The Rising of Dawn and Her Vampire Crew: Enter the Egyptian Gods

By Brian Painter

Dawn and her crew of vampires are still on the move. They get mixed up with Egyptian gods this time, and the plot takes twists and turns where you won't want to put the book down. Dawn knows she is out of her pay grade when she has to go up against the devil. She turns to some Egyptian gods that lend her a hand, but before she gets to Egypt, she has to avoid some pitfalls. Her crew goes up against bad vampires and other beings that stay hidden from humans. Her dear friend in the room of Zen helps her along and finds missions for her that keep her busy. She still likes the taste of blood and her tequila and loves to invite her neighbors over for parties, but she always keeps her secret from being discovered. Her lover, Keith, and her friends Greenie and Eli stay right by her side and come in handy when they get in a bind. Greenie has the power to cast a spell of love, and Keith can cast one of confusion. Dawn is the head of their crew because of her connections with her angel friend and her incredible fighting skills. Enter the Egyptian Gods is the third book in an ongoing series that you will love.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Dec 26, 2018
• ISBN: 9781643504605

Book preview

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The Rising of Dawn and Her Vampire Crew

Enter the Egyptian Gods

Brian Painter

Copyright © 2018 Brian Painter

All rights reserved

First Edition

Page Publishing, Inc

New York, NY

First originally published by Page Publishing, Inc 2018

ISBN 978-1-64350-459-9 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64350-460-5 (Digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

D amnit, we are up you-know-what creek without a paddle, were the first words out of my mouth, and how true these words were. Some would word this differently, but it just flowed out of my mind that way. I am Dawn, an ancient, archaic, time-worn vampire who has existed for centuries now, wearing myself and my crew out by partying hardcore every day and all night, sometimes while working our job. Our job consists of small jobs like beheading a bad vampire who takes to human blood and kills for it. Then come the bigger missions that consist of saving everyone’s behind, and by this, I mean the whole world’s ass. I’ve saved the world from a takeover by werewolves and even slain the reincarnation of Hitler, who also was dead-set on ruling the world with the help of some freaky wind people called Tempest. They were easy prey, though. All they did was control the wind, and they could cast a few spells. I have completed all these missions given to me by a group called the Higher Beings. They even paid me, and paid me good, to do their dirty work. See they don’t like the idea of humans being disturbed, so all this craziness is done by meeting them in the room of Zen, a room that my soul travels to when I drink blood and I will my soul to travel there. I don’t like to brag, but I have the body of a built twenty-seven-year-old with super strength, hearing, movement, and I’m as agile as a gymnast in the Olympics.

So . . . why? I mean, how? Or should I say what can solve our little predicament? I asked my crew in front of me. First, there was Josh, my boyfriend, also a vampire but made not much more than a year ago. He also has my powers but can also send a wave of confusion out. This can make the steadiest of people look like they had just drunk a fifth of bourbon and become unable to find the right direction. He calls it his wave of confusion. Then there’s Greenie and Eli, both vampires brought back from purgatory. Greenie has the ability to send out a love spell that would make cats and dogs make love in an alley.

Finally, my dog champ, also a vampire who enjoys eating hearts from the animals we catch. But in addition to this, he will drink blood from blood banks and hospitals we like to sometimes visit.

"Do we have to do anything? I mean, really, going up against a bad vamp or anything like that is one thing, but I really think butting heads with Lucifer is out of our pay grade. Or does someone have God’s cellphone number so we can text him and say his son’s kinda loose on the town and ready to party? He will realize Lucifer’s idea of partying is a little harsh, like turning into a dragon and trying to fry us up like bacon," Eli said with a sarcastic smile on his face and a bottle of gold tequila in his hand. He was referring to our last and first encounter with the devil.

His girlfriend, Greenie, shook her head in agreement and asked him to pass the bottle. Josh threw his hands up in the air in agreement, walked to the bar, and pulled out a handful of small one-shot bottles of some cinnamon-liquor mix and started shooting them down when a blood bag from the hospital fell from the bar and hit the floor, making everybody’s head turn. There was silence. Then Greenie got in our heads with her love spell and kind of directed us towards a hunt.

Quite it, Greens! Eli said with a smile, causing Greenie to stop the spell.

But the thought of bloodlust was still there, so I sighed and said, All right, let’s hunt.

With those words echoing in our heads, we flashed; and by flashing, I mean we moved so fast a flash was all that could be seen by the naked eye. We were out the back door and up the long steep mountainside within seconds. Once we reached our favorite rocks to sit on at the top of the mountain, where we could look into the mountain range, we stopped to take in the view.

I never will get used to the beauty, Greenie whispered in our heads, making us all say, Yeah, at the same time using our mental telepathy. She giggled a little at the thought that we all said yeah at the same time. The others smiled with her, but I was off somewhere else, wondering if the end of time was here, or were we going to be able to defeat Lucifer. I needed to talk to the Higher Beings bad, the only group of God’s deities and such who sent us on missions. Maybe this was more a job for them. This brought a smile to my face, which Josh caught on too. He smiled back and asked what I was thinking. We didn’t like to use our powers to read each other’s minds without approval from the other. So when our eyes caught contact, I nodded in approval for him to look in and see what I was thinking; I did the same. I looked in his eyes and could see the world going through Armageddon. People were looting stores, shooting one another, and the world burning from the wrath of the devil. I showed him a picture of my soul rising and going into the room where we meet the Higher Beings called the room of Zen because of the good feelings of ecstasy emitting from the walls. He nodded and flashed off, breaking contact. He was jumping over boulders, leaping from tree to tree, and bouncing off some so fast he couldn’t be seen by the human eye.

I guess that means let’s go, I said loudly as I stayed right on his heels heading toward the stream where big game drank the water and bears ate the salmons’ skin. We were swerving in and out and around trees and boulders and anything else in our way. As we closed in on the stream, I could hear the strong heartbeat of a large brown bear. I have gotten good at deciphering the different heartbeats of big game, I thought to myself.

I began to smile a little, humorously thinking about deciphering heartbeats. The one I fear is the mako shark when it’s beating rapid. The mako has been known to do damage to us by outswimming us. Not saying we aren’t quick swimmers; they are just more agile and have attack plans we have yet to master. I was overtaken when I heard Eli Echo the words, A brown bear, in our heads as we all located one another hidden in the trees overlooking the stream. The depression that comes on before the kill started to enter my head as I looked at the clumsy and clueless bear about to lose its life.

No, Dawn, Josh said telepathically, then, We must eat like every other creature. There was a pause, and the rest let me know it was time. Then like four silent cats, we dove from the trees, landing perfectly, surrounding the bear in the cold water. The water was all that could be heard for a second. Then the bear rose up, ready to gut his new prey; but in a split second, faster than the eye can see, the bear became the prey as we tore into its neck, as we sliced through layers of fat with our sharp fangs. While we held back its powerful arms, which shook as it roared, trying to free itself, the bear struggled until we hit its carotid arteries, and the blood flowed. There was no noise to be heard, not even the stream. Only the slowing heartbeat of the bear as it lay sideways in the water until finally the light went out from its eyes. Then the bloodlust increased as the fluid flowed down our throats, bringing on complete ecstasy. I imagined the birth of the world and all its creatures and felt their power and pride as my own. This went on until Greenie broke loose, then Josh, Eli, then finally me. I could tell everyone wanted to lie down and let the bloodlust experience come on, but I had a meeting with the Higher Beings and wanted to be in my house within the next thirty seconds so I could call them and have them transport me to the room of Zen. I signaled toward the house, and we were off again up the ravine and down the mountainside to the house.

I’ve got a call to make, I said as I went into my bedroom and lay on the bed. I closed my eyes and started to get woozy as my soul was jerked from my body and sent over terrain to the meeting room or room of Zen. It was Balthazar, and I was glad to see him because we needed to talk bad.

What’s up, big Bal? How’s that cream-puff angel-winged babe of yours? I teased. He had told me he had a girlfriend.

We did the human thing and fell in love, was how he put it. The stick up his ass was always a fun thing to toy with him about because he always took everything word for word.

Cream puff. I thought . . . oh, you mean . . . , he tried to say but just couldn’t put it in words, so I interrupted, saying, Yeah, when you and your angel friend let her feet kiss the sky. Do you put your wings up? And I thought you all had no junk down there, so how’s that work?

He became red in the face and looked at me through teary eyes, so I calmed down a little and asked if he really loved her. He explained it was a thousand times as powerful as humans’ love. I thought about this for a minute, and a wave of jealousy passed over me. Now? How? I mean . . . well, how in the hell can that be when you have no family jewels down there to build that tower of love with? Realizing there was no way he would understand, I said, You know the thing you put in her—well, you know the place you put it in.

He looked at me, not understanding, and I realized he was looking through my clothes to see my anatomy. But before I could cuss him out, he said, Oh yes, we have as many of the outies, as you put it, and female angels match us in innies.

He was geeking so hard I burst out laughing, saying, Only you, Balthazar. Only you could tell a story like that and keep a straight face.

Well, down to business, he said.

Yeah, the devil—ya know, good ol’ Lucifer, well, he’s free . . . balie, no rhyme intended. And I got a feeling that all hell’s going to break loose. I don’t think he’s here for shits and giggles.

There was silence for a while before Balthazar said, I know, and there was fear in his voice. Fear I had never seen before. After all, I could still read into his mind, but it was garbled from fear breaking it down. More than fear, it was a deep blue depression stemming from a bad vision. Balthazar was predicting what would happen in the future, I realized.

Stop it. I know what you are doing, and you don’t want to see what Lucifer is, Dawn. Just the thought of him here brings on the possibility of the end of all God’s creations, universes, worlds similar to this one, millions of them decimated, destroyed with a wrath so evil he will end time, and there will be no more. With this said, he raised his head. We are going to treat this like any other mission. There is a papyrus scroll in Egypt beneath the tomb of Rameses the Second. This is where the true book of the dead is. This is your one chance to enter the underworld and convince Ra, the sun god, and Sekmet, the goddess of fire, you need their help. But beware, they will sacrifice you as easy as go along with you, and you must understand, there are many gods in the land of the dead. Oh, try also to find Hurus. The three can . . . well, might be able to defeat him. You must enter through the western gate into the kingdom of Osiris or land of the dead and, well, make some allies. This is how Balthazar said it: It is the only way to send him back to the deepest depths of hell.

Then he paused with a tear in his eye and said, Godspeed, and I will keep an open line with you, so take plenty of blood, and if you want out and need it quick, I can accommodate you.

Thanks, I told him with a sarcastic smile that had a tinge of worrying about the upcoming trouble I was foreseeing. The next thing I knew was, I was back in the cottage staring at the ceiling. I didn’t feel like getting up too quick, so I lay there thinking about the suicide mission we were about to embark on. There were a lot of what-ifs, and most of them ended up with us dead in the Egyptian underworld or burnt to a crisp by Lucifer. What choice did I have? The Higher Beings had others who worked for them, so why were they always sending us on the I’m not coming back from this one" type of mission.

Well, I whispered to myself just to hear my voice as I sprang from the bed, let me tell the rest about the wonderful trip to the pyramids where there will be sightseeing guided by Ra, the sun god, who might decide to rip our hearts out instead of letting us sightsee, I mumbled then laughed. Once again, I felt that weird feeling. I was talking to myself again. I shook it off with a little giggle and walked into the room with the rest.

Pack two days’ worth of clothes. I recommend shorts. It’s going to be hot where we are going. Josh, go to my artillery closet. Get my Glock 19, the two automatic AK-47s, and a handful of throwing knives—oh, and the sacred Egyptian dagger that can supposedly kill anything. We might need that. We are heading to Egypt.

They were all half drunk and yelled, Yeah the pyramids, like a bunch of kindergarteners.

Then Eli, like a smart-ass, asked if we were going to be able to see the mummies.

As a matter of fact, yes, we get to see Ramesses the Second, I said, smiling as I threw up a block from him reading my mind. He was up for a battle of words with me, and I wasn’t going to have it.

Let’s just say that we are going to a new place none of us have ever been.

Disneyworld! Greenie yelled with pupils the size of saucers from the earlier kill.

No. It’s a little place called the kingdom of Osiris or the land of the dead. Not as nice as Disneyworld, but you will see some amazing sights, I said sarcastically.

What! Greenie yelled like I was crazy

Where? Josh said with a half-drunken grin on his face. Josh loved a challenge.

I told the whole story on how we were supposed to defeat Lucifer, and there were moans and groans, and even an Are you out of your rabid-ass mind? came out of Eli. I looked out the window, wondering if we were crazy for taking on this mission. We had never dealt with anything more than lichens, as I like to label werewolves, or some real bad-ass vamps that could hold people at bay. Now, how were we supposed to defeat Lucifer with a sun god, a goddess of water and moisture, and another god that, when linked with the sun god, made the power to have the sunshine? What if they just slaughtered us? Well, at least Balthazar and I will have direct contact in case we needed a quick exit.

My questioning the mission was disrupted when Eli said, Bullshit! That’s what this is. Frigging angels wanting us vampires battling gods—what the hell?

I told him to settle down and threw him a bottle of Mainer’s Ale, our favorite 10 percent alcohol beer.

And! he yelled back at me, looking me dead in the eyes, telling me he would go, but he didn’t think it was fair or right. I just smiled and reached in the bar behind the bottles and got a bag of hospital blood out and threw it at about ninety miles an hour at his face. He easily grabbed it, pocked a straw in it, popped his beer, then started slurping on both.

Damn, we just hunted that bear down. What, you didn’t get your fix? Greenie said while slapping Eli on the back.

He just replied, I love you, babe.

Well, let’s get a move on, no bullshit. The longer we give Lucifer to wreck the world, the quicker he can do it. So let’s get a goddamn move on, I yelled, letting everyone know I was taking charge. I also was trying to beat my fear. It was going to be hard to do that, but I had been in some pretty tight positions before. I’ve been to hell and back, purgatory and back, even died before, so why the fear? I had an angel on my shoulder, so why carry such a burden as fear?

We packed and made it to the car in a matter of minutes. We had an arsenal: lots of beer, liquor, and a plan to save the world. Just another day, I thought to myself, letting out a small giggle loud enough to get some strange looks. I just asked for Mainer’s Ale and squealed wheels onto the pavement in my new 1971 Chevelle I had traded in my ’71 Camaro for. It had plenty power, and I liked to cruise at ninety, walking by all the other cars on the road doing fifty five or a little above. I liked to send out a mental thought pattern that would pick up on cops at least twenty miles ahead. We had to go all the way from my cottage in Santa Barbara to the airport in Denver where my girlfriend worked. She never asked any questions. She liked to party, and I figured we would take a plane to Egypt from the East Coast, somewhere like DC. I wanted a short plane ride where I could fly the plane: another one of my talents I picked up over the years. I wanted to fly and explain the whole half-cocked plan that I had to kill Lucifer. I was quiet about it in the car ride to Denver because I hadn’t worked out all the kinks yet. I had gotten it up to a hundred and was flying past cars when I picked up on two cops talking fifteen miles up the road, so I told the others and slowed down to fifty-five. As we passed them, I leaned out the window, my black hair flying all over my high cheekbones that protruded, giving me the look of a model, or I’d like to think so at least. Guys turned their heads when I walked by, and I got a lot of cat whistles even though I never thought I looked that great. Well, these cops turned their heads and waved. I couldn’t figure out why they started applauding until I turned around to see Greenie with her shirt over her head and her breasts hanging out the window.

Greenie! I yelled. Do you want to get arrested?

Nah, I hit them with my love spell. She laughed.

Are you sure? I asked sarcastically as blue lights circled through the back window.

Relax, Josh said as he rose up from the floor of the car eyes covered with the brim of his hat. He eyeballed the cruiser; then his pupils got real wide as he zapped them with his spell of confusion. The cruiser stopped, and I crept back up to ninety.

This causes for a celebration, Greenie said as she pulled a jar from her backpack.

White Lightning! The real thing straight outta the still, she said, using redneck slang. We all got wide-eyed as she started passing it around. It wasn’t long before the jar was empty, and we were all three sheets to the wind.

Play some tunes, Eli slurred as he fell back in his seat.

Whattaya want to hear? I asked, slurring just as bad.

How can you make the DJ play something? he asked.

Telepathy, I said.

Then make it that somewhat-new song about the pumped-up kicks.

Okay, I said. Then I figured out the nearest alternative station and sent out a mental demand to play the Pumped-up Kicks song. Suddenly there was silence on the radio; then the DJ came on, saying, This one’s for Eli and the crew, and on came the song. We sang the rest of the way to Denver, the song about the kids that went on a spree with some guns, or that’s how I gathered it. Three was silence and drunkenness until we hit the Colorado mountain range where faint heartbeats of animals could be heard on ridges and deep in the forest. Everyone was too nervous to ask the question whether we could hunt or not after just getting our fill on a giant brown bear.

Finally, I said, Okay, but I’m getting it with my sniper rifle so we won’t waste our strength on the hunt.

Everybody heard and agreed. We sped it up to one-twenty so we could get to the power lines where game seemed to gather because of the stream at the bottom of the hill. In five minutes, we were there, and there were too many cooks in the kitchen when it came to sub conscious telepathy, so I told all to break the mental link and talk.

There’s nothing but deer here! Eli complained when Josh told him, Well, what about the giant caribou and their sweet blood?

There was silence, and everyone switched back to mental link, discussing the area where one could hear big game heartbeats.

Now, go back to talking. We will switch again when we get close, okay? I said, looking each of them in the eye and getting a nod of agreement. Give me thirty seconds, and then you all set out behind me, weaving in and out of one another, looking for that—well, as we say—that sweet, sweet caribou, okay?

No problem, Greenie, and Eli echoed as they took off in some direction Josh would have to weave in and out of. Josh flashed off two seconds behind weaving in and out of their pattern.

I looked up into the sky, wondering if we were just a bunch of immature drunks. Then I told myself, Whoa, under my breath, once again scaring myself for talking to no one but talking out loud to myself. Just no answers to my questions. I laughed. That was what a wise man once told me: never answer your own questions out loud.

Suddenly Greenie threw her love spell, calming all of us; then I heard Elis heartbeat pick up as he raced toward a caribou. They had found one. I couldn’t believe it. There was mass confusion until Greenie yelled in our heads, Now strike! I’m right behind you, and the rest follow. Then there was silence as Eli convinced Josh to hit the caribou with his confusion spell. I didn’t realize it at first, but Eli was in midair, dropping down on the prey as Josh sent out his wave of confusion so the caribou couldn’t move as Eli landed and snapped the preys’ neck. Now that the tension was over, we grouped together on the caribou and fed. It