by Jade, Imari
The waiter returned with the champagne icing in a bucket and two glasses. He popped the cork and poured the fizzy liquid.
“Have a pleasant stay in New Orleans,” Sal told her.
The waiter put the bottle back into the bucket and walked away.
Sal waved to the young woman and walked back over to the bar and high-fived him.
* * * *
“You think if I take you to a bank ,they’ll give us some money?” Ernie asked Isabella, as they watched the two men at the bar.
Isabella laughed. “Sal pressed his business card into my hand.”
“Should I be jealous?” Ernie asked playfully. “After all, I’m posing as your date.”
“I don’t think your wife would like that.”
Ernie laughed. “Did you see the way he was looking at you?”
Isabella nodded. “Like he could eat me right up.”
Ernie stopped laughing. “How many have you counted?”
“About twenty,” Isabella answered. “They have us surrounded.”
“Only twenty? I’ve seen you take on more than that by yourself.”
Isabella took a sip of the champagne. “Don’t drink too much of this stuff. It might be drugged.”
“Why would you say that?” Ernie asked sipping the free champagne and then putting the glass down on the table.
“Because no one gives away champagne without a reason. Sal’s one too. He’s not very old…maybe fifty or sixty years old. He gives the champagne to people he’s interested in embracing.”
“That would make him a newbie. I think I can kick his ass,” Ernie bragged.
Isabella giggled at his joke. “I’m not worried about his ass.”
More people entered the club. It was only seven in the evening and the place was packed. Everyone was drinking to excess and someone was arguing. No sooner had she heard it when a chair went flying across the room.
Two young men squared off. It was obvious both of them were drunk. Before long they were wrestling around the floor while their friends stood by, egging them on. The next thing she knew everyone was fighting all over the place.
Sal and the man from behind the bar tried to break up some of the fights, tossing some of the guys out of the door.
“I think we should be going,” Isabella said to Ernie. “Nothing much going on here. We can always come back tomorrow to ask questions.” She rose. Ernie followed her out of the club and into the street.
Two of the girls from inside the club approached.
“Where are you going, bitch?” one of them, a bleached-blonde, asked Isabella, blocking their way.
“To my car, bitch,” Isabella replied stepping around the young woman. They were around the same height but that’s where it ended.
The blonde pulled Isabella’s hair.
The red-head with her pulled a knife from her boot but Ernie got into her face.
Isabella spun around and kicked the blonde across her knees. The girl fell to the ground but quickly got back onto her feet and charged toward her. Isabella waited and then hit her with a side-kick that knocked her to the ground.
The red-head came to her friend’s aid, helping her up. “You think you can handle both of us?” she asked.
Their faces started to change. Fangs appeared where teeth once were.
Isabella pulled a cross from her pocket and the two women stepped back quickly. “Yeah, I think I can handle both of you.”
“You came prepared, mortal. How did you know?” the blonde asked.
“I can smell a blood sucker a mile away,” Isabella bragged.
“You take her,” the red-head told the blonde. She sidled up to Ernie. “I’ll take him.”
The blonde charged Isabella again, landing a punch against Isabella’s jaw that rocked her a little.
Isabella retaliated by kicking her opponent in the stomach. The young woman went down on her knees but recovered quickly.
Ernie kept the red-head at bay with his cross. Ernie wasn’t into hitting women but it didn’t mean he wouldn’t.
A crowd of people had come out of the bar and were placing bets against them.
Isabella counted many vampires amongst them in the crowd and prepared to be ganged. The blonde rushed her. Isabella grabbed her by both shoulders and tossed her onto her butt. The young woman howled, causing the red-head to take her attention off of Ernie. She never saw the stake he pulled out and pushed into her chest. Her body quivered a little and then exploded into a pile of dust.
There was a sudden pause in the air and all the noise ceased. Then the rest of the vampires in the crowd headed toward them.
“Party time,” Isabella told Ernie as she took the blonde out easily.
A young man appeared to take her place. He showed his fangs. Isabella spun around and landed a high kick to his forehead. Another one grabbed her from behind and she staked him in the chest without looking. Then she staked his friend.
Ernie was sandwiched between two more vampires. He grabbed both of them by the necks and slammed their foreheads together. This angered them considerably and they flew at him, knocking him to the ground.
Isabella staked one of them while Ernie sent the other into the brick wall of the club.
Sal and the other man from the bar had come out and stood close to them.
“Something is not right,” Sal said to the other man. He transformed and headed over to Isabella. He slapped her across her cheek and sent her sprawling onto the street.
“You’re not playing with the kiddies anymore,” he said, pulling her to her feet by her hair. He rammed her face first into a car and blood squirted from her forehead.
Isabella shook her head to clear her thoughts and then looked over at Sal and his gang. The others had retreated back to a safe distance.
“You’re not just any pretty face are you?” Sal asked her as he charged toward her.
Isabella moved quickly and Sal slammed into the car, nearly moving it onto the curb.
Isabella pulled a pair of nunchaku out of her jacket and waited.
Ernie staked his opponent and then rested aside their parked sedan focusing on her and Sal.
Sal flew at her, unafraid of the weapon in her hand. It was a bad assumption on his part. Isabella whipped the nunchaku around in her hand and landed a hit against Sal’s face. He didn’t appear stunned by it so she kept it up until he bled.
Sal growled, caught the nunchaku and pulled them out of her hand. He tossed them aside, picked Isabella up by her shoulders and flung her into a brick wall.
Isabella’s entire body ached and she felt like she’d been hit by a truck. Unfortunately for her she had felt like it many times before. The pain in her body wasn’t the problem…the vampire was. She regained her composure as Sal approached.
“Who are you, girl?” he asked.
“Your worst nightmare,” Isabella answered as she threw something in his face.
Sal’s face began to smoke. “You bitch,” he screamed, clutching his skin. He ran toward her angrily.
Isabella was ready. She hopped to her feet, pulled a stake from the waistband of her pants and drove it into his chest. Sal exploded into dust right before her eyes.
Ernie signaled for her. Isabella ran to him with the other vampires hot on her heels. They hopped into their car. Vampires climbed on the hood and trunk as Ernie started the engine. The speed from the acceleration threw vampires off leaving them sprawled in the street.
“That was intense,” Isabella said. Her heart beat fast in her chest and there was blood dripping from her forehead.
“Only you would think that,” Ernie said. “Are you okay?”
“Other than an intense overall body ache, yeah.” She reached into her purse and pulled out a tissue to clean the blood away.
“You are so crazy.”
“Such is the life of the slayer, Lucky.”
“Lucky? How the hell did you come up with that name?”
Isabella laughed. “It popped into my head. I
do look like a Valencia, don’t I?”
Ernie shook his head. “No, that’s the name for a nice safe orange. You are the Vanquisher and there’s nothing nice and safe about you. Isabella suits you just fine.”
“Flattery will get you everywhere.” She sighed. “God, I’m starving.”
Ernie drove to a nearby café, ordered them some food and then drove her home. He took the keys from her, and entered first, checking to make sure no intruders were lurking. She still had a contract on her head so she couldn’t be too careful.
Isabella entered. Her eyes registered on a blinking red light on her answering machine. She closed the door behind her.
“You have a message,” Ernie replied as he flicked on the light and entered her bedroom. He came out a few seconds later. “No vamps.”
Isabella pushed the button.
“Isabella, this is Joshua. I need you and Ernie to come to the office, pronto. All hell has broken loose in Jefferson Parish. There’s been some kind of cult/serial murder thing again and the police need your help. It’s chaos around here.” The message ended.
“I thought I was going home and resting,” Ernie replied.
“Let’s go,” Isabella told him.
“Sometimes this job sucks,” Ernie stated as he followed her to the door.
“A mass invasion of vampires, werewolves and ghouls would suck more,” Isabella told him. “Now let’s get our asses back to work. Dawn hasn’t arrived.”
Chapter Six
Isabella strapped her gun around her shoulders. She lowered her sweatshirt down and pulled on a comfortable pair of jeans. She stuck another gun in the waistband of her pants and yet another in the back. Afterwards she sat down in a chair, slipped into her boots and made sure each one contained a sheathed knife. Satisfied, she stood and lifted her stake from the dresser and placed it on her right side in its holster. She grabbed a silver chain and placed it around her neck. This was part of her daily routine when she dressed, except for the night she was kidnapped by Daton. For some reason she’d forgotten to put the chain on, and maybe it was why he’d been able to sneak up on her.
Isabella ran a comb through her hair and pulled it back into a pony-tail. She added some moisturizer to her face and a touch of lipstick. Now she was ready to face the world. Her body still had a few bruises from the encounter with the vamps at Club Victory but everyone was used to seeing her in a bandage by now.
She grabbed her denim purse and slung it over her shoulder. Inside of it was holy water, extra bullets, crosses and stakes, her car keys and money. Isabella liked traveling light even though she owned an arsenal of weapons like long handled sabers for taking the head off of vampires. She also had a crossbow, a lance, silver bullets, and a wide variety of guns. To all this she preferred her stakes and knives because they were much easier to handle. Isabella locked the door behind her and headed to work.
* * * *
The French Quarters was alive with people. Tourists sat at Café Du Monde enjoying a breakfast of Louisiana coffee with chicory and beignets. The fruit peddlers were unloading their trucks in preparation for hawking their wares, and the flea market merchants were setting up their stands anticipating big sales on the last day before Christmas. The pigeons piled up in Jackson Square ready to be fed by the tourists, even though it was illegal to feed them.
While she waited, Isabella glanced over and checked out the big fir Christmas tree the city had erected for the holiday celebration. In a couple of days thousands of people would be standing in the area welcoming in the New Year. The light turned green and Isabella continued driving toward Canal Street. She turned right and drove to Rampart Street where the PAK office was located.
Geena was already at work when Isabella stepped through the door. She stared off into space instead of typing.
Isabella frowned. Geena really gave women a bad name. She walked past the young woman and headed toward Collena’s office to check in. Isabella knocked.
“Come in,” Collena said.
Isabella entered, finding the office occupied by not only her bosses but a lot of other investigators.
Collena pointed to a seat. Isabella walked in and sat down.
“I know you didn’t call us here to talk about some rogue vampire, Joshua,” one of the investigators said. “Tell us what’s been going on.”
Collena sighed. “Of course, you all know about what happened on the West bank yesterday. The police think it’s the work of some sick cult members.”
“What do you think?” Isabella asked. Collena had not been at the office last night when she and Ernie were summoned by Joshua.
“I don’t know. That’s why we’ve called you all here. Mayor Boudreaux asked for you personally, Bella. He feels you are better equipped to go undercover than police officers because of…”
“My charming personality,” Isabella finished for her. Everyone knew her people practiced voodoo but Collena always tip-toed around it.
“How did you know what she was going to say?” Ernie asked teasingly.
“I’m physic,” Isabella replied. She still didn’t want anything to do with the case and Ernie knew why.
Collena clapped her hands to get their attention. “People, people—can we get serious here?”
“Where do I fit in?” Ernie asked their boss once Collena gained control of the room again.
“You’re her partner and you know her better than anyone. I also know you know about her people. You are to watch her back and keep both of you alive,” Collena told him.
“I guess I need to talk to some people first,” Isabella said. “I’ll take the coroner and Ernie can talk to the mayor since the two of them have so much in common.”
Ernie looked at her oddly. “Like what—the fact we’re two black men from New Orleans?”
Isabella nodded. “It’s enough to start a conversation. Besides, I’m not ready to meet him yet.”
* * * *
The place was cold, sterile and gray. Those were the only words Isabella could think of to describe the coroner’s office. It was also the last place she wanted to be…not that she was afraid of dying. Isabella walked down the hallway to room one hundred and six and knocked. The receptionist opened the door and led her in.
“Doctor Randall will be with you shortly,” she said. “Would you care for soda or some coffee?”
“Nothing thank you,” Isabella replied. The last thing she wanted in a morgue was a soda or food. She sat down and thumbed through a magazine. The receptionist left the room and returned a few minutes later to escort her to the back.
The place was pretty much as she remembered and it still smelled like formaldehyde. Isabella turned up her nose. The receptionist opened the door and allowed her to enter. She found Oliver Randall washing his hands.
“Nice to see you, Isabella,” he said, drying his hands on a paper towel and tossing it into the waste can.
“Same here, Doctor, but we really must stop meeting like this.”
Oliver laughed. “Yes, a good death always brings friends together.”
Isabella relaxed. She liked Oliver. He had a wonderful bedside manner for a man who spent most of his day surrounded by dead people. “How many are there?” She looked around the room and waited for his answer.
“One hundred and fifty,” he replied. “A few were barely in their early twenties.”
“I guess I’ll have to look at a couple,” Isabella said.
“Quite a few have already been buried.” He walked over to a drawer and opened it.
Isabella rose and walked over to where a body lay beneath the white sheet.
Oliver pulled the sheet away and Isabella looked down. She expected to feel nauseous but nothing. Damn, she didn’t have normal reactions to yucky stuff. Something else to prove she was weird. Oliver had cleaned the body up as much as possible but it was still a horrific sight, even for her.
Eyeless sockets stared back at her. The head leaned toward the right as if the neck was broken. The victim
looked like a man but she couldn’t be sure nowadays.
Oliver put on a pair of gloves. “The body has been badly smashed and mutilated, and the heart has been removed.” He picked up one of the hands. Several of the fingers were missing. “There are quite a few like this, but I don’t know what the significance is.” He put the hand down, covered the body and closed the drawer. He removed the gloves and tossed them in the trash.
Oliver showed her a couple more bodies and then they moved on to his office. “Professional job,” he said.
“Definitely not a job of amateurs,” Isabella agreed. She had seen this type of handiwork before but it was too soon to speculate.
“Then you agree that this is the work of some fanatical cult?”
Isabella shrugged. “It could be or someone trying to make it look like the work of a fanatical cult.”
“Where is Malloy?”
“He went to see the mayor,” Isabella replied.
“Is he going to be working on this case with you?”
Isabella nodded. “He wouldn’t miss it.”
Royce extended his hand to her. “Welcome aboard.”
Isabella shook his hand. “It’s been fun Doctor Randall but I really need to be going. There are a few things I need to check out.”
“What’s your plan?”
“I plan to drive across the river and visit Doctor Toussaint in Jefferson Parish. I’m sure his morgue is very busy too. Then I’ll go to the Saint Louis Cemetery,” Isabella answered.
“Be careful and stay away from creeps.”
“I’ll be careful,” she assured him. Oliver knew all about New Orleans and what went on in the town at night while the good citizens slept.
A few minutes later Isabella left the building.
* * * *
“How good is she?” Malcolm asked Ernie after they had gone through all the pleasantries.
“Isabella is the best,” Ernie answered. “She’s got the stamina of a horse and the balls of one too.”
Malcolm laughed. “What is she? A line backer?”
“No, just the best damn tracker I’ve ever seen. She’s also tougher than any partner I’ve had before. She has never let me down.”
“I can’t wait to meet her,” Malcolm said as he sat in his chair behind his big desk in the mayor’s office.
