Vampire Enforcer (Hidden Blood Book 1)

by Al K. Line

  In a gigantic natural cavern the goblins had designed and built a huge, impossibly warped, hate-inducing, anger-bringing, monstrous construction that looked like nothing I'd ever seen or imagined. It made ugly seem like an utterly banal description for what we were confronted with.

  They'd gone out of their way to construct something so nasty looking, so anti all forms of art and beauty, so against the grain of what a machine should look like, so incongruous and hostile, we both shrank from the sight of it and backtracked up the tunnel so we didn't have to look at it a moment longer.

  "Now that," said Mithnite breathlessly, "is the ugliest thing I've ever seen in my life."

  "Me too. It's like a preying mantis made of metal that's been so warped and twisted it would take pride of place on Satan's mantle. Why would anyone make such a thing?" Was this it, the source of the problems?

  "I knew these guys were nuts but this is something else. It's evil, I can feel it. It's not even on and it's making me feel sick."

  "This is definitely what's doing it. It's sucking the fear from us and feeding on it." Mithnite looked at me funny. "Okay, I don't know that for a fact, but it might be."

  "Yeah," he admitted, "it might be. What now?"

  "Now we go and have a proper look at it. If things get too much then leave, don't hang around for it to screw with your head. We're at the heart of the beast's lair and who knows what it can do."

  "But it's not even doing anything."

  "I know, but it might."

  The Metal Beastie

  We crept back to the tunnel mouth and stepped cautiously into the huge cavern. My heart was beating so fast I was sure it could be heard above ground and I felt woozy from the blood rushing around my system. I turned my focus inward and concentrated on my new ink, traced the patterns in my mind and willed it to come to my aid. My skin began to tingle all over as a rush of soothing coolness circulated. So powerful was the mental image, it was like I could see the clear, pure magic flowing through the dark ink as it pressed against my clothes and fattened.

  My heart sang and the vampire nature rejoiced in the primeval sense of being alive, powerful, and indomitable. There was nothing to fear, I was more than able to cope with this. At the thought of fear I nearly lost the sense of calm I'd fought to obtain, worried that my emotions weren't my own, but I was fine, still Kate, still in control.

  I took in the cavern properly, noted that it was entirely natural, that they'd dug because they wanted to reach this point. Had they known about it all along, and this was why they bought the place? It made sense. But that would mean they'd been planning on building this thing for years, and goblins weren't exactly the calculating, long-term planner types. They were all for immediate gratification, not playing the long game.

  Everywhere I looked were more bits and pieces. There were multiple welding kits, all kinds of presses and drills and workstations for numerous skills needed to construct such a thing.

  And then there was the machine itself.

  It towered over us, fifty feet high and almost as long in places. It looked like a corrupted oil rig, those things you see on TV when the show is based in Texas and they go out into the desert and there's these strange insectile machines with bulbous heads pumping an arm up and down. It was like that, but not. A series of large cogs and gears were at the heart of the thing, seemingly to power a massive fat arm that rotated on another cog set right up high and twenty feet in diameter.

  And all over it, jutting out randomly, were large spikes and strange protrusions, impossibly thin lengths of metal ending in fat, twisted growths as though the beast was alive, half machine, half flesh. I knew it wasn't, that this was the way they built things if left to use their imaginations and indulge their own sense of what was aesthetic, but I'd never seen anything on this scale or so warped. Even by their standards, this was like a goblin's nightmare come real.

  "The thing's practically dripping magic," said Mithnite as he wiped his face with his sleeve.

  "You okay? You look green. And I don't mean because of the light. What's that on your skin? It isn't sweat."

  Mithnite looked at his hands then wiped them on his clothes. Then he brushed at his forehead, cupped his hand, and ran it down his nose. A clear, thick substance like dog slobber hung from his finger. "Gross. This place is seriously freaking me out, Kate. We should leave."

  "We will, as soon as I find out exactly what they're up to. We need to get a closer look at the machine. Think you're up to it?"

  "I guess. But I'm telling you, this won't end well."

  "Does it ever?" I asked, unable to hold back a smirk. For all that I was scared, or knew I should be, part of me was getting off on the danger, the strangeness, the sheer nuttiness of this whole escapade.

  "No, it never does. You know I've been on a few jobs with Faz, and one thing I know for sure, it never ends well. Not until right when things are at their craziest anyway. And sometimes not even then. Best to cut our losses and go tell Dancer. He'll blow the place up or something. Done and dusted."

  "That's what I'm worried about. We can't just blow this up. What if doing that makes things worse? If it's connected to the Empty, or another magic source, maybe even another plane, it could tear things apart if we destroy it."

  "That's... it's... Damn, you could be right. Okay, but let's be quick."

  Mithnite came over to join me on a platform that was positioned in front of the machine. As I breathed deep, I realized there was something seriously wrong with the air. It was too thick, like it was coating my lungs and my throat with something sticky. I checked my hands and noted they were the same as Mithnite's. Covered in a translucent substance like goopy raw egg white. My face was the same. I rubbed at it frantically, not knowing if it was contaminating us with something noxious or if it was already too late and soon we'd be like the goblins in the barn—nothing but bits of idiot Hidden.

  We were standing over some kind of thin veil between our reality and another, I was sure. The ectoplasm, or something approximating it, meant we must be at the source of a powerful leyline or a vent for all manner of supernatural shenanigins. Not good. Very, very bad.

  With goop clinging to my clothes and my skin feeling like I'd smeared Aloe all over and sprinkled fine dust over that, I cautiously stepped forward to the edge of the wide platform. Mithnite followed, and we stopped at a fat lectern, covered in dials and switches and a very obvious, very dangerous looking lever.

  "Just don't pull the damn lever," I mumbled, knowing he wouldn't be so stupid.

  "Duh."

  We leaned forward to inspect the controls, but it was indecipherable, everything labeled in goblin. Tiny spidery marks engraved on the metal framework of the archaic controls.

  "Let's get closer, see how it works. Don't touch anything," I warned.

  "Double duh."

  "You aren't too big to get a spanking for being cheeky," I said, but Mithnite just smiled.

  Yeah, it felt different now, what with him being an immortal demon, or ex, reincarnated demon or however it worked. Either way, I couldn't help looking at him in a new light.

  We jumped off the platform. As dust billowed around our ankles, we fought down the sickness and moved cautiously toward the machine.

  Not Mechanically Minded

  Standing up close to the monstrosity brought home just what a feat of engineering it was. For all its hideousness, its menace, the way it loomed like it was about to snatch you up in its spiky embrace and chew you to dust, it had its own beauty because of one thing. It was obvious it worked.

  I trailed the main arm, a fat curved lozenge of welded steel, until it disappeared into a straight-edged shaft and was lost to darkness. At the top, the cogs were well-oiled and the smaller ones that helped turn this arm, or maybe pump, were all aligned perfectly with teeth so sharp and finely honed they'd make any imp jealous.

  Chains shone against the brass pieces, random lever arms connected to tiny mechanisms all over the beast, function unknown. But I k
new, could feel it, that this thing worked flawlessly. It was a masterpiece from the warped goblin mind and was attractive because of its utter bizarreness, so ugly it became beautiful.

  We walked around it trying to understand, fighting down the emanations that whispered into the air and polluted our thoughts and emotions. We had to constantly check ourselves before we became consumed with violence. Fear faded utterly, replaced with admiration, and it was then that I knew it was time to go.

  "It's getting too much, right?" I asked Mithnite.

  "Yeah, I feel like it's sucking me in and won't ever let me go. Time to tell the boss."

  "Absolutely. Let him come and do whatever he has to, our work here's done."

  We jumped back up onto the platform and took one last look at the controls. I wanted to see if I could figure out how this thing functioned. Not how to turn it on, but what the point was. What was down there that it was dragging up? Was there anything at all, or did this thing just create twisted magic that could cause a whole city to go loco?

  There was a small lever to the right, a perfectly white handle with a ball of red on top, and the red made my thoughts turn to Intus. I hoped she was all right, hadn't got into too much trouble. I assumed Kim was free now, as the kids had already given chase to Mithnite, and the thoughts darkened my mood. How were we to deal with that? How would Dancer help Mithnite stay? Could he?

  Right on cue, as I stared vacantly at the red knob, the air took on sulfurous overtones and Intus appeared in front of me. "Phew, that was a nasty business," she said.

  "Hey, Intus. Thanks for helping out. How'd your demon babysitting go?"

  "Hi," said Mithnite.

  "Hello, Mithnite, hello, Mrs. Kate. It went fine for about a minute, then Kim and the kids, and the dog, they got out of hand. Before they shrank, the dog ruined loads of hard work and the kids kept playing with our sock pile and Kim got angry and..." Intus trailed off as she looked around. She frowned and her ears flattened. She made a strange guttural sound then waved her hands around, tiny claws plenty sharp enough to cut through human flesh no matter how small.

  "What is it?" I asked.

  "We shouldn't be here. You definitely shouldn't be here. You know what that is, right?"

  "No, what?" Intus covered her eyes and peered through the gaps between her fingers. "Intus, you're scaring me."

  "Oh no, this is bad, very bad. We should go. You should go."

  And with that Intus sprang onto a large console lever.

  "No!"

  It was too late. The lever shifted slowly toward me; Intus hopped off but it was futile. Before I could grab it, the level slotted into position with a perfectly engineered clunk.

  The machine awoke.

  My Bad

  "Intus, you muppet!" I screamed.

  "Oops, I done a bad thing, right?" Intus peeked out from behind her hands and smiled sheepishly.

  "Yeah, you could say that," said Mithnite as he stared open-mouthed at the machine.

  Intus hopped down onto the console and landed on a black switch. It clicked on.

  "Intus! Hell, what's wrong with you?" I screeched, getting seriously flustered.

  "It's not my fault. Who leaves something like this where poor imps can jump on it? It's in my DNA to mess with stuff, it's why I exist. You can't blame me for existing."

  "Muppet," I repeated. Then under my breath I muttered, "And I can blame you."

  "What is it?" asked Mithnite. "You said you knew what it was."

  "Oh, it's... a... er, a thingamajig. You know, a whatsitcalled. A... a..."

  "Spit it out. What is this bloody thing?" I was shouting now, the grinding of the machine deafening. The cavern shook, green light intensified, sparkling with menace, and a deep rumble vibrated air molecules making my bones feel like they'd splinter. My teeth began to rattle loose in my head, which is bad news for a vampire as the teeth come with the job.

  "Mean, nasty. Evil," Intus bellowed, eyes shifting left to right as if the machine might hear and single her out.

  "Yes, but what is it?" I grabbed Intus in my hand and lifted her to eye level. "Tell me. We have to stop it. And turn the bloody thing off." I put her back down on the console and she stomped on the switch then ran at the lever, grabbed hold, and like a mini pole vaulter she forced it back into the high position. Nothing worked, the machine kept on pounding and the lever and switch flipped back to the on position, Intus helpless to stop them.

  "I can't turn it off, it won't let me," she wailed.

  "What is it?" Mithnite and I yelled simultaneously.

  "It's one of those energy shifter things."

  "And what does that mean?" By now the machine was so loud it was hard to hear each other no matter how loud we shouted.

  "It means it draws energy from the other side and uses that energy to power itself. In return, it spews energy back down. It swaps one for the other I guess."

  "What energy does it take?"

  "Any you want," she said shrugging. "Depends how you set it up. How it's dialed in. Don't know why you humans never learn. You should know not to build these. They're banned by the Council you know? You'll get into trouble."

  "What are you taking about? We didn't build it, humans didn't build it. It was the goblins."

  "Ah, right," she beamed. "Thought it looked like goblin work. But you're wrong, Mrs. Kate. Goblins may have built it, but only humans can actually dial them in to get them to work."

  "This is nuts, let's go. But this is goblins, Intus, not humans."

  "It's humans, always is," Intus replied, resolute. With her hands on her hips she seemed sure, but she could be flaky, and you never knew when she was just messing with you and out for mischief.

  "It's getting faster," said Mithnite, and he was right.

  The machine was pumping up and down manically, and the noise was impossibly loud. The rhythm did something to my insides and no matter how I fought it I felt all fear go and all anger rise, so much so that I was close to picking Intus up and squeezing the life out of her.

  She must have sensed it as she took a step back, grinning nervously, then said, "Um, I gotta go. The kids need their lava bath and if I'm not there they'll jump in and end up drinking it all. You should see the mess they make when it comes out the other end, haha."

  She was gone.

  "Let's get out of here," I said.

  Mithnite nodded and we turned to leave.

  A solid wall of goblins blocked our path at the tunnel entrance. They didn't look pleased to see us.

  A Green Menace

  At first I thought I was hallucinating, that my overloaded synapses were firing randomly and making stuff up. Or maybe I'd blacked out and was snug at home, cuddling Faz and merely dreaming. I shook, but the throbbing remained and so did the goblins.

  "Told you," said Mithnite looking smug.

  I turned and studied his smiling face. "Shut up."

  The damn machine was getting to me, making it hard to focus, and focus was definitely what was needed right now. The pounding was intolerable though, and it was becoming increasingly impossible to keep my emotions in check. Fear drifted off like it was never a part of me, replaced with a dense cloud of anger and hatred the likes of which I'd never experienced.

  I was dark inside, a black menace, and it was all the fault of these things before me, shifting on their stupid rickety legs with their knobbly knees, half undressed. Filthy, sneering goblins. It was all their fault, everything was.

  And they were looking at me funny. Which was just rude. I'd show them, I'd teach them a lesson.

  I moved forward but Mithnite grabbed me by the arm and I came back to myself.

  "Let me be. I'll break every bone in their bodies."

  Then it was my turn to restrain him, and I shouted, "It's the machine, you have to calm down. If you go nuts you won't win, you have to be in control." He knew I was right, but it was a struggle, and his face distorted as emotions burned and the slime grew thick over his face until he was slick like a
snail.

  Finally he got himself under control, and it was then I noticed my skin was covered with the goo too.

  This really was ectoplasm, the stuff of the preternatural. A strange substance that is a repository for true magic, what some Hidden are composed of that never come to our world, remain in their own strange places. It coated everything, thickening as the machine pounded, drawing up magic and feeding off fear, taking it, giving it back to the Hidden world.

  Why?

  The goblins watched, anger on their faces but not moving. Maybe afraid we'd kick their asses? Hardly, they'd be reveling in the bravado the machine gave them. Then what? Concern for the machine of course, worried we'd do something to it.

  Grinning, I searched the area and grabbed a large length of steel that felt like a small stick but was seven feet long and must have weighed thirty pounds. I lifted it and nodded at the console and at the goblins.

  They panicked, threw their arms up in the air and shouted angrily, wobbled their heads and pleaded, but their words were lost to the thunderous roar that shook me to my very core.

  "Do it!" Mithnite hollered, nodding vigorously. "Now!"

  So, I did.

  I winked at the goblins then slammed the pipe down on the console with all the strength I could muster. The pipe smashed the console to pieces and sliced right through the podium it was built into until it hit the ground. Nothing remained but mangled metal and severed or fused wires. It hissed and popped and then erupted into violent orange and purple flame that shot high into the air, releasing noxious chemicals.

  Instantly, the machine died, wound down and then was silent. It was as though all sound had gone, the silence was so perfect, but it was only momentary as one roar was replaced with another as the goblins screamed and wailed.

  Taking advantage of the cover of smoke and fire, I grabbed Mithnite and dragged him away. He got the idea and I released him as we ran together away from the flames and the goblins descended.

  There was an issue. There was nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide.