Maryl appeared outside. “That’s fine. I will confer with you later. Be available!”
Several minutes later, the tires spun as Desiree pushed the accelerator. “We will be there in half an hour, Maryl.”
“Good. I want to see the look on Clayton’s face when we get there.”
“If it’s not too late,” Desiree remarked.
“Why would it be too late?”
“Like our blood types, they have listening posts, monitors, cameras… so they would probably know we’re headed to their lab shortly. I am unfamiliar with the actual range of their surveillance.”
“Then, I suggest you triple our speed to get there.”
“Yes, Madame Rosser.” Desiree pushed the car to the top speed while looking at Maryl and her soft features. A thought came to her mind. “May I ask you something?”
“Yes.”
“How come Ray and even Clayton, fear you? You are an O negative. You can only take blood from one source of humans.”
“And that fact makes me weaker than the other blood types?” Maryl said with a hint of anger in her voice.
“No, but there has to be a reason.”
“Clayton does not fear me; he doesn’t understand me. And Ray puts on a brave front, but underneath he is a pussycat that likes to be ordered around.”
Desiree bit her lower lip. “And Ray noticed something that I did as well. One moment you’re joking around, and the next second you change into something feral like an abandoned animal.”
“Your point, Desiree?”
She looked at Maryl. “Nothing. Just making an observation. All I know is I am glad women vampires don’t cycle every month because there would be a lot more wars with the amount of lifeblood I’ve witnessed from human women.”
“Let’s change the subject, shall we?”
Desiree looked out the window and did not speak the rest of the way to Clayton’s laboratory.
She pulled up to the side of the structure. Both she and Maryl got out. Maryl scanned the perimeter and noticed dozens of cars parked carelessly.
Desiree walked to her and sniffed. “They are gone, Maryl,” she said with disappointment.
Several vampires zoomed into the building and came out a minute later. “They are gone and took a great deal of lab equipment, which is odd,” a tall vampire stated.
“How is that odd, Jerry?” asked Maryl.
“Because judging by the equipment they left behind, most, if not all, are outdated. I would imagine what they took wasn’t much newer.”
“Why would Clayton have them take equipment they can’t use?” Maryl wondered aloud.
Desiree looked around and then stomped her feet. “It’s a ruse! Clayton wanted us to think he took the items he needed to alter the serum!”
“What’s his game plan, Desiree?” Maryl asked.
“He will need a state of the art laboratory,” she said confidently.
“How many are there in a one-hundred-mile radius? That’s the next neutral zone from here where some of his A and B blood types could give him refuge,” Maryl said with a touch of annoyance.
Desiree took out her phone, typed in a query, looked up, and walked around.
“What are you doing?” Ray asked.
“Smart. Clayton and his tribes still have a jamming device running somewhere on the property. I can’t get a signal.” She put the phone in her front pocket and walked to the car. “I don’t know the range of the jamming frequency. We’ll have to drive until we get a signal.”
They piled into the car, and several miles out, Desiree took out her phone. “We have a signal!”
“You’re not supposed to use your phone and drive, Desiree,” Maryl said with a suppressed smile.
“And vampires aren’t supposed to exist,” Desiree said with a warm smile. She typed in several strokes on the small keyboard and waited a few seconds. “It says there are three labs that meet the requirement for what Clayton needs, with two more where he could possibly perform the alteration.”
“Possibly?” asked Maryl.
“Based on their websites, they don't do immunology, but they do gene splicing and DNA sequencing.”
“I am not about to ask what the difference is, Desiree. I trust you and your instinct. Which one did you want to stop at first?”
“The closest one, which is about an hour away.”
“Proceed.”
Desiree grasped the steering wheel and bent it with her hands. She looked straight ahead and slammed on the gas.
“Oh Clayton, I can’t wait until I get my hands around your throat,” Desiree said to herself.
Chapter Eleven
Doctor Hayworth’s Lab
Present Day July 13th
Cassidy pointed straight ahead. “There it is! There’s the building my friend works at!”
“Let’s park in the parking garage and find the closest spot,” Clayton suggested.
Cassidy drove to the other side of the building, entered the parking garage, and grabbed a ticket from the machine. The long bar rose to allow them access.
Cassidy looked both ways, looking for a darkened corner to park with an elevator nearby. She found one three levels up.
“Are you sure it’s safe?” Clayton asked as he got out of the vehicle.
Cassidy rushed in front of Clayton and put her hand out. “I am positive, but I can’t let anyone come in with me yet.”
“Why not?” Clayton asked suspiciously.
“Look around you! Would you want someone coming to your place of business with fourteen Strangers?”
“No, I would not. Go in, scope the place out, but be quick! We have no idea where any of the O types are!”
“Yes, sir,” Cassidy said as she sped toward a glass door across the parking lot where the elevator was located.
“What about your army, Clayton?” Jack asked with nervousness. Clayton noticed Jack was chewing on his fingernails and spitting them on the concrete floor.
“Despite being told repeatedly over the centuries that the other A and B blood types had my back when the time came, and it really mattered, they will not be helping us.”
“So, we’re on our own?” Jack said as he hugged himself.
“Pull yourself together, Jack! You’re an AB positive vampire! Show some backbone.”
“I will show backbone until our enemies remove it.”
Clayton ignored Jack’s comment.
“After we’re allowed to go inside, I think it best if we take a unit of blood and consume it. I
