Homeward Bound (Journeyman Book 1) (4 page)

“The one and only.”

She giggled, managing to make it sound malicious. “Well, Gage, your reputation precedes you. In all my years I’ve never sensed someone as… wild as you. It certainly doesn’t strike me as a quality the Journeymen would seek out for their ranks, at least the order of old. But then again, that may explain why they are now in such rapid decline.”

“This ain't about me sister,” he said, pointing to her bound hands, “or the Journeymen.”

“Oh but it is,” she countered, realizing they had no idea what was going on. She giggled again. “You and your fellows are so in the dark about what is happening right now in the world.”

“That's why I have you here. Enlighten me.”

“Now, where would the fun be if I did that?”

“Fun?” he asked. “Well, let's see. It seems this dumb J-man has you by the balls.” He raised an eyebrow. “If you actually had any. You’re the one all tied up, princess.”

“For now,” she replied, her mouth stretching into a wide smile.

Gage rose from his seat, pulling another vial from his pocket. He un-stoppered it and dripped some holy water on her wrist, sending a burning trail along her forearm all the way down to her elbow. She winced when he did it again on the other arm.

“See? Now there's the fun! So, do you have anything to tell us?” he asked, slumping back in the seat.

“Color me disappointed, Gage. I was expecting better. Where's that champion of champions who slayed over a hundred vampires during the raid to rescue that gutter trash?” she said spitefully, nodding toward Joey and Adrienne. “Oh, I've heard the stories. Now, here you stand, alongside this bitch vampire-slayer and her pet nerd. All three of you apparently impotent in extracting information from a mere child.” Her childish giggle frolicked in the silence. “It’ll be fun sucking the marrow from your pathetic bones.”

Gage had reached his limit. He kicked away his chair and cocked his gun, shoving it right in her face. “Darlin’, I’d like to see you try.”

There at last was a hint of the legendary Mr. Crosse. She leaned in closely, seeing the fire in his eyes and his finger calmly resting by the trigger. “Ok. I'll bite,” she whispered. “The demons are on the move, the Noctis planning something huge. All monsters are mobilizing in response.”

Gage grew a shade paler when he heard mention of the Noctis, those bastards. That ever growing band of demons had taken away his life, his everything, three years ago. This life on the road for revenge was all that he knew now because of them.

“Mobilizing?” he asked, not sure that he wanted to hear the answer. “For what?”

She sat still for a moment before continuing, “To fight against them… or to join them. A war is coming unlike any we have seen before.”

“And the vamps?” Gage asked, looking down the bridge of his nose at her smug face. “What are you blood suckers planning on doing?”

“Well, us vampires aren't into being the play things of demons. The werewolves though, I hear they love to wear collars.”

Gage looked to his teammates, who had already cast their tense eyes his way. “We need to talk,” he said, walking over to a corner for privacy. Adrienne and Joey were two steps behind.

“You heard what Princess Plaque said,” he whispered. “We apparently got some serious issues coming over the horizon. If the Noctis are actually moving, then something big is about to go down.”

“That’s assuming she is telling us the truth,” noted Adrienne. “What reason do we have to trust anything she says?”

“Good point. I don’t trust her as far as I could throw her… which could be pretty far so never mind that,” he said. “But the fact is, she has these mega-vamps under her control and it makes me think there is definitely more here than just a regular clearing. We need to -”

A loud
snap
cut through the silence.

They spun to see a segment of rope careen through the air and a pink streak bolting for the exit. Gage drew his gun and fired several shots. One after another the glowing rounds hit with indigo shockwaves, but he had missed. The bitch was fast.

"Dammit!" he hissed, jerking his head as Adrienne and Joey gave pursuit.

The two reentered the main facility on the hunt. Nancy was so small, easily obscured by the equipment and impossible to spot on ground level. Adrienne took to a nearby ladder and climbed, careful not to lose footing on the greasy metal. She scanned the area keenly, spotting their target as she bolted between two grinders.

“Over there!” she shouted, pointing toward the front of the building.

Joey raced in that direction.

Adrienne started to dismount and noticed Nancy wasn’t going to exit through any of the main doors. Instead, she hung left and took a concealed set of stairs, presumably down to a lower level.

Both pursuers now sprinted toward their target but stopped cold when they heard her scream. Such a horrific scream, brimming with pain. As quickly as it began it was silenced, a distinct growl rose in its place, low and terrible.

They both knew what was coming.

Sweat formed across Adrienne’s forehead, stinging her eyes as she drew the silver dagger. “No, it can’t be,”
she beseeched.

Joey shuddered. He hadn’t heard this sound since that horrific day. Misty eyes appraised the room, floating down to the ground beneath them. A tear rolled off his cheek to the floor. He hurled his eyes toward Adrienne, whose gaze was already waiting.

That's when the seventh one showed up, breaching beneath them in a blast of concrete and splintered boards.

Joey fell to the chamber below and hit the bottom with an ankle first, then his head.
Bolo
fell from his grip, rolling a few feet away. All became blackness.

Adrienne was flung like a rag doll over forty feet into nearby machinery. She tumbled and struck metal but fate had kept her conscious. The runed dagger waited nearby. Wincing, her labored breaths churned dust into the air as she crept its way.

That’s when the creature came into view. A monstrosity much taller than a human stood before her. Pale like milk, skin stretched sickeningly thin over its skeletal body and a pair of membranous wings were folded on its back, fingers moving like spiders at the joints. Golden eyes with dark circles stared pitiless into her from the shadows while drool poured from its fangs. This was a primal vampire. Rare, deadly, and uncontrollable.

Why in hell would the coven have a primal?

She crawled closer to the dagger; it was a necessity if she wanted any hope of survival. The ones she still had would have no effect against this powerful of a thing.

It began to inch toward her. Tattered were its beige clothes and on its left side, a tag caught a gleam off a shaft of moonlight. A gold star was upon it, inscribed with ‘County Sheriff’ and the name Mike Blake off to the side. He wasn’t going to be arresting anyone soon.

She stretched for the blade. It was still too far away. She slithered further across the floor and he took another step. Then another. Before long, he was running full speed toward her, claws scraping against rusty mills. Mangled metal convulsed in his wake.

The dagger still lay out of reach. Fucking hell! Closing her eyes, she waited and withheld a scream and he leaped into the air, claws ready to tear her apart.

A whirl of silver propelled across the room, striking Mike. He collapsed into a boiler and both fell to the floor with a thunderous noise. Pulling himself up, a large machete stuck out from his side. Shrieks let loose when he yanked out the smoking blade, tossing it aside. Blood so dark it could be mistaken for oil spewed onto the floor. His eyes narrowed when he saw the attacker, ire rising with each flap of spread wings as he barreled towards Gage.

He braced himself for impact and they crashed through the door frame back into the conference room.

Mike grabbed Gage’s left shoulder and started to sink his talons into the ink, but something went wrong. The pentacle tattoo smoked and his ashen skin bubbled as if acid were on it and a rancid stench rose to fill the air.

Gage continued to pound Mike’s face and body.

Howling, Mike wrenched his injured arm back then powered Gage into the wall, free arm upon his chest and wings tightly clamped on his wrists. Bones cracked as his jaw unhinged, rows upon rows of fangs hung from the grotesquely wide maw. As he roared, shreds of flesh and dress flung themselves over Gage’s body.

A clawed hand rocketed toward his face. Gage knocked back hard, jostling Mike enough for a miss except for a single hook that carved deep into the flesh above his left eye. The sting was insufferable. His vision became a crimson blur.

Mike lashed out, throttling Gage’s neck. The beast slammed him several more times against the wall, causing it to crack and rubble to fall from above. His grip tightened and Gage grimaced from the pain.

Darkness encroached. Blood drenched teeth filled what little view remained. It was inevitable, Gage was going to die.

But not today.

“Light ‘em up!” her angelic voice cut through the darkness.

The room became bright like a blue fire that burned from all sides. Mike’s putrid flesh seared and his grip waned. No longer was Gage contained, Mike scratching at his own face in misery.

Gage reached down and drew the gun. In one swift motion he raised the barrel and pressed it hard against sizzling forehead.

“Ya marked my face,” Gage said, placing a finger on the trigger.  “Lemme return the favor.” He pulled it back and in a cobalt flash Mike was ended, collapsing to the ground in a headless mass. A moment later black blood rained down on the convulsing heap.

Adrienne stood behind, tending her side while Joey was propped against what remained of the door frame…or maybe it was the wall, it was hard to discern.

Gage let out a long sigh. “Good timing,” he said.

“That was an awful line, Gage. Just awful,” she replied. “Deactivate.”

All their units turned off in unison.

They bent over and each grabbed Joey by an arm and staggered from the remains of the room. As they exited, her hand touched Gage’s arm and they both felt themselves stir. Gage glanced in her direction. Funny, he never really noticed over the last year how beautiful and graceful her features were. Until now, like some switch had been flipped.

Another monster had awakened and this one made it very difficult to walk.

“Something wrong Gage?” asked Adrienne, catching him limping along.

“No, nothing,” he deflected, voice slightly shaking. He thumped his thigh. “Just the ol’ leg. Must’ve hit it hard in there.”

The trio soon emerged from the darkness they had entered, looking worse for wear but alive. They ascended the hill and tossed their gear into the back seat of the truck, gently helping Joey inside.

Adrienne climbed back into shotgun and removed her cap, her head sinking back into the seat. Finally, a breather.

Gage trudged over and got in the driver’s side. He paused, closing his eyes for a moment. Opening them again, he glanced to his phone and oddly the battery was nearly drained. Without a second thought, he plugged it in then grabbed hold of the rear view mirror to study the gash above his eye. It was deep, likely to leave a scar.

“Dammit,” he said, lightly touching around it with his finger. “Fucking vamps.”  

The keys jangled as he cranked the ignition, reversing the truck back along the driveway and onto the main road.  This particular job was completed, though it had raised further questions about what the vamps were doing across the state. Not to mention the Noctis, who’d obviously started enough of a scare to mobilize sharpened teeth and God knows what else across the nation. But all these great questions could be addressed a little later that morning.

Now was time for the morphine of music, which blared through the truck speakers and filled the cab. Joey sat alone in the rear seats, turning bat in hand. Adrienne nursed the back of her head while staring out into the passing fields. The monochromatic blur was hypnotizing. Gage looked to her, then back at Joey. He raised the corner of his mouth, catching one more glimpse of his newly earned scar before pressing down hard on the gas. The engine roared in reply, rocketing them down the empty road as the wind rushed in through the open windows.

The biting air had lost its teeth and the simplicity of motion was exhilarating.

THE LONE TRUCK CREPT
its way down empty, potholed streets and the sounds of classic rock rode the otherwise silent breeze. Ahead, the cold light of Montgomery’s Gas and Convenience spilled out through the sprinkling rain into the long night, a beacon of color amidst a perpetual sea of gray.

Joey propped himself up in between the front seats and reached out to the radio, turning the volume all the way down. “Hey, they’re open! We need to stop.”

Gage took a look at the fuel level; there was still plenty of go left and he really wanted to get back to base. Exhaustion was setting in and the sweet call of his downy pillow made it that much more difficult to keep his eyes open. “The gas is good man, ain’t no need.” He reached back for the radio.

“But I’m hungry and need to pee,” Joey persisted, bouncing slightly as he slunk back into his seat.