Brand New Night

by Nathan Spain

  The officer jumped, surprised by Bodrock’s sudden appearance. Bodrock noticed the young man’s eyes flit over him; from the muscles and scars of his bare torso, to the knife in his hand, and then back up to the still-healing cut across his face.

  “It – it’s Mayor Allen, Mr. Bodrock, sir,” the boy stammered. “Sent me to, uh, fetch you, sir.”

  “Fetch me?” sneered Bodrock. “What happened, you draw the short straw? And what exactly does the mayor want in the middle of the night?”

  “D-didn’t say, sir. Just said it was urgent. He had, er, visitors. In his office, I mean.”

  “What sort of visitors?”

  “I don’t know, sir. People I’ve never seen before. He seemed a bit, uh, well, a bit distressed. I think you’d better come with me, sir.”

  “Fine,” Bodrock said. As much as he resented the interruption of his night’s sleep, he couldn’t deny his curiosity. “Give me a moment to get dressed and I’ll be right with you.”

  His curiosity only mounted as the young officer drove him through the darkened streets. When they reached City Hall, they found the building closed and empty of employees, but Bodrock saw the faint glow of a single light in the window of the mayor’s office above.

  The mayor himself was waiting to let them in. “Mr. Bodrock,” he said as they entered, and gave Bodrock a firm, if somewhat nervous handshake. “Thank you for coming. Terribly sorry to disturb you this evening, but these are…unusual circumstances, most unusual.” He frowned, looking tense and troubled. To the police officer, he added, “Thank you, young man. You may go now.”

  As he followed the mayor into the building, Bodrock asked, “What circumstances? What’s gotten you so worked up, Mr. Mayor?”

  The mayor glanced at Bodrock over his shoulder, opened and closed his mouth a couple times, and then set his jaw and muttered, “I think you had best come see for yourself.”

  Bodrock cautiously followed as the mayor led him up the stairs. Something about all this smelled funny to him. He’d come armed, of course, but he hoped he wouldn’t need to use those weapons. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust the mayor – it was that he didn’t trust most people.

  As they approached the mayor’s office, Allen said, “Now, I should warn you, you’re not going to like this, but just…just hear them out, okay? No one wants any trouble.”

  Bodrock just looked at him blankly, until the mayor sighed and opened his office door.

  They stepped inside. Immediately, Bodrock noticed the figures waiting for them. The young woman perched on the edge of the desk and the old man sitting in a chair nearby were unknown to him, but the man leaning against the wall…

  His hand flew to one of the stakes on his belt as he lunged forward, instinct taking over. Shouts rang out around him, but he was focused only on the familiar monster by the wall.

  He thrust the stake in his hand toward the man’s chest, but Draven seized Bodrock’s wrist, stopping the blow right before the stake pierced him. Bodrock strained to no avail against the vampire’s unnatural strength.

  “Stand down, hunter,” Draven said. “We don’t want to fight you.”

  Bodrock’s mouth twisted in a snarl. “You shouldn’t have come back here, then.”

  With a swift, sudden motion, Draven ducked down low and released his grip on Bodrock’s arm. Finding himself suddenly pushing against nothing, Bodrock’s arm flung forward and the stake buried itself in the wall.

  Draven pounced up again and grabbed Bodrock from behind in a chokehold. Bodrock gave a cry of rage, his hands reaching behind his head. He seized Draven’s shirt, quickly bent his torso forward, pulled Draven off his back and threw him over his head. The vampire hit the ground hard.

  “Mr. Bodrock!” Mayor Allen shouted. “Mr. Draven! Stop this right now!”

  Bodrock ignored him. He drew a jagged knife from the holster on his hip. His prey lay stunned before him. With a vicious grin, he stepped forward.

  Someone flung themselves at him, barreling into his side. He fell onto his back, and the figure jumped on him and pinned his wrists to the floor. It was the blond woman. Her hair fell into his face as she straddled his waist. He pushed against her, but she was just as strong as Draven.

  “Drop the knife,” the woman growled. Behind her, Draven picked himself up off the floor.

  “Please, calm down, Mr. Bodrock,” the mayor said anxiously. “I told you not to do anything rash…”

  Bodrock replied in a strained voice, “Mr. Mayor, these – these people are dangerous. That man is the criminal you sent me after. He’s the one who scarred my face.”

  Draven took a tentative step forward. “In self-defense. And you’ll recall that I also spared your life when I could have killed you. At any rate, the mayor knows what we are. We told him everything.”

  Bodrock narrowed his eyes, trying to comprehend this. He didn’t have the highest opinion of the mayor, but surely Allen wouldn’t be so foolish as to actually trust these bloodsuckers. He must be acting under duress. They had forced him to lure Bodrock into a trap. It was the only thing that made sense.

  With a burst of strength, Bodrock tried again to sit up and throw Ariadne off him, but she forced his wrists back to the floor almost immediately.

  The other, silver-haired vampire stepped forward. “Do you need a hand, Ariadne?”

  She shook her head, her fangs exposed in a satisfied smirk. “I’ve got this.”

  “You brought friends this time,” Bodrock said, glaring at Draven. “What are you playing at? Trying to take over the city, and you need to get me out of the way first?”

  For some reason this made Draven laugh. “The exact opposite of that, actually.”

  Bodrock squinted at him in confusion. “What do you mean?”

  Mayor Allen coughed and said, “Just hear them out. They explained everything to me, and trust me, I thought I was going mad at first. But God help us, I believe them.”

  “You’d have to be mad to trust killers like them,” Bodrock spat.

  “Oh, that’s just –” Ariadne started angrily. Leaning down in his face, she snarled, “Look, hunter, we have just as much reason to hate you as you have to distrust us. Your brotherhood almost killed me once, and that was before I became a vampire. The only reason I was turned in the first place is because of you people. If it were up to me I wouldn’t have involved you in this at all, but we need your help, and unlike you, we’re not too proud to extend an olive branch to those who hate us.”

  Bodrock stared back up at her. He couldn’t believe this. This had to be some kind of ruse, but he couldn’t figure out what their game was. “What could you possibly need my help with? And why on Earth would I give it to you?”

  “The survival of the human race reason enough for you?” the older, silver-haired vampire said. It might have sounded like a joke, had his expression not been so serious. “Your distrust of vampire kind is not entirely unwarranted, I’ll admit. But your distrust of us is. We’re on your side, son.”

  Bodrock’s eyes bulged in disbelief. “My side? My side is dedicated to the extermination of you monsters.”

  “And yet we find ourselves on the same side tonight, improbable as it seems. That side is the side of life. Now if you’ll simmer down, young man, and simply allow us to explain the situation, maybe you’ll understand what I mean by that.”

  Bodrock stared at the faces looking down at him. He took a deep breath in and released it slowly, letting his straining muscles relax. “Fine,” he muttered.

  Ariadne released him and sprang up, stepping back quickly to stand alongside the other two vampires.

  Bodrock got to his feet, the others watching him warily. He felt embarrassed and fairly certain he was making a mistake. But he didn’t like the odds of a three-on-one fight, so he sheathed the knife in its holster, raised his hands, and said, “All right, then. Talk.”

  ----

  Several minutes and confused questions later, Bodrock thought he understood. Trust was still a long w
ay off, and his deeply-ingrained suspicion still wouldn’t let him rule out the possibility that this was all some elaborate trick, but he at least comprehended the story they were telling him.

  “So, this…Thanatos, he declared war on your people?”

  “Technically,” Draven clarified, “he declared war on yours. The Winebloods, like myself, are standing against him because we don’t wish to see such a slaughter take place.”

  Bodrock sneered. “How compassionate of you. Your concern for your food supply is touching.”

  “Don’t you see?” the gray-haired vampire, Damian, pressed. “This isn’t just some vampire in-fighting over control of territory and resources. Thanatos and Brone see your kind as inferior, yes, but we do not. All of us vampires were humans like you once, and some of us have not forgotten that. True, we have preyed upon your species, but we have never been butchers, conquerors or slave-drivers, and we don’t intend to start now.”

  “Okay, so some of your people crossed a line and now you’ve suddenly developed a conscience. I get it. It’s all very noble. But what do you expect me to do about it?”

  Draven gestured at Mayor Allen. “Protect the mayor, for one thing. And if any of your fellow Sons of Helsing reside in this area, you should get word to them at once. The people here have no idea what kind of threat they’re up against, but you do. They will need someone with your experience to lead them, to show them how to fight back.”

  Bodrock considered this for a moment. “It’s possible there may be a few left, but we don’t keep tabs on each other. We’re an ancient, secret fraternal organization, not the damn PTA. We don’t have weekly meetings and a mailing list or some shit.”

  The mayor interrupted with a cough. “Excuse me. Not to seem, uh, preoccupied, but can we get back to the part where I’m being targeted by assassins?”

  “Don’t worry, Mr. Mayor,” Draven reassured him. “Dealing with that is our number-one priority. And we have a plan. We can flush out the assassins and prepare the city for battle at the same time.”

  “F-flush out?” the mayor said sharply. “You mean as in…with bait?”

  “Yes, Mr. Mayor, I’m afraid that’s exactly what I mean.” Draven stood and strode to the window, glancing out. The night sky outside had begun to lighten with the first traces of dawn. “Day’s almost here. I can’t say about tomorrow, but there will be no invasion tonight. Our people are just outside the city, waiting for word from us. A small army, as many as we could spare to come and fight for you. With your permission, Mr. Mayor, I’d like to move them here into this building for now. We won’t be difficult guests. We need neither food nor proper lodgings, just a secure space in which to wait out the day.”

  The mayor hesitated for a moment, then nodded. “Very well. Our city didn’t gain the nickname ‘Sanctuary’ by turning away guests.”

  This was too much for Bodrock to bear. “You’re really going to welcome more of these…these creatures into the city? How do you know they’re telling the truth? What if this is all a trap, and you’re falling for it like a fool?”

  “Oh, use your head for once,” Ariadne snapped. “We wouldn’t need to deceive anyone to get into the city. Besides, if we intended to harm the mayor, we could have done so already. And we certainly wouldn’t have called a vampire hunter here for a chat if that were the case.”

  Allen gave him a stern look. “Mr. Bodrock, you’re not a trusting man, and I can appreciate that. But I will remind you that this is my city, and I make the final decisions here. If you’re not comfortable aiding us in protecting Sanctuary, then you’re welcome to leave.”

  “No, I’ll stay,” Bodrock said darkly. “Someone’s got to keep you from getting yourself killed.”

  Damian nodded at him in appreciation. “Good man.”

  “Don’t patronize me, monster. If I get to kill some of your kind while protecting some of mine, that’s good enough for me.”

  “So, Draven,” the mayor said, “you mentioned a plan?”

  Draven glanced briefly at his fellow vampires. “It looks like we’ll have a day to plan and strategize, so for now we’ll stay here and keep you safe. But as soon as the sun sets tomorrow, Mr. Mayor, we’re going to need you to make an emergency announcement…”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  The new day dawned on Sanctuary, bright, warm, and deceptively calm, giving no indication that when next the sun rose, it would be upon a changed world.

  Only one thing stood out as unusual: City Hall was closed. The doors were locked, the windows dark, and signs on the door simply stated that the mayor would make an urgent announcement on the steps of the building at sundown.

  Word spread outward through the city, ripples of rumor and speculation disrupting the routines of daily existence. By mid-day, Sanctuary was abuzz with curiosity.

  While the humans unwittingly went about their lives, Ariadne and the other vampires, along with Bodrock and Mayor Allen, waited patiently in City Hall. Blinds tightly drawn against the sun, they went over the plan again and again.

  Eventually, though, the day wore on and the strategizing grew repetitive. Feeling a sudden need to clear her head, Ariadne left Draven in huddled discussion with Damian, and slipped away to seek solitude.

  She found it in an empty conference room, staring out the tall glass window at the street below. The blinds were open, but the sun faced the other side of the building and its deadly rays did not infiltrate the room. In the full light of day, the city looked larger than it did after dark. Its steel and glass towers gleamed, and currents of life ran through the streets like warm blood in the city’s veins.

  Sanctuary’s population may not have equaled the crowds that had once filled those streets, but if Ariadne didn’t look too closely, she could almost pretend that nothing had changed. Even without vehicles filling the street like there had been before the Devastation, she noticed the humans still kept to the sidewalks, for seemingly no reason but habit. Despite everything, this society still followed the habits and traditions of old.

  Ariadne supposed there was comfort to be found in familiarity, but she’d been around for long enough to learn that some things you could hold on to forever, and some things you had to let go. The difficult part, of course, was recognizing which things were which.

  She heard Draven enter the room before he could announce himself. Wordlessly, he walked around the conference table and joined her at the window.

  “They’re so small down there,” she said quietly, breaking the silence. “So vulnerable.”

  Draven followed her gaze. “Everyone is, aren’t they? Even us.”

  “But they’ve lost so much already, and they have no idea what’s coming for them. If we lose this fight…”

  Draven inhaled deeply. “Win or lose, nothing will be the same after this. Everything’s going to change, one way or another.”

  “Everything’s already changed. And it will change again. Changing is the only thing the world can do.”

  Draven turned to look at her, his expression troubled. “Listen, Ari, there’s no easy way to say this, but…well, when this fight comes, I would prefer it if you were somewhere else. Somewhere safe.”

  He looked visibly uncomfortable as he spoke, avoiding her gaze. From the surge of angry disbelief that welled up in her, she thought that was probably an appropriate choice.

  “What?” she spat. “Not a chance, Draven. I don’t care what you prefer. I’m staying here.”

  “Look, I just –” he started to say, but the levelness of his tone only irritated her further.

  “Just what? You don’t think I can handle myself in a fight? You’re gonna tell me that having to watch my back would just slow you down?”

  “No, Ari, I didn’t say that.”

  He looked genuinely hurt by the accusation, but Ariadne refused to feel guilty. She wasn’t the one making such a ridiculous request.

  “You really think I would leave everyone behind to risk their lives without me? That I would leave my
father, after everything that’s happened?” She didn’t understand how he could even suggest such a thing.

  “You could take Damian with you,” Draven said carefully. “Keep him safe.”

  She scoffed. “You know he would never agree to that, any more than I would.”

  Draven sighed, looking away with a frown as he admitted, “That’s true.”

  “So why are we even having this conversation?”

  Draven chewed his lip. “You’re really going to make me say it, aren’t you? Okay, fine.” He straightened his back and looked her in the eyes. “I don’t want to lose you, Ari. I’m afraid of what might happen.”

  For a second Ariadne just stared at him, mouth hanging open slightly, and then she turned away, wrapping her fingers in her hair on the back of her head. A little hiccup of a laugh involuntarily bubbled forth from her throat. She couldn’t believe him.

  “Oh, you’re afraid? Well, guess what, so am I. So are all of us. But we’re not running from this. We’re going to face it. We have to.”

  Draven sat on the edge of the table, rubbing his forehead with his hand, his shoulders tense. He was silent for a time, and when he finally raised his head and looked at her, there was something in his eyes that she had never seen there before: anxiety.

  “They killed Selene,” he said quietly. “And if Selene can die, any one of us could be next. I just got you all back.” His voice cracked, and he drew a deep, shuddering breath. “I don’t want to be alone again.”

  Whatever indignation Ariadne had felt, it wasn’t cruel enough to persist in the face of such a declaration. She understood the admission’s significance; emotional vulnerability wasn’t something Draven displayed to many people.

  She sat on the table beside him, close enough that their legs touched. Gently, she took his hand in her own and gave it a comforting squeeze.

  “I don’t want to lose you, either, you big immortal idiot.” She was surprised how true the words felt when she spoke them out loud. A minute ago, with her temper flaring, she would have said that she didn’t give a damn whether Draven stayed in her life or not. But now…well, as unnecessary as his protectiveness was, she had to admit it wasn’t the worst thing, having someone worry about her.