by Matt Drabble
The thing stood slowly and deliberately, its hands looked withered with elongated fingernails that looked razor sharp and discoloured a faded yellow. His head tilted to one side in fascination as they viewed each other across the small bedroom as though puzzled by her reaction. Jess felt time slow to a crawl, the curtains were drawn, and the man was illuminated only by the shallow glow from her bedside table lamp. His face was haggard and ancient; the flesh was stretched tightly across the bones and looked thin and papery like antique parchment. But her eyes were drawn to his mouth; the jaws were extended beyond any reasonable shape. The lips were blue and lifeless, and his teeth, his teeth glistened white and sharp. She realized in astonishment that they were fangs, long razor fangs that protruded from bloodless gums and his whole mouth was full of them. This was no Christopher Lee with neat hissing canines draped in velvet elegance and smoothly floating down a Gothic staircase. Vampire her mind shouted through a wall of intellectual defiance, vampire.
The thing moved forward slowly, seemingly relishing the moment, she suddenly realized that her hands were burning as her steel grip held the coffee cup. The thing suddenly lunged towards her covering the distance in a flash, at the very last minute possible, she managed through a reflex to fling the cup upwards throwing the contents into its face. She turned and sprang out of the room to the sounds of an unholy scream and the smell of scalded flesh.
She made it to the small galley kitchen, her mind span with self-preservation as her eyes darted for a weapon. She quickly accessed the information from her databanks concerning the myths and legends. One of her guilty pleasures had always been horror movies, vampire weaknesses ran through her mind at a hundred miles an hour, stakes, garlic, sunlight. She had unwillingly trapped herself in the windowless kitchen negating the ever rising sun outside, and she did not own a crucifix or unsurprisingly a wooden stake. A vicious talon suddenly grabbed her from behind, the nails shredding her top and gouging her flesh. The material gave way and he stumbled forward into the refrigerator, she felt the thing leap for her again and she swung the fridge door open hard with her right hand. Stepping past the door as she swung it the creature crashed into the heavy door with full contact, placing the door between them, she turned. The scalding coffee had marked its face badly, the thin skin was reddened and burnt, and the fridge had crushed its nose splattering the appendage sideways. She watched warily as it staggered before regaining its composure and balance, its eyes poured into her greedily, and a thick yellowed tongue drooled in anticipation. She was suddenly struck with inspiration; she reached into the fridge and snatched out a Chinese takeaway container. She flipped off the lid, danced around the open fridge door, and launched herself. She landed on the surprised creature in a flash, and she drove the food container into its face mashing the leftover beef in spicy garlic sauce into its papery flesh. The result was instant and violent; the thing bucked and writhed in agony, its face contorted in a spluttering hissing scream as it flung her up and over him towards the lounge. She scrambled to her feet and staggered away, she paused to see the creature slowly rise and hobble after her, its eyes blazing with venomous fury. She stumbled backwards unable to take her eyes away from his laborious approach, and her foot caught on a small unopened box sitting by the sofa. She looked down to see the home fire extinguisher that she had purchased yesterday and had yet to install. She reached over and snatched the box up tearing open the packaging. She gripped the metallic canister and hefted the weight approvingly as the creature lurched towards her, its vision somewhat impaired from the reaction to the garlic. She watched as it skirted the sunbeams that lay across the carpet, sunlight and garlic, she mentally noted.
They circled each other slowly and carefully, if nothing else she thought, she’d gained its respect. The thing however, lay between her and the escape of the front door and the protection of the daylight beyond. It slashed at her, once, twice; she kept out of its range dancing just beyond its reach. She carried the extinguisher low in her right hand ready to swing into an arch when the opportunity opened. It feinted right then suddenly exploded to the left, the movement was lightening fast, and she would not have liked to see it move in full health and at full speed. She swung the fire extinguisher with every ounce of power derived from endless sweating sessions at the gym. Her toned arms fuelled by fear and adrenaline brought the canister up in violent motion that connected just as the creature leapt forward. The combination of their two movements meant for an almighty collision. The impact rang through her arm and into her shoulder and down her back. The vampire caught the extinguisher flush on the temple, the sound and jolt sickened her, and the thing crashed to the floor in a heap and lay motionless. She stepped over him quickly and limped towards the door, her right arm hung low and useless, she had no feeling on most of the right hand side of her body. Her back was alive with needles of pain that stabbed at her with every slight movement. She was moving gingerly towards her escape when she heard him stir. Her mind reeled at the injustice; she turned slowly back towards him as he began awkwardly attempting to sit up. Her stomach churned at his caved-in face, the entire left side of it had collapsed, and the devastating injuries were bloodless, as white bones jutted out at obscene angles. Jess felt despair wash over her, she had nothing left to fight with as the vampire somehow fell onto its knees and attempted the arduous journey to stand.
Suddenly the front door behind her exploded open as the wooden frame splintered under the enormous weight. She was not able to turn before a massive shadow encased and then was past her. The huge man swung a bear like paw containing a metal bat at the creature's head as it looked up incomprehensively. The metallic baseball bat hit the creature with shuddering force; again and again it crashed down splintering bone and shredding flesh. The clang sound echoed off the walls as it found its mark again and again.
“You know what always puzzled me” Eddie panted from the excursion. “Whenever the heroine in the slasher movies knocks the killer down with a blunt weapon, they just drop it and run past, letting him get up again. I would always think, just keep bashing his damn head in while he’s down”
Jess felt his massive arms catch her in a warm protective embrace, “I’ll remember that for next time” she slurred just before she passed out.
Ghost was getting drunk again, his legs were crossed, and his mind folded as Jimmy paced about the office his mood darkening as the minutes ticked by.
“Son of a bitch, son of a bitch” Jimmy constantly mumbled under his breath and to himself.
Ghost could only watch, wait, and drink, it had become abundantly clear to him now that Jackson Moon, their most inappropriately named head accountant, was not going to return. Jimmy had finally over stretched his own importance, his arrogance had always been a founding building block of their empire, but it could now become the first one to crumble.
He looked down blearily into his hand, the glass of exquisite whiskey was surprisingly empty again, and he turned the glass over looking for the draining hole. For the first time in forever, he felt tired, he lacked the will to fight, and he felt old. Perhaps this business was for the young, and the time had finally come to pass the torch. For over twenty years, he had maintained an iron willed grip on the company, and he had known every inch of the business. He had known every move three steps before they took it, and his plans had scoped the opposition with expertise and precision. He had known of every penny scammed from every corner of the organization, every corner bag that was a fraction short, or a fraction overcut. He had extensive background information on every employee and every potential competitor. His files were complete and far-reaching, and nothing had ever fallen through the cracks, in fact the cracks, had been filled, and skimmed.
Whilst Jimmy ranted and raved about brutal and sadistic revenge, storming around the office like a whirlwind of uncontrollable rage, Ghost had busied himself with more prudent endeavours.
The full scale investigation and review of their finances that he had been planning before the a
ttack at the casino, was now fully underway. The phone calls were coming thick and fast now, the review was turning up large amounts of missing funds, and the funds could not be missing without the consent of one Jackson Moon. There were missing monies from various accounts. There were transfers that had not been authorized by himself or Jimmy, and there were secured loans and second mortgages on businesses and properties that should not have existed. Ghost had always thought that one of his greatest strengths was knowing his weaknesses; neither himself nor Jimmy had ever received much in the way of formal education. One of their biggest problems was just what to do with the money when the steady stream became an avalanche. After all, there was only so much that you could stuff under a mattress. They had needed expert financial help to navigate through the complicated stormy waters of the money trail, and Jackson Moon had been that captain. Whilst Jackson had been a leftover from the previous administration under Drake, he was deemed too weak willed to become a threat to them. Ghost had found the accountant to be helpful and willing, and most importantly, he appeared to show no loyalty to Drake. Jackson was an animal that longed for an alpha to take charge, he was a follower. Ghost had known from the very beginning that their lack of financial knowledge could be their ruination. He had started Jackson off slowly to begin with, and had watched with satisfaction as their empire grew and their earnings skyrocketed as they evolved into a financial powerhouse. He cursed himself for his blindness; he had taken his eye off of Jackson and given the man full reign over the years, and now it would appear to be their downfall. The facts and figures were still rolling in, and there was not an ounce of good news among them. As a company they were finished, everything that they had worked for was gone.
“Jimmy” he slurred, unaccustomed as he was to hard liquor. “Jimmy, just sit down, you’re making me dizzy”
“What are we going to do Ghost, what the fuck are we going to do” Jimmy pleaded.
“I honestly don’t know my friend; I’m too old and too damn tired to start building again”
“Fuck the building Ghost, fuck the business and fuck the money, when I say what are we going to do, I mean WHO are we going to do?”
“I don’t know, someone is pulling Moon’s strings, and it’s not the damn Parkers it never was”
“Well at least you didn’t say I told you so” Jimmy joked
“I think it’s too late in the day for pettiness now, we’ve got problems that you don’t even know about yet”
“How so?”
“When the times tight I’ll show you, I need a visual aid”
Jimmy shrugged, and faced out the window in contemplation, the day was in full swing, and the world moved below oblivious to their problems. “Did we lose the bar?”
“Jimmy, we’ve lost everything”
“Shame, I always liked the place, I don’t think I’ll burn it down” he added nonchalantly.
Ghost’s phone vibrated in his pocket, it was his private phone that only Jimmy and Eddie had the number to. He snatched it out quickly, with everything going on, and their unknown adversary who had destroyed them with ease, he was suddenly worried about Eddie. If he had been on the other side of this equation, then the financial downfall would have only been step one. Step two would have been to finish the job, and that meant that himself, Jimmy and Eddie were all in danger of the gravest kind. He flipped open the phone and listened intently, nodding along with the information. “Take her to” he paused to think through the alcohol fog that clouded his thoughts. “The cave, and Eddie, keep it dark” he hung up the phone and turned to Jimmy. “I want you to go to ground and lay low until I get a handle on what’s going on” he held up a hand to quell the inevitable protests, Jimmy had never been one for laying low.
“Fuck that Ghost, I’m going nowhere, let them come, let them all come and bury the fucking lot of them” Jimmy raged.
“We don’t even know who THEY are yet Jimmy for Christ’s sake” Ghost shouted back. “You’ve not always listened to me Jimmy, but you always did when it was essential. So listen to me now my old friend, for old time’s sake, I’m asking you to listen now” he placed a hand on his friend's shoulder and looked deeply into his eyes. “I don’t know who’s behind this Jimmy, but for now, we can’t trust anyone, I need you out of sight and out of action”
“You’re asking a lot Ghost, even for you, it’s a lot” Jimmy pondered. “Where am I supposed to go?”
“It’s best if I don’t know, safer all round, when I know just what we’re dealing with and who, I’ll find you and we’ll finish it together”
“You promise?”
Ghost looked at his old friend and once again saw the small boy from the orphanage, a lost little boy, and he felt genuine affection for him. They had been through so much, and even after all this time and everything that they had been through, Jimmy still wanted it to be just the two of them against the world.
“When the times right, Jimmy, I promise, it’ll be you and me against the world, one more time” one last time perhaps, he thought, but did not say.
“Ok, I’ll do it” Jimmy pouted.
“Now I’ve gotta go” Ghost spoke softly to his friend, “I think I’ve just found my visual aid, oh and Jimmy, I did fucking tell you so”.
Drake flung Kofi across the room with vicious ease as Jackson cowered, “YOU DID WHAT!” He roared.
Kofi cartwheeled through the air without grace, before smashing into the large Gothic fireplace that exuded self-indulgence.
“I was just getting the ball rolling” he answered groggily, “I thought that I had some authority here”
Drake covered the room in an instant; his blurred form was painfully gripping Kofi in the blink of an eye. “All my plans, all my fucking plans are being ruined by you two useless bastards”
Kofi cowered as his master towered. Drake’s face contorted into a mask of raging terror. Despite the power that surged through his veins especially after feeding, he was still inferior to Drake. He could see the weasel accountant out of the corner of his eye slinking toward the door, shying away from the confrontation. Despite his dark abilities Moon was still a coward at his irregular beating heart. He had never seen the man feed on a human and the rumour amongst Drake’s people was that he never had.
“Do you know how long I’ve waited for this” Drake continued. “Have you any idea of the strength of will it takes not to kill those scumbags outright”
Kofi relaxed slightly as the painful grip loosened and Drake took a step back. His control exerted again, his features calm once more, and the demonic characteristics retreated.
“They have to suffer Kofi; I want to see everything taken from them as they took it from me. I want to grind them into the dust before I end their lives”
“I’m sorry, I thought that I was helping when I sent him after the woman” Kofi apologised for perhaps the first time in his life. “She was getting too close, and I thought it best to shut her down”
Drake watched the young man’s face, attempting to ascertain whether or not his apology was genuine. In his experience the dark gift would not automatically tie a sire to him, and the bond had to be strengthened over time. Kofi was a valuable asset, he had chosen him to sit at his right hand, to lead his army and be the fist of the king. He seemed the perfect recruit, a mixture of ability and vulnerability, but could he really be trusted, could anyone.
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
December 1994
It had been a mistake, a terrible mistake, perhaps it was his ego, perhaps it was his age, but he had made a catastrophic error in judgement. The reports that lay before him were undeniable, the facts and figures were irrefutable, and the culprits indisputable, Jimmy and his silent sidekick were making a move. He had known that they may well have entered into his organization with this very intent, but he had assumed that he would come to inspire their loyalty over time.
Drake folded his hands together, elbows perched upon his desk, his home office was his sanctuary, and his refuge
. He had never married during the construction of his business as that would have been one more point of vulnerability to be exploited. Now as he sat alone, he pondered his loneliness, perhaps when he had put down this latest uprising he would take a wife, even children perhaps.
Jimmy and Ghost had been valuable assets, exceeding his expectations, Ghost, despite all attempts to avoid the spotlight, was the brains, and Jimmy was simply fearless. Their relationship was strange to say the least, Jimmy was all swagger and lights whilst Ghost was reserve and shadow. But they were dedicated to each other; they had been in his organization now for around a year and still none of his other long term associates really knew them at all. There were dismissive rumblings that the two of them were “a couple of queers”, but Drake knew better, they were more brothers than lovers. There had been the inevitable jealousies and rivalries developing between the caged animals. Noses were definitely put out of joint when he had inserted Jimmy over many of his other employees, but Jimmy had dealt with any dissension swiftly and brutally. Drake knew now, that he had been seduced by the idea of an heir, a prodigy, a younger version of himself to sculpt and mould, Jimmy had fulfilled a dormant desire.
