Death Devours

by J. C. Diem

  Holding back sobs, Geordie reached out and patted the Russian on the shoulder. “It was not your fault, Igor. None of us can control ourselves when we are first made.”

  Gregor stirred and looked at me slyly. “Until Natalie came along, that has always been the case.”

  Shrugging off the remark, I urged Igor to continue his story. “What happened to your maker?”

  A crafty expression stole across Igor’s face. “I remained subservient to him for over ten thousand years before he died in an unfortunate accident.”

  Luc narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “Did you somehow engineer this ‘unfortunate accident’?”

  Grinning widely now, Igor gave a short nod.

  Geordie was confused and he wasn’t afraid to show it. “None of us can survive killing our masters.” Gregor sent another sly look in my direction but refrained from pointing out again that I’d defied the odds.

  “Technically, it was the fall that killed my maker,” Igor corrected the teenager. “I simply spooked his horse into riding over the edge of the cliff we’d been riding alongside.”

  “How did you figure out how to dispose of your master?” Gregor asked, impressed by the Russian’s ingenuity.

  “I questioned every vampire we encountered and drew my own conclusions from their answers.” Igor looked understandably pleased with himself.

  “You couldn’t possibly know if it would work or not,” I pointed out. “You took a massive chance by spooking his horse over the cliff.”

  Igor’s shrug was surprisingly eloquent but he summed his feelings up with words anyway. “After ten millennia as a servant, oblivion would have been far preferable.”

  Luc for one could identify with that sentiment. I could see the wheels turning as he speculated how he could do away with the Comtesse in the event that he was ever beneath her control again. I wanted to reassure him that I would keep him safe but didn’t. I couldn’t see the future, except for odd snippets in my dreams. For all I knew, Luc would end up subject to the praying mantis’ rule again. Like I’d told Nicholas, no one could fight their fate. But I’d do my very best to make sure he remained free.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Sanderson and General Merwe exchanged terse conversation, trying to anticipate where the Second and his people might be headed. Gregor shushed the rest of us with an impatient gesture so we could listen in.

  “If I was a vampire and wanted to take over the world,” the colonel mused, “I’d choose a large city to take over and work my way towards it, increasing my army as I went.”

  Merwe made a sound of agreement. With the curtain drawn, we couldn’t see his expression but he also sounded thoughtful. “It would be sensible to stop only briefly, snatching a small number of victims per town. We won’t know when or where they have struck until the disappearances are reported.”

  “If they have suitable transportation, they could potentially gather hundreds of fledglings along the way. Then they could hide in the large city of their choice and wait for their followers to wake before striking.”

  General Merwe voiced the idea we were all thinking. “They would wreak havoc, killing or converting an entire population in a matter of days.”

  It was a chilling thought. Whisking the curtain back, I startled the two men who hadn’t realized that we were all listening in. “Where is the nearest large city?”

  “The closest one would be to the north east,” General Merwe replied. The city he named was unpronounceable, at least for me.

  “How far away are we from there?”

  He barely had to think about it. “It would take us at least forty-eight hours to drive there. There are over a million people in residence,” he told us gravely and a sick feeling entered my stomach.

  Sanderson met my gaze in the rear view mirror. “You don’t think he is actually heading there, do you?”

  “The Second is smart and infinitely devious,” I pointed out. “If both of you think this would be his best option for world domination, then we should head there right now.”

  Sanderson was quiet for a few moments while he thought it over. Gregor’s voice floated forward. “I believe it would be prudent to send as many of your soldiers as you can muster towards this city, Colonel.”

  “Keep your antennae pointed at them,” Sanderson told me. “Let me know if they change course.”

  My friends chatted quietly as I closed my eyes and sent out my senses to keep a constant vigil on our quarry. They stopped briefly several times, adding weight to Sanderson’s guess about the Second’s plans to increase their numbers.

  General Merwe consulted his map, trying to determine where the growing host of vampires might have stopped to add to their numbers during their journey. Sanderson pulled out his satellite phone and contacted his people. While it was necessary to mop up any caches that were about to awaken behind us, it was far more important to contain the threat ahead. He directed his forces to split and the greater bulk to head for the large city. Merwe also directed his troops to alter their course instead of meeting up with us.

  Both Sanderson and Merwe left our truck at sunrise, swapping with two African soldiers. They would try to snatch some sleep as the convoy inexorably closed in on our quarry.

  Since it was pointless to attempt to sense the mob we were chasing once daylight came, I slid into a deep sleep instead.

  Kokoro floated in utter darkness with her back to me. Sensing my presence, she spoke. “Greetings, Natalie.”

  Looking around, I saw that we were alone. “Where are we? Is this a dream?” It had to be but it seemed very real.

  “We are inside my vision,” the Japanese prophetess explained. “This is what I see every time I close my eyes.”

  Wanting to avoid being rude, I tried to word my thoughts diplomatically. “Um, isn’t darkness what you see whether your eyes are open or shut?”

  Turning, her pure white eyes lit on me. “My blindness isn’t natural, Natalie,” she pointed out gently. “For me, having my eyes open causes darkness. When they are shut, I see very well.”

  Struggling with that concept, I rubbed my forehead. “What do you usually see when you close your eyes?”

  “I would normally see the past, present and future of my people.”

  “When did your ability to see visions stop?”

  “They ceased the night the ten disciples rose. From that moment, I have seen only this.” She swept a delicate, pale hand at the blank emptiness around us.

  “Maybe your visions have just stopped and you’re really blind now.” I sounded desperate even to myself.

  Kokoro shook her head slowly and her expression was reproachful. “You can sense what I do, Mortis.”

  She emphasized my name and I reluctantly admitted the truth. I could feel what the seer did; I couldn’t see anyone else near us but we were somehow surrounded by death.

  Someone shaking me by the shoulder woke me. “Wake up, chérie,” Geordie said softly. He had swapped seats with Luc, who was speaking quietly to Gregor and Igor.

  “What’s wrong?” I said groggily. I’d been so deeply asleep that I hadn’t noticed the sun tucking itself into bed for the night.

  “You were having a bad dream,” the teenager told me uneasily. A vampire that was able to sleep was still a strange concept to him. To me, it was preferable to suddenly blacking out as soon as the sun rose each day.

  “Did I say anything while I was dreaming?” As far as I knew, I wasn’t a sleep talker but many things had changed about me since becoming the living dead.

  Nodding unhappily, Geordie lowered his voice even more. “You were saying, ‘They’re all dead. Everyone is dead.’” He shuddered and huddled against me.

  I’d never had, or particularly wanted, a little brother but Geordie stirred feelings of responsibility in me. I put an arm around his narrow shoulders and gave him a hug. “I’m sure it was nothing but maybe we should just keep that dream between the two of us.”

  His smile was partly gratified
that I trusted him with a secret and partly disturbed that we needed to have one. “Were you having a vision, Natalie?”

  I shook my head and ignored the twinge of guilt at the lie. Technically, it was Kokoro’s vision, I told myself. “It was just a dream,” I reassured him.

  “Are you all awake back there?” Sanderson called out. His voice was gravelly and it didn’t sound as if he’d gotten much sleep.

  Igor pulled the curtain back, revealing the two men up front. “We’re awake,” I said, slightly embarrassed that I’d been the last to rise.

  “It would appear we may be correct about the Second and his two remaining cohorts’ intended destination.”

  General Merwe turned to face us. “We have received reports of dozens of people missing from each town along our current route.” Like his American counterpart, he looked ragged.

  “Then we are definitely heading in the right direction,” Gregor mused.

  “Our soldiers have already arrived at the city and are waiting on the outskirts several miles to the north,” Sanderson explained. “They won’t move in until we are certain that the vampires are settling in to stay.”

  Merwe wasn’t happy about his civilians being sacrificed but had resigned himself to the inevitable. “We will arrive in another twenty-four hours. By then we should be certain of the creature’s plans.”

  “What is our plan of attack, gentlemen?” Gregor queried.

  Sanderson fielded the question. “Your people will be needed on the front lines. I am prepared to loan you the weapons that we’ve developed in the event of vampire invasion.”

  We exchanged uneasy glances at that but Nicholas was the only one brave enough, or foolhardy enough, to speak up. “We will be using the weapons that you have specifically designed to kill us against our own kind?” His disgust was palpable. I would personally make sure he didn’t get his hands on one of these weapons. The tiny shred of trust I’d felt for him had been wiped away when he’d tried to force my flesh hunger to rise.

  “As Natalie told me when this threat first began,” the colonel said, “humans are too slow to keep up with the fledglings. These weapons will be far more effective in your hands.” An undertone of unhappiness shone through despite his attempt to hide it. Weapons that powerful in the hands of my kind would be a scary thought for a human.

  “What if we aren’t exactly skilled with a gun?” Geordie said, assuming that was the type of weapon the soldier was speaking of.

  “Can you throw rocks?” Sanderson asked, keeping his eyes on the road.

  “Of course.” Geordie’s tone was affronted that he’d needed to be asked.

  “Then I have weapons everyone can use.”

  “Explosives,” Igor elaborated when the teenager still seemed confused. “Just try not to blow your own hands off,” the Russian warned his assistant. Geordie gave an uneasy giggle at the possibility.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Twenty-four long hours later, we arrived at the outskirts of the city. Reports had been flooding in that vampires were hiding somewhere in the area. Terrified citizens had begun to evacuate in droves but the damage had already been done. Thousands were already either missing or dead.

  As our convoy came to a stop, I sent out my senses and was dismayed at how many pockets of fledglings I discovered. A great many would be insensate for another night or two but they would eventually wake. When they did, they would immediately begin to search for food. With so many of the citizens already gone and the rest fleeing, the only meals that would remain would be the thousands of soldiers who were waiting to charge in and cut them down.

  “Can you pinpoint exactly where the disciples are hiding?” Sanderson asked me as we disembarked. He looked more ragged than ever and I wondered how much sleep he’d snatched over the past week.

  To his disappointment, I shook my head. “There are pockets of vampires everywhere,” I explained. “I have no way of identifying the disciples amongst the fledglings. They could be hiding anywhere that the sun can’t get to.”

  “Where would you hide if you wanted to avoid the sun?” the general asked me.

  I didn’t even need to think about it and pointed downwards. “The sewers are usually safe.” Unless they’ve been taken over by a wannabe mad scientist who enjoys experimenting on hapless intruders, I reminded myself.

  “Does this city have an extensive sewage system?” Sanderson asked the general.

  Merwe nodded with a grimace. “It does but I doubt that it is in very good repair.”

  A convoy of large army trucks approached and Sanderson moved to intercept it. Thousands of American troops jumped to the ground. All carried huge guns that came equipped with overlarge magazines. The bullets looked far bigger than I was used to seeing on TV.

  Hefting the weapon one of his men handed over, Sanderson took aim at a distant tree and pulled the trigger. The bullet hit the target and then the tree was vaporized in a searing flash of light.

  Staggering back with spots dancing in my eyes, I turned on the colonel. “What the hell was that?”

  “This,” he said with pride, “is one of the weapons I’ve been telling you about. Instead of normal bullets, they have explosive rounds that are designed to lodge deep inside the body before detonating.”

  “What an efficient way to murder our kin,” Nicholas muttered and was ignored by all of the nocturnal who heard him. Where he used to bump into me every time I turned around, he now kept his distance. I noticed both Gregor and Igor keeping their eye on him. It was nice to know we all mistrusted the muscle bound one equally.

  “What about the other things, the throwy things?” Geordie queried. He was clearly uneasy at the thought of using one of the guns. I had pretty much no experience firing guns either. I couldn’t blame him for being squeamish about using something that could cause so much damage.

  Another soldier handed the colonel a small device. Gesturing for us to gather around, Sanderson opened his hand to reveal a black explosive much smaller than a grenade. “To arm it, you just need to press the red button.” He pointed at the tip. “It will explode after three seconds so I don’t recommend holding onto it for long.” He said this without a smile yet Geordie issued a nervous giggle anyway.

  Depressing the button, Sanderson threw the device at another tree. It exploded in mid-air, sending a spray of fire in a five foot wide arc.

  Impressed, Gregor clapped the soldier on the back. “They are remarkable weapons, Colonel Sanderson.”

  “I only hope they never turn them on us,” Geordie said to me quietly.

  “Gather your people together and I’ll have my men start handing out weapons,” Sanderson instructed me.

  My teams had exited their vehicles and had automatically clumped into their three distinct groups again. Anna-Eve caught my wave and motioned the courtiers and guards in our direction. Aventius saw them on the move and hastened to follow. Kokoro spoke to Ishida and finally talked him into joining us. Arrogance came off the child king in waves as he took up a stiff stance at a short distance from the other two groups.

  I was already tired of dealing with the arguments, tantrums and infighting. This will all be over soon, I promised myself. In a few hours either we’d all be dead or the Second and his horde would be. With the weapons Sanderson’s men were handing out, we should have a greater chance of survival now.

  At my subtle shake of the head to a soldier, he handed Nicholas some of the explosives rather than one of the guns. I didn’t like to see them in the muscled one’s grip but figured it would cause too much drama to deny him the use of a weapon at all. It probably wouldn’t be wise for our tentative allies to witness dissent amongst our ranks.

  Sanderson had sent one of his men to locate a map of the sewer system. The man was out of breath when he hurried back. Handing over a tattered rolled up piece of paper, he offered his superior an apology. “This is the most recent map of the sewer system that I could find, sir.”

  Opening the map, Sanderson sighed at
the ill drawn copy. It looked like a rabbit warren to me with tunnels that ended abruptly, circled back on themselves and made no sense at all in some cases.

  “It’s even worse than I thought,” the colonel complained. He and General Merwe studied the drawing while my kin practiced with their weapons. Nicholas held the explosives disdainfully. Geordie practiced throwing his, making occasional mock exploding sounds. Igor hefted his gun, sighted down the barrel and then slung it over his shoulder. Gregor and Luc watched as a soldier showed them how to reload it once the magazine was empty. A gun was shoved into my hands and the soldier pivoted and hurried away before I could protest.

  “Are you sure you want to use that, chérie?” Geordie asked me as he sidled out of my line of fire.

  “How hard can it be?” I asked. “You just point it and pull the trigger, don’t you?” I held the gun up, glad for my vampire strength. Without it, my arms would have been trembling in seconds. Sighting on a tree that hadn’t been blown up yet, I pulled the trigger. Seconds passed and the tree remained intact.

  Leaning over, Luc flicked a tiny switch near the trigger. “It helps if you disengage the safety.”

  “Oh.” Deflated, I pulled the trigger again and the tree disappeared in a burst of fire.

  Carefully reengaging the safety, I took the handful of explosives another soldier handed me and looked down at my slick black suit. Without pockets, I had nowhere to stash the tiny bombs. With no other option, I bent and slipped them into the tops of my boots. I just hope I don’t accidentally detonate them and blow my own legs off. Knowing me, that was a likely scenario.

  When they were satisfied with their plan, the two soldiers asked us to gather around. “Natalie,” Sanderson began, “I’d like you to split your people up into twelve teams and have them enter the sewers in these places.” He pointed at the spots he and the General had chosen. They were all on the outskirts of the city.