The Iron in Blood

"I'll find out. What else do you need?"

"I'm heading north. I need you locate their base. This looks like it's one of those groups of old style vampires that we didn't think existed anymore." I heard another voice swearing in the background. Angus smiled tightly. "You can't always be right, Marcus." More swearing.

"There will be things you can start looking for, Fergus. They will have a fairly large base, in an isolated area. It'll be colder than the rest of the country."

He paused. "I'm going to need to use our estate in Aberdeenshire."

"It's yours. I'll notify the housekeeper."

Another pause. We were moving again by this stage. Angus drove effortlessly, as if he didn't need to think about it at all.

"Fergus. Look for patterns. Increased percentage of missing persons, not recent, but spanning the last century and a half. Recent disappearances would be in the indigent population, beggars, prostitutes, homeless people. Vampires are not always stupid, especially if they've survived this long."

"Got it. Anything else?"

"There will be an abbatoir nearby. Medium to large size. That's probably where he's getting the blood. He drinks a lot of it." He paused, looked sideways at me, and continued. "I'm going to need some equipment."

"Shoot."

Another grim smile. "Indeed. Two Glock 17's, two hundred rounds - hollow point preferably. Ballistic vest. And a Heckler and Koch PSG1 with two hundred rounds and a couple of spare magazines. I'll be arriving in Aberdeenshire in, say, five and a half hours. Can you arrange for all that to be delivered to the estate by then?"

"Could be a bit complicated. The UK is not the best place for firearm purchases. Especially the rifle."

"Can you do it?" Angus sounded impatient.

"Yes. Probably."

"You flying now?"

"We're in the air at the moment, but I'll try and redirect us to a more northerly airport. If you think you could use the help."

"Absolutely."

"Yeah." Click and they were gone.

Rebecca

Of course I was scared. At first. The van rocked and swayed, and I bumped my head a few times against its raw metal insides. My head hurt for a few moments, but then the pain subsided and I learned to sway with the motion of the vehicle instead of trying to brace myself against it. It was a minor accomplishment, but to me, sitting there with my hands and feet tied and a mouldy smelling pillowcase over my head, it felt like a lot more than that.