Deliverance Read online

  “This wasn’t immortals,” she declared. “Humans were here.”

  Rinwa scoffed. “No way could a bunch of humans ambush vampires in their own lair.”

  “I agree that it does not seem plausible,” Tafari said. “However, you do remember the organization that Samantha’s father works for.”

  “Yes,” the immortal took off her sunglasses. “They did have all of that fine technology when we rescued Leisha from their compound.”

  “I haven’t had a run-in with them in more than a year,” Leisha said. “I’d thought maybe they’d given up on finding us.”

  No one said anything, but continued to look around. They took the elevator to the top floor, where Leisha knew Victor’s suite would be. The five-star room stood immaculate and empty, hardly anything disturbed.

  “I thought they’d hold Samantha and Nikita in here.” Brows drawing together, Leisha pivoted and left. They stopped on each floor so Leisha could scope it out with her hearing and smell, but they found nothing useful.

  Making the trek back out the way they’d come, Leisha could see with Tafari’s stiff movements and Rinwa’s tight lips that they were as concerned as she was. Not only had humans taken the vampires, but there was no sign of Samantha and Nikita.

  They were passing a closed door when Leisha caught a whiff of Samantha’s amber body wash. She immediately tried the handle, but the door was locked. Gritting her teeth, she grasped the handle with both hands and, straining all of her strength, pulled the door off its hinges. Metal shavings rained to the carpet and Leisha dropped the door, making the floor reverberate. There was a long stairway leading deep into the underground. She didn’t have to signal Tafari and Rinwa as she headed down; they were right behind her.

  There was a large steel door at the bottom. It was already broken and hanging to the side. It looked like someone used a bomb to get this door open.

  It was dark, but Leisha detected something in the air. Fear. It permeated the room with its sour stink. She could also scent both Nikita and Samantha. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, Leisha could see the many torture devices in the shadows. She didn’t have to move any further to know that her friends had already endured terrible abuse. But there was no one left in the room.

  “I don’t think Samantha’s father was here,” she told the others. “I can’t get a whiff of any human that’s familiar to me from his unit.”

  “You mean this is another band of humans hunting vampires?” Rinwa sighed. “Why don’t those dumb idiots leave the hunting to us? We immortals are much better equipped to handle them.”

  Leisha didn’t comment and pressed her lips together as she stared into the room that was used as a dungeon. Coming to a conclusion, she turned and headed up the stairs. “I think we should track down that secret sect of the U.S. government. They’re a known foe and they’re the only lead we have at this point.”

  “How do you propose we find them?” Tafari asked.

  Leisha pointed to her daughter. “Rinwa can hack into just about any system. She can look at the traffic cameras again.”

  When they reached the top, Rinwa took off her glasses and glared at her mother. “You think that was easy? And besides, if it was always that simple, the immortals would have tracked you down years ago. What I found yesterday was plain luck. I don’t know if I can do that again.”

  Leisha’s brain sped through various possibilities of what they could do as they walked back to the van and told Liam what they’d found. After she sat in a chair, Liam climbed onto her lap. She hugged him and then stroked his silky hair as she thought. She didn’t listen as Tafari and Rinwa argued over their next move, but tried to think of any alternatives. Finally, she looked up at the others.

  “What if you knew what to search for?”

  Rinwa paused mid-sentence and looked at her. “Huh?”

  “I mean, it’s a secret sect of the government with access to what seems to be unlimited resources, right?”

  “Exactly.” Rinwa frowned. “Trying to find them in classified documents is impossible. I’d have to break into the Pentagon and access a top clearance computer there. I’m sure we could do it, but some innocent bystanders would probably get killed in the crossfire.”

  “I’m not going to ask you to do that,” Leisha assured. “I’m thinking of something more basic. Like sifting through the government’s budget.”

  Tafari raised his eyebrows. “What do you hope to find there?”

  Leaning back in her seat, she explained. “Look, it may be a long shot, but I’m thinking that if we can find where large sums of money are going, then we might track down their base of operations.”

  Tafari and Rinwa sat quietly as they mulled it over.

  Liam stood and stretched his back. “It’s a good place to start. At least we’ll be doing something instead of sitting around here and arguing.” He cast a meaningful glance at Rinwa.

  The immortal balked at her brother, then threw her hands in the air in defeat. “Fine. We’ll give it a shot. But this is going to take some time. Do you know how many different projects use billions of dollars? I feel like this may be a waste of my time here.”

  Head stooped low, Tafari made his way to the driver’s seat. “Unless you think of something better, we may as well move forward with this. Liam is correct. It is a productive way to spend our time and we may catch a break.”

  “Doubtful.” Regardless of her sentiments, Rinwa went to the monitors and began working on her computer to break into the U.S.’s secure system.

  Chapter 15

  Samantha woke up in a small cell containing nothing but the little cot she was laying on. There wasn’t even a bathroom, which she very much needed to use. Her wounds had been bandaged and she could tell from how fuzzy her mind felt that someone had given her strong pain-killers.

  Standing up, she waited for the lightheadedness to pass before she walked the perimeter of her tiny quarters. The walls were plain and white. She couldn’t even find a crack in the paint. The floor was white tile with a drain in the center. She leaned down to inspect it and saw a flaky, brownish reddish substance around some of the little circles. Please don’t let that be blood. But she knew she was kidding herself. It certainly wasn’t rust.

  The door had no handle, just a handprint scanner at about the same level that the lock was probably located.

  She stood in the center, staring at the door, uncertain if she should do anything. After a few minutes, her bladder made the decision for her.

  “Hey!” she shouted past a dry throat, pounding on the door as she did. “I’ve got to use the bathroom!” She continued banging the door for a while before finally giving up. Rubbing her tender palms, she sat on the cot. Her shoulders ached and her wrists sported lacerations where the manacles had dug into them, but otherwise she felt fine.

  “Except my bladder might explode,” she mumbled to herself.

  Legs clenched together, she was eyeing the drain and wondering if she were desperate enough to relieve herself right there when she heard a series of beeps at her door.

  Samantha stood tall, hoping that her expression wouldn’t reveal her fear.

  A man in a nicely tailored suit walked in, followed by a woman in a lab coat. On the woman’s tail was a man dressed in the SWAT getup that Samantha had learned to associate with her father’s team. His submachine gun was trained on her. The door clicked ominously shut behind them.

  The first two studied her curiously. The man in the suit spoke first. “You may call me Simpson.” He gestured to the woman. “This is Doctor Peterson.” He looked back at her with probing brown eyes. “And you, young lady, are the infamous Samantha.”

  Samantha tried to swallow but it proved too difficult. “Where’s my father?”

  He took a step closer to her as he answered. “You might be happy to know that he’s being detained with the members of his team.
The same men that attempted to kidnap you on several occasions.”

  A mixture of emotions churned her stomach. She didn’t want to analyze them too closely, but couldn’t turn off her brain.

  It was a relief to know he wouldn’t be pursuing her anymore. Yet, she was still taken and currently trapped in what she could only surmise as some kind of government compound. Samantha’s brows drew together. Did something happen to him? Do I even care?

  “I can see you don’t understand,” Dr. Peterson observed. Her mousy brown hair was pulled into a French twist, and she smoothed down some flyaway strands. She looked to Simpson with a question in her eyes. When he nodded, she stepped up to the foot of the cot and turned back to Samantha. “I assume that you’re aware of the experiments your father was overseeing?”

  “Yes,” Samantha answered slowly. “He used vampire blood to make super soldiers.” What are you going to do to me? She couldn’t bring herself to voice the question.

  “Close enough.” Simpson pulled out his phone and glanced at it.

  “It didn’t actually work,” the doctor explained.

  “Yes it did. I saw those soldiers myself.” Samantha brushed her hair out of her face. “They had crazy reflexes and were able to beat vampires in a fight.”

  “That is correct.” Dr. Peterson took a few steps closer. “But the side effects didn’t occur until about a year ago.”

  “Side effects?” Maybe if I keep them talking about this, they’ll forget I’m their captive.

  The doctor searched for the right words before she responded. “From what I’ve been able to deduce, the men used up all of their reserve to harness those great physical feats, including staying young.”

  “I don’t get it.” Samantha sat back down on the cot. “Vampire blood would slow their aging process, wouldn’t it?”

  “That’s what we thought,” Simpson answered in a gruff tone. “But last year, all of the men who had been injected with your father’s formula began to age drastically. They were hearty and healthy one day, then the next, they had gray hair and swollen joints. It’s taken a huge toll on the military.”

  Samantha could feel her stomach drop. “You mean you gave that formula to every man in the service?”

  Simpson waved a hand in dismissal. “Of course not. There’s no way we could keep it confidential if we did. But most of our special forces opted for the ‘experimental supplements treatment.’ Now our most elite are dead or are lying around here waiting to die.”

  Hand over her lips, Samantha shook her head. “It was wrong for you guys to do that at all. Now all of those innocent people are paying the price.”

  Dr. Peterson straightened. “We’ll fix the problem. Especially now that we have captured several thousand vampires. I’ll be able to take over your father’s experiments and figure out what went wrong.” She gave a soft smile. “I’m going to save your father, Samantha.”

  Hot tears sprang into her eyes and Samantha blinked them away. She wasn’t sure that was a good thing. What he did to Leisha, all in the name of science, was unforgivable. Samantha hated the vampires, but she wouldn’t wish that kind of torture on anyone. Dear God in heaven, please don’t let them hurt Nik! “You should just take the loss and leave this alone. What you guys are doing is wrong. It will only backfire worse the next time.”

  Simpson’s lips parted. He folded his arms across his chest as he leaned a shoulder against the white wall. “You don’t seem too concerned for your dear father.”

  Samantha’s hands shook and she clenched them into fists. She didn’t know what to think about her dad dying, but she wasn’t about to discuss it with these people. “Mason is suffering the consequences of his actions. There’s nothing I can do about that.”

  “Isn’t there?” Simpson countered. “I thought you were some kind of a psychic.”

  Blood froze in her veins as she stared up at the man with wide eyes.

  Dr. Peterson blushed. “I found out from your father’s notes. He conducted experiments on psychics a long time ago. You were a baby then.”

  Nodding, Simpson started to become more and more animated as he spoke. “He made some great progress in those trials, and now we’re very curious what we can do with you.”

  “With me?” Samantha whispered through stiff lips.

  “Yes.” The doctor’s gray eyes were alight with excitement. “We’re hoping to use some of your blood for my experiments. But we also want to conduct trials on you to test if we can see into the future and figure out what the solution is so we can fix it now.”

  Samantha’s head felt light. She rubbed her hands over her arms, thinking of sharp needles. “It doesn’t work that way.”

  “Not for you,” Simpson said. “But with the drugs your father developed, we think we can make some real progress with that special ability of yours.” His demeanor changed back to ambivalence. “I believe you said you have a need to use the bathroom. Doctor Peterson and Clive,” he pointed to the man with the gun, “will escort you.”

  Chapter 16

  Samantha wasn’t sure how much time had passed. After she’d been taken to the restroom, they’d marched her directly back to her room. The layout, from what she’d seen, was almost like a hospital. There had been all kinds of machines and monitors that she’d seen in hospitals before. The major difference being that the “patients” were sequestered behind locked doors.

  The only people that Samantha had seen walking around looked like either doctors or guards. She’d wanted to find out where they were holding Nik, but none of the doors had windows and there were no labels or charts to indicate who was put where.

  When she’d returned, Samantha sat for several moments, staring at the blank wall. Her mind kept jumping back and forth between what these people had planned for her and what had happened to her father. Closing her eyes, she pictured how her dad looked when she’d last seen him. He had the same icy blue eyes as hers, his dark brown hair hadn’t shown any hint of gray. He had embodied a vitality from what she remembered, though that energy had been put to evil purposes. Still, it was hard to imagine him shriveled in a hospital bed somewhere in this building.

  Unable to brood on difficult thoughts, Samantha stood and assumed the starting position for the tai chi routine that Leisha had taught her. She wasn’t nearly as graceful as her friend, but flowing from Lu movements and then into Peng helped Samantha to clear her mind. Once she finished, she collapsed onto her cot and fell asleep almost immediately.

  Once she was awake, she slowly paced the room. She tried to think of what Leisha would do in this situation. Probably a bunch more exercises. The vampire had been held in a room when they’d stayed with the immortals years ago. Samantha remembered how her friend had gotten antsy and had danced and done tai chi to stay sane. But Samantha needed food to sustain her, and it didn’t seem that her captors cared too much about her sustenance.

  Beeps sounded at the door again and Samantha turned to see who was coming. Doctor Peterson entered with a different man to stand guard.

  “Good morning,” the doctor greeted. “How are you feeling today?”

  “Hungry enough to eat you both alive.” Samantha had meant the statement to sound intimidating, but it came out more petulant.

  Doctor Peterson looked at her with mild irritation. “Very amusing,” she said dryly.

  Samantha’s nostrils flared before she spoke again. “Well, since you obviously didn’t bring me anything to eat, why are you here?”

  Reaching into the pocket of her lab coat, the woman pulled on latex gloves. Then she grabbed something else from her pocket. It was a small needle. “I need to be sure that the drugs have flushed through your system before I can conduct my experiments.”

  Eyeing the guard holding the large semi-automatic weapon at the door, Samantha decided to save her energy and comply. She sat on her cot and held out her arm.

 
The doctor appeared surprised that Samantha wasn’t going to put up a fight. She hesitated for a moment, then proceeded to tie a rubber hose around Samantha’s arm to make her vein bulge. It took little time to fill the vial with her blood and Samantha was proud that she hadn’t flinched during the whole procedure.

  “Could I at least have some water?” Samantha asked when Peterson was done. She tried to sound as meek as possible. “It might help to flush my system faster.”

  Doctor Peterson narrowed her eyes as she studied Samantha, then finally nodded and left.

  A few minutes later, a man dressed in scrubs and shadowed by a guard brought her a plastic jug of water and a roll. It wasn’t much, but Samantha figured she was lucky to get anything at all in this place. It was gone all too quickly and Samantha resigned herself to another long day of solitary confinement.

  It was two more days before anything happened. During that time, she received a pitiful ration of bread and water, and was allowed to use the restroom twice per day. The monotony and gnawing hunger played havoc with her nerves, and she felt certain she would snap if something didn’t happen soon. Then, on the third day, Samantha had been lying on her cot, tapping out a beat on her stomach when the door beeped.

  Doctor Peterson’s eyes were alight. Her feet moved quickly and she barely touched the ground, like she’d been looking forward to today’s events her whole life. She was flanked by a man and a woman dressed in scrubs. The woman was pushing some kind of monitor in front of her while the man held a medical kit filled to the brim with needles, test tubes, and wires. The same guard as before stood by the door with his gun drawn.

  “Your system is officially clean, Samantha.” The doctor held out her hand and the man gave her a vial filled with greenish liquid. “We can finally start the experiments.”

  Samantha was suddenly unable to swallow. Her mouth slowly fill up with saliva while her head was light. “What exactly are you going to do?” She eyed the thick needle attached to the vial.