Blood Slayer (9 page)

Chapter 25

     “Daddy?” Jessica said. “How do I know you’re my dad?”

     “Well, you were born at St. Thomas Hospital at 3 a.m. Your mom’s name is Joyce. And you love unicorns.”

     “Daddy! You’re a vampire?”

     “Unfortunately, yes.”

     “Why aren’t you asleep?”

     “I don’t know to be honest. Ever since they turned me, I’ve never slept during the day. I just come down here, out of the sunlight. As far as I know, I’m the only one like this.”

     “How did you know it was me? They took you away when I was real little,” she asked.

     “I would watch you from a distance over the years. Not all the time, but I’d look in on you occasionally. I never wanted you to see me like this. Hey, how come I couldn’t hypnotize you? I tried, but it didn’t work. That’s never happened before.”

     “Because I’m autistic, for some reason, that doesn’t work on me.”

     “I always knew you were special. I take it Adam sent you?”

     “Um, yeah, I don’t know if I’m supposed to tell you that or not.”

     “It’s ok. So
, you going to kill me?” He asked.

     “I-I guess not. I didn’t even know you were still alive.”

     “Well, I’m not technically.”

     “So now what?” Jessica asked.

    But before he could answer, a bright light shown in from the tunnel; several men stormed through shouting. “Don’t move! Don’t move!” Jessica ran around her dad and in front of the men.

     “No! No! Don’t shoot him!” She screamed.

     “What are you doing?” One of them said. She recognized the voice as Cedric’s.

     “He’s my dad. They made him a vampire.”

     “You gotta be kiddin’ me.” Cedric said. The other men had surrounded them, their crossbows trained on her dad. “He’s not your dad anymore. He’s a vampire. Your dad died a long time ago.”

     “Maybe we can help him,” she protested.

     “The only way to help him is a bolt through the heart.”

     “No! I won’t let you kill him.”

     “And what are you going to do about it?”

     Jessica drew one of the guns and pointed it in Cedric’s direction. Cedric lowered his crossbow and glared at her.

     “You are way out of your league little girl,” Cedric said. “You don’t want to do this.”

     “You’re not going to kill my dad.”

     Cedric put his hands up at shoulder height and backed away.

     “Fine. You can have him. But if he gets even remotely aggressive, and I put a bolt in him.”

     She lowered the gun and walked back to her dad. Cedric walked further in, shining his light through the cavern.

     “Good lord,” he said. “How many are in here?”

     “A couple thousand,” her dad answered. “I’m the only one who doesn’t sleep for some reason.”

     “We’re not equipped to take them all out right now. It’ll be dark before long. So we need to get out of here,” Cedric ordered. The rest of the men backed out of the cavern and headed through the tunnel.
Jessica walked with her dad through the tunnels as well.

     “So you’re coming with me?” She asked

     “You didn’t give me a lot of choice.”

     “Well, I’ll take you back to Adam. He’ll know what to do.”

     “Oh, I’m sure he will.”

     They reached the end of the tunnel. It was still daylight out, so they waited until dusk before stepping outside.

     “You know,” he said. “When the others wake up and see I’m gone, and all their slaves are dead, they won’t be too happy.”

     “Oh. Well, I guess we’ll just have to be ready.”

     He shook his head, giving up on making her understand. Once outside, they climbed onto Hawk’s back. Hawk trotted for a ways before flapping his wings, launching them into the air.

     “Don’t worry daddy. We’ll find a way to fix you right up!”

Chapter 26

     “Have you completely lost your mind?” Adam shouted. Jessica stood before him in the conference room, hanging her head. It was just the two of them in the room. Adam wasn’t happy she brought a vampire back to the compound. “You pulled a gun on Cedric, you brought a
vampire here. All you had to do was go in and scout. You’re done going on any missions….ever.”

     “Adam! But he’s my dad!” Jessica argued.

     “No he’s not. He may have been once, but he’s not anymore. He’s a vampire; a cold, dead vampire. They don’t have feelings. They don’t love, they don’t care. They just kill, and feed, and enslave. It’s like having a pet rattlesnake. No matter how well you take care of it, or how much you love it, it will always be what it is.”

     “How do you know they don’t have feelings?” She asked.

     “Because,” he said. “I used to be one of them.”

     “So you’re a vampire?”

     “I used to be.”

     “So how did you stop being one?”

     “It’s very, complicated. Besides, that has nothing to do with what’s happening now.”

     “Yes it does! You could cure my dad,” Jessica said.

     “No. I can’t.”

     “You just don’t want to!”

     “That’s not true Jessica. To put it simply, I don’t know how I’m not a vampire anymore. I just one day wasn’t one, though I still have some of their abilities. But I don’t know how it happened.”

     “So you just woke up one day and were human again?”

     “Something like that.”             

     “I’m gonna talk to my daddy. Maybe I can help him,” she said as she turned to walk out.

     “Jessica, wait—“ Adam started, but she had already left.

     Jessica walked to the infirmary where her dad was.

     “Hey daddy!” She said. He was lying on a bed with four guards around him with crossbows trained on him.

     “Hey kid. They haven’t killed me yet. Adam didn’t kill you, so that’s a good sign I guess.”

     “Adam wouldn’t kill me. He’s my friend!”

     “Adam doesn’t have friends.”

     “Sure he does. I tried to talk to him about helping you. He said he used to be a vampire.”

     “Yes, I know,” he said. “That’s why he doesn’t age.”

     “Wow. He doesn’t know how he got better though. Do you know?”

     I don’t. That all
happened long before I met him.” He said. The door behind Jessica swung open and Adam stepped inside. Jessica’s dad looked surprised when Adam stepped in. “Well,” he said. “Hello old friend.”

     “Hello
Steven,” Adam said.

     “You don’t look too happy to see me.”

     “I’m not. Give me one could reason why I shouldn’t put a bolt in you right now.”

    
“Because Jessica wants me here, and I have information that you guys might find useful.”

     “And what might that be?” Adam asked.

     “In time. I don’t want to play all my cards right away, or you will put a bolt in me.”

     “I just might anyway. I doubt you know anything useful.”

     “You mean like the attack they are planning?”

     “They are always planning an attack.”

     “Yes, but this is the big one. Didn’t they tell you how many vampires are holed up in the mines?

     “Yeah, around a thousand or so,” Adam said.

     “Not even close. Try fifty-thousand.”

     “Fifty thousand? You’re full of it. There aren’t even that many vampires in existence.”

     “It’s been a long time since you left us friend. They’ve been planning this for a long time. Most of them are in hibernation. That cavern Jessica found was only one. There are dozens of those pods deep underground. Some of them will wake up tonight and see that you’ve been there, but they won’t act on it just yet. They have all the time in the world.”

     “So why did you give yourself up so easily?” Adam asked.

     “Not every day your own daughter comes to kill you. She seems to think you can make me human again.”

     “Do you want to be human?”

     “Since I’ve been a vampire, all I’ve wanted is blood…until today. I’m not sure why.”

     “You won’t be getting any blood while you’re here. If you
so much as try, you’re dead.”

     “Understood.”

     Adam turned and walked out, signaling Jessica to follow him. As they stepped out, another man came walking toward them, this one wearing a white lab coat.

     “Doctor Rothstein,” Adam said. “Come with us please. I need your input.” The three of them walked down to the conference room and closed the door.

Chapter 27

     The three of them sat down at the large table as Adam looked down at his folded hands for several minutes. Dr. Rothstein sat there waiting for a reply. The doctor was an older fellow. The hair he had left was white. He wore wire rimmed glasses and had a thick, white mustache. He joined the cause after his wife had been killed by the vampires. Up until then, he never believed such things existed, not until he saw it with his own eyes.

     “Ok,” Adam said. “Dr. Rothstein, I’m hoping you can help us here. As you know, I was once a vampire. I never totally figured out what turned me back.”

     “Yes, I’m aware.” Dr. Rothstein said.

     “So, Jessica thinks we can save her dad somehow. Jessica herself cannot be hypnotized by
them. What she doesn’t know is that also makes her immune to being turned.”

     “Really?” Jessica said.

     “Yes,” Adam replied. “Really. Vampirism is spread through the hypnosis. They can scramble your brains and turn you into a grub. Or they can go deeper and turn you completely. We’re not sure what happens, but it totally changes your brain chemistry, then everything else about you. I know this because I experienced it.”

     “So you think Jessica might have the answer to a cure?” Rothstein said.

     “I think it’s worth checking out. That would be our best weapon. Instead of killing them, turn them back.”

     “You know,” Rothstein said. “You just gave me an idea. If Jessica doesn’t mind, I’d like to do some tests.”

     “What kind of tests?” Jessica asked.

     “Some blood
work and a few other things. If I can figure out why you are immune, then I can figure out a cure possibly.”

     “Will there be needles?”

     “I’m afraid so.”

     “Then no! No way! No needles.” She said, waving her hands in front of her.

     “Jessica, I’ll tell you what,” Adam said. “If you do this for me, I’ll get you some video games for your room.”

     “Really?”

      “Sure, but you have to help the doctor with any tests he needs.”

     “Ok! I just hope I survive the needles.”

     Adam had a hard time understanding her. She wasn’t afraid to fly on a flying unicorn, or enter a dark mine with a huge vampire nest and half dead grubs, but she was terrified of needles.

     “Ok then,” Dr. Rothstein said. “Let’s get started shall we?”

Chapter 28

     After Jessica went with the doctor, Anna came in to speak with Adam. He explained to her the situation with her father and the doctor.

     “So Jessica might be able to cure vampirism?” She asked.

     “That’s the hope. What has been wrong with you? You’ve been acting strange around me since you guys went to her moms.”

     Anna looked away, and scooted her chair a few inches back.

     “Her mom told us what happened to her dad. And how the vampires had taken him,” she began.

     “Yes? That’s it?”

     “She said you recruited him when Jessica was a baby, and you were in your 20s at the time. You’re in your 20s now, or at least you look it.”

     “Yeah, I told Jessica and the doctor earlier. I try to keep i
t low key. I was once a vampire; many, many, years ago.”

     “So what happened?”

     “I don’t know. One day I woke up, and I was human again, or at least mostly human. I had to eat normal food. I could go out in the day, sleep at night; though I’m still quite quick and strong. I don’t have sharp teeth, and I don’t age.”

     “Wow…
and no idea why?” Anna asked.

     “Nope, none.”

     “So how old are you?”

     “I’m not sure you’re ready for that,” he warned.

     “Try me.”

     “I’
m almost three-
hundred years old. I was born in England in 1730. I came over to the colonies with my parents when I was a teenager. We lived in New York for a long time. Not long after my parents died. I was out hunting, when I was attacked. The vampire’s name was Thomas. He was a huge man, or huge creature I should say. He charged at me and I shot him, but it didn’t faze him. So I took out my knife and stabbed him, right here.” Adam pointed at the center of his chest.

     “I managed to step out of the way. He tumbled to the ground and lunged at me again. That was the first time I saw the teeth. They were enormous, like sharks teeth, doze
ns of them, coming toward me. I slashed at him several more times, punched, kicked anything, but he was too strong. He finally overpowered me, and began to hypnotize me. Through the hypnosis he could actually communicate with me. He told me how strong I was, and what a good fight I put up. He said instead of killing me, he would give me a gift. From there he turned me.”

     “Wow,” Anna said. “That is crazy.”

     “Yeah, from there everything changed. I had to leave; I couldn’t be around my family. The thirst for blood immediately hit me. Thomas took me back to his nest. There were ten of us at the time.”

     “Then what happened?”

     “Then I lived that way, for years as a vampire.”

     “So you killed people? Drank their blood? Turned people into grubs?”

     He hung his head.

     “Anna, you have to understand. Being a vampire, it’s like being a lion. You can’t domesticate a lion. The lion doesn’t consciously attack the zebra, it just does because the zebra is there and the lion needs to eat. It has no conscience, no feeling, no thought goes into it. You need to feed, you see your prey,
and you attack.”

     “So what happened?”

     “I’m not sure. I’d been hunting one night in 1968, I fed. Then I woke up in the middle of the next day, which never happens. So I woke up, and had feelings again. My teeth were gone, I was human again, but I didn’t know it yet. I hung around the next until the other vampires woke up. Right away they knew. Humans have a different smell to them, different everything. They freaked out. They’d never seen this before. Instantly they attacked, biting me, tearing at my clothes, my flesh, ripping me to pieces.”

     “Oh my God! And you lived?”

     “Yeah, I’m still immortal. I healed up within minutes, I was still strong enough to throw them off of me and get away. Over the years, I’ve been shot, stabbed, bitten, in car wrecks, thrown off buildings, but I can’t die.”

     Anna sat in stunned silence as Adam spoke. Finally, she shook her head.

     “You know what, this can’t be true.” She said as she stood. “That just doesn’t happen.”

     “But it does,” he said. “And it did. None of that changes who I am now. After that happened, I found a group of slayers that used to chase us around.
They were skeptical at first, until they couldn’t kill me. From there, I grew the resistance to what we are today. That’s how I’m able to finance all this. Vampires accumulate a lot of wealth and assets over the years. I had a lot of my own, but was able to steal a lot of theirs as well.”

     The door to the conference room flew open with a
bang,
causing both Anna and Adam to jump. Cedric was standing in the doorway, covered in sweat.

     “Adam, get up to the infirmary. We got a situation.”