Empire of Blood (Book 2): Fading In Darkness

by Wilson, Robert S.

  Awaken, child.

  * * *

  Simon was nearly to the top of the tower now, climbing the outside wall at a speed most vampires wouldn't have been able to see clearly. When he reached the windows to the top of the tower, he shattered the nearest glass frame, dove inside, and ran for the main restaurant. When he arrived it was just like he'd seen it. Hank lay on two restaurant tables put together as a makeshift bed, a thick white bandage darkened from the inside out with blood had been wrapped around his head covering his eyes and ears. Isingoma's emergency equipment sat beside him filling another table's surface. Ishan stood over Hank's body, his fist to his mouth waiting for Simon.

  Without words Ishan and Simon took up opposite sides of Hank's lifeless body and laid their hands over his chest. A soft whining filled the air. A sort of figure eight of energy blasted from them, into Hank's body, and back out to the two vampires in an ongoing cycle.

  Hank's body began to convulse with the energy of it as a yellow glow brightened underneath Simon and Ishan's hands. The whining was now a deafening high-pitched roar.

  It was taking everything Ishan and Simon had to hold still enough to continue the transfer of energy. Hank's body began to shake violently like a rag doll though he was still unconscious.

  Just as quickly as the energy came it was gone. Along with it the whining stopped and Hank's body lay still, a deep unending silence suffocating the room.

  Hank's body lurched forward. Blood shot from his mouth and he began to cough. Ishan and Simon locked eyes with hope. The next instant, Hank jumped from the tables barely landing on his feet stumbling forward in a half run, screaming, his arms grasping before him aimlessly. Ishan grabbed his arms before he could manage to hurt himself.

  Simon went to speak and before he even opened his mouth Ishan explained to him in his mind. His eyes and ears are not yet healed. Thanks to the devices Isingoma removed from his body, he may never see or hear again. Ishan had managed to secure Hank's body while Isingoma came around with a long syringe. When he administered the liquid from inside it, Hank's body went limp with unconsciousness again.

  * * *

  Jack woke with the sudden realization that he hadn't meant to fall asleep. He rose from the floor, regarding the stiffening body lying in the bed before him. He took a long moment to listen to his surroundings. He had to find Cayne, the man Hank Evans had stupidly entrusted to watch over his son. Jack slipped out of the room into the hallway. The television was still on downstairs. He made his way toward the stairway at the end of the hall. At an almost human pace he gently crept down the steps to the lower floor.

  Blue and purple light reflected in flashes against the wood-stained wall along the side of the stairway. Jack took the last step onto the floor and peeked around the corner where the furniture stood facing the large screen television covering the wall. An elderly man with a few long strands of silver hair sticking up from the top of his mostly bald head lay in yellow-striped pajamas snoring loudly, the same purple and blue hues flashing across him. Jack hadn't seen an older man with them. He stood staring at the man for a long time before he finally went back to the stairway and dashed up the stairs back to the room the boy had been in.

  The boy lay just as dead, but Jack noticed something for the first time. Around the room were posters and things that would be in a young boy's room. He took a longer look at the boy. He looked wrong. Not just dead, but wrong. The hair color was the same, he was the right age, but something about his face wasn't right. Jack leaned forward and pulled the boy's eyes open. The green eyes stared forward with no life. Green. The world spun for a moment. The boy's eyes were Brown. Jack sensed a sudden panting behind him. He turned in time to find the old man from downstairs charging toward him, screaming, spittle flying from his lips.

  "My boy, you killed my b—"

  In a flash of movement Jack crushed the man's windpipe. He fell to his knees grasping his throat, his eyeballs seeming to expand in their sockets. Jack stepped back as the body slumped forward then was still.

  Within an hour the place was in shambles and Jack finally found the backpack hidden deep in the boy's closet. Inside it Jack could hear the tiny hum of machinery coming from the tracker.

  He would have to tell the Emperor. Or would he? He didn't need satellite gadgets to find the boy. He could do it the old-fashioned way. Jack opened the window and jumped swiftly out into the open air, landing on the ground between the houses with a soft tap from the bottom of his shoes. He took in the scent of the air. It was hunting time. Eyes black with renewed bloodlust, he dashed forward at an almost invisible pace.

  * * *

  Toby woke to the bright gleam of sunlight reflecting on metal as Dustin turned the truck off the exit from the highway. Several tall neon signs stood above the road with various words flashing across them. He'd had another nightmare, had been having them ever since they'd left Indiana. He reached in his pocket for his father's letter and remembered he'd put it in his backpack. Damn. He couldn't believe he'd left it in that booth. Even though they hadn't had time to go back and get it, he knew it probably wasn't there to get anymore anyway. It didn't matter now, they had put many miles between themselves and Chicago by then. Toby held back the tears, trying to cling to the hope that he would see his father again. Dustin pulled the SUV into a parking spot in front of the truck stop, put it in park, killed the engine and turned to Toby.

  "You hungry?"

  Toby wasn't really, but he nodded anyway. He knew they wouldn't have many chances to stop after this for a while.

  "Okay then, let's eat."

  Inside they found an empty booth and sat across from one another, Dustin sitting back against the wall and stretching his legs across his seat. A tall brunette in blue jeans and a button-up country western shirt came to their table. With smeared bright pink lipstick, she greeted them with a smile. Her name tag said, "Suzie." She pulled a pen and a pad of paper from her apron and glanced at them, one and then the other.

  "What can I get you two fellas?"

  As Dustin was ordering his food, the headline on the television hanging high from the wall caught Toby's attention.

  Important announcement from Emperor Caesar, flashed on the screen. This was followed by a loud emergency tone that interrupted the waitress, causing her to drop her notepad on the table as all eyes turned to the television.

  The Emperor's white robe filled most of the screen. His eyes stared forward with an expression of gentleness.

  "Loyal citizens of the American Empire. I address you tonight with dreadful and worrisome news. I've been informed that the city of Necropolis has made threats of war against the American people. Imperial authorities are investigating the matter and a mediator is on site at this time and attempting negotiations, but I'm afraid the prognosis is not looking well. But have no fear, the Empire is prepared to deal with an uprising if there should be one.

  "For many years now, the Empire has been building an army in case such a betrayal might occur. An army more than capable of destroying the vampires of Necropolis. Because, citizens, this is an army of vampires. Docile vampires loyal only to your lord and emperor himself. I call on you tonight, citizens, to prepare you for the coming of many changes."

  The camera zoomed out then to reveal thousands upon thousands of flying creatures floating close to the ground in a sort of square formation before the Emperor, cat-like eyes staring out from their pale faces. Each of their heads were completely shaved and they wore black and green imperial army fatigues with patches of the imperial flag on each of their right arms. Silence weighed heavily on the room as the live feed faded into a pre-recorded sermon from the Emperor.

  The silence only lasted a moment after that. Then the room was overflowing with a roar of voices, some near to panic. The waitress turned to look at Dustin and Toby, her eyes vacant and her hand shaking as she reached out for her notepad and nearly missed the table altogether. It seemed to take her a few minutes, but she finally regained control of herself and
took Toby's order. Shortly after she left to get their drinks a few dozen nervous looking people of all shapes and sizes began to trickle out the door in groups of three and four, their tires squealing as they pulled away from the truck stop.

  Before long the sun was nearly gone from the sky. Imperial police cars and ambulances were flying by, lights flashing and sirens blazing. Suzie the waitress returned with their food, her hands shaking as she handed them their plates.

  "Y'all enjoy. I'm gonna get me a quick smoke in and I'll be back to check on your drinks, okay boys?"

  Dustin nodded and Toby tried to reply in mid chew but didn't manage to get a single word out before Suzie was gone. When he finally swallowed, he asked Dustin the question that had been burning a hole in his nerves ever since the Emperor's announcement had been on.

  "Do you think Dad knows what's going on?"

  "I don't know. I just hope he knows what he's doing one way or another," Dustin said, stroking his beard.

  "Well, it's like you said, he made it out of there before, maybe he has an idea how to get out of this." Dustin didn't reply, he only stared at Toby for a moment, his eyes a thousand miles away. Then he nodded and went back to eating his food.

  The bell attached to the door jingled then and Toby looked up to see three Imperial Officers walk through the door, talking amongst themselves. Dustin's body stiffened with recognition slightly. The three men sat down in the booth behind Dustin's seat and Dustin let out a soft sigh.

  Suzie passed by and began to take the officers' orders. When she turned to go back, Dustin motioned for her. Smiling, she asked him what she could do for him. Her tone was much more steady then and her hands were no longer shaking. Dustin asked for the check and the two shared winks as she walked off.

  When Dustin was finished paying at the cash register they walked outside and into the dimly lit parking lot. They were almost to the SUV when Dustin stopped abruptly.

  "What's the matter?" Toby asked.

  Dustin was glancing all around as if he expected someone to jump out at any second and say boo. "The tires...someone slashed them."

  Toby looked at the front passenger side tire. Sure enough, a huge gash was cut along the side of it contrasted by the open rubber stretching out like a pair of solid black lips puckering for a kiss. Toby wondered which would be worse at that point, to go back inside the diner or linger in the parking lot with whoever had slashed their tires possibly still nearby.

  Chapter 15

  The First Trumpet Sounds

  They'd been expecting something big ever since Hank's face had slapped against the council table on the observation deck of the Stratosphere. But that didn't stop the sense of urgency that transferred between Ishan and Simon's minds when word came from the Foederati. The time to decide was behind them now. The Emperor had already more or less declared war.

  Standing over Hank's unconscious body in the deep tunnels of the place the vampires called "The Nest," Ishan and Simon knew it was time to leave his side and make way for the coming battle. Hank lay on the bed physically shaking with fever, his skin deathly pale. The fever had followed the operation. Isingoma had warned them it would come. In a matter of time, Hank would either sleep it off or die. The two vampires had found themselves unable to heal him any further.

  They stepped from the infirmary out into the long silver hallway side by side communicating in complete silence. If the Foederati were right, it would only be a matter of hours before the first wave of Imperial vampires arrived in Necropolis. By that time, there would only be hours left before the sun would rise. And where would they take shelter? Surely the Emperor had made provisions.

  The only choice at this point would be to follow the standard procedure they had set in place for Imperial attack. They had never truly prepared for an attack from vampires as they had never had reason to believe the Empire would be able to attack them with their own kind. Ishan and Simon both took their self-designated positions; Ishan addressed the city as a whole while Simon organized the rest of the council, scientists, and several key vampires who had been assigned military positions in situations of defense.

  When everything was set and the different vampires began clearing out of the silver planning room to execute their orders, Simon took Isingoma aside.

  "Ishan wanted me to give you private specific orders regarding Mr. Evans."

  Isingoma nodded, a sense of distracted detachment in his eyes.

  "He wants you to move him to section 12, room X-1."

  Isingoma seemed to break from his trance, his eyes widening in surprise. "X-1? What are the two of you not telling the rest of us about this man?"

  Simon only stared back, waiting.

  "I'll leave now. Forgive my disrespect."

  Simon nodded and Isingoma returned the gesture. The two went their separate ways.

  * * *

  The sky was black with cloud cover. Vampires of all colors, shapes, and sizes were arriving, a huge crowd collecting in the vast open parking lot of the large black pyramid Jackie hadn't seen since she was still human. She trudged along, sand blowing in her face. There would be a storm soon. Jackie was curious what it would be like. She hadn't experienced a sandstorm as a vampire yet.

  Standing atop a large concrete barrier, the vampire leader, Ishan, who Jackie had only met once, stood waiting to address the crowd. He shifted his eyes across the sea of standing bodies to and fro turning to speak with an older-looking man with gray hair and distinguished features. As Jackie came closer to the dense crowd of pale figures, she could tell she wasn't going to be tall enough to see over the rest of the crowd so she began slowing behind, keeping Ishan in sight. She was damn well going to watch this; Denny, one of her co-workers at the Dominion building, who'd lived in the city since before it was Necropolis, said that they had never had a city-wide urgent meeting like this before.

  Jackie's thin dark hair blew into her face as she stood waiting for Ishan to speak, the taste of hair follicles and sand making her lean over and spit. Immortality sure seemed to lose its glamour when she thought about spending eternity dealing with annoyances like these. She pulled a thin elastic band from her pocket as Ishan began to shush the crowd. Once the vampires were finally silenced, Ishan took one last gander across the waiting faces, and cleared his throat.

  "We have word from the Foederati that the Empire has initiated an attack against Necropolis." He paused and only a brief gust of sand and wind cut through the heavy silence left in the wake of his words. "Each of you have an incredibly difficult choice to make in this hour." Distant lightning struck behind him, contrasting the dark desert sky and milky clouds seemed to blend into his skin as he looked across the crowd and continued.

  "In order to protect the ancestors they will be sent along with any volunteers to the Queen's hive while those who choose to stay and volunteer to fight will help to keep their focus here. It is the only way to keep them safe."

  Another voice rose from the silence. It came from a tall man with long curly sandy blond hair. "And why not spread out and take the closest towns, take the blood we've been fenced from all this time? Why not terrorize them the way they've always expected us to?"

  “For one: we have a much more meaningful blood pact with the Foederati to keep intact. And…” His face became grim. “The Empire isn't sending humans—at least not just humans—those who are now making their way toward our city walk in darkness.“

  "Our own kind?" A voice called amongst the rising murmuring of the crowd.

  "Indeed. I bid you decide quickly, those who will be leaving have two hours to prepare. I wish I had better news to report, but it seems things are about to change and I don't expect it will be a very pleasant turn of events. Regardless of what you decide, I wish all of you well."

  The volume of the crowd rose as Ishan nodded, turned, and walked away. Jackie stood staring after him, her expression blank.

  What the hell does it matter that it's vampires coming, why stay and fight when we can run. Jackie m
ade up her mind right then that she would volunteer to go with the ancestors. As much as the creatures repulsed her, she'd rather go with them than stay in this god awful place and die.

  * * *

  Every human-paced step gnawed at Isingoma's nerves like rusty wire scraping against teeth. The last thing he wanted to do was transfer this human piece of meat into the city's most secret protected holding area. He pushed the mobile stretcher along the silver hallway deep within the lowest level of The Nest.

  When he came to the titanium door, Isingoma pulled Hank's stretcher aside and entered the code key. A loud deep rumbling occurred within and the door unlatched and then slid open as gracefully as a two-ton titanium door can slide. Muttering under his breath about all the work he'd done to remove the implants from Hank's eye sockets and ear canal, Isingoma begrudgingly pushed the man's stretcher into room X-1.

  He was about to turn and leave when Hank's hand reached out and gripped hold of his wrist. Isingoma turned and looked back at the man. Hank was sitting up staring blindly in front of himself, yet he'd managed to reach out and grab Isingoma with complete accuracy. Hank's eyes opened revealing only milky white orbs curtained by reddish purple lids.

  "There's not much time. The vampires are not the true threat to this city. Flames. Engulfing The Nest. Necropolis burning. Ishan must be warned." Hank was on his feet before Isingoma could react. The words he had spoken were still processing in the vampire's mind when he realized Hank was gone. Was it true? Would the Empire set fire to the city? It would certainly do the job. But how could Hank have known?