by I D Johnson
The only noises he heard were emanating from the restaurants in the distance and people passing by on the street a block away at the end of the alley. The clomping of horses’ hooves, laughter, footsteps. Nothing alarming. Nothing unusual. Then, a new sound caught his ear. James looked at Hezekiah, who also seemed to be on high alert. The sound of metal crashing against the ground, shrieks, more loud noises, heavy footsteps sprinting in their direction.
A blur came flying past them, followed by another, and then another. James caught the pale face of a Vampire, his expression one of determination as he tore by. Aware that this alley had a dead end, James knew the Vampire was caught now as the man he’d seen his sister with earlier came to a screeching halt a few feet in front him. Margie pulled up next to him.
“Face it, Wilson. This is the end of the road for you!” the man shouted into the night.
The Vampire stood in front of the brick wall at the end of the alley, only twenty paces to James’s left. He was feeling the side of the building in front of him, as if looking for any sort of chink to dig his claws into so that he could pull himself up. There was nothing. He turned to face his assailants, his sharp teeth protruding from his jaw, his sunken eyes the color of dark steel. “I’m afraid you’re mistaken, Helms,” he hissed. “You know I’ve been waiting to take another piece of you.”
James wondered what that meant, but he only had to think for a moment before Helms held up his left hand. This close, James could see he was missing the last two fingers. “Not tonight, you’re not.”
The two men stared at each other, and Wilson shifted his gaze so that it was settling on James and Hezekiah as well. He let out a snicker, as if he thought neither of them a threat. “All right, Helms. Let’s dance.”
Margie took a step forward, but Helms placed his hand on her, clearly indicating he wanted to face the Vampire on his own. In a flash, the two collided, and even though his vision was much better than it had been before, James could hardly keep up with the quick, sporadic movement. Eventually, he noticed blood oozing from Helms’s arm, but if the infliction had hurt, the man didn’t let on. The Vampire was fast, and James wondered why he had even run in the first place. He seemed to be getting the upper hand.
“Helms!” Margie yelled as the Vampire began to slash at the Hunter. This time, Helms let out a low moan. The Vampire had the Hunter’s hair and was attempting to jab into his throat. Even though each movement was thwarted, the blood gushing from Helms’s arm was noteworthy now. It wouldn’t be long before he’d lose too much, and he’d be unable to stay on is feet.
“Helms!” Margie shouted again. James wasn’t sure, but it seemed like she was asking for permission to enter the fray. Helms was still trying to overcome the bloodsucker, but he was fading fast.
“Margie!” James shouted. “What are you waiting for?”
She hesitated again, looking at Helms and then at James. Though he wasn’t certain what the rules were, James could see if one of the other Guardians didn’t get into the fight soon, Helms would parish.
“I’ll go get Culpepper,” Hezekiah said, tearing off back down the alley, and James noted that was the longest sentence he’d ever heard the man speak. How Culpepper would help, James wasn’t sure. Unless he was presently inside of the alley unnoted, he wouldn’t make it in time.
It wouldn’t matter. Margie hurled herself at the Vampire, catching him around the neck and slamming him backward into the brick wall. At the contact, Wilson’s hands slipped from Helms’s head, and the Hunter fell to the ground. The Vampire looked surprised to see how strong Margie really was. Not only was she forceful, she was pissed. She began to throw punches at the Vampire, sending him reeling one direction than the other. James wanted nothing more than to continue to stare at his sister, but he had other matters to attend to.
Dropping to the ground near Helms’s form, he could immediately tell the Vampire had managed to severe several major veins in the man’s arm. He also had deep gashes in his skull. James pushed up the sleeves of Helms’s jacket and began to feel along the Hunter’s arms, trying to stop the bleeding before Helms slipped into unconsciousness. The second he placed his hands, a surge of energy left James’s body, and he could see the blood sputtering from the man’s arm begin to lessen.
A few minutes into the procedure, James realized Margie was sitting next to him on the ground. He glanced up but didn’t see the Vampire anymore and thought he must’ve managed to get past them, back down the alley. Oh, well, he thought, at least he didn’t hurt my sister.
“How is he?” Margie asked, her face revealing that she was genuinely concerned.
“He’ll be all right,” James replied. “If you hadn’t jumped in, though, there might’ve been no saving him.”
“I know,” she replied, quietly.
“Why did you hesitate?”
Margie let out a sigh. “Traditionally speaking, Guardians have waited for Hunters to ask for assistance before we attack. I was waiting for Helms to signal me.”
James raised both eyebrows. “That’s stupid. Clearly, he was in trouble. Just because he’s too stubborn to ask for help doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be able to use your own good judgment and help.”
If Margie agreed or disagreed, she didn’t say. “You’re fixing him though, right?”
James nodded, but the weariness was starting to get to him. He ran his hand back over Helms’s arm. He thought he’d gotten everything there. He turned his attention to the man’s bleeding head. These wounds were not as life threatening, but they still needed attention.
Footsteps down the alley drew James’s attention. Culpepper, Cornelia, and Hezekiah were there, along with a couple of other people James had met before, though he didn’t remember their names. Jordan Findley was absent, but Culpepper had already told James earlier that he wouldn’t be with them. He was in town to consult, not to participate.
“How is he?” Culpepper asked, coming to a stop a few feet away.
“Thanks to Jamie, he’ll be fine,” Margie replied, standing.
“And Wilson?”
“I got him,” Margie assured their uncle.
James was confused. He looked around, but he didn’t see a body.
“Good work,” Culpepper said, patting her on the shoulder. “I’m surprised he let you in.”
“He didn’t,” Margie answered quickly. “But if I hadn’t intervened, he would be dead. So I did it anyway.”
Looking up at his uncle’s face, James saw surprise and then acceptance. He nodded. “I guess there’s no reason to clean up the ashes since we’re in an alley.”
He had no idea what ashes his uncle was referring to, but he assumed it didn’t matter since he would certainly not be cleaning up anything. James felt his eyelids getting heavy. He did one more check of Helms’s body and decided he’d done everything he could. Giving in to the weariness, James leaned back on his heels and then felt himself falling. His sister’s arms were around him, and the next thing he knew, he was leaning against a brick wall. “Come on, Jamie. Let’s get you home.”
Chapter 11
Boston, Massachusetts, USA, 1887
James studied the beaker in his hand, certain this time that he finally had the formula right, though he’d still have to test it on tissue donated from a few Hunters and Guardians before he was ready to try it out on a live specimen. Thanks to the lab Jordan Findley had set up for him, James was able to contribute quite a bit to the cause outside of his work in actual hunts. While he’d only participated in combat a few times in the last year and a half, and never by choice, he had saved quite a few Hunters from either pain or death. Now, with this newest experiment, he was certain he was onto something that would change the way Hunters and Guardians went through the Transformation process from now on.
The door to his laboratory opened, and Uncle Culpepper passed through. “You sent for me, Jamie?” he asked as he approached. “Do you think you’ve finally got it figured out?”
James’s assistant
, a human by the name of Dewey, followed Culpepper into the room. Even though he’d chosen not to Transform himself, Dewey was a reliable helper, trained in both medicine and scientific experiments, despite the fact that he had no degree. He knew about the Ternion because his brother was a Vampire Hunter. James was often jealous of his assistant’s status. If only he’d been able to avoid all of this himself.
“I believe it’s correct now,” James nodded. “I’ve revamped the old solution. I still need to do some tests, but from now on, whenever we put someone through the Transformation process, it should be relatively painless compared to what we’ve been experiencing in the past.”
“Very good,” Culpepper said, looking at the vials in front of James and the beaker but seeming disinterested.
“We’ll have to give the shots separately, I’m afraid,” he continued. “If you mix the pain medication with the Transformation serum, it could potentially cause more harm than good.”
Culpepper nodded again. “Very good,” he repeated. “Once you’ve done your tissue sample testing and you’re sure it’ll work, let me know, and I’ll pass the information on to Jordan.”
“I will,” James assured him. His uncle clapped his shoulder hard enough to jar him, and he was glad he had a firm grip on the glass beaker. Even though Culpepper had little interest in James’s experiments, he was still the Area Leader, and James was required to pass all of his findings along through his uncle.
“You going with us tonight?” Culpepper asked as James straightened up his work area. “We could use you.”
James was aware that there was a hunt that evening, but he had no idea how complex it might be or if his services might be needed. “Do you want me there?”
“I do,” Culpepper nodded. “I’d also appreciate it if you’d go ahead and complete your training.”
James let out a sigh and ran a hand through his short brown hair. His uncle had been pestering him to complete the training program so that he could assist in the field, but James was hesitant. It had never interested him to actually hunt Vampires. All he ever agreed to was protecting and healing Hunters who were injured. “Uncle Culpepper….” James began, but before he could finish, his uncle was speaking.
“I know how you feel. But you were a huge help last week when Nickodemus went in without another Guardian nearby. And you’ve already done so much to improve our operations. I don’t know why you can’t just become a full-fledged member.”
Thinking about his uncle’s words only served to irritate him. It wasn’t his fault the way they’d operated before made little sense. It’d just seemed logical that any time a Hunter was engaged and a Vampire seemed to be winning that the Guardian would step in. Jordan had mentioned this was more of a regional decision than a worldwide mandate, and James had explained that they’d lose less Hunters if Guardians were given discretion instead of waiting for Hunters to realize they were failing. This change had been a logical one, as far as James was concerned.
His other suggestions had been trivial compared to that one, mostly having to do with how best to attack under certain circumstances so as to hit the Vampires in the most vulnerable places. He’d also helped to improve their communication and tracking tactics, though he hated that Vampires had telepathy while they had no way of communicating with each other outside of shouting to each other.
Despite his observations and comments, James wasn’t keen on actually going through the training process so that he could officially be designated to protect a Hunter during battle. He had begun carrying a weapon recently, but he still avoided actual conflict whenever possible. The few instances where he’d intervened had been when there was literally no one else to help and the Vampire was gaining the upper hand. It seemed like training for combat would go against the oaths he’d taken while preparing to become a doctor. How could he vow to protect and heal and still destroy and conquer?
“I’m not sure, Uncle Culpepper,” he admitted, staring at the beakers. “I’m not certain that’s the life I want.”
“We’ll keep things as close to the same as possible, Jamie. I’ll only assign you for protection if need be. I’d just feel better about your abilities if I knew you’d completed the training. You’ve already shown you can handle a blade with the best of them. We need to get you up to speed with the crossbow as well.”
They had silver-tipped arrows that could take a Vampire down pretty quickly if they hit in a precise location, namely the heart, and while there was talk of developing guns that could fire silver as well, so far nothing was being used across the board, though some Hunters had created their own. James considered moving on to that as his next topic of research once he was certain the Transformation serum was perfected, but he didn’t know how he could focus on weaponry and train for battle at the same time.
“Look, boy,” Culpepper said, pulling James around to face him. “For right now, you’re assigned to me, and I can be sure that you’re never in over your head. But there may come a time when Jordan sees fit to move you somewhere else.” James’s eyes widened. He had no idea that was even a possibility. “I don’t think it’ll happen anytime soon, but if it does, I want to know that you’re ready. What do you say? Let me send you down to Cornelia once you’re sure this serum is where you want it to be, and she’ll put you through your paces.”
The idea of training with Cornelia was almost as unappealing as spending time with Hezekiah, but James found himself nodding. If there was even the slightest possibility he might be sent elsewhere, he wanted to make sure he was ready. He didn’t want to cause the Boston team or his uncle any grief for being unprepared or shoddy at his job. “All right then,” he finally acquiesced.
Culpepper laughed heartily. “Very good, then. We’ll start tomorrow. If… your concoction is ready. And for tonight, I’d like to take you with us so you can watch your sister in action. She’s quite the scrapper, that Margie.”
James knew his sister had a reputation on the team for being formidable, and while he’d gone out on many a hunt with her, Culpepper usually tried to keep them separated for obvious reasons—she still saw him as a bothersome little brother most of the time. “Sounds like a plan,” he admitted, making his uncle chuckle with glee again. Somehow, James would have to figure out a way to observe his sister without drawing her attention to him instead of the Vampire. The last thing he wanted was to spar with Margie.
Chapter 12
Boston, Massachusetts, USA, 1887
“Would you please get the hell out of the way?” Margie growled as she ran past James on her way into the fray. They were on top of a large building in downtown Boston, and after having jumped rooftops several times, they were now at a point where the Vampire had nowhere else to run, unless he decided to plummet off the side of the building, which wasn’t an impossibility.
Helms had him cornered, though, and the Vampire didn’t seem too keen on trying his luck with the concrete below. While he’d likely be just as alive at the end of the fall as he was currently, he wouldn’t exactly bounce up and go upon his merry way. Also, James knew for a fact that there were more Hunters and Guardians on the ground who would get him before he could even think of an escape after such a fall.
The Vampire seemed to know that, too. He looked young, not much past twelve, even though James was aware there was no way to know for sure how long he might’ve been around. Helms took another step forward, and the boy’s knees started to shake. “You sure weren’t scared when you broke into that apartment and slaughtered those kids,” the Hunter growled.
“Please, I was just trying to survive,” the Vampire contended.
“We have rules, you know?” Margie said, interjecting herself into the conversation. “You can’t kill innocents, especially kids.”
“I didn’t know. I don’t even know how I got this way. Please!”
James began to feel a tad bit sorry for the young man who clearly had his own life altered in an unimaginable way. His sister, however, obviously had no mercy
. She launched herself at the boy, and suddenly his countenance changed as his plea for compassion shifted, and he became a monster once again before James’s very eyes.
Helms had been instructed to let Margie take the lead in this particular battle, which was clearly difficult for him, but Culpepper insisted that James needed to see his sister’s tactics, so the Hunter took a few steps around the back of the sparring pair, likely to prevent an escape should the bloodsucker get away from the tenacious blonde. It looked as if there was little chance of that happening.
Margie went straight for the Vampire’s throat. He brought his knee up in an attempt to block her, which had little effect. However, once she had her hands around his throat, he sunk his claws into her forearms, and even though he couldn’t truly damage her, it must’ve hurt as Margie shrieked and let go. It was only for a moment, however, as she regained her composure and came at him again. This time, she gathered up her flowing pant legs and jumped into the air, landing a kick in his midsection. The Vampire stumbled, falling back onto the concrete. When Margie threw herself at him again, she pinned his arms down with her knees.
It only took a few moments for her to gain a strong enough grip on his head to begin to torque it this way and that. The Vampire was helpless in her vice-like grip. Within seconds, his head was ratcheted off, and Margie took a deep breath, tossing it aside. She stood and dusted herself off as the body turned to dust around her.
“Nice work, Marge,” Helms said, clasping her hand and raising it in the air. James couldn’t tell if he actually meant it or not, since he clearly wanted to be involved in the termination himself, but Margie nodded in appreciation and then turned to face her little brother.
“See, that’s all there is to it.” She took a few steps toward him, and James could see that her arms were scratched up, though they seemed to be beginning to heal. Since Vampires couldn’t kill Guardians, eventually any wound inflicted upon them by the bloodsuckers would right itself.
