Veil Dancer (Blade Boys,Razor Toys, and Blood Babys.)

Isabel's eyes were the color of honey. They were set deeply in her long oval face. Her dark brown hair was cut in a page boy style. Her long fingers were tipped with one inch finger nails. Each finger nail was sheathed in platinum. The pinky's had a half carat ruby in the center of the platinum sheathes. Isabel was a true Child of Cain. She had spent most of her 500 years in Argentina. She had been one of the original members of the "Blue Bloods". The Blue Bloods made and enforced the rules of the Children of Cain. Isabel grew bored of them and there aristocratic attitudes. She begin hunting the other Children of Cain. She not only enjoyed drinking there blood but, feasting on there flesh. The Blue Bloods were outraged by her blasphemy. They offered rewards for her head. Groups of vampires would go out looking for her never to return. The number one rule of the Blue Bloods was "Thou shalt not suffer a half breed to live." Any half breed that the Blue Bloods found was immediately destroyed. Isabel found the half breeds entertaining puppets. She used them not only to outrage the Blue Bloods but,for her own ends.
Isabel sat in her study drinking a glass of her favorite beverage. Type O negative aged 16 years. She absently stirred her finger in it as she awaited the arrival of her guest. Glenn timidly knocked on the study door. Though he towered over her and outweighed Isabel by at least a 100 pounds he was horrified of her! Isabel purred "Entre." Glenn walked in slowly. Isabel grabbed him in a iron grip of a hug. She stuck a fingernail in the cross burn in his palm and twisted. Glenn howled and tried to fall to the floor. Isabel held him hard. "Glenn my dear" she whispered. "How did you get the boo boo?" Glenn's mouth twisted in a "O" shape as he tried to deal with the pain. He mumbled as the tears ran down his cheek. "Master, I got careless." Isabel's eyes turned into slits of hate. "Glenn, did you know you had a Veil Dancer in your grasp?" Glenn wanted to crawl into a ball and die. "No" he said in a squeak. Isabel back handed Glenn. His body flew across the room like a rag doll. Isabel's voice never raised louder than a hush. But to Glenn it felt as though his head was exploding. "Glenn you rotten little blood baby that drained his mortal mother to be born." Isabel's eyebrow raised slightly as she paced the room in a very cat like way. "If you and your little razor toys don't find out where the Veil Dancer is" each word was pronounced quieter than the last. "I will BBQ all of you and have you with a nice bottle of B positive." Glenn pulled himself off the floor. His face felt as though it were made of Velveeta cheese. Oozing and melting from the pain. "My Queen he wheezed through his bruised face. "I will correct my error." Isabel smiled, her fangs small pearls of death. "I will destroy the Sun." Her smile turning into a Cheshire cat like grin "and the Moon."

Veil Dancer (In The Beginning)

Marie handed Kari a warm cup of tea. "Here" she said "sip this and I will give you the cliff notes version of the history of the world."
In the beginning the universe was whole and all got along." "But then" Marie paused and looked at Kari sadly "two groups separated." "The Sun and the Moon." "By the cross around your neck" Marie pointed at Kari "I believe you know about the Sun." "I will tell you about the Moon." She sipped her tea then began.
"There are two groups that make up the Moon. The Children of Lilith and the Children of Cain. The Children of Lilith feed off the lust of humans." "Are they vampires?" asked Karie. "I have never heard of them." Marie laughed "they are more dangerous than your blood suckers". " As they feed off the desires, lust, and dreams of mankind." "You ever listen to the group Pirates of Perdition" Marie asked. "Of course" said Kari. "They are the girl group of the century!" "Yes" said Marie. They are children of Lilith and they grow stronger every day thanks to the lusts of mankind." "But,you want to here about the others that the cattle worship."
"When Cain killed his brother Able God punished him and marked him." 'He did this by making Cain and his brood walk the earth forever." Marie finished her tea. Then she said " they also have to drink the blood of Innocent man." "This is what they need to ease the pain of everlasting life." "Like you need aspirin when you have a headache." "But what about the fangs?" Kari asked. "The children of Cain have breed with the children of Man." Marie said. "They need the blood of the innocent but,they dont have the teeth,the mark to assist them." "Thus they need to use man made objects to acquire the life force." Marie paused. She looked at one of the candles that had burned out. "You and I are veil dancers." "We see the battle" she said. "But we have the choice to choose which side we will help." She took a deep breath and continued. "you need to decide, are you for the Sun or the Moon?"

Veil Dancer (The History Lesson)

Kari was tired bruised and battered. The night had left her questioning her sanity. Now Kris was babbling on about supernatural beings and her being awakened. She pinched herself hard hoping to awaken but, with no results. She sighed and decided to play along. "If there are vampires wont I turn?" she asked sarcastically. "And why didn't he bite me instead of cutting me?" she inquired. Kris frowned and begin to talk under his breath. Kari caught something about an Archangel and being eligible for retirement. "You need a history lesson" he finally said to her after a good ten minutes of mumbling. "But not here." "We need to go somewhere neutral" he said in a hushed tone. "wait here, I will be back" he said as he went around the corner of the building.
Kari sat pacing waiting for Kris to return. She absently grabbed for the cross around her neck. Looking at it she stifled a scream. The gold metal had turned black. On the other side it was covered with what looked like white skin.

Kris came roaring around the corner on a odd looking motorcycle. "Get on" he said impatiently. "What kind of bike is this?" Kari asked. "It's a Ural, and if you don't hurry up and get on" he said over the noise of the bikes mufflers. "I am going to leave you for the leeches when they awaken!" Kari jumped on the back of the bike as Kris gunned the throttle. They rode into the heart of the city. Kari holding on for dear life as Kris weaved in and out of traffic at break neck speeds.

They pulled up in front of a colonial looking house in the middle of a suburban neighborhood. "This here is the house of Marie Laveau" Kris said.
"She is the Oprah of the supernatural realm. She will answer all you questions."
Kari slowly got off the bike. Kris handed her a pack of Lucky Stikes cigarettes. "Offer her these when she answers the door" he said.

Kari walked up to the door reluctantly. Painted all over the door were designs that see recognized as things to do with Voodoo. She gently knocked on the door. It flew open violently. Standing in the doorway was a small women the color of coffee and cream. "Who you be with?" she asked in a heavy creole accent. "The Sun or Moon?"
Kari, held the cigarettes out. Fearfully she said "Kris brought me." "Ah" said Marie "come in child come in." Kari followed Marie into the house. It was littered with candles in various stages of burning. The floor was a rainbow of melted candle wax.
Marie sat down in a old lazy boy and motioned Kari to sit in a folding chair.
Kari sat down gingerly. Things just kept getting weirder and weirder. She took a deep breath and asked Marie "If the man that attacked me was a vampire why didn't he have fangs?" Marie smiled, her eyes stared hard at Kari. "This ain't no romance novel about some girl falling in love with a pretty boy vampire" she vomited the words out. "That, would be like a gold fish trying to love a piranha!" she cackled. "Besides,it was one of them blood suckers that wrote that Bella b-sss." she hissed. "They knew the cattle would eat it up and come looking for them!"
Kari was more confused than ever. She looked at her wrist and then back at Marie. "Please help me understand" she pleaded. Marie stood up "Let me make you some tea". "Then" she said shaking her finger "I will start at the beginning."

Veil Dancer (The Awakening)

Kari woke with the sun burning in her eyes. She was lying in a pile of trash behind a run down warehouse. Blood was caked on her wrist and the side of her face hurt. If it were not for these two things she would think that she had been having an awful nightmare. As she picked herself up and tried to get her bearings she saw the shape of a man. He was very tall and skinny. He had white long stingy hair that fell down past his shoulders. "Ah the goth pop awakes" he said in a raspy voice that sounded like it had been destroyed by centuries of smoking. Kari looked up into his face as she asked "What is a goth pop?" The man adjusted his sunglasses that were pitch black. "My dear" he rasped "you, are a goth pop." "That club you were in is known as the "Ice cream cafe to the Children of Cain." "That is where they go to get there fill of little treats like you!" The man said as he sneered at Kari. Kari shook her head in disbelief "Are you telling me that you believe vampires are real?" The man spit, pulling a cigarette from his coat he absently looked at it and then put it back in his coat. "There is a whole world you don't know jack about." "Who are you?" Kari asked, wondering who this crazy albino looking figure was. "Name is Kristoffer but, you can call me Kris." He said this as he made a bowing gesture. "I have been assigned to you now that you are awakened."

Veil Dancer (Preface)

Lord Byron's Grotto was your typical Gothic club. The architecture of the building represented a medieval cathedral right down to the stain glass windows. Of course the themes in the windows were of worldly subjects rather than spiritual. Every Friday night the clubbers would show up for an evening of dancing, decadence,and socializing with there friends.
Kari, had been waiting all week to come party at the club. She had just turned 21 and like all under aged Goths had dreamed of the day she would be able to enter the gloomy paradise of her peers. She wore the uniform of her clique, black ! A lacy black dress slit up the thigh, stiletto hills and a veil.
She shyly walked through the wrought iron doors and rubbed her eyes as they adjusted to the dark interior of the club. On stage was the house band "Sister Morphine" playing a song that sounded like a cross between angels weeping and a sugary pop anthem. Kari wandered the club in awe taking in all the sites that she could make out in the shadowy world of the club. Attempting not to bump into the patrons as she continued her site seeing tour.
Glenn sat at the bar of the club. His black boots with buckles going all the way up to his knees on top of the bar. As usual, he was bored and looking for something to entertain him. As he was lighting matches and throwing them in the overflowing ashtray he spotted Kari. Smiling impishly he grabbed two glasses of wine and walked towards her. Glenn handed Kari a glass of wine and attempted to introduce himself over the music. Kari took the glass of wine sipping the dark red liquid and attempting to hide her awe of Glenn. She couldn't hear one word Glenn was saying but when he pointed to an area left of the stage she nodded and followed him.
To the left of the stage was a room that was known as the "Blood Bank".Only V.I.P.'s were allowed. Glenn walked up to the bouncer and rolled up his sleeve. Clearly emblazoned on his pale skin was a tattoo of a bat with two straight razors crossed underneath it. This was the mark of the gang that called itself the "Blade boys". They were a subculture in the subculture that were spoken about in whispers. Kari smiled to herself when she saw Glenn's tattoo. Her older friends had been to the club multiple times and spoken about the Blade boys and the Blood bank. But had admitted they had never met a member or had been granted access to the Blood bank. Yet here she was her first time and succeeded at both!
Entering the room Kari stopped dead in her tracks in shock. The room was full of couples in intimate looking poses. This was expected. But the blood running down the necks and mouths were not. She turned to ask Glenn what this was all about when he slapped her hard in the face. Kari went down hard. Glenn pulled out a straight razor and sliced Kari's wrist. The blood oozed and he latched into it sucking deeply. Someone in the room laughed as Kari tried to get her bearings. Glenn grabbed her dress at the neck and pulled hard. All of the sudden, he screamed and pulled his hand back. It had a cross burned in it. Kari's mother always made her promise to wear it for protection. Kari shook herself out of the daze and begin to run as Glen wailed. She ran out of the club and kept running into the night.

To Busy To Live

People don't read any more. It's a sad state of affairs. Reading's the only thing that allows you to use your imagination. When you watch films it's someone else's vision, isn't it?" — Lemmy Kilmister

“When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” Paulo Coelho

It was happening again! The spiraling dizziness,the gripping nausea,and the pain shooting up his left arm. Ray grabbed his chest and begin breathing in rapid fire gasps. He didn't have time for this. The proposal was due Monday! Laying on the floor he begin to think of what his doctor had told him. "Think calm pleasant thoughts." he had said. "Thoughts of times in your life that will calm you down and relax you." Ray lay on the floor frustrated he was losing valuable time. Fighting for breath he remembered the summer before his senior year in high school. His father had let him join a wilderness survival camp. Ray had lived in a hand made shelter and learned how to live off the land. James the old Native American taught the class all he knew. At night around the fire he would smoke a ceramic pipe full of tobacco and ceder wood. "Listen to your heart and you will never be lost." James would mutter between puffs always looking out into the night. Then he would bid them good evening and disappear into the dark.
Ray smiled and breathed deep. "Wonder how old James would survive in the corporate world" he chuckled to himself. Slowly picking himself up he begin working on the proposal again. He had to get this account! He owed his Ex wife two months alimony and had promised his son Oz that they would do anything he wanted to as soon as his bills were caught up. Of course, he had been telling that to Oz for the last three years! Oz, nodded numbly and went and played video games until the weekend was over and his mother would pick him up. Ray felt a small pain. He begin to breath slow long deep breaths hoping to keep it from becoming a full blown attack. He thought of the deal he made his father when he graduated from high school. Promising that he would go to college for marketing in the winter if his father financed his Wilderness Survival class he taught in the summer. Old James had retired and left the class to him. He lived off wild berries and smoked fish. Sleeping under an open sky wishing the seasons would never change. Winter he would cram economics, marketing, and accounting in his head vowing he would never use the degree he was earning. That it was the sacrifice he had to make to appease his father until he could buy some land and live in the wilderness full time.
This changed his third year of school when he met Diana. She was a gorgeous upper class girl who was in college to waste time before she married into a family of old money. Ray, was taken with her pale skin and world of manners and material. Diana was fascinated with Ray's weather burnt skin and waist length hair he kept in a tight braid down his back. As time progressed Ray decided he wanted to marry Diana and give her the life she deserved. He cut his hair and joined a firm. They were married,bought a house and piled up debt on there credit cards to live the life that Ray assumed his wife wanted. When Oz was two years old Diana left Ray. She told him he was never home and was married to his work. That he was not the man she had fell in love with. Thinking of his marriage unraveling Ray ran into the bathroom and puked. Falling to the floor as the anxiety gripped him sharply. He Whispered to the ceiling " I gave you everything Diana but it was never enough". Head swimming he cursed old James and his smiley crinkly eyes. "No one is really that happy damn you !" Rasping and crying for the first time that he could remember. His heart slamming in his chest as if trying to escape as he pulled himself up and tried to compose himself. Slowly he washed his face and hands and headed back into his den. "Was this still an anxiety attack or was he finally having a heart attack ?" He thought morbidly. White dots were clouding his vision and his knees kept trying to buckle. The contract was done and printed. He just needed to review it and fax it to the office. As he entered the den he felt the breeze from an open window. "What the.." was all he got out as he entered the room. Oz had opened the window. He was folding the pages of the contract into paper airplanes and sailing them out the open window. Ray felt a popping in his head. he grasped the door knob tightly. He prepared himself for the final attack that would be his end. It never came. He took a breath and let go of the door knob. Oz heard him and turned around startled. "Daddy, I cant make a plane that will make it across the lawn." Ray smiled, unknowingly his eyes crinkled when he smiled. He picked up a page of the contract and said "Let me show you how to make a plane that will make it across the street son."

Blues for Cupcake

Basically, I hate conformity. I hate people telling me what to do. It makes me want to smash things. So-called normal behaviour patterns make me so bored, I could throw up!
Wendy O. Williams

Cupcake sat back stage waiting her introduction. A filterless cigarette was nested between her ring and pinkie fingers smouldering, sending rings of smoke through the tangle of curls and swirls of her shoulder length hair. Her eyes the color of Turkish coffee scanned the band members to make sure they were ready. As she finished her mental preshow check list she poured herself a splash of scotch and impatiently waited for there introduction. Before every performance the ghosts of her past begin to dance across her subconscious as she waited the beginning of the concert, the ritual that brought her release.
She was born Natasha, named after a Grandmother lost in the frozen waste lands of Russia many decades before she was born. Her parents molded and guided her in the ways of hard work and simple living. When she became a teenager she discovered Charlie Parker and Jazz. Her world went from a gray path of following blindly to a technicolor vision of rapture. Her parents strongly disapproved of her taking band class and learning the saxophone. When they found out she was hanging out with the old Jazz cats they attempted to put her in boarding school. Natasha ran away and slept upstairs in a shooting gallery. She practiced her horn all day while the junkies slept off there high and jammed with them at night. There bodies oozing out the music and heroin that they so craved. It was at this time she got the name "Cupcake". For her rich sweet riffs that she coaxed out of her sax. They teased Cupcake that the sound of her horn could rot a mans heart. The old beatnicks taught her all they knew about the music. She learned voraciously and sadly watched them cook away there talents in a spoon. At 16 she had a Jazz band that reminded everyone of the good old days. By 17 she had a record contract and toured the world.
Now she was back "home" playing a charity show for one of her mentors who needed medical attention for the hard life he had lived on the road. Cupcake inhaled the last of her cigarette and crushed it on the ground. The thoughts of day to day life vanished with the hiss of smoke she blew out her aqualine nose. The band began to play. The drummer and Bassist grooved in perfect harmony. The audiance impatiently awaiting her presence in the music. The light hit her figure and she begin to play the chords on the Sax's register. Like John Coltrane when he played she completly left her body. The music taking her away to a place of total clarity.....