Love Hurts: The Killing of Rose Read online

  ***

  Frankie rolled over in his bed, running his hand along the table for his cell phone. He checked the time and then shut his eyes tight, hoping he would just fall back to sleep. The room was still beside that bothersome hum that no mattered what never went away. Every few minutes the sound of a car sounded outside the window as it passed by his apartment.

  Three swift taps echoed on the other side of Frankie’s door. And before he could react Blanca let herself in. She stared around the untidy apartment, peering through the shadows to where Frankie’s body lay under the covers in his room.

  Her gleaming heels stomped over his dirty laundry and wooden floorboards to make it to her destination, Frankie’s bedroom. Blanca balled her fist, and with one fast punch swung Frankie’s door all the way open.

  “Why are you in bed?” She demanded. It wasn’t common to find Frankie in bed in the middle of the evening. By this time he had zoned in on naive victims in a bar someplace close to his apartment.

  “I was sleeping,” he said low. No emotions or agitation clinging to his voice like usual.

  “It’s nearly seven,” Blanca informed him, jabbing his phone to life to prove she was correct on the time. She took a seat on the side of his bed. She studied Frankie’s body, crossing her legs carefully. “You don’t look to good. Bar fight?”

  Frankie sighed, sitting up. He was naked and didn’t care who knew it. “No. I got this from Sam. He decided to come into the bar the other night and throw a temper tantrum.”

  Blanca drug a fingernail across Frankie’s chest like a carving knife, leaving a raised red stripe behind. Her eyes glued to her handy work. “Let me guess, it had something to do with that Suzy home maker I met at dinner.”

  Frankie took hold of her wrist. “Yeah, he wants me to kill Rose so Delaney doesn’t find out about his past. And he is so pissed off about it all he is just running around doling out punches.”

  Blanca’s lips curled up into a conniving smirk. “Come on Frankie, I know you better than that. And I know Sam too. You pushed him. You made him do this.” Blanca tugged at the blankets until they were down by Frankie’s knees. She smiled at the sight, her mind only on one thing. She didn’t care that Frankie was having sibling rivalry issues. She just wanted Frankie’s body to torture her in that fun yet sadistic way he was known for.

  “Think what you want. I tried to help the guy out. Which, I don’t even know why I bothered. I might as well go find Delaney right now and put the little bitch out of her misery. Because we all know it’s going to happen one way or another.”

  Blanca raised an eyebrow, running her fingernail against her bottom lip lost in deep thought. Her eyes swiftly clouded, producing a threatening glare. “What is it with you and pathetic girls?”

  Frankie rolled his eyes. But Blanca didn’t find it amusing at all. She pushed him down, dropping her knee between his legs in just the position to make any man uncomfortable. Frankie’s hand immediately grabbed the back of her leg, dragging her into a safer position.

  “You’re a psychopath,” Frankie told her. Blanca simply nodded in agreement, carefully biting down on Frankie’s bottom lip. She closed her eyes as his hands encircled her throat, daring her to try anything funny. Frankie without difficulty fought against her subtle attack, kissing his way out of it. Soon they were in a wild lip lock that had his heart going at an outrageous rate of speed.

  “I have to get my nails done. But I wanted to get into your pants first,” she whispered into his ear seductively. She slowly unbuttoned her black shirt, a smirk on her face.

  Frankie wasn’t in the mood. He watched her undress, not helping her out of her clothes. Hoping she took the hint and left already.

  “What is your deal?” Blanca snapped, “Since when aren’t you raring to go?”

  “Since when do you just drop by uninvited?” He climbed out of bed, yanking a pair of shorts from his dresser drawer, leaving Blanca on the bed nude. “This is not our thing.”

  Blanca said nothing. She searched around the room for signs of another girl. Something that would make Frankie reject her. She couldn’t imagine Sam was the only issue. Just as she was about to tell herself she was being absurd her eyes landed on a pair of woman’s underwear in between his dresser and TV stand. She jumped up, dropping to her knees and tug them out.

  “So what’s her name?” she asked, standing up, dangling the hot pink panties in the air. She waited until Frankie’s attention was on the subject matter before she threw them at him.

  “That could have come from anyone. And what are you doing scouring my room for girls panties?” Frankie asked, balling the panties in his hand and tossing them in the wastebasket. They were Dylan’s he was sure of it. After he took them off with his teeth he would never forget them. But now he didn’t care. He just wanted Blanca out of his apartment so he could go back to bed.

  “Fuck you, Frankie.” Blanca hissed like a wicked snake. Her eyes narrowed into a wicked stare.

  “You have, many times. So I don’t understand why the emotional meltdown. You know me better than anyone.” He shrugged. “How many guys were you with last night or on the way over here?”

  Blanca stamped her foot into the ground like a spoiled child deprived of a toy.

  “I hope the next time your brother hits you he knocks your teeth out. You’re a selfish, conceited, fool.”

  Frankie nodded. Nothing he hadn’t heard before. “So then leave. You think I’m going to feel bad about the kind of person I am?”

  “If only somebody could get so lucky that you would give a shit about anyone.” Blanca huffed. She threw her arm into her shirt, working the other one in. Frankie had a way to get under her skin.

  “This coming from you, the girl who if it wasn’t for being female could be my twin!”

  Blanca dropped her jaw. “You and I are not alike at all.” She stayed in denial, yanking her pants back on. She irately zipped them ready to leave.

  “You and I are one in the same, sweetheart. You’re everything you think I am. The only difference is I don’t give you hell about it. I don’t care what you do. I use you for sex because that’s what your good at. If I wanted a relationship I would go after a girl with a little more class. Or take Delaney off my brother’s hands.” Frankie stayed where he was, staring at Blanca, waiting for some sort of reaction, maybe an attempt at his life, maybe another annoying fight to end the evening. He wasn’t sure, but he was ready for any or all of it.

  “No girl with even an ounce of class would be caught dead with a man like you. You will never be worthy of anyone. You’re worthless,” she growled, snatching her shoes from the floor, in such a rush to leave she didn’t even bother to put them back on. She turned swiftly and bolted out of his bedroom door.

  Frankie waited for a couple of seconds before he heard the well-known slamming of his apartment door. Once he knew she was gone he dropped back down on the bed, burying his head underneath all his pillows.

  Advice

  Dylan ran a hand through her dark auburn hair as she sat in her history class. Her feet perched on the seat in front of her. She nibbled on the end of her pencil as her professor retold the story of demons and folklore.

  “It was said that these victims were attacked in their sleep. That they were experiencing sleep paralysis or waking dreams.”

  The class stayed quiet as Professor Scranton recounted the stories of the horrible beast that the book was filled with. To Dylan it was entertaining and a bit charming.

  “One of the earliest mentions of incubus came from Mesopotamia from the Sumerian King List, ca. 2400 BC, where the hero Gilgamesh's father is listed as Lilu. It was said that Lilu disturbed and seduced women in their sleep, while Lilitu, a female demon, appears to men in their erotic dreams. There are two other demons that appear as well: Ardat lili, who visits men by night and begets ghostly children from them, and Irdu lili, who is known as a male counterpart to Ardat lili and he would visit women by night and beget from them. These demons were
originally storm demons, but they eventually became known as night demons due to incorrect etymology.”

  The guy sitting next to Dylan raised his hand. Dylan didn’t know him nor had she seen much of him in her class before. “What exactly happened to these children?”

  Professor Scranton scrubbed his thick gray facial hair. “Good question.” He walked into the center aisle, all eyes pinned on him. “It was said these demons were very sneaky creatures. Incubus and Succubus were a crafty group. And if you flip to the next page you will see that very explanation.”

  Dylan quickly flipped her page, her eyes flitting back and forth. She consumed the pages in a matter of a few seconds. Lifting her head and taking all she read in. Succubus could sleep with a man collect his sperm and then change into a man and deposit this into a human? Dylan had a hard time believing this. To her it was a bit ridiculous, and a ton bizarre.

  “So, what this means is the egg and sperm used to produce these children were thought to be human. But they believed because the method was done by a demon that the young were supernatural. And on a number of occasions there were some demons that were capable of producing offspring. The half human offspring was called a Cambion.”

  The bell rang before Professor Scranton could answer the barrage of hands hanging in the air. This was the lesson he always looked forward to retelling, and the one that his students gave their full attention to.

  Dylan collected her books. The thought that a long time ago mysterious creatures existed thrilled her. If only they were true and not just some silly story in her history books.

  “Professor Scranton?” she asked, lingering in the entryway.

  Professor Scranton tidied his desk. “Yeah?”

  “How true do you think any of this is?” Dylan asked, taking a seat.

  “Throughout existence we all have had our own stories and tales. We all had our wars and famine, disease and poverty. I think anything is possible.”

  ***

  Sam tipped the man at the hotel room door, dragging the cart of food inside like his mother asked him to do.

  “This looks good,” Greta said helping Sam set the plates on the small wooden table. She took a seat, taking a sip of her lemon water. “So, now I think it’s time to have this deep discussion I have been waiting for. You can tell me what has got you so wound up.”

  Sam sat down, shaking the cloth napkin open. “I met a girl.” He started.

  Greta’s appearance stayed indifferent. She waited for more.

  “Her name is Delaney. And I asked her to marry me. She said yes.” Sam took a sip of his own water. He kept his eyes glued to the flaky croissant rather than his mother’s eyes. He knew what she probably was thinking.

  “But there is a problem or else you wouldn’t have asked me here, am I right?” Greta said delicately. She knew her son. He tried to stay away from relationships of any kind when he was younger for fear of harming someone. But soon he gave in and took on the vicious traits of his father. Something Greta didn’t agree with. She felt her son’s had a choice in their actions. But maybe she hadn’t specified this enough to them.

  “I did some things. And now it seems they are coming back around and biting me in my ass.” Sam grabbed the knife, buttering the roll. “Years back, I was out of my mind. I did something awful to this girl, Rose. Never thinking I would see her again. Or that she would be Delaney’s best friend.”

  Greta’s eyebrows knitted together. “And she doesn’t know?”

  Sam looked at his mother confused. “Know what?”

  “That you harmed her friend?” Greta waited for an answer, but the silence was enough for her.

  “I taught you to be a caring man. I didn’t teach you to hurt anyone. And now it seems the choices you made are going to ruin any happiness you could have. You are not like your father.”

  She knew she probably sounded difficult and maternal but she didn’t agree with his actions.

  “I am like my father. And that is beyond my control. I brought you here because I needed help. I need to know how you managed to survive an incubus. Why weren’t you just another victim?” Sam placed his hands on the table, palms down. This was the moment he had been waiting for.

  Greta sighed, “Because your father had control. He could have killed me, but he didn’t. And the same goes for you and your brother. A long time ago it wasn’t such a horrible thing to use woman. It wasn’t wrong to kill any of them. An incubus is capable of feeding off anyone without destroying them. And the right person is capable of withstanding him, its greed that destroys a human being, greed from both them and you. Not everyone is like that. Some incubus believes they are superior and that all humans are theirs for the taking, objects to devour, not real people with feelings and lives of their own.”

  Sam thought back on all his sexual encounters. Never once had he let them get away. Nor did any of them walk away on their own. “So, you’re telling me it’s not just me who is at fault?”

  The idea that this was true gave Sam a lot of hope. Greta took his hand in hers. “I’m saying you’re part of something that can make you feel evil. Something that is evil. But you’re also human. And you have the ability to control yourself and not take that path.”

  Sam squeezed the bridge of his nose in frustration. There were still things he didn’t understand. Like the god awful effects that took place when he didn’t feed off of a woman. Was this all in his imagination? “But I feel it. I feel the difference when I am with a woman and when I’m not. I feel rage, and this guttural need to take all I can get.” Killing was just the additional benefit. It seemed to add an even richer high.

  Greta nodded in understanding. “You were raised by a selfish man. He taught you guys to be the same way. He wanted you to believe that being angry and ravenous was normal and common. It’s not. You might feel better when you’re with a woman. You might need to be with them to survive, yes, but it doesn’t have to be so malevolent.”

  “You understand love, Vance. And now that you found it you have what it takes to be happy. You are the only one who can control who you are. Don’t let the demon within you stop you from having happiness. Like your father and brother.”

  Sam nodded, squeezing his mother’s hand. “You don’t know how great it feels to hear this.” She didn’t think of him as a demon, she simply thought that he was a human living with an inner damnation, one that he had the ability to move past.

  Greta smiled, pleased she could help. “You have to find a balance, a way to keep a level head at all times. This way you can be with the woman you want to be with without hurting her.”

  Sam scratched his head. “I think I know how to do that.”

  Greta took a bite of her sandwich. “You also need to tell her the truth about you. If she is the one she will accept you for what you are. And understand that you are the loving caring man she fell in love with. Not a monster.” She raised her eyebrows. “You also have to show her you’re not.”

  Sam believed he could do that—the showing part. The confession to the truth was another story. Telling Delaney he was the spawn of a demon was one thing. But telling her about Rose was another. And he wasn’t ready to come clean. He couldn’t.

  ***

  Delaney walked down the foyer of her parent’s home, radiant hardwood beneath her feet, with the loveliest crystal chandelier above her. Her parents were wealthy. Very prominent in Arizona, and they expected a lot from her.

  She stopped in front of a large wood framed family photo, a portrait from a few years ago. Back when she was in school dreaming of college. Not of getting married. That was the furthest thing on her mind at the time.

  “What are you doing out here?” Her father’s voice boomed, his footsteps thudding the floor as he approached her. He wrapped his arm around his daughter, taking in the family portrait along with her. “That was a nice one, one of your mother’s favorites.”

  Delaney smiled.

  “Why didn’t Vance pay us a visit?” Her father questi
oned like so many times before. The only time he had laid eyes on Vance was at the engagement party.

  “Oh you know, Daddy. Vance is just busy with things.” She kissed his cheek, letting him lead her into the large dining room where her entire family sat surrounded by expensive dishes and soft candlelight. Her father took the seat at the head of the table. Delaney sat down beside her brother and his girlfriend, her sister across the way.

  “Now that we are all here,” her mother started, she flashed Delaney a small smile pleased to see her daughter for once.

  Delaney swirled her spoon through her soup not that hungry for what sat before her. She listened to the clinks of the silverware against the dishes.

  “So, six more months,” Anna, Delaney’s mother said, “Six more months before your married.”