Bite Marks

Havermouth, Present Time

“That’s like… a thing? Like a real thing?” Aislen looked between her two mates.

“It is,” Talen replied placing his hand on the small of her back and encouraging her gently forward.

The alley and carpark had taken them through the square of the town, depositing them on the street where Rhett’s shop was located, bypassing the blocked off, soldier filled main street. It was a route that someone who had grown up in the town knew, but that people new to the area would not.

They crossed the road, pausing on the corner to look up towards the main crossroads of the town as yells broke out, Heath tensing. A group of men dragged a woman, fighting, clawing, her hair wild and her blue suit covered in blood, out of a building and into a van, leaving behind one designer high heel on the pavement. The van shook, and the passenger within shrieked, the sound carrying as the van pulled away from the curb.

“Was that…?” Aislen trailed off remembering Dr James and the bite mark on her arm.

“Dr James,” Heath finished for her staring up the street, his expression shocked into blankness.

“I wonder who she ate,” Aislen murmured under her breath. “I hope that they’re okay, but from the amount of blood on her, I’m guessing that they’re not.”

“We should continue to the Ute,” Talen murmured breaking their reverie. “Hunters have always existed,” he continued, keeping his voice low and his head bowed towards Aislen as they headed towards the rear of Rhett’s shop. “Humans have always feared those unlike themselves, and although the supernatural world guards its existence well, it has not always been so. Between the occasional mistake and the continuance of the story of them, enough humans have continued to believe, and those who lose loved ones to us, often spend the remainder of their lives hunting us down in vengeance.

Talen unlocked the Ute and opened the front passenger door for Aislen, before walking around the car to the driver’s side. “But with the arrival of the One God, the priests created an order devoted to hunting. Over the eras they have targeted different species of supernatural with different levels of success.”

“Witches in the Medieval period,” Heath said from the backseat. He was angling his phone in different directions testing for reception.

“Vampires in the seventeenth century,” Talen said darkly as he pulled out onto the street. “I lost many friends to their efforts during that time.”

“I wonder who they are targeting now,” Aislen murmured. “I didn’t get that from Toby’s mind, just flashes of information, enough to make me look at that bunker under the river house and think that it seems very cosy, and we should absolutely make our way there just as soon as we find Rhett and Cameron, which brings me to the other thing, Heath.”

“Other thing?” Heath asked with dread. “Damn it, I think the phone connections are getting worse!”

“I think I know where Jessica is,” Aislen told him. “I had a dream, about the men in black at Haven farm, and Charlotte holding a baby, but it wasn’t until I was standing in the hall again, that I remembered how Charlotte had looked at Jessica during the presentation. I think Charlotte has Jessica.”

“Why would Charlotte have Jessica?” Heath wondered.

“I don’t know. Maybe Jessica wandered out into the storm and crossed Charlotte’s path?” Aislen avoided saying that she suspected that somehow Charlotte had known Jessica was Rhett’s. There was no other explanation, she thought, and was the only connection between Charlotte and Jessica. She didn’t know how Charlotte had known, or why she would take another child sired by Rhett – but it made sense of her dream, of the baby that Charlotte had been holding.

“Why would Charlotte even be in Havermouth…?”

“She was here for the presentation the other night, remember?” She prompted gently.

“Still, why would that bring her anywhere near Lauren’s house and Jessica…? Ah, f-k,” Heath groaned, closing his eyes as he, too, made the connection. “How would she know though?” He asked himself. “We didn’t know.”

“Maybe I’m wrong,” Aislen said softly. “It is a bit crazy sounding. We didn’t know that Jessica is Rhett’s so how would Charlotte know? Why would she take Jessica just because she’s Rhett’s daughter? And in the middle of the storm like that, too. I must admit though, I am hoping that is what happened, because if it did, then Jessica will be safe with Charlotte. I don’t see Charlotte harming her, do you?”

“No,” Heath frowned. “With the NES holding the roads closed on this epidemic lock down, I don’t know how we can get to Haven Farm in order to find out whether you are right, Aislen.”

“You can’t, like, wave your mayoral flag and get us through the roadblocks?” Aislen suggested.

“Not really,” he shook his head.

Talen slowed down, drawing their attention to the world outside the car. The suburban street was thick with soldiers, moving from house to house, knocking at the doors. One homeowner was arguing, pointing to his door angrily. A green cross had been painted at face level.

“Red for infected, green for not?” Talen murmured.

As Talen pulled up at Lillian and Rohan’s pretty house, Aislen saw Lillian in the front door, wrestling with a screaming baby, and shaking her head, her expression furious and her wolf in her eyes. Rhett’s son’s wide whiskey-colored eyes peered around her hip. The group turned to look at the Ute as Heath, Talen and Aislen got out.

“We are advising residents to stay at home,” one of the soldiers said as they approached.

“Yeah, yeah,” Aislen replied. “We’ve been told several times. Go home, stay home.”

“This is Mayor Gale,” Lillian told the soldiers with satisfaction. “Tell them Heath, that they’ve got no right to come into our homes and scare the children.” Aislen saw that there was blood on the baby’s top, and her heart picked up pace. Lillian wasn’t preventing the soldiers from entering her house out of obstinacy, but rather because she had something to hide.

“You’re going into people’s houses?” Heath demanded. Aislen saw him inhale, his nostrils flaring, scenting the blood.

“We are verifying that there are no infected within the property. As we explained to Mrs Marriot, Havermouth is in the grip of an epidemic. It is important that we contain and prevent the spread amongst the population as resources are already strained. If everyone would stay at home, let us check to make sure there are no infected within, mark the house to show that it’s been inspected, then we can better track the spread of the illness.”

“As I said to him,” Lillian replied on a snarl. “There’s no one within who is infected, and he has no right to enter my home or to paint my door blue.” She gestured angrily at the door which had an ugly blue cross still running drips towards the ground.

“Go inside Lillian,” Heath said to her. “We’ll take care of this.”

“Okay Heath. Come on, nap time boys,” she said with false brightness to the baby and little boy.

“No nap, wanna see daddy,” the little boy argued as they stepped into the house and Lillian pulled the door shut behind her cutting off further protests.

“I understand what you’re doing,” Heath said to the soldiers as they turned from the house. “And I support your intentions. However, you cannot force your way into people’s homes. Why do you think they would lie about whether someone in the house is infected or not? Just ask the question at the door and move on, please.”

“We are following orders,” the soldier replied in annoyance. “And cannot change the process for a civilian.”

“He is the mayor,” Talen growled.

“I am the mayor,” Heath repeated, nodding in agreement. “And I am also a lawyer, so I know that private armies do not have the right, even in an emergency such as we are currently facing, to force their way into people’s homes. I will speak to Joseph Lennon, tomorrow, when I return to the town hall, but I’m sure that you can radio the information through to him, and to your units, so if I see any more soldiers trying to gain access to houses, I will begin taking details in preparation for launching a lawsuit against your company once this emergency is over. Do you understand?”

“We will report to headquarters,” the second soldier spoke for the first time. “And see what our Captain says.”

“Do that. Now, if you will excuse me. I am, as discussed with Joseph Lennon, reassuring my constituents that your men are operating for their best interests, and to follow your requests to stay within their houses,” Heath stepped past them and opened the front door, gesturing for Aislen and Talen to proceed him into the house. “Have a good day,” he said closing the door in the face of the soldiers.

“What the f-k is going on?” Aislen whispered to him. “Lillian’s baby had blood on him.”

“Heath,” Lillian said from the other end of the hall. “In here, quickly.”

They hurried down the hall into the kitchen, where Rohan, Scott and Cameron were tying Nathan Lowe into a seat. Nathan hissed and spat, foaming pinkly at the corners of his mouth, red dripping down his chin onto his chest. His shirt was torn open and stuck wetly to where chunks had been bitten out of his chest. Fingernails had shredded the skin of his forearms, and blood dripped steadily onto the tiles.

“Where’s Rhett?” Aislen asked anxiously, searching the room for him.

Lillian opened a door against the other door to reveal a powder room, and Rhett, wearing nothing but his own skin, his hand clasped to his forearm, blood leaking between his fingers into the sink. A first aid box was open beside him. He met Aislen’s eyes in the vanity mirror, his expression shocked.

“F-ker bit me.”