“Y-you’re,” he stuttered. “You’re going to find out exactly who I am if you don’t start talking,” Colt spat at him, his patience wearing thin.
“You’ll never find her, so just kill me, asshole,” the guy spat back.
“Who?” Colt demanded, tightening his grip on the guy’s t-shirt. “Tell your boss he can go fuck himself, he’s not getting his dirty hands on my Sarah again! I’ll die before I tell you where she is!” His eyes looked anywhere but at Colt’s. His anger subsided slightly; this guy obviously thought he was someone else.
“Look at me, fucker!” Colt demanded. The guy flinched and did as he was told. “Let me make myself very clear. Firstly, I don’t know you or your fucking daughter, and secondly, I don’t associate myself with sick fucks who beat and abuse women.”
He dropped the guy, who slumped on the floor in defeat. He pulled himself onto his knees and began sobbing... Shit, what was it with people crying in front of him just lately?
“I thought... I thought you had been sent to hurt her,” the guy sobbed. More blood and saliva dripped off the guy’s chin and onto his shirt. “I didn’t know. Please, please.”
Cursing and suddenly feeling a little sorry for the guy, Colt softened his tone slightly. “I am not going to hurt you again, unless you pull more shit like before,” Colt said, ready for round two.
“I won’t, I promise, m-my daughter, s-she needs me alive,” the guy replied, wiping at his face.
“Listen, maybe you can help me?” Colt suggested. The guy lifted his face and nodded, looking hopeful. “The name’s Colt, I was given an address in this neighbourhood to check out. I was told I could maybe find someone with information.”
He takes the folded paper out of his pocket and holds it up.
“You know it?”
Panic flashes in the guy’s face again as he reads the address on the paper and scrambles to his feet. “Who gave you that address?” the guy says, looking around nervously, the paranoia blatant on his face.
“There’s no one else with me, fucker, I’m alone. I’m looking for information regarding some bad people. I suspect it’s the same ones who had your daughter, they hurt a friend of mine.” The guy nods and his whole body seems to relax, he offers an unsteady hand to Colt for him to shake.
“The name’s Danny. Listen man, s -sorry I attacked you, I thought they had sent one of their men to grab my Sarah again.” He offers Colt an apologetic half smile through his busted face. “She’s the only thing I’ve got left, man, she’s my world,” Danny says, his voice breaking again.
“Hey, I get it.” Colt was getting a little uncomfortable with all this emotional bullshit. “I’d do whatever it takes to protect my family too, fella. Anyway, you came off worse than me,” Colt says, amusement in his voice, trying to make light of the situation. “You got a place you can get cleaned up? That eye looks like it could use some ice.” Colt nods at Danny’s left eye which has a cut underneath and is closed over with the swelling.
“Yeah, I do. That address you got there, it’s mine. Where did you get it?” Danny asks. “Joe’s garage on Townfield Lane, do you know them?” Danny’s eyebrows rise at the mention of the address.
“Yeah, Joe’s my cousin. He’s one of you as well, you know,” Danny says like he’s expecting it to come as a shock to Colt.
Colt shrugs. He’s fully aware of the spectral community in this part of town – he grew up near here.
“I know who Joe is, we went to primary school together, he’s an old friend.” Colt rubs the overgrown stubble on his chin, getting tired of this back-andforth conversation. “Enough of the fucking chitchat. Let’s get you cleaned up, then I can find out what you know about these sadistic fuckers. I’m a busy man,” Colt says, and beckons Danny to lead the way.
Danny takes Colt a few roads across the high street to a little row of shops. He is obviously on edge and checks behind them every few seconds, making Colt uneasy.
“If someone is following us I’ll know,” Colt snaps, making Danny flinch. His flat is above a Cancer Research charity shop in the centre of a little row of stores. There’s a side door that they enter through which has an intercom on the wall with flat 1 and 2 on, but there’s nails screwed into where the buttons used to be. Danny opens the door using his keys.
There’s a narrow staircase with a door at the top where Danny stops, and unlocks the door. Colt takes in his surroundings, needing to know where he could head if shit went down. There’s a small landing with another set of stairs leading up.
“Anyone else live in this building?” Colt asks. “No, the flat upstairs is used for storage,” Danny says, pushing his front door open.
The front door opens straight in to the living room. The smell of damp and another very familiar scent hits Colt as they enter the flat. He doesn’t see anyone but by the scent he knows there’s someone else here, and they’re not entirely human.
Judging by the boxes and clothing scattered around the place, they are either not planning to stay long or have only just moved in.
There’s a big ta ttered brown couch against the largest wall, a large wooden coffee table which looks like it’s seen better days, and there’s an old-fashioned box television in the opposite corner of the room. There’s some stupid chat show on with a woman talking about her husband sleeping with her sister.
“You got any ice, and some antiseptic to clean up that face of yours?” Colt asks, seeing Danny properly in the light. Shit, he did a job on the guy, his left eye is completely shut with an aggressive-looking cut just underneath it. He has a split lip and his nose is bust. Colt had felt that bone go under his fist the second time he punched him.
Danny walks across the room to the door opposite the entrance, Colt follows close behind. To Colt’s amazement the kitchen is tidy, there are just a few dishes on the counter. The smell of bleach fills his nostrils. At least in Danny’s condition he can get cleaned up somewhere a little sanitary.
Danny walks to the sink and fills the wash bowl with water. After cleaning the blood from his face, he grabs a bag of frozen vegetables out of the freezer and heads back into the living room.
A young girl sits on the couch, feet tucked under her; she’s wearing pink cuffed-leg pyjamas, her dark hair is wet from showering and pulled into a bun on the top of her head, and her face free from makeup. Colt realises where that familiar scent was coming from before – it’s a lot more prominent now, she’s a spectral.
She is engrossed in her mobile phone. She glances up as they walk in, not really paying much attention to them, but looks up again when she realises her dad’s not alone. Seeing the mess of her father’s face, she jumps up from her position on the couch.
“Dad, what did they do? Shit, Dad, shit.” Her eyes find Colt who is just behind her father. “Dad, have they found us?” she says. Her voice shakes with fear.
“Sarah, listen baby, everything is ok.” Danny talks to his daughter almost childlike to try and soothe her panic.
“But your face, Dad, who did that to you!” she shrieks, and tears fill her wild eyes.
Danny stays calm and pulls his daughter into an embrace, stroking her hair, hushing her sobs. “Who’s he?” Sarah shrieks in an accusing tone. She pushes away from Danny and takes a step in Colt’s direction. The tension in the air intensifies.
“That’s Colt. Listen baby, h -he’s not going to hurt us, please just calm down. I promise we’re ok – you’re ok.”
“Your dad’s right, Sarah, you’re both going to be fine. Calm down and take a seat, both of you. We need to talk about a few things.” Colt can’t hide the impatience in his tone.
“Who do you think you are? Coming here with my dad looking like this and barking orders, you don’t realise that I can fuck you up without so much as breaking a sweat.” Sarah’s hazel eyes turn cat like, confirming Colt’s earlier suspicions about her.
“Back at you, princess,” Colt says, amusement in his voice as his eyes turn amber.
The look of sh
ock on Sarah’s face, was well worth him exposing himself again.
“Y-you, you’re...” she stutters, all venom gone, replaced by bewilderment.
“Yeah, I’m a familiar just like you. Now can we talk without you clawing my eyes out?” Colt chuckles. “But I didn’t smell you,” Sarah says, a look of confusion on her face. “That’s because I’ve learnt to control my beast. The only time I show myself is for my companion or when I am pissed. Now can you sit and we’ll talk,” Colt says, unable to hide the frustration in his voice; the sooner this was sorted the sooner he could get back to Clara.
Danny motions to Sarah to sit down and he takes the seat next to her, holding the frozen bag against the growing bruising on his face.
“You want to take a seat?” Danny asks Colt who is pacing, trying to think of how to approach this without scaring the life out of the kid. Although she had been ballsy enough to give him attitude she was obviously terrified and pretty novice as to how their kind handled things.
“No, I prefer to stand, I need to get straight to the point... What do you know about the one they call Master?” Colt looks directly at Sarah.
Her hands twist in her lap and for a second Colt thinks she’s going to try and sass him some more but she starts talking.
“His name’s Dominic, I never knew his surname. He owns a club on the other side of town called Perdition. He’s a businessman, a perfectionist, he expects commitment and loyalty from all of his staff and he’s ruthless if you fuck up.” She shudders as if remembering something. “I worked there as glass collector when I left school two years ago. I got the job through a friend. If you know the club you’ll know he only employs staff who are from the spectral community. He took a liking to me, said I was one of his best girls. It freaked me out a bit at the time but I thought he was hot for an older guy and the money was good... My dad didn’t approve.” She and Danny share a knowing glance between each other.
“When I turned seventeen I could start working the podium with the other dancers in there. They trained me up and I was given an hour slot a few nights a week to start with. I was promised security and even better pay, the tips alone were brilliant.” She fiddles with her hands.
“The customers were very rough with some of the girls, but I was protected. The men could only look, never lay a hand on me. He was obsessed with keeping the younger girls who worked for him innocent, something about keeping his girls pure. We could shake our ass in a customer’s face but if we took it further there was trouble.” She takes a shaky breath.
“About six months ago, on one of my shifts one of the older girls, Kate, refused to dance for a regular. He was drunk, had been shouting abuse at her and grabbing her ass all night. The guy and his three mates demanded to speak to the manager. Dominic had them escorted into his office, including Kate, and I was asked to join them to say what I had seen. H-he, tthey...”
“It’s ok, Sarah, go on,” Colt says, kneeling down in front of Sarah. He can see how much she is struggling reliving what had happened. He takes her shaking hands in his. This seems to give her the strength to continue.
“H -he had them all killed, even Kate, he cut her throat. I found out later it was because she had slept with one of the guys who were giving her shit that night. I was so scared, I thought I would be next... so that night we fled. I know we didn’t move far away but we’ve been trying to get money so we can disappear properly.” Her eyes are red and puffy from crying but more tears spill over. “He’s not like us, you know. He’s a warlock, but he’s so powerful, more powerful than any I’ve ever met. He has a lure about him like he can draw any familiar to him, he has more than one familiar. I-it was so hard to run away from him but what he did...” She moves her hand from his and puts them to her face, weeping into them.
“Sarah, you’re a young familiar and more susceptible to being drawn in. You did the right thing getting out, he would have just used you for his own satisfaction. It’s a long story and I can’t go into things right now, but your instincts were right to run. He is a warlock, but not the kind that bond for life. He uses us familiars to gain certain things he desires, that’s why his pull is more powerful. I believe he is the same man who had someone I care about held captive, she was beaten and whipped, before she managed to escape,” Colt says. The anger rises and he has to steady himself before he loses it again; just thinking about what Clara must have endured boils his blood. “She’s very important to him so I don’t think he’ll stop until he has her or she’s dead.”
Sarah shakes her head. “No, he won’t, but he never comes himself, his men are always the ones who do his bidding. Is she a spectral like us?” Sarah asks through tear-drenched lashes.
“No, she isn’t, she’s a lot more. I am trying to understand it all myself, I just know she is very important to our species and if he gets her she’ll be used for his twisted plans. I won’t let that happen.”
Colt stands and starts pacing again Heather needed to drop whatever she was doing and come as soon as possible. He pulled his phone out and sent her a quick text filling her in on the situation.
“Did you ever hear anything about him keeping girls as slaves?” he asks, sending the message and putting the phone back into his pocket, still pacing.
His mind was reeling with a million questions. “No, nothing like that. We were always looked after, obviously until he did what he did... but he was very private... He didn’t like me asking questions... Actually, a few girls left over the two years, without any notice. Oh God, you don’t think he – he...?” Sarah says, a crease forming on her brow.
Colt suddenly stops pacing and looks between Sarah and Danny. He sniffs the air, his fists clench at his sides.
“There’s two men coming, they are down the road, heading this way. Get any shit together you need, and quick. I’ve got a place you’ll be safe. Have you got any weapons you can use?”
Danny nods. “I’ve got an old revolver, think there’s a few rounds in the chamber left.” “Get it! If anyone but me comes through that door, use it! Be ready to leave as soon as I get back.” With that, Colt carefully opens the door. He puts his finger to his lip to shush them and makes his way into the narrow stairwell.
His adrenaline is pumping through his veins; as he opens the main door to the building the cool air hits his face.
His senses were right, there are two guys headed towards Danny’s. One of them reeks of cheap cologne mixed with sweat and obviously the more experienced of the two, judging by how his heart rate is pumping steadily. The other one is obviously new to hunt judging by his erratic breathing and the racing of his heart. He is either nervous or excited about the hunt.
Colt decides he needs to lead them away. He pretends to lock the door behind him and heads in the opposite direction to the men. It works – he can hear their hushed voices question who he might be, coming out of the address they’d been given.
“Hey!” one of the guys shouts. Colt keeps on walking, ignoring him. “Hey, asshole, is your name Danny?”
Colt keeps silent but speeds his walking up until he breaks into a jog. He spots a dark alley about a hundred yards away, next to another row of shops. He can hear the pounding of feet behind him as they give chase – he’s a lot faster.
He reaches the alley and waits, ready for battle. The first guy rounds the corner, blade in hand and a murderous look in his eyes. He tries to slice at Colt, who is too quick and disarms him straight away, throwing the knife down the alley out of reach.
The second guy jumps onto Colt’s back and sinks his teeth into Colt’s shoulder. Colt grabs the guy and flings him over his shoulder and the guy lands hard on the pavement. The first guy tries to tackle Colt to the ground but he sees it coming and moves sideways and lands a knee to the guy’s face. Something hard smacks Colt in the back of the head and it catches him off balance; the second guy succeeds in tackling Colt to the ground. Colt can feel his ribs cracking as both men kick him hard, one quick blow after the next. He sees his opening and
grabs the second guy’s foot and pulls it hard. He goes down like a sack of shit.
Colt manages to kick the first guy in the stomach and he curls over. Seeing his chance, Colt pummels the second guy in his temple, knocking him out.
The first guy is still after blood and Colt can see this guy is pissed; they throw swing after swing at each other, both landing some ruthless hard-hitting punches, but Colt is stronger and a lot more experienced at fighting.
Colt throws himself at him and wrestles with the guy; he manages to get the upper hand and gets the guy in a choke hold. He squeezes tight and after a few seconds the guy goes limp.
Colt knows he doesn’t have long to restrain these two dicks. He takes the laces out of both guys’ trainers and ties them both together by their hands and feet. He removes both their socks and shoes, he checks that they are both still breathing, before stuffing a sock into each of their mouths, and discarding their shoes over a wall.
Satisfied they are well and truly bound and aren’t going anywhere soon, he drags them down the alley so they are hidden from view behind some bin bags. He seeks out the knife and discards it down a nearby drain and heads back to Danny’s, pulling out his phone to give Iris a quick call.
“Hey,” Iris’s groggy voice answers after the fourth ring. “I was getting worried.” “Long story, I’ll fill you in soon. I am heading back, I’ll be home before daylight. How are you for a few more guests?” Colt asks sheepishly. He knows Iris doesn’t normally let strangers into The Sanctuary.
“Who, Colt?” Iris sounds pissed. “It’s a fe lla called Danny and his eighteen-year-old daughter Sarah, she’s a spectral and shit scared. They are in a heap of trouble with this owner of a club. I think it’s the same fucker who hurt Clara, Iris, I think I’ve found him. He sent some people after them, I’ve just dealt with them, but he’ll send more,” he says, trying to fill her in with as much information as possible.
“Are you hurt, Colt?” Her voice sounds panicked. “No, I’m fine, just tired, but they will be killed if I don’t do something. They might have more information.”
Unfamiliar (The Vandran Legacy Book 1) Page 7
