“If you weren’t sent by Matthew and you’re not a member of the True North Society, then where did you get such a gun?”
“The True North Society?” I’d heard the name in passing, maybe even from Roland at some point in our past. I knew he was part of a special group, so maybe that’s what it was.
The man painfully climbed to his feet, his wounds still refusing to heal.
“Stay back,” I warned.
“Let’s both stay in our respective corners. Though it would be appreciated if you’d allow me to get some blood.”
“You’re not going to lay a hand on me!” I kept the barrel raised.
“Not your blood. I have reserves. I also need a towel to stop the bleeding—unless your intent is for me to bleed out.”
“Use your precious shirt.”
He hobbled over to the bed, grabbed the shirt, and pressed it against his wounds. “You’re one crazy lady. So, crazy lady, why were you so desperate to break into my club this evening?”
“It’s Susan,” I said. “I need to learn more about Vampire Nation. I need to know if it really provides sanctuary from vampire attacks.”
“You’ve been a victim of one, I assume.”
“A monster broke into my home and killed one of my six-year-old daughters. I can’t let the same thing happen to my remaining daughter. She’s all I have left in the world.” I felt tears welling up just talking about it again.
“There are monsters everywhere, and the very nature of monsters is not to follow the rules. But yes, the Vampire Nation stamp does offer a certain amount of protection—for those willing to pay homage.”
“What do I have to do?” I asked.
“It’s a promise to be turned when the time is right. It is a destiny you choose, and you will work with us to further the cause. Enlightenment. We will come into the light and bring the world to its knees. Does it sound like something you want to be a part of?”
“I just want to keep my daughter safe.”
“I can help you with that,” he said, backing into a chair on the far side of the room. He grimaced from the movement. “I haven’t felt this alive in a long time. There’s nothing like the threat of death to truly make you feel alive. Now, before I can help you, I need a few things from you. Where did you get that gun?”
“My girls’ father; he gave it to me after the attack. He said it would keep us safe.”
“So, he must be a member of the Society. They’re the only ones I know with this kind of weapon. It would be helpful to reverse engineer it. Where does he fit into the picture?”
“He doesn’t,” I said. “I don’t expect to ever see him again. He didn’t even know about his daughters until I called him after the attack.”
“I see…” the vampire thought for a moment, then continued with his next request. “Now you’re going to give me the gun.”
“Absolutely not!” I argued.
“If you want my help, then you’ll have to trust me. In fact, we may be able to help each other. But everything starts with trust.” He gazed up at me with as sincere of a look as I had ever seen.
I didn’t want to be the only one taking all the risk, but I knew I had to do something if I wanted any chance of receiving help from this vampire. He was obviously familiar with Vampire Nation and may even have some real connections within the group. This could be the opportunity I needed. But I had to trust he wasn’t going to kill me once I relinquished my power over him.
“Let’s start small,” I said. “It’s hard for either of us to trust the other with a gun between us.” I backed up a few steps and set the gun on the coffee table. “Neither of us will go for the gun.”
“I can appreciate that compromise,” he said, a pained smile returning.
“You never gave me your name.”
“Frederick Alabaster,” he said, in a boastful, almost regal tone. “What’s your last name?”
“Winter. Susan Winter.”
“And your daughter’s name that you so desperately want to protect?”
I was hesitant to say her name, but if we were going to build some trust… “Fiona.”
“Fiona,” he said thoughtfully. “That’s a beautiful name. And I’m sure if she’s anything like her mother, she’s a very beautiful girl. I will personally ensure her safety… after you do me one more favor.” He didn’t immediately offer what that favor was, like he was waiting for me to ask.
“What would you have of me?” I asked, my fear returning with the thought of what specifically I’d be exchanging for Fiona’s safety.
“Get a knife from the bar over there.” He pointed to the far side of the leather couch. “I won’t heal as long as these bullet splinters remain inside me. I need you to dig them out.”
I gasped, feeling suddenly queasy from what he was asking me to do. “Surely, you have someone better suited to… to do something like that.”
“I do,” Frederick said. “But I want you to do it.” He pushed up from the chair, then carefully dropped to the floor and lay flat on his back. “This is going to hurt like hell. Let’s see how well we can truly help one another.”
31
Fiona
A few days had passed and the world was still in crisis mode. Many businesses remained closed, as did all the schools in our area. The government had dispatched every branch of the armed forces to major cities around the United States to enact martial law, but the scope of the chaos was too overwhelming. There simply weren’t enough emergency personnel to be everywhere. The country was shutting down.
The local grocery and convenience stores had all been ransacked and were now pretty much empty. There was no telling how long it would take for more local supplies to be delivered, for distribution to return to normal if it ever would.
Matthew helped me stock up on food and other general supplies on the day of the announcement while everyone was still barricaded in their homes. A lot still were in that situation, but the witch hunts had already begun. Fear caused people to do stupid and crazy things. We really were our own worst enemies.
I reminded Matthew of how much I wanted to set up a meeting with my friends, so I could finally come clean and help them to better protect themselves and their families. I felt terrible about lying to them for all these months since I’d been propositioned by the Society, and to finally be free of the secrets. I was so tired of secrets.
Now that the vampires were out in the open, I wanted to be too.
Alexis and Candace were really leery of leaving their homes, so I promised to pick them up. I got my Land Rover back, and according to Matthew, it was the safest thing on the road with all its extra reinforcing—bulletproof and nearly vampire-proof. So I collected the girls while Matthew picked up Sean at his house. Then we all met at my high-rise condo, high above the ensuing anarchy on the ground. The girls had been to the condo once before, so at least one thing would be familiar to them.
“You’re scary calm about this whole thing,” Candace said as we ascended to the top floor in the elevator. “Alex hasn’t stopped crying and I feel like I’m going batshit crazy.”
“I’m not crying,” Alexis said, despite wiping her cheeks for the millionth time.
“Maybe I’m just in shock,” I said with a shrug.
“Or like you’re dead inside—like a vampire! Are you one of them?” she asked, her eyes going wide. “Is that why you lured us over here? You’re not going to kill us, right? You can’t do that to your friends.”
“I’m not a vampire. God! Calm down,” I chided, rolling my eyes.
“I can’t calm down! That’s the point!”
“You’d tell us if you were, right?” Alexis asked, her voice trembling.
We reached the top floor and the doors opened. “I promise you, I’m not a vampire,” I said. “Now, come on.”
I guided them into the apartment, not listening to further grumbling from Candace. Matthew and Sean were already there. A bottle of red wine was open on the counter and each had a glass
—at least I thought the glass Matthew held in his hand was wine. I thought Sean had sworn off alcohol after the first day in Matthew’s estate but I supposed the downfall of society had a way of bringing about the need for escapism.
Alexis made a beeline for Sean and assaulted him with a powerful hug. Candace kept her distance from everyone and greeted the boys with a half-smile. I walked to the far side of the island and stood next to Matthew.
“And how about you?” Candace asked in a challenging tone, her gaze fixed on Matthew. “Are you a vampire?”
Matthew had no resistance to the question, and simply answered, “Yes.”
Both girls froze, their jaws nearly hitting the floor. Alexis broke from Sean’s embrace to put more distance between her and Matthew. For the first time ever, Candace lost her voice completely—along with a majority of her rosy complexion.
“Don’t freak out,” I said, holding my palms up and slowly coming around the island.
“Are we gonna die?” Candace squeaked out before I could reach her.
“No one’s gonna die.” I did my best to keep my tone as calm as possible. “No one’s gonna hurt you—either of you.” Even though my attention was primarily on Candace, I glanced over at Alexis to keep her focused on me. When I reached Candace, I lay a hand on her arm and she flinched, jerking away from my touch.
“I’m not here to harm you,” Matthew said, successfully mimicking my soothing tone. “I’m here to help.”
“He’s telling the truth,” Sean added.
“You knew this too?” Alexis asked, sounding betrayed.
“Only recently—and believe me, I didn’t take too well to the news at first either. But with all the scary shit going on outside right now, I’ve come to accept that Matthew here is one of the good guys.”
“I brought him here to help you,” I said, my gaze oscillating between Alexis and Candace. “To help you better understand. To help tell my story of the past year. And to help you better understand what we’re up against and how you can protect yourselves.”
“I always knew he looked too good to be true,” Candace said, starting to sound like herself again.
“Perhaps some wine will help calm the nerves a bit,” Matthew said, turning toward the cabinets to grab more wine glasses.
“And a Xanax.”
“You’re really a vampire?” Alexis asked. She crossed her arms, trying to lessen the tremors rippling through her body.
Matthew nodded. “I was turned in 1949.”
“Did you want to be turned?”
“No. I was turned against my will.” Matthew poured three new wine glasses. “But it was supposed to happen. Everything worked out exactly as it was supposed to. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Fiona, perhaps you’d like to start from your beginning.”
“I can do that,” I said, grabbing two of the glasses and handing them to my friends before taking the last one for myself. “Remember that last night in Black Star Canyon?”
“How could I forget,” Candace said sarcastically. “Oh wait… we seem to have forgotten everything about that night. And Sean, didn’t you say you had a similar experience some time ago?”
“Yeah, but we’ll get to me,” Sean said. He moved closer to Alexis.
“Well…” I said. “The truth is, I didn’t lose my memory that night. That was the night Matthew introduced me to a secret world of the craziest stories I’d ever heard—all of which turned out to be true. And the existence of vampires was just the beginning…”
I gave them the full rundown of my story, pretty much everything I’d recently told Sean. If I had to tell it again, my delivery would be even smoother. And like our confessions at the estate, Matthew followed me, then Sean ended with his harrowing tale.
I knew how hard it was to believe, but with the word now out to the general public that vampires existed, our story had that much more credibility.
“I thought vampires couldn’t go out in sunlight?” Candace asked after a few pensive moments of silence—and after emptying her second glass of wine.
“We generally can’t,” Matthew answered. “But years ago, a serum was developed that gave us temporary relief from the deadly rays of the sun. So those of us who use the serum can now function during the day. Those who don’t are confined to darkness.”
“So we’re not going to be safe day or night.”
“Which is the other reason why I’m here, to help make you safer,” Matthew said.
“You didn’t say safe,” Alexis commented.
“I’m not going to lie to you and provide a false sense of security. It’s dangerous out there, and it’s only going to get more so. You need to learn the basics of how to best protect yourselves. And we’ll start with a gift.” Matthew walked over to the kitchen table where a black leather bag had been set and proceeded to unzip it.
“I like gifts,” Candace said, watching him intently. “Is it vampire repellent or something?”
“Wouldn’t that be garlic?” Alexis asked.
“No, on both counts,” Matthew said, carrying three pistols back to the island.
“Vampires can be killed by guns?” Candace asked. “That’s awfully convenient.”
“These are special guns with special bullets, specifically designed for vampires,” Matthew said.
“Are you going to demonstrate on yourself?” Candace took the handgun passed to her.
“Umm… no,” Matthew said, passing out the other two pistols to Alexis and Sean. “The bullets in these clips are wood-encased hollow points. They will explode on contact, sending splinters into a vampire’s body. Stabbing a vampire with wood—like with a wooden stake you see so often in movies—will prevent a vampire from healing. It’s also incredibly painful. However, a stake can easily be pulled out. Embedded splinters, not so easily. The other problem with stakes is the proximity with which you have to use them. You need to be within stabbing distance—”
“What about a crossbow that shoots wooden stakes?” Alexis asked.
“That certainly would help the proximity issue, but not the easy removal issue. With this gun, along with the ability to be yards away, you can also easily conceal it. Carrying around a crossbow will be a bit more obvious.
“It worked pretty good on The Walking Dead,” Candace said.
“And if society fully collapses and it’s every man for himself, then that will be a viable alternative. But for now, this gun will provide adequate protection—you’ll be able to easily injure a vampire and prevent him from healing, thus giving you decent odds of escape.”
“How about killing one?” Candace asked.
“That’s a little more complicated—and messy,” Matthew said. “But we’ll get to that.”
My phone began to buzz in my back pocket, so I fished it out and looked at the screen. “If you’ll excuse me for a minute,” I said and walked toward the bedrooms.
Candace grabbed my arm as I walked past her. “Don’t even think about—”
“Don’t worry. You’re fine,” I assured her and kept on my way. Once I’d entered the hallway to the bedroom wing, I answered the call. “Hey, Abigail. What’s—”
“Someone’s here,” she whispered into the phone, her tone urgent and desperate.
“What do you mean?”
“Someone broke into our house and has my mother. I think it’s one of them.”
“Where are you?” I asked.
“In my closet. I don’t think he knows I’m here.”
“Good. Try to keep it that way, no matter what happens downstairs. I’m leaving now. Call 911. Keep yourself hidden and safe.”
“I already called the police, but no one’s answering. I didn’t know who else to call.” Abigail sounded like she was trying to fight back tears. “She’s in pain. I can hear her.”
“You did the right thing. Hold tight. I’ll get there as soon as I can,” I said and promptly hung up the phone.
32
Matthew
Fiona charged out of the bedr
oom wing only a few minutes after leaving me with her friends. “Abigail and Gillian are in trouble,” she said breathlessly. “We have to help them.”
“Slow down,” I said, trying to remain calm. “What’s the problem?”
“A vampire broke into their house. Gillian’s been attacked. Abigail’s hiding in her room. And the police aren’t responding. We need to do something!”
“Okay. I agree. We need to help them,” I said.
“What about us?” Sean asked. The tremor in his hand holding the wine glass gave away his heightened anxiety.
“Stay here,” I commanded. “It will be safest that way. But if any one of you needs to return home, then you can take my Land Rover.”
I grabbed the keys from my pocket and tossed them to Sean.
He was so flustered, he couldn’t even catch the incoming car keys. Instead, they clunked across the hardwood floor and under the kitchen table. If the situation wasn’t so tense, then his feeble attempt to snatch them out of the air would have garnered a few laughs.
“I’d feel better waiting here,” Alexis said.
“Me too,” Candace seconded. “But you’d better come back for us.”
“We’ll be back as soon as we can,” Fiona promised, then rushed for the door, forcing me to use my extra speed to catch up to her.
Since I’d relinquished my keys, we took Fiona’s Land Rover. Fiona was happy to let me drive since my vampire reflexes would allow us to get to Abigail’s house faster. The lack of traffic also helped. I’d only been there once, but I still clearly remembered the way.
“I’d prefer if you remain in the car while I scope out the situation,” I said as I pulled the SUV to the curb in front of the house.
“I didn’t come here to wait in the car,” Fiona argued. “She’s my sister.”
“I understand that, but I don’t know what we’re walking into.”
“Abigail only mentioned one intruder.”
“That doesn’t mean she’s right,” I said, but already felt myself losing. Fiona had always been headstrong and I didn’t see that changing now.
Angeles Covenant Page 17
