Suburban Vampire: A Tale of the Human Condition -- With Vampires

Chapter 33

Scott almost jumped right into Jack's face. "Her name is Dawn. Now let. Her. Go."

"Oh yeah? What if I decide I don't wanna let her go?"

"Let her go, or else!"

"Or else what? I'm on a tight schedule, so make it snappy."

"Oh, I'll think of something! Just you wait!"

"Yeah. I know you will."

Jack stepped back, his eyes shifting slightly. What Scott should have recognized as a subtle signal to another vampire went unnoticed. Dawn was paying more attention to Scott, so neither she nor Scott noticed Sheila reaching for the Taser that she carried concealed in a belt rig. Sheila pulled out the Taser and launched the barbed projectiles into Scott's back. He felt the impact and turned in the direction of its source. Dawn screamed. All this was too late: Scott writhed in pain and then dropped to the floor.

What do ya know. Here's something else that will stop a vampire: twenty thousand volts of electricity, Scott reflected as he slipped out of consciousness while Sheila kept pressure on the trigger.

***

"Do you know what time it is, Jeremiah?" Elizabeth said into the antique-style phone's handset.

"Elizabeth, we are creatures of the night. Why are you even in bed at such an early hour?"

"Goddamn it, it's three in the fucking morning!"

"I need your help."

"What is it?"

"Scott. He has turned himself over to Jack."

"Oh shit! Jack? Okay, talk to me. Where is he?"

"At an abandoned factory in North Portland. They took a friend of his. He thought he had to turn himself over to them so they would let her go."

"Her? Oh, you don't mean that asshole Jack took a human woman, did he? Aw, Christ! Okay, I'm coming to pick you up. Are you at Ministry?"

"Yes. But we must be careful. Jack told Scott not to call anyone for help. Our presence may endanger him."

"Well, truth be known, it may endanger us as well. Jack has one of our obelisks."

"Oh no. You don't mean—"

"Yeah. A ward. And he'll likely have it set to keep us out."

"Damn."

"Still, I'm coming. If it provides me a chance to kill Jack and some of his bastard children, I'm definitely interested."

Elizabeth hung up. Jeremiah went outside and stood on the steps of the rectory in the driving rain, waiting.

***

Scott woke to the sound of thumping.

He opened his eyes to the sight of Dawn standing forward in the wooden chair, lifting it with all her might and slamming it back down, wooden legs crashing against the concrete floor.

"God, Dawn," Scott said. "What are you doing? I already have a raging headache."

"I'm trying to break this chair!" she whispered before crashing it against the floor once more. "Maybe I can get the arms and legs loose this way."

"Why are you whispering? With all that noise, it's kinda pointless."

"Well, I'm sorry! Since your rescue attempt was going so well, I just thought maybe I'd help."

The sarcasm was unexpected from her. Scott actually kind of liked the change of attitude and thought that there was more to the young lady than he'd previously bargained. He looked around and noticed they were no longer on the factory floor but were instead in a different, somewhat smaller room. And even worse, they were now in a large cage. A shiny silver-colored cage that surrounded them almost completely except for the concrete floor.