All of this was a precursor of what was to come and Reese did not want to think about that. He turned his gaze from the men, knowing that he had to remain focused on the mission and not question his own morality at this moment. He removed a map and in the red glow of a small light he studied it, comparing landmarks in his sight to those on the chart. They were near the objective now.
The others gathered around him. With his hand motions, he indicated their current location and their next direction. The target was less than a kilometer away. Again they moved out, staying within the shadows, avoiding any ambient light from the resorts and the million dollar homes that were scattered around the area. Reese looked at his illuminated watch and glanced at the black horizon. He knew that everything must go according to plan if they were to make it back in time. The three men looked at him in a way he thought reflected concern, which he dispelled with a wave of his black-gloved hand. He hoped that time would also not become an enemy as he motioned for the men to follow him as he moved out.
Reese glanced at his watch. There had been no way to resolve the time of the incursion. Their sources confirmed the target would only be here one night before returning to the depths of the Colombian rainforests, and away from surveillance. To further complicate matters, Reese and his team's departure had been delayed until the moon had set. Complete darkness was essential to their success.
We can do this. We can survive if we stay focused on the mission and don't run into any problems ... I hope.
In minutes, a three-story building loomed out of the darkness, rising up from the volcanic hill just east of the bay where they had landed. Through his night vision goggles, Reese observed the features of the structure. A magnificent stairwell led to a large open veranda overlooking the bay, then continued upward for another two stories. Massive stone pillars curved into archways. The home, once the center of a large plantation, now had another use: as the headquarters for one of the largest drug-smuggling operations that received and transshipped cocaine from South America to the United States. This was where they would find their target.
As they approached the building, Reese observed the heavily-armed guards strategically placed to keep the entire area under surveillance. Not only was the area surrounding the mansion well-guarded, but it was void of any places to hide. Reese and his group stopped at the last piece of cover offered by the landscape, a grouping of shrubs massed with a grove of palm trees. He removed his night vision goggles, placing them back into the pouch on his belt, and then motioned to his men to indicate their assignments. His last signal indicated he would wait here until they neutralized the defenses and signaled all clear.
As Reese finished his instructions, he watched as the hooded men removed their goggles. He braced himself for what he knew he would see. Although he had seen their eyes many times before the effect was always the same; it was like watching a door opening up to reveal the darkest depths of hell.
So it begins; they're hungry and ready to feed...
Reese quelled his fears and, for a moment, contemplated canceling the mission, but the thought left him. He looked away from the gaze of the men who still remained a mystery. But mystery or not, it was too late, they had passed the point of no return.
The three men of the team looked at each other and then raised their black-masked faces to the air as if smelling the scent of the foul beast they hunted. With their eye devices removed, their eyes glowed with the awful red hunger; the realization of found prey after a long hunt and that the kill was near at hand.
They're ready...
Reese watched as they prepared to go to what would surely be their deaths ... if they were mortal men. But he was the only mortal here, the weak link. His presence was almost a hindrance, but necessary to ensure the team followed orders.
Reese gave the “go” signal. The rest of his team vanished in a blur. He attempted to watch their advance using his binoculars. He caught glimpses of shadows and small distortions of light moving upon the compound from different angles; he knew that someone who had not been trained in what to look for would not see the momentary shifting of light.
Reese watched as his team soundlessly immobilized the first set of guards. The creatures leaped over barbed wire fences as if they were mere marionettes on strings simply jerked upward, as if not subject to the laws of gravity. In areas booby-trapped with devices designed to explode from weight disturbances or from detected body heat, they failed to respond to the men because there was no detectable body heat or they hovered inches above the ground as they made their way toward the mansion. Locked gates and doors were opened without any effort due to their extraordinary strength; they simply twisted the lock and chains until they snapped as if they were made of paper rather than steel. Within a matter of minutes they had conquered the presumed impenetrable defenses that would have stopped even the most capable military force.
Human military force...
As Reese watched the team arrive at the entrance of the building, he saw Dimitri give the “wait” hand signal to Andre and Illiga. Reese prepared to move onto the next phase of the mission. He removed his Kevlar vest, keeping only his web belt. The attached pouches held only two items: a remote control and a 9mm handgun with silencer. By the time he finished and looked up, Dimitri had returned and signaled his readiness for Reese to go in.
Dimitri's gaze drifted up from the belt to Reese's face. Reese detected urgency in his expression instead of the usual calm. Dimitri the philosopher, as Reese thought of him, was seldom agitated. The only time Reese saw him in such a state was when General Stone starved the team prior to the mission. The general found it amusing, but Reese knew that it only created more of an opportunity for something to go wrong by having the creatures kill prematurely in order to....
No ... don't think about that now!
Even Johnson had warned the general of the danger of starving the creatures. Reese had liked Johnson, but he saw what was happening to him and thought that perhaps he was better off dead rather than fulfilling his desire to become like Dimitri and his men.
There was no more time.
Knowing that the next phase would be crucial to the success of the mission, Reese signaled he was ready. Dimitri escorted him past the downed guards. Reese looked upon the dead men; they appeared to be in a peaceful sleep but Reese knew that the reason they looked that way was because they had never seen their death coming. Their necks were snapped quickly and efficiently. They had been lucky. Reese had seen the results of when Dimitri and his men taunted their prey. They looked anything but peaceful; their faces were distorted in such expressions of horror that Reese thought they no longer looked human.
Approaching the mined and the barbed-wire areas, Dimitri lifted Reese off the ground without difficulty. Although Reese was probably the only person who understood these creatures, he still marveled at their abilities. He was transported safely and deposited at the entrance where Andre and Illiga waited. Reese nodded thanks to Dimitri, who did not respond to the gesture. Reese motioned for them to follow him.
The interior defenses were minimal, considering the impenetrability of the home, and consisted of a few posted guards who were easily circumvented. According to their intelligence source, (in this case the housekeeper, whose information had been bought with taxpayer's dollars) the target would be in the study. Reese stopped his team when he spotted a pair of guards stationed outside of the door. The guards were engaged in some type of card game, their attention focused on the flimsy card table instead of the corridor. Reese knew there was no other means of entry into the room. He signaled to Dimitri to immobilize the guards.
Dimitri gave no visible signal to the other members; however, seconds later the guards were downed by the creatures before they had even realized that they were in danger. They weren't killed, but only paralyzed so that they could not speak or move. Their eyes were wide open in shock and disbelief as they lay on the cold marble floor in twisted horror, watching their attackers. But they we
ren't alone in their visible horror. Reese also knew what had been set into motion and what the inevitable outcome would be.
There will be no stopping them...
Reese tried to hide his revulsion, but he knew taking down the guards had excited the team members in an almost erotic way, because it added to the building anticipation of the promised feeding. Reese gave the hand signal to Dimitri to post one of his team with the two incapacitated guards while they entered the room. He watched as Dimitri signaled his order to Illiga with his hands and then added what could be done with the guards. Reese wished he didn't know what Dimitri had in mind for the men. The signal acknowledged and understood, Reese removed his weapon from its holster and the three entered the room.
The target lounged on the sofa, flanked by two young naked women who vied for his attention and distracted him from their entrance. Reese's intensive training took charge before his emotions could register the horror about to be committed. He signaled to Dimitri and Andre to complete their assignment.
Now comes the tough part, the watching...
Reese was an observer with his own personal view into hell.
Chapter Fifty-five
Reese watched as Dimitri and Andre slowly approached the women. He knew they did not want to rush the moment, but to savor it. One of the women caught their movement and looked in their direction; for several seconds she stared, her mesmerized gaze watching the men dressed in black approach. As her eyes widened in surprise, Reese caught a blur of motion as Andre was upon the women. In the next few seconds everything happened at a speed that would have confused anyone else as to what actually happened in that room. Yet to Reese, it felt like a lifetime.
Andre separated the women from their target, keeping a chokehold on both of them to keep them quiet. The recipient of the women's favors was a male named Carlos, a notorious drug overlord of the Colombian cartel. He peered at the three men who had somehow gained access to his chambers, his facial features contorted in amazement.
"How did you get in here?” he demanded in a thick Spanish accent. "Protectores! Prisa!"
He attempted to rise, but his pants around his knees only allowed him to stagger back like a drunken man. As his chest rose in obvious preparation to scream again, Dimitri was upon him and effortlessly backhanded him. Carlos’ body lifted off of the floor and he flew for several feet before crashing back onto the floor.
Dimitri's hand was covered with Carlos’ blood from where he had struck him. He raised it to his face and sniffed at it curiously. Reese's mind associated the scene with that of a wine connoisseur checking out the vintage of a fine wine. Even though Dimitri was still wearing his black ski mask, Reese could tell by the movement of the fabric that his lips had formed into a smile across his face. The thought of that smile caused a sickening wave of nausea to wash through his stomach.
Reese turned away from Dimitri and Andre and the game of cat-and-mouse they played. He checked his watch, and then looked out the large window located behind the sofa. Turning back, he gestured by hand signal to Dimitri and Andre that they were out of time.
Do it now and may all of us be damned...
Without warning and in perfect unison, Dimitri used one hand to remove his mask, and his other to remove Andre's, revealing their faces and the large metal collars around their necks. Their features reflected a strong Slavic appearance, the dark hair and eyes set into faces that were strong, but wrinkled from the ravages of the rough environment of the Balkans. However, when they opened their mouths, the revealed fangs removed any likeness to humans.
A part of Reese wanted to shout: Don't do it! Just kill Carlos and get out of here. He knew they didn't have time to waste if they were going to get out. But he also knew any attempts to stop Andre and Dimitri would be to no avail. They had been purposely deprived of nourishment for this mission and they had to feed in order to survive. Reese's hand curled around the device in the pouch that controlled the collars that the team wore, but he released his grip on it, letting his hand fall to his side as his military training commandeered his actions.
We are still safe...
Intelligence had confirmed that the room was soundproof and the alarms were silent. If he was going to get away, he needed all of the team to do it. His only choice was to watch the carnage and hope it was over quickly.
As if sensing Reese's urgency, Andre, who held the two women, bit into the neck of one, slashing the flesh in a wild frenzy, and drinking deeply. The other woman struggled to cry out as she watched the gruesome act, but his paralyzing hold was too powerful, leaving her only the choice of closing her eyes. Finished with the one, he released his hold and she slumped to the floor. Then he turned toward the other and killed her as he fed off her life-sustaining blood..
Carlos, still dazed from his fall, looked on in horror as the creature licked and sucked the fluid from his former paramours. Dimitri approached him, baring his large fangs. He lifted him off the ground, gashing the man's neck with a long sharp claw which had arisen from what had earlier appeared as a normal hand. He greedily drank the blood that flowed from the gaping wound.
Reese tried to block out the sounds, but the slurping of blood and the tearing of flesh echoed in his mind. He pushed aside his feelings of disgust. If they were going to survive, they had to get out of here.
"Dimitri, Andre, we have to go now!” Reese whispered as loud as he dare. “Dawn is coming!"
Both Dimitri and Andre looked up, their faces covered with blood and pieces of flesh.
"Finish it as instructed!” Reese demanded. “Now!"
Andre and Dimitri removed knives from the sheaths on their belts and slit what remained of their victims’ throats to make it appear as a typical murder of someone who had crossed another drug cartel, the universal sign of a traitor's punishment. Putting on their dark masks, they exited the room.
Reese, stepping out into the corridor first, saw that Illiga had carried out the same procedure on the two guards. His face was covered with blood, and his cheeks flushed with a glow that radiated life.
"Put your hood on,” Reese whispered.
Illiga looked toward Dimitri for a brief instant, as if seeking confirmation, and then replaced his hood.
Reese looked at the three of them. Blood still dripped from the opening in the masks where their mouth was. The blood streaked their necks, and wetted their clothing. Reese's gaze centered on Dimitri, demanding an explanation.
"Why the women?” Reese asked, in a soft but demanding voice.
Dimitri's expression indicated that no explanation was required, but still he answered. “Casualties of war,” he said in a calm and rational voice, his earlier agitation satiated by the blood he had taken.
Andre and Illiga nodded their agreement.
"The mission is accomplished, Commander Reese,” Dimitri continued. His voice remained calm, without any hint of remorse.
"You pompous bastard,” Reese said, as he lowered his head while shaking it slowly.
"You wish to speak of hypocrisy now?” Dimitri asked.
"You always twist it around, don't you?” Reese said. “Your philosophy always suits the occasion.” Reese walked away from Dimitri and the others. Should he condemn himself for the acts of cruelty he'd witnessed? He had ignored the signs and that made him an accomplice to the actual events. The shock and disbelief was about to overcome him, but he knew this was not the time or the place for that. But something had to be done. After a few moments, he looked at the team and said, “Let's get back to the beach."
In complete silence, they made their way back to the beach. The oncoming dawn spelled death to the creatures as well as Reese if he were caught. The guards at the home would have been replaced by now and the carnage discovered. Once the alarm was sounded, the search would begin.
As they arrived at the beach, they uncovered the zodiac raft and placed it into the water. As they paddled toward the gray military ship that waited for them, the first signs of a brightening sky showed in the eas
t. The dawn was also accompanied by the sounds of vehicles, their engines roaring, as they tore through the sand on the beach in pursuit.
"Perhaps we are not going to make it,” said Dimitri. “We each have our own enemy coming for us. The sun and its holy light for my men and I, and for you, those that your General Stone seeks to kill. Symmetry once again."
"Shut the hell up and row, you son-of-a-bitch!” Reese shouted at him. “If you love life as much as you say you do, then paddle! Or do you want to end it? Have you run out of your hypocrisy and philosophy all at once? Have you had enough of this madness?"
Dimitri said nothing as he continued to paddle.
"No,” Reese continued. “That would be too simple for you, wouldn't it? You like it when things are complicated. It gives you something to contemplate over all that time you have ... which you keep reminding me of. Well, damn it, I submit to you that time is running out—for both of us."
Reese turned from Dimitri and waved his arms at the men standing on the bridge of the ship. “Bring the ship closer and turn it to block the sunlight! Hurry!” he yelled.
The patrol craft moved closer, turning the silhouette of the ship toward the east attempting to block the early morning light. The glaring white letters PC-1 emblazoned on the forward part of her hull appeared ghostly in the pre-dawn light as sporadic gunfire erupted from the beach and fell harmlessly short of their intended target.
"It appears we may live for a while longer,” Dimitri said as shade from the ship's superstructure bathed them in dark gray. “We live to debate another time, Commander."
"It appears that way,” said Reese. “But this must end; we must talk about this madness—"
Reese stopped speaking because the raft was now alongside the ship and the ship's company was ready to get them on board quickly. He remained in the zodiac raft as the three members of his team scrambled onto the ship and hurried below deck. Finally, Reese came on board as crewmembers pulled in the raft. The ship turned away from the coast and headed out to sea.
Operation: Immortal Servitude From Declassified Files of Team of Darkness Page 28
