Blood Shadow: Book of Ariel Read online

Thaddeus Brewster. As Hartwell and Phillips settled into their full capabilities, it became impossible for Brewster to get at Hartwell, so he waited for reinforcements in the form of his twin children, Emily and Calvin. Emily was always the more rational and stable of the two children, as Calvin would be prone to outbursts and fits of rage that went over typical irrationalities of a normal teenager.

  Cal went at Hartwell just after his 18th birthday in his first official battle. There were a few instances leading up to the night when he anxiously approached Hartwell, but the vampire held back out of partially out of respect for Thaddeus but mostly because he had a son once and wouldn’t want to see him killed before his time.

  The first time Cal approached Hartwell during the day, he let it pass. But, the second time, he punched the would-be hunter in the face after Cal took an errant swing at him. Hartwell’s incredible vampire speed was too much for the above-average strength and speed of the 17 year-old Brewster. What impressed Hartwell on that first day they actually fought was Cal’s resilience and determination. Although Hartwell didn’t put everything into the punch that landed on Cal’s jaw, he thought it would be enough to send a message. That was, until, Cal stood up only a few seconds after hitting the ground.

  Hartwell debated internally on whether he should either strike Cal again or just simply walk away? But that question was quickly answered when Cal hit him in the ribs with a thunderous left hook. He then blocked a left cross by Hartwell and then loaded up with his right hand to deliver the big punch. While Hartwell was amused by a little competition for a change, he was getting thirsty and had a previous engagement with a lovely neck and some fresh human blood. The vampire delivered a blindingly-fast one-two combination that sent Cal falling back to the ground of the vacant alley, as he was unconscious before going horizontal. He looked down on the man-child and thought, “This is going to be fun.”

  Of course, that was before Cal’s full abilities came on-stream and he teamed with his sister to make his life even more of a living hell than it already was. Hartwell would have been thinking for 100 years straight about the return of his son, who wound up being Daniel, and his wife Maggie if not for the fierce competition with Cal. It wound up making at least half of that time bearable. In 1903, when Hartwell agreed to let Alexander Lowery turn him his options had whittled down to:

  a.Blow his brains out with a gun, or

  b.Trust a creature that he knew was going to kill him regardless

  We all know that he chose ‘b,’ because of Lowery’s promise that Hartwell “would be able to see his wife and kid again.” Hartwell wasn’t really thinking about becoming a blood-sucking creature with a superiority complex, as much as he just wanted to be whole again. He only recently had been able to fully enjoy his family life, while also embracing the expectations that came with being the central of his universe and the vampire that everyone had to kill.

  FOUR

  Cal stepped through the ropes with the assistance of his nephew Andrew, and Hartwell bent over and entered the ring being supported by his son Daniel. The seconds placed mouthpieces in their appropriate oral homes and then offered final instructions before becoming spectators.

  “I think this would probably be a good time to knock his block off,” Daniel said before he collected his second thoughts. “Why are we here again? And why are my two fathers fighting?” he said, sinking deeper in confusion with every word.

  The fight between Daniel’s original and vampire father, and his father in his middle life, Cal, was somewhat confusing to Hartwell as well.

  “I feel you. All I know is that he is over there and about to punch me in the face. So, what do you want me to do?”

  The hunters were a tad less cerebral with their approach.

  “I would question why you guys are fighting, but I love seeing you beat the crap out of Hartwell,” Andrew stated.

  Cal was an original gangster at heart, “Word.”

  Mortie preferred his own raspy voice saying “Box!” to hearing the clanging of a bell in his gym, so he did just that. The main ring in the gym was elevated about four feet from the ground, so Daniel and Drew jumped down from the apron surface and stood together, at least at first, watching the action.

  The fighters darted toward each other and Hartwell connected with the first punch, which was a long left jab to the right side of Cal’s face. Cal used his face to block a few more jabs in order to connect with his first punch, which was a digging left hook to Hartwell’s rib cage. All of the air in Hartwell’s body escaped as he felt real sustained pain for the first time in a long time.

  By the end of the first three-minute round, both men had delivered and taken significant punches. Mortie grunted, “TIME!” as the fighters stopped punching and turned to walk back to their corners, amidst applause from the crowd.

  Daniel and Drew split off into the respective corners of their fighters armed with water bottles and towels.

  “That was a long round,” Hartwell said to Daniel after he spit out his mouthpiece.

  Daniel couldn’t believe his eyes, “Are you sweating?”

  “Please take this thing off my head,” Hartwell said in frustration, referring to the heavy leather headgear. “Is it hot in here?” he added, which was a stark admission from a being that usually had an extremely low body temperature.

  Daniel whipped the sweat off Hartwell’s face and then noticed some blood flowing from his lips. Hartwell caught on and said, “Don’t even think about going after that.”

  To which Daniel replied, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you bleed like that.”

  Hartwell smiled, “At least not in this lifetime. There was this time when I cut myself shaving when you were a little boy…”

  Daniel flashed back to his days in San Francisco and saw Hartwell with a flat razor in his hand and blood running down his chin.

  “That was a long time ago.”

  Meanwhile, Cal was feeling a little winded, too, and tried to express that to his nephew.

  “What round was that?”

  “One,” Drew simply answered.

  “Wow!” was all Cal said as he tried to catch his breath. “I have to get back into shape.”

  Drew gave his uncle a simply strategy, “Then stop chasing him and make him come to you on the ropes.”

  Cal thought about the strategy and couldn’t think of an alternative plan.

  “Yeah, that sounds good,” as Mortie bellowed, “Seconds out!” He then yelled “Box!”

  Daniel and Drew repeated their action of the previous round and stood next to each other.

  “Your dad looks tired,” Drew stated.

  “Which one?” Daniel asked, looking for some clarification.

  Drew laughed, “Your father with the wings that drinks people’s blood.”

  Daniel was not amused, “What? I think my other father who eats everything that isn’t nailed down is a lot more tired than the one with incredible speed.”

  They looked at the fighters in the ring and were frustrated by the slow pace of the early action of the round. Cal came out of his corner and simply sat back on the ropes, waiting for Hartwell to bring the fight to him, which he did after slowly walking toward him. The vampire slowly pawed at Cal with a few light jabs and then landed a hard right hand to the hunter’s upper left arm. Cal knew that this tactic of hitting him on the arms was meant to make his arms hurt and bring his guard down, so he knew he had to act before it was too late.

  “I can fight better than that,” Drew said to his cousin.”

  “No you can’t!” Daniel said in a mocking tone.

  Drew pushed Daniel and then Daniel pushed him back. The guys had to be separated until Mortie bellowed, “Take it in the ring!”

  Hartwell stopped and turned around when he heard the ruckus outside of the ring. Cal couldn’t hear as well because he still had that stupid headgear on. He stopped leaning on the saggy ropes and then stoo
d straight up, pulling the headgear off clumsily with his boxing gloves. Daniel and Andrew climbed into the ring with no boxing shoes are protective gear. They were hungry and young, but they were also impulsive and short-sighted, just like Daniel’s two fathers.

  There was serious debate on who would drive home. Four men with full access to one key, and it was Andrew who finally agreed to take the wheel after some serious coaxing from his uncle.

  “If you drive, I’ll buy you that Shelby Mustang you’ve been looking at!” Cal desperately yelled.

  “Really?”

  Cal was as serious and as unsightly as a toe fungus, “Really.”

  The men piled into the four-door Mercedes SUV, groaning and nursing a multitude of bruises and cuts. Claire’s plan of making the entire group suffer was off to an interesting start. It got even more interesting when the guys finally extracted themselves from the vehicle and walked gingerly through the front door of the house.

  Maggie was astonished at the sight of her husband and son, “Oh my! Did you guys get into an accident?”

  Sharon ran over to Cal, who said, “You could say that.”

  Nicole and Carla heard the noise in the main room and were quick to see what was happening. The flow of bad vibes had not reached these former antagonists just yet.

  “I haven’t seen you sweat like…” Nicole started saying to Daniel, “Come to think of it, I’ve never seen you sweat like this.”

  Carla was much more hot-tempered than