Bloodbreeders: Seeking Others (31 page)

“Even the Scabs lay low tonight. We must hurry,” he said with a warning tone, then walked over to Cates.  “Can you move my friend?”

“Like the wind in a vicious storm,” he replied pulling himself up, using Garvin as a crutch. “I felt it also.”

“They’ve found us,” Jacob whispered, glaring into the night.

“Who found us?” Sydney asked, readying his club for the attack.

“You’re not talking about Annanothra’s people are you?” I asked, trying to penetrate the night myself. “Or, Scabs?”

“The elders…” he paused, and was about to speak again, when one of our companion’s heads rolled out the forest and right down to the edge of the water. Koi was no more.

“Move now,” Jacob demanded, pushing each one of us across the slow running river, watching, waiting for the assassins to come flying out at us.

Fala broke free from the entanglement of the forest floor as we made our way to the other side. His beast form was bleeding from every place my eyes could see, but he stood on two strong legs. He tilted that enormous head back and howled a sound that sent shivers down my spine, and then he stormed into the water, never once looking down at the remains of his fallen friend. Derek made his way up beside me and never left his post until we made it back to Sam and Kedel’s home. It was then that he, like many other times, disappeared before I even knew he had left. Dawn was laughing at us, turning the morning sky into a soft hue of baby blue, with death on our heels, some of whom need not care whether or not the bright glowing ball was above them.

“Can we hide here?” I asked, leaning over grabbing my knees.

“Sam and Kedel are no longer here,” Sydney replied, crouching down next to me and Cates.

“Are they dead?” I asked, looking back at the small shack-like home.

“I can’t tell. I just know they’re not in there anymore.”

“We have no choice,” Jacob claimed, leaning down and lifting Cates to his feet. “Fala will protect us the best that he can.”

“And the elder’s assassins?” Sydney asked, taking Cates under his severed arm.

“He too must seek shelter from the day. It’s the one we just made very angry that you should fear while you sleep.”

“She’s a breeder too,” Sydney replied without thinking.

“A breeder with many, many, followers,” Jacob added, then kicked in the back door.

Everything looked very much like it had when we left earlier that night. There was no sign of any struggle, and my hopes were that both were safely hidden away in the forest. Derek came through the back door, nodding once at Jacob, and then began searching the place for a basement, finding a small root cellar filled with jars of garden vegetables and stew meat. Jacob and Derek lowered Cates down into the small area first, because the weakness of blood loss was showing more with each passing second. Fala had offered to feed him, but Cates refused knowing it would weaken the only form of protection that we had left. Once we were all crammed into the cellar, it reminded me of being in the motor room on Sydney’s father’s boat, making me wish for the first time that I was back on the ship with the others and had left Caden to his own demise.

“How many do you think the elders sent?” I asked, waiting for the pull of day to take me under.

“Two, maybe three, but they’ll be gone when we wake. We will get back to the ship and make our way as far from here as we can.”

“Why would they leave if they just now found us?”

“To tell the elders of our count and strength. I assure you, they will be back. Waiting in the shadows until the elder’s wishes have been met,” Jacob explained closing his eyes and leaning his head back.

“Then we go straight to London. Forget the other places…for now,” I whispered as I began to drift off.

“London will have many challenges as well…London.”

My last thoughts were not of never waking again, if the home we hid in was attacked by the creatures of the surrounding forest, but of what we would do with the young ones on the ship once we reached London, with Johnny being on the top of that list and Tanda close behind.

I couldn’t tell if it was the knowledge of the night that woke me, or the fine tapping
that wanted to make me scream. Instantly I sat up, seeing everyone right where we had left them. I pushed off of Garvin’s shoulder and Derek’s thigh to finally witness death on the man-boy that had seen it on me from the moment we met. I wanted to see his flesh soften, as the color of life tinted his cheeks. I laid my hand on his chest, lightly at first, and then laughed at my own reason, for we slept like the dead and he wouldn’t know my hand was there anyway. I pressed harder, leaning my upper body to search his porcelain features. Jacob’s eyelashes were thick and black and his brows naturally arched to match the slight slant of his eyes.

He was the age of one of my younger brothers, yet hundreds of year’s worth of growth and beyond brutal happenings had barely showed him to be more than a teen. I was grateful to be alive in the root cellar of friends, who may or may not be dead, but all I wanted at this very moment was for everyone to wake, and get back to the ship and not stop again until we reached the shores of England. I was fixing to place my fingers on a scar close to the base of Jacob’s throat, when he opened his eyes and flipped me on top of Cates, who moaned out in pain.

“I was just checking to see if you were awake,” I claimed, as his face calmed realizing I wasn’t the enemy.

“You could lose your life doing that,” he replied, taking my hand and moving me off of Cates.

“Oh no, something’s wrong,” Cates said in a serious low tone.

“What? We’re here Cates,” I replied, leaning down over him, with tears in my eyes.

“I can’t find my left arm, have you seen it?” he chuckled, getting a slap across the chest from me.

“Son-of-a-bitch, Cates. You almost gave me a heart attack, and that wasn’t funny you big ole bull,” I half laughed and cried seeing the sparkle of life in his eyes.

“I’ll go check on our wolf friend,” Jacob interjected with his own form of laughter, and then climbed the short stack of steps.

Fala was waiting outside the door when Jacob opened it, telling him that nothing had moved throughout the night. The two of them helped Cates out of the cellar, with me pushing from the back snickering the whole time. Cates took what he needed from Fala, while Jacob and I began looking out the windows for our boats that would get us off this
hellish piece of land called, New York. I could see the foaming after effects of the rolling waves, but it took me more time in finding the boats than it did Jacob.

“There, to the right. Sam must have moved them,” Jacob proclaimed, pointing toward a cluster of shrubbery and trees that hung out over the ocean caps.

“Thank goodness, and I don’t care if we have to row all the way out into the middle of the ocean to find our ship, I want out of here, and I don’t ever want to come back.”

“I don’t think any of us will have to row for very long, Renee” Jacob said leaning closer to the stained window. “I believe our Shyanna, has brought the ship back to us.”

“I don’t see it.”

“Look with your heart, not your eyes…then open them and you will see the swinging lights on the deck.”

I looked back at Cates, who was looking better, but still gripping what was left of his arm, with sheer pain on his face. I turned back, closed my eyes, and reached out with my mind finding Tammy and Jessica, climbing down the rope ladder on the side of the ship getting into one of our smallest boats. I opened my eyes, putting both hands on the glass and saw the twinkle of lights in the storm that was building out in the blackness of the waters.

“They’ll be here before we get the others in the boats,” Jacob smiled.

“What the hell do they think they’re doing?” I asked, rushing back to the cellar door. “Out! Everyone out right now.”

“But, Mom, can’t we just sleep for five more minutes,” Derek jokingly said, knocking me out of the panic state that I was in just mere seconds before.

“Yeah, we had a little bit of a hard night,” Sydney laughed, elbowing Derek.

“We have to get to the ship, glad to see y’all in such a good mood, but if we don’t hurry, we’ll have Tammy and Jessie here.”

“What?” Garvin asked.

“Shyanna must have worried them so much they brought the ship back in, and I think they think they’re coming to our rescue, so let’s move it,” I explained, moving back as the boy’s made their way out of the small encasement.

“Jessica is a warrior inside. She knows I would do the same for her,” Jacob remarked as he rewrapped Cates’ arm with a clean cloth he must have found somewhere in the house.

“We can meet them halfway if we hurry. I don’t want them anywhere near this shit.”

“You have such a way with words, Renee,” Cates added, laughing through his pain.

“Do you really want Tammy to see the likes of what we just went through?” I asked, watching him bounce to his feet. “We really need to hurry.”

“You heard the lady,” he said, looking around.

“What do you need?” I asked, wanting to help.

“Have you seen my arm, can’t find the thing anywhere,” he turned slowly looking back down at me. “Wonder what your lassie will think of me now?”

“What’s changed? You’re the same smart ass as you were with two arms. Think we can stop with the arm jokes for now?”

“For now,” he smiled, causing me to smile back. “No need to cry over spilt, well I was going say milk, but arm sounds just as good.

“Oh Cates, you’re too much,” I replied, following the others out the door. “Oh, and what the hell was that horrid tapping that I heard when I woke up?”

Kala cleared his throat. “I did not know you were awake, it is a nervous thing.” He lowered his head. “I tap my foot.” I shook my head and smiled as I walked out around him.

Sure enough we met the girls about halfway out. Tammy standing counting heads no doubt and looking for one big set of shoulders. She hadn’t seen Cates’ wounds until it was time for him to climb the ladder back into the safety of our ship. He reached up and pulled himself up on the bottom steps, that was floating in and out of the water. Then he gripped the whole thing with his only arm and brought his feet up higher. Tammy let a small sound out, gripping her mouth as she watched him struggle over the side, then she was the next to follow without question. Jessica and Jacob kept watch behind us for any signs of lights, boats, or things that may not have needed either, while the rest of us climbed into the ship. He told her of the elders, and them knowing our numbers, but also told her that he that we could make good, by going straight to London.

“The winged one came back covered in wounds, screaming about her, ‘me’om’. I could not help but to come and search for you,” she admitted, never taking her eyes off of the silent shore behind us. “We found the two elderly in a boat crossing the wide part of the bay.”

“Then they are safe. Renee will be pleased.”

“What else bothers you?”

“I felt the assassin, much like I feel you in my mind, when we’re not close together. I saw more than one, but the one was there before my eyes ever had proof.”

“Do you know him?” she asked, finally breaking her gaze.

“Somehow, but to see him in my mind would only mean that I would know him much like I do you,” he replied, looking back to see that all but Jessica, and himself remained on the smaller boats.

“But, how?”

“Maybe when we were smaller children, he was in the training camp with me. It’s the only thing that I can think of and those memories are all but gone.”

They joined the others, helping tie the boats to the ship as we made our way back to the open waters that would soon lead us to the place that I had wanted to go all along. Little stories had I heard about the tortuous ways of the slave traders in London, but I knew that my maker was given word that he would find me there, and I was looking for him. For many nights we saw nothing but the rocking waves of the sea, as we sat about making plans as to what we would do once we reached our destination.

Tabor’s maps showed a narrow river that allowed us to enter the land around the Island of England, where we made port at one of his many secret shelters. Jacob and Derek made their way deep into the quiet, dark land before coming back, surrounded by small people.

They led us to their home, which was far away from the shores and nowhere near the watchful eyes of passersby, which stopped only to stare and point at their deformities. Johnny and Shyanna were treated like little queens and kings the moment we stepped into Tabor’s family’s world. He who never grew up, and she who flew. One from their own creation. Not one seemed to fear us, no matter how rugged we looked. The time on the open waters had taken its toll on all of us, and fresh blood was in great need. I could hear
Tammy giggling under her breath, because Cates had told her once again that he only needed the one arm to hold her with, as he pulled her in for one of their many brief moments of kissing. Derek rolled his eyes and pushed past Tanda, who was smiling back at the two that had found true love, wondering in the back of her mind why Derek disagreed.

“Why does it bother you every time you see them hold each other?” Tanda rushed up beside Derek and asked.

“What? I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he replied in a gruff manner, never slowing his step.

“Is it that you saw favor in her first?” she asked, bringing him to a dead stop.

Derek stood there with her until everyone passed by, then spun her by the shoulders into one of the moss covered trees.

“Is that what you think?”

“I was only asking, and you’re hurting me,” she replied, trying to wiggle out of his grip.

“It bothers me, because I don’t understand how anyone can be that happy after everything that we have been through, not to mention those that we’ve lost.”

Tanda didn’t reply, she just waited for his grip to ease and then she leaned in and kissed him right on the mouth. Derek stepped back, then out of know where pushed her harder into the tree, returning the kiss just as she had offered it. His arms wrapped around her tiny frame as she ran her hands up his back, kissing him as deeply as she could. Derek broke away; kissing her on the forehead, squeezing her one more time, then released her so fast she fell back against the tree. She smiled, watching him become one of the many shadows, knowing his heart was not yet turned to stone, for she held that tender piece that still possessed a spark of what he once was.

The people we meet were much like Tabor and his clan, and knew that we would soon be coming their way. Word traveled fast among his people, just like he had said it would and they treated us like we were one of their own. We drank our fill in fresh cow’s blood that night, getting to know those around us. Johnny found a friend his age, and the two were like normal children playing with a ball and stick with Shyanna, bouncing around them the whole time.

“My son has not yet been affected by the disease,” a kind woman named Cornelle said as she smiled with the good side of her face. “We all hope it will skip the little ones, but it never does.”

“I wish I could see change in Johnny’s future, but he will never grow up. His mind will, but his body will stay the same,” I explained, wiping the tears from my eyes.

“We’re two mothers wanting the best for our children and both knowing their outcome. It is a small world to be so huge.”

“He’s my little brother, and I wish I knew the outcome of his little life, because what he’s been dealt is a fate worse than death.”

“He can be a child here. My husband knows of your plight and we will watch over the young ones for you. They will be completely safe in our care,” she turned, showing the tears building in her eyes. “The girl, Lilly, is being sent here as well. The one you saved.”

“Yes, I know Lilly, but why is she being taken from her family?”

“She cries each night for the one who gave her the nectar of her own fluids. The baby is now with another family because she had stopped caring for the poor little thing.”

“I have enough on my hands, I can’t take care of a normal,” I said angrily getting to my feet.

“And her mind cannot withstand life without you,” she retorted, taking my hand. “We will keep her safe here until you have returned for the others. It will calm her knowing she is around your kind.”

“How far is it to the tunnels of London, Cornelle?”

“He passed through here,” she replied.

“Are you reading my mind?” I asked, sitting back down. “How do you know what I’m looking for?”

“Why else would such a beautiful woman be doing what it is that you do, if a man is not somewhere in the mixture?”

“I hate what the traders are doing to the innocence of others. I will never stop until it ends.”

“You have a heavy heart, but I would bet my soul that it is based on the love of a man, and not just your hatred for the black ways of your kind,” Cornelle responded, whistling for her son to come over to her. “It’s time to get ready for bed, you can play again soon.”

The child did as he was told, looking back waving at Johnny who stood holding the ball in his hands. I never replied to Cornelle’s statement, but listened as she and the others explained to us, how we would find our way into the tunnels and be able to leave the younger ones with them. Tanda stood her ground for the first time, and I believe we were all shocked to see it.

“I’ll not stay behind again. I’m tired of being treated like a little girl when I’m older than half here,” she demanded.

“It’s far more dangerous than where we have been, you can understand that,” Garvin said getting to his feet, leaving the rest of us around the fire to watch.

“I have seen and been through hell for fifty years, and I’m not going to sit back and let you treat me like some snot nose brat that can’t take care of herself!”

“Calm down,” Gavin demanded, grabbing her arm.

“Let her go,” Derek hissed, stepping out of the darkness.

“Brother, I love you, but I too want to explore this world and fight against what we have seen for so long.”

“Let her go,” Derek repeated, dropping his weapon on the ground.

“She is my sister, and she will not go into that city!” Garvin yelled as he turned to see the blur of Derek’s body knocking him to the ground.
             

Tanda screamed out, watching the two men that she loved rolling around, fighting over her wishes. “I will protect her,” Derek growled as he slammed his fist into Garvin’s, stomach.

“I will not take that chance,” Garvin yelled back bringing his knee up and flipping Derek head over heels. They were acting like two little children, not two that were meant to protect.

“I will do as I damn well please, without either of you telling me what I can and cannot do!” Tanda screamed, walking into the circle of the fight. “I will stand on my own from this night on.” Then she stomped around them and went into the stone house where Shyanna and Johnny were resting.

Both men watched her storm away; one holding the others shirt, ready to swing the next blow. Garvin looked back at Derek, and pushed him off, getting to his feet. Derek dusted of the front of his pants glaring back, then walked over, picked up his long blade and left into the night.

“I will stay with them, let her have an adventure. She’s very good with her weapons and can move as fast as a well-trained soldier,” Jessica smiled. “What do you think we do on that ship all night…play dress up?”

Her statement caused a round of laughter from everyone other than Garvin, who had the look of fear written across his face. When I tried to ask him why it was so important for her to not join us, he just turned and looked into the direction of the glow from the city of London and shook his head. Sydney, as well as Cates, Tammy, and myself, gave our word to keep her close to us. Garvin took in a deep breath of night air, and then nodded. Tanda came running back out and all but threw herself into his arms. She had been watching the whole time.

“I knew you would let me go,” she laughed, kissing his cheeks. “I will be very careful.”

“Many things can live in the tunnels and much more goes on above them,” he replied, trying his best to smile back.

“But as long as I’m with all of you, I will be fine. Don’t you think that it is those of the past that better be worried of us?”