Blood Dream Read online

  The ashtrays on her table were disgusting, how had she not even fucking noticed? Shit, the whole tabled was fucking disgusting. She threw pretty much everything into a garbage bag and sprayed the table. Putting the ashtrays in the sink to soak.

  Flicking the radio on and sighing, she desperately needed to scrub everything… and get rid of the old couch… or just move it? She sighed again and got to work. Her mind wandering to the case as she did. Were there witches out in the Blackmoars? And if there was… what the fuck were they doing with blood magick? What else could one even do with blood magick? Lupa scrubbed the coffee table. She wondered if maybe Hammer might know something about it… something that maybe wasn’t in The Organization’s files…

  Lupa moved over to her bookshelf, still pulled away from the wall, and started pulling all the books out, wiping down the dusty shelves. If it wasn’t witches killing the cows… could it be wolfbloods? They preferred intestines… but they also liked the taste of blood. But why the fuck cows? Was it wolfbloods trying to deny their monstrous hunger? Their foul tainted blood?

  She dried the shelves and placed her books back in carefully, alphabetic order by author, then pushed it back against the newly painted wall. Seemed like wolfbloods were the least likely option, once they had tasted flesh they would always hunger for it. Could they really fight it? None of them ever did… but was that just choice?

  Lupa started pushing the old couch out of the way, almost gagging when she saw all the shit underneath in… she went and grabbed the dust pan and brush, crouching to check if there was anything of importance in all the dust and ash and… random shit. There was a half full cigarette packet, two small yellow pills in a packet and four lighters. She placed the items in a draw of the coffee table and took the pills. Why the hell not.

  Would the farmers have lied about seeing wolfbloods? Highly likely. Lots of people did in hopes of getting paid for their information. Especially the poor… and as far as Lupa knew, farmers didn’t have much money.

  Once the floor, formally beneath the couch, was swept and scrubbed, Lupa started the task of moving her new couch into position. It was much heavier than her old, second hand one. But with her teeth gritted using all of her strength she managed to slowly get it there. She stood and put her hands on her hips. Looked good. Almost twice the size of her other one… Sledge could probably even lay on it…

  Lupa shook her head. No. She was not going to think about that right now. She picked up the glasses on the floor, and the ones around the sink and chucked them in to wash. Gazing out the window as she started washing the glassware, placing it on the drying rack absentmindedly. If it was witches… did they know something more than The Organization? Or… her and the other Hunters and Protectors? Were they like Hammer’s people with knowledge that The Organization didn’t have? Or were they just screwing around with shit they didn’t understand? And if so… could it be dangerous to the people of Black City?

  Lupa sighed, no real point in speculating yet. They hadn’t even questioned any one. But it kept her mind busy, away from the thoughts of wolfbloods tearing flesh… or of Sledge’s body pressed against hers… his rough hands on her skin… fuck. She grabbed her broom and started furiously sweeping the floor. She didn’t want any of those thoughts in her head. No fucking way.

  Chapter three

  “It is not just what they say that matters…”

  Lupa picked Dameon up from his place at seven, she’d messaged him at four o’clock telling him to message her when he was awake and ready to go. He’d taken longer than she’d have liked to answer, but they were on the road now.

  They had to drive through Sloe, aka Blackwater, to get to the road that lead them out to Blackmoars, Dameon was looking at her skanky, old map book while directing her. Finally they hit the road that would get them out of the city and he put it down on the floor of her car, lighting two smokes and handing one to her.

  “So who you think we should talk to first?” he asked, opening the file on his lap.

  “First one we come across? Or are they pretty close to each other?”

  Dameon looked at the three farmer’s reports and then down at the map book again. “Nah, seems like they are pretty far apart… Looks like a guy called James Fletch is the first one. He had one cow killed and thinks he saw a wolfblood prowling around the fences of his property.”

  Lupa bobbed her head, relaxing into her seat as the buildings slowly disappeared from next to them, the scenery changed to a few scattered warehouses that looked beyond usefulness, then slowly the paddocks started to replace them.

  “You end up asking your Gran about blood magick?”

  Dameon shrugged, “Yeah, she wouldn’t say much though. Just told me off and told me not to fuck around with it. She wouldn’t even listen to the fact that it was to do with a case.”

  Lupa nodded, she would have to get around to asking Hammer…

  After an hour of driving, Dameon told her to slow down, as they should be approaching James Fletch’s place soon… “There!” Dameon pointed to a dirt driveway that had a small letter box with 563 painted on it.

  Lupa turned her piece of shit car down the driveway and drove slowly up it, unable to see much through all the trees. It took five minutes before she could finally see an old farm house badly in need of some work…. Lupa pulled the car over and turned to Dameon with a wide smile.

  “Let’s get it on!”

  With Dameon returning her smile, they got out of the car. Lupa had put a notebook and pen in her bag for the day, in fact she had packed her bag to the brim with all her time with nothing to do but think that morning…

  They went to the door and knocked. After a moment of waiting a small skinny woman answered the door. “Yes?” She didn’t look like she was used to strange visitors.

  “Hi, I’m Little Red, and this is Hawk, we are from The Organization. We’ve come to investigate Mr Fletch’s report…”

  The woman looked them up and down slowly, then folded her arms across her flat chest. “He’s out in the field. You can dun talkin’ to my husband out there.”

  Helpful. “Before we do, would you mind telling me what you’ve seen?”

  The woman stared at Lupa hard, looking down at her black torn jeans and scuffed sneakers, then her eyes travelling over the tight long shirt she wore, frowning in disapproval. What the fuck was this lady’s problem?

  “Aint seein’ much ‘cept that dead cow. It aint havin’ no blood left in it. They lucky we dun findin’ it quick, we can’t dun eatin’ it if we hadn’t.”

  Lupa’s empty stomach turned over. Though she completely understood…couldn’t waste a perfectly good… cow… “Ok, thank you. Where can we find your husband?”

  The woman pointed to her right and they looked over, seeing a man in the distance, Lupa turned back to thank the woman but the door had been shut. She rolled her eyes and glanced at Dameon, he just shrugged as they started walking over to where Mrs Fletch had pointed. Lupa regretted not wearing her boots by the time they reached the skinny man, her sneakers were soaked with mud and… fuck knows what else.

  “Mr Fletch?” she asked as they stopped in front of him.

  He scratched his long black beard and grinned at them, Lupa could only count three teeth… but his smile was friendly enough. “Ay, that bein’ me. You from The Organization? I been waitin’ for someone to finally come an’ listen to me.”

  “Sorry, Mr Fletch, unfortunately we can’t reach everyone straight away. I’m Little Red, and this is my Protector, Hawk. Now, what can you tell me about… your cow?”

  “Ay, she dun be dead.”

  Lupa resisted the urge to roll her eyes. No fucking shit. “Yes?”

  “All her blood been taken. Not even a drip on the grass. Seemin’ mighty strange to me, mighty strange indeed. Then I dun seein’ a beast prowling my property, I dun gettin’ my shotgun to go ‘n shoot it, but it bein’ gone by the time I gets out here.” The farmer pulled out a cigarette from his shirt pocket and
lit it, looking at them with a curious smile on his face.

  Lupa supposed he wondered if she’d say something, but she couldn’t give two shits if non-Organization personnel smoked. Wasn’t her damn department. Even if it was, she doubted she would give a shit either.

  “Thank you, Mr Fletch, is there anything else you can think of that might be important? Something you might not have realised was important when you put your report in but might have come to you? Any wolf prints around? Foot prints? Any strange people in the area?”

  “Aint thinkin’ so. There bein’ a new lot move in up near the hill, but they dun bein’ strange… they been here for ‘bout six months. They bein’ very… helpful. Too helpful, if you askin’ me. But not strange.”

  Lupa wrote it down. It probably wasn’t important, but it was all he had to offer. “Thank you for your time, we have two more people to interview today, we will contact you again though. Either when we have caught whomever is involved, or for more information…”

  The farmer nodded and held out his dirty hand for them to shake. Lupa shook it and tried not to wipe her hand on her jeans in front of the man, Dameon shook it too and they turned and left the paddocks.

  Just before they reached the car the woman came out and stood on the falling apart porch. Lupa stopped to look at her, wondering if she had anything else to say. But the woman just stared over to where her husband was, then back to them and hurried inside.

  “How much further up is the next one?” Lupa asked as she turned the car around to head back down the long dirt driveway.

  “My guess is about fifteen minutes…”

  His guess was pretty much right on. There was another dirt driveway to go up, but the farmhouse was a lot closer to the road and in slightly better condition that Mr Fletch’s. Slightly…

  “Who’s this one?” Lupa asked as she turned the car off.

  “Noah Mathews, four dead cows and one sighting of something in his paddocks.”

  Lupa studied her mud-covered shoes. Next time she’d wear fucking boots, she could feel her feet squelching inside her wet sneakers… gross. She opened the car door and tried not to think about it. They knocked on the door but no one answered. They walked around the house, looking to the paddocks, seeing two people down behind the home surrounded by tall grass. They turned to each other, shrugged and then started walking down.

  When they reached the pair, they could see they weren’t alone, there were four small children running around them, giggling and squealing with carefree happiness. Lupa kind of envied their innocence.

  “Mr Mathews?” Lupa asked the fat, bald man who was laughing at one of the children falling over.

  “Yes? Are you from The Organization?”

  “Yes, I’m Little Red and this is Hawk, we have some questions to ask you about your… cows. And the sighting…”

  “Fantastic,” the man beamed at them and came closer, putting his arm around the plump, grey haired woman, “This is my beautiful partner, Sophia, and these are our grandchildren. Run back up to the house kids, Grandma said there was cookies…” The children squealed in delight and started running back towards the house. “Sorry about that, our daughter ran away and left them with us a year ago, we aint want to spook them. They have been through enough already, so, what you needin’ to ask?” the man said, dropping the smile.

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” Lupa hoped that was the right response, “Is there anything in you can tell me you might have forgotten to put in your report?”

  The man scratched his stubbly chin and looked to his partner. “Aint thinkin’ so. We had four cows killed over four nights, luckily we were able to salvage them… the blood was drained, nothin’ spilt. But that all bein’ in the report… though, all the cows they chose were… older. Aint knowin’ if wolfbloods know such things, farmers do, but they would have been slaughtered soon in any case.”

  Lupa wrote it down, she didn’t think it meant anything… unless there was another farmer involved… “And the wolfblood you saw?”

  “Well now, I aint sure it was a wolfblood per say… but it was somethin’. Big. Black. Lookin’ like a creature, but I aint bein’ sure. We get actual wolves out this way some times, but this was much… bigger.” The man shivered, his eyes looking down at Sophia. She wrapped her arm around him and gave him a squeeze.

  “I saw it too,” she said, her voice soft and kind, “Scared me half to death. But it never came onto our land, we just watched it prowl around the edge and then disappear.”

  Lupa nodded. They did appear to be scared… but they could be faking… Lupa looked around, it didn’t seem like they were too badly off… or were they just happy with what they had? Could never be sure though…

  “And Mr Fletch said there was a new family moved in around here, have you noticed anything strange?”

  The farmer’s eyes darkened, “Aint be trustin’ Mr Fletch’s word myself. He’s a drunk. Wouldn’t surprise me if he caught wind of what was happenin’ and killed the cow himself. I hear they are in a lot of debt…”

  Lupa wrote that down. Interesting. He had seemed nice enough, but then, didn’t these people? And they could very well be lying to her too. “Thank you. We will be in touch, if you think of anything more, or if anything else happens, call The Organization and they will let us know.”

  Lupa went to turn around but the woman placed a hand on her shoulder. “Wait, dear, let me give you some cookies to take with you, aint much around here to grab to eat.” She smiled and walked up to the house with them, popping inside while they waited, returning with a small basket of cookies.

  “Thank you,” Lupa said, smiling at Sophia as she took the basket. The woman patted Lupa’s arm and went back to the yelling of children inside.

  Once in the car Dameon started stuffing the cookies into his mouth. “That woman can fucking cook! Have one?”

  Dameon handed her a cookie, looking like he didn’t really want to let it go. She laughed and took it, biting into the soft deliciousness, fuck it was good and her stomach grumbled happily.

  “Think they are hiding anything?” Lupa asked as they hit the road again.

  “Dunno, seem sincere enough. Wouldn’t have thought the other guy was a drunk though. Maybe some sort of… cow fight?”

  Lupa laughed, Dameon had a ridiculous grin on his face. It was rather strange looking into dead cows… she shook her head. What next? “Ok, who’s the last one and how far?”

  “Looks about half an hour from here. Daniel Jay. Seems to be the worst one hit. Said he’s got ten dead cows and seen a wolfblood three times. Also says he shot at it. Maybe he’s seen more than the others?” Lupa nodded, fishing another cookie out of the basket.

  It took them a good ten minutes of turning around to finally find which driveway was Daniel Jay’s, the letter box had a tree growing in front of it and the driveway next to it had no number at all. The dirt driveway was twisty, going around large, pale trees, then finally opened to the paddocks and the massive farmhouse. This one was much nicer than the other two.

  As Lupa got out a large dog came bounding over to her, its tongue hanging out of its grinning mouth. It carefully sniffed her then went to sniff Dameon, who bent down to pat him and rub his belly. Lupa kept her distance, from her experience dogs didn’t like the smell of wolfbloods…

  “Aye! Who you bein’?” A voice rang out.

  Lupa glanced up to see a broad man approaching them, his long hair in a plait, his beard too. “Mr Jay?” Lupa asked, as Dameon stood up and crossed to stand near her.

  “Aye, that be me, missy, are you down from the city?”

  “Yes, sir, I’m Little Red and this is my Protector, Hawk, we are here on-”

  “Aye, I knowin’ why you’re here. Come with me.”

  Lupa and Dameon exchanged curious glances and followed him up to the house. He opened the door for them, and they went inside. Clean, tidy, and modestly furnished. “Come through to the kitchen, my wife and daughter are in there. We can sit and
chat.”

  They followed him through, a pretty girl was putting the kettle on, while the other woman was pulling mugs out, smiling at them. Her long dark hair in two plaits down to her waist, she looked like an older version of the girl; still beautiful in her autumn years.

  “These being people from the city, girl is Little Red, boy is Hawk.” He said to his wife and daughter, then turned to them, “This is my wife Penny and our daughter Isabella. Please sit down, you want a tea or coffee?”

  “Coffee,” Lupa and Dameon said at the same time, sitting at the cracked table.

  The farmer sat across from them and folded his hands over each other. Lupa pulled out her notebook and waited. “What you needin’ to know?” he asked them.

  “Anything that might not be in-”

  “Aye. I have ten dead cows, missy, but it aint about them. I could sell or eat them easy enough. It about what ever be on my property. I don’t want them hurtin’ my wife, or my children. I have two boys, they are out in the paddocks, and do I need to get them?”

  “Not unless they have seen anything you can’t tell me about,” Lupa responded, already suspicious of this man who kept fucking cutting her off and calling her missy.

  “Aye, they aint seeing anythin’, only me and my daughter. Isabella, come and tell these people what you saw.”

  The girl walked over and stood just behind her father, nervously tucking her hair behind her ear and not quite looking at them. “I seeing a creature in the back, I tried to tell Daddy but it was gone by the time he woke,” the girl had a very childish voice considering she appeared to be about fifteen, “Then I saw it again the next night, I runs and tell Daddy again, and that being when he shot at it. But it had gone.”

  The man nodded at his daughter and turned back to them, his dark eyes not really acknowledging them, more like judging them. “Aye, I hope you are here to catch whomever, or whatever, is killin’ my cows and terrorisin’ my family. We are a peaceful place, we were until this started happenin’. People are scared, aye, and they aren’t lookin’ out for each other anymore. You spoken to Noah and James, no doubt? Good. They have stopped talkin’ to each other. James is a drunk and a fool, but he has always been an honest fool. Noah no longer trusts him, this whole business is gettin’ ugly.”