After coughing up much more blood and black fluid, Dustin went to his hands and knees spitting long black and crimson lines of drool from his mouth and gasping in between. Jonathan turned to Toby.
"Stay right here. I'll be back. I need to check the status out there real quick. If we're clear to go, we'll need to move quick. So try and help Dustin get up on his feet, okay?"
Toby nodded. "Hurry."
"I will."
Then he was gone and Toby was pulling Dustin up with all the strength he had and some he didn't until Dustin was up and sitting on what was left of the bottom bunk of the bed. His skin was so white it contrasted starkly with the black hair of his beard and on his head. He looked like a man who had just came in from an ice water swim. And that's when Toby noticed the gash in his neck. The flesh was mangled from where the vampire's mouth had been pulled away from its target with great force due to the stake gun.
If Dustin didn't get help soon, he would surely get an infection from hell, as far as Toby could tell. After several long gasps and a strange sort of belch, Dustin looked up at Toby with a vacant look in his eyes.
"Dustin? You still with me, man?"
Dustin simply stared back in response as if he didn't know what to say or how to say it. All the while it was mostly quiet outside of the room and Toby wasn't sure if that was good or bad. Nonetheless the lack of sudden movements gave him some relief from the stiff tension that was causing his every muscle to twitch. Just as quickly as he'd disappeared, Jonathan came rushing back into the room followed by a woman in a white T-shirt and tight jeans with auburn hair pulled up into a ponytail. Toby felt a rush of guilt as he found himself unexpectedly checking out her body as she kneeled in front of Dustin who sat, mouth gaping and confused.
She shined a pen light in both of his eyes and tried speaking to him with the same result Toby had. Toby nearly laughed at the thought that if a beautiful woman couldn't get Dustin’s attention maybe this really was serious. But as funny as that was it was painfully and frighteningly true. But not as frightening as what happened next.
The woman pulled out another tool Toby couldn't quite make out from a belt at her hip. Then with the flip of a switch and a deep swoosh, a directed blue flame shot out from the tip of the blowtorch and she began to burn the flesh of Dustin's neck wound and the sound and smell of it sent Toby vomiting in the corner of the room.
In the middle of nearly choking on his own vomit, Toby couldn't unhear the squealing torturous screams that came from Dustin as they did whatever it was they were doing to his wound. Jonathan was trying to talk over the sounds Dustin was making.
"It's okay, Dustin. We have to do this to keep infection from spreading. Please hold still. Jolie's almost done." The blowtorch went out and all that was left was the sad weeping moans of a child coming from Dustin as he pushed at the two adversaries trying to wrap something around his neck. Toby called out for him and Dustin became distracted just long enough for Jonathan to grab hold of him and let Jolie finish dressing the wound with a thick tan gauze.
Watching Dustin in this condition sent a ripple of fear through Toby that nearly sent him to his knees. Dustin was a strong man, one Toby had looked up to as far back as he could remember. It's a staggering thing to see as a child when your role model is crushed down to their weakest parts and unable to fend for themselves. The cold splash of tears against his arm made Toby jump. He watched as Dustin slowly rocked back and forth, eyes scrunched shut and mouth bubbled up like a baby's first cry.
Chapter 33
Echoes of War
Hank watched from the other side of the huge cavern as the vampires and the Foederati finished planning. He knew he should be paying attention, that he should be doing his part to help, but none of it mattered to him as long as Toby's life was in danger. From time to time, Ishan would send his red glaring eyes in Hank's direction. And it was all Hank could do to sustain that gaze. He didn't have the strength to anyway. And what did it matter if he did.
When they were spreading out and saying their goodbyes, Hank waited patiently in the same spot he'd been watching them from. Many of the Foederati had given him solemn looks and one of them had even nodded at him. They knew him. At least they thought they did. Hank thought of the message he'd gotten loud and clear from them on the way to the airport. The old man.
It took a while, but when they were finally gone, Hank made his way to the Queen's quarters. And when he was just outside of the entrance, he heard the familiar sounds of sex. He would have been surprised that his other senses hadn’t caught it first, but lately the more his eyes and ears had healed, the more that other vision had faded away. His sense of manners tried to hold him back, but his overwhelming worry for his child won out. Without a word or a knock he stepped into the room.
Ishan and the Queen rolled on the ground, her legs straddling him and their faces wet with each other's blood. As they rolled and grunted, the Queen opened her eyes and looked straight at Hank with no sense of embarrassment or anger. In fact she gazed at him with an inviting passion. It was all Hank could do to hold back the animal within him to which she was calling.
He thought of Toby and his resolve returned.
"I need to know how to stop what's going to happen." His voice echoed off the cave walls and Ishan immediately stopped, finally noticing Hank was in the room. The next second his naked body was shooting at Hank in a pale screaming blur. But before Hank could even make a defensive stance, Ishan's body stopped in mid air as if it had hit a brick wall and he fell to the ground in a heap.
"It is time you learned to share, my love. It is time you understood the significance of the Penitent's place among us."
Ishan stood crouching, eyes burning holes into Hank.
Hank didn't care about his significance, Ishan's grudge, or anything else that didn't help him save his son.
"What can I do to save him?"
"Young one, you should know by now that knowledge is the best weapon against the future. You've already saved my children in the desert, what makes you think you can do nothing to stop what you see now?"
"Because what I see is me doing the killing. And I don't understand why."
The Queen let out a long sigh. Ishan stood between them still, not quite as tense as he was before, but on alert still to some degree.
"I can't give you all the answers, young one. But what I can tell you is that you will have the opportunity to save your son. Nothing in the future is set. Remember this and you will be victorious always."
"But how do I stop—"
"No more questions, child. The time will come for you to choose and you will make your own fate. Now... if you will not join us then you must leave us." Ishan glanced back at her then glared back at Hank. Hank had no intention of joining them. He returned Ishan's gaze with the most solemn expression he could manage given the situation but it seemed to do no good. So, with that, he turned and left the room.
* * *
The elevator below the Blue Mermaid came to a jarring halt. Marcus waited patiently for the rusty old doors to screech their way open. They parted to reveal a red sea of a whole new kind spread out all over the floors and the wall of this place. Bodies, partial and complete, lay disheveled in heaps scattered across the whole of the place. As soon as the air hit him, Marcus caught a familiar scent. It was the one he was looking for. But it wasn't. The blood he had tasted before wasn't completely human. This scent had the same flavor but was purely human. Whoever's blood it was, they were closely related to the bare-footed man.
And the bare-footed man was closely related to... Marcus knew, he mustn't let his thoughts betray him. Bellona could read him here just as well as she could anywhere else. So he closed his thoughts as he continued to search the place for those who might still be alive and able to talk. Willingness wouldn't matter; he knew how to coerce well enough.
He decided to let the strange scent lead him. It dragged him along the main hall until another hallway took hold and brought him to a small ro
om that had been used as living quarters. Someone must have died in this room, though he knew it couldn't have been the one he was particularly interested in because that one's smell was faint. But the sheer amount of blood from one person that caked the floor and the walls couldn't have left them with enough to survive.
Yet no body had been left behind.
And at least one human being had escaped this room alive, more likely two. Marcus was even beginning to doubt his original summation and wonder if perhaps the man whose blood was nearly suffocating his senses hadn't made it out alive somehow as well. There was no way to be entirely sure. He turned on his heel and left the room heading back toward the main hall. That was when he caught a whiff of overpowering fear and turned to see the Imperial soldier waiting to address him.
"What is it?"
"Sir, we've found a survivor. You said to let you know—"
"I know what I have said, there's no need to repeat it to me, bring me to him at once."
"It's not a he, sir. Her name is Megan Rustle. We believe she's the wife of one of the local leaders here."
Marcus merely glared at the officer who took the cue instantly and began leading the way. They came to a small opening in a corner between the main hall and yet another hall that Marcus hadn't yet investigated. In the corner, lying like a pile of old clothes, a young woman with bleached blonde curly hair and gray roots was taking deep breaths over and over again as though she were breathing in pure gravel. Her legs were obviously broken and there was a large gash where her shoulder met her neck pooling with fresh blood.
Marcus knelt down in front of her and examined her face. As he looked her over, her eyes began to wander over to his. She had a look of curiosity mixed with pleading.
"Where is the place they call 'the hive'?"
Her eyes went out of focus for a long moment then locked onto his again as her mouth formed a small yet attractively strong smile.
Marcus laughed. "I see. Well, let's see just how quiet you are once I've started to persuade you." He reached down and grabbed ahold of her knee just above where the leg was obviously broken and pushed down slowly. Her voice started to rise from a moan to a scream the further he pressed. "Again—and mind you I can do this all night—where is the place they call 'the hive'?" He let go of her leg then and watched as she squeezed her eyes shut and sobbed, begging for the pain to stop in some monosylabic nonsense Marcus couldn't quite understand.
"I said," this time he thrust several of his fingers into her shoulder wound and spread them slowly pulling at the flesh and widening the wound, "where is the place they call 'the hive'?" Megan let out a gurgling sort of scream that, when Marcus was human, might have sent chills through his spine. Next he tried tearing the wound further and pressing on the open nerve. But she didn't answer. At least not with any useful words.
Hours passed as he tore out fingernails, veins, and entire muscles to no avail. Finally he held the long blade that had been sheathed at his side to her eye and brought it closer and closer slowly until he lost all patience and shoved it through her head and killed her instantly. By this point it was maddeningly obvious that she wasn't going to talk. Her body twitched, head bolted to the wall with the blade, as Marcus stood up and brushed off his hands.
There would have to be another way to find the other vampires. They couldn't be far. And maybe, just maybe they could wait for others to return. Though, he doubted he would get a difference in response than what Megan had provided. He'd been staring at her the whole time and just noticed it. Her one dead eye peeking through into his soul. He pulled the blade from her head and let her fall in a mess onto the floor then wiped the blade on his tongue and re-sheathed it.
Faint visions from different times throughout Megan’s life flashed in Marcus’s mind. Particular moments of high emotion. Nothing of importance. Nothing that would lead them to the hive.
* * *
The truck was squealing tires as it turned onto Bourbon Street. Jonathan let off the gas some then and seemed to be trying to drive more casually.
“Sit down, Toby, you’re going to draw attention to yourself,” Jonathan said.
Toby sat, still pushing firm on Dustin’s dressed wound. He didn’t look good. Most of his shirt was soaked in blood and he’d been sweating profusely ever since they escaped The Blue Mermaid.
Jonathan took another turn, this time Toby didn’t see what road it was, but he got the distinct feeling they weren’t heading toward a hospital.
“Where are we going?”
“The hive. They’ll be able to help him there.”
Toby wasn’t so sure, but he had no reason not to believe Jonathan. The man had proven to be nothing less than honest and resourceful. The more they drove, the more dark and rural the area became. Before long they were surrounded by tall trees, broken down old trailers and houses and large fields Toby assumed were made of swampland. When they were finally at their destination, they pulled up to a clearing complete with several Darvender trucks parked in chaotic rows along the edge of the forest. The sounds of morning were starting to trickle to life when they opened the doors of the truck. Jonathan came around to the passenger side and pulled Dustin out from the cab. Dustin’s eyes rolled in the back of his head.
Several men and women peeked up from inside the bed of the truck, then jumped out onto the ground and started to help Jonathan with Dustin’s limp body. A couple of them were wounded themselves but not as seriously. One of the men ran off ahead and before long there were vampires there surrounding them, and helping. Toby couldn’t help but hope to see his father soon. He’d missed him more these past days than ever before. Even when he thought his dad would never come back from that awful city in the desert.
Eventually, with the help of several others, Toby followed as they all were helped into the cave entrance. Inside it was a beautiful site to behold, but he logged it all away as he kept focus on Dustin. When they came to a large cavern, the men set Dustin’s body down next to the fire.
“Go get Ishan at once. His healing is needed,” a man Toby did not know said to one of the vampires. Several of them left and Toby did the only thing he could think of to do. He knelt down beside his friend and the closest thing to an uncle he had ever had. He sat there and waited for these people—these vampires to help him. A moment later he found his eyes wandering around the cave until they came to an overwhelming familiar sight.
Hank was marching toward him, watching the two of them from beyond the fire, his eyes wet with tears. Toby got up at once and ran to his father, then embraced him tighter than he ever had before. Hank returned the hug in absolute silence. Toby turned to look back at Dustin and pulled at Hank’s hand to follow him but Hank wouldn’t budge.
“Dad, please.”
“No, son. Wait. It’s best that you and I wait here.”
A moment later a short vampire with long black hair wearing some sort of strange tribal outfit came in and many of the vampires and humans bowed before him. The vampire leaned down and put his hands on Dustin’s chest and like magic in so many stories and films Toby had experienced, a golden glow began to emanate from the vampire’s hands and go into Dustin’s body. Almost immediately, Dustin took in a great gasp of air and sat up like a man jolted awake.
The short vampire smiled and patted Dustin on the back and said something Toby couldn’t hear. Then the vampire stood up to leave and turned just for a second toward Hank and Toby. His expression was a complex one that Toby couldn’t quite understand. But in that long moment of examination, Hank’s hand squeezed Toby’s shoulder firmly. Then the vampire smiled again, nodded, and looked away and Hank’s hand loosened considerably.
“Who was that, Dad?”
“That’s Ishan, the leader of the vampires—well, sort of. Kind of a long story, son.” Toby decided to take his father’s word for it. They exchanged a look of joy then and ran back to be with their old friend.
* * *
It hadn’t been hard to find them. All she’d had to do
was ask around. Everywhere she went people were glad to tell her when they last saw the vampires. Some of them might have even realized what they were talking to, but most of them she was sure were too busy being mesmerized by whatever power she was able to hold over them. Jackie had always wanted that kind of attention. She’d been called a whore many times in high school, but what did those assholes know about her? Just because she wanted some attention from time to time and was willing to do just about anything to get that attention didn’t make her a whore. It made her ambitious. At least that’s what she wanted to think.
The Avengers were exactly how she had pictured them. Tall, strong warriors ready for battle. The first one she met, Ovidius, was now leading her to the head guy he called Marcus. All of their names seemed to end in “us.” She laughed at this and Ovidius gave her a strange glance. She stifled the laugh as best as she could. A few minutes later she was standing in front of an even taller man with broad shoulders. He wore a long blade at his side and a strange variation of the Imperial uniform. Ovidius introduced her as “some crazy girl who’s been looking for us.”
Marcus gave her a long look. He seemed to notice what mostly no one else had instantly. Jackie wasn’t even sure Ovidius had noticed. Marcus grabbed her jaw and squeezed so that she had no choice but to reveal her fangs. His face was full of confusion then. It was as good a time as any, so Jackie took advantage of it.
“I hear you’re looking for those other vampires.” She smiled as Marcus raised an eyebrow. “If you can promise me I’ll be safe,” Jackie stuffed her shaking hands under her arms, “I can tell you how to find them.”
Part Four
Communion
Chapter 34
Gathering to Die
Dustin sat opposite Hank in Hank’s small quarters, the drink in his hand still mostly full. He was obviously trying to take in everything Hank had told him and it was taking some time to sink in.
Empire of Blood (Book 2): Fading In Darkness Page 20