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FATAL
RETRIBUTION
A RAINA KIRKLAND NOVEL
Book 1
By Diana Graves
Copyright © 2011 Diana Graves
All rights reserved.
Book cover & format by Diana Graves, www.dianagraves.org
Kindle Edition
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License Statement
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Amazon.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Disclaimer
This book is a work of pure fiction. Characters, places and incidents are creations of the author’s imagination, and any similarity to people, living or dead, businesses, events or places is purely coincidental.
Acknowledges
To my family and friends, thank you.
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OTHER WORKS
Fatal Retribution
Mortal Sentry
Grave Omen
Deadly Encounters
Toxic Warrior
The Artist: The Serial Series Book 1
The Librarian: The Serial Series Book 2
The Zombie Book: Zombie Book 1
Adult Coloring Book: Dark Whimsy
7
THEY HAD CLEANED the VCC thoroughly while I was gone. There wasn’t a spot of blood, nothing but shiny immaculateness. Michael was lying next to me on a clean new bed, and Nick was on the other side of him in his own bed. They were both strapped in, dead to the world—for the moment at least. I wasn’t strapped down. I was sitting cross-legged on my paper covered bed, biting my nails while I replayed what had happened this morning over and over again in my mind. I wondered what would have happened if I had demanded that Nick allow me to walk with him. Would he still be alive if I had been just a bit pushier? If I had been there surely the vampire would have attacked me instead of him. And Nick, with all his skill, would have had time to react, perhaps deliver a killing blow with his superior magic. I wondered if Katie and Tristan were running similar scenarios in their minds.
My nameless guard stood by the elevator for a while, but eventually, he sat in one of the powder blue chairs that occupied the middle of the room. He wouldn’t talk to me or even look at me. He kept his eyes down.
“How much longer?” I asked. He ignored me.
Time seemed to pass slowly. I quietly cried until I fell asleep. I don’t know how long I slept, but when I woke the guard was fidgeting with his cell phone.
“How long was I out?” I asked. The only reaction I got was a glance, and that was it. I couldn’t take any more of his rudeness. Not after what I’d been through. “Hey! What’s wrong with you? I just want to know how long I’ve been in here. Is there some rule that you can’t talk to me or something?”
He looked at me then, but his face was unreadable. I just shook my head. “My brothers are undead and I’m infected. Answering me is the least you could do.”
He stood up abruptly. “Shut up!”
“Why!?” I asked.
He took a deep breath. “Just-shut-up,” he said slowly. “I know you’ve been through a lot today and that your life isn’t all sunshine and rainbows right now, but my best friend was burned alive this morning, so if you don’t mind—.”
“The vampire was your friend?” I interrupted. “Who was he? How did he get out of the VCC after he was turned? I mean, he was a new vamp, right? He had no fangs yet. That’s why I thought he was a zombie. This place looks pretty secure. How could he get out?” I was totally rambling, but the prospect of knowing the man behind the crime was all consuming. I wanted to know his name, his profession, his family, his pets, his—anything and everything, but most of all I needed to know how he escaped the VCC!
“I can’t tell you those things,” he said, and he settled back down in his chair.
“But he was your friend, the man who did this. I just want to understand. I need to know.”
“It’s not my place to tell you such things.”
“Please.”
But it was no use. He closed his lips, turned his head, and wouldn’t say another word. Nothing I said would solicit another response.
I hadn’t eaten since this morning and my stomach began growling loud just before the doctor walked out of the elevator with several nurses and Nenet at her side.
“Any bloodlust yet, Joe?” she asked the guard.
He stood up straight and I half expected him to salute her. “None,” he said.
“I have pizza lust!” I chimed in but was ignored.
“What did I tell you, dear doctor? She is a living vampire,” Nenet said.
“Impossible—,” one of the other nurses said with wonderment in her voice. “Actual cases of living vampires are so rare.”
“That is why I’m skeptical. Living vampires only occur when the infected are only partially humanoid. If Raina is a living vampire, then her father or her mother can’t be what they say they are,” the doctor said. She was staring at me from the other side of the glass and tapping a pen against her plump lips.
“My parents are here?” I asked.
“Yes. They arrived around nine this morning. They both maintain that your father is human only and your mother is half witch and elf, but if that were the case, you would have turned with Michael.”
“So there’s no explanation?”
“Not yet.”
“Can I come out now?”
“I want to run another test to be sure,” she said. “It won’t take long.”
♦
I understood the doctor’s mistrust of Nenet’s assessment. Nenet wasn’t a doctor, and if she was going to report my infection to the health department she needed more to go on then Nenet’s word. However, I really didn’t like her much after ten hours of isolation, and I was feeling something close to hate for the woman after thirty minutes of being bathed in a bright light. She sat me in a chair with the light hanging directly over me. I felt nauseous. I wanted to hang my head between my legs, but for her benefit I had my head bent back so the light was shining bright on my face.
“See, I’m not burning. Now let me go!” The light dimmed without warning. I looked at the good doctor from across the room, not that I could see her quite yet. “Satisfied?”
She smiled and said the wonderful words I had longed to hear. “You’re free to go.”
I stood fast and instantly regretted it. I felt like I was going to be sick. “Told you so?” I murmured while I tried to hold back the contents of my stomach, as meager as they were.
“Yes. I have come to the conclusion that one of your parents is lying,” she said. “I’ve taken blood samples from all of you and I will get to the bottom of this. But, no matter who’s lying it doesn’t change the fact that you are now a living vampire.”
After the doctor left I dashed for the restroom to vomit what I could.
8
A WAVE OF sensations hit me as I left the restroom, sharp pins and needles all over my body. My head felt like it was going to explode, and it sent me crashing to the floor. I screamed, bringing nurses and other staff running to my aid. “Slow your breathing,” they said calmly. “You’re hyperventilating.” Breathe slowly? How the hell was I supposed to breathe slowly while my entire body burned! But the sensations faded just as quickly as they’d flared, leaving me quivering on the floor, eyes unfocused.
“What’s wrong?” a man in scrubs asked.
“Nothing,” I heard Nenet say before I could respond. “Her body is going through the changes. That’s all.”
“Nothing!? I thought you said I wasn’t going to turn!” I yelled as loud as I could, which wasn’t very loud since I could hardly catch my breath.
“You aren’t,” she said calmly. “Turning means you’re dead. You aren’t dying but you are changing.”
“What the hell does that mean?!”
“Exactly what I said,” she answered.
“What other changes can I expect?”
“All of them except death. Like I said before, you’ll be a vampire in every sense of the word but you won’t be dead.”
“If living vampires go through all the changes then why put me through all those tests?” The crowd dispersed, leaving Nenet and I alone in the hall.
“Tasha was only looking for bloodlust and light sensitivity. They are distinctly tied to the death of the infected humanoid. You wouldn’t experience them unless you were turning. I’m heading down to the VCC,” she said, cutting our conversation short. I watched her walk away.
I was still on the floor, trying to picture myself with vampire strength and speed when another wave of almost indescribable sensations ran through me like electricity, both hot pain, and tingling vibration. I doubled over, which sent my glasses to the floor. I didn’t scream this time, but I think something close to a whimper came out of my mouth. People stopped to ask what was wrong, but I couldn’t breathe let alone talk. Instead, I ignored them. They couldn’t help, no one could.
When the pain finally subsided I sat in the hall with my head between my legs. I assured the worried people surrounding me that I was fine…for now. When the crowd dispersed once again, I searched for my glasses. I expected to fumble in my blindness until I touched something that felt like my glasses, but I could see everything with perfect clarity! Everything was so crisp. I saw minuscule detail, as though everything was magnified times ten. Just seconds ago I couldn’t see a foot in front of me without my glasses. Holy Bananas!
“Weird,” I said out loud, and my voice sounded so strange to me. It crashed recklessly through my ears to tickle my mind. My senses were going haywire: sight, hearing, and smell. I smelt at least two dozen different colognes and perfumes lingering in the air, and cleaning products, and beyond that: wounds, disease, and death. This was a clinic after all. Twenty feet down the hall a door opened. Cool air raised goose bumps on my arms, followed by an overwhelming scent of pine and soil, smells of the forest. I breathed in deeply and closed my eyes. I could taste it on the back of my tongue.
“Hello,” came an exquisite voice, a man’s voice. I looked toward the door and found a man standing there. Handsome didn’t cut it, and attractive was also too mundane a word. He was beautiful.
He was short; just a little taller than me. He had an athletic body, both slender and muscular. Long, long black hair swung weightlessly as he walked down the hall. He was wearing a white shirt with a grey tie, dark blue jeans, and shiny black cowboy boots. His thick brows were pinched in worry as he walked toward me.
“You must be Raina. They told me you were a living vampire and—are you okay?” he asked. My nerves felt exposed and his voice teased them like something electric, making a shiver run down my spine.
“I’m going through changes,” I said. I was unable to look away from how beautiful he was. He had smooth dark skin with a grey quality. He didn’t say anything. He just looked at me.
The world screamed through me. I could feel, smell, taste, hear and see more than anyone ever should. Part of me liked everything about what I was feeling and seeing, but another part of me was scared by how alien it was, and that part was louder. It screamed inside me, “Stop, please!”
“How do I control myself?” I ask him, not that he should know.
“You could simply wait it out, or you could...” He was talking, but his words were lost to me.
“Your eyes,” I said when I noticed their color, a thousand different shades of gold. “How amazing, it’s like looking into the sun.”
“Can you hear me, Raina?” he asked.
I felt my legs going weak again as another debilitating wave ran through me. My body lost all fortitude and I thought I was going to hit the floor hard, but he closed the distance between us in a blink and caught me by my waist just before I hit the ground. I looked down at his arms wrapped around me, and leaned into him, taking in his scent. I breathed in the smells of the forest and blood. It was an intoxicating scent, the scent of a Native American Vampire.
“Focus,” he said.
“How?”
“You must think of something unpleasant, something sad. Distract your mind.”
I took in a shaking breath. “I’m afraid of what’s happening to me. Isn’t that enough?” I asked through tight lips.
“Fear is too exciting an emotion. You must feel sadness or nothingness.”
“Think of something sad?”
That wasn’t too hard given the circumstances. I thought about watching Nick die. About what no longer being human would mean for Michael. He’s never felt the sting of rejection and the injustice of discrimination before. I thought about all the pain and all the hard times yet to come for my brothers and slowly my thoughts became more than a jumble of sensations. The vampire loosened his hold on me and I looked up into his eyes. He was still gorgeous.
I swallowed past the lump in my throat and nodded. “Thanks. I’m fine now. I don’t know what came over me.”
“It is not your fault, Raina.” Hearing him say my name made my knees go weak, just a little. “You are a new vampire…living vampire at least. As you said, you are changing. Most vampires are dead or dying through this process.”
“Why did nobody warn me or at least give me pain-killers?”
“From what I hear it has been a madhouse since you and your siblings arrived. They should have warned you though, but they could not have given you any medication. It would have affected the way the virus altered your mind and caused a chemical imbalance. No, with a little time you will gain control of yourself.”
“Thanks—who are you?” I asked.
“Sheriff Mato,” he said, flashing me his badge.
I bit my lip to try and hold back my stomach from growling, but it was no use. I hadn’t eaten since breakfast at camp nearly fourteen hours ago. I was more than hungry. I was famished, starved—ravenous even.
“Have you eaten much?” he asked. I shook my head. “That explains much of your pain. Your body is changing and you are starving.” He shook his head, “How could they forget to feed you?”
I knew my face was red with embarrassment. I could feel the heat from it.
“I don’t suppose there is a cafeteria or something around here.”
“No, but I will have some food brought down to the VCC. That is where you are heading, correct?”
I was shocked by his kindness, and not because he was a vampire or a stranger. He was a police officer after all. His chosen career was to serve and protect people and I’m people. I guess I was shocked simply because it was the first kindness I was shown in a while.
“Yes, I am. Thank you.” My words were soft.
“Think nothing of it. You are a guest in our town—while you remain here with us.” His eyes lingered on mine for a moment or two too long, long enough for me to feel awkward about it.
“Do you need anything from me?” I asked. He was after all the sheriff of this town. I already gave my statement to Officer Ranger, but I couldn’t pretend to know anything about law enforcement.
“From you?—No,” he said quietly. His eyes darted behind me and suddenly he seemed more guarded. I’d never been able to read vampires but it was his posture and face that told me that he was suddenly less comfortable.
I looked behind me to see my uncle Seth standing beside my mom. They matched too well. Both had long black and gold hair, thin long bodies and sharp features like Tristan. Mom’s hair was down and flowing around her feet. Seth’s identical hair was braided tightly all the way to the floor and then looped back up so that the tail of the braid was connected to the top of the braid. It’s funny how some men can pull off something that should have looked too feminine. Seth had been infected with vampirism at sixteen, but he didn’t look like a boy. He looked like a very young twenty-something.
In my weakened condition, I did something close to a run down the hall and wrapped my arms around my mom. She was wearing a beautiful brown witch’s robe that brought out the gold in her hair. There were numerous necklaces hanging around her long neck, all made up of the same dark metals and wood beads.
“It’s okay,” she whispered into my hair. She was never a very affectionate woman, but I held onto her thin frame and felt my throat tighten when Seth wrapped his long arms around us both. He was wearing his usual, black dress slacks and shirt with a gold tie. He always dressed well. It was as though he tried to make up for how vampires are perceived by dressing very respectful.
I hadn’t even noticed the other people standing around us. My dad, Dan, and his ex-wife, Rachael, were standing several feet apart from one another. Dan’s red hair peeked out from his usual patriotic ball cap. The cap’s bill nearly hid his big brown eyes completely. I hadn’t expected him to comfort me so it was no surprise that he didn’t.
Jed, Rachael’s boyfriend, had his hand tightly wrapped around hers. From under the warm arms of my mom, I could see them staring at us, their chins held high with disgust. Jed’s dense blond curls clung to his head like a small afro. Katie was the spitting image of Rachael, minus the smoker’s wrinkles and a few inches in height. Rachael’s hair was cut short. It left her long slender neck looking cold and vulnerable. She and Jed matched in their blue polo shirts, faded blue jeans, and too much gold jewelry.
“Should I hold the elevator?” Mato asked.
“No thank you,” said Jed, and it wasn’t a friendly tone, but Mato didn’t react to it. I suspected it was their presence that made him look so ill at ease.
He patted my shoulder lightly. “I will have food waiting for you when you arrive, enough for everyone,” he said kindly.
“Thank you,” Seth said. Mato nodded and headed for the elevator.
“Why are you guys still here?” I asked Rachael. “I figured you would have grabbed Katie and left by now.”
A flare of anger shot out from Rachael like a wave of heat through my mind. I didn’t mean to open my empathy to her. Had I done it on accident again? Usually, it wasn’t something I could just do. I always had to try very hard at it. Damn it.
“She and Jed only just arrived,” Mom said.
I gave them a curious look. “But, the doctor said you guys have been here all day.”
“Just your father and I,” Mom said. I wanted to argue when she called Dan my father. Dan was as much my father as any stranger off the street. I had no father.
“I just heard about all of this a few hours ago or I would have been here sooner,” Rachael said.
“You didn’t need to be disturbed at work,” Jed said. “Not about this. Katie said Michael was already dead and she was fine. A few hours wasn’t going to change that.”
“Oh God, my son!” Rachael sobbed and Jed brought her in to hide her face in his chest. He looked tired and irritated with her like he’d been suffering from her grief for far too long already. Was three hours the maximum length of time to grieve for your son’s death in Jed’s eyes? Bastard.
Dan bent down, as though he saw something on the floor and wanted to take a closer look, but I knew he was also crying for his son. Too manly to cry for his son in public, I guess. Whatever.
“He’s not dead-dead. He’s a vampire,” I said.
Rachael and Jed shot me a dirty look. “Same difference,” Jed spat. His feminine hands grabbed Rachael by her shoulders and he led her to the elevator behind Dan, who made a beeline for it the moment the doors opened and a half dozen people walked out.
“See you down there,” Dan said.
Seth, Mom and I were left alone in the hall as the elevator doors closed. Mom and Seth looked down at me and the similarities between them were almost too great. Tristan also looked nearly identical to them; the hair, the eyes, the thinness, the long faces and the serious attitude to which they approach life. Looking at them, it seemed almost impossible that a short, curvy, auburn-haired, red-eyed woman could come from this family. Nick at least looked like Dan. Suddenly, like Tasha, I began to doubt my parentage. But, I let that thought go. There was nothing I could do about it, so why worry.
“How is everyone doing?” Mom asked with a deep frown and large black eyes full of pity.
“Nicholas is fine. The doctor said he should wake in a day or two.”
“You and Tristan?” she asked without acknowledging my first statement. I shook my head. She didn’t even care about Nick.
“I don’t know where Tristan is or how he’s doing. They’ve had me isolated since nearly seven this morning,” I said.
“He called me when he knew I’d be awake. That’s why I’m here, Anna,” Seth said. He looked to Mom and she met his eyes. “He is suffering from survivor's’ guilt, I think. I talked to him a bit over the phone, but I think he will need professional help. I know a very talented therapist. I’ll set something up.”
“Thank you,” Mom said.
“Seth?” I asked. “I think you should talk to Nick also. He’s an elf like you and I’m worried for him.” Seth nodded sullenly and we made our way to the elevator.
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