*Sneak Peek* Vampires, witches and fire, oh my!

[Jdonley75]

Some people might be surprised to learn that romance novels aren't really my strong suit.  When I really want to get creative with a storyline and see how far down it can go, I tend to be more interested in stories of blood, magic and the supernatural.

 

After reading @Wayne Gray's Shadowrun-esque story, I decided to pull out something I wrote awhile back.  I plan on making something out of it in the future, once I feel I've finished with Kyle, Jacob and the rest of the gang over there in the apple orchard.

 

With that in mind, the following is a story with the tentative title of "Dark Secrets."

 

********

 

 

Evan wandered aimlessly around the streets in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle.  He was hungry, cold and starting to get desperate. This was his third night with no success in finding anything.  Normally, he could just go to Norman’s place and partake of the offerings he had there with minimal fuss. But Norman hadn’t been home for weeks.  Each time he checked, the big mansion was dark and seemingly deserted. Despite it being mid spring, he kept his coat tightly closed around him. Not that it ever mattered or did any good.  With no body heat, there’s nothing to help keep warm. Being cold was a constant annoyance to him.

 

He had been wandering around Ballard since midnight.  He hated this fucking place. Everyone too busy thinking about themselves with their heads buried in their cellphones and whatever else to notice him.  He just needed one person. Hell, at this point, he’s going to seriously think about finding a homeless guy and lighten the load on the city’s efforts to deal with their growing homeless population, one walking sack of blood at a time.  Yeah, he should feel bad about that but he really doesn’t. All mortals are just meals on the go in his eyes. Norman insisted he treat them with at least a little respect but Evan failed to see the point in a vampire being nice to his lunch.

 

“Stupid fucking Creator,” he muttered to himself as his thoughts returned to Norman and wondering where the hell he is.  Wiping his hand over his face that still looked like the thin college grad student he used to be, he soldiered on through the dark.  He could head down to Capital Hill and maybe sneak into a club. He’s been at this long enough now he knows how to use his powers to at least get past the doorman.  But he knew he’d waited too long. Doing those kinds of things requires the blood he doesn’t really have to spare now. It was worth a shot but he was worried he’d get past the doorman and then he’d be so starving he’d probably lose control and go on a rampage.  All those hot sweaty bodies on a dance floor, each with their own unique flavor, pressed together under the lights could overwhelm him. As much as that doesn’t bother him, he knew he’d be marked for destruction by any older vampires who work hard to maintain their secrecy.

 

He crossed Leary Way and moved towards the warehouses.  He thought he could detect a hint of something in the air nearby.  The further along be went, the less people he saw. But he knew his senses and he knew there was something here.  He blended into the shadows as he carefully made his way down the block. It was a blessing that the large warehouses around him kept the moonlight from flooding the streets and giving him away.  He looked left and then right, seeing a shadow move around a corner. Licking his lips, Evan hurried after, keeping his movements silent as he began to stalk his prey.

 

He enjoyed this part of the hunt.  Stalking the oh so innocent mortal who had no clue he was probably taking his last late night stroll.  He smirked thinking how even in this liberal town, the asshole probably has a gun. He almost hopes the guy gets a shot off.  He had that happen one of his first nights Norman let him go off hunting on his own years ago. The look on the poor bastards face was priceless when he saw Evan just grin as the bullet tore through his undead flesh.  Yeah, it stung like hell and took a bit of power to close the wound after he was done feeding, but that look was worth every drop of blood he drained from that idiot.

 

He had to admit he prefered male victims to females.  Not that that made him gay or anything. That made it kind of gross.  Yeah, once in awhile he had to find a guy to flirt with and hope to get a small donation from.  You don’t always have to kill them if you don’t want to. A little blood here, a little blood there.  It all adds up and you can keep all the little mortals happy when the power of the bite overwhelms their little frail mortal senses and sends them into an orgasmic bliss that no blowjob or hard, pounding fuck could ever hope to replicate.  Keeps them blissfully unaware what they were just a victim of and in some cases gets them coming back for more. Then it kind of starts feeling gay. He was lucky he still looked like he was twenty-five and could hook up with the college crowd.  Women just tasted different. Might have something to do with the testosterone in the blood maybe? He wasn’t sure. He studied biology in college but he’d forgotten most of it by now. His new life was much more cool than his old one. Okay, unlife.  Whatever.

 

The only thing he missed from that old life was body heat.  Even in the warmest nights of summer he still felt chilled no matter what he wore.  But the trade-off was worth it. Stronger, faster, always looking young and the inherent power the blood can convey in him.  He’s learned to manipulate minds to enthrall, plant suggestions or inflict ungodly fear in someone. He had seen Norman do even greater things.  Move objects, manipulate shadows and a host of other abilities. Norman told him that he could learn to do those things as well but it takes decades or sometimes centuries to master.  Evan thought Norman was full of shit and was just keeping him dependent on him. Once he knew he could get his own steady supply of walking juice boxes and a couple enthralled henchmen to do his own dirty work for him like Norman does, he’s gonna strike out on his own and tell Norman he can get bent.

 

His eyes caught the dark shape as it moved down the street, heading to an empty warehouse.  Probably a drug deal, Evan figured. Maybe he could get two meals tonight. That would be helpful.  Then he can tell Norman to go fuck himself, leaving him out in the cold for weeks now. He moved closer, staying out of sight and sniffed the air.  Oh, it was so sweet! This mortal’s blood was nice! It had this kind of extra tang to it he’d never sensed before in anyone. Maybe he can figure out what was so special about him.  Maybe it was some new designer drug he was on?

 

He was only about fifty feet away from his prey when the figure stopped, looked around and stepped quietly through a door into an old abandoned warehouse.  Evan had stayed in the shadows and the guy’s eyes went right past him without pause so he was relatively certain he went unnoticed. Plus, the guy was probably all tweaked out anyway and probably wouldn’t have seen him in a floodlight if it was right on him.  Evan counted to ten and then silently slipped up to the door and stepped inside.

 

The interior was dilapidated.  Broken glass windows set high in the ceiling, sending jagged beams of moonlight into the room and reflecting off others.  He didn’t need his eyes to find his prey though. This close and in an enclosed building, all he had to do was smell the blood and listen to the only heartbeat in the room.  His eyes caught site of a large hole in the middle of the room where it looked like a sinkhole swallowed up a good portion of the floor. No wonder the place had been abandoned.  He tested his feet and found the rest of the floor pretty firm so he gave it no attention. Right now, his hunger was growing and he needed to find his meal. He focused his attention on the person’s heartbeat.  The scent of the blood reminded him forcefully of his first night of unlife. His first kill. That arrogant bastard who used to bully him in high school. Fucking football jocks. Oh, he’d tasted so good and getting to watch the light dim in his eyes as he got the payback he so richly deserved made the experience that much more exquisite.

 

Evan stopped and held still, looking around.  He couldn’t hear the heartbeat anymore. He could smell the blood but the heartbeat had stopped. That was a first and sent him into a momentary panic.  He can’t eat a dead guy! They have to be alive! Those are the rules! Hunger and desperation made him drop his guard a little as he went looking for the source.  He stayed near the pillars that dotted the floor reaching up to the ceiling. He could still smell it, though. The blood. So sweet. Oh, he was so hungry. He had to find this guy.  A quick moment to make eye contact and a simple command and this would all be over. Then he could wait for whoever this guy was waiting on and feed again.

 

He stepped around carefully, keeping his senses alert.  Maybe this guy was hiding. There was no way a mortal could overpower him even as weak as he was now.  He was the apex predator here. He stepped away from the pillar he’d been hiding near and slowly crossed the floor, looking around.  Shadows were everywhere. He just needed to find the source of the smell. His sharp incisors slid down in his mouth, anticipating an easy kill.

 

He was just between the two pillars and looking off to the side when a shadow rose out from behind the pillar he’d just been hiding behind.  With a speed he couldn’t expect and a strength that shocked him, a fist slammed into his chest and sent him flying backwards. He was so near the open hole he hadn’t realized how vulnerable he’d made himself until he was sailing down through the hole, coming to a crushing thud as he landed on his back, impaled by two pieces of steel rebar sticking out of the concrete slab he’d landed on.

 

Evan’s high pitched scream of pain and anger filled the air.  He pushed past the pain and tried to get a grip on himself and his situation.  The two pieces of metal had gone through his arms. He could get up and slowly extract himself but it would take time and he had no idea what it was he was dealing with.  Before he could take a painful effort to lift himself up the metal bars suddenly folded down over his chest! As hard as he tried, he couldn’t get them to move. He was nearly drained of blood and now he realized, to his horror, he was the prey.  “What the fuck is this?!”

 

An almost bored voice interrupted filled in the silence around him.  “I can’t believe you stepped that easily into my trap. If I had known you were that stupid, I would have just dangled a chicken leg over the edge.”

 

“Who the fuck are you,” Evan screamed.  His eyes scanned the darkness, trying to pinpoint where the voice was coming from.  But in his prone state, his field of vision was limited. It didn’t sound like another vampire.  But the casual contempt in the masculine voice was obvious.

 

He tilted his head slightly and saw booted feet step into the few shafts of moonlight that managed to reach down into this underground cellar he found himself in.  “Does it really matter? Who I am isn’t important.”

 

“Don’t play your fucking games with me, mortal!  What the fuck is up with this? I haven’t done anything to you!”  Playing desperate can sometimes work but Evan had a feeling this was no ordinary mortal.  Maybe it was someone from that church Norman had warned him about. What were they called again?  Michaelites?

 

The man smirked, not at all fearful of him.  “Well, if it’s that important to you, my name is Will.  And, please, don’t patronize me. We both know what you planned on doing.”

 

“Let me out!  I haven’t done anything!”  

 

Will raised his upper lip and rubbed his teeth before replying, “uh, your teeth, dude.  Kind of a giveaway.”

 

Evan grunted and tried to lift himself up but he knew he was trapped.  “Fine. Whatever. Just let me go and I’ll leave you alone.”

 

Will bent his legs, lowering himself closer to the vampire and his face, still showing no fear.  He leaned in closer so their eyes were only inches away from each other. “Or…?”

 

Evan realized then that scent he got off this man’s blood should have been a warning of some sort.  Mollified, he tried to use maybe the only trick he had left. Looking into Will’s eyes he stared intently and focused his will on the mortal.  “You will release me now and send me on my way.”

 

Will shook his head and waved his hand dismissively as someone would do to rid the air of a bad fart.  “You really are bad at this, aren’t you?”

 

Evan shook with rage.  How did that not work? It always works!  “Let me go! Now!”

 

Will seemed to ponder the demand for a moment before replying.  “I might… If you can answer some of my questions.”

 

“I’m not saying nothing.”

 

“Then I’m afraid I can’t help you.”  Will reached his hand out over the prone vampire and slowly drew his fingers into a fist.  As he did, the steel rods trapping Evan to the concrete slabbed tightened their grip. He groaned as he felt a rib snap.

 

“What the fuck are you?!”

 

Will shrugged.  “A man with questions.  Answer them and I might let you free.”

 

Evan had to think fast.  Maybe he can lie his way out of this.  “Fine. Okay. What do you want to know?”

 

“I’m looking for a vampire named Simon.  He looks about thirty but he’s really about four hundred years old.  Tell me what you know about him.”

 

“I don’t know anyone named Simon,” he said.  Inwardly, he was terrified. Simon was maybe the most powerful vampire he’s ever met.  Centuries older than Norman, he could crush someone like Evan with little or no effort.

 

Will looked deep into Evan’s eyes and sighed.  “Well. Fuck. All this for nothing then.”

 

“Do I get to ask a question now,” Evan asked.

 

Will shrugged as he stood back up.  “Go ahead.” The man started to slowly pace around him as if lost in thought.

 

“How did you do this?  With the bars and shit?”

 

Will looked back at him, incredulous.  “That’s your question?”

 

“Yeah.  I’ve never seen anyone do that before.”

 

Will sighed.  “I used the ambient magickal lines in the area to control the flow of matter inside the steel bars, thus allowing me to move them by shifting the flow of matter inside them.”

 

Evan blinked.  “That made no sense.”

 

Will stretched his arms out in exasperation.  “Fine. Magick. I did it with magick.”

 

Evan gazed at him and and chuckled.  “You’re no witch. They live in communes and keep to themselves.  They rarely deal with vampires and they never start shit.”

 

“Who told you all that?”

 

“Noman.  My Creator.”

 

Will walked aimlessly around the prone Evan, thinking to himself.  “Norman? Oh, I know him.”

 

“Then you know about vampires?”

 

Will rolled his eyes and groaned.  “It took me, what, three minutes to get you all tied up?  I think the answer would be obvious.”

 

“Then you know if you destroy me, my Creator will feel it and he’ll be gunning for your ass.”

 

Will waved his hand dismissively, unimpressed by the threat.  “You’re sure you’ve never met a Simon before? He’s white. Well…  most of you are rather pale, granted… he’s caucasian. Blonde hair.  About my height? Sound familiar? Doesn’t ring a bell?”

 

“Hey, fuck you asshole!  I told you I didn’t know him and I meant what I said.  Now, let me go!” Evan was starting to get tired of this guy’s attitude.  He was still hungry and maybe this witch will live and let unlive.

 

Will seemed unmoved by the vampires impassioned rant.  In fact, he may have not been listening at all. “This is what I get for going after little baby vampires…”

 

“Hey,” Evan shouted, a little hurt.  “I’ve been this way for fifteen years!”

 

Will suddenly turned and stopped, looking at him in amazement.  “Fifteen years?!” He sighed deeply, sounding more disappointed than before.  “My gods, how fast you practically ran head first into my trap, I figured you were no more than five.”

 

“You’re a fucking goddamn son a bitch, you dirty fucking witch!”

 

“Fifteen…”  Will resumed his pacing around Evan.  He was quiet for a moment before he blurted out.  “What kind of a person were you before you ‘assumed room temperature?’”

 

“I went to school, did drugs, had fun and fucked as many girls as I could get my hands on.”  Evan couldn’t stop himself from rolling his eyes. This guy was annoying. He was starting to wonder if he could pull himself off of the bars.  It may do a lot of damage, but he would at least be free. And then maybe deliver some much needed payback.

 

“Oh,” he replied.  “So… you were always an asshole then.”

 

“Fuck you.”

 

Will smirked and leaned back down near Evan’s head.  “I’m sorry, what was your name?”

 

“My name is Evan, dick licker,” he sneered.

 

Will nodded as if Evan had made a fair point.  “Ok, Evan. You lied to me twice so I’m gonna give you one more chance and then shit’s gonna get real.  Where is Simon?”

 

Evan’s eyes snapped up to look at the witch hovering over him.  “How the…”

 

Will sighed.  “You’re really not good at this, Evan.  I wish you’d been more helpful.” He tapped his head.  “Empathic. I can tell when people lie. All sorts. Even the dead ones.”

 

“You know I’m not lying when I say if you kill me, Norman and Simon both will be gunning for your ass.”

 

Will pondered his words before shaking his head a little.  “Not really. See, that whole blood link between creator and fledgling only goes one way.  He can tell if you get dusted…” Will leaned in closer and smiled a cold, dangerous smile, “... but you would never know what happened to him…”

 

Evan gasped and felt himself go even colder.  Norman? Destroyed?! “No fucking way.”

 

Will looked around, rechecking the area, like a good hunter should.  “Three or four weeks ago, I think. I’ll admit, he put up a fight. But… really… magick isn’t something vampires can do much against.  Last chance, Evan. Simon. Now.”

 

“Go to hell.”

 

Will sighed.  Disappointed again.  He was silent for a long moment before looking down at Evan again.  A slow, disconcerting smile began to form on his lips that made Evan more worried.  “You know, through all of our conversation tonight, you never once asked me to do some magick for you.  Would you like me to do some now?”

 

“Just let me go, dude, and I’ll see myself out.”

 

“Aww, come on.  It’ll be fun. Then you can go.”

 

Evan rolled his eyes.  “Fine. Show me a magic trick.”

 

Will smiled and raised his right hand up near his face, extending his index finger only.  Looking at it, he focused his power and drew from the energy around him as he uttered the words.  “Ooohn Hephestai. Exosusa poloipo, tou floga.” The words had an eerie echo and reverberated around Evan in his ears and in his mind.  He had a sudden sense of fear as he watched Will gently blow on his finger. A golden light began to shine around it as if some collection of a kind of mist glowed around it.  Will held the finger in front of him and said, “pretty neat, huh?”

 

“Wha... “ Evan would’ve swallowed if he was still alive.  “What is that?”

 

“Oh, it’s a spell I made.  It’s called, ‘fire of undeath.’”  Will grinned. “My dad was really proud of me the first time I used it.”

 

“‘Fire of undeath?!’ What’s it do?”  He started to struggle, hoping he could somehow extract himself and escape.

 

Will chuckled.  “I think the name would be obvious.  It burns and disintegrates any and all undead flesh I touch with it.  It’s quite effective.”

 

Terror seized Evan as he tried desperately to break free.  “Holy shit! Please! I don’t know where Simon is! I swear!  Please!”

 

“Oh,” Will waved dismissively with his other hand.  “It’s ok. This is one of my first real spells. I came up with it when I was fifteen.”  The glowing finger reached down and touched Evan’s forehead. The golden glow washed over his form as he screamed.  Inside his body, he could feel a searing fire burn until the flames shot out of his mouth. It took no more than three breaths after that before what had been Evan became nothing more than a pile of ash.  Will stood back up, groaning a little in the effort and made his way out of the warehouse. He needed a drink. He hadn’t gotten more than ten feet before he stopped and muttered to himself, “fifteen…? No, no… Sixteen.  Yeah, I was sixteen.”

[Wayne Gray]

Nice!  I dig the WoD setting.  Now, what are you gonna do with this?  😗

[Jdonley75]

4 minutes ago, Wayne Gray said:

Nice!  I dig the WoD setting.  Now, what are you gonna do with this?  😗

I don't have a solid answer to that just yet.  I've written more than just that first scene but most of it is notes, ideas and little scenes that run around in my head.  There will be many plot hooks, twists, turns and other machinations that will hopefully grab a reader's attention and fill their heads with ideas of what might happen only to find out they were completely wrong.

 

Whatever it ends up being, it's going to be big, I know that much.  At least three books worth, if not more.

 

Also, there will be much violence, blood, cussing, cursing, fire, gods and evil.

Edited March 5, 2019 by Jdonley75

[Wayne Gray]

3 minutes ago, Jdonley75 said:

I don't have a solid answer to that just yet.  I've written more than just that first scene but most of it is notes, ideas and little scenes that run around in my head.  There will be many plot hooks, twists, turns and other machinations that will hopefully grab a reader's attention and fill their heads with ideas of what might happen only to find out they were completely wrong.

 

Whatever it ends up being, it's going to be big, I know that much.  At least three books worth, if not more.

I look forward to it!  This was a very easy read.  Nice work.