Shadow of a Doubt by Hunter Blain

Author:Hunter Blain [Blain, Hunter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Argento Publishing
Published: 2019-11-26T00:00:00+00:00

I closed my eyes and it’s 1965 in Indonesia. I’m standing on a riverbank in the city of Surabaya. The river is clogged with hundreds of bloated bodies with varying degrees of mutilation. Some have gashes in their throats from ear to ear, while others are missing their heads entirely.

I stare at the carnage with a mixture of emotions. The military were not biased by age or sex. Men, women, and children bob in the rushing waters, their lives taken because of politics. My mind flashes with images of my father on the ground, a knife sticking out of his bleeding thigh.

Disgust fills my heart as I make my way down the riverbank toward the source of the massacre. The bodies have stopped coming, signaling that the executions are over, but the night is young and more people are going to die tonight; I’m going to make sure of it.

After a few hours, I come to a bridge on the edge of a town that is covered in thick, viscous blood that has begun drying. The air smells metallic, even to me, as all the life energy in the blood has dissipated, leaving behind dead, useless liquid. Following the path through the layer of blood, I see hundreds of crimson footprints in the sand leading to a nearby building. I begin to approach as a voice comes from behind.

“Hello, Jonathan,” a cultured British voice says.

I stop midstride and roll my eyes as I begin to turn around while saying in my native Irish tongue, “It’s jus’ John.” With how much a pale white guy with a reddish beard stands out in Indonesia, there is no reason to mimic the local dialect in an effort to blend in.

I’m met with a faerie that is floating at eye level a few feet from where I’m standing. I don’t know what to say.

“What do you plan on doing inside there?” the five-inch faerie asks.

“Kill ’em all,” I respond coldly. My face is scrunched in confusion as I await the purpose of this visit.

“Why?”

“Who the hell are ya, pix?” I demand, crossing my arms.

“A friend,” the faerie responds, ignoring my crude label.

I wait for him to continue before figuring out that is all I’m going to get for now. “The shite’s killed innocents an’ must be stopped ’fore they hurt more.”

“Haven’t you, yourself, caused innumerable harm to mortals all around the world?”

Anger flares as I uncross my arms and take a step forward to point directly at his smug little face. “Y’know me, faerie?”

“The vampire who sought revenge for his murdered family,” the faerie answers confidently.

His knowledge of me is disarming, and I let my hand drop. At that moment, I couldn’t explain why, but I trusted him. “I wan’ to protect the innocent.”

“Because you couldn’t protect your father, and your mother?”

When he says the word “mother,” I begin to see red; I struggle to keep my rage in check until I know why this faerie is here and how he knows me.

“Aye,” I admit slowly, controlling my emotions.

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