Close Enemies

by Marc Daniel

  Over the past twenty years, the housing market and cost of living in the area had skyrocketed to such levels that the town had undergone a massive bidirectional exodus. Many of the regular folks that had historically lived in Jackson had been forced to move away while the rich and super-rich had kept on pouring in. These considerations were far from Lucy and Olivia’s mind on this late afternoon of June, however. They had more urgent and personal matters to consider. Matters like Lucy’s appetite.

  “What’s that smell?” asked Lucy, her eyes dilating.

  “You mean grilled meat?” From their vantage point, Olivia could count at least three different steakhouses.

  “I am freaking starving, Olivia.”

  “You’ve already told me a half dozen times, but I don’t have anything to give you right now, Luce. You’ll need to wait until I can find something. We need to come up with a way to get you blood without risking getting caught stealing from the hospital.”

  “There is a way, Olivia… You know there is.” Lucy’s tone was halfway between despair and provocation.

  “Not an option, Lucy! I don’t even want to talk about it. I can only keep you safe from the skinwalkers if you behave.” Olivia didn’t even want to think about Michael. For reasons she didn’t fully understand, the man truly despised bloodsuckers.

  “And when do you plan on us looking for blood? I’m starting to feel weak already.”

  Olivia was wondering whether Lucy was being truthful or exaggerating her hunger to justify her cravings. “I don’t know. I thought what I got you yesterday would keep you fed for a little while. I don’t think vampires need to feed daily.”

  “How the heck would you know? Are you some type of vamp expert all of a sudden?”

  “I guess that’s what I’ve seen on TV,” replied Olivia apologetically, lowering her voice as a couple of tourists walked by them.

  Olivia’s phone rang and she answered, grateful for the distraction.

  “We’ve lost them,” said Daka on the other end of the line.

  “What happened?

  “An accident at an intersection in Twin Falls, Idaho. My packmates were following the vamps at a distance when someone t-boned the car in front of them. It took them a few minutes to get around the crash and by then the vamps were gone.”

  “Where’s Twin Falls?” asked Olivia.

  “About six hours southwest of Bozeman. Four from Yellowstone. We don’t know where they’re going, but they were still heading in this direction when we lost them.”

  “And when did we lose them?”

  “About three hours ago. My mates tried to catch up with them on the most direct road to Bozeman but didn’t find them. That means they’re either driving very fast or not heading for Bozeman.”

  “Thanks, Daka. Keep me posted. I’m still in Jackson, but I’ll be heading back to Yellowstone in a few minutes.”

  “I’ll meet you at your dorm.”

  She replaced the phone in her pocket as Lucy complained one more time about her empty stomach.

  “We need to get going, Lucy. Daka’s packmates have lost the Western Covenant delegation. It looks like they’re heading for Yellowstone. I need to go help Daka organize the welcoming committee.”

  Lucy sighed but got up. As they exited the small city park, the woman who’d been reading a book on a bench on the opposite side of the gardens put her book down and got to her feet. She had long black hair and a complexion a shade or two darker than Lucy’s.

  As they passed in front of a steakhouse, Lucy pushed open the restaurant door and walked in.

  “What are you doing, Luce?”

  “I’m getting dinner. I can’t wait any longer.”

  Olivia’s blood froze in her veins. “Lucy, I forbid you from doing this. If you try to hurt someone, I’ll have no choice but to hurt you,” she whispered angrily in Lucy’s ear while holding her tight by the arm.

  “Relax, Olivia,” said Lucy, pulling out of her sister’s grip and heading for the hostess. “A table for two, please.”

  They were shown to a table and given menus.

  “What are you doing, Lucy?” said Oliva, as they sat down at a small table.

  “Isn’t it obvious? I’m checking the menu for fresh human blood.”

  Olivia wasn’t amused. “I warn you, Lu—”

  “I heard you the first twelve times, sis. I’m starting to see what it must have been like for you to live with Michael after your own accident. Was he on your case 24/7 like this?”

  Olivia finally relaxed a little. “You have no idea.”

  “I think I’m getting a pretty good picture. You make a great Michael substitute, Olivia.”

  “Have you made your selection?” The waitress looked in her late teens.

  “What’s the biggest steak on the menu?” asked Lucy. Oliva was staring at her, bewildered.

  “We have a 28-ounce T-bone.”

  “I’ll start with that.”

  “How do you want it cooked?”

  “Do you really have to cook it?” asked Lucy to the baffled waitress. “On second thought, make it rare. I want it cooked just enough for the blood to pour out when I cut into it.”

  *****

  “I can’t believe you ate a steak. I’ve never heard of such a thing. What if it hurts you?” said Olivia.

  “Don’t worry, it can’t kill me. You know… because I’m already dead.”

  “And your sense of humor hasn’t improved in the process. How are you feeling?”

  “Much better actually. That meat really hit the spot.”

  “What about your cravings?”

  “Much more manageable now. I still wouldn’t mind dipping my fangs in this guy’s neck to teach him respect for the wait staff, but it’s more of a would-be-nice-to-do type of thing than an imperative urge at this point. You see what I mean,” said Lucy, nodding towards a rude patron who’d been treating his waiter like garbage ever since the poor lad had brought him the wrong beer.

  “I believe I do,” answered Olivia tentatively. “Though I really don’t understand how it’s possible, and I’m more than slightly worried about the consequences. Vampires don’t eat meat. Even I know that.”

  “They don’t walk in broad daylight either, but here I am.”

  Olivia just stared at her sister for a moment. The love she felt for her sibling was only matched by her perplexity at the whole enigma Lucy had become.

  The sun had set by the time they exited the restaurant and headed for their car parked a few blocks outside the downtown area.

  “Let’s hurry. I told Daka I was leaving an hour ago,” said Olivia.

  They picked up the pace as Lucy commented, “Best of all, I haven’t even heard voices all day! This is the first time since I woke up in that coffin. I think things are really starting to look up.”

  “Hello, ladies,” said a voice behind them.

  They quickly spun around to find themselves in front of four vampires standing in the middle of the otherwise deserted alley. Two of them had guns trained towards Olivia. They’d planned their ambush carefully.

  Even though the vamps had been wearing their day-suits the first time she’d met them, Olivia had no doubt these were part of the group who’d ambushed them in the forest. The group Daka’s packmates had lost a few hours earlier. They hadn’t been heading for Yellowstone after all.

  One of them had a really strong smell… an elder. Probably Silvia’s first lieutenant.

  “You shouldn’t have resisted when I asked you to come to me,” said one of the others to Lucy. “Now you’ll need to be punished for your disobedience.”

  Pure hatred flowed in Olivia’s veins at this instant and she started morphing instinctively. She was a half second into the process when she heard the sound of a silencer and felt bullets penetrating her skull. She never even noticed the hunting knife piercing her heart as she collapsed to the ground.

  Chapter 88

  Their flight home had been delayed and it was nearly 9 P.M. w
hen Michael and Sheila finally turned into the driveway leading to Michael’s cabin.

  “She’s here,” said Sheila, pointing at a car parked in front of the small log cabin. “I told you she’d be waiting for you.” Clearly, she wasn’t pleased.

  Helen had called Michael during their layover in Denver. She had news she wanted to share with him as soon as possible but had refused to say anything over the phone.

  “She’s been waiting here for three hours?! The woman’s relentless. I wonder what’s so important that it couldn’t wait for tomorrow.”

  Michael knew Sheila wasn’t truly wondering. She clearly didn’t believe the reason for Helen’s late visit had anything to do with urgent news. “Whatever she has to say. I don’t feel like I’m in a position to ignore her request, Sheila. What she has on me with her DNA analysis is concerning. I never had to deal with anything like this in the past. New technologies have become a serious threat. I wouldn’t be surprised if they ended up revealing our existence to the whole world.”

  He parked his truck next to Helen’s car and the two of them joined their visitor who’d been waiting in a chair on the front porch.

  “Good evening, guys. I’m sorry to bother you so late but I really needed to see you,” said Helen, looking at Michael.

  “That’s all right, Helen. What’s the news?”

  “This is kind of private, Michael. I suspect you’d prefer hear this alone.” Helen looked uneasy, her tone apologetic. She was clearly avoiding looking at Sheila.

  “Michael and I have no secrets from each other. Whatever you have to tell him you can say in front of me,” Sheila said, taking one step towards the other woman who was looking at Michael pleadingly.

  “Sheila, could you please give us a moment? You can start unpacking, I’ll be right over,” said Michael.

  Sheila looked at him with murder in her eyes before walking inside the cabin and slamming the door behind her. This boded for an interesting evening.

  “I’m sorry, Michael. I didn’t mean to cause a scene. But I really don’t think you’d have wanted your friend to hear what I have to say. Maybe we could take a short walk as we talk.”

  Michael understood what Helen was hinting at. She wanted to make sure there was enough distance between them and Sheila to prevent any eavesdropping.

  “I got the results back from the last sample I sent to my friend for DNA analysis,” said Helen once they’d reached the entrance of the driveway.

  “Which sample?”

  “The one I collected from the bear that was slayed behind your cabin a few days ago.”

  “OK…” Michael’s curiosity had been piqued. What was this sample going to reveal?

  “Just like the others, this sample also codes for two different species. The DNA looks like a mixture of bear and human.”

  “It’s pretty obvious that all these samples are getting contaminated one way or another, Helen. You’ve yet to submit a single sample that hasn’t been showing some traces of human DNA.”

  “I’m telling you it’s not contamination, Michael. For one thing, all the other samples had contained human male DNA of different origins. This sample contains human female DNA, a gender that matches the sex of the bear. I don’t think that’s a coincidence.”

  “That doesn’t pro—”

  “Listen, Michael. I didn’t come to debate the facts with you. I came to give you some information you need to hear.”

  “Alright. I’m listening.”

  “This DNA was different from the others, however. In the first three samples, the relative arrangement between the human DNA sequences and the animal ones were identical. Not in this latest sample. The repartition is completely different. There’s still enough genetic material to code for a whole human and a whole bear, but the two types of sequences are more mixed up than they were in the other samples.”

  This somehow seemed to make sense. The sow was a skinwalker and skinwalkers tended to be more closely related to humans than werebeings. Michael kept these reflections to himself, however.

  Before he had a chance to come up with another explanation for the overwhelming evidence, Helen continued, “But this isn’t the reason I wanted to talk to you in private, Michael.” She looked uncomfortable, even more so than she’d been when Sheila had been around.

  “What is it?” asked Michael encouragingly.

  It took another ten seconds for Helen to gather the courage to speak the words. “The human part of the sow’s DNA had some significant resemblance with the human part of the DNA in another one of the samples.” Helen took a deep breath before looking Michael in the eyes. “I’m talking about the sample of the bear who came to my defense.”

  “What does that mean exactly?” Michael was no biologist and he wasn’t sure he understood what Helen was alluding to.

  “It means that the bear who saved me and the bear who was killed behind your cabin were related, Michael. They were father and daughter.”

  The realization hit Michael like a train. He stared at Helen a long moment as his shoulders sank and his face became a mask of muted agony. What Helen was saying was clear: Michael Biörn had murdered his own daughter.

  Chapter 89

  Lucy didn’t make a sound as she watched Olivia hit the ground. She knew her sister could recover from such injuries.

  “Now let’s move,” said the vampire who appeared to be their leader. “We have a long way to go.” His gun was now trained on Lucy.

  “I don’t think so,” she answered simply.

  “That’s enough! You will learn respect,” said the vamp who’d been the voice in her head. He moved towards her, but she shoved him hard before he could get his hands on her. The look on his face was priceless as he crashed into the nearby wall.

  “It looks like your pupil is stronger than she looks, Clark. Silvia was wise to send us for backup.”

  As their leader moved to grab her, Lucy tried shoving him to the side, but he was much faster and had her right arm pinned behind her back before she could react.

  “When I give orders, you obey. You’re nothing to me. A weakling I’ll squash like a bug the minute she steps out of line. Now let’s go,” said the leader.

  “Actually, she’s with me and she’s not going anywhere with you,” said a voice Lucy didn’t recognize. The leader turned around to face the newcomer while keeping Lucy in an armlock.

  Lucy recognized the woman immediately. She’d seen her reading in the park earlier in the day.

  “Whoever you are, this is none of your business. I am her maker and she belongs to me,” said the vamp Lucy had shoved into the wall.

  So, this jerk was her maker, the man responsible for turning her into a vampire… Lucy would make sure to thank him at the first opportunity.

  “Jacob, tell your chihuahua to step down if he doesn’t want to get hurt.”

  “What are you doing here, Irini?” asked the leader, whose name was apparently Jacob.

  “I was asked to look into the Dragos matter, and you’re holding a key witness I need to interrogate.”

  “We’re here on Silvia’s order, Irini. We’re not leaving without the girl. Clark’s telling the truth, he is her maker,” replied Jacob.

  “Do I look like I’m in a mood to debate protocol, Jacob?” The woman took a couple of slow, deliberate steps towards them. Raw power emanated from every pore on her skin. Lucy found her magnificent.

  Lucy’s maker moved towards Irini but was immediately stopped by Jacob. “Step down, Clark! It’s an order.” Jacob’s other men hadn’t moved, but their guns were now pointing towards Irini.

  “Who’s this woman, Jacob? Why are you debating with her?” asked Clark.

  “Irini is an enforcer for the Eastern Covenant,” he answered.

  “And Jacob’s debating with me because he knows what I’m capable of. That, and he doesn’t want to be responsible for a diplomatic incident with the Eastern Covenant. Jacob’s a smart boy. Aren’t you, Jacob?”

  Lucy saw the
shoulders of her maker sink a little. He didn’t look pleased with the answer.

  “And now if you’ll excuse us, I need to chat with this young lady privately.”

  “We need her back once you’re done interrogating her, Irini,” said Jacob coldly.

  The woman made a show of thinking about it before answering, “That sounds reasonable. Let’s meet here in forty-eight hours. If I don’t show up, that means I’m not done playing with your newbie. Now get out of my sight.” She hadn’t raised her voice, but the threat was as plain as it could be.

  Jacob released Lucy’s arm and the four men exited the alley, their slow pace an attempt at maintaining a shred of dignity.

  “What’s your name?” asked the woman.

  “Lucy.”

  “You and I have a lot of things to discuss, Lucy. Let’s find a place a bit more comfortable.”

  “Let me tend to my sister first,” said Lucy, kneeling at Olivia’s side.

  “She’s dead, child. There’s nothing you can do for her at this point.”

  “Olivia? Olivia?” Lucy whispered in her sister’s ear as she pulled the knife out of her chest.

  A minute passed and Irini was starting to display signs of impatience by the time Olivia took her first breath.

  “My, my… I stand corrected,” said the vampire. “What is she? Don’t tell me she’s a werebear.”

  “She’s a werewolf actually.”

  “And she’s a friend of Michael Biörn? Now that’s interesting.”

  Olivia was slowly coming back to life; the wound on her chest was already noticeably smaller and the bullets were being expelled out of her skull.

  “OK, she’ll be fine. Let’s go now. Chop chop.”

  “You know Michael?” asked Lucy, partly because she was curious and partly to distract the woman as she whispered into Olivia’s ear, “The vamps will be back here in forty-eight hours.”

  Irini grabbed Lucy by the arm and the two of them walked out of the alley leaving Olivia behind.

  “Michael Biörn and I go way back, child. Way back.”

  Chapter 90

  A.D. 1679

  Wawetseka was lying motionless in the snow. She was staring at Michael’s bear who was bent over her. Sounds of battles percolated from the nearby opening in the ground where the skinwalkers were fighting the remaining vampires.