by Dale Mayer
"Why's that?"
She opened her eyes in surprise. "Because it's so much bigger now. There are more people in the blood farm. More consumers of the blood. More involved in keeping something this size secret."
"Maybe we should legalize it and tax the hell out of it."
She blinked. "This isn't a drug. We can't just grow more humans like they do their crops."
He sighed. "Whatever. Sometimes I don't see how your generation survived. Everything is backwards. I agree humans aren't crops, but if the problem is that everyone is going underground to get human blood, then make it legal, voluntary, and tax the profits."
"Oh, like have the humans volunteer?" She smiled. "I think they tried that and it brought all kinds of other issues."
"Then do it the right way to minimize the issues."
"Now I can see why you're in business." She smiled. "Maybe we can put a stop to these horrible blood farms this time around and come up with a new solution that works for your generation." She placed emphasis on the 'generation' part on purpose. She hated the concept of being old and feeling even older. Vampires did die, but usually not for many centuries, and even then it was doubtful. The only ones she'd lost had been in wars. She figured by the time her son reached her age, the vamps would have figured out how to stop even that much of the aging process.
She wasn't so sure she wanted to live forever. 'There was a season for everything, and death was a natural part of the cycle. Everything else in life had one. So did vampires – but for them, the cycle was distorted; extended way beyond the norm of every other living thing.
Was it right to live so long?
Sometimes she didn't think so.
Tessa crouched in front of the door where the vamp had come out. The sun had climbed, pouring on the heat. She glanced at the dead vamp, wondering if the sun would take care of his remains eventually or if she had to worry about wild animals attacking him. She hoped the sun would do its job. She didn't want to try burying him in this rocky land.
Nor did she have the time. She could come back for him. Bring someone to help her.
As she studied the corpse, she realized the hotter sun was burning through his skin. Even from where she crouched, she could see the smoke curling around the body.
Good. Let Mother Nature take its course.
She was wasting time. Her family and friends were here somewhere. She entered. And immediately had to shut down her vampire vision in the weird half-light. The bright sunshine behind her made it almost impossible to see. The silence overwhelmed her senses. Not a soul anywhere. Not even a creepy critter. This appeared to be an external entrance to a mine. Not the same pristine walls and tiles as she'd seen in the blood farm.
Instead she walked on gravel surrounded by chewed-up, narrow dirt walls. Only wide enough for one person. There was no lighting, but that wasn't required for vamps either. She didn't think humans were common visitors here. Close to thirty feet in, she came to a corridor that split in opposite directions. Left? Or right? She turned on both sets of vision and studied the energy trail. Both trails came from the left. Instinct said run to the right and away from the bastards. To get out before she got into more trouble.
She turned left.
Within a few minutes the tunnel widened enough to accommodate more than a person. She bent to study the ground and, sure enough, there were wooden rails half buried in the rocks. How old was this place? Carrying on, she followed the energy around a bend to find herself in front of a large door. Floor to ceiling and made from some kind of metal. She studied the energy. All of it disappeared behind the doorway. She pushed it open and walked in.
Complete blackness surrounded her. She immediately shut down her human vision. As her vampire vision focused, she realized she'd entered some sort of storage space. Old carts were piled up on the one side. Canisters, large and oval, stacked on the other. She studied them and wondered. They were big enough to contain a complete body.
She shuddered, turned away, and followed the energy through another room, which led to the too-familiar white hallway.
Shit. Another…or still the same blood farm. This damn mountain appeared large enough to house multiples. On one hand, that concept grossed her out. On the other, it would be convenient for her to have them all there.
And the worst-case scenario would be that the damn mountain was a single blood farm and there were three more close to the same size.
As she'd done several times already, Tessa sent out a message to Cody, letting him know what she was doing. She had no idea if he heard her at all, but it made her feel better to check in telepathically.
She continued forward. There were no doors on the side of the hallways, so she had no way of knowing where she was. Finally, the white walls changed slightly to a new tile. That could mean a more popular area. And therefore more vamps. Glancing down at her clothing, she realized she hardly fit in. She looked like what she was – an intruder. An odd-looking one at that, in Cody's oversized coat. Unfortunately.
Something noisy was up ahead. She flattened against the wall, then realized how stupid she was being. They could see her no matter what.
She forced herself to walk forward casually, as if she belonged there. The sounds increased. Machinery of some kind. She cocked her head, listening intently, but couldn't make out any voices.
Following the noise, she came to a corner and a huge set of double doors that stood open, showing a massive room full of vats, containers, and large overhead pipes. This had to be the storage or cleansing facility. Interesting. She walked closer, staring at the swirling red liquid.
How many people went into a facility this size? And how many people were needed to consume such quantities?
She'd heard that a diet of only human blood made vamps more aggressive, but had considered the idea so yucky she'd pushed it out. Now she had to reconsider. How long before they were dealing with a new hierarchy of more aggressive, more power-hungry vamps?
Less than a decade if this blood farm was any indication. The vamps had used that aggression to take over humans. But they'd turned on their own people already, forcing other vamps to work the blood farm and be injected with their designer drugs.
Where would this end?
And how could she put a stop to it?
A huge grinding sounded behind her. The doors were closing. Even as the realization filtered through her stunned mind, the huge steel doors slammed together.
She spun around again, searching for another exit.
And realized she was no longer alone.
***
Cody worried over the delay in finding Tessa. He swore he could hear her voice. Or maybe it was her thoughts? The sensation felt different; thin and wispy. He didn't know how to describe it, but it was different than the times they had communicated mentally. But it was there. And, like a faint ember, he kept it safe, warm, and close to his heart.
He didn't dare start worrying over the others. The possibility that Ian and Jewel could also be in trouble drove him to distraction. They'd have to stick together from now on. It was the only way. Too bad if it slowed their progress. Splitting into groups should have meant accomplishing twice as much but, for them, it meant losing half their people.
And that just sucked.
He bit back his frustration and raced forward.
The return trip was fast. They retraced their steps to the room with the other vamps. On the outside, Cody grabbed both David's and Motre's arms. Xana, as always, stood to one side and watched. He glanced at her, saw the calculating look in her eyes, and got even angrier. He didn't understand what her problem was, but he was damn tired of it.
He turned to the men. "We can't just go in swinging. We aren't going to know what's wrong or who's in the wrong."
David, a hint of bloodlust stirring in his eyes, probably over Jewel, said, "I don't really care. If something has happened to Jewel, I'm going to take them all down."
"So cute," sniped Xana.
David surged f
orward before Cody tugged him back, murmuring, "Don't. She's not worth it."
His face cold, David nodded. "But Jewel is."
Cody sighed. "I understand. But you're not making sense. We have to go about this logically. If we rush in and there are twenty people against us, we'll be overpowered. Several of those guys are Motre's size."
"And are trained fighters," Motre reminded them.
David's jaw clenched and unclenched. The others waited.
Finally his shoulders slumped. "Fine," he said, his voice hoarse. "What do you want to do?"
"I'm thinking you should go in as if looking for Jewel and Ian. Make them think that you came back alone to look for them. Leave the door open so we can hear." Cody glanced at Motre, who was nodding. "If all is well, no problem. But if there are people unconscious, tied up or something, then we'll be the surprise element."
"And me?" asked Xana mockingly.
David snorted, pulled out the door, and snapped, "Stay the hell out of the way."
Cody jumped back out of sight. Jesus. That had been close. So much for planning. David was obviously in a temper and there was little anyone was going to be able to do about it.
He heard muffled sounds, like normal conversations. Shit. Did that mean all was well? From his position he couldn't see anything.
Only David didn't come back out.
Motre nodded toward something in the room. Cody crowded closer but could only see empty space. He saw nothing. They'd faced too many similar setups to not be suspicious at this point.
Motre nudged his arm, then whispered, "I don't like this. Let's go."
Cody agreed. He shot a warning glance at Xana, and damn if she wasn't standing and looking at her nails. He took a deep breath and stepped into the room, quickly shifting to the right to give Motre room. There appeared to be a dozen or so vamps sitting in various positions on the beds and floor. David spoke with someone on the far side.
Someone pointed them out. David turned, glared at them, then spun around again. Cody had no idea what to make of that.
Then the door behind them slammed shut.
Motre and Cody both spun around. Motre tried to open the door again, but it was locked.
Damn, now Xana was in trouble. Then it hit him - had she been the one who'd locked the door?
***
Jared didn't know where to go or who to contact. Or how he could get back up to the blood farm and find his father. Would he even recognize him? Not only had it been over a decade since he'd seen him, if he'd been hanging in the farm all this time, he'd look different from Jared's memories. Could be unrecognizable at this point.
He needed a cell phone and he needed to contact the vampires who'd rescued him. Somehow. That sent him to finish the trip to the mall.
He really wanted to contact his human authorities and report his aunt and uncle, but didn't know whom he could trust. The two assholes he'd spoken with so far had been anything but supportive. Someone had to be. Surely all humans weren't assholes.
Wasn't one of his school buddy's father a cop? Who? His memory was off, full of holes since he'd been pumped full of drugs. They were probably still coursing through his system.
At the large mall, he walked to the bank and withdrew enough cash to get a new phone, some decent food for a change, and enough money for a few days of trouble. At least, he hoped it was enough. He hadn't contacted his boss yet. For all he knew, he didn't have a job anymore. His money wouldn't go far. Too bad he didn't drive or own a vehicle. He could drive to the blood farm on his own. Except he didn't remember how to get there.
He needed to find someone who was going up there and tag along for the ride.
It had to be safe now.
Surely.
Ten minutes after the bank, Jared had a new cell phone registered on his plan. He'd wanted to buy the latest and best but, remembering how he'd lost the last one, and that he'd planned a return visit to the same hell, he'd stuck with a simpler version. Just in case.
He wasn't lucky enough to have a father who'd buy him a new one.
Back outside again, he oriented himself and took off in the direction of Tessa's house. He had a vague idea of where she lived, just not the specific address. Surely it couldn't be that hard to find her.
Right?
Hating that sense of being watched, that inner feeling of having been prey once and knowing it could happen again, he took off toward Tessa's house.
***
Goran and Serus stepped into the room. For all their ability to see in the dark, this dark was so absolute, Serus couldn't see anything in front of him. Like, what the hell?
"Any idea what this is?" Goran murmured.
"No." And he didn't. It was as if an ultra-light darkness had filled the space. Erasing the darkness he was used to.
"This has to be a special kind of light. Maybe for their experiments?"
"Maybe," Goran said. "But if so, what kind? Not to mention, what is it hiding?"
"Or who."
Serus nudged Goran.
Mindspeak. We might have tipped someone off already. I don't like this. We never saw this type of thing when we were here before.
Is it possible we missed this room?
Yes. But not likely. My guess is they didn't have this weird light thing going on last time. It might accelerate their drug injections or be part of their testing. It is weird. I don't like it.
I wonder if we'll be able to see when we're back out there in the warehouse.
I'm thinking we should find out first. Then come back in.
Both in accord, they slipped back out of the room. So far, they hadn't heard a sound.
In the hallway, Serus looked around at the bright white walls. They all looked normal. Clean. So what the hell was going on? He turned to Goran. "There's something beyond odd about this. I hate to leave it."
"I know. But is that our priority?"
"No. but I don't see that we have much choice. If there is a weapon in there they can use against us, we need to know what it is.
Glaring around the vast emptiness, the living dead hanging in neat, orderly rows at their side, Serus made a fast decision. We go in. Search the room and get out.
Goran nodded. On the count of three. One…two…three.
They burst into the room, Serus went left. Goran went right. Serus, one hand planted on the wall, swept down the wall to the corner, then turned and kept going up the next wall.
He found no break in the wall. Nothing stuck or interfered with his quick trip. At the other end of the wall, he turned the corner and slid along the back wall.
Goran. Did you find anything?
There was no answer.
Serus froze. Goran. Goran? Where are you?
Only silence answered him.
Shit.
Tessa ducked behind the machinery.
"Hey, who are you?"
She frowned. He didn't appear to remember her. Or hadn't seen her clearly.
Then again, she hadn't seen him that clear either. She peered around one of the big containers and through the machinery to find an older, rotund vamp standing in the middle of the room scratching his head.
Bart. The batty vamp from the blood farm who seemed to sleep all the time.
"Come out, please. Some of those machines are pretty delicate. I wouldn't want you to unexpectedly release a couple hundred gallons of blood everywhere," he said, his lips quirking. "Make a hell of a mess."
"That it would," she answered in a low voice.
"Hey, you're just a girl. What are you doing up in this part of the mountain?"
"I'm lost," she said. Taking a chance, she slipped out from behind the vats.
"There you are." He cocked his head to the side and frowned. "Don't I know you?"
"Maybe," she said, wondering whose side he was truly on.
He narrowed his eyes and looked behind her. "Did you bring that door down?"
"Not on purpose." She studied him as he studied the door. This was very odd. He wasn't even
concerned about her presence here. How come?
"That damn mechanism is on a hair trigger. Even the slightest movement seems to drop it. I had the doors open to let fresh air in." He shook his head in a slow, lumbering movement. "Lots of old mechanisms with touchy sensors around here, that's for sure."
"You're Bart, aren't you?" When he didn't answer, she turned a questioning look on him. Trying to not make it look like she was studying him, she had to wonder why he was as old and unkempt as he was. She hadn't been around him long enough last time to notice. All the other vamps she'd seen so far were heavily muscled and, although not fancily clothed, were dressed for hard work. This guy looked like he'd just rolled out of bed and couldn't wait for a chance to roll back in again.
