Day of Execution

by Lily Luchesi

  Employees were already leaving, most of them vampires. The night shift was mostly filled with vamps, and a few scattered humans and shifters. It meant that the PID offices were only half full and that reduced the possible casualties.

  The businesses and restaurant and apartments in the building, the ones who paid her rent every month but otherwise had no connection to her, she hoped would be safe. There was nothing she could do for them now.

  “You mean they actually listened?” Danny asked, surprise evident in his voice.

  “Not all,” Angelica said, her heart racing as she saw the young vampiress who had helped lead the charge against Dakota taking the elevator to the top floor. “No, no, no,” she muttered, though the girl obviously couldn’t hear her. “Get out of there. Listen to me, you stubborn vampire!”

  “Oh, now there’s a sentence that’s familiar to me,” Danny muttered.

  The girl knocked on the door and Daniel went to open it. Danny was able to translate some of what was said. The girl must’ve said she wanted to see Angelica, because Daniel replied, “What for? She’s not here, anyway. Her and my Pops are on a case, and I think Sean’s with them.”

  Then the girl must’ve asked who Vincent was, and Daniel said, “A colleague of mine, and one of the oldest vampires alive now.” He smiled, and instead of looking like Danny’s smile, he now resembled Leander Price. “Why don’t you come meet him? Angelica would like that.”

  “No!” Angelica cried.

  The door swung shut behind her and she jumped, trying the handle. She knew that this was a trap and a mistake, but Vincent’s powers wouldn’t let her leave.

  “How nice, I get to have a light snack before bed,” Vincent said, advancing on the girl who extended her claws, ready to fight to the death.

  The fight was short, and Angelica watched, unable to look away, as her father fed from and proceeded to murder one of her allies. And to her chagrin, she realized that she didn’t even remember her name.

  “When darkness falls again, we’re going there, backup or not, and killing them both,” she said, her voice thick with new tears unshed. “This is no longer personal when they’re tearing my Empire apart.”

  Daniel watched intently as Vincent drained the young vampire, her cries becoming fainter and fainter until she cried no more. As if she was nothing more than a doll, Vincent twisted her head around: once, twice, three times. The skin tore and bone cracked over and over until her head was severed from her body and he threw the corpse to the ground.

  “Tomorrow,” he said turning towards Daniel. “We will try to gather allies among the vampires here.”

  “Angelica will have figured out where we are and what we’re planning by then,” Daniel reminded him.

  “We do not need many allies, but we should be armed. Is there an armory here?” Vincent asked.

  Daniel nodded. “Basement. There are stores of holy water, garlic oil, and dead man’s blood. Angelica’s been testing out a new bow with ampoules filled with them. She wanted the dead man’s blood banned from the premises, but the vats are still here.”

  “Excellent. Have you seen what that does to a vampire’s body?” Vincent asked.

  Daniel nodded, remembering the demon-possessed vamp.

  “I think that’s a very fitting way for the Mancinis to die. Now, go and gather anyone who has not left and bring them here.”

  “Left?” Daniel asked.

  “Angelica must have alerted the employees somehow, because that girl was prepared for battle the moment she knocked on the door,” Vincent explained. “Get the remaining vampires in here. We will need them to find others for us, since we cannot leave here just yet without risking being hunted.”

  “What do we do?” was the first thing Danny said upon waking the next night.

  Angelica rubbed the sleep from her eyes and said, “Let’s see if Sean has any news and proceed from there. Glad I keep extra weapons in the house, because we can’t exactly use the armory.”

  In the living room, Sean looked exhausted and terrified. “They got to some vamps already,” he said. “There have been five murders on the news, all humans with ‘suspicious wounds on their necks’. And that’s just the ones they’ve found so far since last night.”

  “And there are no PID agents because our allies have fled, as I commanded,” Angelica said. “Fuck. I don’t think we have time to plan anything. Vincent is still ahead of us, and we don’t know who we can trust outside of this room. We have to go there and … wing it.”

  “No way. Let them think they have the upper hand,” Danny said. “Then they’ll get cocky. We know Daniel has an ego, and your father isn’t much more modest. I mean, when we go to them, we’ll still be winging it, but with more leverage on our side. Letting perps stew in their juices has always been a tactic I relied on as a cop.

  “I know you’ve got your own way of going after perps, and I love it. But this time, I think we should try it my way. Let them sit, confident that they’ve got the upper hand. And when the time comes to attack them, they’ll be too full of their own egos to know what hit them.”

  Angelica leaned over and kissed him softly. “I love it when you take charge like this. I wish you’d done it more often, because you’re brilliant. I didn’t marry you just for your good looks, you know.”

  “Obviously not,” Sean muttered, smirking.

  “Let’s feed, and Sean, keep monitoring the news for more kills. There might be a pattern and we can take care of some defectors and even our side of the field.” She headed into the kitchen and microwaved blood for her and Danny, who stood at her side, his hand on her back.

  “I know patience isn’t a virtue of yours, but don’t worry. We’ll win.”

  She scoffed. “Like always? We’ve been a perfect mixture of talented and lucky. How long will it take before our luck runs out and skill alone isn’t enough?”

  “It’s not luck. Never has been.” He turned her to him and kissed her, and she felt herself melting into him. “We win because we have something the bad guys can’t understand: our love, a bond that can’t be broken but only gains strength with each new trial we face.”

  Angelica sighed. “I wish I had your optimism.”

  “I believe enough for the both of us.”

  “Um, guys,” Sean called. “Five vamps just killed two people by the river. They might be heading for the House of Blues.”

  Angelica and Danny downed their blood and then the three of them went out to get to the venue as fast as they could. They had no idea if it had a concert that night and didn’t want to tempt fate.

  The venue was open, but the doors were still closed. Only the band and staff would be inside, and the queue didn't look to be disturbed.

  “Do you think they’re here?” Sean asked.

  “I can smell blood,” Angelica replied.

  Danny nodded. “They’re here, probably snuck inside. We’ll have to glamour the security.”

  “Better than having to knock them out like I used to,” Sean said, following the two vampires in the lead.

  The back door was open a sliver, and Angelica gently pushed it all the way open, the smell of blood stronger. Laying to the side of the doorway was a security guard, his dead, glassy eyes staring whitely in the semidarkness.

  “Well, guess we don’t need to glamour anyone,” Angelica commented. “Come on.” She listened intently for any sounds not usually associated with the setting up of a rock concert, and heard nothing.

  She had her blade brandished as she began to climb the stairs that led to the backstage area where the band prepped. Voices could be heard over the din of the crew setting up.

  “What the fuck are you?”

  “Get — get away!”

  She kicked the door to the green room in and saw that the headlining band was surrounded by five vampires. Despite the four members of the band looking like tattooed, Satanic Vikings, they were trembling in fear before the red-eyed bloodsuckers now facing them down.

 
“Why don’t you pick on someone your own species?” Angelica asked, trading her small dagger for the falchion she wore on her back. She didn't always go out with it, because it was difficult to conceal, but today was a special occasion. She turned to Danny. “Any demons?”

  “Nope, all Undead,” he replied.

  “Good.” She stepped forward. “Come on, are you afraid? You already broke our laws and I have to kill you anyway. At least make it fun for me.”

  The five vampires, all young and clad in leather and denim, glanced at each other and back at their potential victims. Evidently deciding that the meal wasn’t worth being beheaded, they all advanced forward toward Angelica and her allies.

  “Now that’s what I’m talking about,” she said, swinging her sword and slicing deep into the cheek of one vamp, sending blood spraying out. There was a crack as its cheekbone broke. In its moment of weakness, she chopped its head off with one swing. It landed at the feet of one of the band members, who promptly fainted dead away.

  Some tough guy, Angelica thought, moving on to the next target. Sean was putting as many bullets as he could into the vamps, weakening them for Angelica and Danny to finish them off.

  It wasn’t hard. The green room was small, with little room for movement. While they had to be careful not to hurt the mortals, they still managed to kill all five vamps quickly due to the vamps’ poor choice in location.

  When they were all dead, Angelica glanced at the humans, who were all staring in shock, except for the one who had fainted.

  “You might wanna wake him,” she suggested. “The doors will be opening soon.” Her phone beeped and she saw an alert from the CPD that there were dead people in the lobby of the Ritz-Carlton hotel.

  “Seriously?” Sean asked.

  “They’re keeping us busy for some reason,” Danny said.

  “Then why are we going to follow their plans like idiots?” Sean asked.

  “Because, first and foremost, we protect humans,” Angelica replied. “We can’t let them make us forget that. Come on, Sean, take hold of me. We’ve got to be fast.”

  After arriving at the fancy hotel, there was no need to be subtle about their entrance. People were screaming and fleeing the hotel by the dozens, but Angelica knew that there had to be people trapped in the lobby.

  Of course, they know it ups the odds I’ll show up if there are hostages, she thought. Vincent did know her well.

  The lobby and dining room of the hotel looked like an outtake from The Shining. People in dresses and suits that cost thousands of dollars lay in pools of their own blood, while more people were huddled in a corner near the gift shop, in fear.

  Seven vampires, also well-dressed, stood around them. Three threatening the humans, four standing a way back near the fountain.

  The vamps in back turned and one announced, “Look who showed up. Right on time, Your Highnesses.”

  “Take your sarcasm and shove it,” Danny snapped.

  Sean fired two shots, hitting one vamp in the forehead and another in the knee, rendering it unable to walk for a few minutes at least. Danny and Angelica advanced, and Angelica got an idea. “Danny, go to the others. You, too, Sean.”

  “You think you can handle four at once?” one vamp asked.

  “I’ve dealt with worse than you,” she replied, reaching into her jacket pocket with gloved hands and pulling out an ampoule. She uncorked it and tossed it into the water. She then shot the fountain, while the vamps looked at her as though she’d gone crazy.

  Until they got splashed.

  The holy water permeated the whole fountain in seconds, and the bullets cracked the marble, making the water slosh and splash all over them as they began to scream. Their skin was melting like the Wicked Witch of the West and Angelica decapitated them all with ease.

  “You shouldn’t have mocked me,” she said, unsure of where her confidence came from. She was terrified, deep down, but there was a part of her brain that pushed fear aside for this bravado. But it wasn’t just bravery, it was skill. She had the talent to back up her confidence, something these vamps didn’t have.

  Sean and Danny were luring the other three further away from the humans. Angelica took over for Danny, who began to usher the humans out toward the elevators.

  Sean’s bullets ripped holes in faces, torsos, and legs, leaving space for Angelica to behead each of them.

  Once the humans were safe, the three of them stood amongst the carnage and stared at each other.

  “We just killed twelve vampires, and the worst thing I got is a blister on my trigger-finger,” Sean said. “Anyone else find something off about that?”

  Danny nodded. “We were being played, lured to each place on purpose with inexperienced vamps.”

  Angelica’s phone beeped and she looked at the message. It was from Daniel’s phone.

  “Come on, Angelica. Come and witness the fall of your Empire firsthand.”

  10

  “Do we go?” Danny asked.

  “We let them play us this far,” Angelica said. “Time to finish the charade. Let them think they’ve gotten the upper hand on us. Our enemies always underestimate us, and these two are no exception.” She cleaned her blade on the dress of one dead vamp. “Reload. Take a moment. And then we go on guns blazing, no holds barred. Teach them that this Empire only dies when we do.”

  Danny felt a surge of love and admiration for his wife. She wasn’t fearless, but she fought in the face of her fear. Her heart was so good, and she didn’t even realize how inspiring she was, alone to him. He kept fighting just to be able to keep up with her.

  “Let me see your phone,” he said. “I can try to get a vision from the text, maybe give us the upper hand here.”

  She nodded and placed it in his hand.

  Immediately, he began to hear voices, but he didn’t see anything.

  “Was that enough time?” Daniel asked. “They finished the battles quicker than I thought they would.”

  “It was,” Vincent replied. “Now the real battles begin. Then they will see that this Empire is not so strong, as so many of their allies are now on our side.”

  The voices stopped there, but it was enough. Danny handed the phone back to Angie and said, “They’ve got a lot of vamps with them there. It’s going to be difficult.”

  “But not impossible,” she replied. “Vincent is by far their best fighter, and he won’t attack us, he’ll let us fight through the vampires to tire us out by the time we get to him and Daniel. Danny, drink as much as you can from the vampires we fight to keep up your strength, and I will do the same. Sean, I advise you to feed here on one of the recently dead humans.”

  Danny backed away, his stomach churning. “I will not be watching that, thank you.”

  “Squeamish, Mancini?” Sean asked, but it didn’t have his usual edge. For Sean to lose his sarcastic tone meant they were really in deep doo-doo.

  “For certain things, you bet your ass I am,” he replied. He walked over to Angelica and took her hand as they waited by the elevators for Sean to be done.

  “The police will be here soon,” she said. “Someone will have called them by now. And we need to be long gone by then. We can't waste our energy on them when we’ve got vampires to fight. And since we’ve all be splattered with blood, they’ll obviously think the worst about us.”

  Danny managed to smirk. “I can see you in a CPD interrogation room. How long would it take before you pistol whipped them?”

  “Oh, five minutes, give or take,” she replied. “I liked saving humans. I was never particularly fond of conversing with them.”

  Danny chuckled, squeezing her hand. “What about me?”

  “You were never merely human, were you?” She leaned in and kissed him, her lips chapped and insistent. He realized then that this was the first time he’d ever seen her in public without makeup on. Her last shield had been taken down, and she was as vulnerable as she was ever going to get.

  “Okay, break it up or get a room. We ar
e in a hotel,” Sean called, breaking the moment. He was wiping a little blood from his lips and Danny saw the logo on the t-shirt he wore was splattered with it. He could smell it, just a little, since the corpse Sean had fed upon had been fresh. “Ready to go?”

  “As ready as we’re going to get,” Danny replied.

  “Then let’s get ’em,” Angelica said.

  The outside of the PID building looked as normal as always. Angelica didn’t even think that they had disrupted the businesses in the building. What was their goal? To feed upon the humans in there slowly, like savoring a box of chocolates?

  “We’re just going in the front door?” Sean asked.

  “If I know Vincent, he’ll expect me to sneak in via the basement and he’ll have a welcome party waiting. He taught me better than to just walk in the front door,” Angelica explained. “Which is why that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

  “There will still be sentries, but not like what would be waiting for us down there,” Danny said.

  “Exactly.” Angelica unsheathed her sword and it gleamed in the bright city lights. “Show no mercy, and expect none in return.” She opened the front doors, and the reception area was empty. No one manned the front desk, which, under her rule, would have resulted in a punishment of some sort. What surprised her was that there was no one waiting to ambush them at all.

  “Elevator or stairs?” Sean asked.

  “Don’t be stupid. Stairs. We’re sitting ducks in an elevator,” Angelica said. “But just in case…” She pressed the elevator call button to come down, and sure enough, there were two nearly feral vampires in there. They must’ve been recently turned, to not have any sense of humanity about them at all.

  Angelica and Danny had them both decapitated in seconds; she doubted they even knew what hit them before their souls were frying in the Pit. She pressed the “hold” button and the elevator stayed where it was, preventing anyone from escaping through it from another level.