Note: I know that you are all wondering about Reese and Joseph. They are in the works. I am submitting Slayer because it was already written and I wanted to get something posted. Thanks for your patience and for continuing to read.
Kal
*
Cherie went to Paul and Amanda's house and looked around starting with the kitchen. She liked the house with its simplicity and thought had she been born in another place and time; she would have loved to have lived in a house like this. But over the years her extravagant taste had grown even more extravagant and there was no going back. She walked over to the patio door- the point of entry and touched it. She knew that she wouldn't be able to tell anything but she tried anyway. Her thoroughness was what made her so good at what she did. Another investigator wouldn't have tried. It was a small step that could and often did yield large rewards. As she had expected, she felt nothing and continued her search for clues. She stopped in the dining room and moved on when she caught no scent of the intruder. He hadn't gone that way. The closer she got to the stairs, the stronger the scent became. She actually found herself gagging. It had been a long time since anything had affected her that way. Whoever this was whether it was male or female -was sick and a danger not only to humans, but to every other species as well.
She followed the scent to the bedroom and actually threw up. She actually felt sympathy for the human woman that had been touched by the thing. The fact that it was sick explained why it had left a witness and why it hadn't at least taken the woman's body with it. It hadn't been thinking. But now that it was sated, it would realize its mistakes only to make the same mistakes again. As she examined the room, Cherie realized that this wasn't the first time that it had done this. Someone had cleaned up the mess and somehow the murders had gotten swept under the rug. Experience told her that something had triggered the attack. It could have been anything from a smell to a sound or the command to attack. Any rational vampire wouldn't have entered the home of a connected human and then not only leave the body, but a witness.
She righted the turned over chair, examined it and then put it back in the same position before moving to the bed. "Poor human," she murmured when she saw the dried blood on the bed. She found herself hoping that the woman was at least unconscious before the thing raped her. The human police would look for evidence of a sexual assault and if they found evidence of sexual activity they would assume that it was the male witness. Convinced that she had seen all that she came to see, she called Xavier.
"I am at the human woman's home."
"Did you find anything?" Xavier asked.
"Only that whoever this is- he is very ill. That explains why he did what he did. I will also tell you that he will do it again."
"How do you know that it's a he?" Xavier asked.
"I just know, and besides the human woman was raped." Cherie replied. "Xavier- all of us are at risk because of this creature. It needs to be put down..."
"I told you what I wanted to do with it if it wasn't mine," Xavier said his tone icy.
"I understand, but..."
"I am paying you to do as you are told," Xavier said. "Find it, kill it if it is mine or put it on Troy Cross's door step if it isn't. Is there something that you don't understand about those instructions?"
"I understand that this assignment is more than you said it would be," Cherie replied. I didn't charge you nearly enough. But seeing as we made an agreement, I will do exactly as I said I will do except for one thing- I will not endanger myself. If you are willing to renegotiate the terms of our agreement; I am willing to listen."
"Bitch," Xavier hissed.
"Whatever," Cherie replied not bothered by the name calling. "But you and I both know that this bitch is the one that can do what you want so what's it going to be? Am I going to find this thing and just tell you who it belongs to or are we renegotiating?"
In the end, Cherie got what she asked for in addition to being able to bring in extra help at Xavier's expense.
"Thank you darling," she said knowing that he didn't like it. "It's a pleasure doing business with you."
In response, Xavier slammed the phone down hanging up on her.
****
Xavier was still in a tizzy over his conversation with Cherie when he got his next phone call. He knew that it wasn't good news when the servant timidly knocked on his office door, gave him the message and scurried away before Xavier could ask any questions.
"What?" he snapped into the phone. "What the fuck?" He screamed. "Bring her ass over here NOW!"
While he waited for the nurse from the hospital to arrive, Xavier paced. How could things have gotten so fucked up in twenty four hours? He forced himself to calm down. He knew that if he didn't calm down he would make mistakes. It had taken him centuries to learn that lesson and to curb his need for instant gratification. It was a lesson that had nearly cost him his life.
**
He had been relatively new to the business and a fast learner. His mind was always working on finding ways to improve the business and the product. His goal was to take control of an area and move up from there. At the time he had been working for the Chekovs- one of the most vicious families in New York City. He had to start at the bottom as runner, but he was alright with that. It gave him an idea of how big of an area the Russians controlled and how many people were needed to run it. While it wasn't the biggest area, it was by far the most lucrative. After working for them for a year, he decided that he was ready to take over. The problem was- he wasn't. In his haste to take over, he placed his trust in the wrong people. The night of the attempted takeover began as planned. Somewhere along the line his neck began to tingle. It was an indication that something was wrong, but he ignored it attributing it to nerves. This was his first attempt at anything so huge. He had been skimming money for years but a takeover?
He and his supposed cohorts went to Anatolii Chekov's home expecting to catch him home with his family. The plan was to kill them all and then take over. It was what he considered to be a sound plan even though it was simple. Even as he walked to the front door, Xavier knew that something was wrong, but his eyes were on the prize. He had come too far to turn back. Once they were in the house, his friends jumped and then bound him. Anatolii walked into the room followed by his sons Alek and Sasha both of whom were as big as their father.
"So," Anatolii said in his thick Russian accent, "You think that you can betray me."
Xavier was at a loss for words as his friends and cohorts dragged him to Anatolii's basement and chained him to the wall. He looked at each of them and made a promise. "One day I will kill you." All but one of the five laughed at him. He believed him even though Xavier was chained to a wall. For four solid hours Xavier experienced the most intense and agonizing pain that he had ever known. There were tiny cuts all over his body that they all took turns pouring salt water into. Even the one that had believed him took part.
"Enough play," Anatolii finally said as he tested the sharpness of his knife against his thumb. "It is time to show you what happens to traitors and thieves."
Xavier struggled to break free of his chains and soon gave up.
"Who would like to remove the first piece of skin?"
"I will," the one who had believed him said as he reached for the knife.
He approached Xavier testing the weight of the knife in his hands. When he was close enough, he whispered, "Have courage." And made a cut in his left chest and slowly removed the skin. Xavier screamed as warm blood ran down his stomach.
"Take your time and let the skin grow back!" Anatolii advised. "I mean to use this one as an example."
Xavier lost track of how many times he had been cut and peeled. The areas they cut from were meant to cause the maximum amount of pain. As of yet no one had touched his cock and he prayed that it would remain that way. The torture didn't end until sunrise. As a parting 'good rest', Sasha one of Anatolii's son's opened the shutter to the one basement window and let a few rays of sun in. Xavier screamed as the rays touched his sensitive new skin. Finally, he passed out in agony.
He didn't know how long he had been out before he heard someone calling his name.
"Xavier! Wake up! You must wake up!"
He slowly opened his eyes and tried to focus on the speaker. It was Vanya, the one who had told him to have courage and that had tried to hurt him the least.
"Wake up! I am going to take you out of here!"
