Hex and the Single Witch (Vehicle City Vampires) Read Free Page B

hangouts. Between the colleges
and the vampires, downtown Flint was being revitalized. Too bad it didn’t reach
the outskirts of the small city.
    As soon as I
crossed out of U of M’s reach Saginaw Street went downhill fast. University signs
gave way to graffiti, boarded up buildings and other symbols of urban decay.
Combined with the thickening fog, the sight appeared straight out of a horror
movie—at least that was what my overactive imagination said.
    Driving through
the hood wouldn’t make my mood any lighter. Especially with the fog swirling
across the streets in creepy patches. Once I passed under the last set of
Vehicle City arches, fog completely coated the outer areas of Flint.
    I thought about
turning back and taking the freeway but was already halfway home. I could
handle a little bit of fog.
    Right?
    Maybe not.
    The dark and
foggy outer city gave an impression of sleeping, but it did not rest. I saw
human forms wandering the streets passing in and out of the fog even though it
was after three o’clock in the morning. They looked human but I knew most of
them were non-human predators prowling and stalking prey. Many creatures
preferred the cover of darkness and roamed these sad streets without need to
stay hidden in the shadows. Discontent hung in the air as thick as the fog. The
economic and spiritual unease of the area invited negativity and plenty of
demonic beings who fed off despair and hopelessness. Demons probably out there
right now…in the darkness and fog.
    I became
thoroughly creeped out by taking the ‘scenic’ route home. Not that I feared the
area, but the fog hid things I didn’t want to encounter. Normally I seemed to
be in a protective bubble when it came to Others. Witch blood was not exactly a
delicacy; in fact, it gave many demons a severe case of indigestion. Adding my
dad’s reputation to the mix kept me safe as well, even though he’d been gone
for years.
    He had been a
Tremaine, a warrior from a long line of not-to-be-messed-with warriors. As a
witch I followed my mother’s matriarchal lineage and took the last name of her
people, Rose, but I was still a Tremaine. They all knew it.
    I drove as fast
as I dared and soon the ghetto gave way to bigger, better kept pieces of
property with the occasional cornfield or scattered piece of farmland lingering
among the subdivisions and suburban sprawl. The farms were remnants left over
from another time. Some fields and barns remained in use while others held old
and rusty farm equipment not moved in decades. The fog thinned out in country.
Thank goddess. I was tired of straining my eyes to catch sight of anything
creepy lurking in the swirling mists.
    I pulled into my
driveway and walked up to my small house that sat on the last remaining acre
owned by my family, the only piece of my grandfather I had. The man had died
before I was born. My grandfather once owned over a hundred acres of land in
this area but over the years my grandmother had to sell off parcels of it. I
held onto the house even though the neighborhood was quickly going downhill.
    I unlocked the
door, stepped in tossing my keys onto the table, and strode into my bedroom
where I flopped across the bed exhausted. Images of the beautiful woman and a
faceless vampire flashed through my head as soon as I lay down. I could still
feel him inside me…her. Awful the way she died…but what a way to go.
    Geesh, I was
disgusted by my rebellious libido. Perhaps if I had a playmate my libido
wouldn’t be so aroused by things that shouldn’t be arousing. It’d been too long
since a boyfriend, and I’d gotten to the point where just about anything made
me licentious.
    I gave up on
fighting the need and slid open my nightstand drawer.
     
    Chapter 3
     
    Sunlight glared
through the window, mocking me. I’d gotten so distracted last night I forgot to
close the curtains.
    Rolling over, I
stretched and tried to get out of the light, but it wasn’t working. I glanced
at the clock, 9:00