Monday Mashup | Paranormal

Old Wounds

An eye for an eye.

“So guess who I heard’s back in town?”

“Who?”

“Oliver Grimsby, the Eye Collector himself. You may remember him as the rat bastard who did this to me,” Rosalie motioned towards the scarred-over socket where her left eye used to be. That was still better than what he did to her girlfriend. He’d only gouged out one of Rosalie’s eyes. In Elena’s case, he’d taken both of them.

Lucy’d heard stories about the Eye Collector. Turned late in life, he was a vampire that looked like a reedy, white-haired old man. Appearances never mattered with the undead, as any hunter who crossed paths with the Eye Collector learned quickly enough. He’d left a trail of dead and disfigured hunters behind him, taking one or both eyes as trophies.

Rosalie and Elena had been lucky enough to survive, but the scars would always remain with them.

“Also as it turns out, it was his pet werewolf that killed Niall. It’s only right to pay him back in kind. He’ll only be here for the next week or so, so if we’re going to do this, we have to do it now.”

“Niall only died six days ago, Rosie,” Lucy said wearily. “I’m really not in the mood to go hunting right no — “

“And I’ve been waiting for six years,” Rosalie snapped. “Every day, every damn day all but ticking off boxes on the calendar, waiting to pay him back for what he did to me. What he did to Elena. You owe it to us,” she said. “And you damn well owe it to Niall.”

The image of the younger hunter laying bloody and lifeless on the pavement was still fresh in Lucy’s mind. She’d killed the werewolf, but now with the knowledge of who had sent it, she couldn’t really consider things settled until he was dealt with. Plus, she knew her cousin. Rosalie would be going after Grimsby with or without her, so it was better if she went along with it.

Couldn’t lose two people close to her within the week.

“I’ll need a stake. But since I don’t have any hawthorn handy right now,” Lucy went to the closet and retrieved an old baseball bat, scuffed with use. “Ash will have to do.”

Vampires, as much as they tried to maintain that they were more than human, still held on to many of their mortal pleasures. Whether it be hobbies or vices, the undead liked to indulge just as much — if not more — than the mortals they fancied themselves above. In Grimsby’s case, he’d always enjoyed fine cigars. Though it wasn’t quite the same as when he’d been alive, he still smoked them on the regular.

That habit was the crux of Rosalie’s plan.

Like all powerful vampires, Grimsby had a network of allies, contacts, and various other hangers-on, some undead and some not. The two of them knew full well that he had werewolves in his employ, and more than a few humans. He knew Rosalie by sight, but Lucy? Not so much. It’d be Lucy who ventured into his home with an armful of gifts, posing as a sycophant.

“Say you work for Theo. The bastard doesn’t know that he’s turned on him in his absence, even if it’s more for his own gain and not really for any greater good,” Rosalie shrugged. “But to be honest, I’d rather deal with him than that eye-gouging creep. At least he’s still a living, breathing human. He’s providing most of what we need for this ruse, incidentally. Including this.”

From her bag she produced an elegant cigar box. “Grimsby won’t be able to resist. He does love a good cigar.”

“Are we really sinking to the exploding cigar trick?” Lucy asked dryly.

“Of course not!”

“Good. Because that’d be really stupi — ”

“It’s the box that explodes.”

Rosalie tapped the lid with a feral grin. “I’ve keyed a spell to the box. Once that crusty old leech opens it, he’s going to get something other than some Arturo Fuentes.”

“And you think that’ll finish him off?”

“If it doesn’t, that’s what we’ve got the stake for. One way or another, the Eye Collector dies tonight.”

Lucy walked down the hall to the Eye Collector’s study, trying to ignore the jars displayed proudly on shelves and in curio cabinets. Hundreds of eyes stared back at her, torn from the skulls of hundreds of hunters. Somewhere among those were Rosalie and Elena’s. Hopefully, they wouldn’t include hers by the end of the night.

Even without the eyes, the place was awful. It was so damn cold, for one thing. She knew he was undead, but it was like he hadn’t heard of heat. He had living staff, so you’d think he’d want it for their benefit if nothing else, but maybe not. Leeches with empathy for humans were far and few between, and usually quite young.

Something gently squeezed her shoulder, as if to reassure her. Given that Rosie wasn’t with Lucy, but was instead waiting to teleport in when her spell went off, she knew it wasn’t her.

Maybe it’s just my nerves.

At the end of the interminably long hall she stood before the man himself, seated behind an elegant mahogany desk. He looked for all intents and purposes like a harmless old man, frail with a thick head of snowy white hair and wire-rimmed spectacles. She knew better though. If anything, the dagger on display right there was a reminder of what he really was.

“Haven’t seen you before,” he remarked.

“I’m new,” she lied. “Just started working for Theo a few weeks ago.”

“Is that so? Well then, let me formally welcome you to the family, Miss…?”

“Adrienne.”

He nodded. “Adrienne. Lovely name, same as my daughter’s.”

Lucy could feel him probing at her mind, but she made sure to keep everything Rosalie had told her about Theo to the forefront, along with some mundane details like wondering what she should pick up at the store, a recipe she wanted to try, a list of chores she had to do, and how much she wished she brought a jacket. He wouldn’t have any reason to dig further if he thought she was harmless.

“I’ll have the heat turned up a bit. Admittedly, it is chilly in here tonight.”

“Thank you very much, Mr. Grimsby,” she said, and it wasn’t entirely an act. Making it a bit warmer in here wouldn’t kill either of them. Placing the bundle of gifts on the sofa, she smiled. “Theo had me bring these over. Sort of a ‘welcome back’ present, he said.”

The old man nodded with satisfaction, examining the gifts until he came to the cigar box. “Your employer knows just how to butter me up, doesn’t he? I’d invite you to partake, but I doubt a young lady like yourself is a cigar smoker.”

Lucy shook her head. “No. But feel free to indulge, Mr. Grimsby. I hope you enjoy them.”

The moment he lifted the lid, there was a bright flash and a burst of flame. Just like Rosalie said it would, the spell went off as soon as the box was opened, charring the vampire’s face. He howled in pain, tossing the flaming box away just as there was another bright flash right near her, and a presence that wasn’t there before. Unlike that nebulous something though, Rosalie was very real.

“Don’t like it when someone takes out one of your eyes, do you?” she sneered.

The Eye Collector glared at them with his one good eye, the other scorched seemingly beyond repair. “I’ll have your other eye yet,” he growled, pulling the dagger from its display. “Along with both of hers.”

“Gimme my sword, Rosie,” Lucy said, extending a hand. “Now.”

No sooner than she grabbed it the vampire charged with murderous intent, too fast for her to react. Before he could sink the blade into Lucy’s eye, someone wrapped their arms around her, pulling her back out of danger. Probably Rosalie using magic; she’d done similar things before with a spell she called the ‘phantom hand’. Making a mental note to thank her cousin later she deflected his wild, angry swings, waiting for an opening.

His next strike went wide. Maybe it was his injured eye, or maybe his physical age mattered more than she thought, but the vampire stumbled and fell. Seizing the opportunity, Rosalie made a sharp gesture and shackled him to the floor with magical chains. He cursed and struggled, but the chains held firm.

Rosalie handed the stake, carved from the handle of that old baseball bat, to Lucy. “Go on, finish him off. I’ll keep him restrained.”

Lucy glared down at the struggling monster pinned to the ground by Rosalie’s spell. “An eye for an eye. And a life for a life.”

The improvised stake came down.

This falls smack-dab in between Just One Mistake and The Haunting of Lucy Lombardi. Thanks to Jonathon Sawyer for the prompt, and Bradan Writes Stories for challenging me!

Points Time!
Main theme (2 pts) Prompt #2, An old enemy returns in the form of Oliver
Grimsby, the Eye Collector. 

Constraints (1 pt each)
-A baseball bat (1 pt) Mmm, white ashwood. Good for vamp slaying. 
-An improvised weapon (1 pt) The stake made *from* the baseball bat!
-A calendar with days Xed out (1 pt) Implied. SIX YEARS, LUCY.
-Introduce a character that's permanently blind, deaf or mute. (1 pt) Elena,
Rosie's girlfriend.

Hardcore Constraint (2 pts)
-A box that explodes (2 pts) Thanks to Rosalie's magic.

Literary device, Hero's Journey (5 pts)
Lucy's call to adventure is the slaying of the Eye Collector, which she's
not feeling due to Niall's death, but a healthy dose of guilt from Rosie
sets her on her way. Getting close to Grimsby without dying (and
also killing him) is the main trial.
Some supernatural assistance from her cousin (as well as
someone a little more ghostly) helps her complete that goal. 

Tally box (1 pt)

That's 14 for me!