Protectors of the Veil

by Dawn Matthews

  It was dark and the only light I found was the faint flicker of an almost spent candle. I was hypnotized by its illumination, drawn into it by some unseen force. Shapes began to form in the flame—burning their impression in my mind. Together they assembled into something monstrous. I saw darkness in the shape of a young woman. A mass of black hair and piercing eyes. A loud creak from the floor above broke my concentration.

  By the time I turned back, the candle was completely burned out. All that remained was the foul scent of candle smoke. I waved my hand fervently in front of my face, pretending like that would actually do something. I grabbed a flashlight from my bag and made my way to the staircase, hoping it would lead to the origin of that sound. I was reminded of so many stories I read about vampire hunters seeking out those creatures of the night. They never made it close enough to find their evidence. I wouldn’t suffer the same fate. I was prepared, and I don’t mean a wooden stake or fictitious holy water.

  I could feel a breeze coming from above. Did it move? Was it playing tricks on me? It must have sensed me by now but I thought their senses were heightened.

  I found the foot of the staircase. The wooden boards looked decrepit and worn. I was almost afraid that I would fall through to the sub-levels but couldn’t give up after making it this far. As I slowly climbed the stairs, my mind fell into harmonious rapture. Soft music echoed through the chambers of my mind. There was the soft sweet sound of the violin. Clouds cleared from the sky leaving behind a glistening blue sea ceiling. Ripples tore across at lightning speed almost appearing to be waves of water crashing down on the horizon. Columns of angels pointed the way. I felt like I was dancing on air. A voice in the distant whispered my name. It was an unfamiliar voice but it seduced me like a siren. A thin smile crossed my face. Something grabbed me by the hand.

  “This way,” I heard it say.

  The clouds came screaming back across the sky, crashing into each other so violently I thought the world would collapse upon itself. As they parted I heard taunting laughter from above. So many voices at once. But I thought only one person lived here.

  “She has the power to make you see whatever she wants. Her compulsion is exceedingly strong and could persuade the gods themselves,” I heard that same voice again.

  “Who is she?” I asked.

  “She is why you are here. She is why I am here. She is everything and nothing. Most importantly, she is your future—if that is what you so choose.”

  “My future?”

  “You will see.”

  END

  “Of course, the story did not end there,” the voice continued. “The vampire luring hunters is Verica Lisancic.”

  “I hate that cunt!” Sam had encountered Verica Lisancic when she first started working with the IVA. She was part of a group of magic demonic vampires trying to form an army to take over the human world by building an army of human vampires. “Clearly she’s up to her old tricks. SHE WILL NOT SLIP THROUGH MY CLAWS THIS TIME!”

  “You know what to do,” the robotic voice said. “Good luck, Samantha.”

  “Yip,” Sam said to the robotic voice. She turned her computers off, turned the lights off and took her shoes off. She sat with her legs in a pretzel form and started deep breathing. She reached her mind out to her vampire contact while wishing she were as good at telepathy as he was.

  “You’re getting better,” Csaszar Benci said. “Your dealings with Fenrir have been very beneficial.”

  Sam had been dealing with the most powerful original werewolf. He was the first werewolf in all of existence and the original werewolves are the strongest werewolf breed.

  “Yes, he has been a great help,” Sam replied in her head, “though I’m not sure if I’ll ever be as good at this as you are. I don’t even hope to get as good as the higher-ups.”

  “You were born human,” he said. “You judge your success by what you’re capable of, not what we’re capable of. You have a disadvantage, since you were not born a werewolf. You’re the best damn human werewolf there is. Be proud of that.”

  “Thanks, Sazzy.” Sam never called him by his full name; it was too long and seemed to be missing some vowels. “I’m sure while we were having this little conversation you were picking my brain to see why I was contacting you.”

  “I was,” Sazzy said, “and I had heard Verica was up to her old tricks. I have been waiting for you to contact me. You really don’t have to be involved, but I know you wouldn’t have it any other way after last time.”

  “Don’t you even think about making me sit this one out. I owe that bitch!” Sam insisted.

  “I’m glad you feel that way. I’m going to round up my team, we’ll be there to get you soon. In the meantime, I want you to prepare by connecting with Fenrir,” Sazzy said.

  “Will do,” Sam said, “see you soon.”

  “See you,” he said. He severed the connection.

  Sam concentrated on Fenrir. To strengthen her and make her a higher-level werewolf, he had to possess her body. She felt his energy come into her body. His power was overwhelming. It was getting to the point that she wasn’t sure if she was making her body move or he was.

  “I will remain with you during your mission,” Fenrir said into her mind. “This bitch needs killed.” Then he growled, both out loud in her body and in her mind. She felt like her brain and soul were shaking with the deep reverberation of his growl. It both scared and excited her. She began to salivate at the anticipation of the kill. Fenrir would often fill her with a calming energy, but not tonight. He was working her into a frenzy. She began to wonder if she could make it through the building to get to a car without killing someone.

  “They’re here,” Fenrir said into her mind. He meant the vampires. When she opened her eyes, they were silver.

  The door opened and Sazzy was there. “Greetings, Fenrir…and Sam.”

  Sam was able to nod her head and that was as much human as she could muster. She was starting to change.

  “Good,” Sazzy said, “that’s the fierceness we need. I’m glad you’ll be joining us, Fenrir. I believe Verica has amassed a large coven. We must exterminate them all. Let’s go.”

  Sam’s change came on faster. Fur was sprouting all over her body; the muscles grew and stretched, as did the bones. Her clothes ripped off. This was the first time Fenrir was in her when she turned, and he made her twice the size she normally was. She didn’t need a mirror to know he had turned her into a giant fierce monster…and she loved it. She wouldn’t need her guns for this mission; she was the weapon. They all ran so fast that they didn’t need any vehicles and they moved faster than any mortal eyes could see. They all knew her scent. The vampires could smell as well as she could. They were almost there. Sam’s anticipation hit knew heights; she had never felt anything like this before. There was the door. They ran through it, shattering it into a million pieces.

  They had to kill the human vampires to get to her. They were no match for Sam, but they weren’t satisfying either. She pounced on them, but didn’t much care if they lived or died. She knew eventually they all needed to die, but right now, she wanted Verica. Sam was done playing, or was it Fenrir that felt that way? They were one at the moment. Sam leapt to the second floor where a higher vampire jumped on her. She threw him off and bit his head off. She half spit and half threw the head behind her. It landed on the first floor. Some of the higher order Chaos vampires had joined her. There was so much going on that it was hard to make sense of it all. She focused on one thing, Verica’s scent. She zeroed in on one room and burst through the door.

  Verica looked excited at first, until she got a good look at Sam/Fenrir. She saw her death. She turned to jump out the window, but she was not fast enough. She had never dealt with Fenrir before, or anything higher than she was except the one that possessed and turned her centuries ago.

  Sam/Fenrir moved faster than even she could see. Their paw swatted her away from the window. They took her whole head in their mouth and bit it off.
They spit out the head and devoured the rest of her body, leaving nothing but bones and a bloody dress behind. Another Order magic vampire appeared in the room. He was so stunned by what he saw that he was frozen in fear. Sam/Fenrir bit his head off, too. They did not eat this one. They went through the rest of the house looking for anything moving that wasn’t on their side. They killed anything that was moving. There were bits of flesh, blood, and bone everywhere.

  Sam/Fenrir decided to go outside to smell if there were anymore. There was a mix of scents on the ground. There were strange sounds coming from under the ground as well. Fenrir alerted the vampires to come investigate with him. They appeared at his side almost instantly.

  Sazzy gave a command to the other vampires. He seemed to tell them to search the ground for a door or some kind of opening. Sam was searching, too. She picked up an odd scent and zeroed in on it. Fenrir recognized it, but it was something Sam couldn’t understand. Fenrir looked back and clued the vampires in on what was going on, though Sam was still out of the loop. She felt Fenrir’s reluctance to take Sam any further. Whatever he was tracking had to be stronger than anything Sam had ever seen, at least anything that was an enemy.

  They found a huge set of double doors in the ground. Sazzy opened it. Luckily, they could all see in the dark as well as the light. It was pitch black down there. There were very wide stairs.

  “Maybe you should stay here while we investigate,” Sazzy said. “I know she’s doubled in size and power since you’ve been in her tonight, but she’s never even seen anything like this.” He wasn’t speaking out loud, but Sam had the feeling that whatever was down there would be able to hear him just the same.

  “We all know who is down there, at least one of them is down there. I only smell one. We should see which one, then we all need to get out of here,” Fenrir said. “We need to figure out what they’re up to NOW, so we can stop it.”

  “Very well,” Sazzy said. “Let us lead, you take the rear. We need to cover our asses anyway. I don’t want anyone sneaking up on us from behind.”

  That was all Sam needed to hear to understand how nervous everyone was to go face whatever this thing was. They can sense people from far away, they have heightened senses, and abilities humans could only dream of. How could anyone possibly sneak up on them?

  Fenrir nodded in accession. The vampires went down two at a time, with Sazzy leading. After the last two made their way a few steps down, Sam/Fenrir followed, bringing up the rear. They left two guys at the top to guard the entrance. The smell was awful. The smell of death was everywhere, but the smell of whatever they were hunting was even worse. The stairs were slimy, colors were difficult in the dark, but it didn’t look like the slime was clear. Whatever they were hunting, it was slimy. Yuck!

  With the smell of death everywhere, Sam thought back to Aiden’s zombie story. She had never seen a zombie before and really had no desire to see one ever. Fenrir told her it was not a zombie, but something much worse. There was old blood and bits of bodies of various kinds, some human, some not. There weren’t even rats down here. It was like the vampires just threw things down here as a sacrifice to whatever they were hunting.

  “That’s exactly what they did,” Fenrir said. “This thing is as pure Order as you can get and still exist.”

  “Oh shit!” Sam thought. She was thankful she couldn’t speak out loud in this form or she probably would have screamed that. That meant that this was Pure Insanity incarnate. That was the energy she was feeling. It was jittery and spastic. It made it difficult to think. Fenrir was trying to shield her from the energy. He couldn’t shield her from the stench. Sounds of struggling, or possible strangling. It was a floor below them.

  Everyone started running towards the next set of stairs that had to be there somewhere. They found the stairs just as they heard a gasp and another person laughing. She was female; the sound of her laughter made every hair on Sam’s body stand on end. Sam was certain she knew they were there, whoever she was.

  “Iiiiissiiiiissss” she whispered into Sam’s head.

  “Isis?” Sam thought.

  “NO!” Fenrir said in Sam’s head. “She is only the illness of Isis, her insanity.”

  Isis’ infection was furious that Fenrir called her an infection. After all, she saw it the other way around. She thought the real Isis, the Chaos Isis, had been infecting her.

  They were almost there, a door ahead. There was a light on in the room. Whoever was in there with her must have passed out. Sam could hear soft breathing and see shadows being thrown; did she have like eight arms or something, like Kali?

  “Sort of,” Fenrir thought, “no hands.”

  As they came into view of the room, Sam saw the most ridiculous sight she had ever seen. There was a naked man on the floor covered in blood. He was so close to death that two reapers were standing beside him. On his back was a tattoo of a tribal sun with the word “Sol” in the center. Then there was her…Isis. Her bubble gum pink tentacles were covered in blood, obviously, the blood of the man she had been torturing. Strangely, he had a grin on his face as if he was thoroughly enjoying the torture she had put him through. Then was her face, which looked so out of place on that body. The face looked human.

  Without moving her body, Isis’ head stretched on the squishy, slimy top part right toward Sam. Her face was just inches from Sam’s. Isis looked into Sam’s eyes thinking of the things she could do to torture her. The look in those cold eyes chilled Sam to the bone. She shivered and Isis laughed like the lunatic she was.

  “That is not Isis,” Fenrir said. “I know it’s hard to comprehend, but Isis is a child now. This thing is just what had infected her.”

  That seemed to infuriate the thing. The man on the floor died, and the reapers took his soul. Isis’ infection started moving her long pink tentacles. Everyone turned and ran. Two were grabbed by her tentacles. The other vampires turned back to help. Sam started to turn, but Sazzy yelled into her head, “RUUUNNN!!!” That’s what she did. She didn’t look back, she just ran like the wind. She didn’t stop running until she made it back to her office.

  She turned back into her human form. “I’m sorry, Samantha,” Fenrir said. “I never wanted you to end up on her radar. If I had any idea she was going to be there, I would have made you stay here. What’s done is done. I want you to recover yourself and go tell Atum everything you just saw. I’m going to talk to some others. If you see her or hear her in your head at any time, you summon me or see Atum immediately. Understood?”

  “Yes,” Sam said. She never thought she could be afraid of something that looked so silly. Those eyes, she had not once of caring for anything or anyone besides her own entertainment.

  “DON’T THINK ABOUT HER,” Fenrir said. “That is like a summoning. As soon as you start to think about her, think of something else.”

  “Okay, I’ll get ready to go see Atum,” she said.

  Then he was gone. She didn’t realize how much he was holding her up. She collapsed in a heap as soon as he was gone. She had to muster the energy to get clothes on and walk down the hall to talk to Atum. She must have fallen asleep for a few minutes, for she was back in the room. Isis’ infection was cackling like a lunatic.

  “I see you’ve come back to me,” she said. “Goooood,” she whispered.

  There was a mound of what was left of that man on the left side of the room. Sam suddenly remembered she was naked. Oh yeah, this is a bad situation. A slimy pink tentacle wrapped around her leg; she screamed and felt Fenrir pull her arm. She jumped up off the floor in her office.

  “Sam,” Fenrir said into her head, “you must get up now! I know you’re tired, but if you want to live, you must get dressed and go to Atum, NOW!”

  “Yes,” Sam said in exhaustion, “I’ll go now.” She tried to get up. She had to fight to get up, her muscles were so sore and tired. She found some clothes that weren’t ripped to shreds, a black shirt and black jeans (of course she had underwear and a bra too). She didn’t even both
er to look for shoes. She felt Isis’ insanity lurking in her mind.

  Sam made her way down the hall and into the closet. She felt Atum as soon as she was in the closet. He pushed Isis’ infection out of her head and away from her. Then she was in his office. He was making tea.

  “Hey, boss,” she said. She nearly fell into the chair, she was so exhausted. She realized she forgot to salute him. She stood for a minute and saluted him, then sat back down.

  Atum sat the cup of tea in front of her, “Drink this, it will help restore your energy.”

  Sam took a big gulp of the tea and then realized it was a bit too hot to drink that much at once. The feel of the hot liquid going down was already helping, though.

  “We are in quite a precarious situation here,” Atum said, “aren’t we?”

  “Will this cunt ever get out of my head?” Sam asked.

  “Not to worry,” Atum said, “I can hide you from her. Just try not to think about her. I want you to drink that whole cup. I also want you to stay here tonight. I don’t want you alone until you’re stronger.”

  “I get to see more of the ship?” She perked up a little at that thought.

  “You do, indeed,” Atum replied in amusement.

  She sat drinking her tea and realized that as long as she had been working with Atum, she knew very little about him. “Does your family live on this ship with you?”

  “Some of my family are on the ship. My wife is on another ship with her people, just for this mission. I have some children with the Atlanteans on another ship. We all have our missions to complete in this operation,” he said.

  “Why aren’t you all on the same ship?” she asked, wondering if she was crossing a line.”