Specters: A Monster Squad Novel - 8

by Heath Stallcup

  Jack spun on him. “And what’s to keep her from jumping to another body?”

  “She can only possess a soulless body, Chief Jack. An undead body. Two souls cannot possess the same…well, they can, but not…Lilith cannot or she will lose who she is.”

  “You’re not making sense.”

  “When a person is possessed by a demon or a spirit, it is only a part of that spirit that possesses it. Usually, the most evil part since that is the portion with the most strength. Lilith wishes to maintain all of who she is, so she will only possess an undead body. If she attempts to possess a body with a soul, she will be stripped of the grand majority of who she is.”

  “So we have to…no.” Jack’s eyes widened. “Doc is back at base. He’s a vampire. He’s got no soul.”

  “So when we cast the net, it will have to be a tight one. We will have to bind her to the body she is in.”

  “And then kill it.”

  Allister’s eyes reflected the sadness that Jack felt when he spoke. “Not just kill her, Chief Jack. We must utterly destroy her.”

  *****

  Mark listened to the coms as Spanky announced an incoming tango and the OPCOM suddenly erupted in activity. He began barking orders over the buzz of activity. “Relay their helmet cams through the approaching drone and get them on the screens! Now!”

  “The feed is too weak for satellite, sir. Drone is too far out to act as relay,” one tech reported.

  “Boosting gain on the RF antennae,” another responded.

  “Repositioning satellite for optimal transmission.”

  Tufo stood up in the chair and squeezed the armrests. He felt the metal give under his grip and he could feel his nails elongating as he barked new orders. “Get me those feeds!”

  “Coming in now, sir!” The tech pointed to the main screen and a static filled green glow showed what appeared to be a forest scene with a very large person blocking half of the view. “Delta Actual is onscreen!”

  “Split the views. I want each helmet cam up and viewable.” Tufo slowly sat back in the chair and his palm brushed the crushed armrests. He glanced down and realized what he had done. He lifted his hands and stared at them in the red light of the OPCOM.

  His fingers had thickened, his knuckles nearly doubled in size and the sharpened nails that had sprung from each fingertip now curved back like a bird of prey’s talons. He flexed each hand, expecting excruciating pain and was surprised when there was none.

  “Activity, sir!”

  Tufo’s attention snapped back to the viewscreen and he watched as a figure burst from the underbrush. He definitely wasn’t expecting the view that filled the widescreen. “What in the hell is that?”

  *****

  Rufus glanced at his watch for the hundredth time and sighed. The wolves were restless and their anxiety was beginning to wear off on him. He could feel his own nervousness begin to build and he had to force himself to calm down. He slipped down from the empty desk he had been sitting on and paced the office slowly.

  Viktor stepped inside and nodded to him. “Your test subject is here.”

  “Excellent.” He reached for the case and flipped it open. He pulled the polished stainless steel device from the foam padding and fell into step behind the werewolf.

  “My men are securing him now.” Viktor pointed to a concrete column to one side of the underground parking structure and Thorn’s eyes fell upon the vampire struggling against the chains being wrapped around him as the wolves held him in place.

  “You are certain he works for the council?”

  Viktor nodded solemnly. “A point he made vehemently and numerous times as my men brought him here.”

  “And there is no way the council may have followed?”

  “Not this time. I fear that their envoy will be quite late arriving wherever it was that he was sent.” Viktor motioned toward the young vampire and Thorn settled the device against his shoulder as he stepped forward.

  “I will see you all gutted! I’ll wear your hides for boots!” The vampire struggled against the chains holding him to the concrete column, spittle running down his chin as he bellowed his threats.

  Rufus stood in front of the young man and seemed to measure him. “Do you know who I am?”

  “Of course I do. You’re a dead man!” The young vampire struggled again, doing his best to free an arm so that he might rip out the other vampire’s throat.

  Rufus nodded to the wolves on either side and waited until they stepped back. He flipped the power button on the side and felt the device hum in his hands. A slight blue glow emitted from the vents on the side and for a moment he remembered the explosion at his home on the island. It has been tested and is safe.

  “Your sacrifice may well save numerous innocent lives.”

  “Fuck the innocent! I eat the innocent for—”

  The young vampire never completed his thought. Rufus squeezed the trigger and a sky blue light erupted from the snubbed barrel of the device. It seemed to only flash along the young vampire’s skin for a moment, but he suddenly and completely turned to ash, the chains falling to the ground where he once stood.

  The device still hummed in Rufus’ hand as he continued to stare at the spot where the man had been standing only a moment before. “That was…interesting.”

  “A UV weapon of some sort?” Viktor stepped beside him and studied the shiny metal device.

  Rufus flipped the power off and shook his head. “Non. It is a specialized weapon.” He turned a sad eye to the werewolf standing next to him. “A most dangerous one, mon ami. But at least it works.”

  “And this weapon will be sufficient to destroy the Council?”

  Rufus leaned the device against his shoulder once again and nodded. “Oui. We need only have them together.”

  “Then what are we waiting for? They should be assembling as we speak.”

  Rufus pulled his phone and flipped through his messages. He nodded solemnly as he closed it. “Oui. The demon queen has been destroyed. That alone should grant us access to the Council.”

  Viktor walked to the Mercedes and held the door open for Rufus. “And if they agree to remove the edict? Will you still destroy them?”

  Rufus slid into the rear and laid the weapon next to him in the seat. “If they remove the edict, there will be no need. But we both know that they will not.” He pulled his overcoat on and slipped the device under his arm, attaching the sling to his shoulder before pulling the coat around it.

  “You knew they would not before you agreed to kill Lilith, didn’t you?”

  Rufus inhaled deeply while he considered his answer. “I suspected their treachery. Much as they must suspect my own. I’m sure that they are aware that your wolves are in their territory. They probably assume that they are here to secure my escape should they back out on our agreement.”

  Viktor nodded knowingly. “And the wolves will kill their guards, securing our departure once you have removed the Council.”

  “Non. Once the Council is removed, their power should shift. The guards will either stand down and await their new orders or they’ll attempt to avenge their old masters.”

  Viktor gave him a shocked stare. “One extreme or the other.” He shifted in his seat to give his full attention to Thorn. “And who will their new master be?”

  Rufus shrugged. “They will either revert to their separate familias…or shift to the one who killed their masters.”

  *****

  Spalding peered over Little John’s shoulder and did a double take as a human shaped form sprinted from the thicket directly in front of them and leapt over a fallen log. The being moved with an awkward grace that surprised him.

  He heard John yell, “Going live!” and the muffled report of his suppressed rifle belched as he opened fire on the advancing creature. Chips of bark exploded from trees and sprays of dirt erupted from the ground around the creature as it zig-zagged its way toward them. Spalding was still trying to capture the bouncing figure in the op
tics of his sights when it sprung into the air and leapt over them, swinging a large stick as it flew overhead.

  Donovan yelled as the stick made contact with the side of his helmet, knocking him to the ground. The entire squad spun and tried to follow the creature as it disappeared in the darkness of the woods.

  “Son of a bitch! I lost it,” Lamb reported first.

  “Same here,” Jacobs replied, his rifle scanning the area.

  Gus Tracy side-stepped from his position and checked on Donovan. “You okay, buddy?”

  Donnie held up his ruined night vision goggles and swiped blood from his temple. “Bastard tried to crack my skull.”

  Spalding kept his hand on John’s shoulder. He leaned closer and whispered in his ear, “Do you have it?”

  “Negative. I lost it after it jumped us.”

  Spanky sunk lower into the spongy peat moss and keyed his coms. “OPCOM, we lost contact with the tango. What’s the twenty on the eye in the sky?”

  OPCOM’s static-filled reply broke up, but he was able to pick up pieces. “Delta SHH-tual, shkrik is approximately two zero mics shkrriiict.”

  “Dammit.” He pulled his earbud and let it dangle while he scanned the area. “Did you catch any of that?”

  “Sounds like we have at least twenty minutes.” Little John shifted his weight and peered back from where the creature had burst through the woods. “I think we should backtrack and see where that thing came from. Maybe we can find its lair.”

  Spanky stood slowly and did a full sweep. He made a motion with his hand and waved his squad back into formation. “Donnie, you gonna survive?”

  “Roger that, Spank. Might have a bit of a headache, but I’m good to go.”

  “Copy that. Converge on Little John. We’re gonna see if we can track where that thing came from.” He tapped John’s shoulder and sent him forward. “Fall in. Gus, cover our six. I don’t want that thing creeping back on us.”

  “Roger that.”

  The column started forward with Sullivan stopping periodically to check for tracks and to read the terrain. The sound of the rushing water still acted as a white noise in the background masking most of the natural forest sounds.

  Gus walked backwards the majority of the way. He continually scanned the area to either side of the team as they made their way through the thickets. He froze when leaves fell from the treetop around him. He glanced upward and saw nothing moving in the canopy other than limbs swaying slightly in the breeze. Still, the idea that the creature could be shadowing them from above stuck with him.

  He continued to scan left to right, up then down. Left to right, up then down. Gus felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. He continued to scan the area and saw nothing. His hand automatically went to his throat and keyed his coms. “Boss, check the canopy. I have a creepy feeling we’re being shadowed from above.”

  Spanky stopped the column and began to scan the treetops. He detected no movement and was about to order the squad to move out again when a blur fell from above, tackling him to the ground and rolling him away from the others.

  *****

  “Dom, debrief your squad and copy me on the reports. We’ve got our own business to take care of down below.” Jack slapped the big man on the shoulder. “I appreciate the support out there, buddy.”

  “Any time, Phoenix.” Dom shot him a wink before stepping over to the stowage table and removing his gear.

  Jack motioned his team together and nodded toward Allister who was stepping into the freight elevator. “Everybody down below. We need to debrief before we start cutting people loose.”

  He watched as the team began to meander their way to the stairwell. He instinctively reached out and grabbed Phil by the arm, holding him back. The Nephilim gave him a curious look, but Jack gave a barely perceptible shake of his head, his eyes studying the warriors as they made their way behind the steel door and into the stairwell.

  Once he was certain they were out of earshot he pulled the Nephilim aside and took a deep breath. Phil cut him off by speaking first. “You do intend to return the angelic weapons as agreed, do you not, Chief Jack?”

  Jack stared at him open mouthed for just a moment before shaking his head. “Yes, of course. No, I need to…there’s some bad news, and you need to be aware of it.” He turned and nodded toward the door. “Lilith survived the attack.”

  The Nephilim gave him a surprised look. “I don’t see how. We have her remains in those crates and…”

  “No, her…essence survived. She…” he trailed off as he tried to think of how to explain what happened. “She ‘took over’ Brooke’s body.”

  Phil nodded with understanding. “The vampiress. Yes, that makes sense.” He rubbed at his chin as he stared at the doorway. “And now we must kill her again.”

  “Do you know of any way that we can remove Lilith from Brooke’s body? Maybe some angelic device or weapon or…anything?”

  Phil shook his head. “I am sorry, Chief Jack. The only thing at the weapons cache is weapons.”

  Jack sighed and rubbed at his eyes. “There has to be a way. There just has to be.”

  “Why?” The Nephilim gave him a confused stare.

  “What do you mean, why?”

  “Why must there be a way to save the vampire?” He leaned upon his hammer and studied Jack. “She was fully aware of the risks when she agreed to go to battle.”

  Jack shook his head. “There’s no way she could have known about this. If I had known I would have made her stay here.”

  “And yet, here we be. Lilith yet lives, and you hesitate to kill her because of who she has possessed.” The Nephilim shook his head. “It makes little sense.”

  “She trusted us. Trusted ME.” He jabbed a finger into the Nephilim’s chest. “I promised her…”

  “What? That you would keep her safe?” The Nephilim swept the finger away and grimaced at the smaller man. “You should not have made such a promise.”

  Jack sighed and felt the energy drain from him. “It isn’t fair. She’s just a kid.”

  “Child or not, she is a warrior. Warriors know the risk they take when they go into battle. Whether cut down by the blade or cut down by the treachery of evil, there are always risks.”

  Jack felt the Nephilim’s large hand gently squeeze his shoulder. “Let us do what must be done.”

  Jack watched as the Halfling strode purposefully toward the stairs. He took a deep breath and fell into step behind him. As he stepped into the darkened stairwell he wished he could be anywhere in the world but here.

  *****

  Director Jameson sifted through the stacks of papers and sighed. “Good grief. We can’t even get an identification on half of these...whatever they are.” He slammed the files down and reached for the cup of coffee that had been cooling on the table. His eyes lifted and he noticed that the sun was rising outside. He had no intention of staying until daybreak and yet, here he was, sifting through raw data and photographs like an underling.

  Ingram leaned across the table and slid the folder Jameson had been reading closer. He ran his finger along the lines of data and shook his head. “This can’t be right. The spectral analysis on these weapons…they don’t match anything on the periodic table.” He lifted his bleary eyes to meet Jameson’s. “Are we looking at alien tech here?”

  “How in the hell am I supposed to know?” Jameson stood slowly and walked toward the coffee pot. He poured out what was in his cup and replaced it with fresh, hot brew. “There’s no telling what these assholes are using.”

  “I know I’d like to have it for the Titans. Could you imagine how much more deadly they’d be with alien weaponry?” Ingram gave him a weak smile.

  “We have no idea what these damned monster hunters have available to them.” Jameson plopped down in his seat again and ran a hand across his haggard face. “They’ve been operational for far too long.”

  Ingram leaned back in his seat and yawned. “Who sits on their appropriations commit
tee?”

  Jameson shrugged. “I don’t know. I never got the report from Stevens.”

  Ingram groaned. “Surely you have another hack who could get that for you.”

  “And then what? Try to dig up dirt on whichever congressman or senator happens to sit on it? That’s a good way to find myself sitting before my own hearing. No, thank you.” He leaned forward and sipped at the coffee, his mind racing.

  “There has to be a way to find out the inner workings.” Ingram stood and stretched before pouring his own cup of coffee. He glanced around the room and noted that only two of the techs still remained, and they were leaning across their consoles. “We’ve got so many pieces of the puzzle. We just need to figure out how they fit together.”

  “Do we?” Jameson shoved a pile of loose photos across the table at him. “Do we really? Since when did they get a winged monster on their team? Since when did they have a sentient zombie working for them?” He shoved the rest of the photos harder and they scattered to the floor. “And what the hell are these other…things? What is this? A hobbit? A giant? They’re obviously part of the squad. See how the operators work as support for them!”

  Ingram watched the photos flutter to the carpet and met the older man’s eyes. They were wide with anger and worry. He bent and scooped up a handful of the photographs and placed them back on the table.

  “Look, Jameson, I’m not about to start second-guessing who these people are. Or even what they are.” He sifted through the photos and came to the image of the winged monster gliding over the warehouse. His face scrunched as he studied the photograph then he began to sift through the rest. Finally he pulled out the one he was looking for. The winged creature and the giant were dragging a second winged creature across the ground after the building had been destroyed.

  “Here.” He handed the photo to Jameson. “Maybe they called in a specialist to fight fire with fire?”

  Jameson studied the pictures and shook his head. “I don’t get it. What am I looking at here?”