A Shade of Vampire 65: A Plague of Deceit

by Bella Forrest

  Scarlett and Patrik had joined us, along with Caia and Blaze. Victoria was busy looking after an increasingly pregnant and worried Vita, as well as little Voss—she had her hands full. Pippa, Jeramiah, Hazel, and Tejus had stayed back to manage The Shade, while Caleb and River had come back to our base on Mount Zur to monitor Ben and Rose’s crew.

  “We also know that Ta’Zan is using the Draenir’s old infrastructure to build his new society,” I added. “And, based on what we saw through the telescope, there are other creatures still living on Merinos. I think Draven brought some of them into a clear area for us to see. The island is covered in woods, but it’s relatively easy to observe along the river.”

  “Wait, other creatures?” Ruby asked, frowning with confusion.

  I shrugged. “Yeah. Since we can’t speak to Draven directly for now, we can only make assumptions. And the one theory that makes the most sense, since the creatures are still with Draven and the others, and clearly not aggressive… well, we think they might be Draenir. They don’t move or look like Faulties, from what we could tell.”

  “How so?” Mona replied.

  “The Faulties have clear physical differences. They’re not all the same, given that they’re hybrids, crossed with different animals. The telescopes offer a detailed view, but it’s only aerial, so we can’t tell you much about what they look like from head to toe. But we were able to study some differences between the Faulties we’ve observed so far, including the ones in Ben and Rose’s entourage. We see spikes and horns, scales and fur, stuff like that. But the people on Merinos are clean. Humanoids with smooth skin and long hair, slender and light on their feet,” I explained.

  Caspian nodded, flipping through pages of notes. “Based on what Viola was able to translate from the old Druid journals regarding Strava, they match the Draenir’s description.”

  “Okay… that means some Draenir survived after the plague,” Mona concluded.

  “Exactly. We’re thinking that their fortune was tied strictly to their location. They fled the infection clusters in the populated areas and sought refuge on Merinos, which is smack in the middle of that hostile weather phenomenon,” I added. “We won’t know more until we find a way to talk to Draven and Serena, but we’re sticking to our theory, for the time being.”

  “Another thing we know for a fact is that the Perfects are constantly growing in number. They’re building more colosseums. Within a month, their population will reach a million,” Phoenix said. “There’s no sign of any ships moving or taking flight, though, so we’re guessing they haven’t figured out how to get off the planet just yet.”

  “We still have a little bit of time, then.” Mona sighed. “We have the full support of the Witches’ Sanctuary, for whatever we decide to do. All options are on the table, and they’re ready to put all their power behind us.”

  The mere thought of all those “options” sent shivers down my spine. I wasn’t ready to go down that dark road, and, judging by the looks on everyone’s faces, neither were they. Strava’s complete destruction wasn’t part of our focus—not yet. As long as ships loaded with Perfects didn’t pop up on our telescope feed, we stayed focused on what we could do to get our people out and stop Ta’Zan before it was too late.

  “And you have Nevertide’s unwavering support, as well,” Ruby said, her lower lip trembling. Ash squeezed her hand and gave her an encouraging smile. “Any word on the star fleet prisoners? Any information at all?”

  I exhaled sharply. One of the many moments I’d been dreading lately was finally here. “No, Ruby. I’m sorry. We don’t know if Varga survived or not. Not yet, but I promise we’ll find a way.”

  Ruby’s shoulders dropped, and she gently leaned into Ash. “I’ll stick to being worried sick and partially thankful that my Lenny is still alive, then,” she murmured.

  “We’ll figure this whole thing out,” Phoenix tried to encourage her. “But we need to keep our heads clear, here.”

  Ash offered a half-smile in return. “We’re here to help, as well.”

  “While we wait for Arwen, Shayla, Viola, and Nova to come back from the medical ward with updates on our Perfects, I figured I’d show you what we’ve managed to convert into video files, from the data extracted from their memory chips,” Phoenix said, then plugged a USB drive into the computer system. He used a small remote to display the images on one of the large screens. “I’ve been combing through all their memories over the past couple of days, and I’ve compiled a quick montage with the whole… cast and crew,” he added with a smirk.

  “How are they, by the way?” Mona asked.

  “Oh, they’re good, fully recovered. We’ll tell you more about them in a bit, after Arwen and the girls come back. In the meantime, feast your eyes on our enemy,” Phoenix replied, then hit play.

  The screen came alive with first-person footage from the Perfects we’d captured in orbit, shortly after the fleet attack. We saw glimpses of their lives, from the moment they’d plopped out of their artificial wombs—cold, wet, and utterly confused. I could tell from the way their eyes darted around that they were trying to wrap their heads around this world and their reason for being there.

  “Those are Faulties.” Phoenix pointed to the screen, as we watched two hybrids help one of our Perfects up and onto a gurney, cleaning him up and checking his vitals. “We believe that one to be Amal, Amane’s twin sister,” he added, singling out the Faulty with white hair and bright orange eyes. Rose had sent us photos of Amane, Kallisto, Leah, and Samael, so Phoenix brought up Amane’s on the same screen, for comparison. The resemblance was beyond striking. They were two peas in a pod, almost brilliantly photocopied.

  “And that’s Ta’Zan,” I said, nodding at the creature with long, gray hair. He smiled at our Perfects and welcomed them into a new world. With one eye green and the other blue, Ta’Zan was a beautiful creature—tall and handsome, with sharp, yet delicate lines. His gaze was penetrating, burning through me like fire.

  “He introduces himself as the maker of this world,” Phoenix grumbled. “The guy sure loves playing the god in this story.”

  “You can watch all the footage, if you want,” I added, looking at Ash, Ruby, Mona, and Kiev, in particular. “But we just wanted you to first get a look at the main players and the key points to be mindful of, going forward,” I said, once again pointing at the screen, just as we got a full view of the colosseum’s dazzling interior. Our Perfect was walking through one of the hallways, moving curiously around and sneaking peeks behind closed doors.

  One, in particular, had us all on the edge of our seats. The Perfects opened a black metal door, revealing a dark, yet enormous room with walls covered in black stone and moss. In the middle was a cluster of glass boxes with overhead lighting.

  River gasped when Phoenix zoomed in and revealed our founders. Derek and Sofia, Xavier and Vivienne, Lucas and Marion, Claudia and Yuri, Cameron and Liana, Aiden and Kailyn, and Corrine and Ibrahim—they were all there, kept in separate glass boxes. They seemed well, though clearly annoyed. They didn’t notice our Perfect, who then got yanked back.

  The black door was shut, and an angry Amal popped into focus, scowling and reprimanding the Perfect for snooping around, specifying that he wasn’t allowed anywhere near this part of the colosseum.

  “They’re definitely there,” Mona mumbled, her eyes wide.

  I gave her a brief nod. “It’s what we know for a fact. Amane confirmed it, as well.”

  “What you’ll all notice, once you watch all the footage, like I did, is that no Perfect is identical to another,” Phoenix said. “They develop distinct personalities, despite the similarities in their abilities. Sure, some of those vary, too, but it’s their psyche that is truly fascinating. Their minds are easily molded, and they can be shaped further.”

  “What do you mean?” Mona replied.

  “Well, Ta’Zan is very good at indoctrinating them, sure. And they’re practically designed to obey his orders this way. But the Perfects
aren’t mindless drones, per se. They believe everything he tells them, but they also doubt some of it. From what I could tell, at least, the Perfects aren’t always willing to kill. Two of our prisoners showed at least four instances in which they hesitated in intercepting the shuttle pods, after the fleet was destroyed. They then decided to come out after us, instead, not even knowing that they’d die in orbit.”

  “So, there’s still hope that they can be reasoned with,” Kiev muttered.

  I nodded. “We think so, yes. I mean, Rose’s crew got Raphael on their side. We’ve seen him with them. They’re working together. Douma is on their side, too, but, without any updates from them, I can’t tell you whether she’s also cooperating willingly, or if they cut her head off and removed the memory chip, first.”

  “Our surefire way to get the Perfects on our side is to remove those memory chips,” Phoenix said. “But that’s a delicate and time-consuming procedure. We can’t do it with an entire army that’s out to kill us, obviously, so we’re trying to figure out a way to maybe disable those chips wirelessly, en masse.”

  Caleb nearly jumped out of his seat when he heard that. “Is it possible?”

  “We don’t know yet,” Phoenix replied, frowning. “I’m doing my best to get to the bottom of it. Jovi and Dmitri were my go-to guys on the tech side. I’m pretty much on my own here.”

  My stomach tightened into a tiny, painful ball of raw stress. “We’ll figure something out or die trying,” I said, letting a deep breath leave my chest with enough weight to practically dismantle my bone structure. I was exhausted.

  The double doors to our control room burst open. Arwen came in, accompanied by Viola, only.

  “Where are Nova and Shayla?” Caleb asked.

  “They’re with the Perfects,” Arwen replied, smiling.

  “You’re looking quite… thrilled,” Mona shot back, jokingly narrowing her eyes at Arwen, who chuckled softly.

  “I am. Our Perfects are blank slates in perfect health,” she said. “We’ve got something wonderful to work with here. They’re presumed lost, for sure, since they wound up in Strava’s orbit. No one’s going to bother looking for them, in any way.”

  Finally, more good news.

  I’d had enough of the bad. My nerves were already frayed, with Serena and Draven on Strava, and our great-grandparents imprisoned by Ta’Zan. We needed a break, and my instinct was telling me that we were inches from a really good one.

  Maybe the four Perfects were it.

  Harper

  We all sat back and watched in awe as Shayla and Nova came in after Arwen and Viola, accompanied by the four Perfects—two gorgeous males and two stunning females whom they’d dressed in fine, white silk tunics.

  The males had short, platinum blond hair, and eyes like Ta’Zan’s. The females’ hair was black and had grown extremely fast since their capture. I figured it was part of the many genetic tweaks that Ta’Zan had made to his Perfect females. They were calm and wide-eyed, looking at each of us with a mixture of curiosity and wariness.

  “It’s okay,” Arwen said, as if to reassure not only us, but the Perfects, too. “Everyone, I want you to meet Nathaniel, Uriel, Angelica, and Deena. Their names, as given to them by Ta’Zan. They had them carved into small metal plates hung around their necks when we brought them in. I think they all carry one, for identification.”

  The Perfects gave us a brief nod.

  “How are they?” I asked, noticing how quiet they were. Their auras were a jumble of emotions now, ranging from fear and concern to confusion.

  “Well, Phoenix’s learning algorithm is a gift from the heavens,” Arwen replied.

  All eyes were on Phoenix now, who put on a sheepish smile. “I downloaded all the data from their memory chips. I watched everything, and I saw how Ta’Zan taught them everything. It wasn’t hard to put together a system of our own. Granted, it’s more neutral and with zero propaganda… and it’s in a beta version.”

  “Hey, the language and cognitive stimulus sections were fantastic!” Viola said. “It was enough to get our four guests here to talk and understand everything.”

  “The next stage will be world history. Sort of,” Arwen continued. “They need to learn about The Shade, GASP, Eritopia, Neraka, Nevertide, the Supernatural dimension, and so on. Then Strava. We want them to know what was around first, before their maker and before them.”

  Bastien stood up from his chair, his gaze fixed on the Perfects. “So, they talk.”

  “We do, yes,” Nathaniel replied. “But we don’t know what you wish for us to say.”

  “They have no memories of who they were or what they did,” Arwen reminded us.

  “But have you told them?” Bastien asked.

  Arwen nodded. “Yes. And, in case you were wondering, it doesn’t make much sense to them. Not without context. Which is why we need to teach them, as objectively as possible.”

  Ruby sighed. “So, what are you saying, exactly? You want to teach them about everything that exists within the known reaches of the universe, and let them make up their own minds as to what they can and should do?”

  “Exactly. Non-biased information delivery,” Arwen said. “They’re eager to learn and understand more. Most importantly, their behavioral markers are positive. They’re in no way aggressive or contrarian to anything we’ve told them so far.”

  “We are aware that we were dead, and that you captured us,” Nathaniel said. “We’ve spoken among ourselves repeatedly after regaining our consciousness. We’re all in agreement.”

  “On what, specifically?” I asked.

  “On being as compliant as possible,” Uriel replied.

  “We’re aware of our abilities. Viola and Nova told us everything,” Angelica added.

  That sounded like a terrible idea, and the thought had to be clearly portrayed by my expression as I scowled at the two Daughters.

  “We figured it was better if they knew,” Viola said, then shrugged. “It seemed logical. It still is.”

  “Had they discovered what they could do on their own, they would’ve been angry with us for keeping the truth from them,” Nova chimed in.

  Arwen smirked. “I agree with the girls on this one. If we’re to work with these people, we need to have an open and honest dialogue with them, from the beginning.”

  “Do you agree with them?” Mona asked Shayla.

  “I do,” Shayla replied. “They’re incredibly powerful, and we need them on our side. We can’t do that unless we’re truthful with each other.”

  Mona nodded slowly, as if taking it all in.

  “Okay, so, what are we looking at here?” River asked. “Shadian school, reloaded?”

  Arwen sighed. “Yes. We’re going to give them as much information as possible about our worlds and theirs. We’ll then see what they’re thinking,” she said. “I don’t think they’re homicidal by nature. In fact, I’m convinced that that is part of their indoctrination on Strava. I’m sure they’ll see things like we do.”

  A moment passed in absolute silence—the heavy kind that weighed on everyone’s shoulders. But a resolution soon emerged, glimmering in our eyes as we looked at each other. We were all in agreement.

  “There’s no harm in trying,” Bastien grumbled.

  Nathaniel, Uriel, Angelica, and Deena smiled at us.

  “We’re willing to learn and understand,” Nathaniel said. “As it stands right now, we’re not interested in violence of any kind.”

  “Frankly, I’m not sure I want to find out what kind of person I used to be, but knowledge is better than ignorance, from what I can tell,” Uriel replied.

  “Cool, let’s do this, then!” I exclaimed. “What’s the worst that can happen?”

  “They turn into homicidal maniacs, regardless of what they learn?” Phoenix asked, sarcasm dripping from his tone.

  “You still can’t spot rhetorical questions, huh?” I shot back.

  Arwen clapped once. “We’ll give them their own quarters here,
on Mount Zur,” she said. “We’ll have eyes on them at all times, but I would like to recommend that they have freedom of movement.”

  “We wouldn’t be able to stop them, unless we get extreme. And that would defeat the purpose of this experiment,” Caleb replied.

  Looking at Nathaniel, Uriel, Angelica, and Deena, I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of creatures they truly were. In the end, were they made to simply obey and destroy everything in their path, or were they able to follow their own lead, to form their own thoughts and opinions—like Phoenix had theorized—based on their memories?

  I had nothing but hope, at this point. Four Perfects on our side were better than none. We couldn’t intervene on Strava just yet, not unless we wanted to lose another fleet. So, the next best thing we could do was work with our… guests.

  Besides, Arwen was one tough cookie. She had her way of getting things done.

  Elonora

  I was getting pretty tired of all these encounters with Araquiel and his crew.

  They always ended in bloodshed and murder, and we always got the short end of the stick, somehow, barely escaping with our lives. However, this time, the odds weren’t exactly in their favor. They clearly didn’t know what the Draenir’s weapons could do. Hell, up until a minute ago, they weren’t even aware that the Draenir had survived the plague.

  “You know, I was wondering what took you so long,” Raphael said, raising an eyebrow.

  Araquiel, Abaddon, Oriphiel, Elyon, and ten other Perfects stood before us, with the body of a young Draenir boy dead, on the ground. I braced myself for another round of violence but hoped we could maybe persuade them to stand down.

  “Well, we took our time. I’m not sure you remember, but Father can track us all, anywhere,” Araquiel replied, then narrowed his eyes at Douma. “You, for some reason, he couldn’t, but I’m sure you’ll tell us all about it once we bring you back to the base.”