by Dale Mayer
Frozen in place, Serus studied his surroundings, then put out a hand as if to touch something. He shrugged and turned to look back at them. "I can't see anything here.”
Tessa led the others forward. At her father's side, she pointed out Seth's trail of energy. "He walked up to here." She kept her hand pointed on the trail.
She stopped. She looked back to see the shock on their faces. She took several steps back and watched relief wash over their faces. She walked forward.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Cody asked as the group raced toward her.
She stepped toward them again. And laughed at the shock on their faces. "Interesting. I gather I'm disappearing from view at that point?"
"Hell yes. What did you do?" Cody asked.
"It's a mirror trick." She pointed to the side wall.
Serus studied the angles of the mirrors. "Isn't this a little complex for a mine?"
Goran snorted. "But damn clever. If you were looking down this way, you'd think the tunnel ended with that pile of rock. If we hadn't seen Seth disappear..."
"And speaking of my brother..." Tessa turned to study the tunnel further down. "I'm assuming he knew about this trick and that he's now taken advantage of it to disappear?"
"Where?"
"As the army disappeared somewhere here as well... Let's spread out and look." Cody headed to the rock wall closest to him.
"Don't bother, Cody. I can see my brother's energy. He went up there." She pointed forward and to the right.
The group walked over carefully and stood in front of the wall. Cody reached out a hand and searched for a crack. "Are you sure? I can’t see an entrance here."
"Well, there has to be something." She said equitably, "The energy wallows here. It doesn't go any further down the tunnel."
Serus snorted. "What sense does that make? They put up the mirror thing and then don't have anything down the tunnel?"
"Good point." Tessa looked down the long black tunnel and wondered. There was a black energy mixed with something else. She hadn't seen it before as everything had blended together in the distance. The army's energy – it was getting blacker. She spun to look at her brother's energy. It didn't look any different except the remnants were dissipating fast – faster than expected. "We've got a problem. Looks like the army continued down the mine, but my brother's energy doesn't move from this spot."
"It has to. He's not here."
She walked into the fading energy trail. She stared down at her feet, then she tilted her head back and looked up into a narrow space in the ceiling. She studied the torn opening above her head. It could have been created from the blast, but it was the only possible explanation for her brother's disappearance.
The rocks were blanketed with his energy.
Taking a deep breath, she jumped straight up.
*.*.*
Cody shouted as Tessa went through the ceiling. "Hey Tessa, what are you doing?"
"Seth came up here." Her voice sounded a long ways away. And he didn't like it one bit. But as he stared up the small opening, he wasn't sure he'd fit. Not with his wings. "Damn."
"I'll go after her. You two stay here. The army might come back this way, too." With that, he jumped up after Tessa.
Cody shook his head. "It's the first time I found something I couldn't do." He frowned. "Can't say I like it."
"Yeah," Goran studied the space below the opening and frowned. "Not sure I'd fit either. With the wings and all."
They exchanged frustrated glances then studied the empty tunnel.
"What are the chances that the tunnel leads to another blood farm? We heard there were four, didn't we?"
"Yes. Doesn't mean they are all here though."
"True. And we were told that the humans were in the mountain that Tessa escaped from. So that could presumably mean up top." Cody stared at the small hole above his head. "Possibly up that way if this is where Seth disappeared to."
"Could mean all kinds of things, but it doesn't change the fact that we can't get up that way." His father stared straight up beside him, their heads almost touching.
"Some of those assholes were bigger than us. They wouldn't fit either."
Goran stared at Cody, then spun around to study the walls. "There has to be another way up."
"Maybe." Cody studied the tunnel then glanced upward. "I think the blast created this opening. Maybe Seth thought it was a shortcut?"
"Or he saw it earlier." His father shook his head. "Still doesn't change anything."
Cody stared down the dark tunnel. "Unless the main entrance is just up ahead."
"Are you thinking to keep exploring?"
"Thinking...yeah."
"And what about Serus and Tessa?"
Cody glanced at his father and grinned. "Well, in this case, we can both talk to them so we can tell them what we’re doing."
"Maybe we should ask first?" With a grin, Goran added, "Don't want Tessa to ream you out too bad."
Cody rolled his eyes. "She won't be mad."
Really? How do you figure?
He straightened as Tessa's voice rolled through his mind. Did you find anything?
Looks like another hallway up here. White tiles...everywhere. We're tapping into another part of the blood farm...or a different one.
We can't get up there, so we're going to carry on down the tunnel to find another entrance.
Okay. We'll keep going in the same direction from here. Maybe we can find the entrance on our side.
And just as quickly, her voice left his mind. He turned to his father and shared her message, but Goran was already nodding his head. "I heard it from Serus. Let's go."
*.*.*
Rhia's heart pounded with joy when she saw David. She ignored the military presence and the guns that were turned toward her as she raced toward him and wrapped him up in a hug. "I'm so glad to see you safe," she cried.
He stepped back, smiling at her. "I'm fine. We all are. Somewhat." He looked down at Jewel. "Jewel and Ian were both drugged again. They need medical care."
Ian said, "I'm fine."
Rhia laughed as she realized he had Wendy wrapped up tight in his arms, tears pouring down her cheeks.
David shook his head. "Well, well, well. So my sister was right again. You dark horse, you."
Ian rolled his eyes and dropped his cheek on Wendy's head.
Rhia glanced back at the humans. "Seems like a couple of these guys aren't in great shape either."
"It's just one of us that is hurt." The leader carrying the vamp said, fatigue evident in his voice.
"And the boys – what is wrong with them?"
"Yeah, Dad and Goran did that," David gave a short bitter laugh. "We found Seth."
"You did?" She cried out, her face lighting with joy. "Are they okay?"
David hesitated. Her stomach twisted in fear. She reached up with a hand to cup his cheek. "Tell me. Please."
"Dad and Tessa are fine."
"And Seth?" She tried so hard to stop the quaking in her voice as fear rocked her world. "What about your brother?"
David looked down at Jewel. She hugged him close and murmured, "Tell her."
He took a deep breath and nodded. He looked directly into Rhia's gaze and said, "Physically, Seth is fine."
Her breath whooshed out of her chest with relief. But it was the way he said it and what he didn't say that let her know there was so much worse to come. "And..." she pushed.
"We found him with his friends." David motioned to the unconscious vamps. "All of them are on the wrong side of this deal."
She blinked in confusion. "I don't understand."
David opened his mouth, then closed it. Jewel offered a gentle explanation. "From what we heard, it was clear that the four of them were in on the blood farm mess. They were an active part of it."
She stared at Jewel in shock. She shook her head, her long braid flipping with the movement. "No way. That's not Seth. No
r the other boys." She stopped. "They wouldn't have anything to do with this nightmare."
Both David and Jewel looked at her. Silently.
And she realized they actually believed what they were saying.
She spun around to look at Jared, who stared at her with compassion. "No. No. You have to be wrong."
"They might have been drugged as part of their indoctrination into the group behind this mess, but there is no doubt that Seth and the others were part of this blood farm."
Her thoughts whirled in panic, searching for an explanation. Any explanation. This was too preposterous. "There's no way."
She stared at the group blankly, her gaze going from one to the other. "You don't know what you are saying."
"Yes we do, mom." David reached out and captured her hand in his. "Tyson tried to kill us all. He was one of the leaders. He'd arranged for one of the main organizers to die so he could take his place and move up. The organization is a mess as we've taken out so many of the people that the ladder upwards keeps shifting. Everyone is trying to climb up and they are stepping on each other's backs."
"Tyson?" She locked on that name. She'd looked after him as one of her own. "He's one of them?"
"He was one of them," Ian clarified. "Tessa killed him."
Tessa? Would the shocks never stop? "My little girl killed Goran's son?" She shook her head. "No. That can't be."
"It is. And in the process, she also saved us. We were fighting for our lives and he'd ordered the latest batch of vamps to kill us. Tessa got him before he could get far."
This couldn't be happening. She couldn't believe it. She wouldn't believe it.
As if reading her mind, David said, "Believe it, Mom."
Not possible. She whispered, "I can't. I won't. Not until there is no other option."
And she would get to the bottom of this – one way or the other.
*.*.*
Serus slipped down the hallway with his daughter at his side. Now if only he could find his son.
"Dad, over here," Tessa hissed at him. He spun around, realizing she'd slipped to one side of the narrow white-tiled hallway – ahead of the corner he was about to walk around. Damn, he hadn't been paying attention.
He slipped over to her. "What's up?"
"A different energy. Going in the same direction Seth went."
He leaned around her to stare at the corner. "Someone walked by?"
"Yeah, a little while ago."
"Well, that's to be expected. If your friends are in here, they'd need someone to be looking after them."
She nodded. "Seth turned left."
"So left is where we are going."
She shuffled closer, stopped and looked at him. "Could Seth really be one of the bad guys?"
He wanted to lie. He wanted to defend her brother. In fact, he wanted to blast her for not believing in Seth herself, but her gaze was so direct, so full of pain he had to face the truth. "I hope not, Tessa. But I don't know for sure. We have to remember what they were able to do to your mother in such a short time. And realize how much damage they could have done to your brother.”
"And they had a lot more time to convert Seth." She stared down at the floor. "Maybe months or years."
"Exactly. Have a little more faith. And remember his energy – you said it was dark as if he'd had a recent dose of drugs. That could have been the final installment. The one that turned him this way. Or it could have given him a boost temporarily and will ease off after a little time."
She appeared to consider his words. And froze. "Would that also apply to Tyson? Did I kill a man who was no more responsible than any of the other vamps who'd been forced into this mess?"
The pain in her voice made him realize the loss of innocence...and the stickiness of guilt. She'd never be free from the killings of these last days but if she could understand the necessity, be free of the guilt of having made a mistake, it would help her to deal with the situation.
"I don't think there is any comparison between Tyson and Seth. Tyson had a hundred plus years on your brother. A full century to gain wisdom. A full century to learn values and to make decisions.” Serus closed his eyes briefly. "Seth is young. He's not got the years under his belt to stand for his convictions. He hasn't had time to formulate ones that will go the distance. Neither has he had long enough to mature into a man strong enough to withstand the romance, the thrill of being one of the inner circle. In fact – he was an easy mark."
"And do you think Tyson marked him?"
"Either way, we need to find the truth and in order to do that, we have to find him." Serus studied the anger and the fatigue on her face. She wanted to be angry but was too tired to work up the energy. Anger without heat was a sick frustration. He should know.
"Then let's find Seth."
Allowing her father to take the lead, Tessa, her head still baffled by the never ending questions with no answers, followed. "Can you see anything?" she whispered from behind his back.
He leaned his head further around the corner then pulled back quickly, flattening himself against the wall. "Someone is coming."
She held her breath.
Two people, their voices slightly raised, were discussing treatments. "I don't think we can. We're don’t have enough supplies. The damage in the main blood farm isn't the problem. They will close that on the next blast, but they need to do a better job directing the effects away from here this time. That blast took out several of our supply rooms and cut us off."
"How long can we function on what we have?"
"A couple of days...maybe." The man coughed, then coughed again. "I don't know. It wouldn't have been so bad, but they brought us all those new patients. That's what's stressing our supply line."
"What about knocking the patient list in half? Keep the prime subjects and remove the rest. We don't want to waste the drugs we do have."
"I don't know. The bosses aren't going to be happy. We're short on donors and we’re already short-staffed."
"Which is why we have to make the decisions. Who knows where the bosses are right now or who we can contact? I've been trying, but so far I haven't reached anyone."
"Damn...I hate the silence. The lack of order. We can only do what—"
The first male went down without a fight. Tessa had only made it around the corner when she saw her father go for the second man.
"Don't kill him. We need him," she shouted.
He glared at her. "No, we don't."
"Yes. You heard him. He knows where the new humans are." She turned to face him. "He knows where Jill and Catherine and the others are."
Serus shifted his position, lightening the pressure on the vamp's neck. He struggled, trying to twist free of Serus's hold. Serus clamped down tighter until he stopped moving. Serus lightened the pressure again. "If you behave, I'll keep you alive. If you don't, I'll take you out now."
The vamp gasped several times before nodding. "Okay. Okay."
Serus gave him a little more air. The vamp reached for his throat, massaging it as he rolled his shoulders gently. "What do you want?" He coughed again. "I don't know anything."
Tessa nudged the unconscious vamp. His body rolled slightly to the side. Maybe he was dead. She found it hard to care.
She turned her attention to the other vamp. Shoving her face into his, she asked, "I'm looking for two young human females." She gave quick descriptions of Catherine and Jill. "Where are they?"
He shrugged. "How the hell should I know?" He nodded back down the hallway where he'd come from. "There are so many back there." He studied her features. "Why do you care? You are a vamp. They are human."
It was the curiosity in his voice that made her realize just how out of touch these people in the warehouse were. They didn't understand that the rest of the world was changing. At peace with the side by side society. And no longer living with the farm animal mentality – like the ones inside the blood farm.
"And vam
ps? Have you got rooms full of vamps hooked up to drugs, too?" Serus growled into the vamp’s ear.
He stiffened, his nervous gaze going from Serus to Tessa. "They are volunteers. We don't force our own. They are not prisoners...they are men here for enhancements."
Tessa studied the sneer, the hint of disgust on his face. "You mean you don't know that many of the 'subjects' you work on have been forced...some drugged and delivered in that state, others under threat of death, to take part in your experiments?"
"You are wrong. I am a doctor working on volunteers. This is a legitimate organization. I would not be a part of anything like that."
Serus and Tessa exchanged long looks.
"You have got to be kidding me." Tessa rubbed her temple as she stared at the arrogant doctor. "I have spoken to dying vamps who told me how they were forced."
He shook his hair, his gray hair flying out in different directions. "That is wrong. So wrong. You have been badly misinformed."
"Wrong or not, it doesn't matter. It's true. And you are a part of it. I've seen several councilmen drugged, imprisoned." She glared at him. "And for that, you will go in front of the Council and tell them exactly what you know. They will determine your punishment." Which she could only hope would be death.
He stared at her in shock. His voice dropped to just above a whisper, "It can't be."
"It is." Serus let him go. "And you are at the heart of this mess."
Tessa wasn't so quick to let him off the hook. "What about the blood farm? I'm sure you knew about that."
He gave a light dismissive shrug. "Animals. Not the same thing at all."
"And yet Darren, a friend of my brother's, is hanging along with Moltere."
At the ancient's name, the vamp's face twisted in distaste. "Moltere should have been turned to ash a long time ago. But Dr. Kroner wanted him alive." He straightened. "But that could change now that Dr. Kroner was killed in the blast. It took out much of the blood farm."
"Why was Moltere being kept alive?" Serus said.
"For his genetics. We were doing experiments and needed a regular supply of the original genetic material."