“What are you two doing up?” Roxanne asked as she came into the kitchen, but stopped. She saw Chloe comfort Andrew. Roxanne joined them as Andrew assured Chloe he was alright now. Chloe was not so sure, but gave him a squeeze and returned to her seat. Roxanne slid in next to her.
“What is wrong?” Roxanne asked Andrew. “Are you alright?”
“I will be,” Andrew looked at his daughter. He dried his eyes.
“Did you find Wyatt?” Roxanne inquired. She eyed up his sandwich. “Are you going to finish that?”
“It is all yours.” Andrew slid the plate over by her.
“So did you?” Roxanne asked. She took a bite of the sandwich.
“Yes, Wyatt is in police custody,” Andrew answered. He drank some milk and went on, “I have an interview setup with him tomorrow.”
“So what was in the backpack?” Chloe asked.
“It’s just a book.” Andrew was being vague.
“What is so important about it?” Chloe insisted.
“The book is about the Knights of VanHelsing,” Andrew finally replied. “It contains the history of the knights, a list of all their names, and the people they killed.”
“That is a very treacherous thing to possess,” Roxanne shuddered. “What do you plan on doing with it?”
“To arrest the three knights here in Bayport,” Andrew answered. He finished his milk and pushed the glass aside. “And bring them and the others to justice.”
“And then what?” Chloe asked.
“Keep the book in a safe place,” Andrew rose up and went the liquor cabinet above the refrigerator. He took out a bottle of scotch and returned to the table. He poured some in a glass.
“They know you have it.” Chloe finally realized.
“Yes,” Andrew answered. He downed the scotch and refilled the glass.
“Won’t they try to recover it?” Roxanne worried.
“Perhaps,” Andrew downed a second glass of scotch. “Right now Ana and the knights have gone into hiding. The rest have to maintain their secret identities and remain in the public eye. To do otherwise would draw unwanted attention to them. The three here in Bayport are probably wondering what I am going to do with the book.”
“What if they come after you?” Chloe cringed.
“I will do what I have to,” Andrew was blunt.
“Not like Germany,” Chloe swallowed hard.
“I don’t know.” Andrew downed a third glass. “That will depend on them. We should go to bed,” Andrew announced. He stood up and walked over to the liquor cabinet. He put the bottle of scotch back. Andrew glanced for a moment at his daughter and Roxanne. He headed off to bed. Chloe felt unsettled and afraid of what her dad might do. She left the kitchen to go after him, and left Roxanne alone at the breakfast nook. Roxanne had a bad feeling and took off after Chloe and Andrew.
Dawn approached and soon it would be too late. The hunt would have to be called off and there would be no measure of satisfaction this night. Where could the others be? Why were they not here yet? With each tick of the clock, time slipped away.
Night Blade, frustrated, waited in the shadows. Off, in the not too far distance, were the ones she hunted. They were only ‘baby bats’, naive, but none the less satisfying to kill. She had received a call that these ‘baby bats’ had planned a blood feast at the boarded up Higgins’s house. Night Blade had always been curious as to why these creatures always chose abandoned places to gather. Either way it would prove poorly for them this night. Night Blade watched as the ‘baby bats’ and their blood dolls broken into the house. She could wait no longer and stepped forward, but suddenly stopped when she heard a noise from behind her.
Star Blade and Moon Blade came in from the north. Each had received a call from their respective sources that there would be a blood feast at the abandoned Higgins’s house. They stopped at the edge of the woods when the ‘baby bats’ and their blood dolls broke down back the door. Both of them wondered where Night Blade could be. It would be morning soon and time was running out.
“We can’t wait any longer,” Moon Blade cursed.
“We need Night Blade to help with the attack,” Star Blade growled back.
“There are only six of them,” Moon Blade fired back. “Besides, we are supposed to let the blood dolls go. You know the rules of the code.”
“I know the code,” Star Blade fired back. “They would just become blood dolls for some other of those disgusting creatures.” Star Blade watched as the last one entered the house. She removed her swords and continued, “I say we finish them all.”
“Then we will do it without Night Blade,” Moon Blade drew her own swords.
Moon Blade and Star Blade burst forth from the bushes and without delay entered the house through broken door.
Chloe couldn’t sleep. She was very worried at what her dad was going to do about the Knights of VanHelsing in Bayport. She was afraid that he would take matters into his own hands and kill them like he had in Germany.
Chloe got up and put on her robe. She left her room and went down the hall to her dad’s bedroom. Chloe wrapped on the door first and opened it. She peered inside the room. Her dad was gone! An overwhelming feeling of fear washed over Chloe. She slammed the door shut and ran back to her room. Chloe quickly put on some clothes and shoes, and grabbed her keys and jacket. She had no clue where to look, but had to find her dad before he did something horrible.
Chloe hurried down the stairs while putting on her coat. She leapt from the second step and bounded for the door. Chloe reached for the handle, the door opened and her dad entered the house.
“Where were you?” Chloe jumped on him.
“I couldn’t sleep, so I took a walk.” Andrew did not look at her. He closed the door.
Chloe walked up to her dad and felt his coat; it was ice cold.
“Where did you go?” Chloe was more subdued.
“Just around the neighbor hood, why?” Andrew looked and saw the disbelief in her eyes. How dare she question him about where he had been?
“I was worried that you might, um,” Chloe stammered.
“You thought I was going to do something bad tonight, right?” Andrew smirked.
“Yes.” Chloe took hold of her dad’s hands. They were ice cold too. “Did you?”
Andrew was about to answer when there was frantic pounding at the door. Whoever it was, they seemed very much in a panicked rush. They kept knocking. Andrew left Chloe to go and answer the door. When Andrew opened the door he saw Storm standing there. Her eyeslids and face were black from the mascara. She was still crying. Her whole body was trembling. Andrew escorted her inside and shut the door. Storm was trembling so badly that Chloe put her arms around her. Andrew told the girls to go into the family room and for Chloe to start a fire. Andrew grabbed a blanket from the foyer closet and joined them soon after. Storm had taken off her coat and sat in a chair by the fireplace. She thanked Andrew for the blanket and wrapped it around herself. Storm sobbed between labored breaths. What could have upset her so much? Chloe started the fire. Andrew sat in the chair beside Storm. He knew something terrible had happened and need to find out what it was right now.
“Are you okay?” Andrew started out simple.
“Y..Yes,” Storm sniffed back her tears.
“Are you hurt?” Andrew asked. He looked Storm over and bent down to pick up her coat. There was blood smattered on the right sleeve and shoulder. Andrew did not see any wounds on Storm. So whose blood was it?
“Where you at a blood feast?” Andrew took a chance.
“No, I mean yes,” Storm violently shook her head from side to side. “But it… it was much worse. He made us do it. Why…why the house?”
“Who made you do what?” Andrew grasped hold of Storm by the shoulders.
“We killed them!” Storm shrieked. She shook loose of Andrew’s grip and headed to the front door. Andrew and Chloe went after her. Storm reached for the doorknob, but it was Chloe that stopped her. She put her arms around Storm and subdued her. Exhaustion finally caught up with Storm, and she passed out in Chloe’s arms. Chloe struggled to keep standing, and Andrew came to her aid. He picked Storm up in his arms and carried her into the family room. Andrew laid her on the sofa and covered her with the blanket. Chloe and her dad slumped down in the chairs.