In The Blood (Book 4): The Blood Bath

by Lee Isserow

  “You're wrong there, mate. Blood wants blood, lusts for it, wants to add to its number, spread out over the bloody globe.” He chuckled. Through his massive, pendulous cheeks it sounded like a hollow gargle. “We don't have to fight about it, y'know that, right? We can do it together, take a continent each. You too, love,” he said, addressing Tess.

  “You're misinterpreting.” Ben said. “This pointless lust for power, that's all you. All the blood wants to do is be left alone to just... be.”

  “Wish you would've seen it my way...” Steve said, with a watery huff. A tentacle whipped from behind his back. A crack echoing around the entrance chamber. Its tip was wound around a handgun.

  Tess stared at Ben with tears already pouring down her cheeks as the bullet met with the skin of his forehead, body falling back with the force. The thud rang out as he collapsed to the floor, ripples flowing across his body. Then the ripples stopped. And once again, the chamber was silent, but for a sickly, watery chuckle.

  27

  “Didn't have to go that way...” Steve said, with a laboured sigh as he lifted his gargantuan, burdensome legs, and started walking towards Tess. “I did give him the option,” he said, huffing. “How about you, love? In the mood to take this show on the road, or do you want to end up like your unconsummated love over there?”

  Two massive tentacles shot out of Ben's corpse, speeding towards the ceiling. They wrapped around the chains to two chandeliers and heaved his colossal frame upright.

  “Do I get a say in this?” he asked, as the tentacles receded back into his body.

  “Would you just die already? It's bloody annoying you not dying...” Steve grumbled, as Ben reached to his forehead, digging the bullet out of the dent it made in the thick layer of scab under his skin.

  “Steve, you've finally got what you wanted since you first got infected... you have full control over hundreds of litres of shape shifting blood in your body... why would you still resort to a gun?”

  “Because it's pretty effective sometimes...” Steve said, as the armed tentacle whipped through the air.

  Ben sent a spike at it from his chest, batting it off its intended course, but not before it fired off another shot that reverberated around the room. Followed by a heavy crumple to the ground.

  “Like I said...” Steve chuckled.

  Tess lay lifeless on the floor. Blood started to coalesce from the hole in her forehead, a jello appendage that wobbled left to right as it swum out of her body, growing fast.

  “Do you mind if I...?” Steve asked, the expression on his face deadly serious.

  Ben had no response. He stared at his friend's body, the colour shedding from her cheeks as they sunk in on themselves, mass departing and joining the bulk of the 'goblin escaping her corpse. Steve took the lack of response as permission, and one of his diamond tipped tentacles speared the creature, its mouth opening inside the thing's gelatinous body, slurping it from the inside, growing all that much larger with the extra blood.

  Ben watched as Tess's frame shrunk, the skin loosely hanging from her skeleton. An ungodly massive belch rang out, and he turned to Steve with venom in his eyes.

  “Excuse me,” MacGaulty said with a chuckle.

  “This ends now,” Ben spat.

  “Has to, don't it?” Steve said. His swarm of tentacles started engorging, growing bigger and fatter. They were preparing to strike.

  Ben closed his eyes, and listened to the blood. They both knew what needed to be done. He nodded in silent agreement as sixteen diamond tips shot into his chest, ripping through his organs, coming out the other side and nailing him to the wall.

  He opened his eyes, teeth gritted as he tried to hold back the pain. He could feel the tentacles in his body, they had each grown spines inside him, primitive straws to drink him down. It was going to be a slow process, he could feel just how slow, and sent two massive spikes out of his gut into Steve's gargantuan body.

  His former mentor grunted at the pain, but wasn't going to let that hold him back. The rest of the tentacles hanging in the air behind him came together to form a large amorphous 'goblin, it whipped over his head and tore its massive teeth through the spikes, chewing down on their crunchy shell.

  Ben lowered his head, and the skin from his neck all the way down across his shoulders tore open. A snout shot out, followed by a sleek head with ruby red eyes, and a long, scaly neck. The manifestation inhaled, and roared at Steve's 'goblin, a raging fire tearing it apart, devouring it in the flames.

  MacGaulty was shaken momentarily, but soon regained his chuckle, sending spears out of his chest to take the beast down. Ben knew he had to let the dragon die. He wasn't happy about it, but allowed Steve to consume yet more of his blood.

  There was movement in his periphery. This was it. It was time. Ben sent a spike out of his neck. It whistled as it flew through the air, shattering the glass of the front door.

  “I'm over here, mate!” Steve said, waving at him theatrically.

  Ben glanced over to the door, and back to Steve.

  “Don't I know it,” he said, as free blood after free blood ran through the doorway on the sharp, hard legs of the blood hounds Ben had taught them to become. They sped towards MacGaulty, pouncing into the paths of one another, becoming gelatinous in mid-air, melding together, and landing at twice the size they once were.

  The creatures opened their jaws and tore into Steve's body, ripping out chunks of meat. He tried to laugh through the pain. “You're just giving me yet another buffet, mate...” he said, as he shot tentacles out of his wounds, spearing the dogs and drinking them down.

  Ben watched as he drank and drank, devouring every morsel of the bloods that came within reach.

  “Wait, this don't feel right...” MacGaulty said.

  It was time.

  Black diamonds tore out through every inch of Ben's skin. Tentacles formed behind them, whipping through the air, burrowing deep into Steve's elephantine body. MacGaulty gasped, taken aback by the assault, even more so by Ben's next action, as he sent blood through the thousands of tentacles into Steve. Litres upon litres rushing through to every inch of his former mentor's flesh, tearing his skin open faster than the blood could repair it.

  As Steve watched his body expand around him he shouted and screamed internally at the infection, ordering it to help him, demanding it save him. But the blood was not his to command any longer, it was as much Ben's as it was his, and it liked the way Ben treated it a hell of a lot better.

  Blood exploded out of Ben's back, unrestrained fluid filling the entrance, flowing towards Steve, filling him up through the nose and mouth, through his tear ducts and ears, urethra and anus. His body couldn't contain it any longer, and burst open, the blood joining Ben's, hundred upon hundreds of gushing fluids streaming around the grand entrance, a rocketing whirlwind of plasma.

  Ben reached into his pocket with what was left of his hand and pulled out a zippo. He clicked it open, and closed the ragged flaps that were once his eyelids. He joined the blood one last time to confirm it had done as they had planned. The hounds had drunk their fill of gasoline, lighter fluid, paint thinner, alcohol. Any flammable liquids they could get their hands on. And now, those fluids were swirling around in the vortex of blood with all of his fluids, all of Steve's.

  MacGaulty had got too powerful. There was a chance he could force the blood to heal him, even if at this juncture it had unanimously decided to ignore his orders. There was a chance. And Ben was done taking chances.

  The bone of his thumb ground against the flint wheel. The flame erupted. At first, just on the wick. Soon, it spread up his arm, catching the fumes of the maelstrom of blood and igniting the entire entrance way. The blood burned. Ben burned. But most importantly, Steve burned.

  This was how it had to be. Steve's influence was more of an infection than the blood ever was. There was a chance, however slim, that he could have survived, recovered, and found more hosts to turn down the violent path be desired to take the blood
. His disease could have spread, his affable sway tainting the innate goodness of the 'goblins. Ben knew that he wasn't much better, he had made the blood do things it would never normally do without his influence. With all the lives he had taken, that he had encouraged the blood to take, he had become just as detrimental and destructive. They both had to end then and there. For the greater good.

  28

  Kat woke the next morning, and somehow knew that Ben was no longer with them. She found it reassuring that he wasn't in pain as he passed, and knew that the blood had seen to that. It had also passed along a message. His last thoughts. A memorandum transcribed in those final moments, when the white nose of the ravaging flames cleared his head, gave him clarity.

  “As long as there's power, there'll be people that want to seize it, to corrupt it for their own ends. That's all the blood is to those people, a means to an end. A tool to be controlled, to invoke one's will and dominate with a... scabby fist.

  “But that's not what it is. You'll know that, if you listen to it. And that's not what the future has to be for you, and for Luke. There are probably other agencies out there, in other countries, that wish to use what you have. But with the Squad gone, Britain is safe. For you, and for all those carrying the blood in their veins.

  “It's a future you can build, the two of you, and all the others. There are so many of us out there. We have more brothers and sisters than you could possibly imagine, and they need to know the truth, know what they have inside them, this beautiful symbiotic relationship that goes on under our skin, pulsing through our heads. You all deserve the opportunity to live without fear of being hunted, fear of being killed, for what you are.

  “The time of death is over. It's been too many years, too many lives lost for such trivial, selfish reasons. What lies in store for you, for all of you, is a future of life, of possibility. Man, woman, non-gender-specific and what have you, living in harmony with the blood.

  “And the most important thing, is that it wants this too. I can feel it, and you'll feel it too if you let it in, if you listen. Anything you need, anything you want, it will facilitate it. Because it is you, it's all of us. It has never meant us harm, never had any selfish objectives of its own. It simply wants to live in peace, and wants its hosts to have that peace. And it's within reach. I can promise you that.

  29

  The fall of the Blood Squad was only the beginning.

  Ben hadn't just left a message with Kat, he had sent out a communique to all those carrying the blood in their veins across the world. It was two-fold; one part to tell them of the blood, their symbiosis, and the self-destructive path he had been down. And a second part, that was his meditation on how life could be for them all if they embraced the creatures in their veins, and came together with the same goals in mind.

  Kat, Luke, and the few survivors of Ben's army left Container City, and finally took that trip up to Scotland that had been talked of time and time again when they were hiding out with their group. Traversing through the mountains, they soon understood why the area was so sparsely populated, and between them, came up with an alternative.

  With the blood's help, and a little bit of grand larceny, they bought some land on the Isle of Mull. The land, much to Luke's excitement, contained a castle. It was an ill-faring tourist attraction, and in a state of great disrepair, so when Kat told the the trust that looked after it that she had a spare couple of million pounds to invest, they were overjoyed that the new owners would have the funds and desire to restore it to its former glory. Kat knew that Ben probably wouldn't have approved of her and Luke encouraging the free blood to sneak all that money out of banks for them, but they had made sure that nobody got hurt. Between them, they had promised that they would never use the blood with hostile intent every again.

  At first, the locals didn't take kindly to their arrival, but when they discovered just how much they were willing to invest in the isle, and how much Kat and the others would respect the established communities, they soon let their barriers down and welcomed them with open arms.

  Hosts began to arrive, from around Europe, then around the world. Between them, they had the skills to build rudimentary houses, plumb and put in electricity, farm the land and raise cattle, sheep and chickens. A school was built, and there were teachers amongst their number who were more than willing to educate the children. The adults also had classes, not to control the blood, but to learn how to listen to it, talk to it, to live in a partnership, in synergy with themselves.

  Within a year, they were self-sufficient, had hundreds of people living in their unofficial township, and their numbers were growing every day. Kat continued to go over to the mainland to commit minor acts of larceny at major banks, in order to pay for flights and visas for the less affluent hosts. It was a minor bend of her ethics to facilitate their arrival, and it wasn't like it impacted people's lives, it was stealing from highly insured corporations, and it was misusing the blood for the right reasons. Because Ben was right. There was a bright future waiting for them, and it was everything he had wanted it to be; a beautiful community full of good people, and free of violence or suffering.

  She wished he had survived to be able to see it for himself, to experience the warmth and love that resided in their township in even the coldest, rainiest of days. Even though, deep down, she knew that he would have likely never thought himself deserving of such a place, of being surrounded by such people. He had been damaged, broken for so long, from such a young age. Filled with resentment and hate that bubbled away beneath his skin. It was no wonder he was the perfect stooge for MacGaulty to take advantage of. But he had found his own peace, by funnelling all that negative emotion into his last stand, the final act that led to the creation of their community. And even though he would have probably made himself an outcast in their village, a place that was nothing but inclusive and accepting, he would live on in the memories for his sacrifice, and revered with love and gratitude by all the hosts of Grahamstown.

  30

  Kat and Luke stood in the arrivals lounge at Glasgow airport as the sun began to set somewhere behind a thick blanket of clouds strewn with hues of violet and amethyst. It had only been a two hour drive from Oban, but having been waiting around the arrivals lounge for the best part of the day, they were both exhausted. Luke remained giddy, despite the fatigue, mostly due to Kat's ill-advised decision to let him have a mocha.

  The doors on the arrivals gate opened, and a slow trickle of passengers from the Dublin flight started making their way through from baggage collection.

  “Are they here? Are they there? Is that them?” Luke said, feverishly, the words tripping out over one another as they rushed out of his lips.

  “You'll know when it's them,” Kat said, smiling at the excitable child. “You always do.”

  Luke huffed, and clambered up the barrier to get a closer look at the people coming out through the doors. He glanced from one to the next with a look of extreme concentration on his face as he tried to find the tingle in his blood that told him who was one of their tribe.

  “There!” he shrieked, pointing with a hand that shook as caffeine continued to rocket through his veins, glancing back over his shoulder at Kat. “And him! And her too!”

  Kat took him by the hand and they walked around to meet the latest arrivals, two women and a man, all Chinese. The three newcomers headed straight for her.

  “Welcome,” she said. “We're really glad you managed to join us.”

  The strangers smiled blankly, and Kat felt her hand being tugged. She glanced down at Luke. “I don't think they speak English!” he whispered, theatrically.

  Kat smiled, and inhaled deeply, closing her eyes as she asked the blood to assist with communication.

  'It has been a long journey,' said the man.

  'So I gather,' Kat said. 'Over a day, hopping from country to country.'

  'We had five hours in Dublin, it was pretty.' said one of the women.

  'Well, hopefully yo
u'll find your new home equally as pretty, if not more so,' Kat said.

  The three new arrivals nodded and smiled, they all hoped so too.

  All five of them walked out to the parking structure, and Luke ran ahead, pulling the door open on their hired minibus. The three Chinese hosts took the last seats free in the back, as Luke climbed up into the front passenger seat, and Kat entered the driver's side. She turned to the ten new arrivals sitting in the back of the bus, and smiled, talking through the blood to them all.

  'Thank you for your patience everyone, we're finally ready to get going. I know this is strange to a lot of you, if not all of you, it takes some getting used to, believe me!' She smiled, and waited to receive smiles from others before continuing. 'I know it must be confusing as hell knowing the basics of what you know, and it's definitely going to get weirder than just understanding me when I'm speaking a language you don't speak.' Ten nods bopped up and down across the back of the bus. 'But soon you'll discover that this is just the tip of the iceberg. There's a hell of a lot more our blood can do. And I can't wait for you to discover that for yourself. Buckle up, and in two or so hours we'll be home. I think you're going to really like it there!'

  The passengers clicked their seat belts into place, as Kat turned around in her seat and fired up the engine. They were all anxious, some of them confused, a few of them afraid. But they had all made the journey, they all followed the call to action that whispered through their minds, and to top it all off, they had voluntarily got into the back of a stranger's van.

  But all their anxiety, their confusion, their fear was dissipating swiftly. They trusted Kat and Luke, and they trusted the people that would be waiting for them when they arrived at Grahamstown, without even meeting them.