C.O.T.V.H. (Book 3): Extermination

by Dustin J. Palmer

  About this time Sheriff Wheeler came stumbling through the rubble, Walt Luceno following close behind. "Captain Anderson," Wheeler said, stretching out his hand to shake.

  Against his better judgment Henry shook it. "Sheriff Wheeler."

  “So what brings you way out here?"

  "Got a tip that this might be related to a serial killer case I'm working on."

  "Really? Well I'm sorry but it seems to me you made the long drive for nothing. Looks like it's just a run of the mill Meth Lab explosion. Nothing that would interest a famous Texas Ranger like yourself. Besides, no offense but this is my jurisdiction."

  Henry laughed. “Unless I’m mistaken we’re still in the great state of Texas aren’t we?”

  “Yes sir but . . .”

  “Then we’re in my jurisdiction,” Henry smiled. “Aren’t we?”

  “I guess so,” Wheeler frowned, “but like I said, this is just a run of the mill Meth Lab.”

  "That a fact?" Henry asked, unable to hide his contempt for the man. "Well I guess I'll just get out of your hair then and let you get back to your interviews. Good evening then."

  With that Henry headed for his Suburban. Luceno came jogging up behind him. "Henry hold up!" Henry stopped in his tracks. "Henry, you know damn well that this isn't some Meth Lab."

  "Yeah I know it.”

  "Then why the hell are you letting him get away with this? He'll probably just bust a couple of Mexicans tomorrow and blame them for the murders. Claim it was some sort of drug cartel hit!"

  "Look Walt, I'm sorry. Something really big has come up. I've got to go."

  "You know more than you're letting on don't you, Henry?"

  Henry shook his head unwilling to meet the man’s eyes, "What I know would change your life forever. Believe me you're better off not knowing. Take care of yourself, Walt."

  "Yeah Anderson. You too," he said his voice filled with disgust.

  Henry started his suburban and pulled away from the scene. He felt terrible about not telling Walt the truth. He was a good man and didn’t deserve to be kept in the dark. But Henry knew he was better off not becoming a part of a world where Vampires prowled the night. When he reached the highway he pulled over and stepped out of the suburban. He opened the back doors. Inside laid a large blue gun case and a faded black duffel bag.

  Henry unlatched the two latches on the case and pulled out a huge 8in barrel .44 Magnum Colt Anaconda. He filled all six chambers with the .44 Magnum shells then slammed the back doors shut and walked back around climbing into the driver’s seat.

  Henry set the giant pistol on the seat next to him then pulled out his standard issue Sig Sauer .357 and made sure it was fully loaded then put it back in the holster on his hip. Uncomfortable or not Henry wasn't going anywhere tonight without it strapped to his belt. Lastly he pulled his backup .38 special out of his middle console and stuck it in the ankle holster on his boot. Again not very comfortable, but Henry wasn't taking any chances. Not on this trip.

  Chapter 6

  Jake

  The Bishop Residence

  Lubbock, TX

  September 10, 2001 7:45pm

  Jake awoke on his bed, lying under a fresh set of clean sheets. Fluids dripped into his right arm from an IV hanging on a coat rack next to his bed. He looked down to see that his vest, armor, and shirt were completely gone. Lightly stained bandages covered the wounds on his chest and right shoulder.

  He licked his parched lips. “Hello?” he rasped.

  Cort came in a few seconds later, relief flooding his face. "Hey Jake. How are you feeling?"

  Jake tried to lift up but immediately fell back. He felt extremely loopy, like he’d been put on some powerful pain meds.

  "Don't move son,” Cort said coming to his side. “You're not out of the woods yet."

  Jake nodded groggily. "Water,” he said touching his lips.

  “Here,” Cort lifted a glass with a straw in it from off the nightstand and put it up to his lips.

  Jake took a long deep sip then nodded when he was done. Cort pulled the straw away from his lips, “Grandpa,” Jake said, his eyes rolling in his head. “Grandpa, what happened?”

  Cort started to answer but he saw the sudden recognition in Jake's eyes. He had just remembered. "He's gone isn't he?" Jake said closing his eyes tight.

  “Yes,” Cort just managed to get out. “Yes, he is.”

  Jake draped his left arm over his face, “It's all my fault. I should have told you about those two girls. I should have . . ." he trailed off.

  "It's all right Jake, it‘s all right,” Cort said, pulling an office chair next to the bed and gripping his grandson’s right hand tightly. “Don't you worry about that, the most important thing now is to concentrate on getting you well."

  There came a sharp knock at the door and a tall beautiful black woman stepped in. She had short black hair and a face that looked strikingly familiar to Amber. "Knock, knock," she said, stepping in with a smile. "How's my patient doing?"

  Cort stood up nervously rubbing at the stubble on his left cheek, "Jake you remember Dr. Williams? Billy Williams' oldest daughter," he said, giving Jake a slight shake of his head.

  He didn't tell her, Jake thought, his stomach tightening. "Yeah, of course,” Jake swallowed. “We met briefly at Donnie's funeral."

  "That's right," she said, the smile fading from her face. "We met before that, though I doubt you’d remember. You were a bit out of it after taking a nasty hit to the back of your head.”

  “Ah, that’s right,” Jake nodded, remembering the night that vampires had attacked their house.

  “I'm glad you're awake,” Pam said checking his IV fluid levels. “I was really worried there for a while. You lost a lot of blood and needed a transfusion and a heck of a lot of stitches. Even so, you're probably going to have some pretty bad scarring. Vampire inflicted wounds never quite heal right. So I need you to take it easy for a while, okay? Change the bandages whenever they need it.” She sighed, “Now, the venom is something else entirely. I’ve given you a broad spectrum of antibiotics however the poison had already run through your bloodstream doing quite a bit of damage to your organs.” She paused, “I honestly don’t know what the full effects might be.”

  “He’ll be fine,” Cort eased out of Pam’s way and stood in the corner. “We’ve all been scratched a time or two.”

  “Yes, that’s true,” Pam conceded, “but this isn’t just a scratch or even a deep cut. This thing cut not only one but eight different wounds, deep into the muscle. I’m more than a little worried about the effects.”

  “What are you saying, Doc?” Jake squeezed his eyes shut as a sharp pain shot through his right arm. “Am I dying?”

  Pam frowned, “I don’t want to lie to you, Jake. There’s no way to know the full extent of damage on your kidneys, heart, lungs, etc., without running some tests. We need to get you to the hospital where I can keep an eye on you, run some blood tests, even run an MRI.”

  “Not gonna happen, Pam,” Cort said. “Do what you can here.”

  “Cort . . .” she started to say.

  “You heard me, Pam,” he said harshly. “He won’t be safe in a hospital. Just get him to where we can move him. We’re heading out first thing in the morning.”

  Pam scrunched up her brow. “I really don’t think he’s ready to be moved, Cort.”

  “I appreciate that, but we really don’t have a choice.” The phone in the other room rang and Cort excused himself to answer it. He turned looking back at Jake one last time and shook his head, mouthing the word, “No.”

  “Stubborn old fool,” Pam said when he was out of earshot. She slipped her hands into two latex gloves from a box on Jake’s desk. “He’s just like Billy! Stubborn!”

  “Pam?” Jake asked balling the sheets up in his fist as a deep burning pain coursed through his legs. “Please tell me the truth. How bad am I?”

  She looked down at him, “Truthfully, without further tests . . . I don’t know.
”

  “What are my odds?”

  “You woke up so I’d say your odds are good. Though like I said, I don’t know what the full effects will be. It could shut your kidneys down entirely. Stop your heart,” she said solemnly. “I’m sorry, Jake. There’s not much else I can do for you here. The rest is up to you, you just have to fight.”

  Jake could see the fear in her eyes. It was far worse than she was letting on. Looks like I got us both killed, Dad. “Thank you, Pam,” he nodded gritting his teeth. “I know you did your best.”

  “I’ll give you something for the pain,” she said inserting a syringe filled with a clear fluid into his IV.

  “Thank you, that would be really great,” Jake said between clenched teeth.

  “I'm really sorry about John,” she said withdrawing the needle. “He was a good man and a good friend."

  "Yeah he was," Jake said biting his lip to fight back the pain. So was your dad. Why didn't Grandpa tell you?

  "You know, I don't know if you know this but your mom and I were best friends." Pam said hooking up a fresh bag of IV fluids. “I was there the day you were born. Technically . . . I’m your godmother.”

  "Really?” Jake said relaxing a bit as the pain meds started to kick in. “I didn't know that."

  "We were all really close once. But that was a long time ago. I was even her maid of honor at their wedding."

  "I never knew that either."

  "John was a good friend of mine too. He saved my life once. Did he ever tell you that?"

  "No he didn't,” Jake said groggily. “Was it vampires?"

  "Oh no, nothing as supernatural as that.” Pam gently checked his bandages. “I’m going to have to change these. Here Jake, lets lean you forward a bit.”

  Jake did his best to sit forward as Pam cut away the large bandage wrapped around his chest and shoulder. She looked them over and gently patted around the edges with sterile gauze. “You’re very lucky, Jake. If that monster had dug in much deeper it could have done some serious damage, maybe even nicked your lung.” She looked at the dark bruises on his neck. “How’d you get that?”

  From your father’s fangs . . . “I don’t know Pam. It’s all one big blur.”

  “Well like I said, you’re very lucky.”

  “Yeah . . . well, I guess that’s me all around. Everyone else gets killed and I come out with a few scratches. Story of my life.”

  “Don’t be so hard on yourself, Jake,” she said preparing a fresh compression dressing. “Bad things happen to good people. That’s just the life you lead, the life your dad led.”

  Jake winced as she wrapped the fresh dressing tightly around his chest and shoulder. “You were, ugh . . . you were telling me about Dad saving your life.”

  Pam finished wrapping him up and then started cleaning up what little mess she’d made. “It was about two, maybe two and half years ago. You were off training at the Ranch, and I . . . I was in a very bad relationship. His name was Tank Russell. I'm sure you've heard of him.”

  "Tank Russell?" Jake said lying back in bed. "Sounds familiar, isn't he a hunter?"

  "Yeah, he runs with Turner’s group. Big burly guy,” she sighed. “I should have known better than to date a Hunter. I'd always made a rule of it after . . .”

  “After you and dad,” Jake finished for her.

  She smiled, “I didn’t know if he’d ever told you or not.”

  Jake nodded, rubbing his eyes with his thumb and forefinger, “He told me.”

  “Well, I was pissed at Billy for some reason or another and wanted to get back at him. I couldn’t think of a better way than hooking up with a hunter," she paused, her eyes drifting off to some distant memory. "Well, long story short it got real bad real fast and I couldn't get away from this guy, no matter what I tried he wouldn't leave me alone. I had restraining orders put out on him, but of course they didn’t do any good. Nothing stopped him and I was too ashamed to go to my dad with it. Plus I knew Billy would have killed him. Well, one night after a long shift at the ER, I came home and just passed out on my couch. I didn't notice the shattered window in my kitchen. He was hiding in the house." Pam paused wiping a tear from her eye on her sleeve.

  Man you Williams’ women sure can pick them, Jake thought, but didn’t dare say.

  "I guess a vampire Hunter would know better than anyone where the good spots to hide in the house are,” she paused again. “When I woke up he was standing over me, just . . . watching me sleep. I screamed but he wrapped his hands tightly over my mouth. He . . . uh . . . he beat me . . . bad. Broke my left arm, my right wrist, four ribs. I just barely made it to the phone and dialed 911 before I passed out. When I woke up in the hospital I was terrified. I gave the cops my story but I knew they wouldn’t do much. He’d get maybe a few days in jail, before one of his buddies bailed him out. So I called the one person I knew could help. John Bishop.

  Later that night, him and Cort came to see me in the hospital. John told me I should have told him sooner. He'd always been like a big part of my life, but after Terry died and Julia disappeared, we just kind of drifted apart. After he got back in the game and then got you involved I really didn’t want to talk to him at all. Well anyway, John told me he'd take care of it.”

  Jake smiled sadly, thinking back to his dad’s smiling face. Just as quickly it transformed into that monstrous, twisted grunt face. Jake closed his eyes tight trying to block it out. “Jake, you okay?” Pam asked. “Are the pain meds not working?”

  “No. I’m fine,” Jake lied. “Please. Finish your story.”

  “Well . . . John tracked Tank down to some biker bar on the outskirts of town. From what I heard Tank pulled a knife but it didn’t do him any good. John beat him nearly to death, broke one of his arms, both his wrists, his jaw, knocked out most of his teeth, and broke six of his ribs. He told him it was an eye for an eye and that if he ever came near me again he’d kill him. Needless to say I never heard from him again." She dropped into the chair next to Jake’s bed and put her head in her hands. “I never told him how much he meant to me.” Tears flowed freely down her cheeks. She wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her purple and gold scrub top.

  “It’s okay Pam,” Jake said, trying to comfort her.

  "I was just so stupid! I knew better than to get involved with Tank, but I was so angry. I just lashed out. I shouldn't have blamed Billy for my problems. We've just never gotten along and it only got worse after Terry was killed.”

  She took a deep breath, wiping the last of her tears away. “I was very lucky that John was there when I needed a good friend. If not I’d probably be dead right now. Now he’s gone, just like Julia, and just like Terry and Donnie. So much death . . . so much pain, and for what? It will never stop Jake. You have to understand that. That’s something I’ve never been able to convince my dad of. The monsters will never stop coming.”

  “I know Pam, but Dad did try to get away. He really did. They just waited until his guard was down to strike. You can’t run from them.”

  “Yeah, well . . .” she sniffed, “at least Billy finally got Sandra and Amber out of danger. I’m just sorry it cost Donnie his life for him to see it. I need to call him, I just haven’t been able to bring myself to do it!"

  They both sat in silence for a few seconds thinking things over. She's going to hate me. They’re all going to hate me. How will Amber ever forgive me? I have to tell her. "Pam," Jake said, his voice cracking with emotion.

  "Yes Jake?"

  "When's the last time you talked to Billy?"

  "Not since Donnie died. Why do you ask?"

  Tears came pouring down his cheeks that had nothing to do with the pain from his wounds. "Pam, I'm so sorry."

  "Why Jake? What's wrong?" she rose and sat down on the bed next to him and held his hand.

  "Pam . . . your dad's dead. I'm so sorry but . . . Billy's dead."

  Pam's hand went up to her mouth. She let go of his hand, then stood and took several steps back from the bed. "What? Wha
t do you mean Billy's dead? Why would you say something like that?"

  "He was in the house when I . . . he was the grunt I killed in Patricia. There were two little girls in the house, but they weren't really little girls and it was all so chaotic and confusing . . . Pam I'm sorry but I killed your dad."

  “I don’t understand . . . how . . . why was he there? This doesn’t make sense.” She sat back down in the chair, unable to meet Jake’s eyes. "Does Sandra know?" she asked, closing her eyes tight.

  "I don't know. Pam . . . I'm so, so sorry."

  She wiped her eyes and Jake could see her try to revert back to Doctor mode. "So, how's your pain?"

  "Pam . . ." Jake started to say.

  She held up her hand. "No!” she said, her voice shaking with rage. “No! Not right now. Jake, not right now."

  Jake repositioned himself nervously, "Uh . . . I'm okay, I guess."

  "Good. We'll need to keep you . . ." she didn't finish her sentence. Cort burst through the bedroom door with Talon Parker right behind him.

  "We've got to go!" Cort was saying, “We have to move Jake now!”

  Pam let out a deep angry breath, "Cort, I told you this before, Jake can't be moved."

  "No choice. Pam you better get out of here too. Anderson called in. It’s bad, worst case scenario. Pam, you’ve got to get out of town. Talon, go with her, we’ll all meet up in Hometown in a few days."

  "Cort would you step out into the hall for a moment," Pam said, rising to her feet and grabbing a hold of Cort's arm, digging her nails into his skin and practically dragging him into the hall. Jake could just make out her voice. "Why didn't you tell me!" she was yelling.

  "Pam, I'm sorry but we don't have time for this."

  "Don't have time? Don't have time! How about the seven hours that I’ve been here! That would have been a great time to tell me! My dad is dead and you couldn't even bother to tell me! You sick, twisted bastard! What did you think, that I wouldn’t help Jake if I knew the truth?!”