Cursed (The Devil's Roses 1)

I was back on the street again in an instant, walking down the road. I felt the adrenaline I got from him bouncing around inside me. They gave me a better soul separation high than innocents; they were just harder to find. Bad humans were everywhere. The Roses didn’t like me taking humans though. They wanted me to govern the way I was trained.

I looked down at my boots, clicking on the street. I wondered what it was about them that made me feel sexy. I had contemplated it over and over many times in my new life. Boots made me feel sexy, and it was a mystery beyond everything else as to why. For me, there was strength in a pair of boots, like a super power.

I had started wearing them when I first got trained to be a Rose. When Lydia had saved me from the alley and the starvation.

The click of them made me happy.

My sister had always worn them.

I blocked that thought out of my mind. I wasn’t that girl anymore. I didn’t have a sister anymore. I had to let them all go.

I smiled to myself, feeling good about my night. I knew I had made a difference. I didn’t think about the soul I had taken. I tried not to think about it once the choice was made.

I liked to think about the survivors.

I had decided I was a warrior for the innocent. I had decided that being a death dealer didn’t have to involve sucking good people dry. I decided it was time someone defended the innocent from the evil. It was better to be known for killing out of control monsters than innocent people. Luckily, it had turned out I wasn’t alone in my pursuit, and had found people I belonged with. Or rather, they had found me. I fingered my platinum ring as I walked down the street.

I jumped on the subway and tried to blend in. I hoped my eyes weren’t still glowing.

The subway ride was exactly the sort of mindless activity I craved when I was scouting for trouble. It was monotonous until the group of men a few seats away, started to harass the pretty waitress near me. I waited as always for them to stop being assholes—I tried to not interfere. It almost always involved someone dying. I finally understood Aleksander not wanting to get involved with humans. Explaining anything I did was too complex.

I wasn’t, however, going to sit by and let a waitress entertain a group of men against her will in the train tunnels either. I could tell the men weren't going to let it go. They were going to hurt her. They went further and further with the joking until they had worked each other up, and there was no turning back.

“I think she’s a slut, boys. I think she wants something from us.” One gentlemanly man spoke above the noise of the train. He groped his groin, smiling at the helpless woman. He stood up and rubbed his groin grotesquely on her shoulder. I sat, shaking, trying to keep my head down. I was supposed to be looking for supernaturals and immortals, not attacking young men. The woman had tried to pull away but the filthy pervert held onto her tightly. He stood hovering over her like she was his next meal.

“Oh, she’s hot. You’re a ho, aren't ya, baby?” another of the superior males muttered when the girl tried to stand up. The gyrating pervert pushed her back down into her seat. They hovered over her like vultures, awaiting the end of the ride.

Every word and movement drove my upper lip to lift farther and farther on the right side, into a disgusted sneer. They wanted to do things I could never permit. I had forbidden myself from hurting regular humans, unless they were putting another human in danger.

“L-l-leave me alone.” The pretty girl begged, looking around the train for aid from anyone. As per the usual, the fine patrons of the train kept their eyes to their hands. They showed no sign of interfering in the pain she would certainly become victim to. I could sense their good intentions were being stifled by the fear they felt toward the group of men. I knew that they would dial 911 for the girl as soon as the men grabbed her and dragged her into the tunnels. That was what good Samaritans did. I almost rolled my eyes.

As if answering my prayer, a huge man dressed as a construction worker stood up. He was a beast. He looked menacingly at the small group of men. “Leave her be.” His voice was gruff. “Come with me.” He put a hand out. It shook as he reached for her.

The waitress stood quickly and ran away from the men. She rushed to the arm of the man who saved her, her savior. She clutched her bag and refused to look back at the pack of wolves.

The big man pulled her along the train and through the door to the next car. The men screamed obscenities and challenges of brute strength. The happy couple left the train car, ignoring them completely.

The men continued to shout. It was easy to be strong when you had several men guarding your back.

I smiled, knowing the waitress and the construction worker would probably fall in love because of his bravery. He had saved her and she would forever remember that, through thick and thin. I loved happy endings. I knew that they could get off the subway and never speak to each other again, but I liked to imagine the best since my world was the worst. Shane was my knight in shining armor. The one that chose me, even when he feared I never choose him.

I smiled as the fiends eyeballed me next. Their prey had been taken brutishly and they needed someone else to fulfill their need. I had my own needs and a group of thugs would do more than nicely to satisfy them.

“How unfair, boys. No one to play with now?” I taunted wickedly.

Eyebrows raised in confusion.

Confidence in a woman was considered a challenge to men who did their preying in packs. They instantly smelled, no, reeked of insecurities. They became uncertain of the young pretty girl who sat all alone—but determined to crush me at the same time.

I looked them straight in the eyes and asked for trouble. I smiled. “Well, I guess no one wants to play with me.” I stretched a long, lean leg out, flaunting my F-me boots and batting my eyelashes.

The ugly brave or foolish man who had dry humped the girl's arm stood. He challenged me back. “You stupid bitch. You looking for trouble?”

His filthy demeanor made me smile wider. “Bitch? Probably. Stupid? No. Why don't we step outside when the train stops? Then perhaps we shall see exactly who is stupid, your little rabble of filth or me.”

I stood long and lean in my super-woman boots and felt the world vibrate under my foot. It might have been the train, but I was riding a high and enjoying the feeling.

I didn’t flinch as one of them took a step toward me.

My long, light-blonde hair flowed around my back like a cape. I was invincible. I stared down the pack of dogs.

The ugly man waved his arms in the air dismissively and nodded to his friends. “That’s a crazy bitch. We don’t like crazy bitches.”

I couldn’t argue with that. I was crazy.

They smiled nervously and nodded amongst their small circle, speaking in a low rumble. They continued their name-calling, but agreed amongst them that I wasn’t pretty enough for their attentions. I walked over to the door and with my back to them, I watched in the window beside me. They conspired against me weakly, and I decided they were far too beneath my efforts.

I walked off the train, noticing the cool breeze in the air along with the familiar smell of burned incense. It was a dark smell, musty and old like the soul it belonged to. It was winter and the smell of decay, but in a romantic hue instead of the decomposition it truly was, overwhelmed the senses.

I looked around without seeing anything or anyone. I smiled at the true challenge of the night. There were many of them. Instead of winking home, I broke into a run. I winked a small distance and ran. They would have run me down if I'd just run. I was fast but not fast like them.

I loved the click of my high-heeled boots on the concrete as I sprinted up the stairs past the old courthouse. My lungs pushed for air as my leg muscles flexed strenuously. My heart beat faster than I’d heard it beat in months. It was exhilarating. I almost felt alive.

My bright-blonde hair flew behind me like a white cape, flashing in the dark night. I pumped my arms harder and pushed myself. I fled for the safety of my home. The guards put there would stop them, the hounds of the darkness. The ground swirled with the darkness that always surrounded them.

I saw the street sign just as I heard their feet catching up and their breath nipping at my ears. I ran faster, pushing harder, but they too were fast. I almost winked, but instead, met the challenge. They had been made strong, just as I had been. I felt the guards grab me in time, just as one of the filthy dogs leapt at me.

I burst into a coughing laugh. I recovered from the excursion, bent over and smiling. I loved the feeling of my muscles in my legs contracting. “You filthy pups. You almost had me. Good job lads. Very excellent work. I won’t forget that foot race for some time. Maybe next time, I’ll wear bigger heels and I won't wink at all. That might give you a chance.” I waved goodnight to the shadows pacing in the background, behind the wall of guards.

“Oh, we’ll have you, princess. We’ll taste your dark blood soon.” A dark and frankly daunting voice rode the wind above me. I pulled my sweater around myself as I curtsied. “The sun always wins, lads, and the north wind always loses. Goodnight, my fair princes.” My heart seemed to be making a desperate attempt to slow itself down. I waved once again to the figures mulling around the road beyond me.

I walked up to the old house at the end of the road and opened the unlocked front door. In a city as busy as Portland, I had always told her she should lock the door. The old bat couldn’t be bothered. She knew nothing in its right mind would ever attempt her front door. Except me. But I wasn’t in my right mind, and we both knew that.

She sat in the old rocking chair looking millions of years old, smiling. “Taunting your brothers of the night again?” she cackled as only an old witch could.

I nodded. “Yeah. I can't help myself."

"Did you take a life?"

"I did. A girl's got to eat, you know?”

Lydia smiled her old lady smile. “You could have some fruit like a normal girl. Maybe a steak.”

I made a face. “Ewwww. Lydia, you know I’m a vegetarian. Steak, yuck.”

She laughed again as I walked to my bedroom.