"I wouldn't want you to choke on your own goddamn vomit before I even have a chance to really hurt you, now would I?" He started moaning again and just as quickly as before, she reached over and grabbed the hammer and brought it down on his right knee this time. He screamed again in that muted garbled fashion. "I told you to keep quiet." When the volume of his voice dropped down to a simple mumbling, she set the hammer down again. "Now, where should we start, Jesse?—Oh, you don't mind if I call you Jesse, do you?" His head swung around frantically. "Okay, good." She turned toward the myriad of supplies she had scattered across the couch cushions and held her hand over each for a long moment before moving on to the next one in turn.
When she had went through the entire gamut of items three times, she brought her hand back over to the razors and grabbed a particularly long old blade attached to a handle. It had been her father's shaving razor. Turning around, she brandished it in front of Jesse's moist pleading eyes. She stepped forward and put her right knee on his left leg and positioned herself just in front of his left eyebrow. She took the blade sideways and brushed the cold flat steel lightly down his cheek. Then back up and slowly down again. Her hand reached around his head and grabbed hold of his hair in a tight pulling grip and she pulled his head against the back of the chair. Her right hand squeezed tightly against the handle of the razor as she brought it slowly and forcefully toward his forehead. She pressed it hard into his flesh and every muscle in his body jolted as the blade cut near to the bone. She brought it slowly over his brow. The edge was a mere centimeter from his eye when her body dropped into a sobbing mess, sending the razor sliding across the floor.
His screams were manic now.
It was like she was just now hearing them. The moment during her actions had been in complete silence and now the world around her was reasserting itself in all its noisy chaos. She had wanted so badly to kill away the poison inside her. She was sure this would be the way, but now she could only sit there and hide her face in her hands as the moaning pitch of her voice rose in dissonance with Jesse's. The sobbing careened into full on dry heaves again and when her stomach could convulse no longer, she lay face down on the floor pounding her fist against the laminated wood.
A familiar voice in her head told her to get up. It told her to pick up every scrap of herself that she had torn away in this place tonight and get the hell out of there. To get her brothers and run. To find someone who could help them. She thought of the boys then. They were all alone. Anyone could come into their home and do anything to them. Fear gripped her then. Fear mixed with the still strong nausea and self-disgust. Her father's voice told her one last thing as she ran away from that place.
It told her it wasn't her fault.
Chapter 35
Intruders
When they were sure the place was secure and the only remaining living vampires were themselves, Rosadelma, Jackie, and Simon went back down into the basement of the community building and found the pile of blankets Jackie had covered Frank with. The entire time they were checking bodies, Jackie was telling Simon and Rosadelma all about how she met Frank on the road and how he had given her someone to confide in and how she now considered him a close friend. She pulled off the blankets and shook Frank awake. He opened his eyes and nearly jumped out of his skin at the sight of Simon standing behind her.
"Fuck!"
"It's okay, it's okay," Jackie said, waving her arms in front of him to get his attention. "He's with me. He's—he's Simon. Remember me telling you about Simon?"
Frank looked at Jackie then back at Simon. "Yeah, I think so."
“And this is Rosadelma.” She motioned for Rosa to come over.
In typical fashion, she gave Jackie a dismissive gesture. “Hey.”
Frank walked over and waved, his expression somewhere between bewilderment and wild confusion. His eyes shot back over to Jackie. "Hey, did you fucking knock me out or something?"
Jackie sighed. "It was for your own good. I thought we were dead." She turned her gaze down to the floor. "I didn't want you to suffer through it."
Frank ran his hand over his mouth and nodded. "Fair enough... Thank you, I guess."
She ran up and gave him a big hug and rested her head on his soft cushioned chest. He patted her on the back with a few awkward motions and then looked at Simon. "You got yourself a real handful here, you know, kid."
Simon smiled. "I know. I do."
"A real fuckin' firecracker, let me tell ya." Frank grinned as Jackie let go of him and pulled herself back over to Simon's side. She had been sure for a moment there she would lift up those blankets and find his body lifeless and drained of blood.
Rosadelma sighed. “Are we gonna stand around here all fucking day playing cute ‘n cuddly or are we gonna actually start figuring out what the fuck is going on here?”
The next second happened so fast, even Simon didn't see it coming. A natural vampire grabbed Frank under the arms from behind and blasted up into the air over the open stairway and out of sight. Jackie screamed and Simon and Rosadelma took off running after them.
When the shock finally wore off, Jackie turned and ran up the stairs and through the main hall, jumping over body after body until she was outside in the cool night air. The moon hung in the Eastern sky and the stars winked back at her with the knowledge that she was truly and greatly fucked down here on Earth. She tried to keep her head from reeling as she ran her way up the street scanning the skies in every direction for any sign of Simon or Rosadelma or Frank and his vampire captor. It hit her like a ton of bricks then that she could have saved him all along had she remembered to use her newfound power. She tried then to raise her body up in the air but nothing happened in reply. Her hands were shaking and her vision was blurring as she screamed out into the empty night. Her voice echoed back at her in mocking fashion.
A second later she spotted them. Simon and Rosadelma were at least five or six miles out but they were walking back toward her. No sign of Frank at all. She began to run again, heading straight for the other two vampires. She'd already lost so much to these fuckers, she couldn't bear to lose Frank too. She yelled out to Simon and Rosa, "We have to find him."
Simon's expression was heavy with regret. "I'm not sure we can before it's too late."
"We have to try." They were running alongside each other now. Jackie took Simon's hand.
"Okay. Let's try."
She smiled back at him and then without warning she reached out and took Rosadelma’s hand. Rosa struggled to get away, an expression of confusion and disgust on her face. “What are you fucking doing?”
Jackie paid her no mind as she closed her eyes. She let the fury building inside her tighten up into one big twisted knot then, just like that, she let it loose and the three of them began to rise up in the air. The expression on Simon's face nearly knocked her out of focus but she held on with everything she had. She wasn't going to lose Frank to these assholes. Not today.
***
After a couple of years of near complete invincibility and about an hour in the open air, Simon still wasn't quite sure he was handling this whole flying thing very well. Jackie seemed focused and calm nonetheless. And of course, as soon as they had lifted off the ground, Rosadelma stopped fighting, her expression of confusion replaced with one of anticipation. They were a mere handful of miles away from the border of the city where Simon had taken his last mortal breath before drawing his first immortal breath. Although now Simon knew that immortality only lasted forever in fairytales. He squeezed Jackie's hand tightly. He still hadn't had the heart to tell her they would most likely die soon. That these moments could very well be their last. He could only hope Rosadelma wouldn’t blurt it out before he had the chance. And now that they were going into the heart of the enemy's new playground, he was sure it had been a fatal mistake to try and save Frank. But he was sure now that he would have followed Jackie through the fires of hell if it meant they could stay together. He had never known that feeling before. Now, i
t was something he would hardly give up even in the face of death.
As he thought about all the years he spent in misery, looking up to Joseph Caesar as if he were some kind of savior, a spot just above the horizon caught his attention. Holy shit, I think I just found him."
"Where?"
Simon lifted Jackie's hand and used it to point out the speck moving further away from them toward the ground below. There was a quick shift of movement and Jackie had them soaring at a much lower altitude. Before long they were close enough to get a better look as the ancient vampire carried Frank onto the top of a tall gray building and then quickly disappeared down an obscured entrance. As they came closer, he could make out the outline of a trapdoor. "There!"
Jackie brought them in closer and then the three of them fell and landed on their feet just a few meters from the door. Simon winked at Jackie and then opened the door. "Sorry. Usually, I'd say ladies first, but—”
“Thank you very much.” Rosadelma pushed Simon out of the way and dived, feet first, into the rectangular opening deep down into a dark empty abyss, leaving Jackie and Simon staring after her.
***
The alarms sounded from every corner of the facility at a deafening volume. Harek hated high-pitched noises. They were not honorable and not to be trusted. He yelled out in his mighty baritone voice, "Close exits, lock systems. Find intruders, bring to me!"
The knuckleheads the Master had sent along with him were nodding like idiots and running around just as mindlessly before they finally scattered off in all directions. Harek had been happy with his new title as the Emperor's assistant until the Master had sent him here. Even if they had abandoned the place, he still felt like it was enemy territory. He hated every spec of dust in this place, every towering building, and every shiny light still working against the odds like a miracle in a funeral home.
Chapter 36
Mouths Opened As One
The big black monster of a truck had been a good choice for the trip. It more than splendidly handled every curve and bump these country roads threw at Jonny. He wasn't used to driving something so big but it handled well in contrast to its size. Jonny checked the tracking beacon he had picked up along with other materials from a strange shifty man with a long white streak in his hair and green eyes that couldn't quite seem to cooperate with each other. He was about fifteen miles from Hank's current location. Along with the beacon, the man had provided a duffel bag filled with a handful of needles and an assortment of different medical vials. Jonny didn't know anything about drugs, but he guessed it was some kind of stuff to knock Hank out.
And of course the thought that the Emperor could simply be lying to him and the drugs could be lethal had also occurred to him. Jonny didn't think that was the case though. This was now personal to Caesar. Jonny could tell. The Emperor wanted to make sure beyond a doubt that Hank and the threat he represented were disposed of. He wanted the pleasure of watching the man's death with his own eyes.
"Ah... Mr. Cross, I see you're right on schedule."
Speak of the devil.
"Yes, sir." Jonny covered his mouth and let out a quiet cough. "I should be there in about five minutes or less now."
"Very well. Remember there had better be no tricks or surprises, Mr. Cross. We don't want you tipping off Mr. Evans about our little deal, now do we?"
Jonny gritted his teeth slowly. He knew a threat when he heard one. "No, sir. We definitely don't want that to happen."
"Good. Very good indeed. Keep that in mind when you approach Mr. Evans and I will uphold my end of our arrangement. For the time being though, I will be watching. Do not give me reason to find void in our agreement."
A loud obnoxious dissonant tone began to stretch out from the beacon.
"Excellent, Mr. Cross, you're just about there. Lessen your acceleration. The house will be on your immediate left. You are to keep going once you have it in sight. There's a place you can conceal your vehicle a little over half a mile up the road."
There was a long pause as Jonny crept up the hill. A quick glance left revealed a line of trees and nothing more. Until... Almost immediately there was a clearing and an old house. Jonny eased into the gas and let the house drift off to his side. The road curved again and at the bottom of a steep hill, he could make out an old dirt road intersecting on the right and disappearing into a dark expanse of forest.
"There, Mr. Cross. Turn into that road on the right."
Jonny let off the gas and let the truck roll then turned into the dusty bumpy excuse for a road. He killed the engine and sat there for a long moment collecting himself.
"When you are ready you will enter the house through the back door. From there you will have to find the subterranean entrance in that room. My sources were only able to tell me that much and no more. I will be here the entire time, listening... So do not fail..."
Jonny reached into the glove compartment and pulled out the small black duffel bag and pulled it over his shoulder. "What if he realizes what's going on before I can manage to stick him?"
"Then you are on your own, Mr. Cross. Be mindful and move with stealth and you will succeed."
Jonny sighed. "Right. Mindful... Stealth..." He whispered under his breath, "Fuck!"
The Emperor let out a gentle hackle of amusement. Jonny did his best to ignore it and started making his way along the dirt road. From this distance, the large oak trees wrapping their way around the back of the property nearly covered the entire house in darkness except for the tall chimney reaching up for the sky. Jonny stepped on pavement then, and began working his way against the steep incline of the hill. It was an overcast night. Not even the glow of the moon shone through the clouds anymore. Blackness begat blackness and Jonny could no longer keep his bearings on where he was. He reached into the duffel bag and blindly felt for the flashlight. When he pulled it out, there was an immediate response from Caesar.
"Mr. Cross, put that thing away. Take a moment and let your eyes adjust to your surroundings. The more advance notice Mr. Evans has that you are here, the smaller your window of incapacitating him will be. Do you understand me, Mr. Cross?"
Jonny swallowed. "Yes, sir." He stopped walking and shoved the flashlight back into the bag and waited. The darkness pulsated around him. Dim grainy colors rotated around in his field of vision and blinked in and out of existence until the faint impression of depth and space began to resolve. Without hesitation, Jonny started walking again. The house was coming into view, its white siding glowing brightly in contrast to the darkness. Stepping into the grass of the field just behind the house, Jonny was immediately engulfed by the tall stalks of grain. He continued walking, aligning himself between the rows of crops which led a path perpendicular with the back of the house.
When Jonny was in line with the back door, he gazed around for a moment to get an idea of the easiest route to get over there without being out in the open. The way was through and only through. He squeezed in between the crops and slid forward, pushing aside grains and grass and other unidentified things growing from the ground as he went. At the edge of the open yard, it became obvious that it only took up a small portion of the entire property, his best estimate judged it to be about a hundred feet from where he stood now to the bottom concrete step that led up to the dull gray metal screen door. Jonny was just about to step forward when the Emperor spoke up in his ear.
"Not just yet, Mr. Cross. Take another look at the grass in front of your feet."
Jonny gazed down at the ground before him and saw nothing worth his attention. He whispered, "I don't see anything."
***
As soon as she saw Ishan through the eyes of her children, standing there in the middle of the cave, metal restraints torn asunder, eyes glaring up at them, the Queen knew something was very wrong. First of all, she felt no connection from him at all. Even when he had been unconscious before she had felt some connection, albeit slight, from his mind. She ordered her children to stand watch over him so that she could
track his movements. Of which, for a long time there seemed to be none. He just stared up into their eyes like he was trying to get her attention on purpose. The Queen was sure then that whatever was happening to him, whatever Bellona's blood had done to his mind, right now it was no longer present on the surface. Only Bellona remained on a conscious level. Whether there was anything left to save of her most beloved, she did not know.
The anxiety of that realization hit her like a ton of bricks after all that she had endured as of late. And even now in mid contraction, the anguish of just the possibility of losing him was more pain than she had ever known.
***
The phone in George's quarters rang, dissolving the previous silence into a loud monotonous dissonance. He picked up the receiver and answered in his polite "official" tone. "Deacon Nelson, may I help you?"
"Yes, I'd like to report a couple of moral fugitives. They're currently staying in my home and I'm afraid they will corrupt my family. Please send someone quickly to take care of them."
"That's a delicate matter indeed, sir. May I have your name and address so we can send over an Imperial officer immediately?"
The man identified himself as Chandler Dixon and gave George his street address along with several details about the two staying with him including their names and a handful of ethnic slurs for good measure. When the man was done, George said a pleasant goodbye and hung up the phone immediately, then took out the old telegraph machine and without a second's hesitation began tapping out a quick message to his contact with the Foederati.
Rising From Ashes: Empire of Blood Book Three (A Dystopian Vampire Novel) Page 20
