The Goddess and The Vampire

by Jon Herrera

Chapter Twenty-Seven

  I LOOKED AROUND the common room and found everything back to normal. The walls were solid again. The Earth was turning, if a little bit ahead of schedule, and most important of all, it was still here. Dawn was still hours way.

  I decided to take a drive to clear my head and Katie followed along behind me. She moved like a leaf pulled in my wake. She wouldn’t meet my eyes. I now knew she was a Goddess with a few odd weaknesses, but had no idea what that meant. She was still wearing her hoodie and fuzzy pajama bottoms. She looked just like the Elf I had come to know. She stopped to pick up her headphones where I had dropped them. I drove to Billy’s house. I need to get a few things.

  I knocked and Billy yelled to come in. The living room was a good deal cleaner than it had been before. Black plastic trash bags were sitting in random spots, half filled with who knew what. Shirley was rubbing Billy’s neck as he worked the game controller. Billy paused the game and looked at me with surprise.

  “Dude.” Billy said and shook his head. “The Captain and his goon squad took all our Whammy cigarettes. Thanks for like, totally, ratting us out.”

  “I’m sure something else will come along.” I said and decided to skip breathing while I was there. “It always does.”

  “Yeah, well, whatever. In related news, I decided not to move after all.” Billy said and waved a hand. “I think this place is a lucky charm for me.”

  I sat down in the swivel rocker by the door and Katie sat on the floor at my feet and stared down at her hands. Billy and Shirley looked at her and then looked at me.

  “Man, what did you do to her?” Billy said and made a face. “She looks totally bummed.”

  “Can I get you a drink, sweetie?” Shirley said to Katie but Katie only looked up at me as if she needed my permission to speak. Before I could give it, Shirley noticed my scars. “Damn, Wil, what happened to you?”

  “Katie tried to kill me.” I said and looked down at my little Elf. “Actually came pretty close.”

  “Then, uh, why is she here?” Billy said and looked at Katie with an appraising eye. “I kind of make it a rule to break up with a woman once she starts trying to kill me.”

  “Oh is that what it takes?” Shirley said and looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

  “Kilestra helped me with her.” I said. I twisted the longer hairs of my beard as I thought about what Kilestra had done and then shook my head. “And now we’re back to this.”

  “Aren’t there rules about this kind of thing?” Shirley said and stared at me. “I mean at least a Chosen is tied to a vampire by choice. Usually. This is a little creepy.”

  “Would you like to be free Katie?” I said and looked down at her.

  “My parents chose you for me.” Katie said and a flash of green light lit her eyes, then she spoke in a deep powerful voice. “It is my pleasure to serve.”

  “Yeah” Shirley said and nodded with a frown. “That’s not creepy at all.”

  “It was either this or let her destroy the world.” I said and let my hand stroke Katie’s head. “Seemed like the right choice at the time. I’ve become a bit attached to her. And the world.”

  “So she really can’t do anything without your permission?” Billy said and ignored the whole destroying the world comment. “That’s really Old School vampire shit. Do you make her sleep on the floor, too?”

  “I used to.” I said and looked at Katie. “You may speak freely, Katie.”

  “Thank you, Master.” Katie said softly and gave me her sad eyes. “My headphones are broken.”

  Katie held up her headphones and I could see the cord was broken and one of the earpieces was dangling by a thin wire. I shook my head.

  “Why do you think this place is good luck?” I said and returned my attention to Billy.

  “Beth came by the other night.” Billy said and tried to sound sad. “After Tyler’s unfortunate demise. She packed up her stuff in many fancy suitcases. She had a small bag that didn’t match the others. She told me I could have it. So I put it back in Mom’s closet with my few remaining valuables.”

  “Beth is in California with his Mom, by the way.” Shirley said and rolled her eyes. “I hope she stays there. That skank Werecoyote walked around naked half the time.”

  “Anyway.” Billy said and shook his head. “While we were cleaning up I found the bag.”

  “And it had diamonds and a bunch of little statues in it.” I said.

  “Yeah.” Billy said and showed me his impressed face. “I can’t hide anything from you.”

  “Mind if I take a look at the statues?” I said.

  “Sure, dude, you’re like Master of Fort Worth and shit.” Billy said and scratched at his scruffy beard. “Those little statues kind of freaked me out anyway. I’ll be back.”

  Billy went through the door leading to his Mom’s bedroom and disappeared. I looked at Shirley.

  “The money he paid for the new place kind of, you know, disappeared.” Shirley said and blew a breath out. “At least no one’s come for the TV and the game system. Yet.”

  “Fredric was pretending to be Billy.” I said and flashed power in my eyes. I didn’t think she knew about Desiara’s father. It was best to leave it that way. “Wasn’t he?”

  “Yeah.” Shirley said and pulled a beat up designer bag off the floor. “I guess you want his rings as well?”

  “Yes, I do. Why did he use magic on my car?” I said as I took the Damascus steel rings and rattled them around in my palm. “Why did he make fake money?”

  “He thought it was funny.” Shirley said. “You and Fedor never looked twice at him as Billy. You both thought the real Fredric was dead. He knew how to do this temporary magic and he loved the look on your face when he gave you sack loads of cash. Fredric’s kind of an asshole.”

  “So that last bit of Info you didn’t want to share.” I said and stared at Shirley. “You knew he was possessed.”

  “Selling information to you hasn’t worked out for me.” Shirley said and rolled her eyes. “You didn’t want me, then you gave me to Billy, and I’m kind of afraid of what you’ll do to me next. I thought an ace in the hole might come in handy, but I guess not.”

  I closed my hand over the rings and I saw through several sets of eyes at once. Victoria, Fedor, Carlo, Katie, and Gravel all stopped what they were doing and became my puppets. Fredric wanted Victoria to buy land and challenge me once she had a home here. Gravel had memories of orders to kill me if the need arose. Carlo felt rage at the many times he had been forced to kowtow to me. Fedor had all the paperwork lined up to make Fredric Master of Fort Worth. He also had a petition for a seat on the Commission’s Ruling Assembly. And Katie was filled with destruction and suppressed outrage. I sent them all one final instruction. Send the rings they wore and any of the little idols to The Mansion and forget they ever saw them.

  I sent Fedor one more small command. He was to tear up our contract and to find himself some new Chosen to occupy his time. I was able to force Jackie to the back of his mind, even if I couldn’t get her completely out of mine. It was so nice of Jackie to come rushing to my side. I smiled to myself and released my hold on them all.

  “Fredric used to smile like that.” Katie said in that cold and distant voice so unlike the Katie I knew. Her eyes flashed a bright green for just a second. “He said he liked the taste of power.”

  I looked up as Billy came back in with an aluminum suitcase. He dropped it at my feet. I opened it up and dropped the rings inside with a metallic clatter. Two small black jewelry pouches were inside the case along with five little metal figurines in a foam cut out made for ten figures. Each figure was about three inches tall and looked like a game piece of some kind. A wave of disorientation washed over me. I grabbed the pouches and closed the lid quickly.

  “See what I mean?” Billy said and pointed at the case. “Those things are gnarly bad.”

  “You can count this as your Tribute for the coming year. You can keep the diamonds.” I said and tossed
Shirley the black pouches. “You buy yourselves something nice.”

  “Thanks, man.” Billy said and gave Shirley a quick little hug. “And thanks for giving me Shirley. You know she’s the best Chosen I’ve ever had.”

  Shirley rolled her eyes at me. She returned Billy’s hug. For every lock, there’s a key.

  I TOOK KATIE to a Wal-Mart. I bought us some new clothes and got Katie a new set of headphones. Headphones cost a lot more than I think they should. We spent some time wandering around the store. We looked at odds and ends. We made fun of how some people dress. The fact that they all thought I was a pervert kind of evened things out.

  “Hey, Sonny. I hear we almost lost you again tonight.” Grandfather said and stared at Katie. “You’ll have to start picking a better class of people to hang out with.”

  Grandfather was standing next to Tiffany the vampire. She was fully decked out for a Goth Rave. Black lipstick and eyeshadow and enough tattoos and piercings on display to make Mother faint. She looked younger than 21. But then, Grandfather looked a lot younger than 260. If I’d ever wondered what Clint Eastwood and Amy Winehouse would have looked like on a date, I had my answer here. If people thought I was a pervert, what did they make of Grandfather and Tiffany? Tiffany turned her powder white face to me and then looked at Katie.

  “Tiffany, this is my Grandson Wil and his pet Elf Katie.” Grandfather said and stared into us as if he were looking for something. He nodded when he found it. “The happy couple.”

  “Hey.” Tiffany said to Katie in an unemotional grunt.

  “Hey.” Katie said and fiddled with her headphones.

  “Nice headphones.” Tiffany said in a dismissive tone. “If you don’t care what you’re listening to. I can hook you up with some Grado’s. For about a grand.”

  Katie looked at me with lust in her eyes. I looked at Tiffany with mild contempt.

  “Or you can just use those.” Tiffany said and looked away. “Whatever.”

  “Hey.” Grandfather said and hit my chest with the back of his fingers. “Quit vamping my girl.”

  “Sorry.” I said and nodded to Tiffany and Grandfather as I pulled Katie away.

  “She seems nice.” Katie said, sounding almost like her old self.

  I DROVE TO Sally’s and parked in front of her apartment. They were all ground floor units and Sally’s had a two-bedroom layout. One bedroom had a coffin and blackout shades on the one window for those times I stayed over. I went up to the door and Sally answered moments after I knocked. She gave Katie a cold look, but turned and let us in. I sat on the sofa and Katie sat on the floor beside me.

  “You are not going back to that, are you?” Sally said and looked at Katie. “Sit on the sofa like a normal person.”

  “Yes, Mistress.” Katie said obediently and sat on the sofa.

  “I suppose you had to bring her along?” Sally said and crossed her arms. “I guess you think it’s odd that I don’t really want the woman who tried to kill you, and destroy the world, in my home?”

  “It wasn’t really Katie, you know.” I said and pressed my lips together.

  “Yeah.” Sally said and sat on a chair where she could face me.

  “How did it go with Fredric?” I said.

  “The Captain used his vampire powers on him.” Sally said and leaned back into her chair. “He appears to be nothing but a vampire. He says he doesn’t know anything about any of it.”

  “What about the body in his office?” I said and looked at Sally.

  “It seems to have disappeared. Like a lot of things lately. Maybe it was just a bit of magic.” Sally said and tilted her head to one side. “Fredric doesn’t remember anything from the last few weeks.”

  “Possession sucks.” Katie said and crossed her arms. She stared off for a moment. “It’s not really his fault.”

  “That’s what I hear.” Sally said and looked at Katie where she sat beside me. “Anyway. The Captain is keeping him for a while.”

  “Good.” Katie said and relaxed. She stared down at her hands as if she could see the new chains around her wrists. “He should be safe there.”

  “I could still arrange for you to spend some time with The Captain.” Sally said to Katie. “He might not be able to kill you, but I’m sure he’d have fun trying.”

  “I don’t think that will be necessary.” I said and laid a hand on Katie’s knee.

  “Of course you don’t.” Sally said and shook her head. “I can’t help but notice your new scars, Wilhem. Should I expect Jackie to stop by later, or will the two of us be enough to satisfy you tonight?”

  “So.” I said to get Sally’s attention away from Jackie’s visions of threesomes. “Fredric was possessed?”

  “Seems so.” Sally said and took a sip of her iced tea.

  “What’s going to happen to Carlo and Victoria?” I said.

  “They were violating all kinds of Commission Laws.” Sally continued. “And a few human laws on the side, not all of which could be laid at Fredric’s feet. We rounded up Raoul and Izumi, some vampire named Dishamar had them cornered in a game room on Berry Street. They said they were working for someone in Mexico. The contract on Kilestra seems to have been cancelled.”

  “So you have Carlo and Victoria in custody?” I said and rubbed my hand on Katie’s thigh.

  “No.” Sally said and narrowed her eyes. “They seem to have disappeared and no one knows where. You know the kind of thing that often happens to people who get on Kilestra’s bad side.”

  “Not sure Kilestra had anything to do with this one.” I said and absent-mindedly put an arm around Katie as she leaned into me. I blew into her ear and watched her hair scatter just a bit. Katie looked at me and batted her eyes.

  “Maybe not.” Sally said and gave me a hard look. “Do you have to do that in front of me?”

  I pushed Katie away and put both hands on my knees. I smiled apologetically.

  “Henry said he was getting that van ready for Fredric to load up with Whammies.” Sally said. “He said Tyler stole a bunch of art as well and a couple of bags full of loose diamonds.”

  “Lot of stuff in that van.” I said and nodded. “Any idea what happened to it?”

  “Beth the Werecoyote is a likely suspect.” Sally said and glared at Katie when she slipped her hand onto my leg. Sally looked into my eyes. “Along with you. I heard Jake is opening a new Gallery with a nice selection of previously unknown art. Don’t suppose you would know anything about that? Or the other things that went missing?”

  “No.” I said and tried to look innocent. “Why would I?”

  “I’ve always thought that wall could use a little something.” Sally said and leaned into me. “Like a Van Gogh or a Monet.”

  “You might be right.” I said as she stood up and pulled me to my feet.

  Sally led me toward the bedroom. I looked back at Katie, who was busy unwrapping the cord to her new headphones. She looked at me for a second and then put the headphones on and closed her eyes.

  I fed on Sally and poured my power into her. We made love and I fed on her again. Katie entered my mind, I entered Sally’s mind, and then Katie entered the bed with us. We worked our way through the possibilities of three bodies pleasuring each other. I fed on Katie and she fed on my love for her. When we were done, I lay in-between them and felt warm and happy.

  “I don’t think I should tell my Readers about this. And don’t expect it to be a regular thing.” Sally said and pulled the sheet up over us. “I have to sleep sometime.”

  Epilogue

  “No one ever listens to me.” Sammy the Cincinnati Seer said to the mostly empty room. “I’m only trying to warn people. They need to know. Sinner repeat, for the end is nigh.”

  The group leader looked around and found most of the members of the group nodding off or staring into space in thought. All but one. A tall bald man wearing a white robe that looked like some kind of formal ceremonial garb. The rules of the Meetings stated that everyone was anonymous, and the
re were spells in place to ensure that no one who attended was ever recognized. Still, the man looked familiar. He must have been on TV a lot and his fame was making the spell work overtime. A moment later, the group leader found that he didn’t know why he was staring at the bald man. He smiled in his embarrassment and looked back toward Sammy.

  “The danger has only passed for the moment.” Sammy said and spread his arms wide to try and gain the attention of the group. He turned and pointed at the bald man. “You know what I’m talking about.”

  The bald man in the white robes didn’t speak. He did give Sammy a small smile of encouragement. A moment later, the eyes of the Cincinnati Seer went wide, well, wider than they normally were. He looked around the room and fled. His sandaled feet made slapping noises as he ran. The group leader sighed and shook his head. He was about to made some comment of regret to the new member, but when he looked toward the big bald man, he was gone.

  “The coffee was much better this time.” The group leader said and smiled at no one in particular.

  Sammy ran down an alley. The night was dark, the tall building blocking out what little illumination found its way from street lights and the occasional light over a business’s back door. He stopped beside a Dumpster and gasped for breath. He was an old man and running had never been something he enjoyed. His eyes darted around, but he didn’t see anything. If only what he was running from could be seen, he thought.

  “Sammy.” The bald man said when the Cincinnati Seer turned around and found his path blocked. “It’s time you stopped making your predictions.”

  Before Sammy could say anything, a large knife was plunged into his chest. He looked at it with confusing on his face. He hadn’t seen that coming. He couldn’t even remember the last time something had happened that he hadn’t seen. He put his hand to the wound and looked at the blood. He blinked in pain and confusion. Then his eyes narrowed and his upper lip curled.

  “You.” Sammy shouted with his last breath and fell over. He was dead before he hit the ground.

  The Queen’s Oracle pulled the knife from Sammy’s body and looked up and down the alley. He cleaned the blade on the madman’s brown robes and replaced it on his belt. He turned and walked calmly away.

  The End

  About the Author

  Jon Herrera is a professional portrait photographer and blogger living in Grand Prairie, TX. He has been writing for several years. The Goddess and The Vampire is Book 1 in the Wilhem Walengrave Vampire Series. If you like The Goddess and The Vampire, look for other titles in the Wilhem Walengrave Vampire series.

  Find out more about the Author at ifyouwriteit.com. Or follow him on Twitter at Descartes1.