Vampire Hunter: Corey Crowgarden's guide to killing vampires for fun and profit.

Lesson 5 part 4

The car ride back to Nags Head was quiet. Bobby drove past the house on Aqueduct street and Patty's car was in the drive. No more clandestine creeping about today, at least that's how it seemed.
They got back to the house and the sunny day dispelled the darkness of the situation if only for a little while. Tim explained to the girls the plan and they seemed to agree.
They all wanted their mother back, and this seemed like the only way to do it.
Even if it might not work.
They all walked into the basement. When Corey and Karen were first married they lived down here.
This had been Karen's parents house after all.
He always got the sense that her father hadn't liked him very much, disappointed that he youngest daughter hadn't married better. Corey, when he compared himself to his father in law, often felt like a fuck up. Nothing ever seemed to work out for him and looking around only drove that point home.
The one thing he had promised his father in law was that he would take care of his "little girl", and he had managed to fuck that up too.
He couldn't use the trod, and he was going to have to tell them, and explain why.
He was tainted.
He didn't really know how long Lord What's it had him imprisoned, but he knew it was long enough for them to have fed him some of their blood. It would have made it easier for her to root around in his mind. He also knew something else that he didn't really want to admit.
He had liked it.
She had done the usual mind rape thing on him (okay, he hadn't liked that), distorted or erased his memories of his imprisonment so he could not rely on his own memory of what had happened to him, but they had a pattern and from his recovery of other hunters and victims he knew what that looked like.
They would have force fed him some of her blood. It would make him more compliant to her will.
It took him back to when he had first fallen into this life.
The day a couple of his new army buddies had asked him to come bowling with them.
He had tried to give Bobby and Carrie an easier introduction into this lifestyle than he had got. On their first bowling night, he had set them up outside with a vehicle to pick up as many of the hostages as they could. However, that was not the experience he received on his first operation.
They gathered downstairs in the furnace room, looking at the mirror that hung behind the door.
"I won't be coming with you," Corey said, "I'm going back to the house on Aqueduct street."
"We won't be long," Tim said. "There are just a few items I need to collect up to try and work the spell."
Bobby looked Corey over curiously and said, "try not to get into trouble."
"Trouble is my middle name," Corey said, "or is it Danger.. I can never keep that straight."
"I don't think you should go on your own, Dad," Carrie said. "I was only going so I wasn't alone."
"Maybe I should go with either you or Crystal. She might not be happy to see me," Corey said.
"I think you might be surprised," Crystal said.
"I don't generally like surprises." Corey chuckled, "they've rarely been good to me in the past."
"Fair enough," said Crystal.
Carrie would stay back and visit Aqueduct street with her father and Bobby and Crystal would follow Tim through the trod.
"When you get inside it will feel weird at first," Tim said. He stood behind Bobby, reached under his right arm and took hold of his right, index finger, pressing the tip to the mirror. Corey hadn't really noticed how much taller and broader Bobby was than Tim before.
"Relax," Tim said, as he drew the arcane symbol on the mirror. "Can you feel it?"
"Ya, it's..." Bobby said, as Tim pushed him forward and he disappeared into the looking glass.
"Sometimes it's easier than explaining," Tim said. He reached over and grasped Crystal's hand. "See you later.." he shouted towards Corey and Carrie. "Shall we?" Tim said to Crystal and they stepped forward into the glass..
And disappeared.
"You knew you could not go because you are tainted, aren't you?" Carrie asked, throwing her arms around his chest and squeezing him.
He hugged her and squeezed her back.
"How did you know?" he asked as he released her from his hug.
"You told us a long time ago that it was SOP for them if they captured anyone," Carrie replied. "I'm hungry. I'll want to eat before we go see Mum."