The Enemies of Vengeance

by P. A Ross

  Marcy stood up. "I will go and get a laptop and the USB stick. Anything else you need?"

  "Yeah, make sure it's a new laptop. Or an old one that you don't want any more because once I am finished looking at this USB stick, I will destroy the computer, just to make sure there are no viruses that could be used to track my location."

  "No worries, I can get a new one and bring it down."

  Marcy disappeared up the stairs and locked the hatch. I lay back down to get some more rest. Marcy returned within the hour with a brand-new laptop computer and the USB stick. She dropped it off through the hatch and then went back to running the shelter.

  I set up the computer and inserted the USB stick. I did some basic checks for viruses but found none. But if implanted by MI5, I probably wouldn't have found them anyway. I found nothing suspicious, but the stick could be its own GPS system, but in the basement, it wouldn't get a clear signal. I decided to open up the files and take a look at the information Mary had supplied.

  There were only a few files on the USB. The first one was entitled 'Dragan locations', then a file called 'contact methods'. Finally, a file called 'first generation Turned locations'.

  I clicked on Dragan locations in the hope that I could help locate Cyrus and confirm to Thorn and Cassius they were on the right track. The file gave the addresses of recent sightings, and it sounded like Thorn was in the right area in Rome. The file also contained the location of three other Dragans - Rip and the twins.

  Next, I opened up the contact methods, which was a set of instructions on how to contact Mary in MI5. I already had her phone number, but I guess that wasn't a very secure way of speaking to her. The document outlined other methods of communication, like sending files and setting up secure lines. The final file were the locations the first generation Turned had been seen.

  All of the information would be extremely useful in our continued war with the Turned and Hunters. But I needed to verify it was correct, and the most obvious way was to speak to Thorn and see if she could use it to locate Cyrus. It occurred to me the information could be a trap. Sending us to places where MI5 or the Hunters could be waiting. I only had Mary's word that she was part of MI5, and I wouldn't put it past the Hunters to pretend to be somebody else.

  As Thorn had worked with them before, I hope she had a way of validating the authenticity of this contact. Maybe she still had means of communication into MI5.

  I had agreed to speak to Thorn again tomorrow night so everything would have to wait until then. I didn't want to call in case she happened to be out in the middle of a stakeout. In the meantime, I decided to get some rest.

  Marcy visited later on, and I asked her to go and purchase another computer laptop. I intended to type the information from one computer to another. It was the most secure means of copying the data by creating a physical air gap. That way I could ensure no viruses were copied over that could be used to track my location or record my activities online. Marcy reappeared the next morning with the second laptop.

  "Is there anything else you need?" Marcy asked.

  "I lost my key to the storage locker. I need some cash and a change of clothes. Plus I could do with changing my passport as well. It appears MI5 know I go by the alias of Christopher Lee."

  "Don't worry I have a spare key. I will get some cash and clothes, but I can't do anything about the passport in such a short space of time. I could probably get you one in two weeks."

  "The cash and clothes will be enough. I will just have to risk the passport. They know my alias and haven't been stopping me so far, then I should be safe to travel. But it will let them know where I am."

  "Okay, I will be back with your stuff later. Will you be speaking with Thorn tonight?"

  "Yes. We will make some plans. Hopefully, I will be leaving tomorrow morning."

  "And how are you feeling?"

  "The blood has worked its trick and restored all my strength before I transformed back to human."

  "You're human again?"

  "Yes, it must've happened while I was asleep. But it has left me with its usual after-effects. I can feel the extra strength and sharpening of my senses."

  "I will return tonight after you have spoken to Thorn. Then I can help you prepare to leave."

  "Thank you. Will Annabel and Lucinda be coming to say goodbye."

  Marcy shook her head. "I think they should stay away from you for a while. They obviously enjoyed that little encounter far too much. I wouldn't want them getting any ideas." Marcy said goodbye and walked back up the stairs through the hatch and locked it.

  I opened up the other computer and sat it next to me on the bed. I then started typing across all the information. I knew it would take me a few hours to get the most relevant parts. I would still take the USB stick and the computer with me, just in case I had missed something vital, but I would keep them off the net.

  I hammered away on the keyboard for the rest of the day until it was time to call Thorn again.

  "Hi, V, feeling better?"

  "Yes, thank you, I've also changed back to human again. But the injection has done its trick as I feel stronger and sharper than before. I'm steadily moving onwards to becoming a full Dragan."

  "Good. I was worried about the damage you had received, as it may have slowed the process down."

  "Did you find Cyrus?"

  "No, however, I believe we were in the right place as I detected an old scent."

  "Well the file I got from MI5 gives the location of Cyrus. His most recent sighting was in Trastevere, a neighbourhood in Rome. Does that help?"

  "Yes, it does help. The place is only a few miles away from here. He must have visited here hence why I can detect the scent of a Dragan. I will go there tomorrow night and see if we can find him. What else was on the file?"

  "The location of the Dragans, the location of first-generation Turned and contact methods to speak to MI5."

  "Does it say the names of the Dragans?"

  "Yes, Rip and the twins."

  "Rip. That is excellent. If you can find him it would help all of us. As for the twins, you need to steer clear of them until we are ready."

  "How does finding Rip help us?"

  "Rip is an excellent fighter. He was the captain of my Royal guard. If anyone can teach you how to fight a werewolf, it would be him. However, he may take some convincing. He has been hiding from me for some years."

  "Hiding from you? Why?"

  "Rip was in charge of the Royal guard. So it was his responsibility to protect my family and me. He still feels guilty about them breaking in and killing my husband and child. He's been running ever since, too ashamed to face me and probably too fearful that I may take some revenge upon him. However, I think you can convince him otherwise. He would be curious upon detecting you, and that should be enough for you to speak to him. He would run a mile if he sensed me."

  "I will look for him. What about the twins and what about this information, can we be sure it is from MI5?"

  "The twins are extremely dangerous. But they were in a relationship with Cyrus, and if we get Cyrus onside, he can bring them in. Whatever you do, leave the twins alone. Steer clear of them on all accounts. Those girls need careful handling. Even I would not tackle them alone. We will do it as a team. As for validating this information, I still have an old contact in MI5 I can speak to. Let's check out if this information is correct and I will also speak to my contact in the meantime."

  "I will head off for Rip in the morning. And I will call you again tomorrow night."

  "I will speak to you then. By the way, did you have a chance to sort out Marcy's gang problem?"

  "I haven't heard of any issues, but I will have another word with her before I leave."

  "I will make a few calls. They are supposed to know that the shelter is off-limits. It appears they have short memories of what will happen to them."

  We said our goodbyes and I decided to get a full night sleep to adjust my body clock to daytime living. Tomorrow I wo
uld have a long trip to the South of France to find Rip. All I had to do was evade the Hunters and Turned looking for me, and Giles and Norris trying to kill me. I hoped Rip could train me, as I couldn't survive another encounter with a werewolf.

  Chapter Ten

  I woke up that morning, ready to start a new journey. I showered and put on jeans and laced up a pair of sturdy hiking boots. I pulled on a red t-shirt and a black leather jacket. I stuffed my passport into the inside pocket, next to the case for my needles. In the other pockets, I had a new phone, and my wallet was filled with cash in euros and sterling.

  I stuffed the remaining new clothes into my rucksack along with the laptop and USB stick. I walked up the steps to the hatch and tapped against it.

  It unlocked and hinged backwards, and I climbed through into Marcy's office, underneath her desk. Soon as I was through, she pushed the hatch down and covered it over with a rug. I had sat in the office only a week or so ago with no knowledge of the underground sanctuary. I couldn't tell from the office there was an access point. It was the perfect hiding place.

  Marcy unlocked the office door, and we walked through into the corridor, through the busy kitchen with a couple of people stirring a big pot and cutting bread, and then into the main dining area.

  Tommy was sat in the dining area with his friends and smiled as I entered. I walked straight over to him and held out my hand. He stood up and shook it, and I placed my other hand on top and vigorously shook it up and down, and then patted him on the shoulder. "Thank you, Tommy, you are an absolute lifesaver. I owe you my life."

  Tommy smiled at me. "It's no worry, governor. Just glad I could help. I am only called rotten Tommy because of me teeth."

  His friends laughed and insisted on shaking my hand as well, even though I'm sure most of them didn't know what we were talking about. They just wanted to be in Tommy's circle of friends. I turned back to say goodbye to Marcy when a group of four men walked in. A man in a blue puffer jacket and short cropped hair, flanked by three big men. The man shouted at Marcy. "Where is she?"

  I glanced over at Marcy. She let out a small burst of laughter and stepped towards the gang leader, the man wearing the puffer jacket. "You really do pick your moments. She isn't here. But I have someone that will talk to you."

  "So bold this time. I thought you didn't like violence," the gang leader said. Behind him, the three other men all flexed their fists and glared around at everyone. One of them was just a massive bulk of fat, but his sheer size was menacing. The other two were muscular and had fresh stitches and bruises on their faces.

  Marcy wagged her finger at him. "It's a bit late. We both know you're here to cause trouble if Mary-Anne is here or not. So let's not mess around."

  I decided not to bother with smart words or veiled threats. It was clear this was the gang Thorn and Marcy had told me about. They came to hurt people, and it was my job to stop them. I could repay my debt to the people of the shelter. I couldn't be more pleased. I had been cooped up underground for over two days, and I had pent-up anger from my defeat. These morons would provide me with an opportunity to release some energy.

  I dropped my bag to the floor and walked straight over. The first of the guards stared at me, waiting for some words of warning but I had none. I slammed a fist into his face, jolting his head backwards. I then skipped into a front kick, lifting him off his feet and into the other two guards.

  He crashed to the floor, and the other two stumbled back into the tables and chairs, skidding them backwards and forcing the homeless guests to dive out of the way.

  A guard grabbed a chair and threw it. I swiped it out of the way and stomped towards him. He whipped out a knife and sliced the air. I stepped inside the slash and cracked my head into his nose. He dropped to the floor, and the knife slipped out of his hand. An arm wrapped around my throat and swung me around. The gang leader pulled out a gun and aimed it at me. "Keep him still."

  I stamped onto my attacker's toes and he released his grip. I ducked down and flipped him onto my shoulder and then threw him into the gang leader. The gun fired into the guard and blood splattered across the floor. I followed up, jumping over his crashing body, performing a flying punch into the face of the gang boss.

  He sailed off his feet and smashed into the wall, leaving a blood trail as he slumped into a broken heap. I picked up the gun and stuffed it into the back of my jeans. The residents of the shelter had backed away to the edges of the room. Tommy started clapping and the rest joined in. I smiled and took a bow.

  I crouched down in front of the fallen gang boss and put my fingers against his neck. He was still alive, not that I cared. I had adopted Thorn's moral code.

  I stood up and looked back at Marcy. "They'll all live. Unless you say otherwise."

  "You best be on your way, don't delay. I will need to call an ambulance again. It will be the second time they've been called here to attend to this gang."

  "Hopefully it will be the last. I hope they have learnt their lesson this time," I said, and slung my bag onto my shoulder, waved goodbye and walked out of the shelter to the applause of the residents. I grinned as I walked away. It was nice to be appreciated and payback my debt. Thorn was right, nothing like smashing apart low-level thugs to cheer you up.

  I walked to the tube station and caught a tube train across to St Pancras International station. I walked up from the tube out onto the main concourse of the station and stood in front of the bank of arrivals and departure boards to find my train. I boarded the euro-tunnel train which went straight to Paris. The customs official came around, and my passport of Christopher Lee still worked, despite MI5 knowing it. I guessed Mary wasn't blocking my travel, although she would know I was leaving England.

  At the Paris Gare du Nord train station, I changed trains to take the last leg of my journey, which would arrive in Bordeaux the nearest stop to where Rip had been sighted. I spent most of the trip reading through the files Mary had given me, checking the descriptions and locations of Rip and Cyrus.

  The train flew through stations, over rivers and roads as it threaded through the French countryside. I glanced up as we sped past green fields, which became browner the further south we went.

  Travelling into the last station before Bordeaux, police cars raced along the side of us, the blue lights flashing and the sirens screaming. I thought nothing of it until I saw that they had pulled into the train station.

  Our train pulled in but the doors didn't unlock. Something wasn't right. I collected my bag from the overhead rack and packed away my phone and tablet. I stood in the aisle and put on my leather jacket ready to leave. I walked down the aisle to the doors. The other passengers looked out the windows and were asking each other what was happening. A few of them started filming on their phones. The people at the doors pushed on the door buttons, but they remained locked. A man slid the window down and shouted over to the guard, who walked away, pretending he couldn't hear.

  In the end, an announcement came on over the train loudspeakers that there was an engineering issue. But about twenty Gendarme, French police, rushed into the station. They were dressed in dark navy jackets and trousers, and black boots and carried pistols on their hips and cuffs at their side. Behind them, two normally dressed men walked in last.

  I wondered what was going on, maybe a terrorist attack or they were hunting a criminal. One of the plainclothes policemen was over six foot and had shaven light brown hair and the other shorter but stockier with curly brown hair. The taller man turnaround, but I already knew it was Giles. I had become too relaxed. I only had one station left, and I thought I was already home and dry. I didn't think they could reach me in France. The police were talking to Giles and Norris, who handed them some leaflets with a face on them, my face. They were showing them to people on the platform. And then they headed to the doors, waiting for them to open.

  I was penned in. Sooner or later they would identify me. I pulled a baseball cap out of my rucksack and pulled it down over my head,
and then put on a pair of sunglasses as well. I had to make a run for it. From inside the train, I glanced around the platform and then through the opposite windows to the other platform across the train tracks. The way ahead was swarming with police, and Giles and Norris were scanning the crowds. I had to find another way. I stood near the train door and hung back a little, so the police would talk to a couple of people first. The doors clunked to unlock and a police officer at every exit stepped inside and started showing my face to the passengers.

  I waited until our policeman was showing my picture, and I tried to skirt around the side of him. He noted my reluctance to stop and placed his hand out in front of me. "Excuse me, sir. Could you take off your sunglasses and hat, and then look at this photograph," the policeman said in French.

  My French wasn't great, but I didn't need a full translation to know what he wanted. Outside the door were a couple of policeman talking, but not really paying attention. My time had run out. I grabbed the policeman's hand, twisted it round to lock his arm in the hold and then slammed him into the side of the train. I spun around and leaped out the train door, leading with a kick. My foot smacked into the back of the policeman and catapulted him into his colleague. They tangled together and thumped to the floor.

  I sprinted off down the platform with the startled policemen scrambling back to their feet and chasing. The other police officers on the platform turned and pursued, as well as Giles and Norris. A policeman on the platform bent down to rugby tackle. I ran at them and swerved, forcing them to check their tackle. Another policeman ran in at the side, and I planted my palm in his face, which tipped him away. The third went for their gun. I whipped off my baseball hat and flicked it. The cap spun around with the peak hitting their eyes. Their hands reached up to protect, and I swiped the gun from their holster as I ran past.

  I sprinted the full length of the train until I had a clear view of the platform across the tracks. In the other direction, a train hurtled down the tracks. It was a freight train, and I guessed it wouldn't be stopping. I leaped off the platform onto the railway and sprinted across the two tracks as the train approached. I jumped up onto the opposite platform as the freight train whizzed by. The gush of wind propelled me forward, and the driver blasted his horn.