Full Moon Rising - 02

by Heath Stallcup

  Matt simply raised an eyebrow and nodded. “Very well. But I still want doc to check you out.”

  “Copy that.”

  “Laura, get with Apollo and see where Jack will best fit in. It’s the full moon tonight. Odds are, we’re going to be busy and probably have more than one op going. If we are hit with anything light duty, we may split the squads into three five man groups. Jack is our best qualified team leader so it’s workable. If necessary, get Lieutenant Gregory called up to man the secondary operations center.”

  “Yes, sir, Colonel.” Laura began gathering her folders and led Jack out of the interrogation room. Matt watched them leave then went in search of Evan Peters. He had cooked up a concoction that eased the symptoms earlier. Maybe he could whip him up a double now. His nerves were about shot.

  *****

  Nadia was barely able to hold on to the side of the boat as it skipped across the waters and made their way to shore. The waters had become much choppier since Jack had crossed and their pilot was having to throttle back to keep from beating them to death. The small craft wasn’t meant to take such large waves and he worried that they would capsize if he wasn’t careful. “Please, Georgio, can you not increase our speed?” she asked.

  “I cannot, Miss. The waves, they are too large and our boat, she is too small!” he yelled over the noise of the wind. Nadia’s mother looked like she was turning a nice shade of green as the craft rode up and down the crowning waves.

  “But we must hurry! Jack is in danger. I must get to him quickly and warn him. Please, a little faster if you can.” She pleaded.

  “Señor Jack?” Georgio asked. “How is he in danger?”

  “I don’t know, exactly. I just feel it.”

  “Why do you not simply call him?”`

  “I don’t know where to call him at. He didn’t give me a number.” She said.

  “But…the satellite phone.” Georgio said. “The one we gave him before he left the docks.”

  Nadia was dumbfounded. A satellite phone? It was news to her. Rufus had said nothing to her mother of a satellite phone or they would have called from the castle. “What satellite phone, Georgio? Rufus said nothing of a phone.”

  “Mario, the wolf from the stables, he gave it to me for Jack. He said it was for him to call us when he was ready to return.” Georgio said. “I thought surely that Master Rufus had ordered it for him, no?”

  “No! Rufus said nothing of a phone!” She yelled. “Do you know the number to the phone, Georgio?”

  “I do not. But perhaps Mario does. He should be at the docks with your vehicle, yes?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t know a Mario.” Nadia worked her way to the back of the boat where her mother was now a much darker shade of green. She definitely looked ready to hurl. “Mother, do you know a wolf named Mario? He works the stables?”

  Her mother looked at her with eyes that belonged to somebody staring very far away. She shook her head in a very slow negative, then she leaned slightly over the edge and threw up. This was not good. Nadia grabbed the sides of the craft and worked back to the pilot, “Mother doesn’t know a Mario either. How long have you known him?”

  Georgio thought about it for a little bit, then shook his head. “I do not remember. Perhaps a month?”

  “There should be no new wolves on the island, Georgio! Could he be a spy?”

  Georgio laughed. “A spy? Who would spy on us?”

  Nadia sighed. “I need the number. Are you sure that this Mario will be at the docks?”

  “I am not positive, but I am pretty sure, yes.”

  Nadia sat back and bit at her fingernail. She hoped and prayed that he was there. She desperately needed the number to that phone. And if any of the wolves on the dock had another phone, she would call Rufus right away and find out if he had a phone sent with Jack. Whoever this Mario is, he had better pray that Rufus says ‘yes’.

  *****

  Damien studied the hired muscle that had been sent with him to the blood den. They didn’t look like much but he could sense the power rolling off of them in waves. He alternated from feeling like a badass to feeling like a trapped animal. He didn’t know why he would feel like he was the target of their animosity, but at times, he did. They were completely unreadable, their faces like stone, yet he could sense their disdain for him. He didn’t like feeling powerless and these characters definitely made him feel powerless.

  Any vampire, against a human, has both a physical and psychological advantage. But vampire against vampire, things became distorted. One couldn’t judge another vampire just upon their size or perceived strength. He had seen vampires who looked like linebackers drop and cower before Paul, who was short and slight in build. But he was old, and that was where real power came from. Plus, Paul Foster was a natural born vampire and that practically made him royalty. Natural born vampires had special abilities that created vampires lacked, or took centuries to develop and hone in order to use effectively. Paul could glamour a human and have them think it was their idea to surrender their will and their blood to him. He could move so fast that even other vampires could barely see him. It was rumored, that he could even shape shift, but Damien doubted that was true. Nobody he knew actually knew for sure, it was just rumored and whispered. In fact, when it came to Paul Foster, most things were whispered for fear he may hear you speak of him.

  Damien pointed to the abandoned building where the blood den was, and the van pulled near. Before it came to a complete stop, the side door slid open and they all exited and Damien found himself pulled to the sidewalk. The enforcers push-pulled him to the door of the blood den and urged him to knock while they stood to the sides of the door out of eyesight, stakes ready, guns with silver bullets drawn.

  Damien knocked twice then a third time and a sliding peephole opened. A dark set of eyes checked him out, it’s owner recognizing him for what he was. “Back so soon?”

  “Safer to feed here then on the streets.” He chuckled. “Besides, I thought I’d finish off my leftovers.” He smiled.

  The peephole slammed shut and a series of locks and slides opened. Just as the door was cracking open, the enforcers pushed their way through, pinning the door guard against the wall. The stronger of the enforcers held a stake at his heart with one hand and whispered, “Shhh!” before the guard could call out.

  The other enforcers pushed Damien through the doors, urging him to lead the way. Once through, Damien rolled his head across his neck and listened to the joints pop. Let’s do this. He readied himself.

  He led them through the dark hallways and into a larger common room. Alcoves set off on either side with dirty mattresses stained in blood and vampires feeding off of the metro’s homeless, runaways, drug addicted and street people lined the edges of the room. Damien searched the gloom until he saw the mohawk of the punk he had heard bragging, his leather jacket hung on a hook above the mattress he was currently spread atop, feeding on a bag lady. Damien pointed at the punk and the enforcers wasted no time in bagging, gagging and securing him. Damien rapidly searched the room but didn’t see the other punk that had been with this one before. He screwed up his nerve and marched up to the punk. He bent low to keep his voice down. “Where’s your friend?”

  Mohawk shook his head, the gag in his mouth hooked on his fangs. He obviously didn’t know who Damien was talking about. “Let’s try this again. A couple of nights ago, you were in here feeding with another punk. Leather jacket, same bad haircut. Ring a bell?” Damien asked, thumping the punk in the head. “Where the fuck is he?”

  The punk glared at Damien, his eyes narrowing on him. He knew that Damien was a baby vamp and had it not been for the others, he would have torn him limb from limb. He mumbled, ‘fugg yew’ through the gag.

  “Fuck me, eh?” Damien chuckled. “Well, we’ll see how much you feel like fornicating when Mr. Foster rips your cock off and shoves it up your ass, smart mouth.” Damien nodded to the enforcers. “Take him. If he won’t talk to us, he’ll talk to
Paul.”

  Apparently the punk knew of Paul Foster because his eyes bulged in his head and he began struggling as if his life depended on it. Maybe because his life did depend on it. Damien stopped them a moment. “Feel like talking now?” The punk nodded his head rapidly. “Remove the gag.”

  Once the enforcers pulled the gag out, Damien noticed the dark marks around the punk’s mouth. Had he been human, there would definitely be bruising. “Monroe. His name’s Monroe, but he’s not here, man. He fed on the streets, man. I swear.” The punk said.

  “Fine. Where can I find him?”

  “I dunno, man. He didn’t tell me where he was going, I swear. What do you want him for? Maybe I can…”

  “Mr. Foster has some questions for the two of you. If we can’t bring the both of you, then I guess you’ll have to take Monroe’s pain as well.” Damien said then nodded to the enforcers. The punk started to scream, but found his mouth filled with the gag again and he was instantly dragged to the hallway and toward the door. The lead enforcer still holding the door guard at the entrance with a stake to the chest.

  As the last of them exited the building, the enforcer slowly withdrew from the guard. Holding his finger to his lips, he repeated, “Shhh. We were never here.” He turned to leave and slowly pulled the door shut. Just before closing it, he looked at the guard and said, “Have a pleasant evening.” And smiled.

  The enforcers shoved the punk into the van and once they all piled in, Damien was left with sitting on the punk for the ride back. He wanted to complain because the punk was lumpy and hurt his butt, but since he was surrounded by badasses, he felt it wouldn’t be in his best interest to complain that his punk seat cover wasn’t soft enough. So, Damien endured just one more humiliating experience.

  Oh, how he wished he could fast forward time a couple of centuries so that he could increase his strength and power. Then he glanced around him and noticed the vampires sitting around him now. He’d probably end up a bitter asshole just like these characters. Somebody needs to pull the stake out of their ass. He thought, and he chuckled, thinking himself funny.

  The punk mumbled something from under him and wriggled around. Damien told him to sit still and punched him. Maybe that would impress the enforcers and they would quit impressing their power over him. Instead of the desired result, he instead felt smothered with wave after wave of power from the enforcers until he felt almost smothered and tiny. Damien closed his eyes and forced himself to not react to their display of power, but it wasn’t easy. The ride back across town was going to take forever and the driver made sure he hit every bump along the way.

  3

  Jack came out of the doctor’s office with Laura in tow. She had the doctor sign off on his examination and they had drawn enough blood for workup that Jack wondered if anything would actually come out if he cut himself shaving. He secretly wondered if Evan might have ordered a light snack somewhere in that bloodwork, but had to remind himself that their augmentation made them less than palatable to the bloodsuckers. “That should be it, Chief. You’re clear for duty now.” She told him.

  “I guess you’ll need to get with Apollo and get the teams split, just in case?” he commented.

  “I’ll have him split the rosters into three teams like the Colonel wanted. It wouldn’t be the first time we had more than one fire pop up on a full moon.” She seemed preoccupied, as if she wanted to ask him something but was afraid to broach the subject.

  Jack milled about a moment to give her time, but she didn’t seem to be in a hurry to break the ice. Finally, Jack decided to dismiss himself. “I guess I’ll go topside and start packing up another set of gear, just in case then.”

  Laura nodded. “Yeah, that’s probably a good idea.” Jack turned to leave when Laura finally blurted out, “Are you going to tell the rest of the squads, Jack?”

  He turned back to her, realizing what she was referring to. “About what the augmentation really is?”

  “Yes. About the gene therapy. About what was…done to them.” He could see her face flush. A sure sign that she was ashamed, too.

  “I honestly don’t know.” He replied. “I do know that if I do, it won’t be today. They’ll have their hands full, I’m sure. You know how busy it gets this time of the month.” He gave her a weak smile.

  “What about after?” her face solemn. “Do we need to prepare for a group of highly trained and very pissed off warriors?”

  “Laura, I just don’t know.” Jack sighed. “They have a right to know.” He walked back toward her and lowered his voice. “They really should know what’s inside them. Especially if any of them are thinking of having kids in the future?” He was referring to Apollo and his new girlfriend.

  Laura nodded in agreement. “We have no idea what the results would be if any of them were to have children…”

  “If what was done to them actually made it as if they were born with this…what would you call it? An affliction? A disease? Condition?” Jack shrugged. “Whatever the hell it is, if this gene thing makes them the same as a natural born wolf, then they most definitely would pass it on. And their kids would pass it on to their kids and so on.”

  Laura sighed and her shoulders slumped. “This is a real can of worms.”

  “It could get really ugly.” Then he brightened. “Or not.”

  She turned to him as if he lost his damned mind. “How’s that?”

  “If they were actually honest with themselves? I mean seriously honest with themselves? Odds are each and every one of them would have volunteered to take the augmentation if it gave them an advantage over the monsters. Once they see what is really out there? The vampires, the ogres, the trolls, the imps, the fucking fairies? Oh my god…the fairies are the worst. You can’t stop them with a flamethrower!”

  “Tell me about it.” She chuckled. “Remember the fairy infestation in southern Canada last year? I thought you were going to pull your hair out before it was over with.”

  “I still itch every time I see a firefly in the spring.” He muttered. Laura laughed and patted his back. “Don’t laugh, boss. That shit ain’t funny. Fairies are a bitch.”

  “At least they aren’t leprechauns.” She said.

  He shuddered. “Those little Irish bastards. Why they don’t stay on their own continent, is beyond me…”

  “Once he got calmed down, he wasn’t so bad. He was actually the victim. Woke up in New York and he was pissed. But at least he’s home now. As long as he stays away from pubs on Samhain, then he should be good.”

  “Should have incinerated the little fuck, if you ask me.”

  “Technically, he did nothing wrong. He was drunk, knocked on the head and robbed. Somebody else stuffed him in a shipping container headed for the states. He just wasn’t happy when they opened it.” She said with a haphazard smile.

  “He practically destroyed the docks! And we not only let him go, we took him home!” Jack exclaimed. “It took me and my team five hours to trap the little shit and get him shackled.”

  “If you hadn’t been wearing a gold crucifix, Jack…we might never have found something to calm him down.” She laughed.

  “Gold. Whodathunkit? Rub a little gold on the wee bastard and it’s like a valium for them.” He muttered. “Oh well. Now we know.”

  “Live and learn.” She said with a smile.

  “Sometimes the hard way.”

  “So, the other squads members… you really think they would do it anyway?” she asked.

  He nodded. “Yeah, I do. I think that they would do anything to get the upper hand.”

  Laura considered Jack’s opinion and hoped he was right. “Still, you were right. They should have been given the choice.”

  “I know. And that’s what sucks about the whole fucking mess.” They both stood there a moment, reflecting on the situation until it almost became awkward.

  Finally, Laura broke the silence. “So, go get your gear ready, we’ll get the squads split up and then we’ll alert you to who
your team is so you can get to know them. I’ll have Apollo get their files and training reports to you so you can see who fits best where.” She said. “Sound good?”

  “Works for me, boss lady.”

  “I’ll meet you topside shortly.” Laura left and Jack had to remember that his intentions weren’t to come back for good. He came back to fulfill his mission for Rufus. Home was where Nadia was, and he suddenly had an overwhelming urge to just slip out a side door and take the SUV back to south Texas and call for a ride home to the island. But, he still had to get Mitchell to agree to a meeting before he could consider his mission complete. Even then, he didn’t know if he could call it complete until the meeting actually took place. His heart told him to be with Nadia, but his head told him he had a duty to be here.

  Jack sighed and turned for the stairs. “Time to make the doughnuts.”

  *****

  Nadia jumped from the boat before the lines were even cast to pull it to the dock. Natashia all but staggered forward, holding the sides and still looked very green. Georgio waved the dock side wolves over as one of them tied off the small craft. “Where is Mario?” he asked.

  “We have not seen him since you dropped off the soldier.” One replied.

  “He left shortly after. We asked where he was going, but he said only that he had an errand.” The other added.

  “Do either of you have the number to the phone that he gave Jack?” Nadia asked, desperation painted across her face.

  They looked at each other and shrugged. “We know nothing of a phone.” The first one said.

  Georgio moaned. “I have a bad feeling, miss. Perhaps we should inform Señor Thorn?”

  “Does anybody have a phone I can use to call the island?” she asked. The smaller man fished a cell phone from his jacket and handed it to her. Nadia stepped off to the side and called for Rufus, quickly filling him in. As she feared, he knew nothing of a satellite phone and although he didn’t approve all of the wolves who cycled through, he had no knowledge of this Mario the stable wolf either. He feared the Lamia Humanus had infiltrated their ranks and had set something in motion.