Stone Soldiers 4: Shades of War

by C. E. Martin

  The soldier rolled the body over and felt for a pulse. Satisfied his enemy was dead, he holstered his double-barreled weapon. Clint watched as he began to investigate the chamber.

  The soldier walked to one of the large silver tubes and touched it. The shining metal began to retract into the floor, revealing a glass-like tube filled with smoke and ice. The soldier leaned in closer, peering into the tube.

  “I’ll be damned!” he said.

  He may have said more, but Clint’s view of the world was quickly fading away. His last view of his killer, before he was plunged into darkness was of a name tag over one pocket of the soldier’s burnt shirt. It read ANTAEAN.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Josie wasn’t very happy about this. Instead of preparing for the deployment to Georgia with the stone soldiers, she found herself on a late night flight to Wisconsin- babysitting Dr. Olson. The Colonel- her grandfather- had broken the news to her after the lengthy briefing the night before.

  “I need you and Dr. Olson to head north,” he’d said.

  At first, Josie had wondered if the side mission wasn’t an attempt by Kenslir to keep her out of harm’s way. Since learning they were related, the Colonel’s attitude toward her had definitely changed, as had Josie's toward him.

  She didn’t doubt this mission was important. A documented subject with Fellish DNA was dead- murdered in his own home. Despite never having manifested any noticeable abilities, the subject had remained on the books and the military was very interested to find out why he was dead.

  Josie and Dr. Olson had boarded a flight at nearby Homestead Air Force Base and flown through the night. The vampire was only too happy to be leaving Florida, entrusted with a mission. Olson had talked through most of the flight, preventing Josie from sleeping. She was exhausted when they arrived.

  At a small airport, they transferred from their Department of the Interior-liveried Learjet to a black government SUV provided by the local FBI offices. They were given maps, a GPS and a file to read as they headed into the town and the county hospital. Kenslir had stressed the need for discretion on this trip. They were alone, with no escorts or backup. Not that a vampire or a girl who could freeze things with her mind needed any backup.

  Once at the hospital, the duo, both wearing dark women's business suits, quickly made their way to the basement and the small morgue there. The County's medical examiner was waiting for them.

  "A pleasure," the middle aged man with a receding hairline said. He smiled broadly as he looked both women over, the action making the gray hair on the sides of his head move as his skin crinkled. "Dr. Allen Hobart."

  Hobart looked both women up and down, paying particular attention to their curves that their tailored business suits failed to conceal.

  Laura stepped forward, slightly blocking Josie with her shoulder. She didn't like the way this human was looking at the girl. "Dr. Olson, and this is Agent Winters."

  "Enchante’," Dr. Hobart said, bending at the waist and pulling on Laura's hand as though to move it to his lips and kiss it. He found himself unable to do so. The pretty redhead with her blouse unbuttoned enough to show she wasn't wearing a bra held her hand in place- fixed where she had extended it, immovable. He shook the hand and turned, motioning with his other hand.

  "The body is over here."

  The trio entered the main room, lined on one side with floor-to-ceiling refrigerated storage for corpses. Two examination tables were in the center of the room, and on one there was a body covered with a white sheet.

  The room stank of chemicals and cleaning agents, and generally grossed Josie out. She stopped at the end of the table, by the corpse's feet. She wished again that Kenslir hadn't sent her on this trip.

  Dr. Hobart pulled the sheet back, revealing the corpse's torso, arms and head. "It's really rather unusual."

  "How so?" Laura asked as she leaned in closer, examining the corpse.

  "Well, friends of the family say Mr. Trumball was clean shaven the day before his death," Dr. Hobart said, reaching out and tickling the whiskers covering most of the corpse's face.

  Laura pulled rubber gloves from her pocket and slipped them on. She began to pull on the beard and test it. "That is unusual."

  "That's not all," Dr. Hobart said. He walked around Laura, his hip brushing against her backside. He moved to the corpse's right arm and lifted the hand. "Frostbite."

  Olson took the hand and examined it closely, turning it this way and that to look at the blackened fingertips. "I didn't realize it got that cold up here."

  "It can- but not in September. And this is extremely advanced frostbite. It indicates exposure for days and that the exposure was very recent."

  Dr. Hobart looked over at Josie who stood quietly. "And Mr. Trumball worked in an office."

  "Very unusual," Laura agreed.

  "But here's the really weird part," Hobart said. He suddenly whipped off the sheet, revealing the corpse in its entirety. "Mr. Trumball had his appendix removed several years ago."

  Laura glanced at the corpse's stomach, just above his groin. Josie looked away, suddenly embarrassed by the exposure.

  "No scar tissue at all," Hobart said, pointing.

  Dr. Olson leaned in, herself poking and prodding as she examined the body. Josie looked as though she were going to vomit. She looked away, down at the corpse's feet and noticed they too were blackened from frostbite.

  Laura looked over the rest of the body. She touched a scar over the corpse's left chest. "And what about this?"

  "Very perplexing," Hobart said. "It appears as though he suffered some traumatic injury at some point in the past, and it healed. Almost like a gunshot or a puncture. I won't know for sure until I cut him open. But it isn't in his medical history."

  Laura considered for a moment. "Doctor, may we have a moment in private?"

  "Certainly," Dr. Hobart said. "I'll go get some coffee. Would either of you care for anything."

  "No thank you," Laura said. Josie just shook her head from side to side, still trying to keep her breakfast down.

  Dr. Hobart walked out of the room and Laura pulled her phone from a pocket.

  "Who are you calling?" Josie asked.

  "Mark- this is very unusual."

  The phone only rang two times before Colonel Kenslir answered it. Laura quickly brought the Colonel up to speed.

  "Sure. One sec," she said, setting her phone down on the table.

  She moved to the head of the corpse and slipped a hand under the shoulder. "Help me out here, Josie."

  Josie's face paled a little more. "Help you what?"

  "Turn him over. Mark wants us to check something."

  Josie looked over at the corpse, then blushed and looked away quickly from the groin. "Aren't you strong enough to do this yourself?"

  "Oh, good grief," Laura said. "He's dead, he can't hurt you." Frowning, she turned the corpse over herself, onto its stomach.

  Josie didn't like looking at the naked body's buttocks, but decided it was a less disturbing view.

  Laura looked under the table, pulling out a cart with many drawers. She rummaged through them before finally finding what she needed. An electric shaver, which she plugged into an overhead receptacle.

  Positioning the corpse's head, she turned on the shaver and went to work.

  "What are you doing?" Josie asked, stepping around to watch.

  "Looking for something." Olson shaved almost the entire back of the head, then put the clippers down. She reached down to another drawer and pulled out a small flashlight. When she turned it on, a purplish light came from it.

  Laura winced and made sure to keep the end of the flashlight away from her. When she the UV light at the corpse's head, a number glowed to life, tattooed into the skin. The number twelve.

  Laura set down the flashlight and picked her phone back up. Josie picked the light up and shone it on the tattoo again, baffled.

  "Twelve," Laura said into the phone, then listened. "No, twelve. I know a twelve fro
m a five."

  Josie put the light down and watched Laura as she spoke. "Yes, I'm sure."

  Laura sighed then ended the call. "He wants the body."

  "So what's with the twelve?" Josie asked.

  "He didn't say. He just kept insisting it should be a five."

  "Five?" Dr. Hobart asked, walking into the room with a cup of coffee in his hand. He glanced at the corpse, rolled onto its stomach. "Uh, what's with the hair cut?"

  ***

  Jason Trumball was scared. Not because he was handcuffed and sitting in a room at police headquarters, but because of what he'd seen. His mother and father were dead and his father's corpse had been possessed by something that had stolen it- trading up to it like a suit of clothes from the corpse with the beard. Of course, he'd left that last part out of his statement, claiming instead his father was just missing. He also left out the flying part.

  No one believed him. They kept insisting the bearded corpse was his father. And they'd interrogated him for hours. At least they'd let him change out of his pajamas- not that the short sleeved jail jumpsuit was any better.

  A buzzer sounded as the lock to the door for the interrogation room retracted. Jason looked up, wondering who was going to browbeat him next. He was surprised to see who entered the room.

  The first woman was incredibly beautiful, with long, curly red hair, full red lips and a tight fitting, dark business suit, her white blouse unbuttoned more than enough to catch a glimpse of her breasts. Behind her was a slightly younger-looking woman, with long black hair, green eyes and also wearing a woman's suit, her blouse buttoned up almost to the neck.

  "Hello- Jason, isn't it?" the red head said, approaching the table and extending her hand. She smiled warmly at Jason, her lips pressed together.

  Jason raised his hands a few inches, enough to make the handcuffs looped through a metal hoop on the table jangle. "Yeah. That's my name."

  The black haired, much younger woman pulled two chairs up to the table, for herself and the redhead. They sat across from him.

  "Hello," the younger woman said. "I'm Josie and this is Laura."

  "What do you want?"

  "We'd like to talk to you about your parents," Laura said. She sat upright in her chair, her hands clasped calmly before her on the table.

  "You don't look like cops."

  "She's a doctor, " Josie said, pointing to Laura. "I'm a Fed."

  Jason bristled. "A shrink? You think I'm crazy, too? You think I killed my parents?" His voice was rising.

  "I'm not a shrink," Laura said. "And we don't know if you're crazy or not. Yet."

  Jason ducked his head. "I don't feel like talking."

  "I know that's not your dad in the morgue," Laura said, whispering.

  Jason looked up, startled. He saw Laura nod to Josie then at the far corner of the room. Jason looked over and realized she was indicating the camera and microphone hung from the ceiling.

  Josie looked at the camera intently. Frost began to form on the lens. Then on the microphone as Jason looked back and forth between her and the camera.

  Jason moved back as much as he could, despite being shackled to the table. "Who are you people?" he was scared for an entirely new reason now.

  "It's okay," Laura said calmly. "We're here to help. We read your statement-"

  A knock came on the door, and the buzzer sounded.

  Jason was astonished at how quickly Laura moved. If he had blinked he would have missed her rising from her chair and crossing to the door in only a few beats of his heart. She caught the opening door with one hand.

  A policeman in the hallway asked if everything was okay.

  "We're fine. We're still conducting our interview," Laura said.

  "Yes, ma'am, but the camera stopped working."

  "We're fine," Laura said, narrowing her eyes. She stared intently at the officer, who seemed to relax, and become almost sleepy.

  "Okay... if you need anything, just let us know."

  "Thank you, we will." Laura closed the door and turned back around.

  "I want my lawyer," Jason said.

  "Hey, it's okay," Josie said. "We just want to help you." She reached her hand over and touched Jason lightly on the arm.

  It was like when he touched the bearded man all over again. A shock, like being electrocuted- only it didn't hurt. Jason felt the surge from the touch, up his arm, spreading out over his whole body. Josie's eyes rolled up into her head and she collapsed onto the table.

  Jason quickly stood up, pulling his hands apart, the links from the chains parting like they were paper. He felt strong- very strong. He took a step to walk around the table.

  Again, Laura moved with inhuman speed. She was standing by the door, then she was there, standing in front of him.

  "Where you goin', sport?" she asked. She laid a hand on his shoulder.

  Jason shrugged the hand off and pushed at Laura. To his surprise, she didn't move. Despite the strength he felt surging through him now, he couldn't budge the redhead.

  "Oh, but you're a strong one," Laura said, smiling. This time, she smiled with her lips parted.

  Jason gasped and tried to step back. The redhead had long fangs where her canine teeth should be.

  Laura stepped forward suddenly and grabbed the boy by both shoulders. She leaned in, her mouth parted as though she were going to kiss him.

  Jason struggled, but the vampire's grip was unbreakable. Her lips stopped just an inch from his own, her hot breath spilling onto his face. Then his mouth filled with fire.

  Like electricity, energy swelled up from within Jason, pouring out of his mouth in a blue, crackling stream. The great sparks danced off his tongue and teeth and flowed into the vampire's mouth for several seconds. He could feel the energy, his new strength, fading from him.

  When the sparks stopped suddenly, Jason felt the vampire release him. He felt light headed and nearly fell to the floor.

  Laura moved over to Josie and gently held one of her hands. Again, blue energy crackled, flowing from Laura's hand into Josie's. "I believe this belongs to her."

  Josie twitched then seemed to awaken. She sat up abruptly, breaking the contact with the vampire. She looked around disoriented. "What-?"

  Jason was backing away slowly from the women, toward a far corner. He was pale and clearly terrified.

  "Oh, behave, sweetheart," Laura said. "I don't bite."

  CHAPTER NINE

  Josie and Laura were in an office now, with no recording devices around. Josie was seated on a table, with Laura feeling her forehead with the back of a hand. It reminded Josie of when her mother had checked her out when she'd wanted to stay home from school.

  "Is he a vampire?"

  "No," Laura said, pulling her hand down. "Definitely not."

  "But, he... drained me."

  "Yes, but it's different." She stepped back. "Your temperature and heart rate seem fine."

  "How's it different?"

  "A vampire drains your lifeforce- stealing the energy from your body. It's generated by the interaction of your spirit with your flesh. And it's concentrated in your blood and heart. Almost like it's a static charge.

  "When you use your powers, you convert that lifeforce into something else. Mark and his scientists call it etheric energy- it's not quite the same as anything else."

  "Why'd I pass out then?"

  "He sucked it all out of you- everything you'd saved up, generated from your own body. I suspect that sudden drop caused you to pass out. Almost as if it was a sudden drop in blood sugar or a lack of oxygen."

  Josie was confused. "And you can draw it out too?"

  "Not quite. I drew out his lifeforce- which forced him to convert that stolen energy back into replacement lifeforce. I do the same thing to heal myself or others."

  Josie stood up from the desk. She felt stronger now that she'd had time to rest. "But how does he do it? Have you seen this before?"

  "Never. None of the inmates I saw at Alcatraz could do what he does.
Many of them could draw etheric energy from an external source- a nexus of ley lines for example. But I've never seen a human who can do what he can. It's very vampire-like."

  "So what do we do now?" Josie asked.

  "We follow our orders. Mark wants him in Georgia, so we take him to Georgia." Laura checked her watch. "They should have him ready in a few more minutes."

  The women left the office and went to the front of the police station. There, Josie signed papers to take custody of Jason. A few minutes later, and the fifteen year old was brought out in leg and hand shackles, wearing blue jeans, a t-shirt and sneakers.

  "Those won't be necessary," Laura said, pointing to the shackles. "Will they?"

  Jason swallowed nervously. "No, ma'am." He'd been tempted to tell the local police what had happened in the interrogation room. But they hadn't believed him about his father- he was sure they wouldn't believe him about a vampire.

  Josie and Laura led the boy outside- Josie keeping her distance by several feet. She clearly was hesitant to come within reach of the boy again. When they got to their SUV, she slid behind the wheel, while Laura sat in the back with Jason.

  "Where are you taking me?" Jason asked as the SUV set out for the airport.

  "Georgia," Josie said.

  "Why?"

  Laura smiled. "Someone we know is very keen on meeting you."

  Jason briefly considered grabbing over the seat at Josie. If he could steal some power from her again, he was sure he could escape the moving vehicle unharmed. But then what? He'd seen how fast the vampire was. And so far he had no idea how to fly.

  "What am I?" he finally asked.

  "What do you mean?" Josie asked from the driver's seat. She alternated between watching the road and watching Jason in the rearview mirror.

  "He means is he like us," Laura said, smiling. She smiled a lot- devilish smiles that made Jason very, very nervous. Like she was sizing him up for her next meal.

  "No- like her," Jason said, nodding toward Josie. "I mean, she's not... like you, right?"

  "A vampire?" Laura said, cocking an eyebrow. "Go ahead, you can say it."