The Blue Lady - Part IV

Part III -- Part V

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Loud banging pulled Cal from her sleep. It took her a minute to realize it was someone knocking on the basement door. Only a few people other than Cal and Lucas had keys to the house, and none of them would let themselves in if it wasn’t important.

“What is it?”

“I need your help Callie.” Jill’s voice sounded strained.

Cal grabbed her bathrobe from the floor and threw it on. It was just past four in the afternoon according to the clock next to the bed. That explained why Lucas didn’t wake up, it was hard to rouse him during the day. Opening the door she was greeted by Jill’s round, bright red, face. Her shoulder length blonde hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she still wire her state police uniform.

The Blue Lady - Part III

Part II  --  Part IV

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Cal jerked awake in a cold sweat. She had fallen asleep curled up on the couch with her head in Lucas’ lap. Tears ran down her face and she was still shaking. Lucas ran his fingers through her hair to comfort her, he didn’t need to ask what the nightmare had been.

“You didn’t scream this time.” His voice was soft.

Cal nodded, at least that was progress she supposed. Lucas tried to give her what support he could over the past six months. He didn’t really understand what she was going through or how she felt. He hadn’t been human in so long he didn’t feel things the same way and he no longer dreamt.

The nightmares were a regular occurrence. The memories of the banshee replayed in her mind nearly every time she slept. It had driven home how dangerous the work she did for the Guardians could be. She’d see the battle with the banshee, the pieces that had once been the three teenagers it had killed, Lucas’ chest in ribbons as he collapsed onto the ground, the look on his face at the hospital as they gave her blood transfusions. It hadn’t really been his fault he’d taken too much that night and almost killed her. Neither of them had realized just how much blood she had already lost to the magic.

The Blue Lady - Part II

Part I  --  Part III

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He was stretched out on the king size bed in the large basement room they’d converted into their bedroom. All cool darks and lights, pale skin and dark brown hair, against the deep red comforter. Lucas was a couple inches taller than Cal, thin almost to the point of bony. She have described him as willowy if he didn’t exude such a sense of strength, not surprising considering the fact she’s seen him throw a guy twice his size a good thirty feet. Cal always thought he looked different when he slept though, even with the complete stillness he looked more human to her. It oddly felt wrong to think of his like that, he was far from human and she wouldn’t want that to change.

Sitting next to his motionless body Cal ran her wounded fingertip across his lips. He didn’t open his eyes or make any move other than smiling and gently lick the trace of blood away with his pale pink tongue. Cal pulled her hand away and replaced it with her own lips.

The Blue Lady on Kindle

If you are impatient and don't want to wait for a new part each week you can get all of The Blue Lady for Kindle. I'm not trying to make lots of money off this so it's just $0.99 from Amazon.

Edit: I've also put it up on Smashwords so you can get it in more formats.

The Blue Lady - Part I

Introduction -- Part II

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Pale swirling lines wound their way across light bronze skin, even more noticeable than they had been just a few weeks earlier. It was only April but Calliope Bránán already had the start of the tan that would darken into a deep golden brown later in the summer. Most people assumed the subtle patterns were simply body art but the scars were much more than that, they were spell glyphs. She had dozens of them carved into her arms. A shortcut for her magic. Her blood pressed onto the right combination of symbols while focusing on the spell would cast it. She had turned her body into a spellbook over the years. There were of course spells that were too complex or rarely used to make it onto her arms but everything she used most was there.

The spell she was preparing for today was one she used frequently. In fact it was one of the first she had ever learned and the very first she had thought to add permanently to her body: a finding spell.

The Blue Lady - Introduction

My short story the Blue Lady is now finished and I've worked up the courage to post it here. I have to thank my friends who proofread and critiqued the story, their help and encouragement was invaluable. Starting on Monday, May 5, I'll be posting a new part of the story every week and it will run for 8 weeks. Now on to a brief introduction to the world I've created for the Blue Lady and other stories that are in the works.

The Blue Lady and the other stories that will feature Cal and Lucas take place in a world where magic, vampires, and other supernatural beings exist. It's otherwise just like our own, most people go about their lives thinking such things only exist in fiction (a sort of psychological SEP field*). Sometimes that isn't possible and someone has to fix it.

*Somebody Else's Problem Field, see Life, the Universe, and Everything by Douglas Adams.