Blood Hunt

by Christopher Buecheler

  If the Children had really recruited Abraham’s youngest daughter and were training her to be a killing machine, as Lewis claimed, then they were all in great danger. Malik was barely a competent leader in times of peace. In a time of war – Jakob shuddered to think about it. Malik was likely to bury his head in the sand and insist nothing was wrong until it was far too late.

  What could be done? Jakob paced and thought, but no solution came to him. After a time the thud of the building’s heavy front doors closing broke his reverie. He glanced up and saw Richard, the other Burilgi council member, rounding the corner. The look on the man’s face said that whatever news he carried, it was something far from good.

  Wonderful, Jakob thought. There must have been more abductions.

  “Jakob! Hey, Jakob … you’ve got to listen to me.” Richard rushed up and stopped in front of him, visibly agitated.

  “Certainly. Calm down, Richard, and tell me what’s causing you such distress.”

  “There’s not a lot of time. Look, you’ve gotta go. Now.”

  “Go where? To see the site of the abductions myself?”

  Richard looked shocked. “Have more people been taken?”

  Jakob paused, eyes narrowing. “I assumed that was your news. Apparently, I was wrong. What troubles you, Richard?”

  “It’s Aros. He … I … did Lewis explain where I was this evening?”

  “Yes. Has Aros mobilized his fighters?”

  “No. I mean, not yet. He’s going after someone though. Two people. You know them. He … I wasn’t supposed to hear this, and normally Lewis and I have a ‘no spying’ policy …”

  “I’d heard,” Jakob muttered.

  “This time, though, it’s too big. I can’t protect him on this. He wants the girl. Two. He wants her.”

  “He’s going to have a hard time even locating her, let alone taking her from Naomi and Stephen,” Jakob said.

  “No, you don’t understand. He’s not going after her. He’s going after the other two … the ones you rescued at her apartment.”

  Jakob felt a jolt of surprise run through him. The man and the woman that he had saved, yes. He fished in his mind for their names and came up with them. “Rhes and Sarah.”

  “Yes.”

  “What in God’s name does Aros want with them?”

  “He’s going to take them and hold them. He knows when the other one – Two – when she hears about it, she’ll come to him. He’s heard all about how impetuous she is.”

  “Richard, where did you hear this?” Jakob was already forming a plan of action in his head, but he wanted as much information as Richard could give him.

  “We were in his office, and I was trying to calm him down over the last set of abductions, and his cell phone went off. He left the room to speak, but he didn’t close the door all the way, and I could still hear what he was saying. It was someone alerting him that they’d found the two humans.”

  “Did he specifically say it was Rhes and Sarah?”

  “He said they were friends of the fallen Eresh-Chen, and the ones who were at her apartment. Seems like a pretty safe bet.” Richard ran a hand through his hair, concerned and frustrated. “I got out of there as soon as I could. This is the last thing we need. He’s going to go fucking around with an Eresh-Chen while we’re trying to deal with the Children? He’s crazy.”

  “Indeed,” Jakob said. “Do you know when he was planning on doing this?”

  “I don’t know, but considering how happy he was, I doubt it’s going to be a long wait. For all I know, he’s already sent people.”

  Jakob nodded. He needed to get to Rhes and Sarah immediately. He could organize protection for them again, but not on such short notice. He would need to get there first, make sure they were safe, and then call in his men.

  “Richard, I must go. I … thank you. You and Lewis have every right to be unhappy with the council at the moment. We’ve let you down, and I apologize. I will do my best to make amends.”

  “I know. That’s why we wanted you in the meeting with Malik,” Richard said. He clapped Jakob on the shoulder. “You’re a good man. Go take care of those guys and keep them the hell away from Aros. I’ll be here when you get back.”

  Jakob nodded, and he headed for the door.

  * * *

  “This is Sasha. I’m not here. Leave a message.”

  Jakob was simultaneously annoyed and amused. Sasha’s businesslike, no-nonsense manner never failed to impress him, but he needed her to answer the phone.

  “Sasha. Contact me as soon as you possibly can. I’m en route to the home of Rhes and Sarah … Thomas? … whatever. The human couple that I saved from the Burilgi last year. They are in danger again and I am trying to keep them safe. I need your help. Call me.”

  Jakob hung up, still striding down the street toward the garage in which he’d left his car. It was dark out, had been for hours, and the December air was brisk but not quite freezing. Jakob barely felt it.

  He had the utmost confidence in Sasha; that was why he had made her his fledgling. Unlike many vampires, Jakob had made neither a lover nor a daughter of his fledgling. Sasha was a very good friend, a very good fighter, and a most capable business associate. She had been serving as a sort of personal assistant for more than two hundred years. Jakob would need her aid.

  Aros was planning to abduct Rhes and Sarah. Once the rogue Burilgi had them, Jakob did not know whether he would kill them or simply detain them. Either way, he was planning to use them as bait in the hopes of bringing Two to him. That she was presently out of the country likely didn’t concern him. Vampires, particularly those clever enough to have survived for more than seven hundred years as Aros had, usually planned for the long term.

  “Why would he want Two?” Jakob muttered to himself, opening the door to his car and sliding in. The engine purred to life as he turned the key. “What value is she to him?”

  A bargaining chip? A hostage? An example to be made? Jakob had no idea. He hoped to find out quickly, in time to head off any plans Aros might be making.

  Jakob drove impatiently, frustrated that he had not been able to reach Sasha. She would be able to get to a computer, find Rhes and Sarah’s phone number, contact them to alert them to the danger. Jakob had long since deleted the number from his phone, and could not call information unless he could remember their last name.

  “Johnson?” he asked himself. No, that wasn’t right.

  Jakob navigated his car through the Manhattan streets as quickly as he could, but the evening was still young, and the traffic was only just beginning to thin. The city had moved past the gridlock of rush-hour, but he was still surrounded by a mass of cabs, cars, and delivery trucks. Fifteen minutes into the drive, his phone lit up and began to ring.

  “Sasha?” he asked as he picked it up.

  “No, Jakob. Naomi.”

  “Naomi! Jesus, woman … where have you been?”

  “It’s …” there was murmuring, and when Naomi’s voice returned, she sounded rushed and distracted. “It’s a long story. I am sorry for not contacting you, but things became very complicated.”

  “Is everything all right now?”

  Naomi gave an odd laugh and said, “I have no answer to that question. Ask me again when we see each other in person.”

  “What happened?”

  “No time. I need a favor.”

  “Certainly.”

  “I need you to rent an apartment for me. Furnished, please. Two bedrooms. I need it now, or within the next few days.”

  “What happened to your apartment?” Jakob asked.

  “Nothing. We won’t all fit.”

  “Naomi, what—”

  “Really, Jakob, I can’t explain right now. We have a plane to catch. I will see you very soon.”

  “Good. Naomi, before you go, I have news. I do not advise sharing it with your friend Two.”

  “That won’t be a problem,” Naomi said, her voice wavering a bit. Jakob considered asking ano
ther question, thought better of it, and pressed on.

  “It seems that her friends are in danger again. Rhes and Sarah. I am on my way to their home now.”

  “Who is threatening them?”

  “Aros.”

  “The … the Burilgi rebel? But why?”

  “He wants to use them as bait.”

  “Bait for what?”

  “For your blonde-haired friend with the Eresh blood. Naomi, things are … happening here.”

  “So it seems. I wish I could help. I really have to go. I’ll keep quiet about your news and try to get home as soon as I can. Get me that apartment?”

  “I will take care of it.”

  “Thank you. Jakob … take care of yourself.”

  There was a click, and the line went dead. Jakob pondered the conversation for a moment, but decided that there had been too few clues to come to any real conclusions. He tried to put it out of his mind and instead focused on maneuvering through the traffic, making his way towards Rhes and Sarah.

  * * *

  The knock on the door was hard and urgent, and Sarah turned to Rhes with her head cocked. “Uh … you expecting anyone?”

  “No,” said Rhes, standing up and setting aside his newspaper. “No, I’m not. Particularly not at ten thirty at night.”

  Jake, their guide dog, was lying on the floor next to Sarah. He looked up at the door and growled once, briefly, but this was a standard reaction, and not indicative of anything out of the norm. Rhes crossed to the door, went to open it, then thought better of it and glanced out through the peephole first.

  “Jakob?” he said.

  “Jakob?” Sarah echoed.

  “Looks like it.”

  “Probably should let him in,” she said.

  Jakob’s voice came through the door. “Yes, you should let me in.”

  Rhes rolled his eyes and opened the door. “Good ears.”

  “A gift from my … father,” Jakob said, stepping in. “Your dog is very calm. We don’t usually induce fits of barking, the way the movies claim, but he’s still quite exceptional.”

  “He’s very well trained. What brings you here, Jakob?” Sarah asked.

  She and Rhes had spent the past fourteen months barely thinking about vampires, other than to occasionally wonder whether they would ever see, hear from, or even hear about Two again. There had been a wedding to plan and execute, a daughter to adopt, and a normal life to reestablish. All of these had been accomplished, and Sarah was less than enthusiastic about letting the supernatural world encroach upon her life again.

  Jakob seemed to pick up this concern in her voice. He frowned, shaking his head. “I am only interrupting your lives because I must. You are in danger.”

  “We are? Why?” Rhes asked.

  “It is complicated …” Jakob pondered for a moment, trying to determine how best to sum it up. Finally, he continued. “The leader of the Burilgi – the creatures that attacked you – has decided that he wants your friend Two. He feels the best way to bring her to him is to use her friends as bait.”

  “Fucking Christ,” Sarah snarled. “We don’t even know where she is!”

  “Baby, relax,” Rhes said, though he sounded no happier than she did. “Jakob’s just trying to help us.”

  Jakob nodded. “I would much prefer to stay out of your lives.”

  Sarah sighed. “I know. I’m not angry at you. I just … can’t you guys just handle this? What does he need us for? Don’t you know where Two is? Why doesn’t he just call her and be like ‘hey, stop on by?’”

  Jakob grinned at this. “To be honest, we are not entirely sure where she is. I only heard from Naomi earlier this evening, for the first time in months. They are safe, I think, and returning soon, but I don’t know where they are right now. Even if I did, Aros – the leader of the Burilgi – he’s not the type that one visits voluntarily.”

  “Wonderful,” Sarah said. “So we get to go back under guard, right?”

  “That is the plan.”

  “For how long?” Rhes asked.

  Jakob shrugged, looking apologetic. “I don’t know yet.”

  Sarah muttered another curse.

  “When is this going to happen?” Rhes asked.

  “Now,” Jakob said. “That is … I don’t know exactly when Aros intends to move, but it will be soon, and I want you well under guard before he does it.”

  “You and us both,” Sarah said.

  Jakob’s phone began to ring and he pulled it from his jacket pocket, glancing at the screen.

  “Ah, good,” he said. “It’s Sasha.”

  Before he could answer the phone, however, the front door to Rhes and Sarah’s house was driven inward by some exterior force. Jakob was standing only inches in front of it and the door hit him, throwing him forward into Rhes, the phone flying from his hand. Windows in the front and back of their brownstone shattered, the protective exterior bars torn from their bolts. A moment later, the power went out. Jake, quiet earlier, was now barking furiously.

  Lying on the floor beneath Jakob, who was still struggling to get to his feet, Rhes could only watch in horror as black silhouettes began to pour into the house from every entrance.

  Chapter 16

  Foster Care

  Panicking was not in her nature and so when Jakob did not answer his phone, Sasha simply left him a short message, delivered in her cool, businesslike tone, asking him to call her back. When he had not done so ten minutes later, she tried again, and again got no response. As Jakob’s voicemail came on for the second time, Sasha sighed in frustration.

  “Jakob, this is Sasha, returning your phone call. Given the level of urgency in your message, I’m concerned that you’re not answering. I think it would be best if I made my way to the apartment where Rhes and Sarah Thompson live. I will have my laptop with me and my mobile wireless connection. If you’d prefer I take a different course of action, please call me.”

  She hung up and glanced around her home office, trying to decide if leaving was indeed the best course of action. Jakob would likely need her to help him organize defenses for the humans, and she could best do that from home, but she was growing deeply concerned about what might have happened to him.

  Sasha decided to trust her instincts, which were telling her to go. She would have access to their data no matter where she might end up. Packing up her gear, she tossed it in a carrying case and left. She rode the building’s elevator down into a subterranean parking garage without interruption, and was soon behind the wheel of her Cadillac, heading toward Brooklyn.

  Sasha cursed herself as she drove. She had been listening to Beethoven at a volume that had completely drowned out Jakob’s original call. If she had answered then, she would know the details and be able to do something to help. Instead she was trapped in her car, driving and worrying, until Jakob called back or she arrived at the apartment in Brooklyn.

  Fortunately, it wouldn’t be a long drive even though she lived in Carnegie Hill, further north than the cathedral from which Jakob had left. It had been nearly an hour since Jakob’s original call, and traffic had thinned substantially. She took FDR Drive down the eastern side of Manhattan, crossed the Manhattan Bridge, and made her way towards Park Slope. In all, the drive took just over thirty minutes.

  She was halfway up the staircase before realizing that what at first appeared to be the normal face of a Brooklyn brownstone was, in fact, nothing more than camouflage. The front windows were shattered, their ornamental wrought-iron bars hastily replaced after having clearly been torn down. The door was broken and slightly ajar. All of the lights in the house were off.

  Sasha immediately slowed, crouching slightly, scanning the area. She could neither see nor sense anyone else in the vicinity. It might be hours before anyone noticed the condition of the house and called the police, or it might only be minutes. If there was anyone else inside, she would need to deal with them quickly, though she had her doubts that she would make any such encounters.

&nb
sp; Sasha pressed the palm of one hand against the door, opening it slowly and quietly, sliding inside. There was light in here after all, though too weak for her to have noticed it from the outside. It was a single flashlight, resting in the lap of the young girl sitting on the stair landing. She had brown hair pulled back in a ponytail, and was clothed in a blue cotton nightgown. Her head was bent, and she stared at her hands, her face miserable.

  “Child … are you all right?” Sasha asked.

  The girl did not start, did not even lift her head, just shook it and said, “They killed Jake.”

  “Who?” Sasha asked, fearing for a moment that the girl might mean Jakob.

  “Jake. Our dog. They killed him. He was barking, and then he made this … this noise. He’s down there somewhere. Don’t step on him.”

  “I won’t,” Sasha said. She was struggling to remain calm and not bombard this girl, who was obviously in a state of shock, with countless questions. She settled at first for one that was both easy and obvious.

  “What is your name?”

  “Molly. Are you going to kill me?”

  “No. Why would you think that?”

  “Because you’re one of them.”

  “One of what?”

  Molly looked up at her, and the expression of disgust and exasperation on her face was so extreme as to be almost comical.

  “One of the vampires … Jesus.”

  “Oh. I … I’m not sure what you mean,” Sasha said.

  “Cut the shit,” Molly muttered, looking back down at her hands. “Adults are always like this. You think kids are stupid, or blind, or deaf. You think I don’t hear things and see things. Two met some vampires, and then some shit went wrong, and now she’s gone and they came here. You’re one of them. So I’m asking: are you going to kill me, like you killed Jake?”