The Blood Order (Fanghunters Book Two)

by Leo Romero

With no hesitation, Eddie raised the gun, pointed it at the Father's chest, and ruthlessly pulled the trigger. The Father had time to hiss before the dart punctured his chest; he recoiled. He glared down in a drunken fashion at the dart poking out of his chest. He reached down, ripped it out, and threw it away, but it was too late, the holy water was already in his bloodstream. He snapped his head up and watched them all in horror as the chemicals took their swift effect. He raised his hands to his face; they first tremored, then shook, then convulsed. His chest joined in and he grabbed his heart. Straight after that, his head began to shake.

  Dom watched on in revulsion as the Father's eyeballs rolled up into his head as he began to judder under the pressure. His fingers curled in like claws and he released a blood-curdling scream. The hairs on the back of Dom's neck sprang to attention. The Father then staggered back, tripping on his mattress. He slammed into it, bounced off it, and collapsed to the side in a heap where he continued to spasm. Dom watched on in agony as the thing that used to be his father died. The spasms slowed, then stopped. Finally, he became still. And everything went quiet.

  Dom looked from Eddie to Trixie. She met his stare, giving him a sympathetic smile.

  Dom gazed back at his father/vamp and a tear slipped down his cheek. He wiped it away.

  Eddie slung the dart gun against the wall and collapsed to his knees. In the next instant, he was crying and wailing in agony.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  They covered the body with trash bags and dragged it to the trunk of the car. They couldn't leave the body of a vamp in a dark environment for someone to find, they'd need to let the sun do its thing on him.

  "What exactly is going on, Trixie?" Dom asked. He was in the back, consoling his younger brother.

  "I'll explain more when we get back home," Trixie said from the driver's seat. "Dad will want to speak to you both. Let's just say there's something in the head of your brother that the Order are very interested in. By that score, we're very interested in it too."

  Dom gazed down at his brother. He was juddering with emotion, no doubt needing a venom fix too.

  "In his head? Like what?"

  "A formula," Trixie told him.

  "Formula?"

  "That's right. A formula that only he knows."

  Dom nodded. "My brother always was a smart cookie."

  Trixie started up the car. "Oh yes. And that's why he's valuable to everyone. It's a good job we found you first." She started up the car and they pulled away. Eddie's head then snapped up and he stared at the building where he'd been a prisoner. He shivered under Dom's hand as he watched the building grow smaller and smaller. Trixie turned off the road, and it was gone forever. Eddie wiped his eyes and then put his head down again.

  "I hope we don't get stopped by any cops," Trixie said as she picked up the pace. "Don't know how we're gonna talk off what we got in the trunk."

  Dom huffed. At that moment, he could care less if they did get stopped. He was a burned-out wreck. The last hour had been a meteor shower of emotions. From terror, to dread, to longing, to relief, to anguish, to happiness on finally finding Eddie, to the heartache of discovering Dad had become a vamp, and worse, the very vamp that had enslaved him. Even if it was for his safety like Trixie mentioned, he had still been a slave. All he wanted right then was sleep, a nice long sleep to re-energize, then work out what the hell was going on.

  The thing he couldn't get his head around the most was what Trixie said about Eddie. He had a formula. A formula of what? Was that what the 'sample' was? A sample of the formula? Who were they before they were in that basement? What had he and Eddie got themselves into? How much did Vincent know? What exactly did Vincent know? The multitude of questions wouldn't leave him alone the whole time Trixie drove them out of the south side slum and back north toward Vincent's mansion. He watched the different strokes of Chicago pass by; the old, the new, the clean, the dirty. What grip did the Order have on this once fine city? What were their plans?

  He rubbed the shoulder of his kid brother with a loving hand, images of them playing baseball in the back yard now flooding his mind, playing pranks on grandpa whenever he dozed off on the armchair. He could see a time when they put ground pepper under his nose. The next time he snored it all shot up his hooter; he woke up with a start and a fit of sneezes. He remembered how angry Gramps had been, and how scared he and Eddie had been, scampering to their rooms for shelter. What happened after that? How did they get mixed up with vamps? With the Order? Where did it go wrong?

  Whatever happened, he was just so glad to find him alive and be reunited with him. He gave Eddie a kiss on the top of his head. "We'll be all right, buddy," he told him. "You hear? We'll be all right."

  Eddie continued to sob beneath him. Dom stared up at the dark clouds that hovered over Chicago, the same way the Blood Order did. He now realized how much he wanted to destroy the Order, to bring it down completely, dismantle it, turn it to dust. It had destroyed his family, the city, the country. And he wanted his revenge.

  The sun was on its downward trajectory as it waved goodbye to the day, making way for night to fall and the creatures to come out from wherever they were hiding to feed. Creatures that were once men and women now turned into monsters. Monsters that preyed on humans. Turned them into slaves.

  A wash of pulsing lights flooded the car and Trixie froze up for a moment. Thankfully, they vanished as fast as they arrived, accompanying sirens blasting in the opposite lane.

  Trixie kept her cool and eventually they made it to the outer reaches of Chicago, past the madness of the Loop and into more friendly territory. Vincent's territory.

  Trixie breathed a sigh of relief as she pulled into the Beauchamp estate, the huge gates opening up for her. "Home sweet home," she said.

  Dom rubbed Eddie's shoulder. "We're home now, Eddie," he whispered to him. "We're safe here."

  Eddie sat up and stared out of the window. There was a wide-eyed look on his face as if he was scared, but also in awe. "Where are we?" he asked.

  "Home," Dom replied, his face like stone. "Home."

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Rufus came out to greet them. He wrapped a blanket around Eddie, who Dom helped through the front door. Trixie left the car out the front; Rufus would take care of it and the contents. Once inside, they were met by Vincent; he was striking a solemn pose in the lobby. He was dressed in his robe, his hands clasped behind his back, his hair slicked back from his brow with water.

  "Hey," Trixie said on seeing him.

  "Hello, everybody," Vincent replied with an earnest nod. "I see we've finally found Eddie," he noted.

  "Yeah, we found him," said Dom. "Why didn't you tell me about... our father?"

  "How would you have responded?" Vincent asked.

  "Most probably with anger."

  "Exactly. And you'd have rushed off and maybe got yourself or Eddie killed."

  Dom looked down. "I wanna know everything, Vincent. No more secrets. We deserve it."

  Vincent's back straightened. "Yes, you do. Trixie, have Rufus fix us up something to eat and drink."

  Trixie nodded and strode off to find Rufus.

  Vincent cleared his throat. "Okay, Dominic. What do you want to know?"

  "Eddie is a brilliant chemist," Vincent stated. "He managed to synthesize manna, something the Blood Order have been attempting for quite a while. Now the implications of that for the Order are obvious. We believe their plan is to have every citizen in the US dosed with this synthetic manna, thus getting them under mass mind control. Eventually, the many unholy people would become vampire and thus the Great Unveiling can accelerate unhindered. Somehow your father became embroiled in all of this, and either fell victim to a vampire, or we believe more likely, heavily dosed himself with this drug and he turned. He then dosed you with his own manna, keeping you out of the hands of the Order. Luckily for us, Dom managed to escape. And more luck for us, we found him first."

  Dom rubbed his head. "And you kept all this from
me."

  "This information is relatively new to us. I made the decision to keep it from you for your own protection."

  Dom sighed. He glanced over at Eddie, who was watching on with sheepish eyes. "I get your point, Vincent," he said and took a swig off the ice-cold Bud in his hand. "I'm just glad Eddie's okay."

  "And so are we. I apologize for keeping things from you, but in this life, all's fair in love and war. You're both free to turn and leave, there's no bondage here. You love each other and you can go and live out your lives how you see fit. Or you can join my team, work with me. Eddie, you can make a difference in this world."

  Eddie's eyes rolled up to meet Vincent.

  "I want you to come and work at my lab where you'll continue your study into vampires. And hopefully create an anti-manna formula."

  "Is that what these words going around my head are?" asked Eddie. "Formulae?"

  Vincent pointed at him. "Exactly, young man. You hold the key. This all must have happened just before mass production could begin. You must have been about to cut a deal with the Order. A rather silly idea if I may say; once the formula was in the Order's hands, you'd both be dead. And that must have been the point when your father intervened, by luck or by crook, we'll never know. But what we do know is that the formula must work. And so it mustn't fall into the hands of the Order or it's game over."

  "What will the Order do now?" Dom asked.

  "The Order have tried many times to accelerate the Great Unveiling all to no avail. This battle isn't new, nor is it simple. Things rarely go their way, and they've tried many times to get their teeth into us, excuse the pun. This is just another failure on their part. I'm sure they'll pursue another avenue soon enough."

  "I meant what will they do about us," reasserted Dom. "I mean they'll be after us now."

  "Don't worry. Once they discover the Dempsey brothers are working for me, they'll leave us alone."

  "How can you be sure of that?" Eddie asked, sitting up in his seat, his eyes wide with concern.

  "There's a pact," Vincent told him. "A longstanding pact that cannot be broken. We don't touch Order, they don't touch us. It's simple. Anything in between is fair game. Once I declare a person as one of us, they are forbidden from harming you. Besides, you'll be given a new identity. We have plenty of names on the books at the company who've worked there for years, all of whom don't actually exist. Yet. You will take on one of those personas and work behind the scenes undetected."

  "Vincent's got all the bases covered, buddy, don't worry about that," Dom said.

  Vincent gave them both a firm nod. "Absolutely. Now, Eddie, do you remember the formula?"

  Eddie shook his head. "It's all strange words and numbers and sequences going around in my mind."

  Vincent nodded in understanding. "Yes, it's the manna doing that. You'll recover in time and you can get to work on new formulas. I'm hoping you can create an antidote to manna. An anti-manna or anti-venom that will counteract the effects of venom. That would be a great tool to use against the Order. We cannot reverse the DNA-altering effects of manna, but if we could somehow find a way of blocking it before it does any damage, that would be a huge step forward in this war."

  Eddie glanced at Dom. Dom gave him a solemn nod. "I think it's our best option right now, buddy."

  Eddie took a deep breath. "As long as we're together and we're safe. I'm down with anything."

  Dom gave him a warm smile. "We won't let them beat us, buddy," he said and had a swig of Bud.

  Eddie returned the words with a wan smile.

  Vincent rapped the table with his knuckles. "Excellent. First, Eddie, you need to detox, then we'll get you to the lab where you can begin your work. Don't worry, young man, you're safe now. Welcome to the family."

  Eddie just stared, his face riddled with confusion and uncertainty.

  Dawn broke and Dom met Eddie in the lobby. Vincent, Trixie, and Rufus were already there. On seeing Dom, Vincent went and gave him a warm pat on the back. Dom nodded his head in appreciation, wiping a tear from his eye.

  "Are you both ready?" Vincent asked the brothers.

  They both nodded in unison.

  "Okay, let's go." Vincent turned and led them out through to the back yard. Dom placed his arm around Eddie's shoulder as they both made their way outside, their heads bowed. The sun was bright; a golden disc in a blue sky. Dom afforded himself a rueful smile; it was a perfect morn.

  They all positioned themselves around the body, which was covered with a black blanket. Trixie caught Dom's stare; she had her hands clasped in front of her in a somber fashion. Rufus wore a look of sympathy on his face. He gave Dom a warm smile; Dom returned the gesture, grateful for their respectful manner.

  Vincent took a deep breath. "Is there anything you'd like to say before we begin?" he asked the brothers.

  "Yeah, there is," Dom declared. He cleared his throat. "Dad did what he did to protect us. I know that now. And I just wanna say... I'll do everything to protect Eddie, Dad. I promise I'll make a difference. I'll do everything I can to stop these creatures' plans. I promise I won't let you down."

  Vincent straightened his back. "Well said. Eddie?"

  Eddie looked up at him, then to his dad's body. "Bye, Dad," was all he said before his head dropped. Dom rubbed his shoulder.

  Vincent glanced at Rufus. "Okay, Rufus," he said, pointing at the body.

  Rufus strode over, his head bowed. He bent, grabbed hold of the blanket and ripped it off, revealing John Dempsey's dead vampire body. Eddie grabbed his head. Dom held him tight.

  They all watched on as the first rays of the day's sun went to work on the corpse. The pale skin darkened to a disturbing shade of red. It soon began to blister and pop like dogs on a barbeque. Eddie wept, his shoulders juddering while Dom held him tight. "It's all right, buddy. It's all right."

  What remained of their father withered and burned away in the sun. A hot, acrid stench of charred meat filled the air as the flesh frazzled away, revealing white bone beneath. The exposed skeleton then collapsed in on itself into a puddle of blood, muscle, and organs that was fast evaporating in the morning air. The bones discolored at a rapid rate, turning a rotten yellow, then to brown, taking on a rubber-like texture as they softened and weakened into flexible pieces.

  As the sizzling continued unabated, Dom glanced over at Vincent. "Aren't you gonna take his fangs?" he asked, noticing them still intact amongst the remains.

  Vincent shook his head. "Not this time."

  Dom nodded. "Thanks."

  Vincent went and put his arm around them both and squeezed. They stood there, all five of them and watched on as the wet remains of John Dempsey sunk into the grass and evaporated into the warm morning air.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Trixie made it to the Loop just after dark. The moment she stepped off the Red Line, her spine began tingling. It always did whenever she visited the Loop, but it wasn't always down to the presence of nearby vamps. The Loop creeped her out. It was enemy territory. Even though she knew the pact kept her safe from harm, she was wise enough to know that nothing was assured in this world. The surrounding skyscrapers were a dense forest of concrete and corruption split like a gash by their very own version of the Amazon River. The business district was winding down for the night and the ensuing revelry was about to commence. Drugs, booze, sex, and if you were 'in the loop', vamps and venom.

  She crossed Madison and headed toward the thin alley wedged between Joe's Irish Bar and a burger joint that served mile highs on a bed of fries. The smell of stale beer and deep fried heart attacks on a plate hit her nostrils and she felt instant nausea. The kind of thing she experienced when she was in the presence of vamps.

  She dipped into the gloom of the alley, the thin corridor sparsely illuminated by the streetlights at either end. She made her way past a row of trashcans, her eyes and ears alert. A cat darted out of the shadows and scuttled toward her, making her flinch. She froze, watching it run past her and out of the a
lley. "Stupid cat," she said, catching her breath.

  "Why so jumpy, Trixie?"

  She flinched once more, this time toward the voice. From the same shadows as the cat emerged a pale-faced figure in a three-quarter leather coat. There was a half-gleeful half-smug expression on his face. Trixie met his stare. His eyes gleamed and danced in the glare of the distant streetlights. His pupils zoned in on her. She knew he was trying to ice her. Her skin crawled. "Don't even bother, Troy," she told him. "I'm wearing lenses."

  Troy shrugged. "It's always worth a try, Trixie. I'd love to have you under my spell."

  Trixie's top lip curled up. "Cute."

  "Nice moves at the club the other night."

  "Thanks."

  "Risking your life for a grunt like that. You must be really fond of him."

  There was a nasty grin on Troy's face that made Trixie want to puke. "Hey, I'm not here to discuss things that are no concern of yours!"

  "Well, from what I heard, the Order are quite concerned. They're wondering what connection the grunt has to you."

  "He's working with us now."

  Troy raised his eyebrows. "A hunter?"

  Trixie nodded. "A hunter. Whatever went down in the past is over. We've convinced him his future is slaying dregs. And that's what he'll be doing from now on. Let the Order know they've got nothing to worry about. And tell them I'm sorry if I broke any limbs."

  "I'm sure they'll be glad to hear it." Troy slicked down his long, greasy hair. "So, did you reunite him with his pops?"

  Trixie crossed her arms over her chest. "And his brother."

  "How did it go? Was everyone teary-eyed?"

  "You're a piece of work."

  "You know you love me, Trix." Troy licked his fangs.

  Trixie's face scrunched up. "Ugh! For what it's worth, Dom's younger brother put their father down."

  "Oh, that's a real shame."

  There was a look of fake sympathy on Troy's face that Trixie wanted to slap. "So, what you got for me?" she asked, wanting to change track.