Fallen Blood (21 page)

Brian found himself in a rocky cave. He could feel rocks through his shoes under his feet, causing him to have trouble balancing himself. Fire and heat seemed to be everywhere except where he now stood. A large, red skinned figure walked toward him through the flames. its head sported two great horns coming out of its head like what one would see on an old Viking helmet in some old movie. Its eyes glowed a fiery red as the flames parted and let him pass through them. It was then that Brian could see that its legs were covered in thick black fur, and its feet were cloven hooves like a goat, A long black whip was in its right hand, dragging behind it on the ground as it came nearer to him. Slowly, it reached its clawed hand out as it grew closer to him.

"Brian, wake up!" Heather's voice shouted in his ear.

He opened his eyes and found himself in the familiar surroundings of Bobby's truck cab. The truck wasn't moving as traffic passed them by. Apparently Bobby had pulled off onto the shoulder since he had arrived, as he clearly remembered seeing that the truck was moving when he was still in travel form. Heather wrapped her arms around him as best she could and hugged him tightly.

"How the hell did you do that?" Bobby said.

"You're back, I was so worried," he could hear Heather say as she continued to hold on to him.

He sat up as best that he could with Heather holding him still. "Why did we stop?"

"Well, what did you think I would do? You just appearing out of nowhere." Bobby took his hat off and scratched his head. "Just ain't right, I tell ya."

"We need to keep moving Bobby." He said with urgency.

"I hear you, but I've been driving for some time and I did have quite a lot of coffee this morning."

Brian nodded. "Next town we can take a break." It was the least he could do for them. He couldn't have the werewolf catching up to them before he found some silver. He had no idea how or where he would get that.

About an hour later Brian found himself in another roadside cafe. This one was a full-fledged truck stop. It had multiple fast food shops in it, there was a laundromat, showers, all types of stores, and even a small movie theater that was free for the truckers. From what he could see, it was only playing older stuff, nothing that he would be interested in watching. Heather sat next to him in the booth Bobby had chosen. He had made an order, as did the rest of them, though Brian actually ordered a chocolate shake rather than food. He wondered vaguely if Heather had enough left over from what she had earlier. Bobby was off relieving himself and said he would be back.

"So did you find them?" Heather clearly couldn't contain herself any longer, and she'd been fidgeting since he'd woken. He wasn't sure why he had delayed in telling her, he guessed he was just putting off the inevitable announcement that she was going to go back, He could suggest her of course, seeing the effect it was having on her, he really didn't want to screw with her head again.

"No."

She sat back in her seat. Brian watched as a gauntlet of emotions played across her face, and he felt sorry for her. After all, he'd known she wasn't going to take it well, but it was either that or suggest her.

"What does that mean?" she asked quietly.

"It means just that. “

She swallowed hard, and took a deep breath before asking her next question. "Does that mean they're dead?” Her face was completely flat and emotionless as she asked. Brian could almost feel the storm that was raging in her. He was tempted to lie and tell her it did, just to avoid where the conversation would go from there, but...no.

"No. It just means I can't find them."

She sat back and stared up at the ceiling, her arms crossed under her chest as if she were hugging herself.

"Look, I couldn't find them, but each time I tried, I found myself at the old Warrens place just like when I looked for Chuck."

"Why there? Why is it always there?" Her voice started out in a whisper, but slowly started to rise. "I told him not to go there. I
warned
him what would happen."

Brian doubted this was exactly what she warned Chuck about, but he wasn't about to point that out.

"If he would've just listened to me!" Her voice was pitching toward a shout.

"Who should have listened to you?" Bobby said, as he chose that moment to come back.

"That idiot I've been dating."

Well Brian couldn't argue with that description. He had been thinking the same thing for quite some time. It was only now that Heather seemed to figure it out, too.

Bobby furrowed his brows. "I thought you were dating Brian?”

Heather slammed her fist on the table, causing the nearby people to look at her startled, as the silverware on their table rattled and danced. "I should have been!"

Brian turned and looked at her, actually surprised by what she said, this was a turn of events he had not expected.

"Is there a problem?" The server appeared at their table.

"No, we're fine." Brian answered quickly.

"Well, could you please keep it down? You're disturbing the other customers."

The three of them acknowledged the server simultaneously. Brian noticed that Heather was blushing as the server left.

"So. Where are we going now?” Bobby asked, as he sipped his coffee.

"Didn't you drink enough of that already?" Brian asked, smiling.

Bobby shook his head as he took another gulp.

"I'm going back" Heather spoke up. Brian knew she was going to make that decision even before he told her. It really was the only choice for her. She would never desert her family, especially if they were in need.

"What?" Bobby exclaimed. "Why in tarnation would we do that? I thought the whole point of leaving was to get away from there?"

Brian really liked Bobby sometimes. It was weird the way the guy had latched onto them. Bobby included himself in their group as if he were running away from whatever they were, too. It was nice to feel like Brian had a real friend, even if he'd suggested him to help him. Bobby didn't seem to care about that, and gave his all no matter what happened.

"Brian," Heather began and put her hand on his arm that was on the table. "I'm not asking you to help me, but somehow I think that if I had a vampire helping me, it would be much easier to find them."

He wondered if she would ask, or just expect him to follow. No matter which way she had done it, he had already decided he was going to help. The real question was how?

He nodded to her, and put his other hand on hers.

"Oh, hell." Bobby snorted. "Well, I'm coming, too. We're all a buncha idiots you know."

He's probably right,
Brian thought,
but was there ever any other decision?

It hadn't taken that long to get back to Woodland, their home. Well, at least Heather's and his home. He wasn't sure where Bobby was from, he never really thought to ask him about it. The little town looked actually the same as when they left it, just a few short days ago. One would never have thought that the two of them were now most likely fugitives from the law. People were just going about their business. Buying and selling, laughing and eating. A part of him kind of wanted to have the life that he watched pass by. After all, what person didn't want to have some normality in their day to day. He could imagine even fictional heroes in books or comics would have some part of their life that was normal.

Yet, his entire life was never normal. How could it be, as he wasn't even really human? At least Spiderman could claim the title of human. No, that title was denied him. Could he have children, he wondered, as he looked over at Heather. She smiled at him, then closed her hand around his as it rested on his leg. He would like that. Children, hopefully with Heather. After all, he was alive, not dead. So maybe, in some ways, he was still human, unlike all the undead Vampires he always read about. That being said, maybe there were a lot of things that were different about him from the legendary killers.

"You two sure about this? There's still time to turn around." Bobby said once again. Thankfully he had only expressed his opinion a couple of times during the trip. It would have become annoying fast if he did it more than that. Brian watched as Heather shook her head. Her golden hair swung back and forth as she did so. He didn't bother to answer, as the plan was his to begin with.

The old trucker just shook his head as he continued to drive. The crux of Brian's plan was a simple one. They needed firepower if they were going to take on who knew how many agents. He couldn't risk letting some of them getting a lucky round off and taking him down when they went to the old Warrens place. That left very little choices, except one, which he felt was poetic justice.

"Here we are." Bobby said, as he pulled the big truck up and parked it in front of the local police station. "Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?"

Brian shook his head "No, I'm good. Just stay low, I'll be back out soon." Brian climbed out of the cab and jumped down to the pavement. "Oh yeah, Heather, you might want to stay down until I fix everything here." She nodded and slid down in her seat as Brian slammed the door. It was early evening still as he walked up to the buildings double glass doors. He didn't see any point in stealth, it should be just a simple thing to do. Walk into the local cop shop, and walk back out with his own private army.

"Can I help you?" An older officer with sergeant stripes asked, as he sat behind the front desk. Brian smiled at him and looked right into the man's eyes. Thankfully he was giving Brian his complete attention.

"I need you to help me." Brian said in a simple clear understandable voice. The man's face softened from the professional expression it held before.

"Yes, sir. How can I help you?"

"What's your name?" Brian asked, looking at his name tag.

"Rodriguez." The sergeant smiled at him.

"I mean your first name."

"Alex."

"Okay, Alex. Who's in charge here?"

"Me and the lieutenant are currently on shift."

Brian looked behind him trying to count how many people were in the building, but thanks to all the cubicles it made it impossible to count heads. "Where is he?"

"I would think he's in his office." The man said.

"Alright, Alex, please escort me to him."

The sergeant nodded and walked around to the locked door that prevented Brian from walking deeper into the building. Moments later he followed the old sergeant through the maze of cubicles. Each time they would pass an officer he would stop them, and look into their eyes and tell them to help him. By the time they made it to the lieutenant's office, Brian guessed he had most of the place following him. If anyone asked what was going on, they were sent up to him, and one more person soon joined in with the procession.

The thick old wooden door to the lieutenant’s office was closed when they arrived. Otherwise, the old man inside would have seen the crowd of officers heading there. Sergeant Rodriguez opened the door without knocking, and Brian walked right in like he owned the place.

"Who are you?" The lieutenant asked, pulling his glasses off and looking up from the paperwork he was doing. Brian didn't waste any time at all. He walked right up to him and locked eyes with the lieutenant, which was actually somewhat difficult, as the man was trying to see what was going on outside his door when he realized how many people were standing outside it. "What the hell's going on here?" He raised his voice and started to stand just as Brian told him to help him.

Brian watched as all the tension left his face as well and a smile replaced his frown as he looked at Brian.

"How many officers are on duty now?” Brian asked him.

"I'm not sure. " The older man said. "We're currently on shift change."

Well, that would explain why so many officers were here, and why a lot of them had been filling out paperwork.
He turned around and counted at least twelve, if he included the sergeant and lieutenant.

"Alright." Brian looked at the lieutenant. This is what I want you to do. I need you to armor up and get ready for an assault on a known terrorist facility."

"Do we need to call for state backup?” The lieutenant asked.