Free Read: Selene Michaels

                       When Morning Comes 

The wind had picked up by the time I reached the bottom of the hill, its direction heading west which, all in all was a good thing. That meant my scent would not reach the vamps who were hunting me unless…ta da, they were coming from the west. I highly doubted it since the valley was to the north and the mission was toward the south east.

I pulled open the door and dragged myself inside. This was going to be my last night before the ‘Great Hunt’ and I was kinda anxious and queasy at the same time. Hank was back inside, hunched over a long in disrepair wood stove, pretending to cook up some grub. I figured, hey, no skin off my nose. If the illusion made him feel better who was I to deny him of it? And from the expression on David’s lower face I guess he felt the same. I settled into my place on the floor, ignored by Hank (who kept stirring away at the invisible pot) and leaned my head back against the rickety wooden wall, waiting for David to come up with a great plan. After a few moments of nothing but silence I glanced over to the chair he had last sat in but it was empty.

Instead David was sitting next to me, long legs stretched out before him, boots dusty and spurs dull. I noticed the hems of his pants were frayed and there had been a rip near the knee that at one time during his life had been mended by someone who probably knew what they were doing.

His head was bent down ward, the cowboy hat tilted over the length of his nose to shade his mouth and the stubble that covered his upper lip and jaw looked as if I could touch it, it would be bristly. His chest moved, in a rhythm of breathing even though I knew no air was entering his lungs and every once in a while he would swallow or stretch his jaw. As before by staring at him I could almost believe he was here in the flesh and not some ghostly figure from a time past. Actually, I really wished it right now. I even wished my dad could be here, if anything but to have him next to me, for a hug, reassurance, anything. But he was hundreds of miles away and David was a tad bit incorporeal.

He glanced over me and as if he knew my feelings he shifted closer to me, still not touching but as close as he could get without merging his ‘body’ with mine. The bone in my hand grew warmer, and seemed to throb and expand, almost as if it were alive but a quick glance down revealed still the tiny splint. That’s when I realized it seemed to match the rise and fall of his chest. I curled my fingers around it, holding it tight and closed my eyes.

“So, what do you think my chances are?”

Nothing.

I cracked my eyes open and glanced over at him. David shrugged.

“Yer resourceful and a fighter. Selene, ah thing ya have a chance as long as ya keep yer head.”

Yeah. Sound advice from someone who’s probably been dead over a hundred years.

“Look, I’ll be with ya the whole time. Ya won’t be alone, ‘kay? I won’t leave ya.”

That was reassuring. Well, thinking about it, it actually was.

“I’ll guide ya, be yer eyes but ya need ta be the hands.”

“Kinda need a weapon, Dave. All I’ve got is a few matches and my charming smile. Think I could win them over with my sunny personality and convince them to leave me alone?”

He stared at me straight faced before finally a grin broke that grim exterior. “Ya could try but not sure how well that would work.” He reached up toward my check, as if to brush away a hair I could feel stuck to my skin then let it hover for a moment before slowly lowering it with a sigh. Leaning forward, he hunched his shoulders as he pulled his legs up and rested an arm on his knees, turning his face away he seemed to become engrossed with watching ol’ Hank cook. Wish there really was food in that invisible pot cause my stomach was getting all twisty with hunger. I ignored the rumble it emitted and frumpted back, slouching.

Swiping at my cheek I brushed the hair away, tucking it behind an ear and made a face. “Ok, personality notwithstanding, you got any ideas? Got any guns or crossbows stashed away somewhere?”

I must admit, I do know how to use a gun. Dad taught us when we were little and I can disassemble and reassemble a pistol under a count of twenty. But anything he might have had buried out here would be no good by now, rusty and corroded beyond use.

“Stake?”

David frowned, glancing back at me under the brim of his hat. “What good would a steak do? Maybe lure the blood sucker out of the mine but ya’d need a whole cow to get them all busy.”

I laughed. “No, duffus. A stake.” I held up my hand as if gripping something and shoved it toward my chest. “As in ugh, he stabbed me…stake. Take it you never saw Buffy.”

I sat back and looked at my feet. Great. I had a whole in my right tennis shoe. These things cost about six hundred dollars. Not that it really matter. My shirt was bloody and long gone, the bra I wore (Agent Provocateur, natch) was pretty much ruined and needed to be burned as well as the panties that went with it and these poor shorts. Don’t even get me started. Hell, get me cleaned up a little and I might look like I was staring in a porno version of Buffy. Muffy…the vampire layer! Argh…it was just too bad…even I thought the pun sucked.

I guess I must have laughed or something cause Dave was staring at me. Okay, back to business.

“Seriously, I need a weapon or something in order to kill these things, right?”

He continued to stare at me, long enough to wonder if I had a bugger waving around in my nose or something. I looked over at Hank (still stirring away…imagine being stuck cooking for all eternity) and use the move to pretend to wipe sweat from my face (phew, no bugger but I did have grit from dust on my skin) then turned back to my cowboy.

“What?”

“Never mind. I don’t want ya doin’ it?”

Exsqueeze me?

“Doing what?”

“Tomorrow ah want ya ta run, run as far away from here as ya can. I’ll git ya back ta that store and git ya a ride away from here. Maybe ya can git far enough away the vamps can’t hunt ya, can’t find ya.”

I blinked. Was David changing the tune on me? But I already accepted my fate on getting rid of those things and freeing his soul to go to heaven.

“Na ah, Dave. We already talked about this. Tomorrow I’m going to that mine first thing in the morning and you’re gonna guide me. Remember? Right now we need to plan.”

Abruptly David stood up and walked toward the door. He disappeared through the worn boards, leaving me alone with Hank, the obsessed stirrer and I was flabbergasted. What was up with him?

I scrambled to my feet and followed him out, opening the door of course since I didn’t have the ability to incorporate myself. He was not there. I looked around, circling the shack and taking note of the sun setting in the horizon. Where the hell did he go? Did he flack out on me? Get scared? Did ghosts have the ability to get scared?

“David.”

I turned in place, looking for him. Nothing.

“David!” I said a little louder.

“No, Selene.” David’s voice was soft in my ear, behind me. I turned to find him suddenly standing close, looking down at me. I could almost imagine feeling his body heat and smelling the scent of leather, dust, horses and male. The feeling was almost over whelming, and I took a step back to steady myself. Whoa, that was weird.

He stepped forward, reaching out to keep me from stumbling and his hand moved through my arm, sliding in toward my chest before he pulled it out, a look of irritation crossing his face, his lips pulled back in an angry (or frustrated?) grimace. On my half I felt a weird tingling shock, almost electric but cold instead of hot. Kinda like jumping naked into a deep freeze at the same moment touch the tip of a battery with your tongue.

I stopped, frozen in movement and stared as David once more pulled his lips tight over his teeth. This time I could tell he looked angry. The wind around up picked up, lifting dust and dead brush, rattling the wooden planks that made up the shack and pulled at my hair.

“Ah changed mah mind. Yer not goin’.”

Oooo. Well, this was interesting, but two can play at this game.

Setting my hands on my hips I cocked a leg and looked up at him, chin jutted at a stubborn angle.

“Really?” I smiled sweetly, the same smile I give my dad when he demands something from me. “Well, hotstuff, guess what, if I don’t listen to my dad do you serious think I’ll listen to you? I already made up my mind and I’m going.”

“No.”

The wind grew, swirling around us in a little storm and I nearly got smacked by a wayward tumbleweed.

“Yes.”

“No.”

I straightened my stance and squared my shoulders, feeling my inner Selene coming running forward like a bull in a china shop.

“Yes.”

“No, it’s decided. Yer not goin’.”

I snorted. As if.

“Yes I am and there’s nothing you can do to stop me. The vampires aren’t going to leave me alone and even if they do decide I’m not worth a midnight snack who’s to say someone else won’t be? Plus I promised to free you, remember? When I promise something I do it!”

“No Selene. If something happened ta ya I’d…” David turned around, putting his back to me and the storm around us suddenly died. I spit out the dust collected in my mouth and wiped my face before daring to move closer.

“David, I’ll be fine but I’m going whether you like it or night. And if you’re worried about my safety, well, if you’re that concerned you’ll come to keep me safe.”

David lowered his head, still keeping his back toward me. We stood there like that for several minutes until he lifted his head again. “Fine, but ya need ta listen ta me. I mean every thin’, understand?”

“Sure.” I grinned and glanced down to find a broken piece of wood by my feet. I bent and scooped it up. “Hey look, a stake. Coolers.”

“Go back inside and git some sleep, Selene. I’ll keep watch.”

I decided not to argue about command and headed back to the shack, pausing to grab a rock that was broke and had a sharp end. Setting the edge to the wood I began trying the sharpen the stick into a point before reaching the door. Opening it I chanced a glance back to find David where I left him, facing me. Dark was underway, hiding his expression from me but for to pinpricks of light that glowed out from under the brim of his hat. Those lights watched me and I had the distinct impression David was angry.

 Pfft.

Men.

And they say women are moody. It was his idea I go kill a bunch of vampires in the first place and now he changes his mind after all the ‘release me’ stuff. So not going to happen. I’m going in there and I’ll rescue David’s bones, stake a bunch of vamps and maybe dance a jig or two. After all, how hard could it be? They kill vampires in movies all the time.