I followed Tatyana and Bruce through the alley door that led to the dungeon. I’d brought up the topic of the hairy beast that lived there when she mentioned this entrance. She identified it as a werewolf. Earlier, we would have laughed such a notion off, but now we huddled close together while staying prepared for action if we encountered it. Armed with only our crossbows and arrows, we hoped it would be enough. Crossbows worked on vampires, but what about werewolves?
It took a moment for our eyes to adjust to the dimly lit dungeon. We crept along slowly, looking in all directions for the creature. We were almost to the bottom of the stairwell when he appeared out of nowhere. His enormous hairy hands yanked Bruce back, knocking him off balance and causing him to fall to his ass. Before we could register what was happening, the creature grabbed him by the throat and pulled him to his feet.
To both Bruce’s and my surprise, it was Tatyana who reacted first. Wi
Fane paced the floor of his father’s study. Everything was such a mess. He’d gone off to find a new location for their den and returned very pleased with himself. He’d located a perfect spot in the Adirondack Mountains of New York. His father would have been proud of him.Returning only hours after the slaughter of his father, siblings, and many prominent vampires, Fane retreated to the recesses of the den to recover from the shock and to think of what to do next. With his father gone, it was up to him to pull things together and squelch the panic running rampant amongst the few fortunate vampires who happen to have either not been invited or not been able to attend his father’s ball.Since he and everyone around him considered themselves invincible, the revelation that there was someone who had the power to kill them was traumatizing. He was sure more than ever that they needed to relocate as quickly as possible. Before they did so, he needed t
Tatyana wasted no time leading Bruce and me directly to the breeding quarters.Shen was watching for us out of the doorway of his room. The vampire was stronger than he’d anticipated. He was forced to utilize his knowledge of pressure points on the body to keep him in tow until help arrived. Spotting us making our way down the corridor as inconspicuously as possible, he swung open the door and motioned us in.“Man, am he glad to see you,” I said.I’d kept my voice just above a whisper, but never-the-less my enthusiasm was apparent.“No more than me, but, first things first,” Shen said as he pointed to the unconscious vampire tied up on the bed. “Kill him, please.”Bruce smiled as he pulled an arrow out of his carrying case and gripped it with a firm hand.“Happy to oblige,” he said. Then he turned to Tatyana with a look of concern. “You might not want to watch this, they go sl
“... And may the good Lord be waiting as the gates of Heaven open wide to accept our dear sister. Amen.”The spindly priest’s voice blended with the gusts of wind and pelting rain. Water drizzled off the oversized canopy that was provided in anticipation of the storm to offer protection for the attendees. It was a futile effort at best. A small group of mourners gathered around the open grave. They bowed their heads in silence as Father Robert indicated he’d completed what he came to do by closing his bible and stepping back. His eyes bore into the crowd as if he was searching for something, but what?Although he’d never known Mei-Lien, he was a longtime friend of her uncle who entered his church asking for help after immigrating from China twenty years earlier. He knew there was a small population of Catholics in China, but he never dreamed one of them would find his way into his small congregation. Curious to learn more about the conditi
Long before Bram Stoker wove his tale of Dracula for the world to read as fiction, there existed a true creature of the night who went by just such a name. Did Mr. Stoker know this? I question if he might have, since much of what he wrote reads with remarkable accuracy.If Mr. Stoker’s intention was to write a biography of an unbelievable being under the guise of fiction he did a decent job but missed a great portion of significance. To withhold such information from the unsuspecting masses -to believe or not believe as their conscience allows- is a wrong I don’t want attributed to me.The story I’m about to share with you is a recount of true experiences of which I was a major player. It’s a tale of loving and finding love. It tells of family legacy and solidarity. It speaks of friendship, loyalty, bravery, compassion, and I’m sorry to say… horror. Because of this, I would like to point out that this story is not for the weak of st
You could hear a pin drop in the dojo as I listened intently while Shen, addressed the class. The students sat in neatly defined rows while giving him their utmost attention. I smiled as I recalled the first time we met, ten years earlier.It was early evening. I was seventeen and feeling my need for independence. I’d just had an argument with my parents about this very fact. I was in my final days of high school and my parents wanted me to focus on college -while I wanted time to discover who I was and what I truly wanted in life. I felt restless. It was time to strike out on my own -at least for the summer- and discover new people, places, and things while my parents thought I should be focusing on selecting a college and a career goal.The fact of the matter was that I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. I’d worked part-time over the years at the local gym to pay for my lessons in martial arts after my father became disabled and the
I entered the neighborhood diner and eased myself onto the stool at the counter. The waitress, Lucy, smiled and nodded in my direction and I gave a slight wave. She poured a cup of coffee and silently slipped it in front of me while she examined my face more closely.“That looks like it might hurt, honey,” she said as she cupped my chin in her hand and studied the bruises on my jaw and temple.“I’m alright,” I assured her. “Some ice might help.”“Good idea,” she replied.Shen arrived in time to witness the exchange between Lucy and me. Since the day we’d, he’d marveled over how women were drawn to me. I can’t tell you why they are, exactly. I guess the fact that I am considered handsome was a major factor, but he declared it to be more than that. He said it’s as if I held some magic spell over the female species. I need only enter a room and they were at my mercy. Unfortun
Jessica eased her slender body from the driver’s side of her silver BMW convertible. Her pale skin was in stark contrast to the thick ebony waves cascading over her shoulders. She struggled to balance the bulging bags of groceries in her arms as she carefully picked her way up the stairs and then down the hall of our apartment building. I’d repeatedly asked her why she insisted on loading her arms instead of making multiple trips. She couldn’t really explain her reasoning. It wasn’t as if she was a lazy woman. It was more the way she was raised. Her mother was a stickler about doing things in the quickest time possible. One trip was obviously faster than two.I heard her struggling with the key and briskly pulled the door opened before disappearing and leaving her to enter and shut it with her foot. She didn’t take offense. She knew this was the time of day I dedicated to training in my makeshift in-home gym.Bags toppled over as she
I hopped out of a cab while Shen and a group of Chinese men stood huddled together watching me. Their faces looked solemn. I approached the group with a nod and shook hands with each man as Shen made the introductions to the few I didn’t know.We entered Wong’s Chinese Palace and walked through the crowded dining room and into a larger room that contained a conference table with chairs around it. I lagged behind and watched the men take their seats with swift silence. Shen motioned for me to join them as the group spoke in their native language. Although I was studying Mandarin, I was still weak at it and they were speaking far too rapidly for me to follow the conversation. My buddy did his best to keep up with the flow of the conversation, while translating the important aspects of it for me.“There have been rumors about forced slavery and prostitution for months, but no one has been able to prove it,” he explained. “There is a hou