StarFall Comics
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Proudly Presents:
Blood Ties
#6: The Darkness Before The Dawn
Family Ties Part 1
cover: A redheaded vampiress, but definitely not Keili, standing in a doorway, chewing on a guitarist's neck.
WARNING: This title contains language and situations that may not be suitable for readers under the age of 17, or for anyone who is in the least bit squeamish.
Well, we're living here in Allentown
And they're closing all the factories down
Out in Bethelhem they're killing time
Filling out forms, standing in line...
The radio blares that infernal song behind me. It kinda fits, considering where we are. The place is a dump. Why Keili had decided to drag us all out to the old steel smelters was beyond me, but she's the boss.
It still amazes me how easily Kei was able to "recruit" so many of us. There's fifteen of us in this little party, and we're just one of about a dozen looking for a place to hang in. Quite frankly, I hope Kei's old flame doesn't sniff us out for a long time. All this running for the past ten years has really been slowing me down. I should be necking at the high school dances, not playing second fang to my older sister's whims.
Still, it is nice to be back in the old hometown. Even if it is in a place the EPA condemned. Hrrm... that one EPA cleanup crewworker I spotted earlier today is kinda hunkish. I wonder if he's as tasty as he looks...
"I like it here, sis," Kei mentions. I was afraid of that. Like the last few dumps we've lived it, it fits Kei's idea of what a vamp should be. Hasn't she read Interview lately? She picks up a cellular. "Keili to troops. Bethlehem Steel, midnight. And bring 'the package'."
"Not her," I groan. "We shoulda killed her back in Fresno."
"Tsk tsk, Sara," Kei tells me, an evil grin on her face. "I've tracked the 'hero' of the Fresno Massacre here. She's just dying to meet him... again."
"Wait a minute, sis." This is the most outrageous thing Kei's pulled to date. "Not only do we have to elude your old loverboy this time, but another hunter is loose on these streets as well?! So much for my midnight snack."
"That's why I had her brought in."
There's movement behind me. I can hear them. Two adults, carrying a kicking child. The child isn't making any noise, but I can tell she's trying to. They probably have her bound and gagged, not to mention staked. Keili's insane to keep her alive, much less let her loose. If we're killing machines, she's a doomsday bomb.
"I'm stepping out," I mention to no one in particular, sprouting my wings and taking off through one of the many holes in the ceiling. Thank God I'm wearing a simple halter-top; the wings woulda shredded a regular shirt.
"Be back before sunrise," Keili calls to me.
DUUUUUUUUUUUH! Like I need to be told that. Maybe I'll walk in at noon, just to freak her out.
I fly over to the college. Lehigh University's got a few frat houses, and it's Friday night. Maybe I'll get my snack after all. From what Keili's told me, that's how it all started. Hrrm. Yeah, there's one.
I land behind the bushes, making sure I'm "presentable" before wandering in.
Ah, the sights, sounds, and smells of a frat party. Cheap booze, the aroma of marijuana, loud music, the muted sounds of sexual encounters coming from upstairs, and the smelly drunk standing in the doorway.
"Hey, babe, lookin' fer a good time?" Buzz off, creep. I don't need yer tainted blood in me. I push him away, making sure not to push him too hard. Fortunately, it doesn't take much to knock him over.
Ouch! Well, reminder to myself: stay away from the dance floor. The strobe hurts the eyes, and that blacklight is, quite literally, a killer.
Lotsa meat here, though. Shouldn't be too hard to find a suitable snack. There's one right now, standing by the bar. Wallflower. Nice pecs. Blond, too. My kind of treat.
"Howdy, stranger," I tell him, tapping him on the shoulder. "Care to buy a lonely girl a drink?" I flash him my best fangless smile.
"Sure. Have a seat," he says, motioning at the barstool next to him. "What'll you have?" Dreamy voice, too. Can I pick the winners or what?
"Flaming Nazi."
"Pretty strong. Sure you can handle it?" The concern is touching, but I could probably drink three of you under before even feeling a buzz. The doc Kei 'recruited' did some research on one of our less loyal boys, and found out that we don't use our liver. Alcohol goes right through us. Handy thing to know in a place like this.
"Yeah, but I'm not driving, so it shouldn't matter."
After a few sips at his draft he finally gets around to asking my name.
"Sara. Yours?"
"Brill."
I nearly gagged on my second Nazi.
"I thought that would be a bit strong for you," he comments, handing me a napkin.
Shit! I've been flirting with the Fresno Killer himself! Keili is not gonna like this. I use the napkin to hide my fangs as they involuntarily grow at the thought. It takes quite a bit of work to get them back to "normal". I cover it by coughing a bit more into the napkin. If they'd give awards for barroom acting, I'd get the Emmy.
"That's an ... unusual name," I tell him when I "recover". "Whereabouts you from?"
"California, originally. Folks moved out here after... the earthquake." I caught the pause. His heart's beating faster than it was. He's lying through his teeth. The phone at the far end of the bar rings. I can hear the person on the other end ask for ...
"Yo, Brill!" Saved by the bell. "Phone!"
"Talk to ya later, sugar," I tell him, wandering away from the bar. I glance back. Good, his back's turned. I make my break for the stairs, grabbing the guy with the guitar away from his "groupies". He's not even that good.
Fifteen minutes later, I dump the guitarist's nearly bloodless carcass in a dumpster. With luck, they'll assume him to have fallen asleep there before the morning pickup. I hop a bus back to the steel plant. Fortunately, it's dark enough so people won't see me hanging underneath the bus. It's safer than on top of the bus, at least. Bugs don't taste that great. Yeach!
I mist into the "sleeping chamber", my clothes dropping around me. It only takes me a few seconds to get dressed, before entering the area Kei's designated as her "Throne Room". She's taking this whole self-style vampire queen thing too seriously. I fear for her sanity.
"We got problems, sis."
"Problems? Did you kill a cop?"
"Worse. I ran into the Fresno Killer."
If looks could kill, I'd be completely dead, not just undead. Her eyes narrow, studying me.
"Does he know?" she hisses at me.
"No," I tell her. "But I suspect he suspects."
"And you left him alive?!"
"Give me a break, Kei! Even you probably couldn't kill him! Especially with as many people as were there!"
"The unknowing sheep do not concern me, Sara. I want him dead."
"So unleash the brat," I retort. "That's why you brought her, ain't it?"
Her face goes from a hard cold stare into an evil grin in the matter of a few seconds. She tilts her head back and cackles.
"I knew there was hope for you, kid," she tells me. "I'd feared you were going soft on us." Not a chance. I'm just not crazy. Like you are.
"Then," I tell her, "who unleashes her?"
As a rule, vampires are vicious creatures. We drink blood, preferably human blood, and we prefer it fresh. Most of us, however, were in our late teens to mid-thirties when we were vamped. Not her. Physically, she's still in her early teens. Fourteen, at oldest. Even after a good five years, she's still going through puberty. Even Keili fears this monster. Heh. Look who I'm calling a monster. But then, at least I stalk my prey before going for the kill. She'd turn a crowded shopping mall into a mass grave in an hour or less.
Right now, we're standing behind a thick glass wall as the poor sucker who'd drawn the short straw unplugs the little brat. Even my enhanced senses have trouble following the whirling dervish of flesh, blood, and gore that follows. When it ends seconds later, the brat is pounding against the glass with her victim's skull. We all recoil in horror. What have we unleashed?
"Did you enjoy your breakfast?" Keili asks the pitiful creature before us over the P.A. system.
"He was just the start!" she shrieks at us. "I'll eat your brains for dessert!"
"This is a bad idea," I mutter. "Let's just flood the room with blacklights for about two days."
"Don't be so squeamish," Keili chuckles. She turns her attention back to the creature. "My little Miranda. Don't you know where we are?"
"I don't care! I'll kill you! And anyone else I want!"
"But sweetie! Wouldn't you want to start with your... big brother?"
"You leave my brother out of this! I wanna kill 'im! After I kill you!"
"Miranda, darling." Darkling's more like it. "He's right here in town. You can take care of him whenever you want. Be a good girl..." Sheesh, how much more saccharine can you get. "... and maybe we'll let you loose to 'visit' him."
Oh no. Bad idea, Keili! Don't let her out of that room until we've captured him.
"Just let me loose!"
"Not yet, Miranda." She turns her head as one of the others enters the room.
"We have problems, my queen," he starts. 'My queen'? Sheesh! As if her ego wasn't big enough already! "I spotted the Hunter at the Mall." Great! Now she's got them using euphemisms for Mike. 'The Hunter'? Gimme a break...
"Excellent," Keili hisses. "Go get him." She pauses for a minute. "Oh, and Sara? Since you know roughly where he is, bring me the Fresno Killer."
I am dead.
NEXT: Family Ties continues over in Swamp Patrol #12, Ghosts From the Past, and then finishes next issue as events come Full Circle!