NOVEL NEXT Chapter 9: Apartments are Complex – Part 5.
Unwilling to use Sylvie’s hand as a constant focus, Casey split off her normal mind with that of her supernatural one, where anything was possible. Allowing the blood to flow freely through her limbs and combining that with the image of a tiny bulbous shiny black spider with the super red hourglass hallmark, Casey felt herself shrink down to the sizes that she’d remembered while getting them out of the family lakehouse. Transformation complete, Casey blinked her goldy spider eyes up at Sylvie with a sun sparkle radiating from them.
“I swear you were born to be a vampire, Casey.” Sylvie cooed with delight. “Not even one day and you have the basics without any issue.” Watching as the tiny spider walked into her palm, Sylvie continued. “Now you can go in there and test your blood to poison theory. Want to make your own way or want me to place you at the front door? Tap once on your own, twice for the door.” Two little taps from Casey’s black spider legs provided the answer.
Casey leapt from Sylvie’s palm and skittered to the edge of the door frame, luckily finding a broken part of the door itself, then crawled under and into the living room. Much like the rest of the apartment complex, this abode was structured with the main room in front, an adjoining kitchen and a basement just like Vera’s apartment. Unlike other apartments, this one had been redesigned so it was a functional drug den. Odd chemical scents filled the air as the workers in the kitchen manufactured LSD, Meth, and even cooked crack cocaine beside the other more common drugs like marijuana. Successful results of the drug creations were all over the apartment in the form of people being high and well as passed out from euphoria.
Beginning her in-depth purge of the apartment, Casey quickly crawled over one of the armed guards and found a spot on his arm. Using all four of her fangs to her advantage, Casey punctured and separated the four holes for use. Two injected her vile blood-venom and two allowed her to drink the man’s blood from the open wound.
“Oww!!! Fuck!” One armed guard stood up and started trying to pluck the vampire spider from his arm in a panic. “Get this thing off…” Was the last thing the dealer said before he passed out on the floor due to convolutions from Casey’s poison. Strangling on his own poison-laden spit and vomit that erupted from his mouth, the man let out a final gasp before passing into unconsciousness.
Three other gang members jumped from where they had been carelessly sprawled out and began screaming and stomping at the floor, trying in vain to squash the little monstrous black widow. Each time one member would stomp, Casey easily bounced and found an open space to dig her fangs in.
Within the initial ten minutes of entering the abode, Casey had neutralized the dealers and gang members laying in a poisoned mess throughout. Quickly changing back to her human-vampire form, Casey looked around the place and found the hidden booby traps and trip wires that would have detonated the rooms much like Sylvie had seen. “You are the best, Sylvie. Everyone to my knowledge is dead, so let's dismantle this place.”
-This reminds me of the song Toy Soldiers.-
Casey thought to herself and waited for her girlfriend to arrive. “I am pretty sure that there are a few more downstairs, but I don’t think they are anything but bean counters.” Casey chuckled and embraced Sylvie as she entered.
“Let me do that, Sweetness.” Sylvie winked and pointed to the rest of the apartment. “Let’s set off the traps after the money's gone and such. No sense leaving this place so it can re-open, just like we planned.”
Making her way silently down the steps, Sylvie stayed in the natural shadow of the basement to observe what was going on. All the space in the basement had been taken up with personal-size desks with mechanical money counters and older women who counted and sealed stacks of one hundred dollars equaling ten thousand in every bundle. “Impressive.” Sylvie whispered as she scanned the room. She noticed that the slight whisper from the shadow alerted a couple guards that had been watching the workers. Sylvie watched silently as the two turned on a couple flashlights to illuminate the dark.
Hearing the subtle clicks, Sylvie sprang to the ceiling and crawled along like she’d done many times and dropped down on the armed guard. One fluid move later, the elder vampire had the man’s mouth covered and plunged her fangs into his neck then drawing blood until he turned to dust. Sprinting over before the second guard could pull the trigger on his gun, Sylvie broke the man’s hand and drained him as well.
Scanning the room, Sylvie called for Casey to come down with something to carry the cash in. Noticing that the women that were chained to their seats and had started whimpering and shaking seeing a real vampire for the first time, Sylvie made a quick decision. “Casey, Let’s enthrall them all and then set them free with whatever they can carry.”
Shortly after Sylvie and Casey had the slave-workers free and running quietly out of the front door to whatever lives they could scratch out given the ton of money they carried with them. “That’s settled.” Sylvie happily proclaimed. “We make a great team, Casey.” Sylvie blew a lighthearted kiss to Casey as she filled the bags that Casey had found.
“We do.” Casey laughed and returned the kiss. “I’ll burn the place after you are out, if that’s alright with you?”
Sylvie lost count of the bundles that she’d collected then decided to go out and back to Vera’s apartment. “Fine with me, my Sunlight. I’ll meet you at Vera’s.”
Minutes later the couple appeared back at the elder woman’s apartment to find Amos working diligently on the young mother. “What the hell did she get into Sylvie?” Amos looked up partly worried for his patient. “It is everything I can do to keep her alive. Whatever did this crushed part of this woman’s skull.” Amos pointed at the woman’s eye socket. “I don’t have the tools to repair that, even if I truly knew how.”
Sylvie sprinted downstairs and deposited the bags of cash on the floor and then reappeared for Amos. “That was from her husband. I swore I told you that.”
With a half-grin on his face, Amos shook his head and continued. “No dearie, you just said she was hurt. Very cryptic as usual.” Amos cleared his throat. “I am personally left with one choice, or we take her to a hospital.”
Casey spoke up as she came out of the basement. “The boy needs his mother. I am assuming you mean to turn her into a vampire, right Amos?”
Amos nodded his head, “She’s not my friend, Sylvie. The decision is honestly yours and somewhat hers. You devised this plan, so there’s that much. Becoming a vampire isn’t necessarily a chosen path. If you want to save her, either Casey or I will have to do it.”
Vera spoke up, “Her son is upstairs and crying, I can take care of him for whatever time it takes to acclimate her to being a vampire, If that helps any.” Vera paused, “When I was in service to the others, they always asked us first since we’d been loyal blood donors.” Vera opened some of her new roommate’s belongings and managed to find her driver’s license. “Ah, here we go. Samantha Walker.” Vera smiled, “At least we have a name with a face now.” Vera saw the odd look on Sylvie’s face, “Amos dear. He went to the apartment and got her things.”
Sylvie sighed and walked over to Samantha and touched her forehead hoping that she’d get some sort of vision to help her with the decision. Concentrating on her third eye, Sylvie tried to bring forth the ability using blood and it failed like it always did. Sighing as though she’d been defeated, Sylvie shook her head slowly. “The boy needs his mother.” She paused, “Vera, while you are an amazing lady, you are elderly. The boy could end up in alternate care if Samantha dies.”
With her sunlight-filled eyes, Casey looked lovingly at her moon-goddess. “If it matters any, I say just do it. Make her a vampire or all that we did tonight for them is in vain. Seems like a no-brainer to me, she took all that abuse to save her son, not to leave him alone in the world.”
Sylvie walked over to Casey and cupped her girlfriend's cheeks, and delicately kissed her on the lips. “Consent is a big thing in my mind, Casey.” She kissed Casey again, “Time is a factor and she is unable to decide. I also see no other way.” Clutching Casey to her, Sylvie looked back at her former master. “Amos, Samantha deserves something for saving her son. I’m not fond of the way, but I’m on board.”
“I will teach her what I can and release her. I won’t keep her as a puppet for long.” Amos grinned as his fangs locked into place with a soft click. “Does this mean you will get the notebook from that newswoman for me, Luna?”
Sylvie took Casey’s hand and started for the door. “Amos you have a deal. I’ll get it back since you are doing this and you seem to really love Livia.” Sylvie flashed her half-moon eyes to her maker, “Don’t call me Luna. Please.” She shrugged, “You have at least earned the right to use my real name again.” Sylvie looked back at Casey and stood motionless for a few seconds, lost in her partner's bright buttery eyes. “Looks like we have a long night, Miss Rivers. We should get a move on, if we plan to finish this.”
Casey purred for a few seconds and then nodded, “Where you go, Moon-doll, I will follow.”