Jenny grabbed her sword and blurred so fast that she inadvertently knocked a tree down to get at them. Anthony and Bernard were just about to come to blows when she approached the miscreants. She cut Bernard’s head off and before his bones hit the ground she also decapitated Anthony as well. She was so angry with him that she threw his bones high up into a tree and they lodged there. She brought her hand to her chest and the thought that she should be dead was disturbing. Jenny looked down and saw the circle of glass and realized there was some sort of spell involved, but she had no idea of its origins or its nature. She heard her mother crying and rushed back to her.
“Mom, I’m okay.”
“It’s not okay Jenny. They shot you. I should have never let you get involved in this stuff. It’ll be the death of you and it’ll be my fault. How am I ever going to live with that?”
Jenny hugged her mother. “Mother, no, it will never be your fault no matter what happens. Because of who my father is I was born into this. A flower can’t decide to be something else, even if it desperately wants to be. It is what it is. And I am who I am.”
“I know but I don’t want you to be who you are.”
“Mother, I think it’s a little too late for that.”
“I know.”
Jenny slowly made her way toward the front door. “Everyone that is alive is on a different journey; even those heading to the same place and driving in the same vehicle will have a different experience.” The girl felt as if someone else was putting words into her mouth. “That was such a strange experience. Look at my hands, their still shaking.”
Allison took in a deep breath and then let it out. “I think I need to lie down. Don’t tell your father about this.”
Jenny simply nodded. “About what?”
CHAPTER NINE
DRACULA SAT ON HIS SOFA with Moon Diamond comfortably in his lap. Zacharia didn’t want to be in that position but the cat did and so the vampire acquiesced. The Master was in a better mood as he waited for Carrington to show up, with thoughts of his daughter prancing around in his head. Carrington had lots of knowledge on vampires and blood wizards in particular. He would either help or direct him to someone that could. And contrary to what a lot of people thought, Dracula didn’t know everything, and in this case Carrington’s help was essential. The cat awoke and stared intently toward the front door as it stretched, and then looked up at Dracula.
“I know he’s coming. He may in fact be related to the bogyman. His brother I imagine.”
Piers Anthony never just showed up for conversation. There was always some sort of trouble brewing somewhere, some problem with nasty biters that he of course wanted the Master to solve. Dracula liked Piers though he wasn’t likely to admit it; he enjoyed his company but pretended otherwise. He appreciated the fact the author was looking out for the mortals in his own way, and that way was of course to get Dracula to solve whatever emergency he could dig up. Perhaps it was all research for some new book for all he knew.
The cell phone rang and Dracula placed it to his right ear. “Yes? Carrington, please tell me that your arrival is eminent.” He listened intently and the look on his face told the story. “A delay of several days. Well, I don’t like it but if you gave your word. Alright, bye now.”
The author Piers Anthony walked into the living room with the two Chinese red sheriffs Wei and Bao. They were an impressive duo dressed in matching black dragon silk brocade jackets with dancing dragons on their left shoulders, and both were equipped with swords. Dracula remembered Wei’s grey-blue eyes and two feet long queue of hair down his back from the night he had turned him into a red sheriff. He was happy to see them both still alive. Bao’s dark brown eyes scanned the Master’s residence and were impressed with its expensive décor; his Cute Boy hairstyle wasn’t exactly to Dracula’s liking, but he thought that it looked good on him. Their rugged masculinity was an impressive sight to most. Everyone exchanged nods out of respect. Piers was wearing a white shirt with a blue tie and grey dress pants. He cocked his head ever so slightly at the Master and of course Dracula knew what was coming.
“Piers, I’ll tell you all about Mona Lisa’s smile if you promise not to bother me anymore. What do you say?”
Piers smiled. “I’d like to say yes but I can’t.
“Of course. What is it now?”
“We need your help to rescue some seniors out of an old folk’s home. There’s a bunch of vampires in there. I’m sure you can imagine how frightened they must be.”
The Siamese cat jumped up with excitement. It was a task, a fight, a chance to battle miscreant vampires that needed to be killed. It was an adventure. Last night Dracula had discovered Zacharia curled up beside one of his swords and assumed he had been reminiscing about old times. Moon Diamond ran to the door and pounded on it with both paws and then quickly ran back. It slapped fast and furious at Dracula’s leg and let go with several meows. Inside the Master’s head he said let’s do this thing!
“Oh Zacharia,” said Piers. “Please forgive me for not acknowledging your presence.”
The cat made its best attempt to say Piers Anthony to acknowledge him. “Miers meowmamee.”
Wei and Bao looked at one another as they were trying to figure out what was going on. They both wanted to laugh at the cat but didn’t dare. “Is Zacharia here?”
Bao stared down at the cat. “Master?”
Dracula took a deep breath. “Oh, that’s right. Ah, well, Zacharia animated his Siamese cat Moon Diamond with a small piece of his sole, see he couldn’t stand the thought of his precious cat perishing of natural causes. You boys will definitely find this part interesting; he was killed and instead of his soul moving on it was sucked into the cat. Now he’s trapped in there.”
“I have to assume this is some sort of jest, but I don’t get it.” Bao had known Zacharia as an acquaintance and liked him.
Dracula was beginning to get bored with the cat thing. “Go ahead, mind him.”
Wei went into the cat’s mind and sure enough Zacharia was in there, sitting on an imaginary white chair looking bored.
“Hello,” said Zacharia. “It’s true I’m stuck in here. I don’t have a body to get back into. I’ll never really get accustomed to it. It’s a hell of a thing being a cat.”
“Shit, I’ve never heard of such a thing.” Wei was now seeing the Siamese as Zacharia; it was one of the weirdest things that he’d ever experienced. “That is both sad and fascinating. My condolences to you Zacharia.”
Moon Diamond growled in protest, one of the fiercest growls to ever emanate from a cat.
“Don’t antagonise him he’ll rip your face off; he’s remains a powerful vampire.”
“My apologies Zacharia I meant no disrespect.” Wei bowed to the cat and the cat reciprocated.
Bao finally closed his mouth from the shock of it all. “Master, may I ask a question?”
“I suppose.”
“Well, ah, a small girl named Jenny saved our asses with some sort of spell. Is there anything that you can tell us about her? Do you know her? She has blond hair, about so high. She has to be a wizard.”
Dracula smiled. “Jenny is my daughter.”
Wei looked at Bao. “Is he serious?”
Bao shrugged.
The cat looked up at the Master and gestured toward the door with its head, indicating that he wanted to go and do battle. Piers nodded appreciatively to the cat, as Zacharia was in Dracula’s mind wanting him to agree to the rescue of the seniors.
“All right Piers,” said Dracula, “we’ll go and rescue the old folks under one condition. The condition being that you have to fight.”
The grimace on Piers Anthony’s face said it all. “Is that absolutely necessary?”
“It is.”
“Oh all right. But I won’t be happy if I end up dead.”
Dracula bent down and pulled out a samurai sword in its scabbard that had killed over a thousand vampires over the centuries; its shiny hilt was made partially of
silver. On its hand guard was a tiny samurai warrior that went through several motions of attack as it glowed eerily green. “Piers, use this enchanted sword, any evil vampire that it comes into contact with will be immediately destroyed. Beware though as it won’t improve your fighting skills or aid in your lack of experience. But just a scratch from it will do the trick so it won’t be necessary for their heads to come off.”
Piers took the sword and was impressed by how it felt in his hands; when he pulled it from its scabbard mouth the weapon felt alive in his hands. He had never experienced anything like it. Dracula observed his expression, and of course knew what he was sensing. The weapon fed off the good inside the author.
Dracula, Piers, Wei and Bao blurred onto the steps of the red bricked 1900 neoclassical house and almost immediately received permission to enter from 90-year-old Annie Baker, who stood with her oxygen tank behind her. Life was pretty much a living hell for Annie and she hoped to be killed before it was all over. Moon Diamond was on the Master’s left shoulder and raring to go. The old lady stared through the window and recognised Dracula immediately; he went into her mind and told her why they had come and that was good enough for her.
The five of them entered and were attacked by Archie, Uberto, Gage, Vaile, Snyder, Nash and Nate. Attacking Dracula was foolish, however he had placed into all of their minds that he was there to kill them and so they had nothing to lose by their boldness of attack. Dracula grabbed Archie by the head and with a mighty shake his head came off and he turned to bones. Moon Diamond attached himself to Snyder’s face and his screams were quite satisfying to Annie because of the torture that they had put the seniors through. Dracula took Snyder’s head even though the Siamese was still attached to his face. The head bounced once on the floor as the cat fell off of it.
The battle moved further back into the large living room as old Annie made her way to Archie’s bones and kicked them. “Take that you piece of vampire shit! Looks good on you!”
Bao blocked Nate’s attempt at decapitation, and with a reverse turning kick sent him cartwheeling across the room. He blurred to him and their blades collided violently five times. Bao stuck his sword through his heart, pulled it out, and then with a swing of his blade Nate’s head flew off and he also turned to bones. Annie slowly made her way through the carnage, pulling her oxygen behind her; she made her way to Nate’s skeletal remains and kicked those as well. Her bravado did not go unnoticed by the Master.
Wei’s katana had no problem deflecting Uberto’s sword; he booted Uberto in the chest so hard that it sent him flying into the fireplace dislodging several bricks. Annie kicked him and was about to be decapitated when Wei’s sword took his head off; his skin turned to dust and his bones fell to the floor. Annie shook the dust out of her hair. Annie also kicked Uberto’s bones as well.
Piers Anthony split Nash into two equal parts and his skin turned to dust and littered the floor. To the author it was a distasteful but necessary deed. The battle raged on as Dracula observed how each vampire handled the fight of their lives. He then had to block Nate and prevent him from removing the author’s head. The sounds of battle were loud and disturbing to the other seniors that hid, hoping that it would all be over soon. Some plugged their ears as other turned off their hearing aids.
Nash and Vaile attacked Dracula simultaneously. Until that point in time he was enjoying the battle, especially fighting side by side with Zacharia. But unfortunately it had been enough of a distraction for Gage to cut through Pier’s Anthony’s neck.
Dracula turned. “No!”
CHAPTER TEN
KEITH STOOD AT THE EDGE of the forest and watched the postmodern colonial house at the end of the dead end street; he stood as still as the maple trees beside him. Watching, waiting and thinking nasty thoughts. He was imagining scenes of blood and carnage. It was a beautiful place with a granite kitchen, hardwood floors and a finished basement. It had cost just over a million. The Puerto Rican maid had let him into the house two days earlier as he had pretended he was a city worker checking the quality of their water; he had explored the place as the maid looking on had a confused look on her face. Keith was now waiting for the right time to go in and kill them all. It was the home of a police officer that had won the lottery and yet continued to work as an officer of the law, even in this age of vampire lust. His father had been a police officer as well as his grandfather, in was in his blood. The vampire got satisfaction out of the thought that the officer’s luck was about to change.
“Too doodle do,” said the blue jay in a nearby tree. It flew into the backyard and returned with a peanut; it flew off into the gray sky to bring the gift to its mate. The vampire would have liked to have smashed the bird but didn’t.
Keith was a nasty biter with a short forehead and a face weathered by the sun. He was overweight and liked nothing better than to prey on weak humans; it was both fun and appetizing. He felt like a hero destroying the enemy. After all anyone that wasn’t a vampire was the enemy. And food, of course they were food as well. Could there be a better combination? The Beast as some sheriff’s called him was exceedingly fast, which was what enabled him to elude them. Keith also enjoyed seeing his crime scene on the news. His beady brown eyes stared and stared, transfixed with emotions imagining the scenes of horror of things to come. His victim’s screams were particularly satisfying. The family had twin 17-year-old boys, and they would make a nice light snack, but the parents were what he was looking forward to sinking his teeth into, especially that police officer.
A strange smoke was on the air. Keith took the odor deep into his lungs but didn’t recognise it. It made him tingle inside and not in a good way. It made his sinuses burn and his eyes water but then as fast as it had commenced the symptoms departed.
“What a pretty house, and such tasty humans I’ll bet, I’ll bet.”
The vampire had ideas of forming and commanding a battalion of biters. That many biters would be impossible to stop, but the problem was that he couldn’t get any biters to follow him. Vampires were a fickle bunch; a lot of them were out for themselves with no thoughts of the greater picture. Still, the idea remained an egg in the henhouse that he hoped would hatch one day. The simultaneous scream of hundreds was a dream that he often had, and always being disappointed when he opened his eyes to discover that it was only a dream. Hundreds dying at the exact same moment was a delightful thought.
A grey Cadillac CTS-V Sport Wagon pulled into the driveway and Staci Claymore got out with her big red purse and headed into the house. She was an attractive blond that walked with confidence. Keith knew they were now all in there and ready for the taking. He could hear her husband Paul asking her if she had bought the earrings that she had gone out for and she said no. Someone else had purchased the last pair. Keith remained as still as an immovable object. Finally he moved a little, he tipped his head up and smelled the blood coursing through their veins, listening to the different rhythms of their hearts. It was time to drink them dry. The excitement ran through every inch of his body. It was to be a day to remember.
A black cat appeared from out of the forest carrying a dead mouse. It crossed his path and then ran across the road. The cat accidentally dropped the mouse, and as it picked it up it looked directly at Keith then continued on its way. Bad luck for the biter. What was the vampire to do? Keith had been superstitious as a human and remained superstitious as a vampire. His father had taught him that as long as the black cat didn’t make eye contact a person was safe. But that black feline had indeed made eye contact with Keith. There was absolutely no question about that. What was the proper course of action? He could almost taste them. He struggled with the idea of the black cat. He blurred several feet toward the house but then turned around and went back to the wooded area. Keith took several minutes to think it over but the bad omen had revealed its ugly head and so he was forced to blur back into the forest.
About a mile into the woods he considered going back. If he managed to kill the humans
then that would be good luck wouldn’t it? Another black cat appeared with a small white spot on its head, yet it was a black cat. Then five more appeared and stared up at him. It was a clowder of cats!
“Get away from me!”
Keith blurred off deeper into the forest.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
THE SKYSCRAPERS WERE BATHED in light as the morning was sunny and warm. Michael was finally able to appreciate it as he had some great news. A struggle ensued with his new red tie but he was in a great mood. John Shaw had phoned him saying that he had an anonymous officer willing to give up Lauren’s location for a couple of grand, of course the money had to come out of Michael’s pocket. John couldn’t say for sure that the information was good but he believed it to be. Michael was ecstatic and hoped that he wasn’t too late. He assumed she hadn’t found someone else already but life had a way of doing the unthinkable. Lauren was such a great catch that he was sure there would be plenty of takers. He hoped that she was his catch of a lifetime and he expected she hadn’t yet caught the attention of another, but he wouldn’t bet on it. It wouldn’t be pleasant to head back to Boston with his tail between his legs; he was in a good enough mood to smile at the thought.
Dracula: Hearts of Fire (Dracula Heart's) Page 5