by Jason Fuquea
I am aware of my minions even without the mirror now. I am juiced up, and my power is flowing. All of the minions were kneeling, none coming to me. They wanted to witness for their Queen. I could feel a coldness now radiating from me as if my skin was reaching out around me grabbing anything that was close.
My transformation happened in about three seconds. John stopped vamping out, terror now grasping everyone in the bar. The Vampires are frozen unable to make a sound, it’s like they had just looked under their bed and saw the boogeywoman.
The humans are now terrified and started to fall to the floor in fear. With my free hand, I pointed to Roxanne, who is still behind the bar, tears filling her eyes. Her teeth are chattering from the cold radiating around me.
Aloud where everyone could clearly hear, I said, “Angel, please take Roxanne out of the hotel.” Angel stood and walked toward Roxanne, materializing from nothing into her beautiful shape as she walked, red hair in a short cut swirling loosely around her ears just down to her neck, wearing her striking black leather suit.
“Roxanne love, would you be so kind as to help me find the way out? I think your shift is ending early,” she said sweetly and comfortingly. Roxanne stood then walked with Angel without understanding as both of them moved past me and out of the bar.
I turned to the frozen Vampires. “John, you were saying?” I said. Hearing my words John cowardly attempted to slowly walk backward away from me. The other Vampires didn’t move a muscle. Not even a twitch. The humans are now mostly passed out from fear and the cold.
“Decipula,” I spoke looking at the Vampire. Instantly Demonic iron bands formed and locked across John’s eyes, mouth, and feet. Demonic metal finger traps laced across his fingertips connecting both hands together at their points, effectively handcuffing both hands together. A final binding went around John’s torso with a cracking sound into the concrete floor of the bar, locking him down completely.
“What in the hell is causing it to be so damn cold,” a voice said as the door marked private opened. A tall Vampire in a three-piece suit covered in gold jewelry walked into the bar fray. Instantly he saw John and assessed the other immovable Vampires and passed out humans.
I instantly moved into my rhythm disappearing from his view. My Demons had no trouble seeing me. “What in the holy hell is going on out here,” he shouted. No one spoke, no one moved. “Someone talk, damn it.” I slowly changed my rhythm and walked across the floor looking like a stuttering hologram I’m sure.
Speaking in my Demonic voice I said, “I don’t think they are interested in talking about me.” I laughed horrifically.
“I don’t know what you’re doing, but this is Dominus Strum’s organization,” he replied.
“Not tonight, it isn’t,” I immediately interjected.
Faster than the Vampire could react I appeared with my hands around his throat. I lifted the weak struggling Vampire helplessly into the air wrinkling his designer suit. With the Vampire in the air, I yelled, “No one leaves this room. I’m going to see what else is going on. What’s your name suite?” I asked the dangling Vampire.
“Anton Miller,” He said stuttering. I guess Vampires keep some human traits after all. “I need you to take me on a little tour, I want to see what else is down here because I’m thinking this is not everything.”
I let the Vampire down. “Get to walking,” I said. He led me through the door marked private. The hall split left and right, we continued to the left and he started speaking.
“I don’t know who you are, or what you are, but you’re dead. Dominus will come for you with the Sollicitus.” He said panicked.
“Anton, your world has no idea what’s coming for it,” I replied firmly. “Now keep walking.”
Walking about twenty more feet rooms started to our left and right. I could smell the different scents and sounds mingling in the hallway. Sex, pain, and fear swimming around in a cloudy cohesive mixture. “Angel, if Anton leaves my side cut off his male appendage and hand it to him.”
“Yes, my Queen,” she replied instantly, walking out of a shadow behind Anton. A faint metallic sliding sound was audible, a thin crescent mooned blade glinting in her hand. She held it cross-handed with her free hand over the blade carrying one. The blade is resting across her upper leather-clad thighs. Her arms are posed as if she was clutching a tiny makeup bag not wanting anyone to see it. She smiled at Anton while tilting her head slightly to the right and winked at him. “She is just the cutest thing,” I thought.
I sheathed my weapon in a special slot that ran down the front of my thigh. The blade melded with my body, unmovable by anyone but me. Hilt and handle protruding like an ebony spike and cross, visible only if looking very closely.
I reached down and turned the locked door handle. The inner workings crunched as I broke the lock and opened the door.
Inside is a horror show. A well-endowed naked Vampire was kneeling between a very young woman’s legs who was fastened with ropes in a recliner. She’s no older than sixteen.
I walked forward and could see a specially designed couch where three females are ball gagged and bent over the couch with their hands tied to hooks in the wall. It looks like he was making rounds between the ladies on the couch and the one on the recliner. I could smell urine, the ladies had to pee where tied.
It’s almost morning and the damage has been done. Rope burns are cut deep into their wrists, and their knees are bruised along with the rest of their bodies.
The room smelled bad not only from the human and vamp scents but from a full ashtray of cigarettes buts on a small table next to the recliner, with one still smoldering.
The Vampire stood up and turned as we made our way into the room, blood dripping down his chin and the upside-down A on his forehead almost radiating. I could see the unconscious female clearly now. He was drinking from both thighs near her crotch.
“She must be near death from blood loss,” I thought. She was pale and lifeless. At the sight of this, I moved into my rhythm and stepped forward thrusting my hand through the vampire’s chest where his heart beats. With a plunging crackle, I ripped his heart from his body and stepped back.
Time returned to normal and the Vampire looked down and grasped at the hole that just appeared in his chest. He placed a few fingers in the pouring wound and looked up, then thudded forward to the carpeted floor only dead weight.
Anton let out a grievous gasp, shaking fiercely and said, “Please don’t kill me, I had no idea what he was doing in here. I manage the place, but I don’t go into the rooms.” His words were meaningless.
“Sweetheart, it’s too late to beg,” I handed him the dead vampire’s heart. I made my way over to the tied-up girls and unbound them. When I got close, I could smell Magic.
“Holy shit these are Witches.” Once the Witches were let out of their bindings, they immediately came over to me and hugged me in turn. I was no longer as energized so just my normal amount of cold is radiating.
“We live in the French Quarter and were at GrandPre’s across from the park having drinks. We stayed out a little late, but while walking back home that asshole on the floor got us. We never saw him. I woke up to the screams of the girl on the recliner. She was saying no as he bit and sucked her or whatever he did.
“We are Witches, but have not come into our full power yet, still we wouldn’t have been able to help ourselves or her. Katie is the head of our sister coven and told all the witch coven heads about you, and that you enforced witch law on Amanda.
“We all knew who you were the moment you spoke, your voice has a provocative rasp, at least that’s what Katie called it.” The girl finished talking regained her composure and dressed from the pile of cloths laying on the floor.
The room has an attached bathroom and the witch girls took turns getting cleaned up and changed. “Angel, please dress the little one and take her to the lobby, ask
the attendant to call an ambulance for her. She’s breathing but weak.”
Angela took the remaining clothes and dressed the human on the recliner and scooped her up and walked out of the room. “So, Anton. You have no idea how four females, three of them Witches were brought into your private elevator and come to be here, being raped and fed on by this guy?” I said questioning his earlier statement.
“No, I must have missed it, honestly,” Anton replied.
I snickered, “We will see about that in a moment.”
Once the three Witches were in reasonable shape. I asked them to go up to the lobby and check on the younger girl and to see if they could locate her parents. The three thanked me and walked out of the room, still shaken just as Angel came back in. “Anton, let’s go check out the next room and we better not find more girls,” I said.
We left the first room, Room 1A and went across the hall diagonally to room 3A. “Anton, I have a question, if these are all A’s there are no B and C floors are there?
Anton looked down and fidgeted, “The floors go down to Sublevel E, that’s just above the Vampire tunnels.”
“Vampire Tunnels?” I asked.
“Yes, We Vampires have been building tunnels under the city for over a century. We can of course only connect the oldest of buildings, but it’s our network for traveling around undetected. It allows our Blood Workers and ‘Houses’ to conduct business during the day if needed.
“Houses, what the hell are Vampire Houses,” I questioned.
“Vampires call their clans houses. Witches have covens, we have houses. A Vampire house consists of up to Seven Vampires living together in a common area, with their blood workers, and feeders. A house can be as small as three Vampires and their blood workers, but all Vampires must belong to a house. That’s one of Dominus Strum’s city laws.
“Vampires can never be alone not even while sleeping. He encourages using the blood worker security service that’s available to every Vampire house here in New Orleans.”
“So, Vampires have their own security services, and this place goes down into some Vamp Tunnel Network. What other buildings in New Orleans are connected to the tunnels?” I asked Anton.
“Many, I don’t know them all, but almost every building built before the 1870s that have sub-basements is connected to the tunnels. All of the buildings are marked on the entry wall of the building to identify that it’s part of the Dominus Strum Tunnel System. The initials “DSTS” are engraved outside of the main door if a building has access to the tunnels. Most humans that see the initials just assume it’s a builders or masons initials.” Anton answered.
I reached down and turned the knob of room 3A, it’s unlocked. I pushed the door open to find it empty and clean, apart from a few bloody spots on the carpet. I would guess many of the rooms would now be empty as sunrise is here. We made our way back to the main bar area where John is still cemented to the floor by the bindings. The other Vampires and members of their houses are still confined to the seats they’re in. “Anton, stay here,” I commanded.
“You know I think it’s time to get some fresh air,” I said to the congregation. “Release the Vampire,” I commanded of the Demonic straps, and at once the straps turned into ash. I grabbed John by the leg and effortlessly pulled him toward the door.
“Where are you taking me?” he panicked frantically grasping at whatever his hands could find. Ultimately his grip on anything was not strong enough for me to notice as I continued dragging him kicking and screaming to the hallway just before entering the lobby of the French Quarter Mansion.
“John, you’re in luck, it looks like a beautiful day today.”
“Please don’t kill me, I’ll do anything. I’ll tell you information, I’ll help you.” He pleaded eyes covered in tears and nose all slobbery. The ten minutes it took to get here was full of him telling me everything but how sorry he was for all the shit he did, and not one word to God.
“Pathetic,” I thought. I dodged the light from the window coming in the lobby, and thankfully the glass is tinted on the front doors. I’m being watched by the confused desk clerks, they have already gotten the manager, but she’s looking at what’s going on and is speechless.
The customers in the lobby all stood well away from me too, I could see some holding their stomach getting sick. Most likely from the anticipation of what’s about to happen.
I drug John out the front door. The sun hit him, and he started to scream. He didn’t burst into flames or anything, but instead is being cooked from his core out. I remember Jane telling me that if sunlight directly hit a Vampire’s skin, it burned the Vampire and the skin would turn gray and die.
Cars are stopping, cell phones, recording, and everyone halting because of the squealing Vampire burning behind me. If the terrible sounds of John being burned alive were not bad enough the awful smell it created was. Cooked human skin is really bad, cooked Vampire is absolutely horrific. The pedestrians didn’t know whether to cover their eyes or shield their ears at my parade. I drug John down the street for about two minutes until just crackling sounded behind me.
I looked down to see I was only holding a burnt slab of leg that my hand had covered from the sun. John is in pieces strewn behind me smoking in mangled piles of bubbling fire and ash.
Angel is with me, but hidden, she has no intention of letting the world capture her on camera. She looks as if this is nothing more than a pleasant walk in the park, all smiles.
Chapter 13
The Hard Goodbye
I turned and walked toward the French Quarter Mansion, slowly moving into my rhythm, looking like I’m flickering, then gone. I wanted to create some doubt to offset what the Internet would say about me, now with my jerky movements I could be digital.
The people here on the street with me would surely know the truth, and that’s really what I wanted to happen. I wanted to send a message to everyone that I’m ready to help the Vampires say the Hard Goodbye.
I walked back down to the bar entrance to find Timothy Turner, the doorman peeking out from around a corner. He must have stuck around to see what was going to happen after I snatched John from the bar.
“Timmy you can come out,” I said.
“Did you just drag a freaking Vampire out in the street and watch him burn?” Timothy asked me struggling to speak and almost petrified.
“John was the asshole I drug out, and yes I walked him into the light. Let me ask you a question Timmy, what do you know about Anton?”
Timothy answered, “He’s never been bad to me, and that’s saying something, Vampires normal are mean as shit to humans, you know unless they have a use for them.”
“Yessir, I surely can understand that,” I said in my sweetest Southern Demonic voice. All of this seems to have traumatized Timothy’s ability to move. I laughed and walked past Timothy saying, “I’ll talk to you later Timmy, I got stuff to do today, but I’ll get you my contact info.” I opened the door disappearing inside.
As I walked, I focused my thoughts and said “Tranquillum,” another Demonic word that I somehow knew. My armor and blade melded with me leaving a flowing full-length red dress with leather lacing up the back where once my armor rested. It fit me perfectly. It looked similar in style to Lilith’s when she was handing over the Demonic Queendom. Adorning me, floating slightly above the crown of my head is my tiara.
“Dolor Mendacious,” I said openly in Demonic, “Anton, if choose to you lie you’ll be in server pain so please answer honestly. Did you know about the girls in room A1?” I asked politely.
Anton still holding the Vampire’s heart, like it’s priceless china said, “Yes, I did know. He said truthfully.
“So, you lied to me in the room?”
“Yes, I did I’m sorry. I was scared, I saw you put your arm through his chest and thought, I’d be next.”
“Did you lie to me about anyt
hing else Anton?”
“No.”
“Anton, you said you were sorry, and that’s almost enough. I need someone that can help me understand the Vampire world. Would you be so kind as to offer your loyalty to me?”
Anton paused a moment and said, “Yes, I will help you, whatever you need.”
“Tell no one about our arrangement. I need you to take me to the tunnels.” Anton nodded.
“The rest of you in here may go,” I said. I waited as the congregation cleared in all directions. Some headed in the staff door, others going through the private door, and some humans left through the bar entrance, everyone anxious.
“Anton, after you, I would like to see these tunnels,” I said. Anton walked, and we went through the door marked private again and took a right this time. Down a short hall and behind a locked door stood an old-timey elevator with an arm that must be lifted to unlock it.
Chains attached to an accordion-style door crossed over the freight elevator’s entry. Anton pulled back the door with a crinkling of metal and we three got in. Once in, he pressed the down button. About thirty seconds later we came to a thudded stop in a near lightless cavern. The musty smell overpowering, with rats running rampant.
“Anton, let’s go to your house,” I suggested.
He paused for a second and said, “I live here at the French Quarter Mansion, Room B1.”
“Hmmm, where else can you take two ladies for a morning stroll? Anything on Decatur Street?” I asked.
“Well, the US Custom House touches it on one side.”
“That will do just fine.” I waved my hands in front of me to get him going. As we started to walk, I saw an engravement in the rock section outside the elevator that said, “French Quarter Mansion, Dumaine Street.” We walked along the musty hand tool dug tunnel that was about the size three people could walk side by side touching shoulders through.
