H.T. Night's 8-Book Vampire Box Set

by Night, H. T.

  I got onto the site and went on Orange County and its surrounding areas.

  I typed in. “Large animal cage.”

  “Wow,” I said out loud. “There’s a page full of cages here. What kind of cage do you want?”

  “You’re really going to put me in a cage?”

  “I saw what you did to that room. I just recently got new furniture.”

  “Look here,” I read out loud. “It says, ‘large cage—used to hold a gorilla—strong bars—nothing gets in or out.’ Damn! $2,500!”

  “$2,500?”

  “Yeah.”

  “That’s way too much.”

  “It is,” I said. “But I’m looking at these other cages and I do not trust how small they are. The expensive cage is gigantic!”

  “Do you have $2,500?” she asked.

  “Don’t worry about that,” I said. I knew she was a con artist. So she didn’t have to know anything about my income. I just recently had $80,000 given to me when my grandfather died and there was no way in hell she was going to find out that information.

  I called the number and the guy said I could have it for two thousand if I picked it up in San Diego. How in the world was I going to get to San Diego and haul a two-ton cage 100 miles before tonight? I had to do it but I needed to go down there and rent a U-Haul.

  “We’re taking a trip to San Diego, girly girl,” I announced.

  “Can we stop by the store?” Sasha asked. “I need some girl items.”

  I looked at her with zero expression and said, “All right, I don’t need to know any more.”

  We stopped in at Walgreen’s and then we headed down to San Diego and got ourselves a cage big enough to hold a mountain lion. I drove the U-Haul back to O.C. while Sasha drove my Mustang. I called ahead and got some movers to meet me at the apartment to get the thing inside my apartment.

  After the movers helped me get the gigantic cage into my living room, they gave me a look like ‘why do you have a ten-foot cage in your apartment?’ I told them Sasha was kinky and I tipped them well. I also told them to keep it on the down-low that I had a cage.

  So, now it was just time to wait for the full moon to come out.

  I checked on Patrick. He was still sleeping and looked awful. I asked Sasha to check him out. She actually didn’t want to look at him because he was a vampire. I pointed out to her that she didn’t have a choice. She saw it my way.

  My bites from the night before were killing me. My shoulder ached. I was pretty jacked up. I was sitting in my living room, staring at the cage, wondering how strong Sasha was when she turned. Could she knock over that cage? I couldn’t even believe that I was having these kinds of thoughts. I kept reminding myself, ‘go with it, gain control of it, and then all of this might make sense.’

  Sasha came back out of the room after looking at Patrick. “He’s pretty messed up.”

  “Did he wake up?” I asked.

  “Not really. He definitely didn’t know a werewolf was checking on him. He needs a doctor and if he is a vampire, a lot of red flags will go off.”

  “Like what?”

  “There is a reason why the Triat has our bodies disappear when we die.”

  “The Triat?” I asked. “What the hell is a Triat?”

  “The Triat is everything.”

  “You mean God?”

  “No. More like the heart of God.”

  “Look, spare me this tale. If you truly turn into a werewolf, you can give me all the paranormal history you want. But as of right now, let’s take care of tonight. I’m thinking I also need to chain you.”

  “Chain me?” Sasha did not like that.

  “Yeah, you might be really strong. Also, where will you go to the bathroom? I’m going to put some cardboard in there.”

  So, we left again and went to Home Depot and I bought the strongest chains they had. When we got back, I locked the chains from inside the cage, I had no idea what I was doing and the more I was taking this seriously, the more I was convinced that I was in some alternate universe where truth and love have been replaced by werewolves and vampires.

  I stepped out of the cage and realized this damn thing took up my entire living room. It took almost the entire open floor that separated the TV from the couch.

  I looked outside and said to Sasha, “Well, how does it usually happen? The whole turning from human to werewolf thing.”

  “I really don’t know. I have almost no recollection when I become a werewolf.”

  “Of course you don’t,” I said, sarcastically. “Seriously, that would be too easy. What I don’t understand is, if there are werewolves running around, why aren’t there more instances of attacks?”

  “There’s a strict code the Carni live by. We drive off to remote areas that are far away from the Tandra.”

  “And Tandra is what you call humans?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then, why are you here and not in some remote area?”

  “I don’t really have anywhere to go. I’m pretty much an ostracized werewolf. A lone wolf, you might say.”

  I looked at her and just thought, of course she is.

  “And what about my little vampire friend in the bedroom? He referred to himself as a Mani.”

  “Mani are vampires,” Sasha said plainly, as if she was saying something you hear every day.

  “Okay.” I shook my head trying to wrap my mind around all of this crazy information. “He didn’t become a bat either,” I said. “He actually became a black bird.”

  “A raven.” Sasha corrected me. “Mani transition into black ravens and red hawks.”

  “Red hawks?” I asked.

  “Yeah, men become black ravens and women become red hawks.”

  “What do Carni become?”

  She laughed. “We become werewolves.”

  “Oh yeah, I forgot that part. But you can’t control it, but vampires can?”

  “Yeah, it’s not fair, but that’s the hand we were dealt.”

  “How does someone become a werewolf?”

  “They get bitten by a Carni when it’s a werewolf and survive the bite.”

  I thought about the other night. “Hey, those three guys I fought on the street. Were they Carni?”

  Sasha was quiet. “Um.”

  “Were they?” I persisted.

  “Yes.”

  “Were you ever going to tell me that?”

  “How could I? You didn’t even know I was one until today.”

  “So the one that bit my shoulder was a full-blown werewolf?” I asked.

  “He wasn’t when he bit you.”

  “So, what happens when one of these freaks bite you and he or she isn’t a werewolf?”

  “I don’t really know. I never heard of that happening before, especially the kind of bite you got.”

  “Great, I’m a trailblazer,” I said, sarcastically. I sat down on my couch and had to put my feet up so they wouldn’t smack the cage. “Sasha, some weird crap has been happening to me the last couple of days.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like at times, my hearing is off the charts.”

  “Really.”

  “Yeah. I could hear car alarms that are—”

  “—blocks away.” Sasha finished what I said.

  “Holy shit!” I continued. “I also had an extreme amount of facial hair last night and then it went away in the morning.”

  “What about your eyes? Did you notice they were yellow?”

  “I didn’t even look at my eyes.” I sat there dumbfounded. “What do you make of it?”

  Sasha shook her head and said, “It’s like you’re in some weird werewolf purgatory. It’s like you’re not fully a werewolf, but you have the potential to become one.”

  “You’re fucking kidding me. I don’t want to be a freaking werewolf. How do you reverse it?”

  “You can’t reverse it, Tommy.”

  “What does that mean?” I shouted.

  “It means that you are becoming immort
al and there is no secret antidote!”

  I began sweating. I could feel my heart rate go up. The room began spinning. Holy shit! I’m was having a heart attack! My chest felt tight. I fell to the floor and blacked out.

  The next thing I remember was that Sasha was sitting me up on the couch and giving me some water.

  “Tommy? Tommy?” she asked. “You all right?”

  I put my hand on my chest. “I don’t know. I think I had a heart attack.”

  “I doubt that. You wouldn’t be able to breathe. You had a panic attack.”

  “A panic attack?” Who was I? Tony Soprano? I don’t have panic attacks.

  “It’s to be expected. I just told you that there’s a good chance that you’re in some kind of werewolf limbo phase.”

  I looked at Sasha and just wanted to scream at her at the top of my lungs. Why did I go to Shiners that night? And why did I go outside to talk to her? This was crazy. Maybe she was crazy. Maybe none of this is true.

  I sighed and got up. “I better get you in the cage,” I said. “I’m not going to put chains on you, but if you get out of hand, I might.”

  “You think you can put chains on me once I become a werewolf? Good luck!”

  “What are you? A buck-ten?”

  “When I become a werewolf, I’m bigger, my clothes become a part of me and I become heavier and larger.”

  “Oh, that makes sense.”

  “It might not make sense, but that’s what happens.”

  “Get in the cage,” I said, with as much authority I could muster. This woman walked into my life and screwed it up in so many ways. Look at me. I was completely fucked up. I had insane bites all over my body. I had a vampire sleeping in my bedroom and now an almost-werewolf in my living room, in fact, she was moments away from transition to a werewolf. All I could do was continue to play this out. “How you doing in there?” I asked.

  “I’m all right. You better lock the door.”

  “Oh yeah, what was I thinking?” I got up and locked the door and I sat on the couch facing the cage. The sun was setting and I looked on, staring at Sasha. And even though I was pissed, she was damn sexy. She looked good in her little white shorts. It’s been awhile since I fired one off, so to say I was horny was an understatement.

  Sasha caught me looking at her with my big bad intentions.

  “What?” she said, in a sexy way only a woman as hot as her could pull off.

  “I’m hoping you don’t turn! And you’re full of shit.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I’m going to go in there and rip your clothes off and make passionate, animal cage love to you.”

  Sasha stepped up to the cage bars. I stood up and reached in. I grabbed her from her waist and pressed her body up against mine with the cage bars separating us.

  We both tilted our heads just right and were able to kiss through the bars. Her breath smelled amazing. She was oozing with estrogen. I wanted her so badly that I nearly stripped off my clothes. I had no idea why I was turned on at this moment but I was.

  I kissed her passionately and cupped her buttocks with my left hand. I pressed her hard against me. I looked her in the eyes. “You know,” I said. “This whole thing is foolish. You and I both know there is no way you’re a—”

  Suddenly, Sasha’s blue eyes turned bright yellow. She looked like a damn demon. I jumped back onto the couch and let go of her. I hopped onto the floor and scurried away from the cage. There was at least ten feet separating me from the cage.

  Sasha dropped to the ground and began to roll. She looked like she was having a seizure. Hair began protruding out of her body everywhere. It was like watching a fast-motion film where you watch a flower grow in at hyper speed. But this was actually happening. Within seconds, she had enlarged a foot in height, had black hair, and her head went from a gorgeous brunette to a sleek wolf.

  She stared at the window where she could see the full moon and howled.

  “Shhh,” I yelled. I couldn’t believe what I was doing. I was shushing a damn wolf.

  She must not have known I was in the room. Because her head turned to me and she growled and barked at me as if I was a hundred miles away. She began scratching the carpet and ramming her body into the cage. Thank God, the cage was holding up. But damn, she was louder than hell. The neighbors weren’t too far away. How the hell was I going to calm her down?

  I thought about grabbing some meat from the fridge but I didn’t know if it would help. Plus, all I had were twenty-dollar steaks.

  She looked in the direction of my room and went absolutely berserk. She didn’t like something in my bedroom. She must have smelled Patrick. What was I going to do? I couldn’t calm her down. She wasn’t having any part of me. As matter of fact, my presence in the room seemed to be making matters worse. It wasn’t like she and I had developed any kind of rapport, so she could even consider listening to me.

  I looked in the cage at this beautiful, black wolf. She was a sight to behold. Absolutely spectacular in her perfect wolf form. I had to admit, she was scary looking, but I wasn’t intimidated. She still had a level of femininity that made her seem more delicate than I imagined.

  I put my hand to my chin and scratched and when I did I scratched a hand full of beard. Crap. I ran to the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror, fully expecting to have a Michael J. Fox Teen Wolf moment, but to my surprise, it just looked like I hadn’t shaved in a couple of weeks. There were scattered patches of hair that looked more like a teenager’s sad attempt to grow his first beard than the makings of a werewolf. I looked at my eyes and there was a hint of yellow. Something was wrong. I was caught in between what I used to be and what Sasha had become.

  I didn’t know what to think. Part of me felt like I had just died and gone to hell, but another more competitive part of me wondered what kind of bad ass I could become. And not just in the ring.

  “Hey, is anyone here!” A voice yelled from my bedroom. It was Patrick and he must have wondered where he was and why a werewolf would be hooting and hollering in the living room.

  I went into my bedroom and Patrick had sat up. He was taking several deep breaths and caressing his throat.

  “How does it feel?” I asked, referring to his cracked larynx.

  “It hurts to swallow and inhaling is a bitch. So about every 2.2 seconds I’m in excruciating pain.”

  “Look, you attacked me. I was fine to just leave.”

  “I know. It wasn’t my idea, it was Nero’s.” Patrick paused. “You know, the guy you killed.”

  Damn, that didn’t sound right. This wasn’t a video game where I eliminated an opponent in Halo. I fucking killed a man or Mani or whatever the fuck he is...was.

  “I’m still wrapping my head around all of this,” I said.

  “That’s what I’ve been trying to do for a week.” Patrick added.

  “You said you were new to all of this.”

  Patrick leaned back against my bed post and rested. “Yeah, this was the last thing I wanted.”

  “You and me both.”

  Patrick stared at my face with a puzzled look. “I don’t remember you having a beard before.”

  “I’m having my own issues,” I said.

  Patrick didn’t seem like he was up for an inquiry. He closed his eyes and took a big swallow. I had just noticed Sasha quit barking and snarling. “Hold on,” I said, and I dashed to the living room. Sasha was sound asleep. I sighed. At least she’d be quiet for the time being.

  I went back in the room and it appeared that Patrick had gone to sleep also. It was night! Why weren’t my vampire and werewolf awake?

  I left and went into my kitchen. I sat at my oak table and looked across my living room where I had a werewolf sound asleep. I was exhausted, too. I had barely slept, and I only had one bed. Even though I barely knew Patrick, he was going to have a bunk partner tonight.

  I went into my room. I put a large pillow between us. There would be no vampire spooning in my bed. I laid down a
nd turned my head and faced my cardboard-covered windows. Within seconds, I was out like a light.

  Chapter Ten

  I was awakened a few hours later by my new alarm clock, known as a pissed-off werewolf, Sasha. She was yelping up a storm and I looked over at Patrick. He was no longer next to me in bed. I instinctively felt my neck, I don’t know why I thought he might have sucked my neck while I was asleep, but what the hell did I know? I was sleeping next to a freaking vampire.

  I walked out of my room cautiously and made my way out to the living room. Sasha saw me and began acting like a junkyard dog on crack.

  Right next to the cage was a black raven, just chilling and staring at the crazed, overgrown dog. When did my apartment become an episode of Wild Kingdom?

  “Patrick?” I called out to the bird.

  The bird flew and landed in the hallway where I was standing. Then, as if right out of a Tolkien novel, the black raven transitioned and became Patrick. He collapsed to the floor and I grabbed his arm.

  “I’m still not great with the whole transition thing, Kyro,” he said, as if I could ignore the fact he just went from bird to man. Err, to vampire. Mani. Whatever he called himself.

  I just stared at Patrick and mumbled, “How did I get mixed up in this?” I grabbed Patrick’s arm and we went outside my apartment to the porch. I closed the door behind me. “Maybe a time out will shut her up.”

  Patrick walked over and sat on a bench that is adjacent to my apartment. “You need to start getting used to your world being completely turned upside down. Everything you ever knew is wrong and everything that is actually true, you couldn’t come up with even in the darkest parts of your imagination.”

  I stared blankly at my new friend and walked over to where he was sitting and sat next to him. “Why were you the bird just now?”

  “It seemed to make your female werewolf friend less upset.”

  “How do you know she is female?”

  “I checked.”

  “You weren’t perving in there, were you?” I said, disgusted.

  “Sick. No! She’s got four legs. I wouldn’t hit that,” Patrick assured me. “If she is hot in her Carni human form, well, then I might make an exception.”