“The journal was written by the lead scientist in the cave laboratory. His name was Aaron Jebson. He and a group of researchers and scientists were hired by some kind of secret order. Their contact was Dr. Oliver Livingston. They were tasked with performing a specific set of experiments. These experiments were to be executed on humans and animals alike.”
Marcus paused and took a deep breath. “There were countless failed experiments on both humans and animals, resulting in deformed genetic mutations. I won’t go into detail, but the accounts of these experiments are the most disturbing things I’ve ever read. Most of the failed experiments they scrapped, but a few animals were released back into the wild. There’s a list here of unicorns, rabbits, foxes, frogs, etcetera that were abandoned projects.”
Marcus took a deep breath and prepared himself for what he was about to say next. Once again, Jack was struck by his father’s vexed disposition. “There’s a section here I’d like to read straight from the book about two specific humans that were experimented on.
Subject R-19, code named “Banshee,” actually discovered us in the forest. She was wandering about when our security crew found her. We took her and alongside R-10, code named “Night Walker,” started performing the Vampire experiment using the latest tools and resources at our disposal. They both took to the procedure extremely well but in completely different ways. Where subject R-10 showed massive improvements in speed, strength, and an insatiable taste for blood, subject R-19 took to the procedure in an unprecedented manner. She has shown an intellectual capability further than that of any of our staff. Her brain activity even borders on the telepathic level.
I am not so proud to even say that her brainpower now far surpasses that of my own. We are all eager to see in what other ways her newfound power manifests itself.
“The last portion of the journal mentions another laboratory in New Hope showing huge success in the same ‘Vampire’ experiments. It ends with a new test subject called ‘A-21’ showing rapid development within its cage and then nothing.”
Jack sat stunned, trying to process all the new information. A secret order working in New Hope? Dr. Livingston is connected, there is no doubt about that now, but is he the head of this order? Who were the two human test subjects?
Jack could have gone on and on with the list of questions that needed to be answered, but Sloan’s commanding voice cut in instead. “Benjamin Clive’s story is true. Dr. Livingston did come to Burrow Den. He bought off the mayor in exchange for his secrecy and a secure location to perform his experiments in the mountain laboratory.”
“And whatever this animal is, it’s not an angel of death sent from a divine being. It’s a genetically engineered animal. A killing machine,” Aareth said.
“We know who the male test subject was.” Jack nodded, staring into the past and remembering the battle on the steam locomotive. “It had to be our attacker on the traveling steam engine. Who’s the girl?”
No one had a chance to speak further as the doors to the mayor’s mansion crashed open and a hysterical Abigail raced into the room.
“It’s him—you have to stop him. He’s controlling the animal. He killed all those people.”
“Wow, wow—slow down,” Marcus said.
“It’s okay.” Jack stood up and motioned Abigail to sit in his chair. “Just sit down and tell us what’s going on. We can help.”
Jack’s heart melted in his chest as he witnessed Abigail trembling. He put a hand on her shoulder and knelt by her seat. “Abigail, it’s okay. I’m not going to let anything happen to you, I promise.”
“No, Jack.” Abigail turned her large teary eyes on Jack and slowly shook her head. “You don’t understand. It’s not me that I’m worried about. It’s you.”
Chapter Forty-Nine
Jack
“Me?” Jack asked. “What are you talking about?”
“Damn it, woman!” Sloan stalked forward, looking Abigail straight in the eyes. “Control yourself and tell us what’s going on.”
“I’m sorry.” Abigail took a long breath and let it out slowly between her quivering lips. “My father is controlling the beast that’s going around the town killing everyone.”
The room was quiet; even Sloan looked to her traveling companions for direction.
“Abigail…” Marcus bent a knee and gave the young girl a comforting smile. “Are you sure? How do you know this?”
“I knew something was going on for a while now. He’s changed, he’s different now. I just never thought he could be capable of killing so many people.”
“How, Abigail?” Sloan asked, taking a hard tone. “How do you know this?”
“I’m sorry, Jack.” Abigail took another deep breath. She looked at Jack with tear-filled eyes. “I should have told you when I first talked with you. I knew something was going on, but you have to believe me—if I thought you were in any danger from him, I would have said something.”
“I know you would have. I believe you.” Jack did his best to give Abigail a genuine smile as he cupped her hand in his own.
“Thank you.” Abigail took a quivering breath.
“Aaaahhhhem.” Sloan reminded the two she was still in the room. “How do you know this, Abigail?”
“My father’s been going out at night more and more. At first, I wrote this off as church business, but tonight, I followed him. Earlier today, I saw him sneak into this house, and as soon as he heard you coming back from the hunt, he ran. I saw him carrying something but couldn’t be sure what it was. Tonight, he was out late again, so I went to the church. The door was locked, so I looked through a window. I saw him sitting there with some kind of large scarf in his hand and—”
Abigail stopped talking as she looked beyond the group to the far wall. Her eyes saw something that only her imagination told her was there.
“Go on, it’s okay.” Aareth recognized the symptom of shock.
“I saw a monster. It looked like a large dog. My father—my father was stroking its back and it was smelling the scarf in his hand.”
It was clear whatever Abigail was telling them was the truth. The girl was so shaken by what she witnessed, there was no denying her honesty.
“Well, looks like all the puzzle pieces are fitting together,” Sloan thought out loud. “The preacher has somehow been able to control a failed project from the cave laboratory. An experiment started by Dr. Oliver Livingston and this secret order.”
Jack saw his father tense and stand. His head cocked to the side. His hand reached for his staff. Jack knew the look and action like it was his own. His father heard something.
“Let’s go kill this thing and end its bloody rampage.” Sloan looked to her comrades for consent.
“We won’t have to go anywhere,” Marcus’ voice was low as he wrapped his hands around his brown staff.
“Why?” Sloan asked.
“Because it’s come to us.”
Chapter Fifty
Jack
Jack stood gripping his own wand. He stepped between Abigail and the open door. A soft, consistent patter met their ears. It sounded like a horse, but Jack knew the sound of paws on the ground compared to hooves.
The only way Jack could describe what happened next was sheer and utter chaos. One of the large windows to their left exploded inward, sending shards of sharp glass raining down on the group inside.
Jack pulled Abigail out of her seat and shoved her toward the open door. Sloan drew her sword. Red mage mist shot from the hilt as steel started to heat. Aareth clicked both buttons on his gauntlets and blue veins of magic crackled over his fists.
Time seemed to pause as Jack got his first look at the animal. It was gigantic, easily three to four hundred pounds of predatory muscle. It resembled a wolf in form and appearance. Its upper body was hugely exaggerated and its jaws were twice the size of a man’s head. The thing that surprised Jack the most, though, wasn’t its short fur or the yellow slitted eyes that spoke murder; it was the color of the animal
. It was a brownish-green tint that was so unnatural—it was clearly manmade. The creature was colored to blend in to the forest perfectly.
The animal growled. It sniffed the air for a split second before it made its choice and bounded towards Marcus. Marcus blasted a ball of green magic from the end of his staff. It hit the monster square in the chest, but it wasn’t enough to stop the charging killer. The beast didn’t even stumble. Jack witnessed huge paws ripping into his father’s sternum, even as he fired his own magic attack at the animal.
Jack fired again and again, each of his burning balls of magic fire exploding on his target. Still, the beast tore at his father. Sloan ran at the fiend and jumped, aiming her sword, pointed end down. The animal saw her at the last moment and kicked like a donkey with its back hind legs. The creature’s powerful hind paws hit Sloan in the stomach with a solid crunch. She flew across the room, slamming into a tall bookcase. The wooden bookcase collapsed on her and covered her completely.
Aareth was next as he took the opportunity to lay hands on the animal. Burnt fur and smoky flesh filled the air as the animal howled in pain. Aareth held on to the back of the animal’s neck with gritted teeth. It lost interest in Marcus as it twisted and shook to be free.
All Jack could think of was his father. He knew somewhere deep down he should be worried about ending the animal once and for all. He knew he should extend his wand into a staff and press the attack, but none of that mattered anymore. All Jack could see was his father’s limp body covered in dark red blood.
Jack ran to his father’s side. He could see the animal wrestle free of Aareth’s grip. Jack thought the animal would attack again; instead, there was a low, shrill whistle. The animal hesitated for a moment. Smoke from burnt flesh and hair rose from the animal. Blood dropped from the wounds in its chest and abdomen.
The whistle came back louder now, and just as if the beast was never in the house, it was gone. With one turn and leap, it was out the front door and enveloped by the night’s darkness.
Jack witnessed all of this, and in that moment, didn’t care. He had made it to his father’s side. Jack gently rolled his father onto his back. His heart caught in his throat. His father’s chest was a bloody mess of bones and organs.
“That—that bad, huh?”
Jack’s eyes filled with tears as he held his father in his arms. No words came to him; all he could do was shake his head.
Aareth, Sloan, and Abigail ran over to Jack and Marcus.
“I—I can get some bandages from next door.” Abigail’s eyes were streaming water.
“I’ll get a doctor.” Sloan pressed one arm to her own ribs.
“No,” Aareth and Marcus said at the same time.
“My time has come.” Marcus coughed. The bleeding from his chest was getting worse. With each breath, more and more blood filled his chest. “Aareth, Sloan, remember what we talked about.”
Aareth nodded slowly. Sloan hung her head.
“Abigail.”
“Yes? I’m here.” Abigail took a step forward and knelt next to Marcus.
“Take care of my son.”
“I will, I promise.”
Jack and Abigail looked at one another. There were no words for the moment; both of them were wise enough to know that much.
“Jack?”
“I’m here, Dad, I’m here.” Jack took his father’s bloodstained hand in his own and looked into the eyes of the man he loved his entire life, the man who not only had his respect because they were related, but the man who had earned his respect time and time again.
“Jack, I am so very proud of the person you have grown to become. I know your mother would feel the same way. You’ve grown into a man I would be proud to follow.”
Tears streaked down Jack’s face like comets falling from the heavens.
“You be the man we both know you are.” Marcus took a long, shallow breath. “Choose the right path no matter how hard it seems.”
“But I’m—I’m not as strong as you are.”
“You’re stronger, Jack. You are stronger than you know. I’ll always be with you, son. I love you.”
“I love you too, Dad.”
“She wants me to tell you she’s so very proud of you, Jack. We both are.” Marcus gave Jack one last smile and let a deep breath escape. Marcus’ brown eyes were directed to the ceiling.
That was it. Marcus’ chest ceased to struggle up and down and his eyes glazed over. Jack didn’t know what to do next. He just knelt there holding his father. Abigail knelt beside Jack and threw both her slender arms around his chest.
Jack was in a daze. He knew what happened; he just didn’t have a response. Lucky for him there was an assassin in the room who was all too familiar with the feeling of pain and loss.
“I’m going to kill this thing. Sloan, Jack. Let’s go.” Aareth’s voice took on a tone Jack never heard before. “There will be plenty of time to mourn later, trust me. Now we’ll finish this.”
Jack looked up from the darkness that was clouding his mind. Aareth was already recharging his gauntlets. The look in Aareth’s eyes was enough to put the fear of God in anyone. Jack imagined that he spent the entire journey seeing Aareth the inspector. Now Aareth the assassin decided to make his presence known.
Chapter Fifty-One
Jack
“Up, Jack! Get up!” Aareth yelled.
“He’s right.” Sloan was back doing her best to hide the tears she shed. “We couldn’t track the animal before, but now—” Sloan pointed a gloved hand at a trail of unnaturally bright red blood leading outside and to the main city street.
Jack got to his feet, wobbling as his eyes refused to leave the limp figure of his father for too long.
“He’d want me to finish the assignment the Queen gave us,” Jack said, more to himself than anyone in the room.
Jack ripped his eyes from his father and walked out the door with Aareth and Sloan. He felt numb. Aareth walked beside him on his right, his jaw set and violence in his dangerous eyes. Sloan walked on Jack’s left, her eyes set and determined, the mage sword dragging in the dirt behind her.
Just like the night before, the town had heard the commotion. Lanterns and candles were lit inside windows. Heads poked out when they saw the three members of the Queen’s emissary walking down the road.
“Hey, what’s going on?”
“Was there another attack?”
“Is—is that blood on your clothes? Are you all right?”
These questions and more slid off Jack as if he were deaf. He was beyond conversation now. All he could see was the trail of blood that led to the city church.
The blood was more proof the creature wasn’t born, but rather created. The blood was a bright red tint Jack had never seen before. In the light of the many lanterns and candles, it was easy to follow.
The three surviving members of the hunting team the Queen sent to Burrow Den reached the church. The blood spattering led right to the front double doors.
Aareth didn’t hesitate as he walked up the white steps and kicked in the doors with a heavy boot. Jack walked inside, wand at the ready.
The church was just like Jack remembered; large, one room with an army of pews that reached to the opposite side of the building. On a raised dais sat Elijah Ahab, and beside him, lying like a dog, was the animal that had killed his father.
“I see you have placed all the pieces of the puzzle correctly.” Elijah gave the hunters a thin smile.
“You killed a emissary of the Queen of New Hope and are charged with—”
“Please, Captain, we can skip the reading of my charges? I know what I have done and I am absolved of my sins in the eyes of the Divine.” Elijah cackled with glee.
The animal at Elijah’s side squatted nervously. Jack could see the creature was ready to leap into action at a moment’s notice.
“How did you find the animal? How do you control it?” Jack needed to know.
“Oh, that’s actually the simplest part,” Elija
h finally rose from his seat. “I simply take a piece of clothing from my next victim. The animal smells it and that’s it.” Elijah reached into the top of his high-colored shirt and brought out a small whistle on a chain. “If I need him back, all I have to do is blow. I know this animal was a gift from the Divine One because the animal found me.”
“What are you talking about?” Sloan asked.
“I was praying for a sign one night a few months ago. I had seen the corruption eating the city from the inside out. I had no way to stop it. Then I heard a scratching at the back door. The animal was no bigger than a small wolf at the time; still, I knew it was a sign. I nursed it and it grew. It grew into a weapon to be used against the enemies of the kingdom.”
“And my father? He was a corrupt enemy of the kingdom that needed to be killed?” Jack choked out the words with disgust.
“Your father was among the most dangerous of enemies.” Elijah smoothed down his long black cloak and stretched. “He was a man of morals and unrelenting determination. He had to be disposed of for the greater good. Much like all of you.”
For a moment, all that could be heard was the switch of Sloan’s mage sword being flicked on. Aareth removed his own dark coat. It slipped to the floor, already forgotten.
The church was lit by dozens of candles, both along the walls and high overhead on hanging chandlers. Jack found it ironic the very place that brought peace and comfort to so many was about to become a battleground.
“The Divine One is on my side tonight. You sinners will be cast into the abyss where you belong.” Elijah stepped down off the raised podium. He reached inside his cloak and drew out a long knife. The creature rose on all fours and walked with him side by side.
The Complete Vampire Project Series: (Books 1 - 5) Page 18