by Leo Romero
Dom feigned shock. "No. You don't look a day over twenty-one!"
"Unfortunately it's been a long, long time since I was that age. And that's why I need a younger man on board to fight the good fight."
"And so that's what your advert was all about?" Dom said with a knowing nod. "Your replacement?"
"In a nutshell. Yes. The reality is, we're hurtling towards a crossroads in human evolution. You can feel it, sense it. Something's wrong. Society is sliding towards an abyss. Financial and political institutions are crumbling. A darkness is descending, a darkness that is attempting to convince us is our savior. That darkness is the hidden hand that we must shrug off if we are ever to be free. We're either going to descend into total chaos or finally free ourselves from the evil shackles that have gripped us for centuries."
"Woah," Dom responded. "That's heavy."
"Indeed." Vincent's head sagged. "But, I'm fatigued. I can't bear the load any longer. I've been fighting these things for a long time now, and I need to pass on the baton so to speak. I don't have a son, and Trixie, she cannot fight them alone. The truth is, she doesn't like getting blood on her clothes."
"Figures..."
"Yes, it does." Vincent leaned back and stared with graveness in his eyes. "The Great Unveiling is almost upon us, Dom, and so we need to make our final stand."
"Great Unveiling?"
Vincent gave him a serious look. "Yes. The vampire prophecy of the reawakening."
Dom leaned back and looked away. "Riiiight."
"I know it sounds insane--"
"It sure does!"
"But vampires have their own prophecies in the same way humans do. They have belief systems, a structure. And it's vital you learn these if you're to survive past next week."
Trixie then came back in the room, a glass of grapefruit juice in her hand. She placed it down on the table ahead of Dom, spilling some onto the surface of the table. "So, has he told you about the impending vampire apocalypse that's about to strike at any moment, rendering us humans slaves for all eternity?"
"I think he was just getting to that part."
"Oh goody, and there was me hoping I'd missed it."
Vincent turned his head up to meet her. "Maybe you should fill him in then."
"I think I just did."
Vincent sighed.
"Look," Trixie began. "These suckers have got this religion that they go crazy about. Goes back centuries to the days of the Blood Father or some crap."
Vincent nodded. "Count Moroz. The Father. He was the dark prince of the old world. He was thankfully destroyed, but his five children managed to escape. They were dispersed across the globe where they began constructing their new empires."
"What was the old order, became the new," Trixie said with a smile.
"Each child grew into a powerful vampire--"
"And they created various orders," Trixie interjected. "There's the Blood Order, the Claw Order, the Chaos Order, the Dragon Order, and what's the last one again?"
"The Fang Order," Vincent reminded her.
"Ah, yes, the Fang Order. That's the one in Asia, I believe."
"And you'd be correct," Vincent said with a slow nod.
Dom showed them his palms. "Woah, woah, woah. This is insane."
Trixie nodded her head. "Absolutely!"
"Let me get this straight," said Dom. "You're saying that there are factions? Vampire factions spread out across the world and--"
"They control everything?" Trixie finished. "Yes!"
"Banking, military, corporations, organized crime," said Vincent. "All guided and run by the hidden hand."
Dom shook his head. "To what end?" he asked.
"Food," Trixie answered.
Dom flinched.
Vincent held up a palm. "Yes, but it's not as simple as that. Their ultimate goal is first the resurrection of their father, and then ultimately the destruction of the world."
"And how does that serve them?" Dom asked.
Vincent shrugged. "Well, it doesn't. They're a parasitical force, Dom. They cannot help but destroy, it is their will. Their prophecies dictate that their father will return when the world is under their grasp and we accept them as our leaders. This is in essence what the Great Unveiling is all about, and why we're accelerating toward it. And we're almost there."
"Except they're all at each other's throats," Trixie countered. "Literally."
"All vying for ultimate control," Vincent added.
"A war within a war."
Dom puffed his cheeks. "Woah..."
Vincent nodded. "Exactly. Woah."
Man, this is heavy, bro, Dom thought to himself. Heavy with a capital H.
Dom cocked a slow thumb over his shoulder. "So, those vamps from the club..."
"Are part of the order controlling the US, yeah," Trixie said with a nod.
"Hmm. The Blood Order," Vincent affirmed with a sigh.
"Those punks control the US?" Dom echoed, his face contorted with incredulity.
"Not exactly those vamps, but the order they're a part of and Leviah, the vampire who heads it."
"What about the President?" Dom asked. "Congress?"
Trixie laughed and shook her head. "You really have no idea do you?"
"Unfortunately congress is a charade," Vincent then said with a rueful grin. "It helps keep the Blood Order concealed while they build their empire in the shadows."
"You mean to say the President is... a fanghead?"
Vincent shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe not. It matters not, as he's compromised. As is the whole political system. It serves to keep the masses in the dark while the real power trundles on towards the Great Unveiling. Once that happens, the whole false political paradigm will be swept aside and humans will be subservient to their vampire masters."
"So, if this is all true," Dom began, "why aren't we storming places like Club Venom and tearing these Order vamps a new one?"
Vincent exchanged glances with Trixie.
"I mean we are vamp hunters, right?" Dom added. "If that's the case, why aren't we killing this Levi or whatever and ending this now?"
"You wanna stick your tongue into a beehive just to get the honey, be my guest," Trixie retorted. "If you hadn't noticed, it's just us here and a crap-tonne of them."
Dom shrugged at them both. "Then, what function do we serve if we're so powerless?"
Vincent glanced at Trixie before answering. "We have a longstanding pact with the Order."
Dom frowned. "Pact? You mean like a deal?"
"Precisely. It's a peace deal. Our remit is merely to stop the spread of vampires. Order vamps are off limits as they are 'chosen' by Leviah. Any vamps outside of the Order are to be... cleansed. This is the best we can do in terms of slowing the Great Unveiling. For every vamp we deal with, we save human lives from succumbing to the same fate."
"The same fate?" Dom echoed.
"Manna. Or venom as you know it. Vampires refer to it as manna. It's the essence that transforms humans into vampires."
Dom looked at them both. "Hey, wait a minute, I was dosed up on that stuff for Christ knows how long, and I ain't no vamp." He looked at his hands. "At least I think..."
"No, but you're left with remnants aren't you?" asked Vincent.
Dom shook his head. "I... I..."
Trixie huffed. "If you take the DNA of two humans and mix them, you get a third type of human, right?"
Dom looked up at her. "You're talking about making babies?"
Trixie gave him a slow nod. "Right, Dom."
"So, if you take a human and mix in manna--essentially vamp DNA--then you get a human-vampire hybrid," Vincent continued.
"Mix in enough vamp DNA and eventually you'll become vamp," Trixie said with an ironic grin.
"Total transmutation doesn't always happen," Vincent informed them, "and the time it takes can vary from human to human."
Dom frowned. "How come?"
"It depends on how much he dosed you," Trixie said, "and on how holy you are."<
br />
"Holy?" Dom echoed.
Trixie gave him a brisk nod of her head. "Holy."
Vincent shook his head. "It's all metaphor. For 'holy' read DNA type. In the old societies 'holy' people were of a certain blood stock. If you were of their lineage, you were more resistant to the effects of manna, hence why they were revered as the greatest vampire slayers."
"So it all comes down to our blood," Dom reflected.
"Vampires are obsessed with it. Not only as it keeps them alive, but as it is the historical framework of human civilization. As time has gone on, with all the mixing of our DNA with conquest and social movement, the blood of the holy lineages have altered and thus become lost. Having said this, we are virtually all holy to one degree or another, some very holy, others not very holy at all. The unholy amongst us are extremely susceptible to complete transmutation at a very fast rate. This latter scenario is undesirable for vampires; they prefer their food to stay close by and not turn inedible and leave. They're funny like that."
"Which is why we're the ones who clean up the mess, and keep things in 'order'." Trixie grinned. "Hey, did you see what I did there?"
Vincent groaned. "Yes, Trixie. Very good."
Dom grabbed his forehead. "So, let me get this straight. The venom has altered my DNA?"
"Yep, you're part vamp," Trixie told him. "Feels great, huh?"
"You're much more human than vampire, young man!" said Vincent. "But any effect manna has had on you we can use to our advantage. You can sense them, you can locate them. And when you do, we go in, clean up, and free any enslaved minds. And you'll be paid. Paid well for your endeavor. You'll also have a home. Security. I'll make sure you're looked after. Trixie here will always have your back as well. And you've seen how adept she is at rescue missions."
Dom glanced up at Trixie. She shrugged. "If I were you, I'd take the offer. I mean what else are you gonna do?"
"And you do want to make a difference, don't you, Dominic?"
Dom nodded. "Yeah, I do. But, I want to get rid of them permanently! Get the head of the snake."
Vincent patted the surface of the table. "Have faith. The children of Moroz think they'll have everything their own way, but I'm not so sure." There was a wry grin on his face.
"Why not?" Dom asked, unconvinced.
Vincent held a finger in the air. "For every prophecy they have, we have one of our own."
"We do?" Dom asked.
"Of course we do. And we have a survival instinct they cannot rival. We have no need to hide in the shadows. We are beings of light, they darkness. We won't be going down without a fight, let me tell you. But, for now, we must keep our powder dry. This is a war of attrition. Things are accelerating, yes, but there's still a way to go."
Silence then took over while Vincent gave Dom a sincere stare. A shiver raced up and down Dom's spine.
"So?" Vincent then asked. "Are you up for the challenge?"
Dom sucked in a lung of air and released it. "Okay, Vincent," he said, nodding his head. "I'll take the job."
Vincent's eyes lit up. He rapped the table with his knuckles. "Excellent decision, Dominic." He got to his feet and put out his hand. Dom stood and took it.
Vincent gave it a hearty shake. "Welcome to the family! Trixie."
"Yeah, welcome," she replied with a faux grin.
"Now, we've still got much to discuss to get you up to speed," Vincent told him. "So, if you'd step into the training area, we can begin."
CHAPTER SEVEN
Vincent led Dom back out in the entrance hallway, Trixie following up.
"You're going to like this," Vincent said to Dom, rubbing his hands with glee. He stepped around to the back of the staircase, into the shadows. He stopped and turned to face Dom, who stared back at him nonplussed.
"What am I going to like, Vincent?" Dom asked.
"This," Vincent replied. He pressed a button on the small panel attached to the staircase and spoke into it. "This is Vincent Beauchamp; entrepreneur, inventor, savior of Mankind." He then gave Dom a look of sumptuous nonchalance.
In the next instant, a button on the panel glowed red, and a section within the back of the staircase slid open. Dom flinched back, his eyes widening.
Vincent laughed and clapped his hands. "Gets em every time!"
Dom glanced back at Trixie. She shrugged. "He's into his toys."
"And you're about to see just how much. Come on." Vincent stepped into the space beneath the staircase and began descending the steps beyond.
"After you," Trixie said to Dom. He took a tentative step through the opening.
Man, this is like Frankenstein's lair.
He looked down the steps to see Vincent was already halfway down them. He clapped his hands and overhead lights immediately blinked on, lighting up the staircase. He skipped down the last few steps like an excited child. Trixie rolled her eyes. Dom smiled. The old man was growing on him.
Vincent hopped down onto the floor of the hidden basement and spread his hands out. "Welcome to my secret torture chamber," he declared before taking a bow. "If you're a vampire that is!"
Dom looked up and around in an absent daze as he made it down the last few steps. He found himself in some kind of lab; everything shiny metal and white walls. Surrounding him was stuff; some of it bizarre, some of it intriguing. Bottles of different colored chemicals lined one of the counters, electronic devices were scattered around. One of the walls was lined with weaponry; guns, swords, all ranging from different ages.
Vincent stood in the center of his lab and placed his hands on his hips. "Ah yes. Times have changed, but the end result hasn't." He went over to the weapons hanging on the wall and plucked off an old crossbow. He turned and aimed it at Dom. "Bang!" he said.
Dom gave him an uneasy grin in return.
Vincent eyes brimmed with nostalgia. "Once upon a time, this would have been used to fire a small, thin wooden stake through the heart of a vampire," he explained. "Crude, but effective. We've since learned that there's no need for that type of thing. We're more sophisticated in our methods now." He replaced the crossbow. "Come." He led Dom over to the far side of the room. Sitting on a metal counter like some kind of specimen was a gun similar to the one Trixie gave him back at the house when she saved his life.
Vincent picked it up. "Special issue Sun Enterprise dart gun." He released the magazine from the handle; it slid out into his grip. He held it up. "Fifteen tranqs per mag." He expertly clicked the magazine back in the gun. "Fire off a dart and the next immediately slots into place ready for your next shot." He aimed at the ceiling. "They're semi-automatic, with a fire rate of precisely sixty rounds per minute." He glanced at Dom. "That's one a second."
"Yeah, I can count, Vincent," Dom informed him.
"That's good news, young man. You'll be able to count how many vampires you can drop in a minute." He nodded his head. "Yes, much more effective than the traditional methods of slaughter. Quiet, fast acting, and they give us perfect control over who lives and who dies. We put humans to sleep, we put vampires down." He placed the dart gun back down and plucked up a nearby dart from the counter. There was a small canister attached to the end of it containing a blue liquid. He held it up to the light and gave it a gentle shake. "Dimethylpolypropamine, or what we prefer to call it: holy water. I believe you're already acquainted with this stuff."
Dom glanced back at Trixie. "Yeah," he replied. "Would've been nice of you to have given me some of that stuff when you sent me to face Drake." Dom gave Vincent a peeved look as he spoke.
Vincent sighed. "Ah yes, apologies for that. But, I couldn't reveal my identity at that stage. This is an extremely dangerous business where you could quite easily lose your life. I had to test you out, make sure you're a survivalist. Which is what you need to be in this game."
Dom flipped his hand on the air. "Yeah, whatever, it don't matter now. So what exactly is that stuff anyway?"
"A formula we've spent years developing. To humans, it's harmless--apar
t from the injured party suffering a severe case of diarrhea. But, to vampires, this stuff is deadly. It interacts with their blood in a specific way."
"How so?"
Vincent held a finger in the air. "Very interesting. You see the manna alters their blood during transmutation. Holy water is a hemotoxin, specifically designed to target the manna existing within the blood structure of the vampire--"
"You just had to start him off didn't you..." lamented Trixie with a shake of her head, her eyes glazed.
"Once inside the bloodstream," Vincent continued, "it attacks the heart of the vampire, stopping it dead. The vampire enters spasmic overload, effectively suffering a fatal heart attack. And hence, death."
Dom stared on with an open jaw. Man, I didn't get any of that.
Dom cleared his throat. "Fascinating," he said, not wanting Vincent to see his bemusement.
"Indeed it is, young man. This substance has made things a lot easier than they used to be let me tell you that for nothing. A lot less messy than hammering stakes through hearts as well. Now we can get the exact same effect from a safe distance."
"Who designed that stuff?"
Vincent straightened his back. "I did. Well, my lab people at Sun Enterprise at least."
"So they know about the vamps too?"
"Of course. They're manna recoveries who have a penchant for all things science. They, like you, want to make a difference, but they wouldn't last two minutes out in the field. Nerds, I think is the term you'd use to describe them."
"Aren't you afraid they'll talk?"
Vincent gave him a grave stare. "I pay them very well, Dom. Very. Well. And their identities remain anonymous. So, it's a two-way deal."
"And the non-disclosure clause he gets em to sign helps too," Trixie added in an offhanded manner.
Vincent gave her a sheepish nod. "Well, that does help as well, yes."
"You got everything covered, huh?" Dom noted.
Vincent gave him a sure nod. "Absolutely."
Dom picked up a holy water dart and turned it over in his hand. "Ever tried just cutting their head off?" he asked Vincent still staring at the dart.
