Fangsters

by Matt Drabble

  He looked down at the man secured to the pool table and shuddered. He pulled on the chains again to check their strength and security. The thing's eyes snapped open and bore into him, the corneas were a translucent blue, almost colourless, and Elliot fell deeply into them. His senses dulled, and his mind drifted, the thing opened its mouth and Elliot found himself slowly raising his hands towards the chains with the full intention of removing them. He felt tired, so very tired, his movements were no longer his own, and he floated on a warm comforting tide, his eyes felt heavy, and his mind sagged.

  “So what have we got?” Ghost suddenly asked from behind.

  The result was an instant cold slap in the face, Elliot felt his head jolt awake, and his senses return. He looked down disbelievingly at his own hands, unable to comprehend what had happened. He turned to the monster on the table, the man’s eyes were closed and his body still and lifeless.

  “You alright doc?” Ghost asked, walking closer with a puzzled expression.

  “Uh, yeah, yeah” Elliot managed, shaking the cobwebs away, “Just tired I guess”

  “So what have you got for me?”

  “Uh, yeah, here” Elliot picked up his notes from the floor where they had fallen. “Well, he’s got no pulse, he does not breathe, and his heart is not beating. His body heals itself almost instantly from small wounds, and he does not bleed. Ordinary light hurts his eyes, when the sun comes up we’ll check the effects of daylight”

  “Is it a vampire?”

  “I don’t think words like that are going to be helpful, to be quite honest Ghost. We need to establish if he was born this way, evolved into this, or if it’s some kind of an infection or a disease”

  “His name is Gareth Jenkins, when I first met him a few years back he was human I know that much”

  “How do you know him?”

  “Normally that would be none of your damn business doc” Ghost answered pleasantly. “But considering that our whole world is currently going to shit I guess it doesn’t matter, he was our man on the docks, the Port Authority Manager”

  “What happened to him?”

  “That’s the question doc, who made him into this and why. Has he spoken to you?”

  “No, not a coherent word, his mind seems shot to pieces, all he makes are animal noises. Just what is going on out there?”

  “It appears that someone out there is pulling the organization apart from the inside. Our financial structure has collapsed, trusted men have betrayed us, and we may be finished”

  “Jesus Ghost, is it really that bad?” Despite the criminal element, Elliot had always had a fondness for Ghost.

  “Well a lot of people are going to be looking for new jobs”

  “And you?”

  “Maybe I’ll retire, it’s the company wealth that’s gone, I’m pretty much set. Someone once told me about a dream of living out her days in the sunshine, that always sounded kind of nice”

  “Then why not go, just take a bag and get lost if things are really that bad?”

  “Well there’s Eddie and Jimmy for starters, plus there’s another reason”

  “What’s that?”

  Ghost fixed him with a hard dark smile that chilled him to the bone.

  “When I retire doc, I’ll walk away, I won’t run”

  Drake woke into the night, the darkness greeted him and wrapped him up in its welcoming embrace, they belonged to each other now, and his domain was shrouded in the dark.

  The old church walls were newly insulated, as the building had been converted into living accommodations, and the work had been carried out to his own personal specifications. The main house was lavish and sumptuous, and his own tastes were perfectly catered for, if a little grandiose. The large space was perfect for his needs; the house was well appointed and offered little indication towards the orientation of its main occupants. The décor was modern and artistic, the curves and steel spoke of architectural expertise, and the shell of the church had been transformed into effective living quarters. The main lounge area was spacious and airy; an upstairs had been added via a new skeletal structure that divided the space. The stairs and landing were a combination of dark chestnut and gleaming metal. The most important facet of the home was the hidden basement that lay below the view of prying eyes. Drake’s library was a little ostentatious, its blood red walls and dark oak bespoke bookcases were a touch of luxury. His studded red leather plush armchairs looked designed for smoking jacket clad, brandy swirling hosts. Drake had decided that the entrance to the hidden basement level should be so hackneyed that it would never be suspected. A large imitation first edition of Bram Stoker’s Dracula pulled forward out of the bookcase to reveal the secret stairs that led down into the darkness. Building such a unique item had been awkward and difficult, and he’d had to arrange for a terrible road accident to befall the contractor after completion.

  Drake stood before the large stained glass window depicting the struggle between the archangels, Michael stood proud as he threw Lucifer down from the heavens, casting him out. The glass was effectively a two way mirror that offered supreme protection from the day’s harmful UV glare. Drake stood before the window surveying the world outside. He had hoped to be in a stronger position before he struck the fatal blows in the war, for there were still too many loose ends floating around. For all of the time that he’d had to plan for this day, he knew that mistakes were still inevitable. This wasn’t the movies, this was real life. Most of the financial aspects of his planning had come to fruition; the people that he had placed in positions of influence had fulfilled their purpose. He now held sway over Jimmy’s assets; the businesses, the properties, and the bank accounts were largely under his control. He had turned Jackson Moon some thirteen years ago, and the accountant had been a sleeper for him all that time under Jimmy’s nose. Jackson had full access to every financial dealing within the organization. Jimmy’s reliance on the small nervous accountant had been his main downfall, as neither Jimmy nor his silent sidekick had the acumen for dealing with the pitfalls of the money side of the business. Drake’s fists clenched, and sharp nails gouged out bloodless wounds on his palms. It was one thing to see Jimmy financially broken, but he had to see the man begging on his knees. Drake still burned after all these years with the humiliation of his own begging. He had knelt before Jimmy’s pet, clutching and pleading for his life. Before this was over he swore to himself, he would see the pair of them on their knees before him, and they would scream for mercy.

  Movement behind him brought him out of his anger, he released the pressure in his fists, and forced himself to relax, anger could only cloud his judgement when he needed it the most. A general must command from a dispassionate distance. “Kofi” he welcomed his lieutenant without turning to face him. “Are things in place?”

  “Everything is as you requested”

  “Good, good” Drake stood with hands behind his back, his pose dignified and serene. He closed his eyes and savoured the moment as it finally dawned, “Then unleash the beasts”

  Jess wandered the house alone, she was pleasantly surprised by the tastefulness of the décor, it would appear that this was part of Ghost’s real face. The house in Riverside was for show, it was a façade to convince those who may be watching, that Ghost was a man of shallow waters. A man who conformed to every stereotype to the casual observer, the cars, and the clothes were a suit to be worn and a role to be played, whatever the man really was, was here.

  The house was a curious mixture of old and new, there were touches of cutting edge technology in the home cinema and a sense of fun and light in the games room. There was also a nod towards depth on the bookcases as first editions in careful condition spoke of intellect, Tolstoy and Hemmingway kept good company with Proust and Chekhov. There were paintings adorning the walls that looked, but couldn’t possibly be real, by Picasso and Kandinsky and DA Vinci sketches.

  She headed down a narrow corridor to a closed door, always the reporter she could not help but
find the temporary barrier enticing. She pushed open the door carefully so as not to draw attention. Ghost was still down in the games room with Dr Elliot dissecting, and Eddie had long since crashed out. She reached into the dark room and searched the side wall for a light switch; she found one of the many touch screens that controlled the house. Upon touching the screen, the backlight lit up and illuminated the options. She found the lighting option and selected the display mode. The room flickered into life, and her breath was taken away, she could not have been more shocked and astounded.

  The room was one giant display; commercial Perspex cabinets lined the room’s walls and the centre of the room held several slowly rotated spot lit display cases. It was the contents that lay within that drew her attention and admiration. As far as her eye could see, were rare and collectable action figures. There were shelves that ran the length and width of the room containing every graphic novel that she had ever heard of, and many more that she hadn’t. It was very difficult for her to find that she shared such a large part of her life with a man that she had come to despise over the years. Everything that she thought that he had stood for, she’d hated, and yet this whole house was like taking a sneak peek behind the Wizard of Oz’s curtain. The whole room was a comic book geek’s heaven, and it was everything that she had longed to have for herself. It was her dream, and for once, she was not overcome with jealousy, only a grudging admiration. There were collectables in every cabinet, all expertly displayed, all were in their original packaging, preserved and respected. She walked over to the nearest bookcase and began leafing through the graphic novels, everything was here. From the mainstream DC and Marvel through to Dark Horse, Image and Devil’s Due. There were books from all over the world, she recognized some of the Japanese Manga works, but the languages flowed around the planet and most she had never heard of. She took out a copy of Watchmen, the book was a first edition, and to her delight it was signed by both the artist Dave Gibbons and more impressively the author Alan Moore. She was handling the book as delicately as an unexploded bomb when a voice startled her from behind.

  “Don’t even think of commenting on this room” Ghost snarled. “I’m sure that such a vaunted journalist as yourself would dismiss the art out of hand”

  “Actually” she attempted.

  “These aren’t kid’s comics you know, these are serious works”

  “Actually” she tried again in the face of his growing anger.

  “Jesus, it really fucks me off when people make snap judgements based on their own prejudices. I mean have you ever even bothered to read any graphic novels?”

  “Actually” she tried again in vain.

  “No, I didn’t think so, you people, did you know that the book that you’re holding is the seminal Watchmen graphic novel, and that it made it onto the Times Magazine 100 greatest novels list. Not the 100 greatest graphic novels, but a compendium of books placing that particular graphic novel amongst the classics in literature”

  Jess watched the passion in the man’s face and thought with some amusement that she was on the other side of the rant that she had launched into on many occasions. “Actually dumbass” she finally managed to muscle in, “I could not agree with you more, I was admiring the room, it’s pretty amazing” she gently eased the Watchmen novel back into its home. “I could only ever dream of such a collection, I thought that I was an authority on the subject but seventy five percent of this” she waved her arms expansively, “I’ve never even heard of”. She watched as Ghost appeared to process whether or not she was taking the piss.

  “Oh” he added meekly, “This is my secret, you cannot fathom the problems that this would cause in my um, business, well” he paused thinking of the unfolding and collapsing events, “I guess in my old line of work”

  “What the hell is going on Ghost, no bullshit” she asked, figuring that they were having a small moment, and it was a perfect opportunity for an honest answer.

  “No bullshit?” He looked her square in the eye.

  A warmth filled her with his look, one that she cut off violently at the knees before it went any further. “No bullshit” she reiterated.

  “I don’t know, is the honest answer, and it’s been a long time since I used those words believe me”

  “What is that thing down stairs that attacked me?” She walked closer to him, unwilling to lose his attention before he put his walls up again, and she would get no answers.

  “Well” he offered with less than conviction, “I guess you’d call it a vampire or at least the real version of the myths”

  “Vampire!” She wanted to laugh, she wanted to storm out on a wave of insults levelled at the nutcase, but she found she couldn’t. “It can’t be real, it just can’t, this is real life, not some bloody Twilight movie, vampires don’t exist”

  “You know how I’ve lasted so long in my world?” He sounded weary, “I’ve survived, by always believing my own eyes, if I see it, then it's real, especially if it’s looking to rip my damn head off”

  “Yeah, but” she said before realizing that she had nothing more loaded in the chamber.

  “That thing down there is real; it’s the second one that I’ve seen in the last couple of days. They’ve got fangs, and they use them. They’re strong and fast, and when I stabbed the other one through the heart it died. It went from looking like a horror movie extra to normal like that” he clicked his fingers for emphasis.

  “So where are they coming from and what do they want?” She asked, hoping that he knew more than he was letting on.

  “Well laughing boy down stairs used to work for me, but I guess he quit. The gorilla that originally attacked me was also one of ours. That makes one of our lieutenants, the Port Authority Manager, and I’m positive that our Head Accountant has also been compromised”

  “So were they always, you know?” She made a fang shape with two hooked fingers.

  “No, I don’t know when they changed, but I’ve known them all for years and they’ve never shown any bloodthirsty tendencies before” he paused, thinking about Tank’s natural violent nature. “Well you know, outside of business hours”

  “So what else is going on?” She waited for the mistrust to wage a struggle with his mind as he looked her over.

  “What exactly are you planning on doing with any of this information?” He demanded with suspicion.

  “Are you kidding me? What the hell could I do with it?” She ranted. “Do you honestly think that I could march into any newspaper office with a tale like this, and be allowed to walk out again without a psychiatric escort?” She looked at him incredulously. “Whether you like it or not Mr Kane, that freak came to my house and attacked me, I’m in this with you, whether I like it or not”

  “Ok, Ok” he said holding his hands up in front of himself to ward off her anger. “Look the truth is that someone has ripped out our world from beneath us, and I’m guessing that the same someone is responsible for our friend down stairs”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean that everything is gone, the organization is effectively broke, all the businesses, the bank accounts, the stocks, the shares, everything has been taken, transferred or stolen”

  “Who?” She asked, as much to herself as to him. Her mind turned furiously back over her research into Jimmy’s organization over the last three years.

  “The list of who would want to is long, the list of who would be able to, seems non-existent, did you come across anything in your digging around into us?”

  “No” she said clearly and directly, not wanting to lie. He had obviously been keeping tabs on her, ”Look for the moment, I’m stuck in this with you, that thing knew my address and made me a target. I know that in the movies, I’d be some badass with a secret skill in martial arts and the ability to dish out some major damage. But this is real life, and I’m a journalist, I got out of my apartment by the skin of my teeth; if Eddie hadn’t shown up I’d be dead, or worse”

  “So I’m just su
pposed to look after you, and the doc, and Eddie and Jimmy, and anyone else who wants in the gang?” He snapped, annoyed at the growing sense of unwanted responsibility.

  She looked him dead in the eye unflinchingly, “Maybe with your track record, its way past time that you gave a little back”

  Eddie watched them from the doorway, he was silent and unobserved, she was talking to him, and he was talking back. Their manner seemed comfortable and friendly, and Eddie felt the first pangs of jealousy. The feeling was uncomfortable and alien to him; he was a man of unassuming tastes and pleasures. He had his games, his job and his friend. Ghost had been that friend for many years, he had never spoken a cross word to Eddie, never belittled or teased him like Jimmy often did. They were friends, and Eddie had always thought that he would happily die for him if Ghost had asked. But she was his, his new friend, his secret, Ghost had the whole world at his feet, and now he wanted to take his friend away. His only other friend, his woman friend, it wasn’t fair, not fair.

  His hand gripped the doorframe, and the wood creaked dangerously under the strain of his pressure, his knuckles whitened as the blood drained, not fair, not fair.

  CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN

  April 2012

  The war was swift, deadly, and all too brief; Drake had laid out his meticulous plans painstakingly over the years. It was like a giant game of Jenga, he had been pulling pieces out surreptitiously, leaving the whole structure vulnerable. His army was primed, ready, and very hungry, on his command they were to follow his orders and sweep the remnants from the board.

  The bus depot was deserted, save for the homeless shadows that lurked beneath the eyes of the city. The corners were dark, and visibility was low, it was perfect for Al Castle.