Scarlet Night: The Complete Trilogy

by Megan J. Parker

  Serena stared, “Your normal…”

  Raith nodded, “Yup. The taroe were nothing if not thorough, I’m afraid. Part of the Maledictus curse was to choose a subject—Zane—and embody him with the means to ‘carry’ any accomplices with them. Along with my heart, they gave him my eye so I’d always be forced to watch the Maledictus while he committed his acts; we were condemned to watch side-by-side as the monster we created did what it was created to do.” Raith sighed, “Now that a crucial part of the equation is gone, my eye is no longer empowered by the therion drive that fueled it, so it shines with the color of my human form.”

  Serena smiled, “I think it’s pretty. You must have been really handsome.”

  “Nothin’ compared to your boyfriend, sweetheart, but Nicc’oule seemed happy with the way I looked.”

  Serena nodded, still having to remind herself that their Nikki hadn’t always gone by that name. “Well, I see the way she looks at you… well, not you, but you know what I mean. Anyway, I don’t think it has much to do with looks with her.”

  Raith smiled, “But would it be any different for you if your Zane was in any other body?”

  Serena paused on that a moment. “Any other body…?”

  The sharp sound of a nearby trashcan smashing against the ground jolted both of them to their surroundings and they started towards an alleyway. Reaching the source of the commotion, they found nothing more than a vacant alley, a bunch of scattered trash…

  And a partially skewed manhole cover.

  “Oh come on…” Serena rolled her eyes. “They don’t really expect me to go down there, do they?”

  Raith frowned, “They?”

  Serena nodded, “Whatever deities I’ve angered enough to be doing this…”

  “Well,” Raith yanked the giant metal slab away from the entrance into the sewer and started down into the depths, “just imagine the karma you’re earning.”

  “Oh now that is just fucking wrong!” Serena’s eyes widened as she took in the lizard-like appearance of the ykali stooping a short distance ahead of them.

  The three reptilian creatures were mostly covered in baggy street clothes, but—for the sake of enjoying their meal—they’d drawn back the hoods and scarves that hid their scaly, hairless, protruding snouts and jagged teeth. Hearing the two drop down to the muck-soaked ground, the three had turned away from the body they’d been feasting on and had begun an appalling hymn of enraged hisses and dry, airy growls.

  “Serena! I got the one on the right! Take the left and we’ll get the middle together!”

  Serena watched as Raith rushed towards the first ykali and she quickly turned to her own target. Not wanting to touch the repulsive creature, she threw out her aura and shaped it into a bow that she “held” in her right hand. Though it was an unconventional method with others, the self-trained archery enthusiast had found a greater degree of control and focus in wielding her aura as a tangible, polymorphous weapon rather than a shapeless extension of herself. Drawing back her “arrow”, she waited for the ykali to make its move and started a slow approach towards it. Snapping its jaws, the giant lizard lunged at her and she loosed the bright purple beam, letting it pierce through her attacker and hold it. With her aura still gripping the creature, she swung it around, using the “arm” of her auric limb to trip the third ykali in the center and bringing it towards Raith’s opponent.

  “GET DOWN!” Serena warned.

  Not waiting to question her reasons, Raith ducked down and allowed the thrashing ykali impaled on the end of Serena’s aura to crash into the first. As the two collided, the pair went into a panic-fueled berserker rage and began to slash and bite at the other.

  By the time Serena expanded the auric hold within the ykali she’d “shot”—causing it to explode into leathery, scale-covered chunks—the damage to the first had rendered it as good as dead.

  “Hells-fucking-yea, you walking purse-assed motherfuckers!” Serena cheered.

  Raith turned to face her, “Did you just say ‘purse-asse—LOOK OUT!”

  The third ykali let out a loud ear-piercing shriek, and Serena threw her aura out in a blind hail Mary that only seemed to piss it off. Taking the hit to its chest, the creature rolled around the attack and began to run faster towards her as it threw out its greenish-brown fist into Serena’s stomach. Serena cried out as she lurched forward from the punch before quickly recovering and swung her right foot out in a high kick that landed in the ykali’s already injured chest.

  “You gross fuck!” Serena glared as she threw out her right fist and directed her auric energies into the punch as she swung into the ykali’s face over and over again before finally throwing an auric-empowered kick into its side.

  The ykali shrieked and flew back, crashing into the brick wall of the far side of the tunnel—the sound of several of its bones breaking, echoing—and fell into a large pool of filth.

  Hearing a grunt, Serena looked over as the first ykali that she’d counted out of the fight earlier had continued its injury-induced rampage on Raith. Holding the snapping jaws back with his left forearm—which he’d lodged under the creature’s chin and against the base of its throat—he repeatedly drove his right fist into the side of the monster’s head. Casting out her aura, Serena threw the battered ykali from Raith and watched as he kicked to his feet and drove his fist through the ykali’s chest. Letting out a startled gasp, the creature fell back—falling free of Raith’s hand—and let them both see the still-beating heart that he’d earned in the process. Serena looked over and sneered for a moment at the sight of the dying organ.

  “That’s disgusting!”

  “You want it?” Raith smirked, “It looks kind of cool!”

  “Why do I get the idea that if you could,” Serena wretched, “you’d jar that thing up and keep it?”

  “I don’t think Nicc’oule would appreciate that!” Raith laughed.

  “I don’t think anybody would!” Serena laughed and watched as he threw the heart on the ground and frowned at the body they’d been huddled around when they’d first arrived.

  Unsurprisingly, the remains belonged to more of Axle’s gang members.

  “Where are these things coming from?” Raith frowned as he eyed the bodies too.

  “I have a feeling this isn’t an accident; any of it,” Serena picked up her phone and called for a clean-up crew. When she was done, she turned to Raith, “Let’s get back to the clan. I’ve got some questions that need answering.”

  When they finally got back, Zoey was waiting with Isaac and Nikki; their faces all holding what Serena already had been feeling: suspicion.

  “None of this has been an accident,” Serena explained. “These ykalis have been being used as some sort of weaponized distraction. There’s somebody who is tracking down all of Axle’s old friends and executing them, and these ykali ‘attacks’ have been a convenient cover story that puts the blame on them while simultaneously destroying any evidence that the real culprit might be leaving behind. Like a goddam serial killer feeding the corpses of their victims to the pigs. And there’s only two things that have changed in our jurisdiction since this all began: the victim—Axle—and who I’m beginning to suspect has been behind this mess the entire time,” Serena clenched her fists and looked up after a moment, “That new clan!”

  “Serena, not again…” Zoey frowned.

  “Zoey, I can promise you… I will find out what I need to know from that clan! Those fuckers haven’t even allowed me to see their leader—hell, we still don’t know who’s running that show!—or even get inside enough to find out anything more!”

  “Do you truly think they are responsible?” Isaac frowned.

  “I do,” Serena nodded, “And I wouldn’t just push on this instinct if I didn’t believe they had something to do with this!” Serena frowned, “Zoey… please, you’ve got to believe me.”

  “Alright, Serena,” Zoey sighed and nodded, “Just don’t get yourself into any trouble if they refuse to see yo
u again.”

  “I make no promises.” Serena smirked.

  “I wasn’t expecting you to,” Zoey laughed. “If you had I would’ve known you were lying.”

  “Has Axle been around at all?” Serena frowned.

  “No. I haven’t seen him since last night,” Zoey frowned.

  Serena bit her lip and nodded slowly, “I think I need to go talk to him.”

  “You’re back…” Axle stepped over as Serena let herself in.

  “Y-yea, how’d you know I was gone,” Serena asked, realizing he had been waiting for her.

  “Could we… maybe spend some time together?” Axle frowned; ignoring Serena’s question and looking down.

  Serena noticed the confusion in his eyes and slowly nodded, “Sure. But is something wrong?”

  “I…” He looked away, “I’m not sure.”

  As she watched him, he stepped over towards her and took her hand in his as if testing something. Still watching Axle’s experiment, Serena noticed him study the sight of their hands clasped with an eye of familiarity.

  “Come on, let’s go,” Serena smiled, keeping their hands laced and guiding him out of his room, “Let’s go for another walk.”

  Though the idea of being alone with Axle with how he was acting made Serena nervous, she knew that, in the event that there was some volatile moment growing within him, it would be better to have him outside and not in an underground confinement where he could hurt himself or somebody else.

  The moon was full, and though a part of Serena still liked to imagine that nights like this motivated the therions across the world to lose all control and explode into their bestial forms, the truth that, while everybody seemed to get a little crazy, it didn’t play out like an old horror movie. Despite this, she wasn’t entirely convinced that Axle wouldn’t be an ironic catastrophe in the making.

  As they navigated the moon-lit forest, Serena struggled to feel at peace for once. Looking over at her companion, however, made that effort an unlikely dream. Though the violent outburst she’d been working against didn’t seem to be making an appearance, there was a definite war going on within him. Serena frowned; she wanted to make him feel better but had no idea what to do to help his situation.

  “Is something wrong?”

  “No, just…in thought.” He smiled, “had another bad dream.”

  “Oh?” She tilted her head, “Can you tell me about it?”

  “It’s not important…” Axle frowned as the two continued to walk deeper into the woods.

  His eyes continued to drift over her and she felt a shiver as she noted the possessive gaze he was giving her.

  “Axle, why do you keep looking at me like tha—”

  Serena’s words were caught in her throat as she was pulled against him, pressing her to his chest.

  “Serena… I want you.”

  “Axle? What are you saying?” She looked up, stunned by his sudden desire and force. “Stop this! This isn’t you!”

  “ISN’T ME? THEN WHAT IS ME? WHO AM I IF I’M NOT WHO I AM?”

  Serena narrowed her eyes, “Axle, don’t make me punch you in the nose ag—MPH!”

  His lips crashed down on hers and she felt…

  Nothing.

  The thrill and pleasure that his lips had held before were now nothing more than desperate jackhammers.

  It was wrong.

  And, most importantly, it wasn’t Zane.

  Zane was still out there!

  She knew it now more than ever!

  Extending her fangs, she bit down on his lip; releasing only when he yelped and tore his lips away from hers and cupped a hand over the two puncture wounds. His eyes widened as he saw the blood and he looked up at Serena, his eyes filled with torment and his stare oozing panic and confusion.

  “Axle… you need to—”

  “Zane…” He whimpered.

  Serena’s eyes widened, “What?”

  “He… he came to me in my dream last night. He attacked me; said that I wasn’t meant to be here and I had to make things right…” He looked up and wiped his already-healing lip again, “Who is he? What does he mean?”

  Serena’s lip quivered, “Zane… H-how can that…”

  “I’ve lost to him… haven’t I?” Axle looked up at her.

  “Axle… there was never a competition. I’ve been looking for Zane ever since an accident took him away from me, and when I find him he’ll be who I’m with,” she stepped towards him, placing her hand on his shoulder.

  “Then who am I?” Axle whimpered, shaking his head. “It… it felt so right being with you, like that’s where I was meant to be…” He growled and his eyes flared with rage and his voice came out in a low growl, “WHO THE FUCK AM I?” He roared as he turned away from Serena and slammed his fist into a tree.

  A thunderous crack echoed through the forest, scaring various pods of animals that scattered away from the source.

  “Who am I…?” Axle whimpered, dropping to his knees as the tree collapsed onto the forest floor.

  “Axle…” Serena frowned and stepped forward to try and calm him.

  “Stay back,” he groaned, “It feels too good to have you near me…”

  She watched as his body began to shake and he clasped onto his head as he let out a loud scream. Suddenly, he fell forward, one hand still clutching his head in agony as the other found the floor for support. Serena finally disregarded his order and stepped over, placing her hands on his shoulder.

  “We need to get you some help,” she bit her lip as another pained shudder wracked through his body. Serena helped to lift him and carried him back to the office, where Zoey and Isaac sat together going over some notes.

  “Zoey!” Serena cried out, “I need your help!”

  Finally, unable to hold him up any longer, Serena started to lose her grip and Axle started to fall forward. Isaac rose from his seat then, swooping in and catching Axle by the shoulders and the two frowned at Serena.

  “What happened?” Isaac asked.

  “I don’t know,” Serena whimpered. “He’s been holding his head this entire time; complaining of headaches and telling me he doesn’t know who he is!” Serena frowned and looked at Zoey, “Zoe! He’s dreaming of Zane! How is that even possible?”

  Raith and Nikki—clearly having heard the commotion—rushed into the room. As they approached the group, Raith cried out and clutched at his head, starting to cackle as tears of agony rolled down his face. Turning to try to offer some comfort to the suddenly hysterical Raith, Nikki’s magical taroe tattoos sparked to life and began to glow brightly as she tried to work her magic to ease the situation.

  Axle looked up through hazy eyes and smiled weakly at Isaac, “H-hey, Babe Ruth… you hit any home runs with that killer wood of yours recently…” stammering on the last syllable, Axle passed out.

  “What the hell is going on?” Nikki’s eyes widened.

  “M-Maled—” Raith let out a loud, inhuman growl, “Maledictus! He’s awake! He’s awake and—AAHH! H-hee…” Raith smirked, his eyes drifting up in his head, “We want him!” He pointed a finger towards Axle, and as everyone watched in shock, the limb began to jerk and crack as the fingers began to break and shift—the finger slowly beginning to lengthen in Axle’s direction.

  “What the fuck?” Serena cried, “Maledictus has been inactive since Zane’s been gone!”

  “He’s back!” Raith’s voice came out in a rattling hiss, “He’s back! He’s back!” his eyes darted towards Serena, the right eye’s iris beginning to shift to silver, “BA-A-A-A-AAAACK!” Raith howled and clutched his eye, a trail of blood beginning to seep from his right eye!

  “G-get him out of here! Get me away from him! K-k-keep us apar—AAHH! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU ALL! GIVE HIM TO US!! GIVE HIM TO US NOW OR WE’LL RAPE EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOUR CORP—”

  “SHUT UP, ASSHOLE!” Serena brought her two fists down on Raith’s skull, knocking him out. Panting, she shook her head, “Haven’t missed his ass one goddam bit!�
�

  Zoey slid over to Axle and frowned as she placed a hand on his shoulder. “He’s not Axle anymore,” she explained, looking up at Serena. “There’s two conflicting personalities struggling for dominance, but neither is sure who they are or where they become the other.”

  Serena’s eyes widened.

  The dreams.

  The obsessive behavior.

  The rage…

  She froze as she stared down at Axle, suddenly knowing that Zane had found his way home.

  15

  Closing In

  “Serena?” Axle’s eyes fluttered open as Serena steered his convertible around a bus and merged back into the lane.

  “Hey, sleepy-head,” Serena offered a weak smile as she took the exit towards Sierra’s orphanage. “Anybody ever tell you that you snore like a fucking bear? What is it with you therions and—”

  “Where are we going?” Axle sat up in the seat and looked around.

  Serena forced a scoff, fighting the urge to break out into tears, “I’d imagine that would be obvious!” She motioned ahead of them, where the dilapidated building’s roof could be seen in the distance, “We’re going to go visit our friends. It’s been a while since you’ve seen the kids…” she glanced over, “And Sierra.”

  Axle’s eyes lit up at the name; his shoulders and neck returning to the bouncy playfulness that she recognized as Axle’s own.

  “You like her, don’t you?” Serena asked. “If I had to guess, I’d imagine you two went way back, am I right?”

  Axle looked over and, blushing like a little boy, nodded. “We were in the orphanage together growing up. She wound up doing a lot of work for the younger kids, even helping the kitchen staff plan out the meals and doing whatever she could to raise funds so they had toys. The others used to pick on her—some even tried to beat her up a few times—and I started watching out for her,” he looked over. “She called me her ‘bodyguard’, and I told her I’d always protect her.” He nodded to himself, “I promised her every night that I’d never let anything bad happen to her.”