Heavy Metal Heartbeat (14 page)

Raising his arm and flashing his hand, he gave the signal to advance.
He led the slow charge with his gun ready and pointed out ahead of him. One quick kick and the front door fell unwillingly from its hinges.

The sweet scent of flowers, the musty aroma of sex and the copper taste of blood smashed into him like hitting a brick wall
, and he staggered.

These dogs are filthy and nasty!

Shaking free of the hold, he crept
farther in, hitting light switches as he went. He cautiously moved down the narrow hallway. Farther down the hall, between two doorways, sat a small table littered with papers, envelops and flowers. Pictures of animals in wooded scenes lined the walls. Swinging to his right, gun pointed out, he checked the kitchen. It, too, was narrow like the hallway.

“
Clear.”

Back in the hallway he inched
forward a few feet, turned to the left and inspected the tiny bathroom.

“
Clear.”

He passed
the tiny space and stopped at the entrance of the living room. Furniture lay broken and scattered across the light colored carpet. Blood splattered the walls like art on canvas. The light from the ceiling spewed brightly across the horrific scene.

Anna spoke what was on the tip of his mind.

“
This has been staged. Besides the fact that the human body doesn't even hold that much blood, paint smells nothing like blood. Morons!”

“
Why the show? What are they going to gain from this? Being who we are, we would know right away it’s not what it looks like.” Jaxson pointed out.

Ozzie looked a little closer.

“
I don't know. Something isn't right. It’s not all paint. Some of it is blood and other things, but it is very small amounts. Let’s inspect the rest of the house.”

Raising his gun, he traveled down the corridor Anna and Jaxson went down the opposite
way. His end of the hallway held three more closed doors. He slowly approached the first door. Cold handle in hand, he swung open the door.

The pale blue room housed a bed
and two dressers. It almost looked like any other guest bedroom. He flipped the light switch and could see what was off.

YOU
written in blood covered the empty far wall.

You what?

He headed to the next room, his temper flaring.

I
hate games, and someone is really enjoying this one.

T
hey were alone, so he flung open the next door. This room matched the others. It was a simple bedroom. There was another word written in blood:
WILL.

He
kicked in the third door and looked for the far wall. He paid no attention to the dressers, the bed or the lamps, just the bloody word on display for intimidation:
DIE

You will die. Who will die? Was this meant for us
? For Paige? This isn't making sense.

Disgusted by the whole affair, he
went back to the living room to meet his friends. Anna and Jaxson waltzed in just as he did.

“
I didn't find anything except the words You Will Die, each word written on a wall in each of the rooms. Other than that, nothing. You?” he asked.

“
Same on our end, only our walls said I Found You,” Jaxson answered.

“
This doesn't make any sense. Something is...off,” Anna said.

An eerie presence snaked its way down his spine
and caressed the fine hairs upon his neck. They stood at attention. The ghost of a presence grew stronger, teasing his skin and confusing his eyes.

What.
..

A
muffled distant laugh echoed in his ear, lingering like mist; loud enough to hear, but too soft to pinpoint.

Is that?

The windows rattled from the gun fire and explosives, drowning out Anna's loud warning. He bolted out the front door with his pistol held high.

The smell of gunpowder was chokingly thick
and mixed with the smoke that covered the lawn, disorienting its victims. Clicking on the light attached to the barrel of his gun, he moved his arms this way and that, pointing and looking everywhere to find the source of all the chaos.

Men littered the grass, some injured and bloody
, others missing parts. He cursed. Hoarse and loud, breaking his own rules, he screamed for the rest of his party.  Anna and Jaxson were at his side, just as dumbfounded. They were quiet and alert, searching for movement and listening for sound. His radio and the air were silent, no one answered his call. Anna asked what he feared.

“
Ozzie, where is your father?”

“
That is what I would like to know.”

Jaxson's words
were delivered with care and a squeeze of the shoulder.

“Perhaps that is a good sign. He's not
lying dying or dead on the lawn.”

He turned slightly toward his friend and replied
, “From your lips to God's ears. Lord, let him be safe. He is the last person who deserves this.”

“
We need to find out what happened. Oz, Jaxson, start looking and talking to the men on the ground. I will take the back, some of the men were back there,” Anna instructed.

A comment about who was in charge was lost to his shock and he mumbled his agreement
, but she was already gone.

He knelt down to the man closest to him. Abrams was covered in blood and things that were designed to be inside his body. He closed the man's dead eyes.

Hanging his head, heart filled with sorrow, he slowly moved from man to man. Each dead partner ignited and added to the inferno of rage burning inside him, scorching his skin. His beast was ready to be let loose.

They deserve it
,
his inner animal crooned. 
I agree,
he answered back.

Tears fell from his eyes as he pulled his cell phone out and flipped it open.
Sniffling, he punched in Abrams’ wife's number. Jaxson's hand covering the phone caught his attention.

“Let's get them out of here before we call the families
, and let me make those calls.”

“
I will wait until we get them out of here, but they were my men, my responsibility, my phone calls to make.”

Jaxson looked like he was about to object when Anna's voice rang out. Bullets couldn't have out run him, he took off so fast. He rounded the corner
and skidded to a halt. Anna stood cradling his father in her arms.

No!

The rock rhythm in his chest stopped. His breath was a ball of fear lodged in his throat as his mind processed what his eyes saw.

Anna's words caught his attention. “He's still alive, but barely.”

He shot forward, took his father's limp form in his hands and laid him on the grass. His eyes frantically looked for signs of trauma, wounds or damage. His eyes blinked and then he found it. It was shrapnel to the heart and spine. Anna's face entered his line of vision followed by her soft words.

“Ozzie, let me take him to my house. Sebastian is still there with that Woodson guy and I can call Dr. Phillips on the way. They may be able to help save him.”

“How? He will kill us all if he's bitten. Anna, he won't handle it the same way I did.”

“I don't know
, but still, they may know something.”

“
Fine. Take him. Tell them do whatever they have to short of biting him or changing him. He hunts the supernatural; he doesn't want to become one. I will be there as soon as we get this mess cleaned up.”

A dark shadow crossed the yard. He spun, ready to kill,
but he found nothing. His inner beast stirred, pacing its cage.

“Anna
, take my father and go. Now!”

He gave her a stern look when she stalled. She nodded in agreement and bolted out of sight. Thunderous ripples shook his muscles and his growl rattled in his chest. His eyes darted from side to side, searching, hunting, stalking.  Jaxson stepped in front of him.

He tried to push Jaxson out of his line of fire.

“Dude, what are you doing?”

“
We have to go. Now! I'll explain later. Haul ass!”

Hearing the alarm in his friend's voice, he
raced for the car. Sliding in Dukes of Hazzard style through the open window, he fell into the front seat and turned the keys. The Challenger roared to life and sped away, “Razor's Edge” by AC DC blared on the radio as they sped down the highway. He shot a quick glance to his friend in the passenger seat.

“Explain to me why we are running away like a couple of
punk-ass bitches?”

“
Trust me, we needed to get out of there. As much as you are going to hate to hear this, we need Sebastian. “

“
Why? What was back there?” He flicked his eyes to the rear view mirror, checking for pursuers.

“
What I have been running from.”

With Jaxson
by his side, he rushed up the stairs to Anna's house, anxious to hear about his father. He marched through the door and into the living room. The light from the moon sprayed the room from the open curtain. It was the only light and added to the somber feel.

Dr. Phillips stood hovering over
Ozzie’s father, checking his vitals. Sebastian stood at the head of the couch, making suggestions and asking questions.

Ozzie was in shock. He
walked over to the makeshift bed and looked at his father.

H
is father lay unconscious on the sofa, his shirt off and covered with a blanket to his waist.

He looks so weak.

He knelt next to couch and grabbed his father’s hand. The doctor filled him in without him having to ask.

“
Ozzie, your father is in bad shape, but I think he will recover just fine. I have given him a sedative to help him sleep. He was very lucky. The shrapnel didn't hit anything vital or go very deep. The worst of his wounds were from loss of blood. That in itself is dangerous enough. Anna explained to me what happened, so I stopped by the blood bank on my way over and grabbed a few bags. He has received all of it. Now we just wait for him to heal.”

Ozzie turned his gaze toward the doctor.

“Will he ever walk? Don't look shocked; I felt the shrapnel embedded in his back along his spine.”

Doctor Phillips swallowed and scrubbed his hands. “I don't know
, Ozzie. I am sorry. Right now we need to focus on his recovery. Once he is better, we can visit that issue.”

“
No, Doc, you don't understand. If he can’t hunt, for him, his life is over. He will give up. That is the Zane way...to die in battle like warriors, heroes. He will not be happy if he is confined to a wheelchair. I know him. He will give up and die.”

“
I am sorry. I have done all I can. The rest is up to him and the good Lord.”

“
Thank you, Doc.”

“
Ozzie, I promise you he will walk. He won't be any fun in a wheelchair,” Sebastian told him.

Ozzie
smiled back at the vampire and laughed at the joke.

“Thank you
, Sebastian.”

He felt Anna kneel beside him. She ran her hand through Mr. Zane's hair and said nothing. She just sat there, comforting them both. Fighting back tears
and keeping his voice low, he mentioned a memory.

“
You did that to me. I remember you running your hands through my hair.”

Her lavender eyes looked into his and she smiled.

“
Back when I was in college, I read somewhere that running your hand through a coma patient’s hair is soothing, and that they can feel it. You, and now your father, were in so much pain. This is all I can do for him. Just try and offer some sort of comfort to help him through this. I did it for you so you would know you were not alone.”

Unable to help himself, he pulled her into a hug.

“
Thank you, Anna, for everything…saving my father, changing me when Paige asked...” He pulled away. “And being a good friend. I am sorry that I threatened to kill you.”

“
Ozzie, I can’t blame you. I had the same reaction with Sebastian when I found out he turned me. I am glad that you decided not to kill me, but I do understand.”

He got to his feet and noticed Jaxson and Sebastian were missing. He looked to Anna.

“
Where are Jaxson and Sebastian?”

Just as she was
going to answer, they emerged from the hallway. Neither of them looked happy, but they offered no answers.

I will deal with it later.

“
Sebastian, did you find out anything? I'm sure Anna informed you. It was a trap and Paige was not there.”