The Cure

by Loren Schechter

  “But you do,” said Baneful. “As you watch them suffer, you might offer us all some guidance.”

  The sound of shod hooves on cement caused everyone to look up. Hector’s heart jumped. Rose was prodding Placidus toward the vampires.

  “Go!” yelled Rose, slapping the big stallion on the rump. She ran to release another horse.

  “Go!” Miss Pelliger urged two horses forward.

  “I’ll stop ‘em,” yelled Bulch. Tightening his chokehold on Hector, Bulch aimed his AR-15 at Placidus. Hector swatted the gun upward. A deafening burst of gunfire sent wooden chips flying from a beam overhead. Placidus reared and tried to turn, but the horses jamming the aisle behind him were slower to reverse direction. Cursing, Bulch pulled Hector toward the long aisle to get a better shot. Pelliger dove into a stall. Rose turned and ran for the barn doors.

  “You fool!” Baneful yelled at Bulch. “Now the feds will come before I call.” He pivoted toward his Legionnaires. “You, you, you — ” He pointed to the two biggest Legionnaires and the teen. “Go after the girl! We need her alive. Terminate anyone else out there.”

  The vampires shouldered their way between horses.

  “Run for it, Rose!” shouted Hector.

  Finkelstein slammed the Legionnaire holding him against a wall, then spun him around as a shield as Baneful fired. Bullets tore through the Legionnaire. Finkelstein cursed. They both fell to the floor.

  “Fink!” Hector drove his elbow into Bulch’s belly. The big vampire laughed and squeezed Hector tighter. Bulch aimed his weapon down the aisle.

  Hector saw Rose shove the sliding doors apart. A Legionnaire grabbed her shoulder. Rose spun away and was out the door, but another vampire tackled her. The teen vampire yelled “They’re out here!” and fired his weapon.

  The horses stampeded toward the doors Rose had opened.

  “Who’s out there?” yelled Otto. With one hand over his leaking eye socket, he struggled up from the floor.

  “I doubt you want to go find out,” said Baneful. “They’ll be here soon enough. Let’s hope DHS moves as quickly.”

  46

  "I'm new to this."

  The burst of gunfire brought Corkle and Winkish out of their seats. Kathy looked from one to the other.

  “Are our guys carrying semi-automatics?” asked Corkle.

  “No.” Winkish headed for the door.

  “Lock down the campus,” Corkle ordered. “Bring in the Special Weapons team and a couple of choppers.”

  Winkish paused. “Do we call in the locals?”

  “No. We’d have to explain, not only to them, but to the media. Go! Get the men out there. I’ll follow in a minute.”

  Winkish hurried out the door.

  Kathy tried to sound naïve. “You don’t want to warn people that there are vampires out there, General?”

  “Look, Miss. I don’t have time for this. Stop talking about vampires, even to your parents. We have a school full of panicky girls as it is. We don’t want to create more panic, either here or in the community.”

  “I understand.” Her tone was flippant. “You just want to kill the vampires without upsetting anyone.”

  Corkle’s cheeks reddened. “I don’t discuss matters of national security with teenagers. Come back with me to our situation room. I’m going to leave a couple of my men there with you.”

  “I don’t need a babysitter. You might have a better use for them outside.”

  “They better be doing a lot more than babysitting. Come!”

  She showed him the wry face she usually reserved for her father, then got up and followed him back to the storage room. At a table in the center of the room, three agents in flak jackets and helmets stood checking their rifles. From a seat behind a video monitor, a fourth agent, the only black man, looked up. “We think the shots were fired from or around the barn,” he told Corkle. “But we don’t have a camera out there.”

  Hector was waiting there! Kathy bit her lip. How do I get out of this room? She looked around. No windows. Only the one door.

  Corkle grabbed a flak jacket from the back of a chair. “Lackferd, Breen, this is Susan. You two stay here to keep her and the equipment safe.”

  “Ah, shit,” muttered a square-jawed agent with a pock-marked face. He curled his lips at her, then set his rifle down against a wall and returned to the table to sit.

  The black agent offered her a smile from beneath his thin moustache. “Jamal Breen. Pleased to meet you.”

  Kathy nodded. “Me, too.”

  “Lock the door behind us,” ordered Corkle. “No one but our agents are to come into this room. And check their teeth before you let them in.” He looked at the two agents who were preparing to follow him out. “Your side arms loaded with wooden bullets?”

  “Yes, sir,” they said in unison.

  “Follow me!”

  Kathy walked around a table and stood behind Agent Breen, noting the ear bud and wire disappearing beneath his collar.

  “Go sit down, Miss,” said Breen.

  The monitors showed pictures of the parking lot, the main driveway, the grassy quadrangle, the entrances and corridors of the Admin building and the dorm. Small figures stood in front of the buildings. Guards!How’s Vendetta going to get me?

  “Pretty neat,” said Kathy. “Can you expand any of those pictures?”

  “I can do what I want,” said Breen. “You can’t. You shouldn’t be watching.” He motioned toward the table at which his partner sat. “Go sit down.”

  “I’m too restless. I have friends out there – in the dorm. Are vampires hard to kill?”

  “You heard him. Go sit down!” The pock-marked agent got up and strode toward her. “We’re not authorized to speak to you.”

  She put on a puzzled expression. “But you just did. Oh, you mean about the vampires out there.”

  Breen smiled at his buddy. “She got your number, Lackferd. What makes you think there are any vampires out there, Miss?”

  “Shut up, Breen,” said Lackferd.

  “It doesn’t matter. Your big secret is out,” Kathy said. “The girl who got attacked in the dorm said she saw a vampire. A few people even took pictures, but I hear that you guys took their phones and tablets away and deleted them. General Corkle even tried to convince me it was a guy in a costume. Oh, sure. Except you guys come loaded with wooden bullets. Would it take so many agents if there was just one little vampire? No way.”

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Lackferd. “Go sit down.” He crowded her until she had to back away.

  “I can’t. I have to go to the bathroom.”

  “Sure you do. Go sit down before I plant you in a chair.”

  “No, really. When I get nervous, I have to pee.” She looked at Breen. “I’ll come right back. You can watch me in the corridor.”

  “And who’s going to run save you from the bad guys?” asked Breen.

  “Go find a can,” said Lackferd. “We can’t leave this room, so you can’t either.”

  “He’s right,” said Breen. “You heard what General Corkle…oh, we got company.”

  Vendetta! Kathy edged around toward the monitors.

  “Get your ass in a chair!” snapped Lackferd. “How many?” he asked Breen.

  “Middle-aged guy and a younger woman.”

  “My parents.”

  “Sorry,” said Breen. “We can’t let them in.”

  “They’re not going to like that.” I better get out of the way. She reclaimed her seat in the corner of the room and waited for the knock. Thesepoor guys don’t know what they’re in for.

  “They passed us by,” said Breen. “Going down to General Corkle’s office. They must think you’re there.”

  They can smell I’m here. “Well, they’ll see I’m not.”

  “Roger that,” said Breen. “They’re coming back.”

  Kathy took a deep breath and willed her muscles to relax. The knock on the door was softer and more polite than she expecte
d.

  “Good evening, gentlemen,” said a female voice. “I’m Carmela Flowers, Director of Admissions. Mr. Vendetta is here for his daughter.”

  Miss Flowers? Where’s Bunny? Kathy squinted at the door.

  “Their hands are visible,” said Breen, staring at a monitor. “I don’t see any weapons.”

  Lackferd approached the door warily. “Sorry, ma’am. General Corkle has ordered that the girl stay with us for now. He’s the only one that can release her.”

  “Is she under arrest?” asked Miss Flowers.

  “Just in protective custody,” said Lackferd.

  “Mr. Vendetta is very worried,” Flowers said through the door. “He wants to see for himself that his daughter is okay.”

  “She’s fine,” replied Lackferd. “I give you my word as an officer.”

  “You don’t understand,” said Vendetta. “She needs her medicine.”

  Medicine? Kathy tried to keep her face still as Lackferd looked back at her.

  “What medicine?” he asked.

  Oh, Jesus. She shook her head. “It’s crap. I don’t need it.”

  “She says she doesn’t need it. She looks fine.”

  “It’s insulin,” said Flowers. “She’s supposed to take an injection by eleven. If she doesn’t, she could go into a diabetic coma in a few hours.”

  Lackferd glanced at Kathy. “Is that right?”

  Kathy shrugged. “My dad’s worried because I almost died six months ago. But that doesn’t mean it will happen the same way. If I could go to the bathroom, I could test my urine.”

  “Don’t diabetics test blood?” asked Breen.

  Oops! “I don’t have my – uh – kit here.”

  “So how are you going to test your urine?”

  Kathy bit her lip.

  “Doesn’t matter,” said Lackferd. “Once you go out there, your dad will take off with you. And we can’t go out to stop him.”

  “Just let the woman in,” said Breen. “Keep Daddy outside.”

  “No. The order was no one but our guys can come in.” Lackferd raised his voice. “I’ll tell you how we’re going to handle this. Please put the medicine down outside the door, Miss Flowers, then you and Mr. Vendetta go back up the corridor to the stairs. We’ll know when you get there because we have security cameras showing us. Then I’ll open the door and get the medication. After that, you both leave this floor and wait for General Corkle to issue an all-clear. Understand?”

  “If that’s how it must be,” said Vendetta, “then it must be.”

  “He’s going,” said Breen. “She put a little box down and she’s walking away, too.”

  What are they up to? Kathy rose from her chair and went toward the monitors.

  “If you want me to get it, sit down,” Lackferd told her. He pulled a pistol from his holster.

  Kathy went back to her seat.

  “They’re back at the stairs,” said Breen. “Flowers is in front of Daddy.”

  Lackferd unlocked the door and cracked it open. “Damn! She put the box across the corridor.”

  “What are you worried about?” asked Breen. “Even if they were vampires, they couldn’t get back here before you bring it in and lock the door.”

  “Right.” Lackferd opened the door wider. He took a step forward and reached down for the box.

  “Gun!” Breen sprang out of his chair.

  Lackferd’s head jerked as a sound like a heavy book hitting a metal table filled the corridor. Kathy cringed as she watched Lackferd fall to the corridor floor. Breen raced around a table to get to the door. He started to close it, but Miss Flowers smashed it open and barreled into him. Stumbling back, he reached for his pistol. She grasped his hand and twisted it aside as they crashed to the floor.

  “Leave him alone!” Kathy screamed. “Stop!”

  “Fangs!” Breen tried to shove his attacker’s face away. He screamed as she bit down on his thumb. Then Vendetta kicked him in the head. The agent’s head recoiled. He lay still as Flowers crawled up and straddled his waist. She swept strands of black hair back from her face. Her eyes, once smoky, seemed to have caught fire.

  “I haven’t killed him,” said Vendetta. “Drink up, but don’t take too long. Other agents will come. I have to go help Bunny.”

  Kathy tried to stop herself from trembling. “Why did you have to kill these guys? They were just doing their job.”

  “Their job is to kill us. Do you have the data?”

  “No, Major Winkish took it.” Will he still try to help Rose?

  “Keep Kathy safe.” Vendetta told Miss Flowers. “She’s my responsibility and Bunny’s prey, so you’ll answer to both of us if she comes to any harm – such as losing even a drop of blood.”

  “I have enough here.” Flowers fingered both sides of her prey’s neck.

  “They turned you, but you’re helping them?” Kathy asked as Vendetta went out the door.

  Flowers grimaced. “They convinced me that a cure is in my interests.”

  “But that might not come for a while. It might turn out not to be possible.”

  “So? I certainly can’t stay at Leet and Lucre. You think I can go back to my parents like this?” She flashed her fangs at Kathy. “They offered to take me to their school in Idaho. They say the area is beautiful. And I’ll be the next Director of Admissions.” Reaching down, she turned Breen’s head to the side, then tightened her lips and looked up at Kathy. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m new to this.”

  Kathy cleared her throat. “Yeah, I’d rather not watch, anyway. I’m going to go throw up.”

  “Then come back and wait outside the door,” said Flowers. “I won’t be long.”

  “Neither will I.” Kathy walked out the door and ran for the stairs.

  47

  Surrounded

  The burst from an automatic rifle inside the barn sent Bunny into a crouch along the outside wall. Pistol in hand, she moved toward the closed double doors. She heard angry voices and the whinnies of frightened horses.

  Bart’s lost control. Edna counted nine Satanists, but she’s killed two and put one out of commision. Not great odds, two against six, arrows and wooden bullets against automatic weapons. But Bart’s a coward; he’ll make a run for it.

  Suddenly the doors opened and a girl rushed out. A vampire followed and leaped on her back. With an anguished cry, the girl collapsed under him. The vampire scrambled up and reached down to grab her. Reflexively, she rolled away. He screamed as a charging horse knocked him flat. The horses that followed veered away as a teen vampire outside fired a high burst from his AR-15. “They’re here!” he yelled, taking aim at Bunny. She shot twice to bring him down, ran to him, kicked his gun away and finished him off with a bullet to his heart. Then she used Kathy’s hardwood knife to terminate the vampire who’d been trampled by the horse. Four left!

  The girl lying face down on the ground was trembling. She didn’t look up as Bunny kneeled next to her. “I killed your attacker. If you’re Rose Blood, I worked with your father. Are you Rose?”

  There was a long pause before the girl nodded.

  Bunny put down her weapons and rolled Rose over onto her back. One look at Bunny’s blackened face, and Rose’s contorted in fright.

  “I don’t want to hurt you, but we need your father’s data. Where is it?”

  “I need my glasses,” Rose whimpered.

  Bunny dug a fingernail into Rose’s earlobe.

  “Ouch!” Rose jerked her head away.

  “Where?”

  “I gave it to Kathy to bring to you.”

  “Is Kathy in the barn?”

  “She never got there.”

  “Or to me.” Captured? Did she go rogue? “Where else might she be?”

  Rose hesitated. “I don’t know.”

  “You’ll know if I bite into your neck.” Bunny pressed her thumb up under the girl’s chin, extending her neck.

  “My room in the dorm,” she said in bitter surrender. “Room 204. I told her
to meet me there.”

  “Don’t blame yourself.” Bunny pulled the girl up into a sitting position. “You’re doing the right thing. Who’s in the barn besides vampires?”

  “A boy named Hector and my riding teacher.”

  “Did you see a vampire named Finkelstein?”

  “They were going to kill him. I didn’t see if they did. Are you his friend?”

  “Vampires don’t have friends. We all crave the same pint of blood.” Bunny picked up Rose’s glasses from the trampled grass and handed them to her. “You wait here. Don’t move from this spot.”

  Bunny approached the open double door of the barn and sniffed. The mingled odors of horses, vampires and warmbloods told her nothing new. She crouched and entered the building cautiously. In front of her, there were whispers and a woman let out a sob. From a nearby stall came a soft sound of wood shavings underfoot. Bunny dove for the ground but a hot round punched through her shoulder and knocked her head over heels. Her left arm was on fire and her pistol was gone. Blood flowed from her shoulder. Her wooden knife was no match for the AR-15 held by the vampire who stood in the doorway of a stall. He couldn’t terminate her without wooden slugs, but his bullets could tear holes in her that would take months to close.

  “Satan sends his regards,” said the vampire.

  A shot from behind her tore a hole in his temple. He crashed to the floor.

  She pressed hard on her bloody wound and struggled to sit up. Then Vendetta was there, dragging her into the stall from which her attacker had emerged.

  “I hope I won’t be sorry,” the hit man murmured as he helped her up into a crouch behind a plank wall.

  “If Kathy gets us the data, I won’t bleed her,” she whispered. “Go find her. Rose said room 204 in the dorm.”

  “Put down your weapons and come forward hands up high,” called Bart. “Or else we’ll terminate Finkelstein and the boy.”

  Vendetta raised his eyebrows.

  Bunny jerked her head toward the doors they’d come in. Vendetta nodded and gave her his pistol. As Bunny fired off a few rounds in the direction of Bart’s voice, Vendetta glided into the night.