by Justin Sloan
“You sure you wanna get involved with a Were?” Valerie asked, then found the extra set of clothes Cammie had laid out for her. They weren’t as nice as the ones she had been wearing, unless you counted stench against her favorite jeans and blouse.
Considering they’d been adorning her body since leaving France, and they had more than their fair share of blood, grime, and sweat on them. At least she’d convinced Cammie not to burn them.
“It’s… I don’t know.” Sandra pulled her shirt on and pulled her hair out, then fastened it into a ponytail. “Maybe it was just his absence? Or, I thought at first when I started thinking about him, but then he was back, and that smile, those cute little dimples….”
“That ass.” Valerie said with a laugh.
“Come on now.” Sandra blushed, but didn’t disagree with the observation.
Most Weres were naturally in good shape, and while Diego was a bit scrawny for Valerie’s taste, she couldn’t help but notice his ripped abs. Some people were into the smaller guys, and he certainly wasn’t small where it mattered—not that she’d paid attention to any package the man might, or might not, be carrying.
Or so she would swear.
“Anyway, be careful,” Valerie added as she slipped on her trusty shoes—stench be damned—and strapped on her sword and tied her hair back. “I don’t want to see you get hurt, and with all that’s coming, you never know.”
Sandra turned to her, eyes narrowed. “What, because he might die? If that’s what you’re talking about here, try being a servant or best friend or whatever we are to some crazy vampire chick who keeps insisting she put her life on the line. For what, a little vengeance for an ass kicking your brother gave you?”
Anger flashed, but she stomped on it. “Not vengeance on Donovan, justice.” Valerie bit her lip, wanting to say more about the ‘crazy vampire chick’ comment, and about how Sandra needed to learn her place. But that was the old Valerie, not the one that had left Donovan and the others behind. Not the one that insisted no innocents die, and not the one that was best friends with Sandra now.
“Call a chicken a hen, it’s still a chicken,” Sandra said then paused a second. “Or the other way around, however the saying goes.”
Valerie breathed out heavily, trying to slow down this conversation. “Do I want to see Donovan punished for what he’s done? Yes, of course. But it’s bigger than that, don’t you get it?” Valerie spun, hands waving as she tried to explain. “He wants to come here and do what he did to France in the name of the Duke. But it’ll be worse here, because he won’t have the Duke looking over his shoulder. No, here he’ll come out of hiding, slaughter everyone in his way so that he can rule unchallenged. If I know my brother, and I’m pretty sure I do, there won’t a need for us to be hiding anymore.” She paused before adding, “Because humans will all be food, slaves or dead.”
“And you think that’d be so bad?” Sandra asked, really glowering now. “You, who made me clean up after you for years, always treating me like I was second rate, like I didn’t matter?”
That hit Valerie, her legs felt weak, and she almost stumbled by the weight of it on her heart. “I… always thought we shared something more.” Valerie looked over at her friend.
“We did!” Sandra’s frown softened, replaced by a look of confusion mixed with regret at her outburst, her shoulders slumped and she put out her hand, palm up. “Don’t you see how it was for me though? Not how it is now, now it’s different...” she paused for a second, “well, aside from the nearly dying every five seconds part. But back then, yes, we loved each other, but it was more like a pet and her mistress. I never felt like I could open up and be honest like I am now, because I saw what your brother and others in your family did to servants who did the same.”
Sandra paused and looked down at her hands, twisting a piece of cloth, “I’m sorry, I’m just… I don’t even know why I’m saying this.” She looked back up to Valerie, “Why we got into this argument to begin with.”
“You questioned whether it was vengeance or justice, this whole fight against my brother.” Valerie held up a hand before Sandra could get another word in, and said, “No, let’s leave it at that. It’s a good question. But here’s the answer—I don’t care. Either way, I’ll be standing there with sword in hand, ready to cut his pitiful head from his disgusting body the moment he steps foot in America.”
Sandra’s eyes drew in, as if granite replaced the look of confusion from a moment before, “So will I.”
Valerie sighed, “Good, and so will Diego, and both of you could die, or one of you could die. All I was trying to say, when we got into this stupid conversation, was that maybe it’s not the best time to grow attached to anyone.”
“I agree,” a man’s voice said, and then Godzilla was walking past them. He tossed his towel on the nearby bench, revealing his hairy, bare butt. Without even waiting for them to leave, he started scrubbing.
“God, really?” Valerie said. “Just because you all are naked all the time while transforming doesn’t mean we want you to bathe right in front of us.”
“Then you can stop staring,” he said with a laugh, not looking over his shoulder. “And you don’t have to shorten it to God, or even keep calling me Godzilla. The name’s Jared.”
Valerie scoffed. “I wasn’t calling you God, and I was only looking because I’ve never seen so much hair in my life, not on on a human body anyway. Ever heard of scissors? They still exist, don’t they?” She looked around, “I would let you borrow my sword to try and shave with that, but I don’t want your nastiness rubbing off on it.”
He turned around laughing and spoke to Valerie. “Ever hear of a camera? There’s supposedly one or two of them left in the old Empire building. If you hurry, I can wait.”
With a wink he struck a very revealing and inappropriate pose, as if he was going to be the centerfold of a dirty magazine, and Valerie covered Sandra’s eyes.
“Real nice,” she said, finally looking away herself.
“Thanks, come back anytime,” he said. “Now in all seriousness, if you don’t mind I’d really like to get cleaned up and get some rest before the big night tomorrow, so…?”
“Right, sorry,” Sandra said, removing Valerie’s hand and turning for the door.
Jared called back to them, “Oh, and go find those cop friends of yours. One of them is being a real pain in the butt.”
Valerie sighed and, with one more shake of her head and a ‘tsk’ sound of her tongue, she followed Sandra out of there.
“This place will take some getting used to,” Sandra said.
Valerie snickered, “Weres… not exactly high up on the sophistication chart.”
“Diego’s plenty sophisticated,” Sandra replied quickly. A look of horror went over her face as she put a hand over her eyes, “Wow, I have it bad.”
Valerie smiled, “Yes, you do.”
A commotion came from up the hall and they stopped to listen. It was a man’s voice, and he was demanding to know what was happening, why they’d been attacking the company, and who was in charge.
“Playtime’s over,” Valerie said. “You coming, or you want to hang back with Godz—I mean Jared back there?”
“Stop it,” Sandra said. “If Diego knew how that guy’d behaved, he’d kick his butt.”
“His big hairy butt,” Valerie said with a laugh, which got Sandra laughing too. “Come on.”
They ran up the hall and back into the main chamber, where both cops were in the corner with the Weres and vampires around them. Everyone was glaring, arms crossed, and some looking like they’d attack at any minute.
“Okay, okay,” Valerie called out as she strode into the room. “Everyone, I just saw Jared bathing, and that’s about as much chaos as I can handle in one day. So can we all just…” she motioned with her hands for everyone to move along.
Finally, when it was just her, Cammie, Sandra and the two cops, she nodded to the cop and asked, “What’s the problem?”
Valerie turned to the one she’d recognized and said, “Look, Officer….?”
“Wallace,” he said. He was nervous, running one hand through his thick mustache while his dark brown eyes darted from them to the exits. “Sergeant Wallace.”
“Okay, Wallace. We’re not bad people, or bad vampires—”
“Or bad Weres,” Cammie said, but at a look from Valerie she stepped back with a motion for Valerie to go on.
“Right, my point is that we’re all on the same side, I think. You know we’re new here, you gave us directions to the old Hilton location, remember?”
His eyes lit up in recognition he had lost after the adrenaline drop and his posture seemed to suddenly relax. “Damn, how’d you get mixed up in this?”
“It’s a long story,” Sandra said.
“We can fill you in later,” Valerie said. “The main point is, as you’ve noticed, there are vampires, werewolves, other Weres and people doing bad stuff to us. I say us, because, as you might have noticed by my fangs and red eyes earlier this evening, I’m one of them, and so is Cammie here.”
“But, not me.” Sandra clarified. With a shrug she pointed back to Valerie and Cammie. “But I think they’re awesome.”
“Yes, we are,” Valerie continued with a look that said was that interruption necessary? “This is what’s called the UnknownWorld, so, thing is, we need you to help us keep it that way, unknown outside of the few that already know about it. Can you do that?”
Wallace and his partner looked at each other, and then Wallace answered for both of them. “You can count on us. But truth is, we’ve heard rumors about stuff like this, but thought the guys were whackos, you know the drugged-up types. Part of why we answered the call for backup tonight.”
“Damn,” Cammie said. “Well, that’s not good.”
The light in the hall cast a long shadow and then Diego entered, having just bathed, judging by the way his hair was still damp. “What’d I miss?”
He went straight up to Sandra and put an arm around her waist, not keeping it low key or playing it coy. At a glance from Valerie he added, “What, figured I might only have a little time left on this earth. Don’t want to be wasting it pussy-footing around.”
“Let me guess,” Sandra said. “You heard our little conversation?”
“Was waiting to bathe so it wouldn’t be awkward, but… yeah.”
“I’m just looking out for her,” Valerie said. “And you missed Sergeant Wallace here saying that there is already a rumor on the street about the UnknownWorld being in existence.”
“Well, on the force, actually.” Wallace looked to his partner for confirmation, and then added, “The drugged out ones we were referring to, also on the force. Thing is, there’s been a line forming for some time now, between cops like us that are a bit more traditional, and the ones that we were all fighting back there.”
“Which is exactly why we need your help,” Valerie said. “We’re moving in on your man Richard Strake.”
Wallace looked at her, his eyes wide, “You want to storm Enforcer HQ and take on the Crusher? Shit, you’ll be going up against every cop and Enforcer this town has to offer. That’s suicide,” he concluded.
Valerie shook her head, “Considering the army my brother’s bringing against this city, I can’t say a few human cops scare me much.”
“Your brother?” Wallace’s partner asked.
“Evil vampire, hell-bent on sacking Old Manhattan and then the rest of America in the name of vampire freedom. Basically he’s amassed an army and I assume could be here any day.” Valerie looked at the others who’d started forming in the room as they were talking. Some of the newer vampires and even some of the Weres hadn’t heard this yet. “This is why I believe we have to join together. Because, he’s going to slaughter innocents left and right, kill any Were and vampire he considers a threat, and there’s no one else to stop him.”
“And in the meantime, you want to get killed by storming Enforcer HQ?” Wallace shook his head. “Something’s not adding up.”
Cammie spoke up, “Strake’s been taking vampires and draining them. The elites of human society have been drinking the vampire blood which can heal and even combat aging. The ultimate fountain of youth. But he’s also been taking my brothers and sisters. Forcing us Weres to hunt vampires. If we can set them free, we believe many of the Weres will join our side in the fight against her brother.”
“Well, let me assure you that if one man’s prepared and in the know, it’ll be Strake,” Wallace agreed, scratching his chin. “He’s connected all the way to the top. But if this brother guy is as bad as you all say, then we’re in.”
“We’re what?” his partner turned to look at his partner, his face pale.
Wallace told him, “In! The way I see it, there are two things I look for in a battle—the moral side, and the winning side. In this case, I’d bet my paycheck on both of those resting with this lot.”
The partner scratched behind his ear, looking over Valerie and the rest, and then shrugged his shoulders. “‘F’ it, right?” He put both hands on the table, “Let’s do it.”
“Wonderful,” Valerie said and looked around at her small group before returning gaze to the two policemen. “We’ll need you to help us plan the attack, and we have all day to work on that, since most of us will need sleep and time to heal.” She turned back to everyone and said, “You hear that? Rest, get some sleep if you can, and then prepare for the assault of your lifetime. We’re taking this city by storm.”
The Weres and vampires cheered, and even the two cops were getting into it.
“So, where do we start?” Wallace said. “I’m pumped up and ready to bring the law.”
“Didn’t you just hear me?” Valerie said, stifling a yawn. “I’m beat. Wake me up by noon at the latest and,” she turned to Cammie, “make sure to appoint guards and give them shifts, so everyone’s rested.”
“Already done,” Cammie said.
“Good. Good job, everyone.” Valerie stretched, yawning full on now, and nodded to Sandra. “Come on, let’s get some sleep.”
Sandra wrapped her arm through Diego’s and made an I’m sorry face.
“Whatever,” Valerie said, and walked off to find a cozy cot. When she plopped down onto one. it certainly wasn’t cozy … and, she didn’t care. Her eyes closed almost instantly, and she was out.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Underground Hideout
Cammie was exhausted, but happy to be back in her own territory. Her Weres were on watch duty, but with this many vampires and unknowns in the hideout, she figured she’d best make the rounds and check up on her people.
First she stopped by the hall where many of her Weres were sleeping. Some were still bandaging the ones who had received severe wounds. They would heal, but applying salve and gauze made the healing process faster.
Passing a dark hall, she snickered at the sight of Diego and Sandra kissing. Maybe they thought they were hiding, but darkness wasn’t a good concealer when it came to vampires and Weres. Diego would know that, but she wasn’t sure about the woman.
For a moment she watched, feeling her heart race and remembering what love had felt like. But she was a leader now, and had to focus on her responsibilities.
The last time she’d gotten distracted, people got hurt.
With that thought she pulled herself away, wishing them all the best in their little post-fight, pre-attack make-out fest.
