PACK MASTER
PACK MASTER (Undeadly Secrets, #4)
Copyright © Aaron L Speer
First published 2018
Published by Create Space in association with Amazon Digital
Email: [email protected]
URL: http://aaronlspeer.com/
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a database and retrieval system or transmitted in any form or any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the owner of copyright and the above publishers.
Original Cover by Deranged Doctor Designs
ISBN
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Other Works By Aaron L Speer
NIGHT WALKER (Undeadly Secrets, #1)
DAY DREAMER (Undeadly Secrets, #2)
SHADOW CHASER (Undeadly Secrets, #3)
THE INDEPENDENTS
THE INDEPENDENTS II
“In touch with the ground
I'm on the hunt, I'm after you.
A scent and a sound, I'm lost and I'm found
And I'm hungry like the wolf.”
Lyrics – “Hungry Like the Wolf”
Duran Duran
“Let those who do not understand me, fear me.
Let those who understand me, fear themselves.”
-Thorin
“What we find in a soulmate is not something wild to tame.
It is something wild to run with.”
-Robert Brault
“Death cannot stop true love. Only delay it for a while.”
Wesley
Dedication
For my fans, who always carried Nick in their hearts and who trusted I would bring him back to you.
And for my wife and son, the two I would crawl back from the brink for.
Chapter One
That Same Night
“Doctor, what can you tell us about this cloud? Do people have a right to be worried?”
“Worried might be a strong term. Concerned, yes. It is a phenomenon unlike anything I personally have seen.”
“Is it true it’s getting bigger?”
“The data we have collected indicates a growth of about one to two percent per day. So, yes. What is causing the expansion? We do not yet know, but again, all reports look like this is merely an extremely dense storm cloud. You can see here on this aerial shot taken by a passenger on their way to Perth, the cloud, which is dark grey at the top, reaches several thousand feet in the air. Normal grey clouds, that we would see any rainy day. The sun isn’t penetrating the darker element underneath, so of course we wont be able to see it. There is a distinct lack of lightning and thunder which is puzzling.”
“Have Zeus and Thor abandoned us, Doctor?”
(Laughing) “Maybe they have.”
“But seriously, Doctor some hundreds of people apparently haven’t seen daylight for a few days. What is your advice to them?”
“Look, at the moment it is both a phenomenon and an inconvenience. I would say to these people please try and be patient. Emergency services are there should you need them but I can’t imagine why you would. I do find it fascinating, but ladies and gentlemen, it’s just a cloud-”
“Sorry to cut you off there Doctor, but we are getting breaking news out of Randwick where what looks like a riot has taken place outside the Women’s Hospital...”
- Evening News Interview
*
“Yes sir, I saw the news.”
“Are you ready?”
“Already mobilised.”
“You’ve been trusted with a great task, Gavin. The city will remember this day for a long time. The true work begins now.”
“Has it been confirmed sir, this is the time? The time of the great darkness? The walking dead, but the rise of a supreme being?”
“Our sources tell me the prophecy is in effect. We have cut the power to the exits and mobile reception to the entire block in time for your arrival. Post guards at all emergency doors and stairwells. No one leaves until those bodies are gone. Minimise direct witnesses and attention.”
“Understood sir. I won’t fail. For Sovereign.”
“For Sovereign.”
*
“Hands up, who didn’t think we would survive that shit?” Lauren asked. The ghouls had been defeated, thankfully the city was safe for the time being. But when that last body fell, Lauren saw the amount of regular people, humans, staring at the scene. Almost a hundred bodies littered the front of the Women’s Hospital. Before she knew it, Koha and Matt had disappeared and Melina had taken Nathaniel by the hand and bolted away.
Lauren had caught up with Melina and Nathaniel and all three ventured through the back streets, keeping to the darkness as much as possible.
“I hope no one saw us,” Melina replied.
“It’s still pitch black!”
Melina turned to Lauren. “What’s the one thing we have to do, as vampires. Custodians of the real underworld? The Undeadly Secrets?”
Lauren took a second, having to think about that. “Keep the secret.”
“Exactly. What do you think a whole mass of bodies that look like that says?” Melina replied, flinging her arm out behind her. “The media will be all over that place. Hell, the humans will post videos soon. They are probably up now.”
“We can’t be seen on cameras though?”
“Look at us!”
Lauren looked down at her top. She shared an accessory with her other companions. Black, tar-like blood soaked into their clothes, splattered across their arms and faces. It stunk like a blocked-up sewer pipe. “So, making out is out of the question?”
Melina rolled her eyes. “How long do you think we can last out in the open before someone catches us, realises we were there, and tries to film us. Which won’t be possible. Keep the secret, remember? This has already gone beyond that. The underworld has never been on show like this.” Melina
