The Cure for the Curse Page 15

  The old man took a couple of steps across the room and lifted a thin piece of plywood against one of the glassless windows. “He'll probably bring his fiend of a wife, too.” He hammered some nails into the wood. “They're the only vampires close enough to get here before you dry up. They'll run right into my trap."

  He giggled as he hung a crucifix on one of the nails. “And then I'll have exterminated two of the most powerful vampires in the region and shattered the organization of their little clan. The half-breed will be ripe for the picking."

  Thomas squinted. “You mean Renna? What's so big about her?"

  O'Neal stopped his hammering and focused his beady blue eyes on his captive. His voice quieted to a hush. “She is the new breed, little boy. Your girlfriend is more powerful than any vampire I've ever seen. She can operate in the sun, she's unaffected by holy items, hardly ever needs to feed. But she's just a prototype. If I can destroy her, the so-called Orphans will have to start all over. Without their leaders, it will be years before they can begin another project like her."

  He turned back to his hammering. “It's the least I can do for Jimmy."

  Thomas gnawed on his cheek, trying desperately to think. Was Warrenna really some kind of advanced vampire project like O'Neal said? Did he believe the crazy man bleeding him, or the weirdo who messed with his head?

  He shifted his elbow, hoping to tip the needle upward a bit and let gravity slow the bleeding. Either way, the vampires are my only way out of this. And they're heading straight into a trap.

  Chapter 16

  The cool, oily leather of the Volvo's backseat pressed into Warrenna's sunburned cheek, and the powerful air-conditioning soothed the rest of her sore skin. The heavy tint on the windows subdued the landscape from bright desert to dusky highway.

  Back to Bascomville. Back to Chiricahua, where the only person I reached out to is now afraid of me.

  Warrenna was trying to figure out a way to transfer out of third-hour English when her father's cell phone rang. Richard glanced at the display and raised an eyebrow.

  He put the receiver to his ear and said, “How did you get this number?"

  After a moment he said, “That is an unacceptable trade.” He waited another second and hung up.

  Richard clicked on the turn signal and took the next exit off the highway.

  Alexandria yawned, looking one way, then the next. “This is the wrong exit, ámor."

  "I know.” He pulled over into some dirt, moved the gearshift to park, and closed his eyes.

  Then he said four words Warrenna would never forget: “Thomas has been kidnapped."

  "What?” mother and daughter both cried.

  "I heard him. He was in pain.” Richard's voice was steady and eerily quiet. “The caller said he would kill Thomas if we didn't exchange Warrenna for him. He knew exactly who we were. It must be a hunter."

  Warrenna couldn't make herself breathe. Oh, Tommy, what did I get you into?

  Alexandria sighed and rubbed her eyes. “It's a trap."

  Richard nodded in agreement and stared at the steering wheel.

  Her parents’ cool reactions sparked anger in Warrenna. “We're not just going to let him die, right?"

  "No, hon,” Alexandria said. “He's too important. We must try to retrieve him."

  Richard's cell phone was at his ear again. He pressed the walkie-talkie button and said, “Vince?"

  Beep. “Yah,” Uncle Vince's voice came.

  "We pulled over on Mescal Road. Meet us there. I just got a call. A hunter has kidnapped Thomas."

  Beep. “Damn it! I knew I should have tailed him last night."

  "You were busy testing Necole. But we can't think about that now. We need your spell again."

  Beep. “I'm coming up on the exit now."

  Richard put the phone down and turned to his daughter. “The caller gave me a location to bring you for a trade. We need to see if Thomas is really there, so you and Vince are going to perform his spell again."

  "The see-though-Tommy's-eyes trick we did on Saturday?"

  "That's the one."

  She heard a rumbling behind her, and a look out the back window revealed Aunt Tammy's approaching Explorer. The wheels were still rolling when Uncle Vince's lanky form hopped out of the passenger door and jogged to the Volvo.

  He quickly slid inside opposite Warrenna and slammed the door. “You got the book, Renny?"

  "Book? Oh, ah—yes,” Warrenna said, remembering. She placed the journal between them. “Take me with you again."

  Uncle Vince glanced at her parents, then back at Warrenna. “You probably don't want to see what's happening to him."

  Alexandria shook her head. “She will see more than you could, Vincent. We're certain of that. And we need as much information as we can get."

  Uncle Vince shrugged and turned back to Warrenna. “Since I'm doing this on the fly, you're only going to get a couple of seconds. Look around as much as you can."

  Warrenna nodded, and Uncle Vince took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He extended his hands, and Warrenna placed her palms on his.

  The hollow warmth advanced up her arms as she waited for him to open his eyes.

  He took another breath, and his lids parted. Deep blue static consumed Warrenna's sight.

  She was in a dim room, surrounded by dusty church pews and spray-painted initials. Coyotes 4Life was etched into a nearby wall.

  She smelled blood.

  The bitter, wonderful scent pervaded everything and pulled her sight downward.

  A tube extended from someone's arm, dropping into a bucket.

  A bucket half-full of the most mouthwatering blood she ever smelled.

  She wanted to bring the bucket to her lips, to gulp down all that life, to feel the warmth spill down her chin, dribble down her neck as she filled herself with sustenance, with power.

  * * * *

  "Renna!"

  With a jarring flash, Warrenna was back in the Volvo. She could see her mother's clenched, crimson-colored face above the passenger seat.

  Something restrained Warrenna's shoulders, but the smell of blood flowed through her, calling to her to feed.

  That is the scent! We must have that blood! It will make us strong!

  Then she remembered whose blood the bucket held, whose life she wanted to bathe in.

  No! We must help Tommy, not hurt him.

  Her talons and fangs gradually retracted, and the world lost its crimson hue. Then she began to shiver, tears running unchecked down her cheeks. “So much blood,” she gasped.

  Richard released his grip on her shoulders. “Tell us what you saw, Renna."

  Warrenna sniffled and tried to remember. “A small room with dirty pews. There was spray-paint and cigarette burns everywhere. Coyotes 4 Life was carved on a wall. And blood. So much blood."

  The craving churned inside her. Her jaw and fingers ached. Evil Renny doesn't like to be teased.

  It took all her will to silence the voice.

  "That's the Mission,” Uncle Vince said. “I remember it from high school. Damn. There's no shade for miles around it."

  Alexandria nodded. “Then I suppose we'll have to make our own."

  Richard turned to Vince. “What do you say? How long could Tamara give us?"

  Uncle Vince rubbed his head and frowned. “If things go well, maybe a minute. Maybe."

  Richard nodded. “Then we'll have to work quickly.” He clicked the gearshift into drive. “Go tell Tamara to meet us at the Connolly Ranch Road turn-off from Carter Avenue. Top speed. And Vince?"

  "Yeah?"

  "Thanks."

  Uncle Vince grinned, said “Whatever,” and hurried out of the car.

  Richard slammed his foot on the accelerator, spinning the tires and kicking up a cloud of dust. In a couple of heartbeats, the Volvo was back on the highway traveling at one hundred miles per hour.

  Warrenna found her seat belt and strapped herself in. “Mom, what did you mean, make our own shade?"


  "I'll explain in a minute, Renna.” Alexandria looked to her husband. “We should call in the cavalry, love. There are fifteen Orphans in Maldecido who will come if we say the word."

  He shook his head. “There's no time. It would take them an hour just to get here, and judging from Renna's reaction, Thomas doesn't have that long. We'll have to do this ourselves."

  "Are you crazy?” Alexandria faltered. “It's a trap. We know it's a trap."

  "I know, corazón." Richard smiled at his wife. “We'll just have to break through it."

  Alexandria's mouth hung open for a moment. But then she bit her lip and took her husband's free hand into hers. She turned to their daughter. “Listen to me very carefully, Renna. Aunt Tammy can make the sky dark during the day. She needs Uncle Vince to do it, and it's extremely demanding on both of them. They'll keep it up as long as they can, but then they'll both drop from exhaustion. We need you right beside them."

  "Why?"

  "So when they finish, you can cover Aunt Tammy with a reflective blanket. It will only be dark for a minute."

  "So where will you be?"

  Richard slowed down to turn onto the Carter Avenue exit, then nailed the gas again.

  "Your father and I will rush into the Mission as soon as the darkness allows us. We'll grab Thomas and get him back to the car as fast as we can."

  "Which means we'll be in our other forms,” Richard added. “We might be a little scary-looking."

  The prospect of seeing both of her parents as hideous beasts was unsettling enough to Warrenna. But then she remembered Alexandria's difficulty walking after her last cleansing. “Can you handle a transformation, Mom?"

  "I'll be fine,” Alexandria said, but her eyes wouldn't meet Warrenna's.

  "Hang on,” Richard said, and slammed on the brakes and skidded onto a dirt road to the right. After fifty feet or so, the car came to an abrupt stop, and Richard turned his head to look for Tamara's Explorer. His eyes were cool and grim.

  After a couple of anxious seconds, the black SUV fishtailed onto the dirt behind them. Richard's cell phone beeped.

  Uncle Vince's voice came. “See that hill up there? the Mission is just around it."

  "Roger,” Richard said into his phone. “We'll approach it slowly and park before the curve."

  Beep. “Got it."

  They recommenced down the dirt road, slowly, so that the vehicles barely kicked up any dust. “Here's the plan, Renna,” Richard began. “You're going to climb that hill with Uncle Vince and Aunt Tammy. You'll shade Aunt Tammy the whole way with an umbrella. When you reach the top, they'll start their spell. You need to keep Aunt Tammy shaded and watch the Mission."

  "What am I watching for?"

  Richard gnawed on his lower lip for a moment. “Anything we haven't thought of. Maybe this hunter doesn't work alone. Maybe he'll make a run for it once your mother and I arrive. You need to communicate whatever you see to Uncle Vince and Aunt Tammy. They'll be too busy to notice anything, so you'll have to."

  Warrenna nodded, and Richard continued. “Once the spell wears off, they'll both collapse. Cover Aunt Tammy with the blanket, then wait for Uncle Vince to wake up to help you carry her back to the Explorer. But if you see anything coming toward you, you toss that blanket on your aunt and get out of there."

  "Okay.” Warrenna said. “So you two have to make it to the Mission, get Thomas, and make it back to the car before the darkness wears off."

  Alexandria nodded. “The distances won't be the problem. Springing the hunter's trap will delay us the most."

  Richard brought the car to a slow stop at the foot of the hill. Her parents looked at each other for a moment, then turned to her.

  "Renna,” Alexandria said, “we'll leave the keys in the ignition. If something goes wrong and we don't come out of there, get back to the car and go. Call the police on your cell phone and tell them you saw something out by Connolly Ranch Road, like a brush fire, or some undocumented aliens. Whatever you like. Then drive to Maldecido. The Orphans will take care of you."

  Warrenna's jaw dropped. “I can't just leave you."

  Alexandria raised a slender hand and shushed her. “Honey, if we can't save Thomas's life, then no one can. If you go in there after us, you'll certainly be destroyed. Losing Thomas, as terrible as it would be, is something the Orphans can survive. Losing your father and me is something the Orphans can survive. But you must live through this. If the Orphans lose you, then they lose hope. And if they lose hope, the beast will overtake them. All our years of fighting will have been for naught."

  The idea of life without her parents hit Warrenna like a fist to the stomach. “You guys can't die,” she choked.

  Richard smiled, and his grim eyes softened for a moment. He reached over the seat and took Warrenna's small hand into his firm grip. “I know you will make us proud. Hell, you already have."

  He held the gaze and brought the cell phone up to his lips. “Climb up to the top of the hill. Warrenna will shade Tamara as the two of you bring the darkness."

  Beep. “We're ready when you are."

  Warrenna looked her parents’ smiling faces. I can't lose them. I can't go on alone!

  "Just don't die, all right? I'll see you back here."

  The sun shone hot on Warrenna's face and hands as she strode through the dirt toward the Explorer. This is insane. A week ago, all I worried about was my own pointless existence. Now an angel that I accidentally enthralled is bleeding to death a few hundred feet from me, and my parents might get killed trying to rescue him. And it's all because of me. Why couldn't I keep my suffering to myself?

  Uncle Vince stepped out of the truck and gestured for her to follow him around to the rear. From the back, he retrieved a tall black umbrella and a shiny blanket that hurt Warrenna's sun-sensitive eyes to look at.

  She extended the umbrella, tucked the blanket under her other arm, and went around to the passenger door to help Aunt Tammy out of the truck.

  "It'll be okay,” Aunt Tammy said as she stepped out of the vehicle. “Your parents have seen many battles. They can survive anything."

  Warrenna nodded, but she wondered if her mother and father looked so worried before every battle. Now was not the time to ask, though.

  Climbing the hill while keeping Aunt Tammy out of the sun was slow and tricky. Warrenna had to watch her footing amongst the desert brush and steady the umbrella's shadow at the same time. Uncle Vince wagged his fingers and whispered to himself, ignoring Warrenna and her difficulties. Twice she slipped, and Aunt Tammy gasped in pain. But about halfway up, Warrenna got the hang of it, and they reached the low summit all too soon.

  "Don't worry about leaving me under the blanket,” Aunt Tammy said. “I once spent an entire day under one of those things. I'll just take a little nap.” She gave a reassuring smile. “I'll need one after what I'm about to do."

  Warrenna nodded. From this height, she could see the side of a small brownish building just past the foot of the hill, about fifty yards in front of her. A blue sedan with a gray hood was parked a few yards away from the arched entrance. If she craned her neck, she could see her parents’ black Volvo behind her.

  Warrenna's stomach knotted up, and she gripped the umbrella-handle tightly. Something awful is about to happen. And I'm going to get a bird's-eye view of it.

  Uncle Vince turned to stand face-to-face with Aunt Tammy, and closed his eyes. Aunt Tammy removed her orange shades and looked to Warrenna, who then saw her doctor's eyes for the very first time.

  The irises were bright green. But inside them, or maybe on top of them, were three evenly spaced, bright orange triangles.

  "Don't worry,” Aunt Tammy said with a wink. “They won't hurt you."

  She turned back to Uncle Vince, took his hands in hers, and looked straight up into Warrenna's umbrella.

  The air became still, and Aunt Tammy inhaled deeply. After a few seconds she flinched, and a pair of specks emerged from her eyes, like black pollen escaping from a pair of gr
een lilies. The specks twisted upward, curled under the umbrella, and disappeared into the pale sky.

  That pair was followed by another pair, and then another, and another, until a pulsing line of curlicues rose from Aunt Tammy's face. The specks coalesced into a thin black cloud that hung like diesel smoke over the Mission and the hill.

  Warrenna thought she could hear the buzzing of insects, like gnats, as she watched the darkness stream out of her doctor's eyes. She wondered where exactly all the gnats were coming from. Maybe Aunt Tammy has her own black marble.

  Aunt Tammy shuddered, and fangs slid down through her clenched teeth. Hooked talons curved around Uncle Vince's fingers, but he didn't move.

  "Stay with me, Tammy,” he urged. His clenched face strained with effort. “You can do it."

  A guttural noise nastier than any dog Warrenna had ever heard escaped from Aunt Tammy's throat, and the stream of black became solid. The cloud quickly darkened, dramatically dimming the area around them. Warrenna could still see bright yellow earth on the horizon, but for the moment, she stood in a patch of moonless twilight.

  Aunt Tammy panted, her hips swaying from side to side like an unsteady drunk. Warrenna could see her aunt's pinwheel-like irises constricting beneath half-closed lids.

  But then movement near the Volvo caught her attention. She shifted her gaze and saw two blurs moving at incredible speed toward the Mission. About twenty feet before the building, the shapes sprang high into the air, soaring nearly to Warrenna's eye-level. For a half-second, she could make out a couple of humanoid shapes and two pairs of bright red eyes.

  Then the shapes plunged into the Mission's roof with a crash. A cloud of plaster chunks and wood splinters flew into the air. A second later, an orange flash erupted from inside the building, and a boarded window blew out in a puff of dust and wood chips.

  Warrenna heard a strangled cry of pain, and then another, like snarls of wounded mountain lions.

  Aunt Tammy groaned, and both she and Uncle Vince crumpled to the ground. The black cloud vanished, brightening the landscape in the blink of an eye.