metajinx

Stanley’s ‘place to stay’ turns out to be an old, two-floor city safe-house wedged in between exact replicas of itself. The street is pot-holed and dirty, seamed with even more ancient houses with stone steps and vaguely Greek looking portcullises. Every few houses, an old tree rakes leafed branches at the sky, bursting out of their concrete flower beds that are now little more than rubble. Giant roots have lifted the asphalt around the concrete beds, forming hills and valleys high enough to thr

Colton isn’t happy, but he reluctantly agrees with my conclusions. Rotting vampires are a bad thing and Hunters should know about the possibility of it happening again. He sounds a little surprised when I tell him Aschure wants to come back, but he accepts it; he has been working with her for more than a decade and seems to trust her. It makes me wonder if I’m overreacting a little bit, being the youngblood and all. Aschure huffs and puffs as she packs her things, smashing drawers and doors, but

This has got to be the longest night ever. I wish I’d never come into this godforsaken city. I have been walking for close to two hours. For some parts of that march I have been full-out sprinting in shoes that are not made for it, which explains why my feet feel like raw, blistered meat. At least I’m still alive. The rain still patters away, big, fat drops that steadily lose strength as the clouds empty their bellies onto the city. The flickering motel sign appears in the distance, il

The vampire is heavy in my arms, slippery with blood and rain-softened grime, his limbs dangling as I drag him up rickety stairs. The building adjacent to the courtyard seemed like the safest bet to hide out in, but I didn’t feel safe on the ground floor. My monkey instincts told me to go up, so I’m going up. With a little over two-hundred pounds of passed out immortal in my grip. Fantastic. By now I’m almost as dirty as he is, covered in smears of whatever grime clings to his skin, blood,

It takes me a long time—and somehow no time at all—to build up enough courage to poke my head out of the room. It’s quiet, as it should be in an abandoned hospital, but the quiet makes me uneasy. The dead thralls are still where we left them, but no sign of the second rotting vampire, or Aschure. She hasn’t come back yet, neither to look for me nor to start clean-up of what could be an epic clusterfuck of homicide investigations if law enforcement stumbles over the carnage. Thralls look like hum

Another hour, another city district. The Border district is a place in between, whichever way you look at it; neither rich nor poor, neither new nor old, neither dangerous nor particularly safe. Maybe it’s because of where it is—right between the ghetto districts and the Central district—, or maybe because it is so big, but everything about the Border is boring at best, and forgettable at worst. Nothing much ever happens there, if you believe local news, but maybe that’s why Aschure was so quick

Being a Hunter was never my life dream. I didn’t even know there was such a thing as Hunters until I got my ass almost eaten by a ghul. Sure, I had my moment of awe when I watched a machete-wielding guy hack the ghul into pieces like it was the best thing he had ever experienced, but the newness rubbed off quickly, especially when I realized how many people didn’t come back from missions and how many new ones arrived each year. Supes like to eat us when we’re not paying attention. On the ot

I am in awe of Aschure. I wonder if she notices my stares, my glances, the way I perk up when it’s her turn to report on her missions. I don’t think she does. She is an ice-cold bastard after all. I want to be her. My clan doesn’t gather in full strength as often as one would think, so this special occasion warrants the use of the big room with the equally big round table, instead of the smaller offices downstairs. The walls are gray and windowless, the floor tiled for ease of cleaning

Hunters don't live long in a world full of myths and monsters. But Gideon, rookie vampire Hunter and hopeless good boy, really did expect to live a few years--and survive a few missions--before he meets his end. At least he expects to die when he accidentally lets loose a feral vampire in the city of Babylon, but somehow, that doesn't happen. When his mentor, Aschure, starts to act weird, though, Gideon realizes that whatever is going on is not yet over. And that life as a Hunter can take a real turn for the worse.

So this ramshackle apartment was my home for the forseeable future. Wonderful. Urine stench, peeling paint, and creaking floorboards. I closed my eyes and tried to imagine my tidy, clean room as I dropped my designer dufflebag on the floor and listened to the non-silence reigning in this crap-heap of a housing code violation. It didn't help. Everything about the third story flat disgusted me, but the windows pointed towards the little house across the street, and it was empty. Actually, mo

The night wind was brutal. Summer was almost here and the weather changed constantly, warm on one day, wet on the next. I had chosen my attire well, especially considering I hadn't known Siccu would lead me up on a rooftop right after the meeting with the newest artists we'd taken under contract. Given, the white dress slacks didn't offer much resistance to the lukewarm storm howling over the roofs of Babylon city, but they at least were unimpressed by the tugs and pulls of the breeze, falling b

I died, then I was born. They brought me back to life with so much electricity, the room stank of burnt flesh and feces. Such a tiny little body next to my bigger twin, such tiny little paddles to shock me. The stench still sticks to me, to my hair, my breath, it's unbearable. This is how my mother tells the story of my first moments on earth. She always kept two feet of distance to me, had a nursing help, a nanny, then another, then a chauffeur. So close, still so far away. I always thought

Pose, composure, aloofness. Envy breathes perfection. He spends every second in a quest for this single, unattainable goal. But perfection never lasts for a mortal. Time swallows all and turns beauty to dust. His way out of the abyss is Siccu, who encompasses all Envy craves. If he could just convince him that he is ready, perfect, good enough, everything he ever wanted would come true. Siccu would become his. If it were not for Siccu's obsession with a mercenary and his pet boytoy, he would already have what he craves. He sees only one way out: To destroy what has taken his master's eyes off of him. Noom has to die.

1) We will see 2) I'm unsure. My brain is filled with Sci-Fi right now, but that doesn't mean I won't go back to Banes and see what the men have been up to. Thanks for commenting! I'm glad you liked it!

Darwin A sea of blood filled the small room, splashing first against the trim seaming the edges of the wooden floor, then up against the wall sockets and licking against the frame of the bed and in a glimpse swallowing even that. Then suddenly the room fell away, unveiling an ink-black, endless sky. Gasping for air, Darwin treaded the thick, luke-warm liquid to keep himself afloat, retching at the sticky, satiny feel of liquid life against his body. Black sky, black, bloody sea, nothing a