Young Blood: The Nightbreed Saga: Book 1

by Phillip Tomasso²

  She disconnected the call. She had no idea if she had just spoken with Julius or some other carnival workers. She tapped the top of her phone against her lower lip. She turned on the camera feature and snapped photos of the three cars, careful to get a clear image of the license plates of each.

  It took a few minutes, but as expected, Drexel’s phone on the passenger seat rang.

  She sighed, recognizing the Blue Oyster Cult song ringtone. “Really, Don’t Fear the Reaper?”

  The screen read: Julius.

  The call back didn’t prove anything, unfortunately. Whoever she’d talked to could have called Julius, or gone to the room across the hall, or maybe Julius was sitting on the bed watching cartoons on television.

  The point was she’d made contact.

  She shut the Jeep’s engine and sat back in the driver’s seat. Her face felt hot. She knew she was going to cry. It had been a long time coming. She wasn’t sure she could stop it. She wasn’t sure she wanted to.

  The children.

  She lost them. She’d been too late to save them.

  If she’d skipped the services for her mother, she’d of been here yesterday. That could have made the difference.

  How many people sat home holding on to hope that somewhere their child was still alive?

  How many children had actually been locked inside that trailer?

  How many lives had she failed to save?

  Neal.

  He was still alive. She needed to make him her focus.

  She brushed tears away from under her eyes and got out of the Jeep.

  Julius and his carny vampires needed to be stopped. It was her responsibility, something she’d been born to do. Hunting down these creatures was in her blood.

  She was one of these creatures.

  Stuffing Drexel’s phone back into her pocket, Madison climbed out of the Jeep. Nothing had changed. She was not going to wait. She was not going to play this out on their field. The surprise was hers.

  Taking long, quick strides, Madison closed in on the front entrance. Without a pause she walked through automated doors, gave a slight smile to the lady at the front desk, and waved with Drexel’s key card. As expected, the woman barely gave a nod of acknowledgement before going back to doing whatever front desk people did behind those obscuring and extra high countertops.

  She turned right at the first hall, and decided on taking the stairs instead of the elevator. Pushing through the fire door, Madison took two steps at a time, rounded the midway landing, and then climbed the second set of stairs, stopping at the door that opened up onto the second floor. Taking a deep breath, and closing her eyes, Madison tried to clear her mind. This was not simple. Everything she had been thinking about in the Jeep and over the last few weeks came at her in a flood of mixed emotions.

  It was now or never.

  Adrenaline raced through her body. Her insides seemed to quiver with anticipation. She left the stairwell and stood in the hallway.

  Odd numbered rooms were on the right. Even on the left.

  She found 215 and stopped to listen.

  The television was on. Not cartoons.

  That was all she heard.

  She sensed the vampire on the other side of the door. It was a tingling feeling that started in her hand and vibrated up her forearms to her elbows, but mostly it was in her fingers. She wasn’t sure why or how that meant a vampire was close by, it was just something she knew to be true. This alarmed her because it meant the vampire on the other side of the door would be able to sense her too.

  Madison removed the dagger from the bag over her back and inserted the key card into the slot, watched the red light turn green, and pushed open the door. She knew the halls were monitored with security cameras. Hopefully the woman down front wasn’t paying attention. The police would eventually get called, she just didn’t want them showing up now.

  The slide deadlock was engaged. The door only opened an inch and a half. She took a step back and then through her shoulder into the door. The element of surprise was shot.

  Unexpectedly, the molding shredded, the door crashed open. It banged on the back wall and swung back toward her. She pushed it open with an arm and ran into the room.

  In an aggressive stance, the dagger in her right hand, a fist with the left, she thought she was ready to attack.

  The television was on.

  The curtains were drawn closed.

  No one was on either of the double beds or at the small desk in the corner.

  She sensed him, the way you sniff at the odor of natural gas. You think you smell it, you know you can smell it, but you still just aren’t sure.

  Then it was clear, his presence, only a fraction too late.

  The bathroom door was pulled open just as Madison spun around to face it.

  The vampire was shirtless. Tattoos colored his chest. She couldn’t make out any specific images because they blurred with his speed.

  The guttural sounds came out like a growl and a shriek.

  He was on her before she had time to react. The impact knocked her off balance. She banged the back of her thighs into the small dresser. Her head hit the wall. The dagger fell from her hand.

  She wrapped her arms around him, squeezing him in close and tight as they fell sideways, away from the dresser and onto the floor. It was close combat between the foot of the bed and the dresser. He was on top of her, she wanted to change that, confident that on the floor the upper hand was hers.

  Once she reversed their positions, there were more options open to her. She could escape by standing up, but she wanted him pinned, exhausted. She used her arms, elbows and legs, wrapping him up like a pretzel, and then twisted so they were on their sides. She didn’t think he expected her strength, an advantage. She tied her left leg around his left leg, as if they were spooning romantically on a sofa. Bringing her right arm behind his neck, and snaking her left arm under his throat, she forced his head forward cutting off air through his windpipe.

  She knew from her cousins that this technique would not kill him. Right now she just hoped it slowed or stopped him.

  So far, it didn’t seem to do anything.

  His free leg kicked at the wall. His left elbow repeatedly smashed into her ribs, but was at an awkward angle, so there wasn’t much power behind the blows.

  He wasn’t passing out, nor was he relenting.

  The only thing she’d managed to do was restrain him.

  The only thing that was going to be good for was getting arrested. Other guests had to have been complaining about the noise. She’d knocked in the door, after all. She needed to get to her feet. The first one to the dagger would win. She didn’t want him dead. Incapacitated worked better. She had questions. She wanted answers. A dead vampire would be useless. She just couldn’t imagine subduing him long enough to extract answers. Right now restraining him seemed nearly impossible.

  “You’re so dead,” he said, further proof that the hold was not adversely affecting him.

  Pushing him forward, she held his head by the hair and unlocked her leg from around his. She got to her knees and dropped an elbow onto his ribs. “How’s that feel?”

  The dagger was by the bathroom. She lunged across him, over his legs, and reached for it, her fingers coiling around nothing but air. She was so close. . .she just needed to reach a little further.

  His fingernails raked over her back, hooked fingers snagged onto her jeans.

  Her middle finger touched the dagger’s handle and dragged it closer.

  He yanked her backward by her jeans.

  She bucked, twisted, and spun around. His arms continued to claw at her, trying to get a better grab hold.

  With the dagger in her hand she unleashed a wild swing. It was lucky despite having been wild. The tip of the blade ran from the top of his face across his cheek and under his chin.

  He didn’t bleed. It was a scratch. Little more. It caused him to release his grip on her clothing. He brought both his hands up to hi
s face and screamed.

  Moving, she kicked back and away from him and scrambled to her feet. She gripped the dagger in both hands. “Where is Neal?”

  His eyes were wide. He fell onto his back and squirmed around as if on fire.

  The temptation to call him a baby was strong. Instead, she delivered a wallop of a kick into his thigh. “Where is Neal?”

  Rolling over, he balled himself up, knees drawn to his chest, and with both hands still planted on his face, continued to scream. Madison had no idea how painful a cut from the mystical dagger felt, but she needed this vampire to man up. She stepped onto the small of his back and flattened him down. “I will draw blood!”

  She thought of the vampire she’d killed at the mall. It seemed that vampire blood was brutally lethal to the vampire bleeding it.

  She had his attention. “No. No, don’t. Please, don’t.”

  “Where is Neal?”

  “I have no idea who Neal is,” he said. His voice was muffled. His face was pressed against disgusting carpets.

  She traced the blade across his back. The threat obvious. She wasn’t worried about hurting him. She just didn’t want him to die prematurely.

  The screaming started again. “I don’t know where he is. With Julius. He’s with Julius!”

  “Where is Julius?” Madison was losing her patience. There wasn’t time to stand around asking questions. She needed answers immediately. This guy needed to understand she wasn’t playing around.

  Dropping down to a knee, Madison plunged the blade deep into the vampire’s thigh. She could feel the blade push against, and poke through, flesh. It was an odd sensation. The resistance of his skin was minimal because the dagger was sharp, but it was there, and there was no mistaking the pop as the tip penetrated. She withdrew the blade just as quickly and stood back up as the vampire howled.

  He wrapped both arms around his leg and brought his knee up to his chest. He rolled side to side on his back. “What did you do that for?”

  “Where is Julius?”

  “I still don’t know! Stabbing me doesn’t change a thing.”

  There wasn’t time for this. She stepped backward and kicked closed the damaged hotel room door. If she was lucky, not one guest had passed by while the fight took place. Sooner or later the police would grab her; she just didn’t need to be arrested now.

  “Why are you doing that?”

  “I can’t leave you here.”

  He seemed to understand what she meant. His dark eyes were swirling around and around as if a living storm, a cyclone, existed inside his sockets. Still holding his leg with one arm, he struggled to push away from her, and one hand went up onto the bed’s mattress. He was bleeding the red and yellow blood. It glowed brightly. It seeped out from between his fingers. Madison didn’t think even a tourniquet would help. He was dying from the stab wound, just not fast enough.

  When he attempted to stand, she pounced.

  His mouth opened wide.

  She was on him before he could scream.

  Thrusting the dagger forward, it pierced his chest. The sensation that vibrated through her hand, wrist, and forearm felt different than stabbing his thigh. The sharp blade skidded across bone as it sawed through part of the ribs before puncturing his heart.

  His arms shot forward, his hands clasping onto her arms. She pulled away, shrugging off his hold. She stood up and stared as the vampire died on the floor.

  His eyes closed, and his muscles relaxed. Carefully, she leaned forward and placed a foot on his arm. She grabbed the dagger and pulled it free of the expired vampire’s chest.

  Once the tip of the blade was free of his flesh, more vampire blood bubbled and flowed freely from the cavity. It happened fast growing and rolling and spreading. It spilled from the inch and half wide slit from his leg, and burned away some of the vampire’s clothing and skin.

  The lava-like blood ate away muscle and tissue and bone until nothing remained.

  Nothing.

  Madison stared at the dagger, eyes wide in awe. She wasn’t sure she could ever get used to seeing a vampire die. She wished there was time to toss the room, but knew better.

  She was out of time.

  She wedged the door open and checked the hall as best she could with the angles she could muster, and saw no sign of police. She went out the door, head down, and made her way back toward the stairs.

  There wasn’t going to be a way around security cameras. They would have picked her up from multiple angles. It couldn’t be helped, and she wasn’t going to worry about it.

  On the first level, she didn’t walk toward the main entrance. She didn’t want to push her luck. She decided to use a Fire Exit down the hall.

  Outside, as she made her way back to the Jeep, she heard police sirens wailing.

  As she started the engine, two squad cars pulled into the lot and up to the front motel entrance; they stopped at an angle before the awning.

  Madison waited for the officer to go into the motel before she pulled out of her parking spot. She drove away, her eyes on the rear view mirror the entire time.

  No one followed her.

  She was back to square one.

  Chapter 23

  Julius.

  It was all Madison could think about. She hated sitting in the mall parking lot killing time. Anger grew inside her. She was mad at more than just vampires. Her life had changed forever. There was no going back to school. Eventually the police would catch up with her. They might not find a body in the hotel room, but they’d want her for questioning at the very least.

  There was no stopping this, though. She had to play it out. She was not going back to Rochester without Neal.

  But there was more.

  Julius must have a pendant.

  The thing is, she didn’t really care about collecting the pendants. Having never asked for this responsibility, it was difficult to accept that she had a mission and was expected to carry to completion, or die trying. The notion was crazy, to say the least.

  How was it even possible to track down vampires families? Finding a carnival was one thing, an easy thing. She didn’t have the slightest idea what to do next, except for saving Neal.

  Normal teen angst might have been reflected in music and clothing choices, and some rebellious behavior now and then, but overall Madison knew she had little to complain about growing up. Until now. Her mother should have told her about the family, about her cousins in New Zealand, and that her grandmother had been a vampire. Keeping something like that secret is wrong. Especially if she knew some day it could impact her daughter.

  She didn’t eat food anymore. More than anything she wanted a bacon cheeseburger with lettuce and tomatoes, pickles, and the local meat hot sauce. She craved french fries and coleslaw.

  Maybe she could still eat normal food? She didn’t know for sure. She just hadn’t wanted it since turning. She wanted it now.

  It was near impossible to comprehend that she had murdered three people.

  One person. Two vampires.

  She couldn’t keep her thoughts straight. They were jumbled inside her brain, whirling about like fruit in a blender.

  Removing the dagger her backpack, she held the sheathed blade up on the inside of her left coat flap. At an angle, it fit perfectly.

  She used the blade to cut a small slit inside the liner and pushed the sheath in as far as it would go. She replaced the dagger and got out of the Jeep. She checked the new look. The handle was not easily visible, as best she could tell. Pulling the blade might not be simple, either. She would need to hold the sheath through the coat with her left hand. That might not always be possible. It worked for now, until she could figure out a better way to walk around armed with a concealed weapon.

  She walked across the parking lot and into the mall. The food court was to the left. It wasn’t nearly as large as the one in Rochester. There weren’t too many people around. Kids were in school. She stepped aside to let three older people pass. They were walkers. No
t shoppers. Dressed in sweatpants and headbands, she watched them amble away.

  Some people sat at tables in the center of the food court and ate, drank, or huddled close talking with one another. It was too loud. Madison could pick most of every word of every conversation. The place felt too confining.

  The unique odors came at her like a biological attack. An assault of perfumes and colognes, body odor and halitosis, mixed with sesame chicken, and Burger King, pizza and tacos. And then there was the blood. She could not recall being in such a compacted place with so many people since turning. Even though it had only been an hour or so since she feasted, she was overwhelmed by the copper sweet smell of blood.

  She had hoped to come in and try a burger, or anything, just to see if being normal when it came to meals was possible. It might be, just not now. Not inside a mall.

  Would her cousins know how to deal with this better? Her senses were out of control. She held out a hand for balance. She thought she might pass out. Had her grandmother suffered with similar issues?

  “You okay?” A hand grabbed her by the arm, at the elbow.

  The grip was firm and strong. The man had kept her from falling.

  “I think I just lost my balance,” she said. She wanted to smile at the man for helping, but her expression of shock was frozen on her face.

  “You be careful,” he said.

  The vampire winked, and let her go.

  She watched him walk away and thought for sure he would turn back to look at her one more time. He never did. He was dressed in faded blue jeans and cowboy boots. He carried a dark leather jacket slung over a bent arm. Over his white t-shirt he wore a Harley-Davidson vest with the iconic orange motorcycle patch on the lower back.

  They were watching her. Following her.

  Did they know about what happened at the hotel? Were the police still there?

  How could she be thinking about a burger and fries?

  She followed the biker with the cowboy boots. Staying back, she hoped he wouldn’t notice her. The people in the mall had to be confusing his senses as well. She could never imagine being so in control that she would be able to sort through the mental slop of everything thrown at her.