Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Necrofiend: Blood Moon ❯ Chapter Seven ( Chapter 7 )

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

Thao_Lorakin: I’m glad you liked their confrontation. I’m trying a new approach as far as their relationship. I feel that in the original, Tiaz [Talim at the time] and Adriano had got together too quickly and things went a bit too smoothly. Besides…rocky relationships are fun to write. I read back over the chapter to check the part you had questions about. The pictures are of the elephant. Marshal Johnson was just telling the names and age to Tiaz while he was looking at them. I’ll have to go back and make sure that that’s clearer. As for the meaning behind the elephant being there, that will be present later :D. I have to throw together a witch character to explain it better since Tiaz doesn’t know much about it. Thank you very much for your feedback!

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Chapter Seven

WE LEFT AS soon as the marshal did. I had thrown on a hoodie and zipped it half way up to hide the gun at my side. Had I not had a large duffle bag hanging off of my right shoulder and owned an actual badge to flash, I would have left it off. It wasn’t as cold as I thought it was going to be. Of course that could have changed by the time we reached the mountain, once the heat trapped within the streets faded. For now it was comfortably warm and not like trying to breath underwater. I climbed into the passenger seat of the jeep while Raven took the driver’s.

“We’ll take care of this Canaan stuff and if you want…you can fly home.” I spoke up as I placed the duffle bag at my feet.

“You sure you don’t want me to wait for you?” Raven asked as he pulled on his seatbelt. There was a frown on his face, but likely not from the idea of leaving me to take care of the homicide. The aspect of backing down from a challenge had never sat well with him. No matter how boyish and un-jaded Raven was, he was still male and males valued their pride.

I shrugged a shoulder and pulled my seatbelt around to fasten it.

“You can if you want. I figured that you’d want to go home to your family.” I offered. I knew for a fact that Raven had a close knit family. His mother was still a stay at home wife, his father a small business owner. The only sibling he had was named Natalia. She was just one year from graduating from high school and getting ready to go off to college. I had to admit at one point I had been jealous of Raven. His family was so normal and accepting compared to mine. My father was insanely religious and my brothers had scattered in all possible directions once they graduated. My mother would joke that it took an act of congress to get us all together. In reality, it only took her death. Her funeral was the second to last time I saw them all. The very last had been at her one year memorial, just seconds before my father and several members of his side of the family ran me off with their hysterics. He’d told them about my zombie raising incident just months after my mother’s death. I could never quite forgive him for that.

“Let’s see how all of this goes first…” Raven muttered as he put the key into the ignition. He twisted it and the engine purred to life. I left his answer at that. Whether he stayed or went home, I was okay with it.

While he drove, I opened my duffle and carefully pulled out my zombie raising kit. It was a high quality leather briefcase originally meant for phones, pens and paperwork. I had spent hours gutting the sixteen and a half by twelve inch case then filled the four inch deep space with everything I thought I might need. I opened the case carefully and counted over the vials inside. There was one with salt and three with holy water. Holy water had no effect on zombies really; it was more of a precaution just in case there was a vampire waiting in the dark to pounce. Next to the vials was a small machete that had been specially made to have silver coating steel. I ran my hand over the ten inch blade lightly, then the smaller, eight inch one placed just beside it. Both blades were meant for chopping the heads off chickens but tonight they’d be biting into my flesh…if Canaan told me what I wanted to know.

Traffic was light on the way to the mountain.

“It looks like they were expecting us.” Raven commented as he peered up at the mountain. I nodded in agreement. Battery powered light posts had been set up, leading the way to the burial ground. Raven drove up as high as he could, before seeking a flat surface to part the jeep. I climbed out first, briefcase in hand. I kept ahead of Raven by a foot and a half and carefully scanned the partially lit area. For once I was keeping an eye out for something that wasn’t supernatural. We managed to get to the burial ground without stepping on any spiders, scorpions or snake. That was a big relief.

“Ah, Mr. Tiaz…Mr. Sengoku. I was almost convinced that you wouldn’t show.” Canaan’s voice came out from the far right of the site. He was still dressed in his suit but had removed the blazer. That soul deep tiredness seemed to have faded just a touch and even more so when he smiled to greet us. Raven and I made our way over slowly, still cautious about where we stepped. This time, it was to keep from crushing the bones that littered the ground.

“Don’t get too happy yet. Remember our deal.” I stated as I gave him a leveled look. I could be as stubborn as they came when it called for it. Canaan’s smile wilted at the edges and once again, there was that wariness.

“What are you trying to hide?” I pressed on. “You act as if you’re desperate to get this done yet you don’t want to share information. That’s very suspicious, Canaan.”

He sighed and began to open his mouth. Whether it was to explain himself or tell us to just leave, I wasn’t sure.
“I’m…” Was all he was able to say before his mouth clicked shut. As if some magical invisible zipper had attached itself to his mouth, his lips began to purse. By the way the bulged and the pained look on his face, his teeth had clamped down on the soft flesh to further seal his mouth. Still he pressed on. I watched as his face slowly turned red and his throat bulged as if he were being choked.

“You’re cursed.” Raven’s words, not mine. I glanced his way in question. He looked to me briefly then back to Canaan.

“He won’t tell us why he needs us to raise these zombies because he can’t. The curse won’t let him.” While Raven explained his findings, Canaan had given up on what he was trying to say. Instantly, his mouth and throat was released. He doubled over coughing and gasping for air. The effort of catching his breath shook his entire body almost violently.

“Mr. Canaan!” Not too far away, Solomon came trotting over. A worried frown pressed at his too thin lips. “Are you alright, Sir? Should I call Grover?”

“No,” Canaan gasped in between coughs. As he straightened, he repeated himself. “No.” When his attention settled back in Raven and my direction, his attention was mostly on Raven. He nodded clarifying that Raven had guessed right. Needless to say, I was a little more than impressed.

“How did you know?” I asked.

“Well…I got it mostly from Howl’s Moving Castle” He said ducking his head sheepishly. “, but I read about it when I was in college. Canaan can’t tell us anything about the curse, the type, who did it, why….none of it.”

“So what can we do?” I turned to Canaan as I asked this. For all I knew he could be some bastard that others would claim deserved to be cursed and to stay cursed. I wasn’t one of them. It was a slow torture that sometimes affected the person even after death. Not only that, it was highly illegal. Whatever witch or priestess that had placed the curse would have been locked away, placed on trial, then executed all within a thirty day period. During that time the victim of the curse would have been warded until a way to lift the curse could be found.

“There is a woman buried here. One that could help.” Canaan spoke slowly and carefully.
“Do you have her name?”
He nodded, then shook his head.
“You can’t name her because she’s the one who did the curse.”
He nodded.
I ran my hand through my hair and sighed heavily. I almost wished that this had turned out to be something pettier than trying to lift a curse but no. Life wasn’t like that.

“Okay…I’ll see what we can d–“ I had taken a step back with the intent to go to find the highest vantage point. I’d need to see a majority of the area to figure out just where I was looking. If I was looking for a witch or priestess, she’d be easy to find. Before I could come close to explaining this to Canaan, there was the sound of a single gunshot. I had a moment to see Solomon’s body crumple to the ground before crouching to the ground.

“Get down!” I shouted to whoever was left standing. My hand went for my gun. I held with both hand, one holding the gun and the other keeping it steady as I searched the darkness for any movement.

“Canaan’s hit.” Raven reported from behind me. I didn’t bother to look. There was no point in checking wounds if there was a gunman loose. I turned but only slightly to look behind us. I could smell blood, a lot of it.

“Pick him up…we need to move.” I whispered as I looked back at them quickly. Solomon was on his side. I could make out a hole dead center of his temple. I knew upon seeing the wound that it went through to the other side in a near perfect line. Still, I checked for a pulse. Nothing. “Let’s go.” I said quickly moving to help Raven with Canaan without compromising my right hand. Canaan groaned as we shifted him around so that his weight was even between us. We moved quickly, not quite in sync but enough that we didn’t go tumbling down the slope. As we made our hasty retreat, I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. Someone was trailing us just outside of the reach of the light produced by the posts. I swallowed past the lump in my throat and focused on that direction. While I did, I relied on Raven to be able to propel us toward the car without a problem. Only when I could make out the shape of a person, did I finally stop and aim. I heard Raven stumble as Canaan’s weight settled completely on him. I’d apologize for that later. I aimed and fired twice. Over the blood rushing in my ears, I could hear a grunt. I’d hit something but I wasn’t sure if it had been a kill shot. I wasn’t about to wait around to find out. I caught up with Raven and took Canaan’s other arm once more. There were only a few more yards to go to get to the jeep.
There was another gunshot and my leg collapsed. I gritted my teeth as burning pain shot through the side of my thigh. The bullet hadn’t gone in but it had grazed me enough that I could already feel blood running hot along my flesh.

“Keep going.” I told Raven and let him take Canaan’s full weight once again. I crouched and turned once again with my gun ready. I watched the expanse of land carefully. There weren’t many places for whoever it was to hide and even then, they weren’t the greatest of spots. I searched each spot carefully while I zoned out the rest of the world until I could only hear static. I was aiming to kill this guy long before he killed us. Nothing short of another gunshot could break my concentration. I caught movement further down to my right. I twisted and fired twice just as I made out the red glow of a laser. Sniper. A thud followed but I didn’t relax. I stood but remained mostly crouched as I took slow steps back. If my leg had any protests it was lost under the steady flow of adrenaline.

I heard the sound of the jeep’s car roaring to life. It hadn’t been that loud before. Its tires crunched over rock and dried shrubbery before settling in front of me. The door swung open.

“Get in!” I didn’t have to be told twice. I climbed in and Raven pulled off. There should have been some worry about going down the mountain too quickly. There was none. Not once did I think to tell him to slow down. Instead, I pulled my cell phone from my pocket and dialed 911. There were at least two dead bodies at the site, one killed by me. I explained the situation to the dispatcher. She had tried to get to get us to wait for an ambulance but we were already on our way there. She seemed okay with that but insisted on knowing how bad off Canaan was. For that, I had to climb into the backseat. It took me two tries to get a position that didn’t have my leg screaming bloody murder. I had yet to check it correctly and wouldn’t until I took a look at Canaan. I rolled him carefully. There was a blood splatter on his shoulder, like a pattern of rose pedals. Had I not known what the man had just gotten into, it would have passed as a design. I took it that that particular spray had been from Solomon. Further down just below his ribcage was what I was looking for, where the bloodstain was steadily growing. I removed my jacket quickly and turned it inside out. I pressed the garment to the wound and heard Canaan give a strangled pained cry.

“Hold on. We’re almost there.”

I informed the dispatcher of which hospital we were heading toward. She told me there would be a team waiting to take care of those who needed it and we hung up. Now that I didn’t have to hold my head cocked to the side to hold onto the phone, I could get a better position to apply pressure to Canaan’s wounds. The blood had already soaked through my hoodie and was mingling on my fingers. Though it was fresh blood, it felt strangely cold against my skin. I didn’t have long to wonder about this. Raven pulled up to the front of the hospital. As soon as he threw the car into park, there were paramedics and nurses running to open the doors. I slipped out of the car careful of my injured leg. One of the nurses offered me a stretcher. I declined and sent her to tend to Canaan. As far as I was concerned I wasn’t that injured. I wasn’t the one bleeding blood that was slightly too cold.

I looked down at my hands as the rush of hospital personnel disappeared back into the building. My fingertips were stained with blood that strangely tingled against my skin.

“Are you going to get checked?” Raven asked from the driver’s seat. He wouldn’t be able to leave the jeep were it was lest risk getting our only transportation towed.

“You’re not going to let me not get checked out, are you?” I muttered without looking in his direction. His silence said it all. I sighed. The only reason I would cooperate was because I had an interrogation date with a vampire in the near future. I couldn’t afford my usual half ass patch up work. I pushed off the car and made my way into the building. The receptionist took one look at the small blood droplets I was leaving behind and immediately called a small team of nurses and doctors in scrubs. I was escorted to the back of the hospital where the clean crisp air took on an antiseptic scent with an undercurrent of sickness and death. I suffered through their poking and prodding followed by several questions about my health.

It turned out the bullet had gone into my leg. What had felt like a graze, turned out to be the bullet entering the fatty layer of my skin. It didn’t need stitches, just two bottles worth of solution to rinse the wound out and a one inch layer of gauze. They had offered a prescription of vicodin. I declined. There was an injured man and two more that were dead. If I knew anything about the judicial system, tonight was going to be full of questionings and finger pointing. Since Canaan had been rushed into emergency surgery, the spotlight was going to be on Raven and me.

For the meantime, I rejoined Raven in the waiting room.

“This just keeps getting better and better…” He muttered as soon as I settled down into my seat wincing as the material tightened on around my wound. I’d be sorer later once the last of the adrenaline was out of my system.
“You think this had something to do with Canaan wanting those zombies raised?” He questioned. His eyes moved left and right making note of everyone that walked in. He was still on high alert. I patted his shoulder and felt the tension there.

“Who knows? It could be just some gang related incident. We won’t know until they recover the shooter’s body.”
“You killed him?”
I shrugged.
“Or her.”
He looked at me then. “
You’re pretty level headed for someone who just killed a person.”
I met his gaze and knew my eyes gave away nothing, because I felt nothing.
“They’re dead, I’m alive. I’m grateful.” I said simply.

To Be Continued….

Author’s Note: Review pleeeeeeeeeeeeease.