Isaac Read online

  Northridge Vampires

  Isaac

  By

  Amy Robyn

  Copyright © 2017

  www.facebook.com/AmyRobyn1author

  Northridge Vampires: Isaac

  Isaac is a recluse. He’s a tough as nails, tattooed biker who prefers his own company. He likes training elite soldiers for the military and the strict discipline it requires. He fights for humanity even though he is no longer a member. He feels as though he is cursed to walk the world alone until he meets a fiery redhead who rocks his world and makes his heart beat for the first time in centuries.

  Paige has been raised by army men, and she knows that the military is her calling. After all, what other choice does she have? She is good at what she does, so when the general asks her to join a new paranormal division, she jumps at the chance. Who knew she would be fighting things that she has believed fictitious. She meets Isaac, and suddenly everything she was taught has changed.

  Can these two stop the team bent on their destruction?

  Table of Contents

  Table of Contents

  Legal Notes

  Chapter 1.

  Chapter 2.

  Chapter 3.

  Chapter 4.

  Chapter 5.

  Chapter 6.

  Chapter 7.

  Chapter 8.

  Chapter 9.

  Chapter 10.

  Chapter 11.

  Chapter 12.

  Chapter 13.

  Epilogue

  About Amy Robyn

  Other Books by Amy Robyn

  Legal Notes

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictionally. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with.

  Copyright© 2017 Amy Robyn. All rights reserved. Including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof, in any form. No part of this text may be reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the author.

  Version 2017.08.25

  Chapter 1. Isaac

  The air is crisp as I stop outside of my cabin. The large trees sway with the wind as little droplets of rain fall from its leaves from last night’s rain. The clouds hang low and dark, pregnant with the expectation of more rain. The ground is moist and sinks below my heavy boots. I take a deep breath and marvel in the beauty of nature and my surroundings. I never imagined I would grow to love Washington as I have but then again, I do not belong anywhere. I am and always will remain an outsider. Sure, I play the part to fit in, but not one person truly knows me, and I would like to keep it that way.

  I step under my low hanging carport and there my baby is all shiny and ready to be ridden hard, my Harley. She’s a true thing of beauty, completely remade by my hands. A biker, from one of those stupid clubs that the human bikers seem to like, decided to drive her head first into a tree. I never understood the fascination with the clubs. It’s just a bunch of overgrown men acting like children as the real men work hard to obtain the things they need in life. They can be mighty tasty after they have had a round or two with my fists. If there’s anything I hate worse than a bully, it’s men who treat women like they are nothing more than whores.

  I love my bike, and I like that I’m left to my own devices. I do not answer to anyone but myself. The military learned through many struggles that they couldn’t control me either. They had a decision on their hands, destroy me or get my help in training their elites. Guess what choice they made, after attempting to take me out. They had no choice.

  I stomp my feet, hoping to get the worst of the mud and muck off my boots before climbing on my bike. There’s nothing I hate more than dirtying my bike though out here it’s bound to happen. I straddle my bike and start it. It purrs to life, and I can’t help revving it a little to feel it’s life between my legs. There is nothing like the freedom you feel on the back of a bike. It’s the only thing that makes me feel anything these days. The open road and the wind in my face remind me that I’m alive even if my heart has not beat in some time. William thinks I need to be around more of our kind. I always would laugh when he would say that. I’m a nomad, a loner, and I like it that way. No messy attachments.

  I kick up the kickstand and take off down my driveway. I live about thirty miles outside of civilization, and my driveway is long and hidden from passerby’s. I learned a long time ago that nothing is permanent but you protect what you cherish and everything I care about is in my home. Mostly memories or ghosts from my past. Meaningless in the hands of anyone else. To me, they are worth more than any gold or gems could buy. They are mostly memories that time has tarnished but still live on through me.

  I pull out on the freeway, and the feel of the wind and the open road take me to another place. Freedom. The roar of my engine and infinite places I can go. Of course, I have a designation, but I could choose to go anywhere. It’s one of the many reasons I did not choose to live among others of my kind. I never want to feel tethered to anything or anyone. I have met some decent vampires in my time yet staying near them does not sound appealing to me. They call me a recluse for a reason, I am.

  I sigh as I turn off on the road that leads to the tattoo shop where I get my ink. I add to my many tattoos every so often when I need to remember something. Today, it’s to fill in the tattoo I started many years ago after watching my last descendant pass away. It’s to remember my great, great, great niece and the sister I once loved back when I could feel. I try to hold on to the memories of them, but with time it dims, that’s why I get the tattoos to remind myself that once I could feel.

  Back in the fifteenth-century things were very different, and I’m not just talking about technology. If you grew up in a religious household, you remained chaste until marriage. I was no exception. In many ways, this is wrong for young men. I see this now. Young men were marrying for lust and not for love, but back then there were no such things as divorces. Men would become unfaithful and destroy the woman they promised to cherish. I saw it happen with my sister. I was determined to marry for love. Therefore, I was alone as my life changed.

  My sister married a man who quickly realized he didn’t love her and took to the women in the saloons or what we called stews. When even that didn’t help him with his reality, he chose to hit my sister and push her into being his slave. I couldn’t stand by and idly watch as she cried and despaired. I would find him once a week at the stew and beat him bloody. I would warn him never to hit my sister again, or I would be back. I was always back. It was almost as though he enjoyed to beatings. He finally took a pistol to his mouth, but not before he had knocked my sister up.

  I moved in with her to help care for her and the baby until she could find a new husband. I would work anywhere I could to get enough money to support us but it was never good enough. I finally caught a break when the owner of a stew had remembered me from beating my brother in law and offered me a job as muscle for the women. It worked out very nicely. I had enough money to buy us anything we needed. The only problem was meeting any decent women after that, went out the window. They would hear where I worked and would assume I was partaking in the merchandise I guarded. I would try to explain that I would never be interested in any of those women but they never believed me.

  I never had anything against those working girls. Some of them were fun to talk to, though every one of them had a bad past that prevented them from ever liking any of their Johns. They disassociated sex with love. I wanted a woman who would know I love
her by pleasing her with my body. The girls I guarded were jaded, and sex to them was just an act for which they received payment. I wanted intimacy and marriage. You would understand had you met them. I guess the human me was fanciful.

  Now, I do not give a shit about any of that. If I ever did meet the woman destined to be mine, I’m not sure what I would do. I certainly wouldn’t care what her profession is. I’m old and used to being alone and not needing to answer to anyone. It’s hard to believe the man I used to be compared to the man I am today. It wouldn’t be fair for me to complicate a woman in my world. She would only see violence, and I wonder, not for the first time if I could even feel anything for my mate. I certainly have not felt anything in so long.

  I worked at the brothel until my niece Sara started school. My sister, Emma found a new husband and moved with him closer to the city. She sold her house, and I rented an apartment above the brothel.

  The night my life changed was just like every other night. One of the women screamed, and I had gone to the door to tell the John to clothe himself and leave. I was still young and thought I could handle any situation. I was not prepared for the John to have a knife. I remember opening the door, and suddenly I felt a piercing pain in my abdomen. I didn’t know what he hit me with at first as I swung at him. I get a few good hits before I saw the blade and felt it pierce my skin again just below the previous wound. I collapsed to the floor, and the John left. I lay bleeding on the floor when a door opened to the right. A man appeared before me and asked if I wanted immortal life. I didn’t take him very seriously yet told him that I did. All I thought about was that my time was cut short. I didn’t ask what kind of life I would live. It was selfish of me. He whispered something to me. I can’t remember what it was. That was all I can remember as I lost consciousness.

  I stayed with David until I learned all I needed to know to survive my new life and then I left. I didn’t want to pretend I was human still as David did and yet I didn’t want to live as a vampire either. I chose my course and never looked back. David was killed six years later by hunters, and I regretted not being there to save him, but I know he would understand. I could never be a part of a group or any society in any way. I loved my family as a human and know I would have stayed with them, but something died in me the night of my change. I will always be the recluse William named me.

  My sister buried what she believed was my body, and in many ways, I was in that casket, it was a way of saying goodbye. I died, and she moved on with her life the way it was supposed to happen. I watched her from afar but always keeping my distance. I have been dead inside and never could connect my emotions again. That is why it’s so damn difficult being around others. How can you pretend to feel when you feel nothing at all? The only thing that keeps me going is the memories and the freedom of my bike.

  The first thing I did when I left David was to join the military. I wanted to use my newfound abilities for the good of humanity even though I was no longer a member. The only difficulty I had as a new vampire was when blood was shed and let’s face it there was constant bloodshed. The first war I fought in was complete chaos, but I knew where I stood, and I stood strong, earning my first of many medals. Waste of metal if you ask me. I didn’t want any award for doing what I still believe is my duty. I had to change my name and re-enlist every decade. It was difficult always starting from scratch again.

  I fear I have become too lax in that department. It’s been nearly twenty years now. It’s time to cut ties with the military again and be reborn again. I just finished training a new batch of Rangers for the army and realized that maybe it’s time for me to find something new to do. The thrill is nearly gone, not that there was much. Things are heating up with North Korea and a shit storm with Russia. I’m not sure I have another useless war in me. Man will never solve anything. They are too busy worrying about money and not enough about their people.

  I have felt the unrest in the General who sends men to me. I have a very strong feeling I have overstayed my welcome again. I do not want to give away that there are vampires in this world. That would create a whole new problem. Humans are not ready to know about us. Hell, they may never be ready. They see different, and they want to shoot to kill. Look how long it took them to accept gay marriages and people of different ethnicity. It’s unbelievable to me. I hope that someday we will see a difference, but I’m not holding my breath.

  I pull up at the tattoo shop and park my bike near the door. I give my baby a quick wipe down before walking into the shop. Gene looks up at me when I enter.

  “Paul is ready for you.” He says as he points behind him to the curtain. I nod my head as I walk past him to the curtain that separates stalls. Paul is cleaning the seat and looks up at me and gives a chin lift. Paul doesn’t talk a lot, and I like that. Nothing is worse than an overly chatty tattoo artist. I have had a few and nearly sent them through the window a time or two. With Paul, he knows what I want and is damn good at what he does. He doesn’t ask questions and works in silence.

  I lay on my stomach on the bench and let the sting of the needle soothe my nerves. There is nothing like a little sting to help you think.

  Chapter 2. Paige

  I’m trying really, hard not to roll my eyes right now as the General talks out his ass. It’s becoming his MO. I swear the man likes to hear himself talk. He has chosen several of us to join a new division, a paranormal division. Yes, there really are things out there that go bump in the night. Things until recently, I thought were all fables, stories told to frighten children. Vampires, who would have thought I would be saving the world from vampires.

  My entire family is in the military, and when I was a little girl, I played with guns instead of dolls. I knew I was going to enlist at an early age. My mother died when I was two, and I was raised by my father and two older brothers, all of whom were in the military. My dad is now ‘retired,' though I know that’s shit. He’s doing something he just hasn’t told me what. Not that he shares much with me. He has always been on unclassified missions for our government. I think he is stilling doing them only they are under the table now.

  I never felt like I had anything to prove growing up with so many men. That’s not why I chose the military. I chose it because it’s all I have ever known and I enjoy the exhilaration of fighting for the country I love so much. I feel it’s my civic duty to give back to my fellow man. I also love the training. My body thrives on exertion. I have never been very tall, but I use my size as a weapon. I’m greatly underestimated, and it gives me an advantage. I have long red hair that I keep up in a tight bun under my military issued hat and my eyes are a light green. I have been told my eyes are too large for my face and give me a look of innocence, which again makes people underestimate me.

  We are being sent to the best trainer the military can offer, but we are not allowed to disclose our new division. It’s typical for highly classified missions anyway. The General speaks highly of this man though I can tell he doesn’t trust him very much. Not that most high-ranking officials trust many. It must come with the territory of alpha males. The overabundance of testosterone must be the cause. I should know I was raised in a house full of it. The general is nothing compared to the men I was surrounded by all my life. All the men in my family are well over six foot and weighing close to two hundred and fifty each. I started training with them at age three.

  “You will report to Isaac Bowings at o-eight hundred.” The general says as he dismisses us. I’m with two other men, also chosen for the new division. I have never met them but I’m sure they’re the best in their division, or they wouldn’t have been chosen. Only the best, yes, I’m rolling my eyes.

  I head back to the barracks to pack my bags even though I have little to pack and it will only take me a few moments to get ready. I’m not a very sociable person. I prefer the company of men, but as soon as they start hitting on me, I’m out of there. It’s not that I haven’t dated. I just see how my brothers treat women and I will never give
my virginity to someone who will just consider me another notch in their belt. I have more self-respect than that. I’m also waiting for a man who makes me weak at the knees. A man who makes butterflies take flight in my belly. I have dreamed of meeting such a man, but it hasn’t happened yet, and I’m starting to doubt it will.

  “Paige, wanna go get a drink?” Sam says as he comes around the corner. He asks me this every day hoping one day I will give him another answer. Never going to happen.

  “Sorry, Sam. I ship out this evening.” I tell him as I continue walking.

  “Then you need to come out with me. If not, you’ll never know if our chemistry is as combustible as I think it will be.” He says, and I stare up at the ceiling hoping without hope that he will just shut up.

  “You know this cat and mouse game has to stop.” He says as he steps closer to me and breathes against my neck. A chill runs down my spine and not in a good way.

  “Look, Sam, I have never had any interest in you. I’m sorry if you thought I did.” I tell him and start walking again.

  “Bull shit, you’re just chicken.” He clucks, and I just keep walking as I send the middle finger over my shoulder. I breathe a sigh of relief when I reach my room. I close the door behind me as I look around at what had been my home for the last six months. I never had a home for very long. As a child, we were always moving to different bases, so it’s nothing new for me. It’s just a part of military life and something I would never want to change. The lack of personal effects and my clothes pressed and put away, makes the room seem so empty, yet it’s all I have ever known. The only thing that really bothers me now is the loneliness that seems to be seeping into me. I was always surrounded by family, and now we are all in different states. Me here in Kansas, one brother overseas and one in New York. My dad moved to Washington when he retired, so we will be in the same state, at least in the time it takes for my training. I hope to see him while I’m out there.