Grave New Day

by Lina Gardiner

  No wonder Zeke said these vampires would be difficult to stop. She’d already lost Britt to them. Fear spiked through her. As a human, how could she fight them alone? Maybe they didn’t realize she was human. The way this guy talked, they wanted the vampire Jess. Was that why she’d been changed?

  She shook her head, forced her mind to concentrate. “What’s your name, vampire?”

  He narrowed his eyes but otherwise ignored the insulting way she addressed him. “Ah Tabai,” he said. “In modern times I’m called Tabai.”

  “Tabai, I think you’ve made a big mistake and I’m about to prove it to you. Big-time.”

  He grinned and his long canines glistened in the lamp light. His pierced tongue darted out and he licked his lips, malice dripping from every pore. “Think so, hunter?” He crossed his arms over his bare chest and flexed his biceps.

  “I know so. You wanted a vampire for this rite, didn’t you? A vampire who’d built up her reputation with a hefty body count, I’ll bet?”

  His head dipped in agreement.

  “I’m no longer a vampire. If you’d just use your vampiric senses, you’d realize I’m now human.”

  His eyebrows flared upwards and he dove toward her, grasped her upper arm and flopped her around like a rag doll. “Liar!”

  Even as he spat the word she could see his nostrils flaring. He’d know the truth himself. He’d scented her. He heard her blood pumping and felt her warmth. What a kick in the teeth for him. She grinned. And all this time she thought she wouldn’t be strong enough to fight them as a puny human. She’d done it by merely existing.

  He roared with anger, and several of the nearby vampires cowered. One dropped to his knees in subjugation. Apparently it wasn’t a good idea to make this vamp angry.

  She tried to pull away. She hadn’t considered the repercussions of being manhandled by an angry super vampire hopped up on Mayan hallucinogens. Her arm felt as if it was going to pop out of its socket. “Ow!” She reached for the only weapon she hadn’t used—her blade in her shoulder holster.

  “Jess, don’t do anything crazy.” Britt’s urgent words popped into her head.

  “Thank God you’re back! I thought I was all alone,” she projected silently. She’d forgotten they had ability to communicate without speech.

  “Never alone, doll.” Even though she heard his words in her mind, when she managed a quick look at him his head flopped sideways and his eyes rolled back in his head.

  His tactic worked because the vampires obviously figured he was useless and dropped him to the ground in order to bow down to their angry leader. In their rush to subjugation, they turned their backs on Britt. Bad mistake, she thought, grinning inwardly as she watched one of his eyes open a slit.

  “Should’ve been an actor,” he said only for her.

  “Yeah, you used that trick once before, didn’t you?” She remembered when he’d played dead outside Randy’s crypt. It had worked that time, too.

  “Twice lucky, I guess. Maybe I should try to incinerate them?” She knew he’d posed the question in his own mind, thinking out loud and not asking her permission. But even so, she panicked.

  “No! You’ll kill Terry and James.”

  And then, to make matters worse, a baby began crying. “Oh God, no!” Jess sobbed as she gazed frantically around the room and finally saw Sephina’s tiny feet. They’d tied her in a chair in the corner. She must’ve just woken. “They’ve got Sephina, too.”

  Can a person sigh in their mind? If so, Britt did. “This is going to be even more difficult than we imagined.”

  “Pay attention, hunter,” Tadai said. “Listen to the music.”

  Jess tried to raise her hands to her ears to physically block the sound, but the vampire grabbed her hands and held them at her sides. Strange instruments were being played in concert with the chanting. Unusual sounding flutes, trumpets and the ancient beating of drums built in intensity. Jess couldn’t see who played the instruments. Did it mean there were even more vampires in the room?

  Her head buzzed. From the music? Combined with the incense? Angrily, she shook her head to eradicate the mind control techniques being used.

  Tadai started walking, dragging her along with him as if she were a puppet. She didn’t fight. What was the use? Her feet dragged, making an odd trail in the dirt.

  When she saw the familiar ceramic jar laden with the psychotropic paste she literally panicked. She knew that stuff worked on her. She wouldn’t be able to fight it.

  “Oh no! No, no, no!”

  Tadai began chanting something in ancient vampire dialect. He reached into his mouth and drove another spine into his tongue, making it bleed anew. Next he reached under his garment at crotch level and lanced himself in a much more private place. Blood dripped freely, and his feet quickly turned red with his blood.

  The scent of arousing copper filled her senses. That surprised her. If she wasn’t a vampire why did the smell of blood still make her feel so euphoric?

  “Britt?” Her silent message went unanswered.

  She had no line of sight. Tadai held on to her tightly. One of his servants, a female, carried the dreaded jar to him, bowed and offered it.

  “Not that damned paste! No freaking way are you going to put that shit on me!” She struggled like a hellcat, even twisted far enough to see that Britt was gone. Had they taken him again? Or had he hidden from them?

  “Britt? Where are you?” She screamed the message with her mind. No reply.

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  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Jess’s flesh burned where Tadai dug in with his black fingernails. Blood trailed down her arms. She’d worn her leathers for this fight, a dark brown, soft, kid leather sleeveless vest that molded to her body and left more cleavage exposed than she should have since Tadai was engrossed with the flesh exposed there. His right thumb moved across one breast, creating a thin but deep slash that began to bleed. “Ouch, that hurts, you shit head. I’m not a vampire anymore. I won’t heal.”

  Tadai laughed viciously. He watched the cut continue to bleed and licked his lips. then he leaned down and tasted her. His vile breath washed over her skin and turned her stomach.

  “You sick bastard,” she screamed and punched him square in the nose. Given her strength, it was like batting at him with a wadded up pillow.

  He laughed again. “You really are human. How did you manage that?”

  “Wouldn’t you like to know, asshole.”

  In anger he tossed her backwards. She flew through the air and landed with a thump on her tailbone. She went momentarily numb up her back, straight to her teeth.

  Shit!

  What had happened to Britt. She searched the room. She still couldn’t see him.

  Fortunately, this mini-battle between monster and human held little interest to the other vampires and they didn’t bother to join in. They continued collecting herbs and grinding them into a powder, preparing for the all important ritual.

  It seemed Tadai had forgotten about her in his hurry to reopen his wounds. Sadistic pleasure washed across his angular, frightful face when he rammed barbs into sensitive skin and reopened healing wounds with ferocious enjoyment. Jess felt bile rise in her throat when he went about adding his blood to the mixture. Her disgust must have shown on her face, because he grinned at her again, obviously enjoying the fact that she was sickened by his actions.

  As if given a cue, each vampire lined up in front of the platform where Tadai now stood. Next to him were the blood vessel, Sampson and Sephina. Tadai began to partake of the blood mixed with cocoa. The blood seemed to be replenishing itself even after several of them took a sip. Which didn’t make sense until she saw the tiny tube hanging from the edge of the bowl and she followed it to its source.

  “Oh my God!” she bit back a scream of rage. It was feeding blood from Sampson’s vein straight into the bowl.

  Hoping they were more wrapped up in their own self-serving needs than the movements of one hu
man, she scrambled toward Sampson on her hands and knees. She’d nearly reached the tube to yank it out when James grabbed her and pulled her away. His rancid breath nearly caused her to wretch.

  “James, Terry!” She looked at both of her friends while James held her in a vice grip. “Don’t let that creature do this to you. Fight it!”

  They ignored her, obviously too far gone to be able to fight their way back. It wasn’t their fault. It was hers. She should have protected them. Found them before they’d been entrenched into this dark world.

  Even with misery biting into her, she felt the excitement building in the room and assumed preparation must be nearing finality. Then the vampires’ bleeding red eyes all turned to her. Focused on her.

  “Britt, I’m getting bad vibes here! Please tell me you’re still with me,” She struggled but couldn’t break free from James’s hold.

  She’d like to get her hands on Zeke. She should have been told what kind of abilities she’d have to fight this! Stopping a little windstorm wouldn’t be much help to her now. She needed her vampire abilities.

  Tadai began chanting in an unfamiliar language that she assumed was Mayan. The incense got thicker. Clouds of it hung in the air, swirling around them like mystic fingers enticing them to breathe deeply. Dozens of vampires began moving to the beat of the drums. Jess felt the power in the room, as if it were a tangible thing, and sensed that if she was still a vampire she wouldn’t be able to ignore it.

  Tadai’s voice built in intensity until the thick incense moved into the center of the room to the music’s beat. Its arching, swirling patterns were mesmerizing and she couldn’t stop herself from watching it.

  The music tempo built. Drums pounded and her eyes burned from the thick smoke in the room. The thickest cloud of gray moving in the center of the room began to take the form of a man.

  Dear God! Could they really bring back the first vampire? An ancient God of the Mayans? The darkest, most dangerous form of vampire known to man? If brought back to earth in human form, the planet would be in dire trouble.

  “Ah Puch!” Tadai screamed the name and the smoky form began to slowly materialize.

  Jess jumped up and ran at Tadai with her jewel encrusted blade ready to drive into his heart. He watched her come at him, and he held up a hand and urged her closer. His finger bending toward him in a luring motion, indicating that he was ready for her blood now. She was the final stage of this ceremony. Human or not, they were going to use her blood!

  She stopped and began to back away, but a vampire dressed in ceremonial garb grabbed her from behind. She glanced back at him. Another big one. This one’s eyes were black, and his tongue lanced. His thick, grasping fingers held her tight, but didn’t dig into her flesh. She fought him as he forced her toward the leader. She got the impression the other vampires weren’t allowed to interfere.

  “Jess, it’s me! Keep fighting me, but be ready when we get there.”

  Britt? The man holding her was Britt? “How in hell is this possible?” she thought.

  “I’ve got shifter abilities, apparently. Cool, huh?”

  “Only cool if we survive this.”

  Tadai suddenly looked suspicious. He tilted his head at an angle and eyed the vampire holding Jess.

  “Hold on, babe, I’ve got to get a little rough. Love you.” He squeezed her arms tighter and dug his nails into her flesh. She cried out, more for the show, than from the pain. Britt began to ease off instantly.

  “Keep going, Britt, I’m acting too,” she imparted silently.

  “Shit, you nearly gave me a heart attack.”

  Tadai grabbed at her when they got closer, but he wasn’t as fast as Britt who quickly pushed her behind him. “Stay back there, Jess. Find a place to protect yourself. Thing are about to get messy.”

  Jess knew what that meant. If Britt could do it, he’d vaporize this whole room of vampires. Burn them to a crisp. That meant the baby! James and Terry, too. She had to get them out of this cave and out of Britt’s blast range. But how?

  “I’m going. I’m taking Sephina, James and Terry with me somehow. Give me a couple of minutes, if you can,” she said.

  He grunted and dove at Tadai. Their sizes matched and their vampiric abilities were equal. It was a hand-to-hand battle Jess would have enjoyed watching, but she had no time. Luckily, the other vampires were still mesmerized and watching the smoke forming into their God in the center of the room.

  She grabbed the knife she’d dropped to the floor and ran for the baby. Slashing the rope at the back of the chair she pulled Sephina into her arms. The child’s chubby arms went instantly around her neck, and Jess took the time to kiss the baby’s cheek. She prayed that Terry and James still had a connection to the baby, and they’d follow her out.

  When she picked up Sephina, the vacant stares disappeared from both their eyes and they spun toward her.

  “I’m taking Sephina, and you can’t stop me,” Jess taunted.

  She didn’t have a key to free Sampson, but she yanked the tube out of his arm. He pressed two fingers over the hole to staunch the bleeding. He looked pale. He’d probably lost more blood than he should have.

  “I can’t break the chain, Sampson. I’m not a vampire any more.”

  Sampson looked shocked, stared at her and must’ve seen the truth because he said, “Good God, Jess. How’d it happen?”

  She looked back over her shoulder. Terry and James had seemed torn between Tadai and Sephina, but it appeared her prayers were going to be answered. They were going to try to stop her.

  “No time to tell you right now, but Britt’s going turn this place in Pompeii in a few minutes. I don’t think his flash fire will burn a human, but just in case, get down as low to the ground as you can. Meanwhile, I’m going to protect the baby. I’ll take her as far down the tunnel as I can get.”

  Sampson nodded and dropped to the ground, covering his head with his arms. “Get going, Jess, I’ll be okay.”

  She hesitated over her lifelong friend, then looked at Sephina who seemed happy now that Jess was holding her. She began sucking her thumb and smiling. James and Terry whispering to each other, and Jess knew instinctively that they were making plans on how to get Sephina away from her.

  “You’ll have to catch me first,” she called to them, running for the tunnel. She’d needed the advantage of surprise in order to put some distance between them. If she could get far enough away from the blast radius, they might be okay.

  She dove into the darkness, far enough ahead of James to maybe have an advantage against his vampiric speed. But they’d have the advantage in the tunnel. They could see in the dark.

  Unexpectedly, she felt a breeze again, whirling around her. “Zeke if that’s you, I need to see where I’m going.”

  A thin stream of light burst to life ahead of her. It pierced the darkness, perfectly illuminating the tunnel so Jess could see every stone and hole.

  She heard the noise coming from behind her. She stopped and pressed herself into an indentation in the wall, covering the baby with her body just a moment before a bright flash of light blew past her in a concussion wave.

  James and Terry had nearly caught up to her before the explosion. Now she heard Terry screaming in pain.

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  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Jess, didn’t move until the light went completely out and she was sure the baby wouldn’t be burned.

  She wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. Britt had done it. He’d vaporized the vampires and stopped the god of vampires from returning! She wanted to weep for joy, and then in sorrow when she saw James and Terry writhing on the tunnel floor. She hurried to them.

  “You bitch, you’ve killed us,” Terry said, skin hanging off her body. Her burns were much deeper and more horrifying than James’s.

  “You’ll survive,” Jess said. “Your burns will heal. I saved you from the inferno by luring you into the tunnel.” Her heart ached. Would she and Regent be able to
save them from their horrible fate as vampires? Regent was old and weak, and without his abilities there might be no help for them. They got to their feet slowly. No doubt, in shock from their wounds, the fight had gone out of them and they merely followed Jess back to the cavern.

  Britt, stood in the center of the room. He looked like himself again even though he was covered with ash. Sampson sputtered and pushed himself out of ash four inches thick.

  “That’s quite a trick, Britt,” he said. “You’ve saved us, and I think I might even have a sunburn.”

  Seeing Jess and the baby appear in the cavern opening made Britt swallow hard several times before he even dared try to speak. Jess was alive and she’d managed to save Sephina, Terry and James from the blast. But of course she had! She always accomplished what she set out to do.

  “Well, Sampson, I couldn’t have done it without Jess distracting them so well.” He grinned at her.

  Zeke had told him his gifts would fade very quickly after he won the battle. If he won the battle. Even though he wanted to rush to Jess and wrap his arms around her, hold her and rain kisses down on her, he knew he had mere seconds to fulfill his last task—the ability to save one soul. To let them become human again. He had to make a choice and he couldn’t ask Jess’s opinion.

  As he stared at her, he realized Jess had already reverted back to her vampire self and she knew it. She was looking at her skin, touching her face. She’d turned perpetually cold again. When she looked up at him, he hated the sad expression in her eyes. He loved her, vampire or not, but he knew in his heart that if she had a choice, she’d want to be human again.

  He closed his eyes, breathed deeply and held up his arms. He was just starting to focus all the power Zeke had given him on saving the love of his life when Jess suddenly spoke.

  His eyes flashed open as he heard her say, “Sweet baby, we’ll find a way to help you, don’t worry.” He watched Jess press her lips against the baby’s soft curls and saw a tear drop onto the child’s head.