by Alex Dire
“Norman. Come on. We only have a few moments of cover.”
It was Elijah.
“We’ll burn,” said Norman.
“No, you’re covered. The smoke will protect you while it lasts. Hurry!”
Norman and his group crawled out from under the cars. Elijah ran around the area and mustered the others who hid. Norman couldn’t see more than a few feet in front of himself. He’d never experienced anything like this smoke before. It blocked the sun’s damaging rays, but it also rendered him nearly blind.
He heard Elijah barking commands, attempting to herd the blind vampires toward the van. “Come on. We’ve only got a minute. When this stuff is gone, you’ll fry and the Corps. V will see you.” As they got closer to the van, Norman could finally make out dark figures approaching. He saw a large form that must be Declan. Darius and Tyreese also followed along with Cindy, her sword strapped to her back.
Several wolves also paced around in the cloud. All the Nymphs seemed accounted for.
“Everybody in. No time to lose. We need to get out of here, now!” said Elijah.
A protester climbed into the van.
“Wait,” said Norman. “Where are we going?”
“I’ll tell you when we get there,” said Elijah.
“But they’re already in the White House. We need to stop them,” said Norman.
“Too late for that. There’s nothing we can do here,” said Elijah.
Norman shook his head and put a firm hand on Elijah's shoulder. “No.”
“Mr. Bernard,” said Elijah. “We tried. Our plan didn’t work. It seems to have backfired. If the Corps. V army was unstoppable before, they’re ten times that now. We have to get out of here and come up with a plan B.”
“There’s no plan B if they take over the Capital.”
“If they take the Capital, even kill the president, then it won't matter if we find a way to fight. We'll all be the enemies of mankind.” Norman bit hard on his tongue as his mind raced for an alternative. If he fled, they’d take down the whole government, and shortly after that, the world. If he stayed, he was dead. What could he do with his band of ordinary vampires and werewolves? They were clearly not equal to the task.
As the smoke became less dense, Norman realized that all the Nymphs were looking to him. He could feel Felicia's fear, but her belief in him, too. He could practically feel it in all of them. How could he let the world cave in on them, destroyed by monster vampires, or hunted by humans. They deserved better. They were trained for better. They'd become vampire killers. At least they deserved to fight. If there was a last stand to be made, they would make it here, not hiding in some sewer.
“If we leave, then at least we’ll be around to find out.”
“I’m going to find out now.” He looked to the others. He could barely make out their eyes as the smoke began to thin. “I can’t ask any of you to come with me. It will almost certainly end in death. But I’m going in.”
“What will you do when you get there?” asked Frank.
“I have no idea.”
Frank nodded. “Fuck it. I’m in.”
Rufus stepped up as well. All of Norman’s students gathered around him.
Of course, they were in, too. He couldn't subdue his pride. “How long will this smoke last?”
Elijah looked around. “It’s already dissipating. You’ll never make it.”
“No time to waste, then,” said Norman, holding on to his pride, to his family, refusing to allow space for despair or fear. He dashed off toward the White House lawn with what would have to do as a rescue team close behind.
As he approached the structure the smoke thinned and the morning glow began to seep through. It burned like salt on scraped skin. In a few instants, he would arrive at the White House and into its shaded cover. Each step, however, brought greater agony. He heard Declan grunt as he took quick heavy steps behind him. Another moment, and he’d be there. Smoke rose from his head and the back of his neck as the covering vapors thinned to a wisp.
He leapt the final distance and tumbled through the smashed open doors to the White House. The rest piled though on top of him, a mass of smoking flesh.
They all stood and shook off the burn.
Cindy flicked her sword off her back and scanned around the room, ready for an attack. Declan pushed up his heavy form, shaking off the heat induced haze.
MacManus extended a hand to Felicia and helped her off the ground. Tyreese hustled to the side of the great entrance way to retrieve his javelin, which had rolled there.
Darius looked around and shook his head. “This is my first visit to the White House. Damn, it’s nice. I could get used to this.”
Frank brushed charred bits of his clothes off his arms and chest.
An unexpected quiet greeted them. The place seemed abandoned. No noise or movement interrupted the strange calm.
“I don’t like this,” said Rufus. This place should be…” His voice trailed off.
Norman pointed to a body off to the left. A guard lay in a pool of blood with a weapon a few inches from his hand.
Then the first noises pierced the calm. Howling. The sound of a hundred wolves howling outside.
Norman pushed his head as far as he could through the door to see what was happening back in the park. Straining his eyes through the wisps of smoke, he saw the entire legion of enhanced Corps. V. Most had turned a light green, an obvious reaction to Georgios’ gene therapy. However, they all stood, still as statues. Not moving. A formation frozen in time. The wolves scurried around them, barking and howling. Some nipped at their legs to no reaction.
A small group took one down and ferociously tore him apart. The soldier put up no resistance. The rest stood by, staring straight ahead, entranced.
“Something’s not right here,” said Norman.
33
Reunion
Norman moved as quick as he could through the passages toward the West Wing of the White House. Bodies littered the blood streaked halls all along the way. Here and there, green Corps. V stood at attention as if waiting for some command. He slowed as he reached his destination. Two Corps. V flanked the door to the Oval Office.
Rufus waved his hand in front of the face of one. Not even a blink. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”
“I have,” said Norman.
He pushed at the door swinging it into the room. Several more green Corps. V stood at attention. The bodies of men in suits and military uniforms littered the floor. The walls were pocked with countless bullet holes. Norman stepped through and around the bodies, making space for the others to come in. The Nymphs entered followed by Frank and some protesters who’d tagged along.
At the other side of the room stood the president’s desk, behind it, a tall backed chair faced away from them.
Norman inched toward the desk. “Mr. President?”
“Hello, Norman,” came a voice in reply. Norman recognized that voice. However, it was not the president.
The chair spun around to reveal its occupant. Alric uncrossed his arms, placed his hands on the arms of the chair and stood up. “You have no idea what a pleasure it is to see you.”
“The Worm,” said Rufus.
Now it made sense to Norman. Alric had glamoured all these Corps V. He’d even seduced the legion outside the White House. What kind of powers did these Worms have? Norman struggled hard to glamour a single vampire. A few was near impossible. But a whole legion?
“What do you want?” said Norman. “Where’s the president?”
Alric stood and walked around the desk, approaching the vampires. “You know, I could unleash this whole army upon the world. I could have them at my will and make it all mine.”
“Then why don’t you?” said Norman. Alric had said he didn't meddle in such matters. Why did he intervene now? What dog did he have in this fight?
“There’s always a price, Norman. I haven't come for them.” Alric raised an arm and lifted his hand to touch Norman’s
cheek. “I’ve come for you.”
The smell of dirt and rot accompanied the touch. Something about it was familiar, though. A sense memory of something long gone. “What do you want from me?” said Norman, pushing Alric’s hand away.
Alric’s face contorted to betray a look of pain, almost sorrow. “You don’t remember, do you?” said Alric. “How could you? You were so young. You had no idea the world you were about to enter.”
“Why have you come?” said Norman.
“Why don’t you go back into your hole and sleep for a thousand years,” said Rufus.
“Norman,” replied Alric. “I can make you powerful. Come with me. Rejoin the Earth. It’s not too late. It calls to you., You must hear it.”
“What are you talking about?” said Norman.
“You’re special, Norman. Haven’t you noticed you’re different?”
Felicia stepped up beside Norman as if to protect him.
Norman was just a regular vampire. He'd made it a point to avoid others. He was the opposite of special. He was practically human. “I don’t understand.”
“Yes, you do,” replied Felicia. “You just choose to ignore it.”
Alric turned his gaze to Felicia. “She realizes it, too. Your progeny, with whom you share so much. She feels her connection to you…and to all you’re connected.”
“I do,” said Felicia. She turned her eyes up to Norman. “Is it true?”
Norman returned her gaze. She clearly realized something he didn’t. He searched through corners of his mind and his memories. He looked to Alric and saw his floating orb. Its arms reached out and enclosed Norman in a warm embrace. His resistance dissolved into nothing and the locked doors of his memory flew open.
In his mind, gauzy images sprang to life. He saw Skeete in her regal dress standing above him. He lay on a table in a dark house lit by only one candle. Her white hair hung down nearly into his eyes. He felt a burning in his chest that increased with each heartbeat. Fear and exhilaration surged through his limbs. He tried to sit up.
Skeete whispered, “Shhhhh….Easy….Shhhhhh,” stroking his forehead. “You’re better now.”
In the Oval Office, Alric’s orb flashed its warm glow onto Norman. Norman’s lips moved. “Skeete,” he said to the staring eyes in the oval office. “Skeete made me…” At the edge of his perception he heard Rufus growl behind him.
A whisper seemed to flow from Alric’s floating orb. The sound pushed Norman back into his vision.
Skeete bent down and placed her lips next to Norman’s ear. She kissed and nibbled on it. Then she whispered, “it’ll feel so much better soon.”
The burning in his chest heated up. It warmed his body and sweat broke out all over.
“You’re consuming the old you, making way for new life.”
Norman turned and looked into her eyes for the first time. They were black as ink in the center, Surrounded by a dark brown, barely discernible from the pupils. He felt the burning rise up into his throat and head. He opened his mouth and eased his face into hers, embracing her lips with his.
After a moment, she pulled back. “There, there. See? I told you.”
The fire in his chest began to subside. He turned his head to the side and vomited. A stream of mucus and blood poured from his lips. Leaning back, he took long deep breaths as if to cool the flame with the rushing air.
Skeete stroked his hair as his breathing returned to normal. The noise of his own pumping blood quieted in his ears enough for him to make out the sounds in the room. He heard a door open and someone step in.
“Is he ready, yet?” said a voice.
The vision faded, and Norman saw Alric in the Oval Office, speaking to him.
“Is he ready, yet?”
Skeete’s voice replied, “Nearly.” She stood by the door in the Oval Office. Rufus moved to engage her, but Alric flicked his eyes at Rufus, and he froze in place.
Norman slid in and out of the vision. Alric stood before him in both realities. In Norman’s mind, Alric stepped back out of the dark room where Norman lay on the table. Skeete placed her lips next to his ear. “You know…” Her breath caressed his lobes. “I had a brother once.” Then she stood back up. “This isn’t the same.” A smile crossed her face, and for the first time her wickedness seeped out. “Let’s see where it takes us.” She slowly stepped across the room and exited, closing the door.
As the door shut, the vision evaporated. Norman stood in the Oval Office standing before Alric, staring into his eyes.
The fresh vision raced around his brain trying to push words out of his mouth. Finally, his mind stopped searching. Norman spoke one word. “Father.” He fought the realization, but also knew it to be true. He'd long thought Skeete was his creator. But now it made sense. His connection to her was so weak. Much weaker than his to Felicia and to Richie. He'd felt that slow heartbeat his whole life. Sensed the dirt and decay. Norman was the offspring of a Worm.
A smile crossed Alric’s face.
“You are still young, Norman,” said the Worm. “But a Nymph yourself. I have felt you.”
The real world broke the spell of the vision, and Norman found words again. “What do you want?”
“Your connection to the Earth is not yet broken. Not yet faded away. I made you, and you are like me. But not forever. In time, you will lose your connection, and it will never return.”
“Why would I join you?” Didn't the Worm see that this threat would consume him, too?
“Power.” Alric waved his arms around the room to display the super Corps. V standing still as if hypnotized. “We can revive the old rituals. Rebuild the order. Become kins of the dirt.”
Norman had no desire for power. The Worm, his creator, must know that. Must feel that.
“Empty promises,” said Skeete.
“It’s too late for her,” replied Alric. “She failed the test. She had her opportunity.” He scowled with disdain at the white-haired vampire.
Norman turned to Skeete. He remembered her in that room long ago. When he awoke a vampire for the first time. She was not his maker. She was his sister. They were the creations of Alric. And now her power had faded. But Norman's had not. Skeete had, in fact, made herself even weaker with her alterations. Now he understood why she never seemed to stop pursuing him.
“No, Alric. You’re too late.” Her evil smile returned to her face. “He’ll never leave these Nymphs. He actually cares for them.”
And no one cares for you, Skeete. Not your father. Not your brother. What happened to so thoroughly crush any good in you, any hope?
Alric looked into Norman. “Why? They are barely here. Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust. You can never hold onto dust. It slips through your fingers and is gone. I offer you so much more. A lifetime of millennia, free from the worries of the world. Filled with power. A new kind of joy you can only feel over vast stretches of time.”
Norman turned to Felicia. He thought of his unique abilities. The abilities which allowed him to glamour vampires. His abilities to seduce large groups of humans. These abilities made him who he was. Made him a Night School teacher. Now he understood where they came from and a tinge of worry crept into his brain that he might lose them…lose who he was.
Felicia moved her hand and grasped his. Norman stared into her eyes but didn’t need to see her to know her feelings. In the distance, he felt the others as well: Cindy, Darius, Tyreese, Declan. He felt the pain that had been etched into himself at the loss of Keon. He had failed Keon. He could never forgive himself for that. A tear began to form at the memory. But then his sadness broke. He pursed his lips. No one would take his family away from him. He wanted to say it to Felicia. But she'd know. She'd feel. He’d never fail his Nymphs again. Never. Again.
“Go, Alric. I’m part of this world now. I’ll never be part of yours.”
“Think, Norman. You will fade. You will become like them. Just a vampire, barely distinct from the other creatures of the Earth.”
“So be it,” r
eplied Norman. “We asked you for your help defending this world. You refused us. Now I refuse you. Find another way to rebirth your own world. I’ll have no part of it.”
Norman hadn't needed to say it. As soon as he felt it, Alric knew. For the first time, Alric’s face hinted at emotion. His disappointment seeped through his wrinkles and scraggly hair.
“Then you are no better than her,” Alric said pointing to Skeete. “Very well. In time, you will become her. You can have each other.”
And with that, Alric was gone. An empty chair behind a desk remained in his place.
Felicia moved her hand from Norman’s, and she embraced him, pressing her cheek into his chest. Norman was glad that ordeal was over. The vision he’d seen ran over and over through his head. More memories joined it to fill in the spaces that had been locked away so long.
“No time to celebrate,” said Rufus. “We’ve got bigger troubles.”
All around the room, the green tinged Corps. V shook their heads and began to regain awareness. Alric’s spell was broken. The first that came to his senses lunged at Rufus. Rufus easily batted him away. The others launched to attack as well, but their efforts seemed half-hearted. One tumbled into the sun that shone through the window. He almost instantly turned a darker green. His muscles bulged and he shook.
Norman looked about the room, trying to see a next move. There were too many. Norman backed against a wall with Felicia. But the other green monsters just stood there. Something about them looked sickly. One dropped to the floor on top of one of the bodies of the White House security personnel. He chewed into its neck and slurped down the blood and gristle as if starving.
The others soon followed his lead. They seemed unaware of Norman and his friends, completely consumed by their task of eating the flesh of the dead. They ate faster and faster as if they became less satiated the more they consumed.
“What’s this?” shouted Skeete. Rufus looked to her, and she darted out of the room.
Norman slid a stake out of his belt and approached one of the ravenous green soldiers. He stabbed forcefully down into the back of the creature. It writhed in pain. And rolled around on the floor. However, instead of the piercing scream of the damned, it’s body seemed to war with itself. Tears and rips appeared in its flesh only to heal and re-tear again. It shook and shriveled, seeming to consume itself. The skin began to sizzle as if exposed to the sun, but then re-heal. The soldier’s body was destroying and healing itself. It growled in agony and lurched about the floor. Its healing slowed and ooze seeped from pustules all over. Its skin cracked like old leather. “So hungry,” it gurgled as its flesh melted into a goo of popping and sizzling tissue.