Wetwork (A Vampire Novella)
Page 9
The vision shifted, and now Joey could see the girl.
The girl came into the house, anger sweeping over her immediately as she smelled the blood. She ran to the bedroom and saw the bloated dead corpses of two humans she’d actually loved. They were her last living descendants. Killed for pride and stupidity. She would find the people responsible and she would make them regret ever coming to the bayou.
Joey’s eyes snapped open.
“You planned this? You planned to destroy the Giovanni family and me all at once?”
“Yes, and I say it worked out rather well.”
“How the hell could I have known they were related to you?”
“You couldn’t,” she said. “It wasn’t the not knowing so much as the not caring that you killed them.”
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“But you aren’t, not really. I don’t know if a person like you can feel like that.”
“Fucking kill me already.”
“It’s coming. And don’t worry; I won’t go after your sister or that old man,” she said. “You have my word on that.”
Joey laughed.
“My word is better than yours,” she said.
“Yeah, I suppose it is. But why the woman at my apartment? She did nothing to you.”
“I never said I wasn’t a monster. I’m just a better monster than you.”
“Are you ever going to -” Joey started. A sudden sharp pain at his throat cut of his words. He gurgled and tried to struggle, but it was no use. A few moments later he faded from the world.
***
Joey gasped and fought for air. He was alive. And there was no pain, except for a gnawing hunger in his stomach. He also noted that he was able to see quite well, even in the darkness of the storm drains. He could see as well as if he were in a dim but not dark room.
What did she do?
Joey got to his feet and leaned against the wall. His bones had mended, his flesh was strong again, but what did all of this mean? He looked down at his wrist and saw, written in blood, the word:
SIX
What the fuck did she do?
Epilogue
It took some time to get the hang of moving only in the darkness and finding places to hide during the day. It did not take as long to learn that to kill meant to eat, but he always tried to make sure that he took the dregs of society for his meals. He took criminals not unlike himself, people whose vanishing might actually help to make the world a better place, and after the first two came back, and he had to kill those as well, he learned how to ensure that the humans didn’t come back.
A month after the incident in the drains, his turning, he found Del and Caroline. They’d fled to Albuquerque, just as he’d hoped and they were living under assumed names. Del’s paranoia and underground connections had helped with that. Joey watched them for a few days, made sure that they were safe and made sure that Caroline was happy. He never made contact, couldn’t bear the thought of them knowing what had become of him. Better they thought he’d died than know he’d become a vampire.
He left and headed east, headed back toward the bayou, where he was sure the girl waited.
He did not know what he would do once he got there. Kill her… or follow her and learn.
Only time would tell.
About the Author
Jason M. Tucker is a full time writer living and working in Southern California, where the sun always shines and the only thing rising faster than the cost of living is all those damned zombies. Jason is also the new writer for the upcoming comic book Pieces coming soon from Shot in the Dark Comics. In addition, plenty of other stories, novellas, and novels are in the pipeline. Find out more by visiting www.jasonmtucker.com.
Other works available now include the digital only short story collections Uneasy Reading and Blood, Magic and a Concubine, as well as Meat City, published by Black Bed Sheet Books in print and digital formats. The dark superhero story, “Enlightened by Sin”, can be found in the anthology Corrupts Absolutely? from Damnation Books, and several of his short horror stories are available in Northern Haunts, from Shroud Publishing. Those looking for a fun zombie novella will have a good time with Lou vs. the Zombies and the story Dead Ahead might interest them as well.
As always, this story and everything else I do is dedicated to my two daughters, Adrianna and Kayla. Love you little ladies!