by Carly Fall
He nodded and turned out of the gas station.
After a few moments, he glanced over at her again. “You sure everything is okay, Sami?”
“Yes, but I want you to understand something.”
That didn’t sound good.
“What?”
“This morning never should have happened, okay? I appreciate you giving me your blood, but it never should have gone beyond that.”
He felt the same way, but a pang of disappointment shot through him. The sex with Sami had been like nothing he’d ever experienced before, and he’d be lying if he didn’t acknowledge that he wanted it again.
However, he wasn’t going to let her in on that one. He didn’t want her thinking that he only wanted her for sex.
“I agree. I think we should just put it behind us and move forward.”
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her staring at him. Was that a look of frustration passing over her face?
“Okay, then. At least we’re on the same page.”
With a nod, he headed onto the freeway, his chest feeling a bit heavy.
He’d gone and fallen for a bi-sexual, half-human, half-vampire who didn’t appear to want anything to do with him.
He didn’t understand the swing in her mood, but he wouldn’t pursue a reason for it. Because, honestly, he would be leaving soon, and Sami would become a distant memory.
How he had become infatuated so hard and so fast, he wasn’t quite sure, but he hoped they could wrap this case up quickly so he could put some distance between them.
20
The traffic had come to an almost standstill, reminding Connor of yet another reason he disliked Los Angeles. During his brief stay so many years ago, he’d found himself in more traffic jams than he could count. What was the point of living in a place with gorgeous weather if he spent most of his day in his car stuck on the freeway?
Up ahead, the accident that had held everything up came into view. Police and ambulance lights flashed, and the cars had been moved to the side. It seemed that the only thing stopping the flow of traffic had been people craning their heads looking for some carnage. Once they passed the wreck, traffic began moving again.
Sami had been quiet for a while now, staring out the front window. He’d ended up turning the radio on to some old-school rock n’ roll station to fill the silence. As he’d considered their interactions, he’d realized he had nothing to do with her hot / cold routine. There was nothing he’d said that could even come close to upsetting her, but she sulked in the passenger seat as if she’d rather lie down in a bed of scorpions instead of riding in the car with her newest lover. It stung, but he just concentrated on the fact that the sooner they could solve the case, the faster he’d be able to say goodbye.
The red taillights in front of him now moved at a quick pace, and he weaved in and out of lanes trying to make up for lost time.
“Wait! Slow down!” Sami exclaimed, now sitting up in her seat.
He did as she asked while glancing all around looking for a threat as his heart hammered in his chest. “Why? What do you see?”
“There! To the right!”
He glanced into the slow lane and saw a white box truck, identical to the one present the night they’d first met, which seemed like so long ago.
“It’s them!” she yelled. “Slow down before you pass them! We have to follow them!”
He eased off the gas and moved one lane over, keeping a couple of cars in between them. He tried to get a look at the driver, but the angle was all wrong.
“How do you know it’s them?” he asked.
She was practically bouncing in her seat, her hands in fists in her lap. “The license plate. I memorized it the other night. And the strap broke when I swung off it. See the strap that pulls down the door? It’s not looped.”
He glanced over at the truck—she was right. The strap hung from the bottom of the back door. But, he also wondered if they had rented the truck the other night. If so, tailing them would be a complete waste of time. They needed confirmation on the driver.
“We have to follow them,” Sami murmured.
He wanted to argue, but decided he would do as she asked for now, and they fell back into silence.
As the miles ticked by, he changed lanes frequently, but always kept the truck in his sights. They kept on I-15 East, and as they left the immediate Los Angeles area, he wondered where they were headed.
A few times, he had been ready to turn around, but he stayed on their tail. Sami seemed so certain they had found the kidnappers, but he kept questioning it. It was a box truck. Thousands of them traveled through California every day, and he imagined out of that number, hundreds had been rented. Yes, she recognized the license plate, but that didn’t mean the drivers were vampires with nefarious plans. It could be a farmer moving vegetables, or a furniture company taking their goods from one store to another.
Or, it could be a box truck full of humans being driven by degenerate vampires with bad intentions.
When a sign appeared on the side of the road letting him know that Barstow would be coming up in fifty miles, he sighed. Barstow had a population of about twenty-five thousand, and nothing ever happened there. He became even more certain this was a complete waste of time, gas, and energy.
“It has to be them,” Sami whispered, almost as if she tried to convince herself and not him. “It has to be.”
He rubbed his face and sighed. They’d find out soon enough, but he had a bad feeling they’d end up in Utah before she gave up on this truck.
21
Well, color him all surprised.
The truck went through the town, and just as he was about to call bullshit on this goose chase, it pulled onto a dirt road. He drove past where it had exited, then parked on the shoulder and killed his lights. Both he and Sami craned their necks to watch the vehicle’s lights fade into the darkness.
The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. It seemed odd that a box truck would travel from Los Angeles to Barstow, then turn off onto a dirt road. Why would the driver do that? Either they lived in the pit of darkness beyond the headlights, or they hid something. Or, maybe it was a farmer heading home. His gut told him to find out which it was.
Sami looked to him as if she was going to say something, but he gunned the car and turned around. Keeping the headlights off, he followed the path the truck had taken.
The road was bumpy, so he kept his speed to a minimum while making sure the truck stayed in sight, its headlamps barely visible.
“Where do you think they’re going?” Sami asked, her voice barely audible.
He shrugged, concentrating on keeping her suspension intact as well as watching their prey.
A moment later, the area up ahead went pitch-black. He let the car roll to a stop and hit the button to open the window. With no moon, he could barely make out the outlines of desert plants. A coyote howled, sounding close. The chorus of insects hummed and chirped.
Although everything seemed normal, he could feel an energy in the air that indicated something was off. He couldn’t explain why, though. It reminded him of the few seconds just before the explosion in the Guatemala jungle. His heart began to pound, and beads of sweat formed on his brow. Was this real, or was it a PTSD episode? He’d never had one, but he also knew that shit could rear its ugly head at any time.
“We have to follow,” Sami whispered, as if the desert animals could hear her and would report to the people in the truck.
He nodded and swallowed past a lump in his throat. Part of him wanted to turn the car around, go back to the apartment, and simply disappear into the city streets where he’d pretend he had no idea that vampires existed. However, he’d accepted this assignment, and he’d finish it. After what he’d witnessed that night in the alleyway, he’d made a promise to himself that he wouldn’t allow innocent humans to be hurt and killed. He’d have to work past his fears and push on.
As they drove a little longer, he kept their pace slow. He didn’t want th
e crunch of dirt under the tires or the hum of the engine to alert anyone of their approach.
A few moments later, they stopped. Just up the hill, he saw what looked like candles flickering inside some type of building. If they hadn’t been lit, he never would have seen it. He put the car in park, then killed the engine.
Sami bolted out of the car before he could even open his door and ran toward the structure as if her ass had been lit on fire. He slid out of the car and quietly shut the door, briefly looked around and decided they weren’t in any imminent danger, then took off after her.
She stopped about fifteen feet from the structure and flattened herself against the ground. He joined her and gazed up at the building.
It looked like an old, abandoned warehouse, or maybe something used for farming. He estimated it to be about fifty feet long, the windows facing them. The truck had parked at one end, and on the other, a line of vampires had formed. The glows emanating from them ranged from barely noticeable to blinding. He glanced around and didn’t see any other vehicles. How had they all gotten here?
“What is this place?” he whispered.
She waved her hand at him, as if she brushed away his words, her stare fixed on the structure.
He could only see the top of the truck up the hill, but he did hear the door slam. A moment later, the line began moving, the vampires disappearing inside.
The silence became deafening as even the desert creatures had stopped their nocturnal song.
He tried to breathe past the constriction in his chest, and sweat ran down his face as fear fought to paralyze him, which he wouldn’t allow to happen.
Sami stood up and wiped off her jeans, then began walking toward the building.
“Sami!” he whispered.
She turned around toward him. He couldn’t see her face, but he heard the strain in her voice. “I have to see for myself.”
See what for herself? Did she know something he didn’t, or was she simply saying that she had to investigate what was happening within the building?
He watched her silhouette march up the hill until she stood at the top. Her hands clenched into fists, then relaxed. It looked as if she turned to him again, but then disappeared from his view.
Getting to his feet, he cursed and followed her. He’d rather have some type of plan, but it appeared Sami preferred to go in blind. They had no idea what they were walking into, and that feeling of déjà vu came back. He wiped the sweat from his brow as he reached the crest of the hill.
The low glow from the building now illuminated the area around him. He saw Sami standing on her tiptoes as she peeked through a window. As he approached her, she sank to her knees and turned to sit with her back against the building, holding her head in her hands.
He heard her sniffles as he walked closer to her. Just as he was about to kneel next to her, the coppery stench of blood met his nose.
His stomach rolled as he looked through the window. Rows of cots had been set up. Each one held a naked human. They stared up at the ceiling, oblivious to what was happening to them.
Nude vampires fed on them, sometimes three or four at a time, looking like rabid dogs combatting for a meal. Fangs flashed as they hissed and growled at each other. Flesh was torn from the humans’ limbs as the vampires fought to keep a body for themselves. Bile rose in his throat as he stared at the carnage. The walls and floor were covered in blood, and a stack of what looked like dozens of corpses lay in the corner.
Did the humans realize what was happening to them? Could they feel it? They all seemed to be in a trance state, so he had to assume they didn’t. At least, there was a little silver lining in this fuck-all mess.
The few vampires who weren’t feeding were fucking, and they weren’t concerned with who looked on. It seemed as though most were bi-sexual. He watched as one male went from a man on all fours in front of him to a female lying on the ground next to him, their bodies covered in bits of gore and slick with blood.
He remembered reading about satanic rituals while hiding under his covers at night in the orphanage consisting of a sacrifice, people covering themselves in blood, then having an orgy. The scene in front of him reminded him of those stories that used to give him nightmares. Except, there wasn’t anything ritualistic about what he saw. Instead, it seemed like a free-for-all.
He turned and sank down next to Sami, who continued to cry.
“What the fuck is this?” he whispered as he closed his eyes and rubbed his face, hoping to scrub the scene from his retinas, but knowing it would be futile. He had tried to forget that woman who’d died in the alley all those months ago, but he never could. Because of her, he’d decided to take on the vampire race and had ended up here.
Sami shook her head, seemingly unable to answer him as the tears rapidly flowed.
They sat in silence for a moment, and Connor tried to clear his head and decide what to do. He’d been so blown away by the scene inside that looked like something out of a horror movie, he hadn’t even thought to count how many vampires looked to be in charge of this mess.
Standing, he stared through the window again. As if he witnessed an awful car wreck, he had to force himself to tear his gaze away. Around the perimeter of the room, he counted six vampires watching the others, and guessed these were the guys in charge. When his gaze landed on one with a bandana covering his nose and mouth, he knew his assessment had been correct, and as a bonus, they’d caught their original targets. However, they didn’t have a chance of overpowering them. Two on six wasn’t exactly fair, even with the element of surprise and the special knife from Dedou. Vampires were stronger than him, and once the ones feeding figured out what was happening, he imagined they wouldn’t be happy their little party had been interrupted. That would put the numbers even more out of their favor.
Besides, Sami didn’t seem like she was in any condition to do anything at this point.
He got down on his haunches next to Sami. “We’re outnumbered, so we should get out of here. You should call for back-up and then we come up with a plan of attack.”
She nodded and let him help her to her feet. They made their way down the hill. When they arrived at the car, he opened the door for her and she slid in. Before he could shut it, she leaned out and vomited. Turning away from her, he tried to give her some privacy and also make sure no one came to investigate the sound.
The tears and the retching seemed a bit off to him. After all, she was a police officer of the vampire race, so surely, she’d been subject to death, blood, and vampires like the evil, sadistic pieces of shit in that building.
A few moments later when it sounded as though she had finished, he looked over his shoulder at her. Her head lay against the headrest, and her eyes were closed.
After shutting her door, he got in the car.
As he backed away, everything within him said that he should go back and do something to rescue those people he’d left to be slaughtered, but going back would do nothing for them. He may be able to take out a few of the bad guys, but in the end, he wouldn’t save anyone, and he’d end up dead.
Connor gripped the steering wheel in anger. He’d have to avenge their murders by making sure those six vampires never had the chance to pull another feeding like that again.
22
They rode back to his apartment in silence. Sami had finally quieted down, and he planned to question her on what he’d just witnessed, as well as her reaction to it. Dropping to the dirt in a flood of tears didn’t seem very professional, especially for the police officer who had been chasing her prey for a long while and had finally caught up to them. He understood that the scene had been gruesome at best, but her response hadn’t been expected.
He parked her car next to his bike, then leaned his head against the back of the seat. Sami stared out the front window, looking as if she’d just seen a ghost, or maybe the worst mass murder ever.
“Let’s go inside and figure out what’s next,” he said.
She nodded absent
ly and opened the door to get out of the car.
He did the same, following her to his apartment, trying to think about the situation logically.
They had the scene of the crime. The bodies, if left there, would provide a slew of evidence and DNA. All they needed was motive, and he had a feeling Sami could provide that. It definitely wasn’t slavery as she’d originally mentioned, but something just as terrible. He couldn’t put a word to it, but she could. Then, they’d call her co-workers and tell them what they’d seen, and the cavalry would move in. He didn’t think they’d have time tonight, but they could at least decide on a course of action by tomorrow evening.
He opened the door and moved aside to allow Sami to enter. She went directly to the living room and sat down on the couch as he grabbed two beers and followed. After sitting down, he handed one to her. She took it with shaky hands, but didn’t open it, just stared at it as she held it in her lap.
“So, let’s start with what the hell we just saw. Why were those vampires acting so feral?”
She closed her eyes and sighed, then turned to him. Meeting his gaze, she started talking. “Sometimes, vampires can become addicted to blood, just like humans can become addicted to drugs.”
“And?”
“What we just saw could be compared to something like a crack house. The vampires we’ve been tailing are the drug dealers. They get the drugs, or the humans, and then charge the addicted vampires to come and get their fix.”
His stomach rolled again as he took a sip of beer, but unfortunately, it all made sense. He’d seen what drug addiction could do to humans. If bad enough, they became like rabid animals doing absolutely anything for their next fix. Without getting help, the addicted could cause a lot of harm to themselves and those around them.
Rubbing his hand over his face, he wished again he didn’t have his gift and he could go back to complete ignorance of the vampire world. However, he couldn’t, and something needed to be done about the slaughterhouse out in the middle of the desert.
