“Heather Jacobs. I sold her to Donnie Brown and he lives at 55 Oak Street.”
“Good boy,” I said, stroking his cheek. I wrote down the information and then went on to the next file and hit play again. I didn’t have to ask who this girl was. “Where is Cindy?”
“Sold her to Duane. He owns a club in Montreal. She’s working there now.”
“Working eh?” I said shaking my head. “What’s the club?”
“It’s called Josie’s.”
“Good, thank you honey.” I wrote that piece of information down too. There was only one file left and I took a moment before playing it. “You know,” I said, “I can’t really judge you too harshly. We’re both hunters, it’s just that our prey is a little different.” With that I hit the button once more and let the last video play. I wasn’t ready for what I saw next.
A little girl’s face came into focus. She was no more than twelve and the waste of a human being, whose lap I was sitting on, was getting ready to do something grotesque and unspeakable to her. I was overcome with a great sorrow at first, but it was quickly replaced by horrific fury. “Who is that girl and tell me where to find her,” I said, trying unsuccessfully to keep my voice steady.
“That’s Rosie. Sold her to Joey.” Joey, I had already decided, was going to be my next meal.
I put the legal pad on the desk and turned Charlie’s head around to meet mine, squeezing his jaw slightly, my hands trembling as I tried to keep from breaking it so he could continue on. “Who’s Joey and where does he live?”
“That’s Joey,” he said absently pointing to the bed. “He lives here.”
“Fuck!” I screamed at myself. I had put my hunger ahead of getting answers and as a result a little girl might never be found. “What did he do with her?” I was panicking now.
“Don’t know.”
“You know what? I take back what I said. You and I, we are nothing alike.” I went back into his mind once more, not to free him, but to give him back his fear. Charlie once again had full realization of what was happening and he began to scream. I dressed quickly and stuck the notes I had made into my bag, then I went through the dead, and the soon to be dead, man’s pockets and came out with two large wads of cash in each, both held together by elastic bands.
“Seriously? Wow, you can’t get any more gangster trash than that.” Stuffing both rolls in my bag I had only one item of business left here. I came up behind Charlie and placed my lips so close to his ear that they were slightly touching him and whispered, “Do you know what happens to men who force women to do things they don’t want to do? Men who lie, and use, and rape, Charlie? Do you?” He shook his head violently from side to side.
“They burn.”
I took a deep breath and let the full effect of the rage I’d been pushing down burst forth and wash over me as I set the walls on fire. Charlie was still seated on the chair, naked and unable to move. I took one last look at him as he came to grips with his mortality and left the bedroom. With the sounds of his screaming and crying now filling the house I headed for the front door. The entire building would explode at any second, and I wanted to be nowhere near it when it did. I was about to turn the knob when a faint sound caught my attention.
“Help!” a small voice cried. I knew at once who it was.
“Rosie…”
Chapter Two
The small cry was coming from a door underneath the staircase. A staircase that was now engulfed in flames. As Charlie sat frozen to his chair, screaming in terror, I ran toward the sound as fast as I could. Closing my eyes I tried to pull the fire back, but the shrieks of both Charlie and the little girl were forcing me to panic.
The small door was secured with only a padlock and I ripped it from the doorframe with no trouble at all, at the same time chiding myself for not sweeping the house when I arrived for another sign of life. Silence had become something I so coveted that I sometimes forgot about the ability to open my distance hearing for extra information. I grabbed the little girl, who was dressed only in a small thin nightgown and bolted for the door. As we passed the bedroom her head turned and she saw the drained and battered corpse on the bed, along with Charlie, whose skin was melting off as his cries filled the house over the sound of crackling wood and metal.
Rosie herself then began screaming even more frantically. I pulled her outside and shielded her with my body as the more typical looking flames changed into the familiar bright blue that meant an explosion was imminent. Ducking behind the pickup across the street, we stayed crouched until the bang let loose. In the few precious seconds after it happened, and I was sure we were clear of any falling debris, I took Rosie’s little head in my hands and forced her to look me in the eyes.
“It’s ok,” I said probing her frightened mind. “Everything’s ok here. Your name is Rosie, right?” She nodded slowly. “Ok Rosie, I’m going to open the door, and we’re going to get in the truck…calmly…and drive away. Understand?” She nodded slowly again. I jerked the handle and the door of the old pickup creaked as it opened. Rosie stepped up and slid over to the passenger side while I got behind the wheel. As we drove off into the night I caught a glimpse of the neighbours, all beginning to filter outside, to watch the ratty old house that had once stood there light up the entire street with its uncharacteristically bright heat.
“Are you alright?” I asked her when we got a few streets away. “Did you get hurt? Did that man hurt you?” Children were easily blood influenced and Rosie nodded slowly in the affirmative once more. “Of course he did,” I said to myself. “That’s a stupid question.”
I kept driving until we came to a gas station in Highfield Park. At 2 O’clock in the morning it was the only thing open. Parking next to a bus stop where the truck could be hidden from view by the trees on the side of the property fence I scanned the gas station and latched on to the brain of the lone employee. A woman. She was thinking about her kids. Based on that I deduced this would be a good place to let Rosie out.
“Ok, listen to me,” I said, turning her toward me once again. “When I say the word you’re going to get out of this truck and walk into that gas station. Tell the lady who you are and ask her to call the police. Got it?” Rosie hesitated for a moment as her large round eyes shifted, showing a small flicker of fear. It was clear that she’d been traumatized, and since Charlie and Joey were dead there was really no point in letting her suffer with those awful memories for the rest of her life. I may not have arrived in time to save her from the horror she so unjustly had to experience, but I could do something about it. I could wipe it all away.
“You won’t remember any of it. You won’t remember anything those men did to you, ok? You’ll just go on. Go on and be happy from now on…understand?” Again I got the nod I was looking for, and with that I took off my black hoodie, checking the pockets first to make sure they were empty, and slipped it on her. “Go,” I said. Then I watched as the tiny, barefoot creature climbed silently out of my truck and disappear in front of the fence that was shielding me from view. I opened up my distance hearing and listened until I heard the attendant begin to talk to Rosie.
“Holy shit! Where did you come from, sweetheart?”
“Please call the police,” Rosie said in a controlled monotone. Just then the blood influence lifted and she began to cry.
“What happened honey?”
“I don’t remember.” I sat there for a moment and sighed, relieved that this night was almost at an end. Then, putting the truck in drive, I did a U turn taking me back onto the quiet, late night highway.
Chapter Three
I stood in the bathroom of the cheap motel room I’d been renting for a long time and examined myself in the mirror. The reflection hadn’t changed, and yet I was seeing something different. Something foreign and abstract. I couldn’t say for sure what it was. Perhaps it was the thing growing inside my body, the thing I tried very hard to push out of my mind any time the thought had a chance to creep in.
&nb
sp; Running the cold water in the sink I splashed myself in the face with a healthy dose of it, not that it mattered since temperature had no meaning anymore, but it just seemed like the thing to do. It didn’t matter that I had just anonymously left the information I’d scribbled down on the legal pad under the windshield wiper of a police cruiser. I had been careless and had almost killed a little girl tonight.
I slammed my fist into the porcelain sink, leaving a slight crack in it as I did, and headed back out toward the bed. Sleep was something that was proving to be a nightly occurrence in the last four weeks. This, again, probably had to do with the thing I didn’t want to think about.
There would be something else to beat myself up over before the night was done too because sitting on my bed was a man in a business suit, scrolling through his smart phone. I was beginning to think I might be better off just leaving the distance hearing open.
I hadn’t even heard this guy with just regular vampire ears. Clearly I was getting sloppy.
The rage built and filled the frame of my physical body in less than a second and I flew at the man, ready to tear his head from his shoulders. I could not have been more surprised to find myself hanging in mid-air, as I had held my two victims tonight, at the hands of this man…another vampire. I panicked and struggled to get his hand free of my throat, bucking wildly with my legs as well. The strange vampire didn’t even look up, but simply kept on scrolling through his phone, amused at something he was seeing.
“Look,” he said holding it up to show me a picture of a small kitten with her paw on the nose of a large Great Dane. “That’s cute eh? Kitty is in charge there. The one with the claws always is.”
I released my fangs ready to defend myself and began jerking my legs out in front of me in an attempt to kick him; he simply squeezed my neck tighter. “Fangs away please,” he said, sounding like an annoyed headmaster. “I’m going to put you down, and we’re gonna have a talk, alright?” he said. I shivered. Those were the exact words I’d said to Charlie earlier this evening. “Are we clear?”
I nodded as best as I could with his hand around my neck and rescinded the fangs. Whoever this guy was he was obviously much older and stronger so there was no point in picking a fight. When he was satisfied he opened his hand and I landed on the bed with a soft thump.
I coughed a few times, clearing away the damage done to my throat. “Who are you?” I said.
He held out his hand and gave me his best door to door salesman smile. “My name is Joshua. I’m here as a representative of the Halifax Vampire Authority.”
I reached out and shook. “Shit,” I said to myself
Joshua laughed politely. “Shit indeed. We’ve had our eye on you for a few weeks now. It’s nice to finally meet you Miss..?”
“Landry, Rachel,” I said.
Joshua turned to his smart phone once again and began making notes. “Rachel Landry. Got it. Ok Miss. Landry, I’ll just need you to answer a few questions, since obviously you’re not just passing through Halifax. I mean from what we’ve seen it looks like you plan to stay. Correct?”
“I can move on if you want me to.”
“Oh no, I didn’t say that. You’re welcome here. We just need to set a few ground rules. Actually Christina will be setting most of those with you.”
“Christina?”
“Yes, she’s the leader of the Halifax Authority.”
“But we’re in Dartmouth,” I said, pointing out which side of the bridge we were on.
Joshua laughed again. “Amalgamation you know. We used to have separate organizations, but times being what they are, we decided a few years back to pool our resources. Unlike the municipality it’s worked out quite well for us.”
“Well, good for you I guess,” I said, stumbling for an appropriate response.
“So,” he said continuing his love affair with his phone, “tomorrow night, Holiday Inn on Wyse Road at eight. Christina is looking forward to meeting you.”
A feeling of absolute dread washed over me and I decided that perhaps now would be a good time to high tail it out of Dartmouth. I could keep on the road to New Brunswick, or take the Confederation Bridge to PEI, as long as I was moving further away. Going back to Soldiers Cove was the last thing I wanted to do. “I think I have plans, but thanks.”
Joshua’s business like demeanour shifted all at once and in half a heartbeat his fangs were out and his eyes blackened with anger. “It’s not a request,” he said grabbing my throat once again. “Understand?” He let go and I doubled over on the bed coughing and sputtering once more, nodding as I did to indicate my understanding.
“Good,” he said morphing back into his school teacher persona. “We’ll see you then. It’s a very special occasion you know. Not every vampire in town got the invite…be happy.” And with that he turned and let himself out.
As I lay on the bed, rubbing my neck and feeling the bone inside shift back into place, I realized that all the patting myself on the back for being careful and flying under the radar had been foolish. I had been watched almost the whole time. The confidence I’d gained over the past few weeks from being able to take care of myself evaporated and the sick realization that I really didn’t know what I was doing dawned on me.
Closing my eyes tightly I pictured the face of the one person I wanted with me now more than anything in this world…Gavin.
Chapter Four
I parked my rickety old truck in the small lot of the Hotel and scowled at myself in the rear view. The Holiday Inn wasn’t exactly the most sophisticated hotel in the world, but the cars parked there were all fairly recent models and so the old pickup stood out. I promised myself I’d try to ditch it soon and drive something else. Having something like this hadn’t exactly helped me stay hidden.
Walking into the lobby I spotted a sign that pointed to a grand carpeted staircase which read: CHRISTINA’S WELCOME WAGON PARTY! Standing next to the sign was Joshua, looking just as business like as he had the night before. “Punctual. That’s wonderful. Christina will be so pleased.” He smiled and waved his hand toward the stairs indicating that I should ascend. “The real fun doesn’t start for another few minutes, but you can go up and mingle until then.”
Putting my hand against my stomach I swallowed hard. I didn’t know what he meant by ‘real fun’, but one thing is for sure, whenever you hear a vampire say that it’s usually bad news for someone. As I crested the stairs and looked around I quickly figured out who the bad news would be for. There was a sea of belly bumps in various stages. The ‘fun’ it seemed was going to be for women like me.
The welcome wagon party was actually a large baby shower type event, with multiple vendors peddling their wares to moms-to-be and giving out free merchandise. I wasn’t showing at all yet, but I thought somehow this Christina, whoever she was, must have figured it out.
A smiling young woman with a blonde ponytail and only a slight protrusion from her cutesy overalls stood next to me. She was someone who obviously didn’t have much and was beaming at the large bag of free baby goodies she was holding. “Hey,” she said, showing me her bag. “Are you pregnant? Cause if you are there’s a lot of neat things here. It’s all stuff you’ll need. Isn’t that nice?”
I was too busy scanning the room, trying to figure out who was human and who wasn’t to really take in what she was saying. “Yeah…nice…” It didn’t take long to figure out that all the women were human, and all the staff, vendors, and security were vampires. Whatever was going on here I had a feeling was going to end badly and I didn’t want to see it.
I was about to turn and head back down the stairs when she spoke once more. “When are you due?” the girl said.
“Due?” I hadn’t even thought of that. I hadn’t thought about anything concerning the baby if I could help it.
“Yeah, silly. What’s your due date?”
I did a quick calculation in my head. “Umm…July or August…I guess…I’m sorry, I have to run.”
“Hey, get
your stuff first,” she called as I began to walk away. I turned and there before me was a tall striking blonde woman. Her large blue eyes lit up as the smile spread across her face, making the cleft in her chin stand out. Her hair was halfway down her back and she was tall, too tall to be wearing the heels she was sporting. She looked like an amazon woman.
“She’s right. At least get your free gift bag first.” She extended her hand to me. “Hi. I’m Christina.” I shook to be polite as she squeezed my hand a little too firmly.
Turning her attention to the other women she cleared her throat and announced, “Ladies, if you’ll just head into the ball room toward the back we’re going to put on a little fashion show for you. Then we’ll have a draw and three lucky ladies will win a gift certificate to the maternity shop that sponsors us.”
An excited chatter spread through the room. Just like the first woman I’d met none of these women seemed to be very well off and so the boon of winning free, beautiful clothes was just too good to pass up.
As the women headed into the ballroom Christina put her arm around me and walked me in the same direction, intentionally lagging behind the crowd. “This is a big and important night for us. I’m happy you could be here.”
“Why?” I said.
“Because, you impress me. Impress and surprise me actually. That’s a rare treat for someone my age.” We stood in the doorway of the room for a moment and watched as all the humans found a seat. “No swallowing ok? You don’t want to take that chance, and plus we’ll be going someplace a lot more fun after this is over.” With that she let go of me and we went inside. As we slipped into the room an attendant very quickly and quietly barred the door and stood in front of it.
Lines of vampire waiters and waitresses were making rounds, giving out samples of food and drinks on elegant silver trays. The thoughts of these women filled my mind and as I began to panic I found I couldn’t block them out. Most were thinking how nice this was. They were happy and relaxed…and about to die. I put my hands over my ears trying to block out the sound, sickened at the event there was no choice but to witness.
The Vampires of Soldiers Cove: The Unborn Page 2