Haunted

CHAPTER 27

I CAN’T WRAP MY HEAD AROUND WHAT I JUST WITNESSED. The new girls can’t be more than twelve or thirteen. Are they being fed like takeout to someone in that shack and then thrown out like garbage when he’s ready for the next course?

Is that someone Santiago?

This is the person Culebra swore allegiance to? That Ramon works for?

As soon as the truck with the girls departs, a van pulls into the village and stops in front of the church. This time, the villagers begin drifting outside. My rage extends to them, too, the ones who withdrew quickly when they saw what was happening.

Or does this happen every week? Every day? Are they afraid for their own wives and daughters? Is that why they raise no objection?

I remember what Ramon said. The village has been bought and paid for.

I now have a decision to make. Do I go after the truck? I could free the girls, see they make it to safety. Kill the driver.

Then what?

There is most likely someone waiting for the truck to return. I could make the driver talk and tell me where and when.

I peek out. The bell in the steeple begins to ring. The villagers move toward the open church door, including the toadie, who shuts and locks the door to the shack where he brought the girls. Three men are hauling bags from the back of the van and bringing them into the church.

I can’t remember. Is it Sunday? Are the villagers going to mass? They actually have a priest in this devil’s playground? Where was the priest when the girls were being abused by the toadie and his buddy?

The bags being unloaded are too big and heavy-looking to hold communion wafers. Should I move closer?

I look toward the shack where the girls were taken. The door remains closed. It’s quiet inside. I’m torn between attempting to get a look inside the church and rescuing those girls. Part of me wants to burst in, haul the girls out before the pig gets his hands on them. But the saner, logical part of me says there’s another reason I’m here.

The village courtyard is deserted. The church bell has stopped ringing. Whatever was being delivered, is now inside the church. Everyone in the village seems to be inside, too. The van stands open and empty. I can do more good in the long run if I go after the truck that took the girls and get the driver to tell me what’s going on.

If I’m going to get away, it will have to be now.

I slip out of my hiding place, pulling brush tamped down back into place. I keep an eye out for any strays, but everyone seems to have marched like good little ants into the church. I only have to scurry a little deeper into the brush before I can safely pick up speed. I run parallel to the road, watching for the truck.

It hasn’t gone far.

The truck has been pulled off to the side of the road. I don’t have to use vampire hearing to know what is going on. The driver has climbed into the back, the cries of his victim shattering the early morning quiet. When I leap inside, I can scarcely believe what I see.

Two of the girls are lying in pools of blood, their throats slashed. The third is barely visible under the half-naked body of the man on top of her. He is pushing at her and grunting, a knife at her cheek.

I feel my control slipping. Fight to get it back.

You need the man. Take control, Anna.

It’s too late. The smell of spilled blood turns my mind as black as night. Vampire roars in blood lust and rage. I can’t hold back.

The driver turns to look at what beast screams in a human voice but with such inhuman fury. His eyes widen and he pulls away from the girl, backing himself into a corner. His member shrivels and the sharp smell of urine staining the front of his pants is evidence that his fear has made him lose control.

I approach like a stalking tiger.

He holds out the knife.

As if that flimsy blade is any match for vampire. It takes the merest flick to break his hand at the wrist and fling the knife away.

He screams.

I want him to scream. I want to break every bone in his body, tear limbs one by one, until there are only pieces left and I can suck the life juices from them.

I make him cower in that corner. Make him wait for the pain to come.

But vampire is too caught up in the feast she is about to devour. She doesn’t see until it is too late.

The girl. She is on her feet. She snatches the knife from where it fell on the floor. Too fast and too filled with rage even for vampire, she lunges before I can stop her. The knife slashes across the man’s throat. The arterial spray covers my face, and its smell and texture is too compelling. His body spasms. With a glance back at the girl, I grab him, hold him to my chest, bury my face in his neck and drink.