"Well, that was fun," he said sarcastically.
"Seems like that was too close for my liking," Larry said as he wiped his eyes.
"Yeah, I don't think I can go that long again," Chris said as color returned to his face.
Larry handed him the backpack and Chris grabbed a vial of holy water. He popped the top and drank it. He shuttered briefly and cringed. "Better safe than sorry," he said as he tossed the vial onto the floor of the limo.
He grabbed a stake and threw the open backpack back to Larry. He was so stunned by his friend's recovery that the contents of the soft, brown leather backpack fell onto the floor of the limo. He started to put everything back as Chris unlocked the door.
"It was fresh, who volunteered?" Chris asked.
"I did."
Chris nodded and charged out into the battle. Larry followed.
* * *
Father Kinney panted. He was too old to be running up and down flights of stairs. His heart thumped against his ribcage. He ran into the interior of the church. After leaning against one of the pews, he had caught his breath and then he slowly continued towards the altar. The secret passage to the hidden vault was only a few feet away. He reached the altar and his chest screamed. He knew that his heart was failing him. He dropped the tome and fell to a knee.
He heard a familiar clicking. He looked up and the vampire queen was walking slowly up the center aisle of the church. She dragged her fingernails on her right hand across the side of each pew, defacing each one of them. She smiled. The old priest's damaged heart skipped at beat. She smiled evilly.
"Haven't we met like this before?" she teased.
"G…Get…" he gasped for breath.
"Oh," she said as she continued towards the priest, "Someone is really excited to see me. He can't even talk."
A door flew open and Myles and David charged into the room. They let out a battle cry and charged the vampire queen. She rolled her eyes.
"Not these fucking two again," she said with a sigh.
David, despite his injured ribs, reached the vampire queen before Myles; however, it wasn't in his best interest. Mikhaeli had lost all interest in playing with any of the council warriors. She kicked David in the ribs before he could even think of defending himself. His broken ribs cracked again. Stars filled his vision. She grabbed him by the throat and lifted him off the ground.
"I'm tired of your geeky little ass," she said before she tossed him across the rows of pews. David crashed through the pews. Like his last battle in this church, darkness consumed him.
Myles, who already was suffering from a concussion, staggered towards the vampire queen. She truly wanted to play with this battered fool but she didn't have time to waste. When Myles was within reach, she simply punched him in the face. His neck cracked from the blow. He slumped to the ground and his breathing became erratic. She continued towards her prey.
"Father," she cooed, "Don't you want to give it to me?"
The priest closed his eyes and tried to pray. However, only her words filled his mind. He couldn't control his actions. Despite the pain in his chest, he slowly stood. He picked up the tome and robotically walked towards the vampire.
"Ooooo," she said excitedly, "It is so big. I want you to give it to me right here and now. I want it so bad."
Inside she cackled with delight, as she had wanted to use this magic spell for very long while. During their last visit, she had planted the seeds for the spell in his mind. She finally was able to see the ancient spell working. It excited her. The priest continued to walk towards her. She smiled sweetly at him.
"FATHER!" Chris called as he entered the church.
The priest ignored him. He was a step away. He held out the tome and Mikhaeli took it greedily. Chris charged ahead. He came to a quick stop when Mikhaeli darted behind the priest. She tilted his head. He slowly snapped out of his spell induced haze. She pulled his head back violently and bared her fangs.
"One more step and he dies," she snarled.
"Kind of cliché, isn't it?" Chris asked.
Mikhaeli smiled. "You're right," she said before he sunk her fangs into Father Kinney's neck and quickly drained the life out of the dying priest.
"NO!" Chris screamed as he charged.
Mikhaeli tossed the dying priest and the tome aside. Chris viciously attacked her. Every blow was easily deflected away. Chris jumped and kicked. She caught his leg and threw him across the pews. His body skipped and bounced like at flat stone across a smooth lake. Stars filled his vision. As he stood, Mikhaeli grabbed him and threw him into the middle aisle of the church. Again, his body bounced. He skipped off of the floor and slammed into the pews. He slumped against the side of a pew.
Mikhaeli sat him up and slapped his face several times. He was barely conscious. She lifted his chin. She tilted his chin and she plunged her tongue into his mouth. She kissed him fiercely. She pulled away slowly.
"Something to remember me by," she said.
Chris opened one eye to see Myles' barely conscious body in her arms. "No," he muttered weakly as he reached for his friend.
Mikhaeli laughed before she plunged her fangs into Myles' throat. His body protested. He shuttered as his blood was sucked into the vampire. Seconds later, his lifeless body dropped to the ground. Mikhaeli picked up the tome and hummed a song as she exited the church. The last thing Chris saw before succumbing to unconsciousness was Myles' dead eyes staring at him.
CHAPTER 9
DENVER, COLORADO
A week had passed since the 'Battle of the Holy Rose' as it had been documented in the Council of the Light's archives. Father Kinney was made a saint for his dedication to his faith and his service to the council. His body, which had been doused with holy water to prevent him from becoming a victim of vampirism, was flown to Vatican City where the Pope personally oversaw his funeral. The Pope even gave his eulogy. What surprised many were the leaders of the other faiths, both Christian and non-Christian, who had also gathered to pay their respects for the fallen council warrior. Speculation filled many blogs and internet news sites, but the council fed them stories about how Father Kinney had secretly worked behind the scenes to feed the poor in every country regardless of their faith. Before long, the many news outlets were running the stories and television movies and specials about his life were planned. As they have done in the past, the council avoided leaking the true identity of one of their great leaders to the general public.
Larry sat behind the counter of the antique bookstore that Myles had managed. He read the stories about his fallen friend with a tear in his eye. As a favor to David and to honor Myles' memory, he had decided to manage the store. He had some vacation time that was long overdue and he had been planning a sabbatical. With the loss of Myles, Christopher's group needed a researcher. He thought long and hard about his future. Instead of taking a vacation, he took the long planned sabbatical, with plans to retire, from the university. He was given a large retirement package that would include his unused vacation and sick time. He could live comfortably for the rest of his life.
He clipped all of the stories about Father Kinney and placed them in his archive folder. He had a scrapbook for every council member that he had known personally. Father Kinney had been a friend for many, many years and he had hoped that they could have moved the tome to another location for Father Kinney's safety. With the tome out of Colorado, the vampire queen would have eventually moved on as the Denver trail had become cold. Instead, Father Kinney insisted that the tome remain in his care so he could personally watch over it. Larry, who feared for his friend's life, brought Christopher to the city. As Father Kinney had stated, he was going to protect the tome with his life. Unfortunately, he had lost both.
The bell connected to the door rang. Larry didn't expect any customers. The store was simply a front for council activities in Denver. Many of the books contained in the store were council archives. The few books that they did sell were works of fiction. The 'ancient mystical tomes' tha
t were advertised on the doors were harmless copies, printed on period paper, of books that the council had collected. They helped to pay the bills, but they would never cause any harm to the general public. The magic spells contained within the spell books would only give the caster diarrhea or acne. When he looked up from his paper, it was the person that he had expected: Christopher Heart.
"Good morning," Larry stated.
"Yeah, if you say so," Chris grumbled. "Anything of note?"
"When did you become so business-like?"
"When two good people die under my watch," he said honestly.
Larry looked at his friend. There were bags under his bloodshot eyes. His breath reeked of cheap liquor. Since the battle, Chris had barely slept. He started drinking. What bothered Larry was that he didn't take care of his comic book collection. He had a week's worth of comics that were untouched. Comics had always been his outlet. He would use them to escape his own reality. Instead, he locked himself away in his apartment so he could avoid his friends. David was heartbroken over the loss of Myles and he refused to speak to Chris.
"You had nothing to do with their deaths," Larry stated bluntly.
"Get real, Larry," Chris growled. "Why did you risk your life then if you didn't think that I was needed?"
Larry sighed. His friend had made a point but he believed that Chris had missed his point. "No, I can't argue against…"
"Exactly," Chris said.
"But, I can argue against your logic," Larry continued after being interrupted.
Chris grabbed a chair and sat down. "Okay humor me," he grumbled.
"Fine, I will humor you with a series of questions."
"Shoot."
"Why do you blame yourself for their deaths?" Larry asked.
"I see that I am not going to get a few easy ones first to build up my winnings," Chris replied. "Okay, they needed me to protect them. I failed. The queen beat me not once but twice. The first time, everyone survived. This time, my failures allowed her to thin our ranks."
"So this has to do with your defeats?" Larry pressed.
"Absolutely not!" Chris exclaimed.
"Are you sure?"
"Positive."
"Then why did you bring it up first?"
"Because if the queen was killed the first time, she wouldn't have had her way," he said.
Larry was puzzled. "Had her way?"
"Yeah with our troops," Chris added. "She did what she wanted. She killed our warriors, killed our friends, and walked away with the tome with barely a scratch."
"I see," Larry said. "However from what the survivors have said, I doubt that she was even scratched, but that doesn't explain your reasoning."
"I fail to see how it doesn't," Chris retorted. "I am supposed to be the big gun…"
"…who was wounded."
"Yes, I was hurt. They tortured me. I needed food. I was tired," Chris admitted.
"Yet you went into a battle with one of the most feared vampires in history. There hasn't been a vampire this powerful in centuries. From my research, several of the members of the Order of Twelve never reached her level of power."
"And isn't it my job to stop her?" Chris asked.
"No, it is the mandate of the council. We all have to stop her. Putting the wishes of the council on one member would be unfair. You have training and experience that are envied by our council warriors. However, they all know their roles. Their job is to stop evil whether it is in life or with their death. Myles and Father Kinney both knew that. Father Kinney, as you know, was ill. His heart was failing. He was waiting to be called home. He is in a better place now. Myles, who I saw before the battle, was injured. Like you, did he turn a blind eye and run away from his duty? No, he ran headlong into the battle. It was a suicide mission. He knew that he couldn't beat the vampire queen. He probably had expected to die. He tried to stop her, like we all did, and failed. Had we been successful, his death would have seemed like it had a purpose. However, history is filled with battles where the eventual winner of the war had lost. At the time, their losses seemed meaningless because the ultimate goal had not been achieved. In the end, they were seen as heroes just like our warriors will be once we win this war."
Chris scoffed. "Win the war? Hasn't it been going on for over a thousand years?"
"Well, yes…"
"Then you are only reinforcing my point. These people shouldn't have died…"
"Chris, they died doing their duty just like you would do," Larry added.
"But…"
"But what?"
"…those hundreds of other soldiers weren't directly recruited by me. Father Kinney, I know, was already established in the council when I arrived here. However, I should have taken the tome from him and let him live the rest of his life in peace. I couldn't convince him to let it go."
"That's because he didn't want to let it go. Chris, he might have died a brutal death but he died doing what he loved: Spreading the word of God and protecting the world from evil. He died a happy man."
"And Myles?"
"And finally the truth is told. Chris, if you remember," Larry said as he pointed to his chest, "I picked them. I taught them. I planted suggestions in their heads that they could be something more. I talked David into renting the shop to set up this store. When the time was right, I would send them your way and the rest is history."
"But I never trained them properly," Chris protested.
"They were never meant to fight along side you. We have warriors for that. They were supposed to be the intelligence division. Just because they followed you one night and fought vampires without training isn't your fault. They did it willingly. Now you have to accept that his death wasn't your fault. If blame falls on anyone, it is me."
Chris nodded. "I appreciate the advice but it doesn't make me feel any better."
"Of course it doesn't. I mourn too. Both men were my friends and comrades in arms. I have known the good Father for decades. While we didn't agree on our religious beliefs, it never stopped us from being friends. Myles was a great student who I molded into our image. Their deaths have hit me very hard. However, instead of mourning in the traditional sense, I move forward and remember their lives. However, I think that you have to come to terms with what is really bothering you," Larry urged.
"Failure is not easily accepted," Chris admitted.
"Being bested by a powerful foe is not failure. You were defeated in battle. It has happened to the greatest of military leaders and warriors."
"I can accept those failures even if it is twice. It's my other failure that I cannot accept," Chris added.
"And what failure is that?" David asked from the arch which led to the back storage room.
Chris looked up and Larry turned to see their friend. David also had not been sleeping since the death of his friend. The council leadership had paid for Myles' funeral. It wasn't lavish because that would have attracted suspicion. It was, on the other hand, a very quaint and mellow service that allowed Myles' few friends to gather together and to say goodbye. David used the excuse that Myles fell from a ladder at work and his neck was broken when his head had struck a shelf. He was cremated to prevent the risk of him rising as a vampire. David kept his ashes as he planned to fly to San Diego and scatter them there. Myles had always wanted to attend a ComicCon event in the city but he never could afford to go. After David would finish spreading his ashes, Myles would be a permanent resident of the event.
"Good morning David," Larry said.
David nodded. "It will be better if he answers my question."
"Fair enough," Larry said.
Both men could hear the anger in his tone. "My failure goes beyond the failures of the battle," Chris admitted.
"Okay, then what is it?" David demanded.
"David, please give the man a chance to answer," Larry said trying to defuse the situation. "No need to be angry."
"ANGRY?" David yelled. "I AM BEYOND FUCKING ANGRY."
"David, please…"
"David, we can't point fingers…"
"Bullshit! You told me yourself that you recruited us because you couldn't help him anymore. I've been thinking long and hard about this. You never gave us a choice. You sent him to us under the guise of the biggest comic book geek because you knew that would hook us since we were geeks too. You even urged me to open up a store and loaned me the money to do so. Why? Was it some wish of your mysterious council?"
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