Chapter 1 Crossbows and Swimming Pools
It's been 18 months since she drove away from Seth on that deserted Mexican back road.
16 months since she has learnt to accurately shoot both a hand gun and a rifle.
15 months since she learnt how to throw a knife and hit a target, just as well as Richie could.
14 months since she had put together her own arsenal complete with her trusty crossbow.
There was no going back after she had learnt about Culebras. It was almost like they could smell the knowledge on her, either that or they could sense when she recognised them. Maybe it was pheromones or maybe she had a Tell, didn't matter which, the consequences were the same.
Life away from Seth was supposed to be simpler, less life and death on a daily basis and certainly less crime. Simple plan right? Go home, save your brother, finish high school. Christ! Had she really been that naïve?
The simple plan disintegrated the moment she walked through the door of her childhood home. That night all her hopes came crashing down around her ears, in truth without Freddie's help she'd be a Culebra already, damn Scott and his stupid ass ideas. Without Freddie's help she would be alone at best, at worst she'd be very, very dead.
They had managed to save her brother from himself, but it came with a hefty and bloody price. Staying home wasn't an option when you're a Culebra magnet and your brother is a blood sucker. Bethel may not have been the best town to grow up in, but she had friends and people who had respected her parents living there. There was no way that she was staying here to bring this hell upon them.
As to high school, she had learnt new skills aplenty, but these new skills were learnt in fields, on the road and involved weapons and targets. These skills weren't going to get her a high school diploma. Kate had needed to learn how to defend herself, how to kill Culebras, it was the only way she had survived.
Unfortunately Culebra hunter has a very poor wage. Nobody hired them to take out the nest of monsters living of the necking students in the park. There was no insurance or health care package with this job, but there was definitely a lot of hurt and pain. So she'd had to take a leaf out of The Gecko's book and added some crime into her hunting. She'd learnt how to con and grift with the best of them, her pretty, innocent preacher daughter face was a gift in this game. Nothing to make her rich, but enough to keep a roof over their heads when needed, enough to feed them, repair them, clothe them and enough to cover ammunition. Freddie really didn't approve, but his meagre wage was definitely not going to cover their expenses.
18 months down the line and life was definitely not simpler, the crimes were less violent and the deaths more ash than blood. The number of Culebras nests they were finding seemed to have lessened. She's not sure if this is her, Freddie and Scott's doing or if it's The Gecko's doing. During the time they have been fighting, they've heard rumours about the brothers and sometimes about the Goddess. They've never crossed paths with them, but have sometimes seen the aftermath of a Gecko takedown, burning buildings, piles of ash and blood spatter.
Kate's not sure if the uncrossed paths is a good thing or not. She has tried to put them to the back of her mind, focus on what's right in front of her. They fight, they kill, they eat, they sleep and they try to keep her fucked up little family alive and safe. They try to end whatever was started at the Titty Twister, so Kate can have a simpler life and Freddie can finally get back his wife and daughter.
It's in the still moments of the night when they are locked down, secure, lights out, rooms quiet that Kate imagines what life will be after this. She wonders what's next? What will the future hold for Kate Fuller?
She has a favourite fantasy that she likes to dream about, there's a nice open bright house, with a pool overlooking the ocean. She's lying by the pool in the brilliant sunshine, relaxing and enjoying the warm fresh air. She hears the laughter of a couple of kids running around, followed by the distinct deeper laugh of a man chasing them around the pool.
Kate opens her eyes to see a pair of young kids with dark hair splashing around. The girl has long hair that is curling due to the water, the boy's hair is short shaved. They look about 6 or 7 years old and have obviously been brought up around the water, with the way they are diving and splashing to get away from the tanned dark haired man chasing them.
He catches the girl and swings her up and around, so that they are both grinning and laughing in Kate's direction. It's at this point of the fantasy that Kate's heart has a little Stutter. Grinning at her across the pool is a very wet, happy and bare chested Seth Gecko holding in his arms, what in her heart of heart she knows is their daughter.
She never delves any deeper into this fantasy world, she doesn't think that it would be good for her to imagine this life and how things could be. What it would be like to have kids, what it would be like to have Seth. She doesn't let her imagination take her to the place where Seth Gecko holds her, kisses her, where they make love and have a life together, but she keeps that image of him with their daughter in the pool close, like a snapshot in her mind.
She refers back to it every time she needs to remind herself why she shouldn't just lie down and die, why she needs to keep fighting. For Kate knows that there will be no idyllic afternoons by the pool, there will be no kids and there will be no happy, tanned and gorgeous husband until this is finshed.