Beast Mode Warrior Page 8

  “'I swear to God, Todd!' he cried out.

  “'How do you know my name?' I screamed in his ear. 'I didn’t know your frigging name until an hour ago. What is going on here?'

  “'It was Santino!' he screamed. 'Santino gets blood thirsty and he receives assignments from another guy.'

  “'Who is this other guy?' I yelled at Momo.

  “Momo was scared and wouldn't give up his name.

  “'Look, give up this other guy's name or I'm going to beat the shit out of you.'

  Kool-Aid was sitting cross legged in the corner of the room trying to keep as much distance from me as possible. I thought it was strange he wasn't trying to physically help his brother.

  “I shook Momo and oddly enough had enough strength to lift him completely off his feet. My strength shocked the hell out of me.

  “Kool-Aid stood up and looked scared to death. He came towards me and I grabbed Kool Aid by the neck with my other hand and lifted his entire body off of the floor. Both brothers were dangling and gasping for air when Momo yelled out, 'Norman, his name is Norman.'

  “I dropped both guys to the floor. They wanted all of us to come, but only Santino was crazy enough to actually kill somebody. 'After my brother and I saw what happened to you at the diner, we knew this wasn’t for us.'

  “'Who is Norman?'

  “'Norman pays Santino for doing various jobs that no sane person would do,' Momo cried out.

  “'What the fuck does Norman have against me?'

  “'We never know Norman's motives,” Kool-Aid said, looking up at me from the floor. “He just tells Santino what needs to be done and Santino gets a crew together. It was hard to get a crew together against you. Most guys in the group either know you or heard about you. Thought you were cool. You know, poor kid being the star football player and wrestler at that preppy school. You shine, man. So, most everyone bailed out. The two who went with Santino to the diner are the weaker guys in our crew. Santino intimidated them and more than likely told them he would kill them if they didn't help. That's the way Santino does things.' he shook his head.

  “'So Norman told Santino to go to my house to kill my parents. Why my parents?' I asked.

  “'No, not to kill your parents,' Momo said. 'To kill you. Santino killed your parents on a whim.'

  “'A whim?' I was sick to my stomach. My parents were dead because I had been stuck in a gas station bathroom because of the damn sunlight. Santino was able to get to my house and kill my parents. It's a twenty minute drive from the gas station to my house. He must have done it minutes before I arrived.

  “'Santino is a sick fuck,' I said. 'Why did he bite their necks? What the hell is wrong with him? Why is he such a monster?'

  “They both looked at each other. Terror spread across their faces. 'You will soon be a monster just like him.'

  “'I'm not a monster,' I said.

  “'Soon, you will be.' Kool'Aid said.

  “'I would never be like Santino. He bit my parents necks just for the hell of it?'

  “'It wasn't for the hell of it.' Momo said, calmly. 'He needs blood to survive. Now, you will have to also.'

  “'Bite necks?' I gasped. 'Are you insane? How is Norman a part of all of this? He must play a bigger role than just telling him who to kill.'

  “Kool-Aid and Momo looked at one another until Kool-Aid nodded his head as if to say,'It's okay, tell him.'

  “Momo said in a low whisper,'Norman turned Santino the same as he turned you.'

  “'The guy in my hospital room? That was Norman?'

  “Momo nodded his head.

  “'How do you know this?' I asked, aggressively.

  “'I'm in the know. That's all I can really say.'

  “'Why are you telling me this?'

  “'Well, one you have a knife to my neck and two I feel the more you know, maybe you can change things.'

  “'Why me?'

  “'You're different,' the greaser said. “'You can stand up to these guys.'

  “'Is that what you want me to do?'

  “The greaser was quiet.

  “I stared at Momo and said, 'What exactly are you saying that I am. I know a shit load of changes have happened. So, let me in on this monster I'm becoming.'

  “Momo said, plainly, 'You're a blood thirsty immortal.'

  “'I’m immortal?” I asked. 'How’s that possible?'

  “'Norman and Santino are vampires, Momo continued. 'Now, you are too.'

  “'A vampire? Like in that book by Bram Stoker? That's insane.' I couldn't believe it. I refused to believe it. I knew something was wrong with me. But taking the leap of faith that I had become a vampire was more than I could handle at the moment. 'This can't be.'

  “'Can't it?' Momo asked.

  “'You are saying I have become a vampire. One of those things from comic books?'

  “'You're the real deal. You just are,' Kool-Aid said.

  “'You both sure know a lot for folks who weren't at the diner or my parent's house?'

  “'I swear to the virgin Mary that my brother and I weren’t there. You're looking for Santino and Norman.'

  “'Where is Norman?' I asked

  “'No one knows,' Kool-Aid said. 'He pops up out of nowhere all the time.'

  “I stood up and went to the door. 'If you warn either one of them that I am coming for them, I will come back for you and you will wish you were dead. You got it?'

  “They both nodded their heads. I left their apartment and made my way back to my dad’s car. It was time to visit Santino.

  “Where were the police in all of this? Sion blurted out.

  “I didn't know much with the police on both accounts. I gave my statements and was asked a few questions later on, but never was a suspect in my parent's death.”

  “But you knew who was responsible?” Jason said. “Why didn't you just turn Santino in and be done with the guy.”

  “Would I have been done with the guy? Who would likely escape prison with his ability to transition into a raven.”

  “That's a good point,” Tommy added.

  “I knew I needed to take care of it my way. Before that moment in my life, I would have never thought vigilante justice would be the way to go. But how things were unfolding, I knew that was my only choice for the revenge I was seeking.”

  “This story doesn't sound like it's even close to being over,” Yari said. “Let's take a potty break.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Hunter ran to the bathroom and we all laughed.

  Chapter Thirteen

  After everyone went to the bathroom and grabbed something to eat or drink, we all sat back down and looked at Todd eagerly.

  “I guess you all want to know what happened when I confronted Santino?”

  Everyone who had a pillow threw it at Todd.

  “Okay, okay. I'll finish it up. Todd positioned himself with his back against the couch and began speaking, “I drove straight to Santino’s house.

  “I found Jones liquor store and across the street was a two-story house with a smaller house, similar to the one I had lived in with my parents, behind it. By the description I was given, that was where Santino lived. They told me he lived there with his grandma. I definitely didn’t want to get his grandma involved. If he was inside, I needed to get him outside, and then we could settle our differences. I had my hunter’s knife and I knew this time I was going to have to use it. He had the same advantages as me, so I needed anything to help unbalance the scales in my favor. I'd only just been turned. I had no idea how long he had been a vampire.

  “I waited outside of Santino’s house until 5:30 in the morning. I stood across the street contemplating how best to approach him. Should I lure him out or should I bum rush the house and let the casualties be what they may? But, I wasn’t about to hurt an old lady, so I went back to my house.

  “My parent-less house.

  “And I went down to the basement and dragging my mattress with me. Then, I crashed all day. It was hot and miserable. I was go
ing to need to figure out a system, or at least have some air conditioning in the basement.

  “I called my wrestling coach, and I told him I was done for the year. He knew what had happened to my parents. I was eighteen, so the school hadn’t taken a bigger interest in my affairs. I was an adult.

  “Finally, it was 6 pm, and the sun had set. It was strange because I knew it was dark without looking outside. I walked up the basement stairs and ran to the bathroom.

  “After I finished, I went into my parent’s room. There was a lock on a walk-in closet in their bedroom. The closet wasn’t that big, but I always wanted to know what was on the other side of that door.

  “One solid kick knocked the door down. The door flew off the hinges.

  “What was behind the door was beyond my comprehension. My parents had every type of weapon you could think of in there.

  “I found myself a small sword that seemed to call my name. The sword was razor sharp. I sliced the carpet with very little force when I tested it.

  “At this point, a slice in the rug of my parent’s mystery closet didn’t concern me much. They had about a dozen silver tipped daggers. I tried touching them but the silver burned my hand. They also had a couple of daggers that weren’t dipped in silver. Those were the ones I took. So all in all I had myself the sharpest sword I had ever seen, two daggers and my hunting knife. I was armed like a mother and Santino was going to pay.

  “I strapped the sword to my back in its scabbard. I had both daggers strapped to each leg. And I still had my dad’s hunting knife in its case behind my waist.

  “Wait,” Tommy interrupted. “What were your parents doing with vampire hunting weapons in their closet?”

  “Yeah,” I said. “That's crazy.”

  Todd smiled and said, “That is a story for another day. I didn't learn about that until much later. Hell, I thought I was going to find my dad's hunting rifle and things of that nature when I busted the door down.”

  “Okay,” Tommy said, “But, you will be explaining that. That story sounds too juicy to let go.”

  “Promise,” Todd said and continued telling his story...

  “I drove the Studebaker straight to Santino’s house. The first thing I noticed was the old Plymouth was not in the back driveway like it had been the previous night.

  “There was no way Santino drove around in that grandma-mobile. I knew it in my gut that his grandma wasn’t home. Now, the question was Santino home?

  “I was about to find out.

  “I parked my car across the street in the liquor store parking lot and made my way to Santino’s house. I was completely psyched up and was ready to spill some blood. I walked around the house trying to hear if a TV was on or if music was playing. Something that would indicate that he was home. And then I heard it. I heard his deep voice in a back room.

  “He said, “I’ll be coming down.”

  “He was on the phone with someone, because I didn’t hear anyone respond. I decided to run back to my car and follow him. It was a better idea to attack him away from his grandma's house and strike when the time was right.

  “I followed Santino. He was on foot, but he moved pretty fast. I took my dad’s car and made sure I was plenty behind him. He made his way to a local burger joint, and sat in front where they had picnic tables. I debated attacking him right there but the place was too lit up. He was obviously waiting for someone.

  “Then I saw him. He was driving a Lincoln luxury automobile. It was Norman. The man who had turned me. What the hell was going on? He said he wanted me to get my revenge. Why the hell was he hanging out with and giving murder assignments to my enemy? There was an odd part of me that was secretly wishing Norman wasn't the guy who turned me. I needed to figure out what the hell Norman was trying to do. Had he turned Santino too? Why?

  “Norman pulled up into the driveway and Santino jumped into the passenger side of his car.

  “I followed them from a distance in the Studebaker. Yeah, the car was mine now.

  “They drove up to Savannah high school and parked in the parking lot. Both of them jumped out of Norman’s car and walked over to Kool-Aid and Momo’s apartment.

  “So, it appeared the brothers were in on this more than they had let on. Or so I thought.

  “I parked well away from their vehicle on the street and waited. After about twenty minutes Kool-Aid, Momo, Norman, and Santino walked to Norman’s Lincoln. When the four of them sat in the car, they talked a bit. Then Norman started his car and left the parking lot with all three greasers in the car with him.

  “He hopped on the highway and made his way toward the Inland Empire. I did my best to keep up with them. They were heading towards Lake Elsinore. I followed as close as I could. When they turned off of Lake Street so did I. Norman drove up to the west end of the lake. The four of them jumped out of Norman’s car. I watched from a distance while the four of them walked closer to the lake. I wasn’t sure what was happening and before I knew it both Santino and Norman attacked the brothers. They went for their necks and within seconds the two brothers were drained of blood and dead. I watched as the two men drank every drop they could from the brothers.

  “They had a motorboat at the end of the pier. They carried the lifeless bodies into the motorboat, drove to the middle of the lake and before I knew it fog had obscured my view.

  “They had just murdered two of their own.

  “I drove the hell out of there. I needed to rethink my plan. There was no way I could fight them both at the same time. Norman was too strong. God only knew what vampire voodoo shit he had perfected by now. How old was he?

  “I needed to go home and come up with a better plan.

  “So that was what I did.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “I woke up later in the night and it was way too hot in the basement. Southern California weather. The rest of the country was covered in snow, and we were hitting record high temperatures in the 90’s. I hated everything about the sun.

  “I walked up the basement stairs and looked at the clock on the wall. It read 9:30. Wow, obviously my body had needed the sleep. My stomach felt like it was burning a hole in my backbone. I was starving. It had been nearly three days, and I hadn’t eaten anything. Funny thing was I had been parked by the burger joint last night and the smells made me nauseous, not hungry. I just drank water and even water gave me nausea. The nauseousness was passing, but my hunger was not going away.

  “I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to hurt someone, but I needed to drink blood in a desperate way. So, I went down to the store and went to the meat section and grabbed the bloodiest of all the meats. I spent far too much money on it, but I was starving.

  “I took a wide variety of meats home and cooked them lightly. So they were at the rarest they could be and then I wrung out the patties and drank the blood. I was able to digest it but pieces of meat were getting mixed in with the blood and I was getting sick. It was an odd thing to be starving and sick at the same time. Little by little, the blood satisfied my hunger and all the while I dry heaved the bloody meat back out into the toilet. I was a mess and I took the longest shower I had ever taken, hoping it would help me feel better.

  “The water was a cleansing experience that I received not only on the outside of my body but on the inside as well. I had never taken a hotter shower in my life. I allowed the heat to massage my muscles and bones. My mind was clearer than it had been since I had been turned. I thought about what I was going to do that night. It was simple, I needed to isolate either one of them and maybe I would have a chance. I knew if under any circumstances I was forced to fight them both that they would kill me. They were a killing duo and apparently they did it well.

  “I decided to drive back over to Santino’s house. This was the third night in a row I had visited his place.

  “I drove up slowly to the liquor store and parked. Grandma’s car was gone again. That made me feel good. I seriously didn’t want her involved in this. Once again I
slipped around his house listening for evidence of someone being inside. When I reached the back of the house I could hear a man’s snoring. It must be Santino. He was alone in his house.

  “I walked to the front of the house and tried to open the door. It was locked. So I decided to break the door open with my shoulder. It didn’t go quite as I had planned. When I attempted to break the door down a force took over my body and I was boomeranged backward out of the house.

  “I didn’t know it at the time, but I was breaking a major rule. I needed to be invited into the house. So, once again I had to wait for Santino to leave. Being that he was a creature of the night, it would only be a matter of time until he decided to leave and do something on the outside. I mean, he had to eat sometime.

  “Once again, I waited. It didn’t take long when I saw the door open and Santino walked out the same way he had the night before. If I didn’t know any better he was meeting with Norman and they were going to kill again. He had that look in his eye. Tonight, I would stop him.

  “I followed him once again from my car while he was on foot. He walked swiftly in the opposite direction he had walked last night.

  “He made his way into a large park and I knew I would have to follow him on foot. I parked my car quickly and jumped out and walked in the direction he had gone in. I was becoming extremely good at tailing someone without them realizing it.

  “But, now it was time to face him. I only prayed he wasn’t meeting someone here. Santino passed the playground and walked up some steps. I hurried behind him and as he reached the top of the steps he turned around and faced me.

  “'I sensed you,” he said. 'I have been sensing you behind me for the last couple of nights. I thought I was being paranoid, but there you are.'

  “I was shocked speechless. I charged at him, but he moved out of the way and I went flying by him like I was a bull and he was the matador. When I turned around, Santino kicked me in the face with his thick work boot. My head swung around and I knew I was dealing with someone who had the same abilities as me. This wasn’t going to be easy and I was going to have to rise to the occasion. I was used to rising to the occasion in sports, but this was a life or death situation. Of course, I had been involved in a few fights in my short life. It just seemed to happen that way growing up. I probably averaged one major fight a year. I would get suspended and warned if I fought again that year I would be expelled. So, I would cool it. But the following year I was all fists when someone wanted to fight for whatever reason. It could be as simple as someone cutting in line or making fun of my mom.