by Kai Leakes
Black currents suddenly radiated off the Medusa’s skin, which connected to every demon in the room. Music that was once pure became tainted and everyone or thing associated with the Cursed came alive. Son of a . . . ran through his mind. Calvin held on as long as he could, as the Medusa appeared to become stronger.
“Someone changed the rules to this joint. The neutral lines are down. Time to shake ’em up and take names later,” Calvin heard in his mind. It was one of the Darby twins: Reggie to be exact.
Glass flew in the air shattering. Calvin saw two twin fists smashed into a bulking demon in front of him. The shorter of the duo, Demetrius, ducked then lifted a foot in the air, slamming it right into the face of the furious, dirty, blood-covered trucker. The elder twin Reggie snatched the collar of the trucker, whose once-human hands were now sporting two twisted nailed appendages. Throwing the demon onto the floor, serrated blades appeared from his sleeves and rammed into the skull of the entity and his heart.
Calvin pivoted out the way. The Medusa let out a sharp vibrating pitch that called more demons to mist from the darkness. Lights flickered and music still thrummed. To his left a tall, thick and curvy Nutella woman with a wild mane of natural curly shoulder-length hair used mixed martial arts methods to send a stripper with brunette extensions and Kim Kardashian proportions sliding across the floor gripping her midsection. Calvin had to nod in approval as the luscious beauty dropped to one knee then sent an arsenal of ninja stars, which connected to the face of the woman who had contorted into a demon.
The Medusa screamed in his arms the moment the demon exploded into millions of pieces of miasma. They both watched the woman high-five another decadent chocolate woman with matching curves, but with a low curly natural fade, a scorpion tattoo over her right breast, and a tongue ring. That woman with cutout black gloves laughed. Her deep brown eyes glowed, and then she lifted in the air to send a sonic wave ripping from her shapely body toward a running Cursed minion. Calvin’s mouth dropped open. Her long nails glittered like stone, along with her ankh tattoo on her bare waist and he smiled in knowledge; baby girl was a Gargoyle. He wondered what breed.
“Samurai and Poet. Samurai is the surviving member from the Houston crew, but she’s from Georgia. She was able to escape and blend into the human population because she’s a Disciple, although I’m starting to think that maybe she’s of the Slayer class. Her team was seriously messed up,” Zion relayed on a mind link while Calvin stepped over fallen chairs and pushed tables out of the way.
“What she saw messed with her mental so much so that she hasn’t spoken in a long time until recently man and only a little. Poet, she is from Alton, a bad-ass Gargoyle that’s also able to use her words as weapons against the Cursed. She found us by tracking our energy to a poetry event. She killed it that night and has been riding hard with us since her arrival. She and Samurai have become like sisters,” Zion continued.
Calvin could understand. He had seen a lot in his past and present, so much so that he himself was amazed at not having gone crazy. Calvin heard Marco connect back but was instantly distracted by being rushed by a demon.
The feel of a heel pressing into his throat let Calvin know that the Medusa had gotten free. The scream that came from her alerted him that she now lay on her back courtesy of his Mystic blast. Wood crushed under his weight and the stench of demon flesh had him staring into the eyes of a human cross between a zombie and a rabid troll. Clenching his teeth, he sent his fist flying to its jaw, sending the demon backward.
His boy Dolla stepped up to the plate while Calvin stood up. Twin jagged blades were in his hands. He stooped down, reached for the end of the table, lifted it, and sent it flying with his blades toward the demon. With a simple clap of his hands, the blades and the table joined together to make a bladed wheel that sliced the burly demon in two. Dolla turned in that same moment to land a Street Fighter-worthy uppercut into another demon that wished to rush him at that same time.
Calvin let out an amused roar. “Damn, homie!”
Impressed, Calvin turned on his feet and moved toward the Medusa. With one look his way, she gave him a grin that stated she was ready to play and she motioned to head back toward Marco’s Guide. Luckily, the Guide was gone but Marco was back in the club bringing hell into Pink’s with an icy trail of dead demon corpses behind him. Calvin was proud of his brother-in-arms and he had no intention to let his own target get out of his hands. With a hard-hitting shoulder slam, Calvin pushed her off course causing her to turn in fury. Gleaming nails slashed out toward his face. Instant reaction caused him to bend his knees then lean backward to avoid the connection with her poisonous talons.
Green Mystic sparks trailed over his arms to form his blade again. With a sharp grunt, Calvin leaned forward to return the favor with his own slash toward her sinewy body. Chaos kept him close to the Medusa. He watched her spin on her heel causing her knee to connect to his face, which whipped him into action. Each spin from her had him stepping backward, blocking the hits. Oftentimes, her long, thick legs would extend with her hits causing him to duck and dive under each one, to propel a couple of punches to her ribs.
Sharp grunts from his target made him smile. Her auburn eyes appeared to darken in constrained anger.
“Agh! Why can’t you stay in your place? I have work to do. Don’t you realize that you’re nothing to me, cockroach!” the Medusa spat.
Bladed braids whipped his way. Poison puddles lay at his feet burning a hole into the floor of the club.
Annoyed, Calvin scrunched his face up then stepped over it. “No, shawty, not really. Looks like I’m something to you, momma.”
His blade changed within his large hands into his scythe swords. With the back of it, he swung out to slam the blunt of it against the Medusa’s neck. Her loud curses pierced the music, giving him satisfaction.
Glass crunched under his feet. The Medusa took every hit he gave, but countered returning with her own blows. They were well matched which messed with his mental, triggering a faint mental recall in the back of his mind. It was the cartwheel side jump, which had the Medusa dropping to one knee with her poison nails clutched ready to strike, that had his attention. His emerald gaze intently remained locked on her.
“Impressed that my arm is back? I’m not about to allow your weak, imbecilic hands on them, understood?” she sneered.
“Do you ever shut the hell up, ma!” Calvin roared. He charged forward, his swords flipping before him. Her eyes widened with the insult as she tried to block his hits. Tables flung at him. Demons reached out to hold him back, but a low growl from the Medusa had them letting him go, but not before he swung his arm behind him to lop their heads off.
Pink’s was a warzone. Humans who were future fodder for the Cursed ran and watched from hidden spots around the club. Bodies from demons, humans, and Nephilim alike lay in disarray over the floor, the stage, speakers, and even on ceiling beams. However, Calvin went flying backward into a wall by a Dark Witch charge that caused more damage.
The Medusa’s laughter trailed over him in the process. Dust with crumbled bricks covered Calvin. Each inhale he took had him coughing while he wiped at the sweat dripping into his eyes. He was getting tired. Conserving his power was necessary since he knew this chick was going to keep going until she could fight no more.
“Some crap from Winter?” Calvin grunted in question. Shards of rock attempted to cut into the palms of his hands while he pushed himself up. Debris fell from his broad shoulder. His power shunted itself with his will while he assessed the Medusa. Currents of fading Witch magic highlighted her fingertips while she tapped her nails against her ample hip.
“Yes. A nice spell she whipped up for me. I’ll have to thank her later.” The Medusa’s lush lips parted in a sneer. Her cocoa eyes locked on a screaming Pink’s stripper; then she tilted her head to the side. Twin Cursed demons snatched at the woman who had come from behind the stage. Calvin moved to reach her, but the Medusa stepped in his way.
&
nbsp; “No, see, if I can’t get my main prize I’ll definitely take a nice side piece. Although, I still intend to get my main piece,” she simple stated.
“Yeah, causality of war, right? Naw, shawty, not about to let that be the case,” Calvin retorted. But, it was too late. The woman was gone and the Medusa had disappeared to the back of the club. Sniffing her out was becoming easy for him strangely. She sat at the top of a stripper pole looking down at him. Her long braids fell like waves as she hoisted her body into a split then used her thighs to hold tight while she sent poison-tipped needles toward whatever object she wanted.
Electric currents flickered outward. Calvin’s hand became the battery charge that lit the pole up. Screams from the Medusa made him grin as she disappeared. However, that was short-lived by the tap on his shoulder, which pissed him completely off. Today was not going to be a good day for him, he thought.
“You seriously think I didn’t see that coming? So foolish,” the Medusa hissed against his ear. Her silky tongue traced its surface while a sultry moan escaped her lips. “By darkness, I enjoy playing with you.”
The slender throat of the Medusa filled his hands. He pulled then flipped her in front of him to hold her close. Eyes scanning the club, Calvin noticed the back of a well-dressed brother in black slacks, a pinstriped white and pink dress shirt, with black suspenders, disappearing behind the bar. The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up and the light from the club glinted off his bald head. It had felt as if he was watching the whole time in amusement, but Calvin couldn’t remember ever seeing him in the locked-down club at all. It was some crazy crap going on right now.
“You move quickly. I’m not impressed, shawty, but my thing is this: why?”
Her movements made him try to keep her restrained. But it was the heel of her shoe slamming into his foot then his shin then upward against his groin that had him almost snap her in half. Her body went stiff at the pressure on her throat. Her breathing stopped and as he looked down at her, her body compressed then constricted to allow her to slide from his embrace into a tuck, and roll away from him.
Calvin was straight-up shocked by that move.
Her wink then smile reflected the satisfaction of having gotten out of his hold before she spoke. “I do as I am commanded. But you, you I hunt because something about you makes me not gut you where you stay. I intend to make you my pet so come get me, big daddy.”
Jutting up, the Medusa moved to head to the back of the club, which he followed by snatching her by the nape of her neck. He lifted her and pushed her through the steel door. He was not about to make this easy for her at all. So much for a decent night, simmered in Calvin’s mind. They had some business to get back to.
Chapter 14
Calvin was hunting. Chasing after the broad that had come after his family and who was now trying to take down another innocent Nephilim. After he body snatched her out of the club, he stopped her before she could pump poison into Marco’s Guide. He made sure to carry her across the parking lot to slam her to the ground.
Cursing as she somehow contorted her body to land a foot against his face, the taste of salty blood hit his palate. His head tilted to the side. He angrily narrowed his eyes at her and spit to the ground.
Her laughter sounded around him while she slid from his touch against the asphalt. Beckoning him to follow her. Anger had him punching his fist into the pavement. He lifted up then sprinted after her. Shawty played too many games. She had almost taken everything from him. He vowed that he would end his own life in order to take hers in the name of his family.
He ran head-on, jumping fences, blending into the streets of East St. Louis while he locked in on her form in the night skyline. He held two blades in his hands and they shone bright with Mystic magic. Her laughter clouded his mind making him curse aloud.
“Oooo, did you know that I almost came at the view of you? My foot against your face felt so damn good, bastard,” the Medusa crooned.
Ignoring her taunts, Calvin regarded the area to see how he could angle himself to cut her off from her chase. He jumped over train tracks. The Mississippi River was a marker of where he was during his sprint. Honing into the grid line of the city, Calvin deciphered faint spiritual shapes in the dirt, cement, and even the murky river water, which led him to an old, ruined church.
“Bitch, come play with this dick over here since ya so enthusiastic about it, ya heard?” Calvin mocked, leading her to chase him now.
He landed with a thud over the church wall, crouching low. His fingers splayed in front of him touching the floor of the ruins. Illuminated spiritual lines flowed under each digit of his fingertips. He almost innately connected to its source, something he needed to wait on to time it just right.
With a meticulous glance, he was blown away at what he saw. The church was spectacular. He never knew a structure such as this was even built on the east side of the Mississippi and still partially intact. Ivy curled around Masonic white-gray stone brick.
Scattered pieces of trash and broken glass lay among idle bricks nestled in overgrown grass. An inlaid work of Tiffany stained glass that appeared to possibly date back to the 1920s still adorned a central atrium archway perfectly. In its beauty, he understood why. Old world Angelic script glowed against the surface of the panels, hidden under ages of dirt, moss, and debris.
Calvin quickly scaled a fallen pillar to cross a ledge that housed the glass framing. Beams of light cascaded then kissed his face while he reached a hand out then felt the spiritual lines emit from the atrium’s glass panel. The closer he got, the stronger his spirit sang causing him to lean forward to gain a better view. His pressed fingertips seemed to warm the moment they caressed the slick panel’s surface.
Sparks of neglected power suddenly embraced him, but the insidious clicking sound of the Medusa snatched his attention away, reminding him of his objective. She was fast but he wasn’t going to trip off of that. It just meant this fight was going to be a good one.
Observing from his perched view, he watched the Medusa drop in with a laugh.
“Oh, I hate to sound cliché but, come out come out wherever you are! Did you think hiding in an old church would stop me from snatching you from limb to limb?” She sauntered.
Stomping her heeled boots, she ran her talon nail over the sides of her thighs and her tail slowly snaked out. Each sharp tip raked over the barbwire that held the minuscule fabric of her pants together.
“This is dead land.” She looked around then spit on the Romanesque tiled floor. “Many innocents have died here and their blood has soaked through to the foundation. Mmm. I love the work we did and continue to do here in East St. Louis. Really, this should be murder capital of the nation.” The Medusa cackled.
In Calvin’s mind, the light decibel of a familiar giggle seemed to be laced within in that evil laugh and it hit his mind hard. Flashes of his dream projected across his mind causing him to pound his fist against his temple to stop it.
“Calvinnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!” She sucked her teeth then gave off an annoying laugh, drawing his name out to tick him off. “Really. I enjoy how you are playing with me, but I don’t have time for your asinine game of hide and seek. Let’s get this over and let me kill you; then we can be done so that I can slice that bitch the Dark Prince was protecting. Oh, then later I can dismember him and eat him for my Dark Queen. Yes?”
The corners of Calvin’s eyes twitched in constrained anger. He watched his prey circle the middle of the church, finally standing where he wanted her.
“Oh, and I do intend to heart snatch that little whore who tore my arm off. What was her name? Oh yes, Sanna. I do intend to return that sweet favor. Then you know, let you watch me fuck her because I believe she would taste so sweet as I give her the Dark Bite and turn her into a new toy, yes? Calvinnnnnnnn! Come out and play!” the Medusa screamed making the church rattle.
Fury lit Calvin up like a beacon. He slammed his hands together and channeled all of himself into restoring the barrier of t
he land. Pressing his hands flat against the glass, his head dropped back then his Mystic power fluxed backward. It pumped through him with an intense force before it expelled from him to light up the church.
He watched while his power restored the line into its old self. White and blue light washed over the church. A satisfactory smile fleetingly spread across his handsome face at the sound of the Medusa screaming. Sadly, it was short-lived. The sound of a slow clap then her jaded laughter of delight sharply drew his attention.
“Pretty,” she gleefully cajoled.
I can’t believe this shit. That should have worked and usually would have. The hell is this? ran through his mind. He stormed forward from his hiding place. Dropping his hands, Calvin landed against the Medusa. He propelled her to the ground with his gun cocked to the right side of her head, his knee resting on her throat. Sweat glistened on her body as he realized she was still alive but lethargic. A change in her eyes made Calvin pause, perplexed by what he saw in her aura.
“What the fuck are you? Huh, shawty? What exactly are you? You are supposed to be cinder and ash right now. This is ancient land, a church built to protect the humans on this side of the river as well as act as a safe house. These are old world lines more powerful than anything I’ve ever encountered and you are supposed to be dead! Bitch, who or what the fuck are you and why do you know my name?”
The Medusa looked around wide-eyed as fear ground into her stomach, something she hadn’t felt in a long time. The need to stay in control made her laugh but everything about this made her want to scream in terror. He was right. She should have been dead. She shouldn’t be lying here. Her mind ripped open with images from her dreams settling into her dark heart and peeling at her like an onion and an orange.
Tears fell for the first time in her long-lived life and did what only she knew how to do. She swung out and attempted to slice open her attacker with her claws and tail, but fell short due to her body feeling like a ton of weights. She felt him cause her tail to descend back into her body and shift his weight on her neck, knowing that if she moved again he would snap it with ease. In that same moment, she felt that horrid liquid spill from the corner of her eyes while the gun her attacker held tapped at her temple.