Pablo snuck downstairs, first peeking into the living room, then the part of the kitchen he could see through the threshold leading from the kitchen. He signaled the rest of the team all was clear. Luke and Sam swung through the living room and into the large dining room while Pablo and Delilah headed into the kitchen. When they’d cleared the dining room, they walked into the kitchen to find Pablo with his head in the fridge.
“Anything good?” Luke asked.
“Want a beer? I could use one after our entrance and the little display upstairs. Looks like some various local crafts and some…home brew? I’ll try the white ale.” Pablo replied, holding a brown bottle with a homemade label.
He took a bottle out of the fridge and popped the top on the bottle opener hanging from the wall. Taking a big swig, his eyes bulged, his cheeks puffing out, as he set the bottle down on the counter. He looked around for a sink, but Luke was blocking it. Turning his head away from everyone, he sprayed the beer out onto the cabinets, blowing a red mist into the air.
Delilah picked up the bottle and handed it to Luke. “I don’t think this is beer.”
Luke looked at the white paper label affixed to the bottle then poured it into the sink. The dark red viscous liquid contrasted with the white of the sink as it ran slowly toward the drain. Pablo shoved Luke out of the way and vomited into the sink. Everyone backed away from him.
Luke held up the bottle. “It says ‘White Male’ not ‘White Ale.’” Seeing Sam’s puzzled face, he clarified, “Blood.”
He opened the fridge and began searching through the hand-labeled brown bottles, handing a couple to Delilah and Sam so they could check them out as well.
“Black female, Indian male, white female, Hispanic female, African male…” As Luke clinked the bottles around, reading labels, the team got a picture of what was in the bottles.
Sam was staring at the bottle she held. “It also lists their emotional state and if they were sober or not, including the drug they were on if they weren’t. It’s warped as fuck, but I didn’t think human blood had terroir.”
Delilah and Sam looked profoundly troubled, staring at the bottles of blood in their hands with revulsion, and Pablo was dry heaving in the sink.
“Not just humans,” Luke said.
He pulled a couple bottles from the back of the fridge and held them up. “Werewolf male, Werewolf female.”
Pablo turned on the water and washed the sink clean before filling his mouth, rinsing, and spitting several times. “I’m never going to get that taste out of my mouth.”
Sam took out her cell phone and snapped pictures of the werewolf blood bottles. Pablo was searching through the cabinets for something to eat. Finding some tortilla chips, he shoved a handful in his mouth.
“Stale,” he said around a mouthful of crumbs.
“Find any gallon freezer bags?” Sam asked.
Pablo shook his head, shoving another handful of chips in his mouth. Delilah started opening cabinets and drawers, finding a box of freezer bags in a lower cabinet. Sam pulled some hand towels out of one of the drawers she was searching through. Taking the bottles from Luke, she wrapped them in towels, then stuffed one in the bag Delilah held open. Delilah squeezed the air out and sealed the bag, putting them inside another plastic baggy. She took off the backpack and stuffed the bottles in the front pocket furthest from her back.
“We’ll want to take those to Maggie and Holly,” Sam said.
“Yeah, let’s just hope they don’t break. I don’t fancy having glass and blood running down my back.” Delilah slid the backpack up her arm and ran her other arm through the other strap.
“Shh,” Pablo said, holding up his hand.
It took Luke a moment to home in on what Pablo heard—the sound of creaky stairs, stairs that didn’t sound like the ones that lead up to the second floor.
“Where?” Luke whispered.
“Pantry?” Pablo replied, not seeming altogether sure.
Pablo tiptoed toward the door and flattened his back against the wall next to the hinges so that when the door opened, he’d be hidden. Everyone else headed toward the nearest door to either the living room or the dining room. Luke hid by the threshold leading into the dining room while Sam and Delilah were hidden somewhere in the living room section. A loud squeak followed by a solid bang of wood on wood preceded the pantry door opening.
“What the fuck?” the pantry vampire said in a vaguely German accent. “Why can’t these assholes clean up after themselves?”
He slammed the pantry door. That was Luke’s signal to pop around the corner. Pablo tried to tackle the intruder. However, what neither of them anticipated was the vampire catching Pablo’s arm and flipping him over the vampire’s back directly into Luke. He was sure the last part was purely a lucky coincidence for the vampire, but it still took out both men with ease.
It served as the perfect distraction for Delilah and Sam, who slid out from their hiding space. Approaching on silent feet, Delilah raked her machete across the back of the vampire's left leg, severing his hamstring. Sam caught him as he fell, taking his head off with a beautiful upward swing of her blade.
Sam shook her head at Luke and Pablo, who were still tangled up in each other’s limbs on the floor. “Just lying around while the women do the work… Tsk, tsk, tsk.”
Delilah chuckled, enjoying Luke and Pablo’s embarrassment.
“Do we have to let her join the team?” Pablo asked.
“I think so,” Luke replied. “She’s been pretty handy so far.”
Looking down at the headless corpse, Delilah asked, “You want to get rid of him here?”
“No, let’s drag him into the dining room and stash him under the table. I don’t want a giant slick of goo right here if we have to get out of here fast. Who knows if that’s the only entrance.” He pulled out his rudis and handed it to Delilah.
Opening her coat and pointing to the stakes, she said, “I’ve got stakes.”
“Save them for later, we might need them.”
Delilah nodded and took the rudis. Pablo dragged the body into the dining room, leaving a trail of vampire gore on the floor. Sam picked up the head and followed him. Opening the closet, Luke pulled out a mop with a disposable cloth head and a spray bottle on it. Giving the vampire blood streaks a good spray down, he did a cursory cleaning job and set the mop aside.
“All good?” Luke asked Sam and Pablo as they came back into the kitchen.
“All good. He’s currently seeping into the rug under the table.”
“So, secret door in the pantry?” Pablo asked.
“Looks like it,” Luke replied.
Luke nodded and picked up his gladius from the counter. Opening the pantry door, he stepped in, pulling the string hanging from the ceiling to turn on the dangling light bulb. Luke shuffled through items on the shelf, pulling out some, lifting others, trying to find the switch to the secret door. Once he finished with the shelves, he started feeling around the wall. It wasn’t until he ran his fingers up along the door frame leading to the kitchen that his fingers pushed in a small panel revealing a switch.
Poking his head out the door, Luke said, “I think I found it. Y’all ready?”
Sam, Delilah, and Pablo stood near the pantry, weapons ready as they waited for Luke to trigger the secret door. Luke pushed the button and heard a slight buzz of an electric lock being released. Turning, he pushed gently until he had enough exposed edge to safely grab the door to guide it slowly. Ensuring the path ahead was clear, Luke stood on the platform of the stairs that led down into a concrete bunker-like structure. Sam slid through and stood sentinel on a stair a few steps down.
Luke nodded at Pablo and Delilah then closed the secret door, locking them on the other side so they could open the door again if he couldn’t find the corresponding switch on this side. Carefully feeling his away around the door frame and the rails around the platform and stairs, he eventually found a slight depression on the back underside of one of the rails. He pushed it and heard the electric buzz of the lock opening. Now they could get out again.
He pulled the door open by the handle that was conveniently placed on the back side. He made sure everyone knew exactly where the button was in case they had to get out in a hurry so the lead person wouldn’t jam them up on the stairs.
One at a time, they tiptoed down the stairs, staying near the edge of the steps and trying to avoid any squeaky stairs. When they gathered at the small staging area at the bottom, the only option they found was a single door. At a signal from Luke, Pablo stripped his clothes off and stashed them in Delilah’s backpack. When he’d finished putting on his werewolf suit, they readied to bust into the room.
Even after all the vampires they’d killed upstairs, Luke could still feel more than he was comfortable with nearby. Thus far, things had gone suspiciously easy. He took a steadying breath, readying for the plunge.
Luke, finally healed enough for full action and the only one in heavy armor, was going in first. Gripping the doorknob, he gave it a jiggle to see if it was locked. Turning it all the way, he made one last check with his team to see if they were ready when the door was yanked out of his hand.
“Either in or out, but quit rattling… Who the fuck are you?” someone asked, standing with the other side of the doorknob in their hand.
Seeing the weapons and the werewolf, he tried to slam the door shut. Adrenaline pumping, Luke launched into action and shoved his body in the way of the door. He struck out with his gladius, awkwardly slicing across the arm of the vampire and causing the vampire to let go of the door and stumble backwards, tripping over someone. Freed up, Luke shoved the door open and cleared the way for the rest of his team. They burst through and disassembled the few vampires hanging around, leaving alone any humans who didn’t challenge them.
In the tight confines, Luke had expected more from the vampires other than sluggish, poorly coordinated attacks. “Y’all OK?”
Pablo yipped, pointing to a shallow set of bleeding claw marks across his chest, though it looked like they were nearly healed. Sam and Delilah shook their heads when Luke checked in with them.
The room was a small square with a couple couches and coffee tables and two doors, the other on the opposite wall from the door they’d just come through. One of the coffee tables was littered with syringes, needles, bent spoons, and lighters as well as a few lengths of rubber tubing. A couple people were huddled in the corner, terrified of the intruders, including the massive werewolf. One person was passed out on the couch, his shirt sleeve rolled up, a needle stuck in his arm. Sam walked over to the couch, squatted, and checked the pulse of the man.
“He alive?” Delilah asked.
“Yeah, just stoned out of his gourd. Holy shit…” Sam reached up and tipped his head up. “This is Fred Bealer. He’s the city commissioner that came out with Cassius last winter to announce the mayor’s abduction. I guess that answers the question of how close he is to Cassius.”
Luke whistled in surprise. “That’s not good. It’s interesting, but not good at all.”
“Well, we may be one step closer to knowing who’s helping the fangers navigate the city apparatus. We should pull the needle out of his arm before something bad happens,” Delilah said.
“No, leave the needle,” Sam said, a firm note of command in her voice.
Sam fished her phone out of her pocket and got a good picture of Bealer’s face, before tipping his head back onto the couch cushions. Stepping back, she got a full body shot of him, complete with the needle stuck in his arm.
“Holly will want to see these. They might be very useful. And sending… Good, didn’t want them lost on the phone if something happened.” Satisfied that she had enough photos, Sam carefully pulled the needle from the unconscious man’s arm.
“What next?” Delilah asked.
Luke looked over to the two humans hiding in the corner. “Hey, did you come in this door?” He pointed to the door they’d just busted in through.
One of them shook their head and pointed to the other door.
Luke stared coldly at them, hoping they were sober enough to understand. “OK. Stay down here for twenty minutes. Things are going to keep getting messy. Understand? I don’t want you underfoot. Then you need to help him get out of here. We’ll have cleared the way by then. If you get in our way or sound any alarms, we’ll leave your corpses. Got it?”
The terrified expression on their face told him they understood.
“One of you, toss me your phone,” Luke added.
Catching the phone, Luke slid the screen up to reveal the timer. He set it for twenty minutes and placed it on the coffee table. He checked to see if his friends were ready. Turning back to the scared humans, he reiterated the plan. “I set the timer for twenty minutes. Don’t leave before then. Take what you want, I don’t care. Just don’t forget to take him with you.”
They nodded vigorously. Pablo tapped Luke’s shoulder and pointed toward the door, then to his ear. After a moment, Luke heard someone turning the doorknob. Pablo jogged over to the door and stood next to it, back flattened against the wall. Luke stood in front of the door, weapons drawn. Delilah and Sam flanked him to either side.
When the door busted open, Luke stabbed out, catching the intruder in the heart. The vamp dissolved into goo, some of it splattering on Luke’s clothes. Jumping over the puddle, Luke charged into the other room. While the vamps in the first room had been sluggish and easy to put down, the vampires in the second room were not. Seeing their friend eliminated, they bellowed in rage and sprang at the Luke. Jacked up, the vampires moved faster than normal, swiping erratically at him, punctuating their attacks feral growls. Luke had trouble pressing them away from the door to allow his friends in to back him up. Spinning, he shoved one of the charging vamps through the door for the others to take care of, lessening his own burden.
Out of the way of the door, he backed up carefully, bringing the raging vamps with him. Fearing he was about to run out of space, Luke stopped his retreat and returned the fangers’ aggression. He was relieved to see Pablo burst through the door and start tearing into the vampires crowded around, using his werewolf bulk to shred vampires. Luke was able to dispatch a couple with stabs to the heart.
Once Delilah and Sam engaged, the tide turned in favor of the hunters. When the last of the vampires was put down, Luke and his friends were breathing heavily, foreheads glistening with sweat except for Pablo who panted lightly. Although Sam was relatively new to the team, only having been out with them a time or two since the battle on the St. Johns Bridge, her skills as a fighter were proving to be a welcome addition. With the vampires down, Delilah was shepherding a few agitated humans away from her friends and either of the exits. Their eyes focused on the machete she was using to point out her commands which earned their quick compliance.
“Looks like this is the uppers room,” Sam said, pointing with her short sword to the table with little mirrors and lines of coke cut onto them. “Are vampires dealing to earn money?”
“Not quite. They’re probably not even charging much. Drugs don’t affect them unless they consume it via blood. You saw the bottles upstairs.” Luke pointed toward the humans in the corner. “These are juice boxes flavored with their vice of choice.”
“You learn something new every day…” Sam replied.
Luke didn’t think she looked too happy about this newfound knowledge. Leaving Delilah and Pablo to guard both exits, Luke joined Delilah.
“You got them under control?” Luke asked Delilah.
“I think so. They’re a bit more amped up than the three from the previous room.”
“Coke will do that.” He handed his gladius to Delilah and turned to the three people pacing in the corner. “OK. I need you to stay down here for twenty minutes. If you get in our way, you’ll get hurt. I’m going to need one of you to toss me their phone.”
Their eyes kept going back and forth between his swords and Delilah’s machete, nervously fidgeting.
“Let’s not make me wait…” Luke said.
A man reached into his pocket and tossed Luke his phone. Luke set the timer for seventeen minutes, figuring that was close to what the other people had left, and tossed the phone back.
“You wait to go upstairs until that alarm goes off. Besides…” Luke pointed toward the table. “There’s plenty to keep you occupied. I guarantee no one here will be left to make you pay for it, financially or with your life. Understand? And take the three idiots in the other room out with you in case they’ve nodded off.”
While they seemed wary, they all looked happily at the table full of white lines and little filled baggies. They nodded.
Luke turned to his crew. “We’re all good. Now let’s see where these stairs go. Pablo, follow me. Delilah, guard our retreat. Let’s be careful, there are more toothy bastards upstairs.”
Delilah perked up, narrowing her eyes. “I thought we cleared out the upstairs already.”
One of the cokeheads diffidently raised a hand. “Those stairs lead to a different house.”
Luke’s eyebrows shot up. “OK.” He collected acknowledgements from the team to ensure they were ready.
Sheathing his rudis, Luke took his gladius back from Delilah and headed up the stairs. At the top, he halted and checked that everyone was in position. Taking a deep breath, he gripped the knob and turned it, finding it unlocked. Luke shoved it open and charged through, gladius in the lead as he emerged in a completely different house. He caught a group of vampires standing around in a circle drinking blood from bottles like those they’d seen in the other house. Luke shoved the closest vampire toward the others, hoping to trip them up, then took the head of one off with a backhand slash. He rammed his chest into the headless corpse, sending it toward another vampire.
The aggressiveness of his attack coupled with its unexpectedness allowed Luke to take about half of the group of nine down before his friends had cleared the door. Luke continued herding the vamps away from the door so it would be clear. Wading into the middle of the last four, he shoved one back toward Pablo who’d just come through the door. Luke took the arm off one fanger, then a head from another, before finishing the last with a stab through the heart. Pablo, catching the vampire by the head as he fell, twisted and ripped the head off, tossing it aside.
Sam sauntered through the carnage, avoiding the piles of goo to keep her shoes clean. “You boys are so messy. Just leaving bodies and parts all over the place.” She shook her head.
Luke, taking the hint, walked around and stabbed the vampire corpses with his gladius to send them on their final journey.
“Delilah, come here,” Sam said, looking at a rip in Delilah’s sleeve. “That sting?”
“Now that you’ve pointed it out it does.” Delilah twisted her neck to look at it.
“It’s not too bad.” Sam found a drawer with dishtowels in and grabbed one. She wrapped it around Delilah’s upper arm. “That’ll hold you.”
“Shit. I hope I don’t need stitches,” Delilah replied.
While Luke disposed of the corpses and Delilah watched Luke’s back, Sam and Pablo swept the rest of the first floor. When everyone was satisfied, they met at the stairs leading up. So far, the layout looked like the house they’d started in. Peeking out the front window, they appeared to be in the house next door.
Luke let go of the curtain and turned around. “I’ll need someone to stand guard down here in case someone comes in the front door. If the humans from downstairs come up, let them through.”
“I’ll hold things down here,” Delilah volunteered. “After the upstairs from the other house, not sure I’m ready for a repeat. Besides, I’m starting to drag ass and I don’t want to mess up.”
Luke nodded and waved everyone forward. Fatigue was settling in even after all the vamps he’d drained. He’d need some more rest to fully recover after his injuries. Pablo took the lead up the stairs, silent on his padded werewolf feet.
This time, their entrance into the house hadn’t gone unnoticed. Before they could get to the top of the stairs, they were greeted with angry vampires in various stages of dress. Backing down the stairs, Delilah joined them as Pablo leapt out of the way, letting the vampires fly down the stairs.
As claws screeched across his armor, Luke silently mourned the loss of another hoodie.
“Fuck!” Delilah yelled and fell back, a vampire moving toward her.
Luke shoved his shoulder into the vamp, pinning it against the wall. Sam jumped in and assisted, hacking into the fanger’s arm. As the vamp tried to push away, Luke let off the pressure and finished the vamp off as it stumbled back. While they’d handled that one, Delilah had recovered and was helping Pablo deal with the last two vampires. Between the four of them, they splattered the last vampires.
As soon as he cleared his gladius from the dissolving body of the vamp, he whirled toward Delilah. “What happened? Are you OK?”
“Yeah. Stupid asshole hit me in my arm.” She turned her already wounded arm toward him, showing a dishtowel now stained red with blood. “It was only a glancing blow. Still hurts like hell though.”
He heaved a sigh of relief. “I don’t feel any more vampires. Sam, Pablo, can you sweep the upstairs please?”
A minute later, Sam ushered down three humans who’d pulled on some clothes and shoved them out the front door. Delilah had yelled downstairs that it was clear and sent the six people from the basement after the three from upstairs. Bealer dangled limply between two of the cokeheads as they dragged him out, the commissioner draped over their shoulders.
Sam sheathed her short sword. “I’m going to run across to the other house and make sure that woman gets out.”
Luke nodded. “Hurry.”
Pablo yipped and waved Delilah over. She took her backpack off and opened it, pulling out Pablo’s clothes. She and Luke turned to give him a moment of privacy for his shift back to human. Half a minute later, Pablo coughed. “They made us work a bit there at the end.”
At the sound of doors slamming next door, Pablo poked his head out the door. “Looks like Sam cleared the other side. We all good here?”
“My head count is good. Should be all clear, boss,” Pablo called back.
“Good. Pablo mind getting the house numbers?”
“What are we doing?” Delilah asked, sticking her head into the kitchen.
“Just taking care of the evidence and leaving a message for Cassius.” Luke was looking around the kitchen stove. “Perfect. Can you check to see if that phone has a dial tone?” Luke pointed at the phone hanging from the wall next to Delilah.
She picked it up with a dishtowel, put it to her ear, and nodded, before hanging it back on the receiver.
“Good. Call 911 and report a fire for this address.”
Delilah looked confused by the request but picked up the phone and called in the fire. Luke jogged into the living room, found a magazine on an end table, and returned to the kitchen. Pulling the stove away from the wall and ducking behind it, he whistled as he unscrewed the gas hose from the back of the stove. The scent of natural gas spread through the kitchen. Grabbing the magazine, he stuffed it into the toaster on the other side of the kitchen and made sure it was firmly in place before running out of the kitchen.
“Now might be a good time for us to mosey on out of here in an orderly manner.” Luke stuffed his hands into his pocket and strolled toward the door.
Delilah and Pablo followed him out the front door and turned left. Sam was waiting for them on the lawn and jogged over to join them. As soon as they cleared the front yard, they sprinted down the block, hung a right, and continued running until they reached Pablo’s truck. They were several blocks away before they heard the sirens of the fire trucks and another block before an explosion rocked the night, sending up a large fireball into the sky.
Luke nodded his head, making a satisfied sound. “Huh. I guess it worked. I’ve always wanted to try that.”
“Um, I hope no one else’s house catches on fire…” Delilah said.
“Yeah. Didn’t think of that. Shit.” Luke shook himself at himself. He should have thought of that. The adrenaline of the last fight faded, leaving him feeling slightly empty. He should have felt a little better after a relatively successful mission, but he was left tired and worried about what and who he’d seen in the basement.
* * *
They remained silent until Pablo’s pickup merged into traffic on I-5.
It was Sam who broke the silence. “Did you pick up that magazine trick from the Jason Bourne movies?”
“Yup,” Luke replied.
“Versus question!” Pablo cried out excitedly. “Who would win in a fight, Luke or Jason Bourne?”
That launched a debate as Delilah, Pablo, and Same gave their opinions, setting conditions on the engagement. Luke largely kept quiet, smiling at his friends’ silliness, occasionally asking for clarification or making a point designed to egg them on.
Once they arrived at the Howling Moon, Pablo fetched the first aid kit and cleaned up the wound for Delilah. “Looks pretty shallow. I don’t think you’ll need stitches, but you probably should call Doc in the morning and have her check it out.” He smeared antibacterial ointment over the shallow claw scratch before placing a large bandage over it.
Once Delilah’s wound was dressed and Pablo poured beers for everyone, they returned to their earlier debate. No one seemed to be satisfied with the various solutions as they went round and around, continuing their spirited debate over beers.
After a couple drinks with Pablo, Luke, and Delilah, Sam took off, leaving the ongoing argument before it had reached a conclusion. She promised to fill in Holly about the evening’s happenings. After letting Sam out the locked door, Pablo returned to the table with another round, this time Kenton Brown Ales, as he called them. Pablo had brewed it especially for Luke who had a hankering for a classic English Brown Ale. Having spent a large amount of time in England and Ireland over the last couple centuries, he wanted a nostalgia beer to remind of his time in the pubs of northern England.
“As promised, Luke. Your English-style Brown ale. Freshly tapped as of a few minutes ago.” Pablo set the tray down and passed the glasses around before taking his seat.
Luke lifted his pint and held it in the air. “Delilah, Pablo, just wanted to say thanks for all your help tonight. You did great. I didn’t feel like I needed to exert myself before I was healed. You made the healing process easy. And even with the addition of Sam to the team, you kept everything clean and smooth. Cheers!”
They raised their glasses and tapped them together with Luke’s. Taking sips, they all went back for deeper drinks.
“So?” Pablo asked.
“Oh, buddy, you nailed it. Lightly roasted, balanced, and not too heavy. That really takes me back,” Luke said, smiling dreamily.
“Thanks, Luke. That really means a lot coming from such a well-seasoned beer drinker as you.”
Luke sniffed and chose to ignore Pablo’s age joke. “So, I think I know the answer already, but do we make it official official? Sam’s on the team?”
“It’ll be nice to have another non-dude around when we’re out hunting,” Delilah said.
“You can’t find many better people than Sam. She’ll be an asset.”
“Yeah. That was sharp getting pics of that commissioner. Cold, but sharp,” Delilah added.
Pablo took a drink and set his glass back down. “Sam can be ruthless, especially when it concerns Holly or the pack. Don’t get me wrong, Sam is one of the sweetest, funniest people I know, but she will fucking ruin you without hesitation if need be. You can’t have a better ally, or a worse enemy.”
“And she knows her business with that blade. Excellent technique on her decapitations. It’s official; Sam is in.” Luke raised his glass, noticing he’d nearly drained it. “Pablo, this goes down easy.”
“Want another?” Pablo asked.
Luke nodded.
“How about you, Delilah?”
“Might as well if you’re headed that way.”
When Pablo returned, they raised glasses again to celebrate the addition of Sam to the squad and then enjoyed more beers than they should have, celebrating a successful operation after their last hadn’t gone off so well. Eventually, Delilah headed home with Luke to crash in the guest room she used whenever she needed.