chapter 05 - mariana _ something wicked.docx

7/25/2019 Chapter 05 - Mariana _ Something Wicked.docx

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Chapter 5 - Something Wicked

Tricker drove like a maniac. Really, the windshield being punched out would have made any caution

regarding cops pointless. Brendan continued to leak blood from several bullet holes. Blayne knelt over

him on the seat, bent somewhat under the cars roof, and ripped open Brendans shirt to expose the

wounds. Instead of trying to stem the blood, though, Blayne inspected each one, instructing Brendan on

which wounds to heal and which to leave open, presumably because the bullets were still inside. hile

this was going on, Brendan started mumbling incoherently about angry bees burrowing into his skin.

Then, suddenly lucid for a second, he accused Blayne, !"ou used me as a bee shield.# Blayne grinned at

that, !$ast one in line usually gets that %ob.#

I watched, feeling a bit miserable and useless. I didnt feel like Id helped much, and couldnt think what

to do now but watch.

The safe house ended up being in &omerville. 'ot the best neighborhood, which suited us fine, sincepeople tended to leave each other alone here. Tricker stopped in front of the house %ust long enough for

the four of us to bail out of the car, then took off to dispose of the shot up car.

Blayne asked, !(ari, get an arm around Brendan, can you) I gotta get the door open.# The house was a

white, two floor affair, with an open porch, in decent shape, with no busted windows. The lights were on,

which seemed odd to me. Blayne climbed up to stand on the porch railing and dug around in the porch

roofs exposed support beams until he came up with a key. *nce within, with the door shut, it felt much

safer. e should be relatively safe from whomever wanted to harm us, and we wouldnt be observed by

the law. 'ow we were able to focus on Brendan. The front room had a pair of vinyl couches, a doorway

to another room, and a set of stairs up to the second floor. I lowered Brendan gently onto one of the

couches. $ooking around, I could see through to the other room, which showed itself to be a modestlye+uipped kitchen. very window I could see was covered in the light dampening curtains and had

blankets nailed to the wall over the curtains, adding another layer of protection from the sun.

-hecking out the room, Blayne said to someone that wasnt him or Brendan, !Theres blood in the fridge.

ut it in glasses and nuke it for /0 seconds.# 1e looked down at Brendan, !gonna need about 0, please.#

1e had to be talking to me. I couldnt see him addressing 2lexander that way.

The kitchen was clean and had the feeling of disuse. It had a full3si4e refrigerator, a microwave, and

plenty of cabinets. I whisked through a bunch of the cabinets, most of which were empty. 'o plates or

silverware, %ust a bunch of glasses. I grabbed five of them. The fridge was bursting with plastic blood

donor bags. Ready3meals for emergencies like this one. It occurred to me that blood didnt keep forever.

The house had to be stocked periodically. robably why the place didnt have the air of vacancy about it.

I filled one glass, and filled the other four while the first one heated. 2s soon as it started to heat, the

aroma that wafted out was terrible. $ike burnt milk or something. I was surprised. I would have thought

it would be attractive. I guess old, reheated human blood was like 5indred blood. It would sustain, but it

wasnt an appealing option. &witching the next four out to heat, I brought the first one back in to


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Brendan.

Back in the living room, Blayne was setting about removing a couple of bullets that hadnt passed through

Brendan completely. !Try not to scream too loud,# Blayne advised. 6sing a pair of forceps, he pulled the

bullets out of Brendan that were still lodged in his body. 1e did this +uickly, efficiently, and expertly, as

if hed had plenty of practice. Brendan grunted with each, but managed to keep it +uiet. I handed thefirst glass to Brendan, and returned to the kitchen to grab the others.

*nce the bullets were out, the blood gave Brendan the boost he needed to finish healing himself, and

within minutes he was up and moving around. !I feel like Ive had a sock stuffed in my mouth,# Brendan

grumbled. I found a change of clothes for him in one of the two bedrooms upstairs. They were too big

for him, but theyd do for now until he could change. 2lexander brought out a garbage bag for Brendans

destroyed clothes, and the cloth hed used to wipe up the blood.

Blayne gave Brendan a couple reassuring pats on the back. !Tricker will come back to get us. ell drop

you guys back off on the -ommon. Im going back to see if theyre still there, though I doubt they are.

"ou dont sit in one spot for three hits like that. 7irst one was a surprise by (ax, second was an ambush

for whoever went back snooping. Third time theyd expect us to bring everyone we could find. They

wont sit and wait for that.#

!She,# I corrected. !Shewont sit and wait for that. There was only one left back there, but she was the

only really dangerous one.#

Blayne looked up at me with surprise, !"ou saw her)#

!&aw and heard her,# I told him, a little mystified. !-ouldnt you)# 1e shrugged. I had thought my

enhanced senses were typical 5indred gifts. erhaps they were more what Blayne had expressed has!some have 8em, some dont.#

!hat I heard was a noisy, confusing mess. If Id had the time, I probably could have done better.

-ouldnt see much at all, though# Blayne thought for a moment, then got up and went to the wall by the

entrance. !&hutting off the lights for a minute,# he warned us, then we were plunged into utter blackness.

ith the blinds and blankets on the windows, there wasnt any light making it in that room.

!2nything, (ariana)# Blayne asked curiously.

!'ope,# I responded, a little disappointed. (aybe it had been a fluke.

!ait,# he cautioned. !"oull have to give it some effort, maybe burn a little blood. -oncentrate on

where you want to see. (ake a conscious try to focus on it.# Blayne remained by the wall, waiting with

expectation. 9reat, I thought. *n top of everything, I was going to disappoint him again.

I thought about what it had felt like, back at the triple decker. I had listened to them all inside, focused

my hearing. $ike a volume knob gradually turned up, I started to hear tiny sounds from outside the safe


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house. 2 car driving several streets away, someone snoring next door, some late night T: watching in

another house. Then I thought about the end of the fight, with people tumbling out windows and that

woman standing up above. Id focused on her, watching her stand there, the gun came up...# It was like

someone turned up a dimmer switch. I could see Blayne standing by the wall, looking in my general

direction. 1is eyes were unfocused, as mine had been a minute ago, unable to see. I looked over to

2lexander and Brendan sitting on the other couch, both similarly blank3eyed. Then Brendans eyeswidened, and he smiled, !*oooh, cool. -an I have red, glowey eyes)# What?

I looked back at Blayne and noticed that, though I could see details, colors were a little off. The red of his

%acket seemed gray, almost the same shade as the black, though the white stripes and writing stood out

more. &o colors werent exactly right. But otherwise, everything was pretty clear. 7or instance, I could

see Blaynes smile of pleasure. !"up, you got it. hat do you think)#

I smiled back, though he couldnt see it. !$ike Brendan said, pretty cool. But my eyes glow)#

!"eah, a red glow, kinda like a cat,# Blayne explained. !*r a rat,# Brendan mumbled with amusement.

Blayne ignored him. !;ont use them around normal people, thatll give you away. *kay, close your

eyes now,# he warned. 2s I did, he flipped the lights back on. I tried to relax their focus, and gradually

re3opened my eyes. I imagined that light would have blinded me to the point of pain if he hadnt warned

me.

Blayne came back over and propped his booted foot up on the couch. !&o, anyway, this woman should be

long gone. Ill %ust give the place a once3over, then be back out.#

I thought about that, then out popped my first instinct, !'o.# I cringed a little. That hadnt exactly been

respectful.


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!Ill be careful,# I soothed him. !2nd like you said, she probably took right off after we left.# I could see

in his face that Id won this round. 1e was giving in.

Blayne raised his head at the same time as I heard a car pulling up slowly outside. !Thatll be Tricker.

-ome on, lets go.#

!1ey, (ari,# Brendan in+uired as we all exited the safe house. !-an you teach me how to have red,

glowy eyes)#

!(aybe, Brendan.# I answered, with annoyance. !If you can learn to say my whole name. *nly Blayne

gets to call me (ari.#

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

e dropped Tricker back at the museum, and 2lexander and Brendan at the -ommon. It wasnt until we

were alone, on the way back to the scene of the earlier battle, that Blayne seemed to come out of his funk.

&ince I wasnt sure whether his decision to let me scout first was part of the problem, Id kept +uiet. But

it turned out, it wasnt.

!"ou did good, you know, earlier. I saw you save Tricker from those bullets. Thanks.#

! *f course?# I responded, flabbergasted. !hy would I let him get hurt, if I could do something)# &till,

I was happy that hed noticed. Blayne %ust smiled indulgently. It gave me a little more courage to ask

something of him he probably wouldnt want to do. !Blayne, Id like you to train me to fight..# Blayne

glanced over, apparently upset and about to argue, but I plowed on, !'ot that I necessarily want to

be...whatever you are. nforce laws and all that. I %ust want to be able to help when its needed, and

defend myself if necessary. "ouve shown me how dangerous things can be. Id rather not feel....helplessagain.#

Blayne stopped what he was about to say and considered that, then surprised me. !(akes sense. -hances

are good youll need it at some point.# That possibility seemed to depress him, which annoyed me a little

I didnt want to feel depressed right now. &o I punched him in the arm, which %ust about made him %ump

out of his seat. !-ut it out,# I told him, sternly.

!hat?)# shock, annoyance, and amusement all mixing in his voice.

!I know youre not sure if you did the right thing, changing me. ell, Ill tell you. 9iven the situation,

me about to die and all, Im saying it was. 2. 9ood. Thing. 2ll in all, Ill take this cra4y, messed up,

paranoid, totally cool, afterlife over that. *kay) &o enough with the guilt tripping. Its bumming me

out.#

1e smiled, !Totally cool)#

I smiled back, hoping that maybe, finally hed accepted what Id said. !"eah, Im strong, fast, very hard


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to kill, and I can see in the dark. Id call all that cool.#

>>>>>

Blayne placed a call to -live. 1e dialed the number into the cell phone manually and then cautiously

made sure to go back and clear the number from the call history after. 1e re+uested of -live that theyhave the cops hold off looking at the 8crime scene for a few hours. -live said that hed already spoken to

his police contact after Tricker had called following the second fight at the house. e had until 0 a.m. 3

after that the police would need to get in there. Blayne checked his watch. e had a little over an hour

left.

&witching vehicles again, we returned to the battle site in the 8mace. 2gain, we parked a little way down

the street. !$et me %ust approach the house on my own, so I can listen. Then Ill wave if its clear.#

&eeming unconcerned, Blayne nodded. 2dvancing on the house, I focused my hearing on the interior,

listening hard for any sound. 'oise from the street became a low background hum, as small sounds from

within emerged. There were a lot of faint creeks from the old house, along with few mouse s+ueaks, and

it took me a minute to confirm that these were normal sounds and not made from someone within. &ince

I couldnt rely on heartbeats or breathing, it was a little more difficult, more subtle, but before long I was

pretty sure. I waved Blayne over to the remnants of the porch where Id been listening.

ading through the destruction of the collapsed porch, I popped open the first floor door. ithin was a

small hallway and stairwell going up, and a door to a first floor apartment. !ell start up top, then work

our way down.# Blayne suggested, letting me go first. !atch for trip wires.# Bombs. onderful.

-autiously, we made our way up the stairs. I tried to stay +uiet, %ust in case, and watch for anything

strung across the stairs. Turning on my weird vision was easier this time. Blayne put a hand on my

shoulder and followed at my pace. 1e didnt seem to be really making an effort to be +uiet, and yet hemoved almost noiselessly. It was a pretty good feat considering he couldnt see much. (ust have been

his training. The second and third floor hallways were fairly identical to the first, except the third floors

apartment door was shattered. The door had been kicked in and was lying on the floor, along with

splintered fragments of the wooden door frame. 7aint light from the street made the apartment shimmer.

Blayne dropped his hand from my shoulder, but hung back, waiting for me to check things out. I couldnt

help but smile. 7inally, I was contributing something.

Before I even entered the first room, I could smell the blood. It wasnt a large apartment 3 kitchen, living

room, two bedrooms and a bath. I entered into a tiny hallway, with doors to the left and right, and a living

room straight ahead. The living room was medium3si4ed, maybe it could fit a T:, couch and / people,

tops. Right now, it was empty, but there still wasnt a lot of room to maneuver in here. allpaper was

peeling everywhere and water stained the ceiling.

2 larger room faced the street, and had the windows that everyone had been thrown, pushed, or dragged

out of. resumably, it normally would be a bedroom, but it was empty now, with the exception of lot of

spent brass bullet casings and a little shattered glass. The front windows were all smashed out, with one

random side window still whole, and I could see where the initial blast of gunfire tore up the walls. There


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were a mixture of smells in the room. Two different blood scents. *ne was faintly enticing, and I figured

it had to be human blood. &urprising, since it didnt seem the humans had even been in here. The other

blood smell had a faint burning feel to it, so I figured it had to be 5indred. There was a fairly strong paint

smell, also surprising, since it didnt look like this place had seen a fresh coat of paint in ages. But

stronger than any of those was another smell, and I figured even humans could detect that one. I wasnt

familiar with that scent, but I thought it had to be from the gunpowder. I slowly turned around, checkingout the other walls. &ome of the drywall had dents and fist si4ed holes in it. Then I stopped spinning, to

stare at the back wall of the room. There was a giant circled 82 symbol spray painted on it. 1ow weird.

2nd weirder still was that I recogni4ed it. It was the symbol for 2narchy. 2 discarded can of spray paint

lay on the floor under it. &tamped between the legs of the 2 was a bloody handprint. I couldnt

remember dinner from @ nights ago, but this symbol I recogni4ed. hy)

2 little disconcerted, I continued my exploration of the apartment, checking out the second bedroom. It

was a tiny room, so small I could have reached out and touched both walls. That wasnt what I first

noticed, though. hat immediately drew my attention were the two corpses, both men and homeless,

%udging by the condition of their clothes. Both were ghostly pale, totally drained, with their necks torn

out as if by a animal. This wasnt clean or painless. This was done by creatures whod en%oyed inflicting

the pain as much as drinking the blood. If it could have, it would have made me sick.

1aving completed my search of the apartment, I returned to where Blayne was waiting in the doorway.

!'othing dangerous left,# I told him, !but a couple things youll want to see, I think.# $eading him in, I

pointed to the small bedroom. I thought to say something cutting about their poor eating habits, but the

poor %oke caught in my throat. Instead, I %ust said, !Two killed and drained,# keeping it simple. ith

only a brief pause, I turned and continued on into the large bedroom, turning back to face him and the

inner wall. !*ur mystery woman left a message. I assume we dont want to leave this for the police)#

1e stared the giant symbol and stamp on the wall, dimly lit from the street lights outside. !'ah, we ownthe cops.# Then referring to the symbol !That cant be what it is,# he stated, disbelieving. !The folks we

hit couldnt be that stupid. ither theyre some idiots pretending theyre someone theyre not or its the

real deal and theyre letting us know it 3 which bothers me.#

1e turned around and searched the floor, nudging the debris with his foot. 2 couple empty shell casings

clanked together. -rouching down, Blayne picked up a couple and walked over to the shattered window,

looking at them in the light from the street. $ooking at him standing there made me uncomfortable. I

reali4ed that, silhouetted as he was from the street and framed in the shattered window, he would make an

excellent target. 1e looked at the butt of the bullet, !These are Russian rounds, A.C. &he wasnt kidding

around. 'o wonder Brendan was leaking like a sieve.#

1e looked up at me. !The shooter 3 you said you got a look at her)#

Blayne was feeling confused, worried, feelings hed already expressed to me. But there was something

else too. 1e was feeling...excited wasnt right. (aybe prepared) xpectant) $ike he wasnt sure this

fight was really over. I wanted to ask him to move out of the light, but I thought, he must know what hes

doing, right)


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I ran through the fight from earlier in detail with him, recounting what I heard and saw. 1e shook his

head in disbelief. !Black hand tattoo and stamping it on the wall like this... I cant begin to describe

how... improbable it is that someone from that group tattooed themselves with that. Its like...# The

concept is obviously causing him some conflict between what he knows and what Im describing. !Itd

be like a -I2 agent tattooing spy across his forehead, and then going to -hina or some place and thentrying to spy on them.#

!This is shit you dont advertise 3 unless youre trying to put the 8shivers on someone, or youre a poser.

hich means shes the real deal. hich means this,# he gestured at the symbols on the wall, !is a

declaration of war.#

I had no idea what Blayne was talking about, but it was still giving me a chill. :irtually, anyway. !Real

what) hat is she) 2nd how is it that I know that that,# I asked, pointing at the symbol, !means

2narchy)#

!Im not a brain doctor. "ou can speak, you can walk, so parts of your brain still work. I dont know how

you remember some things but not others. I donDt know what to tell you. Im %ust ecstatic youre not

paraly4ed.# Back on topic, he continued, !Thats an 8anarchy symbol, but the person that put that up

theres not an 82narch, shes 8&abbat and shes 8Black 1and.#

1e rubbed the back of his neck and dropped the empty casings he was holding onto the floor. !I was

really hoping to save this stuff for a night of te+uila shots or something. Theres different factions of

vampire. -amarilla, us, and the &abbat, them. Theres a smaller group that dont want anything to do

with either side and theyre called 2narchs and bunches of others that dont want to be affiliated at all.

The -amarilla believes they need to blend in and hide, suppress their monstrous urges. The &abbat is all

about being a monster, give into those urges and rend people. Its like religion. They believe in the samestory, but are coming at it from two different sides, and they bang heads in the middle where they meet.#

It not like religion,# Blayne corrected himself. !It is religion. I havent told you that part yet, but IDm

trying to space out the mind blowing revelations. Its only been what, AC hours for you so far)#

The &abbat sounded like monsters, were monsters, and they reveled in it. $ooking back toward the other

bedroom, and thinking on those poor victims in there, I understood a little better. 2nd I was so incredibly

grateful to the powers that be that I hadnt been reborn into that.

!The bloody hand is her telling us her affiliation, which besides being &abbat, is a sub cult of theirs called

8The Black 1and. 2 9ehenna cult.# 1e shook his head in frustration, !That anarchy symbol... could

mean anything right now.#

Blayne looked back out the window, !Ive given her plenty of time to shoot, but no 8bang yet.# $ooking

back out into the 'o9o section of town that we were in, he pulled out a cigar and a lighter. I had

forgotten, intent on the information he was giving me, my discomfort with where he was standing.

&uddenly, it was back again. 2s Blayne chewed on the end of the cigar for a few seconds and muttered


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around it, !(aybe she %ust needs a little more incentive,# I reali4ed that he was intentionally setting

himself up. 1e believed someone, maybe even that woman, was out there watching. 1e sparked up the

lighter and puffed away on the end of the cigar to give it a nice orange glow.


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around the corner. 2ll of -aines children, the 2ntediluvians, were supposed to rise from their ages of

sleep and eat their children. The &abbat believed -aine himself would rise and lead the &abbat to

whatever bloody end he had in mind for the world. The &abbat, and more specifically, the Black 1and,

had taken it as their %ob is to bring about the end of the world. 2lthough he didnt say it directly, it was

obvious that Blayne didnt believe any of it. 1e made it clear, though, that many did, including the

&abbat. They were very powerful and could be cra4y and paranoid about the whole thing.

The odd thing was that Blayne talked about it all as if he had no personal stake in the fight. =ust as hed

done previously when he was discussing 5indred rules and culture, he did nothing but separate himself

from the 5indred, the -amarilla, our -lan, and the even the -itys power structure itself. "et here he was

enforcing its rules and fighting its wars. 2nd at the same time, breaking those rules fairly flagrantly.

hy fight a holy war if you dont believe in the cause) (aybe the answer was in the only thing he hadnt

separated himself from 3 his 1ouse. erhaps it was personal loyalty that kept him fighting, when it

seemed so foreign to his desire.

'ot that Blayne wouldnt en%oy the odd dust3up. But that was another matter entirely.

2nd where did that leave me) I had %ust seen two corpses, the first I had ever seen Eat least that I could

rememberF, killed to make a handprint on a wall and maybe to be fed on. But there wasnt a ruffled

feather to be seen yet about that. Blayne hadnt even batted an eye at the two dead vagrants, physically or

emotionally. I got mbraced and all hell breaks loose. Im in the middle of a cover up about it and seven

of us, so far, will be lying to everyone we meet for the foreseeable future about who I am. If I understood

the power structure of the -amarilla correctly, it was like the resident of the 6nited &tates trying to hide

an illegitimate child. E;amn, who was the resident) I have to start reading the news or something.F

2s far as the 9ehenna and the Time of Thin Blood, it all seemed like 5indred folklore to me. 2lthough I

believed there could be some buried core of truth in the myths, I figured as a whole they should be takenwith a grain of salt. 2ccording to them, 5indred were all soulless monsters, with some sort of inherited

original sin. That was Bull. I didnt feel any difference in my soul, %ust from being changed. 2 souls

weight of sin came from what you did, not who you were, and certainly not who your parents were. In

any shape or form. *n the other hand, I could see how being a 5indred, a :ampire, could drain humanity

out of people pretty +uickly, if they let it. It wasnt %ust about actions. It was intentions, feelings. rotect

yourself and harden your heart too much, and pretty soon you would be that soulless monster. I didnt

want to be that. I wouldnt be that, I promised myself. 2s for Blayne, hed obviously seen a lot, hardened

himself some. But I had sensed many times that he still had an emotional core, a soul, if you will. 2nd I

believed in him.

2s for being a blood descendant of -aine, and his first generation children rising up from their sleep

soon and eating all of their subse+uent children, including me, it was a lot to swallow. But then there was

no such things as real vampires until two days ago. hat would I do if any of it was true) ;amned with

no soul, no 1eaven. I didnt know. It would take more than a car ride to think that one through. Then

again, maybe I had %ust gone completely cra4y and none of it was true. 1eh, thatd be an easier

explanation.


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By the time we reached the museum, I figured we had maybe a hour before sunrise. Time to report in and

then settle down for the day. This time, I welcomed the idea of oblivious sleep. (y mind needed to rest.

ven if this was only my second night, I was willing to bet Id never have a longer one.

**********************

*nce again, illiam let us in. 2fter couple of grunts from Blayne indicating that hed be crash in

2nnekes parlor for the day, illiam shut the doors behind us with a distinctive, solid thunk of bolts. I

wondered if it was because of the late hour, or if maybe that was %ust an excuse to stay.

illiam informed Blayne, !2 package arrived for you.#

Blayne nodded, unconcerned, !Ill get it in the evening.# ithout pausing, he continued on to 2nnekes

apartment door, rapping on it, then proceeding immediately in, closing the door behind him. &tarting to

feel a bit tired, with the approaching dawn coming fast, I dropped down on the couch to stare into the fire

for a bit. &itting there, in the +uiet of the room, I reali4ed I could %ust faintly hear the voices in 2nnekes

rooms. 5nowing that this was becoming a very bad habit, but still unable to stop, I focused on the voices

to listen in.

2nneke asked, #&o, what did you find)#

!1ints that we have a &abbat pack in town,# Blayne fills her in. ! (aybe. (aybe theyre Black 1and. 2

lot of spent 25 rounds, couple dead hobos, handprint on the wall and a big anarchy symbol spray3painted

on it. 'othing real substantial. I even gave them a second shot at us, but they didnt take the bait. If they

were even around to see it.#

&ounding confused and a little frustrated, Blayne continued, !(ari saw the one that did the shooting onour first visit. 1onestly, from her description and what we found at the house... I think its bullshit. Black

1and tattoo on the 5indred with the gun and on the wall) Really) &he seems to be trying too hard to

convince us, whoever she is. hy telegraph like that, if its what they really are)#

!-ainite,# 2nneke corrected him. They call themselves -ainites.#

!*kay,# Blayne dismissed. !hatever they call themselves, how did (ax hear about them in the first

place)#

!Rumors of new ten new 5indred in town, reported by the &courge.#

Incredulously, Blayne asked rhetorically, !2nd who cares) Thats not our %ob. 7rost has people for that.

2 &heriff specifically to find 8new arrivals. The &courge, to hunt down the newborn illegally mbraced.

This is below our paygrade...#

!6nless they are exactly what they are showing you. Then the rince most likely would ask for us to look

into it.#


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2 pause in which Blayne appeared to be considering that. ressing on, Blayne reasoned, !*kay, say they

are who they say they are. $ets agree on that. Then you dropped (ax in a @ on GH meat grinder why)#

2nneke, in her dangerous voice, warned +uietly, !atch your tone with me.#

1urt, angry, and unhappy, Blayne continued, regardless, !hy didnt you send me with her) I have no

beefs with (ax. &hes a good kid. 'ot gonna learn a lot, if that happens to her again.#

!Blayne....I dont mind +uestions, but ...#

!2h, Im sorry,# Blayne capitulated, discouraged. !Its %ust frustrating. 7rost is going to use you again,

cause youre here. 1es gonna ask for favor after favor and youll give them to him. I think its bad for

us to get mixed up in local politics like this 3 but its up to you. =ust tell me who to kill... tomorrow

evening. ;ont send (ax or any of the others. IDll take care of whoever this is. *kay if I stay here)

(aris still new, night / and all.# Blayne was staying here for me)

2nneke says, !$ocal politics aside, the ast -oast is contested territory. *ur presence here is a deterrent.

If this is a probing action 3 a prelude to something larger, then well need to be on good terms with rince

7rost and everyone else. "our confidence in our abilities to fight the &abbat alone, while admirable, is

reckless.# "ou can hear the weariness in her voice. (ornings coming fast, !(y home is your home, as

always.#

!Thanks for that.# -hanging the sub%ect, Blayne asked, !I dont suppose youve hear from =ewel3ianna

yet)# The voice sounded dismissive, as if the +uestion wasnt that important to him. It didnt fool me,

and I doubted if it fooled 2nneke.

!'o, Im afraid not. &he wont be gone long. 2 few more days at most.#

-hanging the sub%ect herself, 2nneke asked after me, !1ow goes my -hildes training)

!I fit what I can in between making deliveries and using Brendan as target practice for ;eath -ults. e

start her on ghouls tonight, humans in another night or two, depending. Then out for a real 1unt. Though

all in all, I think the amnesia has helped her ad%ust a bit.#

!1ave you told her what happened that night)# 2nneke in+uired curiously.

2 +uick, sharp !'o,# from Blayne. !'ot if I can help it, ever.#

The entire conversation, no more than an interesting filler until now, became disturbing. I knew that

Blayne was being truthful with me, as far as what he told me. I also knew hed been holding some stuff

back. I had trusted him, though, figuring he didnt want to overload me with too much at once. 'ow,

though....what wasnt he telling me)


12/12

!hen you think shes ready, Ill present her to the rince. I think well hold a fund raiser for the

museum when we do.#

Blayne says proudly, !;id I mention she could sing)#

I could hear a faint kiss on the cheek or a hand. !9oodnight,# Blayne said, followed by him stompingback towards the door, and emerging back into to the parlor again. I let my hearing fade back to normal,

and remained staring at the fire, unsure yet if I could look at him without giving away my anxiety. &eeing

me on the couch, he hopped over the back and drops in next to me. &tartled by the move, I looked up.

Blayne shrugged off his %acket and weaponry rig, now %ust dressed in a black worn :3neck t3shirt, the

leather biker pants, and boots. illiam immediately brought him a freshly washed t3shirt without being

asked. Turning his back to me, Blayne changed shirts +uickly, but I caught a brief glimpse of his bare

back in between changes. It was terrible. 2 fist3si4ed starburst of a scar marred his left shoulder blade,

and another vicious looking scar ran down his back, starting near his right shoulder blade down to within

an inch or so of his waistband. These were big scars, possibly burn marks, or maybe cauteri4ed wounds)

&uddenly, I felt bad for distrusting him. I knew he was keeping something from me, and I wanted to find

out what it was, but...well, Id give it a little time. 2nd Blayne, the benefit of the doubt.

By the time Blayne finished with changing, illiam also dropped off Blaynes seabag, from which he

immediately fished out gun cleaning and knife sharpening kits. &itting with his elbows on his knees,

Blayne worked on cleaning his weapons in the little time left before the sun rose. I sat with him in

companionable silence until I could barely keep my eyes open. Then, with a tired smile and a !well,

goodnight,# I rose and went up to my bedroom.

chapter 05 - mariana _ something wicked.docx

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