Judge of the Damned (Vampire Storm, Book 1)

by Nick S. Thomas

  “Hey, stranger.”

  Marshall was torn from his daydream and shot a glimpse around the place, Harriet was leaning against the bar with a smile.

  “Can a man not get any peace in this world?” asked Bill.

  “You never called me.”

  “I didn’t feel the need.”

  “Look, Bill, we can help each other, no need to be such as ass.”

  Bill got up from his stool and walked over to a more isolated table in the corner of the bar. Harriet couldn’t tell if it was a sign he wanted to be left alone, or to talk more privately. She followed anyway. Bill sat down with a sigh his back to the corner, his body ached with the movement.

  “Here’s the deal. I have every reason in the world to hate you. I have sworn to kill your kind.”

  “Then why haven’t you?”

  “Because despite my desire for revenge, I would still never strike an innocent, you have shown no aggression towards me or others that I know of. It is the only reason that has stayed my hand. Know that if that ever changes, I will end you.”

  “Fine, can we move on now?”

  “Sure.”

  “Rainer is bound to know you are still alive before long, if you’re going to act against him you need to move quickly, or else get out of town and save your skin.”

  “I know, I’m going to make the first move tomorrow night.”

  “Why wait, why not tonight?”

  “No, this is not something to be rushed.”

  “Alright, then tell me the plan, maybe I can help.”

  Marshall knocked back his beer and thought about the situation. He hated Vampires to his very core, but there was something about Harriet that made him put some faith in her words.

  “That big new casino that Rainer set up, you heard of it?”

  “The Sinners Heaven Hotel?” asked Harriet.

  “Yeah, that’s the one.”

  “I know it, went there a few times before I escaped from Rainer’s Coven.”

  “Tell me about it.”

  “The richest men in the State frequent the place. They also employ humans as permanent blood letters for those willing to pay, it’s basically a high class brothel for Vampires and the rich and famous.”

  “You think you can get us in without any trouble?”

  “Yeah sure, I still know a few people there. What did you have in mind?”

  “It’s time to get the ball rolling, I want to see Rainer’s business suffer.”

  “His business? I thought you wanted his life?”

  “I do, all in good time, but this is about more than one feud. I want Rainer’s head on a pole, along with all his Coven, but I also want to send out a message. It’s time the state sees the Vampires for what they are, time we took back what is rightfully ours.”

  “Alright.”

  “Will you help me?”

  “I keep saying so, finally you’re listening.”

  “Let’s just be sure where we stand from the start. I want to end the existence of Vampires, as I have seen nothing good come of their existence. You are an anomaly which I am still not sure of, but whilst our goals are the same, so be it.”

  “I get it.”

  “What kind of heat can we be expecting at the hotel?”

  “All of the guards will be human, about a dozen in the building at any one time. There could be anywhere from six to twenty Vamps at the tables, but if you give them enough of a scare, many will hit the road.”

  Bill finished off the beer he was drinking and slammed the bottle down on the table between them. He looked up at his new ally, trying to understand more about her. She was strikingly beautiful and yet always had a devious expression about her. Her allure worried Bill, he thought that perhaps it clouded his judgement. However, he was also glad to have an ally that he didn’t have to worry after.

  “I’m heading out, have some more thinking and prep to do, meet me outside this joint just after sundown tomorrow evening,” said Bill.

  Harriet smiled and nodded in return, a flirtatious and confident look in her eyes. He couldn’t tell whether it was directed at him or the idea of an attack on Rainer. Either way, the next evening would explain a lot about her motivations and intentions. She was clearly quite capable of keeping tracking of him, and therefore he needed to be sure which side of the fence she sat.

  Marshall stood up and walked out of the bar, leaving Harriet sitting quite comfortably in the corner. In previous times, he wouldn’t have left any woman alone in a bar, particularly one so beautiful that she would attract attention. However, he had to remind himself that Harriet was not a woman, she was a Vampire, and always would be. Whatever her intentions, she could handle herself.

  He walked on back to the lockup, continually rolling around many thoughts in his head. He still had no idea if he could or should trust a Vampire, no matter what she said or did. Ultimately though he knew he had no choice, as she was quite capable of finding him, he would have to either work with her or kill her. The idea of executing Harriet had already passed through his mind. Marshall had made an oath to hunt and kill Vampires, but she had made him re-consider to some degree.

  Strolling along the quiet street, Marshall was enjoying the fresh air. A casual walk in a tranquil area was a now rarity in his life. As he approached his lockup, he stopped as he saw the outline of a bike parked up outside with a man sitting on it. He squinted and studied the sight for a few seconds before realising it was his friend Tommy. Marshall approached his friend slowly and carefully. He trusted Tommy like a brother, but he didn’t trust the men he worked for. He was sitting very casually on the saddle.

  “Hey, Bill.”

  “Tommy, how’s the Bishop treating you?”

  “He’s after your ass. You should know that he has ordered me to bring you in if there is evidence that you have breached any rules of the pact.”

  “And what about the fact, that he has broken the rules? He knew about the church burning, he was on scene as quickly as the firefighters, ordered a news cover-up.”

  “Do you have any proof of this?”

  Bill sighed, knowing how crazy it sounded when he had not a shred of evidence. The Bishop was too smart to get caught.

  “No, you’ll just have to trust me.”

  “I do, but I know you, Bill. I know you’re planning something stupid, you must reconsider. How will being hunted by the Brotherhood and being locked up help anything? What would your family want you to do?”

  “It doesn’t matter anymore, they have been snatched from me. I will do what I have to do, what is right and just, and what God intended. Kingston is a farce. You must be starting to see it. The Church shows weakness in accepting the Vampires among us, and in return the Vampires are exploiting the State for everything they can get.”

  Tommy looked down to the floor, shaking his head. He had clearly hoped to reason with Bill, take him away from a path of destruction.

  “Why did you join the Brotherhood?” asked Bill.

  “To protect humanity, uphold good principles and decency.”

  “Rainer and his Coven have murdered many people in cold blood, with either the help or at least no interference of the Church, do you feel that you are still upholding good values?”

  “What happened to you and your family is wrong, but we cannot take the law into our own hands merely because of a mistake, we must work to fix it properly.”

  “Tommy, the Brotherhood is broken, corrupt and weak. It no longer serves a higher power, it will continue to crumble around you.”

  “It’s not an ideal world, Bill, but we must make the best of it.”

  “You do what you have to do.”

  “I will do what I can to help you, but please do not become my enemy.”

  “I will do what has to be done, and so must you, God will be the judge of us all at the end.”

  “Then good luck to you, my friend, and I pray we never face off against each other.”

  Tommy offered his hand out and Marshall
took it.

  “The Bishop is a bastard, Tommy, his secretary Bradley even worse, watch your back.”

  Tommy nodded in agreement, he knew there was at least some truth in what Bill was saying, but could not approve of his actions. Marshall couldn’t blame him, he had seen the potential danger for making enemies of the wrong people, why would he expose his own family to that? Despite all of it, Bill still trusted in his friend no matter what.

  His old friend climbed onto his bike and rode on down the street. Bill watched him fade into the distance. He wished nothing more than to have his brothers beside him in the battle ahead, but those days were gone.

  Opening the shutter of the lockup, Bill went on in, setting himself up at his laptop for further research. He spent a further two hours looking through information on the Rainer Coven. As well as the public news and information, he also had much of the Brotherhood’s archives. Taking them from Kingston was against the rules, but he had long made copies in case it ever came to needing them. Despite having trusted the Church, his experience with his last faith had left him eternally suspicious of such large organisations. Bill was not a man of compromise, and that made it forever difficult to live and work within any organisation that struggled to uphold its own remit.

  Marshall thought about his friends, Tommy, John and Mason. They were all good men, working towards what they saw as a good cause and the best means of pursuing it. Despite this, they had not been through the gruelling experiences that he had, not endured enough to see the real side of the Vampires and the catastrophic threat that they presented.

  Sipping back with a whiskey, Bill wished and hoped that he would never have to lock horns with his friends in the Brotherhood, as it was the last thing he ever desired. Despite this he knew that a fight with Kingston was going to be at his door before long, there was nothing he could do to prevent it. He could only rely on the common sense and virtue of the individuals involved.

  The Bishop’s weakness was an ever-growing problem, and his secretary Bradley was enabling the Vampires to become even more powerful and accepted within society. Marshall knew that they would both need dealing with at some point, but there were more pressing things at hand.

  Chapter 6

  Marshall awoke with a dry mouth and a sore head, too much whiskey through the night. He checked his watch, already it was early afternoon. It was a lazy start to the day, but it was not as if he had anything to do whilst the sun was up. As each day passed his wounds healed that much more, but he was still stiff and aching.

  Flipping up his laptop he looked into the events and information listed on the website of the ‘Sinners Heaven’. There were two live acts that night at the two separate bars in the luxurious establishment. One was a female jazz singer with accompaniment in the ground floor bar and restaurant, the other was a blues band called Bloodsnake. That was the sedate and public street face of the hotel and casino.

  Putting the name into Google and searching it became quickly apparent that Bloodsnake was nothing more than an enthusiastic bunch of lifelong amateur musicians who nobody would recognise, even if they had been to a gig. This was good news and a perfect cover for what Bill had in mind.

  Walking down to the garage where his bike was, he looked out across the high shelves where he kept a number of different cases. Musical instrument cases, golf bags, snowboard covers, they were all useful in subtly hiding substantial weaponry in the right situation. He pushed up a ladder and pulled down a solid guitar case. Bill wiped the thick dust from it and levered it open. It was completely empty.

  Marshall went straight into the armoury and pulled a Minimi M249 light machine gun. He had two box magazines lined up for it. Bill loaded each magazine with 5.56, and a silver bullet every five. In an ideal world, he would have full silver loadouts, but he didn’t even have enough ammunition to fill the boxes once doing that.

  The M249 had seen almost no usage in Marshall’s hands, as it was far too excessive for the work he usually did in the Brotherhood. The weapon was suited to war, not policing and hunting actions. He’d hoped to never have to use it, but had obtained it in the desire to be ready for anything. Bull carried the support weapon and the two loaded box magazines out to the workshop and fitted them into the guitar case. It was a snug fit, and really weighed the case down, but it was the best idea he could come up with.

  He laid out the two box magazines to the side of the gun inside the case. It would never be able to shut with one loaded into the weapon. Lugging the machine gun in would be a tedious and cumbersome act, but well worth it. Bill knew he could be walking into a hornets’ nest. With little idea of how many hostiles he would have to face, some serious firepower was a good insurance policy.

  The rest of the afternoon was a long wait, he was eagerly anticipating the evening’s exploits. The task he had set himself could well be suicidal and he would never have considered it a few weeks earlier. Now none of it mattered. He wanted to make a statement to the Vampire Lords of the State, and to the humans who supported them. It would also be a perfect opportunity to find out where Harriet’s loyalty lay.

  Marshall loaded up his tranquiliser gun, a single shot dart pistol. Despite wanting nothing more than to kill those responsible for heinous acts against him and others, he was all too aware that many humans who didn’t know better would stand in his way.

  It was a long wait for sunset. Marshall sat on his bike outside Murphy’s bar where he had been the night before. He had the solid guitar case slung on his back with a custom strap riveted onto it. He watched as the sun slowly laid to rest, the last rays of light faded into the distance. Just as the last beam of light disappeared, he could hear the sound of an engine, a familiar one.

  Harriet stormed up the road on her motorcycle, a Triumph Speedmaster. She was definitely a woman who appreciated her bikes. Marshall stared in awe as she pulled into the space beside him. She wore a full-face helmet with a darkened visor that allowed her to travel through the last moments of daylight.

  It struck Bill at this moment how little he still knew about the mysterious Vampire who seemed to want to work with him. He had no idea where she was from, where she lived or really anything much more than her name really. She said she was an unwilling convert who wanted revenge, but he had seen no evidence to back it up.

  Harriet kicked down the stand on her bike and took off her helmet. She had a confident and flirtatious grin about her pretty face, evidently she was excited about the night’s proceedings. He could tell she had the same USP compact pistol about her waist, he wondered if she carried silver bullets. No Vampire ever would, but she was different.

  “Ok, Bill, what’s the plan?”

  “The main bar attached to the casino on the top floor, you know it?”

  “Yeah.”

  “There’s a band playing tonight, Bloodsnake. I need you to get me in posing as one of the band members. When I mean get me in, I mean without question or checks.”

  “Bands usually arrive at the service entrance out back with their equipment and use the service elevator.”

  “Good, what’s security like?”

  “The weakest in the building, but nobody will be allowed through without confirmation or someone they know.”

  “That’s where you come in, can you get me in?”

  “Sure.”

  “Alright, let’s get moving, you lead the way.”

  The two engines roared to life and Marshall followed Harriet into the centre of the city. He’d never been fond of the high developed centre, full of dubious business, vice and crime. The city looked modern and rich, but there was a thick layer of crime underpinning the outwardly successful district. The feeling of the seedy city always left a bad taste in his mouth. It was impossible to avoid the sight of prostitutes, pimps, gangs and general low-lifes.

  Sometimes Marshall wondered what he was even fighting for. The Vampires were a vile and contemptuous species, but there was plenty of evil within his own race. He constantly had to remind himself of
the good people he had known, his family, friends and the kind couple who took him in when he was left for dead. There was still good in the world, it was just ever more difficult to find.

  The two approached the massive hotel, the neon lights making the walls glisten. The hotel was forty storeys high, a magnificent piece of architecture, sadly used for so many evil ends. Sinners Heaven was a symbol of Rainer’s power in the city, an icon of his wealth. Marshall would be all too happy to take that away from him.

  As they got within a block of the gargantuan hotel, Harriet turned off down a narrow street, leading Bill to a small service entrance. The ally was poorly lit and desolate, they parked up their bikes in a corner that was out of sight.

  “You’re gonna have to let me do the talking, Bill.”

  “Sure, just get me up there.”

  She pulled out the pistol from beneath her coat, cocked it and placed it back in its holster. She looked up at Bill with anticipation. She was visibly scared about entering a hive of enemies, but also eager and excited about what they intended to do.

  “You ready?” she asked.

  “Let’s go.”

  They walked on through the ally towards the back of the hotel. It was a dirty and unwelcome area. The hotel and casino were impeccably presented to the public, but the back entrance was a mess. The road was potholed, trash cans overflowing and nothing particularly clean.

  They took a bend at the end of a block and were faced with a dead end, two security guards were waiting in front of a door. Bill stopped for just a second at the threat before them, but Harriet did not break stride. He carried on after her, trying to look as relaxed as possible. The two guards were well-built men in smart suits and long coats. The bulges in their overcoats gave tell to the fact that they carried small submachine guns for defence.