Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Zeb walked through the crowded dance floor smiling politely when most of the humans gave him a path. They presumed such a man in his fifties being at a place like this meant he was probably just searching for his daughter who had snuck out for the night or maybe even think he was one of the owners with his business suit sticking out like a sore thumb. If they only knew what he was really doing.

He reached for the hidden greed of the humans nearest him, touching their need for sex and flesh… their desperation to be wanted by the opposite sex… or even the same sex. He jerked on their jealousy for the others around them whom they thought had better bodies or partners than they did.

He took those needs and intensified them to the point where heated kisses became savage and people were pulled to the floor not caring who was watching. Those orgies were quickly trampled by the men who wanted to prove they were tougher than the next guy.

The glimmer of small stainless steel blades flashed in the black light as blood was spilt. Zeb nodded to the soulless who glanced sideways at him as he latched onto a guy whose overwhelming desire was to become a real vampire. That was why he’d become a regular at the club… waiting to see if the real thing would show up. He was getting his wish granted as his life was being sucked violently from him.

Coming out of the railed off area, Zeb stepped out of the way when several bouncers ran past him toward the dance floor. They didn’t stand a chance at breaking up the humans who were getting an overdose of what they wanted most at the moment. He’d started the chaos in the innermost circle to hide it from those looking in from the outside, but the werewolves could sense the disturbance even if the music hid its sounds. It really was a pity his spells only worked on humans.

Zeb tilted his balding head back and looked up at the dark ceiling above the dangling backlights. No one else would ever notice her there, but he could feel her feeding off the buffet he had just arranged for her. He could feel his own powers growing after hiding them for so long. Misery wasn’t the only one feeding.

He fed off human greed and by magnifying so many at one time, his powers had been revived. His afterglow didn’t last long as he felt Misery take notice of his power spike and a new power enter the building.

*****

Titus reached up and touched his swollen jaw as he leaned back against the wall beside the werewolf who was collecting money just inside the front door. He wanted to see just who was coming and going from the club. He hadn’t seen the man that sucker punched him. All he remembered seeing was the fist coming straight at him out of nowhere. It was the power behind the punch that let him know it hadn’t been a human and he’d never met a shifter who had that powerful of a right hook much less the magnitude of strength.

He’d fought other werewolves many times in the past and never been bested by one. Needless to say, his mood was now soured.

His eyes narrowed on the two darkly-clad figures as they strolled through the doors like they belonged here… they did not. Leaping over the long counter, Titus didn’t care about the money he scattered or the gasps of the humans that got the hell out of his way… he wanted to hit something and he’d just found his fucking targets.

Hearing the wolfish growl, Michael turned to look at the attacker but Kane was faster. The blonde vampire caught the man in mid leap and used his momentum to send the werewolf soaring over them and into the adjacent wall. Michael smirked as the guy slid down the wall with a thump.

Kane turned back toward the other wolf still behind the counter. The other man’s eyes widened in fright as he nervously reached up to click the com-link in his ear. Before the guy could say anything past the word “boss!”, Kane jerked the earpiece out and pulled the beefy shifter halfway across the counter top by the front of his shirt.

“No one likes a tattletale,” Kane growled in his face, showing his deadly fangs. He let go and laughed when the oversized wolf hightailed it out the door, knocking over several humans as he went. “Well, I’m glad we got that out of our system. Shall we go find the owner?”

Michael raised an eyebrow, “Maybe you should go break up the fights I hear and leave the owner to me. I think you’d only scare him into following that guy out the door. We’re gonna need the shifters to help us clear this place out.”

“Okay, you go play diplomat. I like being the boogieman better anyway.” Kane turned around and tapped the three nearest humans on the back of the head, “Duck, duck, goose.” The three he’d touched turned and calmly walked out the door. “See, I can be diplomatic… but it’s not as much fun,” he shrugged.

Michael couldn’t help but shake his head at his friend as they walked into the club.

Titus pushed himself off the floor for the second time that night. Shaking it off, he stepped closer to the huge opening the led into the main bar. “Damn it,” he growled in frustration. Reaching up he clicked the com-link, “Boris, two vampires just came through here and one of them is looking for you.”

Boris had been watching the monitor showing the pandemonium of the dance floor but hearing Titus's warning he jerked his eyes to the monitor showing the front entrance. He took a step back from the screen when he saw the vampire looking straight up at the camera as if he could see him. It was the same vampire who had been in the dungeon the night the mansion blew up.

Michael scanned the walls until he found the flight of metal stairs that led to the office. From this side it looked like a huge mirror on the wall but he knew whoever was in the office would see him coming… if he let them.

Boris turned from the monitor and looked out the two way mirror blinking when he didn’t see the man standing there. He jumped when the office door open and shut so fast it was like one motion.

“Are you looking for me?” Michael asked.

“You were with the cougars last week,” Boris inhaled not smelling the scent of death that he’d smelled on the vampires who had attacked him the night he’d left Micah’s motorcycle to be found. “We’re not the ones who have been leaving cougars on their doorstep. Are we at war with the cougars?”

“I’m here because of the cougars,” Michael tilted his head, “but not to fight you.”

“Then why?” Boris was waiting for the tension in his muscles to relax but it was hard when the man standing in front of him could tear him limb from limb if it struck his fancy.

“To help,” Michael smiled.

*****

Kane looked over at the bar to his right just in time to see one of the drunks grab the bottle of Jack Daniels from the bartender’s hand and smash it over the head of the man beside him. That started a domino effect causing Kane’s eyebrows to disappear under his bangs. He’d seen bar fights before, had been in more than a few in his long life, but this one seemed a little too vicious to be normal.

Damon had told Warren that the humans here were a little off. A little off was an understatement as Kane let his gaze search the surrounding tables. His gaze stopped on a female who had climbed up on one of the high tables and was in the middle of a strip tease.

His head tilted when he noticed one of the guys watching her had whipped it out and was masturbating right there in the crowd. Yeah, that was completely normal… not.

Deciding that was enough sightseeing to last him years, Kane walked toward the fight that had originally caught his attention. When he got close enough, one of the guys within the brawl threw a punch at him. Kane caught the fist in his hand and jerked the guy forward. Looking past the streaks of blood running down into the guys eyes, Kane let his pupils dilate as he placed the man under his compulsion.

“Why are you fighting?” Kane asked calmly.

The man blinked in confusion as if he were coming back from the rage. “I don’t know.” He cringed suddenly realizing he was injured and wiped at the blood only to then blanch at the crimson color on his hand.

“Go home,” Kane let go of him and watched as the man quickly left the room. So, they were already under someone’s control. That gave a new spin on the situation.

Outside, Angelica and Zachary approached the doors just as the bloody man stumbled out the entrance. “What the hell is going on in there?” Angelica breathed then quickened her steps. The pay area was a mess and no one was collecting money, unless you counted the girls reaching over the counter to grab handfuls of bills that were in the open money box.

She moved to the side when a couple more injured people came through the small room to make their escape. One of the girls grabbing a large handful of money turned her head to look at Angelica as she walked by. Her eyes raked over Angelica’s figure and the urge to own the outfit she was wearing became overwhelming. Picking up the empty cashbox, she walked up behind Angelica and lifted it over her head to knock the other woman out.

Zachary moved to stop the girl who had picked up the metal moneybox and had every intention of hitting Angelica on the back of the head with it. Snatching the box from her hand, he slammed his palm against her forehead, gripping hard.

Angelica gripped Zachary’s arm afraid he was about to thrash the girl, “Zach don’t!”

Zachary didn’t bother looking at Angelica, “I’m not here for the drinks and dancing.” He searched the girl’s mind, “And she’s not the only one in her head.” He let go of the girl and she dropped like a rock.

“What did you do to her?” Angelica looked at Zach knowing his alter ego had joined them.

“Less than she would have done to someone else,” Zach frowned at Angelica. “We need to find out who’s controlling these humans before they kill each other.”

Angelica slowly looked toward the inner bar and her gaze sharpened. She could feel a darkness that didn’t belong in this place and made her skin crawl. “There’s a demon here.” She walked off, completely forgetting about Zach.

Zachary followed Angelica into the insanity of the night club. The first thing he noticed was that most of the bouncers within sight looked exhausted with grim faces. That wasn’t a good mood for a werewolf to be in. They were the quickest to shift because their BS tolerance wasn’t that high.

The fire alarm went off and Zachary looked up to see Michael leaving the office with a smug look on his face. Michael noticed him at the same time. Zach nodded, “Score one for the good guys.” He turned to look at Angelica when she didn’t respond but she had already vanished into the crowd. “Damn it, scratch that,” he growled inwardly and took off toward the worst of it… the dance floor.

“Sorry to ruin dinner,” Kane growled as he jerked a soulless off the girl he was munching on and shook him violently. “But this isn’t McDonald's and she’s not a happy meal.” He sighed realizing he’d already broken the damned thing's neck before the lecture started. “Never mind, you wouldn’t have listened anyway.” He opened the top of one of the hollow coffin benches and shoved the vampire into it then smiled at the irony when he slammed it closed. The club employees would find it in a few days.

When the fire alarm went off, he stood up hoping to see everyone running toward the doors. Well, it had gotten some of the humans headed in the right direction. The rest of them were too out of their minds to even pay attention. As he scanned the crowd his gaze stopped on an older, heavyset man who just seemed completely out of place. For one, the man was dead calm… even smiling and nodding at the panicked humans.

“Oh I don’t like you,” Kane started toward the guy but paused when he noticed the dark-haired girl following the lawyer-looking wanna be.

It wasn’t the predatory look in the girl’s eyes as she followed the old man that had caught his attention, it was that… underneath that black lipstick and dark eyeliner… the girl looked exactly like his mother. Kane knew that was impossible but he couldn’t stop the pounding of his heart as he just stood there staring at her.

Angelica felt her own heart skip a beat when she spotted the man who had been holding the little girl’s hand in her nightmare. She watched him nod at people and knew he was doing the same thing to them that he’d done in the dream. Being this close to him and feeling the aura she hadn’t felt in the dream… she knew what he was. He was a shadow demon. They were demonic entities that didn’t have bodies of their own. They were parasites, stealing human bodies to serve as hosts.

Feeling her skin crawl again, Angelica turned full circle looking for the creepy little girl or the walking corpse she could become. To her shame, she felt relief when she didn’t see the child. It didn’t matter, this man was the one who'd led her on a disgusting wild goose chase all week and she needed to see him dead. She’d find Shirley Temple of the Damned later.

Feeling a lust for murder somewhere behind him, Zeb turned around zoning in on the dark-haired goddess of the fang bangers who was stalking him. He naively reached for her murderous intent only to hit an invisible wall of power. He knew his mistake when he lifted his eyes from her breasts to the face of his own murderer. Uncontrollable fear washed over him when her power surrounded his own and he screamed for Misery.

Angelica didn’t wait for his backup to come, nor did she attack him with sacred demon killing knives as he obviously feared. Slowly raising one outstretched hand, she turned her palm outward, facing the bloated little man.

She wasn’t killing his body, so she didn’t have to attack… the flesh had died long ago when the shadow demon had taken possession of it. She could feel the shadow demon deep inside the host and let her powers pull at it. She knew it was working when his bloodshot eyes turned solid black and the demon was jerked closer to the surface.

Zeb felt his face begin to distend and bubble almost like something was inside his head poking out from underneath the skin. His mouth opened and a long black tongue extended, bubbling in the same fashion as the rest of his face. Raising his hands to his throat, he fought to keep the host body he was in and looked up toward the ceiling waiting for Misery to save him.

Kane came back from his childhood daydream when the thick darkness of the ceiling stirred and began to stretch. He watched it dip lower right above the girl. Kane sprinted into action and all hell broke loose.

Black glittering darkness erupted from Zeb’s open mouth, choking him like unending vomit. Throwing his head back, he stared upwards at Misery whose rotting face was just starting to form. When Misery moved to attack the girl and save him, Zeb knew he had chosen his partner wisely and strained to hold on to his essence.

Misery descended on the girl who dared try to disembowel the shadow demon servant who was feeding her. Just before she reached her target, she felt Zeb’s power spilling out like the blood it was. All that evil would be enough to finish her plan. Misery’s decaying lips pulled back in a wicked sneer as she turned her attack toward Zeb. Her rotting mouth hovered over Zeb’s as she began to suck in his essence as he vomited it up.

A pair of arms formed and solidified from the shadows and she took hold of his head, holding him there. Zeb’s eyes rolled back and inhuman noises gurgled up from his throat. Misery was eating him slowly, painfully, and he knew he would not live another night. As the last of his essence vanished into Misery his last thought was of Misery gaining the power to finally kill their enemies.

Angelica blanched when the demonic face from her dream slid down from the ceiling like a melting lava lamp and began feeding off the shadow demon like a fucking vacuum. She knew demons were capable of anything… but eating their own was a step past evil.

Just as the tail end of the smoke disappeared into the corpse’s mouth, Misery turned her gruesome face and with snake like quickness, shot toward Angelica but jerked back just as quickly when she came face to face with the symbol on Angelica’s palm.

Angelica screamed when she was tossed sideways, hitting the hard floor with a bone-jarring thump. Jerking back around toward the demon, she found a tall blonde-haired man in a long black trench coat standing between her and Misery. His back was toward her and Angelica couldn’t see who he was.

The lights within the building flashed as Kane released his temper in a tidal wave powerful enough to cause Misery’s half-formed body to implode backwards into her smoky form. For a moment everything was completely silent but Kane kept his eyes on the ceiling waiting. Long boney arms slowly reached down from the shadows of the ceiling toward Kane.

Angelica opened her mouth to warn him but her voice wouldn’t work. She could only stare in silent fascination as the arms stretched in ludicrous proportions, dangling almost lifelessly behind him.

The hands suddenly curled into claws complete with long black nails and sliced viciously across Kane’s back before retreating. As the arms ascended back toward the ceiling, starting with the nails, transformed into thousands of tiny spiders. They scurried up what was left of the arms and vanished completely, slipping between the loose squares and out of sight.

Kane bowed his back as pain exploded across his back and through his body. He stumbled forward a few steps and looked up at the ceiling just in time to see the last of the spiders crawl into the tiny cracks in the ceiling. He snarled when he realized what the bitch had just done to him. Right now, those creepy crawlies were holding little drops of his blood in their mouths.

He crouched with every intention of leaping up to the ceiling and punching his way through it to give chase. Arms suddenly wrapped around his waist restraining him and he glared over his shoulder at Michael, struggling to free himself at the same time.

“Let go of me, Michael!” Kane yelled, trying to elbow him in the ribs. Michael just turned with the punches refusing to loosen his grip on the blonde. Michael knew if he did that Kane could very well destroy the city to get to Misery.

“Not alone.” Michael growled. “You said it yourself. She’s too dangerous.” He glared up at the ceiling not liking the fact that every time Kane got near the demon he got hurt.

Zach snatched Angelica out of harm’s way remembering Storm’s warning. It had actually sounded more like a threat at the time. His exact words were… if Angelica gets hurt or killed… hell itself would come looking for all of them. He’d never understood what Storm had meant and his secretive boss hadn’t elaborated.

“Are you all right?” he asked as he turned her around in his arms.

“I think so,” Angelica leaned against him feeling the weakness that always came after exorcising a demon. She tried to focus on the man who had gotten in the demon’s way but she couldn’t keep her eyes open long enough. “How about getting me out of here? We need to start tracking her before the trail gets cold and I’m too light headed to move yet.”

Zachary nodded, having already mind-wiped every human he could since walking into the bar. “Wait a minute,” he turned to the rapidly decaying man who had served as the demon’s host. The body burst into flames. He shrugged, “At least now there’s a reason for the fire alarm.”

Zachary shook his head when Angelica went limp. Carefully picking her up, he did as she asked. He’d seen this happen before and knew she wouldn’t stay like this for very long… a few minutes at most. As stubborn as she was, she’d be hell on wheels if he didn’t at least have her outside pretending to know what direction the demon had gone. Tracking demons wasn’t his strong suit… it was hers.

Kane jerked against Michael several times but it’s hard to break free from someone who was just as strong as you. “She’s got my blood.” He sent another glare over his shoulder.

Michael slowly let go of Kane, backing up so his friend could see the crimson color now staining the front of his shirt, “Don’t you think I know that? If you’ll calm down, we’ll both go after her if you think we can take her.”

Looking at Michael… really looking at him, Kane realized he didn’t want Michael anywhere near Mrs. Slice-n-Dice that made ice cream in twenty-three flavors. ”Damn it,” he roared then lowered his voice as he reined in his temper, “She’s probably long gone by now anyway.” He turned and as calmly as he could, walked toward the exit pausing only long enough to kick the fireball laying in the floor making the glowing ashes float around dangerously. “I’m fine.”

Michael was hot on his heels not completely trusting Kane’s mindset at the moment, but hearing his name called he turned around seeing Boris and a couple of his wolves coming toward him. He recognized the one that had attacked Kane when they’d first arrived.

“Michael, wait up.” Boris jogged to catch up. “Was that what I think it was on the ceiling?” When Michael gave him a slight nod Boris shook his head. “Thank you.”

“Just keep in mind who sent us to help,” Michael pointed out then glanced back toward the doorway not seeing Kane.

“Most of the wolves I hired hated Anthony Valachi just as much as I did,” Boris looked around at the damage thoughtfully. “And this could have turned out a lot worse had they not sent us help. I know this.”

Titus stepped forward with an outstretched hand. “I’m sorry I tried to jump you guys when you first arrived. I didn’t know and was just trying to protect the club.” No one had ever called him a coward. As a matter of fact, with Anthony being his uncle, there were many waiting on him to step up as the next alpha.

“So the truce is reached?” Michael asked feeling the strength in his handshake. If he didn’t know better, he would say this wasn’t a lowly wolf… but an alpha.

“It is with the wolves here. But the pack has split into two different sub-clans.” Titus informed him, “The loyal Anthony followers are taking a jab at keeping his mob ties alive.” He shook his head in disappointment, “It’s the life they’re used to. As to what their intentions are toward the cougars, I’ll let you know if I hear anything.”

“You guys don’t have anyone in mind for the next alpha?” Michael watched them thoughtfully when Boris nodded his head toward Titus who was standing in front of him and couldn’t see him do it. Oddly enough, Titus was shaking his head no.

Michael understood now. “So you’re the only relative?”

Titus glared over his shoulder at Boris, “That’s not something to brag about.”

Michael nodded understanding more and more by the minute. He could feel Kane still on the roof of the dance club so he wasn’t in a hurry anymore. “Let’s take a walk outside so we can talk.”

“What happened to Micah Wilder?” Titus asked once they were outside in the fresh air. “Most of the wolves didn’t have anything to do with Micah being kidnapped or tortured. And the ones that did would have been killed had they not followed Anthony’s orders to the letter.”

“I already know that. With shifters it’s their instinct to do whatever the alpha tells them to do.” Michael nodded toward the building, “That’s why Boris stepped back when you started talking to me. And Micah is fine now.”

Titus leaned against one of the cars feeling like a huge weight had just been lifted from his shoulders. “I didn’t even know it had happened until I got word the mansion had blown up. My uncle kept me out of the loop for a reason… I would have tried to stop him like I tried to stop the slave trade that was going on a couple years ago.”

His mood darkened as he remembered, “When Anthony put a hit out on me, I gave up trying to fix things and went to go visit with my father for a while. After that, I traveled and wound up forming a small friendly pack in Malta.”

“Micah thought Anthony was kidnapping some of the girls from Night Light and the surrounding area… among other things,” Michael let that hang in the air.

Titus slowly turned is head to stare at Michael, “Yeah, and from what I hear, Lucca Romano has taken over sales to the black market. If I didn’t have to deal with that part of the clan, then I would come forward as alpha. The only thing stopping me right now is the difference between alpha and mob boss.”

“Would you be willing to meet at my house to talk to Micah? Maybe between the three of us, we could… fix the problem,” Michael hinted invitingly.

“Willing and able,” Titus smiled.

“I’ll contact you with the time and address,” Michael stepped away so he could get a better view of what Kane was doing on the roof.

Titus watched Michael walk away and was glad the vampire wasn’t his enemy. If he could form an alliance between himself and the real vampires, then maybe they stood a chance of cleaning house without getting bullets as souvenirs. He’d hated hearing that Micah had been caught in the middle of his uncle’s greed. It had been a couple years but he and Micah had sowed more than a few wild oats together.

*****

Zachary got Angelica outside but that’s as far as he got before he set her down on a bench and crouched next to her. After a few moments she opened her eyes and looked up at the stars.

“Did you see her?” Angelica asked.

Zachary shook his head, “No, she’s vanished and I don’t know how to track her.”

Angelica sat up and put a hand on her head. “I feel like a freight train just ran through my head and made a couple stops on its way.”

Zachary gave her a small smile. “You’ll get that around here.”

Angelica returned his smile. “I’m sure, give me a few minutes and we’ll get moving.”

Kane stood on the edge of the roof looking down at the girl he’d bled for and a man he recognized from the meeting they’d all had at Moon Dance. Zachary had been his name. Did that mean this girl was a part of PIT? Was she the demon expert they had mentioned?

He’d seen the way she’d destroyed that weaker demon. It would have been great… if it hadn’t backfired. He still felt his anger rise when he had a flash back of Misery turning on her like that. He knew this girl wasn’t his mother, but just seeing her alive and well was soothing to his memory of her.

If she was as good as PIT thought she was then maybe it should be her he took into battle instead of Michael. Kane sighed not liking the way that tasted. Killing monsters was a dangerous job and no place for a fragile girl or a nice guy like Michael.

“So this is where Misery was hiding,” Dean smirked when Kane flinched and spun around. “Sorry.”

“Yeah, you missed the bitch by about ten minutes,” Kane breathed running his hands through his hair.

“By the looks of your back, you got a lot closer than you should have,” Dean said seriously.

“What can I say… the psycho has a crush on me,” Kane cocked an elegant eyebrow, “But I know how you can help me change her mind.”

“How?” Dean asked curiously.

“She really didn’t like that feather you stabbed her with in the cave. If that’s a weapon then how about lending me a couple of your bullets?” Kane glanced back off the roof seeing the girl and Zachary gone. Searched the parking lot he found Michael leaning against a car staring up at him.

“They won't kill her. But if you can get her while she’s in solid form, then you can wound her and make her think twice about stealing your blood.” Dean tilted his head when Kane’s amethyst eyes locked with his. “It’s not your fault Kane… it’s hers.”

Michael watched the fallen walk up behind Kane then smiled when Dean’s wings shattered from his back. What made the sight so amazing was the fact that from this angle, the two men were so in line with each other that it looked like Kane was the only one standing there… with wings.

*****

Misery finally slowed down after losing the ones chasing her and took refuge in the shadows of a large elevator room on the roof of a rundown apartment building. Taking a moment to collect herself, she finally realized what had happened in the club.

If she’d been given the opportunity, she would have taken more of Kane’s blood for her purposes but the dark-haired girl had stopped that from happening. Misery frowned deep in thought… the symbol on the girl’s palm is what stopped her from feeding further. Not only that, but the girl’s soul had hurt her like a physical blow and that symbol on her palm had only served to amplify the girl’s power.

She was one of Kane’s breed and they were a dangerously powerful lot but it was that kind of power that could rip holes in dimensions. Their species was an enigma to her but Kane had already showed her their weakness… protecting each other.

Misery still felt the raw and well maintained power beneath the surface of her skin, burning with the intensity of a thousand suns. It had been a very long time since Misery had encountered anything of that magnitude… the source of the symbol would be enough to bring a big majority of the demon race to its knees.

Shaking her thoughts away, Misery called on the dark mist to surround her and when it cleared away a little girl with bouncy blonde curls stood in her place. Misery smiled and looked down at the necklace around her throat. A long, thin gold chain hung around her neck with a single golden spider attached at the end of it. A deep red dot graced its back and Misery smiled again knowing the red was where Kane’s blood had been stored away for her plan.

She reached up and gently touched the body of the spider, giggling softly when its long legs began to move and clamped around her finger in an almost loving embrace. Misery felt a bit of disappointment that she’d been unable to gain more of Kane’s blood but this would have to do… she had stared true death in the face just to get this much of it. Now she needed more.

Finding the door leading from the roof, Misery happily skipped down the stairs. Passing by apartment doors, she could smell the stench of undercooked food and human odors. There were morbid and sexual messages spray painted on the walls and more were symbols of a gang affiliation or a name of someone staking a claim to that floor.

She had learned so much by reading the minds of her victims. The soulless vampires were an open book to her as she inhaled the memories of their pathetic lives before they were shown the true darkness. They had struggled to live but now she had shown them that there is only one way to beat those around you… and that was to eat them.

Misery stepped out onto the sidewalk and looked up and down the street looking much like a lost child. One thing Misery could thank the dark-haired girl for was Zeb’s death. While Misery had every intention of killing the low level demon once he was no longer useful, his fear had been a wonderful meal though still too small for her tastes. What she had truly felt and wanted was Zeb’s power. She’d wanted his power like no other once she saw what it could do.

Zeb had been helpless against lust such as hers… it was what he was drawn to. And, at the last second before he was vanquished from existence, he'd released his power and given her what she craved most. Skipping down the sidewalk, Misery’s curls bounced happily. Now that she had Zeb’s power, she needed to learn how to use it properly.

It was nearing the wee hours of the morning and Misery needed to find a place to lay low until the night returned to her again… bringing not only the darkness of the skies but the darkness in humans as well. Much to her delight, she saw a large vehicle called a bus and stood on the side of the road. She put on her best frantic expression after ripping her dress at the shoulder and ran out waving her arms.

The driver stopped the bus and opened the doors. When he asked what was wrong, Misery just shook her head and walked to the back of the bus. She smiled innocently as the man ignored her. She’d always had a way of controlling weaker demons but she’d never had the ability to control humans other the frightening the life out of them. Zeb had mastered the art of not being noticed and this was his power that caused the bus driver to dismiss her so quickly from his mind.

She curled up on the seat next to the window in the back corner and watched everyone around her getting on and off, dwindling as the minutes ticked by.

There were only a few people on the bus now, going home after a night on the streets. A group of five thugs sat in their seats looking back at her with unreadable expressions. She noticed a vagabond was curled up on a section with two seats nearly asleep and the way everyone else on the bus had taken seats away from the smelly man. There was a woman with glasses toward the front who held a book in her hand but she wasn’t reading it.

With her newfound power, Misery prodded the woman first. The woman looked up from her book at the sleeping man and sneered in disgust when he snorted loudly and shifted his position slightly. Misery frowned, it wasn’t enough. She pushed again, this time a little harder and the woman looked back up.

The woman put her book down and glared at the man with a violent expression. Reaching into her pocketbook she took out a pair of sharp scissors. Misery looked over at the thugs and started pushing against them. They had felt the woman’s hostility toward the vagrant and liked it. Soon they were all quiet and staring at the sleeping man who was completely oblivious to what was going on around him.

Suddenly the woman stood up and physically attacked the innocent man, stabbing him in the chest with the scissors. When the man jerked from his sleep the other five men quickly joined the lady in her attack, using the weapons thugs were often known to carry.

The driver stopped the bus and turned around just in time to see blood spray across the wall of the vehicle as one of the men slit the throat of the homeless man that had slept on this bus every night for almost as long as the driver had worked this route for the city. An expression of absolute fear came across his face before he unlocked his seatbelt and bolted out the now open door.

The vagrant’s screams soon died in a death rattle that was like sweet music to Misery and she sucked the suffering in like a starving child. His attackers continued to pound and beat the dead body until the hard thumps of flesh meeting flesh became wet and squishy. Now for the fun part… Misery intensified their blood rage.

The five thugs abruptly turned on the woman and each other. Handguns were pulled and fired while the woman pulled the scissors from the dead man's chest and ripped open the stomach of one of the thugs attacking her. Blood and entrails fell out of the deep slash and the woman knocked him down before she commenced ripping out what was left through the opening.

Misery smiled gleefully at all of the blood and violence taking place and clapped her hands at the show. Finally, only one man remained standing, shaking violently and looking around as though he’d just woken up from a bad dream. His eyes landed on Misery and he smiled maniacally at her.

Misery sat there with an innocent smile on her face as the man came closer. Just when he was within reaching distance, Misery’s hand shot out and buried itself up and under his rib cage. The man stood there with a questioning expression on his face and looked down just in time to see her hand pull out with his still beating heart clenched in the tiny fingers.

“Thank you for the feast,” Misery said sweetly and, with a burst of power, blew the man back away from her. She looked down at the heart in her hand before bringing it to her lips and taking a large bite out of it.

Standing up from her seat, Misery continued to eat it much like a child would an apple as she skipped through the blood and gore to the exit. Hopping down from the bottom step to the sidewalk, Misery started walking away with a satisfied expression on her childlike face. Her body began to fade into a mist just as a squad of police cars screamed around a corner and converged on the bus. The half-eaten human heart rolled out onto the street unnoticed.

Misery rose up into the shadows and hovered over the scene watching the outcome of her first test of Zeb’s power.

The police cars pulled up to the bus and the officers got out, using the doors of their vehicles as shields. Multiple guns were drawn and trained on the vehicle while a large SWAT van pulled up and a team of ten officers got out of the back. Weapons were checked and visors were flipped down over their faces.

Slowly they surrounded the vehicle and two officers were selected to move in first. One by one they all moved carefully toward the bus until the first two sent in rushed back out, one of them emptying his stomach onto the pavement.

“Call the coroner,” the one who wasn’t sick ordered. “And get a mop.”

Zachary and Angelica approached the police cars, having heard the sirens they rushed to the scene.

“CIA,” Zachary said to the sergeant that approached them and flashed his badge.

Angelica had clipped hers to her jacket and silently walked by the officer toward the bus without stopping.

“What’s happened here?” Zachary asked.

The officer slid his eyes over to Zachary. “We’re not sure but whatever it is has one officer violently sick.”

“Mind if we go?” Zachary asked.

The officer shrugged, “Help yourself… better you than my squad.”

Zachary smirked, “Hey, at least you’re honest about it.”

Angelica was standing at the door of the bus with one foot on the bottom step when Zachary walked up to her. “Anything?”

Angelica shook her head, “She’s gone but I want to see what she did.”

Zachary put a hand on her arm. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“I have to see, Zachary.” Angelica exclaimed, “I need to see what I’m really dealing with.”

“Fine,” Zachary gave in. “But the moment you start to freak out, I’m dragging you out of here kicking and screaming if I have to.”

Angelica turned her head to look inside the bus before walking up the steps. Zachary entered right behind her and they both stopped when they saw the amount of carnage. Blood covered almost every available surface and the entrails of one man had been yanked out through a hole in his stomach; six men and one woman in total… all dead.

“Where’s the bus driver?” Angelica asked. “He’s the only one missing.”

Zachary left the bus to speak with one of the officers, returning a few minutes later to find Angelica standing at the rear of the bus staring down at a seat in the back corner.

“The bus driver got away when it started to go bad. He’s the only one that managed to get away alive.” Zachary said.

Angelica shook her head, “She was here Zachary.”

Zachary looked down at the seat and grimaced when he saw maggots crawling all over it.

“Misery,” Zachary said and Angelica nodded.

“Misery,” she whispered.