The World of Myth Magazine

The group had been working tirelessly, trying to find a weakness in Adrian. Marlon had been true to his word; he would go and spy on Adrian and then report what he saw back to Reese and Tiana. Which, sadly, wasn’t much. Adrian just seemed to be growing in power. He chose those with any kind of magical or mystical showing of power and would drain them almost to death. Leaving them hovering on the brink. Then he would let them recover and do it again. Like he was topping up his reserves. Summer faded into Fall, and they were still no farther ahead. Once October hit, Tiana was busy with other things as well. October in New Orleans was a busy time for her. She read tarot, gave aura readings and worked many a love spell. So, Reese had been doing most of the work alone. Ash had been a help but he wasn’t much good at research.

The evenings were Reese’s favorite time. She would walk the streets of the French Quarter, watching the revellers, listening to the music, which had always been one of the things that she enjoyed, no matter what the decade or what the season. The night seemed to have a life of it’s own. The air vibrated and hummed with energy.

Reese stopped on a corner near Bourbon street and she tuned out the sound of the crowd and just focused on the music. A slow bluesy tune drifted out of a near by bar and it took her back.

It was almost Halloween and Reese and Marlon strolled down the street. Party goers jostled along the sidewalk, but no matter how inebriated they seemed to be, they never actually made contact with the couple. Reese had put a barrier around them so they could enjoy the life pulsing swirling and humming, but not be bounced around. A particularly drunk man lurched toward the two, leering at Reese.

“Hey darlin’” he slurred. Marlon took a protective step in front of Reese, but she laid her hand on his arm and stopped him. She dropped the barrier for just a moment, long enough for the man to enter their space and then slammed it back into place.

“Reese, what are you doing?” Marlon asked suspiciously. He had seen her do this particular trick before. It always ended bloody. Reese ignored him and began circling the man. He wobbled slightly on his feet but his eyes never left Reese’s.

“It’s a party, all around us, I just want a party favor.” Reese said. She grinned at the man. He smiled sloppily back. “He isn’t a good man, Marlon. He has done some very bad things. Just two blocks over is a little girl who is still crying from his most recent visit.”

“Reese…” Marlon said, his voice laced with caution. “We are on the main street. You can’t do this here.”

Reese looked at Marlon, then spun around, her arms wide. “No one can see us. No one can hear us.” She slashed a hand toward the man, opening his left cheek, down to the bone. He still stood staring at Reese with a grin on his face. Blood poured out of the wound and Reese’s nostrils flared like that of a predator scenting it’s prey. “He will look like any other drunk, falling on his feet in the street. They won’t even move him until morning when the clean up crew comes by.”

She turned toward the man and stuck a finger in the wound. Licking her finger she grinned at Marlon. “As bad as he is, his taste is divine.”

Marlon just shook his head and turned his back. He had no need to watch. Reese turned back to the man, the pain of the wound in his cheek was starting to uncloud his mind. His brows squinted together in confusion. A hand came up to feel and felt the blood and the spell that Reese had cast on him broke. He began to whimper and worked up to a full blown scream. Reese laughed at him.

“Scream all you want. No one can hear you.” She purred. Her primal side was riding her completely now and hunger was taking over. She was careful how she fed so she would not be caught, but every now and then she almost needed a good blood bath. She needed the hunt, the kill. It was a drug for her, an aphrodisiac even. She walked to the man and ran her tongue up his neck and licked the edges of the wound. The man began pushing her away and she grabbed his face, stared into his eyes and uttered two words. “Be still.” The man stopped moving and absolute terror filled his eyes. Reese giggled. She drew her finger down his arm and more blood appeared. She raised his arm to her mouth and licked from elbow to wrist. Her mouth clamped down over the wrist and she drank. She released his arm and it fell limply to his side. Moving up close to him she pressed the length of her body against him and nuzzled his neck. Hollywood and created so many vampire myths, none of which were real, that every now and again, she liked to fully play the part. She elongated her canines, letting the man see them and then sunk them into his neck. She immediately retracted them, as the were not a requirement for feeding, and again drank deeply. Reese wrapped an arm around the man as his legs had begun to wobble from more than alcohol. The blood loss was getting to much to keep him standing. She lowered him gently onto the sidewalk against the brick front of a store. She knelt delicately beside him, trying to keep her skirt out of the blood and continued to drink. His wrist, his neck, his cheek, until he was pale and grey. She then stood, wiped her lips daintily with a lace kerchief and turned back to Marlon. Before she could speak eyes so brilliant, so bright, caught her attention. She felt frozen in place. Her mind raced and she pushed hard back against the energy that was holding her. She broke the contact, turned back to the man on the street and took a quick breath. Within seconds he was nothing but dust drifting down the sidewalk in the breeze.

“What’s wrong love?” asked Marlon. He knew the look on her face. It was one of fear. She always had that look when she felt they were close to being caught.

“There is someone in the crowd. He was able see me.” She enforced the barrier and tucked her arm into Marlon’s. They continued strolling down the street like nothing had happened. She didn’t see the man again, but later she realized that was the first time she had seen Adrian.

Her mind came back to the present. Heaving a sigh, she opened her eyes.

“Hello ma cher.” Adrian stood before her.

Reese turned and began walking away from him. Her heart racing. She had been foolish to come out at night, to leave the safety of the house.

Adrian’s laugh followed her down the street. “You can run from me, but I will catch you eventually. I could have had you now, as you stood remembering. The night we first set eyes on each other. The night I knew, you would be mine.”

Reese wanted to stop, she wanted to face him, to scream at him, claw at him, but she knew it was useless so she continued her pace until she was safely within the gates of the courtyard. They had recently purchased not just the building, but all the buildings that surrounded the courtyard. That was now a safe haven in which Adrian could no longer enter. She collapsed onto the wrought iron seat at the little table. She sat, with her head in her hands and just took deep breaths.

Tiana saw her from the window and came running out. “Where were you? What happened? Are you alright?” she fired the question at Reese.

Reese raised her head and looked at Tiana. “I went for a walk. Yes, I know it was stupid, Adrian found me, and yes, I am fine. Shaken but fine.”

Tiana sputtered and grumbled for a few minutes, pacing back and forth, before she finally came and sat with Reese.

“I understand the need to be out. I really do. Especially this time of year. But you must show caution. We can’t lose you, for emotional reasons, and for practical ones.” Reese nodded and promised she wouldn’t leave again.

Tiana’s face quickly changed from consternation to joy. “I have a surprise for you!” she beamed.

Reese cocked an eyebrow. She was very rarely surprised. “Oh?”

“I’ve been looking through some of the books that Cynthiana has brought be from the voodoo practitioner she is friends with. As you know, the veil between the land of the living and the land of the dead is at its thinnest tonight.”

Reese nodded. It has always been that way. The dead could walk among the living for 24 hours. It was why she never hunted on Halloween, or Samhain as those in the past had called it. She didn’t need a fresh kill getting up off the ground to give her hell for ruining their day.

“Yes, that is where the practice of wearing costumes came from.” Said Reese. “So the dead couldn’t tell the living from the other dead.” Her voice trailed off.

“The dead can walk among the living…” she stammered, looking at Tiana.

Tiana nodded. “For 24 hours.”

“We only have 8 hours left love.”

Reese’s eyes shot to the back door. There stood Marlon. Flesh and blood. She closed her eyes and listened. Air travelled in and out of his lungs, from habit, but his heart did not beat, there was no blood flowing through his veins. He was alive, but only by the magic of the night.

Which she decided was good enough. She flew into his arms, then immediately jumped back. They had never embraced as such. Both had kept their distance, both keeping their feelings hidden, until Marlon had inconveniently died.

Marlon’s hand shot out, gripped Reese’s arm and pulled her back to him. He wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her hair. He took deep breaths, inhaling her scent.

“I have missed the smell of you.” He murmured.

Reese tightedned her arms around him. “I have just missed you. All of you.”

She looked up at him and smiled shyly. “I didn’t realize you were so tall!” Marlon let out a laugh and stared down into her eyes. The smile slowly drifted from his face, replaced with one of longing, of wanting. Reese ran the tip of her tongue over her lips. She knew what he wanted, what he was thinking and if he didn’t hurry, she was going to take matters into her own hands.

A moment later, Marlon’s lips touched hers. A soft sigh escaped her lips and she melted into him. One hand crept up and tangled in her hair and held her head in place. The kiss deepened, passions rose, until Tiana cleared her throat uncomfortably.

“If you would just move to the side, I could get by and leave you two alone.” She muttered. “By the way, surprise Reese!”

Reese spun around and hugged Tiana so tight she couldn’t breath. When Reese released her, Tiana stood in shock.

Reese laughed. “I’m sorry I have been such an ogre. You have given me something I can never repay you for. I can not thank you enough.”

Tiana smiled. “After what I was part of after what we did to you, this is but a small token of apology.” She turned to enter the house. “Remember, he may appear to be of flesh and bone, but he is not of flesh and bone. You will be unable to do many things, and at the end of the night, when the clock strikes 12:01, he will return to the spirit realm and this body will return to the dust and twine we used to hold the spell together. He looks like a man, like Marlon, but he is not a living, breathing man.” Blushing she moved quickly towards the door. She had not thought she would need to have that part of the conversation with Reese, but after witnessing the kiss she knew, it was required or there could be some very disappointed people.

As she reached the door, she turned back. “Oh, one more thing. Do not, under any circumstances, leave the safety of the compound. If Adrian were to get Marlon’s spirit in this form, he could trap it in this body, essentially making a zombie out of him. You would have no control over Marlon. He would be a slave to Adrian.”

Once they were alone in the courtyard, Marlon turned Reese back to look at him. He tipped her face up with is finger under her chin.

“Say it again.” He whispered. Reese looked at him confused. “The words, say them again.”

She smiled, “I love you.” She said. Marlon closed his eyes. “One more time.”

She cupped both sides of his face and he opened his eyes to look down at her. “I love you. I always have. From my cell as your prisoner, to the crypt as you tore me apart night after night. I have always loved you; I just haven’t always been brave enough to tell you.”

“I hated doing that to you.” He said. “It took something from me every night, hearing your screams, knowing that in that moment, I was the terror that haunted you, that caused you such pain.” He placed his hands on hers. “I love you too.” He leaned down and kissed her again. This time neither showed any restraint. It was something both had longed for, and denied themselves for so long.

When the came up for air, Marlon grumbled. Reese cocked an eyebrow at him. “Not good enough?”

He gave her a sarcastic look. “Hardly, it’s just not enough period. It’s beyond good, and I want more. Sadly, this body will not accommodate that.”

Reese gave him a hug and then a playful shove. “You will have that soon enough.” She laughed. “Once we figure out how to end Adrian, we can bring you back and spend the weekend wrapped in bedsheets if you want.”

“A weekend?” he asked slyly. “I was thinking a few years, maybe a decade or two might appease me, for a bit.” Again Reese laughed. It was throaty and seductive and all woman.

The two spent the next several hours talking and touching. They put all thoughts of Adrian and the current dilemma aside and just focused on the moment. Tiana had snuck a blanket outside and they had spread it on the ground by the pool. They two lay, arm in arm, watching the stars.

“Well isn’t this a nice romantic sight.” The voice sent a shiver down Reese’s spine. She sat up and looked behind them.

Adrian hovered just inches above the ground. “You can’t be here.” She hissed.

Adrian laughed. “I can’t touch the earth that you own, but the air, ma cher, is free to all.” He turned his sights to Marlon. “You are looking a lot better than the last time I saw you old friend.”

Marlon sprung to his feet, pulling Reese behind him. “You have no business here, and I am not your friend.”

Again, Adrian laughed. “But we have spent so much time together lately. You skulking around, listening to my conversations. Me feeding you nothing of use.”

Adrain clapped his hands together. “I would love to stay and chat, but I have business elsewhere tonight, so I must do away with the small talk and get down to it.”

He raised his arms and Reese could feel the sudden snap of energy.

He spoke the Latin words over and over. Marlon’s face began to show fear and Reese fought to hang on to him.

Tiana came running out of the house the minute she felt the magic begin. Adrian’s voice got louder and stronger and Marlon slowly began to rise off the ground. Reese hung on with all she had, but it seemed that her strength had all but disappeared.

“Tiana what is happening?” Reese screamed. Tiana was muttering a counter spell of her own but nothing seemed to work. Marlon’s face went slack, and all life disappeared from his eyes.

“TIANA!” Reese screamed.

Within seconds, Adrian and Marlon were gone.

Reese collapsed on the ground. Tears raced down her cheeks and her fingers dug into the cement, leaving cracks. Her strength had returned.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. I didn’t know.” Tiana sat, rocking back and forth.

“Didn’t know what?” Reese said through gritted teeth.

“The air. He has passage through the air.” Tiana answered.

“What was he saying?” Reese asked flatly.

Tiana looked at her sadly. “It was Latin, loosely it translated too.

He has locked Marlon’s spirit in that body. Like I warned, he will be a zombie. A spirit does not survive inside an artificial container. The consciousness goes mad. He is nothing but a killing machine for Adrian now. We can’t bring him back, Not now.”

Reese pounded the ground, sending cracks along the courtyard and up the one wall of the building behind her.

“I will not accept that.” She stood, a look of tightly held determination laced with a cold rage, settled on her face.

“I will be back.” She said.

Tiana sprang up. “Where are you going?”

“To either bring Marlon back, or set him free for good. I will not let him be a slave to Adrian.”

Tiana touched Reese’s arm gently. “All I wanted was to give you just one night.”

Reese looked at Tiana. “You did. Now I am taking it back. I am taking back all my nights, all my days and everything else that Adrian has stolen from me. I want what belongs to me. He is no longer allowed to have it.”

She touched Tiana’s face and took a small sip of air. The last of Tiana’s magic flowed quickly back into Reese.

Both women’s eyes grew large. Then they had an idea.

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