Brothers of Chaos (The Unstoppable Titans Book 1) (15 page)

How about all of them?

He walked up
to them and when they saw him, they gasped. It wasn’t the reaction he was
expecting.

“Isn’t that
the guy on the news?” he heard one of the girls say.

“I think
so,” said another. “I thought he was dead.”

That was
enough for Eric; his cover was blown. He darted off across the street, nearly
getting run over. He jumped over a few cars, definitely causing a scene.
Everyone around him pointed and screamed.

Eric ran
down the street and made sure he was away from any nosy crowds before ducking
into a parking lot to hide between a couple of cars. He struggled to catch his
breath.

“Rough
night?” a voice asked.

Eric saw a
tall, pale redhead standing at the end of one of the cars he was hiding
between. The guy was smirking. Next to him was a young heavyset guy who looked
like he wanted to be anywhere but here.

“You have a
problem?” Eric asked the redhead.

“Yes, I do.
I’m looking for somebody and I think you can help.”

Eric
laughed. “I’m not in the mood.” He stood up and started walking away.

“How far do
you think you’ll get? A lot of people already recognize you. I’m guessing
they’re not taking to seeing a dead guy walking around.”

Eric stopped
in his tracks. “Do you know what’s going on?” he asked the stranger.

“I don’t
know everything about life and stuff, but I do know beyond a shadow of a doubt
you’re not Eric.”

“They found
his body, didn’t they?” Eric asked, playing along. He planned to kill the
redhead and the fat guy in a moment, anyway.

“You’re
going to have to change forms if you want to get around now.”

That caught
Eric by surprise. He thought about it for a second, then said, “How do you know
that?”

“I know what
you are. You’re a leech.”

Those words
had an effect on Eric. He stepped closer to the two strangers. “Who are you and
how do you know that?”

The stranger
leaned against a car to get comfortable. “I’m Michael, and this is Les,”
Michael said, nodding toward the heavy guy. “I know you feed on blood, and that
you’re a shape-shifter. Just drinking the blood of someone gives you the
ability to assume his or her personas. You also gain some of their memories.”

That was
exactly what Eric was. “How do you know what I am?” he asked.

“I’m not
really sure how I know, but the important thing is I do know. Now, I need your
help. I’m looking for somebody. I was told you’ve had a run-in with him
already. His name is Owen.”

Eric shook
his head. He didn’t know that name.

“He’s not
like a normal person. I wouldn’t be surprised if he gave you that hole in your
eye.”

“Him!” Eric
spat. “So his name is Owen? Yeah, I know him.”

“It’s not
your fault, what you are,” Michael said in a comforting voice. “You can’t help
that you have an appetite for blood that’s hard to satisfy. Owen and his
friends have already killed others like you.”

“Others?”
This was news to Eric. “He killed the others?”

“Yes. Took
them down without even caring to find out what they were. I’ll bet they were
just as innocent and confused as you, unable to control their actions. I need
to know where Owen is,” Michael said, a note of urgency in his voice.

“I don’t
know where he is. But … I may know how to find him.”

The night had just gotten
better for Chris. He’d decided to call Stephanie on his cell to see how she was
… and she had asked him to come over; she was at her friend’s house. She’d said
she really wanted to see him again. He definitely wanted to see her.

He followed
her directions to the house on Silver Creek Road in Haltom City and parked in
front. Stephanie had told him to just come on in, that her roommate was at
work; they wouldn’t be bothered.

Chris
entered slowly, worrying he would run into someone other than Stephanie. That
would have been awkward. The last time Chris had walked into someone’s house
late at night was when he was meeting up with a girl to have a late-night
fling. Little did he know the parents the girl said would be away had in fact
decided to stay in. Chris had literally gotten thrown out on his butt that
night.

But this was
different. Stephanie wasn’t staying with her parents, and the two of them
weren’t planning on doing anything inappropriate. He wasn’t like that anymore.

As he made
his way through the house, he took note of how nice it was. The walls were such
a dark blue they almost looked black. Black-and-white pictures lined them and
were quite beautiful. All of them seemed to be pictures of New York circa 1930.
There were high-rise workers, sailors and their ladies, and children with
balloons.

Chris stared
at these pictures for a while when he suddenly realized someone was standing
behind him. He spun around and saw Stephanie smiling at him. She was wearing
gray sweatpants and a pink shirt with the words
Boys are
Stoopid
stenciled on it. She had
her hair down; the left side of her face was covered by it. She looked like a
model.

“Hey,” she
said.

“Hey,” he
replied.

“I’m glad
you came. I didn’t want to be alone.” Stephanie led him into the living room.
There was a big-screen TV in the corner; she was watching a monster movie.

They sat
down on the brown leather couch.

“I wouldn’t
think you’d want to watch something like this,” Chris said, nodding toward the
TV.

“Ever since
the attack, I’ve just been fascinated by monsters. I think the more I watch
these movies, the less scared I’ll be.”

“Interesting
theory. Is it working so far?”

Stephanie
stared at the TV for a moment before nodding her head. In the movie, an alien
creature was attacking a scientist.

“This is the
movie Eric and I were watching before he attacked me.”

“Oh.” Chris
was at a loss for words. “How can you stand to watch it?”

“I’d
probably be dead if it weren’t for you and your friend.” She seemed to treat
his question as rhetorical.

“It’s what
we do,” he replied in a deep, superhero voice.

Stephanie
turned to face him, her hair still obscuring half of her face. She looked
incredibly beautiful at that moment.

“You guys
just run around saving people from monsters?”

“Pretty
much. We’ve only killed five of them so far.”

He thought
he saw her flinch at that, and he suddenly realized he might have hinted Eric,
who would’ve been the sixth, was still alive. But then he remembered he’d never
told Stephanie how many vampires he’d fought. A second later, she rested her
head on his shoulder, gripping his hand in hers.

“What kind
of monsters were they?” she asked.

“I like to
think they were vampires, but my friend—the guy who was with me that
night—thinks they were something else.”

Stephanie’s
grip tightened. “Tell me about your friend.”

“Owen? Well,
he’s really good at fighting and he’s stronger than anyone I’ve ever met. He
says he doesn’t know why he’s different. I think he’s some kind of alien or
something.”

Chris
laughed but Stephanie remained silent, her grip getting firmer. He couldn’t see
her face, but he assumed she wanted to hear more.

“He’s a good
guy who’s had a tough life. His dad was killed in the meteor shower that hit
Birch two years ago. After that, he stayed with a friend for a while, but that
didn’t work out. Soon after, he was on the streets of downtown San Sebastian.
That’s where we met.”

Stephanie
lifted her head and turned to him. “You lived on the street?”

“Yeah. I was
homeless for a while. I got caught up in a business venture with a friend that
went sour. In the end, I wound up with nothing and no friends to help me. It
was the worst period of my life. Who knew it would get better after the
monsters showed up?”

“Is it just
the two of you?” Stephanie asked, resting her head on his shoulder again.

“No,” he
said, thinking it odd she asked. Hadn’t he already told her about the others?
“There’s Daniel and Alyssa. Our base of operations is somewhere downtown, of
all places.”

“Where in
downtown?” Stephanie’s grip grew tighter.

“Wow, this
movie’s really scary,” Chris said nervously, avoiding the question. Something
wasn’t right.

There was
nothing but silence for a moment, and then Stephanie said, “I want to see your
headquarters. I want to meet your friends.”

“I think
that can be arranged.”

“Now?” she
asked quickly.

“It’s late,
and they’re all scattered around town.”

Chris was
getting uneasy about her sudden interest in him and the others.

“What about
Owen? Do you know where he is?”

“He might be
there. He and I had a fight and I stormed out.”

“I really
want to see your place,” Stephanie insisted.

“All right,”
Chris said, reaching for his pocket. “Let me see if anyone’s home.”

He reached
into his pocket for his cell phone only to realize he’d left it in the car.

“Let’s just
go,” Stephanie insisted.

“Okay. Can I
use your bathroom first? I’ve been holding it for a while.” He squirmed
comically.

Stephanie
nodded as she got off of Chris and let him stand. As he walked away, he saw she
was glaring at him intensely.

He walked
into the bathroom and stared at his reflection. He knew something was wrong
with Stephanie. Did it have something to do with the bite? He studied the
puncture marks on his neck; they appeared to be healing normally.

Chris
already decided there was no way he was taking Stephanie back to HQ. He was now
regretting telling her where it was even located, but there was no taking it
back now. He had to find out what was going on. The first thing he could think
of was getting his cell phone and calling the others.

As he turned
to leave, he saw something out of the corner of his eye. Something was in the
bathtub, the curtain not entirely closed. He could see what looked like brown
hair draped over the lip of the tub. He approached it slowly and pulled back
the curtain.

He couldn’t
believe what he was seeing. There, in the tub, was Stephanie. She had her back
to him. She was dressed differently than she had been a minute ago. He reached
down slowly and turned her over. Her eyes were closed and dark tears had run
down her cheeks. The tears looked like syrup. Chris checked her pulse and was
relieved to find one.

“Hurry up in
there,” the other Stephanie said from outside the bathroom door.

“Okay, let
me just wash my hands,” Chris said in a casual voice, trying not to sound
frightened.

He decided
to leave the unconscious Stephanie where she was and deal with the other one
first. He went to the sink and washed his hands. His heart was racing. He
didn’t know what he was about to deal with. It appeared to be some kind of
shape-shifter and he had never dealt with anything like it before.

He dried his
hands and slowly opened the door, expecting the double to be there, but it
wasn’t. He looked around. The house was quiet except for the TV in the living
room, still playing the horror movie.

“Who are
you?” a voice asked from behind him.

Chris spun
around to see a young brunette standing at the front door. She was around the
same age as him, holding a set of keys in one hand and a bottle of tea in the
other.

“I’m a
friend of Stephanie’s. I need you to call an ambulance. Stephanie’s in the tub;
she was attacked,” Chris explained. The look of absolute shock and fear creeped
onto the girl’s face. She stood frozen in place.

“What’s your
name?” Chris asked her.

“Becky.”

“Okay,
Becky, I’m guessing you’re Stephanie’s best friend. I need you to call an
ambulance now. I have to go after the person who did this. She was just here.
If I were you, I’d lock myself in the bathroom with Stephanie while calling for
help. Okay?”

Becky
nodded. She reached into her purse, pulled out a cell phone and began dialing
911. She cautiously made her way past Chris and looked into the bathroom. She
gasped, looked back at Chris, and then back into the bathroom. She closed the
door and locked it.

Chris ran
out the front door, which was still open, and quickly made his way to his car.
He threw the door open and saw his cell phone in the passenger seat; it was
flashing. It was his voicemail, but he didn’t have time to listen to it. He
called Owen, who answered immediately.

*
 
*
 
*

It didn’t
take long for Owen to explain to Chris the news report about the discovery of
Eric’s body—the real Eric. Daniel and Alyssa were with Owen back at HQ. Chris
was too afraid of leading the double back there, so he drove around aimlessly,
talking to the others on his phone. A game plan was in order on how to tackle
this situation.

“I guess
this explains why bodies stopped showing up as frequently as they used to,”
Owen said. “Once these things realized they could change shape, they started
hiding their victims better. Maybe even started living their lives. How creepy
is that?”

“How’s
Stephanie?” Alyssa asked Chris.

“She’s … she’s
in a coma,” he said, his voice sounding choked. “I overheard the doctors at the
hospital.”

Chris had
followed the ambulance, choosing to stay away from the cops who showed up
because he didn’t want to answer any questions. With him and his friends choosing
to take on evil themselves, they avoided the police whenever they could. After
the tree house incident last night, he wouldn’t have put it past the cops to
think it too coincidental that Chris just happened to be at the sight of two
strange
vampiric
attacks.

He was then
able to sneak close enough to Stephanie’s hospital room to hear her doctor’s
diagnosis: Her brain functions had ceased due to a high level of toxin that ran
through her bloodstream.

A result of
the bite, no less. A toxin that was originally undetected when she was first
brought to the hospital. Which meant the same thing would probably happen to
Chris.

“What are we
going to do?” Daniel asked, his voice sounding a little warbled and faint.

He probably had a little too much to drink,
Chris thought. “I don’t know. I can’t come back unless I know I’m not being
followed.”

“Hold on,”
Alyssa said. “I just got a text message from David. He just said Eric is headed
for downtown, that he’s coming for us.”

Chris
noticed the tension in her voice, but there was no way for Eric—or the double
or whatever it was—to know exactly where they were located. Their best bet was
to stay put. He told the others this, but they didn’t like it.

“We should
just take him out now while we can,” Owen said. “Let me do it. I beat him last
time.”

“Quit being
such a gangster,” Alyssa chimed in. “I agree with Chris on this. We should
stay—”

“Are you
serious?” Owen interrupted. “Is that what we’re going to do from now on—hide
when things get tough? Is that why we started this group in the first place? If
it is, let me know so I can quit. It’s just one monster!”

The thought
of Stephanie lying in the bathtub sprang to Chris’s mind. He and the others had
started their monster-hunting group to keep things like that from happening, to
keep innocent people from getting hurt. They had to deal with this threat, and
they had to do it as soon as possible before someone else suffered.

“I changed
my mind,” Chris began. “I think we should take this thing out now while the
getting’s good.”

“I’m on it,”
he heard Owen say.

“No. We do
this together,” Daniel said, sounding a little groggier.

They all
agreed to take Eric out for good, that very night. In all the excitement of the
past few minutes, no one had questioned how David knew of Eric’s whereabouts.

*
 
*
 
*

The double
posing as Stephanie Polansky set down David’s phone that Michael had handed to
her. She had to resort to text messaging because David, who was still in the
garage, had bled completely; the impostor couldn’t assume his identity now.

Of course,
Michael blamed her for letting Chris escape without first getting the location
of his headquarters. All she had told Michael was it was located downtown
somewhere, and though she had some of Chris’s memories, she could not discern
the location from them. She also pointed out to Michael that Chris’s mind was
extremely disciplined—the most disciplined she’d ever encountered—and that
Michael’s little mind-reading trick probably wouldn’t work on him.

So they had
to come up with a new plan: Draw the monster hunters out. The impostor had
texted Alyssa, acting as David (Michael had told her of David’s love for
texting), to tell her she’d gotten wind of Eric’s whereabouts—Moby’s Diner on
University Drive.

“That should
do it,” she said to Michael. “I still don’t get why we couldn’t just get them
to come here.”

“The police
are on their way,” said Michael.