Calmly, she smiled. She winked at him. He was confused. As he blinked away his confusion, she dug her sharps fingernails into the sleeve of his black outfit. Skin and cloth ripped away as she tore the sleeve from his body. He screamed. Bits of his skin hung from her fingernails as she cleaned them. She licked the blood from her fingers as she wiped his saliva from her face. She casually tossed her makeshift napkin aside as the wounded warrior pressed his hand on his fresh wounds.
She stared at him. She listened. His heart was racing. The scent of his fresh blood intoxicated her senses but she forced herself to focus. He stared back at her. He panted. He was in pain. She focused harder. She raised her hand and pushed. General Scott flew back into one of the stone chairs. His breath escaped him as his back, despite the body armor, slammed into the stone surface. Stars filled his vision as his body was overcome with pain. His head slumped forward as blood stained his salt and pepper hair.
Mikhaeli grabbed his blood soaked hair. She yanked his head backwards. Clumps of hair were pulled out of his head. More pain filled his brain. Three images filled his vision. He tried to focus but her face moved from side to side. He coughed and bloody bubbles leaked from the edges of his mouth. His eyes were glassy. He groaned and he coughed again.
Mikhaeli released her grip on his hair. She cupped his chin in her hand. She gently rubbed his face. She gently wiped his forehead. She kissed him softly on the forehead. She kissed down his face and tenderly kissed him on the lips. She pulled away and rubbed his face again.
"No dying," she whispered, "You'll miss the show."
"Sh…Sh…ow?" he stammered.
She smiled. "Oh yes," she cooed.
She snapped her fingers and more vampires emerged from the tunnels. The vampires that surrounded the warriors attacked. Screams of agony ensued. Several warriors were picked up and tossed into the waiting hungry horde of vampires that continued to emerge from the tunnels. Unable to defend themselves, their bodies were ripped to pieces. Streams of spraying blood joined the screams. Blood trickled along the floors like tiny rivers. Blood dripped from human organs that hung from the walls. The screams became shrieks of agony as the overwhelmed warriors realized their fate. Mikhaeli smiled.
She slipped in behind General Scott who wept softly. Tears trickled down his cheeks as his warriors were torn to pieces. Their shrieks of terror clawed at his soul. He was powerless to help them. She placed her cheek next to his tear stained cheek. She kissed him softly.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" she whispered softly.
"Fuck you," he spat through his tears.
"Oh, you no like?" she asked.
General Scott cried harder. "F…F…Fuck you," he said again.
"Tisk, tisk, tisk," she admonished. "Father, I am ashamed of you. Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?"
"Go to hell," he said again as he watched a female warrior scream as she was eaten by group of burly vampires. He closed his eyes and sobbed.
Mikhaeli turned his head and kissed him passionately. His eyes opened as fright filled his entire body. She opened her closed eyes and pulled away. She licked his blood from her lips. She purred. She held his face and looked deeply into his eyes. She leaned over and placed her lips near his ear.
"This is only the beginning," she whispered.
She laughed.
* * *
Bishop Jordan Wallace paced. He glanced at the digital clock in his office. For the last four hours, he concluded that he had looked at the clock several hundred times since General Scott had left with his warriors. He tried reading all their recent reports, but nothing could take his mind off of his mentor. General Scott had made destroying the vampire queen his personal mission. He had ordered many dangerous missions over the years due to alleged sightings of the queen. Many warriors had died and the queen had always eluded them. Even their best warriors were sent back to them in pieces. The more that the queen taunted them, the angrier his mentor became. With the queen's location confirmed, he had decided to lead a mission which he hadn't done in decades. This mission was supposed to be relatively easy but they had still maintained radio silence. They were long overdue. His pacing continued.
He returned to his computer console. He entered a string of commands and the cathedral's security feed appeared. Cameras were everywhere. There were over a hundred cameras within a three mile radius of Canterbury Cathedral. He cycled through the cameras and sighed. As usual, all was quiet. The only people in sight were their warriors who were strategically placed to guard the ancient structure. From the homeless to the police that worked the streets, the cathedral was surrounded by its guards. However, none of those warriors were members of the group that had been sent to kill the queen. He sighed again.
He was about to shut off his computer and resume his pacing when a priority alert flashed on his screen. It was an incoming message from one of their many warriors hidden amongst the general populace. Jordan quickly entered his administrative password. A secondary screen opened. An image of a man dressed all in black appeared on his screen. The transmission was coming from a cell phone.
"This is Bishop Wallace," Jordan said, "Report."
"Operative 0719 reporting movement to the east," the man said.
"Standby," Jordan ordered.
The man remained silent. Bishop Wallace entered another set of commands and all east facing cameras appeared on the first screen. His brown eyes darted from one image to the next until he saw a black van.
"License plate?" he asked.
"No plates but the bumper is a confirmed C and a confirmed L followed by zero, zero one," the warrior said.
Jordan touched his screen and the small camera image filled the entire screen. He pressed another button on the screen and the image froze. He drew a square on the bumper. The screen changed to his selected image from the front of the van. Despite the pixilation, he could read the code which was placed on all council vehicles. It was the van designated for the cathedral which General Scott had personally selected for his mission. Jordan Wallace breathed a sigh of relief.
"Warrior reconfirm," he ordered.
"C-L, zero, zero, one, he stated again.
"Thank you, resume patrol," Bishop Wallace stated.
The transmission ended. Jordan immediately went to work. He sent out an encoded text message requiring to all operatives to confirm the van code heading towards the cathedral. One by one, his inquiry returned the same code. Furthermore, reports of several other vans and buses matching the same description and featuring similar identification codes were moving along the city streets. Jordan pumped his fist. They had been successful. One last command key would confirm their success. He tapped his keys and waited.
Moments later, another encrypted transmission request appeared on his screen. Jordan entered his security privileges and the screen opened. The battered and bruised face of General Scott appeared. His right eye was nearly shut and his lips were swollen. Jordan gasped at the sight of the pixilated image. General Scott, however, chuckled.
"Rest easy," General Scott slurred through his swollen lip, "I look worse than I feel."
Jordan shook his head. "Are you okay, sir?"
"I won't be winning a beauty pageant that much is for certain, but overall I am fabulous," General Scott said as he tried to smile.
Jordan noticed the missing teeth as he grimaced. His leader barely looked human. He resembled a prize fighter who had just received the worst beating of his career. It reminded him of the Larry Holmes versus Randall "Tex" Cobb fight that he had watched in his youth. Despite the horrific beating, Randall "Tex" Cobb did not give up. He kept fighting while receiving one of the most brutal beatings ever witnessed in a boxing ring. Like Cobb, his mentor retained a sense of humor.
"And the queen?" Jordan asked.
"Defeated by my own hands," General Scott said. "I pulled her fangs from her dead mouth."
Jordan nodded. The comment of pulling out the fangs was highly unusual for his mentor but he assumed that General Scott was not as we
ll as he let on. He smiled at his leader.
"And of our warriors?" he asked reluctantly.
General Scott frowned. "Our causalities were severe. The tunnels beneath the mansion were…deadly," he said softly.
Bishop Wallace whispered a soft prayer. "They walk with the Lord now."
"And we will honor their memory," General Scott said firmly. "Prepare my best robes and set up a camera in our archives. I wish to address the council leaders from there."
Jordan was stunned. "A…Are you sure? Your injuries…"
General Scott raised his hand and waved it dismissively. "We have waited centuries for this day. The council must be properly notified so that they may share in this moment of rejoicing."
"From the archives?" Jordan pressed.
"When you hear my speech, you will understand. Meet me in the archives in ten minutes," General Scott said.
The transmission ended before Jordan could protest again. He was very concerned for the health of his leader. He wasn't a doctor but he knew that his injuries and his slightly slurred speech indicated that he could have a concussion. If he had blacked out during the battle or the moments afterwards, he could have a serious brain injury that needed to be treated by a doctor. However, his heart also told him that this was his mentor's finest hour. He had longed for the death of the queen and that moment had finally happened.
He stopped what he was doing and he logged off his computer terminal. He checked the time on his cell phone. He had eight minutes. He walked to a secured cabinet. He entered his security password and he removed his laptop. With the advances in modern technology, he didn't need hours to set up for a video conference. The computers were preloaded with all of their encrypted software and the webcam built into the top of the screen provided his camera. He didn't bother closing the door. He tucked the laptop under his arm and dashed out of his office.
Minutes later, he had sat at one of the large tables that the members of the council used to study the ancient texts that lined the many bookshelves behind him. He assumed that General Scott wanted their recorded history as the backdrop for his speech. As he finished connecting to all council servers, he heard footsteps descending the secret stairwell to their archives. His mentor had arrived.
He glanced up from his computer screen to see the battered general. His shoulders were slumped and his body was fatigued. He rested his right shoulder on the door frame and he winced. His eye was now completely shut. His injuries looked a lot worse than they had during the transmission. His open eye looked very glassy and he appeared to be staring off into space. Immediately, Jordan stood and rushed to his mentor's side.
"General, you need medical attention," he said empathically.
The general raised his hand. "NO!" he commanded. "Bring me the vampire tome."
"Sir?" Jordan asked.
"My health can wait. I must have the tome for my speech."
"But…"
"Do not argue. It is a symbol that I will have you broadcast on their channels. Their greatest warrior couldn't obtain it and I will burn it in front of them like we should have done years ago. "
"At…At once."
Jordan disappeared into the depths of the archives. He reached a wall of ancient texts. He grabbed a specific leather bound book and pulled. There was an audible click and the wall parted. He entered into a very secret room. Very few members of the council leadership knew of its existence. Inside, the tome was kept in a secure vault that could only be opened by one of three people. Fortunately, for Jordan, he was one of the three people entrusted with its location. He pressed his finger on the fingerprint recognition screen. There was a beep and the door hissed. The climate controlled safe opened and revealed the ancient tome.
Jordan shook his head. He had often wondered why they had kept the vampire tome. He understood that their ancient leaders wanted to keep the texts for study. However, to his knowledge, no one could translate the ancient vampire language. Therefore, he believed that the text was useless. He often told his leader to dispose of it because he was worried that if they revealed its location that it would bring the queen. Now that the queen was dead, he must have had a change of heart. He removed the tome from its safe and placed it under his arm much like he had done with his laptop only moments ago. He pressed his thumb to the recognition pad again and he realized that this was the final time that this room would ever be used. He smiled.
He stepped out of the room and the laser sensors closed the doors behind him. He walked through the rows of ancient texts. He could hear the keys of his keyboard being clicked as he got closer to the study area. He smiled. Apparently, his mentor was feeling better. He stepped into the study area and his heart nearly stopped. Jordan gasped and dropped the tome. General Scott was laid flat on the large wooden table. Blood trickled from the puncture wounds in his neck and a large stake protruded from his chest. Mikhaeli turned away from the laptop and smiled.
"You are such a good boy," she teased. "You did just what he asked."
Jordan fumbled with his robes and he removed his cross. He held it out in front of him.
"In the name of the Lord…"
Mikhaeli rolled her eyes. "Are you all that fucking stupid?" she asked sarcastically as she stood. "I am in YOUR CHURCH!"
His hands began to tremble as the realization hit him. A vampire stood in their archives. She had walked into the cathedral. He never knew of any vampire that could do that. If she could walk amongst them, then her power was truly frightening. His heart skipped a beat and his cross fell from his trembling hand. She laughed.
"Understand now?" she asked.
He was rendered speechless. He blinked at her several times. She giggled and chewed on her finger. She was beautiful as all of their legends had indicated. The fact that she was only a few feet away and she stood within their secret headquarters was almost too much for his brain to comprehend. He glanced at his fallen mentor and a single tear crept down his cheek. He knew that he was about to die. She laughed again.
His cell phone began to ring. It was a very specific ring. It was the priority alert channel. One of their many operatives guarding the cathedral was trying to reach him. He fumbled with his robe as he attempted to remove his phone from his pocket. Mikhaeli chuckled as she bent over and picked up the tome.
"You'll want to get that," she said as she slowly walked out of the room and ascended the stairs to the cathedral.
Jordan wanted to stop her, but he placed the phone to his ear. The warrior began to speak but his voice was suddenly cut off. His voice was replaced with laughter and the phone went silent. Jordan dashed to his computer. He was about to enter commands into the keyboard, but his laptop was already showing their security cameras. He knew that he hadn't loaded their security programs before he went to get the tome. The vampire queen had accessed their security cameras. The images made him gasp.
Block after block buildings burned. Vampires fed on innocents. Warriors valiantly battled their undead foes. Cars were being overturned. The streets of Canterbury were in complete chaos. Hurriedly, Jordan attacked his keyboard. He typed his security credentials and hit the enter key. Instead of accessing their most secure databases, Mikhaeli's face appeared on the screen. She blew him a kiss and the screen went black. He immediately rebooted the computer and a black screen, with her face, appeared again. She blew the same kiss and then the computer automatically rebooted. The same scene played out over and over again. Jordan noticed the portable USB drive blinking as the computer cycled through its rebooting cycle. He picked up his phone and it was blank. He tried to turn it on and it wouldn't work. Her computer virus had also remotely attacked their phones. He slammed his fist on the table. He had no way of alerting their warriors. He hung his head and sobbed.
Mikhaeli hummed a merry tune as she reached the top of the secret stairwell. She stepped over the dead warriors that she had killed when she had entered the cathedral. While useful, General Scott wasn't the perfect puppet. However, her growing powers all
owed her to maintain control over him while she threw their warriors around like dolls. Practicing on those vampire board members who thought that they didn't fear her had greatly increased her mastery over her powers.
She stopped in the middle of the center aisle and she took in the sights. The ceilings were extraordinary. They were beautifully arched. The ancient architecture allowed her to reminisce of centuries ago when times were simpler. The stained glass windows, especially the image of Thomas Beckett, drew her eye. While the religious symbols did nothing for her, she appreciated the array of colors and artistry involved. She sighed. It would look better with more purple, she thought as she made her way towards the front doors.
"Going somewhere?" Chris asked.
The vampire queen turned her attention to the voice. She smiled as the handsome, muscular vampire hunter stared at her. She stared back him. His eyes were focused and ice cold. She listened to his heart. His heartbeat was smooth. He wasn't scared nor was he nervous. She was impressed. Despite their past meetings, the vampire hunter did not fear her. Normally, she would be upset and angered by his lack of respect, but, because it was him, she felt a different emotion: Excitement.
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