As the first man’s lifeless body fell to the ground, the second guard started to stir out of his shock. I sunk my fangs into him a moment later. These two were just what I needed to get back into fighting shape. The human part of me hated killing these men, just to make my life a little bit easier. The vampire side saw it simply as something that had to be done to ensure my best chance at survival. These men hadn’t done anything to me, but I had to be prepared for whatever waited for me inside. If I didn’t get the job done, I was dead anyway, so I couldn’t let my previous life’s sentimentality keep me from achieving my goal.
It was tricky to balance walking the line between having enough energy and killing needlessly. I didn’t have to kill these guards. It just made things easier for me. Not only that but it was possible for me to feed and leave the victims alive. It just happened to be a personal policy of mine to never leave a hostile alive behind me, especially when they had a weapon. Not to mention that they could raise the alarm. I could deal with twenty or thirty men, but the place had thousands of guards.
Real life wasn’t like on my vids. When I bit somebody, they didn’t turn into a vampire. At least I didn’t think they would, the scientists told me that my bite wouldn’t ever be able to create others. It was possible that maybe I could make one using my blood if I had enough time and the inclination to do so, at least Dr. Marcom had thought it was possible. Maybe that is why he was so afraid to set me free. Frankly, I’ve never been inclined to try. The last thing I needed in my life was a bunch of needy underlings.
So why kill the guards, my humanity shrieked as I dragged their corpses just inside the door. Besides the aforementioned never leave an armed man at your back policy, I really didn’t have a reason for what I did. Part of me felt guilty for it, and the other part shouted back that it was just my nature. That now despite my feelings I was a killer, and nothing would ever be able to change that.
I also had to make sure that my kills didn’t reveal my true nature. I pulled out one of my blades and sliced it across each of the men’s throats. It wouldn’t hold up to heavy examination, but it was better to present a plausible reason for their deaths. No reason to risk people reporting a palace full of people with their throats ripped out by human teeth.
With the bodies disposed of, I moved further into the palace. Despite its rustic exterior, the inside was modern and lavishly decorated. The emperor must be a wealthy man indeed to cover his floors and walls in such finery. Again it made me wonder just who wanted his wife dead. This was the kind of thing that could start a war, that could topple dynasties. It made me sick to think about it, and yet part of me was thrilled to be the agent of change. I didn’t know what the outcome would be and I didn’t want to care. My job was to kill her and disappear.
The map on my optics showed me the way to the empress’s chambers. I moved slowly letting my senses expand into the environment around me. I couldn’t hear a sound, but in these winding halls that didn’t mean much. The rugs lining the center of the hallways made quick work erasing the sounds my footfalls made. A voice deep inside of my head started screaming it was a trap, that there was no way sneaking into the empress’s chambers could be this easy. If I wanted to stay alive, I had to listen to that voice, but sometimes I wanted to rebel. Already I could think of ten reasons why the hallways would be empty.
What would have me really worried was if the doors to the empress’s chambers weren’t being guarded. Unless there was someone on the inside trying to make things easy for me, that would be the first real sign of trouble. My ears perked up as I rounded the corner, the sound of a boot scraping against stone let me know I wasn’t alone. That still didn’t mean there wasn’t a trap waiting for me inside. It just meant I had to fight my way past the guards to get to the trap.
Peaking around the corner revealed four guards. Two were stationed to either side of the empress’s door, and the other two were on the opposite side of the hallway facing them. All four of them were standing at attention their rifles resting easily against their shoulders and pointed towards the ceiling. I’d have to be fast to take out all four of them before they could get a shot off. I was hopped up on blood and more than ready for the challenge.
The world almost seemed to slow down as I ran around the corner. My first strike slashed through a guard’s throat. The blood started to splash out, but by then I had already dropped the second guard. The third guard had just started to move when my sword pierced his heart. The fourth guard managed to get his rifle off of his shoulder, and the tip started to dip in my direction. Before he could finish the move, my sword slashed out taking off his arm at the elbow, the next swing took off his head.
Everything slammed back into real time, and four bodies hit the floor. The hallway was a mess, and there was no way that looked much better than the blood-spattered walls. There was nothing I could do to cover up the blood. If anyone walked down the hall, they would alert the rest of the guards immediately. So instead of wasting time cleaning up, I opened the door and slipped into the empress’s chambers.
There was one guard inside, but I stopped his shout with a thought. He walked towards me almost stumbling as he came. He had a natural resistance to my control. Not enough to break it, but enough to weaken the bond. I topped myself off with a few sips from his neck, before slitting his throat with one of my blades. The body count was getting a little high, even for me. I tended to pride myself on getting in and out with the least amount of casualties possible. In that regard, this mission almost seemed doomed before it started.
The sounds coming from the chamber in front of me weren’t of a woman sleeping. It seemed the empress liked to play while her husband was away on business. It explained why most of the guards had been stationed outside of the palace. It also explained why he might have wanted her dead.
Her moans echoed off the arched ceiling as I entered her bedchamber. The empress’s back was turned towards me as she thrust her hips against the man below her. It had been fifty years since I had indulged in the pleasures of the flesh. Unfortunately, that wasn’t part of our training curriculum. I paused to watch for a moment, letting the passion she was experiencing wash over me. Their movements started to slow, and I crept forwards.
I kept her back in front of me so that her lover wouldn’t see me coming. Just as I reached the bed, she bent forward nuzzling against his neck. It only took a second for his eyes to settle on me. They were still widening in shock as my sword slipped past the empress and through his throat. She leaned back in shock as the blood bubbled out of the wound. Before she could scream, I brought my blade around in a wide arc severing her head.
Picking up the decapitated head, I turned it so I could look at her face. My optics confirmed it was her with a ninety-eight point seven percent certainty. I dipped a finger in her blood and placed it on a small device on my forearm. The blood match came back as a one hundred percent match. My job was done, time to get the fuck out of dodge.
Chapter 24
Samantha Ripley
Retracing my steps out of the top floor wasn’t hard to do, thank God for my cybernetics. The door to the top of the pyramid was still open, but I could hear the palace coming alive below me. If they had found the dead guards or the empress, it endangered my escape off this rock.
Snarls sounded from the hallway behind me, and I said screw it. This wasn’t going to leave me with the cleanest of get away, but if I played it right, it might just buy me the time I needed to get over the wall surrounding the palace. If I was really lucky, I’d be able to glide out into the city from here. The snarls from behind me were drawing closer, it had to be now or never. So I stopped thinking about it and let my need to stay alive drive me forward.
A button on the interior of my coat fastened it tightly to me and deployed the fabric under my arms. I ran for the doorway as fast as I could. A shadow fell across the doorway a second before I would have burst through it. Diving forward I rolled once, feeling the blade hit the stone behind me. Before th
e beast could swing again, I launched myself off the side of the building.
I wasn’t going as fast as I would have liked when I jumped. The diving roll had slowed me down, but I had enough speed to clear the quickly rising exterior of the palace, at least I hoped I did. The top of the temple like structure blurred past as I continued towards the ground. Damn, it. I wasn’t going to have enough speed to clear the walls unless I deployed the actual parachute.
Five stories above the guard tower, I yanked the cord, and a black chute sprang from my back. I was instantly pulled ten stories higher as it filled with air. My forward momentum kept me moving forward, but my speed and hope of survival had been drastically reduced. By now the beasts would be back on the ground and spreading into the palace garden. They probably already had eyes on me. If I didn’t find a way to land quickly, they would be waiting for me wherever I went.
The men in the towers hadn’t spotted me yet, and the outer wall to the palace was approaching. I heard the first howls of the beasts as they coordinated their attack. The howls were really more for effect, at least they were if these beasts had similar traits to the beasts I was accustomed to. They’d actually be communicating via a secure network in their cybernetics, but since fear tended to make prey sloppy, I figured that was what they were counting on. What was the point of being a state of the art monster if you didn’t get to have a little fun?
I heard something whistle past me and then I was dragging hard to the left. Pulling at the controls straightened me out, but my control over the chute was tenuous at best. I didn’t need to look up to know that my chute had been punctured. One of the beasts had some pretty good aim if he had hit me from the palace. A few more shots sailed harmless past me as the ground rushed up, but the damage was already done.
Fifteen stories from the ground, I cut the cord setting myself free. Vampire energy could be used for a lot of things. Something I had been trying to keep from the scientists at all costs. The less they knew about the mutations in my abilities as I aged, the safer I would be. As long as they thought they controlled me, there was a chance for me to live.
In this case, I used my energy to lighten myself and slow my descent. I’d have to feed quickly after this or else I’d be vulnerable. My go to option was to try and find myself a low life piece of shit that the world wouldn’t miss, but I just didn’t know if I would have that kind of time with the beasts already on my tail. The howls were already drawing closer the beasts were closing in.
I hit the ground inside of the palace walls and started throwing out tiny bottles of ladies perfume. Sure they would know where I crossed the wall, but they probably wouldn’t be able to tell the direction that I went afterward. That was the thing with these dogs, you had to give them something else to chase and then they got distracted.
The palace wall loomed in front of me. I jumped as high as I could and then used the last of my reserves to cling to the wall until I reached the top. I leaped off and started running. I tossed the second to last bottle of perfume behind me and then sailed the next one a block down to my left. As soon as I heard the bottle break, I ducked into an alley on the right and sprinted for the next street. I only had to make it six miles back to the space station, and I was good to go.
The three blocks I sprinted west went by in a blur. I managed to lift a few bottles of water and a new top to wear without anyone noticing. My jacket was covered in blood, and as much as I wanted to keep it, the damn thing had to go. Pouring the water over my head, I scrubbed at my face, before stripping off my jacket. I used my shirt to clean most of the blood off before tossing that aside as well.
Kneeling, I used some water from the alley floor to clean what I could off my pants before slipping into my new shirt. The damn thing was bright blue and revealed a little bit more than I would have liked. Once I strapped my swords back on, it left almost nothing to the imagination. That was the best I could do on short notice.
Turning back to the south I popped out of the alley moving only at a brisk walk. My goal was to blend in, covering my scent with as many others as I could. I slowed my walk down even further and moved in and out of the crowds of people. Now all I had to do was find someone that I could feed on. Once I was back at full strength, it wouldn’t matter if a pack of beasts showed up. They couldn’t keep up with me in a flat out chase, not if my power was topped off.
It didn’t take too long for the first catcall to hit my ears. “Yo baby, you looking fine.”
Stopping I turned to take in the visage of the man that called out. Baggy clothes, a gun tucked behind his back, the scent of some kind of chemical leaking from his skin. He was obviously a criminal of some sort, just the kind of person the world might not miss. He looked a little hesitant now that my gaze was locked onto him. It was time to turn on my camouflage.
I flipped my hair and looked back at him with a wink and a sparkly little smile. “You really think so?” My tone must have hit just the right amount of needy because he walked down the small set of stairs towards me.
“Yeah baby, you’re all kinds of sweetness. I could just eat you up.”
I let out a little giggle. Sometimes I was surprised how easy this was. Another part of me wondered how many women did he have to pull this shit with just to get one bite. I tried to look down and to the side before meeting his eyes for only a second. “That’s sweet of you to say.”
“I haven’t seen you around here before.”
“I just flew in from off world. My family recently passed away, and they left me some money. So I decided to see the galaxy.” Yep, I went for the full set up. There was no way this piece of shit could avoid it. I just let him know no one would be looking for me, and that I had enough money to travel.
“And you flew all the way out here, alone?” He waved his hands around indicating the planet and then waited for my reaction.
“Yep, I’ve got plans to meet a girlfriend next month, but until then I’m flying solo.”
“You should let me show you around.” His smile leaned just enough to the predatory side that I knew I hadn’t made a mistake.
“Sounds good.”
“Why don’t you come up to my place and we can come up with a plan on how to best tackle the sights.” He started to move back towards the building. When I hesitated, he turned and hit me with what he thought must be a reassuring smile. “Come on baby, I’m not going to bite.”
No, but I would.
“Sure, why not.” I accepted his outstretched hand and started to follow him up into his building. He shared a look with the other men on the stairs, and they all started to smile. It was too bad I didn’t have time to take out more than one of these guys. I wondered what his next move would be. Would he try and slip me something, or was he bold enough to just try and overpower me? It would be interesting to find out.
He made small talk as we climbed the stairs into his building. I tried to smile and nod in the right places. It wasn’t easy for me to play such a willing victim, but survival wasn’t always accomplished with brute force. Nights like tonight I wondered why I clung so desperately to my humanity. When people like this existed, it made it hard for me to understand why I thought it was so special to be human.
I tried to think back to when I was free. To remember the friends and family that I had. Brief flickers of emotion moved through me, but that was all they were, flickers. Back then I had dreams and aspirations. The world was my oyster, and I was going to make it big. Was it really a simple act of kindness that had brought me to this point? No, I had gone over it in my head more times then you could count. There were so many things I did wrong, but stopping in that alley to help someone wasn’t one of them.
The man in front of me tugged my hand, snapping me out of my thoughts. We had reached the hallway leading back to his apartment, and he was feeling eager to get me inside. I let him lead me along, still playing the role. He kept nodding and smiling, but I could see the desire and a little bit of cruelty in his eyes. He flashed me what was su
pposed to be a reassuring smile, but it was full of the knowledge that I couldn’t get away from him now. It made me sick, thinking of how many women he might have abused. He still didn’t seem worried about my swords, but that might be because of the illegal gun was carrying.
He stopped briefly outside of the door and then opened it with a flourish. The room was heavily scented with some kind of smoke. The carpets had been covered with thick red rugs, and all of the lights had been dimmed. Strands of lights hung from the black ceiling almost making them look like stars. He motioned for me to take a seat on the couch. I gave him another flirty smile and moved to sit down.
He went into the small kitchenette and poured us two drinks. A human probably would have missed it, but my optics picked up the move as he slipped a white powder into my beverage. He walked back from the kitchen with confidence and handed me the drink. I pretended to take a sip and set the glass down. Basically, I wanted to make sure the rest of the apartment was empty before I made my move.
“So, what are we going to go see first?” I asked picking up my glass.
“My bedroom,” he said with a wink and a laugh.
“Oh, I don’t think you’ve earned that yet,” I said with a giggle.
“You some kind of tease, or something?”
“Why, because I didn’t just fall into your bed? I thought you wanted to show me around,” I said, standing up. I made myself wobble a bit as I pushed past him and headed towards the door.
“Bitch, you aren’t going anywhere.”
His hand landed on my shoulder, and he spun me around. I let the blow to my stomach land and fell to my knees like he expected. His hand was in my hair now, and he jerked my head back so I had to look at him. I let a few tears slide down my face. It was almost time to flip the tables.
Forced Compliance (The Galactic Outlaws Book 1) Page 20
