupa smiled. Feeling slightly uneasy about practically lying to his face. Everything certainly wasn’t fucking ok.

  ⃝

  “Seriously? She put a fucking spell curse on your door?” Dameon yelled.

  They were sitting in Frenchy’s, Lupa had wanted to tell Dameon the full story on Brianna as she hadn’t had a chance at his place. “Shh, yes. I’ve reported her now though, she’s fucking lost it hey. Apparently she’s cut contact with her Protector too, and he’s worried about her.”

  “Shit. Fucking crazy witch. Slasher better be fucking looking for her. Shit. Good thing Hammer did wanna see you then.”

  Lupa shifted in her seat a little. Yes, she had told him about the visit and the pills, but she still felt uncomfortable now that she knew his Gran knew about the magick sex… “Yeah, Sledge was a champ. Fuck, Hammer must get off on naming his men after himself or something hey. Poor guy.”

  “Mmm… you worried Brianna will show up to your place again?”

  “She could. It wouldn’t fucking surprise me, but I’ll just call Slasher and then beat her fucking face in again. If she does, she’ll be in a world of trouble.”

  “And what if she has another spell curse waiting for you? You probably shouldn’t go home alone…”

  Lupa sipped her drink and frowned. She highly doubted Brianna would be stupid enough to try the same thing twice, but then again… she wasn’t exactly being a fucking rational witch right now. Shit, he was probably right.

  “Yeah maybe. Fucking hate this, why does she have to be so fixated on me? And what’s so damn great about Grey that warrants the possible loss of her job, or if she fucking spell curses me again she could very well be executed. Shit, she’s looking at that possibility already.”

  “Do you think Grey has anything to do with this?”

  “How?” Lupa was surprised by the suggestion, why the
fuck would Grey have anything to do with it?

  “I dunno. Think he might have egged her on or something? Not on purpose but like… I dunno.” He rubbed his thumb down his chin.

  “What? Do you know something? Dameon, you always fucking do that when you have something more you want to say.”

  He stopped, dropping his hand to his glass, he gave her a small sheepish grin. “Ok, look. It’s not anything major, but he dated this girl a few years ago, and when he broke things off she went nuts for a while. Not this kinda nuts, but still hell obsessive and shit, y’know? She followed him around, she would crack the shits at any girl who talked to him… stuff like that.”

  Lupa sipped her drink, lighting a smoke absentmindedly. Was Grey doing something to keep girls obsessed with him? Seemed unlikely. There was magick for it, sure, but if The Organization found out he could be seriously punished, it wouldn’t be fucking worth it… would it? He was a good looking guy, surely he didn’t need magick to get laid.

  “Doesn’t make sense,” she said finally. “If he was using magick then he could get in some serious shit, and who would risk it just for a fuck?”

  “I never said magick,” Dameon said, lighting a smoke, “But what if he like… gets into their heads or something? Plenty of guys do that. I’m just saying, maybe we could talk to Grey and he’d know how to calm the crazy bitch down.”

  Lupa nodded. It was a very good point. As far as she knew, plenty of guys played girls to get what they wanted, and then were surprised when the chicks went nuts when they called it off or just stopped calling all together. Or maybe that only happened in movies. Either way… if Brianna was already having problems, could that have pushed her over the edge?

  “Anyway,” Dameon said, carefully avoiding Lupa’s eyes, “What you going to do about the pills?”

  “I don’t know. Nothing probably... I can’t trust Hammer,” she had told Dameon that Hammer had used it to boost his own small amount of power, another dammed lie, “He is a drug dealer, for all I know he could just be trying to get me hooked on something. Or it could do nothing. Fucked if I know. What would you do?”