Catalyst: A Red Dog Thriller (The Altered Book 1)

by Blou Bryant

  Teri hugged him as he stood up and said, “Daddy,” using her vocal cords to make a word for the first time. Wyatt looked at her with shock.

  Vasca knelt down and hugged her tight in return. There was utter silence in the room as the two held each other.

  Tears streaming down his face, Vasca eventually managed to say, “Teri,” said Vasca, not needing to say anything more.

  Esaf broke the ensuing silence with a cough. “We need to move.”

  Vasca wiped the tears off his face and said, “I know.” He looked across the room at Wyatt, “You did this?”

  Wyatt nodded, and thought that he should worry that they’d not need him anymore now that he’d done what they’d wanted. Despite this, the sight of the two hugging each other and the tears in Vasca’s eyes filled him with joy.

  Vasca hugged his daughter hard one more time and kissed her forehead, and then cut Sandra and Rocky down. Wyatt watched the top of the stairs anxiously as Rocky revived Sandra.

  Vasca walked half-way to him and turned off the light that Teri had turned on. “Don’t give us away,” he growled and seconds later appeared out of the darkness, his face barely visible in the faint light that strained through covered windows, a knife in hand.

  He might be short, balding and heavyset but Wyatt was frightened at the anger displayed on the man’s face. Vasca cut his bonds quickly, clearly skilled with a knife. As he did so, he leaned in and whispered, “I owe you for life, understand? Anything, everything, you ever need, you come to me.” His voice cracked as he spoke.

  Vasca composed himself and when he turned back to the room, there was no sign of the moment of emotion. “Everyone together,” he said in a whisper. They gathered around him and he gave out responsibilities. Rocky and Sandra were assigned to watch the bottom of the stairs, in case their adversaries returned, and the others were to check all the windows for an escape route.

  Wyatt ignored the direction and everyone else, ran to Hannah, and kneeled next to her, ready to do whatever he could to revive her. He tried to see her injuries in the dark, failed and, ignoring the danger and Vasca’s order, pulled the cord for the overhead light.

  He knelt back down despite the pain that wracked his body. The bright light reflected off of skin that was ghostly pale in the places where it wasn’t covered in blood. He turned her onto her back, searching for signs of life, but saw none. Her eyes were closed, was that good, he wondered, weren’t dead eyes open eyes?

  He put a hand over her mouth, and tried to sense breath but found none. She wasn’t cold but wasn’t warm either. He touched her, waiting, hoping for electricity, but there was nothing in his hands, no spark, and no transformation.

  Wyatt grabbed the pipe that Jessica had dropped and slammed his palm into it until blood flowed freely, ignoring the pain. He pressed it down on Hannah, but there was no movement from her and no electricity from him.

  “Come on,” he said, shaking her but there was no reaction, her head moving in an involuntary ‘no’ as it flopped back and forth limply.

  Vasca interrupted. “Quiet!” he said and walked over, grabbed Wyatt by the arm and pulled him to his feet. Face to face, his mustache quivered as he said, “You want to save her, then help find a way out. She won’t get any help here.”

  Wyatt looked at Hannah and then back to Vasca. He said, “I’m not leaving her side.” He quickly glanced around the large basement. Sandra was with Rocky, guarding the bottom of the stairs, pipes in both of their hands. Even in the semi-dark, he could tell that neither should be standing up, much less prepared to fight.

  Esaf returned, ending the argument, and whispered, “There’s an old coal chute, it’s small, it’ll take only one person at a time, but it’ll have to do. The windows are all barred.”

  “Help me pick her up,” Wyatt said, “and let’s get out of here.” Vasca grunted and reached for her hands but it was too late, the door to the upstairs opened and someone flicked the main switch, lighting the basement fully.

  Linkin led eight members of his coven down the stairs into the basement. Sandra and Rocky backed up, protecting Vasca and the others from the vampires, who formed a line between the small group and the stairs. Ford and Jessica followed close behind.

  Wyatt stared at Ford, overcome with anger or disgust, he wasn’t sure which. He couldn’t understand how the only friend he’d ever had could change so quickly to an enemy.

  Ford waved at him, “Hey buddy. Strange world, isn’t it?”

  “Screw you.”

  “Now, that’s not nice. You know, old friend, you’re slipperier than I ever would have thought,” he said and slapped Linkin on the back. “Vampires should learn how to tie knots better, have you considered some time in Cub Scouts for your new recruits?”

  Linkin ignored the comment and turned to check on his followers as if he expected them to flee at the sight of their suddenly freed captives. Seeing them still arrayed around him, most with long blades in hand, he stiffened and said, “Vasca, you’re outnumbered and out armed. Put down your weapons and you’ll be treated well.”

  Vasca guffawed, “By treated well, you mean hung upside down like a piece of meat?”

  Vir was one of the vampires behind Linkin. He pointed his long sword at Vasca, “That’s what you are,” he said. Stepping forward, he slashed the sword at Vasca, who absentmindedly tapped it out of the way with the steel bar he still held.

  The youth blushed with anger, stepped forward and thrust at Vasca, who moved to the left, and let the blade passed by him harmlessly. As it did, Vasca took one step forward and shoved the metal bar straight out into the boys’ throat. He fell backwards to the ground, hands around his neck, gasping for air.

  Linkin’s face turned red, “We’ll kill you for that, no human harms a vampire” he said.

  Vasca stared him down. “This isn’t a game and it’s time you role playing children learned that. You’ve had your Dungeon and Dragons fun, but this is the real world and you need to step back.”

  “You’re in our home,” said Linkin. The panicked look on his face showed that he knew that events had moved beyond his control. He’d promised too much to his followers and to Jessica and he no longer could retreat, even if he wanted to.

  As if on cue, the other vampires started chanting, “Ocidunt humana, Uget lamia,” they repeated in low voices, their blades raised, their faces flush at the possibility of violence.

  Jessica giggled from behind them and said, “You guys are too precious.”

  Vasca turned his head slightly but didn’t lower the bar, “Wyatt,” he said, quietly, “Get Teri out of here. Run.”

  “I can’t leave you,” he said. “There are twice as many of them as there are of us.”

  Vasca said, “It doesn’t seem fair for them, does it? Go, before it’s too late.”

  Jessica had heard them over the chant and said, “You’re right, Wyatt, you should stay. We don’t need to kill everybody to get to you if you give yourself up.”

  “You’ll kill them anyways,” he said.

  “Wy-Wy, you’ve got the wrong impression of me. Killing isn’t my thing. I don’t need your friends, I could let them go,” she replied.

  “And the vamps?”

  “They’ll do what I pay them to do.”

  Linkin protested, “You said I could keep the others.”

  Jessica said, “You can get more, people are a dime a dozen, but money, now that’s rare.”

  Linkin asked, “How much would you pay?” but his people didn’t care, their blood-lust was up, and continued their chant, “Ocidunt humana, ocidunt humana.”

  Linkin put up a hand for them to stop but not one did, instead they inched forward. One stepped towards Vasca and raised his sword, only to get Sandra’s fist in his face. He crumpled to the ground.

  Wyatt grabbed Hannah and started to drag her towards the alcove with the coal chute. The rest of the group backed up as well, keeping the vampires away. Once they reached it, Vasca, Rocky and Sandra formed a solid lin
e in the doorway. Esaf whispered to him, “You need to get Teri out of here.”

  “I need to stay with Hannah.”

  “You’re not a fighter, let us do that. Someone has to protect the child,” said Esaf.

  “Why not you,” Wyatt asked. The two groups were at a stalemate, but he knew it wouldn’t last long. The fake vampires were desperate for a chance to fight, to do something other than sit around their house waiting for the world to change. Luckily they didn’t have the guns they’d taken from the Dogs, but Jessica was surely still carrying.

  “I can’t run, not like you,” replied Esaf. He had a scalpel in each hand. “I can however do some damage down here.”

  Wyatt didn’t want leave Hannah, but if he did, Jessica would follow and ignore the rest of the Dogs. That would give the rest of the group a fighting chance. “Vasca,” he whispered, “Protect Hannah. Get her to a hospital once you’re out of here,” he said, the unspoken, ‘if she’s alive,’ hanging in the air between them.

  Vasca turned and said, “Go,” to Wyatt, this time loud and insistent. “Take her, save her. I’ll protect Hannah. I promise, on my life,” he said.

  Vir had recovered and rejoined his allies, “Kill them, kill them,” he groaned and several of the group stepped forward with their weapons raised.

  This gave Rocky an opening. He stepped forward and in a fluid motion, slammed his pipe into the face of one Vampire, then knelt and shoved it forward into the groin of another. He stood back up, his weight on his back foot, and held the bar in front of him.

  There were now three down, but five remained, not including Linkin, Ford and Jessica. The remaining vampires surged forward, and one managed to slicing into Vasca with his sword. The older man fell to the ground, blood spurting from the wound. Sandra stepped over him, swinging her metal bar at the man who’d stabbed her boss, and connected hard with his face. Teeth went flying and the vampire crumpled.

  Wyatt knew a gun would be brought in play soon unless he moved and drew Jessica and Ford away. He reached out a hand to Teri but didn’t need to as she turned and darted past him to the chute. “Run,” she said in her strange, new voice.

  He didn’t hesitate and ran after her towards the light, trusting in others to protect the woman he’d accepted as a true friend only hours earlier and in protecting her, trusting his secret would stay just that. “Jessica,” he yelled, drawing her away from the battle “You want me, come get me!”

  Chapter 21

  “Let me go out first,” said Wyatt as he followed Teri up the chute. He wanted to make sure there wasn’t anyone waiting for them outside the house. He still had the iron bar in his hand and although it was slick with his blood, his grip was tight and he was ready to use it. Teri did as he asked and he stepped out ahead of her into the dimming light. It was morning, no, that wasn’t possible, it had to be early evening now. They must have been knocked out for most of the day. Behind him he heard the sound of metal on metal, but he couldn’t worry about them, he had Teri to protect.

  Without waiting or looking back, he grabbed Teri’s hand and pulled her through the doors. She was so light, so tiny, he wondered if she could run. There were two cars in the driveway. What were the odds that there were keys in them? Probably slim, so he turned his attention to the driveway to his left and then the barn to the right.

  Teri pointed straight at the forest. “Ahead, through the woods?” he asked softly. Was he really taking directions from an eleven-year-old child? Two gunshots from behind them made both jump and look back to the coal chute. There was no returning, now, he thought, and squeezed her hand. “I bet that was your dad shooting,” Wyatt said, knowing it was unlikely, the image of the man bleeding from a sword wound burned into his mind. He avoided Teri’s eyes and looked across the driveway. It was time to go.

  Wyatt stood up and started towards the woods, Teri behind him. They were halfway across the drive when he heard a door open and then slam shut at the front of the house. He picked up the pace, but her poor body wasn’t able to move at any more than a fast walk. They reached the sparse trees quickly enough, but he still worried they’d be spotted and turned to his right. They headed for the back of the barn, in the hope it would give them cover as they made it deeper into the woods.

  He ducked down as they passed a Chevy Beretta half parked in the woods, its red paint faded with the years, rust showing around the license plate and door handles. Teri clicked twice and yanked at his hand as they came to the front bumper. He stopped and turned to her, then followed the direction she pointed in and saw two vampires in front of the barn, long Japanese style swords in hand. Wyatt ducked back down beside the car and fell back on his ass as he did so.

  Teri was breathing hard from the exertion of running up the chute and then across the driveway. There was no way she’d manage a long run in the woods. She sat down next to him. “Hide?” she asked and then clicked three times.

  “You’re a quick learner,” he said, amazed at how fast she was learning how to speak.

  She shook her head and clicked once.

  “No?” he asked and got up off his ass and rested on one knee, his hand across Teri’s chest, to make sure she wasn’t going anywhere. There wasn’t anyone visible to the left or the right, they were momentarily safe next to the car, but that wouldn’t last. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes,” she replied. “Know.”

  Wyatt put his head up just enough to peer through the dirty windows of the car and saw two other vampires sauntering down the lane, looking from side to side, armed like the others. How many of them were there, he wondered. And what’s with the swords. It was an open carry state, who bothered with swords anymore? Stupid nerds. To Teri, he asked, “You mean that you know how to talk already?”

  “Yes.”

  He pondered this. “Your body is changing, you mean that it’s not the words you’re learning, it’s how to make them.”

  “Yes. Ox,” she said.

  Uh-huh, what did an Ox have to do with it, he wondered, but moved on, “As much fun as this is, we need to move, we will be caught soon,” he said. He considered asking if she could run, but that was pointless. Even if she wasn’t a physical mess, even if her body wasn’t in the middle of a metamorphosis, she couldn’t run like him.

  His back against the car, Wyatt closed his eyes and took deep breaths, filling his body with as much oxygen as possible. He then leaned forward, “Climb on my back,” he said. “We’re going for a run.”

  Teri got behind him and climbed on, her arms so tight around his neck that he had to choke out, “Chest, around my chest, I need to breath.” She made a gurgling sound that might have been laughter and moved her arms down, across his chest.

  Wyatt put his left foot firmly on the ground and kneeled. “Put your legs around me, can you do that? I can’t hold you and run well.” She did, and he raised himself into a sprinter’s stance. He risked a glance to his right over the hood of the car and saw the two were looking at the house, not the woods.

  He snuck forward, cautiously watching his step, taking care to avoid leaves, small branches and anything that could make noise. The forest around the house was sparse with spaces between the wide white trunks of the trees, their broad canopies overlapped but didn’t create enough darkness to hide him and his charge.

  The forest darkened and thickened a hundred yards away. He wanted to run for it, instead he walked bent over in the foolish hope that somehow he’d not be noticed. Time was short, one of the four would see them no matter how much he hunched down, but better to go slow and hope than to run and be sure to be detected.

  It was working, they hadn’t been seen yet and he continued to step carefully, taking care to put tree trunks between him and the searchers. Teri’s breath was hot in his ear, but he hardly noticed her on his back. She didn't weigh more than fifty pounds, he’d be able to carry her without difficulty, even in his condition.

  Thank God for years of track meets, falls and occasional broken bones that had habituated
him to pain and conditioned his body. Still, his current state was something he’d never experienced. As he inched through the forest, he took stock. His hands were still bleeding, and he figured his head was as well, there was a wetness on the back in addition to throbbing pain. His left side, his hip still ached from the fall down the stairs two days before and his back and legs were in varying degrees of discomfort. His ankle hurt and buckled occasionally as he walked, but there wasn’t anything he could do about it. It would take days to recover, if not weeks. Despite this and how slowly he was moving, he was deadly aware that this was the most important race of his life.

  They had advanced far enough that the corner of the barn now hid them from two of their pursuers and he only had to keep an eye to his left. As one of them turned back, he pressed up against a tree and used its grey furrowed bark to hide them. He glanced twice, and watched as the other two walked back towards the house.

  It felt like hours, waiting for the vampires to leave them alone, with his shoulder to the tree and Teri on his back. He wanted to talk to her, he wished he could ask her questions and find out what was happening inside her. Had he healed her, or just her voice box?

  His caution was rewarded when he heard Jessica yell out. “Wyatt, come back.”

  Unnecessarily, he turned his head and put a finger to his lips, warning Teri to keep quiet. Jessica yelled, “The rest are dead. Don’t end up like them.”

  Was it true, he wondered? She sounded pissed off, no surprise that a little princess who’d never heard the word ‘no’ from her father would be upset. Entitled people got angry at the occasional intrusion of reality. He allowed himself a moment of hope, knowing that if she was that pissed, perhaps she was lying. She didn’t sound like someone who’d just won a fight.

  Jessica swore from somewhere close to the house and instructed ‘everyone’ to fan out. “Keep him alive, but kill the girl.” The sound of motorcycles startled both of them.