Shades of Red

by T L Christianson

  I guess I just didn’t see the point of dying when we didn’t have to.

  We sat there in silence until Karsten spoke, “So, the disease. You did or didn’t create it?”

  “So, like I did, but I didn’t mean for it to get out when it did. I didn’t realize that the mortality rate would be so high. Then before I could put a stop to it, one of my ‘patients’ in J-burg left the house, and it got out.”

  I arched one eyebrow. “One of your patients? You mean, someone that you infected with a deadly disease, escaped?” I clenched my jaw. I’d been in that house with the barbed wire, security system and locks.

  She rolled her eyes. “Fine! I think that one of my spawn must’ve let it out. I killed her, so she was punished, okay?”

  I put my head in my hand. “One of the vampires you made, released a ‘patient’ into Johannesburg?”

  Nodding, she blew a bubble with her gum then popped it loudly.

  Oh my god! I have a teenage menace making diseases, and God knows what else!

  “What does David have to do with anything?”

  Her eyes went soft. “Nothing. I mean, he like, helps me and stuff, and we’re together.”

  “So, if you guys were so happy, why did you start making diseases? Did you make HIV?”

  “Oh, that one? I altered it, but it kind of flopped though.”

  I ground my teeth. “No, Amy. It killed a lot of people. It’s a terrible disease. There are millions of people who have it.”

  “They’re just bugs. It didn’t kill enough of them.” She picked at the trash and papers on the table as she said it.

  I shook my head. “What do you mean? Bugs?”

  Her eyes met mine. “People. Humans, Moroi. The populations just keep going up and up and up! Since I made that stupid immune disease, the population has doubled. That’s crazy! I thought two and a half billion was crazy, now it’s almost 8 billion people, did you know that? I have an app that tells me how many people are alive on Earth right now! 200 thousand babies are born every day.” She repeated it slowly, slapping her hand on the table, “Two, hundred, thousand!” Raising her eyebrows, she continued. “We’re destroying our planet, killing the fish and animals and ruining the ocean and the land! There’s going to be nothing left! Nothing! Then what are we going to do? When the humans start to die off, what are we as Moroi going to do? And now, the Moroi population is so big, that it needs to be culled as well if any of us want to survive!”

  Her ideas were outrageous, but I could understand where her logic was coming from.

  Hesitantly, I said, “I agree. We are destroying our planet and what not, but there are better ways to go about this.” I sighed and moved a crumb with my finger before saying, “David said there wasn’t a cure for the Moroi disease, is that true?”

  “The vampire plague? Yeah, that sucks. There isn’t one, but I’m immune.”

  I rubbed my hands over my face and sighed. “How? How are you immune?”

  “I don’t really know. I think it’s like smallpox. Do you know how the smallpox vaccine was created?”

  “I’m a physician, of course I do.” Irritation edged my voice. “1700’s, milkmaids, cowpox…etcetera.”

  “No, back in China, a long time before that, a wise old woman would scrape the scabs off her patients with smallpox and blow them up the nose as a vaccine.”

  “So, they would get… smallpox?”

  “Kind of, but they’d get a milder version of it. It’s called variolation. This is what I did to myself, David and all my spawn.”

  At this point, my Viking chimed in. “Don’t you think it’s a little hypocritical to create more Moroi when you think there are too many already?”

  She rolled her eyes and pursed her lips. “I needed like, loyal helpers.”

  He raised an eyebrow but didn’t mention the not so loyal helper who released OVC.

  Her explanation didn’t make sense. The virus mutated too quickly for an easy vaccine option like she was describing. If that had really worked, we’d have had a vaccine immediately.

  “So, did all your children survive this treatment?” I asked.

  “No.” I didn’t think so. I felt like she was lying or holding something back.

  HIV and OVC, the vampire plague, were immune diseases. Immune viruses were like your house is on fire, but all the tools you need to fight it are inside.

  I should’ve known that the two diseases were created by the same person. Proteins expressed by immune cells are affected in both.

  Another problem is that both diseases mutate rapidly. A human can create antibodies, but in Moroi, our cells metabolize it so quickly that our super-efficient immune system is the exact thing that opens us up to the disease.

  I narrowed my eyes at the ancient girl. “You do realize that I’m a doctor, right? That type of vaccination wouldn’t work for HIV or OVC, and you know it.”

  She snapped her gum. “Whatever.”

  I knew my expression was incredulous, but maybe there was some kind of truth in what she said. When I was about to speak, Karsten interrupted us.

  “You’re like a child, playing with matches.” He spat at her, pacing the small kitchen and living room.

  I agreed with him but looked to Amy. “Where did OVC come from?” I asked her softly, hoping I could get her to open up.

  She looked back at me with intelligent-wild-but intelligent eyes. “The same as with the other diseases I made.”

  I smiled. “Did you go to school for medicine or…?”

  The girl cut me off with a snort. “Are you kidding? No. I’ve learned more on my own than I ever could in a classroom.”

  I needed to try to form a bond with her. The more she talked, the stronger connection we could establish, the more she would trust me. The more she believed me, the more information she would give me.

  A light bulb went on in my head. This is why Aurev sent me–because I could understand her research and I was still human enough to make a connection.

  “Okay, well, first of all, I don’t make the diseases like you probably think.” She eyed me, “Just by looking at you I can tell you’re a new vampire.”

  I squinted at her. “Really? How?”

  She merely laughed but didn’t explain. “And second, I’m guessing you’re a scientist? Doctor?”

  I kept myself from flaring my nostrils and rolling my eyes. “I told you that. Mostly, I consult at a local hospital and do research.”

  This time, she nodded. “You see, it’s difficult for humans to take the long track because they have such short lives, but when you have millennia like I have, you get the bigger picture.

  “Humans are like bugs. They take everything over, and they ruin it, they destroy it. I couldn’t just sit back and let it happen.” She gestured with her hands.

  “So…?” I prompted.

  “So, first of all, I take a disease that humans already have–or Moroi have, and then, I find those willing to die for the cause. Moroi are overconfident. Many of them I have judged to be unfit. So I bring them to my clinic, and they become my research subjects.” She spoke in a smooth, rich voice and I wondered if she could use mind control on other vamps.

  “So, I find people. Then I infect them with the disease, and I test it. I may not have gone to college or medical school, but I have something better–the internet.” Yet again I stopped myself from rolling my eyes. “I find the most virulent strain, and then I infect more people. The pattern repeats until the disease becomes as potent as I want.”

  It was a reasonable way to make a virus evolve.

  She took my breath away with the logical, unemotional way she spoke about it. I didn’t believe for a second that her victims were willing.

  “Yeah, okay. So, how are you and David immune if the virus keeps mutating?” If she found a means to combat that, then the common cold would be a thing of the past. I dampened down my hope, knowing that maybe this girl, as brilliant and old as she was might not have all the answers I was looking f
or.

  She shrugged.

  I pursed my lips. “One of our scientists created a vaccine.”

  Her head popped up. “How effective is it?”

  I was hesitant because the vaccine only worked in humans; Moroi metabolized it too quickly. “It’s a synthetic molecule that blocks the receptors for uptake.”

  “Really? We tried using a natural virus for that, but the Moroi who took it metabolized it too quickly to be useful.”

  “Yeah, we found that too. Ours works in humans… but…”

  She cocked her chin at me, “But what?”

  I leaned on the table between us, crumbs stuck to my arms, but I ignored them. “But now we have a Moroi who took it and is immune.”

  She looked at me incredulously and kicked both feet up onto the table, crossing her ankles. “Bullshit.” Amy crossed her arms, her eyes narrowed and sparkling with ideas.

  “No, it’s true, and we might have a cure...” It was my turn to be smug. Brushing the crumbs from my arms, I stood. “We could work together.”

  “Nah, it’ll never work. Too many people are gunning for David and me.”

  “Chronos Corp will protect you, but you need to cooperate.” In my peripheral vision, Karsten stiffened. “Can you imagine, continuing your work in a state-of-the-art facility? Not underground in some hole?” I had her. She was interested. Now in for the kill. “You would have access to unlimited resources, unlimited subjects.” Okay, so now I was kind of bluffing, but I was too worked up, and I could tell that I was slowly reeling her in.

  “My own house in the States?”

  “Probably wherever you’d like. Safe, clean, guarded by Chronos Corp soldiers.” I took a step toward the door. “You know, we already protected you today, but more are going to come.”

  Amy was taking uneven breaths, her eyes darting around the room. She might have been able to hide in South Africa before, but not now. The world was getting smaller and smaller with technology, and right now she and David were sitting ducks.

  “Hmmm, alright,” She hemmed.

  “I need your research first, a gesture of good faith before we move forward.” I took another step away from her.

  “I get to keep researching? Studying? David and I get left alone?”

  I nodded. “Of course.”

  “I need to continue my research and people will die, it has to be done to continue our progress. There are too many people…too many… bugs. They’re like bugs, there’s too many, and the population needs to be lowered.”

  I sucked in a breath, and here comes the crazy, I thought. “I can’t say that we’re on board with that, but I’m sure that we can find a place where you’ll fit in at Chronos. You know what? Chronos knows the population is out of control and we’re working on it, but carefully, strategically.”

  She was very still. “Okay. But if I change my mind…”

  I cut her off, “Then we all go our separate ways, but there will be a contract for a certain length of time because of the resources Chronos will spend on you up front. When you’re done, you’re done. You walk away if you want or renew if you enjoy the perks.” I twisted the doorknob and opened the flimsy trailer door.

  “I have a storage unit here filled with my research on the vampire plague.” Turning toward the bedroom, she yelled out, “DAVID! Pack a bag, we’re going somewhere!”

  The little old man bumbled sleepily from the bedroom.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Settling into the safehouse there in Austin, my mind raced.

  We’d found the person responsible for creating the Moroi Plague, and she’d agreed to give me her research.

  On our drive into the city, I had somehow gotten Amy to open up to me. She baffled me with her strange mixture of wisdom and teenage angst.

  Amy had several storage units full of research. They were scattered all over the country, but the OVC research unit was in a small town outside of Austin.

  I’d already talked to Aurev, who put me through to his assistant Ms. Smith. We’d made plans to collect, move and deliver the contents of each unit to a warehouse near my lab in New Jersey. As we spoke, she was assembling a team of qualified clan members to go through the documents.

  Amy planned to take me to the storage unit tonight and would give me the details as we went along.

  Getting into our rental car, all our doors closed within a second of each other except for David’s.

  We sat in silence as he managed to pull his foot in. But when he shut the door, it didn’t close all the way.

  I clenched my jaw. Why didn’t Amy just change him already? Poor guy! Why was she making him suffer as a human?

  As the ancient vamp directed us to the storage unit, the atmosphere in the car became tense.

  Neither she nor David would give us the address, only blow by blow directions.

  When we arrived at an old, run-down lot full of rows of storage units, Karsten slowed.

  “Which one?” He asked Amy, looking in his rearview mirror.

  “Go to the end of the row.” She said enigmatically.

  The car’s tires crunched on the gravel as we inched between the row of units.

  “Okay, where?”

  “Turn left.” Her words came out chopped.

  After another row, Amy directed us to turn again back into the units and stop. After we all exited the car, the girl grabbed my hand. “You promised me safety Sarah! You promised to protect me! You have to follow through. If something should happen to me, promise me that you’ll take care of David! Promise!”

  The ancient vamp was practically hanging off of me. Her yank on my arm was painful.

  Nodding, I agreed, looking into her eyes. “I made a promise, Amy, and I’ll stand by it,” I said firmly.

  Walking up to the wooden storage door, David bent to open it, but struggled with the cheap combination lock.

  I raised my eyebrows in irritation as I stepped over to Karsten. “This research is basically unsecured.”

  “Yeah.” Sten shook his head and laughed. “I can’t believe that they locked it with a cheap gym lock.”

  “I feel like this has almost been too easy.”

  It was his turn to raise an eyebrow at me. “None of this has been easy. Forest has been brilliant; Amy and David have gotten sloppy. Other people will find them too if we don’t get out of here.”

  “No, I mean getting them to cooperate with us. It just seems too easy.” I pursed my lips and watched as dark-haired Amy pulled open the rolling storage door.

  “I don’t know, I think she knows that people are after them–I wonder how many close calls they’ve had. Maybe she knows David is getting too old to keep hiding the way they do.” Karsten told me.

  I sighed heavily and stepped into the sizable unit. There were stacks and stacks of boxes, but along one wall were more cryogenic units.

  Three of them.

  “So, why can’t you vaccinate people using the Chinese scraping thing that Amy talked about.” My Viking was standing next to me looking around.

  Turning back to him, I tried to figure out how to explain a complicated immune reaction that took place. “Well, diseases have a kind of plug, like an electrical outlet. OVC, the vampire plague, is made to plug into a socket on our cells.” He nodded, so I continued. “Well, normally, we have antibodies that would come and kill off the disease that just plugged in… but our body has never met anything like OVC, so it has a lag time. It’s this lag time that creates the problem because OVC actually attacks the immune system during this lag time. Then, there is all kinds of crazy stuff that OVC can do. If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it. It mutates constantly and can change shape to evade the immune system.”

  “Hmmm…” He grunted.

  “I mean, a lot of things are possible, maybe a different, less virulent, strain could help our bodies avoid the lag, but I’m just not sure. That’s why these samples and notes are so valuable. If Amy claims that something works, then we could
try it.” I pressed my lips together.

  “Okay, okay… I kind of get it.” He wandered off toward the stacks of boxes, while I headed to the freezers.

  Amy stood in the small empty space in the middle, her face a mask of quiet determination.

  “Are these your samples?” I asked, trying to tamp down my enthusiasm.

  She nodded and held David’s hand. “It’s okay, baby,” she crooned to him in her soft Texas lilt.

  I pursed my lips and thought about what an odd couple they made.

  A Chronos team was on standby to come to collect the contents of this unit, and the sooner they got here, the better.

  “Hey, Sten, I’m going to call the moving team to give them our location and get an ETA for the crew.” He nodded.

  Amy pursed her lips, said nothing, but followed me to listen to my phone conversation. I didn’t care.

  As I strolled out of the unit, a chill ran up my spine. The night sky was clear, and crickets chirped around me. Everything looked good, so I looked back at my phone. The signal was weak, so I walked to the end of the row and waved my phone in the air.

  Just as my back was turned on the open unit, I saw a bright streak of light out of the corner of my eye. A freaking missile had just been fired out of the bed of a pickup truck into the unit.

  “Noooo!” I screamed out, “Sten! Get out!”

  Turning, in line with the streak that seemed to cut the air in half, I watched as the storage building exploded. Flames and fire erupted immediately, casting long dark shadows around the building.

  The blast hit me, and I found myself flat on the ground. Amy lay nearby and when she lifted her head, her eyes met mine.

  “Run!” I pointed across the road to the dense forest.

  Shots flew through the air into the grass and dirt around us, but I needed to get to my Viking.

  Pulling myself to my knees, I stumbled up and ran for cover behind the end of the building.

  The blast of heat and smoke coming from the explosion made my eyes water.

  “Karsten!” I yelled desperately. “Karsten!”

  When I heard faint coughing coming from the opposite side of the burning and destroyed building, I called out again. “Sten!”