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Confessions
Bloome
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Well, that had gone easier than planned. My mom, seeming to beam with pride over our video chat, told me the identifier spell had been written perfectly.
“It’s different once you’re standing over the remains, but the spell is exactly the same. The victim’s name will pop into your head, and after that, you just let the police do the rest of the work.”
“Thanks, Mom,” I replied.
Her face went serious. “Honey, please be careful, though. Don’t go offering your services to the police as a ‘psychic’ very often. They’ll get suspicious and if you’re ever wrong, even once, they’ll completely discount and discredit you.” She looked angry. “Trust me, I know.”
I smiled warmly at her. “I know, Ma. It’s just this once. I promise.”
She relaxed, sliding some auburn hair behind her ear before snapping on a huge gold clip-on earring. “Good. Now, I gotta go. Dad and I are late for this charity thing.” She half rolled her eyes with a knowing smile, because I knew the people she hung out with loved to throw big, lavish parties in the name of “charity.” She never missed a damn party, though.
“Love you, kid,” my dad said, popping into the video over Mom’s shoulder, adjusting his tuxedo’s tie.
“Love you, too, Daddy,” I said with a smile.
They both blew me kisses and ended the chat.
It was pretty ridiculous for me to video chat with them when they just lived a few miles away in my childhood home on the outskirts of the big city. They constantly fussed over me living so close to the French Quarter, but I was young, and this was fun for me. It sucked I had to have roommates to keep up the rent, but my parents didn’t need to know that. They’d met Brantley and Skyla, but I had yet to introduce them to Nora or the other two who lived here. They would balk at me, saying that if I needed five roommates that I should ask them for more money.
I didn’t want to, though. Sure, at twenty-six, I should be working some menial job, but I wasn’t. My witch mother and warlock father gave me a three thousand a month allowance, telling me to keep studying on becoming a greater witch. Then they would cut me off once I did, and I would have to earn my own money. Age thirty was a little less than four years away and I knew I had to do something. So, I kept five roommates, paid my fair share of the rent, spent probably a bit too much on makeup and shoes, and socked the rest away into a bank account for a house. Which was why I really needed the ten grand the Nighthawks were offering me. I loved my parents but hated the control they had over me. Even if I somewhat had allowed it to happen. I’d realized a few months ago that I had let this shit go too far. I was twenty-six... I needed to be self-sufficient.
I tromped out of my room and down the hall to Nora’s. With more bravery than I felt, I knocked on her door. She answered quickly, the door opened only enough to expose the sourpuss expression on her pale face.
“Can we talk?” I asked.
She maintained the scowl. “About what, Bloome?”
“I just... ah, have some questions. Please, girl?” I threw her the most charming smile I could muster.
“Questions about what, though?” she asked, holding strong with her face to the door so I couldn’t see inside the room.
Her scowl and body language wore on me. I lifted a hand said, “Listen... just meet me in the kitchen. I need to talk to you. Woman to woman.” With my dignity intact, I turned and walked down the hall to my room. After grabbing my phone, I stomped down the stairs to the kitchen.
I waited far too long, but Nora showed and sat across the table from me in the house’s dining room.
“What do you want?” she asked with a bitter expression.
“Have you been killing vampires in the Quarter?” I asked boldly, pursing my lips.
Her eyes went wide, then she recovered with a blasé body posture and a smirk. “Why do you even care?”
I narrowed my gaze at her. “Because you’re going to start a fucking war, Nora.”
“War,” she chided with a chuckle. “What the fuck are you talking about?” She crossed her arms across the chest of her black shirt with a big white skull on it.
“Three vamps a couple weeks ago, two more tonight... You know anything about that?” I asked, obstinate.
“I don’t,” she replied coolly, swiping some black hair behind her ear.
Something deep in the recesses of my soul told me she was lying. Confidently, I asked, “You sure about that? I mean, if you had killed in self-defense, surely that was justifiable. Right?” I smiled. “The coven can protect you.”
Her countenance dropped, and she replied angrily, “Yeah, but if vampires attack humans, or witches who they believe are humans, shouldn’t they be put down... dispatched like rabid dogs? That’s self-defense.”
I purposely paused a few long, uncomfortable seconds, then said, “Yeah, sure,” I said, pretending to agree. “So why these men in the Quarter? Did they hurt you?”
“No, but they were vampires,” she stated matter-of-factly.
I cocked my head to the side. “So?”
“So...” Nora raked a hand through her hair and shook her head. “What world do you live in, Bloome?”
“Excuse me?” I asked, shocked by her condescending remark.
“You heard me. You and your trust fund world don’t belong here. There are actual monsters out here. Vampires and wolves who want to do real harm to us. You should get with the program.”
I stood up, my hands planted on my hips. “And what program is that?”
Nora chuckled. “The real world.”
My phone chimed in my pocket. A text from Craig... Shadow.
Craig: Does this woman look familiar to you? She was last seen with two now-dead vamps at Frieda’s Bar in the Quarter.
Attached was a short, grainy video clip. Even through the grain, and even though the person wore a hood, I could see it was Nora leading two ordinary-looking men—vampires—outside the back of the bar.
I sat back down and turned the phone around, replaying it for my roommate. “Is this you?”
Nora watched in fascination as I played the clip. Once it was done, she clamped her lips together and raised her head in a haughty display. “No, that’s not me.”
Turning the phone back to me, I replayed it. Laughing, I said, “Clearly, it is you.” I put the phone down and folded my hands together over the tabletop. “It would be easier on everyone if you just confessed that it was you.”
“Where did you get that, anyway?” she asked in deflection.
“It doesn’t matter. I’m trying to help you here. I can’t sit here and let you keep killing vampires. Just tell me the truth.”
“It’s... it’s not me. I was in bed all night, bingeing shows,” she stammered before looking away.
Clearly more flustered than I had ever seen her, I chuckled. “No, you weren’t. Just fess up, Nora.”
She looked angry, her face flashing red. “Okay... look. Listen to me, those two were misogynistic assholes. Making comments about women all night, their asses, and breasts, and trying to guess which ones were more ‘freaky in bed.’ I couldn’t take it anymore, so I led them outside and tried to get them to apologize for hating women and were being perverts. I bet they had raped women in the past, too. I could tell... I just knew it. They blew me off, laughing at me, then tried to leave. I told them they weren’t going anywhere, and that’s when I ended them. That’s it, plain and simple.”
Reining in my shock and horror, I cleared my throat. “No, it’s not that plain and simple. You killed two men based on opinions and assumptions.”
“They weren’t men!” she snapped. “They were vampires. Filthy, bloodsucking creatures.”
“They were also males. It’s not right, but some do talk like that about women. Especially if they’re a lot older, like most vampires are. It doesn’t make them rapists, Nora. You just wanted an excuse to kill more vampires. Why did you kill the other three?”
She hesitated as if she was scrambling for an answer. “They were following me.”
I pursed my lips and sighed. “Are you sure? I think maybe you were following them.”
Nora shook her head. “They were following me, so I ducked into Zombies.”
“And?” I prompted.
“They had drinks and were feeding on a few women, so I lured them outside. Same as the other two.”
I scrubbed a hand over my face. “Nora, you’re not the law. You can’t kill vampires for feeding. No, they’re not supposed to be feeding in public like that, but that’s not your call to make. You report it to the council, and we notify the vampires so they can do what they will with the information.”
She stared at me obstinately and said nothing.
“Why do you hate them?”
“I just do. Are we done? Or are you gonna drag me to Iliana and make me confess? Because I won’t.” She folded her arms over her chest again.
“How are you doing it, anyway? Burning them?” I asked, knowing she wasn’t.
She hesitated again and said, “I used a spell to explode the heart without touching them. Then they just turn to ash. Less messy that way.” She actually looked a little ashamed but then I saw a smile begin to form.
I shook my head and got up to leave. “I’m sorry, but I can’t let this go. You have twenty-four hours to turn yourself in to Iliana and the council before the vampires come and find you. They won’t be as diplomatic about punishment as the council will be.”
I left the kitchen and heard her yell, “Fuck you, Bloome, you nosy bitch!”
Shaking my head, I went into my room and dialed Shadow.