by I D Johnson
“You’ll love it once you’re all Transformed though,” she reminded him. “You’ll be faster
and more agile. Who knows? Perhaps you’ll even be able to properly catch a ball.”
He wanted to lash out at her, but there were no words as the fire intensified. His stomach began to cramp up, and he felt the urge to move his limbs, though he couldn’t. He wanted to shake himself free.
“Marjorie!” his mother was chastising on his behalf, but James couldn’t even look at her to thank her.
“It’s true, Mother.”
“Be kind, or you will have to leave. Can’t you see how much pain your poor, dear brother is in?”
Margie said nothing. Or else James simply didn’t hear her. He was trying not to die. Although passing out did seem like a wonderful idea.
“You’re doing good there, son,” Culpepper said, patting his arm.
The sensation of his uncle’s hand on his arm was excruciating, and James wanted to tell him to move it at once, but he had no words. He began to feel faint, and the room around him became fuzzy, spinning around him. Suddenly, a bout of nausea also hit him, and now not only were his veins full of liquid fire, he was about to wretch all over himself. He closed his eyes tightly and began to say a little prayer that it all end soon—one way or another. His last thought was that if he was ever able to stand again, Margie would pay for this.
Chapter 9
Boston, Massachusetts, USA, 1886
James packed up the last of his utensils into his doctor’s bag and turned to bid his colleagues farewell. It wouldn’t be easy to walk away from the hospital, but the time had come—much more quickly than he had ever envisioned. When he’d begun working here just a few years ago, he was certain he would have a lengthy career at Massachusetts General Hospital, perhaps someday being the head surgeon, and retiring as an old man, after a successful career.
He had no idea he’d be leaving at the age of eighteen, well before most surgeons even started their practice. Yet, after he’d undergone the Transformation process late last year, he hadn’t been able to continue pretending to be a typical, human doctor. If he touched a patient without gloves on, they immediately began to recover from their ailments, leaving him nearly passed out with no reasonable explanation. When he wore gloves, he couldn’t be as precise in his movements, and often other doctors would suggest he take them off. There was simply no way he could go on about his everyday activities around the hospital now that he was something more than human.
“It’s been wonderful working with you,” Dr. White said, extending his hand, which Jamie shook. The other doctors followed suit, and soon he was walking out the door. They believed he’d taken a sabbatical so that he could travel some before finding a suitable wife and settling down, possibly returning to the hospital at some future date.
Obviously, that wasn’t the truth. He’d been speaking to his sister and Culpepper off and on, and they sincerely wanted him to join their team, not even necessarily to fight Vampires but to put the Guardians and Hunters back together again if they were injured in battle. Culpepper insisted that he’d never seen anything like James’s gift, which had actually intensified since he’d gone through the Transformation process. Six months later, he was finally getting used to his own body.
As James walked out of the hospital, he heard a feminine voice behind him and turned to see Annie following him down the steps, loose strands of blonde hair flying around her pretty face. “Dr. Joplin, I’m sorry. I was in a surgery. I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye.”
Despite his emotional state at leaving, he couldn’t help but smile at her. “I’m glad you caught me, Annie.”
“I just wanted to tell you how much I’ve enjoyed working with you, and I hope you’ll follow your true calling now. You are an amazing surgeon. But they need you more.”
James looked at her puzzled. He glanced around, and when he saw that they were virtually alone except for a few hurried passersby on the sidewalk below them, he leaned in closer and said, “What’s that now?”
Annie smiled coyly. “Oh, come on. I’ve worked with you enough to see what’s happening. And, well, let’s just say I know some people. You’re a Healer, Jamie, obviously. You’ll be such an asset to the team. I know you will.”
She was smiling at him with pride and encouragement, and James had to believe she knew exactly what she was talking about. “You believe in… them, then?”
“Vampires?” Annie asked, her face perfectly serious. “Yes, of course. I’ve seen one. Once, when I was a young child. I know more than I should since I’m not capable of doing what you have. But, yes. I believe. And I’m so thankful there are people out there protecting us.”
James nodded, not entirely sure what to say to that. His sister had told him about how exciting it was to hunt down Vampires and destroy them, but it didn’t sound at all appealing to James. However, when he thought about it from the aspect of protecting innocent people, people like Annie, perhaps he needed to investigate exactly what the job would entail more closely. At any rate, Uncle Culpepper had asked him to meet with someone “very important” and James had decided he owed it to his uncle to hear him out. He had kept his family safe for all those years, after all, despite the fact that there had been a Vampire living in the alley just down the way for his entire life.
“Well, good luck, Jamie,” Annie said leaning in to embrace him. “Be safe. Do great things.”
“Thank you, Annie,” he said, trying to ignore the urge to lean in and smell her hair. She was to be married within the year, and it would be ridiculous for him to think of this as anything other than a friendly gesture from one former co-worker to another.
She released him and took a step back toward the door. “Keep in touch.” Giving him a small wave, Annie turned and went back inside.
“Who is that buxom blonde?”
James turned toward the voice and saw his uncle standing on the sidewalk, his hands deep inside the pockets of his duster, which he wore despite the warm spring day. “Just a former colleague,” James replied.
“You ready to go?” he asked, looking James up and down.
“Right now?” he asked. “I thought I’d go home first. Drop off my bag, perhaps change clothes.” He had performed two surgeries that day, and though he was fairly certain he hadn’t managed to get any fluids on him, he never liked to wear the same clothes he’d worn to work after the day was done.
“Don’t have time,” Culpepper shrugged. “We’ve got a hunt tonight, and there’s a whole team to be organized. This person I want you to meet is extremely busy. He has hundreds, thousands of people to organize all over the world. His time is more valuable than… God’s.”
James didn’t approve of his uncle’s blasphemy, but he also knew from experience that arguing would do no good. “What time is your hunt? It’s not even six in the evening yet.”
“Come along,” Culpepper insisted, and James followed, wondering where they were going and if he would actually somehow be tricked into taking on a Vampire with no preparation.
Now that he had completed the Transformation process, the art of walking was nothing. He never grew tired anymore from any sort of physical activity. He didn’t need to eat frequently either, though he did so whenever Sadie insisted, or she made something he particularly enjoyed. Sleeping was another human need James no longer had the same sort of necessity for. He only slept an hour or two each night. The only time he ever grew weary was when his special energy was triggered. Culpepper called him a Healer, and even though James didn’t think of himself as any more of a healer now than he had when he first started practicing medicine, the fact that Culpepper insisted on capitalizing it made him think it must be more important than he realized.
They walked briskly through streets James quickly didn’t recognize anymore, having never gone this way before. Clearly, they were heading out of Cambridge. The people around them didn’t seem to notice they were walking faster than usual, though they ce
rtainly weren’t going at their peak capacity.
Eventually, Culpepper turned down an alley and approached a door that looked more than a little shady to James. He knocked twice, and the door opened from within. One of Culpepper’s associates James had met several times, Hezekiah, who had been there the morning James awoke to find out he was no longer completely human, had opened the door. He nodded at both of them but said nothing, and James realized he hadn’t ever heard him utter much of anything.
Culpepper led them down some stairs into a basement. The lighting was poor down here, the air dank, and James wondered why they couldn’t operate out of nicer facilities. In the corner, a group gathered around a table, looking at what appeared to be a map. James saw his sister, dressed in her usual pants, one leg propped up on a chair as she stood with her hand on her hip, most unlady like. Across from her stood Cornelia, the cockney orange-haired woman who had been so sure he’d make a great asset to them. There was a younger man James hadn’t met standing next to his sister and a man who looked to be in his early thirties sitting in a chair at the end of the table. His hair was slicked back, and he had an air of importance about him. A few people stood off to the side as well, apparently carrying on their own discussion.
“Culpepper,” the man at the table said as his uncle approached. “Nice to see you back.” He offered his hand as he stood, and Culpepper grasped it firmly. Everyone was dressed entirely in black, except for this man who wore denim pants, a white button down shirt, and brown leather suspenders, an outfit James thought peculiar to say the least.
“Jordan, this is my nephew, Jamie. He’s the Healer Margie and I have been telling you about.”
James wanted to correct his uncle. There was no reason for this man to think his name was Jamie when it really wasn’t, but before he could say anything, the man turned his friendly brown eyes to James and took his hand firmly in both of his. “Jamie, so nice to meet you.” His voice was unfaltering but kind, his grip steady. There was something about this man that instantly gained James’s attention.
“Jamie, this is Jordan Findley, the Guardian Leader,” Culpepper explained.
The words seemed important, and James could remember his uncle telling him that there was one man in charge of all of the Guardians in the world, which numbered in the thousands. He directed their movements the best he could, and when there was a particularly violent Vampire, it was up to this man to coordinate forces to go in and take that Vampire out. He’d said something about the Vampire Hunters having a leader as well, and he thought Culpepper mentioned it was actually Jordan’s wife, though he couldn’t be certain. Disinterest at the time had prevented him from being too conscientious of what his uncle was talking about.
“It’s nice to meet you,” James replied, his words sincere, though he wasn’t sure why. He didn’t want to be a Guardian in the first place, but now, he was here nevertheless.
Margie smiled at him but remarkably said nothing. She seemed preoccupied by the map on the table and the fellow by her side.
“I’ve heard pretty astounding things about your abilities,” Jordan said, taking a step away from the table, his arms crossed in front of him. “Is it true that you healed Margie after her skull cracked open and she had several broken bones, in a matter of minutes, on the very night you began to Transform?”
James’s eyes flickered to his sister, whose smile was frozen in place as she caught his eyes again. Culpepper also looked at him encouragingly. “I did,” James confirmed. “I’m not sure how.”
“Remarkable,” Jordan replied. “And how are your skills now? Have you had a chance to practice them at all?”
“Not intentionally,” James replied, which brought a soft chuckle from the man across from him. James raised an eyebrow, not sure why that was funny, though the laughter was not mocking in nature at all. “I am… was a physician. Sometimes I would accidentally heal a patient by touching them.”
“I see. What happens after you heal?”
“I grow very weary,” James admitted. “Sometimes I pass out and sleep for a few hours.”
“And then you awake replenished?”
James nodded. “It seems that way, though I’ve never tried to use it again straightaway after I’ve awoken.”
Jordan nodded but was silent for a few moments. He raised a hand to his chin and stroked it thoughtfully. Eventually, his gaze fell on James again. “Well, Jamie, we certainly could use someone like you. Culpepper has explained to me that you have no desire to actually hunt Vampires, and he said he doubts you’d even be interested in stepping in and guarding our Hunters. But, we could still use you. It seems we’ve been losing more and more Hunters in the field these days, and having someone like you nearby who could heal anyone who is injured would be a strong support to our side.”
“The Hunter Leader before Jordan’s wife Janette took over was injured severely,” Culpepper chimed in. “You could’ve helped so much in that situation.”
“If it hadn’t happened before he was born,” Jordan reminded Culpepper.
“I mean… in a similar situation,” his uncle clarified.
James thought he realized what Culpepper was getting at. They were losing Hunters; this man’s wife was a Hunter; James could save her if something happened to her. He looked around the dimly lit room to see if one of the figures in the room might be this Janette, but it was hard to say. “I don’t know,” James admitted. “I’ve always been more about keeping peace than fighting.”
“I understand,” Jordan nodded, “and that’s why I won’t even offer to train you to fight if you don’t want to be trained. You could simply observe the battle and then step in if needed.”
James ran a hand through his hair, not sure what to say. He did want to continue to help people who were suffering, and Hunters might be the only ones who could benefit from his skills now that he was no longer easily capable of performing surgeries.
“We also have several on-going projects involving different science experiments that might be of interest to you,” Jordan continued. “For instance, we are trying to make that serum we used to put you through the Transformation process less painful. I believe you’d be able to help us tremendously in that area.”
That was a topic that interested him. He’d always been engrossed by creating new medicines and alleviating pain. “Where are these experiments taking place?” James asked, crossing his arms and beginning to consider the offer.
“Janette and I are currently based out of the Kansas City area,” he explained. “We like to be in the center of the country. Most of our advances come out of there. But if this is something you’re very interested in, we can find a facility for you to work at here in Boston, with the current team, headed by your uncle.”
“A facility like this one?” James asked. Everyone around him burst into laughter, and he hoped they couldn’t see his face turning red in the dim light.
“No, we have a nice office building across the river where most of our operations are centered out of. We are only down here tonight because the Vampire we are looking for has been seen in this area recently.”
“Our team has long arms and deep pockets,” Culpepper explained.
James nodded, wanting to know where the funding came from but not willing to ask. “I… I think that sounds quite interesting,” James admitted. “Could I have some time to think about it?”
“Of course,” Jordan replied. “But I am only in town for the night. I’ll be headed back home to my wife tomorrow. How would you feel about accompanying us on this hunt tonight? It shouldn’t be anything too complicated, and we only have a few hunters joining us.”
“Boston is very short on Hunters right now,” Culpepper said, shaking his head. “I’ve lost some of my best men in recent battles.”
James could see the sadness in his uncle’s eyes, and he suddenly felt very sorry for him. Would it have been possible for James to save any of those people if he had been willing to participate? “All right,” he said q
uietly. “I’ll go.” The thought of facing another Vampire was terrifying, especially since he still wasn’t one hundred percent certain he was indestructible. How did they truly know a Vampire couldn’t kill him?
He’d already agreed, however, so there was no going back now. Everyone cheered and congratulated him, including his sister, who looked prouder of him now than he had ever seen her before, even when he had graduated from medical school as a child.
“Trust me, Jamie, you won’t regret this decision,” Jordan assured him, clasping his hand and pounding him on the back.
The thought that Jordan might regret it crossed James’s mind, but he said nothing. They would find out soon enough.
Chapter 10
Boston, Massachusetts, USA, 1886
Perhaps James would’ve been surer of his ability to help if he wasn’t assigned to stand in an alleyway, alongside his uncle’s friend Hezekiah, as the rest of the team slowly moved in on the Vampire they’d been tracking. According to Jordan’s instructions, James was to stay with Hezekiah, and if someone were to happen to be injured, the rest of the team would send someone back to get him. It wasn’t just the alley that made James uneasy, however. It was the fact that he had no idea what was going on. For all he knew, someone could get damaged blocks away, and he wouldn’t get there on time.
“Have you been hunting long?” James whispered to Hezekiah, thinking small talk might give him something to keep his mind off of the shadows that seemed to be shifting around the alley. His uncle had already assured him he’d be perfectly safe here, particularly since only Hunters could harm him now, but James still wasn’t sure.
Small talk was just about impossible, considering who he was paired with. Hezekiah only nodded his head. “Are you glad you went through with it?” James asked, and once again, Hezekiah’s head bobbed up and down. Figuring there was really no point in continuing, James decided to remain silent. Maybe he could hear the battle in the distance if he strained. His hearing was at least a little improved now that he had these superpowers.
