Tainted Blood

Deep in the bowels of the Hall of Make-Believe, the souls of forgotten superheros, fairy tales, and imaginary friends gathered dust.  The oldest souls hung heavy on their fishing hooks, their seams struggling to stay together.  

Shoved far, far behind Egyptian deities and the husks of dinosaurs, a nightmare soul was kept under large chains and half a dozen padlocks.  Every few years, the new hired help blew the dust from the box and rattled the heavy metal, pondering the secrets held within.  Trying to set the secrets free, to discover the past world the government refused to let them learn about.  Usually, they were caught before the soul woke.  Usually, no damage was done--the Earth kept turning, oblivious and naive. People lived their lives apart, segregated and unknowing.

The bolt cutter twanged in the silence and Allison licked her lips.  Tugging the chains from their resting place, she drew a deep breath as the soul shuddered beneath her hands, cold and dark seeping across her skin.

Flipping the lid, Allison fell to her knees on the concrete.  Shadows stole through the room, slipping around the other souls with soft, rasping breaths.  The soul stretched, hungry and on-guard.  The human didn't smell well--a sick, cloying perfume hung around her. Her voice shaking, Allison raised her head, clasping her hands in her lap.  "Master.  I pledge myself to you.  I am yours for eternity. I will do--"

But she didn't finish.  With a snarl, the soul claimed her, fangs sinking deep--once, twice, what feels like a thousand times.  "You, stupid child, have done plenty enough." Curling his lip in disgust, he shook his head, trying to rid the taste of her from his throat. Food was food, no matter what it smelled like--but this food tasted rank. Poisoned.   "What," he murmured, "have they done to the world?"

-----

In a dark, dank street corner coffee shop, cockroaches and small mice lay strewn across the checkerboard-tile floor.  Abandoned cobwebs crept across the vaulted ceiling, shadows cloaking the peeling wallpaper.  What used to smell of vanilla and fresh-baked scones now reeked of disinterest and mothballs.

Years ago, couples flocked to this shop on cold, blustery days for hot chocolate, espressos, and abstract poetry.  They held hands over the tabletops, candlelight flickering across their eyes--a dance of lies and entrapment. Sometimes, they parted ways on the street. More often than not, the herb put in every drink found them leaving together--for houses, a hotel room, an alleyway. The coffee shop had run on deceit, hormones, and drugs. Those relationships failed, the initial rush dying with the morning's harsh light. The system worked--customers always returned for more.

But that was all before, when liking the opposite sex was still allowed.  Before relationships were taken underground. Before love was punishable by public hanging. Now, humans were bred in a lab beneath microscopes and watchful eyes. The sexes were kept separate at all times--they even had different work schedules, to avoid bumping into one another on the streets. Any breach of protocol was considered a serious offense. This didn't happen often. Death was quick when it did.

Deep in the shop, buried beneath neglect and dust, porcelain coffee cups clinked, breaking the silence.  Metal rings--some gold, some silver, others with intricate stone details--tinkled like piano keys across the glasses, filling them. A lone black widow, hungry and hunting, curled her legs around a wedding band and hoisted herself back to her web, the ring in tow.  A dragonfly-shaped diamond glinted as a stray sliver of sun caught it, casting a glare over the shop's windows. 

In the middle of the faded, grimy floor, a trapdoor--long forgotten--clicked open.  Spirals of color seeped across the wood paneling of the counters, igniting a flame of rainbows on the paisley-print walls. Coughing, a man emerged, his suit a bright, garish flamingo pink and a little black book held in his hand.  A puckered bow and arrow adorned the book's cover, the last remaining symbol of his former life. Plucking a wedding band from the now over-flowing coffee cups with distaste in his eyes, Cupid gave a loud sigh and looked around.  "Seems I have work to do."

Straightening his black tie and swiping his fingers against his pants, he stepped from the coffee shop. A smirk, half-hidden by shadows cast across his face from the shop's weather-worn canopy, pulled at his lips. The world lived in black and white. Colors--the devil's temptation--were outlawed the same day love was.

Cupid's job changed that day. No longer did he shoot poison arrows at unsuspecting victims in the name of love and happiness and an eternity spent together. It wasn't allowed. No. He was different, now. Children whispered his name at night, shivering in their beds. He was a nightmare story told to keep people in line--and he took his job seriously.

He'd gotten the call late last night. Earth was crumpling again, love sweeping the underground networks like wildfire. They needed him to stop it. Sighing, Cupid opened his book and ran a long-nailed finger down the page. Emil and Emily. He grimaced--cutesy couple names had always bothered him.

Snapping his fingers, blossoms of pink and purple swirled around his feet. He blinked, and the underground network shimmered around him, a trail of dancing lights leading toward the heart of the tunnels. Clucking his tongue, he swept his eyes over the couples lurking in the shadows. "Disgusting."

They paid him no mind as he strolled toward his first mark--the two who had started it all. He'd take them out first, make an example of them. He was looking forward to this.

-----

Malokai grunted, thrusting the woman away from him. Millions of people in the city, but very few good enough to eat. He'd been sweeping the streets for hours, pulling bodies into the shadows and sending them underground. It all came down to love, he'd discovered.  The world was banned from caring for others--it was too dangerous. Their emotions--if they had any--were diluted beneath drugs and fear of death. The problem was, emotions sweetened the blood. Made it complex. Gave it spice.

Grabbing the dazed woman by the arms, Malokai glared at her, baring his fangs. His eyes dilated, his pupils shifting--turning almost 3D. Prisms of color flecked them, a sky of stars trapped in jars. "Damnit, woman. You're pretty, but your blood sucks. Follow the tunnels. Find a man. Fix this!"

She stumbled away from him, her eyes glazed and unfocused, the words rolling off her tongue like a mantra. "Follow the tunnels. Find a man. Fix this." Her brain would clear once she reached the underground world. Until then, she would be robotic, a puppet controlled by his strings. Malokai grimaced, hating what the world had come to. That stupid little girl should have just left him be. Feeding wasn't fun anymore; it was a chore. His irises flattened, melting back to circles.

Adjusting the sleeves of his black button-down shirt and tugging at his pink tie, he trailed the street again, searching for rank meat to convert and hoard. He frowned, considering the irony of the situation. Vampires would suicide before they'd fix the world's problems, yet here he was, playing the good guy. Malokai was the first--and the last--of his kind. The burden weighed heavy on his shoulders, keeping him from seeking death himself.

Pain slashed through his skull and he stumbled, roaring into the night. He had every rancid meat sack in the tunnels stored like tea lights in his brain. Two of those lights blinked once, twice... and went out.

Someone--he didn't know who--was killing his food. And he didn't like it. Shifting direction, Malokai streaked toward the tunnels, praying he didn't get there too late.

-----

Cupid grinned. The couple was easy enough to find, wrapped around each other in the center of the tunnels, oblivious to the other humans surrounding them. They were so enthralled with touching, and caressing, and kissing--Cupid shuddered, a shiver shaking his spine, as he considered the diseases that lurked, unseen, in saliva--they hadn't even blinked when he'd snuffed them out, drying the blood in their veins. Stilling their hearts with just a thought.

He glanced at his book. Thick black lines snaked across the page, scuffing out two names. Emil and Emily. Too cute for their own damned good, he thought. Too cute... and too dangerous. Whistling under his breath, he ran a finger down the page again, looking for another pair. Constance and Clare. He shook his head--he'd never understood same-sex attractions. What did they get out of those relationships? A lot of drama. A broken heart. A lot of cold, lonely nights spent defending their lifestyle. A mess, in the end, to clean up and try to forget about.  It didn't seem worth it.

Blinking lights lit up like a trail before him again and he followed, a slight bounce in his step. He was fixing the world. Love was a worthless, stupid emotion. He didn't know what he ever saw in that career--this one was so much more lucrative.  In the years since love was outlawed, he'd even learned how to avoid making a mess of his suits when he found someone to get rid of.  Drain the bodies of blood first, and they didn't explode so much as just disappear.

A shadow slithered across the floor in front of him and Cupid stopped, surprised. A low growl seeped through the air--a warning.

"Cupid. I guess I should have known--the whole world's gone cockeyed, after all.  I wonder, though--how do you cope with the mess afterwards?"

The angel laughed, tilting his head. It was a voice he'd know anywhere. "Malokai. How did you ever get out of that box I crafted so lovingly for you?"

"You were so busy rolling in the riches of your spoils, you stopped watching the humans.  You forgot something."

"Oh? What's that?"

"They're nosy, snooping bastards." Baring his fangs, Malokai jumped at him, the motion rusty from lack of blood and so many years confined. 

Cupid sidestepped, clucking his tongue. "Malokai, Malokai, Malokai. You don't learn, do you?"

"You've ruined the world, Cupid. That's not okay with me." He glanced at his fingernails, watching them grow--sharp, deadly spears at least a foot long. Holding them before his face, he scraped them through the air, smiling at Cupid through the slits.

"No, dear friend. LOVE ruined the world.  I just tainted your food source." He opened his book again, glancing through the names. The vampire had only gathered a handful of couples, really--it wouldn't take much effort to snuff them all out and get on with his day. Snapping the book closed, he stepped closer to Malokai, another smirk tugging at his mouth. "I think you've forgotten your place, demon."

Malokai quirked an eyebrow, reaching out with one clawed hand to latch onto Cupid's lapel. The fabric rustled beneath his grasp, tearing. The vampire laughed, his rank breath seeping across Cupid's face. "No, I don't think I have." Jerking the angel forward, Malokai bared his fangs again, leaning in for the kill.

Focusing on the souls glimmering far beneath the city's sidewalks, Cupid blinked.  The tunnels exploded, light seeping into every corner. Lives snuffed out like birthday candles. The pain in Malokai's head was unbearable. Letting go of the angel, he grasped his skull between both hands, yowling as the fresh, untainted blood disappeared like fog after a storm.  All his hard work was lost in an instant.

Cupid giggled. The world was right once more. Humming, he skipped from the tunnels, sealing them behind him with a flourish of his hand. "Love," he spat between breaths, "really doesn't fix the world."