The Beast Within (9 page)

The lack of vehicles in front of the house was unusual. Stopping his truck at the front door, he didn’t bother knocking and tried the handle. It opened without hesitation. Looking closer, Connor realized it was broken.

Katie’s huge house opened into a foyer with twin staircases on either side that led to the second floor. The staircases were shaped like half circles, and made of the same material as the entry room floor, white marble. To his right and left there were doorways leading to the labyrinth that was Katie’s house, and in front of him, between the staircases, were two large wooden doors.

“Katie! Katie!” he yelled.

There was no response, nothing at all. Taking the stairs two at a time, he raced to her room. The walls down the hallway were covered in family photos. Her mom was tall, blonde, and blue-eyed; her dad strong looking with perfectly cut hair and a politician’s smile. The pictures showed them on trips, at graduations, and other family outings. It wasn’t the scenery in the pictures that caught his eye, but the bloodstains smeared across the white walls.

Reaching her room, he burst through and found her lying on her bed. She was on her back, eyes closed, almost peaceful.

“Katie?” Connor kneeled by her side. “Katie, wake up. I’m here.”

Her eyes flickered open, bluer than he remembered. Her skin was pale. Her hair, normally well-groomed and styled, was a tangled mess, and on the left side of her neck, a large bite mark tore through her skin. Connor wasn’t sure if the bleeding had stopped. There was a large crimson pool by her neck, staining her white sheets.

“Connor?” she ever so slightly turned her head to him and gave a faint smile. “Connor, it is you. I was having a nightmare, then I heard your voice and woke up.”

“I’m here, Kat, it’s me.” Looking around the room, he grabbed one of her white undershirts from the floor. He carefully sat next to her on the bed and pressed the piece of clothing to her wound.

“You’re going to be okay, Kat. I’m going to take you to a hospital and you’re going to be great.”

Katie looked at him, “Connor, I feel strange. I feel like I should be in a lot more pain, but I’m not.”

“You’re probably just in shock.”

“Connor, my mom, my dad—they’re gone.” Tears formed in her eyes.

“Shhhhh.” He gently picked her up. She felt like a lamb in his arms. She was helpless but he was here now and he wouldn’t let anything happen to her.

Walking down the hall, he carried her down the stairs and out to his truck. She was rambling now from the blood loss and shock.

“They aren’t human, Connor, they’re not human.”

“I know.” Connor placed her in the passenger side of his truck with all the care an antique collector would use when handling his most valuable possession.

Closing her door, he ran to the driver’s side, turned his truck around, and headed to the town hospital. The entire drive, Katie kept rambling., Her eyes would flutter open, then closed, but in whispers, Connor could pick out words and phrases.

“Black eyes… Not human… No! Get away…”

Connor was usually a very cautious driver, obeying traffic signs and road rules, but today as Katie sat next to him, dying, for all he knew, he gave himself a pass. Barreling through stop signs and red lights, he honked his horn at other drivers, warning them he didn’t plan to stop. Angry horns replied back as he maneuvered through the mid-day traffic.

A light sprinkle started, adorning his windshield in a pattern of raindrops and forcing him to use his wipers. Katie leaned against the window, the makeshift bandage Connor applied to her neck starting to come undone. She was wearing a beige tank top, the left side of which was drenched with blood, and jeans that looked so clean they had to be new. She was missing her shoes, and her perfectly manicured toes were bare against Connor’s truck floor.

The thought that someone would injure something so perfect and innocent enraged him. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He would make sure Katie got to the hospital and that she would be all right, then he would go and find whoever had done this to her.

It seemed like an eternity before they reached the hospital. Connor didn’t bother worrying about parking, instead he drove straight to the emergency entrance, usually reserved for ambulances. He carried her inside, ignoring the rain.

White and grey tile floor was matched with bleached white walls and bright fluorescent lighting.

“I need help!” Connor yelled to no one in particular.

Immediately, nurses and doctors surrounded him. A hospital bed was wheeled over and Connor placed Katie gently on top. He ran with the hospital staff as they strapped her in and hooked her up to heart monitors and IVs. The entire time she laid still, eyes closed, barely breathing.

A balding doctor with a small face and eyes too big for his head addressed Connor, “What happened to her?”

“I don’t know. She called me, panicked. I found her like this.”

“It looks like the others, Doctor,” a middle-aged brunette nurse pointed out.

“The others?” Connor repeated.

“Yes,” the doctor explained. “This is the fifth case we’ve had today involving an animal bite.”

Connor kept his mouth closed as he followed the mobile bed pushed by the hospital staff. Soon they reached their destination, a white room with a heart monitor and IV station against the far wall. The entire room was saturated with the smell of antiseptic.

“You can’t be in here. You’ll have to go to the waiting room,” the doctor informed him.

Connor nodded numbly. After he moved his truck from the emergency entrance, he was escorted to a small waiting room composed of twelve uncomfortable looking chairs and an army of magazines, ranging from
National Geographic
to
Better Homes and Gardens
.

The room was full. Connor chose a seat between an older man who looked like he was about to fall asleep and a young woman with a long neck and a generous application of makeup.

A friendly looking receptionist provided him a form to fill out for Katie and he completed it to the best of his knowledge. Questions like phone number, address, and age were easy. Connor had to leave many of the harder questions blank. Though he had known Katie for years, he wasn’t sure if she was allergic to any type of medication or what her social security number was.

He apologized for the lack of information. The receptionist assured him it would be fine. Now all Connor had to do was wait. This, however, was easier said than done. The minutes seemed like hours and the hours seemed like days. He tried reading a magazine, but his eyes stared at the page blankly.

His mind replayed the events of the day. The foremost question was whether Katie would be all right. What happened to her? He had a good idea, but didn’t want to jump to any conclusions before he had a chance to speak with her—if he would ever be able to speak with her again. He pushed this possibility out of his mind and told himself she would pull through. Despite her carefree personality and easygoing disposition, Katie was stronger than most people knew.

Forcing his mind from the topic, he felt a slight vibration in his pocket. His cell phone flashed—two missed calls from his mother. She was no doubt worried when he failed to return to the shop after the meeting with Mrs. Hayes, or rather, Morrigan. He wanted to call her but he didn’t know what to say. That he just learned the greatest kept secret in the history of mankind? Or maybe that he was at the hospital now with Katie, who was bitten by a distant relative who may or may not be an Elite and she may or may not be dying now?

No, a phone call was out of the question, but a text, on the other hand, would work perfectly. He pushed the appropriate buttons to form his text. “Sorry I didn’t come back. Katie needed me. Working through some issues. Love you.” It was perfect and he really didn’t have to lie. Katie did need him and God knew he had plenty of issues to work through.

His mom’s text came back right away. “Okay, honey. See you tonight. Looking forward to our talk. Love you.”

While he waited, he couldn’t help but overhear a few of the conversations that were taking place in the waiting room and one in particular caught his attention. It was the woman next to him talking into her phone.

If she didn’t want to be overheard, she shouldn’t have been talking so loud in the first place, Connor justified to himself for eavesdropping.

“I just found him there,” she replied in a New Jersey accent. “No, he was lying in the front lawn. It looked like a dog bite or something on his neck! I know, right? I called 911 as soon as I saw him.”

“Connor,” a male voice interrupted. It was the same doctor he had talked to when he had carried Katie in. “She’s going to be fine. She’s coherent now and wants to see you.”

Connor sighed with relief.

“Thank you,” he said genuinely. As he shook the doctor’s hand, he felt a weight lift from his shoulders.

“Of course. Please follow me.”

As Connor walked beside the doctor, he couldn’t help but ask, “There’s been more than one patient brought in for a bite like this, hasn’t there?”

The doctor nodded. “It’s the strangest thing. I haven’t seen an animal attack in months, and within the past twelve hours, we’ve had multiple people brought in, all bearing the same type of bite marks. It doesn’t look like any dog or animal bite that I’ve ever seen. You said you had no idea what happened?”

“No, she called me and I found her like that. How are the other victims doing?”

“They—they didn’t make it. So far, Katie’s the only one that we’ve been able to stabilize. Keep in mind that she’s gone through a lot. She’s mumbling some pretty strange things, but that’s to be expected from someone who’s lost this much blood.”

The doctor guided him through the maze of halls and rooms and soon stopped at room number 237. “Try and make your visit short. She needs to rest and I’m sure the police will be here soon to take a statement,” the doctor said before he walked away, leaving Connor by himself.

Connor opened the door to find Katie propped in a hospital bed. She wore a light blue gown that made her eyes seem bluer than normal. Her right arm was attached to an IV and the left side of her neck was bandaged securely. She looked better, not as pale as before, and when he pulled up a chair next to her, she even managed a smile.

“Hey, you came for me.”

“Of course I did.”

“Connor, I think… I think I’m going crazy.”

“Well, if you ask me, I think you’ve always been crazy.”

“No, Connor, this is serious. Do you… do you believe in vampires?”

“Like Dracula? No, I don’t think so.”

She thought for a second, then said more to herself than to Connor, “No, I couldn’t have imagined it all.”

“What do you remember?”

There in the small hospital room, she told him a story he would have discounted in a heartbeat was it not for the conversation with Morrigan just a few hours earlier.

Chapter 8

S
ince Randolph had been a
guest at her house, Katie’s father seemed to grow more and more uncomfortable. He spoke to her mother in whispers and was away from the house a lot. Randolph seemed nice enough and he and Katie’s mother got along all right. He was introduced as her mother’s distant cousin, in town on business. He was going to spend just a few nights in the guesthouse.

From the beginning she didn’t trust him. Katie had never heard her parents speak of a distant cousin, and his weird blue eyes gave her the creeps. But after a few days with him, she decided to give Randolph the benefit of the doubt. Everything was fine until that night, when she overheard her parents arguing.

“You said he was in town for just a few nights, Julie.”

“I know, Howard, but what do you want me to do? He’s my cousin. I can’t kick him out.”

“Kicking him out is exactly what we need to do.”

“Shhhhhhh. What if he hears you?”

“Hears me?
Hears
me? The man is in the guesthouse—how could he hear me? This is what I’m talking about, Julie. You’ve been acting strange ever since he arrived. What aren’t you telling me about your cousin? Is he a criminal or something?”

“No, no, Howard, don’t be silly. He’s just a little—a little different. He’s almost done with his business in town and he’ll be gone soon. You know how big my family is on loyalty.”

“I know, I know. It’s just that I’ve never heard you talk about him before and it seems strange you would be so inviting to someone you don’t know.”

“He’s family, Howard. I don’t have a choice. Listen, you have to trust me—everything is going to be fine.”

The conversation was over. Katie thought it was kind of weird, but didn’t give it a second thought until dinner that night.

Katie’s mother had made a really nice dinner of roasted duck, green beans, and her famous mashed potatoes.

“Katie, be a dear and go to the guesthouse. Tell Randolph dinner’s ready.”

“Sure,” Katie said. It was sunset; Katie’s favorite part of the day, when the air was cool and the sky looked pink.

When she got to the guesthouse, Katie caught a glimpse of someone with blond hair in the window. Curiousity got the best of her and she decided to take a closer look before knocking. The small window was cracked just enough for her to hear the conversation.

“The time is now, my brother. We cannot wait any longer.”

The mystery guest had a German accent. He was tall and lean like a boxer, with a crew cut. He was dressed in a very expensive suit with a tie that matched his ice blue eyes. He stood next to a small fireplace with a wine glass in his hand.

“Is this the will of the family?” Katie recognized Randolph’s voice even though she couldn’t see him from the window.

“Damn the will of the family, Randolph!” the German roared. “Too long have we sat by idle while the Beastia claim our land and collect money that should be ours. I’ve already contacted a few of the others in the area and they feel the same way. Tonight we make our own fate.”

“I can appreciate your fire and passion, but you know the Law.”

“Damn the Law. We have a perfect opportunity to strike swiftly with the element of surprise. In twenty-four hours, we can have this entire area free of any competing Elites and two members of the ruling family dead!”

Katie was so curious she missed the intentional pause in the conversation and the slight tilt of the stranger’s head as he sniffed the air. A second later, the stranger looked directly into her eyes and smiled.

“Ahhhhh, a guest,” he said.

Katie didn’t know why she ran. She could have stayed and tried to explain that she was there extending a dinner invitation. She could have made an excuse, but she didn’t. Maybe it was the way his sinister eyes locked on hers. Maybe it was the way he’d called her a guest. She didn’t know. All she could feel in that moment was every fiber in her body telling her to run, so she did. She sprinted back to the house as fast as her legs could carry her.

Katie would never be as fast as Connor, but she was a decent runner, and with her fear spurring her on, she was halfway across the yard in a few seconds. Something glided past her and before she had any time to think what it was, she reached the back door. Standing in front of her was the same man from the guesthouse, wine glass in hand. It was still a quarter full.

“Well, hello there. Aren’t you pretty,” he said.

“Faust, let her be. She’s a family member.”

Katie saw Randolph standing behind her, arms crossed. His face was scrunched up like he was worried.

The back door opened and Julie appeared. “Oh, hello.” She was surprised. “Randolph, I didn’t know you had a visitor, will he be staying for dinner?”

Before either Randolph or Katie could respond, Faust chimed in. “Yes, yes, that would be delightful.”

The dinner party of four awkwardly entered the dining room. Katie’s father was already sitting at the table pouring himself a glass of wine. Making eye contact with the group, Katie could practically read his thoughts.
Great, they’re multiplying
. Instead, he introduced himself and shook the stranger’s hand. Faust introduced himself to Katie’s parents and took a seat with the others at the table.

“So, tell us, Faust, what brings you to town?” Julie asked as she spooned mashed potatoes on dinner plates.

“Oh, I’m on business. Much like Randolph here.”

“How nice. Have you known each other long?”

“How long would you say it’s been, Randy?” Faust smiled at his friend, enjoying the moment. “Feels like centuries, yes?”

Randolph looked at his dinner plate with that same worried face. “Yes, a while now.”

“Katie, are you feeling all right?” her father asked.

The truth was Katie felt sick and hadn’t touched her plate. “Yes, just feeling a little tired. I think I might be coming down with something.”

“Well, try and eat something, dear,” her mother urged.

“Yes, make sure to clean your plate so you can grow up strong and
fast
, like me and Randy here,” Faust added.

It was the most awkward dinner Katie had ever shared with anyone. The entire time she was debating whether or not she was going crazy. Had she imagined the whole thing? What if he was just a really fast runner and the answer was as simple as that? Before Katie could come to a reasonable explanation, Faust started talking again.

“Ha! I have it, Randy. Join me tonight and I’ll spare your family. That’s a great deal, no?”

The entire table sat silent. Randolph, dressed in a clean pair of black slacks and a plain white dress shirt with black suspenders, cleared his throat and gave a nervous laugh. “Oh, Faust, don’t tease like that. They don’t know you as well as I do and might think you’re serious.”

“But brother, I am serious. Join me tonight or I will kill every single one of them.” His carefree attitude disappeared and a cruel smile crossed his face.

Katie’s father finally broke the silence. “Listen, I’m not sure what kind of sick joke this is, but it’s not funny.”

“Oh, it’s not a joke, sir. I am very serious,” Faust sneered as he jammed his steak knife into the table’s dark wood.

The room was silent. “Randy?” Looking over at Randolph, who sat pale, Faust made one final offer.

Randolph sat quiet, “I can’t—the Law.”

“To hell with the Law.” Faust’s blue eyes glazed over and changed until two black orbs were all that remained. He opened his mouth, showing four very large, very sharp fangs.

Then everything seemed to happen at once: Katie’s mother screamed and fainted; while at the same time her father jumped to his feet with a knife in his hand. Faust, quick as an arrow shot from a bow, bounded over the table towards him.

Katie’s father and Faust we’re sitting on opposite sides of the dinner table. There was eight to ten feet of space between the two but Faust covered the distance in the blink of an eye. Randolph tried to grab Faust, but it was too late. He was already on the other side of the table.

Katie sat, powerless. The events were unfolding around her at lightning speed. Before she knew what was happening, Faust was ripping her father’s head from his body. It only took a second, and her father’s body fell to the ground.

His head rolled a few feet once Faust dropped it and came to rest near Katie’s chair. She was petrified; her brain couldn’t comprehend the reality around her. Katie wanted to move, wanted to scream, wanted to do something, but she couldn’t. Instead she just sat in her chair, staring at him.

Faust grinned at her and made a move toward her mother. Instantly Randolph was there, blocking his path. “Okay, okay, Faust. By God, you are mad. You win. I will come with you tonight.”

Faust’s eyes dilated back to blue and his fangs receded giving way to his normal smile. “I knew you would come around, old friend. You have always been the reasonable one. Hope you don’t mind, I invited the others over for an old fashioned meeting before we go.”

Randolph looked defeated. “Whatever you desire, just leave them alone. They have no part in this.”

Faust took a napkin from the table and began wiping Katie’s father’s blood from his hands. He made his way slowly to where she was sitting. Katie’s heart beat faster and faster as he approached. Soon he was directly beside her, playing with her hair in long soft strokes.

Katie was shaking so hard she didn’t think she would be able to talk, but she finally found her voice. She turned on him as she fought back the tears and rage. “You’re going to pay for this.”

Something came over Katie then, something she had never experienced before. She knew the appropriate response to the past few minutes should be fear and sorrow, but all she felt was anger. Anger overwhelmed her and forced her to take action. She reached for Faust, not knowing what she was going to do; bite him, claw him, punch him—she had to do something.

Faust caught her by the neck with one hand and lifted her off the ground like a newborn kitten. He brought her eye level as she fought against his grasp. The animal rage inside of her was building. He squinted his eyes as he looked into hers. “You’re one of us, aren’t you?”

“Faust, no, we had a deal,” Randolph reminded him.

Faust seemed to mull this over in his mind. “Yes, quite right, I won’t kill her then. She can join us.”

The last thing that Katie remembered was two black eyes and Randolph screaming in the background.

“I guess I came to at some point and called you. Now I’m in the hospital,” she said, turning to Connor.

The two sat silent for a moment as Connor’s mind battled to accept Katie’s story and Katie in turn dealt with memories she knew would haunt her for the rest of her life.

“I’m so sorry, Katie.” Connor felt sorrow and anger at the same time. Her father was a good man; Connor had the pleasure of getting to know him over the course of the two years he and Katie had dated. To think he was gone forever was a shock. He could hardly picture what Katie must be going through.

“I couldn’t have imagined that though, right? Or did I?”

Connor adjusted his seat on the bed, careful not to disturb any of the tubes attached to her and pulled her in closer. “I know you have a lot of questions right now. The most important thing is that you get some rest. The doctor said you lost a lot of blood.”

Katie nodded and nuzzled herself into Connor’s strong frame. “I should never have let you go,” she said, closing her eyes. In minutes she was asleep. Connor gently stood and arranged her in the most comfortable position he could.

It was dark now. Between the time he’d spent with Morrigan and then Katie, the day was almost over. It was near eight o’clock and the clouded sky offered a healthy dose of rain. It wasn’t a downpour, not yet at least.

Connor was exhausted from the day’s events, but he still had one more stop to make before he went home. He had to stop by his mother’s shop to apologize for being absent from work, and find out more information about his father. He knew it was crazy but he couldn’t help but think knowing about his father and his past was the key to unraveling everything. If all else failed and his mother couldn’t help him, he would head to Morrigan’s. She would know what to do.

Driving through the rain, he saw several police officers and fire trucks. Twice he was forced to pull over to let them pass. Through the rain and dark sky, he could see a cloud of smoke rising from the same street his mother’s shop was located.

Pushing his truck to dangerous speeds, he took out his cell phone and dialed his mother’s number. There was no response; he dialed again. No reply.

Nearly fishtailing onto the street, he was prepared for the worst. Sure enough, there was an army of police cars and firefighters gathered around not only her store, but three or four of the other connected shops.

From what he could see, the damage to his mother’s store wasn’t extensive, nearly all of it being contained to the back wall near the loading zone. The fire was completely out now, and the back of the store was charred but still intact. It looked as though the other stores had borne the brunt of the fire’s anger.