The Daemon Within

by Jeremy Croston

  Rissa pulled the boat into an old dock along the waterway we’d reached after losing the vampires. Isa helped me to my feet. “We can talk more about that once we get someplace safe.”

  After all three of us got off the boat, Rissa pulled out her lighter and tossed it towards the engine. It blew and fire soon engulfed the boat. With evidence of our escape under flame, the three of us set off into the northern Californian forest in the hopes of finding some shelter.

  Chapter 30

  It is truly amazing what you can do in this world with a simple cell phone. We were in the small town of Santa Cruz, just outside of San Jose, at one of Gregory’s many little hidden retreats. All that needed to happen was for Rissa to go on an app once we reached the road, plug in some information and we got ourselves a driver. The guy nearly crapped his pants when we arrived at our destination and Isa handed him a black American Express card. She even added two hundred dollars on for a tip.

  Gregory’s little pad in the foothills had all the modern conveniences of life. There was a desktop computer set up, a full kitchen (why would a vampire need a full kitchen?), and satellite television. Even with all the choices we had to entertain ourselves, the three of us migrated to the kitchen table and huddled around it.

  “Isa told me that Liz killed him, Vic. Why?”

  The pain she expressed was hard to handle. “He made a choice to support me. Liz ain’t the gal we used to know.”

  She looked down at the table, tears hitting the top. “He never wavered in his support of her. Even when she started to go a bit, off, he was steadfast.” Then, an octave lower, “I want to avenge him.”

  Vengeance was certainly something I related well with, especially after Cristof’s veiled threat about endangering my pack. “It won’t end until we do something about it, will it, Isa?” I asked her.

  “You showed Liz mercy once, which I completely understand.” Even Rissa nodded in agreement. “She’s taken your kind gesture and tarnished it.”

  “Yes,” I mumbled. It wasn’t my style, or was it? “Where will the vampires go from here?”

  I didn’t expect an answer, more like the question was just supposed to be a talking point. But Rissa, the girl was full of surprises. “In three days, vampires from all over the world will be coming to Phoenix at the behest of Cristof to elect a new council.”

  Isa’s eyes narrowed. “Those fools, don’t they learn from their mistakes?”

  “Cristof accused you of killing two members of the council, in Australia of all places.”

  “The Swertfegers?” I had no idea. “I never personally met them, but if they were killed, it was probably by the Aboriginal tribes. They have long believed in vampires and have hunted them.”

  “Really?” Rissa asked.

  “Yes, in some parts of the world, we are not the apex beings. Australia’s a dangerous place for our kind,” she described to her gently.

  That was to be expected of this corrupted council, to make up an enemy when a simple explanation was probably the best. Every officer of the law understood that concept, why couldn’t they. “Liz has Cristof so wrapped up in us being the bad guys, he can’t even think for himself.”

  She sighed. “It is a shame when an intelligent person can’t see how they’re being manipulated.”

  “It sure is,” I agreed.

  As silence took over, I got up and turned on the television. The morning news was on and it took me a moment or two to realize that over a month had gone by. Four long months I was stuck down underneath that prison, left to rot like a piece of trash.

  “We have been given a second chance, wolf.”

  “You’re right, Wargie.”

  He growled at me. “Do not call me that.” It was a bit of fun to rile him up, even in stressful situations. “Vampires are a blight on this plane. I do not even trust the one you are with.”

  “Isa?” I asked.

  He chuckled at my expense. “That one is slippery. She might be your ally today, but I would not put it beyond her to change that one day.”

  “You’re just bitter,” I said. Isa had plenty of times to turn on me and hadn’t. The Warg wasn’t the most trusting sort and it was easy to push his worries to the side. “You’re right about one thing. We’ve got a second chance to make the situation right and we’re going to.”

  He seemed satisfied with that. With the Warg no longer in a talkative mood, I decided it was time to catch up on all the sports and gossip I missed over the past months in captivity. A guy deserves that before he plans to go barnstorming again, am I right? Even Rissa and Isa joined the party, both looking a bit restless.

  It was midafternoon when I realized that all of us must’ve fallen asleep in various spots. Of course Rissa would’ve. The moment the sun came up, she would’ve been out of it. But I couldn’t remember the last time I saw Isa sleeping. She looked peaceful, as peaceful as I’d seen her. Around her neck was a chain that had the Heart of the Daemon on it… and another purple gem. This one was star shaped.

  Both of her gems started to glow and the one I carried did too. “Oh, Isa, you didn’t.”

  “I did.” Her eyes were open. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

  The purple glow was indeed beautiful. I also knew which one this was without being told. “Where did you get the Soul of the Mystic from?”

  “A long way from here,” she answered cryptically. She touched it, rubbed it slowly. “We are only one away from having unlimited power, from never having to fear about anything again.”

  “Don’t you remember the warning?” I know I did; that Defender dude was no joke. “Going after these will only bring the wrath of something much worse on us.”

  “You’re right.” She sighed and slipped the gems under her shirt. “After this, I will scatter these to the four corners of the world.”

  I wasn’t sure if that would do anything, but it was something. “I’m going to give you this one, too. These things don’t need to be out and about for anyone to grab.”

  Isa didn’t say much, just sat there and stared at the blue gem. Shifting our conversation elsewhere, “We will need a solid plan if we’re to make our move during a full scale vampire summit.” She started ticking off names with her finger. “I imagine anywhere from fifty to sixty of the oldest vampires left on this planet will be there.”

  No one but a fool would underestimate the covens right now. They had experienced significant losses in terms of their elder statesmen. The vampire community was back against a wall and I figured electing a new council was their way of trying to fight back. “If they use Liz’s building in Phoenix, I know it inside and out after living there for a while.”

  “Good, good,” she said. A great idea must’ve come across, as she lit up and sat straight up quickly. “Do you think you could get us access to the maintenance room?”

  I’d never been down that far, but if my codes still worked, I had access to the entire building. “As long as they didn’t revoke my access codes, I don’t see why not.”

  “One thing you need to know, Vic. To us, those who’ve lived so long that the world moves in years not minutes, we tend to overlook minute details.”

  To me, a trivial detail would be something like not changing a telephone number, not leaving a huge security risk like the passcodes to a former employee – one you just spent the better part of a month torturing. “You’re kidding, right?”

  She shook her head. “I’m telling you, when we get there, you’ll still have complete access.”

  “Let’s say you’re right –”

  “I am.”

  Ughhh. “Okay, let’s go with you’re right,” no interruptions, just a smile. “What in the world do you want to do in the maintenance room?”

  “I might still be a bit behind the times, but in my travels since leaving Neverland, I’ve come to understand that most buildings rely on a single room to provide all the mechanical needs, no?” Hell, color me surprised she knew all that. Satisfied that I was impressed,
she went on. “That would be the perfect place to lay our trap – explosives.”

  “Wait just a second!” Explosives? We weren’t really terrorists, despite what Liz and Cristof had said. “We can’t blow a building up in the middle of downtown Phoenix. The lives that’d be lost would be immeasurable.”

  She frowned a bit but relented. “Yes, you’re right, of course.” I had a quick thought that maybe she was disappointed I blocked her plan. Obviously there was a vendetta, but yikes.

  “There’s another way.”

  Her eyebrow lifted ever so slightly. “Do tell.”

  “We’d have access to HVAC systems which feed the entire building. We could easily filter sleeping gas in and knock them all out.”

  She stroked her chin, considering my idea. “Yes… I could see how that would be easier to execute and leave less of a mess.” She gave me an affirmative nod. “Can you procure the necessary equipment to do this?”

  I still had a few contacts I could rely on. Not the most legit in the world, but at this point, who cared. “Yeah, I can get us the stuff. Might cost us a pretty penny or two though.”

  “Money is not a problem.”

  I remembered the black American Express card. Privately, I hoped one day I would be that kind of high roller where I could make statements like that. “Damn, it must feel good to be a gangster.”

  She looked at me weird. “Is that a popular saying in America?” she asked.

  Vampires – they had no concept of pop culture and it made me sad.

  Chapter 31

  We couldn’t use my restaurant as a hideout, as I was sure the vampires would have it under surveillance. Instead, we went to the one place that no one really frequented anymore – the silver mine. For the longest time, Full Moon was known for its silver production. The mine was still viable, but a lot of the jobs in town now were a bit more ‘white collar’ stuff like computer programming and social media marketing firms. Only a few wolves still mined for silver, but not at this time of year. It was the perfect place.

  It was three in the morning; we’d just got back to town last night. Full Moon just seemed like the right place to go. Plus, it put me in contact with the sheriff’s office and all my old notes. And to get what I needed for the sleeping gas, I needed to look up an old contact. Well, contact might be too strong a word.

  Getting to the office well before dad or Bernard ever would, we had our run of the place. I didn’t want to involve any other wolf in this matter, just in case the vampires were serious about coming down hard on them. “You two can hang out in the lobby. Just yell if you hear anyone,” I told them.

  Rissa yawned, reminding me of the time limit we were under to get her back to the silver mine before the sun came up. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of her.”

  “Thanks Isa.”

  I headed back to my old office. When my key opened the filing cabinet, it really put into perspective what Isa had said; at a certain age, some things just don’t matter. If my dad hadn’t changed any of the locks, would the same be said of Liz? Granted, my exit from the Full Moon Police Department was quite a bit more hospitable than my exit from my inspector job with Liz. Either way, this was an interesting case study.

  It didn’t take me long to find the file I wanted – one for a Kevin Kraemer. He was a Black wolf that enjoyed toeing the other side of the law when it came to his bank transactions. I’d put him away on my second or third case after taking over. He’d been released from prison last year. There was an address on file and I figured he’d probably head back to the same place once free.

  I wrote everything down and slid the file back where it belonged. Walking out of the office, “Let’s go – I got what I need.”

  Rissa looked up but Isa was nowhere to be seen. “Where did she go?” I asked.

  “Sorry Vic, I dozed off for a second.” She was pretty cute when she stetched out and wrinkled her nose. I definitely saw why Gregory was head over heels with her.

  “Right here I am,” a voice came from behind me. Damnit, she was crafty. “Sorry, I had to use the lady’s room.”

  Far be it for me to question her bathroom usage, I tucked the file under my arm. “We’re ready to go.”

  On our way back to the silver mine, and once Rissa fell back asleep, Isa started up with an odd line of questioning. “You told me once that it was important to you to settle down, give up all this craziness.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Would you ever want to start a family? You seem like the type of man who would want a few kids running around.”

  Talk about out of left field! I didn’t even know how to answer that at first. “Kids were never going to be part of it, for me,” I started. “I was always fearful of passing on my condition, that my offspring would end up like me.”

  “Is there anything wrong with being like you?” she countered. “Besides, Oberon is dead and his curse is gone.”

  She was right. That didn’t stop another problem from popping up. “In case you’re new to the party, my last two relationships have been with vampires. I don’t think my chances are improving for a family.”

  “It’s a strange world we live in, Vic.” That was all she said.

  “What’s up with the weird questions, Isa? Getting the itch to have another kid?”

  “No – not right now at least. It was just a bit of curiosity on my part.”

  Thankfully, we were pulling up to the silver mine which meant the awkwardness of this little ride was over. I reached around back and shook Rissa awake. She grumbled something about not getting nearly enough rest lately, and got out. I grabbed the files and headed on in. Isa appeared to be taking her time and waltzed in a few minutes after we did.

  “Sorry, there’s just something stunning about the desert moon,” she apologized.

  That was something I could certainly appreciate. “Certainly beats the night skies in Chernobyl, that’s for sure.”

  Yawning, “Chernobyl? I definitely need to hear this tale.”

  “Not tonight, young one,” Isa cooed. “The sun will be up soon, so you take care and rest.”

  Isa started a small fire in the interior of the mine while I unfolded the sleeping bags I nicked from my house while Michael was sleeping. Rissa climbed in one and, with the warmth from the fire, slipped right off to sleep, about an hour before sunrise.

  I opened the file and read the address for Mr. Kraemer. “I’ll only have one shot at this. He’s not one to forget and forgive.”

  “What happened?” Isa questioned.

  “Oh, while escaping a bank robbery, I shot him in the leg. The bullet lodged in his femur and it makes transformations incredibly painful from what I heard later.” She raised an eyebrow. “I’ve always used silver bullets.”

  There was the understanding I was looking for. “And the doctors couldn’t remove the bullet?”

  “Nope, not without risking nicking an artery and having him bleed out.” I was in the hospital, waiting at the time to talk to him. “Needless to say, he’s not going to be thrilled to see me again.”

  “Maybe I should go,” she offered.

  “Nah, this is my past and my plan we’re trying. You watch over Rissa, just in case anyone caught wind of that we’re back and here.”

  She looked around the mine and let out of a soft chuckle. “Hiding out here makes me think I’m some sort of outlaw from the old west.”

  At the mention of outlaws, it reminded me of a story my grandpa used to tell me. “Did you know that this mine was once used by Butch Cassidy while on the run?”

  She looked confused. “Who is Butch Cassidy?”

  “Only the greatest outlaw to ever live!” I said a bit too loud. Rissa shuffled a bit in her sleeping bag. “Sorry, stories of the old west get me a bit excited.”

  “I can see that,” she laughed

  “Anyways, the werewolves let him hang out here for a day or two while the lawmen tried to find him. Once the coast was clear, he left and tipped his hat to them, includi
ng my grandpa.”

  Isa let out a rough scoff. “I find it hard to believe that a bunch of law abiding werewolves allowed an outlaw to escape the law.”

  “Not just any outlaw!” I could barely contain myself.

  “Yes, yes, I understand,” she said half annoyed, with a touch of amusement.

  “Besides, Butch Cassidy wasn’t just a human outlaw. He was the shapeshifter, Coyote.”

  This caught her attention. “Coyote? As in the Native American diety?”

  Of course she’d know that and not Butch Cassidy. “Well, that’s what an old werewolf story says anyway. None of us actually believe he was Coyote. Like you said, that’s just an old Native American myth.”

  “After everything we’ve been through, you’re going to doubt that Coyote couldn’t possibly be real.”

  When she put it like that… “Sure, there’s a chance that Butch was Coyote, but you’re missing the point of the story. We’re hiding out in the same place as one of the greatest outlaws of all time did. Who knows, we might become legends one day.”

  “We just might,” she said, more to herself than to me. “Do you mind if I explore the mine a bit while you go meet with this Mr. Kraemer?”

  She sure was acting strange. “I don’t care, but there’s not much here anymore. Most of the quality silver is in the lower levels, where it’s pretty damn dangerous.”

  “I’ll be careful,” she promised. “This talk of Native American lore and the fact that Coyote might’ve been here, just piqued my interests, that’s all.”

  Ahhh, maybe she did appreciate my history lesson. “Don’t have too much fun while I’m gone, okay?” I wasn’t sure if it was my imagination or the fire light, but I thought I saw all three gems glow for just a moment. If Isa noticed it, she didn’t say anything. She just sat there, contently.

  “Don’t worry,” she chimed in. “I wouldn’t dream of having too much fun in a place like this.”

  Chapter 32