Occupation

by Jeff L. Dawson

  Pleased that all details had been attended to, he cautiously stared at Svetlana. He knew no words to speak. His wife had been brutally defiled by the vile "occupiers." There was only one act that might soften the violation she had endured. He stared into her hate-filled eyes, leaned down, and hesitantly kissed her on the lips.

  * * *

  At first, Nikoli questioned Kirilli's suggestion that they be captured if the plan of freeing their members proved successful. The Germans would call every available unit in the area and round up everyone within thirty kilometers of Krakow.

  With two captured partisans, the chances of a countryside manhunt would be greatly reduced. They also hoped with Colonel Eckhardt and General Von DerGraff on their staff, per se, and the pending invasion of Russia, no manhunt would ensue.

  They were risking much to ensure that no hunt would lead the Germans to their homes and clan members.

  * * *

  "Hello. Hello? Karl, Fritz, Gunter, where are you?" The relief guards had shown up. "Karl? Fritz? It is time to be relieved. What, what is this?" The room was empty. He looked towards the desk and saw what appeared to be bloodstains covering the wooden mail slots. He slowly made his way to the end of the desk to the small wooden entrance door. He cautiously pushed it open, looked to his left and immediately threw up. What was lying behind the desk wasn't a man, but a mass of broken bones and flesh. The man's face had been ripped off. He doubted if even dental records could identify the body. Gustav regrouped and started moving towards the stairs leading to the basement. He momentarily lost his footing, slipping on the thick, sticky blood covering the floor.

  He slowly made his way down the poorly lit hall. The overhead lights had been broken. He could barely make out a figure at the end of the hall. It was another crumpled body. By the blood splatter on the wall, the body had somehow been thrown through the air crashing into the wall four meters above the floor. What is going on? Who or what could have killed these men? His ears detected a noise coming from the basement. He lowered his rifle and cautiously started moving to the open door.

  "Karl, Fritz? Is that you?" The only sound he heard was that of boots coming up the concrete steps. He could make out four men slowly climbing their way up. "Halt, who is there?" Nikoli and Kirilli were being led up the stairs with their hands bound behind their backs by two guards. One of them called out.

  "Don't shoot. We have captured the men who broke into the police station." Gustav lowered his rifle and let the men ascend the stairwell.

  * * *

  The colonel's aide was not pleased about being disturbed by Lieutenant Gustav, but the soldier was insistent Colonel Eckhardt be awakened now. He needed to make a full report and display the partisans that had caused such death and destruction at the police headquarters.

  "What is the meaning of this intrusion at this hour? Private, I hope for your sake this is extremely important," came the words from a groggy Eckhardt.

  "Lieutenant Gustav, Herr Colonel. The police station was attacked tonight. All of the prisoners escaped, but we were able to capture the two partisans who orchestrated the attack."

  Eckhardt wiped the sleep from his eyes in order to focus on the four men in front of him.

  "Good evening, Colonel. We meet again." The words from Nikoli sparked his brain. He knew what to do next. The butt of Gustav's rifle slammed into Nikoli's kidneys, silencing his untimely remarks.

  "Nikoli," uttered Eckhardt under his breath.

  Chapter 20

  Warning

  "Lieutenant, you have done well to have captured these two peasants. Private Beckenbauer, please enter the room. The prisoners are going nowhere."

  The private was a little timid. This went against all ordinary protocol, yet disobeying a direct order from the colonel could result in dire consequences.

  "Jawohl, Herr Colonel.”

  As he entered the door, he heard the sounds of stones or rocks crashing against each other. The air in the room was becoming stale and thick. Lieutenant Gustav was standing in front of Kirilli and Nikoli. He heard and noticed the change in the air immediately. He turned around in an attempt to detect where the noise was coming from. The prisoners he had presented to the colonel no longer resembled men. They were more like the creatures of his childhood nightmares.

  The one named Nikoli was no longer a man, but rather a creature from the pits of hell his parents and Ministers had told him about as a boy. The new order had convinced him religion was for fools and had no place in the new world. He reached for his gun holster only to feel a sharp pain resonating from his wrist. He looked down to find the source of the pain. It was a huge rough hand with six inch claws digging deeper and deeper into his skin, muscle, and bones. He wanted to cry out but only saw darkness. Eckhardt had taken his other hand and drove the claws deep into the private’s throat, destroying the windpipe to ensure silence, and proceeded to puncture his spinal cord, paralyzing and destroying his central nervous system.

  Private Beckenbauer stood dead in his tracks as he watched the colonel start transforming into a terrible nightmare. His eyes were balls of black, dark fire. His jaw was jutting out as if his teeth were attempting to displace themselves. He could feel wind behind his back as the large doors were slammed shut. He never had a chance. He turned around to identify who had closed them with such force. The last thing he remembered was a claw-like hand rushing towards his face.

  "Well done, gentlemen, well done," boasted Nikoli. Colonel Eckhardt was still shaking from the transformation. It was only his second time. His body was still fighting the evil residing inside his lost soul. He turned to look at the lifeless guards spread out before him. Their crimson, sweet blood was spilling all over the highly polished wood floor and the expensive Oriental rug was vainly trying to absorb the thick, rich fluid.

  "Now what?" queried Eckhardt. "What do we do now? There are two more guards downstairs and four covering the front entrance."

  "Colonel, knowing you are a man of means and calculations, are you telling me there isn't a rear entrance for discreet company to use?" asked Nikoli.

  "Yes, of course, yes. Down the hall to the left is an old fire escape. I have used it once. The footing is treacherous but will provide an escape route. There are no guards posted in the alley. The stairwell leads down to a narrow door that is camouflaged from the outside. Unless one looks closely, it appears to be a continuation of the mortar work."

  "Excellent. Now, for us to make this believable, we are going to have to inflict some damage on you. No one is going to believe these two privates were brutally murdered and you were left unscathed. Kirilli, you have less of the killer instinct than I."

  "Agreed, Nikoli, I know where to strike that will produce a lot of blood without inflicting damage to vital organs. Colonel, the next time you see us, we will again be captured peasants and will not resist. We have business with a Herr Himmler. Understood?"

  "Yes, I understand." Kirilli approached the colonel and gazed into his eyes. They were still trying to return to their normal human form. "Nikoli, come look."

  "I don't need to. I saw it when he was changing. We must work fast. The bacteria is running its course."

  Kirilli hesitated no more. He plunged a hard right fist into Eckhardt’s jaw, splitting the bones and crushing his nose. He knew the body would be fully examined by the medical staff, so it was imperative that the small holes on the right side at the base of his neck were damaged. He carefully placed three claws two centimeters above the puncture marks, then depressed the points three millimeters into the skin, and with a surgeons skill, sliced down his neck. The doctor would never notice Svetlana's mark. Eckhardt lay motionless on the floor. The masquerade was complete.

  The men looked back to examine their work before leaving. "A good day’s work, Nikoli. It is time to start raising the alarms."

  "Yes, my friend, it is time." They opened the doors looking both ways down the hall. Seeing the hallway was clear of any guards or unwanted visitors, they quickly made
their way to the escape door.

  * * *

  "They killed Stephan! The bastards killed Stephan!" Svetlana could not hide her remorse or anger. "I will avenge his death and the violations of my own body. The death of Major Ernst is only a small token of what I have planned. I will kill them all!" Her words echoed around the massive walls of the meeting room and down the cavernous hallways of Bezpieczenstwo.

  "Sounds like Svetlana is a bit unnerved over her recent experience," said Nikoli. Kirilli chose not to acknowledge his comments. The words were those of Nikoli, but his tone provided a new scenario; concern and worry were evident in his words.

  "My dear wife, must you talk so loudly?" For once Nikoli had put little thought to his words and the effect they would have. Svetlana did not think or worry about her words. She swung towards Nikoli and opened up with an assault.

  "Those bastards killed our son. They violated our two daughters and raped me, you bastard. I could hear their screams as the Germans used them for their sport. I could hear the cries of Stephan in my mind. The pain he was enduring was indescribable. How dare you come in and mock me. What do you know of feelings or concern for others? When did you ever care for anything or anyone other than yourself? Was it your plan all along that we should be captured in an effort to teach me another lesson in obedience? Your poor planning and hatred of your own son have cost us one of our own. Are you satisfied with the result of your grand plan?" Sweat was pouring from her pores as she berated Nikoli with each accusation she threw at him. Her green emerald eyes were flashing hints of fire.

  Sasha and Kirilli moved to either side of Svetlana in case Nikoli chose to exert his force and will over his wife. He was no longer smiling. Instead of building fire in his eyes and rushing his wife to teach her a lesson, he took the first seat he came to and dropped unceremoniously into the chair and stared down at the table. He had nothing to say.

  Svetlana wasn't finished.

  "Is that all you can do? Just sit there and decide the fate of another member of our combined clans? Maybe we will lose two more members with your next great victory. Maybe we will lose three. But what would you care? You have spent your life belittling and destroying people whether human or vampire. I despise the ground you walk on, and I hate the day I agreed to enter your world, you selfish bastard." She was violently shaking as the words poured out of her. Sasha moved closer and placed a hand on her arm.

  "Do not touch me. I do not need sympathy; I need my son Stephan back, but that will never happen, for his murderer is sitting across the table. It should have been him who died, not Stephan!" Sasha did not move away as Svetlana raved. Instead she moved her hand onto to Svetlana’s back.

  "Woman," bellowed Nikoli. He was regaining some of his composure.

  "If I wanted him dead, I would have done it myself. I do not need the Germans to perform my dirty work. Yes, I made a mistake. Yes, I should have sent the group to a different location and no, I had no intention of anyone being caught. But since you are so bent on attacking me, I have one question. When you and Kirilli went to Krakow in November, was it your intention for the German to kill Kirilli with the wooden stake?"

  Instead of backing down and cowering away, she met the question head on. "Yes!" she said emphatically. Kirilli was stunned with her answer even though he had had his suspicions.

  "Why?" asked Kirilli.

  "Why? Why? If I had been successful, the clans would never have joined and Nikoli's hold on the Romanov clan would have been weakened. We have been trying for decades to eliminate him. His overbearing, demanding attitudes have become unbearable for all of us to endure for much too long. Yes, Stephan and I would have taken over the clan, and found a better life and more bountiful hunting grounds."

  Kirilli understood her logic. It was cold and calculating, but sound.

  "Are you glad Captain Brown didn't succeed?" asked Nikoli.

  "At the time, I was infuriated with the man. What a pitiful human I chose. He couldn't perform a very simple task. But now, I am glad he failed. Despite my initial thoughts of the Boirarsky clan, I have come to understand there is a better life, one that does not require living in the dark all of the time. There is nothing wrong with a little opulence in one’s life." She looked around at the lush surroundings in the majestic room.

  "He forces us to live like druids or cast-offs of society." Her green hypnotic eyes were glowing in intensity as the fire inside of her raged. "I was against the melding because it would increase his power over us. That is why I tried to intervene. No, I didn't want my daughter being defiled by Dmitri, but I have learned he is a man of honor, unlike the one sitting on the other side of the table. He is not a man of honor; he is not a great general; he is an empty shell full of hate and rage and I will no longer relent to his wishes." Each word she spoke had the impact of a hundred wooden stakes piercing his body but missing the mark that would take his life.

  "Wife, are you done?" The words were a tone no one had ever heard from his mouth. His tone was soft and apologetic.

  "Why? Does the great Nikoli have something to say? Is it going to be more pompous rhetoric or even better, is it going to be another lecture on your battlefield heroics?"

  Nikoli raised his head and sullenly looked at her. His eyes were full of unshed tears. "Wife, I have made many mistakes through the ages. The most grievous was sending you, Stephan, Natashia and Dina on the mission. You are correct about my initial plans. I was sending you out to the same location to teach you a lesson. Yes, the mission was a failure. I too lost Stephan. I can never replace him. I have been foolish with my arrogance. I see now I should have been directing my attentions and energies on issues that mattered, other than demeaning you and Stephan. I am a fool for such actions."

  Nikoli was apologizing? Was this another ploy or were his words true? "Husband, do you regret the loss of our son?"

  Nikoli took in a deep breath studying the faces of the three people staring at him from the other side of the table. "Yes."

  "Husband, do you wish it would have been you instead of our son?"

  He replied again, "yes."

  "Good, you should be." Her words were harsh and hateful but the fire in her eyes was diminishing.

  "Kirilli, I do not know if I can continue with our plan. The death of Stephan, contrary to what my wife says, has taken the fire out of me. I relinquish my command duties."

  "No. The loss of Stephan has taken a toll on all of us. The violations of "our" women will not go unpunished. You and I started this campaign and we shall finish it together. Yes, we have been very lucky over the past six months in not being detected. Your plans were well thought out and organized. We are too close to give up now. Nikoli, I cannot do this on my own. We must finish what we started. Together we will more than avenge the death of Stephan. We will convince the Germans they should have never stepped foot on our soil." Kirilli's words of confidence gave Nikoli new strength.

  "Wife, I will avenge the death of our son. I will personally see to it that the Germans realize who the true masters of Southern Poland are. Kirilli, I look forward to finishing what we started. We need to start implementing the final stage immediately. We have two, maybe three weeks before the bacteria matures in Colonel Eckhardt. I saw it brewing in his eyes today. The others will also start reaching the time of maturity. Wife, I have failed as a husband and a father, but mark my words, I will not fail you three times. I, we, will avenge the death of Stephan."

  Kirilli was pleased his words had the desired impact on Nikoli. They could now move into the final phase. "Ladies, please take your seats at the table. You need to know the details for the final action. Sasha removed her arm from Svetlana and took her seat beside Kirilli. Svetlana stood for a few moments that felt like centuries to Nikoli as she decided where to sit. "Husband, do you promise to avenge our son’s death and accept the alliance our children forged?"

  He did not hesitate with the answer. "Yes!"

  She moved slowly to the other side of the table never taking he
r eyes off her husband. She pulled the plush high=backed chair out. The only sound was the legs scraping against the stone floor as she seated herself. Without looking at her husband she addressed him, "Nikoli, avenge our son’s death or I shall."

  Kirilli and Nikoli described what actions were going to be taken over the next few weeks. Each clan would independently strike at chosen points with great force. Each mission was designed to allow one member from each of the patrols to escape. The ones chosen to survive would be left with a warning to pass on to their superiors; return what you have taken or die. With Colonel Eckhardt and General Von DerGraff in their grasp, it would be easy to strike fear in the other soldiers. They would plead with their superiors, but their concerns would fall on deaf ears until the stories could no longer be suppressed. Eckhardt and Von DerGraff would be forced to take action. They would have to capture and deliver the peasant partisans to Heinrich Himmler.

  The women were shocked at the final part of the plan. The men were going to be deliberately captured. Sasha spoke first. "What if something goes wrong?" Nikoli chose to provide the answer.

  "Sasha, if our plan works, Herr Himmler will relent to our wishes. Yes, there is a chance that something could go wrong. I am not so naïve as to think that the plan is foolproof, but if it is successful, our demands will be met and the Germans will direct their attentions elsewhere. It is the only way. We must take the battle to the man who is responsible for all of our suffering."

  The women agreed with the proposal and the members went to work carrying out the final phase of battle.

  * * *

  For the next two weeks, the clans struck hard at the Germans: Miechow, Skawina, Bochnia Brzesko, Chrzano, Wadowice and Skala. The cities represented an iron curtain being drawn around Krakow. The troops assigned to patrol the invisible iron ring would talk of the strange beasts roaming freely and taking what they wanted. Stories of mangled, disemboweled bodies littering the woods. The creatures lay in wait in the treetops. They would pounce on the unsuspecting men and tear them limb from limb and then eat what they wanted. At night the creatures were even more violent. Women creatures with fiery eyes would lure their comrades into the forest in the hopes of tasting female pleasures, only to be met with ten inch fangs. The women would sink the fangs deep into the neck and proceed to rip out their throats.