Terminal (Visceral Book 4)

by Adam Thielen

  * * *

  The meeting of the global security council was a bizarre affair. A corporation and political party that no longer existed had plotted to kill a group of people that no longer existed. Every case of vampirism, every gifted person, every type of mage had lost their supernatural aspect at the moment the Dracul was obliterated. In a way, Anne had gotten what she wanted, though she did not live to see it. But those who invent monsters to slay rarely run out of scapegoats, and the battle to purify would have undoubtedly raged on in other forms.

  After hours of debate, a resolution was passed, condemning the attack and requiring the UTI to pay reparations to the displaced ex-vampires. A special commission was formed to investigate and prosecute individuals associated with the kidnapping, torture, and murder of former awakened within the territories.

  * * *

  Taq Jones, Tsenka Cho, and Andrew the robot sat on small cushioned chairs in a sterile waiting room. Taq’s feet would not hold still. Cho placed a hand on his knee, and he placed his hand on hers. Across the room was the receptionist, engrossed in her work of form-filing on her virtual desktop.

  “You could feel it?” asked Cho.

  “I was nearly dead when she pulled me off the ground,” replied Taq. “And my brain wasn’t all there for a while, but as soon as it happened, I knew… I knew it was gone.”

  “You’ve tried?”

  “Every day since,” he said.

  “Does it make you sad?”

  Taq shook his head. “It’s for the best. But I don’t know what I’ll do. My entire life has revolved around magic. I’m going to need some new hobbies.”

  “Can you believe this?” asked Cho.

  “Everything is so surreal.”

  “I mean this,” she said, pointing at the floor of the facility.

  “I refuse to believe it until I see it, and yet it makes sense,” said Taq.

  “You really think it was all tied to the Ether?”

  Jones sighed. “Remember when I told you I had been on a train once, back in the dreamscape?”

  Tsenka nodded.

  “We were hunting a powerful vampire mage, imprisoned in an induced coma whose consciousness found its way into that reality. I followed him onto the train, but by the time I reached his car, he had her captive.”

  “Is this top-secret?” asked Cho, looking around.

  “Hardly matters now,” replied Taq. “The thing is, this monster was turning people into mindless ghouls, and he tried to do the same to her. At the time, I thought I had stopped him. But when her condition emerged, I always suspected that he had corrupted her aura in some minute way, and the Ethereal anomalies surrounding her reinforced—”

  A man in a white lab coat stepped in front of the trio.

  “She’s ready for you,” he announced.

  Taq turned to Cho. “How do I look? I’m really going to freak her out.”

  Tsenka shrugged. “Between the hair dye, beard, and facelift, you don’t look half bad.”

  Taq stood and wiped his palms on his fashionable sport coat, then followed the doctor down the hall and into a small room, warmly lit and decorated to look like a bedroom. In the middle stood the bed, and resting upon it was an unfrozen Kate Jones. Her eyes were closed and her chest heaved slow, deep breaths.

  The three crowded around the bed, Taq on one side, Andrew and Cho on the other. The doctor looked at Taq then pressed a button on the terminal above Kate’s head. Her eyes opened a slit, then a little wider. They darted around, trying to make sense of what she was seeing. She looked up at her husband and smiled.

  “The sedation will take a few minutes to clear out,” said the doctor.

  Taq picked up Kate’s hand and leaned over her. “I’ve had to wait a long time to tell you this,” he said. “But, I told you so.”

  * * *

  Tsenka returned to her small condo on the east side of town. She moved to the kitchen and pulled out a box of leftover pizza, then sat on the couch stuffing her face while watching the news. She went to bed and stared at the ceiling, then turned on some quiet music to drown out the silence.

  The next day, she returned to the regional NRI offices where she was scheduled for yet another debriefing regarding her rogue operation. They had suspended her pending a thorough investigation, and after six hours of questions split apart by a thirty-minute break, her superiors sent her home.

  After some network browsing, she threw her clothing on the ground, slid under the covers, and closed her eyes. She had no interest in the thoughts that wakefulness brought on. As she started to drift off, her doorbell chimed. She ignored it. It chimed again.

  Tsenka groaned and sat up. She turned on the feed to her front door’s camera, then hurriedly hopped out of bed and threw on a robe. She rushed to the door, then exhaled and calmly waved it open.

  On the other side stood Daria Cretu. She wore black leather pants and a tight t-shirt that said ‘Slayer’ in stylized lettering, and held a wooden stake in her hand. Her hair was gathered into pigtails that shot away from her head before arcing down.

  “Hi, Daria,” said Cho. “What are you doing here?”

  “Oh, so you’ve heard of me,” said Cretu with a sloppy English accent. She stepped close to Cho and stared her in the face. “It is I, Daria Cretu, world-renowned vampire slayer.” She brushed past Tsenka and entered her living room.

  Tsenka turned her body to track her movement. “And, uh, what can I do for you, Ms. Cretu?”

  “Just a moment of your time,” said the slayer as she twirled the stake through her fingers. “You see, there have been reports of unseemly nightstalkers about.”

  “Nightstalkers?”

  “Mhmm. Nocturnals. Bloodsuckers… vampires!”

  “Oh,” said Tsenka. “I wouldn’t know anything about that.”

  “Hmm,” uttered Daria, circling Cho. “Unfortunately, it is a known fact that these creatures can hide amongst us. They can be very difficult to detect.”

  Tsenka cracked a smile, then straightened her face. “It sounds as if you have an impossible task then, slayer.”

  “What if I was to say I suspected you of being one of these sexy monsters?” Daria poked Tsenka in the chest with the piece of wood.

  “Well, that’s absurd!” declared Cho, getting into character. “I’m just an innocent, alluring woman. Test me, and I’ll prove it.”

  “Test?” asked Daria. “There is only one way to detect a nightstalker. Their lust for human blood is too much for them to resist.” She slid the point of the stake down her own neck and chest, then pressed herself against Tsenka. “Will you submit to the trial, Ms. Cho?”

  “Well… how long will this take?”

  “There’s no time limit on vigilance. I must be fully satisfied… that you are not a vampiress. So at least four minutes.” Daria grinned.

  Tsenka knocked the stick out of Cretu’s hand and grabbed her behind the neck, causing Daria to release a high-pitched moan. She pulled the slayer’s face to hers and kissed her deeply while the rest of the world and its troubles fell away. They moved to the bedroom to make love for the first time as mundanes.

  While Daria was still Daria, she too had changed after the Dracul’s death. The voices had left her, and the kinks in her thoughts had lessened. The two lay in bed together, neither in any hurry to leave.

  “You could have called first,” said Cho, facing Daria, her hand traversing the slayer’s curves.

  “No way,” said Cretu. “You might have said no, or that you were busy, or something. I had to come.”

  “What if I had told you to go away?”

  “Still would have been worth it.”

  “Aren’t I boring now?”

  “Maybe a little,” Daria teased.

  Cho sighed. “So… are you going to stick around?”

  “I don’t know,” she said. “I mean, if you wanted me to, I could. But if you don’t want anything serious, I could just visit sometimes. Whatever you want, ya know?”

&nbs
p; “But what do you want?”

  “I—I hadn’t stopped thinking about you since you left. I just want to be with you.”

  Tsenka smiled. “That’s what I want, too.”

  * * *

  Stuck in the back of the kitchen most of the evening, Matt grabs a rag and heads out to the dining area. The restaurant is divided into two eating sections, a large square in front of the counter and a narrow strip of booths next to large panes of glass.

  From table to table he goes. Spray, scrub. Spray, scrub. Bits of food escape his wrath by diving off the edge. Matt stands up straight. Someone is coming. The door swings open, triggering the automated chime. A woman with long brown hair steps out of the chilly wind, pulling her purple coat tightly around her.

  Matt stares as she walks to the counter. He drops the rag as his memories come into focus. He knows this woman, and not in the vague way he felt before. Her name is Maria, and she is his wife. At least she was in the world he left behind.

  While he keeps his distance, his eyes never leave her, despite how he knows it must look to others. He watches her order, then watches her take a seat. He knows he must speak with her, but he’s afraid.

  As she nears completion of her meal, Matt decides to start cleaning the tables near her. They aren’t dirty, but perhaps she won’t notice. He gives up on trying to find a subtle entry.

  “Hi there, Maria, right?”

  She looks at him with a confused expression, but then she smiles. “Yes, do I know you?”

  “You’ve been here a couple times,” he says.

  “Yup, I’m an addict,” she says, still gazing at him. “I don’t remember seeing you here before.”

  “You probably forgot.”

  “I think I’d remember you,” she says, accompanied by a short giggle.

  Matt’s heart thumps in his chest. “You will now, right?” he says, stepping close to her. He reaches his hand out. “I’m Matt.”

  She holds his fingers gingerly, and Matt feels a deeper change come over him, as if he’s been made whole by the physical connection. He hears a voice call to him from a distant place he had once inhabited.

  “Life is a cycle, my friend, and I have endured many,” Andrei tells him. Matthias is back in the throne room. His consciousness is fading. The Dracul looks away from Trent’s body and toward the door. He turns to look at his suitcase, then returns his gaze to Matthias. “Perhaps I have endured enough.”

  His sight leaves him, but Matthias can feel the Dracul’s hand on his cheek. “I usually reserve this ticket for myself, so let me give you some advice.” The vampire lord bends forward, and into Matthias’s ear, he whispers, “Find the center of your world, the one that grounds you and tethers you to your purpose. Tarry not, for the mind is a fragile thing, and your physical brain will fight the memories you carry. Good luck, Matthias Trent.”

  Matt feels the ground rumble and a shriek of shearing metal. His mind leaves his body, pulled to this new world by Maria’s gentle grasp.

  “Nice to meet you, Matt. Want some of my chips?” She rolls her eyes. “Sorry, that’s dumb, isn’t it? You probably eat this all the time.”

  Trent snaps out of his reverie and returns to the present. “Sad but true,” he admits.

  “Well, sit anyway,” Maria commands. “Tell me about yourself, Matt.”

  “Glad to,” Matt says, obeying. “But you won’t believe most of it.”

  Maria cradles her chin in her palm.

  “Try me.”

  End.

  Thank you for reading the Visceral saga. I appreciate the opportunity to tell a story, and if you think others might enjoy it, consider leaving a review on Terminal’s Amazon.com page!