Obsessions: A Monster Squad Novel 7

by Heath Stallcup

  Laura inhaled deeply and her she ground her teeth. She sat up and pulled her hair back, exposing the freshest bite marks on the back of her neck. “Does that look like I’m pulling your leg?”

  Derek leaned in close and traced a finger over the dual puncture wounds. “Holy shit, Punk.” His eyes widened as he turned to face her. “He bit you!”

  “I wanted him to.”

  “Why?” Derek screamed.

  “Because I like it, you dimwit, why do you think?”

  “I don’t…I mean…how could…but you…” He turned back to her, his eyes so wide she feared they would fall out of his skull. “Are you a vampire now?”

  “What? No, it doesn’t work that way.”

  “Yes it does! I’ve seen the movies.” He slowly backed away from her, his fingers coming up to form a cross in front of her.

  “Oh for Pete’s sake.” She stood up and pushed his ‘cross’ away from her. “I wear a crucifix you dumbass.”

  Derek stared at his crossed fingers then let his arms drop. “But, why aren’t you a soulless ghoul, too?”

  “Oh, I’m soulless, but that’s from too many years of working for the government.” She walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge. She pulled out two beers and tossed one to him. “But I’m no vampire, and I’m certainly no ghoul.”

  “There’s a difference? Oh wait…let me guess.”

  She rolled her eyes at him as she unscrewed the top and tossed the lid into the trash. “It’s complicated, D.” She took a long pull from the cold brew and leaned against the wall. “All I know is that right now, I really wish I were back there with him.”

  “Oh wow. So like, you’re in love with this guy?”

  She rolled her eyes again. “Yeah, D, I’m like…in love with him.”

  He sat down on the hearth again and stared at the beer in his hands. “That’s heavy.” He popped the lid and took a short drink. “So…”

  “Yeah. So.”

  “No, I was gonna say, so…dragons? They’re really real?”

  *****

  Mitchell was bent over the operations console observing an overhead view of the area that his assault team would be soon be striking. He placed a gentle hand on the shoulder of the technician at the station. “ETA for drop?”

  “Five minutes, Colonel.” The technician adjusted the gain on the satellite relay and the feed sharpened. “We have movement in the northeast quadrant. Looks like our tangos are on the move.”

  “Heat signatures?”

  “Negative, sir. Best guess based on speed and agility is they’re vamps.” The technician zoomed out on the display, broadening the area on the screen. “Small town south-by-southwest. At their current speed, they’ll reach the outer markers in about ten minutes.”

  Mitchell leaned back in his chair and spun to the communications officer. “Notify Second Squad that the tangos are on the move. They need to insert ASAP and set up a moving screen along the northeast border of the town.”

  “Copy that, sir.” The communications officer began relaying the information to the squad while still in transit. He held a hand up to the side of his head and closed off his other ear, trying to hear above the low murmur of the OPCOM. “Sir, Second Squad reports that they’re facing some weather. The pilot had to increase altitude and speed to get above it. He’s about to vector in now to gain them speed on the drop in.”

  “Roger that.” Mitchell made adjustments to his calculations and figured the team had bought at least two more minutes prep time. “It’s still a lot closer than I’d like.”

  Mark stepped into the OPCOM and sealed the door to the harsh artificial light of the hallway. He leaned in to Mitchell and lowered his voice, “I got the pilot sent off to the island. He did his part.”

  Mitchell nodded and motioned to the empty logistics chair. “Saddle up. It’s about to get messy.”

  “Sir, their coms are choppy but reporting.” The communications tech turned up the gain and put it on the overhead speaker. “I’ve cleaned it up as best I could.”

  “OPCOM, Second Actual, we’re about to depart Pterodactyl Airlines for the comfort of the storm outside. Com check.”

  “We read you, Dom.” Mitchell punched the button to bring the satellite feed up on the big screen. “Damn, this isn’t working. Put the sat feed on the big screen.”

  The tech nodded and typed the commands, the screen instantly switching to the satellite feed. His monitor now shown on the widescreen at the front of the center. “We have eyes on the tangos. They’re scattering their approach angles as they close on the town.”

  “Copy that, OPCOM. We’re slowing for a low altitude drop. We’ll be boots down before you know it.”

  The OPCOM personnel went about their business monitoring as they listened to the squad members attach their static lines and prepare for the jump. Jericho cut in on the feed and announced that he was assuming mobile command.

  “Copy that, Mobile. OPCOM standing by to provide support.” Mitchell leaned back in his chair and exhaled a long sigh, his eyes staring at the screens overhead.

  “Colonel, this is the first time using this drone. This one replaced the one we lost against the aquatic trolls. Want to offer up a quick blessing on it?” Jericho couldn’t hide the mirth from his voice as he brought the bird online.

  “Sure.” Mitchell leaned forward, his eyes narrowing as he watched the status of the drone on the screen to his right. “You better work right, you sorry piece of shit, or I’ll personally melt you down into razor blades and use you to shave my ass.”

  A muffled round of laughter could be heard through the operators’ mouthpieces. Jericho keyed back, “Couldn’t have said it better myself, sir.”

  “Appropriate.” Mark hiked a brow at him. “You just better hope you didn’t piss off the drone gods or that thing will fall from the sky like a paperweight.”

  “He asked for my blessing, I gave him my blessing.” Mitchell turned back to the screen and tried to switch it again. “Dammit, my remote isn’t working.” He banged it a couple times and it still wouldn’t respond.

  “Try kicking it into submission,” Mark deadpanned. “I hear they have these newfangled things called ‘batteries’. You should try them.”

  “It’s hard wired, smart ass.” Mitchell smacked it again then sighed. “Probably made in China.”

  “They’re away, sir,” the tech called from in front of Mitchell’s seat. “Should be boots down in a matter of moments.”

  “Okay, people. Let’s put on our A-game. It’s time to make the doughnuts.”

  *****

  Little John searched the mess decks and the gym. He walked through the showers and the library. He was working his way up from the lower levels floor by floor but couldn’t find Spalding anywhere. As he walked past the second level overlook, McKenzie stormed past him. “Hey, have you seen Spalding?”

  “Blow it out your ass, Sullivan.” Chad’s face was twisted in anger, his eyes narrowed.

  “What the hell is your problem?” John turned and faced Mac as he marched away.

  Chad stopped suddenly and clenched his fists. “You don’t want to go there, Sullivan.”

  “Go where, Mac? You’ve been acting like somebody pissed in your Post Toasties for weeks now. What gives?” Sullivan truly couldn’t understand where all of this misplaced anger was originating from.

  Chad slowly turned, his face a mask of rage. “Even you can’t be that dense.”

  Sullivan shrugged. “Well apparently I am. You’ve been stomping around here like you’re pissed at the world, and it’s everybody’s fault but your own. You go against your own team, your Team Leader tries to set you straight and what do you do? You go off on him and get yourself benched.” John shook his head in confusion. “I can’t get a read on you, man.”

  Mac stood in the narrow hallway, clenching and unclenching his fists, his eyes boring a hole through John’s chest. “You truly are an idiot, aren’t you? I guess it’s true what they say. The bigger
they are, the stupider they are.”

  John rolled his eyes at the smaller operator. “Dude, you aren’t going to bait me into smacking the ugly off of you. There wouldn’t be nothing left.”

  “Keep thinking you could.” Chad turned back and stormed off in the direction he was going.

  John heard the footsteps approaching before he ever smelled Spalding’s aftershave. “Problems?”

  He shook his head. “Not with me, but I think Mac is about to blow. There is something seriously wrong in the guy’s noodle.”

  Spalding watched the other man reach the end of the hall and turn for the stairwell. “Well, it wasn’t that long ago, people thought the same thing about you.”

  “Anger issues?” John shot him a puzzled look.

  “No, just…something was off.” Spalding shrugged. “Everybody’s different. Chad is just…well, he’s wound tighter than most folks.”

  “Aw, fuck. Don’t tell me that you’re going to adopt another basket case and nurse it to normalcy?”

  Spalding snorted a laugh. “Not anytime soon.” He clapped John on the shoulder. “One basket case is enough for me.”

  “Thanks.” He turned and fell into step with him. “I was looking for you. For a moment I thought you were trying to hide.”

  “I was researching.” Spalding handed him a file.

  “What’s this?”

  “Everything I could dig up on Sheridan’s old crew. Jack had a sit down with admin and together they thought things through. Best bet is our shooter is a guy named Bigby.”

  “Bigby? Never heard of him.”

  “Well, he’s from Team One in England.” Spalding held the door and the two entered his office. Spalding fell into the chair behind his desk and Little John stood, taking up the rest of the space. “Most of the guys on Team One are stand up guys. You know, for God and Queen, that sort of shit.”

  “Gotcha. But somehow this Bigby was a bad apple?”

  “Well…” Spalding pulled another file from his desk. “Sheridan was his CO. Unlike our setup, their COs are field officers. They’re out in the mud and muck with their troops. This Major Sheridan had family and the blood suckers used them to get to him.”

  “That blows.” John handed Bigby’s file back. “So what’s the score?”

  “Jack and Sheridan were pals from way back. Jack was on an op that got his entire team wiped out, but he was saved and nursed back to health by this vampire named Thorn. The vamps that blackmailed Sheridan wanted him to assassinate Thorn.” Spalding shook his head and shrugged. “Jack didn’t like the idea of one of his buddies turning traitor and killing another buddy.”

  “So it was Jack that caught him?”

  “Shot him in the foot and crippled him. But somehow he worked it out so that Sheridan’s family could be shipped over here, put into Witness Protection and disappeared. Sheridan was supposed to be a part of it, but something inside him snapped.”

  “And he’s the guy who recruited Apollo.” John was nodding, the pieces finally falling into place. “And what? This Bigby was jealous or…”

  “We think he recruited Bigby to work with him the same way he recruited Apollo.” Spalding shrugged and stuffed the file into the stack with the others. “The thing is…I can’t figure out how he got into Apollo’s head like that.”

  John leaned against the wall and remained silent. He really didn’t know Apollo well enough to hazard a guess. His eyes scanned the small office and eventually fell on the pile of file folders. “Are all of those tied to Apollo?”

  “Yeah, most of them.” Spalding leaned back and bit at the end of his thumbnail. “His briefings, field notes, the evidence that was found on scene. What we have on Sheridan and the guys from his team that went ‘missing’. Bigby is the only one that really could be our missing shooter.”

  “It couldn’t have been one of Simmons’ guys?”

  Spalding shrugged. “I suppose it could have been, but from what little we’ve gathered and from what others have said, he only trusts wolves.”

  Little John grunted, “With wolves like this Sheridan and Bigby, I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.”

  *****

  “This will not be an easy task.” Rufus walked through the warehouse and looked about, his eyes taking in everything. “They will need to run cabling from the roof and there will be much equipment that goes with this.”

  Lilith followed closely behind him, her eyes scanning the areas where he looked, unsure what he was looking for. “What do you search for?”

  “My lady, we will need to run many wires and cables down from the roof to your office. These cables are heavy, and they will need to be secured.” He patted one of the concrete columns. “I may be wrong, but I believe we can use these to run them down to those steel reinforcements up there, then along to that column beside your office and then down and into the area where they can set up the monitors.”

  “Very well.” She turned to leave then noticed that he was still standing out in the warehouse, studying the ceiling. “What else?”

  “Well, there are also the power supplies, the relays and…just very much equipment that we don’t want lying about. They need to stay cooled and I’m curious if it would be better to mount them up and out of the way or…” His voice trailed off.

  Lilith turned to Samael for guidance but the angel was disinterested. He was studying the Centurions still packing crates for their departure. “What are your thoughts, my love?”

  “My thoughts do not matter.” Samael turned his back to her and slowly made his way to the stack of crates along the wall. She ignored Thorn and followed the fallen angel.

  “What bothers you?” She tugged at his shoulder, but he still continued to watch the workers.

  “I think we should kill this vampire at first opportunity. Instead you are welcoming him into the fold.” He turned a careful glance toward Thorn then eyed her again. “And he brings more of his people here. How do we know they are who they say they are?”

  Lilith chuckled and moved around to the front of him. She wrapped her arms around his thick neck and pulled herself up to kiss him. “What can a handful of vampires do to us? You are an angel and I am Lilith, Demon Queen.”

  Samael’s eyes widened. “You truly do not understand, do you? You are the queen. If anything happens to you, we are lost!” His whispered voice threatened to echo across the warehouse. “Your resurrection was what allowed us to return. It was the only spell I was allowed to cast when they…” He paused, his voice quivering, his eyes avoiding her.

  She reached up and cupped his chiseled face. “What are you saying?”

  “I’m saying that if anything happens to you, your demons and myself will be damned back to Hell. There is no coming back unless he permits it. And he won’t permit it if we fail.”

  She nodded slowly, her eyes peering into his own. “What spell did you speak of?”

  Samael sighed, his eyes darting to the side. “He wouldn’t allow me to give you your demons when you first needed them. He said the timing wasn’t right. The religion was too strong then. But now, people are losing their faith. They place their hope and belief in themselves…in science or in things. He made me wait until you were caught and being tried. Then he would only this spell be cast.”

  “A spell?”

  “That once you were made whole, I could return to you. Your demons could be culled from Hell and allowed to take bodies for your bidding.” Samael ground his teeth as he stared at her. “It was not my doing, my love.”

  Lilith inhaled deeply and steadied herself. She closed her eyes and turned from him. “Could you have saved me when they were torturing me?”

  “No, he wouldn’t allow it,” Samael’s voice cracked as he spoke. “He said you needed to experience that. That it would fuel your hatred toward the created ones. Toward the One who created them. That without that, your spirit couldn’t ripen.”

  She exhaled hard and felt her hand tremble as her anger spread. “He said th
at I needed to be drawn and quartered. To have my organs ripped from my body and scattered to the four corners of the earth?” She ground her teeth so hard that she feared she would crack a tooth. “He thought that I needed that experience? To feel that kind of pain to hate even more?”

  “Yes, my love.” Samael brushed her neck with the back of his hand and felt her pull away. “I swear to you, it wasn’t me. It was Satan. He knows that you are his loophole to the Armageddon.”

  “His what?” She spun and glared at him, shock painted across her features.

  Samael groaned, his shoulders slumping. “He fears that the prophet’s predictions of the battle of Armageddon are true. That he will lose. You are to be his loophole to destroy this creation.”

  An evil and defiant smile crossed her features. “Well, let’s not dare disappoint your master, shall we?”

  16

  “Perimeter set and motion sensors active,” the disembodied voice crackled over the speakers as the crew within the OPCOM observed their heat signatures from the satellite feed. “Distance to tangos?”

  Mitchell did a quick calculation based on movement and trajectory. “Approximately half a click, Sierra One. At their current speed you should make contact in a few minutes. Stay sharp out there.”

  “Copy that,” Dominic’s voice dropped to a low whisper and his heat profile darkened as he slipped into a creek bed and began crawling up the other side. He laid out along the bank, his .308 caliber SCAR resting on its bipod. “Eyes open, ladies. Contact imminent.”

  A series of clicks responded as his team replied, their individual heat signatures spread in a semi-circle between the oncoming vampires and the small town to their back.

  Jericho broke onto the channel with a report. “Drone is away and at the ready. Call sign Vulture. Establishing a high altitude circular orbit. At your command, Sierra One.”

  “Roger that. Stand by.” Dom switched his optics from thermal to night vision. Vampires wouldn’t give off heat, and the soft green glow of the night vision amplified the ambient light, turning night into an ethereal day. He shifted the stock against his shoulder slightly and reapplied his cheek weld, his eye adjusting to the optics once more. He caught motion in the corner of his field of vision and realized it was just a rabbit, scampering away and into a small stand of thickets. Dom strained his hearing, listening for the slightest sound. The snap of a twig, the rustling of a limb against a moving object, anything that would signify something large, moving quickly through the stand of trees.