by Alex Dire
Norman shrieked. He pushed at her face with his bloody hand and slid his other into his pocket. Blood sprayed in coughs from his mouth. “You missed.”
Skeete’s mouth tightened. She pushed the stake with both hands, driving it deeper into his organs.
Norman howled.
“How’s that?” said Skeete, spit spraying from her lips.
Norman jerked his hand out of his pocket and looped a silvery thread around Skeete’s wrists. His fingers smoldered and blackened.
Skeete pulled her arms back, twisting her smoking hands.
Norman yanked the stake from his innards with a scream.
“Get it off. Get it off!” said Skeete, falling back
Norman’s pain subsided as his wounds healed. “Stop struggling. It’ll hurt less.”
“You are a wretched creature, Norman. I could have taken you with me. I know so much more than you.”
“And you’re going to tell me everything. Norman reached out with the tendrils of his will. Skeete’s own will hung there in the air, smooth and blue. He caressed it with his silky arcs seeking purchase. He let the world’s detail fall away and looked deep at her will, which had unleashed so much fury and sorrow on his world. He felt friction. “Stand up, Skeete.”
She complied.
“Now, tell me where you were taking me.” But his grasp on her will slipped. He clutched with frantic spasms, but could not reclaim her.
“I told you it would fade, Norman. Faster each day. You’ll be just like me.”
“Then perhaps I’ll just have to kill you.”
Norman’s eyes flicked down to the folded map on the floor.
Skeete's grin returned. "You want to know its mysteries."
“I know what it does. It shows different parts of this underground world.”
“You know so little. And you never will once I’m gone.”
Norman stared at the map. Why was she willing to give up her plot to register vampires over it? What power did this map possess?
“Let’s go,” said Norman.
“Where to?” said Skeete.
“You tell me.” Norman would kill her, but not until he found out all her secrets.
“You can’t win, you know. I’ve been at this far longer than you. I’ll be taking you to your doom.”
“We’ll see,” said Norman.
41
Child's Play
Felicia blasted back into the semi-ruined chamber and flew against the wolf that circled and nipped at Declan. They tumbled to a stop with the wolf straddling her.
Felicia grasped the beast’s front legs. It snarled and snapped at her face. She twisted her hands and the dog’s forearms cracked. It yelped as she launched it across the room. It smashed into the stone wall and crumpled to the floor.
She leapt to her feet and turned back to Declan. A wolf clung to his back. He’d dropped his hammer and lurched about, trying to shake the thing loose. Blood ran down his neck. Those damned teeth cut vampire flesh like it was just butter.
She sprinted to Declan’s side, but before she could act, another wolf careened across his back, setting him free. He pressed a hand against the back of his neck, his face tight, wincing.
Felicia pulled at him. “Fight now. Heal later.”
They turned back to back. Wolves tore at wolves. The other Nymphs were backed against the wall, punching and kicking at enemies who sprang at them. So many wolves. Felicia couldn’t tell who was who.
“Felicia,” a weak voice came from behind. Juda lay naked on the floor against a wall. She sped to his side and crouched over him. He bled from a wound on his head.
Declan charged at a wolf that nipped at Cindy.
“Juda. We thought you were dead.” Felicia pushed his hair back and applied pressure to the oozing wound.
“Not yet,” said the blue-eyed werewolf.
“I can’t fight them. I don’t know who is who.”
Juda coughed and sat up. “I do.”
A red wolf padded at them unhindered through the melee.
“That’s Eric.”
Felicia flicked out her teeth.
Eric stopped and barked. Felicia got to her feet, ready to spring.
The dog growled and inched back. The rumbling growl ended in a ferocious bark. It leapt at Felicia. Those teeth. Those claws. Felicia slid back. No avoiding them.
Declan’s war hammer smashed Eric in a blurred arc, sending the wolf shooting aside. The boy was deadly with that hunk of metal even without its bursts of sunlight.
Eric landed on his feet and scampered away.
A shot fired. One of Skeete’s crew screamed and fell to the floor.
Another shot. It tore through Felicia’s arm. Her bicep exploded in blood and pain. The wood projectile tore a grizzly gash through her flesh.
“Felicia!” shouted Declan.
Behind her, another vampire screamed. The bullet had gone through Felicia's arm and struck another of Skeete's men. The vampire fell with his arm still raised clasping a wooden spike.
Felicia turned back to the soldier who’d fired and nodded.
Eric morphed back to human form. Another shot. It punctured Eric’s stomach, and he fell back.
Felicia picked up Juda and helped him over to the general. “Listen to Juda. He knows who is who.”
The general cocked an eyebrow “Who’s this?”
Felicia lowered her eyes and grasped the general’s will. “Trust me.”
He nodded.
Child’s play.
42
Words
Norman pushed Skeet forward at a quick pace. Skeete smelled of burnt flesh from her bindings. They plodded along, turning here and there. Perhaps this was a trap, but Norman doubted it.
The walls with their bizarre words sped by as they advanced. What did they say? Who built these tunnels? Norman’s pace slowed as he inspected.
“I can read them, you know,” said Skeete. “Some of them, at least.”
“How?”
“Lessons from another life.”
“What do they say?”
“I can’t tell you. The words hurt. They were not meant for us to utter.”
Norman wondered if using his abilities might reveal more. He honed his focus and gazed at a group of characters etched into stone. The symbols glowed in his mind. The light burned from inside his head. He winced and closed his eyes.
“See? These words are beyond you.” Skeet’s smug grin returned.
“However, there are some you might recognize.”
How? This was a trick. Norman pushed her along. “I don’t think so. Keep moving.”
“You’ll see.” She walked. “It’s just up ahead, anyway. You’ll know it when you see it.”
Norman resumed his march behind her, pushing her pace with his grip on her shoulder. He could practically feel that damned smile on her face.
“There it is, Norman.” Skeete stopped and faced a wall.
In the dark, Norman could make out a different type of pattern in the rock. Instead of small characters contained within each brick, this was large. It spanned many bricks from floor to ceiling.
Indeed, he did recognize it. It was a huge five-pointed star with an eye in the center. The symbol of Nebulous. Norman had seen it many times. Matt Barnes wore it on a chain around his neck.
This was different, though. There was more. At the end of each point, there was a figure etched into the rock. The amount of detail exceeded that of the words. He marveled that this level of precision was even possible in a medium such as stone.
On the bottom point to the left was a figure of a man, his eyes nearly slits, his face filled with malice, and two sharp teeth jutting from his mouth. A depiction of a liquid drop hung in the space next to the etching.
On the other lower point was something that looked like a man. But it was horrific looking—its limbs dangled and its flesh was peeling off. It’s face, half flesh - half bone, was twisted in an expression of anguish.
Norman sh
ivered as he gazed upon the exquisite etching.
The upper left and right points of the star also ended in human-like forms. On the left was a woman. She wore robes and stood among trees. She almost looked as if she could be a tree herself. Her palms were facing out. Her hair flowed along her robes and merged with the twigs and branches that surrounded her. Her mouth was open as if speaking.
The figure across from her on the next point was clear to Norman. It was a wolf. Its head held high pointing up in a howl. The detail included individual strands of fur.
Norman raised his head to view the top point of the star. He could tell that a fifth figure had once been there but the stone had been scratched and chipped away, the figure destroyed.
Skeete pointed to the etched drawing. “Even you can read this,” said Skeete.
“What does it mean? What was at the top?”
Skeet gazed around the tunnel at the myriad bricks etched with their weird letters. “The words tell the whole story. But you’ll never read them. No one ever will. I made sure of that.”
Norman stared into the eye in the center of the star. It seemed to stare back. The image turned gauzy and warm. Norman felt his will slipping from him as if the very stone glamored him. He shook his head, and it was just an etching again.
He pushed Skeete on. “Move.”
“I could tell you the secrets, Norman. The secret words.”
“I said move.” Whatever secrets she possessed, they could not warrant his trust. Never again. The only secret he wanted to know was where she’d been going, and what waited there. It was time to put an end to her plans forever. And when Norman had accomplished that, he’d tear her heart out himself and eat it in front of her.
Felicia bit savagely into the neck of a wolf. It yelled and went limp before she flicked it across the room. She wiped away bloody streaks on her face. The claws had dug deep.
Shots fired outside the chamber. Felicia flicked her head.
The general shouted. “Jones, the perimeter’s been breached. Take your men out to see what’s happening.”
A soldier with a blond mustache nodded. “Yes sir.” He waved to four others and they disengaged from the battle and shuffled through the blown-up opening.
Another wolf leaped at Felicia. She grasped its neck and snout. They tumbled back from its momentum, but her grasp held. Felicia rose, the wolf dangling from her fist by its throat. It whined through its pinched esophagus. Felicia threw it aside. It smashed against the wall. By the time it hit the ground, unconscious, it was human again.
More shots rang outside. Screams. Then silence.
The fight inside was nearly over. Juda’s crew had encircled the four remaining wolves. The trapped canines growled at Juda and his friends. All of Skeete’s vampires were dead.
Darius and Tyreese came to Felicia.
“What now?” Darius tucked his rifle over his shoulder and holstered it on his back.
“Now we…” Five vampires blurred into the room. They stood side by side. A woman stepped forward and tossed a head onto the floor. The thing rolled to a stop, it’s mustached face staring up at the ceiling. Blood still oozed from the severed neck.
General Sykes and his men had taken up positions along the sides of the room. They stood with raised rifles, affixed with wooden bayonets.
The woman who’d tossed the head licked her fingers. “Where’s Skeete? She summoned us.” The vampire looked around the room and took in the soldiers. A smile crept up her face. It seemed to be a trait inherited from her creator.
“Guns.” She looked at the general. “When will you people…”
“Fire,” said the Sykes.
Thunder filled the room. The muzzles flashed. Felicia’s sensitive vision overexposed. Then the screams. A chorus of anguish. Her vision returned. The enemies all lay on the ground, blood seeping from their chests.
“We’ve learned,” said Sykes.
The room fell quiet. Eric, trapped, morphed back into human form. Two women and a man followed suit. Then Adrian and his wolves morphed as well. Adrian nodded to Sykes.
“Take them,” said the general. Five soldiers moved in and took the wolves into custody, zip-tying their wrists.
“I hope that’s strong,” said Adrian.
“Carbon fiber,” replied Sykes. “We’re ready for you people.”
Felicia paced to the hall that led away from the chamber. The floor was slick with blood and fur. Flesh lay about in chunks. Vampire, wolf and human blood mixed. The room smelt of iron, so sweet. The blood. She breathed in the aroma. Her mouth watered, and her senses intensified. She felt Norman. She felt his anger, but also fear. The feelings became her own. She peered down the passage.
“Where are you going?” said MacManus.
“I have to find Mr. Bernard,” Felicia replied.
“You’ll never find him in there,” said Adrian. “Those tunnels go on and on. Even the wolves don’t know the full extent of them.”
“I think I know where he went,” said Declan.
Felicia snapped her glance to him. “Take me.”
General Sykes interrupted, “Wait just a minute. We’re going to need to debrief you. I think you’d better stay right here for now.” Ten men moved toward them. They reached to their belts and removed slivery cuffs.
Felicia remembered Norman’s orders. She lowered her head and focused on the general. She saw his will floating there. She saw all of them. She reached to grip. She easily grabbed the general. She needed more. Norman insisted that none could remember this place. She grasped with her tendrils for the others. She felt traction but each time she gripped one, the others slipped. She lost the general.
He snapped back into the moment. “She’s trying to glamor us. Take her.”
Felicia closed her eyes. She saw the soldiers in the room as clearly as when they were open. She smelled the spilled blood on the floor. More of it pumped through the veins of the soldiers. Lust spread like heat through her body. She reached out with her will again. All at once, she locked on. One arm wrapped around each orb.
Felicia opened her eyes, “Stand down.”
The soldiers stopped.
“I’ve got them,” said Felicia.
“What about Mr. Bernard?” said Declan.
She felt her creator. She needed to be with him. But he had commanded her to lead here. “Go.”
Declan looked at MacManus and opened his mouth to speak again.
“Go!” shouted Felicia.
In an instant, Declan was gone.
Felicia looked back to her captives. “Now, General. I have a little debriefing of my own to give.”
43
Kin
“You know I’m leading you to your own death. Don’t you, Norman?” said Skeete.
“I would expect nothing less.” Norman knew he couldn’t take her at her word. Lies dripped from those lips so easily, it was impossible to tell which words had any connection to reality. “Why are you doing this?”
“Because you’re making me. Remove the sliver, and I’ll gladly do something else.”
“No. All of this. The enhanced vampires. The Vampire Registration Bill.” Norman gripped her shoulder and turned her to around to face him. “Your skin. Your own heart.”
Skeete’s smirk drained from her face. “My heart. It’s human again. It doesn’t stop the hurt. It’s a hurt I’ve known a long time. I’m going to end it. For all of us.”
“I don’t understand.”
Skeete’s eyes changed as if lit from within despite the near absolute darkness around them. “We’re kin, you know.”
Norman had always felt this. For a long time, he’d thought Skeete had created him. But he did not have the strong connection that others had with their makers. He felt her though. Not like Felicia. But he felt her. “Alric. He's your maker, too. “
“Yes.” Her eyes grew dark again. Whatever light had sparked within her died away. “I wanted to take you with me, Norman. But you resisted at every turn. I’d ta
ke you now, but I know what you’ll do. I’m sorry it has to end this way.”
“You’re the one with the silvered wrists.”
Her old smile returned. The one that made Norman hate. She shook her head, turned and resumed her march.
“Faster,” said Norman.
“As you command, brother,” said Skeete.
As they plodded on, the walls became more familiar to Norman. He recognized some of the symbols. The corridors twisted and spiraled. He knew where they were going. “Why are you taking me to Chip's old headquarters?”
“It does not belong to counselor Harding anymore.”
“What’s there?”
“A way out, Norman. Finally, a way out.”
A way out of what? Whatever it was, Skeete had abandoned her beloved Registration Bill for it, a bill that would have ended in vampire extermination. Norman shuddered at the thought.
They passed a point where the bricks appeared blank, devoid of the unreadable words and symbols that had covered each stone in the catacombs. The corridors no longer twisted but became straight with angled turns.
“Why do the words stop?” said Norman
“Nothing left to say, I suppose.”
They walked through the passages that Norman had once roamed with Ian and Chip and Naseem. The halls were empty. Norman peered into the side chambers as they passed. The technology that Chip had installed was gone.
The smell of rot smacked Norman in the face. As he walked, it got stronger. Not dead flesh. Worse. Rotten blood. He passed the refrigeration room. Inside, the freezers had been left open, the power off. The odor of decaying blood filled his nose. Nausea surged through his gut. He tightened his lips, holding back the contents of his stomach.
“Shame that it all went to waste,” said Skeete. “I could really use a drink right now.”
Norman held his nose and peered ahead. There was light. “What’s up there?”
“It’s what you’ve come all this way to see. Why spoil the surprise?”
Norman pulled at the silver on her wrists, burning his fingers
