Another image flashed in his mind and the resolve of why he was trying to remember every detail of those memories came back into focus. Wet rain dripped off of Toby's pale little hand hanging from the blue dumpster. Those images would never be torn away from where they had burned into his sight and heart permanently.
Roger had unnatural strength like I do. He could see the future too. Is this truly all he could do to prepare me for this? Hank felt a tinge of guilt for being just a little bit ungrateful then. He had a world of information he never would have suspected or learned on his own. He knew he should find a way to make peace with that and use his anger for determination to work at filling the gaps in his knowledge. He took out his cell phone and flipped through the high resolution images he had taken of Tresney's belongings that the Foederati had kept locked away for when he would come. Tresney had made sure that they knew to give them to Hank when the time came, so there had to be a reason. Something Hank hadn't noticed or maybe something hiding in plain sight.
He looked through the coded documents again. If there was something to find in plain sight, a coded document was probably a no brainer, right? But none of it made any sense. When he had first gotten access to Tresney's locker, he nearly destroyed it all trying to find something, anything that contained even a drop of Roger's blood. But there was nothing. Not even a scent of blood had remained. And reading through all of Roger's uncoded notes was nearly as confusing as the rest. Hank was staring off, wondering what it would have been like back then to meet a man who would've told him he was somehow related to the Emperor—that he was somehow a threat to the very Empire itself. He laughed at the thought and nearly choked on his own saliva when something caught his attention from the bottom corner of his eye.
When his eyes focused on the discrepancy it instantly disappeared. He fought the urge to scream and looked just far enough away again and there it was, plain as day. A pattern rose off the page. Six characters, a mix of numbers and letters, repeated in various order and various sections of the text. But even when Hank mentally crossed them out from the picture, the letters left behind still didn't make sense. But it was a start. Had to be. For one, the majority by at least ninety percent once you crossed out the repeating "watermark" as he came to think of it was made up of letters. This led him to believe it meant that there were words there either scrambled or otherwise further obscured.
Hank fought the urge to cry out in excitement and set the phone down on the desk. He knew if he continued to stare at the document too long, he would soon burn his eyes out and be of no use toward solving the code. Grinning with accomplishment for the first time in longer than he cared to try and remember, he peeked through the blinds out into the night outside the community building. Even though it was black with darkness and each of them was dressed equally darkly, the vampires on guard were almost plain as day to Hank. And even though he knew his level of night vision was rare among even the undead, he worried just how vulnerable they were to an Imperial attack right then. He told himself he was just being paranoid and went back to work on the code, picturing what the look on Jonny's face would be if he told him the truth about himself and the Emperor.
Chapter 12
Filling the Silence
Deep within Ishan’s mind, Bellona’s life played out like a century-long movie. It had been so long that Ishan no longer had control over his own thoughts and feelings as he saw through her eyes, heard through her ears, and felt with her skin. The ancient Queen’s memories were near to becoming his own. Somewhere in the back of his mind, where his own sense of self had been was now growing darker and darker. A fading light in the distance was all that remained. What little left was numb to any kind of reasonable fear. Numb to any worry or alarm. It knew nothing of loss because it was nothing but loss embodied in a single mind.
He didn’t know it, but Ishan Achari was dying and the memories of Bellona were filling in the void where he had been.
Happiness filled Bellona as she sensed the nearness of her son. He had been out in the world, watching it again for months. Finally he would come home to her. She could feel his connection getting closer. Within days he arrived and she welcomed him at the mouth of the cave.
“Josephus, it’s so great to see you.”
He smiled at her and they kissed. “It’s good to see you too, Mother.” She led him inside and before long he slept as the moon rose over the desert sky. He had long ago become so human she could barely recognize he was not. He slept in the night and walked in the day like his father had. But unlike his father he was brilliant. Full of language and wonder and a thirst for knowledge. Before long, he woke as the sky filled with the blueness that marks the rising of the sun. Bellona mourned every moment she wasn’t able to spend with him, so she invited him deep into the cave and they talked for hours before the day’s weathering took its toll on her and she could no longer keep her eyes open.
Weeks went by like this and when the time came for him to leave, she begged him to stay.
“Mother, I can’t. There’s so much out there. So much I have to do. I love you and I will be back soon. But for now. I have to go. Please. Understand.” She was crying then. Sending out her sadness to him in his mind and his heart. It wasn’t like when she sent out her will to the humans. This was pure love, pure emotion. And he returned it, but with a sense of resignation intertwined within. And she understood, but still she longed for the day when he was ready to settle down. To stay and be with her always.
“I promise you, the day will come. But for now. I have so much to learn. So much to do.” And with that he was gone. He had left in the early morning, before the sun brought its unmerciful blaze and its intoxicating rest. Bellona lay and closed her eyes that morning and dreamed of the next time Josephus would come home.
***
Jackie stared out the window at the bright city lights as they bounced along I-24 West across the I-65 intersection in downtown Nashville. The pointed blue crown of the tallest building stood out like a queen on a chess board. They’d been driving for several hours without more than a sentence spoken between them here and there. She could tell quite easily that he knew what she was, but he didn’t seem to be afraid—at least not in the same way most humans were. She couldn’t read minds, but she got the sense he was more afraid to ask her something than he was of what she could do to him.
The huge Lincoln shook and tilted as they went over a long curving bridge. Jackie was getting bored with the long monotonous trip and her curiosity had already gotten the better of her. “What’s on your mind, Frank?”
Frank looked over at Jackie quickly, an attempt to appear ignorant that was immediately ruined by the obvious fear he was drenched in. “I-I…” He looked back at the road and sighed. “I’m not sure how to put it really.”
Jackie turned toward him and stretched her legs up before him and then over the steering wheel, then rested her feet on the dash between them.
Frank stiffened in his seat and clenched his teeth together. “Do you mind moving your feet off of my dash, Miss White?”
Jackie looked up at him with surprise and gently lifted her heels off of the blue plastic and put them back on the floor of the car in front of her with a steady grace that obviously wasn’t human. “Well, ain’t that somethin’? A handsome guy like yourself isn’t interested in a sweet young—”
“Don’t let the rough exterior fool you, missy. Through all the bullshit this world has tossed in my path, be it good or bad—and believe me there’s some good bullshit out there just the same as the bad—I still have a sense of morality.” He lit a cigarette and opened the driver side window, letting a huge gust of air in the car. “Didn’t need no Imperial god-fearing to get there, either.”
Jackie laughed and Frank looked at her with a grin on his face. “That funny?”
“Sure is,” she said and laughed again. Frank returned her laughter and before long Frank was having a hard time keeping the car on the road.
When he was done wit
h his cigarette and rolled the window up again, Jackie gave him a curious look again. “So what is it then? What’s on your mind?”
Frank smiled with a grin full of mischief. “Well… I won’t bullshit you, by now I’m sure you realize I know what you are.”
Jackie nodded, running her fingers through a lock of her hair.
“Uh-huh. Now tell me. You guys—you know what I mean—is it true you can turn people into… you know—into-people like you?”
Jackie’s grin deteriorated into a lost expression. “I… I don’t know. I’m not sure. Why, you wanna join the club or somethin’?”
Frank let out a laugh that quickly became a hacking cough and in mid choking he blurted out the words, “something like that,” then he reached across the car and opened the glove box, took out a rag and spit into it, his eyes watering and his face bright red from exertion.
It was obvious then. Jackie’s curiosity turned into something dark and wretched in her mind. She was quiet for a long time as she stared back out the window at the moving lights in the sky of planes and stars and far away street lights. Finally she turned and whispered, her voice filled with tears—more sadness than she had expected to even be there. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize.” She watched him nod, his eyes locked onto the road before them. “Is it cancer?”
“Circle gets the square!” he said in the booming parody of a television announcer. Jackie didn’t understand the reference, but she could tell his answer was a very bitter yes. “I’m so sorry.”
“Listen, kid, there’s no need to be sorry. Hell, last year I won the lottery. I’ve spent the last ten months traveling all over the world—the last few of ‘em driving across the country—visited every site I’ve ever wanted to see. You can spare me the pity, kid.”
Jackie sat up in her seat. “But I don’t get it… aren’t you afraid…”
“Well shit yeah, I’m afraid! Whattaya think I asked for?” Just as Jackie’s nerves were starting to fill with frustration, Frank took a deep breath and smiled. “Forgive me, kid, I’ve got a big angry mouth and sometimes I don’t know when to shut it up.”
Jackie smiled in return. “I’ve been told I have that same problem.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah.” She laughed, a near giggle.
“Well, kid, that’s a goddamn start. We’ve got one thing in common. Let’s see just how many more we can pull out of the ether.” The two of them smiled at each other just as the Lincoln began to cross under a well-lit bridge covered in garish neon signs for everything from fast food to adult videos. “So how’d such a young thing like yourself end up—you know—not quite dead… and what brought you down south so far away from home, if you don’t mind me askin’?”
***
Having spent night after night caring for the Queen had given Simon the opportunity to time things just right. He’d watched as she steadily fell into deep sleep every morning for several hours just shy of the rising sun. So he waited that night until the time came and watched as her eyes floated off into that other place and her light snoring replaced her constant worrying and chatter. He knew just thinking about these things in her presence right now should have been a risk, but with the way she had been sleeping lately on these morning naps, the sheer magnitude of her unconsciousness was obviously diminishing some of her power in some way.
Simon, reluctant to do anything she would object to, waited for her to stay asleep for just a little bit longer before he finally started to move away from her side and over to where Ishan lay just as deeply unconscious. Kneeling beside his brother, Simon couldn’t help but flash back to his own period of sleep as he experienced the long life Ishan had lived before the two of them were joined by blood.
Ishan’s breathing was subtle, almost nonexistent. A human doctor might have declared him completely and ultimately dead. No heartbeat, breath so shallow it couldn’t be recognized with human ears listening through a standard stethoscope. Simon slipped his hand beneath the thin white shroud covering the ancient vampire’s body. His skin was cold, much colder than typical for a human vampire, but Simon had known it would be.
Pulling up on more of the cloth, he put his other hand inside and placed both of them on Ishan’s chest. If nothing else, he hoped he would at least be able to communicate with him, but Simon wanted nothing more than to bring him back. Back from the depths of Bellona’s memories. Back into the nightly life of the hive. Back to where Simon could hear him and learn from him and…
Simon pressed into Ishan’s flesh with his fingertips, concentrating on sending out a message for him. Tension in his muscles and his mind and in the air between them rose as the power within him began to oscillate and charge through his body, slowly easing into Ishan’s. Ishan’s body began to vibrate into a low steady pitch like the deep slow resonance of a generator. Yellow light, dim at first, started to glow brighter and brighter in the space between Simon’s palms and Ishan’s chest.
The air around Simon started to pop and sizzle. Sparks ignited in the room and the hair on Simon’s arms stood on end. He could feel the power moving through him, but it was like blasting every bit of fire power you have at a wall that can’t be penetrated. The room spun with confusion as Simon’s body began to pulse and shake and without warning Ishan’s hands clamped onto Simon’s and the wall between them shattered like weak weathered glass.
Simon was inside Bellona’s memories, watching as the alien queen cradled a grown man. A man who looked very familiar. Captivated by the experience, Simon had almost forgotten why he was there. He fought to concentrate on the thing he had set out to accomplish. And with all the voice he could muster, as if he were in the midst of some loud constant explosion, Simon called out to Ishan over the perceptual volume of Bellona’s memories.
No response.
Simon panicked and called out again.
Still nothing.
Ishan? ...Ishan, can you hear me?
The scene playing out all around Simon seemed to wrap itself around him and dig its claws into his mind. He pulled forward like a man pushing against a heavy wind. Ishan, you have to fight out the noise. You have to hear me. We need you. The Queen is not going to survive labor. She’s foreseen her own death. Ishan you have to come and help me. I don’t know what to do.
All around, the sounds of Bellona’s comforting whispers grew louder, like static filling the silence. Simon pulled away from the deeply vivid sight of her caressing Joseph’s face and her lips whispering in his ear. He fought with all his mind and heart not to hear the conflicting voices in her mind, several melodically called for her to soothe the boy, a couple called out for her to kill him and one lone terrified voice in the back of her mind screamed out for her to pin the half-man, half-something-else child down and rape him like his father had raped her.
Through the flood of sound and emotion, Simon took a deep breath in this place not of the physical plane and blasted out a wave of his power in the form of an earth shattering cry. "ISHAN!"
The voices stopped abruptly like a child slapped in the mouth. The vision of Bellona’s memory faded and a peaceful darkness spread in its place and a single mumbled word echoed from the desolate featureless horizon.
Simon?
Chapter 13
Tresney's Code
The sun was setting in a beautiful display of soft pastel colors as Hank watched from the hill just outside of the community building. Though its beauty wasn’t lost on him, it was hardly considered for more than a second. He was too busy thinking about the document Tresney had left behind. He couldn’t be sure it had been left specifically for him, but Hank also had his doubts it was for anyone else at this point. As a single ray of golden sunlight fought to keep shining with blinding fury, Hank turned and walked away. Life wasn’t about beauty anymore. It hadn’t been about much for Hank for quite some time.
Town folk of all kinds passed by Hank as he made his way back to his office. He’d been working to crack Tresney’s code for two days now and he was be
coming more and more sure he was getting close. New Foederati recruits were filling up the back of the huge auditorium waiting their turn to be picked for the next training session. Hank looked the crowd over, estimating their number in his head. At least two hundred men, women, and teenagers stood against the far wall waiting to be shepherded into the fold. Every single one of their faces held a sting of guilt for Hank, knowing they would likely die the next time the Emperor sent another wave of troops or worse yet more vampires.
They had accomplished what they had set out to do here in this one town. But in response, the live televised executions had more than doubled and the number of battles raging had risen while some of the cities the Foederati had been overpowering were sent reinforcements and now were holding their own ground. It all felt like a big act to Hank. What really mattered was finding out how to find and kill the Emperor. That would do much more toward ending the war than taking countless innocent lives.
The hollow echoes of Hank’s footsteps against the brown spackled linoleum hallway filled the otherwise silent back end of the building. He came to the right door and stopped, digging around in his pocket. A moment later he pulled out the aged solitary copper key attached to a green plastic keychain with faded white writing and unlocked the door with it. He stood there, the door open in front of him, for a long moment, making sure he was really alone. When he was sure no sound other than his own heart beating penetrated the dead air, he went inside and locked the door behind him.
Within seconds he had a long white printout of an enlarged version of the original document spread out on the desk before him. Countless red circles marked the repeating watermark within the coded characters on the page. He looked over the sequence of letters and numbers again.
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