by J. C. Diem
Returning to the boat, I was hidden from the sun in the cockpit and re-formed my flesh. As docile as sheep, my minions made no sounds of protest as the docks disappeared and they were suddenly surrounded by open water.
Apart from a faint gnawing hunger, I hadn’t been affected by shifting the large weight of a fully loaded boat. Just as I’d hoped, it seemed that my teleportation was growing stronger with practice.
Deep in the water beneath us, the hungry octosquid was slumbering. Unlike it’s comrade who’d fed on the coastal town in Brazil, this one had yet to go in search of human treats. Sensing that some had come within its grasp, it stirred and woke. Sending out its radar, it identified the humans as food and sped towards the surface.
Timing would be crucial to pull this off, so I waited for the last possible moment before zapping the boat out of the alien’s reach. From a safe distance, I watched the octosquid explode out of the water with its mouth wide open so that it could swallow us whole. Its body followed, rising up and up out of the water and throwing us into its shadow. Closing its mouth, it swallowed and even from several hundred yards away, I heard the rushing sound of tons of water disappearing into its gullet.
Tentacles fanned out to break its fall as it descended back into the water, sending a ripple of waves towards us. Settling back down until just the top of it was showing, it became aware of us at the same time as it realized it had just swallowed nothing but sea water.
Covered in endlessly gnashing mouths, dozens of gigantic black tentacles boiled towards us. I skipped the boat out of reach as the leviathan lumbered after us. I’d only ever seen one of the creatures move quickly in a dream and I was astounded by its speed when it raced through the water towards us. Concentrating fiercely, I skipped us backwards, keeping most of my attention on the pursuing alien. It was hungry, confused and enraged that we were able to stay beyond its reach. Surrounded by humans, it didn’t detect me on its radar and I hoped it didn’t realize that I was leading it into a trap.
Far to the northwest, the second octosquid sensed a rival closing in on its territory as we rapidly shifted closer. Still sated from its large meal of Brazilian civilians, it wasn’t particularly hungry but its territorial instincts were roused as it realized its comrade wasn’t going to stop at the invisible border of its realm. It sent out a telepathic warning to the approaching alien but it was ignored as the rival octosquid doggedly chased its prey.
Just as Gregor had predicted, it took all of my skills and even greater finesse to remain just ahead of the Goliath that pursued us. I split my concentration between the two hulking beasts as we moved across the invisible boundary line between their territories. The instant the rival jellyfish crossed the line, a confrontation became unavoidable.
Defending its watery domain, the octosquid at our back roared a challenge and charged. We were caught between the two beasts, but I wasn’t about to teleport to safety until I knew that my trap had worked. The extra-terrestrials raced towards us as I skimmed the boat rapidly along the surface of the water. Each of the beasts had a different intent. One wanted to feed on us and the other wanted to destroy its rival.
I sensed the change as the hungry alien finally realized that it had encroached on another’s territory. Caught in a figurative land that didn’t belong to it, it was now obligated to defend itself. It instantly forgot about us and turned its attention to its former ally.
My bait would no longer be necessary, so I teleported the boat back to the docs. I could have kept track of the monumental battle remotely, but I felt compelled to watch the two leviathans duke it out with my own eyes. Leaving my clothing and the humans behind, I became floating particles and returned to witness the encounter.
Reaching the pair, I formed eyes just in time to see them clash. Tentacles shot out, landing blows that tore hunks of tough flesh away as their numerous mouths bit and chewed anything they came into contact with. Roaring in rage, their mouths gaped wide open and several rows of scissor sharp teeth descended.
Grabbing hold of the interloper, the defending octosquid lurched forward to bite deeply into the body of its rival. The second alien inserted a dozen tentacles into the gnashing mouth, stopping it from taking out a chunk of flesh. Purple blood gushed as the tentacles were severed but more appendages lashed out, boring through the thick black hide.
Grappling, biting and causing mini-tsunamis to form with each lurch, they fought for supremacy. Turning a portion of my attention away from the battle, I sent out my consciousness and found the other six aliens awaiting the outcome of the clash with interest. Earth was a small planet and the fewer rivals they had, the more food there would be for the rest. They might have been allies on Viltar, but now that they were fully grown, there wasn’t enough life to sustain them all. Since this was a battle to the death over territorial rights, there would be no retribution towards the humans. None of them knew that this encounter had been engineered. At least I hoped they didn’t know. I didn’t sense any suspicion amongst them.
Twisting out of the rival’s grasp, the defending monster reared up out of the ocean. Like something out of a nightmare, it rose high into the sky before crashing back down on top of its enemy.
Shrieking in pain, the interloper’s tentacles went limp as it came close to losing consciousness. The defending octosquid latched onto the semi-conscious body of its adversary and shoved half a dozen tentacles into a deep wound in its hide. Rooting around inside, it ignored the weak struggles of its enemy and held on tightly as it strove to reach the brain.
Knowing that it was about to die, the rival went into a frenzy of lashing tentacles as it felt the membrane that protected its thought centre break apart. Its bellows rose in pitch then suddenly ceased as the arms of its enemy lashed around, destroying its brain utterly.
Casting aside the body of its foe, the winner lifted its gory tentacles into the air and let out a roar of triumph. It had just secured more territory, which gave it a greater chance of survival. The remaining six rivals mentally saluted the victor, while secretly coveting more water of their own.
My bamboozled human minions were waiting for me when I returned to the dock. Pouring my particles into my clothes, I then transported them back to the now all but deserted stadium. Several police officers shouted and ran towards the crowd as I released them from my mental bondage. They wouldn’t be able to tell the authorities what had happened to them while they’d been gone. Only I, my friends and allies would know that they’d been used as a lure for a ravenous alien.
·~·
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Luc was sitting on the edge of the couch when I reappeared in the catacombs that had become our temporary home. Sending me a relieved smile, he patted the empty seat beside him in invitation.
Geordie plopped down beside me as I settled next to Luc. “You were gone for hours,” the teen complained. “Did your plan work?”
Gregor took a seat opposite from me and waited expectantly. Kokoro and Ishida sat on either side of him and Igor and Danton shared another couch. Danton’s warriors stood guard behind him. They weren’t expecting treachery from us, it was just habit for them to stand guard duty.
“It worked perfectly,” I said, much to their relief. They were silent as I gave them a brief rundown of the operation.
“The remaining seven octosquids have no idea that you orchestrated the battle?” Gregor asked me shrewdly.
“Nope,” I said with more than a hint of smugness. “Each of them is hiding it from the others, but they’re planning on being the only one of their species left on our planet.”
Gregor wasn’t at all surprised by that revelation. “The Earth cannot sustain even one of their kind forever, let alone seven of them.”
Lounging beside him, Ishida cocked his head to the side in query. “Do you think we will be able to use this ploy again?”
Nodding, the crafty old vampire smiled. “I do not see why it wouldn’t work a second or even a third time, as long as we are careful.”
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Without needing to be urged to, Igor performed another search on the internet and pulled up the world map again. Eight red dots still appeared, but we knew one of them could now be discounted. None of the other aliens were in danger of trespassing on each other’s domains, but I’d just proven that it was possible to force two of them together. I just needed the appropriate bait to dangle in front of them.
“Which aliens should Natalie target next?” Kokoro asked her beloved.
Studying the screen that Igor had angled towards him, Gregor narrowed his eyes as he went deep into thought. “I believe we should turn our attention to these two.” He pointed out the octosquid that had devastated the coastal town in Russia and the one that had attacked LA. “They have both tasted human flesh now and seemed to have found it to their liking. They are much more likely to continue to search for their food on land.”
I was doubtful of his plan for one reason. “I’m not sure one small boatload of people will be enough of a lure to get them to follow me. Not if they know there are millions of meals on nearby land.”
As always, he was one step ahead of me. “How many humans do you think you’re capable of transporting?”
I’d picked up three hundred easily enough and I had a feeling I could have snatched up many more. “Several hundred, I guess. I doubt I’d be able to teleport that many if I have to transport them on a boat.” The larger the group was, the bigger the boat would have to be. Moving inanimate objects seemed to be more difficult than teleporting living or undead beings.
“What if you didn’t bother with a boat?” Ishida asked.
He was turning out to be almost as crafty as Gregor. A brief trip into their minds showed an almost identical plan. “Just to be clear,” I said, “you want me to kidnap hundreds of humans, dump them in the ocean without a boat and use them to lure one of the octosquids into their rival’s territory?”
Exchanging glances, the vamps nodded. “Precisely,” Gregor confirmed.
Showing his sentimental side, Geordie made a protest. “Won’t the meat sacks, I mean humans, panic and drown?” He frowned at me when I sniggered at his usage of my pet name for the humans.
“They won’t panic,” I reassured them. “They’ll be totally unaware of what is happening to them.” He still wasn’t appeased, so I heaved a mental sigh. “I’m aware that we’re supposed to be saving them, not drowning them. I’ll make sure they have life jackets.”
Still suspicious, Geordie gave me a grudging nod. “Where will you get life jackets from?”
“From a boat, I guess.” I was a bit vague on that point, but we’d figure it out.
“It will be dark soon,” Danton observed. Even when we were deep beneath the surface, we could still sense the sun. “Once your men awaken, perhaps we could all assist you with obtaining enough life jackets for the meat sacks.”
Geordie’s lips quivered at the deadpan expression on the monk’s face. Ishida sniggered, I sniggered then all three of us were laughing. Luc raised his eyes heavenward and I caught a fleeting thought that I was just as much of an adolescent as the teens. Strangely, he seemed to think my childishness was part of my charm.
When my warriors woke, their hungers woke with them. Still fledglings, they had yet to master their desire for blood and sex. At least being sired by me, they had far more control than any other newly made vampire. It helped that each of them had years of training and discipline from being in the military or a member of a police force.
Since it had worked so well last time, I teleported our group back into the women’s prison in China. We subdued the guards and the inmates once again fell beneath the spell of my soldiers as they satisfied their hungers.
This time, I forced myself to remain rather than scurrying away to protect my delicate sensibilities. If my blood had been normal, red would have stained my cheeks from the embarrassment of listening to my men make the female prisoners cry out in pleasure. The bones of Luc’s hand groaned in protest when my grip became too tight. A faint red light glowed from my eyes as I fought down my own need for sex. I was supposed to be a leader and it was about time I acted like one.
Grinning from ear to ear, Higgins exited the cell of his chosen morsel and saluted me. “Corporal Higgins reporting for duty, ma’am.”
“You’ve got blood on your chin, Corporal,” I said dryly.
Charlie elbowed Higgins as the abashed soldier wiped his chin with his sleeve. “That’ll teach you not to be a smartass,” the redhead whispered.
Spying Ishida leaving one of the cells, my mouth almost dropped open in surprise. Luc tightened his grip on my hand when Geordie emerged from another cell. His glance warned me not to make an issue of the teens feeding their hungers. The inner prude in me shrieked in hysterical laughter as the adolescents sent me a shamed glance. Geordie guarded his thoughts so strongly that I caught only a bare whiff of his loneliness. Ishida’s needs were different, he’d just missed having regular sex with multiple humans. He’d had to settle for only one this time, but one had been better than none, apparently.
Keeping my expression carefully neutral, I waited for everyone to gather into a tight circle before transporting us to Commander Owens. We might not need Shadow right now, but we could definitely use some of the other equipment that was stockpiled in the buildings. I figured asking him for the life jackets would be quicker than searching a bunch of boats for them.
The commander was advised of our arrival and rushed to meet us. “I am afraid Shadow has suffered some structural damage,” he told me when he reached us. “It will take us at least another day to fix it.”
I waved away his concern. “We just want to borrow some life jackets. How many do you have on hand?”
Confused, he didn’t bother to question me as to why I needed them. “Around a thousand, I believe. How many do you need?”
I had no idea how many humans I could shift but it wouldn’t hurt to err on the side of caution. “We’ll take the lot.”
Owens sent dozens of his men to gather the life jackets. When deflated, they were fairly easy to carry. Each of my soldiers took a bundle until we’d depleted Owens’ stocks. “I’ll try to return them to you soon,” I promised the commander before shifting my troops to eastern Russia.
It took time to round up and hypnotise a large number of humans. The town I’d chosen housed several hundred thousand souls. Most were huddled in their homes, worriedly watching the news for further attacks on their homeland.
Working in pairs, we spread out to recruit people to use as bait. “This should be enough,” Gregor decided when we’d gathered nearly a full thousand. We quickly handed out the life jackets. Beneath our spell, the humans docilely donned the bright orange vests then inflated them and awaited their fate.
“I want to come with you this time, Nat,” Geordie said. Expecting a refusal, he wrung his hands together. Luc stepped up beside the teen, also intent on joining me on my hunt.
Surrendering to the inevitable, I mentally threw my hands in the air but kept my tone calm. In their position, I’d probably want to come along and witness the battle as well. “Who else wants to come with me?”
Gregor, Ishida, Danton, Higgins and half a dozen others put up their hands. I cocked an eyebrow at Igor. “I will remain with your soldiers and keep them out of trouble,” the Russian declared. The truth bubbled to the surface of his mind. He hated being in open water out of sight of land. It was a fear he’d harboured as a child and the phobia had never left him in all of his fifteen thousand years. Kokoro’s reasons for remaining behind were more practical. She didn’t want to ruin her new leather suit. Neither did I, so I reduced all but my head and hands down to the consistency of fine ash and left my clothes behind. My body was a vague outline of constantly shifting particles.
“Is everyone ready?” I asked and received nods from all who hadn’t been bamboozled into an almost catatonic state. According to my built in radar, our quarry was a couple of miles out at sea. I also picked up on several thou
sand humans heading towards it.
“What is wrong?” Luc asked as I hesitated.
“The Russian warships have arrived and they’re moving in to surround the octosquid.”
I wasn’t the only one to turn to Gregor to gauge his reaction. It only took him a few moments to assimilate the information and to tweak my rather simple plan. “We should allow the warships to attack the alien,” he decided.
“I thought their missiles weren’t strong enough to hurt the jellyfish,” Geordie protested.
“They aren’t,” I replied. “But they’ll help to work the octosquid up into a rage.”
“Is your intention not to intervene and to let the humans die?” Danton asked. His question was curious rather than judgemental.
My nod was resigned. “Our job is to save the majority of the human population but not even we can rescue everybody.”
Ishida was more practical. “They have refused our help and thus have hindered our ability to dispose of the aliens quickly and efficiently. We must use the tools that are at our disposal. If a few thousand souls are sacrificed for the greater good, then so be it.”
Geordie sent me a miserable glance and stepped back from the crowd. “I have changed my mind. I have no wish to witness this slaughter.”
Cut to the quick by the teen’s accusing gaze, I hardened my resolve. I was Mortis, not a miracle worker. “Everyone who is going with me, hold hands,” I ordered. My minions, friends and allies obeyed. A second later, we were treading water.
·~·
