The black sedan’s engine roared to life and tires screeched across pavement—McKlintock. He was getting away.
She began sprinting toward the car, but was cut off by the stranger when he landed in front of her. She froze, staring into the man’s blood-splattered face. Backing away slowly, Karen shook her head. “Please, don’t kill me.”
The man’s eyebrows scrunched together. “Are you all right?”
Karen looked into his eyes and saw they were gentle, sane again.
“Miss, are you okay?” The man took a step forward. Karen matched his advance with one in retreat.
Immediately she dove into his mind, trying to see what his intentions were. She saw he had no desire to kill her and that he was wondering if she was in shock. She began breathing rapidly, her chest feeling as if it were constricted. “I don’t feel so…” she began, but then the world turned dark.
Chapter 18
Karen woke in her hotel room. She felt groggy and confused as she glanced around the unfamiliar room. Closing her eyes, she remembered everything: the bar, Melanie’s death, the agents coming after her, and the stranger.
She sat up, her heart pounding as anxiety soared through her body. Taking deep breaths, she calmed herself, and like a cool glass of iced tea on a hot summer’s day, she felt relieved. It was all a nightmare. Not the part about meeting Josh and having a secret organization after her; those things had happened. They were real. But Melanie dying, and having a strange, supernatural man save Karen was only a dream, or rather, a nightmare. She must have been so exhausted that she simply passed out on the bed after checking in, which meant Melanie was still alive.
She smiled, putting a hand to her head and laughing. How could she have believed a person could leap into the air like a lion and slaughter trained agents as if they were made of paper?
She got out of bed, her stomach, amazingly, still full from the rest-stop food. How could that be? Stretching, she felt the muscles in her body tense, then relax. Karen felt good, strong.
Walking to the bathroom, she stood in front of the mirror and stared at her reflection. To her surprise, she was wearing a red T-shirt. She remembered packing one, but not putting it on. Looking down, she noticed she had on a different pair of jeans, too. Her pulse resumed its panicked cadence.
She leaned on the sink, trying to remember if she had changed after arriving in her room. She must have slipped into new clothes, thinking she was going out to the bar before passing out onto the bed. That was it. She had her answer, and the surge of panic that had begun to fester was quickly exorcised.
Leaving the bathroom, she looked at the clock radio resting on the nightstand. It was only six a.m. She was used to rising early, but after everything she’d been through, she should have wanted to sleep late. As it was, she felt rejuvenated and decided to take a hot shower before running to get a cup of coffee and breakfast.
Letting the water run hot, Karen tried relaxing but found little solace. She was alone and that horrible dream was a reassurance that she couldn’t involve anyone else with her problems. As time wore on, a barrage of thoughts flew around inside her head, making her want to scream. She didn’t know where to go or what to do. Josh hadn’t been very helpful in that department during the short time they’d had together. How was she supposed to find an alien ship? It was her against a secret military force with limitless resources.
She could try disappearing; take a job as a waitress in a small town and start her life anew. But what did she even know about starting over? She would have to find a women’s shelter. If anyone could help her, keep her identity a secret, it would be them.
She stayed in the shower until her fingers became prunes, matching her toes. She tried thinking back to her time in high school and college when she had learned why that happened. It had something to do with osmosis and the evening out of pressure? She shook her head, unable to remember.
After shutting off the water and stepping out of the shower, she went to grab one of the towels from the rack and paused. She thought she remembered seeing three last night, but now there was only one. She shook her head again. Man, was her head screwed up. She dried off and then wrapped the towel around her middle.
Karen turned to exit the bathroom and slammed into something solid. She let out a deafening scream as she realized it was the man from the bar. Retreating, she backed into the sink. It couldn’t be true.
But it was.
Chapter 19
“How are you feeling?” the stranger asked, his voice almost a whisper.
Karen stared, mesmerized. “No, you can’t be real.”
“How do you think you arrived back at your motel?” The man leaned casually against the doorway as if everything were normal.
Karen felt the blood drain from her face. Reaching back, she grabbed the sink for support. The man sprang forward. She let out a scream, putting her hands up protectively. When she didn’t feel the stranger on her, she opened an eye. Peeking under her forearms, she told him to stay the hell away from her.
“Relax,” the stranger said. He moved aside and motioned for her to pass. “Sit on the bed before you fall down. You don’t look so good.”
Karen shimmied past. If he had wanted to attack her, he would’ve already. Bending over and putting her head in her hands, she replayed the images from last night’s events. “It was all real, wasn’t it?”
“Yes,” the man answered, drawing nearer.
Karen stiffened. “What the hell are you?”
The man sighed. “It’s a long story.”
“You’re a vampire,” she blurted, having heard the answer in his head. “No, not a vampire.” Karen was confused. She squinted. “A former vampire. Now something else.” She didn’t know whether to be horrified or amazed. She’d been an avid reader of horror fiction, especially vampire books, but like the rest of the world had never for a second believed them real.
“My name’s Morgan.” He came closer and held out a hand.
“Karen,” she said, considering the offer before deciding to shake the stranger’s hand.
“I might ask you the same question, Karen. What the hell are
you
?” He smiled. “I felt someone in my head at the bar and now it’s confirmed. That was you, wasn’t it? You’re a mind reader.”
Silence ensued for a moment. Karen heard Morgan’s thoughts clearly. “I’m running from those people, the ones back at the bar. I’m not, nor have I ever, worked for them,” she said, answering the stranger’s question before he could ask it aloud.
“You’re definitely reading my mind,” Morgan said.
“Yes, I am.” Karen wanted to deny it. She didn’t know this man, or whatever he was, but he’d saved her life. She felt as if a burdening weight had been lifted off her soul. It was exhilarating to be able to tell someone about her ability. Staring at the being in front of her, she realized he was special, too; something different, like her. She’d seen him take a bullet to the head and survive. “Please, sit,” she told him, patting the bed with her hand, needing and deciding to tell the stranger everything.
“That’s an incredible story, “Morgan said, after Karen was finished. “But aliens?”
Karen couldn’t believe it. She began to laugh. “I’m sitting here talking to a vampire and he’s questioning me about aliens? I don’t know which one is harder to believe in, vampires or E.T.s?”
“First,” Morgan said, holding up a finger. “I’m not a vampire, as you said earlier. At least not anymore. And second,” he paused as if thinking about something. “Stop that.”
“What?”
“You’re in my head again. I can feel you poking around.”
“You can?”
Morgan nodded. “I felt it at the bar; a presence.”
Karen released her connection to him. She wasn’t sure how she was able to connect and disconnect so easily now, but it was a welcomed thing. Then just as easily, she began probing the man again.
“Hey, stop that,” he told her. “How would you like the feeling of someone in your head? Let me talk out loud.”
Karen shrugged. “So what happened last night, after I passed out?” Immediately she wanted to dive back into Morgan’s head, find the real answer, but decided not to.
“It wasn’t pretty. You went into a convulsion and were clearly in a lot of pain. I carried you to your car and placed you inside while I cleaned up the lot.” He began nodding his head as if proud of himself. “All that’s left are a couple of large stains.”
Karen tried not reading his mind but couldn’t resist. “You put the bodies in the trunk of my car?” she said, jumping to her feet.
“Stop doing that. It’s creeping me out. And no, they were in the trunk, but not anymore.” Karen disconnected from Morgan’s thoughts. The dark realization of what occurred behind the bar hit her. She only cared about one of the victims. Swallowing, she asked, “What did you do with the woman’s body?” She sat back down and closed her eyes while trying to control her emotions. She did not want to cry.
“I assumed that she was your friend. I buried her body deep in the woods near here. I left a marker so you could find her again.” Morgan placed an arm around Karen’s shoulders.
She looked at him. “So she’s not with…?”
“No,” Morgan assured her, shaking his head slightly. “I didn’t put her with them.”
Karen pulled away from Morgan. Her body trembled, but she held the tears back, knowing she could never allow herself to cry again. She was too dangerous now, a living weapon. She couldn’t risk anyone else, former vampire or not, becoming infected with what she had. Never being able to cry again made her want to cry more. She thought about running to the shower, a place she could cry and not worry about another person becoming infected, but would her tears contaminate the water supply? She didn’t know.
“I need your help,” she said. “I’m all alone and everyone I love is in danger, not to mention the world. I need to find that spaceship I told you about, the one with the dead alien still inside, and stop those people from getting their hands on it.” She looked down to see that at some point during the conversation she’d gripped Morgan’s arm. “Sorry,” she said, releasing him.
He looked her in the eyes, catching her stare. “Normally I’d say no. I don’t get myself involved with others’ affairs. I work mostly alone. It’s better that way. But in this case…”
Karen’s face brightened. “So you’ll help me?”
“I’ve dealt with these people before. Well, people like them, but at an earlier time many years ago. From what you’ve told me, it sounds like the Murphy Unit, known as the Murphy Group during the early eighties.”
Karen wanted desperately to read his thoughts, hear everything fast, not wanting to wait for his words, but she listened aloud. Morgan went on, telling her about his time with the Murphy Group and what had become of them.
Karen was speechless when Morgan finished with his tale. What could she say? “And the sun actually heals you?” was the first thing out of her mouth.
Morgan laughed. “Yes. Being captured wasn’t all bad. I’m grateful for it, actually. I’m no longer a monster of the damned, now an instrument of good.”
“You’re an anti-vampire?” Morgan shrugged. “Why do you want to help me? The real reason.”
“The doctor I reported to became like a father to me. He was working on a possible cure to make me human again.” A note of sadness fell over Morgan. “The Murphy Group had him killed. His wife, too. Those bastards didn’t want me to become human. I was too valuable a tool for them.”
“I’m sorry,” Karen said.
“They’re evil men. They needed me because they were afraid the vampire population was growing out of control. I was the experiment designed to even the odds.”
“Are there any more of you?”
“From what I know I’m the only one.”
“And they just sent you out to kill as many vampires as possible?” Karen asked. “Wouldn’t the undead come after you?”
“I made sure to blend in. I pretended I was still a bloodsucker. They couldn’t tell that I was no longer one of them. I kept an ear out, listening for any vampire-related news when it hit the streets. I assassinated certain threats. I had to eliminate the enemy with extreme care. If the vampire world found out about me, I’d be their biggest threat and hunted from inside as well as out.”
“And you think the people after me are the same people that changed you?”
“I can’t be certain, but word went out that the military was getting involved with supernatural occurrences. Of course it couldn’t be made public, so The Murphy Group, what remained of them, became a secretive branch of the military known as The Murphy Unit. I was their main target for years, but then one day not too long ago they stopped chasing me. It was as if they had something more important to do.” He stared into Karen’s eyes.
“The alien ship,” Karen said.
“That would be my guess, but the first thing we need to do is find out who they are.
Guessing
isn’t good enough.”
“How are we supposed to do that? We don’t even know where they’re going to be.”
Morgan grinned. “If they’re some kind of military unit, like the Murphy people, then yes, we do.”
Chapter 20
“What?” Karen asked. “You want me to go back to the bar? And wait for those bastards to show up?”
“They’ll be returning with a clean-up team. And as far as they’re concerned, you’re long dead.” Karen looked quizzically at Morgan. “Hello, vampire here. Or at least that’s what they thought I was.”
“They’d never expect you to let me live.”
“Exactly,” he said.
Morgan was correct. Karen was free. The Murphy Unit would think her dead, killed by a vampire. She hadn’t thought about it, but she was truly free and no longer on the run. No more hiding. She’d have to lay low for a while, change her name and keep under the radar, but she no longer had to look over her shoulder every second of every day. She could start over somewhere.
“That’s the best news I’ve ever heard.” Karen said. “Do you know what this means?”