The Vampire Gene (10 page)

Angus

I saw the car before I saw Rebecca. I took
in the details as I drove cautiously towards it, approaching it from the front. It was pulled over to one side of a small rural road, the drivers door wide open. Then I saw the mangled boot lid and Rebecca standing opposite a tall vampire who held a shotgun, and I was exploding from the van with deadly intent when he shot her. As I leapt I saw how she stood firm, and how she took hold of that shotgun barrel. I reached her side just as he fell.

She half turned towards me, relief and joy on her face, and I caught her as she stumbled. I sensed the pain start to burn through her body as it finally acknowledged just how badly it had been hurt by that shot.

I tore my shirt off and wadded it up, and pressed it over the gaping wound in her belly. It would be a few minutes before the bleeding slowed, and too much blood loss could leave her feeling weak and delay the essential healing process. I lay her on the grass, and placed her hands over the makeshift dressing. Jack was still unconscious, but he could recover at any time. He was an imminent threat that needed to be dealt with, and the iron I had taken made me relish the prospect.

I stepped over his body to where his hand still loosely cradled the shotgun, and twisted it out of his grip. I considered my options as I watched his chest rise and fall, trying to control the beast that wanted to rip him apart right there and then. I took a deep breath and glanced across to where she lay, my sanity. Then I leaned down, grabbed hold of his unresisting elbow and bent it backwards until it snapped, and hung useless at his side. I did the same for his other arm, and then I broke his legs below the knee. I knew exactly how long it would take for his limbs to become functional - I had just bought us three hours at least. Enough time to get Rebecca back to the
Colbornes', and to deliver Jack into the vengeful hands of his sister. I recalled those few memories I had picked up yesterday as she had recounted her story while we sat around the dining room table, and I knew she had unfinished business with him. Her need for some sort of closure was much greater than mine or Rebecca's could ever be. And despite the iron I'd taken, I was still very much aware of that fact. Jack wouldn't be dying at my hands today.

I turned back to Rebecca and lifted her gently in my arms. She smiled up at me, her pain reflected in her eyes. God, how I loved her, and how
close I'd come to losing her. I carried her to the van and lay her flat on the front seat, and held the now soaked shirt against her wound while the bleeding slowed and then stopped, and her breathing gradually settled.

"I'm OK now," she spoke softly.

I gazed at her, absorbing the beauty and strength of her, and then I buried my face in her neck. Her hand came up to rest on the back of my head, and she threaded her fingers through my hair. That wonderful, terrible desire rose unbidden, and I automatically began to pull away, but her grip transferred to my shoulders, and she kissed me, and I lost myself in the sensations shooting through my body.

A cry of frustration from the other side of the road recalled me to the present. I lifted my head and smiled ruefully down at her.

"I need to sort Jack out."

She chuckled. "I think you've done that already. I never knew that breaking bones could be so loud." She shuddered slightly. "Are you going to, er, kill him?"

"No. We'll take him to Julia, and let her deal with him. Believe it or not, her grievances are far, far worse than anything he has done to you."

"Really? That's awful." She paused, then, "Well, go and get him then!" She grinned at me and pulled herself up into a sitting position. I kissed her again, and dragged myself away to fetch Jack, who lay in helpless fury on the damp grass at the roadside.

"You bastard!" he spat at me as I approached him. I grinned back evilly.

"Hey Jack," I said.

"What?" he snapped furiously.

"Bite me."

Rebecca

I lay with my head on his lap staring up at his face as he drove. Jack was all wired up in the back of the van - Angus had found a few rolls of fencing wire in the abandoned car, and had used it to good effect. Jack looked like one of those old fashioned tops - if you tugged on one end of wire he might go spinning off into the distance.

After a while the now familiar surges of power returned as my body dealt with the shotgun pellets embedded in my tissues. I lay watching the pulse in the hollow at the base of Angus' neck, and the way his naked chest moved as he breathed, and inhaling his incredibly male scent. He glanced down at me, his brows raised. I grinned at him, and he chuckled and returned his gaze to the road, while I returned mine to the muscles in his neck where they plunged into the base of his throat. After a while he smiled, but he continued watching the road.

Thirty minutes later we pulled into the gravel driveway. I sat up then, afraid of what might be waiting at the end of it. First thing we saw was a decapitated
blood feeder hanging like some kind of bizarre decoration from and old beech tree. It didn't get much better after that. There were bodies scattered everywhere in various stages of dismemberment. It was strangely reassuring. It looked like our vampires had fought well and with spectacular, if disgusting, success.

Angus regarded it all with a frown.

"What?" I asked him.

"I should have been here."

"I'm glad you weren't. You could never have gotten to me in time if you had been here fighting these things." I waved my hands dismissively at the gory display.

"You think I would have left you alone to go and fight?"

"God, yes. You would have been off like a shot! I saw what a kick Marcus and Fergus got out of the whole thing. As if you would have tamely stayed behind to guard me. Ha!" I laughed aloud at the idea. It was so preposterous.

Angus grinned at me wryly. "You're right, of course. Even now I'm annoyed that I missed it."

I shook my head in mock despair. Just then Marcus appeared from within the mansion. He had abandoned the crossbow, but still wore the leather coat. It had great big rips in it, and was covered in blood. Angus stopped the van and we got out.

"It's not mine," said Marcus, following my gaze to the blood on his coat.

"I never thought it was, brother," said Angus dryly. "Is everyone OK?"

" We're all alive, but Fergus has lost a hand, and I've just had to replace some of Oliver's small bowel in his abdomen. They're both going to be fine in a couple of days," he said reassuringly when he saw my
dismayed expression.

"I have Jack," Angus told him. An evil grin spread across Marcus' face. For a moment I felt sorry for Jack, but then I remembered how he had cold-bloodedly shot me. And how Angus had said that what he had done to Julia was much, much worse. I stopped feeling sorry for him.

Angus led Marcus to the back of the van while I walked up the steps to the front door of the house. Julia met me at the door with a huge bear hug.

"I'm so glad you're safe," she said as she patted my back. "We're all fine. I've reassured Fergus that the hand will grow back in just over a week. He's annoyed that it's going to take so long, of course, but there's no pleasing some people," she chuckled.

"We have Jack," I told her.

Her expression hardened. "Good," was all she said, but I sensed that this was a very significant moment for her. "They're all in the front sitting room. Come through and I'll show you."

I followed her into the house, and down a short passage to the sitting room. Fergus lounged in a large leather armchair by the fireplace, a thick dressing encasing the stump of his left arm, and a grumpy look on his face, which disappeared as soon as he saw me.

"Little sister!" he exclaimed, and stood up to hug me. I hugged him right back - I was so grateful that he and Marcus and the others were OK. Oliver lay on a three seater sofa, his naked torso and abdomen wrapped in bloodstained bandages. A nasty gash poked out above the bandages just below his collar bone. It was already in the healing stage, but it looked like it hurt. He must have sensed my sympathy, because he looked up at me and grinned and winked. I pulled a face and rolled my eyes, and he laughed.

"They've got Jack," Julia spoke now. Oliver watched her face closely.

"Put him in the old dining room," he suggested. "Blood won't stain those old stone floors."

She nodded once and then left to find Marcus and Angus. We all trailed along behind her, Oliver slightly hunched and holding his abdomen. I briefly considered suggesting to him that he lie down again, but dismissed the idea very quickly. He was a vampire, and if experience had taught me anything - he wouldn't listen.

Angus

Marcus and I carried Jack into the old dining room. It took a few minutes but we managed to unwrap him from the wire restraining him.
I might have overdone that a little. His arms still dangled uselessly at his sides and he was unable to stand, although his legs appeared a bit straighter than they had when I had originally lifted him into the back of the van. He swore throughout as we tied him to a chair with a few handy strands of wire.

Julia walked into the room followed by Rebecca and Fergus. They each grabbed a chair and arranged them in a
loose semicircle around Jack, for all the world like a particularly grim focus group. The thought made me want to laugh. Oliver came in a minute or so after everyone else. I nodded my head in silent thanks for all he and Julia had done to help us protect Rebecca, and my brothers, and he nodded back in acknowledgement. Then his attention was diverted to the snarling vampire in the middle of the room, and he too pulled up a chair and sat down, one hand pressing carefully on his injured abdomen. Marcus and I decided to lean against the stone walls on either side of Jack. I was still too hyped up after all the iron I'd eaten today, and I didn't want to sit. Marcus had his own reasons, but I suspected they had something to do with keeping and eye on Julia, who sat a couple of metres directly in front of Jack, watching his face intently. She appeared to come to some sort of decision, and she stood up abruptly and left the room. Rebecca looked at me, a question in her eyes.

"She's coming back," said Oliver. I nodded in confirmation. Oliver and I had both sensed her intentions, and it wasn't going to be pretty. I wondered briefly if I should warn Rebecca, but I didn't think there would be any point. If it got too bad, she could leave.

"Hey, bitch," Jack drawled, eyes fixed on Rebecca. "We would have had some fun. Well, I would have anyway." He chuckled at his own joke.

Rebecca stared straight back at him, and I knew
that she wouldn't be going anywhere.

"Shut up, Jack," said Oliver shortly.

"Oliver, my son," Jack turned his attention to the unsmiling vampire. "Are you really going to let your mother do this to me?"

"Watch me," Oliver said laconically.

"Your Uncle James told me all about you. Little did he know he was talking to your real daddy." He seemed to be pleading and insulting at the same time. Impressive. But not half as impressive as the axe Julia carried into the room a few moments later.

"Recognise this?" she grinned at Jack as she hefted the heavy blade. His eyes betrayed nothing. He just stared at her.

"Do you remember what you said to me that night, Jack?" She put one hand on her hip and pursed her lips. "Let me think... ah yes, I recall now." She picked up the axe in both hands. "As you said, Jack, this is going to hurt," and she swung that axe in an overhead arc and brought it down on his left forearm, severing the arm cleanly just above the hand.

Jack howled as blood sprayed from the stump. The amputated limb fell with a splat to the ground. Rebecca winced, but she stayed where she was. Fergus looked a bit green, probably reliving his own experience from earlier that day.

"You didn't know that my hands would grow back, did you, Jack? You thought you'd maimed me for life. And then..." her voice faltered as she recalled what had happened after he'd removed her hands with the axe. Images flickered through my head as she unwittingly broadcast her pain. I looked at Oliver, who sat with his eyes screwed shut as he too witnessed her suffering. I wonder how much harder it was for him, knowing that he was the product of that horrific encounter. Then the images disappeared, and Julia seemed to drag herself back to the here and now.

"Let me explain how this is going to work, Jack," she spat the last word. "You die here today. That i
s not negotiable." Jack sneered defiantly.

"You are going to tell me what you did with Anne and Lizzy. If you refuse, I will continue to remove random bits of you with this very useful axe
you left me. As you can probably tell, I haven't sharpened it for some time. And don't think you will die from blood loss. I'll cauterise your wounds as I go - let's call it returning the favour." She winked at him. "I don't have a hot iron, so I'll have to make do with a blowtorch. Give me a minute."

"Wait," Marcus interjected. She looked at him in surprise. He smiled at her. "Tell me where to find it, and I'll fetch it for you."

Julia's expression softened as she realised the implications of his offer, the unequivocal support that he was giving her in this grim situation. She briefly explained to him where to find it and he left. Fergus suddenly stood and went over to the window. He hauled out his phone and had a hurried conversation with someone on the other end. He disconnected then returned to his seat.

"Just redirecting the delivery we were expecting to the estate. We may not have time to clean up before they were due to arrive and the delivery man might have had bit of a shock when he saw the mess outside," he explained.

Rebecca grinned at his words. "The mess!" she said dryly. "You mean the dismembered corpses hanging from the trees."

"Er, yes," replied Fergus, grinning back. Oliver chuckled softly.

Jack sat watching their interaction, his eyes hard. What could have been a flicker of fear surfaced briefly in their depths as Marcus returned, the blowtorch and gas canister in his hands. Julia saw it and smiled humourlessly.

"Tell me what I want to know, Jack," she said flatly, as she turned the blowtorch on and lit it. She put it down carefully, and lifted the axe again.

He just stared at her coldly. She shrugged, and the axe flew through the air, landing with a thud just above where the last blow had removed his hand. The newly formed stump spurted briefly before the searing heat of the blowtorch coagulated the flesh. Jack screamed.

Rebecca shut her eyes, but then opened them resolutely. Jack's head slumped forward, his hair hiding the agony on his face. I reached out into his mind and knew that he would now tell Julia what she wanted to know.

Oliver must have sensed that too, because he looked up at his mother and nodded. She looked relieved that she would not have to continue delivering this torment. She was obviously discomfited by the whole experience. I remembered how I had been before I'd met Rebecca, and wondered if I would have continued if I had been in this situation. Probably.

And then Jack started talking.

Rebecca

It was hard sitting there, watching it all. I stayed for several reasons, though. Mostly in support for Julia and Oliver. If I'd left, it might have implied disapproval. I didn't disapprove. This needed to be done. Julia needed to know what happened to her sisters. If they were alive they could need help. They could have children who needed help. The length of time that had elapsed since their abduction only seemed to add to the urgency of the situation.

I'd also figured out that Oliver had been conceived during that last encounter with Jack. He had removed her hands so she couldn't fight back. I tried not to imagine what she must have gone through. It seemed only fitting that Jack should taste a little of that suffering.

I also wanted to make sure that he died before this day did.

Angus leaned against that stone wall, seriously distracting
in amongst all the blood and pain, with his muscular arms folded across his naked chest, and concern for me on his face. I winked at him, and he looked a bit startled, and then he grinned back at me.

Jack started answering Julia's questions after the second strike. I couldn't watch that, as necessary as I knew it was. And the smell of burning flesh turned my stomach even more than the slap of amputated meat as it fell on the floor. Silently I thanked Jack for surrendering when he did.

"Anne is alive and well," Jack's voice was hoarse, and he spoke reluctantly, as if he deeply resented giving out the information. "She embraced our union. Eventually." He sneered, and hastily continued when Julia stepped towards him, axe in hand.

"Those bodies out there were all descendents of ours, one way or another. I lost count a few decades ago. They're all male - the females weren't allowed to drink blood. It made them ugly. Seriously, would you screw something like that?" The old arrogance was back as he lifted his chin to indicate the corpses outside. "The ladies don't like them much either, so that left little old me." He sneered again and stared at me. "You really would have enjoyed it, you know. I've had a lot of practice."

"Ew," I sneered back at him, and he frowned.