"She did what!" Zhaire shouted over the phone. With a bowl of popcorn in his lap and his wife slumped over his shoulder as he sat on the couch. "She bit a vampire." Answered Ezio. Zhaire looked through the window of his apartment, sliding the curtain to the side. On the side of the apartment, whining sirens from six police cars. "She's not supposed to do that. Qu'est-ce que tu lui as fait?"
"Rien." Said Ezio. He paced in the backyard of Toda's home. "Tell me something about Toda."
"Non, tu me dis quelque chose!" Zhaire leaned forward, his wife sliding down his back. She jolted, sitting up straight. "What are you doing?" Zhaire waved her off, in return she gave him the middle finger. "What happened to the halfie?"
"I don't know. She must have hid herself in the school bathroom vent because she got scared." Said Ezio. "We just got back from Maine."
"Fantastic. Comment réagit bébé?" Zhaire's eyes twitched, a zap from the back of his neck traveled up his right ear. "She's half witch and I ain't trying have some fuck shit pop off. Mortals is already draining us, the last thing I need is a new mix in my drink."
"She's doing fine. No pink eyes. Unlike your trifling ass." Ezio sneered. "Ne pense pas que j'ai oublié. Si je l'avais fait à ma façon, tu aurais une tombe tôt. And stop acting like you know French, orphan."
"It's accurate, chienne." He pulled the phone away from his ear as the phone clicked ending the call.
.
.
.
"Alright little one, let's take your temperture." Ezio pulled the thermometer out of the white packet. "I know damn well we had to do it for his stupid ass." Thankful wore a sleeveless pink top with a yellow duck on the shoulder. She laid flat on the bed with Curioso's hand on her forehead. "What are you doing to my granddaughter?"
"I'm just taking her temperture." He clarified but it didn't ease her suspicions. Thankful rubbed her stomach, "Mi estómago no se siente bien."
"Que esta mal mi amor?" she asked. Curioso gawked at Ezio. His head tilted back, "well fuck me… she's having a reaction."
"What is wrong with my granddaughter. Maldito pagano! Every fucking time one of you white bitches come to Mexico; you leave your fucking trash behind for somebody to pick up!"
"I ain't here by choice…" Ezio grimaced. "You barking at the wrong thief. I'm trying to kill them."
Curioso squinted her eyes, "Kill them?"
"Zhaire is my brother through adoption." He explained. "I'm anti vampire or a Burner. I'm here snooping."
"You said you weren't here by choice."
"Let me clarify," he cleared his throat. "It's not my choice to be a slave. You know a hole. Zhaire won't share anything about you. What is your name?"
"I don't remember." It wasn't a lie. The last memory she recalled was a vampire taking a bite out of her. Despite the myths, vampires didn't turn people into vampires. "You some kind of lytch?"
"I guess. This would be my 10th ritual journey."
"Where's your body?" he crossed his arms. The two were connected, given that Toda was using Thankful and Curioso as a battery for her decaying body. She could surely hear him. Toda spoke through Curioso. "Why do you need to know?" her eyes changed from brown to grey. "You want to kill vampires?"
"Yeah… you're annoying. You wanna look at society and join while spreading your virus."
"It's not my fault. Your people drink vampire blood." Toda fumes. "Some of you like sucking on us. Is that what you do? Get bit by a viper and bite the viper back?"
The allegation was stupid. "No!"
"Yes…" she nodded. "That's exactly what you do. And then you claim some bullshit like relationships, nonsense."
His nose began to wrinkle, "What are you talking about?"
"Zhaire! What are you planning?"
"Murder!"
Toda gazed at Ezio. "What are you looking for?"
"Nothing but dead bodies." He muttered a spell under his breath and a gun appeared in his hands. He rose the pistol aiming at her head. "Bienvenue à Mardi Gras."
The bullet launched into Toda's left shoulder. She collapsed on the ground. Toda gripped her shoulder, meanwhile, Ezio ushered Curioso and picked up Thankful from the bed. The team proceed out the room leaving Toda on the floor. "¡Maldito chico blanco! Paleyo! Tomas!"
Ezio gripped Thankful close. Curioso followed behind constantly worrying about her granddaughter. Through the ritual, the two were related but she pondered on the thought. She made sure to ask later.
They came into the hallway of the first floor, turned left, meeting the staircase. Below Tomas opened his mouth, his soul voicing his thoughts. "¿A dónde vas coon?" he said in spanish. "What did you do to my madre?"
"Shot her. Sillia-yo!" An emblem appeared below Tomas's feet. Tendrils wrapped his legs, as Tomas saw between his legs, he glimpsed at an eyeball. Ezio carried Thankful down the stairs quickly with Curioso tagging along. "No!" shouted Tomas struggling to move his feet. His body wouldn't listen to any command his brain gave.
LAYDOWN FOOL
A dead voice bellowed beneath.
I HAVEN'T FED IN A LONG TIME.
.
.
.
3 weeks ahead.
Curioso tended to her granddaughter laying in the motel bed. Ezio peeked through the window's curtains. Curioso damped a damp cloth on Thankful's forehead. "It's been three weeks, she's not getting any better."
"It's poison." He parted from the window and rounded the bed to pry Thankful's eyes open. The white of her eye was a light red. Her iris cast upward towards her eyelashes. "She's sick."
"Fix her asshole!"
"I can. But I got to break the ties to Toda."
"Her name isn't Toda!" she shouted. Curioso only cared about the wellbeing of her granddaughter. It was understandable but frustrating all the same. "I can but as long as tie remains tied to Toda. You aren't human."
"Human?" she glowered at him. "You helped with the ritual! I bet you knew this would happen!"
"Yeah but the rule states, once the event is set you can't fuck with it." Ezio's arms relaxed by his side. He gazed at Thankful, her body motionless except for her falling and rising chest. In his mind, he thought about a girl similar to her. "Do you know anything about the Uprising in Virginia?"
"Fuck no!" she stomped her feet. "Why the hell are you asking me that at a time like this!"
"Because it started from there…" he stated. "Louisiana ain't that far from Mexico. We had one of the graveyards robbed and the black market is off the list."
"Why!"
"Because those niggas live in Virginia. Zhaire is playing doppelganger," Ezio could buck his chest all day but the fact remained he had a hand in it. His gaze lowered to the carpet, "You ever killed somebody?"
"No."
"The cure is human blood. But here's the thing, she's also a witch but I think human blood can reset her blood system." He assumed. "What's happening to thankful is that she's a baby vampire, she bit a vamp."
"She's drunk?"
"That."
There was no question about it. "Give me that gun you have." How something so simple can fuck up a life. Toda's adopted and she couldn't stop cussing at the situation. It wasn't Thankful's fault. All children are innocent.
Crafted or not.
"Just in case," she stared at him. "What if that doesn't work?"
He took a breath, grimacing, "I need some chalk…"