She took a few hesitant steps backward. They matched steps with her. Unexpectedly, one of the feral animals lunged at her. Desiree ducked, and as the coyote was above her head, she took her fingernail and sliced the underside of the beast. It yelped as it fell to the ground, which alerted the other coyotes.
While the other two coyotes sniffed their brethren, Desiree raced to the truck.
When Desiree got to the place where she had left Clayton, Clayton was just getting off the phone. He did not seem happy.
“Why the grim look, Clayton?” she asked as she got out of the car with the map.
“Jack, one of the scientists just called me. It’s all over the news. Platov and his entire regiment of AB negatives were killed. Maryl tracked all of them down and shot small traces of blue powder at each location. Platov’s tribe accounted for less than one percent of the entire A and B tribes!”
“That’s terrible!” She handed Clayton the map she found. “Do any of the A’s and B’s have families around the globe like Maryl?”
“Yes, I’m sure they’re next.”
“No, you and I are next.”
Clayton nodded as he scanned the map.
“Wow, there might be a cave on Maryl’s property after all, not far from the campsite. I wonder who those humans were.”
“How can you read that thing?”
“It’s topographical, meaning it shows the landscape. See the small bumps on the map? They indicate hills.” Clayton traced the hills eastward. “The men were only about three hundred feet from a section they highlighted in yellow marker. I would imagine that’s where we need to start looking for the cave.”
“Okay,” she said as she looked at him. “We need to be careful. I just had a run-in with some coyotes. I killed one of them. I don’t know how many more there are.”
“Okay,” Clayton said as he looked at the ground.
“Do you need a minute to gather your composure?”
“No. My anger is fueling me. Let’s go.”
“What about your sweet scent?”
“I am what I am. If Maryl sends troops, let’s pray they don’t overwhelm us.”
“Okay, I’ll drive to the location. It’s not far from here,” Desiree said as she got in the driving seat.
It didn’t take them long when Desiree parked close to the metal railing.
She and Clayton took only as much as the cave diving equipment they needed. Clayton wrapped the thick rope across his shoulders and chest.
“Let’s hurry. I want to find the cave before the O’s come for us,” Clayton said tensely.
“I want to hurry because of the coyotes!” Desiree said as she looked around. “I couldn’t smell them. I only heard them at the last second, so be on the lookout.”
“You couldn’t smell them?”
“No, and I don’t know why.”
Clayton nodded as they climbed slowly down the embankment, trying to navigate the treacherous terrain before they could speed to the site. Every few seconds Clayton and Desiree would look toward Maryl’s estate, ready to engage the enemy.
But as time went on, no vampires came down from the cliff, and they didn’t see any coyotes.
“Why isn’t anyone upon us?” Clayton asked out loud.
“Beats me,” Desiree said before she sped away.
Clayton caught up to her at the campground. He looked over the scene and was going to say something when he looked up and sniffed. “Why can’t I smell you?”
Desiree sniffed the air. “I don’t know because I can’t smell you either! I told you I couldn’t smell the coyotes earlier!”
Thoughts surfaced inside Clayton. He looked at Desiree.
“How were you able to smell the blood types of humans if we can’t now?”
“I smelled them a mile away. When I entered their campground, I wasn’t thinking about if I could smell them or not. I was in survival mode.”
“Okay, that makes sense. But if we can’t smell each other, it’s good odds no one at Maryl’s can either,” Clayton said with a hint of relief.
“That will help us,” Desiree said with a sense of calm.
Clayton looked at the map and then at the ground beyond and pointed. “This way.”
They continued to walk fast but didn’t speed.
“We have to be careful.”
“Why? They can’t smell us,” Desiree said.
“Yes, but if Maryl finds out about this anomaly, she will post guards so no intruders would come on her land,” Clayton said as he became lost in thought.
“What is it, Clayton?”
“What unknown force is powerful enough to negate our sense of smell?”
“I wonder if it has affected any other things about us?” Desiree exclaimed as she smacked Clayton across the face.
“Ow!”
“Huh, I wonder if you felt that smack because we’re losing our vampire power and can now feel things, or it’s because vampires are the only thing that can hurt other vampires?” Desiree said, smiling.
“There’s another way without hurting each other, Desiree!” Clayton said as he rubbed his face.
“Like what?”
“Our speed, our eyesight, yet you resorted to violence right away.”
Desiree smiled and shrugged her shoulders. “We’re vampires. It’s what we do.”
Clayton looked at the map. “Go run to the nearest tree, Desiree.”
“Why me?”
“Because I asked you to,” he said with exasperation.
“Fine.” Desiree ran to the nearest tree and stopped.
“Looks like we still have our speed, for now,” Clayton said happily.
Desiree gave a slight nod as she started to walk back. She glanced at her left and to her right. “Hey Clayton, come look at this,” Desiree said as she pointed to the ground.
Clayton saw faint animal tracks and two sets of human footprints that were almost gone. They led to a large rock.
Clayton looked at Desiree. “The tracks stop at the rock. Go around the boulder to see if the animals and humans walked around it to continue onward, or they somehow stumbled upon the cave.”
“Why am I doing all of the grunt work?” she asked as she sped around the large rock.
“Because you are just
