Day Soldiers (Book 4): Evolution

by Brandon Hale

  Lily was immediately disturbed by the implications of Elizabeth’s comment. It meant Elizabeth was like Travis. She was essentially unstoppable. Lily pushed the thought from her mind and said, “I don’t believe you. Arcas said he was the first vampire.”

  From behind Elizabeth, Oliver said, “Arcas was a liar.”

  “How do I know you’re not lying?” Lily said.

  “I don’t care what you think,” Elizabeth said. “You asked a question and I answered it. Whether or not you believe my answer is up to you.”

  “So assuming you’re telling the truth,” Lily said, “why did Arcas betray you?” She knew she had to keep Elizabeth talking for as long as possible.

  “Oliver,” Elizabeth said, “remove her gloves and that silly mask.”

  “You sure?” Oliver asked.

  Elizabeth gave him a look that clearly said, “Don’t question me.”

  Oliver walked up to Lily and removed the locking mechanism around her neck. He pulled the ski mask off then unlocked the mechanisms on her gloves and carefully pulled them off as well.

  For a moment, Lily considered trying to touch him but decided against it. She was in no position to start a fight.

  “To answer your question,” Elizabeth went on, “Arcas rightly believed I would ruin his plans. Like Cassius, Arcas was obsessed with building a perfect world.”

  “Let me guess,” Lily said. “You don’t like all the hippie love going on. You just want human slaves.”

  Elizabeth laughed. “Don’t be silly. Cassius and Arcas wanted human slaves. That was their perfect world. Topia was just step one in their plan.”

  “That’s a damn slow plan,” Lily said.

  “Vampires live a very long time,” Elizabeth said.

  “So if you’re not in the human slave camp,” Lily said, “what’s your big plan?”

  “I already told you,” Elizabeth said. “I want to bathe the world in blood. I want to have a feast that doesn’t end until the food is gone.”

  “That’s not a very smart plan,” Lily said. “Without us, you die.”

  Elizabeth shrugged. “It will be worth it.” She glanced at Oliver and said, “Knife.”

  Oliver handed her a dagger.

  “I gotta say,” Lily said, “that’s not very original. Travis is already playing the whole ‘kill everybody’ game.”

  “Nonsense,” Elizabeth said. “Travis is addicted to power. Destruction is incidental to him. I have no interest in power. I just want to make the world bleed.”

  For the first time since being captured, Lily was afraid. Elizabeth wasn’t like the others. She wasn’t interested in power or control. This was a vampire who had clearly lived too long. Eternity had fractured the woman’s mind. She wants it all to end, Lily thought.

  “I’m impressed you haven’t asked about the dagger,” Elizabeth said.

  “Don’t be,” Lily said. “I’m just afraid that asking will cause you to show me. I have a feeling I don’t want to know.”

  “I like you, Lily Baxter,” Elizabeth said. “I look forward to having you on my side.”

  “I’ll never be on your side,” Lily said.

  Still smiling, Elizabeth said, “So devoted to your hate. You remind me of your maker.”

  “I don’t have a maker,” Lily said. “Unless you mean my parents.”

  “Of course you have a maker,” Elizabeth said. “I’m speaking of the one who made you a creature of light.”

  “Abbie?”

  At first, Elizabeth looked confused, but understanding eventually came to her eyes. “Harut didn’t make you.”

  “Who’s Harut?” Lily asked.

  “I’m guessing he’s the one who gave your Abbie her power,” Elizabeth said. “I know you belong to Harut’s line. I can smell his power on you.”

  “That’s gross,” Lily said.

  Elizabeth chuckled. “Harut was a powerful creature. He came very close to destroying me a few times. And I came very close to destroying him. But we always survived, both of us. You are about to change that. You, Lily Baxter, will be my final victory over my old friend.”

  She carefully reached up and pulled Lily’s right shirt sleeve down to the elbow. She then took the knife and ran the blade down the back of Lily’s forearm. The pain of the cut was intense, but Lily remained silent as the blood began to pour down the back of her arm.

  “You see, Harut is really the reason I’m here,” Elizabeth said as she moved to Lily’s left arm and cut it in the same way she’d cut the right. “Oliver tried to use his resources as president to find Harut. Or, at the very least, to find out what happened to Harut. It was that search that eventually led Oliver to me.”

  Lily could tell the cuts on her arms weren’t deep, but they still hurt like hell. “If you’re planning on drinking my blood,” Lily said, “I should probably warn you that most vampires who drink my blood end up with bubbly insides.”

  “I’m not going to drink your blood, honey,” Elizabeth said. “Right now, I’m just playing. Eventually, I’m going to drain you dry. And once all the blood is gone, I’m going to replace it with some of my own blood. You see, I’m going to turn you into a vampire without ever touching you.”

  Lily’s mind raced. She wanted to think it wasn’t possible, but she really didn’t know. “It won’t work,” she said, hoping she sounded more confident than she felt.

  Elizabeth shrugged. “It might not work,” she said. “To be quite honest, I don’t know. I’ve never tried it on one of your kind before. But if it does work… oh, what a glorious vampire you’ll be.”

  “I’ll never drink your blood,” Lily said. “Never.”

  “You don’t have to,” Elizabeth said. “This place may look like a dungeon, but we’re fairly advanced here. We have equipment. Transfusion equipment.”

  “If you succeed,” Lily said, “the first thing I’m going to do is kill you.”

  Elizabeth smiled as she put a new cut on Lily’s arm. “You say that now because you’re still a human. Once you’re one of us, you’ll thank me. And you’ll stand beside me as we watch this world fall.”

  “You’re delusional,” Lily said.

  “Am I?” Elizabeth said with a smile. “I have over three hundred vampires on these grounds. That’s more than enough to start the process. First, they’ll go to the human level and turn them all. Then, they’ll move into the city and slaughter those poor half-vampires. From there, we’ll move on to the outskirts. We’ll spread across the land like a new plague.”

  “Okay,” Lily said, “I really didn’t go far enough with the ‘delusional’ comment. You’re completely insane.”

  “Enough talk,” Elizabeth said. “I’ve grown tired of this world. It’s time to end it.” She held the knife against the side of Lily’s neck. “This will hurt, but it’s the fastest way to drain you. You can scream if you want.”

  “I can’t let you do that,” Isaac said.

  Elizabeth pulled the knife away and turned around. Isaac stood several feet behind her. His gun was drawn.

  “I made a promise to this woman,” Isaac said. “I intend to keep it.”

  Elizabeth looked at Oliver. “You brought someone who isn’t a true believer? Oliver, I’m very disappointed.”

  “I don’t understand,” Oliver said. “I saw him drink. He should be one of us. I’m sorry, Elizabeth.”

  “Isaac, shoot them!” Lily yelled.

  Elizabeth moved so fast she was barely visible. She grabbed Isaac by the throat, lifted him into the air, then flung him across the dungeon. Lily’s heart sank as she watched Isaac’s gun fall to the floor and bounce across the room.

  Elizabeth turned to Oliver. “I should kill you for this,” she said.

  “I understand,” Oliver said quietly. “Do what you must.”

  Elizabeth released an inhuman scream, darted to the opposite side of the room, and snapped the neck of one of the humans hanging from chains. She then stepped to the next living human and sank her teeth into
his neck. Once he was dead, she moved to the next human.

  Lily watched in horror as Elizabeth went from human to human, killing each one. Once all the other humans were dead, she came back to Oliver. “Okay,” she said. “I’m better now. I need you, Oliver. There’s no denying that. I forgive you, but don’t let me down again.”

  “Thank you, Elizabeth,” Oliver said. He pointed toward Isaac, who was now back on his feet. “What about him?”

  “He gets to live,” Elizabeth said. “At least long enough to watch Lily Baxter die.”

  “Thanks for trying,” Lily said to Isaac.

  “I’m not done,” Isaac said. He pulled a stake from his belt and looked at Elizabeth. “I keep my promises.”

  Elizabeth laughed. “I think I want to turn him instead of Baxter. I like him. He’s got spirit.”

  “Do you want me to hold him?” Oliver asked.

  “No, no,” Elizabeth said. “As much as I’d like to play with him, we should stick to our plan. Just shoot him.”

  Oliver drew his gun.

  From across the room, the elevator dinged.

  “What now?” Elizabeth groaned.

  The elevator door slid open and Cassius stepped into the room. He held a sword in one hand and a gun in the other.

  “How the hell did you get here?” Oliver yelled.

  Cassius smiled. “I built this place, you moron. You think I don’t know how to get around without being seen?”

  He pointed the gun at Elizabeth and fired. She dropped to the floor.

  Oliver pointed his gun at Cassius and fired. Cassius blocked the bullet with his sword then fired at Oliver. Oliver dodged the bullet.

  “Get Baxter and get out of here!” Cassius yelled as he charged Oliver. He attacked with ferocious speed, but Oliver managed to dodge his sword.

  Isaac ran to Lily and looked at the cuffs around her wrists. “I need a key!”

  “You’re a Topian!” Lily screamed. “Break the damn chains!”

  Behind Isaac, Elizabeth sprang to her feet. She held a wooden bullet in her bloody hand. “Digging that out was no fun at all.”

  Isaac grabbed Lily’s chains. With a guttural scream, he snapped the chain in half.

  Lily stepped from the wall, the chains hanging at her wrists. The shallow cuts on her arms were no longer bleeding, but her arms were caked in dried blood.

  Lily looked at Elizabeth. “Drain me now, bitch.”

  Elizabeth looked conflicted. Behind her, Cassius and Oliver continued their battle. Elizabeth looked at Isaac, then at Lily. “Another time.”

  She leapt to the ceiling and crawled across it like an insect. Before Lily had time to do anything, Elizabeth disappeared into a small hole in the corner of the ceiling.

  Isaac picked up his gun and looked at Lily. “Gun or stake?”

  “Neither,” Lily said as she walked toward Cassius and Oliver.

  She made it a few steps when Cassius’s sword flew across the room. Oliver grabbed him by the throat and slammed him against the wall.

  “You really thought you could take me, Cassius?” Oliver said. “That’s always been your problem. You have no respect for your elders.”

  With his back against the wall, Cassius lifted both of his legs and kicked Oliver in the chest. Oliver flew across the room and slammed into Elizabeth’s tub, knocking it onto its side. The congealed blood slowly began to ooze onto the floor as Oliver climbed to his feet.

  Cassius looked at Lily and screamed, “Get out of here!”

  “Not until he’s dead,” Lily said.

  Oliver sprang from the floor and clutched the ceiling. Isaac fired several shots as Oliver scurried across the ceiling and disappeared into the same opening Elizabeth had taken.

  “They can dodge bullets,” Isaac said. “That’s not fair at all.”

  “You just faced two of the oldest vampires in the world and survived,” Cassius said. “I think you should count your blessings right now.”

  “What now?” Lily said.

  “Get out of here immediately,” Cassius said. “I’m sure Oliver has already alerted his people.”

  “What are you gonna do?” Lily asked.

  Cassius looked at the ceiling. “I’m going to hunt that son of a bitch down and I’m going to kill him.” He looked back at Lily. “Go, Baxter. I’m serious. Every second counts if you want to get out of here alive.”

  “Cassius,” Lily said, “I don’t know what to… I… what the hell just happened?”

  Cassius chuckled. “Leave. We can go back to hating each other tomorrow.”

  “Thank you,” Lily said.

  Cassius just gave a single nod then leapt to the ceiling.

  Lily looked at Isaac. “Come on.”

  They stepped in the elevator. As the door closed, Lily looked around for controls. “There are no buttons.”

  Isaac said, “Ground floor.” The elevator began to move.

  “Good thinking,” Lily said.

  Isaac shrugged. “It’s just what Oliver did to get us here.”

  “I guess I should be thanking you too,” Lily said. “You saved my life back there.”

  “You don’t owe me any thanks,” Isaac said. “I’m the reason you’re in this situation.” He shook his head. “I believed in him. I believed in Topia.”

  “You can still believe in Topia,” Lily said. After a moment’s thought, she added, “Damn, I can’t believe I just said that.”

  Isaac chuckled. “I’m still completely confused by everything that’s happened in the past few days.”

  “Me too,” Lily said.

  “For example,” Isaac said, “Travis is the guy who launched a nuclear attack on America during the war, right?”

  “Yep,” Lily said.

  “Then why is he helping you?”

  Lily shrugged. “I have no idea.”

  “And Cassius,” Isaac said. “I’m assuming he’s the guy who was in charge during the war. He’s the guy who really built Topia.”

  Lily nodded. “He always managed to stay behind the scenes, but yeah. He led the Legion during the war. I’m not sure if he actually started the war, but he definitely became the leader at some point. Until today, I considered him the most dangerous creature on the planet.”

  “Then why,” Isaac said, “did he just save our lives?”

  “No clue,” Lily said. “I can tell you one thing, though. He didn’t do it out of the goodness of his heart. Cassius does nothing unless it benefits him in some way.”

  “So what now?” Isaac asked.

  “Why are you asking me?” Lily said. “This is your world.”

  “Hey,” Isaac said, “I’m basically just a cop who got dragged into this.”

  “Well,” Lily said, “I’m hoping we can just sneak out of here. Once I hook up with my people, we can come up with a plan. I’m sure Oliver is gonna claim I’m some kind of mass murderer. Especially now.”

  “Maybe Cassius will kill him,” Isaac said.

  “Maybe,” Lily said. “I’m not counting on it, though. Cassius had a sword and still couldn’t beat him.”

  “Yeah,” Isaac said.

  “We’ll deal with Oliver later,” Lily said. “First, we just have to sneak out of this place.”

  The elevator stopped and the door slid open.

  “Shit,” Lily said.

  At least thirty vampires stood in the large main room of the castle. They all had weapons pointed at Lily and Isaac.

  Chapter 25

  Storming the Castle

  Grung, Scott, Ellie, and Travis crouched on top of the castle. Armed vampires roamed the grounds below them.

  “You think they’re vamps or Topians?” Ellie asked.

  “Vampires,” Scott said.

  “How do you know?” Grung asked. “I can’t really smell a difference.”

  “I don’t think they’d have Topian guards out here,” Scott said.

  “That could work to our advantage,” Grung said. “How long until daylight?”

>   “About three hours,” Ellie said.

  “Shit,” Scott said. “That’s too long. She could be dead by then.”

  “What kind of weaponry do you have?” Grung asked. “I know we each have a gun, but what else?”

  “Not much,” Scott said as he placed his backpack on the ground and opened it. “Six grenades, a crossbow, and about ten stakes.”

  “What kind of grenades?” Grung asked.

  “Holy water,” Scott said. “I figured there was no point in bringing any werewolf weaponry.”

  “Sounds good,” Grung said. “What’s the plan?”

  “Uh, guys,” Ellie said, “where’s Travis?”

  Scott and Grung looked up to see that Travis was gone.

  “Shit,” Grung said.

  “Nothing we can do now,” Scott said. “We still need a plan.”

  “Maybe not,” Ellie said. “Something’s happening down there.”

  They looked down at the grounds and saw that most of the vampires were rushing into the castle.

  “Ten to one, that has something to do with Travis,” Grung said.

  “Who cares?” Scott said. “There’s our window. Let’s move.”

  ***

  “Doors, close!” Isaac yelled.

  The elevator door slid closed.

  “Good thinking,” Lily said. “Again.”

  From the other side of the closed elevator door, they heard a muffled voice say, “Doors, open.”

  The door slid open.

  “Damn,” Isaac said.

  “Stay open,” the vampire in front of the crowd said. He was a handsome man who looked to be in his mid-twenties. He smiled. “We’re security. Our voices override yours.”

  “Whatever,” Isaac said. Lily could tell he was trying to sound authoritative. “I’m just glad you’re here. I need you to escort us to the gate. We think the prisoner’s friends will be coming for her tonight.”

  The vampire just shook his head. “Nice try, sir. We’ve already received orders from the president himself. You’re the target. You and this human.”

  “Okay,” Isaac said as he held up his hands. “You got us. We surrender.”