The Smokiest Grave Read online

  Maria thought how unfair her loveliness was; strong, confident posture, lean muscles in a voluminous cage, and gorgeous green eyes that could knock a man out if they looked too long into those mesmerizing depths. She had extra weight on her, but when Maria thought about how hard she had tried to gain weight and hadn’t been able to, the rotten fruit smell of jealousy decorated the air around her.

  If the skank was going with her people, she was going to be damn certain there wouldn’t be any surprises later from her. She thought about waiting for Cat to come out of the bathroom where Yvonne had left her, but she couldn’t risk anyone walking by. If they saw what she was about to do, they might keep her from going with them to find Chris.

  I can’t let that happen; I need to find him.

  Most people do not know the power blockers possess. Blockers like Maria have more than just defensive abilities; they also have offensive powers.

  Without thinking too long about it, she pulled the shower curtain back and jumped in. As soon as her shoes hit the water, a flying fist met her jaw. Maria was a pretty good fighter, but this woman seemed to be crazy fast like the Dragonvires had been when she trained with them.

  “What the hell are you doing in here?” Cat’s voice whispered in a high pitch squeak as she pressed her forearm to Maria’s neck. The soft flesh was wet, so she kept slipping around.

  Maria knew she wouldn’t be able to best Cat after feeling her strength. So, she used her power. Maria’s petite arms reached for the back of Cat’s neck. One lite touch and Cat went limp in her arms.

  Maria tried to rotate both of them to prevent Cat from falling. Holding her up was a lot harder than Maria expected. Her arms were already shaking from Cat’s weight.

  Cat was too slippery. The warm water made Maria’s grip falter on Cat’s neck, which meant Cat kept fighting back. Usually, once Maria latched on, they turned into non-moving dolls. In their dormant state, Maria had complete control.

  But Cat’s eyes were not dormant, which meant she could gain control again. They shined bright with her power. Maria pushed her fingers harder on Cat’s spinal cord. After a few seconds, Cat’s eyes submitted to her power. Maria gave a big sigh of relief.

  “Are you here to kill us?” she asked Cat’s mind. The delicate caress of her power from Cat replied no. Like this, Cat couldn’t lie to Maria. Her power pulled the truth out of her victims.

  “Are you after the Dragonvire’s blood?” Maria asked, the black tar of hate soaking her heart. Maria hated that Cat looked even prettier wet. Cat’s power responded again. Its weak voice only received in Maria’s mind. No.

  “Then why are you here?” She felt guilty, which only made her angrier.

  The Goddess contacted me to ask if I would help save the world from the blood curse. She said if I helped, there was a better chance it would not happen. Cat’s blank face made Maria feel even worse.

  Maria asked the only thing she could to make herself feel better. Something was off about Cat, and she wanted to know what. “Then why do I sense something off about you? Tell me what you are hiding.”

  Cat didn’t respond. Instead, she pushed images of that horrible night at Maria. She couldn’t explain what happened to her. So, she showed her.

  Maria gasped at all the blood in her mind. Her heart dropped at the pure anger, fear, and sadness pouring out of Cat. “Good Blocker god, what the hell happened to you?” Maria wasn’t getting the full story, just bits and pieces, and she felt horrible at what she was doing.

  Something that was pure evil had touched Cat’s life, and she had been fighting it ever since. Maria did see the way she changed when she got tired of feeling like a victim. Goodness, you poor woman.

  Everything she saw was like a wrecking ball to Maria’s hatred. Her eyes leaked with sorrow by the time she was finished, “I’m going to give you a gift,” Maria leaned in to kiss Cat’s forehead where her third eye would be in order to link to Cat’s emotions, “Auferat.”

  Maria took her hands-off Cat’s neck, sucking at her forehead. If anyone came in they wouldn’t see what she saw. The bright blue and red colors floating to her puckered lips. The sweet taste of emotions fluffed into her mouth. Like cotton candy it melted, absorbing into her taste buds.

  Maria’s body began to shake. The weight of Cat’s emotions must be too much for me. “I’m so sorry for that. I didn't understand,” Maria rubbed her palm over Cat’s wet hair. “I can’t get rid of all those emotions, but this will help you live happier,” she watched as Cat’s eyes blinked awake, dazed.

  “It’ll only last as long as I do though, so if you are like Dragonvires and live ridiculously long, they will come back.

  Cat straightened in a slow peaceful manner like she was floating. Her lips stretched into a wide smile, “Oh, my sweet Goddess, I feel so free." Tears fell down Cat’s face when the humongous weight lifted from her chest. She whimpered and coughed at the same time. Cat considered Maria’s soft, caring eyes, “Thank you.”

  Maria smiled at her, “No one deserves to walk around with that much pain inside them. If I could do it for everyone, I would.”

  Removing emotions takes a lot out of a blocker. The impact was like a scar on her soul. One she would wear proudly. She felt Cat’s kindness and beauty. Yvonne was right. Maria was happy she was wrong; it meant hope for them all.

  “I’m sorry I did that to you, Cat. I needed to make sure you weren’t going to get Hendrick killed.”

  “Well, next time, let’s try to talk it out. If I didn't feel so good, I might be angry.” Both women chuckled.

  “You’ll feel extremely peaceful for a while. All your emotions will be extreme, though, while your body gets used to the change.” Maria stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel, so she didn’t leave tracks on Yvonne’s brown carpet.

  Cat looked down at herself. “A few weeks with you all, and I might be walking around naked. I forgot I was naked.”

  Maria closed the curtain, “That’s an effective way to start an orgy.”

  “No thank you.” Cat’s disgusted voice made Maria smirk.

  “Don’t knock it.”

  “I’ll knock whatever I want. The last time a man touched me he ended up possessed by a demon and burned in an ally. I’m not advancing my already pathetic love life to a homicidal love life.”

  “Ouch, that sucks. You might have a point. No wonder I couldn’t get rid of all the crap in your life. It’s too massive.” With that, Maria left, not wanting Cat’s hyper-emotions to turn sour.

  Maria had done the best she could; now it was up to Cat to prove herself to everyone else. As long as she helped them find Chris, she was happy.

  Nineteen

  Cat was a sobbing mess when Maria left the bathroom. The tears hidden by the water cascading out of the showerhead weren’t sad or scared tears. They were happy tears. She didn’t feel sad or scared anymore. Her body was lighter, as if Maria had lifted a huge boulder off her shoulders.

  “Wow,” Cat said through a huge smile. Her laughter became hysterical. I’ve never felt this good before. I feel like I can do anything.

  “Hello sweetie, Maria said you needed me?” Yvonne opened the shower curtain enough to see her face when she heard Cat sobbing. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing. I’m so happy and feel like I can fly,” Cat leaned against the shower wall. Her hand pressed against her chest. The excessive thumping against her chest was like her heart getting ready to explode.

  “She didn’t.” Yvonne whispered to herself, covering her mouth with her hand, shocked that Maria would do this. “Hendrick is going to have her head when he finds out. Let me help you.” Yvonne was going to wait for Cat to get out but watching her slide down the wall with her hand on her chest scared Yvonne.

  She had heard of a blocker’s touch accidentally killing people, so she wanted to calm Cat down before her heart exploded. She reached for Cat, getting wet in the process, grunting. She’d forgotten about the water.

  “What are you doing? Are
you out of juice or something? Why is she still hyperventilating?” Maria stormed into the bathroom in some new dry black clothes. “I can feel her heart expanding in the worse way. Calm her, dummy.”

  “Don’t call me a dummy, and I was just about to,” Yvonne turned scowling at Maria. She had been working with Maria for years now, and they always seemed to butt heads.

  At a youthful age, Natural Hunters murdered Maria’s parents because they were helping Dragonvires hide from them. The main Dragonvire was none other than Hendrick. Her mom had a safe plan set in place if things ever went wrong. So, when the goons burst into their house, Maria ran into the safe room. Maria’s mom called Hendrick with her last breath.

  In a few hours, Hendrick was there to get Maria and ever since, she had been like a sister to him. Now, Maria was overprotective of him, but Yvonne couldn’t believe she would go so far as to hurt Cat.

  Yvonne touched Cat’s wet knee, pushing away some of the water drops to grip her knee. Her hands glowed yellow and heated up like the sun. The warmth wouldn’t burn her skin, but it would burn away some of the overwhelming feelings she was experiencing.

  Yvonne laughed as she tugged on Cat’s emotions. The tickling sensation of the happiness that emanated from Cat didn’t feel right to Yvonne. There was too much of an overpowering glee vibrating off Cat.

  “Whoa.” Yvonne groaned inwardly. “I don’t know if I can handle all this emotion.” Maria tried to help by putting a hand on Yvonne’s shoulder. The blocking sensation on most of the overpowering happiness helped keep Yvonne focused.

  If anyone came in at this point, they would have a sight to see. There was a mystical train of energy flowing through all three women. Golds, blues, and reds snaked up their arms, “What the hell did you do to her Maria?”

  ***

  “I helped her out. I took most of her fear and hatred away. This is not my fault; she had so much bad emotion it’s making her other feelings go berserk,” Maria responded, still holding onto Yvonne’s shoulders, and squeezing them tight.

  “We need to fix this before Hendrick finds out. You know he’ll have to punish you even if he doesn’t want to. You went behind his back and disobeyed an order,” Yvonne’s voice was low and harsh. Maria knew she was right, but after feeling what was buried inside Cat, she couldn’t be sorry for her actions. She had helped Cat, and to her, that’s all that mattered.

  After what felt like forever, Cat’s breathing settled into a steady rhythm and her face darkened to a more normal glow. Maria let go of Yvonne and stumbled back, winded; she let Yvonne finish the calming by herself. Cat looked up through her wet, dark hair that stuck to her face. “What in all of Hades was that?”

  Maria interjected before Yvonne could speak, “That was your mind not understanding the new you.” She knelt to be on the same level. “You had so much nastiness and gunk clouding your emotions that when I took most of your fury and fear away, it overcompensated on your other emotions.”

  “Why did it feel like my heart was going to explode?” Cat asked, putting her hand on her heart again.

  “Because it was,” Maria said, giving her a pointed look.

  “Well, we were able to fix it, that’s all that matters,” Yvonne’s soothing voice centered her. She turned off the water finally, now that Cat could be without her constant touch. Cat looked at Yvonne, and her sweet loving smile helped clear her mind.

  She reached out her hand to Cat, “How do you feel?”

  “I feel a lot better, thank you.” She paused and looked at Maria, “Thanks to both of you. I am feeling great.” Cat’s eyes opened wide when she looked around, remembering she was still naked in the shower.

  “Alright, we will be in the kitchen making you something to eat if you need anything else,” Maria pulled on Yvonne’s arm.

  “I was going to help her get dressed and-” Yvonne wasn’t able to finish because Maria interrupted her.

  “No, you are not. Can’t you see the girl is tired of us seeing her naked? I haven’t even seen her with clothes on for goodness sakes. I’m pretty sure she wants to be alone.” Maria pulled Yvonne away again. This time she let Maria move her. Yvonne had a bad habit of thinking everyone wanted her help.

  Maria saw Cat mouth, “Thank you.” She nodded her head and let the warm, pleasant feeling of helping another person wash over her. She stayed with the Dragonvires not just out of loyalty, but to help people. Now she wanted to help Chris.

  She couldn’t imagine what they were doing to him. The thought made her vision blurry thinking about it. A few weeks before he was taken, Maria fell for Chris. No one knew because the group's blocker was supposed to be off-limits.

  Just in case the relationship went wrong, Dragonvires could not afford to lose the only thing keeping them hidden from Hunters. So, when Hendrick’s deep voice yelled, “We are leaving in two minutes,” Maria was relieved. She needed to find Chris. Her heart couldn’t take the blow of losing another person.

  Twenty

  Cat grabbed her phone from one of the many pockets in her black leather jacket. The tiny thing buzzed in her hand, Rebecca again? Between her and her mom, the darn phone wouldn’t shut up.

  “You’re going to want to leave that in the car,” Yvonne commented next to her as they walked to the big black van parked in front of the house.

  “I know, if I didn’t think I’d get a lecture from these two I’d answer, but I need to stay focused,” Cat said as she pressed the side button and turned off the phone. “I’ll call them later. Getting chewed out in front of everyone does not sound like fun.” Cat climbed into the vehicle smiling. Yvonne snickered and followed behind her.

  Cat’s eyes roamed around, the dark gray interior was dulled with age and had cut marks all around covered up by duct tape. However, the seats looked clean and cozy like they put in new ones. She went to the back, so she would feel comfortable.

  Cat was not a fan of people sitting behind her. Images of hands wrapping around her neck or a knife getting pressed to her throat made her paranoid. She was able to relax with a wall behind her. Or in this case the back doors.

  The moment Cat sat down, Jake and Marcus jumped on the spot next to her and wrestled each other for the seat. While two men up front mumbled about how Cat wasn’t even that sexy, so they needed to knock it off. They thought she would take their fighting as a compliment, but she was embarrassed more than anything. She hated that potato smell.

  Maria told her that her other emotions would intensify since the dark feelings were gone, and she hadn’t been kidding. The way she was embarrassed right now she might as well have been naked again in front of everyone.

  If Hendrick’s Nan hadn’t stepped in, Cat was sure she would have been in emotional overload again. This time the trip wouldn’t be as pleasant.

  Hendrick’s Nan peeked her head through the open van door and said, “Jake and Marcus, move, Yvonne and Hendrick will be sitting next to Cat.”

  Yvonne smiled and eagerly joined them in the back. “I like to sit in the very back, so I’m not bombarded by everyone’s aura, remember?” Yvonne wrapped her arm in Cats. Cat’s squished posture relaxed in the seat. Yvonne was a nifty woman.

  That relaxation would help her during the long two-hour trip in the van. Even though they were on their way to rescue Hendrick’s brother, all this was like a road trip with friends. The feeling was blissful to Cat. She’s never had so many friends.

  When everyone was in their seats, Cat was grateful she’d had a shower now that she was inside the packed van. She couldn’t believe how hot it was in here. She was glad Hendrick told Maria to dwindle their power heat capacity. The area around them cooled down.

  Once that was over she was happy with the chosen seats. Ethan was driving, and Keanu was in the passenger seat. Both men had the same dry personality and chestnut brown eyes from what she’d noticed. Other than that, they were complete opposites.

  Ethan was a tall, dark-skinned man built like Hendrick. His short dark hair and sharp features pu
t Cat on edge. The fact that he stayed away from her like she had a contagious disease made it easier.

  On the other hand, Keanu, with his red hair, short stature, and soft features was pleasant enough. He introduced himself, but that was as far as he went. She didn’t think they were going to have a complete conversation anytime soon. He stayed close to Ethan most of the brief time she observed him.

  Maria, Jake, and Marcus were in the seat in front of Cat. They were the jabberers of the bunch. And the ones who got all the games going. Games like I spy with my eye and alphabet with license plates which didn’t work too well because cars were rare, but there were a lot of wagons, so that ended up changing to what type of wood is the wagon, and a game where they named diverse types of foods.

  Cat thought it weird, how everyone seemed so calm.

  Yet, she guessed, with all the running and fighting for their lives, they learned how to cope with all the crap and enjoy the little stuff. Cat smiled at each of them, wishing she could wrap them all up in a hug and keep them safe.

  She already liked Maria for helping her but watching how full of life she was with Marcus made Cat like her even more. They were like children with each other.

  It’s hard to find joy in a world where friends are hunted down. I’ll have to get the secret from her later.

  Her short black hair and small frame looked odd next to Marcus, though. He towered over her. His blonde hair and kind eyes had even Cat coming out of her shell to play games with them.

  The only one she was awkward around was Jake, and that’s because all the winking he was throwing at her. The funny part was, he was an attractive man. Ear length black hair and a soft glowing smile on a muscular frame would be any girls dream man, but she didn’t see him that way.

  Cat looked around, loving the beautiful trees passing by, but she couldn’t help herself from studying everyone. It was hard to decide who was the best-looking person in the group, although, Hendrick was more her type.