She looked at the gas gauge. “Huh, the human was telling the truth. He did have a full tank of gas.”
Chapter Sixteen
Maryl Rosser’s Estate
Present Day July 24th
Twenty-four hours later, Maryl stood on her front porch and leaned against the lattice while looking at all of the O negative troops amassed across the expanse of her large estate. She was pleased her underlings had assembled such a large gathering of unity and strength in such a short time. Thousands of her blood type were mingling and laughing, perhaps catching up and reliving memories. Still, some stood solid, brooding, waiting for the imminent battle.
While Maryl was gratified with the turnout, she was not happy that Ray’s troops were nearby, and Draven had not brought Desiree’s body back. What was taking him so long?
She was about to tell Alexa to fetch Draven when someone came crashing through her front door and fell behind her. She turned around to see Draven get on his knees. His hair was disheveled, his green shirt and jeans were caked with dried mud. Standing beside Draven was Alexa, who had open contempt on her face.
“What is the meaning of this intrusion?” Maryl asked politely.
Alexa kicked Draven’s back. He fell forward and almost hit Maryl’s legs.
“Go ahead, tell her, Draven, the craven!”
“I am not a coward!” He seethed through gritted teeth.
“Yes, Draven, tell me. I see you,” she said as she looked around. “But I don’t see Desiree. Why is that?”
Draven went back to a kneeling position. “Madame Rosser, please hear me out before you kill me!”
Maryl’s face softened as she leaned down. “Of course. Stand up. It doesn’t make you look good groveling in front of our blood types.”
Draven stood up. His eyes were downcast.
“Draven, look me in the eyes while you recount your riveting story. I want to see if you’re lying to me.”
He looked at her and nodded. “At the appointed time, I scaled down the back porch to get Desiree as you commanded.”
“Yes, I’m sure you did. Please skip forward to the part as to why you came back empty-handed.”
“She… she wasn’t there!”
Maryl’s eyes lit up. Her eyebrows arched. “Excuse me? Did you just tell me she wasn’t there?”
“I swear it! She was not there!”
“That’s impossible, Draven,” Maryl said as she started walking around the porch, thinking back. “I gave her human food and water to weaken her and then drained her blood before I threw her over.” Maryl stopped and looked at Draven. “No one in that condition can survive that fall. No one.”
“Maybe the coyotes got her? I saw a pile of vampire corpses that were torn to shreds when I went looking for Draven,” Alexa suggested.
“Did you, while you were searching for Desiree, find her body among the eaten corpses?” Maryl asked.
“Um… no. I checked thoroughly, Madame Rosser!” Draven said in a whimper.
Alexa grabbed Draven by the back of his neck. Maryl shook her head, and Alexa released her death grip.
“Go ahead, Draven. Tell our great leader what else you told me!” Alexa hissed.
Maryl zipped to Draven and stood inches from him. She tilted his head to face her. “There’s more? This story is just getting better and better.”
“When I could not find Desiree, I searched the perimeter, and you’re not going to like what I’m about to tell you. Please take pity on me, and hear me out!”
“Draven, tell me what happened, and I promise you, I will not erase your existence,” Maryl said softly.
Draven brushed away the few tears that escaped. “About… about a half-mile from the decomposing remains of the treacherous vampires that deserved to be thrown over, I came to a campsite. Two men were there, but there wasn’t much left of them after the coyotes got hold of them.”
“And how is that relevant to Desiree’s disappearance?” Maryl asked as she slowly walked around Draven’s trembling body.
“Because, my liege, they died before the beasts devoured them.”
“And you know this: how?” Maryl asked as she stopped walking and faced Draven.
“I examined the skeletal remains of the two humans and then their campsite. A few things I noticed were important…”
“I will determine if they are important, Draven. Please, proceed.”
Draven nodded. “Of course, Madame Rosser. The two human necks were snapped. Of that, I have no doubt. That could mean, at some point, Desiree encountered them. I have no proof since I did not smell any other humans or vampires in the vicinity. However, another thing I saw in both of their tents; they had extensive spelunking equipment.”
Maryl’s anxiety became apparent. “Did you say spelunking as in equipment to go cave diving?”
“Yes.”
She swallowed and took a moment to regain her composure. “Anything else?”
“Yes. I could not smell what blood type the humans were! How is that possible? In my two hundred and twelve years of existence, I have always been able to smell our means of nourishment!”
“That’s impossible!” Alexa said in anger. “Please let me kill this lying piece of shit!”
Maryl looked at Alexa and shook her head. “No.”
“Then please let me go to the campsite and verify what he is saying.”
“No, this is too important. I will go after we come back from launching our next attack.” Maryl looked at Draven. “Proceed.”
Draven licked his dry, cracked lips before resuming. “The human’s clothing was close by. One of the humans still had his car keys and wallet in his pants pockets. The other one was missing both.”
“So, it would seem, Desiree did indeed live,” Maryl said softly. “There goes my zero survival rate.”
“What are we going to do about Desiree, Maryl? And more importantly, what did you want me to do with Draven?” Alexa asked. “Can I suck his blood dry?”
Maryl was lost in
