Kneel Or Die

by Michael Anderle

  Eric asked, to no one in particular, “I wonder if he is going to start a 200-mile high club?”

  She laughed along with everyone else. She turned around then punched Stephen, “Hey, where is Dan? I saw him earlier.”

  Stephen looked at his wrist, which did not have a watch on it. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. “He should be in D.C. right now. I asked him and Killian to take on an operation.” She raised an eyebrow, “It seems that the military contact David was bribing happens to be an old friend of Dan’s.”

  “I’m not sure I can allow wholesale assassination, Stephen.”

  “They aren’t going to kill him, just maim him and put him into the hospital. Then, the plan is to make his financial records known to the military police. The beating is from Dan, the opportunity to go to jail will be what he deserves.”

  Bethany Anne considered what Stephen said, “Did we find out if he knew that his people would die?”

  “He didn’t.” Bethany Anne turned to find Michael next to her. She could feel his body heat he was so close. “I found the information in some of those papers we … found.”

  Gabrielle came up beside them and asked Michael, “Found where?”

  Michael actually paled. If Bethany Anne wasn’t about to go down the hot flames of hell for taking chances with him, she would have found this funnier. She saved him the telling, “Michael and I found out that David was at his castle in Germany, so Michael asked me on a date to David’s castle.”

  Gabrielle gaped at Bethany Anne, “You and Michael went on a date to David’s castle and what, killed him and everyone there?”

  Michael looked around, “Pretty much, but Ashur was with us!”

  Gabrielle glared at Michael. “I thought leaving her with you was safe! Oh. My. God! What am I going to do with you two?” Gabrielle looked like she was about to start in on them, right in front of everyone.

  Bethany Anne reached over to Michael, “Give me a hand?” Michael responded to the glint in her eye and gave her his hand.

  Gabrielle started again, “How could you two just go and attack David and everyone that was in that fucking castle all by yourselves? What is the point of even HAVING the Queen’s Guards if you two just…”

  The two of them disappeared. Everyone whooped and Gabrielle stopped her diatribe. She looked around and asked in a calm voice, “Are they gone?” She got back a bunch of yeses. “Thank God! I’m getting frazzled just waiting on those two!” She was greeted with a bunch of laughter. “Hey, I thought there was a party going on here? Let’s keep this party GOING!”

  The cheering could easily be heard quite a distance across the waters.

  Washington D.C. - USA

  Dan Bosse was sitting at a bar in Southeast Washington D.C., nursing a coke on ice. He didn’t really like alcohol that much anymore, not with some of the changes his body had been going through. However, at a bar not having anything, or worse drinking milk, would look strange.

  He was waiting for Barrett, dear old rotten friend who wasn’t anymore. Dan had been shocked when he was presented with the details that tracked Barrett as being the corrupt officer that had blocked any help and had been responsible for getting so many men killed in Turkey.

  All for a lousy twenty-five thousand. Dan took a swig of his drink.

  “Let me have a double, Terry.” A loud clank sounded three seats to Dan’s left. He turned to see Barrett Nickelson looking really damned old and ready for the pasture at least forty pounds ago.

  Would that have been him, Dan wondered, if he hadn’t worked in the group focused on fighting Nosferatu? Damn, he hoped not. It didn’t matter anymore. He had personally been involved in more life threatening operations than anyone in the active forces right now. Then after that he had led good men and a few women through the hell of fighting Nosferatu for another fifteen years. At the end, he and his people’s future had almost gone pear shaped. It would have if a certain fiery woman hadn’t entered his life. He raised his glass in a silent toast to Bethany Anne. He wondered if she and Michael had gotten horizontal yet.

  He had fifty bucks down that nothing would happen for another two weeks.

  Poor Nathan had finally given in to the inevitable of the two of them getting together and took his ribbing like the stand-up wolf that he was.

  Dan wanted to go over there and break the damn fool’s neck. He was responsible for getting seven good men killed. He had considered going to Bethany Anne for permission to take him out. She would give it, he was sure. This prick had gotten men killed. Whether he had expected that outcome wasn’t relevant, he had taken his thirty shekels of silver.

  Now Killian was going to give him a taste of hell before the fall.

  It was time to get this shit going. Dan pulled an envelope out of his jacket and stood up. He tossed a ten on the bar to cover his drink and a tip.

  He took a couple of steps and put the envelope with Barrett’s name on the bar in front of him. He placed three dimes down with the envelope. Barrett looked up at him, “What’s this? Do I know you?”

  Dan smiled, “Unfortunately, in some alternate history we were friends, Barrett. I’ve been tasked with delivering a message from someone you never want to meet. You will want to check that information. There are two fire teams in Turkey that are waiting for you to join them.” With that Dan left the bar. He stepped out the front door and pulled on his gloves. That was the signal to Killian to indicate that the plan was to go forward. Dan turned to the left and started walking down the street.

  Two minutes later, a very scared looking Barrett Nickelson came out of the bar and immediately headed to the right down the street.

  A few seconds later a cry was heard when a 208 grain A-Max bullet from Killian’s suppressed 300 Blackout blew his knee out. Barrett Nickelson would never walk correctly again. It took an ambulance five minutes to get to Barrett.

  Two days later, Barrett Nickelson was laying in his bed in a military hospital when two military police and a JAG officer walked into his room. Barrett Nickelson wouldn’t leave that bed a free man. The JAG officer wasn’t sure who had uncovered all of the evidence, but it had been corroborated and Barrett Nickelson was going to see hard time.

  With or without the use of his leg.

  New York City, NY - USA

  Gerry looked over the assembled American Pack Council. He figured it would be best to have this pack meeting in the old warehouse his pack had used to settle disputes from way back. It was in this same place that Pete Silvers shot that prick Terry Manestes.

  It seemed a fitting place to have this final APC meeting.

  There had been two items on this evening’s schedule. The first was a motion to push a vote of ‘no confidence’, against Gerry as the leader of the APC, by two of the Pacific Coast packs. Gerry had held off this vote as long as he could. Jonathan Silvers had argued his case long after Gerry had gotten tired of doing so himself.

  Now, it had come down to this.

  They had just passed the decision of no confidence by a two vote margin. Gerry kept his smile to himself. In the end, he was actually happy it would end up this way.

  The future was changing and their past associations would need to change with it or they would become irrelevant. Kind of like tonight.

  He looked at each Alpha there. Most met his glare, a couple didn’t want to. Gerry smiled to the assembly.

  “It seems that this will be my final item to bring to you as the head of the American Pack Council. I could say that this agenda item needs no introduction…”

  A rough voice called out, “That’s good, you didn’t provide one!” There were chuckles all around. It wasn’t strange for Gerry to leave off a title or two for agenda items. Since the call of no-confidence was number one on the list, most didn’t believe number two could be a bigger deal.

  Serves them right, he considered. “Well, then I think I’ll just leave the item…” The lights flickered, then returned to their normal brightness after a few seco
nds. These old lights took a while to warm up but there was easily enough light for the Wechselbalg to continue.

  That’s when the fear hit. Gerry knew that she was coming and he had been warned by Nathan, on a back channel, that she was going to make an entrance! But, nothing Nathan had told him could have prepared him for the sheer emotional terror that started creeping into the building and then continued to get stronger and stronger. A far door opened and everyone turned in their chairs to see Peter Silvers step into the room at the far end. A big human came in with him and then a beautiful … vampire … as well. At least half of the group there knew who the Wechselbalg was. Jonathan turned to look at Gerry who just nodded his head to let him know he was aware this was going to happen. Jonathan just sat back and got comfortable, he was going to enjoy the show.

  Gerry stepped out from behind the podium that had been set up and sat on the edge of a table that had been five feet behind him. It was all he could do to act as normal as he could. He could tell at least five of the forty-three Pack Alphas were shaking. He glanced around at the Alphas. Instead of five it might be better to make that count twelve.

  The door on the other side of the room opened and everyone turned in their seats to look. Nathan Lowell and his mate Ecaterina entered through that door. Then a huge mother-fucking ox of a man whose combat fatigues were adorned with the Guard’s patch came in with them.

  The fear ratcheted up another notch when the human entered.

  The door behind him burst open. Gerry decided he would rather watch the faces of everyone in the audience and he was glad he did. He could see two faces that were looking around for an exit. An exit that didn’t exist right now. It seemed that Alex Dupree and Jimmy Eljers were more interested in leaving than anyone else. Good to know.

  Gerry heard three sets of footsteps enter the building. All sounded too heavy to be her. He turned in time to see Bethany Anne’s entrance and oh, by all that’s nice in the world, did she come in. She was fully vamped out and completely pissed off. Gerry jumped off the table to face her and was trying to figure out what he might have done to get her so angry.

  Behind her came the other Wechselbalg and more humans. Fuck a zombie, Gerry thought, there was more muscle in here than was needed to fight the Vietnam war.

  Bethany Ann was in her combat outfit with pistols and a pair of swords. One long, one short, both of Japanese origin. Gerry watched as she turned to her people, “Guardians, switch with the door teams.” Two sets of Wechselbalg and humans went to each door, while Peter, Nathan and Ecaterina walked over to the front area. That left a vampire on one door, and the ‘ox’ at the other.

  By now the grumbling had started with the Alphas. There was only so much ‘cower in concern’ a pack Alpha can handle before their natural tendency to want to prove themselves arises. The fact that there were two vampires present certainly was helping most of them hold in their desire to be an ass.

  Bethany Anne pointed to Jonathan, “Mr. Silvers, please move yourself over here by Gerry.” Jonathan got up and stood by the Were who had been his choice to retain the top spot. “Peter?” Pete looked over at Bethany Anne, “Protect those two.”

  Pete walked over and stood in front of Gerry and his dad. Jonathan looked at Gerry who shrugged a little. Gerry hoped Bethany Anne had a good plan, because Gerry was certainly the best fighter out of the three of them.

  Bethany Anne looked out over the crowd and smiled. It wasn’t a pleasant smile, all red eyes and fangs. “You have passed a vote in the American Pack Council of ‘no confidence’ in your leader.” Her glare stopped any from yelling out.

  She turned and spoke to her friends, her followers, her people “Nathan, Ecaterina, Peter, please prepare yourselves.”

  Forty-two members of the American Pack council were shocked when the three Wechselbalg changed right in front of them to Procilici, the fabled form none of them had seen in their lifetimes. Gerry looked over at Jonathan who was staring up to the back of his son’s head. A head that was now a foot taller than himself. Gerry understood he hadn’t been the strongest of the three, not by a long shot.

  He looked over at Nathan and Ecaterina and swallowed. Even Nathan’s mate looked dangerous as hell. Bethany Anne walked between the two of them and stood in front, her two Procilici guards towering over her shoulders. “You voted, now it is my turn to vote.” She eyed everyone in the room in front of her. “You believe you’re so special, your ‘Alpha’ status gives you rights. That is mistaken. What you really believe it is that fighting prowess gives you authority! Well, you fucking ended your ability to wield any authority with your last vote.”

  She eyed everyone in the audience, “This council is absolved.”

  Alex Dupree shot up from his chair, “You can’t do that!” He saw his future slipping out of his hands. No council meant no power for him to wield!

  Bethany Anne looked at the man. He looked in his mid-forties, so he was actually pretty old for a Were. “Mr. Dupree is it?” Looking around, Alex realized he now had everyone’s eyes looking at him. “Well, Mr. Dupree, tonight there are only two ways to get out one of these three doors. Do you want to know what those two options are?”

  Alex nodded.

  Bethany Anne turned to Nathan, “Nathan?”

  The huge Procilici nodded and spoke to the audience. The monster glared at everyone. The voice, deep and guttural mesmerizing them. “Youuu haavvee twwoo choooiicessss. Youuu caannnn Kneeelll … orrr youuu can diiieee!”

  “This is outrageous!” Alex shouted.

  Bethany Anne spoke up with authority, “My people will KNEEL!” Every person that came in with Bethany Anne took a knee, including the three Procilici. Not one of them bowed their heads however, heads were kept up and alert for threat.

  “Stand.” Everyone stood back up. “You have been warned. Forty-one of you have the choice. Two of you are already sentenced.”

  Gerry looked over to Alex and Jimmy, he had a feeling he already knew the two that had been sentenced and he was right.

  Bethany Anne spoke again, “Alex Dupree and Jimmy Eljers you are sentenced in the Queen’s Court for aiding the Forsaken. The penalty for aiding the Forsaken is death. How do you plead?”

  Jimmy Eljers jumped up, “What! I’ve not helped any Forsaken. This is bullshit!” The red eyes swiveled to Jimmy.

  “Mr. Eljers, that is the last outburst I will entertain in my court.” The few Alphas around Jimmy started moving away from him.

  As it turned out, it was the few behind him that paid the price. Jimmy wasn’t known for his smarts, which was why Alex had used him, “Look, Bitch, I …” Jimmy’s head exploded when Eric’s, Scott’s and Darryl’s shots hit him at virtually the same instant. The splatter from Jimmy’s blood and brains covered the Alphas behind him. The body was thrown backwards into a chair before sliding down to sit in a comical fashion, virtually headless.

  Alex looked over at the dead body and back up to see Bethany Anne staring at him. “Alex Dupree, you are charged with aiding and actively supporting David of the Forsaken, how do you plead?”

  Alex looked around to see the faces staring at him, starting to put together the clues they hadn’t seen before. Alex wasn’t going to easily get out of this situation.

  Gerry tapped Peter on the shoulder causing the huge Procilici turned to look down at the Alpha.

  Dammit, Gerry thought, he looks like a ferocious fuck. “This is my task.” Peter nodded and stepped aside.