Blood Heavy (Blood Heavy Series)

by S. L. J. Shortt

“I’ll shove a stake up your ass, that’s what!”

  Cass flicked her cigarette butt away and breathed out a plume of smoke, then stepped up to Jerry. He hadn’t been this close to her since the attack and it was only now that he realized Cass was actually taller than him.

  She actually looked excited.

  “Will you, boy. I’d like to see you try,” she grinned, showing her fangs.

  Jerry shrank slightly, but didn’t back down. “I meant it. Stay away from him!”

  “Oh...is that jealousy in your voice, Jerry?” she purred.

  “What – no!” Jerry said, but he could not hide the truth. Jealousy was exactly what this was.

  “That’s a shame. I was only flirting with him to get your attention, you know,” she said sadly, a coquettish glint in her eye.

  “Wait – what?” Jerry stammered.

  “I’ve had your blood, Jerry. I can’t stop thinking about you,” Cassandra looked at him hungrily through lowered lashed. Jerry nervously backed up, hitting the wall behind him. She moved in closer, putting her arms up either side of him so he couldn’t escape. His heart was pounding hard against his ribs and his face felt red.

  Was this really happening?

  “You want me...I want you...” she whispered into his ear, before bringing her face right up to his. “It’s okay, I won’t bite...well, I might.”

  Her lips hit his and lightning bolt tremors zipped through his body. He couldn’t stop himself from wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into him. Feeling her breasts pressed against his chest caused him to kiss her even harder. She broke away as he started kissing her neck.

  “Oh, Jerry...Jerry...” she breathed his name in exhilaration, over and over until, “JERRY! WAKE UP!”

  Jerry bolted awake. He had passed out on the couch with a book in his hand. He panicked and looked around for a second, before seeing Cass standing over him. The whole thing had been a dream, but when had he fallen asleep?

  “That looks like happy-drool on your chin. You must have been having a great time in la la land,” she smirked, easily picking up on his embarrassment.

  He quickly wiped the drool from his chin and awkwardly tried to calm down.

  “You were dreaming of me, weren’t you?” Cass asked.

  “N-no!” he blurted out, turning red.

  “Ryan Reynolds?”

  “What – No!” he yelped indignantly.

  “Your loss. I’d love me some Ryan Reynolds,” Cass said, like she was talking about pie.

  It was never a good idea to dream about sexual fantasies when the subject of those fantasies was in the damn room!

  He got off the couch and looked around to see Goose sitting at the table reading one of the larger books, while Joe was cleaning the barrel of one of the pistols. Claire was stood in the kitchen, sipping a glass of scotch and watching Joe at work.

  “How long was I out?” Jerry asked.

  “About an hour. Can’t say I blame you, this riveting subject matter is better than a sleeping pill,” Goose said, rubbing his temples.

  “It’s important,” Claire replied.

  “I’m reading about Imps, how is that important?”

  “I like Imps...they’re cute,” Claire said, smiling to herself.

  “And fun to kick,” Cass added, causing Claire to look horrified.

  “They also run around stealing stuff that rattles. That’s one of the reasons people lose their car keys so often.”

  “Okay, I officially hate them,” Jerry said simply.

  “You’ve never even seen one,” Claire objected.

  “Jerry hates anything that doesn’t respect a car,” Joe stated.

  “Damn right I do! What kind of screwed up monster messes with a man’s wheels?”

  No one answered his question though, as Cass had suddenly shot through the room towards the front door. Claire put her glass of scotch down, listening carefully. Both were alert and waiting.

  “What’s wrong?” Joe asked.

  “Five people are approaching the house,” Claire said quietly.

  Next second, Jerry, Joe and Goose grabbed their loaded weapons and stood up, each ready to use them. A few moments passed, then Cass visibly relaxed. Claire breathed out a sigh of relief. “It’s Celeste.”

  “Oh great, the Witches of Eastwick are here,” Goose groaned and put his weapon away. “Should I dim the lights and start signing ‘Somewhere over the rainbow’?”

  Cass ignored him and opened the door. Celeste stepped through, followed closely by her cigar smoking friend, this time minus the cigar. Four other uniquely dressed woman entered after them. One was wearing leather biker gear and was carrying a helmet, while the second and third’s outfits screamed ‘Emo’. The fourth was dressed pretty normally, disregarding her bright blue hair. All of them seemed to have identical, faded blue eyes.

  “Claire, Cassandra,” Celeste smiled at them and nodded. “And your knight in shining armor,” she grinned, looking at Jerry cheekily.

  “With a turd for a brain,” Cass added nastily.

  “Hey, standing right here!” Jerry snapped.

  “Throwing yourself into the middle of a supernatural ‘Battle Royale’ doesn’t exactly make you a genius,” Cass retorted, shutting him up.

  “Ahh, don’t be so hard on the boy. He’s new to all this,” Celeste cooed.

  “Well, there isn’t much leeway for a lengthy transition time in all this. There certainly isn’t enough time to wait around for him to pull his head out of his ass!”

  “Can I shoot her, please?” Jerry asked Claire.

  “Be my guest,” Claire smiled.

  “Okay children, that will do,” Celeste warned. “You want us to do the house or the kid?”

  “Huh?” Jerry said, his mind immediately jumping to a dirty place.

  “Err, both I guess,” Claire shrugged, ignoring him.

  “Okay. These are my girls,” Celeste said, indicating their other guests. “This is Anna,” (the cigar smoking girl), “that’s Lily, Jess, Zoë and Pam,” she indicated the two Emo’s first, followed by the blue haired chick and then the biker.

  “You already met Jerry and Goose, this is Jerry’s uncle; Joe,” Claire said.

  Celeste looked Joe up and down, then flashed him a sexy smile. “Hmm, I guess our trip wasn’t such a chore after all...”

  Jerry looked outraged. First Cass and now Celeste! Why was everyone flirting with his uncle? And when did Joe suddenly become attractive?!

  Again, Claire did not look happy, but Jerry yet again failed to notice.

  “Pam, you wanna get started on the kid?”

  “Sure,” Pam said, unzipping her leather jacket. Underneath, she was wearing a vest top which revealed her arms - they were covered in weird tattoos. “Lose the shirt.” She said casually, waving a multi-colored arm towards Jerry.

  “What?” Jerry blinked. Was this another sex dream?

  “Take your top off, please,” Pam repeated professionally.

  “Aren’t we supposed to get to know each other, or get drunk first?” Jerry grinned, flushing a little. Cass laughed. “She needs to put a spell on your skin, Jerry; she’s not trying to rape you.”

  Pam nodded her agreement. “And you’re not my type anyway.”

  “Too young?” Jerry asked, grinning and trying to get past the embarrassment.

  “Too human,” she replied.

  “Oh...”

  “Is everybody a nymphomaniac in the supernatural world, because if they are, why didn't anybody tell me sooner?” Goose said shamelessly.

  “If you lived as long as us you’d get bored with humans too,” Celeste said, without a hint of embarrassment. “A little sex with a different species really doesn’t bother us. It spices things up. Doesn’t mean we’re porn stars though.”

  “For Cass it does,” Claire couldn’t resist.

  “At least I’m not afraid of sex,” Cass returned, adding a wink towards Joe for good measure.

  Her behavior was real
ly starting to piss Jerry off. He growled a string of obscenities to himself and started unbuttoning his shirt. The other witches walked off into different parts of the house.

  Jerry stood in the living room topless; luckily his annoyance outweighed his awkwardness.

  “I think you need to cut back on the cheeseburgers, Jerry,” Cass smirked, nodding at his belly.

  “I think you need to shut your pie hole, Cass,” Jerry hissed back, actually a little surprised at his words.

  “Oh, finally growing a pair are we?” she grinned.

  “Nah, I just borrowed yours,” he replied straight away. It actually felt kind of good to be saying this stuff.

  “Two for two: I think I’m starting to like you,” she laughed.

  Jerry felt confused, yet happy. Maybe Cass actually preferred people who stood up to her.

  “Cass, hold him down,” Pam said, causing Jerry’s good feelings to quickly evaporate.

  “What?!” he yelped, but Cass was already behind him. She wrapped her arms around him, locking him up. Her skin wasn’t freezing, but it didn’t feel warm either and her strength was enormous.

  “What are you doing?!” Joe barked.

  “I need him still. This is going to sting somewhat and it will probably make you jolt around too,” Pam said to Jerry, laying her hand on his chest.

  “Wait, what’s gonna sting?!” Jerry shouted, getting nervous.

  “Relax, Jerry, it’s going to be okay,” Cass murmured in his ear. Her voice being so close caused goosebumps to rush over his body.

  Pam pushed her hand into his chest a little harder, and started muttering words under her breath that Jerry didn’t understand. She closed her eyes and a small blue light began to emanate from her palm.

  “Okay, what the hell is – AHHHHH!”

  It felt like a thousand burning hot needles were stabbing his skin. He screamed and writhed violently, but Cassandra’s hold was solid. It felt like something was forcing its way beneath his flesh.

  Joe and Goose instinctively moved forward to protect him, but Claire stepped moved in to block their path.

  Suddenly, the light and the pain disappeared and Jerry was left topless and panting hard. Cass released her hold on him and he fell forwards onto the couch, clutching his chest.

  “What the hell?” Pam gasped.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “It didn’t work.”

  “What? Why?” Claire asked. Now everyone was looking confused.

  “I don’t know. The spell just didn’t bind,” the witch said. “Wait, let me just see...” she reached forwards again towards Jerry.

  “You touch me again and I’ll cut your goddamn hands off!” he was livid.

  “Whoa! Okay, we’re switching you to decaf,” Claire said, looking shocked at his suddenly aggressive behavior.

  “No way, I like ‘angry Jerry’!” Cass said, patting him on the back. She was having a great time.

  “Cass, I know you’re only trying to help, but I will stab you in your face!” Jerry hissed. She just laughed.

  “What happened?” Celeste asked, walking back into the room.

  “I was trying to put up a protection ward around his body, but it didn’t bind,” Pam said, looking a bit abashed. “I swear that’s never happened to me before.”

  “Interesting,” Celeste said, looking at Jerry. She raised her hand and a bolt of red energy shot from her fingertips. It hit Jerry in the arm, throwing him back into the couch, but not damaging him at all.

  “What the hell?!” Jerry screamed, and felt a serious urge to go for his gun.

  “You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you?” Celeste grinned. “He’s immune to magic.”

  “What?!” Claire and Cass shrieked at the same time.

  “That didn’t feel immune to me!” Jerry glared.

  “That should have killed you,” Celeste said lazily.

  The sound of a gun cocking rent the air. Joe was pointing a Beretta at Celeste’s head. “Get out before I burn this clip into your head!” he growled, clearly ready to kill her.

  “Calm down, I was just kidding,” Celeste quirked an eyebrow. “That was a remedial hex. If it had worked, it would have just turned his hair green for a few days.”

  “What?” Nobody took any notice of Jerry.

  “Celeste wouldn’t hurt your nephew, Joe. She just forgets that her sense of humor is an acquired taste,” Claire said softly, getting him to lower his gun.

  “Don’t ever do that again,” he warned her.

  She held up her hands, a sweetly innocent look dancing in her eyes.

  “How in the hell can he be immune to magic?” Cass asked. “No humans are immune to magic.”

  “Some other creatures are, though,” Pam offered.

  “I’m not a creature!” Jerry declared in a muffled voice, as he pulled his shirt back on.

  “No, you’re just a kid with amazing blood,” she replied.

  “Okay, so you can turn a vampire into the incredible Hulk, maybe even cure them, you can fight off any disease - and now you’re immune to magic?!” Goose stuttered. “I’ll have what he’s having.”

  “This ain’t a goddamn joke!” Jerry blared, his anger reaching its peak. “This is starting to scare the shit outta me! What else can my freakin’ blood do, other than screw with my entire life?!”

  “Calm down son, it’s gonna be okay,” Joe said, trying to keep him cool.

  “I’ve got vampires and witches in my living room! I have to keep a gun under my pillow just to get some sleep! This is miles away from okay!”

  They all looked sheepish. None of them had realized that he wasn’t sleeping well and he’d done a good job of hiding it.

  “Jerry -” Claire tried, but it didn’t work.

  “Forget it - I’m done!”

  “Jerry, wait!”

  He had already stormed off. He slammed his bedroom door behind him.

  He sat down on his bed with his head in his hands. Endless questions rolled through his head, and the more they did, the more they disturbed him. After a few minutes, there was a sharp knock at the door.

  “I’d like some privacy!” he yelled back.

  “Like I give a shit,” Cass said, walking in with two glasses of scotch in her hand. She handed him one.

  “What do you want?”

  “Just checking to make sure you haven’t slit your wrists,” she said grimly.

  “I’m not going to kill myself,” Jerry replied, after taking a gulp.

  “Good. Suicide buys you a one way ticket downstairs,” she said.

  “Right, I forgot you’re all part of the God squad,” he snorted.

  “Oh, please. Just because I know that Hell exists, doesn’t make me a bible thumper,” Cass chuckled.

  “Good, I thought you were going to start telling me to ‘have faith’.”

  “Faith won’t save your life. I could give you some bullshit philosophy about facing what you’re afraid of, gaining strength and taking it in your stride, but that wouldn’t help you either. Truth is, you take it because you have to, because you don’t have a choice. Because hiding under the bed for the rest of your life won’t just result in a crappy life, it’s about the worst thing you can do. Something will find you, sooner or later. It always does. So sack up, stay strapped, and don’t miss, is my advice.”

  “I was planning on doing that.”

  “Good. Because the big down side with the supernatural world is that no matter how bad it gets, it can always get worse. Just when you think you’ve soldiered through the toughest fight of your life, an even tougher one will come along. There ain’t no happy endings for people like us. All there is, is living. Run, fight, or die; those are the options. I usually opt for the second one.”

  “Is that how you deal with it?”

  “Yeah. That and being a nasty bad-ass bitch,” she shrugged, and gulped down her scotch. “It takes a lot more effort than you’d think.”

  “Does it ever end?” he asked, already
knowing the answer.

  “No...but it gets easier,” she said. “Once you’ve experienced the really bad stuff, all the minor crap, like that little tussle back at the bar, becomes a walk in the park. I got into a fight with a hydra once...trust me, vamps don’t measure up to something like that.”