by Brandon Hale
“Why the hell do you even care?” Scott said. “Lily decapitated you and imprisoned you in a tomb for sixteen years.”
“Does it matter why I care?” Travis said. “I’m trying to save your life too, wolf.”
“Travis,” Lily said, “Don’t be an—”
“If that plane lands,” Travis said, “I’ll go on a full-fledged killing spree. You know I’m good for it. I’m trying to help you here.”
They heard a click and knew Travis was gone.
“What now?” Grung asked.
“We land,” Lily said.
“Lily,” Scott said, “you know he’ll do it. He’ll probably kill thousands before he gets bored and moves on to something else.”
“Got an answer from the Topians,” the pilot said. “The tower Travis took over is closed.”
“Why is it closed?” Grung asked.
“Travis killed everybody,” the pilot answered. “Nobody’s there to guide us in.”
“Oh. Yeah.”
“But,” the pilot continued, “they gave me directions to a landing strip about a mile from there.”
“Explain what’s going on,” Lily said. “Tell them about his threat to kill people, then ask them what they want us to do.”
While the pilot continued his conversation with the Topians, Scott said, “What if they tell us we can’t land?”
“I guess we find an island or a ship,” Lily said.
“Got an answer,” the pilot said. “They want us to land.”
Lily nodded. “They probably understand we’re the only people who can stop him.”
“Or,” Scott said, “they’re willing to sacrifice their own people just to get their claws on you.”
“Maybe,” Lily said.
“Okay,” Ellie said, “I’m the new girl, so I think I’m missing something. You think the Topians might be planning to kill us?”
“It’s possible,” Scott said.
“If that happens, do we have a plan to deal with it?” Ellie asked.
“Of course,” Grung said.
“I’m listening.”
Grung smiled. “We kill them first.”
“Okay,” Ellie said. “I like the sound of that. So… how do we kill them first?”
“We’ll figure that out when we get there,” Grung said.
“Are you serious?” Ellie asked. She looked at Scott. “Is he serious?”
“Welcome to the B-Team, kid,” Scott said.
Chapter 14
The Capital City
Lily walked down the portable stairs and stepped onto the pavement of the landing strip. Grung, Scott, and Ellie were behind her. The pilot and copilot stayed on the plane. Lily wasn’t sure how high up they were, but it was high. The landing strip was closer to the top level than the ground level.
A group of twenty Topians stood facing them. A young man stepped forward, smiled, and said, “Welcome to Topia, Miss Baxter. It’s truly an honor to meet you.” He extended his hand, apparently expecting her to shake it.
Lily looked at his hand, unsure if she should accept it.
From behind her, Scott said, “Moment of truth, chief.”
Lily took the Topian’s hand.
He didn’t die.
Lily had to admit, he was a handsome Topian. He looked to be in his mid-twenties. He had short brown hair, bright gray eyes, and a clean-shaven face. Even the almost-white Topian skin worked for him. He was dressed in brown slacks and a white button-up shirt. Between his mannerisms and his clothes, he reminded Lily of a police detective.
“I’m Isaac,” he said. “Isaac Fleming. I’m the commander of this section’s Topian Protectorate.”
“Can you take us to the tower?” Lily asked.
“No point,” Isaac said. “Your friend is gone and everybody else is dead.”
“He’s not our friend,” Grung said.
“Sorry,” Isaac said. “I didn’t mean it literally.”
“How many did he kill?” Lily asked.
“Forty-seven,” Isaac answered. “It’s hands down the most horrible event this city has ever seen.”
“If we don’t stop him,” Lily said, “it’s going to get a lot worse.”
“This way,” Isaac said. “I’ll take you to your rooms so you can settle in.”
They followed Isaac and the other Topians across the landing strip, eventually stepping onto a walkway that led them between the buildings.
Ellie looked over the edge. “How high are we?”
“Not sure exactly,” Isaac said. “We’re on Level Thirty-three, so I’d say that qualifies as pretty high.”
They passed several other Topians as they walked along the street. “Where are the other humans?” Lily asked.
“Humans live on the ground level,” Isaac said.
Lily laughed humorlessly. “You keep them in the dungeon.”
“Hardly,” Isaac said. “The ground level just makes more sense. They need soil to grow things. We don’t.”
“Right,” Lily snapped. “All you need is human blood.”
“Yes,” Isaac said. “We need blood. We’re not ashamed of that. It’s who we are. Back when vampires roamed the shadows, it was a vile thing. But now, it’s really rather beautiful. We live because of humanity’s kindness.”
“And what if that kindness goes away?” Lily asked. “What if humanity decides to stop donating blood?”
“We’ll die,” Isaac said.
“Right,” Lily said.
“You may not believe me,” Isaac said, “but I’m telling you the truth. I’ve been a Topian for three years now and I’ve never harmed a human being. If humans stopped donating blood, I would die before I resorted to stealing it.”
“You’re right,” Lily said. “I don’t believe you.”
Isaac smiled. “I can respect that. It’s not like you’ve been given any reason to trust us.”
“You’ve only been a Topian for three years?” Scott asked.
“Yep,” Isaac said. “I pretty much grew up in the human section. I was ten when the war ended.”
“Interesting,” Scott said. “I’m surprised they’re still turning people.”
“I requested it,” Isaac explained. “At a blood drive, I heard some Topians talking about applying for a job as a Topian Protector. I asked them if humans could apply. They didn’t know, so they asked their superiors.”
“I take it they said yes,” Scott said.
Isaac nodded. “It was a very lengthy interview process and the training was a bitch. But yeah, ultimately, they let me join.”
“But they made you become a Topian,” Lily said.
“No,” Isaac said. “They gave me the option. I chose to turn because I knew I could better serve my city as a Topian.”
Ellie asked, “How’d they do it? Did you have to let a vampire drink your blood?”
Isaac chuckled. “Not at all. It’s all done with transfusion machines. I was completely drained, then my blood was replaced with Topian blood. By the end of the day, I was training for my new job.”
“Where’s the Topian blood come from?” Ellie asked. “I would think the amount of blood required would be too much for a single Topian.”
“You’re right,” Isaac said. “Several Topians donate the blood. As a human, I had two parents. As a Topian, I had dozens.”
“What is a Topian Protector?” Scott asked.
“Toward the end of the war,” Isaac explained, “it was a soldier. Today, it’s just our fancy way to describe our cops. Everything a police officer did in the human world, I do here. Of course,” he added quickly, “there’s not much to do. Crime isn’t a big problem here.”
He’s lying, Lily thought as she watched the young man. Or at the very least, he’s holding something back.
“I think this visit is going to change the way you see us,” Isaac said to Lily. “I really do. Believe it or not, Miss Baxter, many people in Topia see you as a hero. And I’m talking about humans and Topians.”
“I find that h
ard to believe,” Lily said.
“Why?” Isaac asked. “You saved your people from annihilation. It could even be argued that you are one of the founders of Topia.”
“Now you’re getting nasty,” Lily snapped.
“Not at all,” Isaac said. “If you hadn’t stood against the vampires, they would have taken over. Because the Day Soldiers stood against the darkness, the vampires were forced to embrace peace. You made them see humanity would never be enslaved. Without you, humanity really would be kept in dungeons.”
Before Lily could reply, another Topian stepped up to Isaac and said, “Sir, there’s been an incident at the pub on Tepes Street. The Superintendent is furious you’re not wearing your communicator.”
“The Superintendent will have to get over it,” Isaac said. “I was told to make our guests my top priority.”
“Of course, sir,” the Topian said. “It’s just that this incident is… well, it’s bad, sir.”
Isaac looked at Lily and Scott. “If you’ll excuse me a moment.” He pulled what looked like a phone from his pocket and walked to the other side of the street.
“He’s cute,” Ellie said.
“Ellie,” Lily said, “if you do that ‘I love a vampire’ thing, I swear to everything I hold holy, I’ll kill you.”
“I just said he’s cute,” Ellie said.
“I don’t trust him,” Lily said. “When he talked about crime, he was hiding something.”
“Yeah,” Scott said. “I thought the same thing. They’re having some kind of crime problem.”
“Of course they are,” Ellie said. “Travis just killed a bunch of Topians.”
“No,” Lily said. “It was something else.”
Grung looked at the city rising above them, then looked at the city stretching below them. “I still don’t understand how they built this place so fast.”
“Like I said on the plane,” Scott said, “It’s not that surprising. They have super strength, don’t need sleep, and they have no corporate bureaucracy to go through. Honestly, I’m surprised they aren’t already planning a lunar colony.”
“Don’t gush too much,” Lily said. “Our host is coming back.”
Isaac didn’t bother to hide the concern on his face. “We’ve got a problem.”
“What kind of problem?” Scott asked.
“The mass murder kind of problem,” Isaac said.
Lily was surprised by his candor. “Travis?”
Isaac nodded. “I know I’ll catch hell for this, but you’re welcome to accompany me to the crime scene if you want.”
“Why would you take us?” Lily asked.
“Because,” Isaac said, “I don’t think we can stop this monster without your help.”
***
Topian bodies lay scattered all over the pub’s floor and tables. Most had their throats ripped out. All of them had blood soaked wounds over their hearts. Lily counted fourteen bodies.
One short sentence was scrawled in blood on the wall behind the bar.
I keep my promises.
“What kind of a monster does this?” Isaac asked.
“The kind who would launch a nuclear assault on millions of innocent people,” Scott said.
Isaac turned to one of his officers. “Did the security cameras record the attack?”
“Sort of,” the Topian said. “Just before the attack, a thick fog poured into the pub and obscured the camera. When the fog cleared, everybody was dead.”
Isaac looked at Lily. “I’m open to suggestions here.”
“We’ll never outsmart him,” Lily said. “Our only chance is to draw him out.”
“You think you can do that?”
“I don’t know,” Lily said. “Travis isn’t just crazy. He’s brilliant. I think we’re in for a very long night.”
“Sir,” one of the Topians said, “it happened again.”
Isaac looked at Lily and her team. “What did you unleash on us?”
Nobody had an answer.
***
This time, the attack was at an apartment complex. Isaac, his team, and the B-Team walked down the hallway toward an apartment at the end.
“In a way,” one of the Topians explained, “we’re lucky. He only hit this floor and most of the apartments were empty. The night’s young, so many of the inhabitants were gone.”
“If he hit the entire floor,” Scott said, “why are we going to the apartment at the end?”
“That’s where he left the note,” the Topian said.
Lily was surprised by the guilt she felt. These Topians weren’t human beings. They were vampires. At the very least, they were the children of vampires. Lily had spent her entire life preparing for and later fighting a war against these creatures.
So why do I feel so guilty? she thought.
She knew the answer. She didn’t want to admit it, but… she knew.
Because they’re people.
A muffled sound from one of the apartments interrupted Lily’s thoughts.
Ellie stopped and looked at one of the closed apartment doors. “What the hell was that noise?”
“So you heard it too?” Lily asked.
Ellie answered with a single nod. She pointed at the door. “It was in there. It sounded like…”
“A baby,” Grung finished. “There’s a baby in that apartment.”
“He spared the children,” Scott said. “Thank God.”
“Scott,” Lily said, “we’re in Topia. There should be no children here.”
“Oh yeah,” Scott said as he opened the apartment door.
“Technically,” Isaac said as he followed them inside, “that’s not entirely true. About the babies, I mean. I would have preferred to introduce you to this development another way.”
The team ignored him as they stepped inside the apartment.
A young female Topian was huddled against the far wall of the living room. She held a baby in her arms.
“Is he gone?” she asked. The terror in her eyes was unmistakable. “It sounded like a warzone out there. What happened?”
“Why does she have a baby?” Lily asked. The distrust that had been fading was back with a vengeance. She looked at Isaac. “Why are you people taking babies?”
“We’re not taking babies,” Isaac said.
“Are you seriously suggesting this child was donated?” Lily said.
“No,” Isaac said. “Of course not.”
“Oh my God,” Ellie whispered.
Lily looked at the baby in the woman’s arms.
Its skin was white and its eyes were so bright they almost glowed. The baby wasn’t human.
“It’s a vampire, Scott,” Lily said. “That baby is a vampire. Did Travis do this?”
“No,” Isaac said.
She spun around and looked at Isaac. “You’re lucky I don’t have a stake. This is an abomination. Why would you turn babies into vampires?”
“Lily,” Scott said quietly. “Calm down. I don’t think this baby was turned.”
“What the hell are you talking about,” Lily snapped. “Look at it!” She walked up to the baby and the woman.
“Stay away,” the woman said.
“Why should I?” Lily said. “You didn’t stay away. You took someone’s baby and you turned it into a… thing.”
“Lily!” Scott said. “Shut up for a minute.”
“No, Scott!” Lily yelled. “What the hell is wrong with you? This child is doomed to be an infant for eternity!”
“There are things we haven’t explained about Topia,” Isaac said. “Things that were planned for your meeting later tonight. Travis changed those plans.”
“I’m curious how you plan to explain this,” Lily said. “Really. Did this woman win the baby in a contest? Did she lose a baby as a human, so you gave her one to love for eternity?”
“This is my baby!” the woman screamed.
Still looking at Isaac, Lily went on. “And what happened to the mother? Did you kill her or is she still gri
eving the loss of her child?”
Isaac pointed at the woman. “She is the baby’s mother, Lily.”
“What are you saying?” Lily asked. “You turned a woman and her baby?”
“For God’s sake, no,” Isaac said.
Scott stepped between Lily and Isaac. “Calm down for a second and think, chief.” He looked at Isaac. “She gave birth to this baby. And it happened after she became a Topian. That’s what happened, isn’t it.”
Isaac nodded.
Lily felt sick with horror. Turning a human baby was bad. This was worse. “What?”
“Our scientists made an important discovery about four years ago,” Isaac explained. “They discovered Topians are aging.”
“No shit?” Grung said. “You’re not immortal?”
“We’re not,” Isaac said. “We age very slowly, but we’re definitely getting older. The original vampires who made us don’t age, but we do. Of course, no Topian has been around long enough to grow old, but based on the last few years, our scientists estimate a Topian’s lifespan is around four hundred years. Give or take a decade.”
“You’re turning back into humans,” Ellie said.
Isaac shook his head. “No. We’re just not vampires.”
“Half-vampires,” Scott said. “We made some similar discoveries recently. You have some of the abilities of a vampire, but since you aren’t fully turned, you retain some human traits.”
“That’s the theory, yes,” Isaac said. “Aging is one of those traits. We’re even developing a tolerance for sunlight.”
“And you can have babies,” Scott added.
“That’s a recent development,” Isaac said, “but yes. About two years ago, several of the earliest Topians became pregnant. Apparently, after an adjustment period, our reproductive organs started working again.”
“What are they like?” Grung asked. “The children, I mean.”
“Well,” Isaac said, “the oldest child is just two years old, so we don’t know much about them. So far, they seem very similar to human children. Our researchers suspect their aging will slow significantly after they go through puberty, but we’re really playing a wait-and-see game. Fact is, we don’t know.”
“What do they eat?” Lily asked.
“You won’t like the answer,” Isaac said.
