Blood Reign

by Harvey W. McCarthy

  "Is he always like this?" the dark-haired flight attendant asked.

  "No, he's worse," David replied as he stored their bags.

  Larry chuckled as he sat down. "Please ignore them; ma'am," he said politely. "They both get grumpy when they have to fly. Thank you for being available on such short notice."

  She smiled. "Thanks for the warning. We noticed that this is the second plane to be requested for your destination in less than twentyfour hours. Are you headed to some kind of convention?"

  "You could say that," David replied.

  "Well, I hope that you have a great time," she said cheerfully. "Can I get you anything before we lift off?"

  "I believe that there is a package waiting for us and a little privacy until the in-flight meal is prepared," Larry replied.

  "Of course, sir," she replied. "I will retrieve it from the cabin. I will have your meal prepared within the hour."

  "Thank you. That will be perfect," Larry responded.

  The flight attendant smiled and disappeared from sight. The private jet began to move slowly. The flight attendant returned with a briefcase. "Please fasten your seatbelts as we will be taking off momentarily," she said as she handed the briefcase to Larry.

  "Thank you," he said.

  David sat down and buckled himself into the seat directly across from his friend. Larry lowered the table into place and he placed the briefcase on top of the white table. He opened the briefcase and spied several manila folders and a USB drive. He removed the contents and stood the briefcase next to his seat. He handed the computer drive to David.

  "This appears to be your area of expertise," he said.

  "Once we are airborne, I'll power up my netbook."

  "In the meantime," Larry said as he handed one of the folders to David, "We'll do this the old fashioned way: We'll read."

  After a short while later, the plane had reached its cruising altitude. Larry and David had unbuckled their seatbelts despite being requested that they remained buckled for their safety. Larry requested the flight attendant and she returned to their seats. He requested that she bring them the refreshment cart.

  "What can I get for you?" she asked.

  Larry glanced up at the smiling flight attendant. "Nothing, just leave it."

  She glanced at David. "I don't mind…"

  "We will be doing some research and we will be requiring several refreshments. Plus, we won't want to be interrupted. Can you bring us our meal in thirty minutes?" Larry asked.

  She smiled. "Of course. I will leave you to your privacy."

  Larry turned the cart to face him. He removed a domestic beer and handed it to David who shook his head.

  "Come on. The council needs to pay for the good stuff."

  Larry nodded and returned the beer to refrigerator. He removed two cans of imported beer. He closed the door and sat up in his seat. He cracked open his beer and took a long drink of the dark, bitter liquid.

  "Ahh," he said with delight.

  David, who was experiencing Guinness for the first time, cringed slightly at the burnt flavor. "Wow that has a bit of a kick."

  "Ahh, man up der laddie," Larry said in his best Irish accent, "A little bitter stout will put hair on ya chest."

  David took another drink. "I didn't say that it was bad, but it is different. Obviously, this isn't made for guzzling."

  "We have lots of time where we are going so we can sip. Plus, there is a lot more of where that came from."

  David smiled as he lifted his computer case to his lap. He removed the tiny, netbook computer and opened it. The small machine, roughly half the size of a standard laptop computer, hummed to life. The small

  10.1 inch screen glowed as the familiar sound files from the Microsoft Windows 7 indicated that the operating system had begun its booting cycle. The small screen indicated that all base programs had been loaded and David immediately connected the small computer to the onboard internet service provider.

  "What is the good word?" Larry asked.

  "I'm a geek," David said as he slid the small memory drive into an USB port. "I should have an uplink shortly."

  "Tell me something that I don't know," Larry said.

  David pulled his head backwards as his computer began a completely different booting cycle and several different programs loaded. "What the hell is this?" he asked.

  "You're asking the wrong guy," Larry admitted.

  "Rhetorical question," David said as he watched the programs load.

  "Anything wrong?" Larry inquired.

  "No," he said as he saw the shield of the Council of the Light appear on his screen. "I think that I was given a boot drive."

  "A boot drive?"

  "Yeah, the flash drive had a booting program. It automatically loaded specific programs when it was inserted into my computer. Some flash drives contain booting programs to make computers load faster," David replied as he pressed several buttons, "But in this case, it has given us direct access to the council archives and mainframe."

  "Well, that should be helpful. Maybe we can cross-reference some of the names listed in these files. I guess we are back to the usual: I read and you geek."

  "It's worked for us in the past. What does that first letter say?"

  "It is a status report from our agents in Halifax," Larry replied.

  "You read. I will punch in names and I will see if I can get us some more background information."

  Larry picked up the computer printout and cleared his throat. He adjusted his reading glasses. He spoke softly and clearly, but not loud enough to draw the attention of the flight attendant. He read:

  October 29, 2010

  Council of the Light Halifax Light Highlanders

  We have been intercepting a lot of enemy traffic along the usual channels. The normally very cryptic messages have been unusually easy to decrypt. They have increased their movements after several months of being highly inactive. Something apparently has brought the vampires out into the open. While still keeping to the shadows, they apparently are preparing for an arrival.

  "The bitch," David said as he continued to access the files on the computer drive.

  "If she hears you call her that, it will probably be the last words that you ever say," Larry said as he peered at David over his reading glasses.

  "Honestly, I hope to be well away from her during our next meeting which I hope is never."

  "Unless someone magically makes her disappear, I don't think that you will be so lucky," Larry added.

  David sighed. "Way to ruin my day."

  Larry continued:

  Their sudden surge in activity coincided with a tragic event at the Halifax International Airport. This morning a private jet, whose itinerary indicated that it had originated from Denver, had an emergency landing. When police officers and fire fighters reported to the scene, a lone, living individual was aboard. The police were forced to kill the suspect as he refused to surrender peacefully. When the medical examiner and the investigators entered the plane, they discovered a brutally gory scene. Everyone aboard was dead and it appeared that the flight attendant had been sexually assaulted prior to having her throat ripped open. While the police have only deemed it as a homicide, our warriors hidden within the department believe that a vampire had been aboard. The wounds were consistent with their feeding habits.

  We are currently investigating the location of Damien Le Doux. After the expulsion of the Acadians by the British government, in 1755, he moved to Nova Scotia. He had been turned into a vampire in France. His sire has never been revealed to us, but he has always claimed the title of 'Lord.' Normally, he stays out of the forefront of their activities and he has his lieutenants carry out his nefarious deeds. When his name begins to surface in their communications, it usually means something big is about to happen.

  We have readied our reserves and we will await your orders. Our encrypted email is available via the drive which accompanied this package.

  Colonel Ray McInnis Light High
landers

  David shook his head. "Are you thinking what I am thinking?"

  Larry cringed. "You better start cross-referencing our lovely queen with any activity surrounding the French and Indian War."

  "I was worried that you were going to say that," he said.

  Neither man noticed that their flight attendant had arrived with their meals. David closed his netbook and placed it under his seat. Larry closed his file folder and placed it in the magazine pocket on the side of his seat. He was surprised that a plane of such extravagance would have something as simplistic as a magazine holder but even the wealthy read on planes. The flight attendant placed a large platter in front of both men. She removed the lids and the aroma instantly filled the cabin.

  David tried not to drool. He had grown up in a very humble home. His mom's meatloaf was usually the most extravagant meal that he would have consumed during his youth. His simple tastes had remained as he progressed into his adult years. The occasional T-bone steak sometimes made its way into his shopping cart, but he had never purchased a tenderloin steak. The tenderloin steak in front of him was at least four inches thick. A perfectly baked potato, smothered in sour cream and chives, only added to the splendor of the meal. Several other sides from corn to a green vegetable that David had never seen before today completed the meal. He stared in awe.

  "Are you going to eat it or are you planning to fuck it?" Larry asked as he was completely oblivious that the flight attendant was still in their presence.

  She blushed. "I hope that he decides to eat it. Our chef was given instructions by the same people that had delivered the briefcase for you. We were told exactly how to prepare all three of your meals. Are you prepared to sample the wine?"

  "There is wine?" David asked incredulously.

  The flight attendant giggled which David found quite appealing. "Yes, we have a bottle of 1945 Chateau Mouton-Rothschild Jeroboam on ice."

  Larry was shocked. "The 1945 Chateau Mouton-Rothschild Jeroboam?" he asked.

  "Yes, the same 1945 Chateau Mouton-Rothschild Jeroboam that was purchased in 1997 by an anonymous buyer for one hundred and fourteen thousand dollars," the flight attendant said. "It was donated to the flight by the same buyer. His identity was never revealed. If you are ready, I can bring your glasses."

  "Yes please," Larry urged.

  "I will return momentarily," she said.

  "Wow," David said. "What kind of crazy bastard buys a bottle of wine for the price of a fucking house and then gives it to us?"

  "Me," Chris said as he slid into the seat across the aisle from David and Larry.

  "YOU?" David asked.

  "Could you not yell that out?" Chris requested.

  "You set this up?" David asked.

  "Who else do you know that can afford it?" Chris asked.

  "Well, the council knows of us," David said.

  "But who knows that you like your steak medium-well and Larry likes his steak his medium-rare? I emailed them the instructions just before we left for the airport."

  Without responding, both men cut into their prime cuts of meat. The expensive tenderloin nearly fell apart as their steak knives slipped easily through the tender meat. Both men noticed that the meat had been cooked to their respective tastes. David hesitated as he lifted the pink meat to his mouth. Larry wasn't so hesitant. He stuffed the meat into his mouth and chewed. He moaned audibly.

  "Now who is fucking his meat?" David asked as the flight attendant returned.

  "Ignore them," Chris said as he accepted his glass of wine.

  "I will try," she said with a smile.

  She placed their glasses of wine on their table. Both men nodded as they chewed slowly. She smiled.

  "Anything else?" she inquired.

  "No, thank you," Chris replied. "Just share the remainder of the bottle with the rest of the crew."

  "Are you sure?" she asked as her eyes widened.

  "Yes, I am, ma'am. The buyer is a personal friend."

  "Of course," she said excitedly before disappearing into the crew area.

  "You just gave away a hundred thousand dollar bottle of wine?" David mumbled through the steak in his cheek.

  "Yes," Chris said as he placed his headphones in his ears before he lifted the lid on his meal.

  David stared as Chris began to bob his head to his music. He glanced at Larry who was too busy eating to notice the puzzled look on David's face. Chris merrily cut into his rare steak as he read his comic book.

  "He is ignoring us," David said.

  "Yes," Larry mumbled as he chewed on a mouthful of vegetables.

  "You don't care?"

  "No," Larry said after he swallowed his food. "He's been ignoring us since we boarded. Why would that change now?"

  "I figured that he would at least join us for dinner," David said.

  "He already had his meal in the back while we had her distracted. He is eating now to keep up appearances."

  "Well, I want to thank him for paying for all of this," David added as he stood.

  "I don't think that is such a…"

  David ignored Larry's protest. He wiped his mouth on a silk napkin as he stood. He dropped the green embroidered napkin next to his meal and he stood next to Chris. His friend was blissfully unaware that David stood next to him. He had his eyes closed and he was lip-syncing to the song that filled his ears. David crossed his arms and tapped his foot. Chris never opened his eyes. Frustrated, David removed the earphone from Chris' left ear. Angrily, Chris turned his gaze towards David as 'Heaven' by the Swiss hard rock group Gotthard played from the earphone that hung from David's hand.

  "How dare you interrupt Steve Lee?" Chris asked.

  "Trying to do you a favor," David said. "When are you going to listen to someone from this generation?"

  Chris snatched the earphone from David. "The late Steve Lee left us far too soon. He had one of the best voices that I've ever heard. Regardless, I'd sooner listen to Gotthard than anything else produced today. They are under-appreciated musicians who have more talent than any of the music industry clones that are shoved down the throats of today's youth."

  He placed the earphone back in his ear. He resumed his lip-syncing. David sighed and removed the earphone from his ear again.

  Chris' eyes were filled with pure venom. "If you ever and I repeat ever do that again, I will rip out your throat and then toss your drained body out the door."

  David swallowed hard. He could tell from his friend's expression that he was serious. Myles had spilled his coffee on one of his comic books before and that was the only other time that he had seen Chris this angry. He thought right then and there that Chris was going to rip out both of his arms. Knowing that Chris was actually a vampire, he feared having his throat ripped out by an angry vampire even more than he feared that Chris would rip his arm out of its socket.

  "I…I…I…I wanted to know why you are not eating with us?" David asked cautiously.

  Chris glared and placed the earphone back in his ear. He slowly turned the page of his comic as his eyes never left David's petrified gaze. "I'm reading," he growled.

  David slid back into his seat. Larry held his napkin over his mouth as tears streaked down his face. He was desperately trying to hide his laughter. David glared at him angrily which only aided Larry's jovial mood. His continued laughter only served to increase his anger. He continued to glare at his friend.

  "What?" Larry asked through a giggle.

  "What?" David asked angrily. "He threatened to kill me."

  "Well, you did disturb him."

  "What gives him the r…?" David asked.

  "He is scared."

  "What?" David pressed.

  "Remember that he is afraid of flying," Larry said as he resumed eating.

  "I know that he is afraid of flying, but I just don't understand why."

  Larry cut another portion off of his steak. He held the morsel on his fork. "Think of what age he is. To my knowledge, he's about five hundred years ol
d. When he was in his formative years, airplanes, especially jets, were not even a figment of someone's imagination."

  David turned his attention to Chris who was lost in the fictional world of his comic book. He paused before placing a piece of steak in his mouth. The red liquid that dripped slowly from the barely cooked morsel made his skin crawl. He repressed a shiver before returning his attention back to his mentor.