by Phil Tucker
"New recruit?" His voice was low, his accent maybe from New Jersey.
"No. Maybe. Is that what they call prisoners around here?"
He shook his head, smiling. "Just about. What's your name?"
"Selah Brown. Yours?"
"Castle. Gordon Castle. You're a civilian. What are you doing here?"
Selah shook her head. She couldn't help but like him. He was blunt, but his tone was calm, confident. Vaguely amused by it all. "I've got special blood. They're going to be testing me while they figure out how it works."
"Special blood, ay? What, like a magic hemophiliac or something?"
Selah couldn't help it. She snorted with amusement. He smiled a little wider when she did so and she realized that he was actually trying to cheer her up. "No. Not like a magic hemophiliac. But close." She paused. Did she actually want to explain? Something about his square face, the subtle kindness to his expression pressed her on. "When vampires drink my blood, they feel human, develop human feelings for the rest of the night. And ... I get their powers. Or used to. It hasn't happened in awhile."
"No shit. You, uh, reconstruct their 'moralistic framework' or whatever?"
Selah fought down a smile again. "Yeah. Something like that."
"Well, sucks to be you, then. You ain't getting out of here until they've stuck you with more pins than a hedgehog's got needles."
"Yeah. I know." Selah looked down at her hands. She didn't want to think about the physical tests. The needles. Whatever else they were going to do to her. "What about you, Gordon? Why are you here?"
"I volunteered." He shook his head again. "Dumbest thing I ever did. There I was, living the dream, a life of comfort and ease as a Master Sargeant in the Navy SEALs. Then word was put around that they were looking for the best of the best to enter a top secret project. Highest service to your country, etcetera. Anyway, I thought it a good idea. Signed up. Passed the tests, got shipped here. Now, all I do is take injections, run on a treadmill while they monitor me, and try to not blow my brains out from the boredom. It's been a blast."
"How long have you been here?"
The half smile slipped slowly away from Gordon's face. "Going on a year now."
"That long?" Gordon didn't respond. "How much longer are they going to keep you?"
"Fuck if I know. But with the war breaking out, we're all hoping to get out. Could happen. I don't know what else they can test at this point."
Selah nodded. It was strange to see somebody act so personable--so human--with vampire eyes embedded in their skull. "How do you feel?"
"Pretty damn good." He straightened and stretched. "Which can be its own problem. Too much energy and no way to use it. Between the five of us, we've nearly trashed the little gym they gave us."
More footsteps came up behind Gordon, who turned as a second, younger, man stepped into view. Where Gordon was solid and built like a gorilla, this man was tall and athletic, his light brown hair similarly cut close to the scalp, a broad, flat nose making his face striking, his eyes narrowed as if he were perpetually looking up at the sun. Firm jaw. He was actually really, really good-looking, and Selah realized that she was staring. She blinked, and looked quickly at Gordon.
"New recruit?" The newcomer's voice was quiet, almost soft.
"Selah Brown," she said as Gordon opened his mouth. "Civilian. Here for some special testing."
"Tom Hoch. Nice to meet you."
"I was just telling Selah about the rec facilities here," said Gordon. "We've got the weight room and we've got the bathroom. I never thought I'd put so much time into hygiene. And we have our Omnis, but hell, that's a closed loop right there. No exterior access. We got... What else am I missing here?"
Tom smiled, the corner of his mouth quirking. "I'd say good conversation, but that's hard to come by with you around."
Gordon smiled. "You play chess, Selah?" Selah shook her head. He sighed. "Well, maybe I can teach you."
"You guys have been here a whole year? With nothing to do?"
"It's what we signed up for," said Tom. "They were upfront about the nature of the assignment." He took hold of the door's upper sill and leaned forward slightly, the other hand on his hip. "It's dull, but hell. If this works out, if they manage to nail the serum? It could give us all the edge we need on the vampires."
Selah shook her head. "This can't be the way to go. Anyway, isn't the serum made from Blood Dust? That's over with. When LA blew up. All the blood thralls--the vampires they were milking for blood to make the Dust with--they all escaped. There's no more coming."
Gordon grinned. "That's all right. Uncle Sam's laid away enough Dust to make serum from here to eternity."
"How do you know about ... what did you call them? Blood thralls?" Tom was looking at her with a sharpness she didn't like.
"Wait, Uncle Sam? You mean the government has been collecting Blood Dust?"
"Sure," Gordon said. "By the tons. Our guys out in LA had a mainline right into the Core. We get regular shipments every week. What's wrong?"
Selah realized she was gripping the edge of her blanket tightly. "The Blood Dust gets shipped here? I thought ... Colonel Caldwell, he was buying the Dust to distribute to the rest of the country. To make money off it."
Gordon shook his head, his black eyes narrowing a fraction. "No. Colonel Caldwell was supplying USAMRIID with Dust. What do you know about that?"
Both Tom and Gordon were staring at her now. Selah suddenly felt sick. Her head began to hammer, and the walls seemed to undulate and press in on her. She stood up. "I'm sorry. I'm feeling--I need to rest. It was great meeting you. Excuse me." She closed the door in their faces and pressed her back against it. She heard the surprise in the muffled voices of the two men outside and then their footsteps as they walked away.
The Hybrid Project. It ran off Blood Dust. Which was made into this vampire serum. The Blood Dust came from LA. Uncle Sam had bought enough to make serum forever. Colonel Caldwell. Buying Blood Dust from Arachne every couple of weeks. Louis telling her he was one of the worst drug dealers, selling the Dust to dealers across the country, poisoning millions. She had believed him. Had wanted to believe him--needed to. So that she could save herself. Cure herself.
She pictured Caldwell on the night she had murdered him. The headlights of the Humvees behind him, his hands on his hips, face bellicose and suspicious. Remembered the slow motion grace with which she had torn out his throat, her nails sliding through his arteries and tearing open his windpipe with ease. The horrendous spray of blood.
Selah slid down the door to the ground, and covered her face with her hands. She had thought he was a traitor. Had used that excuse to justify killing him. Murdering him. But no. He had been working for USAMRIID. Had been supplying the research that might help the nation defeat the vampires. She felt dizzy, lightheaded. Her chest was so tight it hurt, and her mind was spinning, spinning.
She remembered Louis, seated by his harp, spinning out his lies. The humor in his voice, the light in his dark, dark eyes. How she had been manipulated! Into setting up Arachne, into killing a good man, into doing everything he desired! Fury boiled through her and she slammed her fist into the door. A wave of acid scorn at the gesture flooded over her. Hitting doors? What was she going to do next, stamp her feet?
She fought for breath. Massaged her eyes. She had killed an innocent man. Murdered him. She was a murderer. She deserved to be here. She deserved to be in jail. Her protests over her own innocence, her attempt to pin the murder on Arachne--all those lies lay like ashes in her mouth. She was a murderer. So what if they kept her buried down here forever, taking her blood, sticking her full of needles? It was what she deserved.
Selah opened her eyes and stared out at the memory of Colonel Caldwell. Other faces flashed before her eyes. The dealer she had killed inside the Core when she and Cloud had first been dropped off. Padrino Machado, hurling him out the window. She thought of Theo's heart, and how she had devoured it whole. Armando dying to save her. Selah
shook her head. Everywhere she had gone she had brought pain and death. She didn't deserve to be outside. She didn't deserve anything. She had managed to heal herself, prevent herself from turning into a vampire, but in the process, she had become a monster.
Chapter 8
Selah remained in her room until she was summoned. It was surprisingly easy to just lie down, switch off, and sleep. There was a level of exhaustion she had been skating over that went deeper than any one night's sleep could assuage. It was as if a dark lake of untold depths lay beneath a thin layer of ice. She feel into a deep and dreamless sleep, tumbling down and away from the small and anonymous bedroom that was to be her cell forevermore, and awoke with a start to the sound of knocking.
She sat up, swung her legs over and gripped the edge of the cot, and stared at the desk with blank confusion. Where was she? Nothing looked familiar. The knocking came again and this time a voice, muffled through the door. "Selah? Are you awake?"
It all came rushing back, like a rubber band that had been pulled to its limits and then released. "Yeah. One moment."
She ran her hand over the fuzz of her hair, and then dug her fingers into the corner of her eyes. She hadn't even taken her shoes off before falling asleep. Shivering, goose bumps prickling her arms, she stood and opened the door.
It was the scientist that had been working with the monkeys. She was wearing a starched white lab coat and was holding a small bundle of neatly folded clothing before her like an offering. She smiled, and Selah got the impression it wasn't an expression that came naturally to her, the woman's eyes remaining watchful and tinted with doubt.
"Hi. I'm Dominique Sanderson. Can I come in?"
"Sure." Selah stepped aside and then moved back altogether to sit on her bed once more. She stared at the ground and waited.
Dominique set the clothing down on the desk carefully, smoothed down the uppermost shirt, and then turned to her. There was something gentle in her manner, calm, almost hesitant. "We took a guess at your size, but we can always change it if we got it wrong. You can just leave your clothing in the hamper in the bathroom when you're done with them. They'll be returned to your room."
"There's no lock, is there?" Selah examined the door for the first time. There wasn't. Made sense.
"No." Dominique sat down next to her on the bed. "You probably understand why."
"Sure."
They sat in silence for a moment. It was wonderfully quiet. This far underground, the only sound was the gentle hum of the air conditioning vent set high in the ceiling. A hole just large enough to insert her arm into. No chance of crawling out to freedom through there.
"I know this must be hard for you. Being brought here, to this facility, to this room. I'm going to be working with you on your lab tests. I hope we can get along."
Selah looked at Dominique. The other woman held her gaze for a good five seconds, but she wasn't up to Selah's intensity and looked away.
"I'm sorry," Dominique said. She laughed quietly under her breath. "That probably sounded asinine. I actually spent about five minutes in the hallway outside trying to think of what to say to you, and that was the best I could come up with."
Dominique looked to be in her late thirties. She had a plain face that was made elegant by its symmetry, and it was clear that her hair was her quiet source of pride. It was thick, beautiful, seeming to hold depths in its smooth volume so that it glowed lustrously. Cut at shoulder length, it hung free and framed her face. Right now, she was looking at her hands, frowning down at them.
"It's all right," said Selah. "You don't need to say anything. I guess I kind of knew that I'd that I end up in a place like this."
"Well. I'm going to be running you through your initial tests. Or, more accurately, your blood samples. You actually won't be involved much during the first few weeks once I collect what I need."
"Don't you work with the monkeys?"
"Yes, but we're short staffed." Dominique hesitated. "Quite a few people left this morning when word got out about LA."
"Why didn't you leave?"
"Well, I..." Dominique trailed off and frowned down at her hands again. "I've been working with this group of primates for almost three years now. Most of them, at any rate. Their role in the project is almost finished, and now there's a lot of pressure to have them destroyed. I'm their main advocate. If I leave, there will be no one to protect to them."
"Oh," said Selah. "I see. Can't you... can't you have them shipped back to where you got them?"
"I wish." Dominique looked up and smiled. "Not after what they've gone through. Some of them have been given so much of the serum that they seem to be in a permanent state of pseudo-vampirism. Which has become the main focus of my current research–I'm trying to determine how long they're going to retain this vampiric state without new shots of the serum."
"Vampire monkeys?"
Dominique laughed. "Not really. It depends on how you want to define vampirism. Do they need to drink blood? No. Can they create new vampires? No. Are they active almost exclusively at night, have augmented strength, speed, and intelligence? Yes. And so on. There's still so much to learn. I just wonder if we'll have time." Selah didn't know what to say, so she stayed quiet. After a moment the scientist stood up. "Well, are you ready? We might as well get started."
"Sure," said Selah. "I think I'm free. Not too much on my social calendar right now." She stood and followed Dominique out into the hall. Peering down the other arm of the T-junction, she saw more doors. She heard the distinctive clink of metal weights being set down through an open door, but couldn't see inside. They passed the bathroom and into the tiny living room. The first guy was still sprawled out on the couch, boots kicked high on the far arm and crossed at the ankles. Hands laced behind his head, he stared into the depths of his Goggles, seeming to ignore them.
"Hi, Dominique," he said suddenly, his voice lazy, amused. Selah saw Dominique wince and then smooth out her expression.
"Hello, Lee." Her voice was icy, as distant and cold as far off mountain peaks.
He pulled the Goggles off and looked at her with his black, lethal eyes. Dominique had slowed, but turned away and marched right out of the living room.
He turned his gaze to Selah. "Who are you?"
"Selah Brown. I'm staying here now."
"Oh." He studied her blankly for a moment longer, and then leaned his head back. He wiggled into a comfortable position, pulled the Goggles back on, and laced his hands behind his head once more.
Oh? That was it? Selah frowned at him and then shook her head. Whatever. She caught up with Dominique at the front door and watched as she pressed her palm to the pad and placed her eyes into the retinal scanner. The heavy locks clanged and the door swung open. Dominique led Selah stiffly out into the hall, past the two guards, and on toward the elevators.
As they passed the large windows, Selah slowed down and peered inside once more. There had to be about fifteen cages in a continuous line along the floor, with another fifteen set directly above. The bars were as thick as her wrist and painted a Spartan white. Tables were set in the center of the room, on which a couple of Omnis and printed reports were set. Selah sensed Dominique come to a stop by her side, and together they studied the creatures behind the bars.
One drew her eye in particular. It had gray fur and was so large she thought it a gorilla, but when it turned its flattened face toward her, she realized it had to be a chimpanzee. Its eyes were jet black and a thick ruff of whiskers grew around its mouth. Its brow was heavy, a thick ridge of bone that gave its features a menacing, ominous cast.
"What is that? The grey one? It's huge."
Dominique stepped next to her. "That's Jojo. He's a Bili Ape." There was warmth in Dominique's voice, a subtle fondness. "He's originally from the Congo. His species was discovered just before the war, maybe... oh, thirty years ago now. There are so few of them left. They live and nest on the ground like gorillas, but have the same diet and genetic background as a chimpanze
e."
Selah studied him. Gray fur like thick wisps of smoke curled and brushed over his heavy musculature. In comparison to a gorilla, he was lean and limber, but there was a heavy strength in his broad shoulders and deep chest. And his eyes. They watched Selah with strange depths to them, a wealth of subtle emotion that she couldn't read, his face heavily wrinkled, his lips pursed.
"How did you get a Bili Ape for your experiments if they're so rare?" She looked over at Dominique and reluctantly pulled away and followed her to the elevator.
"It wasn't by design. When the program was created, we had to take what we could find for testing. The NIH had ended most of the primate programs before the war, retiring the test subjects to zoos, language research centers, the Chimp Haven and so forth. We just took what we could find from whatever sources still had them available."
The elevator arrived and the doors slid open. They stepped inside and Dominique pressed a button for the second floor. "So anyway," she continued, "one of the apes we got was Jojo. He'd been brought over from the Congo in 2019 as a baby for further study. Everybody was fascinated with his species. When the war broke out, he almost starved to death when his center was abandoned. But this crazy and wonderful couple broke him free and took him to their home, where they raised him for four years before he was located and taken back."
"That had to be hard," said Selah.
"Yes." Dominique's voice was very quiet. "He's not had an easy time."
The doors opened and they stepped out onto the first floor. Here, suddenly, there was light, people, activity. Voices, the sharp smell of coffee, a strange low hum that Selah felt more than heard. A guard detached himself from where he stood by the elevator and followed them unobtrusively at a distance of five yards. Dominique led her down a couple of hallways and pressed her palm once more to a security tablet outside a door. It opened and Selah followed her into a series of small rooms just like those in a doctor's office.
