It was ambitious, but Claire was like that. Before Claire got to the house, Raven called out to her, “Claire!”
Claire turned around. Raven said, “Help me here, and I’ll help you get everyone out.”
Claire ran back to Raven, relief clearly stamped across her face. Working as a team, they cleared the sheds. Five people were rescued from the sheds. They were as filthy as Claire and scared out of their minds, but with a rescue squad, Claire’s idea might work.
Raven assembled the small group of men and women. She spoke with solemn authority, “We work in pairs and clear the rooms one at a time. I’ll fire the house before the sun goes down.”
~~ Claire ~~
Claire didn’t feel well. She was exhausted and scared. A whole host of other emotions flickered through her soul like fireflies dancing through the sky at twilight. She wanted to go back to the grass where Raven had left her before and just relax until Raven was finished.
Something in Raven’s cold-heartedness scared Claire. She didn’t know anyone could be capable of such ruthlessness. Burning people in the house amounted to killing someone who was in the way. Couldn’t Raven see that? She was the older sister. She was supposed to do the right thing. She was supposed to be an example for Claire.
She followed Raven to the big house. The sun was further along in the sky than anyone was comfortable with. Raven gave some final instructions before kicking the porch door in, “If you see the opportunity to make a hole in the house, do it.”
The three guys, eager to show off for the hot chick in the leather mini, were right up the steps with Raven, ready to save some people and kick some vampire butts. Claire, even though it had been her idea, felt terrified.
When a vampire drank—the soul-sucking vampires, not the blood-sucking ones—it was a shocking experience. Worse than finding out your Dad had died in a fire. Worse than watching your sister repeat the same things over and over again when you know that’s not what a seven-year old does. It was like standing at the edge of a twenty-story building and seeing people and cars move in the distance and itching at the back of your shoulder blades because there is a person behind you ready to push you off. Claire could feel the anger in Gladys when she drank, the joy in Tasha when she was going to kill Claire with a last sip.
Claire was frightened.
She didn’t want to go into the house.
Raven was inside.
Rescuing the people before setting the house on fire was her idea.
God, please help me.
Tears filled Claire’s eyes. She couldn’t. She couldn’t do it. She took a deep breath. She looked away from the porch where the two men now entered. That was when she saw the three mannequins…no they weren’t. She had to stop pretending. They were people. Vampires would have disintegrated into dust. They were all dead. The last one had dragged himself toward the house, through the dirt. He’d made it quite a way, too.
Claire knew then why Raven didn’t care. She was broken. She had already killed. Claire wondered why Raven didn’t have the thousand-yard stare yet. The serial killer stare, the glassy-eyed stare. The stare that said, ‘I am a killer’
And then…I can’t leave her alone in there. Not with those monsters.
Claire ran to the porch, passing the three girls huddled at the door, afraid to go in, afraid to stay out. “Come on. We need to get everyone out.”
They worked hard and in pairs, dragging out people so drugged that they didn’t wake up when they were dropped on the grass. Once Claire grabbed the wrists of an elderly woman, Claire gave a squeak of distress and dropped the wrinkled arm. The woman’s arm was cold…dead.
Jade arrived at the house sometime in the middle of the rescue operation, holding Mindy’s hand and looking fragile. Claire gave her the summary of what was going on. She said, “Just stay here. We’re almost done. You don’t have to go back in there.”
Claire started toward the house and then seeing Mindy holding her teddy bear and sucking her thumb wanted nothing more to pull her into her arms and tell her how sorry she was for everything. Claire was filthy, covered in stink.
Instead she said, “I’m so sorry, Mindy. I’m sorry for everything. I’ll make it up to you.”
With wise eyes, wiser than the shell of a body that never seemed to work right, Mindy said, “I love you, Claire.”
Claire felt released, forgiven, cleansed. She said, “I love you, too, Min-Min.”
She smiled.
Even with all of the horror surrounding her, she felt lighter.
Chapter 9
~~ Raven ~~
The attic was the most terrifying place Raven had ever seen—and that counted the horror movies she had watched. Some of the people there were still alive, barely…but they had been ravaged. What made it so mind-numbingly scary was that the attic itself was clean. As if the vampires were fastidious housekeepers, the bodies were hoisted above plastic and sheets. Two huge bins were placed conveniently near the worst of the carnage with the words, “Dirty laundry” written in bold marker across the plastic.
For all their care, one of the vampires had gotten careless and a blood splatter stained one of the signs. Raven’s partner stepped back, “I think everyone in here is dead.”
As if to refute the man’s words, one of the vampires’ prisoners moaned. He was lying on a brown wooden table, a sturdy hand-made table that must have been made in the age before veneer and plastic. He had been splayed out like an experiment.
“Help me,” the hoarse request was filled with so much helplessness, so much terror that Raven wanted to run and leave everything, everyone except her sisters to fend for themselves.
She exchanged a glance with her partner. It was the first time she had really looked at him. He was older, probably a college kid. His hair was buzzed on the sides with a regular cut in the middle. Not exactly a faux-hawk cut, but close, as if he didn’t quite want to commit. He shook his head, ever so slightly.
Raven thought of Claire’s eyes brimming with disappointment. She wouldn’t leave a living human being here for the vampires to torture, especially if the rest of their harem had been taken away. Before she could second-guess herself, Raven quickly reached for the first rope, tied around the guy’s leg. She almost set the axe down to untie the knots, but relinquishing her only weapon in this place, even for a moment, seemed like a bad idea. Using the axe seemed equally unsafe.
“Do you have a knife that can cut through these?” Raven turned her head. When she saw the look of horror and surprise suddenly cross her partner’s face, she knew something bad was going to happen to her. She threw herself forward.
The vampire was faster. Grabbing her foot he pulled back and Raven hit her forehead against the wooden floor. Stars swam across her vision. She heard the sounds of footsteps running away. Her partner was abandoning her to the vampire. The vampire pulled her away from the wall. Raven tried to hold herself up with her hands to keep her face from striking the floor.
Between one moment and the next, the creature was on top of her, pushing her hair out of the way. She was facedown, staring at the floor and wondering when the vampire was going to strike. She remembered Jade. That was what came next. She couldn’t let it.
Raven reared her head back, crunching the vampire’s nose with the back of her head. Sharp pains shot down the back of her neck, but she crawled out of the way, lugging her axe with her. As she turned to face the vampire she said, “I think that hurt me more than it hurt you.”
The vampire wasn’t much of a talker. Now that she could see the vampire, Raven was certain that she didn’t hurt him at all. So far the only way she had successfully killed the buggers was through sunlight. She didn’t have the stake-through-the-heart method down, yet.
Since she didn’t have a stake, now wasn’t the time to try a new method. Raven asked Air for help. She didn’t know exactly what to ask for. The attic wasn’t one of those pleasant farmhouse ones with windows.
The vampire lunged for her. Vampires a
re predators. As all predators do, they strike with speed and agility. Raven swung the axe forward hoping to catch the vampire in a vital part. Somehow he danced right around her swing and was inside it before she knew what had happened. He grabbed her axe and threw it behind him where it skittered to a stop under the wheel of a rusted out bicycle.
Raven crawled backwards even as the vampire lunged forward. She hated the feeling of the cold body on top of hers, the smell of the grave in her nostrils. If she were going to die, she wanted it to be in a field with the smell of roses all around and a gentle breeze blowing across her face. His teeth extended.
Air tossed dust in his face pushing with all her strength against him. Air was great in a large field with lots of room to move, but the attic blocked her strength. Raven stared into the vampire’s eyes. They were empty. He had such a soulless expression that she wondered why he would even bother to kill her.
The door burst open. Claire rushed into the attic with a stake in each hand. The vampire leapt from Raven with an elegance that looked like flying. It was disturbing, to say the least. He grabbed Claire’s hand, digging his nails into her palm until she dropped the stake. Raven crept closer, snatching the stake and hoping she didn’t get stepped on.
Claire swung the other stake forward, aiming for the center of his ribs. He gracefully sidestepped the swing, tearing the stake out of her hands. The vampire grabbed Claire’s throat. Everything moved in slow motion.
Air created a distraction, not enough to free Claire, but a distraction nonetheless. It masked the sounds of Raven’s movements. She lifted the stake and plunged it into his back and into his heart.
This time when the vampire went poof, Claire and Raven were both standing too close for comfort. Covered in dust, Raven coughed, “Eww. Ugh. Gross. I have vampire on my tongue.”
Claire couldn’t help it. She started giggling. Raven grabbed her shoulder and hugged her over the pile of vampire dust, “Thanks, Claire. You saved my life.”
“You saved mine first,” Claire felt warm joy flood her being. She was loved.
“Then we’re even. Last room. Let’s get this guy and get out,” Raven stepped over the pile of dust. She felt dirty. The dust she’d breathed tasted like dog poop smelled.
Together they removed the ropes, “He’s in bad shape,” Raven said.
“I know,” Claire said, “Raven, we have to leave some of them behind. They won’t all fit in the van. How do we know we’ll kill all the vampires with the fire?”
They heaved the guy off the table. He was heavy. He screamed in pain when they moved him. Claire looked ill. As they walked out of the attic hefting the guy between them, Raven said, “We don’t. We’ll drive out with the most conscious people and drop them in the nearest town. As soon as we have cell service, we’ll call 9-1-1 and get someone up here. I think the police and fire fighters will be safe enough once we burn the house down.”
They carried the man down the stairs and through the hall. Raven’s so-called partner who had abandoned her was waiting at the bottom of the stairs. He took over for Claire. He looked guilty. Raven thought it fitting since he’d abandoned her to a certain death. Jerk.
The lawn looked like the side of a swimming pool with people lying out as if catching sun, except none of them wore bikinis and they were much too pale.
Raven proceeded with her plan to burn the house down, or at least got a roaring fire going. She could only hope that it would become an inferno before anyone they called arrived.
“You know this is arson, right?” Jade asked.
“You know that vampires almost killed us, right?” Raven retorted. Having an angelic sister could be a major pain. Jade could definitely use a walk on the wild side.
Jade bit her lip, “Yeah, I know.”
“Look. I’m the only one who will set the fire. You can say you didn’t have anything to do with it,” Raven was determined. Those vampires were not going to wake up to a nice cozy house, especially if dinner was unconscious in the yard.
“No. I’ll do it,” Jade opened her hand as if she expected Raven to just hand over the starter fluid and trigger lighter.
Raven held one finger in the air, “No. I am seriously going to burn this house down. You can help if you want, but I’m the one who is firing it.”
“You’re going to end up in juvie if you keep this kind of stuff up,” Jade teased. When Raven looked like she was going to start a hissy fit, Jade said, “Kidding. I’m kidding. I’ve got everything ready to go. Let’s get moving. I want to put some distance between us and those blood-suckers before sundown.”
Raven was impressed. Jade had laid out several bundles of kindling in strategic places. They worked quickly until the fires had a good start.
The sisters slipped under the fence so weary they could barely move. Of the three, Mindy was in the best shape. Surprisingly quiet, she sucked her thumb and followed Jade and stared at the extra passengers they’d picked up. Raven couldn’t wait to get rid of them.
The sooner they drove away, the sooner she could forget. Even though Raven wasn't really legal, she drove down the mountain. Jade was too wiped out from everything that happened, and Raven wasn’t about to let a stranger from a vampire compound drive Mom’s van.
The minute they had cell service, one of the guys with a cell phone called the cops, the ambulances, and the fire trucks, leaving out any mention of vampires. He explained it as a cult compound that had been set on fire, gave the address and then hung up. Not that the sisters didn’t have their own phones, but they were on the run, and having the police trace their call wouldn’t be the best idea ever.
The goodbyes were brief, but heartfelt. The sisters were finally alone. They found a rest stop where Raven called Bertha. When Bertha picked up the phone, she was half-asleep, even though it was only eight o’clock in the evening in Denver. Raven didn’t know where to start.
“Aunt Bertha?” Raven leaned her head against the seat. Her sisters were all out stretching their legs on the little park next to the rest rooms.
“I knew there was trouble. Felt it in my elbow,” Bertha’s voice was comforting in a way that surprised Raven. Bertha usually dealt with Mindy, but in that moment, there was no one else on earth that Raven would rather talk to.
“Someone grabbed Mom. I think it was a Death Keeper. He disappeared with her. One minute they were standing there and the next gone. Did Mom tell you we were on the run? Some creepy guy was watching the house.” Raven spilled the story in fits and starts, answering Bertha’s many questions.
Bertha said, “I’ll take the first flight out tomorrow. I’ll rent a car and meet you girls and we’ll figure things out. In the meantime, don’t use your powers for anything. With my sister gone, the wards must have broken.”
“It’s probably too late. The Elements have helped us quite a bit today. What does having broken wards mean?” Raven watched from the car as Mindy and Claire chatted up some old lady and her two terriers. Jade had found a bench under a shade tree.
“Anyone looking for it knows exactly where you are. No more Elements. Not until we get that ward back in place.” Bertha lowered her voice, “Raven, I know you girls are in a tight spot. Just move as far and as fast as you can and let your Elements rest. You’d better get back on the road, and I need to get packed.”
“Are you okay, Aunt Bertha?” Raven wondered if Aunt Bertha ever regretted coming to stay with the family. She’d been with them since the year after her Dad died. She and her sister had lived together in Colorado, while the third sister, Raven’s grandmother, lived in Eatonville, Washington. She was closely tied to Earth and had a great love for Mount Rainier until her death fifteen years before.
Bertha was quiet for a moment and then said, “Just getting old, Love.”
“Don’t talk like that,” Raven sometimes resented having to share rooms with their sisters, maybe more so than Jade or Mindy, but she loved her aunt. She’d already lost her father. She didn’t want to lose anyone else.
&
nbsp; “It’s true. Now gather your sisters and get back on the road. If you’ve been using the Elements, you need to put down some miles,” Aunt Bertha said. She and Raven said their goodbyes, and Raven promised to be good.
Raven couldn’t wait for a real shower. Using a towel and sink just didn’t make for refreshing cleanliness. No matter how much she scrubbed, she could still smell vampire. She changed out of her leather skirt, a little disappointed by the outcome. Somehow she thought she’d be more awesome if she fought in hot clothes. Turned out to be blasted uncomfortable and didn’t stop the vampires from trying to turn her into a slurpee.
Raven pulled onto the highway. She felt lost. Jade and Claire were already asleep or pretending to be. Mindy stared out the window, curled up with her teddy bear.
The sun was just now deepening to twilight. Raven grinned proudly when she remembered to turn on her headlights. I’m getting better at this driving thing, she thought. Raven turned a blind corner to find a shadowy figure standing in the center of the road.
Slamming on the brakes, Raven knew without a doubt that she was going to hit the man.
Chapter 10
~~ Jade ~~
Jade was hungry. Her head ached. Even her eyes hurt. She felt feverish.
Although she was awake, she closed her eyes and let Raven do pretty much whatever she wanted with the van. Mom would have a fit…if they ever rescued her. Jade was too tired to think about how to get Mom back.
The brakes squealed and the van swerved back and forth as Raven attempted to swerve without going off the road. Jade opened her eyes to see a shadow in the road, what looked like a tall man in a trench coat. She screamed.
Jade squeezed her eyes shut, dreading the thump.
It never came.
Raven gasped as they screeched to a halt, “What the…?”
Opening her eyes, Jade saw blacktop and the headlights pointing into the trees. There was no one there. Mindy started to scream, her voice rising as she struggled to get out of her seatbelt.
A Time To Kill (Elemental Rage Book 1) Page 10