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CHAPTER TWO
ENDER
“I’m here!” Finn shouts as he rushes through the door and immediately trips over a body. “Fuck! Shit… dammit… I’m so sorry. I was just running so hard and—Well, this doesn’t look good. I do want everyone well aware I’m a better detective than this and I don’t generally trip over the bodies. Hell, this is awkward.”
“Which part doesn’t look good?” Marcus asks. “The part where you sent Ender into a place full of vampires who are now all dead?”
I glower at the man who is still over here trying to pin this on me.
“As much as I absolutely despise Ender and wish the very worst for him, I don’t think he did it. Ender seems more prone to… tearing off heads than whatever this is,” Alexei comments as he eyes a body.
“The vampires were already dead before he trotted on in here,” the British man says, as if I’d trot anywhere.
“And you are?” Finn asks the smiley man. It’s rather creepy how much he likes to smile.
“You must be the renowned Finnigan Hayes,” the man says as he holds both hands out. Finn doesn’t seem to know what to do with both hands, so he tentatively puts one hand out as the vampire grabs it and cups it with both of his while he shakes it with much vigor. I’m quite glad he didn’t try to do that to me, or I might have accidentally crushed his hand. “I’m Mads Nielson. I was sent here from the UK council and it’s an absolute pleasure to work with you.”
The moment I hear that he’s a council member, irritation boils up inside of me as well as regret that I didn’t off him before I had so many witnesses. “So that’s why you were here surrounded by the dead when I showed up. Another council member out to play victim,” I state.
Mads starts laughing before hesitating and seeming to realize I wasn’t telling a joke. “Oh! You really think I killed them? Oh… nooooo. Ha. Not my skillset. After the… uh… lack of employees at the US council, I was sent over to assess what was happening.”
“I don’t care what you were sent over for,” I say. “But if you try to take Rylee from me, I will remove every single limb from your body and then your head.”
With Rylee in my arms and my threat lingering between us, I head toward the door when I hear Mads go, “I bet he’s a blast at parties.”
“Invite me to your next council party and find out,” I retort.
He laughs about that, like anything I said might have been a joke—or maybe he’s a serial killer who finds the idea of death hilarious.
I hesitate when I reach the door and turn to the VRC members. “I am indebted to you for helping me find Rylee… thank you.”
“Of course,” Finn says. “We’re glad to see her okay.”
“She’s such a cutie pie, of course we couldn’t say no to saving her!” Claude chimes in.
“You make it sound like if she was ugly, we’d have thought harder about it,” Finn says.
Claude just laughs, which isn’t reassuring at all.
Once I’m outside, I set Rylee on the ground to look her over before I see that her shirt is moving. How I missed this fact, I’m uncertain. Probably had something to do with the rest of the vampires. Not like everything else was quite distracting. At least she’s finally stopped crying.
“What is in your shirt?” I ask as I eye the shirt that looks close to bursting open.
“Nothin’,” she whispers while refusing to look me in the eyes. It’s very clearly something when it’s stretching the shirt to its limits.
“Rylee, now.”
“It was an accident,” she cries as she pulls the ugliest and dirtiest cat I’ve ever seen out of her shirt. One ear is bent over and hairless, the other has a chunk out of it. Hair hangs in mats and he looks like he was rolled in one too many puddles.
I can’t seem to find words. My brain is telling me what happened but the words just elude me.
“Aww, what a sweetheart. Did you leave the house to save the little kitty?” the irritating council member says as he comes over and kneels in front of Rylee.
Rylee nods vigorously, thrilled to have someone who sees her side and understands it. I’m seeing it, alright, I’m just really not comprehending it.
“I did! He was crying and hurt, and I couldn’t just leave him there or he’d get hit by a car! So I went out and then he ran so I ran after him, and then when I caught him… I realized the evil vampires noticed me!”
“Let me get this straight. You risked your life… for a cat?” I ask in disbelief. It’s like everything I’d ever ingrained in her head went out the second she saw a cat. I’ve spent so much time with her teaching her how to hide and how to defend herself and she goes and… chases after a cat?
Rylee’s eyes get super wide as she aims them at me, like this display of innocence will fix everything. Like I’ll forgive her for what she’s done.
“That was very brave of you—” Mads must get a look at my face because he quickly backtracks. “Not… brave? No… that was…”
“What are you even doing here?” I ask him.
“I don’t know! They seemed to want to talk about me, so I excused myself so they could do it without feeling awkward! And then I saw the kitty. I mean, look at that kitty. I’d risk my life for it too!”
“See, Ender? He understands and he’s funny!” Rylee says.
“He’s not funny. He’s a monster. He’s like the guys I told you about.”
Her eyes get even wider. “Like the ones who tell you they have candy and puppies in their van and then they abduct you?”
“Yes, just like that.”
“Mister, I don’t want to get in your murder van. Nuh-uh. I wanna go home,” Rylee announces.
“I… I don’t have a murder van,” Mads says, looking perplexed. “I have a rental car, though. No sweets or puppies, but I could definitely get some sweets if you want some!”
I grab the cat by the scruff of the neck and set it in his hands. “Have a blast,” I tell him as I pick up Rylee and rush off into the night.
Rylee is silent for all of fifteen seconds before she realizes what’s happened. “EN! NO! MY CAT!”
“It’s not your cat,” I say.
If I thought the tears over being abducted by vampires was a lot, it’s nothing compared to the tears over me handing that mangy thing off.
She’s now beating on my chest and sobbing. “You’re. SO. MEAN.”
I stop running and set her on the ground as I stare down at her, positive I misunderstood something she’s just said. “I’m mean? Am I really? I’ve taken care of you and protected you and just ran all over the city to find you after you were taken from me again.”
Rylee can’t even seem to formulate words now because she’s crying so hard. “You! ARE! EVIL! I saved him and loved him, and he was mine and I don’t ever have anything that’s mine.”
I continue staring at her, absolutely unsure of what to do with her. She’s just turned seven, she should just be happy she’s allowed to be happy and instead, she’s throwing a fit over a cat? I open my mouth to remind her of everything she does have before shutting it. What use is it?
A woman walking by looks at us in concern. It just reminds me that someone like me shouldn’t have someone like Rylee.
“Honey, are you okay?” she asks.
“NO! He’s MEAN.”
So mean, so awful. Then why the hell does she want to stay with me? She acts like I’m the one who abducted her and carried her off, not the one who saved her. All because of a stupid cat.
“Is this your father?”
“No!”
“Who is he to you?” she asks, looking more concerned by the minute.
Rylee seems unsure of what to say before settling on, “A meanie who gave away my cat.”
I stand here as I try to keep my rage stamped down over this woman butting in, as well as my irritation over Rylee making this whole thing a big deal. It was just a fucking cat. Does she not realize that people want both of us? They want me dead and her to experiment on and she thinks we should what? Buy a house somewhere and settle down? Adopt every sad-looking cat that looks our way? How the fuck could we be on the run with a cat? Are we just going to tote a litter box with us everywhere we go?
“I can take you to the house of that vampire you liked so much. Orin,” I say. “Do you want to go there?”
“Yes! There’s a pool and a big room, and so much to do and he’d let me have a cat,” she decides.
“What’s going on here?” the woman asks, but before she can ask anything else, I grab Rylee and carry her off to Orin’s. I set her down on the porch, unsure why I feel so… weird about this. I don’t actually care what happens to her, right? I was just… this was all to learn what she was, and then after that I just didn’t have anything else to do with her, so I dragged her along. But really, was that even fair of me? She would have a better life with anyone but me.
The door opens, telling me that the man Finn calls his father has heard us.
“Rylee?” he asks in surprise. “What’s going on?”
“She wanted to come here,” I say. “You better watch her like your life depends on it, you hear me? If something happens to her, I will destroy you and everything you love.”
“Awfully feisty for a Monday night, eh?” Orin says.
I turn around, realizing that this will work out for the best. If I don’t have to keep returning to her then I can continue my quest to destroy the entire council. I will tear every inch of it down with nothing to hold me back and I will find him while doing so.
“En, where are you going?” Rylee asks. “I thought we were going to stay here.”
I turn back and raise an eyebrow. “We? I’m not staying here. You said you wanted Orin, so here you go.”
She looks alarmed and I’m flabbergasted that a child can even cry this much. Where do all the tears even come from? Rylee never cried when I first got her. She really never did much of anything. She just did whatever I told her and barely talked, and now she’s over here raising a fuss. “You’re leaving me?”
“You said you wanted to stay with Orin.”
“I thought we’d both stay with Orin. Don’t leave me! Don’t leave me!” she begs as she clings to my leg like she’s just going to drop down and become a weight for me to carry around.
“Why are you acting like I’m the one trying to get rid of you? You said you wanted to come here.” Apparently, I don’t know how to deal with children because I can’t understand this cryptic nonsense she’s spouting!
“It seems like it might have been a long night for both of you. Why don’t you two stay here for the night?” Orin suggests.
“Absolutely not,” I say.
“It won’t kill you.”
“It very well might.”
“I won’t tell the others that you’re here. Do you have somewhere else to go? Finn said you’ve just been moving around the city eluding people… or him, he’s not quite sure.”
“A bit of both,” I say. “One can only suffer so much of his happiness in their life.”
Orin laughs and then pats me on the back, which I quickly move away from. I’d rather no one touches me if I have the choice. “I won’t tell Finn you’re here. Just stay for the night. It’s supposed to sleet tonight, and you’re going to drag that girl around in it?”
I don’t actually have another place lined up and the previous one is now compromised. “If you don’t mind watching her, Rylee will stay here. Once I find a new place, I’ll come back and see if she wants to go with me.”
Rylee’s grip on me tightens. “No! Please don’t leave me. Please? I promise I’ll be good. I’ll never go outside without your permission again. I’ll be so careful. I won’t cry about the cat anymore.”
I kneel in front of her. “Rylee, I’ll be back. I’m going to simply find us a different place to stay. You can stay here until I do.”
She hugs me tightly. “I’m sorry. Please don’t leave me. I’ll be really good. I promise. Please. I’ll be the best ever.”
“I’m not leaving because you were bad or you have to be better. I just don’t have a place for us to stay tonight.”
“I don’t care. We’ve had nowhere to stay before,” she says. “As long as I’m with you, I don’t need anything else.”
“How about just for tonight?” Orin says. “Both of you, come on now.”
The only thing that could ever get me through that door is the look on Rylee’s face at this moment. I sigh, unsure how it ended up like this as Orin giddily guides us into his house. He seems far too pleased to let me, a man he should never trust, into his house.
“Just… show us to a room, we won’t make a noise,” I assure him.
“Nonsense! Let’s get you two cleaned up, and then we can watch a movie! How’s that sound?”
“Ooh! Ender loves Moana!”
“Do I?” I ask, pretty sure she loves it and also loves to torture me by making me watch it over and over.
“We could sing to it!” Orin says, like he just wants to make my day worse.
Dammit, I stepped right into hell, didn’t I?
“Yes! En, will you sing with us?” Rylee asks.
“Does it look like I’ll sing with you?”
That just makes her laugh and leap at me, expecting me to catch her, which I do. Then she grabs my face in her hands. “I’m going to show you all around.” And she leaps back out of my hands. Like… why even jump into them if she’s already moving on to the next thing?
She drags me after her, and for some reason, I just follow, and I can’t tell whether it’s out of fear that she’ll burst into tears if I don’t or whether I’m just willing to appease her in any way she wants because I didn’t like the way I felt when I thought she wanted to leave me for Orin.
“This is the pool. This is the best part! Orin and I have these little blow-up things and then Orin was like pow! And then I won!”
“Sounds like it was rigged,” I say.
“Nuh-uh, I won a hundred percent.”
“Yeah?”
“One hundred percent,” she declares. Then we’re off again. “And this is the the-ater room.”
“Why do you say it so strangely?”
“Because it’s a fancy theater. Theeeeeater. Fancy.”
“Ah yes, I definitely thought you were speaking fancy when you said it like that.”
“How about I show you two to your rooms so you can get cleaned up and continue the tour after?” Orin says as he starts upstairs.
Rylee happily follows him with me trailing behind. “Am I staying in the same room I did last time I was here?”
“Do you want to?” Orin asks.
“Yes! NO! YES!”
“Well, here are two guest rooms. You two can battle for which one you want.”
“I want this one!” she says as she races into the room.
“Did something happen?” Orin asks me.
I watch as Rylee dives right onto the bed, arms and legs sprawled out like a starfish. “Nothing I can’t handle.”
“You can ask for help.”
“I did. And I got Rylee back.”
“Beyond that.”
I laugh as I look at the man. “The only reason anyone chose to help me was because of Rylee. I’m not foolish. I’m well aware I deserve no help. We will be out of here by tomorrow.”
“You don’t have to be,” he says as he walks away.
But he just doesn’t understand.


CHAPTER THREE
MADS
“He was a delight,” I announce as I look at the cat I’ve been tasked with.
“Do not trust that man,” Marcus says. “That was Ender.”
“I picked up on that. But for a man who is supposedly the very person who slaughtered the council, the rest of you seemed to have gotten along with him alright. At the very least, none of you tried to arrest him, which I thought was peculiar.”
The cat acts like he’s just along for the ride, so I tuck him against me.
“Now where might this Ender be going?” I ask curiously.
“Why?” Finn responds, oddly wary. Although after hearing what happened between him and that Watson who turned out to be quite the monster, I’m not surprised. I would be wary of most people I came across if I were him.
I smile at the human who I’ve heard so much about. “I thought I would return the sweet kitty once he was all cleaned up. Nothing more than that.”
“Nothing more than that, my ass,” the one I know is Alexei grumbles. “If you’re going to kill him, give me a call.” I heard about him and have been told to keep an eye on him as well. Honestly, I’m pretty sure the entire UK council wants me to keep an eye on everyone from the VRC.
“Ohhh noooo, speaking of calls, I forgot to get my phone back from him,” Marcus’s brother Claude says. “I have so many pictures of shoes saved on there, too. Do you think he’d look through my private shoe collection?”
“I don’t think anyone would ever choose to look through your private shoe collection,” Alexei tells him. “The only time I permitted it, it was because it was your birthday.”
“None of you understand the art of beautiful shoes,” Claude says before looking down at my feet then seeming to decide that I also don’t understand it. It makes me stare at my shoes a bit too long and question just how bad they are. I mean… can you go wrong with black trainers?
Clearly.
“Does… anyone know of a vet clinic nearby?” I ask.
“I can tell you, but before you go, what were you doing here?” Finn asks.
“Oh! I was walking by and heard some noise.”
“What kind of noise?” he asks.
“Like an… ‘Urgh blah…’ dying noise.”
“Would you repeat that so I can document it?” Claude asks as he pulls out a notebook and licks the tip of his pen.
“Of course!”
“Ignore him,” Marcus says. “He’s not even a detective.”
Claude looks quite taken aback by this exclamation. “Excuse moi? I am too a detective! I detectived my way right into your life!”
“So you were walking by and heard someone dying, so you ran in here and…?” Finn prods.
“Everyone was already dead besides the little girl. Ender entered not long after I came in. I, admittedly, was holding up a body when he walked in. Not for fun but because I was so confused. I couldn’t find how he’d died when his heart wasn’t punctured and his head was still attached. He was just… dead. Very dead. Do you mind explaining what happened here?”
“This is the same way the bodies at the council ended up,” Finn says.
I stare at the bodies on the ground as I think about this information. “I was told that Ender was the person who killed them.”
“Well, you were told wrong,” Finn says, and I can’t tell whether he’s willing to tell me what happened to defend Ender or because I’m a council member and by all rights should be fully informed. “What happened was that the council was trying to look into how to create true vampires. In order to do so, they were attempting to extract information out of Ender, who they captured. They also arrested Marcus so they could force me to go into the council building alone. When I went in there, I realized something was very wrong and out of fear for my life, I let Ender loose. He only killed people who were trying to attack us. Everyone else was already dead before I ever even let him go. A big part of me believes that the council members who took me, led by Addison, had killed the others and planned on placing the blame on Ender… but obviously I can’t prove that now that she’s dead, Harris doesn’t seem to know anything, and Kaden has been arrested and is no longer in our control.”
“I see,” I respond. While it’s not the story the US council fed me, it does line up with the information I currently know. Those left of the US council are very much anti-Ender. They gave me a detailed list of all of his wrongdoings, but I feel like there has to be a reason why. “So you have no idea what this thing is that’s killing vampires?”
“We… question if what is being used to kill the vampires is related to the ammunition we found during the incident with Patrick Grady… the same ammunition that was used to kill Watson,” Finn says.
I quirk a brow. “Watson… now that was an interesting man.”
“Don’t get me started on Watson,” Finn grumbles. “Let me help you find a clinic for the cat.”
“Thank you,” I say as I watch the vampires scrutinize the bodies. It’s been weeks since the council members died, yet examining their bodies turned up very little… but who exactly killed them?
When I arrived, I didn’t even realize that they had the girl with them. Why did they take her? Was it to draw Ender or the VRC here? Possibly…
Finn takes my phone from me and sets it so the maps will lead me to the vet clinic. “When you’re finished, please come back here. I have more questions for you.”
“Of course,” I say. “Thank you so much!”
I hurry the cat over to the vet and quickly explain what happened. I ask if I can pick him up in the morning, and when they give me permission, I pay and head out the door while being reassured that the cat is in good hands. When my phone rings, I see that it’s Vivian and am aware she’s going to be annoyed that I lost sight of Ender.
“Hello, my sweet sugar pie!” I say.
“If you ever answer the phone like that again, you’re fired.”
“Hello, my sassy sour pie. Is that better?”
“Immensely,” she says. “SO?”
“So I have made contact with the VRC members as well as Ender and the little girl. All in one day! Talk about efficient! Am I right? I’m right, just admit it. I’m positive I deserve a raise. Possibly even Richard’s position.”
“For doing your job?” she asks.
“With finesse!”
“What did Ender say to you?”
“We didn’t exactly have a chance to speak. But when we do, we will have many words!” I assure her. “I would like to ask what kind of shampoo he uses because his hair is lustrous.”
“I really regret sending you.”
“I really regret answering this phone call. All I’ve done is be the best I can be and still you’re not happy. Let me take that back. We did speak. He asked me to take a cat, which I thought was awfully kind of him. Like… anyone who goes around handing out cats can’t actually be a monster, can they?”
Vivian’s sigh tells me that she’s jealous that no one has ever offered her a cat. “You were literally the worst choice.”
“He also pinned me against a wall and said a few things like ‘I am mighty!’ but his hair was really silky, so I tucked it behind his ear. I got mixed signals about whether or not he enjoyed that.”
“You came highly praised and ever since I met you, I’ve been convinced they just wanted to get rid of you and pawn you off on me.”
“You crack me up, Vivian. Absolutely crack me up,” I decide.
“Joy. Please do your job.”
“Of course,” I say before ending the call and heading back to the building. I’m quiet when I walk up so I can hear what they’re discussing without disrupting them.
“I just don’t understand. If this isn’t connected to the council in any way, why would another group want Rylee? Has it gotten out what she is?” Finn asks.
“If it has, we need to be careful what else has gotten out,” Marcus says.
“And then… what is it that’s killing them? If it’s some kind of chemical or something they’re inhaling, how was it gone so quickly that neither Mads nor Ender were affected by it? Or Rylee who was just one room over?” Alexei asks.
Finn sighs. “It does make you question what’s at play here and who wants who dead. We have those in the council who abducted Rylee, but also others who chose to kill council members? Did they both want Rylee?”
“How much do you trust this Mads guy?” Claude asks. “Do you know much about him, Marcus?”
“I don’t, but he’s right outside listening to us, so why don’t you ask him yourself?”
Well… that’s a bit embarrassing.
I walk inside and smile at them, positive that will make them forget I was eavesdropping. “The cat is in wonderful hands!”
“Did you hear anything you’d like to know more of?” Marcus asks, and with his attitude I can’t quite tell whether he genuinely wants to know or is irritated by me.
“Don’t mind me. I really didn’t mean anything by it.”
Marcus looks skeptical. “What does the council want with you here?”
I lift both hands and smile. “The US council was hit extremely hard and sent out a request for other councils to reach out and help, which you know about. There truly aren’t many members left of the US council after… the incident, so a few members from multiple councils all over the world have shown up to assist where they can. We truly and honestly mean nothing by it. Not to be rude, but what we’ve seen so far of the council is… a bit concerning, to say the least. It’s apparent the former leader, Addison, was corrupt in many ways of which you are all now aware. It’s a shame it came to this before anyone was able to stop her. This idea of creating a world of true vampires to do what? Take over humans? Some vampires might desire such a thing, but so many wouldn’t that I can’t even fathom how she thought she could pursue this idea once it got out.”
“I get that, but why were you specifically sent here?” Marcus asks.
I hesitate as I question why that was the most important part of what I’d just talked about. “I… just told you.”
“What else?”
“What else? Not much else, honestly. I was told to keep an eye on the VRC, and of course this Ender person, but that’s the extent of it.”
“Why keep an eye on us?” Finn asks. “We’re the police; we have absolutely nothing to do with the council. We have no control, no pull. Hell, Marcus and my father, Orin, have been trying to get the council to approve of me becoming a vampire for years and we’ve continually been turned down. Even when they thought I was going to die as a teenager, they turned Orin down. We… aren’t on the best of terms with the council. I’m sure you heard all about them harassing me and trying to end my life.”
“The things I heard from the US council were quite different from the things I heard from the UK council. I believe you were wrongly treated either way, and I hope I can help them get started in the right direction.” I throw out another smile as the prickly crew stare at me. I know Marcus and Alexei will be hard to gain the trust of, but this Finn fellow is already caving slightly. I just need to keep working on him and I’m convinced the rest will fall in behind him. Even though he’s a human, his opinion and thoughts obviously weigh a lot with this group.
“I’m sorry,” Finn says with a sigh. “I’m over here judging you and taking it out on you when you had nothing to do with any of it. I’ve just been frustrated over the shit the council put me through, so hearing that you’re a council member had me on edge. I really apologize for my prejudice. It’s honestly not you.”
“It’s totally fine. If a dog mauled me, I can’t imagine I’d be overly fond of any dogs,” I assure him. “But I promise you that I’m on your side. Mind if I get a closer look at the bodies?”
“Sure, just don’t touch them or move them until we have everything documented.”
“Of course not.”
I head over to the one farthest from the group, the body that I’d been holding when Ender walked in. I kneel down next to the vampire and examine his lifeless stare.
“If it got out that there was something that could kill vampires this easily, there would be mass chaos… I can’t imagine what would happen,” I comment.
“This is why it cannot get out, and why I’m not thrilled you’ve found out. It doesn’t seem like any of the other council members know and I’d like to keep it that way,” Marcus says. “Please be aware that we know that aside from us and the council members who made it out that day, you are the only outsider who knows about it. If it gets out, I know exactly who spoke.”
I smile at him. “I won’t say a word. Not even a peep.”
Marcus is clearly suspicious of me, but that’s fine. I’ll win over his trust.
Looking down, I see something sticking out of the dead man’s pocket. Something that sticks out just enough to catch my eyes but is still tucked in the folds of his trousers.
“I feel awful for Rylee. Like imagine being a child and having no idea when you’re really ever safe?” Finn says.
I glance over and see that they’re all fixated on something Finn is doing. Marcus and Alexei, the two who I feel are the most observant, are facing away from me. It gives me the time I need to slip the cylinder right out of his pocket. I quickly slide it into my own before standing and moving away from the body.
“This is just wild,” I comment. “I just… how could this have happened? I know you’re concerned about me spreading this around, but there’s absolutely no reason I’d want anyone aware that there’s a way to kill vampires with this much ease. There are no signs of a struggle or anything, right? It doesn’t look like someone was brawling them one at a time or anything… I’m not exactly a forensics expert, so I could be totally wrong. This is definitely more your expertise.”
“No, you’re right,” Finn says. “Something like this must have been almost instantaneous, and that’s terrifying… especially when it’s in the wrong hands.”