Shufah scanned the room as though she expected to see Alicia hiding in the corner. “I hope you’re right.”
“But you think I’m wrong?”
“You can’t trust ghosts. I’ve told you that before. They are not motivated by the same desires as the living. Though they seem kind, they can be quite bitter and cruel.”
“Does that include Foster?” Immediately Jerusa regretted her words. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be so harsh.”
Shufah flashed a patient smile. “I know you didn’t.”
“Why don’t you trust ghosts? Sure, there are the angry ones, but surely when you were mortal you came across a kind one now and then.”
“Oh, yes. When I still had the sight, I met many ghosts. Some angry, some sad. Others were violent. And I too had a few that I called friends. But kindness and friendship are powerful tools to lead one into betrayal.”
Jerusa’s stomach fluttered. She felt dangerously close to overstepping her bounds with Shufah, but she had never opened up to Jerusa like this before. “A ghost betrayed you? How?”
“Not just me, but my whole family. My brother, Suhail, and I were quite gifted, though my father commanded our silence concerning our gift. In those days, we likely would have been stoned to death or burned as witches.” A tiny, sad smile flashed across Shufah’s face at some distant memory. “This ghost led me and Suhail to a man named Marjek.”
“Marjek of the High Council?” Taos asked in surprise.
“Is Marjek your maker?”
Shufah nodded. “Yes. He turned Suhail and me.”
“You were turned by Marjek?” Taos asked again. A look of awe passed over his face. “That explains a lot.”
Jerusa wasn’t sure what that meant, but she didn’t feel right asking about it. “I still don’t see the betrayal. Had the ghost not led you to Marjek, you would have died thousands of years ago.”
Shufah shook her head. “The ghost didn’t lead us to Marjek to be turned. He led us there to die and Marjek would have killed us had he not been so enamored with our beauty. Instead, he sought to make us his pets.”
“Why did the ghost want you to die?” Taos asked.
“Suhail and I always believed it was to punish our father. The ghost may have been a man my father wronged in life, perhaps competition for our mother or even a man my father killed in battle. We never found out for sure. Once we were turned, we never saw another spirit again. If the ghost was out for vengeance against our father, he got his wish.”
Jerusa wasn’t sure she wanted to know, but the question came unbidden. “How?”
“Marjek carried us far away, keeping us as his slaves. After a while, we were able to convince him to take us home, if only for a visit. Once back, we discovered that our mother, thinking her children had died, had plunged a blade into her own breast. Our father still lived, though by then he was quite old and close to passing.”
Jerusa could almost see the ancient tragedy playing out in her mind. “You turned your father. You made him a vampire.”
Shufah nodded. “Suhail and I took turns feeding on him then letting him feed from us, just as Marjek had done with us. Father was so frail and weak. We were terrified he wouldn’t survive. But he did. He became a vampire, too. For that brief moment, we were happy again.”
Jerusa swallowed the knot rising in her throat. “Where is your father now?”
“He didn’t live to see the next moon rise. When Marjek returned to collect us, he was furious at what we had done. Father’s youth had been spent long ago and all that Marjek could see was a vampire locked eternally in the body of an old man. He would not have such ugliness walking the earth.”
“Marjek killed your father?”
“He staked my father to a tree and left him for the sun. We were hidden from the daylight, but not so far away that we couldn’t hear our father’s screams. Not long after that, Suhail and I escaped Marjek. He stalked us for a while, but soon we became too powerful for him to control, so he let us be.”
A fire of righteous indignation burned in Jerusa’s bones. She wanted to hear a story of vengeance. A tale of Marjek’s pain-filled death and of Shufah standing victoriously over his remains. But she knew no such tale existed. Marjek was a Steward, on the High Council and there were no happy endings.
The house’s alarm system rang out, snapping Jerusa from her thoughts. The noise was barely audible to humans, but not to the vampires. Shufah turned back to her laptop and pulled up the surveillance cameras. She checked around the outside of the house and when all was clear she switched to the cameras around the perimeter of the property.
The cameras were equipped with UV filtering lenses which made the daylight world outside seem perpetually steeped in shadows. After searching for a moment, Shufah pointed to the screen. Two men stood just inside the edge of the forest, watching the house.
It was hard to determine the men’s heights through the monitor, but both were of stocky build. Each man was dressed in dark clothes that helped them blend into the forest, but would also pass as casual wear on the streets.
“Who are they?” Jerusa asked. “They look like cops or maybe FBI.”
“No, I don’t think so,” Shufah said. “Though, they may be military.”
Taos leaned over Shufah’s shoulder. “I recognize those two. It’s hard to forget faces that ugly. They’ve been snooping around town for the past couple of nights. I don’t think they are military, though.”
“Then who are they?” Jerusa looked at the men again, checking to see if there was a detail that she had missed. There didn’t seem to be anything conspicuous about them at all.
“I think they are Light Bearers,” Taos said. “They are the only ones that would know how to track us.”
“I thought you said the Light Bearers were passive. That they stayed on the fringes, gathering little observations to add to their musty old libraries. Showing up to a vampire’s home, during daylight hours, seems pretty aggressive to me.”
Taos looked at Jerusa and shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe they’ve defected and want us to turn them. It happens from time to time. I can’t keep track of humans and their motivations. All I can say is at least they are smart enough not to try this after dark. I’d make a quick meal of them.”
“What do you think?” Jerusa asked Shufah.
“I think Taos is wrong.”
Taos’s face curled in skepticism. “What do you mean I’m wrong? If those two aren’t members of the Light Bearers, then I’m a mosquito.”
“No, I mean, I don’t think they are human.” Shufah typed something on her keyboard and the screen changed to a thermal image.
The background color was a spray of blues and greens and the computer showed the outside temperature to be fifty-seven degrees. The two men, however, were amorphous blobs of bright red and orange, which wasn’t unusual for living creatures, except that their core temperatures averaged one-hundred and fifteen degrees.
“Well,” Taos said in a slow, dry voice, “those two might want to go to the hospital. They have quite the fever going.”
“They’re out in daylight, so it’s obvious they aren’t vampires.” Jerusa was mostly speaking to herself. “Do you think they are Divine Vampires, maybe come to look for Silvanus?”
Shufah shook her head. “I don’t think so. A Divine Vampire mimics a human so closely it is near impossible to tell the difference, which is what makes them so difficult to find and why the Stewards maintain they don’t exist.”
Taos stood straight as if the view on the monitor gave him the creeps. “If they aren’t human and they’re not vampires, then what are they?”
Again Shufah shook her head. “I don’t know. It seems the Light Bearers are no longer passive observer. It looks like they’ve been up to something naughty. Whatever the case, I’m putting the house on lock down.”
Shufah typed another command on her computer and the mechanical buzz of steel shutters, descending from the ceiling to cover all exterior
windows and doors, filled the house. The band of workers from the community town down south had done a thorough job turning this house into a vampire sanctuary. Jerusa had made friends with several of them and she often wondered how they were doing.
Shufah switched the monitor back to standard view just in time to see the two men—or whatever they were—stand up and strike out through the forest.
“That was strange,” Taos said. “Do you suppose they heard the shutters falling?”
“I believe they did,” Shufah said. “Incredible hearing, wouldn’t you say.”
Taos nodded.
The bigger question for Jerusa, however, was would the two men have tried to enter the house had Shufah not dropped the steel shutters? And had they entered, would they have come as friend or foe? Jerusa felt she knew the answer to both and neither one filled her with warm, cuddly thoughts.
Shufah turned to face Jerusa and Taos. “Let’s keep this matter to ourselves for now. Ming, Ralgar and the other Hunters need not know of it. Nor do the Stewards, at least until we know what the Light Bearers are up to.”
“Can we tell Thad?” Jerusa asked.
Taos barked out a short, dry laugh. “I wouldn’t. That boy takes everything too hard. He’s been moping about the past few months like the world’s coming to an end.”
What Taos didn’t understand was that to Thad his world was coming to an end. He didn’t want to be a vampire, despite all of the benefits, which meant his only choice was death or quarantine. And for Taos to just laugh it off, like it was a trivial matter, felt like no less than a slap in the face, especially since it was his bite that had infected Thad.
“Well, since I’ve been commanded not to see Thad, I wouldn’t know anything about that, would I?” Jerusa went back to her computer, but she wasn’t in the mood to surf the net. Instead she pulled up her email.
Despite Shufah’s warning, Jerusa decided to tell Thad everything, about the Hunters coming to escort them, about the meeting with the Stewards and even about the two men hiding in the trees. He was a part of this, wasn’t he? He deserved to know the truth. He deserved to make the choice.
Jerusa typed fast and hit send before Taos or Shufah saw her. Before she changed her mind.
CHAPTER FIVE
General Starnes sat relaxed in his chair, his face calm and unreadable, as the man on his computer screen all but foamed at the mouth. Starnes was video messaging with his “superior”, Four Star General Zacharias Pleasant. The man didn’t live up to his name.
“So you’re telling me project Light Bearer is a bust?” Pleasant asked, though it sounded more like a threat.
“Not a bust, sir. We are still rebuilding after the fire.”
“Rebuilding? It’s been six months. How much more rebuilding do you have to do?”
“We are nearly complete, sir.” Starnes kept his voice even and emotionless. “The fire was extensive and much of our research was destroyed. It takes time to get up and running again.”
“Don’t talk to me about time. Do you know how many other governments are attempting projects like this one?”
“No, sir.” That was a lie. There were four countries with Enhanced Combatant programs running: Russia, Israel, China and of course the US. Starnes knew this because the Light Bearers Society had infiltrated all of them. It sickened Starnes that he had dedicated his life to playing the role of the good soldier, following the orders of a deceptive government and its corrupt leaders, but in order to bring the light of truth to the world, you sometimes had to tread through dark places.
“You may have sold your little ‘X-Files’ program to the joint chiefs, but not me,” Pleasant continued. “Promises were made. If there is no delivery, it’ll be your skin in the fryer, not mine.”
“I understand, sir.” Someone entered the room to his right, but Starnes kept his eyes fixed to the computer screen.
“I don’t think you do. This is one of our most important missions. We cannot afford to come in second in this race. If you fail, a court martial will be the least of your worries. Do you understand me? The clock is ticking.”
“I understand, sir.”
“We’ll see.” Pleasant reached over, out of the camera’s view and the screen went dark.
Starnes made sure the secure link was severed before turning to the tiny man, in the white lab coat, standing in the doorway.
“What is it Willis?”
Willis Goodalle—the top scientist in Purgatory—was tiny, mousy and as frail as a blade of grass, but he was a brilliant geneticist. He wasn’t a true believer, not a member of the Light Bearers, but he was, as most scientists are, easily motivated by the research and money.
Goodalle stepped into the room. “Sir, Shadow Team has made contact.”
Starnes turned in his chair, which seemed to startle Goodalle for some reason. “Have they located Lazarus, yet?”
Goodalle fidgeted in place. He opened his mouth, but it seemed to take an extra-long time for the words to get past his teeth. “No, sir. They have searched the town, but they say Lazarus is not there.”
Starnes clenched his jaw, reining in the scream of frustration brewing inside. The being, designated with the code name Lazarus, had escaped from Purgatory six months ago. He had somehow reanimated, or maybe hatched was a better word, from one of the rock-oddities the order had collected from around the world. To Starnes’s knowledge, this was a first. Lazarus had destroyed the lab—and several well-armed soldiers—in a great conflagration, before killing four scientists and vanishing into thin air. Through a painfully detailed search, they had tracked him to a small Midwestern town, where a small coven of vampires had taken up residence. But as before, he vanished before they could get to him.
“If they have not located Lazarus, then why are you bothering me?”
Goodalle cleared his throat. “Shadow Team is requesting to feed, sir.”
Starnes looked at the digital calendar on his computer. “What? Already? They fed less than a week ago.”
“I know, sir, but their monitors are reading a high level of blood toxicity. They need another transfusion. They are requesting to feed on the vampires.”
“Negative,” Starnes snapped back. “They are our only link to Lazarus at the moment. Tell them to seek out a human transfusions. But not in town. I don’t want to tip off the vampires to our presence.”
“With all due respect, sir,” Goodalle said in a timid voice. “Vampire blood may sustain them for a much longer duration.”
“Can you say, without a doubt, what effect vampire blood will have on them? Will it make them stronger? Maybe uncontrollable? Or is it possible that it could kill them?” Starnes sat back and crossed his legs, enjoying the look of discomfort on Goodalle’s face. He was worse than a whipped dog.
“No, sir, I can’t say without a doubt what will happen to them.”
“Then the subject is closed.”
“Was it wise for us to send them out without finishing our tests, sir? We have no idea the long term effects of the process.”
“Willis,” Starnes said, with all the condescension he could muster. “Fortune favors the brave.” Goodalle didn’t seem convinced. Starnes stood up and placed his arm around his shoulders, smiling a bit when the little man flinched. “Let’s take a walk, shall we?”
Goodalle gave a reluctant nod. “All right. Where to?”
“The incubators.”
Goodalle’s face tightened in disgust. “Do we have to?”
“Don’t you want to see your children?”
“I hate when you call them that.” Goodalle shivered as though a snake had slithered across his feet.
Starnes clapped him on the back, then led him back out into the hallway. Purgatory was a busy place these days, despite what he had told General Pleasant. Scientist, soldiers and other personnel scurried from place to place, never stopping to make chit-chat, or even eye contact, with Starnes and Goodalle. Near ninety percent of the Purgatory st
aff belonged to the Light Bearers and the other ten percent were either too scared or well-paid to step out of line. Starnes would have preferred a hundred percent fealty, but he had to work with what he had.
“So, tell me about your children.”
Goodalle squirmed. “Please sir, don’t call them that.”
“Oh, fine. Tell me about the umbilicus. What are the stats?”
“Out of twenty, five have either perished of massive organ failure or we’ve had to euthanize them, due to uncontrollable mutations.”
“And of the others?” Starnes stopped in front of an elevator, took the key fastened to his wrist and inserted in the lock near the buttons.
“Of the thirteen left in stasis, I’d wager we’ll lose another five to ten.”
The elevator doors opened. They stepped inside the car and Starnes pressed the button for sub-level three. “I don’t like what I’m hearing, Willis.”
Goodalle seemed to shrivel in his lab coat. “I’m sorry, sir. It’s impossible to predict just how the gene therapy will react with any given subject. The two umbilicus in Shadow Team may just be flukes. They could fall ill to any number of maladies in the field. Mutations, tumors, they could even create some sort of global pandemic.”
“You said they couldn’t reproduce.”
The elevator doors opened and they stepped out into the brightly lit hall. Just a few steps brought them to the observation windows looking down onto the clean room.
“So far they seem unable to affect others, as the vampires do, but that doesn’t mean it will stay that way.” Goodalle’s voice seemed to gain strength. Perhaps it was because in this level of Purgatory he was the lord and master. “This is why I strongly urge you to call Shadow Team home. We need more testing.”
Starnes leaned in and looked down upon the twenty incubation pods. Seven were empty, but the other thirteen were filled with an amber liquid, so thick you could barely make out the bodies resting within. The amber liquid was some sort of amniotic fluid used to introduce the umbilicus gene to the human “volunteers”. It was all very technical, which is why it was best left in Goodalle’s hands.
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