The Blood Bargain

by Reeves, Macaela

  I climbed the stairs two at a time, rather than taking a left into my room I flipped right into Dads.

  Plaid sheets, plaid border, brown walls.

  Hopefully no Scottish men were harmed in the implementation of this design.

  Right.

  I looked around for the desk. It was tucked in the back of the room behind the ugly bed.

  Nothing on the table top but a clock and a hunting photo so I carefully opened the drawers. Nothing but pens and paper in the top two, bottom one was full of files organized by month.

  This month was missing. Damn it.

  I should have known better, he never left anything out, let alone anything incriminating. There was no giant pocket keeper labeled ‘shady shit’ sitting in this room.

  With a sigh I shut the drawer, taking note that the desktop itself was a bit dusty. Dad never let anything get that evil film build up. Without thinking I ran my hand over it to wipe it clean.

  Which left a big streak down the center.

  What was wrong with me? The first rule of covert was NOT leaving a ‘I was here’ trail. Well I couldn’t put dust back on the surface so the only choice I had was to quick clean the rest of the top to even it out.

  Behind the picture frame in the left corner there was a dead beetle. I scooped up the little gross shell and threw it in the trash can under the desk. From the slightly crumpled piece of paper to the side, I noticed Dad had missed the bin. Man, he must really be frazzled. I felt a tinge of guilt knowing that his erratic behavior was obviously due to my actions as of late.

  I picked up the post it, reading the scribbles.

  Tommen - Cresol Solution, Phenobarbital, Sulfadiazine, Hemostatic Forceps

  The address scrawled on the note was not the clinic.

  Oh my. A smile spread on my face as I shoved the trash in my pocket. This wasn.t what I wanted, but it was sure as hell something.

  “Come on Liv, we’re waiting for you slow poke! Dinner Time!” Candice hollered up the stairs.

  “I’m on my way.” Scrambling to my feet I hurried out of the room shutting the door behind me.

  I woofed down my potatoes and veggies without pausing to breathe. Thankfully my hurry up and get this over with routine wasn.t really noticed, Mark was cracking jokes that succeeded in eliciting giggles from the kids while Zoe pretended to be offended by his table manners. Candice tacked on her own level of silliness.

  Dad came home right as I was heading to the kitchen with my empty plate, graciously apologizing to Zoe for being late.

  Rather than return to the table I lurked in the kitchen to help with cleanup. I really wasn’t in the mood to see the drill sergeant at the moment.

  The twins sang their ABC’s for us after dinner while we cleaned plates. With every note they reaffirmed my choices, they deserved a solid future. One built on truth.

  “Headed out again?”

  “Yeah I ah, wanted to check out some of the flowers around Junction. You know...wedding ideas?”

  My Dad practically beamed. “I’m glad you’re coming around.”

  Before I felt the need to puke, I hurried out the door.

  Lying had never been my strong point, I felt like a total ass doing it. Still when I added up our tallies on the ass-o-meter, I decided I still had to make up a good fifty points before I hit the level of ass he was for forcing me to marry brainless Zack Graham.

  Still, because I knew I was a terrible liar I checked out the little blooms along the sidewalk as I went to my real destination. Purple, round, sneeze inducing. Flower investigation complete.

  Unlike ours, my destination wasn.t a turn of the century home. It was a nineteen eighties mass construction two story. There were no fancy architectural features, just a simple walkway and a double attached garage. I knew the inside would be all linoleum, carpet and particle board doors. Not that my destination was inside. Around back was a man chopping wood, the axe rising and falling with a familiar force.

  I approached him slowly, especially since he had a weapon and I knew where I sat on the invited list.

  “Cole.”

  His shoulders sagged and he didn.t turn around.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “I was hoping we could talk?” Cole laughed, a dark sarcastic sound.

  “Don.t have shit to say to you.” He pivoted to face me. “Didn.t I make that clear?” I kinda wished he hadn’t turned around. His face didn’t carry the all American good looks I was used to. It was twisted by frown lines around his mouth and his brow dipped into a deep V. His eyes carried the hatred as though I had fed his cat to a deadhead. I still couldn’t believe he was that upset with me. But he was. After my talk with Candice I knew I had to do something to make things right between us. Something I didn’t think was one hundred percent right to do.

  “I’m sorry. I didn.t realize...” You felt that way.

  I planned to find a way to spit out the words but he cut me off.

  “Whatever. That all?”

  “Damn you are such a bastard sometimes. Look...I found something.” I pulled the yellow paper out of my pocket. “Dad had a note about a bunch of medical type shit going to Tommen.”

  “Shocking for a doctor to get medical supplies.”

  “Delivered to the meat locker?” Now that got his attention. I handed him the evidence. His brow furrowed as he looked at the list. Without a word he handed it back to me.

  “I wanna check it out and I was kind of hoping you’d go with me?” He didn.t answer. Just placed another log atop the stump and swung the axe.

  The loud crack echoed in the evening.

  “I didn.t want them to involve you in this. When Ryan came into the Garage bitching about the shipment...I knew you weren’t crazy.”

  “No.” I shook my head. “You were right. It was crazy. Crazy and Stupid. Now I’m going to pay for the rest of my life.” Cole cursed.

  “You really didn.t know?”

  “What the hell do you think?”

  “I think we see what’s doing in a butcher shop that hasn’t seen a pig or a cow in a decade.”

  I clapped my hands and turned on my feet. Three paces later I noticed he wasn’t on my heels. He was still right where he was. The crack of the axe hitting the block resonated again.

  “Are you coming?”

  “Give me a minute, I have to finish this for tonight.”

  “Cole this is important...”

  “And chopping wood for the fire’s isn.t? We have a responsibility the wellness of the colony first Liv. Unlike some I don’t like to chuck my responsibilities to fulfill my own whims.”

  What a jerk! I’m sure I look like a fish, opening and closing my mouth at that statement. The nerve to go flapping his gums like that. I wanted to argue, but we had just started to kinda sorta patch things up so if I actually put words to my feelings that was going to go downhill

  really fast. Plus, as much as I didn.t want to tell him, he was approximately thirty percent right. Maybe I did have a tendency to ignore the short term but..I never lost sight of the end game.

  With nothing to say, I crossed my arms, and waited impatiently.

  Thirty minutes and a mountain of sliced wood later, we were moving.

  The city meat locker went by the name of Sal.s. It was close to the wall on the main road into town. The metal thirty by thirty building looked more like a giant shed than anything else. Weeds overrun the walkway to the front door, it showed no sign of recent traffic. The overhead sign was dusty, the greenery along the pavement uncrushed.

  This was a quiet part of Junction to begin with. Most of these ‘businesses’ were deemed useless and turned into winter storage. It was patrolled regularly before the wall went up, since then the only time this area saw a lot of activity was around the fall harvest.

  “You take the back.” He murmured to me as we approached. With a nod I turned to the side going along the parking lot lines. The back door was right next to the trash bin. Cobwebs angled from the top corners
of the entry.

  I tried the knob.

  It didn’t turn.

  Above the overgrown bushes next to the door there was a window that had been covered by cardboard. Hardly professional for a meat locker.

  I jogged back around front. Cole was looking around the grounds like he had lost a contact lense.

  “It’s locked.”

  “So is the back.” I thought for a moment. “Can you break it?”

  “Metal door. Makes that a bit difficult.” He pointed up and left. Unlike the back, the front windows were not obstructed.

  “Window?”

  “Give me a boost.” They were not at first floor level, more like floor and a half.

  I didn.t realize how strong he was till he picked me up. He handled my frame like I was a stuffed animal, easily lifting me up to the sill.

  I yanked on the edge of the frame. No dice. Well...there was only one thing left to do. With all my might, I punched the glass pane.

  It didn’t break and now my hand throbbed like I had never felt. I cried out as Cole set me down. Despite my pain he was laughing.

  “What’s so funny?” I wailed trying to straighten my hand. My fingers did not bend easily, I could tell the joints were already starting to swell.

  “You are dork. Also I don’t think it's a good idea we go around breaking stuff. That would defeat the purpose of discrete.”

  “I’m waiting for a better idea?”

  “Ben’s girlfriend Sammie works for Tommen. If he is involved with this place, maybe we can get our hands on the door key.”

  “Fine, but if it doesn.t work I’m breaking that damn window.”

  “Deal. Now let’s go grab a drink.”

  “I have time for a quick one, then I have somewhere to be.”

  The happy smile faded from Coles face. “Date with a bloodsucker huh?”

  “It is NOT a date.”

  “It’s complete bull your father was okay with that.”

  “Yeah well, he’s a jerk.” I felt horrible for the words as soon as they left my mouth. Did I really just insult the person who’d kept me safe and alive for the last decade?

  “I don’t know what I’d do if my Mom pulled that crap on me.”

  “Least your Mom wouldn.t force you to wear a skirt.”

  “You got all girly?” I rolled my eyes, wishing I hadn’t let him in on that little detail of my embarrassment.

  “Forget I said anything.”

  He laughed deep. “Oh man, what I wouldn’t give for a cell phone to get that posted all over the web.”

  “Sorry bro, all we have are paper and crayons.” We walked on for a bit in silence. Then he spoke up.

  “What is it you miss the most? From before the outbreak?”

  “A lot of little things and then a lot of big things. Some days I would kill for air conditioning. I miss movie theaters, fashion trends, new songs on the radio...most of all though I yearn for a handful of McDonalds Fries and a hot bubble bath.” I shook my head at how shallow I

  sounded. “How about you?”

  “Easy: Video Games and Steak.”

  “Neanderthal.” I picked up a small rock from the sidewalk and chucked it at him. In protest he went on a long rant about the wonders of first person shooters and how I was missing out. Funny that we were talking about life in the ‘before time’. For most, the first rule of living post

  outbreak was you didn.t talk about life pre-outbreak. Too many skeletons in everyone’s closet.

  Perhaps because we had just recently shared a refresher in the brush-with-death category our tongues had loosened on the subject. Our recent encounter had definitely made me feel like

  something that happened so long ago seem like it was just yesterday.

  Approaching The Garage I caught sight of Adam he was stretched out against the brick exterior of the building having a chat with two younger doe eyed looking girls. Unlike most of the guys around here who were on ‘duty’ Adam never dressed for combat. Sneakers, faded jeans

  and an old beetles shirt topped off his outfit.

  “Hey Casanova!” I hollered at him when we were within earshot. It had the desired effect, the girls giggled and exchanged a bashful smile. Then in the blink of an eye they had said their parting words and scattered.

  “That was cruel Liv. What did I ever do to you?” Adam shot me a fake pained expression, his brown eyes wide and pleading for sympathy.

  “Sorry I couldn.t resist. Plus isn.t it past their bedtime?”

  “Ha ha ha.” Adam’s gaze wandered to my tall companion. “Sup Cole.”

  “Hey man.” The pair of them clasped hands in a ‘bro shake’ complete with a back pat. When they break it off he gives us both the eye with a smirk.

  “So you two are done kicking sand in the sandbox?”

  I rolled my eyes. “We rekindled our friendship over sex in the city, chardonnay and cheesecake.”

  “Next I get to paint her nails.”

  That’s enough of that. “So we standing outside all night? I really want a drink.” Not waiting for them to answer I pushed past them to the door. The Garage was busier than most nights, lot of the older folk seemed in need of refreshment. Thick stomp of boots behind me told me the guys had not dawdled in the fall evening.

  Adam and I headed to a booth in the corner while Cole made his way to the bar. We got settled across from each other while we waited, making small talk about which of the two outside was on Adam’s list.

  Cole comes over with three cups and a frown.

  “Bartender giving you crap again?” Adam chided him.

  “Just wanted to make sure I wasn.t drinking all of these myself tonight.” Remembering the last time I had saw him here, that made sense. However, I wasn’t going to flame that fire. Back to the topic of hand, I tried to think of the most covert way to tell Adam what had happened.

  I took a sip and leaned into him. “So that thing you wanted done? Wasn’t a ghost chase.”

  “Oh really?” His face was expressionless.

  Now I got really quiet. “I found papers in Dad’s room that had a bunch of medical stuff going to Tommen. With an address of the old meat locker.”

  “We checked it out, locked tight. Think Sammie could get the key off Tommen?” Cole chimed in from the other side. Personally I didn.t know Sammie very well. I’d had her for a nurse when I had my yearly checkup in the spring. A towering strawberry blond with a lot of freckles.

  She seemed friendly and pretty laid back. Definitely not the kind of person that went around thieving from their boss. I had to remind myself that looks had been known to be deceiving.

  “Never hurts to ask.” Adam readily agreed, then as Cole covered up our little whisper moment with some loud story about a bat getting into their house I watched Adams face drop from flat to frowning.

  “Something on your mind?” I asked him quietly.

  “Group of four at the fence today, by post three.”

  I hissed and chugged my firewater. The frequency of the sightings was getting progressively more intense.

  Damn it. Was this my fault? Did they follow us back. Further, why weren’t the vamps clearing a perimeter anymore? They should have taken anything out within a five mile radius nights ago.

  Dimitri had said there was a statement of reasonable safety, but because of that mandate from Caius had they ceased their patrols? I was determined to ask him tonight.

  Tonight! Shit.

  “Hey guys I gotta go.” I scooted out of the booth while my goodbyes were met with heavy protest.

  I pretty much ran to the vamp’s farmhouse. I knew I was going to be late. A fact that was confirmed as I saw no one waiting on the sidewalk. Just a bunch of barren steps and a shut door. I didn.t want to go up and knock, I definitely was not going to walk right in. I prayed Blondie wasn.t lurking around.

  So there I stood in the cool fall breeze.

  Waiting.

  And waiting.

  I smoothed my hair, tucking a tuff of the b
rown stuff behind my ear. With nothing else to do I went on to pick my hands, pushing cuticles back from my nails. I had just started to work on my left pinkie when the door opened.

  Finally.

  I walked up the stairs quickly, it was getting pretty cold outside and I was just in my pacman tee shirt and jeans. Like a moron I forgot a jacket. I probably would have remembered had I stopped at home at some point after dinner.

  My Dad probably thought I was on the longest flower tour in history, but he knew I had vamp service duty as well. While I made a mental note to blame my time loss on that fact my feet carried me into the foyer.

  Dimitri was standing against the banister of the steps that led to the second floor with his arms crossed. He was wearing some charcoal grey cargo pants and a navy polo with military detailing at the shoulders. No shoes, no socks. I took a tentative step towards him, he did not look

  very approachable with his arms crossed like that.

  When he did not speak, I did. “Hi.” I smiled at him.

  “I was starting to think you weren.t coming.” His dark features showing no warmth to encourage me forward.

  “I’m sorry.” I was . “It’s been a crazy day.” He visibly relaxed at my apology, unfolding his arms.

  “Kitchen?” I prompted.

  “Living room.” He countered. I sat on the ivory couch at the far end. He did not join me, rather moved in the opposite direction. I watched his hips roll as he walked, moving like the predator he was. Was I in trouble? My heart pounded in my chest at what could possibly be in store for me.

  He paused by the cabinet at the end of the room and opened a drawer. After a brief ruffling sound he produced a long white box with a familiar word on it.

  I watched in wonder as walked to the coffee table, smile on his face and a classic Parker Brothers game in his hands.

  “Monopoly?” He asked. I nodded slowly. So did he not need to feed tonight? Could it be possible that a vampire just wanted to hang out? I took a critical look at his skin as he set up the board, he was only slightly paled. Nowhere near the coloring I had seen when he was at my

  wrist. What the hell I suppose, Monopoly with a vampire. I wondered if that brought a new meaning to do not pass go?