Hi everyone! This post will be a bit longer than my other book ones as i wanted to put the whole of chapter 4 on here. it's not as long as the other chapters and as this part of the story is super important for a lot of the characters i wanted it to be fully intact for this post :) As always, #loveyourguts and I'll see you tomorrow!
Chapter 4: Band of Bastards
“What kind of music is this? Sounds like nails on a chalkboard”.
“I believe it’s called ‘Electro-rock’” I reply with amusement. Dimitri stares at me blankly, as if I had spoken in a foreign language while said music was pumping out through multiple speakers located throughout the room, sending slight vibrations through the ground with every beat.
“They call this music?” he asks seriously, his pale blue eyes daring me to disagree, “there aren’t even any real instruments in the tune! Now, back in my day…”
I zone out, settling in for yet another lecture about how things have changed, and how us ‘kids’ didn’t appreciate the finer arts, and so on. Sometimes I forget how old Dimitri is, having been turned into a vampire over 500 years ago. He hadn’t adapted well in that time.
Taking a strong pull of my beer and nodding occasionally, less Dimitri cotton on to my lack of interest, I survey the crowd of writhing bodies from our vantage point on an elevated stage to the back of the club. SIN, the biggest supernatural club in the underworld, had many different entry points through-out earth and hell and was frequented by supernatural and humans alike. The club itself had multiple levels catering to the vast range of clientele that found their way through the doors every night.
The level that Dimitri and I oversaw was known as the Den. Here, the vampires and human companions, along with many other cambions (half human, half-demons), drank, fed and fucked on the abundance of offerings, as this level was the most accessible to the human world. The other levels above ours were for the more ‘pureblood’ demons, and access was very restricted to those on the door lists. Not that that bothered us much, the clean-up tended to be much easier. Fewer bodies.
The stage, along with the ridiculous throne my blood brother currently occupied, provided a great view of all the entrances to the right, the private booths to the left, and the giant dance floor and a second stage for bands and DJ’s right in the middle of the room. Multiple neon-lit stairs led up to a second floor were the bars and toilets were located, and by the looks of it, we were in for a busy night, as more bodies piled in through the main doors.
Standing to the side of the throne, my wolf detected the scents of all kinds of creatures here tonight. Being a changeling, a born wolf shifter, my sense of smell was heightened, able to pick up the subtle scents of the Incubi, vampires, imps, shifters of all breeds, and even a few nymphs that were in the club tonight.
“Have you been listening to a word I’ve said, Dyson?” Dimitri says scowling up at me, his shoulder-length black hair and pale skin making his light blue eyes stand out in stark contrast to the rest of his features.
“Nope, not a word,” I say bluntly, waving to two of our other Brotherhood members as they walk over to the stage.
“Kids these days” he mutters under his breath, knowing full well that I was over 90 years old, and I stifle my laughter with a cough as our brothers reach us.
“Dyson, why do you always insist on putting Dimitri in a bad mood, makes him such a buzz kill for the rest of us,” Roman says, obviously noticing the vampire’s sour mood as he jumps up on stage to bump knuckles with the two of us. The Incubus was notorious for getting under the moody vampire’s cold skin and under many a woman’s skirts from what I had seen. The sex demon was insatiable, not only sleeping with at least half a dozen different women a night (and that was on a slow day) the lucky bastard could shift his form into whatever attractive male he wished, tonight being a Chris Evans look-a-like, in his dark blue jeans and a white t-shirt.
“Yeah, talk about ruining the fun for the rest of us” chimes in Forneus his dark skin reflecting the strobe lights flashing around us, and the newest member of our merry band of bastards.
The imp had assimilated into the brotherhood so well, that none of the brothers had even held a grudge toward him for killing their previous member, Dartanion, as was part of the ritual of ‘Bloodletting’. The only way to get into the Bloodthorn Brotherhood was to dual one of the existing members. If you survived long enough or were even able to defeat a member, you then got to drink the ‘Brothers Blood’ and receive the mark of the Brotherhood, a ring of thorns branded into the center of your chest.
In total, there were six of us. When not out on contracted missions, Dimitri and I ran this part of the club most nights, while Roman and Forneus spent most of their nights here drinking and wooing the female population of the crowd. Sariel, a fallen angel tended to prefer his own company while Demarco, a powerful necromancer, had a side business outside the brotherhood. At the end of the day, our lives were our own, until we were hired to do a job, then all members would gather to complete the mission.
“It’s not wise to sass a vampire lord, Imp,” Dimitri says, scowling at Forneus as he rises from his throne. The throne was a ridiculous bit of marketing used to wow the mortals who would come to offer themselves, or just gape openly, at Dimitri. Coupled with his old-world look, black slacks with a deep red button-down shirt, he made quite the stereotypical vampire, much to his disdain.
“But where would the fun be in that?” Roman jokes, moving to stand next to me so he could better view the crowd, his pupils glowing a soft grey hue, as he surveys the masses of male and female bodies gyrating on the dance floor, the only indication that he wasn’t entirely human. From what I had heard, incubi and succubi were damned humans, who had usually committed the sin’s lust and adultery. Once the human died though, their soul would go to hell, where they would be given mortal form and sent back to earth to collect more souls and to tempt mankind into sin. Not a bad way to spend eternity if you asked me.
“This music is ridiculous, ima tell the DJ to change it up,” Forneus says as he hops down from the stage.
“Tell him I’ll eat him if he doesn’t” Dimitri calls out to the imp, as he pulls out his old Nokia phone and begins typing furiously on the buttons.
“That oughta motivate him!” Forneus yells back over his shoulder, beginning to move through the crowd and passing Demarco on his way to the DJ. As Demarco reaches the stage, Dimitri looks up and with an exasperated sigh, sliding the phone back into his pocket.
“Where the fuck have you been, I was just about to call you”.
The music shifts to a song that makes us all chuckle. ‘Judas’ by Lady Gaga begins to play, and I spot Forneus next to the DJ with a big grin on his face, his green eyes glowing along with his white shirt when the lights switch to UV. The song referenced one of Jesus’s disciples, who had betrayed him for 30 pieces of silver, leading to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. What made the song even funnier, was not only the way Lady Gaga spoke of her love for Judas but how she ‘accidently’ leaked the song four days early, which just happened to coincide with Easter that year.
“What’s all this about?” asks Demarco as he lifts his black robe to step up onto the stage, bringing my attention back to him. “I was just about to close on a major deal, so it had better be important”.
“What kind of deal?” I ask out of curiosity. Demarco had a lucrative business outside the brotherhood, mainly, the buying and selling of bodies and reanimated corpses to the underworld.
“Cemetery,” he says while grinning.
“Nice,” I say, both impressed and a little disgusted. If he invested or bought a cemetery, he would have 24-hour access to fresh corpses, as, right now, he had to ‘liberate’ bodies soon after they were buried.
“Cause grave robbing is so 17th-century” chimes in Forneus, rejoining the group, and fist bumping Demarco as the Necromancer laughs.
“Now we are just waiting on-” Dimitri begins, when a bright white light appears next to him, and Sariel materializes, wearing his usual black jeans and black skivvy. Out of all the brothers, I knew the least about Sariel, but had always wondered what the silver-haired fallen had done to lose his wings, and get booted out of heaven.
“Good, now that we are all here, lets head down below,” Dimitri says as he moves around his throne to the back of the stage, where the only door to the lower levels can be accessed from the club itself. Opening the way, and taking the lead, Dimitri moves down the black stone steps that descend deep into the earth, and, once we all move through, I close the black door behind us.
As we descend, I see the Dungeon, sort of like the VIP area for the Den level above, spread out before us. The music shifts from the club dance above to a grungier alternative rock, and, as we reach the bottom, I can hear Placebo’s ‘Running Up That Hill’ playing as the entire area is revealed. The cavern is built from black marble, absorbing the dim lights that were interspersed throughout. Off the main floor were multiple areas; the themed rooms, all housing different furnishings catering to the many different appetites of the clients, the bank, consisting of human volunteers that willingly fed and fucked supernatural’s for the high and money and Dimitri’s private quarters.
This, along with the dark red theme throughout the main hall, created a dark and erotic atmosphere that the exclusive clientele seemed to be enjoying if the orgy happening in the center of the room was any indication. At least a dozen male and female patrons were having all kinds of sexual fun, while others observed from the couches surrounding the makeshift bed of cushions on the floor.
I could see a Roman pause to watch the action, his nature compelling him to join in and to feed off the sexual chi created by the erotic movements of the dozen bodies. I carefully place my hand on his shoulder and guide him away, toward Dimitri’s quarters, the meeting too important to delay. Fortunately, he doesn’t fight me, and with a nod, moves to follow Forneus who is moving through the ornately carved doors into the meeting room. The meeting room consisted of a black ornate table seating 8 chairs, a bar fridge full of drinks and blood, along with a coffee maker and microwave, and we all move to grab our preferred beverage, before taking our seats around the circular table. Tossing my finished beer bottle in the bin, I grab another from the fridge, while passing two more to Roman and Forneus.
While everyone takes their seats, except for Dimitri who stands beside me, I turn on the laptop and quickly load the files and images for all to see on the large, wall mounted, TV screen behind me. The screen lights up, and within moments I organize the images to show 5 different women.
“Alright gents” begins Dimitri, moving to deposit files containing the profiles of each target in front of everyone and starting the meeting, “this is a big one, 5 targets, all female and from what I understand, they are all Nephilim”.
“No fucking way, the Twilight sisters?” comments Roman surprised.
“Who are they?” asks Demarco, his black eyes squinting in curiosity. Being the closest thing to a human in the room, it wasn’t a surprise that he hadn’t heard of them.
“They are the physical guardians of the earth” I reply, “the vanguard of heavens army, and the first line of defense to heaven”.
Demarco sits back in his chair, his black eyes intrigued, a respectful whistle passing his pale lips.
“It’s one hell of a resume” I continue, while Dimitri pulls up the contract on the big screen, along with the parameters for the assassinations, “but this request comes right from the top of hells hierarchy”.
“Apparently, Lucifer is done waiting, and has already begun taking out key players,” says Dimitri gravely.
I pick up the thread of conversation from Dimitri “The Zodiac Clan has already lost one of their own, Aquarius, not two moons ago”.
“Hells rings” gasps Forneus. “I didn’t even know they could be killed”. Silence descends in the room as we all absorb the information until a surprising voice speaks.
“This is it”.
We all stop at the sound of Sariel’s voice. The fallen angel rarely spoke, so it was enough to get everyone’s attention.
“This is what exactly?” asks Roman. “Armageddon?”
“Worse” Sariel replies as he leans back in his chair.
Clearly frustrated with the vague answers, Roman stands so he can see over Demarco’s shaven head, to look directly into the silver eyes of the angel.
“What could possibly be worse than the end of the fucking world?”
“The end of creation”.
Well, that stopped Roman dead in his tracks, a look of confusion crossing his face as he moves to retake his seat.
“Care to elaborate fallen?” asks Dimitri.
“I can’t” the angel begins, and before Roman can pipe up to ask more questions, he continues. “I don’t know what will come next, none of us do.” He then stands and moves around the table to stand in front of the TV, a troubled look on his face.
“If Lucifer is moving against heaven, his actions, and all that follow, will change the course of history. I don’t think God himself can foresee what will happen next”.
“At this point, Lucifer and his insanity isn’t our concern” Dimitri steps forward to reclaim everyone’s attention, “do we, or do we not, accept the contract?”
I thought it kind of was our concern, if we were going to take out the sisters, but didn’t voice this, as we all pondered the upcoming mission.
“Who’s hiring us?” asks Forneus.
“Doesn’t say, but I’d bet Dysons first born that it’s one of the fallen arch’s” jokes Dimitri, making us all chuckle and lightening the mood a little.
“Which means,” I say while punching Dimitri in the arm, “that if we decline, we probably won’t live long enough to regret it.” I dodge a return fist from the Vampire.
“Then it’s settled. Arm up, we move out in one week to hunt the sisters” Dimitri states, as the group rises from their chairs, and he places a closed fist above the table, in the center. One week would allow enough time for us all to get our affairs in order, as once the hunt began, we wouldn’t stop until either us or our targets were eliminated.
The others and I follow suit, moving our fists to join with Dimitri’s, and as one we say, “For the Brotherhood”.
