Blood: Awakening - Part 5

 

The nightclub scene was slowly dying as it grew closer to closing time. Clubgoers were casually making their exit unknowing of Zulu's remaining battle-worn crew silently slipping in through the secured back entrance. Kaydle's face turned up as the stench of cigarette smoke with a light hint of alcohol-induced vomit flooded her senses. "Ugh. Smells like someone had a great night." She said as she aided Shotz through the backdoor. Shotz groaned as he fumbled around in his pocket. "Look at God! The other half of my blunt still ready to be burned down, baby!" He nudged Jay for a light as he put his slightly mangled blunt to his lips. "Listen Kaydle, I know that shit was nasty back there, but you really pulled through for us. I appreciate it for real because them boys probably would've slumped all of our asses if it wasn't for you going ape shit." Jay laughed as he chimed in, "Damn Shotz, get popped once, and all of the sudden you go emotional on us? My nigga you acting like you've never been hit before O.G.!" Shotz exhaled a cloud and fired back, "Boy fuck you. You know good and damn well they had the drop on us. I'm just being real!" As the crew approached Zulu's back office Kaydle added, "Well listen, to be honest, I guess I could've let you guys in on my plan but thinking back now? I wasn't thinking. It was like my instincts took over. Sorry you guys lost a man back there. I feel like that's on me." Shotz took a deep drag from his blunt and then replied, "It's straight. Vampires or not, at the end of the day? That's how it is out here. Everybody don't always come back from a war for real." Jay tapped at the door and a few moments later the locks were heard unlatching and one of Zulu's henchmen let the crew in. 

Zulu

Zulu took a look at the crew as they came through the door and said "Well, you guys look like shit. What happened?" Kaydle and Jay helped Shotz to a chair while the other remaining crewmate grabbed a seat of his own and then proceeded to light up his own blunt. "Well," said Shotz, "I got popped, we lost a man, Kaydle ate a dude, and Snowman is dead as all hell. How was your night Bossman?" Zulu motioned for one of his henchmen and said, "Go get the doc and tell him we need a patch for Shotz. Jay, are you good?" Jay nodded as he wiped the blood of his fallen comrade from his face. "Good, and Kaydle? How are you feeling now?" She hadn't really given it much thought, but now that things were calm, she could focus on herself and assess her state of mind. "I feel...I don't know. It's kind of hard to explain but I feel alive. I haven't really thought about it, but my heart? It doesn't beat anymore. Before we left I felt a little frazzled and hollow. Now I feel, stronger? If that makes sense? And this might sound weird, and I don't know how else to say this, but I feel like I can almost FEEL Alison. She's alive. I know it. It's like a slight buzzing inside of me and when I focus? It feels like her. The bond we always had. There's something else too. I keep getting these visions of the bastard who started all of this shit. Damien. When I was attacking Snowman, right before Shotz nearly blew my God damn shoulder off," Shotz quickly interjected, "What?! I dropped my shit and it went off, MY BAD." "Anyways," Kaydle continued,

"As I was draining Snowman, I could like, SEE Damien. It was weird. It was like his eyes were looking through mine. I didn't like that shit at all." Zulu took a moment to process what he had just heard as his henchman from before entered the room with the crew's personal doctor. "Man fuck!" said Shotz, knowing what was about to happen. "This shit about to hurt worse than getting shot. Come on man get this shit out of my leg." Shotz took a shot of bourbon and poured some on his wound then hissed in pain. "And that's why they call me Shotz." He groaned as the doctor got to work. Zulu then responded to Kaydle. "As I suspected. The more you feed? The stronger you will become. You said you could sense Alison as well correct? Well from what I've read, vampires of the same family or brood, grow a sense for one another. If what you say is true, then I'm confident she is alive and has been turned like you." Kaydle sat for a minute to process what Zulu said to her. Jay sat next to her and began to roll up a blunt for himself. As she pondered the information from Zulu and scraped dried blood from her fingernails, an idea crept into her mind.

 "Hey um, Jay? Could I have some? And a wrap too?" Jay fumbled around in his pocket and pulled out some extra blunt wraps, then handed them and some of his personal stash to Kaydle. "I mean that's straight with me but I was about to roll up." Kaydle began to break the weed down and started spreading it evenly throughout the blunt wrap, along with the remaining dried blood flakes from her nails. Both Jay and Shotz watched with a look of disgust on their faces. "UGH! What in the hell are you doing?!" Said Shotz as he watched Kaydle while the doctor finished stitching his bullet wound. Kaydle finished rolling her blunt, lit it, then took a deep drag and said, "I fucking KNEW it! This hits hard as hell!" She said as she exhaled a cloud of blood-infused marijuana smoke while sitting back as waves of ecstasy washed through her entire body. Zulu observed the whole scenario, then chimed in, "Interesting. So you were always a smoker. I have to admit when you smoked with Shotz before and said it didn't do much for you? I was a little taken aback myself seeing as how all of our product is highly concentrated and imported from overseas. It would make sense with a touch of dried blood? You'll get the high you seek. Very interesting." Kaydle took another drag then responded, "Hell yeah I think this is it for me from here on out.  Do you guys want a hit?" Both Shotz and Jay responded simultaneously, "Hell fuck no!" Kaydle smirked and continued to enjoy her blood-blunt.

Back in town, the early morning sunlight cast a calming glow through the windows of the police station that Kaydle made her daring escape from. A disgruntled Detective Hernandez stood in the middle of the station with a very serious look on his face. "This is unacceptable." He growled, "You mean to tell me that Kaydle somehow managed to escape her cell and make a clean getaway? I should have never left here with you people. Do you know what kind of chaos is erupting in the city? Things finally calm down and I'm JUST now getting word that Kaydle is missing? Pull up the security footage NOW." He barked at the officers. The door to the captain's office opened and the precinct captain stood in the entryway holding his morning coffee. He was surprisingly calm due to the circumstances. He turned his attention to the detective and said, "Ah Detective Hernandez. how nice of you to join us. Please don't yell at my men, we already have enough on our hands trying to keep this whole situation under wraps. We lost a man the other night. Step into my office and I'll be more than happy to review the footage with you."

Detective Hernandez

Hernandez entered the captain's office and closed the door behind him. "I'm not going to lie captain, you don't seem as bothered as you should be seeing as how you lost a man and our only lead is a small girl who should have been well looked after. I hope whatever footage you're about to show me has a damn good explanation for all of this shit." The captain slicked his blonde hair back then motioned for Hernandez to have a seat as he prepared another cup of coffee for the detective. "Please, Hernandez is it? You can call me Holt. You have to understand. This is a small, quiet community. These people are already shaken up over the disappearance of that Alison girl. Luckily I pulled some strings with the coroner to have the officer's death classified as a self-inflicted wound due to mishandling his firearm." Hernandez took a sip of the coffee momentarily before a very concerned look spread over his face. "Why in the hell would you need to do something like that? From the message I received, it was my understanding that you had lost a man that night. Why would things need to be covered up?" 

Captain Holt

Captain Holt scrolled around on his computer momentarily then motioned the detective over. "Well to be totally honest Detective? It would have been much harder to explain this." He clicked play on the video of the night of Kaydle's escape. Hernandez observed closely. "What did she say to the officer on duty that made his whole demeanor change? After their brief exchange, it was like he was a totally different...holy shit. Holy SHIT. That's impossible...she punched a hole through him?! Captain, what exactly am I looking at here?" Holt took another sip of his coffee and then responded. "I'm just as puzzled as you are Detective. I do know one thing though. That is NOT a normal person. No normal human being can possess that type of strength. He wasn't a weak man either, not that it matters, but still for a war-hardened marine to get effortless slaughter in such a violent fashion? It doesn't make sense. At all. That's why I've been trying to keep this under wraps. This town would be crawling with the FBI and other government agencies if any word of this got out. You said things had recently gotten hectic in the city correct? Before you came in, I just so happened to be reading over the subway incident from last night. I read somewhere that a few of the victims had wounds that could have only been inflicted by a large animal, among the gunshots that is. Was there any footage to be reviewed?"

Detective Hernandez placed his mug down and responded, "Unfortunately no. The city isn't as well maintained as it should be. Most of the drug-dealing gangbangers are known to convene in that particular station due to the lack of working cameras. By the time my men got there? There was nothing but bodies and shell cases. I understand where your thought process is going though, especially after reviewing that footage. This can't be a coincidence. Kaydle must have something to do with this as well. I'm unsure how she would even get involved with that crowd. Some of those men were members of a large Latin street gang, Los Chicos de la Muerte, the Boys of Death. Their leader is a very violent, repeat offender who goes by the name of Snowman. I don't know what entirely went down, but I do know none of the bodies at the scene were him, unfortunately. My apologies for my outburst earlier. I've dealt with Kaydle before a few years back. A very bright young woman but clearly a troubled individual. I'm heading back into the city. I'll stop by her family home before I do so to see if they've heard anything about her whereabouts. Thank you for your time, Captain Holt." The captain nodded and Detective Hernandez silently made his exit. 

Detective Hernandez arrived at the Jensen family home moments after departing from the police station. He grabbed his hat and stepped out of his vehicle to observe the scenery. "Kind of getting a sense of what Holt meant by keeping things under wraps. This is a quiet community. The total opposite of the city." He said to himself as he approached the door. He knocked three times and listened silently momentarily. "No car in the driveway. Her mother must be at work. I'll try again later." As he turned to make his exit, the lock unlatched and there stood Kaydle's brother Kincaid. "Shouldn't you be in school kid? It's nearly noon. Is your mother home?"

Kincaid wiped his eyes and gave the detective a curious look then said, "Who in the hell are you?" The response from Kincaid forced Hernandez to raise his eyebrow as he replied, "Well I can only assume you to be Kaydle's brother. I'm Detective Hernandez. I just had a few questions about your sister and I was wondering if your mother was home?" After Hernandez explained who he was, Kincaid's undying loyalty to his sister kicked in and put him in a tightlipped mind state. "What more do you need to know? you pigs already snatched my sister up and threw her in a hole. Besides, I don't have to talk to you. I'm not even 18 yet and no my mother isn't home. Fuck off." Detective Hernandez grew slightly irritated at the disrespect shown to him by a child. He sternly responded, "Look kid, your sister might be involved with some bad people. The type of people who find the family members of their enemies just to prove a point. If You want to be a rebel? Then by all means go ahead, but for you and your mother's sake? If you know anything then you need to let me know. I'll leave my card. If anything pops up then feel free to give me a call." Kincaid rolled his eyes and slammed the door shut as Hernandez dropped his card on the porch and walked off. "What in the hell is with this family? Ay dios mio." He said as he hopped in his car and began his drive back into the city. 

Back in the cavern where the vampires dwelled in secrecy, Damien pondered his situation in his private area. "Filthy humans...Our family used to rule these lands with an iron fist, but now we've dwindled in numbers severely. Forced to feed off the foul, tainted blood of the homeless and exercise enthusiasts who just so happen to wander deep enough into these woods. Arguing over scraps with those wretched mongrels. If things were up to my stubborn sister, our family would perish. I'll be the one to restore order and power to our name. Kaydle is growing in strength. I can feel it. Good. once we reunite she'll be the perfect instrument to induce our take over. Her little friend's transformation is not what I expected. Perhaps that abomination can be put to use as well." He then slicked his ghostly-white hair back and continued with his train of thought. "The daughter of a slayer turned by me. Danielle would more than likely cast me out if she caught word of any of this before my plan came to fruition. It will only be a matter of time before she begins to sense Kaydle as well. Luckily Alison's blood has been tainted with the filth of those disgusting mongrels. She won't be so easy to detect."

Damien let a sinister grin spill across his face as he indulged himself in his arrogance. He felt as though his plan was fool-proof and could only delight in how things were playing out in secrecy. He took a sip from a blood-filled chalice and continued to speculate on his current situation. "Perhaps once nightfall hits I'll stop by and pay my little underling a visit." He let a short, silent laugh escape his mouth as he kicked his feet up and continued to drink from his chalice. "See you soon Kaydle." 

Detective Hernandez arrived at the coroner's office in the city to obtain any additional information on the subway shooting victims. He mentally wrestled with the information given to him earlier by Captain Holt. "I just don't understand how that little girl could easily take that man out. It doesn't make any sense. None of this shit is making sense." He thought as he made his way to the examination room. He tapped on the door and swiftly entered where he was met by the two coroners assigned to examine the victims. "There any updates on those bodies? Hoping to get an I.D. on the black male. I highly doubt he was a part of Snowman's gang. These guys aren't known for interracial dealings." The doctors halted their examination briefly and one responded, "Don't know too much about this guy aside from the fact that he's definitely not bulletproof. These guys aren't normally known to carry around proper identification. I think I've seen him before though. There's a black-owned nightclub not too far from that subway station that a cousin of mine tried to drag me to. Not really my scene but I'm almost positive I saw this kid around there when I dropped my cousin off. More than once too. You might want to check there."

Detective Hernandez nodded then turned towards the exit. "Thanks for the tip fellas. Could you write down the club name? I think I'll stop by there later on." The coroner scribbled some information on a piece of paper and then passed it to Hernandez. "Gentlemen." Said the detective as he tipped his hat in gratitude and made his exit. 

Zulu's club was closed during the day, but in the back rooms business was being conducted as usual. Kaydle had been admiring Zulu's weapon collection to keep herself busy in the daytime. She wasn't an expert on vampirisms, but she was fairly certain a walk through the park in broad daylight might be detrimental to her health as she was not only on the run but a creature of the night as well. "Is it common for gang leaders to have a collection of swords?" She said to Zulu as she glossed over the weapons with a hint of infatuation. She was always interested in the art of war. "Well," he responded, "I cannot speak for everyone, but in my village, it was common for the men to be trained swordsmen. My father was a very skilled swordsman and I myself had some training early on. I could show you a thing or two. I know you are much faster and stronger than me, but learning the proper techniques could potentially turn you into an absolute weapon yourself." Kaydle grabbed a sword and then examined it and responded, "That actually sounds badass. Should give me something to do in the daytime anyways."

Zulu walked over to his collection and grabbed a sword himself then said, "I've been thinking. How do you feel about joining our family and running jobs for our crew? You could have a safe haven here and get paid well to look after my men." Kaydle continued to study the sword in her hand and responded without adverting her gaze up from the weapon. "That doesn't sound like a bad gig to be totally honest. I don't really see myself sitting in a cell and I definitely can't go back home. So what do you want me to do? Be a drug dealing bodyguard?" Zulu smirked as he raised his weapon and signaled for Kaydle to mimic his form. " Well, you don't have to worry about the dealing part, we've got that under control. All you would have to do is accompany my men on certain runs. That being said, there's also the matter of your um, appetite." 

Zulu swung his blade through the air then Kaydle mimicked his every move and then replied, "Yeah, about that...after those feedings, I do feel more powerful and of clear mind, but I also feel like my strength is fading. It's not as bad as when I first started to feel this crazy hunger, but I can sense it coming back. Just smelling the blood from Shotz's wound was beginning to trigger me a bit. What exactly did you have in mind for that? Because I'm not sure how long I can go before I freak the hell out and bite the nearest person to me." Zulu raised his sword and beckoned Kaydle forward. "Right. You see in this line of work? Bodies tend to pile up. For every body, there's a new enemy or previous one with more motive to take us out. That's where YOU come in." Their swords clashed as they slipped into an all-out sparring session. Kaydle was learning at a rapid rate from watching Zulu and countering his attacks. "Ah, you are very fast indeed. Show me just how fast you can really-" Zulu's words were cut short as Kaydle swiftly moved to his back side and held her sword to his ribs.

"Yeah," she replied with a grin, "I don't think you really want to see how fast I can actually move. I'm starting to get the hang of this shit. Keep teaching me and I promise not to cut you in half." Zulu laughed nervously as he replied, "Funny you put it that way because I was about to say something similar." A knock at the door cut the tension of their intense sparring session. "It's open," said Zulu as he placed his sword back on the rack. A concerned Jay entered the room and said, "Some cop lookin' muafucka sniffing around outside the front. You wanna come see about him?" Kaydle placed her weapon down as well and replied, "Cop? Like a regular cop or a detective? Tan coat?" Jay nodded and said, "Yeah...how in the hell you know that?" She cursed under her breath then replied, "I bet it's fucking Hernandez. The detective who originally questioned me about all this shit. How could he have found me?" Zulu held up his hand to signal silence, then said, "Ah Detective Hernandez. He's got a personal interest in gang activity. He might be here about the shooting. We're closed as far as he's concerned. I expect he'll be back during business hours."

Jay nodded then took a look around the room and said, "Hey hold on. What were yall doing? Sword fighting? Man Zulu you know I wanna learn that shit, put me on!" Zulu glanced over at Kaydle and then responded to Jay. "Oh trust me I have not forgotten about you. I remember you asking. Perhaps once I teach Kaydle everything I know, she can teach you. I feel as though she has an insane speed advantage. You learning from her could mold you into a machine. Think about it." Jay sat in silence as he considered Zulu's offer. Although Zulu was a trained swordsman, he did have a good point. Learning how to sword fight from an actual vampire would indeed give him an edge. "Also Jay, it would give you the chance to get to know the newest member of our family a little better." Again Jay nodded in agreement and the three of them silently left the room and began planning their next move.