by Jen Pretty
“Alright, no fighting,” I said pointing at Frankie and then at Vincent before I turned and climbed the stairs. I was not going to make it through a shower. Ugh. I would definitely smell bad when I woke up again.
Durga
She finally fell asleep. I thought the warlock’s blathering would never cease. I pushed Lark’s sleeping mind out of the way and then rose and stretched this body to limber it up. Lark may need sleep, but I did not and I would no longer sit idly by while she wasted half of her life in that bed.
I grabbed her money cards, opened the window and leaped down to the firm packed earth below. The manicured gardens and lawns are an unnecessary extravagance. I broke into a run and entered the forest behind the large house and exited the forest into another ridiculously kept lawn. I jumped the fence that protected the house from the road and walked along the street towards the train station where I knew I could find a taxi to take me towards the pull I could feel from the city to the north.
Using the plastic card I had seen Lark use, I paid the taxi driver and walked for nearly an hour before I finally got close enough to follow my senses directly to the fallen vampire hiding in the sewer system below the run-down apartment complex. I called my blade. At least Lark did that right. The blade was perfectly balanced, spelled to stay sharp and always at our fingertips. Lark hadn’t proved her worth, my hands were much more capable with the blade than hers.
I jumped down into the open drain hole and splashed into the cold water below. I looked down to realize I had forgotten shoes. Below the water, silt, mud and things I didn’t want to consider squished between my toes. The feeling was disgusting and the farther I walked through the drain, the deeper it became.
Red eyes flashed in the darkness. The filthy demon sprung from its hiding place. Its dirty fangs slid through my skin. I slashed upwards with the dagger. His flesh split, spraying his blood upon me. It did little else to slow him down. Irritating vermin.
His fingers caught my wrist. Dirty, ragged nails dug into my skin and tore. The scent of my blood drove the demon into a frenzy. His eyes shone like two red moons in the night sky, and the sound of his gnashing teeth rang through the hollow steel tunnel.
I called my blade to my left hand and used all my power to lodge it deep in his filthy neck. He crumpled immediately to the ground, and I followed him down, severing his head from his body and ending his wretched existence.
As I rinsed the blade in the dark water at my feet, I considered the fact that my suspicion had proven true, Lark was only slowing down our mission. Now that I was strong enough, I would ensure our work was done.
The balance must be maintained.
At all costs
CHAPTER FIVE
As predicted, I woke up smelling awful. Way worse than expected, actually. I rolled off the bed and stumbled to the shower, still half blind from sleep. As I washed my hair, I looked down and noticed my feet were dirty. How the hell did my feet get dirty? I scrubbed them and went back to my hair that had knotted from the wind in the car and obviously suffered further abuse while I was sleeping. I squirted more conditioner into it, rinsed, and stepped out of the shower. Combing out my hair took too long, maybe it was time for a trim. My hair fell half way down my back now and I didn’t have time for high maintenance.
When I walked back into the bedroom, I realized the window was open. It was closed when I went to bed. Maybe Vincent had stopped in and opened it when he got a whiff of me. I laughed at the thought of the vampire smelling me and getting grossed out as I slid the window shut and locked it. After getting dressed in some yoga pants and a hoodie, I walked down to the dining room to see how talks between Frankie and Vincent had gone.
“Hey, Lark!” Drew called with an enthusiastic wave. That vampire ruined any image I ever had of broody, dark vampires.
I waved and grabbed a plate before scooping some lasagna out of the warming tray and laughing at the irony of the basket of garlic bread.
“You ready to fight some evil and defend the innocent?” Drew asked with a goofy grin as I scooted my chair into the table.
“Sure. Let me eat first, huh?” I yawned.
“You stayed out too late.” Frankie’s voice floated across the noisy room to me. My new hearing could pick his voice out anywhere and I looked up to find him leaning against the doorway of the dining room with his arms crossed over his leather jacket. The faded denim, motorcycle boots and his standard bad boy pose rounding out his hot warlock image.
He smirked and looked down, letting me know he had plucked that thought out of my head. I needed to get my traitorous mind together before I gave Frankie an even more inflated ego.
“Lark,” Cedric said my name in a tone that made it clear it wasn’t the first time he had said it.
“Huh?” I responded, breaking my gaze from the warlock to look at Cedric.
He shook his head at my inarticulate response. “This is why I had my reservations about working with the warlock, you two have some serious shit to deal with.” He stood, picked up his empty plate and walked towards the kitchen.
“Crap,” I muttered under my breath. That was not embarrassing at all.
Frankie pushed off the door frame and stalked across the dining room. He spun the chair beside me around and straddled it like his motorcycle.
“So, I’m coming with you tonight,” Frankie said, stealing a piece of my garlic bread. I tried to stab his hand with my fork, but he was too fast. Why did everyone take my food?
“Are we going around town? Or is there a sign of the old fallen vamp somewhere?” I dropped my fork, crossed my fingers, and whispered, “Please be somewhere warm, please be somewhere warm.”
“Actually, we’re going to the Marksville, about an hour north. There is a serial killer on the loose there. The city is pretty big, but all the murders have been in the east end so that is where we are going.” He popped the last of my pilfered garlic bread in his mouth and wiped his hands on my napkin. I gave him the universal ‘what the hell?’ look and he smiled and put the used napkin back down beside my plate.
“Alright, kids. Conference room in thirty,” Cedric called from the doorway before he disappeared down the hall.
I shoveled the last of my lasagna into my mouth, grabbed my piece of garlic bread and held it between my teeth while I returned my plate. I had to get dressed in more durable clothes.
Geared up in my leather pants and heavy boots, I was ready to roll. I waltzed into the conference room to find the team, plus Darya, Frankie and Vincent huddled over a map spread out over the table.
“His third victim was last seen entering the night club here,” Cedric pointed to a place on the map as I walked up and pressed in between Frankie and Vincent.
“Hi,” Vincent whispered, his eyes dancing around like he was trying to look at all of me at once. This whole lovesick vampire thing was getting out-of-hand.
Clive cleared his throat, bringing Vincent’s eyes back around to the map.
“As I was saying,” Clive said, drawing out the words. He ignored the glare Vincent shot him for his sarcastic tone. “I would like to start at the most recent dump site. It’s almost thirty-six hours old but there should be some scent lingering and Lark might pick up something.” Clive scratched his neck, looking less sure of himself as Vincent’s anger was still tangible. Clive wasn’t going to get off easy for his sarcasm. “Uhm, hopefully he is getting sloppy and this most recent body might be closer to, you know, whatever hole he is hiding in.” It was strange to hear our fearless leader stumble over his words, but Team Lark captain had stepped in it and he knew it.
Vincent took a step back from the table and crossed his arms over his chest. “That’s fine. I am sending a clean-up van to Marksville in case it is required. Can I speak to you in the hall, Clive?” Vincent’s voice got more and more tight as he spoke and his face was now radiating his anger at Clive’s insolence.
As the two vampires stepped into the hall, Drew mouthed the word ‘oops’. I bit my lip, hopi
ng that Vincent didn’t start yelling.
“You had better watch your tongue or I will rip it out!” we all heard from the hall and then a moment later, a door slammed on the other side of the house.
A few moments later, Clive peeked his head back in.
“Let’s go,” he said, looking unhappy, but he was alive so it couldn’t have been that bad.
I shared a look with Drew and followed the rest of the team out the door.
Frankie stopped in the hall and waited for me. “I was thinking about taking the bike,” he said. “You want to ride with me?”
“Heck, yeah,” I replied. I hadn’t been on a motorcycle in a month. Those snowmobiles were a terrible substitute – given the fact I was too frozen to actually enjoy that ride at all. Plus, Darya had been added to our team, I assumed, since she was following along with Vlad. Which meant the van would be uncomfortably full.
“Meet you there,” I called to Cedric as we entered the garage. He waved me away and climbed into the driver seat of the van.
I trailed Frankie out into the driveway to his parked bike. He pulled out a second helmet and set it on my head. I did up the strap and climbed behind him, locking my arms around his waist as he revved the engine and took off down the driveway. The van couldn’t keep up as we weaved in and out of slower moving vehicles until we made it to the highway that led north. Frankie opened up the bike until the speed dumped adrenaline into my veins. Durga wiggled inside me, making my stomach jump and dance like grease on a hot pan. I shoved her back down.
Eventually the adrenaline settled and the thrum of the motorcycle engine combined with the heat of being wrapped around Frankie and my eyes tried to slide shut. I shook my head to keep me awake. Riding a motorcycle was no place for a nap. It wasn’t long before Frankie turned off the highway and into a medium-sized city. The sun had set and we passed quiet streets of suburban sprawl as we made our way towards the east side of the city. The van was probably miles behind us so when Frankie pulled into a coffee shop, I didn’t argue. I hopped off and followed him into the small shop.
We sat down a few minutes later with our coffees.
“I’m glad you’re here, Frankie.”
“I missed you while I was gone. Text just doesn’t cut it,” he said before blowing on his hot coffee.
“I missed you too. Spending all my time with vampires is weird. They are strangely into sports and domestic beer. You’d think with centuries of being alive, they would be, I don’t know, different. I guess.” Frankie laughed and sipped his coffee.
My phone binged. I pulled it out my pocket and saw a text from Drew saying they were in the city.
“Time to motor,” I said before chugging half my coffee and abandoning the rest in favor of strapping on my helmet.
Frankie pulled up behind the van and shut off the motorcycle. The team was in the alley that the police had cordoned, though the scene had been abandoned.
I swung off, leaving my helmet on the seat and crossed the alley to catch up with Vlad and Darya.
“We have picked up a scent,” Vlad said as he held the police tape up so I could walk under.
“Good, maybe we can make this quick.” A yawn caught me off guard.
“You bored with this life already, Lark?” Drew asked from about half way down the alley.
“No, I’m just tired tonight,” I replied.
Clive gave me a concerned look from where he was crouched inspecting the ground. I assumed that was where the body had been. Durga wasn’t interested yet, so I found a cleanish area and sat down on the ground, crossing my legs. I rested my hands on my knees, palms up, and cleared my mind. I found a few vampires in the area. None of them interested Durga, so I kept checking. Moving my senses as far as I could, there was still no interest from Durga. The vampires in this city were not fallen or evil. I came back to myself and stood, dusting the alley dirt off my pants.
“I’ve got nothing,” I said.
“I might have something,” Frankie said. He had a glowing orb in his hand. “There was a drop of blood here, I don’t think it’s from the victim.”
Vlad walked down the alley to the place Frankie knelt and sniffed towards the ground. He grunted.
“That is vampire blood,” Vlad confirmed.
“My magic won’t last very long, but if the vampire is close by, it should lead us to it,” Frankie said.
“You want to walk around the city with a glowing ball in your hand? That might raise some eyebrows,” I said pointing to the blue orb.
“Only you and I can see it Lark,” he replied. I noticed the confused looks on the faces of the vampires.
“Oh, that’s weird, how come I can see it?” I asked, moving towards him.
“Because I want you to,” he replied. A beat passed where no one spoke. I bit my lip.
“Alright then, uhm, well, let’s go find a vamp then,” I said turning on my heel and striding out of the alley. Drew snickered as I walked past him and I pointed a finger at him, making him stop. He had a healthy fear of Durga, though I had no idea where she was tonight. She had been right below my surface for the last month, now she didn’t care about hunting vampires?
I paused at the end of the alley to let Frankie go ahead and we all trailed along behind him as he weaved through the seedy streets lined with run-down apartment buildings and abandoned houses. Eventually, the light Frankie carried started to flicker and went out. He stopped and looked around. The thick layers of graffiti on the buildings were probably all that was keeping them standing. There were no buildings with intact glass windows. Some were boarded up, but most were left open to the elements. It was a perfect place for junkies, squatters and vampires.
“Sorry, that’s it for me,” Frankie said.
Everyone looked at me. I still had nothing. If the vampire was here, Durga didn’t care.
We turned to walk back towards the van and, about halfway up the block, Vlad stopped and raised his nose to the sky. Pulling in a deep breath, his nostrils flaring, he turned and began walking towards the vacant apartment complex.
“What is it?” I asked. The rest of the vampires started sniffing too. God, I wish I had a better sense of smell. Whatever it was, we all marched through the weedy area beside the building and stopped at an open sewer drain.
Clive and Vlad exchanged a look, then Vlad led the way, splashing down into the hole. We each followed behind. I called my blade and thanked God I had worn my boots. The water smelled terrible and familiar. Though I couldn’t place it.
Drew pulled out a flash light. We all had pretty good night vision, but I didn’t want to run into any gators, so I stuck close to Drew until we came into an open area where one drain met another and they combined to flow out of town.
The grate up ahead had caught something. When Drew’s light flashed over it, the features came into stark relief against the black murky water. It was a head. A vampire’s head. His eyes were open, but grey and cloudy instead of glowing. His teeth were unmistakable though.
“Jesus,” Drew whispered. “Do you think that’s our guy?”
Vlad splashed over and gave the head a sniff.
“That is definitely him. But what the hell happened to him?” Vlad replied, picking up the guy’s head. Water and other things drained out and, between the smell of the water and the sight of the headless vampire, it was too much for me. I covered my mouth, not wanting to puke in the water we were all standing in, but lost my breakfast anyway. We got out of there quickly after that. We left the fallen vampire who had been tormenting this city where he, well, fell.
The water had breached my boots, and my socks squished all the way back to where we parked. No one spoke, we were each lost in our own thoughts. Someone had killed that vampire and done a tidy job of it. I wasn’t sure if I should be grateful or worried. A vigilante? A human couldn’t have done it, but there were other things that could have. I was so tired, I knew I wouldn’t make it back to the city on the bike, so I ended up cramped between Drew and Vlad in th
e back seat of the van.
I hope my snoring didn’t bother them.
CHAPTER SIX
Back at the mansion, feeling refreshed from my nap, I changed into some workout clothes and hit the gym. I had been so busy lately, between hunting vampires and teaching classes, that I hadn’t had time to work on my yoga or meditate. I walked down to the gym considering the death of the vampire in Marksville. Something was gnawing at me about it.
The gym was empty at this hour of the night so I turned on my old iPod. It still had all the same music it had when I bought it from the thrift store, but it was like my theme music now, I couldn’t replace it. I left half the lights off, so the room was only lit from one end, casting the matted area into darkness. I walked to the middle of the mats and started my warm-up routine. My body groaned and joints creaked as I worked out the kinks from sleeping in the car propped up between vampires. I reached up towards the ceiling and wished I had thought to go out on the back patio so I could try and touch the stars. Then I swept my hands down to the ground, wrapping my arms around my legs and pulling my body tight. My heart set into a calm heavy beat, sending my pulse thrumming through my ears. Continuing through my usual routine until I had a light sheen, I finally moved into some of the more complicated positions.
Durga always stayed near my surface when I did yoga. It was a strange feeling. Like she was filling my limbs and moving with me instead of staying curled up in my middle. It felt like a partnership.
I slid into the downward facing dog pose, my feet and hands planted on the floor and felt the stretch deep in my lower back and across my shoulders before shifting my weight forward to go into the crow pose.
My body centered itself, giving me the freedom to balance in ways that seemed impossible a few years ago when I started getting more serious about my yoga. I couldn’t find my center, back then.
