Vengeance in Blood (Book 2): Tribulations Read online

  “Oh man, come on,” Kenneth said as the two men raised the lights, turning them on. Hearing the two behind him groaning, Kenneth walked toward the figure in the silver suit. “I’m going to kick your ass,” Kenneth growled.

  The figure lifted his arms, motioning Kenneth forward. “I’ll let you have the first hit,” a muffled male voice said under the silver hood.

  Taking his hands out of his pockets, Kenneth said, “Tell me if this hurts,” as the light burned his skin.

  “Take your best shot, then I get to do the same,” the muffled voice said.

  Swinging his right arm wide, Kenneth hit the figure in the neck with the side of his fist. When Kenneth’s hit landed, he twisted his wrist and heard a small pop. The figure shook with a moan for a second and dropped to the floor.

  As the figure landed, Kenneth brought up his gun. “I really hate those fucking lights,” he said, squeezing the trigger twice, filling the small hall with the thunder of the gunshots and hitting both men in the face.

  Trotting over, he turned off the lights then ran back to Besseta, who was already standing and helping Tiffany up. “The one in the suit is a vampire,” Besseta said, panting.

  “Yeah, I figured that out when he walked around the corner,” Kenneth said. “We need to run.” Kenneth turned around, sprinted to the junction, and headed left.

  As the girls ran past the shiny figure, they saw a glass rod sticking out of the neck where Kenneth hit it. Breaking into a run, they followed Kenneth to a door that read Parking Garage. Kenneth slowly eased the door open and walked out.

  When the girls moved over to him, Kenneth motioned them close. “They’re here, so quiet. Let me shoot,” he whispered, and they nodded. Moving his trench coat back, Kenneth lifted the submachine gun and walked between the wall and line of vehicles.

  With the echoes, Besseta could hear movement other than them but couldn’t tell where it or the smell of people were coming from. Suddenly, Kenneth ran between two cars, stopping in the roadway and bringing up the submachine gun. The gun coughed in his hands, and Kenneth spun around, shooting three more times.

  Taking a hand off the submachine gun, Kenneth motioned them over. When they joined him, they saw two men on the floor behind him and three in front. “Tiffany, can you open the cover on the back of that truck?” Kenneth asked, pointing at a monster quad cab 4x4 with a fiberglass cover over the bed.

  The lock clicked, and the cover lifted. “Can I get you two to throw them in? I’ll cover,” he said.

  They didn’t answer and darted out, pulling the bodies over and tossing them in the bed of the truck before the cover finished opening. Climbing up on the rear bumper, Kenneth closed the cover. “Tiffany, can you start it?” he asked, jumping down, and the engine roared to life as the locks clicked. “Man, we could make some serious money jacking cars.” Kenneth laughed, running for the driver’s door.

  Everyone ran for the doors and climbed in. Backing out slowly, Kenneth drove out of the parking garage like nothing was amiss. Pulling out, he smiled, seeing the sun getting close to the horizon. Driving through the parking lot then around the mall, Kenneth eased onto the road. Pulling up to a stop light, he merged into the turning lane for the interstate as a line of cop cars with lights and sirens blaring came toward them in the oncoming lane.

  Getting nervous as the gap between them and the cop cars closed, Kenneth sighed as the cops flew past, heading to the mall. The light changed, and Kenneth flowed with the traffic onto the interstate. Staying at the speed limit, Kenneth kept glancing around.

  “What the hell was that glass rod?” Tiffany asked behind him.

  Kenneth dug in his pocket and pulled something out. “One of these,” he said, holding up a handful of glass thermometers. “There was only so much I could get from a pharmacy to fight with.”

  Staring at the thermometers like they were going to attack her, Tiffany didn’t say anything until Kenneth put them back in his pocket. “You are very resourceful, Kenneth,” she sighed, happy the thermometers were out of sight.

  Besseta reached over and pulled Kenneth’s seatbelt over him and locked it. “Before you act crazy again,” she smiled, sitting back. “I take it you spotted them at the mall?”

  Nodding as he adjusted the rearview mirror, he said, “Yeah, saw two and knew they had us. They’ve got to have several hundred agents here to set up on us that fast.”

  Staying at the speed limit, Kenneth flowed with the traffic out of the city. As the area around them slowly turned to houses, Besseta looked over. “You knew that mister silver was a vampire?”

  “Well yeah,” Kenneth nodded. “Why else would he need a fire suit?”

  Reaching over, Besseta rested her hand on Kenneth’s thigh and gave a gentle squeeze as she sat, amazed how fast Kenneth took in information. “I didn’t know it till after you killed him. That’s when I smelled him,” she admitted. “I really thought it was a human because I smelled your skin burning when that light hit us.”

  Bouncing off the back seat, Tiffany stuck her head between the front seats. “Can we shoot some more bad guys?”

  Hearing the excitement in her voice, Kenneth couldn’t help but chuckle. “Hopefully not today,” he said, and Tiffany frowned. “Don’t worry, Tiffany. I’ll find you some later you can ‘pop a cap in,’” he promised, seeing her frown.

  Jerking her head up, a smile filled her face. “Man, we have been in a car chase, shoot outs, fights, and jacking cars…” she said in awe. “We really need to do this more often,” she finished, making Besseta laugh and worrying Kenneth.

  When they were out of the city, Kenneth took a rural exit and drove out into the countryside. Soon, trees and fields were around them. They all kept glancing at the sun, wishing it would hurry up and drop out of the sky.

  Glancing over, Besseta noticed Kenneth’s body was rigid as he drove, periodically glancing in the mirrors. “No more than an hour, babe,” Besseta said, squeezing Kenneth’s thigh again.

  “HOLY SHIT!” Kenneth screamed, stomping on the brakes. The truck vibrated as Besseta looked forward, seeing a helicopter shoot between the trees and hover a few feet over the road, blocking it. The side door was open, and she saw a man aiming a rifle at them.

  The end of the rifle flashed. Besseta heard the crunch of glass and Kenneth grunt. Before she looked away from the helicopter, she saw the rifle flash in rapid succession, hearing thumps on the truck and steam rolling out from under the hood, obscuring her view of the helicopter just before her eyes landed on Kenneth.

  His jaw was clenched tight as he yanked the steering wheel to the right and stomped on the gas. The smell of blood flooded the cab of the truck as the truck dropped down in the ditch and shot out the other side. Kenneth steered them through a fence into a pasture with cows running everywhere.

  Raising her hand off Kenneth’s leg to feel where he was hit, Besseta saw the helicopter out his window flying parallel to them and slowly pull ahead. Then like a giant hand grabbed it, the helicopter crumpled into a ball no bigger than a compact car.

  The ball crashed down as Besseta turned to the backseat just in time to see Tiffany’s eyes roll to the back of her head. Letting out a groan, Tiffany slid out of the seat into the floorboard. Feeling a hand grab hers, Besseta turned to see Kenneth.

  “We’re in deep shit,” he groaned, and once again, Besseta’s mind was filled with the roaring of thoughts.

  “Stop the truck. I have to see how bad it is,” Besseta commanded, feeling tears come to her eyes as the smell of blood became stronger.

  Keeping his foot on the gas, Kenneth shook his head as the engine knocked and groaned, speeding across the pasture. Ripping the steering wheel side to side, Kenneth dodged the running cattle. “We are in a field, baby. We can’t stop,” he told her.

  Not really caring, Besseta turned to look out and saw Kenneth was heading toward a barn at the edge of the field. “Baby, you’re bleeding bad. Stop,” she said with her voice breaking.

  “Rip the sl
eeve off my coat,” Kenneth told her. Besseta reached up and ripped the sleeve, pulling it off his arm. Taking the cloth, Kenneth leaned back, shoving it under the bulletproof vest. Besseta saw a hole in Kenneth’s shirt almost in the middle of his abdomen.

  Looking down, she saw the top of his pants were soaked in blood. “Stop the fucking truck so I can work on you,” she whimpered.

  “In a second,” Kenneth grunted, shoving the cloth against his wound. “More will be coming, and I have to get you out of here.”

  “Don’t worry about me!” she yelled as Kenneth took his foot off the gas. Looking out, Besseta saw the barn as Kenneth pulled past it and stopped at the tree line. Before she turned back, Kenneth was jumping out of the truck.

  He looked back and saw Tiffany still passed out. “Grab Tiffany, and let’s get out of here and into the trees,” he told her, ripping the sleeve off his other arm.

  Kicking her door open, Besseta jumped out and yanked the back door open and pulled Tiffany out. Throwing Tiffany over her shoulder, Besseta heard more helicopters getting close as she darted around the front of the truck.

  Stopping, she saw Kenneth shoving cloth under the vest at his back, and Besseta realized the bullet had gone through him. “Kenneth, let me see the wound,” she demanded.

  Stepping over, Kenneth grabbed her arm, pulling her toward the trees. “Baby, if we don’t get out of here fast, it won’t matter,” he said, nodding his head back toward the sound of helicopters. “They will just add more holes to my body.”

  Fear spread through her as Besseta held Tiffany tight, passing Kenneth and dragging him by his arm through the trees. Feeling Kenneth stumble, she stopped and picked him up and took off running again.

  She was running faster than a human could ever hope to run, but with all the added weight and the last rays of sunlight still pouring through the trees, it was taking a toll on her body. Her legs started to go numb from the exertion, making her stumble as she fought to stay upright.

  Dodging around a tree, Besseta lost her footing, and all three crashed to the ground. Kenneth and Tiffany rolled over the ground, coming to a stop several yards from her. Jumping up, Besseta ran over to Kenneth, who was getting up.

  Sweat was pouring off his sunburned face as he blinked, wanting the world to quit spinning. “They’re coming,” he groaned, pulling out his pistol. He heard several helicopters land in the field.

  “Baby,” Besseta cried, hugging him.

  Kenneth pushed her back and looked down into her eyes and smiled. “Hey, don’t worry,” he said. “Let’s kill these guys, and you can take me to a vet and have him stitch me up. It’ll cost some serious money, but we don’t want anyone finding out about a gunshot.”

  Hearing that Kenneth had a plan calmed Besseta, and she smiled. “Okay, but don’t do anything,” she said, hearing people running through the brush behind them.

  Kenneth felt her body trembling and knew some of it was fear for him, but it was mostly that Besseta’s body was tired. “See if you can wake Tiffany,” he said, looking over Besseta’s head toward the sound of people running through the woods. “We’re going to need her fast.”

  Letting him go, Besseta dropped down and started slapping Tiffany’s face. “Tiffany, wake up; they’re coming, and I need you,” Besseta yelled.

  Feeling her face getting slapped, Tiffany’s eyes fluttered open. “Stop hitting me,” she moaned.

  Besseta slapped her one more time, and Tiffany’s eyes flared open. “We are in serious trouble. They’re almost here; quit acting like a sissy,” Besseta said in a lower voice, hearing the group getting closer. “I smell at least one vampire, but others are coming. I can smell them far off.”

  “Shit, a vampire,” Kenneth groaned, wobbling on his feet.

  Besseta looked up. “With wolves,” she said, seeing Kenneth wobbling. “Wh—” she started as Kenneth raised his gun to aim behind her, and she heard muffled gunshots.

  “Ahh,” Kenneth grunted as he was thrown off his feet. Besseta heard the air rush out of his lungs when he hit the ground.

  Whipping her head toward the gunshots, Besseta saw a man holding a submachine gun like the one Kenneth was carrying. “Hello, doll,” he grinned at her, bringing his gun up to his shoulder and aiming at Kenneth’s sprawled form. Besseta knew he was a vampire but didn’t care. She let go of Tiffany and jumped in front of Kenneth.

  Besseta felt three impacts to her chest as she charged the gunman. Letting out a scream, she covered the distance as the vampire dropped the submachine gun. Besseta leaped in the air and dove at him.

  The vampire reached up, catching one of Besseta’s arms just as her body hit him, sending both to the ground. He reached for Besseta’s face, but she opened her mouth, taking three of his five fingers in, and bit down. The vampire screamed as Besseta spat the fingers in his face.

  Grabbing the vampire’s throat, Besseta started to rain down punches as hard as she could. She felt something hit her side that made her chest burn, but she never stopped pounding the vampire. When his eyes rolled back in his head, the blows only got harder.

  Hearing loud gunshots behind her, Besseta paused her bloody fist over the vampire and glanced back to see Kenneth on one knee shooting over her. Turning around, Besseta saw over a dozen men running toward them.

  Most in the group paused, seeing the small form of Besseta sitting on the vampire’s chest and holding a fist up with blood dripping off. The vampire’s face below her fist was a divot. One of the men let out a yelp as he fell back and a gunshot roared through the woods.

  Kenneth moved his sights to the next and squeezed the trigger. Not stopping to see if he hit, Kenneth aimed at the next as the group started diving for cover. Squeezing the trigger, Kenneth shot a man as he was diving, hitting him in the throat.

  Seeing the attackers falling under Kenneth’s gunfire, Besseta stood up as the group dove for cover. Taking off to the closest one, Besseta dove on him. She latched down on his neck, taking a chunk out. Spitting out the hunk of meat, Besseta covered the wound with her mouth and fed on the pulsating stream.

  Still feeling weak, Tiffany jumped up and ran at the group on the ground and felt several gunshots hit her. Changing her route, Tiffany started darting around trees until she reached the first man. Diving down, Tiffany, like Besseta, latched onto his neck. Feeling the blood hit the back of her throat, Tiffany groaned in ecstasy.

  Jumping up, Besseta held the man she was feeding on and charged another attacker. The man looked at her with wide eyes, seeing her carrying his buddy with her mouth on his neck. Lifting his submachine gun, he squeezed the trigger and saw the bullets impact on his buddy’s back.

  Releasing the trigger in shock, the man opened his mouth to scream as Besseta dropped the now drained body and dove at him. Before the first sound left his throat, Besseta bit down on his windpipe, crushing it. Yanking her head back, a fountain of blood erupted, and Besseta lowered her mouth over it.

  Seeing several attackers get up to aim at the two women, Kenneth aimed, squeezed the trigger, and saw heads snap with the impact of each shot. Feeling his slide lock back, Kenneth dropped the empty magazine and pulled out a new one. With his vision starting to spin, he shoved the magazine in and aimed back at the attackers.

  He saw both girls jump up and run for other attackers. Lowering his gun, Kenneth glanced around, looking for targets. Looking past the group, Kenneth blinked and saw a massive, black form moving toward them as the sun dropped below the horizon.

  “Not good,” Kenneth slurred, hitting the magazine release to drop the full magazine. Reaching in his pocket, Kenneth pulled another magazine out and slammed it home. While he was away from the girls, he used the thermometers to fill the hollow points with mercury. Blinking to try to clear his vision, Kenneth saw the man Besseta had beat down sit up. As he looked on, Kenneth watched the divot in the middle of man’s face slowly push out.

  Kenneth lifted his gun. “She beat you down, boy,” Kenneth slurred, squeezing the trigger. The
first round hit the man in the chest. He jerked with the impact and looked at Kenneth. He smiled as he put his hands on the ground to get up, and Kenneth squeezed the trigger again, hitting him in almost the same spot. The smile froze on the vampire’s face as he looked down at the new hole Kenneth put in him. He took a breath to scream, but it froze in his chest as he fell back.

  “Bitch,” Kenneth groaned as he struggled to stand. Pain filled his belly. “Mess with my girl again.” Getting to his feet, Kenneth looked up as the massive form reached Besseta. An enormous paw hit her, sending her through the air. She crashed into a tree trunk and slid down it to the ground.

  Turning away from Besseta, Kenneth raised his gun as the massive werewolf leaned forward and charged him on all fours. The creature bounded at him with incredible speed as Kenneth closed one eye and lined up the sights.

  Shaking her head to clear the stars from her vision, Besseta saw the werewolf charging Kenneth and he was just standing there, aiming a gun at it. The werewolf was just as big as the one she destroyed in Mississippi. As terror gripped her heart, Besseta took a breath to scream as the werewolf leaped in a dive at Kenneth.

  Calmly, Kenneth kept his aim, following the werewolf as it went airborne. Squeezing the trigger twice and hearing a yelp of pain, Kenneth dropped as the werewolf sailed over him. The ground shook when the werewolf crashed down, taking out small trees as it rolled.

  Startled, the scream froze in Besseta’s throat as Kenneth stood back up, aiming toward the attackers, but didn’t shoot. She could see his arm moving side to side like he was tracking something.

  The smell hit her like a wall as she spun her head to see blurs streaking through the trees. Letting out a grunt, Besseta pushed off the tree. Energy coursed through her body with the sun finally gone.

  Kenneth could follow the half dozen vampires charging them in a blur, but he couldn’t see Besseta. One of the blurs suddenly crashed, and he noticed something rolling away from the body. When it stopped, Kenneth saw it was a head.