“So let me get this straight,” sighed the captain. He pinched the bridge of his nose with thick fingers. The nameplate on his desk read ‘James P. Barker’.Detective Bell stood imperiously in front of him, arms crossed, eyebrow arched.I sat in a chair behind the detective holding a cup of sludge the evil front lady from the black lagoon had deceptively (and, no doubt, maliciously) fronted as ‘coffee.'“Someone stole a dead-n...

PrologueI stared dolefully down into my near-empty bag of coffee beans. The new order wasn’t supposed to arrive until next week, which meant it was either a great pot of coffee for tonight’s shift followed by almost a week’s worth of government supplied coffee grinds, or five nights of weak, watery, near bland coffee.I sighed.I upended the contents of the bag into the grinder, brought up the evening body count on my compu...

The Highly Recommended Witch DoctorIt was ugly, possibly the ugliest tattoo I had ever seen. The colour didn’t do him much justice either. A dark red ink ran across his face. Clearly some kind of animal but one could easily mistake it for a large scar.Maybe he intentionally got himself an ugly tattoo? It would be befitting of a witch doctor, create an environment that made the visitor think about death and violence. I tho...

Gwen drove home slowly as the rising sun bathed the city and shone directly into her eyes. Her mind drifted over the past day's events, which left her confused, befuddled and pleasantly surprised. Handling Raven and convincing her that the information she passed was valid and really might prove difficult, but Slade and Leona knew what they were doing. She would rely heavily on them. Maria, her friend, convinced her to sta...

Vampires Lullaby Chapter 11Chapter 11: Countdown to DeathI did as Vladimir told me, scooping Alex into my arms. Vladimir was quite far away, protecting his human relative. I had to find a way to get Alex somewhere safe."Vladimir. Hurry!"I managed to weave a path, Vladimir close behind with Alex’s father."Mars. Over there."Vladimir pointed to a small shack."You’re not going anywhere. My first creation."A man with long brow...

She whisked a strand of hair from her face as her eyes narrowed peeking through the crack of the door. Sarah silently watched, as Dia displayed how easily capable she was at taking down the demon. She played in her head, what Steve had told her about the demon placing Dia under a spell, but that couldn't be further from the truth. She could almost feel sorry that she couldn't use magic, but she felt more unsettled and mor...

The television buzzed in the background flipping through various channels before just landing on some movie no one cared to pay attention to. Dia busied herself on her laptop hacking into the wifi and investigating all the residents in the housing complex and the one next door. She clearly paid no mind to the boys who were scattered about the room each keeping to their own thoughts. The silence disturbed Fatima immensely...

This is what they meant when they said ‘dark as pitch’. Clarissa shuffled along, one hand on the clammy wall to guide her, the other held out to keep her from bumping into something or – much as she hated to consider it – someone. She felt confident that if she kept along the wall, she would soon encounter a door. Surely every room had to have a door, albeit that she’d come to the conclusion that there were either no wind...

As soon as Slade hung up with Gustaf and left the orders for taking care of Molly and Carlo, the meeting broke up, and everyone went about their duties. Gwen was the only one left, who did not have anything to do or anyplace to go. She felt going home would be a waste of time because she was not tired. Her nerves were on edge with the thought of going against Raven. She wanted to run, but going to the farm was too far. Sh...

Gwen sat at her small kitchen table drinking a cold glass of water. The room was dark, and her mind clouded with confusion about the decisions she needed to make. Raven asked her some tough questions of choice. Should she spy on the succubus investigation and arrest of Carlo to report back to Raven? Should she say 'NO' and stay as a witness helping capture the succubus killer and her group of fey led by Carlo? These were...

Dark watched the sky turn from the endless black to grey and then soft hues of pink and orange, as he walked down the empty streets of the city. Occasionally, he would pass a vagabond or two muttering nonsense to themselves. These mortals not only disgusted him, but a few managed to unnerve him slightly, one dirty old lady looked to be an old gypsy. She took one look at him and kept repeating, "Wings drip red." He made hi...

Chapter 10: The Final Trial The man who ordered Alex’s capture approached his loyal servant. A green haired vampire with only one arm and one eye stepped from the shadows. "Seeker, it’s time. Bring the others together and take Vladimir’s precious treasure back to him." The man kneeled. "As you wish, but I thought you needed the red-head?" "It will no longer matter. His role is about to end." Mars and Luka assembled their...

Red hair flared out from the gusting wind as what little amount of moonlight illuminated the color enough to stand out. The wind whistled and howled whilst being joined by the constant lapping of choppy waves far below. With her feet hooked just under the railing, she hung down letting herself dangle from the bridge. She saw from a distance the lights of the city, she would do this on a closer bridge, but too many passers...

Sometimes, as the sages taught us, it is the very darkest of nights that bring the most illuminating truths. So it was when Piotr found himself suddenly on a cliff-top in the middle of a dream one night; well that is how it seemed. Let me try to explain. Piotr had gone to bed, as usual, that evening at around 11 pm. He had switched off the light in his small living room, wandered to the kitchen to draw a glass of water an...

Raven picked up the sheaf of papers Jody dropped on her desk and looked at the compiled information. The first few pages contained normal biographical data or lack thereof. However, the financial pages attracted Raven's attention. Before she had a chance to read them, Jody popped in to remind Raven it was time to leave. Gwen waited for Raven at her townhouse and Jody wanted to leave early. Raven stuffed the papers into he...