Maxwell

by D. L. Russell

  "Easy, ladies, easy. Let's just get through this with our shirts on. William lets go up top and wait for Albert. It fucking stinks down here."

  William? William? Maxwell tried to picture the werewolf in his mind but couldn't visualize a face. He heard Albert's name. He should have known not to trust a couple of ghouls. He felt like a fool, but it wasn't too late. He had to get out of this hole in the ground, and fast.

  * * * *

  Albert arrived in a black Cadillac Escalade, the truck had huge tires and beautiful shiny rims. William and Butler were standing in the ancient graveyard waiting for him.

  "We've been wait'in on you boss,” Butler said as Albert climbed out of the truck wearing a bikers vest that showed his lean muscles ebb and flex with every step. “The two old biddies down there are getting nervous that he's gonna be up soon."

  "Sometimes it pays to listen to old biddies, Butler.” This is one of them. Maxwell's very old. He can do amazing things not many other Vampires could accomplish. We've got to get down there and get this over with."

  "Sure thing boss."

  The two of them climbed down into the den, leaving William to stand guard.

  "We did just like you asked, Albert, we did.” Greta said as she saw him coming down. “We got old Maxwell sleep'in like a baby, just like you asked us to."

  "You girls did a great job. I won't forget it. There will always be a place for Ghouls in the Werewolves world. You have my word."

  "No offense, Albert Sir, but please get it over with, he gives me the creeps, knowing he's asleep in there and us out here. We've never had a Vampire in our den,” Daisy pleaded.

  Albert turned to Butler, placing his hands on the young mans wide shoulders and looking him in the eye.

  "Do you remember what I've taught you?"

  "Yes."

  "This is for all of us; this is for the future of all creatures of the night. The first step in putting the humans in their proper place as our servants is the complete extermination of the Vampires! Are you with me?” Butler howled in a frenzied rage, throwing his head back and extending his fangs, as his clothing became a pile of rags on the floor. He transformed into a huge black haired werewolf standing over eight feet tall now. Drool ran from his mouth in thick globules as his hunger grew. Albert had ordered him not to eat during last night's full moon for this exact moment. For this exact purpose. “Kill the Vampire!” he orders Butler. “Kill him! Rip out his heart. Spill his blood in the dirt. We are the masters of this world! Kill the Vampire!"

  Butler ripped the heavy seal from the room and tossed it aside as if it were made of paper. He charged into the room ready to kill but began to snort and whimper weakly, as he realized that the room was empty.

  Albert screamed in anger as he charged into the empty room behind Butler. He ripped the earthen bed apart and shattered the television.

  "Where is he!” he shouted at the two Ghouls.

  "We don't know, he was here, we swear!"

  "Well where in the fuck did he go!” Albert began to change. Twice as quickly as Butler and looking twice as menacing. His hair was a thick, rich, chocolate brown and he howled at the top of his lungs, eight inch claws extended. A foot taller then Butler, he paced the room, sniffing for any sign of Maxwell, stopping eventually at a spot high on the wall behind where the Television had been. Even as a Werewolf, Albert knew that he had been outsmarted by Max this time. This only fueled his temper and caused him to seek out something to destroy. As if reading his mind, Butler threw his body onto Daisy and began ripping her green flesh to shreds. Greta was fast enough to make it to the opening trying to escape, but William kicked her in the face, shoving her back into the hole where Albert bit off her head. He despised the taste, and knew that he and Butler both would pay for devouring such putrid meat, but at the time, his rage wouldn't allow him to care. The Ghouls had failed him, and there would be no room for failure in the new world of the werewolf.

  * * * *

  Maxwell was still in the earth long after the sun had completely set. He hadn't transformed into a worm in a thousand years and he had forgotten how slow going it was to move this way. Pushing, inch by inch, he worked the mud into his mouth and pushed it out the other side. As best he could remember, he had been about thirty feet under ground when he bore his way into the dirt and. He estimated that he'd gone up about two thirds of that, not risking going any higher just in case Albert or one of his dogs were still trying to sniff him out. He pushed up against something semi-solid, realizing that it had to be an old wooden coffin. The graveyard plots had been used several times over the last two hundred years. Mostly local farmers and their kin out here in the middle of nowhere. This coffin had sank low enough to have been covered by at least one other based on how deep it was in the ground.

  He pushed through the rotten wood and wiggled himself inside. There were a few air pockets, but not much, but it was a safe place to rest since he really hadn't got much sleep. With no realistic plan of attack, he decided to stay until a good idea came to him. He could see just up ahead the body of another worm protruding from the wood about to enter the coffin also, and pounced as quickly as he could. The quick strike and all that tunneling through the damp earth had burned all of his energy. He extended tiny fangs that bit deep into the plump earthworm and began to suck. It wasn't the same as human blood, but it was delicious just the same. When he finished the other worm wasn't much more then a dried booger of a husk that fell to the floor of the coffin with a crinkle as it landed on the decaying wood. Yes, he thought, this would have to be home for awhile.

  * * * *

  Albert set at the conference table with the ten highest-ranking members of the Werewolf community. They were also the senior most members of the species. Gann from Canada, the twins, Peter and Patrick from Paris, Caesar and Alfredo from Mexico, Boris, and Wilma from the former Soviet Union, and John Michael, Emma, Sasha and himself from the United States. This would be his cabinet, after he had taken over the world. These individuals would rule the world at his side.

  "What is this problem with Maxwell?” Boris demanded to know before the meeting had even officially begun. “How can we not find just this one?"

  "Be patient, my friend,” Albert assured him. “He will be found. We have our best men out searching for him as we speak. He is not invisible. He will be found. I will not let one clever Vampire stop the inevitable."

  "Then why do we wait?” Patrick asked. “If he is nothing why are we stopping until he is found? Fuck him, if he is no threat!"

  "I didn't say he wasn't a threat. I said he wouldn't stop the inevitable from happening."

  "The same difference!” Patrick stood up.

  "Sit down Patrick!” Albert shouted, standing himself. “We will not rush things to have them fall apart because of an impatient Frenchmen! Sit down and shut up!” Albert began walking around the conference table. His hairs grew long across his back and his fangs extended. He had to take a deep breath to control his anger. What was needed right now was leadership, not a heavy hand. “Forgive me Patrick, I understand your concern, but we have waited so very long for this day, we can surely wait a little longer.” He placed his hands on Patrick's shoulders, patting them lovingly. “I assure you, brother, we will have our day. The age of the Werewolf is upon us and soon we will rule over the earth from sea to mountain, from desert to sky. My whole existence has been for this day, for this moment in our time. Again, I ask you all for patients."

  Making his way completely around the long table, Albert returned to his seat.

  "I know of this Maxwell,” Gann spoke up, surprising everyone. He was the oldest Werewolf alive, oldest that anyone on the council was aware of anyway. Born a Native American, from the tribes of the three peaks, the Ho Ho Fa, his skin still showed the sun's work from fifty thousand years ago. Not one member of the council came close to that, but Werewolves never were ruled by seniority, but by the most ambitious. Gann believed this practice would one day lead to their destruction. He ha
d only joined the council to help keep things from getting out of hand. Like many other mammals, young Werewolves were at times quick to take the violent, and easiest resolution. “Maxwell was raised by Marconi, who was actually a good friend of mine."

  "What is your point, Gann?” Albert asked respectfully.

  "My point? My point is that Marconi was no fool and he taught his children well."

  "He wasn't smart enough not to catch AIDS.” John Michael laughed. “He's no longer with us."

  "This is true, and we all need to be thankful for that, because if he was here, this plan of ours would be nothing but wishful thinking. The Vampires were always fewer in number than us, but they always held their own in a fight. I was there, I remember those darkest of nights when they attacked us, hunted us down and tried to exterminate every one of us. They are very powerful."

  "If they are so strong, why was Daniela taken down so easily?” Wilma asked.

  "Isn't it obvious young one? We found the note she had written. Daniela was ready to die. Maxwell is not."

  * * * *

  Two weeks passed before Maxwell began working his way out of the coffin. He'd played the entire scenario over in his mind a thousand times, convincing himself that it was the Werewolves that had killed Daniela. He was coming to realize that Albert was a very calculating creature, and he would have to be the same if he was going to survive this.

  He could feel the pull of the sun on the earth weakening as it vanished over the horizon. He'd been working his way up for over two hours now and knew he had to be getting close. The thought of breathing fresh air inspired him to tunnel faster. As he finally broke through, he sucked in and the star lit air burned his lungs. He was half way out of the ground when the Raptor swooped down and with its beak, pulled him from the ground.

  "About bloody time you dug your way out of that hole,” he heard directly in his mind. The unmistakable voice of Kane, sweet, melodious Kane. He'd never been so happy to see another Vampire in his life.

  "Kane! Is that you?” He thought.

  "Yes, it's me. I've been waiting for you.” She flew him high into the night sky heading west.

  "Where are we going Kane? Put me down so I can transform."

  "What are you, getting old on me? You can't do it on the fly?” She dropped him suddenly and he was a falling fat worm, hurtling towards the ground below. Quickly he became a Raven-her twin brother-climbing upward to join her. They flew in circles and figure eights around each other, Maxwell happier then he could remember being in a long time. With Kane alive anything was possible. He didn't have to take on the Werewolves alone.

  They landed in a nest, high on the branches of a dying oak tree. There were three small, bald Ravens in the nest.

  "Are these your?” He asked confused.

  "No, this is a snack; I've already had the mother. You need energy if we're going to put up a decent fight. Not much sustenance in worms, is there?"

  "Not much,” he admitted and began to rip the hatchlings to shreds. “I'm going to need more than this."

  "In time. No need to let these go to waste. Eat up."

  After Maxwell finished the meal, they let their bodies glide to the ground and returned to their human forms. Kane was beautiful as usual with her rich red hair and emerald eyes. She was slightly taller then Maxwell and wore her curves like a famous Hollywood actress. It was good to see her again.

  They walked though the woodland and Maxwell told her every thing that had happened since the earthquake.

  "The four of them didn't have a chance,” she said.

  "Yes. I don't think I've ever heard of such a freak accident."

  "No, it's happened before. Not an earthquake, but there have been tornados, volcanoes, even hurricanes that have taken our brothers and sisters from us Maxwell. I can even remember—not long after I was raised—there had been a Vampire by the name of Claudius who was struck by lightening and fried to a crisp. We're not as immortal as we would like to believe. Mother Nature has always been much more powerful than we are."

  "Exactly how old are you, Kane?"

  "Never ask a lady that, Maxwell. You should know better.” She laughed. “A girl has to have some secrets."

  "You're not going to tell me?"

  "No! No way. Let's just say that I'm older and wiser than you are Myka Gutuio."

  "I haven't heard that name in two thousand years,” he said. “I've never told you that name either. How did you know?"

  "Didn't I just tell you that a girl has to have some secrets?” She kissed his forehead and he liked how it felt. “Now what shall we do about these bloody Werewolves?"

  "We don't have much of an Army to fight with."

  "But that we do Max. We are the Army, you and I."

  "Well, maybe our best option is to lay low, start raising a bigger one. Better to run away if it means we will survive another day."

  "No, if we were to do that, who knows how much mischief they could get into by the time our Army was ready? Those Werewolves are blood thirsty savages."

  "True."

  "And besides, you aren't ready to baby-sit one offspring, let alone a thousand of them? You've never done it before, Max. It's a pain in the arse, I assure you."

  He knew she was right. They didn't have the time or the patience to raise an army of Vampires. That would all have to come later, after this was settled.

  "What do you think the chances are that they would agree to a truce? Do you know of any of their senior members?"

  "I know them all darling. All hawks, each and every one of them. Stupid savages!"

  "So talking is out of the question?"

  "If anyone could be convinced that keeping the peace is best for us all, it would be Gann. He's not the oldest, but he certainly is one of the wisest."

  "You know him?"

  "No, but I have heard only good things about him. He was a tribal chief bitten by a wolf not a man. From the time he was born, he was well respected and played a role in the Vampire/Werewolf relationship. He is the senior member of the council; that has to count for something."

  "You're older than him also?"

  "You could say I am as old as the hills, if you must Maxwell.” She put her arms around him and held him tightly. “I want to go to him alone, but there are things you need to do before we confront their council and, after you have completed these task, I need for you to wait for me. Do I have your word that you will follow my instructions to the letter?"

  They stood eye to eye, and Maxwell knew that Kane was probing his mind with her own.

  "You have my word."

  * * * *

  "Here!” Albert shouted. He was pointing to a spot of earth where the earth had been turned over ever so slightly. “This is where he came out, but the scent ends there.” He took a few steps around the spot, sniffing the air for the scent, only to pick up the scent of another. “He was taken by a bird! Find where the scent of a dead Raptor ends and you will find where his scent begins.” Butler and Williams quickly transformed into their wolves’ form and took in the scent. They were both too young to have such keep instincts in their human form. “Go!” Albert order them and they both began to bound across the landscape, riding on the faint aroma of the bird and the worm. Traveling a quarter mile with each leap, they quickly found the nest of dead hatchlings and the trail that Maxwell and Kane had taken.

  * * * *

  Maxwell had not transformed so many times, into so many different creatures in five hundred years. After receiving Kane's instructions, they both returned to their Raptor’ form and few off in opposite directions. Kane went north-west in hopes of convincing Gann to call off the rest of the council and to scrap the plan to begin herding up the humans. Maxwell flew east towards New York City in the hopes of convincing someone else. He couldn't believe what a wealth of information Kane was. She always could surprise him with some new bit of information on Vampire lore. She could separate fact from fluff and he loved her for it. As he flew he realized that if she had be
en killed that much of their rich history would simply have been lost. Maybe he would remind her of this in order for her to share everything with him if they made it through this alive.

  It was almost daylight by the time he found what he looked for. Knowing he would most likely be deep underground for the next few hours, he decided to press on with his mission. If the plan went well, he would be in a safe place to sleep afterwards.

  Landing in the section of the landfill that held the freshly dumped garbage, Maxwell turned into a rat. Not just any rat, but a big, plump New York rat. Brown, shaggy, and with black eyes, clawed for war and fanged teeth for biting-the kind that he knew would be good in a fight if he became cornered.

  Of all the creatures of the night, the rats had the most to lose by the destruction of the humans. Most of them fed off human waste products, their food, and their drink. Only the elders could even remember the time when rats were hunters, smaller but otherwise no different from the bear or the coyote. Technically, they were only rodents, with no abilities easily ascertained by simply watching them above the surface. But down in the dens and burrows, the rats’ true nature was employed.

  Yes, they were rodents, but they were as smart as a coyote and—their shear numbers—they were a powerful, commanding force, even against a supernatural being like a Vampire or Werewolf. Within the world of the rat there were Wererats, Vampire Rats, and several other creatures of the night that had a human equivalent. Unlike humans, these creatures worked together as one. They saw no reason for bigotry and disparity between the rat that drank blood and the rat that ate table scraps. Across the globe, rats maintained a unified network that could shame the endeavors of other species—especially humans.

  * * * *

  Butler and Williams paced around the wooded spot where Kane and Maxwell had transformed back into Raptors and flown away. They howled into the night at losing the scent to the wind. For an hour they jumped as high as they could for a quarter mile around the spot, trying to find a hint of the scent. Finally, Butler seemed to catch something to the east. Together, they bounded off in that direction angered by the brief distraction, heading back into the rising sun.