“Here we are.” Dr. Mitchen came to a stop.
Claire looked over her shoulder at how far they’d come. The sliding doors were closed and once again opaque to the outside world. This room truly was cut off from the entire university. It was a world unto itself.
Claire glanced at the table in front of them.
Dr. Mitchen “The problem with vampires, besides that they want to drain your blood, is their supernatural abilities.”
“You’re a smart one, Doc,” Jack shot back.
Claire put a not-so-gentle elbow into his ribs.
Mitchen ignored Jack’s barb and continued on in his cheery tone, “So when we began creating weapons to fight them, that was what we primarily focused on. How can we give you supernatural abilities? It was a very interesting question to ask, and a challenging one to answer. I think we did it, though. Answered the question, I mean.”
Frank stepped up to the table, pushing past Claire. His head was about a foot above it. “Enough with all the talk. Tell me what we’re looking at.”
“Right. Right.” Mitchen pointed at a small circular object on the table. It looked like a thick compass, except where the face should be, it was just black glass. “We call this a Nova, although that’s just because I like fancy names.” He picked it up in his hand and turned to the group. “This is a smaller-sized version of the lights you used upstairs when the creatures came. It fits in the palm of your hand, but the blast it sends out is extremely concentrated, meaning as the light spreads out away from your hand, it’s not going to dissipate. These will light a very large area of space, and any vampire in its radius is going to wish they’d worn sunscreen.”
Jack smirked and glanced at Claire. She knew he wanted to say something about the lame joke. He kept quiet, though.
Mitchen replaced the Nova on the table. “That’s going to create space between you and the creatures. However, you might be tempted to simply turn it on and walk, keeping them at bay at all times. I would caution you against it since that’s only going to make it harder to find them.” Mitchen leaned forward and picked up what appeared to be a black metal rod. “I heard that one of you actually managed to shove a stake through a vampire’s chest plate last night. Is that true?”
Marissa nodded. “Yup. That was Claire.”
Jack spoke up. “Well, I did it, too.”
Marissa rolled her eyes. “Yeah, with a freakin’ crossbow. She did it with her hands.”
“That’s more impressive than you probably realize.” Mitchen turned, creating space for himself and the black rod. “The chest plate is bone, and we wanted to give you an advantage when you get close enough to attack. We also wanted to allow you to not have to be right next to the creature.”
Mitchen moved his hand so that the tip of the rod faced the wall. His thumb pressed the opposite end. A black object shot from the opening, flew through the air, and slammed into the wall twenty feet away. It sank so deep into the concrete that only a small piece was still visible.
Claire’s mouth opened slightly. “It’s like a blowpipe activated by your hand.”
“Precisely,” Mitchen agreed. “The main thing you need to do with this weapon is aim.”
“Yeah, but once you shoot it, you’re out of stakes,” Jack observed. “So you have to make sure you hit on the first try.”
“Erroneous, my dear chap.” Mitchen reached into his pocket and pulled out a black stake that was about six inches long. He popped into the rod, an audible click letting everyone know it had hit home. “What you have to do is reload, but with a bit of practice, you can get it down to about one second. The good thing is, with this, you won’t have to be directly on the vampire, so reloading is possible. I call it the Impaler.”
“Any other problems you see?” Claire asked Jack sarcastically.
He shrugged. “Just making sure they’ve thought through everything.”
Mitchen placed the Impaler back on the table. “Everyone here knows what mace is, I assume?”
Frank looked up at the doctor. “We’re not all from here, Mitchen. So no, I don’t.”
Mitchen looked curiously at the odd man. “Very true. My apologies.”
“Apologies! That’s the first time one of you humans has done that.” He turned to Claire. “You could learn a thing or two from this man.”
Mitchen seemed to not notice Frank’s show. “Mace is something law enforcement uses to subdue people. It’s an irritant that we put into aerosol form. Holy water is something like mace gas for vampires, although it’s more damaging. That’s what we have here.” He picked up a small cartridge sitting next to the Impaler. “Want to be my test dummy?”
Before Jack could answer, Mitchen pressed down on the cartridge and a concentrated spray shot out. Jack raised his hands to try to block it but couldn’t do anything quickly enough. The spray hit him in the face just as his features turned to complete fear.
He was prepared for pain.
He blinked as the liquid dripped down on his face, his mouth open, ready to scream.
“Looks like you’re not a vampire.” Mitchen grinned.
“What the hell?” Jack asked as he wiped the water from his face.
Mitchen again ignored him, looking at the rest of the group. “Now, had he been a vampire, his face would be burning. We’ve acquired a large quantity of blessed water and turned it into an aerosol spray. You don’t have to throw anything at the creatures, hoping the water hits them. Just point and spray.”
Jack finished wiping off his face.
Claire grinned at him. “Did you get a bit scared, Jack-ass?”
“Thought the guy just maced me,” he grumbled.
“Moving right along.” Mitchen put the aerosol can back on the table. “The last thing we wanted to combat was their speed and strength. This was a much more complicated endeavor since we can’t build you exoskeleton suits that might give you superhuman abilities. So the next obvious question was, how do we slow them down? How do we make them weaker?”
“Not a problem for me,” Frank said. “I took it easy on them upstairs, wanting to give these young whippersnappers some confidence.” He pointed a thumb at his chest. “I won’t need any assistance in slowing them down. When I get up and running, they’re going to wish they’d slowed me down.”
“Is that why I caught you the first time we met, Frank?” Claire asked.
The leprechaun paid her no mind. “You’ll see, Chatty Cathy.”
Mitchen looked at Frank as if he were viewing an alien. Something technically possible, but not something he ever thought he’d see. “Very well, then.” He smiled and looked back at the table. He grabbed a blue ball about the size of a tennis ball. “I call this the Immolator. The name is sort of apt for what it does.” He turned to Jack. “Want to be my guinea pig for this?”
“If you do it, we’re fighting,” Jack warned.
“Oh, come on, Jack,” Claire teased. “You can give it, but you can’t take it?”
“You be his guinea pig,” Jack returned.
“Hard pass.” She smiled and found Mitchen’s eyes. “Sorry, please continue.”
“Anyone know what the one thing is you haven’t used against vampires, but that they are susceptible too?” Mitchen asked as he looked over the three.
“Fire,” Marissa answered. “There are some myths that say fire can actually kill them. At the very least, it hurts.”
“Bingo.” Mitchen lifted the ball in front of his face. “We’re not sure if it will kill them or not, but we do believe it’s going to incapacitate them. The problem with this, however, is that fire will also incapacitate you as well. Or, obviously, worse.” He offered the ball to Claire.
“Is it going to set me on fire?” she asked skeptically as she eyed the blue orb.
“I’d like you to demonstrate how to work it.” Mitchen pushed the ball forward again.
Claire took it very gently.
“You need to think of it like a grenade, only without the explosion,”
Mitchen told her. “If you operate it under that line of thought, you’re going to be safe. Now, Claire, squeeze the ball hard. After you do it, throw it at the wall over there. You’ll have four seconds from the time you squeeze until it detonates.”
Claire stared at the thing. What the hell is about to happen to me?
“Who’s scared now?” Jack teased.
Claire shrugged, squeezed the ball hard, and threw it overhand at the wall.
Four, three, two—
It hit the wall, and fire blazed across the concrete surface. The ball dropped to the floor, a burning orb now. It rolled away, although the ground didn’t catch on fire.
The wall continued to burn.
Claire stared at the flames, which were spreading in a circle with a diameter of about five feet. “I can feel the heat.”
“That’s actually an engineering masterpiece.” Another blue ball rested on the table and Mitchen picked it up. “The ball is capable of telling which way it’s being thrown, and after four seconds, it sprays an accelerant in front of it. Then its internal reactions cause it to burst into flames. Thus, any vampires you throw it toward are going to be doused with gasoline and immediately hit with a fireball.” Mitchen grinned as two workers went to the wall and started spraying it down with fire extinguishers. “It should slow the bloodsuckers down a bit.”
“I like that,” Jack told him. “I like that a lot.”
Remington spoke from behind the group, a smile on his face. “I told you guys. You’re not going into those tunnels with just your hands.”
Frank pointed at the table. “I want one of those light things and the Impaler. Give the kiddos the rest.”
“Frank, hold up a second.” Claire stepped out of her room and closed the door behind her. The sun was down, and Marissa had already climbed into bed. Everyone was exhausted. She could tell how tired Frank was because he hadn’t teleported from the building but was actually walking out. Teleporting took more energy.
Frank turned around. “What is it, lass? I need a beer and some shuteye.”
Claire nodded and hustled down the hall to him. “Sorry. I just... Why are you coming down there with us? I know you’re not doing it all for ale. So why risk it? You don’t have to. I won’t think any less of you.”
Frank looked up at Claire, his shaggy black eyebrows contrasting with his green skin. “I thought you were brighter than this.”
Claire shrugged. “I’m too tired to verbally jab with you right now. I just wanted to say I never expected you to come with us. You’ve already helped a tremendous amount.”
Frank sighed and looked at his feet. “I’m not doing this for beer, lass. I didn’t come to Boston for better beer or bowling alleys. Will I take that?” He shrugged. “Sure.” His eyes found Claire’s again. “I came up here and I’m going down there because of you. Because you were my friend when no one else would be. Because when the world wanted me to die, you ate french fries and watched me bowl. Now things want you to die, and I’m not going to let that happen. You’re my friend, maybe my only friend, so we’re going down there together, lass.”
Claire felt hot tears in her eyes. Before they could fall, she took Frank in her arms and hugged him tightly.
“Thanks, Frank. You’re my best friend too.”
“Calm yerself, lass,” Frank said, although he put his arms around her. “And don’t tell a soul about this. I’ve got a reputation to uphold.”
Chapter Twenty
“What have we gotten ourselves into?” Matthew’s hands were shaking, and he was rocking back and forth in his chair.
Like some kind of invalid, Hannah thought. “Shut up, Matthew. I don’t want to hear it.”
She pulled a cigarette from her pack and lit it. She inhaled the smoke, feeling the familiar burn. I wonder if vampires can do anything about cancer. Or, if I have to become one to rid myself of it. Hannah didn’t have cancer, though she thought she certainly would at some point.
Still, she wasn’t going to quit smoking.
“This isn’t what we planned,” Matthew complained, ignoring her instructions. “We thought we’d be, I don’t know... Appreciated.”
The wuss did have a point, and Hannah wasn’t exactly sure how to get out of this situation.
She, Bradley, and Matthew were still underground in the tunnels, but they’d been relegated to a single room. They hadn’t seen Dracula once since he’d shoved them in here. No, now lackeys came to deliver their food or allow them to use the restroom. Dracula had nothing to do with them.
Matthew stared despondently at the floor. “They’re going to kill us.”
“Give it a rest,” Bradley grumbled.
At least he hasn’t cracked yet, Hannah thought.
“They’re not going to kill us,” Hannah told them pensively. She took a drag on the cigarette. “Did you see that, though? How quickly they all came to him? David was barely able to hold them together, and as soon as word spread Dracula was here, they flocked down to these tunnels.”
“What does that matter?!” Matthew shrieked.
“Oh, I wish they would come kill you,” Hannah mumbled. She started to pace the room. Her watch told her they’d been down here almost twenty-four hours. There were three cots against the walls.
Hannah hadn’t slept much. “What we need to be focusing on is how we get back in his good graces. Does either of you have any idea why Dracula lost in the myths? Or why vampires rarely won?”
Matthew looked up at her, appearing lost.
Bradley’s stomach grumbled. “No, and right now, I don’t care. They’ve got to bring us more food than they have been. That’s all I know.”
Hannah rolled her eyes, took another drag, and breathed out the smoke. “Because Dracula was alone. They’re always alone, vampires, so when humans come for them, they don’t have enough concentrated power to win. One vampire against a horde of humans will lose, and I think Dracula understands that. That was why he called them, and that was why they came. They don’t want to lose.”
She nodded, not caring if the other two were listening.
“He’s smart, and he’s planning this out. They’re going to win. They’ll take over all of Boston, maybe New England. The government will have to bring in the National Guard or the entire military. This is going to be a fucking war zone by the time he’s finished.”
Yes, she thought. We’re on the right side of this. We just have to find a way to ingratiate ourselves with him.
She turned around and looked at her two partners, people she wished she’d never teamed up with.
Bradley’s stomach rumbled again, but at least he was matching her gaze. “We’ve got to get in touch with the other cells. We’ve got to try to get up the ladder to people with more authority. They have no idea what’s happening here.”
Hannah shook her head. “Come on, Bradley. They aren’t idiots. Everyone in our organization is seeing what’s on television, the Vampiric invasion. They know about the work we’re doing.”
“What about now?” Matthew chimed in. “That we’re locked up and completely out of power? You think they’re sending someone to save us?”
“No,” Hannah mused. She flicked the ash from her cigarette on the floor. “Nor should they. That’s not how this works, and you know it. We were chosen very specifically to join, and the reason was that we can work independently. If we’re overrun by the creatures we call over, then that’s on us. Not anyone else inside this organization.”
Her eyes narrowed as she stared at Matthew. “How did you get in here? That’s the real question I want answered. You’re far too weak to be involved in something like this. Just because you believe in them and can see them, it doesn’t mean you should be given a place such as you currently have.”
“What place is that?” Matthew asked. “Sitting in this room, locked away as potential food sources for the creatures we brought over?”
Bradley turned with a raised eyebrow. “Do you realize what you’re saying?”
/> Matthew looked at the floor again. He gripped his pants, although that didn’t stop his hands from shaking. He didn’t respond to the question.
“He knows.” Hannah sneered. “He’s just too scared to admit it. He’s forsaking his entire reason for joining this organization. He’s turning against those who can rule humanity because he’s too scared to stand next to them.” She took a few steps closer to Matthew so that she was about a foot away from him. “When this is over, I’m going to make sure you pay for what you just said. We’re here to serve, and to serve at our master’s feet. The master is Dracula, and if he wants us to sit in this room, then that’s what we’ll fucking do.”
Her voice was ice, and had it not been against the organization’s rules, she would have murdered him right then.
The door opened.
Hannah turned and glared at the intruder, her eyes still narrow, her anger still hot. “What?”
A young vampire stood in the doorway, a female. She had dark brown hair and looked to be maybe seventeen years old. Her skin was the color of chalk. “He wants you.”
The vampire looked at Hannah like she was a bug, one the vampire wanted to squash.
Hannah’s eyes opened slightly. “‘He?’”
“Dracula, you fool,” the vampire snapped. “Who else?”
She looked at Matthew and smiled. “What was it you were saying a bit ago?”
Matthew was almost as white as the vampire at the door.
“Cat got your tongue?” Hannah asked. She turned to the vampire. The three had decided long ago that the only vampire they would allow to rule them would be Dracula. If they let any vampire besides the Supreme One gain control, they would quickly be relegated to little more than slaves. “Well, errand girl, bring us to him. The next time you snap at me, don’t forget that I control how you got here. I control how you are sent back as well.”
Hannah looked down at her dwindling cigarette pack and pulled out a second one, trying to portray that she didn’t care one way or another what the vampire thought. I hope she buys it, and I hope Dracula lets me get a new pack of smokes, Hannah mused. Or else this room is going to get a whole lot more annoying.
First Semester Page 18