Chapter One: Shadow Man
Photo by imugz
“Hey, man, I got the stuff for you.”
The boy reached into his pocket and pulled out a sandwich bag full of coke. He showed it to the shadows while licking his lips nervously.
“That was quick,” a gruff voice responded from the shadows.
Money fell to the ground, landing in a muddy pool of rain water. The boy’s face tensed, forming an angry scowl. He held his arms above his head with a growl.
“Yo, nigga, what the fuck?!” the boy yelled out to the darkness. “I bring you the good shit and you ain’t showin’ me no respect? Shit ain’t even right.” He pointed to the soaked money. “If you want this shit, you better pick my money off the ground like you know.”
The shadow chuckled. It only fueled the boy’s anger. He pulled out his gun and pointed it.
“You think this is a fucking game, nigga? I ain’t playin’ with you. Pick my shit up off the ground!”
“Okay, okay,” the disembodied voice said with a hint of chuckling dancing around his words. “Anything you say, homie.”
A hand reached out from the darkness, reaching out towards the ground. The boy kept his gun steady as his eyes focused on that moving hand. He licked his lips again, this time out of eagerness instead of nerves.
“You know,” the shadowed man said as he stopped his hand, “I don’t think you want to do this.”
The boy gaped at him, “Bitch, I don’t think you understand me! This is a mother fuckin’ gun and I will fuckin’ shoot you if you don’t pick my money up, got me?”
The shadowed man scoffed. His index finger pointed in the direction of the boy.
“I’m only going to give you this chance to get away. Only this one. You don’t want to do this.”
The other man made his decision. Swearing, the boy pulled the trigger. The Shadow Man groaned out, slumping into the light while clutching his side.
“Shit…”
The boy moved in on him and raised a foot in the air. He aimed for the fallen man’s bald head. The shadow man reached out and grabbed the foot before it could make contact. The boy gasped, fighting to be free from the strong grip.
“I’m so fucking tired of you little punks.”
He looked up at the boy with narrowed eyes. The boy expected the man’s eyes to be filled with pending death. Instead, what he saw was power and vengeance. And something else; a darkness that somehow blazed with a glint of otherworldly light.
Shadow Man barely moved, but the shove he gave sent the boy half-way down the alleyway. He stood up, still clutching his side. He rolled his face to the sky, sighing heavily. His fingers dug into the bullet hole as deeply as the could go. After a few seconds of painful searching, he pulled out the invading metal, bringing it up to his eyes. Shaking his head, he tossed the bullet to the side.
“I didn’t want to have to do this, but…”
He stalked down the small space between the tall office buildings, jumping over the two dumpsters in his way. Once he cleared the second, he landed in front of the drug dealer and lifted him by the collar of his leather jacket with ease. Shadow Man watched the boy rouse from dazed to confused and then to frightened. The Shadow Man smiled at his fear.
“I see you’re finally getting it,” he said very quietly.
The boy wrapped his hands around the shadow man’s wrists to free himself, but found the other man too strong. He whimpered pathetically, begging for freedom.
“Oh, I’ll let you go, but not until you understand a couple of things,” he said with amusement. “First, you better keep off the streets. I don’t want to see your dumb ass around here selling this shit, again. Got me?” His grin widened as the boy shook his head. “Good, I’m glad we’re finally seeing eye-to-eye. Now, second—and this is real important, so listen up—you can shoot at a corpse, but you can’t kill it.”
The Shadow Man’s mouth opened wide as he brought the drug dealer closer to him. The boy screamed, but it didn’t matter. All that mattered was the too sharp teeth approaching his neck. They sunk into the boy, tearing the flesh of his neck until hot blood poured down his throat.
When done, he lowered the boy to the ground, who clutched his neck and swayed while tears flowed down his cheeks. They stared at each other. The Shadow Man grinned at the boy with bloody teeth showing.
“What the fuck are you?”
The Shadow Man raised a brow as he spoke, “Just your average ‘bump-in-the-night’ representative. Now, get your ass home and plan on changing some shit.” He leaned forward, poking the boy in the chest. “I’m going to find you and if you’re not back in school or working somewhere honest, I’m going to fucking do more to you than make you lunch.”
The boy backed away slowly, on shaking legs. Irritated, the Shadow Man lowered himself to the ground. He raised his arm and formed a fist with his hand.
“I said, get going!”
He lowered the fist to the ground, pounding onto the pavement. The ground rumbled for a moment before it began shaking. The boy’s body swayed violently until he fell to the ground with a yelp. As the rumbling moved on, the drug dealer found his feet and took off down the street.
The Shadow Man closed his eyes and sighed as he clutched his side. He let out a long whistle.
“Damn kids,” he murmured.
Another man stepped from the shadows with applause. The shadow man cracked his neck before turning his head in the man’s direction.
“Sledge, Sledge, Sledge,” the new man said jovially, “I love when you do that.”
Sledge gave the new man a nod with a grunt. He looked down at his hand as he spoke, “Little fucker shot me. I fucking hate when they shoot me.”
The man moved closer to Sledge, placing a hand on his shoulder. He gave it a gentle pat.
“Well, that’s what you get for being a vigilante.”
“Go pester someone else, Ghost,” Sledge said as he took Ghost’s hand and moved it off his shoulder.
Ghost gave him a grin, “Yes, Master.”
The tone was pacifying and only that. Ghost moved in front of his master, leaning down to see Sledge’s wound. He placed his finger in the ruined material of Sledge’s leather jacket, tsking at the loss.
“Well, the jacket’s screwed. Too bad, too, it was my favorite,” Ghost told him mournfully, then continued beyond the hole. “You seem fine, though.”
Sledge pulled away from Ghost and started walking toward the street. The other man moved quickly to catch up.
“Aren’t you getting tired of this bullshit, Sledge?”
“No,” he said bluntly, “someone needs to clean up this mess and I have a lot of time.”
Sledge was almost two hundred, fifty years old. He’d seen the days when black men weren’t men at all and began his life as a slave. He’d watched the times flow and bring changes he never imagined possible. Now, all he could see was the new world squandering opportunity. It had to be fixed and he was going to fix it, come Hell or high water.
“You’re going to out us,” Ghost remarked with a sigh.
“We haven’t been outed yet.”
Ghost shrugged, then ran his fingers through his thin, white-blond hair. He looked up to his master’s face, bright blue eyes filled with worry. Sledge rolled his own at the look.
“We’re not human anymore. Let the police worry about human problems.”
Sledged stopped, “You’re only thirty years reborn. Have you already forgotten what it’s like to live?”
“No, sir, I haven’t,” Ghost murmured, “but that world is beyond our jurisdiction.”
The pair continued walking again, this time slower as though thoughtful. Sledge turned his face up toward the cloudy sky.
“I’m makin’ it my problem, Ghost. And, if you don’t like it, you can leave. I hear Knightcrest is pretty nice this time of year.”
“Psh, Baltimore is my home, man. Charm City born and raised and reborn. I’m not leaving no matter how crazy you are.”
The pair chuckled at that. As they walked the last block of Baltimore Street before they hit President, they paused in front of the police headquarters. Ghost watched Sledge’s face turn melancholy.
“This is about Sheila’s brother, then?” he asked quietly. “The police are going to find the man…men…that killed him.” He paused for a moment before continuing, “I know you guys have a history and all, but you can’t go around playing detective for her.”
Sledge’s face grew darker. He focused his attention on Ghost until his eyes fluttered shut and his shoulders hunched and shook.
“Don’t talk about things you don’t know, Ghost.”
The master eased up, allowing Ghost to move again. He let out a gasp as he stood up.
“Sorry, Master.”
“Did you walk here?” Sledge asked calmly.
“No, I brought the car,” he answered while gesturing down the street. “This way.”
They continued down the street in silence until they reached the black town car waiting for them. Ghost moved to the back of the car, opening the door for Sledge.
“By the way, sir, there was another reason why I met you down here tonight.”
“Oh?”
Ghost nodded slowly, then nodded in the direction of the open door. Sledge walked closer to the door. A twinge of pleasure and fear trickled down his spine. He peered inside. A welcoming smile spread on his face.
“Well, hello, stranger,” he said as he offered his hand. The man inside the car reached out, grabbed it, shook it, and laughed heartily while shaking it. “What are you doing here, Master Aldrich?”
“Can’t a father come to see his child?” Master Adalrich asked in his thick German accent.
Sledge gave him a skeptical look as he climbed into the car next to his maker. Ghost closed the door then climbed in to the driver seat.
“Where are we going?”
Sledge gave him a nod, “Take us to the Canton warehouse.”
The car started moving and Sledge turned his attention to Adalrich. He frowned at the older vampire in a silent question.
“To truly answer your question, I thought it was time to have a chat.”
“About?”
“The past. The present. The future.”
Sledge turned toward the window, watching the city streets pass by. He grunted at his master’s reflection beyond his own.
“What about it?”
Adalrich gave him a soft smile before gazing out his own window, “We’ll discuss it in time. We are not far from your base, correct?”
“Yes, sir, we’ll be there in about five minutes,” Ghost told him.
Adalrich patted Sledge’s hand. The other man grunted again.
“I’m the fucking Master Vampire of Baltimore, yet you can still make me feel like a child,” Sledge growled at his sire.
Adalrich laughed, “Mm…Yes. That is what most parents do.”
July 30th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
Very cool, well written, easy to follow. Heading to chapter two.