Parasite ; Sleeper Cells ; Kingdoms of the Dead

by Ian Woodhead

  Get them to move ten steps back, Damien.

  He grinned at them. “I am your First Son, Desmonus. Despite everything, I still believe in the clan, I still believe in you.” Damien slowly got to his feet. “I’m supposed to get you to move ten paces back, First Father. By then, you’ll be in striking range of the enemy clan. At least, that’s what they ordered me to do.”

  The First Father released Eleanor. “Just kill him, I tire of his games. We have work to complete.”

  The female vampire ran over to Damien. He watched her jaw elongate, like a snake about to swallow a rat. He staggered back, listening to the First Father chuckle behind her advancing form. His amusement suddenly ceased when the ground below his feet erupted. Eleanor spun around and gasped.

  “It is a Flesh dragon, oh, moon and daughters, not here”

  Damian watched open mouthed as something very large equipped with claws the size of daggers burst out of the black soil. Those black claws pushed through the First Father’s writhing body and dragged the shrieking vampire back under the Earth.

  “Just what the fucking hell was that?” asked Damien, not too sure if he had dreamed that. He looked at the disturbed soil, swimming in blood and knew that his eyes hadn’t deceived him.

  “I was ready to share it all with you, Damien!” screamed Eleanor. “All I will be sharing with you now are my teeth.”

  She ran forwards then her body just stopped a couple of feet from him. Damien watched her eyes dim before she fell to the floor. He looked at the man standing in her place, the tip of his sword, dripping in red. “Fuck me, Cade?”

  The man nodded then raised his katana. “It’s best that you don’t sound so relieved to see me, my friend. You’re next.”

  “Leave him be, Cade.”

  Damien looked up to see his mother limping towards them. He glanced at his friend, then at his mum. “So where do we go from here?”

  Epilogue

  The house seemed so empty without the kids and Darlene. Geoff picked his way around the broken furniture, and avoided the blood stains covering the carpet and the bed. He filled his nostrils with the rank air. “This is not what I need right now.” He wondered over to the broken window, watching the sun peek through the trees on the horizon.

  Dawn had revealed the true horror of last night’s violence, mayhem and slaughter in glorious colour. What survivors that were left now just wondered aimlessly along the town’s roads and pavements. To Geoff, they all looked like they had just lived through a World War Two air raid.

  He had yet to check on the town’s annual visitors. Even from here though, he could see two columns of black smoke spiralling into the sky. It didn’t take a genius to work out that they had been hit pretty bad as well.

  Geoff took out his mobile phone from his back pocket and speed-dialled a number that he had prayed that he would never need to ring. The receiver on the other end was picked up immediately.

  “They’re out,” he said. “Both clans, probably.” He sniffed again. Deathgazers definitely. Activate the lockdown, Brother General. Containment is now a level one priority. Scramble the missionaries and arm them. I’ll contact you again once more information is available.”

  He pushed his phone back into his back pocket and walked over to the wardrobe, He had to assume that the rest of the operatives were dead or changed. Which, he knew, meant the same thing anyway. Geoff opened the doors, noticing exactly which dress was missing. He turned and walked back over to the bed and slumped down, putting his head in his hands. Despite his training and despite the possibility then he knew that this might happen, he still couldn’t stop the hot tears from rolling down his cheeks.

  To continue in

  Woven in Blood – The Hidden Order

  Parasite

  By Ian Woodhead

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright, March 2013 by Ian Woodhead

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, scanning or otherwise, without prior permission of the author.

  Acknowledgements

  Thank you so much to the lovely Lori Safranek for correcting all my stupid mistakes within the story. You’re awesome!

  Chapter One

  Dan Wilson shuffled in his chair; he instinctively knew that the bitch had swapped chairs yet again. She had given him her seat, the one where half the bloody thread was missing from the underside. He silently counted to ten, thinking of a calm blue ocean without wanting to drown her sister in the still water.

  God, his sister’s stroppy attitude really had peaked today, what was her problem? Dan tuned out her diseased whining and concentrated on the important task of spooning the cornflakes into his mouth before they became too soggy.

  As per usual, both his parents were going about their daily morning routine, acting as though everything was just peachy in their perfect household. For once, in his life, Dan was grateful that he could not detect any change. Any sign of a knowing wink or secret nudge would have meant that his dad had betrayed his trust and spilled the beans over what happened last night. With a bit of luck, he’d stay buttoned up and let Dan sort out his unholy fucking mess.

  The fact that Chelsea had a swarm of bees up her arse this morning did give him a much needed distraction, he might be pissed with her chair swapping trick but at least she was acting true to form, being her usual predictable self. Right now, Dan craved routine and normality.

  He was so tempted to lean across the table, fix the mumbling witch with his best concerned moo-cow eyes and ask her if he could help in any way. Her reaction to that would go down in the history books. Hell, she’d probably even fall off her stolen chair in shock.

  After listening to her bitch on for a few more seconds, Dan still didn’t have a clue what was wrong with her this morning, knowing her, it could be anything from a cracked fingernail to the fact that her boyfriend didn’t end his Facebook conversation with a love heart smiley. It astounded him that somebody could be so mad at the whole universe every second of the day.

  He had once compared Chelsea to a pineapple. Once you hammered through that rough, prickly exterior, you would discover a very sweet but insecure little girl who just wanted some love and affection. Upon reflection, Dan thought his analogy was bollocks and he must have been drunk when he came up with that crap. He smirked, unless it was a rotten pineapple.

  “Are you laughing at me?” snarled his sister.

  Dan held his sister’s penetrating gaze. The girl’s glare was strong enough to wilt every mate he had. She was very good at them. Dan believed that she probably practiced her look in a mirror. Those eyes didn’t make him wilt, watching her chew on that strawberry just made him think of a stupid, fat cow, grazing on grass. Even so, he wasn’t going to allow her to beat him. “Oh my god, Chelsea, have you seen the time?”

  He pointed to the kitchen wall clock behind her, suppressing a giggle when she spun around and caught her breath. Dan so hoped that she wouldn’t have the sense to confirm the time on her phone, that would spoil everything. “Don’t you have a bus to catch?”

  The blood slowly drained from his sister’s face. “Oh fucking bollocks,” she gasped. “I’m going to be late.”

  “For crying out loud, Chelsea!” growled their dad, “What have you been told about the swearing? Enough with the F bombs.”

  “I don’t believe this. Why didn’t anybody tell me I was late?” The girl jumped up, grabbed her bag and rushed towards the door.

  “What time will you be home, dear?” asked their mum.

  Dan listened to the front door slamming and let out a quiet giggle. He saw his mum hurry over to the kitchen window.

  “She’s going to pull your head off for that stunt, Dan. You do know
that.”

  He grinned at his mum. “Yeah well, she deserves it. Chelsea has turned into a complete spoiled brat recently.” He picked up her half eaten bowl of fruit. “Look at this, she knows how bad our finances are and she doesn’t even appreciate what you do for her. You ought to let her have cornflakes like everybody else.”

  His mum walked back to the table and took Chelsea’s bowl off him. “I know how it looks, dear, but you’re only seeing it from your point of view. There’s a lot of stuff going through her head at the moment.”

  “Mum, she’s been a bitch for the last three years.”

  His dad laughed from behind his paper.

  Dan returned to his breakfast, this was a pointless exercise. All it was doing was annoying him. Still, it had been rather amusing watching that hard faced cow, suddenly turn back into a frightened little girl when she thought that she had missed her bus.

  He didn’t care if his sister gave him some grief when she got back home tonight, like that would bother him. Hell, it was like water off a duck’s back these days.

  It was tempting to hope that his prank had spoilt her day. Somehow, though, he doubted that. Chelsea already had a face like a smacked arse when he first clapped eyes on her dishevelled appearance as he gave her a cheery good morning. Her face dropped even further when he sneaked into the bathroom, before she had time to get in there.

  “Can you try not to upset her too much, Dan? I know she’s been a bit hard on you recently but, you don’t exactly make her life easier.”

  He stared at the wall clock, trying not to think of just how many occasions this week when she’d given him a hard time.

  “By the way, I expect you to put that clock back to its original time before you leave this room.”

  He sighed, “Mum, that’s not fair. How do you expect me to play Mr Nice guy when she treats me like something she’s just stepped on?” He watched her take the fruit bowl over to the counter top. “Come on, she treats everyone like that, including you two.”

  His father put his paper down. “Son, you’re seventeen next. Your sister is just a year older than you are. I met your mother at the same age as Chelsea is right now.” He smiled over at his mum. “Just look at that angelic face, Dan, butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth.”

  She smiled back at both of them. “Why, thank you, darling.”

  “At eighteen, she behaved a lot worse than your sister. Brash, abusive, argumentative, you name it, that little monster made her family a living hell.”

  His mother opened the fridge and dug out a Tupperware box hidden behind two jars of pickles. “He’s right, Dan. I never got on with my own mum at Chelsea’s age. Looking back, I really was such a nasty fucking little bitch.”

  Dan dropped his spoon into his bowl, shocked at her language. He never heard his mum say the F word until now. She unclipped the lid and poured the fruit into the box. Then put it back into the fridge.

  “Like I said, there’s a lot going on inside that mind of hers. Please, Dan, just try to be a little more diplomatic.”

  He watched her close the fridge door. “Mum, what did you just do with her breakfast?”

  “Son,” said his dad, leaning forward. “Your beautiful sister demands fresh fruit every morning, all lovingly cut up with your mother’s fair hands. That stuff is expensive, so, she gets cheap frozen fruit from Lidl. We just don’t tell her.” He shrugged. “What she didn’t eat this morning will appear in her bowl tomorrow morning.” His dad picked up his paper and leaned back on his chair.

  “No way,” he said, giggling. “That has got to be the funniest thing I’ve heard all week. How come she never figures it out?”

  “It’s probably because, she never eats more than a couple of strawberries. If Chelsea is really hungry, she might nibble on a raspberry.” Her mother flashed him a sly smile. “Besides, there’s no reason for her to suspect anything. I’m her mother and she just knows that I would never do anything so deceitful.”

  “Everyone has their secrets, son. You of all people should know that,” said his dad from behind the newspaper.

  He looked over at his mum, watched her pull out Chelsea’s chair, and sat opposite him. She placed her hands on the white tablecloth, palms down, with her fingers spread wide. The woman fixed him with her most condescending face and sighed.

  “Honey, is there anything that you’d like to say to me?”

  Dan couldn’t believe that his dad had gone and betrayed him. He had promised that he wouldn’t speak a word, that their discussion was just between the pair of them. Then again, considering what he had just uncovered regarding his parent’s hidden talent for duplicity, why the hell should he even be surprised by this? Dan matched her gaze, wondering if he’d be able to trust the pair of them ever again. “Mum,” he said, pausing for breath. “There’s a bloody good chance that I have lost my job.”

  She waved away his confession and slammed her hand down. “I don’t care about your bloody job, sweetheart.”

  Dan jumped, feeling the guilt slide down his spine when he saw a tear drip down her cheek

  “You can get another job anywhere in Colbeck. I want to know exactly what happened in those caverns last night, more importantly, that you really are okay.”

  He gazed across at his dad who gave him a half-apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, son. She only had to look at me to know that I was holding out on her. I did put up a fight though, lad. In the end, she threatened to bust my nose if I didn’t cough up.” He shrugged. “You have no idea how painful her left hook is.”

  Somehow, Dan doubted that. His mum probably just gave his dad one of her famous ‘you will tell everything’ looks. The one she was currently using on him. Dan sighed, knowing that resistance really was useless.

  “Me and Alison found a dead body in the caverns yesterday,” he announced. Dan watched her mum’s eyes go wide and wondered just how much of this story she had prised out of his dad. Judging by her shocked expression, he doubted that he had told his mum bugger all, unless she was putting that face on.

  “What were you doing down there in the first place, Dan?” His mum took a cup of tea out his dad’s proffered hand. “You work in the gift shop.”

  He nodded. “I know where I work, mum. I said I was down there with Alison.”

  His mum nodded thoughtfully before her face broke into a huge grin. “She’s such a lovely girl, does this mean that you two are an item now?”

  Oh Christ, he hoped so, it was probably the only good thing to come out of last night’s disaster. Unless, their boss kicked them both out into the street, then Alison would probably never speak to him again. That would hurt him far more than losing the job in the cavern gift shop.

  Looking back, Dan believed that it was a plan that could not fail. He had been trying to get off with Alison for over a month now, with no success. He’d tried every trick in the book, he’d even made some new ones up and it had got him precisely nowhere. His best mate, Colin Grave, thought his latest plan was destined to fail and advised him to give her up. He would say that though, Colin had been trying to get off with the girl for months.

  Dan didn’t fancy the lad’s chances though. Although the ticket booth seller did see their tour guide more than Dan did, his chat-up lines were just horrendous. He’d told Colin many times that he could pull a rotten tooth out of a dead horse’s head with his lines.

  He waited for the last visitors to leave and for most of the other staff to retire to the canteen before approaching Alison. “I need your help,” he hissed.

  The girl sighed, “Dan, I’ve told you a million times already I’m not go…”

  He stopped her before she had time to finish her sentence. “Yeah you’ve said, a million times. It’s not that, Alison. Like a dizzy sod, I’ve gone and left my phone in the caverns.”

  She shrugged. “What can I do about it? Go see Mr Calhoun. He’ll get the keys for you.”

  This wasn’t going as he planned. “Alison, come on, he’ll just tell me to wait until th
e morning. You know how awkward he can get. Please? Come on, I know you have a spare key.”

  “So, you think it’s perfectly okay for me to put my job at risk?”

  He stayed quiet, waiting for the realisation to hit her. Dan was probably the only person who knew the girl had her own key to the caverns. He’d spotted Alison going down there a few times when she thought nobody was around. Dan had no idea why but he had always intended to find out. This seemed like the perfect opportunity.

  Her whole posture suddenly changed. A terrified young girl suddenly replaced the untouchable ice-queen that not one lad in the village had been able to melt. “Oh fuck, you know about the keys! Please, don’t tell anyone?”

  He had not expected that outburst. Dan almost told her there and then that his phone was still in his back pocket and she was right about him trying to ask her out. Looking at her face, somehow, he felt that if he did, the girl really would never speak to him again.

  She pushed past him and silently hurried through the building. Alison stopped as they reached Colin’s domain and looked back at him.”

  He saw with some sadness that her ice-maiden face was firmly back in place.

  “If Mr Calhoun catches us down here, he really will sack the pair of us. If that happens, you have no idea what I’ll do to you, Dan Wilson.”

  She reached the gate and unlocked it. Dan imagined what he’d do if his phone suddenly went off in his pocket. He hadn’t thought this plan through correctly, the damn thing was still set to ring. Fuck, it would be disastrous if one of his mates chose this moment to ring him.

  “Where did you leave it? I hope you know the exact spot, there’s no way that I’m spending too long in here to look for your stupid phone.”

  His hand unconsciously grabbed the small box in his other back pocket. Right now, he just knew that, like his other plans, this one would not work, if anything, Alison would just slap him before leaving Dan down here. The ring would have to stay in his pocket. He’d just have to pretend that he’d found the phone and get out of here. Dan would be hitting the local pub a bit earlier tonight.