I looked at two guys standing in front of me. My vision was still a little blurry, but they slowly came into focus. I bounced a little as the moving van drove around the city blocks.
“Hi,” the man on the left said. “My name's John Bachner. The fellow next to me is Andrew Heins.”
The infamous Bachner and Heins. My first look at either one of them.
Bachner was in his forties with light blond hair. Looked normal enough. Medium build. Probably a little taller than me, if we were standing completely straight. He didn't exactly stand out in a crowd, probably a good trait for a vampire killer to have. He looked at me, sizing me up. He had an intelligent look to him, like he studied everything.
Heins, on the other hand, looked to be the complete opposite. No hair at all, an old scar on the side of his face. He looked like he spent all his time in the gym. He had a mean, almost angry expression on his face. When we locked eyes, he spit on the floor of the van in front of me, narrowly missing my shoe.
I pulled my wrist against the handcuffs. I was so close to vanishing from their sight and leaving the van. But something kept me in place. I wasn't worried at all because I knew I wasn't in any real danger, and I have to admit, I acted a little recklessly.
“How you doing? Nice to meet you.”
Heins almost snarled.
“You're not a vampire,” Bachner said, cutting out any chance of small talk. “Obviously, cause you can get a suntan, like the rest of us. But my men tell me you're not human. I laughed at first, then I see pictures of you flying all over the place. What are you? Some kind of government experiment or something?”
I didn't say anything.
So Heins gave me a nice right fist to the cheek.
My head rocked back. If it wasn't for the handcuffs, I would have fallen.
In my head I saw me doing a quick vanish, then lunging for Heins' throat. Very bad thoughts started to creep in. I hoped it was anger, and not the demon in me. But I kept in control. I kept telling myself I actually had the advantage. They knew nothing about me, and there was no reason to show them what I was capable of.
At least not yet.
“Heins, calm down,” Bachner said. He almost looked irritated. He looked at me. “What's your name?”
I almost didn't say anything. But I had a feeling deep down they already knew who I was. They could have also grabbed my wallet if they really wanted to.
“Alex Teague.”
“Ah. Okay Alex. I don't know who or what you are. And to be honest, I don't care. You're not a vampire. So I don't want to kill you. I only kill vampires. That's it. But you have made friends with one.”
“Are you fuckin' kidding?” Heins roared. “This little punk beat the shit out of our guys. They said they flamed him down and it didn't do shit. Let me put a bullet in his head now.”
“Inside the van, Heins? Are you out of your mind?”
They both looked at each other, and I noticed something. Tension. Partners or not, something was definitely going on with them.
“Why do you want to kill her?” I asked, careful not to drop her name. “Just because she's a vampire, doesn't make her evil. She's a good person.”
“Tell that to my grandfather,” Bachner snapped.
He saw the surprise on my face.
“She didn't tell you, did she? Victoria killed my grandfather, when I was a little kid. And now it's her turn. I've tracked her down so many times, and she's always just gotten away. Well, not this time. I'm only trying to warn you, to save your life. You think she's your friend. Vampires don't have friends. She'll rip your heart out when you don't see it coming.”
Heins leaned in close. “So if you don't back the fuck off, and mind your own business, your sister, that hot little black bitch you hang out with, your mommy, they all die. Understand?”
Bachner grabbed his partner's shoulder. “Heins, would you shut the fuck up?”
I didn't look at Bachner at all. My gaze was settled right on Heins. He gave me a hard slap before leaning away.
They knew more about me than I thought. I was stunned at Heins' threats for a second. Then I got angry.
“If you even think about my friends and family, I'll-”
“You'll what?” Bachner cut me off. “What will you do? You'll kill us? I'm sorry, Alex, but you don't look like much of a killer to me. More like a forklift driver.”
I smiled. I was also afraid. Not of them, but because of the outright evil thoughts going through my head. I didn't feel like myself.
Demon blood influencing me?
“Kill? Nope. That would be too quick. There's worse things. I've seen them. Would you like to?”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Heins asked.
Suddenly, quick flashes of the demon world, all around me. The van was gone, then back again, several times. Each time, more and more demons surrounded me. Some were missing limbs. Others walked around without heads. Some dripped what looked like blood from their mouths and made noises that scared the hell out of me. Snarls and moans.
But they were loyal to me.
“We'll kill them for you, master.”
“You're part of us.”
Hallucinations. At least, I prayed they were.
“Listen, Alex, nothing is gonna happen to your family and friends,” Bachner was saying. He gave Heins an angry look. “All I want you to do is stay away from Victoria. I can't guarantee your safety if you don't.”
“Are we done here?” I said. I felt like I was gonna puke.
Bachner shrugged. “Sure. I've said my case.”
Heins was furious. “You're a fuckin' idiot.”
“Stop the van,” he called to the driver. He pulled out a key and undid my handcuffs. “Think about what I said. Be careful who you trust.”
“I think I'll trust someone who doesn't burn down butcher shops.”
This time, Bachner had a look of surprise, but only for a second. I could read it in his face.
He didn't know.
The van stopped at a light, and I opened the rear door and jumped out. Bachner and I exchanged one last look as he reached out to close the door.
A car honking behind me made me jump and get out of the street. I watched the van drive away and make a right turn.
“I don't think so,” I said out loud.
I vanished right in the middle of the sidewalk, not caring if anyone saw me. I started to run. It didn't take me long to catch up, since walls and getting tired weren't a problem.
Me running through the city trying to keep up with a van. It was deja vu all over again. The chase was uneventful. I took a few shortcuts through a few buildings, almost lost them a few times when they picked up speed. But they eventually led me to a warehouse on the edge of town. I slowed up, but still stayed vanished, as I watched the van pull inside a large dock. I ran up and walked inside.
I found their home base.
I looked at everything I could see. There was a makeshift living room in the corner. They had workout equipment that dwarfed anything I had. A large table was against one wall, full of weapons. Guns, crossbows, grenades. They had five vans.
There looked to be about thirty men. Some watched TV. Others were checking the weapons. I saw two guys boxing in the corner.
Victoria was right. It was a small army.
I got inside in time to see Bachner, Heins, and their driver getting out of the van. Bachner and Heins were loud enough to hear anywhere in the warehouse.
“I don't want to hear it, Heins.”
“Would you just fuckin' listen to me? I would have had that little punk talking in five minutes. He'd tell us exactly where the bitch is, and we'd be dragging her dead ass into the sun right now.”
“You sound like the mafia. Maybe you missed your calling.”
“Tell me I'm wrong.”
“It's not about that. You don't attack a vampire in their lair. Come on, you should know this shit by now.”
“And why not?”
“Because
she doesn't live in a goddamn cave. She lives in a house with people around her. We attack her, and innocent people get hurt.”
“Oh Jesus Christ,” Heins said, rolling his eyes.
Bachner looked over his men.
“Now, I want to know what really happened last night. Did some of you careless bastards destroy a butcher's shop? Did you put someone's livelihood out of business?”
A man stepped forward. I recognized him as one of the guys from the night before. He looked horrible. Bruises and cuts, and a bandage over his right eye.
“I'm telling you, Bachner. That was that bloodsucking bitch. She torched the shit.”
Bachner didn't look convinced.
“Everyone listen up. We are in the business of killing vampires. We do not put people in harm's way. We don't destroy people's businesses. We are in control, not those fuckin' bloodsuckers that we hunt. I'm trusting all of you to act smart and be in control. If you can't get with it, there's the door.”
“Gonna believe a vampire's bitch instead of your own guys. You're a pussy,” Heins said.
Bachner spun around and took a step forward. For a second, I thought fists were gonna fly. They both had a dangerous look in their eyes. Then Bachner calmed down. Heins looked like he would kill him, but something told me Bachner was just as dangerous. He looked over his men.
“There are vampires in this city. You track them, you kill them quietly. Now this is a whole new ball game. They're cooking up something. I want to know what that thing is. Get me some answers.”
Bachner pointed to something covered in a far corner. Heins followed him, and they argued some more. If it weren't for the fact that Bachner wanted to kill my friend, he would almost seem like an okay guy.
I walked over to where Bachner pointed, to an empty corner where no one was. They had a tarp covering something rectangular. I saw the tarp move a little.
Something was alive in there.
I took a deep breath, then pushed my head through. I felt the tarp, then cold steel. It was a cage.
I was inches away from a male vampire.
He lashed out. Not at me, but at the cage bars. He was wild, like all the other ones I'd seen so far. His hair was a mess. His fangs stuck out just beyond his lower lip. He wore a ruined security uniform that read W.R.S., whatever that meant.
He didn't see me, but that didn't mean I wanted to be near him. I backed out of the cage and took one last look at the warehouse, trying to think about what I was really seeing.
Bachner looked like he barely had control over his own men. He and Heins were at each other's throats. They were on the hunt for more vampires, and they had a feral one in a cage.
Victoria would definitely want to hear about this.
Chapter 26
It took me almost two hours to make it to her house. I had to run back to my truck, then fight city traffic. I gave her a call on the cell phone to let her know I was on the way. It only took her a second to answer the gate buzzer when I got there.
“Alex?” she said.
“Yeah, it's me.”
“Come in. I'll unlock all the doors. Just shut them behind you.”
Victoria was pacing near her living area on her cell phone. I had to do a double-take as I got closer. She was only wearing a bra and panties.
I tried to keep my eyes low. Her hair was wet. She must have just showered earlier.
“Okay,” she was saying on the phone. “He just got here. I'll give you a call as soon as the sun goes down.”
She tossed the phone on the couch and put her hands on her hips. She turned straight at me, not trying to hide anything. Not quite on Cindy's level, but hot nonetheless.
“That was William,” she said. “He filled me in on what happened this morning. We're gonna head over to his house when the sun sets. He has some notes he wants to go over.”
“Uh, Victoria. Would you mind putting on some clothes?”
“Sorry. Just got out of the shower. Hold on. I keep forgetting you're not comfortable around hot women.”
“You're so funny.”
She talked while she slipped on a pair of jeans and a tee-shirt.
“What happened to your eye?” she asked. “Make some new friends today?”
I'd forgotten about the love tap Heins gave me. My eye was a little swollen. Luckily it didn't hurt much. “You could say that.”
I caught her up on what my day was like while we sat on the couch. I told her about Heins and Bachner, their base, the vampire they had in a cage. She listened to every word.
“So, they found a feral vampire too,” she said.
“Yeah. They didn't know what it was. “
“That makes two of us. It's good to hear they're just as clueless as we are.”
I hesitated with my next question.
“Victoria, is it true you killed Bachner's grandfather?”
She took a breath. “Yeah, it's true.”
“What happened?”
I could tell she didn't want to talk about it. But she did. “That was about forty years ago, maybe? I didn't want to, Alex. He was a vampire hunter, just like Bachner. He wouldn't let up, tracked me for a year. I kept sparing his life, and letting him go. I kept telling him, 'I'm not a bad person'. But he wouldn't listen. I kept thinking if I let him live, he'd leave me alone. Then one day he and five other hunters get me in a corner. It was either them or me. I chose me.”
“He said vampires don't make friends.”
She almost laughed. “He might not be too far off there. It's hard to have friendships with humans when you know you'll outlive them. But you and me, we're friends, Alex. I hope you believe that.”
I nodded.
“You look pretty bad.”
“Well, thank you.”
“I mean tired. Get some rest. We have a few hours before the sun sets. I promise I'll keep my hands to myself. Unless you say otherwise.”
I laughed, and stretched out on her loveseat. She was right. I was exhausted. The past few days were starting to get to me.
“No, thanks.”
“Damn. I can go to any club and have my teeth in someone's neck in twenty minutes. What does Cindy got that I don't?”
“I wish I knew, so I could maybe get it out of my head.”
I was asleep in five minutes.
Too bad it wasn't restful.
*****
I woke up on the couch, but Victoria's basement was long gone. I was in the middle of a red desert with a hot sun overhead. I heard a thunderstorm coming. The sky had a reddish glow. Before I could even wonder what was going on, I saw them all around me.
Demons.
They were feasting on corpses. At least I thought they were corpses. They started to move and moan in pain.
Just like at the church in Blossom.
All I could hear was them eating. Chewing, munching noises. Flesh being ripped from bone. Blood spilling onto the sand. They noticed me, but didn't make a move. I could sense fear. Whether the corpses were afraid of the demons, or the demons afraid of me, I couldn't tell.
A quiet whisper echoed in my ear.
“Let us out.”
“No!” I said, anger in my voice.
“You're a part of us. Forever.”
Suddenly, the demon world was gone. Victoria was shaking my shoulder. Her pale, pretty face was a few inches from mine.
“You okay?” she asked. “You're having a nightmare.”
I swung my legs over the couch and rested my head in my hands.
“That's one way of putting it.”
“The sun's almost down. You ready for a ride?”
I was still drowsy, but knew I didn't have much of a choice. “I guess so.”
It was dusk outside. The sun had set, but there was still a little light coming over the horizon. I knew she'd say I watched too many movies, but I guessed vampires couldn't come out unless it was pitch black. I was wrong.
We drove for a while in silence. I thought back to the past two days. I wish I could fi
gure out what was going on. But if Victoria was in the dark, there was no way I'd be of any help. I still didn't know why she wanted me along. Probably just for company. She kept tossing out her little comments like she was interested in me, but I knew that was part of how she acted. She was my mentor, and she genuinely wanted to see me with Cindy.
That made two of us.
“What do you think is going on?” I asked.
“I don't know. Some bad blood going around, maybe? Turning vampires feral?”
“Well, it must be pretty strong stuff. Between yesterday and today, three crazy mindless vampires. Good thing Bill is immune.”
“Why?”
“He didn't tell you? The one in the morgue took a bite out of him this morning.”
She gave me a worried look, then grabbed her cell phone.
“He said he'd been bit before,” I said. “That you even drank from him.”
She didn't say anything. She spoke in her cell phone.
“William. It's me, Victoria. If you're there, pick up.”
Silence.
“Dammit. Okay, we're on our way over now.”
She hung up.
“Everything alright?”
“I hope so. Let's just get there.”
We parked on the side of a street full of town-houses, way on the other end of the city. His was the last house on the end before one of those huge separating walls stood between the street and the beltway. She knocked on the door.
“William! It's us.”
Nothing.
“Fuck,” she said.
She looked around for anyone else on the street. There was a group of kids near the other end playing, but they were far away. Victoria took a step back. I stopped her before she could kick the door in.
“Hold on,” I said. “We can do this quiet.”
I vanished. She'd seen me do it before, but not without any other chaos going on.
“That amazes me every time you do it,” she whispered.
I slowly put my head through the front door. The TV was on, but there was no one in the living room. Everything looked normal enough. I couldn't hear anything. I stepped all the way through and unlocked the front door.
“You're just full of cool tricks,” Victoria said. “William? Are you in here?”
The only thing I could hear was the news on TV. But Victoria had better senses than I did. She put her nose to the air and sniffed a few times, like a bloodhound.
Demonspawn Page 25
