by J. C. Diem
His statement was met with incredulous stares. “You want us to fight the aliens?” someone asked. “You’ve got to be kidding.”
Higgins’ expression remained serious as he replied. “I wish I was kidding. We simply don’t have enough manpower to destroy all of the droids.”
A man somewhere in his late forties pushed his way through the crowd to confront the soldiers. Glasses perched on the end of his nose and he peered through them at my companion. “You cannot seriously expect us to do your job for you.” His accent was English and bordered on haughty.
Lifting my hand, I stopped the corporal from giving the man a polite answer. “I’ll give you two choices,” I said to the crowd, raising my voice so they could hear me. “Either take a weapon and prove yourselves to be useful or I’ll bite your face off and save the imps from doing it.”
Screwing his face up in derision, the English guy crossed his arms. “That is the most ridiculous threat I’ve ever heard…” His words trailed off as my fangs descended and my eyes began to glow.
“I suggest you decide now,” I said around fangs that felt far longer than normal. “I’m getting hungry.”
Screams were squelched and the soldiers prevented anyone from fleeing. “What are you?” someone in the crowd asked.
“She’s Natalie, the vampire that was imprisoned a decade ago for going nuts and trying to kill General Sanderson and his men,” someone else answered.
“Things have to be going to hell if they dug her up from wherever they buried her,” yet another civilian muttered. Her thoughts were echoed by several others.
I didn’t bother to tell my side of the story. We didn’t have the time and I hadn’t exactly helped my image with that little stunt. My presence, or the threat of having their faces bitten off, worked and most agreed to join our group. Only the elderly and children were exempt. Someone suggested they should hide inside the vault of a casino, or wherever it was that the money was stored. The suggestion was seconded and they went in search of food, water and other supplies they’d need. I had no idea what they’d use for a toilet inside the strongroom or how long their air would last if they room was sealed after the door was shut. Whatever measures they took, their protection wouldn’t last long if we lost this war. The droids would root them out and turn them into clones regardless of where they hid.
Several soldiers went in search of transportation and returned minutes later in tour buses that were large enough to carry our entire crew of nearly one thousand people. Most of the new recruits held their borrowed weapons gingerly. I wasn’t sure what use they would be when we clashed with the droids and imp clones. Maybe we’d get lucky and a few stray bullets would hit their marks. If we were extra lucky, they might not accidentally kill each other.
In the lead bus, I guided our driver towards the outskirts of the city where scores of humans had already been turned into clones. We didn’t head directly towards the murderbots but circled around behind them before disembarking from the buses.
Every house we passed was devoid of life. Doors had been kicked in, sometimes knocked completely off their hinges. Screams of terror and pain came seemingly from everywhere as the automatons mercilessly continued their search through the streets around us.
Higgins split our group into two, choosing another soldier to be the new team leader. Our teams separated and commenced our own hunt of the enemy.
Shots rang out as the second group encountered a unit of droids. Our team came under attack at the same time. Two units of robots and a small mob of newly minted human imps raced towards us. Higgins and I fired our death rays, which prompted the rest of our team to start shooting. A mixture of bullets, explosives and violet bursts of light rained down on our adversaries. An imp came galloping out of the shadows and I spitted her on my sword. It was going to be tricky fighting creatures of both metal and flesh. I hoped the civilians would have the sense to use their guns on the clones while the soldiers targeted the droids with their death rays.
Our next skirmish was with another mob of imps but there were no droids this time. They’d probably been ordered by Uldar to ignore us. Their task was to root out helpless civilians and turn them into an army of slaves. It was a clever tactic but then the Viltarans had been warring for millions of years and had had a lot of practice with subduing alien species.
“I’m going after the droids,” I told Higgins. I could fight more effectively on my own if I didn’t have to worry about saving anyone’s butt.
“Be careful,” he said then tuned to shoot an imp in the face.
Putting my death ray in a pocket, I slipped my swords free from my new sheaths and sprinted towards the nearest unit of droids. They didn’t know I was hunting them until I cut the first few down. Most continued to fire their nanobot darts at the humans that were fleeing through the streets or hiding behind cover. Only two of the robots turned to confront me. My swords flashed out and took them both through an eye. With a distressed buzzing sound, they fell. I stepped over their metal corpses and cut the rest of the droids down.
Newly converted imps, that had been human mere seconds ago, watched me through eyes that matched mine in colour and ferocity. Naked, grey skinned and bulging with muscle, they came at me in a rush. Limbs fell, yellow blood spurted and death cries gurgled out. When they were no longer breathing, I wiped my swords on a tattered piece of cloth then went on the hunt for more victims.
I was in my element, doling out death to the damned and saving the humans from woe. In the back of my mind, I wondered not for the first time why I’d been picked for this job. I hadn’t ever wanted fame or notoriety. It had been thrust upon me and I feared there would never be an escape from it.
·~·
Chapter Twenty-Four
As I’d predicted, it was a long and harrowing night. My worst moment by far was when I’d sensed a small family uselessly attempting to hide from a ravenous imp. Five lives became four as the clone infiltrated their residence. Four became three as I came in sight of the small, neat house. Three became two as I leaped through the entryway and stepped over the destroyed door. Two narrowed down to one as I sped through down a hallway, passing the mangled bodies of the mother, father and two children.
A shrill, high pitched scream of torment pierced me through to whatever soul I had left as I stepped through the doorway of a bedroom. A little girl of maybe three or four was in the clutches of a blood stained monster. I leaped forward to attack but I was already too late. The child’s scream went up several octaves as the imp tore both of her arms off.
Screaming in rage, I watched her tiny body fall to the floor as one of her arms disappeared into the creature’s maw. My sword lashed out and the head of the former human bounced to the floor to land beside the girl. His body stayed on its feet for a few seconds before toppling backwards.
Inordinately glad that Geordie wasn’t with me to witness this horror, I picked the little girl’s body up and placed her on her bed. I put her intact arm beside her and retrieved her chewed arm from the dead imp’s mouth. Pulling the pink coverlet up to her chin, she almost looked like she was sleeping peacefully. Only the splashes of blood on her cheek and in her blonde curls spoiled the effect.
My chest ached with sorrow as I left the house. Belatedly, I realized I should have used my new talent to move at blinding speed to save her. Hers would be just one more death that I would have to answer to fate for once this was all over.
I’d personally killed off over three hundred droids and clones before the night waned but it wasn’t nearly enough to stop the tide of new imps that was being created. My steps dragged as I re-joined what was left of our team. We’d lost a third of the newly recruited civilians but not all had been killed in battle. Some had snuck away to cower in the homes that had recently been searched by the droids and imps. I could feel them hiding inside but there was no use alerting the soldiers to their desertion. Cowards would be of little use to us anyway.
The young woman who had been looking af
ter my helmet shyly handed it to me when I sat on the curb beside Higgins. I nodded my thanks and spent a few minutes cleaning my swords. Most of the soldiers were taking the opportunity to sleep now that the droids had broken off their attack and had rushed off towards the east. Already, their mother ship was moving into position to pick them up. Instead of them all gathering in the same spot, they’d chosen several different locations to be evacuated from this time. We didn’t have enough people in the area to attempt to wipe them all out. I tried to contain my frustration when they slipped out of our reach and back into the heavens again.
Higgins had fallen into a sound sleep. Lying on his side, he breathed quietly but deeply. Dawn was only a few short minutes away and I savoured the quiet as most of our team rested. All up, we’d managed to destroy another three thousand droids but there were still fifteen thousand automatons safe and sound on the Viltaran ship. I dreaded updating Sanderson about how many new imps were roaming the streets looking for somewhere safe to hide from the sun. Our odds of survival had increased since forcing more civilians into duty as recruits but it still wasn’t going to be enough.
I wish Gregor was here so I could pick his brain for ideas, I thought wistfully as I slid my now clean swords into their sheaths. An instant later, the world blurred around me and I was sitting on a dark grey marble floor looking at the very vampire I’d wished to speak to. Gregor and the rest of my friends sat on chocolate brown leather couches in an elegant foyer of a high priced hotel.
Geordie was the first to spot me and he leaped to his feet. “Nat! Where did you come from?” Not waiting for my answer, he scurried over, dropped to his knees beside me and wrapped his skinny arms around my neck. “I’ve missed you, chérie.”
“I’ve missed you, too,” I admitted. I hadn’t realized just how badly I’d needed a hug after witnessing the little girl’s death. I wished I hadn’t killed the imp so quickly and painlessly. It had deserved to suffer for murdering the family of five. All of the alien spawn deserve to suffer, my alter ego pointed out. But there’s not enough time to torture all of them.
Igor hauled his apprentice out of the way and offered me his hand to help me to my feet. “It is good to see you.” He gave me a brief squeeze on the arm then stepped aside to let Ishida hug me. Kokoro gave me a wide smile and a peck on the cheek then Gregor enveloped me in a rib creaking hug. Luc stayed in his seat on the couch. He deigned to give me a cool nod that was more suitable for a stranger rather than a former girlfriend. I came very close to bursting into dry sobs and had to bite down hard on my tongue to stop myself. My blood tasted far less rank than usual as I swallowed it down. My tongue healed instantly, presumably without a scar.
“Do you realize you just materialized out of thin air?” Gregor asked me.
Tearing my eyes away from Luc, I stared at him dully. “I did?”
“Yes. I believe you now have the power to-”
He was interrupted by General Sanderson as the soldier stepped into the plush foyer. “Good, you’re all here. We need to talk about our strategy.” His eyes swept across me and were almost as cool as Luc’s.
Ugh, he’s the last person I want to see right now. At that thought, the foyer was gone and I was standing beside Higgins again. Staggering a step, I looked around wildly but no one seemed to have noticed my arrival. “What the hell just happened?” I asked myself. My new trick of moving rapidly from one spot to another had just taken a huge leap. I’d somehow transported myself halfway across the city. Unless that was just a dream. It was possible I’d fallen asleep for a few moments and had only imagined that I’d seen my friends.
My helmet was still sitting on the road and the sun was about to rise. I scooped it up, donned it and moved into the shadows. Sunrise was a sight I thought I’d never be able to see again and I stared in silent wonder at the beautiful, delicate pastel colours as they spread across the sky.
I wasn’t particularly tired yet my eyelids slid shut and I settled into a light doze that quickly became a deep slumber.
I found myself standing in front of a building that every Australian recognized on sight. The Sydney Opera House stood in bright sunlight that should have caused me tremendous pain. The multiple white sales of the building caught the light and reflected it straight at me. Since it was just a dream and not real life, I barely had to squint against the brightness.
I’d lived in Sydney for a short time after my parents had died but had opted to head north to Queensland rather than stay in New South Wales. I’d visited the Sydney Opera House a couple of times and it had been packed with tourists both times. It was no different this time and people from all over the world stood on the steps of the iconic building, asking fellow tourists to take their photo.
The sky darkened with shocking suddenness and I tilted my head back, expecting to see clouds. The sky was clear and without a blemish yet I sensed danger coming. Turning in a slow circle, I saw no threats in Circular Quay or in the harbour that sported boats of all sizes and descriptions.
Coming to a stop at the vast metal arch of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, I concentrated on it and was suddenly standing high on top of the structure amongst a group of brave souls who were in the middle of the bridge climb.
One of the tourists pointed towards the sea. “What is that?” she asked with a strong Japanese accent.
Shading their faces with their hands, the rest of the group squinted into the distance. My eyesight was far better than theirs but even I couldn’t tell what it was that was coming towards us. It was just a dark, vague shape that gave off a sense of profound doom.
“Is it a cruise ship?” another of the tourists asked doubtfully.
“I don’t think so,” replied their tour guide. “Whatever it is, it’s moving really fast.”
The sun was still shining but gloom covered the city, spreading out its dark wings to encompass every living soul. I understood that it was a metaphorical darkness that only I could see. Fate was warning me of coming danger and I had no way of knowing when it would strike.
In the short pause between closing my eyes to blink, everything changed. The bridge that had been beneath my feet only a moment ago was now a twisted wreck that had fallen into the harbour. Every building within my sight had been razed to the ground. Some seemed to have been uprooted and cast aside. The Opera House had been reduced to a crumbled ruin. Smoke darkened the sky from fires that had been left to rage out of control.
The city that had been teeming with humans was now a ghost town, devoid of the living. The trail of destruction didn’t stop at Sydney and continued northwards. Whatever it was that had decimated one of the largest cities in Australia wasn’t finished yet. It was on a rampage that left devastation in its wake unlike anything I’d ever seen.
Snapping awake, I mulled over the warning I’d just been sent. I was pretty sure the ruin hadn’t been caused by the Viltarans, which was something of a relief. Unfortunately, I had no idea what would cause the devastation. The fact that I’d been sent several dreams now that didn’t seem to have anything to do with our current crisis was both a relief and a concern. On one hand, it appeared we might have a shot at living through the Viltaran invasion. On the other hand, if we did survive, it seemed we would be facing something even worse than the aliens.
Higgins woke, sat up and looked around. Groggy and ill tempered, he spied me, struggled to his feet and ambled over. I was glad to be distracted from my worried thoughts as he sank down to the grass beside me. Leaning back against the house, he searched through his backpack. Taking out an energy bar, he offered it to me.
I flipped up my visor so he could see my incredulous expression. “Are you kidding?”
Flushing, he withdrew the food. “I forgot about your liquid only diet.” Tearing the bar open with his teeth, he gestured towards my stomach. “Speaking of which, do you need to feed yet?”
I gave him a small shrug. “I guess I could use a snack.”
“You can have some of my blood, if you want,” he offere
d with a show of nonchalance. The pulse beating in his throat sped up either from fear or excitement. He gave off no vibes that he wanted to jump my bones so I doubted it was sexual excitement he was feeling. I’d been very careful not to let any of the soldiers fall too deeply beneath my spell. The last thing I needed was several hundred mindless slaves following me and telling me how beautiful I was. They needed to be sharp and able to think for themselves rather than be deeply beneath my thrall.
“I appreciate the offer,” I said by way of acceptance.
I wasn’t a fan of eating in public so waited for him to finish his energy bar before gesturing towards the kicked in front door of the house we were leaning against. His pulse increased even more and he trembled slightly as he climbed to his feet. “Is this going to hurt?” His voice had gone up a couple of octaves in nervousness.
“Nope. You’ll barely feel a thing,” I reassured him after taking my helmet off.
I stepped into the wreckage of the living room first, glad not to see any dismembered bodies lying around. Higgins took hold of his courage then tilted his head to the side and closed his eyes. Accepting the invitation, I moved in closer and bit his neck gently. Salty, sweet blood flooded into my mouth. I only drank a few mouthfuls before pulling away. I hadn’t been anywhere near starving and I was instantly energized by the quick meal.
Opening his eyes, the corporal looked at me in surprise. “Is that it?”
“Yep. It makes you wonder why people make such a fuss about it, huh?”
He nodded at my wry question. “We’d better round everyone up. There must be thousands more clones to eradicate now.”
“Try a hundred and twenty-six thousand,” I told him. “Seventy thousand humans have been converted now and there are still forty-six thousand Kveet clones roaming the sewers and buildings.”
