Blood for blood

by Tobi Grim

  “I have spoken with Slasher witch, has she informed you of my surveillance details?”

  “Yeah. Just before Sledge here came to HQ to wait for me.”

  She heard Sledge make an odd sound but she didn’t look at him, keeping her eyes on Hammer, who she guessed had been the one to tell Sledge to go there and look for her. Perhaps Hammer wanted to prove some sort of point to her, or even The Organization. Either way, he could have just fucking called her.

  “Splendid. I do desire that this arrangement goes ahead on Sunday, my men are wary to work anywhere near the abattoir and that is holding up my other… affairs.” Hammer came back over towards the couch and kissed Lupa’s hand, his fingers lingering on her skin, his thumb brushing gently over her fingers. “Thank you, little beauty, however I must be departing now. Sledge will take you home. Do not hesitate to call me should you decide you wish to try Gift again before the nest adventure.”

  And with that, Hammer left. Sledge finished his beer and waited for her to down hers, then took the bottles and put them behind the bar, leading the way out. Silent as ever. Sledge opened the car door for her, and she climbed in. Why the fuck was he still giving her that strange look? She sighed as he brought the car to life and started heading back towards her apartment.

  Lupa wondered whether the people of Blackwater knew Sledge was a wolfblood. He said no one knew he was both… but if people knew he was wolfblood they might be more inclined to pay up or whatever Hammer wanted Sledge to beat people for. If people did know… Had Slasher found out he was a wolfblood when she looked into him? Lupa sure hoped not. That could make things… complicated. Fuck.

  “Thinkin’ you dun tryin’ Gift again with Hammer?”

  Lupa startled out of her thoughts and looked over to Sledge, who wasn’t looking at her or even glancing her way. “Don’t know. Don’t know if I wanna try it with him watching me like a lab rat.” Sledge grunted. Lupa sighed. “I can still fucking see you.” Lupa said. She probably shouldn’t have, but she did anyway. He should know. And he wasn’t exactly opening up the fucking conversation.

  “What you meanin’?”

  “I mean. I can still see you. As a witch. As a wolfblood. Once the drug wore off, it didn’t go away. I can still see you as you really are. I can sense the magick and the wolfblood in you.” She glanced over at him, catching his eyes on her before he looked away again. Were his cheeks a little pink?

  “Aint know you still seein’. Or sensin’. Whatever it is. Is it makin’ you uncomfortable?”

  “Of course not. Just… more curious really. I aint never met another magickal being like me. From what I know from The Organization, apart from the fact witches and wolfbloods tend to fucking hate each other, if ever any mixed races were conceived before… they were killed. There isn’t any official record of anyone else like us. But… there are rumours… or legends, that there were children conceived from both. And they were murdered. Either by wolfbloods or witches. It is forbidden. The mixing. Of any creature actually.”

  Sledge pulled the car over. She didn’t recognise this part of Blackwater. Shit. She looked over to Sledge, unsure of what was going on. “Thinkin’ you come to mine? Aint wantin’ your witches seein’ me at your place.”

  “I…” shit. She deserved that, “I don’t mind coming to yours, but you are welcome at mine too… I didn’t mean…”

  Sledge nodded and hopped out, opening the door for her. She peered down the street, it looked like most of Blackwater. Dirty. Neglected. She followed Sledge to the large door down an alley. He unlocked it, stepped in and held it open for her.

  Inside was… pretty damn nice. Clean concrete walls and flooring; a large, black rug lay across most of the floor. A massive black couch; real wood coffee table; a TV cabinet along one wall with a decent looking stereo system. The walls looked thick, the roof had exposed steel beams, part of it glass looking up into the dark grey sky, and the kitchen was more clean concrete... She felt strange in here. She felt tiny. Lupa hadn’t ever imagined Sledge living somewhere alone, she had pictured him living in Hammer’s fancy pants place, in one of those rooms... But this… was nice. It was… calm?

  “Drink?”

  Lupa nodded, feeling small and insignificant standing in such a large place. She wasn’t sure what to do with herself. There were two stools at the kitchen bench, should she sit there? Sledge came over and handed her drink, then walked over to the couch. She presumed he wanted her to follow so she did. Sitting down next to him as he opened a draw in the coffee table and pulled out an ashtray and a book. Lupa took a drink and lit herself a smoke. She hoped Sledge would get around to saying something, she had already blurted two things out today in a way she hadn’t meant to.

  “Hammer’s mother givin’ me this book before she died. She told me her people used to respect the wolfbloods. Long, long time ago. Before they dun attackin’ everyone. They used to think the wolfbloods givin’ people things they might wantin’ if the people givin’ them a sacrifice. But, she still never knowin’ or hearin’ of a witch and wolfblood mixed. Sayin’ the two may respect each other, but all creatures with power aint wantin’ to share it with others, aint wantin’ to risk what could happen if they dun combined.”

  Sledge handed the book to Lupa. She opened it to find it full of beautiful paintings… of wolfbloods. She couldn’t read the writing, but she didn’t think she really needed to, the pictures were very detailed.

  “These bein’ stories of wolfbloods givin’ somethin’ to people who givin’ them offerings. One story, that one there, bein’ told of woman offerin’ her dyin’ sister as an offerin’ for the wolfblood, in hopes he would give her a child. Thinkin’ she aint mean it literally from him, but he fuckin’ her, and givin’ her many babies. But they all bein’ what she considered deformed; half human half wolfblood.”

  Lupa frowned looking at the picture of a wolfblood holding a naked woman, half transformed babies at their feet. Most of them fucking ugly and twisted. Not exactly light fucking reading.

  “When I was readin’ this book as a kid, I was wonderin’ if’n maybe that was what I was. A deformed baby. A child no one really askin’ for, they wantin’ a healthy kid, and gettin’ stuck with a half breed. My Da mightin’ have known my Ma was a wolfblood, but I bet he wantin’ a son just like him, not like me.”

  Lupa looked up at Sledge, but he was staring at the wall, his eyes glazed over like he was reliving the memory of Hammer’s mother showing him this book. “I aint never knowin’ what… I aint knowin’ how my Da endin’ up with a wolfblood. It was before they dun attackin’ every place. Hammer’s mother sayin’ my ma musta come out of hidin’ to find a mate. Sayin’ I was needed for somethin’ special, that’s why I dun get both blood.”

  Sledge shook his head, drained his drink and looked at her. His eyes boring deep, making her feel exposed. “Aint thinkin’ I ever somethin’ special. Aint thinkin’ I ever bein’ somethin’ more than a good fighter with a bit of a boost from what my parents dun handed on. But when… when I meetin’ you. Seein’ you was like me. Seein’ you bein’ somethin’ special… seein’ you got somethin’ more, got some kinda thing… I wonderin’… wonderin’ if we was meant to meet. Maybe we dun needin’ to learn somethin’ from each other. Or somethin’…”

  Lupa wasn’t sure what to say. Fuck. “Sledge… Lio… I’m… I don’t know. Maybe. I don’t really believe in that sort of stuff, but I am glad we met. I didn’t think there was anyone else like me out there…” Shit. She was doing this wrong. Sledge was pulling out a smoke and lighting it, watching her out the corners of his eyes. “Thank you… for sharing this with me. Hammer’s mother must have really loved you.”

  Lupa felt herself blushing, she was fucking this up, she should just shut her yap. She finished her drink and stared at the wall. What was he expecting from her? Had he built her up in his head to something more than she was? Was he… expecting something profound from her? Probably. Most people expected something from her, especially just after
opening up. Shit.

  Sledge got up and poured them another drink and brought the bottle over with him. Sitting down silently, he ran his hand over his head, looking down at his cup. “You dun able to find files on people at The Organization?”

  “I can. Mostly… If they’ve been registered from birth. Or if they’ve been in trouble with the law, or something like that. Why?”

  “You thinkin’ you could find somethin’ out about my family?”

  Lupa was surprised, he actually wanted to know? She didn’t. The Organization had given her a file on her parents, what little they knew, when she’d turned eighteen. She had never opened it. She didn’t want to know anything about them. Not when they had made her this… monster. She handed him his book back and crossed her legs.

  “I could try. If you give me their names… I can’t promise anything, but if there’s a record of them I can find it.”

  Sledge nodded, “You knowin’ much about yours?”

  “No. There’s a file. Not a very big one. But I don’t want to know anything about them,” she finished her drink and put the cup down, “They created me with no thought for how my life might be. The conflicting emotions I feel. My witch blood hates and wants to kill wolfbloods, wants to be strong and connected with other witches, and my wolfblood side… it is like… when I smell blood, it makes me want to tear things apart, makes me want to kill just for the fun of it. They never gave a thought to the life I might end up living. They never thought of the fact that both my kind would reject me for most of my life. They never gave a shit. I have no fucking care for them. I don’t want to know anything about them, I fucking know enough.”

  Lupa grabbed the bottle and refilled her cup, not bothering to ask. Her skin felt hot. Not embarrassed hot, magick hot. She needed to calm the fuck down.

  “Aint never thought you would feelin’ like that. Thinkin’ you knowin’ who you are, knowin’ yourself so well. You’re a strong witch. You feelin’ stronger than Hammer. Stronger than his mother. Didn’t think… didn’t think you woulda have the same thing with the blood.”

  She looked at him. Oh. Of course. He’d understand… at least to some extent. But then… his mother must have been strong, he could partially transform after all. Lupa had never showed any physical signs like he did.

  “Yeah. The blood makes me… different. Seems to help though… in killing them.”

  Sledge nodded. Of course, he’d probably killed a lot of people for Hammer, no doubt his wolfblood side helped with that… Sledge’s phone started ringing loudly, he answered it, using very little words then hung up.

  “Hammer’s gotten a job for me. You wantin’ to come or takin’ you home? Shouldn’t take too long. Just up the street.”

  “I’ll come. No point you driving me home and turning round again.”

  Sledge nodded and they finished their drinks.

  ⃝

  The walk down to the market place wasn’t too far, and the rain seemed to have fucked off for the time being. The market was alive with people. Lupa hadn’t been to this particular one before, but it was pretty much like all the markets this side of the city. Skinny, half-dressed people huddling near the hot food stalls; children looking to pick your pockets should you not watch them; stalls with all sorts of horrific and wonderful things…. She followed Sledge through the crowd, stopping behind him as he knocked on a door at the end of the market place.

  A big, hairy man opened it and nodded at Sledge, letting them both in, giving Lupa a sleazy smile as he looked her up and down. Fucking pig. Inside there was a large, black room with a curtain at the end, but they didn’t go through it, the big hairy guy pointed to a skinny man standing against the wall looking nervous.

  “Knowin’ why I is here, Jacob?” Sledge folded his arms.

  “Aint gotten no moneys, Hammer havin’ it when I gets it, but I aint gets it yet.” Jacob looked like he was trying to be absorbed into the wall.

  Sledge grabbed him by his shirt, pulling him close and punching him in the stomach. “Aint coming to a Teahouse if you aint got money.”

  Sledge punched the guy again, in the face this time. Lupa looked away as blood gushed down the skinny man’s face, her stomach doing an unwelcome flip. He dug his hand in his pocket and threw some money in Sledge’s face then scrambled out the door.

  “Come on, Little Red, aint got to stay round here.” Sledge said as he picked up the money and stuffed it in his pocket.

  Sledge nodded to the hairy guy and they left silently. Lupa stopped as they were halfway through the market, her skin feeling… something. The hair on her neck standing up, she put her hand on Sledge’s arm and scanned the crowd.

  “You a’right?”

  She looked up at him, “Think there’s someone watching us. Think it’s a wolfblood, but I’m not sure. I can’t feel them exactly, but I can feel… something… and it’s too crowded to sniff them out.”

  Lupa peered around them again, this was fucking useless, she was way too small to see shit… she looked back over to Sledge who was scanning the crowd too, but he had a massive height advantage over her.

  “See anything?” she asked him. He shook his head. Fuck. Nothing they could really do…. “Ok. Let’s go then.”

  They continued their walk through the crowd and headed down the street towards Sledge’s place. Lupa felt exposed, she could still feel someone or something watching her. Crossing her arms she tried to huddle into herself. This was fucked.

  “Aint thinkin’ we go in to my place. Just keepin’ walkin’ for a bit, ey?” Sledge’s voice was low.

  Lupa nodded but didn’t look at him. If there was someone watching them she didn’t want to give anything away. Fuck. What did she have on her if she needed to fight? She had the small knife in her bag still, didn’t she? Fuck. She couldn’t remember whether she’d put it back in her bag or left it in her car…

  Sledge put his arm around her, she was surprised and gave him a quick look. He smiled down at her. “Thinkin’ we might seein’ our friend round this corner. I got me a knife in my jacket pocket, if you needin’ it just get it out.”

  He kept smiling at her, looking at her like she was his. It made her feel…. Strange. She cuddled him and dug her hand into the inside pocket of his jacket, grabbing the knife handle as they rounded the corner.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “Train in your strength, and your weakness…”

  Three people stood looking at them, with hatred and violence in their eyes and bodies. Two men and… fucking Brianna. What the fuck was she doing down in Blackwater? And how the fuck had she found her?

  “See you got a new boyfriend, wolfslut.” Brianna looked… crazed.

  Lupa kept close to Sledge, she didn’t want to pull the knife out yet if she could help it, not while she wasn’t fighting. She should try get to her phone instead… and call Slasher. They could come and grab crazy fucking Brianna. But… there was three of them, how could she get to her phone and call without them interfering? Shit.

  “What the fuck do you want, Brianna? I don’t have time for your shit.”

  Lupa eyed the two men. One had a grin on his dirty face, the other licked his lips and flicked his greasy hair out of his beady eyes. Her and Sledge could probably take them easy enough. They looked physically strong, but Lupa couldn’t feel any magick or wolfblood in them. The problem would be Brianna, if she used the two guys as a distraction so she could spell curse them, they’d be screwed. Lupa wished she could let Sledge know somehow, but they didn’t really know each other well enough. How would she indicate she needed to get to the woman?

  “I wanna fuck you up, Little Red whore, just like you did to me. You don’t even understand how you have fucked up my whole fucking life!”

  The two men had taken a step forward. Sledge’s hand gave her shoulder a small squeeze. Right. They were all ready for a fight, no avoiding it. “Get over it. I haven’t done anything to you. You’re the only one fucking it up. Turn yourself in and The Organization mig
ht be lenient on you.”

  The goons took another long, slow step towards them. But Lupa kept her eyes on Brianna, making sure she didn’t pull anything out to cast a spell on them before Lupa could get the psycho bitch.

  “Turn myself in?” Brianna’s eyes twitched, she sounded on the verge of hysteria. Fuck. Not good. “Why the fuck would I do that? Why the fuck would I risk that when I can just kill you now?” She giggled, wrapping her arms around herself and stepping backwards.

  The two men lunged. Lupa pulled the knife out and ducked under one of them while Sledge pounded his fist into the other. Lupa made a dash for Brianna but Greasy grabbed her by the back of her shirt as he kicked the back of her legs. Her knees hit the pavement hard, causing pain to shoot up her legs as she gritted her teeth trying not to cry out. Lupa rolled away as he tried to stomp on her. Fuck. There was no time to be fucking around with this guy, Brianna could be getting anything ready for them. She glanced over to Sledge to see him smash the other goon’s head into the pavement.

  Greasy went to grab her again but she scrambled to her feet and ran around him, heading towards Brianna who was watching with a gleeful smile on her face, and a herb stick in her hand. Shit fuck shit. Lupa needed to get to her quickly. She glanced over to Sledge who was heading for the guy that was after her. Good. She could focus on the fucking crazy witch.

  Lupa ran at Brianna and tackled her to the ground, the other woman letting out a furious screech as she fell with a thud. The deranged Hunter squealed as she slapped Lupa’s face. Lupa slammed her fist into the other woman’s face, breaking her nose for a second time, satisfied by the blood pissing down her face.

  “Fucking bitch!” Lupa yelled as Brianna shoved her off.

  Clambering to their feet, the herb stick lay to Lupa’s left, but Brianna didn’t seem to notice it. Her bloodshot eyes were focused solely on Lupa now.