by brett hicks
Anticipation and fear hit me like a flood once I rounded the corner. The blonde stood poised to fight me, but her look told me something I never imagined possible, they feared why I was here!
My heart ached now, realizing that I might have just scared the piss out of an already skittish community, but I didn’t have the luxury of trusting people right now, so I shelved my emotions.
“This has been our feeding ground for years. Why have you come? You smell of power, what brings you to Harlem?”
That was interest…
I arched my brow in a very good imitation of Seri. Imitating a vampire princess just felt right in my street-rat guts.
“I was unaware that this area was claimed by anyone. Manhattan and Brooklyn do not seem to hold claims here.”
I spoke calmly, and I only pushed a little haughtiness into my tone. I didn’t want to appear weak, but I also knew how poor people responded to the uber-rich—not that I was rich, or even middle-class really.
The blonde nodded in confirmation.
“Aye, the courts and domains do not technically claim any rule here. We are left to fend for ourselves, and to stay out of the path of those like yourself. You reek of power, not just as a vampire, you have magic in you too.”
Well fuck me sideways and call me Suzy!
“I’m not part of either domain, not really, but New York is my home now too. I go to school here.”
I explained lamely, unsure of all the bullshit nuances of vamp politics. The blonde tipped her head to the side and studied me.
“You are speaking the truth, or you are a much better liar than you are at masking your powers.”
I snorted and rolled my eyes.
“I’m not lying, and I’m not here to harm you or your family. I just needed a place to stay for now.”
She raised a brow in question.
“Why here? No vampire I know of would think to come to Harlem, and I know your accent is not from New York. Boston?”
Damn vampire hearing!
I nodded my head in confirmation.
“I was born, and I grew up on the streets of Boston. I’m here on a scholarship at NYU. I might have power, but I do not have money.”
I didn’t bother to explain that I was just turned after a redcap attack gone wrong. That information might have leaked, and then who knows how many of these hungry vampires might be willing to sell me down the river for some untainted blood? First rule of the street, anything goes. You can like someone, but still sell him or her out with a smile on your face while you do it. Survival comes first, all else is second.
The blonde pursed her lips and seemed to be thinking. She was an attractive woman, but she looked dingy, very akin to how I must have looked all those years I didn’t look into a mirror—for a damn good reason.
A taller man snarled and rose to his feet. His body was lean and wiry, but there was an underlying thickness to his frame. His eyes swirled with an inhuman glow of power. His eyes slit to cat-lick pupils. I didn’t need to know much about inhuman traits to feel the wildness beating at my metaphysical defenses.
Shifter? A feline shifter?
“Enough talking, I will handle this little runt and we can go back to our evening.”
He was fast, almost a blur of motion, but my eyes never lost track of his movements. He sidestepped and extended my foot, tripping him into the wall with his own momentum. He spilled into the wall with a smashing face-plant.
He growled and swung around with deadly three-inch claws, and I bent back, letting them pass harmlessly by my torso. I caught his arm and twisted, then sent a kick into his chest, then one more to his gut, driving the air from his lungs.
He thrashed, and he nearly pulled free, his upper body strength was ungodly powerful, but whatever I was, I was stronger still. I kicked low this time, and I threw him over my shoulder and he landed on his back with a crash into the rotting wood. I never let go of his right arm, I barred it, twisting, and I planted my knee on his throat.
I looked up at the blonde, none of them had moved to help their friend. They all seemed to eye me with varying degrees of concern, but none would interfere. This was street justice and the streets could be cruel.
“I didn’t come here looking for a fight, but as you can see, I am capable of defending myself if I am provoked. Do we need to have any more issues, or can I release you now?”
The man tilted his head back and closed his eyes.
“I submit.”
He spoke it very calmly and controlled, considering I knew I was choking him very harshly right now. Whatever animal this man could shift into, he sure had a lot of power and a lot of tolerance to pain. Jiu Jitsu arm-bars were very agonizing when executed properly in real combat. Every frat boy I had put in an arm-lock had sniveled like a little baby.
I released the man, because his submission was very potent in the room. I felt as if magic had shifted hands and something rested on my shoulders. The blonde sighed, as if suddenly exhausted.
“Well, good job Phil, you have now put me into a very vicarious position.”
I looked to the blonde and her blue eyes were assessing me. She sighed and shook her head.
“I cannot beat you either, but I will not give up my claim to defend these people. You have already earned all but my authority here by beating Phil so soundly.”
What?!
I furrowed my brow in confusion.
“I don’t want power, nor do I care to rule anyone. I just wish to be left in peace while I’m here and I will do no harm to you, or yours.”
She nodded, and she took a step forward, I noted Phil had yet to pick himself up. It was almost like he was laying at my feet on purpose. I would have suspected an ambush as the blonde approached, but I felt something different, some alien sensation. It was like a cat laying at its owner’s feet.
“I’m Patty Brooks and I am the closest thing this domain has to a leader.”
I reached out and shook her hand and I felt power zing between us. She was strong, but not as strong as her daughter. She was still no one to sneeze at. However, she didn’t have Liam’s martial-arts training. Her stance and posture spoke of a woman who fought with brute strength and a cunning born of street fighting. Not that I was one to dismiss street fighters, because I have witnessed some bloody awful street fights and sometimes they are instinctually potent, even if they lack training.
“I’m Thea, just an orphan from Boston.”
The Patty sniffed and rolled her eyes.
“I’ll believe that when I wake up with a dick and a sack between my legs.”
I blinked a few times and I shrugged my shoulders.
“I am an orphan from Boston, and I am not here to cause any of you harm. If I were, would I not have broken his neck?”
She shot me a pearly white smile with a hint of fangs.
“Or perhaps one of those blades your hiding would have found a home in Phil.”
Busted…
I bit my lip and shrugged.
“I never claimed to be unarmed, this is Harlem after all.”
Patty chuckled, and her eyes danced in amusement.
“I like you, an honest pure-born. That’s a change.”
I frowned.
“Pure born?”
“We can talk later girl. If we are all done, introducing ourselves, then I shall attend to supper.”
I nodded in agreement and my belly rumbled in protest. I was hungry too and not just for a cheeseburger. I had no desire to repeat yesterday’s little sun experiment!
“I’ll find me something too.”
“Around here we call our prey, so as not to fight over our meals. That would be the polite thing to do, since you are my guest.”
My mind ran back to the would-be rapist and I smiled showing fangs.
“Anyone already called dibs on that dickhead that tried to touch me on the way up?”
I figured Patty must have watched me come up, because she seemed far too attentive to just let me find my
own way here. My answer was almost instant.
“You can have Pablo. Just try not to leave a body. We like to keep them breathing and none-the-wiser to this particular arrangement.”
I spread my arms, still smiling.
“When in Rome, right, Patty?”
The thirtyish woman chuckled deeply.
“Come on folks, back to dinner. As you can see, there will be no killing tonight.”
Patty’s eyes told it all, she would have tried her best if push had come to shove. I followed the others back down and I put on my best seductive smile, the one I used to have to wear while an older man drove himself into me. I rounded the corner and beckoned to Pablo like a siren. The now stoned man came over as if I were his own personal catnip.
I had forgotten how alluring all the vampires I have met are. I keep forgetting how alluring I am. That was a very disturbing, and scary thing! I had plenty of trouble with men driving me crazy as it was, I didn’t need to give them any more excuses to hit on me! Then again, like now, it did help a girl get her dinner.
You might be wondering how I am so cavalier about what I’m about to do to poor Pablo. Let me remind you of a few points. Point-A, he was going to rape me before I glamoured him earlier. Point-B, I am a hungry vampire, and I have felt the burn of the sun on my skin when I had not fed. That is worse than any type of burn injury I could imagine. I almost felt like I was going out of my mind for a while!
Stupid Liam!
Then there is point-C, I am used to doing what it takes to survive. If I’m willing to use my body, then I am damn well going to be willing to bite a fucking homeboy!
I added a swish to my hips and I turned around the corner, back to the stairs. I knew that everyone was gone now, off to eat their own dinner. I felt his large hands grope either side my hips and his erected cock pressed into my ass.
Ok, next time I am biting before I have to deal with that sensation!
“Come on momma, show Pablo what you’re workin’ with.”
I turned around and I felt the power rising to my unspoken command. I felt the tingles in my eyes again.
“Don’t speak and forget everything that happened after you sat down to smoke with your friends.”
Pablo’s eyes were wide and unfocused now. He was like a breathing, bleeding robot. I felt my fangs burn as they pierced through my skin and lengthened. If they were like Liam’s, then they were over three-inches-long now. I stood my tiptoes and pulled Pablo down and I sunk my fangs into his neck.
Blood greeted my lips and I pulled greedily. I sucked his neck like my own personal Slurpee machine. I could taste the nasty aftertaste of his pot in his blood. Thankfully, the high didn’t seem to pass over too, so that was good.
After I felt his pulse starting to slow, I jerked back. Some unspoken instinct kicked in and I stopped feeding.
Huh…
I leaned back in and licked the wound clean and I watched as the punctures closed and all that remained was a hickey. Lucky for me, that would keep Pablo from giving too many fucks about who the new girl was. He would think he fucked me and that was fine by me.
Sixteen:
After I finished my meal and sent him on his way, I went up to the dilapidated sixth floor. No one seemed to venture this far up, so I was relatively safe to bed here. Besides, I would hear anyone who came looking for me, like another inhuman.
Patty didn’t strike me as a dishonorable sort of woman. She had that old-school vibe to her, like Seri. She was powerful enough to have held her own for a long time, so she must also hold her word as well. That has a place in street life too. If you’re good to your word, then people don’t want to cross you, unless they have no other choice. In giving a non-violent choice, you are relying on the other party preferring a peaceful solution. That is logical, and it works often enough, but there are some people that are crazier than I am, who just like a fight. Patty didn’t strike me as one of those.
***
Sleep was sluggish to take me down, but it finally came. As I slept, I dreamed of Seri, of her naked and pressing herself against my lips, as I tasted her wet deliciousness. I dreamed of taking her with my vigorous and nimble fingers working her nerve clusters and then of us switching to more mundane toys as I thrust deep into her.
I could taste her wetness, feel her perky firm breasts in my palms and I could hear her pained moans of ecstasy as we made passionate love in a red velvety room. Every surface was covered in crimson and I moaned and as her fingers traced my slightly larger and slightly darker toned breasts, and her fingertip traced my firm brown nipples.
I wanted her inside me, I felt her fingers tickling my tanned skin as she kissed my left nipple. I felt her fingers brush over my lower belly, and down my naked waist, and I felt her fingers slip into my wetness—as I heard a bang.
***
I was up, panting from my dream with my silver and cold-iron dagger palmed into my right hand. I stopped short of the throat of the person coming into the room, when I realized it was Patty’s little girl. Her eyes were wide as saucers now.
Shit, great, fuck!
I pushed my dagger back into its sheath.
“Holy molly kid! You need to knock before you enter a vampire’s lair!”
She bit her lip and bounced on her feet like children do, unable to stay too still for long. Even a vampire child seemed to have that same bouncy human quality to their movements. I guess the whole stillness thing only kicks in when they’re in real danger?
“I… I just came to…”
I looked at her squirming to concoct an excuse. I knew why she came, she was curious, and she is a little girl. Girls are drawn to older girls that are strong. They want to be close to power, it makes them feel safer. I ruffled her honey blonde hair and she put her hand on her head and looked at me in silent protest.
“It’s fine, sorry I’m not much of a morning person.”
She nodded in agreement.
“It’s almost one, not morning.”
Her tone was matter-of-fact.
“Aren’t you supposed to be in school?”
She grinned up at me and shrugged.
“I went in this morning, but they don’t really pay attention after lunch.”
Huh, a kid after my own heart!
“So, what are you doing today? Don’t you have friends your age?”
She shrugged.
“A few, but most the girls don’t want to play with the white girl.”
My heart clenched at how she spoke so matter-of-factly about the inner-city racism. Sure, I make some white-girl jokes on occasion, but if my romantic proclivities are any indicator, I am decidedly not a racist. How could I when I seemed to have an unhealthy redhead fetish, or dreams about a particular redheaded vampiress.
“I’m hungry, have you eaten yet?”
She shook her head and bit her lip.
“We have some cans, but we have to conserve, or we’ll run out.”
I nodded in understanding and I didn’t let my sympathy show. I knew how it was as a kid and she didn’t want my sympathy. She was tough, that much I could tell about her. Like her mother, she seemed to be fearless.
“What’s your name?”
She grinned and said, “I’m Chelsea, Chelsea Brooks.”
I gave her a bright smile.
“That’s a pretty name, I’m Thea. You know that basically means “aunt” in Spanish?”
She nodded in confirmation.
“Lots of Spanish people here, lots more go to my school. I hear them call their aunts that all the time.”
I was a hazard to the health of anyone around me, but this little girl was adorable. I might be a scrapper and a bitch when I have to be, but I love kids. If I could have one without the male attached to my hips, I would totally do it!
“Well, let’s go get some food. I bet there are a lot of hungry people around here.”
She looked uncertain and I sighed.
“Seriously, no tricks. I grew up in places like this t
oo, so I know nothing is free, but I’m not trying to play some kind of trick on you or your family. I just don’t want to eat while you’re hungry kid.”
Chelsea nodded meekly and followed right beside me as we walked back through the shattered hallway. I leapt across and was about to turn and help her, when she hopped like a jack-rabbit and landed next to me with a mischievous grin on her face.
“Mamma hates it when I jump around up here.”
I chuckled and shook my head.
“Ok, then I’ll remember not to tell her I saw, deal?”
She grinned with her smaller fangs peeking out at me. Even the baby fangs only augmented her adorable factor.
“Deal!”
This damn kid was going to be the death of me! She was excessively cute! It made me with for a peaceful life with a loving partner and a few just like this cute little girl here!
***
We slipped out the back entrance and walked up the main road. Chelsea was leading me to the closest Italian style-pizza joint. Chelsea hung close to me the whole time and told me about her school. She talked about life in the inhuman world in Harlem. Apparently, they were struggling to irk out an existence, because outlaws commonly came through their area hiding from various domain lords and ladies.
She said that the Brooklyn domain left them alone, unless they tried to cross into Seri’s territory. I had asked, just to see what her opinion of the vampire princess was. She didn’t seem to care too much, said her mom respected Seri, but she didn’t bow to her—smart lady! Seri apparently had no interest in Harlem, or in expanding her domain, even though she could have claimed this area with little resistance.
You would be amazed how much you can learn from a street kid. Adults seem to forget that the streets have eyes and ears everywhere. Street kids are like alley cats, they are everywhere! Now that I knew about the Cait Sith, I would have to keep the fairy cats in mind every time I saw a stray. Apparently, they could transform into normal house cats, or into a fey-cat, similar to a mix of large felines that shape-shifters turned into when they phased.
(Phase being the proper term for changing forms or transforming.)
I ended up being forced to glamour a driver to help us deliver out pizzas. I did leave him a decent tip, so no harm, no foul, right? I eyed Chelsea around the stack of pizza boxes in my arms.
