Conquering A Bloodthirsty Earth (Book 3): Vampire Lord 3

by Jacobs, Logan

  Immediately, my girlfriend held it up, and I saw that my texts had never gone through, and neither had my phone call. I pulled out Nat’s phone and texted her again, and then I tried Catherine and Erika’s phones, but no one got any of the messages or calls. Even when the girls tried to call and text each other, nothing went through.

  “Well, that’s not fucking good,” I sighed. “Your phone network is totally down.”

  “Yours, too,” Natalie murmured as she looked at my phone’s screen. “So I’m guessing they’re down for good.”

  “I think they might be,“ I said, “but we’ll worry about that in a minute. Right now, I’m just glad to be back here with you.”

  I gave my girlfriend another quick kiss and then turned my attention to Catherine, Lily, and Erika.

  “And I’ve never been so happy to see all of you,” I said. “There was a car missing from the first level, so when I saw that and I saw that you hadn’t replied to my texts, I was afraid that--”

  “We’re okay, Spike,” Catherine interrupted and gave me a little light punch on the shoulder. “No need to worry about us.”

  “The diesel smell must have thrown them off,” Erika said. “If they were a vamp, I mean. They must not have been able to smell us.”

  “If they were a vamp?” Catherine folded her arms over her chest. “Like there’s a chance that a human just waltzed in here, started their car up like it was just another normal day, and then drove the fuck out of here?”

  “It could happen!” Erika said. “I mean, probably not-- but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t.”

  “Well, whoever it was, they’re gone now,” I said. “And you’re all safe, so that’s all I care about.”

  “I’m glad you’re back, Sam,” Lily murmured. “I know I really only just met you, but-- I don’t know. It was weird to be without you.”

  “I’m glad to be back, too,” I said.

  Before I could say anything else, I saw that my girlfriend had started to peer around my shoulder at the two girls I’d left behind me. I gestured for them to come over and join us, and Brianna helped her pink-haired friend walk over to us. As soon as both girls reached us, the blonde and I helped Neko sit down on the back of the truck, and I glanced up at Catherine.

  “Could you get her something to eat?” I asked. “Actually, get something for both of them. I know we can’t have a whole home-cooked meal right now, but try to find them something with a lot of protein, okay?”

  “Sure thing, Drac,” the long-legged girl replied. “Two big helpings of protein, coming right up.”

  As Catherine climbed back into the truck to search for some food, I rested my hand on Neko’s shoulder to steady her, and then I turned toward the rest of the girls to introduce them.

  “Nat, I know you already know Brianna,” I began, “but everybody, this is Brianna, Isaac’s girlfriend. Bree, you know Nat, and this is Lily and Erika, and that’s Catherine.”

  The auburn-haired girl paused inside the truck long enough to turn around and wave.

  “And this is Neko, Brianna’s friend,” I introduced the pink-haired girl. “Neko, this is everybody.”

  “Hey, everybody,” Neko said. “I’m usually a little more enthusiastic, but--”

  “I don’t think anyone’s ever accused you of being enthusiastic,” Brianna laughed.

  “Energetic, maybe?” Neko smiled.

  “Nah, that’s more my style,” the blonde said.

  “What I’m trying to say--” the petite Japanese girl started.

  “She’s trying to say that she’s just really tired,” Brianna explained. “We both are, but we’re both just really glad to be here. If Sam hadn’t come for us… well, I’m sure you can imagine what would have happened.”

  “You don’t have to sugarcoat it,” Neko snickered. “We’d be dead, and that’s all there is to it.”

  “It’s really nice to meet you,” Erika said quickly. “I’m really glad Sam found you.”

  “He saved my life, too, so I know what you mean,” Lily added. “It’s really nice to have a vamp on your side, trust me.”

  “Found ‘em!” Catherine grinned and jumped back out of the truck with a fistful of protein bars. “They might taste a little bit like plastic, but this shit is dense, so it should help you feel better.”

  “Thanks,” Neko said. “I think I’m just a little low on blood.”

  “You both are,” I told her and Brianna. “I want you to both eat two of those before we go anywhere, okay?”

  “You got it,” Neko said and then tore into one of the bars.

  “Um, Sam?” Natalie murmured, as her hand slipped into mine. “Where’s…”

  I could hear that her voice was about to break, but I felt at a complete loss for words. How could I explain to my girlfriend that I had killed her brother? And what might be even worse, how could I explain to her the kind of monster that he had become when he turned? I didn’t know which news would be more difficult for her to hear, but I couldn’t think of how to tell her any of it.

  “Where’s Isaac?” Natalie finally finished her question.

  “Nat…” I hesitated. “You know I would--”

  “Isaac was one of them,” Brianna interrupted and took Natalie’s other hand. “He was a vamp.”

  “A vamp?” Natalie repeated and then pulled both her hands back toward herself. “But that would mean-- but he would never have gotten the vaccine. He hated needles!”

  “He didn’t get it, exactly,” the blonde sighed. “He gave it to himself.”

  “What does that mean?” Catherine asked as she sat down beside Neko and wrapped a scarf around the petite girl’s shoulders.

  “Thanks,” the pink-haired girl murmured.

  “He…” Brianna paused but then charged right ahead. “Natalie, I know you don’t know me very well, so there’s no easy way for me to say this.”

  “To say what?” my girlfriend asked as her lower lip gave a little tremble.

  “You’ve gotta understand,” Brianna said and shook her head when I opened my mouth to help explain. “I’ve got this, Sam.”

  “Please, just tell me where my brother is,” Natalie murmured.

  “He figured out really early on that it was the vaccine turning people into vampires,” the blonde said. “And that’s when he decided to… well, to inject himself, so he would turn into one of them.”

  “Hold up, what?” Catherine demanded. “Are you saying that Isaac wanted to be a bloodsucker?”

  “That’s exactly what I’m saying,” Brianna replied. “He wanted the-- I don’t know, like, I guess he wanted the power, you know? A kill or be killed thing.”

  “Okay, so then where is he?” Natalie asked. “That means he was strong, right? So he wouldn’t have just-- he couldn’t have-- somebody just please tell me where the fuck he is. Please, I have to--”

  “The vaccine changed him,” Brianna said. “You have to understand that before you understand anything else.”

  “Well, of course it changed him,” Lily said as she ran her fingers through her thick curls. “It turned him into a vamp, right? Just like Sam.”

  “Not just like Sam,” Neko chimed in. “Definitely not just like Sam.”

  “He wasn’t your brother,” Brianna said. “Trust me, I knew your brother, and when Isaac turned, he… I don’t know. He just became someone completely different.”

  “He was the one who attacked our class,” Neko said. “He lied to you, Natalie. He was the monster, not a victim.”

  “That’s a little harsh, Neko,” Brianna hissed. “I was working up to that, alright?”

  “It’s the truth,” the petite Japanese girl said. “The moment he injected himself with that vaccine, he wasn’t Isaac anymore. I just think it’s easier if you think about everything that happened after as something that someone else did. Because that wasn’t her brother anymore.”

  “He… he attacked you?” Natalie whispered. “He attacked your whole class?”

  �
�Yeah,” Brianna sighed. “He-- you know what? It’s probably not important for you to know, like, all the gory details.”

  “Tell me,” my girlfriend demanded. “If he turned into a monster, I need to hear everything that happened to him.”

  “Okay,” the blonde sighed. “If you really want to know, Isaac, like, killed a bunch of people in our class, okay?”

  “And kept us prisoner,” Neko added. “And didn’t feed us.”

  “Even though he fed from us,” Brianna said. “If Sam hadn’t found us when he did… well, I don’t think either one of us would have made it to the end of the week. You know, if we’re being totally honest and everything.”

  “He would have killed us,” Neko said after she swallowed the last bite of her second protein bar. “Either accidentally or on purpose, he would have killed us, just like he tried to kill Sam.”

  “Oh, shit,” Catherine gasped. “He did what now?”

  “Oh my god, Sam, are you okay?” Erika asked as she grabbed my arm and started to inspect my skin for any signs of injury.

  “I’m okay,” I said and rested my hands on the shy girl’s shoulders. “I had to drink from Neko to get my strength back, but I’m okay now.”

  “My brother tried to kill you?” Natalie asked as a little worry line appeared between her eyebrows. “But he knew you-- he likes you! He--”

  “He didn’t tell us that he was a vampire,” Catherine cut her off. “When we talked to him on the phone right before Sam left, remember? Sam told him that he was a vamp, and Isaac--”

  “He didn’t say anything,” Erika finished. “He lied to you, Nat. Just like he lied about who attacked his class. Doesn’t that tell you that he wasn’t the same person anymore? Isaac would never have lied to his sister. Not the real Isaac, anyway.”

  I thought about my theory that everyone who turned into a bloodsucking monster already had something dark deep inside them, and how the real asshole vamps were probably just waiting for an excuse to turn into total animals.

  I also thought about how Isaac had made the decision to turn himself into a vamp while he was still very much a human, but I was glad that so far, no one seemed to remember that. Maybe Natalie hadn’t really known her brother as well as she thought she did, just like maybe Isaac had hidden parts of himself from Brianna, too.

  Of course, I wasn’t about to bring any of that up.

  I could tell Natalie already knew what had happened to her brother, but now she just needed someone to confirm it for her. And if it was easier for her to believe that the vaccine turned Isaac into a monster, then I was happy to let her think that, instead of the truth that he had probably always been looking for an excuse to be one.

  “Yeah,” I finally sighed. “He tried to kill me, just like he would have killed Neko and Brianna.”

  “So, then, you--” Natalie bit her lip. “So Isaac, he’s… and you…”

  “He’s dead,” Neko announced, when no one else would say the words.

  Natalie rocked back like she’d been slapped, so Catherine and Lily helped her over to the truck to sit beside Neko. As soon as she was seated, I knelt on the ground in front of her and rested my hands on her thighs.

  “If there had been any way to bring him back to you,” I murmured, “you know I would have. But he-- I couldn’t save him, Nat. I’m sorry.”

  “He attacked Sam,” Brianna repeated. “Isaac wanted to kill him because Sam wanted to save us. That’s really what it came down to, you know?

  “And Sam chose to save us,” Neko said.

  My girlfriend clenched her eyes shut, and a single tear rolled down her cheek as she gripped the edge of the truck.

  “Nat, are you still with us?” Erika asked. “Do you want to talk about it?”

  Natalie shook her head hard enough to sway her brunette hair.

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “Believe me, sweetie. If I’d had any other choice--”

  “Please don’t apologize,” my girlfriend said as her blue eyes suddenly flew open and she grasped my hands. “I’m so sorry that you had to go through this, Sam. I can’t imagine what it must have been like for you.”

  “That is so not what I thought you were gonna say,” Lily muttered.

  “No, I mean it!” Natalie said. “Look, if Isaac did all of those terrible things, then he wasn’t the Isaac I knew, so I have to-- I just can’t think about him as a vamp, okay? Sam, you killed a monster, not my brother. My brother was already dead.”

  “But you know he--” Neko started.

  I shook my head quickly, and the pink-haired girl fell silent. I knew it would be impossible for Brianna and Neko not to think about Isaac as a monster, but that didn’t mean that Natalie had to think about him the same way. Maybe one day, she’d be able to handle the full truth, but no one said that day had to be today.

  “Was it--” Natalie hesitated. “Could you at least tell me if it was quick?”

  “Yeah, it was quick,” I lied as I remembered the feeling of his skull when it broke underneath the heel of my boot. “He’s not in any pain now, and now he also can’t hurt anybody else.”

  “Okay.” Natalie nodded and wiped the tears from her eyes. “I’m glad he-- I tried to prepare myself for the worst, but-- it’s just--”

  “It’s still hard,” Brianna finished for her. “I understand, trust me.”

  My girlfriend stood up and pulled the curvy blonde into a tight hug. Brianna seemed surprised at first, but then she slipped her arms around Natalie’s waist and just held her for a minute. If anybody could help Nat through this, it would be Isaac’s ex-girlfriend, so I was glad that the two girls had each other.

  When Brianna and Natalie released each other, my girlfriend wiped at her eyes again, turned toward me, and nodded.

  “I’m really glad you’re okay, Sam,” she murmured. “It’s gonna take me a little while, but I-- I’m just glad you’re safe, and I’m glad you could save Bree and Neko. That’s what matters.”

  I bent down to kiss her forehead, and she went up on her tiptoes to surprise me with a kiss on my lips.

  “Do you want us to talk about something else?” Erika asked after Natalie sat back down beside Neko.

  “Yeah, do you want us to distract you and shit?” Catherine added.

  “God, yes, please,” Natalie said. “I can’t-- I just don’t want to think about it anymore right now.”

  “Okay, Nat,” I said. “We’ll do whatever you want. So I take it that you didn’t run into any trouble while I was gone?”

  “Nah, it was pretty effing boring, to be honest,” Catherine sighed. “We mostly just sat around and talked. Girl shit, you know.”

  “And you didn’t hear anything or see anything all night?” I raised an eyebrow. “This area really must be deserted, I guess.”

  “No, Catherine’s right,” Erika said. “It was really quiet after you left.”

  “And I’d really been hoping that I would have an excuse to take Rhino out for a spin,” Catherine sighed again.

  “You mean that you wanted us to be attacked by a horde of fuckin’ bloodsuckers, just so you would have an excuse to drive the armored truck around?” Lily demanded.

  “Eh, well, there’s always next time,” the auburn-haired girl laughed.

  “Let’s hope not,” Erika said with a shudder.

  “Is that because you don’t want to be attacked by a bunch of vamps, or because you don’t want to be subjected to my driving?” Catherine grinned.

  “It’s a toss-up,” Erika teased.

  “Oh, wait!” Lily clapped her hands together. “We did hear something earlier, remember? Just a little bit ago.”

  “I completely forgot about that,” Catherine said as she wiped a little stray mark of eyeliner away from the corner of her eye. “We heard gunshots!”

  “From where?” I glanced at Brianna and Neko, since I had a pretty damn good idea who had been responsible for the gunshots. “Could you tell which direction?”

  “Not really,” Erika said. �
��It was kind of hard to tell from inside the truck.”

  “Yeah, that shit was really muffled,” Catherine added. “It almost sounded like a car that backfired, but it happened a couple times, not just once.”

  “The vamp cops aren’t already on this side of the river, are they?” Lily asked. “Because if there are fuckin’ vamps out there with fuckin’ guns--”

  “Sam’s a vamp, and he has a gun,” Neko pointed out.

  “Oh, yeah, but he’s Sam,” Lily replied. “That’s different.”

  “But to answer your question, no,” I said, “As far as I know, the NYPD is still just focused in Manhattan. The gunshots that you heard were from us.”

  “Well, like, technically, the gunshots were from you,” Brianna said. “We were just kind of, you know, along for the ride.”

  “I think you must be thinking of a different boat,” I said. “Because the boat that I was in would never have made it, if you hadn’t been able to drive it while I was shooting.”

  “Holy shit,” Catherine said. “That’s wild.”

  “Hold on, who the fuck were you shooting at?” Lily demanded.

  “The cops,” Neko said with a shrug. “They chased us to the boat, and then more of them chased us out on the water.”

  “Oh my god!” Natalie gasped. “Sam, what did you do? Are you sure that you’re okay?”

  “I’m fine, I promise,” I said, but I was glad that it seemed like we had distracted her. “I didn’t want to use the guns, but I couldn’t think of any other way to get rid of the cops. They were in another boat, so it’s not like I could just jump over and tackle them.”

  “Damn, Edward, that’s crazy!” Catherine fanned herself. “He’s from Twilight, in case you forgot.”

  “I didn’t,” I laughed.

  “So you took them all out?” Natalie asked. “All the vamp cops?”

  “All the ones in the boat, yeah,” I said. “And since we were in the middle of the water, I don’t think anybody could track the sound to us.”

  “That’s amazing,” Erika said. “I can’t believe you did that.”

  “Thank you for giving him blood,” Natalie said suddenly and laid her hand on Neko’s arm. “I know it would have been really hard for him to make it otherwise.”