City of Twilight Part II: The Fallen (The Vanguard Chronicles Book 2)

by Donald Stephenson III

  ​“You don't have to worry about him. I can see him wherever he goes.” Christina smiled at her, but held back how startled she felt in her mind about that. There was another world in this city that had been hidden from everyone for so long, but now it was open for everyone to see. It was more than the brutality of Civic Protection that everyone had always faced. People existed with special abilities. Powers. They were from the stars. There was life outside this planet, beyond their own petty fights and differences. It made everything feel much more insignificant when she realized there was a whole universe out there with the potential to have other powerful beings such as the fallen.

  ​She turned to look at Alicia again. The girl looked like any other normal seven-year-old, yet there was so much more to her. Alicia was staring at her also, curiously.

  ​“Alicia, tell me what you're thinking.”

  ​“I wonder how many of my dreams are true.” Alicia had a straight look on her face as she spoke. "I've seen so much. I've seen lots of people asleep in strange metal beds, like pods or something. I had another dream that was in the streets of Dirge, and people were fighting, dying. I've seen a girl in the middle of a street, crying over her dead brother. He was killed by a piece of a falling building.” This startled Christina, but she didn't interrupt Alicia.

  ​“I had a dream of James fighting a monster. The monster looked like him when he's the hunter, but evil. It takes him, controls him.” She paused quietly, taking a breath. She then said, “I've seen him lying on the street, dead. There is blood coming out of his chest.” Christina didn't know what to say, but she put her hand over her mouth.

  ​“Wait, there's more.” Alicia looked up at her, and hope glimmered in her eyes. “James will bring back the light. I've seen the people of this city no longer in darkness.” Christina lowered her hand to the table again.

  ​“What do you want to do, if we get back the light?” Christina's gaze lingered on Alicia for a moment.

  ​“I want to stand up in it and hold out my hands,” Alicia said. "I want to close my eyes in the brightness, and just feel the warmth of the sky without me even seeing it. I want to run around without being afraid. I want to grow up and help people. Save people. Do you think I can do that?” Christina held back her own tears.

  ​“Yes, I think that's the best thing you can do.”

  Alicia reached across the table and took Christina's hand.

  ​“What do you want to do in the light?”

  ​“Well, I don't know.” Christina said, “there's so much I wanted to do before all of this, but it feels like all of it's changed, yet none of it has. I want to live in a world where I can have a family. I lost my parents a few years ago, and I've been alone. I want to be able raise my own children and them grow up in a world they aren't afraid of.” Alicia smiled at her softly, squeezing her hand.

  ​“You will.”

  ​Christina smiled halfheartedly and took a sip of the coffee, which was now little more than warm and still bitter. They sat there quietly for a few more minutes before James walked into the cafeteria from the lobby. The room grew quiet as everyone saw him. Alicia got up and ran over to him. She hugged him and stood next to him. Christina stood as well. He looked at her, but his face looked worn, his forehead wrinkled in concern.

  ​“Get Luke and Anna and meet me in the conference room,” he said to Christina, “we need to talk.” The conference room was branched off from a different hallway in the lobby. It was large enough for them have meetings while keeping them relatively private. He turned and headed there while she went to the armory, where she knew both Anna and Luke were.

  ​In a few minutes Anna, Luke, Christina, and Alicia were all in there with James. After a moment, Khaleel walked in also. James stood facing away from them at the far end of the room, lost in his thoughts. Christina was the last one in, and she tapped the security panel so the door would shut behind her. It beeped the happy tone all panels made. James turned and nodded at them. They instinctively moved forward, closer to him in the room. The room was well lit, with the same reflective walls and flooring present throughout the rest of the base. There was a light scent of mildew in the room, but she couldn't trace it. There was also a dark gray oval table in the middle with a dozen chairs surrounding it. No one sat; they all stood at attention. Khaleel leaned against the wall, his arms crossed.

  ​“At least one of the fallen is more powerful than I am,” James said to them calmly. There was a tension in his face, as if there was another person there waiting to burst out in frustration.

  ​“Somehow Michael was able to bring more of his kind here, and they consider themselves above humans.” James crossed his arms, looking down at the table as he spoke. “I don't know where they came from, but I can't get as strong as I need to be to defeat them, at least not directly.”

  ​“We've all heard the rumors, that the fallen are beings from the stars. That they're the High Council.” Luke spoke calmly, but with a slightly incredulous tone, as if he still didn't believe what he'd already seen and knew to be true.

  ​“I'm a half-blood, like Alicia.” James glanced at his sister. “They look down on us. We share access to the same realm of abilities, but they've had decades to learn how to use them. I don't. I don't know how to beat them.” There was concern over his face as he let down his facade. He looked tired, scared.

  ​“You're not alone.” The words startled them. It was Khaleel. He stepped forward, dropping his arms to his side. His dark skin contrasted the reflective metal wall behind him. “What if we don't have to fight them directly?” James looked up, and his head tilted slightly as he listened.

  60

  ​Christina didn't see much more of James over the course of the weekend. There never seemed to be an end to his planning and organizing. There was a never-ending stream of people who would meet with him, discussing plans or an outpost. Khaleel and he met together several times over the weekend, working on a plan to try to beat the fallen.

  ​When he wasn't with the others planning, he would go off somewhere else. She suspected he'd gone to the abandoned city in the tunnels below. He never slept, at least not that she could tell. Other people had begun to notice as well. The Hunter was becoming a mythic figure to the resistance. One that would never stop until the city was freed.

  ​There were dozens of rumors that passed around about him, and the fallen. There were several rumors that he was connected to them somehow, that maybe he was one of them and had turned against them. Rumors spread like wildfire, and she heard all sorts of stories coming out of the city from different people as they traveled to and from the base.

  ​She'd overheard many rumors about his inner circle, especially a few regarding her. Some just saw her as a spy working for him. She'd actually heard a whisper from someone to someone else suggesting the she and the Hunter were lovers. She smiled to herself, knowing some rumors to be accurate. Alicia spent a lot of time with her, and they talked often. The child was young, but had a maturity that was unnerving. She had premonitions, or visions of the future. Christina was sure of that. She wondered if different people of this strange race had different strengths. James had never mentioned having visions. He never mentions a lot though.

  ​She could see in his eyes the pain and weariness of not only the weight of the city, but his own inner struggle. He'd told her of the xeno's attempt to control him, and how it still remained in his mind. It took constant concentration for him to hold it back. She wondered how much more powerful he could be if he didn't have to devote so much effort to holding it back in his head.

  ​Monday came too quickly, and she was back in her apartment and back at her office of her fake life. James had left sometime Sunday evening, and hadn't returned to see her go. It concerned her, even though she knew he was alright, physically. Mentally, she wondered how long he would hold it together.

  61

  ​Their anticipation seemed to make the day go by slowly for Khaleel and the rest of his gro
up. They had spent most of the new Monday practicing drills and memorizing plans and street addresses. They were excited, for the hunter would once again lead them on a mission. He and Khaleel had both emphasized how dangerous it was going to be. They were going to face the fallen.

  ​Now they all stood in a small outpost in Old District near Lower District. The Hunter stood before them with dark silver eyes. He trusted them, they knew. They were the same group that had worked with him on the first mission to capture the Civic Protection shipment. Khaleel stood next to James, holding a pack casually over one shoulder. His eyes held courage mixed with anxiety and anticipation. They trusted him and looked to him as much as they did the Hunter.

  ​“Khaleel will be going with us on this mission,” the Hunter said, “he’ll oversee you while I’m separated from the group. If something goes wrong, get as far away from here as possible. Don’t worry about me; I can take care of myself. Get back to the outpost as we planned.”

  ​“What could go wrong?” Kyle spoke up through the small group. “No one could survive the explosives we have.” James smiled slightly.

  ​“We still don't know their limits,” James said. They were all silent for a moment when Khaleel spoke up.

  ​“All right, let’s get going. You all know your jobs, so let's move it.” They all took their packs and made their way to the warehouse in Lower District. It was empty, and not even James had figured out what its former use. It actually belonged to Civic Protection, but they weren't guarding it. There wasn't anything in it to guard inside it. It was just one of many empty buildings in this city.

  ​The team split up into smaller teams. They were all carrying explosives in their packs. Two hours later, they were in the warehouse placing explosive charges on different structural points. If a falling roof doesn’t injure our opponents, then it will at least stun them, James thought as he watched them. He would order them to activate their explosives through his mind's eye, which had surprised them all when he'd revealed it to them earlier. They'd handled it surprisingly well, probably due to having witnessed his other abilities. What’s one more strange thing in a city like Dirge?

  ​It was dark outside, although just a little dim in the warehouse. The rest of the team was a little less than a block away. James stood in the middle of the warehouse, surveying the scene. The roof was a good thirty feet from the slab concrete floor. The walls were a light aluminum with spots of discoloration. He was now the Hunter, the metal pulsing over his body and face. Light reflected off his silver eyes and his metallic frame. He was wearing his coat which shimmered with the metal creature pulsing through it.

  ​He watched the entire group from afar with his mind’s eye, waiting for them to be ready. It’s time, he thought as they finally moved to their places. He then stopped hiding his presence. Not only did he do that, but he tried as hard as he could to strengthen his presence through his mind’s eye. He accessed his ability more than he'd ever done before, feeling strengthened by it. He pulled the energy from the mind's eye realm around himself. He felt the xeno shudder as his strength grew. He realized it was actually very easy, and anyone else who had the mind’s eye ability would be able to see him from almost anywhere else in the city. He was now a beacon of light in the other realm into which they could glimpse. Now all he needed to do was wait.

  ​The xeno shuddered a little more strongly, and he pushed back on it. It was reacting to his mind's eye in a way he didn't understand. He continued to reach for the power, but suddenly he felt a block. It was the xeno in his mind. He couldn't access the mind's eye any further; it felt like it was barring the path to go further. It was somehow stopping him. He suddenly realized how much time had passed, and knew that his sense of time had become warped.

  ​Two figures came in the warehouse through an entrance behind him. Wolfgang was one of them, and there was another man with him who seemed a little older. The man had blond hair that had been grown into a ponytail. The man had glasses as well. Instead of a Civic Protection uniform, he wore a clean gray suit. Wolfgang still wore the uniform with no insignia.

  ​“Well,” Wolfgang said, “I was wondering when we’d see you again.” He smiled, his fangs glimmering in the dim light.

  ​“It looks like he wants to see all of us,” the man with glasses said. James could see fangs in the man’s mouth as he spoke, although he didn't show them off the way Wolfgang did.

  ​“Yes,” Wolfgang said, “I was hoping for this.”

  ​James heard some cars outside, and he felt the familiar presence of Dante and the woman who traveled with him. He had learned from overhearing some soldiers that her name was Medea. He could also tell Lucien was with them. They all walked into the warehouse with straight faces, but with an aura of restraint. James knew they were there just for back-up, support for their stronger brethren. The wound on Lucien’s forehead was almost completely gone. He had a passive look upon his face.

  ​James then felt panic emanating from his resistance groups that were a block away. He concentrated with his mind’s eye. He could see all of his people now on the ground, in pain. Another person, a woman he'd never seen before was there with a large group of soldiers. He could see immediately that she was like Wolfgang, one of the fallen. She had not only been hiding her own presence, but was somehow able to hide the presence of all the soldiers with her. In a flash, all the soldiers and resistance group disappeared from his sight through the mind's eye. What happened? She was blocking him again.

  ​“See,” Wolfgang said, “we’re just as efficient at our assignments. Damaine’s objective was to seek out and capture the people you were using as back-up. Your reliance on the humans makes you particularly weak, but we’ll fix that soon enough. She’s bringing them here now.”

  ​James held back the rage he felt as he quietly stood there. His fists were clenched at his sides. There were over twenty soldiers that walked into the building, escorting the ten prisoners that made up the small group that James had put together. Khaleel was at the front of the group, and nearby him were Savannah and Kyle. Damaine was the last of group to enter the warehouse.

  ​She was a slender woman with light brown hair. She was wearing dark clothes that resembled a Civic Protection uniform, except with no insignia or ranking like Wolfgang’s. She smiled when she saw him. Her smile was pretty, but her eyes betrayed her darkness. She had the same fangs and slits in her pupils like the rest of the fallen.

  ​“You’re just a child,” Damaine said as she looked at James, “and all you’re doing is playing games with us. We don’t play games.”

  ​I’m an idiot, James thought as he glared at her, they’ve seen through everything I’ve tried to do.

  ​“She’s right,” Dante said under his breath to James, “you’re going to have to do more than that to defeat us.” His eyes said something that James hadn't noticed before. Dante was smiling at him, but not as if he were happy James had been outsmarted. His eyes said something else. He was waiting to see what James was going to do next.

  ​James then saw the man with the blond ponytail in the gray suit. The darkness in Damaine's eyes paled in comparison to his own. Whatever motivations Wolfgang, Dante or the others had, this man was on a whole other level. He stood back, watching with his arms crossed.

  ​“What happens now?" James asked, turning to Wolfgang. The look in his eyes was dark, like that of a cornered wolf.

  ​“Well," Wolfgang said, “I’d like to begin.” He looked straight at him with dark malice.

  ​The first telekinetic blow struck James, knocking him back almost twenty feet. He flew backwards into a metal wall that separated the main room of the warehouse from a series of smaller rooms, creating a large dent in the wall where he'd struck. He slid downward to the floor when the telekinetic grip was lifted.

  ​As he started to pull himself up, another telekinetic blast knocked him across the floor. He could see himself heading towards another wall and he sank his claws into the concrete floor, grind
ing them to a stop. He pushed outward with his claws off of the floor, launching himself towards the nearest soldier. He was stopped in the air, again by the unseen telekinetic force. He was held there for a moment in the air, and then was thrown again. He slid to a halt in the middle of the warehouse floor.

  ​This is ridiculous, he thought, I can’t even touch them. He pulled himself up to a crouched position and looked around the room using all his senses. He then swiftly pulled himself up to his feet. His back was slightly arched, and he stood with both fists clenched. His silver eyes showed not only anger, but fierce determination.

  ​“Fire,” Dante said with a look of disappointment in his eyes. All the soldiers began firing at James. James moved around the room, trying to avoid the rounds of ammunition that were moving towards him from the soldiers’ assault rifles. Dante held a pistol in his hand, but hadn't joined the others in shooting. James dove sideways as he ran, climbing onto the wall when he reached it. He climbed upward as he willed several small blades to sprout from his left arm. He was nearly to the ceiling when he jumped off, and spun around. He started throwing the blades towards his attackers.

  ​Every single blade hit some sort of invisible wall before it even reached any of them, and fell to the floor. The guards stopped firing by Dante’s orders and Damaine stepped forward. She held up one of her arms, and James felt a force strike him harder than any of the others had before. The xeno had absorbed most of the damage, but he was still stunned. The room was spinning for a moment, and he felt lightheaded. He dropped to the floor and coughed through his metal mask, the copper taste of blood in his mouth.

  ​Savannah shouted for them to stop. She was crying. His whole group was watching in terror, and they knew they could do nothing. They felt helpless, just as James did. Wolfgang moved deliberately to James when he heard the girl shout, and he used his telekinesis to throw James against the wall again. James sank down onto the floor, but still willed himself to stand.