The Recruit: Book Two (14 page)

“You have such brave friends, sweet
Hannah.”  He whispered as Selena and Hannah moved forward.

“Don’t come any closer.”  He lifted Jeremy
off his feet as easily as a child.  Jeremy, his face purple, pulled futilely at
Marcus’ hand.

“Let him go, Marcus.”  Hannah said softly.

He smiled at her, his incisors flashing in
the darkness, and set Jeremy on his feet.  He loosened his grip enough for Jeremy
to drag in a few gasping breaths. 

“Come with me and your friends will go
free.”

“Don’t do it, Hannah!  Don’t you dare
fucking – “ Jeremy choked out before Marcus clamped his hand around his throat
once more.

“Come with me or he dies.”  Marcus smiled
sweetly at her once more.

“You’re the only one who’s dying here
tonight, leech.”  Hannah hissed at him.

A look of dark anger crossed Marcus’ face. 
“Fine.”  He snarled. 

He twisted Jeremy’s head violently to the
right and there was a sharp crack as his neck broke.  Marcus dropped him to the
ground and both Hannah and Selena screamed when Jeremy’s eyes, full of dark
moonlight, stared blankly at them.

“You bastard!”  Hannah screamed and rushed
him.  Beside her, Selena gave her own shriek and ran forward as well.

Marcus laughed shrilly and swung his arm
out.  The stump of his left arm caught Hannah in the chest like a freight
truck.  She flew backwards, her head ringing, and hit the ground hard enough to
make her teeth snap together.

She bounced back to her feet, shaking her
head as Selena fired her gun.  Marcus bent backwards, the bullet skimming
uselessly through the air where his head had been only moments ago.  He reached
out and flicked his hand across Selena’s stomach.

Selena gave a soft gasp and staggered
back.  She looked down and put her hand against her abdomen, her breath
escaping from her lungs in a soft whoosh before she turned to Hannah.

“Hannah?”  She whispered weakly.  Blood
began to pour from between her fingers.  Marcus had sliced her open with his
long nails, and Hannah shrieked Selena’s name as she fell back on to her butt.

“You cannot defeat me.”  Marcus said
softly.  “Join me now or watch her die.”

Hannah stared blankly at him as he moved
closer to her.  “It won’t just be her, sweet Hannah.  Everyone you ever cared
about will die a horrible death.  Your parents, your precious Lycan lover, even
your Master.  I will unzip their guts and feast on their blood while you
watch.”

She didn’t reply and he took a few more
steps towards her.  “All of your friends, all of your family will be
destroyed.  We know everything about you.  We will hunt down everyone who is
connected to you in even the smallest of ways.  Did you know your Master has a
sister in Michigan?  Her name is Amy.  She’s twenty-seven years old and works
as a nurse.  Your Master Chen cares very deeply for her.  How do you think he
will feel when we kill and drain her?”

At Hannah’s sharp gasp he giggled and
pointed at Selena.  “Her parents are Arthur and Louisa.  Arthur is an accounts
branch manager and Louisa is a housewife.  Poor Arthur will be devastated if he
comes home to find his beloved wife’s dead body waiting for him.  Lucky for
him, he would join her soon.”

He continued, ticking off names on his long
fingers.  “Mannie, Reid, Barb, Richard… we know every detail about them and we
will not stop until you join us.”

Hannah made a small moan of dismay and he
held his hand out to her.  “Come, my lamb.  Samuel wants to meet you.  Walk
away with me right now and no one else needs to die.”

“Hannah - don’t.”  Selena whispered weakly.

She glanced at Selena.  “I have to.”

Marcus smiled triumphantly.  “That’s
right.  You have no choice.  Bring those magnificent swords with you.  Samuel
is quite the swordsman himself.  He will be pleased to have someone else with
such skills join his family.”

As Hannah took a faltering step forward his
brow darkened.  “I will have to remind Samuel that you are mine.  My Master has
a habit of – of just taking what he wants.  But not this time, my sweet lamb.”

He smiled and motioned for her to step
closer.  “It was I who discovered you.  I who realized just how special you
could be and even though Samuel now wants you as much as I do, he will not take
what is rightfully mine.”

“Hannah, no.”  Selena moaned as Hannah sheathed
the sword in her left hand and took Marcus’ cold hand.

He smiled down at her.  “You are so very
lovely.”  His light blue eyes darkened with hunger and he stared at the
throbbing vein in her neck.  “Perhaps just a quick taste before we leave.”

Hannah raised her chin, baring her throat
to him and he made a soft sound of satisfaction.  “You learn so quickly,
Hannah.”

He cupped the back of her neck with his
cold hand and lowered his head to her throat, his fangs lengthening as he
opened his mouth wide.  He stopped suddenly and wrinkled his nose.  “You smell
of Lycan.  His scent is all over you.”

He frowned down at her.  “I will not lie. Your
willingness to part your legs for a common dog disappoints me.  You will need
to be scrubbed thoroughly to remove his smell from your skin.”

He sighed deeply.  “It is not your fault I
suppose.  Human women are so weak.  When I turn you there will be no – “

He stopped as his entire body suddenly shivered
violently against Hannah’s.  He gave her a searching, almost quizzical look
before glancing down.  His eyes widened and his mouth dropped open, blood
trickling out of it in slow stream, as he stared at his chest. 

Hannah’s sword had sliced through his skin
like it was warm butter.  Marcus stared at the gaping hole in his chest; his
hand loosened around her neck and he began to stumble away from her as the
blood poured out of his chest and splashed on to the ground. 

Hannah reached up and wrapped her fist
around his long ponytail; she yanked it back viciously as she thrust her sword
deep into the hole in his chest.  She made a quick twisting motion, Marcus
grunting with surprise and pain, before withdrawing her sword and raising its
dripping blade in front of his face.

“Perhaps the little lamb is not so weak
after all.”  She whispered quietly into his ear as she showed him the bloody
slab of meat that was his heart, pierced on her blade.

She released him, smiling as he sunk to his
knees.  She used the toe of her boot to scrape his heart from her sword onto
the ground in front of him.

“Goodbye Marcus.”  She turned and walked
away as his body exploded behind her. 

“Hannah?”  Selena cried out with pain as
Hannah hooked her hands into her armpits and dragged her away from the dump
truck.

“I’m sorry, honey.”  Hannah puffed.  “Hang
on.  We’re almost there.”  She dragged her for another twenty feet before
stopping and taking Selena’s sweater off.  She folded it and pressed it against
the cut on her stomach. 

“Hold this tightly.  C’mon, Selena.”  She
coaxed.  “Press this nice and tight against your stomach, honey.”

Selena did as she asked, watching as Hannah
ran back to Jeremy’s body.  She knelt beside him, sweeping his hair back from
his face, closing his eyes and kissing his mouth gently before standing and,
muscles straining, dragged him closer to the dump truck.

She picked his gun up from the ground,
shoving it distractedly into the back of her pants before she ran to the back
of the truck and climbed up the side of it.  She peered into the bed of it,
cursing lightly before dropping to the ground.  She ran to the cab and pulled hopefully
on the driver’s door.  It opened and she disappeared inside.  There was a
muffled shout of triumph and she reappeared with a small jerry can in her hand.

Selena squinted in the growing darkness. 
Her body was beginning to shake and she could feel darkness creeping over her
vision. 

“Hannah?”  She called weakly.  She collapsed
on to her back, staring up at the rapidly darkening sky, and took deep breaths
as her eyes closed.

“Selena?”  Hannah’s worried face appeared
above her.  “Stay with me!”  There was a sharp pain on the side of her face as
Hannah slapped her and Selena blinked rapidly.

“Hannah, what – “

“Hang on, Selena.  Just a few more minutes,
okay?”

“Okay.”  Selena nodded, staring at the red
jerry can in Hannah’s hand.

“What are you doing?”

“I’ll tell you in a minute.”

She disappeared again and after a moment,
the smell of gasoline drifted to Selena.  She slapped herself briskly several
times across the face and then forced herself into a sitting position, crying
out at the pain.

Hannah paused and looked back at her.  “Are
you okay?”

Selena stared at her with wide eyes.  “What
are you doing?”

Hannah continued to splash gas around Jeremy’s
body and the dump truck.  She set the can down and reached into Jeremy’s
pocket, pulling out the package of matches.  She slipped them into her own
pocket and reached for the gas can again.  When she poured gas directly over Jeremy’s
dead body, Selena cried out with shock.

“Hannah, stop it!”

Hannah ignored her and finished emptying
the gas can.  She backed away and pulled the pack of matches from her pocket.

“Close your eyes, Selena.”  She instructed.
 “Don’t watch this.”

Selena, crying weakly, closed her eyes as
Hannah lit one of the matches.  She held it for a moment, watching the small
flickering flame dance closer to her fingers before she tossed it at the pool
of gasoline around Jeremy’s body. 

It lit with a soft “fwump” and she turned
and ran back to Selena as Jeremy’s body began to burn and the flames licked at
the underside of the dump truck.

She dragged Selena back another ten feet
until she was lying against the side of the gravel pit.

“Selena?  Honey, look at me.  I know you’re
tired and I know it hurts but I need you to concentrate.”

Selena blinked at her.  “What have you
done?”

“What I had to.”  She said grimly.  “Listen
to me – the fire will bring the others.  You’ll be fine okay?  Stay awake until
they get here.  Can you do that?”

Selena nodded weakly as Hannah gripped her
chin and turned her face towards hers.

“When the others get here, you’re going to
tell them I’m dead.  Do you understand me?”

Selena stared at her wide-eyed.  “I can’t
do that.”

Hannah shook her lightly making Selena cry
out with pain.  “You can and you will!  You heard Marcus – they won’t stop
until I’m one of them.  They’ll kill everyone I ever cared about.  Do you want
them going after your parents?  We can’t keep them all safe, Selena.  You know
we can’t.”

Selena moaned as tears dripped down her
face.  “They won’t believe it.  They’ll want to see your body.”

There was a deafening bang as the dump
truck’s gas tank exploded and the gravel pit was filled with bright orange
light as the flames licked hungrily at the sky. 

Hannah pointed grimly at Jeremy’s burning
body.  “When they get here, tell them the three of us chased Marcus to the
gravel pit.  Tell them that Jeremy was attacked by Lycans in the woods.  We
couldn’t save him and they were mutilating and eating his body when we
continued after Marcus.  Tell them that Marcus and I fought and that I set him
on fire.  Tell them,” she paused, her throat constricting heavily, “I thought
the fire had killed him.  I turned back to you and he came out of the flames
and grabbed me.  He pulled me into the fire and I died.  By the time they get
here, Jeremy’s body will be burned beyond recognition – they’ll believe it’s
me.”

“They won’t!” Selena moaned.  “They’ll know
that I’m lying!”

“Convince them you’re not, Selena!  You
have to!”  Hannah whispered fiercely.  “My death is the only thing that will
stop the vampires from going after our friends, our families.”

“I can’t.”  Selena whispered.

Hannah sighed with frustration and pulled
her sword from its sheath.  She pointed it at her chest.  “If you don’t I’ll
kill myself right here, Selena.  I swear it.  I won’t let others continue to
die because of me.”

Selena stared into her dark eyes, tears
spilling out of her own when she realized that Hannah was telling the truth. 
“Okay.”

“Good.”  Hannah cupped Selena’s face and rubbed
her cheek with a dirty thumb.  “I love you, Selena.”

“I love you too.”  Selena whispered. 

“Baddest motherfuckers around, remember
that.”  Hannah, tears dripping down her face, lifted her fist so Selena could
bump it weakly with her own.

“Yeah.”  Selena rested her head against the
side of the gravel pit and let Hannah wipe the tears from her face with rough
strokes.

She kissed Selena on the mouth, rested her
forehead briefly against the smaller woman’s and then stood and turned away.

“Hannah!”  Selena cried faintly.

Hannah looked behind her, her face weary
and streaked with dirt.  “Yeah?”

“Be safe.”

Hannah gave her a sudden, brilliant smile.  “Safe
is for cowards.” 

Without looking back, she sprinted across
the gravel pit and scrambled up the side of it.  She disappeared into the
darkness.

* * *

Chen watched as Selena, bent slightly at
the waist, walked slowly towards the door of the common room.  It had been two
weeks since the attack at Hannah’s parents, and he wondered if Selena had any
idea how lucky she was to have survived.  They had rushed her back to the
facility, and Barb had performed emergency surgery and transfused bag after bag
of blood into her small body.

As she hobbled towards the door, Chen
caught up with her and offered her his arm.  “May I help you back to your room,
Selena?”

She gave him a guarded look.  “Thank you.”

He nodded and took her arm gently, leading
her out of the common area and towards her room.

They walked silently until they reached her
room.  He opened the door for her and helped her inside, easing her down into
the armchair by the far bed.  She took a deep breath, wincing before reaching
for the blanket.

He took it and wrapped it around her legs
and waist before smiling at her.  “How are you feeling?”

“Better.”  She said.  “I’m tired of feeling
like an invalid.”

“It’s only been two weeks.”  He reminded
her gently.

“I know.  How is Ryan?”

“He’s getting better.”

She smiled.  “Good.”  

She stared at the bed that had been
Hannah’s before looking up at Chen.  “Has he come back yet?”

Chen shook his head.  “No.” 

When he, Will and Mannie had appeared in
the gravel pit, they had found Selena lying weakly against the side of it with
blood pooling around her body. 

She had been lucid enough to speak to them
and when she had told them what happened, how Hannah had died, and pointed to
the body burning next to the dump truck, Will had staggered backwards.  He had
fallen to his knees, staring horrified at Selena, before raising his face to
the sky and screaming.  Chen had never heard a sound so full of agony and
despair.  It had raised his flesh into goose bumps, every hair on his body trying
to stand up as Will wailed into the sky.  Mannie had winced and fresh tears had
started to fall down Selena’s face.  Chen had stepped forward but before he
could comfort his friend, Will’s scream had turned into a howl and he had
shifted.  With another piercing howl of desolation, he had fled the pit and
disappeared into the trees.  He had not been seen since.

Richard had used both his connections and
his wealth to arrange to have Hannah’s body disappear from the morgue.  They
had buried her in a clearing in the forest not far from the facility a week ago,
and Chen had hoped that somehow Will would be there.  Natalie, her eyes red and
an air of sorrow surrounding her, had asked him about Will.  He had shook his
head and she had broken down, her mouth trembling and her eyes filling up with
tears as Jim, his face pale and shocked, had hugged her to him.

“Do you think – do you think he’s okay?”  Selena
whispered.

Chen shrugged.  “Physically – yes. 
Mentally – I don’t know.”

There was a small desk and chair against
the far wall and he pulled the chair over, sitting down on it and staring
silently at Selena.

“What?”  She asked, picking nervously at
the blanket covering her lap.

He folded his arms across his chest and
smiled kindly at her.  “Will you tell me again what happened that night,
Selena?”

She shook her head.  “I’ve already told you
twice, and Richard twice and Alan three times.  I don’t want to talk about it
anymore, Chen.  Just give it a rest, okay?”

He studied her face.  “You said that Lycans
attacked you in the woods as you were chasing after Marcus; that Jeremy was
killed and his body torn to pieces.”

She stared at him angrily.  “Yes.”

“You and Hannah chased Marcus into the
gravel pit where you confronted him.  He sliced you open with his nails and
when Hannah was unable to defeat him with her swords, she set him on fire.”

“Yes.”  She whispered.

“Believing Marcus to be dead, she turned
away and that’s when he came out of the flames and pulled her back into the fire. 
Marcus stayed in the fire with her then?  He didn’t try to escape?”

She swallowed thickly, staring down at the
blanket.  “She held on to him until he burst and then she – she fell to the
ground.”

“That was very brave of her.”  Chen said
quietly.

Selena didn’t reply and he leaned forward,
touching her arm gently.  “Then you, suffering from a deep cut to the abdomen
and losing an astonishing amount of blood, managed to drag yourself nearly forty
feet to the edge of the gravel pit and away from the danger of the fire.”

“Yes.”  She whispered again.

She looked up at him, her eyes dark with pain
and guilt.  “Could you please leave now, Chen?  I’m very tired.”

“Of course.”  He squeezed her arm gently.  “Just
one more question and then I’ll go.” 

She stared warily at him.  “What?”

“What happened to her swords?”

“I – what?”  She stammered.

“Hannah’s swords.  They were not with her
body.”

She gave him a nervous look.  “They burned
up in the fire.”

He smiled.  “They would not have burned in
the fire, Selena.  Blackened maybe, but not burned.”

“She must have dropped them.”

He nodded.  “That’s what I thought too.  I
went back to the gravel pit three days after we found you.  There was no sign
of her swords.”

“Maybe the police took them.”  She cleared
her throat nervously. 

The neighbours, terrified by the sounds of
the vampires screaming and the howling of the Lycans, had called the local
police.  By the time they had arrived Hannah’s parents and the others were
gone, although Chen and Mannie had barely managed to sneak Selena through the
woods and to a waiting vehicle without being detected.  There had been much
speculation by the media in the following weeks over the large number of decapitated
wolves found in their backyard.

He tilted his head.  “Perhaps.  Although, I
have a friend who is part of the local police department and he assures me that
no swords have been brought in as evidence.”