“It’s no longer about us,” Penny said. “I saw it in the eyes of the one I killed just now. They aren’t human. The people we once knew—the people that once lived in Red Creek—are gone now. Let’s just kill as many as we can.”
Saul looked over to Ray. “And your thoughts?”
“I just want this to be over.” Ray sighed. Saul thought he saw something like compassion in his eyes. He was likely feeling bad for Penny, worrying over her; given the admiration in his eyes, Saul thought that Ray might also be in awe of her strength.
“I imagine this will take most of the day,” Saul said. “So if you get tired or if it becomes too much for you, don’t be proud…either of you. Let me know.”
“Let’s just do this,” Ray said.
“I agree,” Penny nodded. “The quicker, the better.”
That was all Saul needed to hear. He drove to the next house, hoping to see signs of life but feeling the clench of death around the property. When he parked in front of the house, Ray was out before him, a stake clenched in his hands.
Penny followed behind Ray, her eyes like slate. They approached the front door with Saul bringing up the rear. As they went inside, Saul realized that humans were really beginning to surprise him. Perhaps this was the emotion his father had felt – the feeling that had led him to working to protect humans from vampires and other supernatural forces.
Saul and his two companions stepped inside a house that smelled of death and evil, and blood continued to flow in Red Creek.
6
Shortly after one o’ clock, Nikki drove off of a back road and headed down a dirt lane. She had traveled this way hundreds of times in a more peaceful past, never having a cause to worry or fear the destination ahead. As the building at the end of the lane came into view, Nikki stiffened up a bit and, as much as she hated to admit it, felt tears welling up in her eyes.
Sitting beside her, Paul noticed this shift in her demeanor. They’d been to nine different houses already and he had wondered just how much longer it would take before one of them snapped. He just never thought that it would be Nikki.
Nikki stared ahead, blinking tears away as she looked at the Red Creek Bed and Breakfast. She hadn’t seen sweet old Lily Hudson for nearly three months—not since she had quit her job to devote herself to Saul and his work with the Guard. But still, Lily had helped her in more ways than her parents ever had and had, in many ways, become a mother of sorts to her.
Maybe they didn’t get to her, Nikki thought. Maybe she’s okay.
It was a plausible thought to have. She and Paul had seen a handful of uninjured people walking the streets in a daze. They had all looked like sleepwalkers, trying to make sense of what was happening to their town. One woman had been screaming about how she’s had to kill her daughter the night before and now her daughter was coming for her.
Perhaps “uninjured” was not the correct term to use. Still, they were alive, right? Perhaps Lily would be, as well.
Nikki parked her car in the B&B lot and slowly got out. Paul followed behind her and paused with her as they reached the porch steps.
“You okay?” he asked.
“No. I used to work here. The woman that owns this place—Lily Hudson—was like a mother to me.”
“Oh.”
They walked up the stairs, each with a stake in their hands. They approached the front door and, unsurprisingly, found it locked. Almost all of the homes they had checked out so far had been locked.
Nikki drew her stake back, prepared to knock the glass out of the door. But as she did, she saw something through the glass that made her hesitate. She thought she was seeing an illusion at first, but then her heart sagged with relief.
Lily was standing behind the counter, no doubt reaching for the gun that she kept beneath it. She looked confused as she spied Nikki through the glass. She gave a hesitant wave and then stepped away from behind the counter.
“Nikki?” Lily called out from the other side of the locked door. “Are you okay? Are you…are you still normal?”
“Yes,” Nikki said. “I’m okay. Are you okay?”
Lily came across the small lobby as quickly as her old tired bones would let her. When she unlocked the door for Nikki and Paul, Nikki saw that there were splotches of blood on her clothes. She was still wearing her nightgown, even at one o’ clock in the afternoon.
Lily ushered them in quickly, casting Paul an untrusting look.
“He’s okay,” Nikki said. “We’re both here to try to help.”
“Help?” Lily said. “Nikki…my dear…from what I saw last night, there is no help to be had. Just what in God’s name is going on?”
“It’s hard to explain, but I—”
“It’s vampires, isn’t it?” Lily asked.
The look on Nikki’s face must have been one of pure shock. It made Lily smile nervously, nodding her head.
“Yeah,” she said. “I saw a bunch of them last night. I noticed that they were trying to break into people’s houses. I was on the road when it happened, and I thought I’d be safer here. Besides, I wanted to check on my…on my guests.”
Lily started to cry here, her sobs sounding broken as they filled the lobby.
“What is it?” Paul asked.
“I was too late,” she said. “There were three guests here. A family. A mother, a father, and a ten year old girl. They had already been turned when I got here. The girl attacked me first and I…oh my God…Nikki, I killed her. I knew what she was the moment I saw how pale her face was and what her teeth looked like. I was lucky…” she said, stopping to point to the fireplace in the lobby wall.
“How?” Nikki asked.
“She knocked me against the wall right by the fireplace. I grabbed the fire poker and shoved it in her. She screamed and when she did, I heard the others coming—her mom and dad, coming from upstairs. I went to run out to my car but there were more of them out there on the lawn. So I…I locked myself down in the basement and waited for the morning.”
“Where are the mother and father now?” Paul asked.
“Upstairs. I saw them for myself about three hours ago. It looks like they’re sleeping, but they aren’t. I tired killing them but when I held that poker over their hearts, I couldn’t do it. I…I killed their child. What right do I have to kill them? It seems like I’m the monster.”
“No,” Nikki said. “As crazy as it sounds, they are vampires. And Paul and I are trying to stop them.”
“Is it the entire town?” Lily asked.
“It seems that way,” Nikki said, already looking towards the stairs that would take her to the second floor. She looked to Lily and took the old woman’s hands. “Lily, listen to me. I want you to get in your car right now and get out of town. Do you have any relatives that live nearby?”
“My son is about two hours away, but—”
“Go there,” Nikki said. “Right now. Paul and I will go upstairs and handle the guests.”
Lily seemed to understand in that moment what Nikki had been doing that morning. Her face went slack and her eyes welled with tears. “Nikki…how many have you killed so far?”
“Including last night? Too many to count.”
“How on earth did you get involved in this, sweetheart?” Lily asked.
“It’s a long story that I’ll gladly tell you after this is all over. Now please, Lily…go.”
Lily nodded, gave Nikki’s hand another squeeze and walked out onto the porch. Nikki and Paul watched her walk to her car and back out of the lot. Neither of them moved until Lily’s car was out of sight and it was clear that she was taking Nikki’s warning to heart.
“Ready?” Nikki asked with a sigh.
“Why not?” Paul said, wielding his stake with a weariness that he had stopped trying to hide three houses ago.
They ventured up the stairs of the Red Creek B&B, the smell of death meeting them halfway up. When the muffled screams of dying Rogues filled the stairway moments later, it seemed almost natural—
as if the building had always known this day would come.
Three minutes later, when Nikki and Paul made their exit, Nikki stopped on the front porch. She looked over to the swing and her heart ached when she recalled the memory of speaking with Jason in that very spot less than four months ago.
That had been what had started it all: Jason and his trap camera footage of a creature that had turned out to be a vampire. She felt tears coming and would not allow them their freedom. She blinked them away and turned from the swing.
“What is it?” Paul asked.
“Nothing,” she said. “Let’s go. On to the next.”
Paul followed her to the car and got in. Nikki threw the car into gear and pulled out of the Red Creek B&B Parking lot for the very last time.
CHAPTER TWO
1
The castle stood out against the night like a juggernaut from some other dimension. It looked like it had physically torn through the veil of darkness all around it, and was now trying to blend in with the surrounding nature. It was hidden in a thick grove of Transylvanian forest, its pointed spires barely peeking out over the trees.
No one had lived in the castle since the early 1800s. The last of the castle’s inhabitants had moved following claims of a haunting. They had sold the property to a gentleman who called himself Deschwitz, a man that had looked like a ghoul himself. Deschwitz had lived there with several of his close friends off and on, all coming and going as they pleased. No one knew much about this little group other than the fact that they liked to travel.
The man known as Deaschwitz had another name that ordinary people would never know. Only his friends called him by this name: Moorcheh. He was ageless and had great power – a power that the man who had sold him the castle had sensed, however unconsciously. The previous owner would go on to tell stories about the warlock who purchased his castle, half in jest but secretly truly afraid of the stranger’s presence. Although there had been no evidence of witchcraft or dark deeds, the man who called himself Deschwitz simply had an evil air about him.
Moorcheh and the other members of the Guard had used the castle as a lair of sorts for the last two hundred years or so. It was a place to hide away, to rest when in the midst of global travel. But as of late, the castle was where the Guard retired to recuperate and relax from the events unfurling in Red Creek, Tennessee. Its sturdy walls and remote location made it the perfect place to figure out what needed to be done about the Benton clan without worrying about prying eyes or ears.
The Guard had their secrets—secrets that they had kept among themselves for thousands of years. Many of them had been plotted and discussed in the room that Moorcheh referred to as the Great Hall of the castle. It was there that the Guard gathered several hours after Saul, Jill, and the rest of the Bentons’ hastily organized little group had wiped out nearly every single Rogue left behind in Red Creek.
The Guard knew about the Rogues. It had been their idea to send Gestalt to Red Creek to infest its population—just like it had been their idea to coerce the Greely clan into trying to eradicate the last of the Bentons.
So far, none of their plans concerning Saul and his family had been successful. The reek of failure hung heavy in the Great Hall, smothering the Guard’s members as they sat around an ancient oak table, considering a last-ditch effort to be rid of Saul Benton once and for all.
“He’s stronger than we thought,” Dominiscus said. His voice boomed like thunder in the Great Hall.
“Strength and determination should not be confused so easily,” Magdeline corrected. “He is driven by the memory of his father. But he keeps his thoughts in check quite well. He keeps his emotions close to his chest.”
“So you believe he can still be beaten?” Polyxia asked. As the eldest of the group, the others paid very close attention to her every word—even the questions that had seemingly obvious answers.
“Of course,” Magdeline said. “It will be tricky, however, and involve a complete dissolution of our cover. We will need to reveal our plans, to fight him ourselves.”
“Is that wise?” Aimon asked. The demon of the group, he rarely rushed into anything without careful calculation. He did not like to act unless there was a multi-layered plan in place. The Greely debacle had been his idea, the first layer in their overall plan so to speak.
At the far end of the table, a figure shimmered in the heavy candle light that blanketed the room. It was a being that had willingly been imprisoned in the Ether, the space between all known worlds. He had done it to sell the idea that the Guard was loyal to Saul Benton – Benali’s imprisonment had been the only thing that had kept Saul loyal to the Guard, during his time in their employ.
In the end, it had all been for naught. Saul hadn’t fully bought the story, and when the Guard had been unable to provide answers for his father’s death – and failed to help when Gestalt and his Rogue army had descended on Red Creek – Saul had severed his ties with the Guard completely.
It was just as well; it would be easier to destroy the foolish man now that they knew where his allegiance was.
“It’s not wise per se,” Dominiscus answered. “But even Saul Benton would not consider the possibility that we would manifest into physical form just to kill him. The factor of surprise will work to our advantage.”
“Indeed,” Magdeline agreed. “And now that he is on the verge of nearly wiping out every soul in his hometown, he will be at his weakest.”
“And what about his lover? The half-mortal?” Aimon asked. “We could use her to further weaken him.”
“It’s a good idea,” Benali said. “But she is also stronger than you would think. She got a great deal of Leibald Greely’s power. She has adapted well.”
“Still,” Magdeline reminded, “the fact that he is at odds with us right now could serve us well in the future. When word gets out that Saul Benton is dead, we can claim his death as a rightful punishment for his transgressions. We will say that he tried to betray the Guard in his pursuit of answers about his father. It would look as if we had no choice but to kill him. No one would be the wiser about the true nature of our plans.”
As she finished speaking, a smile touched her face – a smile that had foretold thousands of deaths over the years. Her face was lovely beyond reason like this, beautiful enough to have made men go mad with lust—to the point of killing friends, brothers, even fathers.
“And what about his father?” Polyxia asked. “Are we certain that other clans have forgotten about Lucas Benton? Do theories about a potential conspiracy against him on our part still hold any weight?”
“It’s hard to say,” Benali replied. “From what I can tell, most beings care nothing for the man or what it was he was trying to do. In fact, there are many who have done their best to forget what he nearly did to us all.”
“That seems odd, does it not?” Aimon asked.
“It does,” Moorcheh said. “He was, after all, the only vampire in recorded history to work with human blood—the vampire that nearly discovered a cure that would keep blood-drinkers from desiring human blood. You’d think he’d be revered. The fact that he almost made it possible for vampires to coexist with regular humans should have both terrified and appalled every vampire across the globe.”
“None of that matters anymore, ” Magdeline said. “It seems that supernatural beings are like mortal beings in that respect; we all tend to gloss over the parts of our history that are uncertain.”
This earned a laugh from the rest of the Guard. Their laughter carried out like mad cackling in some long-forgotten asylum throughout the Great Hall. Once it had diminished, they all looked to Benali. The Guard had no real leader, but Benali had made the largest sacrifices for the Guard in the last hundred years or so. It seemed only right that they looked to him for guidance.
“I say we do it,” Benali said. “If we can scratch out the Benton legacy from the books, it would certainly help us in the long run. Without Saul nosing around his father’s history, that ve
ry history might very well disappear entirely.”
“When do we begin?” Aimon asked.
“Soon,” Benali said. “Very soon.”
2
The Marked and the Benton clan met in the center of town shortly after five o’clock. They discussed the day’s events and discovered that, in total, they had killed eighty-one Rogues. Ray and Kara had blisters on their hands from driving so many stakes into vampire hearts. Paul was wiping one such stake down with a torn shirt while they gathered around Nikki’s car, trying their best to figure out a way to survive the night. They were under no illusions that they had killed every Rogue in Red Creek, and were sure that the survivors would come seeking vengeance.
“I killed Margaret Hooper,” Penny said absently. She was pulling nervously at the hem of her shirt like a child that has just seen something terrifying. “I grew up with her and she helped me through my divorce. And I put a piece of wood through her chest like it was…nothing.”
No one said anything in response. Red Creek had fallen into silence all around them. It seemed peculiar, seeing as how they had spent their day listening to the death cries of the undead. The silence seemed foreboding.
“I have to ask,” Paul said, lighting up a cigarette with trembling hands. Dried blood streaked his forearms. “The ones that were hidden well…the ones that will wake up in about two hours when night falls…won’t they come looking for us? Won’t they want revenge?
“They’ll want revenge sure enough,” Saul said. “But without their master in town, they won’t be capable of pulling off any sort of organized attack. I’d imagine they’ll spend most of their night wandering around like they were lost.”
“But they’ll still be here in town?” Ray asked.
“Yes. Without Gestalt here, they won’t leave Red Creek. They’ll wait for him to return before they leave to take up residence anywhere else.”
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