The Enemies of Vengeance

by P. A Ross

  A knock against my window snapped me away from my thoughts. I must've been too caught up in my emotions to have sensed the person approaching. I already had a gun loaded on the seat next to me. I grabbed it in my left hand and pressed the window button with my right. The window rolled down, revealing a crouching figure. I held the gun up ready to take a shot. The person was a woman with black hair, a few silver earrings and a silver Bluetooth earpiece. She held an umbrella over her head as the rain battered against it. I had expected to see her at some point and had been surprised she wasn't with the rest of the mourners. The woman was Mary, mine and Scarlett's college friend. I breathed a huge sigh of relief and removed the gun.

  Mary gave me a weak smile and pushed her wet black hair out of her eyes. "It's good to see you again. May I join you and get out of the rain?"

  I nodded and buzzed back my window, and she walked around the front of the car. She opened the passenger door, sat inside and closed her umbrella before pulling the door to.

  "Terrible weather for this time of year," she said as she ran her hand through her black hair and then brushed the raindrops off her jacket.

  "Why aren't you inside with everybody else?" I asked her.

  "I wanted to talk to you," she said.

  "You want to know what happened, I guess. Well, I can't tell you, I don't want to risk anyone else's life. All I can say is I am sorry for what happened. I guess you know she ran off with me."

  "No, Jon. That isn't what I wanted to talk to you about. I know why she ran off with you already. I wanted to talk to you about what happens next."

  I raised my eyebrows and gave a derisory laugh. "Mary, you might think you know why she ran off with me, but believe me, you could never possibly imagine what has really been happening. I don't want to risk anyone else's life, so it's probably best you go. They might be watching me. The same people that killed Scarlett."

  "Jon, stop being such an arrogant little twit. You need to listen to me. I know exactly what happened that night in the park when you killed the gang and the events it put into motion."

  I leaned across her and opened the door, letting the rain in. "I'm sure you think you know. You think I just attacked them and have been on the run since. Then I came back to see Scarlett and took her to Leeds to visit my dad where I just got into more trouble, or you think I attacked and killed her. Best you go now for everybody's sake. Don't delay, your letting the rain in."

  Mary gave me a cold hard stare, barely holding back her evident annoyance. She looked different from how I remembered her. Her hair wasn't jet black any more but just a normal dark colour. The piercings in her ears had gone down to a couple, and they were relatively normal. She wasn't wearing any of her usual trademark black Gothic make-up, which was a surprise considering she was at a funeral. She leaned towards the door, grabbed the handle and slammed it shut.

  "V, I really do know everything."

  I literally jumped out of my seat towards the door and banged into it. Her calling me V, meant she really did know everything.

  "What the..."

  "Yes, V is your vampire or should I say Dragan name. You are currently going by the alias of Christopher Lee. Typical of Thorn to use a name with meaning; flaunting your true identity to the whole world. When I say I know everything, as you can tell, I know everything. I know of the vampire formula. I know of your rescue of Thorn. I know of the killing of Barry and the monster he changed into. I know of your trip to Vegas and then your road trip to Seattle. Then your return to England and taking Scarlett up north. Your capture by the Hunters, your torture and finally your escape. Oh, and of course, your recent confrontation with your boyhood best friend now turned werewolf apprentice, Giles. Anything I have missed out?"

  I just looked at her and realised my mouth was wide open as I was trying to think of something to say, trying to figure out how the hell she could know all of this. I held up my finger with the Union Dragon ring. "I got married."

  "To Thorn I assume."

  "Yes."

  "You mean a Union not a marriage."

  "Yes. But how do you know all of this?"

  "Let me tell you a story. My real name isn't Mary. I know you always believed someone was watching you at college. You believed for a while that Scarlett was there keeping an eye on you, working for the Hunters. Someone was watching you and it was me. But I don't work for the Hunters, I work for MI5," she said.

  I reached down to the gun, and she quickly grabbed my wrist. "Jon, I'm not afraid of you. There are several snipers with their cross-hairs aimed at you right now. I only have to give the order, and they will put a bullet through your heart," she said and tapped her finger against her Bluetooth earpiece, and then pointed at the misted windscreen, which had several red dots swirling around on the raindrops. I looked down at my chest as the blurred red dots danced above my heart.

  I relaxed my hand and put it back on my lap. "Well, I guess you better tell me everything then." I felt a fool. All this time, Mary knew precisely who I was and what was going on. I kind of expected to tell her my strange story and her to be surprised. But now the shoe was on the other foot. She could have me killed in an instant, and I had no idea who she really was.

  "MI5, as you know, is concerned with national security. We keep an eye on all elements of national security, this includes the Hunters and vampires and any other such organisation. The Hunters report into a different department to mine, however, MI5 have always kept tabs on them. It was clear the Hunters' organisation had gone rogue. We had a few spies inside that would feedback information. We discovered a deal had been done with the Turned in order to destroy the Dragans and find out their secrets. The genetic research your father carried out on the werewolves had caused a stir. They wanted the same results with a Dragan. Then, somehow, they were able to catch Thorn, the prime genetic example on which to base their research.

  So we know that the Hunters arranged the bullying and attack on your friend Giles. Although, we suspect it was supposed to be you. However, it had the same effect and convinced your dad to leave Leeds and move to London to work on a new research project. The safety of his son was obviously paramount to him. I was assigned to attend college and become your friend. The idea being I could keep an eye on you. Maybe get to know you better and therefore find out what your dad was up to. We had people watching your father as well."

  "So if you were there to keep an eye on me, why didn't you stop everything that happened?"

  "I'm sorry, Jon, we hadn't realised the attack on you outside the college was a ploy for you to take the formula. We thought it was just an unfortunate event."

  "Why didn't you stop the gang on that day? You could have fought them off."

  Mary smiled. "I may be a spy, but I'm not some sort of superhero, martial arts expert. Yes, I can handle myself a bit, but I'm not sure if I could have fought off those three teenage thugs. And even if I could have beaten them, it would have completely blown my cover. My mission was to watch and observe, to become your friend. Someone you could trust and would tell your secrets to. That is why I arranged to be one of your buddies when you first arrived. That is why I dressed in Gothic clothing. I was trying to be someone who you could connect with."

  "What do you mean exactly? Do you mean you were trying to be my girlfriend?"

  Mary scratched her chin and took a deep breath. "Well, this is a little bit awkward. I was supposed to become your friend, and if that meant I had to become your girlfriend as well; I was supposed to allow that to happen. It would have ensured our friendship, and it would have ensured access to your father secrets. But I didn't need to become your girlfriend. It was obvious from the beginning you and Scarlett had hit it off. I realised all I needed to do was become Scarlett's friend and encourage the relationship between you. It's not that I don't like you, Jon, but I am a few years older than I actually look. And it would have been morally incorrect of me to encourage such an intimate friendship."

  I shook my head and sighed. "I wouldn't ha
ve worried about the age gap if I was you, as you know, my current girlfriend has many more years on me."

  "A few hundred more years on you so I understand."

  "I really don't know what to think of all of this. I did find you attractive, and I always felt we had so much in common as well. I had often wondered if Scarlett hadn't been there, if we would have been closer. But I feel weird about the fact that this was all an act on your behalf. You were just a honey trap."

  "I know it is weird. And I'm glad I never had to go to that stage of pretending to be your girlfriend. It is not something I wanted to do either. I was so relieved when your friendship with Scarlett took off. And all I had to do was encourage it, which took quite a bit of work may I add. And without me, you probably would have never have got together."

  "And if we hadn't have got together, Scarlett would still be alive today. Maybe you are as much to blame as me for her death," I said and stared at her.

  "Don't blame me for her death or yourself, it's quite clear the Turned hunted her down and killed her. I suspect this was an act of revenge for the death of Carmella and the other Hunters. But this is why I'm here to talk to you today. Now we have our true identities revealed, we can talk about how to exact revenge and stop them."

  "You want to work with Thorn and me to defeat the Turned and the Hunters?"

  "It's much more than just me, John. I'm here representing MI5 and therefore the whole of Her Majesty's government. The Hunters and Turned working together poses a clear and present danger to national and international security. We need to stop them. Therefore I have been given permission to engage with the Dragan community, to see if we can form an alliance."

  "You want to work with Thorn and me, to stop the Turned?"

  "Not just you and Thorn, but all the Dragan's and the werewolves that want to stop the Turned. We have the same goals."

  "And how can we trust you? Do you think Thorn will want to work with MI5?"

  "It wouldn't be the first time she has worked for us. She acted as an assassin and spy in the Second World War. I'm sure she must have told you about this."

  I remembered her stories of roaming France and Germany during the Second World War. Her knowledge of languages, her ability to read people's thoughts, and of course, her supernatural strength were a huge asset in fighting the war. "She has told me that she worked for the British government during the Second World War and on other occasions. I'm sure she'd be willing to listen."

  Mary reached into a jacket pocket and pulled out a USB stick and handed it to me. I took it from her. "What's this?"

  "This," Mary said, looking at the USB stick, "is a gesture of goodwill. It contains some information Thorn can use. It also has details on how I can be contacted via secure channels. But in the meantime, my old mobile number still works if you need to contact me in an emergency. Do you still have my number?"

  "Yes, I still have it saved." I put the USB stick into my jeans pocket. "So what's next?"

  "Speak to Thorn; put forward our proposal to her. With our intelligence and military resources, and with her supernatural powers, we can stop the Turned for good and bring the Hunter organisation back into line."

  "And take revenge for Scarlett."

  "Yes, and take revenge for Scarlett. Also long term it would be useful for this alliance to continue."

  "If we win this war, then you want the Dragan's to work for you full time?"

  "Why not?"

  "I don't think it's Thorn's style to work for anyone. Those few times she has worked for the government, it has been exceptional circumstances."

  "The world is changing. Thorn probably knows this already. She needs to adapt if the Dragans are to survive beyond this fight."

  "Yes, genetic research has brought everything to a head."

  Mary shook her head. "Not just advances in technology and sciences, although this does make a big difference. We humans have the weapons and tools to hunt down the Dragan and Turned. We also have the numbers. But reality itself is changing."

  I stared at her, hoping the answer would spring to mind. "What are you saying?"

  "Reality is changing. The magic that made the Dragans, which has been considered gone, is returning to the world."

  "Magic is coming back. But how?"

  "Something has broken the balance that was created when the Mages fused themselves with Dragons and created Dragans. That act drained the world of most of its magic and poured itself into those beings. There was a remnant amount left over, but not enough for normal people to detect or use. But something has upset the balance."

  "How? What happened?"

  "There are several theories doing the rounds, which include you at the centre of them."

  "Me. I haven't done anything."

  "You became a Dragan. Not through birth, but through genetic manipulation. The experts believe a sudden additional Dragan in the world has punched open a gateway for the transformations to take place. This has let magic back into the world from the original source. The gateway is open and every transformation draws in more magic. Especially considering your change to a dragon in the warehouse battle. It must have secured the gateway."

  "I have to die on every transformation, and I always see a bright light and faces and voices of the dead."

  "So it does open a gateway to another dimension."

  "It's my fault then?"

  "It doesn't really matter whose fault it is, but unusual things have started to happen. And we don't have the Hunters to help us control them. This gives the Turned or Dragans possible other allies or enemies. It is in our interest to bring these potential friends or foes into our department. I will need the Dragans to help us control this new world."

  "I see. I will speak to Thorn and see what she says."

  "Like I said, I am sure Thorn has already detected this change in the world."

  I shook my head. "She hasn't mentioned anything to me."

  "And does she tell you everything?"

  I looked away and gritted my teeth.

  "I guessed as much," she said, "Just ask her about it and we can discuss you joining my department."

  "So what is this department called?"

  "The official title is MI5-S, the S standing for supernatural. But we have a few nicknames that the rest of the security services refer to us by. Spooky crew, Scooby gang, and Ghostbusters."

  "Imaginative, aren't they?"

  "It's just been shortened to department S by most people."

  "What are the things that have happened? Is there anyone that could help us?"

  Mary took a moment and placed her finger on the earpiece and flicked her eyebrows at it. "Nothing I can discuss. These other people with supernatural powers are rogue at the moment, or we are unsure of their suitability. We have our hands full containing them. Only time will tell if they can be of use or need to be eliminated. One way or another, Department S will need to expand."

  "Oh. I understand." It was clear from her gestures that she couldn't talk about it as other people were listening. Maybe she would tell me another time.

  "I'm going now, Jon, speak to Thorn as soon as possible, don't leave this opportunity too long. If we don't hear from you within a few days, then we assume you are also our enemy. There is no sitting on the sidelines or being neutral. You're either with Department S and Her Majesty's government, or you're an equal threat as the Hunters and Turned, and any other hostile powers."

  Mary grabbed hold of the door handle, pushed it open, got out and slammed it shut. She walked out into the car park, and a car zoomed from the other side, stopped by her and she opened up the back passenger door and got inside. The car then screeched away out of the car park and back onto the main road.

  I couldn't believe I had just had that conversation with Mary. All this time she was watching me, and I thought she was just a bystander. I would wait until the funeral was over and then I would head back to the hotel and contact Thorn. I would put forward Mary's proposals. But it seemed the most l
ogical choice especially as Thorn had worked with them before. We could benefit from a strong alliance. My path to vengeance was now clear.

  Chapter Seven

  I waited at the crematorium until Scarlett's family and friends had left. I gave it another half an hour to pull myself together and think of a plan of action. I would go back to the hotel at nightfall and call Thorn to discuss the proposal from MI5. Afterwards, I would get some sleep, and then I would visit Miss Jones in the morning.

  The final stragglers finished talking and drove off as the next set of mourners arrived for another funeral. I decided now was my time to leave amidst the incoming traffic. I started the car up, drove through the tree lined roads and out of the crematorium.

  As I turned out of the crematorium, the sun was ducking behind a wooded area across the muddy ploughed fields next to the country road. I followed my satnav, thinking about what Mary had said, thinking about my revenge and doing everything not to think about Scarlett.

  The car jolted forward, and I slammed into the steering wheel. I pushed myself upright and yanked the steering wheel, skidding the car off the edge of the road to remain on track. In the rearview mirror, a blue pickup truck surged into view. I hit the accelerator to gain some space, but the truck rammed into the back of my car again; its front bars tangled into my rear bumper.

  I tried to accelerate away and steer off the front of it, but the truck had too much power. It pushed me further forward, driving me off the road. The pickup truck slammed on its brakes. My car's back bumper ripped off, as stuck to the pickup trucks front fender. The car smashed through a wooden fence and bounced into the wet, muddy field. The left side front wheel hit a tree stump. The car flipped around in the air. I closed my eyes and braced for impact. My body strapped in and spinning around within the metal cage. The car crashed down on the roof and skidded along. The windshield smashed to pieces, spraying glass into my face, and the airbags burst open at the front and sides, encasing me in a pillow of safety. As the car ground to a halt, wet mud poured in and covered my face.