Cara MIA - By Book One of the Immortyl Revolution - By Denise Verrico Page 0,3

their grasp. There’s no escape.

Try all you want but you can’t get away. Ah, your flavor! I love the would-be predators, just the right bouquet. Red heat burns through me! Jet fuel! I soar!

What’s that music on TV? Ave Maria, that’s Pavarotti. Is it Christmas? Shit. Papa sang it at midnight mass— that last one we had together.

Ave Maria, gratia plene

Dominus tecum

Bendicta tu in mulieribus

Et benidictus, fructus ventris tui Jesus

Now you’ll be a fucking, crying mess! Come on focus… focus on the scent. Iron! Salt! This is what we live eternally for. Shut it out! It’s just a song. Go on, drink it all down. Hot, red delicious life!

Sancta Maria

Sancta Maria

Ora pro nobis…

Nobis peccatoribus

Nunct et in hora…

My head is clear now. I’m cozy and warm. Loverboy ceases to struggle. Mmm… Life ebbs away so easily, it’s all mine now. You’re all limp and senseless, Loverboy. Someone should pray for you.

“In hora mortis nostrae. Amen.”

Stop that crap! But Papa left me so young. No one kept the demons away. Ah, come off it. You accepted the gift with open arms. Enjoy the ride, sweetheart.

I feel so old, so tired all of the sudden. I’ll just lie down and enjoy the warmth, all those little drops of delight dancing in the cells. It’s one hell of an orgasm. Too bad there isn’t one of our own kind to consecrate this sacrament. One need satisfied and the other already troubling us.

Who’s that? An apparition… an angel… or maybe the god of love? Lovely as the dawn surrounded by cascades of blood red flowers… I’m free now! Look! The sunrise and the beach are here, just like Brovik promised. Your breath and lips fall warm on my throat. Your weight on my body is lighter and sweeter than Ethan’s ever was. Kurt, mio amore, spirit me away from the darkness.

Wake up! He’s far from an angel. They’re all the same. You fell for those big baby blues like a fool. Can’t waste time on wet dreams of Brovik’s little boy-toy.

No relief tonight. Or God knows when. What time is it? I must have drifted off. There’s work to be done before I can indulge in hopeless dreams.

Yuck. Got to get rid of this thing on the bed, it already stinks. It’s revolting. It was bad enough alive but dead it’s even uglier. Eyes clouded, mouth open in a silent scream, it gets more disgusting by the minute.

I’ll just rifle through the pockets and find enough money to get a hotel room. Nice black leather wallet, a little shy of thirty bucks in it. Not enough to get a room in New York, not at any hotel I know of. Leave it to me to choose the only pimp in New York with no money in his pocket. But I really didn’t have the luxury to shop around under the circumstances. Ah well, we’ll have to improvise.

Well, well what have we here? A Rolex, a real one. Well, it seems the vermin had expensive tastes. Something else to pawn. Also a gold chain around its neck and one diamond stud in its ear. That will help too. Maybe there’s something to say for jewelry after all.

Don’t forget the pack of cigarettes from the nightstand. Toss them on top of the corpse. Add the overcoat and suit jacket to the pile. Wrap the entire thing up in the bedspread. What time is it?

The Rolex says it’s just after four. Guess I rested a little longer than I thought. After a kill I just feel like lounging for a while to savor the experience. Like a smoke after sex? Filthy habit. Smoking that is, the other I like too much.

Here comes the hairy part. One can’t leave corpses lying about all over Manhattan. Don’t provide fodder for the tabloids. One must clean up after meals. That’s the rule. Ethan did teach something of value. I may be just a tad rebellious but this is one custom I understand.

Okay, throw the bundle over the shoulder. Did I forget anything? Nope. All nice and tidy. Open the door, quietly now and pause a moment to listen, nothing, not a creature stirring except for a vampire. This place reeks of bodily fluids, blood, urine and eau de amour. Close the door, good, not a sound. Down the hall to the back stairs, what you’re seeking will be found in the basement.

This won’t ever get any easier will it? Kill, eat and dispose, no one else around to help with the