by T. R. Lester
She hears her email chime and opens her mail. The bank manager has sent the file over and Grace begins going through it. The account shows numerous withdrawals over the years for amounts ranging up to $100,000.00 each. The latest, which was in November, shows one deposit for $27,000.00 and a larger withdrawal for $31,500.00.
“Where is she getting all this damn money?” Grace wonders.
Grace opens Francine’s file and goes through it, looking for anything of importance. She’s been at the same address since she came to the department ten years ago, no family listed, various jobs listed prior to her coming here, and not much more. Until Grace spots her emergency contact information
In the space reserved for an emergency contact, Grace sees the name, Neal Aleron.
“Son of a bitch.”
Grace pulls her phone out to call Draven. Before she can dial the number, she hears footsteps coming down the hall. They walk past her door, then turn to come back, and stop in front of it.
Someone knocks on the door. Grace sits still, daring to not even take a breath. Another knock.
“Grace, are you in there? I saw your car outside.”
Grace recognizes the voice as Steve Jones. The reserved, standoffish agent she had spoken with a few days ago. She’s only talked to him a couple of times and doesn’t know much about him except that he’s stiff and impersonal. She thinks for a moment before replying. Not knowing much about him, she’s wary. She doesn’t trust anyone at this point and has no idea why he would seek her out.
She decides to stay quiet. He knocks again. She can hear him shuffle his feet, then he walks away. Finally taking a breath, she shuts down her computer. Standing, she hears the footsteps come back. Before she can take a breath, the door flies open and Steve walks in holding his gun on her.
“Sit down Grace.” He tells her.
“What do you want Steve?”
“I want you to sit down. If you don’t, I’ll make you.”
Grace sat back down in her chair.
“And don’t think about going for your gun.”
“Why are you here?”
“Looking for you. You’re coming with me. Now, we can do this the hard way or the easy way, doesn’t matter to me.”
“Where are we going?”
“You’ll see soon enough. Now stand up slowly and take off your holder holster. Put it on your desk and don’t try any funny shit Grace.”
Grace stood and slowly took the holster off. Placing it in her desk, she looked at the files she had printed and hoped he wouldn’t see them. She may die, but she wanted these files to be found.
“Now, walk over here to me. We’re going to walk out together. There’s no one here right now so don’t even think of yelling or trying to run.”
She walked over to him and stopped. Steve patted her down and took her cell phone from her pocket.
“Let’s go, and remember, don’t try anything stupid. I will kill you. Do you understand?”
Grace nodded.
They walked back up the hall side by side. Grace could feel the barrel of his gun being pressed into her right side. As they neared the reception desk, Grace was dismayed to see no one had arrived yet. They continued their walk and finally stepped through the exit to the sidewalk.
“My car is over there.” Steve said, pointing to the left.
He pressed his gun into Grace and she started walking toward his car.
“Where are you taking me Steve?”
“Someone wants to see you.”
“Who?”
“You’ll see when we get there.”
Opening the passenger door, he shoved Grace in. He went to the driver’s side and got in, started the car, and left the lot.
Grace was trying to sort out what had just happened but was having no luck. Had Draven and Gideon been found out? Had they been injured, or worse, killed? Did they make it to the warehouse?
“You’re not going to get away with this Steve.”
“With what? Taking you? I’d say I already have Grace.”
He drove out of town and toward the warehouse. On one hand Grace was hoping he would go there as Draven and Gideon were there to help her. On the other hand, she didn’t know if anything had happened to them. But she could be sure of one thing. If anything had happened to them, it would have taken more than a couple of people to do it. They wouldn’t go out so easily.
Chapter 18
Draven and Gideon had arrived at the warehouse and immediately tried to call Grace to let her know.
“She’s not answering man.” Gideon tells Draven.
“Maybe she left her phone in the car.”
“I doubt it. I don’t like this.”
“Let’s stick to the plan first. I’m sure Grace is fine.” Draven says.
Getting out of the Tahoe, both men walk around to the back and start gathering their weapons.
“How are we going to get on the roof?” Gideon asks.
Draven stares at him.
“Oh hell no. You will not be flying me up there.”
“It’s the quickest way wolf man.” Draven says.
“I wouldn’t give a shit if it was the only way, I’m not in the mood to be carried around by a vampire.”
“Suit yourself. Can’t you climb with those razor claws of yours?”
“I could. But they would be able to hear me scaling the side of the building. I’d have to dig into the brick and you know that’s not going to be silent.”
“Looks like you’ll be flying then.”
“Fucking hell. If you ever tell anyone you flew me anywhere, I’ll kick your ass vampire.”
“Relax. I don’t want people to know I had to carry a wolf either.”
After checking their weapons, both men walked over to the front of the building by the entrance.
“Can you fly me up there? I mean, remember, I’m not a lightweight.”
Draven rolled his eyes.
“I’m going to thrust us straight up. Should be no problem. You need to stand in front of me, your back to me, so I can get under your arms.”
Draven pulled his shirt over his head.
“What the hell are you doing vampire?” Gideon asked, looking wary.
“I’ll rip my shirt up if I leave it on.”
“This just gets better and better.” Gideon tells him.
Gideon got in the position he was told to and stood waiting. He heard a rustling and turned to look at the vampire. He was speechless. Draven’s wings were spread out to each of his sides. Gideon had never seen a vamp with wings. His only encounters had been with the soulless ones.
He felt Draven’s arms slide up under his arms.
“Jump when I say.”
“Fine. Hurry the hell up man. This is embarrassing.”
Draven snorted.
Draven bent his knees slightly and Gideon followed. He spread his wings farther out and up to allow for a downward thrust that would send them up.
“Now.”
Both jumped and they were airborne. Gideon heard the flap of wings once then they were eye level with the roof. The next thrust had them hovering over the roof.
Draven set them down as silently as was possible. He let Gideon go.
“That was kind of cool man. I need some of those.”
“You’re one weird wolf.” He said, as he pulled his wings in.
“I’m going to shift into wolf form now. My senses are more alert and I’ll be able to sniff out the bastard.”
Draven watched as Gideon shifted and huge black and gray wolf with amber color eyes stood before him. His muscles rippled as he completed the change. The shoulders of the wolf reached up to Draven’s elbows. The beast had muscles from the tip of his tail all the way up to his muzzle.
“Holy fuck wolf man. I didn’t know you were that big. You look like a small pony.”
Gideon growled and shoved Draven with his nose.
“Let’s find a way in. There should be an access hatch that will allow us to go down int
o the building.” Draven tells Gideon.
Gideon put his nose to the ground and starts looking for the hatch. Draven slipped his shirt back on and grabbed the weapon belt Gideon was wearing before he changed and threw it over his shoulder. Letting his sense expand, he tried to find the dark one. Reaching in and out of each level of the building, he finally locates him. He’s on the third floor. Draven hears a low rumble and looks over to the wolf.
Gideon is standing about a hundred feet away with one foot on a door hatch.
As Draven walks over and reaches down to lift the hatch, he hears a car door slam. He hadn’t heard the car drive up. He had been too busy searching for the vampire.
Gideon walks over to the edge of the roof and growls. As Draven approaches him, he can see the beast stiffen and prepare to launch himself off the roof. Draven grabs a handful of fur before he can leap.
“Son of a bitch.” Draven says.
Gideon growls again and snaps at Draven’s hand.
“Stop wolf. If he was going to kill her she’d be dead already.”
As the watch, a man opens the passenger door and pulls Grace out of the car. Gideon lunges again but is unable to get away from the death grip Draven has on his neck.
“We can get her once we’re inside. He’s taking her in.”
Gideon trots back over to the hatch and scratches at it. Draven walks over and lifts the hatch. Without pause, Gideon launches himself through the narrow opening, landing silently on all four feet.
Draven drops the weapon belt down to Gideon who catches it in his mouth before it hits the floor. Draven drops silently down through the hatch landing beside the wolf.
Draven takes the belt and hangs it around the wolf’s neck.
“For when you change back.” He tells Gideon.
Gideon rumbles again.
“He’s here on this floor. We need to find the room he’s hiding in.”
Gideon starts walking and smelling the air. Draven sends his senses out again, this time trying to get a feel on Grace. He’s able to sense what others feel and depending on how strong the individual’s mind is, can sometimes communicate through thought.
He focuses in on Grace and is mildly surprised. She’s not afraid, she’s angry. Pissed off to be exact. He pushes on her mind slightly to see if there’s any resistance. Feeling only a slight bit, he pushes again and feels her confusion. Confusion at what is prying into her mind.
Draven tries to get a message to her although she won’t be able to respond back since she isn’t telepathic.
“Grace, it’s me, Draven. Gideon and I are on the third floor. We’re looking for the dark one. I need you to stall as long as you can so we can find him.”
Grace, hearing Draven’s voice in her head, starts to think of a stalling tactic. Not coming up with anything on the spot, she stumbles to make Steve think she’s twisted her ankle.
“What are you doing? Get up.”
“I turned my ankle. I can’t walk.”
“You’ll walk or I’ll shoot you.”
Grace sees this for the lie it is. Had he been able to shoot her, he probably already would have. Relying on her instincts, she calls him out.
“You’re a liar. You were told to bring me here, not kill me. So, I would guess that if you do kill me, you’ll soon follow.”
Steve drew his hand back and slapped Grace across her right cheek.
“Maybe I can’t kill you, but I can make you wish you were dead bitch.”
As he drew back to slap her again, a powerful hand wrapped around his wrist and started to squeeze. Steve dropped to one knee in pain. Looking up, he saw his boss, the vampire, glaring at him with hate filled eyes.
“I didn’t tell you to abuse her, I told you to bring her to me.”
When Grace heard the voice, she stumbled. She couldn’t be hearing what she thought she had. The voice she would know no matter how many years it had been since she had heard it. One ingrained in her memories for an eternity.
Slowly looking up into the eyes of the man the voice belonged to, Grace fell to her knees.
“Nathaniel?” Grace whispered.
“Hello little sister. So nice to see you again.”
As her vision narrowed and darkened, Grace slowly fell to the floor on her side, unaware of her surroundings.
Neal bends down and scoops Grace into his arms.
“Little sister?” Steve asks him.
“Yes.” Neal replies.
Neal walks toward the stairs that led up to the second floor. He had been waiting on Grace as she came in with Steve. He had just reached the second-floor landing when he heard a noise coming from directly above him, on the third floor.
“Someone is up there. Go check it out.” He told Steve.
Steve warily walked over to the stairs that led to the third floor and started to walk up.
When he got to the top landing, he took a breath and peeped around the wood molding to stare right into the face, or snout, of a giant black and gray wolf.
Before he could pull the trigger on his gun, Gideon clamped his huge jaws around Steve’s gun hand and crushed it.
Draven reached past Gideon’s head and wrapped his hand around Steve’s throat and yanked him into the hallway.
“Where is she?” Draven growled.
Steve whined, not able to answer due to the pain of his shattered wrist.
Draven squeezed harder.
Steve looked down the stairs.
“She’s down there? Alone?”
Steve gave a quick nod and then a shake of his head.
“Someone has her?”
Steve nodded slightly.
Draven let his grip on Steve’s throat relax a small bit so he could talk.
“Why did you bring her here?”
“He told me to.” Steve replied.
“Who told you to?”
“The vampire.”
“Neal?”
Steve nodded.
“Why?”
“He didn’t tell me why.”
Gideon growled, releasing Steve’s wrist from his jaws.
Steve yelped as the feelings came back to his wrist.
Draven patted Steve down, found his badge in his back pocket and looked at him.
“You’re with the department?”
“Yes.” Steve said.
“You son of a bitch.”
Draven looked up and said a silent prayer.
“Forgive me for what I am about to do.” Draven whispered.
Draven bent Steve’s head to the side and sank his fangs into the man’s neck. Steve tried to scream but found he couldn’t due to the pressure of Draven’s hand still wrapped around his throat. Draven drank, greedily. Steve wriggled and squirmed for a few seconds before blood loss kicked in and subdued him. Draven continued to drink until Steve stopped moving, then drank some more.
When Draven no longer felt Steve’s heart beating, he retracted his fangs and shoved the man to the floor.
He looked over at Gideon who was staring at him.
“What?”
Gideon snorted.
“No one hurts Grace.” Draven said.
Gideon bared his teeth. Draven could almost swear he saw a smile on that wolf snout.
Gideon walked over to Steve, lifted his leg, and proceeded to urinate on the dead man.
“My thoughts too wolf man.”
“He sent that twit up here so he knows we’re in the building. He won’t come up here. We have to find where he took Grace.”
Gideon gave a nod to Draven.
“Look around up here. See what you can find. I’m going down to see if I can find her.”
Gideon walked down the hallway as Draven started down the stairs.
Gideon pushed into each room, tearing the latches of the doors out of the wood. Each room held two beds which had a human in each of them. Gideon walked over to the beds and sniffed. The stench of death was on them. No, they weren’t dead, but it wouldn’t be long. Knowing there was nothing he c
ould do, he turned and left the room, going to the next one. Each room he entered contained humans being slowly drained of their life-giving fluid. There were a few rooms that had four beds, but the individuals in those beds were close to death as well.
Letting a growl rumble through his chest, Gideon turned to go back down the stairs and find Draven.
Chapter 19
When Grace came to, she struggled to open her eyes. She could hear some sort of machine running. Trying to gather her thoughts, she relaxed for a few seconds as everything slowly came back. She stiffened as the memory of her brother came back to mind.
“Nathaniel?” Grace said in a low whisper.
“Yes Grace. I’m here.”
Grace opened her eyes and turned toward her left to see Nathaniel sitting in a chair beside the bed she was in. When she tried to move, she found her ankles and wrists had been secured to restraints connected to each corner of the bed frame. The bed was a hospital bed, the machine she heard, when looking over to her right, was support machine, like some sort of life support used in hospitals.
“You’re dead.” She told him.
“On the contrary little sister.”
“But, you were presumed dead. I looked for you.” Grace said.
“That’s right. I was presumed dead; my body was never found.”
“Why am I here Nathaniel?”
“Well, that depends on you. I have an offer for you. Depending on how you answer, well, let’s just say that how you answer will predict your future.”
“Where have you been? Why did you never come home or contact me?” Grace asks.
“Like this?” Nathaniel asks, spreading his arms wide to sweep over himself.
Grace stared at him for a moment. She could see changes in his appearance. His hair was darker than she remembered, his skin color paler, and he seemed to have a more muscled body. Then it occurred to her.
“You’re the dark one?”
“Yes, I am. I go by Neal Aleron now. I haven’t been Nathaniel Chandler since the night I was attacked.”
“You killed Emily Kessler?”
“That was by accident. I didn’t intend to kill her, I only wanted offspring.”