by MJ Kraus
“These ceremonies this thing would be used for sound like just the sort of thing you need a lot of life force potential to fuel.” I groaned and sat back in my seat. “Sully, this isn’t a battery. It’s a freaking capacitor. There had to be, what, a hundred names in there? Maybe more?”
Sully scratched at his beard and a few crumbs from breakfast fell out. “Aye, lad. At least. ‘Tis no wonder that blasted book’s givin’ off a magical signature you could pick up from space. Th’ vamp you took it from must’ve had a ward burned into his body to keep it hidden for so long.”
My ears perked up at that and I followed the theory to its logical conclusion. “Sully. If an elder or higher vampire is calling the shots, what better way to hide what you’re doing then get a scab-eating vamp to be a physical ward. But that means that if he was there at the apartment…” My stomach turned inside out and goosebumps broke out over my entire body. “The means that his master couldn’t have been far away.”
Sully nodded solemnly. “We guessed as much, lad. And now he’s got your scent and he’ll be wantin’ his book back before’n somebody detects its signature and starts poking their nose in where they’re not wanted.”
I looked around the kitchen we were in with no small sense of worry in my gut. Samantha caught my panicked look and patted my arm. “It’s all right, Will. You’re safe in here.”
I raised an eyebrow and tilted my head. “I sure as hell hope so. Dammit! Sully, Sam, I’m sorry I even came here.”
Sully shrugged and rose from his seat with a long sigh and a slight smile. “Nonsense lad. Life’s been boring lately. I could use t’tangle with an elder vampire intent on summonin’ some powerful beastie.”
Sully was putting on a brave face, but even I could tell that he was worried, despite the skills and abilities that both he and his wife possessed as well as the wards that protected their shop. Elder and higher vampires are nothing to trifle with. A few hundred years ago, before the Council negotiated the peace accords between Normals and the Touched, the vampires were at the top of the food chain as far as magical species go. The only thing that kept Normals from becoming a literal slave race was the fact that Normals, despite not having any magical abilities, are extremely resilient, adaptive and ferocious fighters. Vampires learned long ago that it was easier to stay on the sidelines and engage in strategic bleed farming than it was to try and rule the world.
Elder and higher vampires are the old-school “classic” creatures that most closely resemble what you see on television. Vamps, on the other hand, are more of your average run-of-the-mill bottom feeders. They’re sentient and sapient, but they don’t have a lot of intelligence. They’re the foot soldiers of the vampire race, and they’d kept in line by their betters. Elder and higher vampires don’t tend to have a lot of direct interactions with vamps, so to learn that an elder or higher was directly working with one was unnerving.
Anyway. Elder and higher vampires are incredibly dangerous. Most of them are several hundred years old and they’ve perfected their art of magic beyond what most people—even those among the Touched—can imagine. The only real difference between elder and higher vampires is that the elders have a more ceremonial position in their clans while the higher vampires act as the day-to-day leaders. Both are exceptionally dangerous, though. To the point where if there really was a rogue elder or higher out there amassing power through illegal blood farming it would be incredibly difficult for even the Council to stop him.
Lost in my thoughts, I didn’t notice that Samantha and Sully had quietly cleared away most of the dishes. I jumped up to help, apologizing for not paying attention. “Sorry about that!” Samantha smiled and pushed me firmly but gently back down into my chair.
“You stay there and have a think, Will.” She gave an uneasy glance to her husband. “After all, it’s you who’re the one the blood-sucker will be after, since you took the book.”
“Oh gee. Thanks, Sam.” I gave a half-hearted smile and sighed. I knew she wasn’t being malicious, but the fact of the matter was that she was right. She and Sully were well-protected in their shop, and whoever owned the book—if they were looking for it which of course they would be—wouldn’t be after them.
“Sully?” He turned to look at me. “What would you do if there was an elder vampire after you and he was really really pissed off at you, too?”
Sully pursed his lips behind his thick mustache and considered the question for a long moment as suds dripped from the dish in his hand onto the floor.
“I’d figure a way t’kill th’ bastard.”
Chapter 5
As I walked out of Sully’s pawn shop, I stopped at the threshold and peeked my head out to the left and right. Sunlight wasn’t a friend of the average vamp, but it didn’t bother elder and higher vampires in the least. It was slightly overly paranoid of me to think that there would be a vampire perched on some nearby rooftop watching the front of Sully’s shop, but stranger things have happened to me many times in the past.
“For th’ last time, lad. Let me come wit’ you.” Sully tugged on my arm and I shook my head for what felt like the twentieth time in the last ten minutes.
“Sully there is absolutely no way I’m embroiling you in something like this. I took the book and it’s me who this asshole is after, so I’ll be the one to deal with it.”
“Ye canna deal wit’an elder vampire on ye’re own!”
I sighed and rubbed my eyes. Sully was right, of course. There was no possible way come hell or high water that I could possibly take on an elder or higher vampire by myself. I was good but I wasn’t that good. Still, though, I wasn’t willing to get Sully involved in something that wasn’t any of his business.
“Look.” I turned around and tried to propose something he would agree to. “My shift starts tonight so I’ve got a few hours to spare. Let me go do some poking around back in my old haunts and see what I can sniff up. I’ll come back here later this afternoon before I go on duty and share what I’ve got. You do the same and together hopefully we’ll figure a way to deal with this before Elder Bitey decides to snack on my innards.”
Sully eyed me suspiciously but, to my surprise, he relented. “Fine. Just be safe out there, lad. This is nothing to mess about with, y’hear?”
I smiled and embraced Sully in a hug. You and Sam stay safe, too. I’ll see you in a few hours.”
“Y’sure y’ve got that thing wrapped up good’n tight?”
I patted the lump under my jacket and nodded. “With your wards and mine this thing won’t be detectable anytime soon.”
“Be careful, lad. Vamp’ve got more’n one way t’track things of theirs.”
“I will, Sully. I’ll be back soon.”
With that I turned and strode out of Sully’s shop. The warmth of the magical wards protecting the place vanished with a sudden surge and I suddenly felt incredibly cold. Every time I visited the place for more than a few minutes I felt the same way and I never got used to the feeling no matter how often it happened.
“At least they’ll be safe in there.” I glanced back at the shop. “I hope.” Sully was no fool and I was sure his place was the most secured building in the entire city—even when counting the Council Hall itself—but elder vampires are tricky beasts and if there’s even a single chink in the armor they’ll find it, exploit it and make you wish your father’s father’s father was never born.
My intent after leaving the pawn shop was to head down to the Sharpened Staff. The meeting place of the lowest of the low-lifes it wasn’t the place where you’d find the cream of the wizarding mafia crop but it was where I cut my teeth after returning home during the tail end of my rebelling years. Unfortunately, though, intent doesn’t always intersect with actuality.
The Sharpened Staff was located in the heart of East Harlem in a back alley off of East 110th St and it wasn’t a particularly pleasant place to visit. Getting there from Sully’s required taking a cab which I ended up jumping out of a few blocks down due to
a traffic snarl that looked like it was going to take forever to resolve.
You know how sometimes you’re walking alone but you get a funny feeling in the back of your head that lets you know you’re not alone? During the day—and at night, at least in most places—you really can’t be alone in Manhattan. The streets are jam-packed full of people who keep to themselves so much that even though others are around nobody wants anything to do with you and so you end up, in effect, alone.
As I pushed my way through the throngs of people I felt very much not alone. In fact, the hairs on the back of my neck began to stand on end the closer I approached the bar and I stopped walking on more than one occasion to check behind me for any sign of a follower but of course there was no one there.
I ducked into the closest alley and broke into a run as I tried to get rid of whoever was tailing me. The feeling of being followed vanished as soon as I turned into the alley, but it didn’t take more than a few seconds for some fresh new hell to appear.
“Help!” The scream came from the next building over, inside a small parking structure that was only accessible from the alley and if your vehicle had a sensor installed that unlocked the gate. “Help!” The scream was feminine and desperate and I could hear the sounds of a struggle coming along with it.
My first instinct was to suspect that whatever was going on was a trap, but as I reached out with the Touch, I felt nothing amiss. No magic, no wizards, nothing Touched. Just someone calling out for help.
“Pete’s sake.” I grumbled and glanced around to make sure no one was watching me before muttering a spell.
“Volas!”
I catapulted into the air and landed deftly on the edge of the top of the parking structure. I crouched down and held still for a moment as I listened for the woman in distress and she screamed again after a few seconds. “Somebody, please! Help!”
Desperation was rising in her voice. The parking structure was only four stories high and I ran across the top, heading for the stairs leading down. The third floor of the building was virtually empty and the sounds of the scuffle were coming from further down on the second floor. I ran down another flight of stairs and emerged to a sea of parked cars.
The noises were coming from my left and I ran in that direction, drawing up a torrent of energy into my hands as I prepared to unleash them on the woman’s attacker. I had forgotten my gun back home at my apartment but my badge was still in my pocket so I figured as long as I didn’t leave obvious scorch marks on the perp’s body I’d be able to take him in without too many questions.
That was the plan, at least, until I rounded a row of cars and skidded to a stop. A woman was pinned back on the trunk of a car, her shirt and dress torn half off with three figures crowded around her. She was groaning in pain and the figures were grunting and laughing, though there was something off about them I couldn’t quite put my finger on.
“Hey!” I shouted at the figures. “Get the hell away from her!”
As the figures turned I felt my heartbeat skyrocket as I saw their faces. I had been expecting to see three faces of opportunistic criminals intent on self-gratification through horror and destruction. Instead I saw the glistening eyes and sharpened fangs of three bottom-feeding vamps. They advanced on me quickly, giving me no time to check on the woman or even mount much of a defense except for brute strength.
“Udar molnii!”
I channeled the waiting energy in my left and right hands into electricity and drove it into the center and rightmost vamps who were approaching me. They were the largest and meanest looking of the trio and seemed like they were posing the most immediate threat. Do you remember when I told you how vamps are tricky little SOBs? Yeah. I should have remembered that.
As the two biggest vamps’ bodies went catapulting over the parked cars from the force of the impact the smaller one ducked to the side to avoid catching any peripheral energy from the blast and leapt at me. His legs were like two massive springs and he hit me in the side like a Mack truck. I tried to spin and deflect the impact as he hit me, but I was caught off guard and went skidding along the ground and bounced off of the tire of a little two-door sedan before I came to a stop.
“Dammit!” I could feel my bones flexing from both the force of the vamp’s blow and my impact with the ground and car. Nothing was broken but I’d be feeling each and every bit of it the next day.
“You slimy little…” I looked at where the vamp had been, but saw nothing. “Asshole.” I pushed myself to my feet and drew on more power, using it to both prepare for my next attack and strengthen my body. “Come on out, leech!”
Vamps hate being compared to animals even though that’s basically what they are. Each and every one of them wants desperately to be elevated to a higher place in their clan though that rarely happens. My insult did nothing to help my cause, though, as the vamp was still hiding.
“Great. Just great.” I jogged forward, whipping my head to the left and right as I scanned the spaces in between the cars hoping to catch sight of him. I headed for the woman who had collapsed to her knees at the back of the car where she had been assaulted. Maybe, just maybe, if I could get her out of there I could get her to safety and then come back and figure out what the vamps were up to.
“Probably trying to ‘recruit’ for a bleed farm.” I mumbled as I ran along. “Maybe they’ll give me a lead or some—”
The next attack caught me completely off guard as I felt a weight hit me from above and behind, driving me forward and down into the ground. I twisted as I fell and rolled, using the momentum from the blow to get away from my attacker before I sat up and raised a hand at the figure.
“Pyrós!”
Fire danced forward from my fingertips but it was of no use. The vamp was somehow faster than my attack and he dodged to the side before running forward at me again. I tried letting off another attack but my aim and concentration were off and the bolt of lightning exploded across the ceiling of the parking garage.
The vamp was on me, then, tearing at my torso and opening his jaws as went for the jugular. I punched back as hard as I could, but he could smell my blood and was in a trance so my blows meant almost nothing to him. Out of time and options, I summoned up some energy and did the only thing I could think of.
“Obratit' v par”
The spell was simple but extremely dangerous. I had constructed it myself shortly after getting the VEC and it was one of the first spells that I cast was truly my own. I felt myself turning to mist as my body left the physical plane and began joining with the ethereal. Gravity still worked upon me, though, and the particles that compromised my being drifted down through the floor of the parking structure, no longer hampered by its physical presence.
Becoming one with the ethereal plane is a dangerous proposition even for those who are prepared for the transformation. Your mind instantly starts to wander and if you remain there for too long you end up forgetting who you are and you drift through the plane for eternity. Fun stuff. I nearly had that happen the first time I cast the spell on myself and had kept it reserved as one of my “last resort” defenses for when I needed to get away from someone or something. Due to the limitations involved, though, there weren’t any times that it was appropriate to use. Until the parking garage, that is.
My vision was wavering as I passed through the floor of the second story—the roof of the ground floor—and began drifting towards the ground. If my ethereal being actually entered the ground I’d be a goner since I have absolutely no control over myself while in ethereal form. Gravity and a few other forces can act on ethereal substances and beings, but unless a being is born from the ethereal plane they have no control over themselves while in it.
As soon as I was certain every particle of my body was clear of the roof of the ground floor of the parking garage I released the last bit of summoned energy and reversed the spell. The ethereal particles of my being coalesced back into solid form in an instant and my physical body dropped several feet to
the ground with a thud. The pain was excruciating—particularly when combined with the gashes in my chest and on my arms—but it was better than drifting through space and time for all eternity.
I stood to my feet quickly and looked around. Once I located the stairs and ran for them and headed back up to the second floor, drawing energy into my fingertips as I prepared to face off against the vamp again. The ferocity and cunning of his attacks had surprised me once but I wasn’t about to let it happen a second time.
I charged off of the stairwell and back onto the second floor with a shout, looking about madly for any sign of the vamp. When I had run half the length of the parking garage I slowed to a stop and lowered my hands, wondering where he had gone. A groan behind me caused me to whirl around and I saw the form of the woman slumped over on the ground.
I ran over to the woman and squatted down beside her, taking her torso in my arms and helping her turn over. “Hey, take it easy! It’s okay, it’s okay. They’re gone now.” I glanced around the parking garage again, hoping that what I was telling her was true.
When I looked back down at the woman she was staring up at me, though her eyes were cold and grey. Her loud, rapid breathing had abruptly stopped and her body felt completely lifeless in my arms. I put my ear to her face and couldn’t hear or feel anything, then I touched her wrist. It felt cold and clammy, and there was no sign of a pulse.
“What the hell…” I dropped the woman’s body to the ground and stood up, backing away from it. As I watched it carefully I could see it beginning to shrivel up before me. The entire process took less than a minute and when it was done there was nothing but a pile of ash and a few scraps of clothing lying on the ground.
“What the hell, man.” I whispered to myself as my mind raced and I tried to figure out what had just happened. Three vamps that had been attacking a woman in a parking garage were suddenly gone and the woman who they were “attacking” turned out to be a vamp herself. I bent down to touch the pile of cloth and ash to confirm by touch what I had seen with my eyes when a sharp pain in my chest reminded me of the wounds I had sustained from the vamp that had gotten through my defenses.
