A Special Gift

by Alice Brown

  “It is so good to see you smile,” Kevin whispered with one of his own, as well. “If you don’t stop finding ways to scare the hell out of me, I am going to be the only vampire ever to die from fright alone, and at a very young age at that,” he said, grinning.

  “I clearly recall your telling me in the hospital that now that I had been changed, you wouldn’t need to worry every minute of every day about me. Did you get so accustomed to worrying about me before changing me that you can’t shift gears now?” She gave her best attempt at ‘innocence’, but her impishness came shining through. And her husband saw right through her.

  “No, it just seems that my wife has the ability to scare the hell out of me just as much now that she is a vampire, as when she wasn’t,” he chuckled in reply.

  “Dear husband of mine, I am sure I don’t know what you are talking about,” she stated theatrically, rolling her eyes.

  Kevin quickly rolled over, pinning her underneath him. “Let me refresh your memory,” he growled. “I leave you alone to go to work one morning, only to return home by early afternoon to find out that my wife, who has been a vampire for all of a month, and has had absolutely no training in fighting, is fighting a male vampire who wants to steal our baby. If that weren’t bad enough, she then tries playing Wonder Woman until she collapses from exhaustion. No, honey, I’m sure you have no idea what I am talking about.” He quickly dropped his head and found her warm, wet lips. He traced the seam of her mouth with his tongue, and she opened immediately. Her tongue came out to duel with his, and he loved it. He allowed her to duel for a moment, and then quickly took charge as he devoured her mouth.

  Chapter Three

  When Gary did declare war, Erica was alerted through a vision, which gave the team time to prepare. Gary was in Atlanta when he made the declaration and was driving himself and his merry band of misfit rogues to California. Both the CW and VCTF teams were pulled together. This was the reason the CW team had been created in the first place. Erica found her emotions were scattered all over the place because she had never faced a situation like this. Of course, Kevin went on missions all the time, and some called for him to be out of town for several days or even a week at a time. But she had never dealt with him leaving on a mission that was a direct order for war. The judicial council had already issued clear orders to kill any who posed a threat to the society. Erica just hoped that none of their own went down with the rogues.

  She glanced up at her husband, and the tender look in his eyes almost took her breath away. He understood that her emotions caused her stomach to turn somersaults, and he appreciated her staying strong for him and the community.

  When he felt like he could speak without his emotions coming through, he gently cupped her cheek as he spoke. “I love you, darling. I love you more than anything else in the world, but until this man is stopped, no one in our society is truly going to be safe. I have to stop him, once and for all.”

  Erica nodded in understanding and tried to force a smile on her face. “I know, and I love you, Kevin O’Rourke.” She stood and threw her arms around her husband’s neck, burying her face in his shoulder. She inhaled deeply, wanting to burn his scent into her memory, hoping it would help her through the time alone that lay ahead of her.

  Kevin tipped Erica’s face upwards and brought his lips to hers in a sizzling, needy, passionate kiss. They knew not what the future held, nor when they would see one another again. Kevin seemed to need the kiss just as much as Erica was desperately trying to cling to his scent. He finished kissing her, and Erica glanced up into a pair of eyes that were on fire. He gently brushed a finger down the bridge of her nose and stated hoarsely, “I have to go. I love you.”

  He swiftly turned and walked out of the door, and the stabbing pain in Erica’s chest was almost unbearable. She collapsed on the nearby couch where she sat there motionless, unable to feel anything but unbelievable pain and worry. She found herself saying a quick prayer that Kevin would make it back home safe and sound, and then berated herself for being so selfish. There were other team members with spouses or loved ones also. What if something happened to them? What about Marshall? He was like another member of the family to them. What if something happened to him? She now said a second prayer asking for forgiveness in being so selfish, and asking for protection over all of the members.

  Charles and Mr. Atkins appeared in the doorway a short time later. “Erica girl, are you okay?” Mr. Atkins asked with concern as he approached her cautiously.

  “Yes, I’ll be fine,” Erica replied with a weak smile.

  “You know they are trained to do this; it is their job,” he said kindly. “You know they are going to come back victorious.” He gently took her hand and smiled reassuringly. “You need to concentrate on what you should be doing. You are our best weapon right now, keeping track of the enemy and keeping us informed as to their exact location.”

  Erica glanced up and tried to smile. “I know, and you’re right. I’ve got a job to do, and that is to keep our boys—and girls, now that the CW team is involved—informed and safe.” She paused and took a deep breath. “I don’t have time to fall to pieces right now.” No, she told herself again, she didn’t have time to fall apart, she didn’t have time to worry about what she would do if Kevin were no longer in her life. And she certainly didn’t have time to worry about raising a gifted child without a father. No, there was no time to worry about these things right now. She resolutely placed all of her fears into a drawer in the back of her mind, and locked it tightly closed for the time being. If something happened, there would be plenty of time afterwards to open that drawer and let everything go.

  *****

  The whole team gathered at the training site, situated on the southwest side of the Sierra National Forest. Charles was still having Erica check on Gary every two hours; much to everyone’s delight, he was running right on schedule with what Charles had predicted. A friend of Charles and Kevin’s, Ranger Jim, had numerous exits blocked off and detours designed to bring the busloads of rogue vamps straight to the team. Charles had strategically aligned the sector with a campground site. Gary and his two busloads would be the only ones at this campground, of course, and the game plan was to lure them from the buses into the forest. The team would be ready for them.

  By late afternoon, the team left the training site for the forest and headed for the sector that had been blocked off from humans for “tactical training” purposes. The paperwork Jim delivered stated that a special covert ops group of the United States Military needed to conduct an urgent and extremely confidential tactical training exercise. The signature at the bottom of the memo was the Secretary of Defense, and thanks to Charles’s expert forgery, the signature was perfect enough to fool almost anyone.

  Jim called Kevin’s cell phone little after seven that evening, the buses had just been spotted pulling into the designated campground site. Kevin finished his phone call and then announced over the earpiece, “Everyone in position, target has been spotted.”

  “Requesting permission to move closer. I can conceal myself so not even my smell will be detected. I will keep you alerted as to all movement,” Julietta’s voice came across the earpiece. She was from a long line of ninja warriors, and Kevin had a feeling she would prove invaluable today.

  “Permission granted,” Kevin acknowledged, and then continued to everyone, “Team, game on. Julietta will keep us informed. Best case scenario, we will be able to pick several of them off before they know what hits them.”

  Two minutes later, Julietta was back on the earpiece, whispering in hushed tones, “One in the women’s shower will be eliminated in a moment. Two males are walking southeast, talking and smoking, and three more heading to men’s shower. Hold for further info.”

  Moments later, Julietta was back on. “Women’s shower target eliminated. Hold for update on men’s shower targets.”

  Thirty seconds later, Nate reported that he and Scott had eliminated the smokers. “You know
what they say, smoking will kill you,” Nate chuckled quietly through his earpiece.

  Just seconds after that, Julietta was back on. “Men’s shower targets have all been eliminated.”

  Kevin was seriously impressed that his female ninja had just taken out four vampires in under three minutes. “Good job, Julietta,” Kevin told her over the earpiece, hoping his gratitude came through. “Hold tight and keep eyes open, they will eventually get suspicious when the others don’t return. Once someone else goes to the showers, it will be total game on at that point.”

  “Team, everyone in position, we should be less than twenty minutes out from showdown. Julietta, watch your back. You are the closest, you’ll be the number one target if they spot you,” Kevin instructed.

  “No worries, boss. By the way, neither bus is going anywhere soon,” Julietta replied.

  This piqued Kevin and Marshall’s curiosity. “Explain,” Marshall quickly cut in.

  “I placed spikes under all the tires and wired both the engines with a small explosive. Neither vehicle will make it off the grounds,” she replied. Kevin and Marshall glanced at one another and shook their heads slightly. “And why are we just now finding out her talents? We need to bring her on board with the VCTF, she would make a fine addition,” Marshall suggested.

  “No kidding. When this is over, I am going to do everything in my power to get her on the team. I can’t believe she has been under our noses all this time, and nobody knew anything about her talents,” Kevin replied to his second-in-command.

  Julietta’s whisper came across the earpieces again. “Four more now heading for male showers.”

  “Hold tight!” Kevin commanded. He knew the moment the four found what was left of their buddies, it would be immediate game on. This was fine with Kevin. He had waited long enough and wanted to get this ordeal over with. The sooner Gary and the remainder of the group knew they were in the middle of an ambush, the sooner this entire situation would be brought to an end.

  Julietta was back on the earpiece in moments. “Four males now running to bus. Game on, fellows!”

  Fifteen seconds later, all team members listened to the four male vampires describing what was left of their teammates in the men’s shower. “They were our guys,” one said.

  “We’ve been set up!” another bellowed.

  Gary’s reply came through the earpieces as if he were wearing one himself. “Damn it. We have to get out of here. Retreat and regroup!” he stated anxiously as a bus could be heard starting up. A quick moment later an explosion was heard. Kevin briefly wondered how Julietta had pulled this trick off. She had to be very close to the bus for the earpiece to pick up the conversation inside.

  “Julietta, respond immediately with your exact location,” Kevin demanded through the earpiece. He knew this woman was good, but she was still part of his team, and he had a responsibility to keep everyone safe.

  Julietta calmly responded, “Two more targets eliminated. I am near the rear of one of the buses.” She hesitated for a second. “They can’t leave by wheel, and all are disembarking the bus—forty-two of them, thirty-five of us. I’ll take the extra seven plus my one, do you boys think you can handle one apiece?” she challenged sarcastically.

  Kevin chuckled lightly when he heard Marshall’s immediate reply, “I’m sure glad you’re on our side.”

  Victor now quickly came through the earpiece. “Kevin, you’re not going to believe this,” he stated, voice low. “I am watching one of Gary’s guys being pierced with spikes and stars all the way around his entire body. You can’t even tell where the attack is coming from, because the attacker is on the move. It looks like half of our team is ambushing this guy!” Victor was apparently enjoying the show. Samuel broke through as soon as Victor was finished. “Kevin, I have no idea how this is happening, but I am watching a wolf pack descend on one of the rogues. They are surrounding him, and he doesn’t even realize it.” Samuel hesitated. “The wolves took him down, and a large tree branch went through his skull. Kevin, I watched this branch fly through the air and spear him right in the head. I don’t even know where it came from?” Samuel now spoke in bewilderment. Kevin had a sickening feeling that he knew what was going on with this one, but couldn’t exactly take the time to check things at home to be sure.

  He quickly replied to all members, “We might see some strange things tonight, team, don’t let anything stop you. Remember the mission, first and foremost!”

  Then he heard Marshall call out on the earpiece. “Kevin?”

  He replied with an automatic “yes”. He knew what Marshall was inquiring about, or more correctly, who. A moment later the man was standing by Kevin’s side.

  “Thought you might like to change forms and check on things,” he stated quietly. They had learned several months ago that Stephanie could communicate with animals; therefore, she could communicate with her father when he was in animal form, even when she astral projected, which apparently she had done without anyone realizing.

  “Hold the fort, I’ll be right back,” Kevin replied, throwing Marshall a grateful look while handing him the earpiece. He changed into the form of a tiger and set off to find his daughter. “Stephanie!” Kevin bellowed as soon as he had taken animal form.

  “I am right here, Dad,” she replied, her invisible spirit form next to her father’s animal form.

  “What are you doing here?” Kevin inquired in exasperation. His small child, not even a year old yet, and she was out in the middle of a war with rogue vampires. He didn’t even want to think about what Erica was going to do to him for this little incident.

  “I am helping you,” Stephanie responded with a carefree tone, as if she didn’t have a problem in the world. “I have a wolf pack that just took one of the bad guys down, and a lion and a cougar waiting to pounce.”

  Kevin quickly ran through his options. He could demand she return home, but there was no guarantee of her listening and obeying him. Finally, he conceded, realizing his options were extremely limited for the moment. “Okay, but stay safe. If you get hurt, your mother will kill me.” Kevin stopped for a second and then quickly added, “Thanks for the help, little one!”

  The team continued picking off the rogues until there were only a few left besides Gary. When Gary tried to sneak up on Marshall, Stephanie threw an invisible weight around Gary, holding him immobile. Marshall took the opportunity and sliced off Gary’s head. Unfortunately, Stephanie was right there to witness the whole thing.

  She suddenly became quiet, and Kevin quickly changed forms and called to her to make sure she hadn’t been in the way during the action.

  “I’m here, Daddy,” she answered, but the anger was drained out of her, and Kevin knew the sight of a beheaded vampire so close to her was way too much for her to handle at such a young age.

  “Stephanie, it’s okay. It’s over. We only have a few others left, and they are being taken care of. Are you all right?” Kevin called to her.

  “Yes…no. I don’t know, Daddy,” her little voice quivered.

  Oh, God, his precious little girl had just witnessed a vampire being beheaded and then watched his body turn to bones and dust. He had no idea how he was going to explain this one to his wife, and he wondered just how long his daughter would be in therapy to get rid of the nightmares that were bound to plague her. “Stephanie,” Kevin called to her, “you need to return home. Do you know your way?”

  “Yes, I know the way, but why can’t I stay and help you and Marshall?” Kevin couldn’t believe that after what she had just witnessed, she still wanted to stay and help fight.

  “You have done enough, little one, and I thank you for it. However, it is time for you to go back home. With any kind of luck, your mother hasn’t realized you are missing yet. Otherwise, I predict we are both going to be in trouble.”

  “Is Marshall going to come home with you?” she asked innocently.

  “I’ll make you a deal. If you go straight home, right now, I promise I’ll bring Ma
rshall home with me after we are finished. Now go before we get into any more trouble!” He needed to get her home safely so he could change back to human form and make sure all the rogues were eliminated. No one was going to leave the Sierra tonight unless he knew them.

  He waited until he could no longer feel her near before quickly changing back to human form and looking around at the carnage. He hated that his young daughter had witnessed this, but he didn’t see what he could have done differently other than try to send her home earlier. That would have cost him valuable time, which he didn’t have. No, Erica was going to box his ears for sure, but he would stand by his decision.

  Glancing over to his friend and second-in-command, he reached for his earpiece. “Let’s finish this off and go home.”

  “I’m all for that,” Marshall replied with a grin, and then on a more serious note, added, “Is Stephanie okay? I know she was near Gary when I decapitated him, but I saw no other option. He had to be stopped.” Marshall sighed heavily. “I hated finishing him off with her so near, but I wasn’t about to take a chance and have him try to hurt her.”

  “I hope she will be okay. This has been a lot for her to deal with at such a young age, and I don’t even want to think about facing her mother when we get home,” Kevin replied, quickly adding with a grin, “Oh, but wait, I won’t be facing her alone, old friend. I promised little one that I would drag your butt along. She wouldn’t go home otherwise.”

  Marshall grinned over at Kevin. “That’s fine, I really don’t want to go home alone after tonight anyway.” The two men headed out to help search out and finish off the few opponents remaining.

  The official start of the war was declared at seven fifteen in the evening. By midnight, each one of Gary’s team of misfit rogues had been eliminated. Kevin and his team performed a head count just to be certain all were accounted for. Jordan’s team had been called in, but Kevin and his team volunteered to help with the cleanup. The staggering amount of bones and decapitated heads all had to be cleaned up so no trace would ever be found.