Melabeth Forgive Me, For I Am Sin! (18 page)

最終案

We arrived in New York; by then, Carrie had talked my ear off. She had been real quiet at first, most likely because David had requested some time with me. After David gave me my gift, she was in full swing. The flight was a red eye; our plane was taxiing when the sun rose and Carrie disappeared.

We took a taxi to David’s father’s apartment. His father was the general manger in an apartment building near Central Park. David’s dad was nice, but busy. I didn’t see him much. Me and David had a time in New York. Shopping was amazing, and the best part was that the city never rested. I found a really nice coat for David and bought it for him for Christmas. He wore it with pride as we walked around Central Pa
rk. I teased him not to get used to it, I still had to wrap it.

Christmas morning, and, for the first time, I was still awake. As a little girl I always got really excited for Christmas. I tried to stay up for it, but never made it. I got older, and, with my father, Christmas lost its meaning. It was just a day I slept in on. I hadn’t slept, but it wasn’t because I was excited about the magic of Christmas… it is the fact that I am a vampire.

Carrie had been great on the flight over. She was a real pain Christmas night. She had become really depressed…no presents and she would be gone by morning. I pointed out that we were both dead and no longer got to enjoy the gifts of life. Carrie was usually happy go lucky, so it was hard to see her so bummed out.

We had Christmas morning; it was fun opening presents with David and his father. I opened a little box
and pulled out a beautiful heart shaped necklace. It was silver and sparkled as if it were encrusted with diamonds. David’s father helped me put it around my neck. I reached over and gave David a big kiss. I was so happy.

Then, as soon as the necklace was around my neck, I felt different. I got up and went to the kitchen, and I started to have an out of body experience as I made some coffee. It really wasn’t a big deal that I was making coffee; I just didn’t know why I was. Then I brought it to David, “Here you go sweetheart. I hope I made it the way you like it.”

David took a sip, “Perfect… just what I wanted, thanks.”

It was the
just what he wanted
remark that made my mind stop in its tracks. I sat down across from David and his father. They were both engrossed in conversion. David broke away and looked at me, “Would you be a dear and make my father a cup, and I would enjoy another one.”

His father objected, “Oh, she doesn’t have to make one for me.”

I spoke, but I wasn’t sure it was me, “I would love to.” And with that I headed to the kitchen.

I was once again sitting quietly across from David and his father as they talked.  They both sipped on their coffee. It took all my willpower, all I had to pull the necklace from my neck. As soon as it was free, I felt free. David’s will was gone as fast as it had come. I couldn’t believe it; he tried to put a spell on me… to control me.

Now I sat there trying not to look like I was going to murder him in front of his father. It had taken a moment or two before he had noticed I was no longer wearing the necklace. He didn’t say anything, but I could tell he was worried, and he should be.

I excused myself and told his father I wasn’t feeling well. I went to a room to sleep. That evening I told David I would like to go for a walk. Reluctantly, he agreed, and together we caught a cab to the park. There was snow on the ground and
lights in the trees. There were a lot of couples taking a walk, some with their families. It was Christmas night; I would try to remember that so I didn’t kill David. Carrie had reappeared and was clueless as she went on about how beautiful the lights were and asked fifty questions about what she had missed.

Carrie asked, “Come on Melabeth. Tell me what else you got… actually I know. I saw the pretty little necklace when he wrapped it. Why aren’t you wearin’ it? And why are you so quiet? What’s the matter with y’all… it’s Christmas.”

We had finally walked deep enough into the park where there wasn’t an audience. I looked over at David, trying my best to remain calm. I asked, “Answer Carrie’s question. Why am I not wearing it?”

Carrie asked carefully, “You two fightin’?”

My eyes narrowed and with venom I asked, “How could you…try to control me?”

David shrugged his shoulders. His voice held no remorse, “I had to do something. Between you leaving me for Michael and the fact you’re not going to kill Order members anymore… what should I have done? I am losing you.”

I was shocked, “How did you know? Carrie… that…”

Carried defended herself, “I didn’t…”

David cut her off, “Don’t blame her; she’s stupid but loyal. Unlike you I might add. When I cast that spell for her to be away from me, she had no idea I could hear what she could hear.”

Carrie said indignantly, “Stupid?”

I ignored her and asked, “You eavesdropped?”

David threw his arms out in frustration, “YES, but I had no idea I shouldn’t have. The spell I used is for Necromancers to send their ghost out, so they might spy for them. I used it so
Carrie could hang out with you; I had no idea you were hiding so much. You want to screw Michael
so much,
that you would have on the beach… if it weren’t for the fact it was the wrong man. Or how about the fact Alice has convinced you that you should stop killing The Order because… I don’t even know why. Maybe it’s because she works for them, or it will hurt your vampire morals too much.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. I was mad at him, but I knew this was my fault, “Well now you know the truth, now what?”

David’s face hardened, “Nothing, it's over.”

I am cold, inside and out for the only reason this bothered me came straight to my lips, “What about Jason?”

“Of course, your all to precious revenge, how could I forget?” He walked up to me, nose to nose, as if he were looking for a fight. His voice was hollow, “I’ll help you, for old times’ sake… and one other thing.”

“What?”

“Jason is in The Order, I want him dead. I need your help, but he’s not the only Order member that hangs out at his work. You do this my way, we kill everyone, and then you kill Jason. One last mission, then we split.”

I asked, “And Carrie?”

“She chooses.” He said coolly.

“Deal,” I held my hand out, but he just turned and walked away.

On the flight home we didn’t sit next to each other. Carrie sat next to me. Carrie kept on telling me everything was going to be all right. I do believe she was trying to convince herself of that.

“I am sorry Carrie.”

Carrie looked into her lap, “Don’t be; if it weren’t for my stupid ears...”

I squeezed her hand, “It’s not your fault; it will all work out. You’ll see.”

After the flight, I didn’t see Carrie or David. I ended up hanging out with Ezra, Charlotte and Alice. Michael and Lea took off for some Christmas getaway. Lea would have a much better Christmas if she got away from Charlotte and Alice. I was having mixed emotions about the breakup. I wanted to see Michael, but I was not ready.

I did exchange gifts with my vampire friends. They all went in on one gift for me, a dress. It was no ordinary dress that’s for sure. It had Alice's design input; it looked to be old. It had two layers, the outer layer being black, while the under layer was white. The dress hung right below the knees; it also came with boots that came up to my knees. The boots were black leather that fit tightly over my lower legs with buckles at the top and ankle. The dress had black strings that crisscrossed in the front. Below the black strings, the material was white
. The dress had full length sleeves that went all the way down to my wrists. The shoulders were large and puffy.  What was really amazing about this dress was the fabric. It was magical they told me, able to resist tears and even fire.

Alice said, "If you have to fight… you need to look good doing it."

I had a good time, but my mind was still full of worry for my friend. It was the next night when David called me.

Over the phone he said, "I have sent your flight info and where you will be staying. We attack on January sixth; that’s three days from now. Be ready."

I was excited about killing Jason, but not sure how I felt about dealing with David. He was so mad at me; I hated for things to end like this. I had really hurt him, and I had to find a way to make it right.

Or did I?

殺害

Looking over at the clock it was 7:00 pm, I had slept in. I needed to get ready and meet up with David; no doubt he was already waiting for me. Tonight I would have a small piece of my heart back. Tonight I would kill one of my killers.

I put on some black stockings, followed by my new dress. Alice had ordered it special for me; it was a Christmas present. I finished this outfit off with tall black boots. I looked a little old fashioned, but who cares? I wasn’t going to make friends.

David had been waiting outside my door at the hotel where we had checked in. He was wearing his usual getup: black jeans, Doc Martens, black T-shirt and long overcoat. He looked me over, and then said, “Ready?”

“Yes, do I look nice?”

He didn’t answer me; instead, he started walking off.  I shut the hotel door, and then followed after David, “How far?” I yelled at him as I hurried to catch up.

“The club up the street, we will walk there. While you were sleeping, I took care of all the details… just follow my instructions, you'll know when to start killing.”

“Ok.”

I walked behind David as we entered the club. I couldn’t let David's mood distract me from the task at hand.

I had never been in a strip club before, and wasn’t really excited about being in this one, but we had work to do. I felt my head spin from all the movement and different types of smells that were bombarding my senses. David moved over to
a small booth; he guided me into my seat before taking his place across from me. At least he was showing some manners.

We both sat quietly across from each other scanning the room. The place was crazy busy; women danced on three different stages. There were women and men here of all ages, in all different stages of drunkenness. There were even male strippers for the ladies; none of them were on stage, but a couple of them were dancing for a group of women across from us.

I pushed my black hair out of my face; it had really grown on me. Plus, depending on what outfits and how much makeup we wore, it was hard to recognize us. Our eyes made contact; David gave me a reassuring head node. He was sure that our plan would work, and tonight I would finally get another piece of my revenge.

The waitress came over to our table. She gave me a questionable look; they carded us at the door, but as David ordered two beers, she gave me a look that said you must have a fake ID. She left to get our drinks without a word. It was a good thing; I could use a drink to calm my nerves.

When the waitress came back with our drinks, David paid her. I picked up the cold beer; I felt the liquid slide down my throat. I leaned back in my seat and tried to relax. I looked around at all the faces as we sat in silence.

I pulled out a pack of cigarettes and lit one up. Everyone in Vegas smoked, and half the people in this bar were smoking, but, without even looking, I knew David was giving me that disapproving look. It’s not like cigarettes can hurt me, in fact, I was pretty sure I did it just to annoy David because the nicotine did nothing for me. I healed too fast to even enjoy the chemical effects I was supposed to get from smoking. I was mad at him. I knew the smoking would bother him, and I knew that I was being petty.

An hour passed by, yet no sign of our prey. I sipped another drink of my second beer, and then lit up another smoke. The last hour had been educational, that’s for sure. In my mind, I could classify everyone that went to strip bars in three different categories.

First, there were the younger crowds that came just to party and get drunk. I noticed that strippers didn’t pay them as much attention as the others. Most likely, the reason for that, was that they liked to spend their money on booze more than shoving it in the strippers’ pants.

The second kind of person I noticed wasn't having the same kind of fun. This customer gave more money to the strippers and spent a lot more time watching the girls dance as they slowly drank the night away. They didn’t hoot and holler; instead they stared with hunger in their eyes. In a way, you can say they were here for the sex, unlike the first type of customer that was here for the booze and party.

The third kind of customer that I had noticed was sad. All of them were middle age men, and all of them had an empty look in their eyes; not necessarily craving sex, but seeking companionship.

The black light helped make the girls’ skin look smoother and unblemished; the strong smell of cheap perfume hid the smell of sweat. These men searched for something they couldn’t find. A dancer would dance for them, and they looked on with hope and need.

The women would come and sit at their table and talk with them, and would make them feel as if they really liked them for who they were and not what they looked like. I could hear all the conversations going on. All the Johns asked how their schooling was going. I guess all women who stripped, ‘did it to get through school’, yeah right. The women knew these men’s lives in great detail as they absorbed their hard
earned cash. How sad to play on their loneliness I thought, and to think, all I wanted was their blood. Who’s really sucking the life out of them?

Finally, he walked in, Jason Black. I had forgotten how big he really was. He strolled into the bar from the employee entrance. He was wearing blue jeans with a gray T-shirt, with a black leather vest over it. His long blonde hair was tied in a ponytail; his hair was so much like mine in length, color and thickness. That’s where the similarities ended. The man was built like a tree trunk. His arms were huge; he wasn’t cut like some bodybuilder; in fact, he was overweight. Under all that fat was a powerful man.

Alex McDonald, a good friend of the late Tony Abbott, (David’s stepfather) had been instrumental in locating Jason. Alex was human and as David and I found out, he was one hell of a detective. It had taken him over a year, but, he finally brought one of my killers into my sight.  If he had not found out what Jason really was, we would be in serious trouble right about now. Now that I was looking at him, it wasn’t so hard to believe that he was a troll.

Alex had some great leads on the Smith brothers; David told me that he would most likely know everything by the end of the month. Of course Alex still had little or no information on the biker gang’s old leader, Alex.  I never had found out what his last name was and the fact that he had shared names with the detective made conversations confusing. So now we all just referred to him as, the ‘Evil’ Alex.

Looking at Jason reminded me of how I felt when I first sat down in Devon’s class. My stomach hurt, and I felt like running away and crying, and when those emotions passed, a new emotion flooded in… rage.  Soon, I would fill some of this emptiness in my heart, with the blood of this animal.

Me and David had a plan, so I shoved all the emotions away. I worked best when I was calm. Over the last year and
half me and David had successfully attacked and destroyed dozens of The Order’s groups. It was no longer a secret that The Order was being hunted; the only thing they hadn’t figured out was who was doing it. We had started a war; we quickly found out that The Order had many enemies. It was open season on any Order member.

“Ready?” David asked.

“Oh yes, let’s get this party started.” I finished off my beer, and was ready for the show to begin.

A man in a dingy suit strolled in, and then took a seat at the bar, “Is that him?” I asked David, even though I was pretty sure that was our bait; it was obvious what he was, if you knew what to look for.

David finished his beer, and then said, “Yep, I’ll go make the phone calls, and make sure the trucks are in position and ready.”

“Alright,” I responded as David got up. He headed to the back of the bar and toward the restrooms where the payphones were. It wouldn’t be long now.

David returned to his seat; he didn’t acknowledge me or look at me. My revenge is so close I can taste it. “It’s time,” David announced, “See you in a little bit.”

David got up and left; my attention was now on the man with the dingy suit sitting at the bar. He had ordered a beer and had sat there quietly, taking small drinks now and then. He was the most lifelike Undead that David had ever made.

David had come up with some new death magic. What he ended up with were zombies, or at least that is what he called them. I hadn't even heard about this new ability until the flight to New York; before he was pissed off at me. He informed me that these new creatures were better than the undead he had risen in the past.

The
zombie started to yell at the bartender. I could hear the zombie perfectly from where I sat; he sounded like he was drunk because of all the slurring of words, but I knew that zombies always sounded like that.

He yelled at the surprised bartender, and then threw his beer bottle at him. The bartender moved fast, the bottle smashed against the back of the bar.

One of the other customers moved in to stop the zombie, but the zombie tossed the customer onto the ground.

These
zombies were made with vampire blood, so they were much stronger than humans; even if that weren’t the case, these creatures would feel nothing so they could rip their own muscles apart while exerting all their strength.

The next part of the plan was now moving into action; that is Jason moved into action. He was the bar’s bouncer; being a
troll, he must have thought that this was the easiest job ever. As Jason strolled quickly over to deal with the man in the suit, I was sure that he was confident that this was just another drunken ass he would throw out of the bar, without incident.

Jason grabbed the
zombie by his arm, and then spun him around; now they were facing each other. Jason towered over the zombie, then began yelling, “Look asshole, you have two choices, one…”

Jason was a little surprised when the
zombie attacked him. He swung his arms wildly and clawed at Jason’s clothes. Jason smiled as the zombie’s attacks bounced off of his huge body with no effect. Even with the extra strength, a zombie couldn’t hurt a troll.

Jason grabbed the
zombie by the shoulders and lifted him into the air; he was squeezing the zombie while smiling.

Jason was having a good time; if that dumb brute had paid close attention to his adversary, he may not have played
into our trap so easily, but that’s why our plan will work, because some people do exactly what you expect them to do.

Stage two kicked in as Jason carried the
zombie toward the door. The zombie’s head fell off, landed on the floor bounced twice, rolled a few feet more, and came to a stop.

Now at this point there were a lot of patrons at the bar watching Jason carry this guy off. The looks on all their faces, including Jason’s, was priceless.

Jason dropped the body on the ground, took two steps back. Then he spread his arms apart, and started saying, “I didn’t do that… it just fell off, I didn’t do it.”

I found myself laughing out loud; of course the music was still so loud I doubt anyone could hear me. Half the bar was in shoc
k; the other half was clueless, still drinking or watching the girls dance.

Stage three began; instead of blood pouring out of the body; a green cloud of gas started to ooze out. The head began to smoke too, I took a deep breath; the gas was poison. It wouldn’t kill me, but it could still make me sick and slow me down. I didn’t need to breathe; in fact, the only reason I took the breath is so that I could smell, talk and make a whistling noise if it became too quiet.

The whistling was for my second sight, the ability to see sound waves. I could see in all directions at once. I didn’t see in great detail; it was all in shapes, but still I could see behind me and around corners. I could see all sides of me at once, and no one could sneak up on me. It helped me become a great fighter; I could dodge incoming hits and strike out with my feet or hands without even opening my eyes. With all the sound from the music, plus the screaming that was starting, every movement and shape was clear for me to see. Even the smoke that was pouring out of the body didn’t matter; smoke doesn’t affect sound waves.

The music stopped as the lights went off; the emergency lights came on, but half of them didn’t work. You have to love old night clubs, no one checking up on the safety lights. If this would have been a normal power outage no one would have freaked, and the little bit of light would have not been a big deal, but this was no normal night. The screaming and people trying to rush out lead to disarray, and the smoke was deadly as people coughed and fell to the ground.

Jason was trying to keep order with help from the bartender, but it was a fool’s errand. The bartender started to choke on the smoke. It had no effect on Jason and me, and David had known this.

The next part of this plan was in effect as the undead were now pouring in through the doors. They were pushing the strippers and customers back into the bar. The smoke was filling the air, and the humans were dropping like flies.

Of course the humans that were dying from the smoke were starting to get up, get up as zombies. The zombies rushing in the doors were biting any customer trying to escape, so they too would soon join the ranks of the undead. The poison smoke carried the disease, and David could weld the undead with his power.

I had stood up and was getting ready for my part, when a male stripper stepped out in front of me coughing. His back was turned to me, so I thought… why not? I grabbed him, pulled him to me, and then sank my fangs into his neck. I drained him dry and tossed his body to one side, then wiped the blood off of my mouth.