Diamonds and Deviants
This picture my own - others from Google Free to use images
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
“Ah, you think that because I’m ‘just’ a Syren, that I can’t have any effect on you, a mighty vampire? Well, Maclaren, you’re wrong.”
Celtica opened her mouth and an unearthly sound emanated from deep in her chest and stomach.
At first it set the furniture vibrating, the sound was low enough for humans to hear but because they were in a soundproofed room, the rest of the nightclub would be safe from the destructive qualities of her song.
As the sound began to climb higher through the audio scale, other objects were set vibrating. When the crystal decanters shattered like one huge bomb, sending shards of crystal out like shrapnel soaked in brandy, whiskey and port, Maclaren began to panic.
Celtica hit her high notes then and Maclaren’s eardrums burst. His mind would have followed if she had continued, but she had promised not to harm him and she thought she’d probably get away with keeping her promise, technically.
She found a piece of paper in amongst the wreckage of the decanters and wine glasses and after a search, a pencil too. Then she wrote him a note because he wouldn’t be able to hear a thing until his eardrums repaired.
She wrote ‘Name’ on the paper and handed it to him. His ears were bleeding, what passed for vampire blood oozed out of them and other small cuts and slashes on his exposed flesh caused by the crystal shrapnel. He was in quite a lot of pain if the expression on his face was anything to go by.
He scribbled underneath what she had written and handed it back to her.
Celtica looked at the paper, nodded and left the room.
The alarms throughout the club were going off by the time she got to the end of the hall and she didn’t want to be put in the situation where she had to harm any of the staff or customers of the club so she pushed open the fire escape door and jumped over the barrier rather than climbing down the stairs. She landed in the car park behind the club and managed to mingle with the panicking and drunken customers fleeing the building.
Celtica was impressed, the door staff were keeping things under control, they knew it wasn’t a practice drill and yet they were calm and authoritative, keeping people back from the building and sending more out.
It was down to the staff that there were no serious injuries that night. No customers were trampled or crushed because the men and women that knew the building best ensured that they stayed around to help everyone else leave safely and quickly.
TV news teams may have made up their own stories about drugs deals going wrong and gang warfare erupting on the dance floor, but Celtica knew what had happened and for what it was worth, she was impressed. With a few more years’ experience and good training under their belts, some of the doormen may even get to work for Crystal Securities one day.
She kept her eyes on the news all the next day but nothing was mentioned about Maclaren. She wondered how he had managed to escape the scrutiny of the fire officers, the police and the news teams. She giggled to herself as she wondered if he had been bundled off to hospital and whether they could source his unusual blood type.
Celtica emerged from the hot shower to see the message waiting light on her phone blinking. As she towelled herself dry she hit the button to play the message.
The voice was male, ancient and aware of his own superiority. “I called to see you the other night, Miss Diamond. I’m so sorry I missed you. Maybe we can arrange a meeting or I could call on you again, perhaps tonight?”
The message ended and Celtica smiled. “Oh, I hadn’t forgotten about you, insidious one. You’re still marked and trackable. You’ll keep.”
Celtica went down to the bay where her offices were. It was late and they would be closed but the building was the very last one, right on the very edge of the peninsula. At one time, it would have been the location for a lighthouse.
She went up to her office, she decided that she may as well check on everything while she was there. Jenny had everything covered and all under control so she went on up to the top floor where another one of her companies had their offices. She let herself out onto the roof, closed the door behind her and walked to the edge to look out over the bay to the ocean beyond.
Her family were out there somewhere.
She removed her clothes and folded them by habit. She placed them in a neat pile and readied herself.
Celtica drew herself up to her full height of eleven foot seven inches, spread out her wings, dug her claws into the building’s parapet and sang her full Syren song.