Crave - 10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Merrick jogged up to Aanse and Kalen with a smirk on his lips. That went better than he could have hoped for. He was getting to the stubborn vampire. They needed to talk… and soon. He wanted an explanation as to why the man kept running from him. It was obvious Jenson wanted him, and although his age was an issue, it didn’t seem to be the only problem. There was something else going on with the infuriatingly skittish man.

They ran for several laps, going off the main track to a more challenging, hillier circuit. Aanse, with his long legs, was like a mountain lion, leaping over the rocky terrain with ease. Each one of Merrick’s officers were picked for their expertise in a particular skillset, and Aanse was the fastest runner and best climber of all of them all. The run was just what Merrick needed to clear his head, and he welcomed the burn in his legs as he conquered the challenging course. After half an hour, they turned back, and eventually parted ways after their showers.

Kalen and Aanse were required to relieve Talin and Moira, and Merrick had a meeting to attend. He still couldn’t believe he was going on this mission. His father seemed more excited than he was. Apparently the EAC was ecstatic that Merrick was able to take Minister Stevens’ place, and approved him immediately. The vampire council was equally pleased with the choice, given the fact that Merrick was not only human, but also the son of their newest council member.

There were already several vampires in the meeting room when Merrick arrived. He spotted Audra over by the far wall, in the middle of a small group. When she noticed him, she smiled and called him over to introduce him to her companions. The next several minutes were spent being introduced to ten vampires, and two humans. Only three of the vampires, as well as the two humans, would be going on the mission. The others were terraforming specialists and security personnel who would be briefing the team on what to expect on the planet.

Merrick felt eyes upon him, and turned as Jenson stepped into the room. There was an expression on the man’s face that Merrick couldn’t quite interpret. Desire was there, but he also saw sadness. Jenson looked away quickly, and made his way to the front of the room, inviting everyone to take their seats. They spent the next couple of hours being educated on the planet, the atmosphere, the wildlife, and the potential dangers posed by Alectran extremists.

“The Alectaran government has assured us that the extremists won’t be a problem, but I don’t want anyone taking any chances,” said a tall, imposing-looking woman. She had been introduced to Merrick as the head of planetary security. “We’ve received reports of protests against the government for allowing Alect-3 to be given to vampires and humans.” The woman made ‘air quotes’ with her fingers at the word ‘given’. “Some of you may be aware that the Alectran people do not hold females in high regard, so there could be some issues with the women in the landing party.” She looked at Audra with a smirk as she spoke.

The meeting broke up with a promise to meet again in a week to evaluate their progress, and to review any new information. Merrick hoped to catch Jenson before he left, but the slippery vampire was gone as soon as the meeting ended.

Merrick noticed Audra in the corner of the room, in what appeared to be a heated argument with one of the human males. With a snarled “Asshole,” she shoved past the man, and stormed out of the room. Merrick, concerned about his friend, followed her out, only managing to catch her outside the common room doors.

“Audra,” he called, jogging up to her. “Are you ok?”

The vampire turned to him, her eyes still flashing. “That bastard,” she said, with her lip curling in disgust. “He insinuated the only reason I was given this mission was because my brother is the lead. Of all the fucking gall….”

From the look in her eyes, she was about two seconds from storming back to the meeting room. “What do you care?” Merrick asked, throwing an arm over her shoulder. “You’re the best pilot I know. Does it matter what some lab-bound scientist believes?”

Aura glared at him for a moment before taking a deep breath and smiling. “When did you become so wise, little one?”

“Little one?” He scoffed. “I haven’t been shorter than you since I was ten.”

Audra laughed, and let Merrick lead her into the common room. “Thank you,” she said after they sat at an empty table. “I don’t know why I let that male get to me.” She sighed and rubbed her temples with her fingertips. “He was just so damn obnoxious about it.”

Merrick wondered why this man’s attitude was bothering Audra so much. She usually didn’t let these types of comments get to her. She preferred to let her actions and skill speak for her. In the years he had known her, Merrick had enjoyed watching her put more than a few chauvinistic men in their place.

“Who was the asshole?” Merrick took her hand and gave it a squeeze.

“Dr. Forbes,” she said, still clearly irritated. She looked up, and her eyes flashed in anger at something over his shoulder.

Merrick turned to see the two humans from the meeting walk into the room. A short, stout man with a receding hairline and a pinched face entered first, followed by a tall redhead. The redhead appeared to be in better shape than most scientists, who were often practically tied to their desks. Audra growled under her breath, and with a mumbled “Arrogant bastard… gotta go…,” she left the room. Merrick watched her go with a smirk. This flight could prove interesting for more reasons than he first thought.

Merrick spent the next week reading up on Alecteran history, and meeting with his team. Somehow, Jenson managed to avoid being alone with him the entire time. Every time they were in the same room, he could feel Jenson’s eyes on him, and whenever he looked up, the other man appeared confused. Several times, he saw Audra and Jenson talking heatedly, before the vampire would shake his head and walk away. Merrick didn’t know what was going on, but he planned to find out. They were scheduled to take off in three days, and he resolved wait, and corner Jenson on the ship so there would be nowhere for the man to run.

The next morning, Merrick received an urgent message that a meeting had been called to bring them up to date on some new developments. The terraforming group were performing training exercises in the forest outside of the city, and after a quick discussion, it was decided that Jenson’s home would be the most convenient meeting place. In all of the years he had known the other man, Merrick had never been to Jenson’s countryside property. He was looking forward to seeing where the vampire called home. A large rover, carrying the rest of the team, drove through the gate just as Merrick arrived. From the small, sleek rover parked in the driveway, he knew that Audra was already there.

The home was a large, beautiful structure. There was a wraparound porch spanning the front and sides of the home. Stepping through the front door, he entered a large foyer with high ceilings. The wide central staircase, in front of him, connected the foyer to a balcony above. The balcony led to halls on the left and on the right. Surveying the main floor, Merrick saw several closed doors behind the staircase. The hall to the right was bright, and Merrick could just make out the open door of a sunny room a few feet down. The hall to the left didn’t appear to have any doors along its sides and, as a consequence, was darker. He heard footsteps coming from his right, and turned to see Jenson walking towards them, his brow furrowed with worry.

“Welcome, everyone,” he said as he indicated towards the right hall. “Please join me in the den.”

It was a bright, sunny room dominated by a fireplace, and containing comfortable looking couches and chairs. As soon as everyone was seated, Jenson cut right to the chase. “A group of Alectaren dissidents were caught on the planet, close to our planned landing site. It appears they were setting up several devices that would be able to knock out all of our electronics. The authorities have detained four people, and they believe they have disabled all of the weapons, but they have advised extra caution be taken when we land.”

There was a ripple of excited voices through the room as the implications of this news sunk in. Heated discussions began about the wisdom of continuing the mission, and the extra precautions they would need to take in order to ensure the team’s safety. An hour later, they decided to reconvene at the council compound. The vampires’ security team had equipment and enhancements they believed would help combat the Alectran’s blocking devices.

Merrick and Audra stayed behind with Jenson after the rover left with the terraformers. Audra was trying to convince her brother to drive in with her or Merrick, instead of taking his own rover. Before Jenson had a chance to respond, they heard a commotion from inside the house. A man, whose long white lab coat was covered in blood, ran out the door, looking around frantically before spotting Jenson.

“Mr. Shey,” the man shouted as he ran down the steps.

“Lyle, what happened?” Jenson grabbed the man by the shoulders.

“It’s Kel, sir. He’s….”

“Fuck!” Jenson swore as he ran into the house without another word.

Merrick ran after the panicked man, down the left hall, and through a security door. He could hear footsteps following closely behind him. There were loud voices coming from a room ahead of them, and when he ran through the doorway, he stumbled in shock. A thin male with brindle hair lay on the floor gasping for air. Another male lay bleeding nearby, with long gashes across his throat. There was blood everywhere. A man and a woman were kneeling over the bleeding male, holding towels to his neck and speaking frantically to each other. Jenson, and an older looking gentleman, were kneeling over the brindle haired man. Jenson’s left side faced the door, and Merrick could see the anguish etched on the vampire’s face.

“What the fuck happened?” Jenson yelled as he took the male in his arms, pulling him onto his lap. “Kel? Can you hear me Kel?” His hands were frantically caressing the male’s face and neck.

“He grabbed one of the syringes,” the older man said, shaking his head and pressing a med spray to the thin man’s neck. “I’m sorry, Jenson. He injected it directly into his heart.”

“Well, do something… help him,” Jenson’s voice cracked. “Can’t you see he’s in pain?”

The male in Jenson’s arms was thrashing as Jenson’s tried to hold him still, his gasps for air were becoming shallower and more frequent.

“He injected the entire dose, Jenson,” the other man put a hand on his shoulder. “I just gave him something to help with the pain. There’s nothing more I can do.”

Jenson’s sob was heart-wrenching as he held the man in his arms, close to his chest. “What did you do, Kel?” he cried as he buried his face in the other man’s neck. Painful-sounding sobs tore from the vampire’s throat.

Merrick didn’t know what to do. He felt like his feet were rooted to the floor. He could sense Audra’s presence beside him, but couldn’t tear his eyes away from the gruesome scene in front of him. As Merrick watched, the brindle haired man’s thrashing stopped, and his breathing slowed and stuttered. Jenson pulled away slightly, stroking the man’s face.

“Kel?”

Slowly, the male raised a shaky hand, not quite reaching Jenson’s face. Merrick thought he saw the male’s mouth move, but he was too far away to hear the words. When the hand fell away, an agonizing roar tore from Jenson, making Merrick flinch. “No… no… no…,” he sobbed. The tears streaming down Jenson’s face wet the other man’s hair. “Why, Kel? Why did you do…?” Jenson’s voice cracked, and then was gone as sobs wracked his body.

Merrick continued to watch, stunned, as the older male put his hand on Jenson’s shoulder, murmuring unheard words of comfort. The bleeding male was loaded onto a hover board and taken out of the room, forcing Merrick to move away from the door. After several minutes, Jenson’s sobs began to subside. Merrick realized his own face was wet. When did he start crying? He could hear sniffling beside him, and knew that Audra was crying as well.

The older male was speaking quietly to Jenson, trying to pry his hands away from their tight grasp on the man. “He’s gone, Jenson,” the man said softly. “You have to let him go.”

Jenson shook his head, but finally let the brindle haired male be taken from his arms and laid out on the floor. The older male checked him over before confirming the death to a female standing nearby. Jenson reached down and tenderly stroked the man’s face. “Goodbye, Kel.” His voice held so much pain that Merrick felt his chest ache with the weight of his friend’s grief.

Slowly, Jenson rose, and wiped his eyes. Taking a deep breath, he turned towards the door and finally noticed Merrick and Audra. He looked surprised to see them there. “Leave,” he growled.

“Jens…,” Audra’s voice was thick with tears.

“Get the fuck out. You shouldn’t be here!” Jenson shouted, pointing to the door. “Get. Out.”

“Jenson…?” Merrick finally found his voice.

“Please, Merrick… please just go.”

Audra grabbed Merrick by the arm and tugged. He finally looked down at her, and saw tears streaming down her face. “Come on,” she pleaded softly.

“But…,” Merrick looked up at Jenson, but the man had his back turned to them with his forehead resting against the large window on the far side of the room.

“Later,” she tugged his arm again. “We can talk to him later. Right now he needs to be alone. Trust me… please. ”

Merrick allowed the much smaller woman to drag him down the hall, through the house, and out the door, before pulling away from her.

“What the fuck just happened?” He turned on her. “Who the hell was that in there?”

“Merrick…,” she said, wiping the tears from her face. “I can’t tell you.”

“Why not?” Merrick was confused, and getting more upset by the minute. “I just watched someone die in front of me, and you can’t fucking tell me what’s going on?”

“It’s not my story to tell, Merrick,” she sighed, looking up at the sky. “Jenson needs to be the one to talk to you.”

Merrick didn’t know what to do. Every instinct was telling him to turn around and go back inside. Jenson needed him. He needed someone there. Merrick spun towards the house.

“He doesn’t want us with him,” Audra said, touching his arm. “He needs time to deal with this. He’ll only resent you for intruding right now.”

“We’re just supposed to leave him?” Merrick was outraged.

“For now,” she said, rubbing a hand over her eyes. “I’ll stay here tonight. I have a room upstairs. I’ll be here for him... if he needs me.”

“I can’t just leave,” Merrick blinked back fresh tears. “I don’t want to leave him like this.”

“You have to,” she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a hug. “I know you want to be here for him, and I love you for it, but Jenson isn’t ready to explain this to you. He’s not strong enough... can’t you see that? Please, Merrick?”

Sighing, Merrick nodded, and with a kiss on the top of her head, he turned to leave. He looked back before reaching his vehicle. “I still want an explanation.”

Audra nodded, and gave him a watery smile. “I know you do. He’ll tell you. He was going to talk to you on the flight to Alectara… but….”

“What’s going to happen?” Merrick nodded towards the left wing of the house and cleared his throat. “With the… body…?”

“Doctor MacAllister will make any arrangements needed. He was the older man in the room.”

“Promise to call me in the morning and let me know how he’s doing?” Merrick was having a hard time leaving.

“I promise,” Audra said quietly, walking up to give Merrick another hug. “Message me when you get home, please.”

Merrick nodded before finally climbing into the vehicle and driving back to the compound. He had no memory of the trip. After showering and climbing into bed, it took him hours of tossing and turning before he was finally able to drift off into a troubled sleep. The image of Jenson, sobbing, as he held a dying man in his arms, was the last thing he remembered before exhaustion claimed him

div style="margin:0px;">Thank you and a   to my editor for his late night work for me, and thank you to all of you who are reading and supporting this story. 

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