BEAUTIFUL MONSTER

18 : To Kill a Sucker

I was waiting in the hallway, wearing my worn, black leather jacket, jeans and sneakers, nervously pacing down the carpet. Cade had rung me, telling me he had gotten my number off a somehow-drunk Kelly and that he was going to pick me up so we could talk and so he could show me something.

He was extremely vague and I wondered why I was so willing to just do as he orders. My trust was one day going to get me in a lot of trouble - trouble I may not be able to get out of.

A loud beep had stopped my thoughts and paces and I quickly and quietly opened the front door, closing it behind me silently as I sneaked out this time for Cade.

Cade was outside, leaning against his car with the window rolled down. He had his arms crossed and he looked majorly pissed off. I approached him hesitantly and cautiously, saying. "Um, hi,"

Cade looked down at me, before looking away. "Two students died today because of Orion, did you know that?"

"W-what?" I swallowed, horrified and feeling my chest tightened. "Who?"

"Their wounds were so bad that I had to put them out of their misery and to keep everyone else safe. We've managed to kill two of those monstrosities but we've still got one captive, awaiting punishment."

"Those - you're talking about the vampire-things, right?"

Cade lowered his head, his eyebrows drawing close. "Vampires? What are vampires?"

"Y'know, um, those monster things. I saw their fangs and the blood so I figured they were vampires..." I trailed off, feeling foolish and scratching my cheek.

"They're Orion's illegal creations, his slaves; bound my magic to do his bidding. Once they're transformed from the dead to those abnormal creatures, there's no way to undo it. Whatever nickname you're giving them is...unnecessary. All you need to know is Orion created them, and they're built only to suck the blood painfully out of a victim until they either suffer a long, withdrawn death or they go through a 72 hour transformation. It's all very painful and messy - which is why those students had to be out of their misery; quick death and safety for others."

I blinked, trying to fast make sense of the information Cade was giving me. I took a large, deep breath in; I could do this. I could, no more freaking out - and definitely no more making out with the bad guy. Fingers digging painfully into my skin, and brain reeling, I asked. "Okay...okay, what do you want me to do?"

Cade smiled grimly, holding the car door open for me. "Get in."

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"Holy mother of..." I stumbled backwards, mouth open in disgusted shock. Snarls and guttural yelps ripped from the monstrosity that was strapped to a table, the straps looking painfully dug in. There was a thick black strap covering its mouth, hiding its scarily enlarged and sharp teeth. It looked horrifying unreal yet so disgustingly real.

Ajax stood leaning against a wall, sword casually hanging by his hip. Alex sat on a chair, nursing his arm which had been scratched by one of the things, he raised a hand to me, motioning down. "I'm lucky it wasn't a bite, otherwise it would've been game over for me." He laughed. "Damn these suckers."

I grimaced. "It looks painful,"

"It doesn't hurt so much. It only happened when Ajax and Cade were trying to get the sucker down. I accidentally got in the way. I'm not much of a fighter, ha-ha."

"It's not a joke, Alex. You need to be more careful." Cade made an annoyed noise, striding forward and yanking the sucker's head back. It growled, spitting up and trying to bare its teeth underneath the strap. "Come here, Beatrice."