by Craig Zerf
The Bentley Continental GT8 belted along at over one hundred miles an hour. It was still night time. After the vamp attack, Emily and William had cleaned themselves up. Then Emily tried to contact Ambros to tell him about the attack. But she was unable get hold of anyone. The landline to Pankhurst Manor was down and no one answered their cell phones.
William agreed with Emily that they should proceed to Pankhurst as quickly as possible.
‘You lied to me,’ snapped Emily.
‘No,’ refuted William. ‘Well, perhaps, but only thorough omission. Never an outright lie. I would never do that to you. Ever.’
‘So when were you going to tell me then?’ Insisted Em. ‘At what stage of our relationship were you going to inform me that you were a werewolf?’
William smiled.‘We have a relationship? Splendid.’
‘Oh shut it. I’m really angry with you,’ yelled Emily.
‘Well what about you?’ Asked William. ‘When were you going to tell me that you were Buffy the vampire slayer? And, by the way, I’m not a werewolf.’
‘Please William. I bloody saw you turn onto a wolf the size of a trailer home.’
‘Yes, granted. But I’m still not a werewolf. Technically, I’m a shape shifter.’
‘Tomato – tomahtoh.’
‘No. It’s a very different thing,’ insisted William. ‘Believe me, I know quite a few werewolves. They have to change during a full moon. It’s a biological imperative. And when they do, they have very little control over their animal instincts. They hunt. And that is pretty much what dominates their thoughts. They can also change at will during other phases of the moon and at those times they are more in charge of their faculties.’
‘And you?’ Asked Emily. ‘What’s the big difference?’
‘The change is never forced upon me, no matter what the moon is doing.
Also, I’m bigger, much bigger, faster and stronger than your common and garden werewolf, although I am still vulnerable to silver. But probably the biggest difference is that, as a shifter, I control the level of the change. If I want, I can half change or even less. Sort of an upright man/wolf hybrid. So I have the enhanced strength, speed and healing but can still walk upright and talk. After a fashion, anyway. Werewolves are pretty much an all-or-nothing state. Man or wolf.’
‘I get it,’ admitted Em. ‘A month ago I would have freaked out big time but now, well, I won’t say that being attacked by vampires and being defended by a werewolf...’
‘Shape shifter,’ interrupted William.
‘Whatever, I won’t say that it’s meh...but it’s in the realms of normal. So what’s your excuse for denying that Vamps exist?’
‘I was protecting you. How was I to know that you were a Shadowhunter?’
‘True,’ admitted Em. ‘So you know about Shadowhunters then?’
‘I’m hundreds of years old and I’m a shape shifter. Of course I know about the Olympus Foundation, in fact I have had many dealings with them in the past. Just not recently. Well, not for many years, actually.’
‘I’m only eighteen and a few weeks ago I considered that to be a young adult. Now that I’m surrounded by all of these thousand year old men I’m starting to feel like a bit of a baby.’
‘Steady. Hundreds...not thousands.’
‘Whatever.’
‘Anyway,’ continued William. ‘It doesn’t work like that. Physical age has nothing to do with how old or knowledgeable or experienced that you are. It’s a spiritual thing. As a Shadowhunter you come from a long line of selectively bred superhumans. Their memories, their experiences...they are all inside you. Just waiting to be unlocked. Your physical being is eighteen years old but your essence is many hundreds if not thousands of years old. Particularly if both of your parents are of the original line.’
‘They are,’ confirmed Emily.
‘Well then, Emily Shadowhunter Hawk. You are a very special person.’
‘Cool, Thanks. How much longer until we get to the manor? I’m seriously worried about them.’
‘Not long. But I wouldn’t worry. There’s no way that anything bad could happen to a group of Shadowhunters. I mean, it would take a full scale war to bring harm to them, a concentrated attack by sixty plus vamps, maybe more if you include the grinders. And I don’t see the brethren launching a war for no reason.’
‘Maybe they have a reason,’ says Em. ‘What?’ Asked William.
‘What I already told you.’
William drew a deep breath. ‘The corona potestatem Is that why you mentioned it? Are they looking for it?’
‘Apparently,’ confirmed Emily. ‘I ran into a few of them a couple of days back and they brought the subject up. But why should that matter? You’ve already told me that it doesn’t exist.’
William grimaced. ‘I may have been a little light with the truth there.’
‘Oh, big surprise. Don’t tell me, you lied again. Is anything that you’ve actually told me the truth?’
‘Everything is true,’ reacted William. ‘Except for the shape shifter thing. And the vamps. Oh, and the corona potestatem. It does exist but that is all that I can tell you.’
‘That’s all that you know?’
William shook his head. ‘I’m not going to lie to you again, Emily. I know much more about it but I’m not at liberty to tell you. I’ve sworn a blood oath and I cannot break it.’
Emily sat back in her seat with a sigh and kept silent.
Meanwhile, William drove the massive sports saloon like it was an extension of his own body, taking impossibly narrow gaps and barreling around corners on two wheels. They got to the gates of the manor house in record time only to find them wide open.
William raced up the driveway, turning his beams off as he did.
‘Let’s not telegraph our arrival,’ he explained. ‘Just in case.’
‘Hey,’ said Emily. ‘You do know that its night time? People need light to see.’
William smiled tightly. ‘I see just as well at night.’
Em shrugged. ‘So do I, I guess, it’s just habit to want lights on.’
As they drew closer to the house William shook his head. ‘I don’t like this. Something’s wrong. No lights. And look,’ he said as he brought the car to a halt. ‘The front door has been smashed off its hinges.’
He opened the car door and then ran around to the trunk and pulled out a katana in a scabbard. He handed it to Emily. ‘This sword has been in our family for centuries. It was crafted by Japan’s greatest swordsmith, Goro Masamune, over seven hundred years ago. Its blade has been coated with silver. Now, it is yours.’
Emily accepted the sword and belted the scabbard around her waist.
William took out another item and handed it to her. ‘Colt .45,’ he said. ‘Para-ordnance frame, so it holds fifteen rounds. Silver tipped bullets.’
Emily stuck the pistol into her belt with a nod of thanks.
William started to strip, throwing his clothes into the trunk as he did so.
‘Hey, what’re doing?’ Asked Em.
‘I’m going to change,’ he answered. ‘No need to ruin another set of clothes, so I’ll take them off first.’
‘Oh, of course,’ acknowledged Emily. She half looked away but not so much that she couldn’t still see him. As William pulled off his boxers he glanced at her, caught her eye and winked. She blushed and straight away cursed herself for not being able to control her autonomic response, as Bastian put it.
But she continued to peek as William changed. This time he didn’t go full-wolf but sort of metamorphosed into a man-wolf hybrid. At the end of the transformation he stood almost eight feet tall and the muscles on his arms, chest and legs were monstrous, liked someone had constructed him out of raw concrete. A thick layer of dark fur covered his body. And his face, although undeniably still William, developed a protruding snout, large exposed canines and pointed ears.
‘Let’s go,’ he growled, his voice a savage blend of animal and human.
Emily followed the Wolfman up the stairs to the broken front door. Just before they went inside William held his hand/paw up. ‘Wait,’ he said in a soft growl. ‘I smell blood. Humans and vampire. Also something else.’ He sniffed the air. ‘Zombies?’ He questioned.
Emily nodded. ‘The servants were zombies,’ she affirmed.
The wolf-man shook his head. ‘That’s grotesque.’
‘It’s not what you think,’ defended Emily.
‘Whatever,’ responded William. ‘Let’s proceed with caution.’
Emily followed him into the manor, drawing her sword as she did so. They moved silently, all senses alert.
They walked down the long corridor on the ground floor, William leading the way, allowing his sense of smell to guide him.
Slowly, he pushed the door of the drawing room open. Emily gasped in shock as they walked in. The carpets were soaked with blood. There were also large splashes of it on the walls and even the ceiling. Scattered around the room were three headless vamp bodies and, in the far corner, the diminutive corpse of Josephine Brady. Her katana was broken, the blade snapped in two. In her hand was a Glock 10mm pistol, the slide racked back, showing it was empty. Emily checked Josephine’s pulse but it was obvious by the gaping wounds in her chest and neck, that she was dead.
They left the room and ghosted back along the corridor checking the other rooms as they did so. In the kitchen they discovered another two dead vampires, their heads had been torn from their shoulders with great force and around them lay the bodies of five of the zombie servants, their arms and legs ripped off, massive gaping holes in their torsos. But no blood. Like dismembered dolls. Broken puppets.
‘Zombies are incredibly strong,’ noted William. ‘But slow. They managed to get a couple of the bloodsuckers though. Good on them.’ He looked closely at the vampire remains. ‘Grinders,’ he said. ‘Not true vampires. Look,’ he pointed. ‘Misshapen heads, slightly malformed bodies. Strong and quick but stupider than a box of horse shoes. Fanatically obedient to their masters. The Vamps use them as cannon fodder.’
Again they wandered through the charnel house of death, seeking Emily’s friends. As they got close to the dining room William held up his hand.
‘I can smell fresh blood in there,’ he said. Emily stood behind him as he placed his massive paw on the door. Then, with a huge surge of power, he simply smashed it off its hinges and charged into the room.
This time, the sight of seven dead vamps greeted them, four of them grinders. And, lying on the table, Karl’s dead body. All about him were spent shell casings and in each hand he held a Desert Eagle pistol. His throat had been torn open and it was obvious that something had fed on him, as there were bite marks on his arms and face. ‘The Grinders did that,’ said William. ‘They often feed on their victims. And not just blood, they eat the flesh’
He tilted his head to one side and then, without warning, he ran from the room and Emily followed.
They twisted and turned down corridors until William crashed through a set of double doors into a huge ball room. In the middle of the room stood two men.
And surrounding them were close on twenty vampires. A mix of Grinders, Adepts and Masters. The Grinders were gibbering like hyenas, jumping up and down with bloodlust and excitement, whilst the other blood suckers were hissing and howling as they attacked.
Emily saw that it was Piet and Lyle who were facing off against the pack. Both were bleeding from multiple wounds. Piet was wielding his katana and a short dagger while Lyle had a massive war hammer in his hands. On the floor were the dead and wounded bodies of at least another twelve vampires. The place was a nightmare of blood and gore. Hieronymus Bosch’s version of hell.
William instantly slipped into full wolf mode, dropping to all fours and attacking, tearing into the exposed vampires’ backs.
Emily drew her pistol and started firing off rounds. Her shots landed true but although they put a few vamps down, she knew that the hits wouldn’t kill them. At that moment, however, she was simply happy to slow them down some.
The slide racked back. Empty. She launched herself at the vamps, drawing her katana and striking in one fluid movement Once again the room became a stage for the dance of death and destruction.
Vamps screamed, William howled his hatred and Piet and Lyle cried out in anger and physical effort.
The first Shadowhunter to go down was Lyle, as even his great strength could not keep the multitude of vampires at bay. Blood poured from a huge number of wounds and he was borne to the floor by a pile of Grinders who slashed and bit at him, ripping open his jugular and painting themselves with his blood. As they start to feed on him Piet roared and attacked, hacking them off Lyle’s body.
‘Get up, fat man,’ he shouted. ‘We’re not done yet.’
But there was no answer and before Piet could turn, a Master jumped him from behind and bit down on the back of his neck. Piet fell to the floor twitching in agony as he did.
Emily and William were forced into the corner as the remaining dozen blood suckers fanned out and readied themselves to attack.
William glanced at Emily and, even though he could not talk in full wolf mode, his expression was easy to read. His devastation at not being able to protect her. His helplessness. His feelings of despair.
Emily smiled. ‘Hey,’ she said. ‘There’s only a few of them. Tell you what, I’ll take the ones on the left and you take the ones on the right.’
William gave her a wolfy grin, exposing his four inch long canines.
But just before they launched themselves at the approaching blood suckers, something came crashing through the floor-to-ceiling windows that lined the one side of the ballroom.
A single man in a black cloak, spinning in the air as he leapt in.
Emily looked up. His cloak billowed about him as he landed, His long black hair hung down past his shoulders and his pale face was unshaven. His lips, full and sensual and as red as blood. His skin as pale as an angel of the grave. With a flourish he drew his rapier and attacked.
William and Emily followed suite, hacking and tearing and carving their way through the surprised brood of vampires.
Within seconds all of the brethren lay dead. William prowled around the room, checking to make sure, using his massive jaws to tear the heads from the shoulders of anyone that he suspected might still be alive.
Then he changed back to his Wolfman mode, while Emily rushed over to check on Piet.
Meanwhile, the newcomer stood still, about fifteen feet away, his rapier by his side. Silent. Alert but not nervous.
‘You,’ growled William.
The newcomer bowed theatrically. ‘Yes, Sir William. It is I, Sylvian Baptiste at your service.’
‘You two take care of Emily. Also, I don’t know where Bastian or Nathan is. Ambros was here but he disappeared.’
‘What do you mean?’ Asked Emily. ‘He ran away?’
‘No,’ said Piet. ‘In the middle of the fight he got bitten bad and then he just disappeared. Poof. Gone.’ The big man grimaced in pain. ‘Oh, man,’ he gasped. ‘This bloody hurts. Do me a favor, Emily,’ he continued. ‘Do you think that you could get me something to drink? I mean alcoholic. Brandy maybe.’
‘Of course,’ said Emily. ‘Just lie still.’
She stood up and as she was looking around the ballroom to check if there was a drinks cabinet of some sort, a shockingly loud gunshot echoed through the room. She looked back at Piet to see that he had drawn a pistol, put it to his temple and pulled the trigger.
‘Oh no,’ she cried out as she knelt next to him. ‘Why?’
‘He is a brave man,’ said William. ‘He didn’t want to turn so he killed himself before he could. Come now, let us check the rest of the house for survivors.’
Emily shook her head. ‘There is no one else,’ she whispered as tears rolled down her cheeks
‘What are your plans?’ Asked Sylvian.
Emily looked up at him for a few seconds, her mouth ope
n but mute.
She didn’t survive the change but the bite brought on labor. So, alas, I was born to a dead mother. As such, it is true that I have many traits of the vampire. I am not immortal but I do live an extended life. Like the blood suckers I cannot take daylight, so have to live at night. However, I don’t have to drink human blood to survive. I eat normal foods, although I do have fangs, but I use them only for battle. Obviously I also have increased strength and speed and eyesight. So,’ he ended. ‘Not a vampire but almost a vampire. Tu comprends?’
Emily nodded.
‘And so,’ continued Sylvian. ‘That is why I hunt the vampire. They killed my mother and they cursed me to live forever in the dark,’ he spat on the floor. ‘Merde!’
‘So you saving me was simply a byproduct of your hunt?’ Asked Emily.
Again Sylvian did the French shrug. ‘Perhaps.
But still it is a happy coincidence is it not?’
‘Emily,’ interrupted William, still in Wolfman mode. ‘We need to get out of here. Do you have anything that you need to collect?’
Emily put her hand to her pendant that Ryoko had gifted her only a few weeks and also a lifetime ago. She shook her head. ‘I have everything that I need,’ she said
‘Clothes,’ said William. Emily took a deep breath.
All that she wanted to do was leave but William was right. She needed clothes.
William nodded at Sylvian and then glanced at Lyle’s body. An unspoken request flashed between them and the Frenchman nodded and drew his rapier, knowing that Sir William wanted him to ensure that none of the dead Shadowhunters could turn. Sylvian would remove their heads when Emily was out of the room.
Then the Wolfman followed Emily to her room where she grabbed a rucksack and piled all of her black Shadowhunter outfits in. She didn’t bother with her dresses as she figured that the time for frivolities was over, although she still retained enough vanity to pack her new makeup and beauty products. ‘Right,’ she said. ‘Let’s get the hell out of this slaughter house.’
The three of them ran from the house. William opened the trunk to retrieve his clothes, morphing back as he did so. After quickly pulling on his outfit he jumped into the driver’s seat. Emily climbed into the back seat and Sylvian rode shotgun. The powerful engine roared and the car sped down the driveway.
‘I’m going to head to London,’ said William. ‘That alright with you?’ He questioned Sylvian.
‘Oui,’ confirmed the Bloodborn. ‘If you are heading for your London home then you go close to Sloan Square. Please drop me there.’
‘Why?’ Enquired William.
‘It is where I dwell at the moment. In the Holy Trinity Church opposite Sloane Square. The priest there is a friend.’
‘Understanding priest to allow a vampire in the house of god.’
‘Up yours William,’ said Sylvian. ‘After a few hundred years that joke is wearing a bit thin.’
‘I disagree,’ chuckled William. ‘Still makes me laugh.’
‘Yes. But you have a very basic sense of humor. Anyway, the priest isn’t human. He’s a Cluracan.’
‘A what?’ Asked Emily.
‘Cluracan,’ answered William. ‘Sort of an Irish leprechaun. Except normal sized. Kind souls and always willing to help a lost cause. Unusual to find one working as a priest though.’
‘He was cast out of the underground kingdom last century,’ said Sylvian. ‘Ended up in the church. Does a good job actually.’
Emily shook her head. ‘Just when I think that I’m getting to grips with things, you guys spring something else on me. I mean, is anyone a normal human or are we surrounded by the occult and weirdo types?’
Both William and Sylvian laughed out loud. ‘Actually,’ said Sylvian. ‘There are a surprising
amount of the fey folk present in human society. Wizards, werewolves, vampires, leprechauns, ghouls, banshees, demons, kobolds, jotnar. The list goes on and on.’
‘What about elves and hobbits?’ Asked Em.
‘Oh be serious,’ quipped Sylvian. ‘This isn’t Lord of the Rings, this is real life.’
‘Oh excuse me,’ countered Emily and she stuck her tongue out at the bloodborn count.
‘Charming,’ mumbled Sylvian. ‘Uh, here.’ He said to William. ‘Drop me off, it’s close enough and I need to move. It’s only twenty seven minutes to sunrise.’
‘You know the exact time that the sun is going to come up?’ Questioned Emily.
‘Of course,’ answered Sylvian. ‘Life and death knowledge.’
William pulled the car over to the side of the road and Sylvian got out. He turned, waved and then simply seemed to disappear as he moved so fast. William pulled off again.
‘He seems nice,’ noted Emily.
‘He’s a pompous French ass,’ quipped William. ‘Oh. And you?’ Teased Em.
‘I’m entirely different,’ argued William. ‘I’m a pompous English ass.’ He slowed down and stopped outside a massive townhouse. Then he pressed a remote control on his visor and the automatic gate slid open in front of them.
The house was situated in Kensington Palace Gardens road, opposite the Nepalese embassy and, although Emily was unaware of the fact, if purchased in the current market it would have set the new owner back more than thirty million dollars.
William steered the car down a ramp into an underground parking and then Emily followed him up a flight of steps and into the entrance hall.
An old servant waited for them at the top of the stairs, greeting William with a nod of and a quiet, ‘Sir.’
‘Good evening, Halston,’ answered William. ‘This is Emily, she shall be staying in the blue room tonight. Wake chef and tell him to prepare a meal. Something quick and substantial. A good fry up will do nicely.’
The servant nodded again and went off to do Sir William’s bidding.
‘Come along,’ said William. ‘I’ll show you to your room. You can have a quick shower, change, whatever and then ring the bell and someone will come and show you to the dining room.’
Emily did as William suggested and half an hour later they were chowing down on platters of fried eggs, bacon, sausages, baked beans, mushrooms, kidneys, black pudding and toast.
As they ate, William talked. ‘We have a problem,’ he stated.
‘No shit, Sherlock,’ responded Emily. ‘All my friends are dead, well, except for Nathan and Bastian and no one knows where they are.’
‘It’s worse than that,’ said William. ‘It’s obvious that the brethren are looking to completely wipe out the Olympus Foundation.
I’m not sure why they chose now to do it but I suspect that it might have something to do with the whole corona potestatem.’
‘Well then they’ve pretty much done what they set out to do,’ exclaimed Emily.
‘Not true,’ argued William. ‘Three of you are left and we’re not sure what happened to your wizard chap. Also, there are Olympus members all over the world. We need to find them. It’s a great pity that you’re so new to the whole thing, a bit more knowledge of the structure of the Foundation would be invaluable.’
‘I know the passwords to get into the computer records. They’re in the cloud. There must be some info there.’
‘Good,’ affirmed William. ‘But for now we need to address the biggest problem. You.’
‘Me?’
‘Yes. The vamps are going to keep coming after you. They’ve tried twice already and, as far as they’re concerned, you have single handedly defeated all comers. By now they will be convinced that you are superman and the terminator rolled onto one. The next time they come it will be in numbers that will certainly overwhelm us. Even if Sylvian is present.’
Emily frowned. ‘What do we do?’
‘Well, you’ve got to go off grid somehow. It’s no good staying here. My London residence is no secret. Also, I’m sure that by tomorrow they’ll have some Familiars watching me around the clock.’
‘Where can I go?’ Asked Emily.
/> ‘I have a number of apartments that are registered in the names of certain trusts,’ answered William. ‘Totally untraceable back to me. I’ll give you the keys to one of them. Can you ride a motorcycle?’
Emily nodded. ‘Sure.’
‘Right. I’ve got a Harley Davidson V-Rod you can have. It’s also registered to an offshore trust. Better than a car, faster in traffic. Also, you’ll need some more ammunition for the Glock, maybe a couple more firearms.’
Emily shook her head. ‘I don’t want to go.’
William took her hand and kissed it. ‘You sort of have to,’ he said softly. ‘You’ve got a target painted on you and you’ve got a bunch of blood suckers looking to fire at it. Staying with me will only make things worse. Look, I’m also going to give you a handful of burner phones. I’ll pre- program the corresponding numbers into each one. You can phone me whenever you need to and then destroy the phone afterwards. Come on, let’s get you kitted.’
It took William less than an hour to sort Emily out. She had her clothes, half a dozen throw away cell phones, one hundred rounds of ammunition with three extra magazines for the Glock, her katana, a sawn off double barrel shotgun with a pistol grip, short enough to conceal under her jacket.
Extra ammo for the same. A selection of throwing knives and a thick wad of cash in various denominations adding up to twenty thousand Pounds Sterling. And her makeup.
The Harley was a beauty. Matt black with a larger gas tank for extended mileage and a satnav. William punched the address of the apartment into the satnav and handed Emily the keys.
There was no need to postpone the inevitable.
They stared at each other. Emily desperately wanted to kiss him. To hold him tight and run her hands down his chest and over his taut abs and more. But she knew that, if she did, she wouldn’t have the strength to leave. As it was she felt like she was tearing her own heart out.
So instead she simply donned her helmet, started the Harley and rode out.
And into the next phase of her life.
Chapter 24
