Tainted Blood

by Martin Sharlow

  Then it died, so quickly and suddenly that he almost thought he still felt it there. The bond that always connected him to Heather, snapped.

  7

  There was less than an hour left before the sun would be rising. Brian had been out walking any dark back street he could for a little over an hour now. The current one was dirty and covered in what looked like old newspapers. The smell of urine seemed to permeate the entire area. It hadn't been a very productive walk so far. His hopes of drawing out Garn seemed to be fading fast as the night quickly slipped away. If it didn't work, he wasn't sure what to do next. His aunt still had not responded to his emergency call, at least as far as he knew. He would think that she should be able to find him,; after all she was supposed to be some kind of spy.

  He had dialed the three digits she had given him expecting the phone to ring. Instead it had just remained silent, like it was still waiting for him to input the final four digits. Just to be safe, he left a message. That Heather was missing, and that he thought the werewolf had taken her. At least that was his hope. He had no other explanation as to what had happened to her. There were not too many possibilities that he could think of.

  Either she was behind some sort of weird barrier that didn't allow him to feel her, or...it was almost impossible for him to think it, but he had to. He had to be willing to come to grips with the fact that the werewolf might have done more than just take her away. As far as he knew, only death and that weird barrier he had encountered where the Anunaki had been in the old Warren's place could break the connection he had with her.

  “Come on, come on.” He mumbled to himself as he came to a 'Y' in the road. “Where can that monster be?”

  He chose to turn down the road to the right. After all, it seemed like the best way to go.

  Well, at least he had a hunch it was.

  “Damn you, where are you?” If it wanted to kill him, why wasn’t it here yet? Was it really so far off the trail that it couldn't find him? Yet somehow it could find Heather? It just didn't make sense. Somewhere inside of him he could hear a little voice questioning whether the werewolf was really responsible.

  He tried to shut that out. It didn't serve any real purpose. After all, who else would have taken her and been able to hide her away? But the little voice would not be silent. It suggested the Anunaki, or even maybe his aunt could have taken her. The damn thing just wouldn't be silent. After all, wouldn't Heather make a good bargaining chip to force him to go after Jason?

  Why else hadn't she answered his emergency call?

  Around and around he would go with that small voice in his head, to the point that he wondered if he would even hear the werewolf coming over his own mumblings and arguments. He was sure if anyone overheard him, they would think him completely crazy, and maybe he was, after what just happened.

  The idea of him ever losing Heather permanently was a maddening thought. An idea he tried desperately to purge from his mind. It refused to go, and nested itself somewhere between madness and sanity, trying to woo him over closer to the darkness that would ensue if he lost his mind. The back road that was not much more than an alleyway ended into a proper road. An empty one, but still a normal one. It looked like he was going to need to head back and try the other turn.

  Sighing, he turned to go, just as he thought he saw movement off to his right. He paused and listened for anything out of the ordinary. Nothing unusual came to his ears, so he hazarded a glance in the direction that he thought he heard the sound. Nothing. No animals, no people, nothing. Great, he thought. Now I'm starting to imagine sounds outside my head. Was he really so desperate to find this beast that he was willing to create phantoms to chase, just to feel like he was doing something to get her back?

  Perhaps he needed to go back to his apartment, and wait on his aunt to contact him. The sun was going to be up soon, and even if the werewolf did shape change in the day as well, he doubted he would show himself again. After all, from all accounts he had almost been tagged by the company the last time he showed his face in the daylight. The turn in the road was coming back up. He was going to have to make a decision. Head home and hope to God his aunt wasn't the one who took Heather, or head down to the other side of the 'Y' and hope just maybe, what he was looking for was down there.

  He shook his head and almost chuckled to himself.

  “Listen to me... I'm just getting desperate now. Hoping deserted streets will somehow lead me to Heather...how sad of me.”

  Debris hit the top of a large greenish-blue garbage dumpster, causing Brian to snap out of himself, and send all of his senses on alert. Something was happening. He looked quickly up and down the street, as well as up towards the roof that the debris most likely fell from. Nothing moved to alert him, no sound carried on the wind.

  He sniffed the air hoping against hope he might smell something besides the urine that filled the small roadway. Nothing. Not that he ever was much at smelling things out. Still, there was always the chance. The thing in essence was a canine. A giant humanoid one, but a dog nonetheless, and as far as he could always tell in the past, dogs smelled like dogs.

  A scratch sound alerted him to movement behind him. It sounded almost like claws on pavement, as he spun around, half crouching, his right hand preparing to reach behind and under his shirt to grasp the knife he had hidden there just in case. The towering figure of a man-shape covered in fur stood in the shadows across from him.

  “I could have killed you already.” The wolf spoke with a low growl in his throat. “But then how would you have known why you were dead?”

  “I already know why you're hunting me, Dog.” Brian responded. He watched as the werewolf's considerable ears flattened on top of its head.

  “You show me far too much disrespect Little One.”

  “Why should I show you any respect?” Brian shouted at him “Not after you kidnapped Heather! She did nothing to you.”

  “Who?” Garn asked as he stepped further into the alleyway, giving Brian a better look at him. He easily stood seven feet tall, much closer to eight. The gray black fur was well combed, like he had been recently groomed. His humanoid hands ended in sharp claws that were seven or eight inches long. A glance at his feet revealed the same and the reason he had heard his approach.

  “Don't lie to me, Garn!”

  “You know my name? It seems there has been quite some mischief going on here.”

  Mischief? What the hell was he talking about? Did he think he could confuse him? Well it wasn't going to work. He was going to kill the wolf, just like the last one, and before he let it die, he was going to force him to tell him where his girl was.

  “Just tell me where you hid her, Assassin, and maybe things won't go so badly for you.”

  “You are sadly mistaken, Whelp. The only thing I'm here for is revenge for what you did to my nephew. This is a matter of honor, no one else is involved.”

  No, that couldn’t be true. He had to be the one. Otherwise that only left one other choice...Jenn.

  “You better not be lying to me, Mongrel.” Brian pulled out his knife. It didn't seem to be very impressive at the moment, but he knew it was made out of one of the few substances that were deadly to the werewolf. Garn bared his fangs as he got sight of the weapon.

  “What do you expect that pin prick to do for you, Vampire?” Garn crouched down onto all fours, snarling as he began to try and circle Brian.

  “I used something much smaller to kill your nephew with, and he yelped like a pup when I did.” Brian grinned at the werewolf and popped his own fangs out as he began to circle as well.

  Garn snapped at him but didn't lunge as he spoke the words. Even on all fours, the wolf was huge. Larger than the other one had been. He began to wonder what his chances really were against this monster. No, he had to get rid of that defeatist attitude. Heather depended on him winning. No matter what, he had to win. The real problem was in disabling this beast, rather than killing it. He had to find out what he had done with her.r />
  “Garn, tell me what you did with her.”

  “Did with who? “

  “Heather. You took her to flush me out. Where is she?”

  “I told you, Boy. I did nothing to anyone.” Garn lunged at an impossibly fast speed toward Brian; his jaws held wide open as he aimed for Brian’s throat. Brian was sure the move had killed plenty of humans before in the past, but he wasn't quite human, which was a thing the wolf seemed to be forgetting.

  Brian twisted almost too late out of the thing's path, and drew blood from its left shoulder as it passed by. The fetid smell of its breath filled his nose as it roared from the sting of Brian’s knife.

  “Hurts, doesn't it?” Brian taunted. “You're about to feel more for taking my Heather from me.”

  The wolf's eyes bulged red in their sockets as saliva poured from the corners of its mouth. “I told you before, I don't know what you’re talking about. I'm here for you, and no one else. I have defied the rules of my pack to do this. For the honor of my line I do this.”

  A sickening feeling was starting to creep into Brian’s gut. What if he was telling the truth? What if he didn't take Heather? If that was true, then this was all a waste of time. In fact, he was risking his life and Heather's needlessly. If he died here, then who would find Heather?

  Brian could see the great beasts muscles tighten; it was obvious the old wolf was about to spring again. If he continued to telegraph his moves like that, this wasn't going to be that tough of a battle. Unless he somehow got a hold of Brian. Still, none of it was necessary. He needed to end this now, and figure out what had happened to Heather.

  “This isn't necessary, Garn. If you didn't take Heather, then I need to find out who did.” The two of them began to circle each other again “Garn, listen to me. A girl's life depends on me finding her.”

  “What does that matter to me, to my pack? My debt is with you, no one else.”

  “What about honor, Garn? Isn't that important? I'm honor-bound to find and protect this girl. If you kill me then what of my debt? Will it fall to you? A debt of honor must always be filled by someone even if it is not the one who accepted it.”

  “It is not my debt!” the wolf roared, yet the lunge didn't come. In all honesty, Brian had no idea what he was talking about, but he had heard all types of honor-speeches in television and the movies. It was these that he drew his speech from. Not one in general but all of them. He just needed to put something together to stop this crazy battle and get back to finding his girl.

  “No, but it will be if you interfere with me completing it.” God, he hoped he was making sense to the old wolf. He really couldn't believe it was working at all, but then again, honor was the reason the old dog was trying to kill him.

  “Perhaps?” The wolf said then paused and began sniffing the air. Brian relaxed for a second considering what he should do now. He could use his speed and try to end this, after all, the old guy wasn't likely to stop hunting him especially once he had found Heather, or he could just let him go, and hope that Jenn would catch him before that time ever came.

  “Humans.” Garn rumbled and then tensed as he crouched down and started looking about frantically. Brian wasn't sure what he meant until a small breeze kicked up and he too could smell them. “Very well. Until later.” Garn began, just as a large silver net fell from the sky right where the wolf stood.

  The smell of searing flesh and the sizzling sound of meat being fried filled the alley as the net made contact, and then started to wrap itself around the werewolf, almost as if it had a life of its own. Garn roared in pain, and then shrunk quickly into the shape of a small mouse. Brian watched in shock as the once wolf slipped out of the net the disappeared into a nearby crack in a building wall. Men in black began to run in from all sides, as well as dropping down from the nearby roof on ropes.

  Brian stood in amazement, his silver knife held out in front of him as he watched his aunt emerge from amongst the virtual army that had just appeared out of nowhere.

  “Brian, are you alright?” His aunt asked as she walked up to him. Her clothes were completely black, and she had a small assault rifle hanging from her shoulders, dangling in front of her.

  “What's going on here?” Brian asked still a bit stunned at the turn of events.

  “We were hoping you were about to help us capture our query.” She gave a half-smile.

  “Did you see that? Brian pointed at where the lycanthrope had disappeared into the nearby wall. “He turned into a rat and escaped.”

  His aunt nodded her head in understanding. “Yes, Brain. I was there. It's unfortunate we didn't have that intel. It explains how he was so successful in his career. We've always wondered how he got in and out of places without being seen.”

  She turned back to Brain after looking at where he was pointing. “Come on, I have news you're going to want to hear.”

  8

  The limousine's black leather seats matched the color of its exterior. It was kind of surprising that his aunt rode in this kind of limousine. After all, the spy shows he watched on TV as he sat around his motel room bored, implied she'd have a Hummer or at least a black SUV. Still, as rides go, this one was really nice.

  “Drink?” She asked as she pulled out a crystal decanter of some sort, filled with what looked like red wine. Its multifaceted surface reflecting the limo's ceiling lights as she lifted it up for him to see.

  “No thanks.” he answered, waving it off dismissively. “I'm only drinking blood these days.”

  She smiled. “I know. That’s why I brought this along, just in case you needed to keep your strength up.”

  Brian was surprised that she had thought to bring it. It seemed a bit strange that she was driving around with what amounted to a bottle of blood. He wondered what the police would think if they were pulled over suddenly and the police searched the car. Of course being who his aunt was, he doubted she ever got pulled over by anyone.

  “Okay fine, I'll have some.” Brian waited impatient for her to pour him a glassful. Not because he really wanted it, but mostly because he wanted to hear what was so important. A deep part of him hoped it was news about Heather. Otherwise it was pretty much a waste of time and he needed to get back out there and try to find her.

  How he was going to do that, he had no idea. His one lead seemed to be a dead end if he were to believe the werewolf. At this point he couldn't see any reason to not believe him. What possible reason did he have to lie to Brian? After all, the werewolf thought he was about to kill him.

  Why not torment me by telling me all about what he was going to do to her afterward? He thought. No, he was pretty sure the wolf wasn’t behind the kidnapping. Brian took a sip of the cold blood; it was thick and coppery, yet at the same time surprisingly sweet.

  “I see you noticed its taste?” She asked.

  He nodded, “Yeah, what's in it?”

  “It's one of our special blends.” She put the decanter back into the little mini fridge.

  “Special blends?” Brian asked. “You mean you have private blends? Like private wine reserves?” The idea seemed absurd. Why would the government have their own blood reserves, especially flavored?

  “Well, of course, Brian.” She sighed in exasperation. “You're not the only vampire in this country. Now, let's get down to business. I assume you want to know where Heather is?” She paused and just stared at him, her hands resting on her crossed knee while she looked over her glasses at him waiting.

  “No...you didn't take her, did you?” Brian blurted out, and spit a little blood out in her direction as he did so.

  Could she have done such a thing? Why would she? Ideas ran through his head lighting fast, putting a complete scenario to the deed. If they were desperate enough for him to kill this other vampire, he supposed they could have done it to force him to cooperate. He quickly calculated his course of actions, including just killing the woman who had posed as his aunt, and who now quietly waited on him.

  No, killing her woul
dn't solve anything, at least not yet.

  “Don't be absurd, Brian.” She spoke up as he tried desperately to come up with a course of action. “I don't work like that. If you had acted when I had told you to, none of this would have happened. In affect her disappearance is your fault.”

  “Mine? How do you figure?”

  She shook her head in disapproval as she leaned back in her seat, obviously annoyed with him. “Very well, we can play this out this way if you insist.” She began, still shaking her head. Brian was about to interrupt her when she sighed loudly and went on over his protestations. “The problem started when you didn't deal with Jason as we asked.”

  “I'm not your slave.” Brian snapped.

  “Nevertheless,” she continued. “He doesn't know that. His information is good, just not always correct.”

  “You're saying this guy..”