Kilthalia
“<On other news, Greed, the rock singer, has been canned.>”
Negaduck nearly choked on his food. “WHAT!!!??”
“<Her manager, William Belingger, has stated, ‘Her getting up in age into middle age has caused her voice to become rasp and horse. She no longer has talent’.”
“This is bull!! She’s a wonderful singer!!”
Gosalyn leans to look through the doorway and quietly says, “What’s the matter Lord Negaduck?”
“They canned Greed!! I can’t believe this!! I’m gonna kick whose ever ass that’s responsible for this outrage!!” He gets up.
“You going now?”
“No time like the present. Don’t expect to see me again tonight.” He said as he donned his fedora. And left.
“be careful,”
He takes off, disobeying every traffic law, gritting his teeth, and getting angrier just thinking about what happened. He’s such a big fan of Greed you could consider him obsessive. He goes to her studio and runs down the door with his bike.
“Sorry, we’re closed! No one can enter!” Says Greed’s manager, his back turned to Negs. He never even looked to see who entered. Negs thinks, “Snobbish asshole” He whips out his Colt .45 (unregistered, of course). Benningger turns around slowly like the snob that he is. “Excuse me, but…” He shuts up as Negaduck smoothly presses the barrel or his gun to the pig’s temple. Negaduck growls, his teeth clenched, “Why’d you can Greed!?”
Benningger is so stunned he can’t think, so Negs asks another question. “Where IS she?!” he says, applying more pressure with the gun to the man’s head.
Benningger stutters, “S, she’s in h, her apa…apa…”
“Apartment?”
“Y, yeah. Thanks,”
“Sure,” Negaduck hits Benningger over the head with the butt of his gun and the pig gracefully falls to the floor with a clomp.
“Moron,” Negaduck hisses, replacing his Colt in his chest pocket of his jacket. He walks to his vehicle, backs it up and zooms out of the studio lot. He’ll have no problem’s locating her apartment. He’s been there many a time. Ok, ok, so he was covert about it. No one ever new, not even Greed herself.
Negaduck had taken the liberty to stealing a black rose for her, fully knowing that was her favorite flower. He knocked on her door and after a bit Greed flung open the door. Negaduck was face to face with the biggest multi-purpose gun he’d ever seen. His eyes widened, impressed with all the stuff that was on it. Then he saw her small physique with this propped up on her shoulder.
When she realized who it was the put it aside. “Oh,”
“Nice gun.”
“I know,” after a second of silence she says, “Come in,”
Negaduck walked in and she shut the door and went to put her gun away. As she came back he handed her the rose.”
“Ooh, you have taste,” she commented.
“I know,” After she out it in her hair Negaduck said, “You know, when I heard the news I was appalled.”
“A fan?”
“A big fan.”
“he didn’t fire me because of my voice. He fired me cause I won’t sleep with him,”
“That bastard! I should have killed him when I had the chance!!”
“That’s kind of you, but I think death would be too quick.”
“Too true. Hmm. Shall we go torture him?”
“Yes, but first, won’t you come have dinner with me?”
“It would be ‘hellish bliss’,” he quoted from one of her songs.
Negs looked around with his shifty eyes, as they ate and noticed the gothic décor of her apartment and loved it. “I absolutely love what you’ve done with the place,”
“Thanks. If my mother was alive to see me, she’d kill herself,”
“Christian extremist?”
“Yep. How’s the food?”
“Great Goulash. You get your recipe from the Macabre's?”
“Nope. Came up with it myself,”
“I never would have guessed,”
“Greed the homemaker doesn’t fit my persona, right?”
“exactly.” He thought a minute. “So tell me, Melanie, in your song Forever Young, are you talking about vampires? It seems so, but I could be wrong,”
“well, I made it to be more like…you.”
“Oh really!?” he said surprised.
“I bet no matter how aged you get on the outside, you’ll always be Negaduck on the inside, forever rambunctious and full of energy.”
“Well thank you,”
they gave each other alluring looks and the competition lasted a good long while as they ate, grinning evilly before the phone rang.
Melanie complained, “Damn it!” she rolled her eyes and got up to snatch the phone from it’s hook. “What??!! I’m having dinner!!”
“<with who? I saw him enter your apartment.>”
“Look Derek I HATE you and I never want you to call ever again!!”
“<is he better in bed than I am? That’s it, isn’t it?>”
“What?! I wouldn’t know!!”
“<sure you wouldn’t. just like you wouldn’t with all the others.>”
Negaduck could see that Melanie was irritated with whomever was on the other end and he thought about helping her. She continued, “Look! I’m just…”
Derek cut her off in his always-calm monotone voice, “<I wore a cape for you, you know. Is it the hat? The mask? Easily enough done. Colors; you know I like the Goth. Whatever you ask I will do.>”
“Derek! It’s too late for you!! I LOST all faith in you!!”
“<but not I in you, my love. The only thing that will separate us is death.>”
“Derek….You wouldn’t…”
Now Negaduck saw worry in his idol’s eyes. “What’s wrong?” he whispered. “Is he threatening you??!”
She covered up the mouthpiece to speak with her guest. “Not…” Derek spoke, “<I hear him… is my voice not as deep? My eyes not evil enough? Ah. I see. You have a thing for the mortal Prince of Lies… How quaint. This matter will be sorted out soon enough…”
“DEREK!!!” He hung up on her. “SHIT!! Negs! He’s coming after you!!!”
“A jealous boyfriend? HA! I can take care of him!”
“No! You don’t understand! You can’t!”
“ ‘I can’t’? I’m Negaduck.”
“It doesn’t matter if you were god himself! He’s coming after you!! He’ll KILL you!!”
“Kill me? I’d like to see him try.”
“Believe me. He can and he will!”
“He thinks he’s me or something?”
“No…just… Wait a minute… he SAW you come in! He’s HERE!! He’s here right now!! You gotta run!! Hide…something!! I had other guys I was seeing at the same time I was seeing him and he… I never saw them again after Derek was done with them…”
“Oh… Very well then. Umm…ya got an escape ladder er something?”
“Not the ladder, he can easily get you out there…”
“Sshh…” he silenced Melanie and then pointed to the window in the kitchen and waved goodbye. Negaduck went to it, opened it and snuck out. He climbed to the roof but as he hung on to the ledge a shadow was cast over him. Negaduck looked up to see the silhouette of a longhaired, trench coat wearing duck against the full moon. Startled, Negaduck let his grip slip and down he plummeted. Not more than a second and Negaduck stopped his descent, the shadowy duck above had him by his cape and easily lifted him up so they were beak to beak.
Staring into each other’s eyes, Negaduck silently unsheathed a blade and swiftly cut the arm that was holding him up. Derek withdrew and gripped at his arms, growling, as Negaduck ran from his fate.
Sliding to the street via drainpipe was the fastest way to escape as he landed on his bike and took off to the streets. It was then, racing down streets and alleys that Negaduck looked down at the glass for the meters and saw gruesome pictures drawn in blood on them. His eyes widened, concentrating on the primal drawings when a horn was blaring at him. Negaduck looked up and saw two trucks headed straight for him!! With barely time to think, Negaduck swerved into an alley. He stopped and rested his heart, laying his bill on the handlebars. It was then that he smelled something and turned around to see the skull decorating his bike gleaming in blood. “GAAA!!!” he screamed, startled.
Negaduck was about to drive away when he turned to see Derek in front of his vehicle. “Where do you think you’re going?” the taller of the two said, in a resonating voice; echoing down the alley. It really creeped out Negaduck how it rang in his ears like music.
Desperate to get away, Negaduck gunned it backwards and made a quick turn to back up the street until the intersection came up when he stopped and took off in the right direction. Behind him Negaduck heard horns blaring, screeching tires and crashes of cars. He turned to see Derek in the middle of it all.
“Damn! How is this guy so fast??!!” then it hit him…or rather Derek did. There was Derek, as he landed on the moving vehicle right behind Negaduck. Public Enemy Number 2 screamed as he looked into those creepy calm eyes. He stopped short, flinging Derek off and then sped hurriedly through the network of alleyways and back streets.
“Now…where was I before he interrupted me? oh…umm…” no sooner than Negs though of Derek that once again Derek was there. However Negs had worked up such a nice speed by now that he was sure he’d wiz right by him. Well…the bike did…but Derek grabbed Negaduck by his jacket and snatched the duck off his moving vehicle.
“Wh…what do you want with me??!!” Negaduck demanded, desperately.
Derek said nothing but ran his claws of black along Negaduck’s bill. He seemed to be either contemplating how to torture him or was just examining him. The demonous duck ,Derek inhaled deeply taking in Negaduck’s cologne and then let go. Negaduck backed to the wall and saw Derek still mesmerized by himself. It was Negs’s chance to make a break for it.
He turned and ran in the opposite direction as fast as his legs could go, terrified by this…this…vampire! “Vampire?! I’m being hunted by a vampire??!! I’m dead…” Negs stopped and waited for his fate.
Derek slowly walked up and upon reaching Negaduck, laid a hand on the yellow-jacketed shoulder.
“You’ve come to kill me and suck the life outta me?” Negaduck surmised.
“No…”
Negaduck looked up at Derek to see him looking back down at him. He gave the taller duck a puzzled look.
“I’m here to offer you the chance of a lifetime…or multiple lifetimes…”
“You want to…” Negaduck faded out his thought.
“You going to meet Melanie was my plan all along. It was I whom got her into the music business and I whom made the lyrics in her songs. I could never catch up with you as you went about the city for years causing chaos. But Melanie was my chance to get you where I wanted you. I knew you would appreciate my mind, and what I have experienced, as you too have those same thoughts. Now…do you want to be forever eternal?”
“What’s my other option?”
“You will die and I will carry your mind and your blood as long as I live. Possibly I could take over after you,”
“Death and un-death, huh? Eh, doesn’t give me much of an option…”
“Well?”
“I’m thinking…” true to this, but Negaduck was thinking about killing the vampire, to make a third choice.
“Think of it, Negaduck…eternal life; strength that even the likes of you can not imagine. The power; I know that is your goal. With power and strength like mine, the world is in your pocket…”
“Well…if you put it like that…”
“but remember, with this power comes a catch. You cannot go in the sunlight and you have to drink the blood of the living. It is hard, at times, but for the power, I believe it is all well worth it.”
Negaduck thought long and hard, even went to sit on a nearby crate. Who was he kidding! He’d do anything for power like that! but those aspects that would hinder him… we-ell…there was always his hired help.
“Alright. I’ll do it!”
“I knew you would…” Derek said with an evil grin, scaring Negaduck. The vampire lunged at his victim…
A patrol car was doing it’s round when the beagle in the passenger’s seat spotted something. They pulled the car over and got out. “Oh geez…” he said as he saw a lifeless hand sticking out of an alley.
“Not another one…”
“That makes eight this year.”
“Hey wait a minute… It’s Negaduck!!”
“geez…alright, call the mortician…”
as lights flashed from vehicles and the spotlight from the camera crew illuminated the crime scene, the mortician came and took the pale, lifeless body of the now former Negaduck away.
The funeral was beautiful and Melanie was there crying on Derek’s chest. His super dark sunglasses and extra strong sunscreen kept him safe from the setting sun’s rays as the burial commenced.
Two weeks later a body arose from the eight-foot depths. A hand, followed by the arm, hefting the head and body up. “Damned dirt!!” the deep voice cursed. As the rest of him emerged from, his grave, the yellow jacketed duck looked up to see the silhouette of a familiar duck. “Derek!! You didn’t tell me that they’d nail the damned coffin shut!!”
“You’d be surprised how hard it was to convince them not to cremate or embalm you! They really wanted you to stay dead…”
“Well I ain't!! They should know that!”
“Oh, you should have seen your funeral… beautiful. Too bad a coffin as beautiful is now covered in dirt.”
“I ripped the damned thing open to get out!”
“Pity.” They walked out of the cemetery. “You had a surprising amount of mourners come.”
“Really.”
“Yes.”
“Who??!”
“The Justus Ducks, your gang, other thugs…”
“They only came to make sure I was dead… I wouldn’t call them mourners.”
“Very well…but Melanie shed many a tear for you…”
“…What?” Negaduck exclaimed as he stopped.
Derek stopped and turned to look at him. “She really thought you’d live forever. Quite adorable, the way she fauns all over you”
“You DID tell her what you did, didn’t you??!”
“Not yet. Soon, my son. The time is not right. First you must feed. Come,”
Negaduck thought a moment longer, shrugged and followed.
“Satisfied?”
“Oh yea! Maybe that’s what I’ve been missing out all those years when I was alive…”
“I doubt that you would have enjoyed yourself so much,”
“Well I am now. And that’s all that matters. Now, can we go tell Melanie?”
“Why are you so concerned about her?”
“Er…I really like her singing…” Negs admitted, embarrassed. “I want her to carry on her career; keep singing about me,”
“Oh. Pretty selfish you are, aren’t you?” Negaduck said nothing but glared up at him. Derek continued, “Did you know that her first album was all about me?”
“Yer kidding!!?”
“Quite serious, I assure you,”
“Cool…”
“Now, come, and let us take over the city…”
“And HOW are we supposed to do that??!”
“Negaduck, you were very strong before, you’re tenfold that now. You’re persuasive…in your own particular way.” Derek grinned. “Just be yourself and let no bars hold you back.”
“Huh! They never did before!”
“But now, instead of avoiding them, you can rip through them. Come. To City Hall we go.”