Of the handful of vampires they'd taken captive, Rosa only recognized Yaniv. The others she could see were an equal mix of male and female. Three males and three females. She held on to the stone-like expression she had assumed the moment they overpowered her. The Imperial vampires were fascinating to her. She'd only ever known her own race of vampires—of course she hadn't lived nearly as long as most of her peers, she was still shy of her first centennial birthday—and these others were very obviously just that; others. So far she hadn't noticed a single female among their numbers and she couldn't help wondering if there were any at all to speak of within the entire tribe.
Although she had kept her gaze cold and calculating for each of them to see every time they passed by, or every time one of her "guards" switched out with someone new, she made sure they saw her confidence, but also, after noticing more than a few desirable looks, she ensured that each of them walked away from her with a sense of weakness. She had had this gift for as long as she could remember, even before she had changed into the creature of the night she was now. She would chip away at them all until eventually one, two, three, four, maybe even more of them were weak enough to break through and exploit.
Then she would have her revenge.
Shanene had talked her into coming in the first place. Rosa had wanted to stay behind with the Queen and the ancestors. She had seen enough bloodshed in the days of the Empire's rise to power and in her own times in the midst of Reynosa's deadly drug wars throughout most of her mortal life. But that had all changed when she met Shanene. The drug lords in the area had called Shanene La Blanco Demonio Mujer. She had a fondness for drinking from those who had spilled quite their share of innocent blood themselves.
One by one as random as they had arrived, these powerful men began to go away in body bags, the official stories at the time unsolved. However, a handful of the cases had witnesses that saw nearby either before or afterward, the presence of a pale naked woman traipsing on the ceilings of buildings, hiding in the branches of trees, and even once standing fearless in the wide open city streets in the middle of the night in the pouring rain. Each had beheld her beautiful deadly fangs and yet she let them live to tell about it.
Then came the city's Dia de los Muertos celebration of 1971. Rosa had been hooked on cocaine for nearly a decade by that point. She long ago left her family behind and never again would she see their dear faces alive.
Her muscles tensed within the arms of her captors thinking back to that night. She let it fade from her mind and tried to focus on her surroundings. She would take great pleasure in ripping each and every one of their throats out and draining the last of their blood. For the first time in her entire life, Rosa had something to fight for. And the rage that fueled her had grown into a thing of power waiting to be unleashed.
***
Darby had been watching the Imperial vampires and their captives for a good twenty minutes in his scope through the blinds of a high story window and still didn't think they had the slightest chance in hell. The Imperials could easily drain their captives and come after the rest of the town, but that didn't seem to be what they wanted. They were obviously waiting for something: orders, an attempt to rescue the captives, something. But whatever it was, they hadn't yet made any demands and that was the most surprising thing of all. Why breach the town, take out the majority of their most able warriors, spare a few of them to hold captive and then just wait.
One of the captives particularly caught Darby's eye every time he caught her in his scope. She was a beautiful Latina girl with strong sculpted muscles and more pronounced curves than Darby was used to seeing. He caught himself watching her far more than he intended to when, all of a sudden, her eyes morphed. The black of her pupils stretched out until a reflective onyx filled her eyeballs entirely.
"Find any weaknesses yet? Any vampires we might be able to take out without arising suspicions?" Hank said, knocking Darby back into reality. Darby put the scope away still staring in the direction of the girl, trying to focus and finding himself at a loss for words.
"I'll take that as a no. At least you're trying. I've sent word to the Queen to get in touch with the Indiana chapter as they're about our nearest faction who might have the means to help."
Darby turned and looked at the commander. He still didn't know what to make of this man, but he was starting to respect him at least. But something about the guy worried him. Something not completely in check, wild and ready to fire at any moment. "And?"
"And I haven't heard anything back yet. I'm not sure they'll be able to help us. The rest of our men here in town are protecting the townspeople and we can't risk bringing any of them here just to be in the same position as we are on top of minimizing our numbers there."
Darby nodded. The commander stepped up to the window and peeked through the blinds. Something in his body language caught Darby's attention. "What is it, sir?"
"Looks like we have more company. Not sure who the hell it is, but I see dozens of trucks and a couple of unusual helicopters on their way here."
Darby slipped his scope in between the blinds again to get a look for himself. Sure enough, just as the commander had said. About thirty or more pickup trucks and two helicopters. How the man could see them was obviously another inhuman trait the Commander possessed. Darby tried to get a closer look for any insignia or defining characteristics, but couldn't see anything that told him anything. "Commander, I might be wrong… but I think those could be good ol' fashioned civilians."
Hank looked again. "Yeah, I think so. Now the question is… who are they here to help, us or them?" He nodded down to the vampires filling the streets below.
Chapter 8
Thicker than Water
Simon stood at the edge of the swamp, watching the reflection of the moon against the dark muck. It had been two days since he saw the flashes. And both of those days had been long and void of any new developments. At least when it came to the visions he had seen. News that Hank and his small faction of humans and vampires were in some kind of dire position in Carlisle had arrived via the Queen. She was too weak to relay every detail in words, but Simon had learned a lot of it through images she sent to him telepathically. Meanwhile most of the other news coming into the hive was mixed between victory and defeat. Captain Holden, the new leader of the Arkansas chapter of the Foederati, had sent word by secure radio signal that Little Rock was now officially Foederati territory. And it looked like it wouldn't be long before the entire state became the first fully claimed renegade to the American Empire.
Similar victories were being reported from various parts of the country but were intermingled with the occasional story of Imperial soldiers burning entire cities with a high likelihood of rebellion to the ground before the Foederati could get there in time. And at least two state factions had been wiped out altogether.
Ever since the New Orleans chapter had driven out the Empire from southern Louisiana, there hadn't been any signs that they were trying to reclaim the city. But they were heavily guarded nonetheless. Unlike the Emperor, they still had their Queen and that was a strong advantage, even if she was weak for the time being. Simon longed to go out into battle. Jackie had been more than a little right about that. But his obligation to the Queen was too strong to act on it or even let it show.
The night was calling to Simon and he could no longer ignore it. He slushed his legs forward into the swamp at a human pace, letting the cool liquid fill up his shoes. Eventually the swamp was at his waist and he felt a sense of freedom he wasn't used to. He longed for more and before long found himself running within the thick mud and water. When he was done he stepped from the sludge covered in the stuff and dripping brown liquid. A soft giggle came from the darkness.
Jackie stepped into the moonlight, her eyes lit up by the biggest smile Simon had ever seen on her face. "You look quite a mess there, Mr. Withers. Did the urge to take a dip overcome your good sense?"
Simon smiled. "You say that as if I hav
e any good sense left. For the first time in a long time I think I'm getting quite ridiculously bored."
Jackie laughed again. "Well, that makes two of us." She was moving closer. This wasn't the first time, of course, but Simon was finding it harder and harder to fight her advances. She was too young by far, that much was surely true. Yet, she had matured a great deal in an incredibly short time. And so much between them was the same. They had both spent most of their lives under the Emperor's spell and now that they were awakened not only to the lies, but also to this new life beyond the dead, they were linked somehow.
Jackie slipped into Simon's arms and lay her head against his chest. He found himself pulling her close despite his reservations. It was just as he had feared. Her embrace was like home after so many years in distant lands among strangers. She raised her head and, beneath the haunting blue glow of moonlight, their lips met for the first time.
***
Heavy with blood and drifting off to sleep, the Queen's mind filled with visions. After millions of mornings and even more glimpses into the future, this was nothing new. But in her weak state, she couldn't quite cope with the number of them coming all at once anymore. She tried to tune the majority out and sift through what was most important. In her mind, fires erupted, buildings tumbled and large crowds were gunned down and still she cast these aside. Cold and calculated as always, she looked for what was most important to her and her children. And after some time, she was as sure as she could be that she had found it.
From the shadows of the Hive, a Foederati soldier crept toward her cavern. His face was obscured but his thoughts were not. He was looking for Ishan. He slipped into the small room as she and her most beloved lover slept and he walked over to Ishan’s side. Careful to make sure no one was aware of his presence, he knelt down and took out the metal stake from inside his jacket. It wasn't like the Foederati stakes. This was something new.
What came next was so painful to watch she almost forgot it was a vision, but she let it play out in her mind and her heart all the same. There was no choice at this point. The man reached up high and drove the metal stake into Ishan's chest, breaking through the skin almost too easily. The man was human, that much was clear, so he shouldn't have been able to manage such a feat on his own. Ishan's eyes opened, though he was hardly aware, and he stared in agony at nothing as his body shrank into a dried out husk. Within seconds the man was dead, his neck broken as Simon stood over his body and stared at the shriveled thing that had once been his brother in blood and death.
The Queen woke then and stared into the darkness of the cave, listening to Ishan's steady breathing. She hadn't the strength, but she wanted so badly to lie by his side and hold his body close to hers. To protect him from what was to come. But she knew then all too well that she would have to pass on what she had seen as she would not be strong enough to act when the time came.
She rolled over and watched the air molecules rise and fall from Ishan's mouth and nose as he slept and relived the life of the enemy Queen. The thought sparked a strange curiosity that was quickly dismissed. None of those questions about the origins of this other Queen and the Emperor mattered so much as Ishan did. He would live even if it meant that she would not. She had made her final decision. She wondered how many centuries he would mourn for her when he woke as she drifted back to sleep.
***
The pain flowed all throughout her body. It was like ice, fire, and liquid all at once. Something changed and a metallic pressure gripped Jackie all over like electricity. Her body spasmed and she realized then that the creatures were gone. Her skin hardened and her vision blurred and then cleared. Cleared more than should be possible. The coughing and spitting was loud enough to make her head burst. She knew it was Karen. Karen. But before she could try and understand, another electric jolt went through her body and she died.
Karen's sobs snapped Jackie awake. The younger girl stood over her sister's body. She was alive. And staring at Jackie with a horrified expression. He was blurry with Karen so close, but Jackie could see the man standing behind her. The man she knew now to be Ishan. He patted Karen's shoulder and then spoke.
"It's time to say goodbye, Karen. The bloodlust will come soon and you won't be safe."
Jackie knew she had changed, knew the horrible truth but she wasn't really sure what it was yet. She only knew she would never do anything to hurt her little sister. Not now. Not ever again.
But then, he pulled Karen away. And Jackie understood now why she was so angry. It wasn't that sense of protectiveness that had come when the tires had blown. It wasn't that sense of love that overcame her when the two girls had tried to take that first car. It was a hunger unlike anything she'd ever experienced before.
She could smell it. The blood that was so important now. So alluring and yet more compelling than she knew anything could ever be. She reached out greedily for her sister as the man—the vampire—shielded Karen from Jackie.
A car pulled up then. A strange black car with tinted windows. The vampire opened the back driver’s side door and Karen got in. He closed it and Jackie watched, fangs piercing into her lips, as the car sped away. She swiveled her body to run after it and before she even knew what hit her, she was on the ground, pain erupting in her chest. The car disappeared around a corner and she gazed up at the vampire standing over her.
"Let her go. The weekly drop off will be here soon. You will have to endure a special kind of hell in the meantime." Ishan's voice began to fade as everything all around her shrank smaller and smaller.
Jackie's eyes opened. She lay there a long time, naked in Simon's arms, trying to hold back the pressure of emotion from within. The constant sound of dripping water somewhere inside the cave layered in with Simon's light rhythmic snoring. Jackie finally slipped out from beneath Simon's embrace and dressed herself. It had been a while since she thought of her sister, of her family. And all these months she had been so fixated on Simon that she had forgotten about the people she’d left behind. Sure she had wanted to drink her sister's blood in those first confusing and torturous moments. But she had more control now.
And there was also the synthetic blood to keep her thirst abated.
She wondered if her family was safe. If they had sided with the Foederati. Or with the Empire.
Jackie stepped out into the night and looked up at the stars and thought of Karen's face. Surely she had grown since Jackie last saw her. She saw the sparkle of sunlight gleaming from Karen's glasses as the young girl stared down at another book. A small semblance of a smile crept at Jackie's lips as tears continued to run down her face. Maybe it was about time she paid her family a visit. Maybe.
Chapter 9
Alliance
What looked like a tiny missile flew down from the helicopter and impaled one of the Imperial vampires. He fell to the ground and quickly burst into ashes. Several of the others aimed their rifles at the helicopter and opened fire only for the vehicle to send another couple of the small devices and leave the air blowing with the ashy remains of what had been its two targets. At the sight of all this, many of the other Imperial vampires ran, disappearing into the night at a speed Hank knew only he could see. Before long only a handful of the Imperial vamps remained and as the trucks rolled in and surrounded them, they quickly had no choice but to surrender.
"Sir, whoever it is, they've done it—they’ve saved us. Shouldn't we go down and—"
"We're not going anywhere just yet. I want to see what they do next first."
Darby opened his mouth to argue but when he saw the look on Hank's face he closed it and nodded then turned to look out the window again.
Men and women anywhere from teenagers to forty-somethings scattered around the scene. One of the Imperial vamps who had surrendered lashed out at several of the people ripping at least two of them in half before enough of the people managed to restrain him. When they did, they injected him with a strange device and his body went completely slack. The six Foederati vampires wer
e left unharmed. Hank noticed a young man dressed in tan fatigues with short dark hair and bright green eyes stepping up to speak with them.
"We're not here to hurt you. We come looking for the Foederati commander. Is he among you?" He talked for a few minutes longer trying to convince them it was safe to answer him. When he was nearly out of breath, the Latina female Hank had caught Darby watching more than a handful of times stepped forward and said some words of her own.
"We don't know anything about a commander. Thanks. But we can take care of ourselves."
The young man smiled, nodded, and turned to the other civilians. The woman turned her eyes up to the very window where Hank and Darby waited. She'd done it fast. Too fast for any humans to notice.
"All right, guys. Looks like we'll have to keep looking. Apparently these aren't the vampires we were looking for." There were a few chuckles and the young man, accompanied by several other men and women of various ages, sizes, and dress styles walked back toward one of the trucks. Hank's innervision of the man was blank. At first this scared him. But something about the man called out to Hank, reminded him of himself. He opened the window and lifted up the outer glass partition.
"Hold on," he called down to the street. All the little heads down below were now staring up at them. Hank looked at Darby and Darby gazed back, a look of surprise etched across his face. "I don't have much to go on about this, so keep your weapon at the ready."
Darby nodded and Hank led the way out of the large room and down the dull gray concrete stairwell.
When they came to the ground level floor, the doors were already open, the people murmuring to each other under their breath. Not that it mattered. Hank could hear everything they were saying anyway. They were expecting someone a little more physically cut, for one thing. And they wondered how quickly this individual would arrive and who these two men were. Hank laughed and walked past them without so much as a single sliver of anger at what they were saying. He found the man in tan fatigues and reached out his hand.
Rising From Ashes: Empire of Blood Book Three (A Dystopian Vampire Novel) Page 4