The executed, p.15
The Executed, page 15
Were they trading with vampires? Why did this solution sound too simple?
Forgetting the bathhouse, I made my way back to the men as the sun began to slowly set. I knocked twice, paused, and then twice more. Samuel jerked the door ajar and allowed me entrance. We developed our system among one another for the specific occasions when we found ourselves among unknown territory to ensure we knew it was our team that came calling beyond barricades and barriers.
“I located the forge,” I began with the obvious. Pausing for effect, I looked at each and every one of them before revealing the next thing. “They might be trading with the bloodsuckers.”
“Which clan? Who still uses swords?” Gunner threw out.
Good question.
“We’re about to find out,” I answered. “Fitri, with me. The rest of you, keep your eyes peeled. I don’t trust the young women here either. They’re too innocent.”
Sili got up from the couch and checked all her weapons. She set aside her crossbow in the bush hiding our vehicle for safe keeping. Smart move. We didn’t need to draw more attention than we already did coming into this compound.
When she made it to my side, I threw my fingers up, letting the others know we would return in two hours’ time.
“Keep your hair down, it’ll obscure your face more. There’s a chance they may still not recognize you since your last stay,” I whispered to her as we rounded the back of the house and kept to the shadows, moving light on our feet.
“Things really haven’t changed much at all. It’s eerie,” Sili admitted and I took her words as the gospel as we continued around the village, observing how the compound was laid out in relation to their protective wall. I no longer smelled the humidity of the forge as we trekked farther from the center trade area.
“You’re telling me. I feel like we took a step back in time with the way things run around these parts. Did they mention any clan names while you were here?” I whispered back.
My hand shot out before she could step on a small fallen branch. She looked down and nodded, purposefully stepping over.
“No. Devon only talked about how he’d use me before I died.” She stated it so matter-of-factly, I was stunned. I wondered how many times she’d heard it to speak of it in such a way.
The sounds of grunts and moans broke the silence, stealing our attention. We both looked at each other curiously and followed it until we drew closer to its origins.
“The leader’s house,” Sili whispered.
It was bigger than the others around here, significantly so. What reason would he have to hide away in the farthest recesses of the compound when thus far, he had presented himself charismatically—and as one who basked in the attention of his people. It made more logical sense for a pompous man to flaunt his acquisitions in the forefront of the village for all to see.
We snuck behind the outer wall of the High Father’s home as the moans transformed to cries. Straightening ourselves to peer over the closest window ledge, we witnessed a naked ass pounding between a woman’s legs.
“God’s called you today. He has a plan,” Devon panted.
What the everloving hell?
“Yes, High Father. I want to be used,” she whined. The girl’s voice sounded young and the hairs on my back stood.
He grabbed her thigh and maneuvered her expertly on the bed, turning her face down and shoving his red-tinged cock inside of her once more.
So, the High Father was fucking virgins. What else was new? Couldn’t say I was surprised.
I began to lose interest, casting my eyes to our surroundings, when Sili grabbed my hand. My sights snapped back to the inside of the house, and my brows furrowed. He didn’t finish, his cock stood at attention outside of her body. We watched as he leaned in to kiss her and simultaneously reach to the side table for something, exposing the girl beneath him.
“Used you will be my child, have you no worry,” he cooed and she bit her bottom lip innocently.
The girl looked like a fucking twelve-year-old, making me grimace, heartburn threatening to choke me in more ways than one. My hands balled into fists right as metal glinted against the light cast from within. Sili’s fingers dug into my flesh as I watched slack-jawed as the High Father plunged the blade into the girl’s chest.
Her gurgles floated through the air as he brought it down again, crimson blooming around her as if symbolically showcasing her innocence to the world—a flowerbud plucked before her time. The worst part was, she was smiling up at him.
The blood began to pool in a strange Rorschach pattern on the once pristine white sheets, morbidly mesmerizing me until he wetly pulled the blade out and shoved it into her cunt, and sliced upward an inch from her belly button.
A gasp escaped Sili before she slammed her hand over her mouth. High Father Devon wiped the virgin’s blood onto his cock with the flat of the blade and tossed it aside, stroking himself and groaning.
“You were so tight, so tight. It was right for you to come to me. You can’t be left wandering around, bringing temptation to the men. There’s a bigger purpose for you.” He groaned again and climbed onto his knees over her motionless body. “There were too many men who came to ask for your hand, you see. You wouldn’t be fit to take them all—but now, you can.”
He threw her lifeless leg over his shoulder and started to fuck her limp body again with vigor, climaxing inside of her bleeding hole as a knock came at his door.
“High Father, the men are here,” a raspy masculine voice filtered through.
What the hell was happening right now? What kind of sick, backward shit was this?
He removed himself and wiped his bloody cock on her slack lips before shuddering in ecstasy. We watched as he climbed off the bed, grabbed a robe to cover himself before he opened his bedroom door with another charismatic smile.
“Let them in,” he instructed brightly. “They have ten minutes. When they’re done, I’m going to need Mother Rachel to bury her in the garden.”
The other man never took his eyes off the body on the bed, his own pants visibly tented. “Yes, High Father. The men will be sure to fill her up. She will help the vegetables flourish with our combined contributions. It was kind of her to volunteer herself.”
Devon hummed and placed a hand on the other man’s shoulder, pushing him to his knees. “Will you pray with me, brother Elijah? Before we start the harvest ceremony?”
“Y-yes, High Father,” he stuttered as he licked his lips and opened Devon’s robe.
I grabbed Sili to remove us from the house. He would be distracted for a good amount of time. Her feet were glued, but I muscled her away until we were back on track for the mission.
“Sili, show me where they kept you,” I ordered.
She audibly gulped and nodded, moving quickly in the shadows like a ninja until we came upon one of the worst looking houses up against the back wall to the western of their compound. Pausing behind a thick tree trunk, I counted two men patrolling in the front. I signaled the number to Sili and we swiftly moved to opposite sides.
A blade across the neck with a hand clamped over their mouth was all it took for them to christen the ground with their life force. Sili, being short, had to leap on the man’s back, twisting his head quickly with a soft crack.
Nodding to one another, we opened the doors with a creak and stood in place to allow our eyes to adjust to the darkness within. The village’s curfew gave us the advantage of reduced likelihood of one of them catching us here. We looked around, but nothing moved. Cautiously entering, the only light filtering in was through the crooked slats of the dilapidated house.
“Old man,” Sili whispered. “Are you still here?”
Chains rattled, and a leg pulled away from a stream of light with a scrap across the wooden floor.
“Old man, I need to ask you something,” she continued confidently.
A dry chuckle came from behind a large, battered foundational pillar in the middle of the room. “And why do you think I’d know anything?”
My shoulders were tense, wanting to trust her yet not trusting a man I didn’t know.
“You’ve probably heard enough of the leader’s ramblings if you’ve been here this long,” she answered.
“And you, my dear, should be dead,” he replied with nonchalance. “Quite fascinating. Why come back here? Unless you seek death once more? He might have more answers for you than I.”
This was getting us nowhere. Pushing Sili behind me, I leaned down to the man in chains. His white speckled beard reached his chest, covering a face which appeared weathered by the sun. “We’re looking for specific information. Has there been any talk of something being brought into this compound?”
The chains rattled with his movements and his face crinkled with a grin. “The only thing to be found here will visit soon enough.”
Scowling, I stood back up. What was the purpose of keeping this old guy prisoner? What could his frail body possibly serve to these people? Why wasn’t he killed off with Sili? The intel compiled so far wasn’t adding up.
Howls pierced the night air, ripping the silence of the compound away. I looked at Sili who continued to stare at the old man with a look of consternation. She knew something I didn’t. The old man didn’t move, maintaining his sitting position with his head against the pole behind him.
Instinct crept across my skin right as feminine screams cried out like a symphony. My frantic pulse quickened as snarls and growls accompanied them. I shot out my hand and grabbed Sili from behind, pulling her out of the building. We ran between the houses until we came to the northwest side where three women were tied to poles in white, flowing dresses. Wolves the size of small horses clawed and devoured their flesh, maws glistening with blood against the light of the moon, coating each sacrifice with an ethereal crimson glow. Innards spilled onto the ground in red cascades, eliciting snuffles and snorts of enthusiasm from the hungering beasts.
Backing away slowly, I kept Sili behind me, careful with each step as to not catch their attention during their feasting. Wet crunches continued, the wolves snapping their jaws at one another as they fought for shredded human flesh.
A howl retched from one of the bloodstained nuzzles and I whispered under my breath to Sili behind me, “What the fuck? Did you know anything about this?” My statement came out more accusatory than I anticipated but nothing could be done about it now.
“The only wolves in my memory are—”
I grabbed her, silently communicating we needed to exit the area quickly before continuing our conversation. We turned to head back, with the sounds of beastial hunger behind us. When we came upon the prisoner’s building, we witnessed another resident out in the open, kneeling in front of the dead bodies for inspection. Crap. Shift change.
As if sensing our presence, His head snapped to us. “Hey! Get back here! You killed brother James and brother Lucas!”
Perplexing wove through my mind as to why he would yell out when there were wolves nearby.
Menacing growls became louder as the beasts ran toward our direction, lured by the sound of the guard’s cries. We bolted toward the shelter of the building. Throwing a fist at the newcomer's face, I knocked him off his feet. Sili pulled out her blade, jumped on top of him, and sliced his throat, spraying blood into the air, inadvertently sending out a calling card to the animals behind us.
She leaped through the doors of the dilapidated building and I followed right after her, slamming the doors behind us shut. Shifting around, I looked for a way to place a barricade against it as the old man cackled. The sound of wolves devouring bone and flesh drifted through the wood and we both backed away. The metallic scent of blood permeated the air as some of the blood seeped beneath the doorframe. A few minutes went by, and we heard the wolves pacing, but never attacking the door.
Peculiar and highly suspicious like everything else in this damn place.
“Seems you’ve met our nightly visitors,” the old man chuckled. “Fun lot—when you keep them fed and happy.”
My patience was at its last straw. “Let’s cut the shit. There are rumors of a human group acquiring some petrified bloodsucker flesh. Do you guys have it here, or not?”
“Ah, well, if that’s all you needed...” The old man struggled to his feet, rattling his chains loudly. The wolves growled and howled, but the door remained untouched. Narrowing my eyes, I watched as the old man rolled his neck, stretching his limbs as if he hadn’t stood in a century. His posture was hunched over and his body was covered in splotches of dark bruises. He took a few steps toward us with his bare feet and smiled with dirty, broken teeth.
“You, my dear, have stayed on my mind for a long time,” he purred, a wicked glint in his eye. “Seeing you here only confirmed my suspicions the first day you were thrown beside me.”
“What are you talking about?” Sili asked, her hand still on the blood-soaked blade from her last kill.
The old man crept forward until the chains on his legs were taut, preventing him from moving further. I lifted my lip in a curl as he glared at her from head to toe in examination.
I shot out my fist and grabbed him by the neck. His laugh turned maniacal as the wolves began to batter against the doors repeatedly, clawing and splintering the wood. Sili positioned her back to mine, her stance ready for whatever came.
I squeezed the old man’s neck tightly, bringing his face toward mine. “Let me end your misery here, you old fool.”
We didn’t need him letting the rest of the compound find out about our mission. Something told me this old geezer knew more than he was letting on and we weren’t getting any more information out of him than he had already given us—which was nothing.
A black wolf broke through and lunged at Sili, who swung her blade. Turning, I watched as the rest of the wolves entered slowly, circling us, none of them attacking.
The old man choked something, and I sneered. “What the fuck is going on here?”
He tried to talk, his eyes bulging as if they were about to pop out of their sockets. I should kill him and get the rest of the men out of this damn place. From the High Father to this joker, I was about to lose my mind.
“Drop him, Eliseo,” Sili demanded.
“Why the fuck should I? He’s good for nothing and knows we’re here. I should kill him.” I smiled as I watched the old man's eyes explode with broken blood vessels, coating his whites in reds.
“He’s connected to the wolves. Don’t ask how I know. I just feel it. Put him down!”
Fuck.
I dropped him like dead weight and gave him a good, swift kick to the ribs. He coughed and cackled as the wolves continued to circle us menacingly.
“Fucking bloodsuckers walking in the sun, crazy cults and sacrifices, what the hell is next?” I complained, throwing my hands up. “Why not an old man who controls wolves?”
Right as the words left my mouth, one of the wolves leapt toward the prisoner with a growl.
10
FITRI
My eyes widened and my body prepared to slam my knife into the wolf’s back, but Eliseo grabbed me and pulled me toward him in the knick of time.
We both watched in horror as the old man moved faster than I could see and bit into the wolf’s neck and drank his blood. What the hell? The beast whined as the old man shoved him aside and stood up, chin coated in crimson. His crazed eyes looked even wilder and inhuman with burst blood vessels.
Lekim, my mind supplied. But what did that clan have to do with anything? Unless it was part of their abilities…
But from the knowledge lodged in my mind, I knew none of the vampires could drink animal blood. So, how was he still alive? I frowned when I noticed his body began to change in front of us. His flesh slowly filled out despite logic telling me it wouldn’t be possible.
The wolves all howled in unison at their fallen comrade, rattling the walls of the building, sending shivers down my spine.
“Do an old fool a favor and come closer. My eyes aren’t what they used to be,” he goaded, his finger calling me forth with glee.
Hell fucking no. I may not remember everything, but I wasn’t stupid.
Eliseo pulled a gun out of the waist of his pants and pointed it directly at him. If he let off a shot, the entire compound would be alerted and he knew it. If this was a bluff, I hoped it worked.
The old man threw his head back and laughed then pulled the chain out of the wooden pillar with a swift jerk.
Was he a—
“I see it in your eye, girl.” He walked around us, circling with his wolves, dragging the chain behind him loudly across the floor. His eyes flicked to Eliseo as he tsks. “Now, you know a gunshot will bring everyone out of their quiet little homes. Why disturb the peace? Who knows what these crazy humans are up to with how they so easily sacrifice their own people for their disillusioned belief of a good cause for the whole?”
The old man licked his bloodied lips and we both kept our eyes on him, ready to strike if necessary.
“They think I don’t know, but I know,” he leered with dark intentions. I took in his words and tried to piece what he was revealing in my mind. “A man leading a cult this easily? It was easy to figure out.”
One of the wolves lunged at us and snapped their jaws a scant few inches away, taunting. I kicked its head with all of my weight behind it, making it whimper and skitter back. The other wolves snarled as I threw a knife, lodging it in its flank. But aside from it teetering a few times, it didn't stop it from circling.
What kind of inhuman ability did this old man carry to control their minds beyond pain and injuries? It was a frightening thought to know there were others out there with this same potential power roaming the world. Have the bloodsuckers truly evolved this much? Was there no hope for humanity?
