Evil Origins

  chapter TWENTY ONE

  Renaud

  Something whistled past my head immediately followed by a metallic high-pitched clicking sound. I could see the blinding light growing bigger and brighter as the metal beast smashed its way towards me. Murlin was screaming and cursing, but she was drowned out by everything happening around us. I could feel the sting of bullets entering my flesh, forcing me to grip the door and bite down hard not to scream out. I knew pain. We were old friends by now, but just because you know something intimately doesn’t mean you’re ready to be touched by it again. Two more bullets bit me in the shoulder and thigh because I could manage to utter the words "מתכונים.”

  “No, master!” Murlin whined as she sent wind towards them, barely slowly down the car. “Please don’t command me to leave you!” I didn’t have to see her face to feel her heartbreak as I could hear it in her voice. “No, please don’t say it.”

  I was already dead. I might walk the earth but my body, like my soul, was long beyond saving and they couldn’t truly kill me again. Turning, I forced my trembling hand to point at her and screamed "מתכונים." A bullet pierced my hand, shattering the bone and ripping through the flesh. My legs were buckling and as the shock started to take over I cried out again, "מתכונים." It wasn’t magic, but a command in her language. The first language that she had ever learned and the last one that I had ever learned.

  “Please no,” she begged as my body quivered from the force of the bullet shattering their way through bone and flesh. “No,” she pleaded, but she couldn’t refuse my command.

  “מתכונים,” I ordered and like any good servant, she obeyed. I watched her transform from her human form into the savage animal that existed inside her. She was frozen, staring at me as she tried to fight the command but she couldn’t refuse me. It was impossible for her to refuse my bidding, no matter how much she hated it.

  Again, I repeated my command. “מתכונים.” I watched her disappear from the alley. I wasn’t sending her away to save her from the mobsters, but to save the mobsters from her. Besides, there was something I didn’t like about the Wilson and William situation that I wanted her to watch over for me. My unfinished business here had too many parts for me to leave it unwatched and unprotected. he was the only one I could trust with this task.

  I could see their silhouettes through the lights as they jumped out of the car and came running at me, guns blazing and fear etched on their faces.

  “Get him,” somebody called out as they fired in my direction. “I said get him,” someone else screamed as two more shots whizzed by my head. This was the first time that I had ever been shot at. I had faced many evils, but never the cruelty of man. I had been one and felt heartbreak, but nothing like this.

  I placed my hand against the cold steel door and whispered, "Recludam,” and I heard a light click as the door popped open. I fell into the room, rolling down a small set of stairs. As my face hit the floor I muttered, "Et clausum close" and the door slammed shut followed by the click of the bolt sealing the door. I laid there for a minute trying to gather my thoughts and senses as they pounded on the door. My head was pounding and slow thick globs of black oozed out of the holes made by the bullets. I couldn’t move my hand and my whole body felt stiff. If I was still in Hell, I would wake up tomorrow all healed, but I wasn’t back in Hell and my healing wouldn’t be so rapid. The pain was bearable, but limiting as I tried to will the pain away.

  Looking around the room, it seemed uncharacteristically empty. It had the feeling of being used but not lived in, like a haunted house that the world had abandoned and yet something couldn't leave. It was dimly lit with low ceilings and crusty white-washed stone walls. Rough-cut beams ran one after the after on the ceiling with rusted steel poles placed along the edges. Weathered steel chairs that had been painted green with a round table sat in the middle. This wasn't exactly what I expected, but then again my criminal education came from 90s TV shows and in them the good guys always won. Clouds of smoke drifted everywhere and shards glass covered the floor. The smell of whisky that had been spilled all over was so strong it burnt my eyes and cigarettes had been left burning in the ashtrays. Forcing myself up on to my knees, the stones in the floor rocked from the pressure of my hands as I pushed myself upward. The pounding on the door was getting louder as they tried to smash their way in. I knew that eventually they would find a way, but in the meantime I could look for a way out.

  I walked over to the table and lifted one of the remaining glasses. It felt cold to the touch. The ice hadn't even melted away yet. Taking a sip, I grabbed one of the lit cigarettes that were left behind and smoked it as I scanned the room. There was a makeshift bar which appeared to be made from an old record player. The kind that always seemed to be made from wood with gold sparkly cloth covering the speakers and always had the words “hi-fi” somewhere. I often wondered, what the hell was hi-fi anyway? I can't remember ever thinking “Damn, it's a good thing I have hi-fi” as I listened to my favorite bands growing up. On the corner stood a green glass bowl with tens and twenties in it. Tip jar, I guess even though for some strange reason I expected fifties and hundreds.

  The makeshift bar had all the essentials. Snacks, booze, fresh ice, a small baseball bat, and one of those little money boxes with the standard nine digital number pads. You know the kind that they give first graders to place soft back with. Of course here when someone took a swing and hit a home run blood and teeth usually hit the floor. The ice seemed important though, because it wasn't melted and I couldn't find a fridge of freezer anywhere. I dropped my hand in the bowl, letting the cold numb my shattered hand as I pondered things. The black blood from me slowly started mingling with the ice until it looked like black soup. Red blood was meant for the living but when you were damned, like most things about you, it goes dark.

  Three walls were stone and mortar, which didn't make a very successful escape route. Not even I could walk through stone, so if the occupants here slipped away it wasn't through them and certainly not through the door. Behind the bar was a single wooden door made from rough barn timber. Unlike the beams above my head, these were cut and aged to blend in with the decayed look of the room except forthe shiny new nails securing them. I made my way along the wall, looking for something that stood out from everything else, but I didn’t see anything.

  I went along the entire wall pushing and pulling, looking for a loose board, a handle, or even a trap-door, but found nothing. There wasn't even a creak when I applied pressure. I looked at the floor and the scuff marks in the dirt leading straight to the stone wall. Too many to be everyday traffic, but how do I open it? In the movies there was always a library with a bookshelf somewhere, but not here. Look for something out of place, I thought. I ran my hands along the wall trying to find something that I could push or pull that would force it open. Every door had to have a way of opening it, the same as every lock had a key. It was always just a matter of finding out how to open it.

  I turned and scanned the room. The only thing that seemed strange was spindly bookshelf. It wasn't one of those thin, easy to break kinds and was made from solid oak with three shelves. I walked closer and realized that there were streaks in the dust and the footprints ran straight to it. I examined each shelf and the only thing I could find was the number 2314 on the bottom of the top shelf, but it didn't seem to have any meaning that I could think of. I scanned the shelf again, turning the knobs on the top thinking that maybe 2314 was the order to turn them, but nothing.

  I went back to the bar and poured a glass of bourbon while I pondered this. I hadn't realized that the pounding on the door had stopped until I saw the orange line sizzling through the door. They had a sedaline torch and that would grant them entrance to my musty sanctuary. The slow, steady orange line was growing bigger and bigger and I still had no idea how I was going to escape. As the circle grew larger I knew that my time was running out. Desperately, I scanned the room searching for the meaning of the nu
mbers 2314, but found nothing. If it was there it was beyond me. I sat on the little stool behind the bar and waited. I wasn't giving up without a fight, but the only real kind of fighting I knew how to do wasn't exactly pretty.

  Being outnumbered would mean using uncontrolled magic to disable those who were hunting me, and that always had a severe price for everybody involved. I didn’t want to have to kill them. The sins we do in this world follow us into the next life. I already knew my final destination when my business here was done, so adding more burdens to carry wasn’t on my to-do list.

  The money box was there in front of me and I thought it couldn't be that easy. The way out couldn't be hiding in plain view, but why not try it? I typed 2314 and waited. At first, nothing happened. The hole in the metal door was expanding as they continued to cut their way through. The floor vibrated slightly and a small chunk of stone and mortar popped inward. A three-foot by three-foot opening appeared in the wall, allowing cool damp air to fill the room. Damn sewer, I thought. Not exactly the way I wanted to make my escape, but I would rather run through crap then fight tooth and nail.

  I peered into the darkness and listened in case somebody was lurking out of view. Based on the stench, I couldn't imagine anybody wanting to linger around but you could never tell for sure. The only sound I could hear was a hollow plopping noise that echoed in my direction, which I probably should have expected. After all, it was a sewer not a rose garden. I crouched down and scraped through the opening, dropping down a few feet onto the floor. It was too dark to see anything so I stood there, listening in all directions. There is something quite disturbing about all the little sounds that crop up when you are blind and surrounded by darkness. Most people fear monsters, but never truly know the kinds of things that are lurking right beside them.

  I heard the pop of gun fire followed by little explosions of stone as they fired at the opening, trying to stop my escape. I side-stepped away from the opening and watched the bullets zinging into the sewer strike the wall like a spring rain. An arms-length away there was a dim blue light revealing another number pad. Rapidly, I typed 2314 hoping to hear the door close. A loud grinding noise slowly grew as the light from the doorway began to shrink to small lines around the edges.

  “Get the door,” someone screamed and then the unthinkable happened. I saw an arm slide through the crack, but flesh and bone can’t stop a foot-deep block of stone. A loud shriek of agony filled my ears as the rough edges crushed his flesh. I watched as the fingers twitched and blood began to run down the wall. The fingers kept twitching like they were reaching out for help, but there wasn’t any help on its way. The owner’s whimper could be heard through the cracks around the door. A better man might have re-entered the code to open it, but I wasn’t a better man so I ran into the darkness as I searched for my escape.

  The ground beneath my feel was uneven and the water was so cold that my feet went numb. I could hear something in front of me, but had no idea what it could be. It sounded like chopping wood, but who would be chopping wood in a sewer. The stupid little childish fears I had had as a kid came to mind and wouldn’t be tamed. Alligators and giant snakes living in the sewers hidden beneath the water coming right for me, or giant rats waiting to strike at any minute. The idea made me wanted to run on tip-toes, even though I doubtedthat any monsters hidden under the water would miss my steps.

  I saw a dim flickering light down at the end of the tunnel. There was something about the way the shadows danced along the wall and seem to slither beneath the water that made me uneasy. What might be waiting there was scarier than anything. I had seen creatures so vile that just a single stare could turn your heart to stone and choke a man's courage. One of those creatures would come to collect me soon, I just hoped that they weren't at the end of the tunnel waiting for me. That day would come, I was aware of that. I didn’t belong here and as long as I stayed, the balance between good and evil would be off. The world always wanted balance.

  I was almost at the corner when I heard a child’s voice whispering, “Daddy, get up. You can’t die! Daddy, I need you!” As I walked closer I kept tight to the wall, slowing every step and trying to keep as quiet as possible. “Daddy, you know that you can’t face the sunlight. We are children of darkness, not light. Daddy, don’t die.” Not even my heart was able to hear her cries and not feel something. What a child was doing in a sewer I had no idea, but she would have nothing to fear from me. I wasn’t the type of monster who hurt children. That wasn’t part of my business here and my business was all I cared about.

  Turning the corner, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Dismembered bodies were scattered everywhere. Arms, legs, and every other possible body part including a few decapitated heads were tossed in a pile resembling a small mountain of flesh. The smell of drying blood filled the air and a woman in white was slumped over one of the bodies. The man’s body was charred and black with loose clumps of flesh dangling as the girl whispered, “Daddy, don’t die. I don’t want to walk the world alone. I need you, daddy.”

  She turned and her eyes glowed as her fangs dropped. This wasn’t any mere brokenhearted child. Her fists clenched and she howled, “Save him!” Her eyes were filled with sadness and when she stood her wrists were covered in blood. “Save him,” she pleaded. She lifted her arms and showed me just how big the gashes in her wrists were. “I tried to feed him, but it’s not working. Save him.” I saw fingers move then I realized that the body lying in front of her was still alive. His fingers were moving and his legs shook. Considering the state of his body, the fact that he was alive was a miracle and it was a good thing for him that the shock kicked in.

  Vampire were dangerous at the best of times, never mind an injured one. I slowly walked towards her trying to think of the best spell for this situation, but for once I couldn't think of the right word. Normally I would use a fire spell, but there was a dying man lying helpless. The kind of spell it would take to kill her would burn a mortal man to ashes. Standing there in a blood-covered dress, she looked so helpless that I felt sorry for her.

  "Save him," she pleaded again. I didn't have any idea what I could do to help the poor bastard since she was feeding him her blood and that should have healed him as fast as a deer running from a hunter’s aim. "You must save him."

  I tried to understand why a vampire would be pleading for a human’s life. Humans were food in their eyes and that was all they saw. A blood bank that they had to hunt down. Such an odd development. Normally, it would be touching to see such emotion from a monster, but there were so many bodies. Unlike most of us, vampires didn’t pay for their sins in the afterlife as they just turned to ash when they were finally destroyed.

  "I can't save him," I said, still trying to decide what I was going to do next.

  She howled, "You must save him."

  I was about to respond when I saw them. The burnt corpse's head was slowly twisting around and I saw the fangs. This beast wasn't begging to save a human, but her mate. Even this idea seemed strange to me, since vampires were self-serving creatures. I had met one once before my family’s curse had claimed me. I killed one defending my brother, but to save his life I traded his soul. At the time, I told myself that I was trading my life for his, but I ended up trading his soul as well as my own. We both lost that day.

  “Flamma,” I screamed as I tossed a handful of blue flame towards her. It hit her chest, sending a wave of flame splattering on either side of her as she rolled backwards into the wall. I tossed two more balls of fire at her, each connecting and starting an explosion of fire dancing along her body.

  I was ready to strike again when I heard a grown man say, “Renaud, stop it! Kill me if you want, but don’t destroy my creature.” I froze in place as my brother’s voice screeched, “Don’t destroy her!”

  I was stuck in the past and the past always had a price. Mind you, the price that bit me was a 5”5, weighed 114 lbs. and drove her fangs straight into my neck. My blood boiled as her fangs broke through the skin
and I felt the burning of her bite, but she got the worst of it. I am not human anymore and her kind fed on the living. My blood is poison to both the living and the dead. I didn’t have to force her off since the burning in her mouth and the sheer pain drove her away.

  It took me some time to steady my legs and I felt lightheaded from the blood streaming out of the wounds in my neck. I whispered again, “Flamma” and prepared to finish this distasteful business once and for all when Harrow looked up at me. It was that same look he always had when he was in trouble. Those sorrow-filled eyes always made me throw away common sense and defend him. How many times did I find myself face down in the dirt trying to fight off someone bigger than me because of something he did? He was usually in the wrong, but he was my brother and I would defend him until the end. He was the guy that flirted with your girlfriend and in rare cases even stole her away, but I was like his unspoken guardian and why should today be any different?

  She was cowering over him as I cleared the thought of killing her from my mind. It wasn't easy to do because, like most people, I feared vampires. They were more than just dangerous, but also cruel creatures by nature. That was apparent now especially as she crouched over him, whipping her hair back in preparation to defend her mate to the bitter end. Her cold eyes glowed as she watched me, occasionally darting around as she searched for a weapon. Gripping a large round stone, I was certain that if I came close to her she'd instinctively smash my head in.

  Voices from behind me caught my attention. They were just whispers, but there were too many of them and they were coming toward us. Looking around the corner I saw six men coming our way.

  "There will be more coming," I whispered. "I will distract them and keep them away. When a stray comes by, take him and save Harrow." I immediately ran out towards the small group, still trying to figure out if I was the loyal brother or just plain stupid.