Chapter Twenty-one

Going Hunting

Dad is awake and aware when we walk into his room.

He doesn’t look good. Too thin. Too pale. Veins are visible under the skin of his face and arms. The room smells like sickness . It’s sad to think, but in some ways I’m almost glad we’ve been more or less estranged for the past few decades. If I’d been super close to my father, seeing him like this would have ruined me. It’s still hitting me pretty hard, though not so much that I can’t function. It’s a blurry line between grief and guilt.

Anthony seems preoccupied with the distant corner of the room by the window. Said corner gives me a weird feeling, but not a bad one. For a moment, I almost catch myself hoping it’s Mom’s spirit finally showing up. Alas, that doesn’t seem to be the case. My son keeps staring at the corner like the way cats end up staring at nothing for so long you start to wonder if they’re really seeing spirits. The expression on his face reminds me of a kid asking their teacher for five more minutes to finish up a test.

I’m mildly tempted to ask Dad about the occult books and how much he knows. Talk about a weird conversation. Probably not the best thing to bring up with everyone in the room and only Mary Lou, Dusk, and my kids being aware of supernatural things. Also, Dad doesn’t seem particularly sharp at the moment. His conversation with my brothers is rambly at best.

Argh. I might not have been the closest to my Dad, but I still hate seeing him like this, so frail and helpless.

As if sensing my mood, Anthony gives me a nod to follow him and slips out into the hall. I follow, as does Tammy. Paxton catches me with an ‘I’ll just stay here’ face and a cheesy smile.

My son leads the way down the hall a short distance before ducking into another room that turns out to be empty. He eases the door closed.

“What are we doing in here?” asks Tammy, whispering.

“No one will see us disappear.” He smiles at me.

I reach out to take their hands. “Okay. Where are we going?”

“Hang on.” Tammy waves me off. “Are we going to ‘get into it’?”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“Fighting vampires.” She smirks.

Anthony gazes into space for a few seconds, then nods at her.

“One sec.” Tammy ducks into the tiny bathroom in the back corner of the hospital room. A moment later, she emerges wearing her leaf dress with her clothes and sneakers bundled up. She stuffs them in one of the cabinets. “Hopefully, those will be there when we get back.”

I shift my attention to my son. “Where are we going?”

Ant pauses as if thinking, then says, “That place you used to swipe veggies from.”

Easy enough. The big farm. I close my eyes, squeeze my kids’ hands tight, and summon the single flame.

In an instant, our surroundings change from an empty hospital room to the abandoned corporation farm. The daylight makes it look even more run down. Pity an actual farmer hasn’t taken over the land.

“Okay. We’re here in this dump.” Tammy turns in place, then points at a derelict piece of farm equipment. “What the hell is that?”

I have no idea what the hell the machinery is used for, other than it being huge. It’s some kind of motorized vehicle with all sorts of mechanized stuff sticking out of it. Harvester machine or some such thing.

My daughter looks like she dressed up as a nature elf for Halloween… though that is significantly less awkward than being stuck naked in public. That is one advantage actual faeries have over us: zero shame.

As for me, I don’t plan on asking Talos for help today, so my clothing should remain right where it is. Unless I get shredded by claws again. Oh, speaking of… no sense being subtle now. I jog over to a rusting steel drum in hopes of finding water. Sure enough, it’s been sitting there long enough to collect rain and not completely evaporate. If I thought the rain barrels at Dad’s place were undrinkable, this water is absolutely horrid.

Thankfully, I’m not planning to drink it.

Doesn’t matter how filthy water is, it works to summon my ice sword.

No sense not being prepared this time. My family isn’t here to see supernatural stuff.

Anthony starts walking off toward the surrounding woods. Giant, golden wings sprout from his back. His own massive, fiery sword appears. For the sake of his clothing (which I appreciate), Anthony doesn’t go full fire anymore; at least, not lately. Partial Fire Warrior is enough to solve most scrapes.

Okay, I guess it’s game on then.

I follow him. Tammy scurries to catch up, then walks beside me. What a sight we must be. We reach the end of the farm property where a giant chain link fence blocks our path. I remember it being even bigger. Then again, the last time I climbed this fence, I was ten years old. Still, it’s a pretty significant fence; has to be fourteen feet high. Anthony flaps his wings once and leaps it without too much difficulty. I do the same, with my own dark wings. Tammy in the spirit of flight, shifts into a hawk and flies over before returning to her normal form.

Anthony continues leading the way into the woods.

After maybe fifteen minutes of walking, Tammy asks, “Do you know where you’re going, Ant?”

“I’m following my gut,” he replies, nodding confidently.

“Oh, boy.” Tammy puffs, blowing her hair off her eyes for a second.

I chuckle. “Hey, listening to my gut has worked more often than you’d think it would.”

“Yeah, but you’re a ‘psychic vampire’.” She grins.

“And he’s an angel-in-training.”

She bites her lower lip. “So, angels can find vampires now?”

“Nope.” Anthony shakes his head.

“What are you following, then?” Tammy gazes around. “We’re getting lost.”

“We can’t get lost.” I pat her on the arm. “No matter where we are, home is a candle flame away. Plus, I roamed these very woods as a kiddo.”

“True.” Tammy raises her arms a little and lets them fall against her sides. “So, what gives, Ant?”

“Grandma wasn’t supposed to get stuck outside her body. To fix that, I’m being led to the vampires.”

“Led by who?”

“Don’t you know that angels are everywhere?”

“I’m getting that impression. ”

“They don’t always help—and there are reasons for that—but in this case, the natural order here is so thrown off that it needs to be stopped.”

I nod. “Angels are helpful.”

“Don’t suck-up, ma. They’re already helping us, and no, they likely won’t help in traditional missing person cases, though there are always exceptions.”

I huff. “Fine. Lead the way, kiddo.”

We keep walking for a while, and I tell the kids about my vision the other night, watching Mom get attacked by a vampire of the normal variety. Between that and what Mack’s ghost told me, it sure sounds like Elizabeth is ultimately responsible for Mom’s condition.

“There,” says Anthony, distracting me from being happy that bitch is dead and gone.

We’ve emerged from the trees onto a small dirt road. My son is pointing down the road at a collection of small, gray industrial style buildings by a cliff face. As soon as I look at the place, I get a strong feeling of gloom. Yeah, supernatural energy is all over it. Bingo.

I take the lead, hurrying down the road to the front gate of what appears to be a tiny mining operation. Like the farm behind us, this place doesn’t look like it’s been in official operation in decades. Never knew it existed in all the years I lived in this area. Three buildings: a smallish office, a little warehouse, and a collapsing garage sit in the shadow of a fairly high cliff. Rust spots cover the three buildings. An opening into the cliff appears to lead underground. The remains of steel rails for an ore cart track are mostly buried in the dirt at the entrance. All manner of bones litter the area inside the compound, some of which seem pretty recent—and most look human.

Tammy shakes her head. “Not even trying to hide the remains. ”

“No one comes out this way,” I say. “They’re already hidden.”

Anthony stoops over a pile of debris, lifting a utility belt with a holster and handcuffs on it. “Guess this is why the sheriff didn’t do much about those missing people.”

I tighten my jaw. “Damn.”

“Now what?” asks Tammy.

“Now, we go inside.” Anthony heads for the mine entrance.

I tighten my grip on the ice sword and follow.