The Recruit: Book One (27 page)

“Not that I’m aware of.”  Richard frowned and checked the
calendar on his computer.

“Alison.”  Mannie said.

Will glanced at him.  “What about her?”

“She’s in administration now.  Let’s go to the office.  Any
authorized hunts go through administration.”

He turned and left Richard’s office, the others following
closely behind him.

“Hi Mannie.”  Alison gave him a warm smile, frowning a
little when she saw the others.  “What’s wrong?”

“Are there any hunts scheduled for tonight?”  Mannie said
urgently. 

She frowned.  “I don’t think so.”

“Check, would you?”

She quickly typed a few sentences into her computer and the
others crowded around as a window popped up on her screen.

“Oh, I guess there is.”  She pointed to the document.

Richard cursed loudly.  “There aren’t supposed to be any
hunts authorized without my approval.”

Alison gave him a cautious look before typing again.  “It
says here that Isabelle authorized it.”

“Isabelle?”  Richard frowned.  “Why would she authorize a
hunt without my knowledge?  She knows that’s not allowed.”

He stopped, staring frozenly at Will and Mannie.  “Oh my
God.”

“She’s the mole.”  Will said grimly.  “Did she go on the
hunt tonight?”

Alison shook her head.  “No, it looks like she sent Darren
and Aaron.”

“Bitch.”  Mannie swore loudly.  “What do you want to bet
she’s sent them into a trap?”

“Where’s the hunt?”  Will asked.

“It doesn’t say.”  Alison gave them a helpless look.

“Does anyone know where Isabelle is?”  Chen asked softly.

“We find her.”  Will growled.  “Check the entire facility,
starting with her apartment.”

* * *

Hannah followed Selena into the factory.  She slipped her
glasses on and clicked them into night vision.  The room was lit up with the
eerie green light and she pulled her swords from her belt.  Their weight
comforted her, and she gave a small nod to Selena who was holding guns in both
hands. 

Ahead of them Darren and Tyler were moving cautiously
through the darkness, weaving their way around the boxes that littered the
floor.

She nudged Selena and pointed to a door to their left. 
Selena nodded and whistled softly.  Darren and Tyler looked behind them and
Selena pointed to the door.  She and Hannah picked their way through the debris
and boxes towards the door, as Tyler and Darren continued forward.

Selena put her hand on the door handle and glanced at
Hannah.  Hannah nodded to her and Selena swung the door open.  Hannah, her
heart thumping in her chest, raised her swords but the door opened onto a
hallway. It was empty and she could see a door at the far end of it.

She swung back around as Selena gave a soft gasp beside
her.  Hannah looked at her, all of the hair on her body trying to stand up in
reaction to the look on Selena’s face.

“TYLER! WATCH OUT!”  Selena suddenly shrieked, and Hannah
watched in horror as a vampire swooped down from the ceiling and fell on him.  It
grabbed Tyler’s skull in its long, slender hands and twisted violently to the
right.  Tyler’s head ripped from his neck, a fountain of blood gushing upwards
as Darren stumbled backwards.  The vampire dropped the head to the ground and
stuck his face into the blood jetting from Tyler’s neck.  He drank greedily as
the rain of blood coated his face.

Darren raised his gun and shot the vampire in the chest.  It
bellowed with pain, the veins in its body immediately pulsing with a blue light
before it exploded into ash.  Darren ran towards them as more vampires
descended from the ceiling.  Selena, her face completely bloodless, raised her
gun and shot the two closest to Darren. 

Darren tripped over a large box and went sprawling.  Before
he could gain his feet, five vampires had latched on to him.  He screamed
weakly as they bit into his face and neck, the guns in his hands firing
uselessly into the floor.

Hannah grabbed Selena.  “We have to go!”  She screamed, and
yanked her back towards the door.  She pulled Selena through the open door and
then slammed it behind her.  She ran down the hallway towards the far door,
dragging Selena with her.  They had just slipped through it, shutting it firmly
behind them, when Hannah heard the hissing and moaning of the vampires in the
hallway.

Still holding Selena’s hand, she ran up the set of stairs in
front of them.  There was a door at the top of the stairs and the two women,
panting harshly, paused on the landing.

“Are you ready?”  Hannah whispered.

Selena nodded grimly and Hannah pushed the door open. 
Selena slipped through it, both guns held out in front of her, her eyes
scanning the hallway from top to bottom.  It was empty and the two women ran to
the far end.

“Hannah, where are we going?”  Selena whispered.

“Back downstairs.”  She whispered back.  “We need to find
the others and get out of here.  It’s a goddamn trap.”

There was a sudden shriek, the sound echoing through the
building, and Selena winced.  “I think that was Lucy.”

“C’mon.  We go back downstairs and head to the back of the
factory to find whoever is left.”  Hannah muttered. 

“Then what?” Selena asked.

“Then we get the fuck out of Dodge.”

“Isabelle, we know you’re in there!  Open the goddamn door!”
 Mannie shouted, pounding frantically on the locked door of Isabelle’s
apartment.

With a snarl, Will pushed him out of the way and kicked the
door in with one boot-clad foot.  It opened with a splintering crash and the
four men ran into the small apartment.

“Isabelle.”  Richard breathed.

She stared at him from her spot on the couch and raised the gun
to her head.  “Don’t come any closer, Richard.”

She glanced at Will who was edging to the left.  “You either
Will, or I’ll blow my brains out and you’ll never find her.”

He stopped immediately, holding his hands out in a
non-threatening manner.  “Put the gun down, Isabelle.  No one needs to get
hurt.  Tells us where they are and we’ll bring them back.  We know you’re the
mole but we can help you.”

She laughed bitterly.  “It’s too late for that, Will.  I’m
in too deep now.”

“Isabelle, why?”  Richard whispered.  “Why would you betray
us like this?”

“Why?”  She shook her head.  “I loved you, Richard.  I would
have died for you.  You used me for a few months to scratch your itch and then
you just tossed me aside, like I didn’t even matter.  All that matters to you
is your precious Maria.”

He flinched.  “Isabelle, I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to hurt
you.”

“Didn’t you?”  She said indifferently.  “Do you know how
many nights I laid awake in your bed listening to you moan her name in your
sleep?  I thought if I just hung in there long enough, if I loved
you
enough, you would eventually forget her.”

She sighed and looked at the gun in her hand.  “But you
didn’t.  You can’t, can you?  You will never love another like you love your
Maria.  It doesn’t matter that she’s dead, that her bones turned to dust years
ago.”

“So you decide to bring down the entire facility?”  Richard
cried softly.  “Because I couldn’t love you the way you wanted me to?  You’ve
gone mad, Isabelle.”

She smiled gently at him.  “I suppose I have.  Goodbye,
Richard.”

She raised the gun to her head again.

“Wait!”  Will cried.  She paused, staring at him silently.

“You can still do the right thing.”  He spoke quickly. 
“Tell us where you sent them tonight.  Please, Isabelle.”

She gave him an appraising look.  “Do you love her, Will?”

He hesitated and she cocked the gun.  “Tell me the truth.”

“Yes.”  He said hoarsely.  “Yes, I love her.”

She nodded.  “They’re at the old factory off Route 27.”

She gave him a sad smile.  “But you’re too late.  There’s
too many of them.  By now they’ll have killed Darren and the others, and he’ll
have taken Hannah.”

“Who?  Who will have taken her?”  He asked frantically.

“His name is Marcus.”  She said solemnly.

She looked at Richard.  “I love you, Richard.”

He ran forward.  “Isabelle, don’t – “

The gunshot was shockingly loud in the small apartment and
as Richard moaned and cradled Isabelle’s body in his arms, Will turned to
Mannie and Chen.

“Gather as many of the older recruits as you can find.  We’re
going after them.”

* * *

“Hannah, do you know where you’re going?”  Selena hissed
frantically at her.

Hannah stopped, her head cocked to the side.  “Be quiet.”

She strained to hear in the quiet; there was a soft
fluttering noise above her, and she looked up in time to see a vampire dropping
towards her.  With a dreamy type of speed she raised her sword and skewered it
through the heart.  It shrieked and exploded, covering her and Selena in blood
and ash.

She glanced behind her at Selena, her eyes widening.  Selena
turned and shot the vampire reaching for her, directly in the face.  It fell to
the ground, rolling and moaning in agony as the ultraviolet pulsed through its
veins before Hannah sliced its head off.

“Keep moving.”  She advised grimly.

They crept down the hallway and opened the door.  Selena let
out a soft moan when she realized they were back in the main room of the
factory.  Hannah had somehow led them to the back section of it, and she could
just make out Tyler’s body laying forgotten amid the dust and empty boxes.  The
five vampires were still feasting on Darren’s body, although Selena had no idea
how the man had any blood left in him at all.

With a gentle tug, Hannah pulled Selena across the back of
the room and into yet another hallway.  They crept quietly towards the end of
it.  They were nearly at the door when it flew open and Jeremy stumbled through
it, covered in blood.

“Jeremy!”  Hannah cried out as he lurched towards them.

“Run!”  He whispered.  “RUN!”

She sheathed one of her swords and wrapped her arm around
his waist as Selena slipped her am around him on the other side.  They stumbled
back the way they came as the door behind them opened.

“Well, what do we have here?  Just the little lamb I was
looking for.”  A silky smooth voice floated on the air.

Hannah, dread forming in her belly, turned around slowly. 

“It’s so good to see you again, Hannah.”  The vampire smiled.
 “Do you remember me?”  He raised his left arm, showing her his missing hand.

“Perhaps I should introduce myself properly this time.  My
name is Marcus.”  He gave her a short bow, holding his right hand up to stop
the vampires from sliding around him.  “Patience, my friends.”

“How do you know my name?”  She whispered as the three of
them slowly backed towards the door.

“Oh, I know a lot about you, my lamb.”  He grinned as more
vampires filled the hallway behind him.  “In fact, you and I will soon know
everything there is to know about each other.”

Selena twisted around as the door behind them opened.  “Oh fuck...”

More vampires pressed through the doorway, slinking and
slipping into the narrow hallway.

“We’re trapped.”  Jeremy moaned.

Marcus smiled at them, tapping his smooth chin with one long
finger.  “Kill the other two, but bring her to me alive.”

He melted back out of the hallway as the vampires began to
crowd in on them.

Hannah stared at the other two.  “Back to back - now.  Don’t
break formation.”  The other two turned immediately, and she could feel the
comforting brush of Jeremy’s shoulder on her left side and Selena’s on her
right.

“Hannah, what do we do?”  Selena whispered frantically.

Hannah pulled her sword from her belt and raised both swords
into attack position.  “We fight.”

* * *

“There!  I can see the van!”  Mannie pointed towards the
side of the road and Ryan swung the truck to the left into the nearly-hidden
driveway.  He stomped on the gas, gravel spinning under the tires, and sped
towards the large building rising out of the darkness.  He stopped in front of
the building, and Will opened the door and leaped out of the truck.

“Will, wait!”  Mannie cried.  With a piercing howl Will
shifted into a wolf, his clothes exploding from his body, and ran towards the
front door of the factory.  Chen was out of the truck and following him before
Mannie had even opened his door.

With a loud curse he glanced at Ryan and the three other
recruits he had managed to round up.  “C’mon, let’s go.  Remember your
training, aim carefully and just stay cool.”

Chen entered the factory, both his swords drawn, and waited
for his eyes to adjust to the darkness.  Beside him, Will was sniffing the air
delicately and he glanced down at the wolf.  Will’s eyes glowed softly in the
darkness and Chen murmured, “Above us.”

The wolf chuffed in response and crouched down as three
vampires dropped silently to the ground a few feet in front of them.  They
hissed, their fangs gleaming and dripping with saliva.  Will snarled in
response, snapping his teeth at them.

Chen raised his blades and smiled.  “Begin.”

Mannie raced into the building, followed by Ryan and the other
recruits.  A vampire was on him almost immediately and he twisted to the right,
eluding it’s fangs before plunging the wooden stake in his right hand deep into
the vampire’s chest.  It screamed and burst apart around the stake as beside
him, Ryan adopted a shooter’s stance and began to almost casually shoot the
vampires rushing towards him.

Mannie glanced to his left.  Chen and Will, working as a
silent team, were wading through a group of vampires.  Will was snarling and
ripping them to shreds as Chen slashed them apart with astonishing speed. 
Within minutes, the floor around them was covered in ash and blood and the five
men and wolf were alone in the room.