Tough Luck: A Tough Guy Urban Fantasy (Saga of the Shamrock Samurai Book 1)

by Dean Floyd

  “Watch your language,” said Mom.

  “Really Mom, at a time like this? I was gonna say Banshee.”

  The gas pedal was down to the metal. Or was it medal? We Americans pronounce both words the same.

  The big rig lights were in my eyes, blinding me. I firmly yanked the steering wheel and felt the rubber fighting the asphalt as we drifted in front of the thirty-ton truck. Over the sounds of blast beat drums and machine gun guitars, I could hear the loud heart-stopping horn.

  The trucker’s tires were smoking. He locked his brakes and his tires screeched. My 'Stang pulled out in front of the truck, barely hitting it. You could not have slipped a piece of paper between the vehicles. My 'Stang then drifted through the first lane and into the second, in a moment that lasted forever. I couldn’t have timed it better.

  The Banshee was not so lucky. What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object? In this case there was only an unstoppable force: the semi. The she-devil was thrown aside. The sharp turn had flung her body into the path of the semi and she fell underneath.

  For one victorious second I thought it was over but then I heard her scream. This one surpassed all the others. From beneath the semi she unleashed all her fury into one earth-shattering scream. The blast of her power made the trailer to front flip over the truck, like in The Dark Knight movie. The trailer twisted in the air, coming down at us like a massive Redwood tree. I tried to speed up but was already going fast. I wouldn't clear it.

  The trailer came down and we barely escaped the shadow of death. A loud crash and smash boomed. In my rearview I saw metal and debris everywhere. Smoke. Glass. Screaming. Crying. Hearts pounding. Ears ringing. The impact of the fall caused me to lose control and I hit the brakes as my car did speed-wobbles.

  I sat there awestruck, taking in the sight of a sideways semi-truck. The driver’s trapped inside, I thought. I cut the music and unbuckled my seatbelt. It was a wonder I'd buckled it at all.

  “Sean, don’t,” said Aiden.

  I held out my hand and he presented my sword which I re-sheathed. Mom grabbed my hand and we locked eyes. We said nothing but she knew I had to finish this or die trying. She handed me the shotgun.

  My headlights illuminated the overturned truck. Smoke, dust, and burnt rubber filled the air. I stood there, preparing for the worst. This needed to end. In moments like these I wished my dad was still here. But my hero was long gone and I had to face this monster alone.

  I heard padded feet approaching and looked down to see Tain standing by my side at the ready. Well, not completely alone. I grinned and scratched his ears. “You with me?” I asked him.

  He barked.

  “All righty,” I said, hefting the shotgun. “Let’s get’er done.”

  Chapter 7

  Showdown

  The silence was eerie.

  I approached the big rig. It was beginning to be a foggy, wet sort of night. Rain seemed probable. We’d been having terrible weather as of late. The she-devil could be anywhere and I needed to be on my guard.

  As I walked near the truck my senses went haywire. Or it was adrenaline? Or both. Tain made a low growl. Loud banging on the trailer top got my attention and I looked up into the face of the Banshee as she arose. Man, was she ugly. And it wasn’t from the auto accident. She had transformed again. She had been a beautiful, young twenty-something then she turned into a woman in her prime. But now she was terrible, her true form exposed; an old hag with burning eyes. Her hair stood on end and blew in the wind. Beauty is vanity as they say.

  She opened her mouth to shout but I pumped the Mossberg 500 and gave her a slug. The shot cut through the silence and rang out, echoing off the walls of the highway. Smoke rose from the barrel of the gun. The Banshee absorbed the hit head on and dropped on top of the trailer. Got ‘er! I just need to climb to the top and make sure she’s finished.

  I expected her to be lying in a pool of her own blood. But she wasn't there. Blood trailed off of the side of the truck. Before I could stop him, Tain took off after her into some tall bushes that served as part of the center divider to the highway. He snarled and wrestled in the bushes. Then I heard the sound of strong impact and Tain yelped. Why won’t she die already, I thought.

  I leapt from the trailer and landed in tall grass. The fall was quite higher than expected and I had to duck and roll into the landing. All while holding the Mossberg 500. Yep, I'm that good. I did it earlier with the katana remember? But for some reason I couldn't access my power even though my senses went off like crazy.

  I was about ready to run into the bushes and search for my dog when he came flying towards me and knocked me to the ground. I rolled over, pushed him off and inspected him. He had several claw marks along his back and rib cage and was bleeding, but he'd be okay. At least I'd hoped so.

  My grip tightened on the gun and I pumped it again. “Come on out and face me!” I fired a warning shot into the bushes from where my dog flew. “What? Now you're scared?”

  The fog and mist formed rapidly. It swept through the center divide bushes of the highway and surrounded the truck and my car. If it weren't for my car lights I wouldn't be able to see anything.

  To my back, headlights shone from a car quickly approaching. No, I thought, turn around. Go away. I already have enough people to defend. Speaking of people to defend, my mom and brother were screaming in the car. I left Tain and bolted back.

  The sight unfolding before me almost gave me emotional overload. There stood my little brother Aiden, bat in hand ready for a swing as he barred the Banshee’s way into the car where my mom was trying to drag him back into the safety of the vehicle.

  The hag tried to claw him but he sidestepped and gave her a home run swing to the temple. While it was a solid strike, it did nothing to stop her.

  I aimed the shotgun and fired. It only grazed her shoulder but it was enough to knock her off balance.

  As she scrambled up, she looked from me to the approaching car. She was in the beam of the car's headlights that was driving straight towards her. With an inhuman leap the hag cleared the pickup truck. The pickup driver slammed on his brakes and whipped the car to a skidding halt. The driver’s side door opened and in flash a black man in a trench coat hopped out, staff in his left hand at the ready, glowing with purple magic energy.

  “Nehemiah!”

  He didn’t have time to answer. The hag unleashed a sonic scream like a tsunami, ripping up asphalt in its wake. Nehemiah stood there, staff held up high, like Moses or Charlton Heston.

  As the scream hit him, a force field of purple magic flickered to life around him. The sonic scream blew past either side of him, leaving the wizard unscathed.

  But her attack was just a distraction as she grabbed my brother by the arm and fled into the mist. “Aiden!”

  I cocked the shotgun again but it was too late. The strange mist quickly enveloped us and if I tried to shoot I could accidently hit my brother. I put the gun on the ground quickly and settled for a two handed grip on my katana.

  “Uh, Nehemiah,” I said. “Is this natural?”

  “No,” he said, gripping his staff with both hands. “She’s trying to draw us in, bring us over.”

  “Over where?”

  Instead of replying, he ran off into the mist which was now so thick I couldn’t see anything. With my arms outstretched I walked forward to where I thought my car and mom was.

  “Nehemiah,” I called. “Tain? Mom?” No response.

  I should have found the car by now. I walked faster. The asphalt under my feet became gravel then dirt. I turned around but my inner compass was way off. I almost felt sick to my stomach. Something was dreadfully wrong, making me feel out of place and time.

  I walked a long time and no time at all. Time was relative. Now, then, when? I walked into a wall. Dizzy stars filled my eyes. There will be a big welt on my forehead tomorrow.

  Chapter 8

  Finish Her

  I woke up in a strange corridor and
found myself under weathered stone arches in a broken labyrinth and not on Highway 12 in a Californian suburb. I probably should have freaked out.

  Except I felt strange. I didn't understand where I was or how I’d gotten there.

  “Help!”

  My brother’s plea cut through my clouded mind.

  Rising to my feet, I dusted myself off. My katana was in my hand but the shotgun was back with the car. The Banshee’s cackle echoed and I put my hand to the cold stone wall, letting it guide me in the darkness as I walked with care through the corridors, stepping over puddles of murky water.

  Above me was the open night sky. I was in some kind of stone ruins but it was a sky I had never seen before. I knew the sky wasn't from Earth. That didn't faze me though. Like I said, my newfound senses and energy were tingling and I was stronger and rejuvenated, despite having my butt thrashed by an old hag.

  At the end of the corridor I stepped under a doorway. I turned left down a new corridor and saw a series of small ancient archways forming a hallway. The Banshee could lurk behind any of them so I raised my sword in front of me and took cautious yet determined steps forward.

  I passed through the first archway, careful to look up and all around. Though I heard the she-demon's evil laugh, I couldn't quite tell where it was coming from because of the echo.

  After the second archway I found myself in a small room with thick shadows on either side of me. It became quiet as a coffin and I felt like somebody was watching my back. My skin began to crawl. My instincts told me to turn around and as I did my sword met the claws of the Banshee with a loud clash, causing sparks of magic energy to fly. Then she retreated into the shadows.

  I started after her but her voice sounded behind me.

  “You’ve meddled too deep, mortal,” said the hag.

  She was atop a thick wall and held my brother by his face, her filthy hand clamped over his mouth, muffling his cries. “When I’m done slicing him to bits, I’ll finish your mom off too. Then you!” Her hands and claws were glowing now as she too drew strength from this ancient place. My brother’s eyes were filled with terror.

  My anger bubbled, built up inside me and I unleashed it. Celtic knots swirled around me, circling my entire body, and not just my left arm this time. I leapt at her, dashing through the air. Sword met claws. The old hag and I were locked in combat and she snarled at me with bloody fangs. I swung, swiped, and stabbed but she danced about me, her tattered dress twirling in the tendrils of the mist.

  She attacked me then and scored a hit, her claws wet with my blood. I just need an opening, I thought. Out of my peripheral I caught the glow of Nehemiah’s staff. I brought my sword back, poised for a killing stroke.

  “Ukuqhuma!” he yelled as a purple fireball laced with electric sparks flew from his staff and hit the Banshee. She soared up and over me but I leapt up to meet her, imbued with Luck. I slashed the hag across the torso, then descended and landed on my feet. I slid on rubble into a puddle of water. I heard her crash behind me.

  A strip of her dress clung to my hilt and I used it to wipe her blood off my blade. I turned to face her, stunned she was still holding onto life. Without thinking, I tossed the red and white strip into the water. She let out a gasp, as if this was the most painful thing I had done to her yet.

  With her dying breath she wailed at me. This wasn't the same sonic scream as before. I wasn't thrown back or knocked with a great force. But I felt her power rush over me, leaving a rune or a mark that glowed through my T-shirt.

  Though it stung, I said, "Is that the best you can do? You're finished!"

  She managed a wicked grin before falling to her back, dead.

  The victory seemed hollow. Why did she smile? The glowing from my chest stopped but as I pulled my collar down I saw a symbol burned into my skin.

  Okay whatever, I thought. Where the heck are we? How do I get Aiden out of here? As if to answer my thoughts, a purple light shone before me. Nehemiah walked through the mist with his glowing staff held high, his other hand guiding my brother. He looked from the dead Banshee to me and simply nodded his approval. He eyed my katana, “What are you, Irish-boy? Some kind of shamrock samurai?”

  I barely noticed. I was smothering my brother with a bear hug.

  Nehemiah turned to go and we followed quickly through the mist.

  Though I only took a few steps forward, I panted as if I'd run a great distance and I fell to the highway asphalt.

  After I caught my breath I said, “Thanks man, you saved us.”

  "Yeah, you're welcome," said Nehemiah. "It's not like I did much. You killed the Banshee. You remembered to wash the blood from an article of her clothing. "

  “Oh yeah...” I said. “I totally did that on purpose.”

  Nehemiah stepped closer to me. His nose wrinkled like he smelled something foul. "Pull down your shirt collar."

  How does he know? I moved my collar, exposing the mark.

  "Awesome," he said. "Just great!"

  "Do you have any more words in your vocabulary?"

  He rolled his eyes and shook his head.

  My mother ran up and hugged my brother and me. Tain approached us, slower than normal but it was good to see he was alive, if a little battered. Tain licked my ear.

  "Oh boys! I thought I’d lost everyone," cried my mom.

  "We’re fine, Mom. It's over now. We’re safe."

  "Oh it's not over," said Nehemiah. He approached my mother and brother and bid them to stand.

  "Don't take this the wrong way," Mom said, "but what are you?"

  "I'm a shaman. Or a wizard as you may call it," he said.

  "No way!" said Aiden.

  My mom was at her wit's end. "First, psycho she-demon banshees and now wizards? What next? Are you a superhero, Sean?"

  Nehemiah chuckled. "It’ll all make sense soon. Just look right here."

  As he spoke he held out his right palm up while grasping his staff in the left. A small purple flame formed over his palm. "Peer into the light. Lose yourself in it. Think of the outrageous things you saw and throw them into the flame."

  The purple flame mesmerized my mother and brother and it scared me.

  "What you doing to them?"

  "It's okay," said Nehemiah, "I'm helping them forget." He finished the spell, the flame dissipating, and my mother and brother stared off into space.

  "Help me guide them back to the car," said Nehemiah. I obeyed. "In a few minutes they'll be back to normal and they'll forget all the supernatural things that took place tonight."

  "What about the car accident and the rest? Everything that happened at the house?"

  "The mind is an interesting thing. I've simply made gaps in their memory but the mind will fill those gaps with whatever seems logical and rational. You'll see."

  I frowned and shrugged. I guess that made sense. "How did you find us?"

  "The same way I always find these monsters. I sense the Bad Luck, the Chaos." He paused then added, “Why couldn’t you guys stay in one dang place? Fighting across town... you had me driving every which way to find this Banshee.”

  In silence I waited for him to erase my memories of tonight too.

  "What?" He asked.

  "Aren't you gonna MIB flash me and the dog next?"

  He laughed. "The dog? Are you serious? He can't talk, man."

  "What about me?"

  He sighed. "You, my friend, are marked by a Keening." He took a long finger and jabbed my chest.

  "A what?"

  "The hag. She wailed at you with her dying breath. It's called a Keening. Sometimes banshees do that. Basically you're marked for death. You’re a walking target for supernatural beings now, especially the Fomorians."

  “The what?”

  “Fomorians. Come on, St. Patrick. Don’t you know your own people’s mythology?"

  I looked at my chest, back at Nehemiah and then to my dog. Neither of them had sympathy for me. "I thought we were done. I defeated her. I don't want me or my family to b
e part of this."

  "Tough luck," he said. "You're in too deep now, kid. But at least you got powers. And that means..." He sighed, "...that you’ll need training."

  He smacked my shoulder and said, "Come on. Let's get your family back home."

  Author Notes

  Thank You

  If you finished this story I hope it’s because you enjoyed it.

  At this point in history if you live in the “first world,” your time is as valuable as your actual money. I’m thankful that you deemed my story worthy of your time. You don’t know how much it means to me.

  If you purchased this book (or read it in Kindle Unlimited) I want you to know that you helped me support my wife, 2yr old son, and my baby boy on the way. Thanks!

  If you really enjoyed it please do me a solid and leave a review. Even a bad one. I know there are a lot of people out there who will enjoy this story but they may get hung up on the fact that there are no reviews. It could make or break their decision to get the story.

  As for the story itself, I have a lot more planned with this character. At least four more short folktales for a complete five-story arc, but I actually want to do closer to twenty folktales.

  You may be asking, “Why shorts?” If you enjoyed the story, I hope that you enjoyed it not just because of the character but because of the length too. As I said, your time is valuable and so is mine. I’m so busy between a full-time job and writing on the side, it's hard for me to read a full length book. Short stories in the Urban Fantasy genre (particularly the Tough Guy UF genre that I’m writing in) hardly exist at all. *If you have some good examples feel free to send them my way.

  Some of my favorite authors wrote characters that have stood the test of time and these characters lived in the spaces between short stories and novellas. Characters like Elric, Conan, John Carter of Barsoom, Fafhrd & the Gray Mouser, etc. Tolkien may have popularized the fantasy novel and the epic scope, but before him the main form that fantasy existed in was short stories written for pulp magazines.