by Lynn Landes
Keane pales and sits hard on the couch. “It can’t be!”
“Surely your Guild can stop one creature.” Sebastian demands.
“Yes, if they know how. Didn’t you watch that with us? You saw what it did!” Jumping to his feet Keane races from the room. “I need to make a call.”
Keane steps into the hall and dials the number. “We were hoping you’d call,” the voice answering says.
“Burn Dubai! Don’t send anymore Guild members inside. You must listen to me. These creatures are inbred, immortals, blended with apex predators. They are bred with one purpose in mind, to infect humanity. Bring me in.” Keane demands. They talk for a few minutes and Keane hangs up. Turning he finds Sebastian watching from the door.
“Do you need a lift?” Sebastian sighs and looks at him with an arched brow.
“Aye, I do.” Standing taller her steps forward, “You’ll watch over her for me. I have work to do.” With that, he spins and goes to pack.
Vorn waits for them to leave and decides to watch as the team in the basement begin setting charges to light up the building. Anya walks in smelling fresh and clean from her shower. Her dark hair is still damp as she stands next to him. Vorn reaches up and grabs her hand, tugging her close to him. She smiles softly and leans into his heat, savoring the feel of him next to her.
“What did I miss?” she asks quietly before leaning closer to watch the creature enter through doors leading down to the basement levels. He sniffs the floor with the blood stained bodies and runs towards the door. “What is that?” Anya gasps as he places both hands on the inside walls of the stairs, the snakes flow off his body and down into the basement revealing the werewolf hidden underneath by the serpents. He drops to all fours and leaps over the handrail, dropping down ten levels below.
Anya sits back and Vorn squeezes her hand as they watch a soldier slam a door closed and two more run into view, barricading the steel door further with benches pulled from the surrounding rooms. The other two teams are busy setting time delayed ignition devices in the sub levels. The devices are similar to the ones set on the roof top. With one exception. These are not bombs. These will burn hot, igniting everything around them in molten flame. They watch as the teams join up and head out through another stairwell door moving towards the surface. A white flash on the screen silently shows the devices going off and the sub-level filled with fire and smoke as that camera goes dead.
The lobby camera above shows the area filled with smoke, heat and combustible gas allowing the flame to rise up through the structure of the building. After the flames consume everything in sight, the gases that wick through cracks in the floor above combust and ignite the second level on fire. On and on it goes, spreading at speed through the building. The concrete walls keep the flames inside creating an inferno that incinerates everything to ash. Nothing escapes the cleansing flames.
In the loading bay adjoining the building, the three teams spray everything inside with flame throwers before locking the dock doors and walking away into the night. Anya watches as the teams fall back and set up a perimeter in case anything escapes. “The target is torched,” the radio cracks and the screen goes black.
“You should see this with your own eyes.” Vorn rewinds the video and while Anya watches he paces.
Anya loses all her color while watching the soldier mutate. She pauses it and looks over at him. “If one creature could spread it that quickly, what will happen if he has more?”
“We need to strike as many of his sites as we can and destroy the Pex before they are released.”
“Pex?” Anya asks.
“Apex predators. I am sick of calling them, creatures. These are not immortals. They are merely a tool for the spread of the contagion he has created.”
Anya nods and stands up pacing as she talks. “The soldier became something new, sentient with one thought, to attack and spread, not kill. So, each time a Pex is created it will become a new variant. Like a virus, it will mutate the host making a hybrid.” Anya goes pale just thinking about the cost to humanity. If this happens and they can’t stop it, humanity will never be the same again.
“I have to go warn the Fae!” Vorn stands as Sebastian returns.
“Where is my Dad?” Anya asks staring at Sebastian.
“He is checking in with the Hunter’s Guild. They need his help in tracking down the other locations Caius might have.”
A thunderous look crosses her face as she approaches him. “I wanted him safe, here, dammit!”
“I understand that, but if this isn’t stopped there will be no place safe on earth.” Sebastian sits and wonders what this means.
“Are all these creatures capable of spreading this infection? How do they spread it, by touch, bite? If they are all unique how do, we stop it?” She demands.
“We don’t stop it, Anya, you do.” Vorn answers quietly.
Anya turns and stares at him. “How do you propose I do that?” she snaps.
Sebastian looks at Vorn in astonishment and rises to his feet. “Of course!”
“Of course what?” Anya demands. “I can’t possibly run around biting people. Even my abilities will only go so far.”
“True, but you are the Herald. Right now, I need to go see the Fae Queen and see if they will help. You both should rest and feed. I will return as soon as I can.” Vorn walks to the door and turns back to look at Anya.
“Stay out of trouble, while I am gone,” he orders and disappears.
Sebastian laughs startling Anya. “What’s so funny?” she asks.
“That poor boy is in way over his head and he doesn’t even know it.”
“It doesn’t matter does it?” Anya grumbles. “What does this mean for your people, our people,” she corrects herself. “I am an inbred creature myself. Born of two immortals, a mistake, one that would not have been tolerated. Now the very thing you fought to prevent, is spreading and I’m not so sure I should stop it.”
Sebastian snarls and is before her in an instant. Grabbing her by her upper arms he gives her a gentle shake. “You are not a monster. You were born out of a deep love two spirits had for each other.” His grip lightens as his voice does, “Anya you are a gift. Those creatures were created to destroy all the species on this planet. All Caius cares about is chaos. He must be stopped, no matter the cost.”
Anya drops her head to his chest. “I know that your right, but I don’t know how to stop him.”
“We will figure it out together, daughter.” He says smiling at her.
“Together then,” she whispers and hopes she doesn’t disappoint them all.
Chapter 31
Caius wakes with a start. He searches for the gate in his mind, one of the perks of finishing the final pod. Some of Lailah’s abilities are now his. It is as he hoped, they destroyed the gate for him. Now they are his! Stepping out into his suite energized and refreshed he glances at his body and finds all of his wounds are healed. The theory of harvesting an angel became a reality when he captured Lailah. After years of practicing on different species of immortals, they perfected it with her. He was careful to use her essence a little at a time, thus giving his body a chance to absorb it slowly. Walking naked to the windows overlooking New York City, he grins.
“The legends of The Herald may be true, but the only thing she will herald is the change I create,” he says with a grin. The phone rings drawing him back to reality.
“We lost Hawaii and Dubai,” the voice says when he answers it. Rage flashes in his eyes turning them completely black.
“Release New York.”
“Everything, sir?”
Caius hisses, “Yes, Everything.” Hanging up he turns to dress quickly and laughs as he thinks of the chaos that will ensue. They will be so busy trying to save humanity that they will never see it coming.
Below the high rise building over Times Square he watches large buses, bright yellow cabs, and fast moving cars zip along, distracted by massive T.V. screens, and the daily hum of
noise. The humans run around busy living their lives. Soon, they will be running for a totally new reason.
“Time to get to work.” He sits in his leather chair and closes his eyes. Lailah’s memories were transferred during the harvest. Intense and scrambled with his own, he has to sort through them. Jumbled with his personal thoughts and images, it is almost impossible to tell them apart. Soon his head is splitting from the effort. Given time he is sure that it will become easier.
The small parts he can focus on, are not enough.
“I will have to do this the hard way.” In order to find Anya, he will need to track her. Soon, she will try to help the humans who are now screaming in the streets below. “All I need to do is wait for her and she will come to me.”
Apex predators are his favorite to watch. It is in the eyes. The soul-less, guilt free ability to take a life with no regrets. Once these mighty beasts like the jaguar used to be a top predator, but with the spread of the immortal species on the planet, that has changed. Caius used the top scientists in the world to create a virus that would be unstoppable. It is amazing what people will do when you offer them the gift of immortality. He offered each one their pick of species. Whether a vampire, werewolf or other class, it made no difference to him as long as the work was done.
This building in New York holds over two hundred of his apex creatures. Considering the population of New York City is, over eight million he wonders if he should have made that two thousand, until the first creature breaks onto the streets and attacks.
A jaguar moves fast amongst the shadows between the building and attacks the first person it encounters. He leaps onto a woman and she falls backward with it attached to her throat. No one moves for a moment and then the chaos starts, followed by screaming and running. Most of the people run away, one man draws a concealed pistol and shoots the jaguar in the back. The cat roars in pain and falls forward on the body of the young woman. Quickly the man runs forward and grabs the cat by its hind feet, dragging it off the injured woman.
The lack of blood startles him for a moment. He was expecting gore and severe trauma, instead, it looks as if the big cat just bit her. Her brown eyes stare up at him and she claws at her throat in horror. A second later her eyes roll back into her head and convulsions start.
“I’m a doctor, I can help,” a man yells, who pushes through the crowd to help the young woman.
“Get back, give him some room,” her savior yells.
While the doctor tends to the young woman a crowd has gathered around the jaguar. One young man is recording the unmoving animal on his cell phone. “Flip it over, Josh, so we can see its teeth,” he tells his friend who moves closer to the cat, “this will go viral!”
Josh, bravely runs a hand over the soft fur, shaking his head, he murmurs, “Nothing, Joel, I don’t see any bullet wounds.” Confusion clouds his face as he looks back at his friend, “I thought you said he shot it?”
The young woman stops convulsing, “Can you hear me?” The doctor calls and her eyes open, he jumps back startled. They are bright yellow now, and her pupil is not round, but oblong. “What the hell…” she leaps to her feet and hisses, then dives on the doctor’s chest sinking her new teeth deep into his throat. Those watching start running in panic once more.
Caius laughs out loud in his apartment above. “Magnificent!”
Alarmed by the screams behind them, the young men with the jaguar run away to film the chaos around them and they miss the jaguars awakening. He twitches on the ground, his legs stretch and his body shifts, morphing into a vampire. It stands up on its human legs and holds out its hand, dropping the bullets onto the ground.
Blood, it is surrounded by the scent of fresh blood. The naked vampire scans around and smiles at a woman who is backing up against a building, shaking in terror. It is upon her in three strides. Large, powerful and muscular he drinks from her quickly, leaving her convulsing body, he picks another hapless victim.
The infected woman lunges off the doctor, leaving him sprawled convulsing on the ground and morphs to a black panther. She runs down a victim who turns into traffic attempting to get away. A cab driver slams on his brakes with screeching tires and can’t stop in time, screaming he hits the unaware lady sending her flying into the next lane of traffic. The sound of metal crunching is heard as cars and busses colliding fills the air.
Frustrated with its loss, the panther leaps on the cabbie as he jumps from his car to help.
A howl sounds out in the alley behind the building Caius is watching from, but it is impossible to hear it over the noise of screams, torn metal and sirens. This allows the pack to move unseen in the shadows until they find prey and strike. Mutated with a mixture of creatures, they have the ability to transform into vaporized mist and hunt their prey through the air.
A young woman runs down the chaotic street, holding her screaming infant tightly against her chest.
The scent of her terror and adrenaline mixed with blood draws them and they follow her, flowing around her legs as she runs. She doesn’t notice the cloud following her as she slams through a door into a coffee shop full of frightened people.
The owner slams the door shut behind the last person to enter and locks it drawing the metal gate down with a clang, sealing off anyone else who wanted to enter. Those locked out run screaming down the street.
“It’s okay, sweetie,” the young woman shushes her baby and moves to the side.
“Listen!” The owner yells, “This is reinforced steel, we are safe in here! We need to keep quiet and remain calm. I’m sure help is coming!” All eyes are on him as a mist swirls around the feet of the fifty-three people who have found shelter inside. So absorbed by what is happening outside, they do not realize they are being surrounded until the first growl rumbles out.
Outside the coffee shop, a man stops to beat on the door, only to back away in horror. He tries to scream out a warning, but no sound will come. A bloody face slams into the glass with a wolf like creature on its back. In a full panic, he spins and runs, he makes it two steps before he is driven into the ground by a winged creature landing on his shoulders. His scream of pain is cut short as the creature tears into his neck to feed.
By now the two hundred predators are attacking as many victims as they can. Some attack from the air, others from the ground, no matter how they move they leave a wake of victims behind them twitching and convulsing on the ground. Mass hysteria has taken over and Caius watches with pride as the city evolves.
The two hundred are moving, swarming through the city, drawn by the lure of easy prey. Run or hide that is really the only option Joel can think of. He is recording the destruction around him as his friend Josh drags him along. A hysterical giggle erupts when the overhead billboard lights up with a shoe advertisement that says, “Go Run.”
“Nowhere left to run,” Josh murmurs as he pulls his pistol and checks the clip to see how much ammunition he has. “Two more clips,” he mumbles. Ducking under the golden arches of a fast food restaurant they take cover, praying for a miracle or at least a break in the crowd. As quickly as he can Joel posts the video to the internet and prays for help. Sure, that 911 will be flooded with calls, he is hoping that proof will bring a faster response.
“Joel, look!” Josh points to a police helicopter overhead, just as a massive bird soars up with a screaming man in his claws. “What the hell is that?” Josh yells and watches in horror as three more of the massive creatures dive down at the crowds in a synchronized pattern. In the distance, he hears gun shots as people begin to fight back.
“Someone is fighting back!” Joel says glancing in the direction of the gun shots.
“Let’s head that way! We will be safer in numbers!” Josh yells and dives out from under the arches dragging his friend and they run to join in the fight.
Chapter 32
Vorn arrives at the Vale and is greeted by Caderyn, the Queen of the Fae. Her smile of welcome is tinged with sadness.
“My Queen,” V
orn drops to his knee in a show of respect for her, “you know why I have come.”
“I do,” she sighs, “now get up Vorn. I hate the formality and I suspect that is why you do it.” Caderyn stares at him and opens the invisible shield that protects her people. “Drake is in an emergency meeting of the council.”
“My Queen, The Herald needs your help. Caius has…” Caderyn lifts a hand and he pauses in surprise.
“I know what he has done, but I’m afraid, it’s much worse than that. He is using it as a contagion to spread across the entire planet.” She tosses her black hair over her shoulder and walks as she talks. “Dissension and suspicion have entered the Vale. The Fae are split, some do not wish to follow a Queen that once was human. They believe only pure Fae should lead.” Caderyn stops griping his arm. “Vorn and I will help you and the people of Earth in the only way that I can.” Leaning forward, she whispers in his ear and he grins in relief.
“It will be done, my Queen. Thank you.” He turns to leave, and glances back at her, “You knew Anya was for me?”
“I hoped it would be so. Love is a gift, no matter what form it takes. Do you not agree?” she asks with a smile.
“I do. Perhaps you should remind, these Fae of what they have forgotten. Human or Fae, we are all the same, spirits, living on the same planet, seeking the same thing? To love and be loved, that is the common thread that ties us all together.”
Caderyn is stunned at the simplicity of the statement. Her grin blooms bright and her eyes begin to glow “Reese is waiting for you. Thank you Vorn for reminding me to honor my humanity. Anya is a very lucky woman. Don’t let her forget it?”
Vorn nods and leaps back through the Vale.
Caderyn closes her eyes and begins to spin. Leaping into the air above she calls to her husband, “Drake, how long has it been since we danced together among the stars?” A hushed silence falls over the Fae as a bright blue star, dances amongst them, twirling and spinning, she illuminates the watching Fae with her light.
