Born Into Flames

by Justin Sloan

  “They’re mostly too scared,” River said. “And they should be. This guy, he’s not normal. He’s basically established himself as a god up here. Calls himself the Prince and goes between here and out west, carrying goods to—”

  “West?” Robin asked, suddenly interested. “Did you ever go? Do you, I mean… do you know anything about the slavers out there?”

  Valerie frowned. Real slick.

  “Nothing,” River said. “Sorry, but I ain’t traveled that way. Most I’ve done was find my way here, just me and my aunt there.”

  He nodded to the woman who had pulled him back earlier, now hovering with the few other leftovers.

  She seemed to have taken this as her cue, because she stepped forward and said, “We shouldn’t be doing this. I told you we shouldn’t have come here in the first place, and now you want to turn your back on these murderers, basically declare war on the worst of them?”

  “This Prince character?” River scoffed, then turned to Valerie. “It’s a stupid title. Rumor is he used to fight alongside some great warriors, true survivalists, but he’s the only one of them left. Leaves it open for anyone to challenge him and, if they win, he would hand over leadership. Problem is, the handful of men who’ve tried were taken down in one or two punches, like swatting flies. Fucker’s only been here a couple months and already has everyone licking out of his milk bowl.”

  “Licking out of his…?” Cammie laughed. “I don’t think I’ve heard that one before. I’m stealing it.”

  He nodded to her and seemed about to wink, when Royland caught his eye. Instead, he actually took a step back.

  “Wait,” Valerie said, deep in thought, “you said a couple of months?”

  “Could be three or four,” he replied. “Why?”

  “Seems like only yesterday, but… it hasn’t even been half a year yet since my brother tried to invade Old Manhattan.”

  “And you said some of his top dogs escaped,” Royland nodded, catching on quick.

  “Wait, you mean…?” River cocked his head. “He might be like you?”

  Valerie nodded, then showed her extended fangs. The boy looked like he was about to wet himself, but stood his ground.

  “He’s never let on, if that’s the case,” River said.

  The other pirates who had stayed behind gathered around now, whispering amongst themselves. Valerie decided it was time to make this official. She turned to the group, held up her hands for silence, and then said, “I am a vampire.”

  Everyone fell silent immediately.

  “So is he,” she said pointing to Royland, then Cammie, “and she’s a werewolf. A Were. But it’s not like the stories say, and it’s time that became common knowledge. We can’t keep the UnkownWorld unknown forever. The truth is…” She looked at their lost, beaten, but hopeful faces, and sighed. “The truth is, we are modified humans, that’s all. There’s something in our blood that helped us change, something that’s not evil in any way. In fact, and now you’re going to have to keep up with me here, the point of these changes was to help establish earth’s defense in the war of all wars.”

  “The days of big war are over,” a man said from the small crowd. “Civilization has fallen.”

  “This isn’t a war of earth,” she said. “Rather, for earth.”

  “Aliens?” the man said, and then scoffed. “If this woman is for real, she’s off her rocker.”

  “It’s all true,” she replied, “even the part about me being off my rocker, if that means bat-shit crazy. But I’m bat-shit crazy about one thing, and that’s saving this world.”

  River’s aunt scoffed. “So, you’re like, what? One of those super heroes of the old days?”

  “Super… whats?” Valerie asked, glancing around at her friends, who looked mostly as lost as her, all but Cammie.

  “From old books, comics, no?” Cammie laughed. “Really? We had a couple that had survived the Great Collapse… mostly it’s men and women in tights and capes, helping people in trouble.”

  Valerie glanced down at her pirate dress, and chuckled. “Not exactly your tights and cape, but sure, think of me, or us, as you will. We’re just enhanced humans, trying to make a difference.”

  “And if we trust you,” River’s aunt went on, “how do we know this is the case? How do we know you won’t simply wait until we’re asleep and then suck our blood? Or her,” she gestured to Cammie, “turn into a wolf on the full moon and attack us?”

  Valerie shook her head. “That’s not how it works, not remotely. Cammie?”

  With one finger pointed at the quarter moon, Cammie let her teeth sharpen and her eyes glow yellow. She even allowed a bit of a snout to form, hair and all, before pulling it back.

  “You see?” Valerie took a moment, letting it sink in. She sensed a heat coming from the crowd, from some piercing, untrusting, but from others it was warm, wanting to accept. “Not all of you, and that’s fine.”

  “You can read our minds, too, then?”

  “No, but I can sense emotions. Those of you who want to be part of this, to become superior heroes—”

  “It’s super heroes,” Cammie corrected her.

  “Whatever.” Valerie turned to River’s aunt and held out a hand. “You first. Are you with your nephew? Will you be one of us?”

  The woman laughed, then frowned, looking at her hand, then shrugged as she shook. “What the hell. If River’s getting mixed up in all this, it ain’t like I’d be safe anyhow.”

  “Martha?” one of the men said. “We’re here to survive, that’s what we all agreed upon.”

  “And that’s what I’m doing,” Martha replied. “Me and my nephew are latching onto the biggest lion in the pack, you can join, too, or run off and hide.”

  “You all don’t need to fight,” Valerie said. “That’s not what I’m demanding here, because, honestly, the four of us can fight just fine. What we want is people we know will stay out of our way, and be ready when the time comes. Yes, you might have to defend yourself when the other side stops holding their punches, when the situation gets dirty, but is that any different from now?”

  “Different in some ways, not so much in others,” the man replied. He looked from her to Martha, then nodded. The others seemed surprised by this, but none interrupted. “Best move out of here quick then, if you all don’t want to just be mowed down by the Prince’s followers.”

  “We’ve got nothing to worry about,” Cammie said, hand on her hip. She tilted her hat forward so that the shadows covered her eyes.

  “You might not, but anyone aligning with you ought to be off the streets. We have shelter nearby, where we can brief you on the island. Help you figure out your next move.”

  Valerie smiled, thinking how nice it was that they’d be discussing a thought-out plan. That didn’t happen as often as she wished it did.

  “She has a point,” Royland said. “Until we know where their power structures lie, we don’t want to be setting up our friends for failure.”

  “Or horrible deaths,” Martha said.

  “Or horrible death, if you want to put it more bluntly.”

  Valerie and Robin shared a look, and it was clear from Robin’s furrowed brow and concerned look in her eyes that she agreed. They might actually have a chance to ask more of these people, about slaving operations out west and whatever else they could learn.

  Cammie was looking at the fires by the large building on the shore not far off. She clearly wanted to run in, sword swinging and guns blazing, but she looked back to Valerie and waited.

  “Lead the way,” Valerie said. “Mr. …?”

  “Call me Leech,” the man said, running a hand through his thinning hair. He had a thick beard that hung down to his chest, and wore a black shirt over brown pants with black shoes. He wasn’t the flashy type like some of these so-called pirates, but had a sense of pride about him.

  But that name.

  “Leech?” she asked as they started walking.

  He smiled as they duck
ed into the alley between some of the makeshift buildings, then followed a stream behind it. The moon glistened on the water, and the scent of fire-crisped meat carried with the wind.

  “I’m not one of the main cutthroats or thieves around here,” Leech said. “Some say it’s my weakness. People like you might think it’s a positive aspect of my person. Point is, I leech off of the rest of the pirates, but I’ve got me too many smarts for them to toss me out.”

  “Talks like an idiot sometimes,” River interjected, “to make people think he’s dumber than he really is, though.”

  Leech touched his nose and smiled. “On the nose. Always better to surprise them than the other way around.”

  They turned another bend and were just making their way up a slight hill when they heard what sounded like an explosion. Leech ducked, glancing back toward a large building that now had flames shooting out of it, and then they all saw the blimp lift into the air. It wasn’t like the other blimps Valerie had seen so far. This one had cutting sails on the front and back, for quick turns, Valerie guessed. Metal lined the rails and, from this distance, it looked like an extra layer of thick canvas had been applied around the balloon itself. She could see that much because of her vampire sight, but not much else.

  It was a war blimp.

  And it was coming right for them. A rattling started, and then Leech was shouting for them to get down.

  “Gatling gun!” River screamed out, and then the bullets began to rattle the ground around them.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Isle of the Prince

  The blimp continued its trajectory, the Gatling gun interrupting the silence of night as red light appeared surrounded by smoke as bullets riddled the ground around Valerie and the others.

  “Get below!” River said, snapping out of his stupor. He ran past and motioned for them to follow.

  There was no time to hesitate. Sure, Valerie would likely recover from this, but she hated getting shot at all, let alone the feeling of hundreds of Gatling gun rounds all at once.

  He led them to a point behind one of the huts, where he opened a hatch into a hole in the ground. Dirt sprayed up as more bullets hit, and someone cried out from nearby, although not one of their crew. They had all scattered, but now that the gun was turning to strafe the other side, they were reconvening and moving down into the hole, which turned out to be a tunnel.

  “This happen often?” Robin shouted from behind.

  “More than we’re fucking comfortable with,” Leech replied, climbing in behind them. “Anyone hit?”

  Several replies of “nay” sounded, and Royland laughed before saying, “Sounds like a tunnel full of horses.”

  “Humor from Royland?” Cammie said, and Valerie realized those behind her had stopped. “Shit, you’re hit aren’t you?” She was pushing past the others, moving to get to him fast.

  “We have to keep moving,” River said, and Valerie gestured him to move on.

  “Ain’t the first time a vampire was shot,” she said, realizing how odd it was to know someone was shot, but not worry in the least.

  As they walked briskly along the tunnel, Valerie and her team continued introductions and gave River enough back-story to know about their recent excursion to Chicago.

  “This man,” River turned his head to look back in the near darkness, “he’s basically started an army?”

  “And you haven’t heard the half of it,” she replied. “They’re going into space.”

  He just blinked.

  “You know… space?” she asked.

  “I’m familiar with the concept. But… you all can fly? I don’t understand… you have space wings?”

  She laughed. “No, like the blimp, only more advanced.”

  “Bullshit.” He slowed, looked to see if she was serious, then shook his head and kept walking. “I don’t know if I should believe you on half this stuff or—”

  “No or,” Robin said from behind. “Just believe her. It’s your best chance for survival.”

  He grunted acknowledgement, but kept walking in silence for a moment after that.

  Soon, they emerged into a narrow tunnel, where another group of pirates was just finishing attaching torches to the walls. The smoke was strong, but the room had ventilation and appeared to have once been a basement, judging by the old, rusty furnace in the corner and cracked concrete floor.

  “The hell are they doing here?” one of the other pirates asked. She was tall and slender, with a crooked nose and scar across her cheek.

  “Not taking sass from you, that’s for sure,” Cammie said with a growl.

  “Back off, Toiya,” Martha said, stepping up next to Cammie. “And you, try not to draw blood with the good guys.”

  “She’s one of the good guys?” Cammie said with a laugh. “It’s hard to tell around here.”

  “We’re all pirates,” Martha replied. “That’s something you have to accept.”

  “Are you, though?” Robin asked, looking around at them with a frown. “I mean, I get that technically you are, but what’s up with the costume party?”

  “This coming from the girl wearing a ninja outfit under her pirate dress,” Toiya said with a scoff.

  Other pirates were starting to line up behind her, and it was looking like a showdown. If it continued like this, the whole idea of an underground operation would end in a bloodbath instead, and Valerie had experienced enough blood baths in her life to know she never wanted one of those again.

  Sometimes death was inevitable, but not here like this.

  “We’ve come to put a stop to the Prince,” Valerie said. “And my friend here meant no disrespect.”

  “The hell I didn’t,” Cammie said, but in that instant Valerie turned on her, gripping her by the pirate vest she wore, and spoke at a level so quiet only her Were ears could pick it up.

  “We’re not here to kill ‘em all, we’re here to stop their piracy and bring as many of them as we can to our side. How do you propose to do that if they’re dead?”

  Cammie gritted her teeth, clearly not enjoying being addressed like this, but then smiled and pulled herself free from Valerie’s grip.

  “My apologies,” Cammie said, with a hint of mockery that the pirate chose to ignore.

  Valerie introduced them, then said, “And I’m Valerie. Vampire princess, liberator of New York, and now, apparently, superhero.”

  Toiya cocked her head at that, at a loss for words, and then started laughing. The other pirates behind her laughed, too, and soon they were all laughing. A distant yell silenced them, followed by an explosion and more gunfire.

  “He’s making a play,” Martha said, glancing up at the dirt roof. “By now, that bastard Bairne and his men have reported what happened, so he’s trying to teach you a lesson.”

  Valerie smiled, refusing to let bastards like the Prince get her down. “I was a good student, in my day. But I graduated, got myself a degree in Fuck-you, and now I think I’ll give him a little education in return.”

  More hooting and hollering from the pirates, but this time Toiya held up her hands for silence.

  “Don’t go getting our hopes up like that,” she said. “We’ve had supposed heroes try to put him down before. His head came back with a bow on it.”

  “Shit,” Cammie said.

  Robin nodded, as if that was normal.

  “And there hasn’t been an uprising against him?” Valerie asked.

  River scoffed. “This lot?”

  He leaped back as Martha moved to box his ears, but when he was on the other side of the room, standing beside a boy about his age, he smiled at the sight of her slowing. Valerie could tell by the look on this boy’s face what was happening—he wasn’t as friendly-looking as River appeared, not with the scruff on his neck and thick, hairy arms. He almost looked like a Were, she thought, if being buff and hairy actually had any correlation.

  “What my stupid nephew is trying to get at,” Martha said, “is that the Prince has too big a following. Anyo
ne tries to make a move against him, they better come with a force. A force, we have not.”

  “I’m not following,” Robin interjected. “Who was your leader before he came along?”

  Toiya shook her head, glancing over her shoulder at the pirates, who had begun preparing themselves with food and opening crates of weapons. “Wasn’t one. Pirates ain’t meant to be led, not like regular folk, anyway. That’s part of why we sail, because we crave the freedom of the open sea and skies. We live off of it… and now this son of a bitch is killing us.”

  “Figuratively and literarily,” one of the pirates in the crowd behind her said.

  “And here I was thinking that we were coming up here to kill you all,” Cammie said with a chuckle that no one else shared. At a look from Royland she said, “What? You thought that, too, right? I mean, you were prepared at least, right?”

  “Prepared to kill us all?” Toiya stared at her as if waiting for Cammie to laugh and say she was joking, but when that didn’t happen she turned back to Martha and frowned. “Exactly what sorta scum did you bring here?”

  “The powerful kind,” Cammie said.

  “The kind that are now on the same side as you,” Valerie added. “It’s not going to be like before.

  “Fine, fine,” Toiya said, waving her off and still glaring at Cammie. “But I’m still stuck on this kill us all thing. Who the hell are you and what the fuck?”

  When Cammie looked to Valerie for help, Valerie simply smiled in a you-dug-your-own-grave kind of way.

  “The pirates have been causing a lot of trouble for us down south,” Cammie said. “And in this day and age, what’s the best way to deal with a problem? Remove it, with lots of blood.”

  “I thought we were messed up,” River’s buddy said, his voice hoarse, like he’d been yelling too much.

  “You are,” Cammie replied. “But we don’t take shit from anyone, and have the power to enforce this rule.”

  “And slavery?” Robin asked, her voice cool, not giving away any emotion.

  Martha shook her head. “That hasn’t reached out here yet, but the Prince certainly has connections to those involved out west.”