The Recruiters

by Dara Nelson

  “For what?” he said.

  “For the last two years,” I said. “It’s January. It’s been almost two years since you showed up on that pier.”

  He looked serious as he pulled my face up towards his. “Don’t do that Sarah,” he gasped.

  “Do what?” I asked.

  “Don’t act like this is the end. Don’t say your goodbyes,” he said with pain filling his face.

  I shook my head. “I’m not honey,” I said. “I’m just saying that no matter what happens next, the past two years have been so incredible, so amazing. I couldn’t have asked for anything more or anything better.”

  “Me neither,” he whispered as he kissed my forehead. “I love you Sarah.”

  “I love you, too,” I whispered, hiding the fear from my face by laying my head back on his shoulder. I stood, held my hand out to him and said, “Ready?”

  He nodded and took my hand. We walked into the water together and swam leisurely back to shore. I smiled when I saw Carlos waiting for us, his arms full of blood. Still unwilling to let go of our hands, we reached out with our other hands and drank, then I wrapped my free arm around Carlos, hugging him tight and laying my head on his chest. “Thank you,” I whispered.

  He squeezed me tight. “No,” he said, “thank you.”

  I looked up at him. “For what?” I said.

  He took a step back, looked me up and down, leered and said, “For that bikini, Sarah. That is awesome.”

  I blushed. I had completely forgotten that that was all I was wearing. Matt pulled me into his arms, smiling.

  “You should definitely wear that more often,” Carlos said, grinning his goofy grin. I shot him a look that told him he needed to stop now, so he changed the subject. “Go pack quickly. It’s time to go kick some Elders’ butts,” he grinned.

  I suddenly had a very bad feeling. “Carlos,” I said, “don’t do anything crazy. Promise me you’ll be careful.”

  “Ah come on, Sarah,” he said, “danger is my middle name.”

  The panic filled my face and voice as I said, “Please Carlos, promise me?”

  He grew a little more serious then. “Okay, Sarah,” he said. “I promise, okay?”

  I nodded as he said, “But you have to promise me something too, okay?”

  “Anything,” I said.

  He grinned, “Promise me you’ll wear that bikini again… it really is… owwww!” There was his smack on the back of the head, only this time it came from me. I smiled at both of them, took Carlos’ hand and together we all walked up to the house to face our uncertain future.

  The seven of us boarded our boat: Me, Matt, Carlos, Stacy, Andrew, Janine and Aduviri. We dropped Aduviri at Paradise Island. Carlos fueled the boat as we said our goodbyes. Matt handed him a large envelope filled with cash, shook his hand and said, “Thank you, my friend.”

  Aduviri bowed his head. “Of course,” he said then he turned to me and stuck out his hand, which I pushed away as I hugged him tight.

  “I can never thank you enough,” I whispered in his ear. As I pulled away he was blushing.

  He managed to mumble, “You’re very welcome, Sarah,” then he turned and hurried up the dock.

  Matt wrapped his arm around me and said, “You have the same effect on me when you hug me too,” he smiled and kissed my cheek. We climbed back on the boat and sat down. The ride to Miami was completely silent. None of us spoke at all, but the tension could clearly be felt as we all contemplated what was coming.

  Finally I turned to Stacy and said, “You don’t have to come to Peru, you know. This isn’t your fight. You’ve already helped us more than I could have asked.”

  She looked down at her hands then back up at me. “But Rashi is going to be there, Sarah. I have to make sure he’s going to be okay. I’ve never met anyone like him. He doesn’t judge me or what I do, he just enjoys being with me. I really like him and I don’t want him to get hurt, not if I can help.”

  I put my hand on hers, met her eyes and nodded, then leaned my head back onto Matt’s shoulder as he tightened his grip around me. We silently carried our luggage up the dock to the cab as Matt paid the boat’s owner. A short drive to the airport and then more silence as we waited to board our plane to Lima. We tried to sleep on the flight to Lima, but weren’t very successful. Another wait at the airport and then we boarded the small plane for the flight to Puno which is on the shore of Lake Titicaca. Puno is where we were meeting the others, to regroup for the short hike to Juliaca. The fortress was in the mountains above Juliaca. We settled down in the jungle outside of town to wait for the others, who began arriving almost immediately, most either by running, driving or flying in. We didn’t want to draw too much attention to ourselves by having a huge number using commercial flights. Those with new vampires (like myself, Stacy and Janine), who hadn’t yet gained the ability to fly used the airlines. The rest used their own abilities to get here.

  According to Andrew, the Elders and the Enforcers were disciplined about their feeding times, and were weakest just before their ten a.m. feeding, if you could call it weak. They were so ancient and strong that their weakest was probably equal to about the strength of ten of me. That was nothing to feel confident about. The only thing that we could feel confident about was our numbers, our organization and our element of surprise. This was the last thing that they would be expecting, hopefully we could use that to our advantage.

  We would leave at dawn the next morning to arrive at the fortress by nine. Matt suddenly kissed the back of my hand then stood up.

  “My friends,” he began. “A moment please?” They all turned their attention to him. “Words alone cannot convey my gratitude for all of you being here. I had no idea when I began this journey, that what began as my fight to be with the one I love would become the fight for our survival, a fight for our right to be happy, a fight for our freedom. I thank you all for joining us. May our battle be swift and just, and our new lives happy, lawful and, most of all, free from fear,” he nodded and the crowd reciprocated. He sat back down and I leaned into him. I saw Carlos off to the side, leaning up against a tree, all by himself.

  I reached out to him, ‘Get your butt over here,’ I thought. He looked over at me, started to protest, then shook his head, smiled and walked over to me. I held my other hand out to him, which he gladly took as he sat down. I let go, wrapped my arm tightly around his shoulder and pulled his head into my chest to kiss his forehead. “You’re my big brother, Carlos, don’t you dare get hurt tomorrow. I need you around for a long time, okay?”

  He nodded, pressing his cheek into my chest. “I’ll stay right here as long as you want me to,” he grinned up at me.

  I smiled, leaned down and kissed him, “I love you, you big goof.”

  His face grew serious, “I love you too Sarah.”

  We stayed like that for the rest of the night, none of us wanting to let go of the other. Finally, as the sun began to peak through the trees, Carlos stood up, kissed the back of my hand and said, “Time to go wake the troops.”

  Matt stood up and hugged him, “Thank you man. Be careful. I’ll see you on the other side.” Carlos nodded, then turned and was gone. Matt pulled me up to him, squeezing me tight, pressing his lips hard to mine, the urgency and fear of the moment pouring out of both of us. He pressed his forehead to mine, “To hell and back again Mrs. Pearl?” he whispered.

  “Until I draw my last breath, Mr. Pearl,” I said. We walked through the crowd to take our place at the head of the line next to Carlos, exactly where we should be.

  Chapter Sixteen

  We reached the outer wall of the courtyard at quarter to nine in the morning. Everyone crouched down and waited. Everyone knew the plan: wait until the camera reached the corner, then as it made its return sweep, we go over, ten at a time, hopefully reaching the inner sanctuary before the camera began its return arc again. We’d wait until everyone was over, then proceed in groups of ten down the halls, taking out the guards and the Enforcer
s and eventually, hopefully, reaching the Elders. This is not something they ever expected from their own kind, so the surprise should be to our advantage. But whether we could reach the Elders before they tried to make an escape was the big question. We left forty outside, surrounding the courtyard, ten on each side, who would sound an alarm if the Elders attempted to flee.

  We had fighting skills and weapons, swords to be exact, but we weren’t sure how, or if, they would be effective against the Elders. As old as they were, they were much stronger and their skin was much tougher than ours. So we really weren’t sure how we were going to defeat them, but we knew that we had to try. And something told me that if I could just get close enough, I’d know what to do. We broke up into our groups and moved through the halls, surprising our first two guards immediately. Matthew and Carlos both swung their swords and the guards’ heads flew off before they could make a sound. But sound was not the issue here. They were probably linked to others who would now be wondering why they went silent. We had to move faster. We grabbed the keys from their hands and began checking rooms. The first two we checked were empty, but we found two more in the third room we searched and silenced them. Yes the fact the we were killing people wanted to shock me and slow me down. I wanted to react to it, I wanted to be shocked, I wanted to throw up, but not only did I know that I didn’t have time to react, but there was something animal about me. I still felt human and wanted to react like a human, but there was an animal instinct in me that kicked in and seemed to make that impossible at the moment.

  Andrew was leading us toward the kitchen, which we knew (or hoped) should have a lot of Enforcers there, preparing to feed after the Elders did. The kitchen was the room down at the end of the hall that we were in, and through it would be the main hall, where we hoped the Elders were. We silently approached. Andrew counted to three with his fingers then he opened the door. Inside at least thirty pairs of surprised eyes turned our way, only five of which were guards. The rest were the older, stronger, tougher Enforcers. My heart fell, then regained a little hope again as I saw the other door to the kitchen open and the group led by Michael and Gabriel entered. That made the odds a little better, I thought. Growls erupted all around and we charged from both sides. We quickly did away with the guards then turned all our attention to the Enforcers. Our swords weren’t penetrating their skin as we fought and ducked when they swung at us. Henry swung the sword that he had into the neck of an Enforcer. It bounced off like it was hitting rubber. The Enforcer grinned an evil grin, reached out and bent the sword in half with two fingers. Two fingers!! How the hell are we supposed to defeat that? Henry sent him backwards with a well placed kick in the stomach then Ethan followed with a roundhouse kick to his jaw, temporarily stunning him. I kicked one in the stomach sending him crashing into the back wall where he slumped down momentarily dazed.

  “Try gouging at their necks with your fingernails,” someone said.

  “No, it doesn’t work,” called another.

  “We need to break their necks,” said another.

  “They’re too strong, I can’t get a grip,” gasped another right before he went down and was silent. I could feel the panic rising in the room.

  Suddenly Carlos was at my side. “Your teeth, Sarah,” he said as he ducked a blow from the Enforcer next to him.

  I punched one in the ribs as I gasped, “What?”

  I could see Matt fighting off another while trying to glance at us. “What are you talking about Carlos?” he said. Carlos kicked the feet out from under the one he was fighting with, sending him crashing to the floor.

  “Sarah,” Carlos said with uncharacteristic seriousness, “listen to me.” He paused as he ducked a blow from behind. “Your teeth can penetrate their skin, use them to sever their spinal cords. You were born for this Sarah. This is why you’re different.”

  “Her teeth? What the hell are you talking about?” Matt gasped between punches. I elbowed then kicked the one who ran at me, then I nodded and turned to the one Matt was fighting. His back was to me. I sprung as Matt moaned, “Sarah, NOOOOO.” I landed squarely on his back, released my fangs and sunk them into the back of its neck. I felt my teeth tear through the flesh like it was cotton. Closing on either side of the spinal cord, I bit down then yanked my head backwards. I felt his spinal cord snap and silenced his scream. I pulled my head back, jumping off as he slumped to the floor, motionless. Carlos ran over with his sword over his head. With the neck already ripped open and broken, it took one strong swing for him so separate the head from the body. I turned and saw Matt completely frozen and stunned as one came at him.

  “Matt,” I said as I shoved him out of the way and kicked this one in his side sending him crashing into the wall. “Snap out of it please.” I turned and jumped on the one that was fighting with Andrew, severing its cord in seconds, then jumped onto another one next to me and dropped him. After about thirty seconds I had killed all but five of them. These five had panic written all over their faces, as they saw their fallen comrades on the floor. They suddenly stopped fighting and held their hands up, surrendering as they backed up to the wall.

  Carlos tossed Andrew the keys and said, “You, Gabriel and Michael. Go lock them up in the room across the hall. It will hold them right?” Andrew nodded and they moved them towards the door. I suddenly noticed everyone was staring at me. I couldn’t figure out why they were looking down at me.

  “Sarah, honey?” Matt whispered from the center of the room, “Are you alright?”

  ‘Alright?’ I thought to myself. ‘What the hell is he talking about? Of course I’m alright.’ I decided to check myself. I looked down and was surprised to find that I was crouched down on the floor, ready to spring. I ran my tongue over my teeth and found that my fangs were still down, and my eyes must be in hunting mode because I could see hearts beating all around the room. Good hearts, worried hearts. I closed my eyes and nodded at Matt. I concentrated hard on calming myself down. I felt my heartbeat slow down, felt my eyes change, then, finally, felt my fangs retract. I wiped the blood from my mouth and chin, then stood slowly and was finally able to speak again.

  “Ummm, I’m fine,” I said. “How is everyone else?” I said as I looked around the room, groaning when I saw Tony and Dylan in the corner, dead. We had lost two, hard to take, but not bad considering. Matt returned my attention to him as he slowly approached me.

  “Ummm, honey?” he said and I turned to look at him. “Mind telling me how you did that?” he tried to hide the smile that wanted to break free.

  I shrugged my shoulders. “I’m not sure,” I smiled sheepishly.

  Matt turned to Carlos, “You knew about this?”

  Carlos shrugged and held out his hands. Pain filled Matt’s face as he turned back to me. I held up my hand to stop what he was going to say, “I was going to tell you, I promise I was. I was just trying to figure out why it was happening first. Please don’t be mad,” I pleaded. He closed his eyes, struggling with what he was feeling.

  I could still see hurt in them when he opened them and said, “Mad? You just saved all of us. How could I possibly be mad?” Then he walked over and wrapped his arms around me.

  “I’m sorry,” I whispered

  “I know,” he said as he kissed my forehead.

  Andrew and the others rejoined us.

  “Okay, we’re far from done here. It’s time to move on,” Matt said. “New strategy here now. The rest of us need to fight with the Elders. Keep them distracted until Sarah here can spring on them from behind, okay?” Heads nodded all around. We opened the door to the main hall. All five of the Elders were at the table. Their heads were already turned in our direction. And they looked completely unafraid. Suddenly the door across from us opened and in streamed another group of twenty. Then the two doors at the back opened and more vampires came in. The Elders looked around the room then their gazes slowly came back to us. I thought I glimpsed a little panic in Penelope and Stefan, but the other three had only fury on their fac
es.

  Victor spoke first, “Apparently we didn’t receive our invitations to this little party,” he grinned. It was a horrible, evil grin. If he felt any fear at all, he definitely didn’t show it. “It’s interesting that you were able to defeat our Enforcers. Now, who’s going to tell me how you did that?” he said. Suddenly Michael and Gabriel grabbed their heads and screamed. They both fell to the floor, shaking violently. Then I screamed as their heads exploded. “Well, I guess not them, how about you?” Victor said as he pointed a bony finger towards Sam and Billy. Growls erupted and five of us sprung at him, only to smack into some sort of invisible force field. We hit it hard and fell to the floor, momentarily stunned. I shook my head and looked around, trying to figure out another way in, when something caught my attention. Penelope, the red-headed Elder whom I had grown close to during my training, was gesturing at me under the table with her hand. I poked my head up over the edge of the table and looked at her eyes. They were wide with panic. Then I quickly looked back down at her hands. Was she telling me I could reach them from under the table? I rolled over, crouched and dove under the table as screams erupted all around me. I grabbed Victor’s feet, yanked him under the table. He glared at me and pushed me off of him. I smashed into the underside of the table. He flipped over and tried to scramble away from me but I lunged and grabbed his ankle. He growled at me and began kicking at my face. I smashed my hand down on the top of his knee. He screamed and fell onto his stomach. I took this opportunity: Before he could react I pounced on his back. I dropped my fangs and bit into the back of his neck, killing him. I immediately felt relief, but then it took me a second to realize that people in the room were still screaming – the kind of screaming they did when they felt that pain.

  I jumped up in front of the table and Stefan yelled at me, “It’s not him, Sarah, it’s her.” He pointed to Malina then he screamed and grabbed his head, collapsing onto the floor. I turned my attention to Malina as she turned and grinned at me. I sprang at her, pushing her into the back wall, smacking her head into it. That broke her hold on the others. Penelope grabbed the unconscious Stefan and ran through the door into the kitchen.