Fallen Blood (6 page)

"You picked the wrong fight, boy."

"I think you better take a look around and get a clue."

The agent laughed and spit as he did so. Brian hated it when people laughed at him. They were always so smug about it, and he had to always put up with it, never being able to show them how much more special he was than they. Not today. Today, he wasn't going to put up with it. He hit the agent solidly in the face, in an attempt to wipe the man's smile off. A loud crack erupted from the agent's neck as his head twisted in response to the blow, and brought a sick feeling to Brian's gut, as he realized he had just killed his only source of information.

"Damn it.
Now
how am I going to get any answers?" He sat back and studied the two dead men. His entire plan had failed. Two men now lay dead by his hands, and he had not a clue what was going on. Plus, he had to get rid of the bodies and the SUV.

Could this get any worse?
Idly, he licked the first agents blood from his knuckles, and considered where he was going to drop the bodies off at.

The sounds of all the various birds hanging around outside filled the house with all their songs. Personally, Brian never liked them very much. Not only were they loud and bothersome, but they were too damn
happy
sounding in his opinion. Where were all the birds that were depressed? Surely not every bird in the whole world was
that damn happy
. He wondered what kind of sounds they would be making if the shadow of a hawk, or even a falcon, flew overhead. Would they still sound all chirpy? Too bad he couldn't shape change, like some of those vampires he'd seen in those old movies he used to watch as a kid. Then he could turn into a big hawk and fly around his house for a bit.
I bet they would all stop singing at the top of their voices then
.

He shut the kitchen cabinet that he had just filled with possible breakfast foods his guest might want when she woke up. He began to wonder if she were ever going to wake up today. Perhaps he had put her into a coma and he needed to wake her up? After all, he hadn't ever actually told someone to sleep before.
Do I have to tell them to wake up?
He wasn't sure exactly what he was supposed to do, so he just headed up to see if perhaps she needed a little help in rousing herself. The sight of her laying there was enough to make him forget the reasons he had come up to begin with. There was something angelic about her, the way her hair reflected the sunlight as it streamed in from his room's window. It made her hair look like transparent gold, as it lay there draped partially over her face. It really was a shame that he had to wake her. Not only did she look so good sleeping, but he was sure she was most likely dreaming, and of course he was missing it.

Yet, it was a new day. There were things that needed to be done. They had to come up with a plan. She couldn't hide in his house forever, no matter how tempting the idea was. Sooner or later, whoever those agents worked for were going to come looking for him. He had driven the SUV outside of town and hidden it out in the woods, but he was sure they would find it eventually, probably in not very long at all, then they would come looking for who had killed their people.

The good news was that he doubted they would think it was Heather. That would mean someone else in the area was a bigger liability than her, or at least he hoped they would. There was no way they would think that a teenage boy could have taken their CIA agents out, assuming they actually were CIA. What did he know? He had no idea what was going to happen. The shit was going to hit the fan. That was all he knew for sure. Agents or criminals, did it matter? Someone was going to be pissed, and he was smack dab in the middle of it. Him and Heather both.

Well, whatever happened, at least he was with her. He couldn't ask for more than that. Now however, he needed her up, and a plan.

"Heather." He shook her and she moved, actually, she stretched.

"Heather, are you awake?" Her eyes snapped open, and her entire body tensed. A moment later she sat straight up and looked around the room, confused.

"Where...Where am I?" She asked

"It's okay. You're safe for now."

"Brian?" She looked up at him, her face clouding as if she were trying to remember something.

"Are you hungry, Heather? I have some food downstairs, if you would like to eat."

It was as if a light went on in her head at that moment. The confused look disappeared, and worry took its place.

"Mama? Mama!" She shouted then, jumped off the bed so quickly that it startled Brian into inactivity. The teenage girl ran down the stairs and looked like she was heading for the front door.

"Heather, no! Don't go out there!"

But it was already too late, as he heard the front door slam open and Heather's voice calling out for her parents, likely running across the street toward her house. Brian walked to his window and looked out as she reached her front porch. A few seconds later, she was inside her house, he assumed looking for her parents. Now what? What was he supposed to do now? If anyone was watching, they now knew she was here. Brian looked up and down the street from his window. He didn't see anyone heading for the girl's house. Of course, they could already be in there waiting for her. In fact, she could already be in their custody, and any second now a fleet of black SUVs could come screaming up the street to take her away and anyone else stupid enough to be involved with her. Well, if that was the case, then he really didn't have any real choices. He had better hurry over there and get ready for his ride.

The first thing he heard when he entered the house was Heather crying. He found her in what he assumed was her parents' bedroom. She was sitting there on the edge of the bed, oddly enough holding a red bathrobe and crying into it.

"Heather?" He asked, hoping he wasn't intruding.

"They didn't even give them time to put it on." She sobbed at him

"The robe?" he asked.

"Why did they take them away Brian?”

What was he supposed to say to her? He had no idea what was going on. He didn't have anyone to ask for help. All he had was his aunt, and he only saw her these day's when she would drop off his shipment. What was that once, maybe twice a week? Sometimes it would be once a month if the supply was big enough. Then he wouldn't see her for so long, he wondered if she would show up when he was out again, or what he was going to do if she didn't show up.

"Heather, we need to go. They could come back at any moment, and we can't be here if they do."

"Why? What did I do? I didn't do anything wrong."

This wasn't getting anywhere, and they really couldn't stay here any longer.

"Heather, look at me." He walked over and grabbed her chin, turning her face in his direction. Looking into her eyes, he said again. "Heather, we need to go. Come with me."

The distraught teen smacked his hand away from her and stood up. "I'm
not
going anywhere until I find out what happened to my family."

Great he thought.
Strike two. I'm not batting a thousand today.

"Heather, these are bad men, we can't stay here. Hell, I'm not sure we can stay at
my
house, but it's better than right here where they're expecting to find you."

"You go if you want, but I'm not going anywhere." She walked to the phone on the table next to the bed, and picked up the receiver.

"Heather."

She dialed three quick numbers

"Heather, who are you calling?"

He heard the clear voice of a woman come over the phone. "911, please state the nature of your emergency."

"I need to speak with the sheriff." Heather answered.

"Heather, don't..." he walked to her.

"Stay away from me!" She choked, and tried to push him away with one arm.

"Ma'am, are you in danger?" He heard the woman's voice over the phone.

He couldn't believe this was happening. After all the trouble he went through for her, all the things that he'd done just to protect her, it was all about to unwind right before him, and he was helpless to do anything about it.

"Heather, you're not thinking clearly. We need to talk."

"Talk about what?" she asked as tears ran down from her eyes, as she looked up at him

"Ma'am, are you in trouble, do you need assistance?" The voice squawked.

"Those people could have been the police, and if they are, they were looking for you."

"Why? Why would the police of taken my Mama?" She sobbed again.

"Ma'am, what is the address you're calling from?"

Brian reached over and hung the phone up with his finger, as the woman continued to talk on the other side of it.

"I think it had something to do with the house you and Chuck were at last night."

"What?" Confusion filled her face again.

"I think Chuck stumbled into something when he went down stars last night."

"I didn't see anything."

Brian softly took her arm with one hand, and took the receiver out of her hand with the other.

"Heather, we have to go. As in
now
."

"But, my parents.." she started, shaking her head.

"Heather, they most likely have traced that call, and know exactly where you called from. That means the police will be here any moment, and we really shouldn't be here when they get here."

"Brian, I'm not going anywhere until I find out what happened to my parents. Now, you can go if you want to, but I'm calling the police."

"No, Heather, you can't, you've got to trust me."

"Trust you, Brian?" She started to shout, "I don't even
know
you!" she pulled her arm out of his hand and backed away from him.

"That's not true. We've been going to school together for years."

"So? I don't know you. I've never even talked to you before now." She pulled farther away from
him, her
face turning to disgust. "Who do you think you are, coming into my house and telling me what to do?"

"Heather..."

"No! Get out of my house...
Now
!"

Brian stopped walking toward, her and just looked at her. She looked at him like he was some kind of monster. Didn't she understand what she meant to him? What he did for her? What he
would
do for her? He could hear sirens in the distance, and from the way they were getting louder, it was obvious they were coming this way.

"Heather, don't...!"

She turned, and ran for the front door. "Help me!" She yelled as she ran outside. Tires screeched, as police cars came to a stop out in front of the house. He could hear Heather shouting, and the sounds of men's voices joining hers. It was only a matter of seconds before they would come into the house in search of him. Yet, a part of him didn't care. He wasn't sure how he expected her to react, but this wasn't it. So he stood there, playing over the last few minutes in his head, trying to see what exactly he had done wrong, and no matter how he looked at it, no matter which side he looked at it from, he still couldn't see it.

Shaking his head, Brian walked to the bedroom closet. He could hear the police enter the house from the front door as he opened the closet and walked into it as he shut the door behind him.

Well, he was certainly going to have to handle this differently the next time he talked to her, he thought. It was a good thing he had been right about the closet, it was so dark in it, he couldn't see a thing in here, but then, that was the point, wasn't it? The sound of someone in the bedroom came through the closed door. He clearly heard what he assumed was an officer say the word clear. First, he needed to eat and rest up just a bit. Not sleep, since he really didn't sleep any more. It was like food. He could eat it, and it would keep him alive, but he would start to get weaker and after a while regardless, his abilities would stop functioning. He wasn't sure how long that would go, or what would happen after that, as he really didn't like going without his special powers.

The closet door flew open. A police officer pointed his gun into the closet, while he shined a bright flashlight with his other hand into it at the same time. Brian could see the stress and tension on the man's face as he shined the light into Brians face.

"Clear!" The officer shouted, then moved out of the bedroom, followed by the other officer Brian couldn't see. He could smell, but not see. Their heightened tension had their hearts pumping like jackhammers in their chest, and their bodies gave off the smell of the one thing he needed at the moment. Still, he was just going to have to wait and get it once he could get back to his house. He had to admit, the thought had crossed his mind of just jumping out of the little closet and sinking his teeth into the startled police officer, and make it look like it was something out of a movie. That would really have given them something to talk about back at headquarters.