18
I was discovering I had claustrophobia issues. I had always known that crowds bothered me. When you’re five feet tall and surrounded by people it starts to feel like the world consists of belt buckles and that somehow they’re sucking up all the air and none of it ever gets down to you. As the table began to slide into the tube of the MRI, I started to feel a bit breathless. An earmuff style of headphones was clamped tightly over my ears. I was glad the rules of MRIs dictated that I remove my earrings. They would have been uncomfortable under the heavy headphones. I had also been forced to take off my bra because it had an underwire. I had been offered a selection of music and had gone with the pop choice. Kelly Clarkson was currently singing about catching her breath and letting it go. She stopped singing and I heard Ken’s voice: “It’s going to get really noisy now, Linnet, but you need to hold still. This is going to take a while since we’re doing a full body scan. Okay, we’re starting now.”
Kelly returned mid-word, and then this horrendous banging began, as if a thousand dwarves were beating on sheet metal with iron hammers. It was muffled by the headphones, but it still penetrated even through the music. I tensed then wondered if that qualified as “moving,” so I forced myself to relax. Hours went by filled with whirrs and bangs and clicks. I knew it wasn’t really hours, but it felt like it. I wished I could see what Ken and John were looking at in the tiny control room off to the side.
Do you know we’re looking for you? I thought to the creature residing somewhere inside of me. Do you know we’re going to destroy you? Can you read my mind? I suppose I owe you, you’ve saved my life, but I can’t let you kill my foster father and my friends, and even all the vampires and werewolves I’ve never met and will never know.
The music cut off again—Britney singing about being toxic—and John’s voice came through. He was yelling. “Linnet, get out of there. Run! Ken, what the hell?” Then a crash and the sounds of a struggle.
I began frantically wriggling my way out of the metal and ceramic tube, using the curving sides to help propel my body down the length of the machine. I tore off the headphones, dropped onto the floor, and spared a glance toward the control booth. Ken had his back against the glass. Just past him I could see John fighting with a big man dressed in a suit. I didn’t recognize John’s attacker. I ran for the door that led into the hospital. It was flung open and another large male, also dressed in a suit, plunged in. He grabbed at me. I used the slick linoleum floor to my advantage and went into a slide like a runner stealing a base. I passed under his outstretched arms.
Despite his size he was fast. He had checked and whirled as I was regaining my feet, and he grabbed me around the waist. I started screaming, and he clapped his hand over my mouth. I bit him so hard that I tasted blood, and he roared in pain. I rolled a desperate eye toward the control booth. The man locked in combat with John was suddenly holding air. He looked confused. Ken grabbed him by the shoulder and my hopes soared only to be dashed when the scientist yelled, “Come on! He’s gone into Fey. He could turn up anywhere!”
Ken and the man left through the door and joined me and my assailant in the MRI room. The man who had been fighting John drew a gun. Ken looked alarmed. “Hey, there’s no need—”
The air shimmered and John reappeared. His expression still had that preternatural calm, but he moved with blinding speed as he punched the man holding me in the temple, then twisted his arm until I heard a loud crack. The man screamed at the same time I yelled “The other one’s got a gun!”
John tried to spin the big man so he could be cover for him, but the slick floor betrayed him, and he overcompensated and spun the man too far. The other man had a clear shot and he took it, firing over and over again. Gunfire roared in the confined space and bounced off the hard surfaces. The MRI was still banging and whirring, and the strong magnetic field played merry hell with the bullets, but there were more than enough for the man’s murderous purpose. John jerked and looked down as blood blossomed on the front of his shirt. He raised his eyes to mine and I saw John, the man I had known. The bullets that had struck his body had somehow shattered the ice. Another bullet took him in the thigh, and he collapsed. Blood frothed at his lips, and he held out a hand to me, mouthed my name. Blood flowed across the white floor.
I was screaming, the sound a file across the soft tissue of my throat. Rage and grief turned me from a human into a maddened animal. I threw myself at the shooter, screaming. I wasn’t sure if there were words or if it was just a primal shriek. He fended me off, then closed and grabbed me in an armlock. I struggled, but his size and strength were too much even for my rage. And my little companion stayed mute because these were humans, and the parasite had no interest in protecting me from my own kind.
Ken stood staring in horror at John lying in an ever-widening pool of blood. “We’ve got to go!” the man with the broken arm bellowed, and gave Ken a shove with his good arm.
“Shut her up!” my captor ordered, and Ken, moving like a man caught in a slow-motion nightmare, pulled a syringe out of his pocket and jammed it into my neck.
I tried to resist, to fight the effects, but circulation trumped will. Within a few seconds I had gone down into darkness.
* * *
My head hurt. I fought the lethargy weighing down all my limbs and struggled to sit up. I was lying on a cot with a thin blanket thrown over me. The cotton that filled my mouth had also invaded my brain, making it hard to think and remember. And then I remembered. John. The pool of blood. The eyes-wide death gaze. A wrenching sob tore across my sore throat, and I huddled over my knees, crying and screaming “John! No!” as if words would banish reality. The tears came so fast and hard I couldn’t draw breath and I began to gag. I leaned over and vomited. The bile washed across my raw throat, and the smell kept the spasms coming.
I realized someone was hoarsely calling my name. “Linnet. Linnet. Linnet. Lynnie, dearest, listen.”
I looked up and pushed my hair off my sweat-damp face. It was David. He was naked and chained in a bright circle of light. There were two chains, one around his waist and another attached to shackles on his ankles, and they ran to a heavy steel ring that had been driven deep into the stone floor. They were short enough that he couldn’t stand. He could only crouch or sit on the hard stone floor. His skin was a mass of oozing blisters, his features sunken and drawn so the fangs hung over his wizened lips.
I fought down the nausea, ran to him, and hugged him tight. A quivering sense of anticipation rippled through my body at the same time he pushed me away. “No, Lynnie, stay away. I might … I can’t … I’m famished,” he admitted, shamefaced.
I backed off. Understanding came in a flash. Starving vampire/predator host—lock them in the same space. Wait for nature to take its course. I moved to the far side of the room and took a moment to survey our prison. It looked like an old ale or wine cellar constructed out of heavy stone, and probably dug into the hard granite of New England. I moved to the door. It was solid steel and looked new. A chemical toilet stood in one corner. There was no sign of a sink. Long fluorescent tubes lined the ceiling, illuminating the space. There were security cameras in two of the corners, which gave me some hope there were a few dead zones. I wondered if there were microphones as well and decided that any conversations would be conducted in whispers. Which would make it hard to stay well away from David and keep from becoming a vampire entree. I decided that being overheard was probably safer, in the grand scheme of things.
I returned to the cot, used the case off the pillow to mop up the vomit, and threw it in the toilet. I then returned to the cot and sat down. David and I stared at each other. “How long have you been here?” I asked.
He forced air to make a sigh and shifted, but there was no escape from the unrelenting light. “Six days. Maybe eight. I was trying to keep track,” he looked down at scratches on the stone. “But then it just got too hard. I’m having a hard time concentrating, thinking.”
“You’re strong
er than a human, can’t you pull out that hook?”
“Whoever they are, they’re damn clever. My body is using all its strength to repair the damage from the light—”
“We’re underground, how can there be light?”
“I think the bastards have set up the lights you’d use for a tanning bed. I’m getting beat to hell by UV rays.” His head drooped. “I’ve got nothing left, and the longer I go without food the harder my body has to work to heal itself.”
“So no clouding men’s minds or breaking chains.” I forced myself to take a light tone though my heart felt like it was slowly cracking.
John killed. David facing the true death in a particularly gruesome way, and both of them brought to this because of me. I wanted to die. I paused, considering that. If I died, the parasite, the predator would die with me. Maybe that was the solution. But not yet. We weren’t there yet. Perhaps there was still a way to escape, and once I did escape—by God they were going to pay. There was a brief moment when I wondered if the creature would allow me to harm myself. As much as I hated Ken and truly wanted to kill him for his betrayal, I wished I could talk to him and learn about the parasite.
“’Fraid not.”
I looked up at the grating far above his head. The ceiling was a good twenty feet over our heads. “How did they get you?”
“I walked right into it. I got a call to represent an elderly man who was bedridden.”
“I’m betting he was a very rich old man,” I said dryly.
“Yeah, he wanted me to draft his trust and IMG to have administer it—for a very nice fee. It was catnip to the firm. I got to the house and got locked in a room and bombarded with UV rays. Hurt like hell, I collapsed, and then they had me.” He stared at me. “Linnet, why the hell are you here?”
I stared back. I didn’t want to tell him. If I’d felt grotesque before, now I felt like a total monster but he needed to know because it was imperative that he not feed on me. But could training and conditioning trump starvation? He admitted he was having trouble focusing. Would hunger drive him to madness? Or course he couldn’t reach me as long as I stayed on the other side of the room.
Hands tightly clasped, I hunched over, drew in a shaky breath, and began. “Remember all those legends and bad movies about the predator? Well … you’re looking at her.” The David sneer appeared. I didn’t argue. I just kept talking, detailing everything that had happened since my departure from the firm and slowly the sneer faded. I wound down to the dismal conclusion, and silence swallowed the room.
“I’m so sorry, Linnet. I know you … cared for him.”
A boulder lodged itself in my throat. I blinked hard, fighting the tears, fighting the overwhelming desire to just lay down and wail. John was gone. I still had a chance to save David. I just had to find the means.
David went on, “And I promise. I won’t touch you. I’ll die first.”
“No! Nobody else is dying because of me!” I was on my feet, fists clenched at my sides.
A sudden rattling from the door startled us both. I whirled. Three men entered. There was Ken carrying what I recognized as a portable ultrasound machine, another carrying a tray with food. A filet mignon so rare it left a pool of bloom on the plate, spinach, a glass of red wine–food designed to build the red blood cells—a glass of water. The final member of the trio was muscle, and muscle I recognized. He was the shooter who killed John. He carried a pistol, probably the same gun, and he also had a long kukri strapped to his hip just in case a vampire needed beheading. The tray carrier was also armed. I flew at John’s killer, shrieking, “You bastard! You bastard! You’re going to pay for what you did!” He stiff-armed me in the chest, knocking me back into the cot. The cot tipped over and I went down hard on the stone floor.
Ken extended his arm to block the man and said, “Hey, hey, take it easy on her.”
“Yeah, fuck you and your concern. Now you’re worried about me?” I glared at Ken and he had the grace to duck his head and look embarrassed. “So how much did they pay you to sell me out?” I asked, and I didn’t disguise my hate and contempt.
“Nothing! You and your friends were going to destroy it. I couldn’t let that happen. I did this for science.”
“Oh bullshit! You did this because it’s your research, and you couldn’t stand to lose it. To hell with the people who are going to die … have already died.” I choked on a sob and turned away.
“I didn’t mean … I didn’t want that…”
I turned on him. “He protected you. Kept you safe, and you repaid him by getting him killed!”
“And the vampires and werewolves were going to kill me. Why should I care? Why shouldn’t I protect myself?”
“Talk about a non sequitur and a deflection! It wasn’t a member of the Powers who killed John. It was that asshole.” I pointed at the impassive guard. “If this thing gets loose thousands are going to die, and it will be your fault.”
“Look, I need to be involved. Even if I refused this group would keep trying. Isn’t it better that I’m here to study the creature and make sure it can’t jump species to regular humans?”
“Yeah, you just keep telling yourself that. I’m sure the Nazi scientists thought they were doing valuable work too.”
I had gone too far and saw it when his expression hardened. He turned to the two men. “Put that down,” he instructed. “And hold her.”
The tray was set aside, and the big men advanced on me. I backed away, thought about running to David, but I couldn’t decide and then they had me. They held my arms. I struggled, kicking, trying to reach them to scratch, flinging my head back and forth trying to bite them.
“I can’t get a reading with her moving around like that,” Ken snapped.
They forced me to the stone floor and none too gently, then held my ankles and shoulders. They were big and strong and I could barely move. Ken pulled up my sweater, revealing my bare breasts, rubbed gel on the ultrasound wand, and began running it across the left side of my chest.
David was roaring with fury. “Let her go! You fucking bastards! I’ll kill you! I will fucking kill you!” He was yanking at the chains, the clash of metal punctuating each word.
I could see the screen if I looked to the left. I’d watched a lot of ultrasounds of horse’s legs so I had a pretty good eye. I could see the hazy lines of my ribs, my breastbone, and the left lung, a gray shape beneath the bones. And perched on the top lobe was a dark shape with two tendrils extruding from it. My skin went cold and a clammy sweat broke out across my body. So that was my little friend. It was horrifying. Ken followed the lines of the tendrils, and it showed they were heading for my jugular vein. Panic yammered behind my eyes. There was a slow pulse from the dark blob, and the tendrils waved as if moved by a slow current and extended a bit farther.
Ken was taking screenshots and muttering to himself. “Good … yes … my initial analysis is being borne out. It appears a pathogen is going to be injected into the host’s bloodstream. And the subject seems aware of the proximity of a vampire and is preparing for eventual transfer.”
The scientist stood up and wiped the wand clean. He then packed up the portable ultrasound machine. “You can let her go now,” he said offhandedly. The men backed off. I rolled onto my knees and turned my back to them as I pulled down my sweater. I was blinking back tears of shame and fear.
“I want to see my father,” I said.
“I don’t think the senior warden or the master will let him in. This is upsetting for him too,” Ken said.
I turned to face him. “You’ve seen him?”
“Yeah, he’s the one I called. And he’s here.”
“Tell him I want to see him.” I hesitated then added, “Please.” I hated that my voice had a catch in it, but it seemed to affect Ken. He looked at me a bit shamefaced and nodded.
“I’ll tell him. It’s the least I can do.” He and the men headed for the door.
“Yeah, no kidding,” I muttered under my breath.
I picked up the tray of food and carried it to the chemical toilet. “Wait. Don’t.” David’s voice stopped me.
“I’m not going to eat.”
“They won’t let you starve. They’ll force-feed you. They’ve got too much invested in this. Keep up your strength. An opportunity might present itself and you won’t be able to take advantage if you’re weak from hunger.”
They were good points. I hated to give my captors the satisfaction. I wanted to be strong and refuse, but David was right. A vampire slowly burning alive and starving and a starving five-foot-tall woman weren’t going to be able to accomplish much. I retreated back to my cot, sat down, and ate the meal. I drank half the water, but left the rest for later. I looked at the residue of beef blood staining the plastic.
“You want to lick the plate?” I offered.
David shook his head. “It won’t help, and it’ll just undermine my resistance. And I won’t touch you, Linnet. I swear I won’t.”
I drew a bit closer to the circle of light and the suffering man and said quietly, “If you did feed how fast would you regain strength?”
“Pretty damn fast. I wouldn’t worry about looking pretty.” He gestured at his blister-covered body with one equally blistered hand. “I’d use it all to regain my strength.”
“This thing.” I touched my breast. “Hasn’t reached the jugular yet. Maybe you could feed before it had a chance to infect you?”
“A sip from you isn’t going to do it, Linnet. I would need to drain someone and that would kill them.”
I sat struggling with what I had to say and feared to say. I cleared the sudden obstruction in my throat. “Look, I’m probably going to die anyway. Nobody knows what this thing will do. It could be like the Facehugger in Aliens and bust out of my chest or something. If you could get free you could maybe stop them—”
“No!” So loud and explosive was the word that I jumped. “I will not ever harm you. I will die first. And if we miscalculate and I actually do get infected, then thousands are going to die. No.” He shook his head.
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