Days of Innocence

by C. L. Quinn

  Isiah stood. “They aren’t going to find anything! Why are you so concerned?”

  “Don’t know. That crazy might run in your family? Have you spoken to him about these children?”

  “No. No one, honestly. I know this is dangerous territory. I don’t have any idea…”

  Stopping mid-sentence, Isiah smacked his forehead with a palm. “Shit! He’s remembering the dreams his father had when he was younger. He must have researched the lore from this region and now he’s convinced they exist. Oh, Paul, you may be right. Jax is too smart to let this go, and if he finds out about my little project, he’ll fuck us up. He’s bright, ambitious, driven, but he’s got a noble streak and he’ll feel compelled to stop this.”

  “That’s what I was worried about when he declared his intentions. So what are you going to do?”

  “Get them the fuck back on my plane and back to sunny Cal. Where are they now?”

  “Sleeping. It’s dark out.”

  “As soon as they waken in the morning, I’ll get them out of here. Paul, thank you. I know I’m obsessed right now and not quite thinking straight. Will you have the others meet me here? I think I’ve found something on the video. It’s the first verifiable proof of the subject’s nature. Oh, and Paul, did the pilot bring the bio-kit I asked for?”

  “Yes, it’s in your office. Blood tests and DNA?”

  “Indeed, right away. I can’t wait to see the results!”

  Paul had no real vested interest in Isiah’s research. As far as he was concerned, these people should be left alone. If they wanted the world to know what they were, then they would have let it know. But he’d taken care of Isiah Hollinger’s needs for sixteen years, and had been well paid, so he would do what he needed to do for him regardless of his own feelings. Isiah didn’t pay him for his opinion.

  IN THE FOREST

  First light broke, and already Rodney and his team were awake, their gear stowed, ready for the day. The Totem’s had disappeared just after first light, in search of a water source and perhaps something more filling than the protein cubes.

  He glanced toward his charges, still asleep except for Fia, sitting up now, pulling her hair into a tight ponytail to keep it out of her way. She was a practical woman, a fighter, unconcerned about her appearance. Rodney smiled. She needn’t be. Like all of these vampire children, she was beautiful, the typical unfair advantage of first blood genetics.

  Standing, she glanced around and found him watching her. Rodney gave her a curt nod and turned to discuss the day’s tactics with his team. It wouldn’t do for her to mistake his gaze. He still didn’t know how to deal with Shani. Fia, he cared about as he did all of the children. Shani was a different matter. Everything about her touched him, like nothing in his life ever had. He was forced to admit to himself that he wanted her, well aware that he never would have her.

  “You’re a bolt,” he whispered as he walked back to his men. “She’s the stars and moon.” He was not worthy of her.

  A loud voice split the silence. Fia stood in the center of the occupied sleeping tubes, circling. “Let’s get started, lazy asses! It’s gonna be dark again before we know it!”

  AT THE WAREHOUSE

  Jackson woke, still pissed. Last night, he’d tried to find his uncle and only found frustration. No one seemed to know where he was, or how to notify him that his nephew required his presence.

  “Just have him call me,” Jackson had asked on more than one occasion, to find that no one would do so.

  As he dressed, he mumbled quietly to himself.

  “So I fly from one country to the bottom of another and he doesn’t have time to say hello. Bullshit! I was going to let him in on our mission, but fuck that now. He can be just like my mother, and vanish from my life, and like I could freaking care!”

  Sally rolled over, an eye split open while she rubbed the other. “What are you bitching about, Jax?”

  “My fucking uncle. He doesn’t, apparently, have time for me!”

  “Sorry, dude. But that shouldn’t surprise you. Most anthropological archeologists are like that. What matters is what used to be. They get so wrapped up in history’s shit, they don’t have time for their own. Let alone their family.”

  “She’s right, Jax. But you have us!” Jessie yawned and sat up. “Hey, where’s O’Connor?”

  Dean wasn’t in the room. Jackson shrugged. “He’s probably already getting some breakfast. It’s gotta take a lot of food to keep that big body fueled.” He looked at Sally, who was pulling her tee shirt over her head. “Right, Sal?”

  “Why are you asking me?”

  “Because I know you’ve looked that body over from top to bottom.”

  A plastic hairbrush flew across the room and struck Jackson in the forehead.

  “Ow! What the fuck, Sal?”

  “Just be grateful I don’t have time to look for a tire iron!”

  Rubbing his wound, Jackson grinned. “Guess I had that one coming. I would never say something when he’s within earshot. I’d never embarrass you.”

  “Then you might survive this trip. Look, you guys know he turns me on. I guess it’s apparent to you, but it isn’t to him. So let’s just never bring it up. No teasing! I’m invisible to someone like O’Connor.”

  Rising, Taylor belched. “Sally, you’re hot. I don’t get why you don’t know that.”

  “Thanks, but to someone like Dean O’Connor, I don’t rate. I’m too full-figured and too smart-mouthed. He’s prettier than I am!”

  Jackson stowed his gear. “You’re wrong, but I don’t have time to prove it now. You guys go for breakfast, I’m going to find my fucking uncle!”

  “You want help?”

  “Nah, Taylor, go with the others. I’ll join you in a little while.”

  Dressed now, Sally led Jessie and Taylor to the lunch room they’d vacated no more than six hours ago, stumbling a step when she noticed Dean lounging in one of the chairs, scrolling on his cell phone, shirtless.

  Sally walked to the refrigerator and began to remove the packets of meat, her eyes sliding back to his chest.

  Holy shit, he was ripped! Huge pecs bulged as he suddenly leaned back in the chair to stretch.

  Forget the sandwich, Sally thought, that’s the meat you want! Even now, top of her class, a great future ahead of her, slimmed down from her heavier weight in high school, and proud of it, she still knew…she’d never been the popular type. Dean O’Connor would always have been the popular, bad-boy type, girls all over him. Now that she thought about it, it kind of offended her that she liked the troublemaker badboy. What was wrong with her? Jackson was more her speed. But he didn’t make her pulse race.

  Dean O’Connor did.

  “Oh, hey, everyone,” he commented, a hand lying against his furred chest. “Just getting a jump start this morning. Any idea when we pull out and where we’re going?”

  Sally shot him a smile that she prayed didn’t look desperate, and tried to keep her eyes off the hand on his chest that she wanted to replace with her teeth. “No, but Jackson will be here shortly and we’ll go over it. How did you sleep?”

  “Fine. I can sleep anywhere. I guess, though, I’d better go put on some clothes.”

  No, don’t ever! “That’s a good idea.”

  He couldn’t stop watching them. None of the ten beautiful children would speak to him, or do anything he asked them to do. Yet he’d bet his life that they were special.

  Days of watching them or studying the video feed had brought only one exciting moment, and it wasn’t definitive. But it was intriguing.

  His eyes moved to a tall milk-chocolate-skinned girl with long braids and long slim fingers. She was perhaps the most hostile of the group, almost certainly the oldest, and well aware of the danger they faced. He’d witnessed her silent commands to the other children and wondered if they were telepathic. She was the leader, he was certain of that. When he had them at his lab in Spokane, the first thing he would do is separate her from the group.
Without her influence, he expected to have exponential success with the younger children.

  The plan was to form a bond with them, to treat them like little princes and princesses, to make them feel safe and special, to gain their trust. And learn their secrets.

  Without the girl to stop them, they would all be his. Victory was at hand.

  The girl slept little. Right now, she perched in the far corner of the cave, a hand on the blonde curls of a child that looked to be half her age. Most of the time, she sat with her eyes downcast, but once in a while, like now, she lifted them to stare into his with deep accusation.

  He was culpable, yes, he admitted it. Isiah was no kidnapper, nor a man who would ever harm a child. Sadly, this strange girl was a bitter reminder of how far from his own normal he’d wandered.

  Suddenly, she pushed up, her chin in the air, eyes closed, her face moving back and forth as if searching. What was it? What was happening?

  Standing, he moved around the cage to near the rear, closer to her. “What’s happening? What are you doing?”

  Opening them, her dark eyes pinned him in place. Still, she did not speak, but for the first time, she smiled.

  “What is happening, chocolate girl? Oh, that smile can’t be good for me, of that I am certain.”

  Slowly, with grace he’d never seen on anyone before, she walked up to the bars and slipped her fingers around two of them. Her nails were long and sharp, another clue that these children were far from common. His gaze was now locked on her eyes, light amber with black splotches unlike anything he’d ever seen. Was it his imagination, or did they glow?

  She bit her lip suddenly, bright white teeth as straight as any child after years of orthodonture, and her eyes closed again. “They are coming,” she whispered.

  “Who? Who is coming? No one knows that you are here.”

  The remarkable eyes opened again. “Someone does,” she purred, her voice deep and rich beyond her years.

  Noise erupted outside the room as voices raised and a shouting match grew louder. The distraction broke the girl’s attention and she wandered back to the group and took her place next to the blonde child again.

  “Goddamn’t!” Isiah kept his eyes on the girl as he raced to the door and pulled it open.

  Jackson stood behind two of his guards, his arms out, his chest puffed and breathing hard. When he saw his uncle, he moved sideways to try to push past one of the guards.

  “Uncle Isiah! What the fuck is the problem here? These guys won’t let me see you!”

  Sighing, Isiah pulled the door closed quickly and waved his men aside as he approached Jackson.

  “Boy, I’m involved with a sensitive project right now and they have been instructed to keep people out. Sorry, but that includes you. Now, I’d forgotten that you were coming, but things here have changed. I’m going to need to send you and your friends back to the U.S. I’m sorry to have you travel so far to be sent home, but my work must take priority. I know that you understand that.”

  Facing his favorite uncle who was now treating him like an annoying stranger, Jackson’s eyes narrowed.

  Sensitive project. Instructed to keep people out. My work must take priority.

  Immediately curious and suspicious, he glanced over his uncle’s shoulder. “In there? What is it? Surely you can trust your own nephew. What is behind that door, Uncle Isiah?”

  Jackson watched his uncle’s reaction to the childish taunt. Isiah’s teeth clenched and his pupil’s dilated, hands fisted. He did not like being questioned. Whatever this was, Jackson’s uncle particularly did not want anyone else to know. Because of that, he had to.

  Abruptly, his manner changed. “Nah, I’m just kiddin’. I just wanted to see you, Unc. It’s been eighteen months, man. I was hoping you’d have time to do a little hiking with me.”

  Isiah visibly relaxed. “Not at this time. I’ll be back in the states soon and I’ll take you to dinner. For now, though, I have to get you and your college buddies out of here.”

  “Sure, sure, I get it. But, hey, would you mind if we took at least one day to kind of scout around? You know, just to see the jungle. Man, we’ve all been cooped up in classes for seven months. Come on, give us some time?”

  Against his better judgement, Isiah relented. If the kids stayed outside the warehouse, what was the harm?

  “All right. Don’t wander too far. Do you all have the proper gear for hiking in the rain forest?”

  “Yeah, we’re prepared.”

  “I’ll join you for dinner tonight, son, but you do have to go tomorrow, okay?”

  Jackson shot him an okay with his fingers. “I get it, sure. We’ll have a nice time before we go, though. Dinner, tonight.”

  Pausing, still distracted, happy that this worked out, Isiah hugged Jackson. “You’re a good man, Jax. I’m proud of you. Yeah, I’ll see you later today. Paul will make arrangements for you guys.”

  “Thanks, Unc.”

  Isiah watched his nephew walk away. Thank God his men had stopped him before he saw the imprisoned children. There was nothing on this green earth that could explain that in a way that his nephew would understand.

  “I’m heading back in. Remember, no one gets in here, including that boy.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  As he walked away, Jackson nodded to himself. It was as he suspected; something was going on. Isiah’s behavior had been weird, and that wasn’t typical at all. So he was hiding something. And Jackson was pretty sure it was in that room behind him.

  Sally walked up to him as soon as Jackson got back to the lunch room. “Holy hell, Jax! We wondered where you were. Are we going to get started toward the village this morning?”

  “No.”

  Jackson paused at the door, looked out, then pulled it shut behind him. “Something is going on here. I just intercepted my uncle coming out of a room on the other side of this warehouse and he practically shit himself that I might have seen inside of it. He’s hiding something.”

  “Whoa,” Taylor commented. “That’s deep.”

  “It’s bullshit. It’s not like my uncle works for the government in some kind of secret program. Plus, he was an odd combination of pissed and scared. He really doesn’t want me to find out what’s in that room.”

  “So what are we going to do, Jax?” Jessie leaned in, a full can of a hi-test caffeine drink in her hand, her fifth, and she was jazzed beyond anything she’d ever felt before, as if electricity sparked all along her skin. She liked it.

  “It’s simple. We’re going to find out what’s inside that room.”

  The closed door opened, and Dean entered, pulling it shut again. “Hey, you’re back. I’m ready to go when you are.”

  “Good. Plans have changed. My uncle is sending us home tomorrow. He claims that there’s a reason we can’t stay, but he won’t explain it. I convinced him to let us stay today, so we’re going to play nice, explore this area, pretend we’re accomplishing what we want, and then return here tonight for dinner with him. Here’s the thing. Dean, I’m going to need you to stay alert. There’s a chance this could get dicey.”

  “As in dangerous?”

  “As in dangerous. My uncle is basically a good man. But right now, I don’t know what he’s involved in. Sally will tell you guys that I don’t trust people easily, and since my uncle’s attitude and actions are suspect, so am I. Once I determine what’s in that room, and that there really was nothing to worry about, I’ll apologize to you guys and we’ll head south to do exactly what we came here to do. Fuck, we’ve flown to Patagonia. I’m not leaving without talking to people in each of those villages just as we planned. It just has to wait a day.”

  “Okay. I’m ready anytime you need me. So we’re hiking today?”

  “We’re hiking.”

  A squeak announced the door as it opened again and Paul walked in. Jackson thought his smile looked forced.

  “Ah, you’re all together again. I guess I’m going to guide you to some of the local features
and just let you look around and enjoy yourself today. Is there anything you would like to do?”

  “We hoped to meet some of the locals,” Sally answered.

  “Sorry, the closest village is over a day from here on foot and there are no reliable roads between here and there. But the rain forest holds an incredible variety of flora and fauna. You’ll enjoy yourselves.”

  Jackson stepped forward, prepared to play Paul’s game. “Sounds great. When do we leave?”

  IN THE RAIN FOREST

  Stopped for hydration and rest, the group found plenty of fallen logs to perch on. Taking this moment to get an update, Eras and Fia approached Talib and Ife.

  “What’s the latest? How close are we?”

  “Give us a few moments to try to reconnect.”

  “Sure.” Eras turned to face the others. “How’s everyone doing? I am more exhausted than I’ve ever been in my life.”

  “You live in a perfect, weather-controlled, pillow-packed world. Of course you’re tired.” Bryson laughed as Eras gave him a shit-eating grin.

  “Yeah, like you work so hard in southern France, the land of the playboy and starlet.”

  “I think we can all agree that this first outing has been tough, and pretty illuminating. We’re human, and we need to work harder to take care of ourselves.” Cairine let out a long groan. “I can’t feel my toes!”

  Shani’s eyes moved across her friends, past them to the men who automatically formed a circular barrier around them when they stopped.

  Rodney was at the furthest point, facing away from her. She closed her eyes and used the talent she’d been developing with Brigitte. With concentration and focused desire, she could push a feeling on someone, similar to the skill of impression that vampires could use with a touch. She, however, could push it from her mind to another, if it worked. It didn’t always.

  Through the entire walk today, she hadn’t been able to take her mind off the feel of his hard muscle under her fingers, of the mound beneath his leather pants that swelled at her touch. Her libido had awakened and it threatened to consume her, which is why she couldn’t stop herself now. Pushing, she allowed her sexual frustration, her arousal, to migrate from her mind to his, and, her eyes on his back, she was almost startled when he twirled around to stare at her. He sent it back, a sexual flood, his own emotions entangled with hers. She could feel his arousal in her mind and her body responded.