Revolution

Grace

I awoke with a start, the incoming visions ripping me from my dream. One minute, Todd and I were alone on a beach, no one around for miles. Next thing I knew, we were back in the bar.

Deacon was saying goodbye to his girl, getting ready to go somewhere. Alone. Fast forward a day or two, and new vamps arrived at the bar. The vision was more detailed than I had ever had before this.

Carrie backed up the moment they came in, somehow knowing why they were there. Deacon’s friend looked at her, seeing some sign, and stepped between them. The new vamps were headed straight for her.

“Colton. How lovely to see you again.” A syrupy voice said, as it entered the bar.

Colton spit on the ground with a curse. “Curtis.” My inner eyes widened. “How did you find us?”

Curtis laughed, his face was blurry, I couldn’t see him clearly for some reason. “The little princeling was a little too confident. Did he really think my guards wouldn’t see him driving back through the gate, after the sun rose?” Curtis sighed, like he was disappointed. “All these decades he has been hiding from me, from the world, and that one little slip up was all it took. My guards called me, confused. They never heard of a vampire who could withstand the sun. You royals have hidden better than any of us.” Curtis moved closer to them both, sniffing the air, an evil laugh coming through. “Imagine my surprise when they told me about the bar owner who took a mate.”

He breathed deeply then paused, his body tensing as though he received a shock. “She carries the old blood. She will be able to do what no one has in centuries, bear a child, and even survive. I see why he mated her, calling a claim to her. But he is of no consequence anymore.”

With one swift move, he pulled a knife from his back pocket and stuck it in Colton’s chest. He moved so fast. You didn’t even know he was moving until he was holding the knife there.

Carrie screamed, and tried to run to Colton, who was gasping for air, very much alive, but unable to move. Curtis stepped in her way though.

“Don’t worry, little witch. I will leave him alive. Someone has to take the news back to the King, and their little clan. Let them know that I have finally won. I will be taking over the throne. The rest of the Vampire Borns will have no choice but to fall in line now. Imagine how much we can get done with the superiors of our race? The super soldiers if you will. We will no longer be restrained by the sun.”

Curtis waved an arm and Carter walked around him, toward Carrie. With a small sad smile, he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder and walked out. My last shot was of Colton’s murderous eyes on the backs of the others as they left the bar. His fingers, already starting to twitch again.

“No!” I yelled, my back shooting up.

Most of that did not make sense. That led to the end of the war, and it was not a good end. What was Deacon going to be doing? When was this?

“Gracey? What’s wrong? What’s going to happen?” At least Todd was smart enough to know that this was something in the future, and not immediate.

“I don’t know. Hold on. I need to focus. That can’t be the only possibility, it can’t be.” I moved to sit up, curling my legs under me. He kept one arm around my shoulders, keeping me grounded.

It took a few minutes for my heart to calm down enough for me to pull the next vision. We were in the bar again. Deacon was saying goodbye. Only this time he didn’t leave alone. This time he took Todd with him. They came back the next day. Everything continued on like normal.

Fast forward a week, and Carter was back. But when he left that night, we all went with him.

I pushed away from Todd and jumped off the bed. “Get dressed. We have to plan.”

I threw a pair of sweats and a t-shirt on, one of the few things the twins picked up for us the day after we moved in, running out of the room. I ran down the hall and opened doors, yelling at them to get up.

Raya had been right about this place. The three bedrooms were perfect. Todd and I took the master suite. Rachel and Scott shared the one next to us. And the last one held the twins and Justin. The pairings we had unconsciously made in the shelter flowed smoothly into the apartment. Everyone just broke into their pairings on their own, choosing rooms together.

“Family meeting, now.” I said in each of their rooms, not caring about what I interrupted or who I woke up.

Todd was already making coffee for us in the well-stocked kitchen. We did have to clean out the toxic waste from the fridge and freezer, which had had the entire apartment reeking. The stove was gas, so even without power, we were able to heat up water for the instant coffee garbage that the last owners had on hand.

We had particularly enjoyed the liquor cabinet. What the man had lacked in coffee taste, and life choices (the twins had told us about the woman they had met), he had made up for with his choice in liquor. There was also plenty of soups, beans, canned fruits and veggies, noodles, and jarred sauces. It wasn’t much, but it was better than what we had at the shelter.

We’d been here for a few weeks now. And we had already used some of the money we earned at the bar to buy more food, candles, and matches. The nights were getting colder, and we didn’t have the generator from the shelter anymore. But we did have thicker blankets, and plenty of body heat.

I sat at the table, while the others shuffled in. Todd started passing out the poor excuse for coffee, then sat next to me.

“What’s going on?” Scott asked, pulling Rachel onto his lap.

“I had the vision of all visions this morning. Something big is about to happen, something really big. And it looks like if we don’t play our parts carefully, things will get worse than we ever thought possible.”

The room was silent as they listened. I explained every detail I could of both visions. When I finished, a pin could have dropped in the neighboring apartment, and we would have heard it.

“So… Deacon is some kind of vampire royalty?” Todd asked slowly, trying to make sense of it. “The kind that can walk in the sun. What did Curtis mean by super soldier?”

“If he can walk in the sun, then that means his kind are stronger, right?” Justin asked. “Sounds to me like this Curtis guy would want all of them on his side. The humans won’t stand a chance then. I mean, that guy took a knife to the chest and was still alive!”

“When is this supposed to happen, Grace?” Layla asked softly.

“I think the bar thing is tonight or tomorrow, I’m not sure. We need to be there. More importantly, Todd needs to be there.”

“How is my going on this trip with him going to change anything?”

“Easy. You do the driving once the sun is up. He hides, acting like he is hiding from the sun.” Rachel added. “That’s what Curtis said got him caught in the first place, right? But why is he going through the gate and then coming back?”

“I don’t know. But whatever happens, it somehow leads to Carter taking us all with him later. Now we know why he was our target. He is close to Curtis. We need to use Carter to get to Curtis.” I explained, feeling a little excited that we were getting close to where we needed to be.

“I don’t like the sound of Curtis.” Raya whispered.

Justin put an arm around her and held her close. I was sure their trio was mostly them two. Layla didn’t care much for any of the guys, at least not that way, but she loved her sister.

During our first training, just the girls, Rachel asked them if being together weirded them out. I nearly died at Layla’s response.

“Not really. I mean, I think of it on the same level as taking care of business yourself. It all looks exactly the same. Only, you have more hands.” Raya had just giggled and nodded her head.

Then they very kindly demonstrated their meaning. That was a whole new level of weirdness, even for me.

“We always knew he would have to be worse than the rest. But that’s why we need to do this. No one else can get close to him.” Justin said into her hair, gently trying to comfort her.

“We weren’t planning on going to the bar tonight, it’s only Thursday. Carter won’t be there for a few more days. The last few Sundays, he has been there, I think that’s his normal day. I say we split into two groups.” A few started to protest, we were supposed to all start going now. I held up a hand to stop them so I could finish. “Deacon and Carrie won’t let us in the bar two nights in a row. If we all go tonight, and he leaves tomorrow, we are screwed. I will go tonight with Scott and the twins.”

This time it was Todd that tried to jump in. I put up a hand to cut him off.

“If it is tonight, we can come get you. I need to be able to listen in and see what I can hear. Or just tell them about my visions. I’ll have to play it by ear. If it’s not tonight, then you will need to be ready to go for tomorrow. He won’t take you if you are low on blood. We already know Carter is in charge of the wall. What if your going is what seals the deal with Carter? If he is there, you will be what he wants. The testosterone boost.” I winked at him at the end. He scowled at me.

Just because he was used to certain things now did not mean he liked them. He was also a pro at shutting himself off though, something the rest of us had struggled with. It did make me question from time to time if he was starting to like those certain things.

With our plans made, the seven of us sat back and waited. Everyone divided into killing time however they chose. The idiot who lived here before us had a decent thriller and mystery selection of books. Not that we needed much of those in our life right now, but at least it was something to pass the time with.

After we all ate lunch, Todd pulled me into the bedroom. This would be the first time we were going to be apart since before we woke up to an empty house. He was not happy about it at all. I wasn’t exactly thrilled with the idea of him leaving to go to the wall with Deacon either.

When the time came for us to leave, he was full on pouting. Rachel held his hand, trying to give him some comfort, her watery eyes were on Scott. We all stood quietly at the door. The tension was high. Things were amping up, things were going to change.

“You guys know you are here by choice. If you want to back out, no one will think badly of you. We all get it. When we leave with Carter, if anyone wants to stay behind, you can. We have a decent set up now.” I told them carefully.

We had become a family, depending, and caring for one another. A very odd family, but a family, nonetheless. More of a family than I had ever known.

“Someone has to take them down. What we have here is only temporary. This is still just the beginning. We’ve seen more drones flying overhead during the day. If anyone acts out, they get shot. We’ve also heard the rumors at the bar. Curtis has plans. We are going to be treated like cattle and shipped off to who knows where. I think it’s better that we get into a position that we chose. I hate not knowing. Not having any control. We’re in this.” Layla stated firmly.

Everyone else agreed with nods.

“Well, alright then. Let’s go feed some vamps and spy on the ones we didn’t know existed.” I leaned in and kissed Todd one more time, just in case.

The elevator ride down was quiet. Scott drove us over to the bar, parking in the front. We still had an hour until sundown. We arrived early not wanting to miss anything.