Happy Friday All!

In honor of The Cameron Chronicles appearing on my website now (click on the title of today's blog to go there) and some of the pics of Moon Over Manhattan being up (go to the Who's Who section to see the first ones) I am going to give you the updated 1st Chapter to The Cameron Chronicles. It may still have some type-o's and some bad grammar but it's still fun.

ENJOY! And have a wonderful weekend all!
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The *NEW* Chapter One for CLANDESTINE; Book One of the Cameron Chronicles

I’m an assassin.
It’s a job. Whatever.
It’s what I kill that makes me different.
My purpose is unwavering.
Kill them all—learn what I can.
Until I find her.


Chapter One

Sean could see his next victim through the smoke of the club as Siouxsie and the Banshees wailed out Cities of Dust over the speakers. As he took a drink, his honey-hazel eyes never wavered from his target’s every move. Yet it didn’t notice Sean. Of course, why would it notice him? Who was Sean to it? Nobody and nothing. Well, correction, his target might see Sean as dinner for all he knew. But from where he sat Sean was pretty sure his target didn’t even consider him worthy of that. He was too busy cozying up to some blonde.

Blonde. Like Cassandra. Like Page.

Sean swirled the ice about in his tumbler of Scotch. Every time he looked at the pretty girl his target was making the moves on, with her young cherub face surrounded by blonde curls, his stomach swirled like his drink. He downed the rest of his alcohol and ditched the glass. He wanted another. It’d have to wait.

He ran his hand through his hair, moving his wide, dark curls out of his eyes, thinking, “Who is this target to me? Would he hold answers to finding Flora?” Maybe. Either way this creature was truly nothing and no one. Hell, it wasn’t even human so it ranked right up there with criminals and drug dealers on the street.

Worse, this fiend was a murderer. Sean had watched it kill. Now he would wait for the creature to take its prey home and then, he’d return the favor—by killing him, it, whatever. But, for right now, they were both just two anonymous individuals, dressed in black, lounging about in one of the city’s less popular Goth/Industrial clubs. It was a new genre of music that was really taking off as of late with groups like Nine Inch Nails, The Cure, Skinny Puppy and so on.

Sliding on his black leather biker jacket Sean decided to move closer to the target. As he approached, the creature tucked some of the girl’s blonde hair behind her ear and leaned in to whisper to her. Sean cracked his knuckles absentmindedly.

He’d been tracking the “guy” with the slicked back dark hair for weeks. To be honest, Sean didn’t like to think of them as male or female, more like “hosts-of-evil.” Yeah, it sounded stupid but it made his job easier. Leaning on the bar Sean saw the target take out a pack of smokes. The girl nodded. It took her hand.

Shit.

Sean immediately turned and headed for the main entrance of the club. As he exited one glance at the bouncer told him that he was too occupied see notice Sean, who slipped out into the cool night air without being noticed. Now he’d wait.

How could this girl be so stupid? Maybe it was just Sean, but seeing as you can smoke inside here in good ol’ NYC, if someone asks you to “step outside” for a smoke when it’s cold out, maybe, just maybe you should use your smarts and see that for what it is—a neon sign like in Times Square that says “DANGER.”

But oh no, not this girl. Damn damn damn.

This put Sean in a bad spot. If the target tried to kill the girl here and now he’d
be stuck having to kill him first. In public. In front of the girl. This was not good.

Sean lit a smoke and leaned against the building to wait. They didn’t take long. As the “couple” stepped out the door the creature didn’t even glance at him. Instead it pretended to try and light a cigarette, claiming it was the breeze thwarting its efforts, in order to lure her to follow him to the side of the building—into an alley.

Sean sighed. It was so typical. Not even an original ruse. This thing needed to get a new playbook. Too bad it wouldn’t be around long enough to bother.

Let me dry a tear for him…oh wait, I don’t have one.

With one last drag on his cig he stamped it out, opened the door to the bar and shut it. Silently he crept to the corner of the building and pulled out a small compact mirror from his pocket and used it to see around the corner, into the alley. Sean could see the creature in the mirror, which was strange since most of the time he couldn’t see their reflection. The reason for this anomaly was unclear but to be honest, he’d never cared enough to figure out why—nor did he have time to think about that right now, he needed to act. Or she’d be dead.

Save the girl, then think. Ha, now there’s some irony. FOCUS Sean!

He reached into his inside jacket pocket and pulled his weapon. Slipping the mirror back into his pocket he leaned his back against the building trying to stay calm. Killing in public was risky. He’d only done it once before and that had been a mistake. But could he let the girl die? She looked so much like one of his sisters.

His dead sisters.

Gripping the weapon tighter he heard the girl scream. That was his cue; it was now or never. Sean came around the corner and while the vampire started to feed on
its prey, its focus wrapped up in bloodlust, Sean shoved the wooden stake through the back of the creature. It pierced the heart causing the creature to wail for a brief moment before it died; the bones and flesh disintegrating into dust, leaving just the clothes behind.

The pretty blond collapsed to the ground, unconscious. With a quick look around him to verify no one was watching Sean knelt next to her to check her pulse.

She’s alive, thank God.

Quickly he picked up some of the vampire dust and sprinkled it into the wound on her neck. It quickly absorbed the blood and as Sean watched, it also began to heal the wounds. By tomorrow there’d be no mark at all.

Sean yanked his stake out from the vamp’s clothing it was stuck in and put it away. Then he looked for the vamp’s pants, pulled out the wallet and stuffed it into his jeans pocket. His heart was racing, fear of being noticed making him nervous. Even in this part of town being found with a pretty girl unconscious outside a bar would be bad; sparking police questions he didn’t want to have to answer, again.

Quickly he grabbed her small purse, found her wallet and I.D. He pulled two twenties out and memorized the address before putting the wallet back in her handbag. Gently he scooped her up into his arms and carried her to the street to hail a cab. As he carried the blonde, her eyes fluttered open slightly.

“Jessie? What happened? I feel woozy.”

Sean guessed this must’ve been the name of the vampire and she was confused. Yeah, Sean had dark hair but that was about where the similarities ended between
him and the newly deceased. But he decided to play along anyways.

“You passed out. Did you eat enough today?”

He watched as a crease between her eyebrows appeared, eyes still closed. Finally she shook her head weakly. “Not enough for how much I’ve had to drink.”

“Let’s get you home, shall we?” Sean suggested.

She nodded and he waited for a cab to come by, which, in this part of town, was a bitch, to say the least. When one finally arrived Sean held her up as he opened the door. After he poured her into the cab he slipped the cabbie the two bills he’d taken from her wallet and gave him her address.

“Call me tomorrow,” she said.

“Of course,” he lied and shut the cab door.

As it sped away he thought that she’d very likely remember nothing except a cute boy who didn’t call her back. That was so common she’d not even think twice about what happened to poor ol’ Jessie.

The thought of the vamp compelled Sean to pull out the wallet. It had a couple hundred inside as well as a few business cards. One of which said, “Sodom and Gomorra” and nothing else. No address. No number.

“Strange.”

He pocketed the cards and cash, tossed the wallet and headed back into the club. Normally he’d have stayed outside but it was a bit chilly. Besides, the neighborhood wasn’t great. The Lower East Side had become quite overrun with drugs. Crack in particular was an epidemic there in Alphabet City. He should know, he spent most of his time down there—and not just for the music.

But it wasn’t for the drugs either; smoking and alcohol were his only vices of
note. However, business was good down there, for him. Simply put, no one thought twice of a dead junkie or a dead girl or boy in the junkie territory. It was a vampire’s prime hunting ground—so it had become his as well, for the past year.

Sean passed the bouncer, flashing his hand with the club stamp on it while keeping his head down. The bouncer barely glanced at him and Sean headed to the bar. It was time to start hunting for a new target—no better time than the present.

His watch said that it was almost one in the morning. If he was lucky he’d find another vamp to investigate tonight. Chances were slim though. Friday night most of the scene was at a club called “The Building,” not here at this small little club. In fact, Sean wouldn’t even have been here tonight either if he’d not been tracking “Jessie.”

Sean sat on a bar stool, ordered another scotch on the rocks and lit a cigarette. He felt like all eyes were on him but he knew that was his paranoia for killing in public playing with his mind. As far as he knew, he never drew attention. He wasn’t a tall pretty boy with overly styled 80’s hair like many in the scene.

At a glance Sean was just a small guy who looked young for his age, just barely over five foot eight, whose clothes hid how built he was. As an accomplished martial artist he was strong but not brawny. The only thing he found interesting about himself was the long, thin scar that ran down the left side of his face from temple to jaw.

He spun on the stool to lean his back against the bar so he could watch the crowd as they danced in a wave of motion to a song by Sisters of Mercy. He loved this music and the majority of the people who hung out in these clubs as well; which was good considering his prey seemed to flock here as well. It made perfect sense.

Many of the kids in this scene were into the fantasy genre, be it Star Trek, Star Wars or live action role playing games that revolved around vampires and werewolves. What better place for real vampires to hide than with those who try to pose as them? Thing is, Sean knew the difference.

As much as vampires try to blend in with human’s they don’t. To the untrained eye these creatures seem no different than humans. They could stand next to you or even talk to you and you’d never know the difference. But Sean had spent years learning, watching and training. Though many probably wished he hadn’t.

Simply put, it was their movements that gave them away. Their walk was smoother; their actions more deliberate as if controlled. This was because they had to concentrate on all they did so as to move at a human speed. Not that it took a lot of concentration for those who’d been doing it for years—but he still could tell.

The glass of scotch was delivered and he paid for it. Taking a healthy sized swig of the drink he swallowed it, the bite of alcohol burning his throat. A feeling Sean needed to help settle his nerves. He was very lucky no one had seen him dust Jessie. That could’ve gone wrong on many levels. He took another drink using it to help diminish the thrill of the kill—which affected him in both positive and negative ways.

He began to let his eyes scan across the pale faces of the club. Who was just that much paler? Who moved just that much more smoothly? Who stood out? Subtleties were hard to see sometimes. Hell, the guy he’d just dusted in the alley took him a week to find and verify. Last thing you want to do is put a wooden stake in a human. Scumbag or not, you needed to make sure that particular scumbag would go ‘poof’ and leave no evidence.

After about fifteen minutes Sean thought he’d found his next victim—a woman. She had spiky dark hair with the tips dyed pink. She wasn’t as pale as the rest but she moved with fluidity that humans just don’t have. He took another sip of his scotch and began to watch her more intently. In fact, he was so engrossed in studying her that he didn’t detect that someone sat down next to him. So when she spoke to him he had to fight from choking on his drink.

“She’s not your type,” the woman said smoothly, a definite British accent permeating her words.

Sean turned to look at the woman next to him and pulled out a cigarette. She was pale but her cheeks were flush so either she was a vamp who’d just eaten or just a human. She didn’t smell like the usual vamps he killed so he hoped this pretty lady was human. And she was stunning; tall and elegant with long blond hair and blue eyes like the ocean water after a storm.

Yeah yeah, it sounds cliché but it was the truth.

Sean lit his cigarette and said, “Excuse me?”

She nodded towards the girl with the pink tipped hair. “I’ve seen you around. She’s not what you’re looking for.”

Maybe it was the words or possibly her tone but that sentence gave him pause. Did she know the real reason he was there? Did she know what he was, what he was looking for? He felt his heart thump in his chest heavily as his breath caught in his throat. He took a drag from his smoke to give his heart a moment to calm down. Finally he forced a smile and turned to her, blowing the smoke just over her head. “And what is that supposed to mean?”

“Let’s not play coy, shall we?” She said as she turned to him, her face a bit more serious as her eyes met his, “Leave her alone.”

He laughed. “Uh huh. Okay darlin’. Whatever you say.”

She got off the stool and just as it seemed like she was going to slink away into the crowd she did the opposite. She moved in close to Sean, took his cigarette, put it out on the floor and leaned into his ear. “I know who you are…what you do. She’s not one of them, take my word for it. Focus your attention elsewhere.” She backed away from him, her eyes stern and powerful as they met his.

Sean knew he needed to throw her off course so he smiled at her in a friendly manner and said, “I have no idea what you’re talking about sweetheart.”

A tiny smile touched her beautiful face—so flawless yet flushed with color, her teeth perfect and her eyes gleaming. “Oh really? So tell me, in what instance is it that three walk out of a bar and only one walks back in?”

“Sounds like the beginning of a bad joke.” He pulled his pack out.

The tall blond snatched it away from him and slammed it on the bar.

“Aw come on, those are expensive, lady.” She just glared at him. “What?” Now he was in a panic. “Look, I stepped out for a cig. That’s it.”

“So did the little blond and the man she was with.”

“They left in a cab.”

“I’m sure she did.”

“What are you insinuating?”

“Nothing. I’m just here to warn you that you’re starting to make a name for yourself and that you need to be careful—need to make sure you don’t kill the good ones, or your fate will match theirs, I can promise you that.”

“Good ones? What the—”

“Remember that, Mr. Cameron.”

And with that she turned and disappeared into the crowd, leaving Sean sitting there stunned, his mouth gapping open and his drink forgotten.

© Copyright 2011 Tamsin L. Silver