by Ruby Raine
“And what’s that smell?” Melinda let go of Charlie, plugging her nose. The breeze had picked up blowing a terrible stench their direction.
Charlie sniffed. And growled. There was something dead nearby.
Lizzy and Melinda caught onto that fact too. There were few things with a smell so pungent, or putrid.
Nerves made breaths heavy again, and muscles trembled even though Melinda begged them not to. Charlie didn’t want her getting any closer.
“I’ll look. You stay with Lizzy.”
Melinda had wanted to be brave, but finding a dead body tore that desire right out of her. She nodded, giving in. Lizzy shot him an agreeing look. She wasn’t in a hurry to find a dead body either, and wouldn’t argue with Charlie right now.
All three prayed hard it was not another dead body, drained by the vampire. In this case, a body they assumed would belong to Courtney Jessup.
Charlie stepped purposefully, his wolf hearing taking in every sound. Nothing out of the ordinary. Silver filtering through the darkness. He saw nothing but a few birds, high up in the trees. An owl, hooting. A buzzing stung at his ears. Insects, close to whatever dead thing lay ahead. The smell sickened him. Left bile churning in his gut.
He approached the log, held his breath, and leaned over to look with a hardened swallow.
Melinda and Lizzy waited with bated breath as he straightened his body, twisted his head to see them and breathed out, “Deer. Not human.”
The two women’s bodies relaxed in simultaneous relief.
“Oh thank God,” Melinda let out.
He searched the carcass and surrounding area for any potential clues. The reporter had still recently been here. His sister and Lizzy made to join him when he growled. They froze in place as he spun around throwing his silver glower their direction.
“What?” both women asked at once.
“The deer, this was a vampire kill.”
“Recent?” gulped out Melinda.
“I’d guess last night, possibly early this morning.” He motioned for them to come see. He hunched down and pointed out the fang marks. It was a bloody mess, similar to the human bodies, with blotches of red blotting the carcass. There was no misidentifying the distinct and identifiable marks where fangs had punctured a vein and sucked the poor animal dry.
“So this vamp has a wide variety in its diet,” noted Lizzy apprehensively.
Not unlike William, was what both Charlie and Melinda heard in between the lines.
Most vampires either drank from animals, alone, or purely humans. But rarely ever both.
They investigated the surrounding area, sticking close together, but found no additional clues. Lizzy smashed the last potion bottle she’d brought, in attempts to locate a continued trail from the reporter, but there was nothing. Had the reporter found the dead deer? Or worse, interrupted the vampire, mid-meal? It was odd that the trail didn’t continue when the reporter had clearly been in this spot, recently.
“Maybe she went out the same way she came in?” suggested Melinda.
“Only option,” agreed Lizzy.
Other than the dead deer, it was a dead end, just like this lead.
Charlie called Mack and explained the finding.
She in turn, called Josh, to get the deer mess cleaned up so no tourists could happen across the scene.
“You’re certain Josh will be safe?” Mack needed to know.
“I can’t actually say that,” replied Charlie. “I’ll stay and help. I’d bury the damn thing myself if I had a shovel.”
“Alrighty then. I’ll contact Josh. Hang tight.” Mack hung up.
“You want us to stay?” asked Lizzy. She nodded ever so slightly at Melinda, silently asking him if he wanted his sister to stay or go home.
“No. No need to stay. Nothing can hurt me,” he waved his ring. “Although, on second thought, the two of you walking home alone...”
Lizzy rolled her eyes. “I am capable of looking out for myself.”
“I don’t doubt that,” he readily agreed. “But it still makes me nervous.” He pleaded with her not to be mad, and comply this one time without argument.
Lizzy grinned, amused, but caved. “I guess we’re staying.”
Melinda didn’t argue. And this pissed her off. She didn’t want to be afraid anymore and here she was, minutes ago, in the throes of a panic attack. With another just waiting to bubble up. So much so she’d rather stick it out here with Charlie, than chance the walk home.
Charlie read the disappointment in her eyes.
“Hey, Kiddo.”
Her eyes found his. Compassion staring back at her.
“It takes time,” he told her.
“We don’t have time,” she balked dejectedly. “Why is it so hard? Why is it as natural for me to be afraid as it is to breathe?”
“It’s not that it’s easy or hard,” Lizzy answered on Charlie’s behalf. “Being afraid is as natural as breathing, Melinda. It’s human. Being a witch doesn’t change that. And we all have fear, we just show it differently.”
“Well I’m tired of how I show it. I’m tired of wearing it like some wet blanket that’s too heavy to take off.”
“Don’t be ashamed of letting your feelings show. It makes you stronger than you realize. Some people could learn a lesson or two.” Lizzy aimed a somewhat humored gaze in Charlie’s direction. “And then there’s those like myself who need to rein it in a little.”
Melinda laughed nervously. She hadn’t spent much time with Lizzy but understood why her brother had fallen for her. It was easy to forget she was only a few years older than herself. But much wiser for all her years cursed to live as a ghast, Melinda guessed. And much better trained in her profession than she or her brothers. Melinda wondered when things had changed. Why they had changed? If it was on purpose, or just one of those things that happened over time? A slow degradation of how they trained for the job, due to the passing of time. More like the passing of too many Howards, she guessed.
Charlie’s ears perked up. “Josh is coming.” He appeared a minute later with a couple shovels in tow. After a quick handshake, they set into burying the deer, deep enough nothing else would come along and dig it up.
Charlie’s muscles pulsed with each shovel and it got hot fast, so he pulled the thin tank over his head to wipe the sweat off his brow. He caught Lizzy in a lip lick that mind-tasted him from head to toe.
Damn, he looks good a little dirty. Rugged. Strong. Virile...
She wondered if a look was enough to knock her up. She was thrilled it could not, very much looking forward to the traditional method. It shocked her a little, how badly she wanted a baby all of a sudden after never being interested in her old life. Now, her hormones were screaming for it.
Lizzy was making it difficult to behave himself. Charlie craved every dangerous act that would put her safety in jeopardy. Her gaze sank into his; he sent a silent warning that she was treading in dangerous waters. The corner of her mouth turned up in a defiant grin. She wasn’t about to back down.
Josh cleared his throat, amused.
“Flirt on your own time, wolf. Dig.”
Charlie smirked, caught in the act. He’d always liked Josh. He was easygoing like his father, Earl. If he ever considered anyone a friend, it would be him. It helped he knew about the Supernatural side of the Isle, and they enjoyed the same beer. The skunkier and cheek-sucking the better.
Another twenty minutes later, they had the deer buried, and hole refilled and smoothed over. They started out of the clearing back to the parking lot of the TV station.
Josh went first, with Lizzy right behind him. Melinda in front of her brother this time, so he could keep an eye on her. They didn’t get more than a few steps when forced to stop in their tracks.
A snort.
A wheezy inhale and exhale.
Heavy feet shuffling in the shadows.
Gargoyle...
Everyone let out simultaneous relieved breaths, Melinda a few. These pan
ic attacks and getting freaked out at things so easily needed to end! The gargoyle came up to her; it was the one that had taken a liking to her.
“Hey, Boy. What are you doing here?” she reached out her hand to pet its big head. When she pulled away it shook like a happy puppy. It sniffed the air, investigating the area. Melinda wondered if she shouldn’t just give him a name.
It left her and sauntered down the path to where the dead deer had been. It smelled around, and she got this sense it was confused about something. But she did not get the impression it had found anything evil. It returned to Melinda, but kept glancing back into the woods as if trying to decide something. It gave up a few seconds later and butted its head into her side.
She grinned and petted him again. There was something soothing about its presence. It sensed evil and it didn’t sense any nearby right now. She was safe with it near. So all I have to do is stay near the gargoyles every minute of every day, problem solved!
Never going to happen. She needed to get a handle on the panic attacks.
Josh stared, dumbfounded. He’d seen the gargoyles before. He and his father had helped uncrate and place them on the Howard Estate.
“Looks like you’ve gotten yourself a rather unique pet, Melinda.” Josh smiled, dumbfounded and amused.
“William claimed they wouldn’t act like pets, but this guy doesn’t seem to fit into the un-pet-like category.” She got a kick out of the wide smile it gave her when she rubbed its head. It reminded her of a happy pit bull she used to know that belonged to a friend she’d used to have. She imagined that dog was long dead, and that friend, off going to college if no longer living on the Isle. So many reminders of all she had lost because of fear.
The gargoyle slipped into the shadows trotting alongside Melinda as they made their way out of the woods. Charlie wondered, with the gargoyles being able to sense things, if perhaps this one was sensitive to Melinda and her anxiety. He was grateful, as it improved her mood and she was much calmer now, knowing it was nearby.
“Finnegan,” Melinda suddenly blurted out as they reached the parking lot.
“Finnegan what?” asked Charlie.
“The gargoyle. I’m going to call him Finnegan. Or Finn, for short.”
“Why Finnegan?” Charlie questioned with a bewildered smile.
She shrugged. “Just popped into my head. And it seems right. Huh, Finn?” she aimed at the beast sitting in a shadow. It snorted out a nonsensical reply. “I think he approves,” said Melinda.
“How do you know it’s even a he?” inquired Josh.
“Um, I guess I don’t,” she replied. “But I’m guessing it’s a he.”
“Call him whatever you like,” said Charlie. “But he’s an outdoor pet. He will not be sleeping inside.”
Melinda jabbed at his arm, like she’d let the thing sleep inside. Then again, it didn’t seem like such a bad idea. Her own personal alarm system sleeping on her bedroom floor. It suddenly didn’t seem like such a bad idea to Charlie either.
A gargoyle for a pet. Why not?
They bade Josh a goodbye. He drove off in his truck, Charlie giving him a wave and the promise of a shared six-pack, soon. It was about midnight. The Isle quiet except for the rushing of waves crashing against the shore. The air wafting off the ocean was heavy and misted. A haze sinking across the streets.
Sounds of downtown, late night tourists planning on closing down the pubs.
Melinda, confident with Finnegan as her shadow, sauntered ahead, giving Charlie and Lizzy some alone time. She didn’t need to see them making eyes at each other, or listen to them get all awkward trying to talk.
Their walk got tense far too quickly without the distractions of a third person.
Charlie wanted to hold Lizzy’s hand and aimed to, but talked himself out of it. What was it earlier, about seemingly simple things being ridiculously difficult! Hadn’t he just gotten over this problem, after realizing how stupid he’d been being afraid to ask her out.
He’d never been apprehensive with Nina, the Guardian. But that had been a relationship of convenience for them both. This thing with Lizzy was so much more. He didn’t want to mess it up, and yet so far, that’s all he was doing.
He huffed despondently and Lizzy stopped.
“Is it always going to be this difficult with you?” She shook her head and held out her hand. “If it makes you feel better, I agree to your dinner date tomorrow evening.”
“I wasn’t going to let you disagree.” He grabbed her hand before she could get away from him. “However, I was thinking, maybe dinner is a bad idea...”
She yanked her hand out of his with a testy groan.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” he insisted. “It dawned on me we’ll probably be out searching for the vampire again.”
“Uh, huh.”
“So we’d have to cut dinner short, or end up canceling it all together.”
“Right, because you can see the future?”
Charlie sucked in. “You’re not making this easy.”
“You’re making it way too hard. You like to fail at things before you’ve even tried.”
He grumbled out, “I was trying to plan ahead. Be smart about it. I thought changing our date to lunch would be a better way to ensure we didn’t have to cancel. It makes sense to me.”
Melinda kept moving, leaving the two of them to argue.
Her brother had really gotten himself into a heap of trouble, falling for Lizzy Deane.
“You know what I think, Charlie Howa...” Lizzy’s tirade cut off as Charlie wrapped his arm around her tiny waist and snatched her body off the ground, pressing her into his muscled wall of a chest.
“Don’t finish that sentence,” he warned.
She grinned. “Men... you’re so easy to rile.”
He groaned, swearing she was goading him on purpose.
“You have beautiful eyes, Charlie.” The silver of his wolf danced hungrily underneath the moonlight.
“I think I’m supposed to say that to you.”
“I suppose.”
His lips were so close to hers, she swallowed his breath. He breathed her in, salivating in the sweetness escaping each pore, his tongue craving to taste it with a greedy impatience. His brain worrying where a kiss would lead to, and if he’d be able to stop himself from taking it too far.
His head cocked to the side, no intention to kiss her.
He sniffed. Once, deeply. A second time more slowly. There was something mixed in with the sweetness. Something not Lizzy.
A flash of movement in the corner of his eye.
“Vampire,” he snarled, his grip on Lizzy tightening.
It was close. And moved slow enough for Charlie to catch it. Meaning, the act was intentional. Lizzy and Charlie remained perfectly still. Breath held. Each searching over the other’s shoulders.
A scream up ahead.
Charlie and Lizzy gasped.
Melinda...
He dropped Lizzy to her feet, grabbed her hand, and they ran to find his sister. She was back against the wall of a closed store, grasping her chest.
“I’m okay!” she shouted. “Finn caught a scent and ran off towards home. Something flew by... I could feel the movement of the air, but couldn’t see it.” It was identical to the movement William made when whooshing by her.
“It’s the vampire,” confirmed Charlie.
And it was heading toward the mansion. He hadn’t gotten all the extra precautions set up to ward off vampires. Michael and Emily were there, unaware. He shot a tormented glance down at Lizzy. Stay or go?
“Go!” she urged adamantly. He took off into the darkness. He could run faster if he let enough of the wolf free. And if he stuck to the dark sides of the streets, he wouldn’t be seen. Lizzy and Melinda took off at a pathetic human speed, determined to catch up. Melinda dialed Michael, woke him and explained, then called Mack and told her shakily as they ran. Not a minute later, siren blaring, her police car screeched to a stop. The women hopp
ed in, and Mack screamed off.
Minutes later, they were catching up to Charlie, who was in the driveway searching for any sign of the vampire. Lizzy and Melinda hopped out of the car. Mack did as well, Melinda giving a start when instead of a gun, the sheriff pulled out a crossbow loaded with a wooden stake. A backup bulged out of her jacket pocket.
Four beastly shapes thundered by them headed for the back of the house. The gargoyles were making a lot of noise and giving chase; the vampire was close. And for some reason, here, toying with them. Why dare come so close?
Charlie followed the gargoyles, everyone else behind him. Around the back, he stopped and crouched, silver scouring the yard for any sign of movement. Lights flew on, Michael had flung the switch and he and Emily came flying out the back door from the kitchen. Dressed. Half awake. As confused as everyone else.
“Stay there,” ordered Charlie.
Michael guarded Emily on the steps.
The sheriff came up alongside Charlie. “Anything?”
“Not yet.”
More commotion, from deeper into the back of the yard, near the small orchard of fruit trees. Charlie crept forward, his eyes and ears focused, with Mack at his heels. Everyone else followed, paying no attention to Charlie’s orders to stay back. There was a shout coming from underneath the trees. A female voice.
Charlie approached cautiously with Mack ready to fire her crossbow.
They all stopped when the gargoyles worked their way out of the orchard, a body bouncing between them. A woman. They sniffed her, investigating her. Knocking their big heads into her.
The woman’s dress was torn, hair disheveled. Polish, chipping off her fingernails. She looked a mess, considering the last time anyone had seen her she’d been dressed in high heels, a sleek dress suit, with not a single hair out of place, while reporting the local island news.
“Courtney Jessup,” mumbled Mack. Her crossbow lowered a few inches.
Charlie was not so easily swayed. He approached her, not trusting this situation in the least. The gargoyles continued smelling the reporter, bumping into her body with their heads, uncertain if she were evil, or not. They were perplexed by her.
“Get these beasts off me!” demanded Courtney, once she saw Charlie and the others.