by Resca Rojas
As the vampire raised the machete upwards to strike him down, Amber shot him on the chest with the shotgun.
He felt back the floor and Amber ran to Klayton. “Hey, are you okay? What the hell is going on?”
“I’m good. We need to cut his head off or remove his heart.”
“What the hell is he?”
“Vampire.”
The vampire stood up. “I just turned a few hours ago, I’m going to kill her to show my worth.”
“The moment you laid your hands on her, it became my problem.” Klayton stood up and asked Amber to step back.
“But I shot him.” She was in disbelief, “What are you-,” Amber stopped herself as Klayton began to groan a little bit as his bones began to stretch out and his nails began to grow. His hair began to grow and cover his skin as his body stretched upwards a few feet in height. Klayton was now in his lycan form, and in front of Klayton was a vampire who had just realized that he was not ready for this.
The vampire tried to flee but Klayton jumped on his back and began to scratch the vampire with his claws. He then bit the back of the vampires neck as it cried in pain. Klayton then turned the vampire around and sliced his throat open.
The vampire began to gag and choke on his own blood as Klayton returned to his human form, now naked without clothes as he had torn it all apart when he had transformed.
Amber was frozen in shock as Klayton walked next to her and grabbed the machete. He then walked back to the vampire and decapitated him.
Klayton sat on the floor with his back against the wall as he took deep breaths.
“What the hell did I just witness?”
Klayton grinned and pointed at the dead vampire. “That’s a vampire, and I’m a werewolf.”
“Were you always able to do that?”
He chuckled. “No. I turned five months after we separated.”
“How?”
I’ll tell you later. We gotta go.”
“Go where?”
Klayton took a deep breath. “My brother found my mom’s killer. Turns out he is a right hand man of a vampire queen. We are going to take them all down, but I came here as quickly as possible when I heard that there may be vampires here.”
Amber walked to him and got on her knees, and now they were at eye level. “You still care?”
“Only until I die. We didn’t work out, but you are still my friend.”
“I was half asleep, did not even hear him break in. Next thing I know, he was on top of me ready to kill me.” She said.
“We gotta get rid of this body, go back to my motel, pick someone up, and then get the hell out of here.”
“And go where? I have a life here.”
“He is not the only vampire in this town. You heard him say that this was some sort of initiation. We just killed him and I’m sure that his friends are going to be looking for him. I can’t leave without knowing that you are safe, so until this is over, you got to be with me.”
“I’ll lose my job, my house.”
“I have money. A lot. I’ll give you enough to pay the house and deal with unemployment.”
“I thought that we were done arguing while you were naked.”
He chuckled. “Get me a towel. I have clothes in my car. Can I use your phone? I gotta call my brother and figure out how we are going to get rid of this body.”
“Well, I may have an idea how.”
“You know someone?”
“We’ve been dating actually.”
Three years later and it still bothered Klayton to imagine Amber with somebody else. But he told himself to stop thinking that way “Oh? And how can he help us?”
“His parents own a funeral home. I was thinking, maybe cremate whatever this thing is.”
“Vampire.”
“I am not saying that.”
He raised his hands. “Okay, call your boyfriend and tell him about our situation.”
She handed him a towel and he wrapped it around his waist. Then, he went to his car where he grabbed his backpack and then went back inside Amber’s house.
“You know, the thing they leave out on movies and shows and hell, even books, is the damn clothes that keeps ripping apart with each transformation.”
Amber said nothing as he walked past her and went to the bathroom and changed. While he was putting his clothes on, he noticed something inside the waste basket.
“Klayton, are you done? He said that he will meet us at the funeral.”
“Yeah, just a sec.” Klayton put on his black hoodie and then walked out of the bathroom.
He instructed Amber to go to his car and bring it inside her garage in reverse so that he could place the body in the trunk without anyone in the neighborhood noticing.
Afterwards, Amber went to the passenger seat and Klayton drove to the funeral home.
Twenty minutes later, they arrived at the place. Klayton parked in front of the building and a man came out of a red parked pick up truck. He was handsome and even with a jacket on he looked to be very muscular.
Amber looked at Klayton, “Now, promise me that you are going to be nice.”
“Yeah. We are just here to get rid of a body. I will be mature throughout the whole process.”
“Klay, I’m serious. Please. I want us all to get along. Don’t make it awkward.”
“Okay.” He exited the car.
The man approached him. “Hey. Name’s Ethan. How can I help you guys?” He extended his hand to shake Klayton’s.
Klayton shook his hand with a firm grip. “Thank you for doing this.” He then went to get the body from the trunk.
“And what exactly is it that we are doing? You didn’t tell me over the phone.” He looked at Amber as she got close to him and kissed his cheek.
“I’ll explain once we are inside.”
Klayton passed by while carrying the corpse with his arms.
“Is that- “
“Inside, please.” Amber insisted.
He quickly opened the doors and let them thru first. Ethan then locked the doors behind them. He lead them to the basement where the furnace was. Klayton placed the body on top of a table.
“So, who is that?”
“He tried to kill your girlfriend tonight.”
Ethan was confused. He looked at Amber and said, “What the hell is going on here?”
“You know how we love Supernatural and The Vampire Diaries?”
Ethan nodded.
“Well, that over there is a dead vampire.”
“Right, right.” He laughed.
“She’s not joking. Come look.”
Ethan went towards Klayton and looked at the body as Klayton removed the tarp. He then opened the vampire’s mouth. “Check this out. You apply enough pleasure and,” a fang came out of the vampire’s gum, “There you go. That’s one way to confirm it.”
Ethan stepped back, scared. “What the hell? Dude, what the hell?”
9
“I’ll call you back, dude.” Dante ended the phone call with his brother and looked at the man who was standing in front of his car. “Can I help you?”
“You killed my men as I was heading back. Figure I’d follow you for a little bit, give you enough distance from your friend in case things go sideways.”
“I take it you’re here to make an example out of me?”
“I came here to make you an offer.”
“Pass.”
“I want to help you take down Kayla.”
“Why?”
“My name is Mason, and I’ve been waiting patiently for a chance to take her down, and I think you’re it.”
“It’s not Kayla that I want. There is a man that we think works for her; his name is Garrett.”
“What’s your business with that asshole?”
“That asshole killed my mom.”
Mason smiled. He knew that he was going to win Dante over. “Look, man. I get it. That crap is tough. But, I’m telling you, if you help me take down Kayla, then down the
road, or even before we get to her, eventually, we will have to face him, cause he is one of Kayla’s right hand.”
“You show up out of the blue and tell me everything that I want to hear. It’s too good to be true.”
“Okay, and that’s fair. How about this? There is an Elite fifty miles from here. I’ll help you locate him, kill him, and if you are still not convinced with what I’m selling, then I will get out of your way.”
“Alright, but I’m going to tell my brother to meet us at- “
“Three is a crowd, and is he not with that girl? I didn’t see her when I went to check on my now-dead people.”
“Why not?”
“Why not? It’s already proving to be difficult to win you over. My chances are going to lower even more if your brother and the woman who was hurt because of my crew knew that you were even talking to me. One thing at a time.”
Dante agreed with his reasoning. “Okay. Take me to him.”
Mason placed his duffle bag that contain a sniper rifle on the backseat of the car and then sat on the passenger seat. Before he went inside his car, Dante called his brother and let him know what he was doing.
“Okay. Take care of yourself.”
“You too. And, Dante?”
“Yeah?”
“If it comes to it, don’t hesitate to kill him.”
“Yeah. ‘Course.” Dante said.
When he went inside the car, Mason said, “Well, your brother sounds friendly.”
Dante said nothing to that and instead asked where they were heading. Once he got on the right road towards the direction that Mason gave him, Mason asked him, “So, how did you become a wolf?”
Dante looked at him for a moment but hesitated to answer. He was already assuming that this was a trap.
“Look, man. I don’t want to come across as an a-hole but until you back up what you have said to me, we are not bonding in this little road trip.”
“Hey, whatever man. My feelings are not going to be hurt by that. But with what we are doing, and where we are going? We are going to have to communicate. ‘Cause the guy that we are going to kill is one tough son of a bitch. I’m talking high end security.”
“How are we doing this?”
Mason explained to him that the Elite that they were going to assassinate was named Lukas. He was seventy-five years old, but looked like a wrestling athlete. Three-hundred and thirty two pounds, and ridiculously muscular. He ran a tight ship and trained his own men to the best of their abilities. He had started working for Kayla five years ago and had become a legend in the underworld for how ruthless and aggressive he was. Tonight he is expecting a delivery of humans thru a freight truck.
“Let me ask you this. Five years and he still has not gotten caught? How is that possible?” Klayton asked.
“Think about it,” Mason said, “you only hear of the people that go missing if you receive an Amber Alert thru your phone, media coverage, or through a social media post. Otherwise, what do you know about who goes missing? It’s screwed up, but with the right money and as long as someone is precautious, it’s possible for Lukas to get away with it.”
At first, Dante was only heading towards where Mason was leading him, to become one step closer in finding Garrett, but now, he wanted to kill Lukas.
“And, hey man,” Mason continued, “no witnesses, got it? Whoever we find, vampire or not, has to die. Otherwise, my cover will be blown and they will know that I betrayed her.”
“Okay.” Dante was going to do whatever it took to find him.
“You sure about that?” Mason had doubts about how committed Dante was going to be.
Dante kept his gaze towards the road and said, “Yes, I’m sure.”
●●●
They were now fifteen minutes from their destination and it had been a quiet ride. Dante was drowning in his own negative thoughts and decided to talk to Mason as a distraction. He said, “It was my brother.”
Mason was surprised to hear from him. “What about him?”
“My brother was the one who turned me. It’s funny, really. He won’t tell me why, but I know the reason he joined the Army was to disconnected himself from all the terrible shit that we have been through. No one would believe us of when we saw a vampire kill our mom. They shrugged it off as our way of coping with something so tragic that we saw. By the time that we were teenagers, we just started getting drunk and wasted every other weekend.
Until one day, he almost died from overdose. That’s when he realized that he needed to find a purpose in life. He joined the Army and the night that he came back home, he had a one night stand with a girl. She was the one who turned him. Then, after he learned the rules and learned how to use his lycanthrope, then he told me.”
“You guys got lucky that the Elders did not get involved. If they knew that there was someone out there turning others, it would go against the Natural Order Act.”
“Elders? Order Act?”
“Wait, you’re telling me that you don’t know about the rules?”
“Dude, I don’t even know who the Elders are.”
Mason looked at his phone. “Guess we have a few minutes to spare before we get there. I'll be quick. The Elders are a group of ancient creatures; two vampires and two lycans. Vanessa is about two hundred and thirty years old. She’s a werewolf, like you. Everyone who has ever seen her in person have said that she’s gorgeous.
She’s intelligent and the best hand to hand combatant that is part of the Celestial Elders. She lives at the Elder’s Headquarters.
Then there is Arthur. He’s about one hundred and twenty. He’s also a lycan. Very influential. He is usually the one that comes up with all the ideas and laws. He is said to be the most disciplined of all elders, and the one who will make sure that any who are ignorant to their laws will pay with their life.”
“You’re not just BSing me? How come I’ve never heard of this?”
“I don’t know where the hell you’ve been, but almost everyone who is a vampire, werewolf, or hunter knows about this. There was a war centuries ago and after both sides decided on a peace treaty, they created this group. Two of each race.”
“So, who represent the vampires?”
“Bartholomew, a ninety two year old. He is the youngest of them. He has never lost a fight and has killed hundreds.
“Lastly, but not least there is Carlanis. Not much is known about her, but she has been part of the Celestial Elders since the beginning.”
Dante was looking down the road while listening to Mason and he noticed a moving truck coming from far away, yet he was able to see it clearly. “Looks like he is coming.”
“Alright. Lay on the middle of the street.”
“What, why?”
“We need him to stop so that we hijack his truck. It’s the only way.”
Dante felt like they could have just placed the car in the middle of the road, but there was no time to argue with him. “Whatever, let’s do this.”
10
1:00 A.M.
Fifty year old Adam was driving his truck on a road that he had driven every Friday evening for the last five years.
Every Friday, he would pick up a shipment of people and transport them to a private property that belonged to Lukas. It was there where members of Kayla’s organization harvested humans for their blood and to use them for their own pleasure. Adam always kept them gagged and handcuffed inside of the shipping container.
Adam had an idea of what was happening with the people that he would never see again once the delivery was done. But he never question it. He was getting paid three thousand and five hundred dollars in cash with each job, and all he had to do was drive from Point A to Point B, a task that would only take four hours of his day. He loved it, and it was easy money.
He was currently on a road that had a long and straight path. With no car in sight, he was looking at his smartphone, not paying attention to the road.
When he finally lifted his head up and looked out in
to the road, Dante’s body was laying face down on the pavement.
Adam was able to stop on time, with his heart racing faster than it ever had. The truck was now only a few feet away from Dante’s motionless body.
This man was heartless, and he did not stop because he wanted to help Dante and call an ambulance. No.
He exited his truck and began to walk towards him. Stupid asshole, blocking my way. If I don’t make it on time, Lukas is going to give me a smaller cut for the job.
Adam bended down in order to start rolling Dante out of the road and into the dirt, and as soon as he looked at Dante's face, his eyes opened. They were glowing in a bright blue neon color.
Dante was face to face with the man responsible for transporting hundreds of innocent people who were destined to be sold off to vampires for sex and blood trafficking, and some of them were going to be killed off just for entertainment.
Adam stood up, startled and as he stepped back, Mason pressed the tip of his gun on the driver’s back.
Dante got up, grabbed Adam by his throat, and after dragging him, he slammed Adam against the truck container.
“Please, don’t kill me. I have cash. I don’t want to die. Please.” He begged.
“How many people do you have back there?”
“I don’t know. They’re all cluttered together.”
Mason felt that Dante was getting distracted from the main goal. “Dante, we agreed. No witnesses.”
“I just want to make sure that they are okay.” Dante said.
“Okay. But, fast. We only have a limited window opportunity for this. If Lukas becomes suspicious, then it's all over.”
“It will only take a second.” Dante said and then yelled at Adam, “Open it!”
“Okay. Okay.” Adam was startled. He took out his keys, and due to his nervousness, he dropped them.
“Move.” Irritated, Dante grabbed him by the shoulders and shoved him to the side.
He picked up the keys and unlocked the hatch. After swinging the door open, he stepped inside.
Dante focused his eyesight at the dark section of the truck container and multiple men and women cuddled together in fear.