Blood Debt (The Blood Sisters Book 2) (22 page)

“I’m
sorry,” Amanda tried to pry his fingers off her wrist. “I didn’t mean to take
your quarter. We’re just short on money and we were trying to come up with some
extra cash—.”

The man’s
entirely demeanor changed. He let Amanda’s wrist go and took off his hat in
respect. “Oh man, I know tough times when I see them. I’ll head inside, grab
you guys something to eat. Your car’s on pump two, right?”

Amanda
nodded with a slight jitter in her eye. “Thank you, kind sir, but that’s not
really—.”

“Think
nothing of it.” He hurried inside, the bell jinglingly as he pulled the door
open. Jessica just stared after him with her mouth fallen open.

What the
hell had just happened? Did they just meet Santa Clause as a truck driver?
“Well, he must be the nicest guy—.” It wasn’t like them to have such good luck
and from Amanda’s fallen expression, Jessica suspected something else was at
play.

“I didn’t
mean to,” Amanda whispered. “I didn’t mean to push him like that. He was just
hurting my wrist so I…”

Jessica’s
eyebrows came together. “I don’t think I’m following you.”

“My
powers,” Amanda cast a glance over her shoulder to make sure no one was around.
“They’ve changed a lot since Vaughn. I can read minds
sometimes,
as you know, and I can…influence people. Just once or
twice, mostly when I’m upset or in a jam.”

Jessica
stared at her sister. Was this a blessing or a curse? Should she be terrified
or grateful? Everything Aunt Gwen told Jessica as she grew up ‘protect Amanda,
protect her purity at all costs, we don’t know what will happen to her power’
looped inside her head.

More was
going on than they were told, that much was clear, but Jessica didn’t have time
to worry. Not with Duncan captured by the sworn enemy.

“You’re
not mad at me, are you?” Amanda’s eyes widened like a stray puppy dog.

Jessica
shook her
head
but didn’t say anything.
No, she wasn’t mad. How could she be mad? Was she terrified at what this meant?
You betcha. How could Amanda change so much, in only the span of a few days?

The man
returned with a box of food for them. Hot dogs, sodas, chips, and even some
fresh fruit. Amanda took it from him with a delicate curtsey. “Thank you so
much, Sir.”

He waved
her off with a good natured laugh. “You girls looked like you could use a good
meal. You can gas up now too. The
pump
has enough on it to fill that beast of a tank.”

Amanda
kept talking, but Jessica used that moment to escape over to the car. She
wasn’t big yet on
human
conversation so
she pumped gas into her car. The gas cover hid behind the license place, so
Jessica squatted and held onto the hose aware that a shadow crept behind her.

“You
should announce yourself before sneaking up on someone.” Jessica stood upright
and saw the glower of a police officer.

The cops.
Jessica gulped and her heart raced. “Officer, what can I---.”

He spat
what must have been a wad of chew onto the ground. “This here car is wanted in
connection of a crime, did you know that?”

“A recent
one?” Jessica cringed. She didn’t know that. How would she know anything like
that, she’d been held captive in the underworld?

The cop
nodded. “Murder at a hospital down in Kansas. Not just a murder, but several
dozens. Calling it a massacre. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would
you?”

“Me?
Well, listen I’m sure we can clear this up.” She thought about what happened to
Ron and all of the Black Scorpion gang members that were gutted like fish.
Jessica had done that and for that crime, she deserved to pay. Sure, she had
been under Lourdes’s control, but Jessica owned that guilt. It was hers.

She
remembered the screams and the heavy smell of blood. The horror on their faces
and how it felt to slide her blade into their skin. It never went in as easy as
you thought it would. Popping of cartridge and bones, Jessica thought she might
never forget that noise as she’d slaughtered men who had pledged their lives to
help her sister.

Demons
were one thing. Possessed humans were even
expendable,
if a dire situation arose, but what Jessica did? No, there was no excuse. No
excuse at all.

The cop
put the gasoline hose back for her and in his other hand twirled a set of
handcuffs, intent on arresting her. He’d take her down to the station, and
she’d probably never get out again. That was what Jessica deserved.

The cop
went for her wrist. “You’re under arrest, little lady.”

But
Duncan was in trouble. He needed her and didn’t deserve being abandoned over a
little thing like her conscience.

“I can’t
let you do that,” tears shined bright in her eyes. “I’m sorry.” `She grabbed
his wrist and yanked him close. Eye wide, he flung toward her and Jessica
slammed him under the chin with the open palm of her hand. “Amanda, it’s time
to go!”

The
officer’s feet skidded on the wet pavement so when Jessica kicked him in the
gut he fell over to his back. No one rushed to his aid so she took a moment to
handcuff the cop to a pole.

And stole
his gun.

“Wait!
 
Stop!” he screamed after her, but Jessica
slid into her car.

She
stowed the gun inside the
glove box
as
Amanda slammed her car door shut. “Always good to have more ammo, but we’ll
need to ditch the gun,” Jessica said as she peeled out of the gas station.

“Twizzler?”
Amanda offered her with a sad smile on her face.

Jessica
took it and tore into it. No one would ever mistake her for a good person. No
one. Especially not herself.

A
manda slept, and when she slept, she
dreamed.

Through miles,
she traveled to someone close to her. Someone desperately in need of her help.
Beaten and bloody, her poor friend Duncan was tethered by chains. More than a
friend, like a brother, he was on his feet in a large room surrounded by cages
on all sides.

Cages.
Amanda’s inner heart broke for the women who filled them, but she focused on
Duncan. Shirtless, he wore only his low hung blue denim jeans, now splattered
with his own blood. His
pecks
were cut
and his chest and abdomen bruised from the endless torture. Head down, his chin
buried in his chest, it didn’t please Vain at all.

Gripping
his hair tight, she threw his head back. His eye was swollen, and his lip bled.
“Sleeping on me?” She slipped golden knuckles on her hand and pummeled him in
the stomach hard.

Again and
again.

With a
cry, Duncan came awake. He moaned as his legs gave out, yanking on the chains
from the ceiling.

“Does it
hurt?” Vain’s eyes widened with hope. “Do you want to beg me yet to kill you?”

Duncan
mumbled, incoherent. His head shook, but then he lost control and it snapped
backward
. Lips parted, his words came out as
sincere
as anything Vain had ever heard.
“J…Jessica.”

Vain’s
face contorted with rage. Nostrils flaring, her teeth bared, she screamed and
kicked him in his broken ribs, sending him soaring
backward
. His cries didn’t bring her comfort. Nothing did.

“Then let
us start again, Duncan Jasper.”

****

Amanda
snorted awake and wiped her hair from her face. Gazing around she saw they were
still driving and the orange sunset off in the distance. Jessica barely glanced
at her;
instead,
she had a
white-knuckle
grip on the steering wheel and
just stared off into the distance. There was so much despair coming from her,
Amanda just wanted to help her.

“Do you
want some sleep?”

Jessica
shook her
head
but otherwise didn’t say
anything.

Amanda
wished Jessica would get some rest or talk to her. “I dreamt of Duncan,” Amanda
swallowed and watched Jessica’s face turn toward her. “Vain is killing him blow
by blow and she’s not alone. Vaughn is there. I didn’t see him…I felt him.”
Amanda rubbed her arms to warm herself.

Suddenly
inside she was cold. So cold.

Jessica
sighed with an exaggerated eye roll. “Vaughn, perfect. Then we end it all
tonight. Kill Vain, Kill Vaughn. Go on our merry way.”

“Orrrr,”
Amanda drew it out, watching Jessica’s face for a reaction, “we exorcise him.
Leave the host alive and destroy Vaughn piece by piece until there’s nothing
left to send to the underworld.”

Jessica slammed
on the breaks as they approached a red light. “Have you lost your mind?
Exorcise
a
high-level
demon like that? He’s been in that host for what, hundreds of years? They’re
practically one at this point. You have any idea how long that’ll take?”

“Maybe,”
Amanda shrugged, “but I’m getting stronger, Jess. I removed Lourdes’s mark from
you and I brought Gwen back from the dead. The dead! The things I can do…”

“Scare
me,” Jessica said softly as she released the break. “You’ve gotten so strong,
so fast. There has to have
been
some sort
of trade off for this kind of power. It terrifies me.”

“That I’m
not your sister anymore?” Amanda’s eyes were wide as she felt Jessica’s
greatest fear rolling off of her. “I’m still Mandy. I’m still your sister. I’m
stronger now, Jess. Think of all the people we can save. Think about what we
can do.”

Jessica
shook her head. “You just promise me one thing; if it comes down to your life
or Vaughn’s you pick yours. Okay? You won’t sacrifice yourself for some host
who means nothing to us. You promise me.”

Amanda
nodded. “I promise, Jess. I never break one, you know. Just like a Disney
princess.”

Jessica
snorted. “Who told you something so corny?”

“Duncan
did.” Amanda settled in her seat and leaned her head against the
dashboard.
 
They fell into an
uncomfortable silence and Amanda could feel Jessica’s doubts creeping through
her mind. “I thought you’d be happy that I can help you more. I’m not just some
fragile vase that needs protecting anymore, Jess. I’m not dead weight.”

“You were
never never
dead weight. Don’t you ever
say that.” Jessica’s anger flexed. “You were—you are—the best thing about all
of this. So don’t you go wanting to change, Amanda. Don’t.”

“I don’t
want to change, but I don’t know how to stop. I don’t think I can.” Amanda’s
voice shrunk and the truth of her
words
even scared her.

Jessica
shook her head. “Well find a way. Please. I don’t want you to change, Mandy.
I…” her voice shook, “I need you to stay just the way you are, okay?”

So
unsteady and afraid, Amanda took Jessica’s hand and kissed it. “You’ll always
have me, Jessie. Always.”

“Good,”
Jessica’s face flushed as she kissed her sister’s hand. “Life wouldn’t be worth
it without you. You know that? Nothing would be.”

She felt
bad for Jessica, she did. Everything she had been through had really messed
with her mind, but what was there to be afraid of? Exorcising demons
was
what they did; this only meant Amanda would
have the advantage—didn’t it?

H
ouse to
house
,
person
to
person, it didn’t take Lourdes
long to have what she needed. An army of husks. Their gray skin dry and tough
as leather, their clothes hanging
loosely around
their bodies. Their eyes were dried and brittle, bulging from their sockets and
their teeth giant in their skeletal mouths.

“Follow
me,” Lourdes commanded as they marched through the city streets. They followed
closely behind in
tight-knit
rows of ten.
Dozens of rows, hundreds of husks shuffled their feet. Every word she said like
a vow straight to their sunken hearts.

Lourdes
skin shimmered darker than ever. Her strength at an all-time
high,
but the urge to feed again was always
present—
twinging
in her gut. She needed
to accomplish much, but had little time to do it before the Bloods seized the
upper hand.

This town
was finished. It was the first, but more would fall. Before the next full moon,
the Earth would be her domain and heaven would be next—if she played her cards
right.

She led
her army of husks to a hill, and gazed down at the sleeping city below. Traffic
lights still
flicked
off and on, but the
town was empty. Behind her, it followed foot by foot.

Step by
step.

“Open
your mouths, my friends,” Lourdes smiled with pleasure. “Open your mouths and
level this town to the ground.”

They could
do nothing but comply. The husks
angled
their
heads back and opened their mouths. Fear and pestilence flew out in the
hundreds of thousands. With tiny
wings,
the locusts flapped and
flew
over the
town. Consuming every tree branch, every house, anything that once contained
life would be eaten; destroyed.

The husks
mouths came dislodged as the decay flowed. When they were done, when the town
was leveled to the ground, Lourdes would move on to the next. The world would
pay for what the Bloods had done.

With
their very souls.

*****

Mike had
never liked Gwen’s taste in cars. The jeep was no exception. Sure, he didn’t
say anything about it outright, but his sigh made it obvious. Once they hit the
road, he held on as if his life depended on it. Would have been funny if it
didn’t piss Gwen off to high heaven. “I’ll have you know that there’s nothing
wrong with this jeep.”

“I’m sure
it’s in top working order.”

Gwen
rolled her eyes. “Fresh spark plugs and an oil change just a few clicks ago.
Even while possessed, I’m good at car maintenance.”

Mike
wiped the spit from the corner of his mouth. “Making light of that situation?”

“Is that
or break down and cry, but that never helped anyone. Just like I’m always
telling my nieces.”

Arms
crossed he nodded. “Is it something you want to talk about?”

Lips
pursed together, Gwen answered curtly. “No.” Hell, no. Definitely not. Gwen
didn’t talk about things. What was the point to it, anyway? Nothing ever
changed. Life was a battle. Period.

“Is there
anything you do want to talk about? We’re only
halfway
there.”

Gwen
couldn’t think of any safe subjects. “Just being here with you is surreal
enough. I don’t think either of us needs to talk about anything.”

“I spent
so many years avoiding you,” Mike sighed, “now here we are, sitting side by
side.”

“Off to
save the world.” Gwen shook her head without a drop of comedy. Just being
around him made her nervous. What did you say to the only man you ever loved?
The man you slept with, gave yourself to, only to have your whole world blow up?
“
Hopefully,
it goes better than it did
the last time.”

Mike
paused to cast her a
look,
but never met
her eyes. He never did, did he? Not since their baby boy died. Maybe Mike
blamed her, maybe he didn’t, but Gwen couldn’t forgive herself so that too didn’t
matter.
 
“Could be nothing. Maybe his
phone has no signal. Might not be anything wrong at all.”

Gwen
snorted. “Since when have our lives been that easy?”

He
conceded the point with a nod of his head. “Despite everything, it’s good to
see you again. I didn’t get a chance to say it before.”

“Demon
possession is a
might bit
inconvenient.
I’ll say this; you have great timing, and thank you. With the girls around I
didn’t get to say it, but I meant to. If it hadn’t been you, the demon would
never have been cast out. No one else would go to the lengths you did.”

Mike
shifted in his seat. “For some, murder is the most heinous of crimes, but for
me, it’s just one more to add to my growing list. I knew you would rather be
dead, than be used against your girls.”

Her
girls. Gwen’s smiled bitterly. The color of their hair was perhaps the only
thing they shared in common. Once she thought her and Jessica might grow to be
friends, one day, once Jessica knew everything. But after today, well, “I had
no idea I made Jessica feel so defeated. No idea.”

For a
brief
moment,
Gwen thought she might cry
and that was unacceptable. She bit the inside of her cheek to stop it from
happening. “Don’t be so weak, Gwen,” that’s what Jacob once said to her. Once,
before he knew real love—before bouncing those two girls on his knee changed
his life.

And he
should’ve had more time with it, damn it. He should’ve put party hats on their
heads for more birthdays and been there for the first talk about boys. Warned
Jessica, about the likes of Duncan Jasper. Gwen was a poor substitute. She knew
that and spent so much time running from that responsibility; she’d left them
in foster care. Those bruises on Jessica’s face and arms hadn’t come from
demons.

Gwen would
never forget that first meeting with the scared and battered girl. Never
forgive herself for that either.

“You did
what was necessary to get them through. Everyone knows that. Jessica does too.
Now isn’t the time to take her words to heart. She’s hurting bad, Gwen. You
didn’t see…” Mike cleared her throat. “Lourdes put her through unspeakable
horrors. I doubt she’ll ever be the same.”

“Don’t
say that,” Gwen’s mouth fell open, horrified. She had been there, done that,
but she always wished for better for her girls—especially Jessica. A special
child, took after Jacob in so many ways, but her capacity for love, it didn’t
come from being a Blood. It came from Donna—Jessica’s dear saint of a mother.

The loss
of a great friend—the sweetest and kindest there ever was—Gwen mourned her
almost more than the loss of her older brother. “Don’t you say that. They might
not know, really know, but I love them. I do.”

“I know
you do,” Mike spoke softly as if his own voice might betray him. “They’re
alive, thanks to you. Deep down, they know that. Amanda can feel everything you
feel. She’s getting stronger.”

Gwen knew
that too and it terrified her. “Everything that was written is coming to pass.
Every bit of prophecy about Lourdes we set in motion is coming true.”

Mike swallowed
and his knee bounced up and down. “Amanda isn’t that far gone yet.”

Gwen
laughed, bitter. “It won’t matter. If Lourdes manages to get free and walk the
earth, we’re all doomed. It’s only a matter of time before she takes on the
angels and this time, Lourdes will be ready for them. The only way to
avert
it, you know what it is.”

Mike
nodded, a haunted look in his eyes. “You should’ve told them, should’ve warned
them.”

“If they
knew,” Gwen’s lips twisted down as if she tasted something vile, “I’m afraid
they’d choose each other over defeating Lourdes.” She sighed. “And we can’t
have that. The future of the world is more important than two people.”

Even if
you loved them dearly.

A handler
of rare antiquities and books, Gwen expected to find her old friend Archibald
Franklin at his home estate. A sprawling mansion, really there was no other
word for it, located in the city of Rosenberg. A quiet placed, where an
eccentric old bat could do what he did best. Live a life of solitude and
confinement while tending to his wares.

Gwen’s
stomach tensed as soon as they entered the city limits. A place people went to
retire to a quiet life, it had never been stagnant, but now an eerie silence
hung above the town like a fog. There were no other cars on the road and the
houses weren’t lit from the inside. She slowed the jeep down to a crawl and
peered out the window with dread.

“It is
night time. Everyone is probably still asleep,” Mike rolled down his window to
get a better look outside.

Not a
single light? Gwen’s stomach rocked uneasy. “No noise. Nothing. I think we
better get to Archie and find out what’s going on.” Gwen stepped on the gas and
the jeep accelerated up the hill. Once over the top, the lampposts were burned
out and the homes just over the ridge—

“Mother
of God,” Mike whispered and made the sign of the cross against his forehead.
Gwen wished he wouldn’t do that in her presence, but was too dumbfounded to
speak.

The homes
were gone.

There was
evidence there had once been homes. Brick and concrete foundations chipped and
cracked, but what could have done such a thing? It was like a giant tornado had
swept the homes away, but where to?

There was
little debris. Too little.

Gwen
stopped the car and
leapt
out. In the
cool night air, she approached a set of tires on the ground. Bending down she
touched a steel rod lying beside them.

Had this
been a car? What had done this?

“Mike,”
Gwen raced to his spot on what would’ve been a walkway to the front door. Bent
over, he scooped blackened dust sprinkled with bits of purple fabric and let it
trickle through his fingers.
 

His chin
crumbled as his frowned. “We better check on Arch. There’s nothing we can do
here. This place is gone.”

“The
people?” Gwen turned on her flashlight and rushed passed the crumbling
foundation. She shined her light on the debris. A splintered table lay on its
side by an old fireplace. As if it melted, it molded with the floor remains.
Beside it, a dirty baby doll with half its face gnawed off. Oh God, what
happened to this place?

 
Gwen covered her mouth, thinking of all that
had been lost here. The children? The people?

“Grief
now will only slow us down, Genevieve.” Mike tugged on her arm. “Come from this
place. It’s still too fresh. The dead need time to settle. If we disturb them
now…”

She
nodded
solemnly as Mike led her out of there.
Gwen hopped back into her jeep, grateful that it was still running. Shifting
into drive, she feared what they might find further on, but they continued.

Deeper
into the city. Deeper into the ruin.

Like a
war-torn
city, crumbled foundations all around
them, intermingled with the damage of fallen power lines. Uprooted trees lay on
their sides, blocking the way up the hill toward Archibald’s estate. Gwen cut
the engine to the jeep and grabbed her bag from the back. “Traveling on foot is
going to be risky,” she said.

Mike
joined her side with his M-4A1 gripped in his hand, the strap casually over on
the
shoulder
. Stoned face as they
approached the fallen trees, he had no commentary.

Gwen
raised her eyebrows.
Be that way then
,
she thought and shined her flashlight onto the trunk of the tree in their way.
The bark was torn,
gnawed
by something,
but she was unsure what could have done so much damage. It was magical, that
much
was
a given.

“Over
here.” Mike nudged the roots of the tree with his foot.

She
shined her light
upon
it and saw the w
riggling
masses of maggots falling to the
ground.
Splattering
into the
mud
, they rolled around on top of each other,
becoming bigger as the mud packed together into discs. Growing and shifting,
the shifts grew tall like cylinders. It took a moment, but Gwen’s eyes were
witnessing the creation of a man.

Demons
growing out of the dirt.

“Mike,”
Gwen said with alarm.

He
grabbed her arm and pulled her onto the fallen tree so they could get to the
other side. By the
ravine,
four shadows
grew from compacted mud and maggots. Their bodies complete, they started a slow
march toward the two humans.

“So much
for slow and easy,” Mike fired into the demons. He backed up as they grew
closer.

Nice as
it was to watch him work Gwen needed to pitch in. “You’re the one who’s always
been the optimist, dear.” She threw her arms down by her side, fingers locked
and fully extended. The wind began to pick up. A crackle of thunder approached
from the west and a surge of
lightning
rained down from the sky.