Rising From Ashes: Empire of Blood Book Three (A Dystopian Vampire Novel)

by Robert S. Wilson

  Blood-soaked and half deteriorated, she saw that familiar once-garish sign she thought she'd never lay eyes on again.

  WELCOME TO FABULOUS

  NECROPOLIS, NEVADA

  ***

  "Put all urban tactical teams on alert immediately." Hank listened into the receiver for a long moment before responding. "Yes, anything that even remotely seems like it could be used to build a bomb. Especially in military installations and Imperial police bunkers and the like." He nodded. "That's right. Good. Just make sure every faction gets the message. We don't likely have much time to find this thing."

  He hung up the cell phone and sat there, sweating and shaking. The image of his son still burned in emerald green behind his eyelids. He tried not to let the emotions the vision sparked in him take too much control. But it was impossible not to feel what he undoubtedly couldn't help but feel. He fought the tears back with everything he had until that rage, that fury, filled the inside of his heart and took over. A scream erupted from him in a chaotic whining crescendo. His head pounded with the depth of it.

  He reached out then to the Queen. He had cut off his connection with her for so long that at first it was hard to revive it, but when he did, her voice was instantly in his head.

  Young one?

  You knew, didn't you? You knew what the Emperor would do and now thousands... hundreds of thousands of lives are going to be snuffed out...

  I know, but I have not known long. You are right to hold me in contempt but not for the actions of Joseph Caesar.

  Hank didn't understand what she was talking about. And it didn't seem that she was planning on clarifying her words.

  If what I saw was true, I won't be able to stop him.

  Maybe... I still see so many different possible outcomes. You must hold course and try. If you give up there will be only one scenario in which Caesar can fail.

  Hank let her words wash over him for a moment. She was right. There was always more scenarios than he could see. Than even the Queen could see. She had been using this power for thousands of years, he not even one... Surely she could see so much more than he could.

  What about Toby? I saw him in my vision. Why did I see him in my vision?

  Young one, these visions aren't insusceptible to the emotions of the seer. You must learn to separate what's real from what your heart implants into your foresight.

  But, I saw him. It was real. I know it was real and... He fought back the tears screaming to flood out from him. It isn't the first time I've seen him. Surely, he's alive somehow. Somewhere...

  No, my child. His existence came to an end. You have much to learn about the foresight within you. These visions are not a light to see in the darkness but more like a hand reaching out and feeling for what could possibly be there. Any sense of benevolence or malevolence it may seem to have we have created ourselves by allotting its power with too much of our trust.

  Everything was so confusing now. Hank wanted so badly for the visions of Toby to be real. He knew deep down that he couldn't trust the visions, but this one time he wanted nothing more. His heart told him they had shown him truth. But his mind couldn't compute just how that truth could actually be.

  With more time you could learn to discern the different angles at which the clock can turn. But you do not have that time. Do not trust what you see as the only way. She paused for a moment, letting her words hang in his mind. Remember. I have brought you this far from what I have learned through centuries of trial and error and broken hopes. Keep your focus where it belongs now; find Joseph Caesar.

  And what if I fail? You said there was only one other way he could be stopped. What haven't you told me?

  A long silence stretched out in response and Hank was sure she had ended the connection, would never answer him.

  Without a word from the Queen, images began to flash through Hank's mind, some future place and time void of his being. A woman about his height with short cropped brown hair, familiar facial features, and crimson shining eyes stood waiting in the black of night over the sleeping body of Joseph Caesar, her extended fangs reflecting some far away fluorescent glow.

  ***

  "Is the plane ready?"

  "Yes, sir, just remember, it's very unlikely that when you show up on Imperial radar they'll just ignore it. There's a reason we haven't used the small number of planes we have yet."

  Simon nodded and, with Rosadelma just behind him, he started up the steps to the small private jet. Jackie was worth the risk. He made his way toward the cabin, letting his hands brush against the leather seats as he went. It had been decades since he'd piloted a plane, but he was confident he could handle it just fine. There just wasn't any other way to get to her in time. Behind him, Rosadelma was quiet. More quiet than he was used to.

  He sat down in the pilot seat, put on his headset, and buckled his seat belt. Rosadelma slid into the co-pilot seat, did the same, and then looked over at him.

  “All right, Captain, my Captain, now what?”

  “Now, we fly.”

  He started the engine then went through the motions of checking every instrument and dial for any peculiarities or issues he might encounter. When he was satisfied with the expectation that the plane wouldn't explode upon lift off, he eased into the throttle, feeling the power of the large machine obey his solitary hand. It wasn't quite as thrilling as it had once been. Of course, that was at least partially because he was a different man now.

  No longer did he lust for power or some fictitious holy glory. But it was also the power he had experienced since as a vampire. It paled so many human illusions of grandeur in comparison. He thought of Jackie's family and the pain she must have been going through right at that moment and his grip on the throttle tightened as the nose of the plane began to rise. I'm coming, Jackie. Hold on.

  ***

  The tension and doubt were building in Jonny to a near pinnacle. He was certain now that this plan wouldn’t work. Certain in every bone of his body. It was only a matter of time before he would have to act on that certainty. The hope, the vague chance that Hank could possibly do what he had promised was the only thing keeping Jonny from pulling the plug on his end of this whole deal. Now it was a matter of deciding just how much longer he could hold on.

  The sudden transmission of that unnatural internal voice nearly sent Jonny careening off the highway.

  ***

  It had been probably one of the hardest things Jackie had ever done but she had no choice. When it quickly became obvious to her just how many vampires she was up against, she turned and ran the opposite direction, making her way back to Frank. The vampire she had let slip away would surely tell others and before long they would come. And neither she nor Frank would survive. Unless... She quickened her pace then. Minutes passed by the dozen in timeless flashes. Eventually, the blur of Frank's car came into view and she eased down to a human jog. He waited there in his car, still frozen with fear. She couldn't blame him. She had once been in almost too similar of a position herself. Those images still haunted her from time to time. But now they would only foreshadow what would come if they didn't act fast.

  When her body nearly smacked into the driver side door of the old Lincoln, she immediately wrapped against the glass with the palm of her hand. "Frank, let me in, we have to go now. I'll drive!"

  Frank seemed to shake off whatever fantasy world he had allowed himself to get swallowed up in and unlocked the door then, with some difficulty, scooted over to the passenger seat. Jackie pushed her way inside the car and turned the key, igniting the Lincoln's engine into life. She stomped down on the gas pedal and it roared in response. With a quick glance behind her, she shifted the car in gear and they took off, leaving a cloud of dust and dirt in their wake.

  ***

  It was rising like electricity. Bellona could feel it stretching out from her—from his—body. He was her antenna and she was his receiver. She'd thought he was useless to her. He'd managed so well so far to keep her at bay but now
he was completely in the dark. Now Bellona could wake up from her slumber quite properly. It took more effort than she would have liked to have admitted, but she was finally able to get the enemy vampire's fingers to wiggle just barely. She sighed internally. To her surprise, Ishan's voice let out a soft puff of air. So she tried, slowly at first, to speak. It came out in mostly whispered gibberish, but it was something. Something she could practice even.

  She tried gently moving Ishan’s wrists. They shook rigidly, but they were moving nonetheless. The nerves in Ishan's face involuntarily twitched as his mouth tried to curve up in response to Bellona's unintended attempt to smile. In slurred speech from Ishan's lips she said, "She will pay, Simon.

  "She will pay and so will you."

  A growl rose up from Ishan's body. She let it crescendo until it echoed off of the high cave ceiling. Bodies fluttered and stirred for just a moment then went still. Bellona stopped Ishan's voice at once. She didn't want one of the Queen's children taking notice of what she was doing. Even if it wouldn't realize she was there at all. Instead, she focused all her energy on rising into a sitting position. The male vampire's shoulders began to hover over the crude bed Simon had made for him. It began to raise and so too did the resistance coming from something... Ah, she remembered now. They were restraints. Metal collars on Ishan's neck, wrists, and ankles. Keeps the evil away... She was getting stronger, but she knew she wasn't quite strong enough to be able to break through the metal holding her down.

  After exerting as much as she could, she let Ishan's torso gradually lower back toward the ground. No point in stressing the poor bastard's body too much just yet. Besides. Being free and unable to protect yourself isn't exactly worth much. She needed her strength. Otherwise, she wouldn't make it very far. She let her internal voice call out for power. The threads were weak at first, just tiny grains of feeling pressing through the ether and into the hearts and minds of the nearest human beings. It was just a spark at first but she could actually feel it. There was something happening here. Something she never could have dreamed of. She could rise again before too much longer. Ishan's hand tightened into a fist then. His lips smiled. The odd yet familiar sensation of his chest rising and falling in quick succession at first caught her off guard.

  That's when she realized she was actually laughing. Laughing with the deep voice of an ancient male human vampire.

  Sometimes, you just have to go with the flow and things will work out.

  ***

  As lights glazed by below and above, and Rosadelma sat opposite him spacing out, Simon worried about Ishan. It had been so hard all those months without being connected to him, not knowing if he would ever wake up. And then for a brief glimpse, he was back only for them to have to put him back to sleep. It hadn't been fair. And now Simon would likely die and never see him again. Inside his head he prayed to a god he didn't believe existed, hoping that Ishan would wake free and clear of the hold Bellona's blood had taken on him. The realization that that might not ever happen struck him then and for the first time he thought of something else. What if he did wake up and the soul within him was no longer his? What would Bellona do if she could manage to come back to life?

  The fear gripped him then from all directions as he added on concern for both Ishan and the Queen to his already panicked dread that he wouldn't make it in time to save Jackie. He pulled up on the steering wheel of the plane in the hopes that a higher altitude would get them there faster.

  Chapter 30

  The Weight of Knowing

  A community center building rose out of the darkness up ahead as Frank's Lincoln sped toward the far end of Cedar City. It had been the best chance she could think of. They could drive and drive but they wouldn't get far before either the vampires or Imperial police caught up with them, which probably wouldn't be long. She swerved the car into a residential street right before the building, found a nondescript spot and parked the car then killed the engine. In the heavy silence she sat there hoping against hope that this would work.

  "We're going to hide in that building over there. There's a basement floor that might, along with the distance, hide our scent from them. But we need to go now. Every minute we're out in the open air, we strengthen the trail for them."

  Frank nodded. "Eye-eye, captain." His attempt to hide his sheer terror failed with the crack of his voice. Jackie said nothing and the two got out of the car and went running for the building. When they got to the door, Frank tried pulling on the handle to no avail. "How the hell are we going to get in there?"

  A look of effort flashed in Jackie's eye and two swift metal clicks sounded within the door. Frank tried the handle again and it moved without resistance. He opened the door and they both ran inside.

  When the door closed behind them, it clicked locked in the very same way it had done the opposite.

  After passing several wood-finished doors, they came to a large wide stairway to the right that led down into the basement where Jackie's parents had thrown Karen's tenth birthday party. The flash of memory was complicatedly painful as she remembered the horrible jealous way she had reacted to how her parents had lavished such affection on her sister. Back in those days she had often envied Karen for being the younger one who had taken away all the special attention she used to receive before Karen was born. She knew now that had all mostly been in her head. Her parents had loved her so much and she had taken it for granted for so many years and now...

  She pointed to the stairs as they came upon them and she and Frank turned and stepped quickly down into the darkness.

  ***

  What was left of the Cedar City airport would have to be enough, Simon decided as he angled the wheel down. If it were possible for a vampire to be more pale, Rosadelma was just that. Simon had anticipated a rough landing but this was ridiculous. The wind was bad enough as it were, but the airport was no exception to the destruction that had come to this city. The moment before the front wheel of the plane struck into the broken up concrete of the landing strip, Simon took a deep breath. Rosadelma gasped as the plane slammed into the runway wheels first, rocking and shaking the entire way. Simon held tight onto the wheel, easing in on the brakes. One slip and the plane would surely lose control. The landing gear wouldn't last very long against the amount of rocks and debris on the runway.

  The steering wheel went from shaking violently to moving beyond human control. Lucky for both Simon and Rosadelma, neither one had been human for a while. Simon gripped with all he had and felt the buckle of metal somewhere unable to do the same. There was a great convulsion throughout the plane and it began to wobble to the left as it continued to zoom forward on the runway. Great, that's one wheel blown. Simon let some of the gentleness out of his foot as he pushed down on the brake pedal. The plane began to veer to the left, and though it was slowing, it was still charging with considerable speed.

  Almost unexpectedly at that point, the jet began to slow significantly. A dozen or so parked planes of different shapes and sizes littered the concrete ahead as Rosa and Simon's plane headed right for them. About five hundred feet away from the other planes the second wheel blew and they started skidding against the pavement. Then in jerking motions the plane began to actually slow to a point of rest. One more immense heave forward and it finally stopped. Simon and Rosadelma sat staring at the nose of a large commercial plane mere feet from the tip of their own.

  ***

  Jackie and Frank sat curled up together under a large oak table in the basement of the community center building, waiting. It had been at least a half hour now and by Jackie's best guess they would find them any time now. She had lost hope quickly that they would somehow pass over their scent here once in the building. The place was void of any other living scents from at least months of having been abandoned. They would probably stick out like a sore thumb on a hand full of severed fingers.

  She hadn't told Frank this and so he seemed to calm down some. Maybe he would fall asleep before they came. Not that it wo
uld matter. They would surely wake him when they tore him apart limb from limb. She'd seen their handiwork enough times. She had grown an odd sort of respect for the Queen's ancients, but there was still a ravenous animal instinct within them. And these ancients seemed all the more predatory and wild. The images of what they had done to the bodies of her sister, her mother, her father... The smell of it would never leave her no matter what. Not that she had much longer before the lights went out.

  She wondered what Simon was doing at that very moment. She was conflicted then as to whether she had any regret about leaving him there and taking off like she had. She thought that she did. But it was so overpowered by the memory of what she had found. Ignorance was only bliss without the longing. And for her the longing had never stopped, so she had taken a chance. Now she would pay for it with her life. That was easy enough to regret, but it wasn't really the source of what she was feeling.

  She wasn't afraid to die anymore. She just wanted one more moment with him.

  Before long she fell into a daze as Frank's snoring lulled her nearly to a slumber of her own. But she never managed to fully sink into unconsciousness.

  The smell came first. Haunting the air around her. There were at least a dozen of them. Ancient and human vampires alike. Then came the scratching on the ceiling and Frank awoke in sheer terror, gripping onto her as if there was something she could do to save him. Even through two floors it was loud. Something exploded from above and a huge cloud of dust rushed into the basement from the wide open stairway. They were inside. It was only a matter of time now. Jackie took hold of Frank and with a swift movement he surely couldn't have expected, she knocked him completely out. At least this way he had a chance of not being conscious for his own death.