Darkest Memories

by April Hackett

Chapter 6


 

Nicholas groggily became aware that he was not in the house. Wincing at the pain, he  touched the back of his head and felt a couple of large bumps wet with blood. Feeling the  motion of the truck, he tried to remember where he was and what was going on. He  jerked fully awake as he grasped the fact he was again in a small steel cage. Memories of  his last confinement caused his anger to surface. Sensing several men sitting at the back of  the truck, as well as two in the front, he realized he was in trouble. There was just a few  hours left before dawn. If he was to escape, it would have to be soon.

The sergeant, hearing their captive moving, turned a flashlight onto the cage. At first, all  he could see was the back of a blond headed man, kneeling in the small cage. However,  with the light drawing his attention, the 'man' turned giving the sergeant a good view of his  glowing golden eyes and long white fangs. There was low growling noises coming from  its throat as well. By this time, all of the men were watching this creature, not at all sure  they wanted to be in the same truck with it. At a signal from the sergeant, one of the men  walked to the front of the bed, giving the cage as wide a berth as possible. He pulled the  heavy cloth that was covering the front of the truck bed aside, and spoke quietly to  someone in the cab. Pulling the cloth further to the side, Captain Schmitt looked at the  creature he had been sent into England to retrieve.

Nicholas stared back at this figure from his nightmares. Seeing this man now and being  caged once again caused Nicholas's beast to totally flow over his reason. Lunging against  the cage, he tried to reach the soldiers, but the cage was securely chained down. Raging  incoherently, he beat against the bars and clawed at anyone who got to close. As several  of the men in the back of the truck drew their captive's attention, Captain Schmitt picked  up a thick pipe that he had leaning against the seat and slowly threading it into the cage  behind the creature, brought it down hard on the back of Nicholas's head. As Nicholas  dropped to the floor unconscious again, the captain nodding, closed the cloth and turned  back to the front. Following prearranged orders, the sergeant quickly unlocked the cage  and shackled the prisoner's wrists together with stout wrist cuffs, relocking the cage when  he was through.

LaCroix was flying above the trees checking the road, when he felt a wash of rage flow  over him. It was so strong, he turned toward Karen growling. Karen, not sure what to  make of LaCroix's behavior, pulled up and prepared to counter attack. He was able to  separate himself from the rage still battering him from the link, and looking at Karen said,  "This way, I feel him!" Following the throbbing link northeast, he hoped his son's mental  state would be able to survive this reemergence of the raging nature of the vampire.

LaCroix led Karen toward Ipswich. He could tell he was almost upon them, when the  rage suddenly stopped. <How are they controlling him?!!> Continuing on in the same  general direction, LaCroix and Karen saw a large covered truck driving down the road at  a high rate of speed. As they moved closer, both of them began to feel another vampire  near, along with several humans.

LaCroix motioned Karen toward the front of the truck as he moved to the rear.  Grabbing the back of the truck, LaCroix ripped the cover away and leaped into the bed.  Seeing his son in the cage, unconscious, incensed LaCroix. Turning toward the humans,  who were trapped between the cage and a very enraged vampire, LaCroix started wading  through these puny mortals exacting revenge. Grabbing the closest soldier, LaCroix bit  viciously into his neck, draining him in seconds. Dropping the corpse, he reached for the  next man, throwing him against the cage with such force that his skull cracked with a  sickening wet sound.

Two of the soldiers froze at the sight of this monster, blood dripping from his fangs and  mouth, as he killed the soldiers in the blink of an eye. One man scrabbled to get by  LaCroix and jumped out the back of the truck, only to break his neck when he landed.  LaCroix reached for the next one, practically disemboweling the man before facing the last  soldier standing.

Meanwhile, Karen was dealing quite nicely with the two soldiers in the front. After slicing  open the driver's throat with her hands, she opened the door and tossed him out. As she  was climbing into the truck, she glanced at the passenger and recognized the man as the  central figure in the recent memories of both Nicholas and the German colonel. Since she  had several important questions that needed answering, she reached over and knocked out  the shocked captain, then stopped the truck. She could hear screaming and vicious  growling coming from the back of the truck. Jumping out of the seat, Karen ran toward  the back of the truck. She stopped when suddenly, she heard gunfire, then a great roar...  The truck was bouncing from the fighting going on in the back.

LaCroix faced the soldier that had fired the gun with his eyes blood red and his fangs  fully exposed. The sergeant froze momentarily when he realized that the gun wouldn't  help him beat this creature that had appeared out of nowhere. Grappling with the  struggling human, LaCroix snatched him up and snapped his back like a twig, then moved  to the back of the truck. Karen watched in surprise as a body suddenly came flying out  the back of the truck to land in a heap. Within seconds, several more had joined the first  on the road. LaCroix appeared with a man dangling from his fist by the scruff of the neck.  He shook the man once, then threw him on the pile of dead soldiers. Looking at Karen,  he waved her to the back, worry evident on his face. "Come, we must get him out of this  cage and be gone. The sun will be coming up in a little over an hour." After climbing into  the truck, Karen joined LaCroix in front of the cage. Both grabbed the door and pulled,  ripping it open. Easing his son out of the cage, he sprang into the air with Nicholas in his  arms. After cleaning up the bodies and destroying the truck, Karen followed with the  captain.

NEXT--CHAPTER 7

All comments can be sent to me, April, at: [email protected] or [email protected]

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