Vampire (Alpha Claim 8-Final Enforcement): New Adult Paranormal Romance (Vampire Alpha Claim)

by Eros, Marata

  I felt Onyx break through the screen just as I released my power, all of it sweeping through me and using Gramps and Tiff like conduits.

  I was vaguely aware of the formula peoplesʼ panic as they drew their weapons out of their suits, training them on us.

  I said in a voice that didn't sound like mine, “Can't kill me if you need me.”

  “Stalemate, guys,” John said sorta loving the moment.

  Onyx roared up to my position, pressing his body against my leg and a burst of power shot through me as hands broke through the grass.

  Gramps said, “Oh, hell in a hand basket.”

  The guns that had been pointed in our direction were pointing now at the once-perfect lawn. I was suddenly reminded of the gophers. That's what it looked like: limbs like small trees had burst from the ground, and the zombies poured out of the earth.

  ****

  It was almost funny. But not for the formula people, who were now faced with Indians.

  Skopamish again. Must've they had been pretty prolific back in the day. The whole tribe was here and it was not the same guys that I had raised (perfectly) by Jade's house with the last mess.

  Smoker screamed, “Fire people! That's the only way.” He began to run for the driveway gate, where I was sure they had all kinds of goods in the trunk.

  I turned to the nearest Indian. “Get him.”

  A war cry sounded and as the Indian sprinted after Smoker, easily overtaking him.

  Stocky went for his weapons on the grass. Gramps was faster, catching him in the back of the neck with the butt of the puppy. He went down like a sack of potatoes. Tiff and I kept our hands clasped.

  Two agents went for Gramps, and Dad waded in while the other three faced off with the remaining tribe.

  My zombies had a blade in one hand and a tomahawk in the other, swinging them loosely at their sides is a semi-circle.

  The agents tore out their guns, save one.

  Gunless looked at me and tapped his head. “Five-point Null, brat.”

  Shit!

  I looked at John. “He's a Null. Can you do a reversal or something?”

  John shrugged, watching Gramps doing hand-to-hand with an agent, Dad was kinda getting a beating but hanging in there.

  Helen was barfing on the grass while Bill watched over her with a look of this can't be happening .

  I sympathized, but I was kinda getting used to it. Just part of the fun the Hart family offers. That'd give them pause for future get togethers.

  The Gunless Null strode toward us, and I saw the Chief straddling Smoker, banging his head into the concrete driveway.

  Zombie protocol, head-banging.

  With a mental call, I summoned the tribe and the Null didn't even hesitate, reaching out to grab me.

  John leaped in front of him, grabbing his tie and hanging on for dear life.

  “What the hell,” Agent Null shrieked, flinging John off, who whipped around and hung on to the back of his leg like a dog.

  Speaking of which, Onyx had slunk forward and now had a teeth-latch on the guy's shin.

  “Fuck! God damn ,” he said, trying to kick, limping forward to reach Tiff and I. We drew backward.

  The Boy would not be taken by the Evil Man. The Dog began to clamp down on the Bad Male's appendage. The Dog would communicate with the dead creatures that the Boy controls. The Dog looked at the nearest creature who wore clothing made of animal and something on his head that was like the things which smelled delicious that flew above his head.

  ʻSave the Master,ʼ the Dog thought at the nearest one, who turned its glittering eyes to the Dog. His gaze comprehending, then shifting to the flailing male that was now injured by the Dog's sharp mouth.

  The Dog held nothing back, hanging on to the leg of this Bad Male that had come for his Boy, as the Boy's companion grabbed the other leg.

  Onyx communicated something to his zombie and the Indian turned to Agent Null, swinging his tomahawk in the air, the arc of metal catching the sunlight, briefly blinding me.

  He made a shrill war cry and brought the sharp end down on the shoulder of Agent Null with a meaty thwack!

  The tomahawk bit about four inches in, nearly separating the shoulder from his torso.

  Agent Null keeled over. Blood sprayed, geyser-style, hitting the faces of both the nearest zombies and the agents. The zombies immediately licked the blood off with black tongues.

  Huh, I kept messing up the mouths.

  The formula people stumbled around, arms pinwheeling and trying to wipe blood from their eyes, when they finally opened them, their eyes looked like stranded egg whites in the red of their faces.

  “Caleb!” Mom screamed, breaking my concentration.

  Dad was being straddled by an agent and Gramps had gotten his guy down and out.

  “Some help here, Caleb!” Gramps yelled.

  I turned to the next zombie, his headdress of feathers hanging slightly askew and said, “Save my dad.”

  The zombie raced over there, and as an afterthought I added, “No chopping!”

  Jade had started throwing up in the grass, and Jonesy said, “Come on, Jade, it's just a flesh wound.”

  Not helpful. I let go of Tiff and raced to Jade who put her hand out, “I'm sorry! It's just so gross!” Lots of barfing going on.

  Agent Null was bleeding out on Grampsʼ lawn. He was gonna die.

  The tribe, John, Onyx, the rest of the girls and Mom came to stand next to me.

  Dad hobbled over. “Caleb, call off the dogs, I think that zombie over there is going to permanently maim that guy.”

  I looked over at the agent that had tried to beat the shit out of my dad and couldn't work up to a point of sympathy.

  The Chief came back to the circle, dragging Smoker behind him, the back of his head a bloody pulp.

  Cripes.

  The other agents backed up, their guns pointing at the group.

  The Chief said, “This one struggles no more,” he said, dumping the body like so much trash at my feet. He turned his body to look at the remaining agents, his entire body poised for battle and violence.

  “What is he saying, Caleb?” Mom asked from behind me.

  I looked at her. “What do you mean, Mom? You were standing right there.”

  “He's speaking Injun,” Gramps said.

  Nice. I laughed and the agents shifted uneasily. No one acknowledged the agent who lay dying at my feet.

  “No Gramps, I hear them perfectly, they're speaking English.”

  Dad and Mom shook their head.

  Jade came over, taking my hand. “No they're not, Caleb. I don't know what they're speaking but I don't understand them. They kinda sound like my grandma did.”

  I looked at Tiff who shook her head. “I don't know either.”

  Hmm.

  “Someone call the police,” Dad said, cradling an arm while Bry hopped to it, pulsing 911.

  I looked over the tribe, the one zombie's hand clinging to the tomahawk. The blade was wet with blood and shone like black oil. Their eyes never left mine. “Thank you for coming to my call, Tribe of the Skopamish.” I gave a small bow.

  The zombie who had almost cut off the arm of Agent Null laid the flat of his tomahawk against my heart, bloodying my shirt. “You call, and we shall answer.”

  I gave a solemn nod as sirens wailed in the distance.

  Tiff came to my side, and Jade released my hand. Maybe she'd had a little much for one day. “Let's get them in the ground.”

  “My beautiful lawn,” Gramps intoned sadly.

  “Pops!” Mom said, like really?

  “It'll be okay, Gramps. Check it.”

  I willed the zombies to the disturbed earth. Their forms slid into the mounds as smooth as molten lava down a mountain.

  One minute they were here, the next, we were staring at an over-fertilized, half-acre of illegal, water guzzling lawn.

  *

  The same cops always came but this time McGraw (of the elemental show off disast
er last year) came bounding up. Aryan Nation crew cut firmly in place and Gale, Garcia and Smith-the-Null rounding out the pack.

  This was gonna be special.

  The Dog growled, licking the delicious taste of the Bad Man off his lips. He saw the pack that all smelled the same, but there was one that did not like the Boy, one who wished harm for the Boy. He growled again, the Dog thought it would be very good to make his Master aware that the Bad Male had arrived. The Dog understood that the Bad Male was camouflaging what he really was, but the Dog was not fooled. His nose never lied. The dead creatures were not here to aid the Boy and the Dog understood the Boy was nose-blind. The Dog must identify the Bad Male for the Boy.

  I almost missed grabbing Onyx by the collar as he lunged at the group of cops that were approaching, guns naked in their hands.

  “Knock it off, Onyx, you bad dog,” I shook him slightly, he was never aggressive. What the hell was the matter with him?

  McGraw's eyes lighted on Onyx. “You have a vicious dog there, Caleb.”

  “No sir. I think it's all the commotion with the formula people trespassing on Grampsʼ property today,” I said in my best diffuse the adult suspicion voice.

  Mom raised an eyebrow and I was hoping she wouldn't blow it, she could smell A Tone a mile away.

  The cops trained their weapons on the remaining agents.

  Gale sunk to her knees by the agent that my zombie had nearly amputated. “We need a medic,” Her thumb dropped to the pulse at her side.

  Ya think?

  After about three seconds she raised her eyes to Smith. “What about the other guy?”

  Smith looked down at Smoker, his skin grayer than usual, and bent over him, taking his pulse. “Thready, but there.”

  Garcia slammed his pistol into its holster. “Okay, can someone, anyone, tell me what is going on here in as few words as possible?” Out came the notepad.

  No one said anything, except Jonesy, “These ass clowns showed up and wanted to take Caleb and Tiff in for questioning because they think the serial creeper is skulking around the crime scene and knows they're helping.”

  Garcia opened his mouth and Jonesy took a lungful, continuing, “so he called the Zombie Tribe again and they diced and sliced up the formula—”

  “—people,” I said slowly, in awe of Jonesy's rant.

  “Yeah, and then when their pet Null got his ass handed to him the other agents were going to cooperate and you guys showed up.” He smiled. To Jonesy it was his Undeniable Logic at work again.

  My parents bowed their heads. Helen and Bill looked on helplessly as Jonesy's words sunk in.

  Garcia opened his mouth again and Jonesy added one more thing, “Oh, and our man Caleb, here, he can speak Indian too.” He swept out a palm toward me like, how cool is that?

  “Language, young man. I'm not feeling that badly,” Helen commented.

  Somehow, I didn't think it was the language that got the copsʼ attention.

  “Incredible,” McGraw said. “Is he always like that?”

  Tiff grunted. “Jonesy? Yeah.”

  McGraw shook his head, trying to wrap his mind around the Fearless Commentary.

  After a few moments of stunned silence, Garcia said, “Okay, maybe,” he looked around, dismissing my parents as shell-shocked. Come to think of it, Dad was looking a little gray and Mom was paler than usual. His eyes landed on Gramps, “Okay, you are a... what?”

  “Grandfather to Caleb.”

  Garcia's brows came together. “Fine. I won't even address the state of your property and how it breaks every environmental law we have in place and ones we don't have.”

  Sophie, who had been quiet so far piped in, “He's ʻgrandfatheredʼ, Sergeant Garcia.”

  Wow.

  Jonesy smiled. He was such a bad influence on us.

  Gramps looked over at Sophie and gave her a small smile. “The state of my property should be the least of your problems, Garcia. Let's start with these government boys illegally entering my property to seize my grandson and the little girl here.”

  He looked at Tiff and she humphed, “I'm fifteen in November!”

  Bry gave her an elbow in the ribs and put his finger over his lips like, would ya shut up for cripe's sake!

  Grampsʼ smile widened. “And I defended what's mine. My daughter and her friends, whoever has express invitation to be here, was here. They,” he pointed to the agents, “came barging in, and that's when I got the puppy.”

  Smith looked over the bullpup and nodded. “Good home defense weapon, that.”

  Gramps grunted.

  Garcia slapped his forehead, as his pulse began vibrating. He pressed his thumb to the pad, nodding several times, lifting then depressing. “We're going to need a level five Organic to get this mess contained.”

  Huh, why contain it? Let these two assassins rot for all I care. I guess some of what I thought must've leaked out on my face because McGraw's eyes narrowed on me.

  “You seem a little more mature this year, Caleb.”

  I shrugged, how do you answer that one? Seemed like a word trap set by an adult that didn't like me. Not answering seemed smarter. I drew Jade in next to my body.

  He eyed Jade up, which I didn't like and Onyx growled again. Onyx had Asshole Alert on full throttle today.

  The paramedics came and perched beside the two suits like two bright red dots in a sea of green.

  We moved back to talk quietly as the rest of the formula people began speaking with Garcia and McGraw.

  Gale walked over to us. “Okay, spill it,” she said.

  I laughed. “It's what Jonesy said. They barged in here, threatened to take us, and I had to call in the zombie troops. Plus, they had a Null, he was going to shut me down.”

  That got Smith's attention. “How many points?”

  I held up my palm, splaying five fingers.

  Smith palmed his chin. “There aren't a lot of fives running around.”

  “In any ability,” John said.

  “Amen,” Jonesy said.

  Smith looked over at the medics working on Agent Null and Jezebel the Organic came jogging to their side.

  “Looks like he might need to engage in a little physical therapy in the future. It'll make his Null stuff take a back seat for a little while,” Smith said.

  “Nah. Like I said, it's just a flesh wound,” Jonesy said.

  Bry was nodding. “Yeah, he'll be okay. ”

  Tiff, who thought the boys were serious said, “No, doofus. The zombie about chopped off that guy's arm.”

  “It'll leave a mark,” John said with a straight face.

  Jade laughed.

  Dad smirked, even Bill lightened up.

  “It's hopeless,” Sophie said.

  “And now they know about me,” Alex said quietly.

  All of us looked at him. His board shorts swimming around his waist, his glasses hung off his nose crookedly.

  I swung an arm around his narrow shoulders. “It's okay dude, at least your mom doesn't complain about the house reeking like cemetery all the time.” I raised my eyebrows. That coaxed a small grin out of him. All the same, we surveyed Grampsʼ yard as the cops talked to the suits, and the parents wove in between the destruction at their feet.

  Jonesy broke the silence, “So, is it time for cake yet?”

  Helen and Mom groaned.

  Gramps looked at him, placing a big palm on top of his bristly hair. “It's the perfect time, champ.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  It was as special as I thought it'd be.

  All the teens balanced their cake on their knees while the cops questioned us for two hours. Basically: they couldn't nail Gramps for his home defense tactics, my zombies showed up because I was “in fear for my life,” and they [formula people] had brought weapons.

  The entire tamale was a stalemate, because these chumps had their perfect paperwork all in order. They had truly, on paper, only wanted to question us.

  And monkeys were gonna fly outta my
ass.

  Finally, they all left with the promise of getting together with the cop-squad (as I was starting to think of Gale, Garcia and Smith). After all, the formula people had turned the spotlight on a new problem: the serial killer was an insider. Where had they gotten their information? Who knew? We'd all wondered about that very thing. Obviously, it would be someone that had access to the paranormals and who was manifesting what . And then there was the female that lured the victims.

  What a mess.

  Gramps was having a second piece of cake.

  Helen's face changed color as she watched him taking bites.

  Gramps pointed a fork at me. “That worked me up into a fine appetite, young man.”

  The Js laughed, and the Parents scowled.

  Dad's arm was in a sling from the sprain he received when one of the agents had done a hyper-flex on the thing, a fat lip (a pouty girl look that wasn't right on his face, but I didn't say), and a huge scrape from temple to jaw. Taking one for the team.

  “Pop, I'm worried,” Mom said.

  “Don't you worry, Peanut,” Gramps said, stabbing another bite of cake. “I have pulse wires around this place, timed for random settings. Let ʼem try.”

  I didn't think Gramps was gung-ho for tech stuff.

  The teens put their forks down at the same time. “So that means,” Bry began.

  Jonesy made the bomb sound with his mouth, hands bursting above his head.

  John and Alex looked surprised.

  Mom sighed.

  “Isn't that on a ʻneed to knowʼ thing, Mac?” Jade asked.

  I smiled at her. She was smart too. Smart's Hot.

  Gramps grinned like she was his prize pupil. “It is, but it's my belief this group can handle it.” His gray eyes, so like my mom's it was eerie, looked at each person.

  Slowly, everyone nodded.