Veil Dancer (Downtime to Decide)

Kari turned to Kris " Leave me here for awhile?" Kris bowed his head and in his voice that sounded like rocks rolling in a cement mixer said " Whatever you wish my Lady." Kris grabbed his beat up jacket and walked out the door. In the distance Kari heard his motorcycle drive away. "Why, does he speak to me like that?" she inquired. Marie answered mischievously " He is your guardian." "He has sworn allegiance to you no matter what side you choose." Kari absently scratched at her head. " This is allot to digest in a short time." " I understand child" Marie said. "Let me show you to the guest room." "There you can get some rest and we will finish our discussion over dinner." Marie led Kari out of the room full of candles into a hallway. Entering the hallway Marie lit a lamp. Marie mumbled " The gas lighting, I had it put in this house to remind me of my home in the French Quarter." She sighed. "How I miss it."
Marie opened the door of a room at the end of the hall. A large poster bed dominated the room. Heavy curtains of red hung on the bed frame hiding the actual bed from sight. On the wall were black and white photographs of various buildings in New Orleans. Marie handed Kari a vile " Put this on the cut." Kari absently looked down at where Glenn had sliced and sucked on her arm. The cut was infected and also had a weird black glow to it. " There saliva has a germ in it that is like a narcotic" Marie explained. "It is what makes a human go back and let themselves be fed on until they die." " What is in the vile?" Kari asked. " A mixture of White tulips, Saint John's wort, and a dash of Laudanum." "It will heal the wound and help you rest." "Now" Marie said " I have water heated so you may take a bath." Bathe, take a nap and when you awake" Marie handed her an old skeleton key. " Unlock the room on the other side of the house." She pointed in the general direction. "There I will meet you and we can discuss the mess you have stepped in."

Kari walked into the bathroom. In the antiquated room a claw foot bathtub filled with steaming water awaited her. She undressed and slipped into the water. The heat of the water slightly scalded her skin and melted the soreness and stress out of her body.She begin to forget about the whiplash life changes and found herself nodding off. Catching herself before she slipped into the water Kari got out of the tub. Wrapping herself in a ruff cotton towel she walked into the bedroom. To one side there was a dressing screen. The picture painted across the screen was of two swans. One black and one white. The river that they swam down was a blue green. The water seemed to swirl around the swans bodies. Kari found herself spellbound by the painting. The longer she stared at it the more lifelike it became. When she swore she could hear the sound of the river she shook her head and broke the spell. Walking over to the other side of the room she opened the closet. In the closet were various colored dresses of silk. She chose one that seemed familiar and put it on slowly. Pulling the cork from the vile Marie gave her she rubbed the tincture into the ugly wound. A weird sensation crept up her arm and over the rest of her body. A burning numbing sensation. In a dreamy calm state Kari walked over to the bed and pulled back the curtains. Engraved in the wood of the bed were images of angels. As if the bed had been made out of ancient pews from a church. Crawling under the Soft sheets that covered the feather bed mattress Kari begin to dream. She dreamt of the buildings in the pictures on the walls. She felt as though she were walking through each building and exploring them. Drifting in another time she walked the gas lamp streets. Shopped in the stores and forgot all about the terror of the last few days.

Veil Dancer (Meanwhile Back at Marie's house)

"You need to decide, are you for the Sun or the Moon?" Marie said. Kari stood up, her face a mask of anger. "I choose neither!" The candles begin to flicker as though a wind was passing through the house. " I am returning to my life." " I have no interest in this." Marie laughed, her body rocking. " My poor poor child" she said in a tone one would use to comfort a scared puppy. " Don't you understand the life you speak of is gone? "The half blood dogs are hunting you as we speak." Her voice getting sadder as she continued to speak. " They have no care for rules or tradition." " They aim to destroy the balance and force the final battle to be waged." Kari sat down hard, her eyes full of disbelief. " If I chose the Sun would I be accepted? " " Am I good enough to be part of them?" Marie smiled at Kari. " Child, we all judge ourselves harsher than needed." "All of us think that if we have done some small wrong we must be evil creatures." " You must look into your heart" Marie stood up slowly with the tea pot. " You can stay here with me while you decide." "Or, she motioned to Kris " you may leave with Kris and take your chances out there." Kari asked " Why am I safe here?" "I am a diplomat a negotiator of both sides." " As long as you are here there will be no altercations." "Besides" Marie smirked " you look like you could use a meal made out of something besides Twinkies!" "

Veil Dancer (Warrior of the Sun part 2)

Father O'Malley explained to John the ongoing battle of the two forces. That John had been chosen to protect the innocent. John had balked at first. But after hours of discussion he realized that O'Malley knew too much about him that he had not told anyone. John retired from the ring. He begin training with O'Malley on the supernatural. He became a lethal warrior of the Sun that begin to wage battle against his foes the same way he had done in the ring when he was a kick boxer.

Taking a break from his daily training John gulped water from his plastic bottle. His nose that looked like a battered piece of puddy that leaned slightly to the left ached as he attempted to breathe through it. His fifty plus years were beginning to slow him down. Years of fighting both mortal and immortal enemies had blurred into a day to day struggle. He wiped the perspiration off his scarred forehead. Kris had told him that the final battle was at hand. That the back and forth struggles would end and all out war was coming. John yawned and stretched his taunt muscles."Not sure I can handle much more violence" he mumbled to himself. As he begin to relax he had a flashback of his father and the vampire. He shuddered and tried to shake it from his thoughts. He begin to start his work out all over again. Striking with hands, elbows, legs, and knees. Pushing himself to defeat the creatures who stole his innocence so he could die in peace.

Veil Dancer (Warrior of the Sun Part 1 )

John Sullivan Murphy was named after the last bare knuckle boxing champion "John L. Sullivan". He was raised in an average Irish Catholic home. His father was a beat cop in the city of Chicago. When not working he taught his boys boxing. John was a natural. He loved the training of pugilism. He would awake at five AM every morning. John would jump rope and work the heavy bag until it was time for school. He would spar and run every day after school. He was a three time golden gloves champion when he turned sixteen.His father planned to coach him to the Olympics that summer. But, that summer his whole families life changed.
John was jogging home from the gym. His father was supposed to meet him there after his shift. He had told John that he was going to help him work on understanding the Olympic style scoring of boxing. John had trained for two hours. His eyes were on the door the whole session anticipating his father's entrance. He never showed up. John assumed his father must have gotten stuck at the station doing paperwork. Ducking through an alley,John hoped to make it home on time for dinner. His breath was coming shallow now as he had been running for five miles.Lost in his run he did not see the Bum as he tripped over him. Going down hard he felt the last of his breath leave his tortured lungs as he fell. His hands catching him as they scraped across the black top. Getting up slowly he realized the Bum was hoovering over something. A sucking sound echoed in his ears. The Bum was feasting on something! As John came to his senses he realized that the Bum was lapping up blood like a kitten drinks cream from a saucer. As the disbelief filled his head at what he was seeing a horror slowly creeped acrossed him. The body below the blood drinking creature was his father's! The brave man, strong and fearless now lay crumpled and lifeless. John reacted instead of thinking. His fist connected with the creatures cheekbone. A crunching sound exploded through the air. The creature hissed like a snake as it attempted to rise from it's feeding position. John continued to pummel the creature with his fists. The combinations lethally landing faster than the vampire could move. After what seemed like hours the creature fell. It's head swollen like a disfigured grapefruit. John ran to the police station in shock. When arriving there he attempted to explain to the night shift what he had seen. Nothing but cries escaped him. He finally motioned enough that two of the boys in blue followed him to the alley. Lying slumped in the shadows was his fathers corpse. There was no sign of the creature.
After the funeral John lied about his age and joined the Army. He went to Vietnam and served three tours.During his third tour he was assigned a mission in Cambodia. While stalking through the jungles looking for Vietcong he came across an ancient ring. In the ring he saw two warriors practicing the martial art of "Pradal Serey". Entranced by there motions he begged them to train him. Pradal Serey is the Cambodian equivalent of Thailand's Muy Thai. Both are forms of kick boxing. For the first time in three years John felt excitement in his numb soul. John went AWOL from the Army and trained full time. After a year of training in Cambodia he went to Thailand and became a professional kick boxer. After five years of a brutal but successful career John begin to have nightmares. The nightmares were about people drinking blood. He would awake screaming dripping with sweat. After a dream John would get up and begin training. His kicks higher and faster. His punches and elbows more lethal each time they were thrown. He would practice until exhaustion overtook him and a dreamless sleep awaited.
Ten years on the kickboxing circuit took its toll. John begin to wonder what was next. While awaiting a bout in the Philippines he walked into a Church for the first time since he was sixteen. Inside he met Father O'Malley.O'Malley smiled a black tooth grin at John as he entered the church. "Ah me son" he said in his heavy Irish accent. "How is it I meet my own blood half way across the world?" John smiled "Father" he said grimly "I need sanctuary from my past". O'Malley winked at John. "Come in me boy" O'Malley said mischievously " and I will give you a drop of the spirit." O'Malley poured John a glass of Irish Whisky. John a lifelong health freak had never drank anything but water. As he forced down the sweet burning fiery liquid O'Malley giggled at his reaction. "Lets talk of salvation, forces of the dark that drink the blood of the innocent, and how to help you find both!"