Family is Forever

by Stephens, S. C.

  The blood that we were smelling, was dripping from a tube hanging off the transfusion machine, collecting into a bucket underneath the machine. After sweeping the room to make sure it was empty, Dad knelt beside the blood. Sticking his finger into the bucket, he coated it with blood, brought it to his lips, then tasted it. His fangs were down when he looked up at Jake. Jake’s eyes were wide, either in panic over his son’s fate, or disgust over what he was witnessing.

  “It’s fresh, not from a bag,” Dad told him. “And it’s human.”

  Jake scanned the room, looking for some sort of hope that his son was here. “Is it Simon’s? Is my son hurt?”

  Standing, Dad shook his head. “I don’t know. I’ve never tasted your son’s blood, so I have nothing to compare it to.”

  Jake shot Dad a dirty look and Dad raised his hands. “I’m not saying I want his blood, I’m just saying…I don’t know whose blood this is. Your guess is as good as mine.”

  Running a hand through his hair, Jake cursed. “Where the hell is he? I was sure he would be here…I was sure he would go to Henry. He must have… Where would he take Simon?” He turned in a circle, scanning the room again, then he stopped. “Simon must have told him we might come here looking for him. He warned him, and Henry fled.” His face fell as desolation overtook him. “He could be anywhere now.”

  He fell to the bed like he had no strength left in him. I sympathized. If it was one of my family members who were missing, I’d be a wreck. Walking over to him, I put a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry…we’ll find him.” Simon might not be my favorite person, but I didn’t want him to get hurt because of us…because of me. And if that blood was his, well, there was a lot of it in that bucket.

  Jake looked up at me with watery eyes. “How? How will we find him?”

  I didn’t know what to say, so I didn’t say anything at all. Dad turned on the lights while Ben started rummaging around the room. With a sigh, Dad said, “We need to destroy all of this. Besides protecting people from compulsion, what he’s doing here…trapping and killing vampires for their blood, so he can attempt to make some sort of hybrid between the two species…it’s wrong, and innocents on both sides are being hurt because of it.” He looked over at Jake. “We need to permanently put a stop to this.”

  Firming his jaw, Jake stood and nodded. “You’re right, vampire. We need to level this place.”

  Dad swung his hand around the room as he locked eyes with Ben and me. “Make a pile of anything that looks like research. We’ll torch every bit of it. It won’t be all of it, of course, since I’m sure Henry took some with him, but it will be a start.”

  Ben and Jake immediately started tossing things into the middle of the room. Before long, there was a decent pile in the center—papers, laptops, blood. Anything and everything that had to do with vampires went into the burn pile.

  I began milling about the room, adding things to the pile with the others. Coming across a locked cupboard that looked promising, I forced the doors open. What I saw inside nearly made my heart stop. The makeshift label on the front of it read Compulsion-X—it had to be what Jake and Simon had taken, the thing that was making people immune to vampire trancing.

  Oh God…immune to vampire trancing…

  A thought struck me so hard, that for a second, my vision hazed and my knees buckled. I was currently holding in my hand the key to Arianna keeping her memories forever. All I had to do was slip one in my pocket, and give it to her when I got back to the ranch, and she’d get to remember this night. She would always know exactly what I was, and there would never again be a shadow looming over our relationship. We’d never have to start over.

  Of course…to make Arianna immune, I’d have to completely betray my family. They’d be furious, and they’d never see me as the adult I was trying to be. Halina—and my father too, in a way—had seemed proud of the fact that I’d wanted to correct my mistake. Doing this, stealing this…it would ruin everything I was trying to set straight.

  But goddamn it, I hadn’t expected the solution to all my problems to land in my lap like this. It wasn’t why I’d come out here, it hadn’t even been on my mind—not consciously anyway. Maybe some part of my subconscious had known this could happen, but I hadn’t come here for this temptation. I’d come here to right a wrong, to stop a teenager from doing something stupid that was going to get him killed.

  My body began to tremble as I stared at the canisters. Duty, family…or love? Which one was more important? I knew even considering this was wrong, irresponsible, dumb…but I missed Arianna so much… She’d kissed me, she’d wanted me to stay with her, to be safe with her, she was starting to care about me, really care about me. I didn’t want to lose that. I didn’t want to lose her. I couldn’t stomach the thought of her waking up tomorrow and not remembering the closeness we’d shared tonight. I couldn’t handle going all summer long without seeing her, and then going back to school in the fall and just being…friends.

  And besides, Arianna wanted to keep her memories. She’d told Nika we didn’t have a right to take them, and a part of me agreed with her. I should at least talk to Arianna about the vaccine. Offer her protection from compulsion, if she wanted it. Because wasn’t that what a good boyfriend would do?

  Feeling like my heart was being torn in five million different directions, I slipped one of the small canisters into my pocket. Guilt and shame filling me, I twisted around to show my dad the cupboard. “Dad…I think I found the vaccine.” My heart was surging as Dad turned my way. I immediately tried to calm myself down. I was just going to show it to Arianna, ask her how she felt about taking it. Then, once she’d decided what she wanted, the two of us would sit down and talk to my parents. I wouldn’t use it without their permission…and somehow, someway, I’d get their blessing. I had to. I couldn’t lose Arianna, but I also couldn’t do this without their support.

  Dad swung his eyes my way. “Good job, Julian,” he beamed.

  Walking over, Dad examined what I’d found. Picking one up, he frowned. “This is a strange way to deliver a vaccine.” He was right. The container didn’t look like a shot. It looked more like a tiny bottle of hairspray, or a breath freshener, like Binaca. Dad experimentally pressed down on the top, and a cloud of horrible smelling mist erupted from the can. Dad’s mouth dropped open and he locked gazes with Jake. “What is this?”

  Jake walked over to examine the container. With a frown, he looked up at Dad. “It would seem Henry has improved the vaccine. He found a way to aerosolize it.” Shaking his head, he handed the can back to Dad. “He can vaccinate people without them even being aware of it now. With a big enough delivery system, he could probably protect entire crowds, maybe even small towns.” His lips twisted as he shook his head. “Sorry, vampire, but your days of controlling humans are coming to an end.”

  GABRIEL AND I sped after the group of humans guarding the junkyard, with Cleo running at a human speed behind us, while Teren, Ben, and Halina took care of the dogs. I wasn’t sure how many humans there were, or if they were armed, but I figured silencing them before they could call for help was a good idea.

  Jake had given away our element of surprise by running into the open and shouting his head off for his son. I wasn’t sure if he’d done that intentionally, or if panic had momentarily turned him into an idiot. I was hoping it was fear, and he wasn’t trying to screw us over. It really didn’t make much sense for him to betray us though. He needed our help almost as much as we needed his. Maybe more so.

  Once the dogs had started in on Jake, their human counterparts had made an appearance. When I caught up to the first one, he’d seemed surprised. Of course, I’d been moving at a vampiric pace and I’d seemingly materialized right in front of him; that would stun even a seasoned hunter. The man recovered quickly though, and was raising his gun to my chest even as I knocked him out.

  Gabriel subdued his partner while a few more shouts carried along the breeze. Gabriel and I shot off in opposite directions wh
ile Cleo dealt with the man I’d knocked out. I searched the mounds of junk as thoroughly as I could, but I only found two more guards. From what Jake had been saying, I’d been expecting an army. It seemed too easy.

  I dragged the guards back to the building, and dropped them in a heap beside the guard I’d clocked. Halina joined us, helping Gabriel carry a couple of men to add to the pile. I gave Halina a curt nod while Cleo went to work using zip ties to hold everyone’s wrists together. The guards were alive, and would inevitably wake up before we were done here. We didn’t want to fight them again, and didn’t want to kill them, so we attached them to a rusted car frame. They would eventually be able to work themselves free, but we’d be long gone by then.

  Halina zipped off to the front of the building, to grab a few unconscious guards who had bothered the rest of the group. Spotting a rolling door near the back of the building, I decided to investigate. The sooner we found Simon and Jake’s grandfather, the sooner I could get back to Nika. I was trying to ignore the absence of our bond, but it was like trying to ignore a strained ankle or a muscle that was cramping. I ached.

  Gabriel joined me while Cleo and Halina worked on the humans. The two of us each grabbed one side of the door and yanked. We ripped the entire contraption from the wall. Throwing it to the ground, we stepped over it to get inside. The room we were in was by far the oddest room I had ever seen. There were cages lining the walls, but unlike outside, these weren’t kennels for dogs, these were cells…for humans, or I supposed, for vampires. Each one had a small, bare cot that was attached to one side of the cage, but nothing else. No blankets, no pillows, no comforts of any kind. And no real way for the caged vampires to escape the sun. While the walls around the room were made of thick, windowless concrete, the area around the rolling door wasn’t entirely lightproof. During the day, whatever creatures were trapped in here would suffer from the trace amount of light that seeped through it. The entire space gave cruelty a new meaning.

  Infuriated at the horror I was witnessing, I cautiously approached the cages. The room was dark, but my enhanced eyes could see that there was a metallic gleam to the bars that shimmered in the moonlight. Silver. A full vampire would have difficulty escaping these cages, especially if they were starved and half drained of blood. There were nine cages in the room, three along each wall. There were blood stains in every cell, from where the vampires had been drained, and there were heavy manacles looped around the cell bars, awaiting new prisoners to fill them; the chains were also silver. Yet another way to torment the captives being held against their will.

  It sickened my stomach to think of all of the vampires who had probably been trapped in here, who had probably died in here. It was a sick science experiment gone horribly, horribly wrong, and I had a newfound appreciation of Gabriel and his methods. Science didn’t have to be nasty.

  As I glanced over at Gabriel, I saw that he was scowling. He didn’t approve of this either. Halina joined us with a hiss of disapproval. “When we find Jake’s grandfather, I say we rip him into tiny little pieces,” she growled.

  While I sort of agreed with her, I knew we couldn’t. The entire point of the League was to stop the never-ending cycle of revenge. “I’ve seen enough,” I muttered. “Let’s go find the others.”

  Just as I turned to leave this place of death, I heard a faint voice whisper, “Wait…” My gaze snapped to a cell in the far corner of the room. That cage wasn’t empty, and something lying on the cot moved. Whatever it was, it was so frail and thin that it almost seemed like it was part of the small bed.

  I blurred over to the cage while Gabriel found the lights. A frail man was lying on the bed. He groaned when the light hit his eyes, and when he raised his arm to shield himself, I was shocked at his appearance; he closer resembled a skeleton than a man. I instinctively grabbed the bars to yank the door open, forgetting that they were toxic to me. With a howl of pain, I pulled my fingers away. It felt like I’d dipped them in acid.

  The man’s sunken face turned to me as I held my fingers to my face; I almost expected to see smoke rising from them. “Help…me…” he squeaked. His voice sounded like two pieces of sandpaper rubbing together. I had gone through severe hunger once, but I had a feeling my turmoil was nothing in comparison to this man’s.

  He was completely naked, and the narrow bars of the cage formed a perfect box. The only place he was safe from the silver surrounding him was the worn cot he was lying on. Whoever had thought up this trap, hadn’t wanted a clever vampire to shield their body from the silver so they could break out. Well, luckily enough for this man, while I couldn’t hold the bars to pull them free, I could kick the door in.

  “I’m going to get you out of there,” I told him. “Stay back.” He turned away from me, and I brought the heel of my boot against the weak portion of the door. It buckled under my strength, but didn’t entirely break free. Well-constructed. I struck out again, and this time the door caved inward. I toed it open, then made my way into the cell coated in silver. Even though there was an exit, I hated being in there. Every fiber of my being was telling me to get out, and I had to fight the instinct to run with every step I took.

  When I picked up the vampire, he weighed no more than a small child. He murmured a thank you as I carried him to safety outside the bars. Even though I’d never really been in danger, I exhaled a sigh of relief once I was free.

  Cleo ran into the room, and her eyes widened when she spotted the ragged man in my arms. “Grab some clothes from the guards,” I told her. Nodding, she ran off. I turned to look over at Halina and Gabriel. “We should take him somewhere safe, then rejoin the others and keep looking. Jake’s grandfather could still be here somewhere.” I could hear the others deeper in the building beside us; it sounded like they were trashing the place, and I could hear Teren ordering the others to make a burn pile.

  “No,” the emaciated vampire whispered. “He left…took the boy.”

  All three of us looked down at the man in my arms. “The boy? Simon? Was the boy named Simon?” I asked.

  The vampire nodded as he closed his eyes; he seemed so tired, barely alive, and I knew he needed to eat. Soon. “Yes…he called him Simon…”

  We walked outside and Cleo approached us with pants and a jacket. “These will probably hang off him, but it was the best I could do.” She jerked her thumb back at the assortment of tied-up guards. Most of them were awake now, and the pair missing items of clothing didn’t look happy. The one missing his pants was sporting a black eye.

  I set the weary vampire down. He was wobbly on his feet, so I helped him stand while Halina and Cleo helped him get dressed. He inhaled a deep breath when Cleo wrapped a jacket around him. A low growl rumbled out of his chest, but he made no move to attack her. I knew it was best not to tempt him though. Hunger had a way of making even good people do bad things.

  After he was semi-dressed, I picked the vampire up again, before he fell over. To Halina and Gabriel, I said, “Let’s find Teren and the others, let them know we missed Simon and his grandfather.” I looked down at the man we’d saved. “Then let’s get you something to eat, so you can tell us what you heard.”

  The man closed his eyes and Halina motioned to the front of the building, to where she could feel Teren and Julian. The loss of my connection to Halina wasn’t as unsettling as my blocked bond with Nika, but it was still unnerving. I was standing right beside her, but I still couldn’t feel her. It was…unnatural.

  Our small group wound its way through the abandoned building to where the others were. I could hear them talking, hear glass breaking. Following the noise, we came upon a room that was almost as odd as the vampire holding cells. It was clear from the medical equipment, vials, beakers, refrigerators and whiteboards covered with cryptic writing that we’d stumbled upon the “lab.”

  Jake, Ben, Julian, and Teren were here, throwing items onto a huge pile in the middle of the room. I figured when they set that heap ablaze, the fire would be big enough to burn down
the entire building. Good riddance. It seemed to me that just torching the building now would be quicker, but I knew Teren. He wanted to be thorough, to make sure all of the research was incinerated. And he also wanted to search for clues, which was why what I was carrying was so important. If there were any clues to be found here, the vampire barely clinging to life had them.

  Teren and Julian looked up at me when I entered the room with the others. Teren’s face darkened when he saw that I was carrying someone. “Who is that?” he asked.

  “A vampire who was being held captive here. He overheard Jake’s grandfather talking to Simon earlier.”

  That got Jake’s attention. “Simon?”

  The man in my arms nodded, but it was all he had the energy to do. That wasn’t good enough for Jake. Storming over to him, he demanded, “Where did he go? Did Simon leave with him? Was he okay?”

  He began shaking the man’s shoulders and I growled in warning. “He’s been starved and tortured. Let him eat, then you can question him.”

  When Jake realized he was antagonizing a half-dead vampire, he backed away. Just when I was wondering what I could possibly feed him, the smell of fresh blood hit me. Ben was tearing apart some contraption that had tubes of blood running around it. On the ground below the machine was a bucket; the smell was strongest there. Blurring over to it, I set the vampire down. He smelled it too, and immediately struggled with picking up the bucket. As I helped him bring it to his lips, Jake screeched, “What the hell are you doing?”

  His eyes were wide, his face pale. Encouraging the vampire to eat, I tossed Jake a look. “Either he drinks this, or he drinks you. Your choice.”

  Jake narrowed his eyes, but shut his mouth. Halina shot me an amused glance and I knew exactly what she was thinking. You’ve not only accepted vampires, you’re feeding them now…look how far you’ve come. I wasn’t sure how to feel about the sudden change my life had taken, but I did know that denying a starving man a meal was wrong. And it was too late to help whoever had donated this blood anyway.