Hunters Hit List (Fox Brothers Book 1) (12 page)

Confidence was a most and Max had it in droves. If only he could get Ryan and Scar to have it.

They drove for hours but they finally made it to their destination. They pulled into the driveway and Ryan realized the importance of this home visit for Scar. There was no place like home and he felt the same way years ago when he actually had one.

Ryan and Max stood in the gravel driveway. They watched as Scar walked up to wooden porch steps and to the front door.

“We are in Munster, Indiana. This is a stupid idea. Munster.” Ryan spoke to Max in a hushed tone. The name alone, Munster, gave Ryan the chills. “I don’t feel good about this.”

“Why are we here?” Max asked Ryan not expecting an answer.

“She wants to see her folks.”

“Can you blame her? It may be the last time.”

“Yeah Max but this is so far from a good idea.” Max warned Ryan with a squint of his eyes.

“I swear to god. Where the hell did you get this defeatist attitude? Do you really think I’m going to let vamps get her? I think I may love this girl. I’m feeling some weird shit in my stomach and it’s not fear.”

Scar turned to the brothers from the porch. She waved them over. Why were they even lingering so far away? She wanted Max to meet her folks. It was sudden and odd but she didn’t care. She felt something different and magical about Max. It was something gross and mushy, something that made her think of picking up a bridal magazine instead of Guns and Ammo the next time she was at a convenience store.

“Are you guys coming in?”

Ryan and Max jogged to the front door to accompany Scar inside. Scar used her key and entered her folk’s home with Ryan and Max in tow.

Scar was excited to see her parents. She held this inside. She learned to conceal her true feelings long ago but she had to admit to herself that she truly missed her parents and the comfort that being at home would bring.

“Mom! Dad!” She yelled out a little unnerved by the silence. Scar’s eyes darted around, checking for misplaced items, a habit when she entered anyone’s house. But this wasn’t anyone this was her parents place.

“Mom!” Maybe they were out. It was still early in the day. She did show up unannounced.

Scar looked back at Max. Her look was grim. Max registered her distress. He removed his Ruger from his waistband. The pure ivory handle reflected the sunlight pouring through a nearby window.

Ryan and Max cautiously followed Scar into the hallway. The boys stopped behind Scar. This was her place. She knew the layout. They were going to let her take the lead. She reached for the handle of her parents closed bedroom door.

The door slowly crept open. Scar stomach was twisted in knots. Her heart skipped beats as she moved forward. She stepped into the room with the brothers following closely behind.

On the King-size bed was the indentation of two bodies covered from head to toe under a flowered yellow bed sheet. In the center of the bed sheet was a huge blood painted letter “A”. The smell was one of death. They all had smelled it before, too many times to count.

Ryan removed his Taurus 9mm from his waistband.

Scar walked to the bedside and pulled back the bed sheet. She let out a quick gasp as the reality and anguish filled her to the rim. There before her were the dead bodies of her parents. The bodies were dressed in pajamas, their brown faces blue with death. Scar stumbled back and Max caught her in his arms.

Ryan inspected a nearby closet. He had to make sure there was no one lurking in the shadows.

Scar tried desperately to hold back her tears. “I know who did this.” She whispered through the pain.

“Who?” Ryan asked as he stuck his head out of the closet.

“Walt.”

“How do you know it was him?”

“The scarlet letter A. I am number two. He’s calling me out. He’s part of this nest. He is the one that led them here. Or maybe he did this himself.”

“He wasn’t at the motel.” Ryan tried to make sense of this gruesome scene. “He wasn’t one of the vamps that attacked me.”

“Look we can figure this out somewhere else. We got to get out of here.” Max finally spoke.

“Max is right.” Ryan re-covered the bodies with the bloody bed sheet.

“He knew I would come back here and check on my family. He’s going to try to kill my brother. He’s going to try to kill me.”

“Scar, listen to me. I will not let him hurt you. You are not number two. Walt is number two.”

Scar looked down at the bloody “A”. Fear radiated in her eyes. Anger radiated in Max’s eyes. He meant every single word. He had planned on serving Walt his own head on a silver platter before he would ever let anything happen to Scar.

They took the short drive up to the college campus to see Scar’s brother. He wasn’t at his college apartment so they drove out to the college coffee shop where he worked.

Ryan and Max stood in the parking lot near the Range Rover. They watched as Scar strolled up the cobblestone sidewalk. She disappeared through the glass double doors. They wanted to give her a minute alone with her brother. She had some heavy news to give him. She had to tell him their parents were dead.

After she was out of sight the brothers watched the young college girls exit and enter the coffee shop. They didn’t really have a choice. There wasn’t much to see at the college campus. They had to stop here.

After Scar found her parents slaughtered she wanted to see her other relatives. She had to make sure they were safe. She feared they would meet the same fate as her parents. Max and Ryan understood her fears.

“Looky looky, my brother there’s a lot of legal fresh meat out here.” Max joked.

“No thanks.”

“You can have them all to yourself. I’m spoken for.”

“I’m good Max.”

“You’ve been acting pretty strange lately.”

“I’m not acting strange.” Ryan roared.

“Ah yeah you are.”

“Why because Roy was killed during my watch? So now it’s my fault the vamps got Roy. Everything is always my fault.”

“Overdose on chill pills. I didn’t say that. Who put the bug up your ass?”

“Being here is a bad idea. We may have led the vamps here.”

Max frowned. “Make up your mind. First you’re okay with Scar seeing her parents. Now you’re not okay with her seeing her brother.”

“Her parents are dead.”

“Right and she wants to make sure her brother is okay. I know exactly how that feels.” Max glared at Ryan. He risked it all and even conspired with the King of Vampires to save his brother from damnation.

Ryan rolled his hazel eyes when he realized Max had won the argument. Max would do anything for Ryan and he knew it. He wondered if Max knew he would do the same for him.

***

Scar walked into the college campus coffee shop. It took her a few seconds before she spotted her brother Jason behind the counter. Jason Buckley was a 20-year-old well groomed handsome young black man. He smiled when he noticed her. He had grown his hair into dreadlocks. He hadn’t seen her in a long time and seeing her now made him feel happy.

Scar decided to sit at a small round table instead of approach Jason. Seeing him alive brought joy to her heart. She held on to those emotions. She didn’t want to cry about his life when she hadn’t even cried about her parent’s death. She would cry but now wasn’t the time. She had to hold on to the hope that she would survive even though the odds were against her.

Scar desperately needed to find a way to tell Jason the bad news. How would she phrase things and hide the truth from Jason? Vampires had slaughtered their parents and it was all because of her secret life and this stupid hit list.

Jason smiled the brightest and most welcoming smile from across the room. He removed his apron and rambled over to where his older sister sat. He took the seat across from her.

“Sis, long time no see.”

“It’s been awhile.”

“No shit. What’s up with the gloom and doom face?”

“Jason I have something to tell you.” Scar mumbled.

Jason smiled. “I already know you’re a hunter.”

Scar frowned. This came as a shock to her. She was sure her parents would never tell Jason about her life as a vampire hunter. “Who told you?”

“Well that’s a long story.”

“A story I have to hear.” Scar eagerly responded.

“I will tell you. Hold your horses.”

“Have you been home lately?” She asked.

“I haven’t been back home in months. Why what’s up?” Jason shrugged.

“Why not?”

“I work and you know college doesn’t pay for itself. Plus I’ve changed and I was embarrassed to go back home.”

“Embarrassed? Why? You’re the first person in the family to go to college.”

“I was embarrassed of my lifestyle.”

“Lifestyle? What are you gay? That’s not embarrassing.”

Jason looked around the room. He had to ensure that no one was around to hear what he was about to disclose.

“Scarlet, I’m a… vampire.”

Scar took a few seconds todigest the words. She really looked into his eyes and she noticed how pale his skin was. Sure he was a light skinned black man but he was lighter, pale and a bit pasty. But his eyes weren’t red. They were dark brown the way they had always been. All vampires had red eyes. Was he wearing color contacts? There had to be an explanation.

Scar stared into Jason’s eyes and that’s when she saw the faint line of red that lingered on the outskirts of his pupils. Finally the words sunk in. Scar jumped up from her chair. The chair’s legs screeched across the hard wood floor of the café.

Jason looked up at Scar, bewildered by her repulsion to him. “Scarlet, please sit down.”

Scar looked around the coffee shop; a sprinkling of eyes noticed the minimal commotion.

“Sit down with a vamp, no thanks.” Scar whispered.

“Damn it Scar. I’m still your brother. Please. Sit.”

Scar slowly eased back down into her chair. Her heart was beating uncontrollably.

“Jesus, Scarlet. Your heart is beating a mile a minute. You know I have super intense hearing.”

“You can’t kill me in front of all these students.” She taunted him.

“Why would I kill you? You’re my sister.”

Scar scoped out the coffee house. It was fairly crowded. If Jason tried to kill her the screams would bring Max and Ryan running and they would kill Jason where she failed.

Her eyes drifted back up to the boy she used to know. Was her brother still in there somewhere? What had she done to deserve such a terrible fate? Her parents were dead and her brother was the walking dead. Tears formed in Scar’s eyes and leaked out the corners.

“Scarlet please don’t cry.” Jason begged.

“What the hell are you doing here on campus?” She wiped her tears and gained her composure.

“Finishing my education, getting my degree. Just the way mom and dad always wanted.”

“That’s crazy. What the hell, Jason? Who turned you into a vamp?”

“Your ex beau, Walt.”

“Walt. Why?” She was shocked beyond belief.

“I have no idea, he came into town. He got me shit face drunk. He started yammering about how a year agoyou and he were hunting monsters together. He said he missed hunting and he missed you. Next thing I know, he hands me some red wine, which was actually blood. Red rum is not just a metaphor for blood but actually blood.”

“I can’t believe this.”

“Believe it sis. I’m a vamp, but I haven’t killed anybody. I just--”

“I don’t believe you.”

“I steal blood bags.”

“That’s bullshit.”

“If you check the newspapers you’ll find there are no mysterious deaths or missing persons anywhere around here. There are no coeds with the blood drained from their bodies. I can control my thirst and live a healthy lifestyle with bagged blood. I don’t ever want to try live blood. I’m afraid of it actually. I mean, I don’t know much about this vampire thing but I don’t ever want to be a blood thirsty monster.”

“That’s exactly what you are?”

“Do I look like I’m dying of thirst? I’m a vegan vamp.”

“Where’s your gang?”

“No gang. I’m a lone wolf. Poor choice of words, I guess.” Jason cracked a familiar human-like smile. A smile that through Scar off and confused her even more. He acted so much like the brother she remembered.

“Your vampire buddies put a bounty on my head.”

“What are you talking about? I’m not a part of the vampire life.”

“You’re a vampire.”

“Yeah but I’m just going to class, minding my own business. I even got my own Bella Swan.”

“What does that mean?”

“My girlfriend, I have a human girlfriend. She’s behind the counter.”

Jason waved his hand to the thin blonde cashier behind the shop’s counter. The blonde reluctantly smiled and waved back.