Eclipse of the Warrior: The Interdimensional Saga (Book 1)

by J. L. Hendricks

  “Yes, we have green blood and you have red blood. Now please hold all questions until we can get Nishni stable.” Lancer sternly said as he was cutting away at Nishni’s shirt.

  About ten minutes later a group of fae healers walked in and made everyone leave the room. Their local portal must have been very close for them to have gotten here so quickly. I made a mental note to search it out for myself later on.

  I went back to the conference room to wait for everyone. Squad 1 and the Commander all went to clean up and change out of their green, blood soaked clothes. I didn’t know anything about the fae biology, but it wasn’t looking good for Nishni. It seemed like he may have lost way too much blood. He had to have been ripped all over his body.

  Lancer said there were cuts all along Nishni’s arms, legs and torso. There were even marks on his neck! The guys said that they thought the rippers tried to rip his throat out. Thankfully their jackets have a covering over their necks or he would have been dead for sure!

  I really hoped he would be OK. He seemed like a nice guy, even though he did decapitate a ripper right in front of me. Poor kid, the commander told me that this was his first assignment and he had only been here for a couple months. No wonder he was working so hard to find the ripper’s hideout, he had been trying to prove his worth to this team.

  About fifteen minutes after I entered the conference room, the commander came back in followed by Lancer and then the rest of squad 1.

  “Lancer, now tell me exactly what happened out there! How could Nishni be hurt so badly?” The commander almost barked that order to Lancer.

  “Sir, earlier tonight Nishni was looking at the video surveillance we have set up over a one mile square radius from the most recent abductions. We figured that the rippers must have a base of operations close by and that is how they keep evading us.”

  “We all went to the location as shown by the video feeds. There were three rippers with two human females. We followed them down an alley and saw them go into a sewer drain.

  “Either it was a trap, or they are just always prepared. Because Nishni volunteered to go down first and as soon as he made it to the bottom of the stairs they grabbed him and started ripping him to shreds. We all jumped down, I was first, then Benden, then Maliki and the rest. By the time I got down there Nishni looked like he was dead. But there were fifteen rippers attacking him. Once they saw me most of them came at me and then split up as Maliki jumped down. We fought and killed three enemy combatants, and then once the rest of my squad was in the sewer they fled with the humans.

  “I decided not to follow them since Nishni was injured so badly, we brought him up and I sent Benden to get the van. Then we drove straight here.

  “I do believe they are hiding out in one of the sewer tunnels. That would explain why we always lose them around a corner or down an alley. They are jumping down through the sewers to get away and have some sort of base in one of the larger tunnels.

  “It appears that they have more personnel here than we thought too. I suggest we call back to command and request an additional three squads. Then we can go down in those tunnels and kill them like the rats they are.”

  For the next hour they all discussed what they did back in the sewer in more detail, and then they started sharing stories about Nishni. It sounded like he was a really great guy. I hoped I would get the chance to spend some time with him.

  One of the stories was about his first week here on Earth. He was trying to track the rippers, but found a group of skinheads who were high on meth and scared them to death when he ran at them with his sword. If Lancer hadn’t stepped in between the humans and Nishni, they would have had their heads cut off.

  Nishni hadn’t seen a ripper who had gone through the change yet. The skinheads were very pale, with red eyes and the veins in their face were actually sticking out.

  But the main difference was that the skinheads were almost passed out. They barely had their eyes open and their clothes were no better than a street urchin’s. These guys had been living on the street and malnourished. Most likely spent any money they could get on meth. And a ripper always dressed nicely and never let their guard down on the street. You would never see a ripper with their eyes partly closed, unless they were dead.

  Squad 1 gave Nishni such a hard time after that. About a week later, Maliki pointed out a stoner to Nishni and said, “Look! It’s a ripper! Go get him Nishni.” And then everyone just laughed. But Nishni took all of the joking with stride, even pranked Maliki after that.

  Apparently, Nishni met a girl who was taking classes to be a special effects makeup artist. One day Nishni came back with red eyes and the spider web effect. He scared the living daylights out of every single person in the warehouse that day. The makeup was so good that even the commander thought he was a ripper! Nishni became a full-fledged member of Squad 1 that day.

  About an hour later Netty walked out looking pretty upset. “I am sorry commander, but Nishni lost too much blood. Some of the lacerations on his torso were deep enough to rip his liver and kidneys. We were not able to save him.”

  It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop at that point. I actually started to tear up.

  “Commander, I would like to escort Nishni home and pay my respects to his family” Lancer said, and the rest of his team joined in the sentiment.

  “Lancer I can appreciate your desire to do so, but I need you to stay here and figure out what to do about B’Lana. She has seen too much to let go.” The commander looked at me right as he said that. I really wanted to disappear at that moment as I was sure I was not going to like the outcome.

  “Yes, of course commander. Maliki you can take the rest of the squad back home and please be sure to let Nishni’s family know how much I will miss him and that he was a fine member of my squad. I will come see them the next time I am home.” At that point Lancer turned back to me.

  “B’Lana, it is late and I really need to sleep. How about you go back to your room and later today we can discuss your options?”

  “Yeah, ok I can do that. I am really sorry for your loss. Nishni seemed like a really nice guy… or fae. I hope you can catch those rippers and destroy every one of them!” I was sad for the loss, but also angry that a ripper did that to a nice young fae warrior. I needed to get out of there before I started crying, my eyes were already starting to sting with tears just thinking about what happened tonight.

  Lancer walked me back to my room, and he locked me in. Ugh, just my luck that he would be thinking about locking me up so I couldn’t run away tonight. That was actually what I was thinking about doing if he hadn’t of locked me in.

  I looked at the clock and it showed almost six am when I went to bed. I was so exhausted I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. It was after noon when I finally woke up.

  ______

  My door was unlocked, and the place so eerily quiet. I thought everyone had left last night except maybe the commander and Lancer, so now would be my best chance at getting out of there. Of course I am the unluckiest person alive…

  As I was quietly going around the corner, some other guy I had not seen before was casually leaning up against the only exit that I knew of.

  Stink! I thought I was never going to get a break.

  The guy was really tall, he had to be at least six feet six inches, or taller. He had brown hair that was thick and straight, it went down to just below his collar but was tied back at the base of his neck with a black leather strap. I wondered if the length of hair was determined by the fae military. Squad 1 all had the same length of hair. He appeared to be about 23 or 24 and was smokin’ hot! Man, I need to find a way to turn off that attraction I seem to have to all of these guys.

  “B’Lana, the kitchen is back the other way. There are some bagels and coffee if you are hungry. Lancer said he would be back shortly and I was to keep you entertained until he returned.” At that point he walked up to me and put his arm around my shoulders and walked me to the kitchen.r />
  “My name is Ash, and I will be joining Squad 1. I look forward to getting to know you better.” Ash said that in a sort of suggestive way. I thought he might be flirting with me and for some strange reason, I actually giggled. I must not have gotten enough sleep as I gave him my flirty smile and told him I looked forward to it as well.

  What was wrong with me? I am not some young girl who swoons at hot guys who flirt with her. I am a strong, independent woman who takes no prisoners! I needed to get myself back in control. But first, I needed coffee!

  I grabbed a cup of coffee and put an onion bagel in the toaster. After I buttered it I sat down at the table across from Ash and started in on my breakfast. “So, Ash, have you been to Earth before?”

  “This will be my fourth rotation to Earth, but my first time in Los Angeles. Previously, I served in Moscow, Paris and England.”

  “Wow, you have seen more of my planet than I have. My only trip outside of North America was a college semester abroad to England.” I hadn’t learned a foreign language so my college counselor told me I should stick to English speaking countries. If I had it to do all over again I would learn a foreign language like Russian, or Italian.

  “Really, how did you like England? Were you in London?” Ash asked as he looked right into my eyes and leaned closer to me as he spoke.

  “Yes, I was in London at the Queen Mary University and I loved it! I really want to go back to England and see more of it. I spent so much time studying that I did not get to see much.

  “Part of our program included a long weekend in Bath, which was really kinda cool as I read historical fiction. I love Jane Austen and have read all of her books. I almost stayed behind so that I could search out all of the places she wrote about in her books.” I said as I started to laugh recalling how my roommate on the trip had to convince me that we would do a Jane Austen weekend soon and travel around to all of the more famous places she wrote about. Sadly, that never happened. I never got out of London again until I left.

  “Jane Austen? Didn’t she write Sense & Sensibility and Pride & Prejudice? She seems to be a favorite amongst most human women.”

  “Have you seen the five hour BBC version of Pride & Prejudice? I don’t know a single woman who doesn’t swoon over Mr. Darcy.” My face started to turn red with embarrassment as I was swooning over Mr. Darcy just remembering the show.

  Ash got up from his chair and came over and sat next to me and put his arm around my shoulders again, and leaned in to me and whispered, “I think I am going to like you. We should stay in for a drink some time.”

  My entire body was covered in goosebumps as he was whispering in my ear. His lips softly brushed my ear and my body involuntarily shook with anticipation.

  Just at that point Lancer walked in and yelled “Ash just what do you think you are doing? You know that we have yet to decide what to do with B’Lana. She is not your new play thing.”

  While my face was burning with embarrassment at being caught with Ash, Lancer’s face was burning with anger and he was looking right at me.

  Chapter 5

  Ash casually took his arm away from me and started to get up. “Lancer, good to see you too. Now that you are here I can get back to work. I was just keeping the pretty lady company and ensuring that she didn’t sneak out on my watch.” He looked at me and winked.

  I looked down to my cup of coffee and smiled. I did not want anyone to see that I enjoyed his wink.

  Lancer walked over to the coffee maker and grabbed himself a cup of coffee. “Come on B’Lana, we have a lot to discuss.”

  I followed him out the kitchen and down the hall to the conference room. It seemed that was the only place, besides the kitchen, where there was enough room to congregate and discuss anything.

  Lancer took the chair at the head of the table and he gestured for me to take the chair to his right.

  “Alright, you know that you are the only human alive on this planet right now who knows about us, right? And we can’t have any humans knowing that we exist, or where our headquarters is located.”

  “What usually happens when someone knows about you or this warehouse?” I thought that was a very good question, but Lancer looked at me with a very serious expression as he drew his right hand through his hair. His eyes narrowed and I could see lines forming on his brow.

  “Normally when someone sees us it is because we are killing the rippers who had just taken them. Almost always they have already been bitten so we have to end their pain.”

  “WAIT. JUST. A. MINUTE. You kill anyone who has been bitten?! How is that saving the human race?” I practically spit in his face I was yelling so hard and loud at him.

  “B’Lana, you know that once someone is bit there is nothing we can do for them. They are already dead, basically. We end their existence in a quick and painless way. It really is the best for them.” Lancer looked like he might be feeling a little guilty for that policy of theirs.

  “Has anyone tried to fix them, or stop the transformation?” I really hoped there was some way of saving those people who have been attacked and not killed in the process.

  “I am sorry B’Lana, but this is something we have looked at in the past and there is no way to reverse the process. Killing them is really the only way to help them. If they could choose, do you really think they would want to be a blood-sucking killer whose only joy is to kill other humans and drink their blood? Or to be used as fodder in a war that has nothing to do with them or their planet?” Lancer made a really good argument here. I wouldn’t want to be either.

  “Ok, I see your point. If there is no way to reverse the transformation, then a quick, painless death is the best. But what are you going to do to me? I wasn’t bitten.” But I was scratched.

  “Well, you were scratched pretty badly. I am not sure if that could start the process, but that ripper’s DNA was transferred to you and you lost some blood. Not enough to kill you, so we don’t know exactly what will happen to you, hopefully nothing. Since the ripper didn’t give you his blood the process couldn’t finish even if the scratch was enough to start the transformation. But that does not mean you can just walk out of here. You know too much. You are now a part of this world.

  “So, if you don’t have any issues from that scratch, then you will be turned into a hybrid fae. You will be trained to work on one of our squads and help us to track down and kill the rippers. But your life as you know it is now over. You can’t contact your family or friends ever again. We will most likely send you to another part of the world to train and work.”

  “Wait a minute! I have to contact my family or they will call the police and report me missing! And what if I don’t want to be a part of this world or part fae?”

  “You don’t have a choice. This is what happens when you poke your nose in somewhere it doesn’t belong. You only have yourself to blame for this.”

  “Ouch, that is harsh Lancer.”

  At this point I was starting to wonder if he was right. I couldn’t go back to my life before yesterday. I knew too much. I am way too inquisitive and stubborn. If I were to leave here, I would be back within a week tops, probably more like a couple days.

  Would working with them to help save humans be worth giving up my life? I was starting to think that the humans needed a representative who could fight for them since the Sennafae seemed only interested in stopping the rippers and not really protecting the humans. Lancer broke into my thoughts at this point with…

  “But I must warn you, we have not turned a human in almost 200 years. While the process has been handed down to us, no one I know of has seen this or been involved in turning a human. It may or may not work, and we have to wait a few days to see what happens with the scratch.” Lancer looked at me like he wanted to say more, but then got up and started walking out the door.

  “B’Lana, for your sake, I hope the scratch is nothing and you can safely be turned into a hybrid fae. I have to go and start researching the process. I will come find you l
ater.”

  “Wait! I don’t even know what a hybrid fae is? How will I change? Please tell me I won’t be all gross and scary like the hybrid rippers or nosferatu?” I got up and quickly followed him to the computer room as I was not going to let him leave me hanging like this.

  “B’Lana, I am really not sure what will happen once you change. That is why I have to research this. Just know that I will do what I can to minimize any pain you will go through. And if it doesn’t work I will personally see to it that you are killed quickly and painlessly.”

  “Hey, you can’t tell a girl she might die and that you’ll do her a favor by being the one to kill her, and then say ‘hey hang out while I go research how this works.’ That is just plain cruel! I can’t sit here waiting until you know more. Does the commander know, or anyone else here in the warehouse? I know it was two hundred years ago so no one will have been around then, but hasn’t someone around here at least read about this?”

  “Well, back home there might be someone who has seen it happen before. The Sennafae can live up to 300 years. I could send out a request, but that will most likely take several weeks to locate someone willing to come here who has any first-hand knowledge.” Lancer gave me a wry smile as he turned and left me in the hallway outside of the conference room.

  I just stood there with my mouth open and staring after Lancer. I felt sick. My head hurt and there was no way this was really happening to me. I needed DeeDee. I turned toward the front of the building and was going to try and escape.

  But Ash caught me, again. I started thinking I wasn’t going to make it out of this alive, period. Not as a hybrid ripper or fae, and certainly not as a human.

  Ash seemed to like putting his arm around me, as that is exactly what he did when I got closer to him. “Come on, let’s get some more coffee and maybe some Tylenol for you. Is that a headache I sense coming on?”

  “Ash, do you know anything about turning a human into a fae? Lancer hasn’t told me much, other than it hasn’t happened in almost 200 years. He is researching it now.”