Blue Moon

Chapter 14

Lyla expected Fielding Hall to be something huge, like an old castle that had been converted or maybe a disused government building. This city didn't have castles, but it had plenty of disused buildings. If they were once owned by the government, she didn't know nor care.

As for Fielding Hall, it was quite interesting in Lyla's opinion. For Lennon and Merissa, it was like taking a step back into the past, one that was filled with uneasiness. Their lives had been good, but it was a hard existence. The nurses didn't bother to put much effort in. The children were always well cared for, but it was nothing that the children really needed.

Merissa grimaced at the thought of what it was like to be raised in Fielding Hall. When she first walked into Gamichee's home, she was met with a lot of love and affection. One of the nannies offered a hug when she was hurt. Merissa didn't know what to do. Memories of her adoptive mother filled Merissa with happiness and pain. She'd not recovered from losing Marguerite, and she doubted that she ever will.

For Lennon, it was a life that was worse. He didn't get adopted, like most of the children in Fielding Hall. Merissa was one of the lucky vampires. It was rare, and no child ever expected to walk out the doors before their eighteenth birthday.

Fielding Hall was just a house. Seemingly ordinary, it was set in the middle of a suburban street and didn't look all that large either. It was an ordinary house. People would walk past it and think nothing of who might live there. The gardens were well maintained, the house was in good order. There was nothing that would attract unwanted attention.

"What am I missing here?"

Lennon looked at Lyla, a little clueless as to how to answer her.

"You're telling me that this house is the place where Gamichee is breeding baby vampires?"

"Well, yeah, kind of. The babies are already born by the time they get here. There aren't that many, to begin with. When I was here, there were only five other kids. The part of the house that's above ground, it's the classroom, nurses' station, kitchen. Down in the basement, that's what you're not seeing. I reckon they dug out the entire yard, right to the boundary and created the room. It's massive, ain't it, Ris?"

"Yep."

"They split it into five large rooms. Bathroom, nursery, staff residence and the two remaining areas were for the older children. Boys in one, girls in the other. Those who are there for re-education stay in the bedrooms upstairs because they're never really there for long anyway."

"So, if the babies are already born when they enter the house, where are they created, and where does the mother give birth?"

He shrugged, unable to answer Lyla.

A car slid to a stop on the other side of the street. Lyla glanced at Lennon.

"Well, here's hoping that you got everything."

"We did."

They watched as Carson got out of the car, opening the door for the boss man. She hoped that they had everything. Having not seen the collection process, Lyla was a little clueless. She'd remained in the car while the others went into the first house. They were in there for a while.

Lyla was almost about to see if everything was okay when Ris appeared, carrying what looked like a heavy box. She'd scrabbled out of the car to open the trunk, watching as Lennon and Adley soon appeared with two boxes each.

She wanted to know what was in them, but time did not permit. They stayed only to rub salt into the wounds and ensure that Gamichee and Carson knew exactly what they thought.

Gamichee stood, gazing at the house, grateful that it was still in one piece. As for what lay behind the door, that was yet to be seen and hopefully, it wouldn't be what he feared.

Carson turned as he shut the door, spying the group of misfits watching him from their new car. It wasn't his car. Stalking over, he grew angrier by the second.

"Where's my car?" he hissed.

The group began mercilessly laughing. Lennon turned over the engine and leaned out the window.

"We left it for you to find. I'll give you one clue, asshole. It's on Wilkes Road."

Shifting the car into gear, Lennon continued to laugh as he drove away. Carson grimaced at the sight of Adley's bare ass being pointed out the rear window at him.

"Well?" Gamichee asked, avoiding the view.

Carson sighed and turned back to his boss.

"It's on Wilkes Road."

Gamichee shook his head with dismay. Wilkes Road was a long stretch of road that was home to many things but what made it worse was that one end of it was the roughest part of the city. The southern end was lined with many car wreckers and an industrial estate.

"We shall search once we've confirmed all is well inside."

"You know it won't be. We should follow them. If we go now,"

"Calm, my friend. They won't go far, and everything is going as I expected it to."

"It is?"

Gamichee smiled supremely and without a word said, he turned to the footpath. As the red taillights faded in the distance, Carson hoped that they knew what they were doing. It was a dangerous game that they'd started to play. Going against Gamichee was a death wish.

He thought it was a shame that they'd be so foolish. Their loss would be felt, briefly, of course. Lennon was a killer poker player; Carson liked the thought that he wouldn't lose so much money to him once he was gone. Adley was a rogue, but there was an undeniable charm to him that made Carson understand why the women couldn't turn away from him.

As for Lyla and Merissa, Carson didn't know what to think. Merissa was wrong for siding with Lennon and Adley, but he knew that Gamichee would forgive her provided that she stopped before anything bad happened. That was unlikely. She had a serious case of lust for Adley and Carson knew that it would not change. Lyla was just as bad; she couldn't see anything negative about Lennon.

They'd formed a tight-knit group, and he was sure that nothing would break it. Hearing his name called, Carson looked at Gamichee and wondered how he could be so positive that things were moving as he wanted them to. Something was not right.