Two Polluted Black-Heart Romances Read online

  “Help me!” Leanne screamed.

  “Get her seat belt loose, Joe.”

  “Fuck that!” Joe spun around once and then ran away several feet. “That hits you, splat, you’re dead. It hits me, and I live forever stuck as part of it. Pal, I don’t want that curse.”

  “Joe, get back here.”

  “No way!” Joe barked before he ran off.

  Cade crawled into the back of the truck. The roof was pressed down and the remains of the front seat pinned Leanne’s legs. “I’ll get you out, Leanne.”

  “Sweet Georgia, there’s no time, Cade.”

  “Our kind always has time.”

  “No, honey, listen to me. I saw what you and Nicodemus packed in the back there. I may not be versed in the ways of war like y’all are, but I can read.”

  “Leanne—”

  “You have to go,” she said. “You have to run now.”

  “I can’t leave you.”

  “If you die, who will protect the rest?”

  “If I die, Dunyasha will find a new soldier.”

  “A soldier maybe, but not a champion like you.”

  Leanne looked the same way she had the night they’d moved in together. Cade would never forget the glimmer in her eyes. She had told him that night that she’d waited for him; after every war, she awaited his return.

  “I love you, Cade.”

  “I love you, Leanne.”

  Leanne pointed behind him. The massive hand had lifted off the ground, and debris spilled from it like droplets of rain. “Go. Maybe I’ll have a bit of luck and it’ll follow you and leave me be.”

  Cade held his breath before he spoke. “You’re right, Leanne. It’s after me, not you. I’ll lead it away and then come back for you.” He took her hand and smiled. “Okay?”

  “Okay.”

  He leaned in and kissed her on the lips. It was a brief peck—all his undead heart could stand.

  “Go.” She forced a smile.

  Cade looked at the thing and the hole in the ground it came from. Pollution…it must be massive. He had greatly underestimated his opponent.

  Nico had vanished over the guardrail, down the hill, and into the woods that walled in Route 210. He should be far enough away now.

  Cade’s damaged ankle was healed already, so he shouted, jumped up and down, and waved his arms at the hand as it formed into a fist again.

  “Over here, Pollution! Over here!”

  When the hand paused, Cade waved his arms once more, flipped the thing off, and then jogged in the direction Nico had gone. “Follow me, you coward!”

  Cade ran, but he knew what he was really doing—he was fleeing and that never sat right with him. Coward, he thought. I’m the bleeding coward.

  Cade realized his mistake while he slid on the seat of his pants down the steep hill. He flipped himself over and dug his hands in the debris and trash-cluttered ground. The top of the hill was draped in shadow; he could not even see the street. Damn it. Damn it. I gotta go ba—

  BOOM!

  The explosion was greater than he’d imagined it. So loud, it deafened him momentarily, but it did not stop him from crying out.

  “Leanne! No! Leanne!”

  * * *

  5 Russian - Problem.

  6 Russian - How are you?

  7 Russian - I don’t know.

  Hole

  Cade had crumbled into a ball at the bottom of the hill, and he hadn’t moved in some time. Leaves and trash burned all around him but he didn’t care. The ringing in his ears had started to fade, but the scent of burning oil and refuse had gotten much worse.

  Leanne. He could not stop thinking about her. This is all my fault.

  Nicodemus stomped into view. Cade could see Nico’s lips moving but could not make out the words he said; things were still too muffled. Cade pointed at his ears and Nicodemus nodded. They’d been under heavy fire before. Cade knew that his childe understood what it felt like to have his senses damaged, if only temporarily.

  Nico knelt down beside Cade and patted his shoulder several times, then held it in a tight grip. Cade nodded; he felt the old man’s compassion. No one ever believed Cade when he said that Nicodemus was an old softy.

  Nicodemus stomped out a small fire near Cade’s feet and then brushed his boot around in the leaves for a moment. In his belt was an old, rusted bayonet. He withdrew it, and wrote Leanne’s name in Cyrillic with a question mark.

  Cade stared a moment before he shrugged. He wasn’t sure how to answer.

  Nicodemus wiped his blade clean, patted Cade’s shoulder again, and then pointed up the hill. He’s going to go check. I should go with him.

  “Wait.” The word was muffled and sounded hollow in Cade’s head, but at least he could hear himself.

  And that was not the only thing Cade heard.

  “Yo!” Joe said as he scurried up, still in the shape of a dog.

  “You,” Cade mumbled.

  “Hey, I know what you guys are thinking. You’re thinking I had something to do with this. Well, buddy boys, its true and false. The other slimes that have merged with Pollution can sense me and hear my thoughts. Yeah, I’m working on shutting them out. I am, man. I am. But I didn’t tell them shit. I ain’t no snitch. I’m on your side.”

  “Was that last part true or false? I missed it.”

  “Which part?”

  “The part where you said you’re on our side,” Cade said as he stood.

  “Ne doveryayte sliz’.”

  “Don’t worry. I don’t trust him, Nico.”

  “I’m on your side. That’s true. Hey, I want to be respected like the rest of them, earn a proper place in the Otherworldly Assembly. Fucking with the elemental kingdom, killing one of their kings—”

  “What?”

  “The Tainted. The original plan was to kidnap one of the elemental kingdom’s princesses. Hold her hostage. Make them accept us. Give us a seat at the VIP table. But then Pollution grew out of control.”

  “Joe, spill it.”

  “The plan changed. I disagreed, yo.” Joe pointed his paw at Cade and Nico. “I’m like you two vampires. I like being on this side of the moral compass. I just want respect. I don’t want to be public enemy number one.”

  “Did something happen you aren’t telling us, Joe?” Cade asked, but his attention was on Nicodemus, who had begun to climb the hill up to the road.

  “Yeah. Get this,” Joe said. “Oil, Smog, and those creepy ass Radiated Earth things…even they put the slimes, molds, and fungi at the bottom of the list. We all formed the Tainted together, but they were going to keep us out of their group. Can you believe that? Keep us out of the group we helped form? Keep us out just like those self-righteous Elementals did. Yeah, but then some slimes, thousands of them actually, merged with Pollution and were able to change its intentions.”

  Cade heard him, but his focus was still on Nicodemus. “Look, I don’t have time for all this. Leanne is—”

  “What? That explosion? She’s a puddle.”

  Cade couldn’t contain himself. Without a thought, he kicked Joe, a punt that sent the slime-in-the-shape of-a-dog easily twenty feet.

  “Never, Joe!” He screamed. “Never say anything bad about Leanne. Never!”

  Cade scrambled up the hill. He was to the top in no time, and once there, he joined Nicodemus, who just stood, gawking at the destruction. He covered his nose; the stench was awful. There were few things identifiable left. Shreds of rubber from the truck’s tires burned. Several chunk of green-grey metal the size of dinner plates sizzled with white vapors. Other pieces of metal laid about, twisted into spikes.

  Cade took several steps forward and knelt, so he could place his hand on the ground. The street felt warm and sticky. There was oil and a substance like tar spread across both lanes of the highway. It reminded him of the roads in Europe during WWII—entirely impassable.

  No other cars have come. He looked back down the road. Where is everyone?

  “What do you s
ee?” Nico asked.

  “Nothing,” Cade replied. Leanne was gone and he had to accept it. “This shouldn’t have happened.”

  Nicodemus nodded and began to pray. “Khristos, nash vechnyy Tsar’ i Bog, Ty unichtozhil smert’ i d’yavol na svoy krest i vosstanovili cheloveka k zhizni voskreseniya; dayet pokoya, Gospodi, k dushe raba Tvoyego Linn, kotoryy zasnul, v Tsarstvii Tvoyem, gde net ni boli, pechali i stradaniya. V Tvoyu blagost’ i lyubov’ ko vsem lyudyam, prostite vse grekhi ona sovershila v mysli, slovom ili delom, ibo net ni chelovek, ni zhenshchina, kotoraya zhivet i grekhi ne, Vy tol’ko bez grekha. Dlya Vy Voskreseniye, Zhizn’, i Prestavleniye raba Tvoyego Linn, ushel iz zhizni, Khriste Bozhe nash; i Vy delayete slavu vozsylayem s Vami Vechnogo Ottsa i Vash All- svyat, Dobra i Zhivotvoryashchego Dukha; kak seychas i navsegda i vo veki.”8

  Cade bowed his head and repeated the prayer in English.

  “Christ our eternal King and God, You have destroyed death and the devil by Your Cross and have restored man to life by Your Resurrection; give rest, Lord, to the soul of Your servant Leanne who has fallen asleep, in Your Kingdom, where there is no pain, sorrow or suffering. In Your goodness and love for all men, pardon all the sins she has committed in thought word or deed, for there is no man or woman who lives and sins not, You only are without sin. For You are the Resurrection, the Life, and Repose of Your servant Leanne, departed this life, O Christ our God; and to You do we send up glory with Your Eternal Father and Your All-holy, Good and Life-creating Spirit; both now and forever and to the ages of ages. Amen.”

  He lifted his head and looked at the center of the explosion, the hole in the road, the cracks that spread out across the pavement. Cade stepped cautiously closer to the crater. It appeared to be a good twenty feet down.

  He reached for his cell phone. He had to call the police and warn them to close the road before anyone else was hurt or killed.

  “Where is it?” Nico asked.

  Cade stopped dialing. “What?”

  Nicodemus pointed all around. It became quickly evident by the debris field that Nico meant Pollution. So focused on Leanne and what little remained of the truck, Cade had not registered the abundance of oil splattered about, and the chunks of rock that seemingly gave off a tiny glow.

  “Mold.” Cade sniffed. “Carbon monoxide. Something else…”

  Nicodemus picked up one of the chunks of rock. Cade watched something dawn on the old man’s face. “This. Natalia once described—”

  “Natalia.” Cade rubbed a hand down his face. “I forgot to ask. Is she okay?”

  “Resting.”

  “This never should’ve happened.”

  “What?” Joe asked as he ducked under the guardrail. “What never should have happened?”

  “This.”

  Joe ran over to them but kept a safe distance. “What did this? What were you jokers carrying in that truck?”

  Cade frowned. “Two crates of C4.”

  “C4? You had me riding in a moving bomb?”

  “C4 is stable.”

  “Obviously.” Joe pointed to the hole with his nose. “Tell that to…” He caught himself before he finished.

  “What happened to Pollution, Joe? Where is he…it?”

  Joe was silent.

  “Damn it, Joe!”

  “Fine! It withdrew back into the ground. It’s gone. You’re not its target anyway. Probably just wanted to slow you down.”

  Nico smiled. “Tried to stop us before we could stop it.”

  “You’re right, Nico.” Cade caught his hint. “That thing wouldn’t have come after us unless it felt threatened.”

  “Maybe just tying up some loose ends,” Joe said.

  “Yeah? Well, maybe it wasn’t after us. Maybe it was after you, Joe.” Cade considered. “How does that make you feel?”

  Joe farted. “See now, you got me all nervous.”

  “Like this place doesn’t smell bad enough.”

  “You think I like this stink? Your bomb blew off a chunk of it, a part that was made of hundreds, maybe thousands of slimes and fungi. They’re all dead now.”

  “Wait.” Cade raised his hands in a defensive manor. “Are you saying Pollution is actually just a bunch of you?”

  “Didn’t you hear me before? Not just me. All the Tainted,” he answered.

  “And the explosion actually damaged it?”

  “Damaged it. Damaged the truck. Damaged your bike. Damaged the street,” Nico listed off.

  “Yeah, you hurt it,” Joe said. “But it won’t stay hurt long. It’s already on the move. Probably, half way to where your fairy princess is hiding by now.”

  “Okay,” Cade said as he faced Nicodemus. “I have a new job for you, Colonel. I’m going to need you to do something for me, and you’ll have to hurry. We’ve wasted enough time.”

  Nico straightened his greatcoat and stood at attention.

  “I need you to go back to the caves and get all the C4.”

  “All?”

  “Yes,” Cade nodded. “Then, I need you to transport all that C4 to Moselle’s house as fast as possible. Where we were just going. Understood?”

  “No truck.”

  “You’re going to have to appropriate one,” Cade said. “Didn’t we pass some signs for a Home Depot a mile or so back?”

  Nico nodded.

  “Take something big…but be watchful,” Cade said. “Stay safe.”

  “Da.”

  “Stay away from cameras.”

  “Da.”

  “Drive fast, but not so fast to alarm to police.”

  Nico pulled his bayonet out of his belt and handed it, handle first, to Cade. It was a gesture Nico had made once before, when they were separated in combat. Cade knew what it meant.

  “Thank you. I’ll keep it safe and use it on anyone who gets in my way. Don’t worry, Colonel, you’ll have your blade back soon. I promise.”

  “Udachi.”

  “Good luck to you too.”

  * * *

  8 Russian Orthodox Prayer for Dead - http://www.saintprincevladimir.org/spiritual-guides/prayer-book/

  Survivor’s Guilt

  The shower’s hot water relaxed her muscles but it did not rid her of the sensation she was dirty. Sabrina leaned her head under the spraying water. She tried to clear her thoughts again, but it seemed she’d spent half of every minute obsessed about it. She shivered and then wrapped her arms around her chest.

  It said, “Pollution destroyed the family.” What does that mean? My family? Is my family… She couldn’t allow herself to finish the notion.

  The Tainted. Sabrina had thought she knew all of the otherworldly species, but she had never heard of sentient slimes or seen anything that could change its shape so easily from a puddle of goo to a person or a monster. The Tainted. What the hell are they and why did they come here? Why attack me? Why here? Why now? I have to call my father. He’d know what they are and what this means.

  “Sabrina?” Jackson called from the bathroom door, stopping her train of thought. “You okay? You need anything?”

  She was happy to have the company; it was much better than being left alone to her thoughts.

  “I’m in the shower. You can come in.”

  Sabrina watched Jackson through the fogged-up shower glass. Like a true gentlemen, he averted his eyes and walked over to the sinks at the opposite side of the room. He turned on the water and splashed some in his face, and then ran his wet hands through his hair. After a deep breath, he untied and tied his hair back into a bun again.

  “This bathroom is huge,” he said.

  “You should see the one in the master bedroom. Three times this size.”

  Jackson humphed. “Hey, Sabrina?”

  “Yeah?”

  His voice sounded apprehensive when he spoke. “I just wanted to let you know that I owe you one. That thing—”

  “We’re even, Stonewall,” she interrupted. “Don’t worry about it.”

  Sabrina relaxed some. She felt undeniably
safer with Jackson around.

  “Hey, how do you do that with your wings? I mean, I’ve seen you make them glow, but actually blast someone—something with them—”

  “I’m solar powered. I have two circulatory systems.”

  “Oh…”

  Sabrina knew she had confused him, but she didn’t want to explain herself any further at the moment, so she let it go.

  “Okay. So, Moselle’s downstairs talking to her father. When she’s done, she’s going to call Cade. I guess she’s trying to figure out what we need to do next.”

  “We?” she asked. “I’m staying here.”

  Jackson meandered over to the tub and gazed out the windows. “I understand, but Moselle might disagree.”

  “Then fuck her,” Sabrina said as she fidgeted with the bangle on her arm. “Sorry. I’m sorry. I’m just tired and freaked out. Everything was fine until you two got here.”

  “It’s really my fault,” he said with a groan. “That thing said I brought it back to Moselle’s house.”

  “What were you doing downtown?”

  “Looking for you.”

  Sabrina smiled. His concern warmed her heart.

  “My building collapsed.”

  “I saw. That whole area is a freaking disaster. Moselle thinks—”

  “Is it me or is she extra intense?” Sabrina asked as she finally reached for the bath soap. “You know, more pushy than usual?”

  Jackson laughed. “Pushy and super anxious. She wants to run away. She’s sure the wraiths are out to get her. To get you. To get us all, I guess.”

  Sabrina sighed.

  “Why are you guys so worried about these things?”

  “I can’t talk about that right now.” Sabrina obsessively lathered up her arms and chest, rinsed, and lathered up again. “Seriously, I was just assaulted by some horrible, sticky, gross ass, bat goo monster. The last thing I need to worry about are the wraiths.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  She peered out at Jackson; he was seated on the side of the tub with his head in his hands.

  “It’s not your fault,” she told him.

  “It really is,” Jackson answered. “When Weston told us where you were, we should’ve just been happy for you and let you be. But the things Cade said to Moselle…”