Vampire Esquire's War (Book 2)

by Michael Wells Jr.

  “There is no need to remake all of the institutions. Quite simply, the objective is to replace all that already is with vampires. The concept is so simple. I’m surprised it hasn’t worked in the past.”

  Human determination could not be underestimated, but Lenin believed in the superiority of vampires and of his plan.

  Lenin stepped close to the Speaker, and he whispered into his ear, “Do it sooner. We are ready. They won’t be able to respond quickly enough. They may be determined, but you can’t be dead and determined. They will be dead soon enough. Nothing will stand in our way. Nothing.”

  Lenin zipped out of the room, a vampire blur off to plot.

  Chapter 18

  “The key with this is to always be near the president. He must be able to go about his day as if everything is perfectly normal. Otherwise the vampires will know the president is afraid, and, if he is afraid, then he will be more vulnerable. We all know fear is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, assets the vampires possess. But it doesn’t have to always be an asset. Conquering our fear of vampires will help us not be vulnerable to them.”

  “We’ve all seen them be killed,” said Roland. “It can be done. They can die just like anyone else. It may take a little more to kill them than a human, but they can die just the same.”

  “Right. It is important to have a healthy amount of fear for the vampire, but you cannot let fear cripple you. Let it be your friend because it will hone your senses.”

  Roland agreed. He didn’t fear the vampires as much as he feared making another mistake like the made in Iraq.

  Continuing on his philosophical bent, Hamilton said, “The main reason we’ve had to keep vampires a secret all these years is irrational fear. Are vampires hideous? Yes. Can they do horrible things? Yes. But so can humans, and we don’t fear all humans like people would fear vampires if they knew they were real. If they got over the fear, vampires would lose a lot of their power.”

  Roland agreed because he too had done unspeakable things. Alexander Hamilton had as well.

  “So back to the task at hand gentlemen,” said Alexander Hamilton. “You all are moving into the White House, and your special detail is to guard the president at night. We’ve gotten you rooms in the White House, and you will be staying there for the foreseeable future at least until all of this shit with Vladimir blows over.”

  Both men felt lots of excitement. The White House, they thought. The fight would be there.

  _________________________

  Chapter 19

  Each time Roland had the dream he woke up hot and drenched in sweat. He smelled the searing, acrid smoke from the fired guns. In his mind’s eye he could still see the carnage, and, when he closed his eyes, he could see it even more vividly.

  “You look like shit,” Magnum said to Roland as he emerged from his room.

  “I didn’t sleep very well. Sometimes I still have those dreams.”

  Magnum grimaced, wishing he could take back what he said, “Everyone has regrets. I’ve got my share. And I have nightmares too. You’ve been through a lot of shit, no doubt about that, but you are making it right.”

  “I want to make up for what I did in Iraq.”

  Magnum considered this. “Crazy shit happens in war. You can’t help what happens. “

  “I could have prevented what happened.”

  Magnum walked closer to him and grabbed his right arm, “No you couldn’t have. You are a victim too Roland. You are making it better.”

  Roland knew he would always feel shame. He could make it better though if he did his part here.

  When Roland and Magnum arrived at the Oval Office the president had the door open. President Elder’s secretary said, “The president will see you now.”

  The two men walked into the room, and the found the President sitting on one couch and Pierre Leblanc sitting on the other couch. “Gentlemen, I trust you two slept well. The White House is a great place to sleep.”

  Roland and Magnum responded yes in unison.

  “Pierre’s become somewhat of an unofficial special counsel to me. He is well schooled in both human law and vampire law. He’s got some interesting information to report.”

  Pierre stood and walked back towards the fireplace across the room from the president’s desk.

  “Vampires use Twitter. They use Facebook, Foursquare and even Pintrest. They will use these methods of communication to create the necessary revolution. It happened in Egypt with humans a few years ago. Who’s to say it can’t happen with vampires as well?”

  Magnum grimaced. Roland’s face went ashen. “Sounds like we have some serious fighting ahead of us,” said Magnum.

  “It will definitely be the Society of the Silver Stake’s greatest battle. What’s more the Society and the military will be killing American citizens who happened to be turned vampires. Regardless of what they are now I’m not sure if they cease to be American citizens because they are vampires,” said the president.

  “Sir, with all due respect, I think they are no longer United States’ citizens because they are undead. Undead is not alive, nor is it dead. In order to be a citizen you must be a person. In order to be a person, you must be alive. If you are not alive, you cannot be a person. If you cannot be a person, then you cannot be a citizen. Therefore, when you kill vampires who were once citizens, you are only killing vampires.” Pierre made this assertion with little emotion.

  The president nodded his head and closed his eyes.

  “I need to talk to the Joint Chiefs. Not all of them know about this threat. They are going to think I’ve lost my mind. Once they figure out I haven’t lost my mind, they will be horrified,” said President Elder.

  “Most people are, but the human mind has an amazing ability to adapt. It takes tragedy and moves on. It heals. Or at least this is what I remember about being human. Of course my greatest heartache occurred after I became a vampire when a Roman soldier killed my beloved Quinta, but I think that was a lie. My existence has been a lie, but I suppose everyone’s is. My maker, Drago, created this lie. If he is still out there, I will kill him.”

  The President’s eyes welled up for a brief second, but then his usual stoicism returned. “I’m sorry Pierre. I’d heard this story about you before, but it is the first time you told me about it. Terrible. But I know Quinta would be proud of you. Your continued existence as well as your desire to preserve the peaceful coexistence between humans and vampires honors both species.”

  “Thank you Mr. President. I hope it does. Even though it has been almost two thousand years, I still feel my wife watches me and is with me. Often it feels as if she never left.”

  Then President Elder looked up at Pierre. The two men locked eyes, and President Elder reached out a hand across the coffee table to touch Pierre’s shoulder. As he touched Pierre’s shoulder, he said, “We are not so different, you and I, for we both feel so much, yet we try and hide those emotions.”

  Pierre nodded quickly without speaking, trying to hold back the emotion.

  ______________________

  The bill cut all Medicaid funding to California, Washington and Louisiana; hardest hit were large metropolitan areas in Los Angeles, DC and New Orleans, areas with large minority populations. Press coverage exploded, but the press ignored the reports coming from private prisons were riots occurred. In almost every state in the lower 48, prison riots led by vampires destroyed private prisons, but the existence of vampires had not yet been publicly confirmed.

  Vampires broke out, but the press didn’t connect the dots. Bloggers and those on Twitter and Facebook certainly noticed it, and their coverage forced the press to take notice. This put increasing pressure on the White House to make a statement, a statement where the truth would be revealed to billions: vampires existed, and they were taking over.

  Vampires sneaked into power unnoticed by the vast majority of Americans, but not all Americans. The Society of the Silver Stake and President Elder were ready.

  “We
anticipated this, and we’ve dispatched members of the Society of the Silver Stake and other military personnel.” The President said, then he paused, weighing his words, “The military knows, or at least the forces who have been dispatched to New York, New Orleans and Southern California. As you know they are already in Washington where we expect an attack soon.”

  In the situation room, the president, Magnum and Roland watched footage from military satellites of private prisons in Louisiana, North Carolina and Virginia. They could see smoke coming out of each of the prisons, but that was all they could see.

  “What’s that?” shouted President Elder, as he pointed to a screen on the left of a North Carolina prison. Everyone focused, and they saw a man come out of the prison. Then dozens spilled out. All wore tattered orange jumpsuits.

  “They look like escaped convicts,” said Roland.

  “They are, but they are more than that. Look,” Magnum pointed, “don’t you see those claws?” As Magnum spoke, all of the vampires turned up and stared straight at the sky as if they heard Magnum. Then they appeared to be staring all of them in the eyes. In unison, they all bore fangs.

  President Elder blew out his breath, placing his hands on the head of his chair. “Shit. There are approximately twenty-thousand new vampires in Washington as we speak. This is just in the last three weeks. This is worse than we thought. Within the next few days I am going to have to address the American people about it. I’ve held off long enough, and there are already rumors many people already believe to be true. The story is coming out one way or another. The press already knows about the riots.”

  Magnum blurted out, “But won’t it cause a mass panic? Isn’t that what Lenin wants?”

  “Yes, but not this soon; the vampires were grown so quickly that they are weak—not yet reached maximum viability. But the vampire numbers are alarming. No question about it, but we can handle them. They don’t have the numbers yet; at most their numbers are around two million. That’s a quarter to a third of what they need.”

  They anticipated the coming storm, and it had come, although more quickly than thought. However, the numbers were less than thought. And they were ready.

  President Elder skimmed a report from the Pentagon.

  The report told him soldiers had stacked barricades of sandbags around the perimeter of the Pentagon. Although forklifts, cranes and other lifting devices assisted them, nothing could replace old-fashioned manpower. The wall stood at 20 feet, and members of the press corps certainly noticed it, yet no one would talk to the press about it.

  The press speculated wildly about the preparations being made throughout the country. Headlines from Washington read, “Mysterious wall around the Pentagon.”

  Eventually the president needed to address the issue with the American people.

  “The time is coming sir,” said Pierre.

  “ I know,” said President Elder as he glanced at Magnum and Roland.

  “I know Magnum disagrees, but we need to tell humans something. They need to be prepared to fight back if necessary.”

  Unable to hold back, Magnum said, “They can’t fight back in they way they need to.”

  “That may be the case, but, if they don’t fight back at all, they will be killed or turned into vampires. You, the Society and our military can only do so much,” said Pierre.

  “I agree,” said the president. “People need to know something so they can at least have a chance.”

  They all knew the country would never be the same after this battle. Neither would the world. It had been coming for a long time, and it would be dealt with accordingly. Vampires wouldn’t be completely eliminated, only the Restoration Vampires and those other vampires hostile to humans. They would kill those born of Vladimir Lenin’s bloodline because they presented the threat to humanity. Good vampires did exist. Pierre Leblanc proved vampires could peacefully coexist with humans.

  Pierre knew vampires and humans could live together.

  Chapter 20

  Thomas Watson walked into Apex Corporation’s sleek K Street office at close to eleven p.m. He disguised himself in a fake beard and a fedora, a bad disguise, but he couldn’t come up with anything better. He didn’t look like himself, and that was all that mattered. Nero Corporation’s name might as well have been etched on the buildings edifice.

  Watson came to the circular receptionist’s desk in the middle of the lobby. The receptionist greeted him. “Mr. Lenin will see you now.” She cracked a wry smile.

  He went to the elevator which took him to the top floor of the building. Watson came to another receptionist’s desk out side the entrance to the office. “He’s ready for you,” said Monique, who had made the trek from Paris.

  Monique opened the double doors leading to Lenin’s office. Vladimir turned around when Watson walked into the office. His tall muscular form and piercing gray eyes gave him a seductive appearance. No wonder he’d turned so many to vampires.

  “My child, it is so nice to see you again. You look better this time. I trust vampire existence is agreeing with you,” Vladimir said as he walked forward and embraced Watson.

  “It is going well, sir,” said Watson nervously.

  “You are the key to my plan Thomas. And let me tell you why, although you’ve probably figured it already.”

  Vladimir spread his hands plaintively. “I need your help Thomas. The President stands in the way to my plans. He’s the final obstacle. I need to dispose of him.”

  Thomas’s muscles tensed. His pulse quickened. He felt a horrible pang of sadness intertwined with an equally potent pull of family loyalty. Vladimir was his father now. But Thomas Elder had been his best human friend, and those two loyalties were at odds in spite of what he told himself and in spite of the pull Vladimir Lenin exerted over him.

  “I need you to help me gain entrance into the White House and to help get others into the White House. The president is stuck there.”

  “That will be difficult,” Watson said incredulously.

  Vladimir Lenin threw he head back and laughed. Cackled more like it, a deep and evil laugh of knowing satisfaction. “Mr. Watson,” he said formally, “The permission the president granted you to enter the White House as a human being survives into your vampire state until said permission is retracted in person. Or this is what a minority portion of the Vampire Restoration League believes.”

  “What’s more this permission can be granted to others in your bloodline including your progeny, my progeny and, more importantly, me.”

  Vladimir’s dark eyes grew darker, yet they also appeared to glow if darkness can ever be said to glow.

  __________________

  Mark Inman hated Fletcher Turner. Fletcher had been a trusted and useful advisor when he worked for Inman, while Inman and Fletcher were human. Now Fletcher wielded power over Inman, and he loathed this; even though Fletcher was his maker, he despised him because Fletcher had once been his underling. It was even worse than losing the presidential election to Thomas Elder, and he blamed Fletcher for this to some extent.

  Even though Inman knew a Mark Inman presidency would benefit Lenin and Nero Corporation, he couldn’t help but think his election hadn’t ever really been the focus. The presidency was certainly desired—but not to possess the office—it was the control that would flow to Lenin through Inman by virtue of that office. It was more about Congress and obtaining the necessary legislative majorities to ramrod through veto-proof legislation in order to give the appearance of legality to what would be a violent coup.

  Inman walked into his giant hideaway office in the Capitol, and he looked through the mail sitting on his desk. He glanced up and saw Vladimir Lenin standing in front of him glowering. “I need movement Mr. Speaker. And I need it soon.”

  Is it really the time for more legislation? thought Inman.

  “Yes, it is time for more legislation,” said Lenin, speaking inside Lenin’s head. More glimmering.

  “Sir, we effectively killed Medicaid in the O
mnibus by defunding Medicaid.”

  Lenin threw up his hand in exasperation. “I understand that, but states still control a portion of Medicaid. Once we are in control we need to stay in control. What are you going to do about the states?

  “There isn’t a lot I can do. We have to wait for the money to dry up.”

  Inman felt his body fly up in the air and hit the silk lined wall of the hideaway. “That’s not good enough. You need to act, not wait.” Then Lenin released his grip dropping Inman a few feet to the ground where he banged his knees on the parquet floor.

  ____________

  “Get results. I made you, and I can break you.” Lenin turned and walked out.

  Inman immediately began calling key leaders in the House and Senate. He spoke to the staff lawyers too. A defense bill was coming up soon, and he thought he could sneak in a rider that would force states to cut Medicaid in areas with high minority populations. The key would be to take away federal money in other areas to force their hand.

  Inman, Fletcher, and Vladimir Lenin wanted dominance, but they disagreed over timing. Lenin had already started to dispatch some of his soldiers, who had been entombed under Washington, New York, and Los Angeles for some time now; the vampires grown from human trafficking would supply the necessary troops to win the battle with the humans, but they had to maintain control. Favorable laws would help them do this.

  But before all that they would flood the country with vampires. After the wave of vampires from human trafficking, there would come the private prison populations, who would converge with the city armies and overwhelm the humans. They would take these cities, turn as many vampires as quickly as possible and move on.

  _________

  Inman sat alone in his office still shaking from fear of Lenin. He considered himself fortunate to be Speaker of the House. Many politicians labored their entire careers to be speaker, and he still could be president. If things went according to Lenin’s plan, he would be president. But what was the point in being president if you had to take orders from one person?