“We are here today to determine the fate of the Code F self-named Jessie. Before we vote on whether or not to invoke plan D I would like to hear the thoughts of this council.” Said a man that looked like merlin got a government job but kept the beard.

“I say that we do what we originally planned and use plan D on a loyal member of the MFBI, not this wild dog. While the loss of our prime candidate, Olivia Brogan, is a tragedy, my son is willing and able to take her place.” Said a man that screamed white privilege even though he was Latino.

“We decided to invoke the plan on this creature for a reason, he was powerful and hungry enough that he would go for our goal with minimal prodding. While Olly’s death caused the lack of a handler to take her place, the fact remains that he is still hungry and will go for the goal regardless of our thoughts. Better to help him, than have him in the way. Also, Gideon, your son is even more of a ponce than you and will never have my vote as a result.” A woman that would not look out of place as CEO of a fortune 500 company told her companions.

With a proverbial creak “Merlin” turned his head to last occupant in the room, “Bulk I know that Olivia’s death has hit you hard, but it unfortunately falls to you to decide. I will abstain from this vote and we already know how Gideon and Mara will lean.”

“My daughter saw something in that boy. I do not know what as all I see is a callous, cold-hearted boy that seeks only entertainment, but I have to believe that my daughter was right. That this boy can become the god killer that we have been looking for.” The man, the myth, the legend Bulk Brogan rumbled out.

“You cannot be serious! This mon…” Gideon barely got out before he was interrupted.

With a glare that could cut glass “Merlin” stated “Gideon the decision has been made and will be followed. Start spreading the word that Code F Jessie will henceforth be referred to as Dracula. Gideon you will make sure all news stations call him such. Mara will handle other law enforcement agencies and Bulk will tell our men. Dismissed.”

***

“Welcome to Channel 13 News, I’m your host Chip Chocolate.” The squared jawed news anchor announced.

“And I’m your host Raisin Oatmeal” his co-host followed up with.

“Tonight, we bring you ill tidings. The serial killer and mass murderer nicknamed the evis… Dracula has struck again. This time at a rave being thrown by the Crazy Ps a small-time gang whose primary business involves the distribution of narcotics. Luckily, we were able to get footage of the event. Please be advised people at home that this video contains quite graphic content.”

***

“Hello party people!! K-dog here with the latest. The hottest. The sexiest parties.” A rich kid dressed in fake “gangsta” style called out over the thumping bass to the tens of people watching his live stream, while acting like he was performing for thousands. He was holding up his phone showing himself and the party taking place around him in an abandoned warehouse made iridescent by neon lights.

He was enjoying his teenage rebellion by nodding his head along to the beat. The kid at least had the smarts to know that partaking in the drugs and alcohol all around him would be mistake. Not smart enough to not show up to a party run by a known gang mind you, but a shred of smarts all the same.

Suddenly, the music suddenly shifted from hip hop to folktronica.

Everyone started looking around in confusion, or at least those sober enough did.

“Hey what’s going on?!” “What happened to the music!?” “Where’d the beat go?!” “Who killed the beat?!” “Who took my cookie?!” “Where’d my teddy bear go?!” “I want my teddy bear!!!”

Amidst the confusion, the rich kid focused his sight and phone’s camera on the only man not looking around confused, instead he was horribly dancing. I mean really making a mess of it.

The tall man was wearing a mask that looked like a horn dog… a dog with horns. He was wearing a nazi officer coat, a blood-stained tie dye t-shirt with bullet holes in it, green plaid pajama pants, and pink bunny slippers.

The coat was imbued with the concept of a coward willing to kill for his own life. The tie dye shirt was imbued with the concept of a brave man willing to die for the lives of others. Both low-level artifacts increased his durability and regeneration to a limited degree.

The last component of the mysterious man’s attire was a series of dog tags hanging from his hip that jangled around as he danced. The dangling dog tags read: Victor Heart, Killer Clown, Sunset Crypts, Olivia Brogan, and Jessie.

So focused on the strange dancing man, that the rich boy missed the black sweat that was forming on everyone’s body, including his own, and those were the lucky ones.

Some were projectile vomiting black sludge and those were still considered the lucky ones.

Now we come to the unlucky ones. They were literally melting with black liquid running off what looked like glass skeletons. Soon all that stood in their place were the skeletons, the only evidence those people were ever there. That evidence soon followed everything else on the body by melting too.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The two mysterious liquids converged in front of the equally mysterious man.

When the folktronica song ended, the man reached down and picked up the two beverages that were placed in front of him.

The first was a liquor bottle containing black liquid with SIN written in big gold lettering.

The second beverage was a white milk carton with a golden cartoon cow head on it.

The man then proceeded to walk out of the warehouse leaving behind a floor covered in passed out party goers. Apparently, their experience was quite tiring. Everyone woke up the next day not knowing what happened and not really caring either. The second was due to the fact that everyone there was clear of all afflictions. Everyone that was there that night was now free of all addictions, diseases, and injuries. They were also more attractive, which was always a plus.

***

“Chilling. Truly chilling. Twenty-three dead due to an unknown substance brought by the man known as Dracula. What do you think Raisin?”

“That man should really take some dance lessons.”

“Not the most cognizant take away but moving on. Are firefighters depriving cats fun tree time? we’ll dig into that after this short break.”

***

On the way back to my apartment with my new ingredients, I was broken from my thoughts by a morosely melodic voice.

“Fortune?” the voice said.

“Excuse me?” I replied.

“Can I read your fortune.” The voice reiterated.

I took in the voice for the first time. The voice came from a willowy young woman with flowing curly hair colored a rich brown who was adorned with a white lace face-covering veil and dress. However, my sixth sense took in her astral appearance, and it was like nothing I had ever seen. And I meant it when I said nothing as she was a complete blank. The only reason I could see or hear her was because she forced me to.

I had to admit I was curious about the result of such a mysterious being looking into the fate of a man without fate.

“Fire away.”

“Give me your hand.” She instructed me, which I followed.

“Ah, I see that you have recently lost your love.”

With a chuckle, “Sorry to contradict you there lady, but the woman you are talking about was just a friend.”

Her gaze eerily shifted from drifting off in space to piercing my innermost self, “I do not speak of the one known as Olivia Brogan. I speak of another.”

In a joking British accent, “No idea what you’re on about luv.”

“What I’m on about boy, is that your destined one is fated to die without you in your original home.”

“Cinderella was a young girl that was ordinary in all respects but one, a prodigious talent in coding. A group discovered this talent and decided to take advantage of it. They took her from her home and over the course of a decade made a weapon of her. She eventually escaped but it was already too late.”

“She had no idea how to live an ordinary life as she had lost the skill somewhere along the way. She became off note in the symphony of life, and she felt that in every song. She was also afraid of everything and everyone as she did not know who or what to trust. Anything and anyone could work for the organization she escaped or one of the myriads that she had discovered during her training.”

“She lived life as a shadow merely observing the world going on around her and forever running from a past that was chasing her. That was until one day, she met someone.”

“She knew the man from seeing him at the grocery store occasionally. Apparently, the man also saw her and was quite smitten. One day he approached her and told her he felt a spark. He gave her his number and asked her to call if she felt it as well. He then left to not pressure the young woman.”

“The woman went home and researched the man to find out if this was a trap. Normally she would get out of dodge at the first sign of attention, but the thing is that she did feel a spark. At first glance she was sure he was a plant as the man was squeaky clean with nothing untoward in his history. He was the dictionary definition of ordinary, which was common among covers.”

“However, she dug deeper and even called school faculty, former classmates, and ex coworkers to cross reference his life story. While extreme and slightly unhinged, she had to be sure. She knew that if she put herself out there and was wrong, it was over for her and not just her physical freedom. If she were wrong, she would forever be a prisoner of her own mind with bars of mistrust and shackles of fear. She would simply never attempt to escape again as the prison was now familiar and comfortable, while freedom was neither of those things.”

“She eventually concluded that the man was exactly as he seemed, a good and honest man. She called him up and arranged a date with the man. Over the course of months, they fell deeper and deeper into love, until one day the man asked the question that was one of the things that got her through those dark days of her past. She learned that day what crying from happiness was like.”

“However good things are not so easily acquired in life. Her former captors found her and tried to bring her back into the fold. The thing is that her captors were not prepared for the woman they would find. Her captors thought they would find a frightened young woman who was tired from always running and jumping at shadows, instead they found a resolute young woman who had found something to live for. Something to fight for. And if necessary, die for.”

“That young woman single handedly brought a global criminal organization to its knees. Or at least that was how the story was supposed to go. The thing is that the man meant to change her life instead fell into a hole in reality. Without him, when the organization tracked down Cindy, a frightened young woman who was tired from always running and jumping at shadows was exactly what they found. Well, the corpse of that woman as she would rather die than ever work for them again.”

“It’s crazy how even the most mediocre are important.” The young woman said, finishing her story.

With a raised eyebrow, “Are you it’s a wonderful lifeing me right now?”

“Merely telling you your fortune. I’m just sorry that it was not good news.”

“Maybe it’s not, but maybe it’s just what I needed. I have already had one woman I was close to die because of this situation; I will not allow another. But I think you already knew that I would react in such a way.” I said while eying the woman.

“While your future is blind to me, knowing the present and past is enough sometimes.”

“Something tells me I’ll be seeing you.”

In an ethereal voice, “Eventually all see me. Few do twice. Even fewer a third time. None have made it past four though as I hate teases.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” I told the woman a little off put.

“See that you do.” And with that she was gone in between blinks.

Now that I have gotten out of my funk, it’s time I got off my a*s and finish up the story my friend can no longer participate in. I will stop the coming night in my friend’s place and if I fail, I will make sure there is a coming dawn.