‘These murders represent the first attack in the previously peaceful 7th District. As the epidemic spreads, many residents are fearful that it will not be the last…”
Veronica stopped reading and looked at Lucas.
“That could have been me,” he said. “I have no control over myself during the full moon.”
“Darling,” Veronica said putting her hand gently against his cheek. “They always show the worst of it in the papers. For every one like that, there are hundreds of others living peacefully. Don’t despise yourself. I know you and trust you.”
“I wish I could make it stop,” Lucas said. “I’ve heard people talking about a cure. They call it Moonshade. It’s a potion that you can buy on the black market that makes it stop. I looked for it, you know. I searched everywhere. It was a wild goose chase. Nobody knew anything.”
Lucas slammed his fist on the counter so hard the plates jumped into the air, landing with a clatter.
“Who did you ask, love?”
“Everyone,” Lucas said quietly. “The lower 12th District, the dive bars on Scuffle Row, the kids on the street corners… I’m lucky I didn’t ask a narc, I guess. They lock you up and throw away the key if they catch you trying to buy it. Whether it exists or not.”
“But why would it be illegal?”
“They don’t believe it will work forever. They think it’ll make it harder to find the Wolfmen. They’d rather have us killed than allow us to take a dubious cure.”
“Well, what if I tried to find it for you?” Veronica asked.
“Absolutely not!” he shouted. Then he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. That’s very sweet of you to offer, but it’s too risky. You’d be talking to dangerous people in shady places. Best case scenario, you get arrested. Believe me, I already looked and it doesn’t exist.” Lucas swept his strong hand gently over her forehead, sweeping back a lock of her auburn hair. “Promise me you won’t go looking for it.”
“But, darling-“
“Veronica, please. Promise me.”
“Alright, love. I promise.”
Lucas placed a tender kiss upon her lips.
Chapter 3
The snow crunched under Veronica’s feet as she made her way down the sidewalk. There were few footprints in the newly fallen powder and she saw even fewer cars driving on the salted roads. It was a little before noon, but the air was bitterly cold on the exposed skin of her face. Her breath came out in little clouds.
She knew of the places that Lucas had mentioned but had never been to any of them. They were sordid places infested with crime and breeding grounds for Wolfman’s Disease. It was so bad in the 12th district, police refused to go there on the night of a full moon. That was as good a place as any to start, she thought to herself. Veronica located a map of the transit system and found the route to take her down into the 12th district.
While she sat waiting on a frozen metal bench, she fingered the tiny pistol in her pocket, loaded with a single silver bullet. She had purchased it when she first learned Lucas was a Wolfman. It had been impossible to believe at first. He was so caring and gallant. But after he told her the truth, she could see the animal nature hidden deep within his eyes.
“It doesn’t change anything between us, darling,” she had told him. “I love you just as I’ve always loved you.”
It had changed things between them, though. Veronica found herself fantasizing about him transforming. She became obsessed with the idea of giving over her body to the wild ravishing of an untamed beast. She had played the situation through in her head countless times and ways. Last night had been better than all of her fantasies. It still didn’t seem real.
Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, Veronica thought she caught a glimpse of motion. She snapped her head in that direction, but saw only a deserted intersection.
Soon, from the other direction, she heard the rumbling of the bus nearing the stop. Its wheels slushed across the asphalt as it came to a screeching halt before Veronica’s bench. With a hydraulic hiss, the bus knelt and its door swung open, close enough that Veronica could feel the heat from within. She took one last look back down the empty street, then mounted the stairs into the musty interior.
Chapter 4
Half of the seats on the bus were empty. The other half were occupied by a diverse collection of faces. Near her sat a man in a fine double breasted pea coat reading a paper and giving off the strong odor of aftershave. The man had folded the paper in such a way that Veronica could see the same story Lucas had shown her only a few hours earlier. Farther back, an old woman bundled in layers of dirty coats and a head scarf slept with her face against the window. As Veronica scanned the crowd, she made eye contact with the shockingly white eyes of a dark man in a hooded sweater and quickly looked away.
Veronica stared out the window as the bus made its sojourn down the winding streets. The 2nd District was lively as people walked the streets in their Sunday clothes, running errands or going out to lunch at one of the charming cafes. At this stop, the bus began to empty as a half dozen passengers stepped out into the cold.
The bus rolled away from the 2nd District and climbed the ramp onto the interstate. Veronica tried to think back to the last time she traveled this way. It had been many years ago, before the quarantine. Either way, it was at the far edges of her memory.
The bus meandered its way through the modest but clean 5th district, depositing still more passengers before returning to the interstate. As it passed through the 7th District, Veronica began to see abandoned houses with boarded up doors and windows. As it traveled through the 9th district, two underdressed children on bicycles stopped to stare at her through the bus window.
When the bus finally reached the 12th District, Veronica was one of only three passengers. She exited alone and surveyed the unfamiliar streets.
The main road of the 12th District was short. She could see a couple dive bars, abandoned storefronts, and a tiny grocery store with barred windows advertising the lottery. People were milling about on the sidewalks. This place was totally unfamiliar to her, but given the District’s reputation, she didn’t want to appear lost. She began walking down the street towards where she saw the most people.
“Hey, sweet thang!” called a group of young men as she passed. “Oh, come on baby! Where you going?”
She scanned the people she passed. She wasn’t sure exactly what she was looking for. Getting to the 12th district and asking around had been the extent of her plan.
She saw women, scantily clad for weather approaching men in front of an apartment building. Men sat on stoops smoking casually from glass pipes. It seemed like everyone turned to stare at her. She marched ahead, thinking about Lucas and clutching the gun in her pocket.
“Uptown girl!” called a man on a street corner. She took it as another cat call and began to walk past. “Whatchu need, baby? Looking for that head change?”
Suddenly, a light went off in her head. This could be her chance.
She turned back around to the man. He was a short black man, with a puffy jacket and an eye frosted over with cataracts. If he was a narcotics officer playing a drug dealer, he was doing an Oscar-worthy performance.
“Yes, I am looking for something. It’s for a friend of mine. He needs it for the moon.”
“Aw, hell no!” he said shaking his head and putting his empty hands up. “Lady, I ain’t nobody got nothing for your friend. You take him right down to quarantine.”
“I heard about something that can help him. Moonshade. Have you heard of it?”
The white-eyed man sucked in his bottom lip and looked silently far down the road for a few seconds.
“I don’t know nothing ‘bout it.”
“Do you know who might?”
“Don’t believe in it myself,” he continued.
“I have money.”
The white-eyed man sighed.
“How much?”
“Fifty dollars.”
&n
bsp; “Now look,” he said. “I ain’t promising nothing. I know a guy who might know ‘bout something like that. Just maybe.”
“Would you take me to him?”
She pulled out three bills. He swiftly counted them and put them in his pocket.
“Aight, follow me.”
The white-eyed man led her down the street that led away from the main road. He limped slightly as they walked uphill through less trafficked streets. In a short while, they arrived at an apartment building on the corner of a block.
“Wait here,” he said.
He pressed a button on the panel by the door. There was a click and he soon disappeared inside.
Veronica stood in the cold, looking up and down the streets. She felt immediately foolish for giving a stranger her money and letting him walk away.
She became aware of the uncomfortable feeling of being watched. She looked up at all the windows of the five story buildings that surrounded her. Some had their blinds drawn, others partially open. She couldn’t see any eyes looking back at her. She thought about Lucas’ quest for Moonshade and wondered if it had brought him to this same intersection.
She caught another glimpse of something out of the corner of her eye: a black figure moving in the alley across the street. When she looked, it was gone. She sighed. The whole adventure was putting her on edge.
Ten minutes passed. Veronica was considering leaving when she heard a noise behind her. The white-eyed man stood in the open door and motioned her to come in. She took a deep sigh and followed.
Chapter 5
The apartment building was very old, built sometime around the turn of the century. The electricity and plumbing, which had been added later, were on the outside of the walls. Stained wainscoting ran waist high around the walls under a dirty, faded floral wallpaper. They climbed past an old man who smelled strongly of liquor as they mounted the creaking staircase.
At the top landing was a single door. The white-eyed man tapped a short, deliberate pattern on the door and it swung open. A tall, beefy man stood in the door. He gave Veronica a blank stare, before stepping aside to allow them both in. Veronica’s heart raced as the door shut behind them.
The room was illuminated by the daylight filtering in through the window blinds. The room was sparsely furnished with a bare hardwood floor. In the center of the room was an impressively large desk, chipped and scarred from years of service. Behind the desk sat a thin man with sunglasses and corn rows in a cheap, but well-tailored suit. His held a smoldering cigar in his ring covered fingers. Veronica suspected from his manner of dress that this man was a pimp.
For a moment the room was silent. The pimp took a drag from his cigar and exhaled leisurely. Veronica felt that it must be her turn to speak first.
“Um, hello. I’m Veronica,” she began.
“Quincy tells me you come to my corner looking for Moonshade,” the pimp said motioning to the white-eyed man.
“Well, yes. It’s for someone very close to me. Do you know where I could- I mean, do you have any here?”
“Ain’t deal in no Moonshade,” the pimp said.
Veronica’s heart sank.
“That’s okay. Um, do you know who does?”
“Reason I don’t deal in it is, for one thing, ain’t no way to test it. Not unless you associate with folks who got The Sickness.” He leaned forward and looked at her over the rim of his shades. “I don’t associate with folks who got The Sickness. Second reason is it attracts a breed of clientele I do not wish to attract. And third thing is, cops don’t like that Moonshade. And, for the most part, I don’t get too many problems from cops.”
“Then it’s real? I mean, it exists.”
The pimp leaned back in his chair and took another drag.
“Yes. Yes, it exists. Now finding it, though. That’s another thing entirely,” he said. “You don’t know who I am do you?”
“No,” Veronica said.
“Ain’t never been down to 12th before?”
“No.”
“Hmm,” he said thoughtfully. “You just come around here, sweet piece of tail like you, flashing cash at strangers hoping to score some Moonshade. That there’s how folks get theyselves robbed or killed. I’m being very honest with you now. Hell, if I wasn’t I could sell you this bottle of water. You wouldn’t even know the difference.” He smiled at himself before getting suddenly serious again. “Best help I can give you is to tell you ‘go home.’”
“Do you know anybody who could help me?”
The pimp chuckled to himself.
“Go try the Red Fang Bar, four blocks past the way you came. Lot of Wolfmen hang ‘round there.”
He motioned to the doorman who opened the door for her to leave.
“Thank you,” she said, turning to leave.
“Hey,” said the pimp. “If you’re ever looking to make some money, beautiful, you just come find me.”
Chapter 6
Red Fang Bar looked like a promising place. Beer lights shone through the barred windows. A group of four or five bearded men stood in a circle by the door smoking cigarettes. They looked up at her as she approached, making toothy grins and whistling.
Inside, the air was a stifling cloud of cigarette smoke making halos around the dim lights. Everyone turned to look at Veronica as she entered. She took a seat at the bar.
“Whatya have?” asked the bartender, an older woman with a busty chest in a revealing shirt.
“Flame Thrower,” she called out over the jukebox playing the blues.
Veronica took and lit a cigarette from her pocket as the bartender came back with the drink. Veronica sipped at the cocktail as she stared off into the space in front of her trying to organize her thoughts and plan her next move. Would she start up a conversation with a stranger? How would she decide who to ask? The guys outside might know where to find Moonshade. She’d certainly need a couple more drinks before she’d ask them. And what if she didn’t find it? What’s the worst that could happen? Did she really care that Lucas would still be a Wolfman?
No. Despite what the papers said, being a Wolfman wasn’t all that bad. There was a great deal of power that came with it. Some could use it for good, others would undoubtedly use it for evil.
She thought back to last night. Lucas had transformed into an animal, but he was still himself. He was just more powerful and wild. Lucas was always a passionate lover, but as she thought back to that night, she recalled the unbridled passion it seemed to bring out of him.
“Good drink for a cold day,” came a deep, warm voice from beside her.
Veronica was startled. She hadn’t heard the man approach. She looked over and was doubly surprised by the handsome face she found. He was tall and thin, sporting an immaculate beard. His hair was slicked back carefully and a small cross was tattooed upside down under his eye. As he turned to look at her, she imagined she could see a red tinge to his hazel irises. There was something magnetic and disarming about him.
“Well, yes. I’d like to think so,” she said.
He smiled an easy smile that brightened his eyes.
“I’ll have a Flame Thrower, same as this beautiful woman beside me,” he told the bartender. He returned his attention to Veronica.
“No,” he seemed to say rather to himself than to her, “I can’t say I recall a winter this cold in quite a stretch. The wind cuts to the bone, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, it’s awfully cold,” Veronica agreed.
“Pardon me if I sound forward when I say it, but you don’t look like the kind of girl you typically see walking around the 12th District.”
“Why is that?”
“Well, you’re rather pretty, articulate, well dressed...”
He chuckled softly to himself, “Where are my manners? My name’s Deriston. Friends call me D.”
“Veronica,” she said, shaking his hand. “You don’t seem like the kind of man you typically see in the 12th district either.”
Deriston shrugged.
; “I moved here about a year ago. It’s not upscale living, but it’s not the hellhole people make it out to be either.”
“Where’d you live before?”
“5th District. Up on Hickory Ave. It was a nice little place. What about you?”
Veronica finished her drink and motioned to the bartender for another. She could feel the warmth of it spreading through her core. She enjoyed finding some conversation in the midst of this frustrating quest. She didn’t want to admit to Deriston that she came from the upscale 2nd District.
“I’ve got a flat in the 4th District with my boyfriend.”
A peculiar little smile came to his face when she said that.
“The 4th District is a nice place,” Deriston nodded in approval. “What do you do up there?”
“I work retail. Nothing terribly exciting, I’m afraid. What about you?”
“Butcher,” he said. And then quickly, he turned to face her with a steely and cold expression, “So tell me Veronica, what is a pretty little saleswoman doing at a dive bar in the middle of 12th District? It’s obviously not to find some work selling clothes to strange men in bars.”
Veronica wrestled silently for a moment with her thoughts, wondering if she should trust this man. She’d come a long way and certainly didn’t want to go home empty handed. There was something in his eyes and the confidence with which he carried himself. No, it wasn’t just that. There was something else, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. She decided to take a chance.
“I’m looking for something I hear you can get around here,” she said looking into her empty glass. She looked up into his eyes. “Something to help someone very close to me.”
AREA 69: An Alien Invasion Romance Novel Page 5
