?So you're gone and I'm haunted. And I bet you are just fine. Did I make it that easy to walk right in and out of my life?" - A Fine Frenzy

?He?s crashing!?

Kyle shot awake hearing the sudden wailing of machines and people flooding the small room.

?Sir, we are going to have to ask you to step outside.?
?He?s my??
?I don?t care if he?s God Almighty, go!?

Kyle looked at his friend, and then up at the flat lined monitors.

?I?m getting no pulse here.?

?Two large bore IVs?

?No pulse.?

?Saline, wide open.?

?Color?s fading, temp dropping.?

?Paddles!?

?Lets move, here we go.?

?Nice and easy and clear!?

?No response.?

?Clear!?

Lightning flashed overhead as the yacht bounced along the water. It was an older, but still very well maintained piece of machinery. Just from the hull and the shape of the ship, Deke was guessing it to be a piece from the early 40s, and spotted the markings of Astoria Marine. Someone had taste in old vessels. He walked from the aft deck toward the bow as lightning flashed again.

The boat was at least a fifty footer, and beautifully restored. Everything looked brand new. The storm raged on outside the windows and the rain started to pelt the glass as he made his way toward the ship?s wheel, hoping to speak to the captain about his meticulous machine.

?We have got to get him stable.?

?BP falling.?

?We are losing him.?

?Clear OR 2, tell them we are coming in and may have to crack his chest.?

The storm rocked the ship and Deke lost his footing.

?Careful there. Your sea legs were always shaky.?

The voice wasn?t quickly recognized, but neither was the Captain. He had a headful of dark hair and large man, who from the back, reminded him of Kyle.

?Kyle? Where?d you get the boat? Where are we??

?Ha, Kyle? That boy wouldn?t know how to sail this beauty!? The captain turned and smiled a very familiar smile as Deke stumbled again with the crashing waves. ?Don?t recognize your father??

?King?? Deke was stunned. The man was young, straight backed and the color of the living instead of the undead. ?What the hell?is going?? He leaned over and threw open the window of the boat to vomit.

?Simple son, you are dead.?

Again Deke vomited. ?Impossible, we are?? The memories returned in fragments. Cait, Brandy, Cait?a fight, and a vampire. He?d left the upstairs door open, letting the smell of the weed out of his study.

?You were high, drunk and pissed.? King turned the wheel hard to the left as a wave crashed into them again. ?Stupid way to watch your ass.?

Deke?s head got soaked from rain and sea water before he pulled back and slammed the window shut. ?I didn?t want to stink up the study.?

?Then why that nasty smoke??

?You have no room to talk, remember that experiment with the synth-blood??

?It was my house, I could do what I chose.?

?It?s mine now??

?No, I think you left it to Kyle and his whore.?

Not only was he cold and wet, but his head spun wildly, as he looked around. The lightning seemed to have stopped for now, but the seas were still rough and the sky was moonless.

?Is this heaven, since I am dead??

?Does either of us really belong there?? King laughed as he asked that question. ?The answer to that is no. Don?t put too much brain power into it.?

?I don't think you should die until you're ready. Until you've wrung out every last bit of living you can.? -Bray

?Get up.?

Deke stirred slightly. The loss of blood was making everything slow down.

?Get up.? King said as he stood over his son and watched the vampires leave through the same way they had entered. ?You don?t need to invite them in when you leave a door open, Dumbass.?

Deke pushed himself up, still thinking they were inside. His legs didn?t want to work and he stumbled into his bedroom, moving toward the closet. He pulled open the door and fell into the hanging clothes, pulling them down with him into neat rows of shoes.

?This is how you?ve been spending my money? More clothes and fancy shoes? Your mother should be proud.? King looked around at the other hanging clothes, and knew he didn?t need to check labels to see they were the best of the best, with the right names. Eyes fell on Deke as he palmed the scanner that hid his safe room. ?New addition to the house,? He stated as the door slid open and then his mouth fell open as he saw the inside. ?Armed forces ordinance, silver? you were preparing for war.?

Deke ignored the man and grabbed the nearest weapon. The WTS .50 BMG felt too heavy to lift, but he wasn?t going to let them bite him.

?Stubborn, just like your mother.? King said as he watched his son focus on the slide to check the round in the chamber.

?Up here, Kyle!?

He smiled as he saw the door open and words were unheard as the .50 roared and belched flame, and then gave in to his blood loss.

?So, that was it. That?s how you wound up here.? King was smiling and lifting a glass to his lips.

Deke looked around and they were sitting in King?s old office down town. Only it wasn?t the remodeled version of Deke?s design, it was old, dark and foreboding. It was the office he remembered as a kid.

?I can?t be dead.?

?Sucks, doesn?t it??

?Maxim is doing something to Caitlin.?

?Yes, I think he?s looking to fuck her and claim her as his own. He seems to have a real hardon for you.?

The door opened, and a man walked in. Dark eyes fell on Deke and the man?s smile was eerily familiar. His hand reached out and ruffled Deke?s hair.

?Evening, Son.? The smile didn?t fade as he turned his attention to King. ?Sir.?

Deke?s eyes moved to King. He wasn?t the same young man that had been on the boat, but he wasn?t as old as when he had been killed.

?Taggart,? King said with a smile and a flick of a glance toward Deke. ?What can I do for you??

?I?m going, as you requested, to see Asher.?

?And you are here, with the boy?why??

?My wife?s ill, Sir. I won?t be long if you can have someone just watch him for me??

?You are a Deacon in a church, why don?t you get someone there to watch him??

?I can hardly set foot in there, since??

?Since you?ve been turned?? King smiled and Deke could see the man?s fangs.

?You smile, but this wasn?t my choice. I know I work for you, but it?s to keep my family safe, and to provide for them.?
?The money I pay you, could provide for three families and put dozens of children through the best colleges.?

?I am not complaining about the pay, Sir.?

?You are still stuck on the killing? I?ve never seen anyone as efficient as you are. That?s why you?ve become my right hand. I don?t know if it?s your religious convictions or we awoke some bloodthirsty killer in the change. ? King laughed. ?Whatever it is, you are a beast!? He was proud. Deke could tell and had seen it before, when he graduated top of his class and was made valedictorian.

The man known as Taggart frowned. ?I want this to be the last job, Sir. I?ve got to leave. My son?s young, but he?s asking too many questions that I have no answers for.?

?Tell him you are a vampire. The beach is less appealing now, but you?ll happily throw a ball with him after dark.?

Taggart?s frown deepened. ?You find amusement in this, I assumed as much. That?s another reason I have to leave. I?ve set up accounts for my wife?s care and my son?s education. After I deal with this, tonight?I am done.?

King?s look matched Taggart?s. ?No one has ever left my employ, Mister Taggart.?

?Then it looks like both of us will be making changes.? Taggart stuck out his hand toward King. King looked up into the man?s eyes, then at Deke before he stood and shook the offered hand.

?I wish you the best of luck.? King said as he nodded.

Taggart released the man?s hand and turned toward Deke with a sad smile. ?Be good.? Then he turned and walked out of the office, closing the door behind him.

They sat in silence for a moment, and then King picked up the phone. ?Put me through to Asher?s office...anonymous tip.?

?You are setting him up??

King covered the receiver on the phone, ?He was stealing from me.?

?Bullshit. Something stinks here. He just wanted out.? Deke couldn?t help but think about the man?s smile and eyes, and their familiarity. He must have seen Taggart before.

?You should be on guard, someone?s coming.? King said before he hung up the phone. ?He was stealing from me, and from you. He embezzled over a million before this night.?

?I know when you are lying to me, I can feel it and I always could.? Deke turned and stared out the window, watching as Taggart got into a waiting black Jaguar. ?I know that car. V-12 Xj?? He stepped back from the window and could see the reflection of a young boy, a young boy with the same eyes as Taggart?s. Realization started to set in, and he turned on King. ?You sent him in to die!? His fist lashed out toward the older man and struck nothing. ?You killed my father!?

?Still the same wrathful boy. The son of a Deacon, with the temper of a devil,? King chuckled. ?Welcome to hell, Son.?

The scene around him started to swirl and change. Something pulled at his body while he raised the silver fork into the air, readying for a second strike. Kingsley?s eyes widened and his face changed to the vampire Asher had sent recently as a messenger.

The fork changed in his hands to the familiar feel of his silver stake, and just like the night he?d been beaten, the stake found its target in the vampire?s heart. The body convulsed, limbs frozen in place as the rapid decay into dust began.

?King, you can?t hide forever you coward!? Deke pushed himself up as the wind started to swirl the dust of the dead creature beneath him. His body hurt, reliving the memories of broken ribs and a concussion. Memories flashed through his mind of Caitlin, and her worry for his safety when she saw him, insisting that he go to the doctor, and helping him with a shower. ?Cait?? Her name fell from his lips in an inaudible whisper.

?You can?t have her. You?ll never change.? King said as the dirty alley shifted into his home, and they were standing over his body while the watch and medical personnel worked on stabilizing him.

Deke wasn?t listening to him; he was watching Caitlin?s face. The look of worry worn was of a woman three times her age. Her friend was taken from her, with no word, now Deke in all of his damned stubbornness was lying in his bedroom floor, after a fight with her, after a break up which wasn?t what he had wanted.

?You use them and throw them aside. You were ready to walk away from her tonight.? King laughed from the darkness that suddenly swallowed Deke. The sound seemed to come from all around him. ?You can?t do it. It isn?t who you are.?

Deke tried to focus on anything at all. The pull on his body was growing in intensity, pulling him toward something he couldn?t see. He fought the pull, wondering if it was just hell trying to swallow him into its bowels.

?She is different. You don?t understand.? Deke started to walk blindly, hands out in front of him to keep from colliding with anything and searching for a wall. ?I am trying to be a different man. I have the company now, I need someone with a good head on her shoulders beside me.? Laughter echoed around him, and even Deke couldn?t believe what he was saying, but he felt it from deep inside. ?I love her, King. You remember that emotion, don?t you?? The laughter stopped.

Up ahead he could see a faint light. He picked up the pace as he moved toward it, hoping to shake that pull, but finding it harder and harder to resist.

?You never knew love!? King appeared before him, backlit by the faint light. His fist swung at Deke?s head. Even in the darkness, Deacon knew that his stepfather was angry.

?You are wrong, Kingsley. I did once.? Deke said. The old man?s punch was blocked and countered with his hand holding the silver stake. ?I know the love of a father that was taken from me by a monster.? Deke shoved the stake deeper into the old man?s ribcage toward his heart. ?I?m not perfect, but I am much better than you are.?

The look of confusion, then the realizations of what happened were instant. Clawed hands moved to pull the stake away from his body in a last desperate attempt. Deke watched as the old man?s skin began to flake then blow away by a sudden gust of wind. The darkness around him seemed to lighten.

?I may see you again.? Deke said as the body started to crumble under its own weight. ?I?m sure Hell isn?t finished with me.?

Deke turned to walk away then he was assaulted with the brightest, whitest light he?d ever seen. It disappeared as soon as it had appeared, plunging him back into darkness. Again, it appeared as if coming at him from a narrow slit, blindingly bright. He tried to move his hand up to shield his eyes, only to find that he could not. Something held him down. He tried to speak, but his mouth was suddenly dry and he couldn?t form the words. The light assaulted him a final time, followed by a deep, red darkness. He realized then that he had made it back. The humming in his ears from the light above the bed was loud. The machines beeped rhythmically to his pulse. The sterile smell of the hospital room filled his nose.

Eyes cracked slowly open, and he blinked a few times against the light, which wasn?t as bright as it had seemed. The room was cool, and everything started to hurt. He had made it back, and Cait was there, waiting.