Day Soldiers (Book 1)

by Brandon Hale

  Lily began to walk toward her house when Gifford yelled, “Hey, kids!”

  Lily and Leo stopped and turned around.

  “I’m not going to say you did good. You didn’t. What you did was stupid and reckless and you’re lucky you’re not dead.”

  “You made that opinion clear already,” Leo said.

  “But I will say this,” Gifford added. “You probably saved some lives tonight. Maybe a lot of lives. Now go home, both of you.”

  Leo walked with Lily to her front door. “You know,” he said, “I think that qualifies as a hero’s welcome.”

  Lily smiled. “I think so, too. I couldn’t believe it when my mom stepped up like that.”

  “That was awesome,” Leo said. “You gonna be able to sleep at all?”

  “Doubt it,” Lily said, “but I probably should try.” She looked at Leo for a few long seconds, then added, “You did good. Your shooting saved my life.”

  “Your planning saved this town,” Leo retorted.

  “So we make a good team,” Lily said.

  Leo smiled. “Sleep well, vampire killer.”

  “You too, werewolf killer,” Lily said.

  Lily watched Leo walk to his house down the street, then she turned around and went inside her own house. She went upstairs, used the bathroom, went into her bedroom, put on a T-shirt, and slipped off her pants.

  She reached under her bed and pulled out the old cardboard box that held her photo albums and scrapbooks. She sat in the floor and dug through the box until she found the scrapbook she was looking for. It was a large black book, with the words “Protect the Day” on the cover. She had made the cover from an ad for the Day Soldiers. Protect the Day was their slogan.

  Inside was the complete history of the Legion and the Day Soldiers.

  Lily opened it to the first page. It was a ten year old article, clipped from a magazine called Fleeting Glimpse. Of course, Lily couldn’t remember the article back when it first came out. She was eight at the time. Truth be told, most people didn’t remember the article when it first came out, no matter how old they were, because most people didn’t read Fleeting Glimpse magazine. It was a magazine devoted to “solving the mysteries of the universe.” Bigfoot, Loch Ness, all that nonsense.

  For the most part, it was a failing magazine in an age when the internet was replacing most magazines anyway. And its articles ranged from very unlikely to completely ridiculous. When it was first printed, the article in Lily’s scrapbook seemed no different.

  Lily stared at the article. She looked at the title at the top of the page: “Werewolves Are Real and We Have One.”

  Back then, a title like that was typical for Fleeting Glimpse. That same issue had an article about Bigfoot’s mating habits and another article about a unicorn that had been spotted in the Amazon forests. Most people didn’t take the magazine seriously, which was a good thing because most of its articles were completely full of crap.

  Lily knew all of this because she had done a research paper on the magazine for her English class in the eleventh grade. Specifically, the paper was on the werewolf article more than the magazine itself.

  This short article, published in a tabloid magazine ten years ago, changed the world forever. The world didn’t know it until a few days later, but it all started with this one article.

  Lily had read the article a thousand times in her life. She could probably recite it word-for-word if she tried. She wasn’t sure why she read it so often. Maybe it was just carry-over from the paper she’d written in English class. Maybe she was a history buff and didn’t know it. Or maybe she looked at the article in the same way some people watch a wedding video or a video of their birth. She was eight when the article was published, so it wasn’t the day she was born. At least, not literally. But in some ways… a lot of ways… it was the day her life began.

  It was the day her destiny was revealed to her.

  Lily leaned back against her bed and read the article again.

  Werewolves are Real and We Have One

  October 25, 2017

  You think you know what’s real in this world. And you think you know what isn’t.

  In six days – on Halloween – your world is about to change.

  All of our faithful Fleeting Glimpse readers know who Dr. Jackson Bates is. For those of you who don’t, he’s our primary cryptozoologist. He’s an adventurer and a brilliant scientist, and for the past four years, he has searched the globe looking for scientific evidence of things most of us consider fairy tales.

  Until now, he’s had mixed results. He has collected evidence that suggested the existence of many creatures thought to be myth. To date, nobody has been able to disprove his provocative photo of the skunk ape he encountered in southern Florida.

  There is a big difference, though, between evidence and proof. While Dr. Bates has found plenty of evidence in his journeys, he’s never found anything that he could confidently call proof.

  Until now.

  Dr. Bates was recently on assignment in a small town called Carvington. And he almost died there. You see, readers, it was in Carvington that Dr. Bates met something that even he thought only existed in myths and legends.

  In Carvington he met, fought, and captured a werewolf.

  It sounds silly, doesn’t it? We don’t blame you for being skeptical. It’s easy to speculate on the existence of Bigfoot or Loch Ness or some lost dinosaur.

  But a werewolf? An actual supernatural creature? A claim that extreme asks you, our readers, to put reason on a shelf. And that is not something we’re willing to ask of you.

  So instead, we’re having a press conference. Appropriately, the next full moon is on Halloween. That night, at dusk, we’re going to change the world forever.

  And you are invited. This issue of Fleeting Glimpse is your ticket. The conference is going to be held at Yankee Stadium at 9:00pm, Eastern Time. We will be filming the event, so if you can’t make it to New York, we’re quite sure you’ll see it on TV.

  We’ve spared no expense because this, dear readers, is real.

  Dr. Bates has already received phone calls and emails from what he believes to be other werewolves, warning him to abandon this plan.

  He has chosen to ignore their warnings. As human beings, we have a right to know what is out there, so we can protect ourselves.

  Over the centuries, how many unexplained disappearances were the result of these things? And if werewolves are real, what else is roaming the night?

  These are very big questions, and after this Halloween, we’ll be taking these questions far more seriously.

  So join us.

  October 31.

  And witness the event that will change our lives.

  Forever.

  Lily closed the scrapbook and placed it back in her box. She got into bed and crawled underneath her blanket. She thought about the fateful Halloween that followed that article. The video that changed the world. They didn’t know it at the time, but history would eventually call that event “Jackson’s Folly.”

  The world changed alright, but not in the way the assholes at Fleeting Glimpse thought it would. They didn’t just change the world.

  They destroyed it.

  And it’s up to us to rebuild that world, Lily thought as she drifted toward sleep. But first, we have to take it back.

  Chapter 3

  The Investigator

  The investigator’s car pulled in front of the Iveyton police station around five that evening. Sheriff Gifford watched from the steps of the station as the car’s door opened and a woman stepped out. Gifford guessed she was around forty. She was tall and looked strong. Her blond hair was pulled into a tight pony tail.

  She wore a uniform that Gifford recognized from television reports, but had never seen in person. She wore black from head to toe. Black boots, black pants, black jacket. The only color was a gray patch on the shoulders of the jacket. The patch was a gray circle with the silhouettes of a gun and a wooden stake
inside the circle, crossing each other to make an X shape. Underneath the jacket she wore what appeared to be a black body suit.

  Gifford knew this was the uniform of the Day Soldiers.

  “Sheriff Gifford?” the woman asked.

  “Yes ma’am,” Gifford said. “I’m assuming you’re the investigator?”

  “Beverly Clifton,” the woman said. “Most folks call me Bev, and I’m fine with you doing the same.”

  “Only if you’ll call me Billy.”

  Bev smiled. “Good to meet you, Billy. I hear you’ve got yourself a vampire problem.”

  “We did,” Gifford said. “If you’ll follow me inside, I think we can wrap this one up pretty fast.”

  “Did?” Bev said. “As in, past tense?”

  Gifford sighed. “I’m afraid so. Come on inside. I’ll fill you in over a cup of coffee.”

  “Can’t wait,” Bev mumbled as she followed Gifford inside.

  Gifford led her straight to his office. “Cream? Sugar?”

  “I like my coffee like I like my clothes,” Bev said.

  Gifford chuckled as he poured two cups of coffee and handed one to her. “We had three vampires,” he said as he hopped up and sat on the corner of his desk.

  “You’re sure it was just three?” Bev asked.

  Gifford nodded. “Pretty sure. When I was reasonably sure it was vamps we were dealing with, I called your people. In the meantime, I studied the wounds and cross-referenced the times of the attacks. Everything I could figure indicated it was three of em. Turned out to be true.”

  “I’m assuming you killed them?” Bev asked. “That’s how you know it was three? Sheriff, I’m sure you’re aware that is not standard operating procedure.”

  “Well,” Gifford said. “They were killed.”

  “Shit,” Bev said. “Locals decided to fight back?”

  “Two of em did,” Gifford said.

  “Please tell me it was self-defense,” Bev said.

  “That depends on your definition of self-defense,” Gifford said.

  “You mistook my statement,” Bev said, “for a question. I wasn’t asking you if it was self-defense.”

  “Oh,” Gifford said, relaxing significantly. This woman had no intention of arresting those kids. “It was self-defense.”

  “Okay,” Bev said. “I’ll have to talk to them, of course, to make sure it was just three. I don’t expect any surprises though. This town is pretty far from the warfront. Most likely, they were just wanderers, passing through. Saw themselves an easy meal or two and decided to stay for bit.”

  “I think that’s exactly what happened,” Gifford said. He smiled. “I’m sure they didn’t expect to die at the hands of a couple teenagers.”

  Bev raised an eyebrow. “Teenagers?”

  “Yeah,” Gifford said. “Lily’s eighteen and Leo’s nineteen or twenty, I think. Good kids. Tough as nails, though.”

  “Maybe future recruits,” Bev mused.

  Gifford laughed. “Don’t say that to them. It’ll go straight to their heads. Especially Lily. That kid idolizes you folks something fierce.”

  “I look forward to meeting her,” Bev said. “Now, let’s get started. I’ve got a seven hour drive ahead of me. Before anything else, I’ll need to see the bodies.”

  “Well,” Gifford said, “I think the bodies are still in the woods behind town. But I’ve got the heads in the shed behind the station.”

  “They took their heads,” Bev said. “Those kids aren’t playing.”

  “No ma’am,” Gifford said. “They’re not. They actually wanted me to display all four heads at the edge of the woods. You know, to warn any other wanderers that might come around.”

  “That would have been a very bad idea,” Bev said. “Something like that doesn’t scare off vampires. It motivates them.”

  “I figured as much,” Gifford said. “That’s why they’re in the shed.”

  “Wait a minute,” Bev said. “Did you just say they had four heads?”

  “Oh, yeah,” Gifford said. “According to the kids, they tricked the damn bloodsuckers into calling a werewolf. Killed him too. I told you, Bev. Tough as nails, those kids.”

  The investigator’s eyes went cold. “They killed a werewolf? Are you serious?”

  “Yeah,” Gifford said. “They said the vamps summoned him there.”

  “Sheriff,” Bev said, “I can accept that a couple teenagers killed some vampires. Most vampires in this part of the country are very young. Sometimes, they’ve not been turned for more than a few weeks. They treat rural areas as a kind of training area. They can learn how to be vampires away from the frontlines of the war.”

  “Okay,” Gifford said.

  “But not werewolves,” Bev said. “I’ve never met a civilian that went head to head with a werewolf and survived. Hell, most trained soldiers don’t survive an up-close confrontation. Those kids didn’t kill a werewolf, sheriff. There’s simply no way.”

  “Well, I can tell you that head wasn’t human,” Gifford said. “And it wasn’t a vampire either. It looks human at a glance, but when you see his teeth, you can tell. He’s got the teeth of an animal. A canine animal. It’s subtle, but it’s there. Do werewolves keep any wolf traits after they die?”

  “Sometimes,” Bev said. “Just depends on how much the wolf has integrated itself into their natural state. Sheriff, I need to see those heads.”

  The investigator didn’t give the vampires much more than a glance. She immediately walked to the fourth head and picked it up.

  “Well?” Gifford asked. “Is it a werewolf?”

  “What time does it get dark around here?” Bev asked.

  “Same as up north, I reckon,” Gifford said. “I mean, you came from the Virginia Beach base, right?”

  “Sheriff, please.”

  “Around seven or so,” Gifford said.

  “These surrounding woods,” Bev said. “They don’t make it get dark sooner?”

  “Maybe by a few minutes,” Gifford said. “But it won’t get fully dark until around seven.”

  “What time is it now?” Bev asked.

  Gifford looked at his watch. “Almost five-thirty. Ma’am, what’s going on? Is that a werewolf or ain’t it?”

  “Billy,” Bev said, “bring me those kids. I have to talk to them. Now.”

  “Sleep well?” Leo asked as he and Lily followed the sheriff into the station.

  “So-so,” Lily said. “You?”

  “Best sleep I’ve had in years,” Leo said with a grin. “I guess being a hero wiped me out.”

  They stepped into Gifford’s office to find a blond woman sitting behind his desk. Lily felt a surge of excitement when she saw that the woman was wearing a Day Soldier’s uniform.

  “Sit,” the woman said. “We don’t have much time.”

  “Ma’am,” Lily said as she sat in one of the chairs in front of the desk, “I know we broke some laws, but please hear us out. We did what we had to do. What anybody in our place—”

  “You’re not in trouble, Lily,” the woman said. “At least not from me. And please, call me Bev. When a teenager calls me ma’am, it just reminds me that I’m old.”

  “If we’re not in trouble,” Leo asked, “then why are we here?”

  “I need to know how you killed that werewolf,” Bev said. “Give me every detail, but do it quickly.”

  Lily told her everything that happened in the woods. She tried her best to stay factual and objective. She wanted to impress this woman more than she’d ever wanted to impress anybody in her entire life.

  When Lily finished, Bev just nodded. “Okay,” she said. “It was luck. That explains it, but it doesn’t make things any easier for us now.”

  “All due respect, Bev,” Lily said, “but it wasn’t just luck. We knew there were three vamps out there. And just to be safe, Leo loaded his rifle with silver bullets. I was intentionally noisy to hide Leo’s sound, and we made absolutely certain he was downwind. And the second I knew I was l
ooking at a werewolf, I signaled Leo. We took some chances. I’ll admit that. But this was more than luck.”

  “She has issues with luck,” Leo said.

  “I can see that,” Bev said. “And I don’t care. You kids were lucky. I don’t know why Phillip was this far south, but the only reason you’re alive is because he underestimated you and overestimated those vamps.”

  “Is there anything else, ma’am?” Lily asked. She wasn’t pleased with the direction of this meeting.

  “Are you sure the werewolf didn’t say anything else?” Bev asked. “Anything at all, no matter how insignificant.”

  “That was it,” Leo said. “The only thing he said was that he was ‘in the area.’ He never said why.”

  “Respectfully, Bev,” Sheriff Gifford said, “I’d really appreciate it if you’d explain to me what the hell has you all worked up.”

  “Okay,” Bev said. “You were right, Sheriff. These kids killed a werewolf.”

  “We already knew that,” Leo said.

  “But it wasn’t just any werewolf,” Bev said. “They killed one of the most powerful werewolves in the country. Maybe the world.”

  “What?” Lily asked, surprised by the fact that she didn’t like what she was hearing.

  “The Legion,” Bev said, “is commanded by a council of eighteen creatures. We’re not sure, but we think they’re all werewolves. The severed head in your little shed belongs to one of those werewolves. Thanks to these two small town teenagers, the Legion is now led by a council of seventeen.”

  “No way,” Leo said.

  “And now,” Bev continued, “I’m very afraid for your town. I would be ordering a full evacuation, but there’s no time. It’ll be dark in less than an hour. While you were getting those kids, I called the office and asked for some troops to be sent here immediately, but I seriously doubt they’ll be here before dawn.”