by Joe Fowler
“Sorry, Mr. President, there was a problem with the traffic.” Jonas said.
The President gave him a shrewd look and motioned for the meeting to begin. I heard all the cameras and their crews preparing. Josh turned back to his wolf form and stood guard as he did the night before. I was happy to see his eyes remain on Cyranos the whole time.
“I am still convinced vampires deserve fair and equal rights. You can’t blame me or Austin for what the other vampires have done. That would be complete stereotyping and could not be tolerated. You can’t judge all based on a few.” Jonas began.
“We are not basing our decisions on the actions of a few. The overwhelming majority of your species is evil. That is why we have the stipulations in place.” The President replied. I hoped he would continue to be the one to speak.
“You are still judging some on the actions of others.” Jonas had regained his smug tone of voice.
“One in several million humans has the serial killer in him. That is a more or less manageable ratio. Nine out of ten vampires are ruthless killing machines. We are not stereotyping, we are using cold hard facts to judge the best course of action. Steps have to be made to insure the safety of humans against the overwhelming strength of your species. Otherwise, we would remain in constant war.” The President was doing just fine. I relaxed a little thinking I would not be needed.
“Do you have proof that the ratio of bad vampires to good is really that bad?” Jonas asked. The President looked at me.
“Seth, Josh, Rosalyn, and I have each killed thousands upon thousands of bad vampires. We have only seen footage of maybe a hundred or so good vampires who have fought for the good.” I stated.
“You have only seen a small sample. Maybe if we looked more globally, we would find a much better balance.” Jonas was an idiot.
“The hundred or so good vampires were all American. I have been in Paris, France and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The numbers are much more highly tilted to the evil side in those countries. We could turn on the news and watch the destruction in India and China if you want more global evidence. Saying the ratio is nine out of ten is being generous. It is more along the lines of ninety eight or ninety nine out of a hundred are evil.” I said.
Jonas looked at me with extreme malice. The tension level in the room skyrocketed. No one made a sound for several seconds. It seemed like we were going to be in an all-out brawl within the next few moments. Of all people, it was Cyranos who broke the tension by laughing. He placed a hand on Jonas’s arm which not only broke Jonas’s intensity, it clearly made him quake in his boots.
“I must admit, Jonas, they are correct in their pre-judgement of all vampires based on the evidence they have seen.” Cyranos slowly stood from his chair. “I am Cyranos, the oldest remaining vampire. In the beginning, all of us were evil. As time went by, we would be blessed by a benevolent soul to show the rest of us that evil did not have to be the only way. My dear grandchild Rosalyn, seated here with us, is a perfect example of that. More and more now, we can see the increase in good among my kind. I would propose a different strategy from what has been discussed so far.”
Everyone in the room was riveted by him in one way or the other. He seemed to enrapture the humans into believing his goodwill. Our group saw through this and were in fear of what this monster was about to propose. I braced myself for the worst.
“Instead of equal rights, maybe we should look to the reward system. If over the course of the coming years, vampires can behave properly, then we earn more rights. I think that is a reasonable request. What do you think Austin?” Cyranos turned to me when he asked the question.
“If vampires can truly behave, then I would go along with that idea. I know you may find this inflammatory but I find it difficult to believe this will actually happen. The policies instigated by the President are fair considering the current state of things.” I replied. I felt like he was using me but I failed to see his end game.
“Then let us leave this discussion for now. In say, five years or so, we meet again and decide if vampires have warranted more leniency. I would even propose that if more restrictions become necessary, that we will not fight them. Vampires have the opportunity to live centuries, why squabble over a few years.” Cyranos had the humans spellbound. What’s worse, I think he just got exactly what he wanted.
“I think we can all agree with this plan. This matter will be revisited five years from now. Until then, the policies we set forth will need to be followed. Meeting adjourned.” With that said, the President rose and left through the rear door he had entered from.
I sat in my seat as the camera crews began taking down their equipment. I was asked to stay a little longer by a reporter. I continued to wait until everyone else left. My waiting was interrupted by Cyranos.
“Rosalyn, how nice it is to see you’ve survived all these years. I always knew there was something special about you.” He then turned his eyes to me. “You made some very good arguments young one. I believe poor Jonas was made to look the fool by your statements. You take good care of my Rosalyn.” He left before I could say a word.
I managed to give the interview without stammering in fear. I had been petrified since Cyranos spoke to me. Josh waited until we were about to leave the meeting room before he turned back to his human form. He wasn’t taking any chances and I wanted to thank him for that. With Seth gone, Josh was my only hope of keeping Rosalyn safe.
“Wait!” The President came back into the room as we made it to the door. “I need to ask a huge favor. New Delhi and Mumbai in India are falling as we speak. You shouldn’t be more than two days in each city. They will have enough soldiers if you guys can thin out the vampire population.”
“I will go. Rosalyn and Austin can decide for themselves. I know they could use the time off.” Josh said. Alicia looked horrified but luckily Josh couldn’t see her face. I would have went if only to give Alicia more peace of mind.
“We will go too.” I was speaking for Rosalyn without asking but I wasn’t letting her out of my sight. I also didn’t want her out of range of both Josh and Seth. I needed them near enough to protect her.
“I promise it will only be a couple of days. I am sorry to have to ask, but the situation is getting too bad to hope the soldiers can handle it.” The President made the arrangements and once again we were flying to a war zone.
Alicia and the other wolves were headed back to Chattanooga. It was a sad thing to watch Josh having to say goodbye again. I would miss the pack myself. I didn’t want to think about how bad it was for them to be without their alpha.
Rosalyn and I hadn’t talked since I agreed for us. I knew I would have to soon. She most likely knew why I said yes. She might even agree with me. I still dreaded the talk since I bound us to fight more hordes of vampires. Josh went for a nap so I decided to get the talking over with while we had privacy.
“I am sorry about volunteering us. I wanted you away from Cyranos and I wanted to have either Josh or Seth around at all times.” I said.
“I knew why you did it. Part of me agrees with you. I’m not sure I am ready for another war zone though. I was counting on the vacation we were promised before. Let’s hope this will be the two day thing like the President said.” Rosalyn laid her head on my arm.
We got comfortable since we would be on this plane for at least sixteen hours. We would be landing in Italy to refuel before immediate departure. New Delhi was the first city on our agenda since it was India’s capital. Rosalyn and I would need to sleep the day away but because of the length of the flight and flying toward the east, they said it would be in the middle of the night when we landed.
“Those idiots. Why are they here?” Josh was undressing so he could turn before we got off the plane.
He was angry that there were soldiers trying to protect our plane. They were dying needlessly. We forced the door open before the plane came to a stop. We charged into the vampires and told the soldiers to get back out of our way. We cleared
the outer part of the airport but could see what looked like hundreds more inside the airport. We told the soldiers to stay away from the fighting and not challenge the vampires in any way.
The inside of the terminal where we landed was packed with vampires and bodies. The airport must have just fallen to the vamps. Some of the blood still looked wet. After a forty minute flurry, we had this terminal cleared. There were several floors which made it take longer. We went from terminal to terminal doing the same thing. We decided to split up after the first terminal so we could speed things up.
There wasn’t enough time for Rosalyn and me to leave the airport to clear any other areas. We got back on our plane to sleep through the day. Josh would take the soldiers and hunt for sleeping areas while we slept.
I woke up hungry. This was a different plane with a different stewardess. I hated having to ask her but I needed to feed before I would be ok to fight. She took a little convincing but she did consent. I would not compel her and I wouldn’t let Rosalyn compel her either. She wanted to speed things up.
We were off the plane soon enough. Josh was sitting on the hood of a truck listening to music and waiting on us. There were no soldiers in sight this time. I guess Josh informed them they were not needed.
“We should have a fairly easy night. We found and killed around eight thousand today.” Josh bragged.
“Wow, you’re going to make this an easy trip, huh. I like it.” Rosalyn said happily.
“We have two main areas where they are centered. We need to clear the streets and the buildings in both places and then we move on to Mumbai. I spent some time talking to their officials. They were willing to let us head to Mumbai now, but I told them it would be better to spend one more night clearing the worst of it.”
“Maybe we will go home on time then. Josh, you are awesome!” I told him.
We got into the truck and headed to the areas he was told about. The vampires were getting thick before we got there so we stopped and started the killing a little early. The streets had been cleared of bodies during the day so we were spared that sight at least. We refilled those streets with the corpses of vampires.
It didn’t take us long to reach the worst of it. To save time we decided that I would clear the buildings while they cleared the streets. This worked out very well. The natural instinct to fight kept the vampires attacking Josh and Rosalyn. We had been counting on that instinct since Rosalyn and I landed in St. Louis so long ago. They kept attacking and Josh and Rosalyn kept killing. The buildings were time consuming but easy enough. I fed off a vampire to add volume to my blood level. I knew all this fighting would drain me too quickly if I didn’t. I only ran into one problem during my trip through the buildings of New Delhi.
An old vampire was among a group of young ones. I approached them confidently since I hadn’t met any real resistance up to that point. The old one didn’t show his true self until the last moment when he ducked my attack and knocked me off my feet. He knew not to waste time with his follow up. I had barely hit the floor before he was beside me grabbing for my head to kill me. I managed to roll and kick a leg out to trip him up. We rose to our feet at the same time. He seemed to be a little faster than me. We circled warily with me killing the last two young ones without breaking eye contact with the old one.
“You are the Austin I have seen on the news, yes? You and those others are here to kill vampires?” He asked as we faced off.
“Yes. Rosalyn and Josh are on the street taking out your friends. We should have this city cleared enough by sunrise.” I spoke more to give me a little more time to study him. His next words threw me for a loop.
“I want to help you, not fight you. I was too outnumbered to stand against them before. With you Americans here I can finally fight on the right side.” He put his hands in the air in a surrendering position.
“How can I trust you?” I asked the obvious question.
“Rosalyn met me once. She can tell you I am not evil.” He surprised me with an argument I was willing to listen to.
“There is another floor that needs to be cleared in this building. Help me and we will go ask her to verify your story.” I slowly stood from my fighting stance. “You will understand if I ask you to walk in front of me until then.”
“That is agreeable. Come we go.” He said and led the way to the stairs.
He took the lead willingly enough doing most of the killing for me on the top floor. I began to hope we found an ally. We finished off the vampires and started down the stairs. I sincerely hoped he was telling the truth.
“What is your name?” I asked as we headed to the street.
“Ekram.” He answered promptly.
We emerged on the street a half block from Rosalyn and Josh. I motioned him forward and we joined in the fighting as the attacking group was too large to have Rosalyn stop to talk. I decided to get close to her so I could take her part long enough for her to verify Ekram’s story.
“Rosalyn, drop behind me when you can. This vampire says you know him and can vouch for his not being evil.” I said as we fought off the horde.
“Ekram! It’s good to see you. Yes, Austin he is ok. I met him a long time ago and he is one of the better vampires you might meet.” She said to my relief. She rejoined the fight after she told me that.
“It is good to see you, too. I am so happy you guys came here. I couldn’t fight them all on my own. I was trying to blend in but I made sure to help the humans when I knew I wouldn’t be caught by the other vampires.” He was fighting well enough from what I could see. Of course I already knew he was tough from our rough start.
“I am heading back to the buildings. I just needed to make sure he was ok.” I informed them as I tried to find a break in the action so I could go.
“Be careful!” Rosalyn shouted as I broke from the fight.
The next few buildings went smoothly. I went floor by floor opening all doors along the way. I wanted to hurry so we would be sure to have time for the other area tonight. The faster I finished in the buildings, the faster I could join the fight on the streets. With Ekram’s help, this should go even faster.
The last of the vampires fell in the street as I emerged from the last building. The business district we were in was done. We did a quick check of the surrounding streets picking off the occasional stray before we went back to the truck to move to the next area.
“Are there any other older vampires in this area?” Josh asked in his super-duper creepy freaking voice. I laughed as Ekram jumped a foot when he first heard Josh speak. That was too funny.
“There is one who is a little older than me. He is an evil bastard. I would have killed him already except he is always surrounded by others. I would need to have an advantage since he is stronger than me.” Ekram explained looking at Josh with huge eyes. “Dude, do you realize how scary your voice is?”
“Yes.” Josh laughed which made Ekram even more afraid. Rosalyn and I joined in the laughter, we were used to it.
“You learn to like it after a while. Don’t worry, Josh is one of the nicest people I have met in my long life. Just don’t piss him off because even Shiva couldn’t protect you from him.” Rosalyn was still smiling.
“Grrrrrrrrr.” Josh growled menacingly. Rosalyn and I started laughing all over again at Ekram’s reaction. Once he saw that we were playing, Ekram smiled haltingly. “Nice to meet you, Ekram.”
“You too, I think.” He shook off the jitters Josh’s voice had caused. “So this is what you were doing in Paris and Rio? Killing hundreds in the streets like this.”
“Mostly, yes. There were a whole lot more vampires in those cities though. I hope to never see anything like Rio again. For all the vampire corpses we left in the streets, there were even more human corpses. The smell alone was nightmarish.” Rosalyn explained. Josh and I nodded in agreement.
“We have one more area to clear tonight. Then we head to Mumbai. You can join us for the night if you are willing.” Josh said.
“I will be happy to. You are freeing my country. I want to help all that I can. I am pretty sure I know the other area. That is where Badal is.” Ekram looked at the map Josh was given. “Yes, like I said, his area. I will drive if you want.”
“Sounds good.” Rosalyn said.
We piled into the truck and went to the new place. Ekram filled us in on the events here since the outbreak began. The vampires began turning everyone. The numbers got out of hand quickly as ten became twenty and twenty became forty and so on. He admitted to having to act the part to keep Badal from finding out he was secretly helping the humans when he could. Other vampires who were caught helping humans were executed. He continued speaking until we arrived at the second targeted area. This was more residential.
“Badal is two blocks ahead but here is where their hold begins.” Ekram informed us as we exited the truck.
“How many are in this area total?” Rosalyn asked.
“Maybe six thousand but they will be spread out somewhat.” Ekram’s statement didn’t sound too good.
“It would be better if they were together.” Rosalyn said. Ekram was shocked. He looked at us like we were crazy.
“You can take on that many at one time?” He asked incredulously.
“Josh and Rosalyn cut through them like you wouldn’t believe. Hell, if Seth were here it would be too easy.” I told him.
“We can’t split up if Badal is stronger than you. That would make him too powerful for Austin as well.” Rosalyn stopped to think for a moment. Then her face lit up with an idea. “Where exactly do you think he will be?”
“Two blocks up there is a large house with statues in front. He usually stays there. He doesn’t go out often.” Ekram said.
“I’ll flip you for it.” Rosalyn told Josh with a smile.
“I think--” Josh took off at full speed with his laughter drifting back to us. Rosalyn put her hands on her hips like she was mad but laughed at Josh’s actions.