“No,” Starnes said, shaking his head. He pressed the switch and the large door began rolling closed. “We don’t really like guests around here, with the exception of you, of course.”
Heidi smiled, showing off her small, but sharp fangs. “Where can we talk business?”
“Follow me.” Starnes turned and lead the group into the heart of Purgatory. He escorted them down into the lower levels, not quite as deep as the laboratories, but away from the few eyes left alive to pry.
Heidi sat down in a plush office chair, crossed her legs, and swiveled back and forth. Her two guards stood on either side of her, their faces nearly hidden by the large hoods on their leather trench coats. “Let’s get right to it, shall we. You’re dying, right. Cancer, I believe.” Her eyes were fixed on Starnes. An awkward silence fell from the General’s open mouth. “I can smell it on you. But don’t be too grieved. You all die eventually. That’s what all this is about, isn’t it?” She waved her hands at the surrounding equipment. “The Light Bearers have always been a nuisance, but only you have managed to capture an immortal. You may have started this way for enlightenment, but the fear of death has given you motivation you’ve never had before. You want vampire blood, and I can give it to you.”
Starnes licked his dry lips. “In exchange for what?”
She smiled like a crocodile. “There’s always a catch. I will turn you into a vampire under two conditions. First, I want Shufah, the vampire you have in custody, put to death.”
Goodalle’s heart petrified within his chest.
“Done,” Starnes said. “We have her well contained. We are equipped with high frequency ultraviolet lights. We’ll just turn those on and leave them until she’s dead.” The no-conscience, matter-of-fact way he spoke of killing Shufah caused a spurt of hot bile to rise in Goodalle’s throat.
Heidi clicked her perfect glasslike fingernails on her teeth. “Perhaps, but I wouldn’t be able to enjoy watching her die.” Goodalle feared Starnes would tell her about the UV filtering glass, but he, thankfully, remained silent. “I would like to kill her with my own hands. Feed upon her blood.”
Starnes clapped his hands together. “Sure. Whatever you like. What is your second condition?”
“Show me the creatures you created here. The ones that killed my Hunters and managed to subdue Shufah.” Starnes and Goodalle traded nervous glances. “Don’t be coy. I know they’re here, close by, watching us.” She turned her devilish blue eyes on Goodalle. “Tell me, how did you create such…unique beings? Strong, fast, invulnerable to fire and sunlight.”
Goodalle broke into a cold sweat. He fidgeted as rivers ran down his back. He explained, in layman’s terms, as best he could, how he had taken Lazarus’s quickly deteriorating blood and used it to, for lack of a better word, clone the umbilicus.
“How did you come to acquire this Lazarus?”
“The black shell he was in was found in the Mediterranean Sea by an underwater salvage team,” Starnes said. “We…acquired it from them.”
She nodded as if she appreciated their method of acquisition. “We call the black shell the Stone Cloak. It happens when vampires don’t feed, and is somehow the key to becoming Divine.”
“Divine?” Goodalle asked.
“Never mind,” she waved him off. “Call your creation. I want to see them.” Starnes nodded vigorously for Goodalle to comply. He thought of saying no, but the look in the General’s eyes, not to mention his hand resting on his gun, told Goodalle he better obey.
Goodalle clicked the button in his pocket, and within moments, the two umbilicus swept into the room. The two male vampires stepped forward in startled defense, but Heidi remained seated, a Cheshire grin upon her face.
“Well, they’re not much to look at,” she said, standing to her feet. “But they are impressive, nonetheless. How often must they feed?”
“Whenever their blood becomes polluted, they need a transfusion, or they succumb to toxic shock.” Heidi didn’t seem impressed with Goodalle’s answer. “About once a week if they feed on humans. Vampire blood, however…”
“Ah, yes.” She stepped forward, but remained an arm’s length from the umbilicus. “They have a craving for vampire blood now. I can see it in their black eyes. That’s why you still have Shufah. She won’t give you her blood to make others, and you can’t risk feeding your only vampire to your pets.” She gave a short, cold laugh. “I can change all of that for you.” She spoke to the umbilicus, and it brought chills to Goodalle’s flesh. She turned her back on them, and there was a tense moment when he thought his sons would fall upon her. “They do well against vampires, but tell me, how will they do against a savage?”
Goodalle and Starnes exchanged confused glances again. “What’s a savage?” Starnes asked.
“Let’s have a little demonstration, shall we?” Heidi said with a nimble spin. “We may all learn something today.”
They moved deeper into Purgatory, Heidi explaining what she wanted. With all things ready, and the calibrations made to the equipment, they met in one of the empty containment rooms. Goodalle checked his watch. Six hours had somehow passed. He needed to keep them stalled for another six.
The umbilicus took their place inside the glass cage. As requested, Starnes had one of his largest and strongest soldiers standing at his side. Without word or explanation, the Japanese vampire snatched up the soldier and tore into his neck. The man struggled in vain, and was drained of blood in a matter of seconds. The vampire then opened his wrist with his fangs and force-fed the dying soldier his immortal blood.
Goodalle watched in fascination, all disgust and horror washed away, as the soldier transitioned from the living to the dying to the undead. The vampire soldier looked around the room in awe, a broad smile upon his face. Heidi turned to the black vampire and nodded. The vampire extended his hand, clenching it into a fist as though he was crushing an orange. Immediately, the soldier collapsed to the ground, grabbing his chest.
“What’s happening?” Goodalle asked.
“As you know, we vampires heal extremely fast,” Heidi said. “But if you can manage to destroy our hearts or brains, the vampire spirit that animates us will go savage. A savage is a mindless flesh eater, relentless and uncontrollable. With a single bite, they can turn vampire or man into a savage. I want to see how your umbilicus stand up against one.” She nodded and the Japanese vampire tossed the soldier’s lifeless body into the containment room. “Lock the door and make sure the room is vented to the outside.”
Goodalle did as he was told.
They watched through the large window, expectation dripping like sweat. For a long time, nothing happened. The umbilicus stood still as statues, the soldier remained dead upon the floor. Then, just when it seemed like nothing would happen, the soldier let out a guttural groan and flipped onto his back. The whites of his eyes filled with dark red blood, his pupils dilated, completely overtaking his irises. His lips withered before their eyes and peeled back tight against his gums. Black veins fractured in all directions, as the festering blood pumped throughout his body. He stood to his feet, regarding the umbilicus with animalistic fury.
“Kill the savage,” Heidi said to the umbilicus. “But don’t drink his blood.”
The umbilicus converged on the savage, catching him in the center of the room. The savage lashed out, smashing one umbilicus with his hands, while gnashing on the other with his teeth.
Heidi stood with her nose nearly touching the glass. “The savage’s teeth can’t pierce their flesh.” She clasped her hands before her and danced a bit on her tiptoes. Her giddy happiness masked her monstrous true form, and for a moment, she seemed like a lovely young girl.
The umbilicus each took ahold of the savage’s wrists, and with a hard yank, ripped the beast’s arms from their sockets. They tore into the thrashing torso, disemboweling him with their bare hands. Immediately, the pieces of the soldier, small and great, began to turn black and swell. The viscous puddles of blood began to boil
and coagulate.
“Here we go,” Heidi said, pressing her palms against the window. “Now we’ll see if what you’ve created is worth keeping.” She pointed at Goodalle, and her small delicate finger seemed like the end of a saber. “Be ready to vent the room. We can’t let any of it escape.”
Goodalle was about to ask what she meant, when all the swelling, churning pieces of the soldier exploded into a thick, black miasma. It resembled soot or carbon dust, except that the cloud seemed to flow against the air current, and rushed for the two umbilicus, swallowing them up.
“What the hell is that?” Starnes shouted, emphasizing every word.
“We call it savage spores. It changes any living thing it touches to a savage.”
Goodalle slammed his hand onto the console, activating the purge. The air in the sealed room was sucked out with such intensity that it actually bowed the large window inward. The black cloud was swallowed by the exchange vents, clearing the room within half a minute, leaving only the two umbilicus, bewildered but unchanged.
“Now that’s something worth seeing,” Heidi said to herself.
“Okay, enough,” Starnes said. “A deal is a deal. You’ve seen the umbilicus, and what they can do. The other vampire is yours. Do whatever you want to her. But now it’s your turn to hold up your end. You owe me some blood.”
There was a tense moment of silence in the room. Goodalle had the sense that most people didn’t speak to Heidi that way and get away with it. He wondered if he should try to run for it. Would his sons be fast enough to save him? Would they even try? But then Heidi smiled and nodded. She looked to the black vampire and said, “Turn him.”
Starnes went to the black vampire, all dignity gone, like a child begging for a toy. The black vampire did just as the Japanese vampire had done for the soldier, and ten minutes later, Starnes was reborn as one of the undead.
“I want to drink Goodalle’s blood,” Starnes said with a smile. He crossed the room faster than Goodalle could blink, snatching him by the throat. The umbilicus approached the window, but didn’t attempt to break through. Goodalle pried at Starnes’s fingers, but they were as immovable as stone.
“Stop,” Heidi said. “Leave him be. We have more business to discuss.” Starnes seemed put out, but he obeyed, dropping Goodalle on the floor like a bag of waste. “Open the door and let your creation out,” she said to Goodalle.
He slowly climbed to his feet, rubbing the fire from his throat, and released the lock on the door. The umbilicus exited the containment room and Heidi applauded.
“Well done,” she said to them. “Now, I have a proposition for you. There is an army of savages, just like that one, amassing against us. If you help the High Council eradicate this army, you can feed on as many vampires as you like. In fact, if you agree, feel free to start with General Starnes here.”
“What?” Starnes turned in disbelief.
“I only said that I’d turn you. I never said I’d judge you worthy to live.”
The umbilicus were on Starnes before he could speak another indignant word, their stinging tongues piercing his throat, drawing out his newly acquired vampiric blood, their “umbilical cords” stabbing him in each side, pumping their toxic blood back in.
“When you’re finished with Starnes,” Heidi said. “Go through this place from top to bottom. Kill everyone. Leave no one alive, except for the vampire Shufah. She’s mine. And leave Goodalle here, as well. He may be useful to us.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
The remains of the beach house had fallen down around them, sealing the group in a tomb of burning debris. The five of them were lying together in a knotted pile, one atop the other, in a small pocket that Ming had created with her powerful telekinesis. Alicia and Foster were near Jerusa, and the rest of her army of ghosts moved in and out of the shell of broken wall studs and flooring, lighting the little pocket with their auras.
The fire had been extinguished, from a lack of oxygen below, and from a team of firefighters above. Celeste had used her psychic abilities to mask them from the savage augurs until the sun had chased them away. She had then impressed upon the firefighters that the house had been empty when it caught fire, and that there was no reason to dig into the rubble looking for survivors. Thankfully, Suhail and his savages had been long gone by the time the humans had arrived.
The sun dipped low in the West, holding onto the horizon like a spoiled child grasping the wall, refusing to go to bed. The vampires didn’t need oxygen to live, didn’t need to breathe at all, but the sense of suffocation had been hardwired into their brains, as was claustrophobia. Had it not been so difficult to talk, Jerusa would’ve asked her ghosts to vanish for a bit and allow the darkness to blot out the truth that they were buried alive.
Dusk finally arrived and the weight of the sun lightened. The shell of debris shifted and quaked as Ming pushed upward with her mind. She groaned under the strain, but the broken house would not yield. She collapsed with a deep sigh and the pocket of air shrank significantly. After a moment of rest, she tried again, but apparently, it was easier to pull a house down on top of you than it was to push it back off again.
Noises filtered down from above. The sounds of wood snapping, and large chunks of stone and concrete being hurled to the side. Someone was digging them out, by hand, from the sound of it.
Ming pushed up with her mind again, and this time, the pocket of air expanded. She bit her upper lip, and pressed her hands upward. Her arms quaked as though she literally held the weight of the broken house. Perhaps she did. The twisted mess of 2x4s, stone, wire and piping continued to loosen. The excavation from above grew more vigorous as the broken house’s grip weakened. Ming pushed up hard, somehow finding enough air to release a scream of fury, and the mountain of debris exploded like an erupting volcano.
The five vampires climbed from the crater, gasping at the fresh, salty air. The stars were bright and attentive, the gentle waves sent up a round of applause. They made it as far as the thin strip of sand before collapsing in exhaustion.
“Is Suhail still here?” Jerusa asked Alicia. “Are the savages coming back?”
“No, they’ve made their point and have resumed whatever’s next on their vile agenda.” Jerusa recognized that voice. It was Tisiphone of the Furies. She rolled over and found the three vampires standing atop the bluff the house had been built on. “We’re glad to see you survived, young one,” she said, though the words came from all three. “We bring word from your creator.”
“Silvanus?” Jerusa rolled onto her knees. “You found him? Why didn’t he come back with you?”
The same grave look fell upon the three women’s faces, but the sorrow in Alecto’s eyes left an empty spot in Jerusa’s chest. “He would’ve come had he the power to,” Tisiphone said. “The Divine Vampires have taken him captive for the crime of creating a blood drinker. I’m sorry. We had no power to free him.”
Jerusa wanted to cry. For one brief moment, when she had seen the Furies standing there, she had dared to hope that Silvanus would be with them. Considering what they had just gone through, she should be thankful just to be alive, but she just wanted to lie on the sand until the sun came up. Silvanus was beyond her reach, and eternity seemed too long to be apart from him.
After a few minutes of wallowing in self-pity, Jerusa swallowed hard and stood to her feet. Though she craved it, death was not an option. “What about Shufah?” she asked the Furies. “Did Silvanus tell you where the Light Bearers might be keeping her?”
The three women broke into simultaneous smiles. “There is a military base called Purgatory hidden in the northern Rocky Mountains. The Light Bearers have taken Shufah there. If you still wish to know her fate, come with us now.”
Jerusa started forward, but Ming took hold of her arm with a firm telekinetic hand. Taos and Celeste were on their feet as well, but Ming and Ralgar remained seated on the sand. “We’re not going anywhere near that place,” Ming said.
“Why not,” Jer
usa demanded.
“She’s no longer our concern. We need to report to the High Council about what we’ve seen. We’ll come clean about Shufah, and beg Marjek for mercy. If he wishes us to pursue her, then we shall.”
“And if he kills us all out of blind fury?” Jerusa asked.
“Then that is our destiny.”
“No. She is my friend and I’m going to go save her.”
“So am I,” Taos said.
“Me too,” Celeste added. Jerusa was touched by that. It wasn’t easy for Celeste to go against Ming. It could mean her life.
Ming’s eyes flared hot, but she seemed too weary to strike out. “Shufah is no friend of mine. I owe her nothing.”
“Maybe not,” Jerusa said. “But you saw what Suhail can do. He had those savages totally under his control. Something is different. Something has changed. Humans are helping the savages, which means they have the advantage of daylight. Shufah is the only one that knows what her brother is truly capable of. She is our only hope of defeating Suhail. Help me save Shufah and together, we’ll burn Suhail and his army to ashes.”
Ming pondered this for a long moment. Ralgar watched her in expectation. “You pulled me from the water,” she said finally. “The savages had me.” It was difficult for her to express what she wanted to say. Not because she couldn’t find the words, but because pride is a tough wall to scale. “I’ll help you. I owe you that much.” She looked at the Furies. “When we get to Purgatory, do you have a plan for getting inside?”
The three women, two of which were blind, looked at each other. “We have an idea,” Tisiphone said with a devious smirk.
They found the pilot who had flown them to South Carolina sobering up in his hotel room. They re-commandeered his jet and chased the twilight toward the West until the great Rocky Mountains loomed into view.
“Are you sure this will work?” Jerusa asked the Furies.
“No, not really,” Tisiphone answered. “But we can’t very well knock and ask them to let us in. Surprise is our best weapon. Those things that took Shufah are surely there too. With any luck, we can get in, find her and get back out with as little confrontation as possible.”
Perpetual Creatures, Volumes 1-3: A Vampire and Ghost Thriller Series Page 82
