Drawing Blood (40 page)

“On
Lake Simcoe
. I was boat crazy that summer.” Matthew said.

“Give me directions. I think Father has Stryker.”

“What the hell?”

“Don’t ask, just give me the damn directions!” She practically yelled at him. Matthew provided her with sketchy directions and everything he could recall from that summer. He began to offer his help but before he could say more, she hung up on him.

At last, she heard the car in the driveway and rushed out to meet Avery and Stephen. Connor was sleeping soundly. He actually had a small smile on his face.

“The little bugger has the nerve to look content.” Avery’s voice was charged with emotion and Holly hugged her close.

She quickly explained the situation, but didn’t wait for her friends to argue. They tried to stop her, hoping to be of some use, but she was way beyond their help. Mad with fear and panic, it never occurred to her to call out to Stryker’s men and tell them to follow her. She never thought to tell them that she had an idea of where Stryker was being held. That would have taken rational thought and she was beyond that. All she could think of was getting to him herself. She moved with a supernatural speed she never knew she possessed. Behind the wheel of her car, she honked the horn as gravel shot out from under her tires.

On the highway, the exit signs didn’t come fast enough, so Holly pressed harder on the accelerator. She’d never driven so fast in her life. She prayed some poor innocent animal didn’t decide to run out in front of her. Instinctively, she used every sense she possessed both human and vampire, to get her to her destination. When she came upon a stretch of road she couldn’t get a beat on, she concentrated as hard as she could on Stryker and her senses took over and told her where to turn. Instinctively she knew she was on the right track. Now that she was on her way, Holly realized her oversight. She should have let Stryker’s men know where she was headed. Scrambling for her cell phone, she glanced at the screen. Damn it! No signal. She cursed her foolishness and prayed it wouldn’t cost Stryker his life. She was alone in this and there was no way to tell how long Stryker would last. Would Alan Seaton kill him outright? Something told her no. He’d want to enjoy bringing a vampire of Stryker’s strength to his knees. She could only imagine what he’d done to her biological father, Mackenzie Holister. Rather, she didn’t want to imagine. Her imagination only served to make her more desperate to get to Stryker and she was already breaking the sound barrier.

The area around
Lake Simcoe
was also considered cottage country, but was a good distance east from Muskoka. Despite the speed, for Holly the drive was far too long. After what felt like years, she pulled up to the laneway of the house she remembered from her childhood and from her drawing. Still no signal on her cell phone.

There was a surreal quality to the darkness of the night. The moon, hidden by dense cloud cover, could provide no light by which to navigate. She’d have to rely on her senses, not daring to keep the car’s headlights on for fear of alerting the bloodstalker inside. What now?

She rolled down the window to smell the air. Horse. Incredibly, the night air smelled of horse. Holly heard a soft sigh and spotted Dakota. Stryker had come to this place on his own. She didn’t dare approach Stryker’s stallion. He looked prepared to do violence and she wasn’t sure he’d discriminate between the good human and the bad one. In her heart she knew though, that if necessary, she’d risk anything to save Stryker and Dakota might well come in handy in that respect. But that would come later. First she had to find him.

She got out of her car and spoke softly to the horse, giving him a wide berth.

“Good boy. Easy boy. You stand guard. I’ll get him or die trying.” The horse tossed his head as if nodding. Perhaps he understood more than she’d given him credit for. Wouldn’t be the first time…

Carefully but with as much speed as she could muster, Holly headed to the house. From what she could tell, not much had changed since her childhood, so it was easy to find the kitchen door despite the darkness. Memories of the summer they’d spent here flashed through her mind like a slide show. She’d loved it. Matthew, Alison and she’d been almost like a real family. She could recall Matthew patiently teaching his sisters how to water ski, any excuse to drive the boat.

Holly shivered and remembered that it had all been a fabrication. Her childhood had been a lie. Dear God, somehow she’d have to tell Alison and Matt the truth about their father. She pushed the thought aside. She had other things to worry about at the moment.

All was quiet, but Holly could feel Stryker’s presence like a wild thing struggling to free itself. He was here and her instincts told her just where to find him. Below ground, how fitting, considering the rock Alan Seaton had crawled out from under.

Years ago, the basement had been off limits to children. Young Holly hadn’t minded and had no inclination to explore the damp musty place. It gave her the creeps. Her father had been furious at Alison when she’d dared to venture down the stairs. He’d made them all promise not to go near the place, claiming it was dangerous down there. In retrospect, Holly wondered if it was perhaps the only time he
hadn’t
lied to them. Tonight she was positive there was danger down in that particular basement.

The door made no sound when she swung it open. The concrete stairs were dry and clean. Could it be that the basement was the only part of the house used on a regular basis? The thought and what it implied made Holly sick. Her heightened senses smelled fear and despair. It tasted bitter, but she breathed it in anyway, using it to help harden her resolve.

Without the slightest sound, she slipped into the dank room. It was dimly lit but using her enhanced vision, Holly could see everything. The sight that greeted her was one from a nightmare. Unaware of her presence, Alan Seaton stood by a huge stone fireplace with a glowing branding iron in his hand. Stryker was stripped naked and chained to a cinder block wall stained with blood and sweat and God knows what else. He was soaked in so much blood that it pooled in the hollow of his collar bone and trickled down his chest. With a sniff, Holly knew the blood was not his. With rising horror, she understood what had been done to him.

“You sick monster, you’ve been force feeding him human blood,” she said aloud, drawing Alan’s attention to her.

When he turned in surprise, she could feel the excitement oozing from him…excitement, not revulsion, pity or fear, but excitement. The bastard was enjoying himself. She gagged.

His eyes were glazed with sick pleasure. Alan Seaton looked at her and in a conversational tone he said. “Yes. It’s most interesting. He’s needed more than any other vampire I’ve ever known. His control is remarkable. The others reverted to their savage states almost immediately after having consumed human blood. But this one,” he poked Stryker with the branding iron and Stryker growled, “resisted until he smelled you. How does it feel, Holly, to know that the creature you love could rip out your throat without regret?”

“Shut up.” Her lip curled with disgust.

“Have you ever seen the change before? It’s really an incredible sight to see. They are such powerful creatures. I guess you’ll find that out soon enough now that you know where you come from. Who you are.”

Alan Seaton showed his teeth in what might have at one time been a smile.

“They, or rather, you are a plague my dear. The most dangerous animals on earth. For generations we’ve been studying these creatures. We had to for the protection of all human kind. You see, we had to learn as much as we could in order to protect ourselves. To protect an unsuspecting world. Once reverted to a savage state, vampires make wonderful prey. I’ve known them to elude a bloodstalker’s grasp for days. This one,” he poked Stryker with the iron again, “would have made the best hunt we’ve had in a long time. At least the best since your biological father died. Now that was a hunt to remember. I suppose you know about your father.”

“Yes, and I’m relieved you and I don’t share the same bloodline. You’re worse than any animal. You torture and kill for pleasure. Is that what you did to my mother? Did you kill her too?” Holly tried to keep his attention, to distract him from his purpose. She knew there wasn’t much more Stryker could withstand.

Seaton looked genuinely sad for a moment then blinked and the look was gone. “I loved your mother. She betrayed me and had to be punished. I wanted to keep her, but our leader insisted that she had to go. She knew too much. She refused to see things my way. I didn’t do the deed, it was arranged. They let me keep you in order to document your early development as half savage, but I knew I had to do something when your abilities started to present themselves. Luckily the drugs kept your vampire abilities dampened.”

“But I haven’t taken the drugs in years,” Holly said.

He laughed. “Yes, you have. When you stopped taking them voluntarily like a good little girl, I had them put in your food. You made it a little difficult when you moved out, but then I simply sent food up to you. The drugs had to build up in your system to be effective. Someone else eating one or two dinners wouldn’t have felt a thing but you, eating them regularly would get just enough to keep your levels steady. And you thought I was just being a concerned papa. Touching.”

“Why? Why didn’t you kill me when I was a child?” Her voice was filled with confusion and sadness. From the corner of her eye she could see Stryker fighting the blood madness, struggling for control. He was slipping fast and she knew of nothing else she could do. Alan Seaton stood between them. A maniac prepared to kill and enjoy it.

“You were so like Helene. She loved you so much. You, her only link to her beloved.” His face flushed and his eyes looked feverish. “I liked denying you your heritage. It seemed fitting somehow. I made you mine...human. At last, I took what mattered most from Mackenzie Holister. His own flesh and blood. What better revenge?” Warming to his subject, he placed the branding iron in the fire again. “My family has been bloodstalkers for generations. Vampires cannot be permitted to mix with humans. It’s an abomination. Such a thing would destroy civilization as we know it. Men of my kind, we keep the world in a delicate balance, under our control.”

Holly sneered. “And make obscene amounts of cash as well.”

He looked surprised. “We’ve kept humanity pure. Surely we deserve to be compensated for the heavy burden we bear. We’re the world’s leaders, its champions. We’ve allowed the rest to chug along blissfully ignorant of the danger vampires pose except in movies or television series. We’ve protected humanity…done the dirty work.”

“Dirty is a good word for it.” Holly kept her eyes on Alan. Beyond him she could see Stryker retching, ridding his body of the blood forced upon him.

At the sound, Alan turned his head and smiled greasily. “I’ve never seen one do that before. Interesting. I suppose he resists the pull of his nature for your sake, Holly. He must love you very much. Just like your father loved your mother. Interesting.” His eyes shifted to the doorway. “Hello, Alison. What perfect timing.”

Holly turned just in time to see her sister enter the room. She looked lovely in a soft yellow dress and pearls, so out of place in the dank and damp chamber of horrors. Gliding gracefully towards her father, she spoke before Holly could react.

“It’s all done now, Daddy.” She moved into his arms.

Holly tried to warn her off. “Alison, don’t…”

“Shut up, Holly,” Alison snapped. Her voice was hard and brittle when she spoke her next words and she looked at Holly with disgust. “You never understood. This is my birthright. I am a true Seaton, a bloodstalker and proud of it.”

Chapter 31

Alan laughed at the shock on Holly’s face, “Matthew turned out to be such a disappointment. Too much time spent with his mother when he was a babe, I suppose. I didn’t bother to bring him into the fold. Not ruthless enough. He’d never have the strength of character to inherit real responsibility, the kind he’d need to carry on my work.” He nuzzled Alison’s neck then bent to grab the branding iron again.

Alison gazed up at her father, hero worship in her eyes. “I knew she’d been hooking up with a vampire, Daddy. Bloodmates, I could see it in her face when she talked about him. And Stryker is such a unique name.”

His lips against Alison’s ear, he said, “You have done your duty, my sweet. There’s just one more thing I’m going to ask of you. A sacrifice.” With his arm around her, he walked his flesh and blood daughter over to the place where Stryker strained against the chains that bound him. Reluctant to get too close to the struggling vampire, Alison hesitated, but one look at her father and like an automaton, she went willingly.