Justice Is Calling

by Justin Sloan

  “If we don’t all work together,” Diego added, concern in every syllable as he stepped up beside her, “everything you know will be changed.”

  “We’ve faced Vampires before,” an especially mean looking Were said. “Nosferatu or not, we can hold our own.”

  Valerie nodded, “I don’t doubt that, at least, against the Vampires you’ve faced here. But my brother isn’t of the same blood. Both he and I were made by a man known as ‘the Duke’ in France. Our father is more powerful than anything you’ve ever seen… and we’re not far behind.”

  “That so?” The mean Were smiled, began to undress, and said, “Prove it. You take me down, we’ll follow you—”

  BAM! She was on him, pinning him to the floor even as he transformed into an albino wolf. He snarled and tried to bite her, but she just held him there with one hand as she drew her sword and placed the blade against his throat.

  “You were saying?” She smirked, her eyes glowing red as she moved aside and let him transform back.

  “Alright, point to you, but it wasn’t exactly fair.” He stood and turned from her to dress, then turned and leaped at her, transforming in mid-air.

  She was too fast, and with a side-step and smack of the flat of her sword against his rear, she sent him sliding into a rooftop door, where he slammed into it with a thud.

  “Might want to concede, Brant,” a Were with thick eyebrows and piercing, almost black eyes, said. “She beat you.”

  The Were, Brant, bowed its head, and said, “Yes, Rico.”

  Rico turned to Valerie, eyes narrowed as he considered her. “If your brother’s as tough as you, we’ll be at your side fighting him.”

  “And when it’s over?” she asked. “This Commander Strake?”

  Rico glared at the last few Enforcers on the roof, who looked at each other nervously as he approached. “We could be persuaded to find new allegiances. As for Strake, these little rat-asses will sell him out, for the right price.” He snatched one by the shoulder and shoved him toward Valerie. “Go ahead, ask away.”

  A radio sound came from another, who’d turned and was speaking into his radio. “Backup, get the hell up here, now!”

  Valerie was about to dart over there and chop off first the man’s hands for using the radio, and then his head, but a voice sounded over the radio, one she was happy to hear.

  “Confirm that,” came Cammie’s voice, “we’re just about….” The roof door opened, banging the mean-looking Were in the back and causing him to jump out of the way. Out strolled Cammie. “…there. Oh, looks like we made it, but, sorry, we’re gonna go ahead and back the other side.”

  She smiled wickedly at the Enforcer, then tossed him the radio she’d been using.

  “The Weres downstairs?” Valerie asked.

  “Either dead or on our side, but….” She glanced around at the other Weres, a look of regret on her face. “Sorry to say it, the number’s probably an even split.”

  Rico nodded. “We all knew which side was paying us, and that there’d be a clash within the UnknownWorld eventually. Point is, we got a fight to get to, am I right?”

  Valerie’s answer was to grab the Enforcer who stood nearby. She walked him, struggling and beating her arm, over to the edge of the roof. “We don’t have time to play around here.” She stared at him, firmly. “Where’d Strake go?”

  The Enforcer looked about to swear at her, but when her grip loosened he said, “The three amigos, that’s what we call ‘em anyway. They got connections, they have a safe house or something, but I swear I don’t know where.”

  “The three amigos?” Valerie asked. “What kinda stupid name is that?”

  “Just… something we call the three head honchos, you know? The CEOs of the corporations.”

  She looked back at the Were for help. “Now’d be a good time to fill me in, Rico.”

  “Three corporations run Old Manhattan,” Rico said. “Rumor has it, our paychecks came from one of them. The Weres who were here because they were forced, through blackmail or other means, were rumored to be handled by one of the others. And the third, nobody really knows much about him.”

  Considering this, she brought the Enforcer back onto the rooftop, took his weapon, and let him go.

  “After the fight, will you be on my side or theirs?” She checked the rifle and put a round in the chamber, then made eye contact with Rico and waited for a response.

  He stared for a long moment, and then said, “That all depends on how you handle yourself in the fight. Me, I was never here for the money or anything else other than the fact that it was the winning side. My loyalties are shallow, but if you prove to be someone worthy of an alliance, so be it. The others will follow.”

  One glance around showed that he was right—the others looked at him like a loyal dog to its master.

  “We came here to recruit an army,” Valerie said, ignoring the light pitter-patter of rain that had begun. “I’d hoped there would be less bloodshed, but we take what we can get, and it had to be done. For now, we have to leave Strake for another day.”

  She walked over to Rico, held out her hand, and smiled.

  “Let’s go kill my brother.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Enforcer HQ

  The Were named Rico led them first to a detainment room, where he insisted the Enforcers be locked up.

  “Can’t trust ‘em,” he said as they left the men behind and headed for the pod chamber.

  Soon he opened a door to reveal a line of anti-gravity pods and a far wall that opened up like an airplane hangar.

  But before stepping in, he turned to look Valerie in the eyes, his stare deep and intense.

  “You’re the one then, the vampire everyone’s talking about?” He looked uncomfortable as he said this last part. “The Dark Messiah?”

  “The Da… What? No!” She looked at Cammie and asked, “The one you told me about?”

  Cammie stepped over and folded her arms across her chest nodding at Valerie, “Thing is, this one was only arriving in America from France when rumors of the Dark Messiah started, Rico. So, the unfortunate news for us is that there could be another very powerful vampire out there.”

  “More powerful than me and my brother?” Valerie asked, looking between the two of them.

  “There hasn’t been enough comparison to go off of,” Cammie shrugged her shoulders in acknowledgement.

  “And it’s not possible this rumored one is your brother?” Rico asked.

  “Not his style,” Valerie said. “He’d never go solo. Always has to have his bastard henchmen with him.”

  “Well then, let’s just hope this other vampire prefers to avoid the big city.” Rico opened the hanger doors with a swipe of his card, and they entered. “Or if he does show up, that he doesn’t fight for the wrong side.”

  The idea that there could be an even stronger vampire than herself out there certainly worried Valerie, but part of her said that it was impossible. Her father, the man who created her, he was the most powerful vampire she knew of aside from the legendary Yuko and Akio—but rumor had it they hadn’t left Asia in a long time.

  If one of them did happen to be here, from what Valerie had heard about their no nonsense way of dealing with situations, she’d have to remember to be extremely polite.

  Right now, all that mattered was stopping Donovan. Ensuring that devil in a dog's body never set foot inside of Old Manhattan and, if possible, that he never breathed another breath after this night.

  They continued into the hangar and Valerie entered a pod with Cammie in the back and Rico driving. A couple of others were preparing, and at the doorway, just before taking off, Valerie saw Sandra come running in and clutch Diego tight in an embrace.

  “I’d ask which way,” Rico said as they drove out into the rain filled sky and then rounded the building to see that several airships had landed and, judging by the sound of gunfire and smoke rising into the sky, the assault had begun.

  “But that wou
ld be ridiculous,” he finished.

  Old Manhattan, Eastern Edge

  The sight as they crossed over the city walls and came upon the first wave of Nosferatu was discomforting. Some of the men and women from the ghettos were making a stand, even the drugged up ones, but they were quickly being taken down. Many were simply fleeing. Gusts of wind brought sheets of rain against the pod’s windows, making it hard to see a clear picture.

  From what they could tell, there was a wall of police formed with riot gear. On one side of the street they were holding the Nosferatu off, but on the other side they were being overrun.

  “Take us down there,” Valerie said, pointing to the side where the police were losing.

  “And if they take us for part of the onslaught and shoot?” Cammie asked.

  She had a good point, and if blood rage took over, Valerie didn’t want to accidentally kill any of the good guys.

  “Fine, land close enough to where we can break off the attackers from the rest of my brother’s group. The cops should be able to handle that.” She watched the chaos as they descended. A realization hit her—they had to move fast, because this enemy wasn’t human. There’d be no blood to restore her should she need it. Well, unless she turned on her own side, and that wasn’t about to happen.

  A glance back showed other pods following, and soon they were all descending into the chaos.

  But Valerie couldn’t wait. When they were about twenty feet from the ground, she opened the door and leaped out, sword in one hand, rifle in the other, and began tearing a hole into the rear of the Nosferatu onslaught.

  “Save some for us!” Cammie said, transforming as she leaped down to join Valerie.

  “Just stay out of my way.” Valerie shot a three-round burst into three Nosferatu, two head shots and the third taking out a kneecap. She rolled toward them and came up with her sword to block an attack. She spun and took off two heads at once, then thrust to split the third’s head in two.

  Already other Vampires and Weres were joining in the fight, new and old, and she motioned them onward toward the airships.

  Royland leaped from the shadows, his Vampires behind him, and they swept through a group of Nosferatu in a swarm of darkness.

  “Good of you to come,” Cammie called out, transforming back to human form long enough to give him a high-five between kills. Without breaking stride, she was a wolf again and was tearing out the throat of a Nosferatu who had nearly snuck up on Royland.

  Valerie had noticed the wink too, obviously meant just for him, as she took down another two at once with a leaping attack that brought her sword down through both of them. She looked back up to see Royland at wolf-Cammie’s side, the two fighting Nosferatu like it was a rehearsed dance.

  Dammit! “It’s raining relationships,” she muttered to herself as she grabbed an arm that was reaching for her, ripping it off the body and then slicing off the head. For a moment she thought it’d be a good idea to beat one of the Nosferatu with the arm, but the morbidity of that made her gag slightly, so she simply threw it to knock an oncoming Nosferatu upside the head. That distracted the mindless vampire, and Valerie took advantage of the moment to try a new move she’d been thinking over. She swiped off the head with her sword, spun, and jump kicked the head so that it flew into another group about to attack Cammie and Royland.

  “Thanks!” Royland said as Cammie moved in for the attack. He joined in a moment later, leaving Valerie to smirk at what she’d done. Okay, maybe a bit of morbidity could be fun.

  A shadow darted from behind, causing her to startle and spin with sword at the ready.

  Diego came running out from a side-street, three Nosferatu at his rear. He saw her and the sword, tilted his head in a question, and then jumped, turning around in mid-flight to take down his pursuers with a rain of bullets.

  “Where’s Sandra?” Valerie asked as he landed his jump and joined her.

  He motioned back up to one of the pods, still floating above. Sandra gave a wave from the front seat, where she was perched with her sniper rifle. Then she aimed and took out a Nosferatu.

  “We just need to reach the—” Valerie started, but ducked as something flew through the air overhead and hit the pod with a massive explosion. “Merde!”

  The pod was coming down, and the sniper rifle hit the ground beside them with a clang.

  Only seconds to act.

  “Get ready!” Valerie yelled to Diego and watched as the pod, door open, was slipping in the air. She ran hard, keeping the pod in her sights and jumped on a wall, using it to jump one more time with everything she had—she was in the pod now, Sandra cursing as she was holding on to the seats in the slow spin. Valerie grabbed her friend and pulled her close. Gauging the distance, she jumped toward a grassy area, landing on two feet before swinging around to keep Sandra on top of her as the ground slammed into her back, hard. Behind them, the pod crashed into the street and went plowing into several of the Nosferatu.

  BOOM! The pod exploded, flames reaching out to coat a few Nosferatu, their cries from the flames heard over continued minor explosions coming from the pod.

  Valerie held Sandra tight, but a moment later Diego was there, helping the two to their feet and then pulling them to the side of a nearby building for cover.

  More explosions, and more of the pods were coming down around them.

  Valerie pushed herself off of the wall she’d been leaning on for support, and stumbled. That little feat had taken more out of her than she’d expected.

  “We have to get to the ships, stop Donovan,” she said. “It’s the only way.”

  “He’d still be on the ships?” Diego asked.

  “That’s his way. Send in the Nosferatu first to do the dirty work, clear the way, then he moves in for the kill.”

  “In that case, I don’t advise we wait him out.” Diego said, looking up at the ships in the night.

  “You need energy,” Sandra said, stepping forward and holding out her wrist for Valerie. “Quick!”

  Valerie looked from the wrist to Diego and hesitated. For some reason, around him it felt… wrong.

  Diego nodded toward Sandra’s wrist. “You’re our only chance of stopping your brother. We can’t have you going up against him in this state.”

  She breathed deep, gave Sandra an appreciative smile, and then clamped onto the wrist with her fangs. The blood was warm, pulsing, giving her life. It tasted sweet, like buttered yams, yet tangy, like rhubarb pie.

  A yelp from Sandra told her she’d had her fill, too much even, judging by the paleness of the woman’s face.

  “Get her to safety,” Valerie told Diego. This time she took a step and felt her strength surging through every muscle, as if she could do anything she wanted. “I can’t be out there fighting to my fullest if I think she’s at risk.”

  He was about to argue, but instead took Sandra in his arms and eyed Valerie, “Give him hell.”

  “I certainly will,” Valerie said, and then grabbed her sword and was off, running past Nosferatu and cops, dead bodies of the druggies and others who had attempted to fight, and then to the ships. The rain pounded the ground around her, but she didn’t care—she even kind of liked it. She imagined the rain to be a million little minions, there to give her energy and help push her in this fight.

  She thought she saw the silhouette of someone watching from the top of a nearby building, but when she looked again, the silhouette was gone.