The Vampire Gene

Angus

I was about forty minutes away when the first call came. At first I didn't recognise the voice, but then I realised that it was Simon.

"Angus?"

"Yes." I didn't feel the need to elaborate.

"They're here. At least twenty vamps, maybe more. Fergus asked me to contact you to let you know. They're all in the room Rebecca was abducted from, and they're going to need your help. How far away are you?"

"Forty minutes," I ground out through gritted teeth. My worst nightmare was materialising. Rebecca was vulnerable. I shut my eyes briefly.

"I'll keep you updated," he said, and then he was gone.

Rebecca

Turns out our idea of holing up in that room with its stony walls and thick doors made no real difference to the eventual outcome that day. Turns out all it did was give us a false sense of security. Turns out Jack's crew had captured Bill Colborne and Lucy, and they stood out front with Bill and Lucy bound and kneeling before them. I counted ten, then fourteen, and then still more as they materialised out of the sculptured gardens and great old trees surrounding the mansion we occupied. A ragtag army of blood feeders, with tattered clothing, and no shoes. Their eyes burned in their gaunt faces, their hunger an almost palpable thing.

"Shit." One word from Oliver broke the insane silence.

Julia seemed frozen to the spot, her eyes fixed on her child who knelt in the gravel out in the cold wind. Suddenly it all seemed a lot more desperate than it had before. One of the vampires held up a battered board with a number scrawled across the surface. He sneered, revealing teeth that someone had taken the effort to file to points. They were taking the vampire thing seriously, it seemed. It worked - I was suddenly gut clenchingly and cripplingly terrified. We were going to lose on this day, here and now. There were so many of them. We were going to lose.

"The hell we are," said Oliver flatly, glancing at me. Then he grinned like a tiger, and spoke into his headpiece. "Simon, you see that number? Can you connect me to it?"

"Absolutely. Give me a second."

Crackling, then, "Oliver, I presume?" a voice rasped its way into our headsets.

"Jack." Oliver's voice was expressionless.

"As you can see, I have your sister and your father. Give me the girl, and I will release them unharmed. More or less." The chuckle was dry.

"We have your word?" Oliver spoke slowly, turning slightly to wink at me.

"Of course." The voice became oilier, more persuasive.