Blood Relations - Chapter 18

Saturday, November 15, 1997

Rather than hunt, Charles decided to visit with his pets, taking little sips until he was able to calm the animal growling in his chest. He hoped he would be the first to arrive home by taking his meals quickly.

But when he opened the door, the scent of his partner told him all he needed to know. He was right, and she was wrong.

Sure, and that’s just what I’ll tell her, Charles thought as he rushed through the front door and slammed it behind himself. He sprinted up the steps, his face caught between two emotions while anger and fear warred inside his head. But he wouldn’t let either have complete control. Before he could worry about saying “I told you so,” he had to help deliver his son.

Charles thumped open the door of his bedroom with his shoulder, moving quickly to the bed to help Vicky. “How long has she been in labor?”

“Half an hour,” Vicky said, then grabbed Charles’ wrist while she pulled her ravaged hand away from Claudia’s mouth.

Charles clamped his hand over his partner’s mouth without further prompting. His face tightened in a grimace when she tore this skin away from his palm. “Thanks for standing in for me.”

“I’m going downstairs for some bottles.”

“I knew it,” Charles gasped, unable to keep from complaining to Vicky, who was still clear headed, at least. “Of course Claudia would send us out before she went into labor.”

“It might have been instinctual,” Vicky said, pausing at the door to add, “My mother said sometimes, there’s a bad bloodlust before labor, and I think Claudia was harboring a craving for a hot meal. Everything else she said was just excuses made up by her conscious mind to put a nice face on her subconscious needs.”

“Right, in other words, typical female behavior,” Charles said, his grimace pinching tighter when Claudia sliced a chunk of meat away from his palm. “I guess there is one benefit to her plan. Since I’ve fed recently, my hand should heal faster.”

Vicky stared down at the mangled lump of bloody meat at the end of her wrist. “I’ve fed, but this may require an extra bottle to speed things up.”

“Yeah, go on, I can take care of her for now,” Charles said.

***

Vicky made it into the middle of the main hall before she smelled the magi returning with Ellen and a male halfling, she guessed Ellen’s partner, Andrew.

The door opened, and Felix walked in first. Behind him, Ellen looked  no worse for wear from her travels. Her dark reddish blonde hair was frazzled, but that was how it normally looked, as did the wrinkled condition of her blue T-shirt and ankle length forest green hoop skirt.

Andrew wore dark blue jeans and a grey shirt that fit snugly over his lean frame. A duffle bag was slung by long straps over his right shoulder, and in his left hand was another bag; Ellen’s, judging by the scent.

Andrew was perhaps a quarter of an inch taller than Ellen, and while his muscles were defined enough to give him a masculine appearance, his frame was just as delicate as Ellen’s. In short, they looked made for each other.

His green eyes were a darker shade, and like most halfling men, his round cheeks were a barren plain where no facial hair could grow. His curly hair was shaggy, and fell in overlapping ringlets to cover his neck, his ears, and most of his brow. The softening effect of his hair framing his face made him look angelic.

Vicky nodded to Felix when he closed the door behind Simone and Marcus. “You’ve got great timing. I need an extra hand.” Vicky raised her arm. “I’ve almost lost this one.”

Felix paled, his mouth falling open as he nodded. But he still reacted better than Marcus, who swooned and fell against Simone.

“Wimp,” muttered Simone.

“Just tell me what to do,” Felix said.

“All of you follow me into the kitchen. Felix, if you and your partner will lower your guard for Ellen—”

Ellen cut her off. “They already did back at the airport.” She dropped her bag by the door and followed behind Vicky while she said, “Don’t the two of you know how to avoid trouble? If it isn’t a mage or a daemon, it’s vampires and a wyrm.”

“Why are you including the coven?” Vicky asked. “They haven’t caused any trouble.”

“They haven’t?” Ellen’s expression became incredulous. “Vicky, what do you call a vampire baby, if not trouble?”

Vicky opened the refrigerator and leaned over to check the stock. She frowned at the dozen bottles remaining. No one could think about calling volunteers, and even if they could, Claudia sent everyone for a night out.

Ellen waited for her to speak, then gasped in frustration. “Vicky, you should know better too. You’ve been—”

“This wasn’t my choice, all right?” Vicky shouted, rising up to glare over the door at Ellen. “Amber took it in her own head that this was something she wanted, and Claudia...she’s always full of good ideas.”

“You should have—”

“Is there ever a time when you can convince your partner not to do something once he’s made up his mind?” Vicky waited, then nodded at the silence. “That’s right, she’s my partner, and I couldn’t stop her once she got the idea from Claudia. She’s doing it because she feels like she owes me for taking away my ability to have a child.”

Ellen remained quiet, and Vicky leaned over to take out a bottle. She passed it to Felix, and then another one before closing the refrigerator. She couldn’t take a bottle for herself to help heal her hand. The stock that remained would need to be conserved, because Amber would likely be famished by the time Ellen found her.

If she can— Vicky started to think, but she wouldn’t let the thought finish.

Ellen listened to Vicky’s swirling thoughts, her deep frown of disapproval slowly fading as understanding came to her. She let go of a long breath and said, “If I’m supposed to attempt this spell, I’ll need a map and a pendulum.”

“The map is set up in the den. Marcus can show you where.” Vicky frowned at Felix. “Sorry, but I need you to be a gopher. You’ll be fetching more bottles as we need them, but wait at the door, and don’t go anywhere near the bed.”

***

Lucas was the only vampire to take his car, a black BMW with darkly tinted windows. He wandered around downtown with both of the side windows rolled down, following people randomly before he came up with an excuse each time for why he didn’t feel like eating them.

He didn’t have much of an appetite while he was worrying about Amber, and so every imperfection was used; too short, too thin, too drunk. But when he turned down a healthy and athletic male for being too Jewish, Lucas knew he was just being picky. He was definitely not in the mood to go hunting.

He decided to go visit his new pets, the Colby sisters, since a half a meal was all he could stand for the night. Charles was right, and sipping from the three was almost like draining a single victim.

Then there was the fact that Lucas enjoyed the creepy way in which the sisters spoke and moved together. He didn’t know if it was natural or an act, but they were fascinating to watch once they started rambling in unison.

His thoughts wandered  from the sisters, but they drifted without resting on any one worry. He barely noticed the speedometer creeping up until the engine maxed out and whined in protest. Lucas backed off the pedal and mentally scolded himself to relax. Until Vicky’s friend showed up to try out her own hocus pocus, there was nothing to do but wait.

Pulling up to the two story house of the three sisters, Lucas put on a false smile and went to the door.

Instead of one of the sisters, an old man opened the door, his face pulling into a look of disdain the instant he saw Lucas.

“Boyfriend? the old man asked.

Lucas shook his head. “No, sir, I’m a talent manager for a local goth-punk-fusion band, the Bleeding Screamers.”

“Never heard of them,” the old man said.

“They haven’t signed a label yet, but we’re shooting a music video. I was looking for Lisa, Patricia and Monica, since they agreed to help with the production.” The old man started to say something, and Lucas held up his hands in a placating gesture. “Sir, I swear, they will be used tastefully.”

***

Ellen unclasped the nickel plated necklace and nodded as she listened to Simone’s thoughts. “I think I know what you’re doing wrong. You tried to pray to Amber’s deity instead of your own.”

Simone blinked, her silvers eyes filling with an incredulous look. “Wait, you mean if I summoned Gaia instead—”

“The spell probably would have worked,” Ellen said. “Just let me try out my own version, and we’ll let you try if my spell doesn’t work.”

No one spoke as she held up her necklace. The tiny copper cross pendant dangled over the map, clattering on the end of the chain.

Ellen typically preferred silver, but the metal was frowned up by vampires, who had an allergy to the metal. They had no trouble with religious symbols, but bringing silver jewelry into the coven house was comparable to showing up at a human home with a dead rat as a housewarming gift.

She took a long breath and prayed, “Heavenly father, I am your vessel and humble servant, and I ask for your guidance and help if it is your divine will to intervene. I’m looking for Amber McKenzie. If she’s alive, please point out her location to me, and help me to seek her out, no matter where she might be hidden.”

The cross tightened the chain against Ellen’s fingers, drawing it out into a slant. Ellen moved her hand until the cross dipped, and the chain became a vertical line.  Marcus leaned over to mark the point with a pencil. “Don’t bother,” Ellen said.

“Did you memorize the address?” Marcus asked.

“Not exactly,” Ellen said. But she offered no other explanation before she got ready to leave.

***

Vicky stared at her bandaged hand during the ride in Felix’s rental car. Ellen’s version of the locator spell was different, because she didn’t go into a trance the way Amber did. Ellen said only that she had tried something different, and she didn’t speak during the trip.

Vicky caught her glaring in the rearview mirror, and she didn’t need to guess why the halfling was angry. Only after going over Marcus’ thoughts did Ellen find out who the father of Amber’s baby was. So she was quite understandably furious with Vicky both for hiding the truth, and for allowing Emil to breed with Amber.

Ellen was upset because she’d been used by her family, bred to a mage slave who had no mind of his own. The traumatic memories of her youth were made worse, because Ellen was herself the product of a breeding between a halfling and a slave. Like most hybrids, Ellen never learned which of her elders was her mother.

Ellen could not be convinced that Amber made her decision willingly. Vicky knew the truth, that Amber made the choice to have a vampire child without considering all of the risks. But even if the vampires had explained in excruciating detail, Amber still would not have been swayed.

Once Amber reached that point, Vicky didn’t want her to back down either. She wanted to have a child, and the changes Amber went through pleased Vicky just as much as they scared her.

But Vicky couldn’t think straight to explain Amber or herself, and so she avoided Ellen’s dirty looks rather than argue.

Ellen made a frustrated sigh in the front seat. “I can forgive you for letting this happen, but you need to tell me what you’re planning. I don’t have the first clue of how to handle a wyrm.”

“I think talking in a low voice is probably the safest option,” Vicky commented. “I’m sorry, but I don’t have a plan for dealing with Dimitri besides asking why he’s doing this. I just want to find Amber, all right?”

Ellen let Vicky go back to her thoughts, saying nothing while she completed the trip to the apartment complex. But when she parked in front of the building, her face drew into a clouded look of anxiety.

She turned in her seat to look back at Vicky, her silver eyes filled with an anxious light. “I can sense Amber, but the rest of the building is empty.”

Vicky opened the door and unfolded herself from out of the back seat. She was drawing in breath heave a relieved sigh when she picked up the faint trace of dried human blood.

Ellen picked up her thought and started walking toward the building entrance at a fast jog. Vicky was on her heels only a second later.

Guided by her deity, Ellen turned in the corridor and reached out to try the door. She found it locked, and she stepped back to let Vicky shoulder it down. The halfling’s gaze followed Vicky until she spotted the woman’s body on the floor.

A stunned whimper rose from Ellen’s lips as she staggered into the room behind Vicky, who stood staring at the splashes of blood painting a wide section of the living room.

“What did he make her do?” Vicky asked, forcing her legs to work again. Amber’s scent was close, and the odor of sickness rolling off her body was much stronger. She found Amber sprawled across the kitchen floor, and she dropped to her knees, grabbing Amber’s arms to shake her gently. “Amber can you hear me?”

Amber’s eyelids fluttered, then drew back slowly. Her lips pulled into a tired smile. “You came.” She closed her eyes and muttered, “Knew you would.”

***

Emil returned home, and the mingling odors in the air confirmed that he’d missed everything by going out. Like Charles and Lucas, he gave up on the idea of hunting, but he’d taken much longer to decide on visiting his pets to feed.

He went upstairs to check on Amber first, finding most everyone in her room. Vicky moved away from the bed, her blue eyes troubled while she described the condition of the apartment, and the bodies of the two unfortunate occupants. She continued with Ellen’s observations about the entire building being empty.

Emil sat down on the side of the bed and leaned over to touch Amber’s cheek. She was cold, and she stared up at him with a bright sheen of fevered delusion in her eyes. Her breathing was soft, and rushed out of her far faster than she inhaled.

Vicky finished with an explanation of how short the blood supply was, and she was near panic when she finished.

Emil rose from the bed and closed his arms around her. “Calm down. She’s back home, and I’ll take care of her.”

“But she—he made her—”

“I know, but you have to let it go. What can any of us do to a wyrm?”

Vicky sighed and stepped away from him, her gaze moving back to Amber. “What can we do to save her?”

“We can keep her fed, at least.” Emil nodded to Lucas. “Get on the phone and call Dr. Mooney. Tell him we need to made a withdrawal, and take whatever he’ll let you get away with. Aim high with your first bid.” He grabbed Vicky’s wrist and pulled her toward the door. “We’ve got to go back to the apartment and take the heads.”

Vicky wanted to object, but she followed Emil out of the house, feeling grateful that he kept pace with her. She saw the logic of his plan. As the rest of the building was emptied, probably by Dimitri, the two bodies would be just another odd statistic, so long as there weren’t bite marks to examine or match up.

Emil walked into the apartment, cringing as he looked around. “Oh hell, this must have been fun to watch. It looks like a toddler got fed their first meal.”

Vicky followed him into the kitchen, watching him dig through the drawers for a big knife. “Who’s Dr. Mooney?”

“He used to be a pet back in his college days, but now he runs a local blood and tissue center. We run the pets who don’t feed us through the clinic every few months,  which gives us some credit to make withdrawals if we’re having an emergency.”

“When was the last emergency?” Vicky asked.

Emil pulled a meat cleaver from the bottom drawer and slammed it down on the counter to test the heft. “Claudia went into a week-long feeding frenzy, and we couldn’t keep the refrigerator stocked fast enough to keep up with her and still feed ourselves. She hit four victims a day for six days straight.”

Vicky nodded. “So it’s a boy.” She grimaced at another thought. “If Amber survives the poison, she’s still not up to her first frenzy yet.”

Emil said nothing to acknowledge he as he walked out of the kitchen and knelt beside the man’s body. He slung down the cleaver, taking the head and neck in one chop. The wound was flush with the shoulder, the blade struck so accurately that it passed between two vertebrae.

Emil handed Vicky the head and moved to the woman next. He decapitated the body and returned to the kitchen with a casual stride. Setting the head on the counter, he grabbed a towel hung over the stove handle and wiped down the cleaver while he panted and sampled the air. Then he moved around the kitchen, wiping down everything Amber had touched.

He became calmer while he worked, and by the time he retrieved the head and walked to the door, his expression was cool and relaxed.

Back at the house, the heads were wrapped in bags before they were stored in the deep freezer in the garage. Emil divided the last bottles between Amber and Claudia, and then he went to the den to wait for Lucas to return.

Vicky knelt down in front of him, watching his face with a worried expression. He was too calm, giving away nothing from his thoughts through his slack expression. She asked, “What are you thinking?”

“That I should have skipped dinner,” said Emil. “Please, just relax until Lucas gets back. If you’re worried that I’ll ask you and Amber to leave, don’t.”

Vicky’s shoulders sagged, relieved to have her worst fears invalidated. She stared at the floor with a miserable expression. “She’s dying.”

Emil’s hand cupped her cheek, pulling her head up. His face was full of sympathy as he said, “I have a plan, but it depends on how much blood we can get from Dr. Mooney.”

It was almost an hour before dawn when Lucas arrived hauling in two blue plastic ice chests. He didn’t bother setting them down. Holding them up, he announced, “Mooney says we’re tapped out to the end of the year, but he gave twelve victims’ worth.”

Emil nodded and got up from his chair. “That’s more than enough.”

“To do what?” Vicky asked.

“I’m going to drain her. It’s the only way to leech the poison—”

Vicky stood in front of him, her eyes filled with terror. “Emil, you can’t. It’s too much strain on her all at once.”

Emil laid his hand on her shoulder. “Vicky, listen to her breathing. Get a good whiff of her. The poison will kill her if we don’t leech her quickly.”

***

Vicky stopped Emil as he went to clasp Amber’s hand. “Wait, this is my job.”

Emil began to say something, but he watched the pleading look in Vicky’s eyes and closed his mouth. Getting up, he took the bag of blood from Vicky, then moved around to the other side of the bed. Crawling over to Amber, he knelt and propped her head in his lap.

A look of annoyance crossed Amber’s face, and she rasped an objection too soft even for vampire ears to make out. She was trying to explain that their plan wouldn’t work. But the icy toxin kept her vocal chords numb.

Vicky needed to act quickly, but she couldn’t stop herself from staring at Amber’s wrist. Amber’s pulse was weak, hardly visible under her skin despite how thin it was from dehydration.

Raising Amber’s arm, Vicky bit through the skin over her vein, then released the bite to draw back on the wound.

Emil punctured the bag of blood near the corner with his teeth. He slipped the leaking hole between Amber’s lips, and her cheeks caved as she sucked back the bag in one pull. Emil pulled the bag away and leaned over to retrieve another from the chest set beside the bed. Amber drained each bag brought to her lips until she’d consumed two victim’s worth. When he set the next bag over her mouth, she shook her head weakly and said, “I can’t. I’m full.” She gasped for air, and then she shook her head. “This isn’t going to work. Dimitri said so.”

She thought, What? Now I believe him?

Vicky patted on the bed for a gauze pad. She raised her head to cover the wound as she frowned at Emil. “I keep pulling, but there’s still a taint to her blood.”

Emil nodded and rested Amber’s head back down on the bed. “We’ll trade places.”

“Emil—”

“We have to try,” Emil said, cutting her off. “At the very least, we have to drain enough to keep her alive.”

Vicky allowed Emil to take her place by Amber’s side. But his expression became increasingly frustrated, and finally, he had to back off the wound because he was full too. Amber wouldn’t take any more blood despite Emil draining her, and her voice had once again fallen to a whisper too soft to understand.

She was still trying to say, “This won’t work.”

Emil bandaged Amber’s wrist and got up to pace the room. The sun had already risen outside, and fatigue was taking its toll on him.

He tried to think logically about what little he knew. The nightmare blood was a poison to humans, but it should have been drained away long before by Vicky’s efforts. It seemed impossible that he could also drain her and still taste the nightmare blood.

Vicky moved in front of Emil to stop him, her eyes full of sick misery. “Just go to bed. We’ll try to look through the books again tomorrow.”

Emil grabbed Vicky’s wrist and drew her into an embrace. He rubbed her back as she started to tremble. She was sick with fear and wracked by guilt for being unable to do anything to protect her partner. Emil understood how she felt, because he too felt just as helpless and lost for an answer.

He could offer her nothing but the comfort of his presence, and so, in spite of his fatigue, he remained with her.

When she stopped crying against his shoulder, Emil guided her back to the bed and had her lie beside Amber. He picked up the ice chest with the remaining blood and left the room, sparing a worried glance back at Amber before he shut the door.

Vicky scooted closer to Amber, not bothering to undress or get under the covers. She was too tired by then to make the effort. She closed her eyes and thought, I wish there was some god that I could pray to.