by Derek Gunn
“Do you see now, Sheriff?” the figure smiled at him. Newton was dimly aware of the growing unease in the crowd behind him. The situation was a hair trigger away from total chaos. He had no idea what was going on but he knew that whatever these men were, they certainly weren’t human. The wrong move now would probably lead to total slaughter. His mind was in turmoil, impossible thoughts of vampires and demons pulled at his sanity, but everyone in the room was looking to him for direction. He was damned if he would let them die for nothing. The creatures, or whatever they were, had consciously not attacked them as yet, despite the gunshots, and there must be a reason for that. The figure in the centre was obviously the leader and had total control of the boys. If there was any way out of this it would be through him.
“What’s all this about Mr...?”
“Names are unimportant,” the figure smiled, “they are meaningless nonsense created by a short lived race who spends too much of its limited life trying to become immortal, in name if not in actuality. We have no need for them.”
“What exactly is it that you do need?”
“Right now,” the stranger continued, “in thousands of towns all over the world, vampires such as me are quietly taking this world away from your kind. One by one the towns will fall to us and then we will begin on the cities. By the time you even notice it will be too late.”
The news hit Newton like a blow. His mind raced as pieces of the puzzle fell into place. “Then the killings …”
“Were a necessary distraction, yes.” The stranger finished. “Despite what Hollywood may tell you the first few days of a vampire’s existence are a critical time. They are weak as kittens as the change ravages their bodies. As you can see, that weakness is short lived.”
“Why tell us this? You obviously have the advantage, why not just slaughter us and move on?”
“Unlike you humans, we vampires are a patient race. We have hidden for centuries from your kind because we could see that you humans were dangerous. Because you are so short lived you achieve amazing advances in short time frames. It was decided long ago that this advancement, or technology as you have dubbed it, would be dangerous to us. Over the centuries we ensured that all references to our race were removed and those that could not be removed were ridiculed and reduced to myth.”
“We bided our time, but now that technology has stagnated we will come from the shadows and take what is ours.”
“All very interesting but why are you telling us this?” Newton was sure there was an advantage here, something that could very well allow them to bargain for some or all of their lives. He just had to find it.
“In order to spread throughout the world we need two things: food and security”
Newton felt sick as realisation dawned on him. “You want us to sign on to your army.”
“In a sense. The food element we can satisfy now by killing everyone here; however, who knows what will happen next week or next month? Who knows when such a feast will again present itself to us? We could kill you and carry the dead with us, but blood sours quite quickly.”
“You want us to become a mobile blood bank for you.” Newton gasped as the full horror hit him. “You’re insane if you think we would stoop that low. What could you possibly offer...?” He snapped his jaw shut, wishing he could take back his last question, already knowing that he had played into the vampire’s hands.
“I’m glad you asked.” The stranger turned from Newton with a smile and faced the petrified crowd. “You have heard what I have said so far. Your race is already defeated but you don’t have to die, your children don’t have to be tortured or killed. I can offer some of you power beyond your imagination, immortality and land after the coming war is over. To others I offer places of favour in our elite guard. Places of power where you can walk in daylight but will have power near to our own and access to pleasures beyond your imaginations. To those who give their allegiance to us we will spare their families and allow them to live in peace. To all others you will die here tonight.”
The room was totally silent and Newton turned and looked over the townspeople. He knew everyone here, and while he had expected to see some of them considering the mysterious figure’s offer – there would always be those who put their own needs first, he really had expected to see most stand together and declare their defiance though and he was shocked to see so many amongst them who could not meet his gaze.
“You know you can’t trust him,” Newton spluttered incredulously. “He will take you with him and drink you dry only to cast you aside like a bottle off a shelf.” Newton could see husbands whispering to their wives, men and women standing alone with their eyes glazed, thinking of the promised pleasures, and knew that too many were already beyond reason. The first of them tentatively moved forward and Newton raised his gun and fired.
The bullet tore a hole in the floor just in front of the lead man. “Don’t do it, Jack,” Newton warned. “You can’t trust them.”
“They’re going to kill us anyway, Sheriff. You heard him. At least this way Jenny and little Jack might have a chance,” Jack Thompson pleaded. Newton knew that Thompson wasn’t a bad man; he wasn’t doing this for his own gratification he just wanted to save his family. But they had to see that the only way to beat the vampires was in not helping them now when they were still weak.
“Jack, they can’t exist during the day, they’ll never win as long as they have to hide away every day. If we help them now then the whole world is finished. What kind of future are you leaving for little Jack if they win?”
“Sheriff, you don’t have kids, how would you know what it’s like to let someone threaten him? God forgive me but I just can’t let them tear him apart.”
“Not even to save the world?” Newton asked as the weight of his gun suddenly became too much and he lowered the weapon.
“Not even for that.” Thompson lowered his head and walked slowly over to the vampires. About half of the younger fathers followed him and almost all the young men that had remained in the town. Newton saw two of his deputies shrug and holster their guns and join the growing group. Newton wasn’t angry at the fathers but he shot looks of pure hatred at the single men for their betrayal.
He jumped suddenly as he felt a hand slide into his and turned to see Jess lean forward to kiss him on the cheek. There were tears in her eyes and something else, something he really should have seen before. God, was I that blind? He thought as he looked at his deputy. I never realised, never even recognised the signs. All that time alone and she was in front of me all the time.
He put his arm around her and squeezed. He saw the stranger indicate that the families of the men should exit through the still open door. The women and children didn’t need further prompting and soon the hall was mostly empty.
Newton looked around at those that remained. Most were too old to be tempted by this devil’s promises, but some were not. Some parents stood protectively in front of their young charges. Elsewhere sons and daughters, old enough to make up their own minds, stood in contrast in front of their parents, petrified but defiant. Tears rolled down Newton’s cheek. It should be quick, at least.
The creature looked at Newton with a quizzical look. “What do you hope to gain by dying?” he asked.
Newton looked at him. “The fact that you have to ask means that you will never understand us and that will be your downfall eventually.”
The creature shrugged and left. His leaving was like a lever releasing a spring and the ten remaining creatures surged forward.
Outside the survivors couldn’t bear to look at each other and remained huddled in the cold air, alone with their thoughts, until the screaming inside died away.
Chapter 1
Harris winced. A cramp shot up his leg and he shifted his position to get more comfortable in his treetop perch. He brought the binoculars to his eyes and surveyed the front of the house. The two-story Georgian structure was richly covered in blooming ivy and nestled in the middle of its 1
00-acre estate. From his vantage point, Harris could see the large wooden entrance doors set behind sun bleached sandstone pillars.
Those doors, he knew, led to the main hall and a large stairway that spiralled upward to the 10 bedrooms above. The dining room, lounge, library, toilet and servants” quarters covered the lower floor. He ran though the house’s interior as he waited, picturing the marble floors, the expensive furniture and the art on the walls. None of these things were accurate, for he had never been inside the house; they were just what he imagined such a grand house would have. His understanding of the layout, however, was perfect. He knew the position of every room, window and door. He had studied the plans for this house until he knew the layout better than the house he had been born in, this was his first mission in charge and he was leaving nothing to chance. His stomach churned with nerves and he tried to distract himself by scanning the grounds around him.
They had once been very well kept, he could still see some of the plan that those who had planted and cared for the grounds had once had. The trees had been planted in neat lines, guarding the driveway like silent sentinels. Flower beds had once been dotted liberally around the manicured lawns, providing splashes of colour to offer relief from the green canvas. It must have been quite beautiful Harris thought as he swept the area but the last few years of neglect had seen everything grow wild and untidy. The trees were no longer trimmed neatly back and their gnarled branches seemed to loom over the road as if waiting to grab anything that ventured too close. Plants, once ordered and regimented in neat, explosions of colour now spilled chaotically over the beds and merged with the tangle of the overgrown grass. Harris sighed as he pulled back his sleeve and looked at his watch.
“Blue Leader, initiate in 5 minutes.” Harris spoke softly into the microphone positioned directly in front of his mouth and secured with tape to his left ear. His headset broadcasted the message clearly to his colleagues around the grounds.
Harris suppressed the nervousness in the pit of his stomach. He transferred the machine gun that hung from a strap on his back to his lap. As the seconds crawled by, he picked out his targets for the fifth time. There were three separate patrols between his position and the house, and a further two guards at the doors. He ignored the patrols to on either side of his position despite their proximity; his team members would take care of them. He was only interested in the patrols in front of him and the guards at the entrance. He checked his watch, eager to begin the assault, and then slipped down from the tree. The last seconds ticked by and Harris reached for a grenade on his utility belt.
“. . .two, one.”
Harris counted down the last seconds and pulled the pin on the grenade. He reached back and threw it towards the nearest of his targeted patrols. The guards barely had time to register the dull thud of the grenade landing behind them before it exploded and their bodies were thrown into the air to land in crumpled heaps some feet away. Harris launched himself from cover and sprinted towards the house, firing as he ran.
His hail of bullets tore into the second patrol before they could fully react and their bodies jerked spasmodically with each impact. Explosions and gunfire could be heard all around him as the rest of his team joined the action. Harris leapt to the ground, narrowly avoiding a barrage of fire that tore through the air where he had stood only seconds before. He rolled and brought his weapon up and emptied the rest of the magazine into the last of his targeted patrols.
Harris knelt to reload and looked around, easily changing the magazine with practised movements. To the east he could see Tyrone Johnson and his team running in relays of two as they covered each other on their approach to the house. John Kelly and his team had taken the main gate and were already removing the bodies of the guards and opening the gates to let Jenkins and the rest of the trucks into the estate.
Harris glanced at his watch and then sprinted to the left side of the house. 3:05. Not bad, he thought. Ahead of schedule.
Harris plucked a second grenade from his belt, threw it at the main doors, and dove for cover. The explosion ripped the main doors from their hinges and sent a deadly hail of splinters into the faces of the guards who had fired at him.
“How goes it?” a voice asked from behind a tree to his left.
Harris” heart lurched in his chest. “Shit!” He snapped his face sideways and saw Johnson. “You scared the crap out of me.”
Tyrone Johnson grinned, and then let loose a long burst into a group of three guards who had suddenly appeared around the corner and were sent scrambling into the house as the bullets crashed into the stone pillars and sent shrapnel everywhere.
“Three round bursts,” Harris reminded him with a glare. “You’ll end up with an empty magazine at the worst time if you keep that up.”
“Yes, mother,” Johnson smirked as he sent another long burst towards the guards. “Oops,” he grinned.
“Cover me!” Harris snapped at him as he rushed from cover. He ran up to the main doors and threw another grenade into the hall. Harris threw himself behind one of the pillars as the grenade exploded and sent dust and plaster flying through the doorway. A window behind him shattered with the force and sent wood and glass shrapnel surging outward. Harris was thrown to the ground and he felt numerous pinpricks of pain as small shards cut through his clothes and lacerated his flesh. None were deep but Harris cursed himself for his stupidity.
“I might be a little heavy on the trigger but at least I don’t almost blow myself up,” Johnson grinned as he drew level.
“Bastard,” Harris grinned as he accepted Johnson’s hand and pulled himself to his feet. He checked the tears in his clothes but couldn’t see any major bleeding. “Right, Now for the difficult part,” Harris said. The two men rose, checked their magazines, and eased into the smoke.
Harris rolled to the floor as bullets ripped through the air above him. They seemed to come from everywhere at once and the noise was deafening in the hallway of the house. He returned fire blindly and heard a scream as one of his bullets found their mark. There was no respite though. Bullets tore into the marble floor around him sending deadly shards flying in all directions as guards positioned along the stairs fired down upon him. More guards had set up in the Library and Lounge areas to his right and they poured a relentless barrage of fire towards them. Harris lost sight of Johnson as he was forced to roll behind a heavy Chaise longue that had been thrown onto its side from a previous explosion. Johnson’s team finally caught up with them and four men appeared in the doorway and quickly added their firepower to the mayhem in the house.
Harris rolled onto his back as bullets thudded incessantly into the body of the sofa he hid behind. God, the noise was terrifying. His thoughts seemed to have trouble focusing on anything as the chaos reigned around him. God, what was I thinking, we’re not ready for this? He wasn’t sure what he should do but he knew he couldn’t stay where he was, either the sofa would disintegrate and leave him helpless or one of the guards would throw a grenade. He had to get out of here. He took a number of deep breaths and then surged upwards and fired blindly at the stairs above. Almost immediately his weapon stopped chattering and he realised he had run empty. God, if Johnson knew that he’d never hear the end of it.
Suddenly he heard gunfire but it seemed muted somehow as if was coming from further away, either that or his ears had been damaged. He dropped back behind the sofa, reloaded and steeled himself to move again when he heard loud screams coming form the Library. He looked over towards Johnson but the man merely shrugged and raised his eyebrows. Whatever was happening bullets were no longer thudding into the sofa so he surged upwards with his weapon ready, but nobody fired at him. The guards on the stairs still held Johnson and his men pinned down but Harris was a little further in and out of their immediate field of vision. He looked through the smoke and dust, trying to see what was happening but everything appeared blurred. Suddenly he saw a figure move and he took careful aim only to breathe a sigh of relief and take his finger off
the trigger when he saw John Kelly move through the smoke and wave at him from the Library.
Kelly had gone around the back of the house and had caught the guards in a crossfire. He smiled at Kelly, he might not like the man but there was no denying he pulled his weight. He wondered briefly why he didn’t like the man but then shook himself from his thoughts. There was too much to do. Harris indicated the stairs and Kelly nodded and disappeared for a moment as he went back to gather his men. He reappeared a moment later leading five others and Harris watched as he led his team to the stairs and proceeded up in the same leapfrog relay he had seen them perform outside. Two trucks pulled up outside the house and Harris saw three more men jumping from the vehicles.
“Anderson!” Harris screamed over the noise of gunfire. “Take your men and clear out this floor.”
Anderson nodded and the three men moved through the house, systematically clearing each room. Harris pulled a cigar from his shirt pocket and lit it.
Not many of these left now, he thought, and he drew the smoke into his lungs.
“All clear up here,” someone said.
“Okay,” Harris replied. He looked up the stairs to where the shout had come from. “Let’s get to the basement and finish up before help gets here.”
“You know I’m not going to let it go, don’t you?” Johnson grinned as he pulled himself from where he had hidden behind debris from the explosion. His clothes were covered in dust and there were numerous cuts on his skin where shrapnel had torn his skin. The pale dust covered his dark skin and emphasised his white teeth as he grinned hugely. “It was three-round bursts wasn’t it? I’m sure I heard someone say three-round bursts somewhere.” He chuckled deeply as he moved on past Harris.
