Tomorrow's Dead: The Julia Poe Vampire Chronicles (9 page)

Poe turned her back to the class.  She quickly donned her shoulder holster and coat
and began jogging away from the park. 

“Poe.  I’m going with you,” said Percy, running alongside the vampire killer. 

“Probably not a good idea.  I’m talking to vamps with deadly attitude.”

“Don’t care,” Percy said.  She was looking up at Poe with determination.

“Fine, kid,” Poe smiled then looked behind her shoulder.  Penny and Chops were running
right behind them.  “Keep an eye on the animals, alright?”

“Okay.”

They reached the Alexandria in a couple minutes.  That was one thing she loved about
Downtown – nearly every corner could be walked if you knew the grid.  “Alright, Percy. 
You need to stay out here.”  Poe weighed the machete in her right hand.  “No,” said
Percy.  “I’m coming along.”  With her chin in the air, Percy marched inside the Down
and Out followed by animals. 

“Damn kid,” cursed Poe.  The bar windows had been tarred to keep sunlight from crisping
standard-issue vampires.  The billiard tables were occupied by skinny, malnourished
folks who moved with unnatural speed.  Poe and Percy watched similarly emaciated vampires
casually puncture the skulls of three humans sitting on bar stools.  The undead stared
at Poe while they bit their tongues.  Like motor oil, blood leaked from their mouths
and dripped in the holes to the humans’ brains.  The humans fell on the ground a few
seconds later and suffered grotesque convulsions. 
First stage of becoming a vampire
, thought Poe. 
Good luck with that.

Poe laid a hand on the girl’s shoulder as they spotted Perla sitting in a red vinyl
booth with Sally.  “Keep behind me, Perce.  I’m not relenting this time.” 

The girl nodded.  Recognizing Sally as an enemy, Penny made a throaty growl.

“What can we do for you, Julia Poe?” asked Sally sarcastically.  Her smug look withered
when Poe brought down her warped machete on the table, cracking wood. 

“I’ve come to report that the three clumsy dead you sent to kill me are really dead
or dying as we speak.  And your Paul Bunyan halfdead disciple is pulped.”

Perla frowned with concern, setting down her mug of Plasmacore.  “It can’t be.  We
don’t do things like that here.”

“Sure about that, Perla?  Sally and her ugly friend tried to off me on my island. 
You had nothing to do with that?”

“They were sent to convey a message, that’s all,” said Perla, narrowing her eyes at
Sally.  “Whatever you think of our group, you know that I could never hurt you nor
order anyone to kill you.”

Poe’s dimples appeared as she pondered Perla’s answer.  She knew in her gut that Perla
wasn’t capable of hurting her.  No matter what had been said and done, Perla was still
protective of Poe.

“I believe you, Perla.  But somebody sent mercenaries after me.”  She bore her large
brown eyes at Sally.  “You have an inkling, Sally, of who that could be?  A Brawny
Man that had a white cross on his sleeve?  Three flying vamps?  For some odd reason
you guys have a knack for flying.”

Sally sat up straight and hissed.  “The halfdead acted on his own, but I haven’t done
anything behind Perla’s back.  She’s the leader of the Tunics.”  Again Poe believed
the vampire, but she couldn’t resist bumping Sally’s mug of Plasmacore with the edge
of her machete.  The clear liquid spilled all over the front of Sally’s jeans.  She
grinned as the vampire scrambled for some napkins.

“Oops,” said Poe in feigned surprise. 

“You bitch!”

“Thank you, ma’am,” Poe bowed, smiling.  “I believe you, Perla, because I know from
our brief history together you’re basically a good person.  I believe Sally, too. 
But if you tell me you have nothing to do with the nabbing of five leeches and a Nazi
vamp known as Syrus you were hunting weeks ago, then I’d say you are lying.”

Perla’s pale face turned even more pallid.  She was not resistant to the sun.  “That
will be everyone’s business tonight, Julia.  These issues will be resolved at the
assembly.  Other than that, I have nothing more to say to you.”

“Fair enough,” said Poe.  “I’m not Tunic police.  I’m not security like Michelle. 
Can’t wait to see what little drama you’ll be conjuring up tonight.  In the meantime,
my parting words to you are to leave me the fuck alone or I will blow up your goddamn
building.  Then you really will be down and out.”

When they left the hotel bar, Sainvire was waiting for them.  He was leaning against
a street sign, his hands crossed against his chest.  He looked like he was cold despite
the warm coat and the fact that he was dead.

“Percy, can you take the animals home?  I need to speak to Poe alone.”

“Yes, sir,” the girl answered in her  10-year-old child’s voice.  “C’mon guys.”  She
lightly slapped Penny’s rear end when the dog wouldn’t budge.  When the crew rounded
off 6
th
Street toward home, Sainvire scooped Poe into his arms and flew in the air. 

“What the hell!  Put me down, Sainvire,” Poe gritted.  “What’s wrong with you?”

“You’ve been taking too many risks in my opinion,” he said steadily.  He headed for
the Central Library and lowered both of them through the roof hole that used to be
topped with a tiled pyramid.  The once-impressive landmark had been Sainvire’s home
until the Council desecrated it.  “And this isn’t your fault.”

  He lowered her to the marble floor of the children’s wing.  They walked silently
to his old bedroom that used to contain impressive Art Deco furniture but now only
contained a mattress and a thick blanket on the ground. 
This must be his fortress of solitude.

“This is the first incident, Kaleb.  I’m surprised nothing more has happened to me,”
said Poe, throwing the ugly machete on the floor.

“Did you make that thing yourself?” asked Sainvire, his eyes staring at the malformed
sword.

“Yeah.”

“Figures,” he said.  He laughed without mirth.  “As long as it works then it’s fine
by me.”  He took a step toward Poe and stared into her eyes.  “I’m mucking this up,
Poe.  I don’t want you hurt.”

“Too late.  I’m going to get hurt all my life.  I figured that out a long time ago.”

“I don’t want you to get harmed on my watch again,” he said, tucking a tendril of
hair behind her ear.  Poe felt heat in her stomach as she stared up at the tall vampire. 

“It wasn’t your fault what Trench did to me.  You thought I was dead.”

“I should never have stopped looking.  Three months he tortured you,” whispered Sainvire
in her ear as if ashamed that the world would hear his heinous sins.

Poe brushed her hand across Sainvire’s face.  She traced the shell-like exterior of
his ear.  “I killed him, didn’t I?  And I lived even though he shot me in the heart.”

“You’re a wonder, Julia Poe.  You’re wreaking havoc in our city, and I think I like
it.”  He dipped his head lower to be able to kiss the woman he’d cared for most, but
Poe turned her head.  Honestly she loved Sainvire, but his cold tongue would conjure
up bitter memories of Quillon Trench. 

“I need to prepare for tonight.  Fly me back to the hotel?” she asked, avoiding Sainvire’s
wise eyes. 

“Of course.”

***

The assembly was akin to San Diego Comic-Con in her childhood days.  Folks were dressed
in their group uniforms like tunics emblazoned with crosses.  Farmers with long hair
and white linen shirts reminded Poe of the Beatles in their Maharishi kick.  The 600-person
capacity hall was bursting to accommodate over a thousand guests.  The humans who
had scarcely participated in past meetings attended in droves.  Though Julia Poe would
shut down the rumors, humans of all backgrounds came to the assembly to hear the mighty
woman promote her ideas on how to improve city conditions.  The fight at the park
brought the curious for they’d witnessed the fighter Julia Poe and found her to be
the real thing.

ODs or Old Dead hated for participating and partaking of slave blood during the reign
of terror stood in one corner.  When an assembly was called, they were expected to
appear and listen silently as the past was rehashed, and they were aware their crimes
on display could easily turn the crowd into a lynch mob.  That evening, however, the
vampire killer was in the room, and she was the same girl they had spoken to in their
pubs and homes about city matters.  Nothing would change, thought many, but at least
they were willing to hear Julia Poe out.

Many rallied around the custodians, usually of ethnic backgrounds.  Vampires had considered
their blood impure, so they were relegated to cooking and cleaning for human cattle. 
The custodians removed and carried dead humans to the incinerators.  The Downtown-based
custodians cared deeply about Poe who had promised to fly them out of Downtown and
kept her word.  At the assembly they wore red t-shirts to distinguish themselves from
the others.  Danby, a black man and an ex-attorney, headed the group.  He had met
Julia Poe in Gilroy a couple years back and thought highly of her.

Only two Ancients remained in the city.  These vampires were hundreds of years old,
and they looked it.  They had unmanicured walrus teeth that grew down to their chins. 
The Ancients had marble skin and violet eyes and were as strong as five vampires. 
The male called himself Kilbur while the female referred to herself as Stanza.  Both
vampires and humans didn’t quite know what to do with such horrendous looking beings.

The halfdead contingent wore yellow.  These were humans who hadn’t quite turned but
had the power of a weak vampire and were immune to sunlight.  They were politically
scattershot by nature.  Except for the halfdeads who sided with Sainvire and his cause,
they usually said nothing at the assemblies.  Rufus, a loyal friend to Sainvire, headed
the group.  Once a foe of Poe who had yanked off his ear in a “friendly” demonstration,
they had patched their differences after Rufus ate Poe’s severed earlobe in retribution.

The humans had the greatest turnout of the evening in their green shirts.  Many of
the women wore make-up and stylish wigs that sparked up their appearance.  The usually
laconic group, including those recovering from vampire bites with brittle bones and
weak constitutions, was bursting with energy and excitement. 

The different colored t-shirts were Joseph’s idea to distinguish each group from one
another.  The American Apparel warehouse was in Downtown Los Angeles, and its clothing
stock made it easier to accommodate each group with style.  Those like Joseph, Morales,
Habib, Maclemar, Passionada, and Sainvire who preferred to be apolitical wore regular
clothes or suits. 

Poe dressed in Kevlar over a black long-sleeve shirt and black jeans.  While pacing
her messy hotel room, she sheathed her wrist knives.  The meticulously furnished room
had clothes strung carelessly around the bed and floor.  She wasn’t usually such a
slob, but she couldn’t find decent clothes to wear.  She looked down and decided she
must’ve double-knotted her Chucks. 

A knock sounded, and Poe nearly threw up her dinner.  She hadn’t memorized her crib
sheet because she realized she was bad at committing anything other than names and
maps to memory.  She opened the door and found a grinning Maclemar wearing a dapper
James Bond suit that was fitted nicely over his respectable physique.  Downtown Los
Angeles once had a suit district, fabric district, and even a bead district, so suits
weren’t too hard to come by.  “Ready, my star?”

“Heck no!”  Poe turned back to pick up her shoulder holster holding two Colt .45s. 
Mumbling angrily, she secured it.

“Ach, sharren.  A tornado blasted through your room, did it?”

“Shut it, Maclemar!  I’m in dire straits.  I can’t memorize what I’m supposed to recommend
tonight.”

“Wing it then.  You’re good at that.”  The man began to massage her shoulders.

“Piece of shit.  That feels good.  Wish you could massage me while I’m at the podium.” 
To which Maclemar said, “Easily done, beauty.”  Maclemar had become a great friend
to her.  She was aware of his feelings toward her, and his attention made her feel
nice.  She’d be going back to Catalina in a few weeks, and he’d be the only person
to visit her.  “Make sure to use neutral words like folks, beings, community.  We
want the entire t-shirt rainbow to buy in.”

“Good idea.  You truly look handsome, Maclemar,” she said, tugging his black tie. 
“Take me out on a date after I get pelted by eggs?”

“It would be my pleasure.  We’ll eat omelets for dinner. ” He walked her down to the
hall.

A Tunic who sounded awfully like Sally was speaking.  “We’re wasting our rations and
manpower on leeches that raped us, prepared our blood for vampires, and burned our
bodies with their cigarettes and drug paraphernalia.  Our platform tonight is to finally
set a date of execution for these inhuman bastards.”  The crowd cheered.  Killing
leeches was a popular platform.

Poe, who was hiding behind the red velvet curtains, surveyed the crowd before her. 
Many of the humans, including Michelle who was standing at the other end of the stage,
were applauding.  Michelle abhorred leeches, and Poe still believed that her friend
had helped Sally bust out the prisoners.  She sighed, thinking about her lack of speaking
skills, and wondered what happened to the five leeches and the vampire that Sally
and her Tunics had kidnapped.

Morales, looking dapper as always was the moderator of the evening.  He wore a designer
suit just like Maclemar. 
Only the best for Morales
, Poe thought.  “Okay, Sally.  You’ll have time to talk some more about the execution
of leeches if Perla grants you her minutes.  In the meantime, it’s time to hear from
the woman I personally saw shoot down Council members and their minions with an old
clunker rifle.  For those of you who escaped using the subway tunnels four years ago,
you wouldn’t have made it without the help and protection of this woman.  And how
can we forget about the time our friend defeated the city’s master vampires, rescued
custodians, and laid her life on the line to give us the chance to start over in peace?”