Fallen Blood Page 8

  A quick walk through the downstairs revealed no one as far as he could see, and the basement was empty as well. Several old chairs sat about where he had brought them after his mother passed away, and made the basement seem a bit cluttered. Now, it was time for the tricky part. He sat down in a chair, and closed his eyes. The key here was that he needed to fall asleep. Yeah, he knew the whole metaphysical theory about what he was trying to accomplish, and he knew to the unschooled eye this would never work. But he'd read up on things that said it would, and in those years of his traveling, he had found that they were right, and the rest of the world had been wrong. Slowly, he cleared his mind, concentrating on the feeling of exhaustion he'd had just a few minutes before. Slowly he felt his mind starting to slip.

  --

  "Here you go, little boy, take it." The scary old clown held out the dripping red popsicle at him, the smell of blood filling Brian's nose.

  "No! I want Chocolate!" Brian stomped his foot and clenched his little fists.

  "Now, you know Chocolate is for normal boys and girls." The clowns voice began to deepen and long canine fangs began to extend from his mouth.

  --

  Brian awoke with a sense of deja vu. The basement felt cool to his burning skin, which he could appreciate right that moment. Standing, he felt a bit woozy, but steadied himself. It wouldn't do to go to all this trouble just to pass out right when he was within reach of his prize. The fridge opened, revealing a shelf filled to bursting with opened boxes of breakfast cereal and assorted other foods that a teenager would eat. The light that turned on as it opened practically blinded him, and causing him to fly into a panic realizing that it could possibly give him away. He quickly twisted it till it shut off. He hoped that since he was downstairs in the basement, they wouldn't be paying much attention. Even if they did, in few more minutes it would be too late to stop him. Grabbing a box of cornflakes, Brian took it out of the fridge and shut the door. Reaching in, he pulled out a plastic IV filled with blood. A smile crossed his face as he looked down at it a moment, then bit the top of it and tore it open. In moments he ingested the entire IV and sat back down in one of the old chairs, feeling life flow through his whole body. He wasn't sure, but he would have sworn he could feel the blood rushing though every vein and capillary in his body.

  It had been so long since he had last eaten that the sensations he was feeling had to be better than sex itself. At least, that's what he imagined. Except for his dream excursions with Heather, Brian didn't have a clue. His needs were different from typical males his age. He had a need to bond, and be a part of the person he would choose. He had never met a vampire himself, but he had a feeling that if there were more than him, they mated for life. However long that would be for them, and in this case, for him.

  The rush lasted for what seemed an eternity, but when it was over, the hunger was still there. It was the one thing he hated about what he was. The hunger never seemed to be sated. No matter how much he ate, it never went away. Oh, he could ignore it. That was easy enough, at least at first. But, the longer he went without, the harder it became, until it ceased to be a hunger and became a pounding pain in his head, that almost never went away. Brian ripped the plastic package open by the seams and licked it clean. After all, there was no reason to waste any of it. He stuck the plastic back into the empty box of cereal and walked back to the fridge. The temptation to take more was strong, but he didn't know when or if he would be getting any more from his aunt. The reality was, that if he were a suspect, then he doubted they would just let her come to his house and deliver supplies. He wasn't even sure where she got the stuff. He assumed she worked at a hospital or a blood bank. He didn't know. He also didn't know why he could never travel to her. The few times he had tried had ended before they started. When he had asked about it to his mother, she had said something cryptic about his auntie not wanting him to disturb her.

  Whatever that meant. So he had just left it at that. Now, he found himself wondering about the whole thing, especially after his encounter with the basement that he could not enter. A mystery he told himself he would have to investigate when got the chance.

  He was going to have to figure out what to do with his garbage as well. He wouldn't be able to take out the trash any more, and he certainly couldn't burn it or bury it. For now, he would just have to keep it with the rest. He stuck the empty box of cereal back into the fridge. Crossing the room to one of the small rectangular windows that lined the wall near the ceiling he peeked out at the night sky, which was quickly getting brighter. A glance up and down the street revealed no sign of police or black SUVs. That was a bit strange. Could it be that they don't consider him a suspect? One would think that the agent's employer would at least be looking around for him after having two of their men disappear. Four, really, even if they looked so similar. Well, he wasn't going to complain about his good fortune. If they weren't looking for him, then his house might just be safe enough to come back to for food. If not, he would just have to find some other source. For some reason, that thought sent a thrill through him. It was disturbing.

  Well, I better get back, but first... he ran upstairs to his room and rummaged through his things until he found a reasonably clean shirt and pants that he changed into. Finding a comfortable space for him to relax, he repeated the process that brought him to his home.

  The trip back seemed to take forever, and he felt as if he were straining to get to his destination. He considered the fact that the sunlight might actually be hindering him in someway, and he began to worry what would happen if the sun were actually completely up. Would he be trapped in someway here in limbo or would it just become too much of a drain on him to continue? Either way, he couldn't afford to see what would happen. Heather needed him, and he needed to get back to her, now. The hotel room came into view just as he finished the thought. All around him were uniformed police. The hotel room must have had seven at least.

  "Heather," Brian mumbled to himself. "How did they find her?"

  Outside he saw his dream girl sitting in the back of a police cruiser. A dozen police were walking around. Two were talking to the hotel clerk. The man just kept shaking his head.

  "I'm telling you, I don't know nothing." He heard the clerk say.

  "You sure there was a man with her?" One of the officers asked, as he wrote something in a tablet.

  "I don't know. I was tired, look, it's late and I'm getting off, did I do something wrong?"

  "No, sir, we just need to clear a few things up."

  He walked to the car and looked down at her. Tears were running down her face. Brian couldn't help but feel he had failed her in some way. He was sure he had covered their tracks well enough, how was it possible they found her? Now what was he going to do? An officer passed, talking to one of the ones questioning the clerk, saying that some federal agents would be coming down to the station to pick her up. The first two shook their heads, and looked back over their shoulders over at where Heather was waiting in the car then turned back and continued to talk to the clerk.

  "Don't worry Heather. I'll get you out of this."

  If those agents were coming for her, how hard could it be to just take her from them again? The world wouldn't miss six agents any more than it missed four. All he had to do was wait until they picked her up, then somehow, somewhere, stop them and take her back from them before they got wherever they intended to take her.

  Chapter 9

  The old brick building that housed the local police and sheriff department was looking like it was on its last legs. The thing had to have been on the historical protection lists around the country, and the way it seemed to be leaning to the side made it a wonder that any modern civil service would risk even being in the building. Brian doubted the thing could have too many years left in it. He almost expected the thing to just collapse in on itself as he stood here watching it. Yet, it'd held itself together so far as he watched, as it was the only thing he could do since he followed the car that h
ad brought Heather here earlier this morning.

  He still had no idea how they had found them. After he followed them to the building. it only took a few minutes to move his body to their location. The hard part was locating enough shadow in any one place during the day, that allowed him to watch the building and still hide in the shadows created by the sunlight. It really was the only way he could get away with spending an entire day hanging outside a cop shop without being harassed.

  As the day had rolled along, Brian went over his plan in his head time and again. Originally it seemed like the best plan of action, but as the day pushed on, he began to have his doubts. It didn't help that the agents were taking their time to show up and pick her up. He would have thought if she were so important, they would have been here in a hot hurry. Perhaps it was because of all the agents that disappeared around her that had caused them not to be in such a hurry to get her. Or maybe they had just run out of available agents to send. They couldn't have an endless supply could they? After a while he would have thought they would just quit sending the agents. But who knew if these people were really with the government at all. Apparently, the police believed them, and Brian supposed that should be all the proof he needed. It really didn't matter to him.

  Government or not, they were still the bad guys to him. Anyone who wanted to take Heather from him would always be the bad guys, and so that made them expendable in his eyes. He wasn't sure if it were some sinister part of him leaking out, or if it were all the vampire movies and books he had read over the years. Those books were the closest things he had to a link to what his kind must be like.

  After all, vampires must exist. He existed, so there had to be more in the vast world, and there were a lot about them in books. Some of those authors had to know something, even if each one only had a part of the truth. He didn't sparkle in the sun, like one author was known to say, yet he didn't burst into flames or ash in it either. He was alive and not undead, but he wouldn't be too surprised to find out that he could become undead if he died, as some books had suggested. He really didn't know, nor have anyone to ask, so all he could do was keep searching and continue to figure these things out as he went. A Sheriff's Deputy came out of a basement door of the building he had been watching all day. He had seen him pull in several hours before and walk in. The idea to walk over and put a suggestion on him had been tempting at the time, but he decided not to risk it, as he was sure the agents would turn up at any moment. Now, after two more frustrating hours of waiting for them, his original idea for the deputy began to show some merit. The problem was, what would he do with him? He doubted he could just walk into to a police station and rescue her with just one deputy helping him, or that he could just release her. If he knew a judge, he could possibly order her release, but the truth was, he was just a seventeen year old. He really didn't have a lot of experience. It wasn't as if he were a hundred-and-fifty years old yet. Assuming, of course, he actually lived longer than normal people.

  The sheriff deputy climbed into his car and sat there instead of pulling out. The opportunity was killing him, and the waiting was even worse. Well, I guess I can just suggest the whole damn station if I have to. Brian jogged across the street and walked up next to the green and white sheriff cruiser. He could see the man was filling out some forms on a clipboard. He was a little surprised that the deputy hadn't seen Brian walking up to him. Having come this far, he couldn't see going back now. Brian knocked on the man's window, The deputy turned, and looked up at him. He didn't look pleased. Reluctantly, the man rolled the window down, it looked to be power windows by the way it just slipped down with no effort by the officer.

  "Can I help you?" The sheriff asked.

  Brian bent down and looked the man in the eyes." Yes, you can help me. How's that sound to you?"

  The man nodded then asked him to climb in the car. Why not Brian thought, it can't be any worse than standing here talking to him out in the open,

  "Do you have access to the prisoners?" He asked hopefully, as he shut the passenger side door.

  The man shook his head.

  "Do you know anyone who does?"

  "We could ask the sergeant on watch, he should have access if the lieutenant or captain isn't in."

  "Can he let a prisoner go?"

  The man shook his head again.

  "Well, who can?"

  "Only district attorney's office or a judge can release a prisoner that's already been processed."

  Damn, this isn't working. He could just try to suggest everyone they met as he'd been thinking, but that could get messy. He really wasn't sure if there was a limit to how many people he could control at once, and unless he really had too, he didn't want to find out.

  "Do you know about the blonde, Heather, that was picked up this morning?"

  "The one the Feds picked up earlier?" The sheriff asked.

  Picked up? What was he talking about? They hadn't picked her up, he had been watching the place all day, it wasn't possible.

  "What do you mean 'picked up'?"

  The man nodded as he answered. "Picked her up like ten minutes ago...I was there when they walked her by. She looked real scared of them. Made me feel bad for her."

  "Ten minutes? Are you sure?"

  The man nodded again.

  He still couldn't see how this was possible. He never saw a black SUV show up, and he certainly never seen Heather being led out.

  "Alright, catch them." Brian started to buckle himself in.

  "I'm off duty right now. I'm not supposed to use my lights to pursue unless it's an emergency."

  "It's an emergency."

  The officer stared at him, his face showing signs of a struggle. Brian locked eyes with him. "Those men are not government agents. They're terrorists, and they have kidnapped that girl."

  He turned the engine on and took off down the street. "We're going to need back up." He said.

  "No time." Brian put his hand on the radio, stopping him from calling. "We're going to have to handle this ourselves."

  "Alright then, hold on tight." The deputy switched on the lights and gunned the cruiser.

  "How do you know which way they went?" Brian asked.

  "They were traveling in a city of Woodland police cruiser. Only one way they would be going."

  Back to the town the two of them had just escaped. It kept coming back to that time and again. No matter how far away they tried to get, something just kept trying to suck them right back into it. He hoped Heather was alright. He wasn't sure how he was going to get her back from the agents. Most likely, he was going to have to kill more of them, and this time he wasn't sure how he could do it without Heather seeing him do it. He'd have to worry about that once he caught up.

  If they caught up.

  No he couldn't think that way, he was going to catch up.

  Fifteen minutes later, Brian still hadn't seen any sign of Heather's cruiser. Brian had the sheriff turn off his siren and radio, as dispatch was trying to get a hold of him. He would have to worry about that if and when the others caught up to the two of them. Right now, he was worried they had gone the wrong way. He kept wondering if each minute was taking him farther in the wrong direction from her.

  The thought and urge to turn back was almost irresistible, after all, the only thing he was going by was this man he never met before. He didn't think it was possible to lie to him while he had him under suggestion. Even if it were, why would he lie to him, or for that matter take him at high speed in this direction?

  "Are you sure we're going the right way?"

  "Only way back to Woodland, son."