by Jeff Seats
Vladimir looked down at Steph consuming his blood and then around at his people. Bloodlust was in their eyes. Tonight, he knew, was the beginning of the end of this charade they had been playing for over one hundred years. Tonight Vamp Town, as their keepers sarcastically called it, dies.
—— THREAT RESPONSE ——
THIRTY SECONDS AFTER the Action Team had loaded into the Osprey they were airborne heading off towards Central Oregon and Vamp Town.
The MV-22 Osprey is a highly sophisticated piece of engineering that can take off and land without a runway when configured like a helicopter. As a conventional airplane, it can reach a top speed of over 300 miles per hour at 15,000 feet, and it can travel 1000 miles before refueling. Those that know these aircraft like to say of them, “It’s as if a CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter and an F-18 Hornet fighter jet had a baby.”
The Action Team boarded the Osprey through the rear ramp and took their places in the, none too luxurious, canvas seats that lined either side of the fuselage. For all the technical sophistication required to design and build an aircraft with rotating engines and tilting wings, the interior of the Osprey was a study in utilitarian functionality. Exposed bundles of wires and cables cluttered the ceiling and pipes ran along the surface of the walls.
The powerful engines turning 38-foot rotors screamed as they propelled the craft forward. The ride was far from smooth being compared to driving an old car over a rutted, gravel road. This plane was intended to get someplace fast and to get people on and off the ground as quickly as possible.
The Osprey lifted off the tarmac configured as a helicopter and corkscrewed up to its optimal flight altitude. After gaining sufficient forward speed to produce lift with its wings, the pilot touched the control on the stick, and the engine nacelles tilted down, out of hover mode, and faced forward allowing the Osprey to fly like a conventional twin-engine turboprop aircraft.
The pilot gave the crew chief a call from the ‘front office’ and asked, “Ready to go fast?” The chief gave the 'go fast' hand sign to the passengers who then all cinched down on their straps and held on knowing what kind of G-forces the acceleration would cause. After the appropriate altitude and a cruising speed of 260 miles per hour had been achieved, the team was allowed to loosen their straps. They now settled in for the approximate 300 mile trip between Mountain Home and Vamp Town; which would take a little over an hour depending on wind speed, weather conditions or the odd UFO encounter.
This luxury of time provided them the opportunity to check their gear and weapons yet one more time. One could never be overly prepared. The wrote familiarity of the process left open the door for the friendly banter of pre-mission small talk; which started to fill the headsets.
“Hey, Okada, you get lucky last night?” asked St. Jean.
“Yeah, ‘cause I didn't see you anywhere.”
“Oh. Ouch! Burn.”
“Ortega and I have a bet that you're going to root for OKC tomorrow night. I say yes.” Todd taunted Evers.
“No fuckin’ way. I'm old school Sonics fan. OKC? Who's that?”
“The Storm Clouds,” Timmons said.
“Thunder,” Ellingson noted.
“What're you guys talkin’ about? Roller Derby?” Evers said refusing to be baited.
Okada interjected, “So my girlfriend says that we have to get married. Then she says she wants to come to my work and meet everyone.”
“Bummer. My husband still thinks I work at the base commissary.” Ellingson said.
Up front Craig and Liz were seated with the crew chief, close to the com and tech gear. Fighting the roar of the engines, Liz asked Craig, “Sir, how many times have you had to do this?”
“What? Do What?”
“Um, go out to Vamp Town with an Action Team.”
“Oh... Ah, none. This is the first time. My first time.”
Liz was more than a bit stunned by this reply. “Then how can you remain calm. I mean if this is your first time dealing with vampires...”
“My first time doing this at Vamp Town. Not the first time with vamps. You’ll find out. We do our fair share of hunting down hold out vamps, the free radicals. Remember our chat earlier? I’ve got plenty of experience with that.”
“Oh. Yeah.” Liz thought for a moment and began connecting some dots. “Wait. You just said that you, we, hunt vampires. Really? Like hunting Nazi war criminals?”
“Something like that but we give them a chance to be brought into the program first.”
“First? If they don't?”
“We exterminate them.”
Not quite sure how to take in all this new information, Liz sat back calmly as if what she had just heard was old news. On the inside, however, she had other thoughts. Holy shit! I'm going to hunt vampires! Trying to maintain some composure she asked Craig another question. “So, why aren’t we wearing strings of garlic and crosses and stuff?”
“Well, those things work in close quarters like when you go to bed. It starts the morning off on the wrong foot if you wake up with a set of fang marks in your neck. But, in action, if a vamp has gotten close enough for a crucifix to maybe work, then you may as well say good night because those suckers can have you torn in two before you can shove it in their face. Let's just say, not good enough odds to count on them entirely.”
The crew chief, at his control panel, handed a headset back to Craig. “Excuse me, sir. Control has a link established with the mayor.”
“Thanks.” Craig took the headset and put it on.
««« ‡ »»»
THE LONE FIGURE of Alexei Rurik was silhouetted against the last of the glowing sunset. After a day in his coffin/trailer, it felt good to stretch his legs. The sounds of the night were tuning up to perform a concert for him alone: the chirping crickets, screeching owls, the squeaking of bats. Off in the distance coyotes were warming up for their solos and there was a slight breeze blowing through the branches of trees that probably were older than he, laying down a subtle, rhythmic Bass Line.
Alexei took in the incredible star field that was only visible this high up, away from the light pollution of populated areas. The waning moon had a slightly warm glow tonight. It took him back to those bright, warm days on the grassy slopes near the family dacha. The day when... How long since he had felt the sun on his face?
He absorbed the light from the stars pretending that it was the sun and allowed nature's symphony to fill his mind with more pleasant thoughts. But not even this beauty could distract him for long from the weight of his position. As the leader of all the vampires, their Khan, Alexei had signed the treaty with Roosevelt without consulting any other of his kind. It was his decision, his responsibility, to make the move to save the remaining immortals from extinction. Now all these years later he remained the leader of the reservation they inhabited. The CSC jokingly called it Vamp Town and him, the mayor. Even now he failed to understand American humor. Mayor? He was certainly no elected official. If elections were to be held, however, he wondered if he could realistically best his brother in such a contest. It was always easier to second-guess the choices one's leaders made than to wear their shoes having to pick the best of two bad options; death by hunting or slowly being strangled in pseudo captivity.
A cell phone rang pulling Alexei back to the mountain top.
The phone rang again. Alexei still in a fog of memories took a moment to recognize the sound. He shook his head a couple of times to bring him fully back to the present.
The phone rang a third time. Touching his pants pockets he remembered that he had left the phone in his vest. Going back to the camp fire, he picked up the vest and pulled the phone out of the pocket and answered it as it rang again for the fourth time.
“Hello?”
“This is CSC Control, please hold for Agent Wright.” The operator clicked off before Alexei could say another word.
“Hello, Alex. Do you know what’s going on?” Craig asked.
“Ah, hello Agent Wright. I am sorry
for not answering right away. One of the things I have been missing more after all the years are the simple things, like watching the sun rise. Of course, the next best for me is to sit on the highest spot and watch the stars and the moon come out. I guess I became lost in thoughts about the past. No, I apologize, what is it that I should know?”
“Sorry, bad timing. But there is no good timing for something like this.”
Something like what? Oh, no! Alexei thought. “Tell me the worst.”
Alexei could hear the urgency in Craig's voice. “There was an incursion into Vamp Town. Looks like nine bleeders entered your perimeter approximately 4:30 pm. Drone flyover confirmed their position moving down the western hill and into town.”
“I have been on my star gazing trip since yesterday, so I would not have known.” And no one came to find me to tell me. Alexei reflected.
“I hope it’s not too late, but I’m afraid that Vlad and his “friends” may get their teeth into these people.”
“Perhaps this is not the time for your bad jokes but, yes, that would be a bad thing indeed. Vladimir has been growing stronger and asserting his position to others who have also become discontent. Access to fresh blood may make it hard for even me to control him and his sympathizers.”
“What do you think he may do?”
“Do? Aside from having a feast? He opposed the treaty with Theodore. He sees the reservation as a prison. Without me stopping him he is liable to leave. Vladimir on the loose in the world will not be pretty.”
“Will he try to hook up with the free radicals?”
“Absolutely. He will try to find as many as he can and re-establish our house. No, this will not have a happy ending. I am heading back immediately. But it could be too late.”
Alexei pocketed the phone and looked up to the beauty of the night sky.
««« ‡ »»»
IN THE OSPREY, Craig removed the headset and handed it back to the crew chief. He sat in silence for a moment mulling things about in his head. Liz watched as the gears in his brain worked. Wisely she said nothing, waiting for him to do his job as team leader.
The crew chief turned back to Craig. “Sir. Vamp Town in thirty.”
Agent Craig Wright sat up straight and took in a deep breath. This was shaping up to be a nastier situation than he had considered. Now it was time to get everyone ready for something considerably more dangerous than a rescue. They had to stop Vladimir from gaining a more dominant position with the vampires and going rogue.
««« ‡ »»»
ON TOP OF the mountain, Alexei took one last look at the moon. He closed his eyes and wishing that he was basking in the warmth of a rising sun. He took in a deep breath, opened his eyes and returned to the reality that was his life, his immortal life, and began to get to work.
He closed the lid of the trailer and extinguished the campfire. He patted the hood of the vintage army jeep and said, “Looks like I will be back for you later. Don’t go anywhere.”
Alexei raised an arm and drew it across himself and as he did so all the color erased from his body which mutated into a dark, wispy shadow, darker than the night. The black tendrils swirled around the campsite once and then swiftly darted up into the air, disappearing against the night sky and swept off for Vamp Town.
—— A STROLL IN THE PARK ——
THE CHEERFULLY RINGING bell on the door wished Paul and Ellie a good night as they ran out of the bar in a blind panic. In the middle of the empty street, they stopped and looked around, lost, not knowing what their next move should be. Across the street from the bar lay the unfamiliar terrain of the high desert now cloaked in darkness. From what Paul remembered of the landscape, there were no obvious hiding places for them beyond the limits of the town; even if there were, finding them in the dark would be a challenge.
No, they had to find a refuge, here, within the town or try to get back to the bus hoping to find some help along the way. Standing in the red glow of the neon OPEN sign they desperately looked up and down the street.
Ellie started to blindly run as far from the bar as possible, “No, we have to go back the way we came into this F-ed up town.” He pulled her in the opposite direction running down 4th Avenue—south—back towards the park where they had entered Vamp Town. They turned the corner at B Street and stopped beside a 1962 T-Bird, in mint condition—if not for the accumulated layers of dirt—parked across from the park. Paul eyed it appreciatively. “Nice ride.” Then he reached out and touched the hood for support.
Ellie looked exasperated. “Really? We're running for our lives here, and you check out a car? No wonder that hottie rejected you.”
“Sorry. Genetics.” He squatted down next to the car and rubbed his bum knee. “And I just gotta stop for a moment.”
Ellie lowered herself next to Paul. “You going to be okay?” She asked him.
“Wish I had that ibuprofen I left in my bag back there.” He pointed his thumb back in the direction of the bar. “But, yeah. I’ll be fine.”
The momentary pause in their situation allowed Ellie to process what had just happened. Perhaps not process so much as replay the image, in vivid detail, of Richard's throat being torn to shreds by Vladimir. The more she watched it in her mind, the worse it got and, with it, her breathing turned into quick, shallow gulps.
Paul heard her anxious breathing and saw the fear painted on her face. He was familiar with the sound of hyperventilation as well as the look of panic; having been on both sides of that mask.
Paul placed a calming hand on her shoulder. He had his battle face on, grim and ready for action. She worked to calm down and get her breathing under control as she looked into his confident eyes but what after she had just witnessed it was too much to ask of her.
Paul could see that she was on the brink of crashing, which would do neither of them any good, so he poked his head up from behind the T-Bird looking for pursuers. Not seeing any he lowered himself back down and wrapped an arm around Ellie’s shoulder to reassure her that he wasn’t going to leave; perhaps transferring some of his battle earned confidence that they would survive this night.
Ellie took in a halting breath like she was stifling the urge to cry, trying to hold herself together, but then it was no longer possible. The tears began to flow. “Wha...what just happened? How could anyone just bite someone's neck off? God it was...”
“Horrible.”
“No...FUCKED UP! I mean...! He...it...Vlad. He's...not human!”
Paul fingered the crucifix around his neck. With that idle gesture, a montage of images popped into his head: the dark shadow in the barn, the bloody hat, the jokes about having us for dinner, the dark red local drink, the hot local girl who was repulsed by his crucifix and, of course, Dick having his blood being slurped up by the local citizens.
“Ellie, listen to me. This is one of those lines that you will not believe but...these are... Shit, I don't even believe it, but...everyone we have met in this town so far appears to be a vampire.”
Ellie's eyes widened. “What the...? Are you crazy?”
“No, just listen to me. You wondered why the hot local left me alone?” Paul pulled the crucifix out away from his neck to showed her. “My silver crucifix was visible around my neck. How about Steph acting hypnotized when that Vlad guy asked her to dance. Or the locals going into a frenzy when Vlad ripped out Dick's throat, and then they lapped up his blood. VLAD RIPPING OUT DICK’S THROAT WITH HIS MOUTH!”
Ellie closed her eyes and covered her ears like a child attempting to block out things that did not make sense. Paul grabbed her hands down.
"You're the one who just said Vlad wasn't human."
"Yeah, but that's not what I meant..."
"Yes, you did. I've seen some pretty inhuman shit being done by humans to humans. I can tell you that what happened to Dick was not a human act."
Ellie closed her eyes tighter not wanting to consider this any further.
“Look at me. Whatever you call the people here we sti
ll have to defend ourselves and help the others, if that is even possible anymore, and get out of this town.” He gave Ellie a slight nudge and smiled weakly. “Hey. If they are vampires, we have only to survive until daybreak.”
Ellie sniffed softly but the shock of the situation was beginning to wear off; awareness of their situation finally sinking in. She wiped at her running nose and looked at Paul. “Anyone ever tell you that your sense of humor sucks?”
“Not often enough.”
“What are we going to do?”
“Okay. We need to make some weapons.” Paul slipped his crucifix and chain over his head and handed it to Ellie. “But first I want you to wear this.”
She closed his hand around the silver cross and pushed it back. “I can't, it's yours.”
Paul gave Ellie a determined look and pushed his hand back to her opening it and dangling the chain from his fingers. The crucifix swung from it reflecting flashes of the moonlight. “Please.”
Ellie smiled and hesitantly took it.
“I stand a better chance of fighting these bloodsuckers than you do, and it might help you when all else fails.”
A noise came from the park. Both Paul and Ellie reacted and peeked over the hood of the car. They saw Jenna and Kelvin with their new local “friends” in the middle of the park by a gazebo.
The woman, Helena, was leading Jenna to a bench. Jenna seemed to be in a trance as she sat down with her new “friend.” The two women embraced. Helena stroked Jenna’s hair and appeared to whisper into her ear. She unfastened Jenna’s blouse and ran her hand down her neck and around her bare shoulders and down to caress her breasts. Jenna shuddered and let out a warm breath, visible in the cool night air.
Kelvin and his "friend," Kurt, were leaning against a tree. Kelvin seemed mesmerized as Kurt stroked his cheek tenderly and unbuttoned his shirt opening it up revealing his chest. Kurt lowered his head and started to kiss Kelvin at the base of his neck. Kelvin’s chest heaved as he tried to catch his breath; his heart pounded sending blood up to his head.