by J. Thorn
Jasmine, the handicapped woman’s twelve-year-old granddaughter, was chasing her dog down the sidewalk. The young girl clapped her hands and called after the mixed-breed yellow dog. Thunder cracked, and lightning struck again. Sherry screamed, her shrills turning into cries.
Vondell ran down the stairs and through the flooded yard.
“What you doin’, fool?” Omar yelled.
“Stay here, I’ll be right back!”
Running across the road in bare feet, Vondell chased after the girl.
“Jasmine! Listen to your grandma and get your butt back here!”
“But I have to get Tony,” Jasmine cried back. “He won’t come back on his own!”
Vondell was surprised by the intensity of the wind. It was slowing him down, and he was surprised it hadn’t knocked the ninety-five-pound girl to the ground.
“Forget the dog,” Vondell said. “You’ve got to—”
Lightning decorated the sky, shining so brightly that Vondell had to turn away. There was a thunderclap then, and it split the sky with the loudest ‘crack’ Vondell had ever heard.
“Oh my God!” Sherry screamed.
Sparks ignited the top of an electric pole. They duplicated quickly, extending down the power line until they morphed into flames. Then the electric pole began to fall.
Sherry froze, standing in the flooded grass directly under the lines.
Vondell sprinted toward her as the top of the pole shook. He hadn’t run this fast since high school. He glanced back and forth between the falling pole and the terrified little girl. If he didn’t reach her in time, she was going to die.
He hopped off the road and into the grass. Wrapping his arms around the crying girl, he turned around and raced back up the slight incline toward the road.
Glancing over his shoulder, he saw he wasn’t going to make it. Sparking power lines were dropping to the ground like electric snakes.
Vondell yelled as he tossed the girl up onto the road. She landed on her feet, then stumbled and rolled. Vondell slipped backward, unable to keep his balance as he fell to the ground.
“Get out of there, Vondell!” Omar yelled.
Vondell stood up as the electric pole crashed to the ground behind him. It missed his head by inches, but flung the loose power line into the air. The line landed on Vondell, and he instinctually caught it in his hand to keep it from falling on him. Electricity coursed through his body, shaking his entire form with a fiery pain that felt as though his blood had turned into fire. He stared at the dark clouds in the sky as his world went black.
And though Vondell survived, that gaze into the sky was the last time he’d ever use his eyes again.
The man, simply known to the neighborhood kids as ‘Papa,’ went blind.
Chapter 27
Dax dropped to his knees. His shoulders slumped, and he stared down at the deck.
It was his fault.
Dax wasn’t one to cry. He’d suffered too much, and in places where a man’s weakness would be exploited. Dax refused to allow himself to sink into despair. But that was when the tears came, and he let them fall for a moment. Then he wiped his face and stood.
“Jackson.”
The ragged voice had come from above. Dax hurried to the ladder and climbed up to the top deck.
Papa Midnight lay on his side, clutching his ribs. His cane lay out of reach. He breathed with a wheeze.
“Are you all right?”
“I will be. I need to get off this hard floor.”
Dax retrieved the blind man’s cane. He then bent down and lifted the old man. Papa Midnight grunted.
“Sorry,” Dax said. “I’m trying to get you to the bed.”
The voodoo priest gritted his teeth, crying out as Dax got him all the way up to his feet. He held onto Dax as they trudged over to the bed. Dax eased him down.
The old man let out a sigh of relief as his back hit the mattress.
“What happened up here?” Dax asked.
“I had woken up, and I heard Monica scream. Then a vampire came up here and attacked me. Bastard almost had me. But I managed to fight him off and send him overboard.”
“Those weren’t the same as the ones we’ve encountered before.”
“No, they were not.”
“They were able to be out in the sun.”
“Serafino’s children are evolving,” Papa Midnight said. “It is possible that he started turning people before the Blackout in anticipation that it would happen.”
“These were much uglier, too. More like monsters. They were bald, and their veins popped out of their fucking faces. It was messed up, man.”
“They got away with the children.” Papa Midnight hadn’t presented it as a question. He’d obviously heard the vampire escape with Monica and Darius.
“It was like my eyes were playing tricks on me. That thing jumped thirty feet in the air. It leaped fifty fucking yards to a rooftop, then hopped to another.”
“They are slowly evolving, then.”
“Slowly?” Dax scoffed. “What the else can they do? Fly? Grow wings or some shit?”
Papa Midnight was silent as he bowed his head.
“Shit,” Dax said. He was coming to the realization that he was dealing with something far more powerful than he could have possibly imagined.
“There is something about you, son. I felt it the moment we met. And I think Serafino knows it, too. You could be the one chosen to lead the resistance against the darkest force humanity has ever faced.”
Dax shook his head. “Bullshit.”
“How do you explain what happened in the mall? You broke the spell Serafino had on you.”
“Yeah, but what good did that do? It didn’t change what happened to Kevin. Besides, who’s to say he didn’t let me go? He probably knew what I was trying to do, and let go of me to give me hope or something. To feed me the same bullshit you are now.”
Papa Midnight let out an exasperated sigh. “I fear that, if you do not consider who you might be, it could mean the end of the human race.”
“My only concern right now is getting Monica and Darius back. I have to find them.”
Dax went to the door.
“Please, Dax. This feels like a trap. Serafino wants you to go after the children.”
“Then I guess he’s going to get what he wants.”
Papa Midnight closed his eyes. He mumbled some gibberish that Dax couldn’t understand.
“And you need to cut that shit out,” Dax said. “Whatever little prayers you be saying all the time aren’t doing shit to help us. In fact, more bad stuff keeps happening.”
The voodoo priest ignored the jab and continued chanting quietly to himself. Dax shook his head and exited the wheelhouse. He climbed down to the main deck and went into the cabin. The oar lay behind the sofa, and he picked it up. He needed to find something else to use as a weapon.
There was a door in the floor, and Dax pulled the handle to open it. It led to a storage area with access to the boat’s motor. There was some water gathered on the floor, and tools lay scattered about. Someone had been trying to fix the boat before the Blackout. The rear of the compartment sat in darkness, so Dax withdrew the flashlight and clicked it on. Something caught his eye—a large knife stored in its sheath, hanging on the wall. He took it down and pulled the knife out. The blade had to be twelve inches long, and it was thick.
“Someone musta been guttin’ some big fuckin’ fish.”
He put the strap around his thigh and tightened it, then slid the knife back into its sheath.
Dax looked around, spotting a red gas can sitting in the corner. He paused, not wanting to be disappointed when he picked it up. Dax grabbed the handle and lifted.
Then he smiled.
The can felt as if it were at least three-quarters full—more than enough gasoline to get the boat running. Hopefully, the fuel hadn’t been sitting down here for long. He knew gas had about a six-month shelf life, and who knew how long this boat had been dock
ed?
Dax climbed back up into the cabin and stepped out onto the deck. He went to the side of the ship, next to where he had docked the smaller fishing boat. Leaning over the side, he set the gas can and the oar inside.
He was about to climb into the smaller boat when he looked up at the wheelhouse. He cracked his knuckles, then climbed back up to the top deck. Papa Midnight remained in the same spot, lying on the bed with his eyes closed and mumbling softly. He stopped when he heard Dax enter the room.
“I’m going to get Monica and Darius,” Dax said. He found a t-shirt lying on the ground, picked it up, and put it on. “Figured I’d give you one last chance to come along.”
“Please do not do this, Dax. I think you could be falling right into Serafino’s trap.”
“That’s what I thought you’d say.”
Dax shook his head as he turned around.
“Jackson, please. Consider that he could be using the children to lure you.”
Letting out a deep breath, Dax turned around. “Look, I’m not going to sit here and—”
Dax froze as his vision blurred. Papa Midnight sat up on the bed, and Dax saw three of him. He heard phantom voices swimming in his head.
“What the hell?”
Then his world went black.
Chapter 28
The water was gone.
To his right, Dax saw the Cafe du Monde. Every seat inside was empty, but the world-famous coffee shop was exactly where it was supposed to be. Beyond that was the Mississippi River. It respected its boundaries and wasn’t flooding over the barrier and into the city.
The day was hot as the sun beat down on the dry pavement—a normal New Orleans summer day.
Only, things were not normal. While the floodwaters had vanished, no humans had returned to the Crescent City—no tourists, no street performers. Even the homeless people had vanished from the corners and storefronts, this including the cons trying to swindle people by telling gullible tourists they could guess where they’d gotten their shoes.
Dax stood alone in the center of Decatur, glancing around at all the familiar buildings. Not a single gull squawked, and no pelicans flew above to the Gulf.
There had to be someone around, he thought. Why had nobody returned to the city?
He walked straight ahead. His boots slapping against the pavement the only noise in the French Quarter. As he walked, Dax glanced up at the windows and balconies of the buildings surrounding him. He expected to see open windows and happy faces, but instead saw empty rooms and draperies blowing in the wind. Every balcony he passed remained unoccupied.
“Jackson.”
Stopping in the middle of the street, Dax looked around. He was almost positive the voice hadn’t been inside of his head. It had sounded like it had come from somewhere nearby.
“What? Who’s there?”
“Come to me, Jackson.”
The female voice was not in his head. In fact, it sounded like it had come from the sky. Dax furrowed his brow, spinning in circles to try and find the source of the voice.
“Follow your heart.”
The soft words caressed his ears and then faded. He turned and looked at the building across the street.
Dax jogged to it. He stepped onto the side street and began to follow his senses.
Many of the alleys in New Orleans were narrow—barely wide enough for two cars to pass each other without colliding. Dax moved down the street slowly, looking into the doorways and over his shoulder. He listened for footsteps, breathing—anything that would alert him of someone nearby. But nothing came.
“Dax!”
The voice this time was a child’s—a young boy’s.
“Anthony.”
It sounded like Gabby’s son, Anthony.
“Come quick, Dax!”
Dax ran.
He stopped at the corner one block up and turned right. The voice kept calling him, and he followed it. His heart pounded inside of his chest.
Soon, it wasn’t only the voice of his nephew, but the cries of all three of Gabby’s kids sounding out as he heard Kim and Kanesha, too.
“I’m coming!” Dax shouted.
He followed the voices around another corner, and that’s when he stopped.
He stood between a set of two-story buildings. The Creole townhouses had been built with ornately wrought-iron balconies, the signature architectural style that could be seen everywhere in the French Quarter.
And then he saw the bodies.
He stared up at Romeo spikes protruding from the fronts of the buildings. Bodies hung on the ends of each hook, the sharp tips of the spikes protruding from the chest of each person. And these weren’t random corpses.
Dax blinked and shook his head, trying to get a handle on what he saw.
His mother hung on one spike. She wore the flowered summer dress he remembered most from his childhood, complete with a purple apron over the dress. She had always worn it when baking cornbread in their small kitchen. Dax could almost smell the melted butter as he looked up at her lifeless face, her body hanging helplessly from the second story of the building.
He looked across the street and saw Gabby. The last time he’d seen his sister, she had been dead and hanging from a noose in her closet. Now, someone had hung her on a Romeo spike. Blood oozed from the hole in her chest and dripped onto the sidewalk below. Vultures had already begun to gather, and Dax yelled at the birds, trying to chase them away.
Dax wiped his face and coughed, trying to keep his emotions in check. He continued down the street while gazing up at the bodies hanging above him.
On the next set of Romeo spikes, he saw Neil. While he hadn’t known the man long, Dax had felt responsible for his death. At least that’s what he told himself. Neil’s glasses fell from his face, sliding off his nose and dropping to the ground. They hit the sidewalk and broke into three pieces.
He kept walking, and he knew what was next before he could see the bodies clearly. His hands trembled.
Gabby’s children hung from the spikes. All three bodies had been hung on one hook—Anthony in the front with Kim on his shoulder and Kanesha anchoring the three. They had their arms wrapped around each other, blood dripping down their arms and off of their fingertips.
Falling to his knees, Dax buried his head in his hands. He moaned and closed his eyes, trying to push the carnage from his mind.
“Jackson.”
It was the same soft female voice he had first heard while standing near the Cafe du Monde. Dax wiped his face with his forearm and opened his eyes. His heart lurched in his chest, and he struggled to inhale.
“Chloe?”
She smiled down at him with the warm grin he’d never forgotten. Her hair glowed, the curls rolling over her shoulders and flowing down to the top of her back. She wore a gray tank top and a black skirt which showed off both of her long legs.
“You have your legs.”
She said nothing, grinning as she approached him.
Dax slowly stood. His eyes moved up and down her young body as she stopped a few feet away.
“I’m dreaming, aren’t I? I watched you die.”
Without a word, Chloe placed her hands on Dax’s shoulders. He started to back away, but her fingers touched his neck and trailed down to his chest.
Dax closed his eyes. It all felt so real. He desperately wanted it to be. If only he could be with Chloe again—escape into oblivion and leave all this death and destruction behind.
Her hands gripped his shirt. He could feel her nails digging into his chest. Sensually at first, until they gouged his skin. Dax opened his eyes as blood trickled down his chest. The grinning face staring back at him was no longer Chloe’s.
Dax gritted his teeth and shoved Serafino in the chest. It sent the vampire a few feet backward, and Dax fell. He crawled on his hands and knees away from Serafino.
“What’s the matter, Dax? Did you not miss me?”
“What the fuck is this?”
Serafino raised his
arms. “What do you mean? Everyone that you love is here. Have you not looked around?”
Resisting the urge to punch Serafino in the face, Dax kept his hands down and his eyes on the vampire leader.
“I have brought you here, Dax, to show you my power. This is my doing. I can reunite you with everyone you have ever loved. You can have it all. All you have to do is come to me when you wake.”
“This isn’t real.”
“It is... And yet it isn’t. Think of it as an alternative to your reality.”
Serafino approached Dax, who slowly backed away.
“Join me, Jackson. Come with me, and you can have everything. I can reunite you with Chloe. Gabby can be resurrected. You can spend as much time with her and her children as you’d like.”
“This is a trick. You’re nothing but a fucking monster.”
“Trust me when I say that you do not want to know what will happen if you decline my invitation. I can deliver a suffering beyond your imagination—pain born of nightmares and destruction.
“Come with me, Jackson Harper. Allow me to show you how we can rule the world together.”
“Fuck you!”
The malevolent grin returned to the vampire leader’s face. “I’m so sorry, Jackson.”
Serafino slowly shifted his gaze from Dax, to the wall to his right.
Dax followed the vampire’s eyes up to the balcony.
Chloe stood at the edge of the patio, leaning over the wrought-iron railing. Over her shoulder was the body of a young female and, when she turned around, Dax saw the eyes of the young woman.
Monica.
Her glassy, blank stare and blue lips made Dax shiver.
“You killed her, you bastard!”
Chloe looked down at Dax. Her eyes glowed with that unmistakable tint of orange. She stepped to the side, to show Dax the wall behind her. Another Romeo spike held a body—a child.
Darius.
Dax couldn’t look at Monica and Darius, and yet he couldn’t look away either.
Chloe smiled as she turned back toward the spike. She lifted Monica’s lifeless body onto the same Romeo hook as Darius occupied. The iron spike passed through flesh, tissue, and muscle with a sickening crunch. Chloe used such force that the girl’s body slid all the way back against Darius. The boy’s head slumped down onto Monica’s shoulder, and both bodies hung there as blood dripped into the street below.
