Survivor Reborn (Kieran Grey Psionic Hunter)

by R. B. Fivecoat

  “We have holding cells that will keep him for interrogation later.” That was the only thing said on the long way back down the building.

  Once on the ground floor we found a SWAT team was in the lobby with a bomb blanket and silver reinforced restraints. Douglas was still unconscious so it was easy to switch out my cuffs for theirs. They wrapped him in the blanket to keep him out of the light–had to be polite and civilized to the undead and all–then carried him to the back of the SWAT van. They drove off in the snow. It had actually started to snow. I couldn’t contain myself, I started laughing.

  We walked to Ren’s car in silence. Well almost. I was still laughing at the snow. I think that the adrenaline rush had gotten to me. Once inside her car she dropped the bomb.

  “Targ is hiding Jacob in the penthouse.”

  I would’ve liked to say I was shocked, but I wasn’t.

  Ren continued, “I saw it when I shook Greg’s hand. After the hunt tonight they’re going to relocate. All of the shifters are going to the hunt. Tonight will be our only chance to stop Jacob.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “YES!!! Goddamn it, yes!” she screamed slamming her fists against the steering wheel.

  “Okay, calm down.”

  “Sorry, look I’m positive he’s there. They’re leaving tomorrow night. We have to stop them tonight.” She was pleading with me.

  “Do we have enough evidence for a regular warrant to search the place?”

  Her face dropped. “No, even if Douglas spills his guts we still won’t have enough. We can’t let Jacob get away. He’ll just keep killing.”

  “I know. I have a plan, but I’ll need some help.” I put on my glasses.

  With a thought Julie appeared. “Do you know where the nearest entrance to the Archives is?” I asked her.

  As soon as Julie gave me directions, I had Ren drive us there.

  * * *

  We arrived at the entrance to the Archives hidden inside a nearby branch office. It looked like any other office building. We went inside the doors to the stairs. I had Julie on my glasses giving me directions. At the bottom of the stairs was an unmarked door with no handle. I held my badge open next to my face with my glasses lifted up, just like Julie told me to. A small slit opened in the door. A laser scanned my badge and my retinas. The door clicked open.

  Paranoid much?

  The room inside was dark. The glasses adjusted instantly for me. Ren kept a hand on my shoulder as we entered the darkness. Clicking noises filled the dark room an instant before I saw the tigers.

  “Ren, have you ever been to the Archives before?” I saw her shaking her head in my rearview. I let my voice go soft. “Okay, there are two tigers in this room. They are the door guards. Stay here and let me go to them. Take my glasses, you can see in the dark with them.”

  “What about you?” she asked putting the glasses on.

  “Don’t worry, I can see just fine.”

  I’d flexed my shield-bubble. The room lit up bright violet. I saw the white and black sabertooth tigers, they were moving towards me. Ren gasped. I think she saw them too. I dropped my shields holding my hands out to my sides. With my shields down the room fell into darkness. I listened and waited. The heavy breathing came closer, then the breath was hot on my hands. I stayed frozen, letting them smell my skin. A tongue licked my hand. Bringing a small startled yelp from me. It licked again slower this time. The other tiger licked as well. Then the rumbling began, they purred. They rubbed against me. Licking and rubbing. I broke out laughing.

  “Ren, keep your hands out and let them smell you.”

  I heard her footsteps come closer. She stopped. The tiger on my right let out a deep growl. I bopped him on the nose. “Bad kitty, she’s a friend. Ren give me your hand.” I had to wait for her to put her hand in mine. I held it up to the tiger first with my hand pointed at it, then with Ren’s. It growled again.

  “Ren you need to take the gloves off. Don’t argue just do it.” I wasn’t sure if she would’ve argued or not.

  She placed her covered wrist in my hand. She was avoiding touching me with her hands, so as to not receive flashes from my life that she didn’t need. I held the hand for the tiger. The growl was deeper this time, meaner.

  “This isn’t working.” Ren was trying to pull away from me. Her voice trembling with fear.

  Stupid! Nikolai said that with my blood another could pass. The tigers need to smell my blood on her!

  “Do you have a knife?” I asked.

  “No, why?”

  I was petting the great tiger to keep it from attacking Ren. Then I had an idea. I ran my hand over its head. Then down so I could scratch under its chin. His head lifted a little. It took me a few seconds to find what I was after, his fang. The extra-long sabertooth fang felt solid. More solid than any bone ever could. The edge was razor sharp, but it was the tip that actually cut me. A nice little cut across the pad of my middle finger. Blood surfaced instantly.

  “Ren. I need to place a few drops of my blood on your hand. Okay?”

  “S-s-sure?” she squeaked.

  I still had hold of her wrist. Without raising my shields I couldn’t see, so I had to guess where her hand was. I held her wrist still, and pressed my fingers together. She gasped when each drop hit her hand.

  Is she getting memory flashes from the drops of my blood? How much blood do we need to use? It only took a few drops before.

  I squeezed out a few more drops, just in case.

  I held her wrist up. Placing her blood covered hand in front of the tiger’s nose again. It sniffed her then just walked away. I let the other sniff. It walked away still purring.

  “What happened?” Ren’s voice was shaky.

  “You get to pass without becoming lunch. Let’s hurry.”

  We entered the halls. Ren pulled out a small wet-nap from her pocket. She hastily scrubbed my blood off her hand before putting her gloves back on. My shields came back up, they were now acting like a bandage on the cut, stopping the bleeding.

  Another neat trick no one told me about. Do they even know I can do that?

  I took the glasses back and had Julie give us the fastest way to the Demonstration Armory conference room without going through the Bestiary. I was sooo not up to that today. We were the last to arrive at the Armory. Marsala, Tanaka and Emmy were already there. Marsala held up a finger to his lips signaling us to keep quiet. We all moved into the conference room. He placed a metal cube on the table. Then pressed the button on the top. My glasses went completely blank like someone had cut the power. I took them off glaring at him.

  “Jamming machine. This way no one can see or listen in on us,” Marsala explained.

  Why is he worried about someone hearing us?

  We filled them in on what had happened. Tanaka told us that the tattoo lead was a bust. We needed a plan.

  “It is within your jurisdiction to enter the building after Jacob,” Marsala stated plainly.

  “I’ll still go supervise the hunt, try to make sure that all the wolves are accounted for. That should cut down the number of guards between you and Jacob.” Tanaka was cleaning his glasses on his shirt.

  Something just doesn’t look right about him today, but I can’t put my finger on it.

  “Targ will take it as a personal attack if we enter the building. We will no doubt have to fight our way to the penthouse. There is no way in other than the personal elevator on the top floor. No outside windows or vents to the penthouse. If we are careful we can probably make it to the top floor before they really know what is going on.” Marsala had blueprints of the building spread out in front of him.

  “What do you mean we?” I asked.

  “You, me, and the Detective here.”

  “No offence Marsala, but you kind’a draw attention to yourself. What makes you think that we can get to the top floor before they call out the guards?”

  “These.” He handed me a pair of fangs. “You both put these in, change your clothes, an
d keep your badges hidden. The staff will just think you are more vamps in town to pay their respects. Any new vampires in the city must go pay their respects to the Head Master Vampire of the Region, in this case, Targ. It’s tradition. No one will think twice about me escorting visiting vamps around in the building. Once on the 104th floor we will have to force the doors open and climb the elevator shaft to the penthouse. We go in quiet and quick, not giving Jacob a chance to run. When we are inside, Dr. Grey can notify the local law enforcement that we are conducting a Hunt. Every law enforcement agency within driving distance will come to help, storming the building from below. That should give us enough of a distraction to get into the penthouse without much of a fight.”

  “Sounds to me like you already had this plan,” I said suspiciously.

  “We did. Only before it was to remove Targ from his position. Then politics changed, the plan was abandoned, and Targ remained in power.”

  Ren looked at Marsala. “Why take me along?”

  “Could I stop you from coming, short of physically restraining you to the wall?”

  “No.”

  “Well then, shall we get ready? Detective Michaels, if you will follow Dr. Grey, she will lead you to the Tailor for some new clothes.”

  I wanted to go with them. Marsala stopped me. He was afraid that I’d been “freaked out” enough lately.

  “What exactly do you mean by that? How is this tailor guy going to ‘freak me out’?”

  All Marsala said was, “The Tailor is not exactly a pleasant entity. Not everyone is comfortable being around him.”

  What was that supposed to mean?

  I didn’t like the way he had said entity instead of person. For some reason, I knew then, I did not want to go meet the Tailor. At least not without a few big guns. Or a few thousand Marines with big guns.

  I was told then that the Tailor was a unique psionic. He could tell your sizes exactly just by looking at you, no matter what you wore, he worked at an incredible speed, and was able to copy any design from any catalog. It was possible for the Tailor to create an entire wardrobe for Ren in only a few hours. Her clothes would be like mine, made in different styles from the spider-silk.

  Tanaka pulled me off to the side. “Are you sure you want to do this. Trust her like this, I mean. You are planning the equivalent of an act of war if she is wrong.”

  “Why are you so worried all of the sudden? Don’t you want to stop Jacob?”

  “Yes he should be stopped. But you are trusting the word of a woman that has been declared a liar in court. It’s dangerous.”

  What? Why is Tanaka acting jealous of Ren all the sudden?

  “Marsala doesn’t seem worried.”

  “Marsala’s a vampire. He has loyalties to Targ, regardless of his personal feelings. Just be careful. Marsala reports to Targ as much as he reports to the Council.”

  Now he’s jealous of Marsala?!

  “You don’t trust him all the sudden? Why? Because the old me dumped you for him? Get over it Tanaka. I’m not that person anymore.”

  “I know that, just please think about it.”

  “Kieran.” Marsala called me over to him. Tanaka left to go get in position to watch the Full Moon Hunt. I felt strangely relieved as soon as he left the room.

  What in the hell is his problem?

  “What’s up Marsala?”

  He handed me a katana sword. “The blade has a high silver content. Any cut with this will force a vampire or a shifter to heal human slow. A bad enough wound will even kill. Almost every creature in existence will die if you remove its head, including vampires and shifters. Your body knows how to use this.”

  I unsheathed the blade. It sparkled in the lights. The blade was well balanced. It felt good in my hands. I swung the blade through the air. It felt so familiar.

  “Thank you Marsala.”

  “Don’t thank me yet. If we are wrong about Jacob we will face Targ himself. He makes Yuric seem tame.”

  Great, just great.

  Chapter 21

  For the first step in my disguise, Emmy had me dye my hair turquoise, because she said it offset my eyes and kept me from being recognized at first glance. Which was a waste, because the next thing I did was put in contacts that made my eyes look like liquid-silver vampire eyes. Then Emmy pulled all of my hair into a long braid which she clipped together at the end inside a hair clip that made my hair look like it was a braided whip with a knife blade at the end. She put on my makeup in a thick gothic style. We added some more clip-on earrings to enhance the effect. Then I put in the fangs. They snapped in place perfectly over my teeth. I looked like I was ready to go out to a gothic night club. Little Miss Vampire. I never complained until we got to my outfit.

  It looked like some sort of body armor out of a comic book. Matt black armor plating panels covered the skintight black underlining. The gun holster built into the armor was similar to the one I already used. It placed both of the Walther pistols in the small of my back. There were little pockets all around the waist that we filled with the light grenades and light sticks, along with rations, painkillers, sleepstims, and hydro. Down each thigh were six spare clips for my guns. They were attached so that they could be easily loaded while still holding the gun. Just drop out the old clip, move the handle over the new clip, tilt out and press against the thigh, you’re loaded. The sword clipped on in the middle of my back. It took a few tries to learn how to draw it.

  I hope I don’t need it in a hurry though.

  I looked like some vampire warrior girl from a comic book. The armor would serve its purpose, and it was light and easy to move in.

  Very impressive!

  I’d dressed in Marsala’s room again, since we didn’t have time to stop back at my apartment. The giant doors cycled open with the same grinding noise they always had. Ren stepped in followed by Marsala. She was dressed almost exactly like me. Her hair was a bright neon pink though, as well as her eyes being a liquid copper like Marsala’s. Even her guns had been upgraded with .40 silver-plated hollow-points.

  At least they would be a little more effective than her regular bullets.

  Marsala carried a large multi-barreled Gatling gun. The rotary cannon was bigger than I was, with a backpack full of ammo belts that came clear to my chin. We each looked dangerous, and scary.

  “How the hell do you thpeak with thethe in?” Ren slurred her speech as she talked against the fangs.

  “It really isn’t that hard, just think before you speak,” I replied to her as clear as day.

  “Eathy for you to thay.”

  “Nightfall is in less than an hour, we should get going.” Marsala carried that giant gun like it weighed nothing.

  “Ready?” I asked Ren.

  “Thure ath long ath I don’t have me make a thpeech.”

  * * *

  We were a little crowded in the back of the small moving van. Marsala with his big gun and ammo took up most of the space. It was possible to sit in the armor, but it was simply more comfortable to stand. Besides, with my nerves on overdrive the way they were, I couldn’t force myself to stay in one place for more than a few seconds. Ren and I stood, holding onto the cargo net above. She was shaking.

  “You cold?” I asked her to keep myself from fidgeting again.

  “No, jutht thcared, really thcared. We aren’t really following thandard polith prothedure you know. I’d be fired if I weren’t with you. Hell, I could thill be fired anyway. But, I’ve theen what that bathtard can do. I know we have to thtop him, but I would rather jutht thend in the Marineth.”

  “They will be here shortly after we reach the top floor,” Marsala said.

  We each had on a pair of the glasses. Ren’s pair only allowed communications with us, and some basic vision enhancements. I had Emmy on an open channel. She wanted to follow the action so she would know when to call who for help.

  The van came to a jerky halt. A few seconds later the doors opened. The snow was falling thick and heavy. We spilt out
of the van, the deep snow coming up to mid-calf even with the high thick-heeled armored boots on. When Marsala stepped out, the van popped up a foot without the extra weight. I stared up the building. The black building stood out against the snow like a foreboding monolith. It was past closing time for most human businesses, and opening time for most of the vamp businesses, just after nightfall in the winter and the streets were crowded with people. People who avoided us. Of course we were dressed for war out in the open amongst the nice decent “civilized” people. No doubt someone was already calling the police to report us.

  “Smile, be sure to show your fangs, and just walk in like you own the place.” Marsala took off in front of us.

  We had to rush to keep up with his pace. He barely fit through the double doors of the Dark Towers, having to duck a little on his way through. I don’t know if that took away from, or added to, the effect he had on the shocked people inside. It wasn’t really normal to see a vampire over twelve-feet tall carrying a seven-foot long rotary-cannon machine gun walking around town.

  We flanked him one on each side, walking tall and proud, smiling just like we were told to. We were scaring the shit out of the civilians. The crowd parted for us, no one wanting to get too close. Security never questioned who we were or why we were there. We waited for the elevator farthest from the doors. It was larger than the others, more like a cargo elevator. We stepped inside once the doors opened. The elevator groaned under the weight.

  “What ith the weight limit in thith thing?” Ren whispered the question to me not realizing Marsala could hear her through his glasses.

  “I have been in here with more than I am carrying along with four others. It will hold.” Marsala tried to whisper back, but it just made him sound bigger, and much meaner.

  The elevator took us all the way up without stopping. The doors opened. Opened to nothing. There was nothing in the room. Just the private elevator doors on the far side of the room, and the elevators, stairwells, and bathrooms on the side we were on. Nothing was between us. We fanned out into the empty room. Each of us had guns ready by the time we were halfway across the room. The broken window that Douglas had jumped out of had already been replaced.