Revenant's Kiss (Chronicles of the Afterlife)

by Robles, Joyce

  The calm in the voice helped her clear her vision, which had almost become a haze in her panic, when she could see clearly again she forced herself to acknowledge the pain so she could put it to some use. She let the pain feed her anger and the soft voice help to keep her calm. The fact that there was a voice in her head was insanity but perhaps what made it so insane was the fact that it didn’t bother her the way it should. The fact that it seemed to be the voice of reason instead of raving at her was part of what kept her calm. At a moderate pace she started forward, slow enough to scan everything as she passed. Right now she would have killed to have her M16, it’s loss feeling even more the lost limb than before.

  ‘Focus.’

  Who ever the hell the voice belonged to was right, again, she needed to keep away from thinking on what she did and didn’t have and just focus on what it was she was doing now. She scorned herself for having to be reminded by God knows who or what the voice belonged to.

  ‘Who says I’m not God’

  Jennifer shook her head, she was tempted to tell the voice whoever he was to go fuck himself. She could handle herself just fine without his intervention divine or not. Ignoring anything else she focused on scanning the back alley of the buildings, if you could call it a back alley. Sure it was dark, but this was at the worst a middle class neighborhood. People didn’t usually say back alley unless they were in the ghettos somewhere. She didn’t try to explain why, she didn’t have the slightest clue, it looked like an alley to her. She kept the Remington ready and aimed where ever her eyes scanned. Despite the dark her eyes caught most of the detail, every color was murky, faded almost to a grey or black with hints of what color they would have been in light. She was aware that even though she could see most of her surroundings her eyes were an impairment compared to what her enemy was capable of. In this line of work she had learned the hard way that if she had any hope of surviving she had to learn to rely on more than just her eyes, every sense she possessed had to be open. Utilizing her senses and poring all of her perception out into the dark had kept her alive on more than one occasion. Manson had taught her a good majority of what she knew that kept her alive when facing monsters. But knowing how to keep an open mind, how to let her senses wander had been something her father had taught her and her sisters. It had been one of the things that she’d always remembered and put into use more than once, she was aware that it wasn’t much of an advantage but she would always take whatever she could get.

  She knew as soon as she reached out with her senses that he would be here, this was a similar location to where they’d found their bad guy the last time, a few buildings away from where he’d killed his victims. Just sort of standing there, gloating to himself, probably patting himself on the back and congratulating himself on a job well done. That he’d escaped, and more over that he’d do it again, and again, where ever and when ever he pleased until he was stopped, infuriated Jennifer. That he was so sure that nothing could stop him and proven it true the night before filled her with more rage than she knew what to do with. Someone had to put an end to him and she was very confident that she and Manson were just the people to do the job. She felt that this is where if anywhere that the bastard would be, and this would be where it would stop. One life lost was one too many, but seven was unforgivable, most vampires were smart enough monsters not to draw this much attention. This one had clearly lost his mind and decided that a full blown killing spree was too much fun to pass, which in its own way made him so much worse than the regular killers they dealt with. In general the sort that they put down on a regular basis tried not to kill so publicly. The real nutcase’s were the ones that killed like this, in mass number, they weren’t as prominent as the regular bastard’s who were satisfied with one kill a night but she’d run across enough of his caliber to realize madness took them all in the end.

  She stopped and Manson came to a silent halt behind her, keeping a sharp eye on their flank. Not that far up ahead the same figure from the night before stood, his head bowed slightly to one side as if it rested there on his shoulder. She remembered the first time she’d seen their killer last night, he wasn’t what people would have suspected. She had thought when she was younger that a monster like him would look the part, she wasn’t exactly sure what everybody else in the world would have expected to find in someone who killed so easily. But she was used to them being beautiful creatures and he did not disappoint, dark sandy blonde hair that fell past his shoulders, pale blue eyes. His face was every young girls fantasy, which likely made them his easiest prey.

  The problem with these handsome bravadoes was that they expected people to love them, and it would be a ridiculous assumption if it wasn’t so frequently true. People were stupidly disarmed by beauty and that was part of what made vampires so damn dangerous, they just didn’t turn ugly people. But his kind didn’t seem as gorgeous after you’d seen them pull a young rooky limb from limb. She swallowed hard, he should have noticed the two of them by now, was it possible that their fight the night before made him arrogant enough to imagine she wasn’t a threat. She didn’t find that likely, though he’d killed some of them, he’d taken a good hit or two himself. Still he didn’t move, she couldn’t decide which would be more of an advantage in this particular scenario. Let him know that they were here because ten to one he already knew, or try to sneak up on him and play whatever stupid game he was concocting. Given sneaking up on him was an impossibility Jennifer knew that shooting him in the back was the only option left to her. She was going to try and alert Manson to the predicament in front when the guy in her head spoke up.

  ‘Turn the radio off.’

  Before she got a step forward the radio clipped to her side squawked to life. Malcolm’s voice came over the line hushed for the all the good it did. Their killers head snapped over in her and Manson’s direction. There was enough light to see that the sandy blonde locks on his head were wet and caked red with blood. His face was hidden in the shadows so that she couldn’t see him clearly. "Holy shit," something was very wrong with him, she didn’t know what but it wasn’t good. She could not explain it but there was something debilitating and familiar about this creature, something she couldn’t place, something that kept her frozen in fear. When she didn’t immediately shoot him he took a lurching step forward, it looked like he was still hurt from last night. His movements were taken one slow jerk of a joint at a time. "Stop!" she shouted, something had changed since last night, then he’d been all speed and grace, now it was like watching a puppet move on strings. Everything in her was screaming at her to take action, not to let that thing get anywhere near her but fear kept her in its grip and she couldn’t seem to move. She didn’t think she could ever remember being this afraid in her entire life, and stupidly it was probably going to be the stupid emotion paralyzing her that killed her.

  ‘Shoot now!’

  If it weren’t for the sandy almost golden shade of hair she wouldn’t recognize this monster for the same one she’d seen last night. Even as the jerking movements became more relaxed, more fluid and his approach was faster and more recognizable the fear held her still.

  ‘Shoot now or die those are your choices.’

  The voice told her as if she didn’t already know what would become of her if she did nothing. But still she stood frozen, not even the frantic voice coming from the radio enough to pull her past the fear.

  Chapter 4

  She didn’t hear a word of what Malcolm was trying to say, she couldn’t pull the trigger, she was the epitome of worthless. Everything about the way this vampire now moved screamed at her to turn and run from him. Before anything else was said the sudden explosion of a gun shot went off behind her, she didn’t have to look back to know that it was Manson. She watched the monsters shoulder explode in a red mass, the caliber of Manson’s weapon forcing the figure back but not taking it off it’s feet. But even with the severity of the wound it didn’t cry out, not in pain, not in anger, he just looked at his arm as it hu
ng limp and useless at his side. His shoulder a mass of pulp that would have made any normal person or even vampire cry out, do something. But as quickly as the injury had occurred it was forgotten and its attention was back on her and Manson. She cringed as its eyes glinted like an animals in the dark catching what little light there was and casting it back at them. The vampire moved to charge again but this time without a seconds hesitation she pulled the trigger. The shot caught their killer in the gut and sent him stumbling back unto the ground. This time something very close to the cry of a wounded animal rang back to her and Manson. In the time it took her to pump the Remington and reload the figure on the ground had disappeared. "Shit," she glanced back at Manson, "he’s gone he’s not up here."

  "We’re clear behind," was all the response that Manson gave.

  She nodded and snatched the radio from the side of her belt, "God damn it Malcolm what the hell is this. What the hell were you thinking?"

  "Didn’t you hear anything I just said?"

  His voice came back panicked over the radio again, what was going on she didn’t know, what she did know was that they could have had that monster and now he was gone. "No I didn’t hear a God damn thing you said we were a little busy back here."

  "Marcia spotted another one while we were doing a pass, there’s another one that went down a sewer drain, covered in blood."

  The panic in his voice was a solid reminder for Jennifer just how little of the horror Malcolm was actually exposed to. "Did it look.....off," Jennifer paused searching for the right word to describe it, but this vampire was not right and she needed to know why.

  "What?"

  "Never mind," Jennifer amended, "don’t stop keep moving, I don’t want you to get pinned down."

  "There were gun shots is everybody okay?"

  "Fine," she answered irritably, what the hell was going on here?

  "Cops won’t be far off Jenny, better wrap this up fast."

  "We’ll do what we can, let me know if he passes you guys again." With that she put the radio back where it belonged at her side. "Two of them, now there are two," she tried to comfort herself with the idea that it sounded as though the second had made for an escape.

  "Could explain why there were twice as many victims," Manson offered.

  "No, he was alone last time, the ones like this are always alone, everything about this is wrong. Something’s wrong with him and now we have another blood drenched body running around. He wouldn’t turn one of the victims would he, he didn’t last time, it’s too fucking weird."

  "The Bishop wouldn’t want you using the ‘f’ word like that." Manson reprimanded from behind her out of habit, fatherly habits died hard.

  "I confess almost every day Manny, I think God can forgive me a few measly swear words. Besides it’s just letting off a little steam, who could it hurt." She looked back at Manson and found him smiling and shaking his head. Who could it hurt after all, in the end what did it matter if she swore or not, their imminent death was a possibility whether she did or not, let God sort the details out after that.

  "Right, onward," Manson’s smile didn’t fade, that always seemed to give her the confidence that she needed. She’d probably never be sure if he knew that or if he just thought this was really that much fun. Didn’t matter, she started forward at a quicker speed. Maybe he was still in the area maybe he wasn’t, point being that he wasn’t dead. She’d messed up again, they couldn’t stick around. With the cops as close by as they were they will have heard the shots and be coming very soon to investigate. It was best not to be there when they showed, not that any of her or Manson’s artillery had been acquired illegally, it hadn’t, but none of it was all that legal to carry on the street either. And the cops would definitely want to know what the hell they were carrying it all for. That was never an easy question to answer, and though she was positive that they had contacts that could bale them out, she didn’t want to be handcuffed and shipped to the police station for hours for doing her job.

  ‘He’s still here, if the police do come he’ll kill them all, so I wouldn’t worry about them now. I feel him, he didn’t go far."

  "Only an idiot would stay here when they could escape."

  "What?" Manson asked from behind her.

  "He’s still here," she didn’t look back at Manson this time afraid that it would show on her face that she’d been addressing the voice in her head. But still there was something about the way the hair on the back of her neck stood on end that let her know her body sensed something dangerous near by. "I can’t see a God damn thing up here."

  "Keep your ears open Jenny," Manson eased, "if he’s still here he’ll come at us soon enough."

  "I don’t suppose he’d wait for me to be ready too," she tried to reach out with her other senses but it was as if just the sight of that vampire had made everything in her seize up. Outside of her own aches and pains her senses wanted nothing to do with finding that vampire.

  ‘Don’t lose focus, you’re alright. The arm isn’t in anymore pain then it was before now. You can breath just fine and your senses are all working like normal just open your mind, let go of the fear and reach out and find him.’

  She tried to open up to everything around her but it was like her mind just sealed itself off. She couldn’t make it open like she usually could, it was protecting her from something. What she didn’t know, something about all this was throwing off her normal reflexes. She couldn’t place it but it was there, and it was pissing her off that it was inhibiting her. She started scanning the space in front of them but if he was waiting out in the darkness in front of her he was well concealed.

  ‘I’ll be your eyes, just listen, feel out for him.’

  She stopped moving forward, Manson of course, aware of her every motion stopped a good, protect-able length away. Enough room to maneuver if she needed to, she closed her eyes for a second and just listened for a moment. In that moment she could hear someone out there other than Manson near them, where she didn’t know but she could hear every tiny move that he made. So he was out there still, but where? As if the voice in her head was really there with her he whispered the answer to her.

  "Look up."

  "He’s up on the roof somewhere," Jennifer warned Manson.

  "Which roof, we have buildings on both sides."

  "Hey Manson, you want to cut me some slack here, he’s on the roof, which one, pick one. He’s up and we’re down that’s all that matters, how the hell am I supposed to know which one. Do I look psychic to you?" Regularly she might have been able to hint at which it was but she was partially in this moment relaying on someone she didn’t know.

  "How do you know he’s up there?"

  "I don’t know, I just know," Jennifer spared a look back at Manson. "Any ideas on how to get him to come down?" She asked in hopes of changing the subject and avoiding the fact that she had a voice that could be completely deceiving her giving her tips.

  "Not a clue, I’ve got the M72 on me." He mentioned with a smile.

  "Oh no way, there are people in these buildings Manny, we might kill some of them. And if the cops do show up I don’t think they’ll take that too lightly." She shook her head, Manson was joking she knew it, but sometimes his jokes were more unnerving then funny.

  ‘He’s to your left, near the ledge, you won’t be able to see him in the dark. Fire a shot up at the building, it doesn’t matter if you can’t see him. Just remind him that you’re here.’

  "He shouldn’t need a reminder that I’m here," Jennifer argued but aimed the Remington up at the ledge on her left.

  "You’re talking to yourself kid, I don’t have a god damn clue what you’re talking about." Manson gave a quick amused shake of his head before turning back to their flank.

  "Language Manny, watch your language, the Bishop wouldn’t like it." Before Manson could answer her joke she pulled the trigger, there came a scream, she hit something. "I hit him," with that she realized that he would either move away from them or co
me straight for them. Something was telling her that this vampire was running on instinct and not much on smarts. He was more efficient yesterday than he was today, today he was acting like an idiot.

  "Where is he Jenny?"

  "You’re asking me," she glanced back at Manson who was searching the darkness as frantically as she was. If there was anything in that moment that Jennifer could hope that Manson was going to say to her it wasn’t that. That damned vampire and whatever his problem was brought the terror in her screaming to the surface the way it used to before she learned to control it, learned to channel it into something useful, like violence. All of that seemed forgotten in the face of whatever the hell was going on here. "This thing isn’t right," the tremors that the words were laced with were enough to let Jennifer know she was not prepared for whatever this was.

  "Keep your cool," from Manson behind her, usually his rock solid resolve was inspiration enough to do just that, but there was more than just something ‘not right’ here. She had seen this before, she knew it even when she had no idea why it was she thought so. She had never seen this vampire before outside of the night before and even so there was a drastic difference between then and tonight. The difference was remarkably large, the other night he had been violent for sure but there had been a certain calculated feel behind each action that wasn’t there tonight, the same way the grace was gone. Tonight he was moving like a corpse and with as much blood as he must have consumed tonight his movements should be fluid, his injuries from the night before should have healed.

  It seemed like a long time had passed while she stood silent in the darkness, knowing something was lurking out there. ‘Where are you damn it?’ Her eyes snapped open as her breath caught in her throat, she had been in more situations then she could count where fear was an emotion that was present but she had always been capable of containing it, had never hesitated in the face of it. She was aware that she had stood still too long, there were shots fired and it wouldn’t take long for official types to arrive, if she was going to end this it had to be soon or not at all tonight. Forcing herself to take the first even breath she’d managed in minutes she took a step forward and another making herself focus on each and every crevice of the space around her. She sensed before she saw movement to her right, her luck that the bastard would try to sneak up on her on her bad side. On reflex the Remington snapped up and she had a shot fired off before her eyes had fully focused on the blood drenched features coming up on her. The Remington was a high caliber weapon, would knock even the undead off their feet, this one did little more than stumble back before recovering its gait and charging forward. "Manson," she ground out a warning through clenched teeth fully aware that her big partner would be able to help very little until he could either maneuver around her or she moved out of the way. She was dependent on him to do the second because the vampire was on her in seconds, she managed to pump the shot gun and fire another round into it’s mid-section before it was in reaching distance of her. With clumsy speed it made a grab for her, she managed only barely to escape the hands that swiped at her. On instinct and with no time to load before it tried to swipe again Jennifer took hold of the barrel in both hands and rammed the butt of the shotgun into the things chin. The blow contained enough force to push it back but only a step, it wasn’t enough to give her time of any sort and so faster than she could react it struck out again, the blow taking her in the right shoulder, tossing her aside like a rag doll with one swipe.