by Dale Mayer
Everyone turned to study the woman hanging beside them. Cody tried to keep his eyes on her face, but it was hard. There was a lot of skin showing wrapped in bubble wrap or something just as gross, with body fluids pooling off to one side. He gave her face the once over and walked to the next one and the next one...
The bubbled wrap made it difficult to tell the vampires from the humans. He thought these were all humans. But then, how could you tell? Vampires were taller, slimmer and had a few distinct features, like the eyes and fangs. But everyone here had their eyes and mouths closed. None of these, however, appeared super tall. He kept walking, his eyes going from face to face.
"I don't think these are the vampires yet."
"Nor do I."
"Then we keep looking." Cody came to the last one in the row. He studied the wall and the layout. It definitely resembled what they'd seen on the monitor. He backed up until he could see the people hanging at the end of the next row. The last body, a male, was taller.
A vampire – and an old one at that.
He frowned. As vampires could live almost forever, to keep them suspended like this was like a permanent living hell for the vampire in question. Studying the tubing connected to this vampire, Cody realized his blood was heading in a different direction altogether. But why? Who would want it? What were they doing with vampires? Were they harvesting vampires on a regular basis or only those who were in their way? And were the vampires here just to keep them from talking…or were they running experiments on them?
A chill ran down his back. Shit. This could be David or him. Or even worse – Tessa.
"Dad. Do you know this one?" He stepped back out of the way. Both elders stepped forward to get a better look. Cody, watching his father's face, saw the color bleach from his already white skin and saw him steady himself, as if trying to recover from a blow.
"Oh, no."
"Who is he?" David walked around Cody to take a closer look, and then shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know him."
"It's Moltere. The man we thought was behind all this."
"What?" Cody and David turned to stare at the plastic-wrapped legend. "Tessa said we shouldn't jump to conclusions and it looks like she was right again. So, if he isn't behind this mess, who is?"
"That's what we need to find out."
David said, "Maybe he started it and had a falling out with his partners?"
"If this is what happens to anyone who crosses them, then we'd better not get on their bad side," Serus said, half joking.
There was nothing funny about this, though. Cody frowned, "Too late. We already are."
*.*.*
Tessa sat on the side of Jared's bed. He was pale and lifeless, but it was the sudden lack of skin tone that worried her the most. His cheeks sagged like he wore skin a size too big for him. He'd looked pretty good when they'd first seen him, but now it was as if the life were dripping from him. Mom had said something about the nutrients having kept him in good shape, but without them…
Whatever it was, this aged version no longer looked like Jared.
She sniffled again. Then she shook her head. What a maudlin teenager she was turning out to be. She didn't like that at all. She sniffled harder and wiped her eyes. Straightening her back, she took another quick glance at her mother whose head was tilted toward her father in deep discussion. Her dad had arrived just a moment ago, a wild look on his face. Her mother had raced over and they'd been talking ever since.
As much as she wanted in on it, she wasn't sure she wanted to know more. This had been an unbelievable couple of days.
Her guilt had subsided – but had not abated. She hoped Jared had made a full recovery. She knew now she wasn't responsible for his getting kidnapped, and honestly, she didn't know that anyone could have found him any faster – but still, her people had done this to him.
Her mother came over to her. "Tessa, do you want to lie down here for a bit? Help is on the way, but they're going to be a couple of hours yet."
Tessa cringed. "No. I don't want to sleep in this place. It gives me the creeps." All she saw when she closed her eyes was that damn tubing running through every person, pumping out their life force. She couldn't imagine a worse type of existence.
"Oh, honey. You're safe now. No one is going to get you here." She brushed Tessa's long hair back off her face. "I love what you did with your hair. Did I tell you that?"
"No. The last time…didn't you ask what happened to my beautiful hair?" Tessa grinned at the pinched look she got in return.
"Yes, well, I think that's when I was looking at my daughter's beautiful black hair bleached to nothing."
"Oh. I thought it was the length."
Her mother looked puzzled for a moment. Then her eyes widened and she came rushing around the end of the bed. "You didn't cut it, did you?"
"Just kidding, Mom." Tessa laughed out loud. It felt good to find something humorous among the living dead here. "I didn't cut it. I wouldn't."
"Damn right." Rhia sniffed and walked back toward Serus who stood guard at the entrance. "I'm going to discuss strategy with your father. You get some rest. Sleep or not, but at least lie down. There are plenty of beds here; you might as well use them."
Tessa considered the rows of empty beds. She was tired. There wasn't anything more she could do at this point. And there were plenty of vampires here to watch over Jared. It honestly felt like a major crash-and-burn session had hit her, with the crash part winning.
She studied Jared's face. He didn't look like he'd be coming around any time soon. How they were going to move him and all these other people was beyond her.
"Maybe I should, just for a minute." She wandered the long line of beds, and then chose one across from Jared. She didn't want to be where she could be seen from the warehouse or where she could see who and what hung there. What a horrible last vision to take into dream state.
She stretched out and closed her eyes.
*.*.*
Cody walked over to where the adults were deep in discussion. "How long will it take for the teams to get here?"
"Probably another hour, possibly two. We've connected with Sian and Taz. They're sending an assessment team in first to determine what needs to be done, followed closely by medical teams and equipment."
"Right. That could take a bit." He turned his back on the macabre scene. He'd enough visions to keep him in horror movies for a long time. "There isn't much we can do now then, is there?"
"Just be aware. Just because we couldn't find anyone else, doesn't mean there aren't any others waiting for an opportunity to pick us off one by one. Everyone needs to stay together, or at least in pairs."
"Speaking of everyone, where's Tessa?"
"She's lying down, on my orders." Rhia frowned. "She's exhausted."
Serus patted her arm. "She'll be fine. She comes from good stock."
"That may be, but she's only a girl. She shouldn't be exposed to horrors like this at her age." She rubbed her eyes. "I hate what she's gone through."
"So do I. However, it's happened, and she's come out of it like a trooper. She's really come into herself over this. I wouldn't want to have cheated her of that." Serus snagged her shoulder in a quick hug.
Rhia looked up at them, smiled slowly. "She did well, didn't she?"
"Yes, she did." He smiled proudly down at her.
Cody couldn't help adding. "She's really grown these last couple of days. It's been amazing to see."
"Thank you, Cody, for helping her and believing in her."
Not used to compliments, Cody felt something uncomfortable crawl across his skin. He turned away mumbling, "No problem."
He headed back to the sick room to check on Tessa and Jared.
*.*.*
Tessa couldn't sleep. She kept thinking about needles and tubing and blood, so much blood. Once, she'd opened her eyes thinking she'd heard Jared and had sat up, but there hadn't appeared to be any change in him. Afte
r a moment, she lay back down. The room was otherwise empty. Her friends and family stood just around the corner. She could hear their voices, a distant murmur, but normal sounding.
Everything was fine.
She yawned. Grabbing up the folded blanket off the end of the bed, she threw it across her legs and pulled it up to her shoulders. Her clothing tugged every time she tried to get comfy.
This time when she closed her eyes, she slept.
Once again she dreamed. She dreamed of her blanket being pulled back. Of a needle being slipped into her arm and of a piece of tubing being attached. She stretched out her arm and the tubing dangled down on the bed. Drip, drip, drip went the drugs into her veins. Her dreams took her deeper and deeper.
*.*.*
Cody rounded the open doorway and found Jared sleeping, if that's what you called sleeping – more like being comatose – on the one bed on the right. He walked over to him and stared down at the slack face. So this was Tessa's friend. His competition.
He straightened and snorted. This sack of meat was no competition for him. Disgusted and more than a little concerned that he'd even had that thought, he turned around to search for Tessa. Only she wasn't there.
Hadn't her mom said she come in to lie down? Tessa had already proven she didn't take orders well. Puzzled, he walked down the center aisle. At the end of the room he turned around and walked back. As he approached Jared again, he frowned. One bed had a blanket tossed to the floor. A series of indents showed on the sheets of the still-made bed.
Just then, Rhia came in.
"Where did you say Tessa was?" Cody asked her, an inkling of worry attaching itself to his spine.
"In here." She stopped, put her hands on her hips, frowned and looked around. "She was right there on that bed beside you. I saw her just a moment ago. She didn't go past me. We've been standing here at the doorway the whole time."
Cody pointed to the blanket on the floor. "Was this here before?"
She shook her head slowly. "No." She hurried over. "She was lying here with the blanket pulled up to her shoulders." She walked to the front of the bed. "Where is she?"
Bending down, Cody picked up a plastic tip. Like the kind that protected the end of a needle. Worry turned to fear. "Look what I found."
Rhia stared at it uncomprehendingly. Then her eyes widened, fear turning them to dark obsidian. "Please no."
Cody stared at the piece of plastic, unable to look away. Just the thought of a needle being used on Tessa made his heart pound in fear. Who knew what they'd do to her?
"Dear God, I hope not," he whispered. He spun around. At the back was a door. They'd checked it earlier. He thought it was just a supply cupboard. But it was the only other way for Tessa to have left this room…willingly, or not. He raced toward it, calling over his shoulder, "Go get the others."
"Oh, my God!" Rhia raced out to get help.
*.*.*
Tessa opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was the tube in her arm. She frowned, blinked several times to clear her vision and then reached for the tubing. Her hand touched the needle taped to her wrist – her eyes widened in comprehension. She tried to close her fingers around the needle, to pull it free. Her fingers didn't want to work.
Drugs dripped steadily into her arm. Pulling at her, drawing her down, deeper and deeper.
Oh, dear God, no!
She screamed – endlessly – soundlessly – in her mind.
Shit happened. But why did it always happen to her?
Tessa rolled over for the umpteenth time as nausea washed up the back of her throat. Dry heaves wracked her long spine as her body rid itself of the drugs coursing through one arm. She made a feeble attempt to wipe her mouth with the corner of the sheet. All the bedding was going to need to be changed soon. How could anything be left inside?
"Hey, no more of that," snapped the disgusted voice beside her. "What the hell is wrong with her? None of the others ever puked like her. It's gross."
She shuddered at the gravelly voice and hard arms that twisted and yanked her around. Why couldn't they leave her alone and let her sink back into nothingness? Huge hands gripped her shoulders and held her head off the side of the bed as she gagged yet again. Cold, exhaustion and drugs had stolen her voice.
If it weren't for her mixed vampire heritage she'd have been unconscious since the beginning. They obviously didn't know about her and her unique genetics, or they'd have used different drugs. And as much as she'd welcome oblivion, she needed her wits about her.
Her family had to know she was missing by now.
Surely, they'd be here soon.
Wherever here was…
*.*.*
Cody watched, his fists clenched and his spine rigid, as both Tessa's father and his father argued about how to proceed. Time was racing by. Tessa had to have been missing for at least a half hour already. They should be out searching now.
"Hey, will you two stop it?"
Rhia, Tessa's mother placed a calming hand on his forearm. "You know this is how they work best."
"This isn't working at all." Cody shot her a look of outrage. Turning back to the two tall ancient vampires in stark black, he called out, "Hey, elders."
They ignored him.
"Serus and Goran?"
Still he couldn't dent their argument.
With that, his frustration peaked. He screamed, "Hey, old guys!"
Silence. Both elders spun on their heels. Shocked and irate, they glared at Cody. Rhia choked back a snicker. Serus frowned at her before turning his icy stare on Cody. Drawing himself up to his full height, the elder looked down his long nose and opened his mouth to speak.
Cody's father jumped in ahead of him. "Did you just call me old?"
"Hell, yes. You are old. You're also wasting time. Tessa has been kidnapped from right under our noses, and once again, you two are more concerned with winning an argument than you are about her fate."
Rhia gasped.
Too bad that Cody was long past caring about other peoples' reactions. This war had changed him. It had changed all of them. And it was just gearing up.
Tessa's mother was a good person, but she was all about her Serus. Goran, Cody's own father, was too protective and focused on him.
"That's a terrible thing to say." Rage contorted Serus's face.
"Is it?" Cody asked, his lips curling into a sneer. "I don't mean you don't care, but Tessa was right. You're all talk and no action." Straightening up and putting his hands on his hips, he added, "Now she's the one in trouble, and I can't let you get sidetracked."
The stuffing went out of Serus with a whomp. His shoulders slumped. His skin sagged, and he seemed to age under Cody's reproachful gaze. "The team will be here in twenty minutes. I can't leave the kids here. Goran, please, take the others. Go find my little girl."
Rhia gripped Serus's arm. "I'll stay. You go find our daughter."
"That isn't going to work." He pinched his lips together. "I can't leave you alone in case there are more of these assholes around. I can't leave any of the kids here, either. No. Everyone else go. As much as I wouldn't admit it at any other time, Goran is the best flier, and he'll cover more ground faster."
"Goran," Rhia's bottom lip trembled. "Please find my daughter. I need to stay here for Jared. He's too sick to travel, and I don't dare leave him. Besides, one adult needs to be here for the others."
"All right," With a gentleness Cody had rarely seen before, his father wrapped Rhia in a tight hug. "Cody and I'll fly out and see if they've left any trace. There could be another level to this building, too. Maybe split up the others and send half of them to search for Tessa." He turned as if to leave.
Cody caught him before he'd taken a full step. "There's another place I want to check out. He spun around. "At the time I'd assumed it just led to more storage space, but now..." Glancing back at his father, he added, "Why don't you fly alone and see what you can find? You might see a vehicle.
They can't have gone too far. Besides, one flier will attract less attention than a few."
David walked over. "What are you thinking, Cody?"
"I'm thinking she's been stashed somewhere close by. I don't think they could've taken her very far in the time we've missed her. It's possible she's still inside this warehouse… or in the mausoleum above ground."
With a sharp nod, David said, "I agree. Let's break into groups, with one staying here. Another will go up, and the last one will head out to search for lower levels."
"Good plan." Serus stepped in. "David and Jewel, search the house. Cody, you stay here with Rhia and search with Ian. Goran, if you wouldn't mind doing an air search, and everyone should check back within, say..." he checked his watch, "an hour. That should be enough time to figure out which way they might have taken my daughter."
Spinning around, Cody nodded to Ian, and then led the way out of the room. Finally, there was some action. But damn it, why hadn't they done this ten minutes ago? Not wanting to waste any more time, he headed toward the door he vaguely remembered seeing.
"Hey, wait up," Ian called. "Jesus, slow down. Geez, you're as bad as your father. He's always racing around at top speed."
"I can't." Cody slowed down just long enough for Ian to catch up. "Tessa's running out of time."
"I know there were a couple of smaller doors we didn't open, but at the time, we assumed they weren't important." At Cody's hard look, he quickly added, "But we will now."
"Damn straight. Tessa led us here to find Jared. We're not losing her, too." Worry ate at him. Poor Tessa.
They walked hard and fast toward the room where they had last seen Tessa.
By keeping his gaze forward, Cody could almost avoid the sight of the hundreds of bodies hanging in their macabre midair dance. All of the victims were blind and mute in the face of their fate – and yet, still alive. He slowed. He sure hoped they had no idea of their fate.