City of Twilight Part III: The New Dawn (The Vanguard Chronicles Book 3)

by Donald Stephenson III

  ​“He’s only a baby now,” Dr. Shepherd said. "That's a long time to wait.”

  ​“Consider the alternative,” Callista said, “and remember that this isn’t for you, or for me. It’s for all of humanity. Everything is at stake here.”

  101

  “Everything is at stake,” Sean Garrett muttered to himself as he stared over the dawn skyline on a rooftop in East District. It was present day. The quiet of the morning was deceitful, especially considering what was happening all over the city. Civic Protection was gathering their forces, mainly in Capitol District, and preparing to spread outward to root out all of the resistance. Sean grinned. Khaleel was already prepared for the strategy, thanks to all the information the detective had given them.

  ​Everything would go smoothly for Civic Protection at first. The first groups of the resistance had orders to attack as soon as the enemy reached a certain marker. That attack would be the signal for all of the resistance to begin their attacks all over the city.

  ​Khaleel stood next to Sean. He wore a dark long sleeve shirt and Civic Protection fatigue pants, with the patches and CP identification noticeably torn off. In place of the patch on the chest was a sewn-on “V," which stood for Vanguard. He was holding two assault rifles, one of which he handed to Sean. Sean took the weapon, and accepted the bundle of clips. He stared at the weapon, thinking back to the first time he held a Civic Protection standard assault weapon. Over twenty years he’d been in Civic Protection. All those years of doing things to help the Vanguards, but also doing things he regretted. He grimaced as he thought about it.

  ​He would never forget the people he killed or arranged to have taken and interrogated, which would ultimately lead to their deaths. Maybe I can redeem myself, he thought, if just a little. He placed a clip in the weapon, loading it. He handled it instinctively, through decades of training and habit. Khaleel looked at him curiously.

  ​“Are you going to be able to do this?” Khaleel asked.

  ​“Are you kidding,” Sean said, “I’ve been waiting a long time for this day.” He held up the weapon confidently while placing the remaining clips in his satchel that hung over his neck and shoulder. He turned and started moving away from the edge of the roof. He called out to Khaleel, “We need to get inside. Civic Protection will have snipers getting into position about now. With their infrared scopes we’ll stand out.” Khaleel followed him to the stairwell, both of them exiting the rooftop. William was waiting for them at the entrance to the stairs, standing quietly until they walked through. He wore a different set of clothes, similar to a Civic Protection uniform but with no insignia as well. His face was serious.

  ​“We need only to fight long enough to let the Vanguard join us,” William said. “He'll lead everyone to victory.”

  ​“If he’s still alive,” Sean said.

  ​“If you’ve seen him fight,” Khaleel said, “then you would be as little worried as I am.”

  ​102

  ​Callista awoke from another dream. This time she recognized it to not be a nightmare, but a vision of what was going to come. She quietly stood up from bed. Elijah was sleeping soundly, and in the small crib was their daughter Alicia. Callista knew what was coming, and sighed. She dressed herself, and kissed her husband lightly on his cheek. She then moved over to Alicia. The little girl was only a few months old, but it was already apparent she would look more like her mother.

  ​“I’ll miss you,” she said and she bent over and softly kissed her daughter. Alicia smiled in her sleep, making a cooing sound. Callista couldn’t help but smile at her. She walked softly downstairs, and activated the elevator. It opened in a few moments, and she rode it down to the bottom floor of the building.

  ​It was early morning, so early that it was still night. Capitol District was much quieter than usual. The streets were barren, only a few empty parked cars visible. A lone man stood in the center of the street in front of her building. He was well built, very tall with blond hair. He had short hair, like that of a Civic Protection officer. He wore a uniform with no rank or insignia visible on it.

  ​“Michael sent you,” Callista said, “otherwise you wouldn’t be here.” The man smiled at her, bearing fangs. His eyes were reptilian slits, glowing in the night.

  ​“We’ve never formerly met,” the man said with a grin, “but I’m Wolfgang.” Callista shook her head at him.

  ​“I’m not interested in who you are,” she said. "You're going to leave now.”

  ​“I’m not going anywhere,” Wolfgang said, “not until I get some information from you. Father’s tired of you working against him. He wants the names of those you’ve been helping, those who would be part of the resistance.” As he spoke, others started circling her from the darkness. She counted six all together. Wolfgang and three other men; she remembered their names to be Dante, William and Ares. She shook her head as she watched them. When she reached out with the mind’s eye, she saw conflict. She could tell not all of them felt they should be there. At least one of them had confusion in his aura, although it was hard to tell which one it was.

  ​She sized each one up visually.

  ​William had brown hair, and a look in his eyes that was filled with mixed emotions. He had a naturally kinder face than the other, and she thought of Alex when she saw him, or of the way Michael used to be. He watched her, participating almost as if he had no choice but to be there. The two women she didn’t recognize. They both looked at her like predators, though, just like the others did.

  ​“I’m not interested in anything you all have to say,” Callista said, “and I’m not afraid of any of you.” Without a warning, she let a telekinetic blast ripple outward in a circular direction all around her. Dante and one of the women were knocked off their feet; the others used their powers to remain standing. Callista could tell it was all they could to keep from falling as well.

  ​She ran towards Wolfgang with a yell, and he pulled a small short blade from his belt. He held it up to her, ready to meet her with it. She could tell he was augmenting his strength with his mind’s eye. He took a swipe at her with the blade.

  ​She caught the blade between her two hands, catching it without being cut. She had augmented her own strength and speed for several years, and she easily twisted the blade in her palms. Wolfgang’s grip would not let go of the blade, causing his arms and then his torso to twist quickly. He was caught off guard by her sudden move, and he flipped backwards onto the pavement. Stunned, he released the hilt of the blade. She still had the blade of the knife held between her two hands, and she quickly flipped it, catching the hilt. She held the upright knife towards Wolfgang, who was pulling himself up from the ground.

  ​The woman who’d remained standing rushed at her, and Callista did a quick swipe with her telekinesis at her. The woman tried to deflect it with her power, but Callista was too strong. The woman flew backwards onto a parked car, denting it. She fell to the ground unconscious.

  ​Wolfgang ran back at Callista, brandishing another blade from his boot. Callista caught his arm, and twisted it until she heard the crunching sound of bone breaking. Wolfgang groaned, but still resisted her. He grabbed at her neck with his free arm. She stabbed the blade through his hand, and then released his broken arm. As he fell to the ground, she made the knife slice a deep horizontal cut across his face. He fell to the ground in pain. She knew that would scar, for she had used her power in the blade. It would take a long time to heal, fighting his own power.

  ​Wolfgang was on the ground, holding his face. Blood was seeping through his fingers. Callista swiped the knife through the air, slinging blood off the blade into the air. She turned to the others, who were watching in silence.

  ​“Anybody else want to take a turn?” She held the knife upside-down, so the blade pointed downward. She then held her fist up horizontal, so the blade was parallel to the ground.

  ​“I regret sending them in my place,” Michael said as he stepped out of a nearby alley
, “but I had to test them against you. I see they weren’t ready. They’ll probably never be ready. Not against pure bloods like us.” He wore a dark Civic Protection uniform with a gray cape. He didn’t carry any weapons other than the small knife on his side, which looked like the same type of knife Callista had taken from Wolfgang. He stopped at the entrance to the alley, and leaned on the wall with his elbow.

  ​“Michael,” Callista said, “I wondered when you’d come. Wolfgang can thank you for the new scars he’ll have on his face and hand. Or was this a test for me rather than them? Did you want to see if I was really a threat?” Michael's eyes glowed from light reflecting in them. Callista approached him at a steady pace, holding the blade in a defensive position. She glided through the air, moving with such swiftness that it was like the ground held no sway over her.

  ​Michael’s face had a relaxed look, but it turned concentrated. He stood there, hesitating. He finally shouted, “Do it!" Callista realized he wasn’t talking to her, and she turned slightly. William was holding a pistol, pointing it at her. “Fire the weapon!" Michael yelled again to William.

  ​William suddenly dropped the gun. His face no longer was confused, but resolute.

  ​“My whole life you told me we were better than humans. We were above them and all the horrors they were capable of. Now you want us to kill one of our own.” William shook his head. “I should have stopped you when you killed her baby, so many years ago. Not a day goes by that I don’t regret that moment. I will stop you now.” Callista quickly spoke to him through her mind’s eye.

  ​“No, don’t attack him. He’s too powerful for you. You’ll die, just like I’m about to do. Find Dr. Shepherd. Join him. He will help you.” William nodded at her, and turned and ran. He left through an alley, and one of the women started to follow him.

  ​“Let him go,” Michael said, “we’ll get him later.” He turned back to Callista. There was fury in his eyes. Her eyes matched with fury of her own. She then charged at him with the knife.

  ​Michael drew his blade in a second, and parried her blow when she reached him. Both blades held against each other, sharp metal edges scraping as they glared through each other’s eyes. Michael had a hint of surprise in his look.

  ​“You’ve become stronger, sister. I may be your only match, but I can still beat you.” He sent a telekinetic blast to her, causing her to move backwards a step in defense. She held up the blade in front of her in instinctive defense while she blocked the blast with her own mind’s eye. He caught her off guard with another blast which struck her knife, shattering the metal. Shards of the metal floated through the air as everything occurred in slow motion.

  ​Callista raised her eyes, looking at Michael through the shards of metal floating in the air. “I may not defeat you today,” she said telepathically to him, “but my son will.” His eyes grew wide with shock. She then sent a powerful telekinetic blast towards him. Her blast caught the broken shards of the blade in the air, and sent them all into Michael’s chest. She could see with her mind’s eye at least one of the shards reaching his heart. Pain engulfed his eyes, but he made no noise.

  ​A few gunshots rang out from behind her, and the impact of the bullets knocked Callista onto the ground. Wolfgang limped over to Michael, pulling him up with the help of one of the women. Callista could see the life slowly fading from him, but it was from her, too. The bullet shots had awoken Elijah, who was hurriedly coming down.

  ​She realized that she was face down on the ground, and she looked up. Ares looked down at her. He held a gun in his hand. He had been the one to shoot her. A slow smile creased his face.

  ​“So long,” he said. He ran off, down the alley. Her thoughts clouded as she started to fade. In an instant Elijah was there. At least I can see him before I die.

  103

  ​Wolfgang touched the scar on his face, thinking back to when it was given to him. It was the present. As he touched his face, he could see the other scar in the palm of his hand where Callista had stabbed him with the knife. None of them had expected her to be that adept at combat. It still made him angry to think about it. He looked over at his brothers and sisters.

  ​Dante stood silently next to Medea and Lucien. Wolfgang despised them. They lacked the strength needed to fight, and he felt they weren’t necessary to Father’s plan, though they did have their uses. Dante was an effective strategist and leader, and Lucien was indeed a brilliant inventor. Father, however, was stronger and more intelligent than all of them. It was because of Father that they were all there.

  ​William had disappeared that night, after Callista had died. None of them had found any trace of him after that. He’d just disappeared. It had hit Michael hard; he'd been closest to William. Wolfgang had been glad in a way, because since William had left there was less competition as to who would be the strongest next to Father. It was a difficult issue with the others, since most of them had looked up to William.

  ​Damaine stood next to Wolfgang. She rarely spoke, even to him. They were equals as far as power was concerned, and that made them closer. They could fight well together, reading each other’s movements and predicting each other’s actions with ease. It helped that they were connected through the mind’s eye. He could feel her thoughts, read her mind at any given moment, just as she could with him. He crossed his arms. He was becoming impatient.

  ​“Wolfgang,” Father’s voice could be heard by all of them in their minds, “I’ve waited nearly fifty years, almost seven years alone in this stasis chamber. You can wait a few more minutes. I can see Ares; he’s on his way to us now.” Wolfgang nodded his head in compliance, lowering his arms. He moved closer to the stasis chamber to look at Father. He looked the same as he did when they placed the wounded man in the stasis chamber so many years ago.

  ​The room with the stasis chamber was large and dark. There were consoles and data screens lining the walls, emitting colors and lights throughout it. There were red flashes all around due to the power outage, the crystal fusion cell having been destroyed by the young Vanguard, the Hunter. Emergency power for the stasis chamber was running low.

  ​Suddenly the door from the far end of the room opened. Ares walked in at a fast pace. He held three small canisters under his arm. Wolfgang and the others met him halfway into the room. Wolfgang stared at him suspiciously. Ares was the one who now spent the most time with Father, and was the one that usually relayed information from Father to them.

  ​Yet, they knew Ares the least of all their siblings. Father seemed to now be the closest to him, who’d been in charge of the more sensitive projects. This included the domestication and genetic alteration of the xenos. That was why they were all there, waiting for him.

  ​“Here,” Ares said as he held up the canisters, “the first three completed xenos. The rest should be ready soon, although this conflict will need to be resolved first.” Wolfgang took the canisters from him.

  ​“These are the prototypes then,” Wolfgang said.

  ​“No,” Ares said, “they do not have the same weaknesses that plagued the first one. They are the actual products. We all saw what happened when a xeno with a mind and will of its own attaches itself to a person. These are the first three of what is essentially an assembly line process for them now. Father gets one of them, and you and Damaine will get the other two. The rest will get theirs later.” Wolfgang held the three canisters for a moment. Ares smirked at him a little.

  ​“Don’t worry,” Ares said, “it’ll all work the way it was supposed to last time.” Wolfgang sighed a little as he examined the canisters. He never fully trusted Ares, who’d never revealed the extent of his abilities to them.

  ​Damaine walked over and took one of the canisters. Wolfgang held the other two and walked over to Father’s stasis chamber. He set one on the ground, and held the other up.

  ​“Open the chamber,” he said. Lucien activated a panel, and the chamber started to open, the top half opening up like a giant lid. Father
was on the bed with bandages all over his body. He’d never recovered from the injuries sustained from fighting his sister, especially the shards of metal that had pierced his heart. There was dried blood on the bandages and his skin. No one had any time to even clean him up before placing him in the chamber. Wolfgang held the small canister over Father, and opened the lid. The creature poured out of the canister, appearing as wormy metal liquid. It was different than the other xenos he’d seen. It held no form of its own since it had been stripped of its mind and will.

  ​They were quiet in the room as they watched the creature cocoon Father. The reflective metal pulsed and wrapped around him. His body began to shake and convulse. Michael awoke, and started screaming.

  ​“What’s wrong?” Wolfgang said.

  ​“That’s normal,” Ares said, “the creature is adapting his body to it. It’ll probably take a few hours.” He looked over at Wolfgang and Damaine. “Well, you’ll want to be ready for him. Time to suit up.” Wolfgang stared at him for a moment and nodded.

  ​Both he and Damaine opened their canisters. Wolfgang placed his scarred hand into the canister, and he felt the metal creature latch on. It was painful. He pulled his hand out of the canister quickly, and could see the metal coursing outside his skin. It was also coursing inside, seeping into his skin through the pores. It quickly cocooned his entire body, and he felt the urge to do nothing else but scream. He did scream as he felt the creature change him.

  104

  ​Savannah stood with her brother, Kyle. Although he was still wounded, his arm was no longer in a sling. He’d insisted on going with her and their group to battle on the front lines. Where the front lines actually would be was a little hazy. About an hour before, the sun had risen, and since then Civic Protection had been making their way through Capitol and East District in force. So far they’d met no resistance. It was only a matter of time, though.