Night Skies: A Vampire Revolution in Motown

Detroit is a safe city. Safer than it has ever been. Motown has been revitalized by an energetic mayor that believes in his community. He has encouraged businesses to come back to town, made the neighborhoods welcoming, and brought investments back to the Motor City. The citizens believe Mayor Austin Blue is able to sustain these accomplishments by himself. However, Mayor Austin Blue has help. Living within the city limits is Dimitri, head of the Vampire Nation. They have a diabolical pact with the mayor. The vampires rid the city of murderers, robbers, and thieves, making the city safe. In exchange, the mayor has his officers patrol the neighborhood where the vampires live. They keep the vampire hunters and other adventurers away during the day. The officers are unaware they are protecting vampires, only keeping the residents safe. Another vampire clan enters the city and wants to take over the Vampire Nation from Dimitri and the city. He initiates his plan by killing college girls. The killings create tension between the mayor and Dimitri. To complicate matters, the mayor's daughter, unknowing, is dating a vampire. Soon, the vampire revolution will begin.

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Night SkiesA VAMPIRE REVOLUTION IN MOTOWNBy ALLEZ AZULTrafford PublishingCopyright © 2013 Allez AzulAll rights reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4669-7085-4 CHAPTER 1VAMPIRES: NIGHT SKIESIt is a cold snowy night. Cindy is walking homealone. She knows this is not a good idea, but theargument with her boyfriend makes the walk homenecessary. She would normally call a cab or call herfather, but her choices are limited. She spent most of hermoney on arcade games, magazines, and hot dogs. Thereis no money left for a cab. Calling her father to pick herup after a date gone wrong with the neighborhood "badboy" is not an option either. Walking seems to be theonly reasonable thing to do, at least until she comes to abus stop.She walks briskly but cautiously down the street.Cindy wishes her platform high-heeled shoes do not makeas much noise when they hit the pavement. But there isnothing that she can do about it. Walking barefoot downthe street is not a smart or comfort-promising idea. Asit continues to snow, she considered whether it is moretrouble to walk instead of staying a little longer in the carwith her now ex-boyfriend. But it is too late to think ofthat now. What she has to do is quickly get on a bus.The late-evening full moon lights up the night sky.This is in her favor. In fact, it is a blue moon tonight, thesecond full moon of the month. Cindy has no problemseeing at night by the lunar glow and the sparkling whiteglare from the streetlights. She feels confident, maybetoo confident for her own good. She decides to take ashortcut down an alley to save some time. Cindy willonly be in the alley for a little while, and it will saveten to twelve minutes off her walk. She moves her feetquickly and with purpose. She hears other footsteps asshe walks. She knows someone else is on the street withher. She turns around but doesn't see anyone. Her initialinstinct is to be afraid. But she reevaluates her situation.Maybe the footsteps she heard are the echo of her ownheels clicking on the asphalt. She has her doubts aboutthat rationalization, but the thought gives her reason to becalm and not think of a worse scenario.Cindy continues to walk, but faster. She hears thefootsteps again. This time, the sound is louder and closerthan before. She tells herself not to be afraid, to be brave.But her innermost fears take control. She decides to jog,trot, and then run through the alleyway. The alley is longand dark. She is glad to exit that corridor and find herselfon a main street with lights. Cindy continues to run andfinds herself on Jefferson Avenue. She slows down a littleand looks around. She sees no one. Her shoulders drop asshe exhales a sigh of relief. The wind, the snow, and thecalm of the night relax her mind. The natural elements ofnature put her at ease.She turns a corner, and a dog jumps out at her, barkingloudly as if she is a burglar. The dog continues to makea series of short and loud barks, sounding like an alarm.Cindy jumps back and bumps into a stranger. The dogsuddenly stops barking, looks up, and runs away. Howfortunate to have a stranger come to her aide, or so shethinks.Cindy turns around, and the person behind herbrushes her hair. Suddenly, a chill goes through her body.She tells this strange man to let her hair go. He does,but as she looks into his eyes, she finds it hard to moveaway. Cindy is wondering what is going on. "Move feet,move," she tells herself. But she continues to stand inplace. The stranger opens his mouth. Cindy sees teeth asshe has never seen before. His teeth are sharp, pointed,and fanglike. She starts to scream. But her scream ismuffled by the sound of a taxi's horn in the night. Shewishes to be in that taxicab, right before she receives thebite of her life.Cindy's scream comes like a ship at night along theDetroit River, passing and silent. Her scream is likeso many other recent screams that disappear in thenight air. The screams are haunting, full of anguish anddesperation. People will wonder once again if the city issafe for its residents.This is an odd turn of events. For the last three years,Detroit has been a virtual paradise. To say crime is downwould be a gross understatement. Murders are down,rapes are down, burglaries and robberies are down. Butthe word "down" can be readily exchanged for the termnonexistent.The city has never seen or imagined the casualnessand ease that residents and merchants move about thecity with not a care in the world. People used to look overtheir shoulders while at an ATM machine, then quicklyput their money away without counting it. Now peoplewalk briskly to that same ATM machine near Jeffersonand Woodward avenues, count their money as soon asthey get it, then walk away from the machine, sometimeswith the money held openly in their hands.Yes, the city has changed. This new beacon of safetyin the Midwest is the Motor City, Motown, a.k.a. Detroit,Michigan.* * *"They said it couldn't be done. But the truth isanything can be done if you truly believe it." These werethe noble words from Detroit's new mayor, Austin Blue."Long live Detroit, the city of the new millennium."One cannot tell whether the mayor is more pleasedwith the safety of the city or with his approval rating.Yes, the mayor is the envy of mayors, law enforcement,and politicians, anywhere and everywhere. Incumbentsrunning reelection campaigns are quick to say theircity is safe, like Detroit, whether statistics could clearlyjustify the statement or not. People running for publicoffice for the first time are equally quick to point outtheir opponent's inability to create a safe communityenvironment, like Detroit.It seems the world is spinning in the oppositedirection. Detroit was once the butt of many jokes aboutcrime, unemployment, and city flight by taxpayingresidents. Now it is viewed as a city representing thepillars of prominence, safety, and stability.But things have turned for the worse in a short periodof time. The days seem shorter, the nights longer, andyoung college-age women are being killed. There didnot seem to be much explanation for the recent murdersthat totaled four in one month. But the deaths put a majorblemish on the mayor's track record of safety.Detroit has no murders in the past three years. Now ithas eight senseless, unexplained murders in twelve weeks.The mayor speaks to his aide about the turn of events."Where do we go from here, Sam?""Damage control, Mr. Mayor, damage control."The mayor wrings his hands and rubs the sweat onhis pants. He gazes out the window and looks at the newfallen snow. Thinking back on his childhood, he realizesthat time seems to be repeating itself. Detroit used to becalled the murder capital of the world. Now it seems tobe going back to its infamous history."Don't give me something vague. Spell it out. Whattype of damage control are you talking about?""I mean we need to get ahead of this story. We need toframe it on our terms.""Give it to me straight.""The police are following up on leads. We have firmevidence that the killer or killers are from out of town.Our police force is confident to make arrests soon.""What leads? Also, are these out-of-town murderersfrom Inkster, Michigan, Toledo, Ohio, or Windsor,Canada?""We wouldn't want to say Windsor, Mr. Mayor.""Why not? They have an occasional problem or two,or so I've heard, jaywalking and the like.""Windsor is complicated, sir. We don't want to createan international incident that might get the White Houseinvolved.""You're right about that. The president has enough onhis plate already. Now tell me about this evidence I'veheard nothing about.""There is no evidence until we find it. We're justsaying we have evidence to buy some time and let thepublic know we're doing something other than standingaround talking.""You seem to have it all figured out, Sam.""It's damage control. But we still need to arrestsomeone.""You have someone in mind?""No one in particular, but let's keep our options open,Mr. Mayor.""I can think of one or two city council people I'd liketo burn.""That aside, Mr. Mayor, we have a real PR problemahead of us. I'll work the media and get the support ofthe people. We need to get way ahead of this fire, or we'llbe the ones that get burned.""Spoken like a true crusader. I only wish I had fourmore aides just like you.""No, you wouldn't.""Why not? It sounds good to me.""Because your budget couldn't afford four more likeme. You also don't want the drama and cries of overhiring from the local media.""You know me so well."The mayor looks around and sees himself in themirror. His suit still looks pressed from being tooanxious to sit down. He paces the room, thinking of theramifications of another dead college girl on his watch, inhis city. He needs answers yesterday. He needs the policechief to conduct an investigation like her job depends onit, and it does whether she knows it or not."Sam, I need to speak with Police Chief Rivera.""I've already got her on the phone."Sam's efficiency is both a blessing and at times anannoyance to the mayor. Sam has the workplace curseof being tall, young, and beautiful. These so-calledliabilities make her work twice as hard and be threetimes as prepared as everyone else. She has a lot ofpride and doesn't want anyone to suggest that she gother position based on looks alone, or speculate that sheis the mayor's girlfriend. She will have none of that talk.She is an ambitious young woman who is on her wayup the political ladder. No one will stand in her way andquestion her abilities or her work ethic.Mayor Blue for his part knows about Samantha'sself-awareness and uses it to his full advantage. Heknows he can ask her to do any task, and she will get thejob done if it means going forty-eight hours without anysleep."Hello, Chief," the mayor states in a tone the chiefknows the conversation will not be pleasant."Hello, Mr. Mayor.""What's the good news this morning?""Excuse me?" The chief is a little surprised by thequestion."The good news about the college girl killer, the oneyou've caught.""I'm sorry, Mr. Mayor, but we don't have anyone incustody yet. The investigation is still ongoing.""This investigation needs to be finished and concludedbefore other young girls are killed.""We're doing the best—""Don't give me the speech about doing the best youcan. I'm a master at that speech. The only thing I need toknow is who is behind these murders and when will youget him into custody?""Or her.""What?""Or her. We haven't determined if the murderer ormurderers are male or female.""That technicality shouldn't hold up the investigation,Chief. Just get me a body, dead or alive. I'm not thatpicky. After all, Sam said it best. The phrase is 'damagecontrol.'" The mayor made his position very clear to allin shouting range.The mayor's daughter, Iris, walks into the room. Shedoesn't knock, as usual. This is a particularly sore spotfor the mayor.Of course, his daughter knows how to knock butdoesn't care enough to change her ways. She views themove as part of her style. Besides, she enjoys gettingunder the mayor's skin. Iris is in her early twenties and isalways a fashionable dresser. She would go out once—orsometimes twice—a week and spend money like water.Iris has a sense of both coordination and originality inher attire, except when she goes to see her dad at the cityhall. On these occasions, Iris always wears somethingextra special for the visit. She pulls out her most worn,formfitting jeans with a blouse with strategically placedholes. She knows her dad would have a fit at home butwill not say anything to her in the office. This allows Iristhe opportunity to relish in her stunt and come home laterafter her dad cools off."There she is. How's my favorite daughter?""Your only daughter is well, Dad. How's your daygoing?""It would go a lot better if you knocked beforeentering my office.""Sorry, Dad. Would you rather I didn't come?""No! I'm not saying that. Come anytime. You'realways welcome.""That's nice to hear, Dad. What's new?""Just work.""I bet it involves those dead girls.""What do you know about dead girls?""It's all over the news. You'd think the Lions won theSuper Bowl. There's so much talk about it on the radioand the local channels.""Welcome to my world with drama, media frenzy, andmore drama.""That's why they pay you the big bucks," Irisrationalized with a smile."Don't start with me. I make a civil servant salarywith a city car and phone. That's it. I don't have aneight-figure salary with stock options like those fools atthe top of GM and Ford," snapped Blue."Here we go, again. Career regrets.""I don't have any regrets about being mayor. Thepublic respects me a lot more than those silver-spoonedcorporate types.""Why do you despise them so much?""Because they do everything in their power to makemy job harder and balancing the city budget moredifficult.""They donate a lot of money to your campaign andgive you a strong endorsement. They must like you morethan you think.""I see the man behind the curtain.""What?""It's a movie reference. Anyway, they give me moneyand endorsements on Monday, and have their hand out onTuesday. They want my influence with the city councilto provide them with tax loopholes, tax credits, and anyother perks they can think of.""They should expect something for their money.""I'm not a politician to be bought. Since crime hasgone down, people and businesses have moved backinto the city. The next thing you know, we have morejobs and a bustling economy. I'll take corporate dollarsand the union's money, but I make them no promises.My approval rating is sky-high, and I'll be mayor ofthe Motor City until I say otherwise. No one dares tochallenge my office.""Spoken like a true demagogue ... I mean leader.""Yes. I do have a way with words, but words don'tmean much if girls keep dying."The mayor looks out of his high office window. Hecan almost see the small house he grew up in on Detroit'seast side. The mayor is all too familiar of Detroit's gooddays of the past and the many bad days that followed. Butnow he is mayor and on top of the world. The local medialikes him as much as they dare, without seeming to behis fan club. He is the envy of all mayors; and his fame,name, and popularity continue to grow. Everything is inplace for a run at governor. Yes, everything is in place,except for the fact that college-age girls are being killedin his city.Mayor Blue takes everything in stride. Nothingseems to rattle his sense of purpose or ambition. He hashandled crime sprees, poor sewage systems, snow-packedexpressways, and main gas leaks. All of these eventsseem to give him more strength and resolve to deal withthe everyday pressures of being a big city mayor, buthis situation and calm took an unpleasant twist. It isn'tthe bad guys with guns that cause him the most angst. Itis innocent women being hunted down like prey on theonce-quiet streets of Jefferson or Woodward Avenue.During these troubled times, he thinks of his owndaughter and her safety. What would happen if he pickedup his morning paper and found his own daughter's namementioned as being attacked by the monster that wasroaming the streets?He is ashamed to acknowledge that his first thoughtswill be to his reputation as city mayor, more so thancompassion and concern for his child.Blue thinks to himself how horrible a person he mustbe to put his work before his family, but he tempers thosethoughts with the fact that he has a big responsibility tothe citizens of Detroit. Everything else is secondary. Thepeople of Detroit are his family, all one million of them.Blue can live with being a good mayor and a bad father.It's a trade-off that comes with the job. However, being agood father and a bad mayor is not an option. (Continues...)Excerpted from Night Skies by ALLEZ AZUL. Copyright © 2013 Allez Azul. Excerpted by permission of Trafford Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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