Gidion's Hunt

by Bill Blume

  “Why are we going to the elementary school?” Ms. Aldgate had her eyes on the rear view mirror more than the road ahead.

  “Home field advantage. My little league football team used to practice there every evening in the fall. Perfect place for some privacy so I can finish off these jerks.”

  He was sitting so that he faced the rear of the car, keeping an eye on the vampires. “You make it sound like this is a good thing. Couldn’t we just try to lose them?”

  “Gotta kill them sometime, Ms. Aldgate. I’d rather face them two-to-one than take on the entire coven at once. I’m good, but I’m not exactly Jason Bourne. Killing them now also improves my odds later when it’s time to finish off the coven.”

  “Assuming you don’t get killed.”

  He decided against finding a pithy comeback to that.

  The next fifteen minutes crawled by as they played out their slow-paced cat-and-mouse chase. Route 288 helped keep things simple. The road was nothing but trees, grass and asphalt, basically the same as an interstate.

  “Still behind us?” she asked.

  “Oh, yeah.” Gidion smiled, even though he could tell it was irritating her. “Stay at the speed limit. I want to go over a few things before we get to the school. When we get off of 288 onto Courthouse, I want you to get some distance between us. Just make sure we don’t lose them.”

  “Oh, of course. How difficult could that be?” He’d say this for Ms. Aldgate, she wielded sarcasm like a bat.

  “There’s a gate that leads onto the basketball court, which is right next to the football and baseball fields. I need you to park there. The bad news is that your car will be blocked in. The good news is they won’t be able to drive their car onto the football field and try to run us over. We’re going to run for the treeline. Make sure you turn off the car and kill the lights. We don’t want to be noticed by any cops driving down Reams Road.”

  “I don’t see why not.”

  Good grief, did these people not get it? “We need these vampires dead. Police don’t help with that. All they do is delay the confrontation. We have an opportunity to fight these two on our terms. That’s better than having them surprise us later when we might not be ready for them.”

  “Sorry, Gidion,” she said, “but somehow the idea of having grown men with guns trained for this sort of thing is more appealing.”

  “You’re missing the point. They haven’t been trained to deal with vampires. I have.” He cut her off before she might say anything else. “That’s the exit we need.”

  She jerked the car to the right and onto the off-ramp. That nearly flung him on top of her.

  “Sorry.”

  “All good,” he said. “Be ready to turn early, because we’ve had them following us for a while, and there’s not much out here. If there’s any place they might try to grab us, it’s at this light.”

  They crawled to a stop without any other cars in front of them. The Toyota stopped close enough that Gidion could feel the rumble of its engine vibrating the Honda. He could see the two vampires arguing. Neither was on a cell phone. That was a good sign. He’d worried about them trying to set up an ambush of their own. The glow of the traffic lights changed from red to green and their slow-speed pursuit continued.

  He slipped out of his hoodie so he’d be able to get to his sword more easily when it was time. “I’m going to check on Tamara.”

  He sent a text to her this time. ‘What’s happening there? You all right?’

  That she didn’t answer right away had him worried.

  “Your plan doesn’t give us a way out.” Ms. Aldgate looked nervously in her rearview mirror as they neared another stoplight where they’d have to stop.

  “If they take me down, you run into the woods. They aren’t too deep, and there are houses behind there. Go for the nearest one with lights on and bang on the door until someone answers.”

  He glanced at her bags in the backseat. It suddenly occurred to him that Grandpa had all of his gear from the Little Hearse. At least he had his sword and box cutter. “I don’t suppose you ever got a box cutter like I’d suggested?”

  “Dammit, no!” She slammed her fists on the steering wheel. He needed to get her calmer and focused.

  “That’s all right. Better to leave the fighting to me anyway.” He smiled at her. “Just know that you’re getting an ‘incomplete’ for failing to do your homework.”

  She did a double-take at that. “Funny,” she said with a swing of her sarcasm bat. “Very funny.”

  “Well, I figure if I don’t make it as a vampire hunter, I can always fall back on comedy.” He pointed as they neared the turn for Reams Road, but she was already swerving into the turn lane. She’d sped up, making their hunters work for it a bit more. They didn’t have quite as much distance as he’d have liked, but it would have to do.

  “When we stop, remember to turn it off, kill the lights and run like hell. Just stay with me. I need to be between you and the vampires at all times. When I stop running, stay at least a meter behind me. You stray too far, I can’t protect you. You get too close, and I won’t have room to fight.”

  Grandpa had discussed this kind of fighting. He called it “Secret Service Style,” because it involved protecting someone.

  “There it is!” she said, about to turn into the first parking lot.

  “No!” He slammed the palm of his hand on the dashboard. “Not here! The next lot!”

  Her correction nearly sent them into the ditch, but she managed to get back onto the road. He grabbed the handle just above the door and hung on for dear life.

  The road curved in snakelike fashion as they approached the right turn. “Here?” she asked.

  “Yes!” He decided he better throw one last joke out there in hopes of getting her to calm the hell down. The way she was driving might kill them sooner than the damn vampires. “Next week we’ll cover defensive driving techniques.”

  “Not funny!”

  He looked back and saw the Toyota turn into the lot behind them. They’d have maybe a five-second head start. He hoped like hell it would be enough.

  She went straight for the gate he’d told her about. The car screeched to a halt. Jeez, could they make more noise? They’d be lucky if all this crap didn’t prompt someone to call the cops.

  “Go!”

  They jumped out. To her credit, she did everything he’d said with great efficiency. Car off, lights out, dash! Perfect.

  The only pity was that she didn’t run quicker. Even in sneakers, she wasn’t a track star hopeful by any stretch. He heard her gasping for breath, and they weren’t even halfway to the tree line. They needed to get close to those trees, or they were screwed.

  Twenty meters from the trees was as far as they could get before the vampires were on them. Having to go slow enough to stay with his teacher meant he wasn’t out of breath and had plenty of fight left in him.

  He turned, drawing his sword, wishing for once it was a longer one. The swing fell just short of Medusa’s stomach. Her body tipped forward even as she struggled to bend back and stay out of the sword’s path.

  Schrödinger was coming up behind his partner, but more to the right.

  “Back up!” he shouted at Ms. Aldgate. He needed the trees behind them to act like a wall. He just hoped she wouldn’t panic and run into the woods. Not only would the vampires be able to see far better in the dark, but Grandpa said some vampires could navigate the treetops like gold-medal gymnasts. Speaking of Grandpa, where was he?

  The guy hissed at him. The lady crouched and looked close to going to all fours. Bad sign. Grandpa said the older ones moved less like humans and more like animals. That made them twice as dangerous.

  The pair closed in on him, moving in slow steps. That was good. They were trying to drive them into the trees.

  “Here, kitty, kitty.” Gidion flicked the sword in a taunt. The guy bit first, lunging forward. The move was only a feint to give Medusa an opening.

  She leaped at Gid
ion. He tried to dodge and swing at her as she passed but she was too fast. She tackled Ms. Aldgate.

  The guy came after Gidion from behind. Gidion heard him coming and spun around. This swing didn’t miss. He got knocked down but not before his sword buried into the guy’s back. The vampire tried to scramble away, but Gidion recovered faster and got him right on the throat. Neck said bye-bye to its head with a satisfying sucking sound.

  “Enough!” Medusa hissed. She had a firm grip on Ms. Aldgate: one arm wrapped around her waist and the other hand holding to the ponytail.

  “One step closer, and I’ll rip her throat open.”

  Ms. Aldgate wasn’t making it easy on her, though. Even with the vice she was being held within, the vampire couldn’t keep her still. Getting that bite into her throat wouldn’t be a simple strike.

  “Ms. Aldgate, be still. Just stop struggling.” Her eyes widened and demanded if he’d lost his ever-loving mind. He didn’t blame her, but he needed her to quit moving around. “Trust me. Please, stop moving.”

  The vampire grinned at him. “Wise choice, hunter.”

  “I know.”

  She laughed. “Now, drop the sword.”

  “No, I don’t think so.”

  A soft whistle was swiftly followed by a loud thunk. The arrogance disappeared from Medusa’s face and her grip on his teacher released. Ms. Aldgate dropped to the ground and scrambled away from the vampire, who was now too busy trying to remove the arrow Grandpa had just buried into the back of her head.

  Medusa screamed as she spun around. Gidion’s sword silenced her, sending her head bouncing across the field like the footballs he and his teammates had passed back in his elementary school days. The vampire’s body collapsed next to it.

  “You certainly took your sweet time,” Gidion said.

  Grandpa’s laugh came from the woods. “Well, if you’d been thirty yards over, I might have taken out both of those fuckers for you.”

  Gidion took Ms. Aldgate by the hand and helped her to her feet.

  “Why didn’t you tell me he was going to be in there?”

  “Was worried you’d be looking for him and give away that he was there.” Gidion shrugged. “Sorry, but figured it was best.”

  Grandpa limped out of the trees’ shadows and onto the field. “Thanks for staying still, ma’am. I’m a good shot with this crossbow when I got a target that ain’t moving, but I ain’t no Robin Hood.”

  “Glad to know that after the fact and not before you took the shot with my head next to hers.”

  “You all right, Grandpa?” He always had trouble walking, but his limp was more pronounced.

  “Tripped on a damn root coming in here from the other side.”

  Fabulous. They didn’t have time for injuries.

  “Ms. Aldgate.” He pulled out the bag he kept folded up in his back pocket and handed it to her. “Collect the heads. I’m going to drag their bodies into the woods. I can come back for them later,” he told Grandpa before he tried to protest. “We can’t waste anymore time here. If someone called the cops, they won’t take much longer to get here.”

  “Fine, but you’re giving me a ride back to my car.”

  “Whatever. Let’s just move.” He grabbed Schrödinger’s body first since he looked heavier. Getting him the twenty feet to the trees and well out of sight about threw his back out. Lady vamp went a lot more easily after that. He threw leaves and dirt on them like a dog digging a hole.

  Gidion and Grandpa got in the vampires’ car. Ms. Aldgate followed in hers.

  “You sure you can drive, Grandpa?”

  He grunted. “Pickup’s an automatic. I think I can handle that.”

  Getting around to where Grandpa parked on Pullbrooke Drive took about five minutes. From there, they formed a three-car caravan with Grandpa in front and Gidion in the rear, driving the vampires’ Corolla. It was a nice car, too, complete with an iPod mount. Sadly, the vampires’ taste in music was dreadful.

  “Seriously?” he muttered as if the vampires were still there to hear him. “You were in a car chase while listening to Buddy Holly? God, how pathetic.”

  He realized as they were about to turn onto Reams Road that he hadn’t seen if Tamara had ever texted him back. When he pulled out his phone, he was relieved to see he had an unread message from her and with a picture attached. His relief stopped as soon as he flipped open his phone. He saw Tamara’s face with tears streaming from her eyes and a hand wrapped around her throat, keeping her still for the picture.

  The message with it read, ‘Come get her, lover boy. –R.A.’

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Gidion was getting tired of seeing blue and red lights tonight. Police cars were parked all along the block where Tamara lived. He didn’t bother trying to turn onto the street. He wouldn’t get near their house, and it was a safe bet nobody around here would really know any definite details.

  If he had to guess, he’d wager Tamara’s parents were dead. What had him puzzled was that she’d been taken alive. That could mean a lot of things and none of the options were good.

  For all he’d done, he still didn’t know where Elizabeth’s lair was. For that matter, there was no guarantee Tamara or Pete would be there.

  As he was leaving the neighborhood and police cars behind him, his phone rang. The call was from Tamara’s phone.

  “You’re a goddamned psycho, Roddy.”

  A low purr answered, followed by an equally unexpected voice: a woman’s.

  “Gidion Keep, you have been most taxing.”

  “I take it you would be Elizabeth.” He hadn’t expected this, and now that he had her on the phone, he didn’t have a clue what to do with her. Of course, that was probably why she was the one making the call, to throw him off-balance. It was working. He transferred a quick kiss from his lips to the red bat on his shirt, hoping for a little extra good luck.

  “Tell me, Mister Keep, what do you hope to accomplish? Kill me? Destroy my coven? Save your friends? Tsk tsk…So naïve.”

  “Why not meet me face-to-face? We’ll see how naïve you think I am then.”

  She laughed, and the tone was disturbing. She sounded like some grandmother but with the voice of a woman who hadn’t yet developed the rattle of old age. How old was she?

  “You are a delightful child. It’s so rare to find a challenge in this world, and even less likely to see such a talented killer who is so young.”

  Gidion pulled his borrowed car over near the entrance to Tamara’s neighborhood. They’d called almost as soon as he’d gotten here. That couldn’t be coincidence.

  “What can I say? I have a lot of natural talent.” He looked around, trying to see if anyone was watching. She must have had a set of eyes near the neighborhood, but there was no guessing where. That’s when a thought struck him. Why was she calling him at all?

  “So why the call, Elizabeth? I thought you were the shy type.”

  He kept focused on his surroundings, worried they might try to attack him where he was. Driving required him to divide his attention from the conversation, but the fear he was about to get attacked at any second wasn’t any better.

  “Inquisitive and deductive,” she whispered. Was she simply taking his measure? Trying to flatter him?

  “What do you want?” he said as he pulled back onto the road.

  “Actually, Mister Keep, the question is ‘What do you want?’”

  “Fair enough. I want my friends back.”

  There was silence. “I don’t believe you have any friends in my care.”

  His chest went cold as he realized they might be dead. Was that what she meant? She might be calling just to let him know just how thoroughly screwed he was.

  “Where are Pete and Tamara?”

  She didn’t answer right away. Taking a deep breath, she said, “I believe they are being looked after.”

  “Well, those are the ones I consider my friends.”

  She made that strange purr that wasn’t exactly a purr aga
in. “I believe we define friendship differently.”

  “Are they alive?” Jesus, what was this, a really bad game of “Twenty Questions: the Vampire Edition?”

  “How would you define ‘alive,’ Mister Keep? I suspect my definition is a tad more liberal than yours.”

  Cute.

  “Lady, are you just messing with me? If so, I’ve got better things to do. If you want to negotiate, let’s negotiate. Until then, why don’t you go do something creative for a change and rob a blood bank?”

  He hung up on her. The act felt bold and clever at the time he did it, but in the silence that followed, he just felt foolish.

  While sitting at an intersection, waiting for the light to change, he realized she was testing him. There was more to it than that, though. She was putting him in his place. She hadn’t killed Pete or Tamara—not yet. Unfortunately, that gave her leverage over him.

  He needed to change that.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  When it comes to war, the more someone knows about their enemy can make all the difference. Gidion knew only a few facts about Elizabeth. None of them let him know where to find his friends or Elizabeth’s lair. Thanks to Pete’s brother, though, he knew there was at least one way to get to the “Queen Bee.”

  Gidion drove to the safe house where he first met Tamara. He was glad to see Stephanie’s car wasn’t in the driveway of her house. That gave him the time he needed.

  The best traps are the ones that an enemy can’t avoid, even if they know it’s a trap.

  Gidion kept watch from the den window of the safe house. From there, he could see down to the corner. About two o’clock he saw a car make the turn onto Tolliver Court. By the time Stephanie turned into her driveway, he was blasting the stereo in the house and cranked it as loud as it would go. He’d made sure to choose a rap song with lots of bass and plenty of vulgar language, the kind of music guaranteed to make the white-bread suburbanites on this street call the cops. “No loud music” was rule number five on the nice pamphlets kept in the foyer.