Promise Me Anthology (18 page)

How many more would he have to kill? He’d
never killed any of his kind before.

There was a sudden shriek then footsteps
pounding toward him. Jackie ran into view, another older vampire
hot on her heels. She slipped into the pool of blood and went
sprawling, the pursuing vampire stopping with a deft maneuver.

“I’d thought to only get animal’s blood
tonight,” the vampire said, salivating. “You’re going to be so good
going down—”

Rodney tackled him, the knife going in to the
hilt as both went down in the blood. Thrashing in the gore, Rodney
and the vampire fought, their fangs rending muscle as Rodney tried
in vain to get his blade free.

There was a sudden blast. The vampire’s head
exploded into bloody chunks. Rodney leaned back and looked up at
Jackie, her handgun an inch away from his face.

“Is he dead?” she whispered.

“He’s got no brain,” Rodney replied, cleaning
off his hands and knife on the body. “Separate the brain and the
body, and the stories say vampires die. I’m glad you brought a
weapon—”

Jackie lowered her gun, defeated. “I’ve
looked all over, Rod. I can’t find them—”

“They’re in here,” Rodney said, going to the
door. “I think there are five or so—”

Immediately, Jackie straightened, her head
snapping up as she holstered her gun. “Can you break the door
down?”

Someone heard the shot. More vampires would
be down here in a minute, maybe two. “Not fast enough. Check for
keys, quick.”

A ten-second search of the two headless
bodies produced a key on a skull chain. Jackie quickly stuck it in
the door and twisted.

“Brace yourself,” Rodney whispered. “It’s
likely bad.”

Jackie swung the door open wide. Two growls
issued forth from the darkness.

Rodney hit the wall switch. The stark light
from the bare bulb above revealed five dogs post dogfight, fresh
wounds oozing blood.

“The back two are dead from their wounds
already,” Rodney said, looking uneasily down the corridor. “Which
one do you want me to grab? We’ve got to go—”

“We have to take them all,” Jackie said
resolutely, kneeling. She tried to touch the closest dog, a small
brown-and-black mutt. It recoiled, whimpering. “I can fix them up;
the wounds are mostly superficial—”

“We can’t take all three,” Rodney retorted.
“That black pit-bull isn’t going to make it, anyway.” He went for
the nearest dog, a bloodied white pit-bull mix. It lunged at him
but he evaded it, slipping a noose around its neck. He turned back
to Jackie, offering her the leash. “Here, take—”

Jackie was on her knees, the wounded mutt in
her arms. She was trying to prod the black dog to rise. “Come on,
please—”

Footsteps approached. These were the kind Rod
had dreaded: unhurried. What if it were Nathan himself? Fear
engulfed Rodney. “You have to leave him or we’re both going to
die—”

Jackie turned to him, tears in her eyes. “I
can’t. Please, Rod, please help—”

They were going to die and she had never
looked so beautiful.

Thrusting the leash into her hands, Rodney
grabbed the black dog. It let out a growl, then a painful moan.
“Run!”

Jackie and Rodney ran back down the tunnel
the way they’d come, the injured dogs heavy in their arms, slowing
them down. The footsteps gained behind them, still methodical and
deliberate.

They weren’t going to make it.

They burst free into the cool air. Rodney
slowed. “Keep going, Jackie. Get to your van.”

Jackie stopped, shifting the dog in her arms.
“Not without you.”

“Since when do I matter?” Rodney said
lightly. “Get them out. I’ll take this one and try to draw off the
scent.”

“No, you can’t—”

“It’s almost day up there,” Rodney
interrupted. “Go where you’ll be safe. I’ll hide in the
factory.”

“But the dog—”

“I’ll heal the worst of his wounds,” Rod
replied, hoping because that had always worked with the cats it
would work with a dog, too. “He’ll make it.”

“I’m not leaving without you—”

Rodney grasped her hand. “Get to your van and
leave. If I can delay them until dawn, they’ll be stuck here.” He
squeezed. “I can’t follow, but neither can they.”

Jackie stared at him for a moment, and then
leaned over swiftly, brushing her lips with his. “I’ll leave, but
I’ll wait a hundred yards down the road until dawn. You get there,
understand?”

“Yes, Ma’am,” Rodney drawled, then kissed her
one last time. “Now go!”

Jackie flashed him one last smile, then
ran.

Rodney watched her go, counted to ten, then
hurriedly skirted the building, and then ducked through a broken
window. Kicking debris out of his way, he found a basement access
door and headed back into blackness.

He waited several minutes, watching his
pursuers search. As soon as they’d moved out of hearing, Rod headed
to the surface. When he finally burst free into the rapidly
lightening night, it was too late: the dog in his arms was
dead.

He lay it down carefully under a nearby
poplar tree. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. He bolted for the road,
casting an anxious glance at the crimson rose sky.

Jackie was waiting there in her van. She’d
treated the wounded dogs and sedated them. She got out and beckoned
to him, smiling, telling him to hurry. She...

The fantasy dissolved into bright light,
blinding him. Rodney cringed backward instinctively, waiting to
burn in the sun’s rays. The chains that bound him to the chair
clinked.

“Stop cowering,” a voice growled. “We aren’t
going to hurt you just yet.”

Rodney blinked his eyes in the floodlight’s
glare, taking in the tall man before him. “Kale.”

Kale nodded, flashing a toothy smile. “Who’d
you expect?”

Rodney lunged for Kale, who quickly stepped
out of reach. “I killed you!”

“You did,” Kale replied, his tone slightly
grudging. “But you didn’t separate the head far enough. Minimum
distance of five feet, my man. Your loss.” He stepped closer. “All
I want to know is where’s the girl?”

Rodney snarled at Kale and struggled, even as
tears crept into his eyes. “What girl?”

“Sit tight,” Kale said, walking away and
shutting the door. “It’s not like you have anything else to do,
hero. I’m sure you’ll remember right before dawn.”

Rodney listened to the retreating footsteps
then slumped, remembering.

There had been no last minute reprieve. There
would be no reunion up above, either. Jackie would wait most of the
morning for someone that would never come.

They parted with a kiss. Rod followed her
into the yard, ducking into a shed to wait out the day. Thirty
seconds later, three vampires emerged, then stood still,
listening.

“Anything?” one said. “I smell nothing but
grass and wood rot.”

“I don’t hear anyone—” another started.

The dog in Rodney’s arms whimpered
faintly.

“Shh,” the last hissed. “I heard
something.”

“It’s nothing,” the first vampire said. “I
don’t know why we’re here anyway. We already know Rod and his
girlfriend took them—”

Rodney muffled the dog’s mouth and nose with
his hand as quietly as he could, utterly terrified, his eyes fixed
on the vampires.

“Move it,” the last vampire ordered. “We’ve
got just another half hour before dawn.”

As soon as his pursuers were out of sight,
Rod laid the dog down gently, then bit into his own wrist, praying
he wasn’t making a big mistake. They knew his name and they’d track
him back to Jackie. When they did, she’d die, along with the dogs
they’d risked their lives to save. But there was another choice, if
he was brave enough to see it through.

Rodney smeared his blood on the dog’s wounds,
biting again and again to keep the wrist wound open. By the time
he’d delivered his brand of poultice, he was woozy with blood
loss.

After a few moments, the black dog opened its
eyes then quickly rolled onto its feet, covered in vampire blood
and completely healed. Rodney put out a hand. The dog ventured
nearer, unafraid, then sniffed, wagging its tail once.

“Run while you can,” Rodney whispered. “Take
care of her. I’ll buy you guys some time.”

The dog gave him an almost human look then
tore off toward the road after Jackie.

Rodney slumped back to the shed floor, too
weak to stand. A few minutes later, he was found. The three
vampires dragged him here to the blood-spattered dog fighting ring
and chained him up, informing him with evil smiles that traitors
had a special way of dying.

Each moment Rodney was counting down the
minutes, hoping morning would come.

Jackie was smart. She wouldn’t wait once the
sun came up.

The door opened, admitting an African
American vampire dressed in an expensive suit. Kale followed him,
sullen. The vampire came to stand before Rodney. “I’m Nathan, Ruler
of this state. Where is she?”

“Who?” Rodney said angrily. “Let me go. You
have no reason to hold me—”

“Don’t I?” Nathan purred, his dark eyes like
ebony. “You killed some of my men, and stole a few of my dogs—”

“You were going to let your men drain them
anyway—”

“That’s my right,” Nathan retorted. “They’re
mine. Everything in my territory is mine, including you, Rod. Now
tell me about the girl you brought with you.”

“Kale saw her,” Rodney stalled. “I don’t know
much about her other than that.”

“She was cute and she had a gun,” Kale said,
shaking his head. “My memory isn’t clear. But she was definitely
human, not vampire.”

“That’s what happens when you let yourself
get decapitated,” Nathan said sharply. “You’re lucky someone came
along when they did.”

Kale went to his knees, groveling. “I’m very
grateful—”

“Good,” Nathan said coldly. He turned back to
Rodney. “Be warned, young one: I was snapping necks like
matchsticks only two centuries ago, and that was before I was
turned. One last time, who is she?”

“What are you offering me?” Rodney asked.
“Will you set me free?”

Nathan looked at Rodney, then gave a peal of
rich laughter. “Alas, for you all of eternity will be these next
few hours. My offer is for you to die a little more peacefully than
you will if you don’t tell me what I want to know.”

“I followed her here hoping for an easy
meal,” Rodney lied.

“You lie so badly it’s almost entertaining.
Almost. One last chance, Rodney. Where is the girl? Where are my
dogs?”

“You’re going to kill me anyway,” Rodney
replied with a smirk. “Go to hell.”

“We’ll see how much you smirk after we roast
you,” Nathan replied. “Kale, go to work.”

* * * *

It was near dawn, the faint light just
touching the horizon. Rodney watched it in a fog, his pain
throbbing relentlessly.

Kale had burned him with fire, cut him with
razors, and beat him with chains for most of the next day and
night. Just when he’d begun to lose consciousness, Nathan had come
back bearing a cup of blood. That had been the worse torment. In
Rod’s weakened state, he hadn’t been able to regenerate, growing
steadily weaker with each new torture. Nathan had held it just out
of reach, promising to give it to Rod in return for information on
Jackie and the dogs. The smell had been intoxicating, causing Rod
to drool slightly.

But Rodney hadn’t given in. In fury, Nathan
had Kale stake him to the wooden cross on top of the factory,
adding the last steel spike through his chest.

“You should be honored,” Nathan said
appreciatively, watching with interest. “You’ve renewed my taste
for suffering, Rod. I haven’t had this much fun in ages.” He came
to stand near Rodney, Kale at his shoulder. “They say in your last
minutes you rethink your life,” he mused, gazing up at Rodney. “Are
you? Or are you wishing you gave her up and saved yourself the
pain?”

Rodney’s good eye moved slowly to focus on
the blur that was Nathan, his head bobbling slightly.

“You transformed her, didn’t you?” Nathan
said resignedly. “Somehow you got the power and you turned her. You
lost a lot of blood somewhere. That’s the only logical
conclusion.”

Rodney slowly smiled, his fangs now broken
shards under his split lips.

“Too bad your entire family’s dead,” Nathan
continued. “I would have liked to leave you with the promise of
your sister becoming one of my cows.” He shrugged. “Be comforted
that your gal won’t have to live long alone in her new life. All
Kale has to do is look for is a newbie who doesn’t know what she’s
doing. Your get will be easy to find.”

“I’ll make sure she doesn’t die unfulfilled,
either,” Kale added with a leer.

Rodney didn’t speak or give any sign he
heard, the smile fixed on his lips. The sun crept higher,
illuminating the edge of the roof.

“Come, Kale,” Nathan said, eyeing the dawn.
“We’re done here. The sun will take care of the mess.”

Kale nodded, then looked back at Rodney. “Why
is he smiling like that? He’s got to be in agony, even if he really
didn’t give a shit about that girl.”

“They call it a state of grace,” Nathan
replied, walking away. “When you’re about to die, you stop feeling
pain and make your peace with the world, or so it’s said.” He
paused. “His heart just stopped.”

“He was tough,” Kale said grudgingly.

“He’ll be ashes in a moment and so will you,
if you don’t hurry your ass,” Nathan said sharply, ducking in the
door. “Go get some sleep. By the end of tomorrow night, I want that
newbie girl dead. Understand?”

“Sure, Boss.” Kale hurried inside, the door
locking behind them.

Sunlight flooded the roof, bathing Rodney in
warm white light. Smoke billowed up quickly, then his broken,
forlorn form burst into flame. Within a few moments, nothing was
left except the cross with its embedded metal stakes and a few
curling wisps of smoke.