Parasite ; Sleeper Cells ; Kingdoms of the Dead

by Ian Woodhead

The other figure growled. “Brother, you will feel me ripping off your tiny head if you cause me to drop this body again. Healiod, you are acting like some virgin boy on his wedding night. Stop your fretting, the First Father will be busy with his new toy at least until the sun sets.”

  Damien didn’t recognise those voices, they weren’t the bastards that jumped on him and Elsie at his aunt’s house. He didn’t know they were from the same clan, his blood told him that much. They were his family now. He resisted the urge to scoff, like they’d accept a jumped up little turd like him into their clan.

  He wished that he could see them, the temptation to try and read their thoughts ate into him, he so needed to learn more about these vampires. Damien believed that the one who had done all the talking so far was the closest blur to the plastic curtains. He concentrated on that dark shape and decided to take the risk. He closed his eyes and remembered how easy he found it to read the minds of those idiots up in that tree.

  If they those vampires at the house had managed to catch him, Damien had no doubt that those fuckers would have torn off his limbs without breaking into a sweat. He had gained extra body mass, thanks to his feeding tonight, even so, those vampire must have been at this blood sucking business for centuries, they’ll be old hands at this game, if he went up against them. They’d have no problem in ripping up his body like it was made of wet tissue.

  There was one endowment that he suspected that both of those clowns lacked in sufficient quantities. He didn’t have their brawn but compared to the ones that he’d already met, he was a mental giant, he was going to bet that the two in front of him were just as stupid.

  Damien composed himself and focused on the moving shadows beyond the corridor. Without a pause, he found himself standing on the other side of those plastic curtains and staring at two of the largest males that he had ever seen. His heart almost ceased beating when the one still holding the body, suddenly swivelled his huge head and stared right at Damien. He got ready to run, clenching his fists and trying to remember the layout of this market, desperately thinking of any place where he’d be able to hide without these huge vampires finding him. Damien let out his held breath when the vampire’s eyes darted past him and focused on a fire extinguisher, bolted to the tiled wall, a few feet from where they stood.

  The vampire then returned his gaze at his companion when he growled at him. Just looking at these two jokers, Damien knew that he hadn’t been wrong about them being able to pull off his arms and legs. Even the smaller vampire’s heavily muscled body strained against his black leather tunic. They both looked exactly how he perceived vampires to look like, built like fucking battle tanks, ugly as sin with an attitude to match. They could have stepped right out of any of his bedroom posters. In truth, they scared the shit out of him, their appearance also gave him hope, knowing that before long, he’d be able to match their bulk. Damien just hoped that as his body filled out, he wouldn’t lose his good looks.

  “Am I carrying this alone, brother?” snarled the smaller vampire. “Healiod, are you listening to my words?”

  Damien stared at the one named Healiod, his most prominent feature, after he got past his bulk, just had to be his hair. He wore it in a tight pony tail that stretched all the way down his back. Was the vivid red, his natural colour? Damien had difficulty believe that such a vicious looking monster would take time to dye it. He shrugged, then again, what did he know about these individuals apart from their lust for blood? He smiled, thinking that their lust was now his lust.

  The smaller vampire didn’t seem share his brother’s love for hair, he had none. Elaborate tattoos covered his smooth dome. Apart for their preference for black leather, Damien saw no family resemblance. Perhaps, they were just clan brothers?

  “I am listening to your words, Helix, but I find no interest in them.” He picked up the body’s legs. “Now, if you were to explain to me why you are shaking?”

  Helix vigorously shook his head. “Your eyes need replacing. I am not shaking, my body is as still as this corpse.”

  Healiod chuckled. “Even your head pictures are dancing, brother. I have known you for all of our tainted lives, both as human and as vampire. I know you better than you think, Helix. Perhaps even better than you know yourself. That though is not an idle boast, you have never been such a complicated creature.”

  “You know nothing about me. Just for once, stop trying to berate my senses.”

  “I have no clue as to what you are saying!” cried Healiod. “I say you shake and you deny it and call me a liar. How is that an insult?”

  “Your insults are in how you move when we converse, they are behind every word that falls from your mouth.”

  The large vampire sighed heavily. “Helix, your body quivered, that is what I saw. Tell me why?”

  Damien watched the smaller vampire turn his head around the market. “I forget that your senses are not so finely tuned, my brother. It is simple, I can feel the presence of another vampire, may be another one of our clan?”

  Healiod burst out in laughter. “You are such a fool. It is the First Father you sense. Even I can feel his presence.” He growled again, “Oh, for what I would do to enjoy those two human females he has with him.” Healiod glared at his brother. “I urge you to focus on our own task and not to allow your nomadic thoughts to stray close to his.”

  “It was not his that I detected!” cried Helix.

  The large vampire dropped the body and grabbed the front of his brother’s tunic. “Listen very carefully to my words, Helix. If Desmonus discovers that we have fed, not once but many times, he will punish us. If Desmonus discovers that we allowed our after feasting to change into ghouls, then he will gut us and order the rest of the clan to consume us. Is this how you wish to end your existence?”

  Helix shook his head.

  Damien’s head smacked into the wall behind his back. He snapped his eyes open, immediately aware of the passage of time. His internal body clock had never been that accurate until he had changed. He didn’t doubt the result. Somehow, his body had just decided to shut down on its own volition and over four hours had passed.

  “Why the fuck don’t I feel any better then?” he muttered, flexing his arm, frowning at the stiffness in his muscles. He slowly got back onto his feet and approached the curtains, quietly confident that, like him, the other visitors had all found hidden niches to curl up and sleep away the daylight hours.

  He glanced behind him, at the corner of the wall and felt the desire to return to see if he could sleep off some of this ache. “No, I can’t do that, there is still so much to find out.”

  Damien knew that he probably wouldn’t get a better time to gain a little more information. From what he had found out already, he didn’t think it would be that difficult to sneak into their sleeping minds.

  He pushed his way through the plastic curtains, instinctively cringing at the spears of sunlight, highlighting the walked-in grease and lumps of blackened chewing gum stuck to the paving slabs. He almost hissed at the hateful sight of all that daylight.

  “For fuck’s sake,” he muttered, carefully edging his way away from the deadly rays and keeping his back pressed against the metal shutters. “I’ll need some sun cream. I think factor one million should cover it.” Despite his effort to make light of the subject, he knew that it’d take him a long time to get over the fact that he’d never feel the sun of his face again. That did suck big time. “So, I’m banished to the dark for all eternity.” Damien hurried through the butcher’s quarter, intending to make his way up to the top end of the market. He guessed that, just like him, the other vampires would rather keep the sunlight away from their flesh. He figured that they’d all gravitate towards the old part of the market, the old Victorian building was as gloomy as fuck. Not many traders operated up there now.

  He knew of a dozen forgotten hiding places in the old quarter where a couple of sleepy vampires could catch forty winks. Not every stall had shutters, it wouldn’t take much effort
to break through some of those thin wooden boards that covered the stall windows.

  As he ran along the stone floor, heading away from the butcher’s quarters, he found it hard to clear the image of two evil vampires, sleeping in the middle of a floor full of soft teddy bears, probably sucking their thumbs.

  It took Damien just minutes to reach the old quarter, he welcomed the gloom and the darkness, despite his earlier regrets about never feeling the sun, as he wandered down the dark aisles, he found his urge to feel warmth quickly diminish. He stopped beside a mobile phone repair shop and slowly turned in a tight circle, keeping his ears open, trying to detect any sounds. Apart from his own slight breathing, Damien couldn’t hear anything. They couldn’t have left, no way, that option just wasn’t possible.

  He calmed himself down, those two vampires had to be hiding in here somewhere. All he had to do was to keep looking. Thinking about it, the idea of not being discovered made a lot of sense. Right now, those creatures were at their most vulnerable. The last thing they needed was a bunch of angry villagers, carrying burning torches, digging up their still bodies and tying them to a huge stake.

  Damien shook away the bizarre image and hurried through the aisles, keeping his senses attuned for signs of their presence. He couldn’t feel their minds anywhere, they couldn’t have just left the place, where else would they go?

  His probing senses suddenly flew back when their tentative touch brushed against a hurricane-like force. A mind infinitely more powerful than any he’d ever encountered. He fell against a discount clothing stall, trying to push his trembling body through the wood.

  This mind could only belong to their Swarmer First Father. Damien caught his breath, remembering that he was his First Father now. This didn’t make any sense to Damien. He knew that the First Father was in the market, he sensed his presence ages ago but it hadn’t been that different from the other clan minds, at least not when the First Father was awake. Damien now saw the First Father’s true power. Whilst sleeping, the vampire’s roaming thought hunted down any suspicion. He dreaded to think how he rooted out any dissent amongst his clan. That sleeping mind was so powerful, just cracking with dark energy. Damien honestly believed that the First Father could literally turn any other mind into a lump of thoughtless mush, if he so desired.

  He dropped t the floor and shut his eyes tight when he felt that incredible mind heeding towards him. Damien thought about the mist and fog again, trying not to cry out when the First Father’s cold mind brushed over his. Damien’s body broke out in sakes when he felt the mind leaving him.

  Damien climbed up the front of the shop, feeling like he’d just walked through a tornado. The power in that vampire’s mind really did scare him. He now see why he couldn’t find the other minds. Their own survival depended on secrecy. He took a deep breath and tried again to locate them, now that the First Fathers mind had swept the area, perhaps they would feel that the coast was clear. He focused on their signatures, feeling something very cold close by. Damien grinned, he had found them, it was just a weak trace but he knew exactly where there were now. Frustration overcame him when he discovered that no matter how hard he tried, there was no way inside their thoughts. Of course not, Damien should have figured that out as soon as the First Father’s incredibly powerful mind left him feeling as weak as a baby.

  “What a delightful surprise.”

  Damien yelled out in shock when he felt a huge pair of hands land on his shoulders. He dropped to the floor and rolled, looking up at the sight of another vampire glaring down at him. The vampire’s face suddenly displayed utter astonishment. Damien felt the vampire’s mind attempt to process the fact that his food was another vampire, just like him.

  There was no way that he was going to hang around until this idiot’s brain had shifted into first gear. Damien jumped up and raced down the aisle, listening to his pursuer’s furious roar.

  What the hell was he doing? Damien just wanted to stop, turn and explain to this monster that he was part of their family now, he glanced around and saw this inhuman abomination gaining on him and knew that this evil bastard would not listen to any discussion, his pursuer didn’t see him as family, only as a tender morsel.

  “Fuck you too!” he snarled. Damien jumped onto the wall and scaled up the brickwork, the hard tips of his fingers easily finding enough grip in the old mortar. Damien looked down, at his murderous expression and wanted to laugh at this ape’s comical expression. “Are you going to calm down?”

  As he leaned a bit to far out, his fingers began to slip, Damien panicked and grasped out, his fingers finding and grabbing a length of thick material attached to the ceiling. The cloth came away in his hands and He cried out as daylight streamed through the previously blocked up skylight.

  Damien let go of the cloth and tried to wrap his fingers around a thick pipe, but his fingers just would obey his commands, he spun his head around and watched in horror as the huge vampire below him jumped out of the path of the falling material and stepped straight into the sunlight streaming into the market. The result was just cataclysmic; his whole body just began to melt, like a candle in the path of an acetylene torch. The dying vampire scream slammed into Damien’s mind hard, he felt like he’d just been hit by a speeding truck. His fingers lost their grip and he fell, slamming into the hard concrete floor, narrowly missing the fatal sunlight.

  He turned his head away from the sight of the vampire’s dissolving body, finding that he couldn’t move his legs, the fall must have broken his bones. He felt no pain yet, but he knew that delight wouldn’t stay suppressed for long. Damien felt the others waking up

  Chapter Eleven

  He couldn’t remember what had jerked him awake. Cade listened to the incessant bird chatter, trying to work out just how that noise was supposed to be restful. Right now, he’d give his right arm for a shotgun. Cade lowered his head, wrinkling his nose as his movement caused the soft heather under him to release more sweet scent. He decided that it must be the plants that brought out of his restless slumber, the smell reminded him, indirectly of his mother’s dressing table.

  Cade slowly sat up and brushed pieces of plant out of his hair. He arched his back, feeling the bones crack; his muscles weren’t his friend this morning, that much was certain. Cade attributed his numerous aches from yesterday’s strenuous activities, not because he bedded down on an improvised bed made from heather and a piece of dry carpet that Katy found rolled up behind a wheelie bin.

  He quietly chuckled to himself, remembering all those times when he and Damien had fallen into drunken slumbers at assorted house parties around the town. “I’ve never up next to such a hot girl before though,” he whispered, gazing in admiration at Katy’s smooth back.

  His thoughts of desire paused when the girl suddenly jumped and gasp out. Cade snuggled closer and ran his hand through her hair. “It’s okay, sweetheart,” he whispered, leaning forward to kiss her cheek. She moaned again but didn’t wake up. He rested his hand on her shoulder and caressed her tense muscles. She must be in the middle of a dream, by the way she was twisting about and groaning, he doubted that it would be about fluffy clouds and unicorns.

  “Baby?” He jerked her shoulder. “Come on, snap out of it.”

  Katy yelped then her eyes snapped open. Her momentary confusion vanished when she saw Cade. The girl’s face broke into a soft grin.

  “Hey there, handsome. Fancy meeting you here.” She reached out, grabbed his hair and pulled him closer. “It’s time you finished something.” Katy pressed her soft lips against his and kissed him passionately.

  He could help but to respond when she wrapped her naked legs around his thighs and pulled him tight against her body. “Baby?” he gasped pulling his head up. “Sweetheart, I so want you, more than anything else but, we need to figure out what to do!”

  She shook her head. “Hush, it’s daylight now, they’ll be sleeping and right now I can’t think of anything else but the feel you inside me.” She grabbed his hea
d. “Now you listen to me, Cade McCrae. Somehow, we are still alive. How the fuck that happened is a miracle.”

  He saw her eyes filling up and automatically wiped away her tears. “Everything is going to be alright, you’ll see.”

  “No it fucking won’t!” she snapped. “When the sun goes down, those things will be back.” Katy grabbed his wrists. “We might not make it to see the next sun up.” She stared into his eyes. “Cos you’re not going to leave, are you?”

  He shook his head. “No, I can’t leave. I can’t run away from this, Katy. They need to be stopped.”

  She nodded. “Oh baby, please, let’s just get the hell out of town. I don’t want to die and I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

  He caught his ragged breath, looking into her terror struck eyes before rolling off her. “Sweetheart, what choice do we have? They aren’t going away. It doesn’t matter where we going, you can be sure that they’ll find us again. These fuckers are like a plague.”

  Katy broke down. “But, it’s not our fucking problem!”

  He shook his head, sure that he had heard the noise of a car engine. Cade sat up, gazed down to the bottom of the embankment, and saw over two dozen assorted vans and cars slowly winding along the previously empty lane. Cade turned away and looked into her beautiful eyes. “Baby, there is nobody else.” He leaned back down and kissed her softly on the lips the passed the girl her top. “Look at this, sweetheart.”

  “Oh shitting hell, I’d forgotten all about them.”

  Cade nodded, he had as well. How ironic was that? The annual Ichiban Metal festival was the only event that he and his fellow metal loving friends looked forward to. The rest of the town hated it, sure, they were grateful for the vast amount of disposable income that a few thousand seasoned metallers brought to the town but none of the locals could be comfortable with so much long hair and black leather mingling with the country tweed and beige jodhpurs. The festival was the only time when Cade actually felt normal.