“So, holy water and crosses?” Jake asked.
“Get’s them wet and gives ‘em religion.” Dom replied sardonically. “I wish it were that simple. They are allergic to silver. Stake in the heart works, too. Remove the head or burn to ash. And sunlight works, but…since I don’t have a spare sun in my pocket, we don’t have swords, stakes or silver bullets, we’re just going to have to wing it.”
“Wing it?!” Jake whispered excitedly. “How do we ‘wing it’?”
“Look for something that we can use as a weapon as we go.” Dom shot back with a bit of aggravation. He turned back to the scruffy kid. “Look. A broom handle can be broken and shoved up their ass or a table leg can be modified into a stake. We find a familiar and we disarm him…”
“What’s a familiar?” Jake asked, worried.
Dom sighed. “Kid, I don’t have time to give you the entire breakdown on monsters, okay, but…a familiar is a human who protects vampires during daylight hours, okay? They need someone to cover their asses when they’re asleep. Got it?”
Jake nodded. “Okay. I’ll just follow your lead. Obviously, you know what the fuck you’re doing.”
“Ya think?” Dom shot back sarcastically. “Just stay close, try not to die and there’s a slight chance you’ll get out of here alive.”
“Slight?” Jake asked, more to himself.
“Slight is better than none. And that’s what you had before I got here.”
They reached the steel door at the end of the hallway and Dom held up his hand to shush Jake. He pressed his ear to the door to listen to the other side but heard nothing. He knew that when dealing with vampires, this really meant little as vampires only needed to breath to talk and could stand as still as a statue for hours if not days. But not hearing movement on the other side told him that no familiars were on the other side and if there were vampires, then they were inactive.
He pulled on the door and it didn’t move. He pulled the keys out and rifled through them. Finding one that looked like it might fit, he slid it into the door and worked it. The door popped open and he cracked it. The immediate area looked clear and he snuck peeks down both sides of the hall on either side. He motioned Jake to follow him and they entered the next hallway. In whispered tones he asked, “Any idea which way out?”
“We were zonked out when they brought us in, man. I have no idea.”
“Eeny-meeny-miny-moe.” Dom said and they turned left. “Stay close.”
The two hugged the wall as they made their way to the end of the hall, Dom searching for anything that could be used as a weapon. His head was still pounding and the battle with the vampire did nothing to help. They climbed a short flight of stairs and came to another hallway. Dom took a quick peek and found it, too, was empty. With no sense of direction, he decided to take a right this time. No sense in inadvertently making a circle and ending up where they started.
They crept as quietly as they could until Dom saw light ahead. It looked like either twilight or early sunrise, but it bathed the path they were on. He stepped up the pace and soon came to a large window. He pulled alongside the window and peered out. He observed a courtyard with a stone walkway and concrete table and bench, a fountain to the side, but no bodies milling about. They were three stories above it. He tried to see if there was a passageway leading into or out of the courtyard, but the angle from the window was wrong. He couldn’t see the sky to tell if the skies were darkening or getting lighter and they needed to keep moving. He knew that they had little time either way. Either the vampires were settling down for the day or about to awaken, but the familiars could still be anywhere.
He took off down the hallway looking for any kind of doorway that would lead to a stairwell down to ground level. He went door to door, listening before opening each door. He found linen closets, broom closets, a bedroom and a completely empty room then something that could only be described as either a torture chamber or a sexual fetish room, he really wasn’t sure. The last door on the left led to a staircase and he pulled Jake in behind him. As quickly as they dared, they descended the darkened staircase with Dom in the lead. At each landing Dom made a mental note of where they should be and when he figured they should be at ground level, he approached the door cautiously.
He held his ear to the door for what seemed like forever to Jake whose heart was thumping out of his chest. He could almost taste freedom and his knees were weak with the idea of being away from this place. Finally, Dom reached for the door and pulled it slightly open, stealing a glance outside. He quickly shut the door and stepped back. Jake inhaled to ask a question and Dom quickly put a hand over his mouth and shook his head. He pulled his hand back and placed a finger over his lips. Jake simply nodded and hung back along the wall. Dom cracked the door again and stole another glance, this time he continued to watch for a moment longer before slowly shutting the door.
He turned to Jake in the low light and held up two fingers then pointed back toward the door. Jake simply nodded, his eyes wide. He should have known. To be so close, yet so far away.
A noise in the stairwell above them startled them both. They could hear footsteps in the stairwell and voices, hurriedly coming down the stairs. “They couldn’t have gotten too far. His blood hadn’t congealed yet.” A voice stated. Dom closed his eyes and listened intently. Three, definitely three sets of feet coming down the stairs, fast, but not full speed for a vampire. He made a rash decision and grabbed Jake. “We go now!” he whispered.
Dom jerked the door open and half pulled the stumbling Jake behind him at a dead run toward the open archway he had spied when he looked out the door. The two he had seen outside were most likely familiars as they were armed and it was still light outside. He hit one square in the back of the head as hard as he could, surprising him and sending him spread eagle to the ground, dropping his weapon. The other was still trying to register exactly what he was seeing when his partner flew through the air and splayed out in front of him. His immediate reaction was to want to check on his partner rather than open fire on the escaping prisoners.
Dom snatched up the weapon and took a bead on the other guard before he got his wits about him and brought his weapon to bear. He fired two shots to the chest and one to the head, still dragging Jake behind him and out the archway. They headed down the cobblestone driveway and jumped behind one of the waiting vehicles. Dom stood guard, shooting at anything that stuck its head out near the archway while Jake searched for keys. The first car, a Mercedes, came up short so Jake checked the Renault. It had nothing either. He was about to give up hope when he checked a panel van. Above the visor was a set of keys. He whistled for Dom who laid down cover fire and worked his way over to the van. Jake shot him a worrisome look. “I can’t drive a stick, man!” Dom rolled his eyes.
“Can you point a gun and pull the trigger?” he asked, unable to hide his frustration.
“Hell yeah, I can!” Jake answered. Dom handed him the assault rifle and ran around the back of the van and got in behind the wheel. As soon as he got in and put the key in the ignition, Jake pressed the barrel of the gun to Dom’s neck. “I think this is far enough.”
“What the fuck are you doing, kid? We’re this close to being out of here!” he yelled. Dom glanced through the windshield and saw about forty others strolling through the archway now, weapons leveled on him. His eyes shifted toward Jake who reached up and pulled the fake beard off his face.
“We wanted to see just how good you were, even injured.” He said, his voice sounding much more self confident and assured. “You didn’t disappoint.” Jake pressed the barrel against Dom’s neck. “Out! Slowly, and hands where we can see them at all times. The Sicarii would like a word with you.”
Dom closed his eyes and wished this were all a bad dream.
*****
Jack had taken Tufo through all of the squad’s drills and was surprised at how quickly the Gunnery Sergeant had picked up everything. It was as if he had a photographic memory, and when they t
urned to the live fire exercises, it didn’t matter what firearm Jack put in Mark’s hand, it became a natural extension of his body. Whatever Tufo wanted to hit, he hit. Jack watched the man go through the drills and swore that half the time, he didn’t even aim the gun, he simply willed the bullet to go where he wanted it to.
Neither man knew it at the time, but while they drilled, First Squad and Third Squad observed them both from the railing near Colonel Mitchell’s office. “Anybody actually know who this guy is?” Lamb asked.
Donovan leaned over and whispered, “Captain Gregory said that he’s one of the field guys. Used to be a hunter back in the day with Mitchell.”
Spalding watched with a cautious eye. “He looks a bit…old to be coming back in the game, don’t you think?”
“Age ain’t nothing but a number.” TD said with a grin. “Look at the Colonel. He’s still got fight in him.”
“Colonel’s a wolf though. He won’t age.” Spalding added flatly. “This guy?” he pointed to Tufo, “He’s a hundred percent human. You can smell it on him. He sweats too much. It takes too much out of him. He gets winded too easily.” Spalding didn’t like the idea of Tufo being there with the Monster Squads. “He obviously isn’t augmented like the rest of us.”
The Padre had stood silently observing the two below. “I don’t care. He has skills.” He looked at his team leader stoically. “We’re going to need everybody we can get our hands on that has skills. I can assure you of that.”
Spanky tried to stare him down. “Really? Would you want him to cover your back, Hank?”
The Padre turned again and gave the two another once over. When he turned back and addressed Spalding, he actually had a smile on his face. “Absolutely.”
Spalding grunted his disapproval. “Well, it’s a good thing he’s on Phoenix’s team and not ours.”
Down below where Jack and Tufo went through the drills again, Tufo finally stopped Jack. “Chief. I got it. You only have to show me once.”
“I need to know that you have these down, Gunnie.” Jack replied.
“Look, Jack, no disrespect to your younger generation, but I’m not ADD. I can remember shit the first time you show me.” He stated. “Let’s move on.”
“Really?” Jack answered unbelievingly. “Fine.” He glanced up and saw his team standing at the rail and motioned them down. “Gear up for entry drills.” He turned to Tufo. “You have point.”
Tufo smiled at him. “Gladly.”
As the team was about to gear up, Mitchell stepped to the railing and yelled out to Jack, “We have company. Get topside.” Jack cracked a smile because he knew that it would be Nadia. He really didn’t care about the rest of the visitors. Nadia was his world and the short time they were apart had seemed a lifetime.
“Roger that, Skipper.” Jack turned to go when Tufo grabbed him.
“Hey, what about this all-important training?” he asked.
“Later. This is more important.” Jack took off and headed for the elevators. He caught up with Mitchell just as he was boarding. “Are they here already?”
“About to land. I sent the Pave Hawk to pick them up at the airport. I’m guessing Thorn has a private jet?”
“News to me.” Jack said, somewhat impressed.
“Well, he said we need to discuss a few things before his ‘second’ has to leave for Vatican City.”
“Vatican City?” Jack was puzzled. “Any idea what that’s about?”
“I’m hoping they’ll explain.” Matt said as the doors opened and they made their way across the hangar. “You know, with all the activity we’ve had around this part of the base lately, we’re going to have to come up with a better cover story.”
“Screw ‘em. Nobody knows what any of these buildings are actually for anyway.” Jack quipped. “As long as most of these guys can find the PX, the enlisted club and the Burger King, they’re happy.”
The chopping sound of the helicopter’s blades slicing through the air could be heard as it made its approach. The HH-60 Pave Hawk swooped low and hovered above the landing pad just outside the hangar before settling in and shutting down. As the engines whined down and the rotors slowed their spin, the side door slid open and Nadia shot out, running for Jack’s open arms. Mitchell couldn’t help but crack a smile as he watched the two embrace as though it had been months since they last saw each other rather than only a couple of days. He next watched Tasha step from the helicopter and the wind from the rotors lifted her skirt somewhat showing off her shapely thighs. Matt felt a familiar tightening in his loins and tried to ignore it. He didn’t know what it was about the woman, but she had an effect on him that he refused to admit. He saw Viktor step out and he gritted his teeth. Tasha’s husband was a large man who cast an imposing presence wherever he went. Following him was Rufus Thorn, the vampire who would lead a vampire army against the evil vampires who wanted to destroy the world.
As these thoughts ran through Matt’s mind, he chuckled at the irony of it all. Vampires and werewolves fighting alongside each other to bring down a common menace to save mankind. A mankind that didn’t know that the others even existed, and if they ever found out, would cry out for their immediate and permanent erasure.
“What a world we live in.” he muttered.
Rufus approached the Colonel and extended his hand, “Colonel, good to see you again.”
Matt grasped his cold hand and shook it. “Good to see you again, Mr. Thorn. I hope you had a safe flight?”
“Of course.” Rufus said, gesturing to go inside. As they turned to enter, he paused at the doorway waiting for an invitation.
Matt paused and then turned back to look at him. Rufus simply raised his eyebrows. “Oh! Um, please, do come in. You are welcome here.” He said.
“Merci beaucoup.” Rufus replied.
“I wasn’t aware that vampires couldn’t enter without an invitation. I thought that was another wives tale.” Matt said.
“Oh, it is a wives tale.” Thorn replied. “But it is also bad manners to enter someone else’s home without a formal invitation.” He smiled. Matt paused and studied Thorn for a moment then slowly a smile formed.
“You played me, didn’t you?”
“A joke, oui? Only to lighten the mood before we speak of much more grave matters, I assure you.”
“Speaking of which, I think we may have come up with a couple of strategies that may be workable. I’ll have to pull a lot of strings with some powerful people in Washington to make it happen, but the results should be quite effective.”
“I look forward to hearing these plans.” Rufus said. “Is there anything I can do to expedite matters?”
“We’ll need to compare notes and figure that out.” Matt said as he lead Rufus and his party to the elevators. “We have a few logistical problems that we just aren’t sure about. But the main thing is that we are trying to bait this Scabary…Scarbad…”
“Sicarii.” Thorn corrected.
“Sicarii. Yeah, we need to bait him and his people to one centralized location in order to set off a trap.”
“I assumed as much.” Thorn stated. “To try to combat him across many different battlefields would not be wise.”
“I agree. Plus we have a weapon that we think will be quite effective.” Matt informed Thorn.
“Yes? What could this weapon be?” Thorn asked, truly curious.
Matt smiled at him. “We’re going to turn night into day.”
*****
Damien held the cold lifeless body of his angelic faced bride-to-be. Panic was rising in him as he pulled her closer to him. He patted her face, willing her to suck in her first breath as the undead, to open her eyes and gaze upon him with undying affection for giving her life everlasting. He pulled her to his face and what was left of the withered muscle he called a heart shattered as a sob escaped him. It was hours after sunset and she had yet to rise.
He ran through everything in his mind, replaying it over and over again, and he knew…he knew he
had done it correctly. He had almost drained her, then he sliced his own wrists and poured his own blood into her mouth and he watched her swallow it! She should RISE now and be his!
He didn’t know what was wrong, but he lifted her into his arms and felt her body was stiff with rigor. He could smell the rot from within and could see her abdomen swelling with gases and tears began to burn at his eyes. He held her close to him and staggered from his meager quarters towards Foster’s chambers.
“Master!” he cried out, not caring who else heard him, or who might judge him or who might say what behind his back anymore. He needed to know how to fix this. The panic was eating at him and for the first time since being a vampire, he didn’t feel that he had any options. “Master, help me!”
The guards outside Foster’s chamber saw Damien carrying the corpse towards Foster’s private chambers and closed their ranks to block the door, but Foster had heard the cries, could feel the pain and passion in Damien’s plea and opened his door to see what the emotional plea was for. He was not prepared for what his eyes showed him. Damien carrying a body that was stiff with rigor, his eyes red with unshed tears, panic in his terror stricken voice as he staggered across the concrete floor towards him.
Paul pushed through the guards and approached him, Damien could barely see his lord and master through the tears in his eyes, sobs stuck in his throat. “What is wrong, child? What have you done?” Foster asked, knowing exactly what happened, but needing Damien to tell him in his own words.
“She won’t wake up, master. Please, make her wake up.” He cried. He bent low and lay her gently on the ground at Foster’s feet.
“What did you do, Damien?” Foster asked, placing a hand on Damien’s head.
“I tried to turn her. I needed her to be mine. She was going to be with me forever.” He whispered softly as he stroked her hair and tucked a stray strand behind an ear.
“My poor child.” Foster soothed. “You cannot turn a human yet.” Foster informed him. Damien turned his reddened eyes toward him, not understanding. “You are not old enough. Not strong enough to turn another.”
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