Sunset Strip: from the Tome of Bill Series

by Rick Gualtieri

  “That wasn’t very hospitable.”

  “Can we please get this over with?” I whispered.

  “Get what over with?”

  “My sister. You dragged me here so I could watch you kill her.”

  “I did no such thing.”

  “It’s bad enough you have to torture me...I mean, her, with...wait, what do you mean?”

  “I’m not going to kill your sister.”

  “No?” I didn't believe it.

  “Why would I? I’m having a perfectly good time.”

  “But...”

  “I will admit, I’m considering recruiting her. She has a certain appeal. However, I haven’t made up my mind yet.”

  He was actually considering making her one of us? The fucker actually liked her?! The horror of subjecting my sister to the hell that my existence had become briefly flickered in my head. Outrage quickly replaced the feeling, though, at the thought of spending eternity with the fucking bitch - eons of listening to her strut her superior attitude in my face.

  I’d been in her shadow my entire life. She was always prettier, more popular, more to my father’s liking. The one thing I had over her, my mind - or so I always thought - had been browbeaten so badly over the years that I’d given up any thought of using it to further my life. Now, here we were: me, little more than an undead whore, and her, the up-and-coming sales manager. She’d become me...or the life I could have, should have, lived.

  I stepped over to the window and looked out. The view did nothing to quench my rapidly fouling mood. She’d had everything growing up and even now couldn’t leave me any scraps. So here was Night Razor, changing his fucking plans like the goddamned asshole he was, and debating offering her the one and only thing I had in my favor: immortality.

  No. There was no fucking way that was going to happen.

  “Are you okay...Lucinda?” Night Razor asked mockingly from his seat.

  I bit my tongue. Normally, when he asked a question, he expected an answer. Well, fuck him. If he wanted me to respond, he’d have to compel me.

  His voice floated to me from his seat. “Use it.”

  Use what? What the fuck was he talking about? Goddamnit! I couldn’t even think straight. I closed my eyes and massaged my temples with my fingertips, trying to will the anger away. I heard him get up and walk into the kitchen. A few moments later, their voices reached my ears, including my sister’s tittering laughter.

  I tried to focus, but it was in vain. Whereas normally I would have been able to hear them perfectly, the only sound my ears would focus on was my own ragged breathing, drawing in hitched breaths as I tried to calm myself.

  I don’t know how long I stood there like that. Could have been seconds or years, for all I knew. Night Razor and Linda continued chatting away in the kitchen. Her continued chuckles at his no doubt asinine comments continued to stab into my consciousness like an ice pick.

  An eternity with her...with my cunt of a sister...

  Behind me, she reentered the room. “Help yourself, Jeff,” she called back.

  “Much obliged.”

  Her footsteps came closer, right up behind me.

  “Marvelous view isn’t it, Lu? You wouldn’t believe what this place costs a month, although I’m happy to say I can afford it.”

  “What do you mean by that?” I asked through gritted teeth.

  “Mean? Just that my position pays quite...”

  “No, that I wouldn’t believe what this place costs.”

  “Oh, nothing at all. Your boyfriend was just telling me about your living arrangements...how you share a loft of sorts with some others down in SoHo. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I mean, I was never into the Bohemian lifestyle myself, but I’m sure it suits you well in your current condition.”

  “What condition?” I asked, opening my eyes. Facing the window, I wasn’t entirely surprised to see that my view of uptown Manhattan had taken on a decisively red hue.

  “Well, I suspected as much when you called me back during that time you lived in Vegas, and Jeff tried to dance around the subject a bit, but he did manage to let slip that you do most of your work at night...

  I smiled, feeling my fangs elongate. “Oh?”

  “And I know you left home in a huff, having barely finished high school. A young, reasonably attractive girl like you...and I imagine the money isn’t too bad. I mean, our father would certainly not approve, but I’m not one to judge. They do call it the world’s oldest profession for a reason, don’t they?” She finished the sentence with a laugh. I was sure she meant it to sound casual, but I could only hear the undertones of pity and scorn in it.

  Something in me snapped. The feral nature that I’d felt when I’d taken the lives of Mark and my friends came rushing up to the surface tenfold. This time, though, I let it. It infused every part of me, seeping into the very core of my being.

  The old me, the one I’d tried to desperately hold on to, lost her grip. She tumbled into my subconscious, and I was glad to let her go. She was a mouse, whereas the new me was meant to be a lioness. The thing about lionesses, though...they do most of the hunting.

  I turned and smiled, knowing what Linda would see. The soulless black orbs that were now my eyes met hers. For a moment there was no response, save for a startled look on her face, then I sensed fear beginning to emanate from her. It lit up her face, made her heart speed up, and flowed from her pores. She backed up a step.

  “What’s the matter, dear sister?”

  “What’s...what’s wrong with you, Lu?” she replied, trying to sound no more than slightly surprised.

  “Nothing at all. I’m just as you said.” I took a step closer. “I’m a woman of the night now...only just not quite how you imagined it.”

  “Please, Lucinda, I never...”

  “Oh, and you can stop with that. Your little Lucinda died two years ago. You can call me Sally...at least for this one last moment.”

  “Jeff!” she screamed, not understanding that he was the last person who would help anyone.

  Before she could utter more than his name, I was upon her. Pulling her down to my level, I forced her head to the side, and whispered in her ear. “Let’s see if blood truly is thicker than water.”

  I bit down on her neck, one hand in her hair, yanking her head down further. Her bones creaked, stretched to the limit. I was rewarded for the effort as her blood began to flow down my throat.

  There was something different about it from the previous times I’d fed, though. It felt like coming home, although whether it was due to our close relation or my embracing the beast inside of me, I didn’t know...or care.

  I drank deeply, not wishing to let any of her escape. She’d given me a lifetime of misery, and I meant to repay it to the very last drop.

  She attempted to push me away, but in the end, Linda, my older sister, a person who’d lorded her superiority over me at every opportunity, turned out to be a frail thing indeed. Her struggles began to wane. Her heart, which had beaten so frantically when I first attacked, began to slow.

  Her heart!

  I pulled back for just a moment, long enough for the claws on my right hand to extend. A small voice inside of me, what remained of Lucinda, screamed for me to stop, but I gave it no heed. Her weakness would never dictate my actions ever again.

  I slammed my hand into Linda’s chest and plowed through her sternum like it was made of tissue paper. A strangled gasp escaped her lips as my fingers closed around her heart.

  I pulled it free even as it sputtered its last few beats. Jeff had meant to turn her, but she wouldn’t be coming back. I wouldn’t allow it.

  I tossed the now useless organ over my shoulder and dropped the sack of meat that had been my sister to the floor at my feet.

  It was only then that I heard the clapping. Jeff stood in the doorway of the kitchen, his eyes blackened as he applauded me.

  Use it.

  I realized too late this had been his plan. He had never meant to
kill Linda. It had been me all along. I was meant to sever my ties to the past and become the new me...the life I had struggled so hard to fight.

  He walked toward me, continuing to clap as he approached. A part of me wanted to gut him where he stood. The side of me that was now dominant, though, understood and approved. He was a sadistic motherfucker and God help me, but I loved it...wanted more of it.

  As he stepped up to me, I grabbed his shirt and tore it open. Before he could say anything else, I pulled him to me and rammed my mouth against his - my teeth tearing furrows across his lips.

  I dragged him down, atop of where my sister’s body lay, and we began to tear at each other’s clothes.

  I took him right there as if we were no better than beasts of the night. We were like rabid animals, and I found myself enjoying every sick second of it.

  Chapter 34

  Present

  As the trio of creatures dragged Mark beneath the roiling water, it wasn’t fear that consumed his face, but raw, naked hatred - spite at me and a world that had corrupted him. My decision had been the right one. In the end, he was no better than an animal.

  “I’m sorry,” I whispered to no one. It was probably more than he deserved.

  Another wave of filthy water washed over the catwalk, knocking me to my knees. This time when it subsided, it didn’t go down nearly as much. The water level was now two feet above the bottom and rising fast. I grasped the handrail, forced myself back to my unsteady feet, and made the mistake of looking down.

  A flash of light shone momentarily, quickly replaced with the glow of malevolent orange eyes - eyes that were rapidly rising again. The creatures meant to have me too.

  Make that us too. A choking sound reminded me that I wasn’t alone. I turned and found Kara doubled over and coughing water out of her lungs. If those things got me, which they surely would if I didn’t think of something fast, then she wouldn’t be far behind. She was a spoiled little brat of a bitch, but it would be a bad way to die for even her.

  What was worse was that nobody, probably not even Christy with her magic - assuming she was still alive - would know what happened. It would be just one of many anonymous deaths to come if these creatures were allowed to surface unchecked from the flooded hell these tunnels had become.

  The water bubbled as the monsters neared the surface.

  Wait...maybe that was the answer. Hadn’t I nearly been swept away by the current? Yet these things were still here because they were made of fucking stone. The goddamn things were basically living anchors.

  Me and Kara, on the other hand...

  It was all I had left to try. I sloshed back to where she knelt. “Come on!” I said, dragging her up.

  “No,” she weakly sputtered. “Leave me al...”

  She never got a chance to finish her sentence. At that moment, another wave hit us. Without giving it any thought, I grabbed her, digging my claws into her wrist for good measure, and pushed off with my good leg, the rush of water carrying us over the railing.

  My body scraped against something sharp. I opened my eyes, and was rewarded with the briefest glimpse of six angry orange eyes fading in the distance of the brackish water as the current swept us away.

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  Sadly, any victory cry I might have had was cut short - there was no way to scream without inhaling a gallon of sewer water. Being slammed back and forth against the rough rock wall at breakneck speed also wasn’t particularly fun.

  There was likewise the concern that my reluctant swim mate was going to need air rather soon. She lacked my undead ability to ignore such pesky things.

  Unable to halt our forward momentum, I used what little remaining strength I had to kick upward. If we were lucky, we might find a pipe or another catwalk to grab hold of and ride this out until I could think of something better.

  Kara desperately clawed at me, no doubt terrified out of her mind. I held fast, though. Just a little more and I’d...oof!

  My head struck the ceiling and dragged against it. The concrete tore at my scalp and back. Fuck! The tunnel was totally flooded. If there were any pockets of air to be found, we were being pulled along too fast to notice them. Sadly, I didn’t have the strength to slow us down. Hell, I was barely able to maintain my own consciousness.

  Kara’s struggles against me weakened. Fuck! There wasn’t any time left. I had to try. I pulled her close to me as we rushed down the flooded sewer tunnel. Wrapping one arm around her waist, I reached out with my claws.

  The current slammed us against the wall and I dug in. The pull of the water was monstrously strong, and I dug furrows trying to slow us down, feeling the pain as two of my nails ripped right out.

  At last we stopped, although the current threatened to dislodge us at any moment. It was only then that I realized she’d gone completely limp against me. No, goddamnit!

  Doing my best while holding on for dear life, I positioned my mouth against hers and realized I had no air left in my lungs to breathe into hers.

  It was over.

  She was gone, and I wasn’t going to be able to hang on much longer in my current condition. I’d be swept along, continually battered until I was either pummeled to paste or those creatures found me.

  No! There was one other choice...a way to possibly save us both - and all it meant was throwing my entire reason for doing this out the fucking window.

  Her blood.

  It would give me the strength to make it through this and would also pave the way for her survival.

  I didn’t wish it for her. Despite my uncaring demeanor, part of me didn’t want her going down the same path. Sadly, there wasn’t much choice. History has a way of pissing in your face even as it repeats itself.

  There was no time left for further moral debate. I sank my teeth into her neck as the current pulled us free, sending us careening down into the darkness as if we were locked in an eternal embrace.

  Chapter 35

  I don’t know how long we were under...me feeding, her receiving the gift of damnation. All I knew was that it wasn’t a particularly pleasant trip. We were slammed to and fro like we were nothing but flotsam. More than once, Kara’s bones snapped from the impact. It wouldn’t matter. They’d heal themselves before she awoke. My own wounds begin to mend, even as new ones formed from the battering we took. Such is the way of my...our...kind.

  The only worry now was those creatures. I doubted they’d give up easily, and I was certain that the number we’d encountered was only the tip of the iceberg. We still needed to find a way out, and for all I knew, having been washed down perhaps miles of tunnels, we may well have been far underground...too far down to...

  The rush of water became a deafening roar, and suddenly I surfaced. There wasn’t much room overhead - just more dark tunnel. Within moments, however, even that was gone. A brilliant flash of red lightning lit up the sky above me and rain pelted my face as we were ejected from one of Vegas’s many flood drains. Concrete rose to either side of us as the flood continued to wash us along.

  I’m not sure how far we traveled, but the current finally began to slake. Dragging Kara’s inert form, I paddled to the side and managed to claw my way up the embankment, where I collapsed next to her on the rocky ground.

  Though there was nothing natural about the storm that continued to rage above us, the rain at least felt good...cleansing. After what we’d been through, I happily accepted it.

  I don’t know how long we lay there, nor even what time it was. The sky above was dark, save for the oddly colored lightning that signaled the supernatural power within. Power that had, somehow, beckoned those monsters up from the depths.

  At long last, though, a sound other than rain or thunder reached my ears - the hum of an engine. A vehicle approached. That was good. We could use a ride. And if the owners asked too many questions, well...what was one more sad story in a city full of them?

  There was a squeal of brakes, and then a voice shouted, “Over there!” It sounded familiar
. No, it couldn’t be...

  “Christy?” I asked wearily, trying to sit up.

  A person hopped out of the driver’s side and quickly approached us. It definitely wasn’t her, though. My eyes recognized him a moment before his scent hit my nostrils. It was Barlow’s partner, Steve. Fuck!

  I had only partially healed, but it would hopefully be enough. I didn’t need to be in top form to handle the likes of him...maybe.

  Pushing myself to my feet, I extended my fangs and claws - ready to meet him, and vaguely hoping not to be peppered again with gunfire. That would really suck.

  To my surprise, though, he skidded to a halt and held up his hands as if in surrender.

  “I’m not here to fight.”

  “Really?” I asked sarcastically. “I suppose you’re the rescue party.”

  “Actually, we are,” another voice called out from closer to the car. I hadn’t been hearing things earlier. It was Christy! What the hell was going on?

  She hobbled over, dripping wet and obviously bruised up...but still very much alive.

  I smiled despite myself, then quickly reined it in as I remembered Kara lying just a few feet away. How would Christy react to what I’d done?

  Her eyes fell to the prone form at my feet. Apparently I was about to find out.

  “Kara!” She doubled her pace, passed Steve, and reached us. I took a respectful step back, not quite sure what to say.

  Christy dropped to her knees next to the girl and touched her cheek, no doubt noting the cold feel of her skin and the blue pallor of her lips. She pressed her fingers to the side of Kara’s neck to feel for the pulse that wouldn’t be there.

  “Goddamnit,” she whispered. She looked up at me and exhaustion reflected in her eyes. Whatever she’d been through since we were separated obviously hadn’t been a walk in the park, either. “She’s...”

  “Going to be okay,” I finished. “I made sure of it.”

  Seeing her questioning eyes, I knelt and turned Kara’s head, exposing the puncture marks on the opposite side of her neck.