Secrets In The Bones: The Curse of Blood Bay

Twenty six

The thud upstairs jolted Ellena and Michael. No need to ask; Michael always spilt the beans. My main worry was the voices. We hadn't explored elsewhere yet, and the unexpected visit seemed intentional. CCTV, I'd heard whispers.

Five sets of footsteps infiltrated the town, splitting up. To make matters trickier, I picked up only three heartbeats. Vampires were in the mix. I could already feel its effects, with the night closing in and the moon rising. Michael, too, twitched with yellow strobes flickering around him.

They weren't rushing, giving us a small window to dash towards the church. Its massive structure provided more space, especially with steps leading to a basement. I wasn't thrilled about the prospect, but the burnt house was a fragile hideout. We could amplify a howl in that echoing space if needed, creating the illusion of more wolves. I had used a warehouse similarly back when Michael took a bullet.

First, we needed to get there. Having vampires with them enhanced their abilities—superhuman, like my strength, speed, and senses. The crucial difference: they could hear our heartbeats. I turned from the doorway to share the news. My hand brushed a thick burnt patch on the wall, a claw flicking through it out of frustration when I heard another sound I hadn't experienced since last night.

Guns were being chambered. Was this a hunting party or a kill squad? I couldn't decide. I stumbled, my eyes drifting to my shoulder, where the bullet would've hit. Yeah, I'd been shot before, but this one had a more profound impact on my weary brain. The two shots in Surrey didn't register; it all happened too quickly.

After my miraculous resurrection, I played those murder games. Last night was a real kick in the balls because they knew what to use to hinder—chambered wolfsbane bullets and a vamp to point the way.

The flicker of charring was peculiar; a small static shock rippled through my fingers as I laid eyes on Michael and Ellena walking toward me. They crumbled away before my eyes. It was happening again, and the timing couldn't have been worse. Slowly, the black faded into a bright, clean cream. The home transitioned to sparkly, out-of-the-box new. There were voices different from those on the edge of town. Two sets were coming down the clean, floral-carpeted steps. I smelled blood and gasoline. I was about to witness what happened.

Liquid splashed against the walls and steps as I saw their feet. Two pairs of black all-terrain boots walked, laughing and spraying liquid around. One carried a big red cooler box with a white handle, revealing stacks of blood bags. Faces came into view, mottled, deathly pale white skin with fangs on display dripping blood as they supped it from a bag. Neither I'd seen before, and the town had been destroyed years ago, so they might be dead by now. Both were like Amos, with slight differences in weight. The dead glaze, drained of life appearance, didn't distinguish one from the other much.

They moved through the downstairs rooms, leaving a trail of gasoline in their wake. The brazen, sadistic nature of their actions made me sick to the pit of my stomach. This vision needed to be halted until I knew its triggers, as it occurred at the worst possible time. Time didn't stand still; watchers said my eyes changed every time it happened. While I endured a bloodsucker fire fest, those other bastards were making moves. I hadn't the time to warn Michael or Ellena.

"What a shame we have to start over somewhere else. Good thing plans were already in motion," one of them says.

"You knew it could happen. That's the planned contingencies. We need a haven for when the 'Order of the Elders' is resurrected. Then we could cement our place at the top of the food chain," the other replies.

They chuckled as they continued, blood dripping from their fangs. What the hell was the Order of the Elders? More than the one in the caverns? That made sense; to believe he was the only one would be naïve. Yet an 'order'? We had enough on our plates; the vision was from a while back. Had they been able to gather more elders and keep them hidden? What were the contingencies? Surely, that hadn't included Cruden Bay, as they'd relied on the bloodline of the countess arriving. The odds of that would've been astronomical.