Bite Marks

by Resca Rojas

  “I’m Ezekiel’s secret weapon; a Hybrid.” He bragged as he smirked at them.

  “How do we kill him?” Klayton asked.

  “He’s twice as strong as us. We got to either take his head off, remove his heart, or have Fay and Antonio create in him an aneurysm that will cause his blood vessels to explode.”

  Klayton quickly meditated on everything that Nero had just said. The machetes were inside one of the duffle bags that burnt with the explosion, and their warlocks were incapacitated and unable to create any more spells.

  “Remove his heart it is.” Klayton quickly transformed into his werewolf form and sprinted towards Jarchael who did not need to turn in order to use his powers.

  While they charged at each other, Nero ran back to check on Mila, Antonio, and Fay.

  Klayton swung his arm to hurt Jarchael with his claws, but he missed as Jarchael dodged them and then landed a couple of punches on Klayton’s abdominal area.

  Irritated, Klayton kicked Jarchael and pushed him to the floor. He stomped his foot on Jarchael, with his feet’s nails piercing his chest. Jarchael groaned in pain and grabbed Klayton’s leg, squeezing it as hard as possible until it caused excruciating pain for him.

  Klayton got on his knees whimpering in a low hum as he breath heavily. Jarchael stood up and grabbed Klayton by his neck and lifted him up and off his feet. Jarchael grinned as Klayton struggled to breath. “Look at you, full on werewolf, and you are weak against me!” He grabbed a knife from his pocket and lunged it at Klayton’s stomach, piercing his skin and hurting him in the process.

  The specific area that Jarchael hurt him at had inflicted so much damage, that Klayton had to shift back into his human form. He was coughing blood and struggling to breath.

  “You’re the shit head causing all this trouble? The Kordovah? Dying, naked, scared, and lonely. This is what Ezekiel fears? An abomination like you should never exist. Your friends are defeated, and Nero turned tail and left you.”

  Klayton tried to say something, but was unable to, due to the aggressive grip that choked his neck and lungs.

  Realizing this, Jarchael twisted the blade and then pulled it out as he pushed Klayton to the floor. “What? What do you want to say before you die?”

  A bright glowing yellow light flashed behind Jarchael, making him turn around. As he did, he gasped as Nero stabbed the hybrid’s chest repeatedly, until it weakened Jarchael, which gave Nero an opportunity to pierce his chest with his bare hand. Once he felt that he had a grip on the heart, he pulled it out of Jarchael’s body.

  Antonio and Fay had combined the last of their remaining energy to teleport Nero behind Jarchael, so that he could sneak up and kill him.

  They both lost consciousness due the strong amount of power that had been needed.

  Jarchael felt to the ground as Klayton looked up at Nero, who was standing there, holding the hybrid’s heart. “According to the lore, if I take a bite from this heart while it is still pumping, then I’ll gain his powers.”

  “Do it. I don’t care.”

  Nero picked up the knife that had fallen to the floor, and stabbed the heart, then cutting it in half. “No. No one should be this powerful Not even me.”

  Klayton was surprised with that Nero’s choice, but only nodded in approval.

  “Glad the pants didn’t get completely torn. Was getting tired of seeing your dick sticking out all the time.”

  Klayton chuckled, but his throat still hurt from the grip that had tightened around his neck. He coughed.

  “You okay?”

  “Yeah, I will be. Let’s just get my brother and get the hell outta here. Go check on Kayla and the rest.”

  “They’re fine.”

  “Please, Nero. I can’t detect anyone else. I’ll be fine.”

  “Okay. Be careful.” He handed Klayton the knife that he had used and then ran quickly to the rest of the group.

  The front door of the house was unlocked and Klayton entered with ease. Everything inside was empty, as the construction workers had not finished building the house.

  His footsteps were echoed all over the living room. He tried to sniff a scent with his nose and he picked up the smell of blood coming from the basement. He walked fast as he could as he went down the stairs.

  He was smiling as he was sure that it was his brother. He scanned the room and quickly saw his brother sitting on a chair. “Dante?” His voice became childish and innocent. He was scared, just as he was twenty years ago the night that his mother died.

  He carefully walked closer to his brother; they had used barbed wire to tie him down to the chair. It was wrapped on his arms to the hand rest of the chair, and his feet were tied up to the legs of the chair.

  He was naked and beaten. With multiple stab wounds all over his upper body. So much pain was inflicted to him that his lycanthropy had stopped healing him; something that Klayton had heard of before, but never thought that it could be possible.

  His legs had purple bruises; someone had cut him with blades. Klayton began to weep as he saw a set of eyeballs on a table nearby. He covered his mouth to compose himself, and caressed his fingers down on his brother’s face. He gently opened one of Dante’s eyelids and gasped as what he had feared turned out to be true. They had taken out his brother’s eyes.

  There were loose teeth on the floor, and Klayton refused to confirm any more fears. He placed his hand on his brother’s beaten chest and did not sense a heart beating. He had seen many people die before and could tell that it had been hours since his brother was killed.

  He felt to the floor and began to wail uncontrollably. He placed his head down on his brothers thighs and began to cry. He knew it was useless, but he bit his wrist and poured the blood on his brother’s mouth, to see if it could heal or revive him.

  He waited.

  Nothing.

  He grunted and groaned. He screamed and yelled out words that did not make sense. When Nero heard the commotion, he had began to run towards the house. Once he saw what had happened, he placed his hand on Klayton’s shoulder from behind as he was on his knees on the floor.

  “Let’s go.”

  “No.”

  “You can’t be here.”

  “Leave me here. Just leave with them.”

  “You can’t see this.” Nero insisted. When Klayton refused to listen, Nero hugged him from behind and began to drag him out.

  “Let go! Let me go!” Klayton screamed as Nero put him in a headlock. “Let go!”

  “You’re in shock, Klayton, stop it!”

  “Fuck you. Let…me..” He began to loose consciousness as Nero tightened his grip around him and put him to sleep.

  “I’m so sorry, Klay.” He murmured as he dragged him back upstairs.

  SIX MONTHS LATER

  31

  The sky was painted grey as it rained. Klayton kept looking at the raindrops as they hit his side of the window and it relaxed him.

  He was reminded of the days after high school, when Rayleigh would work all day and left them a twenty dollar bill so that they could buy themselves pizza and have a cozy day as it rained for hours.

  Kayla parked the car and then looked at Klayton. She felt useless not being able to help him heal after he has been deeply wounded with the loss of his brother. She knew that he was pretending to be better. Almost every night, she would hear him sob quietly, and she would turn to hug him.

  They both agreed that he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. For many nights, he relived the day that he found Dante in the basement.

  He would wake up screaming, crying uncontrollably, and then shaking until Kayla helped him calm down.

  Very few things would interest him. He would still spend time with Kayla as she cuddled under his arms, but she could tell that his train of thought was somewhere else. She had compassion towards him, and never complained.

  Some days he would push himself away from her, leaving during the day and would not come back until late at night. He real
ized, and told her that she deserved someone better than him. He admitted to her that he was aware that he had been distant, and he hated himself for being an asshole to her.

  She would answer by kissing his cheek or lips, caressing his face, and giving him the space that he needed every time that he would talk to her.

  Today, before they had come to the funeral, as she was in the bathroom, he entered the bathtub naked as Kayla was showering, and he began to kiss her lips and then having sex with her. He then took her to the bed and continued to make love to her.

  When they finished, he hugged and held her body as close to his as possible and whispered how much he loved her.

  Klayton told her that he was ready, and so this is where they were now; at Dante’s burial site.

  “You’re going to be okay?” She looked at him.

  “Yeah. I should have done this sooner.” He grinned as he tried to hold his tears back.

  “Take your time, okay?” They both leaned towards each other and kissed.

  He then exited the car and walked to Dante’s tombstone, which had a different name on for protection.

  He looked at the tombstone, and reality set in. His heart sunk and he was once again filled with sadness. He took a deep breath and then exhaled.

  “This is the only place where I will feel like I am really talking to you. I wish that I found you sooner. It has been one bad crap storm after another since Mom. I sometimes wonder if maybe none of this would have happened if we planned things more carefully. Maybe if we had not killed Otto. Like, a butterfly effect?”

  He looked up at the sky, and then back at the tombstone. “No. This was not our fault. I’m going to make them pay. I won’t stop until his people suffer the same way that they made you suffer. I will not stop until then. I promise.”

  He walked back to the car and he heard the last part of Kayla’s conversation on the phone as he entered the vehicle.

  She was saying, “Okay. I’ll let him know. I’ll tell him to call you.” She ended the phone call and then looked at Klayton. His eyes were crimson red, but he was smiling at her. “Hey, how did it go?”

  “Good. I needed this. I needed to remind myself what happened to my brother and remember that the people who did this are still out there.”

  “Well, you’re in luck, because that was Nero on the phone, calling about a possible location on Alaina.”

  His blood boiled in anger. Knowing that she was one of the main reasons why everything spiraled out of control the way that it had. Kayla also had a personal grudge to take care of with her as well. “Let’s do it then.” He said.

  32

  Alaina had been paid a lot of money from The Hunting Party for the secrets that she revealed to them. Now, she was in Las Vegas, Nevada, celebrating her new wealth. She had been living in the streets until Garrett had found her, and now she wanted to live a luxurious life.

  She had attracted a lot of attention at strip clubs, for her beauty and the way that she was spending her money.

  The manager of the club, a vampire named Dean, approached her. “Alaina, how are my girls treating you?”

  “I’m enjoying myself. Just seeing who I’m going to take home tonight.”

  “That is actually why I wanted to talk to you. I have someone special for you tonight.”

  “Who is she?”

  “I got her this morning from a dear friend of mine. The things she can do.” He smiled as he thought about it for a moment. “She is here waiting for you.”

  “Where?”

  “A special room, with everything that you will need to entertain yourself with.”

  Alaina stood up and Dean escorted her to a room that was located on the top floor. It had modern decorations to make the place look clean and well kept. A woman was laying on the bed, wearing only a laced mask, a black set of bra and panties, with her dark hair at shoulder length.

  On the end of the bed were handcuffs, a whip, a bandana, and a rope. “Here name is Luna. Please, take as long as you need, she’s on the house. I will let you be.” Dean then walked away and closed the door behind her.

  Alaina could not tell who the beautiful woman was behind the laced mask. But she was lusting after her. She walked to the bed and grabbed the handcuffs, then she handed them to Luna, “I want you to tie me up to the bedframe and punish me. Will you do that for me, love?”

  Luna nodded.

  “Good.” Luna then moved out of the bed so that Alaina could lay down. Then, she placed a black bandana over Alaina’s eyes, and then bounded her legs with the black rope. Afterwards, she reached for a sharp knife that was inside the nightstand drawer.

  She gently pressed the tip of the blade against Alaina’s thigh, until blood dripped out. She then quickly sliced the skin, cutting her a few inches.

  “Hell, yes.” She moaned in pleasure and then bit her lower lip. She loved when pain was inflicted on her. “Keep going. What’s going to be our safe word?”

  Luna got on top of her, pressed her body against hers, and then she leaned into her ear and whispered, “Kordovah.”

  Alaina’s heart sunk and she tried to break off the chains, but they would not break. As she desperately tried to free herself, she felt Luna take off her blindfold. “Please, whatever they’re paying you, I’ll double it! Let me out of here before they come.”

  “No one is coming for you.” Luna removed her mask and looked at Alaina. “I’m the one you should be afraid of.”

  Alaina had only seen her once, from afar. Had never heard her voice or personally interacted with her, but now she knew who she was talking to. “Kayla, I’m sorry, they made me- “

  “You could have given them false information. Could have warned us! Yet here you are spending the blood money that you made from selling out your own kind.”

  “Kayla, I-“ she yelled in pain as Kayla stabbed her right shoulder blade. “Please, don’t kill me. I’ll tell you where Ezekiel is hiding!”

  Kayla paused. “He’s hiding?”

  “Of course he is! He never planned to have Dante killed. He was a hostage in case Klayton or any of you came after him.”

  “What’s done is done. Klayton does not care how little or how big your role was, you are all going to pay.”

  “I will give you all my money, and his location. Please!”

  “I don’t need the money.” She removed the knife from her shoulders, only to slice open Alaina’s cheek, neck, and arms. She cried in pain, begging Kayla to stop. “This is nothing compared to what they did to Dante!” Kayla was pissed off. “To the people that you had executed!”

  She got off Alaina, and walked to the door. She opened it and Markham came out. “Are you sure this is what you want me to do?”

  “Do it.”

  Markham walked over to Alaina. “Please, please. Ezekiel is in New Orleans! He’s hiding among his friends. That’s where one of their largest bases are at. Please. There, I told you, now let me go. Markham!” She screamed at him hysterically as he walked to her, “Please, speak some common sense to that crazy bitch!”

  Markham ignored her and placed his left hand above her body. A bright purple light started to glow fro Markham’s palm, and a red energy started to come out of Alaina from her open wounds. She groaned, “What- what are you doing?”

  Kayla was looking out the window, then she turned to her, “He’s removing your vampirism. New spell we discovered. Very ancient, very useful to use against you.”

  Alaina continued to scream in pain as Markham finished the spell that extracted her vampirism. He then took out a small glass vial, removed the lid, and he then guided the energy into the vial. The warlock then sealed it back as she fainted and returned to her human self.

  “I’m going to Dean to pay him for what he did for us. Then, I’ll come back and get you. We have to stick to the plan.”

  Dean was going to clear a path for them to leave the club without anybody seeing them take Alaina with them.

  As she put on her clothes back on, Ma
rkham realized something. “Does he know?”

  “No. He has too much on his mind to worry about something that won’t happen for another eight months,”

  “It’s a blessing.”

  “It’s also a target on our backs. I know you are excited to be an uncle now, but you have to think of what it all means for us.”

  “After we wipe the Party out of existence, we can lay low until you give birth.”

  “And hide or be on the run until he is old enough to defend himself? That is no way to live, running for your live, while the world is against you for being born.”

  Markham had not thought that far ahead about it, and he felt guilty for causing her to have unneeded stress. “I’m sorry. I did not mean to stress you, and it’s not my place to question you.”

  He extended his arm and opened his palm; a small glow of energy in the shape of a purple butterfly flew towards Kayla. Once it touched her face, it disintegrated in her kin which gave her a sense of calmness.

  “I feel like I just had the best massage. Thanks. I’ll be right back.”

  As Kayla left, Markham walked back towards Alaina. He felt pity for her, as she was a beautiful and intelligent woman whom he had lusted after ever since Garrett had brought her to their family of vampire. But she never paid him any attention because of her undying devotion to Garrett.

  He removed the handcuffs and untied the ropes that were bound to her. They had been enchanted in order to prevent her from breaking free. But, now that she was human, she was not going to be able to overpower him with ease.

  He turned around to place the items in a chair, and when he turned back to her, she had grabbed the knife that was still lying on the bed and stabbed him on the neck. She then grabbed the vial that he had as a necklace, and then pushed him down to the floor as he began to struggle to stay alive; unable to speak coherently as he began to choke.

  “Life’s a bitch, isn’t it?” She opened the vial and drank the energy that Markham had extracted from her body. She took a deep breath and then exhaled. She then walked over to Markham.