The anger in Grimshaw’s face vanished. He struggled one last time. He knew his time was up. He searched for and found Elsie. “Ms. Fleck, please do something! This isn’t right! How can you just stand there!” The fear in his face and voice was evident.
Drake and Megan relished the moment. The rest of the assembly were still in shock but willing to participate.
Grimshaw recoiled when Drake reached out.
“Hold his head still. Inside this mouth, and mine and Ms. Fleck’s over there is a set of fangs. Surgically installed as a passageway. A passageway for blood to flow through. The points of these teeth are sharp enough to pierce human tissue.” Drake pulled up the lip of Grimshaw who briefly wiggled within a vice of male strength.
The women crowded around, peering into Grimshaw’s mouth. Megan kept contact, but longed to be on the other side of the room.
“When a Vampire needs to feed, close proximity to a human, usually of the opposite sex, causes the fangs to extend. Grimshaw looks like he may be getting close to that need. I’m sure that all of these desirable human women crowded around is a dream come true for Grimshaw. All of those graceful, elegant necks, pulsing with blood.”
The eyes of Grimshaw darted from woman to woman but stalled when they landed on Megan.
Drake took his cue. “You’ve wanted Megan for years…haven’t you Grimshaw? Just think of it. I offered you the chance to feed from her and you turned it down. But I’m a fair man. I will give you one more opportunity to fulfill your desire. Look at that beauty, Grimshaw.”
Grimshaw was confused and scared but his animal desire was still able to wiggle through the anxiety. His gums swelled and his teeth involuntarily lengthened. He clenched his eyes shut.
Megan fought off her revulsion and reached in. This part was unscripted, but Megan felt the need to try to make the demonstration as vivid as possible. She whispered Grimshaw’s name and stroked his lip at the same time.
Grimshaw’s eyes popped open and his fangs virtually appeared before the eyes of the astounded young women. The men out of view knew from the reactions that the coaxing had worked. Megan withdrew her hand quickly and wiped it vigorously on her pants.
Drake looked in admiration at Megan and then spoke. “There you see what I mean. Not a devil dog, but a selfish human who chose immortality. Now, I hope to show you my fangs. I say hope because, I’ve never fed from a male Vampire before, especially one as repugnant as this. Megan, I’m sorry sweetheart, I’m going to need your help again. This time, please stand behind Grimshaw. And please forgive me for this.”
Megan smiled her reassurance, but wasn’t sure of his motive.
Drake relaxed his body and looked deeply into Megan’s eyes. The love he felt manifested itself in his intense desire to be close to her, to feel her body up against him- like it used to be. His eyes stung.
The necessity for Drake to feed had been building for days, leading up to this event. He felt his fangs swell as he concentrated hard on diverting his thoughts away from Grimshaw.
Megan realized Drake’s intention; raising her head and exposing her throat in a willing gesture.
Displaying his exposed fangs, Drake didn’t take his eyes from Megan until he had stabbed through to Grimshaw’s blood flow. He now quickly shifted to his memory of the exquisite feeling of his first Vampire kill stimulated by the blood flowing to his starved body.
The demonstration was as effective as Drake hoped it would be. The friends watching were horrified, yet captivated.
Drake withdrew his blood soaked fangs and spat out the remnants of the vile blood. “Let him go.”
Grimshaw was dead and all looked to Drake. An overwhelming feeling of power came from looking into all of the expectant faces.
“Now you see with your own eyes that we speak the truth, but you also see that your leader in this rebellion, is also your eventual enemy. But I am the logical choice and our best chance for success. I know their system and their setup and I have a plan. And you all must have many questions that I will be more than happy to answer, because you all need to understand exactly what’s going on. You need to be our first wave of information spreaders. We need more people on board. But it is imperative that this is a covert process. I already have a detail of detectives on my tail for a string of Vampire murders. I’m afraid I left a corpse littered trail all the way here. But they believe they are chasing just another Vampire killer. It’s funny how they don’t consider feeding from a human the same thing. They are a misguided race who, a thousand years ago gave into temptation during a vulnerable moment and now have just come to accept their way of life. Their selfishness has created this barbaric existence. We have an opportunity to put an end to it.” Drake looked over to Elsie now and all eyes followed. “What to do with you now, Elsie? You know so much. Could you eventually crack and do the honorable thing and give yourself up for the good of your race? I doubt it very much but, do I really want to risk it?”
“We can’t let her go,” Herb said. “If she blabs, we’re done.”
“What do you think, Megan?” Drake looked over and smiled.
Megan’s returned smile calmed him.
Megan’s face went serious. “I think we should keep her. She knows too much-and like all Vampires, we need to kill her, eventually.”
“You heard the lady, Elsie. Take a seat. You’ll be with us for awhile. Do you have a secure room to lock her in, Herb?”
“This way Ms. Fleck,” Herb said, finding it difficult not to be polite to a woman he had revered his entire life.
“Now, let’s get down to business, my good friends. You need to protect your children, the children you will never get to see unless we take controlled, decisive action. ”
The plan was simple but required more personnel, so recruitment was the first order of business. Once that was achieved, gaining and keeping control of the transfer stations was imperative. The Vampires already at the base would be killed. No prisoners could be taken, no lives could be spared. The battles would be bloody, face to face conflicts.
“We’ll have to arm ourselves with whatever we can get our hands on: axes, scythes, machetes and knives. Our enemy will not be equipped much better. They have never had the need for destructive weapons, but they do have stun guns. Their priority has always been one of controlling their stock, not damaging it. The destruction comes from their own fangs. It will take them months to develop more lethal weapons, but the factories to produce those weapons are down here, and we will have control of the base by then. Our plan needs to be twofold: secretive at first as we gather enough force, and then, action, sudden, swift, decisive, and ruthless action. If we can get through phase one without being discovered, our chances of success are good. It was necessary for the Vampire’s way of eternal life to make the human population swell, so we outnumber them by a huge margin, even if we factor out anyone under the age of 18.” Drake paused and then smiled as if his thoughts had lead him somewhere appealing. “It will be so gratifying to inflict the same pain and suffering on them as they have mercilessly done to us over the past thousand years. Let me lead you to freedom…and then I must be the last to go.”
Chapter 17
Margaret and Christopher Break Silence?
“Nice to have you back, Genn. You don’t seem as distracted as you were a couple of days ago. Have a good feed?” Detective Lang said with a wry smile.
Genn rubbed his hands together vigorously. “Yep. I’m ready to put an end to this. Let’s catch this bastard. So, what’s happening?”
Lang frowned slightly. “Not too much. I just keep telling myself that we are on the right track. Ulah has to be here. Elsie’s continued presence confirms that. But she’s difficult to keep track of, she knows the area too well. Maybe we should concentrate all of our limited manpower on her. What do you think?”
“Then we can’t cover his closest friends,” Genn reminded. “but he seemed to have lots of friends.”
“Yeah…that’s what I mean, there are too many
to cover-and even if he did show up at one of our stakeouts, he wouldn’t be dumb enough to just to show up at the front door in broad daylight. I have a feeling he senses how close we are and is being super cautious. Our resources would be better used on someone we know is 100 percent seeking him out. And Elsie knows everyone here, and has influence on them. They look up to her and feel she is the stepping stone to the next exciting chapter of their lives. She’ll be persistent but cautious. But she’s in a tough, emotional spot, so she could slip up and lead us to Ulah.”
Genn shrugged. “Sounds logical to me. I can set it in place while you’re away.”
“I hate to leave. We’re so close. Plus, we’re losing manpower every time someone on the team has to go up to feed.” Lang looked out the window and caught the eye of a tall blond young man. She watched him walk by and then gave her head a shake. “Well, gotta go, Genn. I think I’ll take the opportunity to stop in and try to talk some sense into Margaret and Christopher. You remember?”
Genn strained his brain. “Elsie’s house staff?”
“Yeh-they have information they haven’t shared yet. Out of fear of Elsie, I think. And maybe partly dedication to Ulah. But surely I can emphasize to them the importance of capturing him before he gets on a roll. They know the danger more than our board of governors does. They must sense the serial killer and Ulah are one and the same. Surely I can make them understand.”
***
Lang went directly to a blood service once away from the farms and factories of the base. This fast feed was on the way to Elsie’s house. Lang was greeted at the door and went directly to the catalog. There was a 5 minute wait, but it usually took her that long to select a victim. She found a handsome dark haired Caucasian man that appealed to her. She found herself impatient as she waited for things to be set up. Finally she was ushered to a comfortable room where her selection lay in front of her on a stainless table. Lang felt her anxiety melt away and her eyes were glued to the lovely young man on the table. It finally occurred to her that he looked similar the striking man from the lobby of the Balmoral Hotel and she chuckled to herself. She had splurged a little, knowing that while on stake-out she could expense it, or at least a portion of it. But regardless; he looked almost too good to kill. Tantalizing herself, Lang stalked around the table seductively. She always felt a feeling of power at this point and she savored the anticipation. Patience was a lot easier to summon when the kill was imminent. She found her thoughts stray to her hopes of convincing Elsie’s house staff to reveal some information. Damn case, she thought to herself…then, satisfied her hunger.
Margaret and Christopher were expecting Detective Lang as she had phoned ahead to set up the meeting. It turned out not to be too much of a meeting. Margaret and Christopher had discussed the situation in length and realized its seriousness. Lang knocked at the door and was greeted by solemn faces and a picture in Margaret’s hand. She held it out and Lang took it. Not a word was spoken before the door closed leaving Detective Lang bewildered but intrigued. The picture had been cropped. Obviously another subject had been cut out of the picture. Lang stared in disbelief at the picture of the young man whose image had haunted her since she had seen him at the Balmoral. “Ulah,” she whispered still standing alone on the doorstep.
***
Once re-united with Genn, Lang re-counted the strange meeting. “Then Margaret just hands me this photo and closes the door slowly and quietly. I don’t say anything because I’m assuming she’s just handed me some valuable information but wants to remain silent. So I look at the picture, and obviously Elsie is cut out of it, but look at the picture.”
“So how do you know it’s Ulah if she didn’t tell you it was?”
“She didn’t have to and she knew that I would understand.”
Genn looked puzzled.
“It’s a woman thing, I guess; anyway, she knew I would understand and I did.”
Genn shook his head.
“And don’t you remember this guy, Genn? When we were in the lobby of the Balmoral-this guy came and sat right beside us and looked at the newspaper.” Lang’s gaze wandered momentarily. “And come to think of it, the front page was plastered with the news of his latest kill. I’m sure he got a kick out of that. Somehow he knew we were looking for him…the faceless killer. But now we have a face. Don’t you remember him?”
“I don’t make a habit of checking out guys in hotel lobbies, Lang. Now, if you ask me about the women in the lobby that day,” Genn paused. “I wouldn’t be able to tell you that either.”
Lang laughed. “Some cop you are.”
“I don’t need to be a good cop when I’m partnered with you. I just sit back and admire,” Genn finished with a condescending flourish.
Lang fought hard not to blush. “Shut-up, asshole.”
“So we have his picture now. So what?” Genn said. “He’ll be in hiding by now.”
“And probably already raising a rebellion. Damn! I wish the board of governors would give us full power to search wherever we wanted. They don’t want to stir up any human discontent because they just can’t get it through their thick heads the seriousness of this. Nobody can.” Lang shook her head. “How’s the surveillance of Elsie going?”
“We haven’t seen her in 36 hours. She lost us and hasn’t shown up since.”
“That’s not good…or maybe it is. Maybe she’s found him.”
“Maybe he killed her,” Genn added.
Lang raised her eyebrows at the prospect. “We should pay a visit to Elsie’s father. He’s been laying low since he got here with Elsie. Maybe we can get him to slip up. We can use the picture to rattle him, maybe.”
Genn liked the idea.
On the car ride over, Lang reflected on the case. The comfortable feel of the farming community appealed to her. To think that these serene surroundings could soon be the starting point of a bloody rebellion. How could Elsie and her father be so selfish and blind to the dangers Ulah presents.
“Mr. Fleck. Surely you can see the importance of catching this serial killer. You know he’s different, and surely you can see what he’s capable of. You know as well as I do that it’s Ulah.” Lang flashed the picture. “This man has killed dozens of innocent women. Just imagine if it was your own daughter. And it could be. When did you last hear from Elsie?”
Fleck recognized the picture. It had been proudly displayed in Elsie’s home the last time he had seen it. “About a day and a half ago.”
Lang and Genn both recognized the nervous, worried and disjointed gestures of Elsie’s father. He sat down and took a deep breath.
“Look, of course I’m worried about my daughter and I hope she’s alright. And you detectives have really done your homework. But I can’t tell you anything right now. Now, things could change, and rest assured, we have a plan to stop all of the murders.”
Lang and Genn glanced at each other.
“That’s all I can say right now, and all you’ll get out of me. I’m hopeful that our plan works out and everyone’s lives can go back to normal and the security of the Empire maintained.”
“But it’s a big gamble, whatever your plan is. We need as many opportunities to catch Ulah as possible. He’s already here and I’ll bet already convincing humans of the nature of the Empire. We should start hearing about missing female supervisors soon. Your daughter may already be one of them. Come on now Fleck, give us something to go on!” Lang raised her voice which startled Fleck and brought a fleeting smirk across Genn’s otherwise serious expression.
“I can’t tell you anything. You know as much as I do.” Fleck hung his head.
Lang looked over to Genn and realized it was probably true. So why did Fleck’s confirmation of their suspicions mean anything at all. They knew they were on the right track. But somehow it was the reinforcement the Detectives needed to shore up the last glimmer of doubt that the lack of facts had left gaping.
On the way back to their lodging Genn’s frustration was evident. “So Fleck
basically tells us our suspicions are completely founded but still it means absolutely nothing as far as convincing the Governing Board because he’s so cryptic, the board would never accept it, and he knows that. He knows it’s information for us and us alone. And if you think about it-it means absolutely nothing…we already knew all that!”
“Did you?”
“I always knew we were right, but yes, I suppose there was a glimmer of doubt.”
Lang looked out the window. “I suppose I needed that final confirmation, too. Damn! The Empire is in such jeopardy and there is nothing we can do about it.”
“We can fight in the bloody battles that are sure to come if we don’t catch Ulah in time. If it comes to that…do you think we have a chance?” Genn asked.
“They are our food supply, so if the humans can control the base-which is their food supply…basically, we’re done.”
“What do you make of Fleck’s claim of a plan that could change everything?”
Lang looked over. “I think it’s too late for any plan other than catching Ulah and quarantining this area. Actually, considering the damage Ulah may already have caused; Plesston would need to be wiped clean and started fresh with new livestock.”
Chapter 18
What, another Vampire killer?
Drake, Herb and a handful of trusted men and women planned and spread word of the rebellion. The news travelled quickly and covertly; faster than Drake had thought possible. Before long, pockets of resistance were set up all across the expanse of the base and these pockets were busily recruiting new members by the day. Drake felt a little cooped up in the house but was grateful for the comfort, safety and security that it provided to both he and Megan and he wondered what his role would be once the rebellion began. Drake saw Elsie every day and actually admired the way she was handling her confinement. But he also knew that her time to feed was getting to the painfully urgent point.
“Oh, by the way, how’s your need right now?”
“Oh, I’m fine…I can manage.”
Drake knew this wasn’t true. He could tell by her color and her fidgety demeanor and the way she was looking at the young men that came and went from the house.
The Nectar of Eternal Life Page 20
