Parasite ; Sleeper Cells ; Kingdoms of the Dead

by Ian Woodhead

  Desmonus nodded and smiled. Damien just knew that the First Father must have been aware that they were already on their way to join them, it was written all over the vampire’s face. He waited for Desmonus to turn around before trying to catch a glimpse of Eleanor. He saw the female vampire immediately. He couldn’t miss Eleanor, the girl simply shined compared to the thugs dressed in filthy rags who shambled behind her.

  There were no sweaty palms, no raised temperature or were there any sign that his heart was about to make a run for it. Damien felt nothing for her, he didn’t even find the woman all that attractive. Damien sighed and turned his attention back to the First Father, wondering what he ever saw in the woman.

  Desmonus’s face was an emotionless mask. “It is recommended that you do not allow your cock to grow whilst you are in her presence, my First Son.”

  He shrugged. “Don’t worry about that. She really isn’t my type, buddy.”

  “Eleanor is everybody’s type. Just look at how the others act around her, they follow her like puppy dogs.”

  He did see what he meant; the other males in the clan all had their brains in neutral around her. “There’s no worries with me, Desmonus. I’m not in the habit of stealing another bloke’s girlfriend.”

  “That is reassuring to hear,” he replied. Desmonus turned around and faced the four new vampires. “I hope that you were able to find somewhere to sleep in the new world while the hateful sun completed its journey through the sky.”

  Damien saw how the faces of those three male vampires changed from shock and bloodlust to just shock as Healiod walked amongst them, whispering into their ears. It was difficult to judge Eleanor’s reaction, she didn’t seem to be all that surprised to see him still living.

  He tried not to cringe when he remembered how he acted in the market, Damien guessed that he did kind of come across as some kind of love-sick puppy when he reached out to her.

  It pleases me to see that you are still around, Damien.

  He glanced at the woman and nodded just once, he should have told the First Father about their mental contact. If what Desmonus said about her was true, and he had no reason to doubt him, then her familiarity could lead to complications. The woman was still staring at him; she made him feel so uncomfortable. There was something at the back of his mind, it felt like he had a large fly bouncing around the inside of his skull. Damien gave her one last glance, Shuddering when Eleanor gave him a sly wink.

  Healiod returned to tending his brother, the large vampire nodded to Damien as he passed him. Would they believe Healiod’s whispered words or would he have to prove himself once more. Damien was happy to do just that, if any of them did try their luck.

  Desmonus turned back around. “Damien,” he whispered. “Look at them, they can not believe that such a week blooded specimen, such as yourself, is now their First Son. They will not believe Healiod’s words and they will not fully accept my decision. I do not blame them, their vampire essence is the true instigator in this scenario. You will have to prove your worth again.”

  Damien couldn’t care less about what the others thought about him. If they still believed that he was that same terrified youth from last night, then they’ll see the error of their thinking.

  He gritted his teeth again when the First Father grabbed his wrists once more and dug his long fingernails into his flesh.

  “Oh, I am in hurting myself, as I know that my rough handling of your delicate body, causes you distress.” He mocked. “Worry not. My bite will soon drive out the last of your humanity.”

  Damien didn’t like the sound of that.

  “You were a mongrel. You have never been a pure human. How could you be like the rest of the herd when you have blood, tainted from my Clan enemy, running through your veins? If I was a First Father who could not adapt to a new situation, Damien, I would have killed you and then I would have killed Eleanor for attempting to undermine my position by upsetting the balance.”

  Desmonus chuckled and dug his fingers deeper into his flesh. “I can adapt well, I see a challenge and turn it around and make it an opportunity. I have just finished off your change. Did I mention that you are about to die? Perhaps my Clan strain will revive you, perhaps not.” He shrugged. “If that does happen, then one of the others will be very eager to step over your corpse and become my second in command.”

  The vampire’s boasting voice began to lower in volume before finally fading away. He felt his lungs contract, the movement was involuntary, he had no control as every scrap of air escaped from his mouth. He stared, fascinated as the breath solidified directly in front of his face. If looked just like a cloud of pale yellow candy floss, suspended a few face from the ground. He tore his eyes away from the occurrence and looked at the others, intending to ask if they had a clue what had just happened. He doubted that any of them would answer as they too, just like his breath, had frozen in mid pose.

  “Okay, so this is so fucking weird.” They weren’t even blinking. He looked down, thankful that at least he could move his body. Damien lifted his hand then extended his index finger. “Just what did that clown pump into my neck? I feel like I’ve had my drink spiked with LSD.”

  He prodded the cloud, yelling in shock and pain. He felt like he’d just touched the metal plate of a hot iron. “You bastard!” he snarled. “I bet you know what’s happening to me,” said Damien, glaring at the First Father’s frozen stare. The cloud then contracted and faded away

  “Okay, playtime is over, guys. I would like this to end now.” Damien groaned, feeling a sudden sharp stabbing pain in the base of his stomach, the pain spread up, throughout his chest, filling him with thousands of needles, all pushing into his soft flesh. Damien fell to his knees, clutching his guts, tight. He jerked up his head and filed his lungs. The needles-like pain just vanished as the air that he took in, chilled his body down to freezing. He blinked slowly, watching the other vampires slowly start to shift.

  Damian stared into the First Father’s eyes, watching the vampire’s glare change in slow motion to his big grin. He groaned and found himself close to falling when real time reasserted itself. Desmonus rushed forward and caught Damien, putting him back onto his unsteady feet.

  “Welcome to our Clan,” said Desmonus. “It seems that your spirit was able to fight off the clutches of the moon and her daughters.” The First Father then pressed the fingernail on his index finger into Damien’s bicep.

  Damien watched and grinned as bright scarlet blood ran down his bare arm. The First father had managed to push his nail and the tip of his finger into the wound before he pulled it back out. There was no pain. “Am I dead, First Father?”

  Desmonus licked Damien’s blood off his finger then shook his head. “No, the dead do not bleed, nor do they talk. We exist in the void between.” He grabbed Damien’s shoulders and turned him to face the gathered vampires. “This is your new First Son of the Swarmer Clan. You are now his children. He will protect you, keep you safe and ensure that you obey me at all times. Your misdemeanours are his misdemeanours. This is your first and only warning, he will punish any dissent with impunity.” He pointed to Helix’s face. “Helix took the assumption that the First Son’s slight build was a sign of weakness. I suggest that you do not repeat his mistake.”

  The new arrivals gave Damien the briefest of acknowledgment before something else caught their attention. They all turned as one, lifting their noses into the air. He had no idea what sort of game they were playing, nor did he really care. Damien looked at the crater that the First Father had dug into his bicep, noticing that the blood had already stopped flowing, it looked a bit like a miniature pool of red water now. He smiled to himself, now finding the tips of his canines were notably larger.

  There was no doubting it now, he was one a them, Damien was a Swarmer vampire and… He suddenly caught the scent of something wondrous. His blood heated up, it felt like boiling water rushing through his veins. The others all now looked at him, despite Desmonus’s warning
s, the Clan now looked at him, their bright shining red eyes, just waiting for him to give the order.

  “They are yours to command,” hissed the First Father. He lifted his own head. “There are three of them and they travel towards the fields. The humans are not from this town. One is a female she is young.” Her spin his head. “Give the order, you fool! Your clan needs feeding. I need quick and quiet deaths, without alerting the main herd.”

  Damien nodded. “Eleanor, take Helix and head north.”

  “Have you lost your mind?” she cried. “They go west. I will not allow you to cut me out of the hunt.”

  “For fuck’s sake, you stupid tart!” he growled. Damien charged up to the female and viciously pushed her back, watching with amusement as the other new arrivals jumped back when she crashed into the brick wall between two shuttered shops. “I’m not cutting anyone out of the hunt. They’ll take a left and cut through the side of the park. It’s dark, there’s no way on this planet that any lass will go through there at this time. There’s a large gate that will take your prey straight into the largest field. Eleanor, get to that before them and they’ll just fall into your arms.”

  He looked at the others. “It’s my town, remember? I know the ground. Now go hunt them down.” He smiled at the sight of Helix picking her off the floor. She slapped away his arms before fleeing into the night. The other Clan members stayed together and raced down the street.

  The First Father quietly laughed. “You will make a fine addition to the clan. Once we have fed on their blood, we shall endeavour to complete tonight’s task. Now, I believe that you should join Eleanor and Helix. I suspect that it will be them who claim the prize. I give the female to you, Damien. You are now a full vampire. Your body has lost all its natural heat. If you do not feed, your will begin to feel the insides of every bone in your body turn to ice, the cold will spread through you, until you do die the true death. Only human blood will halt the atrophy.”

  He nodded then spun around.

  Then go, feed from her or fuck her, I care not. Just ensure she stays dead once your needs are sated.

  His ears only caught the last sentence. Damien raced after the two vampires, determined to catch up with them before they did catch those three humans. Desmonus was right, even now, as he ran, that coldness was already beginning to spread. He shivered then shook his head. “Stop it, you dickhead,” he muttered. “The bastard was winding you up.”

  Damien leaped over a low wall, ran across a carpark and into the deserted bus station. He was right about the two should head towards the gate, he just didn’t bother telling them that there was a quicker route there. He ran out of one of the departure bays and saw two human shapes already at the top of the hill. “That’s impossible!” he gasped, when his vampire senses told him that the two Clan members were almost at the gate. Damien put on a burst of speed, groaning when he caught sight of the humans as well.

  He ran up the embankment and stopped dead when he saw that Eleanor must have doubled back and lain in wait for the humans. She already had the girl. Damien watched the vampire press the girl’s head into her chest, muffling her screaming.

  “She’s mine!” growled Damien. He saw Helix running after the remaining humans. “The First Father promised her to me. Give me the girl right now.

  Eleanor growled back at him. “You’re just as bad as the others, Damien. I’ve invested a lot of my time into you. I know that none of my words will make sense to you. The First Father has been inside your head and thrown a few levers and pressed plenty of switches. I expected that. What I did not expect was this!” she screamed. Eleanor placed her hands at either side of the girl’s head and viscously twisted.

  Damien clearly heard the girl’s neck snap. The vampire threw her at him. He looked down at gazed into the face of his Sandra. He glared at Eleanor. “What the fuck did you have to do that for?”

  “Because she had what I wanted? Now, the harlot is dead. Now she is just a vessel to be drained.”

  He fell to him knees and lifted her loose head. “I told you to leave here. Why didn’t you listen to me?”

  “After all these uncountable years, it still amazes me that it does not matter whether you are human or vampire. If you are a male then you think only with your cock.” She walked up to him. “Do not waste her blood, Damien. Her heart is still but it will not impede your feeding.” She crouched beside him. “There are only two outcomes for you, Damien. By the time this night ends, either the First Father will tear you apart for betraying the Clan or,” she smiled, stood up and started to walk away. “Or, you and I will rule the Swarmers together.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  He needed to move, not too much, just a couple of inches would do it. Cade dare not even move his eyes, let alone move his backside. The spare battery in his back pocket would just have to dig into his flesh for a little longer. He so wanted to reassure Katy. Cade could feel the girl’s shivers through his own shirt.

  The three figures had not moved. If it hadn’t been for his built-in early warning system, Cade feared that they both would have tripped right over them. He ordered his heartbeat to slow down, when he realized just how closed they’d come to getting ripped apart like wrapping paper on a Christmas present.

  The spare battery felt like it was now trying to dig out a huge chink of flesh, he also felt his hand going numb. That did worry him; his torch was in that hand. If it fell to the floor, the chances are that the bloody thing would break. Cade risked a single, slow glance down to his hand. He didn’t even know if the torch would work. Oh, the UV light worked fine, for some stupid unexplained reason, Cade still believed that it wouldn’t have any effect on a vampire.

  “Oh no, please God!” Katy whispered. “They must have seen us.” She started to shuffle back down the embankment. “We need to get out of here, Cade.”

  He reached down and wrapped his fingers around her wrist. “We need to stay. You know what’s behind us; this is the only way out of here.” Cade looked away from Katy and focused on the three vampires in the distance. They had moved but, he didn’t think they were heading in this direction.

  Katy had stopped struggling. It felt like he now held a rag doll. He gently brought her back up and rolled over, silently sighing when the battery stopped its journey into his body. Cade held the girl tight against him and brushed his lips against hers, thanking the gods when she responded and kissed him back. “Hun, we’re going to be okay. I promise that I’ll let nothing happen to you.”

  He watched the ghost of a smile play over her lips before her apprehensive expression forced it away. He took solace in the fact that, at least, she wasn’t as traumatized now as Katy was just after they had left the park. He hoped.

  The three vampires raced across the dark field at an incredible speed. It felt like he was watching a movie on fast forward. How did he hope to compete against creatures that could do that? They reached the gate that led into the next field and that all perched on the top, balancing like giant crows. Cade took a deep breath. This was it, if he didn’t move now, he just knew that those nightmares would have won. The field that those things were looking into was crammed with dozens of tents. Those festival goers wouldn’t stand a chance once the vampires started to work their way through them.

  “I can’t just stay and watch this,” he whispered. “They’ll slaughter all of them. Either that or make even more just like them.” He slowly sat up and rested the torch on the ground, base up. Cade pushed the button forward and lifted up the torch, just a couple of inches and gazed at the grass under the beam, bathed in violet light.

  He saw them drop into the field and groaned. It was now or never. He turned off the torch and scrambled to his feet. “Sweetheart, you don’t have to come with me. You should be safe here.” Katy stifled a cry. She looked behind her before getting onto her hands and knees. Cade helped her up. “Stay close to me, hun.” He passed her the torch. “At the first sign of them, shine the light in their faces.”

  E
ven if the light didn’t burn them like the sun, the bright light could give them enough time to get away. Cade took Katy’s hand. “We’ll get through this, I promise.” Cade pulled her across the dark field, heading towards the gate. It took considerable effect not to break down into hysterical tears. How the hell could they get away from creatures that moved faster that any other animal on the planet?

  Katy squeezed his hand. He looked back at her and saw another smile on her face. Cade squeezed back.

  “You know the torch will work, Cade, she said quietly, after catching her breath. “It’ll be like a flamethrower to them.” She suddenly put on a burst of speed and pulled him towards the gate. “Come on, we have to get into that field before they spot us.” She reached the gate just before him and started to climb over. “Look, if they see us in the field, they’ll just think that we’re a couple of outsiders, we’ll stand a better chance of staying ahead of them.”

  Cade nodded and followed her over the gate, not bothering to mention that no festival goer in their right mind would wear the style of clothing that Katy had opted to wear. She stood out like a sore thumb. Still, with luck the vampires wouldn’t spot that. He followed her over to the first tent, stopping dead when he saw the guide rope at the last minute. He crouched down and scanned the field, suddenly realizing that he had lost sight of them. Cade glanced at Katy, intending to tell her to be ready with that torch when he saw a huge shadow right behind them.

  He reached out trying to grab her arm but it was too late. Another arm took Katy’s arm and dragged her screaming body away from him. She dropped the torch. Cade dived for it, fumbling with the button, trying to turn it on.

  “No, don’t do it!”

  Cade fell back and looked up into Katy’s imploring eyes. She reached down and snatched the torch out of his numb hands. The large man behind her rested his hands on her shoulders. Cade looked up into his blazing red eyes and paused, his instinct told him to kill the fucker, to slide the sword from his back and plunge it into the vampire’s face, and yet, Cade saw something he’d never seen before, this vampire was acting so, well so human.