Blue Shadow

by Brad Magnarella

  As Sarah jotted down the information, I mulled the connection. Disappearing dogs, abducted children…

  “Have any of the strays acted oddly or attacked people?” Sarah asked.

  The mayor shook her head slightly, consulted the police chief, then shook her head with more certainly. An affirmative answer might have raised the probability of vampires. There had been a case in Rome years before where a vampire fed on dogs, but without killing them. The dogs returned as vampire spawn, forming a pack that went after humans. A sorceress in the area eventually put them down and finally staked and decapitated the vampire.

  “What do you plan to do?” Mayor Flores ventured.

  Since Sarah was running the interview, I gave her a chance to answer—we’d already discussed the plan. But she was making additional marks in her notes, deaf to the mayor’s question.

  I leaned forward. “We’re going to spend the few remaining hours tonight setting up here. Early tomorrow, we’ll split into teams. One will set up a surveillance system around the town. No one and nothing will come in or out without our knowledge. The other will conduct a reconnaissance patrol into the foothills. We’ll be looking for any evidence of where the children were taken and what took them.”

  “Oh, here are the things you asked for.” Mayor Flores reached into the large woven purse she’d hung over the back of the chair and removed several articles of children’s clothing.

  “Thank you,” I said, already picking up the unique human odors of the disappeared children. That would help during the patrol—as well, I hoped, as the peppery smell I’d detected on the dead cat.

  “And tomorrow night…?” the mayor asked tentatively.

  She was referring to the ultimatum: surrender another child or the town would know death.

  “Let us worry about that,” Sarah said.

  “What my partner means,” I said, looking over at her, “is that we should have more information on what we’re facing tomorrow. If we haven’t ended the threat by nightfall, we’ll regroup. At the very least, we’ll have a better idea what we’re facing. We’ll know how to proceed.”

  “In the meantime, no one should go out alone,” Sarah said. “Not even adults. You need to move up your curfew an hour. Everyone in their homes by six, doors and windows shut and locked.”

  Though vampires could operate during the day, even in direct sunlight, they were much more powerful—and hence active—at night.

  “Make it under threat of arrest, if you have to,” Sarah went on. “They are not to venture out for anything, and under no circumstances are they to invite anyone unknown inside their homes. If they don’t feel secure there, arrange for them to sleep in the church.”

  “And this will keep them safe?” Mayor Flores asked.

  “It will make them more safe than they are now,” Sarah replied.

  But the assurance—if that’s what you could call it—did little for the tension across Mayor Flores’s face. “We should let you get started, then,” she said. Following a round of handshakes, I walked the mayor and police chief to the door, while Sarah went into the office, where Rusty had set up her computer.

  The mayor paused in the doorway and clutched my hand once more. “These are dark times for El Rosario,” she whispered, “but by the grace of God, you have come.”

  I nodded at her imploring eyes, bid her and the police chief goodnight, and closed the door behind them. As I pulled my helmet from my shaggy head, I caught myself hoping that if God had sent us, it was because he thought we were ready. I walked over to the office, where Sarah was all but attacking a keyboard with her fingers, and leaned against the doorframe.

  “Sounds like you’ve reached some conclusions,” I said.

  “I still need confirmation. I’m entering the query data now.”

  I waited, watching the glowing reflection of the screen in her glasses. She hit the return key twice hard, then hunched further forward to read. At last she leaned back with a nod and faced me.

  “According to the database, the ability to write intelligibly coupled with the existing data suggest vampire. Add the missing dogs, and that probability goes up by fourteen percent. No other creature comes close.”

  Hence her instructions that the town remain indoors and to not allow anyone inside at night. According to Centurion’s data, a vampire required an invitation to enter someone’s domicile. That went double for churches. Probably explained the clown disguises. It would be easier for vampires to lure children into the woods than pluck them from their beds. It also explained the note left under the mayor’s door. With the restrictions on the children’s movement curtailing disappearances, the vampires were demanding the town bring the children to them.

  I looked over my massive MP88, remembering Billy’s ashen face as he peered up at me and rasped, It’s bad, isn’t it.

  “Vampires it is, then,” I growled.

  11

  With the van unloaded and Centurion’s patented security gates over the doors, Rusty began setting up the office surveillance system. Sarah configured the computers, and I assembled and organized the weapons. Yoofi left trails of cigar smoke as he paced around, casting what he called lingos or protections against evil. Centurion didn’t have a lot of intel on magic, but I remembered Prof Croft talking about wards to guard his apartment. I assumed lingos were something similar.

  Yoofi hollered in surprise.

  “What is it?” I called from the downstairs storage room.

  He came hustling in, his flasks clinking in the long coat that fell around his legs. “There is already magic here, Mr. Wolfe!”

  I set down a drone I’d been arming. “Magic? You sure?”

  “Yes, Dabu can feel it.”

  “What kind of magic?”

  Yoofi shook his head. “Dabu cannot tell where it comes from. He just knows it’s here.”

  Whatever its source, I didn’t like the idea of someone else’s magic moving around our compound. Even at its most harmless, it could be monitoring our actions. “Can Dabu dispel it?” I asked.

  “Don’t know ’bout that. When dispel magic, all its power is released.”

  “But that’s the whole idea, isn’t it?”

  “Ooh, very dangerous to try, Mr. Wolfe. Power could hurt people, hurt equipment. Make weapons explode. And not just in this here building. If powerful magic, could hurt the whole town.”

  I looked around at our arsenal. “Good to know,” I muttered.

  Yoofi blinked as though struck with sudden insight. “I know! Dabu will set up the lingos inside the other magic, like a fence. That way if bad magic, Dabu’s magic will block it.”

  “That won’t set off a reaction or anything? Having two spells so close together?”

  Yoofi giggled. “Sometimes, yes. But Dabu promises to be very careful.”

  Coming from a trickster god, that didn’t exactly reassure me. But I decided I’d rather take the risk than be subject to some form of compromising magic. And part of forging us into a team was trusting in my teammates’ skills and encouraging their initiative. “Go ahead,” I said. “Just be smart about it.”

  As Yoofi left, I walked over to the office.

  “Did you catch that?” I asked Sarah.

  She glanced up from her computer. “No, what?”

  “Sounds like there might be magic at play. Yoofi’s feeling some strange energy around the building. Could have been left by whoever dropped off the cat.”

  Sarah frowned at the development. Her fingers hammered the keys as she amended the query she’d made earlier. “A magic-user who is turned retains an ability to cast,” she said when the results came up.

  “A vampire wizard?”

  “Or witch. It’s rare, but there are examples.”

  Damn, I thought, remembering my short battle with Prof Croft. Human magic-users were powerful enough. And I was no expert on magic to begin with. “Should that change our planning?”

  “Probably, but not yet. Like you said, tomorrow will involve
gathering as much information as we can. While you take the teams out, I’ll stay and go through the records. I’ll also talk to Mayor Flores, find out if there are any practitioners of magic in the area.”

  “Great,” I muttered. “I’ll be sure to pack extra ammo.”

  But would any ammo be effective against a vampire wizard?

  Following breakfast at 0600, I called the team together downstairs. I had spelled Takara from the rooftop so she and the others could get a few hours of sleep. Since being transformed into the Blue Wolf, my senses were super active at night; as a result, I didn’t sleep very well. Fortunately, I no longer required much rest. The last was also true of Olaf, who had stayed on patrol out front.

  Now the six of us gathered around a large satellite map of El Rosario that I’d taped to the wall. I’d marked the sites where the children had been abducted. Their photos, with identifying information written on them, were taped beside the map. As impressive as Centurion’s technology was, I still thought better with pen and paper.

  I took a moment to look over the team. Everyone was attired in their tactical gear. Those of us going out wore packs as well. Takara, not surprisingly, had stuck with only her leather suit and the vest she’d selected back at the Legion compound, and with no helmet in sight. She stood front and center, as though challenging me to say something. Instead, I cleared my throat and addressed the entire team.

  “A few words before we head out. Our mission in El Rosario is twofold. One, to find and recover the abducted children. Two, to destroy the creatures that took them. By Centurion’s best estimate, we’re looking at vampires. At least five. As we learned in training, they’re super strong, super fast, and super lethal. Their ability to regenerate also makes them hard as hell to take down. Remember, rounds through the heart can stun a vampire, so that’s where you’ll want to direct your fire. Decapitation is the only surefire way to kill them.”

  Though Yoofi had the blade on his staff, Takara had the ones in her sleeves, and the rest of us carried combat knives, we had yet to practice decapitation in training.

  “Does anyone think they’ll have a problem with that?”

  Everyone shook their heads except for Takara, but I wasn’t worried about her. I continued.

  “Our chances of encountering one during daylight is slim—solar radiation weakens them—but it doesn’t mean it can’t happen. Especially since half of us are going to be moving through some pretty dense foliage. There’s also a chance at least one of them can use magic. Sarah will be staying here to dig deeper into what that might mean. The rest of us will head out in two teams. Rusty and Olaf will take the cargo van to set up Rusty’s surveillance system around town.”

  “I designed her to be installed quick,” Rusty said with pride. “Shouldn’t take more than four hours. An hour to test, some final tweaking, and we’re gold. Right, big man?” He gave Olaf’s shoulder a companionable slap. Olaf rolled his deep-set eyes toward him and let out a dull grunt.

  The two were going to make an interesting team.

  “While they’re getting the system up,” I said, “Takara, Yoofi, and I will take the passenger van to here, disembark, and patrol the foothills.” I indicated an area on the map near where three of the children had disappeared. The scents from their clothing were stored in my olfactory vault. “See if we can pick up a trail. Both teams will remain in radio contact with one another as well as with Sarah. If anyone encounters a vampire, let the rest of us know immediately.”

  “We have contact,” Yoofi said, as though rehearsing.

  “We’re all carrying GPS locators, so everyone’s positions will be on your tablet.” I pulled mine from a vest pocket and held it up, a flat gray device a little larger than a standard smartphone. “Rusty sent up two surveillance drones this morning that will coordinate with his perimeter detection system. Both are armed and can be diverted, if needed. Centurion also has a quick reaction force about twenty minutes out, but they’re only to be called as a last resort.”

  Having worked with Centurion soldiers in the field, I was still skeptical about their level of training and effectiveness. I would use them for evac before I counted on them in battle. Especially against vampires.

  “One more thing,” I said. “Rules of engagement. Though we’ll be operating around the edges of town, people are going to be out and about today. If you’re carrying a rifle, maintain trigger and muzzle discipline. We are not cleared hot unless and until we’re absolutely certain we’re dealing with an enemy. Always be aware of your field of fire. The last thing we want is for an innocent to take a bullet. This town has suffered enough. Any questions?”

  Takara surprised me by raising her hand.

  “Yeah?”

  “We’re wasting time standing around here.”

  “Damn,” Rusty muttered, blowing out his breath. “That didn’t sound harsh or anything.”

  I narrowed my eyes at her and donned my helmet. Just when I thought we were starting to get along.

  “That wasn’t a question,” I snarled. “Let’s roll.”

  We rode in silence, Yoofi beside me, nodding to the faint beat and string of expletives leaking from his ear buds. Takara was in the back, doing whatever it was she did to prepare herself, eyes closed. Though I tried to swallow it down, her comment back at the compound had left a sour taste in my mouth.

  I had puzzled on and off about our exchange the week before, what she’d said about having problems with me as an American, something to do with our history. The only thing I could come up with was the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, especially since she’d been born in the first, but that had been more than eighty years ago. Our two countries had long since made their peace. And how could she have been there? She wasn’t old enough to have experienced Vietnam, much less World War II. I shook my head. There was really no telling with her, and right now I had a mission to worry about.

  As we drove through town, I took in the people. The women wore colorful traditional dresses, while the men wore cowboy hats and denim pants, long machetes sheathed at their belts. Worry lines etched their weathered faces. They edged to the sides of the road as our van passed between them. I spotted only a few children, their wrists firmly clutched in an adult’s hand.

  After several blocks, the people fell away and the road turned to dirt. I rolled to a stop at the end of a weathered cornfield—the site of the first, third, and eighth abductions—and parked at the edge of the tree line. Yoofi removed his ear buds and smoothed his braided hair.

  “I’m going to take point,” I said. “Yoofi, you’ll be flanking me on the left. Takara, I want you on the right and a little behind. You’re going to be responsible for rear security. The woods are thick, so no more than five meters spacing. I want us all to stay in visual contact.”

  Yoofi took a shot from one of his flasks and then clutched his staff in both hands. “I’m ready, Mr. Wolfe.”

  I turned to Takara, who was still sitting perfectly erect with her eyes closed. “Takara?”

  When her lids shot open, narrow red crescents ringed her irises, the same ones I’d seen the morning we’d gone one on one. For a moment, she didn’t look quite human, but the effect faded.

  “Like we practiced,” I told them.

  We exited the van. After ensuring the area was secure, we proceeded into the woods, Takara bearing an M4 and me my bulky MP88. The pattern on my camos shifted to blend with the surrounding foliage. The smells of lush leaves and damp soil flooded my nostrils. I wandered around until I picked up a thread of one of the children. The scent was accompanied by the odor of her abductor’s face paint. Both were faint, but they gave me a trail.

  For the next hour, we followed the scent trail into the foothills. I had to periodically adjust Yoofi’s spacing—he was either drifting too close or straying too far—but Takara maintained a perfect five meters as she slipped around trees, ever vigilant to our rear. I may have had little so far to like about her personality, but her skills were undenia
ble.

  Where our first climb leveled off, I signaled a stop. The scent trail had come to a sudden end. I peered around, but there was nothing to see but trees. Far below, bits of El Rosario showed through breaks in the leaves.

  Yoofi and Takara kept watch while I removed my helmet and gloves and took a drink of water from my Camelpac. I then consulted the map. I was inspecting the terrain features around our location—where in the hell could the vamp have disappeared to?—when a soft whistle sounded.

  I turned to find Takara with her lips pursed, signaling down the hill from us. I dropped the map and raised my weapon. Above the twittering of birds and the gurgling of a nearby creek, I caught a twig snapping. A second twig groaned, as if a foot were easing its weight from it. Not seeing anything, I attuned my lupine hearing toward the site until I picked up a rapid cycling of breaths.

  I looked back at Takara and nodded. About thirty meters downhill from us, behind a thick tree, someone—or something—was hiding.

  I listened another moment to ensure there was no one else down there. There was just one breather, his or her breaths occasionally snagging on a clot of phlegm before starting up again. I signaled to Takara, and she began to move quietly off. I then turned to Yoofi and motioned for him to stay put. He nodded as dark energy warped the air around his blade.

  I sidestepped to the left as Takara circled the breather’s position. With my enhanced hearing, I could just pick up her movement, but only because I was listening for it. I waited until she was coming around the breather’s rear before motioning Yoofi forward. Leaves and branches broke beneath our footfalls, but that was all right. Our target was corralled now.

  I kept a steady watch on the tree through the MP88’s sights. When we’d approached to within fifteen meters, the brush around the tree’s base shook. Yoofi hollered, and a spiraling bolt of black energy shot from his staff. It struck the tree trunk and broke apart in a cloud of rank smoke.