by Resca Rojas
“Honestly?” He pulled himself up and sat on the floor with his back against the wall. She looked at him, waiting for the answer. “Because I honestly believe that I have been in love with you since the moment that you walked into the restaurant and sat in front of me. Now, everything that I thought that I wanted has changed. And all I can think about is being with you.”
26
Ezekiel was in his home, being seen by his family’s personal doctor. His ribs were fractured, and his back was sprained. He could barely move without feeling any pain.
“I have no idea how you are still walking or even alive, but I’m glad that you are.” The doctor said. He was a man in his mid forties, knowledgeable of Ezekiel’s true line of work.
“God is not done with me yet, doctor. I’m going to kill those brothers and Kayla, and I won’t rest until they’re all extinct.” He got up from the bed and looked at himself in the mirror. “I could drink some of the blood from the bags that we confiscated from the last vampire nest that we hit. I could heal quickly, but with this war that has started, I can’t take that risk. If I die, I would come back as one of those abominations.”
“It all depends how you look at things, I guess. None of my business though.” He took out a pill bottle from his backpack and handed it to Ezekiel. “Take two now and two more in six hours. Keep taking them until you stop feeling pain. I can come back in a few days and bring you more.”
“Thank you, Nathan. You always take care of this family.” Ezekiel walked to his drawer and took out a large stack of money that was held together by a thick rubber band, He gave it to the doctor.
“And vice versa. Thank you.” The doctor smiled.
After the doctor left, Ezekiel remained standing, looking out the window. His close friends had advised him not to attack Kayla or the Kordovah brothers so quickly, but he ignored the counsel when he discovered that they were together in one spot.
It was already bad enough that these two factions; vampires and werewolves existed. But he could not even begin to imagine how the world would shift if they were to join forces.
He did not regret attacking them. His only regret was that he was unable to kill them. But at least I have one of the brothers. He had captured and kept Dante as a prisoner of war. He had him tortured every hour since he was captured, to keep him from transforming into a werewolf, with zero chances of escaping.
In his eyes, he had the numbers and power against Klayton, Kayla, and whatever remained of her group. One by one he had ambushed and killed everyone in her bases. He justified it as a crusade from God. A mission to purify the world from creatures such as them.
His ancestors had done it in the past, and he was going to continue their legacy and tradition. He was now waiting for an update from his scouts to continue his mission.
He heard a knock on his door. “Come in.”
A man walked in. It was his best friend, Nicholas. “Zeke, it’s bad.”
“What happened?”
“There was an attack at the church.”
“How the hell did that happened?” He had placed a private group of mercenaries to protect the church and his uncle from any unknown danger. Right before he attacked Kayla and the brothers, he had doubled the amount of soldiers.
“I checked the security footage. It had to be Nero and a warlock. I don’t know his name, but he is powerful. He placed a sleeping spell, knocked everyone out while Nero talked to Otto.”
“Please, tell me Otto is okay.”
“We brought him back. We had to sedate him.”
“Why would you sedate my uncle?”
“They turned him. I’m sorry.” They both knew what had to be done. No exceptions.
Ezekiel paused for a moment. Since he was a child, his father trained him to understand that no matter what, whether it was a friend, family, or an innocent person, if they had vampirism or lycanthropy, they must be dealt with death.
But then he remembered how his team of researchers led by a woman named Tara had found a way to reverse back the vampirism if the person had not yet consumed any blood. “Get Tara! We can still reverse it.”
Nicholas did not move and remained quiet. He had a somber look in his eyes.
“Nic, get Tara!” He was getting angry as he was not getting a response from his childhood friend.
“Nero. He- he made one of the guards bleed, and locked him in a room with Otto. When your uncle woke up, he must have fed because when we walked in, he had already drank his blood. He was crying and asked us if he could see you one last time. That is why we brought him here. To let you decide the next steps. I’m so sorry brother.”
Ezekiel was steaming with anger. His fingers were buried deep in his palms from the tight grip that he had on his fist. “How is Veronica? Is she okay?”
“Yes. I just checked on her. She is in the safest house that you’ve ever built. No one can enter unless she opens from the inside. Don’t worry about her. Your wife is okay.”
“Let’s go see my uncle.”
Ezekiel had underestimated his adversaries. He assumed that they were hiding in fear and had not yet recovered from the decimating blow that he had afflicted on them.
He was wrong and he knew that he had to act fast. Any sign of weakness was not going to help his cause. Men and women had rallied behind him, ready to die for him so that the vampires and werewolves could be wiped from the planet.
They walked downstairs and headed to the basement. He remembered when he was growing up, how his uncle always treated him as the favorite. Never missing a birthday, graduation, or any of his achievements. By the time Ezekiel had turned eight-teen his uncle was the one who introduced him to the world of the supernatural, and trained him to be prepared to continue his family’s legacy.
To see his uncle tied in chains was a sight that broke his heart. He got on his knees to get on eye level with his uncle, and lifted his face up, as he was looking down in shame.
“Uncle, hey. It’s okay. I am going to kill the bastard who did this.”
Otto opened his eyes, and they were painted crimson red, from his tears as he had cried in agonizing pain. He had vowed to kill as many monsters as he could, and now, he had become one. “He was clever. I’ll give him that. He let me live, knowing it was going to cause you more pain than if he had killed me. A clever and cruel man.”
“I should have never let you convince me to stay in the church. You should have been with Veronica this whole time.”
“Ezekiel. I have told you, we cannot fear these monsters. They don’t care that we have families or lives, or that we can think and feel. We have to be precautious, but never fearful of them. What they have done to me? Use that as an inspiration to eradicate them all! Don’t let my death become meaningless.”
“You are not dead, and I will not let anyone kill you. I will have Tara find a way. There has to be damn way to reverse this curse.”
“I died the moment that man turned me into a vampire. You have to kill me. It’s the right thing to do.”
Nicholas had said nothing ever since they had entered the basement. He had no place in anything that was happening to Ezekiel. But now, he felt as if this was the only way that he could help him. He removed his machete from its sheath, and walked next to his best friend.
“You don’t have to do this. I got this. Go.”
“No. He’s my uncle. I-“
“My boy. Listen to Nicholas. I have made peace with God, and my only regret is that I will not be able to see when you finally rid this world of all of them. I know you will. Now, please. Go.”
Ezekiel kissed his uncle on his forehead and whispered that he loved him. “I will always be grateful to you.”
His uncle nodded and then placed his head down. Nicholas looked at Ezekiel, who nodded to him, giving him permission to kill his uncle.
Nicholas swung his machete and decapitated Otto. As his head rolled, Ezekiel cried, with his tears being a mix of anger and sadness.
“We are going t
o bury my uncle, and then we are going straight to Timothy’s place, and we are going to kill Dante.”
“I thought that he was going to be used as leverage.”
“Not anymore. We are going to war, and he will be just another casualty.”
27
Fay was driving his car on his way back to Kayla’s house, and Nero had just ended a phone call with her. “I let her know. Klay is up by the way.”
“You think it was smart to leave her with him?”
“Yeah. We just have to trust her now. Besides, I think that they have a thing for each other. He could not stop looking at her when we were at the restaurant, and the way that she has cared for him, ever since he has been resting… they’re definitely into each other.”
“Is that good?”
“It’s too good. Probably dangerous.”
“How so?”
“You warlocks have rules about certain magic spells and things that you can and can’t do, right?”
“Yeah. There are rules and laws to what we do.”
“Well, as I told Dante, the Celestial Elders have rules for us too. Hybrids are forbidden.”
“Meaning-“
“If he puts a baby inside Kayla and word spread and reached the ears of the Elders, they will send someone to kill all three of them.”
“Why are they afraid of a Hybrid?”
“Four times the strength and powers of a normal vampire and werewolf combined, without any of the limitations. It’d be really hard to kill.”
“Well, we have nothing to worry about unless they were to hook up.”
“I could sense the horniness between those two since they laid eyes on each other. Klayton locked eyes with her and never let go. She is ridiculously interested in him.”
“She has done so much harm.”
“So have we. They’re more alike than you give them credit for. Klayton lost his mom, doesn’t know his dad. She lost her dad, doesn’t talk to her mom. I love Mila, but I can’t deny how beautiful Kayla is. How could he resist?”
“You love Mila?’
“I haven’t told her yet.” They were now about to park at Kayla’s house, so Nero whispered, “Once we go inside, look out for the vibe they give each other. It’s a tale.”
Nero and Fay exited the car and then walked to the front of the house. Nero pressed the doorbell.
“We have a key.” Fay reminded him.
“I’m not going to walk into that.”
Klayton opened the door. He was wearing black jeans, boots, and a baseball cap, with a navy blue shirt. “Walk into what?”
“Nothing. We can talk about it another time. You guys ready?”
“Yeah, Kay is about to come out, can you guys park the car in reverse inside the garage, and that way we can load the weapons inside the trunk discreetly.”
“Sure, okay.” Nero said. As they walked back to the car, Nero said to Fay, “You hear that? He called her Kay.”
Once they got inside the car, Nero rubbed his face, and then scratched the back of his neck. He did not want to get angry, but something bothered him and he wanted to get it out of the way.
“It’s funny, I did everything she ever wanted, and yet, not once did she feel the same way as I felt towards her. But last week, she walks inside that restaurant, and now they are all over each other?”
“Nero, we can’t do this now. We are about to be on a three hour ride with them. It just happened. Besides, aren’t you with Mila?”
He looked at Fay for a moment and then took a deep breath. “Damn. I’m just so exhausted from everything that has happened, I guess. I’m going to grab some painkillers really quick.”
“No need.” Fay placed his index and middle finger on Nero’s forehead and healed him from the headache.
“Thanks, dude.”
Klayton entered the garage from the house and opened the trunk of the car. He had come carrying a duffle bag with his hand while also carrying a backpack, each containing weapons. Inside he had:
A Kel-Tec-KSG shotgun
His CA-415 assault rifle which had a shortened barrel, holographic sight, and a vertical grip.
A Heckler and Koch MP5K submachinegun.
A Heckler and Koch P30l pistol
A tactical machete and a steel axe
He then placed inside the trunk his backpack that contained ammunition for his guns, frag and smoke grenades, and also a couple of red spray paint cans. He planned to send a message to the man who had captured his brother.
Kayla then walked in, and she was wearing long black jeans, a t-shirt, and had her hair tied up in a bun.
She handed Klayton another duffle bag and this one had:
A SPAS-12 combat shotgun. A favorite of hers because it was a dual-mode shotgun, meaning that she could adjust it for semi-automatic or pump-action at the push of a button, depending on the type of ammunition being used at the time.
A Heckler and Koch suppressed MP%A2 submachinegun.
And a Savage 10BA sniper.
As Klayton was loading it up, she returned with a cooler that contained blood bags for herself and Nero.
Once everything was loaded up, they both entered the car. Nero was on the driver’s seat, Fay was on the passenger seat, and Kayla and Klayton were sitting on the backseats. Klayton looked at his best friend Fay, and Nero who was becoming a close friend to him. “You guys ready?”
“It’s all I can think of. I’m at one hundred percent with my magic. I’m going to try a few new tricks on those bastards.”
Kayla had brought her backpack with her, and now she took out a thermos cup that she had brought for Nero. She handed it to him and said, “I thought that you would be thirsty. Here.”
“Thanks, Kayla.” Nero wanted to be as civil as possible. He grabbed the thermos cup and drank the blood from it. “Let’s go get your brother.” He looked at Klayton from the rearview mirror. “I want to kill every single one of them for how they have humiliated us.”
28
Amber was laying down on her bed, which was the same one where she was attacked by a vampire one week ago. She was thinking about everything that had just happened to her ever since that she had returned to her home town.
The moment that Klayton, Dante, and Nero had agreed to meet with Kayla, Amber had left with Ethan, Mila, and Antonio to Oakhaven in order for them to make sure that her brother was okay.
When Kayla had attacked Oakhaven, Alex never answered his phone, but her parents assured Amber that he was okay. She now regretted not checking for herself. Now she lived with guilt.
Nero had assured her that all the vampires had been killed before they could cause the town any harm and she believed him.
It was not the first time that Alex had gone quiet for a few days. He worked all day at the motel, and when he was done, he would spend the rest of the night at parties with his friends. But this time, something was different; and she knew about vampires now.
When she had gone to the motel to investigate with Ethan, there was a small group of officers parked in the lot, with a crime scene investigating van next to them. The EMTs were bringing a dead body in a stretcher.
Somehow, she knew that it was her baby brother. But one of the officers recognized her and stopped her from coming any closer.
“You don’t need to see this.” Officer Riley Ortiz had told her, as he held her back, thus confirming what she feared the most; that her brother was dead.
She cried and screamed in pain as Ethan and the officer held her back.
Amber then went with Ortiz to the coroner and that was when it was revealed to her that her brother had been dead for days.
Riley Ortiz had ben a police officer for fifteen years. He was not at liberty to discuss with anyone about the investigation regarding the death of Alex, but because Amber was Alex’s sister, and of their close friendship, he made an exception for Amber.
Amber had sat on a chair across from his desk, with crimson eyes, untied hair running past her shoulders, and she was
dressed in sweatpants and a jacket. He had never seen her this distressed, but he was understanding and compassionate because of the tragic loss.
“Amber, you don’t have to-‘
“What do you have, Riley? Don’t spare any details, please.”
Riley pulled out his notebook from his drawer along with the case file. He then laid it all on the table for her to glance at. Then, he said, “The manager gave me all the contact information for everyone that stayed this whole month. I had zero luck at first, but then, the last people I talked to that had stayed a week ago, well, they all remembered seeing the same thing.”
“The last time that anyone saw Alex, he was keeping maintenance around the pool area. A woman approached him, and then he followed her with another woman to a room.”
I checked the security footage and then with a screenshot, I showed the manager if he recognized them. He asked me how would he forget those two and gave me their information. They were the ones who rented out the room where Alex was killed. I tried tracing them, but they used cash and fake names.”
Amber was reading the files while Riley had been narrating everything, and even though she paid attention to everything that he was saying, the words were muffled into the background as she glanced at the pictures of the two women.
She realized that it had been Marianne and Alessandra. One whom Ethan killed and the other who Mason had murdered.
They’re both dead. “Thanks Riley. Just stop looking, it’s not worth it.”
“What do you mean that it’s not worth it? They’re the closest thing we have to solve this.”
“Please, stall the case until it goes cold. One day I will explain everything. But if you keep digging into this, it may put you at risk.’
“What the hell are you talking about?” He felt threatened
