Microphone Fiend

by Sa'id Salaam

  "Local only," Prince agreed. He'd been on some of the biggest tours in rap history over the last thirty years. He looked forward to going again since it allowed him to spread his carnage far and wide.

  "Okay, local only! We in the studio tonight?" he asked and crossed his fingers.

  "We are in the studio tonight!" Prince said and could see him pumping his fist through the line. He hung up and fed Roshawn her brunch.

  "When can I see you again?" she with a pout and a belly full of babies.

  "Soon," he answered like he always did as the car service sent alert from outside. It was enough to put a smile on her face as she left the house and went home. A home a lot more peaceful since the bizarre murder suicide that claimed her stepdad and brothers.

  CHAPTER 4

  "Prince laid down four more songs. He halfway down with his project," Matt said, hoping to inspire his boss. Dirt only managed to get high and get two more girls pregnant during that same time. He made the mistake of listening to what Prince laid down and knew he couldn't compete.

  "Man, fuck Prince. Fuck Meech, fuck the Braves, the Falcons..." he said and paused to drink Hennessey straight from the neck of the bottle. "Fuck this music shit!"

  "Now you just talking crazy! We finna finish this album. Go on tour and fuck some bitches! That's what we finna do!" Matt said and finally took charge. He had some more but a knock on the door pressed pause on his spiel. He was still a flunkie, so he rushed to open the door. "P, p, prince?"

  "Just Prince. You can keep the extra Ps. Sup, Dirt?" he said and sauntered in.

  "Sup," Dirt said semi cordially. He had no idea the vampire heard all the foul words bouncing around in his head. The smile on his face did nothing to mask the malice in his mind.

  "So, look. I know I'm a rookie and all, but I was wondering, hoping if I could um, get you on a song with me?" Prince asked, displaying he was quite the actor, too. Dirt was still in heavy rotation so being on a song with him would be the perfect introduction to the world.

  "Hell, yeah!" Dirt cheered and showed his hand. Little did he know his services on the planet would no longer be needed once he put Prince on.

  "Cool. Swing by room B tomorrow night and we'll make it happen,"

  "And it's finna be fiyah!" Dirt cheered like a groupie. Matt was embarrassed for him but it did give him the motivation he needed to get in the booth to record his next album. Not knowing it would be his last album.

  Prince laid down a few new songs and was closer to completion. Meech was looking for girls with the right sound and right looks to sing back up on quite a few songs. The only girls he knew were butt ugly.

  "Well, I'm out," Prince announced after he returned to room B and filled them in on Dirt agreeing to record a song with him. The night was still young and Prince was hungry.

  "Okay. I'ma stay here for a while," Meech said casually. He had no idea Prince could read his mind. He smiled softly at his not so secret surprise and left.

  *****

  "Nah. Un uh. Oh, hell no!" Prince said as he cruised the downtown Atlanta streets in search of a meal. He turned his nose up a skinny crack head that tried to wave him down. They were good for a snack but sometimes it took two or three for him to get full. Then declined a middle-aged woman who looked like she would be missed if she went missing. Missing white women made national headlines and he didn't want those problems.

  The “oh, hell no” was when he flat out refused the six foot sissy who winked from the line of a gay bar. Atlanta was a gay city, so he didn't discriminate. He could smell the HIV coursing through the man's system from the street. Prince was immune from it as well as all other diseases but the virus had a bitter aftertaste like saccharin.

  "Is that her?" he asked when he saw a four hundred pound woman enter the donut shop. He whipped to a stop and parked so he could follow her inside for a closer look.

  "I'll take a dozen glazed and a dozen jelly filled, please. Oh and a low fat mocha. Have to watch my weight," she ordered.

  Watch your weight go up? the clerk asked in her mind but her mouth said, "Coming right up."

  "Hello," Prince greeted when the large, young woman turned. She was a pretty, big girl who looked to be twenty at best.

  "Hey," she said shyly, while inwardly saying, I wanna give you some of this fat pussy.

  "I would love some of that fat pussy," he leaned in and whispered. Her whole body shook as she giggled and blushed. She then mentally revealed that she was a virgin and he really got excited. Not to fuck her but to drink her blood. Virgin blood is always the best.

  "Okay," she giggled and shook some more. Prince paid for her donuts and led her away. The Lexus leaned a little when she got in but that only made right turns a little easier as he rushed to get her home. She had eaten the dozen jelly donuts and was halfway into the glaze by the time they reached his block.

  Prince scanned the block to make sure the coast was clear before he brought his victims inside. The coast was clear, so he helped hoist the big girl from the small seat.

  "Shit!" Prince fussed when his neighbor’s door opened and the church lady stepped outside. She was always looking and watching, so he made sure to avoid her. Until tonight as bad timing forced them together.

  "Cynthia? Girl, how are you?" she greeted warmly. "How's yo’ mama?"

  "Fine, they fine," she said and hugged her neck. There was no way Prince could feed off the girl now since there was a witness to say where she was last.

  "Oh well," Prince shrugged when they broke off their greeting. He had no choice, so he took her inside and fucked her. Quite a few times actually. Fucked her all night long then, drank from his plasma supply after dropping her off before dawn. The life of a vampire.

  ******

  "Check this out!" Meech sang happily when Prince arrived at the studio.

  "Okay," he said and squinted skeptically at the drape covering the vocal booth. He didn't need x-ray vision to guess who was behind it.

  "Hit it," Meech told Adam. Adam paused so Meech understood that he didn't work for him. The song was dope though, so he did hit it.

  "Okay!" Prince smiled and nodded as the three-part harmony filled the room and beyond. Soulful singing that resonated deep within him. One of the three parts took him back sixty years to when he sang in the choir. She sounded so much like Sister Clara it made his loins jump.

  "Un huh! You like! It's dope!" Meech celebrated. Adam nodded too and no one could deny that the song was a hit.

  "Yeah, it's dope. Sup with the curtain, though?" Prince conceded and asked as if he didn't know. Again, he asked himself just how ugly can they be. He got a hint when Adam suddenly put his sunglasses on as Meech went for the drapes.

  "Ta-dah!" he announced with great fanfare and pulled the drapes away. Keli, Kamala and Tosha stood nervously and awaited another dose of disappointment. The girls knew they could sing but couldn't help how they looked. Actually they could but couldn't actually afford it.

  "Beautiful! Just beautiful!" Prince said and gave a slow applause.

  "Them!" both Meech and Adam asked incredulously.

  "Wus?" bucktooth Keli asked since that was a first.

  "He means our singing," Kamala sighed sadly and covered the whole room with her crossed eyes.

  "I mean both!" Prince said as they came out of the booth. Tosha smiled so hard, pus oozed from a fresh pimple. "In fact, not only are you guys going on my album. I'm signing you to my imprint!"

  "Imprint?" Meech reeled since this was news to him. It shouldn't be since every artist starts his own label once he blows up. Prince hadn't even dropped yet but there was no doubt he was going to blow up. His was a matter of when, not if.

  "Dark Prince records," Prince informed. He didn't just plan on being a star, he wanted to own the galaxy.

  "Okay!" the girls sang and bounced around. Prince watched their lady parts jiggle as they celebrated. He didn't need to read their minds to know that each one of them wanted to fuck him. He nodded his head since he wanted to fu
ck them back. In fact, he had big plans for the throwaway girls that no one wanted.

  *****

  "We finna kill this shit!" Dirt proclaimed backstage. Tonight was the debut of his track with Prince in front of a huge crowd. The city's DJs all had the track and it would be in heavy rotation by the morning.

  "Atlanta first, then the world!" Prince repeated. It had become his mantra as of late. He had plans and they all began tonight. He and Meech gave a nod as Dirt was introduced. Dirt Jones put on a typical Dirt Jones show. High energy with his usual theatrics. He rapped, sang and even twerked a little since this was Atlanta.

  "Now, I'm finna show y'all the next nigga to blow! Skraight 'offa Dirty records! Y'all put y'all mutha fucking hands up for The Dark Prince!" Dirt announced. He realized his mistake a few seconds later.

  Prince came out crooning for the ladies. They screamed, cheered, and made it rain panties on the stage. He switched it up and began to rap like no one has really rapped before. Being the benefactor of so many places, and so many styles, over so many years came pouring into the microphone.

  Uh oh, Dirt thought when the DJ threw on the song they recorded together. He was clearly out of his league and knew he had no business on the same stage with the man. The contrast was clear when they rapped to the same beat. By the end of their song, his services were no longer needed.

  "Fuck!" Matt admitted when he realized what just happened. He had a feeling this could happen, expected it would happen, and planned for it. He made a quick call and said, "It's a go!"

  Meanwhile, Prince was showing off his stamina for the ladies and rapped a hundred miles a minute for ten minutes straight. A strange feeling stopped him mid-rhyme and stole his whole attention. A feeling he hadn't felt in decades. There was a vampire in the house.

  "Thanks for coming out!" Prince yelled over the thunderous applause and screams for more. "The album drops next Tuesday! After party is at the W hotel!"

  "After party?" Meech asked when Prince returned from the stage.

  "Small gathering. I got it," he said since he read that Meech wanted to get home to his family.

  "You got it? You sure? Cuz I'll come and—"

  "Nah, I got it," Prince assured him since the invitation was strictly for the vampire in attendance.

  "Okay then. I'll just go on home. See what my shawty up to," Meech said.

  "Good idea," Prince nodded. If something was missing from his life, it was a shawty of his own. He liked Meech because Meech had a good heart. Opposites attract because Prince did not.

  CHAPTER 5

  "Really?" Prince sighed when he saw two men lurking near his car as he left the club through the back entrance. He didn't need to read minds to figure out that they were up to no good. He did anyway to find out exactly what.

  "Is that right?" he giggled at their plans and walked right by them. They had their orders but were helpless against Prince's mind control. He hopped in his car and rolled off just as Dirt and Matt came out.

  'The fuck?' Matt wondered as he watched the target just roll away unscathed.

  "He ain't all that!" Dirt said to make himself feel better after being shown up at his own show. "I mean, he okay,but he can't twerk!"

  "Nah," Matt said as his shooters made their way over. He wanted a reason why they just let Prince go. He got it when they both raised their guns and gunned Dirt down right next to him.

  "Not him! What the fuck are you knuckle heads doing!" he shouted over the shots.

  "I’on know," one of the shooters replied since the spell wore off after they carried out their commands. Matt could only shake his head as his meal ticket bled out on the ground. The shooters ran off once the deed was done.

  "Guess I'll slide up under Prince," Matt said and nodded in agreement. It could work since Prince kept his friends close and his food even closer. He had a date with a crematorium and didn't even know it.

  Prince rode over to the W hotel and entered the bar. He amused himself watching the flock of birds trying to get past security for the after party that wasn't. The presence of another vampire wiped the smile off his face. He whipped his head around and came face to face with a familiar face.

  "I knew it! I knew it! I ain't no vampire! You tripping. Ain't no such thing!" the man laughed as he recounted the excuses Prince gave a decade ago. He had aged those ten years, but Prince recognized him instantly.

  "Butta? How you—"

  "Became a vampire anyway. Since you wouldn't turn me," he mocked. Prince realized he couldn't get inside the man’s head and that spelled danger. The more powerful a vampire is, the less likely to read his thoughts. The power that comes from killing other vampires.

  "Yeah," Prince nodded. He knew he couldn't read his mind either but both men knew what was on the other’s mind.

  "Man, I read every report of bloodless bodies after you left. I chased them around all over until I ended up in Haiti. Met a mutual friend of ours..." he said and trailed off so Prince could finish.

  "Katrina! Why did she let you live?" he asked, straining to get inside his mind. He now knew the woman had only turned him to kill him as she had done countless men.

  "She had no choice once I put a stake through her heart. We're allergic to that kind of stuff, you know?" he said and smiled. Butta let his fangs slide down and back just to show off.

  "So, what are we going to do?" Prince asked and was ready for whatever. Timelines would be flooded with the most fantastic fight footage in history. Two vampires fighting to the death in the W hotel.

  "Live in peace or die in conflict?" he asked since those were the choices. "I like you, Prince. We're a lot alike, you and me."

  "We rap and drink blood," he agreed and let his claws slowly come out under the table.

  "Yeah, but still, there can be only one. Enjoy your career. I'll come through in ten, twenty years and we can see what's up," Butta shrugged.

  "We can," Prince said and accepted the challenge. Part of him wanted to attack and settle the matter here and now. That contradicted his plans, so he sat tight. He watched Butta scoop a pretty white woman from the bar and exit the building.

  He used a back exit to avoid the birds and headed over to Roshawn's house for dinner and desert. After feeding on the mother, he fed the daughter some dick. Once his hunger and thirst were satisfied, he went home and went to sleep.

  “In what Atlanta police are calling are calling the strangest thing they have ever seen...” Prince heard as he half listened to the news. It now had his full attention and he turned the volume up higher than necessary.

  “A headless corpse was found in the middle of Piedmont park...” the woman said happily.

  "Butta!" Prince said when she reported the head had been found in the lake. He didn't need to be there to know his brother vampire chopped her head off and drank from the fountain of blood pouring from the severed jugulars. Gaping wounds don't leave telltale bite marks that show their hand. His findings were confirmed when a picture of the victim was posted from earlier times. It was the same pretty woman from the bar.

  Prince wasn't the only one playing close attention to the headless corpse.

  "The vampire lady is here!" the assistant announced when Kristine Musa arrived back at the morgue.

  "Yes she is," Kristine said sharply from the last minute flight back to Atlanta. Headless bodies were on the rise so she rushed from Chicago from that one to this one.

  "Well, we have a real sicko on our hands but no vampires," the medical examiner said just as sharply. "A white woman was killed and people wanted answers!"

  "They can live with the black bodies that filled his morgue but when white people get killed it's a problem!" the clerk shot back.

  "Take a knee," the other pathologist quipped to calm the tension. "And yes, Mizz Musa, the body was devoid of body fluids. All that indicates is that this was a secondary crime scene. I will bet dollars to donuts that there's a primary scene somewhere loaded with blood!"

  "And you would lose your dollars and
your donuts!" she shot back when she saw the unmistakable signs of a vampire. Just the shock alone in the eyes of the head sitting beside the body gave hint of the sheer horror of her last moments.

  She wasn't sure if the vampire was from here, or coming here to feed. This was unusually sloppy as of they wanted it to be known. As if someone wanted her to find a vampire so she could destroy it.

  "I read you're working on a cure. A serum to turn immortals back to mortals?" the clerk asked eagerly. He was a part-time vampire buff himself and the prospect of that intrigued him.

  "Mmhm," was all she cared to say in front of the skeptics. They made a tacit agreement to talk over lunch and she went back to examining the body. By the conclusion, she concluded this was definitely a vampire. "Well. thank you, gentlemen."

  "Anytime. Next time we have a vampire," the M.E said sarcastically. Kristine smiled softly at the thought of sending the vampire to his house whenever she caught up with him.

  "I guess I'll grab lunch," the clerk said as soon as Kristine cleared the room.

  "Because you've worked so hard," the doctor laughed some more. He was on one today, so he just let him have it. He smiled, nodded, and rushed out to catch up with the vampire lady.

  *****

  "Daniel," the clerk introduced as he sat across from Kristine in the restaurant booth. "And I believe in vampires!"

  "You should believe!" Kristine said with enough conviction to make him a believer if he wasn't.

  "Are they here? In Atlanta!" he asked wide-eyed with awe.

  "It's nothing romantic about vampires! They're monsters, not movies stars or rappers," she fussed and dimmed the star struck light in his eyes. Her warning was wasted on the vampire fanatic.

  "But that would be cool, right? A vampire who is like a rapper!" he said with his eyes even wider. Kristine just shook her head and pulled out her photo and pulled up some pictures.

  "Look. This is what vampires do!" she said and shoved the phone in his face. His face changed when he saw the woman with her throat bit away. Her spine was visible in the gaping hole. "What, you thought they just make neat little pin holes? No, they're animals. That was my mother. Murdered in her own bed."