by Robert York
My feet landed on the floor inches away from her. I turned leveling my staff, a spell to call my defensive shield into being on the tip of my tongue when the conference room window exploded inward. I was too late, shards of glass about the thickness of my pinky rocketed throughout the room. I raised my arms ducking my head in an attempt to keep the glass from striking her. Barnabas’s shield was up deflecting glass back toward the open window. Glass cut through Race’s clothes and skin. I saw blood trickling from hundreds of open wounds only to close up just as fast. Two of Adrianna’s people were on the floor, daggers protruding from their throats. Luckily my cloak protected us from the ricocheting glass, having an enchanted cloak that could stop most projectiles was extremely handy. Yet something didn’t feel right, my balance waivered. I felt heat and the unmistakable sensation of a warm substance running down my right shoulder. Dizziness took hold of my senses and I had to lean on my battle staff to keep from dropping to the floor. Adrianna took me into her protective arms, holding me for a moment then I felt a sharp jab of pain as she pulled something from my back. She produced a dagger about eight inches long and coated with blood…
My blood.
The dagger pierced the defenses woven into my cloak and armor impaling me in the back near my shoulder. Had it struck me five inches to the left, it would’ve possibly severed my spine. That was a sobering thought. I’d taken the dagger that was meant for Adrianna. The dagger in her hand was specifically created to kill Vampires. It was called an Ash Dagger. When a Vampire dies by sunlight - and many older immortals choose this way to go simply from becoming bored - nothing is left of them but ash. During the forging process Vampire ash is added to the metal before it’s hardened. When the dagger has been tempered the ash leaves a distinctive pattern of dots on the blade. Hence the name, it also makes the blade nearly indestructible and immune to most magical spells, however it’s also lethal to all Vampires no matter how old or strong they are. The Vampire ash acts like a poison and a violent agonizing death results when it’s introduced into the body. I’d just saved Adrianna from an assassination attempt.
Adrianna met my eyes and she smiled.
“Thank you,” she mouthed looking back to the open window.
Sunlight and gusts of what felt like twenty mile an hour winds poured into the room. The glass must’ve been coated with some sort of sun blocking material, which protected the room and possibly the building from the rays of the sun. Adrianna and her people were showing no signs of pain or discomfort, nor was their skin reddening. It was possible they were all wearing sun block and special UV blocking contact lenses. Sun block research, for all of you who were wondering and of course the budding conspiracy theorists out there who needed information on the existence of Vampires, was funded by Vampire shell companies in order to create something that would help them to hunt in daylight hours. Being confined to the night was such an inconvenience for so many of the older Vampires and frankly it was impractical for them to walk around in the daytime hours covered in heavy fabrics. Sun block worked so well that the formula was diluted and sold to other companies for us mortals to use and the Vampires made a fortune with it. Remember Amber-Vision Glasses that came out onto the market decades ago? Vampires were behind that too.
My eyes adjusted to the brightness of the sun as I looked to the shattered window. Eight figures clad in black glossy form fitting suits swarmed into the room, crawling on the walls and ceilings like nightmarish spiders. Dark face hugging goggles covered their eyes and each one of them wore crossed bandoliers over their chests with six daggers just like the one Adrianna was holding. Two of the attackers grabbed the twins, pulling them out of the window like rag dolls carrying them out of sight. The other six rushed at us.
Barnabas knocked two down with a magical strike then unsheathed his sword. Race had regained his senses. He’d changed form, his clothes ripped and tattered fragments lying on the table around him. He pulled one of the attackers off the ceiling, taking a monitor or two with it pinning the attacker down on the glass table where he began to rend and tear at the attacker’s head and throat. For my part I leveled my battle staff at one of the attackers letting loose a white-hot lance of fire. It missed, but it was at least able to throw him off balance. He slammed into the wall leaving a huge depression in it. The remaining two of Adrianna’s Vampire entourage leapt at the dazed assailant. Adrianna kicked off her heels, literally in the direction of the two remaining attackers, striking them one in the chest and one in the face. Though they did no damage they did give her a few seconds to react. She grabbed me gently spinning me down into her chair.
“Stay put,” she said forcefully with a little hint of what I assumed was concern.
The conference room doors burst open; Bart along with five of his human security detail took up firing positions around the doorway just inside the room. They fired accurate and precise controlled three round bursts from their short-barreled AR-15s at the attackers. I didn’t think it would’ve been a stretch of the imagination to assume that some of these guys were retire Special Forces. The rounds however appeared to have little effect. I watched Bart level his AR-15 at Race placing a few well-aimed rounds into the big wolf’s backside. Race whirled around growling and baring his teeth at the spiteful Vampire. In response Bart shrugged his shoulders in a “Whoops” sort of fashion. If he wasn’t careful Race was going see what a bald rump roast tasted like.
I turned to Adrianna and she was gone. Well, not gone exactly per say, just difficult to see. Have you ever watched Kung Fu movies? The speed, skill and choreographed grace in which the martial arts masters move, if you haven’t, I recommend you take in a Jackie Chan or Jet Li movie so you can appreciate what I’m describing. Neither of those Kung Fu masters however had anything on Adrianna. She was a blur of motion and color. The only time I saw her somewhat clearly was when she slowed down just enough for one of her fists, elbows, knees or feet to make contact with certain parts of her attackers bodies. Even then she looked like an out of focus movie. One of the attackers dropped to the floor out of the swirling tornado of motion. Convulsing uncontrollably like a bug that just got a full body spray of bug killer. He tore at the right side of his rib cage where Adrianna stabbed him with an Ash Dagger, the one I assumed she pulled from my shoulder. All I could see was about a half inch of the handle.
Race killed and dismembered his attacker then he moved to assist Barnabas. The attacker that Adrianna’s two remaining people went after killed one of the pretty boy Vamps by ripping off his head. The other he picked up by the heels lifting him over his head slamming the Vampire down hard onto the floor. That attacker then surveyed the situation, realizing he and his remaining people were in a no win situation, let out a high pitched shriek, somewhere between a hawk’s hunting call and a pissed off tomcat. The attackers that were still in one piece fled upon hearing the call escaping out the window. They disappeared as fast as they had appeared.
The room was a complete wreck. I only hoped that Adrianna had enough coverage for this kind of destruction. In any event she’d be remodeling this part of her building after this incursion. Vampires hate it when you throw down in their places of power or the places they go to blow off steam. Bart and his security team moved cautiously into the room filing down both sides of the conference room table toward us. Barnabas sheathed his sword then took out a cloth that he always carried inside his glove holding it against his cheek. He must’ve gotten a wound from one of his attackers or one of the few thousand shards of flying glass. Race stood watch unmoving in the direction of the smashed window. Droplets of dark blood dripped from his muzzle in slow continuous droplets. The pretty boy Vampire that got body slammed twitched; a low agonized sigh of pain escaped his lips, sounding not unlike bagpipes deflating. It’d be quite a few hours before his Vampire body repaired itself completely from the injuries. The other Vampire that lost his head wouldn’t be coming back. Once a Vampire loses his or her head it’s over, no regeneration. They’re dead. Sunlight, Fire
, decapitation and an ash dagger are the only ways to truly kill a Vampire.
The attacker Race had killed still lay on the glass table. The remains were bubbling and blistering, in some other places smoldering, which could only mean one thing, what was lying there was a Vampire. Vampires had strict codes of conduct that were designed to help keep the bloodshed between individuals and the Houses to a minimum. Vampires could challenge each other to a duel, but the Heads of the Houses had to give permission for it to take place. If a Vampire attempted, let’s say to kill another Vampire without approval they wouldn’t be around for very long. There were long lists of laws and stiff penalties that covered any sort of infraction. So, the fact that a team of Vampires possibly had just tried to take out Adrianna Thorne meant that all was not well in the world of the Vampires. That also meant, that the Heads of the Houses probably didn’t know about this attack either. They were all predictable creatures of habit. They wouldn’t blow their noses unless they looked up how to do it in those Vampire laws first.
The other Vampire attacker managed to turn himself over onto his stomach, slowly crawling toward the open window, his fingertips making holes and gashes in the carpet as he pulled himself along. Adrianna stalked a few paces behind him. Her coat was torn and ripped in places, as were her skirt and hose. The buttons on her blouse simply weren’t designed to handle the variety of movements she displayed and had given way at some point during the fighting. Her open shirt flapped gently in the late winter breeze revealing a bra covering her ample bosom made of delicate lacey fabric.
Very alluring.
Adrianna moved to the attackers left. Taking her right foot she placed it under him, deftly flipping him over onto his back. He let out a cry of pain raising his hands in supplication. Adrianna knelt down beside him removing all of the daggers from his bandoliers, tossing them a side. Bart moved in stopping a few feet behind her. Adrianna stared at the Vampire like a cat deciding on what to do with a cornered mouse.
“Who sent you?” She asked in a low monotone voice.
I could tell she was struggling to hold back her rage. Though the full mask and goggles covering the Vampire’s face made him impossible to read, he managed to look contemptuously up at her. Adrianna balled her hand into a tight fist bringing it down hard on the handle of the protruding Ash Dagger, driving it deeper into his chest. The masked Vampire let out a blood-curdling scream of horrific pain. The jolt of pain must’ve given him a dose of adrenaline because he scurried away from Adrianna on his hands and feet like a spider heading for some place dark and safe. He got to within a foot of the window when Race leapt on the Vampire’s chest driving him once again to the floor in a huff of expelled air. Adrianna stood moving toward the Vampire.
“Where are you going,” She asked, no hint of a question in her tone. “We have so much more to discuss… I asked who sent you,” she said emphasizing the last three words,
Off in the distance, but getting closer were the unmistakable sounds of Chicago Fire and Police vehicles heading for the Thorne building. I think we all paused listening except for the Vampire. He tore off his dark mask and goggles. The sight we were presented with was unsettling. The Vampire was completely hairless with high pointed ears. His skin was pale white and translucent. You could actually see the muscles and skull under his skin. His eyes were obsidian black with no whites to them whatsoever. His teeth were discolored like they had been soaked in blood and his fangs appeared to be longer than the average Vampire He looked completely alien and creepy.
None of us realized what he was doing until it was too late. He was lying in the sunlight without the protection of his mask. His head began to smolder then burst into bright red flames. Race backed off the Vampire’s chest away from the blaze. It was almost as though someone doused his head with kerosene and set a match to it. He was apparently committing suicide rather than being questioned. He was dead already with that dagger stuck in his chest, that death was only a matter of time and he knew it. He wanted to die knowing he hadn’t violated his code of honor, if he indeed had one. He never even made a sound; his body only convulsed violently then went still. It took only a half a minute for the fire to consume the skin and muscle. Only a scorched skull with smoke billowing from the eye sockets attached to an unburned body remained. I stared dumbfounded at the unmoving body.
“Avery... Morris,” Adrianna said breaking the silence.
Two of her security detail stepped toward her.
“Yes, Ms. Thorne?” They both said in chorus.
“I want you to take Jerrod down to the lower levels and place him in one of the holding cells. Start an I.V. of blood, I don’t want him waking up and going on a human killing spree to sate his thirst.”
Both men nodded in assent, slinging their weapons over their shoulders. They moved over to Jerrod, one man at his head, the other at his feet. They bent down getting a solid hold on the unconscious, unmoving Vampire lifting him with little effort hurrying out of the room.
Adrianna walked over to the buffet on the right side of the room. She bend over sliding a panel out of the way producing two bottles of what looked like Woodford Reserve or some other top shelf bourbon. She placed them on top of the buffet opening the bottles. What, was she going to have a celebratory drink after kicking some ass? After she opened both bottles she left them on the buffet turning to another of her people.
“Gauge,” she said.
Another of her security force stepped forward.
“Yes, Ms. Thorne?”
“Find Abbey, have her get in touch with our contacts at the Mayor’s office, City Hall, the C.P.D. Superintendent and the C.F.D. Fire Marshal.” “We’re going to need their help in containing and burying this mess.” Also have her talk to our contacts at the local News stations and print media, she’ll know what to tell them.”
“Yes, Ms. Thorne,” he said turning rushing out of the room.
Adrianna picked up both bottles walking first over to the headless Vampire. She poured the bourbon liberally over his head and body. She then moved over to the two Vampires that had ash daggers protruding for their necks pouring bourbon over them. When that bottle was empty she dropped it.
“Bartholomew?” She said as she continued pouring bourbon over the dismembered Vampire lying on the glass table. “Please take these gentlemen to my office.” “Give them refreshments and tend to their needs.”
She turned her head in Race’s direction.
“Matters might go more smoothly if you change back to your human form.”
Race cocked his head quizzically the way only a dog could manage. He complied with Adrianna’s request and within a few moments he was standing there, in his human form completely naked. A smirk blossomed on Adrianna’s face, her eyebrows rose in a playful expression as she regarded the particular region of his body slightly below the belly button.
“Bartholomew, would you be so kind as to provide this very excited young man with suitable clothing?”
Race looked down at his midsection realizing that he was at... Let’s go with “Full attention.” He smiled shrugging his shoulders.
“Sorry,” he said completely unapologetic.
“Don’t be,” said Adrianna. “I like your enthusiasm.”
She moved over to the Vampire with the toasted head pouring some bourbon on him as well. Bart gestured for us to please move out of the room, which we did in great haste. None of us wanted to remain.
Chapter 14
Adrianna poured a line of bourbon from the body over to where we were all standing. She even had the presence of mind to pick up her high heels on her way out. When the second bottle was empty she tossed it carelessly back inside the room. Adrianna lazily held out a hand palm up in front of Bart. He reached inside his coat producing a plain silver Zippo lighter, which he placed in her hand. She flipped the top open.
“If you’d be so kind Bartholomew as to get in touch with our insurance company.”
She flicked the lighter, a bright reddish orange
flame danced hungrily upon it.
“I think we are going to have to file a claim for fire damage.”
She tossed the lighter onto the line of bourbon. The alcohol caught fire after a few seconds slowly creeping its way toward the bodies igniting carpet and whatever else it came in contact with as Bart closed the doors. Adrianna led the way as we filed in behind her. I became aware of something almost immediately. The atmosphere in the office had changed. It didn’t feel right to me. It was as though the life force of the place had been replaced with utter silence, the silence of a tomb. It wasn’t until I took about twenty steps that I realized the office was completely empty. It was devoid of the sounds that I’d heard when we first walked through the place and the watching eyes that tracked our every move.
“Where is everyone,” I asked, my curiosity peaked.
Adrianna glanced back in my direction.
“What’s your name,” she asked.
“Solomon, Solomon Drake,” I replied.
“Well Sol,” she continued. “Do you mind if I call you Sol?”
“No”
“OK Sol, I really didn’t know how our meeting would end and quite frankly I didn’t want any witnesses in the event our meeting happened to go poorly... So I made everyone, except for a few key people leave early for the day… As it turned out, it was the smart thing to do.”
I nodded thoughtfully then asked.