Blood Moon (Moon Books) (19 page)

Rescue

It was a little after midnight when we pulled up to the manor. It made the one back in New York look like a tree house. I couldn’t help my mouth from dropping open. Even as far back as we were, the place was overwhelming. It had four floors that I could count and wings shooting off both sides of the massive center structure that seemed to have been carved from a mountain. The drive that stretched in front of us was long and wide and lined with lamps that bobbed in the breeze like Victorian oil lanterns. The whole place gave me a Sherlock Holmes kind of vibe. I found myself thinking again that I wished I could have visited under different circumstances.

We pulled the rental car off to the side into the bushes. It would be bad if anybody saw the car and alerted someone to our presence. We were hoping against hope that we could get in and rescue Noah’s mom without anyone even knowing we were there. The likelihood of all of us surviving a close quarters’ fight with trained hunters was slim to none, so it would be best if there wasn’t a fight at all.

Walking low to the ground, the wet grass soaking our pants, we circled around to the back entrance. Noah hadn’t been to the house in years, but he remembered there was a staircase to the basement from inside of the kitchen where he used to hide from his cousins who wanted to play dress up with him. The night was pitch black, the clouds covering the moon. It was perfect for our purposes but made the night just that much scarier. We were almost to the kitchen door when there was a shuffling noise and a light flickered on inside. Noah grabbed my shirt and pulled me down, with him and Colin crouching right next to me.

In the window I could see an older woman filling a teakettle and shuffling through the cabinets for a late night snack.

“I remember her,” Noah whispered. “She’s the head housekeeper. Her bedroom’s right next to the kitchen and she’ll scream bloody murder if she hears us. When we go in, it has to be totally silent.”

Colin and I nodded.

When we finally heard the muffled thump of a door closing, Noah signaled us to go. Noah and Colin got to work trying to pry open a window that was at chest height. I walked quietly around to the other side of the small kitchen courtyard. I didn’t want to suggest the obvious to them but decided to try myself and see if the kitchen door was open. I put my hand on the cold brass knob and turned. With a tiny squeak, the door opened.

“Hey guys!” I whispered it as loud as I could. When they turned, I beckoned to the slightly open door. They both grinned and rolled their eyes.

“I’m glad someone’s smart,” Colin muttered when they got to the doorway. Noah simply kissed my forehead and silently ducked into the room.

Noah pointed to a heavy white door in the corner and we crept through the cavernous old kitchen towards it. The stairs to the basement were dark and felt slightly damp, but we couldn’t use any lights at all. I ran my hand along the wall, my sensitive eyes acclimating to the darkness quickly. I thought I had to be imagining the bad feeling that seemed to be seeping out of the walls.

Just because the Harpers saw things in black and white didn’t mean they were evil, did it? I couldn’t help to think of them that way, though. Anyone who would hurt Noah was a mortal enemy of mine. I didn’t give a shit what their reasoning was.

The stairs ended in a dark hallway that seemed to stretch forever into the darkness. Colin gestured for us to stop.

“Okay, if there is a lab, or some sort of holding area, it will be near the east wing. We’ve seen Bianca in the back courtyard by a set of stairs that seem to come from that area over there.” He pointed diagonally to the right.

We both looked at Noah.

“I’ve never been down here before,” he protested. “Don’t look at me. Let’s just head down this hall and hope to hell that there’s a turnoff somewhere.”

We crept down the hallway, listening intently for movement. If nothing else, we had to get to his mother before anyone found us. The closer we got to the area under the east wing, the weirder it started to smell.

“God, what is that stench?” Noah finally whispered.

“Probably some recent incarnation of whatever it is your grandfather’s working on. God, if they’re injecting that shit into Bianca...”

We all knew the implications.

Unconsciously, we all picked up the pace, heading for the disgusting smell. If there was anywhere in the house she’d be, than that was probably it. I reached for Noah’s hand in the darkness to give him comfort. Who knew what we’d find at the end of the hallway?

Eventually, we got to a right turn. We took it walking faster still but trying to remain silent. The hallway was short and by the end of it, we all had our shirts covering our faces except for our eyes. Mine were burning and watery, aching to get to fresh air. I knew we had to continue.

There was a room at the end of the hall, filled with lab tables and beakers, vials of chemicals and test tubes filled with a red liquid that I could only assume was blood. I hated the way the air felt against my skin. Whatever chemical was in those tubes reacted badly making my pores feel like they were tightening and melting together. It was starting to get painful.

How on earth had Noah’s mother been able to stay in here?

“Over there!” Noah exclaimed through his shirt, pointing at what looked like an old-fashioned zoo cage. There was a figure huddled in the corner in faded gray hospital scrubs. She was shivering and her once thick and shiny hair was a corn colored mop sticking in all directions from her head.

“Mom!”

He ran towards her enclosure and shook at the bars, trying to wake her. She lifted her head and stared unseeing for a few seconds before she seemed to understand what was happening.

“Noah, baby? How are you here?” Her voice was so lost and quiet; it made my heart break.

“I doesn’t matter, Mom. Do you know where they keep the keys to this thing?”

“On the hook over by the refrigerator.” She pointed with an emaciated looking hand.

I ran over, grabbed the keys and tossed them to Noah. He unlocked her and rushed in pulling her into his arms. Then he put her arm over his shoulder and helped her out of the cage. It was the first time she noticed there were other people in the room.

“Zachary? Colin? What are you doing here?”

“We’re here to get you, Aunt Bianca.”

“But Colin, I’m a—” She looked humiliated.

“Mom, it’s okay. He already knows. Look at me. Closely.”

She leaned back and took a long look at Noah. Reaching up she cupped his face with tears slipping down her cheeks.

“My little boy? How?”

“The same night as you. They turned us both and killed dad. I thought you were dead until two days ago. That’s when Colin came and told me the Fitzgeralds found you.”

“And Zack?”

“Can we save that for the ride home? It’s a long story.” Noah flashed a grin at me as he spoke and I smiled back.

“Oh,” she whispered. Even in her weak state, Bianca Harper didn’t miss much. “I’m glad. I felt so bad for you boys before.” She took a long breath. “Let’s get the hell out of here. If I never see this place again, it’ll be too soon.”

“We came down from the kitchen. Is there a faster way out?”

Bianca nodded and pointed to a darkened corner.

“That stairwell leads out to a courtyard. It’s not all the way walled in. I tried to run a year ago, but I didn’t get far enough to see how it leads to the road.”

“I guess we figure it out tonight. C’mon, Mom, follow me. Zack and Colin will take the back.”

We filed up the stairs, still trying to be careful and silent. The door at the top of the stairs was old and heavy and creaked so loud it sounded like one of those doors in an old Darkwing Duck cartoon. I half expected bats to come flying towards us at any second. We stood, stock still, waiting for barking dogs, lights to turn on.

Nothing. It seemed like we were home free.

“See that dark archway. Go through there.”

We followed Bianca’s lead running through the courtyard which seemed ridiculously large. Noah’s mother was slow, weak from three long years of mistreatment and little blood. We pushed and pulled her along as much as possible but it was frustrating. We’d have been through the gate already on our own.

Suddenly the bricks in front of us shattered as a shotgun slug hit them.

“You’re surrounded! Halt!”

The voice rang out across the night sky. Cold and unfortunately familiar. The reckoning had begun.

“I don’t want to hurt anyone, I just want my mother!” Noah called out. “Let us leave and you’ll never hear from us again.”

Shoes clicked forcefully on the paved yard, echoing across the brick walls.

Grandfather Harper emerged from the darkness, shotgun in hand and an aristocratic sneer on his face. He looked at me and recognition dawned quickly.

“Poor choice bringing that...thing. He’ll only slow you down. Two vamps and a hunter may have escaped, but a slutty little human? Not a chance.”

That’s fucking it. What’s with all the slut shit anyway?

I growled and went to lunge but Noah held me back.

“Baby, stop. He’s not worth it.”

Then he made his voice louder. “Let us go, Grandfather. We’re nothing to you. I just want my mom to be safe and to live my life. I’m even hunting rogues still. I’m on your side. Why can you not see that?”

“Because it’s against everything that you creatures are.” He snapped his fingers and two more figures appeared, walking silently from the darkness.

Noah squinted. “Aunt Sophie? Amanda?”

A beautiful young blonde girl with Noah’s coloring looked at her grandfather with accusing eyes. “You didn’t tell us it was Noah. You said that vampires were here to rescue her.”

“He is a vampire now. Look at him. That’s what your precious Noah has become.”

Bravely, Noah walked towards his cousin, his hands held out, palm up. “Amanda, look, I’m still me. Exactly the same. Remember when we used to play in the kitchen? Ask Colin. He’s a hunter and they’ve been watching me. I’ve never killed anyone. I just want to save my mother. Do you know Grandfather’s been killing her? Injecting her with chemicals that make my skin burn just being in a room with them? Ask yourself—who’s the bad guy here?”

There was only a moment of hesitation then Amanda’s exquisite face crumpled in agony. She rushed forward wrapping her arms around her favorite cousin’s shoulders. The moment was sweet, trusting. They drew back and grinned at each other.

In a split second Grandfather raised his gun and a shot rang out in the night sky.

After that things seemed to move in slow motion, just like in the movies. I screamed and ran for Noah, every step feeling like a hundred years, watching as he fell to the ground on top of the girl. At the same time, Colin rushed old Harper, wrenching the rifle out of his hands and swinging as hard as he could for his head. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the old man fall lifeless to the ground. At Noah’s side, I dropped to my knees, frantically feeling his body for wetness. I felt something sticky and warm on his side and panicked.

“Noah, baby, no! You can’t!”

He reached up and covered my hand. “I’m okay. It’s just a scratch. He didn’t shoot me.” Noah raised his hand from his cousin’s back. It was covered in blood that gleamed purplish in the dark night.

For a moment I felt the blood lust rushing in, but I controlled it.

“She’s dying,” he whispered, his eyes huge.

Noah was right. I could hear the girl’s heart grinding to a stop. Each beat was getting weaker. “Aunt Sophie!” He looked up at his aunt who had crumbled to the ground crying. “Aunt Sophie!” he called again. She finally looked up. “Amanda’s dying. There’s only one way I can save her.”

Sophie froze, tears coursing down her face, but then she nodded once and looked away, closing her eyes. “Do it.”

Noah moved quickly, giving one of her arms to me and taking one for himself.

“We have to turn her fast, before she bleeds too much. It’s going to take two of us. You think you can do this?”

I nodded.

“Okay, on my count. One, two, three.”

We both bit in and I concentrated, releasing a stream of venom through my fangs. It was a strange feeling, kind of like Novocain in my mouth. Noah’s cousin let out a blood-curdling scream and then she froze in place. I felt Noah’s hand on my arm, signaling me to stop. I withdrew and she fell, twitching, onto Noah’s lap.

“Darling, it’s okay. You’ll be okay,” Sophie murmured to her daughter and stroked her on the forehead.

Finally, whether from shock or from the venom, Amanda’s eyes rolled back and she passed out.

A New Day

I couldn’t believe it was all over.

Grandfather was dead. Noah’s cousin, Amanda, was a vampire.

We were in England speeding for London.

There were sheep grazing in the early morning gray. The house on the hill had a red roof. The only way that things made any sense was if I kept repeating facts. Little facts, huge revelations. Everything was okay as long as I just went over them again and again in my mind.

The car was warm; heat blasting to combat the shock that every single one of us had to be feeling. Noah and I were in the front and Colin shared the back seat with Noah’s mother and an unconscious but alive Amanda. Noah’s aunt had asked us to take her. She couldn’t stand to watch her daughter die, but couldn’t live with her being a vampire either. I hoped she acted out of protection when she asked us to make Amanda disappear. I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt.

When we reached the hotel where we’d stayed the night before, Colin went to check back in while the rest of us huddled behind the tinted windows of the sedan we’d rented. After he returned, we pulled around to the back entrance and made a run for it, carrying Amanda between Noah and I.

The few moments in the sun hurt my skin and made my eyes burn, but soon we were in the comfortably artificial light of the elevator. I looked over at Noah, at his mother, his hunter cousin and the poor girl slumped between us who had no idea what she was going to wake up to. I didn’t know quite what to say. Noah reached behind his cousin and rubbed my back for a brief moment.