Chapter 6: The 12 Trucks

Mikael and I arrived back at the house around 5:30 in the evening only to find that the house was lit up and there was much activity occurring inside. After leaving the car in the garage, we made our way up to the main floor, where many angels were meeting and discussing things urgently. Balthazar and Haniel were both talking to one of their superiors before they noticed us, as did the other angels, who stopped talking and looked over at us. Some cast hostile glances at Mikael, while some of the others looked at me with a hint of skepticism and kind curiosity. "Ah, there they are!" Balthazar exclaimed joyfully. His superior nodded to me in a friendly manner, and I bowed my head out of respect. "Armed with good information?"

"Plenty!" I replied.

"Then why don't you tell all of us what you two found?" He gestured to the center of the room. "We have a big breakthrough in as well."

"Yours looks to be more urgent, so we will wait on y'all," I replied sheepishly, now that every angel had their attention on the two of us.

Balthazar nodded, then cleared his throat. "The report from the power angel officers set around the Lafayette cemetery is grave indeed in regards to this investigation. He told Haniel that the witches in the cemetery mentioned something about 'them' having arrived, and that this group came to them from an outside source. "

There was an understandable silence after this declaration.

"And now, Abira, what have you gathered?" Haniel asked me.

I stepped to the middle of the room and took a deep breath before stating, "Mikael and I found out today that the bites were not caused by Klaus or Hayley. Klaus and Hayley both confirmed this themselves, and Marcel, the aforementioned friend who lives across the river, also confirmed it. What's more, Marcel mentioned that there had been 12 slaughtered hybrids that were mysteriously vanished from Mystic Falls, Virginia, and that there had been some mysterious happenings occurring in New Orleans recently, and he gave us this," I stated, waving the security tape in my hand. Some of the angels near me starting chattering almost excitedly.

"May we play the tape, sir?" Balthazar asked a tall, dark-haired angel. When his superior gave a nod, I handed him the tape and he put it in the CD slot in the player under the flat screen TV.

The image appeared on the TV, and it showed what appeared to be the front of Rousseau's, the bar that Marcel had mentioned. The time stamp read about midnight on March 15th, 2013 and at first the street was mostly deserted and lit up with orange streetlights and lights from 24 hour stores. Then, as 12:30 AM rolled around, what appeared to be a black GMC Yukon drove down the street, but what made it so odd was that it was creeping along, perhaps at about 15 mph when the speed limit on that street in particular was about 25 or 30 mph.

But the Yukon was not alone.

Following very close behind it were 12 huge Mack tractor trailers, all of them going at about the same speed as the Yukon in front, but the odd thing was that the trailers themselves had no company logos, and their license plates were all from Virginia. At that moment, realization hit me like a thunderbolt; 12 trucks. 12 hybrids. But who were driving the trucks, and who drove the Yukon?!

Perhaps the strangest part of that video was the last little bit. This time, another GMC Yukon pulled into view, but then stopped abruptly. The driver door opened, and a rather dark and shadowy figure made its way to where the camera was and just like that, the video was over.

We stared at the screen for a few moments before Haniel stood, and I went back over to where Mikael was. Even he appeared to be baffled, but a small part of him appeared to understand. "It fits with the description that Marcel gave us, but if the hybrids were brought into town just last year, then..."

"Then there may be more hybrids we do not know about that were conducting the killings from '91 up until 2012," I finished, with a cold pit of dread developing in my stomach. But the cold pit did not go away, and I began to feel dizzy and nauseated; unfortunately, I knew why.

"Abira? Are you okay?" Mikael asked, looking at me with an odd look.

"Uh..yeah, yeah I'm fine," I replied. "Excuse me for a moment." I went over to Balthazar, who was looking at the ground in thought. He looked up the moment I neared. In a quiet whisper, I stated, "I haven't fed yet this year. May we go and.."

He nodded instantly, then turned and muttered something to his superior before leading me to one of the three bathrooms on the first floor. But as we went, I turned to notice that Mikael was looking at me intently, with suspicion in his eyes, but when his eyes met mine, he turned away. Once we were in, Balthazar grabbed his large Bowie knife (which he kept hidden for this purpose) and made a cut near his wrist, which welled up with blood instantly. I felt my fangs protrude, and my eyes hurt slightly from the veins being forced to the surface, but I bit into his arm and began to drink his blood. It tasted incredibly sweet, and I felt my strength returning instantly and at a rapid rate. Once I had my fill, I stood back up. "Thank you. Did I take too much?"

"No, my dear, you didn't," Balthazar replied gently, putting a strand of hair behind my ear. "You should probably wash your face before leaving the bathroom. Don't want Count Dracula getting suspicious."

I chuckled, and wiped my mouth with the red towel while Balthazar waited patiently. "I think he may be slightly suspicious; I saw how he was looking at us as we went into the bathroom."

He frowned, but said nothing as he held up his arm. Then he grinned. "See? You can never take too much blood from me, darling." Where I had bitten was now fully healed, thanks mainly to Balthazar's angel healing abilities. "C'mon, let's get back out there."

We entered back into the main room, where Haniel was now in the center speaking to the company of angels. "What this tape means is that there were more hybrids in New Orleans that were conducting the bites from 1991 all the way to 2012."

I raised my hand, and Haniel nodded to me. "Yes, Abira?"

"Marcel stated that some of his guys found 5 human bodies around the cemeteries in 2009, and two more in 2010, leaving there to be 13 more bites in the years surrounding."

"Precisely. What's more, it appears as though the witches in Lafayette Cemetery are somehow trying to bypass the martial law imposed there, so we will need to focus every power angel on that cemetery until the threat can either be eliminated or diminished." She looked around the room. "Clear?"

"Clear!" replied the rest of the angels.

"Great! We have work to do, and we have people to save. That is what High Command has asked of us. Now, to your stations!" she exclaimed, and almost immediately, the room was emptied of the angels, save for Balthazar and herself.

She smiled at us. "Well done getting the needed information. Now, since we have seen that you two can get along to serve a common goal," she drawled, looking from me to Mikael, "I have another task for you."

"And what would such a task entail?" Mikael asked.

"On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, I want you two to take a patrol of the city late at night, to ensure that no other odd activity is occurring in the area. I would recommend taking the Trans-Am as a patrol vehicle, as it is faster to respond to danger and it has the needed weapons." She looked intently at both of us. "You will cooperate, if you choose to take this task, right?"

"Yes ma'am," I replied, casting a short glance up at Mikael. Mikael sighed deeply, then nodded. "We accept."

"Excellent. I knew I could depend on you guys," she replied, smiling. "Now, I must be off back to Heaven for updates on orders. Ciao!"