Stalking Darkness

by J. L. Oiler

“I don’t think so,” Cadence said. She planted her feet and turned to face him.

  “I said come with me,” Anton growled, making sure she saw the flash of his descended fangs.

  Her heart pounded in her ears. This was the moment she’d trained for and feared, but she refused to back up or back down. Gathering her strength, she allowed her darker side to rise up and take control.

  “Cute,” she said shooting him her own toothy smile. “But I have my own set.”

  Releasing her as though she were on fire and taking a step backward, Anton stared at Cadence in confusion.

  “You know, you’re really beginning to hurt my feelings. I suppose you leave a lot of girls for dead on hotel suite floors. Of course you should probably make certain they’re dead before taking off.”

  Chapter Eight

  Drake moved in quickly when he saw Cadence square off with Anton. Cannon might think she was ready to jump headlong into this fight; he, however, had no plans to allow her first fight to be with a killer like one of the two leaders of this group of bloodthirsty rogues. Stepping between the two before it turned to blows, he glared at the male who’d been ready to lay his hands, yet again, on Cadence.

  “Sorry, is this a private party or can anyone join in?” he asked, dropping his head and raising his eyes to meet those of the glaring monster in front of him. “How about we dance, asshole?”

  “Well if you insist on cutting in, I do see another partner I can’t neglect,” she said, placing one hand on her shoulder and pointing to a slender woman moving toward one of the front exits.

  He held his position ready as she stepped from behind him and walked past them without so much as a backward glance. Drake loved the indifference she showed Anton, knowing it was a slap in the face to the arrogant bastard.

  “Gorgeous and deadly. You should be thanking us,” Anton said with a glance her way.

  “Yes that’s right; I should thank you for stealing her life and dreams of a human future.” The time for talk was over and Drake was tired of looking at the vamp’s pretty boy face. Six shots scattered across the room as Anton anticipated his move and attempted to twist the weapon from his hands. Moments later his automatic weapon skidded across the floor, coming to rest against the far wall. Allowing his military training to kick in, Drake reached forward, wrapping one hand to the back of Anton’s neck and stiffened the fingers of the opposite hand. In a fast solid jab, he struck the windpipe. It wasn’t enough to kill, especially not a vampire. Hell, it was all just an involuntary reaction left over from when they were human. The strike did however cause the man to sputter and struggle for breath he did not need.

  Drawing the combat blade from the back of his belt, Drake used the momentary preoccupation to his advantage. He drove the blade through the sternum until the thick bone prevented him from pushing it any further; then he stepped back. Anton gripped the protruding section, blood seeping around the impalement and soaking his shirt until the blue fabric appeared black. A single roundhouse kick to the butt end of his blade shoved it the remaining distance, dropping the vampire to the floor with a final scream before bursting into flames.

  “Gotta love that spontaneous combustion,” Drake said, turning to retrieve his rifle.

  ****

  Cadence moved across the dirt concrete warehouse floor with new resolve, anger and realization of whom and what her former friend truly was. Around her a mixture of odd screams, music, and gunfire sounded, reminding her of a concert she’d had the misfortune of attending several years ago during her first year of college. The police raided backstage during the concert after discovered the roadies were dealing ecstasy. In the end, she’d paid thirty dollars for a ten-minute concert and the opportunity to be grouped in the rush to leave. Her thoughts returning back to the task at hand, Cadence closed the distance to her target.

  Julie was part of the group they’d come to take out, the inside player. Her job had been to get into the colleges as a student, make up cozy and lead them to the slaughter. Cadence had to admit the bitch was good at it.

  “You know I’ll admit your performance was flawless. You truly fooled me with all the best friend trash you spewed,” she called out to the vampire who, at the sound of her voice, froze in her tracks.

  “Well Candy, I must admit you were the last person I expected to see again,” Julie replied, turning to face her.

  “Guess you did a bit too much assuming.” Cadence took a few more steps toward the woman, closing to within striking distance. “So tell me, did Claire or the others know you betrayed them in the end?”

  She watched a smug grin turn Julie’s lips as she raised her sculpted brows, “Claire cried for you, screaming at me to save you as I watched them rip her throat out. The others were too drunk to care. They just laid there and waited to die. You should have been smart enough to join them in that endeavor. Only Brad begged to save himself and in the end, Anton made him one of us. Of course, we use him like the little bitch he is. Everyone needs lap dog.”

  “You should have made certain I was dead, Julie. I trusted you.”

  “Foolish, foolish girl”

  “Once upon a time, not anymore.” Cadence twisted her head to the left, hearing the vertebra in her neck snap and crack in preparation. “So any other surprises you want to share before I kick your sorry ass?”

  Using the woman’s stunned expression to her advantage, Cadence struck first with a hard open hand slap that rocked Julie’s head to the side. It wasn’t a blow meant for injury, but for insult. By the seething anger she saw coming from her former friend, it worked.

  Instantly Julie launched herself forward, sending both of them rolling across the floor among the broken plastic cups and spilt drinks. Arms flailed about as they clawed, snapped and scratched at one another.

  “You fucking bitch, I’ll make certain your dead this time,” Julie screamed as she sat astride Cadence’s waist. “I’m going to rip your heart out.”

  “I…don’t…think…so!” Allowing her own fangs to slip past her gums once again and the rage of the monster she’d become to awaken, Cadence tossed the woman off and sprang straight to her feet. Striking out hard, she smashed the heel of her hand into her former friends nose, the cartilage cracking on impact. Julie stumbled across the floor away from her, landing on her ass as Cadence looked about for something to finish this fight.

  Julie stared at her, fear and tears shining in her eyes as she watched a chair shatter against the floor and the woman she’d left for dead stroll toward her, a jagged chair leg stake in her hand. Cadence was tired of playing with the woman, the time for retribution long past due. Julie made one last effort to turn the tables, jumping up from her seat on the floor, intent on scratching out the eyes of her enemy. Instead, she met with a roundhouse kick, which sent the woman back to the floor. With an angry scream, Julie jumped up and charged at her.

  Using her own momentum against her, Cadence jumped forward to meet her, gripping the stake tight as she moved the sharp end just to the left of Julie’s sternum and felt it penetrate the skin as the bones popped and snapped. When it was over, Cadence leaned over the dead body of her former friend, blood coating her hands where it sprang up around the crude object, which completely penetrated the chest and stuck out from the other side. Jumping back as the body burst into flames, she looked down at herself.

  “Damn, that was a lot messier than I expected,” she grumbled to herself as she used the pant leg of her jeans to wipe some of the sticky red blood from her hands.

  The sound of a sharp angry roar from behind her caused Cadence to spin around. Her mouth went dry as she watched one of the large males she recalled seeing the night of her death barreling down on her. He streaked across the floor at her, a broken beer bottle gripped in his hand, fangs dripping from any number of victims who’d fallen to him. She knew this was not going to be good. He was far too close, moving far too fast and she had no time to prepare. A few feet from her, Cadence sucked in a deep breath in preparation to
the attack, only to catch a glimpse of movement to the bastard’s immediate right. Phynix struck a split second before he reached her, driving the man off course as the animal ripped at the arm holding the makeshift weapon. The surprise intervention caused the vampires full attention to shift away from her and onto the need to escape the angry canine, providing Raven time to emerge from somewhere unknown and empty a dozen rounds of hot lead into the vampire’s head. She watched as his body twitched before combusting and he fading into ash just as Julie moments earlier.

  ****

  Raven felt a sense of relief, seeing Cadence standing overtop the dead body of a female vamp, and the fact Phynix served as her backup was a bonus. He would definitely credit both of them with eliminating members of this clan, even though he’d assisted some in regards to the large male. Walking over, he gave her a grin of approval and rewarded Phynix with a well-earned scratch behind his ears.

  “What do you say we go find the rest of the guys and get the hell out of here?” Raven said, wrapping an arm about her shoulder as the two of them walked toward the rear of the building where he’d last seen Gavin and Hugh. The building was pretty well vacant by now, with the exception of the debris left behind in the mad rush to escape. No doubt, the building owner would have the cops crawling all over this place and the campus once he or she discovered the damage.

  A quick glance at the woman walking at his side made him smile. She’d done very well tonight, regardless of the fact she’d been forced to take down the girl who’d she previously considered her friend. It was never an easy thing to eliminate someone you’d cared about. He should know. It was close to three years to the date since he himself ended the man he’d called brother his entire life. Still, Cadence gave him confidence that they were all on the right path and their lives, though changed, still held value in this world.

  Near the back garage doors, one of which hung rather precariously from its mounts, sitting on a large overturned speaker, they found Hugh, a nasty cut on his forehead and pulling on his clothing. He must have changed into his beast, Raven decided as the man nodded to the pair and continued to button his shirt.

  Gavin and Drake stepped under the half open garage door, both looking a little tired and dirty but no worse for wear. The pair obviously chased the fleeing vampires as far as possible, hoping to ensure none escaped.

  “Two underlings and Nigel managed to slip away with the crowd,” Gavin said as though he’d picked up on his thoughts.

  It was disappointing to think they failed to wipeout this entire rogue group, however tonight was the closest they’d been to success in that endeavor since starting this particular mission well over a year earlier. Raven knew they would find those who’d escaped and send them to join the ash that now danced in the air around them. Raven could see the image in his mind, a hazy dream of events yet to play out.

  “So is everyone alright?” Gavin asked, his voice scattering the images away like fog dissipating with the morning sun.

  ****

  Cadence heard him speak the words as though they’d been meant for the entire unit, however his eyes focused solely on her, and she smiled and nodded in response.

  “Nothing a hot shower cannot cure,” she added as once again she attempted to get some of the now dry blood from her hands.

  “You can grab one while we pack up and Raven tries to get a beat on which direction our friends fled in,” the grinning team leader said, his sudden cheeriness making her think he might have plans on joining her. “Let’s get out of here before we stuck answering questions in some little police station.”

  “I’ll go grab the vehicle and meet you all in three minutes,” Hugh said. He jumped to his feet and darted out the door.

  Once the entire group was back safe in the SUV, headed for the house, Cadence reflected on what she’d just witnessed and done. Julie being part of the group stalking the college campuses was unexpected, but in the back of her mind, something else ate at her. The vampire’s mention of Brad being turned caused her pause. Cadence never caught sight of him among the crowds of college students. Had one of the others ended him, or was he still out there somewhere? The kind and gentle soul he’d been made it hard for her to picture him as something else, corrupted by the black hearts and intentions of his maker.

  Cadence was still silently mulling over Brad when the SUV pulled up the long drive to the house. They would be packed and back on the road to who knows where first thing in the morning, attempting to catch up to Nigel and the others who’d managed to escape tonight.

  “You know we haven’t even touched the pool. What do you say we all do a bit of skinny dipping before breaking everything down?” Drake suggested, opening her door and offering his hand in assistance.

  “Now that is the best plan you have ever offered,” Gavin commented, reaching past his second to scoop Cadence out of the vehicle, tossing her over his shoulder and heading toward the back patio at a full run with the rest of the crew following them.

  Laughing as she bounced across his broad shoulder, Cadence could not help but be engulfed by the feelings of acceptance and passion from her men. It was something that went beyond companionship, and though she was not ready to examine it much closer than that, it felt amazing. She knew this was where she belonged. Perhaps she felt something more for her crew, but until she made certain what remained of the rogue troop of vampires who had brought this all to her feet were eliminated, there were no plans to scrutinize it further. Cadence planned to abide by the old cliché, which suggested she “live for the moment.”

  Epilogue

  Billy Barton moved swiftly along the stone path, which twisted through Wooddale Cemetery. The frat party at the Omega house was already in full swing and he was certain not to make it past pledge if he didn’t manage to get the ice back before it melted away to nothing more than a bag of water. The only problem was he was as bad at remembering short cuts as he was with calculus. For the life of him, he could not remember his way around the five-acre necropolis, every grouping of tall stones and statues looking the same as the last. He stopped to try and regain his bearings, when a sharp crack sounded to his right causing him to jump.

  “Whose there? Josh, Glen is that you? Come on, buds, this ain’t cool.”

  Darting his eyes all about, Billy looked for his frat brother he felt certain had wondered out here to put a scare into him. Instead, he found the shadowy silhouette of a tall slender man watching him from against a nearby tree.

  “Who… Who are you?” He found himself wanting to run but too scared to move. The man now moved slowly toward him.

  As the stranger grew closer, Billy could make out his features in the twilight. Sandy hair, deep sunken eyes, which seemed to glow a strange blue color, and a grisly smile of bloodstained teeth: fanged teeth.

  “Oh my god!”

  “Not even close.” A sultry female voice said from behind him, and Billy spun to find himself caught between the monster and a shapely female dressed in camo pants and a tank top, the business end of a AK47 pointing his direction. Her brown hair dancing about her shoulders in the evening breeze.

  “Why don’t you get on to your party?” she suggested, pointing off to his left down one of the paths. “Your friends are waiting and Brad and I have a bit of catching up to do.”

  Billy wasted no time high-tailing it the hell away from there, the sound of gunfire ushering him on in a full run. The half-melted bag of ice lay forgotten on the ground.

  The End

  About the Author

  JL Oiler lives in the mountains of West Virginia with her husband, two children, and boxer. She began writing stories at a young age, but didn't begin sharing them until she was in her late teens. When not writing, JL enjoys the outdoors and teaching shop to unruly middle schoolers. JL joined forces with fellow authors BethAnn Buehler, Lila Munro, and Carl Franklin to form Wicked Muses in June 2010. JL has releases with Silver Publishing which include To Kiss a Demon, Claiming Night, and Have Yourself a Rotten L
ittle Christmas. Her Rebel Ink releases include Kinship Trinity, Salvation, Force Recon: Beacon Bayou, Were Menage, Force Recon Somalia and the upcoming Ecliptic Hearts and Midnight Menage as well as the final installment in the Force Recon series. JL can be found on frequently chatting on Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter.

  Readers can find JL at her author site: http://www.joiler.weebly.com