by Al K. Line
What can I tell you? I knew it was wrong to kill, but I would not, would never, let anyone threaten those I cared about. It just wasn't gonna happen.
A Request
A few minutes later, nobody saying a word, Chaz's body was dragged out, the rug was rolled up and removed, and it was as if none of it had ever happened. I'd made my point, though, and knew it stood me in better stead with Merrick. A weird way to gain trust, but Merrick was no regular guy. You had to prove yourself, and this showed him I was willing to do what it took to get things done.
Vicky remained silent, but I knew it hadn't had the desired effect. She was hyper. Her fast breathing, the way her eyes shone, the bouncing of her leg, it all told me she was as high as a kite. I'd done a bad thing going to her.
"Enough games. What do you want, Arthur? Why have you come here at this ungodly hour and interrupted my peace?"
"I need a bazooka."
Merrick, and even Brains, spent the next few minutes laughing, which just wasn't nice. Once they'd calmed down, Merrick said, "Arthur, what makes you think I've got a bloody bazooka hanging about? Have you been watching cartoons or something? Nobody uses bazookas. This is England for fuck's sake! If you wanna blow something up why not use your magic?"
"Because time is of the essence and if I use my magic I won't have any left for what comes next."
"Oh, and what comes after you blow something up?"
"I have to kill vampires."
Merrick didn't laugh this time. My tone must have told him I was serious. "You're kidding me, right?"
"He's not. They're real and we have to stop them," said Vicky.
"Tonight," I added.
"You guys are killing me here. Vampires, this I gotta see."
"So, do you have a bazooka?"
"No, why would I?"
"Because I know you have guns, lots and lots of guns. Proper ones, machine guns, and I assumed you pretty much had an arsenal."
"Sorry to disappoint, but no, we don't. I've never liked guns. Way too easy for them to get into the wrong hands. Yes, we use them when necessary, but no, no secret stash of weapons, I'm afraid. Just the usual."
I said nothing about the guns on the table. Didn't seem to me like he hated them all that much. "And what's the usual?" This wasn't going as planned at all. It was time to leave. I'd wasted enough time already.
"Arthur, that's none of your business. Look, I'm not about to go blowing shit up with bazookas, that's nuts."
"Okay, thanks anyway. Guess we should be going." I could have kicked myself for the delay. All I'd done was drain myself and get sidetracked.
We got to our feet and moved to leave, but Brains bent and whispered in Merrick's ear.
"Really?" asked Merrick, looking surprised. "Well, imagine that."
Brains whispered something else and Merrick nodded then said, "Apparently, we do have something that could be of help."
"Oh?"
"Got a few grenades, if they'll do the job?"
"Yes!" shouted Vicky, and pulled my hand up and high-fived me before I could stop her.
I definitely hadn't turned her off the life of a gangster. The Blade was warming to the violence a little too readily.
Straight to It
Within minutes, I'd filled Merrick in on what I wanted done and given him the address. We waited while he spoke quietly with Brains before the silent aide left only to return minutes later with a handful of goons. Two of the largest carried a green, military metal case between them.
They dumped the chest down with a thud and after a nod from Merrick they opened it up.
"Yup, they're grenades all right," I said, stating the very obvious.
Another nod from the boss and the goons, plus grenades, left. "Now, what do I get out of this, Arthur?"
"You get a job done, by me. You know how good I am, and that's my offer."
"Deal."
"Okay, let's go," I said, this time really not wanting any more hold ups.
Merrick and Brains grabbed their jackets. Bespoke, three-quarter leather numbers that completed the sinister style. Black shirts, black jeans, black jackets, blacker hearts.
I was taken aback, this wasn't what I'd expected.
"What, you're both coming? I figured you'd just lend me the goons."
"And miss the chance to see a vampire? You've got to be fucking kidding."
So, off we went to blow up stuff, kill vampires, and stop them resurrecting the ashes of their long dead leader.
Just another day in the life of The Hat.
A Few Concerns
Merrick's goons took the lead in two cars, Vicky and I were next, and Brains drove Merrick in the last vehicle. I felt a little like the scruffy cousin nobody wants to talk to, jammed as I was between sparkling, top-of-the-range SUVs with tinted windows—proper gangster style.
One thing you could say about Merrick, he didn't hang about. Which was good, because we'd wasted enough time and I had to get inside the building before the vamps got all they'd ever dreamed of and more.
Now, you may be thinking, how come I was going for a full-frontal attack and was ready to blow up stuff when I'm meant to be a thief? Someone who sneaks about in the night? Good question. Honest answer?
Vampires were scary. Backup is always good, and what better backup than people who are hard as nails, have grenades, and you couldn't care less about? Exactly. Merrick was bad news through and through, and Brains was probably worse as he was a lot more calculating. Always whispering in Merrick's ear, weighing up decisions with his analytical mind. His lover, his companion, the smarts. The city would rest easier if they were dead, so it really was quite a good move on my part.
They either help and survive, which would be worth it, or they help and die, which would be ideal.
Only problem was Vicky, as I sure as hell didn't want anything happening to her.
"You killed that man, like it was nothing," were the first words she'd spoken for half an hour.
"I know. This isn't a game, it's a dangerous life, a dangerous business. You wanted in, this is what it's like." I was trying to be hard, tough love and all that, but it was difficult. I wanted to hold her hand, ask her if she was all right, but then what? She'd get over the death sooner, and want to continue.
"Bet you had a good reason, right? I know you, Arthur. You don't fool me."
"What do you mean?" I asked, giving her a steely glance, trying to remain a man of mystery.
"I mean, you're no cold-blooded killer. Sure, you get up to your japes, but—"
"Japes!"
"Your little hobby, stealing these artifacts and such, and I know you get into trouble and deal with the bad guys, but you aren't one yourself. So stop with the stupid squinting and spill it, mister, before I pinch your belly."
"You wouldn't dare," I said, giving up on my hard man look as it wasn't working.
The next thing I knew, Vicky was pinching me in the ribs and poking my belly button. I veered to the right then got control as Brains beeped his horn behind me and flashed his headlights.
"Behave. You'll get us into trouble," I warned.
"Spill it."
"Fine," I said, feeling deflated and wishing she wasn't so damn insightful. It's what came with being a mother, she could spot a lie a mile away. Damn Mom lie radar, how do they do it?
"The man I killed, Chaz, you heard him say I took something he was owed, something that was his. That I stole it from him?"
"I heard it. You made him slit his own throat, Arthur. What could be so bad? What did he do that was so awful you could do that to another person?"
"Vicky, I told you, this is a serious business. People have died today before Chaz, people always die. Why do you think I didn't want you here, sat beside me?"
"I'm a big girl," she said, folding her arms across her chest and squeezing her eyebrows together, "and if I spend one more night alone at the computer before dragging myself off to bed to hear the slug snore I'll top myself. I almost did it, you know, before."<
br />
"Shit, I'm sorry. You never said."
"Don't worry, I didn't go through with it."
"Oh, really?"
"Very funny. Okay, what did Chaz do?"
I took a deep breath, wishing I didn't have to dredge up old memories. The story would just have to be condensed, bare bones type of thing. "The item I took from him, that he was owed, was a sixteen-year-old girl. A man he had been bleeding dry, a guy running a business, trying to feed his family, couldn't pay, and Chaz was gonna make good on his threat. Merrick knew what he was like, but let it happen anyway. His utter contempt for others made Chaz one of the best enforcers out there. He always got paid as otherwise..."
"Oh my God, that's horrible. And Merrick knew he went around doing... Ugh, that he..."
"That he raped young girls, and boys, if their parents didn't pay? Yeah. I told you, these are not nice people. They disgust me, but there are worse than Merrick. It's why I got out of this kind of life and focused on the magic."
"Arthur, I never knew."
"Wish you'd cut his throat now?"
"Yes, I do." Vicky scratched at her neck without thinking, right where Merrick's scars were the worst. I had to hand it to her, she was one brave woman.
"So, stay out of their way. Leave them to blow open the gates and storm in acting all tough. If everything goes to plan, they'll be dead long before we get inside and then you leave the rest to me, okay?"
"Before we get inside?" Vicky wiggled her bum, enjoying the seat warmer and smiled at the thought of storming a vampire stronghold. What the hell was wrong with her?
"No, before I go inside. You wait in the car and you do not, under any circumstances, come into the house. Hell, Vicky, you gotta make the kids breakfast in what, four hours?"
"Plenty of time," she said as she tickled me again.
"Cut that out!"
What do they say about the best laid plans of mice and men? Ah, that's it. They never work out for men named Arthur.
Blood Moon
We'd arrive soon, and I got that calm feeling that always came over me as I shifted into the flow state. Peripheral nonsense faded as magic and mind melded, allowing me to function to the best of my ability.
Everything that could be in place was in place. Meaning, nothing at all was in place. The plan was fluid, typical Hat style. Some jobs needed meticulous planning and they always went wrong. The best, the smoothest ones, they were organic, unfolded along with events that, inevitably, became complicated and never went how I envisaged.
Merrick worked in a similar fashion, but with bells on. He relied on goons and fear, and I was keen to see how that'd play out against a real foe.
We were silent as we approached, the anticipation building, and I focused on the car in front, mesmerized by the lights.
Something distracted me, and I raised my eyes. No word of a lie, I almost slammed on the brakes and turned around and went right on home.
"Shit. Um, Vicky, you never mentioned anything about this in your damn internet search." I nodded out the front window.
"What? The car?"
"No, look up."
"Cool, that's so neat."
"Neat? Neat! It's a goddamn giant red moon. It looks like blood. Is this a special day? Is there gonna be an eclipse? The moon goes red during an eclipse doesn't it?"
"Nope, nothing like that. Just another full moon."
"Then why is it bright blood red?" This felt wrong, really wrong. Had this day been chosen especially? I'd never been big on superstition, as most things those involved in magic did was purely to get your head in the right space. To make you focus. If that meant performing a little dance out naked in the garden and chucking animal bones about, or chanting, or whatever, then it was understandable, but sometimes, just now and then mind you, cosmic events could, and did, influence what happened down on earth.
And a giant blood moon was, without doubt, not an omen I was particularly keen on. It may not mean anything in terms of magic, but if it held significance for the vampires it sure as hell would mean they had every intention of this working no matter what. To them, everything was perfectly aligned to resurrect the big boss man.
Vicky tapped away on her phone and I tapped away on the steering wheel. We were almost at the place I'd been taken to, minutes away, and I needed to know what else I was facing. The moon stared down at me, gloating. Calling me a fool and an impostor, taunting me. Telling me I was gonna die and so was Vicky. Our kids would be left alone in the world and it would all be my fault for being such an idiot and getting mixed up with Cerberus whether I knew about it or not.
"It's just a full moon," said Vicky, nonplussed. "Nothing special about tonight. There are harvest moons and hunter's moons and proper blood moons when there's an eclipse but none of that is today."
"So why the hell is it bright red?" I was getting panicky, flow state utterly gone. This was bad, I just knew it. Something was very wrong here and I was missing it.
"Hang on, hang on."
I tried to think when I'd seen a red moon before, and once I did I recalled that sometimes it was red as it rose low in the sky. Because of the sun having only just set, I always assumed. But the sun had set many hours ago, the moon was high overhead, and I'd never seen it looking like this.
"Ah, here we go." Vicky brushed her ponytail out the way and held up her phone to me.
"Just read it," I snapped. "I'm bloody driving here."
"Temper, temper, only trying to be helpful."
"Sorry, I'm used to insulting Pepper. He seemed to like it."
"Really?"
"Um, maybe. What does it say?"
"That sometimes the moon can appear red if there are particles in the sky. Blocks other colors or something like that."
Everything became clear as we rounded a bend and the house up high on the hill came into view. "Particles like ash?" I asked.
"Guess so." Vicky shrugged and put her phone away.
"Like ash from a huge fire that's right now burning down the house of the vampires? The vampires that are probably long gone, along with Mikalus' remains and our chance of stopping them?"
"Um, was that rhetorical?"
"I have no bloody clue."
I pulled up behind the goons and turned off the engine. We sat and watched the large vampire stronghold as it burned fiercely. The roof was almost consumed, tiles gone, rafters and half-incinerated batons stark and skeletal against the blood moon.
Then something gave way and the whole building collapsed in on itself with a mighty crash that made the car shudder.
"Come on, may as well take a look," I said with a sigh.
We got out the car. Gunfire tore through metal.
Drafted
There was a drawback to being a wildcat wizard. People tried to kill me. Sometimes they succeeded, which was why it helped to have a faery godmother. But Sasha was off bedding a mortal, so guess it was down to me.
"Duck!" I screamed, which sounded lame but was very pertinent.
"I'm already ducked," shouted Vicky from halfway under the car, retreating as she spoke until only her head was sticking out.
"Oh, good." I joined her quick smart.
"What's happening?" Vicky groped about in the dark, coffin-like space under the car and grabbed tight.
"Hey!"
"Oops, hehe. Sorry. Hey, firm butt. You been working out?"
"Actually, yes. I've been running, in the park. Ugh, what the hell is wrong with you? We're being shot at."
"And if I have to go, then I can't think of a better way then fondling your firm bottom."
Now wasn't the time, but it had to be said. "Look, Vicky, I really like you, but, er, as a friend. The 'accident' with the dressing gown earlier, and now this... I'm not sure how you got the wrong impression but—Ow!" I moved to put a hand to my backside where she'd slapped it but just knocked an elbow on the underside of the car.
"You idiot. That was an accident. And don't flatter yourself, mister. I don't think of you that way
either." Vicky smiled her mom smile at me and, although it was utterly the wrong time to do so, we burst out laughing.
"Friends?"
"Friends forever."
"Which may not be for very long." I listened. The gunfire had stopped but a sound I was familiar with approached. "Damn."
"What?"
"I think we might be in a little trouble." I peered out at two ridiculously smart shoes attached to legs, one trailing the other slightly, aided by a cane. No guessing who it all belonged to.
The footsteps halted inches in front of our heads and with a slight grunt the man got down and peered under the car.
"Hello, Arthur."
"Oh, hello, Nathan. Nice to see you again. Pretty moon, isn't it?"
"Is this the guy who's arm you melted off?" asked Vicky, winning the prize for asking the most stupid question of the day
"Yes, my dear lady, I am he. Now, sorry to disturb your fondling, but would you mind awfully getting the fuck out from underneath the car? Please?"
"Only because you're asking so politely," I said, nodding to Vicky.
Magic at the ready, wand practically burning a hole in my pocket, I clambered out and Vicky did likewise.
Nathan smiled at us both. It wasn't a friendly smile.
I took in the wreck that was the car in front. It was riddled with holes. All four doors were open, every window was smashed, and four men lay very dead on the asphalt.
It was hard to see the lead car, but I assumed the goons had fared similarly. Behind us, Merrick's car was free of damage, the doors closed. Five heavily armed men stood guard with weapons aimed.
"Yours, I presume?"
"You can bet your life on it," said Nathan.
"I'd rather go home and have an early breakfast," which was no word of a lie.
"Sorry, Arthur, but you're drafted."
Ugh.
