Bloodlines Trilogy

by N. A. K. Baldron

  Slava stayed behind—he wasn't healed yet, but they planned to check in often.

  As they headed south on 183, Lance looked worried. Kandice hoped it was more from leaving Slava than the actual mission, but Lance had mentioned earlier that it would be the first time he would attempt to track a target without Slava's backup.

  Kandice tried to assure him they would be fine since there were two of them, and Lance in turn made her promise not to put herself in danger—to run at the first sign of it. She was fed up with them reiterating her shortcomings and how fighting Aether Walkers was so dangerous. Like they expected her to not follow the plan and get them all killed.

  What gave them that impression?

  The only thing that made sense was they might have had a previous partner that didn't follow the rules. They were a team—everyone had a job to do and needed to follow the plan. Else, the whole mission would fall apart.

  Traffic was horrific.

  Friday night was always a mad house the closer you got to downtown. Lance used the traffic map to circumnavigate the worst of it. At one point, he had to dart off the highway, almost missing the exit because the map showed a wreck up ahead.

  "It's accurate for the past five minutes," he said, as they sped onto a side street near downtown.

  Kandice gripped her overhead handhold as he turned—what her mother had called the oh-shit bar—Lance drove twice as fast as she ever would. The laptop slipped as they made another turn, and she braced it with her spare hand.

  "Thanks," Lance said. "I'll go slower."

  He took several twists and turns as they worked their way towards the mayor's estate. The cops were out in force. Every major light seemed to have a cop parked near it, or driving through it. Even the bicycle police were out. It didn't make sense why there were so many outside of 6th street.

  Inside the mayor's neighborhood they slowed down, but not so much as to draw attention to themselves. It was a higher-class neighborhood, and suspicious driving would stand out like a fire truck. As they rounded onto the mayor's street, the mist of his scent became visible.

  "Excellent," Lance said. "Maybe he'll be home. This might be an easy night."

  When they reached his gate however, there were no cars in the driveway and the scent stopped. They went to the end of the street and turned around, using the shoulder of the road rather than someone's driveway.

  "Well, damn," Lance said. "We'll have to follow and hope the scent doesn't die."

  The mist took them onto a major highway which then merged onto a small back highway that led to the aristocratic portion of Austin, as they continued on toward Westlake. The road slithered as it followed the cliff face. Lance couldn't resist taking the sharp turns at over 60 MPH. She held on tight, it was more nerve racking than hunting. Yet, the SUV hugged each turn and never slipped an inch. Lance was a precision driver.

  He's got to have so many speeding tickets.

  If a cop stopped them, he could receive a reckless driving ticket. But she hadn't seen a cop since downtown. The scent hung in the air like a chem trail and led them to a resort. There were several luxury cars, and it looked like a well-to-do party was happening inside.

  They pulled under the front awning.

  "I'm going to go see if there is a room available," Lance said. "Stay in the car and leave if you see any Aether Walkers interested in you."

  "Okay," Kandice lied.

  There was zero chance she would leave him. If a fight broke out, there would be too many witnesses, and no way for him to get away. They might not have seen any cops on the way here, but it wouldn't take them long to get here if called.

  The valet came to the window and Lance rolled it down, "I don't have a reservation. I need to check if there is a room."

  "Yes, sir," the valet said. "Please, pull forward."

  Lance pulled up to where the valet had shown and then got out.

  "Remember," he said. "First sign of an aggressive Aether Walker, leave. I'll be fine."

  She watched as he walked through tinted glass doors. The resort was five stories high—the stonework was beautiful. There were an overwhelming number of high-end sports cars, luxury SUVs, and limos in the parking lot. Only in music videos, had she seen that many sports cars in one place. Aside from the two valets standing at the entrance, no one else was outside.

  Two men pulled up to the valets in a golf cart. The younger valet grabbed their club sets and escorted them inside. She watched the men eye her SUV as they crossed through the front doors.

  He needs to hurry up.

  Clearly they were out of place. Every one that passed gave a questioning look towards the SUV.

  Lance opened the driver-side door, "They don't have any rooms available for the night. There's nowhere else close to stay."

  "What do we do now?"

  "We'll have to find somewhere to wait. He'll most likely take the same route home. So we wait and see."

  As they pulled out of the parking lot, a high-end SUV with two Aether Walkers pulled in. One looked like a panther on his hind legs. The other resembled an insect, and his bulging eyes made her skin crawl.

  Bugs are gross enough, but oversized bugs. ...

  They waited a minute as the Aether Walkers stopped at the valet stand, before he pulled away, "Can't get caught watching."

  "How do they hide?" she asked.

  "What do you mean?"

  "How does no one notice their odd behavior?"

  "They've had years of experience blending in with society," he said. "They keep appearances of being normal productive citizens."

  At the end of the road, they took a right, heading back toward Austin. There was a gas station a few miles down the road—near the highway—that had a darkened side of the building near the dumpsters. Lance backed into a spot and killed the lights. From their location it was impossible to see into the gas station.

  "I'm not sure how long we can stay here," Lance said. "Tonight might be a bust. Getting the tracker on his SUV will be harder than I hoped."

  "Why don't we sneak onto his property tonight?"

  "That's a good backup plan, but it's also the most dangerous option. We should try to find another way."

  Not even fifteen minutes later, a cop pulled into the gas station. The officer parked his squad car in a way that blocked them from leaving while keeping the driver's side away from them.

  "Let me do the talking," Lance said.

  The officer approached the driver side door, hand on his gun. He was a tall man with no hair. Kandice smirked, because the officer's head reminded her of a penis.

  Lance rolled down his window, "Good evening officer."

  "We received a complaint," the officer said. "About a suspicious car parked out here. Where are you two coming from?"

  "We were just down the road at the resort. They didn't have any rooms, so I was trying to figure out a good place for us to go."

  Lance showed the officer his phone with a search for luxury hotels.

  The officer shone his light into the car.

  "Are you okay, mam?"

  "Yes, sir," she said. "Sorry if we caused a problem."

  "No problem," he said. "But I'll need y'all to move along."

  "Yes sir," Lance said and started his engine.

  The officer looked towards the back seat and then returned to his patrol car. Lance continued toward downtown.

  "That was weird," Kandice said.

  "Not really. I've been stopped by cops often enough when I'm in nicer neighborhoods. Luckily, I had a good story, and the SUV looks nice enough to pass."

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Friday, September 9th

  AS THEY DROVE BACK TOWARD DOWNTOWN, the traffic steadily increased. Soon, vehicles surrounded them like an ocean. A few of the drivers were drunk, bouncing between lanes. People were out having a good time for the weekend. Kandice hadn't enjoyed weekends for a while, the whole prospect of people out drinking was appalling. The desire to get drunk and make a fool of herself
never appealed to her.

  As they neared Mopac, the traffic grew so dense they had to sit through what seemed like every red light. After merging onto the highway the traffic flowed slow but steady. Instead of cutting across 1st St. they exited just after the river and cut back through Zilker Park, taking their time. The mayor wouldn't be home soon—offering a perfect opportunity to scope out the property.

  When they reached the first light, Kandice pointed out that the mayor's scent vanished on the other side of the road.

  "He'll be at the party for at least two or three hours," Lance said. "We'll have plenty of time to get set up. Provided few guards remained, and the security system doesn't go off."

  It was impossible to find parking on the street—a car sat at every parking meter, and several cars had parked in no-parking zones. Lance settled for a parking lot behind some bars, where he had to pay by placing five dollars into a slot on a board. It was over a mile away from the park, but the walk was better than the SUV getting towed.

  "Leave everything but the backpack in the SUV."

  They emptied their pockets into the glove box of the car.

  This is pointless.

  What would anyone discover from their pocket belongings? It seemed more plausible that the stuff might come in handy. Heading out each with a small backpack, they looked more like students going to a coffee shop than an infiltration team.

  By time they reached the park, Kandice was sweating. The air clung to her like a warm blanket and made her breathing labored. The park was empty.

  They walked deep into the park to get out of the street lights before heading toward the mayor's neighborhood. At first, they were in an open field of grass—but soon trees surrounded them. The grove grew so thick, they were forced to watch their footsteps to avoid all the roots.

  The walk was silent, even the trees were quiet because of the lack of breeze.

  The same ridge they had been to previously, came into view. The house and front gate entrance was visible through the tree cover. Lance pulled out a pair of binoculars—after looking for over a minute, he handed them to Kandice.

  There was no one outside. The light in the mayor's office was off, but the inside was visible somewhat due to the ambient light of the city. No one was home.

  "Looks clear," she said.

  "Yeah," Lance said. "Maybe a little too clear. I expected to see at least one or two people."

  "Why?"

  "Because if I were him, I wouldn't leave my home unguarded. It makes me worried that the security system inside will be even worse than I anticipated."

  "What do we do, then?"

  "There's rope in each pack. We throw it over the brick wall and climb over. From there, we try to hide, and wait for him to get back."

  Lance handed Kandice a pair of gloves. After putting on his own, he tied off the rope to a large tree trunk. Together they shimmied down to the street. There were only two street lamps—both at the bends in the road. A part of the wall was shrouded in near complete darkness.

  Kandice took her rope out and handed it to Lance, who attached a large metal hook to the end. After he threw it over, he had to grab the end of the rope to prevent it from slipping away. He pulled the rope back, and the metal hook scrapped over the top of the wall and fell to the ground before their feet.

  "Shit," he said. "The wall might be too smooth."

  He tried again.

  This time, the hook caught onto the top edge of the wall. He pulled with all his might, then jumped up against the wall.

  The rope held.

  "I'll go over," he said. "When I drop, wait five seconds. If I don't call out, climb over."

  Lance scurried over the wall.

  A small thud came from the other side.

  One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

  She tried to jump up on the wall like Lance had, but only managed to slam her hip into it. Her arm burned from scraping the rough wall, but she ignored the pain and made her way over.

  Once on the other side, Lance crouched a few feet away looking through the binoculars.

  "All clear," he said.

  He pointed to the back of the property where there was a large garden of hedge bushes, "We can hide there."

  It would be hard for anyone to see them inside those bushes.

  Right before they reached the bushes, a spot light came on. Lance leapt into the bush, and without hesitation Kandice followed.

  He pulled her close—deeper into the brush—and placed his hand over her mouth. Slowly he pulled his hand away and placed a finger in front of his lips.

  They sat in silence, staring into the yard that was now bright as day.

  There was a click of a walkie talkie.

  "Back yard," a man in the distance said. "May have been a raccoon."

  An Aether Walker turned the corner from the far back of the house and walked up with his back to the wall. He was almost seven feet tall, with large hairy arms that looked like they could snap a man in half. He looked like a larger version of a Gorilla. When he spoke, Kandice saw his teeth were long fangs.

  "All clear here," he said. "You can turn the lights off."

  Lance let out a long breath. They both had been holding it in, and it felt good to release.

  The Aether Walker stopped walking and turned in their direction. His eyes reaching out through the darkness for them.

  Would he spot them? There had to be a plan for this.

  Her mind was blank and racing at the same time with potential solutions that wouldn't work. Lance pulled a sheet of paper out of his pants pocket.

  The dark, hairy arms of the Aether Walker moved into the bush. The next second, Lance ripped his button-up shirt open and slapped the sheet of paper against his bare chest. As his hair turned lightning blue, his arms grew out and grabbed the closest furry arm of the Aether Walker. Before it could react, Lance grabbed the walkie talkie earpiece and threw it aside. Kandice willed herself to do something.

  Anything.

  Grabbing both backpacks, she ran from the bush. She reached for the walkie talkie on the Aether Walker's belt, but wasn't quick enough. An arm caught the back of her shirt and threw her to the ground.

  Lance flipped his whole body around behind the Aether Walker, and with one quick twist of his arms, tore its head off. Blood fell down on Kandice like the rain from a hurricane.

  A man came running into view from the front side of the house. Human.

  The sight of blood caused him to pause. In that moment of hesitation Lance picked Kandice up and darted for the wall without him reacting. There were gunshots as Lance climbed over the brick wall with one arm, and Kandice still in the other. When they hit the ground, Lance let out a high-pitched howl—switched Kandice's weight to his other side—and ran to the cliff. As they reached the top of the cliff, Kandice saw the man's head peeking over the brick wall.

  Gunfire rang out after them, but they already cleared his line of sight and ran through the park. Lance moved faster than she could have going full speed on a bike and didn't stop until they reached the river.

  "Strip!" Lance pulled off his clothes.

  Kandice didn't have time to be embarrassed and stripped to her underwear.

  "No, strip," he dropped his own boxers.

  Kandice hesitated, so Lance ripped her bra and panties off with a quick flick of his hands. After stuffing the clothes into a hole under a tree, he grabbed her tight against his chest and jumped into the river. It was awkward to paddle with one arm, but his kicking seemed to make up the lost speed.

  "You're bleeding," she said.

  There was dark—almost black—liquid pooling up every time his shoulder raised out of the water.

  "You're hurt," she said. "You need help."

  Lance stopped swimming, "hold on to my neck."

  She did so, and Lance took off at an even faster pace. It took less than four minutes for Lance to reach the other side of the river. The street above them had cars roaring across.

  "Fuck," Lance
said. "I forgot where the statue is."

  "What?"

  "There's a statue," Lance wobbled.

  Kandice caught him as he lost his footing, and he fell to his knees. He reached up and pulled off the seal attached to his skin, almost embedded. In an instant his hair lost some of its color, and his arms shrunk.

  Kandice didn't know what to do, so she pressed her hand against the wound in his shoulder.

  "There," Lance said, pointing behind Kandice. "Under that statue is a bag. It's under the tree roots."

  Kandice didn't wait for him to finish before running over and looking under the tree. There was a small hole filled in with loose dirt. After a little digging a black bag emerged from the hole.

  The bag had everything they needed, minus shoes. She wrapped his arm with the bandages and then pulled out two shirts and two jogging pants. She helped Lance with his shirt, before slipping on her own pants and shirt. The clothes were loose, but the drawstring helped keep the pants up. Lance struggled with his pants, but got them on without Kandice's help.

  Once clothed again, the embarrassment took hold. She couldn't look at Lance's face.

  "What now?" she asked.

  "Money," he said. "There should be money?"

  She looked in a side zipper and found a wallet.

  Lance stood up with Kandice's shoulder for support. His wound hid under the bandage and shirt. It wasn't showing any visible blood yet but it wouldn't be long. Lance told her the bullet was still inside, slowing the bleeding.

  They walked up the ramp that led to the street, avoiding shards of glass from the litany of broken beer bottles on the ground. Kandice stepped on a sharp rock and yelled out, and Lance snickered at her.

  "That's not funny," she said.

  "It is when I have a bullet in my arm. Try to hail a cab. I can stand for a moment."

  She raised out her hand at a cab coming up to the street light. It stopped, and she helped Lance inside.

  "Where you going?" the cab driver asked, once Kandice got in.

  Lance explained where they'd left their car.