by Art DeForest
“Your boys are here, but they’re not coming in yet. You got a leash on ‘em right?” I asked.
“I put the word in.” He said. “I’ll be there in twenty minutes. Don’t kill anybody!”
“We haven’t killed anyone yet,” I said evenly. “They were all dead when they got here.”
“You know what I mean smartass,” Alex said gruffly. “If another shot goes off you’re gonna get company real fast.”
“I hear ya,” I replied. “We’re waiting patiently.”
As I clicked off with Alex, I turned to the crew. “Tie up the guy who got bitten before he starts moving. We do NOT want to have to fire any more shots or bad things will happen.”
John and Petey were given directions to a roll of duct tape by an angry and shaken Smitty. He’d holed up under the bar while the shots were going off. “Dammit Dale!” He shouted angrily. That phrase made me think of that cartoon show, King of the Hill and poor old Hank Hill yelling at his stupid buddy. It wasn’t exactly flattering.
“I thought I told you not to mess up my bar!” he continued. His hands were visibly shaking, but he was keeping it together pretty well so far.
“Sorry Smitty,” I said with as much contrition as possible. “If we’d have been in full gear, we could have pushed them back outside, but we didn’t have a lot to work with here.”
Smitty just shook his head. “Who did you piss off and why are these guys dressed up as zombies? Some kind of new gang or something?”
I sighed at his question. Here came the part where I told him that the things that go bump in the night are real and that if he told anyone about it, the men in black would pay him a visit. It was never a happy conversation.
“They weren’t dressed up like zombies Smitty. They were actually real life, well, real dead zombies. The question is, how the hell did they show up here? Did somebody build over an old cemetery or something?” I asked with a puzzled expression on my face.
Smitty stared at me with his mouth hanging open for a minute. “You’re out of your ever loving mind if you actually think I’m going to believe that load of crap.” He said finally.
“Look around you Smitty, what other answer can there be? You saw them start eating that poor fella over there.” I said waving over to the corner where John and Petey just finished trussing up the deceased bar patron. “Cannibal gang freaks dressed as the undead is a better answer than just plain ol’ zombies?”
Smitty tried to rally. His tough old cop instincts were telling him one thing, and the evidence was telling him another.
“Look Smitty,” I said as gently as possible. “The police are going to spin this for media consumption anyway. Just go along with whatever they come up with and forget about what you actually saw. It’s safer for everyone that way.”
“Whadda ya’ mean?” He slurred slightly as his brain continued to overload.
“It’s pretty obvious the Powers That Be don’t want Joe average to know about this stuff,” I said seriously. “And if you go talking about it with people who don’t know about it, they’ll come have a very unpleasant conversation with you.”
“You can’t cover up something like this!” Smitty said, gesturing furiously at the mass of bodies on his floor. “People gotta know!”
“C’mon, you already know better than that. How long were you a cop?” I said sternly. “Tell me you haven’t seen some shit that never made the evening news.”
Smitty’s eyebrows drew together as he contemplated what I asked. “B...But this is over the top.” He muttered. “Nobody is going to believe this.”
I pointed my index finger at him for emphasis. “Exactly,” I said. “Nobody is going to believe this, so what do you think is gonna happen if you try to tell anyone about it?”
Smitty just stared at me again, his mouth trying to form words. Finally, his shoulder’s slumped and he looked briefly to the floor. “Fuck,” was all he said.
Lori walked over to him and put a consoling hand on his shoulder. “I know it’s hard. I’ve been there.” She reached into her pocket and handed him a card. “If you need to talk about it, give me a call. Heck, we’ve all been in your shoes. Feel free to talk to any of us. Just...keep it in the family, okay?” She finished with a look of sympathy on her face.
Smitty nodded absently as he stuffed the card in the breast pocket of his shirt. Lori patted his shoulder once more and turned to face me. “What’s going on Dale? The way those zombies turned on you makes this feel personal all of the sudden.”
I shook my head at her. “I have no idea,” I said. “But you’re right, this isn’t normal, even for us.”
My phone started ringing as we stared at each other in speculation, glancing down at the screen, I saw it was Alex. I pushed the ‘accept’ button and raised the phone to my ear. “Are you here?” I asked.
“Yeah, am I clear to come in?” he said shortly.
“Come ahead,” I replied. “We’re all disarmed and waiting like good little monster hunters.”
Alex just snorted and clicked off.
“Okay, Dreadnoughts. Hands in the air for the boys in blue.” I said as I raised my hands high.
We heard the front door open, and Alex’s head made a quick appearance around the short wall that separated it from the rest of the bar. After assuring himself that he wasn’t about to be eaten, he continued his entrance. A scowl was on his face as he took in the scene and all of the musty smelling bodies on the floor.
Seeing that we weren’t about to be bum rushed by Chicago SWAT, we all put our hands down. “What the hell Dale?” Asked Alex. “Only you could attract zombies to a bar in the middle of a major city.” He said, shaking his head and raising a radio to his lips. “Scene secure, hold perimeter until I get back to you.” He said into the mic.
“Affirm” came the short reply.
“Okay, give me the story,” he said, looking back up at me.
We rehashed what had happened. Each member of my crew pitched in to give his or her own account. Finally, he just shook his head. “But where did they come from?” He asked almost plaintively.
“Lori and I were just asking the same question when you got here,” I replied. “So far, we don’t have any answers.”
He blew out a breath and nodded. “Well, I guess that’s the first place to start.” He stared hard at me for a second. “Do you think maybe Siobhan had anything to do with this?”
I looked at him in shock. “Why would you even ask that?” I said incredulously. “Vampires and zombies don’t mix. At least not that I’ve ever seen.”
He nodded at that. “Yeah, but she’s powerful, and you’ve been blowing her off for awhile now. This seems to be targeted at you or your team.”
“We’ve taken down a lot of big and bad,” I said thoughtfully. “Maybe we got under something’s skin. My gut’s telling me it isn’t Siobhan though.”
“Are you sure it’s your gut?” he asked with a raised eyebrow. “It could be something lower down that’s making that call for you,” he said with a lopsided grin.
“You know better than that,” I said as my cheeks heated a little and some chuckles sounded from my guys. “I’ll talk to her again, but I’m sure it’s not her.”
“Stevenson, sitrep!” came a voice from Alex’s radio.
“I better get STAC in here before their heads explode.” He said with a grimace.
STAC stands for Special Tactics. It’s the unit that handles things like this. It was made up of people in the know, and they handled things when one of the specialist teams like mine were unavailable. They also handled cleanup and coverup. Usually, the coverup part went something like, “Gang related drug activity.” You didn’t think all those shootings in the Chicago area were due to their idiot gun control laws and real gang activity, did you?
For whatever reason, monster activity was highest in the midwest. It seemed especially concentrated in Chicago and St.Louis. That’s why I set up our headquarters where I did. We were within driving distanc
e of most of our bounties.
My Dreadnoughts raised their hands again, just to be safe, as the STAC unit made entry. I hate having guns pointed at me, but to their credit, STAC lowered them fairly quickly once they were sure things were well in hand.
Chris Taggart was the head of STAC. We’d crossed each other’s path often enough that he recognized my team and me. He approached Alex and me, while surreptitiously looking at Smitty.
“Is he going to be a problem.” He said, pointing a thumb in Smitty’s direction.
“I don’t think so,” I replied. “I had The Talk with him. He’s retired CPD, so he’s handling it better than most.”
Taggart grunted in acknowledgment and returned to directing his people.
We were forced to stand around until all the bodies were taken out in black plastic body bags. The coroner’s office also had a special group for just such occasions. Finally, all the bodies were clear, and we were left standing with a forlorn Smitty, who was gazing sadly at the remains of his bar.
“Send me the bill for the damages Smitty,” I said handing him a card. “The folks on that card are very good at cleaning up this kind of thing, and they don’t ask too many questions.” Smitty nodded at me absently as he stuck the card into his pocket, next to the one Lori had given him.
We gathered our weapons and finally got the chance to head home. My head hurt like hell as I pondered the ramifications of the evening’s entertainment. Don’t say it; I know I have an odd sense of what’s entertaining.
++++
Ahriman howled in rage and beat his fist against the steering wheel of the big box truck. This human had defeated his children...Again! Worse even than that, his adversary had managed to wrest control of one of his children away from him. Clearly, the artifact was affecting this man. He continued to underestimate these people and their infernal technology. Before his imprisonment, it took magic and armies to stand against him. It was time to become more subtle perhaps. Instead of killing the man and his people outright, maybe he could convince him to turn over the artifact willingly.
5
I managed to drag my ass home far later than I had anticipated when I left this morning. Well, yesterday morning at this point. I turned around to close and lock the front door when my instincts finally managed to penetrate my sluggish brain and warn me that I wasn’t alone. I continued on closing the door before turning around swiftly with a .45 filling my right hand. “I know you’re there,” I said quietly, and I scanned the darkness for movement. A shadow moved, over by my recliner and the reading lamp beside it suddenly came alight.
“You’re awfully jumpy tonight Dale.” Said Siobhan as she stood and walked with a sultry sway towards me.
“I’m tired Siobhan,” I said as my eyebrows came together in a deep scowl. “What are you doing here?”
“I heard about the incident at the bar.” She said as she came within arm’s reach. Her hand came up and lay flat against my chest as she looked into my eyes. “I wanted to make sure you were alright.”
It was a mark of how tired I was that I didn’t drop my gaze immediately. Instead, I risked being compelled and looked deeply into the emerald depths of her regard. Something seemed to reach between us and try to enfold my will into a deep embrace, but then it just...slid away.
A look of mild consternation flashed across Siobhan’s face, so fast that it barely registered. Almost instantly her smile was back in place. “Are you okay?” she said in a concerned voice.
“I’m fine,” I said as I continued to stare down at her. A scent of high-end perfume underlaid by a hint of musk that didn’t smell like a vampire at all tickled my sense of smell. It was intoxicating. I swear it was just the exhaustion that kept me from pushing her away as she stood on tiptoes to bring her lips to mine. Those soft full lips touching mine caused my eyes to close and my arms to surround her in a strong embrace. It was the exhaustion. I swear!
The hand Siobhan had placed on my chest earlier traveled down the muscles of my chest and abs. When it came to the bottom of my black t-shirt, it started gliding its way back up against the bare skin. I was starting to enjoy the sensation when her delicate fingers came in contact with the medallion around my neck.
My arms flew wide as she abruptly broke our embrace and stepped back hissing. Her eyes had turned blood red, and two-inch fangs descended from her lips. Instinct kicked in again and the .45 I still held in my right hand raised to point at the center of her forehead. We stared at each other for a brief moment, balanced on the edge of mayhem.
Slowly, Siobhan’s fangs withdrew once more into her head, and she slowly regained control. “What the hell was that all about?” I managed to say with a voice that only shook a little.
“I apologize Dale.” She said as her eyes slowly bled back to emerald green. “The power of your amulet took me by surprise. I’ve never felt anything like it.” She said, her voice also having a quiver to it.
“What, this?” I said, reaching into the neck of my shirt and pulling out my medallion. “This is just some trinket I brought back from the sand box,” I said absently.
“I think that it is much more than that.” She said, eyeing it speculatively. “It has a great deal of power. The death of thousands imbues it.”
I looked at the piece of gold around my neck closely. It was engraved with pictures and symbols that I had never been able to find a translation for. “That...makes sense,” I said finally. “I found this in a tomb in Iraq. I’ve worn it ever since. I lost my men to what I now know to be a ghoul in that tomb.”
Siobhan slowly approached me and looked at the medallion closely. “I can’t read it, but it may be ancient Sumerian.” She said as she continued to study it. “It calls to me,” she whispered absently. “I think this may be why I am so...attracted to you,” she said, meeting my gaze with a tremulous smile.
“Can you tell me anymore about it?” I asked. “Maybe give me a clue as to who made it?”
Siobhan’s brow furrowed in thought as she continued to consider the medallion. “There are legends from that region that far predate my existence. Stories of great sorcerers who could create and control undead.”
I snorted softly. “You mean necromancers?” I said incredulously. “I’ve yet to see one who could control more than three zombies, much less twelve like we saw tonight. None have even come close to raising something like a ghoul.
“Don’t be so quick to discount them, Dale.” She said seriously. “Times have changed, and a great deal of magic has been lost to the past. There are many stories of powerful Necromancers. Many of the vampire origin stories include mention of them.
My eyebrows rose at that. “I thought the origin stories related to Christianity. You know, Judas being cursed to walk the night forever for betraying Jesus? Things like that.”
“Those are certainly the most popular legends among my kind. It could be because we can then trace our power back to the divine. However, there are other, older stories of vampires.” She said contemplatively.
“What kind of stories?” I asked. I felt suddenly like a young history student sitting at the feet of some learned scholar.
“Long before the Egyptians and Romans dominated the world, the Persians were at their height. They made immense technological advances at the time. Some of their methods for moving water are still used today. Before the downfall of their society after the advent of Islam, they were also making great strides in their magical endeavors. It’s believed that some of their ancient gods were actually powerful sorcerers from the different schools of magic. Necromancy was just one of them.”
I considered what she said for a moment. “Does that mean this gives me the power to control the undead?” I asked after a moment.
Siobhan raised one eyebrow at me archly. “Why?” She said throatily. “Do you want to give me...commands?” Her smoldering look suddenly made me weak in the knees.
“Come here,” I commanded abruptly, locking my gaze with hers. Her eyes widened a bit, but
she stayed in place.
“I...I felt that!” she said in surprise. “It was almost like the compulsion we vampires use when we hunt. It’s not enough to bend me to your will, but it may be able to control lesser undead.”
My eyebrows tried to rise into my hairline at that. “I think I might have done that!” I said excitedly. “When we were fighting the zombies at the bar, I went down, and one of the zombies bit down on my boot.” My face heated up as I remembered my panicked reaction. “Anyway,” I continued as Siobhan’s eye’s widened slightly at my blush. “I kind of panicked and yelled at the thing to let me go...and it did. It just kind of raised its head up and stared at me.”
“Dauntless Dale afraid of a little old zombie?” Asked Siobhan teasingly. My blush deepened a bit, but she continued on. “Can we do a quick experiment?” She asked seriously.