I couldn’t scream. All I could do is slowly suffocate under his grip and make little whistling sounds from my nose from what little air did escape. No! It couldn’t be. He was dead. They all were dead!
Then Grim’s head rose up from The Black, “Honey, I’m home. Someone’s been a bad girl, and needs a spanking.” He released me, and I fell backwards over the chair in a panic. I ran to Legion and Olli, “Please help me! He’s going to kill me!”
Olli laughed, “Of course he is. You betrayed him. What did you think would happen if he survived? That being said, you failed me, and I don’t handle failure well. So I think I’ll take all that power I gave you away now. It doesn’t look like you’ll need anything once he gets his hands on you.”
Olli faded away, and as he did, I felt something being pulled from inside me. By the time he was gone, I felt like part of me had been yanked out and left on the ground for wild animals to devour.
I spun and tried to cast a spell at Grim. He was halfway out of The Black, and moving towards me with cold determination. The spell wasn’t anywhere near as powerful as I was used to. Instead of a ball of fire, I had a few sparks. Olli had stolen most of my power. It didn’t matter how he did it because soon Grim was going to tear me apart. In desperation I spun to Legion. “Please, I’ll do anything, just don’t let him hurt me.” Panic was setting in.
Legion smiled, “Well, maybe we can make a dea-“
He never finished his sentence. Grim’s scythe tore through him like a chainsaw through tissue. Legion didn’t even make a sound. He just flopped to the floor.
“That should keep him out of people’s hair for a few months, at least. I can’t imagine that it’s easy to climb back out of hell.” Grim’s voice was icy.
I spun and tried to run, but I only got a few steps before Grim appeared in front of me. He was still partially inside, and partially outside The Black. I screamed again and tried to run. The Black billowed around my legs, and suddenly, reptilian claws reached up from The Black and tripped me. I screamed and fell.
Then I heard him walking towards me. Each step was measured, heavy, and very angry. When Grim finally stopped, he was standing beside me. All I could think was that I was going to die.
Grim reached down and picked me up by my ponytail. It felt like he was trying to tear my head off. He wasn’t even slightly gentle, “So, you betrayed us. You killed a hotel full of people. Why?”
It was too late to explain. I’d made my bed, and now it was time for me to lie down and die. Grim wouldn’t care about how, once my magic began manifesting, my parents started calling me evil. He wouldn’t care how many times I was just left locked in my closet for days, because mother thought I was trying to give her the evil eye. It wasn’t like he’d care that father tried to beat the devil out of me with his bible. He’d leave me black and blue in a pile on the floor, and after a few hours he’d send mother in to check if I was still breathing, and she always seemed upset that I hadn’t died. With everything I had done, there was no coming back. There was nothing I could say to save myself. So I just kept quiet and stared him in the eyes.
“He took your magic away. So in the end everything you did was for nothing. You threw away a family that loved you for nothing!” Grim screamed. He was so angry that he kept his eyes closed and he just trembled with anger.
Threw away my family? He didn’t know what they were like. Before I knew it I was screaming into his face, “My parents never loved me! Families don’t leave you lying face down in your own shit for two weeks! They don’t break your hands when they see you trying to use magic. They gave birth to me, but they were never my family!” Grim’s eyes snapped open, and they were two blood red orbs. Oh God, Penny finally did it. She changed him. I screamed and started trying to claw my way away from him, but he just held me like a toy.
“I didn’t mean them. I meant us. We loved you. We thought of you like family. You broke all our hearts.” Grim’s voice was hateful, and full of rage. I could see every fiber of his being wanted to hit me, but for some reason, he just didn’t do it. Why?
“What do you know about love, you monster!” I screamed and spit in his face.
The Black began flooding into his eyes until you couldn’t even see the slightest hint of an eye. It was just two black voids. His fangs snapped forward, and The Black started billowing out of his mouth. It was horrifying, and I lost whatever resolve I had left. I screamed, I begged, and I cried, but Grim just started pulling me in closer. He was going to feed off me, and there was nothing I could do to stop him.
I felt his fangs press against my throat, and in terror, I screamed, “JESUS, SAVE ME!”
Grim froze. I could feel his fangs ready to tear into me, but then he just let me go. I dropped to the ground and scrambled away for safety. I expected Grim to come after me, but when I turned back around, he was just standing there. His fangs were gone, and he had a strange look on his face.
“Be careful. It’s not just about you, anymore.” Then he sank away into The Black.
My powers feel like they are barely a tenth of what they once were. I was weak, alone, and now I was going to be an outcast from everyone. Still, the only thing I was really thinking was, what did Joseph mean?
I snuck out of the interview room, and laid low. The police weren’t looking for me, there were no news stories about how I’d killed and terrorized a hotel full of people. It was like someone was keeping everything quiet. Strangely, DD and the others never closed my bank accounts. You’d think that would be the first thing they did when they got back. Not only did they not close my account, it looked like I was still getting my share of the royalties. What the hell?
Everything was confusing. It was like up was down, left was right, and black was white. So I rented hotel rooms and watched a lot of news. The biggest news story was when the Midnight Squad signed the largest military contract in history for the body armor design. They hadn’t just charged them five times the original price. They charged them almost ten times the price. Grim must have used the fact that members of the military were involved in the attack as leverage. I knew the moment the check cleared because my share was deposited immediately. I’ve never seen so many zeros attached to a number in my life. It made me a little paranoid. What could they be planning? It wasn’t like they didn’t know I was getting a share of this. Someone had to be authorizing the transfer to my account.
Nothing else happened for almost a week. Then one morning I woke up, and sitting on the pillow next to me was a plane ticket back to Florida, and a note. It was in Grim’s handwriting. All it said was that I’d been removed from the no-fly list, and that I was expected to be at the memorial for the fallen in two days. If he didn’t see me there, all funds would be cut off. What could I do, and how did he know where I was?
I was terrified from the moment I read his note until the second I got on the plane. Was he watching me? Was he just waiting for me to lower my guard so that killing me would be more fun for him? He was a vampire now, and who knew how much more twisted he could be because of that?
The plane touched down in Florida, and I was able to catch a cab to a cheap hotel. I could have probably found better, but I didn’t want to draw any unnecessary attention to myself. I kept expecting cops to come kicking my door in any minute, but it never happened. So on the day of the memorial, I found a fairly comfortable spot overlooking the podium. I didn’t know how Grim was going to see me, but if he brought me here, then I was sure he’d find me eventually.
The memorial started with music, and personal stories from the survivors. Each tale was more heart wrenching than the last. I sat there just crying as I heard each person’s story about their lover, wife, husband, children, parents, or even friends who were killed. I was responsible for all of it. When I’d come up with the plan, I never considered all the suffering I would be causing. By the time they finished, I felt like the world would be a better place if I just went back to my hotel and hung myself.
The last perso
n to speak before the memorial ended was Grim. He looked a lot paler, but I guess that makes sense now that he’s a vampire. Strangely, the first thing I noticed was the hair on his arms. My magic had taken all his hair away, but now as a vampire, he was able to grow it back. That was very strange.
Grim stood at the podium, and it wasn’t long before I realized he was searching the crowd for me. Once he saw me, his eyes locked with the single-minded focus of a hawk going after a mouse. I froze in place. I wanted to run and hide, but his eyes kept me from moving. It wasn’t some weird hypnosis; it was more like the weight of his judgment just made it too hard to move. I panicked and stood there like a deer in headlights.
Grim popped his neck to relieve whatever stress he was feeling and began, “I’m sorry that we couldn’t do more for all of you. I’m sorry about the pain and suffering you’ve all felt because of this. I wish that we could all go back just a few weeks earlier and stopped this from ever happening. Unfortunately, that’s just not possible. I won’t keep you much longer. This has been a hell of a day. Hearing all these stories and wondering what else, if anything, could I have done so that this had never happened. I look at this place, and I look at the faces of people I care about, and I just want to cry.”
Grim had to pause for a moment; he was visibly shaken. When he resumed, his voice quaked with sadness, “I know that God has a plan for all of us. That’s cold comfort when so many people are dead. I wish I had answers for you, but I’m afraid I still don’t even know all the questions. What I do know, is that God is there to see us through our hardship. He’s there as a shoulder to lean on. He’s there when you need someone to cry to, or even someone to yell at when things are just too hard. He’s family. God has spent the entirety of his efforts creating an opportunity for you to be his brother, his sister, his child, and even his bride. I realize that some can’t accept that. Some believe he’s like a scam artist, just playing nice until he catches you. That’s not how he works. I believe God wants to be your family. Some families are created by birth, and some families just sort of grow together with no real explanation of how they all became one.”
Grim choked out that last part, and had to wait a few moments to get himself back under control. “It is moments like this that I’m reminded of the old hymn, Blessed Be the Tie that Binds by John Fawcett. Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love; the fellowship of kindred minds is like to that above. Before our Father’s throne we pour our ardent prayers; our fears, our hopes, our aims are one our comforts and our cares. We share each other’s woes, our mutual burdens bear; and often for each other flows the sympathizing tear. When we asunder part, it gives us inward pain; but we shall still be joined in heart and hope to meet again. This glorious hope revives our courage by the way; while each in expectation lives, and longs to see the day. From sorrow, toil and pain, and sin, we shall be free, and perfect love and friendship reign through all eternity.”
His eyes never moved from me, “I always loved that hymn. I thought it explained our lives and God’s plan better and more succinctly than any sermon I ever heard. I thank you all for coming, and taking the time to listen. Goodnight, and drive safely.”
Joseph walked away back to Penny and the others. Janine was nowhere to be found. He then turned back and pointed me to the others. DD waved sadly, Penny just glared at me. Niki and Danika both looked like they wanted to stomp me into the ground.
“I think you’ll want to stay away from those two.” Janine’s voice startled me. I whipped around and…she was alive!
“How?” I screeched.
“Shhh, this is supposed to be a memorial.” Janine said. I couldn’t help myself. I just had to touch her. When I reached out she was flesh and bone, just like me. “How did this happen?” I said more quietly.
“I was as surprised by it as you were, but we aren’t here to talk about me. We’re here to discuss you and your future.” Janine’s expression left no room for debate.
I stood there waiting for her to scream and yell. Instead, she just took a steadying breath and said, “You may have given up on us, but we aren’t giving up on you. Grim’s gone to great lengths to hide any evidence of your involvement. We paid obscene amounts of money to anyone that knew the truth so that they’d keep their mouths shut. Basically, we covered up the horrible things you did. That being said, as you can see, they are all pretty conflicted about how they feel about you right now. Some of them want to give you a chance, others want to stomp you into the ground. So stay far away from us right now. Here’s a card. There are two numbers on it. One goes to Grim, and the other to DD. If you need anything, you call them, but for God’s sake, make sure it’s important.”
“Why would you all do this?” I stammered in shock.
“I didn’t. Personally, I think it is a waste of effort to give you a second chance when you still haven’t even shown the slightest regret about what you’ve done. This is all Grim and DD. They’ve both done bad things, and they seem to think that despite every ounce of evidence to the contrary, that all you really need is the love and support of a family. They’re both still angry as two wet cats, but for some reason, they want to give you a chance.”
“Why would they…” I couldn’t even find the words.
“Grim and DD both had second chances in life, and they turned themselves around. They want to give you the same opportunity they had. They sent me because everyone felt I was the only one of the group that could tell you this without punching you. Now I’ve said everything Grim and DD wanted me to, so now listen to what I have to say. Those two are sticking their necks out for you. They’re risking serious jail time for covering this up. You better keep your nose clean because if you break their hearts again. I will end you. I don’t believe in killing, but just this once, I believe that I could make an exception. They’ve given you a chance, so for God’s sake, don’t screw it up.” She finished and disappeared back into the crowd.
I felt myself start to cry, and fell to my knees. “Oh God, what have I done.”
Chapter 36
“I still can’t believe my son is a vampire.” Grim’s mom, Hugenia said.
“It’s not so bad. Sure blood is nasty, but on the plus side, I never have to eat broccoli again.” Grim laughed.
“A vampire that hates the taste of blood is just so pathetic.” Niki laughed.
“It’s an acquired taste, he’ll get used to it.” Penny shrugged.
Grim grumbled, “Not if I can help it.”
“You have to eat.” Penny chided.
“I know, and I am. It doesn’t mean I have to like it.” Grim smiled.
“So you’ve traded broccoli for blood. Is that an improvement?” I asked.
“Well, DD, it’s more of a lateral move. Although with the broccoli, I could smother it in cheese and bacon bits and pretend it was something else. With blood you are pretty much stuck with yucky, no matter what.” Grim smiled.
“Yeah, because covering Penny and DD with cheese and bacon bits would just be nasty.” Jes laughed.
“Penny and DD smothered in cheese and bacon bits…” Grim was taking it into serious consideration, “No, the cleanup would just be a pain in the ass.”
We were all sitting out under the stars toasting marshmallows. Grim, Penny, and I were wedged in between our families. I’d flown my aunt and sisters down to Grim’s father’s hunting cabin. There wasn’t much room, and we were packed like sardines in the house, but Grim said he wanted us all here as one big family.
“So what exactly happened, anyway?” Grim’s father said.
“Do you want to tell the story or should I?” Grim asked me.
“Oh, let DD tell it.” Danika said.
I shifted around to get more comfortable, “So originally, we’d planned on dragging the hotel down and that way, no explosion. That still kind of let the Darkness use us as an example because they could still make it seem like we’d just barely escaped. So Grim had the idea of making it look like the explosion took
out the city. Then we’d come back once The Darkness started using us as an example. That way, they’d lose all credibility. Grim wanted to beat them at their own game. Now that he’s a vampire, his power is just off the charts. So he used The Black to swallow the whole city. The citizens and the soldiers panicked a bit when we brought them over. Once we explained that if we hadn’t, they’d all be dead right now, well, that calmed them down pretty well. You’d be amazed how loyal people become when you save their life.
So the first thing we do is send the chupacabras in to handle the zombies. It was like something straight out of a horror movie. Those little guys are vicious. They were like piranhas. It hardly took any time at all before they cleared almost all the zombies out of the hotel. We made our way up to the top floor to get the survivors. Who and Twilight were guarding hiding them as best they could, but it was hard to hide all of those people from the zombies, and so by the time we got there, the people were fighting the zombies with whatever they could find. One of the survivors was holding Dr. Fluffenstein up like a shield while the zombie kept trying to chew his way through to her. Poor Dr. Fluffenstein was ruined.”
Penny sniffled, “I couldn’t fix him. I’ll miss that little skunk.”
I patted her on the arm, “I’m sorry, but we’ll try and find you another one. I know it’s not the same, but we’ll keep looking.”
Penny nodded sadly, and so I continued, “Well, so they were fighting, and then-“
Grim interrupted, “Oh, tell them about the furries. That’s my favorite part!”
Midnight Squad: The Ties That Bind Page 60
