Enduring Service (14 page)

Dixon woke to a stench that nearly caused him to vomit. His back ached as he felt the hard floor beneath him. He was not accustomed to sleeping on such a hard surface, let alone the ground. Knowing he’d be stiff for days, he opened his eyes and looked around. He found himself locked in a cage with other humans. The cage was in the dining room of the abandoned restaurant and he lay on a rug in the center of it. All he could remember was Trudy compelling him to remember the pain, but to forget what she was, that instead he had been attacked by a wild animal. Wild animal was right. The bitch tore into his neck like she hadn’t eaten in a week. He reached up to feel the scar, but evidently Trudy had sealed the wound shut. Of course, the pain, the bruise soon to be formed, and the blood all over his shirt were mementos of the humiliation he had suffered.

The fact that the wound on his neck had been sealed terrified him. He was meant to suffer, and to live a long time so he could suffer as long as possible. Why not kill him outright? Probably because he was meant to be a pawn in a sinister game against Sulie. He took a deep breath. Pawn or not, he was closer to saving her. At least, he hoped as much.

Stretching, he felt the stiffness of his neck where Trudy had fed on him. She really was a bitch — a very hungry bitch. He felt woozy sitting on the floor. He had never been fed on before, at least not like that. Twice in the line of duty, he had allowed a team member to feed from his wrist to keep them alive, but that was different. Being bitten from the neck was more intimate, more personal. And to be forced like that… Dixon shuddered at the memory.

The dining room. How apropos he’d end up here, served up like a meal. He wore no shackles, no gag, nothing that would keep him still in this cage. Trudy had compelled him like a dog to stay. He wasn’t a dog, but he recognized a bitch when he saw one. Thankfully, her compelling could not get past Raymond’s protective subroutine. Dixon remained aware of who she was and what she was doing the entire time.

He carefully stood up and nearly fell over backwards. He stumbled onto another human man in the cell and grabbed the man’s shoulders for support, but then plopped down onto the carpet as his legs gave out. He looked over at the man. He could make out his face in the darkened room. His expression remained stone–cold with his eyes staring off into the distance. Studying the others in the cage, he noticed they all had the same look on their faces. All had blood on their collars and necks. All were human. Or, more to the point, cattle to the vamps. Both men and women sat quietly on the floor, a good dozen of them, with the weaker ones lying down.

He needed his iron pills or he’d be flat on his back and useless too. He still suffered from anemia and had just lost a large amount of blood for the second time in one day. He remembered Trudy complains of the taste, but saying nothing could compare with cord blood, so she probably didn’t pick up on his illness. He must have fainted at the blood loss. Fainted, looked weak. Maybe he could use that against her. Dixon pulled out of his pocket the small pill case containing iron pills and the nearly full vial that held the Devolixion. Of course, there was nothing to wash the pills down with. Then he remembered that Sulie had always said that Devolixion was a safe drug with no issues if he took too much. He removed the dropper and used all the liquid Devolixion to wash down the iron pills.

The Devolixion tasted extra strong when not diluted in coffee. He licked his lips, wiping away all of its sweetness. He tossed the empty dropper bottle aside and put the container of iron pills back in his pocket as he took some extra deep breaths to awaken his tired body. After a few minutes, he felt a surge of energy like a jolt of caffeine.

He was tempted to sit and rest, to gain even more strength, but the thought of Sulie being so close by fueled his resolve. He took several more deep breaths and then began to inspect his surroundings. It was dark, but he could see none of the humans were chained up. At first he had assumed they sat or lay lifeless from lack of energy or compellings, but as he moved around the cage, he noticed that some were not alive at all. They had been bled dry by multiple feedings. Their clothes covered in their own dried blood.

He searched the humans to find anything of value for survival. Their pockets yielded random car keys, Kleenex and lint — nothing electronic. On the women, he found Bobby pins and barrettes, which he placed in his pocket. The most valuable discovery was three silver necklaces, at least he hoped they were silver and not white gold. He clasped them together to form one long chain and placed the weapon in his pocket as well.

He stood and slowly made his way towards the cage door. A standard padlock secured it and kept him from his freedom. Using one of the found hair pins, he began picking the lock.

“We need to move him,” Raymond said. He held Julian’s arms down in the cold metal drawer, which prevented the mentally exhausted vampire from gaining any leverage to escape. In response, the vampire kicked his legs violently within the drawer, the echoing noise resounding within the room and presumably down the hallway. Ben forced the vampires head to remain still and his eyes open while Raymond used his special ability to compel the vampire to lie still and comply with his demands. Julian’s eyes, first wide in fright, immediately changed to stare blankly at the ceiling once Raymond was done.

Ben reached into his pocket and pulled out a thin silver chain. As Ben began securing Julian’s hands—only touching the leather tips on the ends of the chain— Raymond heard Sterling out in the hallway compelling some humans who had come in search of the commotion. From the chatter in the hallway, the noise sounded as though several humans now kept his son busy.

“Help Sterling. Check for video feeds in the hallway and then go back to the lab and fetch all vials of the cord blood,” Raymond said to Alex. As she walked away, Raymond pulled Julian from the cold, metal drawer. The prisoner was small in frame, barely reaching six feet — a weakling by all accounts in the vampire world, but still a threat to be dealt with carefully. Raymond pointed to a hospital smock draped on the back of the chair by the desk. Ben grabbed the smock and helped put it on Julian to cover his cuffed hands.

The team led Julian out of the morgue and to the nearest exit. Alex returned, carrying the cord blood from the lab. She nodded back towards the opposite way they walked. “One camera. More will probably be on the roof outside.”

“Here,” Raymond said, handing her the keys to the van. “Sterling drives. Have him pull the van up.”

Raymond and Ben waited until they heard the van before they walked outside with their prisoner. The vampire’s dim expression and relaxed compelled state changed once the bright sun hit his eyes. Julian came out of the compelling halfway to the van and stopped mid stride. He let out a fierce growl as Raymond and Ben picked him up on each side and carried him the rest of the way. The vampire twisted and Raymond heard a pop from his shoulder as his bone pulled from the socket.

Alex ran ahead and opened the sliding door, and got in. Raymond and Ben threw the vampire in the van. Without the use of his hands, he hit the floor hard. As he cursed at his captors, Raymond and Ben got into the van, pushing the vampire’s body aside to make room. Raymond closed the door and the scene reminded him of Sulie’s abduction, which seemed so similar to this one. His boot hit the vampire square in the jaw even before the door locked into place.

Raymond felt a sigh of relief as he realized his wife and hybrid son now sat the farthest away from their prisoner, leaving the two strongest vamps of the group in the back with him. From what he had gathered from Julian’s mind, he called out their destination. “Drive to Mohler Street. There is a shopping mall there. The building is old and abandoned.”

Alex leaned her head. “Vinos?” When her husband looked questioningly at her, she explained. “It’s a big restaurant with small shoppettes in a mall. It served good Italian food… well, for a while it did. The restaurant closed down a few years ago.”

Julian glanced up at his captors; his eyes widened with disbelief. “So it’s true,” he said, wincing in pain as he shifted his body to lay his shoulder straight on the floor. “You are some type of mind reader.”

Raymond looked over at Julian. Waves of pure hatred emanated from their captive vampire. “Are Sulie and Dixon in the restaurant?”

Julian blinked a few times. The compelling to walk casually with them to the car was now over, and his blank stare became more focused. He glanced away from Raymond towards the other team members and then to the door, which was locked.

“There’s no escape,” Raymond said. “You will talk — either on your own or with my help.”

Julian’s jaw clenched. “No wonder Sulie is terrified of you,” he said.

The van pulled onto the interstate and headed south towards Mohler Street. Raymond glanced over to Ben, who was using his ability to read Julian’s aura. Unfortunately, Ben couldn’t control a vampire’s moods, just read them.

“She’s terrified of her own brother?” Ben asked.

A sneer appeared on Julian’s face. “The man is a menace.” He glared over to Raymond, his eyes defiant.

“You really believe that, don’t you,” Ben said.

Raymond listened to how Ben had phrased the question. Ben could read a person’s aura, human or vampire. If the man were lying, Ben would know. The line of questioning told Raymond that Julian told the truth — the truth as he knew it.

“Why do you think my sister is afraid of me?” Raymond asked.

“Other than your abusive demeanor and mind fucking abilities?” he started. “I’d say that would be plenty, but also because you put your own selfish needs above her needs. All she ever did was idolize you as a child and your greed wouldn’t allow her to find happiness without you.”

Sterling sped down the interstate, weaving his car throughout the light traffic and running red lights. “We’ll be at the mall in about twenty minutes, Dad.”

Julian’s eyes darted over to Sterling. “The half–breed.” Looking again at Raymond, he said, “Your son. I should have realized when I first saw him, but then again, we assumed he died a long time ago.”

“Oh, someone’s going to die!” Sterling growled from behind the wheel.

“Enough,” Raymond chided.

“Like father, like son.” Julian took a deep breath. “Trudy was right about you.”

There was too much information to take in. Raymond didn’t even know anyone by that name. “Trudy?”

Julian shook his head. “Of course you don’t remember my cousin. She’s was probably just a blip on your radar.” When Raymond shook his head, Julian continued. “You were engaged to her. She’s Charles’ sister. You demanded more of a dowry to marry her, which consisted well over half of the family estate. Your demands impinged on Charles’ inheritance and what he could bring to his marriage with Sulie — but you didn’t care. The family would have refused by that fact alone, but when they found you had soiled your bed with some human slut… that was more than enough to end the engagement. Sulie broke the engagement even though they loved each other so very much and…”

Raymond’s laughter interrupted. “Seriously?” He looked over to Ben.

“It’s the truth as he knows it,” Ben said.

“Your little story is nothing but fiction, Julian. I don’t know who told you those lies, but I don’t even know who your cousin is. The Council never granted me an arranged marriage since they feared I might inherit my father’s mind abilities. Besides, no vampire family would take a risk in signing up their daughter to a vampire who could possibly control them.”

“Liar,” Julian accused. “Sulie was granted an arranged marriage. She stood the same risks of inheritance as you did.”

“Charles’ family agreed to lay claim to Sulie and wait until her Jahrling Year.
They
pursued
her
.” Raymond’s face then hardened. “And if you refer to my late human wife as a slut again, I’ll pull your other shoulder from its socket.”

As Julian looked away, Sterling interrupted. “We’ll be there soon. Mohler Street is in the old shopping district. It’s been abandoned for years.”

“Both Sulie and Dixon are inside,” Raymond said as he looked at Julian.

“Must be pretty old. No blueprints of the restaurant exist online. No building permits for that area on file.” Ben tapped more buttons on his cell phone but just shook his head.

Alex sat crooked from the front passenger seat so she could halfway face the back of the van. She reached over to grab Ben’s phone. She studied the image. “I remember this place. Many of the stores were going out of business several years ago. I think Vinos was the only one making money,” she said, handing the phone back to Ben.

“What kind of stores were at the mall,” Ben asked.

“Clothing, shoes, a perfume place… not much to go on. No gun store, no camping gear or anything like that. I doubt anything would be left. Typically homeless people will move into such buildings, especially during the colder months, and they help themselves to whatever is left,” Alex answered.

Raymond moved towards a locked trunk in the back of the van. He pulled out a key from his pocket and opened it. The trunk contained guns, silver tipped bullets, daggers, Silver Bolt Launchers (SBLs) and a special weapon invented by Ben years ago, a silver whip. The leather–bound whip allowed vampires to touch it, but when you whipped it into the air, the leather pealed back revealing the silver dipped strands of leather. The silver was strategically dipped onto the leather so it would bend and wrap around objects just as a regular leather whip would do.

Putting on a glove from the box, he handed another silver chain to Ben. “Secure his feet.”

Julian kicked at Ben as he approached with the chain, but Ben held him down.

“You need to ask yourself something, Julian,” Raymond said. “I read your memories when I held you down. You were a child, younger than Sulie at the time of her engagement and your memories are those of a child. You mostly remember what you were told because you were not an adult and privy to much of what was going on at the time. If Sulie loved Charles so much, why is she being held against her will at the restaurant?”

The reply was quick, almost defiant. “She broke the engagement. She had to because you forced her to do so. He tied her up so he could undo your brainwashing.”

A chuckle escaped Raymond’s mouth. “You have that backwards. Charles broke the engagement because he couldn’t stand Sulie’s attachment to her half–breed nephew. And I don’t think caging her up is a great way to make up for lost time.” He looked over to Julian. “I read from you that you cared about Sulie. She was like a big sister to you for a while.” When Julian nodded, Raymond said, “Since she’s been locked up, have you even bothered to ask her if she’s afraid of me? If she’s been happy all these years without Charles? Look around you. This is her family, not
you
. We love her. You were told what you needed to hear because you were a child missing your new best friend.”

“My family wouldn’t lie to me,” he said, shaking his head.

Ben finished the shackling. “Dude, you don’t really believe that.”

“Of course I do.”

Ben shook his head. “I can read your aura and can see when you lie. You’re lying to yourself about your family.”

Julian looked away and for the first time Raymond studied the man’s profile. That’s when he realized who Trudy was. He reached in his pocket and held out his cell phone. He scrolled through the pictures and showed the midwife’s picture to Julian. “Is this Trudy?”

He barely glanced at the picture and nodded.

“I do not know this woman. I only met her once, when she…”, Raymond finally put two and two together. “When she murdered my wife.”

The car skidded to a stop. Raymond looked up towards his son, ignoring the stares of the other team members. “Keep driving.”

Julian glanced at the picture once more and shook his head. “Trudy isn’t like that.”

“Dude,” Ben said. “You’re lying to yourself again.” Ben noticed Raymond hand him a bandana from the trunk and he used it to gag the vampire.

Raymond pulled out a box from the top of the truck and handed out ear buds to the team. “Sterling will be the remote team. He’ll stay in the van just outside of visual distance and give us feedback as we need it. He’ll also
be online if we need anything.”

“I’ll stay in the car again,” Sterling huffed. Then, in a happier tone, he added, “I’ll look after Julian for us.”

“You’re part human,” Raymond said. “You’ll stay in the car where it’s safer and you will leave Julian alone. We may need him in exchange for Sulie.” Just then, Raymond felt a strong mental pattern from Julian, so he reached over and touched the vamp’s hand. Raymond’s eyes saddened by what he read. He didn’t care that Julian didn’t believe his family valued his life enough to trade for him. What saddened Raymond was the option for trading him for Sulie wouldn’t exist.

“Sterling,” Raymond continued. “I need you as the coordinator for the mission, but be armed and ready to run in at a second’s notice.”

“Fine,” Sterling said.

Each team member selected their weapons, as well as gloves from the box that held the ear buds. They would need those to touch the silver whips and silver tipped bullets.

One by one, the daggers were stored in boots and inside pockets, the whips strapped onto their backs, and the guns were loaded. They each put on their ear buds and tested the devices out.

“Team A will be me and Ben. Alex and William—when he gets here—will be Team B. Once we get to the building, Team A will enter the main entrance to the restaurant; Team B will enter from the mall entrance on the opposite side. Each of you will carry several syringes of blood. Hopefully you won’t need them to heal; they’ll be needed to feed Sulie. I’m sure she’ll need every drop we can give her. Sterling will have bagged blood with him in the van.”

“Don’t worry, Raymond. We have plenty of blood for when we find Sulie,” Alex mentioned. “It’s been days since her abduction. We have to assume she has not eaten. If she has not been injured and bled out, her age is probably sixty or so.”