Evil Origins by JD Simser
chapter TWELVE
Harrow
As a child, she had been the cutest thing I had ever seen. Darling blue eyes with perky dimples and long, golden hair like a fairytale princess. Now every time I saw her I had to ask myself what the hell she had been thinking. That long lion’s mane had been completely ruined and her natural beauty was gone. She had one side of her head dyed deep purple and the other dark blue, with some kind of bull ring piercing in her nose. She was wearing skinny jeans and a black t-shirt that had some kind of bouquet of white roses on it and the word “Jaded.” Mihaela kept telling me that it was just her expressing herself, but what about her was she trying to express? It was hard to believe that she was Jenny’s daughter.
She kept flipping a single strand of hair behind her ear as she read, but for reasons I will never know it seemed to always want to fall back into place. I had watched her grow up and even with the disappointments I still thought she was worth saving. Even when she got her useless degree in Philosophy which meant that she would end up working at a convenience store or selling her ass like her mother did, I had to believe that a life of darkness was better than facing the family demons. Looking at her though, it seems to me that her personal demons were a lot scarierthan anything haunting my bloodline. It was the leftovers from the city’s heyday when the owners made floor wax on the main floor and bootleg whisky in the basement. There were even tunnels that allowed my kind to enter the place during the daylight hours. It was a themed bar with blood colored wallpaper, painted over windows, and dim, spooky lighting. If only they knew that the real monsters came here to watch them, would they still want to emulate our eternal curse? Most of them yes, but the smart ones would want a true human existence. Life, love, and children to carry on their bloodline, rather than victims to follow them.
This wasn't just a regular bar, which was a good thing for us. It was called "Second Life" and had been designed with my kind in mind. Well, not my kind literally, but for those dumbasses that liked to pretend that they were Nightbreed. The dark hearted and soulless creatures that hid from the sunlight and wandered the world alone.
Mihaela moaned, "Why don't you just change her now, Daddy?" as she ran her finger along the ice cold glass and pretended to sip on her water. Being immortal for as long as she has been and living on blood for countless ages even though our kind could drink water, she still hated the taste. Who was I to judge, though? I drank beer, but they all tasted the same and I never got to enjoy the affects.
"I won't yank her from the living world and drag her into our darkness unless there is no other option," I responded, still staring at her like she was a helpless child. "We don't know for sure that it's coming for her. There are still a few weeks before her 18th birthday." A few weeks before she was either free to live a menial existence, die a horrible death, or joined the damned. If I still prayed, I would be praying that she had the chance to live a normal, uneventful life.
Leaning closer, Mihaela kissed me and smiled.
"Oh daddy, I think you already know that the child has no other option. She is going to be a victim of dark circumstances." Drawing a figure on the table, she continued. "You know as well as I do that your brother is here to finish up old business and that child is the product of all of it." Easily distracted, her attention was captured by a black haired kid wearing leather pants and some kind of knee-high boots. Hell, even I had to wonder if it was a male or female. You couldn’t always tell these days, unless you were curious enough to bring them down to the underground passages. It usually ended up quite messy that way though, and was too much work in the end. The biggest issue was that Renaud might be the most dangerous monster lurking in the city, but not the only one. Wilson made sure of that when he decided to risk it all, and the risk he took affected Jade and Jenny more. The King might cripple or kill him, but he'd use the girls until there was nothing left and then sell them off like cattle to an even sicker bastard. I couldn't let that happen.
The sour odor of fresh hair dye invaded my senses like I was trapped in a fire that I couldn't out run.It was only 1 PM and there was already a whole army of smells invading the place, yet that smell of hair dye only hours old was troubling. I scanned the room trying to figure out what it was that was out of place. I knew the smell didn’t belong to Jade, and I looked around again. It hit me. Cheap aftershave. Aqua Velva, in fact. Not the modern stuff, but the old 80’s crap and I knew who it was coming from. I just needed to figure out where they were.
"I hear squeaking,” Mihaela giggled. “Looks like we have a newbie trying to blend into the family." I could hear it too, the sound that new shoes make when they’re being broken in. He was a medium-sized man with an athletic build, scarred knuckles, and short, freshly dyed black hair wearing a long leather trench coat that smelled brand new. "Oh just look at him, daddy. He looks so yummy that I could just eat him up!" Mihaela exclaimed. He was heading in a straight line towards Jade, but kept glancing at me. He didn't belong here, that was for sure. While most of the troubled youth that gathered here looked pale and twig-like, this character was tanned and buff. As he passed me, making a beeline for Jade, I saw the evidence I needed to mark him as prey. Five green marks in a circle that formed a small star. A gang mark. Something the King stole from the old time mobsters, and the one thing I needed to end his life. His death wasn't just to protect the innocent, but to send a message to another enemy I would have to add to my list. A list that just kept growing and growing.
A forced stumble from the man connected with the little round table and sent Jade's coffee slopping all over place. He chuckled and forced a boyish smile onto his face to lure her in. She seemed quite embarrassed by the whole event. I could hear her heartbeat slowly begin to increase as her body temperature rapidly climbed. When I was first turned this part of the game was such a turn on, but watching it happen to her seemed dirty for some reason. Was she really that innocent or was he just that charming? I could hear them flirting back and forth, but for the life of me didn't understand how his second-rate flirting could make a first-rate woman so excited.
He hadn’t been invited to sit but took a seat beside her like he owned the joint.
"You seem like a good girl looking for just a little bit of bad," I could overhear him whisper as he moved in a little closer. Running his hand along her arm he asked, "So are you a Fanger too?"
I looked at Mihaela. "Convince the newbie to follow you to the tunnels."
Her eyes twinkled at my suggestion as she rubbed her hands together.
"Oh goody, a quick snack!" She was struggling to keep her fangs from breaking out as the anticipation inside her grew, as I knew it would. Her ideal snack was young, healthy warrior-types and she could see that past the goth makeup and glamour. She could hear the power of his heart pushing blood through his body. He might look calm and act confident, but he was nervous. Too nervous for this to be a random pick up of a strange woman in a low class theme bar.
"Bring him to the tunnels, but I want to talk to him before you feast."
"Really, Daddy?" She asked in disbelief. "I can really have him?" The spoiled little school girl took over and she began to shine as she examined her prey. "Ok Daddy, I’ll lure him into the darkness." She walked away, humming some ancient tune that I had never heard before.
From the second she walked away from our table, all eyes were on her. She had the look most of these children wanted, only she was the real thing and didn’t have to act. It didn’t hurt that she wore a dress that was cut a little low with the bottom cut just a little too high. There was always a slight sway in the way she walked that was somewhere between alluring and predatory. It’s like fishing for pike. First the prey sees the shiny lure and can’t help but want to chase it. Then it strikes only to realize too late that the easy meal you thought that you were getting is actually going to kill you. Even the imposter couldn’t take his eyes off of her, but he hid it well. He didn’t look down, glancing at Mihaela like most men would. No, he kept di
Jade didn’t like Mihaela coming so close to her new friend and that was clear. She wasn’t affected by Mihaela like any of the others. I wasn’t sure if it was petty jealousy or some kind of internal voice that warned her of danger, but either way, the hair on her arms was rising. Mihaela didn’t notice or care about Jade. Standing over the couple, she bent over and ran her fingers along the man’s neck.
“I want some time alone with you,” she whispered into his ear softly. That’s all it took. He didn’t even say a single word, but just looked at her with a lustful look and a little smile on his face. She never actually held his hand, but I could see him reaching out to her like he needed her. That was the allure she had on everybody that she met. Eagerly, he followed her like a puppy, never realizing that it was of her will and not his own. I waited until they slipped away through the crowd and vanished down a little hallway lost from view. I heard their footsteps growing more and more faint, followed by a low hissing sound as the hidden door opened. I waited a few minutes longer then decided I would follow.
Jade glared down the little hallway that lead to the tunnels. It was generally considered my salvation because it allowed me to travel from one location to another and sheltered me from the raging sunlight of the day. It was a way of connecting to the human world, but not today. Today the tunnel would be my torture chamber and Mihaela’s feeding ground. Even now, I could hear his heart pounding faster and faster and Mihaela’s squeals of excitement. I couldn’t linger around though, because if I did the imposter would be a snack long before I had a chance to question him.
As I made my way to the dark little hallway with its hanging lamps shaped like medieval torches, I heard her giggle. It was something between a shriek and a cackle that bounced through the noise of the crowd. Turning, I saw her and it was like being struck by lightning twice in the same day. The same odds I thought. I had seen Murlin twice in the same week when we had lived in the same city for fifteen years and hadn’t seen each other the whole time. Coincidences like this never happened, especially with immortals. No, I was sure that she had some kind of business. I watched her walk up to Jade’s table and slip into the empty chair that had only been recently been vacated. Send her away,I thought but Jade seemed happy to see her.
“I met this cute guy and he just left me for this other woman,” she whined. Dropping her head, she whimpered, "He was kind of cute and things were going really well..."
Murlin ran her fingers along her arm and whispered, 'It's ok dear. There will be cases where stupidity interferes with our life plans, but you will find what you are looking for eventually."
"No, Aunt Murlin I don't think I will. I think I will end up like your friend. You know the one that wrote that book. You know, Ronald? The one that loved one woman so much it burnt out his heart and destroyed him." She held up and made this exploding sound as she opened her hand.
Laughing, Murlin said, "Come on, stop acting like a lovesick child. This guy spent a single heartbeat being in your life and you have many other heartbeats." There was a loud accent on the word Renaud as she responded, "My friend Renaud was a true romantic. True romantics can be quite stupid."
Jade seemed confused as she questioned, "Stupid? How can love be stupid?" It was quite amazing to witness Jade's innocence. She was staring up at Murlin with this dumbfounded look in her eyes. The idea of unconditional love that knew no bounds lived only in the hearts of the young. It seemed strange to hear a creature who couldn’t feel love set about to explain it.
Murlin took a sip of Jade's drink and her face curled up like she was sucking on a lemon. "What the hell are you drinking, child?" she exclaimed.
Laughing, Jade said, "It's called an Aunt Roberta."
"What's in it?"
"I am afraid to ask. All I know is that the bartender limits me to one and most other people two. "I made a metal note that I was going to have to hurt that damn bartender. He wasn't just serving the strongest drinks in the place to kids, but to the one kid in the world I was sworn to protect. I looked over and made a mental note of the man. Tall and pale with a square face. He looked more like a serial killer than anything else and I was going to convince him that there were some laws you just can't break.
"Now explain to me how being in love is stupid," Jade probed.
Pointing a finger, Murlin responded. "I didn't say love was stupid, I said Renaud's story was stupid. The ‘I can only love one person’ type of love."
Yes, Renaud might have been a truly noble figure, but he was dumb as hell. He wasted what little life he had chasing a woman he thought was his soulmate when all it took was a few well-placed lies and a little charm to bed her. The most stupid part was even after all of that, when the dust settled, he found a way to blame himself and pined for her love. Yes, my brother was a dumb ass.
Still sipping on Jade's drink, she continued, "Love is a mental emotion. We see what we want to see and Renaud wanted love, so he gave everything. Can you image living your life around one person’s wants year after year when they are so blind to your love that they can't see your needs and desires?" Her neck twitched as she spoke and the veins rose and fell like a hose passing water through it.
"Vampires are real, you know. Everybody inside this place wishes that they were a vampire, yet they exist just outside the door if you know how to look." What the hell was Murlin doing? Sharing our existence would not end well for my kind or even worse, she could get the poor child killed. "Emotional vampires exist, Jade. That's what made Renaud stupid. Unconditional love isn't healthy, it's setting yourself up for heartbreak. An emotional vampire named Harrow stepped in and seduced the love of his life away from him, and that's what killed him. He couldn't see past the betrayal and that's what lead to his downfall. So yes, love is stupid and you will find many suitors. Just don't settle for unconditional love."
"So skip the fairytale and look for Mr. Dependable like my mother did?" There was a hint of shame and disgust in the way she said it. Obviously she didn't know the whole story, but she was well aware that her mother was a high class whore.
Smiling, Murlin said, "No, just don't be prey in the game of love. Be the predator. Your mother is still prey, she just never realized it."
A loud banging noise from the tunnels caught my attention and the panic set in. Mihaela was so impulsive that I had to rush down there or else I would lose my chance to learn what was happening. I sprinted down the little hall and slid into the tunnel when I saw figures lurking in the shadows.
"Let's just kill the bitch," one of them said. That might be the greatest mistake of his life, I thought.