Chapter Eleven
Alesandro walked around his office staring intently out of the window. It was a little past sunset and soon it would be time for him to go downstairs and greet his customers. It was not as if this was something strange or unique for him to do because he did the same thing every evening for the last three years.
Something wasn’t quite right. He had this eerie feeling…a premonition. There was something different in the air. He guessed maybe it had something to do with Daton being in town. No, he thought. It was something else…something, what was the word? Oh yes, evil.
The traffic flowed outside on Poydras. People entered the casino and left in an orderly manner.
Alesandro moved away from the window and walked over to the refrigerator in the room. He opened the door and looked around. There was nothing much to see except a few pints of chilled synthetic blood. He pulled out one and tossed it into the microwave to get the chill off. He always liked his blood body temperature.
The microwave buzzer sounded and Alesandro removed the warm packet, pierced the bag with a straw, and sucked the thick liquid into his mouth. It went down his throat slowly quenching the bloodlust. He sipped it until all of the blood drained from the packet and warmth went through his body. It made him feel almost alive, if that were possible. He supposed he should be happy but all he felt was gloom and doom.
Alesandro threw the empty packet into the trash, walked out of the kitchen and headed for the bathroom to brush his teeth and gargle. Minutes later he headed to the casino.
The slot machines made a beautiful sound as he exited the elevator. Women in low cut, skin-tight black leotards and capes took drink orders, while the change employees pushed their money carts up and down aisles giving change to the lazy people who refused to walk over to the change converting machines and break their bills.
Roulette wheels turned and players pushed their chips toward the middle of the tables to bet on the chance that maybe they might win. People sometimes won large sums of money from the casino but not as much as the casino took in from the patrons. Since the casino was added into the New Orleans’ Tourist Guide people flocked in from all over the world to play, eat, socialize, and have fun.
Some of the people were dressed in black Inveigler Casino T-shirts. Alesandro was very proud of the design. A full set of teeth with fangs and blood dripping from the mouth gave the shirt a realistic look. There were also T-shirts for kids, with portraits of cuddly little werewolves, parents bought for them from the casino’s gift shop.
Lucius stood by one of the bars talking to a few of the guests. He waved to his friend and headed toward him. “Mister and Mrs. Smith, I’d like to introduce you to the owner of the Inveigler Casino, Mister Alesandro Roma.”
Alesandro shook the couple’s hands. Mrs. Smith was a chubby woman of about sixty who giggled like a school girl when Alesandro kissed her hand and complimented her on her bluish gray hairdo.
Mister Smith was in town on a business trip. He’d been to New Orleans and the casino before but it was the first time he’d brought his wife. Alesandro and Lucius chatted with the couple for a few minutes and then excused themselves so they could talk.
“Anything special going on?” Alesandro asked Lucius who signaled for a waitress to bring them a couple of drinks.
“No,” Lucius replied. “Business is as good as ever. Why?”
Alesandro shrugged. “I don’t know. Something doesn’t feel right. You know, there is something not quite right in New Orleans.”
Lucius nodded. “So, I wasn’t imagining things? I sensed something this morning when I arrived. I couldn’t put my finger on it.”
The two men accepted their drinks when the waitress appeared and both men tipped her handsomely.
“You know I’m not going to rest until I find out what it is,” Alesandro stated.
Lucius nodded, knowing he was also naturally curious.
“Where’s Vinnie? Has he arrived?” Alesandro asked.
“He came in a few minutes ago and headed to the second floor to find a slot machine.”
Alesandro pulled out his cell phone and dialed. “Vinnie, this is Alesandro Roma. Can you come down to the first floor by the bar near Canal Street? I need to ask you something.”
“Will do boss,” Vinnie replied and hung up.
“He’s on his way,” Alesandro told Lucius.
“Vinnie appeared a few minutes later, dressed in a navy blue suit with diamond accessories. The man’s shoulders were so broad his suits had to be tailor-made.
“What’s going on around town?” Alesandro asked him. “I have this feeling that something is off and, by off, I mean evil.”
Vinnie nodded. “Well, I guess you haven’t heard yet, Mister Roma but there was trouble at Lincoln House last night.”
“There’s always some sort of trouble in New Orleans,” Lucius said as he sipped his rum and Coke. “That’s not what Mister Roma is talking about.”
“I think it is,” Vinnie replied. “The mayor was giving a party there last night and the place was overrun with ghosts of dead slaves. Something kept everyone confined inside the building and wouldn’t let them out even though the police had the place surrounded.”
“There wasn’t anything about it on the news,” Lucius said.
Vinnie laughed. “What would they say? Who would believe them?”
Their banter annoyed Alesandro. “Come on, Vinnie, tell us the rest? How did the mayor get out or did he?” He wasn’t fond of the mayor. He was a nice man but too ivy-leagued.
“Isabella got them out,” Vinnie answered.
That caught Alesandro’s attention. “Isabella was there?”
Vinnie nodded. “As a personal guest of the mayor.”
This did not sit right with Alesandro. “I did not know she knew him.”
“She didn’t. She was introduced to him last night. A few of the people from PAK were there, the Petre kids, Ernest Malloy and his wife were also invited, on account of the mayor wanting them to help find out who murdered all those people in Audubon Park.”
Alesandro sipped his Dom Perignon. The bubbles tickled his nose. “What about the evil?”
Vinnie continued. “Rumor has it, whatever it was is still moving around in the Lincoln House. Isabella had the place boarded up as soon as everyone got out safely.”
“How were the victims murdered?” Lucius asked.
“No people were murdered, only animals. They were hacked to pieces and glued to the ceiling,” Vinnie answered. “Boy I wish I could have been there to see it.”
Neither Lucius nor Alesandro commented. They were used to Vinnie’s strange ways.
“Isabella is unhurt?”Alesandro asked.
Vinnie nodded. “She’s fine. From what I heard she looked extra delicious in a black gown, which had the mayor drooling.”
Alesandro frowned. “I’ve never seen her in a formal gown.”
“I wonder if she took off her boots.” Lucius teased.
“The dress was loaded with those killer curves. Isabella took care of things with her powers, shooting some kind of blue rays from her fingers.” He chuckled. “I bet the mayor nearly had a coronary when he saw that.”
Alesandro smiled. Why couldn’t he be lucky enough to see her all dolled up?
“Photographer’s name is Taylor Jones,” Vinnie told him as if reading his mind. “I’ve ordered you a set and it should be ready tomorrow evening.”
Alesandro patted Vinnie on the shoulder. “Good job and thanks for the information.”
Vinnie shook Lucius and Alesandro’s hands and headed back to the second floor of the casino.
“See if you can find out anything else tomorrow,” Alesandro told the wolf. “You’d better get on home and get some rest before Adrianna sends out an APB for you.” Adrianna was Lucius’ mate and one hell of an alpha female.
Lucius nodded. He’d been guarding the casino all night and probably could use a few hours of sleep to regenerate.
Alesandro knew Lucius would put out a few feelers to see if his pack could find out everything they could about Lincoln House.
* * * *
The body of a man, split straight down the middle lay pinned to a wood fence in the middle of New Orleans East. The moon shone down on it, exposing the man’s innards to two people who were busy laughing at the sight.
Blood oozed from the still warm corpse. The man’s intestines had been pulled out and wrapped around his neck.
“He made this too easy, Kubol,” Samedi said to his friend. “I need something more challenging.”
Kubol nodded. “Aye, Samedi, let’s go see what’s happening over at Bayou Saint John.”
“Brilliant idea,” Samedi agreed. The two left the body hanging, not caring who he was or what they had done.
* * * *
Isabella clicked the mouse button and the internet appeared on the monitor. She loved surfing the super-information highway when she had spare time but tonight was not one of those nights. She had to find out what the hell the thing lurking inside of Lincoln House was, and she bet it had something to do with the realm opening. She supposed she should have been more upset and hysterical about the situation but what good would that do? She typed in Wolfgram Sporting Goods Store to see what new toys she could get for her collection.
“Demons first,” she told herself. “Fun second.” She reached over to the bowl on her desk, picked up a couple of grapes, and tossed them into her mouth. Isabella typed in North American demons into the search line and hit Enter. “Seven hundred hits, Great.” She clicked on the first link.
Several hours later Isabella shut down her laptop. Her eyes hurt, her back hurt, and her fingers were cramped. The only thing saving her was she now packed more knowledge about the end of the Mayan calendar than she ever wanted to know.
* * * *
Malcolm signed a few papers, returned a few phone calls, and basically tried to clear his mind about what he witnessed the other night. He paced on the Oriental rug in front of his desk.
Malcolm considered himself a rational man. He went to church often, tried to stay out of political scandal, but never in his thirty years on Earth had he witnessed anything as horrible as what hesaw at Lincoln House. He hadn’t signed on for any of this when he took his oath. No one told him this sort of evil actually existed.
He was not having a really good month. First people started disappearing, then bodies showed up everywhere, now some horrible demon was dwelling inside Lincoln House with Mardi Gras a couple of months away. Malcolm knew something had to be done before then or New Orleans and all its surrounding parishes would not only lose a whole lot of tourist money but a lot of lives as well.
The phone rang on his desk. Malcolm stopped pacing to answer it. “Hello?”
It was his secretary. “Sorry to disturb you Sir but Chief Norris is here for your meeting.”
“Thanks, Torrey. Send him in.” Malcolm hung up the phone and walked to the door to open it.
Anthony Norris walked in.
“Nice to see you,” Malcolm told him, shaking his hand.
“I would have come by earlier, Mister Mayor, but I’ve been very busy trying to get a little order in town.” Anthony sat down in one of the red arm chairs in front of Malcolm’s mahogany desk.
Malcolm walked back over to his seat and sat down. “I’m glad the media hasn’t gotten a hold of this yet. I still think it’s too early in the game to cause the pubic alarm.”
Anthony nodded. “It’s been hard enough to convince the people, who attended the party the other night, not to say anything, especially Tiffany Jasper and Morris Evan’s families. Everything is hush, hush for the moment but I know it won’t be long before the news leaks out.”
Malcolm strummed his desk with his fingers. “Have you heard from PAK?”
“Yes. They’re taking a few of their people over to Lincoln House this afternoon.”
Malcolm frowned. “Are you sending any of your men to accompany them?”
Anthony shook his head. “No, the Petres asked me not to. Miss Petre thinks they would only be in the way and their lives might be in danger.”
Malcolm chuckled weakly. “To say the least.”
“I did put a few cruisers in the area. If anything goes down, they’ll be there as quickly as possible.”
Malcolm seemed assured. “What about the murders? Do you have any leads?”
“Nothing so far. I’ve assigned some of the best agents to the cases. I’m sure we’ll find the culprits soon.”
Malcolm sure hoped so. Louisiana had already made the World News. He was sure people were anxious to find out what was happening.
Anthony rose. “This is only a theory between me and you, but I think those murders are tied into what happened at Lincoln House.”
Malcolm rose and nearly fell back down. “I wish you hadn’t told me. How in the hell are we going to protect New Orleans from this kind of activity?”
“I don’t know,” Anthony admitted. “But I think you need to prepare a speech for the public in case.”
“I’ll get on it right now,” Malcolm said, thinking such a speech would probably mean the end of his career.
Anthony left, closing the door behind him.
* * * *
Anthony Norris had four square city blocks roped off for the people of PAK when they arrived at Lincoln House. Isabella was thankful for that much especially since Collena asked the police not to interfere. Her boss was great, but sometimes she was just a little too overconfident about her agents’ abilities. Any help, in Isabella’s mind was better than none at all. Hopefully, Collena had not noticed the police cruisers working the streets nearby. Anthony Norris was a good cop and he wouldn’t take any unnecessary chances with security, no matter what Collena said. If all hell broke out in Lincoln house, she’d waste no time sending for them.
Clifton and Marc, the two engineers unloaded their equipment from the van, while, physics Ernie and Otto tore down the boards at the front door entrance. Collena stepped from her limousine with the assistance of her driver, Shane, while her assistant Irene, followed closely at her heels, taking notes and basically getting in the way.
Lucky for them Joshua decided to remain behind and look after the business. Isabella smiled. There’s no telling what sort of trouble he could get into if he were here. Isabella felt whatever it was the moment she arrived and from the looks of some of the others she wasn’t the only one. Ernie and Otto looked shaken as they removed the boards.
Ernie unsealed the last board on the door. “It’s free,” he shouted at her.
A cold chill ran up Isabella’s spine and adrenalin rushed through her nervous system.
“I don’t like the feel of this,” Otto, the overweight, blonde physic said to Ernie.
“You can always stay out here,” Ernie replied.
Otto patted Ernie on the shoulder with fat, pink fingers. “You must be kidding. I wouldn’t miss this for the world, silly boy.”
Isabella stepped through the doors first and Ernie and Otto followed. Collena and Irene brought up the rear. Whatever she put to sleep the other night was there waiting for her, awake.
“Get some lights in here,” Collena said to Marc and Clifton as they walked into the door. Both men looked at her, holding their mobile equipment and stood where they were.
“Chicken shits,” she called them. “I should have brought Travis and Tracy instead of you two.”
“Want me to call them?” Marc asked her sarcastically. “I’m sure they’re intelligent enough to find the light switch.” He walked over to the wall and flipped the switches.
Collena rolled her eyes at him as the great hall filled with light. “Okay, smart ass, you win this time. The next time you come ghost-busting with us, you’d better go in first and make sure we don’t enter in complete darkness.”
Isabella ignored them, walked away from the others, and started from the ballroom without saying a word to them.
“Welcome back, Vanquisher,” the voice said loudly.
Shit.
Collena and the others ran into the ballroom.
The room was pretty much as they’d left it the other night with over-turned chairs lying in dried blood.
“You’ve brought company,” the voice stated.
“A few friends,” Isabella replied, stepping into the center of the room.
“Yes, but they’re not like you. They’re human.”
Isabella frowned. This being was intelligent. “No, they’re not like me but each of them is special in their own way.”
Marc and Clifton began setting up their equipment, while Otto, Collena and Irene stood where they were. Ernie came to her side.
“Wait,” the voice replied. “He is like you, but a little different. You have brought me a worthy opponent.”
“I’m glad you approve,” Ernie said sarcastically.
The lights flickered off and on. “I don’t like sarcasm.”
“It’s strong and old,” Otto shouted.
“What do you feel?” Collena asked Otto.
“It’s very powerful, maybe a thousand years old. But there’s no humanity to it.”
“Not exactly what I wanted to hear,” Irene confessed. “I knew I should have stayed behind.”
“Maybe you should go,” Collena agreed.
Irene turned to leave but the doors to the ballroom closed and locked.
“Going somewhere?” the voice asked.
“I was,” Irene answered, walking back over to Collena. “Don’t eat me first. I’ll leave a nasty taste in your mouth.”
The voice laughed. “I like her. She has a sense of humor.”
Isabella frowned. The thing wanted her but make no mistake it would kill the rest of them all the same.
“You’re right, Vanquisher. I would.”
Isabella continued to frown. “So, you can read my mind. Big deal.”
“An advantage?”
“Not much,” Isabella replied. She walked around the room, clearing her mind of all unnecessary thoughts. Blood began oozing from the walls.
“What’s that shit?” Marc asked.
“It looks like blood,” Clifton answered.
Marc went back to setting up the equipment. “I’m so glad we brought in everything we needed.”
“Are you trying to block me out of your head, Vanquisher,” the spirit asked Isabella.
“Yes, I don’t like things reading my mind without my permission.”
“Does that include Alesandro Roma?”
Isabella stopped in her tracks. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
The lights flickered off and on again. “You lie, Vanquisher. His mind is linked with yours even as he slumbers.”
“Funny.”
“I grow tired,” the voice said.
Irene started to choke.
Isabella looked over in her direction. Irene’s hands were around her own throat.
Collena moved toward her assistant. “Something’s cutting off her breath.”
“I told you I was getting tired,” the voice replied.
“Release her,” Isabella shouted. “She is an innocent.”
“No,” the voice shouted back. “I will collect every soul here and then I will collect yours.”
It attacked Marc next, strangling the breath out of him.
“I said let them go,” Isabella shouted again. “Leave them alone. It’s me you want.”
Marc and Irene recovered quickly and scrambled to their feet. Clifton turned on the battery operated scanner and began sweeping the room for demon signatures.
“Show yourself,” Isabella told the voice.
“As you wish, Vanquisher.” The lights went out and everything went dark except for the blue ray of the scanner.