Vampires Among Us [Vampires Among Us 1] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Alice Brown

  A few seconds later, an anguished Kevin came across the earpiece. “Marshall, follow my voice, I need help, immediately!”

  Marshall used Kevin’s voice as a beacon, and was at his side a few short seconds later. Kevin was knelt down beside Erica, who was lying on her back, a huge gash starting at her temple, and going straight back on the side of her head.

  “Lord Almighty,” Marshall whispered. “What happened to her?”

  Kevin looked up to his second-in-command with agony etched across his face. “I changed over to tiger form in order to sneak up on Shawn and get him to release her. I took a swipe at him with a long claw, and he threw her in my path at the last second.” He took a moment to stroke Erica’s face, and in an agonized, torture-filled whisper, “I did this to her, Marshall.”

  Several other team members started showing up, and Marshall quickly took charge and ordered a complete sweep of the entire school and grounds. His friend was going through enough pain, the entire team didn’t need to witness it.

  After the team members dispersed, Marshall knelt down to assess Erica’s injuries. Upon a closer look, he realized the gash looked worse than it really was. Although it was long, it looked as if Kevin had realized what Shawn had done and pulled his claws back just in time to prevent anything catastrophic.

  “Head wounds almost always look worse than what they are. Jordan is already on the way. Jennifer was injured also,” Marshall murmured quietly, as he continued checking over Erica. Her breathing seemed to be good, and her heartbeat fairly steady.

  “Did she pass out from the blood?” Marshall inquired quietly, stopping to check her pulse, a little perplexed as to why Erica wasn’t moving. The gash on the side of her head didn’t look bad enough to throw her into unconsciousness.

  “No, Shawn threw her off of him in order to fight me. She hit the other side of her head against the wall before going down,” Kevin replied as he continued watching Erica, and then snarled, “Where the hell is Jordan?”

  Marshall hit the button on his earpiece to connect with Charles. “Charles, how far out is Jordan?”

  Joshua’s voice quickly interrupted. “Jordan and Davidrick are here now. They are getting ready to move the patient.”

  “We have a second patient,” Marshall responded. “Use my voice as a beacon to bring Jordan.”

  Joshua and Davidrick showed up at Marshall’s side a few seconds later. “Jordan is making sure Jennifer is stable,” Joshua quickly explained. Although Davidrick worked in the morgue at the hospital, he was a board-certified physician, and quite capable of handling a medical emergency.

  Kneeling down beside Marshall, Davidrick started checking Erica’s vitals. “I detect a bit of brain swelling. Did she get slammed against the wall?” he inquired, as he continued assessing Erica’s injuries.

  “Yes,” Kevin confirmed in a quick clip, but didn’t elaborate as to what had happened on the other side of her head.

  “We need to get her down to Dr. Carlson, quickly. Is your suspect still on the loose?” Davidrick inquired, glancing over to Marshall.

  Kevin lifted Erica in his arms before Marshall had a chance to answer. It was just as well, in not hearing from the team yet, he knew the answer to Davidrick’s inquiry. Yes, Shawn was still out there on the loose.

  Marshall stayed in front of Kevin, with Joshua following closely behind in order to provide cover should Shawn still be lurking around. Soon, everyone was loaded in Jordan’s transport van and headed to the VCTF office. From there, they would take the elevator down to the underground hospital.

  Chapter Ten

  Charles was standing at the front door of the VCTF office as the transport van pulled up to the front door. Kevin scrambled out to the van as it pulled up.

  “Has Dr. Carlson been notified that we have two injured?” Kevin inquired as he lifted Erica and quickly headed for the front door.

  “Yes, he is waiting for us,” Charles replied, following Joshua who was carrying Jennifer, right behind Kevin.

  The elevator was crowded as Charles, Kevin carrying Erica, Joshua carrying Jennifer, Davidrick carrying an IV bag for Erica, Marshall, and Jordan all piled into it.

  Once the elevator stopped and the door opened, everyone rushed at vampire speed towards the hospital. Dr. Carlson was waiting at the front door for them. Standing beside him was a team of four nurses. They had both patients on tables side by side in order to access both at the same time.

  Joshua had removed the knife out of Jennifer’s abdomen while they waited for Jordan to arrive on the scene. Once she was placed in the transport van, she fed on a pint of blood, which had helped the wound start to heal. A quick X-ray revealed no major organs had been damaged. Her arm, severely broken and deformed, would need to be reset back in place in order to heal properly.

  Erica, however, was a different matter. She had briefly regained consciousness during transport, but only for a few seconds. She did recognize Kevin’s face though, and he took that as a good sign. A CT scan revealed that she did have a bit of swelling in the brain, but Dr. Carlson was optimistic that the swelling would go down on its own. He had the gash on the side of her head stitched up in little time, and then it was a waiting game to make certain her head injury didn’t cause any permanent damage.

  By the time Dr. Carlson was finished treating his two patients, his otherwise empty waiting room had been turned into a crowded room. A very worried Rosetta, Kate, Elizabeth, Charles, Alec, Jordan, and Davidrick were sitting around waiting for news.

  “Who is running the office?” Marshall asked Alec upon stepping out into the waiting room to find it full, all occupants concerned over Jennifer and Erica.

  “Tim, Victor, and Scott are all handling things at the office. I have John, Nicholas, and Isaac out looking for Shawn. They will call us if they need help. I have everything covered. How are Jennifer and Erica?” Alec calmly replied. The line of succession put him in tied third place with Joshua, as both were brought into the VCTF at the same time. With Kevin, Marshall, and Joshua all tied up with the injured, he had stepped up to the bat and took control of running of the unit.

  Marshall noted Alec had his arm wrapped securely around Elizabeth, but decided now was not the time to comment on the observation. It was possible he was just trying to be a friend. Remembering that he had come out to update everyone, he stated, “Jennifer is going to be fine. Dr. Carlson is drugging her up in order to set her arm, and Kevin and Joshua are flipping a coin over which one she can bite if the pain gets too severe.” Marshall chuckled at his own joke, but then quickly grew serious. “Erica is not totally out of the woods yet, although Dr. Carlson is very optimistic she will fully recover. We are waiting for the swelling to go down in her brain, and for her to regain consciousness.”

  Kevin sat next to an unconscious Erica, refusing to leave her side. Although she had briefly opened her eyes while in transport, her eyes held more confusion than anything. Kevin had gently stroked her hair while whispering reassuring words that she was going to be okay. She had only stayed coherent for a quick minute before succumbing to a world of blackness. Now, Kevin was left waiting and worrying if she would hate him for what he had done to her.

  Kevin was still positioned in the exact same spot two hours later when her eyelids flickered open. She immediately tried to sit up, forcing Kevin to gently hold her down as Dr. Carlson briskly walked over to examine his newly awakened patient.

  “Erica, you have an injury to your head. It is important that you stay still,” Kevin stated calmly, all the while going through an inner turmoil himself. He was responsible for her injuries. The gash on the side of her head had been his doing alone. And if he had been with her when Shawn had shown up to begin with, that evil being would have never had the chance to try and escape with her.

  As the cobwebs began to clear from Erica’s mind, flashes of scenes started hitting her. The kiss she and Kevin had shared in the front seat of her new car. And then Jennifer and she in class when the lockdown occurred, a
nd gunshots going off. Jennifer and her sneaking out of class and waiting at the end of a dark hallway, near the back of the building. Oh God, that was when Shawn had showed up, attacking Jennifer in order to get to her. Shawn had snatched her away from an injured Jennifer, breathing in her ear that if she made one sound, he would finish killing her newly acquired friend.

  She had gone unwillingly, but silently, hoping and praying that Jennifer would stay alive long enough for help to arrive. She knew that vampires healed fast, but she was still concerned over her friend’s injuries. And then, just prior to being yanked out of the building completely, they had been confronted by a large tiger. Erica knew the tiger had to be Kevin in animal form, but that didn’t lessen the pain when a large claw went across her scalp as Shawn threw her in its path in order to protect himself. A few short seconds later, she felt intense pain as her head slammed into something solid, and then nothing.

  Erica caught sight of a man in a lab coat approaching the side of her bed. “Hello Erica, I’m Dr. Carlson.” He took her hand in his as he checked her pulse, while giving her a smile. “I must say, young lady, you have quite a fan base. I don’t ever remember my waiting room being as full as it is right now.”

  “Where am I? What happened?” she asked nervously as she glanced from Dr. Carlson to Kevin.

  “You are at the underground medical facility. We brought both you and Jennifer here for treatment,” Kevin quietly stated.

  “Jennifer,” Erica sucked in a deep breath as a picture of Jennifer’s body, lying on the floor with a knife sticking out of her abdomen, and a severely broken and mangled arm floated through her head. “Is she okay? How bad are her injuries?” Erica’s voice quivered as she made the inquiries.

  “Jennifer is going to be just fine, now I need for you to stop worrying about everything and everybody, and concentrate on getting yourself better,” Dr. Carlson responded kindly. He leaned over to examine both sides of Erica’s head. Erica winced just from the slightest of touches. “My head feels like it is going to explode,” she grumbled.

  “That would be due to a large gash on the left side of your head that I had to use a few dozen stitches to close, and a large bruise on the right side of your head. I understand you hit the right side of your head when you were slammed into a wall.” Dr. Carlson was examining the affected area as he spoke. “This injury is the one we will be keeping a close watch on. It has caused some swelling in the brain, and we will need to monitor you to make certain the swelling goes down on its own.”

  Dr. Carlson walked away from the side of the bed for a moment, and Erica shifted her focus to Kevin.

  “I am so sorry, Erica,” he whispered with a tortured look on his face. “I never meant to hurt you. I was so afraid he was going to make it out of the building before I could get you free from him, and I knew if he succeeded, it would have been like looking for a needle in a haystack.

  Erica squeezed his hand and was opening her mouth to tell him he had nothing to apologize for, when a voice at the door stopped her. “She’s awake!”

  She turned her attention to the sound and found Marshall standing in the doorway, with numerous others quickly gathering behind him. Dr. Carlson suddenly reappeared in her line of sight, walking straight over to the door. “One at a time, she is not out of the woods yet, and I don’t need her overwhelmed by too many visitors at once.” He then turned to cast a quick glance to Kevin. “If she starts to tire, kick everyone out immediately. Her health comes first.”

  Rosetta pushed her way through the crowd and past Marshall. “Erica!” she exclaimed the moment her eyes spotted her. She walked over to the side of the bed with her arms extended to give a warm hug. “I have been so worried about you! You have no idea how happy I am to see you are awake!”

  Rosetta was just the first of many to come in to assure that Erica was indeed okay. Charles, Elizabeth, Marshall, Alec, Kate, Joshua, Jordan, and Davidrick all made their way to her bedside, one by one. Joshua assured Erica that Jennifer was going to be fine. Dr. Carlson was setting her broken arm, and that she would be by later.

  Although Erica was happy to see everyone, it surprised her how quickly she tired. She was hardly able to keep her eyelids open as the last of her visitors headed out. Still, she had a few questions that she desperately needed answers to before she could rest easy.

  She felt Kevin sit down on the side of the bed after he had walked the last of her visitors out. With eyelids too heavy to open, she blindly reached for his hand. He clasped it tightly in his, and then leaned forward to press a kiss on her forehead.

  “Kevin, were you able to stop Shawn?” Erica whispered.

  The seconds of silence following her question was answer enough. Finally, she heard Kevin take a deep breath and reply, “No, he got away. When I saw how injured you were, I couldn’t leave you. Don’t worry about it though. Part of the team is out looking for him as we speak, as I have no intention of leaving your side.” He squeezed her hand lightly to back up his words.

  “There were gunshots at the school. Was anyone else injured other than Jennifer and me?” Erica mumbled, as sleep continued to drag her under.

  “No, everyone else is fine,” Kevin answered as he lightly stroked her forehead. “Go to sleep, love, I’ll be right here when you awake. We will talk more when you are feeling better.” As upset over Jennifer being injured as she was, Kevin refused to inform her that Alec had also taken a bullet to the leg.

  Erica slowly nodded her head, and then, knowing she couldn’t fight it any longer, allowed sleep to take over.

  When Erica awoke several hours later, it was to a bright light in her face. She immediately raised an arm to shield her eyes from the light as she tried to open her eyes slightly. A soothing voice a second later helped keep her from hitting the panic button.

  “Sorry, dear, I didn’t realize I would cause you to wake up. I am just checking on the swelling in your brain.” Dr. Carlson’s voice registered with her. She then heard him speaking to someone else, and presumed it was Kevin.

  “The swelling seems to have gone down a bit, but we will need to keep her overnight, just to be sure. If she is showing no other symptoms, I’ll release her tomorrow morning.” A loud rumble from Erica’s stomach brought Dr. Carlson’s attention back down to her. With a slight smile on his face, he glanced back over to Kevin. “You might want to get our girl some food. Her stomach sounds angry.”

  Kevin was on his cell phone a quick moment later. “Marshall will have something down here for you in about ten minutes.” He stated as he sat on the side of the bed and gently picked up her hand. “You look better, how are you feeling?”

  “I’m okay, my head doesn’t hurt as much,” Erica quickly answered him.

  Marshall showed up a short time later, carrying a large paper sack. As soon as he stepped into the room, the aroma had Erica’s stomach gurgling loudly. “Dang, girl, I don’t even need vampire hearing to hear that! I hope you like Chinese. I wasn’t sure what you liked, so I picked up a variety,” Marshall stated lightly as he began pulling out container after container and placing them on the table next to the bed.

  “Thanks, Marshall, but I am afraid you brought enough food to feed an army! There is no way I’ll be able to even put a dent into all of this!” Erica exclaimed as she continued watching him empty the sack.

  Marshall brushed her words away. “I’ll name what is in each of these containers, and you just tell me what you want,” he stated as he began dishing her food onto a disposable plate for her. Kevin, who was sitting on the other side of the bed, watched this entire scene in silent humor. He had never seen Marshall cater to anyone before. Watching him do it to Erica was a bit comical.

  “Is everything going smoothly at the office?” Kevin asked quietly, as Marshall continued piling food onto Erica’s plate.

  Marshall turned his head to answer Kevin, and suddenly realized what he was doing, and how it must look to Kevin. He stopped midstride as the color drained from his face.

&n
bsp; “Um, the office is fine. Did you want to…?” He stopped, as he slightly held Erica’s plate of food out for Kevin to take over.

  Kevin grinned as he shook his head, “You’re doing a fine job.”

  Marshall quickly finished with the assorted boxes of food, and then handed Erica her plate. He closed everything back up and restacked it all back into the paper bag in record time. Then, he pulled up another chair next to Kevin. “Joshua is sticking to Jennifer like glue for the time being, so Alec is in charge when I am not in the office. I have to admit, he is doing a great job. The decisions he made earlier this afternoon while I was down here were the exact same ones I would have made. We still have three members hunting for Shawn, and we haven’t interrogated our drug runners yet, but they aren’t going anywhere. Oh, and the one that was injured didn’t make it. Davidrick called me about an hour ago with the news.”

  Kevin cringed inwardly when he thought about the paperwork that would be waiting for him when he returned to the office. It was bad enough that there had been injuries, as both Jennifer’s and Erica’s would have to be reported. But add to that there was now a death, a mortal death on top of that. It didn’t matter that it hadn’t been a member of the VCTF who had shot the dude. One of the security guards had hit the guy. All that mattered to the judicial council was that there had been a civilian injury and a death, during a VCTF mission. That alone was going to make for a nightmare couple of days. All members would be required to fill out paperwork on all of the incidents, and then if there were any discrepancies, each member would be called in by the judicial panel for questioning.

  As if reading his mind, Marshall quietly stated, “I have started on the paperwork, at least with the shooting.”

  “Thanks, buddy. I’m a little surprised you didn’t bring it down here with you on a clipboard for me to start filling out,” Kevin stated with a lopsided grin on his face.

  “Well, the thought did cross my mind,” Marshall replied, in a chuckle. “But, I figured you already had enough to deal with. It can wait until you return to the office. Speaking of which, I should get back up there. Call me if you need anything, buddy,” Marshall finished, as he made his way to the door.