CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
The night was cold and the winds were picking up as we made our way around the lights of Morehead. Sydney suggested that we steal a vehicle, but Jacob and Cates explained that there would be no roads where we were going, and that it would look a bit suspicious seeing a group of this size riding in one cramped vehicle. Garvin stood silent until we started moving again, and then walked up to me.
“What is this that Sydney wanted to find?”
“A truck or a car,” I replied stumbling over the roots that were growing everywhere.
“And they move without the aid of a horse?”
I stopped and turned around to look at him. “You’ve never seen a car before?”
“A wagon with a motor? No, I have not.”
“Garvin, you are in for such a surprise. I remember when my pa first brought our new Model-T, truck home. None of us could believe our eyes. We had seen the postman on his little scooter, but never nothing like that truck.”
“It really moves on its own?”
“Yep.”
“Then I agree with Sydney. We should at least find one of these moving things and go as far as we can.”
“You will have your ride, after my friend,” Jacob called back, stepping over a fallen tree.
Garvin’s mind was spinning with the possibilities and it showed on his face. Derek took the lead with Cates. He still hadn’t spoken to any of us, even with our break down on the ship and I was beginning to worry. Tammy’s leg seemed to be doing a great deal better. So much so that she wasn’t limping on it, and very much refused to stay back on the ship. Derek’s arm showed no signs of ever being broken, but his broken spirit was hard to miss. The woods were getting thicker the deeper we went. The scent was sweet and pure with no sign of the fur covered beasts or the scent of the walking dead. Those were the two things that I never cared to see again, for all our sakes, namely Derek’s. There was no way of knowing how he was going to react if he ever crossed the path of a man who changed into the creatures that took his brother. I feared the day. And we had more than one on our ship.
“There is an old mortuary that was abandoned in the early twenties. The graveyard was falling apart the last time we came this way, but the mortuary was solid,” Jacob explained moving us in a different direction.
“You’ve been to this place before?” I asked, wondering why he would have been here.
“I served under a master who made trade. I did as I was told.” Then he stormed off into the waist high brush.
“We all did as we were told. Jacob never approved, and took the whip for his actions,” Cates explained in a low tone, stepping up beside me.
“This place is really bad isn’t it, Cates?”
“Many have fallen to the hands of this one’s perversion. It is a hard thing to talk about, and an even harder thing to witness.”
Tammy walked up with Garvin and Jessie, and Cates spoke no more on the subject. We stepped out into an opening with a wrought iron fence that was all but falling down. Weeds stood taller than the headstones that adorned the graveyard’s vastly wide area, showing little of what once looked like a fully functional cemetery. At one time people must have added their loved ones here with great care. The top of the gray mortuary peeked over the tallest of the tombs and grew the further we went back. Derek was the only one that wasn’t close with the rest of us. He had long since vanished into the darkness of the eerie landscape.
We stepped up onto grass covered steps and made our way up to the marble front of the mortuary. Jacob told us to wait there and went around the side, later opening the slab of stone from the inside. Derek jumped down off one of the six foot high tombs that stood in front of the building that held the dead and gave us all a fright. Tammy screamed out grabbing Cates by the arm, and I took off around the building. I heard Cates chuckle and peeked back around. Derek was looking at me, but his face held no sign of humor.
“Didn’t have to scare me like that,” I said walking back around.
“It was worth it just to see the look on your face,” Cates laughed even harder.
Derek put his head down and walked past Cates and Tammy, going into the mortuary, ignoring Cates’ comment all together. I followed Derek in and Jessie followed me. Garvin and Sydney came in next, followed by the still laughing Cates, with Tammy stuck to his side. She didn’t seem to be too happy with staying in a place full of the dead, but in a few hours we would be just like them, or at least that was the way that I was looking at it. I held a certain fondness for sleeping in a tomb, this was just a little bigger, and held quite a few more bodies.
“Caden’s men will warn of our coming if the messenger came this way,” Jacob said as he led us down a flight of stone steps.
“Caden, is the name of the master in Havelock?” I asked, moving up behind him.
“Yes, and if the messenger did stop to warn them, then there is a chance that he may still be in the company of Caden.”
“That would mean that we could take him out and not have to worry about the elders, right?” Sydney added from the back.
“Yes, unless Caden wanted to make favor with the elders and had one of his own deliver the news,” Cates replied. “And only because he found favor in the messenger, if you know the meaning of my words.” I kept my mouth shut to that statement.
Cobwebs hung so thick that you had to pull them out of the way to go deeper. They hung all around us as we made our way into the underground resting place of three corpses that laid on open slabs. I waited for them to get up and come at us as soon as we lit the room with the torch that Jacob had brought to life before we made our way down. Cates took Tammy over and wiped his hand across a dust covered bench and had her sit down. Garvin and Sydney began exploring the large crypt room that would be sleeping quarters for what might end up being more than one night, if Caden’s place of hell was still a good ways off. Derek pulled his hood up and squatted down in a corner, where he watched and listened, but spoke to no one.
“We have a few miles to travel before we reach the outskirts of Havelock. Caden’s people have ruled this area for over a hundred years, and taken from any breeders who dared to cross his territory,” Jacob explained as he made himself comfortable on the floor next to Cates.
“And you said he is the kind that takes the males?” I asked, sitting down and leaning on the side of one of the stone tables that held a dried up corpse of a woman.
“Only males and he will kill any female that comes near him,” Cates added looking up at Tammy. “It is said that he was a lover of men, before he was taken by a crazed female breeder who subjected him to horrendous sexual acts that would make a male sick to do, if he had no wants for a female.”
“He killed her one night after she allowed him to tie her down in one of her many sex games. He drained her dry, gaining all that she had. He has lived around this area ever since,” Jacob claimed, closing his eyes and leaning his head back.
“The real question is…how many do we have to kill?” Derek asked in that same low tone.
“I assure you my young friend, your blade will have plenty before it is all said and done,” Jacob replied never opening his eyes.
It was good to hear Derek getting involved, but it was unnerving knowing the only time that he had spoken was to ask how many would he be able to kill. I couldn’t tell the others that I had my own concern about a breeder that chose to have favors with men. I wasn’t ignorant to the fact, but I also didn’t understand the concept of a man being the lover of other men. My parents never spoke of such things and when one of us asked after a Sunday service of our minister speaking about the ways of Sodom and Gomorrah, we were told that there were things better left untold. Derek left us to the coming day, sitting in the corner with his head down on his knees. Tammy and Jessie took the opposite corner and laid down, falling to the call shorty after. Garvin leaned back on one of the stone tables, and Sydney was curled up beside him. Cates, Jacob, and I gathered on the floor in the center o
f the room and laid back, looking at the cobwebs that looked like some medieval veil for the walking dead, talking about the way Brandon’s death had affected the core of our group.
***
The night came with the growing apprehension in my gut of going to this Caden’s home, where every woman has come to an abrupt ending for just being at the wrong place, with the wrong master. It was Jacob that reminded me that this would be the one place that put not only the females of our group in a seriously hazardous situation. He looked around making sure that the others were still asleep, and then in a low voice told me that it was the lighter haired younger ones that were in the greatest danger, being it was Caden’s preference. He said that Derek and Sydney would need to be watched the closest, due to the fact that Caden had been known to run from a fight, taking a few stolen young men with him. Then he turned around and said that if the threat was one that Caden thought he could win, he would fight with everything he had, being with what Jacob once knew to be a great number of beaten down men, young and old alike.
“If the messenger got to them first he will think we are many, because of the things that Cortez told before his death. The word always changes once it starts to spread,” Jacob added getting to his feet.
“Do you know much about the house they live in?” I asked, letting Jacob help me to my feet. “If the messenger didn’t come this way he won’t know anything then, right?”
“He will have heard of certain things. Nothing is completely unknown in the world of darkness. Someone would have made trade close to the shore lines, heard of the fall of Cuba and perhaps Cortez, and then spread it while making another trade,” Cates elaborated.
“Caden has no traditional way of keeping his domain. He cares not for the cleaner more edict fashions of the other masters that you have encountered. I have not been any further than the main room, but it held nothing but corners of discarded trash, and a staircase that one would have to step over garments piled on every other step,” Jacob explained as he cleared a smooth spot on the dirt floor. “The house is in the shape of a large square. Here is the entrance and this is the only two doors that I have seen with my own eyes on the inside.” Then he pointed at a square that he drew at the back of the larger one.
“This is where he goes over the slaves that are brought for trade or sale.”
“We could enter, making him believe we come only for shelter and trade for new stock,” Cates said, looking over at me.
“I don’t get what you mean?” I shrugged my shoulders.
“If Caden has no knowledge of our coming, and has heard little rumor, then we could take Sydney and Derek in as slaves…” Jacob was saying when I interrupted.
“No way. Derek’s in no shape to go along with something like that.”
“Garvin is too old for his liking and he would know we lie. He knows Cates and myself, and Tammy and Jessie would do nothing but set him off in a rage.”
“I don’t care, Jacob. Take me in with a rope around my neck saying we thought you might want to kill something, but Derek’s not going to be a part of whatever sick little plan you two are coming up with.
Jacob looked up a Cates and both smiled back at me. I had opened my mouth and stuck in my own foot. The look that Cates was giving me made me think that he was already enjoying the idea of pushing me around. I wrinkled up my brows and turned my head, rethinking the whole thing.
***
We were all walking through the graveyard going over the plan to take me and Sydney in as a trade for rest and a night of “fun”. Tammy and Jessie were going to stay out of sight until the preverbal “shit hit the fan”, then come out fighting, when and only if, they had some of us in their sights. Derek took off in the direction that Jacob said the house was in. I was going to take off after him, but Jacob said that he and Derek had spoken, and that I had nothing to worry about, which meant I began to worry even more.
I found it getting harder to move through the heavy undergrowth that filled the woods. The curve of the coming moon lit our way as we stepped over and went under areas of the woods that had been damaged by fire years before and was since covered by new growth, making it even more difficult to get through. We had to be going in a different way than those who brought victims to this depraved animal, because I just couldn’t see many going through this much trouble in making a trip that could possibly end them up in one of the master of the manor’s bed chambers.
Jacob stopped, threw his hand in the air and pointed to the left. Cates moved first, we followed. We went under a group of trees that were on the edge of a small pond. Jacob put his finger to his mouth then pointed off to the right. I had to get up on my toes to see the tops of the torch lights moving in the tall grass and weeds, but now I knew why Jacob was acting the way he was. Derek was the only thing on my mind now. Did they have him and were now looking for the rest of us? I grabbed the front of Jacob’s shirt and pulled him down as I went.
“Derek’s out there, we have to do something right now.”
“They go deeper into the woods as we speak, Renee. If they were looking for intruders they would have checked the bush along the way,” he whispered, pushing my hands off his shirt.
Jacob looked over at Cates, nodding his head once. Cates took the piece of material that he got from the crypt where we had slept, and tossed it to Jacob. He tore it into strips tying them together, then looped it around my neck. I opened my mouth to protest, but closed it when he darted his eyes at me. Brandon’s blade was too long to hide down the side of my leg, so Cates carried it leaving me with nothing but my pistol. My pistol rode comfortably in my boot, and not in its normal place at my side. I was lucky to still own it with the way the breeder world felt about them, but as long as I had ammo, I was keeping it. Cates would go up first once we made our way to Caden’s home, and act as if his master was sending him to get permission to approach. Once again it was the smell that let us know that we had arrived. It was a smell much like that of the pig farmer, south of the farm I lived on in my former life. The death smell was one that came with this side of my life, but mixed it was toxic and unbelievably nauseating. Tammy and Jessie were close enough for me to look around and still see them in the distance, before they went down into hiding. Jacob, Garvin, Sydney, and I moved in a little closer.
Cates went up to the porch with two steps that was covered in dried weeds, and pounded on the door. It opened and a slender young man that couldn’t have been over fifteen stepped out. “Master Caden isn’t seeing any visitors.”
“My master brings trade for rest and stock. He brings a special gift. Caden will not want to pass this up.”
“You are Chin’s, correct?”
“I am.”
“Caden was told that he was killed by a woman, and that she now rules over the bottom half of our country.”
“That is a lie. We bring her here. It is true that she took the old one, but she controls nothing. A woman,” he added with a great amount of sarcasm.
“Caden said the same thing. No woman could take the rule from any man,” the slender man smiled. “Let me council with, My Lord.” Then he turned and went back inside.
A few minutes later the door opened up and two large men stepped out wearing what I would call funeral suits, because they looked too dressy for their Sunday best. Sharp lines on their pants, that flared out over shiny black shoes, to the fancy white, starched shirts that they wore under the suit. Both men faced each other as another man stepped out, along with the same one that had talked to Cates following behind him. Caden was a very young looking man. His hair was light brown and cut short. He wore a suit similar to the two men, but he wore no shoes or shirt. He was short, around five three, and didn’t look very intimidating from where we hid, watching from the comforts of the woods.
“Cates, it is good to see you,” he said walking up and taking Cates’ hand. “I hear that you have captured the one who has been causing all the havoc?”
“She did not know who she was dealing
with, My Lord,” Cates replied going down on one knee.
I almost got sick watching Cates perform for the little man. I wanted to walk up and slap him across the face. I just couldn’t believe this little kid was making Jacob and Cates act so strange. They could both break his neck with the snap of the finger, and I saw nothing in the way of men that we couldn’t take.
“They will come for us, stay quiet. Do not let your temper get in the way,” Jacob said, leaning close to my ear.
“He better not touch me,” I replied.
“He better not touch me either,” Sydney said messing with the homemade rope around his neck, causing Garvin to act like he was forcing his hands behind his back, before anyone noticed.
“We need to get inside to search for others. If that door shuts any who may be in need of our help is doomed, even if we kill Caden. He is not the only sick minded breeder here,” Jacob said standing up.
I looked back and saw Cates and the four men walking our way. Caden had his hand under Cates’ arm like a woman would to keep from tripping on the debris covered earth. He looked like what we called prissy back home. Like when a boy at school would sit and play with the girls instead of getting dirty playing kick ball with those of us who preferred the rougher things. If they wanted a show, they were going to get one. I didn’t have to pretend to hate having the rope around my neck, and I sure didn’t have to pretend to hate the one walking toward me.
“Jacob, I am very surprised. I cannot believe that you would think of me to join your ranks with,” he snickered putting the back of his hand to his lips. “I never knew.”
Bloodbreeders: Seeking Others Page 23