The bodies of the Mad they had taken care of littered the grass. At some point, Caitlin thought, they should probably shift the bodies. It might make the airship a bit more homely. For now, though, she was in the same court as Kain. She was starving.
Rustling sounded from among the trees. They turned like meerkats in the direction of the noise. Tom and Laurie stood quickly as two glowing red eyes peered out of the shadows. “Mad!”
Joe scrambled and looked for his gun.
Jaxon didn’t bat an eyelid.
A second later, Mary-Anne stepped into the firelight, clutching her stomach and laughing. “You should have seen your faces!”
Caitlin and Kain joined her laughter, watching Laurie, Tom, and Joe flush red.
“That’s not funny,” Tom protested, his indignation very evident.
“You’re wrong,” Mary-Anne replied, turning back to the shadows and grabbing her spoils from the bushes. She dragged the corpses of two deer across the grass and let them drop near the fire.
“Two?” Laurie said, her face screwing up in disgust. “Seems a bit excessive.”
“One for you all, and one for me.” Mary-Anne sounded smug.
Caitlin noticed the red stains on her chin. She looked at the deer and saw two puncture marks on its neck. One of the deer looked a lot more deflated than the other, as though its life juice had been drained clean from it.
“Back to vegetarianism, I see,” she commented, remembering how Mary-Anne had been when they first met. Over her long years alone, she’d become a shell of her former self, afraid to drink from humans for fear of catching the Madness.
“For now,” Mary-Anne said. “I’m hardly going to go around drinking any of you guys now, am I? Besides, I kind of miss it in a way. Animals have their own… tang. More sinewy and lean than human blood.”
Laurie grew pale and covered her mouth with her hand. “Please stop.”
“What?” Mary-Anne smiled. “Blood talk freaking you out?”
Laurie nodded, the sound of a dry heave hidden behind her palm.
They made short work of the deer carcass, slicing into the meat and dishing out chunks which they held on sticks over the fire. Tom and Laurie, who had always been used to cooking in their former homes in Ashdale, took a little longer to adjust to the technique. Mary-Anne showed them how to revolve the meat slowly so that it cooked evenly on all sides. And, after a couple of occasions where the meat started to blacken and catch fire, Tom and Laurie finally managed to rotisserie their food.
Joe, on the other hand, was more proficient in the art of cooking. At one point, he actually disappeared into the brush, coming back several minutes later with a handful of herbs. “Y’alls wants some zing to your foods, then gives these a nice ol’ sprinkle.”
And, by Lord, was he right.
“Mmm,” Caitlin said, her eyes rolling back in her head as she chewed. “Holy crap, Joe. This is delicious.”
“Get a room.” Kain grinned.
“Maybe we will.” Caitlin winked at Joe.
He froze, suddenly uncertain of what to do or say.
They all laughed, and she took pity on him. “I’m kidding.”
When the laughter died, Laurie said, “So, Caitlin, I suppose you’re going to actually tell us what we’re doing here at some point? I thought we came to hunt some Unknowns, not shack up in an airship.”
“Hunt seems a bit excessive,” Mary-Anne said.
“And Caitlin prefers Kitty-Cat,” Kain interjected. “Right?”
Caitlin scowled, then drew out her map. She held it in her lap, displaying it to the others. She pointed at a small circle. “We’re currently here, in this patch of woods—or thereabouts.” She dragged her finger an inch or so to the right to where a picture of a skull with fangs had been crudely drawn. “This is where we need to go.”
“The vampire is that close?” Kain asked. “How the fuck did we miss it last time we were here?”
“Have you ever read a map, Pooch?” Mary-Anne tutted. “Just because it’s a short distance on there doesn’t mean that it’s a short distance in reality. That’s got to be…about three klicks, by my reckoning.”
“What are klicks?” Kain asked.
Mary-Anne opened her mouth to speak but was beaten to it by Tom. “A klick is an old military unit of measure. It means about a kilometer.”
Kain’s eyebrow raised. “Then why not just fucking say, ‘three kilometers’?”
Tom and Mary-Anne looked at each other, both unsure of the answer.
Eventually, Tom suggested, “Because it’s quicker?”
“Surely it’s only quicker if you both know what it means,” Kain exclaimed.
“Now, now.” Caitlin found herself laughing despite the edge of seriousness that nagged at her subconscious. “To go back to Laurie’s question, this is as good a spot as any to rest up before we carry on. Apart from Mary-Anne, no one here has had any experience with vampires in the last several decades. We don’t know what could be waiting for us out there.”
Mary-Anne chipped in. “With any luck, we could merely be in for another vegetarian vamp. Y’know, if they’ve been smart enough. But there’s no telling whether we’ll be dealing with a good guy or a bad guy. The Queen Bitch has already eradicated the Forsaken and the Nosferatu, but I’ve seen how the Madness affects vampires. It sure ain’t pretty.”
Kain shuddered. “Boy, you’re not wrong there.”
“Hold on,” Tom said around a mouthful of food. He wiped the grease from the meat that had landed on his lips. “Who’s the Queen Bitch?”
“And what are Forsaken and Nosferatu?” Laurie added.
“Ah,” Mary-Anne said simply, leaving them hanging in their shared curiosity.
Caitlin leaned forward with interest. She had heard Mary-Anne mention the Queen Bitch several times now, always during one event or another, but she had yet to divulge who she was.
Mary-Anne sat up straight. “The Queen Bitch, or Bethany-Anne, was a great and powerful vampire. One of the greatest our kind has ever seen. With legs which stretched to the stars, a yearning for Justice and peace, and an unmatched tongue for the vulgar, the Queen Bitch became the visionary and the leader for all things vampire. Practically a deity.”
“Wow,” Laurie marveled. “More powerful than you?”
“Oh, yes. I am nothing akin to our Queen.”
Caitlin tried to imagine it. When she had first met Mary-Anne, the vampire had lived off animal blood for years, and she’d become a shell of what a vampire could be. She had then seen what human blood had given her body, several fights displaying just how fast and powerful the blood made her. But to imagine another vampire, tall and beautiful, able to switch her powers and take on the world. Now that sounded like something special.
“How did she get so strong?” Tom asked.
“There are several theories, but I don’t know which is closest to the truth. We think that Bethany-Anne was blessed with the blood of Michael, the ‘Dark Messiah’—her creator, and the first vampire to have walked the Earth. With every birth of a new descendant, the power of the lineage weakens. Only a taste directly from the source would grant that strength, alongside other powers.”
They were all enraptured now. Even Jaxon sat at Caitlin’s side, his gaze glued to Mary-Anne and ears listening intently. His tongue hung goofily out the side of his mouth.
“What kind of powers are we talking?” Laurie asked.
Mary-Anne thought hard, then shrugged. “Rumor tells of many. That Bethany-Anne could walk in the sun. That she could cross great distances in the blink of an eye. That she could hypnotize, mesmerize, and manipulate with nothing more than thought.” She waved her hand. “Of course, it’s impossible to tell how much of that is true anymore. My creator told of her legend, and his creator before him. Whatever happened, or whoever she was, she’s not on Earth anymore.”
“Where did she go?” Caitlin asked, unable to hold her tongue. A horrid thought struck her. “Did the Madness take her? W
hat happened to Michael?”
“I don’t know,” Mary-Anne said. She looked up at the stars.
“I once heard that she’s up there fighting the Kurtherians,” Kain added, joining Mary-Anne in looking skyward.
“Who knows?” Mary-Anne shrugged. “Maybe. Then again, maybe she was nothing but a legend. All that we do know is that she’s gone now, as elusive as a snowflake.”
Caitlin closed her eyes, trying to remember why it all seemed so familiar. A woman and a man, both vampires. She had seen the two before, standing side-by-side with their fangs extended, and a group of men and woman looking up at them in awe. To her irritation, she couldn’t place the memory.
“And the Forsaken?” Laurie prodded, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear. “The Nosferatu?”
“Bad vamps,” Kain said, his eyes dreamy as if lost in some far-off memory. “The Forsaken were the vamps who chose evil over good, the monsters who chose destruction over repair. The Nosferatu were…well…no more than vampiric monstrosities with a lust for blood. I’ll say no more. It’s better that their memory dies as they did.”
A wave of silence passed around the fire as they all fell deep into thought.
“Bull-shyeeeet,” Joe said suddenly. “Ain’t no vamps can walk in the daylight, let alones suck my big toe. Poppycock. Stories for the kiddies. You show me proof, and I’ll kiss Violet’s blistered lips.”
Mary-Anne glared at Joe.
“I’ve seen them,” Caitlin exclaimed. “The Queen Bitch and the Dark Messiah. On the governor’s wall in his quarters—where we found the map. A poster of a woman with dark hair and a dark-haired man, side-by-side. Could that be them?”
Mary-Anne nodded. “That’s definitely them. Or, at least, how they were pictured to be. I never had the privilege of meeting them myself, but my creator certainly spoke highly of Bethany-Anne.”
“Bull-shyeeeet,” Joe repeated quietly, folding his arms and appearing to sulk.
Caitlin laughed, watching the small man as he lowered his hat over his face. She grabbed another chunk of meat from the deer and turned it slowly over the flame. As she ate and let the meat nourish her body, she caught Laurie stifling a yawn in the fire’s flickering glow.
“You should rest up,” she suggested. “There’s a hidden entrance to the captain’s quarters just over there. We can all fit in there for tonight.”
Kain’s mouth fell open. “I wondered where you kept disappearing to last time.”
“There were over twenty of us last time. You think I didn’t need a little space and time for myself?” Caitlin winked. “Anyway, it’s warm, it’s shaded, and it’s protected.”
“Ain’t no lunas can get through?” Joe asked, turning to look out at the shadowed trees. “Nones?”
“No lunas,” she assured him. “You’ll be safe.”
“Three guys, and three girls. I like those odds,” Kain commented, narrowing his eyes and scanning the group. His eyes lingered a little too long on Caitlin and Laurie.
“You think of touching me, I’ll pull your cock so hard that you’ll be able to use it as a skipping rope,” Laurie said, standing and disappearing swiftly into the airship.
“Damn, she beat me to it,” Caitlin said with a grin. “And you’re wrong. Guys outnumber girls.”
Kain cocked his head and raised an eyebrow.
“Don’t forget Jaxon.” She giggled, whistled for Jaxon to follow, and headed inside after Laurie.
Kain waited until she had disappeared. He turned to Joe and Tom. “We’ll give them a minute. Let them warm themselves up. Pillow fights. Panties. The whole shebang.”
Mary-Anne rolled her eyes.
Tom shook his head, a coy grin on his face. “Dude, you really don’t know when to stop, do you?”
Kain leaned back, propping himself on the forest floor by his elbows. “It’s all part of my charm, dear sir. It’s all part of my charm.”
Chapter Five
Silver Creek Forest, Old Ontario
Three women and two men, naked from the waist up.
“Nice,” Dylan heard Huckle whisper from behind.
Dylan turned, his brow furrowed and a finger to his lips.
They stood in a small clearing, their arms linked, around a moderately sized pit of sorts. He couldn’t see how deep it was, but the edges of the hole were sharp. One wrong step and they’d slip and tumble. Strange sounds came from within.
What are they doing?
They watched in silence before Dylan indicated for the others to stay where they were as he snuck a little closer, using the protection of the tree boughs for cover. Gently, he eased his bow off his back and nocked an arrow, keeping it pointed at the floor for safety.
A rustling sounded in the trees nearby. He crouched low, looking back at the others and indicating for them to follow suit.
A man emerged from the trees, clutching a mass of pink in his arms. Dylan watched as the others made a space for the new arrival to pass. There was sadness on their faces.
“May the mercy of the greats protect us from the Madness,” the man said. He was skinny, his ribs showing through his skin. He was older than the others, but that wasn’t saying much. None of them looked much older than teens.
“Mercy,” the others repeated.
The man tossed the creature into the pit.
They paused for a moment, each in prayer, spat into the pit, then turned and disappeared back into the forest as more grunts and screeches came from below.
“What the hell was all that about?” Ash said, appearing at Dylan’s side.
“I don’t know,” Dylan whispered. “But we need to follow them.”
“Three women with their tits out?” Ben said. “I’m in agreement.”
“Perv,” Flo tutted.
“Prude.”
“Jesus Christ,” Dylan said as he left the cover of the brush and approached the pit. He could hear the sounds of munching and tearing before he had even gotten a good look.
He stared down into the pit. It fell about fifteen feet into the earth. At the bottom were several Mad, their eyes lighting the darkness. They feasted hungrily on the pig’s body, stopping and smelling the air as they caught Dylan’s scent above them.
A pair of arms grabbed Dylan’s side. He had the sensation of being pushed, his thoughts flashing suddenly to falling before he was dragged back away from the edge of the pit.
“Gotcha!” Ben said, exploding into laughter which he failed to stifle behind his hand.
“You son-of-a-bitch.” Dylan glared at him, his heart still thudding painfully in his chest.
“What? Come on, man. Where’s your sense of humor?”
Dylan pointed into the pit. Ben craned his neck to see below. “Oh. Dude, that’s genius.”
“Genius?”
The others joined them around the edge of the pit, their faces creasing in disgust as they looked at the Mad below who now clawed at the walls, struggling to gain any purchase. Their full attention was focused on the humans above.
“Yeah! Lure the Mad into a big hole in the ground and keep yourself safe. Thin the herd. Genius,” Ben said.
“That is pretty smart,” Flo agreed.
“In which case, let’s catch up with these geniuses” Dylan stopped and thought for a moment. “Genie-i?”
Alice sniggered. “What’s up, genius?”
“What’s the plural of genius?” he asked.
“I think it should be ‘why are we bothering with grammar when we should be following the tribal Mad-catchers?’” Huckle said, grinning at him.
Dylan smiled and nodded. “Okay, but let’s be careful. If there’s one trap here, there’s nothing to say there aren’t any more ahead.”
They left the growling Mad behind and melted back into the brush. They slowed their pace, listening for signs of the group they had just seen. They had moved out of sight, but luckily for the Revolutionaries, Dylan had experience tracking and soon spied their soft footprints leading away ahead.
S
till, he thought, this would have been easier if I had Jaxon here. That pooch can smell a bogey a mile away.
“Come on, Jax.” Caitlin paused once again to find that Jaxon had fallen behind the group. He sniffed at the trunk of an old pine, its base littered with dried leaves.
“Whose great idea was it to bring the pooch?” Tom asked.
“Now that’s just rude,” Kain said with a smile.
“Why does he keep stopping? What is it he’s smelling?” Laurie asked.
“Could be anything,” Caitlin said. “An animal. People. Anything, really. Whatever it is, we should keep alert.”
Jaxon walked around in a circle several times, then cocked his leg up against the tree. A thin stream of urine left a dark trail on the bark.
“Or maybe he just needed to piss?” Kain said.
They had left the airship as soon as they were all awake, fed, and ready. Now, an hour or so into their journey, they were sweaty and warm. The clammy air of the woods grew stifling as the heat rose and the walking seemed more difficult. There had been no sign of any Mad as yet, but that didn’t mean they didn’t have to remain on their guard.
Caitlin consulted her map often along the way. She relied on Tom’s sense of direction and the position of the sun to guide them towards the place they were looking for. Joe wandered along quietly at the back, trailing them with his shotgun held over his shoulder.
They reached an area of what appeared to be flat grass, only realizing as Tom’s foot slipped into the water that it was actually a small pond, overgrown and stagnant. Its surface was now deceptively covered in a thick carpet of moss and grime.
“Easy now.” Caitlin pulled Tom back.
“Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it.”
Kain tossed his canteen to her. “Here. Fill her up, would you?”
Caitlin looked into the boggy pond. The small area of water that was visible from Tom’s foot was already closing up with moss as the water began to settle again.
“You’re probably better drinking Jaxon’s piss,” she said. “My ma used to tell me that still water left over the years grows diseases and messes with your stomach.”
Hunting The Broken: Age Of Madness - A Kurtherian Gambit Series (The Caitlin Chronicles Book 3) Page 4