by K. C. Blake
The werewolf janitor stumbled away. It gazed down at the wound in wonder. It touched the torn shirt. A strange sound emanated from its throat. It began to tremble from head to toe. The thing went to its knees in front of Jack.
Billy appeared at Jack’s side, sword in hand. “You killed my family. Now you can go to hell.”
He swung the long blade, cleanly removing the werewolf’s head. It rolled several yards, but it stopped before the body fell forward and hit the ground. Finally the murderer was dead. In seconds it turned to a pile of ashes.
Silver came up behind Jack. He lifted his arm, invited her to step closer. His arm went around her, holding her close.
“It’s over.” Billy smiled.
“I didn’t have to use the rock,” Jack said, pleased with himself. “We can still use it on Jersey.”
Silver shook her head. “No, please. Not yet. I think I’ve had enough hunting for a while. Too much excitement is bad for the heart.”
Jack squeezed her. “If Jersey comes after us, we won’t have a choice. Anyway, what were the two of you thinking?” He glared at his brother. “You almost got her killed, idiot.”
Silver said, “You gave up your revenge for me. You were going to kill the head werewolf and give me my life back. I wanted to do something for you. I thought if I could kill him before you got to Jersey, we would both have what we want most.”
“It was my fault too,” Billy said. “You can’t take all the blame. I wanted revenge just as much as Jack.”
“But it was my idea,” she said.
“Enough.” Jack held his hands up. “It doesn’t matter who did what. It’s done now. I’m just glad everyone is okay. You are okay, aren’t you?”
His eyes went to Silver first, followed by his brother. They both nodded. Billy rubbed his sore throat. The pile of ashes began to blow away as a gentle breeze passed over the field. Jack watched it with delight. His parents had died at the hands of the psychotic werewolf, and now it was dead. Revenge really was sweet.
Silver walked over the grass, her gaze lowered. She found the stone almost immediately. With a smile, she picked it up and showed it to Jack. “Got it.”
She gave it to him, and he slid it into his pocket. He didn’t even want to think about using it on Jersey. That was going to a tough situation. He certainly wasn’t looking forward to returning to school. What if Jersey continued to teach English class? Could they be in the same room with each other after everything and not try to kill each other?
“We did it,” Billy said. His smile widened, and he put an arm around Jack’s shoulders. “Thanks for saving my butt back there.”
“No problem, bro.”
“I guess you’re going to turn out to be a good hunter after all.”
“Yeah, we’ll see.” Jack put one arm around Billy and the other around Silver. He brought them close. They were his family now, and he no longer missed his vampire clan. “Let’s go home and celebrate.”
They laughed as they walked to the car.
Chapter Twenty-Five:
A BRAND NEW DAY
Three weeks passed without a sign of Jersey anywhere. Jack was both anxious and relieved by his former teacher’s disappearance. He’d received a special surprise in the mail from the man: a deed to his property. Jersey had given him his fake house and the beautiful mansion beneath. Jack had no idea what he was going to do with it yet, but he appreciated the gesture.
Jack sat at Jersey’s desk, and Silver perched on the edge. It was almost like they were replaying a scene from Jersey’s past with Pagan. It was somehow comforting to Jack. He leaned back in Jersey’s chair, allowing his gaze to drift around the room. It didn’t look like Jersey had taken anything with him.
“What are you going to do with this place?” Silver asked.
Jack sighed. He’d given it a great deal of thought since finding out he owned it. With a shrug, he said, “I have no idea. Maybe we should use it as a sort of headquarters for hunters.”
“That’d be great. The werewolves and vampires won’t be able to find out what we’re up to if we’re in hiding. I love it.”
“Its way better than the secret room my parents had.”
“What’s that?” Silver walked to the fireplace. She pulled an envelope that had been hiding behind a book with one edge sticking out. “It has your name on it.”
Silver handed it to him. Jersey’s fluid handwriting traveled across the middle of the envelope. Jack’s breath caught in his throat. He opened the envelope with trembling fingers and pulled a folded piece of paper out, hoping it wasn’t bad news. He was disappointed to find nothing written on it. Why would Jersey give him a plain piece of paper?
Jack lifted it for Silver’s inspection. “Maybe he was in a hurry.”
“I have an idea.” Silver came around the desk. She smiled at him before placing her hand on top of his. The familiar electric current shot through him, announcing the beginning of a new journey.
****
Jack glanced around with a frown. They hadn’t gone anywhere. They were still in the study. For a moment he thought it hadn’t worked, but then his eyes traveled the room. Jersey Clifford stood on the opposite side of the desk, a smug smile on his face. Silver gasped, spotting him at the same time. Jack squeezed her hand, reassuring her without words.
“Welcome,” Jersey said. “I wanted a chance to say good-bye to you, Jack, but I didn’t want to tempt the fates. One of us might have felt compelled to kill the other before the appointed time.”
Jersey moved to the center of the room. He spread his hands and slowly turned. “Well, what do you think of your new home? I hope you enjoy it. The thought of it sitting empty, no one to appreciate it, sank my heart. Of course by now you have realized I am gone for good.” He scowled. “I will try to hold building my army off for as long as I can, because I do not wish to destroy you, but someday…someday I will have no choice. We will battle to the death. Yours, I’m afraid.”
Jersey went to the shelf and pulled a hardcover book from the stack. “In my fit of anger I trashed several of my favorites, but this one I saved. I would like for you to read it please. Someday I hope to discuss it with you in depth. I’d like to hear your take on it. My fondest wish is for us to have a conversation like the ones I so enjoyed having with you before.”
Jack looked to the shelf. He saw the book Jersey wanted him to read. The vision of Jersey and the book filled the empty place in his heart. He’d had a void since Jersey and Cowboy had blown town. With neither of them around, life seemed to lose some of its spice.
Jersey lifted his hand in a slight wave. “I feel kind of stupid talking to myself, but I know you’ll see this. I am sorry beyond belief our time was cut short. We’ve lost countless opportunities to share our views. Good-bye for now, my friend, my enemy. I will greatly miss you. Perhaps even more than I miss Pagan in some ways. Allow me to leave you with one last quote.”
“Sudden and swift and light as that the ties gave, and he learned of finalities besides the grave.”
And then he was gone.
****
“What was that?” Silver looked up at Jack. “What did it mean?”
“It was a poem by Robert Frost, Jersey’s way of saying good-bye.”
“Okay. That was kind of creepy.”
Jack crossed the room to the book shelf and picked up the volume Jersey had wanted him to read. It was one of his favorites, one of Lily’s favorites. Jack opened it. Jersey had written a little note on the inside. We all have a destiny, known or unknown. Our choice is to run from it or embrace it. Choose well.
“You really liked him, didn’t you?” Silver’s expression was one of total disbelief. “After everything he did, you still like him.”
How could he explain it to her? “He reminded me of my father. Not in a bad way. My father kept his emotions in check. He gave new meaning to calm, cool, and collected. Then there was the way I felt when talking to Jersey. He had all this wisdom to impart, and he did it eag
erly. Having him around was almost like having my father back.”
Silver walked over to him and slid into his arms. The side of her face pressed against his chest. She mumbled against his shirt. “I’m sorry you had to lose him. My parents are searching for Jersey via computer and contacts, but they probably won’t be able to find him for a long time. Maybe by the time they do, I’ll be able to suck his soul out, and you won’t have to kill him.”
It was a horrible thing to wish for, but Jack found himself doing just that. He wasn’t sure if he had the strength to face Jersey on a battlefield. No matter what awful things Jersey had done, Jack feared he would always love the man. At least the parts that reminded him of the father he’d lost.
Would it be better for Jersey to have his soul sucked out or to be touched by the rock?
“What do you think happens to the souls you suck out? Are they lost forever?”
“No. Didn’t you read that part in the diary?”
“I guess I missed it.”
“Lovely says they travel on, heaven or hell, wherever they were meant to be.”
That didn’t sound so bad. “I’ll be back in a second.”
Jack sprinted out to the car and retrieved the diary. Since it was still in his possession, he wanted to read the part about sucking souls out again. Silver had read it enough to know what page the information could be found on. He leaned in through the open window, took the diary out of the glove compartment. As he pulled it through the window, it slipped from his fingers.
The diary opened on the ground to a brand new page. Jack hunched over it and read it again and again. He swallowed hard. Disbelief hardened his heart. No way. Someone was messing with him. He grabbed the diary, slapped it shut, but it was too late. The words were burned inside his brain.
Beware of Silver, Jack. Betrayal will lead to your death.
It had to be a trick. Somehow Jersey had planted the page, forged Lovely’s handwriting. Jack didn’t believe for a second that Silver would betray him. She most certainly would not lead him to his death. The sucking-out-souls passage forgotten, he tossed the diary back through the open window.
With slow feet and a sinking spirit, he returned to the secret mansion beneath the house. He didn’t say a word to Silver about the new prophecy. When she asked why he’d left, he told her he’d wanted to check the house above out again because he had an idea.
“How would you like to live here?” he asked. “Your parents need to build a new home anyway. Why not build it over the mansion?”
Her eyes sparkled. “Great idea. My parents will love it. Thank you.”
She hugged him again, and his arms went around her. His hands tightened on her back, molding the soft curves. His eyes closed, and he savored the moment.
“What do we do while we wait for my parents to find Jersey?” She let him go, took a step back.
“We live a normal life.”
The words left his lips without emotion or meaning, because at this point he knew there was no such thing as a normal life for him.
Deep in his heart, he was still a vampire.
###
Sneak Peak: WEREWOLVES RULE
Chapter One:
NIGHTMARE
Blood seeped through Jack’s tightly aligned fingers. No matter how hard he pressed on the wound, it continued to hemorrhage. He was beyond scared. During his time as a vampire Jack had become unusually attuned to the workings of his body, so he didn’t need a psychic to tell him something was wrong. The blood should have stopped by now. He should have healed several minutes ago.
Although he wasn’t a vampire anymore, Jack still had some of the powers, including instantaneous healing. Too bad it didn’t seem to be working at the moment.
He wanted to look down to measure the growing red stain on his shirt, but he couldn’t risk drawing his brother’s attention to it. He covertly stole a glance at Billy. Passing streetlights illuminated Billy’s face in short rolls of light. His profile was rigid, jaw tight. He stared straight ahead, hands tight on the steering wheel as if he was trying to strangle somebody.
Billy was pissed!
Who could blame him after the night they’d had?
Jack, still new to the art of hunting, couldn’t believe the disaster a ‘simple’ werewolf chase had turned into. A couple particularly nasty werewolves had nearly killed them. At least Billy only got kicked and punched a few times. He sported a puffy eye, maybe a couple bruised ribs, but one of the werewolves had stabbed Jack with a knife.
A knife! Whoever heard of a stupid werewolf using a blade? What happened to the good old days when they’d used their claws?
Being stabbed hurt worse than getting slashed by a hundred werewolf claws. The burning pain spread throughout his middle, growing in intensity. Perspiration dotted his upper lip and forehead. The car hit a bump. Jack gritted his teeth, holding back a cry of agony. Exhaustion battled the pain to see which could take him down first. His eyes drifted shut. Some rest might help him to heal faster, the little voice in his head reasoned.
“Are you dying?” Billy asked. His odd, toneless voice cut the silence, a bomb in a peaceful village. Jack reluctantly forced his eyes open and turned his head against the vinyl seat so he could reassure his brother. Billy added, “Seriously. Do I need to take you to the hospital or what?”
“Course not.” Jack’s voice cracked under the strain. He cleared his throat and tried again. “I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine.”
“I heal fast, remember?”
“Yeah, it’s like having Superman for a brother.”
Sarcasm. Poor Billy hadn’t completely adjusted to having a freak show living under his roof. Their relationship remained strained even through the best of times. Jack’s eyelids grew heavy. They closed of their own volition. He mumbled, “Just need some sleep.”
He barely heard his brother’s warning.
“Yeah, well, if you see a bright light, stay the hell away from it.”
“Mmm hmm.”
Jack began to drift, unattached thoughts floating through his mind like confused cars heading in opposite directions. He lost his grasp on reality. Sleep claimed him on a temporary basis, and he went willingly into the comforting darkness.
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