The unborn
The Vampires of Soldiers Cove
Book three
Jessica MacIntyre
Acknowledgements
As we take the next step in Rachel’s journey I am both humbled and honored at how much support people have given me throughout this process. This book was a lot of work and I would not have accomplished it without the love and support of everyone around me. Firstly, a big thanks to my husband for putting up with my trips to the office (Starbucks), sometimes at inopportune times when work had to be finished, and for his unwavering love and support. I love you lots, and lots, and parking lots.
Also to my children for their kisses, hugs and pats on the head when I’m frustrated. It means more than you could know.
To my best friend, Tiffany. Life just wouldn’t be as fun or interesting without you, and my dishes would not be as clean. I love you man!
To my wonderfully awesome Beta Babes for taking time out of their busy lives and scanning my story. It means so much that you care enough about it to stop what you’re doing and read my ramblings. Thank you: Michelle Randle, Denise Hunter, Jamie Turner-Norton, Tryphena MacDonald, and Tiffany Samson.
To all my fellow indies and bloggers on Facebook who share my stuff, along with a lot of other people’s stuff…thank you, thank you, thank you!
And once again my thanks to you, the reader. Thank you for spending time with my characters and supporting what I do. Happy reading!
Dedication
This book is lovingly dedicated to any man who has ever stepped in and raised a child that was not biologically his own with as much affection and devotion as if they were. It’s especially dedicated to one of those men in particular, my grandfather.
This book is for Albert.
Prologue
Craning her neck all the way around she stretched and tested the muscles, making sure they were still in good working order. There was only so much a body could take and the older this one got, the less pliable it was. Aging was unacceptable, but also inevitable. Vampires under normal circumstances didn’t age, but in this case, it couldn’t be helped. Twenty years ago when she’d looked in the mirror she had seen this body as the epitome of everything she wanted to be. Beautiful, strong, athletic. It had served her well, but the time was drawing near to jump.
Over the last quarter century she had been careful, methodical. Cultivating many choices, a whole city full of choices in fact. Although now she believed this may be part of the problem. Too much variety at a banquet and one could end up starving to death while walking around with an empty plate. Time was running out. She had to decide soon who it would be and when she would do it.
Catching a glimpse of her naked back in the mirror she froze, disturbed at the reflection. The green mark, which had been the mere size of a dime only yesterday, was now covering her entire back in one massive splotch. Instinctually her emotions turned to anger, but she quickly regained her demeanor, realizing that the sentiment would do her no good. She would need to act soon, but for now she could cover it up.
Breathing deeply she closed her eyes and sucked hard at the air, taking as much into her lungs as possible. She held it there for a moment, the oxygen burning her chest as she felt the tell-tale markings begin to disappear, absorbing their way back into her body. Opening her eyes she inspected her skin once again, happy to see that it had returned to its usual milky perfection.
Then she dressed and ran a brush through the long blonde hair she had taken such good care of over the years. It had become such a habit, and at times a pleasure, that she had consciously looked for a receptor with the same quality. After having acquired the soothing routine she was sure she’d miss it. If by chance she had to give it up to take possession of a man over a woman so be it, but she really hoped to stay female. A pleasing body, especially a well-endowed one with large blue eyes and dimpled chin had entitled her to certain things. Beauty certainly opened doors, but of course, there were always other methods.
The transition would be upon her soon, and there were many with the preferred qualities. Receptors that she had groomed and come to know well. Before she could make a final choice however, there was one more avenue she had to explore. Someone new to her. Someone she had been keeping an eye on for a few weeks who had seemingly come out of nowhere, and yet was familiar somehow. The early reports that she’d received had been promising. There were instances where this woman, a vampire, had appeared to start a fire with absolutely nothing. Lots of vampires had special abilities and talents, but fire, needless to say, was unique.
The body was excellent as well. Only perhaps twenty-five. Long hair as desired, although dark and curly this time. She smiled at herself in the mirror. Yes, she could get used to that.
Pursing her lips together one final time before turning away she put the finishing touches on her makeup. Her assistant would be back at any minute with another report on this new addition and she hoped it would be just as impressive as the last. So far as she knew the woman had no idea she was being followed. Certainly someone who had committed as many murders as she had in such a short time would be more careful if she thought someone was keeping tabs on her. Her behavior remained unchanged, which was good news for them.
The entire process had been fascinating. Not only did this vampire appear to be very young, but she also seemed to have an insatiable blood lust, murdering two, sometimes three men a week. She kept to the opposite gender, and when they wanted to know why, it hadn’t taken long for them to find their answer. It seemed the blood gorging young thing had an appetite for a certain kind of man.
Sexual predators.
She targeted them, watched them, played cat and mouse with them. She played their game so well that they never saw her coming until it was too late. If ever someone was an expert at being a snake in the grass, this woman was it. She wanted to know everything about her. What made her who she was? Why did she only hunt certain types? Why was she here? Where had she come from?
So far they’d only gotten snippets of answers, not enough to put the entire puzzle together, but that was about to change. Soon she would make herself known. After all she was passing through their territory and one could only do that for so long without permission. Under normal circumstances she would be expected to introduce herself and ask for hunting privileges. She certainly hadn’t done that yet and it led her to believe that this one, for all her intelligence, might have less experience than she’d hoped. If she could provide what was needed all would be forgiven. There would be no need to ask for permission for anything anymore once the girl’s body was hers. And if she wouldn’t or couldn’t explain the reasons for the things she was doing that wouldn’t matter either. Once the two had become one she would understand everything the young one was doing perfectly. It was just a matter of practicing patience, and after centuries of completing this ritual over and over again, patience was something she had in spades.
Part one:
rachel
Chapter One
It had not taken long to find Charlie Farris. After three teenage girls had gone missing from Halifax and Dartmouth, all from broken drug addicted homes, it was pretty clear, at least to me, that a pattern was forming. After blood influencing one of the girl’s mother’s I had spent some time skulking around the missing child’s room, sifting through her computer and picking up her scent. My search had been worthwhile. The girl, whose name was Cindy Loist, had been exchanging emails and pictures with one Charlie Farris. They were to meet at the Alderney Gate ferry terminal, down by the playground shaped like a pirate ship, from there he would pick her up and take her to his studio. He was going to make he
r a model, and Cindy Loist, anxious to escape the hell she lived in, thought she had found her way out.
I picked up Cindy’s scent within moments and followed it to a small house. It was white with red trim and was in such a state of disrepair that a wrecking ball would have been the remodelling method of choice. Certainly not the fashion gateway of the young girl’s dreams.
As I sat on the bed I drew in a deep breath. She had been here alright, although she certainly wasn’t here now. It was only me and Charlie Farris, and a girl, especially a pregnant one, has gotta eat.
I didn’t have to strain too hard to hear the men conversing in the living room. Charlie was discussing the sale and it wasn’t going his way.
“I want five thousand,” he said.
“A thousand,” a second man countered. “Dude, you said she was early twenties. I can’t get a lot of mileage out of a chick like that. Not worth five thousand. You’re dreaming.”
“Bro, I’m telling you, this one’s different. Real high class looking. Dudes are gonna pay serious coin for that pussy. She’s real simple too, believes everything you tell her. Thinks she’s gonna be a lingerie model, and out of all the skanks we’ve had in here she’s probably the first one that actually could. Take her for a test drive if you don’t believe me.”
There was a pause, and as I opened up the second man’s head I could hear him mulling it over. A free pussy he thought, that’s too good to pass up. “Alright man,” he said, “but if I’m not happy, I’m not buying.”
“Deal.”
I positioned myself on my knees and sat facing the entry with my best, ‘deer in the headlights,’ look ready. The door opened and the two large men filled the frame. Charlie was clad all in white from top to bottom. Even though it was late November he was sporting shorts and a thin cotton tee shirt which made the black of his neck tattoos stand out. He was a mean looking son of a bitch, one who had seen many nights in a drug induced haze and was now in some ways permanently brain defunct. The second man was slender, clean cut and bald. He had a lean frame compared to Charlie, but that was ok, both of them had lots of blood to give…I could smell it.
“What’s going on?” I said grasping one of the pillows to my chest at the sight of them. The fear I was feigning made their hearts beat faster and their blood rush reckless and wild through their veins. These men were large predators, much like I was, and I was feeling the same excitement at the prospect of cruelty as they were, although they had yet to discover that.
“Don’t worry sweetheart,” Charlie said sliding his shorts down his legs and pulling his shirt off over his head. The other man did the same, each of them with an erect penis jutting out in front of him. “Just relax ok? You just do what we tell you and you’ll be fine baby doll.”
I backed myself up into the headboard like I wanted to get away. “You didn’t lie,” the stranger said to Charlie.
“Never do.” The two men kneeled on the bed positioning me, one in front and one behind. Perfect. Although convinced they were the alpha males here, the predator was about to become prey.
“You’re gonna do everything we say,” Charlie said, placing his large hand tightly around my neck. “This is your life from now on baby. We own you. Welcome to hell.”
Unable to hold back my pleasure at the entire situation a slight chuckle slipped from my lips. Charlie looked at the other man and smirked. “See? I told you she was simple.” Then, letting go of my neck, he raised his hand high in the air and struck me across the face.
Mistake.
Faster than could be seen by human eyes I had both men by the throat, one in each hand. Charlie behind me, and the stranger in front. My eyes darkened, fangs running out in hunger. With no other vampires to feed from in the city it was humans or nothing and I had been trying to keep a low profile. In the last four weeks I had managed not to garner any attention, although there were times I was sure I came close. With no incidents I was convinced I was flying under the radar and took a moment to pat myself on the back.
The moment of realization is always the sweetest. The moment when the human in your grasp realizes they have come face to face with a living, breathing nightmare. You feel their shock and watch as they connect the dots. Their emotions transitioning quickly from terror to rapture, from disbelief to belief, from incredulity to mortification. It’s the sweetest feeling a vampire can feel and I reveled in it, lived for it, and sometimes wished it would never end. That realization was being driven home for these two men right now, especially the one I was face to face with.
Charlie was suspended in mid-air behind me by his neck and I could feel the muscles in his throat contorting wildly, trying to form a scream. He wasn’t having any luck.
“Shh,” I said turning my head to face him. “Be a good boy, Charlie. I’m gonna eat, then we’re gonna talk.” The once fearsome man, now hanging in the air by a woman’s hand, was kicking and flailing his arms wildly. “Stop that, or I’ll kill you first. Understand? Stay still you’re annoying me.” With that Charlie stopped trying to get away. The only movement from his body was the trembling caused by his fear. Still annoying, but I had learned there was no use in asking a human who wasn’t blood influenced not to fear you, and so I sucked it up.
My other hand, the one grasping the new guy, loosened slightly. I needed to have access to his throat and so I pushed him down into the bed. His head landed on the pillow and for a moment he looked like any man, ready and waiting for his lover to climb on top of him. I did just that but there would be no more fun sex romps with the willing, or unwilling for that matter. The curtain was coming down on this lowlife boil on the ass of humanity and he knew it. His body knew it too because his proud erection had left him completely and he was busy wetting himself.
“What’s wrong sweetheart?” I said, mimicking the earlier condescending tone in which they’d spoken to me. I no longer needed to hold his throat as I was straddling him now and his fear was holding him down mentally as much as I was holding him down physically. Reaching for him I lovingly stroked his face and then rubbed my cheek against his. “You smell so good, baby.” I licked his neck and he recoiled in disgust, turning his head away. “Don’t be shy. I just want to play. You like to play don’t you? Like to play with all those emotions young girls have, right?”
His heart was thrashing around in his chest so wildly now that if it could have it would have broken free and run away on its own. “You haven’t been playing fair though have you?” I stopped waiting to see if this once cocky gangster turned blubbering mass would actually try to verbalize a response. He was silent except for the whimpering. “I know you haven’t, and that’s not nice. Not nice at all. But you know what? Turnabout is fair play. When you trifle with the innocents there’s always a price to be paid. Trust me, I know. You’ve racked up a debt, and since the humans can’t seem to do it, I’m going to collect.”
And with that I tore a hole in his throat just big enough to place my mouth around. I was starving and didn’t want to lose any of that sweet liquid. In the last four weeks since I’d left Soldiers Cove my blood hunger had grown exponentially. The urgency and frequency with which the cravings hit me were frightening and so I tried to stay ahead of it as much as possible. I had killed at least two, sometimes three people a week, draining them completely. So far I was doing a good job of sticking to the dregs of society, of which Dartmouth had a surprising amount to offer. Not as much as some cities, but definitely enough to keep a girl like me satisfied. I was getting older and so my hunger should be slowing down, at least a little, and so the only explanation for my sometimes seemingly depraved appetite could only be the baby…the baby. I shut my eyes as the thought of him crossed my mind and quickly pushed it back out. I didn’t want to think about it…but it was too late.
Suddenly I was filled with a rage that was now like an old familiar friend. The man had been halfway drained, unconscious and on death’s doorstep when it hit. Feeling the knot of emotion well up inside my stomach, it worke
d its way up my body, until it seemed to jump out of my mouth where it forced my jaws open wider, bringing my fangs back down on the soft flesh and ripping out the throat completely.
The fresh smell of new death filled my nose and a few moments later I was finished. Throwing my head back to swallow the last of the blood that had been lingering in my mouth I realized that I had almost forgotten about Charlie. He was still hanging there, eyes wide in horror and revulsion. I smiled at him. His fear smelled so good I was tempted to forgo the little pow wow session I had planned…almost.
Charlie’s feet dragged on the floor as I walked him over to the small desk in the corner of the room where his laptop was waiting. I sat him down on the chair and took his face in my hands. “Ok, Charlie,” I said reaching into his mind. “Now that you’re sitting in this chair your body is one with it. You are a part of this chair, and can’t get up unless I say it’s ok. Understand?” He nodded slowly as the blood influence did its job. I could sense he was calm now, and would tell me everything I needed to know.
I grabbed a yellow legal pad from my bag and fished out a pen as well, and then sat down playfully on his lap just as if he’d been my high school sweetheart. “Let’s get to work shall we?” He nodded slowly a second time as a tiny speck of drool made its way down his chin. “Alrighty.”
I opened the laptop and went to the video files. Charlie and his friend had been busy, not just kidnapping and raping young girls, but recording it for posterity as well. Who says sentimentality is dead? Not for Charlie Ferris it wasn’t. He and his pal had taped every gruesome, horrible thing they’d done. I hit one of the files and played the first few seconds. A young girl, no more than sixteen, was sitting on the bed I’d just killed on, looking frightened and confused.
“Tell me who this girl is and where I can find her,” I said hitting pause.
The Vampires of Soldiers Cove: The Unborn Page 1