chapter TWENTY
Harrow
Down the street the engine roared like a lion as the car bounced around the corner, crashing its way down the alley. The exhaust didn’t climb into the sky, but lingered and rolled along the street like chemical fog that slowly swallowed the air until only poison was left. The taillights faded as the vehicle left the street to do God only knows what. Looking up, I saw the moon calling to its children as it filled the sky. There was a time when the world associated the moon had power over children of the night like me, but these days it seemed that its calls had more power over humanity that it ever had over my kind. The echo of gunfire sounded like firecrackers exploding and little pops of light screamed criminal intent.
“Get out of here!” A woman screamed as the smell of gunpowder filled the streets. In my human days, I would never have noticed it but now I could see it floating in the air.
“Get the hell out of here!” she screamed again as the street was lit up by a flash of light before slowly fading into darkness. It was Murlin and whenever she was around Renaud wasn’t too far away. Her soul and his were joined and unlike marriage between soul mates, their calling went even beyond death.
Mike was lying there in shock motionless and despite everything he had endured, I knew that he was recover unharmed. My blood was tainted by evil, but it would heal him even if he hated me for it. A small stream of tears ran down his cheek and I knew that he was struggling. His faith would be tested and might even be shredded, but he would live.
I stepped over him and whispered, "Don't hate me Mike. I had to share my darkness in order to save your life."
I picked him up and threw him over my shoulder. I walked towards the entrance of the alley and stopped to check the streets. The alley was bustling with human traffic. Not the standard good versus evil that most people fantasize about when they think of criminals, but evil versus evil. Not in these streets where crime always lives, but that was the way the world works. Not just here in my city, but in any city if one takes the time to look. Mike’s car was just down the street, hidden between a Lincoln and one of those stoner vans that the potheads seem to like so much. I am sure that he thought he was being discreet, but I had to walk past it in order to leave and I could smell him easily.
I crept along the streets trying to stay in the shadows and not be seen. Mike undoubtedly would wake up feeling stronger and more powerful, but it would wear off and he would be alive. I opened the passenger door of his little Honda and gently slid him into the seat. He was silent and stiff which was expected. It would take a few hours for him to heal then a few hours longer before he woke up. Locking his door, I closed it and went to clean up the mess in the alley. The only way a true hunter survives is making sure that the other prey never knows that those who came before had been hunted.
I watched the alley like I watched the world. Just slightly hidden from view, but close enough that I could see the details of life as they unfold. When the car finally made its way down I expected loud screams or begging, but there weren't any. It wasn't silent by any means, but it wasn't a battle cry either.
Through the cloud of exhaust, I saw a grungy old cat running out onto the sidewalk as it made its way down towards the river. It seemed like everything lead to the river. It was a leftover from the days when everything came by ship and the Detroit River was the heart of the city. Wow though, it was mostly just a place to feel the breeze on your face and watch the sun set. Of course, all my sunsets had to be viewed through tinted glass which allowed my eyes to see its beauty, but it was still in an altered manner. When Murlin was certain that she was out of sight I saw her transform into her human form. She had always been an alluringly beautiful creature and now watching her trot away I couldn’t help but remember all those times that had I wished she had chosen me and not my brother as her master. It wasn’t a matter of who was the greatest or who had the most power. It was the point that I was born doomed and Renaud had a future that she wanted to help mold. At the time I hated him for it. He was lucky enough to be born minutes after me, which meant he would live and I would die and now he got the girl. Not romantically, but she loved him endlessly. I watched her slip in between the rows of cars as she made her escape, never looking back. How odd I thought. Murlin left Renaud behind and that in itself was unexpected at best. Maybe loyalty doesn't live beyond the grave.
When she was certain that nobody could see her she backtracked and jumped into a Ford Fit. It was a rental car and nobody would really take notice unless they pointed and laughed. This being a town where even a grandma would drive a muscle car, nobody would notice an economy car. I could see a woman in the driver’s seat, but somehow she was able to hide her face from me. I stepped out of the shadows to see her more clearly but something seemed to be blocking my view. This wasn’t natural, I thought. Unnatural things made me nervous and things that made me nervous generally didn’t end well. I saw the taillights flick on and then the car puttered out of sight until it turned and was lost around a corner. Part of me wanted to chase it down, but I didn’t.
I headed towards the alley again. The darkness would give way to morning and time was rapidly stealing away my sanctuary. Light would soon trap me if I wasn’t fast enough. The sunlight was always chasing me, or at least that’s how it always felt. I was always trying to outrun the daylight and ruthlessly, it always came.
There was too much action happening in the alley for someone not to pick up on it. Even in this part of town this much action would draw the wrong kind of attention but as far as I could see there was no magic, black or otherwise. Man, monster, or something else entirely. It was just stupid humans hunting whatever Renaud had become. I still wasn’t certain what he was now. All I knew for sure was that Nathanial always thought that if he ever returned our families curse would be reborn. I was going to have to kill him if Nathanial was correct.
I was standing at the edge of the alley expecting to see the horrific results of my battle. Some might have called it torture, but these men dared to hunt me and it was a battle. You don't reason with killers, you kill them. Besides, Mike was determined that Jenny had to be saved and I needed him on my side. He wasn't physically strong but he had a pure heart and I needed him to stand by me when I finally had to face Renaud. I could still smell their blood. To me it was like stepping into an apple orchard with a warm breeze that pushed the sweet aroma of blood around. When I was a child, I used to love the smell that came with apple picking. How fresh and sweet the air smelled and tasted in the autumn. It was one of my favorite memories. There was also the taste of warm apple cider to warm my soul. Now, that was the sensation that I felt with the smell of fresh blood. I had gotten used to feeding off drug addicts and diseased whores, but I craved healthy blood. It was like living on freeze dried military rations and smelling a freshly barbequed steak. You can live off it, but that damn steak is always in your mind.
The alley was empty. The scent of freshly spilled blood still called to me, but the blood and every other trace of the horror was gone. I slowly made my way down, letting my hand run along the smooth bricks as I went. The sun hadn't started climbing into the sky yet, so I searched every shadow trying to figure if anyone or anything was hiding just out of view. I could smell something lingering in the air, but it wasn't human. It wasn't familiar so even I tasted fear tonight. I stood behind dumpster gazing down the end of the alley, not sure what to expect. The whole damn thing was too clean and tidy. Cleaner then I could have left it in such a short amount of time, and I was an expert at hiding bodies. There were hundreds of them stashed by me in places where they would never be found, but not this quickly or thoroughly.
I was still standing there when a car stopped at the alley entrance. Immediately,I leapt up so fast that human eyes wouldn’t be able to register me grappling ahold of the fire escape. It wasn’t one of those modern steel ones, though. It was an older cement pedestal-type fire escape that looked more like a balcony than a safety apparatus. As I hit the bottom I
gripped the side with my hands, watching pebbles and dust fall to the ground below. I could feel the other cement beam twist as my feet connected with it. I was trying to balance myself against the bottom, hoping that it wouldn’t bend and crumble from my weight. Time hadn’t been any fairer with it than it had been with the rest of the city. It was weaving forward and making a creaking sound and I expected it to crumble down at any minute.
“Where the hell are they?” I heard a man ask. “They said they caught him right here in the alley.” The moose-like figure was standing there with a shotgun in his hand as he scanned the alleyway. Holding a flashlight in his other hand he followed it up and down the alley, even though it wasn’t turned on. He stepped forward then stopped bouncing from foot to foot, always looking behind him. “Maybe it’s the wrong alley?”
Behind him stood a second figure.
“No, it’s not.” Pointing to the building with his flashlight, “They said that they followed him into the alley between Pep’s Convenience and All White Laundry, so this has to be the place.” He didn’t seem eager to step in to the alleyway either as he muttered, “We don’t get paid enough to chase down The King’s men.”
“Yes, we aren’t being paid near enough for this shit.” I don’t know why I was surprised that The King had cops on his payroll. Hell, if I considered myself a criminal mastermind I would have a few in my pocket as well. Damn crooked cops. It seemed to me, now that I thought about it, here in a city that was slowly dying day by day bad cops were a dime a dozen. I was sure that there were still enough of the good ones, but greed fills most men’s hearts as they go through life. Everybody starts off with the highest of morals, I thought, but time twisted them until greed was stronger.
“I am not going into every damn alleyway in the city,” the one said as he slowly started walking away.
“Damn right we aren’t,” the smaller one said as he opened the car door, taking one last look before closing the door. It was almost like they had a sixth sense. They scanned the alley again, almost like they knew evil was hiding somewhere close by and knowing that they just couldn’t see it. Yet even if they didn’t want to find it, they were still searching for it. These two would never know how lucky they were that they didn’t find me, because if they did the last face that they ever saw would be filled with fangs and claws. Feeding on two cops, even the corrupt kind, would draw way too much attention though. When they were positive that the alley was empty, they slowly began to drive off towards Renaud and the other riffraff.
Panic set in as I realized that the sky was brighter than it should be. I was forced to wait too long thanks to those damn cops. They were too thorough in their investigation, even if they didn’t walk down the length of the alley. Now I was crouched under an old fire escape watching the sky growing brighter. The sunlight was slowly creeping its way down the wall across from me like Heaven’s swords coming to take my life. It was dropping slowly and it seemed to be coming straight for me. If I still had a heartbeat I am sure that it would be racing, but luckily I didn’t. My chest still tightened though, as the muscles compressed until they felt like metal bands under my flesh.
The sun came closer and closer as it made its way down the wall. I watched it traveling downward brick by brick, knowing that each time it dropped the width of another brick I was one notch closer to being trapped by the daylight. I searched the alley for a hiding place that would protect me from my enemy. A few scattered trash bags and soggy paper bags would not save me. I felt the burning sensation long before I realized what was happening. I looked over at my hand and it was burning away, so hot that the bone showed. I immediately let go, screaming in pain as my body dropped to the ground. My body almost broke in two as gravity drove it into the edge of the trash bin before smashing my face into the pavement. A jagged stone poked into my eye socket, tearing out my eye in the process and sending excruciating pain throughout my body. It felt like it had burst through the back of my head and that side of my head tingled like it was being touched by a spring rain.
Half blind, I attempted to slide my hand under the trash bin. It was my chance to escape the sunlight and survive the day. I could hear the bones from my fingers scraping between the pavement and the metal of the bin as I forced it under it. The idea of being trapped in a hot metal box that reeked wasn't appealing, but burning alive wasn't a better option. I finally managed to flip it, but I had used too much force and it rolled right across the full width of the alley smashing into the wall. The panic was stronger than I thought it would be. The fear of burning away to nothing more than dust was stronger than the agony of my flesh cooking. I started to drag my body towards the bin, struggling to beat the vicious rays of sunlight. My back felt warm at first and then an explosion of fire came, forcing a shriek of agony to escape my lips.
I was inches away from safety when something grabbed my ankle and yanked me back. After all my struggles to find safety, I was pulled right back into danger. It was a trap, I thought. I knew Renaud was bringing a war with him, but I had no idea that his cruelty was that this strong. It seemed to me that he was the only one who had the power to trap me like this. I was desperately trying to drag myself away towards cover and protection from the sunlight, yet something kept dragging me back. The flames took hold and as the skin on my body burned away I was yanked backwards. Looking back, I saw a small opening that had been hidden by the trash bin. I was being ripped through the opening even though I understood my body was too big to fit through unharmed. If the flames on my flesh was agony, the feeling of shattering bone and torn flesh as I was being ripped through the opening was utter hell.