Blue K Dynasty: The 1st Seven Weeks



  Blue K Dynasty

  The 1st Seven Weeks

  M. O. McLEOD

  This is a work of fiction. The events and characters described herein are imaginary and are not intended to refer to specific places or living persons. The opinions expressed in this manuscript are solely the opinions of the author. The author has represented and warranted full ownership and/or legal right to publish all the materials in this book.

  Blue K Dynasty: The 1st Seven Weeks

  All Rights Reserved.

  Copyright © 2015 M. O. McLeod

  This book may not be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in whole or in part by any means, including graphic, electronic, or mechanical without the express written consent of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Prequel: Seven Days Before

  1.LBD

  2.The Security Guards

  3.Doyle Packer

  4.The Proposal

  5.The Basement Floors

  6.The Plan

  7.Quinn & the Rosales Family

  8.The ALM Airport

  9.A Deadly Cycle

  10.Seniors

  11.Confrontation

  12.O'bellaDonna the Con

  13.The Tower of K

  14.Food Source

  15.To the North

  16.Trick of Nature

  17.Into the Desert

  18.Death to the Desert

  19.Mourning

  20.Phantom Plague

  21.Televised

  22.Elimination

  23.The Lion’s Den

  24.A Shark Among Fishes

  25.It Was Only But A Dream

  26.L’bluff, Manor –The Old City

  27.Up North

  28.Kurma, a Tank, and a Pilot

  29.Mayor Wilks

  30.Darius and Santino

  31.Vengeance

  32.The Esmondic Sea

  33.Long Lost Love

  34.Birth To a Blue K Raptor

  35.Santino’s Wrath

  36.The Skyline of Saylor Sax

  Prequel:

  Seven Days Before

  The earth was tired and crumbling in on itself. It needed an answer to the source of the problems it was experiencing. The earth needed an answer to the overpopulation.  

  For its own preservation, the earth released chemicals and toxins into the atmosphere. Toxins transmuted human DNA into new species—two species, Raptors and Phantoms. Both are now at the top of the food chain. Phantoms are known for decreasing the human species by slowing, stopping, reversing the rate of human expansion, and loss of land. Earth chose evolution to deal with its demise. And it all began with Kurma, a Raptor, and Santino, a Phantom.

  ***

  The two lovers lay shoulder to shoulder with the covers drawn over them. Looking up at the ceiling, Santino was quietly pleased with himself. He wondered if it would be too much to ask to go again, especially since they’d forgotten to use protection. Kurma had gone quiet when Santino had pointed this out to her.  

  In a rush Kurma made a run for the bathroom. “I feel sick,” she screamed.  

  Why was she acting weird? Santino wondered, then tried to sit up, but immediately caught a head rush. “Oh,” he said.

  Something was in the air—an odor, but he had never smelled anything like it before. The more he tried to breathe in, the tighter his throat became. White and blue dots popped before his eyes, and he felt even more lightheaded. Gasping for breath he tried to call out to Kurma, but to no avail; his smooth voice was gone, and only a rasp emanated from his throat. His body tangled in the covers as he tried to signal his brain to work. That smell, it was everywhere. He couldn’t concentrate on anything else. The noise outside had disappeared, the lights had dimmed, and time seemed to stand still.  

  And then he felt it. The blood drain from his face—a painful feeling, as if he were upside down for too long. His heart quickened then slowed to a deadly pace, and his breathing slowed even more. The first thing he noticed were his hands: the tips of his fingers had become a dark purplish blue. The blood must have drained from there too.  

  All of a sudden the smell changed to something familiar, something irony and cold, yet earthy. His breathing evened out, but his throat felt dry. Santino felt funny. What was wrong with him? Why were his fingers blue? Now able to use his limbs again, Santino flung back the covers and saw a horrid image. His limbs had doubled in size, hardened and bulged with veins that protruded every which way. His feet were discolored the same as his fingertips. Without warning, an ache shot inside his mouth causing him to double over.  

  “Help me,” he gasped. He fell on the floor, and the transformation continued. His teeth sharpened to razor points and doubled. His skin stretched and tightened over his face, and pinned his ears back. Santino’s eyes drew deeper into their sockets and glowed a bitter black. His fingernails sharpened and became hard.  

  The hair on his head fell out in tufts as he desperately tried to stop whatever was happening to him. His up became his down; the noise outside became too loud inside. The lights were too bright, and then they were dark. His skin felt tough in some places and smooth in others. His muscles knitted together and became hard and rigid.  

  Crawling on all fours, he looked at himself in the vanity in the corner. “What am I?” he asked. 

  ***

  The mirror told no lies. He was no longer Santino. He touched his face and began to feel a stinging sensation in his eyes. It felt like tears, but he couldn’t tell; he could hardly see. He heard water running in the other room, but his hearing felt constricted. He remembered Kurma.

  “Go find Kurma,” he instructed himself. Something had happened to him. He needed immediate emergency care. Kurma probably would freak out, but at the moment he just wanted whatever had happened to him to un-happen to him. The medical bills were the least of his worries. He pulled his lips from his gums and was mortified at the sight. His teeth gleamed ivory in the light. And there was that stinging pain again.  

  Santino turned and headed toward the door. He stumbled into the hallway and called out to Kurma.  

  “I need to get into the bathroom!” He banged on the door. “Open up. I need your help!”  

  “I can’t,” Kurma said. Her voice sounded like someone had stroked harp strings in Santino’s head.  

  “What?” Santino asked. Moving closer to the door, his nose picked up a scent—red, warm, meaty…skin. His stomach lunged and his body naturally reacted. He felt out of control and hungry. So many things at once. Grabbing for the doorknob, he found it was locked. Santino sniffed again. The smell was so intoxicating and it was coming from the other side of the door. Banging harder, he said, “Let me in, now!”  

  There was no response from Kurma. Santino felt his skin prickle. His throat became drier, and he suddenly realized why: he didn’t want to see Kurma. He wanted to taste her. But why? His hands clawed at the door, peeling the paint, as his animal instincts took over. He was hungry and thirsty, and he couldn’t control himself any longer. He shoved the door and the wood splintered and cracked. He heard the water go off.  

  She’s in there, he thought. Another shove and Santino propelled himself through the door. The first things he saw were steel-colored eyes, big from fright. Whose eyes were they he wondered. Kurma didn’t have grey eyes. The screams broke into his thoughts and brought him back to the present.  

  He realized Kurma was crouched in the tub, naked and wet. He lunged at her and was met by another scream. 

  ***

  Running to the bath
room, Kurma’s feet thudded on the floor. She practically fell through the door and immediately vomited into the sink. Her stomach didn’t feel right, and she had no idea why.

  Her breath came out in frosty puffs as if she was outside in the cold. Kurma was scared to death. What had she done to deserve this? Falling to the floor, she clawed at her stomach. Her insides were on fire, and it felt like her internal organs were being torn out. Her belly button felt like someone was ripping it out with a metal clothes hanger.  

  Tears fell from Kurma’s eyes. She felt weak as she tried to call out for Santino. Reaching up to the doorknob she saw her skin changing colors. Quickly she snatched her hand back. She steadied it in front of her. Like a chameleon trying to match its surroundings, Kurma's hand changed from olive to pink, from pink to yellow, from yellow to a weird fish-scale pattern. She couldn’t take her eyes off it. Fine hair sprouted in patches from her hands to her arms, baby blue like a Robin's egg. Frantically she stood up and tried to claw the feather-like hair from her body. Lines of blood appeared where she tore and scratched.  

  Kurma was about to hyperventilate; she had no idea what was happening to her. Just as her temperature had dropped, it rose again and soared to an unbearable heat. Kurma felt as if she was on fire. Tearing at her hair, she screamed out loud and fell into the shelves of toiletries behind her. No matter what she did, she was on fire, and the hair didn’t stop growing. Twisting the shower on, Kurma threw her body into the water, and was quickly released from her hell.  

  Water ran down her face and back, and matted her waist-length hair to her body. The pain in her stomach ceased but everything else tingled. Her stomach felt empty, as if there was a void in her middle. Kurma feared the worst. Even though her body felt shaken up, Kurma did feel better. Suddenly she heard a voice that sounded like Santino’s.  

  “I can’t,” she said “hear you,” she finished quietly to herself.  

  As she opened the shower’s glass door, she heard the doorknob rattle. Kurma remembered what her skin looked like and froze. Santino couldn’t see her like this. Grabbing the nearest towel, she huddled in the shower and turned off the water. What would he say when he saw what she had become?  

  There was a bang at the door. Oh my God, thought Kurma. He’s going to break down the door. My mom’s going to kill me!  

  Her hands began to itch, and her body felt lightweight. She felt the need to escape the tiny bathroom, but Santino was on the other side of the door trying to charge in. She faced a problem, and felt the fight-or-flight feeling come over her.  

  There was another loud thud at the door, and Santino’s enormous body came crashing through. At that very moment, there was a blinding pain in Kurma’s eyes that made her body spasm out of control. In an instant her limbs bent in on themselves, and it felt as if her muscles had stretched and torn at an unbearable rate—too quickly for Kurma to brace herself.  

  Santino looked deformed as he lunged for her. Throwing her hand up as a shield, she realized a huge steel rod protruded from her wrist, sharp and piercing. In shock she screamed at the top of her lungs and fell forward out of the tub. She saw Santino’s teeth and eyes and knew she was in trouble.  

  In response to the animal that was Santino, Kurma’s body transformed into a beast. It was twice the size of Kurma’s normal physique. The steel rod—now attached to a pale blue-colored wing covered in thin skin—knocked Santino backward, giving Kurma a full view of herself in the mirror. Her eyes widened in horror. Her feet were no more; in their place were two bony legs with claws bent at odd angles. Her torso, the biggest part of her body, was round and covered with the blue hair she had seen on her arms. Also, she had wings! And they were so big; she couldn’t fully open them in the bathroom without knocking something over. Instead of five fingers she had four, with the metal rod acting like a fifth ligament. What was she?

  Santino roared at her, and she answered with a swipe of her rod, which she used liked a dagger. Kurma wanted to get away from him; she wanted out of this house. 

  Santino bit and snapped at Kurma, and clawed his nails deep into her body. Raising both winged arms, she clumsily shoved him against the mirror, breaking the glass and drawing blood. Kurma plunged her dagger into Santino’s shoulder, and silver blood spurted out. Santino heaved back, and Kurma smashed through the door into the hallway. She felt ungainly, but tried to get her chicken-like legs to the nearest exit.  

  She could hear Santino behind her. She couldn’t fight him; in fact she had no idea what he was capable of. She needed to regroup and clear her head away from everybody, especially her house. Kurma spotted a window, and was preparing to leave down the fire escape outside when Santino swiped at her head again and barely missed.  

  Kurma felt the glass of the window shatter against her skin as her huge body propelled through it. The sun hit her body and the wind swept her up. Kurma felt light as a feather. Flinging out her arms, she began to panic. Back and forth she moved her wings, but it seemed like they weren’t working as wings should. Her body twisted through the air and she heard screams. Finally, in the last instant, her wings created enough momentum, and she glided over a group of onlookers’ heads.  

  She heard their voices: anger, fright, and shock. She turned her head and caught the people’s reactions and expressions. Kurma bet she looked like something out of a comic book.  

  Suddenly she caught something big falling fast in her peripheral. She heard a loud thud and felt vibrations in the air as the ground shook. The screams she’d heard when she’d launched from the window were nothing compared to what she heard now. Slowing her wings, she steadied her body upright and saw Santino rising from the fall. In the blink of an eye, he snarled loudly and attacked the nearest bystander. Red blood splattered the sidewalk as he ripped the innocent man’s head from his shoulders and bit into it.  

  The crowd erupted as the corpse fell into a puddle of red-hot liquid...blood.  

  Chapter 1:

  LBD

  Five girls stood around in a circle clad in all black dresses. The room was dark and simple and spacious at best. Every time one of the girls took a pull from the zigzag a little light illuminated the office space. Kurma puffed a bit and passed it to O’bellaDonna, who then inhaled deep.

  “Donna pass it around and stop hogging it all to yourself,” said Kurma. She stepped away from the group and approached the high window and looked at the huge building across the street. Down below, traffic was intense and the flow of it was being directed by road policemen. The night was chill with little snowflakes sticking to the office windows. 

  Rimselda called out to Kurma, “Sounds like the party is heating up outside.”

  Kurma looked back into the dark room and nodded. She and the girls were posted in a closed office building across the street from the Olivares Tower. The tower was the tallest residential building in the city of Alexandria, a mega-city in its own right.

  There was an event being thrown at the Olivares Tower that night and Kurma wanted to be on the guest list. Of course, she wasn’t on the list and neither were Jackie, Chelsea, O’bellaDonna, and Rimselda—friends of Kurma’s, who were Raptor’s—a new species of territorial, winged-creatures.  

  “The plan is still a go,” Kurma said as she made her way back to the girls. “Try to blend in as best as you can and find all the major players.”

  Kurma was nervous to say the least. What she was trying to do was completely unlike her normal self. Kurma wasn’t normal anymore though. She was a different species, something that had never been seen or heard of before a couple of weeks ago. There was something else going around the city of Alexandria that wasn’t human either, but Kurma was trying to make plans to keep those other things, Phantoms to be exact, out of her way.

  Chelsea, the smallest of the group, spoke up, “Tell me again…what if they don’t let us in?”

  “Oh, were getting in,” O’bellaDonna interjected. “Not only is this the hottest party in town bu
t it’s probably the last event still going on ever since the Phantoms hit the city.”

  Rimselda and Jackie both nodded. 

  O’bellaDonna pulled her dress down over her thick legs and puffed her hair up. She was a gifted con artist and had been in the know of what was hot and what was not for some time. She wanted to be a part of the in-crowd and wanted to rub elbows with the prominent people of the city; and everybody who was going to the Olivares Tower’s event was very influential and important.  “This is probably our last chance to have a little fun and reach a goal…”

  “My goal,” said Kurma.

  O’bellaDonna rolled her eyes and kept going, “The goal for the night is to get the richest guy at the party!”

  Chelsea looked offended.

  “No…Donna shut up,” Kurma held her hand up and looked frustrated as she had to keep O’bellaDonna on track. “Chelsea, just play it cool, stick with us and we can all have a good night. We all know that we can’t ever go back to Snowhill and the park is to open for all of us since the Phantoms are running wild. Olivares Tower is our ticket. We’ve staked out the tower for a week now. We know what happens on the outside, and now it’s our time to look around the inside.”

  “This is going to be so crazy,” Jackie said with a huge grin on her face. Out of all the girls, she tended to be the adrenaline junkie. “Do you actually think we can take over the tower?”

  Kurma gave the girls a cold stare and said, “I don’t think…I know we can do it. Just stick to the plan. We spread out in the party, get a feel for the type of security there, and distinguish the guest from the employees. I can take care of the rest.”

  Rimselda started walking towards the door.  She was down for the plan of kicking everyone out of the Olivares Tower and the Raptors moving in. The guest at the party had all the money, all the food, all the luxuries of life, and she didn’t. There wasn’t a question of why she was doing it anymore. If she didn’t do it then somebody else from the cold, dirty streets would rise up and take the towers.

  Her life had changed since becoming a Raptor. She was stronger and more secure with herself. People couldn’t just mess with her anymore.  She had a way to defend herself and a way out of her old life. In her old life she was the joke—a life where she worried about being attacked and a life where her own mother didn’t love her. Kurma had given her a better way out and if Kurma wanted to upgrade the girl’s living arrangement then she would be right there with her. Rimselda wanted to live beyond her means as the people at the party were doing. She had every right to do so and she would, as soon as the girls took the towers.