by Brandon Hale
Grung laughed. “Well, that answers that.”
Lily looked at Scott’s unconscious body. “How long will he be out?”
“I’m guessing five to ten minutes,” Grung said. “Not much time, but enough to get you out of a bad situation.”
“Fair enough,” Lily said. “I gotta go pack. I’ll be heading out in the morning. When Scott wakes up, be sure to laugh at him.”
“Will do,” Grung said.
“I’m going with you,” Ellie said.
“You sure?” Lily asked. “I kind of assumed you’d want to be near Carl during the questioning.”
“It hurts too much to see him right now,” Ellie said. “I actually believe my dad is in there. I know that thought hurts you, Lily, but I believe it. Knowing that doesn’t help, though. My dad is dead. Even if he’s not evil, he’s trapped in an undead body and doomed to a life of craving blood. I think I need to get away from that. And I think the questioning will go better if I’m not around.”
“Makes sense,” Lily said.
“Besides,” Ellie added, “I think it would be awesome to go on an actual mission with the famous Lily Baxter.”
“Don’t set your expectations too high,” Lily said. “I won’t be great company.”
“That’s okay.”
“What about your mom and your sister?” Grung asked. “They need you right now, kid.”
“I’ve been thinking about that,” Ellie said. “I’m not going to tell her we found Dad. At least not until we know more.”
“Probably a good idea,” Lily said.
“Yeah,” Ellie said. “So I think I’m gonna go home tonight and ask her to stay with her brother in Tennessee for a week or so. As far as she knows, Dad is still out there somewhere. She’ll agree the best thing for her and Lily is to get as far away from Iveyton as possible.”
“You think she’ll go for it?” Grung asked.
Ellie nodded. “Yeah. I bet she’s already thinking about it, just to prevent the possibility of Lily seeing Dad as a vamp.”
“Alright,” Lily said. “Go home and talk to your mom. Let me know her plans as soon as you know. If I need to, I can wait until they leave before heading out, so you can say goodbye.”
“Thanks, Lily,” Ellie said.
On the floor, Scott began to groan.
“Crap, he’s waking up,” Lily said. She looked at Grung. “I’m getting out of here. He’s gonna be grumpy. Remember, be sure to laugh at him.”
“Got it,” Grung said.
Lily looked at Cooper. “When are you leaving?” Her voice was a bit colder than it was even a moment earlier.
“I’ve got to do some research,” Cooper said. “I’m not just going in blind. I’m guessing you’ll be back before I leave.”
“Where is she?” Scott mumbled as he sat up.
“Gotta go,” Lily said, then darted out the door.
Grung pointed at Scott and laughed.
Chapter 10
The City Formerly Known as London
“I’m not one of your stooges, Cassius,” Oliver Morrison said. Oliver was the president of Topia. With the exception of New America, Oliver was the president of the world. “I’m not some vampire you made. You came to me and asked me to do this.”
“I know, Oliver,” Cassius said. And I already regret it, he thought. You’re going to be a problem.
Oliver was old. Maybe older than Cassius. Cassius had known Oliver since the Dark Ages.
Oliver was extremely charismatic, which was why Cassius had asked him to be the new president, but he was also dangerous. Oliver wasn’t like other vampires. He didn’t enjoy the hunt. He didn’t even enjoy the kill.
He enjoyed causing pain. Above all else, Oliver enjoyed watching people suffer.
While this made him a risky choice as the front man for Topia, Cassius took the chance because Oliver was extremely good at hiding his true self and Cassius had decided he needed an ally more than he needed a minion.
Now, he was regretting that decision.
“When you asked me to do this,” Oliver said, “you promised to let me run things as I see fit as long as I didn’t alter the basic structure of your pretty little world.”
“That’s just it, Oliver,” Cassius said. “I think what you’re doing with the Topia Protectors is altering the basic structure.”
“I’m thirsty,” Oliver said. “You thirsty?”
“No,” Cassius said.
“Well, I am.” Oliver pressed a button on his desk. “Jen, is that visitor from the south facility still out there?”
“Yes, Mr. President,” a female voice said from the speaker. “She’s eager to meet you.”
“Send her on in,” Oliver said. He looked back at Cassius. “I don’t see how I’m altering the structure.”
“You’re feeding your Protectors live humans,” Cassius said. “You’re finishing their transformations. That’s dangerous, Ollie. It makes them vulnerable.”
“Ridiculous,” Oliver said. “I’m turning them into killers. If you want a world of half-vampire pacifists, fine. I have no problem with that. It makes them easier to control. But the people assigned to defend the world must be killers. They have to be strong.”
“You’re being short-sighted,” Cassius said. “Sure, they’re physically stronger, but you’re making them vulnerable. The Day Soldiers have ways to hurt vampires that won’t have any impact on a Topian.”
“You’re talking about channelers,” Oliver said. “Spare me. Channelers are rare and they’re weak. My Topian Protectors aren’t just vampires. They’re soldiers. Well-trained soldiers. Killing a channeler is easy. You just have to pull the trigger on your gun.”
“They have other ways of fighting vampires,” Cassius said. “Crosses, holy water. Sunlight. They have an arsenal of weapons they wouldn’t have if you didn’t fully turn the Protectors.”
The office door opened and a young woman stepped inside. Oliver looked at her and flashed his most charming smile. “Welcome!”
“Mr. President,” the woman said, “it’s such an honor to meet you. I can’t believe I won the contest. You’ve done so much for Topia.”
Oliver gestured toward a chair. “Have a seat. What’s your name?”
“Robin,” the woman said. She was clearly star-struck. “My entire family voted for you.”
“Well, thank you,” Oliver said.
Cassius smiled inwardly. Topian elections always made him chuckle. All elections were online. Voter identities were verified through the retinal scans on the computers. The humans just had to go to the computer centers located in each human facility to cast a vote. Giving the humans voting rights was probably the single best public relations move he’d ever made.
While all the local elections were completely legitimate, the presidential elections were of course decided before the first vote was cast. Cassius would never leave that to chance.
“So tell me, Robin,” Oliver said. “How many people are in your family?”
Robin smiled sheepishly. “Well, I might have overstated a bit. It’s just me and my husband. We have a little girl, but she’s too young to vote.”
“I see,” Oliver said with a smile. He turned to Cassius and continued the earlier discussion. “I think you’re overestimating the Day Soldiers, my friend. They’re over. Your new ‘come see us’ campaign is the beginning of the end for them. Within a year, they’ll be completely disbanded.”
“Maybe,” Cassius said. “Maybe not. They’ve surprised me again and again. With her newfound abilities, Lily Baxter could single-handedly decimate your entire army. I’ve seen her in action. Matter of fact, seeing what she did to my army is part of the reason I changed my tactics.”
“Lily Baxter is dead,” Oliver said.
“If you think that,” Cassius countered, “you’re more gullible than I thought. It’s obvious she’s hiding, waiting for us to attack so she can take us by surprise. She just didn’t think it through. She has one major disadvantage.”
“What disadvantage?” Oliver asked.
Cassius grinned. “A lifespan. We can just wait her out.”
“Does she have a lifespan?” Oliver asked. “I’m not clear on all the light bringer rules.”
“I assume she does,” Cassius said. “To be honest, I’ve never had much experience with her kind.”
“Did I come at a bad time?” Robin asked.
Oliver looked at her and smiled. “Not at all. We’re just discussing politics. This is my advisor, Cassius.”
“You told her my name,” Cassius said. “I hope you know you just sealed this woman’s fate.”
Oliver laughed. “Her fate was sealed the moment she won the ‘Meet the President’ contest.”
“I don’t understand,” Robin said.
“I’m going to drink your blood,” Oliver said. “Every drop.”
Robin’s eyes widened. “I don’t understand,” she said again.
“What don’t you understand?” Oliver asked. “I think I was pretty clear. I’m going to kill you. I’m going to use you as my snack table for the duration of this meeting, then I’m going to kill you.”
Robin tried to get up, but Oliver grabbed her shoulders and slammed her back into the chair. “We’ll have none of that, Robin. The door is locked. You are going to die.”
Tears began to fill Robin’s eyes. “Why?”
Oliver leaned down until his face was less than an inch from hers. “Because I’m a vampire,” he said. He stepped back and shook his head. “I really don’t get you people. How the hell did you become the dominant species on this planet? You’re idiots.”
“We trusted you,” Robin whispered.
“Why?” Oliver asked. “Why would you trust me? I live by killing you. How idiotic are you people?”
“We thought you were a good man,” Robin said.
“I AM A VAMPIRE!” Oliver screamed. “It’s like you don’t even know what that word means. I can be nice to you all day long, but it doesn’t change one very important fact: I am a vampire.” He looked at Cassius. “You want to make peace with these people?”
Cassius chuckled. “No. I want to own them. Peace is just the means to an end.”
“Please,” Robin begged. “I have a family.”
“Don’t worry about your family,” Oliver said. “I’ll be killing them shortly. Can’t have loose ends. Your friends will just think you moved to a different facility.”
Before Robin could reply, he grabbed her hair, jerked her head back, then sank his teeth into her throat.
“So anyway,” Cassius said as Oliver drank from the young woman, “how about a compromise?”
Oliver pulled back and wiped the blood from his chin. “What kind of compromise?”
“If you’re determined to have fully realized vampires in the Topian Protectorate, how about you only turn the top-level Protectors. Just the people in charge.”
“That kind of defeats the point,” Oliver said.
“Say I died in an accident,” Robin whispered. “Tell my husband I fell down the stairs or something.”
“Now, Robin,” Oliver said, “you know he won’t believe that.”
“He will,” Robin said. “He loves you. He’ll believe it. Please. Don’t kill my husband and little girl. Please.”
“Oh, shut up already,” Oliver said. He put a hand over her mouth and bit into her neck again.
“It doesn’t defeat the point,” Cassius went on. “The low-level Protectors are the ones who regularly interact with humans. They investigate crimes. They oversee transfers. They’re basically the face of the new government. If you turn them into full vampires, the desire to feed will be almost unbearable. Eventually, they’ll break. At least some of them will. And every time one of them attacks a human, we’ll have a PR nightmare to deal with.”
Oliver pulled away from Robin’s throat again. Her eyes were closed. She was losing consciousness. “That concern is reasonable, I suppose,” he said to Cassius.
“You can have an ‘elite team’ or something,” Cassius said. “If a Protector gets a promotion, you can bring him in and have him feed. Then, you’ll have a group to use for emergencies or major operations, but the day-to-day folks will just be Topians. They’ll be safe.”
“I like it,” Oliver said. “I think we have a deal.” He turned to Robin and lightly smacked her on the face. “Wake, up, honey. I want you to see something.”
Robin slowly opened her eyes but immediately closed them again.
“I don’t know why you play with them like that,” Cassius said.
“Are you getting soft, Cassius?” Oliver asked.
“Of course not,” Cassius said. “I just find it boring. It’s beneath us.”
“Enjoy the little things, my friend,” Oliver said. He smacked Robin a little harder. “Hey! Wake up!”
Robin opened her eyes again.
“That’s better,” Oliver said. He leaned toward his desk and pressed the intercom button again.
“Yes?” Jen answered.
“Jen,” Oliver said, still looking at Robin. “I want you to find Robin’s husband and daughter. Find them and have them escorted to my office. I have something to show them.”
“Yes, sir,” Jen said.
Oliver clicked off the intercom. “When they get here, I’ll probably feed on the little girl first,” he said. “I think that’ll be the most fun because of the reaction it’ll get from your husband.”
“No,” Robin whispered. “I’m begging you.”
“I’m going to drain you completely now,” Oliver said. “As you drift into nothingness, I want you to think about that. I want you to think about the future that awaits your family. It’s your reward for assuming it’s a good idea to trust a society of vampires.”
Cassius just shook his head as he watched Oliver sink his teeth into Robin’s throat for the third and final time. He is dangerous, Cassius thought.
In truth, Cassius wasn’t concerned about the Topian Protectors losing control and he certainly wasn’t concerned with their safety. He was worried about Oliver. In the past five years, Oliver had taken a very hands-on approach to the Topian Protectors. He oversaw their training and their recruitment practices. As soon as Oliver had decided to turn the Protectors into full vampires, Cassius understood the truth.
Oliver was creating an army. He was creating an army that was devoted to him, not Cassius.
And that was something Cassius could not allow.
Chapter 11
The Colorado Vampire Nest
Lily stood at the mouth of the cave. “They’re in there. All the signs point to it.”
Ellie looked up, trying to see the sky through the treetops. “It’ll be dark soon. Should we make our way back to the outpost and come back in the morning?”
Lily looked at her. “You afraid of few vampires?”
“It might be more than a few,” Ellie said. “Besides, it’s not the vampires that I’m worried about. It’s a full moon tonight. The werewolves will be very active tonight. These woods won’t be safe for trespassers.”
“You sound like Scott,” Lily said.
Ellie shrugged. “He occasionally makes sense.”
“You’re probably right,” Lily said. “We really should head back to the outpost.”
“But…”
Lily grinned. “I didn’t come here to play it safe. You up for this?”
“Sure,” Ellie said as she pulled her gun from its holster. “I didn’t come here to learn from someone who plays it safe.”
“No guns,” Lily said. “They’ll hear it and run. We’re not here to get a few of them. We’re cleaning this cave. Grab a stake and stay close to me.”
Ellie switched weapons. “Ready when you are.”
“Why are you waiting on me?” Lily asked. “You’re leading.”
They stepped into the cave and switched on their small flashlights. At first, it just looked like one large room but they soon found a crack in the wall toward the ba
ck. After slipping through the large crack, they found that the cave was actually a series of tunnels.
“This isn’t gonna be easy,” Ellie said. “They could be anywhere.”
“Nah,” Lily said. “We’ll find a good level place and spread some blood on the floor. They’ll come to us. I’m sure they don’t get food delivered to the cave very often.”
“Works for me,” Ellie said. “Can I ask you a question?”
“You ask me questions constantly,” Lily said. “Matter of fact, you just asked one.”
“Why aren’t you more protective of me?” Ellie asked. “Everybody else treats me like I need protecting. You don’t.”
“You don’t need protecting,” Lily said. “By the time I was your age, I had killed hundreds of vamps, several werewolves, and had fought in at least one major battle. And you’re twice the soldier I was at that age.”
“I doubt that,” Ellie said.
“I don’t,” Lily replied. “You’re a natural. And you have the one thing I’ve never had.”
“What?”
“A level head,” Lily said.
They stepped from one of the tunnels into a larger room. It wasn’t huge, but it was large enough for them to have some breathing room.
“This looks like a good place,” Lily said.
“Should we be quiet?”
“Why?” Lily asked. “We want them to come to us.”
“Oh yeah,” Ellie said.
They placed their flashlights on the ground with the lights pointing toward the ceiling. The beams illuminated the room well enough to see they were still alone.
“You think I’m level headed?”
“Yes,” Lily said. “I run on pure instinct. I feel my way through every battle.”
“That’s a good thing,” Ellie said.
“Sometimes it is,” Lily said. “But sometimes you need to step back and think. I rarely do that.”
“Seems to have worked so far,” Ellie said.
Lily nodded. “I suppose.”
They were quiet for a few moments, listening for any hint that vamps were approaching. After a few seconds, Ellie broke the silence. “Do you really think you’re losing your abilities?”
Lily shook her head. “Nah. I’m pretty sure I’m fine. I really came here to get my head straight.”
