Page 20 of Thorn Evermore
“This’ll help.” I open the baggie and pour most of the powder into my hand, tasting a bit of it. Good, clean shit. Nice. “Sniffy, sniffy, Carlton. Do a good job.”
Carlton nods. “Yeah. I need that.” He grips my hand, pressing his nose against my palm and snorting the powder up like a hoover.Damn, son. With his face covered in cocaine, he leans his head back against the wall, sniffing. “Fuck yeah.”
“Feeling better?”
He nods, licking his lips, but just a second later, he begins to twitch and convulse, still gripping my jacket. He bends forward, clutching his stomach as he retches and vomits bile. I step back, watching my work play out.
“Where… Who are you?” Carlton manages as he drops to his knees. “Need…” He wipes a hand over his face. “I don’t feel good.”
“It’ll be over soon,” I say, snorting my own line of coke. “This is good shit. Where’d you get it?”
“Admiral,” he whispers. Ah, the notorious mobster. “Want… more.”
“You sure?” I ask, kneeling in front of him. “Maybe you had too much.”
“No. More.”
I offer my palm and Carlton presses his nose into the powder, basically getting it all over his face. He begins to laugh, falling back on his ass. “I’m strong,” he murmurs, his voice raspy now. “I can handle it.”
“Except that I drained about three-quarters of your blood supply. Your heart won’t be able to take the increased pressure.” I cup his chin. “You’re going to die tonight, Carlton, and you fucking deserve it for exploiting young people.”
“Fuck you, man. You’re not god.”
“No, I’m not. I actually exist. This is your judgment day, and I’m your executioner. I sentence you to death.” I open his mouth and pour the remaining cocaine in. He chews it like food then swallows, still laughing like he’s enjoying himself.His eyes roll back as his body convulses, and the laughter falls away.
“What are you?”
“I’m a vampire, obviously.”
A panicked look takes over the swagger. I think he’s realizing he won’t pull through this time. Carlton grips my jacket as he falls back against the wall.
“Vam-pire…” He chokes, coughing and spitting up more bile.
I extricate myself from his grip, standing over him and watching him slowly and painfully die. Digging my phone out of my pocket, I shoot off a text to Yves letting him know where the evidence is so it can be destroyed should the client choose to.
Yves: Is it done?
Me: Almost. Watching him die. I chose overdose. Seemed fitting.”
Yves: Excellent.
Carlton coughs as blood gurgles from his mouth. His painful groans are music to my ears, but I’m getting bored now.
“Could you die already?”
I dig in his pockets, finding a few pills of some kind in a black baggie. Looks like molly to me.
“Perfect.”
I dump the three pills into his mouth and pour some absinthe in to wash it down. Carlton’s eyes go wide as he clutches his chest. I doubt the pills have kicked in yet, but they guarantee he won’t make it.
I place my hand over his heart, feeling it seize and stutter under my touch. Heart attack. Cardiac event brought on by an overdose. Perfect.
“I was having fun,” Carlton whispers, convulsing on the ground. “You ruined it.”
“Um, no, you ruined it. I just delivered the punishment.”
He scoffs a laugh. “Fair. Dickhead.”