The Shadow Box: Paranormal Suspense and Dark Fantasy Thriller Novels

by Travis Luedke

  He handed it to Max. “And if we’re going in there quiet, I’m assuming we won’t be waving flashlights around—”

  “Oh, yeah…” Paul moved a couple of boxes in the handgun crate and pulled out a larger green box. He popped the latches and held it open for Max. What he saw made his eyes light up.

  “For me? You shouldn’t have.” He took the goggles out of the box and started playing with the buttons.

  “It was actually cheaper to just buy the damn thing than it would have been for a vial of spectresight.” Paul closed the box and sat it down in the crate. “Apparently those are in pretty high demand, also.”

  “I’m totally keeping these.” Max put on the goggles and stepped into the darkened portion of the garage.

  “You can’t keep them,” Paul whined. “That’s not part of the deal—”

  “Oh, piss off! You guys don’t need them. What are you going to do, return them for a refund? Did you even keep the receipt?” Max turned off the night vision and removed the goggles.

  Dwayne grinned and nodded to Paul.

  “Fine… we were going to let you keep the guns so we’ll just take those back instead. Since you’re not taking one of the forty-fives, that’s almost even—”

  “Whatever.” Max put the goggles in their box.

  Dwayne took a shotgun next, followed by Tritter. They each loaded them and tucked a few extra rounds in their pockets.

  “You said you had some intel on these vamps?” Dwayne asked. “We didn’t get much out of Skyler before your Fed buddies swept him up.”

  “I told you I didn’t have anything to do with that.”

  “Whatever.”

  Max grinned. “You know about Boone… he’s the boss. He’s been a vampire for over a hundred and fifty years, so that makes him the most powerful. He’s very intelligent and the rest of the crew treats him like a god. And he’s mine.”

  “Ooo! Big man!” Tritter joked. Max gave him a cold look. Tritter stopped laughing and looked away.

  “Luc Benoit is the second oldest vampire. He served the occupied French government under Maréchal Pétain’s Vichy Regime.”

  They all looked at him like he was speaking Italian.

  Max sighed and continued. “He was part of the Milice française… one of the Franc-Gardes; kind of like a French Gestapo. Apparently, Boone was part of it, too, despite being an American. That’s how they met.”

  “Match made in Hell,” said Kearny with a chuckle.

  “Luc was one of an elite unit who willingly accepted vampirism. These vampires hunted Jews trying to flee Europe, but were later used to stamp out the French resistance fighters. After the Liberation, they fled to Germany and became part of the vampire corps of the Charlemange Division in the Waffen-SS. He and Boone are the only ones still around, as far as my sources know.”

  “That’s all gonna change tonight,” Dwayne said as he pumped a round into his shotgun. “I’ma kill me a frog!”

  Max warned, “Don’t underestimate him. He’s highly trained and very dangerous. Boone is a tough fighter, but at his core he’s a brawler. He fought in wars, but they were in a different time. Luc is a trained killer, and he’s far more familiar with modern tactics and weapons.”

  “What about the other one?” asked Paul. “The one they call Grendel.”

  Max took a deep breath. “I don’t have much history on him. The best information we have is that Luc and Boone found him around twenty years ago, but he’s probably been a vamp a lot longer than that.”

  “How do you know?” asked Paul.

  Max took a second before answering, “You know what happens to a vampire who fasts, right?”

  “They either ascend or die,” said Dwayne. “That’s what Christian vampires think happened to Jesus, or Muslim vampires with Mohammed.”

  “Right, well what they don’t tell you is most vampires who do that do it by choice. They starve themselves gradually until they can overcome the need for blood. Vampires who try it too quickly, or give it up cold turkey… they wind up—”

  “Dying?”

  “Eventually. But something happens to them first. They kind of go—” Max made a crazy look with his eyes. “The virus… well, energy, whatever changes humans into vampires, takes over and forces a transformation on the body. Apparently, the infection assumes that the only reason a vampire might not be getting enough blood is because he’s not a very good hunter. So, it changes them.”

  “Into what?” asked Kearny.

  Max gave him a long look. “A better hunter.”

  “That sounds all right,” Tritter said with a grin. “How long does that take?”

  “It’s not all right,” Max said, shaking his head. “It basically turns the vamp into an animal. They’re a lot more powerful, but they’re insane. The only thing that keeps them in control is the mental domination of another vampire.”

  “So this Grendel, he’s one of these?” asked Paul.

  “Looks like it. Luc and Boone found him in a cave or something where he’d been trapped. He probably would have torn them to pieces, but they managed to dominate him. Now he’s kind of like their attack dog.”

  “Why do they call him Grendel?”

  Max shrugged. “Maybe he’s only got one arm.” They all gave him long, confused looks. Max rolled his eyes. “Because he’s big and ugly and Grendel is a monster name. We’ll need to take him out early, because if we kill Luc or Boone first he’ll be out of control. He’ll just run around killing everything he sees.”

  Tritter chuckled. “And that’s bad?”

  Max gave him a dirty look. “Yeah, that’s bad.”

  “What about the humans?” asked Kearny.

  “A bunch of ex-cons and sex offenders. Typical skinhead stock. They’ll be armed and they’ll fight, but I don’t think we have anything to worry about from them.”

  “The point is to make sure none of them get out alive,” Dwayne added. He slung the shotgun over his shoulder. “We’re wiping the whole gang out. Every swingin’ dick. Y’all got that?” He looked around to the others. They all nodded. He gave Max a long look. “You fine with that?”

  “With what?”

  “I know you’re cool with killing vampires. You down with killing humans?”

  Max made a “pfft” sound. “Humans barely, they’re skinheads.”

  “Still,” Kearney added, “killing a vamp is one thing. Most people don’t even think we exist so killing us ain’t nothing. But killing a human—”

  “That makes you a murderer,” Dwayne finished. “Can you murder someone, Max?”

  He answered snidely, “It won’t be the first time. And I’m certain it won’t be the last.”

  Dwayne grinned. “A’ight!” He patted Max on the back as they walked towards the SUV. “Max, you all right! How’d we get off on the wrong foot, anyway?”

  “You broke my hand and kidnapped me,” Max replied. “You ass.”

  “Oh… yeah.”

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  “She awake?”

  Luc glanced over his shoulder at Boone. He nodded. “Yeah, she’s awake.”

  “How’s she adjusting?”

  “She’s fine… wasn’t too happy about it until we gave her a little treat.” He smiled. “Now she’s all excited.”

  Boone nodded. “Good. We’ll need her.” He patted Luc on the arm and walked away. Luc stepped back from the door and followed him outside.

  “Need her for what?” He ran to catch up.

  Boone crossed the little fenced-in area between shacks and pulled up a sliding door. Luc pulled the door down behind him and followed past rows of tubing and bubbling pots over gas burners. Maulky and Dillon wore protective masks and rubber aprons. The vampires didn’t need either. Maulky stuck to his chore, but Dillon lifted his big round head and watched them pass.

  “Where are you going?” Luc was losing patience. Boone swept a curtain to the side and stepped into a makeshift hallway constructed from particleboard and salvaged woo
d planks. The wood floor creaked under his boots.

  “To wake up the beast.”

  Luc laughed. “Ah, oui! This Max fellow really has you scared, no?”

  Boone spun and grabbed him by the throat, almost took down the wall when he put Luc’s back to it. His eyes widened at the sight of Boone’s fangs poised at his throat.

  “I’m not scared of anything,” he said with a hiss. Luc couldn’t breathe to speak, so he nodded. “Least of all some bi-polar civil servant!” When released, Luc’s feet dropped to the floor. He rubbed his neck and nodded again. “But he’s got the half-bitch involved. They’ll be coming to take us out before too long, and that’s assuming he doesn’t bring one of his dragon friends.”

  “How do you know?” he asked as Boone carried on down the hall. The floor slanted sharply after a corner. If they hadn’t had such great balance, navigating the slope might have been trouble for them.

  “Because he’s smart,” he answered when they reached the bottom. He stopped at the heavy wooden door and grabbed the combination lock on the chain. “He knows he can’t stop us alone. That’s the only place he’ll turn.”

  “So why don’t we call in help from Tulsa?”

  “Already tried that. They can’t get here until tomorrow.” He pulled the lock open and looked over his shoulder as the chains rattled to the ground. “He won’t wait that long.”

  “Isn’t this what you wanted?”

  “I hoped he’d come alone. I didn’t expect him to get the other vamps involved. He knows he can’t do it alone.” Boone glowered. “He’s smarter than I thought.”

  The door creaked open, spilling musty air from the dirt-floored room into the corridor. The occupants huddled in the darkness, shivering under a filthy brown blanket. He heard a sniffle and a soft sob. It made him chuckle.

  “We’ll feed him one…” Boone pointed into the room. Luc grinned and stepped past.

  “One will be enough?” He grabbed a young blonde girl and lifted her from under her arms like a cat. She struggled weakly until Luc met her eyes and uttered a command. The filthy girl’s eyes went blank and she obeyed.

  “One’ll be plenty.” He looked to the others—one boy and three girls shivering under the blanket. Boone knew they couldn’t see him, save for an outline from the faint glow filtering down through the hallway from the lab. To their little eyes, he’d look like a giant shadow leering over them in the dark. The thought of their terror was exciting. He almost wanted to treat himself to one of them right now.

  “That only leaves four to sell,” Luc explained after tossing the limp girl over his shoulder.

  “Thanks… glad we have someone in this outfit who can count.” He closed the door behind Luc and locked the chain. “We’d be utterly lost without you, wiseass.”

  Luc rolled his eyes. “I mean for the delivery, mon frère. Won’t Hiram be disappointed if we promise five and arrive with only four?”

  “We’ll reimburse him. And we won’t have any to sell if they break us down tonight.”

  Luc nodded and followed Boone up the ramp to another door. This one led outside again, though it wasn’t enclosed in a fence. Their destination was a concrete block building that had been here long before they ever built the compound. Boone had it restored special for Grendel, though he hadn’t done any of the work himself. Now it had a slanted steel roof and a big metal door that locked from the outside. Music playing inside was muted by the thick walls.

  Boone could have unlocked the door and gone in uninvited, but he decided to knock first. A rumbling voice bid them enter. Boone popped his eyebrows up at Luc and unlocked the door. He walked in, bold. Luc followed, a little less so.

  The air was red with blood vapor. They were immediately hit with the blaring of opera music. Boone smiled and looked over his shoulder at Luc. He mouthed the words, “close the door.” Luc kicked it shut. Boone found the battery powered stereo and turned it down to a less ear-splitting volume.

  “Is that Mozart?” Luc asked.

  Boone gestured to the shrouded figure in the corner. “Ask him.”

  “Carl Orff,” came a deep, scratchy voice. “I bewail the wounds of fate…” He snickered like an old man. “Huber never forgave him, you know?”

  “Fascinating.” Boone gestured to Luc, who dropped the little girl on a mattress next to the wall. She whimpered and began to squirm until Luc told her to stop. “We brought you a treat.”

  The shrouded figure turned slightly to regard the child, revealing a jagged profile of scarred flesh. Though under a powerful charm, the little girl’s eyes widened at the sight of him. If her body were still under her own will, she would have run. Instead, she could only shiver.

  “She is small—”

  “Everyone is small compared to you,” Boone retorted with a chuckle. “Drink up, she’s yours.”

  “You are most generous, Daniel.” He turned to the wall again and disappeared beneath his hood. “She will be far more satisfying than my usual fare…” He gestured with a long, clawed hand at a pile of desiccated corpses in the corner. Grendel was a handy method of disposal for customers late with their drug payments. Since these tended to be the most strung out of the bunch, they weren’t particularly satisfying meals.

  “Yeah well, it’s a special occasion. We’ve got company coming.”

  “Oh?” Grendel replied at length. “Shall I dress up?”

  “No, what you’ve got will be fine.”

  “But I never get to dress up!” he whined, almost sounding hurt.

  Boone rolled his eyes. “Fine, dress up. Whatever.” He clapped his hands together. “Well, I’ll just leave you to it.” He pinched the little girl’s cheek on his way out. Luc followed, keeping his eye on the shrouded pillar until they were outside. Boone didn’t relock the door.

  “This should be interesting,” Luc said once they were away from the shack. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

  A shrill scream erupted from the building, followed shortly by the return of the opera music. The mixed sounds made Boone laugh.

  “Quite sure.” He turned and gave Luc a wide, toothy grin. “I’m tired of playing around with this son of a bitch. Tonight, he meets the pain.”

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Kearny parked the SUV behind Abbie’s trailer. They waited until close to midnight before advancing. Paul went out first and took out the light-posts with a suppressed .22 pistol. It coated their position in darkness. From there, they moved between trailers with almost military precision—well, Max tried. He wasn’t really trained for this.

  Of course, neither were most of the others. Vampires are naturally stealthy. They didn’t have to put much effort into it. Max was pumping adrenalin, and almost passed out any time he made more noise than he meant to. Even the smallest sounds were like booming explosions. Several times he had to remind himself to breathe before he got light headed.

  Max almost jumped out of his skin when Dwayne put his hand on his shoulder.

  “What?” Max whispered. He was barely able to make out a grin on the vampire’s face.

  “Paul said they’ve got two dogs.”

  Max nodded. “Pit bulls, I think. Is he going to kill them or are we?” Dwayne’s eyes widened. He gave Max a disgusted look. “What?”

  “We ain’t killing no dogs!” He did a hoarse whisper/shouting. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

  Max winced and shook his head. “You’re a vampire,” he whispered back.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You kill people… you almost killed me once… but killing a dog, that’s wrong?”

  Dwayne shook his head. “You don’t get it.”

  Max shrugged. “I’m a cat person…”

  Dwayne tapped his arm and nodded to the fenced lot. Max narrowed his eyes and watched Kearny slip up to the fence. One of the dogs took notice right away and pointed its black nose across the lot. Kearny lifted a hand and whispered something Max couldn’t make out. The dog stopped and returned
to the ground with its paws together. Kearny crept along the fence until he caught the attention of the second dog. It let out a half bark before Kearny’s hand went up. After a few whispers, it did the same as the first one.

  “Whoa…” Max shook his head. “I didn’t know you could charm dogs.”

  “Of course we can charm dogs. We can charm people, why couldn’t we charm dogs? Man’s best friend.”

  “Can vampires charm monkeys? I mean, we’re related to them, so it would make sense...”

  Dwayne looked away. “I’m gonna pretend you didn’t just ask me that.”

  Max shrugged. Kearny hunched over at the gate and glanced at Dwayne. After two quick nods, one to Dwayne and the other to Paul and Tritter in the shadows, Kearny took a small pair of bolt cutters out of his jacket and cut the chain on the gate. By the time Max and the others got to him, Kearny had the gate open and his shotgun out.

  The gate had a buzzer wired to the left trailer. People who wanted drugs could ring the skinheads and they’d come meet them at the gate. Dwayne had Tritter wait by it while Kearny and Paul went to the right trailer. Max and Dwayne waited for them in the shadow of the left trailer.

  Max didn’t need vampire hearing to know what was going on inside. He heard two distinct voices and the electronic humming of a video game. Dwayne cast a thumb at the trailer then held up two fingers. Max nodded. A second later, Kearny and Paul came around the corner. Kearny pointed at the trailer and held up one finger then made a sweeping gesture over his head. He held up another finger then with the shotgun tucked under his arm, pantomimed like holding balls at his chest. He appeared to be indicating there was one skinhead in the trailer and a woman.

  There were fewer lights on in that one, and considerably less noise. Dwayne gave him an inquisitive look. Kearny grinned and made a jerking motion towards his open mouth. The vampires grinned. Max rolled his eyes.

  Dwayne sent Kearny and Paul to the right trailer. Max followed Dwayne to the left one. He gestured for Max to take up a position next to the door. Max was a little nervous getting this close to a pit bull. He didn’t fully trust the vampire’s ability to control an attack dog. But the pooch just laid there and looked on as Max and Dwayne invaded his master’s home.