Chapter 241
Something inside of Gibbon was calling out to me. It was as if he knew I was here, someone like him. And I wanted to answer. But I knew that Cadence would destroy me even more quickly than the Vampire if she knew I’d beckoned him, so I waited.
The overwhelming feeling that darkness was descending upon us took over, and my eyes began to dart from one spoke to the next, searching the darkness in the distance for some sort of an indication as to where Gibbon might be, where he would approach us from. Flickers of shadows in the distance played with my eyesight, and I didn’t know if it was our team readjusting, a leaf casting shadows as it disrupted the moonlight straying through the windows, or something far worse.
Gibbon was like a soulless void, a being that sucked energy and light from the world. In life, he’d been a serial killer, claiming innocent lives as the Jogging Path Killer, but he hadn’t started off that way. Steven Gibbon was once someone’s child, someone’s son. I had no idea what it was that had caused him to snap, to kill his own stepmother and then half a dozen other young women. I knew I could step into his mind if I wanted to, as I had the other woman, the one who had led me here, but the idea of wading through the black tar of Gibbon’s mind was terrifying. So I waited and watched, looking for any signs that he was on his way, and I felt the darkness draw closer.
I was staring intently down cell block four, and nothing seemed to be stirring there, so I shifted my attention to cell block five. Meagan and Shane were down there, somewhere in that inky blackness. I didn’t have my IAC focused on their perspectives, choosing instead to peer with my own eyes, but I saw movement now coming down the hall. I was sure of it. It wasn’t the blackness of Gibbon, however. It was light—a light—a flashlight. I grabbed Jamie’s arm and whispered, “There’s a light!”
The Healer was looking at the entryway, where Christian’s team was located. “I know,” Jamie said, nodding in that direction “It’s the security guard.”
“No, not there,” I replied. I could see that light through Christian’s IAC, and then it began to fill the corner of my eye. But that’s not what I was talking about. “There.” I pointed, and Jamie’s attention shifted.
The information coming from him would be much better received by the team than it would be from me. “Meagan, Shane what’s going on?” Jamie asked.
“What do you mean?” I switched so I could see through her IAC. She sat up straight against the wall of the cell she was positioned in.
“There’s a light coming your way,” Jamie replied, his voice a bit strained. “Probably weren’t even paying attention,” he muttered aloud under his breath. I had gotten the same impression. From her point of view, the light was very bright. She shouldn’t have even questioned what Jamie was talking about. Putting Shane and Meagan together seemed like a bad idea to me all along, but what did I know?
Through Meagan’s IAC, I saw Shane move toward the door. He ducked out into the hall and then back into the cell. “It’s another security guard,” he explained. “He’s headed your way.”
“What do you want us to do?” Jamie asked Aaron.
“Don’t worry about that guy right now,” Aaron responded. “The first guard is going to be right on top of you in just a second. Find some shadows among the display cases.”
Jamie tugged on my arm, and I followed him, Cale and Scarlet coming along as well. I saw a nearby display case that looked large enough for me to hide behind and ducked down behind it as the others found similar hiding places. I knew the team could easily subdue the security guard if they wanted to and silently wished they’d just put him to sleep for a little while, both of them actually, to get them out of the way, but no one else seemed to realize that Gibbon was also approaching.
While I was cowering under the table, I switched my line of sight to Brandon. He was standing in a dank little cell next to Aurora, and I could tell by his breathing that he was on edge. I wished I could say something to comfort him, but I didn’t want to throw him off his game, so I kept my comments to myself and switched to Cadence.
My sister was with Aaron, and they were just coming in the front entrance of the main building. The security guard was in front of them, and I could see him stopping to check windows as he entered the building, making sure they were locked. It didn’t matter that the front door would also lock behind him as it swung to. Aaron could get through any lock without the guard even knowing.
Before he reached us, the guard would have to get past Christian, Ashley, and Mickey, who were positioned near the front of the building. I knew they were hiding, but I wished they weren’t. I wished they’d just sweep him away into one of the closets with a nice gag for a little siesta.
I was fairly certain the guard wouldn’t be able to see me if he walked into the room, so I switched back to Meagan. It seemed like everything began to crescendo at that moment. The light of the security guard had been strong a few moments ago as I shifted my perspective, but he must’ve stopped to check cells as he was just now drawing even with the cell doorway in front of her. Suddenly, the light began to bobble, and the guard let out a yelp, much like the one I’d made myself earlier on top of the wall. The yelp morphed into a scream, and I realized what was happening even before the two team members in the cell right next to the guard.
“Gibbon!” I said aloud, not caring who heard. Realizing, however, that the only people who probably could hear me were Jamie and maybe Cale, I switched to my IAC and sent out to the whole team, “Gibbon has the security guard!”
The team seemed to freeze for a moment, as if they weren’t sure whether or not to move on my warning, but whether or not he suddenly trusted me or Shane came to the same conclusion, eventually, he came crashing into the hallway a few seconds later. Meagan was right behind him, both of them with weapons drawn.
There he was. I could see him clearly now, and I gasped, my bottom lip beginning to tremble. He really didn’t look anything like the mugshot I’d seen a few months ago. Ripples of muscle sprang forth from his shoulders and chest, even his back. His biceps looked to be as wide as Shane’s thighs, which are substantial. Beyond that, his eyes were so bloodshot, I could see them in the dim light from the discarded flashlight. Dark shadows rimmed them, and his lips were drawn back in a snarl, his fangs bared. His hands were more like animal paws now, with thick, curly dark claws, and he was hunched at the shoulder. Like a beast learning to walk on its hind feet. His skin was ghastly and pale, his bald head glinting as perspiration covered his flesh, which was bare from the waist up. He was a monster, all right.
I watched through Meagan’s IAC as Gibbon sank his teeth into the neck of the security guard, held tightly against his chest. The man’s eyes bulged in fear and pain, and as Gibbon began to snarl, foam formed at his mouth. He sucked eagerly, as if he was trying to reenergize before facing the two opponents who stared at him in disbelief. A moment later, Gibbon released the guard, who crumpled to the ground, a gash in his neck far beyond the slight puncture wounds I knew to be necessary if one’s purpose was only to drain and not to annihilate.
Once Shane had broken through his second stupor, he lunged at Gibbon, his Glock in his hand. The Vampire took hold of the end of the weapon and swung Shane around in a circle before tossing him against the wall. There was a collective gasp as we all realized that was no easy feat, but Gibbon had done it like it was nothing, like a child tossing a toy. And then he turned his attention to Meagan.
Her Guardian out of commission, Meagan stared at the beast, her hands trembling. She opened fire, but Gibbon was quick, and he was closing the short distance between them. Meagan’s shots went wide, and I heard Cale shout that he was going to protect her as he took off running in that direction.
I looked up just in time to see the other security guard pass right in front of me as Jamie hurled himself between us, pushing me back against the wall. I wanted to shout at this human to stop, to reach out and grab him, to let him know he was running toward certain death, but Jamie had me pressed against the wall, and I had to believe the rest of my team would find a way to stop him as he ran down the hall toward the shouts and shots.
Meagan is a tiny person, much shorter than my sister, even shorter than me. And there was nothing standing between her and the monster now. In my mind, I had always imagined Vampire Hunters to be fearless creatures, but I remembered Meagan’s apprehension about even coming here, and as Gibbon closed in on her, she began to scream. It was something I never thought I’d hear—the panicked, terrified screams of a woman who knows she is about to die if someone doesn’t intervene immediately. I watched through her eyes as Gibbon picked her up and threw her down the hallway, back the way he’d come.
The sound of Meagan hitting the wall jarred me, even though I was hundreds of feet away. It was a ghastly sound, a thunk and then nothing. Her IAC went blurry and then faded to black. Tears filled my eyes as I clutched Jamie’s arm. “Oh, my God!” I whispered. I waited for Jamie to assure me she was okay, but he didn’t. I switched my IAC to Cale, who would be the next person to come into contact with the Vampire, and prayed that Meagan would be all right long enough for Cale to reach her. But both of us knew that Cale wasn’t the one that she needed.
Jamie began to drag me across the room. I must’ve been halfway there before I realized he was headed toward a small office near the entryway. I didn’t even think I was moving my feet. If he’d spoken to me, I didn’t know what he’d said. I didn’t see my sister or Aaron pass in front of us, and I was suddenly scared for Cale.
“Stay here,” Jamie was saying, pushing me inside the room. “Scarlet and I are going to have to go help Cale.”
“Alone?” I asked, beginning to panic a little bit. I didn’t know if Gibbon would treat me the same way he’d treated Meagan or not, seeing as though he and I were more similar than different, but the idea of finding out was more than a little scary. I tried to take some deep breaths as I awaited his answer.
Jamie spun around in circles for a second, frantic. Just then, Christian and his team came into view, stepping out of their hiding spots in the entryway where they’d ducked as the security guard came in. “Christian!” Jamie shouted, not using the IAC. “Can you stay with Cassidy?” He ran out into the hallway and grabbed the other Guardian by the shoulder. By now, I realized Scarlet was already following Cale down the hallway.
Christian looked behind him at Jamie and then at me. Cadence and Aaron went blurring down the hallway and I absently wondered what had taken them so long. Ashley and Mickey, were standing in the center of the room, staring at Christian expectantly. Apparently, Christian assumed everyone else had the situation under control. He said, “Yeah, sure,” and ducked into the little room with me.
“Thanks,” Jamie replied, breathing a sigh of relief. To Christian, he ordered, “Lock the door!” He took off behind Cadence and Aaron, headed toward the injured team members.
Christian did as he was told, and I wondered why in the world we would need to lock the door when the monster could easily rip the door right off its hinges. Without even turning to look behind me, I slid underneath a table, drawing my knees to my chest. It was just a matter of time now. I closed my eyes and concentrated, waiting for Gibbon to find me. I knew he would.
