The Pack

by I. J. Smith

  “You’re going alone?” Ambrose asked.

  As she opened the door, Abigail replied, “He won’t hurt me!”

  ∞

  The truck’s headlights lit up the dark, empty road. Abigail slowed as she leaned forward; looking for the address she wanted. With no parked cars around, she pulled over and stopped. Leaving the truck, she glanced around at the beautiful, expensive homes. She walked towards the steps that led to a grubby house. The white paintwork of the building was starting to turn green. The small graveled areas outside the boarded-up windows were overgrown with weeds. As she walked up the steps towards a black door, she noticed the black paint was peeling.

  Creeping slowly forward, Abigail could see the door was ajar. The door had been forced open. Giving it a little push, the door opened wider. Stepping inside, she was pushed back by the smell. It was a stale smell, not un-similar to a rotting corpse. Every step she took left a deep clear impact in the thick dust. Abigail noticed too, that the house was full of furniture, ornaments scattered on the tables. Pictures hanging on the wall. It gave her a sad feeling seeing the smiling faces.

  Turning into a large room, she could see large picture above the fireplace. A man and women sat surrounded by two identical young girls and a teenage boy. Abigail came to a stop; when a male voice spoke from the darkness.

  “I wasn’t running. I’m coming back,” Tate said.

  Abigail stepped toward his voice, her eyesight was adapting to the darkness. She could see Tate, sitting with his back against a large counter that sat in the middle of the kitchen.

  “I know. That’s why it’s just me here.” Abigail replied quietly.

  She noticed he was holding a framed small picture in his hands. Abigail looked around the room and noticed the blood-stained floors. She shook her head as she moved closer to Tate.

  “May I?” She asked, indicating a wish to sit down next to him.

  Tate simply looked up to her and nodded with a look of gratitude on his face.

  As she sat down closely next to him, the picture in his hands caught her attention. Abigail noticed it was a Christmas picture. In the picture, Tate was a young man, wearing a terrible jumper with a snowman on it. He had an arm around each of his sisters, both of them wearing the exact same jumper as Tate. His parents stood in the background wearing bright white jumpers with a Christmas tree on them. Abigail took special notice of the smiles and look of happiness on their faces.

  “You knew I would be here!” Tate murmured.

  With a nod Abigail replied. “Yeah, I researched you remember? I honestly didn’t realize we were in your hometown, until Kate said you grew up here. Then, I knew where you had gone.”

  “I needed to see this place one more time. I needed to say goodbye!” Tate told her sadly.

  Looking at the thick dust Abigail replied, “I thought the police would have tidied this place up or made arrangements.”

  “They couldn’t.” Tate told Abigail.

  Abigail looked at Tate, very confused.

  “Everyone in this picture is the entire family. We had no Aunt, Uncle or Cousins; Nobody!” Tate paused as he smiled at the picture. “I never stood trial. So, by law this place belongs to me and without a trial, they couldn’t take it away. So, they just boarded it up and forgot all about it.”

  “Just like they did to you,” Abigail replied as she took his hand in hers.

  They sat in silence for a while, Abigail could see the pain Tate was feeling.

  “I guess now that I’m dead, the government will take this place and make some money.”

  Abigail gripped his hand tightly, “We can step in if you like? We can make arrangements to take control of the property!”

  Tate was looking straight at her in surprise; a lump growing in his throat. “You can do that?” He asked her.

  Nodding she replied, “Yes, we can make sure whatever happens to this place, is with your wishes.”

  He glanced at the photo again, “Charity! Sell it and give the money to a children’s charity.” Tate paused. “In their names,” he struggled to finish, holding back his emotions.

  “We can do that!” Abigail replied softly; before looking at the picture again. “Such a happy family; your mother was beautiful!”

  “Yeah, she was!” he smiled. “But, she was my Stepmom.”

  A surprised look cover Abigail’s face. “I never knew that!”

  “Yeah. I was about five or six when she met my dad. A brave woman taking me on,” Tate joked.

  Abigail gave out a giggle, “Well, she must have loved you very much to put up with it.”

  She noticed Tate holding her hand tighter and stroking his thumb along her hand. “You know when the twins came along she panicked. She worried herself into labor, thinking about the effect it would have on me.” He smiled. “From the moment, they were born. Every Sunday she would take me out, just us two. She called it Mother and Son day. Always telling me she loved me and no matter what, I was her son!” He stopped as a tear ran down his cheek.

  Abigail wiped his tear away, “Don’t ever let those memories go, they are worth more than anything!” She rested her chin on his shoulder. “You can see the love in this house!”

  “I just need to know why.” He muttered. “I need to know why my father apologized with his last breath.”

  “You’ll get the answers, I promise.” Abigail told Tate.

  Tate took a deep breath and steadied his emotions. “Well, Damian’s gonna be pissed at me!”

  “I doubt it, you saved his life. So, if he gets bitchy, just remind him of it,” Abigail joked.

  “Thank you!” Tate told her.

  “Come on, let’s go home.” He finished.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  BLOOD

  The unmistakable sound of the song La Bamba echoed through the hallways of the Order. In the communal room, the main table had been moved against the wall. Unit 341 celebrated their success, beer bottles scattered around the room. Emily and Kate danced around the room while Rico drooled at the sexy moves of his comrades. Ambrose sat in the corner, buried into a deep, soft black leather chair. His snoring was only drowned out by the loud music.

  “We kicked vampire ass!” Emily screamed out.

  Rico and Kate both raised their bottles in agreement.

  “Fucking right we did!” Rico added.

  “Yeah, we did,” Ambrose mumbled from his chair.

  The volume of the music suddenly lowered, turning to face the door, Kate yelled, “Tate!”

  Abigail stood next to the stereo as Tate joined the others. Rico quickly popped the top from another bottle of beer and handed to Tate. “Welcome back Brother!”

  Taking the beer, Tate took a long drink. “Ahhh, Perfect!”

  Kate slapped him around the arm before cuddling into him, placing her arm around him. “Where the hell did you go?” She asked.

  He gave a hint of a smile, “To say goodbye,” Tate replied.

  The room went quiet for a moment, Abigail approached them. “I want to say something,” she said looking around for everyone’s attention. “Tonight, you all did something never done before by a new Unit. I want to say how very proud I am of all of you!” She raised her beer in the air, “To Unit 341!”

  “Wait! We need a better name than that!” Kate replied.

  Abigail smiled, “It’s the official designation.”

  Rico stepped forward, “Kate is right, we need something more suited to us. Tonight, we were like wild animals.”

  With a shrug Abigail asked, “Well, what do you have in mind?”

  “It has to be something catchy. Something that shows how wild we are,” Emily added.

  “The Wolves,” Kate offered.

  Everyone looked around at each other. Then Ambrose mumbled again, “Werewolves. They run in Packs!”

  “The Werewolves,” Rico repeated and frowned.

  Tate smiled, “The Pack!”

  Kate looked up at him, “I like it.”

  “T
he Pack, yeah,” Emily added.

  “We are the motherfucking Pack,” Rico cheered.

  Abigail stood shaking her head, “Well, I will let the boss know.” Placing her bottle down on a table, she told them, “Right, you lot have fun. You earned it.” She went to leave, stopping at the stereo on the way to turn the music back up.

  “La Bamba,” Emily began to sing.

  Looking back one more time, Abigail smiled as Kate forced Tate to dance with her.

  ∞

  Walking along the hallway, Abigail could see the sunrise coming through the windows. Glancing at her silver watch she shook her head. “God, morning already.”

  Continuing to walk, she headed for her father’s office to give an update of the nights events. She was not surprised by the raised voices coming from the open door.

  “You should have evacuated!” Frank said angrily.

  “There wasn’t time,” Damian replied.

  Before an angry Frank could speak again, Abigail walked into his office.

  “Oh, nice of you to join us!” Frank paused, “Mind telling us where the hell you disappeared to?”

  She glanced at Damian before replying, “I went to pick up Tate.”

  Frank slammed his fists onto his desk, “What do you mean pick him up?”

  “You didn’t tell him?” Abigail muttered to Damian.

  The office remained silent as Frank sat down in his chair. “Someone better start talking and explain how we ended up with Unit 271 dead.”

  Damian moved and sat down in a chair opposite Frank. “It was a setup, they were waiting. Pure-Bloods, I have never seen them so organized before. Also, Half-Breeds.”

  Frank frowned in confusion, “Half-Breeds?”

  “Yeah,” Abigail replied as she sat down.

  Damian leaned forward, wincing from the pain in his shoulder. “I’ve never seen them work alongside Pure-Bloods. Their only real interest was us.”

  Frank wiped his mouth. “What’s this about Tate?”

  Abigail began to speak, “He…” Damian interrupted. “I gave him permission to do something. Turned out we were close to his home.”

  “YOU WHAT?” Frank shouted at the top of his voice.

  “His family is dead, he has no living relatives. After being locked up for eight years, the risk was minimal.”

  Frank looked with angry eyes, “You gave him permission?”

  Damian nodded. “He earned it. He saved my life and in the process killed a Pure-Blood.”

  Frank just stared at him.

  “Frank, he killed a Pure-Blood. No new recruit has ever done that in their first year. He has my trust.”

  “Where is he now?” Frank asked.

  Damian looked a little fearful, as Abigail replied. “Celebrating with the others. All he wanted was to say goodbye to his old life. He deserved that!”

  Damian gave a sigh of relief, knowing Tate was back.

  “I’m not happy about this, but considering what we lost tonight. Unit 341 will have to step up sooner than expected!” Frank told them, in a calm voice.

  “The Pack!” Abigail corrected him.

  Both Frank and Damian looked puzzled at Abigail.

  “What the hell is The Pack?” Damian asked.

  “It’s what they want to be called. They don’t like Unit 341, they are The Pack.”

  Frank lowered his head into his hand. “This is just getting better.”

  “Dad, I think it’s a good thing. They have bonded. The fact they chose a name, shows they’re committed.”

  “Go get some rest,” Frank told them both, while waving them away.

  Abigail and Damian stood up slowly, both wanting to reassure Frank. They left without saying a word.

  Sitting at his desk, Frank sighed as he loosened his tie. Opening his desk draw he pulled out a glass and a bottle of half-empty scotch. Before he could open the bottle, there was a knock at his office door.

  “Come in.” Frank commanded.

  A young woman walked in wearing a white lab coat. She wore thick red rimmed glasses and her hair was done up in a hive.

  “Doctor Lewis, what is it?”

  In a soft voice she replied, “The blood results sir, from the mission.”

  “Just leave them on my desk, I will get to them later.”

  She stood opposite him holding a blue folder. “Actually sir, I think you need to see them now.”

  Shaking his head, he took the folder from her. He sat back in his chair, as he read the results his expression changed.

  “There has to be a mistake!” Frank said.

  Doctor Lewis swallowed hard, “No mistake. I tested it three times.”

  “Holy shit!” Frank muttered under his breath. “Thank you, Doctor Lewis, I will deal with it from here.”

  He continued to read as the Doctor left his office. He grabbed the bottle of scotch and placed it back in the drawer. “Sorry, going to need a clear head for this!” He stood up and walked away, leaving his office.

  Frank walked along the hallway, towards the communal room. Several times he stopped and almost turned back. Eventually he made it to the entrance. The music was now softer, Rico and Emily were both passed out on the leather sofa. Ambrose still slept in the chair. Tate and Kate were sitting on the floor talking.

  Frank tapped on the door to get their attention. “Sorry, I know you have had a long hard night. But, Tate can we have a chat? In private?”

  “Go on, I need my bed anyway,” Kate told Tate.

  Tate stood up and walked towards Frank. “Sure.”

  Turning away Frank walked toward Tate’s room. “Can we talk in here?”

  Tate was puzzled but opened his door, followed by Frank who shut the door behind him.

  Gripping the blue folder, he looked on as Tate sat on the edge of his bed.

  “Are you settling in OK? Is there anything you need?” Frank asked.

  “I don’t think you wanted to talk about my comfort,” Tate replied. “Look if this is about me running off, it wasn’t Abigail or Damian’s fault. I was just waiting for an opportunity.”

  Frank did not react; instead he looked scared; as he sat down on the two-seater sofa.

  “No, it’s not about that.” Frank answered.

  Starting to grow uncomfortable Tate asked, “Frank, what is it?”

  “I’m sorry,” Frank muttered.

  The room sat in silence. “I’m so sorry.” Frank repeated.

  “What for?” an agitated Tate asked.

  “Abigail recruited you, she did the research. But it was all last minute, I never even saw your file. Otherwise I might have known.” Frank answered.

  Tate looked confused at the ramblings from Frank.

  “You’ve been here before Tate.” Frank informed him.

  Tate laughed, “Nah, I would have remembered a place like this.”

  Frank looked directly at him. “Tate, you were actually born here!”

  With a look of shock, Tate just sat there waiting for Frank to continue.

  “Your mother. I mean your birth mother, was an operative here. She was the leader of Unit 101.” With a short pause that seemed like hours, Frank continued. “Lorraine Spencer was your mother,” he said as he handed the blue folder to Tate.

  “Lorraine was amazing, a true hunter. She was also my friend. Before you were born, she was on a trace mission. Tracking a group of vamps; hunting in London. She went undercover at a bar where they hunted.” Frank paused again. The upset was clear on his face. “When undercover, all communication with the Order is suspended unless it’s an emergency. For months, she tracked and killed those bastards. Along the way she met a man, they grew close.”

  Frank stood up, no longer able to sit. “The relationship ended when your mother returned here, about a month later she discovered, she was pregnant. We wanted her to abort it, but she would not hear of it. She convinced the boss at the time to allow her to give birth and send the child to its father. The boss was not happy, but Lorraine was one of t
he best and had earned some power. They gave your father certain information about what we do, not everything. Only that your mother was important to the mission.”

  “He knew about vampires?” Tate interrupted Frank.

  “Yes, he knew. Tate, your mother always planned to return for you.”

  “Then why didn’t she!” Tate asked.

  “Six months after you were born, Lorraine went dark. Even I didn’t know what she was doing. Only three members of Unit 101 were still alive when they went dark. After a month two of them showed up dead, but there was no sign of your mother. Other Units were sent to find her, but they found nothing. After a year I received a call from her, telling me she found it.” Frank told Tate.

  “Found what?”

  “I don’t know, she wouldn’t talk over the phone. We arranged to meet, but she never turned up.” Frank stopped talking.

  “What happened?”

  “Two weeks later, her body was found washed up in Portsmouth. We never found out what happened to her.”

  Tate lowered his head, his emptions exploding inside him like a firework.

  “You are just like her Tate. I cannot believe I didn’t see it before. Your strength, speed. Even the way you talk.” Frank sat down beside Tate.

  “I’m so sorry. I spent the last month looking for answers about you and all it took was blood test.” He placed his arm around Tate.

  “Thank you,” Tate said in a tearful voice.

  “Tate, you don’t have to stay here. Your mother gave enough, I can arrange for her benefits of service to be gifted to you. Your family has given enough.” Frank stood up slowly and walked towards the door.

  “No!” Tate said sharply. “I meant to be here. It’s destiny.”

  Frank looked back at him. “Your fight is over son!”

  Tate looked up. “It’s just beginning. The ones that killed my family. The ones that killed my mother. They all answer to me, right before I fucking kill them all!”

  Frank gave a half smile as he opened the door. “Welcome home.”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  BLOOD CALL

  The sun had risen and the day was beginning within the walls of the Order. The hallways came to life as people awoke. New Recruits, Keepers, Teachers, and Researchers went about their work, like any other day. Unaware of the trials that the Pack had completed during their first mission the night before.