chapter SIXTEEN
Mike
Essex County wasn’t quite a stereotypical part of Canada. Most people’s thoughts of Canada included deep snow with freezing wind that always came as a frigid slap to the face, but that wasn’t not my city. My city had mild winters and hellish summers. It hot and humid to the point that the air felt so heavy I would struggle to breath even late at night. Everyone talks to God during their most desperate times, and I was no different. I prayed daily and when nobody was listening I would lay all the burdens that men shared with me to our Father. In all my years, I never asked him for anything for myself. It always seemed wrong to ask for things when there were so many other people who needed help more, but today I demanded his help. After all the years of devotion I asked for Jenny’s safety. I felt like it was owed to me. After all those years of watching over her and then hating her now that she was gone, all I did was worry about her.
I was sitting in my little grey Honda that squeaked when I drove it and sputtered the rest of the time. I wanted to turn on the AC just to push away the heat, but I couldn’t risk the loud shaking sound and squealsthat the fan belt made when it was running. Harrow would definitely hear it. If legend were true though, he’d be able to hear my heart beating in my chest and one look from him could darken my soul, but I needed to know for sure what Harrow knew. I guess I needed to justify to myself if he truly was the monster I thought he was or not. Part of me wanted desperately believe that there was some small part of him that was still human. A part that still felt love, guilt, and sorrow about Jenny going missing. That some part of him felt regret over his part in it, even if he denied it. To me, he betrayed my trust and the cost was so much more than I ever expected.
Harrow didn’t leave by the front door like all the other patrons of the bar. No, he slipped out the side door just behind the dirty green garbage bin where the common folks wouldn’t be able to see him. I wouldn’t exactly say that he was hiding in the shadows, but he certainly was lurking in them. He was scanning the street and stood there like he was waiting for something, which made me even more nervous because anything that could scare him wouldn’t have no trouble killing me. That’s something the legends don’t tell you. Vampire slayers are rare. There are those who might hunt them, but few live long enough to find one and even fewer get to kill one. Normally I’d be saying only a fool chases such a creature at night only armed with a dagger, cross, and a little bottle of holy water, but even if I hated what Jenny had become and thought she was selfish as hell, there was this little part of me that loved her. Maybe not romantic love and I knew she’d never love me back, but I still loved that teenage girl that I used to know.
He slipped out of the alley as quick as a cat then causally strolled down the street towards the riverfront like he didn’t have a care in the world. I guess absolute evil doesn’t have a care in the world because to actually care about something you have to fear losing it, and I just don’t think he sees anything left that he’d miss if he lost it. He crossed the street and walked past me. I sank down into my seat, holding my breath like it would stop my heart from beating in my chest. I glanced through the window as he passed by me and there was a reflection in the storefront windows that he walked by. It occurred to me that he was a creature of the night who walked amongst the living and nobody ever noticed. He hid in plain sight like a crook living beside a police station. Too close to the enemy to actually be noticed.
Harrow wasn't even two blocks away when I heard a light clicking noise from behind me. I stayed low and peered through the driver-side mirror.
Glancing through the rear view mirror the front of the car that appeared was square and the creatures inside looked gigantic.
It looked like there were five of them, each carrying something dangerous in their hands that they kept close to their sides like they hiding them. If I didn't see them emptying their trunk I wouldn't have even known that they were armed at all. I couldn’t be sure, but I thought Harrow noticed them too as he slowed his pace from a casual stroll to that of a turtle. He even stopped by a window to fix his hair. If these idiots had known what they were chasing, they wouldn't have been so eager to hunt him. I knew exactly what he was and I had God on my side and he scared the hell out of me.
“The boss says to bring him in alive, but he didn’t say he had to be walking when we brought him,” one of the overconfident asses said as they passed by.
Another chirped up, “No, he never said that he wanted him to walk in to be questioned, only that he wanted him to answer questions.”
They didn’t walk towards him, but marched like soldiers heading to war. Harrow was teasing them as he went from window to window, luring them to him. He stepped under the street lights, making sure he was in plain view. I couldn’t say for sure, but I had always imagined him keeping to the shadows and trying to blend in. If my way of thinking was right, Little Red Riding Hood didn’t fear the wolf, she was the wolf and I was about to see her fangs come out. Before vanishing into the alleyway, he stopped and looked back in our direction. His eyes glowed, which is something that no book I read had ever mentioned, but then again I guess there was a lot that the books never mentioned about his kind. He vanished around the corner and the idiots ran after him like wolves on the attack.
Stepping out of my car took too much courage and my legs trembled, making each step a struggle all its own. A few days ago my life had been quite boring and even my dreams were simplistic at best. Today I was doing the unthinkable and I didn't even understand why. I moved close to the buildings on the side of the street closest to the alley. It seemed like a reasonable choice since in the movies that what all the spies did. Of course, in the movies they were always good looking guys who could pop into a doorway and vanish into the shadows, not an overweight middle-aged priest who's middle stuck out just a little too far. As I made my way, I heard the rattle of garbage cans and other metal items being tossed around, but no loud screams. I expected loud screams and pleading, but there weren’t any. If I didn't know better, I would have sworn that it was just a regular Sunday night.
I made my way to the corner, but I was too afraid to look. It surprised me that I wasn't afraid of my neck, but what I might see. It occurred to me that the sailors from the other night might just victims of one of Harrow's bad moods. He had quite the temper when he was merely human and now that he was something darker who knows what he could do? What he would do? I heard a loud cracking noise and a muffled sound that I assumed was a man trying to scream without a voice box. I gripped my crucifix so tight my hand burned and I held my dagger in the other hand, still uncertain that I could force myself around the corner. I tried to think of a suitable prayer for such an event and all I could think of was the Lord’s Prayer.
I was preparing to pop around the corner when such a strange site caught my attention. A Jeep sat parked beside me and a scruffy looking cat had its paws dangling over the edge of the hood, staring into the alley like it was taking inventory. Such a stupid thing to notice, but it stood out since it seemed like that same scruffy-looking black cat was stalking me. I always imagined my stalker as a poor little young catholic girl looking for guidance from an experience man like me. Oh, who was I fooling? I never imagined myself as the type that would have a stalker and even if I did it certainly would be a scruffy old cat.
I took a deep breath and forced myself to turn the corner, not sure what to expect. Holding my dagger awkwardly out in front of me I stepped towards him. Bodies were scattered all over the ground and streams of blood flowed like rivers in every direction. Harrow held a man in the air, shaking him like a toy.
Even in this dim light I could see that he had a firm grip around the man’s neck as he yelled, "Where did you take the woman?" The only thing stronger then the smell of blood was the odor of urine. "Tell me now or I will tear your limbs off one by one until you beg me to finish you."
The man looked like a mountain compared to Harrow, yet his body still dangled like string
as he was shaken violently.
"I don't know where they took her! I am just a soldier. A hired thug. The boss doesn't tell me anything. I was told if we brought the famous Renaud Barthélémy to him that he'd pay us ten thousand dollars. That's all I know!"
With his free hand Harrow grabbed a hold of the man’s shoulder while the poor bastard screamed in agony as the bones in his shoulder began to break. The sound reminded me of fresh popcorn popping over a campfire. The man’s screams had no effect on Harrow, but it broke my heart.
“There are very many bones in the human body. 206 to be exact. How long do you think it would take for me to break them?” Switching hands, he grabbed onto the man’s other shoulder and his eyes popped open as he started to scream, “How long do you think it would take me to break them all? One hour? Two hours?”
"I don’t where she is,” the poor man whined as the bones in his shoulder snapped one by one. Harrow didn’t show any emotion. Not love, happiness, or rage. He just calmly kept adding pressure and torturing the man more and more. “I swear that I don’t know where they have her! I never even heard of any woman until now!”
“That’s a shame, as you are the only one left standing and I really need to be sure you aren’t lying. I made a promise and well, for lack of a better term, you must pay the price.” I heard even more bones breaking and blood starting seeping from his arm. He was in so much pain and Harrow just kept moving from bone to bone. If the man had the answer he wouldn’t give it up, yet I truly doubt that he actually knew anything.
Harrow was relentless as he shook the poor man wildly until he appeared to be nothing less than a life-sized straw doll. Each time he shook him there was a louder cracking noise, but the man was already unconscious. Harrow was immune to it and kept shaking him. Finally, he tossed him back driving his head into the wall and sending blood splattering sickeningly. I watched his lifeless body tumble to the ground and remain there limp.
Harrow looked around pointing from body to body, “Now let me see. Who amongst these rats looks like he might be loyal and trustworthy? Which little bird will sing for me now?” He was pointing from body to body like it was a game. Finally, he smiled and reached down saying, “Yes, this is the one.”
As Harrow was snatching up the next victim the man woke up and screamed before the torture had even started. I heard him begging for his life and knew that I couldn’t stand by and watch another man go through this once more. I didn’t have any idea how I was supposed to stop him, only that he was trapped here in the alley. My humanity made it impossible for me to walk away or just stand by and witness this for a second time.
Sweat was flowing from my all over my body and I was so tense that I was sure that my muscles were going to burst.
"Stop it now Harrow. I can't let you kill these men,"
Harrow just laughed as dropped the crying man on the ground. "I am giving you exactly what you asked for."
I held the dagger out and watched it jitter in my trembling hand. Steady your nerves, I thought as I tried to keep the dagger from slipping from my hands.
"I never asked for this."
Walking towards me he waved a single finger in the air. "Oh, but you did Mike. The minute you threatened Jade you forced this. You forced my hand Mike."
"Don't blame me for your actions. I didn't say to kill innocent men."
"Do you think that these men are innocent? That they followed me here just to talk."
I knew that these men were all pretty criminals. I just didn’t think that they deserved to be tortured and killed because of it. “I know that these men aren’t saints, but what you are doing is inhuman.”
“I know, I haven’t been human for a long time now. I am doing what must be done to save Jade.”
“They have Jenny, not Jade.”
Harrow was walking towards me like he had nothing to lose. I didn’t think that he had a lot to lose to begin with. Not from me at least, but I couldn’t walk away.
“Mike go home. Let the monsters play and let me save Jenny.”
"I can't let you kill them Harrow." I know that it sounded like I was begging and maybe I was. All I truly knew was that this wasn't right and if I just walked away I would never be able to look at myself in the mirror again. Holding the dagger out, I repeated myself. "You can't kill them."
He looked around him like he was measuring them one by one.
"Mike I don't kill the innocent. I don't kill anybody who has a chance to fix their future, but none of these guys have a future. I didn't search them out, they came for me." Searching the alleyway, he pointed towards a giant garbage bin that was completely surrounded by trash. I could hear the plastic crumpling and despite not seeing what was lurking beneath the mountain of trash, I knew they were there. "These ‘men’ as you call them are no better than those rats. We kill rats because they spread disease. We never have a second thought about it, but these men are just as bad and yet you call me a monster. They are rats, Mike. Plain and simple they are rats, only fear and misery are the disease that they spread."
I was slowly making my way towards him. Maybe he was distracted or looking back at the man he used to be, but his guard was down and my time to strike was close. "So you really think this is the only way? That torturing these guys will send a message?"
"I take no joy in this. A few will be crippled, but most will live and my message will be understood." He almost seemed genuine as he spoke. His eyes were soft and sadness seemed to fill them like frost covers a window on a cold day. Not his usual condescending tone that made you feel like you were inferior not because you were human, but because you still felt emotions.
I needed to keep him distracted long enough to strike. I am no hero or hunter by any means, but Harrow couldn't be allowed to kill so many people.
"You are leaving a collection of dead bodies." The image of all those sailors was still fresh in my mind. It didn't occur to me at the time, but now it occurred to me that Harrow was the only one who could have killed so many so easily. The blood was still on his hands and if I just walked away it would be on mine too. "Were those sailors rats as well?" I snapped, still holding my dagger between us.
Smiling, he responded. "Yes, I am sure that they were rats. Every last one of them, but I didn't kill them." Leaning against the wall he added, "A much more dangerous monster than me that did that sin. There may be a lot of blood on my hands, but that sin isn't mine."
He was closer then I would have liked, yet I needed to drive my dagger into his heart. The legends said a wooden stake, but I had read a blessed holy object could kill the darkness inside the monster and my dagger had been blessed by a pope during the crusades. Harrow was too busy trying to convince me that he wasn't the ultimate monster, but a victim.
"They think that you’re Renaud. What happens when they find him?" he asked as I lowered my dagger and stepped closer. "Do you think he will be able to stop these guys so easily?"
His claws came out and came flying straight at me. Something told me that he was a second away from tearing out my throat. He certainly had the strength of body and cruelty to do it and I was absolutely powerless to stop him. Five thugs who made their living fighting other monsters failed to do it, so how could one man compare. His hand was coming straight for me and the panic set in. My chest tightened and my breathing sounded more like a wheezy St. Bernard then anything human. I was a stupid little old man who should be at home cowering under my blankets, not facing this thing in the middle of the night.
"Listen, Mike. Renaud might look the man you knew, but he's not." As the words left his lips I realized that he wasn't going for my throat, but my shoulder. It was too late though. My dagger was already shooting upward with all the force my shaking hands could muster.
His eyes grew brighter as the blade dug its way into his chest and the vibrations from his body trembling raced along the blade, straight to my hand. He stepped back and his hands jerked. Despite wanting to tear it out of his body, I hadn't the strength to
do it. Each step he took pulled me with him as if I was a puppet and he controlled the strings. Even in the dim light I could see blood starting to flow from his eyes.
The whole time he kept muttering, "I wouldn't have hurt you, Mike. I was trying to protect you from the battle that Renaud is bringing." His legs were shaking as he stumbled against the wall, and the smoke from his chest was floating upward in little spirals. "I wasn't going to kill you or harm you, old friend."
"Shit!"
A voice echoed from behind us that was followed by a slight click. Harrow's eyes widened and he grabbed me, yanking me closer almost crying out in pain as the blade dug its way deeper into his chest. His whole body burned hot against mine and no matter how hard I struggled, I couldn't pull away. Twisting me around and driving me into the hard brick wall my head was pounding as it connected. I felt dizzy and lightheaded and felt my head drop onto his shoulder. What little strength I had was sucked away, leaving me absolutely vulnerable. Three loud bangs followed and each time Harrow's body drove into me, taking away my breath each time. He dropped me onto the hard ground and through my dreary eyes I saw the silhouette of a man holding a gun. My eyes felt so heavy, but I heard a wild roar followed by a haunting scream.
I couldn’t be sure, but I thought I heard something about the cat. I heard his hollow footsteps pounding on the pavement as he chased after him. The last thing I remember was Harrow cursing and saying, “Now he will know.”