“Stay the hell away from me!”
Jess realized his mistake. Whatever he knew to be the truth wasn’t on Sarah’s radar. She had seen him standing over her bloodied lover, a man Jess hated, and now he put his hands on her. He would have screamed bloody murder too if the roles had been reversed. He slowly backed away.
“Okay, okay. I know you think I killed him. But I swear he was dead when I got here.”
“You… you’re expecting me to believe Edward called you… called you on the phone… and in the time it took you to get over here… someone came in and did that? Ripped him to pieces and just vanished?!”
“As crazy as that sounds, yes, Sarah, that’s what must have happened.”
She continued crying and reached for the phone.
“No way, Jess. No fucking way.” She shook her head vehemently. “Maybe Edward called you. Maybe he didn’t. I won’t even say you came over here to kill him. But I know you didn’t like him. You didn’t like me being with him. I don’t even care who started it—I understand things can get out of control—but this? You did this to him?” She started yelling again. “You fucking did this to him?!”
She gulped for air and once she caught her breath, started to dial. Jess couldn’t help himself as he lunged and tried to grab it away.
“No! Don’t fucking touch me!”
Jess eased away again. “C’mon, Sarah. You know me.”
“No, Jess. I don’t. I don’t know who you are anymore.” Tears streamed down her face.
“The police will throw me in jail. That you do know.”
“If you did this, you belong there.”
Jess raised his voice for the first time. “But I didn’t!”
Sarah jumped at the outburst, which made Jess feel like crap for needlessly making things worse for his sister. He spoke softer. “Did you see what Edward looked like? Look at me—I’d be drenched in his blood.”
Sarah pointed accusingly at Jess’s right hand. “What about that?”
Jess stared at the blood on his fingers. “I leaned down to check on him. If I’d done what you think, you’d see a whole lot more. What about a murder weapon? Did you see one? Do you see me holding one?”
“You must have gotten rid of it.”
“No! I didn’t get rid of a weapon! The thing that killed him—”
Jess broke off. Sarah looked wild-eyed at her brother.
“What thing?”
Once again, Jess had to make a decision. What did he tell her? He wasn’t dealing with someone like Benji, a man who wanted to believe the unfathomable. This was his sister, who only saw the brother she was convinced killed the love of her life.
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“I thought as much,” she said quietly.
Sarah dialed 911.
“Please don’t do this, Sarah.”
She ignored him and waited for the emergency operator to pick up.
One last attempt. “Edward wasn’t the man you thought he was.”
“I’m done listening to you.”
“Believe me, I’m so sorry this happened. He didn’t deserve it. I will do whatever I can to make it right.”
“I don’t give a shit what you do, Jessie.” The tears had stopped. Her voice had gone ice cold.
Jess turned away and walked out of the kitchen. As he passed Rice’s tattered corpse and exited the house, he heard Sarah tell the emergency operator that she wanted to report a murder.
Jess had promised to “make it right” and meant it. Of course, he didn’t have a clue how to do that. But he knew it would be impossible from a jail cell. If Thaddeus Burke had the chance, he wouldn’t hesitate to lock Jess away and forget where he put the key.
Jess got in the SUV’s driver’s seat. He shut the door and rooted around in his pants pocket for the car keys. He dug them out and started the ignition.
His father sprang up from the backseat.
Jess began to scream but Walter’s cold hand grabbed him by the throat.
“I warned you to leave this alone.” The Walter-thing’s voice was a crisp hiss laced with static.
A panicked Jess struggled in his father’s arms. He shoved an elbow into the vampire’s neck and wrenched away. Jess pulled out the crucifix and jammed it in front of Walter’s pale angry face.
The Civatateo swiped it away like it was a paper clip.
Jess moaned.
“Catholic superstition,” Walter snarled.
He leaned forward and Jess could see him clearly in the reflected moonlight. His white shirt was covered in blood, which no doubt had previously been in Edward Rice’s veins. There were plenty of splotches around the Civatateo’s mouth as well.
A horrifying smile emerged on his father’s face. He wiped some of the stray blood off his lip with a finger, and matter-of-factly placed it in his mouth. The slight slurping sound was the most unnerving thing of all. Jess desperately tried to hold onto his sanity. It wasn’t easy. Neither was trying to comprehend how he could be in the clutches of a monster and still be alive.
At least for now.
“Why did you kill Edward Rice?”
“He had to die.”
“Because he was going to tell me the truth?” asked Jess.
“Because he deserved it.”
The vampire’s voice was wrapped in gravel from an ancient burial ground. Jess felt like he was watching a robotic version of his father. Whatever remained of Walter Stark was in there somewhere, but buried way down deep.
“You were many things before—but never a killer.”
“I’m not what I was.”
Understatement of the year. “What do you want?”
“To be left alone.”
“And if I can’t do that? Leave it alone?” asked Jess.
Cold fury appeared in his father’s eyes. His mouth darted open, revealing the razor-sharp fangs.
Jess lurched back against the car window, smashing his head. The pain was secondary to absolute fear.
Walter hovered over his son. “I would reconsider. While I can still fight off the urge.”
Sirens sounded in the distance, giving Jess hope to survive one more night. He looked out the side window.
“Maybe this is a good time to all sit down and sort this thing out.”
But when Jess turned around, the back passenger door was hanging open and the Civatateo was gone.
At least he didn’t ask to be dropped somewhere, thought Jess.
Realizing he was on the edge of madness and hysteria, Jess leaned over and slammed the back door shut. He sped off in the opposite direction of the approaching sirens. As he made a right on the next street, he could see the squad cars pulling to a stop in front of Edward Rice’s house.
Jess started to get the shakes.
He still had them when he got back to the Sands Motel after driving with all the interior car lights on.
He must have looked over his shoulder at the backseat three dozen times.
12
“This thing is totally worthless, by the way.”
Jess tossed the cereal box crucifix across the motel room. Benji caught it with a nice backhanded grab.
He shook it in the air as if it were a faulty thermometer needing a good kick-start. Jess filled him on the confrontation with his father. For Benji it might as well have been the Gospel According to Bram Stoker.
“God, I wish I’d been there.”
“No. No you don’t.” Jess couldn’t have been more serious. He began tossing his scattered clothes into a duffle bag. “I think he’s under the control of someone.”
“The one who turned him.”
“Evidently. Edward Rice must have known who that person was. I think that’s what he wanted to talk to me about.”
“Unfortunately, your father got there first.”
“He said Rice ‘deserved it.’ I couldn’t tell if he actually believed that or was carrying out some sort of order. But he had no intention of telling me who gave it.”
Jess zipped up the duffle bag and gave the room a once-over to see if he’d missed anything.
“So, now what do we do?” asked Benji.
“We do nothing. I’ve dragged you into this enough.”
“Drag away. That’s what friends are for.”
“You want to help? Divert the cops. It’s only a matter of time before Sarah sends them here. If they ask where I went—”
“Name the place—that’s where I’ll send them.”
Jess thought about it for a moment. “Try Los Angeles. I wouldn’t mind sending Burke on a wild goose chase.”
“In that case, maybe I’ll send him to Canada and let him freeze his ass off.”
Both men laughed. “As much as I’d love that, we’ve got to give them something believable,” Jess said. “The best way to help is stick around town and let me know what you hear.”
“Whatever you need, man.” Benji wrapped him up in a giant bear hug. “Any time you’re in the neighborhood hunting monsters, feel free to drop by.”
“I’d rather just sit around and get drunk,” Jess said.
“We can do that too.” The two friends broke apart. “Where you going to crash?”
“I’m not sure. Besides, it’s better you don’t know. That way they won’t use a rubber hose on you when the LA detour hits a dead end.”
“I guess telling you to lie low until this blows over would be pointless?”
“You ever see me try to duck a blitz?”
“I saw you end up flat on your ass a whole bunch because you were too damn stubborn.”
“It’s coming to a head, Benji. Things were kept quiet for years, but once Tom Cox stole those files at Meadowland and showed them to my father, it started the ball rolling. They got rid of Cox and turned my father into whatever-the-hell he’s become. Then Rice must have gotten out of line and threatened to spill everything to me. That made him a liability. They’re getting careless and it’s become harder to cover things up.”
“One question.”
Jess had to smile. “Only one? I can’t believe what just came out of my mouth.”
“Who are the ‘they’ you keep talking about?”
“Presumably the Civatateo.”
“And how do you figure out where to find them?”
“My next stop.”
The Oasis appeared no different at three in the morning than the last time Jess had been there, and it probably looked the same when it opened at eight in the morning after the mandatory five-hour shutdown. There would be three or four people hugging the bar, one endless game of pool in back, and a few patrons hunkered down in booths trying to hide from the outside world.
Jess felt bad about hauling Lena Flores out of bed in the middle of the night, but if he waited until morning, the Stark house would have been crawling with Burke and his men. Luckily she had kept the same private line in her room all these years and Jess was surprised to find the housekeeper still awake at two in the morning. She told him she had been having trouble sleeping ever since the specter of the Civatateo reemerged and was happy to talk to a “live” human being instead of imagining undead ones descending upon her.
She wasn’t alone. Her daughter, Maria, was sitting across from her in the booth. Jess wasn’t exactly caught off guard; Lena had suggested the late-night meeting place and her daughter worked there. What he didn’t expect were the first words out of Maria’s mouth.
“So the Civatateo are back?”
She kept her voice quiet as she uttered the “C” word. This didn’t thrill Jess and as he dropped into the booth beside Maria, he made that clear in a look to Lena. She helplessly shrugged her shoulders. Maria caught onto the silent exchange immediately.
“Don’t blame my mom. I’ve been hearing about them since I was a little girl.”
“Bedtime stories,” explained Lena.
“A bit on the macabre side,” Jess pointed out.
“Not if you’re warned they would come get you if you didn’t behave,” Maria said.
“How much have you told her?”
“Pretty much everything.” Lena didn’t apologize. She said it was her duty as a mother to protect her daughter. Maria lived by herself and worked at night. Since she refused to move back into the Stark house, something Jess could understand, and was “pigheaded like a mule,” Lena wanted Maria forewarned.
“I think the two of you are safe. You don’t pose a threat,” Jess said. “Unless you start talking about it.”
“No one would believe us,” said Maria.
“You two believe me,” Jess pointed out.
“That’s because I grew up with this,” Lena said. “Maria isn’t so sure.”
“Really.” Jess stared at Lena’s daughter.
“I’ve heard all the stories. I can’t deny something came from down there. But it’s most likely a freak of nature or science gone seriously wrong. Not these superstitious tales.”
“That’s because you’ve never seen one,” Lena admonished.
“Neither have you!”
“Well, I have,” said Jess. “My father is one.”
That put a stopper in the debate between mother and daughter.
“It’s time to put an end to this. In order to do that, I need to know anything else you can tell me about the Civatateo.”
“I only know what I’ve heard,” said Lena.
“Let’s start with my father. Why is he the only one walking around? What about the Meadowland patients?”
“The Civatateo only turn a few. Otherwise there would be too many and impossible to stay hidden,” Lena explained. “Once the victims are no longer useful as food, they are allowed to die.”
“So we shouldn’t expect to see Edward Rice up and at ’em anytime soon?”
“It would be hard to explain since he was left for the police to find,” said Maria.
“So was my father.”
“But he is in the shadows. So far, you’re the only one who has seen him,” countered Lena.
“I’m pretty sure he has been reaching out to my brother and mother.”
“But he never entered the house.”
“Because he had to be invited in?”
Lena shook her head. “The Civatateo go wherever they want. He only thinks this because that’s what he was told.”
“By whoever turned him,” realized Jess. Lena didn’t correct him. He thought back to the eerie conversation in the SUV outside Rice’s house. “My father does seem to be under someone’s thumb. Why can’t he just resist?”
“It is difficult. Their maker’s blood runs through them. It’s like going against one’s mother or father.”
Well, that was certainly something Jess could relate to.
“Where would they be during the day?”
“Somewhere the sun doesn’t shine.”
“Is that the only way to kill them?”
“As far as I know,” answered Lena.
“What about all the other stuff? Stakes? Crucifixes and silver bullets?”
Maria laughed and jumped in. “Silver bullets are for werewolves. The rest are superstitions handed down through storybooks. They call the Civatateo a vampire because it rises from the dead and walks at night. I know my mother told you the story about the pregnant woman who died near the crossroads. More than likely it’s Mother Nature getting her signals crossed. We thrive during the day and our body craves sleep at night. But some things work conversely—blood bubbling from the moon’s tidal pull or plants that only bloom after the sun sets. The fact that sunlight has such an adverse effect on these creatures might just be the opposite of the night environment which makes them flourish. Think of it as science run amok.”
Jess marveled at Maria’s calm and rational scientific explanation for the horrors he had witnessed. He turned toward her mother. “Don’t ever say they’re not teaching her anything at that college.”
“She’s smart, my Maria,” boasted Lena.
“Don’t you hate when your parents
talk about you like you’re not even in the room?” asked Maria.
“Better than not at all,” mused Jess.
Lena took his hand. “I know you think that, Jessie. But they thought of you all the time. Your mother was never the same after you left.”
“That wasn’t because of me. But that’s another story.”
He released Lena’s hand and straightened up. “So, we just have to find where my dad and his new ‘father’ hang out during the day, drag them into the bright sunshine, and watch them fry to a crisp.”
Maria’s smile was drop-dead beautiful. “Is that all?”
As they walked out to the parking lot, Jess made Lena promise not to tell anyone at the Stark house she had seen him. He wasn’t concerned for himself; he just didn’t want Lena named as an accomplice aiding and abetting a felon. That resulted in a crying jag from the elder Flores woman that was only appeased when Jess threw his arms around her, told her he loved her, and would be in touch as soon as possible. Lena dried her eyes and, after being reassured by her daughter that she was okay, drove off, leaving Jess and Maria alone in the Oasis parking lot.
Jess walked Maria toward her car. “Where are you going now?” she asked.
“Some place Burke wouldn’t think to look for me. Now I just have to find wherever that is.”
“I’ve got a couch. I can’t promise it doesn’t have a dozen lumps but last time I checked it was available.”
“I appreciate the offer. But I don’t want you involved any more than you already are. Your mom is upset enough.”
“Don’t be stupid, Jess. You said it yourself. The cops are going to knock on every motel door from Palm Springs to Indio. They won’t look for you in the closet-sized apartment that your housekeeper’s daughter rents.”
“I’m sure it’s a lot nicer than you’re making it out to be.”
“You haven’t seen the couch.”
Jess protested a few more times. Then, not so much. He was dead tired with no place to go and Maria made sense. He followed her a half-mile to her apartment and parked in the covered garage to keep the SUV off the street.
The place was small but tasteful in every way possible. Jess would have admired it more but was practically asleep the moment he landed on the perfectly fluffy couch.
Descending Son Page 20
