The Curse that Bites

by Kennedy Layne

  I was really big on choice, though.

  “What I know is that these creatures need to be eradicated from this planet before we all end up dead. She might not be one of them, but she’s been protecting that fiend living up there in those mountains.” Frank leaned back just in time as the waitress approached us cautiously. She wasn’t too happy that we were still here, and I wondered if she’d gone to school with Jerry, as well. “I’d like my bill, please. I’m leaving.”

  Piper gave the waitress the brightest smile as she stopped in front of us.

  “Would it be possible to get a box of those mini-blueberry muffins and a couple of those fruit pies to go? Cherry and apple, if you have them. Mr. Palisade is being kind enough to pay everyone’s tab who was here this morning when he mistakenly provoked Jerry.” Piper tilted her head just so, causing a blonde curl to escape its messy bun. “Isn’t that right, Mr. Palisade?”

  I do love when my lessons pay off. My sweet Piper can tango with the best of them.

  Frank tossed the sullied napkins down next to his plate, clearly not liking how the tables had been turned. The only benefit to this situation was that we were aware of the hunters’ rules of engagement, and one of them clearly stated that those humans who remained in the dark regarding vampires shall remain so in order not to create panic.

  I’d love to see the reaction of these vampire hunters should they learn of all the other supernatural creatures in existence. They wouldn’t be so pompous with their crossbows and oak bolts, now would they?

  Try to rein yourself in, dear hexed one. We all know that karma has the last say in situations like these.

  “Of course,” the waitress said in agreement, most likely willing to do whatever it took to get all of us out the door. “Cassie, would you like something extra to take to Jerry?”

  “That would be great, Julie,” Cassandra replied, attempting to cover up her agitation that I’d been able to take away the red pepper shaker from her hands underneath the table.

  The waitress didn’t show it, but she had caught onto Piper’s scheme. Julie happily went along with it. Ten percent of a larger ticket meant a bigger tip. The fact that she and Cassandra had such a friendly rapport told me that maybe our medium had been dating Jerry longer than the six months we’d previously surmised.

  No, my dear hexed. The two lovebirds met in early summer quite by accident, and the two have basically been inseparable since.

  “I’m not letting this bounty get away, so you can just save your breath.” Frank leaned down and reached for his bag, frowning even more, if that were possible. He angrily shoved the part of his bow that had been exposed back into his bag. “I get why you would mess with my gear, but what I don’t understand is why you would tip your hand to these monsters. They’ll betray you and drain your blood.”

  Orwin and I exchanged confused glances. Bounty? Normally, vampire hunters didn’t work on that type of system. They traveled across the globe in search of unexplained deaths that would lead them to the undead they reviled. There wasn’t an organization who oversaw the minions, nor was there a system of barter in place, per se.

  Unless Miss Saruman’s beau did the unspeakable to a family member of some hunters, it is very rare such a bounty would be placed on the head of a specific undead creature.

  “We didn’t mess with anything of yours,” Orwin said, clearing up the first misunderstanding. As for the second, I wasn’t so sure that Frank would be willing to share those details. Hunters were known for their privacy, because that’s how they survived. “Who has the bounty on their head? Is it for Jerry or someone associated with him?”

  Miss Saruman’s beau might have restrained his instinct to protect his friends and family, but beware that she has no qualms of protecting him at great lengths.

  Cassandra refused to meet my gaze, which confirmed Pearl’s suspicion that the young medium would utilize magic in front of those remaining in this diner. It had somehow become our responsibility to make sure that didn’t happen, while at the same time ensuring Orwin’s safety.

  Frank remained silent, realizing that he’d made a mistake about revealing the existence of a bounty. It didn’t matter that he refused to respond to any more questions. Orwin had already read his thoughts and received the answers we sought. We just needed to ask the right questions and siphon off the right information.

  Our resident warlock is also the only one who can figure out what particular carrot or stick it would take to have Mr. Palisade leaving this mountain posthaste. Let’s see what you come up with, alien hunter. Shall we place a wager? If you accomplish your mission on the first go round, I’ll tell you something about those little green men and the pyramids back in my dear Cleopatra days. Should you fail, you’ll not speak of any unidentified flying objects for one week.

  Okay, then.

  Clearly, Pearl and Orwin had spent way too much time together in the last fifteen or sixteen hours that had now passed since my premonition. Even though we’d all been inside the RV, Pearl had made it her personal mission to stay glued to Orwin’s side every minute. The only break the two had been given was those few short moments that he’d entered the diner with me.

  All is fair in allergies and conspiracy theories, dear hexed one.

  A group of four older gentleman came walking through the front door, greeting Tina in a way that told us they were regulars. It wasn’t a surprise when one of them brought up Jerry. The fact that Frank Palisade was still sitting at our table with strangers arriving wasn’t in our favor.

  “Mr. Palisade, why do you think Jerry Kline risked coming into town today?”

  Risked? Hadn’t Jerry and Cassandra ventured into town due to the package? Orwin had picked up something useful in Frank Palisade’s thoughts, though it might very well have been Cassandra’s mind. If the package had been shipped from Minnesota, that would mean it came from someone close to Cassandra. Maybe material items to conduct some type of incantation that would provide Jerry with a safety net.

  “I’m not answering any more of your questions,” Frank said with determination, hoisting the black bag over his shoulder. “I don’t know who you people are, but Jerry Kline is my prize to turn over. I’ll be the one collecting that cash reward.”

  “Now will you give me back that red pepper?” Cassandra murmured in clear desperation.

  Patience, Miss Saruman.

  “Jerry sensed you from miles away, and what he now has in his possession is a list of names of everyone who took that bounty,” Orwin shared, his tone so unlike the easy-going conspiracy theorist who we were used to in our everyday lives.

  Well, that was innovative. The package that Jerry took with him upon leaving this building was material components for a more complete incantation that Cassandra would like to cast in order to protect him. Well done, Mr. Cornelia. I shall reserve my congratulations until Mr. Palisade departs this mountain.

  The more time that passed by in the twenty-four-hour timeframe of my premonition, the further Orwin was willing to go to make sure that it wasn’t him that met a fateful end. He was willing to do or say just about anything to save this man’s life. It was well-known that for vampires to remain among the supernatural from their earlier years of inception, they had to adapt their rules. Number one? No taking a human life unless you were willing to suffer the consequences of your actions. I wasn’t privy to the entirety of their code, but Orwin was improvising to buy us more time to figure out this new mystery and what it was all about.

  “I don’t believe you,” Frank scoffed, though the fact he leaned back in his chair and didn’t attempt to leave the diner said otherwise. He shook his head in incredulity, letting his bag drop to the floor with a thud. He met each of our stares as he sorted through the thoughts in his head, unaware that Orwin was listening to each and every one. “There’s no way to find out that information unless you’re a member of the brotherhood.”

  “No?” Orwin asked, somehow seeming even more confident than before.

&nb
sp; There’s a reason for that, dear hexed one. Mr. Cornelia’s ability to read the human mind certainly comes in handy during these types of investigations. It’s looking more and more as if I might have to fork over what I know of the hieroglyphics inside the pyramid regarding those little green men our alien hunter has become so obsessed with over the years. I should warn you now that a trip to Nevada might be in our near future, Miss Lilura.

  “You received the bounty information through an online app where messages are exchanged. Did you or did you not reply with the code word caterpillar?”

  “Yes,” Frank answered, leaning forward so that the four men who’d taken a table couldn’t quite make out what we were discussing. “What does that have to do with anything?”

  “It means that all it takes is a decent hacker to retrieve the names of those who responded through linked IP addresses,” Orwin explained, not giving Frank time to ask any more questions. “We were hired to clean up this mess, which means you are leaving this mountain…now. Go home. No more hunting until you’re given the all clear codeword—grapevine.”

  I’m rather impressed, alien hunter.

  I wasn’t just impressed. I was proud, too. Orwin had figured out a way to not only give us leeway to speak with Cassandra and Jerry in private, but he’d also guaranteed this man’s safety. There was no telling what Jerry would do to a hunter who’d put innocent lives at risk by his carelessness when it came to failing to conceal his weapons in public.

  Frank had bought the cover story, and his imagination had even added credence to Orwin’s fabrication of the facts, all because he was aware of the proper code words.

  “You’re probably here to get the list of names before he can distribute them,” Frank guessed, looking at Cassandra with admiration. He leaned back against his chair with a creepy smile on his face. I’m not so sure that his enjoyment was only ridding the planet of the undead; so much so that he was worse than a vampire nest, which at least followed a moral code. I was now regretting taking those red pepper flakes from Cassandra. “I get it now. Fine. I’ll leave, but I expect to be contacted as soon as this situation is resolved. I got word of a rather nasty nest in Maine.”

  “There will be a notice in the app when the job is complete. Look for the codeword you’ve been given.” Orwin tapped the table in a final act of authority. Unfortunately, he sneezed…three times. Any sense of influence went right out the window, though he did his best to recover. “I suggest you leave now while there’s still time before the storm hits, and before we have to extract you ourselves.”

  It seems as if Mr. Cornelia is in need of a tissue.

  “Pay up,” Orwin muttered behind the napkin that Piper had slid over to him. Frank was already standing, holding out his hand for the check. Julie relinquished the bill over after she set the two to-go bags down on the table. “Thank you, Julie.”

  “You’re welcome, sweetie pie,” Julie replied with a wink. “I included my tip to help you out.”

  I think my eyes are burning, Miss Lilura. What was that?

  “Flirting,” Orwin replied with a grin and a red nose after Julie had turned her attention to the four older men at the other table. His smile quickly faded when reality overshadowed his temporary lapse of judgement. “Which I might not survive to enjoy if we don’t take care of our vampire problem.”

  “Do you really think the hunter is going to leave this mountain?” Cassandra asked, her worried gaze following the man out the door after he’d slapped some cash down on the counter in front of Tina. “Do you believe Jerry is safe now?”

  “Unfortunately, that was only a temporary solution,” I replied honestly, scooting my chair back and indicating that it was time to go. “We’ll talk more in the car. Piper, you ride with Orwin. Follow close behind. Pearl and I will accompany Cassandra. It’s time to get the entire story.”

  And maybe, dear hexed one, the answers we seek regarding your hex.

  Chapter Ten

  “We helped you, Cassandra, as promised,” I said, sliding the seat belt over my jacket. The beat-up old Chevy had seen better days. It was no wonder Jerry had trouble driving this thing in the winter. I just hoped that the incoming storm held off until tonight. “Now, I want the whole story as to how you got yourself involved with a vampire.”

  Young love knows no bounds, dear hexed one. Speaking of which, have we heard from our resident werewolf?

  “Werewolf?” Cassandra had yet to pull the car out from behind the building, waiting for the engine to warm up a bit. Her head practically rotated like an owl as she searched for any sign of a lycanthrope. “I thought Orwin was a warlock.”

  That he is, among other things. Werewolf isn’t one of them. You can also add an allergic conspiracy theorist to your list, though he does have good intentions.

  “Orwin is a warlock.” I motioned for her to drive, not wanting to waste any more time. She’d already assured me that we weren’t going near a cabin. “Let’s just say that we have our own more than capable reinforcements. We had no idea what we were going to encounter on this mountain.”

  “I already told you that Jerry is the only vampire within thirty miles. You won’t need a pack of werewolves,” Cassandra said in frustration, finally shifting the gear into drive while still wearing her black gloves. She maneuvered the car around the building until my red Jeep came into view. Piper was behind the wheel, having already backed out of the parking spot so that she could fall right in behind us as we turned onto the main road. “He doesn’t want any trouble with anyone.”

  If that is the case, Miss Saruman, why is there an active bounty on your beau?

  “I met Jerry at the beginning of summer during a college visit,” Cassandra began as she kept the speed of the vehicle beneath the posted sign. The roads were still slick with packed icy snow in spots here and there. “We hit it off, but something horrible happened on his drive back from Minnesota to West Virginia. He didn’t even have to call me. I just…felt it.”

  There are certain times that witches, such as Miss Saruman, can sense when they’ve met their true soulmate. It’s rare, but it does happen from time to time. Her ancestors on the other side must have been keeping tabs on her beau. It would explain how she’d known something tragic had occurred to Mr. Kline.

  “You can call me Cassie.”

  “Pearl has a thing about etiquette,” I explained wryly, not surprised to find that Pearl had made herself visible on my lap. Her sleek white fur was as bright as the ridges of snow that rested on the branches of the trees in the forest. “What happened on Jerry’s drive back to West Virginia?”

  Mr. Kline obviously met up with a vampire on the hunt, dear hexed one. Would you please turn the vent in a different direction? This vehicle reeks of the undead, and I’d rather not have to carry that particular rancid fragrance around on my fur. I mean no disrespect, Miss Saruman.

  “Jerry was with his older brother, Paul.” Cassandra frowned at the insult Pearl had unsuccessfully tried to soften. “They made a road trip out of the college visit, taking their time to see the sights on the way back home. Paul has a tendency to get into trouble without even looking, and he somehow got into an altercation that led to both him and Jerry being left for dead, buried in a shallow grave.”

  Vampires don’t simply leave something of that significance to chance, Miss Saruman. With that said, the undead do tend to have heightened emotions when it comes to retaliation. Whatever altercation Mr. Paul Kline attracted clearly upset one of the vampires in question.

  “Well, they didn’t break the number one rule,” I said, figuring the final outcome was better than the alternative. Pearl’s green gaze landed on me in surprise, probably because I’d been trying to be a bit positive for a change. “I thought you said that Jerry was the only vampire within a thirty-mile distance. What happened to Paul?”

  “Paul up and left,” Cassandra finally revealed, flipping on a turn signal. I didn’t like the looks of the area. It sure resembled an out of the way setting that wo
uld contain a cabin, such as the one I was doing my best to keep Orwin away from until seven o’clock tonight. “He loved the power he’d gained in his transition, but he was afraid he’d hurt those he cared for by accident.”

  Wise decision, but why would your beau be different? He’s still very new at vampirism, Miss Saruman.

  “Let me guess,” I said, looking over my shoulder to confirm that Piper was still on our tail. She was practically on our bumper. “Jerry called you, told you that he wasn’t going to attend college, and you suspected something was wrong.”

  “Something like that. You see, we’d made plans to get together over the summer. One minute we were going to a water park the week after graduation, and the next he was saying he never wanted to see me again.” Cassandra shrugged as she began to slow the car down, carefully managing to maneuver the tires over a gravel road that had been cleared by a snowplow. Probably a truck with one of those single lane plow blades on the front grill. “I don’t know how to explain it, but I just knew that something was terribly wrong. I was still seventeen at the time, so I couldn’t just get up and leave Minnesota. I waited until the day after my high school graduation, and then I talked a friend of mine into coming to West Virginia with me. Let’s just say that she knows about what I am.”

  You realize that we have rules, too. It’s not wise to tell our secrets to uninitiated humans, Miss Saruman.

  I had a feeling that Cassandra wasn’t one to follow the rules as much as she was to break them. It wasn’t that she was a bad person—or witch. It had more to do with being isolated in a very large world and wanting more than anything to share her secrets with someone else for her own mental health.

  Youth. There is a reason for wisdom, dear hexed one.

  “Yeah, well, I can relate,” I muttered, recalling the day I turned eighteen. It was if it was yesterday. I also understood what Pearl meant about wisdom, because I’d been so caught up with wanting to live my life that I’d abandoned the witchcraft that could very well be what saved my life in the very end. “Cassandra, we’re not here to judge you. What happened when you and your friend finally made it here?”