Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Necrofiend: Blood Moon ❯ Chapter Six ( Chapter 6 )

Blood Moon
-Original Work-
Warning: yaoi, yuri, graphic violence and gore, supernatural creatures, OC POV, etc

Thao_Lorakin: I’m in the process of trying to read through everything I did with the original series. Some things about the plots I want to try again, just make it better and more like a plot in which I know what I’m doing lol. The Kano equivalent….shall be a surprise. I’m not quite sure when he’ll pop up yet but you’ll know him when you read it. Thank you for reviewing again. Your feedback means a lot to meJ.

Dcopperfox: Yes, it sounds a lot like the Anita Blake series because that’s what inspired it. There will be several similarities while at the same time; the fic will maintain a level of originality.

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Chapter Six

ADRIANO’S VOICE GAVE the impression that it was some kind of entity all its own. As he spoke, it carried through the phone and over my flesh like a metaphysical silk. It was cold at first as it clung to my skin, as if my clothes weren’t even there, then warm by the time it slowly faded into nothing. It left goosebumps along my arms and legs, but unlike the first time, I was able to keep from showing any outward reaction. To do so would be like stroking any vampire’s ego. Had we been face to face, I would have informed him that he was breaking one of the cardinal rules for his kind. They weren’t allowed to play mind tricks on the unwilling. I pursed my lips, picking my words carefully at first.

“I wouldn’t say…seeking you. Not yet anyways.” I said lightly as I stood from the bed. I walked slowly across the room to the bathroom and checked inside. Raven wasn’t there, but he hadn’t been gone long. The steam from his shower still clung to the mirror.

“I won’t be seeking you until a court order is issued. Then I’ll be seeking you out to kill you.” I turned to return to the bed once again.

“You sound so sure of yourself, executioner.” There was a questioning lilt though he made it a statement. Like he wasn’t convinced that anyone, especially some lone mortal, had the balls to come after him. It may have been a foolish move but the moment I found out that he was responsible for that little girl’s death, I would be coming after him.

“Yes.” I answered.

“We will see, petit mortel.” The statement had the faintest undercurrent of a threat. That threat changed the play of magic along my flesh. The silk that had tentatively ran over every inch of my body suddenly felt like it had a layer of very fine needles. I grunted again and scowled. It took a moment of drowning out the mix of pleasure and pain to realize that I was beginning to grind my teeth.

“Don’t underestimate me, Adriano.” I stated and tried to make it sound threatening. What ended up coming out was more of a strained whisper. He laughed and the thin layer of needles was gone. The silk was back, amongst heavier, warmer, more solid things. I must have gasped because the laughter continued. The warming sensation swirled, unrelenting, along my flesh, raising more goosebumps until it finally settled in the center of my stomach. I could taste my pulse suddenly, as it fluttered at the almost center of my chest and the side of my throat. If I could concentrate hard enough I was sure I could feel the pulse in both wrist and my groin. I had met a lot of vampires who could do many things; many terrible, horrible things, but this was my first time dealing with one that could touch me through the phone.

I lowered the phone from my mouth. My hand gripped the comforter of the bed while the traces of the magic faded, now that I couldn’t hear him. Even though I couldn’t hear him, I knew he was still laughing and knew that he was besting me. That alone irritated me. I let a slow breath pass my lips and closed my eyes. I had a mentor in the past that taught me the fine art of shielding. Anyone who had the slightest amount of magical potential was capable, but how much so depended on what field of magic you were training. Mine wasn’t that strong but I was good for a simple human animator.

I pictured my own power the same way I had to sense the bodies at the burial site. I pictured it swirling like some supernatural flame that emitted no warmth, but instead gave off a sighing breeze of coldness. It wasn’t the type of chill that penetrated down to your bones, causing uncontrollable shivers. It was the kind of chill that you got when you wet your skin, then placed it in front of a fan on a day that was slightly too warm for comfort. As I focused on this energy, I began to will it tighter to my body until it felt like I was encased by a full bodied glove. I opened my eyes then and suddenly remembered I had the phone still clutched in my hand. I pressed it to my ear again. I didn’t ask him if he was still there. The old vampires were always capable of that supernatural stillness. No breathing, no blinking. Like the first blink or strong gust would blow away the illusion of their presence.

“You enjoy testing your limits don’t you, Adriano.”
“Very much so.” He answered. This time those words were only words.
“Even though it’s illegal.”

“I have brought the best the city has to offer to their very knees with pleasure with the simple sound of my voice, petit repas. It is worth breaking those silly little rules.” His voice dropped down to something darker and very much all male. I’d heard the very tone coming from my own lips before but never with a stranger over the phone. Then again, I’d never had to concentrate on a shield so hard that my head was starting to throb either. There was a first time for everything. I waited for the energy that came with his voice to dissipate. As the last of it slithered over the barrier I’d created, I sent a bit of my own energy back at him.

If it was going to be a pissing contest then so be it. There was a good chance that I’d lose in the end but I wouldn’t go out without a fight. This time he was the one to gasp. Considering he was a very old, very powerful master vampire, it was a great accomplishment. I felt a hint of satisfaction. The words that followed made it all the more better.

“It appears that I have underestimated you…” And just like some thick curtain had been let down between us, his energy was gone. He was shielding.
“You surprise me, Executioner.”
“Thanks.”
He chuckled again and it was just a chuckle. Still I tensed.
“You are quite intriguing. Might I make a suggestion?”

I glanced around the room somewhat anxiously. A vampire asking to make a suggestion was never a good thing.

“I’m listening.”

“If I am a suspect….would it not be wise to interrogate me?” The question coming from anyone else would have been an innocent one. This wasn’t innocent. Not coming from a man who had gone from calling me ‘little mortal’ to a ‘little meal’.

“What’s the catch?”
“I will only speak with you. No one else.”
I frowned as I thought about this.
“I’m not foolish enough to meet with you alone.” I stated honestly. It wasn’t like dealing with the fey or a coven. Vampires could make and break oaths as they pleased if they weren’t made in blood.

“We won’t be alone, petit repas. Just as you do not trust me, I do not trust you.”
“So you’ll have your people present…” When he made no move to deny this, I pressed on. “Then I insist on bringing my own people.”
“Very well then. I will send for you when I am ready to speak.”

There were no parting words. No goodbyes. There was the faintest click of the connection ending and I knew he’d hung up. I let out a breath and all of the tension that had gathered during the brief call. The beginnings of a tension headache formed at the base of my skull and slowly pressed outward.

The door to the hotel opened and my hand was already on my gun. Common sense would have told me that Adriano would need more time to gather those he wanted present but surviving wasn’t always about common sense. As my arm swung wider, my grip on my gun tightened. It wasn’t until I saw Raven enter the room, looking much better than before. I dropped my hand.

“Hey, Thiago, I got us some….man you look exhausted.”

“Yeah I’m feeling a bit exhausted.” I muttered as I watched him bring over a small brown paper. Judging by the few grease stains on the bag, I made the guess that it was food.

“Canaan called earlier. He wants us to check if there’s anything we can do anything with the bodies before he tells us anything further.” As he spoke, he carefully opened the bag that remained in his hand. He had gotten a chicken sandwich. From where I wasn’t sure. I simply took note that he’d avoided his usual meal of meatball sub and probably for good reason. I opened my bag and began pulling out mine. He’d gotten me a similar one. From what I could smell there were garlic-roasted, red peppers and a hint of balsamic vinaigrette. Under normal circumstances it was my favorite meal choice, as far as chicken sandwiches went, but right now I didn’t feel very hungry.

“You know if you don’t eat, you’ll get sick.” Raven commented as he took a bite of his food.
I sighed.
“Yes mother.” I had meant the comment to be teasing. It fell flat but Raven didn’t seem to mind.

We ate mostly in silence. I wasn’t sure about Raven, but I was finding it difficult to focus on the taste of my food. If someone were to ask if the chef had added enough sugar to take the bite off of the vinaigrette, I wouldn’t be able to recall. I wasn’t eating to enjoy the food. I was eating because I needed to put something on my stomach. Once the food was finished, I went to shower, though it was slightly unneeded. I would only be going to the burial site to get dirty all over again. I mostly wanted to get the feel of lingering energy left over from Adriano’s call and the scent of fresh death off me.

I tossed my change of clothes to the side then turned on the water, after pulling the metal knob that would switch it from bathwater to shower water. While I waited for the water to warm, I closed the door and locked it. If Raven needed anything, he knew how to get my attention. I carefully began to unhook my holster without removing the gun from its place. Once I was free from the leather straps, I hung the holster in the shower stall where it wouldn’t get wet, but remained in reach. With that taken care of, I pulled my t-shirt off. I wasn’t all that big for a guy. I didn’t spend time at the gym trying to get that bulky muscular build some guys went for. I couldn’t afford anything slowing me down during the more strenuous work so I kept to the goal of staying toned and lean. So far so good.

The jeans and boxers came off next, revealing the first set of scars I’d gotten during my employment at Necrofiend Inc. There was a perfect imprint of teeth at the center of my left calf, where a zombie had pushed through the ground and went straight to getting its blood offering. The only problem was, I hadn’t intended on being on the menu. Higher up there were four circular scars just above my knee. This time they hadn’t been animator related. A vampire had tried to tear the kneecap out. No particular reason, other than he hadn’t taken kindly to the three bullets I’d put into his face. Though that particular injury had healed on the outside, it still gave me problems every now and then. On my other leg, there were slash marks. I hadn’t always been a law abiding citizen. There was a scar that ran down the middle of my thigh curving inward. The guy had been trying to hit an artery but had gotten a lead pipe to the face before he could dig deep enough. There was another similar scar on my hip from another knife fight. I don’t remember much from it other than Remi being thoroughly pissed when she took me to get the stitches. There had been a long talk about how she didn’t want to lose her brother and mother within the same five year period. Seeing the pain in her face had marked my turning point.

I stepped into the shower and sighed as the water washed over me, just warm enough to not cause discomfort. I reached for soap and an unused washcloth after a few minutes of just standing there. I soaped up quickly and rinsed. There was a conscious effort not to get my hair wet in the process. It had been in the nineties during the day but the temperature would be at least thirty degrees lower than that by the time we got out to the burial site. I turned the water off and stepped out to dry off. Once I finished, I threw on the clothes I had grabbed. It was an outfit that I fully expected to get dirt and possibly blood on. The jeans were tattered along the ends of each leg. The right knee of the jeans was almost completely worn through and there was a stain on the right that looked a lot like mustard. The top was a simple black t-shirt that would hide any extra blood and goo until I got back to shower again. I grabbed my holster and gun. While I fumbled with the straps, I stepped out of the bathroom and was greeted with the sight of Raven and Marshal Johnson.

“You know…you could….try to tell me when people are coming in and out of here.” I deadpanned.
Raven had the decency to look sheepish.
“I didn’t think you’d mind.”
“Oh…I mind,” I told him then looked to the marshal. He was still dressed in the clothes I’d last seen him in but didn’t look as crisp and clean as he had then.
“How did you get our hotel number?”

“Your sister called your boss then your boss called your client….Derick Canaan, I do believe.” He answered and raised his head in a way that said he was very proud of himself.

“Okay, what do you want?” I asked as I absently tucked the Browning into the waistband of my jeans.

“We found something.” He pulled a manila folder from where it had been tucked under his arm and held it out. I walked over and grabbed it. While I opened it, he continued.

“The victims are Timothy Chal Romani, age nineteen, and Jessica Marie McKinsey, age eleven.” I nodded lightly taking note of each name and age as I slid the pictures from the folder and looked at them side by side. They were the same picture of a polished wooden elephant. The wood was light in color but from the picture, undistinguishable. Woodworking wasn’t exactly my expertise either. I settled for taking note of the position it was in.

“The trunk is up….” I murmured. “An elephant with its trunk up is supposed to be good luck.” I went quiet as I looked over the tusk. They were white and curved elegantly from the figurine’s mouth. White…

”I take it that the tusks are made of porcelain or marble?” I looked to the marshal as I asked the question. He nodded and I looked back to the picture. Now that I had gotten past the overall shape of the elephant I could see that there were several different gems decorating the pachyderm.

“Jade for healing, love and money…..snakeskin agate for power and healing….malachite for love and protection and watermelon tourmaline for goal setting…friendship…and protection.” I took a moment to look between each picture to make sure I hadn’t missed a gem.

“You know quite a bit about gems if nothing else.” The marshal commented. If he had meant it as an insult, I didn’t catch it.

“My mom was into the whole gem thing.” I said offhandedly.

“Now…I’m guessing that whoever was doing this was looking for luck, healing, power and protection….those are the main ones that pop up more than once. If you can find out what type of wood the elephant was made with, it may add more to their motives.” I slipped the pictures back into the folder and handed it back.

“Thanks…”
Before he could open his mouth and excuse himself, I added, “Oh…and before you go. I got a call for the vampire, Adriano. He wants to meet for a questioning.”
He paused with a frown. The question of how Adriano had gotten my phone number was written all over his face but he didn’t question.
“Are you going?” He asked instead.
“Not by myself.”
“I’ll have some men accompany you. Just call me and let me know when you’re going.”
I nodded and took a step forward. “Will do.”

To Be Continued…

Author’s Notes: Eh…this chapter was kind of a strain to write. I literally have written three times from beginning to end and had to redo it. Sorry if it’s a bit boring. I’ll try to have another out to liven things up a bit.