by Maxey, Phil
“Exactly, we have to act!”
He nodded. “We will, but there is something else you should be made aware of. We agree with what you said this morning. About the mountain top being—“
“That’s why I came here to talk to you! You think it was destroyed by explosives too?”
“I do.”
“So you think there’s a spy on the base? Someone or some people working for the corporation?”
Alfredo looked away, suppressed anger evident across his face, then looked back. “We need to talk.”
“That’s why I’m here!”
He grabbed his jacket from the back of a chair. “Not here.” He looked at Sophia. “If anyone asks, I’m giving Marina a tour of the grounds.”
Sophia nodded and he opened the door, a false smile plastered across his face, and waited for Marina to compose herself and join him. They quickly made their way outside and were soon walking alone in the woods, not far from the building.
When she could no longer hear soldiers’ heartbeats, a strange urge came upon her. Rather than asking him to explain why they were out there, she spun around, sped forward and kissed him. Momentarily stunned he then relaxed until he pulled away. “There’s something you need to know about me…”
She stood slightly out of breath. “What? Oh… you’re married?”
He took a step away. “No.”
“Then wha—” She was talking to an empty space where Alfredo was just standing. Momentarily phased, she whipped her head from left to right trying to see where he had gone, then hearing the heartbeat behind her, spun around to nothing other than fall leaves and bark. She spun around again to an archeologist with black eyes, and fell back, uneasy on her legs. “What’s happening…” Despite the hundreds if not thousands of black eyes she had seen, her mind still entertained the idea that the man in front of her was playing a trick on her, that he wasn’t a hybrid. Nothing else made sense. He couldn’t be half vamp, half human, she would have known. She spent time with him… she liked him and she was sure he felt the same. “What’s going on here?.. Why didn’t you—”
A cascade of images, thoughts and implausible ideas crashed together in her mind with such force she had to reach behind to the tree to stop herself from dropping to her knees. She looked up at the man, almost out of breath. “You’re him… the fourth—”
He moved as a blur offering his hand to help her stand, but she waved him away as she staggered backwards, getting some distance between them.
“I know it’s a shock…”
She nodded. “I… I… don’t understand…”
“Ask me anything you like. But be quick, soldiers patrol these woods.”
She stood, trying to organize her thoughts. “How could I have missed it…” She looked at him. “What do I even call you. What’s your real name?”
“I was born Freon, son of Agil. Alfredo is my most recent name… I would prefer you called me that, especially around others, otherwise it gets confusing.”
“This is not a time for jokes!”
His smile quickly disappeared. “No, sorry, continue with your questions.”
“What… how long have you been awake? In the real world? How did your sarcophagus even get here?”
“These are questions that would require more time than we have. I have been ‘awake’ as you say for a few thousand years. After the final battle with the brothers was lost, I ran…” He looked down. “My fate was sealed, as would have been that of the humans of the kingdoms, for that was the kings’ plan. To enslave all of humanity. So I entombed myself, deep underground where I knew they couldn’t reach me.”
“You… just left the humans to them?”
“No… not exactly. I could not defeat the brothers armies. They had too many Alkrons. I led some that did not believe in what the kings wanted, and with the humans we battled and fought but the king’s forces were too many. So instead I came up with a different plan. I used the power of the tablets…”
“But… how?”
“Not so long ago, you used one in a similar fashion I believe?”
Marina remembered. “You mean what we did at the prison? The explosion that killed the vamps?”
“Yes, but that was tiny compared to what the three tablets can do if their power is combined. This has been my plan from when I first heard of the scourge. I used my contacts in the American government to convince them that I needed the tablets here. That only I could decipher them, unfortunately one of them did not make it…”
“Joel’s tablet…”
“Yes, but now—”
Her eyes widened and she briefly looked away, her mind lost in the possibilities of a world without vamps. “You have all three… You can stop the scourge…”
He nodded. “I can, and I will soon… but there is something you should know…”
“Something else?”
“If I do this, the scourge will be wiped from all of the earth, all vamps will die—”
“And? How is that a bad thing?”
“— And all traces of the disease will be wiped from all infected…”
A thought dawned in her mind.
“You will become—”
“Human…”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Kizzy laid back on the sofa in the living room area on the top deck of the boat, with a smile on her face, and looked up at the white ceiling. “I’m going to call her… Poppy…”
“Poppy is not a name for a boat,” said Amos seated just beyond her feet. “Anyway, it’s already got a name. The Algamera.”
“That’s the old name, by the old owners. Now we own it, and she’s called Poppy.” In her hand was the remote for the screen that was built into one of the central columns. She clicked it on to an image of white noise.
Nelson emerged from the main-deck, walking up a small flight of stairs. The control flew from her hand and landed in his, where he promptly switched the TV off.
“Hey!”
“We need all the juice this things got for other slightly more important devices, such as radar—”
Amos looked surprised. “It’s got radar?”
“Sure has. And sonar. It’s a regular Nasa control center below this room. I guess whatever it was used for before, that kinda stuff was useful.”
Joel came halfway up the stairs and looked at Dalton who was sitting outside, at the stern with Corine and Barry. “Untie us. We’re leaving.”
The big guy got up, jumping to the rock ledge at the edge of the cavern, untied the thick rope and jumped back onboard.
Joel looked at those nearby. “We’re going to make a stop at the jetty off the shore of the town, and give Hector another chance to do the right thing.”
Amos shook his head. “He’s not going to come with us. Looks to me like his mind’s made up.”
“You know that for sure?”
Amos smiled. “You want to know, is my brain fixed?”
“Yeah…”
Amos looked away. “It’s not. It’s just an instinct.”
Outwardly Kizzy showed disappointment and empathy, but inwardly she felt relief.
“We have to try. At least one more time,” said Joel.
Dalton was standing in the doorway. “We could just take the kids. Old man won’t be able to stop us.”
Joel nodded to him. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”
As the mostly white superyacht left the shelter of the cave, heading into the night, orange and pink ripples covered the ocean behind them.
Joel and Anna stood in the cockpit. He increased power to the engine while she looked at the setting sun. Even though she was glad for the burning star to move below the horizon, she couldn’t help but feel her past was dissolving into the waves as well.
“You okay?” he said.
She turned around with a smile. “Can’t believe we’ve made it this far…”
He glanced in her direction, while making sure to keep the correct heading. “Yeah, we’re a lon
g way from Bellweather.”
She glanced through the front windows to the winged figure seated at the bow. “Do you think the kings will stop coming for us?”
Joel briefly looked down, then back to the sea. “They blame us for that psycho’s death, and now there’s no one to stop them from gaining complete control on the mainland. I think it’s a safe bet they won’t let it go. Just a matter of when and how they come at us.”
Silence came back to the small room.
“If things go bad with Hector,” he said. “It’s not going to be easy to separate him from the children. He still thinks we’re demons…”
“We have to convince him. We can’t leave…” She could tell Joel had been distracted by something. “What is it?”
“Take the wheel.”
She did and he quickly stepped outside around the front of the cabin window, studying the coast. Copeland slowly turned, trying to see what he was looking at. Joel rushed back inside.
“The vamps are in the hills, and they’ve heading towards the town.” Taking the wheel, he pushed the throttle all the way forward.
*****
“Have you got a cave below this house with bats or something?”
Alfredo smiled at Evan’s suggestion. They were standing in his hallway, with Shannon, Sasha and Marina.
“There are caves all over this island, but none that I’m aware of beneath our feet… unfortunately.”
Evan’s eyes grew large at the sword that resided behind a glass case, while Shannon looked at an ornate necklace opposite. Marina looked at Alfredo.
“Perhaps we should go into my study, we have much to discuss.”
“You got more cool stuff in there?” said Evan.
“I do indeed.” He opened one of a set of double doors to a room which looked surprisingly lived in. Old vellum volumes lined bookshelves against a wall with a sofa and chairs opposite, while a piano sat at one end and a desk, with cabinets and shelves full of items belonging to another century, the other.
As they walked inside, Zelma appeared in the hallway catching Alfredo’s attention. “Shall the guests be needing refreshment?”
Now that Marina knew the truth about the owner of the old house, she wondered if ‘refreshment’ meant the red stuff.
Alfredo looked at the others, now in his study. “Does anyone want a drink? Wine or… I think we might have some soft drinks?”
Everyone declined. He told Zelma then closed the doors.
“So why we here?” said Shannon. Sasha studied the shelves full of curiosities.
He glanced at Marina, which Evan caught. “You two getting married?” said the younger man.
Marina snorted, a brief smile crossing her face.
“What’s funny?” continued Evan. “There’s obviously something big you need to tell all of us. What is it?”
Alfredo leaned back, resting on the front of his desk. “There’s something you should all know about me…”
Marina rolled her eyes. “Alfredo is the fourth king. He’s Freon.”
There was a few seconds of silence before Evan started giggling, then realized how serious they were being. “He’s not even a vamp! I can tell. His heart rate is definitely human!”
“And no offence Marina,” said Sasha. “But you hybrid’s got kind of an odor…”
“None taken, and no we don’t. He’s still the fourth king though.”
The three youngest in the room exchanged a brief look. Shannon grabbed the nearest thing from a shelf and threw it across the room. Half way to the wall a hand whipped up and pulled it from the air, while Evan became a blur, ending up where the vase would have hit, but never made it. The young man looked at Alfredo holding the vase with shock. “You can’t be him… he’s…”
“Not buried under a thousand tons of rock and not in the sarcophagus,” said Marina. “He came out of it a very long time ago.”
Alfredo walked to the shelf, passing Shannon who quickly stepped out of his way, and put the vase back on the shelf, smiling as he did so. “A king… a good one, gave this to me.”
“Oh… Sorry…”
Evan took a step closer to Alfredo. “So… you’re the king Joel mentioned. The one that was on the human’s side?”
Alfredo smiled. “Not so much a king anymore. Just an archeologist.”
The young man briefly looked down in thought. “So… who else knows? Does the general know? The colonel?”
“Until this morning,” said Alfredo. “There were only three who knew. Now there are—” A knock came on the door. “Enter.”
Zelma stood in the doorway. “A car is pulling up outside. Shall I send them in here?”
“Yes, please.”
The old housekeeper left.
“So you’re like thousands of years old?” said Sasha.
“I have been walking the earth a very long time.”
She smiled. “That’s really cool.”
Not being as impressed, Evan took a step towards the hybrid king. “But why didn’t you stop them? Why didn’t you stop the scourge?”
Marina could feel the anger building in the young man. She stood, taking a step towards him. “Evan, there’s more to this.”
The door opened again, freezing everyone in their tracks and Sophia and Carla walked inside.
The latter looked around the room. “What’s going on?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
The boat crashed through the waves. Each set of eyes onboard looking inland, trying to gain any glimpse of what they knew to be out there, but the darkness was too rich and was keeping its secrets.
Staying close to the coast, it wasn’t long before the angular shapes of buildings could be seen in the evening gloom, and then the dark strip which extended from the beach a hundred yards out, into the water.
Joel carefully maneuvered the boat alongside the jetty, being watchful of the depth, then dropped the anchor.
With Anna he moved to the outside deck and rotated one of the powerful lights towards the collection of rocks and wooden supports. Three, two-foot high red canisters sat together.
He went to talk when everyone heard the waft of air as Copeland took to the air, quickly being lost amongst the darkness above. Joel turned to Kizzy and Amos, both with rifles across their backs. “Keep the path to this jetty clear. Use the radio if that becomes a problem.” They nodded and jumped off to the planks of wood.
He looked at Dalton, Nelson and Corine. “Let me know when you first see the vamps. Then keep them from the church long enough for us to get the kids back here.” Each nodded, then jumped down to the jetty and kept on going, following Kizzy and Amos. He then turned to the boy looking scared, and nodded to the radio in his hand. “Any vamps get close to this boat, you let me know. Anyone who’s close enough will get back here. Okay?”
Barry nodded.
Anna kneeled in front of the boy. “Stay on the boat and you’ll be fine. We should’t be long. Okay?”
He nodded and she got up and jumped to the jetty, then quickly tossed the canisters to Joel, who stored them, then joined her. They swiftly ran along the narrow causeway, bounding across gaps in the wood with waves a few feet below and stepped off to a concrete path, moving past Kizzy and Amos, then continued across a parking lot, their enhanced vision helping them avoid abandoned rusting bicycles then cars when they moved onto the road. The hills loomed large beyond the town and the slight buzzing he had felt on the boat had become an ache. “They’re getting closer,” he said as they ran.
Retracing their steps best they could remember, they moved deeper into the built up area of stores and hotels, moving quickly along narrow streets, until finally their destination appeared atop a small hill. The white walls of the church glistened amongst the moonlight.
They didn’t walk far into the garden before they heard a shotgun cock and were bathed in a light. Hector was standing near the entrance, two barrels and a flashlight pointing at them.
“You said you would leave!”
Anna held her arms up and stepped forward slowly.
“Don’t come any closer or I’ll shoot!”
Joel concentrated between the surging presence in his mind and the sound of the shotgun’s trigger. If either changed he was going to have to act fast.
Anna stopped. “Hector! They’re coming. Vamps, thousands of them!”
He scoffed. “We are a small village, why would they…” He noticed Joel holding the side of his head as if the FBI operator had a headache. “What’s wrong with him?”
“He can feel them. He knows when—”
Joel’s radio came alive with Dalton’s voice. “Picking up the stink. They’re a few miles out and moving fast. Over.”
Horror then anger spread across the old man’s face. He stepped back waving a finger at the two in front of him. “You brought them here! You have brought the evil to this town!”
Joel stepped forward ignoring the gun flick in his direction. “Look old man, we don’t have time for this. A wave of certain death is going to sweep through here, turning everything into dust. If you want to stay, that’s on you, but the kids are coming with us!”
The old man grimaced.
Anna took a tentative step forward. “Hector, there will be plenty of churches where we are going. You can start again, where there will be no vamps. I will help you, but please for the sake of the children, we have to go now.”
He shook his head until his frustration gave way to resignation. “Fine!” He turned and ran to the door at the back. Anna following, then ran down a narrow set of stairs to a basement area. Joel held the radio to his mouth. “We’re coming to the jetty with the kids now. Any sign of the vamps? Over.”
“Oh yeah…” said Dalton quietly. “They coming into the town from the hills.”
“Get back to the church with Nelson and Corine. Over.” Joel ran to the door at the back and descended into the bowls beneath the church, moving along a narrow corridor and then following the noise to an open doorway of a much larger room full of beds, a kitchen area and kids. Hector and Anna were busily placing coats and backpacks on them.