by J. C. Diem
Dismay swept across Pricilla when she came to the same conclusion. “Your boss will know we did this and he’ll come here looking for us! What are we going to do?”
“I’ll take care of it,” I replied. “Find somewhere to sleep and I’ll join you shortly.”
Out of time and out of options, Katrina nodded curtly and ran towards a distant farm building. Staring down at the now deceased deer, I wondered exactly how I was supposed to disguise the fact that a nest of vampires had fed from it. If I could somehow fashion some claws, I could make it look as though a mountain lion had attacked the doe.
At that thought, the door in my mind cracked open and my wolf whispered to me. Listening to her instructions, I held my hands out. Like magic, I forced my nails to grow until they were several inches long and were wickedly sharp. The previous times that I’d changed or had almost changed when it wasn’t the full moon had been due to extreme emotion. This time I didn’t have rage or despair to distract me. With my mind clear, it had been far easier to control the transformation. It hadn’t even hurt much.
With a few strategic swipes of my new claws, I hid the bite marks that we’d made. Hopefully, it would look like a cougar had been interrupted in its attack and had left the deer to bleed out. We’d consumed a lot of the blood, but a fair amount had been splashed on the snow. From the low clouds, a storm was on the way, which might hide the animal completely.
Scrubbing my hands clean in the icy slush, I reduced my claws to normal fingernails again then sprinted after the others. I followed their scent to where they’d slid into the crawlspace beneath the house. It wasn’t ideal accommodations, but at least the sun wouldn’t be able to reach us here.
Worming my way towards the others, I kept some space between us. Katrina rolled over to face me and her glittering eyes watched me until the sun came up. I closed mine and pretended to fall asleep. The rest of the group fell into true sleep seconds later.
Opening my eyes again when I felt them go inert, I wasn’t tired enough to sleep yet. I was also curious about just how different I was from the others. I’d only had a small touch of sunlight and it hadn’t affected me at all. I decided it was time to see how I’d react to being bathed in full sunlight.
The family finally came awake and went about their daily routine. This involved getting the children off to school and their parents to work. When they were gone, I slithered over to the edge of the house and rolled out into the sun. Warmth bathed me, but again I didn’t burst into silver flames. I barely had to squint against the brightness.
With a small sigh of near-regret, I stood and hefted my backpack over my shoulder. With the family absent, I might as well use their house. Finding a window on the second floor that had been left open slightly, I leaped up to the sill. Pushing the window up, I climbed inside then closed the window again.
I used the main bathroom to shower then changed into fresh clothes. Next on my agenda was breakfast. Sitting at the small kitchen table eating cereal and drinking coffee, I almost felt as if nothing had changed since I’d joined Katrina’s band of unholy bloodsuckers. The only real difference was that I was now bound to my insane mother rather than to Reece. Plus, I’d lost the ability to feel, but that didn’t bother me. It was actually a blessing. Living with angst and constant turmoil had been exhausting.
After breakfast, I settled into a comfortable armchair in the living room. I turned on the TV and flicked through the channels until I found a movie that I hadn’t seen before. It was a romantic comedy, but I had no urge to laugh or to sigh over the handsome hero.
I returned to my spot beneath the house when I heard a car approaching later that afternoon. Tired, I fell asleep and woke when my mother elbowed me in the side a few hours later. We stealthily squirmed out from beneath the house and huddled together in the shadows. Our pale faces glowed eerily in the wan moonlight.
“What now?” Kevin asked. “Where are we going to live?” Out of the men, he was the most timid. Benjamin and Orlando were slightly more self-assured, but all three were firmly beneath Katrina’s thumb.
“We could kill this family and make their house our new lair,” Candice suggested. She was the youngest in mortal years, but she was still a few years older than me and should have known better.
“That’s a stupid idea,” I said flatly and she flashed me a nasty look. “How long do you think it would take before their deaths are discovered? They have kids and jobs. The cops would be called and the property would be searched. Even if we hid, the house would eventually be sold and someone else would move in.”
She couldn’t flush in embarrassment, but she glowered at me evilly instead.
“Where do you suggest we live then, since you’re so smart?” Benjamin asked snidely.
“There are plenty of abandoned buildings in the city.” I’d seen them while we’d been hunting down the seven psychics on my first mission with the TAK Squad. “We should be able to find one that’s secure.”
Katrina was appalled. “You want us to live in the city itself? It’s too risky. We’d be in danger of being discovered.”
Looking at them critically, I made a suggestion. “If you’d clean yourselves up, wash your hair and wear clothes that aren’t filthy and bloodstained, you’d almost be able to pass for human.”
“We eat humans,” Orlando said with a twist of his lips. “We don’t live with them. They’re beneath us.”
“That’s funny coming from someone who looks like a wino,” I told him bluntly. “Humans would take pity on you and give you change so you could buy yourself a pair of shoes.” Everyone looked down at their bare feet. I was the only one wearing boots. “We’re not above them. We’re parasites.” I included myself in that observation in the hope that they thought I counted myself as one of them. I wished I could just walk away and leave them to their fate, but Katrina had tied me to her too tightly.
Offended at being called a parasite, Benjamin took a threatening step towards me. A withering look from Katrina had him backing down. She studied me and noticed that I was clean and tidy compared to them. “Vampires have always lived on the fringes and in the shadows. We have no experience at dwelling among humans.”
“We were all human once,” I reminded her. “Have you forgotten everything about being one?”
With an introspective look, she sighed. “We could try it,” she said grudgingly. “I don’t know how we’re supposed to make ourselves presentable when we don’t have a reflection.”
“We can be each other’s mirrors,” I said.
“That might work for you two,” Pricilla said grumpily. “You look almost exactly alike.”
Orlando cut a sly glance at Kevin. “You can mirror Pricilla, Kevin. You could almost pass for a girl with that long hair.”
Kevin threw a wild punch at Orlando, who managed to dodge it. Before their fight could escalate, Katrina stepped between them. Under her cold stare, they both went quiet. Satisfied that she’d cowed them, she turned to me. “Find us somewhere safe to use as our new lair. Then we’ll see about the rest of your plan.”
₪₪₪
Chapter Ten
Using the eerie speed that was native to vampirekind, we sprinted the rest of the way to Denver. Zooming past cars and pedestrians, I herded the group towards the industrial area where I’d confronted the psychic known as Lust. It was thanks to her that I’d bitten Reece and had sealed our bond. Instead of the desolation I’d normally suffer at that thought, I felt nothing.
Not much had changed since I’d last been to the city. There were plenty of buildings that weren’t currently in use. I chose a three story brick building that looked as if it had been unoccupied for years. The windows and doors were boarded over and the ladder to the fire escape was missing. Trash had gathered in the corners of the cracked parking lot. A fence surrounded the property, but it had fallen over in several places. Warehouses that would be bustling with activity during the day were our closest neighbors. Everyone had gone home for the day and the
area was still and quiet.
I leapt up to the second level of the fire escape then climbed the rest of the way up to the roof. As I’d suspected, I found a door that led to an internal staircase. The lock broke when I yanked the door open. Entering and leaving through the staircase would be a far better idea than removing any of the boards from the windows or doors.
The thick layer of dust and lack of footprints in the staircase and the hallway beyond indicated that no one had entered the building in the recent past. My hearing was so acute that I would have been able to detect anyone if they’d been inside. “It’s safe,” I said loudly enough for the others to hear me.
Katrina was the first to join me and was quickly followed by the others. Although the industrial area was deserted at night, the neighboring suburbs were residential. They didn’t like being in such close proximity to so many humans and were hiding their fear poorly. So much for them being superior to our food source. I wisely kept that thought to myself.
We briefly searched all three levels and found only empty rooms that had once been offices. Dusty dark brown industrial carpet covered the floors. The walls were a uniform shade of beige. It was dreary and boring, but it was still a step up from the hovel that had been their dwelling in New Orleans.
“I suppose we’ll have to sleep on the floor like animals,” Candice complained sourly.
“We passed a furniture store on the way here,” I said. “I’m sure we can break in and take what we need.” We would be in and out before the cameras could even catch us on film, if there was even any security in place.
Katrina nodded her agreement of my plan and we left via the roof. She didn’t bother to take the fire escape and instead stepped off the ledge and fell to the ground. She landed lightly on her feet, as did the others. I stepped off last and felt the brief sensation of wind streaming past me before I landed. I might not be fully undead, but I resembled one enough that no one yet realized just how different I was.
I took the lead and the others followed me the few blocks to the furniture store. We were in luck and there were no security cameras guarding the place. The gate was locked, but it wasn’t much of a deterrent. I gave it a hard shove and it came completely off its hinges and flew across the parking lot. Hitting the side of the building, it fell to the ground with a noisy clang.
We listened for shouts, but there was no one nearby to overhear the ruckus. Crossing the lot, we approached the loading bay. A heavy duty padlock barred our entry. Benjamin tore it off then pushed the loading bay door up. As I’d expected, an alarm immediately blared to life. “We have at least five minutes before anyone will arrive,” I said when everyone immediately poised to run. “That’s plenty of time for us to pick and choose what we need.”
This time, Katrina led the way. Despite her calm façade, I could feel her nerves. She’d been taught to remain beneath the radar and to avoid humans unless it was to feed from them. She was putting a lot of trust in me. If she knew how little her orders affected me, she might not have been quite so blasé about putting her safety in my hands.
Heading to the display area, Katrina chose three Queen sized beds that came equipped with mattresses, sheets and blankets. I wasn’t prepared to share a bed with anyone and picked out a small single bed for myself. I was strong enough to carry it without any effort at all.
Spying a plush brown leather armchair, Katrina stopped long enough to grab it before following me outside.
Avoiding cars and pedestrians, we sped back to our lair with our stolen goods. None of the furniture would fit in the staircase. We left them in the empty parking lot where they were out of sight of the road then returned to the furniture store. By the time we were done, we’d pilfered thousands of dollars’ worth of merchandise.
We left just as a security guard was arriving to investigate the alarm, streaking past him so quickly that we were a mere blur. Back at our lair, we broke open a pair of doors near the parking lot. They were just wide enough for us to be able to carry the furniture inside without needing to dismantle anything. I used my fists to hammer the boards back into place when everything had been carted inside. Then I entered through the door on the roof and jogged down the stairs to the ground floor again.
Katrina chose an inner office without windows on the ground floor to be her bedroom. The others picked two more rooms nearby. I already had my room picked out and made sure it was as far from the others as I could get. I wrestled my single bed up through the staircase to the third floor.
Beds weren’t the only furniture that we’d pilfered. We’d stolen several dressers as well as furniture for the living room. While I returned to the ground floor to appropriate one of the dressers, the others were setting up chairs in the foyer to use as a gathering area. Katrina had allowed us to have chairs of our own rather than forcing us to sit at her feet this time. They’d been arranged in a semi-circle facing her. Our plain white plastic seats were cheap and nasty compared to her grand leather recliner, but they were better than nothing.
During my brief investigation of the building earlier, I’d found what must have been an executive office on the third floor. My small bed and lone dresser looked almost lonely in the large space. The distance from the ground floor wasn’t the only reason why I’d picked this room. It had a full bathroom that included a shower. The water was still running, which was a relief. I was still human enough to need to use the toilet. None of the others had that requirement. Luckily, the room was soundproofed so they wouldn’t hear me flush.
Remembering that this shower wasn’t the only one in the building, I returned to the second floor to examine the other bathroom again. It was in an executive office that was much smaller than the room I’d claimed. There was no hot water, but it wouldn’t hurt us to bathe with cold water. We’d need more supplies if Katrina truly intended to follow my advice.
“What do we do now?” the object of my thoughts said from behind me. I hadn’t heard her approaching, but I’d sensed her arrival and wasn’t surprised when she spoke.
“Now we need to find clothes, shampoo and soap. It would be safest if we didn’t go as a group.” Far noisier than she’d been, her lackeys followed in her wake. They were either curious about what I was doing or they didn’t trust me. The second option was more likely.
“I’ll go with you,” she said and turned to the others. “Stay here and don’t bring attention to yourselves.”
“Yes, master,” they muttered in response. Their replies were grudging, but they had no choice but to obey her direct command. Instinct told me I wouldn’t have the same restrictions, but I still didn’t know why.
“Come,” she said imperiously and headed for the roof.
Instead of breaking into a trendy clothing store that would have at least some security, I led Katrina to a secondhand store that had seen better times. With her bedraggled appearance, I made sure we stayed out of sight of the few pedestrians who were braving the cold weather. She’d be sure to be remembered if she was spotted.
Entering an alley behind the store, I bore down on the door handle until metal and springs crunched inside. I hadn’t seen any signs of security alarms and none sounded when I pulled the door open.
Katrina swept in ahead of me, regal despite the layers of dirt that covered her from head to toe. I wondered if the vanity that she’d left behind with her humanity had been resurrected with my arrival. We looked very similar, but as I’d pointed out, her appearance was deplorable. I managed to stay clean while she looked like a street urchin.
I browsed through the clothing until I found a shirt that I thought might fit me. Without thinking, I held it up to my chin and turned to the mirror to see how it looked. Katrina went still when she saw my murky reflection. “So, you are even less like us than I’d believed.” Her bored tone belied the shock that I could feel through our link.
“You know that I’m different from you?” I asked cautiously.
“Of course,” she scoffed. “Did you think I couldn’t hear y
our heart beating, see you breathing or feel the warmth of your skin? The others are too stupid to realize that you are still clinging to a semblance of life, but I am far more intelligent than they will ever be.” Her smile was decidedly superior.
“Why do you keep them with you?” As far as I could tell, she didn’t feel any kind of affection for any of them.
“Would you want to spend eternity alone?” It was a rhetorical question and I didn’t answer her. “I allowed them to live because they are too mindless to plot against me,” she explained.
I heard the unspoken warning in her voice and nodded in understanding. She’d engineered her own maker’s death and we both knew I’d be able to arrange hers as well if I really wanted to. It seemed I took after her more than either of us had realized.
Guessing at the sizes, we chose several changes of clothing for everyone and shoved them haphazardly into shopping bags. On our way back to our new lair, we stopped at an all-night convenience store. Katrina waited outside in the shadows while I used my rapid speed to zoom inside and snatch the items that we needed from the shelves. I’d left my purse behind in New Orleans and had no way of paying for the items even if I’d been inclined to.
Loaded up with everything on my mental list, we headed back to the three story building. Katrina chose Kevin to be her eyes and to make sure she was clean. Before long, I heard moans coming from the shower on the second floor. The others were busy examining the clothes that we’d acquired, so I headed up to the third floor where I could take a shower in privacy.
I sensed someone approaching just as I finished rinsing out my hair. Stepping out from beneath the water, I wrapped a towel around myself just as Benjamin pushed the door open. His eyes crawled over me as he reached for his shirt and began to pull it over his head.
