I peeked through a sheer curtain and into his unit. It was surprisingly clean and well kept. An older sofa sat across from a TV, a coffee table between them. A line of different colored nail polish bottles had been arranged into the shape of a pyramid on top of the wooden surface. A kitchen was off to the left and a hallway beyond that.
I glanced toward two windows just beyond the balcony railing. I could hear Oz's voice coming from the furthest one. I jumped on top of the railing and stepped out onto a four-inch brick ledge that ran all along the side of the building. I stretched my arms up high to grab onto another brick ledge and managed to scoot along the side. I reached the first window, which jutted out further to make room for those who wanted to plant flowers. There was none of that here.
Leaning over as much as I dared, I peeked into the window. Oz knelt next to a bed where a thin girl with dark curly hair lay curled up in a ball. On her nightstand were all kinds of pill bottles and a couple of glasses of water.
"Sorry, Amy," Oz said to her. "I meant to make it back sooner last night. Work was pretty busy."
"No big deal," she said. "I slept most of the time anyway. I tried to watch the movie but was too tired."
"We can watch it later after I get some sleep if you'd like." He took her hand in his.
"Have you heard from mom?" she asked. Her fingers played with a ruffle on her bedspread.
"Sure," Oz said. "She called last night to check on you. She said she'd be back as soon as she can."
His voice was laced with tension, and I had the distinct impression he was lying.
She smiled and closed her eyes. "I think I might rest with you. Wake me up when you get up."
"You got it," he said and ran his palm across her forehead. He sat there for a moment longer, his head down. He finally stood when her breathing became steady.
I pressed up against the brick building as Oz's footsteps walked into the next room. I heard the springs of a mattress squeak as he jumped on top of a bed. From everything I had seen, he seemed to be a decent guy. Whatever he wanted money for, I'd bet my life it had something to do with Amy.
I was about to crawl back to the balcony when I heard a commotion below me. There were at least eight men, all holding guns and speaking in rushed voices. I listened closely, trying to make sense of their hurried conversations.
"…someone has to know something…"
"…hiding out here…"
"…got to show them…"
"Kill whoever gives you a hard time."
My head snapped up.
I had to warn Oz.
9
Very carefully to avoid detection from below, I slid against the brick wall until I reached Oz's window. I hooked my fingers into the slightly ajar window and jerked upward. I slipped inside a second later and stood tall inside Oz's room.
He jumped from the bed, eyes wide. "How did you find me?"
"You're not the only one who knows how to find people."
"But what are you doing here?"
"There are men coming into the building right now to search the place. They are looking for anyone who knows anything about what happened to the warehouse."
"Is that all?" He dropped back into the bed. "Victor is always sending thugs here to question everyone about this or that."
"But does he always send them with guns?"
He sat back up again. "That's new."
I left his room and walked through the apartment to the front door to peer through the peephole. No one was coming yet, but I could hear them floors below climbing up the stairs. It sounded like they were dividing up.
"Do you think they know what I look like?" Oz asked, a hint of panic to his voice.
"I don't know what they have."
"Dude, nothing can happen to me. I'm all my sister has." He disappeared back into the hallway but returned a moment later.
"I won't let anything happen to you," I said.
He handed me a wad of black material. "You need to leave."
"I'm not going anywhere. What is this?"
"It's a ski mask. You can't be seen here. Go out the way you came."
"I'm not going to leave with these guys in the building," I argued.
"And I don't want you to. Just come in through some other entrance that's not connected to me and put that mask on. You need to protect your identity as much as I do, if not more.”
I glanced down at the bundle in my hand. It was a thin, almost satiny face cover that would show only my eyes. Much softer than what I had used before.
"This is dumb," I said.
"It's all I've got," he said. "Go!"
I hung on to it as I hurried back down the hall and out Oz's window. I didn't bother going to the balcony. I just jumped straight down, turning the landing into a somersault as soon as I hit the ground. As I jogged toward the front of the building, I pulled the mask over my face. I expected it to feel smothering, but the material was so thin I barely felt it.
When I reached the corner, I peeked around the side. Two men stood at the entrance talking to one another. They were pretty brazen to do something like this in broad daylight. It was just before people were supposed to leave for work or school. Maybe that was their plan.
Not if I could help it.
I ghosted behind them and grabbed each with a one-armed chokehold, taking out both men before they realized what was happening. I ducked inside the building and raced up the stairs, listening closely to the different conversations around me. Best case scenario, Victor's men would just question some people and leave. I might not have to do anything.
Or maybe…
I had been wondering how to make people not afraid anymore. Maybe a big display of power against Victor would be just what the people of this city needed.
I considered the pros and cons as I climbed the stairs. I stopped on the fourth floor first, the level Oz lived on. Three men were already in the halls pounding on doors. As soon as a door was opened, a rifle got shoved in their faces and they were assaulted with questions. One of the occupants, an elderly man, moved to close his door, but before he could, one of the men holding a gun kicked the door in, knocking the man to the floor.
I bolted from the stairwell and swung a tight fist at the nearest thug's face. His jaw bone cracked as he fell over backwards, his eyes closing before he hit the floor. The second guy whirled a rifle in my direction, but I caught him with an undercut directly on his chin. His body lifted several feet and crashed to the floor. He wouldn't be getting up any time soon.
The last douchebag, who was further down the hall, turned and shot his pistol at me, but I was already running up the side of the hall and jumping into a spin. The heel of my boot caught him in the head, and he slammed into the wall, denting the drywall.
Several doors opened at the commotion, including Oz's. I glanced at him, our eyes locking briefly, before I turned and hurried back down the hall.
"I need rope!" I called back. I hoped he would understand.
I proceeded to go to the next floors above me to take out the rest of Victor's men. The thugs got off a few more shots before I could stop them, which frustrated me. I was hoping to do this without any gunfire. If only I was a little bit faster…
I sprinted down to the first floor, the last one I had not checked yet. I could hear screaming down below and knew there were at least two men waiting for me there. I kicked open the stairwell door and jumped to the side just as a gun went off. I ducked into an adjacent hallway to avoid more gunfire.
Reaching into my boot, I snatched the small blades I always kept with me. I gripped the handles with both hands and ran back into the other hall, dropping to the floor as soon as gunfire exploded. I snapped my arm forward releasing one of the blades. It whistled through the air and pierced the closest man's shoulder. The gun fell from his hand as he yelped in pain.
His companion's face paled and he looked back at me, his finger on the trigger. I tossed the other blade. It sliced through the fingers gripping the handle of h
is nine-millimeter. I sprang to my feet and sprinted toward the guns on the floor. As I reached them, a third man stepped out of one of the apartments with a rifle pointed directly at me. He pulled the trigger just as I kicked at his hand. The gun went off. I punched him in the face. He flew back several feet and landed on a small table just inside the apartment.
A scream startled me, and I whirled around.
There on the floor, a young girl lay bleeding.
10
Her mother screamed again and pressed her hands against the girl's bloody abdomen. My heart sunk into my stomach as I rushed to her side.
"Get away from her," the woman cried. "You're all monsters!"
I backed away, time slowing, as I stared at the blood bubbling up around her mother's hands on her stomach. I took several deep breaths. I did this. If she died, it would be my fault.
Someone jerked on my arm. "Hey!"
I shifted my focus. Oz stood in front of me trying to hand me a wad of rope. He grabbed my hand and forced it onto my palm.
"Snap out of it," he said. "Finish the job. I will take care of the girl."
My mind was numb as I scooped up my knife from off of the floor. While Oz called for help, I cut off sections of the rope and proceeded to tie up the men in the hall. I carried each of them out to the street and lined them up, adding the remaining men to the line, including the thugs by the front door. Some of them had come to and struggled against the ropes.
"You're a dead man," one of them said to me.
I walked over to him and squatted down. I took hold of the man's shirt and jerked him an inch from my face. "Tell Victor I'm coming for him."
I shoved him back.
In the distance, sirens wailed, a whole slew of them. Oz walked outside and removed his cell phone. He pointed it at the captured men and took several pictures.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"What you did here needs to go viral. The city needs to know what happens when the Crow attacks."
The Crow? With what had happened to that girl moments ago, I didn't deserve the name.
"Get out of here," Oz whispered. "You don't want to be here when the cops show up."
I looked up just as a police car turned the corner. I spun around and sprinted into the alley. I tore off the mask and removed my dark jacket. A second later, I returned to the street and blended into the growing crowd of people who were all anxious to see what had happened.
A few minutes later, when an ambulance showed up, I waited until I saw the girl. She was on a stretcher when she came out of the building, her mother gripping her hand. For now, she was alive.
I turned away from the scene, finally allowing myself to think about what I'd done. So much had happened in such a short amount of time. Adrenaline still coursed through me, making my pulse race. It didn't feel like it would ever stop.
Not once did I ever feel like my life was in danger, but I sure felt it for those around me, especially when that girl was shot. I simply hadn't been fast enough and that bothered me. The whole point of taking out Victor was to protect the city, but if I was going to get people killed in the process, then what was the point? I didn't want there to be collateral damage.
Roman's voice echoed in my head. "Become what you were meant to be."
I hated to admit it, but his words held truth. Had I been a vampire when I had fought those men, that girl would still be alive. But I probably would've killed all those men, too. Roman had told me how powerful a vampire's anger could be. I was quick to anger with just V proteins in me, so I believed his words. Was I ready to be a killer? Did that even matter if I only killed bad people?
I exhaled a weighted breath. I couldn't kill. My father didn't have to change to make a difference. I would just have to fight better and faster. Train harder. Be more careful.
I glanced down at the time. Roman wouldn't be up for a few more hours. I turned in the direction of my aunt's house, hoping to catch her before she went to work.
Once again, I scaled up the building to her balcony and rapped my knuckles on the window. She opened it, fully dressed for work. The bruise on her face wasn't as black.
"Two days in a row, Aris?" she asked, and backed away from the window. "That's dangerous."
I slipped inside. "I heard the Physician was released yesterday and his case thrown out."
She shook her head. "The whole thing is a mess. Everyone knows Victor got to the judge, especially with her daughter coming in to the station the same day saying she was attacked, but what is anyone going to do about it? It's not like they want to put their loved ones in jeopardy either by standing up to Victor."
I leaned against the wall, my gaze focused on the white tiled floor. "I did something this morning…"
"What did you do?"
"You'll hear about it soon enough, but I'm hoping it will make people less scared, especially when they see more of it. The problem is a girl was hurt in the process. I didn't mean for it to happen. I just wasn't fast enough."
She stepped toward me and rested her palm on my arm. "You can't save everyone."
"But if I had done what Roman wanted and became a vampire, I know I could've saved that girl."
Her voice was quiet when she asked, "What's stopping you from turning?"
"I don't want to become a monster!" I leaned away from the wall and paced the small kitchen feeling suddenly caged in. "I don't want to drink human blood and fight those constant urges. I don't want to be a freak, some creature that's feared by everyone."
"You want to be loved," she stated.
This stopped me, and I thought about it. "Is that so wrong?"
My whole life I had been discouraged from getting close to anyone, forced to live underground like some kind of mutant. I guess I did want to feel affection from people. Maybe that made me pathetic.
Her shoulders dropped a little. "I don't think you'll become a monster. You will still have your kind heart, the one that wants to make a difference for good. Those feelings won't go away when you turn."
"How do you know that? Roman admitted they didn't find a lot of ancient documents detailing the life of a vampire. All they had were stories passed down through generations."
"Whether you become a vampire or not, there's one fact that will always remain, and that's your ability to choose to be good or evil. As a vampire, that choice may be harder, but it's still a choice. And whatever you decide, I will be there to help you as much as I'm able."
My breathing slowed. "Thank you."
"You’re welcome. You should go now, and please, don't come by unless it's an absolute emergency. Victor's men are still watching me, and if you really did do something crazy this morning, I fear they will only keep a more watchful eye."
"Do you have a gun?" I asked.
"I'd be crazy not to in this city."
"I'm sorry it has to be that way. Hopefully not for much longer. I'm going to protect you and everyone else who has suffered under that monster's rule."
I stopped as realization dawned on me. There were too many unknowns with me turning into a vampire. Besides, the city didn't need another monster. They already had one. What it needed was a hero, even if that meant a few people might get hurt in the process.
"No matter what you decide, Aris, just remember that you are your own person capable of making good choices. No matter how hard life gets, no matter what truths you discover, it's your life. You create your own destiny." She stared at me for a few tense seconds. "You should leave. I have to get to work."
I nodded once and walked to the window, thinking about her words, specifically the part about discovering truths. Roman had eluded to something similar. I placed my hand on the windowsill and looked back over my shoulder. "Is there something I should know?"
She picked up her purse from off of the table and averted her gaze. "What I know won't help you right now. Be safe today."
Before I could say anything else, she left the room and out the front door of the apartment.
&nbs
p; Roman wasn't listening in the Halo, which meant he was probably working on some part of Ironwood. I closed my eyes and focused my senses on everything around me. I couldn't hear anything unusual, like someone using a hammer or the shuffling of feet. My hearing wasn't nearly as good as Roman's, but down here with all the acoustics, I was able to catch most sounds.
That's when I heard it. The whisper of a heavy sigh off to my left. I walked through an older tunnel that branched off of the main section of Ironwood. It took awhile, but eventually it led to an open area with an old foundation of wood and partial concrete. Dirt had filled in the spaces.
This area had been forbidden to me when I was younger, and even now Roman frowned on me coming here. It was too unstable as it was directly below the seaport. If I kept walking, it would eventually lead me to a large drainage pipe that ended in the bay.
"What are you doing in here?" I asked Roman.
He was sitting on an old bucket, his head lowered. "Your life is fragile, Aris, like this room. One wrong move and it could all come crashing down."
"I don't understand."
"I can sense it in this place. The pressure that's been building up for decades." He pointed to a T joint in the corner where two railroad ties had been hammered together. "Like there. I can't see it, but I can feel it. It's straining under the weight of a million pounds. If I touch it, we will be crushed to death."
"Um, maybe we should leave?"
"I sense pressure points in you too, Aris. You must be careful. I know you want to avenge your parents’ deaths, but it must be done in the right way. You have to be smart about this. Take your time."
"Why are you telling me something I already know?"
"Because I got you a job."
"A job?"
"At Bodian Dynamics."
I stiffened. Bodian was the research facility my mother had worked at when she had met my father. She was a manager in their experimental sciences division. After her death, Victor became closely affiliated with the giant company, donating millions to them every year. He gave so much they put him on their Board of Trustees, and three years ago they had given him access to a whole floor in their ten-story building. Roman had been trying to uncover what Victor was working on, but had yet to be successful.
A Hero's Death: Aris Crow Vampire Legend Page 7
