"They can't all be like that," Justin argued.
"You'll see. Now clean this up so we can get out of here."
Sasha Forzani
"I'll never understand how you pop up with a new vehicle whenever you want," Justin said to me as we got into my black Corolla.
"I guess nobody ever told you just how wealthy we are, huh?"
I asked Justin, as he drove the three of us to our next target, a stakeout at the vampire mansion in Northwest. Dante silently rested in the backseat as the sun threatened to set in the early afternoon.
"Well the foundation's wealth is public information—almost three hundred million dollars in the bank. Which is crazy!"
"You think that's crazy? That's only ten percent of our wealth."
"Wait."
"What?"
"The Razadi have three billion dollars?"
"Yeah, I guess, something like that."
"How in the entire fuck did you guys get three billion dollars? Y'all were picking cotton in the old south!"
"An entire fuck? Not a portion of a fuck?"
"Nigga! Where the money come from?!"
"Why are you so excited?"
"Because you are richer than Oprah. Ain't no black folks richer than Oprah except Jesus."
I laughed hard. Justin was hilarious when he wasn't busy being needy.
"Our wealth comes from a lot of places. The Dominican Razadi became foresters after we left. Lumber was big business back then—still is. The business spread throughout the Caribbean and down into South America. Then we picked cotton, of course, and made fabric. Everybody needs clothes. Bought up a bunch of real estate. Made some investments. And, you know, maybe we bootlegged gin."
"So it's not exactly…legal…"
"All money is dirty, is it not?"
"Y'all didn't trade slaves, did you?"
"Of course not."
"Drug trafficking?"
"Are we counting weed?"
"Oh jeez."
"No Justin, we never trafficked drugs or people."
"That's just a lot of money."
"And we were very astute in our business dealings over the years. Just know that as the times changed, so did we. Babarinde has us all well taken care of."
"Okay," Justin said. He fidgeted with his seatbelt as we paused at a stoplight.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes."
"Are you nervous about going back to the mansion?"
"I'm anxious. Not afraid."
"You know I have your back, Justin."
He looked sideways at me as the light turned green and he accelerated.
"You don't like me."
"I don't have to like you to have your back. Anyway, what those vampires did to you was criminal and I'm looking forward to seeing you get your personal revenge."
"This isn't about me, this is about Orlando."
"You don't even know Orlando."
"But I know you. And I'm one of you. So…there's that."
We pulled up at the end of the cul-de-sac just as the sun set.
"It won't be long before they start filing out," I notified Justin. "That's how they do. It's like anybody else with a night job. They wake up with the sunset, shower, shave, whatever else, and then head out."
"Do they really sleep in coffins?"
"Yup. If even a pinpoint of light hits them, it's curtains. They sizzle, pop, and turn into that sludge you saw."
"Gross. So they're all in the basement, I guess."
"Probably so."
"They'll be on their guard since Chiyoko disappeared last night," Dante said, as he sat up in the backseat.
"I know. We'll need to trail the first one that comes out, corner him, and make him talk," Justin said.
"Again with the talking?" I asked.
"Yes. We need information, not bodies."
"Vampires don't leave bodies, stupid."
"Listen, you know what the fuck I mean. We know Orlando is in there. If we could just run in there with a battering ram and get him out, we would. But all we know about the interior is what I saw when I walked in. We don't know if Orlando is in a room or a dungeon or a closet or what-the-fuck-ever-else there is in that goddamn house. Every vampire we isolate gets us closer. And don't you want to know why they have him?"
"Alright bitch, damn. You over here running your mouth and don't even see the chick coming out the house."
Justin tensed up and peered out of window. A uniformed security guard and another woman walked out of the house. The small white woman wore a long black coat, a Baltimore Orioles baseball cap, and ear buds in her ears. She locked the door behind her. The guard got into the company issued sedan and sped off. The woman got on a bicycle and rolled by us at a moderate pace.
"Follow her," I ordered.
"I got this," he snapped back. He made a quick U-turn and stayed about half a block behind the woman as the pedaled through the neighborhood. She never looked back once.
We followed her through Rock Creek Park as she neared Georgia Avenue, pedaling slightly harder and slightly faster.
"She made us," I said.
"I think so, too," Justin said. He accelerated as she sped across Georgia Avenue onto Missouri, pedaling furiously.
"She's gonna make that left on Fifth Street," Dante said.
"I know," Justin replied. "Relax, we're in my territory now."
Justin was right behind her as she turned onto Fifth Street. She pedaled as fast as a superhuman could and we were on her tail. We both ran through red lights.
Justin's fangs began to elongate as he concentrated on the road.
"You hop out as soon as I go past her," he instructed.
"What?!" Dante and I said in unison.
"You hop out of this truck as soon as I pass her!"
"That's crazy!" I said.
Justin ignored us and put his pedal to the metal just as we reached Coolidge High School. We passed the woman just on the other side of the school and she hopped off her bike, running through the parkland next to the gym.
"Get her, bitch!" Justin screamed at me.
Without argument, Dante and I bailed from the truck and hit the ground, tumbling a few times but hopping right back up in pursuit of the vampire. Justin sped off down the street. Our stakes were in our hands, ready for action.
The woman was fast, but we were faster. She knew she couldn't outrun us, so she attempted to hide behind the trees. To a human eye, all that could be seen was one black blur going from tree to tree, followed by two more blurs, and the sound of the wind cutting through dead leaves.
"What do you want?" she finally asked us. She had a real terror about her, which we didn't ordinarily find among vampires. Her brown hair frizzed out from under her baseball cap and her nose twitched when she talked.
We both hissed and got into offensive stances while she cowered before us.
"Tell me what you want!" she shouted.
"An eye for an eye," I hissed.
"You're responsible for Chiyoko's disappearance last night? She's dead, isn't she?" she asked.
"Back to the sludge from which your people 'evolved.' Back where we're going to send you, too," I said.
"No, you can't!" she said, placing her hands in front of her.
"Why shouldn't we stake you?" I asked.
"Because…I know that you turned Justin. And I didn't tell Nigel or Cassandra."
"Bullshit," I said.
"I'm not lying. Cassandra dispatched us to keep tabs on you. We staked out your initiation at the McMillan Sand Filtration Site. We saw everything. We saw Justin win his fight. We saw his crowning. It was…beautiful."
"How dare you intrude on our sacred ritual?" Dante hissed.
"We were following orders from Cassandra. But we didn't give her the photographs. We deleted every last one of them and told Cassandra there was nothing worth reporting. That you had taken Justin to a hospital and he was recovering from his wounds there. That he was out of commission. A non-factor."
"Why did you do this?"
"I did it because I saw the look on my husband's face when he saw your rites. He's an African American nightwalker. He sees the Razadi and he knows what you have is a gift. He'd trade almost everything to be with you."
"You're Sasha Forzani?" I asked.
"I am."
"It's nice to meet you, Countess," I said, withdrawing my stake.
"It's nice to finally meet a Razadi face to face," she said. "Even if it had to be you."
"How did you get tied up with vampires like these? I'd always heard you and your husband were free agents."
"Let's just say we got into some trouble. Ran afoul of the vampire law. We're tethered to the Anubis Society for a while."
"That sucks," Dante said.
"What sucks?" Justin asked, as he appeared out of the blue.
"You're Justin Kena?" she asked. Justin nodded.
"I am. Who are you?" he asked.
"Sasha," she said, extending her hand. Justin looked at her suspiciously.
"It's okay. That's Countess Alexandra Forzani," I added. He shook her hand firmly.
"It's nice to meet you, Countess," he said.
"Sasha is fine. I haven't been a countess in a long time. I heard you were made a Razadi. The first in hundreds of years."
He nodded modestly.
"Yeah, that's me."
"What cologne is that you're wearing?" she asked.
"He just…yeah. That's just him," I interjected.
"Curious…" she said with a smile.
"Right."
"Listen, we need to figure this thing out," Sasha said.
"So let's talk. Is Orlando still alive?"
"Yes, very much so. He's still in the house. They won't move him. The next closest safe house for us is in West Virginia—too far away from the lab."
"Lab?"
"Victor, Nigel has commissioned a genetic study of nightwalker and daywalker DNA. He's committed to discovering your weaknesses and using them to eradicate you."
"Why? We're not at war."
"Nobody knows. He has it in his head that the daywalkers will somehow destroy all nightwalkers. He sounds like a religious fanatic."
"He follows the way of the scrolls?"
"Yes. Down to believing that Justin is The Key."
"Some of us believe that, too," I admitted.
"Do you?" Sasha asked.
"I believe in survival."
"Me too. Nigel is pure evil. He will destroy you when he gets the chance. And Cassandra is an opportunist. If either of them find out Justin has been turned, then it's all over. It's war."
"Then we've got to strike first."
"No…you need to follow the blood, first."
"What? Follow the blood?"
"You have to find out what they know about your blood. Find Dr. Zolotov. He's the one who gets Orlando's blood. From what I can gather, he knows all about the difference between daywalkers and nightwalkers. And get this: he's human. But once you dispose of him, you have to come get Orlando. They will find no use for him once you get rid of the doctor and take his research."
"You're right. Sasha…What can we do for you?"
"There's nothing you can do for me. But my husband? He wants the sun again. Find out what you can from Zolotov's work and let us know. Cassandra…she says she believes in unity between our kind, but don't trust her for a second. She'd drain you if she could."
I nodded.
"I'm really glad I finally got to meet you," I said.
"Same here. Just remember that when it all goes down, you have friends on the inside. Don't forget us."
"You have our word," I said.
Sasha smiled and was off in a flash.
"Can we trust her?" Dante asked.
"I think so," I said. "She's definitely not like the others."
"Wait. What the fuck just happened? You have me Tokyo-drifting across DC, chasing this chick through the park, and all of the sudden we just trust her? How do we know we can trust her? She could be telling that Nigel and Cassandra everything right now. We have to get her!"
"That was Sasha Forzani. She's a legend among nightwalkers, man," I said.
"Legend? Why you ain't tell me?"
"I mean, who knew she was in DC for real?" Dante said.
Justin growled.
"What? Calm down," Dante said.
"How are we going to fight them and I don't even know who they are?"
"Aight…I got something for your ass. Get in the truck."
We sped off to the truck and drove to Justin's apartment, where I knew we'd have the Internet connection we'd need in order to teach him what he needed to know.
"It's musty in here. Don't you believe in Plug-Ins?" I asked.
"When's the last time I was even here?"
"True. Where's your remote control?" I asked. He pointed to an end table next to his sofa, and I discovered one of the big, good remotes with a built-in keyboard. I turned on the television and went to the Internet.
"What are you doing?" Justin asked.
"Come sit down," I said. He came to me on the couch while Dante went back to the bathroom.
I typed in a series of numbers and periods into the navigation bar.
"An IP address?" Justin asked.
"Watch," I directed. Dante emerged from the restroom and sat on the floor in between Justin's legs.
A protected page came up and I typed in the lengthy password. I was in within seconds. A single folder opened with one file. I clicked it.
Justin's television made the perfect theater.
"What's this?" he asked.
"Just watch," I said.
The opening titles were blurred, jumpy, and black and white. A white man in a plain black suit appeared on the screen and spoke words I had heard many times before.
"Greetings, and welcome to Project Corn Lily. As conflict escalates worldwide, you have been selected from among hundreds of qualified soldiers to assist with a most important project: the development of a superior weapon."
The suited man stepped aside, and the camera panned back to reveal a bare bunker with one hooded figure strapped to a chair.
"This race of foreign savages has been living among us—in secret—for decades. All we know for certain is that they are a European import. They are strong, fast, and deadly. They, my friends, are vampires—the monsters that you only thought were part of movies and folklore."
The suited man pulled the hood off his prisoner. The blond vampire was angry and hissing through his fangs.
"Dark eyes. Inch-long fangs. Unfettered rage. This thing would rip your heart out and eat it if it wasn't strapped down. But watch this."
The suit produced a foot-long, sharpened stake and a hammer. The vampire panicked and tried to get out of the chair, but it was bolted down. The man steadied the stake, and then with one quick movement, drove it into the heart of the vampire. Immediately, the nightwalker shrieked and then shriveled into a black mass, just as Chiyoko had done the night before. Justin winced.
"The rules are simple for dealing with these animals. First, they have vulnerabilities. A wooden stake will kill them. It is painful, but it is quick. Second, sunlight has a similar impact. Should you ever receive orders to abort the project, those are the only two things that will kill it.
"Our experiments here are designed to mitigate these weaknesses for the benefit of the cause of freedom. Please, let the scientists do their jobs. Protect them. With your assistance, we can revolutionize the way we fight. And we can end this war.
"One final note: the females of this species are just as deadly as the males. Never, ever look directly into their eyes, and never, ever let your guard down at night. They will use every opportunity to escape, through force and cunning.
"Thank you, soldier. God bless you and God bless America."
The tape went black and the television reverted back to the file folder.
"You know what?" Justin asked, after minutes of silence.
"What?" I as
ked.
"This is exactly why I don't fuck with the government."
Dante and I laughed hard.
"Dead ass!" Justin continued. "You mean to tell me nightwalkers have been here for decades? And the government basically tried to turn them into weapons? That is just fucking like America to do that shit."
"That's the only tape we could find like that," Dante said. "But there are bits and pieces of the nightwalker story everywhere. They're old. They've got their own systems and traditions. But for whatever reason, they didn't come to America until well after we did."
"Did America ever weaponize them?" Justin asked.
"Didn't seem to," I said. "There's still a lot we don't know. But the most important thing we know is that they're still here and they are dangerous as fuck."
"Then we've got to find Dr. Zolotov. And then we're getting Orlando. I don't want to wait any longer. This shit is crazy.
Dr. Zolotov
As luck would have it, Dr. Damien Zolotov's name was in the phone book. We took the old white van and made the journey to Bethesda, Maryland, to the private National Life Lab building, near the National Institute of Health and the Walter Reed complex. We donned our work suits and grabbed bags of tools and proceed through the front door of the building, right through the metal detectors.
"We're from Rising Sun, we're here to start some renovations to Dr. Zolotov's lab," I told the elderly security man at the front desk.
"I don't have anything on the calendar for today. Let me buzz Doctor-"
"Look at me," I said sharply. The security man turned to me.
"You don't need to buzz the doctor," I said.
"I don't need to buzz the doctor."
"We're going to go up there, do what we need to do, then leave quietly. You won't remember a thing."
"I won't remember a thing."
"Thank you, friend!" I said cheerfully.
"You're welcome, have a good evening!"
"I could get used to this," Justin said. "I can't imagine you've paid a restaurant bill in years."
"Who'd want to do that?" I said.
We boarded the elevator and pressed the button for the sixth floor. We opened our toolboxes and gripped the magnificent Glocks that Babarinde had gifted us before we left. Specially equipped for regular, silver, and wooden bullets. I secretly prayed I'd get to use them soon.
Birth of a Dark Nation Page 29