by J. C. Diem
Sanderson spoke into his radio as he climbed into the front of the truck, rousing me from my near slumber. Men from each of his other eight teams were reporting in. My blood tried to run cold when I heard of a single casualty amongst my people. “Repeat that, soldier,” the colonel snapped after a stammering young man passed on the bad news.
“One of the African soldiers accidentally killed one of the vampires who was on our side, Colonel,” the soldier repeated.
“Which one?”
“Uh, I don’t know, sir. One of the Europeans, I think,” was the nervous reply. My dead heart lodged somewhere in my throat at the news.
“Find out who the casualty was and get back to me asap,” Sanderson ordered.
I spent the next few minutes in tense agony, trying not to imagine the worst. Losing anyone on our team was bad but if it was one of my close friends then God help Sanderson and his men. Our alliance would be null and void and he would become my enemy. He seemed to be aware of the danger and answered his radio quickly when the soldier reported back. “Did you find out who the casualty was?” the colonel snapped.
A trifle more sure of himself now, the soldier had an answer. “It was a French vampire from their Court.” That narrowed the list down considerably. Only Gregor and Geordie were French from my team, apart from Nicholas. Aventius had brought a number of French vampires with him. My fingers were crossed that Joshua had met a timely end. Frankly, the world would be better off without him.
“Does this vampire have a name?” Sanderson asked with a hint of impatience.
“Her name was Marie, sir.”
I knew that name and who they were talking about. Marie was one of the vamps that we’d freed in Russia. Her leader had been possessed by his shadow and had been taking the group to the First’s cavern of doom. It seemed ironic that we’d saved her from being turned into an imp but hadn’t been able to save her from dying at the hands of our allies.
I’d placed Marie in Luc’s team after recognizing her by her very short auburn hair, teeth that overlapped in the front and a prominent nose. She hadn’t been a courtier but a member of a rogue pack. Antony had enjoyed taking his servants to the mansion in France to show them what they could never be part of. Marie might not have been beautiful but at least she’d had character and guts.
Relieved that my close friends were unharmed, I closed my eyes. I’d need to rest if I wanted to be at my best. I allowed myself to slide into sleep to the sound of tyres travelling over the damp, muddy ground and branches scraping against the metal sides of the truck.
Floating in a void, I was surrounded by darkness. Remembering that I’d had this dream before, I opened my eyes. A dull silver metal wall stretched out to either side. It was cold when I brushed my fingertips across it.
Something suddenly bumped into my back. Floundering, I managed to turn around and started back at a face only inches away from mine. Aged, pinched and wrinkled, there was something familiar about the shape of the jaw. Lifeless dirty hair hung limply over the person’s brow.
Reaching out, I touched the ancient cheek lightly, wondering how I knew this vampire. His eyes cracked open slightly. “Help us, Natalie,” the wizened creature croaked.
Chapter Eighteen
Struggling out of the dream that I still couldn’t make any sense of, I woke to the unlovely sounds of screams. Nicholas was crouched beside me, machete in hand and apparently ready to defend me from attack. The sun had fallen only minutes ago and all of the vampires in the truck were awake.
From the gurgling sounds of pain coming from somewhere nearby, someone was being mauled to death. Gee, I wonder who could possibly be responsible for this attack? My subconscious was more sarcastic than usual but it was correct. I could only sense one other vampire in the immediate vicinity and I was positive it wasn’t of my European team members. Even sprinting full tilt, it would take them some time to catch up to us after spending the day in their temporary underground burrows.
I pushed open the truck door and jumped to the ground. Moving as a unit, Nicholas and the Japanese warriors surrounded me to protect me from danger. I appreciated the sentiment but none of us were likely to be attacked. Our blood was dead, diseased and tainted by a long dead alien. We couldn’t feed the blood hunger of the creature that had just risen amongst us.
Pushing my way through the crowd of soldiers, I stopped at the sight of three dead men and the newly risen fledgling that was crouched over them. Sanderson stood several feet away from the former soldier who he had insisted be brought back intact. Just as I’d feared, the man had been fed vampire blood and was now my kin. The back door of an armoured truck hung crookedly from one hinge, indicating it had been the supposedly secure site where the undead soldier had been stored.
“Jackson, do you recognize me?” the colonel said to the blood soaked vampire.
Jackson had been stripped down to a plain white t-shirt and boxer shorts. The lower half of his face had turned red and his t-shirt was splattered with blood. Cocking his head to the side, the fledgling contemplated the tall, thin, blonde man before him. There was no reason left in his still mostly pale blue eyes. The former soldier snarled and hurled himself at his former superior.
I was already on the move before the fledgling launched himself into action. Crossing the distance, I pushed the colonel out of the way and crashed to the ground with the ravenous vamp on top of me. The former soldier sank his teeth into my neck, tearing through the skin and into the vein. His blood hunger was so extreme that he didn’t even realize his mistake at first.
Jerking back from me once he actually tasted what he was ingesting, the fledgling stared at the rapidly healing wounds in my neck in confusion. Instead of bright red, my blood was sluggish, black and highly unappetizing.
Standing unsteadily, Jackson took a step towards the colonel then coughed. Sanderson scrambled to his feet and several of his men hauled him out of danger. Encircled by flamethrower wielding soldiers, the fledgling was far too sick to worry about being barbequed.
Gagging, he clutched his throat and turned to me as if seeking an explanation for what had gone wrong. I’d been told that drinking the blood of our kin meant death but I’d never actually seen it for myself. Two imps had tried to snack on me and had died horribly as a consequence. This guy was about to suffer the same fate.
His face began to change colour as my blood spread through his system. Instead of pale white, he was soon a dusky grey. For a few horrible moments I thought my blood was turning him into an imp. Then I realized it was altering his blood from its usual red to black as his veins swelled and bulged.
Doubling over as the blood surged towards his heart, he let out a groan of agony and collapsed to his knees. Jerking spasmodically, he fell to his side and proceeded to have a fit. Now I knew what I’d looked like the night I’d first been bitten. Silvius’ blood had turned me into the undead but my blood was having a far worse effect on the already unliving fledgling.
Sounds of disgust and superstitious dread issued from both humans and vampires as the black, acrid substance that had originated from my body ate its way through the former soldier’s skin. He shrieked in agony, writhing in the dirt as his skin began to melt. Flesh disintegrated from his mouth and neck, leaving a raw open wound. Stains blossomed on his uniform as my blood worked its way through his digestive system and ate its way free. Hypnotized with horrified wonder, I watched as he died slowly and in intense agony.
Sanderson roused himself and took action. Stepping forward, he drew his handgun and pumped several bullets into his fledgling’s head. The screams cut off and what remained of his trooper’s melted body disintegrated.
“So that’s what happens when we drink each other’s blood,” I said in astonishment.
Nicholas shook his head and was echoed by the four Japanese guards. “I have never seen anything like that before, Natalie.” They were nearly as afraid as the humans and darted disturbed glances at me.
“You mean that wasn’t a
normal reaction?” This time I received five nods and they unconsciously edged away from me. “What usually happens when we drink vampire blood then?”
One of the Japanese warriors answered me. “Normally, we just…die. That,” he pointed at the blotch that used to be the soldier, “has never happened before.”
Remembering the times that Luc had come close to breaking my skin with his fangs during sex, I barely held in a shudder. I doubted he’d try that again once he heard of this new development. “I guess it’s just part of the awesomeness of being Mortis,” I said lamely. There were already enough differences between me and my kin, I didn’t need any more cropping up.
Shaky and whiter than usual, the colonel directed his men to dispose of the bodies of the three soldiers who had just been mauled to death. I had no desire to launch into a lecture that I’d told him this might happen. He’d learned his lesson and the mistake wouldn’t be repeated.
He drew me aside when the bodies were ablaze. “You saved my life,” he pointed out needlessly.
“Believe it or not, I still believe in the sanctity of human life.” How could I not when I still felt human myself sometimes?
“You have my thanks, Natalie.” In a very manly gesture, he held out his hand. I shook with him solemnly, knowing that I could trust him just a bit more now. Honour and integrity were a large part of his makeup. It would go against his nature to turn on an ally, unless he was forced to.
Our moment of understanding was interrupted when his radio crackled. Luc’s voice came through. Being Italian originally, he had a faint accent that had been altered after seven hundred years of living in France. “This is Lucentio,” he said formally. “I wish to speak to Natalie.”
Sanderson handed me his radio but made no move to give me privacy. “Hi, Luc. What’s up?”
“I have some bad news.” His tone was grave and warned me to brace myself.
I already had a pretty good idea why he was contacting me. “Is it about Marie?”
His silence was startled but momentary. “I only just found out myself that she was killed last night. How did you find out?”
I went with the truth. “I heard the Colonel speaking to one of his men about it.”
Sanderson frowned as he realized I’d been awake and listening to him in the back of the truck. He shrugged an apology but my expression warned him that there would be questions.
“I think it would be wise for us to keep in regular contact to ensure that our people remain safe,” my most favourite companion suggested.
“I agree,” I replied while looking Sanderson in the eye. “I’ll make sure to check in with the team leaders myself. If any more of our people die due to an ‘accident’, we’ll pull out and let the soldiers deal with the disciples and their fledglings themselves.”
Sanderson understood my warning and flushed at the threat but he didn’t argue the point.
“Agreed. Stay safe, chérie.” I could hear the smile in Luc’s voice as he used Geordie’s nickname for me.
“You, too.” I was smiling as well but it dropped off my mouth as soon as Luc was gone.
Holding up his hands to forestall my angry tirade at being reminded of Marie’s death, the colonel talked fast to save himself from my ire. “If you overheard that conversation then you must have heard me contacting all of the groups and warning them that there would be severe consequences if any more mistakes occurred.” His posture was defensive but not particularly alarmed so I assumed he was telling the truth.
“Actually, I fell asleep and missed that part.”
Searching my face, Sanderson wasn’t reassured. “I swear to you that Marie’s death was an accident. She stepped in front of one of General Merwe’s men as he opened fire. No one could have prevented her death.”
I’d have to question Luc’s team to see if any of them had witnessed this episode but it would have to wait for now. Sadly, our task was too important to seek justice for just one unlife. “We’ll talk about this later,” I decided. “What is our current situation?”
Relieved to be let off the hook, the colonel pulled out his trusty map. Even with the lamination protecting it, the map was beginning to look worn. “Our teams have cleared out a number of villages in the area while your people slept.” He indicated a few green circles on the map. The red circles of villages that had been attacked far outnumbered them.
On the downside, the villages were turning into actual towns the further away from the heart of the jungle they became. It would take longer for the vamps to reach them on foot but their numbers were swelling with each attack. Soon, they would have enough fledglings to carry their victims away rather than burying them beneath the ground. I could only hope that the Second was unaware that we were digging up and eradicating anyone he left behind.
“As you can see, the villages are getting bigger and are becoming more numerous.” Sanderson pointed to the groups of dwellings that led outward in an expanding circle. I nodded impatiently. “General Merwe and I believe that our best course of action is to get ahead of the enemy.” He indicated an area that left a few villages within the danger zone. “Our intention is to evacuate these towns and work our way into the centre.” They must have worked out this plan while I’d been sleeping.
“This reminds me of back burning to prevent a fire from spreading,” I murmured. It was a common practice in Australia during the bushfire season. The only problem with that scenario was that sometimes the fires had a habit of turning on the people that had set them.
Many humans would be sacrificed if we went with this plan but desperate times called for desperate actions. “Let’s do it,” I said and sealed the fate of everyone who lived inside the kill zone.
Chapter Nineteen
While Sanderson contacted General Merwe to coordinate our plan, I checked on my people. Sanderson had given us our own frequency to use to keep in contact. I hoped someone was listening in from each of my teams.
“This is Natalie,” I said into the radio. “Come in, Team One.”
One of Ishida’s female guards answered. Her ruler was either still pissed at me or thought he was above using the device. Probably, it was a bit of both. “This is Team One, Mortis.”
“Have you had any casualties so far?” It was the most diplomatic way I could think to ask whether any of our people had died under suspicious circumstances.
“Not so far, Mortis,” was her crisp reply. If anyone from the army was listening in, they’d have no idea what her response was, unless they understood Japanese. “We are all well but several human lives were lost.”
“Did you see any of the disciples during the scuffle?”
“Several of our people caught a glimpse of an ancient, withered vampire but he disappeared before we could catch him.”
I was disappointed but unsurprised. The disciples would all be aware that they were being hunted by now. “The disciples are our main priority,” I told her. “If you spot him again, take a team, hunt him down and kill him.”
“Understood, Mortis.”
One by one, I contacted the other teams. I skipped team two because I’d already spoken to Luc. Gregor answered when I called for his team. “Natalie, it is good to hear from you.”
“I’m glad you’re ok, Gregor. How is your hunt going?”
“Quite well,” he replied warmly as if we were discussing a party he’d recently thrown. “We lost only a few soldiers and managed to destroy all of the fledglings.” He’d been listening in during my discussion with the female from team one. “We didn’t spot any of the disciples but we will heed your orders that they take priority.”
I contacted Igor’s group next. “Come in, Team Four.”
“I’m here, chérie!” Geordie said excitedly, not to mention loudly.
Wincing, I jerked the radio away from my ear. “Hi, Geordie. Is everything ok in your team?”
“We are fine but I have good news. We killed one of the disciples!” he crowed. “We cornered him while he was feeding
his flesh hunger.” His joy was dampened slightly and his voice lowered when he continued. “I’m very glad that we killed him, Natalie.”
“Why?” There had to be another reason apart from the obvious, that he was one of the bad guys.
“He hungered for the flesh of children.”
My mouth opened but my disgust was so strong that at first I had nothing to say. “Who killed him?” I asked at last.
“Igor had that honour. He heard the little boy screaming and went to investigate. The disciple was distracted with mauling the child and didn’t even know Igor was there until his knife pierced his body.”
“What happened to the boy?” Grief for the poor little kid welled up because I knew what the answer would be.
Geordie’s answer came reluctantly. “We had to destroy him. The disciple had fed him his blood.”
My lips wrinkled back from my teeth as I realized that the perverted disciple had intended to make the child his sex slave. Nicholas had wandered over during the conversation and laid a hand on my shoulder. Even his expression was disturbed at the idea of a child vampire. “Tell Igor that he did the world a service,” I said.
“I will, chérie. Take care of yourself.”
Nicholas still had his hand on my shoulder when I called for the next team. Pretending I was having trouble hearing, I moved away a few steps. Unfortunately, he ignored my hint and stayed by my side. At least he kept his hands to himself. Crossing his arms he stared at the side of my head moodily.
Aventius himself responded to my call and advised that all was well with his people. Next, my weapons instructor replied gruffly that no accidents had occurred with any of his team and that they also had spotted a disciple.
“Everyone, listen up,” I said and knew that the people appointed to radio duty would be paying attention. “Be wary of being led into a trap by the disciples. Don’t chase them alone. Make sure you have a team with you. Take some of the humans along if you have to.”