Bound in Blood 1 Clandestine (24 page)

Sebastian explained that he could take people with him on
his Star Trek adventures. All he has to do is simply touch them at
the time he moves from one place to another. Apparently the
teleport thing worked for more than one person. Before Emily
caught up with them, Tyler was quizzing Sebastian all about the
mechanics of it. Somehow or another through that, they
discovered that Ty could do it as well.

It really was an amazing and cool gift. Emily just liked to
make fun of it because it was kind of fun to tease Sebastian. It
wasn’t every day you met someone who could disappear and
then reappear in an entirely different location. The whole thing
fascinated Emily and she wanted desperately to know how it
worked.

Tyler being able to teleport was a big deal. It meant they
wouldn’t have to use their van. Yep, they had a van… an actual
vehicle. Emily wondered why Sebastian had never used it for
any of their travels. Also, now that she was thinking about it,
why hadn’t he teleported them out of the alley earlier? That
definitely would have made things easier. She was
so
going to
have to ask him about that.

For the latest expedition, Sebastian could transport Emily
as well as Kyle and Tyler could transport Ivy. Yuck. Emily
really didn’t like that idea. She didn’t want Ivy to touch a single
hair on Ty’s head. Whatever, she wasn’t going to whine about it.
If she did, it would just prove to Ivy that she was immature.

The guys transported them a block away from the vamp’s
house in an alley. Really? Emily was really starting to despise
alleys. Couldn’t they have dropped them in a bush or something?
Nothing good has ever happened in an alley, and she doubted
that would be changing anytime soon.

It was still dark outside. Well, pitch black to be exact.
Emily’s new heightened night vision senses were working in full
affect already. That was something at least. She scanned every
nook and cranny of the alley just in case. There were garbage
cans and some old discarded appliances, but that seemed to be it.

The whole group seemed to be on high alert while they
walked. Dressed all in black, they appeared like just a Goth gang
of kids planning to terrorize the neighborhood. Thanks to the
darkness, their gear and weapons were pretty well hidden, which
was good. If there did happen to be anyone outside, they
wouldn’t get freaked by the sight of the arsenal they were
carrying. A frantic call to the police by a skittish neighborhood
watch dog, would be the last thing they needed.

The temperature was chilly, which added to the
malevolence of the evening. Emily felt like an extra in a bad
horror flick. Was there a rule somewhere that scary situations
had to take place in the cold? Didn’t anything ever go wrong in
the desert? If not, she planned to add Arizona to her list of places
she wanted to move, as soon as this was all over.

Emily had been given another knife and her silver powder
had been replenished. Kyle thought she might be good with a
crossbow. He tried to give her a brief rundown on the proper use
of the awkward contraption. That
so
wasn’t going to happen,
Emily passed on that one. Sure, she evidently had some kind of a
gift with the dagger, and the silver powder was easy enough. A
crossbow on her first day, seemed like pushing it just a little too
far.

Just like earlier, there wasn’t anyone out on the streets.
Curtains were closed and even most of the porch lights were off.
In the distance, Emily could still hear the thudding base from
that party. Huh, they were really going for it tonight. After all, it
was two thirty in the morning and they were still going strong.
They must not have gotten the memo that the undead were in
town for a visit. The thought of a hungry vampire crashing the
party made Emily’s whole body shudder. That would be a blood
bath none of the party goers would have a chance to escape.

The group slowed as they neared the dark house at the
center of the cul-de-sac. All looked quiet to Emily. The curtains
were drawn so tightly,you couldn’t see a sliver of light from the
inside. Of course, Emily’s opinion didn’t count for a whole lot,
since she had no idea what she was doing, or what she was
looking for.

Even with her insecurities, Emily felt like a live wire. Her
body seemed more alive than it ever had before in her entire life.
Some part of her knew that if she tried, she could jump higher
and move faster and quieter than sheever imagined. That didn’t
mean much though since the fear and paranoia still ran cold in
her veins. Despite her apparent instinctual talents, she had no
official training whatsoever. Hopefully, whatever happened
wouldn’t be that bad, otherwise her inadequacies would be
discovered.

“Look,” said Sebastian
as he pointed to the house next door
to the vamps.
Immediately when Emily trained her vision to the spot he
had indicated, she saw that the windows were boarded up with
wood that had been tagged by graffiti. Surprisingly, the
vandalism was kind of pretty, in a creepy sort of way. The
window on the left side had what looked like blue flames licking
up the side of the board. Coming out of the flames, was a multicolored dragon. The window on the right also had the blue fire.
Instead of a dragon, this one had brightly colored flowers. The
two different designs were a startling contrast with one another.
As if representing, the struggle between what was evil and pure.
The door of the house was leftwide open. That couldn’t be
good. Note to self… don’t enter the old abandoned house… ever.
Maybe the vamps were using it for something. It seemed logical.
Plus, they wouldn’t care if the door was left hanging open. They
were the boogie men after all.
Sebastian motioned for them to move toward the empty
house. Kyle and Ivy headed around back wordlessly. Even
without training, Emily knew what they were doing. If they
blocked both openings, it would make it harder for any monsters
to escape and get the drop on them.
Tyler appeared to be ready, even through his definite
apprehension. Emily couldn’t blame him one bit. Her fight or
flight mechanism was screaming for her to run and hide. Another
part of her seemed to be hungry for the action. She would be
lying if she said she didn’t want to kill those vampires. They
were hurting people and they had tried to hurt her. That wasn’t
okay and they had to be stopped.
Sebastian came closer to them and whispered. “We’ll take
the front. I’ll go first.” He paused to give Tyler a meaningful
look. “I want you at the rear. Emily needs to be in the middle
until we can assess the situation in the house.”
Tyler nodded solemnly.
Sebastian continued, “Casey is more than likely standing
watch over the vamps house. Until we know what’s going on in
this one, I want both of you with me.” He didn’t give either of
them a chance to say anything. Within a second, he was gliding
towards the house in a crouch, ready to spring at any given
moment.
Tyler put an encouraging hand on Emily’s shoulder. He
nudged her slightly, coaxing her to move forward. She silently
obeyed and willed herself to be brave as she moved. She
couldn’t see Tyler, but she felt him ghosting behind her guarding
her back.
As she passed through the threshold of the house, her senses
were overtaken with a rancid smell that made her nose wrinkle.
It wasn’t easy to place though. It smelled like copper, trash and
mold all rolled into one. It was absolutely terrible and she had to
swallow back the vomit that threatened to surface. Aside from
the smell, there was no noise or anyone in sight in the vacant
home’s small living room. It was evident that the homeless had
turned this into their stomping ground. There was no visible sign
that they had been there recently, which made Emily nervous.
Did the nasty vampires eat them? Emily hoped not, no one
deserved that.
Their search party moved stealthily down the hall to the
next room. As soon as Sebastian entered the kitchen, he leapt
into action. He wasn’t striking against any attacker that Emily
could see.There didn’t appear to be anyone in the room at all.
Emily gasped and let out a little squeak, as her eyes focused on
where Sebastian was kneeling on the floor. His movements were
so fast, it was like a blur. The sight in the kitchen was so horrific
that she couldn’t even enter. When she froze, it caused Tyler to
run into her back.
“What the...?” Tyler asked confused.
Lying on the floor at Sebastian’s feet, was a body that
definitely wasn’t alive. It was male and almost completely
covered in blood. Emily’s heart pounded as she took in the sight.
His throat was ripped out and he had other wounds matching that
one, all over his body. It was the most horrific thing Emily had
ever seen. Judging by the look on Tyler’s face when she glanced
at him, he had come to the same conclusion.
Sebastian looked up at them and gestured to the back door.
“Tyler. Get Kyle and Ivy, now. Tell them we need to do a sweep
of the rest of the house.” Despite the control of his voice, the
urgency was obvious. He lifted Casey’s arm to check for a pulse
at his wrist. Not liking what he found,he moved to the slayer’s
neck shaking his head wearily.
“You got it.” Tyler didn’t even hesitate as he made his way
around the dead person lying partially in his path.
Emily gulped and bit her lip. “Vampires did this,didn’t
they?”
“Yes. I knew we shouldn’t have left him alone after what
had happened earlier.” Sebastian stared down at the body in
complete anguish. His whole body was tense with pent up
emotion that clearly wanted to escape.
Emily’s eyebrows shot up with confusion. “What? You
know him?”
Before he could answer, the others returned into the house.
Ivy took one look at the scene and rushed to Sebastian’s side.
“CASEY!” Ivy bellowed. “No,Casey no, this isn’t right!” She
reached out and uselessly felt for a pulse.
“Ivy, he’s gone,” Sebastian said not unkindly. He looked up
at Kyle. The only emotion on his face was in his eyes. “I need
you to sweep the rest of thehouse. I didn’t get a chance to before
we found Casey.”
“Sure Bass,” Kyle gulped hard. He maneuvered past them
and down the hall without another word.
At the mention of Casey’s name, Ivy sobbed. Sebastian put
a comforting hand on her shoulder. She stared into his eyes
intently, as if pleading for him to tell her it was all a dream. He
must have realized that and he shook his head slightly. Her sobs
commenced again.
Emily couldn’t blame Ivy. This was just terrible. She could
feel a huge lump in her throat and she swallowed hard. The boy
lying on the retro tiled floor, was a slayer. He was Casey, the one
she hadn’t got to meet yet. He looked younger than she was. He
could have been older though,she guessed. The slayers didn’t
age the same as regular people.
Kyle came back into the room, breaking into her thoughts.
“Clear Bass,” he reported. “There’s some blood in one of the
bedrooms. Itwas still wet.” His eyes looked haunted. It was
obvious he was trying to look anywhere,but at Casey’s still
form.
Sebastiannodded. “Casey’s wounds are still fresh. And it
hasn’t been that long since he reported to Alex.”
“I knew I should have been here!” Ivy wailed desperately.
“This is… my fault. Maybe if we wouldn’t have fought.
Maybe…” Ivy dropped her head and just stared at Casey.
Sebastian put his attention back on her. “You couldn’t have
known. Besides, by the looks of these injuries, there was more
than just one vamp here. You could have been killed too.”
“I don’t care!” Her voice was thick, but it still echoed in the
empty room. “He would have had a better chance.”
“It’s not your fault,” Emily soothed.
Ivy shot her a venomous glare. “You don’t know anything
about this newbie! Don’t attempt to act like you do!” Her eyes
pierced right through Emily’s.
Emily took an involuntary step back. Something in Ivy’s
eyes wasn’t rational and it was easy to see, that she was barely
holding onto her sanity. She was looking for anyone to lash out
on and just then Emily was the perfect target. Honestly, Emily
didn’t begrudge her of that. She was grieving for a fellow slayer
that had fallen. The anger she displayed was completely
understandable.
“Ivy,” Sebastian intervened. “Don’t take it out on her.” He
stood and wiped his hands on his pants. Even though they were
black the blood on them that was left behind was still visible.
Ivy didn’t respond to either of them. Instead, she stared
down at Casey looking totally defeated. Tears ran down her face,
leaving tracks of eyeliner behind. Her body was slumped and she
held onto Casey’s hand for dear life.
It really didn’t bother Emily that the girl had freaked out on
her. It could have been a lot worse. When her mom died, she
lashed out at everyone. It was extremely obvious that Ivy cared
for Casey. It was the most human emotion that she had seen
from Ivy, since they had met. Despite the awful circumstances, it
was slightly comforting to see she had feelings, besides hatred.
Ivy reached out and gently closed Casey’s eyes. He wouldn’t be
seeing anything anymore.
The death in the air suddenly became too much. This was a
lot different than seeing Beth’s injuries. The emotion in the room
was a heavy weight that was palpable. It was bringing back
feelings that Emily didn’t want to resurface, ever. She had to get
out of there. She tried to get passed Tyler to go into the living
room, but he stopped her.
He gave her a sympathetic look. “It’s going to be okay.” He
wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her towards him.
Emily welcomed the comfort and melted into his chest.
Traitor tears escaped her eyes, making his shirt wet. She fought
them back and they came anyway. With Tyler it was different.
Vulnerability was an easy emotion to slip into when he was
around.She hadn’t known him for long and that didn’t seem to
matter. He made her feel safe. She was so thankful that he was
going through all of it with her. Going through it alone would
have been unbearable.
Sebastian cleared his throat uncomfortably. “We need to get
next door before anyone else needlessly dies tonight. Kyle and
Ivy, I want you guys to wait until we get to the back of the
house. Once we get closer to the door, I want you to move in at
the front.” His voice was void of any trace of emotion now. He
was all business. “We will have to come back for Casey.” I’ll
lock the front door so no one stumbles across him and calls the
police.”
Ivy sobbed again. “I can’t leave him Bass.” The emotion
that poured out of her was raw and gut wrenching.
“You don’t have a choice.” He answered firmly, but not
without kindness.
I can’t do it.” Ivy was pleading with him now. Tears
streamed down her cheeks like a down fall of rain.
“I know you love him, but he would want us to get this
done.” Sebastian stared down at her, willing her to see reason.
“He’s my brother Sebastian!” Ivy screamed the words at
him.
Her brother? Emily was stunned. This was the first mention
she had heard of any of them being siblings. It made sense. Of
course there would be siblings. This was a family business
wasn’t it? Emily wondered absently, what that meant for her
own family. She immediately pushed those thoughts to the back
of her mind. It wasn’t the time for questioning her own lineage.
Sebastian’s eyes softened. “I’m well aware he’s your
brother and I’m sorry. I know it hurts to leave him,but it’s what
he would want. You know that Ivy.” He reached out a hand to
her in offering.
Ivy wiped the tears from her face and swallowed hard. “I
don’t want to,” she said weakly. Ignoring her own words, she
slowly grabbed his hand and allowed him to pull her to her feet.
“Let’s get this over with. I wanna kill those bastards and go
home.” She straightened her spine and squared her shoulders.
Her eyes scanned the room, as if daring the rest of them to
comment further.
Sebastian gave her a nod and halfhearted smile that didn’t
reach his eyes. “Alright then. Let’s get this done.” He led his
group to the back door of the kitchen and the second party
followed behind. Emily couldn’t help but imagine the terror that
awaited them next door