Jeff pushes the man back against the bar with his finger poking the man’s chest.
“You do that, and I will have your sorry ass arrested for sexual harassment, and attempted rape! You got that, pal?” Jeff looks all around at the rest of the regulars.
“Who else was a witness to this piece of shit attacking my niece?” Everyone nods.
“Now get out of here before I call the police!” Jeff says slapping the man’s face like a scolded child, and shoving him toward the door.
The man staggers to the best of his ability, being drunk, and wounded, towards the door and pauses, he spits on the floor in anger.
“Who needs your piss beer and your overpriced whore anyways?” He stumbles his way out the front door.
Jeff stands there a moment with a very pissed off look on his face.
“Okay everyone, it’s time to leave. We are closing up.” He states to the remaining customers.
Everyone gets up and leaves the bar now, and Jeff locks the door behind them. He turns back around, and sees Michelle sitting at the bar, still crying her heart out. He walks over and tries his best to comfort her.
“Are you going to be okay?”
She wipes the tears away from her face again and forces a smile.
“Yeah, I'll be fine, Uncle Jeff.”
Jeff rubbed his chin with his hand before walking away, going into his office. Once inside, he goes to the safe and opens it up.
It was bad enough she was abused by her father for so many years, and now she has to work here with me in this dump just to pay for college. Good thing I showed up that day before her father tried to rape her, or she would be even more screwed up than she already is. I was saving this for that vacation, but this is more important.
He grabs a cigar box labeled “Vegas Fund”, and then walks back out to where Michelle is now cleaning up the broken pieces of glass off the floor. He walks over to her and helps her finish up, and when she stands up, he hands her the cigar box.
“You’re fired.”
Michelle looks at him, confused.
“What did I do wrong?” she asks befuddled.
“Darlin’, you didn't do anything wrong. I have put you through too much having you work here, and I should have done this a long time ago. This should be enough to help you pay for your schoolin’ until you can find a good job, a better job, and you know that I will give you a good reference.”
She takes the box, and then starts to cry yet again but this time, they were tears of joy and happiness. She embraces her uncle, hugging him tightly as a daughter would hug her father.
He hugs back, and then breaks away to clean up. He grabs the broom, and then asks her, “Do you need me to call you a cab?”
She gets Katrina’s red hoodie, and puts it on, pulling the hood over her head.
“No thank you, Uncle Jeff, it’s not far from here,” she answers while taking the cash out of the box and stuffing it into her purse.
“Thank you, though, and I love you.”
He coughs, clearing his throat.
“Uh, you better get out of here before I change my mind. You know I don't like that mushy stuff,” he says as he waves her off.
Michelle smiles and kisses him on the cheek. “Forever the bachelor, aren't you?”
She smiles again, knowing that he does love her even though he is too macho to show it. Leaving the bar, she looks around; feeling once again like someone or something is watching her. She slowly walks down the alley, and when she makes it to the end, she bumps into the same man that was harassing her in the bar. He pushes her back into the alley, and then forces her against the side of the building.
“You know what? You’re going to pay me for that good time instead of me paying you, bitch. Now give me all your money.”
He starts rubbing his hands all over her body, and licks her cheek. She tries to break free, but his grip on her is too strong. Suddenly something snatches him, and drags him away from her and down into the dark shadows of the alley. His screams of pain fill the air, and are soon silenced after the sound of bones popping, and breaking echoes through the night. Michelle slowly starts to back her way out of the alley while watching the shadows. Then she sees the same red glowing eyes that she had seen earlier in the day. Seconds later, she sees the eyes belong to a very large panther, and it’s licking its jaws.
“My, my, my, it’s Little Red Riding Hood. Sorry to disappoint you, but Grandmother’s house isn't this way.” The panther projects its thoughts into Michelle’s mind as it shows its bloodstained teeth with a feminine voice. Lifting its nose to the air, it breathes in deep, and makes a guttural snarling sound.
“Please don't kill me!” Michelle manages to say even though she is shaking with fear.
The panther bares its teeth and leaps into the air, but from out of nowhere a wolf intercepts the panther, and rams into it midair, knocking it back. The auburn colored wolf with white spots on its paws starts snarling at the panther, challenging it. The panther attempts to move around the wolf, but every time she moves, the wolf blocks her path, staying between her, and Michelle.
“Stay out of this, White Wolf!” the panther snaps.
The wolf turns his head back toward Michelle, and speaks into her mind as the panther did.
“Run! I will handle this!”
Michelle hesitates for a moment, and the panther lunges over the wolf, but he lunges at her throat, and forces her back to the ground. Michelle snaps out of it, and runs away down the street as it starts to rain. Not a single solitary vehicle is in the streets as she passes numerous buildings. She turns to look behind her every so often, and then she finally sees the campus, but knowing her luck, she will get attacked before she gets there. She runs full pace, enters the dorms, and once in her room, she locks the door behind her, and curls up under her covers, quaking in fear.
Back in the alley, the two beasts continue their fight. The thunder claps overhead and the lightning strikes lights the alleyway during the primal battle. The wolf bites down on the panther’s tail, and swings with all of his might, and the resulting throw slams the panther against the outer wall of the alley with such force that the wall starts to crumble under the impact. She gets up and limps away slowly into the dark alley, growling at the wolf.
“You will pay for this! You let my dessert get
away!”
The wolf snaps back with a quick snarl, “In the end, all of you Shadow Cats will get what you deserve.”
The panther is now only noticeable by its red eyes, and she lets out a laugh.
“Yeah, we will, but you and the rest of your pack will fall with us. If we die, you die, and you know that.”
Her eyes fade away into the darkness.
The wolf sniffs the air to make sure that she is gone. When satisfied that his opponent is gone, he runs off into the night to make sure that Michelle is okay. He traces her scent through the rain, and within a few minutes, he traces her back to the college dorms. The heroic wolf slowly approaches the school, hiding between bushes and shrubs so that he is not seen. His canine ears perk up as his heightened sense of hearing pinpoints the faint sound of a woman crying. Slowly he follows the sound and Michelle’s scent to the outside of her window. He peers inside to see her curled up in the dark room, still terrified from what just happened.
For nearly an hour in the pouring rain, the savior sits outside her window, watching over her just in case the panther decides to return to finish what she started. The crying stops, so he peers back in the window to see her sleeping. He yawns, and then finds a cozy spot under a few bushes to shelter him from the rain. He wants to stay close to her for the night, so that he will know that she is safe.
A loud knocking on Namon’s door startles him from his intense reading, and he calls out.
“Come in.”
Katrina walks into his room.
“Hey sweetie, are you enjoying it?” she asks curiously.
“Yeah, even though you just scared me half to death!
I was really into the story when you started knocking. This panther was quite intense.”
“I'm sorry,” she says with a half laugh. “I need to run into town for a little while, okay? Don't wait up because I may be late coming back.”
“Okay. Before you go, Trina, did all that really happen with Mom? What Grandpa did to her and all?” he asks with his brow furrowed.
“Unfortunately, yes. So you never would have gotten to meet your grandfather anyway. He is in prison now, and you’re better off without him in your life,” she says sadly.
“Yeah, you’re right,” he says, as a sigh escapes him.
Katrina gives him a hug, kisses the top of his head. She then opens his door, turns, and says, “I love you.”
“I love you too, Mom.”
She shuts the door, and smiles. Namon goes back to reading, a short while later he starts to feel a little bit creeped out by what he’s reading, but continues on, even though it frightens him.
Chapter Three
As soon as Katrina is in her car, she gets her phone out and dials a number.
“I'm en route now. Where was his last known location? Central City Park? Okay, I'm on it. Send backup ASAP. What do you mean you already sent them in? You know not to send anyone in until I check out the situation! It’s too dangerous!”
She hangs up her phone as she weaves in and out of traffic, trying to rush to the park, but traffic is very congested. There is a lot of construction going on down Riverside, and she realizes that pounding on the car horn is useless at this point and pulls off on the side of the road. She gets out of her car, and runs across the street, heading toward the river. As soon as she reaches the railroad tracks, her body starts to glow white. As she leaps into the air, the form of her body phases from human to a wolf with gray hair. Her paws touch down to the ground with grace, and she runs at high speed alongside the river.
Mayor Bowman has called the city council to the park for an emergency meeting about the future plans for the park.
“What the hell did you drag us out here in the middle of the night for?” one of them demanded the mayor, obviously annoyed.
The mayor waves at his limo driver to pull the limo forward, blocking the entrance to the park. The council members look at the entrance in confusion as suddenly, one by one, each of the light posts flickers until all the lights go out. Darkness surrounds them, and the only light that remains is from the limo headlights.
“What the hell is going on here?” one of the council members asks fearfully.
Suddenly Cyrus pounces on one of the council members and bites his neck, while the mayor bites into another one’s neck. The remaining council members try to run to their vehicles, but before they reach them, they are snatched away and pinned to the ground by creatures that seem to just leap from the shadows. They are ugly, five feet tall demons with fire-colored fur all over their bodies and black horns on their head. Their breath smells of brimstone, and each time their fur moves across bare skin, burn marks are left behind. Screams of pain fill the air. The stench of burnt flesh fills the air, and as agonizing moments pass by the screams are replaced with cruel laughter.
Two large black Expeditions with crosses painted on the hood plow through the limo that blocks the park entrance with very little resistance. One of the large SUV's has a personalized tag with the word ALPHA on it and the other has one that says BETA. Inside them are eight fully armed men, combat ready at a moment’s notice. When the vehicles stop, they jump out, shooting bolts from their crossbows at the demons. The bolts do very little damage, and only succeed in causing a frenzied rage, and the demons attack the men, slashing at them with their claws. Tearing limbs from their bodies then inflicting claws to their torsos.
Each time one would inflict a wound, the wound would catch fire, and incinerate its victims, the soldiers burst into flames and turn to ash. Leaving sixteen piles of ash where courageous soldiers once stood.
Minutes later, Cyrus laughs as the city council member’s stand, totally under his control. Now he can continue his plans for the city. The mayor looks back at the wreckage of his limo, and then looks angrily back at Cyrus.
“You know how much that cost. It was completely custom, Cyrus!”
Cyrus approaches slowly, and then grabs the mayor by the throat, lifts him off the ground, and holds him in the air.
“You watch your tone there, Mr. Mayor. I will not tolerate insolence! Besides, you will be compensated,” he pauses then giving a stipulation, “as long as you do as I say.”
He throws the mayor with such force that when he hits the iron light post, it bends. Everyone just stares as the mayor gets back to his feet without injury, and adjusts his suit.
“You’re right, of course. I apologize for my insolence, Cyrus.” The mayor turns to face the city council. “Okay, everyone can go home now. We will all meet later but tomorrow we’ll have extra security here at the park. One way or another, the construction will continue!” he says commandingly.
With the same passive acceptance that the mayor showed after Cyrus changed him, everyone nods in agreement, then get into their vehicles and leave. The mayor rides with one of them since his limo is now destroyed. Cyrus looks over the park and watches the demons feast on what remains of the men that didn't turn to ash, and scavenging through the ash for bones. Soon the mansion will be built, and I can bring Aluana and the coven here and start the search for the amulet. I will rule all, and Galamythe will by my ultimate weapon of destruction.
Katrina approaches the park as fast as her four paws can take her, but she slows as she sees the wreckage ahead of her. Just before she enters several cars speed through the wreckage with government tags. She sniffs the air, and smells the overpowering stench of the undead. The cars are moving too fast for her to chase them, so she decides against a chase, and then catches a different scent. She follows the scent of brimstone into the park, and once she is inside, she sees the SUVs that belong to the order and several warrior demons standing over bloody remains and piles of ash.
Oh no. They should have waited for me before attacking. Sorrow fills her then anger; she charges the nearest demon first, knocking it to the ground with all four paws. With one quick movement, she wraps her jaws around its neck, and shakes her head back and forth, ripping its throat out, turning the demon into ash. She lets out an aggressive growl as the other demons move in closer to make an attack. One of them leaps toward her but she dodges, running beneath it and making it fall on top of the demon that was attempting to sneak up behind her.
“Kill the wolf!” Cyrus commands the demons.
Katrina's ears fold back when she hears his voice, and her eyes cut in his direction. Rage fills her as she relives burying her dear friends. She had never seen him in person before, but she has seen him in the drawings from Michelle's journal, and knows that this is Cyrus, and that he is the one responsible for Chase and Michelle's death. He controls these warrior demons, so that makes her even more certain that he was the one that sent the destroyer that caused the deaths' of her best friends. The church tried keeping her existence a secret from him, because if he knew about her, he would be after her. So they only used her when it was necessary. It was inevitable, though, that their paths would cross.
The demons dog pile on top of her, forcing her to the ground. She can feel teeth biting into her, and claws scratching her. The pain that she feels is almost unbearable from the heat of their fur, their talons, and their fangs. Shortly after they begin their attack, though, their teeth start to dissolve and their claws snap, and melt as her blood sprays on them. She can tell that they are weakening, as she breaks free from them. They follow her, but she is too quick for them. Dodge, bite, and tear, she repeats repeatedly until she is the only one left standing. Her body glows, and her wounds heal up instantly.
“Gotta love that holy blood!” she lets out a triumphant huff tinged with a touch of sorrow for her fallen comrades.
“You should have waited,” She says to herself as
she mourns their loss.
Sniffing the air, she realizes that Cyrus is gone, and must have escaped during the battle. She leaves the park, and retraces her steps back to the railroad tracks that run along close to the river. Just in time too, police sirens wail through the air heading toward the park.
Fifteen minutes later, Katrina has phased back into her human form, and is getting into her car. This was her first encounter with Cyrus, and just being around him set off every single nerve ending, and emotion in her. Anger, rage, and sadness all flow through her as she tries to collect herself. Her thoughts go to Namon, and she knows that time has run out. Cyrus is here, and Namon has to know about him before Cyrus seeks them out. She picks up her phone, and calls the church headquarters.
“This is Katrina, reporting in. I confirm that Cyrus is in Macon, and has control over demons. He used them to destroy Alpha, and Beta teams; all that are left of them are ashes. I suspect he’s turned the city officials into vampires. Several vehicles with government tags were fleeing the scene with the vampire stench coming from them.”
“This is not good at all. Tell Namon at once, and start his training before his first phase,” the man said on the other end of the line.
“Yes sir.”
She hangs up the phone, and hurries home. She arrives, entering the apartment quietly in case Namon is asleep, looking over; she discovers light shining from under his door. The decision of when to tell him has been taken from me. He has to know. Maybe I will tell him tonight. It's not like he has to be up early in the morning since he is home schooled. She gently taps on the door until she hears a voice telling her to come in. Opening the door slowly, she enters the room, and sees him in bed reading.
“Hey, I thought I told you not to stay up too late?” she says while putting her hands on her hips.
“Yeah, I'm sorry about that. It's just this is the only thing that connects me to Mom, and Dad.”
“Yeah. It's not the only thing that connects you to them, though.” She bites her lower lip, hesitating. “I'll be right back.”
Blood Stained Lives (The Blood Stained Saga Book 1) Page 3