by John Conroe
“Well, I’ll just have to keep after him, won’t I? Now, how did the latest simulation go?” he asked.
After a quick glance at me, Gina answered him. “We have some more bugs to work out and the wolfbot took a really bad hit.”
It seemed that part of Gina’s role as my handler was to shield my personal issues from everyone else. I had no doubt that she kept Roma informed of my mental condition, abilities and stability, but she steadfastly protected me from undue criticism. As much as she would take me to task over my temper issues, she wasn’t going to embarrass me in front of our boss. I’m pretty sure that Roma was aware of this.
“What manner of abuse did you heap on the poor, defenseless wolf, Gordon?” he asked.
“Um, it wasn’t where I thought it was and it startled me, Sir,” I answered.
“He jumped over it, upside down and shot it through the top of its skull,” Gina said.
The Inspector arched one aristocratic eyebrow as he looked from her to me.
“If I recall, wolfbot doesn’t have any gel on top of its head,” he said.
I grimaced as I responded, “No sir, it doesn’t. I’m afraid that Chet is not real happy with me at the moment.”
He chuckled as he thought about it. “Oh don’t let him fool you. Chet is mostly upset that his design has a flaw. I’ll bet you that will be changed when the wolf comes back.”
“I don’t think I’ll take that bet, Sir,” I answered.
He looked at his watch. “Well, since we don’t need you to perform any magic tricks, why don’t you head out early? The sooner you start, the quicker your girl will be done beating you up, right?”
“Thank you for reminding me of the pain that awaits me.”
He laughed. “She only wants you to be prepared to protect yourself. I’m sure she won’t hurt you too badly.”
He obviously had never worked out with Tanya before.
Chapter 2
Perhaps this is a good time for some background. It should be apparent from some of my actions and comments that I'm not quite normal. Actually, freak of nature would be a good term to use, except that I don't think nature has much to do with it. Maybe freak of the supernatural would be better.
But I digress; the short version goes like this: My family was murdered by an axe-wielding stranger when I was eight. I, being a paragon of bravery, hid in the back of my brother's closet in a quivering mass of fear. That the monster in a man's body didn't find me seemed a miracle. But when I was twelve and living with my grandfather, I discovered an ability to banish demons, and learned from the demons that I exorcised that the stranger who murdered my family had been a demon in a body that was empty of a human soul. I call them Hellbourne. So, I embarked on a life of demon hunting; both the housebound kind that form the basis of all those horror movies that teens love to watch, as well as the more dangerous, mobile kind, the Hellbourne (think Jason from Friday the 13th). Eventually, I left the northern New York farm of my childhood (or maybe junior demon hunter-hood is more apt), and moved to the Big Apple to increase my odds. Makes sense; more people, more demons.
I joined the NYPD, mostly because it was the only legal way to carry a gun, and started hunting. A week before my twenty-third birthday, I encountered a demon intent on killing a girl at a nightclub. I saved her, only to discover she was a vampire. Actually, Tatiana Demidova (Tanya to her friends) was more of a vampire princess, being the only known naturally born vampire. Oh, and her birthdate just happened to be the exact same as mine. Halloween....at midnight. Creepy, huh?
We exchanged cell phone numbers, as well as large amounts of blood (well, large amounts of my blood, just a little of hers), and just like that we were an item. Only her blood had a pronounced effect on me physically. I got stronger, faster, healed quicker and developed acute senses, not to mention, a really heavy-duty appetite. My body lost almost all of its fat, something I had little of to begin with, and apparently, my outward appearance changed as well.
Growing up as a demon hunter adds a whole new level of school outcast to the list. In high school, I fell below the audio-visual and math club geeks on the social ladder. My exceptionally strange violet eye color hadn't helped in the slightest. So I learned to stay unnoticed, under the radar, so to speak.
Tanya's blood pretty much shot that all to pieces. My skin got darker, like a Native American’s (I'm Scottish, Irish, and some Russian), my cheekbones seemed more pronounced and my eyes got even freakier, which all together, somehow made me a lot more noticeable. Women (and some men) stare at me, pretty much wherever I go. Gina says it's because I'm 'hot'. Whatever the reason, it makes me nervous. It’s not like I could ever act on their attraction. Okay, that’s a lie, I could, I just wouldn’t. First and foremost, I have Tanya. I never expected to find anyone I could have a life with, but then she dropped into my life. I don’t deserve her, I didn’t dream someone like her would ever choose me and I would never seek another. But if I did, the women I went out with wouldn’t like the results. They would all be pretty much demon targets. Or worse, Tanya targets.
So, where was I? Oh yeah. Tanya. Five foot five inches tall, raven hair, sapphire blue eyes, smokin' hot body. Gorgeous? Too lame. Stunning? Completely inadequate. If she walked, completely dressed, into a Victoria's Secret lingerie fashion show, all eyes would be on her, even the thong- and bustier-wearing models'. None of which matters much to her. She's kinda serious much of the time, intent on helping her people. That's not to say she can't laugh or enjoy a good joke, she just concentrates on things she deems important. Like fighting. At age twenty-three, only the two surviving Elders can beat her in close quarters combat. Barely. Being a natural born vampire, well, being the natural born vampire, she is as fast and strong as a thousand-year-old vamp. She inherited her mother Galina Demidova’s business mind, and is easily able to manage the New York Coven's sprawling investments and real estate holdings. But the topic she is most serious about is ... me. On a scale of one to ten, I rank about twenty. That's what Lydia says. Lydia is the young vampire (eighty years old) who is Tanya's confidant, assistant, de facto sister, and all around Girl Friday. She's also a major league pain in my ass. Not that we aren’t good friends, we are. It’s just that she takes major delight in tormenting me. She says a girl has to have a hobby.
But back to Tanya. See, vampires tend to fixate on one mate and their focus is extremely intense. And once a vampire has decided, by whatever internal reasons they value, on their mate, well, that’s pretty much it. They don’t waiver, stray, or lose focus. Ever. At least, that’s how it’s been explained to me. I’m not a vampire. Not a were either. Nope, I’m an altogether new kind of freak. So I keep waiting for Tanya to come to her senses and realize I’m not the one. But that hasn’t happened in the seven months we’ve been together. She’s just as attentive and loving as when I first met her, as well as protective and territorial. Very territorial. Scary territorial.
Chapter 3
I cleaned up my guns and gear, the red Simunitions dye on my armor carrier taking the longest, then headed out. Since our training facility was already in Brooklyn, getting to Tanya’s was quick and easy. So quick that I stopped for a snack, sort of a pre-dinner dinner. My caloric requirements have diminished but it still takes work to eat eight thousand calories a day. I opted for a smoked turkey club with fries from a deli two blocks from Tanya’s house.
The Demidova residence is a five-story brownstone on Willow Street in Brooklyn Heights. Expensive, stylish and furnished with priceless antiques, it was home to Tanya, her mother Galina (when she was in the US), Lydia, and a rotating number of other vamps. As near as I could figure, the New York Coven numbered between three hundred and five hundred vampires, spread around the city. It sounds like a lot, but in a city of eight million souls, several hundred beings of any type are a drop in the bucket. The Willow Street residence was the headquarters for the Coven and the center of the Demidova business empire. Being a vampire in the Coven means more than being part of a family
. In addition to providing a sense of belonging and emotional support (yeah, vampires and emotional support don’t seem to go together), every vampire in the Coven was also a share member in the Coven’s wealth. Structured like a supernatural privately-owned corporation, vampires accrue shares in the Coven as they age. Elders Senka and Tzao were the largest shareholders, naturally enough. Galina owned many shares, due to both her age (two hundred-seventy years) and her amazing business sense. Shares could be earned or awarded based on service to the Coven. Tanya owned almost as many shares as her mother, the result of gifts from Senka, her mother and other vampires, who treated my young vampire as pureblood royalty.
The house has massive front doors that look vintage, the biometric lock, however, is state-of-the-art. The panel scanned my palm and admitted me entrance to the house’s front foyer. I nodded at the human guard on duty, Jeff, or maybe Justin, I thought. I actually knew most of them on sight, but this one was new. All ex-military, mostly special forces types, they protected the Coven during the daylight hours. Hired and vetted by Arkady, with help from the human supervisor, Deckert, they were extremely well paid and had great benefits. And after many years of service, some were even given the opportunity to Turn, becoming vampires themselves. Most chose not to, but all remained loyal. Disloyalty was a real, real bad idea.
Near the rear of the house a stairway leads to the below-ground levels. As I headed down I could hear a sound like machine gun fire coming from below. Not exactly like full-auto gunfire, but sharper, more metallic – the sounds of vampire combat. Most likely Arkady sparring with my girl. He was the only one currently in residence who could give her much of a workout. Or maybe a good warmup. The lowest level is one big open room, with nine-foot ceilings and a concrete floor. It was originally designed for cold storage, but the vampires had knocked down the internal walls and opened the whole thing up into a sixty by ninety-foot room.
As I came out of the stairwell, I could see Arkady’s giant back, bare and overly muscled, covered in sweat. It takes an enormous level of activity to make a vampire break a sweat. Arkady was perspiring rivers. He shifted left and I spotted the current head of the coven, and the only girlfriend I’ve ever had.
Midnight black hair, skin the color of fresh cream, eyes so blue they almost spark. She was dressed in black volleyball shorts and a sleeveless red performance tee shirt. Silver colored bracelets gleamed on each taut forearm, exactly matching the silver shine of her twin swords. One hundred and twenty pounds of girl vampire faced at least two hundred, sixty pounds of mean, killer male. Her eyes didn’t flick my way, but she knew I was there. Hell, she had known exactly where I was the moment she awoke at dusk.
Arkady suddenly blurred forward, his great two-handed sword swirling in a flashing arc of steel. Tanya met his overhead strike with her blades crossed, not moving an inch. Then she exploded in counterstrike, her blades hitting his in a superfast staccato of sound, almost like…wait for it….machinegun fire. She pushed him back by main force and fury, then skipped to the side, sweeping his right leg at the knee with the flat of her left blade. He fell backward, the edge of her right blade right at his throat the whole way to the ground. He froze, his eyes black rim-to-rim, the razor-like sword at his jugular. Tanya paused a moment, then stepped back to let him flip to his feet. The black left his eyes and the yellow that was his normal color returned. Tanya slapped him on the arm with a blade flat, dropped both swords, then spun and pounced on me in a running leap that left her legs wrapped around my waist and her lips covering mine. My normal greeting.
“Hi gorgeous!” I said, when she let me up for air.
“Hi yourself, handsome.”
Conversation stopped for a moment as we looked into each others’ eyes. I have no idea what she was thinking about, but me, I was busy wondering at fate, that this girl should choose me.
“Ahem!” Arkady cleared his throat.
We both looked at him. He wasn’t even slightly uncomfortable with interrupting us.
“Can I ask what manner of beating you have in store for the mortal?” he said, referring to me, even though I’m not really mortal anymore.
Our first meeting had been rocky, but Arkady was completely devoted to serving Tanya and if she chose me than that was good enough for him. But, like her other close advisors, he seemed to enjoy tormenting me.
“I’m thinking we’ll work on hand-to-hand this evening,” she answered.
Goody. Getting my ass kicked in close quarters combat was always such fun.
“Excellent choice, Young Queen. I’ll just alert my security guys. They do so like to observe.”
He moved to an in-house phone on the wall to call upstairs. Most of the human security force would still be on premises, as one of their benefits was a chef cooked meal each shift. They also loved to watch me spar with Tanya. Not comfortable watching her fight other vampires, they seemed fine when it was just me. Maybe I’m the most human of the freaks in the house. I usually eat with them and talk guns and cop gear with them, and I don’t drink blood or stare at their throats the way some of the vamps do. Arkady’s vampire security guys got along fine with the humans, but there was always a steady stream of visiting Darkkin in the house and many viewed all humans as food. It was enough of a problem that all the security guys had a tattoo like mine on their necks -- -- Tanya’s initials in Greek . A simple, yet highly effective ‘hands off’ sign. The one time a vampire had ignored it, Tanya had thrown him headfirst through the ceiling before he had more than touched my arm. With her training and my constantly improving speed and strength, I’m more than capable of defending myself. But Tanya rules the NY Coven, by brains, birthright, and might. And as I mentioned, she’s territorial.
While I helped her put away the swords and metal impact weapons (wood doesn’t survive first contact when wielded by vampires), a small group of humans and vamps lined the walls.
I had just finished putting her tungsten carbide swords in their case, my back to the rest of the room, when I felt she was ready. I slid to one side, her attack just barely missing. Immediately, I punched her, hard, in the back as she went by, then jumped back to make room. It sounds like a really harsh way to treat your lover, but I simply can’t convey how tough and strong she really is. She is arguably the third most deadly vampire on the planet. She can go toe-to-toe with just about any were, vampire, or other monster and win. My punch, which will break a two-by-twelve pressure-treated beam, slammed her into the wall. Poor wall.
Vampire hand-to-hand fighting uses kicks, punches, throws and joint locks like human martial arts, but that’s where the similarities end. The V-squared virus that causes vampirism changes the DNA in the host’s mitochondria. These little cellular powerplants change to using blood for fuel and they act as tiny generators, allowing the vampire to harness energy not available to other animal life. Dr. Singh, the vampire doctor who treats the NY Coven, is of the theory that Darkkin, as vampires call themselves, tap into Dark Energy, the current darling of the particle physics world. Likewise, weres tap into Dark Matter to give them their increased and much modified mass, as well as rapid healing. Whatever the source, vampires can use this etheric energy to move in ways unnatural and unlikely. Ever watch a vampire movie and the vamp will be depicted as moving in a blur, and you can tell they just speeded up the film to get that effect?
Well guess what? It’s actually pretty accurate. But just try walking across a room at regular speed, then retry it at double speed. It takes a lot of work and feels..well..weird. Try taking off from a standing start as fast as you can. If your footing is at all slippery, your feet will slide out. If you’re on dirt, you’ll kick up a pile of debris. Vampires don’t do any of that. The reason is that they can use Dark Energy to anchor and to obtain leverage in unique ways.
The vampire martial art uses at least five methods of energy control. Post, Push, Harden, Lighten and Cling are the principal techniques. How they are applied is endlessly adaptable. Oh yeah, and it turns out that I have
enough vampire attributes that I can use the same techniques, even though I burn regular food, not blood.
Tanya Pushed off the wall, in effect sending energy into the wall as she shoved with her arms, spinning around as she did so, coming at me in a blur. I feinted to the left, but stayed where I was and Posted, anchoring myself to the ground with a thought. At the same time I Hardened my skin to the point where a wooden spear would have bounced off. My goal was to have Tanya slam into me and use her own momentum against her. Not so lucky. She chose a combination of Lighten, Push and Cling to reduce her body weight, repel off my immovable body and stick to the wall on my left. Clinging is close to Posting, but instead of sending a column of energy into the ground, tiny spikes of power are used like a rock climber’s pitons to stick to a wall or ceiling. She immediately sprang back at me as I turned, slamming me to the ground and getting a really solid punch to my head. My fight brain was still working, despite the stars in my vision, and I Pushed off the floor, straight to the ceiling nine feet above. Tanya was on my back and she only managed to spin us partially around, so she took most of the impact, but not as much as I wanted. Not enough to keep her from Clinging to the ceiling with her back! Didn’t know she could do that, but I shouldn’t be surprised. So she held us up there, her steel strong arms and legs wrapped around me and her razor fangs at the back of my neck. Game over. I tapped out, lightly patting her arm to show I submitted. She let us drop, Lightened her weight and mine and we landed on our feet softly.
