The Goddess and The Vampire

by Jon Herrera

Chapter Twenty-Three

  I WAS WELL out of the range of the vampire power-blocking idol, but I wasn’t sure I should be contacting anyone. Raoul and Izumi might well be able to pick up my calls for help and I didn’t want to risk it. The neighborhood near the Incinerator was not the best in the world so I kept moving past it. The area beyond was filled with cheap motels and liquor stores and pawn shops. Izumi had taken my phone and money. I had torn the skin on both hands pulling the rusty bars apart. The wound in my chest continued to burn. The bits of clothing that weren’t torn and bloody were covered with burrs and strains from the wild plants of the field. I could have just grabbed the first human I saw and drank my fill, but I wasn’t that desperate. Yet.

  I didn’t spend a lot of time in this part of town, and didn’t know where the vampires that lived here went for a quick hit.

  I let my senses spread out and I found an old building on Berry Street with at least two vampires inside. As I got closer to the building, I could read the hand painted signs that said Auto Detail and Wash. It had started out life as a gas station and it looked as if its days as a detail shop were behind it as well. I moved up to the door and pushed it open. The room was smoky and dimly lit. I saw two vampires sitting in the corner playing dominoes, a man and a woman. They didn’t even look my way.

  I came in and closed the door behind me. A tall black woman walked up to me and her face wasn’t exactly friendly. She crinkled her nose as she looked me over.

  “You looking for blood?” She said and crossed her arms. “You look like shit.”

  “He’s looking for Tribute.” One of the vampires playing dominos said without looking up. “I hear he’s stealing everything not nailed down.”

  “Looks like someone didn’t want to contribute.” The other vampire said and looked my way. “That what happen to you, Master Walengrave?”

  “Not exactly.” I said and slumped to the floor. I noticed he gave the word Master a little twist in his mouth like it tasted bad. “Do you have a donor I could borrow?”

  “Oh, I don’t run this little shop.” The vampire said and turned back to his game with a rising of his hands. “I just come here for the sport.”

  “We’re not exactly big on the donor part.” The woman said. “We’re more a cash and carry kind of establishment. But I guess it would be bad karma to let you die in here.”

  “He just wants your blood, Honey.” The first domino player said. “He’s not that close to death.”

  Honey sat on the floor next to me. If my battered and torn body disturbed her, she didn’t show it. I had to wonder if a lot of nearly dead vampires stopped by. Honey looked me over and a shook her head. She put her arms around my neck. She looked into my eyes and showed no fear.

  “Don’t kill me now.” She said and smiled. “Or those two in the corner will finish what someone else started.”

  She leaned in. She smelled of sweat and some kind of chemical she used in her hair. It wasn’t an unpleasant odor, just one I wasn’t used to. I brushed my lips across her neck and took a quick bite. I took her blood and gave her pleasure, so she might think kindly of other vampires in need. Her blood was more potent than I would have believed. She was someone’s Chosen and she was older than she looked.

  I broke the contact and leaned back against the wall. My many small wounds healed and strength flowed back into my muscles. The hole in my chest was slower to heal. Honey rested her head on my shoulder. I held her in my arms with the familiarity born of the intimate act of feeding. She rubbed her hand on my chest as the wound closed. Her face had that soft afterglow look to it and her mouth formed an o of surprise.

  “You can stop by anytime, Master Walengrave.” Honey said and looked me in the eye. “Anytime at all.”

  “Just call me Wil.” I said and sat still for a few more moments. “Would one of you have a phone I can use?”

  Once I had a phone, I had to think about who to call. Fedor was off the table for obvious reasons. Kilestra would find some hidden crypt and hide me away. Sally would call in the police and the Enforcement arm of the Commission and possibly start a war. Katie might destroy the world. That left me with Andy.

  Honey sat beside me and sipped an orange juice while I waited for Andy. She was warm and soft and I found myself enjoying her fragrances a lot more than I had a few minutes earlier. I ran my hand up and down her bare arm and felt the energy flow between us. I was a bit worried that I seemed to be forming these connections with everyone I met. Could be just the stress of a near death experience.

  Andy walked in a few minutes later and looked around the room. He didn’t fit in too well with blue jeans and western cut shirt and cowboy hat. He looked at the two vampires playing dominos and took in the woman sitting on my lap. He gave me an impatient look and put his thumbs in his pockets. I sat Honey on her feet and headed for the door. She pulled on my arm and gave me a deep kiss when I turned to look at her. She raised her eyebrows at me.

  “Don’t be a stranger now.” One of the vampires said and raised a hand in farewell.

  “Thanks for everything.” I said and patted Honey’s bottom by way of saying goodbye.

  “Consider it part of our Tribute.” The man said and twirled a domino in his fingers.

  ONCE WE WERE in the pickup Andy handed me an oversized revolver with an extra-long barrel. A Smith & Wesson 500 with a bright metallic finish that felt like a full-fledged cannon in my hand. I checked the cylinder and found it only had five rounds, but that was fine as I wasn’t even sure a Werebear could survive more than one shot from this gun. I nodded my thanks to Andy.

  “What’s the plan, Boss?” Andy said as we rolled down Berry Street and headed for the freeway.

  “Let’s head to Billy’s.” I said and rubbed at the dried blood on my shirt.

  “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Andy said and tilted his head toward me. “Billy hasn’t been all that reliable lately.”

  “Billy’s place is off the beaten path.” I said and shifted in my seat. “And I need some time to think about how I’m going to give Kilestra to Gerald.”

  “Yeah.” Andy said and drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. “What could go wrong there?”

  Billy’s house wasn’t far away and we were bumping up and down the ruts and dips that made up the streets of Poly in no time. The neighborhood was quiet, except for the occasional car with a built in boom box that slowly crawled by.

  The house didn’t look any worse than it did the last time I saw it. Lights were on in Billy’s windows and I felt his presence. I got out and walked up to the door with the gun pointed at the ground. Billy opened the door a crack and looked at me, then pushed it open. I waved at Andy and he waved back before heading off down the street.

  Entering Billy’s house was not a pleasant experience at the best of times, but tonight it was like walking into a Dumpster. Trash and broken furniture and random items of every sort littered the floor. I pushed my way in and was forced to stumble as I kept my balance on the shifting layers of junk.

  Billy closed the door, stopping once to kick some random bit of debris out of the way. He turned a deadbolt and latched a thick chain. I looked around the room and found Shirley perched on the sofa’s arm doing something to her toenails. She looked up at me and frowned. I didn’t need to read her thoughts to know she wasn’t exactly happy about being Billy’s Chosen. Can’t say as I really blamed her.

  “I thought those people were my friends.” Billy said as he took a seat next to Shirley. “But they turned into a mob and made a real mess of things.”

  “Yeah.” I said. I pushed a stack of old newspapers off a chair and sat down. “Have you thought about maybe cleaning up a bit?”

  “I can’t seem to find a place to start.” Billy said and looked me over. “Having a rough night?”

  “You could say that.” I said and laid the gun on the chair’s arm. “You have a clean shirt I can borrow?”

  “Cleaner than the one you’re wearing.” Billy said and poi
nted upstairs. “Help yourself.”

  I went upstairs and found a chest of drawers filled with black T-shirts from an impressive list of rock concerts. I found one that said Wendy O Williams and another for Johnny Rotten and the Sex Pistols. I felt sure if I dug deep enough I would find shirts for the Beatles and Elvis. I settled on one from a concert that featured Men at Work and Fleetwood Mac. It had a picture of a penguin holding a baseball bat on the chest. All the shirts were extra-large and the fit was a bit baggy, but it wasn’t covered in grime and blood so that was a plus.

  This room was oddly orderly and looked like a time capsule from the 1950s. A small blonde wooden desk sat in one corner with a Big Chief notebook and a collection of comic books sitting on it. A bookcase with small glass panes, but it didn’t house books, it held a collection of plastic horses and riders from popular TV shows like The Lone Ranger and Roy Rogers. A set of bunk beds filled the opposite wall and the blankets continued the cowboy theme. A pennant on the wall said Fort Worth Fat Stock Show 1956. How had the looters missed this room? The longer I stood here, the creepier I felt. I left the room and headed downstairs, leaving that particular mystery for some other day.

  I used Billy’s phone to call Sally. She answered on the first ring.

  “Your mother called me.” Sally said and sounded both angry and relieved. “She said you went off with Raoul and Izumi. Then we all lost touch with you. Katie’s been pacing around like a caged tiger.”

  “I’m alright.” I said and closed my eyes to send a bit of reassurance out. “I’m just trying to keep a low profile at the moment. I wanted to let you know I’m alright and check in on you.”

  “Nice to know I rate a phone call.” Sally said. “Do I need to come and get you? Your mother said the Dodge is still at the Mansion.”

  “If you could keep an eye on the family.” I said. “I’d appreciate it.”

  “I think Katie has that covered.” Sally said with a quiver of anger in her voice. “You know I love you.”

  “I love you, too.” I said and hung up.

  I waited a few minutes and then dialed Kilestra. I felt her tingle in my mind for a second as she identified who was calling and then the phone connected with a click.

  “Why are you using a phone?” Kilestra said in her business voice.

  “I’m worried that I might be on someone’s radar.” I said. “Better safe than sorry.”

  “Hmm, the story of your life.” Kilestra said. “What’s up?”

  “We need to meet.” I said, trying to keep things simple. “How about meeting me outside the Nightshade Gallery at about 4:30?”

  “It’s a date.” Kilestra said smugly and hung up.

  Now all I needed were some silver plated handcuffs and some way to get them over Kilestra’s wrists. I could always ask her to turn herself in, I hadn’t actually tried that yet. I could practically see Kilestra laughing in my mind.

  “How would you go about catching a powerful vampire?” I said to Billy and Shirley. Billy looked up from his laptop and took a moment to focus his eyes on me.

  “I’ve always found drugs to be the solution to almost every problem.” Billy said in all seriousness. “But I no longer have any drugs. And the person who made my drugs might be gone for a while.”

  “Right.” I said to myself. “I should have thought to look around for that little wizard statue.”

  “You mean the ones that zap a vampire’s power?” Shirley said and looked up. “I have one of those. Carlo liked being submissive occasionally and by using the statue, I could completely dominate him. He was practically a normal human under its influence.”

  “You’re like a dominatrix?” Billy said and looked at Shirley with newfound respect and a touch of fear. “You never told me that.”

  “I want our relationship to be about more than sex and blood.” Shirley said and smiled at Billy. She ran her fingers down the side of his face and tilted her head. “I want us to be more spiritual.”

  “Oh.” Billy said and didn’t do a good job of hiding his disappointment. “But you still have, like, outfits and whips and stuff?”

  “Yeah.” Shirley said with a sigh. “I’ve got outfits and whips and stuff.”

  “What about the game piece?” I said and tried to put pictures of Shirley dressed as a dominatrix out of my mind.

  Shirley got up and went into the next room. She shifted more junk around and there was the sound of metal bouncing on a hard surface. Shirley seemed to be tossing things around in a way that could only contribute to the clutter and disorder. When she reappeared, she was carrying a brightly painted metal box. She handed it to me and sat down next to Billy.

  “Here.” Shirley said and handed me an antique candy tin with a floral motif. “I think any metal will block the effect. The statue will work as soon as you open the box. Fredric said some shaman in China made ten of these. He didn’t say how he got his hands on one.”

  “So, you want Shirley to tie you up?” Billy said and looked at the box in my hands. “That doesn’t seem fair. I mean, you gave her to me, after all.”

  “Yeah.” Shirley said and gave me a meaningful look. “I can’t thank you enough for that.”

  “That’s not what I want it for.” I said and opened the box. That odd feeling of solitude flowed over me from the little statue resting in a bed of crushed velvet inside the box. This statue looked less like a wizard and more like a chess piece, maybe a bishop, or a king. This one was more powerful than the one Raoul and Izumi had, it sapped my strength as well as cutting off my powers. Shirley reached over and pushed the lid shut. It took a few moments for me to return to normal.

  “Can I borrow your car?” I said to Shirley. She found her keys and handed them over. When I left, Billy was talking about boots with stiletto heels and long black gloves.

  I drove Shirley’s Neon down the back streets that lead downtown. I made my way to the Nightshade Gallery, being careful not to attract too much attention. I parked in the small lot behind the building. I was the only one there. The Gallery was opened all hours, but didn’t show any signs of activity now.

  The gun and the metal box were sitting on the seat next to me. I knew I wasn’t going to shoot Kilestra and she knew it as well. I wasn’t sure how she would react to the idol or its strange power sapping abilities. I wasn’t even sure I could do anything once I opened the box. I was losing confidence in the plan the longer I sat here.

  Kilestra opened the door and sat on the seat next to me. She took the gun and the box and sat them on the floor by her feet, well out of my reach. She looked at me with power flashing in her eyes and I felt her mind trying to work its way into mine. I pushed her out and held up a hand. Her eyes widened in surprise and then she looked away from me.

  “You have a knack for getting yourself into trouble.” Kilestra said and cut her eyes back to me. “But you also take up a lot of my time.”

  “Am I keeping you away from Victoria?” I said. “Or maybe I interrupted you binge watching Breaking Bad?”

  “Damned good show.” Kilestra said and nodded. “And Mosaic can keep an eye on Victoria for a little while longer.”

  “Good to know.” I said and slid toward her on the front seat. “I miss spending time with you.”

  “I’m sure you do.” Kilestra said and put her hand across my thigh. “But you know I’ve never been one of those women that likes it in the back seat of a car.”

  “We don’t have to move to the back seat.” I said and eased my arm around her shoulder.

  “I’ve seen a box like that before.” Kilestra said and gave the metal box a little tap with the toe of her boot. “They have nasty little things inside them.”

  “Not all magic is evil.” I said and pulled Kilestra closer. “Where did you see one?”

  “Oh, not just any one.” Kilestra said and put her mouth close to my ear. “That one. It was one of Fredric’s prized possessions.”

  “I was thinking maybe we could use it.” I said in a husky whisper. “I
f you were willing.”

  “I could lock you in a cell right now.” Kilestra said and moved away from me. “And leave you there for a few days. You might be safe for a change and I wouldn’t have to worry about you.”

  “That’s not exactly what I had in mind.” I said and saw that flash of power in her eyes again.

  “Oh, I know what you had in mind.” Kilestra said and crossed her arms. “You’re not going to get to trade me in for Jake. And be careful with that stuff.”

  “Doesn’t look like that’s going to be a problem.” I said and leaned back into my seat.

  “Tell me about your time at the Incinerator.” Kilestra said and laid a hand on my chest. “I lost contact with you and I was worried. I’ve come to rely too much on my vampire prowess. I couldn’t track you down at all once you left the Mansion.”

  I told her about the little wizard idol and crumbling cement and how Carlo wanted to chop off bits of me and express mail them to her. She shook her head and narrowed her eyes.

  “Carlo and Fredric were a match made in heaven.” Kilestra said and ground her teeth.

  “Why?” I said and looked her way. “What was going on?”

  “Carlo was dealing in cigarettes laced with The Little Death.” Kilestra said and spread her hands. “Fredric was selling them in Carlo’s clubs and looking for wider distribution. Then Carlo started finding things while he was building his Shadow clubs. He just wanted to make more money. Fredric wanted something else. He wanted Power with a capitol P. That put him into conflict with Carlo. There was some saber rattling that was moving toward war.”

  “Where do you fit into the picture?” I said.

  “Fedor hired me to be a Peace Broker.” Kilestra said. “No one wants an open war between vampires, lots of collateral damage, the inevitable involvement of outside human authorities. Just a big mess.”

  “Fedor?” I said and rubbed a sudden pain in my neck.

  “Yeah, Fedor.” Kilestra said and punched me in the shoulder. “He tends to focus on Commission business when people aren’t banging his secretary right under his nose.”

  “I think that’s been settled.” I said and felt the two vials in my pocket. “At least partially.”

  “Good.” Kilestra said and leaned over and gave me a kiss. “Stay out of trouble.”

  A bit of wind from the door opening and closing told me Kilestra was gone. I’d seen her driving a car once or twice, but I think it was just for show, she didn’t need mere mortal forms of transportation.

  I got out and walked the short distance to the Vampire Consulate. It was getting late, but I could feel Fedor from here. I got a ping of surprise that I was walking around in one piece. I didn’t get any vibes from Jackie or from a certain Death Goddess and Werebear. I went in the back door and called to Fedor from the back storage room.

  “What’s with the cloak and dagger, Wilhem?” Fedor said as he walked into the shadowy room. “You can’t still be worried about Raoul and Izumi. You did kill them, didn’t you? I think I would have.”

  “I keep telling you, Fedor.” I said as I placed one of the vials in his hand. “I’m a new kind of vampire. I don’t get off on killing the way you Ancients do.”

  “What’s this?” Fedor said as he held the magic elixir in front of his face. “Trying to poison me again? If you’d wanted Jackie, you could have tried asking.”

  “Jackie’s cure got broken.” I said and took out my own vial. “But I managed to get the two for us.”

  “So you turned Kilestra over to the bounty hunters?” Fedor said and gave the small bottle a shake. “She won’t soon forgive you for that.”

  “I didn’t have to turn her over.” I said and opened my vial. “Cheers.”

  “Cheers.” Fedor said and we drank down the potion together. “Of course, they might have only told you this was a cure to trick you into drinking it.”

  “You always look on the bright side.” I said and saw the same familiar warmth that Ravenhawk’s potions had given me. But there was something more, something like a bell ringing in the next room, Fedor and I both reached out and leaned against a wall. My mind cleared for the first time in weeks.

  “Is Jackie around?” I said and reached out for her with my mind.

  “We have some time before the sun rises.” Fedor said and got that distant look on his face of seeing another place. “She’ll be here soon.”

  Fedor got us a couple of folding chairs and we sat in the companionship of the dark room. I felt like I had won a bit of Fedor’s trust back, but I still wasn’t sure how much of mine I could give him. If he had called Raoul and Izumi instead of Jackie, I would find myself in one of the dungeons under the Consulate and no one would ever know what happened to me. I looked up in surprise when the door opened. It was Jackie.

  “Hello, boys.” Jackie said in her sultry magically controlled voice. “Couldn’t stand to go another minute without me?”

  I experienced only a small echo of the desire I had felt before. I looked at Fedor and saw that he was the same. We both let out a sigh and Jackie looked at us with confusion written on her face. I left Fedor to tell Jackie what had happened.

  I drove back to Billy’s and parked in the narrow driveway where I had found the Neon to start with. I knocked on the door and waited for Shirley to peek out a window before she let me in. A path was cleared through the trash, but it had the look of a parting and not a lessening. Shirley smiled at me as I returned the metal box. Half the Smith and Wesson 500 was sticking out of my belt, but I didn’t know what else to do with it.

  “I guess you’ll be wanting a coffin?” Shirley said and kicked more trash to one side as she led me into the next room. “The guest room is down there.”

  Shirley pointed at a short wooden door that opened with a thumb latch. I pulled the three-foot tall door open and saw the top of a run of stairs. Shirley pulled a string and a yellow light bulb revealed a set of steps leading down.

  “Thanks.” I said and crawled down the little passage into a low room that stretched the length of the house. A few small bulbs in the unfinished ceiling illuminated a dirt floor and about ten coffins scattered about in a random fashion. A musty smell and many cobwebs filled the space. Old houses sometimes had crawl spaces like this to get at the plumbing and maybe check for termites. It had been enlarged just enough to put in some light blocking walls and make enough room to open a coffin. I went to the nearest coffin and pulled the lid up. It was empty and reasonably clean. I crawled inside and waited for the sun to rise.

  WHEN I CAME to the next sunset, I wasn’t alone in the coffin. Katie was snuggled up to me like a kitten with her head resting on my chest and her arms wrapped around me. I pulled a slow breath into my lungs and Katie stirred beside me. She pushed the coffin lid up and let some of the faint light in.

  “Hey.” She said and kissed my neck. “Miss me?”

  “Of course.” I said and gave her a little squeeze. “But I thought I made it clear that you’d be safer at Sally’s for a couple of days.”

  “Yeah.” Katie said and growled at me. “How safe will I be when your head’s mounted on some hunter’s wall?”

  “It never got that bad.” I said and pulled her close to me. “But it is nice to know you care.”

  “You make it sound like I have a choice.” Katie said and pulled her hair away from her neck. “Have a little sip.”

  I bit Katie hard enough to make her twitch and then poured power into her as she let me drink in her life. She always made me feel a bit guilty, so I always let that first contact hurt just a bit. Then I gave as much pleasure as she could take. Katie’s blood was rich and powerful and I had to stop myself from taking too much and leaving her weak and drained.

  “That was nice.” Katie said and patted my chest. “You don’t always have to punish me for wanting to serve you.”

  “I know.” I said and gave her a gentle hug. “Did you bring the Dodge?”

  “Yes.” Katie said with a sigh. “All gassed up and
ready to take us wherever you need to go.”

  “I think Andy’s at the top of the list.” I said. We crawled out of the coffin and made our way to the small staircase and up into Billy’s house. Billy and Shirley were busy playing video games and didn’t even look up as we walked by. Maybe this hadn’t been the safest place in the world to crash after all.