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An Excerpt The Family Curse

Chapter 4

I was in the middle of a luxurious shower when there was a knock at my door. Frustrated and still soapy, I wrap myself up in my favorite blue towel and make my way to the door. I already know who it is, so when I open the door my heart completely melts. My fantasy personified is standing right in front of me with a big toothy grin. His bronze skin seems to be illuminating under the dim light; his long thick, straight black hair is pulled back in a ponytail and as always he smells divine. Dressed in a pair of designer slacks, a white button down covered with a black blazer and a single small cross molded from white gold dangling from his neck. I step to the side to let him in while at the same time taking in the vision that stood before me. Without a word he pulls me into an embrace; something that I desperately needed.  He held me for what should have been forever, releasing me so that I may finish my shower while he gathered his thoughts. It was then that I remembered that we had quite a bit to discuss and the weight of it all triggered another round of pain in both of my temples. “Another headache?” He asked while removing his blazer and tossing it on my beige sectional that my mother insisted on picking out for me. “Yes, but I will be fine. Let me finish at least rinsing off and then I can explain everything.”  The pain goes beyond throbbing. I feel as if my brain is splitting like the cracks in the sidewalk cement during a massive earthquake. My mother said that the headaches are normal but as I set foot back into the steamy water I wonder if I should be concerned with a potential aneurism-but then again, no I should not because I am an immortal. Wait until Anya finds out the truth…there will not be enough liquor in the world to …There is a soft knock at my door and I don’t even bother to say “Come in”, because in walks Nino.  “I just came to check on you. I am worried that you might lose your balance…” I smile through the pain. “I am managing. Just give me a few minutes.” “You have a beautiful body…it wasn’t just my concern for your equilibrium that drew me in here.” Valentino smiled sheepishly at me before quickly retreating back out into my living room. Under normal circumstances, a comment like that from him would have turned me on so bad I would not be able to stand. But as another painful jab splits my skull in two I hurriedly finish up and wrap the towel around me and head into my bedroom where Nino awaits patiently.

“Do you need some help?” Nino said as he stood up from the old leather recliner that I bought from a thrift store to my mother and Anya’s dismay. “I’m fine,” I croak while I dig through my tall Chester drawer in search of undergarments and my favorite pajamas. Yeah, it was going to be THAT kind of night unfortunately. There was no way I could go anywhere feeling the way that I am feeling. Nino understood. “No you are not. Here,” Nino was next to me in an instant-something he had never done before but since it was all out in the open I should just get used to it- and he scooped me up and gently laid me down on my plush queen sized bed. He moved so quickly he looked like a flash of wind (if that makes any sense) or better yet this blur of energy. He found what I was looking for and then took it upon himself to dress me. Now, when a man undresses a woman that is some sexy stuff but for him to dress me…as sweet as it was made me feel like a convalescent. Of course, he paid me no mind and in the end I was grateful. He pulled my plain white Target sheets and comforter set back and tucked me in and then removed his shoes and climbed in the bed next to me. “I guess no night out huh?” He said smiling and gently brushing away a loose braid away from my face. “I guess not. My mom said the headaches would go away in time now that I know what I am.”  He gave a quizzical look indicating that he was more than ready to hear what I have learned. And I wanted to tell him but then there was a part of me that strangely grew hesitant. “What’s wrong?” “Nothing babe…its just that all of this is new and I am trying my best to digest it. But you were right.” He raised one of his deliciously thick eyebrows and stared down at me, as if he were trying to pry open my mind with his will. “About?” Having fallen lost in my own thoughts it wasn’t until he nudged me a little that I realized he had asked me a question. “Oh yeah, about my aunt…my mom dropped me off and told me that I would be safe with you tonight and gave me this crescent moon necklace and told me to stay away from her. She thinks that Aunt Minerva is after my powers.” And from there, I couldn’t help it: I told him everything. From the story of my father,  to what my mother said about Ambrogio, to the body snatcher and what was going on with me now. He laid there listening intently to what I had to say and when I was done we sat in companionable silence for at least ten minutes. He was the first to break the silence. “I knew you were a demi god from the moment I met you. Not just because I knew who and what your  mother is but I can smell your powers in your blood. And for a long time I had considered the consequences of being a vampire in the constant presence of a half god who knew absolutely nothing about who she is. Another vampire would have taken advantage of the situation. He would have drained you to near death and then proceeded to wreak all types of havoc on the world.” “And what stopped you?” It took him a bit longer than a second to find the resolve to answer. “I fell in love with you. Of course, becoming a vampire god was not in my plans but say, for members of my family you would be a dream come true. My intent was and still is to hunt down Minerva; and probably even more so now that I know that she is after you. All I wanted was to end this curse because whether you want to face it or not, I still have to feed. I have killed and I will kill again because there is no other way to feed my body. In my lifetime I have killed hundreds of thousands of people…some innocent…some not so innocent…and some who were worse monsters than myself. My family are not like me; they accept who they are and relish themselves in it. I am the father of many vampires; many that of which should have never been born let alone bitten. I heard that the only way to end the curse is to kill the witch responsible for the spell…” I really don’t like where this is going and my heart rate increases at the realization of his suicide mission. “Valentino, if you kill my aunt you will die too…” I barely could force the words out. My head and my heart hurt. There was no way I was going to allow this to happen. Even if I…”Let us not waste our time on such negative thoughts. The point is we are in the now and I just want to be with you. You have been through a lot and you can be sure that you are safe with me.” He didn’t give me a chance to protest as he nestled me closer to him. Now that I know he is vampire, I am pretty sure he will not be sleeping tonight or any other night for that matter. But as for me, goddess or not my body still requires sleep; and sleep was not hard to find with me nestled so closely to the man I love most in this world.

*I finished this piece last night and to be honest I am quite pleased with where this is going. I hope to have this entire manuscript completed within the next month. I am not sure if I would like for this to be a series because I have to get started on the next installment of Nubia Rising. But please tell me what you think. Follow and I will follow back. I am trying to get to know authors from every walk of life and learn from them.*

Sometimes it’s all in Your Head

I gotta get out of my head. That self doubt, that little voice that tells me “no, they won’t like that” or “no, you gotta change that” has kept me locked in this prison of the unaccomplished… I am a writer. I felt its pull in my elementary school years- 5th grade to be exact when we were asked to write a short play and then act it out in front of the class. The only thing I remember is the scene wherein I wrote “well, you stole my boyfriend with your sexy perfume!” And, once my partner/BFF Priscilla acted it out the class (including my teacher/arch nemesis Ms. Steeg ) roared with laughter. So, for me to finally step into the arena and put more focus on my dream, it is a tad overwhelming to see that I am not the only one with a story…with this same desire to see my work come together in printed form and reach the hearts and minds of many…to give a little of that part of oneself that has remained hidden from everyone other than God. I know, I am rambling. But sometimes it’s all in my head.

What I Should be Doing

All I want to do is write; to share my imaginations with the world; to give humanity an inside scoop on what REALLY goes on in my head, but here I sit with a slight headache, my significant other talking-no yelling-into his phone (which is normal for him) and my television on A Different World. I should be working on my third manuscript for another science fiction/fantasy called The Family Curse. I should be searching for agents to submit my Nubia Rising manuscript to. I should be researching independent publishers and learning more about the publishing market and what I could do to get myself out there. I should also be focused on my job search. I am a step away from the unemployment line being that I work part time for a well known retail store (mind you I have a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice, but that is the topic of a different blog) and I simply need to move on. But no. I am curled up on the couch counting the minutes until I have to pick my 7 year old up from her after school program. I should take a nap.

Excerpt from Love At Last

Chapter One

Danielle

Monday Is a Bitch

I hate early mornings, but I especially hate MONDAY mornings. But hey, I know that I am not alone in my hatred for the first day of the work week. You see, Monday mornings are incredibly hectic in my household; they are constant reminders as to why I should be single. My boyfriend of five years live together in a small one bedroom apartment in Los Angeles, and before I go any further, rent ain’t cheap ok? Which means that we BOTH have to work. Unfortunately, I am the only one who does (and has been since the first of last year when he lost his job as an account manager for a mid-sized security company) and I will most assuredly get to that later. So, for over a year I have found myself having to go in TWO hours early just to squeeze in some overtime. As a matter of fact last week I had to beg, plead and borrow just to scrape up the money to turn our lights back on AND buy some food for the house. Any who, back to the reason why Mondays are a bitch: I have to get up at four, attempt to do some housekeeping before I leave (even though I will have to do it again when I come home) and then beat feet out the door before “his majesty” wakes up and asks me a million questions which when dealing with him has the potential to make me late. And God forbid he rolls over and decides that he wants some early morning “cookie”. But thankfully, today is the day that period has decided to grace me with its presence, so just as I am grabbing my bag and my jacket, I hear nothing but loud snoring coming from the bedroom.

I hate driving, especially downtown Los Angeles so I usually just park my car (a 2000 all white Honda Accord) in the Green-line parking structure and ride the train to work and today is no exception. I park my car between a beat up forest green Sudan and a 1995 funny colored BMW, slip on my flip-flops (yes I wear them on my way to work. You try walking in five inch heels all day riding public transportation and walking to and fro and you will quickly find out that before the end of the day, your feet will hate you.), load my “work shoes” and my lunch in my favorite tote bag, do a once over in my mirror to make sure I at least do not have any food stuck in my teeth and make my way to the train. I say a little prayer that even at 5:15 in the morning, my ride to work is uneventful and that instead of laying in the bed all day and eating us out of house and home, the man with the title “boyfriend” is in front of the computer screen and making use of the resume I put together for him. I hate Mondays. I really do.

I work for a small law firm on 5th and Wilshire as a legal assistant. The pay is ok, all things considered but being the go-getter that I am I am working on my paralegal certification. And before you say anything Paralegals make good money, at least in my case good enough for me to move on from my living situation. Don’t get me wrong, I am sure somewhere in the pit of my stomach I do love King (again don’t. say. Anything. I am not the one who named him) BUUUUUUUUUUT he has done quite a bit of damage not only to me but to our relationship and as I have gotten older and much more mature I have realized that I don’t have to take that shit. Excuse the ghetto that just came out of me but it is the truth.

Moving on, I already have my Bachelors of Arts in Liberal Studies from Cal-State Dominguez but what the hell am I going to do with that? Now that the job market is messed up I need to do something that is practical and that I will not have to worry about the field coming to an end. And it is painstakingly clear that people with legal problems are never going to go away and there is such a wide range of law to work around in, I figured why not? I did at one time want to be a lawyer, which is still a dream that I may pursue, and I already work at a law firm so again, why not?

So, where was I? Oh yes, so I work as a legal assistant at a Disability law firm. I have been there for a little over two years and I feel that it is time for some advancement. Between being the sole provider for my household AND paying off my student loans, I most definitely need to upgrade. It is unfortunate that I am the only African American, black person, Negro, whatever the politically correct term for a person of African descent is that works at the firm. Everyone else is either Mexican, or white and there is that lone Asian that ironically works in accounting. I have good report with everyone, or in laymen’s terms, it is pretty chill. I actually enjoy working in a professional environment. My pay is salary based and not hourly; I know that everyone here has some formal degree of education or training and my benefits package is nothing to complain about: full medical and dental coverage, 401K, a free gym membership to 24 Hour Fitness (which I have yet to use) and access to a company owned time share in Lake Tahoe.

Stepping off of my last train, it is now almost six in the morning and my REAL shift does not begin until 9, but I have to do what I have to do so I guess I should not complain. The walk is a long 15 minutes and I say long because each block is a stretch. The sun has yet to fully peek over the horizon; the early shades of blue are barely breaking through the still darkened sky. The air is crisp, clean and ridiculously chilly. Granted, it is still in the middle of winter (early January) and I do prefer the cold but as I expressed earlier, it is Monday and I would have still loved to lay in the bed for an extra hour. My toes have lost all feeling due to the freezing temperature, but once I am inside the building and can relax and enjoy the warmth and comfort of the heater, my toes will be just fine.

Throughout the course of my walk, I realized nothing has changed in this area. I see the same old abandoned buildings that squatters have taken control of; the streets are littered with trash and last night’s festivities; I see the same drunkard passed out on his favorite bus bench snoring peacefully; and the same homeless woman who has been on the streets for so long she has forgotten who she is. She reeks of a combination of smells; smells that are from her lack of care in her personal hygiene and just from living in the streets. She holds what appears to be meaningful conversations with herself as there is no one who is physically there to entertain her. There have been days where it was quite clear that whoever she was talking to had pissed her all the way off and as I am a couple of blocks away from her I could still hear her voice ranting and shouting at the top of her lungs at this invisible manifestation of her outrage. My heart goes out to her, and today is not any different.

As I finally approach the building where I work I quicken my pace because it is a little after six and I need as much overtime as I can get, but just as I open the door to enter the five story building my phone buzzes. It’s a text message from King. It read, “What time are u off?” It takes everything in me to not reply with something nasty but instead I swallow my anger and reply,” 6. Why?” He does not answer me back and at this point I could care less. It is a damn shame that at six in the morning I already have an attitude so I turn my Samsung Galaxy III off and toss it back in my bag. I acknowledge the overweight security guard who sits at his desk in the lobby with a quick,” Good morning” and make my way over to the ladies room to put on the black pumps that I purchased from Target. The shoes add an additional four inches to my already 5’7” height. My black slacks are slimming and my favorite white gold buttoned blouse makes me feel a bit better about myself. Here at work, I keep my black shoulder length black hair pulled back in a neat little bun and since I wear no make-up I take pride in keeping my cocoa brown skin healthy looking. I do one last once over in the mirror, apply some Chap stick and even though by no stretch of the imagination am I fat, I remind myself that maybe it is time that I use that free gym membership. Then I make my way to the elevator, press the button for the fifth floor and prepare to start my day. Monday mornings are truly a bitch. Let’s hope that the rest of the day is not.

If you are interested in the rest of the story download it on Smashwords. Here is the link to my profile: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/465611