Night Games

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Night Games - book excerpt

Chapter 1

People call me weird, hood wicked and crazy. I say, their self-esteem sucks. I get it though. Does it bother me? Hell no. What goes around comes around I always say . . . and I come right back around. Fools. They never see it coming.

I’m not what you would call your typical American male. Not even close. I’m moody, a loner, don’t like crowds, and I’m irritable when hungry. You do not want to be around me when that happens. That’s just half of what I am, the other half is bizarre, freaky and dark.

My name is Jon, Jonathan Harker. I’m 22 years old and that’s where I’ve stayed for the past . . . oh, say . . . 300 years? I’ve stopped counting. I found no purpose in it.

I will say I am good-looking. At least I think I am. I’ve got dark hair, dark eyes, and pale skin. I’m muscular without looking like I’ve taken steroids. My other attributes are I’m fast. I can outrun a train. I also heal quickly and I’m hard to kill.

My clothing, well, I like black. Black jeans, black dress shirts, and black shoes. Color doesn’t look good against my skin. Makes me look . . . dead and I have an impeccable, yet, expensive taste. You won’t see me at some mall. Have you seen them? I believe their buyers have no sense of taste.

I have a tailor come. He knows my body and how I like my clothes to fit and he’ll only get the best material money can buy. He has good taste. Where did I find him? I have friends with the same tastes as myself. They told me about him, in fact, they were eager for me to try him out. So, I did and they were right! Friends, can’t live without them.

I go to college. My degree? I haven’t figured that one out yet. I tried to be a welder, but the bright light from the welding torch burned my skin. Nothing else didn’t appeal to me, so I just take anything that looks interesting. Seems pointless I know, but it does have its benefits. For one, I’m on the hockey team. Seems I’m good at it, especially with speed. They say I could be the next Patrick Kane.

One day, a cloudy day, a perfect day, I went down to the cafeteria for a . . . bite. She was drop-dead gorgeous and she had a figure that would make any man’s heart stop. Mine, of course, was already, but that’s beside the point.

Her name was Vanessa, Vanessa Cleary. I saw her at the far end, next to the windows. She was with two other girls who weren’t bad looking, but she out shone them both. I’ve heard stuff about her, stuff from my coven. She wasn’t to be trusted, in fact, she ate guys like me for breakfast. Was she a problem? Yes and no. No one from my coven is missing, not yet, but I’ll keep my eye on this one. This information gave me all I needed to know . . . for now, besides, I like a female who is troublesome. Sometimes it’s the bad ones that I find most favorable. She needed to be stopped though and killing her wouldn’t be an option, it would be my last resort if necessary.

I positioned myself in her line of vision and watched.

I entered her mind. Fascinating, but wow, a lot of static. Usually, a human’s mind is busy, especially women’s. I don’t know how they manage to not go crazy. Men are simpler. We have only one thing is on our minds. Anything else is just . . . meh.

I got her attention right away. She felt me. Knew I was watching. She smiled.

I gave her a smile back. Nothing big. Just a sensual kind, where just one side of my mouth goes up a bit and my eyes called her in.

She stood up. Walked toward me and said, “I don’t know why I’m here, but I’m sure you do.”

“By all means.” And I gestured to the chair across from me.

“Alright.”

“So, Vanessa what brings you here today?”

Her eyes were blue. I like that in a girl.

She paused. Then replied, “I don’t know exactly, but I have class. You’ll have to excuse me, I’m a bit flustered at the moment.”

“Aren’t we all?” I was smooth.

Again, another strange look.

“I’m hungry.”

“I’m hungry too.” I gave her another of my winning smiles.

“I see.”

My hand touched hers. She flinched. I looked deep into her eyes. Our connection ─ strong and she sensed it.

“I’d like to eat too, but not here. Not now. How about you meet me by the J building. Let’s say around 6:00 p.m. Will you?” I took her hand in mine this time.

“Alright . . . 6 it is. See you.”

“Yes. See you.” I let her go.

Her friends, while in their excitability bombarded her with questions. What did he want? Did he ask you any questions? If so, what? Oh, he so cute, so handsome! Do you know him? Do you have a class with him? All the while they looked at me. I kept my cool. Lounged back in my chair. One leg extended out, while the other was bent at the knee. I had this debonair look about me. Yeah, I’m a ladies man.

Chapter 2

After I watched her and her friends walk away, I got up, adjusted myself and went home.

I had a game tonight. We were playing against a team called the Goonies or Goons. They were thugs. Played dirty and got away with a lot of shit. I’ve kept my cool when we had played them before. Didn’t want who I was to come out, but not tonight. Tonight I will show them who the goon is.

I usually get to the ice rink an hour or so early. I don’t like rushing. Warm-ups are essential to my playing. It also gets my mind to focus on what I need to do. We would win tonight.

I sometimes played goalie, but not tonight, tonight I was a defenseman, right defense. This was my favorite position. It was up to me and the other defensemen to keep the incoming play out of our zone. We block shots, break up passes, and that’s where I excelled. There will be blood on the ice tonight.

But before any of that can happen, I needed to get home. I packed my gear into the car. I needed to hunt. I needed all my strength for the game.

Now my home is a modest home. Nothing fancy. I bought it in an area that most people wouldn’t come around. Seems that in any town you go into, the older side is not always the best. That suits me to a ‘T’.

The area is gang infested, but that didn’t scare me. I believe that they are more scared of me. Anyway, my house is old, Victorian to be exact. Gray in color. An old wrought-iron fence, still sturdy after all these years, protected my property.

I had bought this house when I was changed.

One night, on my way to my car, something or someone knocked me down. Hard. Surprised and a bit pissed off, I got to my knees when, again, something knocked me back down.

“If I were you I’d stop moving. It’ll only make things worse for you.”

The voice was deep. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

“Who, who are you? What do you want?”

“You.”

I didn’t know what he met by you, but I decided to give him my wallet. I wouldn’t fight.

“You can have my wallet! I don’t care! Just don’t hurt me!”

He laughed, “I don’t want your wallet. I want you.”

Before my next breath, he yanked my head to the side and bit down. Pain shot down my neck and I remembered, as I lay there the ground, and the pebbles . . . the cars in the lot . . . they grew dim. My body wasn’t my own anymore. I couldn’t feel anything. Numbness took over and in the distance, I thought I heard . . . maybe it was me . . . I don’t . . .

When I woke, my throat burned. I panicked. I didn’t know what had happened to me or why I felt this way, but it needed to stop. I had to stop it.

Wobbling on my feet, I must have looked drunk. People just looked at me like I was possessed. I felt like it.

Loud noises bombarded me. Cars, brakes, talking, laughing, insects, even my own footsteps! The loudness of it all!

“I can’t bear it! Make it stop!”

Then, a woman, I’ll never forget her. She came up to me and asked if I was alright. I turned my head. My eyes drank her in. Captured her. She was mine. I heard her heart. Her blood coursing through her veins and it excited me. My throat burned worse. Just the very thought of blood made it burn deeper, harder.

I grabbed her and before she could make a noise, she was dead. The burning stopped, but just for a moment. It came back again. Worse.

Chapter 3

That’s how it all started. Of course, it’s been many years since that night and I’ve gotten quite used to it. In fact, I indulge myself almost every night! I’m not proud of myself, but hey, a man’s got to do, what a man’s got to do and I do it very well.

Anyway, as soon as I got home, I dashed into the nearest wooded area . . . Pilcher Park. Great place for picnics I hear, but I don’t do picnic’s, mine is sort of . . . fast food if you know what I mean. Just grab and go!

There were a few people there, some with family, couples, and some just out by themselves. Those are the ones to go after. Then, there are those who go for walks. A possibility there. One being good, but when there are two, I can have dessert! Sounded tempting.

They were young. I’d say in their mid-twenties. Totally into themselves and not aware that someone, me, was watching them. I like to play with my food, makes it more appealing. I didn’t play this time. I had places to go and time was of the essence.

With muscles tensed. I felt myself bulk up. It’s hard to explain. Imagine bubbles as you blow from a pipe. Blow hard and they start to cluster. Growing bigger and bigger. Bad analogy, but it’s the only thing I could come up with. Doesn’t hurt, not now. It did in my earlier years. I hated it but having that reaction to it, aided in the killing process. It pissed me off, the pain. So much so, that I’d take that anger out on my victim.

The other changes that take place . . . my fangs. My lips curl back to give way when they descend. They’re big, pointy and can chew leather up like it was butter. Nice right? I’ve been known to admire them.

Another attribute in my transition are my eyes. They get red, a cold, and steely red. I’m a sight let me tell you. I don’t know what’s scarier to my victim, my eyes or my brute strength. I would have to say both.

They’re doomed right from the get go. My delight . . . watching the fear, but I have two to deal with, so I have to be extremely quick. The less noise the better. Don’t want to bring any attention to the site. Not until I’m gone.

I got the male out of the way first. Males can be over-protective of their mate. Understandably. Females, as you might guess, are easy. I don’t like to see them squirm, so I compel them. Then, it’s all downhill from there. They were an excellent choice. Young blood always is.

I arrived at the rink an hour early. I felt strong, determined. My muscles still tense, but not enough to put me into vampiric mode. Takes a while to retain my natural good looks, though being in my full vampire mode, I’m quite the catch.

The other guys on my team, we get along. I think they may know something, but I don’t see how. I never let on about my true nature. Tonight though . . . they may never want me to play on their team again.

I smiled.

Warm-up time ended. I was first to play. I was ready for them. I was the enforcer of our team. My job was to protect my teammates and make the opponents think twice about making any cheap shots at them. Enforcers also are never afraid to pick a fight. They got that right.

The game was going well. Everyone played fair, until we got ahead of them, 6 to 3. They weren’t happy. That’s when they decided to play dirty.

Number 44, Chris, our team, had the puck. He was our hat trick and the best by far.

He had just crossed the blue line when number 14 of the other team came and tripped him. The refs didn’t see it, though I don’t see how they couldn’t! That’s ok, I can fix that. I’ll play ref my way.