I was wrong; I could hear the crazed beast running in our direction. I heard Fala say ‘stay down’ right before I heard bones popping and his voice go from that of a man to a very big animal. “Run, Renee!” Fala growled as he took off running toward the three that were as horrible as any that we had seen. I rushed to the wall and jumped, grabbed the top and tried to pull myself up. I had to help Fala. The silence was broken with the yells from both flesher and wolf. I dropped down and ran to the gate and began climbing it, only to be yanked backwards.
“What the hell?”
“Sorry, My Lady, but I will go,” Monroe said, and then was gone.
“You okay?” Derek asked, and was over the gate before I could respond.
I felt something grab my arm and I screamed.
“Renee, it’s just me, Sydney.”
He and I reached for the gate at the same time that Fala and the flesher crashed into it. Fala spun himself and the flesher around, and put the death smelling beast up against the wrought iron gate. Fala then grabbed its head and smashed it into the iron ribs of the gate. Blood and bits of bone sprayed Sydney and I from face to knees. Sydney started swatting at his face like a mad man, took his jacket off, and tried to clean off the flesher's remains.
Monroe, Derek, and Fala made their way over the gate, explaining that any predator close to the area, with more fleshers being high on the list, would soon smell the death of the flesher. Monroe said they were probably seeing if there had been any recent burials that they could grave-rob; eating the corpse and taking anything the dead may have, from clothing to jewelry to make trade with. But would more than likely stop where they found the stench of death and consume the fallen.
“Somebody’s coming,” Derek whispered, waving his hand for all of us to get down.
We hurried to get in the shadow of the trees and headstones on the first row of graves on the right side of the enormous cemetery. The footsteps sounded heavy the closer they got, and my thoughts were it was more fleshers coming to the aid of their friends. I was feeling around for a branch when I saw Garvin squatted down by a cross shaped headstone on an above the ground grave, with a branch as big as Sydney’s club in his hands. He put his finger to his mouth and then leveled the branch at his shoulder. The being got closer, Garvin swung and I looked up in time to see Tammy’s face over the side of the headstone that I was hiding behind.
“Garvin…” It was too late. Tammy went sprawling face first.
“Oh shit!” Derek added as we all rushed to her side.
Tammy rolled to her back, curling up, grabbing her lower right leg immediately. Garvin handed Sydney the branch, but Sydney just shook his head. Garvin dropped it and knelt down beside Tammy. “I am so very sorry. We had no way of knowing that it was you and not a flesher.”
“Why the hell would you think I was a flesher? Do I look like a flesher to you, Garvin?” Tammy was trying not to yell but the pain was making it hard.
Garvin looked up at me. “They just killed three nasty fleshers, Tammy. We really didn’t know who or what was running this way.” I tried to explain but I wasn’t sure she was hearing much as she sat up, grimacing in pain. “Why were you running like that anyway? Is everyone alright?”
“Yes,” she replied through clenched teeth. “Jacob found the monument of Martin’s father just beside the mausoleum. They were looking for a way in, while I was to come find you.”
“And you ran for all to hear?” Fala asked.
“Since when did you start sounding like one of them?” Tammy turned and looked up at him, pointing at me. “Well, don’t just stand there with your mouth open. If you don’t have an answer, the least you can do is help a lady to her feet.”
“Of course,” Fala replied, bending his now nude human form down and lifting her by way of putting his arms under hers. “I was merely stating that you ran without care for things around here to hear you. Do you know that there is nothing inside these walls? Have the other masters told you that we are safe here?”
“Okay, enough,” Tammy limped over and leaned up against the bark of a weeping willow that had no leaves left due to the coming winter. “They told me to be as quiet as I could be, but I heard something and all I could think about was those Specter things.”
“That’s what they’re called. I don’t blame you, after seeing what came out of Fala’s face. I do not want one of those things touching me.” I shivered at the mere thought.
“Not to mention, how they suck your soul out,” Derek added.
“If you think you’re ready, we need to move.” I was anxious and nervous to find out what happened to Martin and scared to death about our Tanda. Though, I did know that she was in good hands. If anyone could get her to a safe place, it was Martin.
We moved to the center of the cemetery with haste. Tammy was in between Fala and Monroe while the rest of us kept an eye on our surroundings. We found the others by sound before sight. Cates was cursing loudly, then the sound of two stones crashing together followed. We moved faster and came around the mausoleum to find Cates throwing a small headstone at what Tammy had called Martin’s father’s monument. It was a smaller version of the mausoleum only it had no door.
“There is no latch, no opening that we can find and the big man cannot move the statue,” Jacob said as the smaller headstone broke in half on the side of the base of the kneeling angel that was perched on a large, square pedestal.
“If I had both of my hands, this thing would not defeat me,” Cates claimed as he used his knee to lift another small stone.
“Let me help you and perhaps together we will be able to move it,” Fala suggested.
“Yeah Cates, you put your shoulder into the side of that angel while Fala pushes on the base and rest of us will line up beside him and give it our all,” Derek added, setting his weapons on the ground.
“Jacob and I could push on the front right side as you all push on the side. Surely it cannot withstand the strength of us all,” Monroe suggested.
“Sounds good to me. Renee and I will protect you guys,” Tammy winked at me and sat down on the closest grave. “If someone hadn’t tried to break my leg, I would have been more than happy to help move that huge thing.”
“Excuse me?” Cates stepped back and looked around the angel’s massive wings.
“I’ll explain everything later, my sweet man. It was an accident.” I could see the sparkle in Tammy’s eyes as she spoke and it made me want to find our people even more.
“Let’s move this thing and go find the rest of our family.” Garvin took the words right out of my mouth; I was thinking the very same thing.
Everyone pushed and shoved until the top of the monument started to give way. Once the connection between the statue and the large, square monument where Martin’s father’s remains were supposed to be, broke free of its hold it was much easier to slide. Sure enough, the statue hid a secret stairway and not a coffin that would have to have been filled with ash. What other reason would a breeder have to place their dead in a cemetery? Martin, or whoever had placed this here, had been very wise to do so. I have seen many things that I wished to forget in my short life as a breeder, but this is one that I would remember for future needs. In the event that I survived to see the elders go down, and then can enjoy a safe home where we could live in peace.
“There has been a cave in,” Monroe said as he lay on his stomach and looked into the darkness.
I grabbed the back of his black shirt and got down on my stomach and tried to see what he had seen. “It’s too dark. How do you know?”
“There is a great deal of dust in the air. If the earth had not come down somewhere close by, the air would only be stale.”
“I’m going in,” Derek said, about to move past us.
“Derek, we must have our heads about us if we are to find those who are down there. We need torches to see by and you have left your most important tools on the ground.” Jacob nodded once then walked away, searching for items to create torches
out of. Derek slapped his side where his long blade rested and remembered that he had removed it to help move the statue. I could see his pale face turning flush as he leaped off the monument to retrieve them.
Chapter Thirty One
The hole was almost big enough for Martin to wiggle his way through. He had Tanda stand back just in case his movement caused the soft earth above their heads to come down. Martin then came out through the opening head first, moving his shoulders at an angle that made it easy to get them through, but was having a harder time pulling the rest of himself free. His body still wasn’t one hundred percent healed, by any means.
“Give me your hands and I will pull you,” Tanda said as she started stepping closer.
“No! Back up and stay where you are. It is too dangerous where there is no stone to hold the earth. If we are both buried, who will go for help?” he did his best to smile to reassure her that all would be okay but it was a hard thing to pull off.
A few handfuls of dirt and pebbles rained down on the back of Martin’s head. “Oh, please hurry, Martin.” He grabbed both hands full of debris and pulled with everything he had and when his feet made their exit the ceiling gave way. The tunnel turned to darkness when the earth collapsed; covering Martin and the torch that Tanda had stuck into the ground. The cloud of dirt slammed into Tanda and all she could do was scream, “Martin!”
***
“Everyone be quiet!” Monroe said as he leaned back closer to the opening. “I think I heard a scream.”
Derek was over Monroe’s back and into the abyss before Jacob could strike his flint to light the makeshift torch. We could all hear him yelling out Tanda’s name over and over, as his voice became harder to hear. Fala took off after Derek, then Jacob and Monroe followed with the light. The rest of us were down in the tunnel and about to head toward the glow when we heard Tanda’s cries. It was then that I left Tammy in the care of Garvin and Sydney and took off running. I knew by the sounds she was making that something was horribly wrong.
By the time I had caught up to Jacob and Monroe, Derek was walking back towards us with Tanda wrapped in his arms. She was covered in filth from head to toe and the only remotely clear area on her beautiful face was where her tears had cleared a path down her cheeks. “It just caved in. There was nothing I could do.” Her sobs were so violent that it was hard to understand what she was saying.
“Where’s Martin?”
“Renee,” Derek shook his head.
“Bullshit, Derek. Where is Martin?”
“Fala’s back trying to dig around to see if he’s still…”
I didn’t stick around to hear anything else. There was no way that my maker was dead and I was going to go get him myself. I heard Derek yell ‘turn right at the junction’ but it didn’t take long before I couldn’t see much more than arm’s length. Once I found the junction and turned right, the glow that Jacob’s torch lent was completely gone. But I never stopped. I heard something that sounded like stone hitting stone, followed by a moan. I took off running in the pitch black, colliding once again with a solid mass and ended up flat on my backside.
A hand touched me under my arm and I started swatting as if a hundred spiders were crawling on me. I wouldn’t describe the sound that I made as a ‘scream’ because it was more like a squeal, but whatever, or whoever, had touched me had scared the hell out me. Sparks flew into the dust filled air to the left of me, then the sound of flint hitting stone sounded again as sparks flew and flame came to life. Martin stood by Fala, both covered in earth. I spun around to see who had touched my arm and was shocked to see Monroe.
“You could have let me know that you were with me.”
“I only caught up when you fell down,” he smiled.
I turned my attention back to my maker and got to my feet, refusing any of their help. I had to swallow the lump in my throat and count to ten in my mind to help fight the tears, because had I opened my mouth at that very moment, my relief of seeing Martin standing there would have come out in bigger sobs than Tanda’s cry of panic. “Could you please hand Fala the torch, Martin?”
“Is that the only greeting that I get the second time that we…you run in to me in a dark tunnel?”
“This isn’t the time to be funny. Please, hand Fala the light.”
“As My Lady wishes.”
Fala gave me a strange look, but took the torch. I waved my hand for Fala to step to the side, then did something that shocked Martin so much that he actually let out his own type of yelp. I dove on him, knocking us both down on the heap of earth that he had just been pulled from and began kissing him all over his dirt covered face. I didn’t care. I wasn’t going to put anything between us again. Just the thought of him being truly dead had my mind wondering what the rest of my world would be without him, and I didn’t like anything that had rushed through my mind.
“I believe your other little one’s come this way,” Martin said, pushing the strands of hair out of my face.
“I don’t care. I love you, Martin and I am so sorry for being so stubborn. I can’t stop what I’m doing but I don’t have to keep putting those that I love in such compromising situations.”
Martin lowered his eyes as a small laughed escaped. “You are speaking the words that I was meaning to tell you before you spoke to me.” He rolled me over to where he lay looking down at me. “I surrender to your way and I join you in your fight to stop the madness that the elders have set in place. I adore you and I always will, my love.”
“No matter how bad that I’ve wanted to hear you say those words, all I care about is you and Tanda being okay,” I said, pulling him down so I could continue to kiss every part of his face that I could.
“Finally, now can we get the hell out of this God awful city? I’m ready to kick some elder ass,” Derek said, then let out a yell that caused more rubble to fall.
“I would hold that enthusiasm a bit longer if I were you, young Derek. And I think we should be making our way to the safe room, before the younger ones have to be carried. Dawn is close at hand,” Cates yawned and raised his nub, running it across the top of the tunnel ceiling. “Good thing those stones came down before the earth landed on you, old one. Good roots,” Cates grabbed a large tree root that hung free from the tree that kept its footing. “If this had been over even by one foot, you would have had more on you then just soil. You were very lucky this night.”
“Yes, I am very grateful for that old tree hanging on. And to our good friend here who pulled me free.” Martin stood and pulled me to my feet, then walked over to Fala and took his hand. “I owe you my life.”
“It was my honor.”
“A life for a life. If you are ever in need, I will be here for you, my friend.” They shook hands and Martin patted Fala on the back.
“I love you too, Fala, but can’t one of you lend him your shirt so he can wrap it around his waist. Nudity isn’t a big thing, but it can get a little odd having a man with his business just swinging away, walking wherever. So, I’m just saying,” Tammy said, leaning on the curve of the tunnel wall.
“She’s in a bad mood because Garvin whacked her with a branch thinking she was a flesher,” I explained to Martin when he gave me a sideways glance.
“I am not in a bad mood,” Tammy pushed herself off the wall, slapping Cates’ hand away. “It’s just been a very long night and I am tired. Breeders forbid I mention that the bone below my knee is pounding to match the beat of my heart, because my dear friend’s might crack another ha-ha at my expense.”
“Is my beautiful woman bothered with another man’s business?”
“No, you big baboon. It’s not fair, if you want me to be honest. Why should he get to be comfortable if we have to wear this? And now we can’t even get our good clothes to put back on.”
Cates lifted Tammy like a child as she protested, carrying her deeper in the tunnel, as we all followed. It was the very thing that she needed; a little attention from her man. But I, too, was wondering how we we
re going to get clothes, at least until we made it back to our floating home. Monroe took up the end of our parade as we made our way to that first room in the tunnels that we had gone in before Martin had taken us to his home. We didn’t see any scavengers or fleshers along the way and, had there been any, they would have quickly moved out of our way because we made no move to be quiet as we walked through the tunnels. I, of course, didn’t pay any attention to anything but the man whose arm I held as we followed close behind Jacob.
“Why do you smile at me every time you look at me?” Martin asked.
“I can’t help it. I’ve never seen you out of sorts before; well, other than when we found you at Angelica’s place, but you weren’t walking and talking like you are now. I’m sure I look like the wrong side of a cow, even more so since holding you,” I laughed, knowing with the smeared make-up and dirt, and with my hair going every which way with hairpins sticking out here and there that I had to look worse than Martin.
“Jacob, do you think she looks anything like the wrong side of a cow?”
Jacob turned his head and was smiling, more than likely through my and Martin’s entire conversation. “No, not at all. Her actions, on the other hand, are very much like the wrong end of a bull.” He and everyone in front of him burst out laughing.
“For your information, smartass, that would be horse’s ass…my actions are like the wrong side of a horse. You know, like saying that I’m a horse’s ass,” I said with a smirk.
“Yes, yes you are indeed that as well.”
Bloodbreeders: Lies Beneath London Page 29
