Reining In (The Network)

by Dawn Judd

  Marlene looked nervous. I wanted to calm her down, but decided not to. It was ok for her to be distraught. As far as everyone in the hospital knew, her husband was dying. Why wouldn’t she be upset? We got off the elevator quickly, and set our plan into motion. We made our way past the guards, who seemed even more tense than usual. Fortunately, we had counted on this, and in only a few moments, we were in Mack’s room. We were disappointed to find a nurse in his room as we walked in.

  Marlene went over to close the curtains to the hallway windows. We didn’t want anyone to see what we were about to do. The nurse paid little attention to us, and quickly finished up what she was doing. When she finally left the room, Marlene made sure the door was secured while I quickly got everything ready.

  I pried the lid off the disposal container, praying that there was a syringe inside. Fortunately there was one in there, and I reached in and grabbed it. I quickly jabbed it into the vein in my arm, filling it with my blood. Marlene and I looked at each other nervously. The next step would have to wait. Darren had to implement his plan before I could do anything else. We both moved over to Mack’s bed, and got everything ready.

  “Are you sure about the needle?” Marlene asked nervously.

  “I told you, once my blood enters his veins, it won’t matter. The syringe could be filled with the Ebola virus, and it wouldn’t affect him.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “Yes. I’m positive. Believe me, that would be the least of our worries.” Marlene looked at me hesitantly. Her resolve seemed to be wavering.

  “It’s not too late to change your mind.” My voice was barely a whisper. I was torn. As much as I wanted Mack to be ok, I didn’t want to do this without his permission. He didn’t have a choice in what we were about to do, and I wasn’t so sure he would’ve wanted me to do it. I didn’t get much of a chance to ponder on it though.

  “No, Khallie. We have to do this. It’s the only way.” Just as the words slipped out of her mouth, the lights went out.

  The next few minutes seemed to last forever. I handed the syringe to Marlene and grabbed the strips of sheet that she had torn a few moments earlier. Outside the door, I could hear people running around, trying to figure out what happened to the power. Back-up generators lit up the hallways and kept important life support systems going.

  Fortunately for us, they didn’t keep the monitors running. Quickly, I tied Mack’s arms and legs down. His reaction would be violent, and in order to avoid unwanted attention from the nurses and guards just outside the door, I would have to keep him subdued.

  When I was finished, I nodded at Marlene. She inserted the syringe into the tube coming out of Mack’s IV. I had thought sticking the needled directly in Mack’s vein, but decided against it. If we did have unexpected company, I didn’t want some jumpy guards thinking we had tried to poison him. It took a few minutes for my blood to find its way into his veins, and soon the tube was full of the clear fluid coming out of the IV bag. There was no turning back now.

  “Nothing’s happening. Is it working?” Panic flooded Marlene’s eyes.

  “Just give it a minute.” I said calmly, trying to assure her. But inside, I was as panicked as she was. I knew it would work. I could already hear Mack’s heart starting to slow; but would it work quickly enough. The last thing I wanted was for someone to walk in and see him tied to the bed like this, with the two of us holding him down.

  “C’mon Mack, we’re on a deadline here.” I whispered to myself, so Marlene wouldn’t hear. The guards outside the door started shouting to someone, and I was beginning to worry that they would come in soon.

  “Marlene, go peek out and ask them if everything is ok. They might start to get suspicious if we aren’t reacting, you know?”

  Obediently, Marlene headed for the door and poked her head out. I could hear the muffled conversation between her and the guards; them reassuring her that there was nothing to worry about. I could tell that they were trying to sound confident in front of her, but they were agitated.

  I knew they were suspicious. Fortunately, so far, their suspicions had nothing to do with the two of us. I was sure they thought the power outage was some kind of attack on the hospital, possibly an attempt at getting to Mack. I was sure the men who did this to Mack were smarter than to attempt something so stupid. Guess I couldn’t say the same for me.

  As she closed the door behind her, I focused my attention once again to Mack. It occurred to me that the sheets may not be enough to hold him down if he tried to break free. We had to keep him subdued until the change was complete. Marlene agreed with my assessment and I quickly climbed onto Mack’s bed and positioned myself over his chest. I prayed that I would be strong enough. Strong as I was; old as I was, I was no match for a new vampire. Certainly not one as big and strong as Mack already was. He would be a force of nature.

  Marlene touched my elbow and pointed at her watch; only a few minutes left. We were running out of time. “It’ll work!” I whispered, trying hard not to let her hear the fear in my voice. I gave her my best reassuring look, and tried not to notice the tears streaming down her face. I only hoped she hadn’t been crying when she had talked to the guards.

  I should’ve known not to let my guard down. Hell, I should’ve brought handcuffs. Sheets were a bad idea. As I flew backwards across the room, I saw Marlene fall to the ground, as she fainted. The nice thing about age is the experience that comes with it. Over the years, I’d learned to correct a fall, to control my body in any situation. This was handy, especially today. I quickly pushed my hands towards the floor, flipping myself into an upright position, just inches away from the wall. Close one. Had I crashed into the wall, surely the guards would come running, and this was definitely not the time for them to make their entrance.

  I quickly sprung back onto the bed, holding Mack down the best I could. His eyes were wild, on fire. I knew he was in there somewhere, but right now, the only thing that could see me, smell me, hear me, was the monster I had just turned him into. I had to get through to him, and do it as silently as possible. So I did the only thing I could think of. I let him bite me.

  If a vampire’s blood is strong enough, it carries with it a great many things; strength, resilience, and certain gifts that that particular vampire has. It can also carry memories. My blood had altered Mack’s DNA in such a way that it was almost a match to mine. He would have some of my traits, some of my strengths, and if I was lucky, some of my memories.

  That was what I was counting on. For him to see himself through my eyes; to see our friendship; to remember. The more he drank of my blood, the more he would see. My arm burned where his teeth sank into my skin. His attention fell to the task at hand and he no longer fought to push me away.

  Unfortunately, he didn’t seem to be interested in letting go of my arm, either. I began to panic. The more he drank of my blood, the weaker I would become. If I didn’t stop him, Marlene and I would have no chance.

  “Mack, please!” I begged him, and began pulling away. But he held tight, draining my arm of its blood. My head began to spin, and I became desperate. I pulled with all my strength, but he was stronger. I heard a noise next to me, and my heart stopped. Marlene was standing next to me. If he saw her, it would be all over. While my blood made him stronger, hers would quench his thirst. I should’ve never brought her with me.

  “Get out of here.” I whispered, weakly. But she didn’t move.

  “Marlene, go. He will kill us both. Just go!”

  “Mack, my love.” She reached over and ran her fingers down the side of his face. His muscles grew rigid as his eyes fixed on her. I watched in horror, knowing only too well what was about to happen. Marlene could see the monster staring back at her, but she didn’t move. She just kept whispering to him, running her fingers down his face and through his hair.

  It was like someone had turned off a switch. Mack suddenly let go of my arm. The monster shrugged away, letting Mack to the surface. He reached up and touched the
side of Marlene’s face tenderly, wiping away the tears that were streaming down her face.

  I heard the timer go off on Marlene’s watch. We both looked at each other. We needed to get everything back in order. The electricity would be coming back on in seconds. I tried to pull myself off of Mack, but I was too weak to move.

  “Khallie?” Marlene’s voice shook with fear.

  “I’m fine.” I whispered. “Just weak. I think I need your help.”

  “Khallie, what’s wrong?” This time it was Mack asking the question. His voice was strong, beautiful, and sweet! It was music to my ears. I heard Marlene explain everything to him as she helped me down. Mack quickly climbed off his bed and picked me up to carry me over to the recliner. It was a weird feeling, being so weak. My head was still spinning when he set me down. The lights flickered on, and I could hear the monitor beeping as it came back to life.

  “What were you thinking? Jesus, Khallie, have you lost your mind?”

  “Mack, it was my idea. Please don’t be upset with her. I couldn’t bear losing you. I was desperate.” Mack wrapped his arms around Marlene. “Darling, I could’ve killed you both. Khallie could’ve been caught, which would expose her and the network. Hell, we could all still be caught. You guys should’ve never taken that risk.” Mack’s voice trembled as he spoke. He wasn’t mad. He was scared.

  “Mack. I owe you my life, a thousand times over. Don’t think you weren’t worth the risk. We aren’t going to get caught. Not now. You’ve trained our people well. But….” My voice trailed off. What if he wasn’t mad because of the risk we took? What if he was mad because I just turned him into a monster? I had just taken away his humanity. I looked away, staring out the window. Guilt flooded my head.

  “Mack?” Marlene’s voice was still shaking. He didn’t answer for a long time.

  “Get back in bed, Mack. The doctor’s are coming. We’re going to have a lot to explain if they see you standing there.” When I turned to look at him, he was already lying in his bed. I noticed too, that he had changed out of the bloody gown that he had been wearing. A grin spread across his face as he saw my perplexed look.

  “Hmmm. So this is what it’s like? You’ve truly been holding back, my dear.”

  “Mack?”

  “It’s ok, Khallie. Everything is ok.”

  I smiled weakly, as Marlene sat down with me and held onto my hand.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Over the next few days, it would occur to me that the hospital scene would be the easy part of saving Mack’s life. Even his transition period was relatively easy, much to my surprise. The hard part was looking him in the eye. The sins of my past that I had tried so hard to avoid sharing with him were now creeping into his memory bank.

  Slowly he had started to see some of my deepest, darkest secrets. Most, I knew, he could forgive. He would feel the hunger, himself, and know that there are things a vampire cannot always control. He would get past those things.

  But I knew, and dreaded, that he would soon stumble upon a memory that would test the very limits of our friendship. I had hoped I could put it off until things seemed to get back to normal, but that would not be the case.

  Because of the security breach in Mack’s office, we had started to implement a plan that Mack had put in place at the very beginning of the network. It was for this very scenario. The plan was to shut down the network. All the members would disappear, literally. Identities changed, families relocated and connections severed. It was a plan I hoped would never come to light. But it was also something I knew had to happen.

  I couldn’t take any chances with their lives. There were a few key members who would stay in contact with me, so that we could assure the safety of everyone. They would check up on the progress of the shut down. I had kept in close contact with several of them while I waited for Mack to adjust to his new body, so to speak.

  Several days after we started the shut down procedure, I received a call from one of our agents. It was not news I was ready for.

  “Khallie, you need to sit down.” Morgan was outgoing, jovial and rarely serious. I knew from the tone of her voice that it was bad. I sat down.

  “Are you sitting?” she asked, quietly. I indicated I was and asked her to continue.

  “We have a serious situation on our hands, Khallie.”

  “Go ahead.”

  “Two of our New Orleans agents are dead.” I felt like someone had just punched me in the chest. Dead? What?

  “Khallie, did you hear me?”

  “Who? When?”

  “Ben Harleck and Anthony Trader. Their bodies were found this morning by a fisherman. Khallie, they were torn apart, as if by a wild animal. The investigation is hush hush, but one of our guys says the coroner has determined it wasn’t alligators. Khallie, there’s something else.” It was something she didn’t want to tell me, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to know, but these were my people. I had to hear everything.

  “Ok, I’m listening.”

  “It’s Jake. He’s missing. Ben had been by his house last night, since we couldn’t get a hold of him. He had reported back to us that it looked like Jake had been gone for several days; looked like someone had trashed the house.”

  I mentally calculated when I had talked to Jake last. Must’ve been five or six days. I had been so busy with Mack, that I didn’t even notice Jake hadn’t called. I tried hard to control my breathing. Two people dead, and Jake was missing. JAKE! Jesus, what was going on?

  “What about Markus?”

  “No sign of him, Khallie. Ben said it looked like no one had been there in several days too.”

  “Ok, thanks.” I paused, unsure what to say next. My head was spinning.

  “Morgan?”

  “Yeah boss?”

  “Get the hell out of there!!”

  I closed my eyes as I hung up the phone. This was bad. Worse than I could imagine. I waited too long and now two people were dead. I had no doubt that whoever had tried to kill Mack had managed to get to Ben & Tony. I could feel it. It was all connected. The phone broke apart as it hit the floor.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.” Mack bent over to help me pick up the pieces of the phone, which looked like it was done for.

  “Mack, that was Morgan. She…”

  “I heard.” Mack interrupted. Of course he did. I heard everything. I just wasn’t used to Mack’s newfound abilities. I closed my eyes, shaking my head. Mack put his hands around my shoulders and helped me to my feet. I couldn’t stop the explosion of tears that followed. Mack stood there, holding me, until I could cry no more.

  “Are you done?” he asked, holding my chin in his hand. I nodded. “Ok, well, how about we figure out what’s going on and what we need to do about it, OK?” “I don’t know what to do, Mack.” I didn’t. I had to do something, but what?

  “Khallie, who do you think did this?” I didn’t know. I tried to put the clues together. There was the break in. Those guys were pros. They knew where to go and what they wanted. Mack suspected it was the same guys he had been watching, in looking for the men that killed Raymond.

  They were Russian, possibly mafia. Old families, that’s what Mack had said. But they were in California. Ben and Tony were killed in New Orleans. Jake was in Mississippi. So what was the connection? Something was there, I just couldn’t grasp it. I knew that the answer was right there in front of me.

  “What’s this?” Marlene’s voice shattered my concentration. I looked up to see a small object sticking out of her hand. She walked over and handed it to me. “I found it on the floor, by the hall closet.” Marlene held her hand out, exposing a bundle of herbs, tied with a twine.

  “It’s nothing important. Something I picked up in New Orleans when I went to see Jake.” I picked it up out of her hand, and was about to toss it into the trash, but stopped short. I looked down at the little bundle in my hand. I knew. I knew the connection. I couldn’t believe it, yet I should’ve seen it all along. After all this time, it was
a chance encounter that would bring my whole world crashing down around me.

  I looked at Mack. He could see the gears turning. He knew I had figured something out, but I could see he hadn’t figured it out himself. I ran towards the phone, which was now held together by duct tape. I dialed the numbers as fast as my fingers could move. I closed my eyes and waited for the phone to ring.

  “Vyktor.” His voice was barely audible. I slowly turned around to meet Mack’s eyes. His eyes said it all. He knew. I wasn’t sure how much, but I knew it was enough.

  “Valdis Corporation. This is Nancy speaking. How may I direct your call?”

  “Research and development, please.”

  “I’m sorry, miss, but Mr. Thorn is in a meeting and everyone else is out right now. Would you like to leave a message?”

  “Just tell him to call his boss.” I hung up the phone. Before I could pull my phone away from the receiver, it started to ring.

  “Mike, I need you to run all the data we’ve collected on Vyktor. I’ll be in Dallas in a few hours.”

  “Is something wrong, Khallie?” Mike’s voice was suddenly very alarmed.

  “I’ll fill you in when I get there. I’ll be there tonight.” I turned to hang up the phone, but stopped.

  “Mike.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Your office is in lock-down until I get there.”

  “Got it, boss!”

  As I hung up the phone, I heard Mack get up and walk up the stairs to my guest room. I shuddered as I heard the door slam. Marlene just stood there with a confused look on her face. She finally looked back at me, her eyes filled with questions. Questions I didn’t have time to answer. I bit my lower lip.

  “I’ll take care of it.” My voice cracked as I rushed past her and headed up the stairs.

  Chapter Sixteen

  I stood outside the bedroom door, trying to reason with Mack. I wasn’t even sure if he was listening to me. I couldn’t hear him move or even breath. He certainly wasn’t answering me. Marlene stood there with me, pleading with him to come out.