Empire of Blood [Box Set]

by Robert S. Wilson

  "Wooooo!" Roger’s practically slobbering on himself. He hasn’t seen racks this hot in at least three months now. Not since he went bar hopping with his boys in Cincinnati. Maggie hasn’t shined her headlights his way in well over two years now. The closest peek he gets these days is when he manages to "accidentally" walk in on her when she changes in the bedroom. He could deal with that if she wasn’t such a prude when it comes to fine establishments like the one he was currently patronizing.

  The undead girls and guys of Bite put on one hell of a show, dancing in the most odd combination of interpretive dance storytelling and sexy rock n’ roll gymnastics. Together, they tell the story of an ancient vampire who falls in love with a beautiful mortal girl. Roger finds himself entranced with the theatrical dance moves, especially the pair of vampires who strut up in the air attached to elastic straps.

  The performance comes to a peak when Def Leppard’s Love Bites pumps out from the speakers and two vampires begin to dance in suggestive sexual positions, moaning and crying out above the crowd. As the male vampire builds toward "climax" the entire scene upends. Glass shatters and walls burst, and demonic-looking creatures with yellow cat-like eyes wrapped in dirty black outfits that look like a witch’s wardrobe exploded invade the room. Fake vampire women, naked from the waist up, run screaming, breasts swinging right and left in tandem. The men follow suit as real monsters grab the nearest victims and tear into their throats, some performers, some spectators. Roger sits frozen to his chair like a man in paralysis. It doesn’t take long for him to realize the irony of what’s actually going on here as two real vampires pull each arm of a muscle-clad man dressed like Dracula circa 1986 in a vicious fight to drink the man’s blood. Both creatures are rewarded with a huge splash of the man’s red wine when he literally rips in half at the chest and shoulder and before Roger knows what he’s doing, a girlish high squeal erupts from his vocal chords as he sits there watching the slaughter-fest.

  His scream goes on and on. He cannot stop himself. Even when a nearby creature turns to stare at the source of the terrible screeching. Its eyes lock on him and its cheeks seem to bubble up as its mouth arches into something resembling a crooked smile on Ritalin. The creature lifts up from the ground, floats over to him in a flash and he doesn’t even miss a beat as the thing sinks its fangs into his neck, tearing out most of the flesh of his throat. His vibrating vocal chords fill with blood and he begins to choke. But only for a moment as the liquid blocking his trachea is quickly sucked away and the room fades into a contrasting neon darkness and disappears altogether.

  After Midnight, Easter Morning

  South Las Vegas Boulevard

  Las Vegas, Nevada

  Jayden watches from Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville as huge colorful fluorescent signs go dark, one after another, eventually leaving the southern end of the city in pitch black desolation beneath an uncanny clear and starry sky.

  "Ho. Lee. Shit…" He’d been creeping his way south on the boulevard since last night and still no sign of Tommy. He was damn surprised when he woke up with his kidneys still inside his body after Mr. Caddyshack himself sent him into the land of Flying Dreams.

  The place is quiet. Jayden would think it was too quiet if he hadn’t seen hundreds—maybe even thousands—of vampires float up above the neon glow and soar off several miles north. He isn’t even sure his brother-in-law went in this direction, but he sure as hell isn’t about to head the other way. And back alleys? Screw that. If there were any vampires left waiting for a good midnight snack to happen upon them, Jayden figures they’re waiting in those dark throughways between the buildings that made up the now shedding ghost of Vegas.

  He had tried some of the car doors along the way and all of them had been locked. After about fifteen or so, he gave up trying. Up ahead, a dark structure to his right towers over the vague marquees and leaning palm trees, blotting out the stars in a huge curved section of the sky. Some tall building no less, but whatever it is, he isn’t sure he likes the idea of being even more in the dark in this place. Julie’s face creeps into his mind, stretching thin with worry, her lips trembling with anger when she finds out he had somehow managed to lose her husband in the midst of what he has aptly dubbed in his head The Sin City Vampire Mini Apocalypse. He struggles to find the words he would use to tell his little sister. And yet, the thought hasn’t slipped his mind that what is happening here could very well be happening everywhere.

  A truly vampire apocalypse.

  Lost in thought, he isn’t prepared for the explosion up the street that quickly fills the entire area with thick black smoke contrasted by the bright orange fire erupting into the heavens behind it. He runs for cover in front of a White BMW and pulls the front of his shirt up over his mouth to filter his breathing. A familiar voice bellows out a victorious howl. Fucking seriously? Not again! Kenny-Pseudo-Loggins comes running down the street, a huge automatic rifle hanging from a strap at his side, hollering whoops of joy into the night.

  "Mother-fuckin’ YEAH." He dashes past Jayden, who’s still low to the ground, hugging his knees between two silver bumpers. The crazy bastard doesn’t seem to notice Jayden as a black puffy cloud follows behind him. The next second Kenny turns around and opens fire into the smoke, bullets blazing all around Jayden and ricocheting off of nearby cars and parking meters. Holy fucking shit. Jayden catches himself in the throes of hyperventilation when several shapes blast out of the black smoke from about thirty feet above the ground. He takes several deep breaths trying to calm himself, watching as the dark misty shapes dive-bomb into Kenny sending him and themselves tumbling in a rolling heap down the road.

  A moment later a solitary scream echoes off the buildings across the street. The tearing and sucking noises turn something the wrong way in Jayden’s stomach as Kenny becomes the main course in a vampire meal du jour. The black forms barely come up for air until finally the twitching comes to an end and the night calls them away—thankfully.

  And as the smoke clears, he gets to his feet and stares at the carnage left sticking to the pavement where fake Kenny Loggins just got schooled about Forever.

  Jayden sighs and turns to face the drifting wisps of smoke blowing away from whatever had been there before Kenny blew it up. From the many pieces of playing cards falling from the sky like feathers, Jayden guesses it was a casino. The partial head of a queen of hearts falls by his foot, its edges blackened to cinder. Jayden wonders if he's going the right way. If there is a right way. What if Tommy's dead? He tries not to let that question get too comfortable in his head. But the nagging doubt is already starting. Like the first domino toppling it, only replicates itself exponentially.

  And now Jayden finds himself faced with a decision. Keep heading south where he's found nothing so far, or turn around completely and head into the mouth of the hungry beast... If Tommy was north, he was surely dead, right? Right? But there is no easy answer. For all Jayden knows, Tommy could be living it up inside some four-foot thick vault with a couple of show girls, living the life. Jayden laughed. He didn't have to think hard to picture the bitchfest Julie would throw if she'd even known Jayden had pictured such a thing, let alone if it were really happening.

  Somehow it's already settled. North. All because something in his gut tells him if Tommy's still alive and unhurt he's probably some place really stupid. Jayden walks as slow as he can manage toward the nauseating mess that's left of Kenny Loggins: Commando Extraordinaire. He bends down and reaches for the automatic weapon lying in a puddle of blood and pus next to one of Kenny's severed forearms.

  Bile rises in his throat as he picks up the gun, its bottom side covered in a layer of icky Kenny goo. Pulling around a handful of the side of his shirt, Jayden wipes the blood and other fluids and chunks off the black steel of the small rifle as best he can. He has absolutely no experience or knowledge other than what he's seen in movies and on television of how in God or Satan's name to work the damn thing. Pull the trigger is about all he knows... and he can't help
but feel a twinge of doubt that that'll be all he needs.

  Jayden pulls the blood-soaked strap around his head and shoulder. It's heavier than he expected it to be. He holds the weapon in his hands. A sense of equal security and insecurity grips him. Maybe I can get in a car with one of these. Walking up to a nearby gray sedan, he slams the butt of the rifle into the glass and it makes a cracking dent the size and shape of the end of the gun. Bringing back the weapon he slams it into the glass again. Crack! The glass shatters and a deafening alarm blares out across the city and Jayden drops the gun to hang at his side, holds his ears, and screams.

  A terrifying and even higher-pitched screech cries out from somewhere in the sky and before Jayden can think, he's running up the street, the alarm and that horrible cry still screaming out behind him. When both are far enough behind him to dissolve into the other background noises, Jayden finally stops and lets out a relieved sigh.

  It takes a while but Jayden's heart rate eventually calms. He starts walking up the road with a sense of uneasiness born from all the bloodshed and surreal input his brain has somehow managed to process in the past twenty-four hours.

  Mid Morning

  Easter Sunday

  South Las Vegas Boulevard

  Las Vegas, Nevada

  Jayden wakes to the sound of voices, his legs stretched out beneath a heavy yellow plastic tarp in a back alley, sitting upright against a brick wall beside a grimy blue dumpster. He remembers walking for hours and finding absolutely nothing worth remembering. He scoots forward to try and put faces to the voices whispering somewhere beyond the big blue hunk of metal to his right.

  A girl, in her mid twenties maybe, average height, sandy blond hair pulled up in a pony tail, zip-up sports jacket, and pink glittery lips, flits her pretty green eyes over at Jayden and the sickly thin goth kid in front of her turns to look. Probably the same age as the girl, he stands much taller, tight girly jeans stretching along his long legs, black eye shadow and lipstick and hair that hangs fine and soft from one side like a knapsack weighing his head down.

  The girl fake coughs and in a soft nervous voice she says, "Sorry we woke you up, mister, we don't want any trouble. We'll just—"

  "You don't have to leave," Jayden says, getting up to his feet faster than his brain can handle. He stands there dizzy for a moment just beginning to notice the look of absolute terror in both of these kids' eyes. Then he remembers the gun. He looks down and sees it still has dried blood and bits from Kenny on it. "Oh, I didn't do this. I took this from a guy that... well, he..."

  They both stare at him completely the opposite of comforted as he tries to find the right words.

  "...he was some kind of crazy bastard actually—thought he could kill those goddamn things. They took him down like it was nothing though." Jayden cannot believe he was actually beginning to tear up for that crazy fuck. The prick had knocked him out cold that first night. Why would he even think about crying for him now?

  The kids aren’t looking quite as terror-stricken anymore, but they aren't exactly inviting him to tea with the looks on their faces either.

  "Sorry, it was pretty terrible to watch... And my brother-in-law..." Now he'd gone and done it. Sobs take over his body then, shaking him uncontrollably for a moment. He turns away, seeing the boy and girl glance at each other out of the corner of his eye. He takes a deep breath and exhales. Not even a second goes by from the moment the air leaves his lips when a sharp pain explodes from the back of his right shoulder. He falls to the pavement, clutching at the place where it hurts so badly.

  "Quick, Ashen, take his fucking gun!"

  A swift hard shoe kicks into his gut and Jayden crumbles inward, someone pulling at the gun strap around his neck. "Goddamnit, give me it!" Jayden pulls away just as the strap unlatches somehow and his body launches forward sending his face into the rocky surface of the sidewalk. The tender tears that stung his eyes moments ago are gone and replaced with eyes of fury as he rolls over to get back on his feet. When he's facing them again, the kids stand there looking doubly as nervous, the boy's hand shakily holding the rifle pointed at Jayden.

  "Listen, uh, I know how to use this and I-I won't..."

  The girl fumes out a sigh. "He won't hesitate to blow your fucking brains all over this sidewalk, so you'd better fucking do what we say." Her eyes are fire and even though he'd like to tear them out of her skull right now, Jayden finds the blazing shade of green irises, the quivering of her soft, sharp-angled chin, and her sparkly pouty lips completely and irresistibly attractive. But it’s a thought that quickly dissipates when he remembers why he needs that gun.

  "Look guys, I'm just looking for my broth—"

  "Shut the fuck up, man." Green eyes again.

  Jayden smiles. "As you wish, princess."

  Her face flushes red and she glares at him for a moment at a loss for words. "Just... shut up. Shut your face, okay?" Her voice tough as nails as if she's the one holding the gun, not squirmy McGee over here about to drop the thing at any moment and cower behind the dumpster. "Now, turn around."

  "Woah, woah, wait a minute, fuck if I'm gonna turn around with Goth-fucking-Vader here pointing heavy firepower at my back."

  "We're going to start walking and you're going to lead the way. Turn around or I'll have him shoot you for real."

  Jayden isn't big on the idea but she’s right. Shaky hand or not, that gun likely doesn't need a sharp shooter behind it to do some serious damage to anyone in front of it. He turns around and waits for further instructions.

  "Thank you... All right, let's get going. Start walking."

  Jayden stands still. "Tell you what... you tell me your name—I already caught Ash-head's here—and say pretty please, and I'll consider your offer." Jayden lights up with the smile of a surefire smart ass. Both kids are silent for a long moment.

  "Fine... Jasmine, okay. Now will you please start walking?" There is a hint of something less vicious in her voice this time. Like maybe... deep down inside, she is, just a little bit, starting to like Jayden. "What's your name anyway, asshole?"

  "Jayden... Summers. Nice to make your acquaintance, Princess Jasmine."

  Ashen giggles behind Jayden and the ruffle of plastic sportswear tells him Jasmine is making some kind of swift movement. "Ow!" Ashen says.

  "That wasn't fucking funny, assholes."

  Jayden smiles again, trying to keep face-forward so she won't notice.

  "And for Christ sakes, will you stop smiling?"

  They walk on for a while, crossing the original place where Jayden started; Ground Zero as he's taken to calling it in his head. Bodies litter the streets and sidewalks in piles much higher than Jayden remembers. As much as he doesn't want to, he studies each face just in case Tommy's bright blue eyes and natural red, neatly parted hair pops out at him. The sun is climbing higher in the sky now and hunger grips Jayden tightly by the gut.

  "Can we find some food somewhere, guys? I haven't eaten in two days now, I think." Jayden has been too afraid to eat anything he's come across so far as most of it has been half or uncooked food or leftovers sitting and rotting, the worst ones crushing under the weight of the stiff dead diners who had been about to eat them before they kicked the bucket.

  "Yeah, I could stand to eat something too," Ashen says. Jayden turns around and watches them as they stand amongst the bodies spread out all around.

  Jasmine looks shaken pretty bad. "Okay, yeah. There's a convenience store up the street. I'm sure we can find something packaged there that should be safe to eat."

  When they get to the Pump N’ Snack, inside the place is mostly ransacked but a few aisles of snacks aren't quite entirely empty. They find a jumbo-sized bag of gummy worms, some plain potato chips, and a dozen or so serving-sized bags of pork rinds.

  Stepping out of the store, walking out in between the gas pumps, tearing into the bag of gummy worms, Jasmine truly smiles for the first time since Jayden has met her. "Mmm. This is so good. Ashen, we may just have to leave this ass
hole behind when we get to the car and fill up the extra seat with some snacks." She laughs. Jayden is just about to ask her about the car when he turns to look at Ashen.

  Ashen stares facing the street like he's just seen a ghost. Jayden and Jasmine simultaneously turn to follow his gaze and immediately freeze in place. An older looking gentleman—dark skin and messy gray-white hair—stands just at the sidewalk beyond the gas pumps, wearing only his whitey tighties clutching a revolver pointed directly at the trio. "You fucking looters. I'll kill you fucking thieves." A shot goes off and the old man launches backwards onto his ass. Random moments of Jayden's life flash before his eyes only for him to realize he doesn't have a scratch on him. He circles around to see where the bullet marked its territory.

  Jasmine just stands there staring down and Jayden cannot understand what he's seeing. It's like the glass door behind them is bleeding. A single hole is pierced in the glass and splashed with blood. Jayden looks down and everything clicks into place.

  Ashen's skin takes after his name. He's lying still, the top part of his face where his left eye used to be is blown away, some pieces still hanging, some pieces completely gone. Poor kid didn't even get any last words. He just lies there, dead. Jasmine melts into a series of sobs on her knees, hands draped over Ashen's chest then clenching into fists and beating on his defenseless body.

  Jayden sees his chance and moves quickly, picking up the gun and to the utter surprise etched on Jasmine's face, he turns and points the gun toward the old man on the sidewalk. And that's when Jasmine seems to wake up and remember what just happened. "YOU..." She runs before Jayden can stop her. The old man scrambles for the revolver lying on the sidewalk beside him. Jayden doesn't think he just acts. In an eruption of automatic gunfire everybody stops what their doing and holds still: the old man in mid reach for the pistol, Jasmine about to run up and kick him, and Jayden holding the assault rifle pointed at the sky.