Pretty When She Destroys

by Rhiannon Frater

  “Drink, Samantha, while the magic is strong,” Aimee’s voice ordered from nearby.

  When her gaze drifted to the witch, Samantha drew in a sharp breath of surprise. Aimee’s figure was outlined in the glowing colors of the rainbow with orbs of light drifting around her head like a halo.

  “Drink,” Amaliya insisted, holding out her arm.

  The liquid dripping from the vampire’s pale flesh was black and filled with stars. Samantha drunkenly tried to sit up and Amaliya rapidly slid her other arm around the blonde to support her.

  “It’s full of stars,” Samantha whispered, then her lips clamped over the wound and she drank in the darkness of the eternal night. It was cold, rich, and coppery.

  The world transformed around her instantaneously taking on the appearance of the negative of a black and white photograph, the dark and light hues transposed. Only Amaliya in her dark goddess mode and Aimee glowing like a rainbow remained the same. A thick mist roiled around Samantha, full of whispering voices and soothing caresses. A small part of Samantha’s mind thought that maybe she should be afraid, yet the altered world was comforting. The more of Amaliya’s dark blood she drank, the clearer the ghostly realm became. She could see for hundreds of miles in all directions. Brightly glowing patches of land called to her, whispering her name, and she discerned these were graveyards. Ghosts drifted through the trees, coming to greet her and welcome her home.

  The coppery taste of the night filled with stars stained her tongue and lips when Amaliya drew her wrist away.

  “It’s so beautiful,” Samantha breathed.

  Amaliya was stunning, yet terrible. Her eyes smoldered with white fire and her immense black wings filled the air. “I see it.”

  The vampire drew Samantha to her feet, her hands cold, yet burning with power. Their combined magicks writhed around them like great snakes made of the glittering darkness and luminescent mist.

  “You freed us, Samantha,” Amaliya whispered, looking downward.

  Samantha followed the vampire’s gaze and was stunned to see their bodies lying side by side on the ground, their fingers intertwined. “We’re astral projecting!”

  With a triumphant, gleeful grin, Amaliya’s power lashed out and the dead rose out of the ground around them. Tendrils of their ghostly memories sifted among the decayed bodies, murmuring in hushed voices to the phasmagus. Samantha watched transfixed as Amaliya’s power restored the broken bodies of the dead. Samantha sensed the fine strands of her own magic throbbing with energy, waiting for her command. Concentrating on the wisps floating among the dead, she called the ghosts forward. To her amazement, they answered, taking on form.

  “You are completely The Phasmagus now.” Amaliya’s voice pulsed with power.

  “And you are The Necromancer,” Samantha answered.

  “Let’s find out just what we can do,” Amaliya said, obviously enthralled.

  Still holding Amaliya’s hand, Samantha rotated about so she was facing the west. “Let’s go find Roberto.”

  Not certain of what exactly she should do and acting purely on impulse, Samantha concentrated on the nearest phosphorescent nodule resting in the hills outside Austin. Instantly there was a dizzying rush around them, then they stood in the center of a graveyard.

  “Whoa,” Samantha breathed.

  Amaliya gripped Samantha’s hand ever tighter. “Do that again!”

  Nodding, Samantha stared across the strangely illuminated terrain and concentrated on the brightest spot in the west. Again, there was an exhilarating whoosh, then they stood among the gravestones of yet another cemetery. Before Amaliya could say a word, Samantha looked toward the next spot. This time they appeared among a grove of trees, with no graves to be seen. Yet, the ghostly dead were nearby, watching curiously.

  “Wherever there are bodies...” Amaliya said in awe.

  Again and again, they moved through the world at an exhilarating pace until they stood in an eerily dark and dreary cemetery. The only glow came from a single figure sitting in the center of it. The beautiful luminance of the other graveyards was absent here. The graves were black, hollow holes.

  “He took them all,” Samantha wailed. “He took them all and burned them up like candles.” The horror of The Summoner’s act washed over her. All the fragments of memories of lives lived and lost were gone. Only one ghost remained. He wasn’t a memory, but sentient and weeping.

  “Roberto,” Amaliya said, pointing.

  “Have you come to finish his work?” Roberto asked, his voice raw. He sat upon a grave, his body hunched over with his arms hugging his upper body.

  Holding hands, Amaliya and Samantha approached him. The dark necromancer power slithered over the ground, seeking the dead, but finding none. Samantha’s own magic twisted and twirled about her in wispy ribbons, cautiously approaching Roberto, but not touching him.

  “We did come to find you, but not to do The Summoner’s bidding,” Samantha answered.

  “You’re more powerful than before. Isn’t this his work?” Roberto’s form looked like the cutout of a black and white photo. It crackled and speckled as he moved.

  “No, it’s ours,” Amaliya said.

  “Plus, he’s the bad guy. We’re the good guys.”

  “Are you?” Roberto looked doubtful.

  “We are.” Amaliya’s power receded to pool around her, covering her like a great cloak.

  Roberto stared at them fearfully. “Are you here for revenge? For what I did?”

  “Actually, we’re here to make you an offer.” Samantha wondered briefly what she looked like. Amaliya looked like a death goddess, so did Samantha look like some sort of ghost goddess? Was there such a thing?

  “So what is this offer?” Roberto lowered his arms slowly. The lost expression on his face was slowly fading into a hopeful one.

  “I need a ghost minion. Someone who can help me.”

  “You don’t look like you need help.”

  Samantha studied the bleak world around her. Maybe Roberto was right. Now that she was at full power did she need him? It wasn’t doubt, but her own instincts born of her magic that whispered in her soul that she did. “Yeah, true. But I thought you might want to get out of your limbo and get some revenge on The Summoner.”

  A subtle smile crept onto the ghost’s lips. “I would like that.”

  “But not against her,” Samantha said, pointing to Amaliya. “She killed you because you were a dick.”

  The ghost’s body sputtered as he slid off the tombstone, his black eyes boring into the vampire. “I thought you would be Cian’s death, you know.”

  “Yet you were willing to betray him and torture him to get what you wanted, weren’t you?” Amaliya retorted.

  Roberto chuckled, a dark sound in the barren world. “Love and hate are close siblings.”

  “If you’re a psychopath maybe,” Samantha sniffed.

  “I will help you, Samantha, but only if the past can be laid aside and forgotten.” Roberto was staring squarely at Amaliya.

  A delicate thread of Samantha’s power curled around his head, not quite touching him, but close enough that she could detect the tumult of emotions and thoughts filling him. “He means it, Amaliya.”

  The vampire’s glowing white eyes studied the radiant halo of Samantha’s power pulsating around the ghost’s head. “I will leave the past behind if you don’t do anything to fuck us over. Understood?”

  Fear, loneliness, and desperation vibrated through the faint connection between Samantha and Roberto. Roberto was half-mad from the isolation of this terrible limbo. Unable to leave the graveyard, he was in his own hell.

  “I understand,” Roberto said, not a hint of malice or cockiness in his voice or manner. “And I accept.”

  Samantha plunged her magic into the ghost, the threads of her power weaving around him. Resting her hand on his shoulder, she faced toward Austin. “Let’s go home.”

  Chapter 16

  Jeff pushed at the zombies, but they wouldn’t
relent. They stood in such a dense formation that he couldn’t squeeze through. If not for their glowing eyes, they would have resembled living humans wearing zombie costumes for Halloween.

  “You cannot pass,” the zombies spoke as one.

  “They’re talking!” Jeff gasped.

  From amidst the throng, Aimee’s voice rose. “It’s okay, Jeff. Amaliya and Samantha are fine. I’m with their bodies.”

  “Their bodies!” Panic filled Jeff and again he tried to plunge into the undead horde. The zombies did not budge.

  Cian’s cold fingers gripped Jeff’s shoulder and dragged him backward.

  “The Summoner-” Jeff gasped.

  “They’re fine!” Aimee called out again. “Samantha and Amaliya finally tapped into their full power. They’re alive, but spirit walking. Astral projection, Jeff. Amaliya raised the dead to protect them. There are ghosts, too. I’m sitting with their bodies. It’s okay.”

  Frustrated at not being able to see Samantha, Jeff paced before the zombies. Cian stood in silence, arms folded over his chest, watching both Jeff and the protective circle of the undead.

  “I don’t like this,” Jeff muttered.

  “It’s fine,” Cian said with annoying confidence. “I can see their power rising above the zombies.”

  “You know what? I’m so sick of that!” Jeff whirled about on Cian. “I can’t see any of this magic! It’s supposed to be all around me and I can’t see it at all! You and the other supes can see all the shit I can’t! I’m just supposed to trust you that it’s there!”

  Cian grabbed Jeff so fast he didn’t even have a chance to cry out. The vampire banged him onto the ground, straddled him, tore his wrist open, then blood was filling Jeff’s mouth. The vampire hunter fought back, fists smashing into Cian’s body, but it was ineffectual. As quickly as Cian had attacked, he released Jeff. In a flash of motion, Cian stood calmly nearby licking the wound on his wrist.

  Spitting, Jeff rolled onto his side. The taste of the cold blood caused him to heave, yet the little he threw up did not stop the icy burn filling his veins. As Jeff raised his eyes, he saw the shimmering dome of the ward, the writhing pillar of black shadows, and the ghostly glowing swirls of power.

  “Oh, my God,” he whispered.

  Magic was everywhere. Pulsing in spells set along the perimeter. Glistening over the windows and doors of his house. Writhing in black tentacles among the zombies. The world was filled with magicks of the supernaturals he called family and friends. It was so overwhelming, Jeff lay on the ground enraptured, yet terrified. On delicate little paws, Beatrice sidled up to him and sat at his side. She let out one soft meow, then begin to clean one of her back legs.

  “The infusion will last a few more hours, then will dissipate,” Cian said in a matter-of-fact tone.

  “You could have asked,” Jeff grunted, climbing to his feet.

  “I was tired of your complaining.”

  “Infused humans see like this all the time?”

  “Yes, when they wish to.”

  Beatrice twined between Jeff’s legs, her tail wrapping around the prosthetic one. To Jeff’s surprise, he could feel it. Looking down, he saw the ghostly outline of his phantom limb superimposed over his prosthetic. “This is freaky.”

  Like the Red Sea parting, the mass of zombies split apart revealing Aimee kneeling between the vampire and the phasmagus. Bright, glowing colors flowed around her and orbs of light twirled around her body. Amaliya and Samantha were gradually stirring. Cian moved so fast he was a mere blur, then he was cradling Amaliya as she opened her glowing white eyes.

  Samantha sat up, her blonde curls falling into her face, then lifted her hands to her head. “Ow.”

  Rushing to his girlfriend’s side, Jeff knelt before her. “Sam, are you okay?”

  “I think I gave myself a headache.” Samantha lifted her eyes.

  Jeff recoiled for a second, then gasped, “Oh, shit.”

  “What?” Samantha’s eyes glowed white like Amaliya’s, but there were specks of black swirling in their depths.

  “We match,” Amaliya said, pointing to her eyes.

  “Fuck me, bitch.” Samantha’s expression was unreadable, but her hold on Jeff stiffened.

  The dry, leathery smell of the zombies was cloying and Jeff wanted to get Samantha back into the house. Regardless of the shimmering dome overhead, he felt vulnerable in the night. Beatrice crawled onto Samantha’s lap, purring loudly.

  “Are you okay?” Cian’s concern for his girlfriend was stamped all over his face. It almost made him look nice.

  Amaliya rubbed her temples with the tips of her fingers. “A headache, that’s all.”

  Jeff helped Samantha to her feet.

  “They’re at full power now,” Aimee said, a triumphant smile on her face.

  The witch clutched an old book to her chest as she stood to one side. Jeff noted that it was her Book of Shadows. It cast light like a prism, illuminating the witch’s face in a glow of bright hues.

  Amaliya also appeared wobbly on her feet, leaning heavily against Cian. “That was a rush.” The zombies stretched out their hands to help keep Amaliya steady. “I’m okay,” she assured them, and the undead fell still again.

  The glow in Samantha’s eyes slowly abated.

  Amaliya’s eyes faded into their regular blue-gray color. “I can raise the dead without spilling blood in cemeteries now.”

  Jeff and Cian both looked around at the zombies maintaining their watch.

  “And apparently keep the dead under your power without...”Jeff pointed to her eyes.

  Amaliya nodded her head, then flinched in pain. “Yeah.”

  “Also, I brought back Roberto.” Samantha forced a smile onto her face. “He’s right there.” She pointed to a spot just outside the ring of zombies.

  “I can’t see him.” Jeff squinted.

  “Neither can I.” Cian’s accented voice was clipped.

  “You won’t unless I want you to,” Samantha said. “It’s probably better if I deal with him on my own until everyone calms the fuck down about me recruiting him to our cause.” She nailed Cian with a glower.

  The vampire turned away, shaking his head. “You can’t trust him.”

  “Yeah, well...” Samantha trailed off.

  “I feel deliciously drunk and hung-over at the same time.” Amaliya touched one of her zombies gently on the shoulder. The male creature turned toward her, waiting. “Keep watch for me. Let me know if you sense any dangers.” The zombies nodded, then as one they sank into the earth.

  Jeff gawked at the spot where the zombies had stood. “Things are different now, aren’t they?”

  “My zombies can help us keep watch. Samantha’s ghosts can, too.” Amaliya gave Samantha an affectionate squeeze.

  Samantha’s fingers in his hand felt strange. Almost as if she wasn’t completely in this world. Gazing at her, she looked like her same normal self, but he sensed a difference.

  “Are you okay?” Jeff asked.

  Samantha tilted her head to smile at him. “Oh, yeah. Just...freaked a little.”

  Jeff sighed with relief when she came into his arms, snuggling into his chest. Closing his eyes, he rested his cheek on her soft hair. Jeff hated to admit it, but for a second he had feared he had somehow lost her. As her warm lips touched his, those fears were vanquished.

  The music in the small club pounded with violence and anger. Most of the audience gathered around the narrow stage was long haired, drunk, and thrusting their fists into the air while whipping their heads back and forth. The smoking ban was in full effect, but plenty of people were puffing away on electric cigarettes. Fragrant mist floated through the air mixing with the stench of sweating bodies, cologne, weed, and alcohol.

  Amaliya pinned the beautiful brunette with vibrant green eyes to the wall, her body stretched out over the other woman’s. Her victim’s fingers stroked Amaliya’s waist as they chatted and flirted. The vampire and mortal were dressed very similarly in black jeans,
tank tops with metal band album art printed on the front, deep red lips, and leather bracers. The metalheads brushed past them on the way to the bathrooms and bar, a few casting admiring looks, but kept walking when Amaliya gave them her piercing glare.

  “My boyfriend would totally be into you,” the human purred against Amaliya’s ear. “You really should come home with me. He likes it when I bring pretty girls home.”

  Amaliya grinned, tilting her head seductively. She was famished instead of revitalized from the events earlier in the evening. After three feedings, she was still hungry. “I want to have fun now,” Amaliya said seductively.

  The other woman giggled as Amaliya’s fingers gently tugged on a loop on the waistband of her jeans. Acquiescing, the mortal let Amaliya escort her down the narrow dingy hallway covered in flyers and graffiti to a small bathroom with a female devil painted on the battered door. Since it was a weekday and the band performing was local, the crowd was small so the bathroom was empty. Pushing her beautiful victim inside, Amaliya ignored the repugnant odors of mildew, shit, urine, and a whiff of vanilla from an air freshener listing on the badly battered sink. There was only one stall and the door was ajar. They were alone. With a grin, Amaliya shut and locked the door. A brief glimpse of a shadow out of the corner of her eye betrayed Cian’s presence.

  The dark haired beauty pulled Amaliya close and her lush red mouth pressed against the vampire’s lips. She tasted of cigarettes, liquor and mint. Amaliya appreciated the woman’s desire to get right to business. Pressing the mortal against the sink, Amaliya kissed her fervently, the hunger inside her building. Lightly sucking on the tip of her victim’s succulent pink tongue, Amaliya slid her hands into the woman’s dark hair that was damp with sweat. Sliding her mouth along the curve of her cheek, Amaliya relished the taste and smell of makeup and salty flesh. Unable to wait anymore, she bared her elongating teeth and slid them into the woman’s neck. Feeding thoughts of pleasure into her victim’s mind, Amaliya drank deeply. The warm liquid rushed through her undead body restoring her, giving her life, and replenishing her power.