Chapter 5

Tereth and Louie's family were closing in on the one named Pete. He had run into the woods, and had been running due west until early that night, when he had sudden turned east and they moved to cut him off. None of them had expected the move, or their good fortune that he had changed his mind. As things had stood they would have never caught up to him. At first they had started closing the distance quickly when the chase began, but then their quarry must have noticed that he was being hunted, because he began speeding away at a pace they simply couldn't match. While they would be able to follow his trail as he pulled away, Louie seemed to have no regard for safety, nor was he trying to hide his trail for that matter. Speed seemed his only goal, and his pace reflected that. As he now neared their position, Tereth witnessed yet another unexpected change, when Louie's presence disappeared and a vampire with only a distant connection to him was the one heading back east.

"What the hell?" Tereth said stopping. Unwilling to put the humans at risk, he rushed off at full speed to catch the vampire and find out what had happened. Bursting through the last set of trees, he launched himself at a vampire who looked nothing like Louie. The young man could have been a football player and had a letterman's jacket on. The two grappled as they crashed together, but Tereth was stronger and more experienced and began to get the upper hand. He was so busy trying to fight the one beneath him, that he didn't notice four vampires enter the area until they were practically on top of them. While Tereth was no coward, it was obvious he was now outnumbered five to one, and even with his human companions he could not hope to win without killing every one of them, so he retreated. Their deaths would not lead him to Louie. His best hope was to track them as they retreated, which he hoped was Louie's plan, otherwise he would be forced to kill them whether he wanted to or not. Sure enough, after rejoining with their lost companion, the five of them hurried off due east. Rejoining the humans, Tereth told them what had happened.

"What do we do?" Bill asked.

"We start by finding their trail, which shouldn't be hard, and then we follow them to wherever they are going. Strangely enough, I felt the trace of Louie on the one we've been hunting. My guess is he was supposed to be a decoy and, for some reason Louie called him back, which doesn't make sense: he's another male. Louie would see him as a competitor not an ally, and for that matter why would four more Tassidar come to save this one? I don't understand it." Tereth said.

"They are on their way." Louie said to Heidi.

"This is a lot to take in, Louie. A hive mind? Turning the owner of this place? Do you want to make enemies?" Heidi said.

"What I want is to be left in peace, so I and my hive can thrive. I did not ask for this, and at present me and mine are in danger." Louie said.

"Surely Tereth will not attack all ten of you?" Heidi asked.

"More likely, once he discovers what is wrong, then he will seek the aid of other Tassidar, or at worst find some way to tell the Tassidar's enemies we are here, without getting himself involved." Louie said.

"Because if they know any Tassidar still exist they will hunt all of you." Heidi said, understanding Louie's dilemma.

"Even if I could some how convince the other Tassidar I am no threat to them, our differences will not be overlooked by the Revenant and Vankari; who swore an ancient blood oath against my kind. To kill every last Tassidar they would put aside their own blood feud to destroy us, and anyone who got in their way." Louie said.

"Could you run?" Heidi asked.

"Run where? At least here, I sense few if any vampire nearby. If I move my hive somewhere else, not only will I risk being noticed, but my enemies might see it as an attack or an act of weakness, because I'm running. Any way you put it, the risk far outweighs the gain. No, we are stuck here unless my hive becomes strong enough to take on anyone who would want to come after us or me." Louie said.

"So what, you're looking for recruits?" Heidi said.

"Actually two more are arriving now." Louie, said before they both heard a knock at the door.

Heidi got up and found Karen and Lela standing outside the door. Both women grinned, baring their new fangs.

"You turned them last night? How?" Heidi asked, turning to look at Louie.

"Simple: I bit them. You alone are immune to my bite as far as I am aware of." Louie answered.

"You knew that?" Heidi asked, feeling some relief that she hadn't been turned and not known it.

"Of course. Tereth, my biological father, is very old, and his knowledge on the subject is considerable." Louie said.

"Does he know you have access to his mind?" Heidi asked.

"All indications point to no, but then the point is practically moot." Louie replied.

"How so?" Heidi asked.

"He will track the four male vampires that are returning to me, and I will be forced to confront him regardless. It matters very little that I know what he knows, since it doesn't help me out of my current situation. What I do know is that given the circumstances, I'm royally screwed." Louie said.

"Well I guess these two should help a little..." Heidi said with a pause at the end. To Louie it looked like she had an idea.

"What is it?" Louie asked.

"You mentioned that the five men you turned were dead, and then came back last night as vampires, right?" Heidi asked.

"Yes..." Louie asked, not understanding her.

"What if that works with anyone dead?" Heidi asked.

A look of distaste came over Louie's face, "You want me to drink from the dead?"

"No, no, no! I mean bite them, so they will be turned." Heidi explained.

"It's disgusting, but I suppose I could do that. If it works, I could probably double the hive's numbers by sunrise." Louie said, thinking it over.

"Or you could make many more if you used your whole hive." Heidi suggested.

"Why are you helping me? Last night you were very protective of the humans at the blood bar. You didn't even want me to feed off Lela and Karen like I did." Louie said suspicious.

"Look, I would rather have you turning corpses than the living. As I see it; sure you're a tricky bastard, but I can deal with that. My great grandmother told me about these Vankari and Revenant. From what I've heard I don't want any of those guys coming here in force, and I don't want innocent people getting hurt. Promise me that you'll do your best to just turn the dead instead those still alive, and I'll help you as best I can. Do we have a deal?" Heidi asked, offering her hand.

"Alright we have a deal." Louie said.

"We'll have to use the three of us. Lana and Cassandra will stay here with Pandora and Lupe. The rest of us will try your plan. Hopefully more will come of this than a bad taste in our mouths. Lead on Necromancer." Louie said and the four of them headed out.

The first place they stopped was at the morgue. Pulling out each of them, Louie started the biting process and Lela and Karen followed suit. The taste was far from pleasant, as Louie suspected, and he was almost ready to give up after the sixth body, until an idea of his own popped into his head.

"Where is the nearest hospital?" Louie asked.

"We had a deal." Heidi said.

"I merely wish to offer our gift to those who have no hope. Would you deny them the opportunity to live, no matter what form that new life is?" Louie suggested.

Thinking about it long and hard, Heidi said, "Only a few, and only the worst ones. You can't make a commotion."

"I assure you, no one will remember we were there." Louie said.

"How do you plan to do this?" Heidi asked.

Glancing at Lela and Karen, Louie saw them grin conspiratorially as they saw his idea.

"My dear, I plan to walk in the front door." Louie said.

Heidi could not believe when they walked into the hospital and no one acknowledged them: this didn't happen because they were considered unimportant, or the doctors and nurses were too busy, instead it seemed like they were invisible.

"How are you doing this?" Heidi asked in a whisper, afraid that if she spoke too loud, someone would overhear them.

"I am merely altering their perception. Right now their minds and their eyes agree that they see nothing, and as long as that happens they will continue to see nothing." Louie answered.

"And if one part realizes we are here?" Heidi asked, still curious.

"Then we shall have a lot of explaining to do if we are found as we travel down certain halls without permission. Now which floor was your grandmother kept on when she was dying?" Louie asked.

"The third floor. They keep all the terminally ill patients up there." Heidi answered, as they took the stairs.

"Taking the stairs will help us avoid any accidental run-ins that might give us away." Louie explained. Heading up two flights, they made their way to a string of rooms with the terminally ill.

"Lela and Karen can handle this. Consider it your initiation. Make sure only to turn the willing ladies." Louie said.

"Yes master." they said and broke off; each taking a separate room.

"What if they refuse?" Heidi asked.

Glancing at her, Louie said, "Then they will wipe the person's memories with their gaze and will. I have every intention of holding to our deal. If you wish to stop this, you have only to ask."

"No, it's ok. I hadn't thought of this." Heidi said.

Louie's mind turned to the rest of his hive; checking up on them. While sifting through others minds, something caught his attention.

'What is that?' Louie said to Cassandra, as she stood outside, back at the motel.

'?' Cassandra's mind answered back.

'Death Walkers. You never told me about them.' Louie said.

'Of course! They are something all Founts can make!' Cassandra said, understanding why they interested Louie so much.

Switching his attention to the five still out, Louie sent them a message, 'Stop and wait. I have a new mission for you.'

'Yes, master.' the five said.

"Will you excuse me for a moment? I would like to check on something, but I will be right back in no time." Louie said to Heidi.

"Is something wrong?" Heidi asked.

"Not at all. Thank you for your patience." Louie said, using a shadow to jump away before Heidi's eyes.

Arriving at the motel, Louie immediately found the lines of power he needed. Cassandra easily provided one, thanks to her being a Keeper. The two others were not too hard to draw from, but the images Louie needed to complete the process ran out. Louie had guessed that Cassandra would have the rest of the instructions, but something was missing.

'What is it?' Louie asked himself, dissipating the energy so he wouldn't be tracked as he tried to figure things out.

'Cassandra's knowledge is based on what I told her. She did not witness what was going on inside me at the time, nor did I ever tell her.' A strange voice answered him.