Phoenix and the Dark Star

by Gerald Pruett

  Brad nodded in acknowledgment before asking, “So who are the cops in your family?”

  “My dad is a detective in Fort Lauderdale,” Winona began. “My brother is an officer in Fort Lauderdale. My uncle is a detective on the Miccosukee Indian Reservation, and one of my cousins is an officer on the reservation as well.”

  “You’re Native American?” Riley quickly asked.

  Winona just nodded.

  “From which tribe?” one of the runaways—a fifteen-year-old girl—asked.

  “The Seminole tribe,” Winona told her.

  “I thought Native Americans weren’t as tall as you are,” another one of the runaways—a sixteen-year-old boy—said.

  “My mom’s mom is full-blooded Seminole… and so is my dad, but my mom’s dad is of Dutch descent,” Winona’s shared. “And the shortest woman on my mom’s dad’s side of the family was five-foot-eight and the tallest was six-foot-two.”

  “The women in your family are Amazons,” Willie took note of.

  Winona shot him an amused grin before supplying, “Only on my mom’s side of the family. In fact, my mom and I are the same height, and we’re slightly taller than my dad and my two brothers… and I’m the youngest.”

  “Interesting,” Riley said.

  Everyone’s attention was then suddenly drawn to the vampires when their cries were silenced.

  Everyone looked in time to see the vampires crumbling into a pile of ash. The raging fire had ceased and what had remained had glowed red.

  “So, Pocahontas…” Brad was only able to get out.

  “Don’t call me that,” Winona quickly demanded.

  Brad grinned before saying, “Knowing that it bugs you, just makes me want to call you that even more.”

  “I know how to use a Taser as well,” Winona informed.

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” Brad retorted with an amused grin. “Anyway, do you know where the next vampire is?”

  “Conner is the next vampire,” Winona informed. “He’s here in Atlanta, and currently, he’s untouchable.”

  “Why’s that?” Brad asked.

  “He’s playing nice right now in front of a large group,” Winona informed.

  “Winona and I have an in though,” Willie added. “So hopefully we can take care of him before he claims another victim.”

  “Is there anything that I can do?” Brad asked.

  “We can’t do anything at the moment,” Willie said as he pulled out his second cell phone. “So the only thing you can do right now, is give me your cell phone number and stay available.”

  “Alright.” When Brad saw that Willie was set to store his number, Brad gave it to him.

  Once Willie had stored Brad’s number, Winona and Willie said their ‘goodbyes’, got back into the car and left.

  Winona and Willie casually talked as Willie drove to his apartment.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Once inside Willie’s apartment, Willie turned on the TV and then sat in the armchair.

  Winona set her bag and purse down by the coffee table and then sat down on the couch.

  “I’ll put clean sheets on the bed and you can sleep there,” Willie informed.

  “You really don’t need to do that,” Winona quickly said. “I don’t want to take where you sleep, and I’m more than happy to sleep on the couch.”

  “I’ve lived here for the past eighteen months, and I bought the bed new soon after moving in,” Willie began. “Now since living here, I might have slept on the bed twenty times.”

  “So you’re telling me that you sleep on the couch.”

  “That or on those lonely nights, I would…” Willie was only able to get out.

  “Please spare me the details of where and with whom you sleep with,” Winona quickly requested.

  Willie amusingly grinned while saying, “I was just going to say, that I would sleep somewhere other than here.”

  “Oh,” Winona let out.

  “It’s interesting to see where your mind jumps to though,” Willie playfully pointed out. Winona slightly smirked. Willie amusingly grinned as he continued with, “Anyway, I’ll give you the bed.”

  “Alright,” Winona agreed in a defeated tone.

  Willie stood before saying, “I’ll go put clean sheets on the bed.” Winona just responded with a nod. “There’s soda in the refrigerator. Help yourself.” As an afterthought, Willie gestured towards a doorway. “The kitchen’s that way, by the way.”

  “Alright,” Winona said with a grin before standing.

  Willie turned, and as he was walking away, Winona walked towards the kitchen.

  Winona walked into the kitchen, and after opening the refrigerator, she saw two-thirds of a cake with ‘Happy Bir’ in the center of the cake, and below that was ‘Willi’.

  Winona grinned before taking a breath and calling out, “Hey, birthday boy. Do you mind if I take a piece of your cake?”

  “Go for it,” Willie called back before describing which of the cabinets held the plates and which of the drawers held the utensils.

  “So when was your birthday?” Winona called out before picking up the cake.

  “Last Monday,” Willie called back. “The cake is from last Tuesday though.”

  “So how old are you?” Winona called out before setting the cake on the kitchen table.

  “Thirty-three,” Willie called back.

  Winona stepped over to the cabinet that held the plates, opened it and pulled out a small plate. She then pulled open the utensil drawer, got out a butter knife and a fork, returned to the table and proceeded to cut the cake.

  Winona cut an average size slice, placed the slice onto the plate, put the rest of the cake back into the refrigerator, grabbed a can soda, carried her slice of cake and her soda into the living room and then retook her seat on the couch.

  Willie was stepping into the living room as Winona was taking a bite of the cake.

  Willie retook his seat in the armchair before saying, “I changed the bed covers and the pillow case.”

  Winona swallowed the bite that she took before replying, “Thanks.” Willie just gave an acknowledging nod. “This cake is good.”

  Willie grinned before saying, “It was even better two days ago.”

  “It tastes homemade,” Winona said before taking another bite.

  “It is,” Willie informed before gesturing in the direction to the next apartment. “My next door neighbor bakes a lot, and after she learned that Monday was my birthday, she brought that over Tuesday when I got home.”

  “That was nice of her. Are you two a couple?”

  “No,” Willie said with a slight laugh. “She’s a nice woman, but she’s also fifty years old.”

  “Your twos age differences aren’t completely out of the possibility for romance,” Winona pointed out.

  “Yes, well, it’s not going to happen between us,” Willie retorted. “Besides she’s married.”

  “Okay,” Winona said with an amused grin.

  As Winona ate her cake, she began a casual conversation.

  After a couple of minutes, Willie had inquired about Blue Moon. Once Winona had answered his question, the conversation had turned casual again.

  Winona and Willie watched TV and talked for an hour before they said their ‘goodnights’ to each other.

  Winona took her dirty plate to the kitchen and washed it along with the knife and the fork before going to bed.

  Friday morning, 10:15 A.M., Winona and Willie stepped through the door of ‘Drusilla’s Haunt’—Drusilla’s costume rental and party shop. Winona carried the purse that Liz had given her.

  A security laser was set up at the door that would set off a doorbell each time someone would break the beam.

  Drusilla was dressed in her vampire costume, and when the doorbell sounded, Drusilla turned towards the front door.

  “Sawni. Thorald. Welcome,” Drusilla greeted.

  “Good morning,” Winona said followed by Willie.

  As Winon
a and Willie were walking towards Drusilla, Drusilla said, “I hope you didn’t have any trouble finding this place.”

  “Not at all,” Willie said as he and Winona were stepping up to the customer’s side of the counter. “So is Drusilla your actual name?”

  Drusilla grinned before saying, “Drusilla is a nickname that I had since I was thirteen years old. The only people who call me by my given name are the people who don’t know me—like the people at the bank… or anywhere where I have to show them my identification. Anyway, I had set aside a few costumes.”

  Drusilla reached underneath the counter and came up with five boxes. She placed three of the boxes down in front of Winona and the other two in front of Willie.

  Drusilla looked at Winona and pointed towards the boxes before continuing with, “Those are three medieval outfits that should fit you.” She gestured towards a changing room. “Take them and try them on. Choose the one that you like. I’ll even allow you to mix and match them.”

  “Alright,” Winona said before picking up the boxes. She then turned and walked towards the changing room.

  Drusilla faced Willie before saying, “There’s only one changing room, so once Sawni gets done, you can try on the vampire costumes. Those two should be your size.”

  Willie nodded before saying, “If you’re certain that these two are my size, I’ll just pick one out without trying it on.”

  “I’m good at judging people’s sizes, but I have been known to be wrong from time to time,” Drusilla confessed.

  “Alright, when… Sawni gets done, I’ll try them on,” Willie said. Drusilla nodded in agreement.

  Inside the changing room, Winona opened the three boxes to see what outfits there were.

  One box held a gypsy looking white and purple dress, a white and purple pattern head cover and a white and purple pattern scarf.

  Another box had a lightweight tunic that had half sleeves. The shoulders of the tunic were forest-green. Below the forest-green shoulders was a light tan two-inch trimming. The rest of the tunic was brown with a forest-green and light tan pattern between the chest and the abdomen. The pattern resembled the underside of a butterfly spreading its wings.

  The remaining contents of the second box were light-weight dark tan trousers, a reversible light-weight hooded cloak that was forest-green on one side and a dark tan on the other side, and a set of two reversible boot-covers that was forest green on one side and a dark tan on the other side.

  The boot cover would wrap around the boots or around a person’s calves over the trousers to where it would appear as if the person was wearing medieval boots.

  The last box had a light-weight ash-gray tunic that had half sleeves, light-weight dark gray trousers, a reversible light-weight hooded cloak that was light gray on one side and a dark gray on the other side, and a set of two dark gray boot-covers.

  Winona selected the dark tan trousers and the reversible boot-covers from one box, and the ash gray tunic and the gray cloak from the other box.

  She put the costume on over her clothes. When she put the boot-covers on, she put them on with the brown-side out. The cloak was put on with the dark-side out.

  Winona then—while wearing the costume—collected what she didn’t use and left the changing room.

  As Winona was stepping up to the counter, Drusilla told her, “Huh? For some reason, I expected that you would choose the other tunic and the gray pants—but that works. In fact, that looks good on you.”

  “Thanks,” Winona said with a slight grin before putting the boxes on the counter.

  “You still need to pick out the accessories to enhance your costume.”

  “Before I do that, how much is this?” Winona asked.

  “To buy, it costs a hundred and twenty dollars,” Drusilla began. “Normally I rent them out for half the purchase price plus five dollars a day, but when larping begins, I usually give discounts to the players.”

  “Okay,” Winona said in a confused tone. “So how much is the rental?”

  “Fifty dollars and no daily rental fees,” Drusilla replied.

  “Okay,” Winona said. “I can afford that.”

  “Keep in mind that I don’t rent the accessories,” Drusilla added. “So what accessories you pick out and buy are yours.”

  “Okay, I’ll see what you have,” Winona said before turning towards the aisle that held the accessories.

  “While you’re doing that, I’ll try these on,” Willie said while picking up the two boxes that he was given.

  “Alright,” Winona acknowledged before walking up to the accessories.

  Winona looked at a few things before seeing vampire teeth. She quickly picked up two sets—one for Willie and one for herself.

  Winona then saw the make-up kits and grabbed what she needed from that.

  The make-up and the two sets of vampire teeth filled her hands, and to free her hands, she took the items to the counter.

  Drusilla stepped closer to the counter as Winona was walking up, and before Drusilla could ask, Winona said, “I’m not ready to check out yet.” Winona put down what she had in her hands. “I’m going to look at your jewelry.”

  “That’s fine,” Drusilla said before Winona could turn towards the jewelry and walk away.

  Winona was looking over the jewelry selection for a few minutes before Willie stepped out of the changing room while wearing one of the vampire costumes.

  When Winona turned to look, Willie questioned, “How do I look?”

  “You look good enough to stake,” Winona quipped.

  Willie grinned before saying, “I need the teeth to complete the costume.”

  “I grabbed us both a set,” Winona said before gesturing towards the teeth. “They’re on the counter.”

  Willie nodded before asking, “So what else do we need?”

  “Well, I had grabbed the make-up that we’ll need as well,” Winona said as she picked up an amulet from a hook. “And now I’m getting a few pieces of jewelry.”

  Willie stepped up to Winona before saying, “I guess I should do the same; although, I don’t normally wear jewelry.”

  “I wear earrings and necklaces,” Winona began. “I’m not too big on wearing rings or a watch…”

  “You don’t like wearing a watch?” Willie questioned.

  “If I wear a watch, I would get into a habit of checking the time every minute when things are boring or slow,” she said before picking up a gothic-looking, inch wide bracelet that had one fake ruby and two smaller fake diamonds on either side of the ruby. “I don’t mind wearing bracelets though.”

  Winona then stepped over to the ring selection.

  After Winona and Willie selected their jewelry, they walked up to the counter.

  “Is this it?” Drusilla asked.

  “This is it,” Willie said.

  “I should’ve mentioned this before, but for costume rentals, I only accept credit cards,” Drusilla informed. “That way, if it comes back damaged, I will charge the retail price for the costume.”

  “Alright,” Willie said while going for his wallet. “And I’ll get this, Winnie.”

  “I should pay my half,” Winona insisted as Drusilla began to enter the price of each item into the register.

  “You can pay me back later,” Willie said as he went into his wallet.

  “Winnie is an unusual name,” Drusilla made note of as she continued entering the price of each item into the register.

  “It’s my nickname,” Winona informed as Willie was pulling out his credit card. “Winona is my actual name.”

  Drusilla grinned before asking, “Were you named after Winona Ryder?”

  “No,” Winona said with a slight grin. “My mom’s sister was named Winona, and I was name after her.”

  “Was?” Drusilla questioned while taking note of the past tense.

  “My mom’s sister… my aunt died in a boating accident when she was seventeen,” Winona shared. “My mom was fourteen at the time.”


  “I’m sorry,” Drusilla said.

  “Thanks,” Winona said. “I know my mom misses her.”

  Drusilla nodded in a sympathetic manner before entering the price of the last item.

  “Okay, for both costumes and the accessories, it totals to one hundred and eighty-nine dollars and twenty-six cents.”

  “Okay,” Willie said before swiping his credit card in the credit card reader.

  It took a couple of seconds for the credit card to be approved, and once it had, Drusilla finalized the purchase.

  As Drusilla began bagging the items, she informed, “Gelmac is at work. He gets off at four, and he wants you two to meet him at ‘The Crow’s Nest’ at four-thirty.”

  “Alright,” Winona said.

  “We’ll be there,” Willie said while overlapping Winona.

  Once the items were in the bag, Winona took the bag.

  “We’ll see you later,” Winona said.

  “Bye,” Drusilla said followed by Winona and Willie.

  Winona and Willie turned towards the exit and walked away.

  As the two were leaving the shop, Winona asked, “So what are we going to do between now and four-thirty?”

  “What do you know about filing?” Willie asked.

  “Not a thing,” Winona admitted. “Why?”

  “I need to do some work, and I was hoping I could recruit your help,” Willie informed.

  “You want me to help with your investigations?” Winona questioned incredulously.

  “Absolutely not,” Willie quickly said. “My filing system is atrocious. I’ve been meaning to fix that, but I haven’t had the time. So I was hoping that I could recruit your help with that.”

  Winona shrugged before saying, “Sure. I’ll do what I can to help.”

  “Great,” Willie said as he and Winona were walking towards the car.

  Willie drove straight to his office, and as Willie pulled into the lot, he and Winona spotted Brad and Riley while having a discussion near Willie’s office door.

  “You have company,” Winona pointed out.

  “I wonder what they want,” Willie thought aloud.

  “I guess we’ll find out shortly,” Winona said.

  Brad and Riley turned to look as Willie parked his car, and then stared curiously when they saw the costumes that Winona and Willie were wearing.