Purge (Curse of Cain Book 1)

At noon, Isaac shook Korinna awake.

“Get up. Go get me some bleach,” he demanded, then proceeded to cross his arms and relax back into his chair. For the last few hours, he watched the humans rummage around in the television, doing strange things. There were times where the humans would make jokes and happen upon stupid and ironic situations. They were enough to make Isaac scoff, but no real amusement came from it.

Korinna lifted her head and rubbed at the sleep in her eyes, then groaned and fell back into the cushion of the couch. “That it, master?”

“No, get me some new pants.”

“You don’t know your size, do you?” She asked with a sigh, then lurched her body into a sitting position. “Check those pants’ tags.”

“Tags?”

“They’re in the butt of the pants.”

“I’m not taking these off,” Isaac snapped. “They were hard enough to get on.”

Korinna squinted. “You asked me—”

“Just guess. Now hurry, before the sun falls again. You’ve wasted enough time.”

“Whatever,” Korinna muttered and stood, stretching her arms up over her head. “No one’s out to get us just yet.”

“Yet.” Isaac glared. “Hurry, succubus. We don’t have time.”

“What about after we get rid of the smell? What then?”

“We stay here until something changes.”

“But why? I’m ready to get the hell out of this town—maybe even out of this state,” Korinna replied. “I thought you wanted to leave, not stay here.”

“I have some unfinished business to attend to,” Isaac said and gave her a look when she opened her mouth to retort. “I would appreciate it if you did not press the matter.”

“Whatever,” Korinna said and went to find her shoes, which she disposed of by the front door of the house. “I’ll go get your stupid shit.”

“Thank you,” Isaac muttered and then reverted his attention back to the television. It was miraculously accurate about a few things: humans ran around like ants, making fools of themselves, and lacked the essential ability to think further than the surface of things. For this, the television entertained him, as humans had always given him amusement at the inferiority.

Korinna hurried out the door, slamming it behind her. There were people outside in the streets, either driving in their cars or walking on the sidewalks. Some of those who were walking had dogs, which all turned their attentions to her and sniffed the air. Barking began soon as she made her way across the street and down the opposite sidewalk, making her way to the corner convenient store.

Many of the people who had the dogs gave her strange looks. It wasn’t uncommon for animals to react like that to supernatural beings. Beasts like dogs and cats had a keen sense of the Other Side and there were hardly any times when she was not barked or hissed at by animals.

Korinna turned the corner to the business district of independence and hesitated when she saw a police car sitting on the other side of the street from the convenience store. Two cops sat against the hood of the car, coolly surveying the area.

These two humans looked familiar; she didn’t know if it was because she saw them around town because they were cops or because they were thralls of Dante or humans that knew.

Korinna took several deep breathes and continue toward the convenient store.

Luckily, Independence wasn’t as dinky as she figured, for there were more than one general shop than that one. She kept her face forward and her pace normal, matching the small crowd of bystanders, and blended in with the humans.

Korinna made it out of that area with no worry, lucky enough to not have been noticed by the two officers.

Another block down the street was a Dollar General, along with a coffee shop that was frequented by the majority of Independence’s residence. She was tempted to go in for a coffee, but thought against it when she realized that if there were cops watching the streets, then there were probably thralls of the Dante’s coven hanging around, also.

For now, Korinna was worried about getting in and out of the convenience store without running into Dante’s people.

She threw looks over her shoulder, searching for any chance that she was being followed, as she approached the shop; once inside the building, she scanned the heads of people that were currently browsing through the merchandise.

There were three customers and three employees inside. Two of the workers stood at the cash registers and the other stood in the fourth aisle, stocking the shelves with woman products.

The human who stocked product looked at Korinna and paused. It was a usual reaction to the succubus, but what struck her as odd was that the man turned around, threw the merchandise back into the box it came in, picked it up, and left the aisle, tailing it to the back of the store.

Korinna memorized and watched him as she shopped. The employees at the counter watched her in the usual human way, acknowledging her with a nod before returning to their previous chat with each other.

After another glance at the humans, Korinna high-tailed it to the house supplies aisle and looked for bleach. Her browsing lasted all but a minute before she heard the male employee bound back into the shopping area, bobbing his head above the shelves in search for her. Korinna met his gaze with a furrow of her brow and in that moment, she thought she saw fear strike through his eyes.

Korinna waited for him to move and he seemed to unsure of what to do. In that moment, Korinna caught a whiff of his scent, which was a mixture of cheap cologne, human sweat, and a dark hint of fear and anticipation.

She made the first move, leaving behind the bleach for the brief minute it took to get to the man. He twisted his way through the aisles. As Korinna was hidden from the other humans’ eyes, she sped through the obstacles and caught up to him in mere seconds.

He stiffened and turned on his heels, heading back the way he came with the same pace. Korinna prowled to cover the distance and shoved him up against a shelf full of baby diapers.

The man whimpered as she moved into his personal space. Korinna breathed what he exhaled, catching hints of peppermint and un-brushed teeth. She grimaced and reinforced her hold, pushing him further into the boxes of diapers.

“You tell your boss that you saw me?” She asked, her voice laced with succubae magic. His pupils dilated, a sure sign that some of her spell worked, before he cleared his throat and looked everywhere but her face.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“The hell you do,” Korinna snarled. “Now, I’m going to let you take out your silly little Trac phone for a moment so that you can send your boss another message, okay?”

“You’re crazy, lady. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The man reasserted his statement with a furrowed brow and a grimace. He squeezed his eyes shut momentarily. “You’re crazy, okay, lady? Now lemme’ go.”

“Get out your phone.” Korinna reiterated. “And send him another message.”

“I—”

Maybe she wasn’t being serious enough. Korinna growled and hooked her hand around the crotch of his pants. He stifled a howl as her fingers dug straight into the amount of flesh hidden in the jeans and clenched.

“Gah, son of a bitch!” The man hissed and squirmed in her hold. With each movement, her grip tightened until he stopped moving altogether. His chest heaved in a panic as he stared at her with fresh fear in his eyes. “You planning to tear them off?”

“And feed them to my pet, yes.” Korinna sneered. “Now…take out your phone. Text your boss. Now.”

“Fine, fine.” The man dripped bullets of sweat down his brow as he dropped his hand into the pocket of his jeans and fished out the phone.

It was a dinky, plain little object that made noises each time the buttons were pressed. Before he could do anything, Korinna snatched it away from him. The man moved to take it away from her, only to have the grip around his balls tighten so quickly that a short squeal left his tight lips. She shot him a look before opening the messages up.

Lo and behold, a message to Connor, of all people. Of course, Korinna’s hunch was right: the man was a human lackey to the higher-uppers on the food chain.

Korinna sent a message to the vampire: Never mind, false alarm. Just a dark-haired bimbo.

Then, instead of returning the phone, she crushed it in the palm of her hand, letting the pieces fall to the floor. The man sniveled, gaping at his destroyed property, and protested when Korinna moved her grip from his balls to his throat.

She leaned into his face, touching noses, and whispered, “Now, pay close attention, little boy.”

The man gulped as his eyes once again dilated. The magic finally took hold as his eyes glazed over.

“Forget this ever happened. You dropped your phone, and it was run over by a car. Get a new one,” she whispered before letting go of the man.

He fell to his knees as she hurried out of the aisle, looking for any eavesdroppers before she made her way back to the cleaning supplies.

Korinna grabbed a gallon of bleach, then headed over to the clothing aisle, where several racks of clothes hung. She found male sweats and looked at the tags. After combing through a few of the same pants, she found the right size she assumed Isaac was and ripped them off the rack.

As she made her way to the front of the store, she saw that the male employee approached the cashiers.

“I gotta get a new fucking phone now,” he growled, not noticing when Korinna came up behind him. “Can’t believe I fucking dropped it.”

“Well, there’s some Trac phones over there,” one of the girls behind the counter said and pointed to the small phone stand that stood a few aisles back. “Just pick one up.”

“My uncle’s going to be pissed,” the man said through clenched teeth. His voice stuttered at “uncle,” which only Korinna picked up. The human probably meant the boss that he had reported to before she came at him.

She hid a bitter laugh and put her items on the counter beside him. The man turned to her. Luckily, her magic worked, as she saw no recognition in his eyes as he sized her body up and grinned.

“Well, I guess I’ll get on my way then. Still got some boxes,” he said, waving at his coworkers. “Have a nice day, little lady.”

Korinna huffed as he walked away and the two girls snickered.

“He’s harmless,” one of them said. This was the one that rang Korinna’s items up. “Did you find everything okay today?”

Korinna nodded and smiled at the girl.

The cashier finished and gave Korinna the total, with which she turned over a ten-dollar bill.

“Have a good day!” Both of the girls said as Korinna gathered her money and her purchases and rushed out the door.

An hour passed since she left the house. Korinna wondered what Isaac was doing, then assumed that he was probably up to no good.

Probably terrorizing the neighbors.

She huffed and headed down the same sidewalk. The police car was still stationed where she last saw it, and one of the police officers sipped on some coffee as he leaned against the wall of the establishment. His gaze only glanced over her with no recognition in his eyes as she passed by him.

Korinna headed toward the familiar residential zone with their current hideout in sight. As she came closer, she saw Isaac pacing just inside the living room windows of the house. He stopped when he spotted her approaching through the windows.

Isaac opened the door for her, deliberately dodging the rays of sun that made their way to hitting his skin. He watched as she carried the groceries into the house, then slammed the door behind her and turned the lock.

“I’ve found another place to hide the body.”

“What’s wrong with the tub?” Korinna asked as she dumped the contents onto the coffee table. The gallon of bleach fell out on the soft landing of the sweats she picked up for Isaac.

He picked up the pants, shook them out, and grabbed the tag inside the butt of the clothing, studying the words and numbers, rather clueless to the jargon.

Korinna sat down in the armchair beside the television.

“The tub is way too obvious. There’s a door leading to a basement. I thought we’d dump it in there.”

“Then?”

“Then we clean the house and leave tons of things soaked in the bleach in places that would block out the decaying smell.”

Korinna nodded in deliberation, imagining that plan unfolding. “Wouldn’t they be curious if they smell a lot of bleach in one place?”

“Vampires have a very potent sense of smell. They’re going to run away from it if they didn’t know any better. Less mess.”

“And the humans?”

“He’s alone. No one has approached the house or tried to contact him all day. We’ll be out of this place before someone suspects anything, which could be a matter of days or even weeks.”

“Alright.” Korinna stood up, rolling her shoulders. “Let’s get to moving the body.”

“Don’t worry about it. I just need you to hold the basement door open for me.”

Korinna followed him into the bedroom, where Isaac grabbed the dead body’s limbs and hoisted it into his arms. Korinna watched as he carried the body, which already set into rigor mortis, into the hallway and toward the basement door that could be seen through the doorway which led to the kitchen. She grabbed the bleach before making her own way into the kitchen, where Isaac waited for her to open the door.

“You’re just dumping him down there.”

“Yes.” Isaac flashed her an annoyed glare. “Now, open it.”

Korinna did and sent her own scowl at Isaac as he trudged down the stairs. She followed, hesitant, as he continued across the concrete floor to a pile of boxes – and some tools.

“Please tell me you’re not going to cut him up.”

“I’m not going to cut him up.” Yet Isaac dumped the body onto the floor by the boxes and reached for a hacksaw, which hung on a wall filled with numerous kinds of tools.

“You’re lying.” Korinna wrapped her hand over her eyes and took deep breathes through her nose. Nausea started in her stomach at just the thought. “I thought that we were just going to hide him down here, Isaac.”

“I was joking.” Isaac rolled his eyes and put the saw back into its place. “Haven’t you been with vampires your entire life? How could you be so squeamish?”

“They weren’t allowed to be monsters in public – especially around me.”

“That’s unfortunate,” Isaac said. “You will need to toughen up if you’re going to be around me.”

“Why? Can’t you just not do these things?” Korinna asked. He didn’t reply right away, which caused her to peek through her fingers.

Isaac had bent down by the body, staring with disinterest. He caught her look, took a hold of the body’s arm, and ripped.

Korinna gagged and stumbled away from Isaac. The arm looked like a door opened on its hinges with only its bolts holding it to the frame. There was a small mass of flesh that linked the disabled part of the arm to the rest of the body.

“Why the fuck would you do that?”

“I like to see you squirm.”

Korinna choked.

“I’m just playing with you,” Isaac huffed. “Calm down.”

“You fucking vampires are crazy.” Korinna groaned and turned away from him.

A hiss of anger was the only warning she received before she was plowed into the concrete wall behind her. His hands pinned down her arms. She felt his hot breath down her neck, causing a shiver to travel down her spine. Her own breath caught in her throat.

“I am not like those other vampires,” Isaac snarled.

Korinna swallowed down the lump in her throat as her eyes caught blood from his hands smear all over her once-clean skin. She hissed, “Don’t get me all messy, asshole.”

Isaac slammed her wrists into the wall. “You think I’m crazy? Have you seen yourself? I could tear you apart and you’re not even trembling.”

“That’s because I grew up with vampires, idiot. I can usually entice them before they actually attack me.”

Isaac fell silent, but his breathing continued down her neck. Then he inhaled, running the tip of his nose along her skin.

“You think you can entice me?” He asked.

“I—” This was possibly the first time Korinna ever stuttered at such a sexual question. She had prided herself as the epitome of desire as a succubus. Now, she was a stuttering fool. Korinna shook her head, growling, “Let go of me.”

“How cute,” Isaac said. “You’re blushing.”

“The hell I am!” Korinna hissed. “Now, let go of me. Fucking vampire.”

Isaac’s howl shut her up as he shook her body once more.

“Don’t call me that,” he snarled in her ear.

“What? Isn’t that what you are.” Korinna groaned as he slammed her head into the wall. She blinked, her vision filled with dark spots, and wiggled under his restraining arms. “Please, Isaac. Let me go.”

Isaac’s whole body was flush against hers and his attention was diverted to the peculiar way her heart beat. While it was rapid now with fear, it was definitely different than a human. Of course, she wasn’t fully human, but the difference intrigued him.

He sighed and threw a look over his shoulder to the body lying on the ground. Its arm laid in a tiny puddle of red liquid, which had dripped from the wound. There were still things to do and not much time left in the daylight to do so.

But he so badly wanted to beat this girl’s head in.

Isaac pushed away from her and headed toward the body.

Korinna turned around, afraid any fast movement would set the vampire off again. Now, she was starting to wonder if Dante was right.

“Get upstairs and watch the house. I’ll pour the bleach on him.”

“O-okay…” She swallowed, rushed to the stairs, and after entering the kitchen, shut the basement door behind her.

Isaac was a quack.

No doubt about that.