My Familiar Stranger

by Victoria Danann

  The vampire were beginning to rouse. He wished he could afford to stay to enjoy witnessing the spectacle of ripping, shredding, snarling, and screaming about to take place, but decided it was more prudent to get rid of Baka.

  With one last look he walked away leaving Elora to die a death worse than a demon’s nightmare.

  When he was thirty yards away from where he’d left Baka, he heard voices. Spraying hissed curses into the darkness he turned back. At the next tunnel intersection he headed away from the cell where Elora was about to be devoured by hungry, angry vampire.

  Sanction arrived with Blackie in twenty minutes. Storm told Baka to hang back since the dog had previously demonstrated an extreme intolerance for his presence and had been trained using his scent. Storm asked Sanction for the article of Elora’s clothing and hoped to Woden that big German Shepherd was as smart as she thought he was.

  When they entered the tunnel, Storm put Elora’s tank top in front of Blackie’s nose as he had seen her do the day he observed the game of Find Sir Hawking.

  “Find Elora.” Blackie stared up at Storm intently with ears pointed forward looking like he was asking for clarification. Say again. Storm repeated the steps.

  Blackie barked and started into the tunnel pulling on the leash. He wanted to run, but they were afraid that, if they let him off leash, he would outdistance them in the space of a few seconds leaving them as lost as they would be without him. Baka followed behind them at a distance so as not to be a distraction.

  Blackie and Sanction reached the cell a few seconds before Storm and Kay. They heard Sanction’s shouts up ahead and broke into a sprint for the rest of the distance. By the time they arrived, Sanction was almost sobbing and Blackie was hitting the bars of the cage, reminding them of the dog he had once been before Elora claimed him.

  Kay reached for one of the pistols that held the wood core bullets planning to put an end to these particular vampire, but Storm caught his arm and pushed upward before he fired. With a chillingly flat tone he simply said, “Splat gun.” Kay didn’t question the request. He simply exchanged his weapon, shot them both in the face with silver gel, then used bullets to break the lock.

  It took several tries since green wood core bullets are designed to penetrate flesh and not metal. They had to close Blackie out of the cell to keep him from tearing into the paralyzed vampire. Plus, the dog had not been inoculated. They didn’t know whether animals were susceptible to the virus, but couldn’t take the chance.

  The scene inside the cell was grisly. Elora had been bitten repeatedly, all over her thighs and abdomen. Even with all the blood, the gouges and deep scratches were evident. Her neck had been spared only because they couldn’t reach it. Ghost had planned to keep her jugular out of reach partly to prolong her suffering and partly because he knew it would drive the vampire into a more fevered feeding frenzy.

  Storm locked his arms around her thighs. While he held her weight up, taking the strain off her wrists, Kay shot the lock holding the chain to the side wall ring. Storm readjusted his hold as she slumped over and Kay helped him ease her to the ground.

  When Baka arrived, Blackie renewed his protest, but Sanction was able to take him a few yards away and keep him under control.

  As usual, Baka was wearing a long tailed silk shirt. He came forward and knelt down. He tried to feel for her pulse, but his hands were shaking. He took the shirt off, laid it over her body, then put his ear over her heart to listen. She was alive, but white as death and unconscious. Which was undoubtedly merciful.

  Storm took note of the fact that Baka was visibly shaken and that the blood was not presenting a control issue for him.

  Blackie was enraged about the vampire being so close to his mistress and raising such a ruckus it was hard to hear over him.

  Baka said she could make it back to the entrance where the medic was waiting with blood for transfusion if they got her there soon. They agreed that Blackie and Sanction would run back as fast as they could and have them standing by for a transfusion during transport to base. Kay would stand guard over the vamps while Storm and Baka took turns carrying Elora. All the weapons were left with Kay.

  For the second time in half a year, Storm picked up the limp, bloody body of a dying woman named Elora Laiken. This time he was even more determined that she would live. They started toward the surface world. Every few minutes he and Baka stopped and transferred the precious cargo so that they could keep moving fast.

  The van that would take her to the whister pad was waiting when they arrived. Storm told Sanction to take Blackie back to base and have the kitchen feed him the biggest, seared sirloin steak they could find. He’d earned it.

  Storm took possession of the sedatives that Baka had insisted on having handy and put them in his leg pockets. The two of them watched the van doors close and Storm knew that the rest was out of his hands. Again.

  He watched them pull away, then looked at Baka with a tight jaw and said, “Let’s go finish this.”

  Three members of E Team had been stationed at one of the three tunnel entrance points. They had not been able to locate Ghost when they were called in and couldn’t have been more stunned to see him approaching from inside the tunnel. Ghost said he had been closest to the club entrance and decided to enter there and find them. A couple of members of E Team exchanged looks and silently questioned the details of his story, but decided they would let it pass for the moment.

  On reviewing Baka’s plan, Monq agreed that the tunnels could be sealed without danger to the metropolis above or its occupants. He and Baka worked together to set the charges in their right measure and gave instructions to the teams that were standing by about twenty-five yards inside each entrance.

  Storm took command of the operation once the explosives were in place and everyone had their instructions. Relays were established above ground for the purpose of synchronizing the blast on Storm’s signal.

  First, Storm sent D Team to replace E Team at the second access point and ordered E Team to the club entrance. At the same time he sent Baka to join Kay. Half an hour later E Team arrived. He ordered Ghost to accompany him, saying he was two members shy of a team with Ram hurt and Elora missing. He wasn’t sure Ghost bought the story, but didn’t especially care since he couldn’t be refused. The rest of E Team was stationed at the club entrance to act as relays and control curiosity.

  As the two of them walked back into the tunnel, Ghost reviewed his options and came up short of a good plan any way he ran it. So he decided the only thing he could do was play it out and hope an opening presented itself. They walked in silence until they reached Kay at the cell.

  Storm turned a hard-as-stone look on Ghost and said, “We’ve got a problem.”

  Kay, who was typically underestimated because of his calm demeanor and slow Southern style, reached in lightning fast and took Ghost’s weapon. Deciding retreat was the best solution after all, Ghost turned and ran smack into Baka who was happy to show him a pair of very impressive fangs up close and personal.

  Storm stabbed Ghost in the neck with one of the syringes stored in a leg pocket of his cargo pants. He knew he had a minute for confrontation before the sedative rendered Ghost useless.

  “There’s never been a knight in the history of Black Swan who has betrayed The Order.”

  “There’s never been a bitch put ahead of a knight in the history of The Order,” Ghost spat.

  “Yeah. That’s about what I thought you’d say.”

  With that Storm threw Ghost in the cell then administered one sedative syringe to each vampire. Next he then took out a knife and cut the paralyzing silver gel away from the skin where it had made contact on the vampires’ faces.

  Seeing where this was going, Baka said, “Sir Storm, I have decided that you are a god of poetic justice.”

  Without looking up from what he was doing and without hesitation Storm said, “Damndest thing is that I’ve come to think that another place, another time, you and I might have eve
n been friends.”

  Baka responded with a wistful and, perhaps, grateful smile. “Indeed.”

  Storm took the lengths of chain and started wrapping them around the bars. The locks couldn’t be reused, but tying the chains off should keep the three monsters imprisoned together long enough for his purposes. Storm, Kay, and Baka sat down with their backs against the tunnel wall facing the cell and waited for the show.

  The old vampire said to no one in particular, “This won’t be over after today. Someone reopened the tunnels, renovated the lighting system, and distributed a high grade aphrodisiac to vampire. That implies some kind of organizational structure. Unless they happen to be underground today, that someone may continue to present problems in the future.”

  While Storm and Kay contemplated that, twenty minutes passed and Ghost’s sedative wore off.

  When he looked around and realized what was planned his eyes went wild. He sprang for the door, looking at the still-immobile vampire. “You can’t do this to another knight!”

  Storm looked bored. “Exactly what I thought.”

  Ghost was rapidly working himself toward hysterics. “What you’re doing is against the law!”

  “We make our own law. You know that.”

  Ghost began trying to undo the chains holding the gate closed.

  Storm trained a gun on his hands and said, “Back away or you won’t have hands to defend yourself with when your little friends come to.”

  When the vampire woke, Ghost started to scream and pull at the chains again.

  Kay turned to Storm and said, “How is it possible that this miscreant was knighted? The vampire sitting next to you is more deserving.”

  “Thank you, Kay.”

  “Only my friends call me that, Baka.”

  “I apologize.”

  Kay sighed, feeling like a prick. “Alright. You can call me Kay.”

  Storm said, “You’re right. The vampire sitting next to me is more deserving. Maybe he’ll take Ghost’s place.”

  As promised, Storm shot Ghost’s hands to keep him from pulling the chains free. Within a few more minutes the vampire had ripped out the captive’s throat and were fighting over who would drain the lion’s share of the blood from the kill. Gautier's glassy eyed stare seemed to be directed at his audience, but not one of them felt the least remorse.

  Storm stood slowly and fired twice, sending a wood core bullet straight into each vampire’s heart. They decided not to allow the remotest chance that the scene might be discovered. Ever.

  Baka had enough C4 left to blow the cell, but no fuse. So Storm sent the other two back up the tunnel, ignited it with a shot, and ran like hell. Fortunately he was invigorated by seeing justice served. Something about being on the side of righteousness was energizing.

  When all teams, relays, and charges were confirmed ready, Baka set the synchronization and counted it off. All entrances to the tunnel system were demolished, simultaneously trapping any vampire within for all eternity. They would starve to death long before they could dig their way out.

  ***

  CHAPTER 19

  Ram was clawing his way back to consciousness, becoming vaguely aware that he was in a hospital bed. Someone, probably a nurse, was moving around him doing something with the equipment at his bedside and talking quietly to someone else in the room. He heard loud voices coming from the hallway outside his room and thought someone said Lady Laiken.

  Hearing an accelerated monitor beep indicating Ram’s heart rate speeding up, one of the two nurses in the room stepped closer and shot a dose into his I.V. line that put him back to sleep.

  The next time he woke, the heart monitor went straight into overdrive. The nurse present tried to calm him while another hurried in and pressed the call button to ask for a doctor.

  He fought to open his eyes more. “Elora.”

  When he said her name, he saw the two nurses look at each other and knew something was wrong. That’s when he decided he was getting up.

  Two nurses are not much of a match for a Black Swan knight, not even when he has a concussion and one hundred forty-three stitches. They were attempting to restrain him physically while begging him to stay in bed when one of the doctors burst through the door.

  Ram stopped and peered at the newcomer. “Elora,” he repeated.

  “Sir Hawking,” she began, “your partner has been injured. She is alive and close by. We are taking very good care of her. And, just like you, she needs to rest.”

  “See her,” he was pulling the I.V. out of his hand and swinging his legs over the side of the bed.

  “Stop!” He ignored her. “If you don’t stop, we will sedate you.”

  Ram froze and gave her a look she would never forget. “Try,” was all he said.

  Knowing it isn’t their job to battle knights who are infirm, possibly doing more harm than good, the good doctor decided the best outcome was compromise. After a brief negotiation, Ram agreed to sit in a wheelchair and stay there in exchange for being taken to see her.

  The lights were dimmed in Elora's room and the covers were pulled up under her chin. The heart monitor beeped a steady, reassuring report and she was breathing on her own. He was so relieved he could have cried. He heard the door swish open behind him and someone came in.

  “What happened?” he asked the nurse standing behind him without looking away from Elora's bed. “Do you know?”

  His answer was Storm’s quiet voice telling her, “We’ll take it from here.”

  Storm and Kay convinced Ram to let them push him back to his room by arguing that sometimes patients who appear to be unconscious hear and remember what was said. After he got back into bed and got settled, they told him the entire story including what happened to Ghost.

  Ram was quiet for a long time digesting all they had told him.

  “So the biggest monster turned out to be one of us. There must be some kind of lesson in that.” He agreed to take a short nap on the condition that the wheelchair be left close enough that he could get to it on his own.

  “Okay, Rammel, rest and take care of yourself,” Storm said. “It’s report time. Looks like you’re a hero. Again. Your legend is starting to get out of hand, growing to epic proportions.”

  Ram eyelids were half closed and he was sounding drowsy. “Who’s takin’ care of Blackie?”

  “He’s with Sanction. You know, if it wasn’t for that dog, we wouldn’t have found her in time.”

  “Good dog,” he said and drifted off.

  Storm and Kay told E Team that Ghost died in service to The Order, that he was caught in an explosion, no body remaining. That was the official report. Sol was the only other person to hear the real, off-the-record story.

  One of the Jefferson Unit trainees was an impressive, twenty-one-year-old who was ready for field assignment. He would be sent to Brazil for a less intense first tour of duty in exchange for an experienced operative ready to take Ghost’s place on E Team.

  The Order used their influence to keep all report of strange events out of media coverage. Anyone who had been at Notte Fuoco that night may have wondered why there was nothing in the news anywhere with the possible exception of conspiracy blogs which are never taken seriously.

  The next morning, with doctor’s permission, Storm woke Ram up with breakfast and a report on Elora. Her condition was stable. There was no internal damage and no broken bones. Her red blood cells had been restored to normal. Her white blood cell count was high and under observation.

  Some of the lacerations required stitches. Normally scarring would be expected, but, since she had already proven once that she responded very well to Monq’s regenerative skin salve, they expected she would probably be good as new in a few weeks, if not sooner. Last, they were keeping her mildly sedated because they wanted her to sleep for another day.

  Ram asked Kay to go to Elora’s apartment and find the collection of fairy tales she had typed from memory. When he took possession of the stories, he wheeled over to h
er room and sat by her bedside reading out loud just in case she was aware on some level. Even if she didn’t follow word for word, she might hear the sound of his voice and know that someone who loved her was close by and waiting for her to get well.

  A flat refusal to go back to his own room forced another confrontation with a new shift of nurses. He said the only way they would get him back in bed is if they brought his bed into Elora’s room and put it next to hers. After conferring with the doctors, they concluded that there was no good reason to refuse that request.

  True to his word, Ram crawled into the bed next to Elora’s and read to her until he fell asleep.

  The next morning he woke lying on his back. The first thing he did was turn his head to look at Elora. She was turned facing him, eyes wide open and staring back with irises the cold color of translucent ice blue. Shocking to look at and frightening in implication.

  He worked to keep his face passive as the urge to panic sent the painful tingle of adrenaline pumping through his body. He was so glad he wasn’t hooked up to a monitor.

  His heart wanted to believe that the figure lying in the bed next to his was Elora Laiken, but the person looking back at him had the eyes of a vampire. The incongruity was confusing as hell.

  She didn’t appear to be gripped in the mindless blood lust common to new vampire, which was hopeful. He reasoned that, if she could converse, she was still in control even if infected.

  “Hey,” he said quietly.

  “Hey,” she whispered in a rough voice. “Are we alive?”

  He was so relieved his brain sent a jolt of thrill chemicals through his system to mix with the adrenaline creating an even more uncomfortable stinging sensation, but his only concern was for the crystalline-eyed beauty on the other bed.

  “Seems we are destined to die of old age, you and I.”