by Philip Henry
Hal was the oldest and therefore the leader, but he was beginning to feel foolish about indulging in the activities of his friends. He was about a year and a half older than them and though this had never been a problem before, since he started high school in September he had definitely felt his age. The friends he had made since starting school were more interested in football, music and seeing girls without clothes on. Hal had known Tim, Benny, Sarah and Tom all his life. They had always been friends because they all lived on the same road and were too far removed from town to play with any other kids. So when Sarah had given him his ID wallet, which the rest of the guys thought was way cool, he had smiled outside and cringed inside. The glitter nail polish on the foil badge was particularly irksome. He had gone out on the bikes with them after school because he did still like them – maybe Sarah more than the others now – and he liked spending time with them. And hey, who knew, they might find something in the ruins of Tom’s house that the cops had missed. Hal’s mum had said it was a simple accident involving knocked over candles. Hal and the rest of Super Dectective Squad Z-100 (Benny’s name) had not bought the official explanation and thought there was a conspiracy at work. Why had the cops taken so long poring over the remains of an accident? Why had the big white van that said Forensics on the side stayed for so long? Something wasn’t right and it was up to SDS Z-100 to uncover the truth.
They stood by their bikes and faced the house. It was hard to believe that this house they had visited so often was just a collection of blackened shapes now. Sarah turned to Hal. “What do we do first?”
Hal tried to sound official. “We need to look for clues. Footprints, fingerprints, notes that are half-burned. Just anything that looks suspicious. That brick wall back there looks as if a car hit it; we should get a sample of the brick.” His three subordinates looked at him closely and when he was finished they sprang into action. Tim and Benny ran to the ruins of the house and Sarah headed for the wall. Hal walked around the yard looking at the ground. There were a lot of footprints. He didn’t know how he was going to be able to tell the police footprints from the bad guys that had attacked Tom’s house.
SDS Z-100 searched for half an hour and then brought back the fruits of their search to Hal. It was getting too dark to see and soon they would have to give up and go home for tea. Benny was first to present his findings. It was a bullet! Blackened by the heat, but unmistakably a bullet. A long bullet like one from a rifle or a machine gun. As soon as Hal examined it he knew it was actually half a pen with the plastic half melted away but he didn’t want to spoil the look of hope and excitement on Benny’s face.
“Good work, Benny,” he said.
Tim piped up, “I don’t know where a bullet would come from. I know who attacked this house and they’re not the sort of guys who use bullets.” Tim held up the crowning glory of his search. It was a blackened chain about a foot long. Hal recognized it immediately as the chain on the toilet flush in Tom’s parents’ ensuite bathroom, again with the plastic end melted off. Tim walked around the group slowly and spoke in a slow Hercule Poirot kind of way. “This is the chain for that thing that has a bit of wood on either end that you use in kung-fu. The discovery of this item can lead us to only one conclusion: this house was attacked by ninjas. I do not know the reason yet, but I suspect that the bullet Benny found was fired by Tom’s dad to try to stop the ninjas. It would, of course, have been useless because ninjas can make themselves disappear. So can any of you think of a reason why ninjas would attack the Ford family?”
Benny’s eyes went wide as he sank deep into thought. Hal looked around at Sarah, who was holding a handful of brick debris in her hand. She looked back at Hal and whispered, “I found these bits of cement. They have blood on them.”
“That’s just paint from where the car hit SD4 [Super Dectective 4, her badge number], it has no bearing on this case,” Tim said confidently, not wanting the spotlight to be taken off his discovery.
“But the Ford’s car is black,” Sarah answered.
“But the ninjas car may have been red,” Tim countered triumphantly. Sarah couldn’t argue with that.
“Oh, hang on!” Benny shouted. “Didn’t Tom’s mum have a statue of a little fat guy sitting down with his legs crossed?”
“Yes, I remember that,” Sarah confirmed.
“Didn’t it have Chinese writing on it?” Benny continued.
“Yes it did!” Tim said loudly, wishing he had a desk to slam his fist down on. “That must have been what the ninjas were after. It must have been hollow and had something inside. Maybe drugs, or diamonds or emeralds or rubies!” Tim went over and patted Benny on the back. “Well done, SD3. I think we’ve just cracked this case wide open.”
“We should check the house again,” Benny said, almost jumping with excitement. “Maybe the ninjas didn’t find it before the house burned down. It might still be in there.”
“We could be rich,” Tim shouted.
“We could be heroes and get medals from the queen,” Benny shouted.
“I’m not allowed to get dirty,” Sarah said.
Tim and Benny looked to Hal. “I better stay with her in case they come back.”
Tim nodded, glad that he wouldn’t have to share the credit for finding the jewels with Hal, and he and Benny ran back to the ruins of the house. Hal and Sarah walked back over to the bikes and leaned against the fence. Hal was very aware that Sarah’s arm was touching his and it was giving birth to strange sensations in his body. He was beginning to sweat, despite the cold November air. He felt like he had to swallow but it didn’t want to happen. He should say something to Sarah. Something witty and cool like people on TV said. Sarah moved closer to Hal and rested her head on his shoulder. Hal’s heart sped up again and there was a feeling like electric static in his stomach. Sarah put her arm around Hal’s. Hal wished he could see her face. He might be able to gauge her intentions from her face but he could only look down and see the top of her head. Her hair smelled nice. He imagined her face, with her eyes closed in an angelic serenity. He was stiff against the fence. He had always liked Sarah but thought she preferred Tom. But Tom wasn’t here now. Maybe Tom’s family would move away for good now that their house had burned down. He was unsure what to do. To make any move at this point would either diffuse the whole situation or move it to the next stage and he wasn’t sure he wanted to do either. He relaxed and just enjoyed the moment. There would be time to work out what was ahead for him and Sarah later. For now, this was enough.
Two figures appeared in the middle of Tom’s driveway. One was a man and one was a redheaded woman. They were both very pale. Benny and Tim stopped digging in the rubble for the Lost Treasure of the Ninjas. None of the children had seen where they had come from.
“What are you kids doing here?” Sin asked.
The children were terrified. None of them spoke. Sin turned to the two boys in the rubble of the house and took a step towards them. “Tell me now, what are you doing here?” Her voice was louder this time.
Tim unsteadily stepped out of the house rubble with Benny following. Tim took out his ID and held it up. “We’re here to investigate what happened to our friend Tom Ford.”
A smile cracked on both the vampires’ faces. Kaaliz said, “The boy who lived here was a friend of yours.” Tim looked suspicious. “It’s OK, his mum and dad are friends of ours, too.”
Tim nodded. “We think they were kidnapped by ninjas. We were looking for clues.” Tim wasn’t going to tell them about the nunchunkas chain he had found.
Kaaliz turned to Sin, who was almost laughing. “I think we should leave a message for our good friends, the Fords.” Sin walked to Kaaliz and deeply tongue kissed him.
“I couldn’t agree more, lover,” she said.
Sin strode towards the two boys by the house. Kaaliz walked to the boy and girl.
Hal pushed Sarah behind him to protect her. “Who are you? What are you doing?” Hal shouted. Sarah was holding on tightly to his ba
ck. The pale man kept coming. A car pulled into the driveway and skidded to a stop. The driver’s door opened and two bare feet stepped out onto the ground. The woman wearing the ripped wedding dress walked fearlessly towards Kaaliz, who had stopped in his tracks.
“Who the hell are you?” Kaaliz shouted.
The woman said nothing and instead brought up her foot and kicked him upwards in the V of his ribcage. Kaaliz was launched into the air twenty feet. His body flew backwards in a large arc and he hit the ground hard on his back. In a second Sin had flown at the woman. Lynda met her with a punch in the face. Sin was taken aback by the strength of the blow and the fact that it knocked her off-balance. Lynda ran to the fence and pulled one of the pickets from the ground. She caught Sin on the side of the head with a powerful blow before she saw it coming. Sin dropped to the ground. Kaaliz was back over and he caught the other end of the picket. Lynda aimed the pointed end Kaaliz was holding and pushed it forward into his chest. Kaaliz felt it go in and even felt it pushing against his heart, but not penetrating because of the bony shield around it.
Kaaliz’s face grimaced at Lynda. She was trying to drive it further in. Sin got to her feet again and was about to pounce on Lynda when she saw two more men dressed in black, jumping the hedge at the other side of the road and running towards the fight. She made the decision. She ran to Kaaliz’s back and grabbed his shoulders. She pulled Kaaliz backward, off the picket, then flew upwards, disappearing into the night in seconds. Sin had saved him but she knew he would be furious. Still, she was confident that once she explained her plan to him he would be satisfied she had done the right thing.
Lynda watched helplessly as the pair disappeared into the night. She dropped the picket and turned to the children. “Everybody all right?”
The members of Super Detective Squad Z-100 gathered by their oddly-dressed saviour and indicated that they were all fine. The two men that had rushed across the road came to an exhausted stop next to Lynda. They were unable to speak and put their hands on their knees and bent over, gasping for breath. Lynda gave them time to recover from their one-hundred yard dash.
“Are you guys all right?”
One of them raised up and nodded. “Just not…used to…the…exercise. I’m Dave, and this is Dave. We’re here to help.”
Lynda placated them with a smile. “OK, well, the first thing I’m going to do is get these kids home.” She turned to them. “You guys can get your bikes tomorrow, OK? Get in the car and I’ll take you home.” The children walked to Lynda’s car. Lynda turned to the two Daves. “You guys wait here. I’ll come back when I leave them off and you can tell me why you’re out here.” One of the Daves waved breathlessly that that was a fine idea. The back door of the car closed. Lynda walked back and got in the driver’s seat and closed her door.
“Is he all right?” Sarah said from the back seat.
Lynda looked at Frank, sitting in the passenger’s seat. His mouth was open and his eyes were wide. His whole body seemed frozen with a finger pointing at the sky in approximately the place where the vampires had flown. Lynda turned to Sarah. “He’s fine.” Lynda pulled out of the driveway and headed up the road.
Dave and Dave exhaled deeply, finally over their exhausting exertion. They each took out a joint, bit off the end, put it in their mouth and lit up. As their lungs filled up with the calming smoke, they both let out a sigh of contentment.
blood
Xavier had spent the day in a cave. On the way back from dropping Risk off on Dempsey’s Island he had spotted it in an inaccessible inlet on the coast of Portstewart. The sea lapped at the mouth but the tide never rose high enough to flood it. Xavier made it in good time before sunrise and went inside, making himself as comfortable as he could, but ten years of a soft bed made it difficult. The cave seemed to go on and on. In other circumstances he would have gone exploring, but not today. He sat against a wall covered with initials and wondered who could have spent so long writing them and why.
He did not find sleep easily that day. He watched the mouth of the cave grow bright and it was only then that the full implications of what he had done really hit him. He was a vampire again. He would have to hide himself from mortals again. He would have to kill again. He felt this and it hurt him. He wasn’t like a new-Made vampire; they were usually self-absorbed and possessed of a bloodlust that it takes them months to get under control, if ever. He hadn’t reverted back to that primal creature. He had become the vampire that he was just before he became human. For a few moments this gave him a glimmer of hope. Maybe he wouldn’t have to go through a hundred years of penance again to become human. Maybe he had cut to the front of the line and could restore his humanity again quickly. It seemed entirely possible. Then he remembered how he had felt when he was close to Tom in the hospital. Where had that malevolence come from? It wasn’t like anything he had ever experienced as a human or a vampire. It was like an instinct. He had fought the urge in the hospital but he did not want to put his restraint to the test again because he was fairly sure he would fail. Especially after he had fed. And he would have to feed. In order to have the strength to save Claire and Tom, he would have to feed when the sun set. The idea scared him.
What if all those old primal urges came back when he punctured the neck of some unsuspecting mortal? What if the old bloodlust seized him again and he forgot all about trying to save Claire and Tom, or even worse, went after them to feed? Such things were common with newly Made vampires. Family members often tried to help the afflicted individual and they were killed with the same indifference as a beggar on the street. Above all else he must not hurt Claire and Tom. He would die before he knowingly let that happen.
As the mouth of the cave got brighter, it occurred to him that the Ministry agents from the fight at the hospital could be his greatest allies. He could make a temporary alliance with them. He would help them get Kaaliz and the woman vampire and then, if it was needed, they could take care of him. A condition of the agreement would have to be that Xavier would not be taken to Ministry HQ and studied. He couldn’t stand that. If the worst came to the worst, Xavier would choose death over incarceration. He fumbled in his pocket and found his phone. He called the hospital and, after being transferred around a bit, the female Ministry agent came on the phone.
“This is Nicholl,” the voice said impatiently.
“This is Xavier.”
She took a breath. “What do you want?”
“I’m not your enemy, Agent Nicholl. Not at the moment, anyhow. I saved your life last night but it was coincidental to saving my wife and boy. I want Kaaliz and his little girlfriend off the scene as much as you do.”
“Do you know where they are?”
“No. But I do know where that thing is that you were fighting. His name is Risk, by the way. I don’t know what the hell he is but he’s pretty strong.”
“Yeah, I can vouch for that,” Nicholl said humourlessly.
“I dumped him on Dempsey’s Island. Any of the locals will be able to tell you where that is…”
“I know where it is.”
“OK, then. I suggest you go out there with more than a stake in your hand. If you brought any back-up you should take it all.”
The line was silent for a few moments. Nicholl spoke as if suppressing rage. “Is that all you have to tell me?”
“Just one more thing. I’m going to track Kaaliz as soon as the sun goes down. Our goal is the same. Temporarily at least, I’m on your side. So if we should meet on the battlefield, leave me be.”
“OK,” she answered quickly.
Xavier didn’t entirely believe her. “After this is over, Agent Nicholl, if it looks like I’m going to be a danger to my family…or anyone, I suppose, I’ll be counting on you to do the right thing.”
“Understood,” she whispered, and this time there was empathy in her voice.
“No cages, no experimentation, just make it quick. That’s my fee for helping you get Kaaliz. Do we have a deal?”
Again the line was silent and then she said, barely audible, “It’s a deal.” Nicholl hung up. He put the phone back in his pocket. He looked to the mouth of the cave again. Days were short in November and nights were long but he felt that this night was going to be longer than most. His eyes finally closed and he slept.
When he awoke the mouth of the cave was dark. Xavier was weak and empty inside. He walked to the outside of the cave and felt the chill in the night air. He looked up and saw the rock face. He would have to go up there and feed. When this guilt about killing had hit him the first time he had tried to find evil-doers, those who, according to the Court of Xavier, were deserving of a death sentence. The trouble was that these people were often very hard to find and tonight especially he didn’t have time to look. He just had to rationalize it: it was one life to save many. He still felt sick about doing it but he had to. He just had to. He looked up at the rock face again and saw a girl teetering on the edge.
Danielle Rhodes’s life was a mess. It had all been downhill since high school, when she had a social position enviable by most girls. She was attractive, alluring and desired by the boys. Even her final grades, though not exceptional, were averagely impressing. When Danielle left school the world seemed like a sea of possibilities to a good swimmer. She had got shot of her boyfriend, who was only a tool to make her more enviable and desirous to her peers, and now she faced the world alone and independent, with no doubt that it would bend to her will as easily as some of the male teachers had.
Danielle liked older men. A few of the teachers at her school had engaged in extra-curricular activities with her [coincidentally, some of her best final grades] and she had known exactly how to play them like a grand piano. Middle-aged men only wanted to feel young again and for most of them, Danielle became the soft, supple form of their own teenage infatuation. The girl they had never had the guts to ask out, the girl who had turned them down in front of everyone, the girl that had made fun of their acne or weight. All these ghosts were somehow laid to rest during the (sometimes perverse) act of having sex with Danielle Rhodes. And Danielle knew her power, even then. She did not tell ANYONE about these encounters, not even her best friends. She liked the idea of it being secret and she liked the idea of everyone being astonished when she passed all her exams. And they were astonished. Danielle and the few teachers in question had agreed upon her final grade. She knew there would be an investigation if she got straight A’s so most decided on C’s with the odd B-. Danielle was happy and a select bunch of middle-aged men had their egos stroked and their fantasies fulfilled.
