Sunset Strip: A Tale From The Tome Of Bill (21 page)

I was in dire straits. A small part of me even hoped that Kara finally took the hint. This was the point in a sappy romantic drama where the jilted lover would grow a set and rise up to strike down her tormentor. Alas, that shit only happens in the movies. I was in a bad place, and the only way out was to rely on the one person I could -
myself
.

My head lolled back and my eyelids fluttered, only partially of my own volition. My insides dripped out in great globules from the wound in my stomach. There was no way I was going to be able to take much more.

“Hey now, baby,” Mark chided, “you’re not supposed to fall asleep until it’s all ov...ARGH!”

I drove my head forward and felt the satisfying crunch of his nose breaking.

Before either of us could do anything about it, we were both underwater again as another surge swept into us. It wouldn’t be long now before this tunnel was completely flooded.

It also wouldn’t be long now for me. The disgusting water filled with the scent of my blood. I could only imagine the unsanitary things filling my body's open cavity.

Fuck that! No way was I going out like this. The end of the world was coming and I, for one, wanted to be around to see it.

We continued to struggle in the deluge against both the current and one another. The murky water had one advantage - it left everything good and slippery. The wave subsided and I yanked back my left arm just as my head surfaced again. Barlow lost his grip, and I used my newly freed appendage to pull Mark’s arm from my body.

It was a good effort - it just wasn’t enough. Though we might’ve been on equal terms on any other given day, I was wounded badly. He pushed me back and my ruined leg gave way.

I went to one knee and was rewarded with an uppercut to the chin, sending me down to the floor of the catwalk, now inches below the rising waterline.

I rolled onto my back and looked up. Mark grinned down at me in the darkness with Barlow standing beside him. Off to one side, Kara sat motionless against the wall - coughing out water and being more or less useless.

I tried to think of my remaining options and came up empty.

Mark’s foot buried itself in my midsection and I let out a gasp of pain that found me choking on a combination of flood water and my own blood.

So this was it? Not quite how I envisioned checking out.

I blinked sludge from my eyes, and saw Mark’s smile had grown even wider. He began to unbuckle his belt. He meant to have his pound of flesh, and there wasn’t a goddamned thing I could do about it. Oh well, at least I wouldn’t enjoy it. That would show him.

Just then, something caught my eye. I glanced past them, surprised. The orange light of the morning sun filtered in from far above through what must have been a manhole or grate.

Huh. I hadn’t realized so much time had passed, nor would I have guessed that the storm had ended judging by the epic flood surrounding us.

“Any chance you want to share her with me, boss?” Barlow asked as more dim sunlight appeared above their heads.

“Why not?” Mark replied over his shoulder. “Consider it your first fringe benefit under my regime.”

Multiple dots of daylight blinked above them. Maybe there was a chance after all. If I could grab them both with the last of my strength, maybe I could hold them long enough for a few stray rays to hit us down here. It was a long shot and wouldn’t end well for me, but at least we’d all go out in a blaze of...

Wait a second. That wasn’t sunlight up above.

Sunlight doesn’t blink.

I focused my gaze and saw the ceiling undulate as at least three of those rock creatures disengaged from it. One of them turned toward me and for just a second a mockery of flesh replaced the rocky skin of its face. It smiled an obsidian grin at me...the same face I’d seen in the casino the night before.

Mark must have noticed my look of shock, because he turned - albeit not before planting a boot in my chest to keep me put. Smart. Marlene had taught him well after all.

Smart, but sadly not fast enough. The creatures launched themselves at us. One landed on Barlow and immediately buried its granite-like teeth into his shoulder. It tore loose a mound of his flesh as they both tumbled over the catwalk railing and into the water below.

A familiar flash of light from beneath the surface momentarily lit up the room. The asshole had met his well-deserved fate.

Mark, however, was both smarter and tougher than his henchman. He sidestepped and shoved one of the creatures over into the torrent below. The third, my
friend
from the other night, had landed with the apparent intent of finishing me off, but turned instead toward the greater threat. Under different circumstances I might have been insulted, but decided to let it slide just this once.

Mark and the beast grappled while I summoned the last of my strength to roll out of the way. I backpedaled and found myself next to Kara. We were both a mess, just in different ways. At least I had the advantage of seeing what was going on.

A high pitched keening sound escaped her lips as I brushed against her, her brain apparently having been pushed into overload. That was one advantage her brother had on her. He’d grown up on dorky shit. The sight before us would have probably just given him a hard-on.

Great!
There
was an image I didn’t need stuck in my head.

Another wave struck the catwalk and it shuddered. Things were definitely getting worse - not that they were all that good to begin with. We were probably minutes at most away from being completely underwater.

If the creature won, I was fucked. If Mark won, I was likewise fucked - probably literally.

The girl was useless as anything but a paperweight at this point. Thus, there was only one possible solution to this problem - me. What a surprise.

* * *

Bracing my good leg beneath my body, I began to inch my way back to a standing position. I almost didn’t make it. As Mark continued to struggle with the shape shifter, I almost fell on my ass - twice. My left leg refused to support my weight, its healing no doubt retarded by the blood still spurting out of my body.

By the time I did make it up, using the wall as support, I was even more lightheaded. Forget coke - there’s nothing like a near-mortal wound to produce a killer high.

The thought of cocaine brought with it memories of Jeff, though. He’d been responsible for nearly all of this...a chain reaction on legs. Thinking of him, Colin’s betrayal, and all the things that had been done to me as a result brought with it a wave of anger to rival the storm surge. My eyes flashed to black and my head momentarily cleared.

There was no time to waste - I had the feeling I wouldn't get another second wind.

I hobbled forward to where the creature was slowly forcing Mark back. He was pressed up against the railing of the catwalk, the rock monster’s back to me as it tried to lean in and give him one hell of a hickey.

I stumbled as I finally reached them, but that was fine. Neither had noticed me close the gap. They’d regret disregarding me as a threat.

I grasped the creature from the bottom and heaved with everything I had to give, using my good leg as leverage. Ugh! The fucking thing weighed a ton. I barely managed it, but that was good enough for the accounting.

Both combatants, locked in a death struggle, flipped over the edge.

The creature tumbled into the water below, but Mark was both lighter and more agile. He twisted out of the monster’s grasp and was able to grab hold of the railing with one hand. He hung partly in the rushing water while I watched, unsure whether to be glad or horrified. Looking up at me, he smiled a predatory grin as he started to pull himself up. Guess he wasn’t quite ready to let bygones be bygones.

I didn’t have much left to fight back with, but then again, maybe I didn’t need much. His grin became a whole lot less smug as I slammed the claws of my hand into the back of his.

“You fucking whore!”

“For the last time, I was just a dancer!” I spat, tired of being called that.

He reached up with his free arm. That’s when I saw the lights from below. Orange eyes rose up from beneath him. Their glow cut through even the murk of the water. I’ve seen some messed up shit in my time, but the sight below chilled even me to the bone.

I could only stare, wide-eyed, as they burst from the water around Mark. Arms made of razor-sharp rock wrapped around his body. One of the creatures bit into his side, taking a hunk of flesh as if it were some sort of supernatural shark.

Mark let loose a scream of pain. The shock on his face mirrored that from when I had attacked him all those years ago. In that moment, my heart broke. All of this...every single moment...was my fault.

“Help me!” he cried. Instinctively, I pulled my claws from his hand and grasped his wrist instead.

“Please, Lucinda!”

I looked down at him and felt the disparate worlds inside of my head collide. Christy was right. He did look a bit like Bill...

That’s when things began to grind to a halt for me.

* * *

He looked like Bill, but he wasn’t. Mark had once been a decent man, but he’d let the beast inside bury all that was good about him. He’d given in to the anger, the need for vengeance.

Bill had only been a vampire for a short while, but in that time, he’d seen more than some vamps a hundred times his age. Through it all, he’d somehow managed to stay himself. Whether it was his friends, his family, or his fucking dorky sensibility, he continually fought and won against his darker half. Not only that, but he’d somehow managed to drag me along for the ride.

The creatures continued to swarm Mark. He tried to fight back, but one pinned his other arm, and they began to drag him down. My grip began to slip under the weight. I needed to...

“Help me, Lu,” he pleaded. “I never stopped loving you.”

Thanks to Bill, I had been pulled back into the light...but only partially. There was a part of me that had tasted the darkness and liked it...a part I wasn’t quite ready to give up yet, if ever. That part of me was strong, a survivor...a woman who would never again let others manipulate her.

That wasn’t all, though. She was also a monster.

I heard the deceit in his voice, saw the lie behind his frightened eyes. The little girl in me stepped willingly aside. This was a man who had kidnapped an innocent woman, all in the name of petty revenge.

“Lucinda died a long time ago. My name is Sally.”

I let go.

Chapter 33

1981

“Quit your fucking whining and let’s go,” Night Razor growled.

I shrank back from him. “We don’t have to do this, master. I’ll try harder. I promise.”

He turned toward me, his eyes darkening with annoyance. “See, that’s exactly the problem.
I’ll try harder, I promise
,” he mocked. “We are the lords of the night. We own this town and everything in it. You disgust me. I had high hopes when I dragged you out of that whore house in Vegas. Figured I’d have to put a leash on you to keep you from cutting a swath through humanity. Instead, you sit there like a mouse every night. I swear to God if you weren’t such a good lay, I’d have staked you myself by now.”

I stood there and took the abuse. Every bit of it was true. The thing was I deserved it. I was in Hell, and I deserved it. Not a night went by when the faces of those I killed didn’t stare back at me from the shadows, haunting me: Minnie, Tina, and poor Mark. I’d killed more since then, all at Night Razor’s insistence. It was either them or me. I hated myself but was afraid of truly dying more...or more precisely, what Night Razor would do to me before letting me die.

“Is everything all right?” the man behind the desk, the night watchman of this apartment building no doubt, asked us.

“My boyfriend and I were just here to visit my sister,” I replied, disgusted at the lie. Night Razor was about as much a boyfriend as Marlene had been my mother. Both of them were monsters, each of whom had claimed domain over me in their own way.

“Oh?” the man replied, his tone doubtful. “And her name would be?”

He was probably hoping to trip us up, give him a reason to throw us out. I was tempted to say a fake name, let him kick us to the curb, but that would’ve just made Night Razor even madder. “Linda Carlsbad.”

“Okay then,” he replied, semi mollified but still distrusting. “I’ll call her and let her know you’re coming up.”

Before he even finished the sentence, he’d signed his own death warrant. Faster than even my enhanced reflexes could follow, Night Razor crossed the distance between them. His hand closed upon the man’s neck and squeezed, instantly cutting his air off. The watchman clawed at him in silent protest, but there was nothing he could do against such power.

Thankfully, it didn’t last long. His eyes bulged and his struggles weakened. At last, he went still. Night Razor gave the man’s head a twist, snapping his neck more for amusement than any other reason. He then gently sat the watchman down, folding his arms below him as if he were asleep.

“There,” he replied happily. Killing always put the sick son of a bitch in a better mood. “Now, where were we?”

It was my fault that we were there. Betty...
Firebird
had taken to the night life, as we called it, like a fish to water. She hadn’t held a grudge against my turning her, and in fact had been ecstatic to have discovered she was stronger, faster, and would keep her good looks forever. I, on the other hand, was having trouble letting go, embracing my new
life,
as Night Razor called it.

Upon arriving in New York, I’d immediately purloined some recent issues of the Las Vegas Sun from the public library in the hopes of learning anything of the aftermath of my rampage. At the very least, I’d hoped to find Mark’s obituary, reading that his loved ones were there when he was laid to rest. That would have given me some comfort. Sadly, there was no news of the kind. It was like the people I had murdered simply vanished straight off the face of the planet. As if they’d never even existed.