by J. C. Diem
“It was a good plan, Nicholas.” I was going to have to correct him about my title but I didn’t want to embarrass him in front of the humans.
“There is something I believe you should see, my liege,” he said and stood fluidly. Several of the soldiers guarding him started in fright and one came close to pulling his trigger. A headshake from the Colonel stopped him. He was clearly fascinated by our exchange.
“I discovered another cave when I managed to sneak away from the Comtesse and her followers for a short time,” my number one fan said.
As the vamp took off at a fast walk, Sanderson leaned down close as he gestured for his men to follow Nicholas. “Why does he keep calling you his Queen?”
“There’s a prophecy that was written a couple of thousand years ago,” I explained quietly. “It predicted my coming and that I’d end up sort of wiping out most of vampirekind.” There was no ‘sort of’ about it. I’d accomplished that very thing but hadn’t done it alone. The Colonel and his men had assisted me by cutting them down with their weapons. “Some of my kin seem to think I’ll end up ruling the remnants of our race.”
Studying me as well as he could in between stepping over body parts, Sanderson unconsciously hefted his gun as if contemplating gunning us both down. “Is that your plan?”
“Hell no!” I snorted without any air escaping from my nostrils. “I can barely rule myself let alone a bunch of vampires who are hundreds, if not thousands of years older than me.” To rule, you needed to have the respect of your people. I barely respected myself so how could I expect any of my kin to have any kind of esteem for me?
At the back of the cavern, some of the torches Sanderson’s soldiers had trained on Nicholas moved to the wall. A crack appeared like magic. “It is in there, your highness,” the vamp said and pointed at the opening.
Sanderson nodded at two of his men and they ducked inside. “It’s clear, sir!” one of them yelled. At the Colonel’s polite gesture, I bent and entered the fissure first.
Primitive markings covered the walls. The First had painted his history and his nightmares onto the walls of the small, lightless cavern. He’d drawn our father as a gigantic grey figure offering its wrist to him. Then he’d depicted his transformation from human to vampire and the blood and flesh hunger that had followed. If I hadn’t already known the history, the pictures would have been difficult to interpret.
Moving around the circular cave, I followed the story I knew well then stopped at a figure that Nicholas pointed to. It had once been bright red but had faded over thousands of years. From the mask covering the face, I knew it had to be me. In several paintings, I hunted the fleeing First. He’d depicted himself as a normal vampire so must have painted this before he’d become a hulking eight foot monster. At his full size, he’d never have been able to squeeze inside the tiny cave. I’d been his personal nightmare long before he’d been transformed. After he’d changed completely, he’d all but forgotten about me. Only a dim flash of the red mask had remained in his memory.
“When I saw these paintings, I knew you would best the First and save our race from destruction,” Nicholas said.
“What do you think this means?” Sanderson asked me from across the room before I could think of a response to the courtier’s confident statement.
Crossing the ground, I re-examined the painting I’d dismissed fairly quickly the first time I’d seen it. A bunch of stick figures had been scrawled on the wall. I couldn’t tell if they were humans or vampires. They’d been painted lying in neat horizontal lines. Above them was a brown line with a few green blobs. I had no idea what it meant and was ready to dismiss it again.
“It almost looks like bodies,” a soldier ventured. He pointed at the brown line. “This is meant to be the ground and these,” he pointed at the green blobs, “are plants.”
Once he pointed that out, I could see it for myself. A lone stick figure stood above the buried bodies and almost seemed to be laughing at them. Counting them, I came up with a total of ten. A sudden shiver went down my spine for no reason that I could put my finger on. I sincerely hoped it wasn’t a presentiment of further doom.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Dismissing the paintings as meaningless, Sanderson spoke into his radio. “Have the captives been evacuated?”
“Yes, sir,” came an instant response. “We’re ready to seal the cavern on your order.”
“I’d like to verify that the leader of these creatures has been destroyed before we leave,” the American said to me.
“I’ll take you to what’s left of him,” I offered. Sanderson nodded and we filed out of the smaller cave. Nicholas followed two steps behind me, forcing the soldiers to surround both of us when we entered the larger cavern again. Even in my head, I wasn’t shortening my number one fan’s name into a cute nickname. I was already disturbed enough by his level of devotion and didn’t want to endear me to him any more than necessary.
Working my way over to the bone throne, I pointed at the pile of dust at its base. Even squinting hard, it was impossible to tell that it had ever been a body. “There he is.”
“What did you do to him? He almost looks like he’s been burned to ash,” a soldier said in awe.
“My Queen unleashed the power of her holy marks on the despised one,” Nicholas said reverently.
“Don’t worry, it can’t hurt humans,” I told the men before they became even more frightened of me.
Satisfied that the monsters wouldn’t rise up again and attempt another round of world domination, the Colonel spoke into his radio. “All right, people, we’re done here. Team four, ready the explosives.”
I kept pace with Sanderson easily as he hurried across the vast cavern towards the tunnel leading to the surface. My unwanted sidekick stayed two steps behind me. He was acting as if he was a servant of my making and I was his true master. I had the uncanny feeling that he was staring at my butt. The loincloth was short enough that I was barely decently covered. When I glanced back, he gave me an innocent stare. I almost wished my shadow was still sentient so it could keep an eye on him. Then I remembered that it had watched me having sex with Luc numerous times and was glad it had reverted back to its natural state. My cheeks tried to burn with embarrassment but my blood wasn’t capable of rushing to my face anymore.
Colonel Sanderson’s men had been busy checking the bodies of the fallen to make sure none had been faking death. Gunshots had been ringing out in a steady stream but finally petered out. All of the imps had finally been put to rest.
The lights began to come down as we entered the tunnel. Men carried equipment out, rushing past us wearing night vision goggles or carrying torches. Only Nicholas and I didn’t need visual assistance during the journey to the surface. I scooped up my backpack from the mouth of the tunnel, glad to see it had survived the carnage.
Baking hot and stealing the breath that I didn’t have, the sun cast stark shadows on the ground when we reached the entrance. My eyes stung when briefly I glanced outside. “How did the vampires manage to escape without bursting into flames?” I asked the Colonel. Spying a soldier walking in a dazed circle, I rolled my eyes. “Never mind. Hey, you!” I shouted. “Get over here.”
The soldier was so completely under a vampire’s spell that he responded to me simply because I was another vampire. Jerking at the sound of my voice, he turned and shambled over to me. His face was completely devoid of anything resembling comprehension. Drool ran down his chin.
“It appears that the Comtesse herself took control of this human,” Nicholas said sadly. “I am afraid his mind has been destroyed.”
“We can do that?” I was appalled at the idea of being able to wipe our food’s minds clean. “There’s no hope for him then?”
My new minion shook his head. “I have never heard of mind repair being possible.”
Yeah? Well there’s never been anyone like me before. I was reluctant to give up on the human without trying to help him. “Hey, buddy,” I said to
the hypnotized human. “Where did the vampires go? How did they get away?”
Shambling in a half circle, he lifted a hand and pointed at the row of armoured trucks. He moaned a series of words and my freaky brain even managed to interpret his gibberish. “He says they forced another pair of humans to be their drivers and stole two of the trucks,” I translated.
“You could understand his ramblings, my Queen?”
Despite knowing that I was the weird and freaky Mortis, Nicholas was still doubtful of my powers. Oh yea of little faith, I thought dolefully. This was one of the reasons I couldn’t see myself ruling anyone. How could I when they all thought I was an idiot?
“Yes,” I said in answer to his question. Maybe there was some hope for the poor human after all if he could still communicate. Drawing him back into the tunnel, I stared deep into his vacant eyes. At first he simply stared back at me blankly. Then his pupils contracted and I sensed that some intelligence had surfaced. “What’s your name?” I asked him.
“S-S-Sergei,” he said in thickly accented English.
“How do you feel, Sergei?”
Rubbing his cheek with a hand, he shook his head. “I was stuck in a well that was a thousand feet deep. I could see the light far above me but I could not reach it.” Blinking, he came out of his daze and stared at me in wonder. “Then your angelic face appeared and suddenly I was in the light again.” Grasping me by the shoulders, he yanked me forward and planted a wet kiss on both of my cheeks.
I had no idea how I’d done it but I’d broken him from the Comtesse’s hypnotism without putting him under my own spell. This was one of the times I was glad I had no idea what I was doing.
Nicholas uttered something close to a growl at the human mauling me but I waved him back. The soldiers who were supposed to be guarding him were staring at me in slack mouthed wonder.
“Do you remember helping the vampires to escape?” Sanderson asked the Russian.
Getting his gratitude under control, the soldier released me. “Yes. The white haired one appeared and captured me and two others with her soulless black eyes. She ordered my colleagues to back two of the trucks up to the cave entrance. I was ordered to advise anyone who asked that they were badly injured and needed immediate medical attention. When she was gone, a haze descended and I lost the ability to think.” Traumatized, the man was shaking at the memory of being bamboozled. I was pretty sure he would be ok now but he’d probably never be completely the same.
Now that the battle was over and the monsters were dead, I wondered what Sanderson had planned for me. He was about to blow the entrance to the cavern of doom so I couldn’t retreat back inside if things took an ugly turn. Since it was full daylight at the moment, it would be very bad for my health if I tried to run. Nicholas and I were at his mercy and we all knew it.
“Have one of the trucks backed up,” the Colonel ordered one of his men. “I’ll have the truck driven to an underground parking area then you and your…friend can stay safely indoors until nightfall.” Sanderson eyed Nicholas dubiously, trusting the vamp about as much as I did.
“Thanks,” I said and meant it. Call me cynical but I’d kind of expected him to order his men to cut us both down. He didn’t trust me and how could I blame him? I was a blood sucking monster that preyed on humans for food. It was his duty to murder me and I wasn’t about to turn my back on him.
I retrieved the black cloak and blanket from the mouth of the tunnel, glad to finally have something to put on over top of the tattered loincloth. I’d wait until I could clean myself up before donning one of my final two remaining outfits. The only part of the suit I did put on was the boots. If my bare feet touched the sun warmed ground, they’d probably melt right off.
A soldier found a blanket for Nicholas and my new bodyguard insisted on leaping the short distance into the open back of the truck first. When he gave me the ok, I followed him and we huddled in the shadows. Steam drifted from both of us for a few moments.
I wished I had a mobile phone so I could call Luc and tell him I was ok and that I’d won the battle with the First. It finally sunk in then; I’d won. Instead of dying horribly or being turned into a baby making machine that snacked on human flesh, I’d vanquished the leader of the imp army. With the help of the American and Russian troops, the grey clones had been utterly destroyed. We could now live out the rest of our unlives in peace. At that thought, I had a flash of my last two weird dreams and shivered. I had no idea what kind of omens they’d been and frankly I didn’t care. All I wanted was to see my friends again and enjoy a normal undead life for a while.
Chapter Thirty-Five
As promised, my new minion and I were driven directly to an underground facility. The heat of the sun baking off the metal that surrounded us cut off abruptly as we descended into coolness. When we’d travelled down two levels, the truck pulled to a stop.
After a short wait, the door swung open. Motioning me back, Nicholas jumped out first. He spread his arms wide just in case this was an ambush. Expecting treachery myself, I jumped out and landed behind him. Thankfully, we weren’t faced with dozens of gun wielding soldiers. Only one soldier was standing nearby. “Follow me, please,” he said politely in Russian.
We were taken up a flight of stairs then down a series of corridors. Finally, we were shown into a windowless room. There was a single cot, a basin and toilet. Basically, it was another prison cell. “Please remain inside this room,” the soldier requested. “Once night falls, you will be free to leave.” He came close to snapping a salute, hesitated then clomped off down the hall.
Testing the door handle, it moved easily so I pulled the door shut. It was made of much thinner metal than the last prison door that had barred my escape. I was pretty confident we’d be able to break out if we had to. Since the door didn’t lock after being shut, it was doubtful we’d have to resort to such measures.
I wasn’t crazy about sharing a room with a vampire I barely knew but Nicholas wasn’t at all uncomfortable. He stripped down to his undies and proceeded to clean off an accumulation of grime. Free at last of dirt, he ran his hands through his dripping hair and smiled at me.
Now that he was no longer covered in crud, I saw why he’d been chosen to be a courtier. His hair was dark brown, his skin was pale olive and his face could make horny women fight to the death just for one kiss. Then there was his body. He wasn’t overly tall but he was muscular. Almost too muscular. His thighs bulged and so did his package inside his tight underwear.
“I am afraid I can no longer resist the pull of the sun, my liege,” Nicholas said.
Almost in a daze at his beauty, my response wasn’t very intelligent. “Huh?”
“I do not wish to leave you unprotected but I must sleep.” Moving over to the cot, he lay down, closed his eyes and turned back into the corpse he really was.
Drinking in his male perfection, I moved closer to the bed without even being aware of it. My hands hovered over his chest, about to caress his cold, pasty skin when I managed to snap out of it. My flesh hunger had risen and was raging out of control. “This is not good,” I whispered to myself. Luc flashed into my head and that helped a bit. I might have uncontrollable hungers but that didn’t mean I had to give in to them. In a few short hours I’d be back with my trusted companions again. Surely I could hold out for that long. A large part of me was glad Nicholas had turned into a corpse. Vampires in his current unanimated state tended to be unappealing.
Since I had a few hours to kill, I also used the basin. The single towel that had been provided was already dirty after Nicholas had used it but it was all I had. Spying a camera, I covered it with a fragment of loincloth. I wasn’t sure if it was real or just my imagination when I heard groans of disappointment echo from somewhere in the building.
Checking that Nicholas was still down for the day, I cleaned most of the crud off my skin before donning one of my suits. The water ran cold before I managed to wash all traces of ooze out of my hair. Squeezing most of
the water out, I finger combed it and left it to slowly drip down my leather clad back.
Bored but reluctant to fall asleep and leave myself vulnerable, I paced up and down the small room. I wanted out of this cell and to be on my way again.
Moments after I felt the sun fall down for the night, Nicholas’ eyes sprang open and he sat up. Muscles rippled in his chest and stomach and I turned away before my flesh hunger could override my will and force me to jump the guy. I hadn’t been this desperate for sex since the first time the unnatural hunger had risen within me. Luc had reluctantly surrendered to it but had quickly changed his tune that sleeping with me was a bad thing. The three centuries of abstinence probably had more to do with his capitulation than any bedroom skill on my part.
“Are you ready to go?” I asked my new companion. I hadn’t heard any rustling of clothing but had been distracted with my thoughts. Turning, I found Nicholas standing right in front of me. My gaze instantly started to slide downwards. It jerked back up again when it reached his hips and encountered his snug tighty whities. “You have my permission to get dressed,” I said pointedly.
“As you wish, my liege.” Somehow, he’d sensed my hunger and seemed disappointed that I wasn’t going to unleash it on him. Being a member of the Court, he was probably highly attuned to the hungers of the flesh.
“Well,” I said as he began to dress. “I guess this is where you and I part ways.”
Halting with his pants halfway up, Nicholas made a noise of protest. “But I am yours, my Queen. You own me body and soul.” He fell to his knees and clutched me around the waist. “Do not leave me to fend for myself against the Comtesse and her lackeys.”
His distress was either real or an extremely convincing act. I had to pull his face off my waist with both hands before he’d meet my eyes. “I don’t even know you, Nicholas. How do I know I can trust you?”
“Because you are all I have, my Queen,” was his starkly honest answer. “The Comtesse now knows that I am a traitor. I am masterless, friendless and alone.” If he’d still been able to produce them, tears would have been standing in his midnight black eyes.