by J. C. Diem
“It can only be opened in the control room on the third floor,” he responded in a drugged yet happy voice. “You are so gorgeous,” he informed me.
“That’s funny, a minute ago you didn’t seem to think so. You were calling me an ‘it’,” I replied sarcastically. He was too deep under my spell to be embarrassed.
“I was afraid of you then but now I can see how perfect you are.” His smile was wide and he swayed on his feet.
“That’s just the hypnotism talking. Once it wears off, you’ll go back to thinking of me as a monster again.” I felt a bit sad about that but didn’t have the time to worry about it. Most humans would think of me that way after seeing me in action on their TVs. “Enough with the small talk. Can either of you sneak up to the third floor and unlock this door?”
He was shaking his head even before I finished asking the question. “There are five other soldiers in there. They’ll stop us before we could set you free.”
“Then how am I going to get out of here?” I was frustrated enough to kick the door. Rust flaked to the ground but it had no effect in helping me to escape.
“We could try using explosives,” the second soldier said.
“Step aside, number one,” I ordered and the first soldier shuffled aside. “Get over here, number two.” The second soldier obeyed until he was standing beside his partner. “Can you get your hands on these explosives?” He nodded in the affirmative. “Off you go then.” As he turned away, I gave him another command. “Act natural but hurry back. Bring enough explosives back to blow two doors open.” He nodded again then jogged out of sight.
“I should report in to the Colonel,” number one said. “He’s expecting regular updates.”
“Ok but the same goes to you; act natural.” I wasn’t about to order either of them to return to their normal jobs. I’d learned that lesson and wasn’t about to repeat the mistake again.
Nodding and smiling happily, the soldier took out his radio and reported in. As far as I could tell, he didn’t tip off Sanderson that anything strange was going on. His voice was brisk and professional as he lied through his teeth that all was well.
Several minutes later, soldier number two returned. He immediately moved to the door and started fixing something to it. “I need you to blow the door to the other vampire’s cell at the same time as you blow mine,” I said to him through the busted window. Breaking out was going to be noisy and I wanted to move fast. Without a word, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bundle and handed it to his partner.
Number one disappeared down the hallway and started tinkering with his bomb. Number two finished up then turned to watch his partner. “Ready?” he asked after a few agonizingly slow minutes had passed.
“Ready,” came from down the hallway.
“You should step back from the door, ma’am.” With that suggestion, number two moved out of my sight. I backed away until I hit the wall. Turning my back to the blast area, I covered my ears in anticipation of a horrendous noise. The imp stayed where it was in the middle of the room. Being ghostlike, it didn’t need to worry about flying debris.
Seconds later, the bombs went off simultaneously. I was surprised when there were only four loud pops instead of the massive roar I’d expected. The door shuddered but wasn’t blasted open. Waving away smoke, dust, rust and paint, I gave the door a shove. Tottering, it fell against the opposite door then slid to the ground with a resounding clang.
Further down the hall, soldier number one was vainly tugging at the door to the insensate vampire’s room. I jogged down the corridor, brushed him aside then lifted the door out of its frame. The hinges had been blasted apart, which was a simple and effective way to free myself and my kinsman. “Good job, guys.” Both men beamed at the compliment.
Inside the cell, my fellow vampire was literally dead to the world. He lay on his back on the floor, not deigning to use the cot. From the black suit and blood red cummerbund he wore, I surmised that he was one of the French courtiers. He must have been separated from the Court somehow before being nabbed by the soldiers.
Like most of the courtiers, he was probably attractive while animated. While unanimated, he was nothing more than a slack jawed, pale, unmoving corpse. His shadow was also dead to the world. It appeared to be normal even to my eyes instead of the large, misshapen creatures I was used to seeing. Once it woke, maybe then it would turn back into a hulking mass again.
That slack jawed corpse is my only ticket to the cavern of doom now, I thought. It was a pity my plan to join forces with the soldiers hadn’t worked out. Now I’d have follow the vamp to the First’s lair, battle thousands of imps solo and try to fight my way through to the First then kill him singlehandedly. I’m sure it will be a piece of cake. I tried to make the thought cheerful but it sounded sarcastic even inside my head.
Catching the thought, the imp beside me snorted in agreement. “Don’t get your hopes too high,” it warned me. “Once you stand before him, you will not be able to resist the First’s power. He will not fail to turn you into one of us.” I heard the satisfaction in its tone and could have cheerfully used my holy marks to explode its head.
Chapter Twenty-Six
According to both my watch and my internal clock, I had about an hour left before the sun went down. If I wanted to set the possessed vamp free, I had to move quickly.
Bending down, I used the insensate courtier’s jacket to wipe most of the powdered milk off Righty. It was already filthy so I doubted he’d mind. With my preternatural strength, it was easy to scoop him up and toss him over my shoulder. Being a lot taller than me, his arms hung almost to the ground and his head rested against my butt. If he woke up, one of us was going to be very embarrassed and I was pretty sure it wouldn’t be him.
“Get me out of here quickly and without being seen, if possible,” I ordered my slaves. “If we run into anyone, shoot to incapacitate, not to kill.” They nodded in unison then jogged towards the elevator. The vamp over my shoulder jiggled as I jogged. His head repeatedly bounced off my backside, making me feel like a drum and I started giggling. The imp running beside me cut me a look and I laughed harder.
My laughter cut off when the elevator door opened on the first floor and we were faced with twenty soldiers pointing their guns at us. I belatedly realized that we would have been seen breaking the insensate vampire free. Every cell would have cameras installed, not just mine.
Moving in tandem, my slaves raised their guns and prepared to fire. As I’d ordered, they were aiming to maim rather than to kill. “Stop!” I ordered them before they could pull their triggers. There was no point in getting them, or any of the other soldiers killed.
Colonel Sanderson pushed his way to the front of the crowd and studied me. “Exactly where do you think you’re going with our prisoner?”
“Well, I was going to use him to find the First’s lair,” I replied. “But I’m guessing that plan just went out the window.” Scanning the faces before me, not one of them met my eyes. All were either looking at my chest or just over my head.
Resigned to being riddled with bullets again, I gestured to the corpse lying over my shoulder. “Before you disintegrate my head again, you might want to put the rabid vampire back in a cage. The sun will be down soon and he won’t be friendly when he wakes up.” According to what the imp had told me, I was pretty sure he’d start pulling off limbs and use them as clubs if he woke to find himself surrounded by meat sacks. The imp chuckled at my mental usage of its words.
Without meeting my eyes, the Colonel examined me closely, thinking over my words. “Are you telling me you believe this creature will be able to lead you to where the unknown entities are hiding?”
“I don’t just believe he will, I know he will.”
Sanderson thought some more then turned to one of his men. “Grab a camera and tracking device.” The soldier ran off and the Colonel gestured to me. “Would you kindly put the creature on the floor?”
I didn’t bot
her to place the vamp down gently but merely flipped him off my shoulder. He landed on his back with a thud, mouth open and fangs showing. Several soldiers gave disturbed murmurs and shuffled back a bit. Several more checked their watches, seeing how close sunset was now. Even without my swords, I wasn’t worried about my personal safety. After all, I had my holy marks to protect me. I could never really be unarmed when it came to vampires and imps. Unless my hands were removed, then I might be in trouble.
After a short wait, the soldier returned and knelt beside the prone courtier. He efficiently attached a tiny camera to the lapel of the vamp’s black suit then slipped a small black device into his pocket.
I snuck a look at my watch and nearly had my head blown off for the second time. “Easy, men,” soothed their boss. “Biggs and Rogers,” he gestured to two of his men. “Take the creature outside and make sure no one tries to shoot it when it wakes up.”
“I’d be careful about where you put him,” I advised. “He’ll burst into flames if you take him out into the sun.” A moist pile of sludge wouldn’t be much help to us in locating the cavern of doom.
“Sir,” Biggs addressed Sanderson. “One of the exits leads to an alley in the back. It should be heavily shaded at this time of the day.”
Nodding in agreement, the Colonel waved them into action. Moving with alacrity, the pair grabbed the vamp underneath his arms and dragged him down the hall. His feet bumped along behind him with the soles screeching lightly in protest.
“Now,” the American soldier said when the pair was gone. “What am I going to do with you?”
“Well, it would be nice if you wouldn’t order your men to shoot me again.” Someone sniggered at my semi-sarcastic reply. The Colonel whipped his head around to see who the culprit was but was faced with blank, controlled expressions.
“You have been quite an inconvenience for me and my men,” he said when he turned back to me. “I have a total of eleven soldiers currently unfit for duty.” He pointed at the two most recent additions to my cadre of slaves. The pair watched me with dopy smiles on their faces.
I grimaced and shrugged. “Sorry about that. It’ll wear off soon.”
“I am curious why you haven’t killed any of my soldiers.” He seemed puzzled and he also forgot what I was and met my eyes. I didn’t want his men to think I was trying to bamboozle their boss so focussed on his forehead.
“You’re going to need every man and woman you can muster to face the First and his minions. I don’t see any sense in killing any of them unnecessarily.” My tone was grim and utterly believable. Maybe I was getting better at convincing people because he held off on ordering his men to open fire on me.
Sanderson’s radio came to life as one of his men reported in. Pulling the radio free from his belt, the Colonel acknowledged the man. “Go ahead, soldier.”
“Sir,” Biggs responded, “the creature has woken and is on the move.”
“Roger that. Return to the war room. Out.” Colonel Sanderson flicked a glance at me, remembering to lower his eyes this time. “Why do you think your friend will lead us to this leader you speak about?”
“That’s a long story. The short version is that the vamp has been called by his master. He is being controlled by his shadow and doesn’t have any choice but to head directly for the cavern of doom.”
Giving the imp shadow standing beside me a long, hard look, Sanderson reached a decision. I believe it was desperation more than anything that helped him to reach it. “You mentioned that you wanted to become my ally. I’m willing to discuss this possibility with you now.” I tried to hide my utter amazement but didn’t quite pull it off. The Colonel had one more thing to say before he gestured for me to follow him. “I am not a coward…ma’am.”
At least I’ve progressed up from being an ‘it’. Who knew my offhand taunt would have had such an impact on him? It just went to show how fragile men’s egos really were. I bit my lips to keep in the laugh that wanted to escape. I recognized the urge to laugh to be relief related rather than from actual amusement. Maybe Kokoro’s prophecy was correct and I wouldn’t have to do this alone after all. I had been promised an army and the Colonel and his men were my only option.
Sanderson led the way up a flight of stairs to the second floor. Five soldiers guarded his back, walking backwards with their guns trained on me. The rest followed me, also with their guns held ready to cut me to pieces. The Colonel entered a doorway and I waited for half of the guards to enter.
One of the men waved me inside. The imp went first then I entered what used to be a meeting room that had been converted into a command centre. Several Russian soldiers and civilians stood when I appeared. They’d been seated around a large oval table. All of the soldiers wore numerous medals. The civilians wore expensive suits. None of them were female. A single white-coated technician sat to the side. An expensive looking computer sat on his tiny desk.
“Gentlemen,” Sanderson said from the head of the table, “this is Natalie. She is the…vampire who was captured on film by our soldiers.” He was reluctant to give me such an unbelievable title but managed to spit it out. They’d been told not to look into my eyes but couldn’t help but flick nervous glances at my face anyway. “She wishes to forge an alliance with us against the unknown entities that are attacking your country.”
“That creature is an abomination! It would be like making a deal with Satan!” one of the Russian soldiers spat in his native language.
“If you think I’m an abomination, what do you call the imps?” was my dry response.
Sanderson looked thunderstruck. “You speak Russian?”
“No but I understand it perfectly.” They all wore confused expressions and I managed not to roll my eyes at their lack of understanding. “Look, I am not your average vampire. As you might have noticed, I tend to regenerate when my body parts are blown off. I can stay awake during the day, holy stuff doesn’t bother me and I can understand every language on and off the planet.” I’d only actually heard one alien language so far but I assumed I’d be able to understand them all.
My explanation didn’t help much and they looked even more flabbergasted now. “The bottom line is; the sole reason I exist is to take down the ‘unknown entities’ and their leader. You need me and I could really use your help,” I explained.
Giving the men a significant look that urged them to at least give me a chance, Sanderson gestured towards a chair. “Please take a seat. We were just about to see where your friend is.”
I didn’t bother to deny that the vamp was my friend. You couldn’t argue with people who had already made up their minds. I sat in the oversized black leather chair and scooted forward so I could put my feet on the floor. I was a lot shorter than most of the men in this room and the chairs weren’t exactly meant for someone my size. My imp companion hulked just behind me. He inadvertently shielded me from the view of some of the soldiers who had their guns trained on me. They moved around to the sides until they had me back under visual surveillance.
A gigantic TV had recently been attached to a wall. I could tell it was a new addition due to the traces of gunk on the carpet that had come out of the walls after holes had been drilled.
Typing rapidly on the computer, the technician worked his magic and the TV came to life. At first it was difficult to understand what I was seeing. I wasn’t used to viewing footage that was being shown in night vision. Then I understood that the vamp was sprinting through dark countryside, presumably arrowing towards the cavern of doom.
He leaped over most obstacles in his path and dodged around anything too large to leap over. The screen suddenly split as the technician typed another command. On the left was the running vamp and on the right was a map of Russia.
With a few more keystrokes, the map zoomed in on the red dot blinking on the screen. As I’d suspected, the vamp was heading directly for the dark blob that Igor had identified as being a mountain. Our freed captive was already a quarter of the way there. It was
dizzying watching the picture of ground, trees, fences and the occasional house flashing by. Soldiers crowded closer to the table to view the screen. Some forgot that they were supposed to be watching me and made stunned noises at the speed the vamp was moving at.
He might be fast but the possessed vamp was nowhere near as graceful as he would have been if he hadn’t been a puppet. Stumbling, losing his balance constantly, he was running almost too fast to stay on his feet. Only I and my imp shadow could see his silhouette riding him and leading him to its goal. I shivered at the thought that my friends and I would also be reduced to being puppets if I didn’t put an end to the First soon.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Once his fascination at watching the vamp fleeing through the darkness had lessened, Sanderson turned to me. “Would you mind explaining what you know about these…imps and this leader that you mentioned?”
Sitting back in the too big chair, my feet dangled above the ground. I wondered how much of my story they would believe if I told them everything I knew. It probably wouldn’t be wise to tell them about our history but I couldn’t see any way to avoid it. They wouldn’t cooperate with me unless I spilled what I knew. “I won’t blame you if you’re sceptical about who and what I and my friends are,” I began. “I’ve only been one of the nocturnal for six months or so and it’s all still pretty new to me.”
Colonel Sanderson opened his mouth to voice some of the questions burning inside him then closed it again. We both knew we were running out of time. Stopping the imps was more important to both of us than satisfying his curiosity. “Please continue,” he said with admirable restraint.
“Ok.” I thought of the briefest explanation I could think of then voiced it. “According to our history, we were created by an alien that crash landed on Earth millions of years ago.” Sanderson wasn’t the only one to gape at me at that news. I’d seen ancient books and wall carvings depicting our beginnings and I could barely believe the story myself.
