Aman
2008-07-10 17:04:18 UTC
His foot steps made a loud tapping sound on the concrete sidewalk. His coat swayed wildly in the wind and he had to pull it close to his chest to keep from going cold. The young man sighed heavily, his breath turned blue as soon as it left his mouth and touched the frigid air. The man’s teeth chattered together, making a rhythmic clicking that could almost pass as mores code.
In some cases walking the streets at midnight could be the mark of a mental case. But who cares? His small handgun was holstered near his shoulder. He had practiced down at the shooting range, so he was confident that he could hit a simple mugger before the villain could even draw a knife. But he still feared that if the mugger had a gun he couldn’t best him in a shootout.
The young man stopped, just for a second, as soon as he heard his name. The sound was like it came out of a finely tuned flute, played by a master.
“Heath... Heath...” He stood in place, mesmerized. The man seemed to be in a trance. His thoughts were scrambled to the point he couldn’t remember where he was going, or where he had come from. He could only hear his name being called by the dreamy voice.
“Heath... Don’t stand there... Move closer...”
“Y—yes.” He agreed, but could barely form the words. He then saw a glitter of light, just a little light, no bigger then a thumb nail. Suddenly Heath stopped his foreword pace, and turned his face towards the glitter of light. He groaned in frustration and his breath became blue once again, but this time it stayed floating in the air.
Time itself seemed to stop. The few cars driving by slowed to a turtles crawl. The cat that had been following Heath, probably smelling the diner scent on him, nearly stopped moving altogether. Every sound became blurred and sloppy, slowed with a distant echo. The color seemed to be filtered through a red light. Everything even seemed muddy, red and muddy.
Heath blinked, he was the only thing moving normally. He breathed again, and looked down where the cold breath should have been. No breath could be seen. He then noticed that the cold had gone. A warm sensation filled his cold, shivering bones. The light itself started taking volume, it no longer looked distant. Heath could see where the light rounded, right in front of him.
The fluting voice had left him, but the trance still held. Heath still felt the urge to move foreword. But he couldn’t take his eye away from the golden shimmering light. The light started moving.
Closer still.
Brighter and brighter.
Heath then held out his wanting hand to catch the light like a child would try to catch a firefly. The flicker of light fell in his hand, and then grew in size. No heat was given off, but Heath felt a tingling sensation. The sensation of nearly every good thing that every happened to him. The feeling of haziness and longing slowly was expelled from his body. Lingering, trying to hold on, but then faded away.
The haze in Heath’s eyes vanished; his feelings of warmth and happiness were replaced with fear. The light then began to dwindle away into the reddened landscape. Then the cars started to pick up speed, and pulled through as if they were being held back. The cat behind Heath started to move again, also with the strange feeling and look of being held then breaking free, breaking into normal motion.
The cars whizzed by again, and Heath’s breath became rapid and panicked. His heart rate quickened and even seemed to threaten the chance of exploding. Blood ran out of his nose, and down to his chin nearly moving into his mouth. Heath hasn’t had a nose bleed in 3 years; this seemed like a fine time to have one. He swallowed hard and looked behind at the cat.
The cat’s eyes were huge, giant in fright. Then it reared its back and hissed then ran off in the opposite direction. Heath followed the cat’s example and quickly turned and ran with such fright, he seemed hysterical. His eyes were wild, blood streaming down his nose and seeped into his mouth, but he really didn’t care. Then he heard the voice again, now lower nothing like a flute. In fact, it could be compared to that of a demon’s mangled voice.
“Yes! Run you little coward, “The voice roared out of nowhere. “This is the thrill of a hunt! You have broken a trance but you won’t get away!” Then the voice dissipated into the night.
Chapter 1
I woke up, sweat streaming down my face. My throat was so dry I was afraid to swallow. Saliva filled my mouth finally. I quickly sat up and rubbed my temples. My head was killing me, like someone decided to bury the hatchet--right in my head. Dreams usually don’t physically make you feel pain. That dream though, is a different story.
My cell phone rang. I reached over to my nightstand and grabbed it. I flipped it open with disdain; I knew it was work call.
“Hello,” I groaned.
“Hey Heath,” It was my friend Anita. “We need you on this.”
“Crap. Why do you guys need me?”
“You have the most experience in one-on-one Watcher combat.”
I yawned. I already had a good idea what was about to happen. If they needed my help in Watcher combat that means there must be a rogue Dusk Watcher, or at least something of the sort.
“Okay, okay. I need a ride.”
“Connor and I will pick you up in five minutes. Be ready.” The phone hung up. I jumped from bed and cracked my back. With a sigh I rushed into the bathroom and quickly brushed my teeth. With a glance my closet door flew open. I put on my jean pants and black shirt with a stitched in name tag: Heath Manor. I then strapped on my shoulder gun holster and threw on my trench coat. My mp3 player, wallet, and I.D. slid into my pockets as I flung on my fingerless gloves.
I opened up my apartment door and ran down the stairs, but being careful not to alert anyone else sleeping or awake. As I reached the exit I checked my holster. The holster was there, loaded. I grabbed at my belt and happily found I was prepared with all my equipment.
The jeep roared up to me, stopping right before it ran me over.
“Nice driving there Connor,” I roared. “Next time why don’t you just hit the brakes a little later.”
“Ah, shut it Heath.” The boy groaned. Connor was only seventeen, a kid compared to me, twenty, and Anita, also twenty. I hopped in the back with Anita.
“Why aren’t you driving?”
“Connor needs the practice. Plus we might have to shoot our target from the jeep.”
“Aw, jeez,” I sighed. Anita pulled her long brown hair into a bun, meaning we were going to see some action. “So what’s the case here?”
“A Dusk Watcher snapped. He killed a low-level Dawn Watcher.”
“Oh, crap. Doesn’t that **** with the truce?”
“He’s mentally unstable. It doesn’t really even remotely count. Since it’s a Dawn Watcher murder, we get the case.”
“I know the bylines for this **** Anita. Why us three?”
“It’s Xander.”
I coughed. Xander isn’t just a vampire, he is a low-level mage. Dangerous stuff. He’s been trouble in the past, but not like this. Xander never showed signs of insanity, but he is deeply deranged, no doubt about it.
“So we gotta put him down?”
“That’s the jest of it.”
“Hey, Connor. Pick up the pace.” The jeep sped forward much faster then it was previously. I yawned again. I wondered why we are called Dawn Watchers but half-the-time our crap is at night. Anita looked me in the eyes and silently pleaded with me. She didn’t want me to do what I was going to do. What I was going to do was put a bullet in Xander’s skull and get rid of him once and for all.
The jeep came to a halt in front of an alleyway in the slums. It was like a rat’s maze last time I checked; I’m not too far off. Anita shuddered at the site of the derelict buildings and trash filled narrows. Anita likes to believe the world isn’t going straight to Hell. I’d like to believe it is. Maybe she’s right but so far I haven’t been proven wrong.
Connor slowly stepped out of the jeep’s driver seat. He is cautious at the moment; he’s never been in a potentially deadly mission before. I hoped he wouldn’t be dead weight, but the teenaged Watchers almost always are. I took out my pistol and readied it. Anita squinted at me with confusion.
“I always bring it,” I said.
“I hate guns.”
“Deal with it.” After I said that she decided to leave in a huff. Connor looked at me and I replied with a confused shrug. We followed Anita into the catacombs of the slum’s alleyways. Xander was hiding here somewhere. After a few yards we split up from a group of three into three individuals. Anita protested over Conner’s safety but Connor himself agreed to the split. I just hoped I found Xander before Anita or Connor did. Xander is no pushover after all.
I stepped over the mounds of garbage, paper, and rotten food. Rats scurried around as I proceeded to pursue the rouge Dusk Watcher. With each little noise I tensed and aimed my revolver. Nearly every time it was simply a rat nibbling on some food, or sifting through some paper. But sometimes it wasn’t a rat, couldn’t have been. That’s when I realized he was tracking me... hunting me. He was trying to psych me out. He was trying to scare me into a panic. I couldn’t let him. I tried to reach my mind out to Anita and Connor, but something was blocking me.
That’s when I got the hint to jump from my current position. A beaten up piano fell from the sky, and smashed to the ground in a thousand pieces. I knew Xander just tried to kill me. I took in a deep breath through my mouth and concentrated. I broke through the spell Xander had set in the area. My mind finally reached Anita and Connor. I gave a simple ‘Found him’ and set up my mind beacon. I heard cursing in the wind. Xander was ready to throw down.
From the shadows of the alley he struck. He attacks fast and vicious like I remembered. I was able to dodge his first claw swipe but I wasn’t so lucky for the second swipe hit me in the chest. Pain seethed into my body. I retaliated by enchanting my left hand with the element of light. My fist slammed into his thin, pale, bloodsucking face. He staggered back with, covering his burning face, screaming bloody murder.
I fired my gun and the ‘sun bullet’ landed in his upper chest. I missed his heart by a few inches. A bit of him began to melt away as I expected. Magician or not, he’s still a vampire so vampire rules apply. Xander wasn’t going to go that easy though; a jolt of lightning escaped his long fingers. The searing heat reached my shoulder and edged down my spine. I didn’t scream like a normal Watcher would, I took it in and counter-attacked with another bullet to his left leg. Just then I heard Anita shout from a few yards away.
I turned and looked as she threw the pair of sunglasses at me. I caught them in the air and immediately put them on as Connor’s hand became engulfed in an enchanted light. The light became so bright I had to turn completely around, my back to Xander. Bad move on my account. In one last act of defiance Xander gathered what he could and formed a fire ball the size of a beach ball. He fired and the flaming orb of death fizzled into my skin with an intense shock then immense pain. I used a bit of power to turn off the burning of my coat, but I couldn’t stop the pain. I turned around long enough to see Connor’s Light Flare spell burn into Xander every fiber and shoot him back to the alley’s end and then I watched him take his final breath. Good riddance to bad rubbish.
As the light vanished my eyes were no longer blinded by light, but by pain. Anita rushed over to me and examined my wound.
“Dear god,” She looked over to Connor. “Connor get the damn jeep over here!” My vision started to blur, but I focused on the pain, trying to stay awake and conscious. I was afraid if I fall asleep I’d stay that way, permanently. I coughed up some blood, not a good omen. Suddenly I felt some of the pain drain out of my back and just disappear. But a large amount still remained, just enough to make me shake in agony. I felt the ground quake nearby, and I knew it was Connor with the jeep. Anita’s yelling became incoherent babble to me. Everything started to fade out, then...darkness.