Vamp Town (The Monster Keeper Series Book 1)

by Jeff Seats

  Okada looked down and pointed with his weapon, “That’s a hand.”

  “Shoe and what could be a leg over here," Timmons called out.

  “Holy shit. There's a...” Dick's head laid tilted to one side; neck looked like it had been torn from his shoulders.

  Okada went behind the bar and through the door to the back room. He reentered the room shaking his head. No one. “I say only one dead in here.”

  Timmons radioed. “A1 to AC.”

  “Go A1.”

  “The bar is a fucking mess, sir. One body only but it will take us a day or so to find all of him. The parts that haven't been eaten that is.”

  “Copy A1. Exit and proceed to the park. Keep your eyes open. Obviously, this is not going to end with a happily-ever-after.”

  “I read you loud and clear.”

  Timmons turned to leave the bar while Okada made a final 360 and looked down at Dick’s decapitated head. His eyes stared blankly at the two Action Team members as if saying, “What the fuck you two looking at?” Following Timmons out the door, Ortega slipped again and slid into the door causing the bell to play its familiar happy tune.

  “I'm not so sure I like this job anymore,” Okada sardonically said as he wiped his boot on the door mat.

  ««« ‡ »»»

  CRAIG LED THE principal element of the Action Team into the park. At the north end, they could see the vampires lining up ready for a fight.

  Liz whispered, “I count thirteen. Maybe we got lucky.”

  “Thirteen ain't a lucky number ma'am.” Sergeant Evers pointed out, sweeping the field in front of them with his Milkor prepared to fire off his canisters of aerosolized garlic at the first sign of trouble.

  “You know the old saying,” Craig tossed out. “Don't count your vampires before the sun rises.”

  St. Jean gave Craig a sideways glance. “That doesn't make any sense.”

  “Just trying to lighten the mood a bit.”

  “Appreciate it sir.” St. Jean looked at Liz silently shaking his head at Craig’s attempted humor. “But I’m the comic relief in this unit. No offense sir.” They continued to proceed towards the showdown.

  ««« ‡ »»»

  ORTEGA AND ELLINGSON followed the main body as they proceeded into the park. Sticking to the shadows, they tried to stay out of sight ready to jump in when needed. They stopped abruptly at the sound of a door closing and ducked behind the trunk of a car. The Wainwrights were walking out of the house where they had taken the O’Neil family for “dinner.”

  Ellingson nudged Ortega and pointed to another, smaller figure a couple of paces behind the pair. Cindra was following them in a hypnotic trance, lips smeared with red and blood oozing from the bite marks the Wainwrights had left.

  The fresh blood of Marion and Wilson was quite visibly smeared around their mouths and chins. Lost in the passion of their bloodlust they were oblivious to the sounds of the approaching Osprey. Now that they had finished "dining" they were stepping out of the house like one happy family on an evening stroll; unaware of the confrontation that was about to take place in the park. They stopped and exchanged a passionate kiss; tongues sought out the last remainders of the O’Neil’s life force like they were licking the bottom of a cake mixing bowl.

  Amanda arched her head back exposing her throat to her husband's wandering tongue allowing him to lick her neck clean of any stray blood that may have escaped his scrutiny. She was flush with the warmth of her victim coursing throughout her body. Amanda opened her eyes to take in the dark sky on this momentous night but instead of seeing the stars she spotted the advancing Action Team with weapons at the ready. She tapped Charles on the top of his head, and he stopped, looked up and saw the trouble.

  Without hesitation, Charles charged towards the Action Team, moving in a super-fast run that made him appear to be taking flight. He let out the same high-pitched cry like Vladimir had, the vampire version of a rebel yell; an effort to propel fear into the souls of the enemy. Just as he jumped out into the street towards the Action Team Ortega let loose a bolt from his crossbow. The wood spike connected with the vamp dead center of his heart.

  Charles stopped cold and clutched the bolt. His body began to shake. The vampire's skin rippled and convulsed as his insides strained to burst out of the thin membrane of skin that had held it all in place for over a hundred years. He dropped to his knees; vaporous wisps leaked out from his ears, nose, mouth and eyes. As he hit the ground, Charles looked like he was about to erupt and explode outward. But as his skin began to tear due to the stress from having stretched as far as it could, his body imploded, collapsing in on itself into a smoldering, gooey pile.

  Amanda let a moment pass as she processed what she just witnessed. Charles was dead. As in; his continued existence was no longer a fait accompli. His immortal, unending life just found its terminus. Mad with rage she screamed and charged Ortega as he reloaded the crossbow. A very skilled bowman can draw the string back, load a new bolt and be ready to fire in no fewer than thirty seconds. And Ortega was more than skilled but thirty seconds was time enough for one very angry vamp to find her target. Without further thought, the vampire charged Ortega passing Ellingson who was still hiding behind the car trunk.

  Ellingson reached to her waist for the handle of her katana. In a single smooth, swift motion she sprung up from her crouching position, drew the katana out of its scabbard, stood and swung the weapon. The hand forged blade connected with Amanda’s neck, removing her head. In the same motion, Ellingson removed a wooden knife from a sheath on her thigh and wheeled around in an upward motion driving it deep into the vamp’s heart spinning away from the vampire. The headless body toppled towards Ortega who quickly moved out of the way as the body bloated up and imploded into a steaming toxic mess mixing with the goo from her husband’s body, forever joined by their bodily fluids.

  Ortega gave a grateful nod to Ellingson.

  “Told you I had your back Mateo.”

  “Not how I remember it...but thanks.”

  —— ESCAPE ——

  VLADIMIR STOOD LIKE a marble statue; a monument erected to shock and disbelief. He had just watched two of his precious family die. The possibility that innocuous, bleeding humans could take out immortals, even ones whose strength had been dulled by a century of being caged like common beasts, enraged him.

  Vladimir closed his eyes preferring to remember two of his favorites, not as steaming mounds of goo but as vibrant beings who were ripe and ready for the reaping; a young American couple taking the Grand Tour of Europe, escaping the cholera epidemic that had taken their newly born child. He was drawn to their mutual desire not to let grief drive a wedge between them. He got caught up in the infectious strength which they gave to one another. Charles and Amanda’s vitality in the face of adversity won him over, and he knew that they were to be a part of his family; not sacks of blood to suck dry and left as empty husks slumped in a dark corner.

  It was a glorious summer traveling from Rome to Athens and then to Paris. He relished the process of turning them at a slow pace approaching it like a sculptor adding bits of clay; gradually building up the layers until one day the work was completed and he had created two more vampires. A masterpiece! Taking them out onto the streets of Stockholm on their first feed was one of his most cherished memories. Simpler times.

  Vladimir unquestionably believed himself the savior of that young man. In a few short years, the United States was to be embroiled in a civil war in which hundreds of thousands of men would die. The man was bound to be on one of the opposing sides and fall to a lead ball or worse, be maimed and live as a cripple for the rest of his life unable to truly express his love for the woman he married. No, Vladimir did him a favor and now...now Charles was dead as well as his beautiful Amanda. Dead! Immortals! Such a waste. The jailers were going to pay for that and the long years of their confinement.

  Now was the time to free themselves from their artificial bondage and set out into the world as free
beings. Alexei had grown weak and was no longer able to maintain a hold on him. His older brother, the cautious one, had led them to this agreement to keep vampires “safe” and away from the feeble bleeders. What had that accomplished? Vampires confined to an eternity of confinement, not being able to exercise their natural instincts of the hunt. Not able to explore the world and taste new experiences. The treaty had been wrong then, and it remained wrong today.

  But today, today Vladimir had taken in fresh, living blood. Vladimir could feel the potency of Dick's essence pumping into his mouth. Combined with the fresh blood—though not as vibrant—from the old bus driver this surge of renewed power flowing through him was assurance that, at last, his brother was no longer the strongest. Alexei would no longer be able to control him, and Vladimir would take those that wanted to follow him and leave this barren valley.

  Vladimir ended his moment of self-indulgence and opened his eyes shifting his focus back to the coming battle. Five of the CSC “overlords” were approaching from the south through the park and the two who had killed Amanda and Charles were swinging around to his left flank trying to encircle him and his twelve followers. Vladimir tilted his head back and let out the call signaling for the vampires to attack. The battle for their freedom was at hand.

  ««« ‡ »»»

  THE DISTRACTION OF losing two of his favorites had caused Vladimir to loosen his mental grip on Paul and Ellie. Paul first noticed that he could move and gave Ellie an arched eyebrow, turning his eyes down to his hand and then wiggled one of his fingers.

  Her eyes flared wide, and she tried to move a finger as well, then a hand. They made eye contact and he mouthed the words “one, two, three.” When he mouthed “three” they made a run for it. Ellie bent down and grabbed the walking stick as she ran by it and handed it to Paul.

  “Thanks,” Paul said, hammering it to the ground for needed support. Together they fled west away from the park without looking back; to where they had no clue. All they knew was that they were heading out of Vamp Town, and that was all they needed to know. Paul's ability to keep pace with Ellie was hampered by his injured knee; the stress that had been placed on it over the past day had caused it to stiffen and the pain to intensify. If it weren't for the walking stick turned vampire spear he doubted he would even be able to move at all. Without his dead weight holding her back he was sure that Ellie would be further down the street and closer to freedom than she was. Paul felt bad that he might be the cause of her not escaping but was also grateful that she didn't abandon him.

  The wild shriek emanating from Vladimir calling the vampires to battle instantly set their nerves on edge. The audible frequency of the cry far surpassed Paul and Ellie’s brain's ability to register as sound at all, but they could feel it in their guts and what they felt was the need to run faster!

  Then another sound came at them from the park, a sound that Paul was all too familiar.

  Ellie turned back when she heard weapons fire. It was an unconscious response like driving by an accident. The need to satisfy one's curiosity was overpowering. Just knowing that there were people back in the park that seemed to be here to help them, taking on the vampires, made her want to know if they were going to be safe or not, to confirm the continued need to flee.

  In turning back, Ellie saw Paul struggling to catch up to her and then beyond him she saw the muzzle flashes from the weapons that she heard. Between the battle and Paul, she also saw the large Samoan vampire who had guarded the door in the bar. He had seen them escape and was running after them his size hampering his speed but with Paul's injured knee the Samoan was sure to catch him. “Run faster!” She yelled.

  Paul could tell that Ellie saw something which motivated her to yell for him to hurry up. He turned and saw Apelu loping down the street right towards him. A fleeting thought came to Paul, I thought he used to be faster than that. Then he shook himself out of it, reached for the 9mm and fired it into the former running back. Each slug hitting the Samoan caused him to stagger, but he was not stopped. Paul fired again; this bullet tore off the big man’s left ear, yet he kept running on course.

  Paul finished off the clip and threw the gun at the charging Apelu then quickly pivoted back towards Ellie but the violence of the action caused his knee to buckle. He hit the pavement in such searing pain that he felt he may have done irreparable damage to his injured joint.

  Ellie watched Paul hit the ground. “Oh shit!” She ran back to help, the vampire almost on top of him. “Come on!” She reached down to help Paul up.

  Paul grabbed his leg. The pain brought tears to his eyes. “Fuck! My knee. Oh God!” He rubbed the spot. “Get out of here...”

  “Not that cliche. We stick together!” Ellie reached down and grabbed Paul under his arm helping him back up to his feet. Using the walking stick to steady himself he stood placing his weight on his uninjured leg.

  “Okay, I'm good. Let's go...”

  Ellie looked back and saw the vamp was within arm’s reach. As if she had done this a million times, Ellie pulled the stick out from under Paul, causing him to fall back to the ground, and at the same time she turned the stick so that the point was facing towards the charging vampire. The laws of physics being what they were, the vamp could not stop his inertial forward motion and driven by the force of Ellie's fierce resolve the wooden spear tip connected with his chest. The long stake plunged straight into the vampire’s heart and out his back.

  A look of surprise appeared on Apelu’s face, eyes wide, mouth open like a perverse china doll. He looked at Ellie and saw that she still held the spear. He reached out to her, wrapped his fingers around her throat and pulled her to his open mouth and deadly, sharp fangs. Instantly, from the depths of his gut, streams of gaseous vapor rolled out of his open mouth, causing Ellie to gag at the putrid odor. The whites of his eyes clouded over in a smoky, gray film. His skin rippled and convulsed. Panic set in as he realized what was happening to him. He let go of Ellie and grabbed the spear, trying to free it from his dying body in a hopeless attempt at reversing the inevitable.

  Ellie backed away from the shuddering vamp and crouched to help Paul. They watched in morbid fascination as the former football player’s body bloated, strained to explode and then fell in on itself; imploding into a smoldering pile of viscera.

  “Better than the Fourth of July.” Paul smiled.

  Ellie placed a hand on Paul's shoulder gave it a squeeze then helped him up to a standing position. She left him balancing on his good leg while she went over to the gooey pile of smoldering vampire innards to reach for the spear. “You still want this to help you walk?”

  Paul hopped to the steaming mound and looked at the stick which was mostly covered in the viscid mess. “Um, I think I'll take my chances. Just leave it where it is in his heart. His heart’s in there somewhere, right?” He put an arm around Ellie's neck. “But I could use your shoulder for a bit of help.”

  “Didn’t know I had it in me did you?”

  “Not sure that anything could surprise me anymore.”

  “Well, just so you know...I didn't know I had it in me.”

  The sound of automatic weapons brought them back to the continued need to keep moving and get out of the town. Then Ellie came to a stop. Two figures were running towards them. She tensed up and drew out her small stake preparing to take on the next two vampires.

  “Hold it.” Paul cautioned Ellie. “Those look like our guys. If I knew who our guys were.”

  Okada and Timmons came running down the street towards them. They had just watched Ellie kill the vampire.

  “Shit that was good work. You two okay?” Okada asked as they come to a stop.

  “Think so,” Paul responded.

  “Lay low and we'll come back for you when this is done.” The sound of more weapons fire came from the park. Timmons pulled out his backup handgun and offered it to Paul. “That was nice shootin’, but lead doesn’t work on the bastards."

  Paul reached for the gun.

&n
bsp; “But these do. Silver. Aim for the heart.”

  “Got it.”

  “How about me?” Ellie asked. Okada produced his other sidearm from a leg holster and handed it to her. “Sorry, didn't know you could shoot.”

  “I can't, but I'm a quick learner.” She said taking the gun.

  The sound of gunfire intensified.

  “Gotta go.”

  ««« ‡ »»»

  OKADA AND TIMMONS ran down the street towards the park, leaving the two bus passengers to fend for themselves. They stopped at the corner of a building and peered around it. In the park, humans and vampires were fully engaged, fighting for their continued existence. They could see that the Action Team was outnumbered and had been backed up to the gazebo. To the left stood a tall, imposing figure with a few vamps beside him. He appeared to be the “commander” of the vampires which meant that he must be Vladimir. Then they saw Agent Wright emerging from the melee, pulling that new partner of his towards Vladimir.

  Timmons spoke quietly out of the side of his mouth to Okada. "So what do we do? Help the boss or reinforce the team?"

  "Wright's job is to deal with the leaders. He's the brains we're the muscle. More muscle is needed over there." Okada pointed to the park and the almost surrounded Action Team.

  "Then let's do it." They ran into the fray towards their brethren. Okada made eye contact with Craig just long enough for him to see what they were doing. Then the two continued to the gazebo unloading silver rounds into the vampires who engulfed it.

  Instead of continuing to run for safety, Paul and Ellie followed the two fighters to the corner of the building and stopped. They peered around the structure and had a good view of the battle raging in the park.

  “Who are these guys?” Ellie asked Paul.

  “Don’t know. But they're military for sure. And they came loaded for bear like they knew what they're up against. But those fuckin' vampires appear to have the upper hand." He grabbed the slide on his handgun and chambered a round. "It looks like they might be needing some help. You up for that?” Paul asked.