Tail of the Devil (2 page)

Mathias had to think carefully. Lying would be a bad move. Nic already knew what he came here for, so telling a lie wasn’t just stupid, it was dangerous. So, Mathias had to play Nic’s games. “Yeah...um.”

“No idiotic teenage butchering of language!” Nic snapped. He stared at Mathias. “You may continue.”

Mathias cleared his throat. “Do you have any work for me tonight?” What he really hoped was that what he would be requested to do wouldn’t be too horrible.

Nic seemed to roll his eyes into the back of his head and scratched his chin thoughtfully. “I may have something. Yes,” he raised his hand and curled his fingers as if catching the idea out of thin air. “You wouldn’t happen to know where I could find the skull of a real vampire, would you?” Nic asked with a greedy glint in his eyes.

“Err, no sir. I...I honestly didn’t know that vampires really existed,” Mathias gave up on controlling his emotions and ran his hands through his hair.

Nic laughed. “Well, of course they do, don’t be ridiculous. In any case,” Nic seemed to stare at Mathias’ bare arms, “You wouldn’t happen to be willing to part with some flesh, would you?”

Mathias gasped. His eyes grew wide and the tingle of fear licked at his spine. Just as he was about to make a response, Nic interrupted. “No, I suppose you wouldn’t. Besides, too many have already taken their pound of flesh from you. I would not be so cruel to do the same,” Nic tutted for a moment, “No, you don’t have anything to give me, but perhaps you are swift enough to run an errand for me, hmm?”

Mathias was so relieved that he didn’t have to give up anything that would hurt he nodded without thinking, slowly realizing that he hadn’t checked into what he was agreeing to do.

“Yes, Mathias. It’s just a little something. I need you to go see Doctor Snake. He’ll be expecting you. Just accept the item he gives you, and bring it back to me. Ask no questions. If you do this right, I may have more work for you.”

Mathias allowed himself to be shuffled out of the building. He was scared. Nic did not offer further chances of employment so lightly. Besides that, Mathias hadn’t the foggiest idea where to find Doctor Snake or who he was. Just when he was about to give up hope, a green mist swirled in front of him.

This is going to be interesting.
Things with Nic were so odd that he’d stopped being shocked by anything weird a long time ago. Nic and weird just went hand in hand.

Mathias followed the mist through the streets, winding, almost undulating through the narrow network of alleys that made Hell what it was. Mathias was finally able to see a glowing sign off in the distance depicting a dancing snake. He looked at the mist, and the mist seemed to be pointing at the sign like a hunting dog.

Mathias stepped out of the alley and began to cross the street near the sign. He heard the squeal of tires against the blacktop.

Brrrrrrrrt!

Suddenly, the pain ripped through him, and all he could hear were shell casings littering the ground. It sounded somewhat like jingling change, but louder. If he didn’t know better he’d believe he’d just been punched a million times by a jackhammer. The pain was like multiple explosions had gone off in his chest. He was thrown backwards, his legs somehow carrying him along several feet behind him. Nothing worked right. He could feel the blood dripping from the holes, but he couldn’t tell where the holes were. His chest was a mass of pain.

“No!” He hit the ground in a slump. He wasn’t sure what hurt worse, the gun shots before he fell or after. But he wasn’t dead, not yet.

And then he saw the car. It was a small white car that had seen better days. A Nissan or a Subaru, Mathias wasn’t sure which. A group of gang members wearing loose-fitting clothing and do-rags laughed from inside the car. “Goodnight, mutherfucker!” One of the men held up a Tech-9 and shook it in Mathias’ direction, and then they sped off into the night.

The pain was blinding, but he had to try to get somewhere for help. He crawled up the steps to Doctor Snake’s and feebly knocked on the door, but no one came. No one wanted to mess with the soon-to-be-dead. Without any other recourse, Mathias dragged himself into the alley next to Doctor Snake’s and leaned against the stone wall.

It was sad really. His life was over. He wanted more. His only consolation was that he believed that he would finally get to see his parents again. It had been so long.

“So this is what it feels like to die,” Mathias said. He groaned from the pain.

It was getting harder to breathe. He didn’t know what had been hit, but his lungs were not good, that much he knew. He gave up. He knew that there was no one alive that cared about him. Blood dripped from the bullet holes that meandered across his chest. He coughed.

It figures, I always had a feeling I would die before I was forty, but this is ridiculous
. He coughed again. This time he coughed up blood.

He struggled, pushing himself against the wall with his feet. Breath came in short gasps. It wouldn’t be long now. His vision began to dim. He could feel it coming.

Death was close.

A tall, dark figure appeared roughly ten feet away.

“Leave me alone,” Mathias groaned. He tried to catch his breath, but he couldn’t. It felt as if some great beast had decided to sit on his chest.

And then, the figure was five feet away. Mathias knew he hadn’t seen the figure move. But it looked closer now. He was too sick to be scared, he was dying anyway. He just hoped it would be over quick. Before he had a chance to blink, the figure was crouched in front of him, eyes glinting in the dark.

He turned his head away; he could feel it. This was death and he didn’t want to look death in the eye. He hoped he was hallucinating.

“It’s all right now, Mathias.” The figure said as it moved its hand in front of Mathias’ eyes, and he felt himself falling away, his vision sinking into a pin hole of light. He saw the figure’s head bent near his body. Before the darkness took him, he felt the sharp sting of teeth at his neck.

* * * * *

Thirteen months ago, he’d lived in West Virginia in a small town called Masontown. His folks had loved him. As an only child, he felt he’d probably been spoiled, but that was light years away now. It was a good life. Sure, they weren’t rich, but his dad had been a coal miner and his mom had been a secretary. There was always a roof over his head and plenty to eat. But his life had changed.

* * * * *

Mathias looked up from the vampire book he was reading. His father was giving him that look. His father always deviled Mathias, but he knew that was his dad’s way of letting him know he loved him. To anyone else, they would have thought his father was being mean. Part of that was the way he looked. He was a tall man, with a large muscular build, kept in shape by the hard work in the mines. His hair was coal black, and he had deep set eyes that could look very mean when he wanted them to, but he rarely was mad or mean to Mathias, and then it was only when he deserved it.

“Mathias Drvar, I don’t even know why I bother. You’ve always got your head buried in these goddamned books. Just like your mother.”

Here we go again.
He rolled his eyes and smiled at his father. “Dad,” Mathias threw a bookmark into his book and tossed the book onto the couch. “You know how it is, I just can’t help myself. When I read, it’s like watching a movie.”

His dad laughed. “You and your damned vampires. I swear, if I didn’t know better I’d think you came from somewhere else.” His sapphire blue eyes always sparkled when he laughed. He turned his head. “Linda, are you ready yet?”

“Yes, Butchie, I am,” she said as she walked into the room. When she dressed up, she always looked like she had stepped out of a magazine. Her brown hair was cut short, but it framed her face. Her hazel eyes seemed to dance from her face, usually they were hidden behind her glasses, but tonight, she’d left her glasses off. She was medium in height, not like her husband who was over six feet tall.

 
When they stood next to each other, sometimes people would comment on how they reminded them of “Mutt and Jeff”. Of course, Mathias had to ask what that meant. He’d read somewhere that they were old serial characters that were featured in movies a long time ago. Apparently, one was very tall and the other was very short. Still, to Mathias, the description didn’t seem to fit his parents very well.

 
She turned to Mathias. “Keep an eye on the house while we’re gone.”

Their house was a little blue house, and people who didn’t know them always seemed to look down on them for it. But Mathias never felt like there was a house that was more homey. When he visited his friend’s homes, he always had to take his shoes off so he wouldn’t mess up the carpet. His mother always figured that a house was a place to live in, not a show place. That wasn’t to say that their house looked like a pig sty, especially not with his father’s obsession with order, but it was also lived in.

“Sure Mom. No problem.”

She smoothed her dress, reached over, and ruffled her son’s hair. “Be good. It isn’t often that your dad takes me out.”

“Keep it up and I won’t take you out at all.” His dad grumbled, and then winked at his son.

“Come on!” She grabbed his father by the arm and pushed him out the door. As she turned to Mathias, she said, “If you run into any trouble, just call your aunt. But honestly, I think everything will be alright.”

He tried to stop the scowl from reaching his eyes, but it just didn’t work.

“Mathias, I know that your aunt can be difficult, but it’s not like I have much choice. You know she’s all I have left.”

Yeah. Heard that story too many times, Mom. Annette’s the baby, uh huh. She just expresses herself differently. Yeah right. She’s probably bipolar like Grandma was.

His dad poked his head inside the door. “Mathias, don’t forget to lock the doors behind us, alright?”

“Yeah, Dad.” He followed them out the door.

“We’ll be home by eleven,” they called to him from the driveway.

Mathias waved. He watched the car until it pulled away into the night.

After closing and locking the door, he walked over and sat down on the couch. It wasn’t as if he minded being at home by himself. There were plenty of movies to watch, and there was his book to finish. Not often did you find a book about a vampire dog.

He stood, went into the kitchen, made himself a sandwich, and settled down for the evening.

* * * * *

“This handy dandy steamer mop...” the TV blared.

“What the hell?” Mathias blinked his eyes several times and looked at the clock. 3 a.m. It was late. Too late. “Where are they?”

Suddenly, he could feel it. That deep pit of dread that forms in your gut the minute you know something had gone wrong. He ran to the front window and pulled back the curtain. The car wasn’t in the driveway.

“This can’t be happening,” he said.

He didn’t know what to do. He grabbed the phone and dialed his dad’s cell, but it went straight to voicemail.

“What am I going to do now?”

There was a knock at the door. Mathias didn’t want to look. He just knew that something was wrong. He took a deep breath and looked through the peephole. What he saw was the thing he dreaded more than anything else— the men in blue. One was taller than anyone Mathias had ever seen before. The other seemed a bit too much like Barney Fife for Mathias’ comfort.

Before he could open the door, the tall one knocked again.