by Joe Fowler
“What if Josh isn’t able to turn? Won’t he be in danger?” I asked the obvious question. I couldn’t imagine him turning in a public parking lot.
“Most werewolves would be. Josh, even in his human form, can take a dozen or more vamps without too much trouble.” Seth didn’t sound worried so I tried to relax too. Rosalyn still looked like something was bothering her.
The game broke up and the pack went inside for another round of food. It was amazing how much they ate. Rosalyn and I went for a walk while they ate. We entered the woods and took in the sounds of all the animals. We walked deeper and deeper just enjoying the time alone. It was very relaxing to me. I wasn’t sure if she felt the same. She must not because each time I looked at her she was deep in thought. When we came across a pond, we sat down and watched the moon reflecting off the water. I have no clue how long we sat there but when we heard the sound of Josh and Alicia’s cars, we ran back to the house at a sprint.
“How did it go?” Roselyn asked as Josh and Alicia walked up. Seth and Sarah had come out to hear as well.
“They want a meeting with us. They asked if I would bring my entire pack and listen to what they had to say. They were promising to be on their best behavior.” Josh shook his head as he spoke. “I told them I would come and listen but I would not endanger my pack until I knew what was going on. I figured you would go with me, Seth. Rosalyn, Austin, and the packs could wait here. I doubt there is too much risk for us or the packs that way.”
“No. I think Austin should go with you. It would be a show of peace if you show up with a vampire. I want Rosalyn here with me to help defend everyone, just in case.” Seth turned to me and Rosalyn. “I think this is best but if you don’t agree then we will find another way.”
“You are right. This is what I had feared when Josh first received the call from Alicia. I think they will definitely attack here while they have Josh there. They will send as many vampires as they can here, thinking their leaders can handle Josh. Your plan is better Seth.” Rosalyn clearly didn’t like it but she knew it would be best.
“We have about ten minutes before we need to leave, Austin. Be ready.” Josh said before going inside.
“You have to watch his back. They will be confident but not stupid. Watch out for anyone standing behind you. Stand somewhat perpendicular to Josh, that way the two of you will have eyes in most every direction.” Rosalyn was speaking in a rush. I had not heard her sound so nervous before.
“We will be fine. Quit worrying, Rosalyn. You, Seth, and the packs can handle most anything they throw at you. Josh and I will be careful. I promise.” I pulled her close and kissed the top of her head.
When Josh came back out he looked at me to see if I was good to go. I gave him a nod and tried to release Rosalyn. She grabbed my head and pulled me down for a kiss. I smiled at her as we parted trying to ease her mind. As I got into Josh’s car, my mind was the one going crazy. What if I never saw her again?
“I don’t think there will be too many of them there. Seth agrees with Rosalyn that the house will be their main target. Be on alert, Austin. They would rather stab us in the back easily than win a tough fight.” Seems Josh was agreeing with Rosalyn’s conclusions as well.
“Rosalyn was telling me to stand perpendicular to you so we would have eyes facing more directions. I will have my knife ready to draw. Remember to watch out for Silas. I probably can’t take him. The rest I should be able to deal with.” I reminded him.
“If this turns violent, he will be one of the first to fall. You have to give me time to turn if needed. That is the biggest worry we have.” Josh was right. I hadn’t thought about it that way yet. He would need to turn.
“Where are we meeting them?” I realized I didn’t know where we were going.
“The furniture warehouse. I’m guessing since Silas ran the furniture store, then that must be their headquarters.” Josh said.
“This will give me a chance to feed anyway. Since I was so worried that I might kill a human, Rosalyn and I have been feeding on vampires only. We should both eat well tonight.” I said to psyche myself up.
We arrived at the warehouse. It looked much the same as it did the night we scouted it. There was no truck traffic at the moment. I took a moment to wonder if they had planned that part as well. Josh and I walked to the front door with bold strides. If they started a fight, they would definitely get one in return.
The door opened as we neared it. The vampire seemed mildly surprised when he saw me with Josh. He motioned for us to follow him. I had a brief case of déjà vu, remembering being led much the same way in the warehouse in Jackson. We were shown to the rear of the building where several vampires had gathered in a small group. The group went silent and turned to watch our approach.
“You don’t trust us to bring your pack, but you are accompanied by another vampire. Puzzling. If we can agree on things, there will no longer be any distrust needed between our races.” The one speaking puffed himself up a little and stepped forward with his hand out to shake. Josh hesitated only briefly before shaking his hand.
“I am Josh. I am the alpha of the pack in Chattanooga.” Josh took his hand back, never letting his eyes leave the one doing the talking. I was trying to act nonchalant as I looked around some. I acted like I was looking at what was happening in the warehouse but I was making sure no one came at us from behind.
“My name is Silas. This furniture business is one of three that we own in Chattanooga. We are working on something that will be beneficial to werewolves as well as vampires.” He began. “For as long as we can remember, we have been hunted by any humans who have found out our secret. It has been much the same for your kind as well. There has never been a time like now, though. Between movies and television, we have become sought after for better reasons. Humans have become fascinated with the supernatural. They welcome it, embrace it. They no longer fear us the way they used to. We believe the time has finally come to show ourselves. We want to welcome you to the family and end the ages old feud between our species. What do you say? Can we be friends?”
I had been watching as I listened. As if on cue some of the workers were moving pallets of furniture behind Josh. They appeared to be hard at work but I noticed their interest in every word being said. I was sure Josh’s answer would give them their order to attack. I inched my hand closer to my knife and continued to act bored.
“Well…” Josh started his sentence and finished it in his wolf form. “I don’t think so.”
At the sound of his spooky fricking voice, all hell broke loose. My knife flashed at the vampires rushing Josh from behind. Josh had sprang forward and killed Silas where he stood. The warehouse in Jackson had been easy. I know that now. I fought with all I had. Twice during this onslaught, I almost fell to them. Each time Josh was there to help. After most of the vampires had been killed, some tried to run. Josh wasn’t having that. He ran them down knocking their heads off with his giant claws. I was facing less and less vampires. I had almost started to relax thinking the worst was over when the vamp attacking me dodged a few of my better moves and kept coming. He wasn’t moving in slow motion like the rest, meaning he must be as fast as me. My brain hit alert when I realized this must be one of the thousand year old vampires. We circled oddly since I still had other vampires attacking me and dead bodies all around. I had my attention on him even as I was fighting the others. I was killing one of them when he came in a rush. He got inside my knife to wrestle me to the ground. He was stronger but I was better. We struggled before I got the upper hand. I had him pinned momentarily and brought my knife slashing in before he could throw me off. My slash had taken his arm off at the shoulder. As he screamed in agony, I cut off his head. The last few vampires around me tried to flee. I ran them down much as Josh was still doing, except I fed on one of them before cutting his head off. I doubt many, if any, escaped us.
We looked through the offices and other rooms to be sure we didn’t miss any vampires. No more were found
. Josh and I began preparing the warehouse for a fire. I was feeling good about having survived. I know I owed my life to Josh. He was the most devastating thing I had ever seen, sorry Rosalyn. I couldn’t wrap my mind around the fact that Seth was supposed to be even tougher than Josh. While I felt good about surviving, I also felt really humbled. I was tough, but Josh was on a level I would never reach.
“That looks good enough. The fire should spread quickly enough with the gasoline’s help. Let’s get this done and go.” Josh had returned to human form. He started walking toward the door and I followed. I threw a burning rag onto a trail of gas and shut the door behind us. I heard the first big whoosh as the fire caught.
“Alicia!” Josh called home as he was getting dressed. Apparently he kept a spare set of clothes in his trunk. “How bad is it?”
I watched his reactions. Some were good, some bad. I was trying not to worry about Rosalyn. I kept telling myself how powerful she is and that there was nothing to worry about. It didn’t help much. My mind couldn’t help but think of Sarah and the other wolves. Sarah was so eager to fight. I wondered if she would still be so eager after tonight.
“No! Tell them not to follow. Just defend the house. I will be there in ten minutes.” He hung up as he said that. We got into the car and sped away. I held on tight as he drifted through corners and punched it on even a short straightaway. “They are doing fine now. The vampires attacked like we thought they would, luckily we were able to beat them back. Seth was trying to decide whether to chase after them or not. It could be a trap with many more vampires in the woods waiting.”
Josh continued his wild driving. We were in traffic now which didn’t slow him down. We were weaving in and out between the cars like crazy. When we hit the mostly empty highway that led to his house, I finally unclenched. We just had a few more miles and we would be there. I was beginning to wonder what was more impressive, surviving the fight or the drive back to Josh’s house.
We got out of the car to whooping and howling from the wolves. It sounded like they were having the time of their lives. Most had returned to human form with several still being vigilante as their wolf. Josh sprinted inside the house in a blur of movement. I searched the outside for Rosalyn. I couldn’t stop my smile when she appeared from the side of the house running toward me. I met her halfway.
“I was so worried. I knew if they attacked here that you and Josh were being attacked as well. From now on, if possible, we are in the same place when the fighting starts.” She had thrown her arms around me and her voice was a little shaky in my ear.
“You can thank Josh for my surviving. It was a lot worse than Jackson. How bad did it get here?” I asked her. I still wasn’t letting go of her.
“It looked like hundreds. They came from every direction thinking they would get through us in some places at least. Seth was ferocious! I have more respect for his strength now than I did before. You’ve seen me in these situations. Seth probably killed two of them for every one I killed.” I could hear the awe in her voice.
“He has competition. You have no idea what it is like to watch Josh in action. There was at least one hundred and forty at the warehouse. Josh didn’t even need me there if I’m being honest. It might have been easier without me since he had to save me twice. Silas fell before he could even try to defend himself.” I was smiling as I remembered watching Josh.
We kissed briefly and walked toward the house. There were rotting corpses everywhere you looked. We waded through them until we reached the porch. Rosalyn and I entered the house with our arms around each other. Seth looked up and smiled as we found them in the kitchen. The pack continued to keep their watch outside in case of further attacks.
“You made it. Josh says you fought really well.” Seth greeted me as we sat at the table where they were.
“I only made it because he kept saving me. We didn’t lose anyone here did we?” I asked hoping for a good answer.
“Nope. We suffered some pretty bad injuries but they will be healed and ready to go by tomorrow night. This went better than we could have hoped.” Seth’s words were met with cheers from the wolves inside with us.
Alicia had a death grip on Josh’s waist. She must have been worried sick. She smiled at me and mouthed a thank you. I smiled and nodded in return. I loved her. You couldn’t help it. She was like a really sweet little sister. Anna brought us a beer, God bless her.
“You guys might want to come see this. They are showing the fire at the warehouse on the news.” Cynthia called to us from the living room.
We filed into the living room to watch. The fire was raging. The fire fighters were mainly trying to keep the building next to the warehouse from catching. The warehouse itself was clearly a goner. Josh and I may have used more gas than we needed, but it was better to overdo it than to not cover our tracks. The commentators were going on about hoping there wasn’t anyone inside. We knew better. We took seats on the couches, chairs, and the floor as everyone watched the building burn.
“Sarah finally got to fight. She did better than I expected. Crystal took out her share as well. You should be proud of them.” Seth told Josh.
“Good. It helps to know they can handle themselves, although now I will never hear the end of it.” Josh said good-naturedly. Everyone laughed.
“At least the pack will have more stories to tell. I have been hearing the same ones being relived over and over again for years.” Seth was clearly happy. Why shouldn’t he be? We had stopped over three hundred vampires without losing even one of our own.
I bet a lot of those stories are about Rosalyn. The beautiful vampire who killed almost as many as Seth. I can hear it all now.” Cynthia said with a smile.
“No, I wasn’t anywhere near keeping up with Seth. You need to tell them.” Rosalyn was saying.
“It wouldn’t matter. We all know that Seth is pretty much unstoppable. You are new so they will build you up more. Well, it won’t really be more. I saw you and you are awesome.” Cynthia admitted.
“Thank you, but after two thousand years, it would be pretty bad if I couldn’t fight like that.” Rosalyn countered.
It was funny how selfless everyone was. I felt it too. This level of giving credit away would usually make me sick to my stomach. That was when it hit me. This wasn’t a group of random people. It wasn’t a group of friends. This was a family that cared more for each other than they did themselves. When you loved someone the way these guys loved each other, you enjoyed bragging about them more than you did holding yourself up for praise. It was the first time I had seen this kind of thing outside of a children’s movie.
Our celebration was short lived. The fire coverage was interrupted by a newsbreak of a different sort.
“This footage was sent to our news station along with two more recordings. Brace yourself everyone. This is truly shocking. If you are weak of heart please stop watching.” The anchor said in an uncharacteristically shaky voice.
Footage from the security cameras inside the warehouse began to play. You could clearly see the huge monster form of Josh killing like a tornado of death. There I was doing my part as well. This was being shown on the television!
“Holy shit! How did this footage survive? It should have burned with the fire?” Seth was asking. We were all on the edge of our seats, watching in disbelief as Josh and I, ok mostly Josh, kept decimating those vampires.
The video switched to a group of vampires standing in front of a camera. Silas was standing slightly in front of the others. It was Silas that spoke.
“Hello everyone. Since the dawn of man, we have been hiding in the shadows afraid to show ourselves. Each time one of our kind was found out by humans, we would be slaughtered mercilessly. I have seen these massacres firsthand. I believe the human race has now reached a point of enlightenment that was not there during those dark days.
“We are vampires. We have been cut off from the public eye for so long when all we wanted was to fit in. Yes, we drink blood, but we do not
have to kill to survive. We built large groups in three cities. One of those groups got attacked and wiped out in Jackson, Mississippi. Over one hundred and fifty of our kin were slaughtered. The vampires there had not killed a human. They did no wrong. They built a respectable business and were working hard and paying taxes just like every other American. It is a tragedy that would normally go unreported. Such has been our fate for so long.
“We still have large groups in both Memphis and Chattanooga in Tennessee. As in Jackson, we are building businesses and working hard to fit in with society. We hope you can accept us now, when superstition and mistrust kept you from doing so in the past. We are hoping to begin a new life of peace and acceptance. I sincerely hope we have not underestimated the advancement in humanity.”
The video cut off and the shocked anchorman tried to collect himself for a moment before he announced the accompanying message.
“This next video was just made tonight in response to the violent security feed we witnessed earlier.” The anchor finally got out.
When it flashed onscreen, there was one vampire standing with a forlorn look on his face. He began to speak in a soft voice.
“Hello, my name is Jonas. We have been working toward releasing that video announcement for some time. It has taken a lot of hard work to organize so many vampires into a cohesive workforce all the while having to avoid notice from the public. The violence you have just witnessed is another tragedy suffered by my kind. These two killed an entire warehouse full of sentient beings in Chattanooga. Why? As you have just heard, we are not killing people. We are just trying to live as normal a life as our affliction will allow. How can we seek retribution when it might bring more hatred to vampires everywhere? Can we expect public outcry? Do we not deserve justice?
“We are only asking to be allowed to be respectable and productive members of society. Still, we are slaughtered because of old superstitions and misrepresentation. We hope to speak with officials in the coming days to discuss our integration into society. Please realize that we are not the monsters we have been accused of being.”
