Chapter Seven
"Just so you can't say that nobody ever told you. Women do not like to be called 'bitch' or any other nasty words you fuckwits think are cool. Not ever. Let me tell you that in no uncertain terms. Fred, you listening to me?" I looked straight at the one remaining functioning human. His eyes were careening madly around the fort not really sure where to focus. But I had to hand it to him, he did bob his head up and down as if he was agreeing while he tried to distance himself from reality. His brain really didn't like what his eyes and ears were telling him in the least. I had to hand it to him he really was sober now. I smiled again. Yes, my fangs were included widely in my grin.
"Ah, miss?" Fred was trying to suck up quickly, too bad it wasn't going to end with a Disney moment anytime soon unless it was the Bambi's mother sort of part. Something in my eyes gave away my intentions as I watched Fred's entire body begin to quiver and shake from fear. Damn, that made my fangs snick fully out and I dipped my head looking directly into Fred's face from beneath my eyebrows -- you know that predatory stare you see on the Discovery channel when lions are about to leap over and snap a spine? Yeah -- that one.
With a crooked grin on my lips I said, "Yes?" Like I cared.
"We didn't mean anything. Just kinda blowing off steam. Okay?" His voice quivered sweetly into my ears, damn luscious.
"Well, I have beer on my leg and finger marks on my arms from your crap. You think that squares us?" My voice was soft and dangerous. Both fuckwit three and Karl were trying to remain out of my line of sight, but I knew from their hiccough breathing and slight hissing in and out of air that they were conscious and thinking stupid thoughts.
Karl and fuckwit number three both audibly sucked in their breath and launched themselves at my unprotected back. Chickenshit move, but admittedly, I'd anticipated such a stupid move and before they could lay another finger on me, I'd pounced up and over to the opening in the fort that historically had served as the doorway well, that was until I'd torn off a section of the roof. I spun in time to see they collided precisely where I would've been had I not jumped away when I did. Mentally I queued the comic plinking of piano keys from bad Saturday morning cartoons. I half expected to see colorful stars and moons circling their now dented skulls.
Their ill-conceived attack didn't go as planned. Which was too bad for both of them as they went face first into each other, smashing cheeks and noses and Karl automatically jerked his hands upwards trying to stop further gravity from slamming the rest of fuckwit three's larger shape into him with the force of their leaping at my backside. Fuckwit three slapped at Karl's outstretch damaged hands with a frantic 'get away' gesture -- as if he could ward off any further damage from their unanticipated sloppy collision. I have to say, it was a spectacular fail, in my opinion. Karl shrieked and fell back on his ass. They weren't at all amused by me moving away from their ambush but then pleasing them wasn't on my list of things to-do anytime soon. Hell -- ever -- truth be told.
Damn, it seemed that I never had my cell phone out to capture such grand stupidity at the right moments. YouTube or any other viral sites would've gloried in their epic crash. Reluctantly I shook my head and looked to see Fred scrambling to grab one of the empty, cheap bottles of malt wine off the coffee table in the abandoned child's fort. He tried to snap the bottle on the edge of the table to create a jagged piece of glass but found the container was stronger than the table which cracked like the cheap plywood/pressboard piece of furniture it truly was. Again, the look on his face was priceless, and I should really invest in a go-pro camera for these memorable days and nights.
Fangs still out, I turned to regard the bruised boys on the floor and gave them a slice of misguided hope. Toying with my food was so much fun. Looking at them with my dead eyed stare and a growl in my voice I said, "Take your cell phones out and place them on the floor now."
Hope springs eternal and they took this to mean I wasn't going to harm them.
"Turn them on now." Even Fred played along and dropped the obviously useless bottle from his pale fingertips and placed his phone on the floor. A quick glance told me his phone wasn't locked, but there was an unread message flashing.
"Slide them all over to me, please." Saying please really went far with them and now they were too eager to do whatever I asked of them without a single smart ass complaint. In fact, the three phones simultaneously hit the edge of my shoe and I could see that they all had a string of messages unread and waiting. "Okay, Fred, what's your passcode?" He mumbled the string of as far as I knew random numbers just in case it timed out before I was finished with him ... and there was the possibility his tongue wasn't going to remain in his face.
"Thanks, now Karl, it's your turn?" His voice was weak, but he too spit out four digits. Fuckwit three didn't have a code for his cheap ass phone but I thanked him nevertheless like he was clever to leave his device open. Normally, controlling three humans took a bit of skill but they were all still semi buzzed despite the sobering reality of me and the accompanying pain which made them highly suggestable. No need for roofies with this crew, but I made a mental note to check all their pockets once I finished for money and drugs. I never let such freebees go unchecked. It beat having to rob drug dealers or place a pesky order from Canada online. Immediate gratification was fun when playing with my food. I found my earlier frustration and anger slowly dissipating and euphoria wasn't too far behind once I started in on them for real. My night was definitely looking up, nearly making up for my shitty day.
The three of them were nodding to each other, as if I was now a part of their darkly scripted play, and I was somehow ready to be part of the world as they viewed it. Little did they know I was a few steps further in my plan, which did not leave any human witnesses. Good times for me at least. I laced some power into my voice and said to Karl, "Feel all of your pain now."
It wasn't a question or request but actually a vampiric command. Karl's painfilled past and present flooded him to his very core. Every single scratch and break that ever occurred throughout his life were now back in his body playing with his synaptic nerves channeling the fire and aching into his mind and soul. Tears ran freely down his face and his sobs were heartfelt and real. They tasted delicious.
Casually I pushed the three cell phones behind me into the doorway out of reach from any of these fuckwits and I grabbed Karl by the throat and yanked him off his ass on the floor and up to my face with a fluid movement that defied human capabilities further illustrating how different vampires were from people. And without a breath or a whisper of warning I simply bit into his neck and suckled at his carotid artery like the life blood it was to me. The pints flowed freely into me and I felt my body soar with power and freedom. Blood is freedom for vampires and a rush like I can't begin to describe to humans. Nearest humans seem to understand is the first hit of heroin or a tab of ecstasy which brings the rush to some -- not all -- it depends on the wiring, from what I've been told. Yeah, an addict can understand the lust for blood but still, not precisely the same. We don't stop thinking, but instead understand cosmically and endlessly. We flex into the universe and pulse alive to our very core -- delicious nectar.
I could hear in the background Karl's feet drumming on the floor as he died. I didn't soften the blow to the man in any manner. I could've given Karl cotton candy laced beautiful dreams, but I didn't even stop the pain I'd summoned into his body and every cell left in his brain. He was flooded by his fears and remembered past. It was luxurious and unbelievably succulent. Fred and fuckwit three were frozen in place as Karl grew still and slumped in my fist. Tearing my teeth free I licked deeply at the puncture wounds automatically closing the holes. There was more for me to do before the night was over but at least it didn't look like I'd be outed as a vampire any time soon. With a casual afterthought I slid the knife I'd taken from William, into the healed skin and flayed open Karl's neck. I hadn't completely drained his body but with my strength flung his corpse up to the roof where it fell lifelessly out and over the edge. To a casual observer it appeared Karl had been killed and left hanging over the roof bleeding out into the ground. Had I really put my back into the toss Karl would've landed a few feet or more past the fort, but this suited my half-sketched notion. At least at first glance, I wasn't quite done with the macabre tableau I had already begun to frame in my mind, but it was a start. So little time and so much more to do. The fog drifted through the edges of the structure chilling the men, at least that was my takeaway from their shivering. The dampness coated us and the very air was wet.
Once I was done with Karl, I noticed both Fred and fuckwit number three had begun to process a couple of rather salient points regarding me and my possible intentions. First, being I wasn't the average drunk girl victim they were used to finding. Second, I was deadly -- witness Karl hanging from the rafters and probably one of the most important points -- I wasn't letting them leave. I think that was utterly clear as I stood directly between them and the logical exit. My fangs still weren't truly registering with them in any real sense because it defied anything they'd ever seen or experienced.
What the mind doesn't comprehend tends to be dismissed outright or ignore while that which can be processed goes to the top of the list. They were behind on the genetic toss of the dice to start with, and they weren't going to have any chance to learn from their mistakes, of which they'd made many, because I wasn't in any mood to let them go and become 'better humans' as some things just weren't worth my time. If I had desired, I could've easily done a mind wipe and reprogrammed each of them to be sweet, good natured humans but I didn't have one scintilla of empathy for these bullies and rat bastards. Their very natures were craven and self-absorbed, having had years to fester and develop, and they'd all chosen to devolve and lived to harm others. I'd picked up enough from them to know that I wasn't making a mistake. Their thoughts were laced with darkness and evil on a level seen in megalomaniacs and sociopaths portrayed in movies and television shows. That they'd all found each other served them well as they were stronger together and fed off each other and their shared crimes. Not a single one of them regretted anything that they had done ever -- they'd been running as a pack since their middle school years unchecked. To my shock, they'd never been caught much less jailed for any of their crimes. Much of what they did was blamed on local gang members and they used those men and boys as their personal 'beards,' hiding their natures easily. That alone gave me pause. Antisocial behavior wasn't known for the long term planning they'd exhibited -- not normal human crazy.
The Piker Press moderates all comments.
Click here for the commenting policy.