by Laura Hysell
“Oh, sorry,” the barkeep responded, his eyes widening as he looked at me. “Sorry, so sorry. I didn’t mean to.” He stopped talking and the smile slipped briefly from his lips as he looked from me to Thomas.
“Rum and coke,” I said, and the man nodded his head as he hurried to oblige. I watched him prepare the simple drink, making sure only two ingredients were added. He handed the glass to me and I sniffed it before taking a tentative sip. “Why did you bring me here, Thomas?”
“I told you. Mr. Donovan asked me to give you a tour.”
“Did he specifically ask you to show me the town, or this bar?” I asked as I turned around and surveyed the room. The two human girls were still flirting with the vampires, but so far no one had lost any blood that I could see.
“He asked me to show you his domain,” Thomas replied softly.
The rum and coke was good, and I took another few sips before turning my attention back to the vampire beside me. “Why? Why does he want to show me anything? Why does he care? This town is dead.”
“The town is dead,” Thomas repeated my words, and I narrowed my eyes at him.
“So there’s nowhere to run?” The vampire shrugged, but his eyes spoke volumes. I sighed loudly, trying to figure out what the frustrating vampire was trying to tell me. “Where are we?”
“North.”
I ground my teeth in frustration and turned toward the man tending the bar. “Where are we?” I asked him.
“Don’t know where you are, eh?” he laughed and ran a hand through his thinning hair. “I guess that’s not so surprising. Isn’t really much of a town anymore. Used to be…” he muttered, trailing off as his eyes grew distant.
I cleared my throat, drawing the barkeeper’s attention back to me. “Location?” I asked again.
“Yukon Territory,” he replied simply, before turning toward a vampire at the other end of the bar.
“Yukon Territory? As in Canada?” I squeaked out, turning toward Thomas. The vampire grimaced, and I guessed that information wasn’t supposed to be divulged to me. Not that knowing my location did any good. “Why Canada?” I moaned, more to myself than to Thomas, but he answered nonetheless.
“It wouldn’t be my first choice, but this is Mr. Donovan’s place. I’m guessing he likes it because of the shortened daylight hours in winter. From what I understand, he’s had this place for quite a while.”
“Quite a while? How long is quite a while to a vampire?”
Thomas shrugged, but a small smile played at his lips. “Many of our kind like the Northern areas. My understanding is that Mr. Donovan has spent a few centuries up here, or near here. I wouldn’t know though. As I mentioned before, I only recently joined him.”
“What were you doing before joining him? Playing puppet to Sarah?”
“Hardly,” he replied, and I caught the edge to his words.
I drained my drink and held it up for the bartender to refill. He hurried toward me and refilled it quickly, before scurrying off again. “Who do you work for, Thomas?”
“Work for? Hmm, that’s an interesting way of looking at it. I suppose I currently work for Mr. Donovan. He pays me in a way, supplies meals and housing for me. Our goals are aligned at the time,” he paused, as though he was going to say more, but changed his mind.
“What about everyone else here?” I asked, indicating the room full of vampires.
“Mr. Donovan is very old and very powerful. Most are of his bloodline, if only distantly.”
“Bloodline? What do you mean?” I frowned in confusion.
“Haven’t you figured it out yet, Isabella?” the vampire asked, suddenly flashing his fangs at me. “Everything comes down to blood. It’s the beginning of all life, as well as the end.”
I shivered suddenly, even though the room was rather warm and the knife was burning on my thigh. “You mean Henri made all these vampires?” I whispered, even though all the vampires could hear me if they wanted to.
“No, not all of them, but they are of his line. Most of them, anyway. He is the patriarch here, and when the patriarch speaks, all under him listen. And obey,” Thomas added pointedly.
“Like when a vampire controls a human?”
“Close,” he whispered so softly I barely heard his words.
I mulled over his comments. Henri had created vampires, who had created more vampires, who had created more, and who all listened to him. Was that how it was like with the other vampires? Did Petrivian have as many vampires under him? “How many vampires are here?” I asked.
Thomas straightened and shook his head minutely as the vampire from outside, Derek, walked toward us. “There are a few hundred of us here in town,” Derek responded to my question before turning toward Thomas. “The boss wants you to bring her back.”
Thomas ushered me toward the exit. I made it to the door and stopped to look back into the room. The group of old men still sat near the fire, sipping their drinks and whispering. The two young girls were nowhere to be seen, and neither was the group of vampires that had been with them. I stopped, frantically searching the room with my eyes. Thomas grabbed my arm tightly and pushed me out the door, into the freezing cold night air.
Thomas released my arm after he had pushed me several steps from the building. “Where are those girls?” I asked, stopping in front of the vampire with my hands on my hips.
“They’ll be fine.”
“That’s not what I asked? Where are they?”
Thomas let out a loud sigh, as though I were trying his patience. “There is a reason Mr. Donovan is asking for you to return now. Don’t be foolish.”
“Those girls are going to be someone’s snack.”
“Of course they are. Remember though, Mr. Donovan has limited bloodshed since his return. There is someone in control once more. Be happy about that. The girls should be fine.”
Chapter 5
How could I just walk away, knowing two young girls were about to become a vampire’s meal? And I was supposed to trust his judgement that they wouldn’t be harmed? I’d just seen the remnants of Henri’s concubines. Henri had only been back in town a day, and it didn’t look to me like he had that strong a leash on his vampires yet, despite the fact that Thomas claimed most were of his line. The door to the bar opened, and Derek walked out. He moved directly toward us, and I saw Thomas shift out of the corner of my eye. “Take her back to Mr. Donovan, or I will,” Derek said as he stopped directly in front of Thomas.
“We’re going,” Thomas replied softly. “Aren’t we, Isabella?”
I gritted my teeth and crossed my arms. “I’ll go back when I feel like it,” I retorted.
Derek had been staring at Thomas, but his eyes shifted quickly toward me and turned black. Immediately, I regretted my hasty words, but I squared my shoulders and stared the vampire down despite the sudden cold fear coursing down my spine. “I see you prefer to do things the hard way,” he said harshly, displaying his fangs to me.
“You wouldn’t dare lay a hand on me,” I responded arrogantly.
“Mr. Donovan ordered me to send you to him. He didn’t say you had to arrive alive,” he sneered.
“Your threats won’t work on me, vampire. Henri went to a lot of effort to bring me here. You think you could harm me and live to tell the tale?”
“Let’s find out.”
“Go ahead,” I retorted, but the vampire still didn’t make a move. I’d never been much of a gambler, but I was beginning to understand the rush involved in calling someone’s bluff.
Several minutes passed in silence, while I stared the vampire down. He didn’t move or blink, and I did my best not to fidget despite my loudly pounding heart. After what felt like an eternity, he finally moved, taking a step backward. I breathed a sigh of relief too early.
He moved in a blur, spinning full circle around me. I turned too slowly, and he grabbed me from behind, pinning my arms to my sides. I locked eyes with Thomas, but he did nothing to help me as the vampire sunk his teeth into
my neck. Pain didn’t immediately accompany the bite, but I still screamed in surprise. The knife burned with fire on my side and it felt as though time stood still. Blood dripped down my neck as I reached for the knife, using my fingertips to pull it out as Derek sucked blood from my body.
The knife hummed in my hand, and I felt a thrill of excitement as I shifted my grip so the knife was pointed behind me, toward the vampire at my back. Derek still held my arms tightly to my sides, just above the elbows. There wasn’t room to move, so I’d need to make room. I lifted my foot and slammed it down on the vampire’s toes, but the only reaction he gave was a slight shift in his hold on me.
The vampire was draining my blood quickly, and I was beginning to grow lightheaded. What was Thomas doing? I lifted my foot again and kicked Derek in the shin. He stopped sucking at my neck, and I kicked him again. His grip loosened and that was all I needed. Without looking, I slammed the knife into the vampire behind me.
Derek screamed and released me, shoving me away from him. I stumbled a few steps before regaining my balance and turning back toward the vampire. Derek stared down at the knife in his thigh, his black eyes wide. He grabbed the knife hilt and screamed as his hand made contact. Black lines coursed up his hand the instant he touched the knife, and he grunted in pain as he drew the knife from his thigh and threw it to the ground.
I raced for the knife and snagged it off the ground before turning back toward the vampire. Derek clutched his blackened hand, shot a look of pure hatred at me, and fled in a blur of vampire speed away from me. The knife pulsed once in my hand, then returned to a state of steady warmth that I’d learned meant vampires were still near, but the immediate danger had passed. Thomas was still near. I turned around, searching for the vampire, and stopped when I spotted him leaning casually against the wall of a brick building.
He pushed himself away from the wall and moved toward me. “Well, that was interesting,” he stated. He raised one eyebrow as he studied me, and the knife in my hand. “Will he survive?”
I thought about it for a moment and shrugged. “I’m not really sure,” I began, when the knife thrummed suddenly in my palm. The knife was clean and bright, seeming to glow in the dark. I smiled and began to sheath it, but stopped and looked at Thomas directly. “When the black lines reach his heart, he’ll die.”
“They’ll continue to spread?”
“The longer the knife feeds, the faster the blackness will spread,” I responded knowingly, and I felt a moment of surprise as the words left my lips. How did I know that? I wasn’t going to tell Thomas, but I knew the vampire would be dead before day’s end.
“You’ve seen this happen a lot, then?” Thomas asked, and I noticed the concern etched on his face.
“I haven’t had the knife that long, and I don’t really know much about it. The knife burns vampires, like holy water,” I summed up with a shrug, ready to change the subject.
“Holy water doesn’t spread like that,” Thomas responded.
I sighed loudly and just stared at Thomas. What could I say? There was some sort of magic in the knife that killed vampires, but it was more than that. “Do you know where those vamps took the human girls?” I asked, changing the subject and turning my body so I could sheathe the knife without him noticing it disappear. I didn’t need him asking more questions about the knife, and the disappearing act was sure to add fuel to the fire.
Thomas stared at me blankly for several minutes. “There’s a place they like,” he finally responded, pointing past the bar. “It’s not far.”
“Lead the way.”
Thomas turned without a word and led me past the bar. I followed a few steps behind him as he walked confidently down the slippery streets. Going after a bunch of vampires wasn’t a good idea considering the amount of blood I had lost, but my conscience wouldn’t let me walk away from those girls. Maybe I could talk the vampires out of drinking their blood. I laughed quietly to myself at that thought, knowing it was stupid. Thomas shot me a worried look over his shoulder and I stifled my laughter. Maybe I was going crazy. Picking fights with vampires certainly didn’t sound like me. I was growing reckless.
We only walked a few blocks before Thomas turned down a side street and pointed at a large warehouse. “The young ones used to throw parties there to lure the teenagers. They would get them drunk and drain them of their alcohol-laden blood. It’s quite a rush, actually,” he said softly.
“The vamps get drunk on drunken humans?” I asked, and Thomas nodded.
“The humans who survived would go home quite drunk and incoherent, but there were a considerable number of deaths. New vampires are dangerous anyway, but drunken ones are even worse. They have no control.”
“I thought you said there weren’t many young ones here,” I accused.
Thomas continued walking toward the abandoned-looking warehouse, and didn’t respond until he had stopped before a metal door in the side of the building. “There aren’t many,” he said, turning to look at me. “You still think like a human. One vampire could kill ten humans before you could even pull out your fancy little knife. Five vampires could do considerably more damage. You have a certain amount of protection because of Henri, but you’re not safe. I thought you would have figured that out after Derek.”
“You think we should turn around.”
“We?” Thomas asked. “You’re on your own here. I’m not your protector. I don’t care what happens to you. If you die, you’ll simply become a vampire. That might not be an ideal situation, but it’s ultimately your problem.”
I stared at Thomas, trying to figure out what game he was playing. He was lying, I was sure of it, but I wasn’t sure why. He had let Derek bite me and drink my blood, but would he have let him kill me? The vampire was a puzzle, but I didn’t have time to think on that now. A scream had sounded from inside the warehouse, banishing all thoughts of annoying gangster vampires from my mind.
Thomas opened the door and I pushed past him, racing inside the dark building. The thrum of music pulsed through the building, and I followed the sound as it grew louder. Someone screamed again and I ran toward the sound. Light filtered below a doorway in the back of the warehouse, and the sounds of music were louder in that direction.
I hurried to the door, surprised to see Thomas still beside me. My hand was on the handle, ready to pull it open, when Thomas’s hand closed over mine. A woman screamed again, and I struggled against the vampire’s grip to open the door. “No,” he said softly, but I shoved against him until he finally let go of my hand.
I burst into the room and stopped dead in my tracks. The taller, prettier girl from the bar screamed again, but it wasn’t a scream of fear. The girl was naked on her back with a handsome, young vampire atop her. Another vampire was at her breasts, and the girl was screaming in pleasure. I looked away from the girl, my face on fire, as I backed quickly out of the room.
Thomas was close beside me, but he suddenly stopped moving, blocking my escape from the room. I looked up at his face, then followed his black-eyed gaze. Across the far side of the room was the other girl from the bar. Her hair was disheveled and her lipstick had smeared down the side of her face. She appeared to be in a similar state as her friend, with three vampires surrounding her naked body. Then I saw the blood.
The first vampire with his head bent over her breast looked up, directly at me, with blood covering his chin and dripping to the floor. He nudged the vamp at the girl’s neck, who looked toward me as well. The girl’s neck was red with blood, and gore. Bits of flesh hung from her neck in strips. My eyes took in the third vampire straddling the girl, whose face and chest were so red there was no clean skin to behold. He glanced at me, and the look in his eyes held no emotion. The girl’s head lolled to the side, her eyes open wide and unseeing.
“My God,” I whispered, covering my mouth with my hand. My eyes sought out the other girl, who still appeared alive and unbitten. The vampire atop never stopped pounding himself into her, even as his head tur
ned toward me. The other vampire beside the girl turned and walked toward me confidently despite his nakedness, or perhaps because of it. He was young, with dark hair and a muscular body.
“Thomas,” the vampire said as way of greeting when he drew closer. “This is a private party.”
“She’s dead,” I said, my eyes drifting back to the bloodied girl.
He frowned and looked at the other group. “Damn it, Peter, I told you not to kill that one! Fuck!” he yelled, shaking his head as he turned back toward me. “He’s not quite right.”
“What?”
“I gave Peter strict orders not to kill her, but he gets confused sometimes.”
I wasn’t sure which of the trio was Peter, and I didn’t really care. “I see three vamps covered in her blood. That’s three murderers in my book,” I responded tartly.
The vampire looked at me sharply, and I stared him down. He was handsome and young, maybe in his early twenties when he became a vampire, but there was an intelligence behind his eyes. He wasn’t a new vampire, and his dark brown eyes contemplated me with a seriousness I didn’t like. “They belong to Peter. They follow his lead. What he does, they do. They don’t know any better.”
The knife was already in my hand, although I didn’t recall pulling it out. “Let the girl go,” I said, pointing with my knife toward the still living girl.
“We’re not done with her yet,” he responded.
“You already killed one girl. I won’t let you kill another. Let her go,” I stated, biting off each word.
“I have killed no one,” he responded, placing his hand over his heart. “She wants to be here.” The girl cried in pleasure, as though echoing the vampire’s words.
Thomas placed his hand on my upper arm and pulled me toward him. “Let’s go, Isabella.”
I shot Thomas a look of pure anger, and he shook his head in response. “Thomas, look what they’ve done.”
“Yes, I see it. We need to leave, now.”
I pulled against Thomas, but he dragged me from the room. The knife suddenly burned in my hand, and several vampires burst into the warehouse. Thomas picked me up, mindful of the knife in my hand, and raced with me in his arms until we were outside the warehouse and running down the street past the bar.