by Dale Mayer
"So where can we get those items?" Serus asked easily.
The doctor reached into his pocket and pulled out a small tablet. "I never use this one. I keep it in case I get lost, but I haven't had to use it in months."
Serus turned it over in his hands several times, but he wasn't very techie. Tessa reached out a hand and her father passed it over without a word.
After turning it on, she checked out the icons on the main screen. There was a built in GPS and a communication system. "Has it got audio?"
"No. Well, yes, but that part doesn't work down here. You have to send messages like texts." The doctor took the unit from her hand and opened the instant messaging system. "See, like this."
"Yet you don't use it?"
"I don't use that one." He pulled out a shinier one from his other pocket. "This is a newer streamlined model, but the GPS on the old one is easier to use. Since when did technological updates make things worse?" He snorted in disgust. "Way too confusing and way too much trouble."
Tessa was in the address book of the messaging system, trying to read the names. Most she'd never heard of. She passed it back to her father, leaving the names on the screen. His gaze widened and his footsteps slowed as he scrolled through them. Several times she heard small gasps from him. "Can you read them to Goran?" she asked in a low whisper.
He was way ahead of her, scrolling down and almost lip reading as he went. She noticed the doctor was busy on his own unit. She picked up the pace so she could see what he was doing. They'd been stupid. For all she knew, he’d sent out a warning that they were coming. Shit. Stupid. Stupid.
"What are you doing?"
"Checking my emails." He waved the smaller unit around. "This one is so much faster."
"As long as you aren't letting everyone know we are coming."
He snorted. "Who would I tell? There's only a skeleton crew here at the best of times and now with that damn blast that the idiots overcharged, I have even less technicians. I've been complaining about needing more labor for months now. They want these damn experiments done but won't give me what I need to do it."
"Typical," she said conversationally. "Aren't bosses always like that?”
"These are shareholders more than bosses. In many ways, they are worse." He stuffed the unit back into his pocket. "Still, it's a necessary evil to keep the system functioning."
She could just imagine. Where the shareholders in that address book? Those that funded this monstrosity were just as guilty of all the despicable acts going on in here. That they could condone them, all from behind their facade of innocence. Not willing to live in the trenches and get their hands bloodied like the rest of the workers made her hate them all that much more.
She caught her father's hand motion out of the corner of her eye and shifted behind the doctor. He handed the unit back to her. A few clicks later and she found herself in the GPS unit. But without having any coordinates to input, it wasn't much help. Ian had the GPS coordinates for the big cavern room, but that area had likely gone down in the blast. Besides, she thought Ian might still have the phone. Bart's phone. In spite of the situation, she smiled at the reminder of the dumpy vamp she'd met several times in the oddest places.
There were several flashing lights on the next screen. She figured that the doctor had a couple of pre-set locations marked on the unit in case he got lost. Pretty smart actually. The flashing dots reminded her of something else. She glanced down at her arm and the fresh scab in place. It no longer hurt, but being as tired as she was, it hadn't healed as fast as she wanted it to.
"Were you the one experimenting with implanted tracking devices?" With some difficulty, she managed to keep her voice low and even, seemingly disinterested.
"No." He made a disagreeable sound. "That was the biotech department. I'm not in favor of metal implants at all. It stops our scanners from giving accurate results and could be throwing any number of our tests off."
"Tests?" she asked mildly.
"Blood tests, genetic tests, fitness tests. Everything is computer based." He picked up the pace as they approached another hallway. "Almost there. You'll see."
As they approached the hallway just slightly behind the doctor, Tessa kept her gaze on him.
His face lit up as they stepped around the corner. "See – these two rooms are full of volunteers."
"Vamps?"
"Of course," he said, his voice smug and condescending.
"And where do you keep the human subjects?" Goran asked, his voice hardening in exasperation.
"Down at the end of the hallway. That's the new testing wing. It wasn't supposed to be for them, but as someone blasted a hole in my old laboratory, I had no choice. The blood must flow."
Tessa hated that phrase. Hated what it stood for. If the doctor hadn't proven useful up to now, she'd have clocked him and knocked him out permanently.
"How does one get downstairs from here?" Goran asked, staring at the two white doors that resembled so many of the doors they'd come across in this place. "Are the stairs down close by?"
"What stairs? Downstairs? There is no downstairs here." He gave him a pitying look. "I told you this place is a maze, and that was before half the walls collapsed." He shrugged. "I just gave directions to someone who couldn't leave the way he'd expected to because of the damage. There's going to be a lot more of that going on now."
And he stepped forward and opened the door.
*.*.*
It was hard to hold back the boiling anger bubbling in her gut. Rhia was so tired, afraid, and angry that it drained much of her energy. But her own daughter? With Cody? Cody was a playboy. A guy's guy and every girl's dream guy. Rhia had seen many like him over the centuries. He was not what she'd have chosen for Tessa. And never while Tessa was as green and innocent as she was right now. Maybe after a century, when she was old enough to make up her own mind, she could date someone like him. Maybe. Right now...hell no.
Still, it wasn’t like Cody had time to put the moves on her, what with running and fighting for their lives these past few days. Tessa probably looked to Cody as an older brother. Besides, both Serus and Goran were there. They'd make sure Tessa was fine. She wasn't like other vampire females. Tessa was a good girl. A nice girl. Not like the rest of her sex that would cut her up and serve her as an appetizer at the Council meetings.
She didn't have the thick skin and stiff spine to go up against those women. If anyone thought Tessa was hooking up with Cody – and didn't that phrase make her wince – they'd have laughed her out of the room.
No. David must have misunderstood.
Her daughter had more common sense than to fall for someone like that.
Besides, she had bigger things to worry about right now. She had five unconscious vamps. Two she was responsible for and others that she could hardly believe the stories she'd heard about them. David had updated her on much of what had happened this last week but had kept quiet about Seth.
Too bad her own mind wouldn't let go of the subject.
She'd sent him up here to help out his family. And something major had gone wrong. It had to be drugs and whatever mind control program the vamps had used on her firstborn. Like they'd used on her. She had flipped to the enemy's side within a few minutes. How scary was that?
Her glance landed on the human who strode slightly ahead of her. As if he couldn't allow a female to be stronger. She shrugged.
Humans were different critters. Still, these ones were helping out. She just didn't know which side. Gloria and Councilman Adamson had been coordinating the raids and working alongside the human army. They might have a better idea of what was going on. She'd ask them as soon as she had a chance. For that to happen, she had to get out of this hellhole. And if she did, it would only be to dump her charges before turning right around and diving back into the mine to find the rest of her family.
"Mom, are you okay?"
She blew a few strands of hair out of her face. She
didn't want to lie, but neither could she just blast David with the raw truth. She was pissed off. But she was a mother. "I'm fine. Or I will be when this is over. I want the rest of the family safe and sound and I want Seth and these others in medical hands where they can be helped.”
"Do you think they can be?"
"I'm living proof that they can. But I do think time is an issue. The faster they get help, the better."
She tossed him a teasing glance. "And speaking of friends, how long have things been going on between you and Jewel?"
He flushed. "A few months." David turned to Wendy, who was walking on Rhia's other side. "What about you and Ian? How long have you two been together?"
She laughed. "Months and months. No one guessed."
"Except Tessa." David grinned at the surprised look Wendy shot him.
"How did she know?"
"Something about seeing energy that people hold close. She told Ian that she knew he had a girl and knew who it was. Flustered him pretty good."
Wendy laughed. "I can imagine. Tessa has some scary skills."
"Yeah, even more now. I don't know how she does it, but..." and he went into a long description of her cutting off the energy to the human guy's heart or something. Rhia tried to listen, but it didn't make any sense. And that it was his baby sister he was talking about – it really didn't make any sense.
"She did it so easily. When she did it to Seth, I couldn't believe it. When he woke up again, he was damn scared. She'd totally freaked him out." Jared hooted, admiration in his voice. "Hell, she freaked us all out.”
The thought of Tessa having to hurt, or at least being in a situation where hurting Seth was the best option scared Rhia. How could this have happened?
"I wish I'd seen it." Wendy shook her head. "Seems like I missed so much."
Rhia negotiated around a mess of rocks on the ground, hating to admit the weight of the two vamps were making her less than nimble. Oh, when had she gotten so old?
"Yeah," Jared added with a snicker. "You missed getting drugged, beaten, knocked unconscious, and all kinds of bad things. Fun stuff."
The bitterness came from his own experience. Rhia knew that and she was sorry for it. He'd had a tough road this last week. But with any luck, he'd heal and move on and be a better man for it.
"But I also missed watching Tessa learn more about herself, watch you and Jewel grow closer, watch the ancients argue and fight like they always do." Wendy chuckled. "And I missed a chance to see Ian excel in tough situations."
And that was very mature of her. Rhia was proud of how well the younger generation was handling their experience. It had been dangerous and scary and tough for all of them. And they'd come through with flying colors.
She wasn't sure she'd done half as well.
*.*.*
Goran studied the never-ending staircase rising in front of him. "Damn. This isn't going to stop anytime soon."
"How can that be?" Cody peered around his father's shoulder. "Tessa and Serus can't be more than ten feet above us. We've gone three times the distance. At least."
"And Serus said something about there being no downstairs to the section he's in. The communication is really spotty." He glanced at his son. "What about you? Can you talk to Tessa?"
Cody shook his head. "Not really. I know she's there, but it's all fuzzy like bad reception." He smacked the rock wall beside him. "I presume that this is responsible, although you are getting through to Serus."
"Just a little. I'm afraid this passage is leading us further away from them as well."
"Do you want to go back? We can." Cody shrugged. "We can even go to the hole they went up into and knock it open wider."
"It is lighter up ahead. Why don't we check it out quick? If it's a dead end, we'll go back."
Goran started up the next flight. This passage was very old. Maybe from the original mine. Likely a secondary exit cut into the rock in case of an accident and the men needed to find a way out. Something like what Tessa had escaped from originally. Maybe they were on the right track after all.
And if they were, where the hell were Serus and Tessa going?
*.*.*
Talk about not fitting in. The trip was long and torturous with little talking. Jared hadn't meant to cause trouble – or maybe he had. He liked Tessa and if she wanted Cody instead of him, it would hurt but it almost seemed right. Still, he'd rather she chose him. Except that he didn't see how he could have a future with a vampire. But there was Taz, who'd managed just fine. Moodily, he kicked a rock out of the way and carried on down the tunnel in last place. Maybe Tessa and he would make better friends.
He shouldn't have said anything. But anything to do with Cody irked him.
He had Tessa.
Jared was under no illusion which way that would go, but that was just another jab at him.
And if him being around all the time irked Cody, all the better.
Feeling better for the first time in a long time, Jared caught up to the rest of the pack.
She'd never view a closed door the same way again. Tessa knew that for the rest of her life, she'd worry about what was behind them. Worry that she'd see something close to what she'd seen today.
The room was jam packed.
Full of vampires.
Volunteer vampires, according to the doctor.
Everyone was connected to piping of some kind. Most were in beds. Some were standing and shuffling around, and many were collapsed criss-crossed on top of each other like casually tossed firewood on the floor.
Most appeared unconscious and the ones that weren't...didn't appear to be all there. The only sounds were disconcerting wooshes and beeps from the various machines.
"These are your volunteers?" she asked.
The doctor nodded. "And as you can see, we are in dire need of space. Techs are working to prep several more rooms so we can spread them around with one to a bed."
Tessa studied those closest to her but she didn't recognize anyone. "Is this the only room?”
He motioned to the second door. "The others are in there."
Instinctively, she moved over and opened the door.
And gasped.
Motre was in the first bed. His face was slack to the point where his skin looked too big on him. Surely that couldn't be? Beside him were more faces she recognized. Faces from the fights, faces of men that had fought on her side. Stiff with shock, she took several steps inside.
And the door shut and locked behind her. She spun around and froze.
She was alone. Her father hadn't followed her inside. And neither had the smug doctor. Scared, but needing to know, she reached out and tried the door. The knob turned a few inches but it didn't open.
Shit. She pounded on the door several times until a voice behind her shook her to the core.
"Don't bother. Once you're in, you don't get out."
She spun at the sound of a familiar voice and saw someone she least expected to see – Bart. Big old don't-want-to-get-involved dumpy Bart.
She turned to study him. Her instincts were on full alert. Was he a friend or foe? He had no tubing attached, which should have made him foe, but he was holding a mess of it in his hands. He held up the needle. "They misjudged the amount to give me and I woke up."
He looked around the small room, a hangdog look on his face. "I tried to stay hidden in the shadows, but that big guy at the end of the row found me. Him and the others. So many others. But some of them turned on him and things kinda blew up. I tried to run away and the next thing I know I'm in here with a killer of a headache. Like what's with that?" The plain face twisted into sheer ugliness as he touched his head gingerly.
"The drugs will do that to you." She studied his face but couldn't see any deceit in him or his energy.
"And you, you aren't a prisoner." He nodded at the door. "Other than that door?"
She shook her head. "I came to find Motre," she motioned at the big vamp
in the first bed, "and his group. They were supposed to be finding and releasing captive vamps. Looks like he got taken instead."
"He should be coming around soon too. I doubt they'd have understood what someone his size would need for a dose."
She walked over and ripped the needle out of his arm. He never made a sound. Systematically, she walked from bed to bed and removed the needles from their arms. It didn't take long. This room wasn't as packed as the first one. And why was that?
She hadn't realized she'd spoken out loud until Bart answered.
"Because these ones are likely prisoners and the others...not so much."
"That would make sense. The good doctor said the both rooms were full of volunteers." She shook her head. "So I came to see if my friends were in this room."
"And you came alone?" Bart snorted and lay back down on his bed. "You are the damnedest one for walking straight into trouble.”
He had her there. And she was tired, or there was no way she'd have come into here on her own. She'd pit her father against the doctor any day, but not if there were lots of techs with needles. She hadn't seen any earlier, but maybe those emails he sent had brought help.
Now she was starting to feel foolish.
She studied the room as she finished pulling the last of the needles out. "Is there any other way in or out, Bart?"
"Nah. One door only."
"Right. But two rooms side by side." She studied the simple white walls. "What's the chance they are just standard building walls? No rocks or steel in between them?"
"Why would they need that? These are sick rooms. No one has the strength to argue or fight their way out."
She laughed, hope bubbling up inside. "You are so right. But I'm here. And I'm healthy and strong and no, I am not drugged."
He stared at her, bolted upright, and came over to stand at her side, rubbing his hands gleefully. "Do you think we could break down a wall?"