Bloodbreeders: Seeking Others (6 page)

“We could take them from the inside. They think something’s coming from the woods,” Derek said, causing everyone at the table to look at him.

“You my friend just took the words right out of my mouth,” Jacob grinned, nodding his head toward him.

“I wasn’t joking. I really think it would work.”

“Derek, bro, he was giving you a complement. It’s brilliant,” Brandon added putting his hand on his back.

“There is our plan of attack then. Now, we must know as much as you can tell us about the inside. You must be exact.” Jacob took a seat in his chair and waited.

Johnny and Shyanna played with the little piglet on the floor while the rest of us sat and listened intently to Tammy’s every word. Jacob broke in every so often to give out instructions, and then she would go on. The main part of the plan was to keep Tanda and Johnny back on the ship with Shyanna. The rest would take both of our boats onto shore as soon as we woke. The last few hours of our precious star light that we had left was used to practice our new skills, and that we did. The blades that Jacob had given us carried an altogether different feel, one that my sore palm wielded with pride. The sky was turning its amazing purple hue when we all made our way below, everyone getting in their place of rest as soon as they walked through the doors. All except, for Jacob and myself.

A storm had hit while we slept. Jacob was standing at a window with one of the wooden slats cracked open. I knew it was early enough for the sun to be bright, yet what came through the opening which he was looking through was like that of the rising dawn, maybe darker. I walked over, but stood back fearing the memory of the story of the old man in the tunnels of London, bringing about vivid thoughts of the night that Martin had told it to me, along with the way he sat me up on the encasement of Doc Hills’ dead wife. I could almost feel his hand running down my thigh as he pulled away.

“The sun is at our backs, it will not harm you to look out.”

“What?” I choked.

“You were far away just now.”

“Oh, I was just…”

“Are you blushing?”

“Move over,” I replied pushing past him.

It was the first time that my eyes had seen the wonderments of the passing day since the night Martin had changed me. My eyes began to sting the longer I stared, but I couldn’t look away. Lightning streaked through the sky, and I saw the smallest break in the clouds. The blue was hypnotic, yet poison, as I grabbed my face to the searing heat that it brought with it. Jacob pushed the slat back in place and took me to the end of the bed.

“Let me see. Move your hands.”

“No, I think my face melted off.”

“Nonsense child, now let me have a look,” he said while gently pulling my hands apart.

“Oh the god’s!” he burst out.

“What!” I cried.

“You are fine,” he snickered.

“You ass, that wasn’t funny,” I smiled pushing him back.

“Yet you already feel better. Do you not?”

“My eyes are blurry, but my skin doesn’t burn like it did,” I replied putting my fingers lightly over my face.

“See it is all there. A little red, but still your face is there none the less.”

“How red?”

“It will be gone soon enough.”

“How red, Jacob?”

“I never thought you to be the type of female to care for her looks. Your flesh is as ripe as a rosy red apple,” he replied raising one corner of his mouth in a sheepish grin.

“I’m not. I’m to country to care about such things.” I squinted to focus on him. “As red as a rosy apple?”

“Red is better than no flesh at all.”

“I can hear it now. Everyone’s going to have something to say.”

And sure enough, they did. I stayed acting like I was going over the layout of the estate that Jacob and Tammy had drawn up the night before, as they all begin stirring about. I never once thought it would be my Shyanna that would be the first to give me away. “Pretty.” I heard her and looked down where she was squatting by my chair. She did her little head tilt and batted her big black eyes at me and said it again.

“What’s pretty, Shyanna?” Tammy asked coming across the room.

I put my elbow up on the table and laid my chin in my hand acting like I wasn’t paying attention to anything but what was in front of me. I felt Tammy at my back, as Shyanna hopped around the table and pointed a talon finger at me. “Pretty…yes…pretty.” Tammy asked her what she was looking at, while also getting several other’s attention and bringing them right into the act. I let out a breath and looked over my fingers, seeing Jacob sit back with his arms crossed, smiling like he had just swallowed the bright yellow bird.

“Fine,” I said, as I stood and turned around.

At first everyone just stared at me. Derek broke the silence with a full blown belly laugh, followed by the slow building of several sounds of joy at my expense. When I was asked why I had painted myself I thought of a great idea that would put everyone in my position. A huge smile spread across my face. Cortez had said that I was a demon, well he was about to get a whole herd of us, right in the middle of his big, demented, little
world. By the time an hour had passed I was laughing as hard as they had at me, because even Jacob now sat covered in red paint.

“Can you explain one more time why you find this to be of an importance?” Jacob asked sourly.

“My ma would call it, ‘putting the fear of God in them’. In our case it would be putting out that ‘the fear of death is coming’.”

“I think it’s great,” Derek interrupted rubbing the red stain into his hands. “Time to pay the devil his
due.”

“With that said, I believe it is time for us to board the boats,” Garvin said stepping back into the room.

Jacob, Garvin, and Sydney took the small dingy, while Brandon, Derek, Tammy, Jessie, and myself took the larger. We went through the same small opening that we had come through the night before, only this time we had our way lit with torches that were spread out. We followed the river deeper than we had before, and came upon a small community of homes built from the very earth on which they stood on. Cabin like homes stood in a circle around a group of several burning fires that had numerous amounts of people waiting on us.

Women, children, and men of all ages had their eyes on us as we pulled our boats up to the dock. Jamous was the first there to greet us. We stood looking back at the first village of normals that any of our bloodbreeder eyes had ever seen, other than Jacob. I was totally amazed that no one’s eyes showed fear, but rather it was more like the look given by those who carried admiration, and quite frankly I found that to be stranger than the fear.

“We stand seven men strong to join you. Most are too old or have suffered injuries that prevent them from coming.”

“Your help is most appreciated Master Jamous, but this is not a battle for flesh as weak as your own,” Jacob said, stepping up to the head of our group.

“Don’t take my help, but don’t insult my pride while doing so.” Jamous stood straighter.

Jacob moved so fast that not even I saw him put the huge man up over his head. “You see my friend, I meant no disrespect, I merely told you the truth,” he said setting
him back down. “We are a different breed and our skill outweighs that of a man of normal flesh.”

“Yes,” he replied pulling his shirt down. “All are as fast?”

“Some may be faster, others slower, but all can do this.” Then he spun and kicked the small tree behind him cracking its base and knocking me to the ground.

Screams came from the women as the children began to cry. I stepped in and tried to explain the real difference without using a visual effect. I was sure the red paint on our skin was having a strong enough effect as it was. Once I explained the story of my first kill of the men that had taken the life of the woman that was with child, and how my arm slid through the man’s body like that of wet tissue…all that were watching understood. I tried to keep the graphic details to a minimum because of the children, but made sure to give Jamous a serious look during certain portions in my explanation.  After that they thought it best to take us far enough in to see the estate, then stayed back while we took care of business.

Jamous took the lead through the thick undergrowth, with one of us in between each one of his men in a long line. Every man with him was heavily armed with guns, blades and a few spears. No one carried any form of light. It was as if they could see as good as we could, and we all knew that wasn’t possible, so it had to be they knew the land well. We came around a bend in the river and Jamous put his hand in the air, and then slid into the undergrowth with us following his move.

“The estate is further up this line. They’re already making their way into the bush. Be careful, we won’t be far away, need us or not.”

“Be well my friend,” Jacob replied taking his hand before heading out.

I grabbed Jamous’s hand when I went by, stepping up and kissed his cheek. “Victory is ours tonight,” I whispered before I joined my people. The gasp that came out of his mouth still had a curve on mine as I made my way up behind Jacob. We slithered through the long grass like invisible snakes to the normals of Cortez’s people, passing them as if they were statues placed for our viewing. So many times I wanted to pull one down and take my fill on the sick bastards who stood with the one we came to devoir. “Nothing, I think the old man’s paranoid.” One man said not five feet from where I was. If he moved too far back he would step on me and I would have that snack.

“Cortez wants us to make a tight perimeter around the main house,” another man called out.

After they started back to the main house as the man called out, we made our move and ran for the side of the estate, dropping down beside the group of trees fifteen feet from the two large oaks that were hiding the secret door.  It was Jacob and Tammy who moved across first, as we watched for any of the men to come their way. A few minutes later we heard a sliding sound then a small bird call. That was my cue to send two more. The hall was as black as coal after the door was closed, but I could hear someone moving about, then a bright light burst into my eyes bringing back just a hint of the earlier sting. Tammy stood holding a wooden handled torch, which actually had cobwebs hanging off of it.

“Stay with me, he may have added more of his stupid little traps down here.”

“Traps? You mentioned nothing of traps,” Jacob argued stepping up to her.

“I’m sorry. I swear I didn’t think of it until just this moment.”

“A mistake that could kill us all,” he said sternly taking the torch from her hand.

“Renee, I swear.”

“It’s okay Tammy. We just have to be more careful.”

“Why do you treat them like children? This is not a game!”

“Look Jacob, you’re right, this isn’t a game and we’re not four hundred year old assholes either.” I replied with my own anger showing.

“Asshole? What does this mean?”

“That you’re being a real dick,” Derek added walking over to stand by Tammy.

“I think what they are trying to say,” Garvin stepped up, “is that you treat us like we should be well trained warriors from your line, which we are not. Renee is the softer of the two, but you both are far more stubborn than either will ever admit. We have something to do here and war among us will not get that done. So do you not both think this can wait a bit?”

“You tell ‘em, Garvin.”

“Stay out of it, Derek,” Brandon added stepping back.

“He is correct, but soon we will have to come to an understanding,” Jacob said and turned to go into the dark murky hall.

“Yeah, well every time I think we have it worked out you start acting like an…”

“Renee,” Jessie said taking my arm. “Please.”

I felt the shame grow as she smiled at me. She knew him better than anyone on this earth, and knew it was time for me to shut my mouth. The flames took down many webs as we walked on the uneven stony ground that was covered in dirt, bones, and small rodents. It wasn’t until Jacob slid back the heavy iron door at the end of the very long hall that the intense smell slammed into us. Derek was the first to lose his meal, and I was second to follow. I thought that I had seen and smelled the worse in Yvette’s dungeon, but I was wrong. This individual made her look like a fairy princess. Body parts were covering the floor; half decade, to bare bones. The cages were full of rotting corpses. We didn’t find one living thing in that first room of a very demented man’s perversion.

It was the next room that we stepped into that took my breath away in a different way. Many gasps of shock came from all of us as we entered. Bodies of women were hanging from hooks that hung from chains that were mounted to the ceiling. Small puddles of blood formed under each of them caused by the crimson liquid that dripped from between their legs. “She’s alive,” Sydney yelled. He was trying to lift the woman up so Brandon could unhook her, but when Brandon got to her back he fell backwards, falling to the blood covered flood. She wasn’t bound by chains; the hook was sunk deep into her back.

“How do we fix this?” Brandon asked getting up, wiping his hands on the front of his pants.

“My baby,” she cried in a soft voice, yet heard by us all.

“We’ll find your baby,” Tammy said going to her. “This is going to hurt, but we have to get you down.

The nude woman nodded. Her face was pretty; visible even through the filth that covered her. When Jacob pulled the hook out, she screamed so hard and loud that I jumped. Thankfully, she passed out before they placed her on a table that was in the center of the room. As she was coming to she was saying a name that we knew well. “Jamous,” she spoke once again and chills formed all over my body. We had found his daughter, Lilly. That’s when I prayed that she would survive and that we would find her baby.

“Looks like she delivered very recently,” Tammy said after checking her over.

“Today,” the girl whispered with what little breath she had.

“Were you up there?” Derek blurted out, pointing back at the swinging hook.

“Shut the hell up, Derek.” Brandon pushed him backwards.

“What?”

“Use a little compassion,” Jessie added then went to the woman.

“You are, Lilly?” she asked.

“I am,” Lilly said rolling her head to see her better. “My baby?”

“Your father waits just outside. You must be strong for him. Live, and we will go get your baby,” Jessie proclaimed so softly that it brought tears to my eyes.