A Time To Kill (Elemental Rage Book 1) (11 page)

Something in
Raven’s cold-heartedness scared Claire.  She didn’t know anyone could be
capable of such ruthlessness. Burning people in the house amounted to killing
someone who was in the way.  Couldn’t Raven see that?  She was the older
sister.  She was supposed to do the right thing.  She was supposed to be an
example for Claire. 

She followed Raven
to the big house.  The sun was further along in the sky than anyone was
comfortable with. Raven gave some final instructions before kicking the porch
door in, “If you see the opportunity to make a hole in the house, do it.”

The three guys,
eager to show off for the hot chick in the leather mini, were right up the
steps with Raven, ready to save some people and kick some vampire butts.
Claire, even though it had been her idea, felt terrified. 

When a vampire
drank—the soul-sucking vampires, not the blood-sucking ones—it was a shocking
experience.  Worse than finding out your Dad had died in a fire.  Worse than
watching your sister repeat the same things over and over again when you know
that’s not what a seven-year old does. It was like standing at the edge of a
twenty-story building and seeing people and cars move in the distance and
itching at the back of your shoulder blades because there is a person behind
you ready to push you off.  Claire could feel the anger in Gladys when she drank,
the joy in Tasha when she was going to kill Claire with a last sip. 

Claire was
frightened.

She didn’t want to
go into the house.

Raven was inside.

Rescuing the
people before setting the house on fire was her idea.

God, please
help me.

Tears filled
Claire’s eyes.  She couldn’t. She couldn’t do it.  She took a deep breath.  She
looked away from the porch where the two men now entered.  That was when she
saw the three mannequins…no they weren’t.  She had to stop pretending.  They
were people.  Vampires would have disintegrated into dust.  They were all
dead.  The last one had dragged himself toward the house, through the dirt. 
He’d made it quite a way, too.

Claire knew then
why Raven didn’t care. She was broken.  She had already killed.  Claire
wondered why Raven didn’t have the thousand-yard stare yet.  The serial killer
stare, the glassy-eyed stare. The stare that said,
‘I am a killer’

And then…
I
can’t leave her alone in there.  Not with those monsters.

Claire ran to the
porch, passing the three girls huddled at the door, afraid to go in, afraid to stay
out. “Come on. We need to get everyone out.”

They worked hard
and in pairs, dragging out people so drugged that they didn’t wake up when they
were dropped on the grass.  Once Claire grabbed the wrists of an elderly woman,
Claire gave a squeak of distress and dropped the wrinkled arm. The woman’s arm
was cold…dead.

Jade arrived at
the house sometime in the middle of the rescue operation, holding Mindy’s hand
and looking fragile. Claire gave her the summary of what was going on. She
said, “Just stay here. We’re almost done. You don’t have to go back in there.”

Claire started
toward the house and then seeing Mindy holding her teddy bear and sucking her
thumb wanted nothing more to pull her into her arms and tell her how sorry she
was for everything.  Claire was filthy, covered in stink. 

Instead she said,
“I’m so sorry, Mindy. I’m sorry for everything. I’ll make it up to you.”

With wise eyes,
wiser than the shell of a body that never seemed to work right, Mindy said, “I
love you, Claire.”

Claire felt
released, forgiven, cleansed.  She said, “I love you, too, Min-Min.”

She smiled. 

Even with all of
the horror surrounding her, she felt lighter.

Chapter 9

~~
Raven ~~

The attic was the
most terrifying place Raven had ever seen—and that counted the horror movies
she had watched. Some of the people there were still alive, barely…but they had
been ravaged. What made it so mind-numbingly scary was that the attic itself
was clean.  As if the vampires were fastidious housekeepers, the bodies were
hoisted above plastic and sheets.  Two huge bins were placed conveniently near
the worst of the carnage with the words, “Dirty laundry” written in bold marker
across the plastic.

For all their
care, one of the vampires had gotten careless and a blood splatter stained one
of the signs. Raven’s partner stepped back, “I think everyone in here is dead.”

As if to refute
the man’s words, one of the vampires’ prisoners moaned. He was lying on a brown
wooden table, a sturdy hand-made table that must have been made in the age
before veneer and plastic. He had been splayed out like an experiment.

“Help me,” the
hoarse request was filled with so much helplessness, so much terror that Raven
wanted to run and leave everything, everyone except her sisters to fend for
themselves.

She exchanged a
glance with her partner.  It was the first time she had really looked at him. 
He was older, probably a college kid.  His hair was buzzed on the sides with a
regular cut in the middle.  Not exactly a faux-hawk cut, but close, as if he
didn’t quite want to commit. He shook his head, ever so slightly. 

Raven thought of
Claire’s eyes brimming with disappointment.  She wouldn’t leave a living human
being here for the vampires to torture, especially if the rest of their harem
had been taken away.  Before she could second-guess herself, Raven quickly reached
for the first rope, tied around the guy’s leg. She almost set the axe down to
untie the knots, but relinquishing her only weapon in this place, even for a
moment, seemed like a bad idea. Using the axe seemed equally unsafe.

“Do you have a
knife that can cut through these?” Raven turned her head. When she saw the look
of horror and surprise suddenly cross her partner’s face, she knew something
bad was going to happen to her.  She threw herself forward.

The vampire was
faster. Grabbing her foot he pulled back and Raven hit her forehead against the
wooden floor.  Stars swam across her vision.  She heard the sounds of footsteps
running away. Her partner was abandoning her to the vampire. The vampire pulled
her away from the wall.  Raven tried to hold herself up with her hands to keep
her face from striking the floor.

Between one moment
and the next, the creature was on top of her, pushing her hair out of the way.
She was facedown, staring at the floor and wondering when the vampire was going
to strike. She remembered Jade.  That was what came next. She couldn’t let it.

Raven reared her
head back, crunching the vampire’s nose with the back of her head.  Sharp pains
shot down the back of her neck, but she crawled out of the way, lugging her axe
with her.  As she turned to face the vampire she said, “I think that hurt me
more than it hurt you.”  

The vampire wasn’t
much of a talker. Now that she could see the vampire, Raven was certain that
she didn’t hurt him at all. So far the only way she had successfully killed the
buggers was through sunlight. She didn’t have the stake-through-the-heart
method down, yet. 

Since she didn’t
have a stake, now wasn’t the time to try a new method.  Raven asked Air for
help.  She didn’t know exactly what to ask for.  The attic wasn’t one of those
pleasant farmhouse ones with windows.

The vampire lunged
for her.  Vampires are predators. As all predators do, they strike with speed
and agility. Raven swung the axe forward hoping to catch the vampire in a vital
part. Somehow he danced right around her swing and was inside it before she
knew what had happened. He grabbed her axe and threw it behind him where it
skittered to a stop under the wheel of a rusted out bicycle.

Raven crawled
backwards even as the vampire lunged forward. She hated the feeling of the cold
body on top of hers, the smell of the grave in her nostrils.  If she were going
to die, she wanted it to be in a field with the smell of roses all around and a
gentle breeze blowing across her face. His teeth extended.

Air tossed dust in
his face pushing with all her strength against him.  Air was great in a large
field with lots of room to move, but the attic blocked her strength. Raven
stared into the vampire’s eyes.  They were empty.  He had such a soulless
expression that she wondered why he would even bother to kill her.

The door burst
open.  Claire rushed into the attic with a stake in each hand. The vampire leapt
from Raven with an elegance that looked like flying. It was disturbing, to say
the least. He grabbed Claire’s hand, digging his nails into her palm until she
dropped the stake. Raven crept closer, snatching the stake and hoping she
didn’t get stepped on.

Claire swung the
other stake forward, aiming for the center of his ribs.  He gracefully
sidestepped the swing, tearing the stake out of her hands. The vampire grabbed
Claire’s throat. Everything moved in slow motion.

Air created a
distraction, not enough to free Claire, but a distraction nonetheless. It
masked the sounds of Raven’s movements.  She lifted the stake and plunged it
into his back and into his heart.

This time when the
vampire went poof, Claire and Raven were both standing too close for comfort. 
Covered in dust, Raven coughed, “Eww.  Ugh. Gross. I have vampire on my
tongue.”

Claire couldn’t help
it. She started giggling. Raven grabbed her shoulder and hugged her over the
pile of vampire dust, “Thanks, Claire. You saved my life.”

“You saved mine
first,” Claire felt warm joy flood her being.  She was loved.

“Then we’re even. Last
room. Let’s get this guy and get out,” Raven stepped over the pile of dust. 
She felt dirty. The dust she’d breathed tasted like dog poop smelled.

Together they
removed the ropes, “He’s in bad shape,” Raven said.

“I know,” Claire
said, “Raven, we have to leave some of them behind.  They won’t all fit in the
van. How do we know we’ll kill all the vampires with the fire?”

They heaved the
guy off the table. He was heavy. He screamed in pain when they moved him.
Claire looked ill.  As they walked out of the attic hefting the guy between
them, Raven said, “We don’t.  We’ll drive out with the most conscious people
and drop them in the nearest town.  As soon as we have cell service, we’ll call
9-1-1 and get someone up here.  I think the police and fire fighters will be
safe enough once we burn the house down.”

They carried the
man down the stairs and through the hall.  Raven’s so-called partner who had
abandoned her was waiting at the bottom of the stairs. He took over for
Claire.  He looked guilty.  Raven thought it fitting since he’d abandoned her
to a certain death. Jerk.

The lawn looked
like the side of a swimming pool with people lying out as if catching sun,
except none of them wore bikinis and they were much too pale.

Raven proceeded
with her plan to burn the house down, or at least got a roaring fire going. 
She could only hope that it would become an inferno before anyone they called
arrived.

 “You know this is
arson, right?” Jade asked.

“You know that
vampires almost killed us, right?” Raven retorted.  Having an angelic sister
could be a major pain.  Jade could definitely use a walk on the wild side.

Jade bit her lip,
“Yeah, I know.”

“Look. I’m the only
one who will set the fire. You can say you didn’t have anything to do with it,”
Raven was determined. Those vampires were not going to wake up to a nice cozy
house, especially if dinner was unconscious in the yard.

“No. I’ll do it,”
Jade opened her hand as if she expected Raven to just hand over the starter
fluid and trigger lighter.

Raven held one
finger in the air, “No. I am seriously going to burn this house down. You can
help if you want, but I’m the one who is firing it.”

“You’re going to
end up in juvie if you keep this kind of stuff up,” Jade teased. When Raven
looked like she was going to start a hissy fit, Jade said, “Kidding. I’m
kidding. I’ve got everything ready to go. Let’s get moving.  I want to put some
distance between us and those blood-suckers before sundown.”

Raven was
impressed.  Jade had laid out several bundles of kindling in strategic places.
They worked quickly until the fires had a good start.

The sisters
slipped under the fence so weary they could barely move.  Of the three, Mindy
was in the best shape.  Surprisingly quiet, she sucked her thumb and followed
Jade and stared at the extra passengers they’d picked up.  Raven couldn’t wait
to get rid of them.

The sooner they
drove away, the sooner she could forget. Even though Raven wasn't really legal,
she drove down the mountain. Jade was too wiped out from everything that
happened, and Raven wasn’t about to let a stranger from a vampire compound
drive Mom’s van.

The minute they
had cell service, one of the guys with a cell phone called the cops, the
ambulances, and the fire trucks, leaving out any mention of vampires.  He
explained it as a cult compound that had been set on fire, gave the address and
then hung up. Not that the sisters didn’t have their own phones, but they were
on the run, and having the police trace their call wouldn’t be the best idea
ever.

The goodbyes were
brief, but heartfelt. The sisters were finally alone. They found a rest stop
where Raven called Bertha. When Bertha picked up the phone, she was
half-asleep, even though it was only eight o’clock in the evening in Denver.
Raven didn’t know where to start.

“Aunt Bertha?”
Raven leaned her head against the seat.  Her sisters were all out stretching
their legs on the little park next to the rest rooms.

“I knew there was
trouble. Felt it in my elbow,” Bertha’s voice was comforting in a way that
surprised Raven.  Bertha usually dealt with Mindy, but in that moment, there
was no one else on earth that Raven would rather talk to.

“Someone grabbed
Mom. I think it was a Death Keeper.  He disappeared with her.  One minute they
were standing there and the next gone. Did Mom tell you we were on the run? 
Some creepy guy was watching the house.” Raven spilled the story in fits and
starts, answering Bertha’s many questions.

Bertha said, “I’ll
take the first flight out tomorrow. I’ll rent a car and meet you girls and
we’ll figure things out. In the meantime, don’t use your powers for anything.
With my sister gone, the wards must have broken.”

“It’s probably too
late. The Elements have helped us quite a bit today.  What does having broken
wards mean?”  Raven watched from the car as Mindy and Claire chatted up some
old lady and her two terriers. Jade had found a bench under a shade tree.    

“Anyone looking
for it knows exactly where you are.  No more Elements. Not until we get that
ward back in place.” Bertha lowered her voice, “Raven, I know you girls are in
a tight spot.  Just move as far and as fast as you can and let your Elements
rest. You’d better get back on the road, and I need to get packed.”

 “Are you okay,
Aunt Bertha?” Raven wondered if Aunt Bertha ever regretted coming to stay with
the family.  She’d been with them since the year after her Dad died.  She and
her sister had lived together in Colorado, while the third sister, Raven’s
grandmother, lived in Eatonville, Washington.  She was closely tied to Earth
and had a great love for Mount Rainier until her death fifteen years before.

Bertha was quiet
for a moment and then said, “Just getting old, Love.”

“Don’t talk like
that,” Raven sometimes resented having to share rooms with their sisters, maybe
more so than Jade or Mindy, but she loved her aunt.  She’d already lost her
father. She didn’t want to lose anyone else.

“It’s true. Now
gather your sisters and get back on the road. If you’ve been using the Elements,
you need to put down some miles,” Aunt Bertha said.  She and Raven said their
goodbyes, and Raven promised to be good.

Raven couldn’t
wait for a real shower. Using a towel and sink just didn’t make for  refreshing
cleanliness.  No matter how much she scrubbed, she could still smell vampire. She
changed out of her leather skirt, a little disappointed by the outcome. 
Somehow she thought she’d be more awesome if she fought in hot clothes.  Turned
out to be blasted uncomfortable and didn’t stop the vampires from trying to
turn her into a slurpee.

Raven pulled onto the
highway. She felt lost. Jade and Claire were already asleep or pretending to be.
Mindy stared out the window, curled up with her teddy bear.

The sun was just
now deepening to twilight.  Raven grinned proudly when she remembered to turn
on her headlights. 
I’m getting better at this driving thing,
she
thought. Raven turned a blind corner to find a shadowy figure standing in the
center of the road.

Slamming on the
brakes, Raven knew without a doubt that she was going to hit the man.