Bloodbreeders: Seeking Others (12 page)

One of the men made a move to run and Derek was on him instantly, as the other two men got to their feet and watched him rip the throat out of the man with perfect ease. He stood up and spit the chunk of flesh back down on the man as the man groped at his throat. He was gasping for breath that would never come, and a sweet sensation of satisfaction came over me. I knew now that I didn’t care if it was normal or breeder that we killed. If they harmed the innocent, we harmed them. That was the way it was going to be. I told the boys to take their fill and then remove the heads as Cates had suggested. It was a hard thing to fathom, but something that I could see working on the next batch of evil doers to darken this cave’s entrance.

We waited what seemed like forever for Garvin and Sydney to return. The heads had been placed around the area by Cates and Jacob, while Tammy and I went through the papers that Brandon had found in a small study which was further down the hall. Derek came in and told us that they were back, so Tammy and I rolled as many of the papers as we could and hid them just in case someone else wanted them before we retuned. This doctor had been trying to find a way to reverse the effects of the blood disorder of the breeders, by using fresh blood of a normal in some type of a transfusion.   A very sick individual as far as I could tell from the records we found, and one that needed to be put down—after I found out his progress that is.

When we walked out Jacob was drawing things on the ground while looking back up at a small piece of paper in his hand. “You two will go in here.” Then he paused, turning to look at us. Cates continued to fiddle with his sword, never once raising his eyes to acknowledge us. Brandon and Derek stepped around me and went to see what Jacob was working on. He continued to explain the area of the lake where we would all be dropped off in pairs, and how we would circle around and meet up at the back of the doctor’s home. He said that there was two ways in; one from the front of the lake and one from the back. Both meeting and making a single line in the dense forest.

“There are others there besides the doctor. I can feel it in my bones,” Cates finally said. “Not sure if it’s Omar, but it’s something to worry about.”

“I feel it too, Renee,” Sydney added. “But it doesn’t feel like breeders.”

“What do you mean, Sydney? Does it feel like a group of normals?” I asked looking out into the night, glad to be out of the brilliant but eerie cave.

He shook his head and said nothing.

“I think the good doctor works with magic, maybe witchcraft,” Cates added stretching his almost seven foot form out. “Can you all not feel the tingling on your skin?”

“I do,” Sydney quickly added. “Feels like bugs crawling all over me.”
“I don’t feel anything,” Derek said, shrugging his shoulders.
“What of you, my…Renee?” Cates asked, learning nicely to use my name.

“I feel nauseated, but that could be from what we just did.”

“Highly unlikely,” Jacob said with a slight grin.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked turning to him.

“It means that I cannot see you becoming squeamish over a little spilled blood, and most certainly not the blood of one who would harm a child.”

“Then, I would say that you are feeling the doctor’s use of witchcraft,” Cates added getting a look from all of us, except Jacob.

“He is one that plays with the dead.” Jacob explained the doctor’s reason behind the witchcraft.

“I’m not going,” Sydney said adamantly. “I thought that was what I saw in my head.”

“What did you see?” I grabbed his arm.

“The walking dead, okay, are you happy, I said it? I saw him raise a dead normal, without breaking a sweat.”

“You failed to see the preparation, young one. You have become a much stronger creature yourself and should not fear the likes of the walking dead,” Cates explained, patting him on the back.

“I think you’ve all lost your mind. There is no such thing as the dead getting up and moving around, it’s a trick, Sydney,” I responded in complete seriousness.

“Brave words coming from someone who just became a bloodbreeder and found a creature with wings. I have seen them with my own eyes, torn them to shreds with these hands. So believe what you will, but do not be surprised when one comes stumbling toward you,” Cates sarcastically replied.

“He speaks the truth, Renee. I have seen them as well.”

“So have I, many times, and every time I was brought here,” Tammy added, lightly touching my shoulder.

“I don’t believe it.”

“Would you have believed the stories of the bloodbreeders or stories of your winged child, if you had not first seen them with your own eyes?” Cates asked raising one brow.

“No, I guess not.”

“Then this night you will also believe in the walking dead as well.”

“Maybe? I can tell you now though that I know witchcraft is something I have read about in the Bible, I do know I will never have dealings with the likes of it.”

“Unless you have no other choice,” Jacob smiled. “We must hurry, this night will not last forever.”

With that said we finished making the plans to take the doctor’s house, only this time we had a new problem, one that I wouldn’t believe until I did see it with my own eyes. I think that Brandon and Derek wanted to feel the same way that I did, but they seemed to lean more on Cates’ word than mine. That made me want to believe it just a little, but I was hoping even more that they were wrong. We took the small boat the rest of the way down the creek that soon opened up into a lake just as the map had shown. It was a lake known as, Moultrie.

Tammy and I were dropped off first, then the others. Jacob and Cates were to be last, parking the boat in a place that wouldn’t be discovered easily. We were to all make our way at least a fourth of a mile. The four that were dropped off on this side were to take a right, as the others made their way left, hoping that we all met in a close proximity, so that we could take the home together. If time became a problem, we were to make our way closer in until we found each other, staying clear of the main grounds of the doctor’s property.

“I can smell it already,” Tammy said.

“Yeah, me too,” I replied. “Tell me about them, Tammy.”

“The dead?”
“Yeah.”

“I heard him call them “zombies” once. He told Cortez that it was just a thing he played with, that it wasn’t anything more than that.”

“How does he do it though?”

“I haven’t got a clue. I had never seen it before him, but I had heard of it.”

“They sure never talked about things like this where I came from, not even a little.”

“We’re not exactly from that world anymore.”

“You got that right. Think we’ve gone far enough yet, because I can’t tell a thing in this growth?”

“Maybe, it’s hard to tell. Let’s keep going a little further.”

Once we started moving to our left the smell of death became much more pungent to my senses. I was about to step out into an opening when something or someone yanked me down hard. I would have yelled out but there was an enormous hand over my face. I looked over to see Jacob holding Tammy, shaking his head looking right at me. Cates had me, and I wanted loose. I turned in his grip and pulled away. I looked back at his now smiling face and he simply put a finger to his lips and shook his head slightly, then pointed to where I was fixing to go. I crawled on my hands and knees and peered through the long grass. I was taken aback at the sight of all the crosses in the opening behind the two story house. All the markers were charred except for the tips, and even the earth below was covered in a heap of dark ash.

“I gather that we’re here,” I spoke in a low voice.

“Indeed,” Cates whispered his reply.

“Where are the boys?”

“Checking the front. They will join us soon,” Jacob said as he pulled one of his silver blades.

“Can you tell how many we’re up against?” I asked looking back at Cates.

“Not many breeders, maybe ten, twelve at best, but the undead could be a much higher count.”

“How do we kill something like that if they’re already dead?” My concern was growing.

“Like us, we are sometime considered without life and are very much vulnerable to several things. They too have a weakness and cannot live without the use of their heads.”

“So take the head off and the dead become dead again?”

“Something like that.” He was answering as the other four came sneaking back in.

“There’s four breeders posted out front, but something isn’t right,” Sydn
ey said sitting down by Jacob.

“Like what?” Tammy asked.

“It feels like there’s already been bloodshed, fresh bloodshed. I think someone’s already been here to see the doctor, could be why he wasn’t there to get the two girls,” Sydney whispered so low it was hard for my bloodbreeder ears to hear.

“Good thinking my young friend,” Cates replied, nodding his head as he looked back down at his sword.

“You knew?” I asked looking back at him.

“I knew there had been an incident, but one cannot tell the victor,” Cates paused, and then lifted one side of his mouth, what my pa would call, a ‘shit eatin’ grin’. “Not until one looks with his eyes, now can he?” 

“Omar,” I said without even thinking.

“On that I must agree,” Jacob concurred. “His scent is on this land.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Derek asked fixing to stand up, but Jacob pulled him back down.

“Be still and have patience. You will see all soon enough.”

We sat quietly, waiting to catch sight of what Jacob and Cates wanted us to see. Sure enough, the back door opened and four wobbling creatures filed out. “Break up, move in pairs and remember…remove the head.”  Jacob then slithered backwards into the darkness of the forest. The good doctor either ordered them out or he had someone making him do it. Tammy and I stuck together just as we had been told to, making our way deeper into the thick growth of the forest floor. I was beside myself after witnessing what I just had. The gray decayed corpses walking as if they lived, moving with shuffled steps and emotionless expressions. One had no arm as it swung the other to move out in the same direction that Tammy and I had just taken.

“You take that side of the path and I’ll take this one,” Tammy suggested, stepping behind a tree.

“What then?” I asked in a low whisper as I heard the debris stir with the movement of the dead that was slowly coming our way.

“We’ll cut off its head, what else?” Then she winked as she slid into the shadows.

I jumped behind the tree across from her, right as the things came into view. Its face was all but rotted off. Where it once had lips, I could see its teeth, giving it the expression of a permanent horrific smile. But that was easily erased with the gore that poured from its eye sockets, a thick yellow substance that fit perfectly with the smell that clung to the creature. It smelled like a cow that had been bloated for a month, like only death could. It stopped right before it got to the point of passing us, almost as if it knew where we were. I took a deep breath and stepped out.

“Looking for me?”

Its body jerked and started coming toward me. Tammy stepped out and grabbed her mouth. The thing swayed from side to side making a strange gurgling sound. I looked to my left just in time to see another one moving toward us; only this one’s legs were moving much faster. I kicked out and put the first one down on the ground, then ran at the other thinking I was going to do the same, when it turned with more speed than I had anticipated. I ended up sliding to the ground as the thing turned to reach for me. Fast, it was so much faster than the ones that I saw coming out of the house, but where had it come from? Why hadn’t we seen this one?

I rolled out of its way, but it kicked out catching me across the face. My head flew back, and before I could gain my senses it had me by the leg and dragging me back to the house of horrors. I screamed out, grabbing a hold of anything I could get a grip on, but the thing pulled me without any hindrance to my strength. I kicked its knee, getting no response. It felt nothing that I tried, not even my blade cutting at the hand that held me. I couldn’t see any of my people. I knew now that there were a great deal more out in the forest than just four, it was a ploy to fool us and it had worked.

“Tammy!” I screamed at the top of my lungs, but no one came.

Fear filled me the closer that this thing dragged me to the back of the house. I twisted until its arm looked like a deformity, yet still it held firm. “No!” I screamed and grabbed the earth as he reached the first step. My heart was ripping through my chest. I didn’t fear seeing the doctor. I didn’t want to become a new creature. I didn’t want to die here and be brought back. My body wouldn’t turn to ash. I was past the point of hyperventilating.

“Renee,” Jacob yelled.

I rolled my head back as it pulled me through the door. “Jacob!” I yelled in return as the door slammed shut.

“If we take the house in full force they will kill her without thought,” Jacob explained to the others who wanted nothing more than to come to my aid. But, he was correct. Had they come kicking in the door at that point, my head would have been removed, as well as my limbs or at least that’s what the walking dead made me assume. The thing dragged me down a long flight of steps where the smell of death grew continually stronger. I gagged as by body bounced off each step that was covered in God only knows what, and in these places it could be anything.

It never let go of my ankle, but the thing finally froze in the middle of a cold stone floor, that was undoubtedly covered in the bones and the fecal matter of victims. It was like they used it to dispose of both bodies and their waste. I pulled with all my might so hard, that I saw its dead flesh pull at the things shoulder. I thought if I couldn’t get it to let go I would just rip the whole arm off. So I began twisting myself like a top, until I heard a loud snap.

“That won’t be necessary,” a familiar voice said.

I jerked around looking in every direction, but saw no one in the poorly lit space. Then I heard Omar say, “Bring her.” The beast began dragging me further into the depths of the underground pit that I assumed to be the doctor’s dungeons. I could hear the loud clanking of metal doors, before we passed through one. I would hear them slam close, as if they were opening and closing by magic, and with what was dragging me like a rag doll, it was something that wouldn’t surprise me. I now would believe anything. It stopped in the entrance of a well lit room that was illuminated with multiple hanging wall sconces, and two large torches at the back of what I would very much call the torture room. I was sitting up, pulling with my hands, gripping the door until my fingers went numb, as my eyes took in everything in front of me.

Between the torches on the back wall, hung a man wearing a long, white overcoat that was drenched in blood. The long stone table in the middle of the room held two restraints at the top and two at the bottom, and both were attached to very short chains. As I was looking at the many blades and devices hanging on the wall to my left, three more walking dead things came from an area to my right that I hadn’t even noticed.

“Place her on the table.”

“Place me there yourself, Omar! Or are you that afraid of me?” I yelled, giving one
hard pull, using the weight of my whole body on the door jam, and pulled the things arm completely off.

“Not a wise move,” Omar said looking down at me from behind.

“Think I would make it easy?” He then lifted me up by a handful of my hair.

I held tight to the arm that held me off the floor, as my other hand grabbed for my blade. Omar saw me pulled it and threw me. My back collided with the stone table that didn’t budge, pain shooting up my spine like lightning meeting the earth with an enormous blast. My blade went spinning across the room and my gun was somewhere in between here and the forest where the big thing had grabbed me. I had one solid thing to keep me strong—my people were coming. They wouldn’t stop for anything to keep from getting here, other than true death itself.

“You’re gonna pay for what you did to my family,” I sneered as those things fought to put me on the table.

“Your mother was as sweet as honey, and fought better than your father,” he mockingly replied then licked his lips.

“Bastard!” I yelled fighting back the tears.

“You
r mother begged for me to spare the rest, to take her instead. What a brave woman she was. I took her in my arms and drained her pathetic, so called, life. I took your brothers, and let’s not forget that yummy little sister of yours.”

“Shut the hell up!” I screamed.

I kicked out, hitting one of the things in the throat, taking the head off with ease. It wasn’t so much my strength that did it but more so how rotten the walking dead was. I brought my knee up, smashing in the face of another and almost leaped off the table, but the thing with one arm grabbed and pushed my arm down to the restraint and another strapped me down. A different one held my legs using itself like one big rope, while the others clasped the restraints on my remaining limbs. Omar sent them away with a flick of his wrist, and then came closer than I ever wanted him to be.

“How did one little girl manage to take down one of the strongest of our kind?”

“First, I’m no little girl, and second I didn’t do it alone. You’re fixing to meet the rest.”

“Brave words for someone at my mercy,” he replied, pushing the hair away from my
eyes.

“Don’t touch me….don’t you ever touch me,” I cried, snapping at him with my teeth.

“I will do whatever I please!” he yelled down into my face, grabbing my breast with force as he said it.

“Get…off…me,” I gritted my teeth, showing no sign of fear, and never took my tear filled eyes off of his.

“My, you have changed,” he laughed, pulling his hand away, but running it down my stomach.

“They sweep the grounds,” a man ran in, yelling in a panic.

“Then kill them, you fool!”

“They have already taken the dead and several of the breeders.”

That put a smile on my face, which made Omar so mad that he backhanded me with a closed fist.

“Laugh now, bitch! I’ll send you to that pathetic family you mourn for. All will see what a waste you were. ” Then he went and grabbed a short blade off the wall.

He was about to raise the blade in the air when the very same man who had just warned him about the others, came flying through the air, landing right on top of me. Jacob came in first, followed by Cates. Jacob took two long steps, putting one foot on the end of the table, jumping up and with a lightning fast kick, knocked the blade out of Omar’s hand as he was making a downward strike for my head. He then put his foot in the center of Omar’s chest knocking him into the wall full of weapons.

Cates started swinging his sword making contact with every dead thing walking around in the room, until there was nothing left but headless things oozing on the floor. That’s when Omar tried to make a break for the door, but not until he first grabbed another blade. He then ran and that’s when Derek’s blade took him in the stomach as he reached the entrance. When I saw Derek spin, I knew I had lost my kill. Omar dropped to his knees as his intestines covered the ground. I saw Derek pull his arm back and yell before he plunged his blade into Omar’s forehead, yanking his hand back like it was now repulsive.

I was sitting up waiting for Sydney and Brandon to get my legs free, watching as Omar turned into a thick black mush. Derek grabbed his blade as Omar’s body began to turn and dropped down to one knee, but the hard expression on his face never wavered while he stayed down looking at what he had done. He took vengeance for the loss of my family. I too felt the hatred inside. Once my legs were free I went to him. I thanked him for avenging my family and held out my hand. He looked up at me for a few seconds, and then stood to meet me eye to eye.

“We could hear him taunting you.”

“Everything’s okay now. He paid, thanks to you.” I bumped him with my elbow.

“I believe this belongs to you,” Cates said handing me my blade.

“Thanks,” I smiled up at him. “I knew you wouldn’t be far behind.”

“Couldn’t let you have all the fun,” he replied raising one brow.

“He lives,” Jacob said as he and Brandon took the doctor down from the back wall.

The man had been beaten senseless. His face was so messed up that I couldn’t make out his features. I wanted to know about his research, but everyone else wanted to put him down, burn the place and leave. Johnny was my top concern and if this man had any form of answers I was going to get them if I had to stay here alone to do it. Cates puffed up right next to Jacob, so I politely pulled rank. I kept my reasons to myself, and told Sydney and Derek to check his stock for fresh blood. I wanted him strong enough to do some explaining, and afterwards they could do with him as they pleased.

“I suppose we will be spending our day down here then?” Cates asked as we waited for them to return.

“Go! Just start walking and go. No one is making anyone stay. I want the answers, and I can find my way back to the creek. If you can’t handle this for one night, then go,” I replied turning back to watch as Tammy cleaned on the doctor’s face.

“I have never left my guard, and have stayed in much worse than this,” Cates snapped.

“Then stop the damn complaining.”

“Is she always like that of a mule? Hard in the head, and harder yet to steer.” He laughed looking back at Jacob.

“Look big man, my pa said, ‘the bigger they are the harder they fall’. So, shut up before I knock you on your ass.”

“Renee, that was not called for,” Jacob interjected.

“He just called me a mule!”

“Then stop acting like one,” he replied, tilting his head.

By this time the big man was rolling in laughter at my comment and the ongoing conversation that I was having with Jacob. He was laughing so hard that he bent over and grabbed his knees. I could feel the blood start to boil in my veins, which Jacob saw as well. He went to reach out but my foot came up too fast, catching Cates right on the bridge of the nose. His head went up as his body went back, landing him square on his backside. Blood started to trickle from his broken nose, as a sinister smile took a hold of my face. His masculine jaw tightened as he gritted his teeth. His pale green eyes glowed with anger, while his brows grew closer together. He got to his feet, never breaking contact with my eyes.

“Jacob has taught you well,” he said wiping his nose and slinging the blood to the floor.

“You touch me, I’ll kill ya,” I replied unsheathing my blade.

“With that, please, Renee. I would never strike the one I call my master, but I would not push that issue too far.”

“He’s coming around,” Tammy said taking the pressure off the subject at hand.

Nothing else walked around, living or dead, except for us and the good doctor. The boys found several things in the barn-like shed, bringing back a small goat, filling several cups before the doctor waved it away. He seemed to think that we had come to rescue him from the likes of Omar. He told us that Omar beat him into submission, making him give him control over everything that he owned, to save his own life. We let him ramble on about how Omar had made him do the incantation to raise more of the walking dead, then giving him control over them. He hadn’t exactly told how it was done, and none of us seemed to care. I personally hated the idea of even being here, but I needed him to talk.

“Why the girls?”

“You mean, why their blood? I always let them go, of course, unless an experiment went wrong, then I had to euthanize them.”

“Then I guess that’s what I mean,” I sarcastically replied.

“I use their blood to try and find a way to fix this problem.”

“What problem is that?” Jacob asked leaning into the man that sat on the end of the table.

“The one that keeps us out of the light,” he responded, scooting back.

“And your results? Do they all end up like the ones on the crosses in your back yard?” I asked, putting my hand on Jacob’s shoulder.

“So far, I’m afraid. Why do you all seem so angry? Were you not sent to save me?”

Laughter burst out from behind me, and the doctor came close to leaping off the table. It seemed that Cates, Brandon, and Derek were finding his questions extremely hilarious.

“You would be better to assume, not,” Jacob answered with a straight face.

“Have you found anything out about us?” I asked watching the fear grip his spine as he absorbed
the fact that we were the enemy tale that passed on the wind one night, a warning he failed to listen to.

“I’m not like the others. I thrive to make change, just like you,” he forcibly smiled as his eyes darted to Cates.

“What is your name, so I don’t have to refer to you as a ‘doctor’,” I frowned shaking my head slightly.

“Gilbert, Gilbert Von Barrette,” he replied, sitting up a little straighter.

“Well, Gilbert. You are nothing like me and you’re damn sure nothing like the people behind me,” I said closing my eyes and pursing my lips, while I shook my head a little more quickly.

“I heard there was a group that was burning the homes of strong masters. I am no master.”

“You must have heard wrong. Are you going to tell about the research or not?” I re-asked my previous question.

“I have found out little, but I believe one can change out the blood by transfusion, and gain progress on, well, to become closer to our former selves.”

“Yeah, how do you know that?” Sydney asked stepping into the conversation.

“I have been using myself as a subject,” he nervously replied, as everyone stepped up to hear more.

“With the help of little girls, against their will,” Derek snapped, knocking over a shelf of glass bottles.

“Derek?” I looked back at the now wide eyed, so called doctor. “Your results, Gilbert?”

“I haven’t really tested my theory, but I can now drink a small glass of wine without becoming ill.”