The Hunger Page 6

  It was dark in the cemetery, but her eyes seemed to cut through the darkness to reveal the grave markers as if a diffuse illumination existed in the air itself. Lucinda looked over at the closest marker, her eyes opening wide as she saw the name on the stone.

  Lucinda Porter Taylor

  Born March 11, 1976

  Died March 17, 2000

  So it hadn’t been a dream, she thought. She had died on that cold Philadelphia night. She had died, or was dying, when the other face came into her narrowing field of vision. A face with lips moving in speech, but she could not hear. And then the face moved nearer, and she felt a sharp pain in the side of her neck that paled to the pain of her cut throat, but had a sweetness that cut through the feeling of death that was coming over her. She could feel the darkness growing over her visual field, and the fear of dying had left her.

  And now she was here, in a cemetery. But how could she be here if she had died in Philadelphia? She looked down at the dirty gown, a garment she would have never chosen for herself. She concentrated her awareness onto herself, as her hand went to her throat. But the wound was gone, not even the ridge of scar tissue that would be expected if it had healed. And she noticed again that her chest was not rising and falling, that she was not breathing, but felt no need for the air that surrounded her.

  Lucinda put her hand on her chest under the dress, and cried out. She felt nothing. Her heart was not beating. But how could she be alive and walking above ground without a heartbeat, without breath in her body.

  Then all thought of life or death left her as the hunger hit her in her guts, doubling her over. Like going cold turkey on heroin, but a hundred times worse. She felt like she had to eat, something. She didn’t know what it was she needed, but knew she needed it, now.

  She heard footsteps in the distance, coming to her ears as if they were within feet of her. Her instincts told her to go toward the steps. That what she needed would be given to her if she went to the footsteps. So she hurried into the night, jumping the high fence that surrounded the cemetery, concentrating totally on the hunger now, with no thought to the impossibility of her twelve-foot leap into the air.

  She smelled the woman before she saw her. A sweet smell that told her she was near what she needed. The smell of the blood pulsing in the stranger’s veins. Then the middle aged woman was within sight, walking down the sidewalk that skirted the cemetery. Lucinda could hear the beat of the woman’s heart, the pulsing of her blood, and knew what she needed to do. She ran toward the stranger, coming at her out of the darkness.

  The narrow faced brunette looked at her with wide eyes as Lucinda came at her like a projectile. Lucinda ran into the woman and carried her to the ground, clamping a hand over the woman’s mouth before she could utter a scream. The smell of the blood was overwhelming now, and Lucinda felt her lips curls back as she brought her face to the woman’s neck. Lucinda’s jaw opened wide, and she bit down hard with her extended canines, as the victim groaned in terror. The sweet blood spurted out, its iron smell strong in her nostrils. Lucinda placed her lips over the wound and started to suck, feeling the blood and something else, something intangible, flood into her body. Feeding her hunger.

  In minutes the woman lay limp on the ground, as Lucinda felt the hunger ebbing, then retreating in her consciousness. She felt sated. Then she looked into the dead staring eyes of the innocent woman she had taken the life from. And she sat on the ground next to the woman and tried to cry the tears that would not come.

  * * *

  Lucinda cleared her mind of the past as she looked out over the city from her perch upon the roof of the high rise hotel. Below her lay the Port of Tampa, where freighters and cruise ships alike were docked, while a number of cranes and forklifts unloaded the products of the world for the people of Florida. To the north a set of blinking lights lifted into the air, as the sounds of jet engines came to her ears. A flight from Tampa International, taking tourists and businessmen back to their homes. To the south another set of blinking lights, as a transport lifted from MacDill, taking equipment and personnel to some far-flung outpost of the nation.

  I must be the hunter now, she thought. She could sense the presence of her mistake in the city. The scumbag she had killed but not finished, who had risen to stalk the world. He was hunting her, as was the ancient one she had sensed before. As she hunted him, to try and rectify her mistake. Unfortunately her senses only told her that he was somewhere in the city, not his exact location. Fortunately they could not pinpoint her location either.

  There were other hunters on her trail as well. The priest had to be in town by now. And she had smelled the scent of the Government Man the night before. But she couldn’t do anything about them but avoid them. She had pledged when she had gotten her freedom, made a pact with God, that no innocents would fall to her fangs. No matter what they tried to do to her. But she did not trust her instincts, and felt that she might harm them if push came to shove.

  Lucinda raised her arms to her side and willed the transformation from woman to animal. She felt the change come over her, faster now with the practice she had in the years she had been a night stalker. Where at one time it had taken minutes to change, now she was fully into the change in seconds, flapping her wings as she left the rooftop and flew over the city.

  She knew where she was going tonight. She could see the luxurious house from the air as she headed northwest. It was time to go for bigger prey tonight. Prey whose death would make a bigger difference than the deaths of those subordinates who had preceded them. A few minutes of night air over her fur and she was there, over the sprawling one story in a gated community where the leader of scum lived protected from the effects his criminal activities brought to his community.

  She wheeled over the house, looking down into the brightly lit backyard, where people gathered about the large swimming pool. Closed top barbeque grills wafted smoke into the air, Latino music blared from loudspeakers facing inward from the edges of the property. Respectable looking men stood talking in casual clothing with drinks in their hands, while women watched the many children swarming in and out of the pool. She quickly spotted the hired muscle; the men wore jogging suits with bulges under the zip up sweatshirts. There were a half dozen of them scattered about the property, a few walking security around the ten foot tall privacy fence.

  Lucinda swooped lower, looking for a place of concealment. There were none near the fence. She could tell that the yard had been laid out with observation and fields of fire in mind. But there was a gazebo near a stand of rose bushes, where the light was diffuse. A rendezvous for lovers, where they could have the illusion of privacy in the stronghold of Lucian Giovani.

  She landed on the rail of the gazebo, using her heightened senses to make sure that no one was looking her way. Her bat form hopped onto the floor, and she laid herself out as she willed the transformation back to human form. She slowly stood up as she looked around the yard, seeing no one looking her way. Feeling confident that she had entered the midst of her enemies without their awareness, she walked out of the gazebo and headed toward the pool.

  Men could see a tall, stately redhead walking gracefully toward the pool. Her blue eyes caught the light in a hypnotic manner; her long hair flowed behind her in the night air, while the black cat suit and short black skirt accentuated the curves of her body.

  Lucinda could feel the eyes of the males in the party staring her way as she walked across the yard. She was counting on the numbers of party goers to cover her appearance. That though no one would remember her coming to the party; all would figure that someone had let her in and that she belonged there. And seeing the lust in their eyes made her realize that most would not care how she got there. Most would be trying to figure out how they could get her into their beds at the end of the night.

  A trio of dogs growled at her, then began barking as the hair rose on the backs of their necks. The two biggest crouched and started for her

  “Shut up,” yelled one o
f the muscle, pulling at the leash of a big German Shepard that tried to join the pack.

  Lucinda bared her teeth and she gazed at the dogs. The barking stopped as they whimpered, then slunk off with their tails between their legs. Lucinda ignored them and turned her attention back to the humans at the party.

  So many targets, she thought as her sandaled feet hit the flag stone deck around the pool. The death of any of them would improve the world. But one in particular would make the greatest impact. And her eyes locked on him as she walked toward the largest group of men.

  Lucian Giovani was a man of moderate height, with the arms of the longshoreman he had begun his career as. In his early fifties, with graying hair and intense green eyes, his yachtsman’s tan gave the man a healthy glow.

  Lucinda could feel the beating of the man’s heart as she walked up beside him, licking her lips and smiling as she felt the heart rate increase. She snatched a drink from a passing tray and brought it to her lips as she looked deeply into the man’s eyes. She could taste the flavor of good rum over coke, and took a hefty swig of the drink that would not affect her in the least.

  “You might want to go easy there , miss…”

  “Lucinda. Lucinda Taylor. And I can handle my liquor.”

  She again ran her tongue lightly over her upper lip, moistening it. She knew that she would most likely vomit the liquor up later. Not because of intoxication. Her body did just not accept most things she could put down to her stomach. It only accepted the fluid that she craved so much. She could feel the hunger for it growing as she looked at Giovani, but she pushed those feelings down. There would be time enough for them later, when they were in private.

  “We haven’t met before, have we?” asked the crime boss, flashing her a smile. “I would never forget a face like yours.”

  “No,” she said, shaking her head. “We never met. But I’ve heard all about you. And I’ve so wanted to meet you.”

  She could feel the man being drawn into her eyes. Feel his soul becoming hers.

  “Who did you come with?” asked one of the other men.

  “Who cares who she came with,” said Giovani. “She’s over here talking with us now.”

  A scrawny six year old came running up to the group, water falling from his hair to splatter the flagstones. He ran into the legs of Giovani, clasping the bare legs below the shorts in a tight grip.

  “This is my grandson, Gino,” he said, rubbing his hand through the child’s hair.

  Gino looked up at Lucinda with a smile on his face. The smile fled as he met the vampire’s eyes, and he edged away from his grandfather and turned, running back to the other children with a wide-eyed glance over his shoulder.

  “I don’t know what’s wrong with these kids these days,” said Giovani, looking back into her eyes.

  Children know when there’s a danger about, she thought, as she felt the hunger rise in her at the proximity of the pure life forces that were the younger members of the human race. And they don’t feel the sexual fascination we exude.

  “I don’t really care all that much about kids,” she said, laying a hand on his forearm. “I prefer, adult, activities.”

  Giovani looked down at the Rolex on his left wrist and whistled.

  “I think it might be time to get these kids to bed,” he said. There were groans and shaking heads from most of the children. Gino held onto the legs of a woman who looked like his mom and stared at Lucinda. “It’s a school night. They need their sleep.”

  Parents began to gather the children up and make their way to the side gate, where a pair of muscle positioned themselves. Several of the men noticed their boss’ fascination with the beautiful woman and said their farewells, following the women and children out of the yard. A few of the people continued to stand around the pool and drink.

  “Why don’t we go inside and talk about adult activities,” said Lucian Giovana, putting his arm around Lucinda’s shoulder ad steering her toward the house. Lucinda let herself be directed to the glass doors, where another muscle was standing. The man held up his hands.

  “Carlos is a little too protective of me sometimes,” said Giovani, pulling his arm off of her shoulders. Carlos took her purse and ran his hands inside. “I’m sure you understand.”

  “Of course,” agreed Lucinda, as Carlos ran his hands over her body, feeling for any concealed weapons. She smiled at Giovani as Carlos ran his hands down one leg, then another.

  “I think she’s safe enough, Carlos,” said Giovani, putting his arm back around Lucinda and steering her toward the open glass doors. Lucinda stopped in her tracks and looked at Giovani.

  “My home is your home,” he said. She smiled at him and allowed him to lead her through the door.

  To Lucinda’s eyes the back room of the mansion looked like it was lit up with spotlights, though she knew to the humans in the room it was elegantly darkened. Good paintings hung on the wall, and a large arched opening led into an enormous kitchen. Giovani moved her into an even larger room to the front of the house, a room with a huge fireplace and expensive looking vases on antique furniture. And then they were in a hallway.

  Giovani opened the first door on the left and led her into a large bedroom. He dimmed the lights and took her hand, leading her to the huge round bed in the center of the room.

  Lucian Giovani let go of her hand and grabbed her shoulders. Lucinda shrugged him away as a look of confusion awoke in his eyes. She smiled at him as she pulled a breath spray from her purse and squeezed a couple of squirts into her mouth. She then grabbed the crime boss by his shoulder and molded her body against his, pressing her lips fiercely onto the sensuous lips of the man.

  Lucian moaned as he ran his hands over Lucinda’s body. She caressed his shoulders and ground her groin against him. Her hand went to his shirt and pulled open the buttons. Then she stepped back from him with a smile and pulled her skirt down to the floor as he fumbled off his pants and briefs. She pulled the cat suit over her shoulders and shrugged down out of the tight black garment, till she was standing naked before him.

  His breath caught as he looked at the pale beauty of her body. Her eyes grew wide as she saw the erect size of the man. He grabbed her arm as he lay back on the bed, pulling her onto the mattress with him. She reached her hand down and grasped him, stroking her palm up and down. Giovani hissed and jerked for a second and she released him.

  “Your hands are so cold,” he said, a frown on his face.

  “I have a little medical condition,” said Lucinda. “My hands and feet can get really cold. But other parts of me are very warm, and wet.”

  Giovani moaned as she kissed him on the neck. A hand reached down and caressed her breast. She pulled away and looked into the man’s eyes, and knew that he was hers.

  Lucinda kissed him again on the neck, dragging her canines across the tanned flesh. Lucian moaned, and she drove the canines into the flesh and to the vein below. The man stiffened under her for a second, then moaned and relaxed as she planted her lips on his throat and began to suck. As she felt the life force drain out of him the hunger rose in her. The beast was taking over. But she still had information to gather. It took all of her will to pull her mouth away from the neck as she pushed her fingers into the wound.

  “Who is your boss, Lucian?” she asked, staring into his blurry eyes. “Who gives you all of this?”

  “George Padillas,” he answered in a strained voice.

  “The shipping magnate?”

  “Yes.”

  “Thank you,” she said, then planted her lips back on the neck and began to suck the life out of him. When she felt his heart flutter, then stop, she drained the last of the fluid from his body. She released him as she stood up from the bed, feeling unclean from the touch of the man. She forced the revulsion down as she looked around the room. That was when she noticed the security camera in the corner, sweeping her way with a red light on.

  * * *

  Carlos had gone to the security room after lettin
g his boss and the boss’ woman for the night into the house. He thought that she was as gorgeous a woman as he had ever seen. That was someone he wouldn’t mind having sloppy seconds with. So he decided to look in on the boss and see what she looked like while she was being fucked.

  “What the fuck,” said Carlos as the camera panned toward the bed. The boss was lying on the bed with his eyes wide open, unblinking, while the fine looking naked woman stood over him. The woman looked at the camera and Carlos felt a chill go up his spine as the red eyes met his. The woman snarled and Carlos quickly made the sign of the cross when the elongated canines came into view.

  He only came out of his shock when the bitch jumped onto the body of his still boss, straddling him with her athletic legs. She grabbed the sides of his head and started twisting, turning it around until the face was turned into the bed at an impossible angle. She continued to twist, and the microphone on the camera brought the sound of cracking bone to the security room. Carlos slammed his hand down on the panic button as the woman heaved with her arms and the head came off. She threw it at the camera. The last thing Carlos saw in the room was the head flying up toward the camera. Then the camera went dead as the decapitated head smashed into it.

  * * *

  Lucinda was starting to reach for her clothes as the door to the room was flung open. She came out of the stoop, her clothes and purse forgotten, as the two large men burst into the room, big automatic pistols leading the way. She bared her fangs as she looked for a way out. But the room had been constructed with the security of the boss in mind, and the only way out was through the door, and the two men.

  The guns tracked onto her as she glanced left, then right. They barked their first shots as she made up her mind. She moved straight ahead, blurring with her speed. A large slug cracked past her left ear. Then another hit her left shoulder. She could feel a moment of resistance as the bullet passed through her undead form. Then it was out and flying into the wall beyond.