Deliverance (14 page)

Chapter 17

S
amantha didn’t bother to raise her head when the telltale signs alerted her that she had a visitor. She wasn’t positive how long she’d been in her cell, but it felt like it was at least three or four days. In that time, she hadn’t been given any food outside of the sporadic rolls. Occasionally, someone would put a jug of water inside her door. Samantha had had to resort to squatting over the drain in the middle of her floor. She also poured a small amount of her precious water over the drain, but it didn’t help much with the smell.

All that time with nothing to do was like torture. Her thoughts constantly strayed to Nik, and what these people might be doing to him. She remembered all too well what had happened to Leisha when the vampire had been captured years ago. The thought of Nik undergoing that same malicious torture was unthinkable.

“Hello, Samantha,” Doctor Peterson greeted. When Samantha didn’t respond, the doctor spoke to the others in the room. “Check her vitals.”

Samantha continued to lay slack as they prodded at her.

“Everything looks good.” It was the first time Samantha had heard the female assistant speak. Her voice was throatier than she’d have expected by looking at her.

“Fine, Samantha,” The doctor said, irritation lacing her tone. “You want to just lay there? I don’t care. We can still monitor you for this next experiment all the same.”

“If you would feed me some freaking food every once in a while, I might actually sit up for your crap experiments.” Samantha knew it wasn’t smart to speak that way to her captors, but she was too tired and grouchy to care.

Doctor Peterson sighed. “The drugs work better in a clean system. I’ll arrange for you to have something today, but then you will need to drink a lot of water so you can flush your system again.”

“Guess I’ll have to take what I can get.” Her teeth clenched at the thought of this treatment, but Samantha knew things could be much worse. Taking a breath, she sat up and glared at the doctor. “Let’s get this over with.”

The assistants were quick to apply the cold pads and the doctor kept her expression neutral as she administered the drug into Samantha’s bloodstream.

Again, she felt the strange sensations as the liquid rushed from her arm into her chest. This time, Samantha squeezed her eyes shut so her line of sight wouldn’t go weird. But instead of darkness, a strange gray greeted her. It seemed to swirl in dizzying circles, going from lighter and darker shades, but staying a solid gray.

When all the muscles in her body spasmed, Samantha did her best to relax into the intense pain, but it was too difficult. She could feel herself thrashing around on the bed. Her hand struck the wall with bruising force, but she couldn’t get herself to stop.

When the cramping muscles finally eased, Samantha opened her eyes. Her vision was still gray, but she could see the doctor and her assistants next to the bed. They were bent over Samantha’s body, but it looked like they were moving in slow motion. Then Samantha felt as if she were being pulled into a worm hole.

This time, she wasn’t in the strange hell as before. Instead, she was walking down an empty road in a grassy countryside. It should have been beautiful to look at, but everything was still a drab gray color. It was worse than any black and white film Samantha had ever seen. The shapes and figures around her blended into each other because of their dullness.

She felt movement from behind, and Samantha whirled and blinked her eyes at the brilliant color in front of her. It was a corpse, the skin a yellow-greenish. The red in her bloodshot eyes was piercing compared to the world around them. The woman blinked brown-crusted lids and focused on Samantha.

“Dear Samantha.” When she smiled, the woman’s skin cracked and flaked, a few pieces floating silently to the ground.

Samantha studied the zombie in front of her, then gasped in recognition. “Rinwa? What happened to you?”

“You did.” Scarlet blood dribbled out the side of her mouth. “Don’t you remember? You, my friend, are Death.”

“No! I’m not. I don’t believe you! I wouldn’t kill you or Nik.” Samantha’s breath became shallow.

Rinwa scoffed, causing blood, skin, and black saliva to spray toward Samantha. “Not just me and Nik. Everyone. Like I said, you’re Death.”

Suddenly, arms shot out of the gray dirt around them. Samantha slowly backed up as hundreds of corpses hauled themselves out of their graves and slowly approached. In their vividly colored eyes, she saw the contempt, the accusation.

Murmurs from all around flew at her.

“Death. You are Death!”

“You killed us all!”

A decaying hand slipped around her shoulders and Samantha gasped. She turned and was faced with a corpse version of Tafari. “Face it, my girl. You are the death of us all.” He chuckled. It was deep and filled her head with vibrations.

The zombies were on her now, all of them grabbing at her hair, her body. They screamed incoherently at her as they tried to rip her limbs out of their sockets.

At first, Samantha tried to claw her way free. She kicked and stumbled, but there were always more bodies, suffocating her with their sickly sweet and acidic smell.

After doing her best to escape, strength left her and Samantha tilted her head back to scream.

Coming to, Samantha realized she
was struggling with two men trying to hold her down. Once she was able to think more rationally, she slumped. “Get off me.” It came out harshly, and she wished she had enough gumption to punch them.
That’s what Leisha would do.

The guard and the assistant hesitated a moment before slowly lifting off of her. All three of them were panting as if there was not enough oxygen in the confined space.
It sure doesn’t feel like there’s enough oxygen for me.

Doctor Peterson didn’t wait for Samantha to recover. She held out her tablet to capture Samantha’s response. The doctor was bouncing in her chair, and Samantha wanted to smack the excited look on her face. “Tell me everything that you saw. Every detail.”

Samantha’s body felt as if it had just been hit by a train as she slowly sat up. She didn’t bother to tell the doctor that her vision hadn’t been real. Instead, she did as was demanded of her and explained everything that happened. Her stomach was heavy, and it had nothing to do with the drugs.
I’m so weak. Leisha would never have cooperated with these lowlifes.

Eyes narrowed in thought, Doctor Peterson turned away as she murmured quietly to herself. The others gathered up their equipment and quickly followed her out, the guard backing out last with his gun trained on Samantha until the door closed.

Lying back on the bed, Samantha closed her eyes and tried not to think too hard about her latest vision.
It’s because of the drugs,
she told herself.
I’m not Death. I’m not.

Chapter 18

L
eisha’s hope dwindled. It had been more than a week since they’d discovered the abandoned vampire lair, and they were still no closer to finding Samantha and Nikita.

Twice, Rinwa thought she’d found a lead, but it only took them to secret government warehouses that had been deserted for at least fifteen years. They still searched the compounds for any clues as to where the occupants had relocated to, but they found nothing useful.

“Maybe we should fly down to that compound where they took me a few years ago,” Leisha offered. She knew her suggestion wasn’t a very good one, but she wasn’t any help sitting around in their hotel room, looking over Rinwa’s shoulder.

Tafari glanced in her direction, his gaze traveling over her face. Leisha felt as if he could read every emotion she tried to keep hidden. “Do you remember where it was?”

Shrugging, Leisha walked over and sat next to her husband. “Somewhere in the Virgin Islands, if memory serves.” She patted his knee. “But I know you remember how to get there.”

“Yes,” he admitted. “But I do not think it will serve us—”

“I already know what you’re going to say,” Leisha interrupted. “And I agree with all of your protests. But we’re getting nowhere here.” She waved her hand in the direction of Rinwa and her computer. “At least we could comb the place and see if they left any clues behind.”

Liam came into the room then. He glanced between his parents and Rinwa, studied Leisha’s face, then nodded his head. “You two go on. I’ll stay here with my sister. We have some things to discuss anyway.”

“Like what?” Rinwa stopped clacking on the keyboard to send a good-natured glare. “Do you feel deprived because I wasn’t around to torment you like a good sister should? I’d be happy to make up for that now.”

“You think you can pretend that you’re not intimidated by me when you get aggressive like that. But you forget that I can read your mind.” Liam smirked in a playful, carefree way that Leisha rarely saw on her son.

“I do not think it is a good idea for us to separate,” Tafari interjected, steering the conversation back onto the subject at hand.

“Actually, I think it’s a great idea.” Rinwa stood and grabbed a glass of water from the kitchen counter. “I think I’d be able to do more work with a little less tension in the room.”

Though her daughter was nice enough not to look in her direction, Leisha knew Rinwa was talking specifically about her. The vampire moved close and nestled herself into Tafari’s side. “I can’t help it. I can feel something going wrong through our bond, but I don’t know what exactly is happening.”

Tafari tightened his arm around her shoulders. “We know you are not at fault.”

Liam came over and stood on Leisha’s other side. “I think you and Tafari never have enough alone time anyway, and you know that I’ll be safe here with Rinwa.”

Leisha looked over at her daughter as she thought it through. The hotel they were staying in was well off the grid. Leisha didn’t think anyone would track them down here. And she also knew how fierce Rinwa was in a fight. Of course, Liam was also more than capable of defending himself.

The boy smiled as he followed her thought process. “I hope you find some sort of clue, Leisha. But if not, just enjoy the company.”

Leisha narrowed her eyes at her son. “It sounds like you really want to get rid of me.” She pulled him in for a hug. “The only time we’ve ever been separated were under wretched conditions. I feel a little anxious leaving you again.”

Reassurance shown through his eyes as he leaned up to kiss her cheek. “Trust me, mother. This is for your benefit. Think of it as a belated Christmas gift.”

Trying to read through the enigmatic expression was impossible. Leisha sighed as she tossed the vague words around in her mind. “Well, it was my idea in the first place, and I agree that you’ll be safe here.”

“Then get going already,” Rinwa huffed as she went back to her computer. “I’ll book you guys a flight while you pack up. It’ll be nice to have some space around here.”

Walking down the hall, Leisha had to agree with her daughter on that score. They were staying in a cheap, two bedroom place that barely held a kitchen and front room. The bathroom was squeezed between the bedrooms and the front. It was a joke of a living space, but she knew it was as safe as could be.

Tafari followed her to their bedroom and started packing things into a suitcase. “I think Liam does not like hearing the lustful thoughts I keep having about you.”

In spite of Rinwa’s tortured groan from the other room, Leisha smiled coyly and sauntered to her husband. “It’s probably for the best that I can’t hear your thoughts.” She slid her arms up his chest. “If we could read each other’s minds, we’d never get anything done.”

As they kissed, Rinwa called out to inform them that she booked them on a flight for the following day.

The next morning, Leisha went through her disguises and found a dark brown wig that was cut in a bob. The color wasn’t the most flattering, but that’s what Leisha wanted. She applied makeup to make herself appear as plain as possible in hopes that she wouldn’t draw any unwanted attention. She didn’t give herself any distinguishable features, like warts or a big nose, but used latex to make it look like she had some mild acne. She used a foundation that made her skin tone flat and unremarkable.

Tafari was another matter. Leisha applied a skin salve that temporarily changed his pigmentation from dark black to medium brown. But his tall, muscular physique was almost impossible to hide, even when she gave him padding to make him look overweight. He applied colored contact lenses to darken his eyes, but the brown didn’t mix well with his silvery blue eyes and so he had to take them out.

Sighing, Leisha placed a baseball cap on his head and hoped it was enough.

Liam’s soft laughter filled the small apartment, making Leisha’s chest feel a little lighter.

“You two look hilarious,” he said between giggles. “I wish Samantha was here to see this. She would have just the right comment to make fun of you.”

“No,” Rinwa denied. “No one could have a perfect comment for the sight of you, because there are no words to describe just how pitiful and absurd you look!” She and Liam put their heads together as they laughed heartily.

Clearing her throat, Rinwa straightened and walked over to give Tafari a tight hug. “Take care of yourself, big guy.”

Tafari squeezed her back and angled his nose into her hair, taking in his daughter’s scent. “I know I can trust you to take care of Liam and to do nothing rash while we are away.”

Pulling back, Rinwa gave him wide eyes. “Me? Rash? I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Smiling, she stepped back and looked at Leisha. They held eye contact for a moment, then Rinwa inched closer. With hesitant, awkward movements, she placed her arms around her mother’s shoulders.

Leisha closed her eyes and reveled in the contact. She hugged her daughter back, making certain not to squeeze too tightly in case Rinwa wanted to end it. After a brief moment, her daughter stepped back and once again looked into Leisha’s gaze.

The vampire could see tender emotion leaking out of those silvery blue eyes and knew that, regardless of everything in their past, Rinwa did love her. Blinking through a mist of bloody tears, Leisha nodded and tried to convey the same message.

The flight to the Virgin
Islands went smoothly. Leisha let Tafari make the arrangements with the ferry and car since he had a better idea of where they were headed. They drove around one of the islands to the shoreline. There, Tafari walked her along a dock and pointed to a small island in the distance. If she hadn’t been a vampire, she would have needed binoculars to view it.

“Is that a private island, by any chance?” she asked.

“Yes. I remember that the compound took up almost the entire island,” Tafari said. “We had to evade their people who patrolled the water as well as the roads.”

“So it would be prudent to try and sneak on the island again.”

“Agreed. Since we do not have access to the planes that we used to rescue you before, I thought we could swim.” Walking back to the car, Tafari opened the trunk to reveal wet suits and scuba gear.

Picking up the smaller suit, Leisha quirked a brow at her husband. “You were able to get the right size for me.”

He wrapped his hands around her waist. “It was easy enough to estimate.” Tafari leaned down and kissed her thoroughly.

It was more than arousing, and Leisha broke away so they wouldn’t get sidetracked. “We’ll have to continue this discussion later, in our hotel room.”

The heat in Tafari’s gaze matched exactly how she felt.

It was tedious to pull the wet suits on over their clothes, but they knew it was best in case they needed to shed the suits in a hurry. Leisha accepted the mask, since she hated opening her sensitive eyes under water, but laughed when he tried to give her a tank.

“You know I can hold my breath indefinitely, right?”

Tafari’s eyes widened and he glanced at the tank he was holding as if it had just appeared in his hands. “You are right, of course.” His sheepish grin looked strange on his usually stoic face. “I guess I forgot you are a vampire.”

Pecking him on his large lips, Leisha whispered against his mouth. “I’ll just have to remind you about everything I’m capable of later tonight.”

Without any more preambles, they put on their flippers and dropped from the dock into the water. It was clear and they could easily see almost a hundred feet in the crystal blue Caribbean. Fish of every color swam around them as they made their way toward the island.

Tafari was an accomplished athlete in the water, and Leisha didn’t have to move slowly so he’d keep up. She adjusted the pressure in her ears more frequently than Tafari needed to as they descended, but it helped to keep her hearing piqued for any surprises they may encounter, natural or man-made.

They emerged from the water and Leisha sucked in the humid air. Walking up the sandy beach, she immediately recognized the area as the same beach they’d departed from during her escape. She stopped and closed her eyes, listening and sniffing the air for any electronics, people, or gunpowder.

“Nothing,” she stated. “It seems as if the place is completely deserted.”

“Just like all the other leads we have tried to follow,” Tafari’s tone was grim, though unsurprised.

She knew that this idea was slim at best, but the vampire still felt her chest sinking with disappointment.

Her husband placed a warm hand on her shoulder. “We can still take a look around. Just like you said before, there may be a clue that they have left behind.”

Leisha forced a smile and nodded. “Who would think that the government would allow this branch to waste so much money? I mean, they’re just going to sit on their own private island without making any use of it?”

“It would appear so.”

She unzipped her wetsuit and peeled it off her body, Tafari following suit. They tucked their scuba equipment under a small bush at the end of the beach and walked along the path toward the compound.

The last time she’d been here, Leisha hadn’t gotten much of a look of the place. She’d been more focused on escaping than surveying her surroundings. As they walked over the parking lot toward the entrance, she was struck by how massive the place really was.

“I’ll bet this thing can be seen by satellite easily enough,” she commented.

Tafari grunted his agreement but didn’t say anything. His eyes were scanning every which way, never holding still for more than a second. Leisha used her other senses to make sure they were safe, which allowed her to gawk at the large building.

“You could house all the vampires
and
all the immortals here.” She shook her head. “This is going to take some time to do a thorough search.”

Her husband pulled his phone out of its waterproof case. “At least we have service here. So if Rinwa finds anything, we will be able to leave and no longer waste our time.”

Taking a breath, Leisha marched through the front doors. “Let’s get started, then.”

It smelled stale, as if even the dust was old. She walked over to a light switch to turn on the lights. Nothing happened. Sharing a look, the couple moved forward. All the debris from when they bombed and shot their way out of there three years ago was gone. The lobby was spacious and clutter-free. A thin layer of dust softened the echoes of their footsteps.

“There are no stairs,” Tafari noted.

Brows drawing together, she looked over at the elevators. “That’s right. I remember that from when I tried to escape the first time.”

Tafari glanced in her direction as they continued to the elevators. “You never told me you had tried to escape before I rescued you.”

Leisha snorted. “Well, it wasn’t much of an escape attempt. I didn’t get farther than the hallway before they dragged me back to my cell.”

Her husband placed a hand on her arm. Surprised, Leisha looked at him with her brows raised.

“It does not seem fair,” he murmured. “Everything you have had to endure. It is not right.”

“But if we’d had this conversation four years ago, you would have thought I got everything I deserved,” she quipped. The smile melted off her face when she saw shame dull the gleam in his blue eyes. “I meant that as a joke.”