Siege At Freaktown Ch. 20

Visiting the sewers was the last place the vampire couple wanted to be. Despite it being his idea, Carlos had to have a word with the local residents underground, who chose to live in the darkness rather than mingle with the rest of the town. Helena lifted the man hole cover, allowing Carlos to climb down first to get a whiff of the rotting old sewage he was all too familiar with.

"Vampires in the sewer," she said, putting the man hole cover back on, and climbing down the rusty old ladder. "It'd make one hell of a movie. Instead of vampires dying from the sun, they'll just drop dead from the smell of piss and shit."

"It'll be all right," said Carlos. "I hope."

"What do you mean you hope?"

"Oye, cocodrilos! Carlos Perez is in the house!"

"Hey, what do you mean you hope?"

"Let's just say the Crocs don't like me very much, all because I arrested one of their relatives. They hated me for that even though their loved one was a known criminal. They warned me just once that if I ever come down here again, they were going to eat me alive."

"So why all of a sudden you want their help? Why didn't you ask them before?"

"Because I was still a human, and now that I'm a vampire, they can't touch me."

"Why is that?"

"They don't like the taste of vampires; it makes them sick."

"I find that very offensive."

Vampires were basically reanimated corpses and their flesh, according to the Crocs, tasted like rotten old meat compared to the fresh taste of human flesh. The Crocs were a family of crocodile mutants with short tempers and big appetites. They looked and spoke like humans, but their bodies had the features of real crocodiles, all except for the big snouts. Their teeth were razor sharp, skin hard as stone, and tails that can snap a man in half.

"Oye, cocodrilos!" Carlos shouted again. "You on vacation? Come on out! We need to talk ahora!"

"You sure they want to talk to you?" Helena asked.

"They'll talk to me; they don't have a choice. These fuckers hate the sound of my voice. I'm not leaving until we talk! Come on out; I haven't got all night!"

"Are they even home?"

"They're home. They rarely go outside, and they don't like to be disturbed."

The Crocs valued their privacy with fear and brutality. They would rather be left alone than make any communication topside. It was their decision and had no intention of ever changing the lifestyle they so chose. A loud hissing sound caught the couple's attention, letting them know the local residents were nearby and fully awake.

"I told you they were home," said Carlos. "Now we need to see their faces. I want to see those pretty faces, and those sharp teeth! Come on out, mis preciosas!"

"You're nuts coming down here," said Helena.

"Yeah, maybe a little. Senor Carlos Perez wants a word with you! Cocodrillos, are you deaf? Stop what you're doing and get your asses over here. Come on out and shut me up."

One of them finally showed up blocking their path; the other made its appearance from behind. Helena's fangs immediately protracted and her eyes turned yellow, ready for some action if it came to that.

"Well, well," said the one standing before them, with arms crossed and fangs dripping saliva. "If it isn't the meat sack that warms my ever loving taste buds."

"Hel, stand down," said Carlos, alerting Helena to avoid any physical confrontation.

"What's with the vampire? Is she your bodyguard?"

"Helena, I like you to meet Lucifer, head of the Croc clan, and the fine gentleman behind us is his brother, Buzzy. It's been awhile, Lucy; you haven't aged a bit. Did you lose weight? You look kind of bony."

The young lieutenant referred to their eating habits, relying mostly on insects, vermin or whatever gets flushed down.

"You know it's funny," said Lucifer, "but I seemed to recall telling you that if I ever see your corpse again, I was going to eat you for arresting my uncle."

"You mean your uncle, the dirt bag," said Carlos.

"He was family."

"Who wanted to eat children, and I seemed to recall you disowned his ass for doing so. Now we can do this all night but we don't have time, so let's talk."

"You wanna talk? You wanna talk. The cop is in our home and he wants to talk to little ole me. I'm so flattered right now. Do you really think your vampire friend is going to protect you from me while we're talking? Or maybe your blood gave her a bad taste in her mouth and she's here to see you die horribly? Well, that's just fine by me."

"You need a hand?" Buzzy asked.

"I got this, little brother. If there's enough left, you'll get the rest."

Buzzy stood aside for big brother to do his thing. For some reason, Lucifer just stopped what he was about to do when a curious scent got his own nostrils' full attention. He sniffed all around, trying to locate exactly where it came from.

"Hold up," he said, "something's not right. No, something is wrong and I know my nostrils are working fine. What about you, little brother?"

Buzzy took a whiff himself and noticed that same curious odor that didn't feel right, making him feel sick just thinking about it. Lucifer slowly approached Carlos, sniffing every part of him top to bottom. The scent he discovered was unpleasant and bad enough to prevent him from salivating. Lucifer was quite familiar with Carlos' fresh scent in the past, but for some reason it was much different than the last time he dropped by for a visit.

"Something is really off," said Lucifer. "It's you. You don't smell like you; why is that?"

"You want to show him?" Helena asked.

"Show me what?"

Carlos showed off his new fangs and yellow eyes to him. Buzzy wanted to see for himself, and left disappointed of being denied what could have been a good meal. Even though he couldn't sink his teeth into Carlo's flesh now, Lucifer laughed about it rather than get upset.

"I'm glad you think it's funny," said Carlos.

"You believe this shit, little brother?" He said. "The big tough flesher, Mr. police man, has gone to the dark side. Well, fuck me; I never thought I'd lived to see that happen. You are one lucky bastard. Let me guess, she did it. You're her bitch now; is that how it works? She owns your ass forever?"

Carlos just let him have his laugh; getting it all out of his system before explaining his reason for dropping by.

"So, officer vampire," said Lucifer, "you came down here for what, to gloat?"

"No," said Carlos, changing back to himself, "I'm just here to give you a little proposition."

"Really? And what exactly are you proposing?"

"Fresh meat."

Both brothers laughed at his supposed proposition, assuming he was pulling their scaly legs. Carlos didn't find the matter funny until he told them what exactly was at stake.

"Fresh meat?" Said Lucifer. "You hear that, little brother? Are you serious now?"

"Very serious," said Helena. "You do know there's a war taking place above you, right?"

"War? What war? Is that what's going on up there? I thought it was just one loud party."

"It's not a party, it's an extinction."

"What extinction?"

"Ours."

The laughter died down and the two brothers paid close attention, even if it meant listening to Carlos himself.

"She's right," he said, "we're being wiped out by human terrorists."

"Fleshers invading this town?" Said Lucifer. "Not possible."

"Of course, you don't watch the news, but they are out there killing every one of us, and now they want to burn the town to the ground."

"So what? It doesn't concern me or my family. Why should any of us be worried about humans burning down Freaktown? We don't owe this town a damn thing."

"Maybe not, but those humans out there will find you and flush you out. They've infiltrated this town right behind our backs. They know how we live, how we breathe, and they are well aware the sewers are inhabited, so your family is not immune to what's in store for you."

"Is that a threat?"

"It's a warning. You want to continue living down here? That's fine with me. But unless you get your ass together, you're gonna have to find yourself a fresh swamp to call your new home."

Lucifer hated the idea of living elsewhere. His only option was to get himself and his family involved in a fight that did not concern him, even if it meant joining up with the one individual he hated the most. Buzzy found the idea of fresh meat tantalizing, and the growling in his stomach reminded him of what he missed dearly.

"You are damn lucky," said Lucifer, "so damn lucky. My family would have had one hell of a feast right about now. I would have had the pleasure of sucking the meat off your bones, and save your organs for dessert. Oh, that would have been so satisfying."

"Well, tonight," said Carlos, "you have an all you can eat buffet right above you, that would fill your stomach for months."

"You make it sound so tempting."

"It is if you think about it. What do you got to lose? You'll never get another opportunity like this."

Carlos gave them the locations of the battles taking place and where they would find all they needed to satisfy their appetites. The Crocs had not feasted on humans for some time and this was one opportunity Lucifer was not going to waste.

"Buzzy," he said, "tell the family we got plans tonight. We're going into town to get our grub on."