The Fall: Sanguine Series: Book One

by Chris Laughton

  Now the only link he had to the people who could help him was the warehouse he had met them in and hoping they had left enough breadcrumbs for him to follow back. He had been in the rear of a windowless van when they took him there, but with his gifts, that didn’t stop him from knowing the location. He doubted The Project thought it had. In fact, he was banking on it. If they thought he couldn’t return there, they would’ve wiped the place clean, and he might be out of luck.

  He pulled up to the warehouse that was far outside present-day Seattle’s borders. He sat still in the car, leaving it idling, and closed his eyes. He sampled the smells and listened intently to see if he could hear anyone here. The sun was high in the sky, so he wasn’t sure what he was concerned about, but at this point, caution was key. After a few moments, convinced he was the only person around, he stepped out of his car and took in the scene. From the outside, the warehouse was more rundown than it had been inside. There was nothing to indicate that anyone had been here in years. If Mason hadn’t had absolute faith in his sense of direction, he would have thought he’d driven to the wrong place.

  He tried the door, but it was locked. He had met The Project in the middle of the day, and didn’t get the impression from their hastily assembled presentation that they’d ever used this warehouse for anything before. It seemed unlikely they’d set up any sort of traps, so he took a step back and kicked in the door. It gave easily, pieces of the doorjamb flying into the warehouse and throwing up bits of dust as they came to rest. He hadn’t noticed anything outside, but the inside of the warehouse was insulated enough that as Mason took a few steps in, he was hit with the smells of everyone who’d attended his recruitment pitch. He instinctively looked over at the ashes of the vampire they’d killed. The sun had had even more time to break them down. Without his vision, he wouldn’t have been able to tell them apart from the regular dust that coated the rest of the warehouse in a thin film.

  It didn’t take long to see that there was nothing on the main floor that would help him, so he descended the stairs to the lower level. Here, there was much more evidence of what had transpired. A myriad of footprints crisscrossed the room, along with groups of four small squares denoting where chairs had been. The cage had left a huge square of clear floor towards one corner, but all of this disturbed dust wasn’t why Mason was here. A small sheet of paper lay on the floor in the middle of the room. His heartrate rose – relatively speaking – as he strode to pick it up, hardly believing he would actually get lucky enough for them to have left information for him to find. As he took the paper, he could smell that Simone had written it.

  Mason,

  We’re all allowed to change our minds once in a while.

  - S

  Besides the simple message, there was nothing. Was this a test? A mocking? He turned the sheet over several times expecting to see a hint. If there was some message hidden in special ink, he was certain his vision would’ve allowed him to see it. He folded it up and put it in his back pocket while looking around the rest of the room. He spent several minutes tearing a duct grate off a vent and searching inside, peeling back some base boarding, but he already knew there would be nothing. Apparently, the note would be his only hint to find them.

  As he walked back up the stairs, he took the note out of his pocket, unfolding it to see if there were any details he had missed. He strode through the door, still examining the paper, but more time and sunlight didn’t reveal anything new. He got back in his car and sat, hands on the wheel, thinking. The disappointment of finding nothing was compounded by the momentary optimism when he’d seen the paper on the floor. He didn’t want to drive away from his best chance to reconnect with The Project, but he couldn’t think of anywhere else to look for clues, so he started the car and began the trip back to his hotel.

  As he drove, he went over everything in his head for the umpteenth time. Nothing seemed to fit. How the vampires found him, why The Project wouldn’t let him find them, none of it. He’d spent his whole life with his gifts giving him a greater measure of control over his life than most people got to experience these days, and for the first time, he was faced with a situation it didn’t seem he’d be able to master. He heard his phone buzz to alert him that he had service now, since he was getting back to populated Seattle. He thought about calling Rebekah, but wasn’t sure what he’d say to her.

  His phone actually ringing broke him out of his haze. He thought perhaps Rebekah was calling him, but it was a number he didn’t recognize.

  “Hello?” he asked.

  A cheerful voice greeted him. “Mason. I take it you’ve had a change of heart? Aidan owes me several crypto coins.” Mason recognized Simone’s slight accent and his mind went blank. He pulled over to the side of the road so he could think.

  “I was attacked,” he managed to stammer as he brought the car to a stop.

  “I’m sorry to hear that, Mason. Even Seattle can be dangerous,” she said with the slightest hint of sarcasm.

  Mason saw no reason to not just lay everything on the table. “It was at a cabin in the mountains. Somehow, they knew where I’d be without knowing who I was, but I don’t have any idea how they found me there of all places.”

  There was a pause before Simone spoke. “We tried to warn you of the danger, Mason. You knew Alexander was looking for you; it shouldn’t be surprising that he found you. It shouldn’t be surprising if he finds you again.”

  “I know, you were right,” he admitted. “I just don’t know what happens next.”

  “That is entirely up to you. I think you’ve seen now that Alexander will find you. Do you want to run, or do you want to fight?” Simone laid the decision on Mason bluntly for a second time. Perhaps that’s what he needed though. He hadn’t put in so simple of terms in his own mind, but she was right.

  This time he gave the answer he knew she wanted to hear. “Fight.”

  35

  Trevor watched as Simone smiled and leaned back in her chair. He was watching her intently, and read her satisfaction as a sign that Mason had chosen to join them. This was the security room, and the two of them sat in front of a bank of monitors that showed all the rooms in the base. He wasn’t watching any of the images that showed his men training, or eating, or sleeping though. He was fixated on Simone. This was an important phone call and he wished she would’ve put it on speaker. Still, it wasn’t all bad just listening to one half: Simone’s voice was like honey, especially when she was happy.

  “Glad to hear it. First thing’s first: did you kill the vampire that attacked you?” She furrowed her brow as she heard his answer. “Well, that’s unfortunate, but it’s impressive that you survived the encounter nonetheless. What did this vampire look like?” Now she added a clenched jaw to the serious expression. “It sounds like you met Kai Lim.” Trevor understood why Simone sounded so grave. If Kai was involved in the search, it was obviously Alexander’s top priority. Simone continued, “He’s one of Alexander’s lieutenants. A particularly vicious vampire. It’s a shame you didn’t kill him.” She paused for a moment. “Still, it’s good to know that you can hold your own against one of the older vampires.”

  Aidan popped his head into the room. “The prodigal son’s joining the team after all, eh?” Trevor nodded to him, but Aidan just shrugged and left.

  Simone shifted gears. “Mason, we’d like to bring you in. We need to get you up to speed, see exactly what you’re capable of.” She smiled. “Yes, and figure out where Alexander is so you can kill him. Trevor will pick you up.” Whatever Mason responded with made Simone give Trevor a concerned look. “No, it needs to be just you. If you decide to move her to a town near us later, that’s up to you, but I’m afraid we can’t allow her to know our location.” She gave a grim smile. “Just sit tight. We’ll see you soon.” She put the phone down and sighed. “The girl’s going to be a problem.”

  Trevor nodded. “You heard Maya. It might be a problem to leave her out, but it would be worse to let her come with him. Wh
y did you suggest he could bring her later?”

  “I don’t know. He put me on the spot. I figured if I kicked the can down the road, we could deal with the problem face to face. If I gave him a flat ‘no’ over the phone, it could’ve been a deal breaker. Let’s just get him here and then worry about it.” Trevor stood up from his chair and headed for the door.

  “I’ll go bring him in,” he said.

  “And Trevor?” Simone made Trevor stop at the door and turn. “Bring Aidan with you. Alexander might find Mason again. Best if you’re not alone.” Trevor nodded agreement and left to find his quirky enforcer somewhere else in their building. Most of their base was underground, with a couple administrative rooms on ground level. In case their facility was discovered, hopefully those rooms would convince the vampires they’d only found a satellite installation, and they wouldn’t look for the hidden entrance to meat of their organization.

  The underground had two levels. This upper level had the security room, conference room, Westfield’s office, armory, dormitories, training rooms and mess hall, while the smaller lower level had Monroe’s labs, interrogation room, and the holding cell. The layout meant the lower level was always the quieter of the two and was where Trevor was headed. After a quick check of the mess hall to ensure Aidan wasn’t eating, he headed for the stairwell and down to the lower level, turning immediately for the interrogation room. If Aidan wasn’t eating or sleeping, he’d be enjoying solitude (or close to it) somewhere on the lower level. Sure enough, as soon as Trevor rounded the corner, he saw the interrogation room door open.

  Truth be told, it should probably be renamed Maya’s dorm at this point. They hadn’t brought a vampire in for interrogation in years; they never knew anything of value anyway, at least not anything Aidan couldn’t extract from them while they were still in the field. When they’d brought Maya in and needed a place to keep her, the interrogation room was the easy choice. The holding cell also hadn’t been used in years, but was too small to repurpose into anything resembling comfortable. The interrogation room had enough room to remove the table and bring in a bed and at least a few creature comforts. Trevor had told Maya she could stay in the regular dormitories since she always knew, and could give them plenty of notice before she turned. She had declined, saying it would put The Project’s people on edge, despite Trevor’s objections that his men would be alright with whatever he told them to be.

  Now that he came up to the room, he saw that Maya was in one corner of her room on the computer they had brought in, while Aidan was sitting on her bed, doing something on his phone. The two of them had quite the quickly-formed kinship, though most of it involved what Trevor was seeing now: the two of them paradoxically enjoying solitude together. Trevor had certainly never witnessed an actual conversation between the two of them.

  “’Ey boss. What’s up?” Aidan said without looking up from his phone.

  “The two of you are going to pick up Mason to bring him here,” Maya said, still fixated on her screen as well.

  “Bringing heat?” Aidan had put his phone away, but addressed the question to Maya.

  “Yes. Alexander is still looking for him,” Maya answered.

  Aidan walked to the door and slapped Trevor on the shoulder before passing him. “Sounds good, boss. See ya at the armory.”

  Trevor looked back and forth between the two of them. “Could you two have this conversation before I come down here next time? Save me the trip.”

  Maya had turned to face him now and looked confused. “But how could I know what you said when you came down here if you didn’t come down here to say it?”

  Aidan still had his hand on Trevor’s shoulder, and leaned in to say, “Not a great time for talkin’ to her, boss.”

  Maya giggled and repeated the word, “Time.”

  36

  Alexander was looking at Kai, who was passed out, breathing heavily. He’d fed sloppily before collapsing on a chair in the couple’s home, and now had blood streaming down his chin and neck. Alexander knew this recovery would take time, but he couldn’t help his impatience. They had arrived at the office and the adjoining house with hours to spare before dawn, but now it seemed that Kai wouldn’t really be ready to move until tomorrow night. The old couple had put up little resistance, though Alexander could smell from the blood on Kai’s face that the old man had still been quite strong for his age.

  Miranda was even less patient than Alexander. “Well if there was still a trail to follow, it’ll be cold before this idiot comes to.”

  Alexander shot her a look. “Feel free to follow this ‘trail’ of yours. You’re not required to stay.”

  Miranda paused, weighing her choices. “Is that actually an option? Are you releasing me from babysitting this infant?” she gestured to Kai slumped over in his chair.

  Alexander rubbed the bridge of his nose. He tried to think logically. Letting her chase her own leads was a more efficient use of her talents. Over the years, she had learned how to use her gift to get what she wanted, even when Alexander saw no clear starting point. Who would she question first to get back on her ‘handsome man’s’ trail? It didn’t matter; she obviously had a course of action in mind if she was asking permission so directly. Besides, they had already secured Kai, and Alexander was certainly more than capable of overseeing his recovery. “Yes, you’re free.” He waved dismissively towards the door.

  “When I throw the handsome man at your feet, you will put Kai in charge of the Pennsylvania Facility,” Miranda stated, more as a command than a request. Alexander rubbed the bridge of his noise, disappointed that she had apparently turned down his offer, but without the energy to protest. Miranda continued, “I will build my own from scratch on the West Coast, I’m thinking in Los Angeles.” Alexander looked up, surprised, but pleased at the direction this conversation had taken. Miranda wasn’t even looking at it him anymore, just thinking out loud. “I want Kai to have every advantage, so that when I beat him, there’s no question.” Alexander had no idea their rivalry had risen to this level of vitriol but let her keep talking. “When you give the command to take North America, I will conquer more of it in your name from my own Facility that wasn’t just handed to me finished and running smoothly. You can take Dominic and Elsa with you to South America instead,” she said, invoking the names of Alexander’s next two oldest trackers besides Miranda and Kai. They were only months younger, so it wouldn’t even set Alexander’s timeline back that much, and he liked this plan of using a rivalry to speed his conquest. He realized that he was smiling ear-to-ear and Miranda was looking at him. She grinned. “Yeah, I thought that might cheer you up.”

  With that, Miranda was gone, the front door of the old couple’s house still swinging open. Alexander would have to start getting assets together for her to begin her Facility. Alexander sat down on the sofa in the main room, and focused on his thoughts to pass the time. Perhaps he’d start looking over potential sites, so he could put together a list of suggestions for her? No, she was doing this to embarrass Kai. Beyond startup funds, she would want to do this on her own. Los Angeles was an interesting choice. She obviously planned to secure the old southern U.S. border before spreading south into Mexico while Kai was still dealing with the East Coast. It wasn’t a bad plan: fighting South to the Panama Canal would give her a nice strategic wall of sorts at her back. Where Kai could only count on the Atlantic Ocean as a safe direction, Miranda would be able to control where she pushed next in the U.S. without too much fear of reprisal on her flank.

  He ruminated on these thoughts for a while, but it wasn’t long before he heard Kai stir. Alexander opened his eyes and felt that it was still over an hour until dawn, and this home had a basement, so there was no great hurry.

  Kai appeared in the doorway. “I’m sorry,” he muttered, his head lowered to the ground.

  Seeing his lieutenant, with the actual spark of recognition in his eyes brought Alexander’s rage back to the surface, but he did his best to repress it. There m
ight be plenty of time before dawn, but to yell and argue would waste it. “What happened?”

  “I underestimated him. He was a more capable fighter than I thought.” Kai raised his eyes to meet Alexander’s stare.

  “I believe that this man will conquer continents within weeks once he’s turned, and you thought that what, he’d be completely docile beforehand?”

  “I have no excuse.” Kai was shaking slightly, terrified of Alexander’s reprisal for his failure. In a flash, Alexander used all of his speed to move off the couch, and grab Kai by the neck, continuing through the doorway and slamming his protégé into the wall at the other end of the kitchen. When Alexander used his full speed and strength, even his oldest vampires couldn’t track the movement fast enough, and a not-yet-full-strength Kai was certainly no exception. He had intentionally used the shock and awe to make sure he had Kai’s full attention.

  “Acknowledging your failure does nothing to alleviate it,” he growled. Keeping his face close to Kai’s while Kai still put together how he arrived in his current position up against the wall. “Did you at least get a tracker on his car?”

  “I didn’t think I’d need it. I didn’t think he’d be leaving the cabin not in my custody,” Kai replied meekly.

  Alexander sighed. Failure cascading into failure. He pointed at the body of the old man behind him. “You just drank the memories of someone who knows the identity of my prize. Give me a name, an identity, and perhaps I won’t let Miranda decide the punishment for your failure.”