The Blood Order (Fanghunters Book Two) (15 page)

"No more! No more!" he sneered.

He inhaled deep then--

The overhead lights flicked on, illuminating the whole chamber in a dull haze.

"Stop!" a voice shouted from the doorway, a male voice.

Both the Father and Dom spun in the direction of the doorway.

Dom laid eyes on Trixie
,
who was standing just inside the doorway, a resigned expression on her face. "Trixie!" he exclaimed.

She gave him a tired nod.

Dom then spotted the stiff arm pointing at the back of her head. Gripped in the hand was a gun, a dart gun identical to his.

"Shoot and she gets it too!" came the male voice again and Dom frowned. It was a voice that set off that déjà vu again. He watched in stunned bewilderment as the owner of the arm stepped to the side and came into his view. He was dirty, disheveled, but he recognized him in an instant. The initial shock was like a bucket of water in the face.

"Eddie?" he half-exclaimed, half-gasped.

Eddie stared back at him with a furrowed brow. "How do you know me?" he enquired. "Huh?"

Dom licked his lips, his dart gun still aimed at the Father, but his eyes never leaving Eddie. "Eddie, it's me, Dom," he said with a hopeful grin. "Your brother."

Eddie twitched. "I... I... don't have a brother," he replied.

"No, Eddie, you do," Dom said nice and slow. "Me, I'm your brother. Dom."

"I don't know any Dom," Eddie reiterated.

Dom looked around him in disappointment.
Why doesn't he recognize me?

"He's right, Eddie," Trixie said, her eyes rolled up to the ceiling in irritation. "He's your brother."

"You shut up!" Eddie snarled, poking the dart gun into the side of her head.

Dom threw out his free hand. "Don't hurt her, Eddie!" he pleaded.

"You put your gun down and I won't!" Eddie ordered.

Dom looked from him to the Father. He was now staring back at him with stern eyes. Dom knew he was trying to ice him, but it wasn't working because of the lenses. He watched a twitchy grin spread across his face.

What can I do to make Eddie recognize me?

Then, he remembered something. He dug a hand into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. "All right, Eddie, look," he said, as he held out his wallet for Trixie to take.

"What are you doing?" Eddie asked.

"I've got a photo in my wallet. Of us. Me, you, and Dad."

"Yeah. So?"

"So, it's proof I'm your brother."

"You're lying again."

"I promise I'm not. Just let Trixie take out the photo and it'll prove it." Dom stared at him with sincere eyes. "Please."

Eddie thought about it for a second, then nodded toward the wallet. "Okay. Take it," he told Trixie.

"They lie, Eddie," the Father then interjected. "
I'm
your family."

Dom turned and pointed his dart gun at the Father. "Quiet!"

Eddie twitched. "Hey!" he said, poking Trixie with the gun again.

Dom backed down. "Okay. Okay!" he said. "Trixie." He held the wallet out again.

Trixie reached out, took the wallet and began sifting through it. Eddie watched her with interest. She pulled out a photo that had been taped back together. She stared at it for a moment, then handed it over her shoulder to Eddie. Eddie snatched it, held it to the side, and stared at it.

Dom watched his eyes. Watched them for any sign of recognition in them. He saw a flicker, a small flicker, but enough to tell him something clicked in Eddie's mind.

"You remember now, Eddie?" Dom asked him.

He watched Eddie shift on his feet, his stare not leaving the photo in his hand.

"Eddie?" Dom repeated. "You remember?"

Eddie's bottom lip began to tremble. "I... I... I..." he stammered, half shaking his head, half nodding.

Dom's eyes began to well up.

"Why have you come here?" the Father then asked Trixie, much to Dom's surprise. He frowned as he turned his attention from him to Trixie. There was no surprise in her eyes, just a clear knowing.

"To put an end to this," she replied.

"I already did put an end to it," he said. "So leave us."

"With all due respect, we didn't think your adopted method was humane," Trixie retorted.

"Um, do you two know each other?" Dom asked in utter confusion.

Trixie sighed. "I was hoping you'd just kill him and save your brother, but it hasn't worked out that way."

Dom recoiled. "Wait. You mean you
knew
Eddie was here?"

Trixie nodded.

"What?" Dom exclaimed. "Why the hell didn't you tell me?"

"Ask yourself, Dom. Who is that?" asked Trixie, diverting attention from herself. "Who is this vamp that had you and your brother trapped all that time?"

Dom turned and stared at him. At the Father. He shook his head. "I... I..."

"He used to be your father," Trixie said in a matter-of-fact tone. "The man in that photo."

Dom's head dropped, he scanned the ground hard.
My father?
"What?" he blurted, his head snapping back up and meeting the Father. He was staring back at Dom with solemn eyes.

"According to our contacts, you and your brother tried to cut a deal with the Order," Trixie continued. "A deal that would've got you both killed. Rather than see that, your dad allowed himself to be turned. That way he could keep you in hiding." She shrugged. "He sacrificed himself for your safety."

Dom shook his head. "No, no, no, no, that can't be true!" he shouted.

"It
is
true, Dom. Look at him."

Dom looked back at the Father.

"Can't you see he's
your
father?"

Dom stared at the pale, scarred face. There were remnants of his father in there, yeah, he could see them now. The nose, the ears, the chin. But, the eyes, the eyes weren't Dad. They were... something
else
. Something... else. "I can't believe this," he declared, lowering his dart gun for the first time.

He rubbed his wet eyes.
What's going on?

Trixie let out a hot sigh. "Well, this has worked out just dandy," she said, glancing over her shoulder at Eddie, who was just standing there in numbed silence, the photo in his hand, her dart gun in the other.

Dom glanced over at Eddie, then back at the Father. His father. He was staring back at him with smugness stamped all over his face. Dad would never have stared at him in that way. Ever. "So, what now?" Dom asked the whole room.

"Come back to me, son," the Father suggested. "Me, you, Eddie, we can live together in peace. Harmony.
She
will lead you to your death. She doesn't care about you the way I do. You know that."

Trixie shrugged. "You can believe that if you want, Dom. But, take it from me, it's all lies. Your dad doesn't exist anymore. That thing standing there isn't him. The venom eventually turns men into monsters. Your dad made his choice. He did it for you, but it was ill-advised."

"She lies, son. I
love
you." The Father attempted a loving grin that was akin to a crocodile trying to express affection. Dom shivered. He stared at the Father's fangs. They were tusks. Gleaming tusks. A sudden nausea brewed in his belly.

"There's only one thing to do, Dom," Trixie said, glancing over her shoulder at Eddie. "You'll have to kill him."

Dom met her stare. "Kill him? How can I? He's my dad."

"He's not your father any more, Dom. He's a monster. There's no cure for vampirism. Lay your dad to rest, or you'll spend the rest of your days craving his bite. It'll haunt you forever. Sever the connection. For you and your brother."

Dom closed his eyes and inhaled deep.
She's right, Dom,
a voice deep down inside him said.
That thing there ain't Dad. Dad's dead. Dad's... dead.

You know what you have to do.

He flicked his eyes open and thrust his dart gun toward the Father's chest. The Father recoiled in fear. Dom's trembling finger went to pull the trigger.
Just do it, Dom,
he told himself.
Kill him, get it over with. Pull that trigger. End this. Do it. Do it. Do it!

He clenched his teeth, his hand holding the dart gun now trembling. He saw that face again; the face that used to be his father. He went to do it but faltered. He lowered the dart gun, his head dropping. "I can't," he declared. "I can't do it."

Trixie lowered her head in resignation.

The sudden chatter of footsteps snapped Dom into life.

He flicked his head up to watch Eddie storm his way, a steely determination etched into his face. He stopped ahead of Dom, his stare fixed on his brother. Without saying a word, he reached down and grabbed the dart gun from Dom's grip.

Dom watched him in shock. "Eddie..."

Eddie spun away, toward the Father, a snarl of hate now emerging on his face.

The Father's eyes widened in disbelief. "Son!" he gasped.

With no hesitation, Eddie raised the gun, pointed it at the Father's chest, and ruthlessly pulled the trigger. The Father had time to hiss before the dart punctured his chest; he recoiled. He glared down in a drunken fashion at the dart poking out of his chest. He reached down, ripped it out, and threw it away, but it was too late, the holy water was already in his bloodstream. He snapped his head up and watched them all in horror as the chemicals took their swift effect. He raised his hands to his face; they first tremored, then shook, then convulsed. His chest joined in and he grabbed his heart. Straight after that, his head began to shake.

Dom watched on in revulsion as the Father's eyeballs rolled up into his head as he began to judder under the pressure. His fingers curled in like claws and he released a blood
-
curdling scream. The hairs on the back of Dom's neck sprang to attention. The Father then staggered back, tripping on his mattress. He slammed into it, bounced off it, and collapsed to the side in a heap where he continued to spasm. Dom watched on in agony as the thing that used to be his father died. The spasms slowed, then stopped. Finally, he became still. And everything went quiet.

Dom looked from Eddie to Trixie. She met his stare, giving him a sympathetic smile.

Dom gazed back at his father/vamp and a tear slipped down his cheek. He wiped it away.

Eddie slung the dart gun against the wall and collapsed to his knees. In the next instant, he was crying and wailing in agony.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

T
hey covered the body with trash bags and dragged it to the trunk of the car. They couldn't leave the body of a vamp in a dark environment for someone to find, they'd need to let the sun do its thing on him.

"What exactly is going on, Trixie?" Dom asked. He was in the back, consoling his younger brother.

"I'll explain more when we get back home," Trixie said from the driver's seat. "Dad will want to speak to you both. Let's just say there's something in the head of your brother that the Order are very interested in. By that score, we're very interested in it too."

Dom gazed down at his brother. He was juddering with emotion, no doubt needing a venom fix too.

"In his head? Like what?"

"A formula," Trixie told him.

"Formula?"

"That's right. A formula that only he knows."

Dom nodded. "My brother always was a smart cookie."

Trixie started up the car. "Oh yes. And that's why he's valuable to everyone. It's a good job we found you first." She started up the car and they pulled away. Eddie's head then snapped up and he stared at the building where he'd been a prisoner. He shivered under Dom's hand as he watched the building grow smaller and smaller. Trixie turned off the road, and it was gone forever. Eddie wiped his eyes and then put his head down again.

"I hope we don't get stopped by any cops," Trixie said as she picked up the pace. "Don't know how we're gonna talk off what we got in the trunk."

Dom huffed. At that moment, he could care less if they did get stopped. He was a burned-out wreck. The last hour had been a meteor shower of emotions. From terror, to dread, to longing, to relief, to anguish, to happiness on finally finding Eddie, to the heartache of discovering Dad had become a vamp, and worse, the very vamp that had enslaved him. Even if it was for his safety like Trixie mentioned, he had still been a slave. All he wanted right then was sleep, a nice long sleep to re-energize, then work out what the hell was going on.

The thing he couldn't get his head around the most was what Trixie said about Eddie. He had a formula. A formula of what? Was that what the 'sample' was? A sample of the formula? Who were they before they were in that basement? What had he and Eddie got themselves into? How much did Vincent know? What exactly did Vincent know? The multitude of questions wouldn't leave him alone the whole time Trixie drove them out of the south side slum and back north toward Vincent's mansion. He watched the different strokes of Chicago pass by; the old, the new, the clean, the dirty. What grip did the Order have on this once fine city? What were their plans?