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010. find someplace safe

 

CHAPTER 10
FIND SOMEPLACE SAFE

 

 
TONIGHT 
 

  THEY WERE THE EMBODIMENT OF DARKNESS. The very reason that people had scary stories to tell. Marlow himself had been made into the nocturnal creature that he was centuries ago. And after shooting up the ranks of their species quicker than anyone had anticipated, he had been made a leader, deeply respected by everyone in their community. Over the years, he had even been allowed to turn many of his own, creating his own army. His own nest. They hunted together, feasted together, and remained together, always. They were bound for life.

  Not long ago, a human had willingly walked into their nest, begging for his life. Begging to become one of them. To walk the planet forever, feasting upon those lesser than themselves. They knew the moment they saw him that he wasn't worthy of becoming one of them. He was pathetic. Desperate. He didn't deserve such a gift. But, his promise of blood in a small town with thirty consecutive days without any sun had intrigued them.

  Now here they stood, grouped together at an intersection in the small town of Barrow, Alaska, where they planned to drink the entire town dry. They stood in the shadows, watching as the 4x4 pulled away from the police station and recklessly sped down the road. Marlow knew that the man and woman within the vehicle would be theirs soon. It was only a matter of time before he tasted their flesh and blood.

  When the vehicle was out of their sight, Marlow turned, looking upon his children. All of whom had pale faces and long fingernails that were coated in the blood of their victims. Some had ragged teeth protruding from their gums and others had perfectly pointed fangs. Yet all of them had black eyes, adapted to the darkness with no use of seeing light. Hisses emitted from their bloodied lips as they spoke to one another in their ancient language no one alive could ever understand.

  Some bowed. Others crawled at his feet, reaching out to touch him as if he were one of the pathetic Gods the humans worshipped. But Marlow was no God. He was far from it. He was darkness. He was death. And he never spared his children a single glance as he walked past them, coming to stand in front of them all. Marlow then turned abruptly, growling in their ancient tongue, "Smell the blood. Taste the flesh. The heads must be separated from the bodies. Do not turn them. Is that understood?"

  He received a chorus of hisses in response as they each bowed their heads in respect. With a wave of his hand, some of them divided into small groups and began to spread out across the small town. Others remained with him, waiting for further instructions.

  The one called Zurial admired the town with his pitch black eyes. "There's enough feasting here to keep us strong for a year, Marlow . . . all without the sun."

  Marlow gazed at the town, eager to taste those that lived within it. "We should have come here ages ago," he hissed before looking at the vampire sitting at his feet. Pale features, long, onyx hair, small jaw, petite body. This was Iris. She was young, inexperienced. Most of all, she his protégé. The one that he was supposed to groom to become the next leader of this nest, for it wouldn't be much longer until he himself was granted an even more prestigious position in their community.

  "Iris," he said, offering the vampire his hand, which she took, "come. Learn, my child."

  Iris allowed Marlow to pull her up from the ground. Their black eyes met, and Marlow motioned with a nod of his head for her to lead the way. He wanted her to practice leading a hunt, and she wasn't going to disappoint him. Not this time. So, she bowed her head and stepped out in front of them, sniffing the air before choosing a direction.

  The hunt was on.

 
━━━━━━━
 

  HELEN MUNSON WAS DEAD, BUT BY SOME MIRACLE, her family had survived the brutal attack at the police station. One moment, they had been playing a game of Risk while waiting for an update from Eben and Stella. The next moment, the door had burst open and a pale figure — who they had quickly realized was no man, for no man could do the things that it had done to them — in a long trench coat walked inside, hissing and baring its sharp fangs at them.

  And then everything was red.

  At first, Freya had been paralyzed with fear and she had knocked her chair over because she stood so fast when the pale figure burst through the door. But then she had felt Ben hug her from behind and she snapped into action, stepping in front of her son and brother-in-law to protect them just as the figure lunged with a haunting growl. It had grabbed the front of her sweater and threw her across the room. She had landed on one of the desks before rolling off and hitting the floor with a loud thud. After that, it was nothing but chaos.

  Freya had gotten to her feet almost as quickly as she had been thrown aside. Her shoulder throbbed and her head pounded, but her pain had been the least of her worries at the time. She remembered watching the pale figure throw Jake across the room like it was nothing, and Ben got away, making it to her side as Helen hurriedly ran toward the radio so she could contact Eben and Stella. She had pushed Ben underneath a desk, advising him to stay there while she had scrambled to grab one of the shotguns and began loading it with a few rounds.

  With one last look at a sobbing Ben, Freya had jumped into action, stepping forward and shouting at the figure to get down on his knees before it had the chance to touch Jake. But the figure only turned and hissed at her, not an ounce of fear in its pitch black eyes. That is when she had pulled the trigger, and for a moment, Freya had thought the figure would fall backwards with blood pouring from the wound. But it hadn't even flinched. It was as though it couldn't even feel pain. Freya had been so shocked that she wasn't able to register the next attack.

  It lunged, grabbed the shotgun from her hands and ripped it away. The figure had then grabbed her by the throat. Freya remembered gasping for breath as it tightened its grip, lifting her off the ground with strength no man could possess. It brought her face closer to its own and hissed. She had trembled, tears streaming down her cheeks. There had been a mixture of screams in the background, but Freya hadn't heard any of them. And then she had suddenly dropped to the ground.

  Freya remembered holding her throat and coughing as she tried to catch her breath. She remembered hearing screaming and more bullets being fired by Helen. She remembered looking up and seeing Jake getting tossed aside like a ragdoll before the figure had advanced on Helen. It had taken the elderly woman by the throat and then sunk its fangs deep into her neck, causing her to lower the radio and gun she had been holding. But little did any of them know that Helen's finger was still pressed on the button, and the two people on the other side of the radio had heard everything.

  She had found her breath almost immediately after seeing the blood splatter across the room. Freya had run for Jake, pulling him to his feet, and then she shouted for Ben, who didn't hesitate to crawl out from his hiding place and run into the safe embrace of his mother. She made sure to grab her bag, knowing that Ben's inhaler was inside. Then they ran out of the building and went straight for the car. But with the tires slashed, they were forced to travel on foot through town.

  Freya hadn't wanted to abandon Helen the way she had, but the amount of blood she saw just seconds after the figure had sunk its teeth into the flesh of her neck, had told her that Helen wasn't going to make it out alive. She had no choice but to leave, even if it had broken her heart. But she needed to get Ben and Jake to safety. Getting them away from that thing was all that mattered. So, she had taken the boys to the one place she knew Eben would come looking for them.

  They had gotten to Ikos Diner quicker than Freya thought they would. They warned Lucy and everyone else inside about what had happened down at the station, and everyone began to panic and cry. Freya tried to remain optimistic, telling everyone that Eben was going to help them and that they just had to wait until he got to the diner to figure out what to do next. Of course, some people didn't like that idea.

  "Eben might not even be alive, Doc!" Paul Simmons had shouted, and the words had caused her to tense up.

  Freya wasn't an idiot. She knew that there was a chance her husband could be dead right now. That one of those fucking things had found him and Stella and they weren't as fortunate as they had been. But she couldn't think about that right now. She could only hope that both he and Stella were okay. That they would realize they weren't at the police station and had gone to the one place Eben had told everyone to go.

  "Paul!" Lucy scolded in disbelief.

  Realizing what he had said, Paul looked at the doctor and then glanced at the crying Ben, who was sitting in a booth with Jake, and he sighed. "Look, I'm sorry, Freya. Maybe he's still out there. But . . . I can't take that chance. I'm sorry, but I have to go." He looked around the diner. "If anyone wants to come with me, now's your chance."

  Only three people had gone with Paul, and instead of stopping them, everyone let them go, silently wondering if that was the last time they were going to see any of them again. Instead, everyone tried to remain calm as they collectively waited for Sheriff Eben Oleson to show up and help them.

  Freya crossed the diner and knelt down in front of Ben, who was being comforted by Jake. She reached out, grabbing her son's face in her hands and quietly shushing him in an attempt to calm him down. She then reached for her bag and grabbed his inhaler, advising Ben to calm down before he got any worse. He already had one attack today, and she didn't want him to have another.

  "Mom?" Ben asked, his voice quiet and strained.

  "Yeah, baby?"

  "Is dad okay?"

  Freya blinked back her tears. "I don't know, baby," she said. "But what I do know is that your dad is so strong and so brave. He'd stop at nothing to make his way back to you."

  "There's something out there," Doug Hertz suddenly announced.

  Freya was immediately on her feet, and she squinted out the window. She saw it immediately. There was a dark figure across the street. It had stopped and it turned to look at the diner, and then it hurriedly crossed the street. Ben latched himself onto his mother, terrified that thing had found them. That it was going to kill them just like it had killed his grandmother.

  "Get under the table," Freya frantically whispered, pulling the boys out of the booth and pushing them underneath the table. "Both of you stay there, okay?"

  "N-No, mom, I-I wanna stay with you," Ben cried. He latched his hand around his mother's wrist, tugging her down with him. "P-Please, mom, d-don't leave me."

  Freya's heart broke. "Never," she said, before getting down on the floor with the boys and wrapping them both in her arms, hugging them close as she heard the footsteps get closer to the building.

  Tears slipped down Freya's cheeks, but she squeezed her eyes shut. Her limbs were trembling as she held onto the boys, yet she never made a sound, no matter how scared she was. When the door opened, they could feel a cold breeze. Freya half expected someone — most likely Doug Hertz because he was closest to the door — to scream and run away. But that never happened.

  "It's Denise."

  Freya immediately released the boys and stood up, advising them to remain where they were with a silent hand gesture as she approached a terrified Denise. The woman looked spooked and out of breath from whatever she had been through. Doug helped her walk, as she slipped a few times from how wet her shoes were.

  "What the hell's happening?" Denise asked as she was guided over to a booth by Doug. She sat down, and Lucy was immediately at her side with a cup of steaming coffee.

  "Here, drink this," Lucy said.

  Denise just stared at the cup with a faraway look in her eye. "What's happening? Who are they?"

  "We don't know," Freya said.

  "Shoot 'em and they keep coming!" Doug said, staring down at his gun. He remembered trying to shoot one of them earlier, but it was as though that fucking thing was immune to pain. "I put four into one of them and she . . . she . . ."

  "How's that possible?" Carter asked, his mouth full. He was already on his third piece of Lucy's famous cherry pie.

  "Don't know," Doug said. He was pacing now, gun still in his calloused hands. "Maybe they're coked up, or whacked on some other drug. Something so they don't feel pain. That kinda thing even possible, Doc?"

  Freya hesitated. "It's possible. But even if they aren't capable of feeling pain because of whatever drug is in their system, the wound would still have an effect on the body. And from what I saw," she paused, swallowing the lump in her throat, "that wasn't the case."

  "How did you get away if the bullets didn't slow it down?" Carter asked.

  "I only got away in the end because they found Kay Lopez, and . . . I couldn't help," Doug explained. "Couldn't save her. They just fell on her and . . ." He shook his head and stopped pacing, a guilty look in his eyes. I should have helped more. Maybe if I helped more, Kay would still be here.

  "They took Aaron and Gabe," Denise said, her voice cracking.

  "They killed my grandmother," Jake cried from the booth.

  Freya glanced over her shoulder, locking eyes with her brother-in-law before turning to face Denise again. Although she didn't smile, Denise had offered them both a nod, as though she understood. Freya reached out and touched her shoulder, offering some amount of comfort, as it was obvious by the look on Denise's face that she had witnessed the deaths of Aaron and Gabe just as they had with Helen.

  And then more name's followed.

  "Reverend Pfeiffer," Carter added. "Malekai Hamm, the Dale family—"

  "John and Ally Riis," Wilson spoke up from the booth he sat in with his father. "Their house is all smashed up."

  "Is there anybody left?" Denise asked. She was looking directly at Freya, as if the woman had all the answers.

  Freya wasn't sure what to say. Because the truth was, she had no idea if there was anyone else out there. For all she knew—

  The doors burst open again.

  "Kill the lights!"

  Freya tensed up when she heard his voice. Her husband's voice. She wanted nothing more than to cross the room, jump into his arms, and never let him go. But she was frozen in place as the relief spread through her body at the sight of him. At the sight of her Eben.

  He frantically flipped the lightswitches along the wall, plummeting them in darkness, and then he pointed toward the front of the diner. "And get away from the windows!"

  That is when he noticed her.

  Eben's brown eyes connected with her face, and he froze. His breath left him right then and there. After hearing the screams over the radio and seeing all the blood at the station, he had thought the worst. But here she was. His wife was alive. He had never been so happy to see her in his entire life.

  "Freya?" He asked, and when a strained sob burst from her lips, Eben knew that she was real. But before he could even take a step toward her, a small body came barreling into him, and he looked down to find Ben attached to his waist.

  "Ben!" Eben cried, lifting the boy into his arms and kissing the side of his face over and over again. "Oh, my son. Oh, my son," he repeated in a whisper. His baby boy was safe. His wife was safe. But . . .

  Eben opened his eyes and looked around the diner. He noticed his younger brother immediately. But Helen was nowhere in sight. He looked at Freya, who seemed to know exactly what he was thinking. She shook her head, silently telling him that his grandmother hadn't made it. It hit him then that all the blood he saw at the station belonged to the woman that had raised both himself and Jake, and he suddenly felt sick to his stomach. He lowered Ben to the ground and then embraced his younger brother, who came barreling towards him.

  "They got Grandma," Jake mumbled, pressing his face into his brother's chest.

  "I'm sorry you had to see that," Eben said.

  The two brothers separated, and Jake noticed that Stella lingered near the door. She offered Jake a warm smile before stepping forward to embrace him. After all the years helping babysit for Jake and Ben, the former had become like a little brother to Stella. She loved him like family, and Jake loved her just as much. Both were equally happy to see each other.

  Eben turned away from his brother and Stella and looked at his wife. She was still standing in the same spot as before, staring at him with tears on her cheeks. He quickly crossed the distance in two long strides and wrapped her in his arms. She trembled against him as she sobbed, and he just held her.

  After a moment, Eben pulled away, taking her face in his hands and brushing away her tears. He placed his forehead against hers before leaning back to meet her gaze, whispering, "I had thought . . ."

  "I know," Freya cried.

  It was then that he noticed the dark bruising along her neck and the small cut at her hairline. "What happened?" Eben asked as he searched her body for more injuries.

  "I'm okay," she said reassuringly, taking his hands in her own and kissing his knuckles. "We're okay."

  Eben nodded, taking her word for it. "What about Sarah and Gail? Have you heard from them?"

  Freya shook her head. "I haven't seen them since Sarah came to get Gail at the station. Eben, what if—?"

  "Hey, don't think like that," Eben told her, trying to sound as reassuring as possible so his wife wouldn't worry. "I saw them when I had set the curfew. Told them to get home, stay hidden. They might be okay. Frank wouldn't let anything happen to them, you know that. I'm sure they're safe."

  Although Freya wasn't certain, she nodded in response. Because he was right. Maybe her sister and her family were okay. Maybe, just maybe, they had been lucky enough to get themselves somewhere safe.

  Eben reluctantly stepped away from his wife after a moment. Now that he knew his family was safe, he needed to make sure that everyone was okay, too. As he looked around the diner, Eben noticed everyone was already looking at him, waiting for him to tell them what they should do now.

  "Has anyone seen Billy?" The Sheriff asked. "Carter? Doug?"

  "Nope," said Carter.

  "Not me," Doug replied. He was still paranoid. Pacing back and forth across the diner, gun still in his hands, eyes wide and cautious as he stared out the windows.

  "What is it?" Eben asked the man.

  "I shot one. So did the Doc," Doug said, motioning toward Freya. Eben looked at his wife and she nodded.

  "It didn't have any effect on them, Eben," Freya told him. "It just kept coming at us like it couldn't even feel pain. And the way it attacked us . . . no man is capable of those things."

  "Doesn't surprise me," Eben said. He'd seen what these fuckers were capable of, and he knew they weren't human. They were something else. Something that apparently couldn't even feel a bullet. "Now listen, all of you: we can't stay here. There's too many windows, too much open space, and it's the first place they'll come looking."

  "Who the hell are they, Eben?" Wilson asked.

  "What do they want?" Doug shouted.

  "Take it easy, Doug," Eben spoke calmly. "Remember you've got a loaded weapon in your hands."

  Doug scoffed. "Lot of fucking good it did me."

  Eben took control then, and Freya watched him with fondness in her eyes. Her husband was a natural born leader. Sure, he was shy sometimes, and maybe not always certain of what he was capable of doing. But he was always calm in tough situations. She can remember how calm he had been the day their son was born. She was screaming her head off and he was just sitting there, holding her hand and saying words of encouragement. He was always calm. Always comforting others. And that's exactly what he did now, even if there wasn't any comfort to offer these people.

  "I don't know who they are, but right now that doesn't matter," Eben said. "What does matter is that they're here. I don't know why they're here or what they want, but we're in danger, and we need to hide until we can answer some of those questions."

  Freya hugged Ben close as she nodded along with what her husband was saying, knowing he was right. They couldn't stay here. The diner was too open. They needed somewhere more secluded to hide out.

  "We should call for help," Wilson suggested.

  "Anyone here still got their cell phones?" Eben asked. A few people raised their hands, including Freya. He shook his head. "The antenna array is fucked. They'll do no good."

  "How about the high school?" Carter suggested. He glanced at Freya. "Or what about Doc's clinic? We'd have medicine there in case anyone got hurt, right? Could be a good place to hunker down for a little while."

  "They already hit the church," Stella said. "They'll scope out any other public place. Including here, and Freya's clinic."

  "Right," Carter nodded. "Hey, there's a generator at the Utilidor."

  "It's way out on the edge of town," Freya said. "We wouldn't make it there without getting attacked. We need to find someplace close. The sooner we get under cover, the better."

  Eben nodded in agreement. "Freya's right. The Utilidor is too far. We'd need cover to get there, and we don't have that right now. We need someplace close to hide. Now."

  "There's Charlie Kelso's attic," Denise said quietly. "It's boarded and has a couple of vents. There's a pull-down ladder, you can't tell it's there. Few bits of furniture. It'd be tight but we could all fit."

  "He would've boarded up his home before he left," Stella dismissed.

  "Which is why it's a good idea," Eben said. "We pull down a board to get, then tack it back."

  "Could work," Carter said, nodding along with the idea. "And an attic should be easy to defend."

  "Defend?" Doug scoffed, but they ignored him.

  "Carter," Eben said, "when I say go, lead the people close to the buildings, roll under crawl spaces if you hear anything. Go straight to Charlie's house and get up into that attic." He looked at his wife, who shook her head because she already knew what he was going to say. "Go with Carter, Freya. Take Jake and Ben. I'll be with you again soon."

  Freya didn't like that idea one bit. "No, Eben, you're coming with us. You can't go back out there—"

  "I have to," Eben cut her off softly. He watched as she shook her head, fresh tears in her eyes, and it killed him. It killed him to leave them again. But he had to. "I'm going to load up all the ammo, flares, and bear traps a 4x4 can carry. Like Carter said, we can defend an attic. And something's gotta slow them down."

  "What about . . .?" Denise began, but the room fell silent and she wasn't able to finish what she wanted to say.

  Jake, however, knew exactly what she was going to say. So, he voiced her thoughts for her. "What about everyone else, Eben?"

  "They'll be surviving," Eben said. "Hiding away. Arming. We can't all hide in the same place."

  "But—" Wilson began, but Stella cut him off.

  "Let's take things one step at a time," she said. "Let's do what Eben says and get away from here."

  "Right," Eben nodded. "Besides, maybe it's best we don't all hide in the same place." He crossed the room until he was standing in front of his wife.

  "I don't want you to go," Freya said, her voice barely above a whisper as she tried to keep herself together.

  "I have to go, Freya," Eben told her. "We need the supplies to protect ourselves. To protect Ben and Jake. I'll be back before you even know it. Just keep them safe. Keep yourselves hidden. Remember what I said about the crawl spaces, okay? I don't care if you get separated from the others, if you hear anything, you hide and you stay silent. Don't draw too much attention to yourselves out there."

  Tears slipped down her cheeks as she launched herself into his arms. "Please come back to me," she whispered against his neck, before she placed a kiss there.

  Eben squeezed her tight before letting go. He kissed her lips, promising to come back to her, and then he hugged Ben and Jake, telling them to stay close to Freya. Then he walked over to the door.

  Stella followed after him. "I'll cover your back."

  The Sheriff nodded grimly. "One minute, Carter." He smiled at his family one last time, his heart breaking at the sight of their tears, before he walked out the door with Stella.

  Freya closed her eyes, praying that wouldn't be the last time she saw her husband. Praying that they all made it to Charlie Kelso's attic safely, and that Eben would meet them there soon. She prayed and prayed until there was nothing left to pray for. And then she opened her eyes, and they left the diner together, moving as one.

 

a/n: they're almost at the attic and you know what that means hehe! i'm literally so excited to finally get to the action stuff bc i've been dying to write the vampire scenes since posting this book lmao. but anyway, i hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and are excited for some more!

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