FEAR THE REAPER
Episode 4
Copyright 2020 by MS Lewis. All rights reserved
That means no copying any part of it for any reason. Thanks!
Seth and Reaper were traversing an unmarked dirt road that snaked around a piece of bayou in the middle of nowhere.
“This is bull,” Seth said for the seventh time. “There’s no way you can put an underground facility in a bayou, Reap. They can’t even bury their dead down here. It’s below sea level.”
Reaper didn’t reply. He’d grown tired of listening to Seth complain, but it was the modern way of releasing tension, he supposed. It hadn’t been in his own time. But Seth was the product of the current generation. He was still a gamer overly attached to his phone. Every little while he pulled the device out and held it up, turning this way and that seeking a signal. Reaper saw the phones as a powerful tool, of course. But he preferred to rely on his inner senses.
According to the painstakingly hand-drawn map Fiona Fairweather had given them, they were close. And yet the thrill of Briar’s energy was not in the air.
They should leave the road soon, veering left through the wilds toward the structure’s supposed location. He looked toward a bend in the road up ahead, where someone had done just that. Tires had flattened weeds in parallel tracks. “There.”
Seth looked where he pointed. “Convenient they left us a trail,” he said. “You don’t think it’s a trap, do you?”
“We got the map from a DPI operative. I don’t hold out much hope it’s anything but a trap.”
They kept going past the spot, then veered off the road beyond it, using trees for cover. Spanish moss dripped from limbs, woodland curtains. The wet earth sucked at their feet, so moving silently was not an option. Every few steps, Reaper paused to listen, to feel for her. Briar. I’m coming for you. Can you hear me?
But no response came.
Not knowing where she was, if she still was, felt like walking around with a knife embedded in his chest, scraping his ribs every time he moved. A constant sharp pain, gouging ever deeper, cutting into his very bones. He was angry at everyone. At the world. At DPI. At himself. This was his fault, all of it. He was the one they really wanted.
But he had to tamp down his anger. He had to focus so the two of them didn’t walk right into whatever trap DPI had waiting for them.
Seth was doing exactly what Reaper was, scanning all around them for the energy of other vampires, one vampire in particular. Vixen. He scanned for scents of humans, too.
Under the guise of keeping the peace between the races, the Division of Paranormal Investigations was running rampant over the rights vampires had been given. On paper, they were separate, but equal. In practice? They were harassed, persecuted, hounded, and even hunted. Most had gone into hiding, some in isolated locales remote enough to afford protection. Others passed as humans and walked among them, living in constant fear of discovery.
Reaper had tried neither, because DPI had been on his trail ever since he’d left the Anemone, a research ship were he’d been held captive until vampires had liberated the vessel of its crew and freed the prisoners onboard.
Somebody within the hated federal agency wanted him back in captivity, and he didn’t know who or why. He was fairly certain, however, that this trek into bayou country was part of the plan to bring him in.
“The trail ends up ahead,” he said. The tire marks showed where a vehicle had stopped, then turned around. “Stay back here, let me check it out.”
“The hell I will.” He kept pace anyway. “I’ll be damned, is that a door in the ground up there?” Seth pointed.
“Yes. And it’s opening.” Reaper grabbed Seth’s arm and pulled him behind one of the bell-bottomed trees for cover as someone emerged from a Bilco door in the ground.
#
Briar awoke to the remembered sensation of teeth sinking into her leg. She sat up fast and cracked her head on something hard. “Ow!”
“Hang on, Bri,” Vixen called from somewhere beyond the pile of rubble in which she was apparently buried.
“Was there an earthquake?”
Large objects that might’ve been toppled shelves and small cot frames started moving off her. Then Topaz reached out a hand and she took it and let herself be pulled up and out of the mess.
“Convenient,” Topaz said, “that you don’t remember us saving your ass.”
Briar blinked more of the fog from her mind once she was up on her feet. “Wait, it’s coming back. You fought an alligator, and you dove into a swamp where there were probably others.”
“And pulled you out,” Vixen said. “You’re welcome.”
“Thank you. Both of you. Honestly, I didn’t think you liked me all that much.”
“We don’t,” Topaz said.
Ignoring the bait, Briar looked around. “I just don’t remember coming back here.”
“You lost a lot of blood,” Vixen said. “We didn’t have time to find alternate shelter, so we hid in piles of old crap in one of the unused cells.”
Briar didn’t feel right. Her head was still cloudy, her body weak. “I’m shaky. I need to feed.”
“No humans around,” Vixen said. “I foxed out and did a sweep when I first woke.”
“It still freaks me to see you do that.” Topaz gave a fake shudder and made a face. “Next time warn me or step outside or something.”
“Let’s get out of here and find Bri something to eat,” Vixen said. Topaz was striking out trying to pick a fight.
Briar said, “Just a sec.” Then she picked through the rubble, looking for anything they could use. She spotted a tarp, so she shook it open. “Spread this out a little.”
The other two did, each taking an end. Briar picked some more, tossing items she found onto it. Some aluminum pipes, a couple pieces of twine, and a handful of canvas straps with buckles for who knew what purpose. She tossed those into the middle of the tarp, then rolled it carefully and tightly over the items, tucking the ends as she went. She used one of the canvas straps to make a shoulder sling for it.
“What the hell is all this for?”
“Shelter, in case we can’t find our way out of here before dawn,” she said. “Now let’s go. Moonlight’s burning.”
She headed down the row of cells toward the stairway that led up out of the earth and shuddered at the thought that those DPI goons could’ve come here last night, could’ve found them and locked them up all over again.
Vixen ran up behind her and took the bundle from her shoulder. “You’re still weak,” she said.
At the top of the stairs, Vixen pushed the hatch door opened and Briar followed her out of the buried prison into a wet, weighted blanket of night air. Topaz emerged behind her.
And then someone yelled, “Vixen!”
And they all turned to see Seth and Reaper racing toward the invisible electrical wall that could kill them.
“Stop!” “Stay back!” “There’s a barrier!” They each shouted something different but the guys didn’t get it in time and ran right into…no, right through the barrier.
“Holy shit, it’s down!” Topaz cried.
Briar met Reaper halfway and he caught her up in his arms like something out of a hokey love story. It felt like she absorbed him into her, right through her flesh everywhere they touched. He kissed her face, her neck, her chin.
“There was a force-field,” she managed. “Electrical.”
“Are you all right? What did they do to you? How did you get here?”
He kissed her mouth, so she spoke mentally, because no way was she going to stop him. There was a forcefield trapping us here. Vixen ran into it and it damn near killed her.
Where?
You just walked through it.
Finally, it seemed she got through. He lifted his head, met her eyes.
“Let’s get out of here,” she said, “before it comes back up.” She grabbed his hand and ran toward the invisible wall, calling to the others, “Come on, you guys! Hurry!”
Suddenly a rock buzzed past her ear from behind. It hit a spot in the air two feet in front her face and set off a shower of flashes, sparks, mini-lightning bolts, sharp cracks, and the smell of ozone. Reaper had a death grip on her.
Turning slowly, Briar looked back at the others. Vixen was staring wide eyed from within the circle of Seth’s arms. Topaz stood alone, hands on her hips, looking smug. “That’s two,” she said, with victory fingers. “You owe me, Briar. Don’t think I won’t collect.”
“Never crossed my mind.”
She nodded once, then her fake smugness evaporated as she asked, “Have you guys seen Jack?”
“No,” Seth said. “I’m sorry.”
Topaz lowered her head.
“We’ll find him, though,” Seth went on with absolute confidence. “We found you, didn’t we?”
“No power on earth could keep us apart,” Vixen said, leaning back against him as his held her even closer. Topaz rolled her eyes.
“Fill us in,” Reaper said.
“We woke up in a cell in an underground prison.” Briar pointed at the now obvious to them structure. Its square outline showed in the earth from this close, and the hatchway doors still stood open. “We killed the guard and broke out, started to head out of here, and Vixen hit the barrier.”
“We were surprised she didn’t combust,” Topaz said.
“It felt like I did.”
Seth turned her around and searched her in the face as if for any sign of damage.
“We’ve explored about mile that way,” Briar said, pointing. “The barrier extends as far as we got. We had to stop when we came to waist high water. I tried to wade through–”
“Only to get bitten by a gator,” Topaz filled in.
Reaper rounded his eyes at Briar. She nodded. “My girl T jumped on its back and pried its jaws in directions they were not designed to go, while my girl V dove in and pulled my ass out. Then the two of them carried me back here before the sun rose. Saved my life.”
“Twice,” Topaz reminded her with a nod toward the invisible fencing.
Reaper looked from Topaz to Vixen in amazed gratitude. Then, shaking his head, he looked into the thicker trees and undergrowth and asked, “And what’s in the other direction?”
Briar shrugged and said, “I don’t know." And then, stepping away from him and looking around, she said loudly, “You want to save some time and just tell us what the hell we’re doing here?”
“Who are you shouting at?” Seth asked. Then to Reaper, “Who is she shouting at?”
“Whoever is watching us,” Briar said. “Because somebody sure as hell is. That barrier didn’t accidentally shut down long enough to let you two in, and then turn back on a second later, trapping you in here with us.” Then she looked around again. “Did it?”
Topaz leaned toward Vixen and whispered, “I think she’s losing it.”
There was a sound then, a whistling sound from above, like a bomb falling in a World War II flick. A small black dot grew rapidly larger as it sped toward them.
“Look out!” Reaper shouted.
Everyone dove in different directions. The object hit the ground where they’d been standing, blasting dirt like an explosion. As they sat up, looking at each other, checking in, Reaper got up, brushed himself off a little, then moved toward it.
Briar lunged and gripped his arm. “Wait a minute, will you?”
He paused and they waited while the puffs of aerosolized earth slowly cleared. It was a cylinder about the size of a can of Topaz’s hair spray, with the words “MESSAGE INSIDE” stenciled in black. Reaper reached for it, quickly unscrewing a lid, and tipping it up. A cellphone fell out and into his hand. Its case was an obnoxiously glittering rhinestone peacock.
“That’s my phone!” Topaz shouted, taking it from him.
“Of course it is,” Briar said.
Topaz sent her a look. “See if I save your ass again.”
“Sorry. Old habits.”
Topaz held the phone up to her face to unlock it, then said, “One new message. Which is odd, because there is no signal whatsoever here.” She tapped it.
“What’s it say?” Vixen asked.
“‘Watch the video.’” Frowning, Topaz slid her thumb up the screen, then tapped an icon and frowned. “This isn’t mine. I’ve never seen this before.” She tapped the screen and everyone crowded close as the video played. There was a cage made of dull silver bars, with a person inside, sitting, knees to chest, head down. The cage dangled over green water that churned with alligators. And then the camera zoomed in on the man in the cage. His clothes were torn and filthy. His skin deathly white, even for a vampire. His hair, the same bronzed shade it had been before.
“Jack,” Topaz whispered. “Oh my God, what have they done to you?”
