by Kasi Blake
Bright light stabbed through her eyelids and pain sawed on multiple bones. Bay-Lee gagged. She pushed herself up on her elbows. Opening her eyes a slit, she stared down at the metal floor in the dark. The last memory in her bank returned with the subtlety of a nuclear bomb. Something had crossed over to grab her, but she hadn’t seen its face. Surprised to still be breathing, she hauled herself up high until she was sitting at an angle, leaning on her hands instead of elbows.
Every inch of her ached, especially her head. She glanced around but couldn’t see a thing. It was pitch black except for a circle of light surrounding her body. A spotlight was on her as if she was a performer on Broadway about to break into song. Just as she started to think she was alone in the room, she heard a hacking cough. “Who’s there?” she asked in a voice scraped raw.
“Bay-Lee?”
It was Van. She would recognize him anywhere, even in the dark. Every noise, no matter how slight, echoed in eerie fashion. She scrambled onto her hands and knees, ready to move. “Where are you?” she asked. “Talk to me so I can find you.”
He sounded weak, possibly injured. “I’m over here. Follow my voice.”
Bay-Lee crawled across the metal floor. Van was in a wooden chair, hands tied behind his back. His head drooped forward and he winced, obviously in pain. Dried blood dappled his chin, underlined his left eye, and created a dotty pattern on the corner of his forehead. Her hands went to the knotted rope. The second she touched it, a booming voice startled her.
“We thought you were going to sleep forever. Rise to your feet, Ms. Van Helsing, and face us.”
“Leave her alone,” Van muttered. “She has nothing to do with this, you cowards.”
“Your refusal to cooperate has forced us to take action. If she gets hurt, you only have yourself to blame.”
Seven more spotlights flickered on, casting circles of light on seven cloaked figures standing behind a long table. They each wore a black robe, hoods pulled down over their heads to conceal their faces. Bay-Lee climbed to her feet. She took three cautious steps in their direction. Mystery solved. She knew where she was without a doubt. This was the infamous Order. Now she just needed to discover what they wanted from her and why they had Van tied to a chair.
“Isn’t there supposed to be a truce?” she asked. “Breaking it means war.”
“Van Helsing broke the truce, not I. He hired an informant to spy on us.”
Because of the hoods she couldn’t tell which of the things was speaking to her, so she addressed all of them. “He’s right about you. Only cowards hide behind masks. Why don’t you show yourselves?”
The thing in the center pulled its hood down to reveal Van’s face. Bay-Lee gasped. Her wide eyes swung from him to the man in the chair and back again. How could the monster look like Van’s twin brother?
The Van in the chair explained, “He is a shifter.”
“Not a mere shifter,” it said. “We are the original shifters, the first family. From us came all species of vampires, werewolves, mermaids, and so on. We were the shifters who dealt with Bertram. We still possess the most awesome powers in the land. Come closer, Ms. Van Helsing, if you dare.”
She felt comfortable where she stood, but she wanted answers so she took a few hesitant steps. “Why did you bring me here? What do you want?”
“We have nothing to do with the recent killings of hunters. Van Helsing will not believe us. Perhaps you can convince him.”
“How am I supposed to do that?”
“Do it or die. Convince him. Then you will have to convince us there will not be retribution for this simple misunderstanding.”
Bay-Lee turned her worried gaze to Van. The look in his eyes said it all. There was no way out of this. They were going to be killed. No one knew where they were. There wouldn’t be a last minute rescue. They were toast.
