And just like that a digital countdown formed in the far top right of Hank's innervision and he watched as the seconds ticked away and then realized there was no other choice. He would have to die to destroy the Emperor and without Toby, maybe it was for the best.
Tresney still stood waiting, somehow knowing when to pause and when to continue speaking. He looked back up into the mirror and said one last thing.
"And Hank... I'm truly sorry about Toby."
That last word echoed into a million empty wells and bounced around the inside of Hank's head as the vision melted away, twisting and turning and breaking and burning and reemerging as something new. The pieces flooded together until everything was intact and the young boy looked up at Hank, his familiar eyes full of tears and longing.
"Dad!” Toby smiled, tears sliding down his face. “I'm so sorry I left you behind."
Hank's heart melted at the sight of his dead son. He had never expected to see him again and yet here he was. "You have nothing to be sorry about, Toby. I'm the one who should be sorry. I shouldn't have pushed you away."
Toby ran forward, wrapping his arms around Hank.
And then just like that it all went away, swirling in fading colors and darkness until only oblivion remained.
Part Two: A Love That Knows
Chapter 16
The Unforeseen
The Imperial soldiers were stationed at every corner now. Ever since that live execution had been crashed by the Foederati, Imperial security in the city had been tighter than ever. And Sundays were the worst. Alexandria watched them from the front window while her two younger brothers chased each other around the coffee table in the living room reflected in the window glass. "Hey guys, Dad's gonna be out of the shower any minute and it'll be time to go to church. Don't you think you should settle down a bit maybe?"
Neither boy so much as said a word of acknowledgement as they circled the table for two more laps and then dashed off beyond the kitchen. Alexandria sighed. Things were hard enough normally, but as Imperial security tightened, so did the tense air that surrounded her father everywhere he went. She knew why. He was afraid the Empire would find out their family secret. That they were not true believers. That her father, Jamie Ridgemont was a true-to-capital-A atheist, an all too brutally punished offense against the Empire's pure justice.
Alexandria didn't know what she believed in, but it sure wasn't that fake ass old bastard in blinding white on the TV sitting on his throne and watching over everyone while the poor suffered and the rich got richer. Her idea of what a god should be was simple. Loving, fair, and compassionate. None of these were qualities Joseph Caesar was known for.
"Alex, you about ready?" her dad said from somewhere deep within the house.
"Yeah. I just have to get Rudy and Jeremy to stop running around like little Indians."
When Alex came out of the front room and into the living room, the boys were just starting to calm themselves down and begrudgingly sit on the couch. "It's stupid that we have to go to church. I thought the Fo-der-otty were winning and we could do what we want to now." Alexandria's heart nearly stopped.
"Jeremy, watch your mouth. If someone outside had heard you just now, we'd all be put to death." She locked eyes with Jeremy, who was the youngest of her two little brothers.
Jeremy glanced at the door, an alarmed and wounded look in his eyes.
Their father was putting on his tie as he walked into the room. "Besides, don't believe everything you hear. Just because the Foederati are winning some battles, it doesn't mean that everything has changed. They haven't been here yet, or you would know... In the meantime we need to work hard together as a family to do everything in our power to blend in and keep from getting any unwanted attention."
A few minutes later, Dad was straightening up Rudy's collar when a gentle knocking came from the front door.
"Who is it?" he said.
There was no response.
"Dad, maybe you should wait. Things are different now. Maybe we should all go to the door together and see what they want?"
"Honey, it's best you stay here." And before she could say anything more to try and stop him, he was on his feet and shuffling down the hall toward the front door, a charming whistle springing from his lips.
The screen screeched open and Dad said, "Good morning officers, is there anything I can help you w—" The earth-shattering explosion that came next blew out most of Alexandria's ability to hear anything other than the deepest, darkest, and loneliest pit beyond the observable universe.
The splitting sharp crack slammed into Alexandria and in silent slow motion she ran for the front door. Blood sprayed in a long tree pattern along the far wall next to the door jam. Whoever had been at the door was gone—they were Imperial soldiers, that much had been clear—but now only their handiwork had been left behind—her father’s motionless body, its head ripped open. The scream in the back of Alex's throat reverberated off of the hallway walls before she even realized it had left her mouth.
She stumbled down to the floor, lying mere feet from her father's lifeless pulp of a body, but she couldn't bear to come any closer. It was so terribly broken and mangled. And just seconds ago his beautiful voice had vibrated along, life enchanting every inch of skin, every amazing thing that made her father who he was. The boys were just sitting there on the couch, jaws dropped and eyes glued to their father's lifeless body. They must have seen the whole goddamn thing.
Something bright red and cloth-like lying on Dad's chest caught Alex's attention. A moment of hyperventilating and whining gave her the strength to reach out and pick up whatever it was. In her hands it felt like velvet. The red was obviously made of ink—the thing was harmless. But the symbol printed in that bright standard red hue explained it all. It was a huge slanted “A” which Alex had seen on a number of occasions before. It was an old symbol from before the Empire. Before the second civil war.
A symbol for Atheists.
***
When Rosadelma returned to the small building beneath the roller coaster, she found Hank lying fully unconscious on the floor where she had left him. She could hear his heart beating in his chest. Whatever he had just experienced had exhausted his mental capacity and his body must have given in to unconsciousness. She reached down and carefully picked him up, one arm softly holding the back of his head, the other lifting his legs at the crook in his knees. She brought him out of the building and walked across the parking lot making sure to listen and watch for any other uninvited company. No one seemed to be in the immediate area. No one alive anyway. A vampire could have easily hidden themselves out of plain sight and the distance would have shattered any possibility of hearing the quickly firing undead synapses within the creature's brain. Knowing this, she made sure to keep on alert.
She walked up to the old car and opened the back door in one swift graceful movement then placed Hank's body in the thickly cushioned back seat sprawled out but hopefully not too uncomfortably so. Then she closed the door and stood there a moment listening and watching all around her. If anyone was out there, they weren't making any sudden moves. And the location of the Hive wasn't exactly a secret anymore, the Empire had breached its confines in the past and learned all too quickly what that got them in turn. So it was decided. She would go to the Queen and seek her decision as to what to do with this human low life and wait for Hank to wake up.
***
Simon stood watching as the Queen lay sleeping. In the days since he had tried to awaken Ishan and she had nearly killed him for it, he had grown content with the realization that no matter how angry he was with her and no matter how restless he became knowing the war was going on out there and Jackie was somewhere unseen and possibly crossing or standing in the trenches, she would be okay. Because his ancient mother had said it would be so. And he had yet to see her predictions not unfold into the real world. He brushed her hair behind her ear and whispered his thanks to her as her steady breathing continued uninterrupted.
Then he walked from the room and out into the main part of the cave, kicking at stray rocks and bits of dust as he went, wondering where Jackie was now and what she was doing.
Before long he stood out in the open darkness, looking up at the stars fighting to glow brightly behind the thick lush branches of the trees towering over the swampland. The moonless sky was dark but gave room for the countless glittering dots high above the Earth. Simon wondered if Jackie could be, in that moment, watching those same stars and thinking of him. He had taken for granted for so long how much her presence had become a growing part of him that now that it was gone, the emptiness seemed to stretch out between himself and the farthest burning sun in his sight. Without her, he was confused, incomplete, and utterly alone. Not for the first time, he wished more than anything that he could see what the Queen could see just by closing her eyes and opening herself to the waves of prescient matter coming back along the unseen carriage of time.
Miles away the sound of a turning vehicle alerted him to its driver's course destined to inevitably end just meters away from where Simon now stood. Whoever it was, some lost teenager or someone fully intent on entering the sacred cavern of the Hive, they would be there within minutes. Simon stepped several paces backward until he was sure his pale skin was hidden in shadow enough that his body would blend in with the dark forest trees. Seconds later an unfamiliar old jalopy of a car made its bumpy way down the hilly dirt road until it came to a stop, its headlights fading into phantom glowing afterlight in Simon's vision as the engine abruptly cut off. Two steady hearts beat loudly, the rhythm of which thundered into Simon's hearing along with… something else. Swift steady movement. Elegant movement that could only be the motion of the undead. The driver side door opened and a familiar female vampire stepped out from the car and called out, "All right, Simon, you can come out of the trees now. It's just me."
Rosadelma. That was her name. Simon remembered her from before the city of the dead had moved out in large black trucks spread out along the roadways each heading for one single destination. The Hive. Simon stepped out from the shadows without a word and in an instant he was standing before her. "I hear heartbeats, I'm going to guess you didn't bring me a late night snack?"
"Hmph, yeah not exactly. I've got an unconscious Foedarati leader in here and a man who tried to kill him in the trunk. It took a lot of willpower not to snap his neck like a twig, but if he has any inside information, I figured..."
"You did well, Rose."
Her head flinched. "Don't call me that."
"Sorry, I—"
"No need to apologize, just don't ever call me that again, and we can both pretend it never happened, deal?"
Simon nodded. He was beginning to remember why the two of them hadn't exactly bonded as of yet. "All right, well why don't you get—Hank?"
It was her turn to nod.
"Okay, yeah, you get Hank, and I'll get our friend in the trunk."
"Yeah, friend's not what I would call him, but it's your world, white man, I'm just a little helpless squirrel from Meh-Hee-Coh."
Simon bit back his reaction to the sting of her tone and walked around to the back of the car, popping open the trunk with one swift slam of his fist. Inside, a young man lay unconscious and breathing heavily. At least one of his arms and one of his legs were broken and from the small curve in the right side of his ribcage, Simon figured it was safe to assume he had at least a few broken ribs as well. "You didn't exactly bring him here unharmed."
"Yeah, fuck you, okay. He's still in one piece, which is a lot less than the number of bits I wanted to bring him anywhere in."
Simon gently pulled out the young man's body and slammed the trunk. The kid cringed in his mostly unconscious state but didn't wake. Simon sighed with annoyance, but didn't say another word. Some battles just aren't worth fighting.
Chapter 17
With Great Consequences
Despite what he had said, Frank had driven on in silence ever since Jackie returned to the big blue Lincoln that now smoothly made its way down the long stretching highway under the starry horizon. They were breaching into the desert now, West Texas to be exact. Flat desolate land reached out all around them wrapping its way around the earth and making way for the tumbleweeds that blew across its path from time to time and little else. Jackie was getting nervous of all the quiet and figured it was time they climbed up the elephant in the room and pulled it down to the ground and stabbed it over and over until it could no longer hover and wait in thick anticipation. "So, how much longer you think it'll be until we hit the state line?"
Frank took his eyes off the road long enough to look quietly and annoyedly over at her. He let out a sigh. "What's-a-matter, kid, you not too fond of the peaceful quiet that comes with bitter acceptance?"
She laughed. "Uh, yeah, something like that. Look, I'm sorry I put you in this position, I—"
"Yeah, don't worry about it. I'm a big boy, Miss Madam Dracula. I don't need you apologizing for my mistakes."
"Mistakes, huh? Is that what it was?"
"Kid, I don't know just yet right now. I'll tell you what I think when I figure that one out, okay?"
Jackie nodded. "That's fair... In the meantime can you keep me company? I've enjoyed talking to you and this isn't exactly an easy journey for me either. I mean I'm headed..." She stopped herself before she said anymore. If he knew he was taking her to see what, if anything, was left of her mortal family, would he still be willing to go to so much risk? Would he still be willing to take her to what could be a waiting ambush of Imperial soldiers or worse yet vampires. She knew that was a stretch, but she was fighting to kill her own elephant in the back of her mind. Would he be concerned that her family might actually be there, still alive and well? That although her intentions might be for the best, her inhuman nature, now fully developed, might send her into a blood-hungry frenzy that would leave her hopelessly mourning the loss of those she once held so dear to the thirst that tore out from her own being?
"Uh huh? You were saying?"
Jackie turned and looked out the window at the dark barren desert outside. "Never mind."
Without warning, the car's tires squealed out in protest as the vehicle careened over toward the side of the road. Frank's face was fury as he pushed with all his might on the brakes. Through screaming rubber and pavement, he yelled loud enough to be heard, "Bullshit. You want to go any further you're gonna be straight with me right fucking now or you can get out of this car." The Lincoln came to a halt at the side of the road, white smoke rising up from the tires in the darkness through Jackie's mirror. Had he purposely omitted the other option they both knew Jackie had? Or was he so sure she wouldn't hurt him that it hadn't even entered his mind? And if that were so, why had he become so untrusting lately? She knew why, but what he knew and the way he behaved showed so little concern for his own being that it had taken her by surprise. She knew he had nothing to lose, but she couldn't really fathom what that could be like so she had taken it for granted. Now it was plain as day right in front of her. He hadn't said it because he wanted her to fill in the blanks and consider it for herself. Did he want to die so badly? Or was he merely trying to see how she would react. What she would do?
They sat there in silence for a long while, dust and tumbleweeds blowing along in front of the car as Jackie processed what he had said and what she had realized. "I'm headed back home. To my family... If they're still there. If they're still alive. I wanted to see them—I had to see them again. I have to know if they're okay or..." The last thing she had expected was how easily she broke into tears then. They ran down her face and the sobbing took over her chest and the next thing she knew Frank was holding her against his big soft warm chest and telling her he understood that it was okay and he was sorry. The rhythm of his heart beating behind his ribcage thundered in her ears and she wept. The thirst didn't call out from inside of her and for the first time since her death she was touching a living human being without wanting to tear away into it
s veins and suck up every last drop of lifeblood pumping within.
***
The darkness was no longer solid anymore. A new texture was coming into focus and Jonny realized he was waking. But the first thing he wanted to do upon becoming conscious was to slip back into unconsciousness. The pain in his wrist and his ribs and his leg was building into one throbbing mass of anguish. The grainy darkness lightened some making the graininess somewhat visible for what it really was. Yellow dust, rock, unlike any he'd ever seen before. Distant inky shapes hung uneasily in the blurry background. He thought he was seeing bats at first but then... Holy shit. Those things are way too big to be bats. Then something much closer came into view. A face leaned in close to him and spoke. Blond hair, eyes blue and searching. The words went into Jonny's ears like sonic booms in an echo chamber. He tried to concentrate on what was being said.
"...said can you hear me? Jonny?"
"Yeah, I hear you, it hurts, but I hear you."
The head nodded and in a lower volume the man spoke again. "Hi, Jonny. My name is Simon. You're being held captive by the Foederati, but that's not why I'm here. I'm here to help you. Just tell me where it hurts and I'll take care of the pain..."
Jonny's first impulse was to get away at those words and he paid dearly for it. His legs tried to stretch out causing his right femur to stab sharply with drilling agony and he grabbed hold of it with his right hand as if his touch could make it stop. A scream wretched from his mouth and tears flooded his eyes and nose and mouth and he was crying out still but no longer screaming. The man who called himself Simon reached down and pulled Jonny's hand away from his leg then replaced it with his own. A soft glow built up between the man's palm and Jonny's leg and Jonny found himself screaming again. This time not out of pain but fear. But his scream caught in his throat when, as if by magic, the pain in his leg sharpened slightly then disappeared altogether.
Empire of Blood: A Dystopian Vampire Trilogy (Bundle, Boxset) (Plus Two Empire of Blood Short Stories) Page 63
