by J. C. Diem
This time, I didn’t sit down but stood and watched the minute hand creep slowly around until the allotted time was up. The imp shadow impatiently paced up and down the cell like a restless lion longing for freedom.
Ten minutes rolled around and the Colonel didn’t appear to offer me a partnership. “Fine. Be that way,” I said to the camera and to the American, who I could almost feel watching me. “I’ll take them down by myself you coward.” There, I hope that stung.
During the ten minutes I’d given the American soldier to think over my offer, I’d come up with a plan on how I might be able to escape from the cell. Digging my way out wasn’t an option. The door and walls were too thick to break through. The only weak spot I’d been able to identify was the window in the otherwise impenetrable metal door.
I wanted to launch my plan into action immediately but couldn’t until closer to sundown. There would be little point in trying to break both myself and the captured vamp free while the sun was still blazing away. Lying down on the cot, I closed my eyes and pretended to sleep.
“What are you doing?” the imp asked me.
“Killing time until the sun goes down,” I replied softly, hoping the microphone didn’t pick up my words.
It was a long, boring wait and I eventually dozed off.
Straight away, I knew I was dreaming. Instead of lying down on a cot, I was standing in a clearing in a jungle. From the not so fresh carcass of a deer lying on the outer edge of the circular space, I figured this was the same clearing I’d previously visited.
Whatever had searched so hungrily for food last time was now dormant. I sensed no presence this time. Treading quietly, I moved to the centre of the clearing. Night birds burst into flight and few directly overhead. When they reached the centre of the treeless space, they panicked, collided then fell to the ground.
One broke its neck and died instantly. The other one flapped shattered wings, scrambling in the dirt in a circle as it tried vainly to fly away. Standing directly in the middle of the area, I felt something beneath the ground wake. I sensed eyes opening and peering upwards. The crippling hunger rose up to surround me.
It’s heart beating hard and fast enough for me to hear it, the bird gave a final cry then had the avian equivalent of a heart attack. Instead of receding, the hunger swelled until it overwhelmed me.
Dropping to my knees, I snatched up the closest bird and my fangs descended. I drained the creature dry then reached for the other one. They had far too little blood to quench my thirst and I was hungrier than I’d ever been in my life, both living or undead. Light from my eyes bathed my hands in an orange glow.
Tossing the carcasses aside, I lurched to my feet, intent on finding more prey.
Snapping awake, I sat up and the imp shadow sitting beside me on the floor started. I was surprised to see it was still there. With its clones gone, I figured it would also fade. “Did anything happen while I was asleep?” I asked.
“No. It has been very quiet.”
So, the Colonel hadn’t made any attempt to contact me and offer an alliance. It was time to proceed with my plan. A quick look at my watch told me I had better get a move on. The timing was crucial so I stood and readied myself for action.
If I was going to try to escape from the cell, I would need to do it unseen. Judging the distance to the tiny camera in the corner of the room carefully, I jumped up and punched it. It disintegrated with a crunch and an alarmed squawk from the microphone that had been attached to it. Without the electronic eyes and ears spying on me, I moved to the door. Banging my fist on the window told me it was made of thick plastic instead of glass. It shivered but didn’t crack. My next blow was much harder and shattered most of the bones in my hand. The pain was sharp but fleeting as the bones instantly reknit.
“Go and keep watch,” I ordered the imp. “Let me know if you see any soldiers.” To my surprise, the shadow obeyed my order. It sank to the floor and oozed out through the tiny crack then slid along the white floor like an oil stain, stretching out towards the elevator.
Knowing soldiers would be coming to see what I was up to, I alternated my hands, punching the window as hard and fast as I could. My fists were a blur as they cracked through four layers of thick plastic. Blood and bone speckled the door and the chunks of plastic that fell to the cement floor. I knew I couldn’t escape through the window. It was too small for my head to fit through let alone the rest of my body. But it was small enough for one or two objects to fit through and I hoped they would be enough to help set me free.
Already, I could hear the distant sound of an elevator in motion, descending towards my floor. The imp returned and materialized beside me. “The soldiers will be here very soon,” it warned me.
Working fast and grimacing in pain as I did so, I plucked my right eye from its socket. The last time I’d tried to possess my detached body parts, I’d failed completely. The imp blood had been fresh in my system then. I was pretty sure I’d regained full control again but there was only one way to find out.
Holding my eye up to my face, I sent some of my consciousness into the orb. I closed my left eye and saw my face through the detached one. The socket I’d plucked it from welled with dark, sluggish blood. It wasn’t a pretty sight.
Relief coursed through me so I continued on with my plan. Step one was complete and I gingerly placed the eyeball on the floor. Then I took my right hand by the wrist. I was about to tear it loose when a red mark appeared where it had previously been severed. As if in reaction to my thought that I wanted it to detach, the hand popped free. I half expected it to start moving on its own but it remained unanimated.
Splitting my consciousness, I possessed my hand. Righty flexed its fingers then gave me the thumbs up. I was pretty sure it was acting on my orders and I had subconsciously made it do that.
It was time for phase three of my plan so I bent and picked up my eye. Righty cupped the orb protectively and I tossed the pair out through the hole in the window. My hand bounced then skidded a couple of feet. Hearing just how close the elevator was now, I forced my hand to scuttle down the hallway. The stump had already stopped oozing sluggish blood so no drops would be left to betray its progress.
Using the optic nerves that dangled from the back of my eye, I wound them around two of my fingers and held on tight. At a casual glance, the orb would appear to be a gigantic, gaudy gemstone. But gemstones didn’t have veins filled with black blood, an overlarge pupil or dangling fibres.
Now that it didn’t have to grip the orb, Righty could move a lot faster. I spied an open door and Righty scrambled inside just as the elevator dinged to announce its arrival.
Shifting my consciousness for a short while, I moved my body away from the door and turned as a number of soldiers sprinted down the hallway. Crossing my arms over my chest, I hid the evidence of what I’d done from them. All they’d be able to see was the smashed window, my unnatural blood smeared all over the plastic shards and my back. The imp stood beside me, facing the door.
“Cover me while I take a look inside,” one of the American soldiers said to the others.
“Ok, but remember not to look into its eyes,” another soldier warned him. “Not unless you want to become its unholy slave.” I rolled my remaining eye at being referred to as an ‘it’.
The first soldier shuffled forward to peek inside my cell. He quickly moved away again then spoke into his radio. “The creature is still in its cell, Colonel. One of the black unknown entities is also there. The window in the door is broken and blood indicates that the vampire tried to escape but it wasn’t able to fit through the opening, sir.”
I heard the Colonel’s reply clearly. “What are they doing right now?”
“Both are just standing there. The vampire has its back to us, sir. The unknown entity appears to be watching the door.” He controlled it well but fear came off the soldier in waves. I could smell his and his colleague’s terror sweat from across the small room.
Sanderson heaved
a tired sigh after thinking through the problem. “Two of you remain behind and watch the door. If the vampire tries to escape again, shoot it in the head. Bullets won’t kill it but at least they knock it down for a few hours. Alert me if the unknown entity does anything…strange.” Its mere existence was strange so I understood his inability to be more specific than that.
“Yes, sir.” The soldier signed off then chose one of the men to stay behind and keep watch with him. The rest trooped back to the elevator and presumably to their posts.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Sending my consciousness back to Righty and my eyeball, I studied the room they’d scurried into. Being so low to the ground, everything looked gigantic. A metal table sat in the middle of the room with four metal chairs neatly tucked under it. An elderly refrigerator sat to the left of a stainless steel sink. A long counter was to the right of the sink. Plain white cupboards ran from beneath the sink right along the counter.
Seeing nothing useful in the lunchroom, I turned my eye back to the door. Being able to hear the pair of soldiers wasn’t enough, I also needed to see them if I wanted to formulate an escape plan. I’d prefer to use my own eye rather than rely on what the imp saw. We may not interpret what we saw the same way.
Creeping slowly and carefully, Righty carried my orb over to the doorway. It moved forward just enough for me to peer around the corner. The soldiers kept their attention on my cell door, barely taking their eyes from it. Neither wore a helmet. They’d probably been in too much of a rush to stop me from escaping to outfit themselves completely. No helmets meant no cameras, which meant I might just have a shot at getting out of here.
They might be helmetless but both held machine guns ready to cut me in half, or to explode my head again as per the Colonel’s order. I’d never be able to coax them close enough to the door to bedazzle them both at the same time. The imp at my side frightened them too much for either of them to want to come any closer.
An idea tickled the back of my brain then burst into life. What if I took my eye to the guards instead? I had no idea if I could hypnotize them with a detached eye or not but it was worth a try. If my plan didn’t work, I’d have to kill them both. It would be regrettable but I couldn’t stay locked in the cell until Sanderson finally decided what to do with me.
Swivelling my orb down to look at my fingers, I noted just how much they stood out against the white floor. They were pale but still had more colour than the stark white paint. I wouldn’t be able to sneak Righty down the long hallway to the pair of men without being discovered. I need some kind of camouflage.
Maybe I’d find something useful up on the bench. Getting up there would be a challenge. Studying the counter, I saw that my best bet was to use a tea towel hanging from a hook on the far right. With my orb clinging to my fingers with the optic fibres, I moved closer until the hand was directly beneath the towel.
Hoping my eye wouldn’t come loose, I flattened the fingers down. Springing upwards, Righty grabbed the bottom of the stained, once yellow and now brownish tea towel. Taking a firm grip, it began to swing from side to side. When the arc was at its highest, Righty launched itself at the counter. Landing on the edge, it immediately began to slide backwards. The surface was much slicker than I’d expected.
A heavy wooden cutting board sitting only a couple of inches away was my only hope at keeping the appendage up there. I quickly rolled the eye down my fingers to the pure white bench top. Keeping hold of my middle finger with the dangly optic nerves, it rolled over to the board and around the corner. It wedged itself firmly against the rough wood just as Righty slipped over the edge. Halting in mid-fall, suspended by my overstretched optic nerves, my fingers clutched the edge of the bench and blindly hauled itself up to safety.
Back on solid ground, Righty scampered over to my eye. Once it was in place again, the orb took in the white expanse of the bench. A few plain black canisters were lined up neatly against the wall. Righty moved closer so I could read the Russian words printed on each container. When I saw one titled ‘Powdered Milk’, my mouth smiled craftily down the hallway.
A short time later, I had the lid of the container open and was balanced on the edge, inspecting the contents. The canister was nearly full of fine off-white granules. Dropping back down to the bench again, Righty waited for my eye to roll to safety before moving to the sink. It turned the cold water tap on just enough to let out a slow trickle of water that couldn’t be heard down the hall. When it was soaked, it turned the tap off again. It moved over to the canister of powdered milk then sprang into the air, aiming for the opening above. A puff of white powder exploded from the container as Righty landed with a small plop. The powder settled almost invisibly on the bench. Righty rolled around in the stuff until it was completely coated then scrambled out. I didn’t bother to put the lid back on the canister. I doubted either of the guards was going to stroll down the hall for a cup of coffee.
Inspecting Righty, I deemed it to be far less conspicuous now. My eye wrapped its dangling fibres around my fingers again but this time it hid behind them, cupped protectively in the palm rather than sitting on top. The enlarged pupil would stand out far too much against the white floor. Dropping to the ground, Righty kept low and stopped in the doorway. I peeked out and saw both men still watching my door.
I’m going to try to hypnotize one of the soldiers, I thought at the imp, warning him that something strange might be about to happen.
Turning its head to me, I sensed its puzzlement. “How are you going to do that with your back turned to the meat sacks?”
Meat sacks? Is that how imps see humans? Even vampires weren’t that callous towards the beings that we’d once been. Well, some of them weren’t. I’m going to use the eye I popped out before, I explained silently. My hand is sneaking it over to one of the soldiers right now.
“Do you really think that will work?” it asked sceptically.
I have no idea but we’re about to find out.
Righty padded silently down the hallway towards the soldiers. The one closest to it turned his head with a frown and my hand froze. I peeked out between the tiny cracks my fingers made. The nervous soldier searched the hallway, shook his head and returned his attention to my door.
“What’s wrong?” his partner asked. His voice had shifted up a few octaves, indicating he was still terrified despite how calm he was pretending to be.
“Nothing. I thought I saw something but it must have been my imagination.”
“No wonder, considering what we’re guarding. Man, it’s bad enough we’ll be going to war against seven foot monsters but now we have actual vampires to contend with as well.” His tone shifted between being awed and frightened.
“What about that…shadow thing in there? What’s up with that?”
“Are you talking about the one that looks like an unknown entity or the four human looking ones?” the other man said dryly.
“What do you think they’re doing in there?” the second guard asked as Righty began its stealthy approach again.
“I don’t know and I don’t care. All I know is if the vampire moves, its dead.” His voice had deepened again as he masked his fear. They were both putting on a brave front but I was about to shatter it completely.
The second guard shifted uneasily at his choice of words. “If it could survive having its head blown apart, I’m pretty sure we won’t be able to kill it with these.” He indicated his gun and didn’t notice that Righty was now climbing up his leg.
“Did you see the video of it munching down on the Russian soldier?”
Nodding, the second soldier seemed unaware that my hand was creeping up over his shoulder. “I heard the poor bastard is in a psychiatric hospital. He’s being tested to make sure he isn’t still under its spell.”
Speaking of being under my spell, I thought as Righty reached out with one finger and stroked the soldier’s cheek. As he turned to see what had touched him, I split my consciousness. Simultaneously staring int
o his eye with my detached orb, I turned my body around to distract the second soldier.
“Oh, Jesus,” the second soldier moaned when he saw my face. “Are you seeing this? Her eye is gone.” He nudged his partner with his elbow but received no response.
It was too late for the other man, my eye had done its job and held the soldier spellbound. A large, goofy smile lit up his face. The second soldier dropped his gaze from the gaping socket where my eye used to be to my crossed wrists. At first he didn’t seem to realize that one of my hands was gone. Then his face went white with shock when he understood what I’d done. Before he could raise his gun and riddle my head with bullets, Righty pounced.
Leaping the short distance between the two men, my hand landed on the soldier’s chest. Screaming, he backed into the wall, slapping at Righty. Dodging the blows, my hand swiftly climbed up to the man’s chin. My eye popped up between my fingers and the soldier opened his mouth to scream. The scream died before it was even born when he focussed on the orb. Helpless to resist, he fell beneath my dark magic.
“I can’t believe that actually worked,” the imp said incredulously.
“Me either,” I murmured. Relieved that my plan had worked so far, I stepped over to the door. “Can either of you unlock this door?” Both men shook their heads, still staring at my eye. “Come over here,” I said to the soldier that Righty was clinging to. He obeyed me with stiff, jerky steps. The soldier stopped right in front of the window and Righty nimbly leaped through the gap. I caught it and replaced first my eye then my hand.
Whole again after twin flashes of pain, I addressed soldier number one. “How can this door be opened?” The door across the hallway didn’t have a lock so I assumed mine didn’t either.
