by Dale Mayer
Both Cody and David released a sigh of relief.
"Right," Cody said. "Good. At least we're on the same wavelength."
"Exactly. We can't have humans coming in here trying to take them all back again. We have to keep our food sources safe."
Say what? Shock held Cody immobile.
"Wait a minute." David gulped. "You're part of this?"
"Enough games, David." Her hands went to her hips, and she looked down her haughty nose at him. "I told you that."
"Sorry," he said meekly. "I'm just a little confused."
"About what?" Exasperation filled her voice. She shook her head. "I've been here forever."
"Really? So when were you last at the house?" David asked.
Unsure which one would lose it first, Cody kept his eye on both of them. In his book, Rhia was the most dangerous of the two.
A frown formed between her eyebrows. "What do you mean? I go home all the time."
"Fine. When was the last time?"
"I don't remember." A glimmer of confusion slipped into her black eyes. "And that's odd. Oh, well. My mind is so full right now. That's all." She brightened. "Now, I really must go check on the others. Ian didn't want his shot, so he required a little more persuasion. I should go check on him."
Cody walked a few paces past her and turned around. "Where is he?"
"Down at the end of the hallway. With everyone acting so weird, we had to designate two rooms to keep them contained."
She walked to the doorway. Cody followed her.
"Weird, in what way?" David stepped in front of his mother to distract her from Cody's approach. "I don't understand."
"That's the problem. No one does. For some reason, everyone is in some kind of weird mental hallucination state. Some of the things they've been saying...well, I'm glad to see that you're normal, at least."
"So am I." David smiled gently, then nodded to Cody.
He reached an arm around Rhia's neck and pressed down on the spot his dad had shown him.
"What are you–" Rhia collapsed.
***
Jared pulled up to the only structure he'd seen since leaving the blood farm. Several other carts were parked in front of a low standing platform with stairs on both sides. The space was large enough to hold cargo for multiple carts. He hopped off his, then approached the stairs cautiously.
He had yet to see anyone down here, and he didn't want to start now. He should have thought to grab a lab coat, something to help him blend in. He reached out and tested the door. It opened under his hand.
Still cautious, he studied the dark interior. If only he had vampire vision. Searching the area to the right of the door, he found a light switch. He flicked it on. The room was large, with stacked boxes on one side. On the other side...well, he wasn't sure what that was. Large silver metal containers of some sort, plugged into the wall.
Walking over, he could see each of them had a chart flashing on top. Reading the labels, he frowned. Names and dates. Stepping back, he studied the size of the sealed canisters. They weren't big enough to hold people, were they? Or bodies? Surely not. He understood the need for a body disposal system, but using canisters? A ditch out back was much more likely.
Further down the long room, he came to a desk and another computer system. The room also had a track running down the center. Not raised tracks, like the ones in the tunnel, but right at floor level so they wouldn't trip anyone. He walked further inside and spotted a forgotten jacket hanging behind a series of cupboards. He snatched it up and put it on. Warmth wrapped around him. He hadn't realized how cold he was until now. He wandered around trying to figure out exactly what this building might be, and all he could determine was that it was some sort of way station. A stopping place for travellers. But why here?
At the far end of the room, he found a set of barred, floor-to-ceiling doors. Like barn doors, he mused, stepping back to study them. He searched for a smaller door and found one on the other side, past more boxes and a half dozen empty canisters.
He peered inside the containers. They had small interiors. Not enough room for a body. He headed to the door.
It opened in front of him.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Tense, Tessa stood aside as her father opened the second door. This room was lined with beds, several occupied by patients hooked up to machinery. She spun around and bent over, trying to stop her stomach from heaving. She didn't have anything left in there to upchuck. Unfortunately, her stomach didn't see it that way.
"Tessa?"
"I'm fine," she croaked, waving her father and Goran away. She straightened and took several deep breaths before continuing. "Seeing them like this reminds me of waking up after being kidnapped."
"Oh." Her father spun, looked at the row of drugged people, then turned back at her. "Is that how you were?"
"I woke up with needles in my arm. I was alone, except for two thugs. And no, I haven't seen them since."
"You let me know when you do." Her father's features hardened. "Those assholes are mine."
She grinned. "Thanks Dad." She walked over to study the faces of the bedridden patients "So, who are these people, and where did they come from?"
"This last one is Ian," Goran said from the far end. "I don't see David, Rhia, or Cody, though, thank God."
"Ian?" Tessa strode over to the bed where Goran hovered. "Is he okay?"
"Damned if I know."
Ian's face had a slack, drugged appearance, and his skin was a white milky color. Even his lips had a bled out look. Had she been as far under as he appeared to be? How would she know if she had been? His other arm had a needle in it, connected to tubes attached to a machine similar to the ones hooked to the other two people in the room. She frowned. "I had a series of needles in my arms, but don't remember a machine. I don't know what they're doing here."
"Do you know any of the others?" Serus wandered down the hallway. "One I thought was part of the team."
"That would make sense. She'd have to be taken out and replaced if she wasn't one of the bad guys."
Goran nodded. "Yes. Then who is this other male?"
"Hard to say." Tessa frowned down at a middle aged man. "This one is naked. What's the chance he was hanging up and they needed to take him down?"
"Ian is still fully dressed."
"As is the team member. Still, it's possible."
Tessa reached down and lightly slapped Ian's face. "Ian, wake up."
"That ain't gonna do it. The boy's been drugged. We need to get those damn things out." Goran didn't waste any time. He ripped the tape off Ian's arm. To Tessa's surprise, Ian never even grimaced as hair peeled away with the tape. Next, Goran pulled out the needle. Glancing up, he told her, "Do the other arm."
Wrinkling her face, she tried to gently pull the tape free. That didn't work she took a deep breath and ripped it off. Ian lay motionless. Shaking her head, she pulled the needle straight out. A bead of blood formed at the puncture mark. Grabbing a tissue from the side table, she wiped off his arm. "I wonder how heavy a dose he's been given. He might take awhile to surface."
"He's got five minutes to wake up. If not, we'll have to use stronger methods.
Tessa hoped he woke up. She really didn't want to know what Goran meant. Turning around, she watched her father shake the shoulder of the other team member. "How is she?"
Serus shrugged. "Who knows? She looks as lifeless as Ian."
"I'd just as soon not hear that term, thank you." Tessa grimaced. She leaned over a third person. "What about this man? It's hardly fair to leave him here like this. I think we should unplug him, too."
"Doing so might kill him, if he's been on the drugs for a long time. Taking him off cold turkey could cause an adverse reaction. The other consideration is that he might be getting nutrients from whatever they're giving him."
She hadn't thought of that. He looked so abandoned and unloved. Surely someone in the world missed him.
"It feels wrong, but I guess our choice
s are limited," she said, raising an eyebrow at her father and Goran." So we leave him until the others get here?"
Goran and Serus glanced at each other before turning their combined gazes on Tessa. Suspicion in his voice, her father asked, "What others?"
***
"What do we do with her?" David asked, his arms wrapped around his mother, supporting her dead weight.
Cody ran to the bed beside Jewel's and pulled back the covers. "We'll put her here."
"Okay," he said, inching that way. "How about a little help?"
"Sure." Cody raced to David's side, scooped up Rhia's legs, and helped him stretch her out on the bed.
David looked at him. "What's the chance she'll be normal when she wakes up?"
"I don't know." Cody shot his friend a look. "Depends on what drug they gave her."
"She won't be."
Cody and David spun around. Bart stood near the wall rubbing his barrel stomach.
"Jesus, where have you been? I forgot you were even here." Cody brushed his hair back and stared at Bart.
"I was hiding."
David shook his head. "Why, for God's sakes?"
"I didn't want to get involved." Bart shrugged. "I'm a machine kinda person. Don't do so well with confrontations."
"Great. Now you tell us. Why didn't you stay back with the machinery then, instead of coming with us?"
"I figured I wouldn't be able to hide forever," Bart said sheepishly. "With you two younguns, I might have a better chance of getting out of here in the same shape as I came in. The only reason they forgot about me is because I'm so good at blending into the background."
"You are good at that." David turned his attention back to his mother. "Tell me you didn't hurt her."
"I didn't. You know the technique. She'll come out of it wondering if she fainted. That's all."
"But not the same as she was." He pursed his lips. "You know, I think we need to capture one of those bad guys and convince him to tell us what they did to her."
"Or even better – have him reverse what they did."
Cody curved his mouth in a hard, evil-looking grin and looked at David, then they both turned to Bart.
He shuddered.
"Bart, you're on babysitting duty. No one comes in or out. Got that?"
The weasel-like, hunted look on the man's face turned Cody's stomach. Bart couldn't be trusted. The damn scaredy cat would run at the first sign of trouble. "Shit. That ain't gonna work, David."
"We don't have a choice. We can't take the women with us, and he doesn't want to get into any confrontations." He pinned Bart to the spot. "Right?"
"Who's going to force him to stay here after we're out of sight?"
A loud gulp slipped out of Bart's thick throat. "I can stay. I'm not a coward. I just don't like fighting. There's nothing wrong with that," he protested. "I'm not strong and healthy like you two. Besides, I don't have anything to prove."
Cody stared at him in disgust. They had no choice but see how Bart would do, though Cody hated leaving the women again. They'd been spending altogether too much time trying to find the members of their group, and now that they'd found two of them, he hated to leave them. But he couldn't let David go to war on his own. So Bart was it. The only security they had. He glared at the older man.
"Fine, but we'll be watching to see how you handle this. If you take off, we will find you."
***
Jared widened his gaze at the man standing in front of him. Christ, he was huge. The blinding light behind him kept his face in shadow, and Jared couldn't see his expression.
"You're late," he blurted out on instinct.
The stranger scowled. "True enough. The mountain road is a mess. I had to come in the back way."
Jared frowned. "A mess, how?"
The big man snorted. "You guys haven't heard the news, then. Geez, it's like a bloody war zone out there. Someone pushed a panic button. The company sent members to straighten out the mess. A small army of local humans is coming, and authorities on both sides are involved. It's chaos out there. I took one look and came in a different way. The others may or may not come. Things were getting rough."
Jared snorted, too, trying to keep up the act. "So, take them out."
Grim laughter. "We may have to yet. Only I'm not talking about a couple of people warring out there. I'd say there are close to fifty, if not twice that. And someone brought guns to the party. Won't bother me any, but we need a bigger security force. Anyway, let me through. I have to give the company an update. They'll need to call in the army."
Jared stepped aside, and let the guy pass.
Still operating on instinct, Jared picked up the two inch pipe leaning against one of the boxes and swung it like he wished he could have done in little league.
The big man went down without a whimper.
Trembling, Jared dropped the makeshift bat. Christ, he hoped he hadn't killed the guy. Bending over, he checked for a pulse, sighing with relief when he found one. Walking to the open doorway, he glanced out. More tunnel, more carts. Where was the exit?
Walking back to the downed man, he considered his options. He couldn't let the guy wake up and spill his information to the company. The last thing the humans needed was an army of vampires on the defensive.
Grabbing the stranger by the ankles, Jared dragged him over to the side. Breathing hard from the exertion, he then snatched up a tape gun and wrapped the man's wrists and ankles together securely. Wouldn't hold him forever, but maybe long enough for Jared to escape. Next, he taped the guy's mouth shut. Looking around, he shifted several boxes to cover up the big man's presence on the floor. With him behind cover and subdued, Jared stood in the middle of the room and reassessed the situation. He wasn't sure how to keep the brute from escaping when he woke up. Jared had no way to keep him secured. He'd done everything he could. Time was now his biggest enemy.
Heading back to the open door, he checked the new tunnel. It was deserted, and moisture pooled under the cart parked out front. That told Jared where the man had been. Grateful to be pointed in the right direction, he headed off toward the outside world. And for the first time in days, he wanted to smile.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
"Who did you contact, Tessa?" Her father stared at her, his bottom jaw quivering with tension.
"Everyone," she replied defiantly. She'd known her decision wouldn't be popular. She'd jumped over their heads and ignored their authority – and they were elders, after all. Still, someone had needed to do something. "We are well past the point of trusting the vampires here, and in my opinion, the more the merrier. Only humans know what's best for these poor people. So I emailed Taz, too."
Goran roared, muting his voice only seeing Serus's hard look. "And you might have started another blood bath."
"Then I'm sorry, but we can't live in the past. So far, we haven't done anything for these people. We've only brought in more of the enemy to fight against us." Stiff-backed, she faced them both down. Hating their criticism, yet knowing she deserved some of it, she accepted it. But that still left the fact that someone had to do something.
She didn't want to alienate them, but her frustration grew until, suddenly overwhelmed, the valve holding the emotions in check suddenly blew.
"I had to do something," she shouted, throwing up her hands. "We're past the point of keeping this 'our' little secret. Our people need us." She glanced at the three people in the beds behind her. "And those poor humans," she continued, nodding toward the ghastly vision, "need their own people. We aren't covering this up."
"Not now, we aren't. Don't you think you could have discussed this with us first?" Serus's temper added an abrasive edge to his voice that made her want to her run away.
Tessa had spent her entire life obeying that tone of voice, but not this time. She straightened and stuck out her chin, trying her best to remember the generational gap. "When? When I was struggling to escape? When I was trying to make my way down the mountain? When they attacked us up
top, or perhaps when they attacked us on our way down? You two like to talk. I like to act."
Her father remained silent.
Her spine vibrated with tension. This was too important for her to back down. She'd tried that route, and she hadn't liked it much. "Speaking of which, is Ian going to wake up anytime soon? Or are we going to leave him here and come back later – hoping they don't move him in the meantime and we lose him again?"
