E.V.I.E.: 13 Slayers, 13 Missions

by Lexi C. Foss

  “You want a turn?” she questions, and I feel my lips lift into a smirk.

  She’s the one I’ve been waiting for—the reason I’m still here and have the abilities I do.

  I reach out and touch the sparkler, not the end where her hand is but the end burning in an iridescent blaze. My skin should burn. Flames should travel up my arm and turn me to ash, but they don’t. Just like always, I’m impervious to them. I pull my hand back and hold it up to show her it’s not marked my skin.

  She drops the sparkler to the ground, and placing the palms of her hands together in the center of her chest, she bows her head.

  “Namaste. Stephen Howard, I presume.”

  “You presume right. I’m guessing you’re here because you’re looking for me. I’ve been expecting you for some time. I must admit the wait has become rather tiresome.”

  I place my hands into the pockets of the long coat I’m wearing. I can see the young woman’s eyes taking in every move I make. She’s prepared in case I attack. She’s met my kind before, and I can’t help but suspect she’s probably killed a good few as well.

  “I apologize for taking so long. I needed to wait to be born and learn of your existence.”

  “A great inconvenience indeed.”

  The girl turns her back to me and looks over her shoulder. She’s obviously decided I’m not a threat to her. I’m not a proper monster like the rest. I don’t know whether to be sad at the fact or not.

  “Are you coming or not?” she questions with a raised eyebrow.

  “Where am I going?”

  “I’ve got a private plane waiting for us at a nearby airport. I don’t expect you’ve got a passport to board a regular flight. I thought it’d be better this way. Plus, you won’t have to travel in a box to prevent sunlight getting to you. I trust you are not impervious to that as well?”

  “No, sunlight will kill me just like any normal vampire.”

  I see the first flickers of disgust pass through the girl’s eyes as she drops her facade for a moment. Her life has been tainted by my kind—I can see it.

  “Where are we going?” I know exactly where she’s from, but I’m not really asking that. I just want to make sure she knows where we’re heading, and what she’s getting herself involved in. The trials we’re about to face won’t be easy.

  “India, and then I think you already know our true destination after that.”

  The girl starts to walk away from me, and I follow her, for now, but I know I’m destined to do something, and it’s not to trail along behind her like the demon I am. There’s a reason I’ve been kept on this earth for as long as I have. This is my fate, and I’ll accept it.

  When we reach her car, she turns and motions for me to get in. “My name is Mishka.”

  “Namaste,” I repeat her greeting back to her.

  “Don’t try anything. I’m not a fool. I’m well protected, and I’ve been trained to kill the likes of you since the day I was born. I’m here to work with you for one reason and one reason alone,” she warns as she opens the car door.

  I look inside. On the seat is a book I remember well, even if it’s been more than a hundred and fifty years since I last saw it. This girl is feisty. She’s definitely the one I was warned about. I just wish I could remember the warning. Too much of my memory has been lost. I remember well all the days since watching Guido Fawkes die on the scaffold—over one hundred and fifty thousand of them, not that I’m counting, of course. But I’ve no recollection of the days when I was a human before I became this creature Mishka detests.

  She motions for me to get in the car, and I step past her and slide into the seat she indicated. I grab her arm as I go, so she can feel the chill of my skin.

  “You may think of me as a monster, Mishka, but to me, you're a ghost. You’re eyes, they sparkle with the same enthusiasm and courage as your great-great-grandmother’s. She was a remarkable woman for her time, but she was never going to be the one to end Adiman. I think you are, though. I can sense he’s wounded you in a way no one else ever has.”

  4

  Mishka

  Stephen Howard or Howie, as he prefers to be called, isn’t a normal vampire—a fact I discover on the plane back to India. I can tell he’s different just by spending time with him.

  It’s clear he’s an intelligent man. He spends a lot of the flight reacquainting himself with the book, and he asks me about myself and what Adiman has done to make me so determined to kill him. He grew sad when I told him the monster had killed my father and offered me his condolences, even though he shouldn’t have the soul to care. I don’t feel concerned to be in his company, and I’m not expecting him to attack me at any moment, but I do need to watch him. Anyone can change when you least expect it.

  When we land in India, I reluctantly use a car to get to the headquarters of the Indian branch of E.V.I.E.. It’s daylight, and Howie needs to be protected. Everything is planned to ensure minimal risk to him from exposure to sunlight.

  Our base isn’t in the vibrant city of New Delhi but nearby to give us more privacy. It’s a stone building, which helps to keep the air within it cool. I’m not sure when it was built, but I know it used to be a small palace for one of the members of an Indian royal family a long time ago. Beautifully colored drawings adorn the walls, telling stories of a world now confined to the history books.

  There are only a few people who work in the Indian branch. It’s mainly used for research into vampires, but all of them are equally shocked when I bring a live one through the front door, and he’s walking in free of restraints. Howie is not tied up or incapacitated in any way. A few of the team stand back, instantly reaching for garlic, crosses, or whatever charms they have to hand to ward against the evil in their presence.

  “He’s not going to hurt you,” I inform them, but a lot of these people are incredibly superstitious and have suffered at the hands of vampires in the past.

  Howie lowers his head. I can sense he’s ashamed they’re scared of him,

  “Maybe it would be best if you locked me up while you prepare for our trip. I don’t want to make anyone here feel uneasy.”

  A couple of the staff immediately nod their heads at his suggestion, and reluctantly I take him down to the dungeons where a couple of other vampires who are a danger to humanity are being held.

  “I’m sorry I have to do this,” I say as I lock him into a transparent cell from which escape is impossible.

  I know my mother warned me he’s a vampire, and I’ve not known him long, but Howie is as much a part of the quest we’re about to undertake as I am. It feels wrong to do this to him.

  “Please, I know what my kind is capable of doing. You go and prepare yourself for the trip. You need to travel with more luggage than I do. I’m going to finish reading the book and get a little sleep. The rest will do me some good.”

  Howie smiles at me, and I take in his appearance. He’s dressed in jeans and a white t-shirt, and he’s lost the long overcoat he wore at the bonfire. It gave him the appearance of a distinguished gentleman, but in the Indian heat, it would be too much. It’s not that vampires feel the change in temperature, but it would look a little strange for him to be wearing a warm coat meant for cold weather. His hair is short around the sides and longer on top, a modern style, and I wonder if he’s kept up with the fashion throughout all the ages he’s lived. His body is lean and muscular even if a little pale from lack of sunlight.

  It’s his eyes that capture me the most. I can see the honesty in them. Something other vampires don’t have. Their eyes are soulless, but Howie’s aren't. The chestnut irises frame midnight colored pupils full of a life he shouldn’t possess, because he’s undead. Howie really isn’t what he seems, and as I walk away, leaving him alone in the dungeons with the real monsters, I already can’t wait to get back and learn more about him.

  It doesn’t take me long to pack everything we need for the trip. Howie and I are going to follow the book to find the eternal flame and hop
efully use it to kill Adiman. Then I can return to my home, mourn my father, and watch over my mother.

  I check in with the other members of E.V.I.E. throughout the world, including Jude Reyes, the overall boss, at the main headquarters in New York. He’s been concerned about me losing my father to a vampire, but I’ve reassured him it has spurred me on. Now I’m even more determined to ensure I rid the earth of the pestilence that is Adiman, once and for all.

  As I walk through the dungeons back to the cell I put Howie in, the evil vampires down there hiss and bare their fangs at me. They don’t scare me, though. It’s all a show. They can’t escape from this facility, and they know it. The scientists I work with are determined to find a cure for vampires. It may be unethical, but these creatures are soulless. They kill without a thought, and we need to find a way to stop them from destroying the world.

  “Hi,” I address Howie when I reach his cell. He looks up from the book he’s still reading. “I’m packed. I’m going to get a few hours sleep, and we’ll leave in the morning, if it’s all right?”

  “Of course. I think I know the exact location of the flame from my reading. It won’t be easy to get to, though. I hope you’re a good climber.”

  I laugh at him. “I wouldn’t worry about me climbing. I’m sure you can smell my blood is different from a normal human. Scaling a mountain will be just fine for me, but maybe not looking like I do at present,” I respond, smiling.

  “What animal are you?” Howie places the book down beside him on the makeshift bed he’ll spend the night on, a vast difference from the plush one I’ll be sleeping in.

  “I’m a leopard.”

  “You’ll be all right climbing a mountain then, probably better than me. I’m definitely rusty at exploration. It must have been a good two hundred years since I last did anything like this.”

  I press a button and then type in a code to open the door to Howie’s cell and walk inside. He has a small plastic chair in the corner of the room, and I take a seat on it, leaving the door open.

  “How old are you?” I ask.

  He shakes his head. “I don’t know for certain. Roughly four hundred years is how long I can remember. It could be thousands of years I’ve been alive, but I don’t remember anything before four hundred years ago. My family, my life, growing up, nothing. All I know is from when I put my hand in the flames and discovered I didn’t burn to ash.”

  “That’s not normal for a vampire. They always remember everything.”

  “I don’t think I’m a normal vampire by any means.” Howie raises a skeptical eyebrow at me.

  “No, I guess not. How have you survived all these years?”

  “Roadkill, mostly, but I hunt animals sometimes. I’ve not touched human blood since the day I discovered I couldn’t die in flames. I must have touched it before, but I can’t really tell you for sure. It was hard at first. I craved it and fought against my decision to abstain, but I kept in my mind that I must be here for a reason. If I didn’t die in the flames, then maybe I still possessed a part of my soul. I’ve always hoped so anyway. My optimism’s dwindled over the years, each birthday making it harder to believe I have a purpose on this earth, but I’ve never broken. I’ve never killed or turned a human. I refuse to do it.”

  I can tell every word Howie speaks is honest. He looks tired of the life he’s been living. It must have been long and monotonous, even if he has experienced many stages of evolution in the world. He’s known generations of Kings and Queens, wars across all continents, and advancing technology that must have seemed like magic when he first encountered it. I can’t imagine living that long, and I’m not sure I’d have found it easy to keep moving with the times. I’m not the biggest fan of technological advancements as it is. I’m an old-fashioned girl, and I sense a lot of the same feelings in Howie’s nature.

  “Maybe when this is over we can try to find out more about you? There must be someone who knows?” I offer, wanting to give him something in exchange.

  “I don’t know if I’ll survive the eternal flame, but if I do, then it would be nice. I’d like to know if I had a mother and father and how I became a vampire.” Howie falls quiet. He stares down at his hands. They appear to be the key to his soul, the important part of him unlike any other vampire.

  “Do you have any other traits that aren’t exactly stereotypical for a vampire?” I question, finding myself reluctant to go to bed and sleep. I want to know more about the man in front of me. Man...not a monster? Why don’t I see him as one? It scares me.

  “No, only the resistance to fire.” Howie gets to his feet and comes over to me. I instantly get ready to attack. It’s a natural reaction having been around vampires for most of my life. “Ever ready. You're a good slayer, Mishka.”

  He reaches out to the necklace I wear around my neck. My faith is based in Christianity, which many Indians follow in the country today. Sliding his hand down the gold chain, he reaches the ornate cross at the bottom and wraps his fingers around it. My eyes go wide as I hear the sizzling of his flesh burning around the religious symbol. I pull the cross away from him quickly.

  “Don’t do it again. You may be a monster, but there is a part of your soul inside you. Don’t hurt yourself intentionally,” I scold him.

  Howie bows his head in respect at my words, and returning to his seat, he looks down at his hand where the shape of a cross is burned into his skin.

  My breath catches, and I know I need to get out of here. The intensity surrounding Howie and what he is confuses me. Without saying anything more, I rush out of the room and lock the cell door behind me. I get out of the dungeons as quickly as I can. The vampires with no souls hiss at me as I race back past them, heading up out of the building, and into the fields surrounding the base.

  It’s peaceful outside, and I welcome it, even with the humidity, as I breathe faster and faster, desperate to get air into my lungs. Eventually, I manage to calm down, but I can’t suppress the niggling doubt settling deep within me. Howie still has part of his soul. He’s shown it in his actions since I’ve met him. However, he’s also partly a monster, and I wonder if a time comes when I have to kill him, will I be able to? I’m not sure that I will.

  5

  Howie

  The first part of the journey up into the mountainous Himalayan region in Northern India was easy once Mishka finally agreed to use a car. However, as soon as traveling by vehicle was no longer possible, we switched to foot, and we’ve been hiking hard ever since.

  Mishka wants to push on through the night, but I can tell she’s tired. I manage to persuade her in the early hours of the morning that we need to rest. We find a small cave and set-up camp there for the next twelve hours until the sun sets again. The cave isn’t big or special but it feels familiar. I can’t place why.

  In spite of the heat, I light a fire just to watch the flames dance in the darkness of the cave. Mishka tries to settle down for a while, but her reluctance to rest finally leads to her practicing her combat skills. I have to admit she’s very professional and is a strong fighter. I wouldn’t like to go up against her. Maybe it’s because I’m old and out of shape, but I think if we fought, she’d have me flat on my back in seconds.

  My mind drifts to matters of the flesh. I haven’t partaken in the company of a woman in all my years on this earth, as far as I can remember. I didn’t trust myself at first, and then it just became easier to wait. I knew I was destined for something, and I’ve focused on that instead.

  For the last four hundred years or more, all I’ve done is read and study the workings of new scientific and technological advancements. My existence has been dull and boring, but it’s all I know. As I watch Mishka, I can’t help the hardening of my cock. It enjoying the sensuality of her sway as she moves backward and forward in different combat stances. I may be an enigma as a vampire, but she’s one as well. I’ve never met anyone like her, and I want to know everything about her. I’m not stupid, though, there are some things she’ll never l
et me learn. I’m a monster after all.

  Turning away, I settle down on the hard ground and shut my eyes. Even though vampires don’t require much sleep, I do need a little rest. The day has been hard and jet lag still sits in my veins. It isn’t long before I fall asleep.

  “Hurry up, Howie,” the deep timbered voice I recognize floods into my mind as I watch the young man beneath me working hard to saddle up the horses and prepare them for what looks like a long day’s travel.

  I can’t see anyone but the boy as I fly above the scene like a bird of prey hunting its victim. The boy looks up at the sky but doesn’t see me. My eyes go wide when I recognize him instantly. He’s me. The clothes are old from a time long since passed. Am I dreaming, or is this real? I’m confused.

  “It’s nearly done, sir. I’ve just one bag left to load,” the young man replies, and I find my lips moving in time with his words.

  This is a memory, but not one I recollect. I search for any clues that would hint at where we are and in what time? It could give me my age? I don’t find anything, and my frustration gets the better of me as I curse out loud. I slap my hands over my mouth, scared the boy and the owner of the deep voice can hear me, but it doesn’t seem as though they can.

  “Make it quick,” the voice comes again.

  I really can’t place in my mind who he is, but I know him. It frustrates me even further, and I find myself moving down closer to the boy. The ground is dusty around his feet, and the air is hot, and the sky bright with a burning sun. It feels like I’m still in India, but it can’t be. It hadn’t been discovered until 1608, and I have my memory from 1606 when Guy Fawkes was executed. Tell me where you are and what year it is?