Blood Work Read Free

one and only business-like term I knew, I backed off. “Now, you
said they were upstairs?”
    Barry nodded
vaguely, the thought he was in over his head clear in his glazed
eyes. “There’s a session in progress. With, with normal people in
there. Do you... Do you want me to stop it?”
    Air froze in
my lungs. What if my delay at the casino had cost lives? I shook
away the thought. I couldn’t afford it at the moment. My only
consolation was this mob hadn’t done more than toss a few people
about so far, break an arm or two. Nothing life threatening. But I
knew they wouldn’t stay tame for much longer. It was only a matter
of time before someone died. I just hoped that time hadn’t come and
gone.
    “No. It’ll
just let them know we’re on to them.” I leaned in close to Roberts
and whispered, “Don’t let him call the cops. And see if you can get
these kids out of here.”
    “Anything else
I can do for you? Maybe go confront the baddies as well?”
    “Don’t be
silly. You couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn from the inside.”
Before he could thump me, I was off and jogging for the stairs
leading up.
    The stairwell
was narrow but well lit, and empty. I hurried up them two at a
time, reaching for the Desert Eagle as I neared the top. The red
rope that barred the entrance to the landing was slung across the
opening, the attendant that counted off players missing. Back
pressed to the wall, I peered into the room at the top of the
stairs.
    It was dark,
lit only by a spill of light from the stairwell, and a flickering
montage of fluorescent streaks coming in through a window on the
front of the building. Shadows danced across the floor and walls,
making focusing difficult. I’d done a walk through previously,
though, and knew roughly where everything was. To the left, in
front of the window, was the register, where you signed up for
teams and hired equipment. Opposite was the outfitting area, where
you donned your vest and guards and picked up your weapon. Ranks of
laser guns and rifles lined one wall. In the shifting light, I saw
six empty places.
    Eagle at the
ready, I stepped over the rope, left knee twinging a little as I
bent it back. Hoping the blasted leg would hold up, I sidled over
to the desk, taking a quick look behind it. No nasties waiting to
ambush me there. They were all in the main room. With a bunch of
victims. Awesome.
    The doors to
the main room were closed, a push-bar shining dully in the dimness.
I eased up to it, leaned my ear against the door. It vibrated to
the beat-heavy music playing inside. A small fringe of smoke curled
around the gap at the base of the doors, flashes of different
coloured lasers lighting it up sporadically.
    Desert Eagle
in my right hand, the left on the push-bar, I took a deep breath
and calmed my racing pulse. The stray thought I should have asked
Barry how many there were crossed my mind, but I ignored it and
pushed down.
    The door swung
in, letting out a rush of purple tinged smoke, a blast of
ear-busting music designed to wake Satan himself and a high-pitched
scream.
    Doubts
forgotten in a surge of adrenaline, I rushed in, stopping only long
enough to kick the door closed behind me. It was designed to only
open from the outside. I’d effectively trapped myself in a locked
room with an unknown number of vampires.
    It wasn’t the
stupidest thing I’d ever done, but it was, you know, up there.
    Taking a deep
breath, I faced the room and in my best John McClane, muttered,
“Yippie-kai-yay.”

Chapter 2
    If I thought the reflected light of
the outside lasers was bad in the previous room, I clearly didn’t
know the meaning of the word.
    The game room
spanned the entire floor of the building, broken up into a maze of
dead ends, killing grounds and narrow passages. Only a few of the
walls were permanent, most of them were moveable, shorter than the
fixed ones so that there was an empty space below the ceiling. Grey
clouds produced by smoke machines drifted about up