The Vampires of Soldiers Cove: The Unborn

by Jessica MacIntyre

  Christina took the stage and made her way to the end of a small makeshift runway as Joshua handed her a microphone. “Welcome ladies, and thank you for coming. I trust you’ve all had a lovely evening so far?” Applause burst through the room and Christina basked in the love and warmth they were clearly showing her. Even with whatever they had planned here she was still making time for adulation. “Now, just sit back, relax, and enjoy our little show.”

  I backed myself into the far most corner of the room and slid to the floor, hands over my ears. I needed out but a quick scan of the entire room showed all exits physically blocked or barred. Then, with a grand gesture of her hand Christina bellowed, “Hit the lights!”

  The room was thrust into darkness and the shattering of glass breaking as trays clanged to the floor was the only sound. In the dark the women were totally helpless, but the vampires, of course, were not. Every one of my kind descended on the women, biting their necks, spitting out chunks of flesh and letting the humans bleed out. Their screams and final thoughts ravaged my mind. Their fear crippled my senses as I watched them take their last breaths. They were bleeding…screaming. All that blood, but none of the vampires were feeding. Rivers of blood and not one of them took even the tiniest swallow.

  As if it weren’t enough, once the women were dead, the vampires each in turn bit deep into the mother’s protruding bellies and tore them open, reaching in to grab the helpless unborn babies and throw them onto the floor. The display of unnecessary cruelty was too much and I turned my head away, dissolving into the corner of the room, making myself as small as I could. I squeezed my eyes shut trying to block out the last thoughts of the few women left that hadn’t been lucky enough to die instantly. One by one their voices were silenced and soon enough…all were lost.

  Chapter Five

  Silence permeated the air as someone hit the switch for the lights. In the cold glare under the fluorescents the carnage was even more gruesome. I took it in for half a second before turning to face the wall again. It was then I decided to head for the door. My hand had barely touched the makeshift barricade when Joshua flitted to my side.

  “Where do you think you’re going?”

  “Anywhere as long as it’s the fuck away from you people.”

  “Now, now,” a solid female voice said from behind me. I didn’t turn around to face Christina because that would have necessitated coming face to face once again with all the innocents lying dead on the floor. “I wouldn’t have figured you for the sensitive type. I was told you were a natural killer.”

  “Not like this. I kill when it’s necessary.”

  Christina gently placed her hand on my shoulder and came around to face me. Her eyes softened as she spoke. “It was necessary.”

  “You murdered a room full of pregnant women, and you didn’t even feed from them. I don’t call that necessary.” I took a side step in a second attempt to reach the exit but she matched it blocking my way.

  “Trust me, it was,” she said, her voice hardening in frustration. “Something else is necessary too. We need your help with this.”

  “Help? It looks like you’ve succeeded beautifully on your own and now the party is over. What the fuck could you possibly need me to help you with?”

  “Clean up.”

  “What?”

  “That’s right. We need you to set this room on fire. That’s a neat trick by the way. Pretty unique.”

  Anger filled the space of my consciousness and I felt the low, reverberating growl in my voice as I responded to her request. “Set your own goddamn fire. You don’t need a trick for that. Get a match and some gasoline. I’m not helping you cover this up. Clean up your own mess.”

  “We can’t make it burn as hot as you can, and we certainly can’t contain it the way you can. Sure we could do it but there might be…an accident. More deaths if things got out of hand. Know what I mean?” I did. “Come on,” she said taking me by the shoulders and turning me, gently, to face what they had done. The sight of all those women who died so fast that most had their eyes still open in a look of horror, along with their unborn babies dead in pools of blood at their sides, melted my anger into grief. “Go on,” she said. “After this we’ll go someplace fun. Somewhere that you can forget this whole nasty affair. I’m sorry we didn’t make a great first impression, our intentions toward you are nothing but good, I promise.”

  I had only known her for about an hour but it didn’t take a genius to see that a promise from Christina was worth about as much as a promise from a televangelist. All the other vampires were staring at me now, wondering if I’d actually do it, or try to defy this woman. Seeing as how I was in no position to do that I decided to bend.

  “Fine,” I said. “Get everyone out.” With that all of the vampires, the waitresses, waiters and beautifully clothed, albeit bloodstained assistants including Joshua made a quick exit. Only Christina remained. “You should go too. This is going to happen fast,” I said.

  She took a step backward toward the door getting as close to it as she could without actually leaving. “No,” she said dropping her voice to a whisper. “I want to see.”

  “Fine. Stay close to the door. We’ll have to jump for it.” Wanting to get the gruesome task over with as quickly as possible I closed my eyes and reached for my anger once again. There were times when it was hard to find, and thinking this would be one of them I forced myself to push the whole situation down and let another one rise. I thought about Aries, the baby, the look on Gavin’s face the night I left him sitting alone in our kitchen. How badly I wanted to be with him, all the reasons I couldn’t face him and how I wouldn’t be able to stand having him look at me. I had betrayed him and my anger was poised in one direction only…at myself.

  The air hummed and vibrated toward the far end of the room as the flames engulfed the runway and then made their way onto the carpeted floor. Within a few seconds the bodies were melting into masses of jelly, and then into ash. The smell was putrid and vulgar, so much so that Christina covered her nose. The entire room was in flames now and Christina was standing just outside the door watching the whole thing, but keeping a safe distance from the heat. I joined her at the exit, keeping the fire burning from outside the room and watching the blue flames dance and eat everything they touched. The floor was literally melting away.

  “Hey,” she said, “ok that’s good. You can stop now.” There were no bodies left, no furniture, no stage or runway. Nobody would ever know for sure what had happened here, only that there had been a huge fire. “Stop it now. We have to go.” Off in the distance the fire alarm was ringing and voices were coming up the formal staircase. Before I had a chance to pull back the flames Christina grabbed hold and heaved me into an emergency exit stairwell.

  The door shut behind us and she quickly ushered me down and out of the building to where a fleet of black SUVs were waiting. I was quickly shoved into one and Christina took the seat beside me. Giving my head a shake I cleared away the cobwebs of the fire trance and pushed the anger back down into a place where I wouldn’t feel it for the time being.

  “You got a little carried away back there didn’t you?” she said, staring absently out the window toward the harbour lights as we crossed the MacDonald Bridge to head for Halifax. I had no idea where we were going and knew my truck was still in the parking lot at the Holiday Inn, but at this point I could have cared less. “Does it feel good? Is that why you didn’t want to stop?”

  “No, it doesn’t feel good. It never feels good.”

  “What does it feel like?” she said now turning to face me, her blue eyes full of wonder and curiosity.

  “It feels like hate.”

  Christina pushed a loose strand of her long blonde hair behind one ear, raising her eyebrows as she pondered what I’d said for a moment. “Fascinating.”

  Chapter Six

  “You’re still wearing that fucking suit,” Christina said as she emerged from behind a dressing curtain. Joshua spread his arms wide i
n a gesture of defiance.

  “I like it, and you’re the one that said women like a man in a suit.”

  “I said they would marry a man in a suit, they fuck men in leather jackets. Drop the business attire and you’ll eat better, or more exotically at least.”

  The SUVs had been driven into what had looked like a storage unit and we had taken a long darkened staircase down into a dimly lit basement. Somewhere close by the unmistakeable pounding of music and sounds of partying could be heard. “Where are we?” I asked.

  “I’m throwing a party in honor of our little victory tonight. Don’t worry, you’ll fit right in.” Looking at Christina’s wardrobe choice I wasn’t so sure. She had changed from her business casual pantsuit and into leather pants and a lacy black camisole top. The outfit accentuated the length of her legs and slight curve of her hips. The new makeup job she’d given herself completed the look. She gave the impression that she was more of a streetwalker/rock star than the community organizer she’d played the role of earlier. “You wanna change? I’m sure I can find you something different.”

  “No thanks,” I said looking down at my jeans and tee shirt. “I’m happy in this.”

  “Another one with no fashion sense. At least his excuse is that we just dug him up.”

  Joshua smirked and raised his eyebrows at Christina. “You were in a death sleep? How long did it take you to get your memory back?”

  “A couple of months.”

  “Months?”

  “Yes, but I was under there for a hundred and seven years.”

  Christina stretched her hand out and Joshua glided over to hold it like an obedient child. “Our dear Joshua had some control issues, but I think we’ve resolved them, haven’t we?”

  “Of course my love,” he said as he kissed her hand. Then, drawing him even closer, the two of them engaged in a slow passionate kiss.

  “I’ve missed you,” she said stroking his hair. “Every day you were gone I felt a part of myself dormant along with you. Don’t put me through that again.”

  “Never,” he said kissing her hand once more.

  “Good. Now go join the party, I want a few moments with our new friend here.”

  “Of course.” And with that he left us, the music rising and falling as the door opened and closed behind him.

  “Have a seat,” she said motioning to a large red couch behind us.

  “Why am I here?”

  Christina sat at the other end of the couch and stretched her long limbs out, almost touching my thigh with the heel of her black boots. “Would you relax? I can tell by your accent that you’re probably from one of the smaller clans on the island, am I right?”

  I never thought of myself as having any accent at all but apparently I did if Christina had picked up on it. “Yeah,” I said.

  “Which one?” I didn’t answer. “It’s alright, you don’t have to tell me. I understand. You don’t know us yet. Trust me, our intentions are good. We don’t hurt our own kind.”

  “But you can’t say the same for defenceless pregnant women.” I regretted the words as soon as they’d left me. Not knowing this woman I didn’t know what it might take to set her off. I held my breath.

  “It’s alright,” Christina said, sensing my unease. “I know how it must look. But trust me Rachel, it was a job that needed to be done. Those women…it was necessary.”

  Whatever crazy rationalization she was going to give me I wasn’t in the mood to hear it. “Fine,” I said. “How you do things here is none of my business.”

  “Like I said, you don’t have to tell me, but I know something bad must have happened for you to leave your clan. You small towners don’t abandon your group on a whim.” When I fell silent again she placed one heeled boot on the floor using it as leverage to slide her long curvaceous body close to mine. “Hey,” she said, her voice softening, “just spend the evening, be sociable, and then we will leave you in peace. This is my city, and you’re welcome here.”

  I relaxed a tiny bit, sensing her earnestness, but even so, I was sure it was some place I probably didn’t want to belong.

  “Ok,” I said. And with that she stood and opened the door to the next room and held it as I slipped through to the other side and into a world I knew nothing about.

  Chapter Seven

  It was like no place I had ever been before. To say it was a rough crowd would be a gross understatement. Vampires of every build and ethnicity were in what looked like a club. I had never been a partier, and certainly the bars in good old Richmond County were nothing like this.

  There were torrents of them. Some were standing against the walls making out with each other, others were dancing and drinking. I recognized a lot of faces from earlier in the evening at the hotel and now they were here, looking and acting like completely different people. There were several small beds throughout the room as well. None of which were being used for any purpose other than talking at the moment.

  I walked behind Christina as she was greeted warmly by each vampire she passed. She came to a small group up against the bar and a young male with a tall and slender body bowed low to her, his large green eyes lighting up as he raised his brow in a silent question. She nodded and offered him her wrist. Releasing his fangs he bit deeply and began to suck greedily, chewing at her flesh. She let him feed for a good minute and then said, “That’s enough, Nathan. You’ll ruin your dinner.”

  Nathan nodded and wiped his mouth, bowing low once again as a thank you. Christina continued to move around the room, not really talking to anyone, but simply making her presence known as she nodded and smiled. “It’s a good turn out,” she said when we came to where Joshua was standing.

  “They’d be fools not to show up. You’ve provided well, you always have. They appreciate you.”

  “And I them.” Christina was eyeing the room full of vampires the way a doting mother looks upon her children playing at the park. She was beaming with pride at the group.

  “You want to start this now?”

  Joshua rubbed his hands together. “No time like the present.”

  Turning, he gave a thumbs up to a large, black haired and bearded man who looked like a biker. Seeing him, I couldn’t help but think of Daniel. Not only did the man remind me of him, but this seemed like his kind of place. Too bad he had chosen to try and frame Gavin for murder, which led to a chain of events that would rip all of our lives apart. Especially Holly’s. I thought of my sister in law for a moment and felt the pain wedge itself in my heart. I wondered how she was doing with the breaking of the blood bond.

  I shouldn’t be here I thought, I should be with her. I wanted to go to her, to help her as she’d helped me. Duncan had warned me about how awful the breaking of a blood bond could be when he thought I’d be the one experiencing it. It grieved me to know that Holly was suffering. I pushed the thought of it out of my mind. Going home would mean having to subject Gavin to seeing me, and as much as I wanted to see him, it would be selfish to force him to look at me. I could barely look at myself.

  The vampire opened the door and a group of humans were brought in. They had clearly been heavily blood influenced as they were all standing there stark naked and without a tinge of fear or embarrassment. The music stopped for a moment. “Alright everyone. I trust I don’t have to remind you to pace yourselves. Only take what you need, and no more. Everyone gives a little and we all go home happy, including the humans. Kapeesh?”

  A murmur of agreement went through the group, and with that Christina gave a nod of approval. Vampires came forward and selected humans, leading them of in different directions. Some to the corner in the shadows, and some to the beds. Nathan came forward and very intently picked a young red haired beauty. His eyes grew large as they darkened and he seemed not only filled with hunger, but also sadness.

  “Christina,” he said softly, taking the girl by the arm and caressing her cheek. “May I keep this one?”

  “Keep her? Why?”

  “She loo
ks just like…” he broke off. “That is, she reminds me of someone.”

  Christina seemed saddened now too. “I see,” she said. “What’s your name?” she asked the girl.

  The girl spoke without emotion. “Belinda,” she said.

  “Belinda,” Christina repeated. “Very well, Nathan. You can keep her, but keep her well. You’re responsible for her. I don’t want her running amok. Control her, ok?”

  “Oh, thank you Christina,” he said, bowing low as he had done before. “I’ll see that she serves you well.” Christina nodded and Nathan took the girl by the hand leading her off to one of the beds, not just to feed, but to steal her human life without her consent, changing her forever.

  “Are you hungry?” she asked, turning to me. I was. “You look hungry. Won’t you feed with us?”

  “I can’t,” I said. “No disrespect.”

  “None taken. Tell me, is it your moral objection that keeps you from eating with us, or is it just that you’ve not fed without killing for so long that you’re afraid you don’t know how anymore?”

  I swallowed hard trying not to show she’d hit a sore spot. “Perhaps a little of both,” I admitted.

  “I understand,” she said. “Well, there’s plenty to go around if you change your mind.” Christina smiled and flitted off, leaving me alone to watch as the vampires feasted, most of them quietly.

  “What the fuck am I doing here?” I said to myself as I took a seat at the bar, turning my back on the show and lowering my head into my hands. I wanted to get out of there. I wanted more than anything to be back in my own home, in my own bed, with my husband. I closed my eyes and focused on his face once again, concentrating as hard as I could on the image. I saw every line in his brow, every curl, the details of his eyes, his hands, his arms.