The Vampire Evolution Trilogy (Book 3): Blood of Gold Read online

  She pushed herself out of the armchair and opened the door.

  There was a huge, shaggy-haired man standing there, and she instinctively realized that he was a vampire. Standing next to him, looking as small as a child, was one of those types of women; the ones who used too much makeup and wore too-tight clothes. She was big-busted, too, of course. Her curves were sexy now, but would turn to fat later.

  “I’d like my money back for the last two nights,” the woman said.

  Deb did a double take. Is this the same girl? How is that possible?

  “I spent it already. No refunds.” Deb pointed a bony finger over her shoulder in the general direction of a small sign on the bulletin board.

  “But see, I need it,” the girl said, smiling. “I need to eat.”

  “Can’t help you,” Deb said, sounding stubborn even to herself. Just give her the money! a small voice in the back of her mind screamed. Give her anything she wants! Get her out of here!

  “Well, I really am hungry. Even your scrawny body looks good right about now…”

  Deb had picked up the phone and was calling the cops when something heavy landed on her back. The girl had vaulted over the counter without even touching it. She was snarling like an animal, and her face had turned bestial. As Deb fell back against the closed door to her living room, she saw fangs begin to grow in the girl’s face.

  “No, please,” she whined. “I don’t have anything.”

  She felt a sharp pain in her neck and something fluid ran down her chest, warm and sticky. I don’t have anything, she repeated to herself. I don’t have anything. I don’t have any…

  #

  Kelton took Laura back to Halliday’s trailer, where Feller was waiting impatiently.

  “What the fuck did you bring her for?” Feller asked when she stepped out of the car, her dress riding all the way up to her crotch. Charming, he thought sourly.

  “She’s going to be a Shadow Vampire,” Kelton said. “I’m sure of it.”

  Feller eyed Laura doubtfully, then shrugged. No telling what is in the heart of a woman, he thought.

  That night, Kelton Turned her. She barely reacted, just passed out for a few minutes, shaking slightly, then sat up with the blackness in her eyes. It was the quickest he’d ever seen anyone Turn.

  “All right,” Feller said when the two of them crawled out from behind the curtains that concealed the small bed. “I think I’ve worked out how we can break into the supermax, and even better, how to get us back out.”

  “That’s great,” Kelton said. “You’re a mastermind. But Laura and I have some business to attend to first.”

  He explained that he’d once held three girls captive in his house, but they had escaped.

  “Laura doesn’t look like a captive,” Feller said.

  “Laura is a natural,” Kelton said. “But the other two, they need to be taught a lesson. And Laura here knows where they’re hiding, don’t you, sweetie?”

  “I’m coming along,” Feller said.

  Chapter 14

  Once the three boys stopped actively hunting vampires, they appeared to lose all caution. They never even bothered to look behind them. Patty was able to follow them closely enough that when the clouds broke a couple of times, letting the sunlight through, she scrambled under cover, waited for the skies to grow dark again, and still caught up to them. The teens were laughing and jabbing at each other with the baseball bats, and otherwise roughhousing and carrying on.

  They were walking toward the hills, heading inland from the downtown area, and had soon crossed into housing developments that Patty hadn’t even known existed. This had all been farmland when she’d been a kid.

  There were a few fancier houses high in the hills, and the three boys wandered up the wide, well-maintained roads that wound among them. These mansions had always been there, lording it over the humble town below. Patty started getting the funny feeling that she’d been here before. As they continued to climb, the terrain became more and more familiar. Sure enough, they went to the very top of the hill, where a massive house dominated the skyline. It was perched at the edge of a cliff, like a castle.

  Before Patty was old enough to be in school, whenever her mother couldn’t find a babysitter, she’d bring Patty to work with her, to this very house. Patty suddenly remembered everything: that there was a small area behind the house where the servants parked, and that her mother would lower the backseat of the car, cover the back with blankets, toys and books, and leave Patty there for her entire shift. “Don’t tell anyone,” she’d say. “No one should know.”

  After a few hours, Patty would sneak out of the car, bored and restless. She would avoid the dirt trail her mother took up to the house and instead explore the landscape, climbing higher and higher until she found herself on the little hill opposite the mansion’s long deck. From there, she could see inside. She’d catch glimpses of her mother vacuuming, doing the dishes, coming outside and washing the windows. She couldn’t see much of the mansion’s interior, just the outlines of furniture and tables, so she’d try to imagine what it looked like inside. When she sensed her mother was getting ready to come back, she’d slip back to the car. Patty would pretend to be napping when her mother got into the driver’s seat and looked back at her with a tired smile.

  “Did you have a good time?” she’d ask, and Patty could always genuinely say that she had.

  She’d spent years in the Monster’s basement pretending that she lived in that giant house. She wandered the many imaginary rooms in her mind, making up the furnishings and décor; all gold and silver, everything lush and soft. The view from the hill would come back to her, as if she was a princess surveying her realm.

  She remembered that just before she and her mother had gone there for the last time, a new baby had joined the household. He had his own room and a huge playground built just for him, though it would be years before he would be old enough to use it.

  Then Patty’s mother had lost her job, accused of stealing, which was ridiculous, because she never did anything wrong. Her mother had once returned a bank bag with more money in it than Patty had ever seen, before or since. She hadn’t even taken a single twenty-dollar bill, though it would have bought them dinner. The storeowner had snatched the moneybag out of her hands, glaring at her as if it was her fault the bag had gone missing in the first place. They had stood there for a few moments, mother and child, hoping the woman would give them a reward. They had left empty-handed.

  That had been the beginning of the really hard times, when the car hadn’t been a temporary playground for Patty, but their home.

  It gave Patty a queasy feeling to be here again. She was almost afraid the reality of the mansion would tarnish her memory of it, but it was every bit as grand as she remembered. The three boys walked up the dirt trail her mother had always taken and entered through the same side door Patty used to see her mother disappear through.

  But these weren’t servants. One of these boys was the little prince she’d once seen, all grown up.

  She followed them. They couldn’t keep her out now. She didn’t feel inferior, or subordinate, or any of the things her mother must have felt. She was vampire, and vampires lived by a different set of rules.

  The first room was huge, a basement that extended deep into the hillside. It was like a stadium, with high walls. There was even a basketball hoop at the far end. The floor was concrete, and the space was being used for storage. The everyday castoffs of a rich family––broken furniture, old microwaves and coffeemakers, outdated computers and other defunct electronics––were scattered about. There was a pool table and a Ping-Pong table, and both were piled high with boxes. One whole wall was filled with books, haphazardly stacked. There was enough stuff down here for Patty and her mother to have lived off of for years.

  Patty always avoided thinking of her mother. The only good thing about her death was that it had happened before Patty’s kidnapping. She couldn’t imagine what that would have d
one to her mother. The rest of the family hadn’t mattered, all the aunts and uncles and cousins who hadn’t lifted a hand to help them when they were struggling, and who probably had posed for the camera when she was kidnapped, crying crocodile tears and then forgetting her as soon as it was convenient.

  Whenever she felt bad, though, she remembered the stories her two companions had told her. Laura had no family, only foster parents who, in some ways, had been worse than no parents at all. Of the three of them, only Simone had a family to go back to. Patty had asked her why she hadn’t called her parents, but Simone had flushed and shaken her head. While Patty and Laura had no one who cared, Simone had a family who maybe cared too much, who put pressures on her that she would barely acknowledge. Now, Simone was probably too embarrassed, too humiliated to contact them, certain they would reject her as damaged, forever soiled.

  Patty could hear the three teens climbing some stairs. Behind all the detritus, she could barely make out the light from the top of the staircase, but she easily picked her way through the darkened room. Its shadows were as clear as day to her. The light above the stairs went out, and she heard a door slam, but she didn’t hesitate to follow the boys. At the top of the steep steps was a door. She stopped and listened. The boys’ voices were still receding.

  Patty opened the door and stepped into her dream house. It wasn’t anything like she’d expected. The first room was a kitchen. It was all modern and spare, with metal appliances, open cabinets and marble countertops. The huge living room beyond it was decorated in muted tones. She had imagined something old-fashioned and lavish, but instead, the colors were subdued, and there was lots of black and white. There were tile floors instead of soft carpets, and Scandinavian-style hardwood furniture instead of plush chairs. Still, the overall effect was one of wealth, more spectacular than her wildest imaginings.

  Beyond the living room, which looked new, or at least rarely used, was a room the family probably actually used, a den-like area with furniture that was a little more comfortable and scuffed, and a small amount of clutter. There was an enormous TV on the wall, almost the size of a movie screen. The boys were sprawled on couches, playing video games and drinking beer. There was an odd odor coming from the hallway beyond the den. The smell, whatever it was, made her want to extend her fangs.

  Patty stood in the doorway and tried to blend in with the shadows. One of the teens seemed to sense her and looked over his shoulder. She kept completely still, and he stared at her but didn’t seem to see her, then shrugged and took a sip of his beer. She moved farther into the big room, sticking to the shadows. The boys started yelling at the game on the screen, jumping up and raucously waving their arms. Patty slipped into the darkened hallway beyond the den.

  Following the strange odor, Patty was pretty sure what she’d find. She was getting accustomed to the smell of death. Even so, when she opened the door, the stench almost knocked her down. She went inside and quickly closed the door behind her. It was the master bedroom, and the little prince’s parents were sprawled on the bed, half-eaten. Insects were swarming over them and their skulls were beginning to show. They were still in their nightclothes. They probably hadn’t been alive long enough to know what had hit them.

  Patty stared at the bodies. It looked like parts of them had been eaten, but only after they were dead. It was obvious that blunt objects, perhaps something like baseball bats, had crushed their skulls.

  She left the room and started back toward the den. As she passed a second door, she heard a faint scuffling coming from the room behind it. If she hadn’t been vampire, she probably wouldn’t have noticed it.

  She opened the door. It was completely dark, but she could see clearly. A girl of about seventeen was on the bed, naked. She was spread-eagled, her hands and feet tied to the bedposts, and she was gagged. Her eyes met Patty’s, and they recognized each other as vampires. The look in the girl’s eyes wasn’t fear: it was a cold, calculating anger.

  Overwhelming rage washed over Patty. These boys were doing to this girl what the Monster had done to her. She raised her finger to her lips and the girl nodded. Patty closed the door and tiptoed back toward the den.

  “Damn, man, your parents are really starting to stink, Kerry,” one of the boys said. He was small, with long, floppy black hair and a narrow face. His chest seemed to hunch in on itself, as if he didn’t have any shoulders.

  The boy in the middle scrunched up his face. He was opposite in appearance to the first speaker, tall and broad and blond. “We got to wait, Sam. Make sure it looks like vampires did it.”

  “It’s not like there’s going to be any doubt. How are you going to explain not reporting it sooner?” the third boy said. He was a good-looking kid with a well-manicured appearance. Even his T-shirt seemed to be free of wrinkles; his tennis shoes were bright white.

  “We were out of town, you know? Camping? That work for you, Dennis?”

  “That might work. I haven’t been home for days.”

  “I called Dad,” Sam said. “But I didn’t tell him where I was.”

  “Besides, all you have to do is show the cops your sister,” Dennis said. “After we kill her, of course. I kind of hate to do it, you know. I never thought I’d say it, Kerry, but your little sister turned out to be pretty hot.”

  “Yeah, I’d like one more go at Kate,” Sam said, “before we turn her in for the bounty.”

  Kerry kept playing his video game, barely paying attention to his friends. “Sure. Whatever. Have at it.”

  Dennis and Sam got up, and Kerry turned his head slightly. “But I warn you, I’m turning her in to the cops today, ‘cause I want to get some brew.”

  His friends’ faces lit up with anticipation.

  “You go first,” Dennis told Sam. “I’m going to see if I can find any more liquor bottles hidden away in the kitchen. Kerry’s mom was pretty good at concealing them, but I know how drunks think.”

  “You just like sloppy seconds!” Sam taunted, and started walking toward the hallway.

  Patty retreated into the shadows and stood still. The boy walked right by her. She waited until he was past, then grabbed his head and twisted it as hard as she could. There was a grinding snap, and Sam went limp. Patty lowered the kid to the floor, then had second thoughts and picked him up and carried him to the parents’ bedroom, where she deposited him on the carpet.

  Dennis came along about five minutes later, probably figuring his friend was done by then. This time, Patty hid behind the master bedroom door and waited until the boy actually entered Kate’s bedroom. She followed silently and came up behind him as Kate’s eyes grew wide. She bit into the boy’s throat, making sure she tore out the vocal cords, then dropped him onto the floor and put her foot on his neck until he stopped struggling.

  Patty went over the girl’s bed, took out her gag and started untying the ropes. She fumbled with the knots and finally leaned down and severed them with her fangs.

  “What do you want me to do to your brother?” she asked.

  “Kerry’s only my half brother,” Kate clarified. “And if you don’t mind, I’d like to take care of him myself.”

  “I thought you might,” Patty said.

  As soon as Kate left the room, she turned to the boy on the floor. He was still alive, barely, as Patty started eating him. In the background, she heard the full-throated screams of a young man, which were abruptly cut off.

  I think my dream house is now mine, she thought. That is, if Kate doesn’t mind sharing.

  Chapter 15

  They were alone together. That fact was pretty hard to ignore. Rod was still waiting for Simone to make the first move, if she ever did. She was beginning to seek him out as soon as they woke up, staying at his side until they went to bed in separate rooms. He was pretty sure she liked him. Rod had upended his hours for her, staying awake during what he thought of as “vampire time,” sleeping during “human time.” He didn’t mind. He just wanted to be with her.

  Patty had left mo
re than a day ago, and there was still no word from her. Dusk was approaching, and they had just gotten up when they heard an insistent knock on the door. They looked at each other. “What do we do?” Simone asked.

  “We answer the door.”

  “But what if it’s the cops?

  Rod didn’t have an answer for that. He knew he’d try to talk his way out of whatever situation they found themselves in, but he wasn’t sure what her reaction would be. He’d already seen that a vampire’s response to danger was more antagonistic, less predictable than a human’s. He was lucky to have survived his initial encounter with the girls. He was certain that Simone was trying hard to control her aggression, but he wasn’t so sure about Laura and Patty.

  The man at the door was either a well-preserved ninety-year-old or a badly preserved seventy-year-old; Rod couldn’t tell. Smelling the alcohol on the man’s breath, he suspected the latter. He was overweight and sloppy-looking in dungarees and a dirty linen shirt, and had a full white beard and long hair.

  “Who are you?” the man demanded without so much as a greeting.

  “What?”

  “I said who the hell are you?” the man shouted as if he thought Rod might be deaf.

  Rod smiled uncertainly and put out his hand. “My name’s Rod Parker.”

  “You know what? I changed my mind. I don’t give a damn who you are, what I want to know is what the hell are you doing here?”

  “Yeah? Well, who are you?” Rod demanded in an equally strident voice.

  “Name’s Lee Awbrey. Mean anything to you?”

  “Should it?” Rod answered. He’d decided to answer belligerence with belligerence. In response, the man was already lowering his voice.

  “Seeing as how my nephew Stephen Awbrey owns this house, it ought to. He asked me to look after this place, and he hasn’t told me any different.”