by R. J. Wolf
“Shh,” Gary said and froze.
They’d wandered deep within the twisted labyrinth. The radiance from the torches faded and Gary’s hands provided the only light. Hushed voices drifted across the darkness and Gary strained his ears. The cave bent to the right up ahead and the voices were coming from there.
“Come on,” he said and slowly moved forward.
The voices grew louder and louder. Someone was arguing in the distance, several someones and they didn’t sound very happy.
“You hear that?” Eric asked.
“I do. But I don’t know who that is. My brother should be down here. He should’ve seen us coming from the bar.”
“What do you want to do?” Eric asked.
Gary didn’t reply. He stepped around the corner ready for a fight with Eric on his heels. A group of four vampires was standing in a semi-circle arguing with one another. They didn’t even realize Gary was there until he spoke.
“Hello?” Gary said casually. “I’m looking for the bathroom.”
The vampires turned to face him one by one with confused guises. Their beady, red eyes glittered in the dark, reflecting the light from Gary’s hands. The unusual cast hardly looked dangerous, but that was probably the point.
A skinny, curly haired man with dark, tan skin and massive hands stepped away from the pack. He rolled his head around his shoulders and stroked his ratty goatee. The sleeves of his black, leather jacket were covered in rhinestone and the skinny jeans he was wearing were at least three sizes too small.
“I don’t remember ordering out,” he said in a sly voice. “Fyn, you call for a delivery?”
“Nah,” a chubby black man with dreads replied. “But I am hungry, Abe.”
“I promise you, this will be your last meal,” Gary said with an angry tremble in his voice. “Where’s Richard?”
Abe laughed and looked back to the others. “So, you think name dropping is gonna get you outta here? Sorry, but it’s lunch time.”
He started toward them along with the other three vampires. Eric stepped beside Gary and felt a surge of evil energy bubbling to the surface. Gary’s hands blazed with power as he raised them above his head, preparing to strike. He eyed the most brazen of the four and focused his energy.
“Gary Abbott!” a scratchy voice suddenly called out.
Gary stopped and turned around. He lowered his hands and sighed as he stared into the eyes of his brother that he hadn’t seen in over one hundred years.
“Abe, you haven’t been unkind to my brother, have you?” Richard asked.
“No…no, Richard we haven’t,” Abe replied as he and the other vampires shrank into the shadows.
Gary gave them a sideways glance then turned his attention back to Richard. They glared at each other with unreadable looks and Eric could feel the tension building. He was still trying to come to terms with Gary having a brother in the first place.
“Time hasn’t been kind,” Richard said as he strode toward him with open arms.
Gary cringed as he brought him into his embrace. He half-hugged him back, fighting off the cold chill that ran up his spine.
Richard was the same height as Gary but put together much better. He was lean and muscular, with neatly trimmed black hair and blue eyes that resembled his brother’s. The disease that lived within his cells kept him fit and agile, it helped that he hadn’t aged a day over forty.
“Good to see you’re still holing up in caves with two-bit, cross dressing vamps,” Gary spat angrily.
“There’s the brother I’ve missed. And who’s your friend? He smells like a good ally to have.”
“I need your help,” Gary said.
“Is that so, little brother? It’s been what, eight…nine decades? And now you need the help of a filthy vamp?”
“You’re right, this was a stupid idea,” Gary barked and turned around.
“That’s right run, Gary. Run away from us all!”
“Screw you, Richard!”
Eric followed behind him in confusion but didn’t say anything. He knew better than to mix himself up in family business. His own history was still a cloudy blur and he had no desire to tangle himself in anyone else’s.
Several vampires stepped into the clearing, appearing from nowhere. They looked aloof, huddled together, whispering amongst themselves like gossiping teenagers. Eric gave them a sideways look as he walked by.
“I loved her too, Gary!” Richard suddenly shouted.
Gary stopped and whirled around with death in his eyes. He charged Richard and grabbed him by the arms, slamming him into the wall.
“I loved her!” Richard roared again.
Gary sent a jolt of energy through his fingertips, singeing Richard’s skin. Richard hissed and exposed his fangs as the rest of his coven shifted closer.
“You killed her!” Gary shouted. “You killed her!”
“I didn’t mean to; it was an accident.”
“She was our mother!” Gary cried and released Richard as he stumbled back and fell into a heap of tears.
CHAPTER 10
THE COALITION OF ONE
“What?” Eric gasped and twisted his face in shock.
Everything about Gary was starting to make sense, but he still didn’t know how to respond. Suddenly, all of his problems felt eclipsed. Nothing compared to coming face to face with your long-lost vampire brother who happened to be responsible for your mother’s death.
“What…what is going on here?” Eric asked to no one in particular.
Shaking his head, Richard slowly made his way toward Gary. He reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled. “I’m sorry.”
Gary wiped his face and looked up. His heart was thundering in his chest. Decades of built up anger had boiled to the surface and he was faced with a reality he’d been running from as long as he could remember.
The sight of his brother’s pale face brought that night to the front of his memories. He could hear his mother screaming, her cries just as real as if she was standing beside him. He remembered pushing the door open and finding Richard with his lifeless mother cradled in his arms. Blood splattered them both and the look on Richard’s face was inconsolable.
Mumbling, he conjured the same spell he’d worked that night. The spell that had reduced their childhood home to ash. The spell that would’ve killed his brother had love not stayed his hand and sent the magic through the roof instead. With a deep breath, he let the power subside.
“Why?” Gary mumbled, but the question felt inadequate. There were no words, no answers that would bring his mother back. There was nothing Richard could say and nothing that Gary would listen to.
Before Richard tried to respond, Gary stood up and turned away from him. He swallowed back tears and decades of regret. Blinking, he glared at the dozens of vampires that looked on. That was Richard’s family now, that was the life he’d chosen.
“I shouldn’t have come here” Gary said in a low voice. “We’ll see ourselves out.”
He tipped his head at Eric and started toward the entrance. Richard didn’t try to stop him. They’d been close once, but the night Richard turned, everything changed. He knew he couldn’t change the way Gary felt. They were brothers in name only.
“We gonna talk about that?” Eric asked as they closed the door to the tavern and stepped back into the sun.
“We’ve gotta a few other covens to see, maybe the lycans will help. They’ve never liked the commission.”
“But…but we are gonna talk about that, right?”
Gary stared out over the cliff and wiped his face. “We need to move quick,” he replied before turning around. “The commission is probably busy spreading their lies and rumors already.”
Eric shrugged his agreement, letting Gary avoid the question for the moment. Gary grabbed his arm, and, in a blink, they left the lonely cliff and reappeared back in the city.
“Keep your eyes open, Eric. There’ll be agents everywhere.”
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Eric nodded and they spent the next few hours apparating throughout the surrounding area of Los Angeles. They met with vampires, lycans, even a coven of witches that mingled with demons. None were willing to take on the commission, not with the shade so close to thinning.
Langston and his cronies had done a good job, putting the fear of the devil into any would be opposers. It was nearly impossible to convince an underworlder that the one organization that had been fighting against the darkkin, now wanted to obliterate the shade and bring about Hell on Earth.
“We’ve got barely any time, Gary. I just want to find Anna. I need to…I have to bring her home. If we stop Langston and close the shade on top of that, good for us. But we need to find her, and I don’t know how the hell we’re gonna do that,” Eric declared as they left a meeting with the Mission of Long Beach Elves.
“Right now, we’re gonna go get my car.”
Gary grabbed Eric once more and they apparated back to the alley. It was late, only an hour or so of daylight was left. Gary cautiously stepped out onto the sidewalk and took a look around. A group of college-aged kids passed by, laughing as they made their way toward a small café. The traffic was thinning but for Los Angeles that didn’t mean much. The night crowd was starting to awake and Gary could feel the presence of darkkin and other underworlders but there was no sign of the commission.
“Seems clear,” he said and waved for Eric to follow.
Together, they walked down the sidewalk toward the convenience store. Gary paused as they got closer and stared at his car. The doors were wide open, and the contents had been tossed into the parking lot. All of the windows were broken, and the seats were ripped apart, and the stuffing pulled out. Wires spilled from the engine bay, and someone had disconnected the battery and sat it on the hood with a commission business card taped to one of the posts.
“No decency,” Gary cried out. “Look what they did to her. She’s ruined, ruined by these…these animals.”
“It’s an improvement if you ask me.”
“I need a new car,” Gary said in a depressed tone. “She’s seen her last roundabout.”
“You won’t get an argument from me, but it doesn’t look that bad. I mean, it’s nothing a wave of the hand and some mumbling won’t fix. Right?”
“I’m sure they’re tracking it at this point. Probably bugged the damn thing,” he took a deep breath and held it. “You were always there for me. You’ll be missed.” With that, Gary snapped his fingers and the car caught fire. The green hued flames swarmed across the hood and quickly engulfed the sedan until the fire was licking at the clouds.
Eric looked back toward the zeroes waking the streets and gasped, “Are you nuts?”
“What would they notice?” Gary replied. Seconds later, the car made a crumbling sound and imploded on itself, leaving nothing behind but a small pile of rusted, metal flakes. “Goodbye, my love.”
Rubbing a lone tear from his face, Gary started the other way down the sidewalk. He moved with purpose and before Eric knew it, he was half a block away.
“Where are you going?” Eric shouted and rushed after him.
Gary glanced over his shoulder. “I’m taking your advice.” He sped up and turned down the next street before stopping outside of a used car lot. Tucked near the back under the cover of a cluster of low-lying trees, was a small, brown trailer with a bold sign that read, “A Car Lot.”
“This is taking my advice?” Eric asked.
Before Gary could answer a chubby man in faded blue jeans and a wrinkled shirt made a beeline for them. Scratching his thick beard, he yanked his pants up and slicked back his bushy eyebrows.
“Come on in, please,” the man said and waved his hand. “The name’s Walter. Now we close in about thirty minutes but no rush.”
He ushered them into the trailer and pulled out two vinyl-covered chairs. A lit cigarette billowed smoke into the air from a broken ash tray and Gary covered his nose. The interior smelled like old socks and the ratty carpet was covered in various food stains. Eric was ready to leave immediately.
Walter could sense his apprehension. “Cleaning staff has been off for a few days,” he tried to explain. “How can I help you gentlemen?”
“I need a car,” Gary replied.
“Well, you’ve come to the right place. What did you have in mind?”
Gary turned and looked back through the window at the lot. There was an assortment of shabby cars and minivans, none of which caught his eye. He looked back to Walter and frowned. “Maybe this isn’t the right place.”
“Ah, a man with discerning taste. Why didn’t you say so? Let me show you to the prestige lot.”
Walter opened a door at the back of the office and ushered them through it. They followed him down a short path and into a warehouse toward the back of the property. “This is probably more your speed,” Walter said as he opened the door. The area was dim and had a strong smell of motor oil. Walter flipped a switch on the wall, illuminating a small collection of cars. Corvette’s, a few Porsche’s, and an armored truck were among them. “What do you think?” he asked proudly.
Gary suppressed a slight grin and rubbed his chin. He walked deeper into the room and started to examine the cars. “I’d like to see the commission stop this thing,” he said as he ran his fingers across the hood of the truck.
“Ballistic glass, run flat tires, the doors will stop an RPG. Could be all yours for a hundred and twenty-five.”
“What!” Eric snapped. Leaning into Gary’s ear he whispered, “Pick whatever you want, and I’ll have this guy paying us to take it.”
“You know we arrest people for abusing their powers on the zeroes?”
“This is a special circumstance. You finally retired that piece of crap you’ve been driving around in.”
“Make me an offer,” Walter said. “I know how to deal.”
Gary ignored him and continued looking at the other cars. He stopped at a burnt orange corvette and smiled. “This is it!”
“Thought we weren’t trying to draw any attention?” Eric said.
“Beautiful car!” Walter jumped in with a greedy smirk. “2016 Z06, six speed, T-top. I can see you in this, flying down Rodeo. You’ll fit right in.”
“How much?” Gary asked.
“It’s a steal at sixty-five thousand.”
“Thirty-five thousand,” Eric jabbed and pushed his influence.
Gary gave him a stern look and Eric shrugged.
“Yes,” Walter said with an oblivious grin. “A steal at thirty-five thousand.”
Ten minutes later, they were speeding down the road with the cool, night air blowing against their faces. Gary’s hair looked like an old lion’s mane, whipping in the breeze as he smiled like a child.
“This is better than apparating,” Eric said.
“Damn right it is.” Gary pulled into an abandoned lot and parked. He opened the door and walked around the car with a smug look on his face. He had a little extra pep in his step and for a moment all the problems that faced them weren’t as tragic. “Yeah, I could get used to this.”
Smiling, Gary sat back into the driver’s seat and revved the engine a few times. The car grumbled and popped and the gas needle dipped. Eric buckled his seat just as Gary slung the car into gear and shot back into the street.
The corvette sung like a banshee, racing through traffic at a breakneck speed. Gary was sliding into the hotel parking lot in under ten minutes and Eric had lost the feeling in his fingers from gripping the side of the door.
“I need a drink,” Gary announced. “You thirsty? You want a drink?”
Eric shrugged and followed Gary inside. They passed through the lobby and headed straight to the bar, hellbent on washing away their many failures.
“What can I get you?” the half demon bartender named Edgar asked.
“Two of the strongest ale’s you got,” Gary replied and took a seat, casting a nervous glance over his shoulder.
The rest of the
room was littered with all types of nefarious creatures. The hotel had an uncanny ability to bring all manner of underworlder together. Vampires sat at tables with lycan, while hunters sipped their drinks casually in the same room with darkkin that they’d kill on the street. In the hotel, everyone was cordial. In the hotel, there were no sides.
“This is pretty good,” Eric said as he sipped the caramel colored drink.
Gary raised his glass and winked. He gulped down the frothy brew and held his hand up. The bartender quickly brought another round and followed that up with half a dozen more. The night quickly blurred and the problems that lingered over their heads, lifted for the briefest of moments.
Hours passed as they attempted to drown their sorrows and rid the world of alcohol. For once, Eric wasn’t concerned with demons and dark magic, he was just enjoying himself and killing brain cells along the way.
“Can’t believe you bought a corvette,” Eric laughed as he finished his eighth beer.
“Neither can I. I miss Old Blue.”
“Old Blue?”
“Yeah, she was a warrior. Shame what they did to her.”
“Excuse me,” someone called from behind them.
Eric looked over his shoulder. There was a teenage boy with light, brown hair and green eyes, standing behind him. He wore a faded leather jacket and a pair of jeans that were torn and frayed at the bottom.
Eric let out a laugh. “Don’t they have age requirements in here? What are you doing here, kid?”
Gary looked the boy up and down then twisted his face in annoyance. “He’s not a kid,” Gary said. “He’s part of my brother’s coven. Why are you here Castillo?”
“Richard doesn’t know I’m here and I’d rather he didn’t,” Castillo said candidly.
Gary chuckled. “Not sure if you’re in the know, but my brother and I ain’t all warm and fuzzy, sharing secrets over a bonfire.”
Castillo nodded. “I heard about what you’re trying to do.”
“What’s that?” Eric asked.
“Your fight against the commission. Stopping them from controlling the shade. I wanna help, we wanna help.”
“Who is we?”