Tainted Night, Tainted Blood

11



The next night, I headed out in search of our killer. I cruised the streets, watching for anyone who looked like they might be a likely suspect. It wasn’t easy. Every single person walking the dark streets seemed just as likely as the next.

I kept to the vampire districts, though I spent a majority of my time on the back roads. I came across a werewolf at one point, but he scampered away before I could get a shot off. It was unlikely he was the killer, but I wasn’t going to take any chances.

I reported my meager findings to Jonathan and listened to his reports, as well as what Adrian had brought him. There wasn’t much. No one else had died by claw and sword over the last few days, making our search that much harder.

I left as soon as I received the reports. After how Ethan reacted to my hanging around Jonathan, I didn’t want to make it worse by lingering.

The next few nights were more of the same. I went out, I looked, I came back empty-handed. Not even Mikael had any news for me.

A few nights later, I rose from the long day, hunger hitting me full force. I hadn’t sucked the life out of the cop, so I was in a bad way by the time I had my things on and was out the door. I’d been so preoccupied with the shit-storm of my life, I hadn’t thought to feed on someone more deserving until it was nearly too late.

I went straight to High Street, the one place I knew I could find likely victims in abundance. You could find anything you wanted here. If you were looking for dangerous sex, drugs, or death, you could find it on High Street. Vampires and werewolves haunted the streets just as much as the Purebloods, and they weren’t any less likely to die.

Neon lights lit the place up so much, it was impossible to see the stars, even on the clearest of nights. Strippers and hookers, both the male and female variety, walked the streets, selling their wares. Windows without curtains gave a clear view of the debauchery going on within many of the hotels. Nothing here was ever truly private.

I hated parking in the sole parking garage, but I had little choice unless I wanted to walk a good ways to get there. Every parking lot that had once existed on High Street had been turned into something else. Most people took taxis or walked simply because it was safer than leaving a vehicle somewhere where a monster could wait for you to return.

Of course, nothing was ever safe here. Coming to High Street was as much of a death sentence as walking down a dark alley at midnight.

A car pulled into the garage behind me and I watched it carefully as I pulled into a parking space. It went past, never slowing, and I breathed easier. The windows had been tinted so dark I hadn’t been able to see the driver, but I was pretty sure whoever was inside hadn’t been following me. I was just being paranoid, and paranoid here could save my life.

Stepping out onto the street was like walking out onto the sun. I had to shade my eyes until I was accustomed to the brightness after the deep gloom of the garage. Girls wearing nearly nothing walked past me, giggling and tottering against one another. They smelled heavily of vodka and other musky scents that left little to the imagination.

I grimaced and walked away from them, not wanting to be downwind of them for long. Just coming here made me feel dirty, but it was the best place to find a victim who wouldn’t weigh on my conscience.

I walked up and down the street for a good hour, searching. Sometimes I could come here and find a likely target right away. Other times it was nearly impossible.

Tonight was one of the bad nights. Everyone stayed huddled together, walking in at least pairs, though most everyone was keeping to larger groups. It was the smart thing to do and I didn’t like it.

A woman coming out of one of the hotels bumped into me. She was carrying a heavy metal case and I would have said she had probably been sampling everything High Street had to offer, but her hair was perfect, clothes unrumpled. I guess she hadn’t found what she was looking for.

She looked at me with a strange glimmer in her eye as I passed. She didn’t look quite right in the head, but that didn’t mean she was someone I would feed on. Someone had to be more than crazy for me to feel comfortable killing them.

I turned away from her and continued on. I could feel her eyes on my back like she was sizing me up. I glanced back and she was indeed watching me. I had half a mind to go back and ask what her problem was, but she finally turned away. She was probably a new vamp looking for her first kill.

A few minutes later, I finally saw a likely target and I forgot all about the woman.

The guy was pretty tall, but I could handle a tall guy just as easily as a shorter one. His hair was long, unkempt, and his clothes hung from him as though they had been meant for someone much rounder. This guy was so thin he looked damn near skeletal.

He stood just inside an alley, a long brown trench coat hiding most of his figure. I watched as a small woman came up to him, handed him a few bills, and took a baggie of something white and powdery from him. She shambled off, heels clicking irregularly as she staggered away.

I watched him for a good ten minutes. He had a regular flow of customers and I didn’t want anyone else to be standing there when I made my move. It was bad enough I needed to feed. I didn’t need witnesses.

Finally, he slid back into the darkness of the alley and took out something to smoke. From the looks of it, it wasn’t a cigarette.

Blood trickled down my gums as my fangs started to extend. The excitement of the hunt was taking over, even though this guy was as easy a target as I would ever have. I could almost taste his blood.

I approached him, glancing back and forth to make sure no one was watching. As I got near, the guy saw me and grinned, exposing gaps in his teeth. Up close, I could see what his hair had hidden. Most of his ears were missing, as if they had rotted away, rather than having been bitten off. His nose was in pretty much the same condition, leaving two large gaping holes in the middle of his face. His lips were chapped and bleeding, as were his gums where the teeth were missing.

“Heya sugartits,” he slurred as I came close. The joint hung from his lower lip like it was stuck there. “I have whatever you need.”

I forced a smile to my face. I hated feeding on drug dealers, especially ones who sampled their own product, and this guy looked as though he had more than sampled it. It was probably all he ever consumed.

Since I was only after his blood, the condition of his body mattered little. While his blood might be riddled with disease and drugs, my vampire taint would keep it from affecting me. It was one of the benefits of being a vampire I was thankful for. Most diseases stood no chance against my immune system, and drugs were usually just as ineffective. I might get a little buzzed, but that was about it.

That didn’t mean I wouldn’t feel sick afterward. Feeding on a guy like this was like eating a rotten piece of fish. It might take care of your hunger, but it always came back to haunt you later.

I glanced down the alley as I approached. It was dark, dank, and lonely. It would be a perfect place to feed.

“What do you have to offer?” I asked, stepping close to him. He smelled as though he had never taken a bath in his life.

The guy’s yellowed eyes widened. He licked his lips, exposing a tongue covered in sores. “Whatever you need, baby.”

I managed not to show my disgust as I slunk past him and into the alley. I could feel his eyes on me, burning with fever, as well as with lust.

There was a nook deep in the alley and I stepped into it. It would hide us from too many onlookers. Someone coming down the alley might think we were just making out, though it was far more likely something more sinister was happening. No one ever truly wanted to believe what they saw.

The dealer followed, limping heavily. I could smell him approach and my stomach roiled. He smelled worse than the garbage littering the alley, which was saying something.

As soon as he was close, I grabbed him and threw him up against the wall. If I was going to do this, I wanted to get it done so I could do a little searching tonight. Just because I needed to feed didn’t mean everything else could be ignored.

He grunted with the impact; his joint fell from his lips, but his grin never faltered. He already had his pants unbuttoned and they slid down his bony hips.

He wasn’t wearing anything underneath.

I had to fight a look of revulsion as I pressed up against him. From the little I had seen, everything on him was rotten. I jerked his head to the side, not bothering to test his blood for wolf or vamp taint. It was obvious by the decay of his body that he was neither.

Blood spurted from my gums, splashing his neck, as my fangs elongated. The dealer groaned and I noticed the other marks on his neck. This definitely wasn’t his first time. Unfortunately for him, it would be his last.

I sank my fangs into his neck and he gasped. He pressed hard against my thigh and I shifted in case there was any sort of leakage from below. I so didn’t want to have to get that sort of stain out of my leather pants, especially from this guy.

I fed on him, sucking down his blood in large gulps. He writhed against me in both pleasure and pain, doing everything he could to rub himself against me. He might have been getting off on it then, but after a few more moments, he wouldn’t be. I had no intention of stopping like the other vamps had.

I pulled harder at his neck, biting down as if I planned on tearing out his throat with my teeth. He grunted and pushed against me all the harder, pumping his hips even though I was doing my best to avoid his lower half.

I growled, not wanting any accidents, and jerked his head back a little. A scream escaped his lips.

It was that scream that covered the sound of the approaching footsteps.

A sharp sting in my neck caused me to jerk back, stunned. I had a heartbeat to wonder, What the f*ck? before collapsing to the ground.

Nothing worked. I tried to move my arms, but they were totally useless to me. My legs were dead weights; even my head felt too heavy for my neck. I could only move my eyes from left to right, searching for whatever had poked me.

She stepped into view an instant later. The woman set down the metal case and held a syringe up for me to see before tossing it away. She smiled at me, her face upside down from my perspective. There was insanity there.

I couldn’t see the drug dealer, though I was sure he was dying. I had a chunk of his flesh in my mouth. I couldn’t even move my tongue enough to spit it out.

“Such a pretty thing,” the woman said. “Such a pity you chose this life.” She smiled at me, eyes gleaming.

My head swam and it was all I could do to stay conscious. I knew she had to have used silver of some sort to paralyze me, but there was more to it than that. I had no strength, worse than anything silver could do. My head was woozy, the entire world swam. That didn’t happen with just silver.

She vanished from view and I heard the case click open. She started humming as she moved things around inside. I could hear glass clinking and then something metallic being drawn through leather.

I immediately thought of my weapons, tucked away and useless to me.

Her face appeared again and she held up a serrated knife for me to see. “You chose the wrong night to hunt, my lovely little demon. It’s unfortunate your victim won’t see tomorrow. He might have liked to see the blood you took from him returned to the earth.”

I fought my body. I tried to scream, tried to even whimper, but nothing came out.

The woman sighed. Her green eyes were nearly twinkling in the gloom. “You should thank me too,” she said, leaning over me. “I will end your suffering, send you back to the hell you were spawned from. The Light will shine on you and perhaps you can still be saved. I will pray for you.”

She turned the blade over in her hand a few times. She seemed to be relishing the moment. It was almost like a ritual, something she had done over and over to the point it had become sacred.

“My hand is His hand,” she said. “I strike in love.” She lowered the blade to my throat.

Just as it touched my skin, it was suddenly yanked away. A blur of motion flew over me, striking the woman full on in the chest. I tried to turn my head to see who it was, but it was no use. My head swam even more and I started shuddering.

The scuffling was over quickly. The woman wasn’t screaming or cursing or crying. I wasn’t even sure if she was alive.

Footsteps approached, but I didn’t see who had saved me. The world did a loop and I felt everything I had consumed from the dealer come back up, though I couldn’t open my mouth to spew it out.

I couldn’t even choke. I tried hard not to breathe, did everything I could to keep from drowning in my own vomit. I wouldn’t die from suffocation, but I sure as hell could suffer for a very long time if I couldn’t clear my airway.

It was too much. Blood and bile oozed from between my lips. My head fell to the side, my eyes glazed over. A hand touched my face, the skin rough and calloused.

The world went blissfully dark.