by Craig Zerf
‘People don’t simply disappear,’ said Muller. ‘I’m sure that you just missed her. Maybe at the back of the shop, somewhere like that.’
Troy shook his head. ‘I don’t miss things. I can smell her from over two hundred yards away. I can smell you all. Trust me, she wasn’t in the shop.’
‘Well then can you track her?’ Asked Tag.
The Wolfman shook his head. ‘Normally but this blizzard puts a stop to that. Too much snow, too much wind. No tracks, no scent. It’s impossible.’
‘Come on,’ said Sylvian. ‘Let’s all go take a look for her.’
‘I’ll question the shop clerks and the service station attendants,’ said Muller. ‘I suspect that I’m the only one that can speak Hungarian.’
There were general nods of agreement except from Sylvain.
‘I actually do,’ he said. ‘But I’m not sure if anyone would understand the archaic structure that I use, after all, I learned it back in the Humanistic era and haven’t had need to speak it since.’
‘Meet back at the bus in twenty minutes,’ said Troy.
The group split up and started to search in all possible directions.
Twenty minutes later they were back in the bus.
‘Right,’ said Troy. ‘Something has happened to her. I don’t know what but someone around here must know.’
‘I questioned everyone,’ said Muller. ‘No one saw her.’
‘Maybe we need to question them a little harder,’ suggested Troy, his face pale with anger and worry.
‘Calm down, young Wolf,’ said Sylvain. ‘You aren’t thinking properly.’
‘I’m thinking well enough,’ shouted Troy. ‘Well enough to know that we need to do something right now, or do you favor simply sitting on your ass and waiting.’
Sylvian stood up and faced the Wolfman, his eyes like two black holes in the snow. Portholes into the abyss. ‘Watch your tone, boy,’ he snapped. ‘Do not forget who you are talking to. I shall let your insult ride because I know that you are worried. We all are. Now stop panicking, think. Clear your mind.’
‘I’m sorry, Sylvian,’ apologized Troy. ‘Truly, I meant no disrespect. It’s just that I feel so helpless.’
‘You are far from helpless, Wolfman,’ returned the Bloodborn. ‘In fact, if you had thought things through before you went off like a Fourth of July firework you would have realized that you are actually the only one who can tell us where she is. You are the only one who has any possibility of connecting with her.’
Troy looked shamefaced. ‘That’s true,’ he admitted. ‘All of the Wolves can communicate with her over distance but I don’t think that I can institute the bridge. The contact has to come from her.’
‘Are you sure?’ Insisted Sylvian.
‘I think so,’ said Troy. ‘Well, it always has. But then, in all fairness, I’ve never really tried.’
‘Don’t you think that you should?’
Troy nodded. ‘How?’
‘Sit down. Relax, even though it is difficult to do you must seek your center. Seek the eye of the storm. Calm.’
Troy sat down on one of the bus seats, took a deep breath and let the tension flow from him.
‘Clear your mind,’ said Sylvian. ‘A blank canvas. White. Pure.’
The Wolfman nodded.
‘Fine,’ continued the Bloodborn. ‘Now think of Emily. Fill your mind with her. Her voice, her smell, her expressions.’
Troy pointed. ‘She went that way. Towards Budapest.’
Sylvian patted the young Wolf on the shoulder. ‘Well done, now do not lose concentration. Keep your mind on her at all times. Muller, you drive. Otto, there may be a simple explanation, although I can’t think of one, but just in case there’s trouble, can you and Tag do a weapons check?’
Both of the big men nodded and got to work, laying out ammunition, loading it into magazines and preparing the rest of their ordnance.
Muller drove efficiently and as fast as he could in the snow, following Troy’s curt directions.
Suddenly Troy’s eyes flew open. ‘She’s in danger,’ he said. ‘But we’re getting close, I can feel it.’
‘See if you can go any faster,’ said Sylvian to Muller. ‘Obviously don’t push it so hard that we crash.’
‘Obviously,’ returned Muller as he pushed a little extra speed out of the bus, heading as fast as he could towards Emily.
Chapter 24
Emily quickly checked the bodies for weapons and ammunition. They all carried Tokarev pistols. Two of them had extra magazines in their jackets. She ejected the magazines, pocketed them all along with the extras and reloaded two of the pistols. She recalled that the two gangsters downstairs had submachine guns but there was no time to collect them.
So, two pistols and six 8 round magazines. Forty eight shots. Not nearly enough.
And then there was the safety of the girls in the building to think about. She was sure that the Foldessy Family army would simply come in with guns blazing and that would definitely result in collateral damage, killing and wounding many of the innocent girls.
It didn’t take her long to make a decision. Tucking the two pistols into her belt, she looked at the open window that she had thrown Vasile through and judged the distance to the opposite building to be around twenty yards or so. The building itself seemed to be an abandoned office block. Six stories high, some of the windows boarded up. No lights. So no people to suffer from collateral damage.
With a deep breath Emily sprinted at the window and jumped.
Her Shadowhunter/Vampire strength took her sailing across the gap like it was a mere hop through a doorway. She smashed into a window and barreled through, rolling when she hit the floor.
The men below watched her jump with disbelief. But they were obviously professional and recovered quickly, grouping together and heading for the entrance to the building that Emily had just entered.
To be honest, Emily had no further plan beyond moving buildings so she simply ran over to the window, drew her pistols, aimed and fired.
Two of the men went down but the rest retaliated with a withering quantity of firepower. The wall around the window cracked and crumbled, the ceiling fell in and Emily was struck by multiple fragments of mortar and glass.
She squeezed off another volley shots and then sprinted from the room, moving so fast it looked like stop motion photography, down the corridor and into another, figuring to keep moving in order to make herself a more difficult target.
She ran to the window, fired again and left the room at speed. Another armed thug fell to the floor as the rest opened fire, devastating the room that Emily had just vacated.
As she ejected the two empty magazines and reloaded, Emily pondered what to do next. She wasn’t that worried about being caught by the assailants as she reckoned that she could jump to the adjacent building and then across to another street before they made it upstairs. But she knew that, as soon as she left, the Family would scoop up the girls and either move them, sell them off or even kill them as they knew too much.
So she had to stay and fight. The sound of footsteps running up the stairs informed her that the first proper attack had started. Em listened closely and figured that they had sent five men into the building. She glanced out of a window and her assumption was confirmed as she saw the rest of the crew crouched behind cars, weapons pointing at the building to prevent her escape.
Once again Emily scorned any sort of subtlety and relied on her superhuman speed and reaction time. Sprinting to the first floor landing she arrived as the five men turned the corner. Firing both pistols at once she burned off all sixteen shots, taking down four of the intruders.
The fifth man managed to get a shot off as he dove to the ground for cover. The slug creased Emily’s shoulder and slammed into the wall behind her. Em cocked her arm and threw one of the pistols at him. It whistled through the air and smashed into the bridge of his nose, crushing the cartilage and driving the bone upwards and into his brain, kil
ling him instantly.
Then she retrieved the pistol, ejected the empties and reloaded with her last two full magazines, cursing under her breath as she did so. If only she had more weapons then she could take the fight to the Family as opposed to taking them on piecemeal like she was forced to do at the moment.
Not that it mattered, she thought to herself. She fully expected them to all attack at once now that the first incursion had failed.
In preparation for the final assault Emily ran up the stairs to the roof and peered down at her assailants, pistols ready. She figured that she would take out as many as possible and then jump back to the original building and try to kill some more of them and protect the girls at the same time. It was a plan. Not a good plan but at least it was a plan.
As she was mulling it over in her mind and checking out the men in the street her reverie was shattered by a series of explosions. Two of the cars went up in gouts of flame and then the avenue below was wracked with automatic gunfire that came from both ends of the street.
Em glanced down the road and saw Otto, Muller and Tag running at the assailants, all three had submachine guns and they were pouring a storm of fire into the Family army.
Coming from the other entrance to the street she saw Sylvian. Instead of his usual rapier the Bloodborn carried two semi auto pistols. He did not run. Instead he walked in a brisk and calm manner, firing as he came, his shots deadly accurate.
And then she saw Troy. At the same time that the black clad soldiers did. He had assumed his Wolfman mode. Seven foot tall, shredded shirt and trousers hanging from his massively muscled body in tatters. A nightmare of hair and teeth and claws.
He attacked, running in huge jumping bounds he cleared the cars, springing twenty feet into the air and coming down amongst the combatants, tearing and, ripping and killing. The soldiers completely lost their discipline and ran as the monster rampaged through their ranks, growling and howling as he did so.
But running did them no good as Tag, Otto and Muller cut down anyone who came their way and Sylvian took care of the rest.
Emily projected her thoughts toward Troy, mentally shouting to get his attention.
‘Troy.’
‘Emily,’ he pulsed back. ‘You’re safe.’
‘I am. Thanks to you guys. Look, Troy,’ she continued. ‘Keep at least one alive. Preferably someone who looks like and officer or boss of some sort. I need to question him.’
The Werewolf gave her the mental equivalent of a nod and continued to wreak havoc, breaking necks and severing arteries.
Within seconds it was all over. The street looked as though it had taken a direct hit from an airstrike. Or a Tomahawk missile. Cars were burning, bodies and body parts lay everywhere and the pebbled surface literally ran with blood.
Emily ran downstairs to greet her friends.
Chapter 25
Nathan’s new lieutenant, the Bloodwraith Petrus Rankin, knocked and then entered without waiting for an answer; such was his excitement at the news.
‘My lord,’ he greeted Nathan. ‘We have found them.’
Nathan stared at Petrus, his eyes two pools of unforgiving darkness. His aura of authority a palpable thing. The Bloodwraith almost buckled at the knees such was Nathan’s power.
‘Did I give you permission to enter?’
The Bloodwraith shook his head. ‘No, my lord. I apologies. My enthusiasm caused me to overstep my boundaries.’ He waited, eyes cast downwards, holding his breath. Knowing that his very life hung in the balance. Lord Nathan was not known for his forgiving attitude and he had killed many for much less.
And then the ex-Shadowhunter/Vampire smiled. ‘You are forgiven. Tell me of this news that has excited you to the point of insolence.’
‘Emily Shadowhunter, lord. We have found her. And the group that she is traveling with.’
‘Where?’ Demanded Nathan.
Budapest, lord. In Hungary.’
‘I know where Budapest is, moron. Are we sure that it’s them? How did we find them?’
‘We have just received a report from one of our familiars in area VIII, Budapest. A pimp, runs a few girls on the streets, he says that out targets have just declared war on the Foldessy family.’
‘The Foldessy Family,’ said Nathan. ‘Aren’t they the slave traders. Sex slaves, that sort of thing? We buy food-stock off them sometimes if memory serves.’
‘That’s them, lord,’ agreed the Bloodwraith.
‘So? What does he mean and how does that help us to identify them?’
‘They have just attacked one the Foldessy’s salting houses and then wiped out the reaction team that arrived to stop them. Full on war in the streets. Machine guns, grenades, blood soaked pavements. The real deal, my lord. Many witnesses saw them and they are all agreed that it’s the people that we are looking for.’
Nathan smiled. Well done. Now, quickly, gather fifty Bloodwraiths together, full kit. Also organize one of our commercial jets. We fly to Budapest as soon as, with a private jet it should take us just over an hour. I shall be coming with. Also, I will make sure that we have suitable transport awaiting our arrival. Move, this is the break that we have been seeking.’
Chapter 26
The only thug that remained alive, lay on the floor, his face a mask of terror as the huge Wolfman loomed over him, growling softly. And then a girl ran up. Tall, blonde hair, flawless complexion. Hardly any makeup but still one of the most beautiful young woman the man had ever seen. She was like an angel in the midst of hell.
‘Please,’ he croaked. ‘Help me. Don’t let them kill me. Show mercy.’
She knelt next to him and leaned in close. Then he saw her fangs. Long, glittering. Deadly.
He screamed once as she took his right arm and casually broke his wrist in two places. Shattered bone poked out of his flesh, Dull white. Coated in blood.
‘You dare to ask for mercy,’ spat Emily. ‘When you trade in misery and despair.’
The man whimpered, shaking in fear.
‘Who are you?’ Asked Emily.
‘Alfred Biro.’
‘Not one of the Foldessy’s?’
He shook his head. ‘I am a member of the family,’ he said. ‘But not actually family. Not by blood.’
‘Tell me, Alfred,’ continued Emily. ‘The other salting houses, where are they?’
‘Scattered throughout the city,’ answered the thug.
‘Addresses,’ stressed Emily.
Alfred stammered out four addresses while Muller wrote them down.
‘Good,’ said Emily. ‘Now, the Foldessy headquarters. Where are they, how many people are there guarding it and what sort of resistance can we expect?’
Alfred shook his head. ‘No,’ he said, his fear of the Foldessy family momentarily overcoming his fear of the Vampire and the Wolfman.
Emily grabbed his broken arm and squeezed, grinding the smashed shards of bone together as she did so. ‘Tell me.’
The thug screamed in agony but Emily was unrepentant. ‘Tell me,’ she repeated.
Through gritted teeth he gave another address.
‘How many?’ Questioned Emily.
‘Thirty or so. Well armed. Assault rifles, grenades, claymore mines at access points. High walls with electric fencing. Dogs. Lots of dogs, bad ones. Guard at the main gate. That’s all I know. Please, that’s it.’
Emily released his arm and stood up. ‘Right, we hit the salting houses first, kill the guards, release the girls, tell the cops. Then we take out the head of the snake.’
Sylvian shook his head. ‘Or not,’ he said.
‘What?’ Exclaimed Emily. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Look, Em, this is a terrible thing that is happening here,’ explained the Bloodborn. ‘But it is not our fight. We need to find the Potestatum. That is our primary, our only goal. It is all important.’
Emily stared at the French man and then she grabbed his arm and started walking, pulling him after her, dragging him into the salting house w
here the girls were imprisoned. She yanked him up the stairs to Nicoleta’s room. On the way she pointed out the dead girl on the stairs. ‘Killed because I wouldn’t answer the main guard,’ she said.
Then she opened the door to Nicoleta’s room. The two girls were huddled in the corner, arms around each other as they cried tears of fear. The single open light bulb picked out the needle tracks on their arms, the bruises on their thighs, their swollen, bleeding lips.
‘There are at least another twenty girls like this or worse in this place alone. Another four houses means upwards of one hundred girls. I will not let that happen. This stops today, with or without you.’
‘I agree,’ said Troy who had followed them up the stairs. ‘We cannot let this stand. It’s inhumane.’
Sylvian nodded. ‘I will inform the police. They will take care of it,’ he said. ‘But we cannot get involved. The fate of the world rests with us. This is a horrible thing but we are not the bodyguard of all morality. We are Vampire hunters and we need to find the Potestatum.’
Emily went over to the two girls and knelt next to them, stroking their hair and comforting them. Telling them that were now safe.
Troy gestured to Sylvian to step out of the room so that he could speak to him.
‘She needs this,’ whispered the Wolfman. ‘Not only is it a moral imperative for us to help, it is necessary for Emily. She sees herself as a monster. A killer. A taker of lives. Now she has a chance to redeem herself and I, for one, am going to help her. So will Tag, I am sure. Not sure about the church dudes, they have their own agenda.’
Sylvian thought for a few seconds and then nodded. ‘You are correct, young Wolf,’ he admitted. ‘Sometimes I lose sight of my own humanity. We must help. I shall ask Muller and Otto what they want to do, but whatever, we are a team.’
The two of them clasped hands and then went back into the room.
‘We can look for the Potestatum after we have sorted this out,’ said Sylvian. ‘We hit the houses and call the police to clean up and help the girls.’