Excerpt
The Vampire’s Witch
Damian Serbu © 2021
All Rights Reserved
One: Dusk
19 April 2010
Chicago, Illinois
Even after three years, living in a big city still creeped Jaret Bachmann out. He hated his fear of dark corners and alleys, not to mention his concern about getting beat up as a gay guy. Straight guys, no matter how peaceful they looked, worried him. In broad daylight, he felt more secure as long as he watched where he went, kept his head up, and stayed in populated areas. And he loved living in the Rogers Park neighborhood. Being in a metropolitan area was so much better for him than small town Colorado. Still, he only had a little light available before the sun went down tonight.
He giggled at himself to release some tension. His mind went to some weird place about the sun setting, like a vampire might jump out and attack him. As if.
Heading out to meet his best friend, Brady, Jaret relaxed once he got to the path along Lake Michigan. He passed several joggers, almost got hit by a bike, and meandered his way south. He contemplated taking the “L” but had plenty of time to walk. The spring weather warmed up Chicago, still a comfortable seventy degrees, even as the sun slowly descended in the west. The weather was perfect. Besides, he could always use the exercise.
Jaret felt safer and got his iPod out to search for music. He loved Lady Gaga; why not a little monster love? Or Train’s latest CD rocked. Still, he paused at “Relax” and grinned. That song totally kicked ass. Totally. And, he hadn’t listened to much of his favorite singer’s first album in a long time. If he loved Lady Gaga, then words couldn’t describe his adoration for Mika.
He popped in his earbuds and picked up his pace. He even danced a little, despite being in public and seeing the few passersby glancing his way as if he’d gone insane.
The path grew darker with the setting sun and the trees lining both sides of the trail. This dance mix steeled Jaret’s nerves. He wiggled his butt, jumped to the side, and smiled at a little old lady and her dog as they walked by.
A few yards later, he was alone. He fretted a little but cranked the music to ignore the world around him. To comfort himself, he reached into his pocket and rubbed the ruby necklace he always brought along for protection. All the Bachmann heirloom jewels empowered his witchcraft and kept him safe, and he loved the beautiful rubies most of all. In a pinch, he could always use his magic to ward anyone off. He’d never had to use his ability to defend himself, except from ghosts, but knew he could if needed. Being a witch had its advantages.
Jaret almost missed the group of four guys sitting off to the side, watching the lake or something. He slowed when he glimpsed a bright-red shirt and thought of his boyfriend, Steve. He’d seen Steve earlier in the day, wearing this totally hot red T-shirt that clung to his chest and showed off his gorgeous biceps. He couldn’t remember the shirt exactly, though he thought it had a University of Nebraska logo on the front.
Jaret lurched to a stop when he bumped into someone. “Uh, oh. Sorry. I didn’t see you.” He glanced up to see another guy with a pretty big belly, yet tons of muscle, not to mention a wicked scowl.
The guy yanked out Jaret’s earbuds and glared down at him. “Fuckin’ fairy. Watch where you’re walkin’.”
“Sorry,” Jaret barely whispered and started shaking. He’d heard about gay bashings but had never experienced one. In fact, he had never been in a fight. He could see this dude meant him harm by the way he loomed over him.
Jaret reached into his pocket for the necklace. His shaking hands got the better of him, and his finger got stuck in the little coin pocket instead.
Growing more afraid, Jaret stepped to the side to continue until the guy moved with him and blocked his way. Jaret stared at the familiar logo of Northwestern football on the purple T-shirt. He often saw the very shirt on Steve. This guy was enormous. Not good.
His heart racing, Jaret scanned for anyone nearby watching. He spotted the group of four guys out of the corner of his eye. Any chance for help evaporated when two of them moved closer, and he saw they, too, wore Northwestern football gear.
One of them grinned and clapped. “Caught yourself a little fag, Mikey? What you gonna do with him?”
Mikey laughed and crossed his bazooka-sized forearms over his chest. Then he reached down and petted Jaret on the head like a dog. Jaret had little time to act to protect himself. There was no time to get the necklace out. He shot to the side to move around the asshole, but the guy put out his leg and tripped Jaret. He sprawled onto the path, skinning his elbow.
Jaret’s heart pounded as fear almost overwhelmed him.
Instead of jumping to his feet, he fumbled into his pocket again to get the ruby necklace out. If anything, he could cause a diversion to pull their attention away from him while he ran. He raised the rubies into the air but fumbled with the necklace, tossing the jewelry a few feet away when he tripped.
The big fat guy hovered above him, snarling. Three of his buddies from across the way started toward Jaret, laughing and pointing. Though he reminded Jaret of Steve, that was where the similarity ended. This guy was muscular and angry-looking.
Jaret tried to find the necklace but Red Shirt Guy stood in his way. He sensed the gems nearby and rolled to the side to find them, but another huge leg blocked him from going farther.
His heart pounding in terror, Jaret heard nothing the four said as they laughed and sneered. He hardly saw them moving as he lay on the ground. He tried to summon the necklace back to him but could not concentrate on a spell or command. The necklace lay mocking him a few feet away. He was frozen with indecision due to fear, anger—and rage.
Where the fuck were all the people? Millions of people in fucking Chicago and no one on the main path along the lake this evening?
Jaret started to come to his senses when all four guys towered over him. “Maybe he needs a yellow shower,” one hooted.
Fuck their masculine football bullshit. Jaret felt the tingling in his legs and arms as he called forth magic to protect himself. Too late, though. His delay had given his enemies too much time.
One of them stepped behind Jaret and pinned his arms to the ground as he thrashed his legs around and kicked another one in the shin. They laughed as the big guy he’d run into smacked him upside the head.
Jaret prepared himself for the beating of a lifetime. To his surprise, the huge beast instead snatched his iPod, while two others held him to the ground—one on his arms, the other on his legs.
“You can let the fairy up. I got payment for disrespecting me.”
“Hold up.” Another one, whom Jaret had barely noticed, looked down at him. “I think he needs to apologize. Don’t you, Bill?”
Bill smiled and nodded. “Yep. Ditto, Kellen.”
“What about you, Mason?” Bill shouted back. “You think he needs to apologize?”
“I did,” Jaret said. He relaxed his muscles. He would never win a physical confrontation, couldn’t reach the necklace, and so could only try to negotiate his way out of this mess.
Kellen knelt over and grabbed Jaret’s chin in one hand, then shook his head back and forth. “Don’t get mouthy. Or I’ll be the one giving you a yellow shower. You need to mean it, little guy.”
Red Shirt Guy moved closer to the side but still kept his distance.
“What ya think, Mason? Yellow shower? Apology?”
Mikey had moved to where the guys had sat off to the side of the path earlier. He was now playing with Jaret’s iPod and ignoring the chaos he’d instigated. Another one of the men moved away, too, after kicking dirt in Jaret’s face. Now Bill continued to hold Jaret, with Mason standing to the side.
“I think sorry’ll do.” Mason looked at both of his buddies, while never even glancing at Jaret. Was he apprehensive about their actions? “You don’t want to show him your cock, cuz he’d like a stiff one.”
Kellen and Bill laughed loudly, too loudly, in the fake-jock, we-are-hilarious way when no one else in the world found their joke funny. Who among them really wanted to see Kellen’s dick?
Bill laughed so hard some of his spit landed on Jaret’s face. Again, Jaret peered around to see if anyone approached on the path to help him. Nothing.
“I’m sorry. Really.” Lame. They would never go for his whining supplications.
Kellen reached for Jaret’s wallet. He opened the billfold and, one item at a time, threw the contents on the ground after pocketing the cash.
“Please let me go.” Outwardly, Jaret sounded deferential. Inwardly, he seethed at all of them, at his own helplessness, and perhaps most of all at straight-man macho bullshit. Not to mention the fact he had a necklace that could have gotten him out of this mess if he’d acted more decisively. What good were witch powers if he fucked up using them?
“One more thing, pretty boy.” Kellen stood up and unzipped his pants to howls of laughter from the others. Even Mason let out a chuckle though his face had turned bright red.
“I ain’t afraid of his liking my meat. Giving him a little thrill as payment for the cash won’t hurt. He probably wants a bit of my love juice.”
Jaret squeezed his eyes shut and pressed his lips together, determined to live through the humiliation so he could injure them all with his own powers when they released him.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Out of nowhere, Jaret heard a male voice from behind Bill. He took a second to place the accent. British. Had a British bobby come to save him?
Jaret opened his eyes to see Kellen zip his pants and punch a fist into his other hand. The guys holding Jaret down glanced up nervously. Mason, the coward of the county, sprinted down the path with Mikey in tow.
Great, the awful and depressing Kenny Rogers song sprang into Jaret’s head. He had come pretty close to becoming his own version of poor Becky, the woman who gets raped by the Gatlin Brothers, prompting her husband, previously known as a coward, to go kick some ass in the local bar. Fucking awful anyone ever thought to commit the story to a song. Country music was so fucked up. No, fucked up was contemplating country music when three jocks and a British intruder prepared to duke out their differences with me sprawled on the ground.
Get a grip. He closed his eyes again, unsure what else to do, and heard scuffling. Someone still held onto him, so he decided not to move.
Jaret opened his eyes when the last dude released him and he heard shouting. At first, he assumed the three guys had turned their attention to this new person. His eyes deceived him. Kellen was hanging about twenty feet in the air from a branch. His pants were gone—underwear too. Bill suffered the same fate on the other side of the path. What the fuck?
Out of the corner of his eye, Jaret noticed the nameless one struggling against a very muscular man with long blond hair.
Time to get the fuck out of there. Jaret scrambled to his feet, commanded the necklace to return to him, and dashed down the path. Thank goodness he ran every morning with his dog, Darth, so he had enough speed and stamina to get far away. He dropped onto the grass and drew in a deep breath.
“You okay?” A kind-looking woman stopped her own jog.
“Yeah, fine.” Jaret hardly wanted to explain his predicament to a complete stranger.
She nodded, but seemed unconvinced. Jaret grinned and lay back on the ground to ignore her. Thankfully, she moved on, away from him and in the opposite direction from the shitheads who attacked him.
He still had his phone; somehow they missed stealing it. With shaking hands he texted Brady he was running late.
He took an inventory of himself to see if he could even go out without running home to change. He needed a washroom to scrub off his face and clean his bleeding arm. His clothes were dirty but could probably pass in the darkened bars.
Jaret brushed off his shirt and thought about just going home. But the thought of hanging out alone and rehashing this awful scene over and over held no appeal. He needed to stay out and get away from his thoughts, lose himself with other people or risk spiraling into madness and fear.
Besides, he really had no desire to head back north and end up in a tree without his pants. Except they stole his wallet and ID. Frozen with inaction again, he wondered if the guy who saved him was still there so he could get his billfold.
Shit. He had to get a grip. No way those guys were as high up in the tree as he assumed. Not unless the guy who saved him knew magic or something. That made a little sense, at least. If Jaret had a full complement of the family jewels, he could have sent them all into trees and commanded the gems to de-pants the guys too.
Did another witch come to his rescue?
He laughed. Nope. Must have been a vampire, what with the sun setting and all.
MARYANN KAFKA –
Jaret Bachmann left his family home in small town of Fremont, Nebraska. He comes from a long line of witches and warlocks that have been murdered by his great-great-grandfather, spirit Henrik. Jaret keeps a ruby necklace with him at all times for protection. All the Bachmann jewels empowered witchcraft and safety. Jaret being a warlock did the brave thing with his powers. He captured the spirit Henrik and locked it away forever. He moved to the Chicago with his long time boyfriend, Steve. Someone he thought he would be with forever. But Steve has changed, as he is closeted and even more now, want’s to drag Jaret back into the closet. Steve only cares about football and the team and only spends time with Jaret when it’s to his benefit. Jaret is tired of being humiliated and is ready to be done with Steve. For Jaret being in the big city helps him feel free as a gay man, he may have to be careful but it was better than living in a small town. He still has fears of dark corners and alleys and most of all gay bashing. He’s attending college with a History major and plans on going to graduate school. He’s very close to his sister Jenn and keeps in touch with her constantly. His lovable companion is Darth, who keeps a smile on his face through thick and thin. Brady is his best friend and they care about each other. They go clubbing together and have fun. They both have a long time dream to attend a Mika concert, Jaret is one of the biggest fans of Mika.
On his way to meet Brady for a night of fun, Jaret walks through the park. He spots a group of guys wearing Northwestern shirts and he’s sure they are members of the football team. He’s sure to steer clear of them. Fiddling with his iPod he accidentally bumps into someone and from there things don’t go so well. He is attacked by the group of football players. The attack happens so fast that Jaret can’t get a handle on his magic. When one of them is about to do the most disgusting thing to him, he hears a voice. What he sees in the tree is unbelievable and he takes off running.
The voice has no problem finding the exhausted Jaret. Anthony is absolutely stunning and he has come to check that Jaret is all right. He returns his iPod, wallet and helps Jaret to get cleaned up. They talk for a long time about the attack and Jaret states it was because he’s gay. Anthony admits he’s gay also. Even though Jaret likes Anthony he and his ruby are very suspicious. But Jaret can’t resist spending time with Anthony.
As a relationship grows between Anthony and Jaret everything seems right. But then Anthony with old baggage and his belief in the Vampire Counsel rules devastate Jaret. Even with the support of Xavier and Thomas, Jaret’s life get’s turned upside again. With the breakup, Steve became cruel, a stalker and stole a very dangerous iron box from Jaret. If it couldn’t get any worse for Jaret, he faces the most heinous nightmare of all. How much more can Jaret take before he reaches the point of no return?
Damian Serbu does some very nice world building for vampires, witches and spirits, who live in a human world. The author brings out the feelings and how vampires think about the old laws of the Vampire Counsel. Anthony interprets the belief, that vampires and witches could not be coupled, as the power would be to dangerous. He lives in the past and never sees the gray areas. So many heart breaking moments for Jaret to the point he will protect his heart by not caring about anyone anymore. He never want’s to feel the hurt again. The devastation has him dealing with depression.
I really liked Jaret he always tried to be positive and it was sad when things went bad for him. I loved his dog Darth, he was just what Jaret needed for support. Brady was a good friend to Jaret too. They had so much in common and had fun together. I had issues with Anthony and I loved how Thomas and Xavier weren’t afraid to address the issues that Anthony kept defending. Thomas, Xavier, Catherine and Henrietta had the smarts to reform the Council and it took the total responsibility away from Anthony. As hard as Xavier and Thomas tried they barely got Anthony out of the past. Michel and Anne were interesting characters, too.
On the whole, I liked this story. It gave a new look to vampires living in the year 2010 to 2013 and they have just the same problems humans do. All the characters have their own identifying personalities and issues which makes the novel even more interesting.
“The Vampires Witch” is the third book of the “Realm of the Vampire Council” series and I highly suggest starting from the beginning with: “The Vampire’s Angel” and “The Vampire’s Quest”. For me, I’m going to read book five, “The Vampire’s War” and see what Damian Serbu has all planned out for Anthony and Jaret as they move forward in time.