by Brandon Hale
“I’m sure,” Grung added, “that many Germans in the nineteen-forties thought the same thing about the speeches they were hearing.”
“Point taken,” Scott conceded.
Ellie looked at the dead werewolf and said, “I think we should get moving. It won’t take them long to notice our friend isn’t answering his calls.”
“Not yet,” Lily said, not taking her eyes off Dennis.
“Oh yeah,” Ellie said with a nod.
Dennis stood on the sign, watching the celebration for several more minutes. Eventually, he turned around and crawled into the window behind him.
“Bingo,” Scott said.
Cassius sat with his feet propped up on the office desk. Arcas stood by the window, watching the celebration. “You know,” Cassius said, “we’re eventually going to have to do something about all the baby vampires. There are too many.”
“I know,” Arcas said quietly. “It shouldn’t be difficult. We’ll just wait until they’re resting one day soon and do a purge. The other elders are going to do the same across the globe.”
“How many are there?” Cassius asked. “Elders, I mean. How many vampires are out there like us?”
“Not sure,” Arcas said with a shrug. “I know I’ve made about a hundred over the centuries. I don’t know how many are still alive, though. Since this damn war started, I feel death so often, it’s difficult to know which are mine. I would guess that most are still alive. How many have you made?”
“Seven,” Cassius said.
“Only seven?”
Cassius gave a single nod. “I’m very particular about who I bring over.”
“You’ve been a vampire for a long time, my friend,” Arcas said. “A hundred is being particular. Seven is downright stingy with your power.”
Cassius chuckled. “I suppose you’re right. Still, it’s reasonable to assume there are enough elders to build our new world. Why are you so interested in the channeler?”
Arcas turned around and looked at Cassius. “In all the centuries of my life, I’ve turned one channeler. Every other channeler I’ve faced, I had to kill. But that one channeler turned out to be one of the most powerful vampires I’ve ever known.” He smiled. “And he turned out to be my best friend.”
“I appreciate that,” Cassius said.
“Humanity has it all wrong,” Arcas added. “They think it’s about good and evil. They think a channeler is able to summon the power of God or whatever, but the truth is, it has nothing to do with good or evil. It has to do with the human spirit, which is significant.”
“So when you turned me all those years ago,” Cassius asked, “you didn’t think I was evil?”
“Of course not,” Arcas said. “You were driven. You were focused. And that’s all that separates a channeler from any other human. A channeler can focus their energy without the need for trinkets. Humans are the most tragic creatures on this planet. They have unlimited potential, but they refuse to grow. Channelers are simply humans that are a touch more evolved. And if they decide, they become something… greater.”
“Is that what happened to you?” Cassius asked. “You chose to become greater?”
Arcas smiled. “Perhaps.”
Dennis strolled into the room, followed by Daciana. “How was the speech?” he asked with a smile.
“Inspiring,” Cassius said. “You should consider a life in politics.”
“I’d rather take a silver bullet in the eye,” Dennis said.
Daciana looked out the window. “We’re celebrating too soon. We’re making ourselves vulnerable.”
“Are you kidding?” Dennis said. “Humanity has been driven from every city in the world. We took them down in a day. I think that’s worth a little celebrating.”
“There are survivors out there,” Daciana said. “Hiding. And as long as there are, we’re in danger.”
“We have the location of every underground facility,” Dennis said. “We just have to give the stragglers time to get there. This party is part of the war, Daciana. We’re just pretending we think it’s over. They’ll crawl into their holes, start licking their wounds, and that’s when we’ll go in and finish them.”
“I know the plan,” Daciana said, “but something feels wrong.”
“There are guards all over the city,” Dennis assured her. “The sun will be down in about an hour and the vampires will be joining us. If any humans come sneaking around this city, we’ll know it. I promise you that.”
“I suppose,” Daciana said.
“Jackson’s Folly,” Dennis said, “is a safe city. No human would be foolish enough to come here tonight.”
The werewolf’s head quickly reverted back to its human form as it rolled down the dark hallway without its body. Grung wiped the blood from his sword-arm and gave the others a subtle wave that said, “All clear.”
The others stepped into the hall behind him. “How many is that?” Ellie whispered.
“Twelve,” Scott answered as he went to the window at the end of the hallway. He looked out the window, then turned back to the others. “The next building is shorter. If we can get a hook to attach to something, we should be able to slide across easily enough.”
Lily looked out the window. “Dennis is in the one after that,” she whispered.
“If he’s still there,” Grung said.
“It’s all we’ve got right now,” Lily said, then turned to Ellie. “You’re up.”
Ellie fired a small gun that silently shot a hook and cable across the divide. Once the hook was on the other roof, she pulled the cable back until the hook attached itself to a pipe. She then attached the cable to the window and pressed a button that pulled it taut.
With a wink, she said, “See ya on the other side.” She attached herself to the cable with another hook and jumped out the window.
As she slid toward the other roof, she noticed that the street in Times Square was slowly coming into view. Due to the angle of the buildings, she realized with horror that when she got to the other building, she would be in full view of the werewolves below.
Throwing her feet on the cable, she tried to stop herself, but the momentum was too strong. She slid across the divide and dropped to the roof on the other side, hoping against hope that she hadn’t been seen.
Ellie quickly scrambled to the edge of the building and peeked down at the street below.
“Shit,” she groaned.
“Shit,” Grung said.
The team watched as hundreds of werewolves began to scale the wall beneath Ellie. Grung snapped a hook to the cable.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Scott whisper-yelled.
“You two go another way,” Grung said. “Get to Dennis. We’ll keep those fuzzy bastards busy. Don’t worry, we’ll meet up with you later.”
Before they could stop him, he leapt from the window and slid toward the other building.
“We can pick them off from here,” Lily said as she drew her pistol.
Scott pulled her away from the window. “No.”
“Scott, we have to help them!”
“No!” Scott looked at her with an intensity she’d never seen before. “There are thousands down there, Lily! If we start shooting, it’ll just draw them to us as well.”
“Then what the hell do you suggest?” Lily shot back.
“We take Grung at his word,” Scott said. “And we do what we came here to do.”
Lily looked back at the window and started to speak but realized she didn’t know what to say.
“Every second matters,” Scott said. “Every second, Lily.”
“Okay,” Lily said. “Let’s go get Dennis.”
Ellie sprinted toward the only door on the roof. She hoped that she could get inside the building and crawl out a back window before the werewolves got to her. She slid to a stop in front of the door and pulled on the handle.
Locked.
Of course, she thought.
She drew her gun and fired, t
hen tried the door again. It pulled open about an inch and stopped.
“What the hell, door!” she yelled as she stuck her fingers into the crack and felt a large chain on the other side. Even if there was a chance she could shoot the chain, she knew she didn’t have enough time to do it.
She turned around and watched the first werewolves crawl onto the roof. She pointed her gun toward the first werewolf, said, “I really hate you guys,” and began to fire.
As Grung slid toward the building, he held on to the cable with both legs and the bend inside of his sword-arm, leaving his good hand free. He quickly pulled a grenade from his belt, pulled the pin with his teeth, and flung it in the direction of the werewolves.
Ellie stood with her back against the door, firing at the monsters coming toward her. As werewolf after werewolf fell dead, Ellie felt something she didn’t expect.
She felt good.
She suddenly thought about that day back in Virginia Beach, a lifetime ago. She remembered hanging underneath that pier, terrified and powerless.
Not today, she thought as she pulled the trigger again and again. If this was her moment to die, so be it. She would face it with courage and conviction. Every shot was lightning fast, but her aim was steady and accurate. A few of the werewolves actually turned back and ran the other way. The bulk of them, however, just hopped over their dead friends and kept coming.
As the werewolves got closer, Ellie surprised herself again.
She started laughing.
Just as the werewolves got close enough for her to see their snarling teeth, the roof exploded.
The explosion came from somewhere in the middle of the pack of werewolves, sending them flying in all directions. The force of the explosion slammed Ellie against the door, breaking the chain inside. The door flew open and Ellie fell into the darkness inside.
She tumbled down the inside stairs for several feet, landing hard on the small platform where the stairs turned and continued down in the opposite direction. Ignoring the pain she felt in about a million different places, Ellie sprang to her feet and drew her second pistol.
She almost fired as a large figure burst through the smoke above. The only thing that stopped her from pulling the trigger was the fact that she recognized his screaming voice.
“RUN!” Grung yelled as he sprinted down the stairs, taking three and four steps at a time.
“Was that an explosion?” Scott asked as they stepped onto the street a block away from Times Square.
“I believe it was,” Lily said with a grin. “Since werewolves don’t carry grenades, I’m going to assume Grung and Ellie are holding their own.”
“Me too.” Scott looked around the street, then pointed to a nearby building. “If Dennis is still there, that’s the back of our building.”
“Let’s go,” Lily said as she started toward the building.
“Wait.”
“We don’t have time to wait,” Lily said.
“We haven’t discussed the vampire yet,” Scott said.
“Vampires don’t concern me, Scott.”
“This one should.” Scott pleaded.
Lily’s eyes narrowed. “Why?”
“You saw Leo,” Scott said. “He was… different.”
“We covered that,” Lily said, not bothering to hide the agitation in her voice.
“If the vampire that turned Leo is there,” Scott explained, “we could be facing something we know nothing about.”
“It’s not even dark yet, Scott,” Lily said. “If you’ll come on, we can do this before the sun sets.”
“That’s my point,” Scott argued. “We don’t know if sunset matters. We don’t know anything about this type of vampire. Until we met Leo, we didn’t even know they existed. We assumed vampires like Dracula were just myths based on the mindless creatures we’ve been fighting for the last ten years.”
“Yeah,” Lily conceded. “Leo definitely wasn’t mindless. I mean, when my father was turned, he still talked to me, but I could tell something was missing. Not with Leo, though. Nothing was missing. He was still Leo, but he was something more, not less.”
“And don’t forget,” Scott added, “that in many of the classic tales, vampires walk around in daylight. The vampire that turned Leo might be there. And we have no idea how to fight him.”
Lily rolled that thought around in her head. The vampire that turned Leo might be there. Amazingly, this was something Lily hadn’t seriously considered. “You know,” she whispered, “I have my doubts about what we did to him.”
“Let it go,” Scott said.
“The world has changed,” Lily said. “Even you said Dennis made a warped kind of sense. Maybe Leo could’ve had a life in this new--”
“I was an idiot to say that,” Scott said. “Let this go, Lily. You know it was the right thing to do. If you go in there with any doubts – any at all – you will get us both killed.”
Lily shook off the thought. “You’re right. I guess I’m still a little shaken by the whole thing. Bottom line, If the vampire that turned Leo is there, we’ll find a way to kill it or we’ll die trying.”
“Just be ready,” Scott said. “If that vampire is there, our entire approach has to change. We can’t fight him like we would Dennis. If it’s just Dennis in there, your anger will be a weapon. If that vampire is there, your best chance against him will depend on your ability to stay calm and focused.”
“Because of the channeler thing,” Lily said.
“Yes,” Scott said. “If you let your anger get the better of you… if you let the hate you feel guide you, there’s a chance you’ll just make him stronger. Think about survival. Think about ridding the world of this thing. If you can muster up some pity, even better.”
“That won’t happen,” Lily said.
“Fair enough,” Scott said. “But if you try to hurt him just for the joy of causing him pain, it could backfire. Badly.”
“Got it,” Lily said. “But just so you know, if it’s only Dennis in there, I’m letting myself enjoy his pain.”
“Yeah,” Scott said with a smirk. “Me, too.”
“If you’re done,” Lily said, “I’ll like to go kill some monsters now.”
Scott grinned. “Lead on.”
“How many?” Ellie yelled as her and Grung ran at best speed down the stairwell.
“Too many,” Grung said. “It was a silver frag grenade, so it probably killed a few and hurt the rest. We have a few seconds, at best, to get out of this stairwell.”
Ellie stopped at a door leading to one of the upper floors of the building. She looked at Grung. “Good as any, in my opinion.”
They ducked in and closed the door behind them. “No lock,” Grung said. “Dammit.”
Ellie turned around and saw numbered doors lining the hallway. “A hotel,” she said.
“Good,” Grung said. “Lots of places to hide. Come on!”
They sprinted down the hall and around a corner. Grung stopped.
Ellie almost ran into his back. “What is—”
Grung spun around and put a finger to his lips, which silenced Ellie immediately. He pointed toward the ceiling and mouthed, I heard something.
After a few seconds, Ellie heard it, too. Very faint footsteps were coming from just above the ceiling. The werewolves were searching the floor above them.
Grung slowly reached out and wrapped his hand around the handle of one of the doors.
Locked.
Look for an open door, Ellie mouthed, knowing they wouldn’t get into a closed door without a keycard. They silently jogged down the hallway, scanning for an open door. The door to Room 614 was ajar. They slipped inside and quietly closed the door.
“What now?” Grung whispered, barely audible.
“We have to get out of this building,” Ellie whispered. “Do you still have your rope?”
Grung felt for the cable on his belt, then nodded.
Ellie looked around the room and saw a door leading to a balcony. “Th
ank God,” Ellie whispered.
They ran to the balcony and peeked over the edge. The street below was empty.
“We’ll have to do this fast,” Grung whispered as he attached the cable to the balcony railing.
“Cripples first,” Ellie whispered.
“Nice,” Grung mumbled as he slipped over the edge and began to slide to the next balcony.
They quickly made it to the ground, stopping at each balcony just long enough to readjust their grips. As Ellie softly landed and released the cable, she said, “Which way? That stairwell got me a little disoriented.”
“You have a compass,” Grung admonished as he pulled a small device from his belt, then pointed to their right. “This way. It’s a big city. I think if we can get far enough away, we could hide out for as long as we need.”
The street lights came on throughout the city.
“Oh, boy,” Ellie said, noticing for the first time just how dark the streets had become.
A manhole a few feet away began to move.
With the press of a button, Grung’s sword flipped over and was replaced again by a wooden stake. Taking a wide stance to maintain balance, he watched the manhole as four white fingers rose up and pushed it to the side.
“Get ready,” Grung said.
The fact that Lily and Scott had made it up several flights of stairs without encountering a single werewolf made them both uncomfortable. Scott stopped in front of a door leading into the building.
“Judging from the window outside, this should be our floor.”
“Most likely,” Lily said, “he’s out in the city, looking for the source of all the noise.”
“Maybe,” Scott said. “Then again, why would he bother when he can watch it all from the safety of this building?”
“You ready to find out?” Lily held her mini-crossbow in one hand and her pistol in the other.
“Not really,” Scott admitted, looking at her weapons. “Do you have a plan?”
“Actually,” Lily answered, “I do.”
“Care to share?”
Lily was quiet for a moment, then said, “Not really, no.”
Scott gave her a confused look. “Why the hell not?”
