MR. HAMMOND
Mr. Hammond was panic stricken. His eyes were wide as saucers and he drew his breaths in quick, uneven gasps.
“There is no point in struggling,” Roman hissed.
“What do you want?” Mr. Hammond gasped.
“Answers,” Roman said.
He spun Mr. Hammond around and placed him roughly on a stool by the table.
“If you scream I will tear your throat out. Do you understand?” Roman asked. Quinn saw the edges of his faces begin to turn a splotchy shade of ashen gray.
“Mr. Hammond,” Quinn spoke up, hoping to stop Roman from revealing his true self too soon.
“You!” said Mr. Hammond. His eyes were like daggers. “I should have known that Aguire was double dealing. That swine!”
“Mr. Hammond please,” Quinn pleaded. “Please just try to calm down.”
“You break into my house and tell me to calm down?” The man was on the verge of hysteria. Quinn looked at Roman as he stood hovering over Mr. Hammond.
“I hear you’re some kind of doctor,” Roman said calmly. “What exactly are you a doctor of?”
“None of your damn business,” spat Mr. Hammond.
Roman grabbed the man by the neck and lifted him straight up into the air. Mr. Hammond’s feet dangled, squirming beneath him. Quinn saw the gray patches on Roman’s skin begin to spread out the way watercolors disperse when applied to a wet canvas. His mouth opened wide and Quinn heard an audible pop as the jaw bones disconnected. His eyes burned and he tilted his head to the side.
“You know what I am. I know you do,” he said, his voice dripping with anger. “You are going to tell me everything I need to know and if you don’t, if you leave out even the minutest detail, I will end you. Do we understand each other?”
Mr. Hammond nodded furiously. Roman let him fall back down onto the stool almost toppling it. He righted himself and tried to catch his breath. Quinn stood motionless hoping, for his sake, that Mr. Hammond would do as he was asked.
“What kind of doctor are you?” Roman asked again.
“I am a hematologist,” Mr. Hammond answered.
“Of course you are,” said Roman as if he was expecting that answer. “You know of my kind, obviously.”
“Yes, of course.”
“What do you do with samples Mr. Aguire provides to you?” asked Quinn.
“Research,” Mr. Hammond snapped. “Aguire may work for your kind, but he’s human through and through.”
“He was human,” Roman corrected.
Mr. Hammond’s face twinged as he slowly came to comprehend what Roman was saying.
“He’s dead?” Mr. Hammond asked.
“He was attacked,” Quinn said.
“By you?” asked Mr. Hammond looking at Roman.
“No,” Roman said curtly. “By two others. They were there for the O.”
“Ah, I see,” Mr. Hammond said quietly.
“Aguire worked for us, my kind, why was he dealing to you?” Roman asked.
Mr. Hammond hesitated.
“Is your wife still asleep?” Roman asked. He took a step towards the stairs.
“Aguire didn’t want to be a pawn any longer!” Mr. Hammond said hurriedly. “He was working for your kind, yes, but he was also working for someone else. Another faction of very powerful people who would see your kind wiped from the face of the earth!”
Quinn watched as Roman processed what Mr. Hammond said.
“I thought you said that Mr. Aguire worked for vampires?” Quinn looked to Roman for answers.
“He did,” Roman replied.
“He was a selfish man,” said Mr. Hammond. “He cared about money and not much else. He had been in league with your kind for so long that he simply didn’t know any better. But a few years ago he came to me and asked me if it was possible for me to create a synthetic O negative compound that hide a highly toxic antigen.”
“We can’t process the antigens, that’s the point,” said Roman.
“No, you’re missing the point entirely,” Mr. Hammond said. “This other group of people, this Council as he called them, they want nothing more than to see vampires eradicated and so they have tried, with my help, to create a toxic form of the thing you crave the most.”
Quinn approached Mr. Hammond, she saw that he was trembling.
“Who are the Council?” she asked.
“I don’t know, I swear,” Mr. Hammond stammered. His entire body trembled.
“Have you succeeded?” Roman asked.
“The research shows that it is possible, I’ve come close, but…” he trailed off.
“But what?” Roman snapped.
“The appeal that O holds for vampires, it is almost impossible to recreate. I cannot replicate it.”
Quinn walked over to the storage refrigerator and saw behind the glass that there were several bags labeled “O-X”.
“What are these?” she asked.
“That is the closest I’ve come to reproducing the O with the antigen and the correct scent.” Mr. Hammond glanced at Roman.
“Bring me one,” Roman said to Quinn.
Quinn reached in and pulled out one of the chilled bags. She set it down on the table in front of Mr. Hammond. Roman picked it up and peeled the seal open carefully. He inhaled deeply and his eyes began to burn a warm fiery brown.
“It’s close. Very close,” Roman murmured. He seemed to be trying to collect his thoughts. “It’s got nothing on you.” He said glancing at Quinn.
“She’s a carrier?” Mr. Hammond asked.
Roman pitched the bag of blood into a waste bin and leaned in so close to Mr. Hammond that their faces almost touched.
“If you succeed in this, what then? We’ll be hunted down and force fed this poison?”
Mr. Hammond rolled his eyes. “That won’t be necessary. There is a shortage of O, all we have to do is supply the blood banks with the O-X. Vampires will consume it willingly and then your numbers will dwindle to nothing. It will be over.”
“Why?” Quinn asked softly.
“I can’t answer that,” said Mr. Hammond.
“I need to find the Council,” Roman said. “Tell me what you know.”
“I don’t know much, they are secretive. There are so many intermediaries you’d never be able to track them down. There are rumors, of course, but that’s just gossip and conjecture.”
“What are the rumors?” Quinn asked.
Roman stayed close to Mr. Hammond as he spilled his secrets. “They say the Council fears only one vampire. They stay out of the Romanian territory because this particular vampire has dominion there. Their entire aim is to get to this one. To destroy it.”
“They would destroy us all to get to this one vampire?” Roman asked.
“Yes,” said Mr. Hammond, narrowing his eyes and focusing directly on Roman. “Without question.”
ǂ
The Zero Antigen Theorem, The Quinn Santos Chronicles, Book 1 is just the tip of the iceberg. To find out who the Council really are and what their aim is, and to find out more about Quinn’s mysterious past, please pick up Book 2!
Find Kalynn Bayron at
www.KalynnBayron.com
www.Facebook.com/kalynnbayron
@KalynnBayron
Other titles by Kalynn Bayron
Six Points of Light:Hook’s Origin
The Zero Antigen Theorem Book 2
Drasal Lands: The Ozemis Prophecy
Pure & Simple Baby Care
Coming soon!
Six Points of Light:The Lost Son
The Zero Antigen Theorem Book 3
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The Zero Antigen Theorem: Book 1 Page 4
