Successors (4 page)

“And what happens when the worst gets here?” Cori followed him out and up the stairs to the upper floor. “What happens when he comes back and turns out to be a boy-molesting old man.”

Ethan glanced back to her, baring a perked brow. “I'm a little old for perverts.”

“Close enough,” Cori grumbled.

Ethan peeked his head into the far back room on the second floor. Cori looked in beside him and found a standard spare bedroom, streamlined with bed, side table, and dresser. There was nothing particularly appealing or memorable about the room.

“He'll probably keep you locked up in a cage and only feed you when you give him a handy,”she said before biting at her nails.

Ethan frowned at her. “This isn't about me, is it? You're deflecting.”

“What are you talking about?” Cori dropped her hand and faced him from her side of the door jamb. Their close proximity, revealed that she was about an inch shorter than him. Between cramping shivers and aching feet, he must not have been fully upright before. She lost some of her bravado to face him and shifted out of the door frame.

“Deflecting, do you know what it means?” he asked.

Her eyes glittered over him, trying to reestablish her image of him as a docile half-starved boy. “Enlighten me, oh learned one.” She crossed her arms, ever so thankful that Danato had let her keep his coat.

“It means you have a lot of pent-up emotion about what you’ve been through.”

Cori couldn’t help but think of the last two weeks in captivity. She wondered how long it would take to clean off the stink of Yvette’s rotgut lackeys. She couldn’t claim to have been broken by the encounters, but only because she had already stonewalled every emotion she had about the experience. “Yeah, so.” Cori shook her head as if the images were only an etch-a-sketch in her brain.

Just shake it off.

“Since you don’t want to just crumple into a ball on the floor and bawl all night long,” Ethan continued. “You have to find some way to alleviate that pressure. So, you take the internal high road of anger, and the external low road of projecting your fears onto me. That way you don’t have to admit to yourself that you’re terrified of what’s going to happen to you here.”

Cori stared at him as a nervous heat rose through her spine. She hadn’t realized that was what she was doing, but it sounded about right. The fact that Ethan was reading her rawest emotions like the back of a damn cereal box only added to her discomfort.

“How the hell do you know all that psychobabble?” She bit her lip to control any tremble that might threaten the firmness in her voice.

“I've been to a lot a shrinks.” Ethan quirked a small smile. “A lot.”

Cori took in a deep breath and looked down at the floor. “I don't think I can go through it again.”

“Hey,” Ethan said softly and reached for her shoulder. She pulled it away and he gave up the pursuit of physically consoling her. “If it turns out that he brought you here for that, I'll do everything I can to stop it.”

Cori snorted and looked up at his frowning face. “Sorry, I...” She shook her head. “I appreciate the chivalry, I really do, but that guy would clobber you.”

Ethan shrugged. “Wouldn't be the first time.” He brushed past her to check the remaining rooms.

Across from the first bedroom was another bedroom not unlike the first. Back by the stairs, there were two more rooms, and then the hallway ended with a railed balcony overlooking the living room and kitchen.

The first of the remaining rooms was a bedroom that held the same dresser, side table, and bed, but this one also contained a box. Ethan stepped inside to check the contents. He pulled out several items of clothing; men’s clothing.

He looked at her with concern in his eyes. He was undoubtedly a little disturbed by the planning that had been put into his acquisition.

She checked the last room, which was also a bedroom. She saw a box on the bed. She checked the contents. It contained women’s clothing.

She looked up as Ethan stepped into the doorway. “I thought he wasn't planning on getting me.”

“Why don’t we get dressed and ceremoniously burn these rags we’re in,” Ethan suggested crashing her train of thought.

She agreed and shut the door to what had presumably been designated as her room. She rummaged through the box and found a set of pajamas and slippers. They looked comfortable and warm. She slipped out of her rags and made a mental note to rip them to shreds before she threw them on the fire.

She opened her door just as Ethan opened his. He looked back at her, wearing the same style top and bottom pajama set she was wearing; only, instead of fluffy clouds like hers, his were plaid. She smiled and shook her head.

“Great minds… Ready to burn our shrouds of scourge?” he asked. 

Before she could respond, an explosion shook the entire house. Ethan dove to the floor as if he was avoiding gunfire. She planted her feet and ducked down to ride out the trembling house like a surfer.

The loft-style overlook gave her a clear view of the prison through the second-story windows over the front entrance. She could see flames spewing from the top of the prison. “What now?” Cori approached the balcony railing and peered out at the activity stemming from the prison roof.

As the flames subsided, blue lightning bolts followed, dancing over the prison’s exterior walls. Trails of black blemished the building wherever the electricity touched. “What are we in a war zone now?” She pressed against the banister, mesmerized by the scene.

“Hey, come this way.” Ethan peeled himself off the floor and moved back into his bedroom. “We can see the other side through my—ahh!” Ethan let out a yelp. Then Cori heard a
thunk
.

She ran to his aid and found him back on the floor behind his bed. Nothing was in the room, but he was visibly disturbed. “What is it?” she looked over the room more diligently.

He pointed at the window with an unsteady finger. “Something’s out there. It just flew past.”

“A
bird,
” she enunciated sarcastically.

“Yeah, that's why I'm on the floor! A bird flew past the window,” he shouted. “It was something big!”

She moved to the window by the bed. She knelt on the mattress and looked outside into the dark. The prison no longer looked like a castle to her. The interspersed lighting at the base made it look more like a Vegas Casino than a legitimate facility.

“I don’t see anything, Oh, but the guards are pointing up at the sky. They must have seen whatever you saw.” She looked back at him. “What did it look like?”

He peeked over the mattress with wide eyes. “Like that.”

She turned back to the window and saw a pair of flapping wings coming at the window. She couldn't make out the features, but she was certain of its size. “That's definitely not a bird.” The creature made a quick approach and flattened its wingspan and lower body against the window. She screamed and lobbed herself over the bed to join Ethan on the other side.

“What is that?” Cori whispered to him as she peeked back up to get another look at it.

The creature was almost as tall as her. Its legs were short with sharp, clawed feet. Its wings extended from the depth of its back and spanned beyond the reach of its upper body, which was unmistakably human...ish. Pale, sickly skin covered the pectoral muscles and biceps of the human torso. The neck, which was barely there, held an oblong head with short tipped ears, a flattened nose, and solid black eyes.

The creature looked through the window at them and opened its mouth. Two tiny rows of teeth lined the jaw. It shrieked, piercing the air with a dreadfully high-pitched sound. They both cringed, protecting their ears. Two teeth in the creature’s upper jaw lengthened into sharp, penetrating fangs.

“What the hell is that thing?” Cori yelled over her covered ears and the shriek.

“Vampire!” Ethan answered. The screeching stopped and the creature flew away from the window.

“What?” She uncovered her ears.

“It’s a vampire,” Ethan repeated.

“That's not possible.”

“More impossible than an entire village abruptly moving to another country?” Ethan asked. “I know it's insane, but what other name would you give it?” he reasoned.

“Fair enough,” she conceded. “It’s a vampire. As long as we both agree that that explanation is ridiculous.”

“Most insane thing I ever spoke in my life.” He nodded.

The window shuddered as the creature crashed into it and flew off. They both screamed and sank down deeper behind the bed.

“We can't just hide here. We need to defend ourselves.” Cori stood and grabbed a standing lamp from the corner of the room and brandished it in front of the window.

Ethan found the matching table lamp and did the same, with slightly less effect. “You don't suppose all those books in the study are documenting real stuff?”

“I don't suppose anything.” Cori shook her head, trying not to think about the things that go bump in the night. There were enough monsters in the world already, she didn't need ghouls and goblins too. 

Ethan turned to face her. “Maybe this is some kind of top secret lab. They're probably doing genetic experiments to create hybrids.”

She turned to face him. “I don't care what they do here! I am not going to be any part of it. I'm going to get out of here and go home.” Her lip quivered, dismantling the fervency of her claim.

Ethan looked her over sympathetically and nodded. “Okay.”

“I'm sorry. I just...” Cori trailed off, sensing a change in her peripheral vision. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck raise. Ethan must have had the same feeling, because his face went pale.

They turned their attention back to the window. The creature was perched just outside. Blood dripped from its descended fangs and a decapitated human head dangled from its clutches. As if the vampire’s attentive stare wasn’t enough, the glazed dead eyes of the head also stared in at them.

Cori’s throat convulsed, in preparation for the return of her chicken and ice cream.

“Is that real?” Cori whimpered. “Please tell me that's not real.”

“This is rubbish. Forget the lamps.” Ethan dropped his lamp.

“But…” she objected, her gaze fearfully frozen on the
vampire
.

Ethan yanked the lamp out of her hand. “We are not fighting that; we are running from that.” He pushed her out the door and shut it behind them.

She ran downstairs and headed to the front door.

“What are you doing?” Ethan yelled and tried to intercept her escape. “You know it's locked.”

“I have to get out of here. I have to try.” She grabbed the knob and tried to wrench it open by the sheer will on her hands.

“You can't go outside!” Ethan grabbed her shoulder to pull her back.

She reflexively threw him off, catching his face with the back of her hand. He stepped back touching his lip. She hadn't drawn blood, but it would no doubt be a little puffy.

His face dimmed into anger, but he didn't retaliate. “That
thing
is outside,” he explained firmly. “Not to mention we are in a barricaded facility.
And
it's like a thousand degrees below zero out there. Just stop and think about what you are doing.”

Cori rubbed her face and nodded. He was right. She was being impulsive—as usual. She needed to think. There was only one person that could help them in this situation.

Batman?

Cori ran back to the office. Ethan followed her in and locked the door behind them. The room only had one small window covered with a thick drape. She peeked behind it to assure their solitude.

She could hear thumping and screeching from upstairs. She listened for the sound of glass breaking, but she didn’t hear it.

She grabbed the phone and held the receiver to her ear. She pushed the center button and the other end rang and rang. No one answered and she cringed, ready to cry.

“Hello.” A curt voice finally answered on the other end.

“Hello?” she responded. “Danato?”

Ethan perked up and shifted to sit in one of the chairs facing the desk.

She heard some low voices in the background and then a scuffle, presumably the phone being handed off.

“Hello.” Danato’s voice huffed through the ear piece. Cori was relieved to hear his voice. She hated the man, but for the time being, he was her only link to understanding this wack-a-doo place. “What's wrong?” Are you two okay?”

The irony of his concern, dissolved her relief and she was instantly back to being irritated. “You mean other than the fact that I've been kidnapped and sold for Siberian slave labor?”

She heard him take a breath. “Yes, other than that. Are you hurt?” he clarified.

“No,” she admitted.

“Good, why are you calling?” he asked.

“Why am I...” Cori chuckled. “I wanted to order a pizza, but I left my wallet in Norway or Sweden. Could you spot me a twenty?”

“Would you just...” Ethan stood, reached over, and ripped the phone from her hand.

“Hey!” she objected.