Bloodbreeders: The Revenge

by Robin Renee Ray,

  “We’ll fill all the buckets, but two, with water and clean it as fast as we can. We’ll use the two dry ones to hall the remains into the lower level. I think it will work,” Garvin explained, taking us back around to the large water hose that was used to spray down the slaves and the cages that held them.

  “What about the other rooms on the second level?” Bo asked, taking the words right out of mouth.

  “It is the winter months. There will be a few at best and they will be beckoned to the coming day just as we are. Only the Mistress keeps her day slaves in the estate. Her clients are not allowed to bring theirs. It has always been against her rules, because it is said that she fears what they will do while she rests.”

  “I felt the normals in my head, Renee, “Ashley added, stepping up while we filled the buckets. “I meant to tell you, but I forgot.”

  “Don’t you think we might have needed that little piece of info, Ash?” Bo inquired angrily.

  “I’m sorry, Bo.”

  “No, Ashley. Everybody’s on edge. Just tell us what you felt. Can you tell how many she has with her?” I asked trying to hold my own temper in check. She was letting her concern for the one put the whole in jeopardy.

  “It’s different here for some reason. I know there’s more than a few, but no matter how hard I try, I just can’t get a number.”

  “It is because the Mistress is a very powerful woman, and has ways of not letting your thoughts come through.”

  “But, I thought we were all pretty much alike,” Brandon looked back at me, and I just shrugged.

  “I’m afraid not my young friend. The older of our kind have gained in their wisdom as well as their gifts. Mistress Yvette found her way into power by the way of an ancient,” Garvin explained, as he filled the last bucket.

  “I think we better carry this conversation on after we finish upstairs,” I said, grabbing my bucket of water. “Ashley, you and Tanda stay down here with Tammy, we’ll be back.”

  We left the girls at the room that we called home for now. The boys and I rushed upstairs to clean up the mess that we had made. We had Derek once again keeping an eye on the stairs, while the rest of us shoveled up the blacken gel with our hands. As soon as we had a spot cleared, Garvin would pour water over it and start scrubbing. Bo and Brandon were running the full buckets of the two Eunuch’s remains back through the lower level door then stepping back into the foyer within seconds, both with an empty bucket in hand. I never even asked what they were doing with the remains, I just continued in my choir. Once everything was off the floor I grabbed a scrub brush and frantically raced over the service of the floor. Bo and Brandon followed with the two dry mops. Thirty minutes later, the floor was a clean as we were going to get it.

  “It will have to do,” Garvin said, sticking his mop down in the bucket of now dirty water.

  “Renee, look at the clock,” Derek pointed in its direction. “Is that right?”

  I nodded as I looked seeing that it was right on the verge of being five thirty and mere moments away from the sun rising. We rushed around gathering everything that we had brought up, checking one more time for any signs of blood or the black gore, that we might have missed, then headed back to the safety of our stairway. I went in first and damn near slid down on my backside. Derek came in after and if I hadn’t been there to grab him by the arm, he would have also. I knew now what the boys were doing with the buckets; they had brought them into the stairway. Once all five of us were on the small landing and the door was securely closed, I had to ask.

  “So y’all just ran in here and dumped them?”

  “Well, there weren’t very many choices,” Bo replied.

  “We could have taken them outside and ran to the cliffs edge and then ran all the way…”

  “Okay Brandon, I get your point.” Then I started laughing at the look on his face. “We better hurry, or we’ll be sleeping in this yuck.”

  “No way,” Derek said pushing past us. “I am not falling asleep and waking in this shit.”

  “Brave words little brother, you don’t have it up to your elbows,” Brandon yelled to his disappearing backside.

  “Brave for someone who stood and watched,” Bo raised his hand palm out. “I know, it was his job.”

  “Sorry, I’m with Derek,” I snickered and took off down after him.

  As soon as Brandon mentioned having the gore up to our elbows, I could feel it all over my body and wanted it off, before I had to find myself somewhere to lie down. I could hear the others on my heels as I made the bottom of the steps. I hurried around the corner, rushing to the water hose where I began washing off. Maybe it would be better said, washed at the blacken remains that was clinging to my flesh. We all started laughing at the silly way we looked, as we bent down fighting over the water hose. We were completely soaked before we were finished laughing at the whole ordeal.

  “I know where there are plenty of clothes and I am more than ready to relieve myself of this filthy thing,” Garvin said, pushing his hair back out of his eyes.

  “Lead on,” Bo replied.

  “Yeah, I’m getting tired,” Derek added.

  Bo, Brandon, and I burst out laughing at Derek’s statement, because he hadn’t done much of anything to get tired. But we all could feel the pull of dawn just as much as he was. Garvin, on the other hand, looked at us with his brow raised slightly as if we had truly lost our minds, then turned around, assuming we would follow him. I looked over at Bo and Brandon and we all broke out laughing even harder. Derek joined in not knowing what we were laughing at, as usual, which normally meant the reason had something to do with him. Hurrying we all took off after, Garvin.

  The room he had taken us to was the one that was next to his personal room. There were clothes hanging everywhere. It was like a huge walk-in closet, with sizes to fit everyone. Once I had a clean shirt and pair of pants, I stepped out into the hall to get dressed, while the boys changed in the room. We made our way back to the others and found our spots on the floor for a long and uncertain sleep.

  Chapter Eighteen

  I woke early the next night to find Garvin and Tanda sitting on the side of one of the cots. When I asked if they always woke so early they said ‘yes’, and then explained that I would do the same the longer that time went on. Garvin also told me that he had never seen one as young as myself in the dark world, that woke so soon. I told him that it had been happening for some time, and that I seem to lay awake longer than the others when the sun began to rise. He had no explanation other than he had never heard, nor seen it before, in someone my age. He was talking about my youth as one of his kind. I guess to him and Tanda, I was less than a one year old, even though in my real age, I was quite a few years older than both of them. He had been changed at nineteen and Tanda at sixteen, yet they were both fifty years older than I was now.

  “We are glad you’re with us,” Garvin said, putting his hand on top of Tanda’s.

  “I’m sorry it took me so long.”

  “It was but the blink of an eye,” Tanda added. “I could have never imagined that you would have come for us so soon.”

  “I had to go back and see about my family,” I paused, “and Martin.”

  “He was very angry that you had been here. He searched every floor, speaking to no one. It was when he came to this level that Tanda spoke to him,” Garvin explained.

  “Did he say anything about me, Tanda?”

  “Only that he could not protect you, because of what happened to him.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’m sorry, but he didn’t have time to explain himself. I knew they would come, so I tried to tell him about you,” she said getting upset.

  “Tanda, you were wonderful. I don’t want you to ever think that you did anything wrong. I couldn’t be more proud of you if you were my own child, and you know what? You are,” I said leaning down so we could see each other face to face.

  “He loves you very much,” she replied taking me a
back.

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Because he said that he would find you, even if he had to go to the ends of the earth. I heard him tell Yvette, that if she was lying, he would be back and she would regret it. It was the first time that I had ever seen fear on her face.”

  I gave her a hug, thanking her for telling me what she knew, but the whole time my mind was thinking about him. In one breath I loved him too, and in another I held him responsible for everything that had happened to me from the time that he knocked on my families’ door. I told them to tell the others that I was waiting in the hall for them when they woke up. I had to step out to keep the two of them from seeing me cry. I could feel Martin’s arms around me when I closed my eyes. If only I would have left with him when he wanted me to, none of this would be happening right now. But, that thought came with a two headed sword. Garvin and Tanda would still be in their prisons and Annabel and Enrique would still be torturing all that crossed their path.

  “Renee,” Garvin said, sticking only his head out of the room. “The woman, Tammy, is waking.”

  I had forgotten all about her. I was hoping that she was going to want to go with us and considering what she had been through, I couldn’t see her saying no. The only problem that I could foresee was having enough room on Sydney’s boat. But, I also knew that we could lay on each other if we had too. When I walked in the room I was more than surprised to see Tammy looking at me with fully opened eyes. She had healed a great deal; even the marks from the bindings were all but gone. I walked over while she was sitting up, showing discomfort as the smile turned into a grimace.

  “My body is so sore,” she hissed, swinging her legs over the side of the cot.

  “You look great compared to last night,” I replied sitting down beside her.

  “If I haven’t told you thank you, I want to do it now. I’m still in shock that my maker would sell me, or at least that’s what they kept telling me. All I remember, before I was hit over the head, was my maker telling me we were going to take a trip with his new friends. Then I woke up on a boat being brought here.”

  “Yeah, I know what you mean. I wasn’t hit over the head, but I was taken from my maker just the same. Do you remember us, or anything about last night?”

  “I remember an angel whispering in my ear, and then when I woke again the four of you were wrapping my arms. After that I remember everything.”

  “You can leave this place with us, if you want to,” I said, looking over at Garvin and Tanda.

  “I don’t mean to sound rude, but who the hell are you people? In all my years, I have never witnessed what you have all done, not once,” she replied shaking her head.

  “Let’s just say they pissed off the wrong girl,” I smiled with a wink. “Maybe one of these days we’ll have a chance to sit back and share stories.”

  “Yeah well, if it’s all the same to you, I’ll be going with all of you. If my maker did sell me then I sure can’t, and don’t want to, go back there.”

  “Unless it’s to pay him back for his kindness,” Bo added, stretching his arms above his head.

  Tammy let out a little giggle and it was then that I truly knew she was going to be alright. We continued talking as the other three little ones rolled out of their slumber. I had so much on my mind that I didn’t even think about Sydney, and his waking to the dark world for the first time, with no recall of becoming one of us in the first place. But before I could even stand up to go check on him, he pushed the curtain back that covered the cell. Because he was in a state of death, we had all chosen to place what cots we had, along with a few blankets, in the main area of the torture room and leave him alone in the cell.

  “Why are these things in my mouth?” he asked, running his fingers over his fangs. “And what is that horrible smell?”

  “Ashley,” I gestured my hand toward him.

  “What? Why me?” she asked, jumping to her feet, nervously wiping her hands down the front of her shirt.

  “Sydney, how do you feel?” I asked looking back at him.

  “Different. Guess I won’t be doing anymore day sailing…will I?”

  “Do you remember the men beating you on the boat?” Bo asked walking up to him.

  “Yeah. Bastards took a shot every time that woman wasn’t looking after they took me into that big house.”

  “Annabel?” I interjected.

  “That’s the one,” he replied, as he began recognizing the room. “Not only does my stomach burn, but this room looks very much like the one they brought me to…and that damn smell.”

  “Calm down, Sydney,” Ashley said, finally stepping up in front of him. “We’re still in the estate, and this is the same room. The woman that hurt you is dead, but the damage was too much for your body to handle, so I asked,” she cleared her throat. “No, I begged Garvin, to help me.”

  “Help you?” Sydney asked rubbing the sides of her arms.

  “To make you—one of us. I didn’t want to lose you. I knew you didn’t want to be like me, but I couldn’t watch you lay there and die. So, if you’re angry then take it out on me, okay?” she explained lowering her head.

  Sydney put his hand under her chin and raised it back up. “Then you saved my life.” He then leaned down and kissed her on the mouth. Not a quick passing kiss, but a long passionate one that ended in a gripping embrace. I glanced over to see the three boys grinning like little possums, and just sat there, waiting for one of them to make a comment to embarrass her. To my surprise, all they ended up doing was clapping when the two stepped apart. Ashley blushed, while Sydney held his head up two inches higher.

  “I think we need to feed, making everyone as strong as we can before we hit the second floor again,” I said breaking up the excitement.

  “I will go,” Garvin immediately replied.

  “I’ll go with him,” Bo added.

  “What about me, can I go?”

  “Two is better than three in this case, my young one,” Garvin said, patting Derek’s head.

  “That is such bull shit,” Derek spat walking to the corner.

  “Do you not think that three is easier to see than two?” Garvin asked, walking up to him. “It would be better for our third to watch for our return than run at our side.”

  “You mean I can keep watch at the door.”

  “Who else would I ask?”

  I took in a deep breath, thanking the stars that Garvin understood the mind of a child. Derek had a hard time being the youngest of the boys and hated not being chosen in a task best served by one of the others. He seemed to be perfectly happy watching our backs, as long as we could keep him at his post, at least down here I could make sure of that fact by going up and keeping him company. Garvin and Bo headed out and Derek was right on their heels. I waited about twenty minutes then went on up.

  “Renee, is that you?” Derek whispered.

  “Yeah, no boogie man, just me.”

  “What’s taking them so long?”

  “It hasn’t been that long, Derek. Brandon and Bo were gone a lot longer last night.”

  “I wish they would have let me gone with ’em,” he added, peeking out the door. “Hey, they’re coming.”

  I started back down the steps so that I wouldn’t be in anyone’s way. When I looked back, Derek was right in the middle of them and the two goats that they were carrying and trying to keep quite. I had to go back up and pull him down by the arm. He was asking them a question a second. Then he started complaining about me holding his hand all the way back down the stairs, and it didn’t stop until we we’re back in the room with the others.

  “Derek, give it a rest,” I said a little too loud.

  “I can’t help it, I just get a little excited,” he replied, looking over at Tanda.

  “Come, sit by me, Derek,” she said patting the cot.

  The right side of his mouth curled into a slight grin, as his foot began turning on the heel. He took a few steps, then gingerly took a seat. Bo and Garvin b
egan the task of slicing the throat of the first goat, which had apparently been eating on some type of greenery.

  “What is that?” Derek asked as he looked down into the bowl of blood.

  “You try holding a goat in your arms and stop it from eating, while you’re hiding in a bush,” Bo replied picking out the blades of green.

  “That is so gross. Did y’all see that slide out of his neck?” Derek added looking back at Tanda.

  He seemed to change his tone somewhat fast when he noticed the look on her face. He saw her as another teenager and didn’t comprehend that she was fifty years his senior. He put his hands in his lap and didn’t move them until he was handed a cup. After he was finished and passed it back, he placed them right back in his lap. I couldn’t help but to grin at the sweet smile that spread across Tanda’s face, every time Derek began to fidget. Later, I was talking to the girls; it was as if we had gathered into two small groups; the boys on one side and the girls on the other.

  “Renee, we need you to come over here. We have a plan and we need to see what you think,” Brandon said, then went back to the corner where the other boys were.

  “Looks like I better go see what’s going on.”

  “Mind if I join you?” Tammy asked as she started to get up.

  “No, not at all, but if you’re thinking that you might be going with us, you can just put that thought right back where you pulled it out of.” Then I turned to walk away.

  “I can carry my own weight,” she said firmly, grasping my elbow.

  “I’m sure you can, Tammy,” I replied looking at her. “But you still look like hell and I for one think you need to worry about getting yourself in better shape, so you can help, not make things worse.”

  She noticed me looking down in the direction of our adjoined arms and really took in the red discoloration of her skin above the bandages that we had put on the night before. I raised my eyes to see the realistic thought take hold. She ran her hand up to my forearm and squeezed, smiling her recognition, then she returned to her cot without another word. It was a relief having a mature woman, and one that I was liking more with every conversation, be it one of disagreement or comfort. However, my smile faded when I saw the seriousness hovering over the boys.