“Very well.” That was odd, I was expecting some comment from Willy on my drink choice. “Here you are.” He handed me my drink. Fast service, bravo. “Terry?”
“I’ll just have a beer.”
“Americans.” Willy definitely had the snobby upper class attitude. Goodspeed just laughed, apparently he enjoyed getting on Willy’s nerves, and I could understand and appreciate that.
“You wanna break?” I shook my head. He could break, he was already standing there. William came back with his brandy and Terry’s beer. I could see the look of annoyance when he had to stand there for a minute holding the beer while Goodspeed broke. The pool balls flew away from one another with a loud crack. “Thanks.” Taking the offered bottle of beer from William.
William didn’t respond, he grabbed one of the thousands of books from the shelves and took a seat in a large leather reading chair. It was still an open table and my shot. Carefully I lined up and sent the “two” ball into the corner pocket.
Shot after shot went by in silence. Time ticked by very slowly. The game, which only lasted a few minutes, seemed to go on for hours. It seemed the whole house was dead. There was no noise from anywhere else, the only sounds where that of the pool balls cracking against one another, and William rustling the pages of his book. No one was saying anything. I suppose they expected me to have a million questions, if so they were right, I did. I just had no idea where to begin. Terry tapped the side pocket calling his shot. Then put the “eight” ball right where he wanted it.
“You lied,” I said.
“Huh?” He looked up at me.
“You said that you weren’t any good.” I began retrieving the balls from the pockets to rack another game.
“Yeah, so did you.”
He was right. We’d both lied. Neither of us were what you might call professionals, well… anyway we could hold our own.
“So…?” I really didn’t know where I was going with the question, just trying to fill the empty air; try to place something into that silence. Normally I didn’t mind silence, most of the time I prefer it. This was not one of those times.
“Yes?” William asked, placing his book on the reading table next to him.
Great he wanted me to finish the question.
“So,” ah hell… I winged it, “this is all real?”
“Yep.” Goodspeed tossed me the queue ball.
“Really?”
“Yep, it’s all real, every bit of it. They are evil wicked bastards and we kill them. It’s real, Black, we’re not sure about William's accent though.” He gave one of his little chuckles.
“Oh push off,” Willy said as he stood up. “Yes, Mr. Black, vampires, the hunters and The Guild all very real.”
Neither of them said anything for a moment. I had nothing to add, so I took the opportunity to break.
“No one knows how long these bastards have plagued the earth. What became The Guild started tracking and recording them around 1000 B.C. Organized hunts began soon thereafter.”
I took out a cigarette and placed it in between my lips. “Yeah,” I said, as I sparked my Zippo and lit the smoke, “I read that.” He gave me a puzzled look for a moment. “In the Amun file William gave me.”
“Really.” His voice went cold and flat. He turned to glare at Willy. “Amun?”
At that point, I realized that I’d just tossed a big stinky pile of shit into the fan. The dilemma that faced me was; do I interject and save William’s ass from one very pissed off cold-blooded killer, or do I sit back and enjoy the show? Damn right, sit back and enjoy the show.
“Now, Terry—”
Whatever the ‘Now Terry’ was, I’d never know. “He’s not anywhere close to ready.” Goodspeed quickly cut him off. “You introduce him to vamps and give him Amun. He’s helped on one vampire kill.” His voice never raised; it stayed cold and flat. I wanted to stand up for myself, but I couldn’t. He was right; I’d seen one vampire. Other than silver bullets through the heart, I hadn’t the first clue on how to kill a vampire. “I agree he would be a valuable asset, and I want him on the crew, but he is not ready for Amun.” I hate when people talk about me like I’m not there. Oh well, what can you do?
I thought that I should put out the fire that I had started. “You know, he’s right.” They both turned and looked at me. “Well, if this Amun guy is as big and bad as you are making him out to be. And, I don’t know shit about killing a vampire; I don’t think I should just jump right in on him either.” I tried to sound as un-intimidating as possible without coming across as scared.
“Amun was chosen to be your primary target. Not your only target.”
“You know, William, I haven’t even accepted the job yet.”
“True,” he sighed, “you have not.” He took a large drink of his brandy. “I should be off to bed. I’ll let you two talk; one huntsman to another.” I didn’t think he meant it to sound insulting. With that he set his glass down and left. I think that he felt a bit ganged up on between Goodspeed and me. I really didn’t mean to insult him. God damn it! Why do people take this shit so personally?
Terry leaned over and took the shot that had been waiting for him the past few moments. “Don’t worry about him.”
“I’m not.” A little lie, but I didn’t know why I cared.
“They must think very highly of you.” I took my shot. “They want you to go after the master vampire of Ra. You must have one hell of a set of balls on you.” I didn’t respond to that. I never talked about the kills that I’ve made. Maybe it’s that I’ve taken so many lives that I myself cannot keep track of them anymore, and even if I could, I don’t think I’d want to admit the number. I pull the trigger and they die. No more, no less. It’s not romantic, it’s not heroic, it’s just a fucking job, my fucking job and I’m damn good at it.
I didn’t want to talk about that. I had questions, a lot of them, so I changed subjects. “How did you know that biker was a vampire?”
“Body temp.” He began walking toward the bar. “You need another?”
I looked down at the empty glass in front of me. “Please,” I said, as I passed him the glass. “What do you mean body temp?”
“Carmen checked the room for body temperatures that didn’t range correctly.” He began to mix my drink. “Average human body temp is 98.5 degrees. A vampire, even one that has recently fed, is rarely much different than the temperature around them.”
“Cold blooded?”
“Well kinda.” He handed me my drink. “They don’t really use their circulatory systems. We have teams of scientists working on learning all we can about their anatomy. Most of what we have is ancient crap. Modern technology has been quite helpful. But there are still countless mysteries to them. It’s hard to keep them alive to study, without the risk of a lot of people dying. And you saw what happens when they die. It’s hard to study dust.” He paused to take a drink of his fresh beer. I hadn’t touched mine. I was too busy taking in the information Terry was presenting to me. He let out a deep sigh before continuing. “They can be killed with wood or silver through the heart, cutting off their heads, or burning them.”
“Sunlight?”
“Turns um extra crispy,” he said, lining up with next shot.
“What about crosses? All that religious shit?”
He chuckled. “If you tried to hold up a crucifix to a vampire he’d shove it through your eye.” I didn’t like the thought of that. Doesn’t sound like a fun time for a Saturday night to me. “The coffins aren’t really common anymore. Most keep a well protected crypt of some kind for day hiding.”
“So,” I huffed, as collected my thoughts, “Amun is the leader of this group called Ra. Are there many of these groups of vampires?” I was trying to make intelligent questions. Didn’t want to sound too much like an idiot.
“A few,” he said, “they are called covens.”
“So why go after this one?”
“The Guild sees them as the biggest threat,” he said. �
�They are at war with The Council.”
That was new. “What is The Council?”
“The Council is the head coven of vampires. The government if you will. They enforce laws and keep control of the other covens.”
“Except Ra, right?”
“Yep.” He sat on one of the leather chairs. “The Guild sees this war as a bad thing. We don’t want change. The Council keeps vampires regulated and out of the public’s eye. If Amun and his band of vamps take over, no one has any clue what will happen. Vampires might end up taking over the whole damned world.” There was a moment of silence as Terry collected his train of thought. “Amun has been a major player in the vampire world since we’ve been keeping track of him,” he continued. “And let me tell you, he is one hard mother fucker to keep tabs on. Only recently has he reemerged. He’s been underground for the better part of a century. The past year he has started up this war again. Killing off as many followers of The Council as he can.”
“Why doesn’t The Guild want to go after the big boys?” I took a drink. “Why not just try to take out the whole lot of them?”
“For the same reason we don’t want Ra to have their way. We want order in the vampire world ‘til we are in control and are ready for the aftermath of the fall. The older a vamp is the stronger and more powerful it is. If the older ones are killed first, the young will wreak havoc. We can’t have that.” Of course we can’t. How stupid of me. He cleared his throat before continuing. “The Guild has an agenda, just as any company does. Ours is to rid the world of vampires and we have a plan to do it.”
All this about vampire culture was fascinating. However, I was beginning to wonder about The Guild itself. “Where does The Guild come from?” I thought it was a fair question.
He didn’t answer.
“How long has it existed?”
Still nothing. He looked like he was trying to think about how to answer a question he didn’t know the answer to. Since he wasn’t talking about the organization he worked for, that made me a bit concerned. After a brief moment of silence, he answered, “I don’t know for sure.”
I didn’t like that answer. I did not like it one bit. There was starting to be too much damn mystery to all this shit. Other than how to kill one of these fuckers there seemed to be no straight answers. I like facts, they keep things simple and black and white, none of this gray shit. “How can you work for someone or something that you don’t understand?” I asked him.
“It’s a pay check.” I had to appreciate his honesty, but that’s not all he had to say. The pause in his voice told me there was more. Soon, he continued. “You know what we are, Black. We are killers. Hunting people just lost its touch. There is no longer a challenge to it anymore. Now taking out a vamp, that’s another story. Watching one of those fucks burn is intoxicating. Like the way you feel when you kill some low life mobster. You know we don’t take a contract for the pay, we take it for the kill.” I agreed there is a thrill to it, or at least there was once upon a time. But not anymore, not for me. Did he have a point? Was killing just too easy for me? Had it become so commonplace to me that I was becoming bored with taking lives? Fuck, I didn’t like that idea! I wasn’t a monster, I didn’t think. People die, it’s just part of life, I’m just one of the causes. “Back to your question about The Guild. Most people think that the Vatican started it at some point. And those that do know aren’t gonna say. The Catholics don’t care for vampires much. They believe they are some kind of devil.”
“And you, what do you think they are?” I interrupted.
“Just another animal to hunt.”
Just an animal? “Aren’t vampires human?” I realized how dumb that must have sounded. But I was new at this shit, I was allowed a dumb question or two, right? “Kinda human anyway?”
He hesitated. Yep I thought it was a dumb question too. “Kinda. They were at one point. Humans are turned into vampires. But aren’t humans just another animal that we hunt?” Good point I thought. Well I was a little right I guess. “If you join us, not all of your questions will be answered, Black. I promise you that. We simply just don’t know all the answers.” I just nodded. I still didn’t know if I wanted to help them, or if I trusted them, too many secrets. “If you want to, you can stay here for the night. I’ll show you to a room.” I knew I didn’t trust them that much. I wasn’t sleeping in this place. “Or I can have someone drive you home.” I think he caught that I didn’t want to stay.
“That’d be good.” I’d take the ride home. I had a lot to ponder and wanted to be alone to do it.
“Alright.” He stood up. “I’ll go find someone to drive you home.” He stopped just before he left the room. “It was good to meet you, Black. I hope to work with you again.”
“You too, Goodspeed.” Wow, emotion from two cold-hearted bastards. That was different and kind of weird. After spending the evening with Terry Goodspeed, I believed him to be a man of principals, different from society’s principals but principals none-the-less, and who was I to throw stones at him for that. He was very smart and knew how to get a job done. For the first time ever, I enjoyed working with someone. I truly would have liked to work with him again but that was yet to be seen. The same went for Carmen, whose last name I didn’t catch. She seemed to have the same drive as Goodspeed did.
A few moments later the same driver from earlier came into the room. “Mr. Black, I was told that you need a ride back to your estate?”
“Yeah.”
That was the last we spoke. I think he tried to wish me a good night or something when he dropped me off, but I didn’t pay any attention. There was just too much on my mind to worry about civilities.
CHAPTER FIVE
Vampires, covens, guilds—and I thought that I had a weird life before. This shit was just too odd. I woke the next day very early, too much on my mind to sleep. I half expected that William would be sitting somewhere in my house waiting for me. But he wasn’t. I didn’t hear from The Guild at all that day or the day after or the next. My life had gone back to normal. I went back to playing cards and waiting for contracts. I didn’t get a phone call, e-mail, or any type of contact for a week. No one had given me a way to contact them. Save for knowing where their office was, and I wasn’t about to drive in to just say hi. So it became a waiting game on my part. I started to believe that they had changed their minds about me. This actually began to upset me. I didn’t know if I wanted to help them, but I did know I wanted a change in life.
About the time I’d stopped looking over my shoulder for Guild members was the point when they contacted me.
One uneventful Friday morning after coming home from the casino, I got a message. Taped to my door was a pale yellow envelope. On the front, in very elegant writing, it read “Mr. Black” without opening it I figured it was from Willy. Not only was it that The Guild members are the only people that call me Mr. Black but also the dark fountain pen writing on the heavy paper just seemed like William. Once inside, I opened the letter and pulled out a single piece of paper, the same kind that the envelope was made of.
Mr. Black,
I am pleased to inform you that I have received permission to bring you onto our team. If you are interested, please prepare your luggage for a trip to London. A car will come to your estate at 9 a.m. I apologize for the early time and short notice, but time is never on our side. I know that you are a resourceful man and should have no trouble preparing.
~William
P.S. Bring all of your amenities for a hunting trip.
9 a.m. damn that is early, early for someone that goes to sleep around 8. Preparing would be no trouble, I always have bags packed. In my line of work it’s always good to be prepared, I never know when I might have to leave town in a hurry. But I wanted sleep, oh well. I hoped there would be time to sleep on the plane. I put on a pot of coffee and began to collect my things; clothes, hygiene stuff, guns and ammo, knives all the things one must have for a trip to London.
It was 7 o’clock whe
n I got home, and with fresh coffee the time passed quickly. Before I knew it the same Rolls Royce I’d been picked up in originally had pulled up to the gate. The driver’s voice, a different man, crackled over the intercom. “Mr. Black?”
I pressed the talk button. “Come on up,” I responded, and hit the actuators to open the gates. He did as I asked and pulled up to the house. He got out and opened the trunk, what a good driver; he even helped with my bags. “What time is the flight?”
“Whenever we get there, sir.” He closed the trunk. “You’ll be flying in the company jet.”
The company jet. Now ain’t that just too fancy? I wondered if Goodspeed and Carmen would be coming on this trip. I had to admit I was very excited to get underway, despite all the weird shit going on.
I was surprised how fast we made it to the airport. The driver, Alan, and I had a nice conversation. We didn’t talk about anything in particular, just pleasant small talk, totally uncharacteristic of me.
When we arrived at the airport, William was standing outside the plane with Terry. “Hey.” I was the first to speak.
“Morning, Black,” Goodspeed said, and nodded. “A little early for you ain’t it?”
I pushed my sunglasses up the bridge of my nose with my middle finger and smiled. “Yeah, but what can you do?” Goodspeed chuckled. William hadn’t said a word, odd, very odd. “Willy, is somethin’ bugging you?”
“No, no. I’m sorry to be rude. How are you this morning?” He spoke very fidgety.
I was thinking that I was suddenly nervous by the way he was acting. “Good. You?”
“Fine, just fine. Shall we? It’s going to be a long flight.” He didn’t wait for a response, he was already walking up the staircase to enter the plane.
“Don’t mind him,” Terry chuckled, “he hates to fly. Scared to death of it.” He motioned for me to get on.
“After you.”
Kindly he got on first. I was going to be careful till I was proved otherwise. When we got on, Willy was already strapped into a seat. He was trying to take some type of pills but was spilling more water on his shirt then he was getting in his mouth. “Sleeping pills,” Terry offered as an explanation. “He’ll be out in five minutes,” He whispered to me. “Have a good nap, William.” The only response he got was a quick jerky nod of William’s head.
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