Bloodbreeders: The Revenge (20 page)

“Why are these things in my mouth?” he asked, running his fingers over his fangs. “And what is that horrible smell?”

“Ashley,” I gestured my hand toward him.

“What? Why me?” she asked, jumping to her feet, nervously wiping her hands down the front of her shirt.

“Sydney, how do you feel?” I asked looking back at him.

“Different. Guess I won’t be doing anymore day sailing…will I?”

“Do you remember the men beating you on the boat?” Bo asked walking up to him.

“Yeah. Bastards took a shot every time that woman wasn’t looking after they took me into that big house.”

“Annabel?” I interjected.

“That’s the one,” he replied, as he began recognizing the room. “Not only does my stomach burn, but this room looks very much like the one they brought me to…and that damn smell.”

“Calm down, Sydney,” Ashley said, finally stepping up in front of him. “We’re still in the estate, and this is the same room. The woman that hurt you is dead, but the damage was too much for your body to handle, so I asked,” she cleared her throat. “No, I begged Garvin, to help me.”

“Help you?” Sydney asked rubbing the sides of her arms.

“To make you—one of us. I didn’t want to lose you. I knew you didn’t want to be like me, but I couldn’t watch you lay there and die. So, if you’re angry then take it out on me, okay?” she explained lowering her head.

Sydney put his hand under her chin and raised it back up. “Then you saved my life.” He then leaned down and kissed her on the mouth. Not a quick passing kiss, but a long passionate one that ended in a gripping embrace. I glanced over to see the three boys grinning like little possums, and just sat there, waiting for one of them to make a comment to embarrass her. To my surprise, all they ended up doing was clapping when the two stepped apart. Ashley blushed, while Sydney held his head up two inches higher.

“I think we need to feed, making everyone as strong as we can before we hit the second floor again,” I said breaking up the excitement.

“I will go,” Garvin immediately replied.

“I’ll go with him,” Bo added.

“What about me, can I go?”

“Two is better than three in this case, my young one,” Garvin said, patting Derek’s head.

“That is such bull shit,” Derek spat walking to the corner.

“Do you not think that three is easier to see than two?” Garvin asked, walking up to him. “It would be better for our third to watch for our return than run at our side.”

“You mean I can keep watch at the door.”

“Who else would I ask?”

I took in a deep breath, thanking the stars that Garvin understood the mind of a child. Derek had a hard time being the youngest of the boys and hated not being chosen in a task best served by one of the others. He seemed to be perfectly happy watching our backs, as long as we could keep him at his post, at least down here I could make sure of that fact by going up and keeping him company. Garvin and Bo headed out and Derek was right on their heels. I waited about twenty minutes then went on up.

“Renee, is that you?” Derek whispered.

“Yeah, no boogie man, just me.”

“What’s taking them so long?”

“It hasn’t been that long, Derek. Brandon and Bo were gone a lot longer last night.”

“I wish they would have let me gone with ’em,” he added, peeking out the door. “Hey, they’re coming.”

I started back down the steps so that I wouldn’t be in anyone’s way. When I looked back, Derek was right in the middle of them and the two goats that they were carrying and trying to keep quite. I had to go back up and pull him down by the arm. He was asking them a question a second. Then he started complaining about me holding his hand all the way back down the stairs, and it didn’t stop until we we’re back in the room with the others.

“Derek, give it a rest,” I said a little too loud.

“I can’t help it, I just get a little excited,” he replied, looking over at Tanda.

“Come, sit by me, Derek,” she said patting the cot.

The right side of his mouth curled into a slight grin, as his foot began turning on the heel. He took a few steps, then gingerly took a seat. Bo and Garvin began the task of slicing the throat of the first goat, which had apparently been eating on some type of greenery.

“What is that?” Derek asked as he looked down into the bowl of blood.

“You try holding a goat in your arms and stop it from eating, while you’re hiding in a bush,” Bo replied picking out the blades of green.

“That is so gross. Did y’all see that slide out of his neck?” Derek added looking back at Tanda.

He seemed to change his tone somewhat fast when he noticed the look on her face. He saw her as another teenager and didn’t comprehend that she was fifty years his senior. He put his hands in his lap and didn’t move them until he was handed a cup. After he was finished and passed it back, he placed them right back in his lap. I couldn’t help but to grin at the sweet smile that spread across Tanda’s face, every time Derek began to fidget. Later, I was talking to the
girls; it was as if we had gathered into two small groups; the boys on one side and the girls on the other.

“Renee, we need you to come over here. We have a plan and we need to see what you think,” Brandon said, then went back to the corner where the other boys were.

“Looks like I better go see what’s going on.”

“Mind if I join you?” Tammy asked as she started to get up.

“No, not at all, but if you’re thinking that you might be going with us, you can just put that thought right back where you pulled it out of.” Then I turned to walk away.

“I can carry my own weight,” she said firmly, grasping my elbow.

“I’m sure you can, Tammy,” I replied looking at her. “But you still look like hell and I for one think you need to worry about getting yourself in better shape, so you can help, not make things worse.”

She noticed me looking down in the direction of our adjoined arms and really took in the red discoloration of her skin above the bandages that we had put on the night before. I raised my eyes to see the realistic thought take hold. She ran her hand up to my forearm and squeezed, smiling her recognition, then she returned to her cot without another word. It was a relief having a mature woman, and one that I was liking more with every conversation, be it one of disagreement or comfort. However, my smile faded when I saw the seriousness hovering over the boys.

Garvin was using the small bits of debris that splintered when we kicked in the door, to explain the upper levels of the estate. Bo was listening intently, but his hands never stopped sharpening his long sword. Brandon was asking questions, making sure to leave nothing out, and even Derek’s demeanor had taken on a status of a more responsible young man, instead of his usual silly self. Sydney seemed well placed in the corner, taking everything in. I joined as Garvin was telling about the double doors that lead to Yvette’s main quarters on the third floor. He explained that the floor she called her sanctuary, was once meant to be an attic for its original owner. He said the doors had no knobs on the outside and were securely locked with a large four by four bar from the inside, at all times. It was when he started talking about the secret passages that had me wondering where they led to.

“Have you used these passages?” I asked.

“Only the one passage, that leads from the second floor to the main hall. I have never known one to go to the top floor, but she would not allow that information out easily.”

“Are there tunnels that lead to the lower levels? I mean down here?” I asked, sitting down on the floor next to Derek.

“I have been in this perdition for more years than I like to remember, but I have never thought to look for something like what we speak of now. One becomes complacent when they know that this is the rest of their existence.”

“But, it’s not the rest,” Derek interrupted.

“What’s not?” Garvin replied in confusion.

“The rest of your existence, of course. You just have to figure out what you’re going to do with it now.” Then Derek patted him on the knee.

“He’s right,” Bo added looking up.

“I think Tanda and I may need a little guidance, but at this moment, it is a hard thing to fathom,” he replied looking at each of us in turn.

“Garvin knows this place inside and out. We make sure the first floor is clear again, then we take the second,” Brandon explained taking back control of our immediate situation.

“I am sure that there will be more than just, Mr. Huerta. He is one that stays through the winter months, providing he has his needs met,” Garvin began explaining.

“Perversions are more like it,” Bo added.

“Yes,” Garvin agreed. “Not all those that come want a night as he does. Some may simply want to port for a few nights, and others to make sales.”

“Sales?” I asked.

“The Mistress buys, as well as sells,” Garvin replied.

“You mean slaves, right?”

“Correct…what I’m trying to say, Renee, is that you can be very sure that there are others. There may not be as many as the strong months have, but a few nonetheless.”

“Then they can die just as easy as that fat bastard, Huerta,” I said with anger filling my voice.

“Since Annabel didn’t check in, should we be looking for Yvette to be sending someone down tonight?” I asked.

“If it had been more than a few nights, yes, but one I would think not. Annabel is known to report every other day at times. Unless, the estate is full of guests.”

“Then let’s put this plan in action.”

Chapter Nineteen

I had talked enough. If there was even the slight possibility that there might be someone else being harmed, then we were the ones letting it happen now. I tied my blade firmly to my leg, making sure that I could easily pull it free from its sheath. I then took my gun, flipping open the cylinder, adding the bullets, and then put two more rounds in my pocket. No words were needed. The boys were doing the exact same thing that I was. Garvin stood watching until Bo walked over and handed him one of his two foot blades. He asked very little about whether or not Garvin knew how to use them, and focused more on showing him where to strike for a death blow. I was tapping my foot, ready and scared at the same time.

“The one thing that’s changed since I woke up is, I can’t see what you’re thinking, Renee,” Sydney said, stepping up behind me. “But I can tell that you’re holding all of this on your shoulders.”

“And why shouldn’t I, Sydney? No one has ever given two shits about stopping this madness. Now I’ve stepped right in the big middle of it, pulling way to many innocent people in with me.”

“Pulling? Can you even hear yourself, or are you just that self-centered? I think that everyone that follows you up those stairs and even those who stay down here, hate the same things about this place and want just as much to see it stopped,” he proclaimed, holding his hand up. “I know half of us here haven’t been through anything close to what the rest have, but we love and care a great deal for those of you who were mistreated and we have the same right to fight for all of your rights.”

“That’s good, Sydney. I truly understand what you’re saying and you couldn’t be more
right. I don’t even deserve friends like you. I haven’t asked, you’ve all just willingly put your lives on the line and not for me, but for the justice of those who are being treated in ways that are inhuman. Thank you.”

He was right; it was about time that I stopped taking things so damn personal when half the people standing around me had gone through years of detrimental abuse. I would learn to stand beside this new, well rounded group. I may have set out to do things in a different way, but now I was going to do it standing with the best friends that I had ever had. Family was actually a better word for the ones who stood looking at me now. I smiled up at Sydney, who now leaned back in the corner that he found most comfortable, looking back at me with a gentle smile.

We were as ready as we were ever going to be. Sydney stood by Garvin’s side, with Derek not far behind the two. Bo, Brandon, and I were looking over each other, making sure our weapons were in check. I turned around to see Ashley and Tanda sitting—one on each side of Tammy—and all three looking with eyes of innocence and fear of the unknown, right at me. I had already instructed them to keep the door shut with the board across it that Bo had fixed up, and not to remove it unless they heard one of our voices.

“Don’t worry, I may have a few marks on me, but anybody that comes through that door that isn’t on the other end of our little welcome wagon is going to have to go through me to get to your girls,” Tammy said, followed by a wink and a slight grin.

“You’re alright in my books, Tammy. I’m honored to have you with us.”

“Renee,” Bo said stepping into the room. “Are you ready?”

“Yeah,” I replied, and then looked back. “I’ll see you girls soon.” I left before another word could be exchanged.

I ran up the stairs behind Bo. As soon as we reached the top, Garvin opened the door just enough to peer out. He looked back, nodded once then headed out. One by one we made our way across the foyer to where Garvin was standing. He held up one hand, silencing us with the flick of his hand. “Wait.” He whispered the words, making me think that he had seen or heard one of Yvette’s people, causing my heart to leap into my throat, blocking my air. He moved quickly to the hall of paintings and held the door while we all rushed in.