Chapter Forty-two
Scars
“Absolutely not,” Ethan seethed, his eyes on fire, his expression hard and obstinate.
“That’s more than we can ask of you, Valerie,” Alessandro said. “We will come up with something else. You don’t have to do that.”
“No, I don’t. But I am going to.” It was morning, the metal shutters were clenched against the windows and the sun, soft lamps lit the living room. The children were supposed to be in bed, but all three were gathered together in the kitchen ease dropping. “If we’re going to make it to Sangre Valley before nightfall, we need to leave now.”
“Are you sure about this?” Jonathan asked.
“Yes.”
Jonathan turned to Alessandro. “It could work. I can hide a GPS device on her which she can activate once she finds Charlie. That way we’ll be able to find both of them.”
“Yes, and then we set the hospital on fire while she and Charlie are still in there. Oh, then we run into a burning building to rescue them. Yeah, that’s a rational, practical plan,” Ethan said. “Forget about three made-vampires traveling during daylight. Forget about how we drive up to Sangre Valley without being noticed. Forget how we get out of Sangre Valley. The hospital may be on fire, but the whole town won’t be.”
“It is a practical plan,” Valerie argued. “If I turn myself in to Venjamin before sunset, that gives me time before the vampires arrive for work to locate Charlie. The fire at sunset will keep them out and empty the building of humans. Four of us can’t take on a hospital full of humans and vampires. But if everyone is running out to save their own lives, no one is going to stop us from running in.”
“I talked to MaryAnne. She will leave her computer logged in when the fire starts so I will have access and can gather the information we need,” Jonathan said. “Then Alessandro and you can extract Valerie and Charlie.”
“What about the sunlight? What about the guards? What about the innocent spies within the building?” Ethan asked.
“All those working with us will be alerted with plenty of time to get out,” Alessandro said in a rather patronizing tone. “We’ve all been out in the sunlight at one time or another. It’s simply a matter of coverage. We have a Saxon, an African tribal leader, and the Greek God of Death. I think the three of us can handle a little combat. These use to be your preferred odds.”
“For myself. Even for the two of you. But not for her.” He threw a rather nasty glance at Valerie. She was the mother of three children who were already fatherless. She possessed no fighting skills. She was not prepared for this task. And he was not prepared to watch her die. He had already been through that once. He’d be damned if he’d go through it again.
“I can take care of myself,” Valerie said. “You don’t have to worry about me.”
“But I do,” he said and not at all kindly. She understood though. He had told her the story of Malia. But she’d be damned if she’d let that stop her. “You think you know what Venjamin is capable of. You see these scars across my face. You see these.” He ripped his shirt off, his muscular chest was disfigured by matted scars as if a vat of acid had been poured over his flesh. “Compliments of Dr. Venjamin when I refused to be part of his sick experiment. Vampire venom on a silver dagger that his recruiters used to slice my face. The vampire hunters poured it over my skin so they could listen to me scream. Inch by inch they would expose my arm to sunlight, then they would feed me so I’d heal and they could start over again. You know about his depravity. I’ve experienced it.”
“I’m sorry for that, but don’t think for one moment that I haven’t experienced it either. I was stolen from my birth parents, my adoptive parents were murdered, I was prostituted out to my husband, my children were tested and experimented on without my knowledge. My entire life, my entire existence was a lie. You may have scars on your body, but my scars are just as deep and just as ugly. Just because you can’t see them doesn’t mean that they’re not there. That’s why I have to do this.”
“Revenge,” Ethan growled. “It will not give you satisfaction or peace. You asked me how many humans I have killed. The answer is thousands. Not for thirst but for vengeance. My victims were vampire slayers. I found the ones who murdered Malia and slaughtered them. But it never brought Malia back. It never gave me a sense of justice or satisfaction. With every life I took the rage only grew.” His dark eyes burned into hers. She would not back down.
“That is a lesson I will have to learn for myself. If you have a problem with that or with anything else, maybe you should stay behind.”
His stare transformed into a glare. Finally he took those penetrating eyes off of her. “Fine.” He turned to Alessandro. “Get everything set. I’ll get us packed.” He stormed out of the room without another glance at Valerie.
“Wow. I think for the first time since I’ve known Thanatos, he has something to lose,” Alessandro said.
Valerie flushed for a moment.
“We’re coming with you,” Amelia announced materializing in the doorway with her brothers. Gabriella had been ease dropping with them and did not look anymore pleased with the plan than Ethan.
“No, you’re not,” Valerie said.
“Just in case this plan doesn’t come off the way we hope and Venjamin can trace us back to St. Thomas, we should move the kids,” Jonathan said to Valerie. “Gabriella, I want you to take them into hiding. They still have their passports. Take them to the British Virgin Islands. I have a friend there who can hide you.”
“I’m not leaving you. I can help. I won’t abandon you,” she told him adamantly.
He smiled. “You won’t be, my love. I will be okay. We all will. I do need your help though. You’re the only one to watch over the kids. What would they do if you came with us? Go get some bags packed. You’ll be on a boat in twenty minutes.”
Unhappy but pacified, Gabriella did as ordered. Jonathan and Alessandro went to work putting their plan into action.
“If we’re rescuing Dad, I’m going,” John said.
“And if John and Amelia get to go, so do I,” Harry said firmly crossing his arms. This sounded like an adventure of a lifetime. He wasn’t going to miss it.
“You’re going to get on that boat with Gabriella and stay safe. I’d never forgive myself if something happened to you.”
“What makes you think we’d be able to forgive ourselves if something happened to you?” Amelia challenged.
“You’re the kids. I’m the adult. It’s my job to look after you. Not the other way around.”
“You can’t expect us to sit back and lose both our parents,” Amelia argued. “We can help. Even if it’s just being a look out or—“
“No. You can’t expect me to put my children in danger. Not after all your father and I have done to keep you safe.”
“He wanted to keep you safe too,” John said. It was the first nice thing he had said to her in a week. She couldn’t help herself and smiled.
“We work good together,” Harry said. “Remember how I jumped on that vampire attacking you in the motel room?”
“Too vividly.”
“Mom—“ Amelia protested.
“No. Now go help Gabriella pack.”
Sulking and mumbling they stomped out of the room.
Valerie took a deep breath. This was it.
Chapter Forty-three
One Fiery Kiss
Her children were wrapped like mummies in scarves and layers of clothing to protect their delicate skin from the harsh rays of the sun. Amelia and John were still angry with her but allowed her to hug them goodbye and tell them how much she loved them. Harry’s short attention span had already been distracted by the fact that he was out in daylight and riding on a boat for the first time in his life. Jonathan and Gabriella exchanged a long kiss, and Alessandro said his goodbyes to the kids promising all kinds of fun when they reached the British Islands. Ethan was no where to be seen.
By that evening Valerie was back in
the States sitting in a black jeep with tinted windows less than ten miles away from Sangre Valley. This was the one place she had wanted to get farthest from, and here she was of her own volition. Adrenaline pumped through her. She couldn’t wait to charge the town and the hospital.
Jonathan and Ethan were dressed fully in black. Pulled back on the tops of their heads were ski masks and goggles for when they had to venture into the sunlight. Alessandro wore black too but for flare had added a fuchsia Hawaiian shirt over the black. His ski mask was tossed on the dashboard, his goggles around his neck. Valerie’s attire was less espionage inspired. She wore dark blue jeans, a white blouse, her hair in a ponytail. She wanted to show Venjamin that she was no longer a fifties housewife. She wasn’t the person he had created but the person she had chosen to be.
“Here,” Jonathan said handing her a pair of clip-on pearl earrings. “When you’ve located Charlie—“
“Or are in a situation that you can’t escape—“ Ethan interjected.
“Press the back of the earring. That will activate the GPS and we’ll be able to see your position on this.” He held up a blackberry. “You’re going to be searched when you turn yourself in. The pearl earrings were your signature in Sangre Valley so Venjamin shouldn’t think anything of them. And since they will be turned off, they shouldn’t set off any security you may have to go through. Once you activate the GPS, that will be our signal to start the fire and come in.”
“We will find you,” Ethan assured her.
She brought her violet eyes up to his. She could feel herself becoming lost in the blue pools. That connection between them, it was still there. Breaking the gaze she said, “Let’s do this.”
“I’ll walk her to the guard station,” Ethan volunteered.
“Careful not to let the guard see you,” Alessandro said.
Ethan nodded and pulled the ski mask and goggles down. Side by side they started down Redemption Road towards Sangre Valley’s city limits. They did not speak or look at each other, the silence between them was pregnant and stretched. These could be their last moments together. It felt like something had to be said, recognized.
Finally she said, “Thank you for all you’ve done for me and my family. Getting us off the street, rescuing us from Rhett, giving us a safe place to stay and now this, saving my husband—“
Suddenly Ethan grabbed her in massive arms, lifted his mask and goggles in one swift movement, and he kissed her, fiercely. His lips were cool and consuming. The sheer strength of his being weakened her. Valerie felt herself surrender to him with a tremble, passion sweeping her away. Clinging to him, she wanted to embrace as much of this man as she possibly could. She kissed him with a need and hunger so desperate it was dizzying. For the first time she understood a vampire’s lust for blood except hers was for something radically different. This was the kiss she had been waiting her entire life to share. But the sun had not yet set, and she felt his exposed face and lips begin to flake away in ash. Just as abruptly as he had grabbed her and kissed her, he released her pulling the mask back over his face.
“Your skin,” she said softly stroking the side of his face through the mask. She remembered Charlie’s screams of agony when he had been burnt. Though Ethan had not even flinched, she knew he was in excruciating pain.
“We have blood in the van. I will be fine,” he said in that rough voice of his. “The sun will be completely down in less than thirty minutes. You need to find Charlie by then or else the town will begin to wake and there will be vampires in there within the hour.”
Valerie nodded.
“You can do this.”
She nodded again and began her walk towards the guard station. She knew Ethan’s eyes would be on her the entire way.
With her fear buried deep in the pit of her stomach, she marched up to the guard station with her head high, her expression calm and determined.
Two guards in military camouflage came out to greet her, their rifles not aimed at her, but in their hands for easy access. She could smell their humanness. She wondered if they truly knew what they were guarding. She wondered if they knew that their boss fed his own kind to vampires. They looked so young and brave, even if they did know, they certainly did not comprehend.
“I am Valerie Murray. I am here to see Dr. Venjamin,” she said in a loud, clear voice.
Both men looked surprised and one used the radio on his shoulder to call the hospital.
Here I come Charlie, she thought.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Excuse me, Dr. Venjamin,” Ms Pines said poking her head into the fifteenth floor lab. “The East Guard Station says that they have Valerie Murray. She’s requesting to see you.”
Venjamin turned around. “Well, isn’t this a surprise? I was waiting to hear from John Murray and I have Valerie on my doorstep. Would you like to see your wife one last time, Charlie?” Venjamin asked the vampire. Charlie raised his head the best he could and spit blood at the doctor. Pathetically it plopped on the floor. The doctor just laughed at him. “Animals. That’s all you made-vampires have ever been. Your wife on the other hand is something closer to the divine. Ms. Pines, have Rhett and Drew take a car down to retrieve her and have her brought up here, please. And as soon as the sun is down, send a patrol of vampires out. I highly doubt Mrs. Murray arrived alone.”
“Yes sir.”
“I knew the moment I stopped looking, they would come to me. What did I tell you, Charlie?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Valerie, how lovely it is to see you again,” Rhett welcomed her, sarcasm dripping from every syllable. He seemed to have lost his usual jolly sense of humor.
“Rhett,” she said not hiding her distain.
He patted her down squeezing her breasts to induce pain and grabbing her crotch particularly hard. Her anger flared, but she was determined to ignore the invasion. She had a job to do. Once he was finished with the pat down and waved a frequency finder over her, she climbed into the back of a black SUV. She never even knew SUV’s existed in Sangre Valley. But then again, there were a lot of things about her home town that she didn’t know.
In the backseat sat Drew looking particularly ill. His complexion was paler than usual, ashen almost. His hair was not in its usual well groomed, slicked back style but in disarray. She noticed that his hands were shaking. He raised those cold, dark eyes to her. “Good to know you weren’t bluffing about the sunlight,” he said. She only looked at him. This was the man who almost raped her daughter, the vampire who wanted to drink her blood. She wanted to lunge at him and strangle him with her bare hands.
The drive to the hospital was silent and short. St. Vladimir itself looked menacing as it towered over her like something out of a horror film. At one time she only had good associations with the hospital. It was where her children were born. It provided Charlie with a job and supported their family. When her children were injured or sick, she went there for comfort and relief. Now, all she saw was evil.
The SUV entered the hospital from the back where barbed wire guarded the perimeter. Pulling right up to the door so the two vampires wouldn’t be exposed to the setting sun, they exited the vehicle. Valerie looked back at the sky, the sun was almost down. She didn’t have much time.
Rhett and Drew escorted her inside, each with a firm grip on an arm. There was a receptionist who barely glanced up at them. Human. She must be MaryAnne. Valerie made it a point not to look at her. The three of them got into the elevator. She had expected it to go down since that was where the secret offices were located, but Rhett pushed the button for the fifteenth floor. She couldn’t help thinking that that was a lot of flights of stairs to get down in a fire.
The elevator dinged and the doors opened. Across the room was Charlie chained to a chair, dried blood matted in his hair, on his clothes and face. His left eye was gone leaving a bloody, black socket, the rest of his face was disfigured by a mass of scars. She had to restrain herself from calling out to him. Dr. Venjamin stood in a white
coat with his back to them as he took in the view of the town.
With each vampire still grasping her arms, they walked her across the floor.
“Venjamin,” she said.
He turned around with a smile on his face though he did not look well either. His color was cinereal, his eyes and cheeks sunken in like a decomposing corpse. He slightly hunched forward as if he was battling a stomach pain. She smelled death on him, his blood already beginning to decay. “It is a pleasure to see you again, Valerie. I wish you would have come home sooner. We could have avoided all this nastiness.”
“Valerie,” Charlie croaked. “Run. Get out of here.”
“It’s going to be okay, Charlie,” she told him. It pained her to look at his battered body and tortured soul. Venjamin had broken him, scarred him in more than one way. She turned her eyes to Venjamin. “Do you think you can get your goons to take their hands off of me?” She felt Drew dig his fingernails into her arm. She refused to flinch or cry out.
He nodded at Rhett. Both men released her. Before she had a chance to touch her earring, Rhett bound her arms behind her back and handcuffed her wrists. “They’re silver, honey. You won’t be able to break free,” Rhett whispered in her ear, pleasure shimming in his voice. Valerie felt a panic attack arise within. How would she alert Ethan that she found Charlie? How would they pull her and Charlie out? But she fought it down. She could not afford to let Venjamin see her agitation.
“What is this all about?” she demanded. “I came here to make a deal with you, not become your prisoner.”
“What gave you the impression that I’m the type of man who makes deals?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The sun slipped down beyond the horizon to give daylight to the other face of the world as night settled down on this hemisphere. Ethan’s eyes were glued to Jonathan’s blackberry. He kept waiting for that red dot to appear so he’d know where she was, so they could get the hell out of here.
The Vampiric Housewife Page 24