“You are mine,” Gestalt said. “You were mine for a very long time. Do you understand that?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
“And does that please you?”
She nodded again, starting to stroke him as if to solidify her agreement.
“Good,” he said.
He turned from her and closed his eyes. He seemed to be in deep thought. Paula approached him from behind and rested her head on his shoulder. Her hands went down his arms, to his hands, and then gripped his waist, pulling him to her.
“Can I please have it again?” she asked.
“Not right now,” he said. “I have some work to attend to. I need you to stay here while I do that. There is another here like you, a man named Larry. He is resting right now. Stay here with him until I return and we can discuss your future and your position further.”
“Yes,” she accepted. “I’ll be here.”
“I feel that I have made a good choice,” he said, again staring at her well-proportioned body. “I will return as soon as I can to sample you further.”
She smiled at him as he started back towards the field. She watched him go and then sank down to the forest floor, still naked and trembling from her first encounter in what she felt was a new body.
4
Gestalt had been standing about ten feet away from the edge of the woods that sat to the front right side of the Benton’s cabin when Saul and Nikki had left for Nikki’s apartment. Gestalt watched them go, frozen against a tree and shrouded in the darkness. He didn’t move—didn’t even breathe—until he saw the car’s headlights disappear around the curve.
It had been a busy night. His blood was still pumping from the delightful romp with Paula in the forest. That, mingled with the anticipation of kicking a chain of events that he had been preparing for over the course of a few decades, had him feeling positively electric.
Gestalt wasted no time. He left the shadows of the forest, walking across the front yard of Benton Cabin as if he owned the place. He could smell two vampires on the property, both very similar to one another. One carried a very prominent smell, the scent of a being that has a significant amount of power.
But it was the other one he was really interested in. He’d picked up this scent the previous night as he had surveyed the town of Red Creek. He knew he must make a move and make it fast. In the course of making his plans for this afternoon, he had never expected such a pleasant surprise, to say the least.
Gestalt was no fool; he knew who Saul Benton was and just how powerful he was. He also knew about Saul’s new-found status with The Guard. He’d sat outside the cabin for two hours, waiting for the right moment and now it had come. With Saul gone, this would be much easier than Gestalt had hoped. Everything seemed to be working out to his advantage.
He walked up the front porch steps and knocked on the door. He could sense the confusion of those within, even through the wood and space separating them. It was late—nearing four in the morning—and he knew that this cabin provoked a profound sense of dread and reverence throughout Red Creek. Who could possibly be knocking at this hour? He could hear feet shuffling behind the door.
Gestalt smiled.
The door opened just a crack but that was all he needed. A woman answered the door—probably Saul’s sister, Jill.
“Who’s th—” she started.
Gestalt cut her off with a swift kick. He kicked the door so hard that it popped from its hinges and collided directly into Jill. She stumbled backwards into the living room but managed to stay on her feet. She batted the door away but by the time it had cleared, Gestalt was inside the house and already throwing his first punch. It landed squarely across Jill’s face and sent her to the floor. The look of shock and surprise his action inspired amped up Gestalt’s energy as he strode into Benton cabin.
The commotion attracted the other vampire that Gestalt had smelled. It was a frail-looking male that came in through the back door. He surveyed the situation as if he really didn’t care what was going on. He eyed Gestalt for a moment and seemed to consider something.
Gestalt grinned at him. The smell coming off of this vampire was unmistakable.
“You,” Gestalt said, pointing to him. “You are not like her.” He pointed to the floor here, indicating Jill. She was getting up, but slowly.
“So I’ve been told,” Jason said. He was advancing towards Gestalt slowly, looking indifferent and confused.
Jill looked up to Gestalt. “I didn’t hear you. Didn’t smell you coming,” she noted. “You’re a Rogue.”
“Correct,” Gestalt said. He punctuated this with another kick, aimed directly for Jill’s face.
Jill blocked it and caught his foot. She twisted it and sent him to the ground. The two were on each other in a heartbeat, angling for a superior position. Jill threw a punch that landed squarely in Gestalt’s throat but he followed with an elbow to the side of her head. She went sailing off him, landing on the couch in a way that nearly comical.
He went after her, reaching down and grabbing her by her shoulders. He lifted her into the air and threw her hard against the wall. The entire house seemed to shake and a dent formed where the woman’s body had struck.
“Where did Saul go?” he asked her. “Where i—,”
Gestalt was interrupted as Jason launched himself into him in the form of a very poorly executed football tackle. Gestalt dropped Jill and easily swatted Jason off. He brought both hands down, clamped together in a double-fist and slammed them against Jason’s back. Jason hit the floor and rolled away slowly with a grunt.
“Stupid boy,” Gestalt said. “Do you not know what you are? You are a Rogue, like me. I have come to liberate you from this. With me, you not only have a better shot at living the life you were meant to live, but you’ll also be away from Saul Benton, the newest puppet of The Guard. You can live in this prison or you can be one of my kind and live a life of absolute privilege.”
“Who are you?” Jill asked, getting to get feet shakily again.
“That’s the beauty of being a Rogue,” Gestalt said. “I could answer that question and you would still have no idea who I am. The Guard has not been able to keep tabs on the bloodlines of Rogues as I’m sure you know. But know this…the clan that raised me is legendary.”
Jill tried taking advantage of his distraction and took a swing at him. He dodged it easily and then reached out with a hard jab that landed squarely in her chest. Jill gasped and then stumbled back against the wall. This time, she stayed down.
Gestalt turned to Jason. He hunkered down on the floor where Jason still lay. “My name is Gestalt,” he told Jason. “And yes, I am a Rogue. But you are too, you see. And I am of a mind that there are no such things as coincidences. I came to Red Creek because of Saul Benton. Well…partly. Originally, it was my plan to kill him and take this territory for the Rogues. But then something even better happened: I sensed you here…another Rogue. And it is not right that you should be kept here with the Benton clan.”
“And what can you offer me?” Jason asked warily.
“A life of immortal bliss. I’m sure Saul has told you about how his life is nothing more than waiting, waiting, and more damned waiting. All of that waiting just to have a small chance to feed for a few years and that feeding closely monitored by a bunch of spooks known as The Guard. But with me, under my wing, you will wait for nothing. Rogues are a special breed. I can show you the way all vampires were supposed to live. You can be immortal—godlike.”
“Jason, don’t listen to him,” Jill begged. Her voice was nothing more than a pinched whisper from the floor.
“And why not?” Gestalt asked. “What can you offer him? Certainly the noble Benton clan won’t allow him to live the way he should. Especially not now that you are so closely linked to The Guard.”
Gestalt stood back up and offered Jason his hand. “Get up and come with me. I’ll show you much more than just this cabin. There is so much more for you to see—so much more you could
be doing.”
Jason, still on the floor, looked from Jill to Gestalt. There was a sense of wonder and hope in his eyes. Seeing it, Gestalt knew that the few words he had spoken had been sufficient in getting through to him. Or, at the very least, to make him resent the Benton clan.
Jason reached up and took Gestalt’s hand. Gestalt helped him to his feet and when their hands clasped, he knew that Jason was indeed like him in so many ways; the skills may not be there yet, but he was absolutely a Rogue.
When he had Jason to his feet, Gestalt shifted his posture ever so slightly. Then, in a movement so fast it was like a blur, he wheeled around on Jill. He grabbed her neck, lifting her from the floor, and pinned her against the wall. His fangs came out and his eyes went absolutely blank.
“Your first test,” Gestalt told Jason, “is to watch me kill her without interfering. Think you can handle that?”
Jason was silent for a moment but then stepped forward. With something very much like resignation, he nodded. But he did not look at Jill. He did everything he could to keep his eyes from hers.
That was when a flash of headlights came in through the doorway--now without a door. Gestalt tilted his head to the right and sniffed the air.
“Ah, another test for you,” he said. “A mortal has just arrived. Go feed. Take care of them.”
“Mortal?” Jill asked, as if in a dream.
Jason actually smiled at this and, with a nod, went sprinting out of the door and toward the approaching car.
5
One of the most remarkable things about Kara’s time with the Bentons siblings and her part in defeating the Greelys was that she had actually grown accustomed to the fact that she now knew a handful of real legitimate vampires. It was because of this that she knew she’d have a better chance of speaking with Saul Benton just before dawn. It felt stupid but, at the same time, like something special. She was part of this unseen world, a world most humans only speculated about in horror movies and poorly translated folklore.
Kara had grown up believing in most things that were whispered about around campfires. She was the last of her friends to figure out the deal with Santa Claus and, in college (not that she would tell anyone) she had even joined a cryptozoology club for a brief period of time—an endeavor that had resulted in digesting an ungodly amount of information about Bigfoot just to win the affections of a guy who ended up cheating on her.
But vampires…that was something totally different. Kara had spent the last three months trying to convince herself that it had not been real—that the real world did not allow such things to exist. But she also assumed that it was the absolute absurdity of it all that made it easy to accept and adapt to it.
It was four-thirty when she turned onto Saul’s driveway. She hated going to him and Jill so freely but she was tired of losing sleep over what had happened to Gary. The town had lost its sheriff and she had lost her best friend. And she was pretty sure he had been taken from them by forces very similar to the one that the Greelys had brought into town like some damned virus.
If anyone had any answers or could set her mind at ease, it would be Saul and Jill. Kara sure as hell couldn’t take this to the police. She kept telling herself that she was doing the right thing and that Saul and Jill would welcome her into the cabin as an equal. After all, they had fought the Greelys together; that counted for something, right?
Kara was so caught up in her worry that she didn’t see the figure sprinting at her car until it was right in front of her. At first, her mind instantly went to deer. But then she saw that it was on two legs and running.
She hit the brakes, her car skidding and sliding a bit on the gravel of the driveway. As the figure drew closer, she saw with the help of her headlights that it was Jason Eastman. She gave an uncertain smile at first but then saw that there was something very much like fury in his eyes.
Kara had left from Jess’s house to come here. She had gone to Jess’s straight from work and had not been to her own home since the morning. Her service pistol was at the station and her backup was in her bedside table drawer at home. She had no firearms –not that it would do any good now that Jason was a vampire – and found herself starting to panic.
Letting instinct guide her, she punched the gas as hard as she could. The car sputtered for traction and started rocketing forward just as Jason was by her door. He was able to reach out and open it but she was able to slam it closed as she sped forward toward the cabin. As she parked the car and jumped out, she noticed two things at once, both of which made internal alarms go off.
First, the cabin’s front door looked like it had been torn from its hinges. Second, Saul’s car was not in the driveway. I sure picked one hell of a time to pop in for a visit, Kara thought.
Retreating didn’t seem like the right thing to do. For all she knew, she could very well be able to help Saul, Jill, or Nikki. She had no idea what the hell Jason was doing, but she didn’t want to waste time trying to figure it out on her own. She’d seen enough crazy glances in her line of work over the years and whatever was going on with Jason was not good. In fact, she got the feeling that he might try killing her if he got his hands on her.
Kara got out of the car and turned to find Jason barreling towards her. He was rushing at her blindly; when Kara saw this, all of Jess’s training came to the forefront of her mind and took control. She braced herself, assumed a fighter’s stance and waited.
When Jason was within two feet of her, his arms starting to reach out for her, she threw a solid right hand, followed by a left hook. They both connected solidly, the left hook sending a slight rocket of pain through her arm. Jason stumbled back, dazed. Kara used this free moment to deliver a hard sweep to his knee.
Jason cried out and went to the ground. Even if she’d had something to shove into his heart, she didn’t think she’d be able to do it. Jason was very close to Nikki and, after all of the time that had passed, maybe the Bentons as well. Instead, she lifted a knee and dropped it hard into his chest. He gasped right away and rolled onto his stomach. But within seconds, he was already pushing himself up from the ground.
Kara ran to the porch, sped up the stairs and froze when she entered the doorway. She saw Jill pressed against the wall, held there by a vampire that was easily as gruesome-looking as Leibald Greely. This vampire was unnaturally tall and had eyes of solid white. He looked prim and proper. He had the textural design and maintenance of a corpse that had just been dressed and touched up for a family viewing.
This vampire turned to Kara and opened his mouth in a hiss. Kara took a step backwards and when she did, she collided with Jason. He grabbed her from behind, seized her head and tilted it hard to the right. Her neck was exposed and the moment she felt it bared, she threw her head back into Jason’s face and followed that with an elbow. She was released and with the endorphins coursing through her, she went straight for the vampire that was holding Jill. Kara was operating on autopilot, like a machine, and was not even able to take the time to enjoy how well her training was coming to her.
As she ran toward the tall vampire, she faked a right hand and then, when he went to block it, delivered a devastating kick to the back of his knee. He did nothing but groan and release Jill. The attack had done nothing but piss the vampire off. He came for her slowly and Kara dodged to the right. She felt his hand graze the back of her shirt as she sidestepped him and when the little dance was done, she found herself standing beside Jill.
Kara and Jill stared at Gestalt and Jason in a bizarre stand-off. Before Kara had the time to really comprehend the danger she was in, the sound of an engine and the glow of headlights filled the cabin. When they entered the window and splashed across the tall vampire’s face, he looked like a ghost.
“Jason,” Jill said, anger lacing her voice. “That’s Saul. I summoned him the moment this asshole kicked the door down. I highly suggest you make the right decision here. That goes for you, too,” she said, nodding to Gestalt.
“Dear girl
, I don’t fear your brother.”
“Then you’re not smart enough to be from a ‘legendary’ Rogue clan.”
They could all hear footfalls from outside and then on the porch. Kara saw that Jason wisely stepped away, taking a few strides away from Gestalt. A tension rose in the air – a tension Kara could literally feel, the hair on her arms rising in response.
When Saul came through the doorway, Kara was reminded of why she had once lusted after him. He was beyond furious; his jaw was clenched and the muscles in his arms were drawn taut with anger. The fury on his face seemed to tighten every muscle on his body and it was incredibly hard for her to look away from him.
Saul assessed the situation immediately and wasted no time. He stepped directly up to Gestalt, so close that their noses were nearly touching.
Seeing them so close together gave Kara a much better approximation of Gestalt’s height. Saul stood up to his neck, having to tilt his head up to look the monster in his eyes.
“I heard you say that you don’t fear me,” Saul said. “So why did you wait to attack my sister while I was away?”
“Don’t flatter yourself,” Gestalt laughed. “I now have more pressing concerns than your demise.”
“Who are you?” Saul asked.
Gestalt only rolled his eyes. Jill answered for him. “He’s a Rogue named Gestalt. He’s here for Jason. He said he could sense Jason—that he is a Rogue.”
Nikki, who had stepped up onto the porch very quietly behind Saul, gasped. “No!”
“Yes,” Gestalt confirmed. “And I have come to offer him freedom. I can only imagine The Guard’s reaction if they discover that you are harboring a Rogue. The way I see it, I’d be doing you a favor.”
“Doubtful,” Saul said. “I’m sure you know the rules. You are not allowed on our territory. We take that seriously. Have you not heard about what happened to the Greelys?”
VEILED Complete Boxed Set Page 32