Phoenix and the Dark Star

by Gerald Pruett

  “I didn’t come here to hear you defend your boyfriend…”

  “He’s my brother,” she corrected quickly.

  “Regardless, I’m going to turn loose of you in a few seconds and when I do, you are going to contact your brother and tell him to come here.”

  “And if I don’t?” she challenged.

  Conner kept his grip on Cynthia as he said, “I can’t leave witnesses alive, so you’re most definitely going to die along with your brother.” Tears flowed down Cynthia’s cheeks. “However, your baby—in the next room—doesn’t have to die… as long as you cooperate.”

  Cynthia made a pointless struggle to break free while begging, “Please. Don’t hurt my son. He’s only nine months old.”

  “And he can live to be a ripe old age as long as you cooperate,” Conner assured her. “So call your brother and tell him to come home.”

  “Okay. Okay. You can let go. I’ll call him.”

  “Good girl,” Conner whispered in her ear before releasing her.

  With Conner a step behind Cynthia, Cynthia walked over to the living room phone. She attempted to calm herself before picking it up and dialing Riley’s cell phone.

  When Riley picked up, Cynthia began with, “Shawn it’s me. I need you to come home.”

  “Cindy?” Riley questioned.

  “Yes, Shawn, it’s me,” Cynthia said. “I need you to come home.”

  “What’s going on?” Riley questioned.

  “Sammy is running a fever,” Cynthia lied. “And I’m having car trouble. I need you to drive me to Children’s Hospital. So please, Shawn. Come home.”

  “I’ll be there soon,” Riley said.

  “Okay; bye.” After hanging up, Cynthia turned towards Conner. “Shawn will be here soon.”

  “I heard everything,” Conner informed.

  “You heard everything?” Cynthia echoed curiously while noticing that something was off about his eyes.

  Conner smiled, and Cynthia backed up a step when she saw his fangs.

  “I have above average hearing.”

  “You also have above average speed. Inhuman speed, in fact, and your canine teeth… are those caps?”

  “No,” Conner said simply.

  “Then that would make you… that’s impossible. Vampires don’t exist.”

  “And yet here I am,” Conner retorted while spreading his arms out.

  While fidgeting slightly, Cynthia stared timidly at Conner for several seconds before asking, “You think my brother had killed your… your vampire friends? That’s not possible, and I’m certain of that.”

  “If he didn’t, he knows who did,” Conner informed. Cynthia pursed her lips and stood staring nervously at him. “I’m not going to kill you until I get my answers.” Conner then gestured towards the couch. “Now sit.”

  Cynthia glanced towards the couch before walking towards it.

  While sitting at a table in the restaurant across from ‘The Crow’s Nest’—with their meals in front of them—Brad saw a concern expression on Riley’s face when Riley ended the call with his sister.

  “Something wrong?” Brad asked before shoving fries into his mouth.

  “My sister’s in trouble,” Riley said while standing. “Keeping tabs on Conner will have to wait.”

  “What did she say?” Brad asked while standing.

  “She called me Shawn while insisting that I needed to come home,” Riley informed. “And saying that Sammy needs to go to the hospital.”

  “Who’s Shawn?” Brad asked as he and Riley walked towards the exit while leaving half of their food on the table. “And Sammy as far as that matters?”

  “Shawn is my and my dad’s first name,” Riley shared. “I’m always Riley and my dad is always Shawn.”

  “So you’re a junior?”

  “Not exactly,” Riley said. “I’m Shawn Riley and my dad is Shawn Michael.”

  “Okay, well, who’s Sammy?” Brad asked as he and Riley left the restaurant.

  “Well, it’s definitely not my nephew’s name,” Riley said.

  “Could your sister be trying to give you a clue of her situation by using the name Sammy?” Brad asked.

  Riley thought for a moment before saying, “Sammy doesn’t ring any bells for me. So if she is trying to give me a message, perhaps we need to buy those binoculars now and stake out the house before entering.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” Brad said as he and Riley moved towards the car.

  At Willie’s office, Winona was getting off her cell phone.

  Willie was at his desk, and when he saw that Winona had finished her call, he asked, “Updated information?”

  “Yeah,” Winona said. “That was my brother Adam. My dad had showed him what to do, and he’s keeping tabs on Conner as my dad went to work, and Conner has left ‘The Crow’s Nest’. Adam had emailed you the new location.”

  “I’ll see where Conner’s at.” Willie logged into his Email, and after seeing the Email that Adam had sent, Willie said, “He’s in a residential area.”

  “Do you know where it’s at?”

  “I do,” Willie said while closing his laptop. “And if Conner’s on the prowl we should get over there before he takes a victim.”

  “My thoughts exactly,” Winona said as Willie stood up. Winona stepped over and picked up her purse. “I’m ready.”

  “No you’re not,” Willie countered. Winona gave him a curious look just before he went to take off his vampire costume. “Take off your medieval costume. I don’t want to buy it.”

  Winona just grinned as she went to remove the costume.

  At Cynthia’s house, Cynthia sat on the couch as Conner sat in the chair while staring at her.

  After a long awkward silence, Cynthia asked, “Why do you think my brother had killed your friends? Or knows who did?”

  “Before coming here, a video of my friends being executed had made its way to me. When I checked my security tapes, your brother’s car had appeared on the tapes, and the occupant of that car is who had passed that video to me.”

  “The car that my brother drives is a common car…”

  “I ran the license plate,” Conner interrupted. “That’s how I knew that Shawn Riley Patterson was involved—if not responsible—for my friends’ execution.”

  Before anything else could be said, Cynthia’s son woke up crying.

  Cynthia gestured towards the bedroom before saying, “I need to check on him.”

  “Trying to run and shooting me with a gun will be useless, foolish and annoying—it will only get your son killed, so I advise that you behave yourself as you go take care of your son.”

  Cynthia gave an understanding nod before standing up and walking towards the bedroom.

  Fifteen minutes later, Brad, Riley and Doug (Cynthia’s neighbor from across the street) were watching Cynthia’s house.

  They were only watching for a short time before Brad recognized Willie’s car going past.

  “That’s Willie’s car,” Brad informed.

  “What are they doing here?” Riley asked as he watched Willie’s car.

  “The hell if I know,” Brad retorted.

  Willie had parked his car in the closest parallel parking space available to Cynthia’s house—which was a half of block away.

  When Riley saw that Winona and Willie were walking in the direction of his sister’s house, he continued with, “I’ll go find out what’s going on.”

  Riley stood up and made his way towards the front door.

  As Winona and Willie were walking towards the house, she and Willie heard a loud, “Psst. Psst.”

  Winona and Willie turned to look, and after a short search, they saw Riley motioning for them to come over to him.

  As Winona and Willie were walking up to Riley, Winona asked, “Why are you here?”

  Riley gestured towards the house, while saying, “I live across the street with my sister’s family and…”

  “Whoa!” Winona interrupted. “You live in t
hat house?!”

  “Yeah. What’s going on?”

  “Conner is at your house,” Winona informed.

  “Why would he be there?!” Riley quickly asked.

  “Did you and Brad do anything foolish when you left my office?” Willie questioned.

  “We avoided the cameras, so he couldn’t have figured that it was us,” Riley said while sounding certain.

  “Riley, what did you and Brad do?” Winona asked in a ‘dreading the answer’ tone.

  “We did something in attempt to get Nadine’s video to him—to shake him up,” Riley said.

  “I say it worked,” Winona said.

  As Winona went into her purse for a crystal ball, Riley said, “I don’t know how he knew to come here.”

  “Where’s Brad?” Winona asked as she glanced at the symbol on the crystal ball.

  “He’s upstairs with Doug. They’re watching the house, and trying to determine what the situation across the street is.”

  “Okay, well, stay here,” Winona told Riley. “Hopefully your sister isn’t lying dead in the house.”

  “God, my nephew’s there too,” Riley informed as Winona was backing up.

  “Just pray that the two are all right,” Winona said before turning and facing Cynthia’s house.

  As Winona was making her way across the street, Willie and Riley entered Doug’s house.

  At Cynthia’s house, Cynthia was bouncing her son up and down in her lap while trying to keep him from fussing.

  For the twelfth time, Conner noticed Cynthia looking at him with curiosity in her eyes.

  “You are annoying the hell out of me,” Conner told Cynthia.

  “He likes to be bounced like this,” Cynthia insisted.

  “Bouncing your son is not what’s annoying me,” Conner informed. “You want to ask me something, but you’re afraid to; however, you are annoying me by not asking.”

  Cynthia took a breath before asking, “When did you get turned into a vampire?”

  “Many vampires remain close to a battlefield during wartime, and I was turned on the battlefield during WWI.”

  Outside the house, Winona stepped up to the door and saw that the door wouldn’t close completely because of the busted doorframe. After taking a calming breath, Winona uttered the Seminole word equivalent to the word ‘sunrise’.

  After Winona saw that the crystal ball was glowing yellowish white, as the first one did the night before, she shoved open the door further, rolled the crystal ball into the house as if it was a small bowling ball, pulled out the final crystal ball from her purse and stealthily entered the room.

  Conner was out of the effective range, but when he heard the commotion at the front door, he dashed towards it.

  Winona saw a blur of a figure coming towards her, but before she could react to it, Conner dropped like a rag doll just before reaching her.

  “Jeez!” Winona couldn’t help uttering in relief at the sight of Conner going down.

  “Riley!” Cynthia uttered as she rushed into view with her son in her arms.

  Winona faced Cynthia before ordering, “Stay back.”

  “Who are you?” Cynthia demanded.

  “I’m currently the one saving your hide,” Winona informed as she went into her purse to exchange the crystal ball that she held for a wooden stake and the mallet.

  When Cynthia saw the wooden stake and the mallet, she questioned, “So the stories on how to kill a vampire are real?”

  “No.” As Winona went to turn Conner onto his back, she continued, “Magic can immobilize a vampire, but the only thing that can kill one is fire.”

  “Magic?” Cynthia echoed as Winona squatted down next to Conner.

  Winona saw the hatred in Conner’s eyes as he stared at her. Winona ignored the look, and as she placed the point of the stake at his chest above the heart, she shared, “I’m a shaman. The crystal balls and the wooden stakes that I have had been magically enhanced to immobilize vampires.”

  After Winona reared back the mallet, she looked at Conner’s face and saw that he had shut his eyes.

  Cynthia covered her son’s eyes just before Winona swung downward—with as much strength as she could gather—while striking the stake square on its head.

  As with the vampires from the night before, the sound of a hard shell cracking was heard. Also as with the vampires from the night before, Winona had to hit the stake another time before it could be driven into Conner’s heart. Conner flinched, and then—as if he too was going through withdrawals—began to mildly shake.

  Winona looked into Conner’s face again and saw that he was staring resentfully at her.

  “If you weren’t a blood drinker, I think I could’ve liked you, Conner,” Winona shared before standing. “As it is, I’ve been recruited to stop the blood drinkers.”

  “You’re the one who had involved my brother,” Cynthia hissed while dropping her hand from her son’s eyes. Winona turned to face her. “You’re the reason that this… this unholy creature came to my house.”

  Winona gestured towards Conner before retorting, “He came to your house because Riley and Brad did something that they shouldn’t have. So if you want to yell at someone for Conner being here, yell at Riley.”

  “And where is Riley?” Cynthia demanded. Cynthia’s son began to fuss because of Cynthia’s outcry.

  “He’s watching this house from the house across the street.”

  “Mommy’s sorry,” Cynthia told her son. As Cynthia held her son in a consoling manner, Cynthia asked Winona, “Can you please remove this… this creature from my home?”

  “Let me gesture ‘all clear’ to Willie, and he and I will take Conner off your hands,” Winona said before stepping towards the front door.

  Winona stepped outside and waved for them to come.

  When Winona stepped back into the house, Cynthia—with tears rolling down her cheeks and holding her son close—shared, “He was going to kill me and Riley.”

  “I know,” Winona said sympathetically before noticing the crystal ball on the floor. Winona went to retrieve it as she continued to say, “I’m glad that I got here before that could happen.”

  “So how long have you been doing this?” Cynthia asked as she wiped the tears from her face.

  “Not long,” Winona said as she bent over to pick up the crystal ball.

  “How long is not long?”

  Winona stared at Cynthia, and after a short deliberation she shared, “Conner is the third vampire I’ve captured. The two before him were last night.”

  “So ‘not long’ means that you had just begun.”

  Winona politely grinned, but before she could respond with more than that, Willie, Riley, Brad and Doug entered the house.

  “Cindy!” Riley uttered after seeing her. Riley gestured towards Conner before continuing, “Did he hurt you?”

  “I’m fine,” Cynthia said before gesturing towards Conner. “I’ll be better though once he’s out of the house.”

  “Brad, help me to get Conner to my car,” Willie requested while gesturing.

  “Alright,” Brad said before he and Willie went to help Conner onto his feet.

  “As a reminder, don’t remove the stake,” Winona added.

  “I remember,” Brad said before he and Willie helped Conner to his feet.

  Riley stepped up to Cynthia before saying, “I’m sorry, Cindy. I think Brad and I caused this. But I don’t know how Conner knew to come here to look for us.”

  “He ran your license plate from the surveillance video,” Cynthia informed.

  “Crap!” Riley uttered as Willie and Brad were escorting Conner towards the door. “I didn’t think about that.”

  “Riley, how did you get mixed up with her?” Cynthia questioned.

  “My name is Winona,” she politely informed.

  “Winona. Doug. Will you two go outside so my sister and I could talk?” Riley requested.

  “Sure,” Doug said before walking towards the door.
/>   Winona nodded with a polite grin before following Doug out.

  Once Cindy—with her son in her arms—and Riley were alone in the house, Riley told Cindy the events of the last twelve hours.

  Outside, Willie and Brad walked Conner to Willie’s car. Willie bound Conner’s hands with a handcuff tie and then helped him into the backseat. Winona and Doug followed them to the car.

  Once at the car Doug pointed out, “It’s daylight. You can’t burn him in daylight.”

  “I know where to take him,” Brad countered.

  “Without being charged for arson while doing so?” Winona questioned.

  “I have to get caught first,” Brad retorted.

  “Brad, we’re not breaking the law,” Winona insisted.

  “Unless you’re planning to befriend every local crematorium manager in the country, how do you expect to kill vampires without bending a few laws?” Brad quickly asked Winona.

  Winona slightly huffed before asking Brad, “Where can we take Conner?”

  “You and Willie can follow Riley and me there,” Brad said while walking away. “I’ll get Riley.”

  “I really don’t want to end up on a list of wanted felons,” Winona told Brad before he could get too far.

  Without looking back, Brad waved in acknowledgement.

  “Thanks for livening up my day; however, I prefer the vampire-free life,” Doug said before gesturing towards his house. Winona amusingly grinned. “So I’m going to go… oh, and not to say this to be rude, Winona, but I hope I never see you again.”

  Winona held her amused grin, and while slightly waving, she told him, “Bye.”

  As Doug was walking towards his house, Winona and Willie got into the car.

  Minutes later, with Brad navigating, Riley led Willie to the interstate, and once on the interstate, Willie followed Riley for over an hour.

  Winona was getting restless by the time Riley had gotten off the highway and took an out-of-the-way road that led them to a place that had no cameras or witnesses.

  As Winona, Willie, Brad and Riley were gathering outside of the cars, Riley told Winona, “You should know that I had told Cindy—my sister—that I’m joining you. She wasn’t happy with the news, so don’t expect a warm welcome if you are ever around my sister again.”