by Jerry Hart
Brothers of Chaos
Copyright © 2012 by Jerry Hart
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without permission from the author.
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Kindle Edition: September 2012
Cover Designer: Elartwyne Estole
Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 1
Daniel Hudson would never forget the day he broke his arm. It had been on a beautiful night. He’d been excited and nervous as he strolled down Miller Street with his friends Owen and Chris as they headed to Patterson’s Dueling Piano Bar. This would be Daniel’s first time there; Alyssa loved the place.
Oh, Alyssa.
Daniel had paid quite a bit for his and Owen’s fake IDs, and tonight would be their first time using them. Daniel knew it would be worth it.
Patterson’s was right down the street, on the left, and there were a few people lined up in front. Some of them were having a heated discussion with the bouncer.
“Sorry, fellas,” the bouncer said to three young-looking men, “I know a fake ID when I see one. You guys are gonna have to jet.”
“Man, these is real,” one of the guys said.
The bouncer crossed his arms and stared the young men down. They left a moment later.
“Are you sure you want to go through with this?” Chris asked Daniel.
“Yes,” Daniel said. He was dressed in his finest clothes—a blue button-down shirt and super-starched jeans—and he wasn’t going anywhere else. Besides, Alyssa was waiting inside. He looked from Owen to Chris. They too were dressed nice, Owen in a yellow silk shirt with khakis, Chris in a red-and-white-striped shirt and dark jeans.
They approached the bouncer, showing their identification. The bouncer, a beefy, bald guy, studied Owen’s and Chris’s. Chris was in his mid-twenties and didn’t need a fake; Owen, on the other hand, was sixteen—a few years younger than Daniel. The bouncer finally looked at Daniel’s. Time seemed to stand still. The man looked from the ID to Daniel and back again. Daniel’s heart stopped for a moment.
Finally, the bouncer said, “Okay, you can go.”
Daniel let out his nervous breath. “Thank God.”
The burly man shot him a look. Owen and Chris grabbed Daniel by the shoulders and pulled him inside the bar before the bouncer could reply.
The three of them made their way up the stairs and paid the cover charge. The place was packed; there were many round tables in the middle of the bar, all of them occupied. A stage lay beyond the tables, with two pianos facing each other. Two men were playing a song together, smiling at the audience.
And there she was, right in front of the stage—Alyssa Turner. Her long brown hair was straight and beautiful, her colorful purse slung over her shoulder. She was wearing a long black dress and waving them over to a little round table up front. The three young men joined her.
“I’m so glad you got in,” she said to Daniel and Owen. Daniel got the impression she was talking more to him, though. “This place is so great. You’ll love it.”
And love it Daniel did. The piano players sang whatever the audience wanted to hear. The crowd was infectious. Daniel didn’t drink anything alcoholic—he had an extremely low tolerance—but he found himself singing like a drunk anyway. He was completely off-key, just like everyone else.
He stared at Alyssa, whose back was to him. She was waving to one of the piano players; he blew her a kiss. Now that Daniel knew his fake ID worked, he would be coming to this place with her more often.
And then Alyssa’s phone, which was placed on the table, began to blink. It was a text-message alert. She read it.
Then she gave Owen, Chris and Daniel the look they associated with the “job.”
* * *
Daniel didn’t want to go through with what they had to do. Not without Alyssa. She’d claimed she had stuff to do and had gone back home. It was up to Daniel, Chris and Owen.
Chris drove them to the location Alyssa gave them. It was an isolated hangout spot in a rural area. The three of them had passed the place by when they missed the turn on the long dark highway. The only thing that gave the road away was a subtle white sign that read “Trails.”
As they followed the bumpy dirt road to the Trails, the three boys kept their eyes peeled. So far, they saw nothing but the silhouettes of the trees surrounding them. The road was incredibly bumpy.
“This cannot be good for my suspension,” Chris said as he caressed the dashboard of his red Camaro.
“Get a room,” Owen said. He was riding shotgun.
“I would get a room with this car,” Chris said, still looking ahead as he drove. “I’d show this car a good time.” The three boys laughed as they continued down the dark path.
It was Owen who saw it first—an orange flickering light up ahead to the right. As they got closer, they realized it was a bonfire. People were standing around it.
There were dozens of vehicles parked about. Chris parked next to a large silver truck, and the trio got out.
“How will we know who they are?” Daniel asked. “There are so many people here. And it’s so dark.”
The only source of light was the fire. Everything that was a good distance away from it was all but invisible.
“Alyssa said it was two guys,” Chris reminded his friends. “Two guys who are dressed funny.”
Chris and Owen started toward the group of people standing around the fire. Daniel hurried to catch up. For some reason, he was scared to death; he couldn’t stop shaking. He patted the back pocket of his jeans for reassurance. His silver stake was most definitely there. He hadn’t doubted it would be; he and the others loaded up before getting out of the car.
If the vampires were indeed still here, Daniel was content to let Chris and Owen take care of them. Owen was abnormally strong and Chris was exceptionally brave. So what was Daniel? Well, he was smart. He did build the weapons, after all. But he couldn’t fight worth a damn.
For years, he wondered how he ever got caught up in this monster business. He had been perfectly happy in his previous life, studying to be a videogame designer and coaching a softball team known as the Unstoppable Titans.
But then, one fateful day, she showed up. She had been so beautiful, with her long brown hair and killer smile. Daniel had been able to see it all the way from center field.
That day, Alyssa Turner had stolen Daniel’s heart. Each week she showed up to his games, smiling at him the whole time. He had been working up the courage to talk to her, but could never do it. Why had she always smiled at him? Who did she know on the team? She couldn’t have possibly been there to see him.
And then, after one game, she had walked up to him and offered to help him carry his gear to his car.
“You’re really great out th
ere,” she had said.
“No, I’m not,” he replied. “I just get lucky by holding up my hand and having the ball fall into my glove.”
She giggled at that, though it was true. A lot of the fly-balls Daniel caught were the result of him trying to block the sun from his eyes.
“I’m Alyssa,” she said, offering her hand to shake. “Alyssa Turner.”
“Daniel Hudson.” He couldn’t help noticing how beautiful she’d been in her jeans and yellow floral blouse. He’d almost told her that but bit his tongue.
“I know who you are,” Alyssa said. “We have a mutual friend: Aaron Browder.”
Daniel nodded. “Oh yeah, him. He’s pretty cool. He’s not on the team anymore, though.”
“I know. I never came to the games to see him.”
They had finally reached Daniel’s car. He threw the softball gear into the trunk, glancing sideways at Alyssa. “Who do you come to the games to see?” he finally asked.
“You, obviously.”
Daniel’s heart skipped a beat. “Why?”
“Aaron told me how smart you are, about how you’re always building and tinkering with things.”
“Oh,” Daniel said, finally understanding. “You need me to fix something of yours?”
Alyssa, who had been smiling during the conversation, suddenly frowned. Even a frown looked good on her. “No, not at all. I was actually wondering if you’d be interested in a little venture my friends and I started.”
Daniel sighed. “Oh boy, that’s even worse. I think I’d rather just fix something. You have a busted stereo or VCR?”
She laughed again. “I don’t think anyone has a VCR anymore.”
Daniel laughed, too. He couldn’t help it. It wasn’t every day a beautiful girl talked to him. The ones who did always wanted a favor, though.
“What kind of ‘venture’ are we talking about?” he asked.
“Well”—she looked around cautiously—“have you heard about all these strange deaths in the city? Bodies drained of blood?”
“Yes,” Daniel said. “It’s been pretty gruesome stuff.”
“Exactly. Well, my friends and I have been investigating the deaths. We want to put a stop to them.”
Daniel leaned against his car. “That sounds kinda heavy. Why don’t you just let the police handle it?”
“Because we already know who’s doing it; we know who the murderers are.”
“Really?” he asked. “Wait, ‘murderers,’ as in more than one?”
Alyssa nodded.
“Then tell the cops so they can arrest them.”
Now she shook her head. “The cops wouldn’t believe us.”
“What do you mean?”
“Good game, Daniel!” a red-haired girl shouted from somewhere in the parking lot. Daniel had forgotten where he was. He spun around and waved at the Titans supporter.
“Would you call yourself open-minded?” Alyssa asked when Daniel turned his attention back to her.
“Fairly,” he responded.
“Yeah, I can tell you are.” She playfully punched his arm and grinned. “Do you believe in monsters?”
“I do not,” he said immediately, though truth be told, he totally believed in them. Vampires, werewolves, goblins, aliens; the whole nine yards. But he didn’t want her thinking he was a geek.
“You liar,” Alyssa said. “I can see it in your eyes you do. I guess you know where I’m going with this.”
It only took a moment for it to click. “You think vampires are responsible for the murders?”
“I know they are. I’ve seen them.” She dropped her voice a little. “I’ve killed a couple.”
Daniel’s eyes widened. “You’re kidding me, aren’t you?”
“I promise you, I’m not kidding.”
Alyssa’s grin was gone and her face was deadly serious. At that moment, Daniel believed her. That very same day, he met Chris and Owen. They had recounted their own monstrous encounters to him.
That day, Daniel’s old life ended and his new one began. He used his magnificent brain to build weapons for them. Plus, there was his secret project he wasn’t quite ready to reveal to Chris and Owen just yet. But that was then; this is now.
After checking out the people around the fire at the Trails, the trio made their way toward a large tree house a few yards away. It had been impossible to see from next to the fire, but the closer they got to it, the more elaborate it looked.
The tree house was built onto a gigantic oak tree and actually had two floors. It almost looked like a two-story house, but without walls. A rope ladder led up to it.
Daniel stared, astounded. “Everyone else must be up there.”
“Almost everyone here is dressed ‘weird,’” Owen whined. “How are we going to find them?”
“We’ll probably know them when we see them,” Chris said.
The trio climbed the rope ladder that led to the first floor. There were at least seven young people around Owen’s age lounging about. No one really looked out of place. Some of the kids were drinking beer and chatting. A few couples were making out on a couch.
“One of us should check the second floor,” Chris suggested, scanning the crowd.
“I will,” Daniel offered. “Besides, this place is so awesome and I want to see the rest of it.” Chances were good the two vampires they were looking for were on the first floor. Let Owen and Chris handle them; Daniel wanted to check out the rest of this architectural masterpiece.
He climbed the rope ladder and immediately noticed two guys with their backs to him, kissing a girl on her face and neck. This wasn’t the first time Daniel had walked in on a threesome, but he felt embarrassed nevertheless.
And then he noticed something. The girl’s face and neck were covered with blood. Her mouth was open like she wanted to scream, but no sound came out.
Oh no! Those were the two vampires the monster hunters were looking for. They had to be. And sure enough, they were dressed oddly. Both were wearing shiny gold-colored shirts, but one was wearing purple jeans and the other red. No one in their right mind would think these were a good look.
Daniel started going down the rope ladder when one of the boys turned around and looked him straight in the eyes.
The blood on the boy’s face was that much redder compared to his pale skin. His eyes were wide and animalistic. They almost seemed yellowish and bright, but Daniel couldn’t tell for sure from where he stood.
The other boy turned, too. He had blood in his blond hair as well as all over his face. How these two were planning to get away from this place unnoticed was unclear to Daniel. Sure, it was dark, but someone was bound to notice a dead body and two guys covered in blood.
What was clear was Daniel needed to tell Chris and Owen. Now. He began climbing down the ladder when the two monsters lunged at him. Daniel screamed as he involuntarily let go of the rungs and fell. But he didn’t fall onto the first floor; he fell past it and headed straight for the ground below.
His right arm got tangled up in the ladder and he came to a jarring halt a few feet off the ground. That didn’t last long, though, as the arm slipped out, and he fell the rest of the way, landing on that very arm. He screamed again when he felt it snap.
Chris was already on his way down to him, but Owen was headed up to the second floor. With all the attention on Daniel, no one noticed a figure leap from the top floor into the field farther out a moment later, no one except Daniel. Despite the pain, he saw it.
Owen had killed one of the vampires, but the other escaped. The girl was now safe but in dire pain. The three young men took her to the car and drove her to the hospital. While there, Daniel got his arm taken care of. The girl told the police about the attack, and that these three young men had saved her life. She wouldn’t be the first.
CHAPTER 2
The arcade wasn’t packed tonight; it never was nowadays. Les Huntington was actually happy about this. With the advancement in videogame technology, nobody had to leave
his or her homes to experience top-of-the-line gaming. Les himself refused to buy next-generation game systems; it just wasn’t the same as sticking quarter after quarter into these beasts until the end of the game was reached, and in his hand was a big bag full of fun-money.
He found his favorite game, Hero Saga, at the far end of the arcade … but some red-haired kid was already playing it.
Les pushed his glasses back, set the bag of quarters down on the pinball machine next to Hero Saga and stood there, watching. The redhead was pretty good. He was already battling Norrack in the final stage. That was an impressive feat. Les wondered how long it had taken this guy to master the game. It had taken Les a month. Norrack was a beast of a videogame villain, the hardest Les had ever encountered. On the game screen, he was a measly seven inches while the hero Aslain, with his long black hair and square jaw, was four. Had Norrack been in the real world, standing next to Les and this redhead, he would have towered over them both.
“You’re really good at this,” said Les.
The redhead turned to him. He didn’t stop playing the game, though—he was playing without watching. That impressed and scared Les.
“Norrack’s about to kill you,” said Les.
Suddenly the redhead moved the joystick quickly to the left and pressed a button. The onscreen avatar Aslain swung his little sword, which served as the final blow to poor monstrous Norrack.
“How long did it take you to master this game?” Les asked.
“This is my first time playing,” said the redhead, still looking at him.
Les didn’t believe that for a second, though his stomach started to turn with jealousy. This was the hardest game in the whole arcade and Les was a self-proclaimed gaming genius. It required an incredible amount of skill. There was no way some kid could just come in and master it on his first try. Les looked this new guy up and down. He was tall and appeared to be at least seventeen, shoulder-length red hair, pale skin with freckles, and rather sickly-looking, like he was just getting over a bug. Les had a whole year on him, age-wise. That extra time meant more experience, in life and in videogames. Or so Les believed.
