The Writing Desk

The Price

Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiantnever taste death but once. Of all the wonders that I have yetheard, It seems to me most strange that men should fear,Seeing that death, a necessary end, Will come when it come.- - - - William Shakespeare “Julius Caesar”

“Hey Mac, how is it going?”

“Not bad Officer, not bad. But you know, those new gangs, they’ve really been cutting into our business here. You know how it is? Ain’t good for business and ain’t good fur all you know?”

“Yeah Mac, I know. Ain’t able to do much about it though” With a tired nod Officer Murphy smiles gently at his friend, long time stooge and gang member. They had both grown up on this same neighbourhood, that’s why he got the beat. It was his neighbourhood, his street and the people were his. He knew the alleyways and the corner shops and he knew the names of all these people. And sure, sometimes he turned his eyes from the drug dealers on the corner and the prostitute under the lamplight, but you had to. This wasn’t the movies, this was real life and you had to compromise to make sure everything ran smoothly. In a perfect world… but this wasn’t a perfect world. Not by far.

“Do you know anything about this new gang Mac? They sure have taken a lot of ground these few days, I hear they’re bringing others in yet I ain’t even got a name from them yet.”

“Yeah I got a name, I heard” dropping his voice “they call themselves Sabbat. Don’t ask me why, I just overheard little Angelo say that he heard one of them calling themselves that whilst he was trying to sleep in that box of his under the stairs”

This illicits another nod before Murphy frowns, turning his head quickly at a scream. He drops the cigarette, his hand moving to the butt of his gun as he turns to Mac “Call it in Mac will you? That sounded like Jill.”

Murphy’s already running by the time Mac gives a nod, down the street, the gun in his hand now. He turns around the corner, expecting to find a client who’s gotten too rough or maybe a mugger who didn’t know the rules of the game. He never expected to find what he did.

Officer Patrick Murphy, 4 years on the force already and still young enough to be walking the beat. But he’s not that young, he’s grown up on these streets all his life and he isn’t at all new to the way things work. Wife get beaten, women get raped, children are whaled upon by husbands and wives and the occasional death happens, but this was out of his experience. For staring up at him, a hand gripping Jill by the waist and another by the head was a man with fangs. Fangs that were a moment ago buried in Jills throat, the blood still seeping anew from the wounds.

“Fu...” Recovering himself he drops into an open legged stance, the gun resting in a two handed grip on the butt of his gun. And even though he knows it shouldn’t, the feel of cold metal in the palm of his hands is comforting, it tells him that he’s control of this situation. “Freeze. Police.”
The grin that the thing gives him chills Murphy to his bones, sending a shiver up his spine and for a moment he wonders if this isn’t just a gang member with some strange dental caps, if he isn’t actually a vampire. But just as fast, he dismisses that thought, forcing it away. A gang member he could deal with, a vampire – well, they didn’t exist and anyway, this guy was black not Transylvanian (however they were meant to look).

“Alright, now let the girl go. And raise your hands above your head” His hands tremble, ever so slightly as he points the gun at the mans head, trying to get a clean shot. And damn, if the guy doesn’t let the girl go – though he does just toss her to the side so damn hard he can hear the impact as she hits the wall. But he doesn’t raise his hands at the hand, instead he chuckles at him.

“What we have here? Damn, a sheep with a gun. Shoot me then, come on. Right here.” Reaching forwards he grabs hold of his shirt, pulling it down and baring his breast for him to shoot as he strides forward, black eyes flickering over Murphy with irritation.

“Stop right there. I said stop. Stop or I’ll shoot” Desperately trying to control his voice, to keep it commanding and level, Officer Murphy aims the gun again at the mans chest, adjusting his grip. And all the while, in his mind he is swearing, never having shot a man before. This guy is nuts, he’s nuts. But he knows also that he has to shoot him, he can’t let him get too close. Shit.

“Come on then, shoot me. Come on.”

“Freeze. Stop right there. I’m warning you, I’ll shoot. I’ll shoot. Stop right there.”

“Well, come on. Do it”

“Shit...” That’s it, he can’t let him come any closer. The trigger is pulled once, twice. And he watches or thinks he watches the bullets leave the gun to hit the man in the chest, to enter them and he watches, so slowly as the man stumbles backwards, blood appearing. And then time kicks back in, and the man stand sup straighter, looking at Officer Murphy with a smile on his
face. A full, fanged smile. And he brushes his chest, chuckling.

“Mmm… that hurt. That really hurt. I think I’ll die. Oh wait, I’m already dead.” Laughing the vampire looks at his opponent again before suddenly lunging forward, his hands going for Officer Murphy’s throat. “No….” Stumbling back the Officer opens fire, trying to kill that thing. Again and again he pulls the trigger at point blank range, trying to hurt it, kill it. And then the thing slams into him, ripping at him, tearing at him. He screams, pulling the trigger again and again till it clicks empty and only then does he realise that the creature has stopped moving. He lets out a slow breath, one filled with pain as he slowly crawls away from under the body.

The whimpering comes to him, from the corner as the girl who he has saved cries out. He tries to turn to her, the effort perhaps the hardest thing he has ever done. Yes, she is alright. She’s alive. Well, she’ll be fine. In the distance he can hear the sirens coming, the sounds of the ambulance on its way along with police cars. They’re coming, to save her, she’ll be fine. He tries to smile at her to tell her its okay, but it’s a bit too much and slowly, slowly he can feel himself drift away. It doesn’t matter, not now. The creature is down, she’s safe. He’s done his duty, everything will be alright.

posted by Tired @ 9:55 PM