Finding Kray

Finding

Kray

Douglas W. Daech

Copyright © 2017 Douglas W. Daech

All rights reserved

DEDICATION

Finding Kray is dedicated to all the helpers I have in my

writing process. Thank you to Sue Morrison, Becka Cox, Barbara Dykes, Tammy Gach and James Magnum Cook & Company for pre-reading some of my work and sharing your comments and corrections. Thanks for your honesty. Without your help the finished products wouldn’t be as enjoyable for everyone else!

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

A Special Thanks to Tammy Gach for beta reading this entire novel and offering her valued comments.

Thanks also to my wife, Julie, for her understanding of my obsession for telling stories.

Finding Kray

By Douglas W. Daech

Chapter 1

Vincent

I never claimed to be a nice guy. I was never a real criminal, but I'm not afraid to step on someone to get what I want. Survival of the fittest has always been my motto.  It's the way of the world. I'd learned that more than a few times in my twenty-six years. I’m a survivor.  People have called me a lot of things. Like I'm sexist, but I don't feel that way.  I love women, and I love sex. I treat women right. I don't beat them or abuse them. In fact, I may baby them too much.  After all, they are women. I occasionally drink too much, gamble a little and speak my mind too much. And I've been accused of talking before I think, and sometimes not even thinking.  But still, I don't think I'm a bad guy. Everybody has some little flaws. I'll admit it. I'm not a perfect, church-going example of manhood.

I straightened my collar in the vibrating mirror and ran a pocket comb through my hair. It’s always been brown, straight, and in a basic cut, but the length was starting to get a little long. I didn’t think it was out of hand yet.  The loud music from the other room was pulsing through the walls. Even the floor had the beat of the music running through it. My image jiggled on the glass. Adjusting the waist of my jeans, I tucked in the tail of my button front polo. It was a pastel shade of green that matched my eyes. It was my lucky shirt. I didn't look too bad. I had charm, a good sense of humor and the gift of gab. I was always a good talker. My friends joked I could sell Henry Ford a Toyota.  I thought my chances of getting laid were pretty good.

The club was called Harpo's. It had been a hotspot in the Detroit club scene for years. The building started its life as a bowling alley and was completely gutted and refitted as a performance nightclub a decade ago.  A large stage replaced the pin machines, and they covered the bowling lanes with a lit dance floor. Some big names often performed there, but tonight it was a local group. Their guitar-heavy rock-n-roll was good. Toby Red was just starting their final set for the night when I saw her.

I'm not sure if I believe in love at love at first sight, but I do believe in lust at first sight. It has struck me more than once before. But the attraction has never been stronger than with this beauty. When her shimmering blue eyes met mine, I knew there was something special between us.

She was a light skinned blond. Rosy blush accented her flawless face. Cherry lipstick on her lips mouthed the word dance as she motioned me onto the dance floor towards her. Without a second thought, I danced into the light show swirling on the floor. As she rocked to the music, her short blond bob teased me with occasional views of her sexy neck. My mind wondered how nice it would be to kiss that pale neck.

The woman of my desire glowed under the pulsing dance lights. She wore a tight dress, colored in a deep red, that flared just before the knees. Sometimes the colored lights magically changed it to black. When she twisted, the hemline followed in a parade of pleats wrapping around her hips and showing off her legs. The collar plunged deep into her bust line, revealing what I estimated as C-cup breasts. She took hold of my wrists and placed them on her hips. Our steps matched to the beat of the music. I held her, and we danced as if we were one. It was weird, I'd never dance so smoothly with a partner before.

The music shifted gears to a slower song, and the lights dimmed to a deep purple color. Her dress transformed to black again. She wrapped her arms around me and settled comfortably against me. I'm Maggie, she said in a silky smooth voice. You’re a good dancer. I held her close and felt her body against mine. She was oddly cool, but her breasts against my chest and her hips on mine distracted my attention from that odd fact.

I couldn't believe my luck. I was slow dancing with the best-looking woman in the place. Thanks, I'm Steve, I said caressing her back and shoulders as we slow danced. I could feel her fingers dancing on the back of my neck, teasing shivers up my spine.

She rubbed her hips against mine, letting me know where she wanted the evening to end. There is something about you I can't resist. She said.  It was exactly what I was thinking. Something drew me to her the second I saw her. Something drew me to you as soon as I saw you, she sighed into my ear.

My knees were weak. I had never before been smitten like this by a woman. I was transfixed by her shimmering blue eyes. I‘d follow her to the end of the world. Forget all the others. I only needed this one. The idea of committing to only one woman was so unlike me, but I didn't think twice about those thoughts.

Let’s go outside to your car, she whispered into my ear with a long kiss on my neck. Her voice was magical.

The dancers and the crowd in the club seemed to part as we walked off the dance floor, between the rows of tables and chairs, and up the slight incline toward the club's entrance. I was dizzy with anticipation. The room seemed to spin around me. Maggie had me by the hand. The electricity between us tingled on my fingertips. The double doors to the nightclub swung open on their own as she led me into the nippy air of the evening.

Once outside she suddenly turned and kissed me deeply. Her hands ran through my hair, and she pulled herself close to me. I could feel my heart racing. I could hear my heartbeat pulsing in my ears. I couldn't believe she didn't hear it as well. Perhaps she could. The seconds we kissed stretched out into what seemed like minutes. I was so involved in the kiss, nothing else mattered.

Where is your car?

Her smooth voice commanded me to answer. I pointed to the corner. Around back, I choked out. I was so caught within the moment, it was a challenge to speak.

Seconds later we were at my car, parked on a dark street behind the club. It was in a line of cars parked along one side of the street while music throbbed from the club on the other side. A dark, broken street lamp creaked from above my car, but the full moon above that gave just enough light to see the pale aqua color of my classic GTO. It was always a lady killer. The muscle car screamed of testosterone, and it drew women like kids to candy.

Maggie pulled me behind my car and scooted onto the trunk. Her legs were on each side of me and braced against the bumper of the car parked close behind my GTO. Sitting up, she pulled me to her and kissed me. Her moist cherry lips shined in the moonlight. Her hands gripped my head in a long hard kiss while our tongues explored each other mouths. The passion in the kiss was incredible. She slid down the back of the car and came to rest against me. The dress she wore clung to the dew moistened trunk and slid up as she came to rest on my hips. Our bodies wedged together in a perfect fit.

Her kisses became aggressive with light bites.  Our bodies pressed hard together. One of my hands cupped her cool breast, and the other held her thigh.

I could hear her voice even as we kissed. Come to me. Be mine. She said.  Her arms around me gained strength and held tight. My pulse pounded. My heart was about to explode. Between kisses, in a quick breath, my eyes locked onto her shimmering blues. They had darkened to almost the hue of midnight. A slow smile crossed her face exposing her beautiful white teeth. At the corners of her cherry lips, long fangs came into view. She edged towards me.

I want you. Her sweet voice flowed through my ears like a song.

The sight of the fangs frightened me, but I couldn’t resist her cold kiss and closed my eyes. I was Spellbound.

My perfect world was shaken by a firm grasp on my shoulder pulling me away from a lovely destiny.  The grip was like a clamp, and painful. Torn from my lust, I opened my eyes to the invader separating me from my savage angel. I lost balance and fell back on the hood of the car behind me. With my lusty dizziness at bay, I shook the spell I was under from my mind. Was he her boyfriend? With one hand on me and the other on Maggie, he held her at bay.

The stranger released me, and with lightning speed pulled an object from the breast pocket of his overcoat. I wasn't sure what it was because he was moving so fast. I assumed it was a knife. Without hesitation and in blurring speed he plunged the knife into the chest of Maggie. Her eyes turned fire red in the moonlight. She arched her back in a silent scream. Then, her skin turned an ashen gray, and she fell onto the trunk of my Goat.

What...  I tried to ask what was going on. My body would not obey my thoughts. The stranger grabbed my shoulder and pulled me off the hood to my feet. My knees were weak, but I stayed upright. He looked at me, then at the body of Maggie, lifeless on the trunk of my car. I thought of running. I could be the next victim, but his hold on my shoulder was firm. His vice-like grip held me in place. My voice came back to me. What the fuck did you just do? I asked shakily.

With his free hand, he pointed to the body on my car. It took a second for me to notice what he was bringing to my attention. The pale blue moonlight offered enough light to see something wasn't right. Maggie's skin tone had changed from pale flesh to ash, then to dark gray. Her perfect face had quickly wrinkled. Her cheeks had sunk, and her striking blue eyes were black as coal. I blinked in confusion over her loss of beauty. Her low cut dress revealed a wooden stake thrust through her chest into her heart. The skin was cracking, and there was black around the wound. Before my eyes, she started to crumble into herself as if she were a shell and her body was hollow.

Watch, the stranger said.

A chilly wind stirred and a tiny dust devil formed atop her. The gray ash that was Maggie swirled into the vortex. I watched as her body and clothing dissolved to dust. Even in my drunken, semi-hypnotic state, I knew that dead people didn’t just decompose in front of your eyes. In seconds all that was left were cracking bones. They too became dust and swirled into the midnight wind. The wet dew on the trunk held all that remained of Maggie. There, a gray slime clung to the back of the Goat.

The stranger turned to look at me. He wore a purple velvet jacket and slacks. It was almost a costumed look. The chest of the jacket displayed a logo of some type. It was a claw holding a sphere. For a moment, I thought he might have been part of the band from inside the club, but that was absurd. He was at least fifty years old, and I doubted he was a rocker.

I'm sorry I had to cut that so close, but I had to wait until she was lost in the moment, or she would have noticed me in the shadows. His voice had a distinguished roll to it. He straightened his jacket and held his hand out for me to shake. I'm Vincent Herr, Vampire Hunter.

Chapter 2

If I had not seen Maggie transform to dust in the wind, I would have laughed him off. Who was this stranger? What the hell just happened? My heart was still racing, and I could hear the arteries in my head pulsing as loud as the music coming through the walls of the club.

The man clamped his long bony hands on both my shoulders and looking me straight in the eyes, he explained. Listen to me son. That demon was about to kill you. You were about to become its evening meal. Although his words sounded crazy, there was something about his voice that forced me to pay attention. Trust me, he said. I saved you from her.

I tried to accept what he was saying, but it didn't seem possible. There was too much I didn't understand. But, when he said trust me, I realized that I had no reason not to. He just saved my life. I remembered the fangs that slipped from the cherry lips of Maggie's kiss and realized how close I was to being a victim.

You can believe everything I tell you, he said with an air of authority. His voice, with a slight British accent, exuded wisdom, making him sound to me like he knew what he was talking about.

His eyes locked onto mine. The large eyes glared into my mind. The world around me seemed to fade away.  I didn't feel the same controlling trance that I experienced when I was under Maggie's spell, but after what just occurred it was undeniable that Vincent did have power.

You just saved my life, I said in shaky words, I believe you! How could I not believe what he told me? He obviously knew all about this kind of thing.

With a serious tone, he continued speaking. The vampire chose you because you are special. You have a gift. You are a threat to them, just like I am. The tenor of his words deepened as if he were revealing a secret. In my mind, I relived the seduction that Maggie had put on me. In my vision, a deep blue aura glowed around her and me in the crowded club.

She chose you because you are special, he repeated. The man who called himself a vampire hunter released my shoulders, and we stood face to face between the cars. He leaned close to me. I could smell a heavy musky scent from him. The world around us was a void. It was just us in a blank space. I knew I was in some mental connection with the vampire hunter. He had strange powers I didn't understand.

Special? What the hell does that mean, I'm special? As I looked at him, I saw the blue aura around him too.

It means that you are strong, and they feed on the strong. He leaned back on the bumper of the Goat, beside the remains of Maggie, and crossed his arms. The purple velvet seemed to glow in the moonlight. His eyes never broke their connection to mine.

How did he sneak up on us glowing like that? I wondered. Was I