Reining In (The Network) (16 page)

The alleyway was empty, except for a mangy looking cat that looked like it hadn’t eaten in weeks, and a beat up old dumpster. We headed towards the street, and seeing that there were no suspicious looking men or vehicles, we walked away from the building towards the crowded sidewalk of the main road. I flagged down a taxi, and somehow we all managed to squeeze in.

“I’m gonna have to charge extra for this many people, lady,” the cabbie grinned at me. He was a greasy looking man, who smelled like he hadn’t showered in days. Oh why, of all the cabs in this city, did I have to pick this one? My stomach turned, but I smiled back at him as sweetly as I could manage.

“Not a problem, honey. Could you take us to this address?” I handed him the card showing the address to our private airstrip.

“Sure thing sweetheart,” he cooed back to me, smiling widely, exposing a mouthful of broken rotting teeth. I closed my eyes and shook my head. The car lurched forward. We were back at the airstrip in a matter of minutes. I paid the creepy man, and cringed as his skin touched mine. I managed to shake off the nauseous feeling that had come over me and turned to follow the group towards my private jet. Marlene was just stepping through the door to the airplane; Mack right behind her.

I suddenly heard her scream. I started running as fast as I could, pushing Darren and Mike out of the way, as I flew up the stairs and into the plane. I stopped short at the doorway. Inside were more men, with guns; one of them holding Marlene, his gun to her head. Mack just stood there. I could see the anger in his eyes. He wanted nothing more than to rip the gunman’s head off, but he couldn’t risk the chance of Marlene getting hurt. Someone behind me pushed me forward. Looking back, I saw two more gunmen herding Mike and Darren in the door. We moved forward, as the men pushed the stairway away from the door and closed it.

“You’re a hard woman to track down my dear,” the man holding Marlene said in a deep broken accent. “My boss has spent a great deal of time looking for you. He will be very happy to hear that I’ve found you.” Mack snarled at him, and the man pulled Marlene closer to him, waving the gun and smiling. Mack backed down.

“Your boss? Vyktor, you mean.” I didn’t need to hear his answer to know I was right.

“You’re not so dumb.” He snarled back at me.

The men ushered us to our seats, as the plane began forward. I looked over at Mack. As quietly as I could manage, I whispered “What do we do?” Mack looked up at me. I knew he was the only one who could hear me. “We let them take us to Vyktor.” He whispered back. Ok, sure. We were trying to find Vyktor and Jake, after all. But this wasn’t exactly how I intended to find him. I was at a slight disadvantage here. But I trusted Mack, and I didn’t really know what else to do. So I sat back in my seat and waited. And that’s how it probably would’ve ended, had the man holding Marlene been a gentleman.

But he wasn’t. Marlene, was a very attractive woman, and with her blouse and skirt tore, like they were, exposing her creamy skin, the man just could not resist himself, especially with her right there on his lap. He began to run his fingers up her leg. Mack growled. The man pointed the gun at her again, smiling at Mack.

He continued up her leg, and reached under her skirt. Marlene pulled away from him, and he yanked her back down, grabbing her hair. Tears spilled down her face as the man continued to grope her. I tensed up. I knew that whatever happened next was not going to be pleasant.

“Get up,” the man whispered to her in a low husky voice, pushing her forward. Marlene cried out as she caught herself on the table in front of her. The man suddenly pushed her head down onto the and ripped her skirt off. The other men hooted and hollered, egging him on. He started to unzip his pants, looking at Mack the whole time, and grinning. I looked at Mack, then back at him. I knew what was about to happen next. I knew Mack like I knew the back of my hand. I attacked at the same moment he did.

Mack flew at the man, taking him down in an instant. I went for the other men, preventing them from helping their friend. I grabbed both their hands at the same time, breaking them and causing them both to drop their guns. I pushed one man down, and turned towards the other. He lunged at me, and I caught his head in my hands, turning it and instantly breaking his neck.

I turned back to his friend. He charged me, careful not to let me do the same thing I had done to his friend. He had pulled a knife out and was swinging it back and forth at me. I dodged his advances each time, but he was quick, and I could not get a hold of him myself.

In the background, I could hear Mack and the other man struggling. Suddenly, I heard a gun go off. We all stopped and looked towards Mack and the gunman. Both looked surprised, but neither was hurt.

“Mack.” I could barely force words from my mouth. It took only a second for his eyes to follow mine. There on the floor was Marlene, lying in a puddle of blood. The scream that came from him was horrible. I had never heard anything like that in my life. I just stood there. I didn’t know what to do. The gunman looked at Mack, his expression one of horror. It suddenly occurred to me that hadn’t realized that Mack was a vampire, and with his leverage gone, he was now very vulnerable.

A sharp pain suddenly brought me back to reality. I turned towards the man I had been sparring with. His blade stuck out my side, blood gushing out from the wound. He dropped his hand from the blade and stepped back. I grabbed the handle, and broke it off. I threw it on the floor and looked up at him. His eyes got big and he started hyperventilating as I approached him.

I was furious now, and was ready to finish this. I grabbed him by the throat and lifted him nearly two feet off the ground. I held him there as he struggled to break free. The more he struggled, the tighter I squeezed. After a few moments, he stopped struggling and his body went limp. I let go and his body crumpled to the ground. I turned back towards Mack and saw him cradling Marlene in his arms, the gunman’s lifeless body lying next to them. I quickly hurried over to them.

“Mack, she’s still breathing. She’s still alive.” But he didn’t hear me. He was sobbing uncontrollably. I tried to pry his hands from her, to check her wounds, but he was so strong. I couldn’t get him to budge. Finally I reached up and struck him across the face as hard as I could. Darren and Mike both rushed over, then, realizing they were no longer in danger.

“Mack, let go of her. We might be able to save her!” I was screaming at him now. Darren, careful not to get to close to Mack’s massive arms, tried his best to check Marlene’s vitals. Mike broke open the first aid kit hanging from the wall, pulling out whatever he thought might be useful. Mack finally came to his senses and loosened his grip on Marlene.

It was then that I saw the extent of the damage. She was in bad shape, and even if we could get her to a hospital right away, she might not make it. Mack could read my expression, and moaned out a long loud “noooooo”.

“Stop it. We can save her. Don’t you dare give up on her, you hear me?”

“There’s nothing we can do, Khallie. There’s not enough time. We’re in the air for Christ’s sake.” He was right. We were in the air. I looked at Mike, and Mike looked over at Darren. All three of us looked over at the cockpit door. Who was flying the damn plane?

“I’ll go check it out.” Mike offered, and got up to walk towards the cockpit.

“Wait, I’ll go,” I replied. “if it’s not my pilot, you could get hurt. Take care of her.” I nodded my head at Marlene.

“No, she needs you. Look, there’s a gun, I’ll take it with me. No problem.” Before I could argue, Mike was at the door, gun in hand. Darren quickly grabbed another gun and followed him. “Back up,” he winked at me.

I turned my attention back to Marlene. I could hear her heartbeat. It was slowing, and quickly. I looked up at Mack. His eyes were dull and lifeless. He was about to lose the love of his life.

“Mack, we could….” My voice trailed off. I didn’t want to finish the sentence. He looked up at me, just a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

“You should do it, not me.” I whispered. “Don’t wait too long. She hasn’t got much time left.”

I turned away. I didn’t know if Mack would do it or not, but I felt that either way, they needed this moment, alone.

“Khallie?”

“Yes?” I answered, without turning around.

“Will she forgive me?”

“You forgave her, didn’t you?” I asked. I tturned away from him and walked towards the cockpit.

Chapter Nineteen

“Is she ok?” Mike looked up from the pilot’s seat, and waited for my answer.

“She’ll be fine. Mack is taking care of her. How’s our friend here?”

Vyktor’s pilot had been quite defiant, right up to the moment I walked through the door to the cockpit. Vyktor had taught him well what a vampire was capable of, and though I was not near the monster that Vyktor had become, he had warned his men that I was not to be taken lightly.

The man shrank back away from me, the color draining from his face. Darren grinned and leaned forward in his seat. Up to that point, the events of the day had been a little much for him, but now that we had the upper hand again, he was getting his cocky attitude back.

“Looks like clown-boy here has a healthy respect for you, huh, Kal? So what’s the plan?”

“I’m not sure. Has he said what Vyktor is up to?”

“Not a peep. Perhaps he’ll be more receptive to your questioning.” Darren grinned again. He was a smart-ass kid, but I liked him. He was definitely an asset to the Network. I sighed. The Network. What was left of it now? Everyone had left; went into hiding like they were supposed to. But Vyktor was still finding them. Using them to hurt me. How could I help these people? I didn’t know. The more I agonized over it, the angrier I became. People I loved were dying, and I wasn’t about to just sit there and let it happen.

I grabbed the cowering man and lifted him up off the ground. His feet dangled beneath him, as he struggled to break free from my grip. I squeezed just a little harder, letting him know that I was quite capable of squeezing the life right out of him. He stopped struggling and I lowered him just enough for his feet to touch the ground.

“Now, you are going to answer some questions, do you understand?”

He just stood there, not responding. I was starting to lose my patience. I struck him across the face as hard as I could, nearly sending him through the glass behind him.

“I don’t think you understand your predicament here. I don’t have to kill you. I can spend an eternity torturing you. And I will if you don’t answer me.” I wrapped my fingers around his collar bone and squeezed, causing the man to scream out in pain.

“Do we have an understanding?”

“Yes.” he whispered.

“What? I didn’t quite hear you?” I squeezed harder. I couldn’t control myself. I was so angry. I was angry at Vyktor. I was angry at the men who had shot Marlene. I was angry at myself for letting all of this happen. I wanted nothing more than to crush this man in my hands.

“Please,” he screamed in agony. “I’ll tell you what I know. Please just stop.”

I kept squeezing, seeing Raymond’s body, seeing Marlene bleeding in Mack’s arms. I wanted this man to feel the pain he and his friends had inflicted on me.

“Kal, stop. We need him.” Darren touched my shoulder gently, careful not to become a victim himself. I looked over at him, baring my teeth, and he shrunk away. I let go of the man, and backed away from him. I looked back over at Darren, who now looked just as terrified as Vyktor’s man had moments earlier.

“I’m sorry.” I whispered. I hadn’t meant to scare him. I was losing control. I looked back at the pilot, who was now curled up on the floor, his face twisted in pain as he rubbed his shoulder.

“Where were you taking us?” I demanded. He looked up at me, debating whether or not he should answer. I stepped forward and he quickly scooted back farther.

“We were taking you back to New Orleans.” Ok, not surprised. “Yeah, I kind of figured that much, smart ass! How did you find us?”

“It was an accident. We didn’t know you would be in Dallas. We went to find your friend.” He nodded towards Mike. I looked at Mike then back to the man on the floor. I snarled under my breath. They hadn’t really meant to find Mike, so much as they meant to kill him. Just like they had killed the others. I kicked the man in the ribs. The distinct cracking noise brought a wicked smile to my face. The man spit blood onto the floor at my feet, and looked up, his eyes begging for mercy.

“Go on,” I growled.

“When your plane landed in the airfield, we decided to take advantage of the situation.” He was shaking now, as I stood there glaring at him.

“The others. He is sending his men after the others, isn’t he?”

“Yes.”

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. How could I stop this? Vyktor apparently had deeper ties than we had imagined. He seemed to have a lot more resources than I could have ever thought. I opened my eyes back up and squatted down next to the man, looking him directly in the eyes.

“When?”

He paused, as if he were scared to answer.

“When?” I asked again, calmly.

“Now.”

I stood back up, and slammed my hand into the panel behind me. Both Darren and Mike jumped.

“Give me the phone!” Darren grabbed his phone and handed it to me, questioning me with his eyes.

“We have to do something. I can’t get to all of our people fast enough. We have to bring them to us.” I started dialing numbers as fast as I could, hoping to find anyone.

“Won’t that be dangerous?” Darren looked confused and panicked.

“No, it won’t.” Darren looked up at me with a puzzled look in his eye. I didn’t have time to explain, so I ignored him and started dialing.

I managed to get a hold of as many people as possible. It wasn’t an easy task. Most had left. Their numbers disconnected; their homes abandoned. They disappeared like they were supposed to. If I thought they were safe, I would leave it alone. But some of the men who had been killed by Vyktor’s people were supposed to be safe, too. They had dropped off the radar, yet he had found them. I figured he had found them long before we had sent out the alarm. He had them followed, and they weren’t safe like they thought they were. I wondered how many more he had found already. I should’ve shut the network down sooner. Why did I wait so damn long?