Skin and Bones

by Susan Harris

  The team had already been assembled when the call came in. Night had crept in on them as silent as a predator, and the midnight blue sky twinkled with stars. If the team hadn’t been gearing up to finally lay their hands on the monster they sought, then Derek might have appreciated the beautiful presence of night. There was no moonlight tonight, the overcast clouds hiding it from sight, but Derek knew it was there; it sang in his veins.

  Donnelly hadn’t been able to keep from his compulsion. A frantic parent had called in to say that her daughter had snuck out to meet up with a girlfriend. When she hadn’t turned up, the girlfriend had called the house to speak to her, and the alarm was raised.

  The girl was about to turn sixteen and ready to come fully into her powers. She slipped out of her bedroom window and into the woods behind her house that her family watched over. A nymph through birth, Fern was the eldest daughter of her clan and the first to mature. According to reports, she had shown signs of her coming of age, and her father, a Satyr, had banned her from leaving the house because Donnelly was on the loose. Fern hadn’t listened, and now they all feared she was in the clutches of the monster.

  It had been decided that the team should split up with Derek, Ricky, and Caitlyn heading to the property Donnelly had acquired from his dear ol’ aunt, with Donnie meeting them there while Sarge, Ever, and Erika would visit the victim’s house and see what information they could gather there. Erika had sulked at not being included in the raid at the farmhouse, but she seemed appeased after being pulled aside by Derek and advised that Donnelly might come back to the scene to survey and they needed someone there other than Sarge to protect the innocents.

  Before leaving, Derek had grazed his knuckles over Ever’s cheek, hating the fact that he was straying from her side, but knowing she was safer and out of harm’s way with Sarge. He then ducked inside the back of the black van that would drive them outside the city. The van peeled off and sirens shrieked into action as they headed down the dual carriageway. Derek checked his weapon once, then again, before slipping it into the holster on his thigh. He straightened his vest, not used to having the Kevlar on his person. Since the perp knew the team boasted a were amongst the ranks, Sarge had ordered him to wear the heavy-duty vest to protect against silver blades or bullets.

  Of course, arguing that a silver bullet to the brain would surely kill him hadn’t gotten him anywhere.

  Caitlyn leaned forward in the van, her own black ensemble mimicking his, sans vest. She twirled her pretty daggers around in her hands before stabbing them into the sheaths on her thighs. After her little rest, Caitlyn looked more herself and more focused than ever. Her phone chimed, and she dug it from her pocket, eliciting Ricky’s attention. In the van, there was no chance of privacy.

  “Yes,” Caitlyn said into the handset. A smile crept onto her face as she pursed her lips. “I’m glad that you’re feeling better, and have no worry, it has already healed.”

  There was a brief silence before Caitlyn chortled. “Yes, I promise I will as soon as possible. But first we must make the monster who took your human life from you dead, no?”

  As soon as Caitlyn had laughed, the tension seemed to have eased somewhat from Ricky, the warlock leaning in closer to try and hear what was being said. Caitlyn edged away from him and shot him a glare, and he held up his hands in apology.

  “Do you feel well enough to be left alone?” A pregnant pause. “We’ll discuss that later. But if you’re feeling well enough, can you put Donnie on the phone, please? Merci. I will tell him.”

  Caitlyn faced Ricky. “Melanie said to thank you for taking such good care of her computer. Donnie?” Tuning back to her call, she explained to Donnie what had happened and asked if he felt Melanie was stable enough to be left alone. She nodded her head at whatever Donnie had said and gave him directions to where they would be.

  “No, I’m not at my full strength right now, but I’m fine. Do not worry. Yes, I will see you soon.”

  She snapped the phone shut without a farewell and concentrated on them again. “Donnie will meet us in Watergrasshill. It seems Melanie is doing well enough to be left alone. She is taking to her new life with as much passion and zest as she did her human one. He, of course, will be setting the security on the property to prevent her from leaving.”

  “Gives new meaning to being grounded, Caitlyn.”

  She snorted—a very un-Caitlyn sound. “You’ve no idea, mon loup, no idea.”

  Ricky stared out of the back of the van into the darkness as the rest of the men assigned to their team tried to ignore the exchange. Derek watched them, assessing their ability to remain calm under the strain. Before the reveal, the most action these SWAT team members got were bank robberies and hostage situations. Now, backed into a corner with creatures that didn’t need a gun or a knife to fillet you, he understood why a lot chose to retire.

  They zipped through the tunnel and accelerated toward their destination. At this time in the evening with the city on a clampdown, they only saw one or two cars on the round. The eerie quietness unnerved him, but Derek really was unsure why. He knew the second van, carrying Ever and Sarge, would be moving at a little slower pace. According to their information, the house Donnelly had been left was a twenty-minute hike through the woods from where he had grabbed Fern. He hoped the teen could hold on for ten minutes more. That’s all they needed.

  Time ticked by at an annoyingly slow pace. Derek tapped his foot on the floor of the van until Caitlyn shot him a dirty look. They veered off the round and up off the dual carriageway, bypassing the school and continuing into the main village. Continuing ahead, they swept by the church and into the more rural countryside. Derek could smell the animals as well as freshly cut grass and hay.

  After what seemed like an age, the van pulled over at the side of the road and dimmed its lights. Derek opened the back door and jumped down, his boots crunching against the gravel. Caitlyn was next, making no sound as she landed and glanced around. In the blackness that engulfed them, Derek thought he spotted a ghost of a smile dance on her lips as he felt a gush of wind and looked up to see Donnie standing next to them. The vampire acknowledged Derek as he ran his eyes over Caitlyn’s form.

  “Have we a kill order?” he grumbled to Derek, not taking his eyes from Caitlyn.

  “Unfortunately not, Donnie. We take Donnelly alive if possible. Only go for the kill if your life or one of your teammate’s lives is in danger. We got that?”

  A chorus of ‘yes sir’ rang out in the still night. Derek looked around at the men and woman that surrounded him, unable to shake the unease in his gut. Something didn’t feel right about this; even his wolf was angsty. But a young girl’s life hung in the balance—there was no time for caution.

  He motioned them all forward and flicked the switch on his COM. “Everyone copy?”

  “Yes sir.”

  “Then let’s go. Cait, you and I will head through the front of the farmhouse. Donnie, you and Ricky go ‘round the back.” He pointed to the SWAT team. “You three with me; the rest with the big guy over there. One of the supes will enter the house first, so no one try to be heroes. If you find the girl, you get her to safety and leave the bastard to the rest of us. The girl is our main priority. Don’t lose sight of that.”

  Without another word, Derek took off at a jog, Caitlyn keeping pace with him, as did the three men following them. He made out the faint outline of Donnie’s team as they moved through the field and circled to come through at the back of the house. Derek’s team made their way up the graveled pathway, brushing past overgrown brambles and trees. As they entered the courtyard of the property, the farmhouse came into view.

  Drenched in darkness, there appeared to be no sign of life inside the house at all, but Derek knew well that on occasion, looks could definitely be deceiving. The stillness of the boarded-up house and the lack of sounds nearby should have been the first sign that all wasn’t right.

  “About to breach the rear, over.”

/>   Derek signaled for the team to gather around. They huddled close to him, and Derek could hear the rapid beat of their hearts. As he listened closely, he confirmed it was not from fear but from the adrenaline that coursed through his veins.

  “Ready at the front. On three, over?”

  “On three, copy.”

  Derek counted to three in his head, lifting up his leg to kick in the wooden door. The wood splintered on impact, a thunderous sound echoed by the precision kick that imploded the door at the rear of the house. Derek stepped over the threshold, Caitlyn at his heels. He opened up his supernatural hearing but could only count seven heartbeats, the exact number of those team members whose hearts still beat.

  “I don’t like the feel of this…” he muttered low to Caitlyn.

  “I agree. Something doesn’t feel right about this place.”

  They proceeded to check out each room, the smell of must and mould indicating that no one had lived here for a long time. Where the hell had Donnelly taken the girl?

  He heard Donnie shout, “Clear!” and Derek echoed him. They gathered inside the main living area as Ricky kicked out at a table and sent it flying across the room. No one said a thing because they all felt the same.

  Derek cursed a blue streak, yanked his cell phone out of the pocket inside his vest, and called Sarge. He brought the bear up to speed, and his friend swore.

  “It’s strange, Sarge… this place would’ve been the perfect place to hide out. Not a neighbour for miles to hear anything, but the bastard is not here.”

  Caitlyn stilled suddenly, her nose crinkling. Her eyes met Derek’s at the same time Donnie pulled Ricky and two of the SWAT team with him, bursting through the window. Caitlyn grabbed two more men, and Derek did the same, leaping out the window as the house shattered around them, a fiery inferno engulfing the farmhouse in a cascade of orange and red.

  The sound of the blast had ruptured Derek’s eardrums, but by the time he got up, they had already begun to stitch themselves back together, the ringing in his ears clearing as he checked to see if everyone made it out okay. The humans rubbed their ears, not sharing the same quick healing abilities as he and the vampires. Sirens wailed in the distance as Caitlyn knelt down by Donnie’s unmoving frame. A large splinter of wood protruded from his back, and it took Derek a second to calculate where the other end would have come out. The vampire hadn’t yet turned to ash, so he took that as a good sign.

  He heard ringing, and his eyes landed on Ricky. A stream of blood gushed from his ears, and his friend had no idea his phone was ringing. Derek crawled over to him and slipped his hand into his pocket. Pressing the loudspeaker, Derek answered with a grunt.

  “Derek, everyone alright? We could hear the explosion from here!”

  “Yeah, we’re good, Sarge. Couple of burst eardrums, and Donnie’s down right now. Donnelly must be somewhere nearby—that bomb was set remotely. He had to know we were in there at the right time.”

  “I agree. Watch your six, Derek. He could still be lurking in the shadows.”

  “Roger that.”

  He hung up and slipped Ricky’s phone into his own pocket.

  “What the hell?” his friend yelled as he rubbed his ear. “A bomb! Seriously?”

  Derek left his friend and went to crouch down beside Caitlyn. She rubbed the back of Donnie’s head as he gritted, “Just pull it out, Cait. Come on.”

  “It’ll hurt.”

  “Only if you enjoy it… just do it.”

  Caitlyn wrapped her fingers around the thick shard of wood and muttered in French. As Donnie began to argue, she ripped the shard free of his flesh, and Donnie roared. He bucked against the pain as Caitlyn flipped him over onto his back. The shard had gone straight through, miraculously a couple of inches below his heart. They’d been lucky.

  Donnie closed his eyes, his chest heaving, pain written all over his face.

  “Is everyone else okay?” he gritted out.

  “Yeah buddy. We got everyone out. They won’t be hearing much for a few days, but at least they’re alive to moan about it.”

  “I’m going to mount Donnelly’s head on a spike in return for this.”

  Caitlyn, in a rare show of affection, ghosted a kiss to his forehead. “Don’t be cliché, Donnie. Not all vampires like to mount the heads of their enemies on pikes for all to see.”

  Then the tenderness was gone as Caitlyn rose to her feet, swiftly dismissing the dirt on her pants before walking away.

  Derek held out his hand to Donnie, who grasped it and pulled him up. Donnie wavered on his feet but managed to stay upright.

  “She loves me, really,” he told Derek with a smile.

  “I can see that. Come on, Romeo, let’s catch up with Juliet.”

  “I can hear you both.”

  “We know,” they said in unison as Caitlyn sighed.

  Derek slowed his pace to match Donnie’s as he timidly walked toward where Caitlyn stood with the rest of the team. The sirens grew louder as the fire engines neared, and Derek tried to catch Donnelly’s scent, but the air was too tainted with the smell of the burning house. He scanned the trees, hoping to catch a glimpse of another predator watching from the cover of night and foliage, but he got nothing.

  Caitlyn’s phone vibrated, and she snapped it open. Derek strode over to her as he heard her chastise the caller. He could see that Caitlyn was getting flustered, so he swiped the phone from her hand.

  “Hey Melanie, how you doing?”

  “I was going crazy just sitting here doing sweet FA. Please don’t be mad.”

  Derek couldn’t help but grin. “I’m not mad, Melanie. How can I help?”

  The girl sighed. “So I tried to call Donnie, but his phone isn’t working.” She paused, as if waiting for Derek to explain, and when he didn’t, she continued. “Anyway, Donnie told me where that creep might be hiding, so I kinda hacked into the city plans of the property.”

  “You could go to jail for that, Melanie.”

  “Hush, Derek, let me finish,” she chastised. “Like I was saying, there are some aspects of the schematic left out of the updated maps online. Did you find anything at the house?”

  “No, he kind of blew up the house while we were in it. He’s not here.”

  “Oh my God! Is everyone okay? Is that why Donnie didn’t answer his phone? Is he dead? Wait, where’s Ricky?”

  He held the phone away from his ear, making a mental note to teach the girl about volume tone for supes when he got the chance.

  “Everyone’s okay. I promise.”

  There was a pause on the line. “You’re not lying, but you’re not telling the whole truth, either.”

  Interesting, he thought. Hearing the lie in his words was almost unheard of if a vampire wasn’t in close proximity.

  “Did you check the slaughterhouse?”

  “I’m sorry, what?”

  “The slaughterhouse. According to the old records, the farm was also used to kill animals and sell the meat. It hasn’t been used in about forty years, so that’s why it fell off the surveyor’s new plans.”

  Hope blossomed in his chest. “Where is the slaughterhouse, Melanie?”

  He heard her click on the keys of her laptop. “At the back of the farm, there should be a path. I can see it here online, but it looks like the overgrowth of trees and bush might be obstructing it. About a hundred yards into the woods, the slaughterhouse should be around there. If he took the nymph anywhere, it’s there.”

  “We got this. And Melanie?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Good job. See ya soon.”

  He closed the phone before she had the chance to speak and handed it back to Caitlyn. “You heard that, right?”

  She nodded.

  “Okay, let’s go.”

  Derek turned to the men being treated on the ground. “We have a possible location for Donnelly. Caitlyn and I will continue. The rest of you get yourselves to the hospital.”

  Derek pivoted, ready to head out, when
a firm hand grasped his shoulder.

  “I’m coming, too.”

  Derek shook his head. “Not when I can still see into your chest cavity.”

  Donnie growled. Derek sympathized with him, but right now he was a liability, and Derek didn’t need that. “Phone Sarge and tell him we need backup. C’mon, Donnie… I can’t watch her back if I’m watching yours.” A dirty tactic, but Derek would roll with it.

  “Once I feed, I’ll be okay.”

  “There’s no one ‘round here able to donate, Donnie. Go get healed, and then follow us.”

  “Drink from me.”

  They all spun round to look at Ricky, who had crept up on them. When no one spoke, he blew out a breath.

  “I’m serious. It’s not like we’ll be going steady or anything, but I still can’t hear outta one ear, and three invincible Hulks are better than two.”

  When nobody budged, Ricky threw his arm up in frustration, pulled a penknife from his pocket, and slashed across his wrist. “Drink, you stubborn idiot, before I bleed out.”

  He shoved the wrist in Donnie’s face, and Derek turned away, not wanting to watch the exchange. A minute later, it was over, and Derek found himself shaking his head as Donnie staggered. Ricky’s wrist no longer bled, and he showed no ill effects. Donnie, however…

  The big man giggled. “Man, I haven’t been drunk in almost two decades, and this is the closest I’ve come. Damn, warlock, your blood packs a punch.”

  “Yeah, well, don’t come looking for seconds—I’m a one-vampire type of guy. Now get your asses in gear and get that monster.”

  They didn’t need telling twice. With no further words, Derek, Donnie, and Caitlyn rounded the still-alight house. After a short search, they located the path Melanie had told Derek about and disappeared down the trail, vengeance on their minds.