“I’m guessing it wasn’t a full nest. They wouldn’t have allowed that much blood to go to waste. The stink of death is too strong to detect how many were here,” Lavos stated. “We’d better check the neighbors.”
“Shit. You think there could be more victims?” Kar didn’t wait for an answer. “What are we going to do with these three to hide their murder? The state troopers can’t find this shit. Burn the house down?”
“It’s too close to the woods. We’d risk it spreading despite all that rain that came down in this area a week ago,” Lavos decided. He shot a look at Garson. “Tag, you’re it.”
“Fuck no.” The other man shook his head. “No way.”
“I’m sure they have a shovel in the shed,” Kar snickered. “You said you wanted to pound something. Try earth while you bury them deep, and make sure it’s far enough away from the house that they aren’t found.”
“What about all the blood?”
Lavos felt a headache coming on. “We’ll handle that later, once we call for reinforcements. Maybe Davis can set a few bombs along the foundation and bring it down without causing a fire. He might be able to make it look like a propane accident. Nobody is going to want to waste the resources to rummage through the rubble if there’s no smell of death. They like to bring in cadaver dogs for that shit. No bodies means no digging. Get rid of every piece of those poor victims. Wrap them up in the destroyed carpets and bury them far from here. We’re going to go check out the nearby houses.”
“You guys suck ass!” Garson stomped toward the door.
Kar grinned, following Lavos. “That’s what you get for bitching so much in the Jeep.”
“Shut up,” Lavos warned. “Or you can do the digging.”
Kar frowned but didn’t make another comment.
Lavos hurried down the stairs and walked outside. He bypassed the Jeep and his gaze roamed the landscape. “That way.” He pointed.
“You picked up the scent of the prick who did this?”
“Nope. I see a faint light coming from that hill over there.”
“Why not drive?”
“It’s faster to run, and quieter.” Lavos took a deep breath. “Race you.” He rushed forward before his friend could respond.
Ten minutes later they walked out of the second cabin. Lavos fought his rage. “Two people lived there, and they didn’t leave willingly.”
“No shit. It looks like someone put up a fight. Why did they take these ones away when they left the bodies of the other family? Do you think these are victims of that nest that attacked us? Those soldiers had to come from somewhere.”
Lavos shook his head. “Those bodies in the other house aren’t more than maybe a couple days old. We’d taken that nest out before then.”
“Shit. More Vampires in the area?”
Lavos glanced up at the night sky. “I’m hoping they didn’t turn them. What if they’re starting a new nest? That first family could have been slaughtered by a newbie group if they put up too much of a fight. You know how nuts they are right after they change.”
“Fuck.” Kar lifted a hand and ran it through his hair. “Why would they do that?”
“Decker already sent some of these assholes to cause trouble. I’m sure he’s heard from someone that Lorn took the clan and we extinguished Borrow’s nest. Payback. To be a prick. Should I go on?”
“Nope. Do you want me to take the Jeep and drive until I get a cell signal to call in reinforcements? We could be dealing with a blanket effect in this area if they’ve decided to take it over. How many residents do you think live within the Kegslee town limits?”
“Maybe twenty-five tops. That’s a lot of Vampires to support in a nest, and it still doesn’t account for why the master allowed the waste of that family of three. You saw all the blood spilled. Every drop would be precious, unless they’re killing the wildlife to feed from.”
“This is all kinds of fucked up. But this town is close enough to launch an attack against us.”
Lavos blew out a breath. “Exactly. Stick close. Let’s go check out more homes. We need to discover what we’re dealing with before we ask more of our people to come here to clean up this mess. I don’t want them walking into a trap.”
“What about us?” Kar frowned. “I don’t want to end up facing down a few dozen Vamps.”
“You were bitching about no excitement on a Friday evening. Feeling bored now?”
“Sometimes I hate you.”
Lavos grinned. “You don’t mean that.”
“How can you smile? We might end up tangling with a nest of suckheads. It’s just the two of us,” Kar reminded him. “Three, if we go back and grab Garson.”
Lavos lifted his hand, concentrating until claws slid out of his fingertips. The deadly tips were a menacing sight. “Decapitate the fuckers. We can handle some Vamps.”
“You’re crazy.”
“I’m pissed,” Lavos admitted. “Lorn’s got enough shit to deal with right now. He doesn’t need this on top of it all. Stay close and alert.”
“Fuck.” Kar allowed his own claws to slide out. “I liked these clothes. I got dressed up for the Tab twins because I figured we wouldn’t be gone long. Blood is a bitch to wash out.”
“This is more important.”
They went north, jogging through the woods. Lavos came to a sudden halt and cocked his head. “Do you hear that?”
“It sounds like someone’s car alarm.”
“The battery would have died if it had been going for more than a few hours. That means the scene will be fresh. Let’s go.” Lavos zeroed in on the direction of the sound.
Chapter Two
Jadee couldn’t take the siren for long and shut it down. It was starting to give her a headache, and she wanted to be able to hear what was going on outside. That thought reminded her that her father had cameras mounted to the exterior of the RV.
She placed the rifle on the dining room table but kept it close. She found the remote for the television near the driving compartment and flipped channels to locate the feeds. The first one revealed the passenger side of the RV.
The woman by the door wasn’t there anymore. A little satisfaction struck. She flipped to another channel, getting a view of the front. Jadee didn’t see anything on the driver’s side or on the rear camera. She lifted her chin, peering at the roof. It was all quiet up there.
“They don’t like loud noise,” she deduced. “I might survive this after all.” She spun, talking to the tablet. The three people locked inside the trailer were still in view. Mark’s mouth moved soundlessly, a reminder that she’d muted the device. She turned it back up.
“Jadee? What happened? Are you okay?”
“Yes. I hit the panic alarm and they stopped attacking. I don’t see them on my cameras.”
Peggy clutched at her brother Brent. “They’re coming after us again!”
Mark turned in his chair. “Shut up.” He faced forward. “They’re sensitive to noises. That was smart of you.”
“Didn’t you try that last night? I’m hoping someone heard it and help arrives.”
“There’s no one within range to hear us.” He paused, probably for effect. Mark loved dramatics. “All the residents are dead. We found blood in every home we checked when we arrived.”
“Everyone?” The news stunned Jadee. “As in, the entire town?”
“We can’t be sure, since we only went to a few homes,” Peggy whispered. “But we didn’t see anyone while we were driving around, before they took out the vehicles.”
“We checked the home of our website tipper first,” Brent explained. “His front door was kicked in but he wasn’t there. It’s not a big town and they only have one diner. It was empty.” Brent kept Peggy in his arms, trying to ease her visible shaking. “Probably sixteen homes in all in this area. We couldn’t find any survivors in the few homes we searched the first day. Then we set the trap, hoping to catch whatever had made people disappear.”
Jadee was out
raged. “What in the hell were you thinking? Normal people call the police when they find blood! You should have gotten out of here the second you realized something was actually wrong!”
“We caught four Vampires!” Mark boasted indignantly.
“And lost them, you stupid bastard! Why didn’t you get help before they escaped?”
“We couldn’t have someone else taking credit for our work! We planned to study them and document everything before we reached out to a few of our colleagues.”
“So no one else knows you guys are out here and what you were involved with?”
“Just you, Jadee.” Brent frowned. “Your father wanted you to be a part of this.”
“Oh, I am.” She wanted to kill someone, preferably Mark, since she disliked him the most. “Now my father’s missing and I’m trapped just like you are.” She breathed deep, trying to calm down and think. “Okay…how did you catch them the first time?” She was hoping they might be able to do it again.
“We used the motor home,” Peggy whispered. “The bedroom is caged in, so we put a recording devise inside the storage section under the bed to mimic a heartbeat and breathing, left worn clothes and fresh blood for them to scent. It lured all four inside the room. They thought someone was hiding there.”
Jadee had to admit that sounded smart. “And then what?”
“We had cameras to see inside the RV and a remote-controlled trigger to seal the door,” Mark added. “Once they were locked in, we waited until the sun rose, and were able to go in to get them. They do sleep during the day.”
“It was just a matter of shooting them with high doses of paralytic drugs to be sure they would stay down before we opened the door. We put them in body bags and carried them to the cages we brought. We dumped them out of the bags into the cages so we had access to draw blood and do tests on them,” Brent added. “We’d put up a tent to protect them from the sun.”
“They shouldn’t have been able to escape those cages.” Peggy paused. “But they somehow did. We only managed to contain them for a day.”
“Fantastic.” Nope. No luck calming down. She was still furious. “Now we’re in this mess.”
“They might not see your rental and leave it alone.” Peggy’s expression became hopeful. “You could drive us out of here in the morning.”
Jadee resisted calling them idiots again. Her rental was about fifty feet from the motor home. Only a blind person would miss it.
A loud noise struck the top of the RV roof and Jadee almost dropped the tablet. Her gaze instantly fixed on the television to see outside.
The camera feed died, the screen going black.
“Shit.”
“What is it?” Mark demanded from the tablet.
She placed it on the table and grabbed the remote, flipping to another channel on the television feed. It was out too, and heavy footprints crossed the length of the roof.
“Jadee?” Brent hissed her name.
She bent over and braced her hands on the table so they could see her. “It knows where the cameras are. It’s tearing them out or covering them.”
“That’s not good. How would they know they were even there?” Mark scowled.
“Probably because they can see them from the top of the roof.” Jadee rolled her eyes.
Mark shook his head. “Your dad had them hidden to look like part of the framing at the top. There’s no red eye or anything to give them away.”
A jingling noise—like metal on metal—came from the door, and Jadee instantly straightened, spinning around. She grabbed the rifle, cradling it against her chest with one arm. Her stomach clenched. The bars were down to keep the door secured, but she wasn’t certain how strong they were if the locks themselves were disengaged. “Tell me you don’t keep spare keys to the RV inside any of the tow cars.”
“We don’t,” Mark responded.
“Does anyone else besides my dad have keys to his RV?”
“No. Just him.”
The sick feeling intensified as she concentrated on that slight jingling sound…
“You must have used the electronic keypad to get into your dad’s motor home,” Peggy said. “The second your dad activated the shutters, bolts slid into place on the two driving-area doors, so they can’t be opened with a key anyway. Only the side door can be.”
That was unexpected but good news. “When did he have that changed?”
“We were investigating Bigfoot reports and some witnesses said the creatures could tear off vehicle doors to steal food. Your dad had the motor home and the trailer modified so that couldn’t happen. Regular locks weren’t enough.” Mark paused. “He also had our roofs reinforced, since Bigfoots are supposed to weigh up to a thousand pounds and are reported to have sharp claws.”
Jadee felt only a small relief. She still had hope that her father was alive and awaiting car repairs somewhere away from the campsite. But if someone had his keys…it would mean he hadn’t made it out of the area after all.
A new threat popped into her head. “Are there weapons in the tow cars?” She cocked her head, staring the shutters covering the front windshield. “Something strong enough to go through safety glass and metal?”
“No,” Mark sighed. “No weapons. They’re all in your father’s safe.”
Jadee bit her lip, thinking. “What about a tire iron? Could that work? Every car has one of those and a jack.”
“It wouldn’t cause enough damage to breach the exteriors of the motor home or this trailer,” Mark swore. “They were built to withstand a lot of damage.”
A chill flashed down Jadee’s spine at the sudden beep by the door.
Her gaze flew to the electrical pad—and it flashed green.
One of the locks inside the door slid, creating a soft scraping noise. Something outside tugged on the door hard but the extra bolts and bars across it held.
She yanked the tablet from its charging cord and clung to it. “Oh shit.”
Jadee hesitantly stepped toward the door to get a better look. The light turned red and the main bolt clicked back into place.
A quiet beeping sound repeated and the pad flashed green a second time. The bolt slid again inside the door, unlocking it. The handle moved slowly as she stared at it in horror. Whoever was on the other side tugged hard but the extra dead bolts and bars kept them from getting inside.
She stumbled back until her ass hit something solid. The pad turned red and the interior bolt slid into place again.
Her hand shook hard as she lifted the tablet to peer at the screen. “Who has the code to my dad’s RV besides me?”
“Why?” Mark sounded wary.
“Because someone is punching in the right numbers and trying to get in,” she whispered. “The emergency bolts are holding and I pulled both of the bars down across the top and bottom of it.”
“Only your dad,” Peggy gasped. “Open it up! He’s outside!”
“Don’t do it!” Mark shouted. “He could be one of them!”
“It’s Victor!” Brent argued. “He’s alive. Open the fucking door before they find him!”
“What if they already did? He could be a Vampire,” Mark warned.
That’s what Jadee was afraid of. She muted the volume of the tablet and dropped it on the dining table. She took a small step forward and gripped the weapon in her arms, aiming it at the door. She balanced it and reached out with one hand to push down the intercom button. “Dad?”
“Let me in, Jadee.”
The sound of his familiar voice almost buckled her knees.
Her first instinct was to unlock the door and pull him inside to safety before the Vampires attacked him. Reason made her hesitate. That panic alarm might have chased away the ones attacking the exterior—but it also could have drawn more of them, like a dinner bell being rung.
No way would he be outside that door unless he was one of them.
She might not have been on his research team, but Jadee wasn’t clueless about the things he believed in.
“Where have you been, Dad? Who took out the cameras so I can’t see you?”
“Never mind about that. Unlock the door and let me in, honey.”
“Where have you been?”
“With friends.”
He sounded calm, not stressed at all. He knew Vampires were out there, had been studying them. It screamed all kinds of wrong to her, and made her wonder who these “friends” were.
A hot tear slid down her cheek but she didn’t bother to wipe it away, not willing to release the rifle.
“What did they do to you, Dad?”
“I’m okay. Unlock the door. It’s going to be fine.”
Oh God. She fought the urge to scream and cry at the same time. Part of her felt tempted to release the intercom and curl into a fetal position. He hadn’t denied that someone had done something to him. Nothing is okay. Nothing.
“Jadee,” he soothed. “Open the door, honey. We need to talk.”
Her knees finally gave way and she collapsed onto the carpet. She reached up and blindly turned on the intercom fully so she didn’t have to hold the button down. The rifle ended up across her lap. She leaned sideways a little, pressing her face against the smooth wood of the counter next to the door.
“Do it,” he demanded. “Let me in.”
“Are you going to kill me, Dad?” It was hard getting the words out.
“Of course not.”
She squeezed her eyes closed. Her dad was still in there, even if he had been changed into a Vampire. He knew the code to his RV and who she was. All the movies she’d watched regarding Vampires flashed through her mind. She really hoped they were the friendly types who were basically the same once they were turned…
But then there were the horror versions, who lured people into letting them inside to rip out their throats.
According to her father’s team, they’d already found the bodies of some residents. She couldn’t forget about that.
“Jadee? I’d never hurt you, honey. Let me inside. It’s cold out here.”
“Vampires aren’t supposed to get cold,” she responded, holding her breath to see how he’d respond.
“You don’t believe in Vampires. You’re being ridiculous. I was with friends. Open the door.”