her last days

8/3/2019 Her Last Days

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/her-last-days 1/43



Her Last Days

Chapter 1

It was the last day of school, thankfully. Starr

was looking forward to spending the next

couple of summer weeks with her cousin,

Lita.

She walked up to the plain white

house at the end of the block.

“Is she here yet?” she called aloud, as

she walked through the front door and madeher way into the kitchen.

“AAAAghhhh!!” a girl screamed, and

ran at her from beside the kitchen bar.

“When did you get here?”

“This afternoon. My parents dropped

me off and I’ve been waiting for you to get

home,” and she added, in a whisper, “what’swrong with Meghan? She’s been acting

strange all afternoon, didn’t want to talk to

me, and barely said hi. I thought we were all

buddies.”

“That’s a long story and, to be honest,

I don’t know all the details. She’s been reallycold and distant with me, too, the last few

months. I guess she’s just going through



something that she doesn’t want to tell

anyone about.”

“Okay, okay,” cut in Starr’s mother.

“You guys go upstairs. Starr, you still need to

pack. While you’re up there, make sure you

both have everything you need. Once we get

up to the cabin, there won’t be a store, for miles, around.”

They walked up the stairs and down

the hall, toward Starr’s room. She stopped, a

moment, and knocked on the second door to

her right.

“Meghan?” she called through the

door. “Do you want to hang out, with me and

Lita, in my room?”

“No thanks,” she called out.

“I guess she doesn’t like me,

anymore. We used to talk a ton, but today it

was like she hardly knew me.”

“It’s not you, trust me, it’s her.

Lately, she doesn’t want to talk to anyone.”

They closed the door to Starr’s room.

She pulled out the large suitcase from under

her bed and started packing clothes in.



“So what’s up? Tell me everything!”

said Starr.“Well, Mark, the guy I was telling

you about, last time we talked. He’s going

out with the biggest slob in the world. This

girl who wears sneakers and men’s tee shirts;

you should see her, a fashion-don’t. I’m

hanging with Maggie and Jessie, as usual.You met them last time you visited; they’re

my friends from school. Next year, I start

applying to colleges, but, other than those

things, there’s nothing new in my life.”

“Well, things have been boring, here;

everyone seems to be in their own world.

Mom’s gone back to work, and she loveslong hours, so we don’t really see her. Dad

has always been a quiet type, so he zones out,

watching television. Meghan just sits in her

room on her computer all night. I just come

home, do schoolwork, eat, and then hang out

up here, in my room, most nights.”

Through the wall, they could,

suddenly, hear Meghan shouting.

“Sounds like your sister is having an

argument?”

“Yeah, she’s been fighting with

someone, off and on, lately. It’s probably just

a guy she’s dating.”“Sounds pretty serious,” said Lita

sounding skeptical.



From downstairs, Starr’s mother called them down to dinner.

After a good meal, they went to bed

early.

The next morning, they piled into the

car and drove two hours until they got to thefurthest end of Lake George.

The cabin was dusty and dark, but it

looked kind of cozy. Everyone went to

unpack, and Starr’s parents to prepare for

lunch.

Down on the dock of the lake, they

had a light lunch, and then went swimming.

“Meghan, why don’t you have your

bathing suit on?”

“I don’t feel like swimming.”

“Eat a sandwich.”

“I’m not hungry, Mom,” she said

annoyed.

They talked and laughed, and swam,

but Meghan sat there looking glum. When

the sun started to set, they made their way

back up to the cabin for grilled burgers.

In the living room, after dinner, they

watched a movie. From the corner of Starr’seye, she noticed Meghan wiping her cheeks.



Why was she crying?

As she lay in bed, Starr reflected on

all the peculiar changes that had taken place

in her, once, overly cheerful sister. It seemed

like only six months before, they had a pretty

good relationship, for siblings anyway, and,

now, they were like strangers to each other.Well, she couldn’t take it anymore; she

decided to go to her, that instant, and demand

that Meghan talk to her, and she wouldn’t

leave her room until she told Starr everything

that was going on with her.

She climbed out of bed and tip toed to

her room. Gently, she knocked on the door, but Meghan didn’t reply. Starr opened the

door, a crack, and looked inside. While she

didn’t see Meghan in the room, she saw

through the large window, a girl bent over,

talking into a car with its lights turned off;

she could just barely see the shadow of it, by

the porch light.

It occurred to Starr that, not only was

it peculiar for Meghan to be down there at

such a time, but who would drive all the way

out to Lake George to see her?

Wondering if she were in some kind

of trouble, Starr snuck downstairs to try andeavesdrop. Instead of going toward the front

of the house, where Meghan was, Starr crept



out of the back and inched along the walls of

the house, staying in the shadow; she stopped just short of the porch light.

From where she stood, she could see

the man inside the car; he had a buzz cut and

deep dark eyes. He was unshaven and dirty

looking, and a cigarette hung from his mouth.

They whispered to each other,ferociously; Starr couldn’t make out a word,

with the engine of the car humming. Then, in

a sudden movement, the man grabbed

Meghan’s arms and she screamed. Starr ran

up and grabbed her around the ankles, but he

pulled her in and pried Starr’s hands off her.

Starr fell, hard, onto the gravel; shefelt jagged rock cut into her thighs and legs.

The car slowly reversed, and Starr could hear

Meghan screaming at the top of her lungs.

“Shut up!” she heard the man shout.

Starr ran down the driveway with the

intention of jumping on the car, but it had

already backed into the road where it turned

and sped off. Starr ran down the road, trying

to read the license plate but it was too dark.

After hours of questioning by thesheriff’s department, they packed up and



went home, only to be questioned again by

their own local police.Starr had never seen her parents look

so sad. Weeks went by without word from

Meghan, during which, they hounded,

repeatedly, the school and friends who may

have been in contact with her. The only time

they went out of their way to talk to Starr wasto snap at her, usually for bothering them or

forgetting to do something. She used to be

sad about having a boring home, and

spending every night alone in her room; she

never thought things could get even worse.

Now, not only did they ignore her, but they

seemed to be angry with her for lettingMeghan get away; every time they looked at

her, she could she disgust and loathing in

their eyes.

One day, Starr was sitting in

Meghan’s room, feeling sad. Her mother,

who had taken occasional opportunities to

badger Starr to death about the night Meghan

was kidnapped, had decided that Starr was a

terrible sister. She told her, plain as day, that

she wished it were her who had been

kidnapped, instead of Meghan.

As she sat on her sister’s bed, wiping

tears from her eyes, she looked down andsaw a little cord sticking out of the drawer of

Meghan’s desk. She opened the drawer and



found her sister’s little Samsung. It dawned

on Starr that Meghan had only stopped usingthe Samsung a few weeks before they left for

Lake George.

Immediately, she plugged in the cord

and turned on the phone. Why didn’t she

think of it before? All the messages she’d

been texting, for the past three months, werestored on the phone’s memory: over 300

messages, incoming and out.

Quickly, upon seeing all the

messages, she unplugged the cord, and

stowed away, back to her room and read

through every single message.

At first, it was just nonsense betweenher and Alison McComb; her best friend at

school. They talked trash and uselessness,

back and forth, but, then the tone changed.

“Alison: Meghan, where were you

today? You missed Sandra’s birthday party.

Alison: Meghan, I haven’t heard from

you in two days. Where are you?

Alison: Are we no longer friends?

Write back.”

Starr knew, at that moment, that

Alison was telling the truth, when she toldher parents she knew nothing, for the

message was dated to approximately six



months ago; about the same time Meghan

became reclusive.She skipped along and that’s when

messages from a stranger appeared: some

guy named Frank.

“Frank: Hi, Meghan, darling. You

looked lovely today.Frank: Where are you? I’m here and

waiting.

Frank: So I don’t care; skip school

and get your butt over here!”

“Meghan: I can’t meet you.

Meghan: We have to stop seeing eachother; you’re too old for me.

Meghan: You love me? Then who

was that blonde on your arm, the other night?

Meghan: STAY AWAY FROM

ME!!!”

Then there was one last group of

messages from Frank.

“Frank: I’m going to the city where

my buddy and I plan to make a lot of money

through some connections. Are you coming

or what?

Frank: Baby, I’m sorry… Pleasecome. I won’t leave without you.



Frank: I’ll be staying at the Froger

Apartments on Eighty eighth and second,meet me there when you can.”

Starr decided to go to the city, right

then and right there. She pulled out her

suitcase and dialed her best childhood friend,

Michael, at the same time.

“Hey, Starr!”

“Michael, there’s not a lot of time for

me to explain, but I need your help.”

“Anything for my favorite girl in the

world.”

“My sister’s in trouble. I need a placeto crash. I’m coming to the city, tonight. Do

you think your parents would let me sleep on

your couch? I don’t really have any money.”

“I don’t see why not. Just come on by

when you get here.”

“Okay, I gotta hang up. I’ll call you

when I get in.”

She called the cab company, and left

for the train station an hour later: her mother

didn’t even flinch when she saw her leave,

suitcase in hand.Michael surprised her at the station at

seven ‘o’ clock that evening. Starr wanted to



go straight to the address, but when Michael

realized what neighborhood the address wasin, he insisted they go to the police, first.

After waiting an hour and a half, they

finally sat down with an officer who seemed

to think Starr was as unimportant as the fly

buzzing around his head. When she

recounted the events of the night at the cabin,he looked more irritated, rather than

concerned; almost as if the last thing he

needed was Starr adding a load to his

shoulders. They left feeling rejected; Starr

furious and determined to get Meghan

herself, but Michael wouldn’t let her, saying

they’d be better off going in the daytime, asnight time was extremely dangerous in that

neighborhood. He forced her back to his

place, where they ate dinner with his parents,

and then went to bed.

But Starr couldn’t sleep, nor could

she wait until morning. She left the couch

and the apartment, quietly.

She walked half a mile or so, to the

Froger Apartments and stood outside.

Michael was right, the streets were

dangerous. Women looked devious on every

street corner, men looked slimy and slovenly.

Starr, having spent a good life in the suburbs,had never seen such people, but she wasn’t

afraid. When Starr was determined, there was



never any stopping her, and that night was no

different.In contemplation of Michael’s word,

and the visuals she was getting from the

shady neighborhood, Starr decided it was

best that she wait until daylight to approach

the apartment that was labeled Frank Catrelli

on the door buzzer. If he was as creepy as helooked, assuming it was he who took Meghan

that night, it wasn’t hard to imagine that he

could, easily, kill her and throw her body into

the Hudson River.

She walked around until dawn started

to peak out from the sky, and that was when

she saw Meghan. Starr recognized the black leather jacket with leather pieces cut into a

flower, on the back. She was ordering

something through the window of a bakery.

At first she didn’t believe her eyes,

but when she shouted “Meghan!” she knew

she’d found her. She turned her head to see

who’d called her name, then, seeing Starr,

she took off running.

Starr chased her down three blocks

and into an alley. She caught her by the hem

of her jacket as she tried to escaped up a fire

ladder, but she yanked her back onto theground and pinned her; Meghan struggled but



Starr, though younger, was too strong for

Meghan.“What are you doing here? Why

won’t you come home?”

“ Because I don’t want to! Get off me,” she tried to buck her with her hips but

failed.

“Stop fighting me and I’ll let youup!”“Fine!”Starr got off her, but as soon as

Meghan stood up, she tried to run. Starr

blocked her and Meghan tried to punch her,

but Starr did a reverse roundhouse heel kick,

landing her on the ground.“Look,” she said huffing, standing

over her, “we can either do this the hard way,

or the easy way. It’s your choice; we can do

this all day, if you like.”

Meghan stood up and Starr saw her,

clearly, for the first time. Her right eye was

healing from an injury, and the corners of her

nose were red and agitated; she sniffled

repeatedly and she looked thin.

“Meghan, you look like crap. Come

on,” she put her arm around her shouldersand guided her out to the street. “Try to run

and I’ll thrash you, don’t test me.”



“Where are we going?”

“You need to eat, Meghan.”

They walked up the street to a diner.

Over coffee and eggs, Starr tried to

question Meghan but she was reluctant.

“So are you gonna tell me what the

hell you’re doing here?”

“I’m in love with a guy, and I don’t

want to be without him.”

“Really?” said Starr disbelieving. “Is

he really worth it? Because, Meghan, you

look like hell.”“Money is tight, right now, but soon

we’ll be rolling in it.”

“How will you get this money that

you’ll be rolling in?”

Meghan looked away.

“Thanks for the eggs, and thanks for

visiting me. I know you’re worried, but I’m

okay, really. Tell mom and dad not to worry.

Now I’ve gotta go. I’m sorry.”

Starr watched her walk out the door,

and then hurried out the door herself.

Keeping a hundred paces behind, shefollowed her up to the Froger apartments

building.



Quietly, Starr pressed the button that

said Frank Catrelli. A muffled voice camethrough the little metal box. “What? I can’t

understand you,” said Starr, then someone

buzzed her. Up the stairs, she went until she

got to the seventh floor. She walked to the

door at the end of the hall.

Standing in the doorway, an

overweight, bald guy asked, “Can I help

you?”

From behind the guy, she saw a man

who had Meghan by the hair. It was the guy

who pulled her into the car, that night at thecabin: Frank. Without a moments delay, Starr

kicked in the door. The guy tried to push her

out, but Starr landed an axe kick that sent

him down to the floor, squirming.

“ Let go of my sister,” she shouted at

the guy.

He released her hair and backed

away, slowly.

Meghan looked pathetic, to Starr,

standing there allowing herself to be treated

in such a way. Starr was caught between pity

and disgust, as she looked at her. Grabbingher by the elbow, she attempted to guide her

out of the apartment, but when she resisted,



Starr put her in a chokehold and forced her

out of the apartment, down the stairs, and outinto the street.

Not wanting to take Meghan back to

Michael’s, in her condition – plus his parents

would have called the police - , they walked

the streets for hours, until they found an old

abandoned clinic in a fenced off area. It hadtwo boards nailed across a short walkway.

When Starr pulled back the glass door, a cold

draft blew back her hair, freezing her nose

and stinging her eyes. Inside, she sat Meghan

down on and old couch.

“We have to stay here for a fewhours. I can’t take you back to Michael’s,

looking the way you do. His parents would

not approve. Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot

of cash, so we’ll just have to crash here until

evening, which is when the train, to take us

home, is scheduled arrive.”

Starr sat down next to Meghan. She

put her arms around her and said, “It’s gonna

be alright, you’ll see: as long as we stick

together, everything will be fine. You don’t

need that jerk.”

They fell asleep, together, on the

couch.



Several hours later, she woke to findthat Meghan had gone. Immediately, Starr

went back to Frank’s apartment, but no one

answered her when she pressed the button, so

she waited for someone who could buzz her

in.

About five ‘o’ clock, she decided shecould wait no longer. She’d asked several

people to let her in, but they all refused.

Looking at her watch, she only had two hours

until their train was due to arrive, so she

snuck up the side of the building by climbing

the fire escape stairs.

When she reached the seventh level,she peered through the window, into the

living room of Frank’s apartment. Although

she saw no one, she wasn’t convinced. As

quietly as she could, she busted her fist

through the glass. Then she kicked in all the

jagged shards so she could crawl through the

window without cutting herself.

Slowly, with eyes wide open, she

walked through the living room and turned

right, into a hall. Someone coughed.

How could someone not hear her

break the window?



There was a large gurgling noise that

came from down the hall. Slowly, she walkedtoward where the noise came from. She

looked in the first bedroom and, there, a man

sat on a bed with blood shot eyes: it was

Frank, again, and he was high as a kite.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

he asked.“Where’s my sister?”

“You’re dead,” he yelled as he

walked, slowly, toward her.

She froze as he reached behind his

back and pulled out a gun.

“If you shoot me, everyone around

here will hear it. I broke the window and

there are cops downstairs busting some

druggy; they saw me break in and called on

their radio.”

He looked at her with wonderment,

no doubt asking himself if she were bluffing.

As if making up his mind not to take

a chance, he raised his hand with the gun and

struck down at Starr’s head, which burst open

and bled immediately like a water fount.

Then he put his hands around her throat and

started choking her.Starr was too dizzy, from being

stricken, to react quickly. Stars danced in



front of her eyes, and as she lost the ability to

breathe, she became dizzier.Although she felt too weak to

continue, her dojo master told her never to

give up; that she’d be surprised at how much

strength a person could muster, and even at

the end of a weakened life force. With that

thought, she pulled back her arm and punched him in the crotch. As he struggled

against the pain to keep his grip on her neck,

she took the minute opportunity to nail him

in the esophagus which sent him down to the

ground.

As she made to leave the room, he

grabbed her by the hair and yanked her back.Starr swung her head back and butted in his

nose, feeling it crunch against her skull.

Next, she sent a roundhouse to his face that

knocked him out cold.

She turned around and ran through

the other rooms. When she didn’t find

Meghan, she felt relief. Maybe she’d simply

left the clinic to get some food, or something,

but, when she walked into the last room in

the back, her heart sank fast and all went

silent, except a loud ringing in her ears.

Under the glaring light of shade-less

lamp, laid a dark haired girl. She walked upto the figure, tears already welling up in her

eyes, and looked down. The bed was blood



soaked, and her lips no longer the healthy

pink they once were.Someone was in the room with her,

likely Frank, but she was too stunned to

move; she couldn’t even defend herself. Her

sister was dead and she didn’t know what she

was going to do. How was she gonna tell her

parents? What would they say? They alreadyhated her for letting Meghan get away.

Despair was sinking her like a ship.

Then something whooshed around the

room. Starr turned around to try and see what

it was, but all went black.

Present Day

She stood under the street lamp, head

tilted back, watching the window of the

apartment on the seventh floor, just like she’d

done nearly every night, since she got back

from Boston. Using her mind, she’d sense the

inhabitants and what they were doing; an

advantage of being what she was, extra

sensory perception or ESP. She could sense

the presence of other people and see, in her

mind’s eye, what they were doing. For

example, in her mind, she could see the

residents in the apartment were sitting downto dinner. Frank Catrelli was no longer a

resident, there.



Perhaps it seemed pointless to go

back every night and watch them, but it wasall she could do, in the hopes that someone

familiar would happen by, thus leading Starr

to the man who killed her sister. Sure, she

could have gone to the police, but after the

way they treated her, last time, Starr decided

not to waste her time. Besides, she wantedrevenge; the kind that the judicial system was

unable to provide, so, like she’d done a

hundred times that month, already, she

walked the neighborhood.

She turned and walked up the street a

bit. Over and over again, she thought about

the last day they had together, at the clinic.Up until a few weeks ago, Starr could

only remember flashes of what happened that

night in the apartment where she found her

sister. It was only when her friend, Michael,

confessed to having been there, that it all

came back to her. The jerk, Frank, stabbed

her in the back, cutting her spinal cord clean

in half, and that was when and why Michael

turned her.

“Starr.”

She didn’t have to turn around to seethat it was Marla walking behind her, calling

her name.



“Hey” she said without looking back.

Since she’d been back, Marla had been, in asense, trying to talk her down from a

proverbial ledge.

“It’s 3am. I’m just getting off work.

Want to get a drink at The Gaul?”

The Gaul was a club where her other

friend, and fellow vampire, Mica, worked.“No, thanks,” said Starr sourly, as she

had still not entirely forgiven either of them

for trying to kill her a while back.

“Starr, you can’t spend your life

walking these streets. What happened is

terrible, but now you got to worry about Lily.

We need to get her back, and we need you todo that.”

Starr stopped and, for the first time

since being turned, felt like blood was

circulating in her veins. Her face heated up

and the hair on her scalp rose up.

Lily was a girl who was abandoned

by her mother. Starr had taken it upon herself

to look after her, but, while they were in

Boston, a group of old vampires abducted

her.

“Look, I know I seem callous but

she’s okay. In fact, she’s probably getting all

the luxury she’s never had.”“How do you know that?”



“Because I met them; they’re a couple

old, bored vamps with nothing better to do. If anything, they’re treating her like a doll.”

“What if they turn her, Starr? She’s so

young, still.”

“They won’t. They’re adamant that

she needs a few more years. Look, I know

what I sensed and, what I sensed is theywon’t hurt her. They continued to compare

her to their own kids, and looked at her with

adoring eyes. She’s fine, for now. Besides, I

don’t need to go after them, they are coming

for me, remember?”

“Look, I don’t want to make light of

you avenging your sister’s death, but if theycome here, and you are not ready for them,

we can’t help you. We aren’t strong enough.”

“I know, Marla. I just can’t, right

now. I have to find Frank Catrelli, first.”



Questions

Chapter 2

The sun glared down upon her face; a

burning smell of trash worked its way up her

nose. She’d fallen asleep against the wall in

the alley of the Froger Apartment building, behind the trash dumpster.

She stood up and walked, fast, to the

pharmacy drugstore, several blocks down.

Inside, she hurried, with her head hung down,

to the section with hand mirrors; whereupon,

she saw a large black splotch burned on her forehead; though it was painless, it smelled

awful and looked grotesque.

Although the legends say that sunlight

killed their kind, it was really the ultra violet

radiation. Nowadays, it was common that

vampires should live by day, given all the

SPF lotions on the market.

Starr grabbed the first bottle within

reach and immediately wiped it all over her

face and hands. Next, she walked to aisle of

cheap clothes and chose a black and white

bandana, which she wrapped around her

head, covering the black spot.



Outside, she started all over, combing

the neighborhood, block for block. After hours went by, she decided to grab a coffee.

The fables would have you believe

that their kind could only drink blood, but it

just wasn’t so. Not only did they enjoy other

food and drink, but they could go days, and

sometimes weeks, without blood; althoughthis wasn’t true for everyone because no two

vampires were the same.

She made to cross the street, but

something caught her attention, a loud

smacking noise, followed by a groan. In the

alley to her left, there was a group of guys

who were beating someone they pinned to thewall.

Starr didn’t think twice about helping

the guy.

“Hey,” she yelled, “what are you guys

doing?”

“None of your business. You’d better

just turn around and walk away,” said a guy

with a backwards cap.

“I don’t think so,” she looked him

straight in the eyes.

He walked, fast, at her and tried to

push her back out onto the street, but he

might as well have pushed a brick wall. Since being turned, Starr had incurred the strength

of twenty men; there weren’t many vampires,



let alone humans, who could give her a run

for her money.Taken aback, the guy tried to shove

her again, but she was immovable. The guy

pulled back his arm and then extended it into

her stomach, but he might as well have hit

her with a pillow.

From his pores, she could smell sour,like lemon, notes coming from his pores:

pheromones indicating his irritation with her.

When she picked him up,

singlehanded, and tossed him at the wall like

a dodge ball, the other guys tried to grab her,

but she was too fast, side stepping with her

preternatural speed.One guy, who kept coming at her like

a fly, she punched in the face; she felt his

nose and teeth smash in as she drew back a

fist covered in blood.

At that point, all the guys circled her,

and a few even took out knives. Starr,

however, was distracted by the sight of the

blood on her fist; it had been weeks since

she’d had a taste. Although they didn’t have

to drink it, they did crave it, frequently, and,

on a few occasions, Starr vamped out at the

sight of it; this usually happened when she

didn’t have blood, regularly.Vamped out was a term coined by an

infamous author, L. S. Credenza, on the



subject of her kind. Essentially, a vampire

could turn into a mindless zombie, at times.This was the result of the virus, within,

becoming stronger than the workings of the

human mind; under which, one would

become unable to control his or her actions,

unable to mimic human behavior, and with

the absence of human conscience, only ananimal, like the Dracula’s minions depicted

in the twentieth century, was left behind.

If Starr were alive, she would have

been scared by the threat of being

surrounded, but since being turned, she’d

become more ‘animal.’ According to

Credenza, once a person is turned, he or sheautomatically lost a bit of their humanity. So,

for example, while Starr could feel love and

hate, she could only feel these things in

extreme situations; and never at the same

time like humans could. Additionally, the

rainbow of complex emotions were closed

off to her; she couldn’t feel, anymore, what it

was like to find something humorous, yet

disgusting, to want something, yet have fear

or anxiety hold her back; even in her

situation, she could feel nothing for herself,

or the men who threatened her very life.

Perhaps that’s why she continued to seek revenge; it was for the rage she felt, and for

the death of Meghan. Rage was the only real



feeling she’d had, consistently, since being

turned.A short guy with a bald head, wearing

a black and grey plaid shirt, punched Starr in

the face. Like a dog, it was hard to distract a

vamped out vampire from a meal; it usually

took a jolt of some sort to, in a sense, wake

them up. The punch provided the jolt neededto bring Starr back to reality; however, the

guy who’d struck her recoiled in pain,

screaming like a little girl.

Another, in a white tee shirt, tried to

punch her, too, but she side stepped, looking

at him calmly; he tried again and missed.

After a third miss, someone grabbed her byher long black hair, with the intention of

holding her in place. When he felt she was

solid as a stone statue bolted to the ground,

he attempted a choke hold and yelled, “Get

her, now!”

Once again, the guy pulled back his

fist and swung wildly. Starr ducked; leaving

the one who held her to get a full four, square

in the face.

Then, all at once they came at her,

hitting and kicking every square inch of her

body, like a hundred flies napping at her,

leaving their annoying red itchy pock marks behind.



It wasn’t that Starr didn’t feel pain

anymore; it’s just she only felt severe painand injury, like when she was shot many

weeks back.

Starr caught a fist that was meant for

her face, and felt it break into pieces; she

grabbed the foot meant to cripple her kidney,

and raised it skyward, and watched the owner tumble back; she stepped aside, grabbed a

jabber by the elbow and tossed him into the

wall, and watched him bounce back, trip on

himself and fall to the ground; then she

ducked a side kick, and returned with a punch

to the stomach that, likely, stopped him from

ever breathing again.The remaining guys, realizing they

weren’t hurting Starr began to stand off as

they saw, one by one, their comrades’ fall.

Then, from the other side of the alley came

the guy they were beating up, moments ago,

and he’d brought back up.

A dozen guys ran at them; they all

exploded into fist fights all around Starr.

From down the street, Starr heard the

cops coming from a few blocks down. Her

hearing wasn’t superhuman, like Mica’s, but

it was still better than the average human’s.

“The cops are coming, guys, so you’d

better run!” and she took off herself.



“Hey,” the guy, who was ganged up

on, called to Starr. “Come on,” he waved ather.

She followed them down another

alley, two blocks over, and into an abandoned

warehouse of some sort.

“Hey, thanks,” he said, holding out

his hand to shake.“Not a problem. To tell the truth, I

needed that,” she replied with a note of

pleasure in her voice.

“Well you’re a bad ass. I can’t believe

how you fought. We watched you for a

moment, not that we’d let them hurt a girl but

we got all kinds of respect for you, girl. I’mBali,” he said enthusiastically. “This is my

crew.”

A dozen heads nodded at Starr, who

nodded back.

“We run the Eastside,” Bali

continued, “and we are in your debt.

Anything you need, anybody bothers, you,

you come to us, just tell them my name.”

“Well, I do have a little something,

but I don’t know if you can help me. How

long have you all been in this

neighborhood?”

“Most of us grew up here.”“Well, my sister was killed by a street

lord. All I know is his name is Frank Catrelli



and he lived on the seventh floor of the

Froger building on the eightieth. I’m sure hehad several businesses operating from his

apartment, if you know what I mean, and I

got an unfinished score to settle.”

“What did this guy look like?”

“He was about 6 foot, skinny with

large dark eyes, unshaven face, short buzzcut, looked like he was on something all the

time.”

The men mumbled amongst

themselves.

“We know what building you mean. It

was a bad place, made us look like angels.The place got busted, though, when they

found a dead girl, your sister? Maybe?”

Starr flinched at his words.

“Sorry,” he said regretfully, “I meant

no disrespect. All I can tell you is the place is

clean now. No more business.”

“Have you heard anything else? Like

maybe they moved, started anew somewhere

else?”

“You might want to check with Loco

Poco, on the upper East Side.”

“Who?”

“Loco Poco, Little Crazy, I’ll takeyou because he might not talk to a white girl,

and he ain’t scared of no fists either.”



Starr followed Bali out of the door and up the street.

“So where did you learn to fight like

that?”

“Uh… years of practice.”

“So how did your sister get mixed up

with those guys? Was she into partying?”“She thought she was in love with

that guy, Frank, but he treated her bad and

she didn’t walk away, like she should have.”

“How come the police don’t go after

him?”

“I don’t know. When I reported her

abduction, the officer just looked at me like Iwas just another cockroach from the sewer.

After that, I was determined to get her

myself, but I was too late.”

“I’m sorry for your loss, really I am. I

know where you’re coming from, though. I

lost my little cousin in a similar way: hanging

out with the wrong people. The cops don’t

care around here; everybody is scum here,

and they figure if we cancel each other out,

it’s less work for them. Here’s the place.”

They walked up to a dirty white house

with weeds growing up its side as well as

sticking out of the cracks of cement.Bali knocked on the door, and a fat,

middle aged tattooed man answered.



“Hardly Poco,” whispered Starr.

“Callate,” he said. “Man, who is this puta?”

They talked in Spanish but Starr was

able to catch some of what they were saying.

After a moment, Bali looked back at

her and said, “Well, my friend used to go to

that apartment, occasionally, to pick stuff up but they moved to Brooklyn, nearly a year

ago. Unfortunately, I can’t come with you

because I gotta be at work. If you can wait,

and I strongly advise you do because those

guys don’t play; if you wait, me and some of

my boys will go with you.”

“No,” said Starr. “Just give me theaddress or the neighborhood,” but as he was

about to protest, she added, “Look, I’m going

for blood. You and your boys don’t want to

be anywhere near me right now, unless you

want to go to jail for the rest of your lives.”

“Oh and you do? Want to go to jail?

Maybe you need to see a psychiatrist, my

friend. Vengeance is not always the answer,

your sister made her choice to be with a bad

man, to risk her life.”

“Maybe,” she said. “But I’ve been

waiting to have my revenge for too long. I rip

his heart from his chest and make him look atit while he dies.”



“Yeah, okay girl. You know, I

actually kind of believe you; you’re one scary puta.”



Over the Bridge

Chapter 3

The train rattled all the way to Brooklyn; a

dark woman with a bandana on her head gave

her a dirty look. Starr stared back,

unblinkingly, until she looked away. As shegot up, she caught her reflection and realized

that she was still wearing the bandana from

earlier. Perhaps the lady thought she was a

gangster.

After making sure the black spot, on

her forehead, had healed, she stuffed the bandana in her pocket and she walked off the

platform and into the neighborhood. The

smell of cars and factory fumes made her

nose twitch and her stomach convulse, so she

scanned, with her mind, the presence of all

the people around her but found nothing

familiar; just a bunch of people wanting to

get places quickly.

As she walked to the address Poco

had given her, Starr became exuberant at the

thought of finally getting her revenge. She

wondered if she would feel good while eating

his kidneys because, despite her kind’slimited emotional range, there were still

things that excited her, like the scent of fear.



When people feared her, it was like catnip to

a feline; her senses became peaked and sheinstinctively wanted to pursue them. Like a

mate arousing lust, so did the scent of fear, in

her.

What went so wrong?

She asked herself as she walked.

Why didn’t Meghan want to comehome? She’d had the best of everything, just like me.

Although trashy, Starr liked that

particular neighborhood because it had some

of the best butchers for a vampire’s appetite.

Seeing as she’d had a mild vamp out earlier,

Starr figured she’d better stop and eat so that

she could keep her focus while killing Frank.

She walked to Bustley Deli and

ordered an uncooked, uncongealed goat

blood pudding, and then she sat on the wall

outside, dipping her bread in the pudding and

drinking a coffee.

She thought about Levi and the other

vampires. They told her, a few weeks ago,that they’d be coming for her; that she’d

started a war, because she nearly killed him,



but that was after he tried to kill her friend,

Antony. Grant it, he was killing and stealingout of control, and Starr wound up putting

him down, herself, but she had every right to

protect her friends.

She sucked some of her pudding from

the casing, and a couple bits of black chunks

and sauce dribbled down her chin. Two kidswalking passed looked at her and ran,

screaming at the top of their lungs. Confused,

Starr turned to look in the window behind

her.

Normally the color of silver, her eyes

were iridescent, with specks of blue, green,

yellow, and even bits of red here and there,like a kaleidoscope. She opened her mouth

and saw that her teeth had extended, too; they

were smeared black with blood. Taking a

swig of her coffee, she swooshed it around,

rinsing most of it away.

No wonder those kids were scared, I turned while eating. The only thing that prevents this is eating blood, regularly.

She pulled out her sunglasses and put

them on.

When done, she continued toward the

address. Starr was sure glad she didn’t live in



that neighborhood. As she passed by one

house, she heard a girl getting beat by her guy. Starr didn’t know if she should go in

and stop him, or walk away. After stopping a

moment, she decided to mind her business.

Then, in a brown house on the corner, the

smell of death hung omnipotent in the air.

Using her inner eye, she saw there was a maninside the house. He was a drug dealer who’d

killed someone, fairly recently, and buried

the body in his basement.

No matter. I’m here for Frank, and Frank only.

Her phone rang.

“Starr,” said Marla.

“Yeah.”

“I got a call from Lily, just now. She

says they’re coming for you; that you should

get out of the city, now. Also, don’t worry

about her; she’s fine.”

“What? I’m not going anywhere. I

can’t! I haven’t got Frank yet. I’m so close.”

“Starr. We don’t know anything about

these people, except that they’re old and very

strong. Do you want to die?”“I’m sorry, but I gotta go,” and she

closed her phone.



She made it to the address that Pocohad given her, but no one was home, so she

trolled the neighborhood for a few hours,

hoping that Frank would return.

For many hours, nothing happened

inside the house, and no one came by. She

was getting more and more anxious; all shewanted was to hurt Frank to death.

Finally, she rested on a wall across

the street from the house and stared. A couple

police cars drove past her, each slowing and

looking at Starr through their driver’s side

window. After the third one passed, she

considered breaking into the house andwaiting, so that the cops would stop noticing

her.

Besides, it would be like just out of amovie: he opens the door, turns on the light,and see me sitting there on the couch.

She laughed to herself at the sight,

she imagined, of his face when he saw that

she had not died that night.

As she made to cross the street, she

got it: a scent, a something familiar to her, a

presence. But no one was in the house! Shespun around, sniffing the air in, deeply



inhaling and urging her inner eye to work

harder.She sensed the something familiar a

few blocks up the street: she walked fast

toward it. Turning left into an alley, she

immediately knew she’d made a mistake: it

was a trap.

“Hello Starr.”

It was Levi and several others who

she’d never met before.

her last days

Documents