Day Soldiers

by Brandon Hale

  Chapter 21

  The Battle of New York

  The vampire screamed as Grung slapped it in the face with a cross. A quick jab later, it was dead and Grung had moved on to another.

  Standing beside him, Ellie drove a stake through the heart of her own vampire. “I think I like werewolves better,” she said as they backed away from the group of creatures inching toward them. “Less creepy.”

  “I don’t know,” Grung said. “These guys are much easier to kill.”

  About a dozen vampires had crawled from the manhole. Grung and Ellie had easily killed the first few, but when a vampire slipped past them and made it to the alley, they were forced to back off.

  As more vampires made it out of the manhole, they began to slowly drive Grung and Ellie back toward the street. Occasionally, a vampire would attack but was quickly killed.

  Ellie risked a glance over her shoulder, then turned back to the creatures in the alley. “We have to make a decision,” she said. “Do we let them push us into the street and risk being out in the open, or do we fight through them?”

  The vampire closest to them answered before Grung could. “That depends,” the thing hissed, “on whether you want to die from the bite of a vampire or the bite of a werewolf.”

  “Actually,” a voice said from behind them, “there is no decision.”

  They turned around to see a woman standing in the street beyond the alley. Behind her, the street was filled with werewolves.

  “Uh,” Ellie said, “they weren’t there a second ago. I swear.”

  “I don’t suppose,” the woman said, “I can convince you to come on out to the street on your own? I mean, let’s be honest with each other. We’re going to get you out here. Is the ‘go down fighting’ thing really necessary?”

  Grung looked at Ellie. “Is it necessary for you?”

  “Yeah,” Ellie said. “I think it is.”

  Grung looked back at the woman. “We’ve decided it’s necessary, if that’s okay with you.”

  The woman sighed and said to the werewolves behind her, “Go get them.”

  ***

 

  Lily and Scott stepped into a library.

  “I didn’t expect this,” Scott said as he looked at the thousands of books lining the walls.

  The room was lit by a fireplace on the far end. A man stood by the fireplace. “You don’t like it? I had it built about three years ago. It used to be a bunch of cubicles.”

  Due to the distance and the lighting, Lily wasn’t sure if this man was human, werewolf, or vampire. She pointed both her pistol and her crossbow at him. “Where’s Dennis?”

  “Dennis,” the man said, “is outside. Most likely, he’s executing your friends about right now.”

  “He’s lying,” Scott said. “And you can put the pistol away. He’s not werewolf.”

  The man smiled. “Oh, I am most certainly not lying. We can go watch it if you want. I have a great view from my office window.”

  “No thanks,” Lily said.

  “He’s right about one thing, though,” the man said. “I’m not a werewolf.”

  Lily holstered her gun but kept the crossbow pointed at the man’s heart. “You made Leo.”

  “You made Leo,” the man countered. “If we really want to throw blame around, you also destroyed human civilization.”

  “Can we just fight,” Lily said. “I’m really sick of the mind games.”

  “No mind games,” the man said. “When you killed Phillip, Dennis was given a place on the council. After that, he promptly killed all but five of us. We then decided to put the plan in place that resulted in the attacks yesterday. If you had never killed Phillip, none of that would have happened.”

  “You made Leo,” Lily said again, showing him that she was not going to respond to his accusation.

  “Technically,” the man said, “yes. I’m responsible for Leo becoming a vampire. Also, you can put that stick-shooter away. It’s quite useless. If you fire it, I could be on the other side of the city before it reaches this side of the room.”

  “If it’s all the same to you, stranger,” Lily said, “I’ll keep it out, just to make myself feel better.”

  “Your choice,” the man said with a shrug.

  “What are you?” Scott asked.

  “Interesting question,” the man said. “How about I start with my name. Arcas.”

  “Are you a vampire?” Lily asked.

  “I am,” the man said. “I guess you could say I’m the vampire.”

  “You’re the first?” Lily’s asked.

  “One of the first, I’m sure,” Arcas said. “I don’t know of any others like me, but I don’t discount the possibility.”

  “I’ve killed some very old vampires,” Lily said, “and none of them looked like you. Why are you so… human?”

  Arcas laughed. “You know what I find fascinating? Your voice is neither angry nor afraid. You just seem… interested.”

  “I need to know,” Lily said. “Why are you so human?”

  “A better question,” Arcas replied, “is why are they so monstrous? As you know, becoming a vampire requires a transfer of blood. Your veins have to be drained and replaced. Every time that happens, the younger vampire is weaker than his creator. I guess you could say the bloodline gets diluted with every new vampire. And the vampires you fought are hundreds of generations away from me. Their bloodlines are very diluted.”

  “Lily,” Scott said, “I’m not sure this is the best time for an interview with a—”

  “Shut up, Scott,” Lily said.

  “If you prefer,” Arcas said, “I can kill you both right now. I’m afraid in your frenzy to kill that rather uncivilized werewolf, you wandered into a very bad situation.”

  The door opened behind them. Lily glanced back to see another human-like vampire step inside. Scott immediately pointed his crossbow at the second vampire.

  “Relax,” Arcas said. “If our goal was to kill you, you would be dead. This is Cassius.”

  Cassius nodded silently.

  “This is bad,” Scott said to Lily.

  “Maybe,” Lily said. “Maybe not.”

  “I like your optimism,” Arcas said.

  “If you don’t want to kill us,” Lily said, “what do you want?”

  “Honestly?” Arcas said. “I just want to know what you want. Humanity has lost. Your friends outside are very likely dead already. Your team could have run off to hide in the mountains and lived a relatively happy life. Why did you come back?”

  “Humanity has not lost,” Scott countered. “I would think someone as old as you would know better than to underestimate humanity’s ability to survive.”

  “I’m not underestimating anything,” Arcas said. “I’m actually counting on humanity’s ability to survive. We need you, after all. I have no doubt it will take some time – perhaps years – to finish what we started yesterday. There will be pockets of humanity here and there. Some will hide, some will fight. But the war is over. It’s delusional to think otherwise.”

  “Just so you know,” Cassius said, speaking for the first time since entering the room, “they have the other two. They’re holding them in the center of the square. I’m sure Dennis will want to make some big show of their deaths.”

  “You sure you don’t want to watch?” Arcas offered.

  “No,” Lily said. “I want you to help us kill Dennis.”

  Arcas laughed. “You are an interesting one.”

  “You asked what I wanted,” Lily said. “That’s it. I want you to help me kill Dennis.”

  “We just ended one war,” Arcas said, “and you want me to start another? I’m afraid I must respectfully decline your request.”

  “You haven’t heard my request yet,” Lily said with cold eyes. “Not all of it, anyway.”

  “Lily,” Scott said, “what the hell are you talki
ng about?”

  Still looking at Arcas, Lily said, “Make me like you.”

  “Lily, no!”

  “Shut up, Scott!”

  Lily heard Cassius laugh behind her.

  “I’m not joking,” she said, not taking her eyes off Arcas. “Killing Dennis is all I have left. He took everything from me. My family. My home. My only friend.”

  “Leo wasn’t your only friend!” Scott screamed.

  “I lost everything,” she continued, ignoring Scott.

  “Most humans lost everything yesterday,” Arcas said.

  “Most humans,” Lily countered, “can’t pinpoint the cause like I can. I didn’t lose everything because of the war. I lost it because Dennis came to my hometown. He can’t live happily ever after. He can’t. I don’t care what happens to me anymore. Hell, I don’t care what happens to humanity. You’re right. This war is over and we lost. I’m willing to give you this victory. But not Dennis.”

  “Dennis didn’t turn Leo into a vampire,” Scott pleaded. “This bastard did.”

  “He has a point,” Arcas said.

  “I’ve never hated vampires,” Lily said. “I don’t know if you believe that, but it’s true. Vampires are slaves. They don’t have a choice. But werewolves have a choice. They’re not driven by any supernatural thirst. They’re half human, yet they teamed up with you to kill us all. That is evil. Dennis could have killed Leo and me, but he didn’t. He chose instead to torture us. That was evil.”

  Arcas looked at Scott. “She has a point.”

  “I can’t kill him as a human,” Lily said. “I see that now. He’ll always be out of reach to me. But I can do it if I’m like you.”

  “Lily, I won’t let this happen,” Scott said. “I swear to God, I’ll kill em both before I let them—”

  “Scott, trust me on this!” Lily screamed. “Please!”

  “You make a compelling argument,” Arcas said.

  “Let me have this,” Lily said. “When I looked into Leo’s eyes, I saw something I didn’t expect. I saw humanity. He was still in there. I shouldn’t have killed him. If you make me like you, I can do what I came here to do. I have nothing else.”

  “I want to believe you,” Arcas said. “Really, I do. But I think we both know what will happen if you’re lying and I try to feed on you. I think I’ll need something more than words to convince me.”

  Lily turned to Scott and said, “I’m sorry.” She pointed her crossbow at his head.

  “Lily,” Scott said in a panicked whisper, “what the hell are you—”

  Lily pulled the trigger.

  The wooden bolt zipped through the air and pierced Scott’s skull. With horrified eyes, he tried to take a step toward Lily, but instead fell to the side, crashing into one of the bookshelves along the wall. A moment later, he was motionless on the floor, his blood pooling beside his head.

  “Damn,” Cassius said as he looked at the bolt imbedded in Scott’s forehead. “That was surprising.”

  “Killing Dennis,” Lily said as she dropped to her knees, “is all I have left.” She removed her jacket, then her shirt. “Make me like you or kill me.” Tears streaked her face. “But whatever you’re going to do, do it now. Dennis is outside waiting.”

  “Nothing darkens a soul,” Cassius said, “like murder.”

  Arcas pulled Lily to her feet and sank his teeth deep into her neck.

  ***

  Grung sat on his knees in the center of the street. He didn’t struggle against the werewolf holding his arms because it took all his strength to simply stay conscious.

  “You look like hell.” Ellie was on her knees beside him.

  “Yeah,” Grung said. “When I look back on the best days of my life, I don’t think today will be among them.”

  “I don’t know,” Ellie said. “I think we did alright. How many did we kill before they dragged us out here?”

  “Not enough,” Grung said.

  “Four,” Dennis said as he stepped through the crowd and stopped in front of them. Daciana stood beside him.

  “Right,” Grung said. “Not enough.”

  “I get to kill him,” Daciana said. “You can have the little girl, but I want him. He annoys me.”

  “I’d rather be killed,” Grung shot back, “by someone who’s not a coward.”

  With a guttural growl, Daciana took a step forward.

  “Not yet,” Dennis said.

  “Why not?” Grung spat. “Let me go and back off. Make a little ring and let me face this bitch in a fair fight.”

  “Do it,” Daciana said.

  “Stop it, Daciana,” Dennis chastised.

  “Learn your place, Dennis,” Daciana said. “I do not answer to you.”

  “So you’re Dennis,” Ellie said. “I like your new girlfriend. She’s sassy. Of course, I didn’t really get to meet your last girlfriend. She died so fast—”

  Dennis grabbed her by the throat and lifted her into the air. “Mention her again. One word. One syllable.”

  “Dennis!” Daciana yelled. “We wait for the signal. You don’t want our friends upstairs to miss the show, do you?”

  Dennis released his grip, dropping Ellie back to the ground. She fell to her hands and knees, coughing as she struggled to breathe again.

  “They have one minute,” Dennis said. “Then we go with a new plan.”

  “I don’t know why you agreed to it in the first place,” Daciana said. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were afraid of him.”

  Dennis laughed. “Nonsense. I agreed because I decided it would be better for him to discover the truth on his own. Then there won’t be any unnecessary tension between him and us.”

  “What truth?” Daciana asked.

  “There’s no way in hell she’ll want to turn.”

  “Dennis,” Daciana said, “turning her was your idea.”

  “I was wrong,” Dennis said. “I realize that now. Killing her is the only option.”

  “Liar,” Daciana said. “It’s just no longer something you want to happen.”

  Dennis grabbed Ellie’s hair and pulled her head up, forcing her to look at him. “Thirty seconds,” he said.

  “I was wrong about werewolves,” Grung said. “I see that now.”

  Daciana looked at him and smiled. “Do tell, lover.”

  “Throughout this war,” Grung said. “I knew you were my enemy, but I always felt I was fighting an enemy with honor. I think it was because you refused to use human weapons. I thought you were standing against what guns represent.”

  “And what do they represent?” Daciana asked.

  “Death,” Grung said. “But it doesn’t matter, because I was wrong. You don’t use our weapons because you think you’re above us. Werewolves don’t have honor. You’re pathetic, weak animals and I’m absolutely sure the vampires will wipe you out next.”

  Daciana reached down and touched his face. “Poor baby. You’re just desperate to find some kind of silver lining here, aren’t you?”

  “No.” Grung’s voice was strong and defiant. “I don’t need a silver lining, because I know we’re going to win this war.”

  Dennis laughed. “Really? You’re really going to sit there and say that?”

  “Vampires need us,” Grung said. “No matter how many wars we fight, the vampires will always need us. So we’ll always be around, to rise up against them. They can win a hundred wars, but they can never destroy us, because if we die, they die. But we don’t need them. All we have to do is win once and it’s over.”

  “You’d have a point,” Dennis said, “if the war was only between vampires and humans. It’s amazing that you forget about werewolves when so many are standing in front of you.”

  “Oh, I didn’t forget you,” Grung countered. “I disregarded you. I see now that you’re meaningless in the greater scheme of things. A year from now, the vampires will hav
e wiped you out of existence.”

  Dennis started to reply, but fell quiet when Daciana placed her hand on his shoulder.

  “Dennis, don’t be an idiot. He’s trying to engage us in an attempt to extend his pathetic life by a few extra minutes.”

  “Good point,” Dennis said as black fur began to cover his face. He looked at Ellie. “Your time is up.”

  A second later, he was a giant bipedal wolf.

  Daciana gave Grung a quick wink then shifted as well. As a wolf, she was slightly smaller than Dennis, but like him, her fur was pitch-black.

  Grung looked around the square. It was filled with vampires and werewolves. Hundreds of them.

  Maybe thousands.

  He wasn’t afraid to die, but he did wish his death had been a bit more… heroic.

  As Daciana stepped closer, he closed his eyes and said, “It was an honor serving with you, Ellie. It’s a shame our team came in so late in the game. We would’ve done great things.”

  “It was an honor serving with you, soldier,” Ellie said calmly. “And make no mistake, my friend. We did great things.”

  Grung smiled and prepared himself for the end.

  Somewhere in the distance, Grung heard a faint pop. The werewolf holding him released its grip. Grung’s eyes sprang open.

  I know that sound.

  He turned around. The werewolf that had been holding him was sprawled on the pavement, dead. Blood poured from a small hole on the side of its now-human head.

  Beside him, Ellie stared in shock at her former captor, who was also dead.

  Grung looked ahead to see Daciana and Dennis – both still in wolf form – looking around in a state of apparent panic.

  Grung watched as another werewolf dropped dead.

  Then another.

  And another.

  The werewolves began to scramble for cover, but most of them didn’t make it far. Within a few seconds, the square was littered with the bodies of dead werewolves.

  Grung looked up. The street lights prevented him from seeing the tops of the buildings, but he didn’t need to see the roofs to know who was up there.

  Snipers.

  Day Soldier Snipers.

  “Where’s Dennis?” Ellie screamed.

  Grung looked at the bodies on the ground. He didn’t see Daciana or Dennis. “Dammit!”

  Ellie darted toward the alley.

  “Where are you going?”

  “To get my damn weapons!” Ellie yelled. “Then I’m going to find Dennis!”

  Grung watched as several vampires ran after her.