Old Vampires Die Hard

by J A Campbell

  “Are you okay?” He looked out into the woods behind me.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. Not a scratch. The werewolves who did this won’t be following us. Come on, we need to get Geoff inside. He’s burning up. We’ve got to get him cooled down.”

  I didn’t know much about humans bitten or scratched by werewolves, but I knew that they had the best chance of surviving if they didn’t overheat too badly.

  “I called Martin. He’s on his way.”

  Though I wanted to swear, I only nodded. Things were already messed up so badly, that Martin couldn’t make it that much worse. I hoped.

  “Mom?” Jin said hesitantly. “You’re covered in blood.”

  “Yeah, got a little messy. Some of this is Geoff’s.”

  “Is he going to be okay?” She asked.

  “If he survives the change. They did this on purpose.” I lengthened my stride as we broke out of the woods.

  One of the men was Geoff’s father. He hadn’t said anything yet, but he finally broke his silence.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Geoff was scratched by a werewolf,” Walter said grimly. “He’s going to die, or he’s going to turn into a werewolf himself. I’ve called the local pack for help.”

  “But they did this!” His name was Frank. He apparently already believed in the supernatural. That was convenient. I never had gotten Alex’s family history. Maybe there were a lot of Hunters in his family, too. It simply hadn’t come up.

  “That wasn’t the locals,” Walter said.

  “You’re sure?” I asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Okay.” I climbed the steps and Walter got the door for me. “Jin, get all the ice you can.”

  Frank and Walter followed me into the nearest bedroom with a full bathroom. I put Geoff in the bathtub and turned on the cold water. I didn’t know what else to do, so I glanced up at Walter.

  He shook his head. “I don’t know what else we can do, either. Martin is on his way.”

  “Okay.” I thought about leaving Walter to deal with this, but Geoff cried out and thrashed, almost slamming his head into the bathtub. I caught him in time to keep him from further injury, but his convulsion taxed even my vampire strength. I was going to have to stay.

  Jin returned with a bag of ice. The water had already turned red with blood.

  “Just dump it in,” I said.

  She did and I held Geoff while he convulsed. Soon he was covered in cool water, though the ice rapidly melted, and he quieted.

  Frank sat on the toilet and stared at his son, not speaking, which was a little unnerving.

  “I had Margaret get everyone in the basement. Kevin went down and filled them in. Everyone is relatively calm right now, except May,” Walter said.

  May was Geoff’s mother.

  “We’re keeping her down there for now, though. I don’t think having her here would help,” Walter added.

  “Not enough room anyway.”

  The doorbell rang and Walter left to answer it. Jin hovered nervously, glancing at the door then back at me, eyes wide. She didn’t say anything because Frank was here, but I could tell she was worried about the werewolves, too. I just hoped we didn’t recognize them from the gas station.

  Fortunately, the two men who entered were completely unfamiliar. Martin—his aura of command was completely obvious—zeroed in on me after a quick glance at Geoff in the tub. I knelt by the boy, holding his head out of the water. The bathtub was designed to actually bathe in and was deep.

  “Martin, this is my granddaughter, Jin. The boy is Geoff, and that’s his father, Frank. This is Kat,” Walter said tersely. “Martin, and his second, Tommy.”

  “Hey, Mom, how’s Geoff’s temperature?” Jin asked quickly before Martin could say anything.

  He was glaring at me, and his eyes narrowed. “I didn’t know your daughter...”

  “She’s not Grandpa’s daughter. She just raised us when Mom and Dad were killed,” Jin said so quickly that it was obvious she was nervous. “But I was four, so I got in the habit of calling her ‘Mom.’”

  Martin came over and knelt next to me.

  “Hey Jin, can you and Walter take Frank to see May for a minute,” I said. “And get more ice.”

  They all left, though Tommy stayed. He was splitting his attention between glaring at me and looking at Geoff in the tub.

  “So, I’m guessing Walter doesn’t know you’re a vampire,” Martin said mildly. He put his hand on the kid’s forehead. “But Jin obviously does and is trying to get me to shut up about it.”

  “About right. Is there anything else we can do for Geoff?” I tried to turn the conversation away from me and back toward Geoff, but Martin wasn’t done.

  “And how much would you give me to keep it that way?”

  I turned and gave him my most dangerous smile. “I will kill you before I will let you blackmail me.”

  “Tommy, come here and keep an eye on this kid.”

  As soon as the other werewolf squeezed past me, Martin grabbed my arm and dragged me away from the tub. I let him.

  “I don’t take kindly to threats,” he hissed.

  As soon as there was a touch of space, since I didn’t really want to damage Walter’s house, I put my other hand on Martin’s, grabbed, sinking my thumb into a pressure point and twisted until he let go. Then before he could fully react, though he was quick and moving before I had expected him to, I kicked his leg out from under him, flipped his arm around and twisted it up behind him. My other hand now had one of my silver knives in it, and I pressed it against his neck. He grunted and I forced him to tilt his head until his throat was bared.

  “You know,” I said softly, “I don’t either.” I brushed my lips across his neck, but didn’t actually bite him. “So, what’s it going to be? Your pack in need of a new leader, or a truce until we have time to actually talk about things?”

  Tommy hesitated in the doorway when he saw I had his leader disabled. He had left Geoff in the tub, and I glared at him, daring him to make a move.

  “Truce, for now,” Martin growled.

  “Good.” I shoved him away and sheathed my knife just as Jin and Walter returned. They both gave us curious looks. Jin widened her eyes and I shook my head slightly. It was done for now.

  “Everything okay?” Walter asked.

  “Geoff?” I prompted Martin.

  He backed toward the bathroom, eyes not leaving me. Finally, he turned, and he and Tommy went back to Geoff’s side.

  Walter, Jin, and I followed.

  “He might survive. You got him cooled down quick enough that there’s a good chance the fever won’t damage him.” Martin touched Geoff’s forehead again.

  “Once he’s more stable, we can move him to the pack’s house and help him recover where he won’t be dangerous to any humans.”

  “Okay,” Walter said. “So, what is going on exactly with this new pack? This isn’t normal behavior for non-rogues.”

  “Oh, they’re rogues,” Martin said. “Unfortunately, they’re very strong. So far, we’ve not managed to find anyone to ask for help. They haven’t attacked us outright, but I’m not sure we will be able to stand against them if they all attack.”

  “How many strong are they?” I asked.

  “Fifteen. How many did you kill?”

  “They’re down to eleven if your numbers are accurate,” I said.

  “You killed four of them and they didn’t even touch you?” Martin’s eyes widened slightly.

  I shrugged. “You might want to send someone out to take care of the bodies, though. And retrieve my gun, if they don’t mind.”

  “Right. Tommy?”

  His second nodded and pulled out a phone before heading into the bedroom.

  Walter was staring at me, shocked. Jin was watching Geoff, tears in her eyes.

  “How many of your pack are trained fighters?”

  I could see Martin debating if he should answer me or not, but finally he shrugged. “Five of us.
The other five aren’t slouches, but they’re not fighters.”

  “So, it’s five of you against eleven of them. Hmm. Not great odds.”

  “Yes, which is why we haven’t wiped them out yet. Also, until now they’ve been skirting our territory, so we haven’t had full rights to take them on.”

  I nodded. “Yes, but now you have kidnapped one of their pack members.” I gestured at Geoff. “Or so I’m sure they will claim. It’s all the excuse they need to attack you and your council, if you want to call it that, won’t be able to do anything.”

  Martin nodded slowly.

  “Fantastic.” I sighed.

  “So, what are we going to do?” Walter folded his arms across his chest.

  “We?” Martin said. “You aren’t going to do anything.”

  “This is my home, and I do not want a bunch of rogue anythings moving in. It’s dangerous for me, for my family, and for everyone here,” Walter said firmly.

  Martin ran his hand through his salt and pepper dark hair and shrugged. “I’m not sure.”

  “How about this. Kat and I help you kill off this pack, you help Geoff,” Walter said.

  “Walter, you’re retired. You should stay that way,” Martin said.

  “Maybe, but you need help.”

  “Who’s going to watch the house while we’re out?” I said softly.

  Walter’s eye twitched and he clenched his fists before he replied. “Your friend Hawk, would he help?”

  “You know Hawk?” Jin blurted.

  Apparently, she had forgotten Walter had met him the same night she had. Understandably, since she had been very young and just lost her parents.

  “Yes, I do actually,” Walter said. “How well do you know him?”

  Jin hesitated, and I rested my face in my palm.

  “Uh, well enough.”

  Walter glanced at me and I winced. “How better to teach her to fight vampires than to have one train her?” I muttered.

  Martin raised an eyebrow but kept silent.

  Walter sighed and shook his head. “Yeah, well, I guess I knew she was actually training with a vampire. I just didn’t really want to think about it.”

  “He’s nice,” Jin said hesitantly.

  “Yes, I know.” Walter didn’t continue, but I knew he wanted to add more about how he was also a killer. Technically, everyone in the room was, except Jin.

  “You have quite the interesting collection of friends, Walter,” Martin said after a moment. “We don’t need vampires.”

  “Jin, honey, call Hawk and see if he can get out here. He and Walter can watch the house and keep everyone here safe. I’ll go with Martin and help kill this rogue pack.”

  “She has his number?” Walter almost choked.

  “Yeah, well, they have to arrange training sessions. I don’t need to be a go-between. I told you I trust him.”

  “He’s still a vampire.”

  I twitched, then managed to reply, “I trust him.”

  Walter stared at me, looking more closely than I think he ever had, and his eyes hardened before he left the room.

  “Well, that went fantastically,” I muttered.

  “Hawk wants to know...”

  “No, just him.” I cut her off. I had overheard the conversation.

  “He’s on his way.” Jin sounded relieved.

  “He’s only going to be useful in the dark,” Martin said, clearly including me in that statement.

  “We need to get Geoff stabilized and come up with a plan,” I said softly. “It would be really useful if we could get the rogues into meeting us somewhere instead of letting them pick the territory.”

  “How do you plan on doing that?” Martin asked.

  I smiled. “Bait.”

  After washing as much blood off as I could manage without a full shower, I had left the room and unfortunately run into Margaret. I ended up resorting to mind control on Margaret to get her to shut up and sleep. Fortunately, Walter was still not around, so it was easier to do. Kevin and Jin were handling the others, so I went to look for Walter.

  It was not hard to find him. He stood on the porch he loved so much and stared out into the night. It was dark, a new moon. I could see clearly in the light filtering through the glass doors, but it would probably still be a little dark for Walter’s eyes.

  “Four?” He looked at me. “Charity always said you were good, but those aren’t odds even the best Hunter really wants to take on. Not in those circumstances, anyway.”

  I sighed and stared at the railing.

  “How dense have I been?” He folded his arms and stared at me.

  Unsure how to answer, I remained silent.

  “Kat...”

  Finally, I met his gaze and clenched my jaw. “I’m not sure how to answer that, Walter.”

  “The way Martin is glaring daggers at you, it’s obvious he doesn’t like you. As far as I know, he has no reason to dislike you, so I’m going to guess it’s because you’re not human, either. And four werewolves? The fight wasn’t even that long.”

  “Charity and Alex knew,” I said quietly.

  “If I hadn’t seen you out in the sunlight...”

  I leaned on the railing with my elbows and cradled my face with my hands. “How long have you known me?”

  “Years.”

  “Have I ever given you reason not to trust me?”

  “No.”

  “Keep that in mind.”

  He didn’t reply, which didn’t fill me with warm fuzzies.

  “When Jin was six or so, one of her best friends—in fact, they’re still friends—Sylvia got kidnapped by werewolves. Her mother, who still doesn’t like me much, but is at least on civil terms with me, gifted me with some magic that allows me to go out in the sunlight.”

  Walter didn’t reply, didn’t breathe for a moment, before he finally exhaled.

  I glanced at him through my fingers and saw about what I expected: eyes narrowed in anger, jaw clenched, Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed.

  “How could I not know?” he finally asked.

  “Maybe you didn’t want to know, Walter. I’m very good at hiding from Hunters. Not as much from anything that can smell me. Charity, unlike most, figured it out right away.”

  “And she left her kids with you.”

  “I kept them safe. Hell, I kept Alex and Charity safe as much as I could.”

  “I know.” He sank down into one of the chairs and rested his forehead in his hands. “I don’t understand.”

  “We were friends. Why wouldn’t I?”

  “No.” He shook his head. “I’ve known you long enough that I think I have a pretty good feel for your character. Of course, you would protect your friends. What I don’t understand is: why a vampire would hunt other vampires, anyway? Is it for fun?”

  I snorted. “Really, my biggest goal in life, besides a little revenge I haven’t managed yet, is to be left alone. I’m a House vampire, Walter. That means we play by the rules. We wrote the rules. Mostly they amount to, ‘don’t get noticed.’ The vampires I typically hunt are Outsiders. Now, normally I don’t really care about House affiliation, but it’s the Outsiders that tend to misbehave. That doesn’t mean I won’t go after a House vampire, it just means it’s rare. Hawk is the Head of my House. Part of why he wanted to meet you and the kids is because when I adopted them, I essentially brought them into our House. Not the same way we would with a vampire we were bringing in, but they have our protection just the same. It’s not something to take lightly.”

  “So, you don’t enjoy it?”

  I smiled. “Oh, I enjoy it. I don’t particularly like most vampires, anyway, so it doesn’t break my heart to kill them. I just don’t seek it out. Trust me, there’re plenty of idiots out there without me having to go and look for them.”

  “How many other vampires are aware of Jin and Kevin?”

  “Only my House and those we trust. We keep Charleston pretty locked down, so you don’t have to worry about that.”

>   Walter sighed again. “And what happens when a vampire more powerful than you takes an interest?”

  “Walter, I won’t get into my background, but I’ve worked since before I became a vampire to be in a position where no one could push me around. I’m from a time when women had no power. Justin gave me power and more. I’ve pushed myself to make sure I’m the best. I’m as close to the bogeyman as the vampire world has.”

  “Really?” He looked at me.

  I nodded.

  “Yes, she is, and I find it very interesting that she’s telling you all that,” Hawk said quietly from the shadows.

  Walter jumped, swore, and scrambled to his feet.

  “That wasn’t nice,” I said.

  He shrugged as he moved out of the shadows. “What exactly have you gotten yourself into this time, Ekatarine?”

  “The usual.”

  Hawk shook his head.

  I heard Jin moments before she threw open the back door and ran out onto the back porch. She skidded to a stop moments before colliding with Hawk. He wrapped her in hug, and she burst out crying.

  Walter, Hawk, and I all shared surprised looks while we let Jin cry.

  I closed the door, hoping no one else would join us for a while, though I suspected Martin wouldn’t be far behind.

  “Do you know how to fix it?” Jin asked after she caught her breath. She still clung to Hawk.

  “No, Jin, I can’t fix your cousin. Maybe if I had been here when it happened, and I had the right combination of herbs and time, it’s possible, but it’s far too late now. Do they think he will survive?”

  She nodded.

  “Good. He’ll be okay, then. I’ve been told the local werewolf pack isn’t half bad, for a bunch of wolves.” He glanced over at the door as Martin joined us.

  Martin, predictably, growled.

  Hawk smirked.

  Jin sniffed a few more times and then stepped away, wiping at her eyes. “Sorry.”

  “Nothing to apologize for, Mori.”

  Martin glanced at Walter. “Your family is seriously messed up.”

  Walter simply shrugged. “We’re all still alive, at least. Kat, what did you do to Margaret? She’s sleeping more deeply than I’ve ever seen.”

  I smiled and stared at my feet. “I might have used some mind control on her.”