The Children of the Sun

by Christopher Buecheler

  Chapter 29

  After the Blaze

  Half a mile in front of them, what remained of the building was on fire.

  Two and Theroen sat on the cool, damp sand, the great expanse of Lake Michigan at their backs, watching as the central base from which the Children of the Sun had operated first caved in upon itself and then burned. Beside them, Thomas was lying on his back, staring up at the sky. He had come awake halfway through their journey topside, asked his sister what was happening, and accepted her snarling response to shut up without argument.

  Vanessa Harper was standing a few feet in front of them and watching as the building that had been her home for the past thirteen years burned. After a time she turned, making her way back to Thomas and the vampires. She, too, sat down in the sand.

  “How you doing, little brother?” Vanessa asked, and Thomas grimaced.

  “I’m starving,” he said. “I could murder a cheeseburger. Oh, and also I am beat to shit and the motherfucking giant, crazy vampire we spent our whole lives working for stomped the hell outta my leg.”

  “Yeah,” she said, smiling a little. “I’m going to set that in a minute.”

  “That sounds excruciating.”

  “Probably will be.”

  There was silence between them for a time and then Thomas spoke up again. “We’re both traitors now, Ness.”

  “You think?” she asked, her voice laced with sarcasm.

  “Why’d you do it?”

  “I realized that I couldn’t live with myself anymore if I kept serving him,” Vanessa said. “But I wasn’t ready to die, either. Why didn’t you pull the trigger on that bat, back in New York? Uh … sorry, that vampire.”

  Thomas was quiet for a time and then said, “Because when I thought about what the world would be like without her, it wasn’t a place I wanted to live in.”

  “Wow. I guess she means a whole lot to you.”

  “Guess she does.”

  “She’s pretty, too.”

  Thomas coughed out a few wheezing laughs. “Girl, you ain’t even seen her when she’s looking good.”

  There was another period of silence and then Two asked, “So … what now?”

  “I have no clue,” Vanessa said. “To be honest, I’m kind of waiting for you guys to try and finish the job.”

  “Is that what you expect of us?” Theroen asked, raising his eyebrows, and Vanessa shrugged.

  “I don’t know what to expect. Everything I thought I knew about you guys was nothing but lies, and you already left me alive once. I know what I did, though. I know who I killed. If you have to get some revenge, I’m in no shape to stop you.”

  Two sighed. “I can’t speak for Theroen, I guess, but I am done killing people. I don’t ever want to do it again.”

  “Revenge will not bring our people back,” Theroen said. “You saved our lives, Vanessa, and your soldier sacrificed herself in order to ensure the Emperor’s destruction. It would be too easy and too glib to simply say ‘we are even’ … but at the very least, I think if we can come to an agreement about the future safety of our people, then Two and I can let you go in peace.”

  “Tori would have wanted that,” Two said, and she closed her eyes against the sudden tears that threatened to overwhelm her.

  “A lot of Children troops escaped, and I’m not making any claims about them, but I’m done,” Vanessa said. “My job as a soldier for the Children ended sometime around the point I instructed Carrie to shoot the Emperor in the chest. I don’t know what I’m going to do from here, but hunting vampires isn’t it.”

  “I’d think about going far away,” Two said. “There’s a Russian chick I know, and if she made it out alive and finds out that you did, too, she probably won’t stop hunting you until you’re dead.”

  “I think I know what you mean, and I don’t blame her,” Vanessa said.

  “You from around here? Chicago?”

  “No, Thomas and I grew up in Cincinnati.”

  “You think you’ll go back?”

  Vanessa shook her head. “Nah. I fuckin’ hate Cincinnati. I’ve always wanted to see San Diego. Hang out on the beach, eat some tacos, drink margaritas … I’ve got an inheritance that I never did anything with. Should be enough to start over with.”

  Two nodded. “That sounds nice.”

  Vanessa glanced over at the burning building and then up at the moon. “I wish Carrie was coming with me.”

  “I wish Tori was coming with Theroen and me,” Two said.

  Thomas spoke, his voice wistful. “I wish I was at a hospital getting filled up on painkillers.”

  Vanessa nodded. “We have to set that leg. It’s … seriously, Tommy, it’s gonna hurt. I’m sorry.”

  “Tommy?” Two asked, and Thomas glanced over at her.

  “Don’t even think about it …”

  “Wouldn’t dream of it,” Two replied, smiling a little. “Here, hold my hand.”

  Thomas took her hand and closed his eyes, breathing deeply. Two realized he was applying his meditation techniques, and she thought that was a good idea. Vanessa gave him a few moments and then bent down, taking the two parts of Thomas’s leg gently in her hands. She moved them slightly, trying to get a feel for the break, and Thomas pulled in air through his teeth, hissing. Then he went back to his deep breaths.

  Vanessa glanced at Two and nodded. Then, without any sort of warning, she jerked her arms, piecing the two bones back together. Thomas took a deep, gasping breath, and Two expected him to scream, but he only held it for a time and then let it slowly out.

  “Son of a fat bitch,” he said in a quiet, shaky voice, and Vanessa laughed. Moving carefully, she used two sticks and the strap from Theroen’s satchel to form a makeshift splint for his leg. By the time she was done, beads of sweat had formed on Thomas’s forehead and he was breathing in deep, ragged gasps.

  “That’s the best I can do here,” Vanessa said.

  “It’s fine, Ness, thanks,” Thomas managed. “Just wish we had something for the pain.”

  “I can give you blood, Thomas,” Theroen said. “It will help with the pain and the healing.”

  “Not quite ready to take that step, my man,” Thomas said. “Thanks. I’ll be OK ‘til we find a hospital.”

  “Yeah,” Vanessa said. “So, are you … I mean, are you coming with me or going with them?”

  “I have no idea,” Thomas replied. “You should be in the hospital too.”

  Vanessa shook her head. “I need to get away from here right now. The Children will have people looking for me. I’m going to walk a couple of blocks away from the fire, call a car service, and get to Chicago. I’ll worry about a hospital once I’m in a bigger city. But you … no one’s looking for you.”

  “We’ll take him,” Two said. “We’ll get him to the ER and, after that … well, we have to meet with our people tonight but then we can wait. There’s someone in New York who’d really like to see him again.”

  “You sure she doesn’t hate me for bailing on her?” Thomas asked.

  “If she is anything less than ecstatic, I will be amazed,” Theroen said, and Two nodded.

  “I guess I’m good, Ness,” Thomas said. “I … I’m glad you’re still here. I’m glad we’re both still here.”

  “Me too, little brother,” Vanessa said, standing up. Two and Theroen stood as well, and between them they got Thomas up, balancing on his good leg and leaning against Theroen.

  “Give me a hug, you pain in the ass,” Vanessa told him, and they embraced. “You got my email? My number?”

  “I’ll be in touch. You know I’m gonna want to come visit when it’s twenty degrees in the city and you’re hanging on the beach with your margaritas.”

  Vanessa laughed and nodded. Two could see tear tracks making their way from her puffy, swollen eyes.

  “Do you think Mom and Dad are proud of us?” Vanessa asked.

  Thomas reached forward and took his sister’s hands. “We survived. We grew up. We never s
topped loving them, and we did the best we could every step of the way. Why wouldn’t they be proud, Ness?”

  Vanessa smiled and let go of his hands. She stepped back and looked at her brother for a moment more. “I missed you, you stupid, pig-headed jerk,” she said, grinning, and Thomas laughed.

  “I missed you, too,” he said. “Even your bossy, self-righteous bullshit.”

  “Call me,” Vanessa said. “That’s an order.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Vanessa began to make her way off the beach, angling away from the inferno and the hordes of police and firefighters that had surrounded the building. Two wondered if they were doing the right thing, letting the woman who had killed William and assisted in the murders of both Jakob and Ashayt simply walk away. She supposed that only time would tell.

  As Vanessa passed over a hill and out of sight, Theroen turned to Two and spoke. “Since I am the only one here who is neither shot nor broken, I stand the best chance of getting to the car without being interrogated. I will return with it to that road up there, and we can help Thomas in. Then we will go to the hospital. Does that work for both of you?”

  “Fine by me,” Thomas said. He put an arm around Two’s shoulder and transferred his weight away from Theroen.

  “Try not to get arrested, hon,” Two said, and Theroen smiled at her before turning toward the road and heading off. She and Thomas watched him go, and when he was gone, Thomas sighed.

  “I’m sorry about your friend, Two.”

  “Yeah,” Two said. “So am I, but she got what she wanted … the man who killed her parents is dead. I’m sure wherever she is now, if she’s anywhere at all, she’s happy about that.”

  Thomas nodded and they lapsed back into silence. After a moment more, they began making their way slowly toward the road, where they would wait for Theroen’s return. In the distance, the flames from the building continued to turn the night sky orange.

  * * *

  With Thomas safely dropped off at the nearby Grayslake Emergency Center and left with their numbers to call when he was being released, Two and Theroen turned their attention toward making it to the rendezvous point. There were only a few hours left until dawn, but the location was not all the way back in Milwaukee. Instead the council had chosen the nearby town of Lake Forest.

  The chosen meeting place was an open-air parking lot at Forest Park, on the shore of Lake Michigan, where a few people meeting in the middle of the night would, at absolute worst, be asked to leave by local authorities. More likely, no one would ever notice at all. Theroen brought them there without difficulty, using the global positioning system that had come with the car to navigate. When they arrived, they saw two other vehicles in the parking lot.

  “That’s a good sign,” Two said, and Theroen made a noise of agreement, pulling into a space and shutting off the car. He got out and went around to Two’s side, helping her out – the pain in her abdomen was still substantial, but she had at least stopped bleeding again. As she stood, she heard other doors opening and closing, and when she turned around she felt an intense burst of relief run through her.

  Sasha, Leonore, and Lewis had all made it. None had escaped without injury; Leonore had a large gash in her forehead, Lewis was limping, and Sasha had several bloody slashes running along her armored top. All three were smiling, however, and clearly thrilled to see that Theroen and Two had also survived.

  “We were starting to worry,” Lewis said as they came together in a group.

  “Leonore was worried about someone else?” Two asked, glancing at the woman and grinning. The Eresh vampire favored her with a cool smile.

  “Perhaps,” she said. “Or perhaps I was just growing tired of sitting around and waiting.”

  “Right,” Two said. “Well, honestly, there were a couple of points there where I was pretty sure we weren’t going to make it out. It got pretty ugly at the end.”

  Sasha was looking at her side. “I would say so, since you’ve apparently been shot. Are you all right?”

  Two nodded. “I had some blood. It helped. Pretty banged up, though. I’m looking forward to a long sleep, and then more blood, and then probably more sleep.”

  “How did it go after we separated?” Sasha asked. “I note that your friends are not here. Are they … did they make it?”

  Two bit her lip. “Thomas is alive but the Emperor broke his leg. He’s at the ER.”

  “And Tori?”

  Two put her hands over her eyes. She felt Theroen place a hand on her shoulder, and she leaned against him.

  “Tori fell,” he said. “She died helping us kill the Emperor of the Sun, along with one of her fellow soldiers who had come to see him for the monster that he was.”

  There was a moment of silence and then Lewis spoke up. “Two, I’m sorry. I know she meant a lot to you.”

  Two took a few deep breaths, forced herself under control, and took her hands away from her eyes. “Thanks.”

  Neither Sasha nor Leonore seemed able to look her in the eye, and Two understood why; both women were likely relieved that Tori was dead but didn’t want to express their pleasure in front of her. She admired the restraint, particularly from Leonore.

  “Tell us what happened with you,” Theroen said, changing the subject. “We know that you flooded the first sublevel once the bombs went off. After that we were focused on our own tasks. Were you successful in taking the Command Center?”

  Sasha nodded. “We hit a great deal of resistance on the second level and we lost many good people. Dozens of Burilgi and more than a few Ay’Araf as well. The Children were well-armed and well-positioned. In a few spots we had little choice but to overwhelm them by force of numbers … not my preferred tactic, but given the limited time available before the bombs went off, it was necessary.”

  “Even with all the deaths, I think the council won some points with this one,” Lewis said. “The Burilgi who made it through were impressed with the way the attack was handled, and with the fact that the council had the balls to declare the action in the first place.”

  “Knowing that the Children are dead or scattered to the wind will probably help as well,” Sasha said. “Many of their soldiers died in battle, but a large group fell back to the Command Center and barricaded themselves in. It took us some time to get through those doors, but fortunately one of the Burilgi had extensive training as an electrical engineer. He was able to get into the circuit panel and disable the magnetic locks. After that, it was mostly a matter of brute force.”

  “Some of them had escaped by the time we got there,” Leonore said. “I heard soldiers yelling about it. They had sealed off the escape passage by the time we got in, but there was another one …”

  “In the Emperor’s chambers, yeah,” Two said. “That’s what we used. We barely made it out.”

  “We killed every soldier who had chosen to remain in the Command Center, including one of their colonels,” Sasha said. “We tried to stop the bombs, but … good hacking takes days or weeks, not minutes.”

  “It’s OK,” Two said. “It’s probably better that they went off. I don’t know how much data is lying around down there, but the worse shape it’s in, the better off we all are.”

  “True,” Lewis said. “Anyway, we cleared out fifteen minutes before the charges were set to go off. Everyone dispersed back through the garage doors and headed out into the forest behind the building. There were a couple of cops sniffing around by then – someone probably reported the thuds from when we blew the elevators – but nothing we couldn’t handle. I don’t think anyone got picked up, and we were all well away before the place exploded.”

  “Sounds like it all went pretty well,” Two said.

  Sasha gave her a small smile. “Given the limited time to strategize, the lack of floor plans or schematics, and the fact that the alarm was sounded only minutes after we gained access to the building, I would qualify it as a wild success.”

  Leonore spoke up. “I must admit, I’m very
curious about what happened to the two of you. Tell us about the Emperor of the Sun.”

  Two thought for a moment, trying to piece the action of the previous few hours into a coherent story. Once she felt confident she had it, she began to speak. Theroen made a few additions and corrections but remained mostly silent throughout. He didn’t object when Two informed the others that Vanessa had been killed by the Emperor, and none of them seemed to give it even a passing thought; all three were far too amazed by the revelation that the Emperor had been the first – and last – of some species of vampire previously unknown to anyone but a few select members of the Children. At last, she finished the story.

  “So we climbed up and out through this long pipe, and we ended up on the beach next to the lake, watching the building burn from a distance. Theroen went to get the car, we dropped Thomas off, and here we are.”

  “That girl Carrie deserves some kind of a posthumous medal,” Lewis commented, his tone distant, still trying to digest everything that Two had told them.

  “No shit,” Two said. “Both her and Tori do. If Tori hadn’t stabbed the Emperor, he would have ripped Carrie apart before she could ever arm that grenade. And if she hadn’t thought to jam it down his throat, I mean … who knows if the flames alone would have killed him? But it burned him up from the inside.”

  “Why do you suppose he wasn’t afraid of the bombs?” Sasha asked. “Surely he must have known that the charges had been set, yet he fought you right to the end.”

  “He wanted Tori. Right up to the point where he exploded, I think he still believed that he could … I don’t know, re-brainwash her. Get her back in the fold. Maybe he just got focused on that and forgot about the bombs.”

  “Maybe he was confident he could survive the explosions,” Lewis said. “We don’t know exactly how far the charges were from his part of the structure.”

  “No, I guess we don’t,” Two said. “Maybe he could have … but if he can survive having a fire-grenade go off inside of him and then two more lighting up right below him … I’m not sure there’s anything that can kill him.”