Page 2 of Tethered Fates

Have I ever had fun?

“We fought side by side, we’re practically brothers,” he answers with a smirk. “I want to give you a gift that’ll allow us to travel the world and see its wonders. You’ll forever fuck your soft-souled men, and drink and fight. How does that sound?”

I shake my head, lips quirking up. “So I’ve stumbled upon a fool who can fight, huh?”

“A fool, maybe.” His canines elongate into fangs that glint as keenly in the moonlight as his freshly cleaned blade. “But it’s all true.”

A cloud of shocked air leaves me as I ready my katana. “What are you? An Oni? Some kind of spirit?”

Vidar pounds his chest. “Flesh and blood like you, friend. You can take my offer, or you can stay here, and I’ll find another samurai.”

“I’m not a samurai anymore,” I shoot back. As if it even matters now.

“Even more reason to come and see the world with me. Only a few years ago, I lived in a small village like yours. Now I get to meet a man who looks like you, and you get to meet a man who looks like me. Just think of all the new wonders we can discover.”

I keep my guard up, that nearly dead curiosity in my soul rising, and after a beat, I lower my weapon and wonder if I’m a bigger fool than this stranger. Vidar seems to understand. Perhaps warriors like us will always be able to understand each other.

“Do you have coin?” My voice comes out steady, even as my pulse thrums.

He nods.

“Give it to the last of the villagers. That’ll be my last act as their protector. Then show me this world.”

Vidar grins, dry leaves crunching underfoot as he stops before me. “What’s your name?”

I meet the unusual grey of his gaze as if it were a challenge; perhaps I should be scared. But all I feel is unabashed excitement. What would those who tried to kill my curiosity think of me now?

“Kurosawa Sen,” I reply, because they’re all dead, and for once, I intend to live.

As the night darkens, and blood flows from my pierced throat, and into Vidar’s hungry mouth, for once I’m not bored by the prospect of what’ll happen when I wake.

“Welcome to the Haraldsson Vampire family, Kurosawa Sen.”

Chapter One - Teagan

The arm of the headless body I’m dragging drops to the dirty ground with a clatter.

“Oops.”

Propping the mannequin’s torso against the wall, I hop back a step to retrieve her limb, wincing at the distinctive crack when I force the joint back into her shoulder.

“Good as new, Erica. Kind of.”

Once Erica’s back to her normal headless self, I examine the wall I’m turning into a canvas. It’s a long, wide patchwork of stone, like all the other walls in this guttered shopping centre, and while it used to be a brilliant white, it’s now a washed-out grey.

“Landscape.” I nod once, certain. “It just makes sense, right?”

Crouching, I rummage through my salvaged pile of mannequin parts.

“At uni, my professor told us art is about putting a piece of yourself into the world, and allowing people to take something away from it.” I pull out five heads with matted hair and arrange them around Erica. “Now, anyone who pops by can get ‘ahead’.”

I snort at my stupid joke.

“What do you think about…” I tilt my head from side to side. “An apocalyptic nightmare with zombies hobbling around? Or…”

My grin grows.

“A volcano smoking a joint.”