by Dale Mayer
Cody hid from the daylight behind thick stone walls, his feet growing colder by the minute from the water. He wished the smell would go away. Stagnant water, wet stones and some kind of mossy stuff trying to survive above the water line. With daylight shining down, they couldn't explore any further in this direction. Outside, he’d seen what appeared to be a marsh or the edge of a lake. He couldn't tell with the bushes clogging the area. Whatever it was, the land wasn't amiable for walking, and that was the only thing that made him feel better. No one else was likely to be out there either; especially not carrying something as large as a person. They would have left sunken footprints, for one thing. The sunlight was another great deterrent – at least for his people.
Satisfied, he slogged back through the water toward Ian.
"Anything?" Ian called out.
He shook his head. "A way out, maybe, but doesn't look like anyone's used it in a long time."
"Good. Let's get the hell out of here then. The place gives me the creeps."
Cody laughed. "That's just because you hate water even if it is only a few inches deep."
"That's harsh, man. The water is at least six inches right here." Grinning, Ian sped up the stairs ahead of him. Then he halted and turned to face Cody. "You do realize we have a good couple of thousand stairs to climb – straight up – right?"
Cody grinned and half flew, half hopped over his friend's head, spraying him with water droplets. He landed up a good hundred stairs.
"Hey, that's not fair!" Ian shouted. He raced to catch up, and by the time they had reached the top of the stairs, they were both out of breath. He scowled at Cody. "I am so going to get you for this."
They both hit the door at the top of the stairs and tumbled through it at full speed.
Cody never saw what hit them.
Tessa slipped around the corner, grateful for the first bit of cover she could find. But to her dismay, yet another endless hallway greeted her. Eyeing a door next to her, she leaned in closely to listen for recognizable sounds. Other than her two guards, she hadn't seen or heard anything since she'd woken up. If other people were here, she didn't know where they were. And she so didn't want to find them.
She turned the knob and stuck her head around the corner. It was another empty room with empty beds too. Why? She had to be in the same warehouse. Everything looked so similar.
Hope had her moving on to the next room. Empty again. With a shake of her head, she moved on down the corridor to find every room empty except for one that appeared to be a broom closet. Uniforms were hung along one wall. Eying them carefully, she considered her options.
Wearing a uniform would help, but the thought was so repugnant that she couldn't bring herself to put one on. Then she spied a lab coat at the far end and compromised with that. Snatching it up, she put it on over the outfit she had thought looked rather sophisticated and classy when she'd first put it on. Now it just looked trashy and flashy. Or maybe her exhaustion had simply caused a change of heart.
Feeling as if she could pass herself off as a lab tech if necessary, she walked down the hallway to the last door. She'd yet to see a window, so maybe she was still underground.
With one last glance back down the gleaming hallway, she entered the final door. Yes. There was a staircase and more gleaming white walls and tiles. Did they not understand the value of a second color for relief?
She studied her two options. Up…or down? If she were still in the same warehouse, where would her family be? Up or down? Up spelled possible freedom – if she were underground. And yet, if not…
She studied the energy trails of the other people who'd come this way. They had all gone down.
Then she would go up.
She bolted up the stairs then paused at the next landing to open the door and peer down yet another hallway. There were fewer doors and signs of traffic. She closed it and made her way up the next flight of stairs. These ended in front of another white door. Opening it, its weight surprised her. It was heavy. That meant it had to be an exterior door, didn't it? Maybe not. She stared into the small room and discovered it had only one other doorway off to the left. Mud and dirt tracked from that door to a series of large elevators.
Yay! She had to be at the top. A part of her wanted to go inside the elevator and check the button to see how many floors there were in this place. From what she could tell, this place was huge.
She hit the call button, and one of the sets of double doors opened. She jumped back, afraid someone might be inside but no one came out. Taking a deep breath, she raced inside, just long enough to read the buttons.
According to the panel, the place had nine floors and an area called service. Stepping back out, she walked to the exit. She turned, gave the small room one final glance, hoping for something that might help her identify the people who ran the place like the name of the company, or at least the location of the building, so she could tell the others. But, there was…nothing.
She pushed the door open. Immediately, an alarm ripped through her ears. There was a security system. Why hadn't she thought of that? She bolted out to the covered entranceway.
And came to a dead stop.
She couldn't see anything but pure white in every direction.
There was snow – everywhere.
*.*.*
David stood at the open front door to the house. The damn thing had been on a time lock. They'd no sooner searched the house and returned when it had unlocked all on its own. Goran had been prepared to break a window to get out. Instead, they hadn’t needed to do anything. What a crazy house. David was almost disappointed. He'd like something to pound right now.
Where was the damn team? They should have been here by now. In the background, he could hear his dad talking to his mom on the phone. He didn't need to hear what they were saying to know his mother wasn't happy. Hell, he wasn't happy either. Tessa was still nowhere to be found.
He pulled out his own phone and sent her another text message. What had happened to her phone anyway? Had she lost it? Was the battery dead? Or had someone taken it from her? She always carried it on her at all times like every other teenager he knew. Chances were good that since she hadn't responded, she couldn't. Yet he couldn't keep himself from staring down at his phone's display.
Serus walked up behind him. "Is she answering this time?"
David glared down at his silent phone. "No."
"She probably doesn't have her phone any longer."
"Or she might not be able to answer it," David added, his voice grim. Tucking his cell phone back into the pocket of his jeans, he looked across the brightly lit yard. "Did Mom have anything good to say?"
"No. No sign of Tessa or of Cody and Ian."
Father and son exchanged grim looks.
"Time to go back," David said. "Has she heard from the team? Shouldn't they be here by now?"
"They called in for more detailed directions half an hour ago. She's expecting them any time."
Goran walked up beside them and studied the light. "If vampires have taken Tessa, they couldn’t have gone out there any more than I could have."
"No. But in the time you two were arguing about what to do, they could've driven miles away – if they had had transportation, that is."
Both elders glared at him yet again. David hadn't meant to play the blame game, but he was fed up and beyond worried about Tessa. His phone vibrated. Hurriedly, he snagged it free and checked the display again.
"Hey, it's a text from Tessa!" He couldn't keep the excitement from his voice.
The others crowded around trying to read the small screen. David read her message aloud, "Help. Snow everywhere. Escaped. No place to go."
"Shit. Snow." David said. The three looked at each other, and then looked out the door at the surrounding greenery. He swallowed. "Where could she be?"
"How could they have gotten her so far, so fast?" Goran asked, his clipped tone revealing his shock.
&
nbsp; Serus stilled.
David turned to face him. "What are you thinking, Dad?"
"I'm thinking that we're at the base of a mountain that's full of surprises. Tessa might have escaped to above the snow line."
"That would mean they have done miles of development inside the mountain. How feasible is that?" David couldn't imagine the scope of an operation like this staying hidden for so long. What kind of inducements would it have taken for the staff to stay silent?
"Don't forget this whole area was once a mine. They could have taken over some of the tunnels for easy transport. That way, they would have attracted a minimum of attention. And the complex is underground, so daylight isn't an issue. If they have used the mining infrastructure, then the cost would have been minimal. It's a big operation. We didn't see any collection points, coolers, storage, or a morgue-nothing like that. What if they have several warehouses like this one? We found no surface entrance, either. How do they handle the blood? How do they transport it out? How do they get supplies in? I know the garage floor moves up and down, but that's a cumbersome method, more suitable for moving heavy equipment. Probably it’s part of the original construction."
The three of them continued to study the rising column of trees behind the outbuildings.
"But snow?" David asked. "Does that mean she is up that high?"
"Or she could be on the other side of the mountain? The north face is much colder. So, yes…higher and colder. To see white all around doesn't mean she isn't close to the tree line where the snow stops, though. Ask her."
Several texts later, they were no closer to knowing. Tessa had jumped to the roof of the entrance only to realize she couldn't see anything but trees and snow. She now planned to jump her way down, hoping to hit warmer temperatures fast. She'd taken off as of her last text.
David couldn't help looking up into the trees in the hopes of seeing her. "Shouldn't we go after her?"
"Sure, but only if it is later in the day. She can survive fine in the sun. I can't."
"Goran, isn't there any way you can cover up and still fly?" David hated the thought of his little sister running for her life to get away from these assholes and maybe disappearing into a dense wilderness where they would never find her. He didn't know if any fliers were out looking for her, either. That thought made his heart race. "There has to be something we can do to meet up with her."
"In a few hours, when the sun goes down, we can go."
A grinding noise came from a road to the south. Goran grinned. "Good. The team is arriving. Maybe now we can get some answers."
David wasn't done yet. "Dad, are there other fliers like Tessa? Ones that can fly in daylight?"
"I don't think so. Tessa is unique. You know that."
"I do, and that's another reason I don't want these assholes to catch her. Imagine if they have a chance to check out her blood. They might try to keep her as a lab rat until they figure her out."
"Enough of that kind of talk!" His dad glowered at him. "She's free now, and is working to stay that way. We'll tear down that institution of theirs before we're done."
David nodded, but couldn't stop worrying about his sister.
*.*.*
Rhia shoved Jared into a chair, and he sat there uncomfortably. He hadn't meant to insult her, but finding out his girlfriend was a vampire had been a major reality check. He'd never kissed Tessa, and now he couldn't quite get the image of a vampire sucking on his neck out of his mind. A hickey was one thing. The scary thing was – it didn't exactly turn him off, either. Honestly, maybe the drugs had affected his brain. He should be running for freedom instead of trusting this woman.
He stole a glance her way. Now that he knew she was Tessa's mother he could see the resemblance between them. They had the same flowing, glossy black hair – a shade of black he'd only ever seen in a tube of paint-and fine high cheekbones, and luscious mouths. He shuddered. Tessa was already great looking, and from looking at her mother, she would mature into an unbelievably gorgeous female. Sweet.
Rhia appeared before him again without any warning. Did she even walk? Or did vampires glide? He slipped a quick look down at her feet, surprised to see she wore black boots with a substantial heel. How could she move so quietly?
"The team has arrived. My husband's search party is on their way back down, and they have made contact with Tessa." A grin spread across her face. "She's managed to escape. We're not sure where she is just yet, but for the moment at least she's free and safe."
"I'm so glad to hear she's fine." Jared smiled as relief washed over him. "Knowing she'd gotten away safely kept me sane during my captivity. And now..."
"I won't rest until she's back here with me." Rhia's striking face was pinched with worry. "She's too young for this horrible mess."
"She might be young, but she's very capable," Jared said, unable to stop defending Tessa. She could do so much with so little. Did her parents even understand how smart she was? Or were all vampires that smart? That idea made his face twist. Tessa's braininess had long been an issue with the guys, but now he wondered if she was only that brilliant because of her vampire genes.
Not that it made any difference. The guys found her consistently high ninety-percent exam marks challenging. Some of them considered her a geek, and others thought her odd due to her size. Secretly, however, they all thought she was hot. Jared had to agree.
He swallowed. That wasn't exactly something he could say to her mother now, was it?
"How does she get along with the others at school?" Rhia asked. "I always worry about her."
"Every mother worries about that. Tessa has lots of friends and seems to enjoy school." The disparaging note in his own voice brought the woman's narrow-eyed gaze to his face. He flushed and muttered, "Going to class isn't my favorite activity."
The concern on her face melted with understanding. "One of Tessa's brothers didn't think so much of school either, but he's the one who ended up moving on to a second degree."
Tessa had brothers, as in more than one? Jared wondered if he'd known Tessa at all. They'd talked, but always about other stuff. Then he'd avoided that subject entirely, because of his own family situation.
"What would you like to do when you're done with school?"
Figuring she was just asking to be polite, he told her about his wish to be an engineer. They talked a few more minutes about his degree choice and how many years it would take for him to finish school, and then her phone rang.
"The team is coming down." She glanced toward the cold display of suspended humans. "I'm glad they're here. Maybe now we can figure out what to do with these poor people."
The return to the one topic they'd both avoided brought reality crashing back for Jared. "Will they die?"
"I don't know." She stood and walked over to the first person hanging in the first row. She studied the middle aged woman carefully. "If they haven't been up here for very long, they will probably recover. I just don't know what very long is in terms of muscle damage for a human. We also don't know what drugs they were given."
"Is there a date of some kind on them or something to show when each person was strung up?" He really didn't want to get up and look closer. Like, he really didn't want to.
"I see a series of numbers, but nothing that makes sense in terms of dates. I suspect they have an in depth computer file on each person for medical purposes though."
"There has to be at least hundreds of people in there," Jacob whispered, staring in horrified disbelief at the rows upon unending rows of bodies. This was his first chance to view the warehouse in its entirety. "I can't imagine–"
"I'm afraid there are quite a few more than that. And I don't think anyone in town has the medical facilities to deal with so many patients at once. We're going to have to make sure this place is secure and have the medical personnel come here." She stood with her hands on her hips, a look of dismay on her face. "This woman can't be more than forty-years-old. Where's
her family and her friends? Why is it we never heard about all of these people going missing?"
"The one person I spoke with said he'd been homeless for years. He couldn't have been more than twenty-three or twenty-four." Jared frowned. "Talking to him was really weird. He wasn't terribly bothered about being up there. Said it kept him warm and fed. That there were worse things in life." He paused, thinking about the odd acceptance in the guy's voice. "I just don't understand it."
"There could be a couple of reasons for that." Rhia turned her attention back to the long rows of prisoners. "It's sad to think his life could have been so bad that this is preferable. However, it is possible that their captors have put a drug in the mixture that keeps the prisoners calm. Maybe not something that will keep them exactly happy, but that lowers their aggressiveness."
"So the situation is that even if he did care, he wouldn't have been able to work up any enthusiasm to fight it."
"Something like that it seems."
Jared needed to find the man with whom he'd spoken and to make sure he was one of the first released. Jared knew the guy would recover quickly. As he stared into the faces of those in front of them, he wasn't so sure about the others. Some were middle aged, and some were actually old. How healthy were they, that the vampires still coveted their blood? Or had they once been healthy, then been held in stasis ever since? His stomach churned at the thought.
"How long do you think these people have been here?"
"To have created an operation this size must have taken years, probably decades. I imagine the operation started small and grew over the years so most of these people have probably been here for a couple of years. As for the others-possibly they have been here for decades."
"Decades?" Jared gulped as he walked up and down a row of bodies. "Then some of them have been here most of their adult lives, haven't they? We aren't like you. We don't live forever. Most of us never reach ninety."
"Yes, of course. I didn't mean to minimize the time frame." She sighed. "Each person apparently has a small monitor attached to them to regulate the flow of fluids into their bodies. We should be able to download a lot of information from those machines."