by A Lorenzen
I reached for his arm and waited until he finally looked me in the eyes. ‘I understand why you want to keep me away. But if something happened to you, don’t you think the council will figure out we lived together and ask why I didn’t go with you? They will blame me and terminate me. I’m coming with you.’
Ben’s expression was pained. He let go of his shot glass and swung his arms around me. We stayed locked together for a long time.
My anger against Jesper was brewing. Ben might have given up on punishing him, but I would try to find a way.
Sleep evaded me that night. I stared at the ceiling for hours, haunted by images of Ben’s recruit being tortured, Viktor trying to kill me, and Ben being slaughtered.
Ben was asleep but tossed and turned. I wondered if he was tortured by the same images I was. I got up and retreated to the balcony with my pack of cigarettes. What now?
I lit the cigarette and dragged the first wave of nicotine into my lungs. As long as those two vampires were alive, Ben would not rest.
My thoughts drifted to Caleb. I was reminded of a conversation we had had a long time ago. I texted Caleb and sucked the last bit of life out my cigarette. When I walked towards the bedroom, my eyes fell upon Ben’s phone lying on the kitchen counter. I unlocked his phone and turned on the location sharing. At least now if he stole away, I would be able to find him. Somehow, I had a bad feeling I would need it. I climbed back into bed and laid an arm over Ben’s warm chest.
* * *
Caleb agreed to see me a week later at Santa’s pub at midday.
The cold air and rain hit me when I opened the door. Water splashed under my boots as I ran across the gravel parking lot and into the long corridor leading to Santa’s pub. I used my phone to light the way to the pub, and finally reached the warm and cosy bar. The yellow lights from the lamps eased my mind. Caleb was at the back. With every step I took, I could sense my mood mellowing. I slipped into my personal heaven. Caleb hugged me and the serenity overwhelmed me. Nothing could shake me. Nothing bad would ever befall me.
‘I sense you are worried, my dear.’ He dimmed down the happiness.
My brain returned from heaven back to Santa’s pub. ‘Yes, I’m worried about Ben. He… he told me what happened to his recruit and I’m worried.’
Caleb nodded, encouraging me to continue. ‘His recruit was tortured by vampires and he was forced to watch. He somehow escaped but now he’s out for revenge and I’m afraid he will end up dead!’
‘Did he leave his recruit alone?’
‘No, Jesper was supposed to be with him. When Jesper told Ben he wasn’t with him, it was too late.’
Caleb reached for my hand and his power over me increased exponentially. ‘I need you to tell me again; who was supposed to be with the recruit when he was captured by the vampires?’ I could feel the weight of his authority weighing me down like wet bedsheets.
‘Jesper,’ I repeated.
‘How many vampires were there?’
‘Three. Viktor was killed. The other two are still out there.’
‘Alright my child.’ Caleb let go of my hand.
I was back in the pub. ‘Can you help him?’
Caleb remained silent. Then, he leant forward and sighed, ‘It will be difficult. It will be Jesper’s word against Ben’s. Our best shot will be to confront Jesper outside of the council’s scope…’
‘Caleb, we have to do something! I don’t want to wait until it’s too late. Ben won’t want to go to the council. He’s too afraid of being terminated! He was already punished with 20 years of additional service when they thought he caused the death of his recruit.’
‘Meerah, you must be patient. I have to think about the best way to approach this. Jesper is sneaky and he won’t let himself be trapped easily.’
‘But I’m scared Ben is so blinded by revenge he may take unnecessary risks! We can’t wait until it’s too late. Let’s get Jesper now!’ I urged Caleb.
Caleb sighed and considered for what felt like an eternity. ‘I’m very aware of that, Ameerah. But what can we do? Confront Jesper and imprison him, force a confession out of him? I have no access to a prison cell, nor do I wish to imprison Jesper, which would undoubtedly attract attention from the council. You have to let me think this through. I will find a way. Don’t get upset, Meerah. I’m on your side.’
Somehow, I had trouble believing him. Just as I had finished my thought, I could feel my ribcage ceasing up. Caleb’s eyes were on me and threw darts at me. But this wasn’t like Blake throwing darts, these actually hurt me.
‘Hurry,’ I managed to say through clenched teeth.
Caleb loosened the chains around my chest and I could breathe again.
Ben’s car was gone when I got home. My mind went to a dark place. I ran up to the apartment and checked but he was gone. Without wasting any time, I grabbed an M16, several handguns and as much ammunition as I could carry. On my way out, I took my keys and phone and headed back out into the night. Once in my car I looked on my phone and saw with relief, he had not discovered what I had done. Now at least I knew where he was.
DECISIONS
I pressed the gas pedal to the floor, but the Volvo could not get there quick enough. I had too much time to think about the vampire. Was he facing one right now? Could he have fallen into a trap and now be facing both of them? Was he chasing down a lead or confronting one of the actual vampires involved?
I needed help. I dialled Kim’s number. She finally answered after several calls. I shared Ben’s location with her. Kim made me promise to wait until she got there before getting out of the car.
Shortly after, I arrived as close as I could at Ben’s location. Kim was nowhere to be seen and while I had made a promise to her, I was too scared to stay in the car. I jumped out, strapped a handgun on each hip and held the M-16 in my hands.
A voice in my head tried to calm me, promising me Ben would be there, unharmed. Another answered telling me he was already dead…
I opened the gate and squinted through the darkness. The smell of wet fur and rubbish assaulted my nose. My steps echoed, announcing my arrival. Hissing and scratching sounds accompanied me deeper into the alley to a small courtyard. There were several open doors leading down into the basements of the surrounding buildings. A distant streetlight illuminated the night sky, but very little light reached the courtyard.
I stopped and swinging the M-16 onto my back, I reached for my phone. From the blinking dot on the screen I couldn’t make out where exactly Ben was. I squinted into the alley; there were several basements and more archways with stairs leading up to the tall buildings around me. There was a medieval round tower on my left with vertical slits as windows.
I waited a few seconds for any movement or sign but all I could make out were molochs hissing close-by. My feet turned right and I carefully stepped down the stairs to my right, my trusted machine gun at the ready.
Three molochs lay dead within minutes. I heard something behind me and ran back up the stairs to see another two fleeing. The machine gun wouldn’t be precise enough. I pulled out my handgun and shot them.
I cleared out the nests one basement at the time, hoping each time I would find Ben. There was absolutely no trace of him; no empty shells on the ground, no dead molochs. I started doubting the accuracy of the phone. Hissing and growling sounds escaped through the closed wooden door of the last basement I needed to clear. I kicked the door open and shot at the molochs reaching for me. The stench made my eyes water.
I took a step further into the basement and slipped on the wet slabs. I landed on my back and slid the remaining few steps down, hitting the back of my head on the concrete steps. Disoriented I tried to stop my vision from swimming. The shock rang in my ears. I took my left hand off the machine gun and applied pressure to my forehead. The pulsing in the back of my head slowly dulled down.
A hissing surprised me from above. Immediately, I tilted the machine gun up and shot the bastard. My ears rang from the shot. I c
ouldn’t hear anything besides the high-pitched screech of my damaged eardrums.
Several molochs lurked in the corners. I sat up and shot those I could make out. There was no time to dwell on my pain. I exited the basement and a wave of fresh air welcomed me. The absence of foulness helped clear my mind. There was a small trickle down my neck and I was convinced it was blood.
A rumbling from an engine approached and a flash of lights illuminated the square. A car door was slammed shut. ‘Meerah!’ I could hear someone calling.
‘Yeah,’ I responded.
‘I told you to wait for me!’ she scolded.
I gently pressed on my head to get the hammering to cease.
‘Do you know where he is?’ Kim had caught up to me now and was looking me up and down. ‘Are you good?’
‘I don’t know where exactly. He’s here somewhere.’
Suddenly, there was a muffled sound. It was like a scratching of wood on wood.
Kim looked up towards the tops of the buildings. ‘Come on. Let’s start with that tower.’
We made our way up the tight winding stairs. The steps were short and more than once I tripped and almost smacked my face onto the cold stone.
It took us several minutes to reach the top. By the end my quads were burning. At the end of the staircase was a wooden door with a latch. Kim stopped and listened. She looked down to me and made signs with her left fist to communicate soundlessly that when we stormed through the door, she would go left and I was to go right. Then she opened her hand and counted down. At the end of the countdown she pushed against the door and crashed into the room. I followed close behind her. It was dark and all I could see was a shape on the ground. It moved and flapped around in a weird way. My eyes fixated on the dark shadow as my eyes dilated and I recognized him.
‘Ben!’ I exclaimed and ran to him.
‘Ameerah no!’ I heard behind me, but it was too late.
Something grabbed me from behind and ripped the machine gun out of my hands. My foot was pulled backwards and I fell to the ground. As I fell, I rolled to my back and drew my gun, landing a few shots onto the large shadow with piercing red eyes.
Kim shot him from the door and we let the bullets rain. Only seconds later, I ran out of ammunition. While I reached for another magazine the vampire lunged at me and pulled me up across his upper body. He was dangerously close to me and I tried to push myself away from him. His mouth snapped at me and I could see his sharp teeth glistening.
The vampire grabbed hold of my jacket and pulled me down. I reached along the back of my belt and unsheathed a blade. As he pulled me down and opened his mouth, I stabbed him in between the ribs on his right side. The vampire let go of my jacket and barred my right arm as I tried to stab him again. With ease he twisted my wrist around and made me drop the blade onto the floor. He reached for it and sunk the blade deep into my liver. I had no chance to stop him. I fell backwards trying to hold in the blood that was pouring in between my fingers.
The vampire climbed on top of me but now that I was out of the line of fire, Kim resumed shooting. The bullets pierced holes in his body, but it didn’t seem to slow him down. The vampire turned away from me and sprinted at Kim who was still shooting him.
Ben rolled onto all fours and tried to get up. He was heavily bleeding from his left arm and his left leg. I let go of my side and reached across my hips with my right hand and unholstered my handgun. The vampire had cornered Kim and she was taking a heavy beating.
Finally, the gun was securely in my hand and I pointed at the monster and shot. Ben got on his legs but stumbled onto the wall and crashed back onto the floor.
The vampire let go of Kim and turned back to me. I had now emptied my clip into him. I was out of bullets. As he moved in on me, I could see he was not walking straight anymore.
Ben mumbled my name but couldn’t do more than wiggle.
Kim shot the vampire several times from the back, blood sprayed across me as the bullets pierced through his chest, and he fell on top of me. Some of the blood had sprayed into my mouth and I had accidentally swallowed it. It was more than just a drop or two.
Kim stashed the gun away and moved towards me.
‘Get Ben! I’m right behind you!’ I told her.
She nodded and tumbled towards Ben. She pulled him up and headed for the door. I could hear them making their way down the long staircase.
I breathed deeply and tried to wrestle with the vampire’s body on top of me. My heartrate was quick and I could feel it pulse right up in my throat.
Suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my hip as I tried to move out from underneath the vampire. It paralyzed me for a few seconds before I was able to function again. I boxed the body away from me and saw that the vampire was not dead. It was barely clinging to life and had bitten me in my hip. The bite wound burned horribly. The muscles around it contracted and spasmed, making me squirm on the floor uncontrollably.
The vampire gurgled as it started laughing and crawled towards me.
Frantically, I looked around and saw the blade that he had stabbed me with on my right. I reached for it, but my blood-covered fingers slipped. The vampire had gotten a hold of my left leg and was pulling me backwards. I managed to make the blade spin and got a hold of it on the sharp end. I twisted it around in my grip and swung around with it. My hand stabbed the blade into the vampire’s stomach and it slipped from my grip as I did so. Finally, the vampire stopped moving and the murderous red eyes lost focus.
The burning from my hip spread up towards my intestines and down toward my hip joint. It was getting harder to breathe. I needed Caleb. And I was alone!
I pulled my phone out and looked for Caleb’s speed dial on the foggy screen. My blood-covered fingers slipped around the screen. I pressed the phone to my ear and could feel the long beeps stretch out.
‘I’m on my way, my child. I’m not far. Try to not panic or move too much.’
‘Ok, hurry Caleb,’ I managed to cough into the phone. Talking was exhausting.
With great difficulty I crawled and fought my way across the room to the wooden door. I reached up to the latch and pulled myself up. The door started swinging back and I swung with it, crashing into the wall. My head banged against the concrete and the ringing in my ears intensified. I prayed that Caleb could feel my distress. How long ago had Kim and Ben left? It felt like an eternity. My right hand reached down to my bleeding liver and tried to cover the stab wound up. With my left hand I pulled myself back up and made it through the door.
My vision was swimming. I aimed for the first step but missed it. I tried to stop myself, but my upper body was leaning too far out and I rolled down quite a few steps before I stopped. When I did, I was lying on my back with my head down and my knees against the outer wall of the stairs. My back slipped and I slid down a few more steps until my head hit something hard. I stretched my hand backwards to steady myself, pulling the muscles around my pierced liver and making me scream.
My breathing was fast and growing shallow. My throat had started swelling, black spots appeared in my vision. I managed to get my legs down from the wall and my head pointing towards the top of the stairs. Using the wall, I slithered down step by step.
I could feel my breathing unexpectedly easing. The burning at my hip was still just as strong and every time I moved, I could feel the pain travelling like lightning up my hip and across my ribcage. I wasn’t quite sure what was going on, but I used my slight improvement to get down as many steps as I could.
There were steps audible rushing towards me. I reached down my right leg to my ankle and got my emergency blade out.
I could hear my name being called from somewhere beneath me.
‘Kim!’ I shouted in response.
Finally, she came around the corner and helped me up. ‘We’re almost there!’
As we made our way down, I could feel my windpipe closing again. Whatever had happened to slightly improve my state, had reversed. The wheezing intensified and the blac
k spots in my vision came back.
‘What’s going on? Were you bitten?’ Kim pulled me through the door at the bottom and out onto the courtyard.
It was now raining, making it even harder to see in the dark.
‘Ameerah were you bitten?’ I could hear Kim next to me.
I tried to answer but I had no more force. No air would reach my lungs. I got dizzy and tried to hold on to Kim. It felt like I was drowning and I couldn’t get to the surface anymore.
‘Did you call Caleb? Is he on his way?’
I grunted in response. I breathed in desperately, but it was useless. The burning in my hip had spread widely and was paralyzing my stomach and my right leg. I could no longer walk with it and it had become a dead weight.
‘Don’t you dare give out on me!’
A sense of calmness came to me. My breathing slowed.
‘I’m here my child,’ I heard a voice sing in my ears.
His voice took my anxiety away and I could feel my body relax. I was lying on the cold floor with the rain pelting down on me.
‘How is Ben?’ I heard him ask quietly.
At the mention of his name I stirred. I wanted to see him. I wanted to be around him.
‘He’s fine. Meerah, relax. He’s safe in the car and getting a transfusion. He’ll be alright.’ Someone held on to my hand.
‘Hold her in place.’
Before I had time to think about what I had heard, I could feel something at my hip. The pain immediately cranked up and it was like the fire reignited in my veins and boiled my blood. I screamed out. My mouth was muffled.
The excruciating pain repeated like acid poured over my whole body. It was too much to bear.
I came to myself and was gently rocked. When I opened my eyes, I saw something grey above me. My eyes slowly focused and I realized I was in a car. I drew in a deep breath.
‘She’s waking up.’ I heard Ben’s voice above me. I could see him smiling down on me.
‘Thank fucking god!’ Kim said from the driver’s seat.
My hand glided down my side. The stab wound in my liver had been bandaged. Gently, I travelled further down and could feel where the vampire had bitten me. The skin was burning but it wasn’t searing anymore. I could breathe again.