Tainted Blood

by Martin Sharlow

  She smiled then relaxed as she laid her head back onto his chest. Brian placed his chin on her head and began to caress her long golden hair. The tugging began to worsen as he held her, and he knew he was going to have to go soon, otherwise he could be out of it for a week again or worse. That wouldn't do Heather any good.

  A small snore came from Heather as he held her, announcing that she had fallen asleep. Moments later, her body dissipated into mist. He was sad that she left, but she did need the rest. He had to go as well, otherwise...

  Moments later he was standing in a green forest. Something about it looked familiar. A path seemed to be nearby, and the sound of moaning seemed to be coming from somewhere nearby as well.

  “Well this is odd...” He mumbled to himself. “I should have woken up, not gone on to another dream.”

  The possibility that he had entered another dream that Heather created crossed his mind, but even if it was familiar, it didn't feel the same as Heathers. “No, this is definitely someone else's.” He had an idea of whose it was.

  He briefly considered just waking up, but curiosity was getting the best of him. Arguably, he should investigate it just to see who could pull him into a dream against his will. The path wasn't that far away, so he headed for it. It didn't take long before he came upon a grass hill, surrounded by the forest. A bed with white linen sat atop of it. Its movements suggested that it was currently in use, and was clearly where the sounds originated from.

  Brian sneaked up the hill in an attempt to verify what he believed he already knew. He doubted it was necessary, as no one could have heard his approach over the racket, but he still wanted to be careful. If he should startle whoever was dreaming, he could inadvertently wake them. That would end the dream, possibly without giving him a chance to ID them. The back of the bed had a large brass backboard, so he approached from that side, using it for cover. When he reached it, he closed his eyes and willed for a thick pea soup fog to surround him. It appeared instantly, but because it was a dream, it was much harder to control. Stray thoughts had a way of causing his illusions to just disappear, or even do other weird things. The last thing he needed was to have tendrils of fog reach up and maybe tickle or pinch the two he was trying to view.

  When he felt the fog was in place he walked around to the side of the bed to get a better view. He couldn't help but feel like a voyeur, yet he told himself this was necessary. He had to know whose dream it was. The worst he could imagine was that he had somehow found himself in Heather's dream, and he was about to catch Jason violating his one true love. To his relief, this nightmare was not what he found. To his chagrin, it was the second worst possibility.

  Meryl lay underneath a simulacrum of himself, and this version of him had bit her several times from all the puncture wounds he could see. Most of them were still running with fresh blood, while his other self rested atop her, slamming himself into her as quickly as he could. Meryl for her part was oblivious to everything around her. Her eyes were closed while her neck and back arched and her legs rose straight up in the air. The scene was somehow bestial, and yet tantalizing. He could feel desire rising up inside his loins as he watched the scene unfold. The taste of her blood began to fill his mouth as he watched, and without realizing it, his fangs emerged from their hiding place.

  Oh my God. He thought, as he threw his hand over his mouth, hiding his fangs from no one in particular. What the hell is happening to me?

  He fled from the dream in all haste, a part of him actually fleeing from himself.

  He sat up on his bed and walked over to the fridge, grabbing an IV and tearing it open. He drank its contents, ignoring the bitter taste that it left in his mouth. He didn't care about the taste, all he needed was to take his mind off of her, off of the blood that still somehow haunted his taste buds. When he finished that, he looked for the bottle of vodka that he had picked up one night weeks ago. He had used it as an excuse to go into a store he hadn't been in before. It worked well enough to buy it, and he didn't even have to suggest the clerk when he paid for it. The aura of suggestion seemed to grow stronger around him each day.

  He found the bottle, and without waiting to find a cup he began to down the liquid. His body wanted to reject it immediately, but he didn't care. He drank more of it in an attempt to rid himself of Meryl's blood. It was a strange taste, and added with his body's rejection of it, it seemed to work, as by the time he finished it the taste of Meryl was gone. Putting the bottle down, he staggered over to the bed and flung himself down on it. The motion of the bed made him feel nauseous as he laid there.

  Before he knew it, he was asleep. A dreamless sleep, or at least dreams that he could not remember. When he awoke, the room seemed distorted, and the light that bled into the room through the curtain hurt his eyes. A great pain throbbed behind his eyes, and dryness that he could not remember ever having filled his mouth. It felt almost like he could blow dust out of it.

  Brian made his way to the fridge on weak legs, where he grabbed an IV. He made a mental note that he was halfway through his supply already, then made his way back to the bed. The coldness of the IV filled with blood felt good against his head. He laid it there until it had warmed and no longer comforted his head.

  The pain and weakness left him as he drank the blood, and fire filled his mouth and stomach. Not the fire like Meryl's blood, but fire well enough. By the time he finished the IV, whatever effects the Vodka had left in him were gone.

  16

  The morning disappeared into afternoon by the time a knock at the door stopped Brian from pacing inside his small apartment. He had no idea who it could be, as no one usually came to his door. It wasn't like the girl scouts went door to door at a motel. It didn't matter who it was, really, he was grateful for any distraction from his worrying over how slow the operation was going. Opening the door, Brian was surprised to find his aunt standing with two men he had never seen before. His first thought was that they were agents, but he quickly threw that idea out, as neither of them wore the typical garb.

  Both of them towered over his aunt, who was as least average height for a woman. In fact they were much taller than Brian, probably 6'5'' if not 6'6''. They were not slim men, either, as both of them had arms that were as big around as his thigh, and barrel chests that would put some bodybuilders to shame. The dark hared one with the sunglasses wore a black leather biker's coat and matching gloves that were left off of his fingers. The second one had blonde, curly hair that ran down to his waist. He wore a light brown leather trench coat. He looked like something out of a Wild West movie, the straw cowboy hat which sat on his head definitely enhanced the impression of an old west movie.

  “Brian,” his aunt said through a pleasant smile.

  The fact that she had knocked for once, not to mention her pleasant demeanor, put him on instant guard. He found himself wishing it had been later in the evening and that it had been Bobby knocking instead. Whatever was about to happen, Brian had a feeling he wasn't going to like it at all.

  “Hello, Aunty.” Brian tried to sound as confident as he could. The two men only briefly looked at him, instead keeping their eyes moving across the parking lot into the nearby street. They were obviously watching out for something, or perhaps making sure there were no witnesses.

  “Are you going to ask us in?” She asked politely.

  That was the question. Should he invite them in? How many shows had he seen in his lifetime where that was the trick vampires used to get into a person's home? The poor, unsuspecting victims said yes just to be polite, and gave their attackers free access to their home and them. The truth was, however, he had no idea if these two men were vampires. There just was no way for him to tell, not to mention the fact that he didn't have a clue if Jason and vampires like him had to ask permission. Had he needed permission to enter Heather's home? Brian had no idea. It was times like these that made everything worse. It seemed like everyone in the world knew more than he did when it came to the most important matters.
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  “Well?” She asked sweetly. For just a moment, Brian almost said no. He really wanted to, but he had to know. Were these men here to kill him, or maybe to punish him for some reason?

  “Why, sure, Aunty, you're more than welcome to come in.” He smiled and moved out of the way so she could enter. She did so without hesitation. The two men briefly scanned the street, then bent their heads down a bit and then walked in after her. Well, they aren't vampires. Brian thought to himself, otherwise the stories aren't true. Brian closed the door, then quickly moved to his one green chair before anyone else could take it.

  “Brian, I'd like you to meet Mack,” she pointed to the guy in a trench coat and hat. “And Carl.” She nodded quickly to the dark haired fellow.

  “What can I do for you today?” Brian asked, in an attempt to keep up whatever charade his aunt was playing at.

  “Mack and Carl are with the local pack,” she answered, “They're here to help us with our little problem.”

  By 'our little problem', he assumed she meant the werewolf, which, as far as he knew, was still at large. As to the pack, he figured she meant they themselves were werewolves as well. He decided to go with that notion until he heard otherwise.

  He nodded to the two, Mack responded in kind, but Carl just stared. He had a feeling Carl didn't appreciate Brian's presence from the look in his eyes.

  “So, you two are here to help?” Brian tossed out.

  Mack quickly nodded again, and in a somewhat southern accent responded. “Yeah, we are, and it's good to meet you.” He reached out a hand to grasp Brian’s.

  Carl, on the other hand, made no motion to move any closer to Brian. In fact, if it wasn't for the movement of his eyes that followed him as Brian moved, the man stood like a statue. Well, Brian could tell that the guy breathed if he really bothered to pay attention, yet still the man didn't like him.

  “So, you two don't have a problem with taking down one of your own kind?” Brian asked in all seriousness. To his surprise Carl was the one to respond in a low gruff voice.

  “Do you?”

  Brian shook his head in confusion, “Sorry, I don't understand?”

  Mack spoke up before Carl could respond; obviously he was ready for Brian's response. “What my friend means, is he understands you're in town to deal with Jason.”

  Brian didn't have a chance to respond before his aunt addressed him. “I have informed them of your mission here, so that they don't get in the way or misunderstand any of your actions.”

  “Yeah,” Carl spoke up. “Wouldn't want no misunderstanding going on here.”

  Mack spoke up again. “There won't be no misunderstandings, I'm sure. Our goals are the same here.”

  “One would hope so.” Jenn glared at Carl, who only bared his teeth somewhat in response.

  “No one wants any rogue elements running wild on either side.” Mack answered, nodding and smiling.

  “I'm glad we understand each other,” Jenn responded with a bit of edge in her voice. She turned back to Brian and smiled. “Brian, you may see these guys about, and I didn't want you to get spooked when you did. They will be as discrete as possible as you wander around town.”

  The last part caught Brian a bit off guard. “Wait a minute, are you saying they are going to be following me?”

  “Technically, no.” She said, “they are just going to stay nearby you, mostly.”

  “I don't need any guards, Aunty. I can take care of myself.”

  “Yes you can.” Carl growled, “As long as the werewolf is unarmed and has its back to you.”

  Both Mack and Jenn turned and glared at Carl. He just turned his back on the two and snorted in what sounded like disgust.

  “Look, they're not here to guard you or babysit you. They won't be hovering around you; they will be hunting as well.”

  “You got that right.” Mack smiled; his bright white teeth seemed almost too big for his face. “You see, Brian, we figure the best place to find him is to go where he's going. That's you. I think it would make it all the more likely we'll catch him this way.”

  “I understand, I think.” Brian said. “My only problem is...won't these two jeopardize my mission? I can't just walk in somewhere incognito with these two tailing me.”

  “No worries about that.” Mack answered. “We don't need to be that close to catch this guy's scent. Trust me; you won't even know we're there.”

  This was iffy at best. Still, having two more people around to deal with Wolfe if he showed should make an impact while taking some of the pressure off of him.

  “Alright,” Brian decided. “I don't have a problem if they don't get in the way.”

  “This isn't up to you, blood sucker.” Carl whirled around, snarling at him. “We aren’t here asking your permission, we're telling you what's going to happen.”

  Jenn stepped between Brian and Carl, while Mack grabbed a hold of the other lycanthrope and tried to calm him down. “It was my understanding that this was supposed to be in the spirit of cooperation and trust.” Jenn raised her voice to a commanding tone at Carl, who looked as if he were about to pummel her. The veins that stuck out across the man's forehead and neck were throbbing so hard that Brian could count the man's heartbeats from where he stood.

  “Yes, yes,” Mack spoke up. “We all want this to go as smoothly as possible, Carl. Control yourself, or I will send you back.”

  Carl turned on Mack, “and who will watch your back? This...I don't know exactly what he is,” the man pointed at Brian, “or a human? We know what we can expect from that lot.”

  “Carl go outside and wait.” Mack raised his voice for the first time. If Jenn's voice had been commanding, his voice was more like a roar. Brian had no doubt that people out in the parking lot, and for that matter several rooms away heard that voice clearly. Carl looked visibly shaken at Mack's shout. He actually looked a bit sheepish as he turned to leave the apartment, but Brian saw Carl throw a withering glance back at him just before shutting the door.

  That one was going to be trouble if Brian wasn't careful. He had no doubt that, if given the chance, Carl would take a chunk out of him.

  “Don't worry about that one,” Mack spoke now in a jovial tone. “His bark is worse than his bite.”

  “Where have I heard that one before?” Brian said without thinking.

  “Commissioner, I assure you.” Mack turned to Jenn. “Carl will do his job. We all want the same thing here. You're just going to have to forgive his gruffness. I wouldn't have brought him if he wasn't the most trustworthy person to bring on this job. He just has a history he's got some problems with still.”

  “You had better be right, Mack.” Jenn answered. “The company has a lot invested into this and we will not lose any of it at this point.”

  “I understand,” the big cowboy responded.

  “Wait a minute.” Brian interrupted the two. “Are you telling me that you are just going to capture this guy?”

  “That's our hope.” Mack answered.

  “Isn't that going to be hard? Not to mess up your plans, but wouldn't it just be easier to off this guy?”

  “Not from our point of view.” Mack said

  “But...”

  “Brian,” his aunt said, “this decision has already been agreed upon. You need to concentrate more on Jason, and less on this.”

  “Don't worry yourself about this.” Mack cut in, “we're both very good at this, you might say we're experts.” With that, he smiled at Brian. “Well, I'm going to go check on Carl if you don't mind, Madame Commissioner.”

  Jenn nodded at the gigantic cowboy who smiled then nodded again at Brian before leaving the apartment through the front door.

  “I hope you're right.” Brian shook his head.

  “I am. If the company had listened to me from the beginning it would have saved several agents' lives not to mention we would most likely have taken care of this problem already.”

  “You lost a few agents?”

  “Happens every
assignment, Brian. Just part of the job description.”

  “What, dying?”

  “So, what is the status of your assignment?” She asked without answering him. It made him not want to answer her, but he couldn’t see how that would help the situation, even if it did make him feel better.

  “I'm just waiting on one of my people to get here, then we're going to move on him.”

  “You mean the trucker? Do you think it's a good idea to involve him again?”

  “I already have, so there’s no point in messing things up by making unfounded changes.”

  She nodded as she listened to him. “You're growing up, Brian. I'd say I was proud of you for doing that except I'm not. Perhaps if I were your real aunt I would feel that way.”

  “Whatever.” He couldn't believe she was rubbing salt in that old wound again. Here he had been willing to forget the past for the moment and just work as a team, but no, she just couldn't have that could she?