Coalition of the Damned - 03 (8 page)

“Bullshit,” Dom said. “You know that what you’re wanting to do is…well, it’s just plain
wrong
.”

“And?”

“And?! And
what
?  There is no and!” he yelled. “It’s just wrong!”

“You act as if I may care, Mr. DeGiacomo. I do not. No more than you would care if you stepped upon an ant.”

Dom got to his feet again and shook a finger in his face, “That is a lie! I
know
that is a lie!” he shouted. “You can’t deny that you were once human. You had a human family and human feelings. You cared about things. You
felt
things! You can’t stand there and tell me that you don’t care…you aren’t that good of a liar.” The veins in his forehead were bulging as he yelled.

The vampire remained stoic and stared at him through his t
irade impassively. “I do not.” He sighed. “Not any longer.”

Dom gave a frustrated laugh. “You are so full of crap…and what’s worse is that you’re buying it yourself,” he muttered. “I saw your life, remember? You might can convince yourself, but you can’t convince me.” He fell back on to the mattress and stared off into a corner. “Go ahead. Ask me whatever you want. Apparently you’ve got yourself convinced that this is your only avenue.” He turned and looked at the vampire again. “But pe
rsonally, if I were as damned and miserable as you
pretend
to be? I’d find somebody willing to take me out of the game rather than threaten to destroy the world.”

The dark vampire stared at Dominic for a very long time and said nothing. Dominic finally turned his gaze back to the vampire and studied him, a realization striking him like a ha
mmer. “That’s it, isn’t it? You
want
somebody to stop you, don’t you? You’ve finally gotten so tired of suffering that you’re hoping we can stop you…”

The vampire jerked his attention back to Dominic, his eyes wild with anger. “You could not stop me if you tried!” he hissed.

Dom felt a smile sliding across his face and he was nodding at the vampire, “No, I’m right and we both know it. You may not have realized it until I said it, but that’s exactly what you’re hoping for. You want us to stop you, no matter what it takes.”

The vampire’s eyes narrowed at Dominic and a low guttural growl escaped him as Dom began to chuckle. “It cannot happen. It
will
not happen. I am unstoppable,” he hissed as he turned and placed the oil lamp on Dom’s table and made his way to the door. Dom began to chuckle at the idea that the vampire desired death and the chuckle turned into laughter which fueled the vampire’s rage even more. He stormed to the door and threw it open. “When you have yourself under control again, we shall continue this conversation.”

He slammed the door on Dominic as he lay across his ma
ttress, laughing to himself at the idea that this vampire with ultimate power was truly nothing but a coward hoping to commit suicide by Monster Squad.

*****

Bob Mueller had spent the day with his wife and son. After taking Babs to the farm and teaching her the nuances of the FiveseveN, she was shooting the handgun like an old pro in no time. It was such an easy weapon to master and having experience with other handguns made her an easy student. After running the weapon through its paces, they picked up Bobby from her mother’s house and went for pizza. He spent the evening playing ball with his son in the backyard and Bobby talked non-stop about school and his coach-pitch baseball team and how he wanted to play football but mom wouldn’t let him and could he
please
talk to mom about letting him play pee-wee football ‘cuz the other kids get to and he thinks he could be really good at it ‘cuz he can run really fast and he can tackle and catch a football…

The words ran into each other as Robert listened intently to his son.

Barbara watched from the window as father and son played catch in the dwindling sunlight. Her heart swelled and she felt a pang of loss as she realized once more that this might be the last time they see him for a very long time. She felt her eyes begin to tear and she turned away from the window and wiped at her face. She sniffled and blew her nose quickly, trying to hide the evidence of her emotions.

After a few more minutes, the two Mueller boys came in and set their ball gloves on the table. Little Bobby hugged his mom and Robert picked him up for a quick tickle session and hug. “I’ve got to get back to the base, buddy, but I’ll come back and see you as often as I can. I’m sorry they stuck me in Okl
ahoma, but it probably won’t be forever.”

Bobby nodded and hugged his dad tight around the neck. “I love you, Dad.”

“I love you, too, buddy.” Robert misted. “So very, very much.” He looked at Barbara who had to turn away from them. Robert lowered his voice to a whisper. “And I’ll talk to mom about football, okay?”

“Thanks, Dad,” Bobby whispered back.

“Okay, champ, upstairs and in the bath, okay?” Robert set him down and play swatted his bottom.

Bobby ran upstairs, leaving a trail of clothes behind him. Robert turned to Barbara and pulled her close to him. She tucked her head under his chin and held him close.

“He told you about football?” she asked.

Robert chuckled. “Yeah. He really wants to play. Made me promise I’d ask you about it.” He said nothing else as he held her closely.

Barbara inhaled deeply, smelling his cologne. “I’m so afraid he’ll get hurt.”

Robert nodded. “I know.”

She was silent for a little longer. “You think I should let him, don’t you.”

“I’m not going to try to coerce you.” Robert held her, enjo
ying the feel of her tiny, warm body next to his.

“Oh, no you don’t. You’re not going to be passive aggre
ssive with me, mister.” She poked him in the ribs and made him jump. “What do you
think?
”

Robert heaved a sighed and shook his head. “I think they pad those kids up so much that the only way he could get hurt is to get hit by a truck. But I also think that you’re the mom and what you say
goes
,” he added to protect himself.

“That’s not fair, Robert. It makes me the bad guy.” She stared up at him.

“No, honey…I’m not trying to make you the bad guy,” he explained. “You’re here with him all the time. You have to be mom
and
dad because I can’t be here. You have a tough job and even though I wish I could be here…” He looked away to regain his composure. “Look, all I’m saying is, I’m going to support whatever decision you make and I’ll stand behind it.” He held her face and stared into her softening eyes. “I love you, Babs. And Bobby will get over it. If you say no, then I say no and he’ll understand when he gets older.”

She nodded and held him closer. “So I guess he starts foo
tball Monday.” She shook her head, a silly grin crossing her face.

Robert laughed. “Boy, you’re a pushover.”

“I can’t tell my boys no when they tell me they love me.” She smiled into his chest.

Robert held her and kept inhaling her scent. He wanted to memorize everything about her. He knew he needed to leave, but he didn’t want to. “I wish I could take you both with me,” he whispered.

She looked up at him with her dewy eyes. “Why can’t we just run away? So what if you accidentally…” He quickly put a finger over lips to shush her. She lowered her voice to a whisper. “So what? We could move to the mountains and…I don’t know…chase deer on the full moon or something.”

Robert smiled at her. “What about Bobby? What if we had another child? Would that be fair to the kid?”

She shook her head and buried her face in his shirt. “No,” she muttered into the flannel. “None of this is fair, Robert.”

He pulled her into a smoldering kiss and walked with her toward the door. “I have to go, baby.” He gave her a longing look. “Be safe.”

She blew him a kiss as he stepped out into the twilight and softly shut the door behind him. Barbara Mueller sat down at the table and did her best to keep herself together as she listened to Bobby sing ‘Rubber Ducky’ at the top of his lungs upstairs off-key.

“Guess who is playing football, Monday?” she yelled up the stairwell.

“Way to go, Dad!” Bobby yelled, and Barbara heard splashing in celebration. It brought a small ray of sunshine to her evening.

6

Viktor sat across the ornate table from Cardinal Angelo Sardelli and nervously explained the reason for his visit in hushed whispers. Although the two were locked behind the doors of the Holy See’s private office, the cardinal knew that no place in Vatican City was truly free from prying eyes or curious ears.

Cardinal Sardelli was one of a few within the Vatican who were aware of the existence of vampires and other supernatural creatures, but the news that Viktor brought was more than unse
ttling, it was earth shaking. The cardinal, as Viktor feared, was not one for allowing the Vatican’s Holy relics to escape their hard-earned grasp. Not for love nor money, nor even the salvation of mankind would they be allowed to leave the safety of the Vatican’s vaults. Sardelli kept his voice low, but firm as he explained to Viktor that if this mad vampire were to destroy the earth with fire, it must then be God’s will, and the souls of the vampire’s victims would be delivered unto Him for judgment.

Viktor sat quietly and maintained a quiet and calm demea
nor while the cardinal extrapolated all of the reasons why the Vatican could not allow the Holy relics, nor any artifacts in their possession to leave the walls of Vatican City. Finally, Viktor stared the good cardinal in the eye and explained to him, “Your Grace, do you have any idea what this madman intends to do with Holy men?” The cardinal reacted only with a raised brow. “Regardless of faith or denomination, he intends to convert all men of the cloth to soulless undead and unleash them upon the masses. Those of you who dedicated your lives to the salvation of mankind will now become the instruments of its undoing.” He allowed a moment for the cardinal to envision this apocalyptic hell. “All of the good works of His church will be twisted into an abomination, an evil bent on nothing more than the destruction of God’s own creation.

“Holy water will not harm this creature. Silver will not harm him. A stake through the heart will not harm him…alas, we are not even sure if sunlight will do much more than temporarily burn him.” Viktor leaned in and whispered desperately at him, “Only these Holy relics stand a chance at killing him for he is the Sicarii, Judas himself, cursed by God to walk the earth for the traitorous acts that he committed against the Son of the Most High!” The cardinal sat back, his eyes wide and mouth slightly agape as realization sunk in. “The very silver that he received, that you now hold in your vault? That may be our only hope to stop him!”

The cardinal’s hand was shaking as he stood and began pacing in his office. “Even if I were to allow this…this
thing
that you ask of me, Viktor…we have only three pieces.” The cardinal’s mind was racing at the possibilities that lie in store for mankind, for the church…for
him
. “They would surely be missed!”

“I have taken care of that possibility.”

The cardinal turned and eyed Viktor cautiously. “And of the other…items that you request?”

“They are taken care of as well.”

The cardinal approached Viktor and leaned over his desk, whispering in his ear. “We could both be imprisoned…or worse if we are caught.”

“We won’t be.” Viktor whispered back. He withdrew a ve
lvet cloth and unfolded it inside his coat pocket. The cardinal’s eyes grew wide.

“How did you get those?” he whispered excitedly. “They were locked in the inner vaults, they are inventoried regularly, they are…”

“They are replicas,” he whispered back. “We replace the originals with these. And note, I only have one coin and one piece of the cross.” His eyes displayed so many emotions, sorrow for having to do such a thing, fear for his friend if they were discovered, sadness for what would become of them after he removed them…Cardinal Sardelli knew that it was not something Viktor wanted to do, but rather something he felt he had to do.

The cardinal inhaled deeply and tried to calm himself as he exhaled. He patted Viktor’s shoulder. “Then let us do this before I lose my resolve.” Viktor nodded and placed the objects back inside his jacket.

The two men worked their way through Vatican City and deep into the bowels of the main bunker under the Sistine Chapel. As they approached the hermetically sealed doors, Viktor allowed the cardinal to take the lead and sign them in to the ledger. The Swiss Guard who maintained the security of the bunker and the secret vault stood at either side at attention. Both the cardinal and Viktor did their best to act relaxed and carry on light conversation as they waited for the antechamber to pressurize and the doors to open.

The cardinal walked Viktor through the many shelves and pointed out the different areas of the vault, which Viktor already knew, having spent months researching the numerous documents in the vault, but he knew that it was more for show than an ed
ucation. Viktor also knew where all of the cameras were mounted and that the Swiss Guards manning the monitors would be switching from camera to camera to keep both men in view at all times. No matter how mundane the task, one was always under surveillance when in the vault.

Viktor had thought through the next steps thoroughly. He had brought his notebooks with him and would use them as a diversion to make the switch. When the two got to the area where the relics were, Viktor pulled out his notebook and showed the cardinal his sketches. The cardinal nodded and pointed to the shelves where the relics were stored. Viktor knew that the Swiss Guard had eyes on them, but couldn’t hear them, and he counted on them reading their body language.

The two men retrieved the relics and positioned themselves so that the cardinal’s back blocked the camera to his rear and Viktor’s back blocked the camera to his rear. He placed the notebook on the counter at the base of the shelves and reached into his jacket, supposedly to pull out his reading glasses, and allowed the velvet cloth to drop between the two men onto the notebook.

As the two men went through the motions of smiling and nodding and pointing at the notebook, Viktor made the switch with the piece of wood and carefully wrapped the original back in the velvet. The hard part would be getting it back into his jacket. He placed the silver coin in his notebook and laid the re
plica on the edge of the counter. He gave the cardinal a signal with his eyes and they allowed the coin to be knocked to the floor. The cardinal made an animated attempt to grab it and then dropped to the floor to retrieve it as Viktor stooped to get it at the same time and slid the velvet cloth back into his jacket. His hopes were that the guard’s eyes would be on the dropped coin rather than Viktor.

As Viktor and the cardinal stood, the cardinal held the coin up triumphantly to show Viktor who placed a hand over his heart and exhaled deeply. The men then placed both the replica coin and the replacement chunk of wood in the airtight containers and on to the shelves. Viktor picked up his notebook and allowed the real coin to slide from the pages and into his hand where he def
tly slid it into his pocket and allowed it to mix with his spare change and his keys. The two men then walked further into the vault and the cardinal finished the ‘tour’, pointing out other artifacts and relics and important documents, some of which he took great pains to show Viktor and the two were quite animated as they discussed them, the entire time growing more and more relieved that the Swiss Guard didn’t show up to arrest them.

Once the two men felt that they had spent enough time ac
ting in front of the cameras, they slowly made their way back to the doors, lowering their voices and discussing the possible future. “Do you really think that this is the only way to stop the monster?” Cardinal Sardelli asked, his voice low.

“I would not have come had I thought there any other way,” Viktor admitted. “And I give you my word that, should we find another way to stop him, I will see the relics returned to their rightful place.”

The cardinal shook his head. “The risk is too great, Viktor. Do not attempt to return them. There are others,” he said sadly. “Besides, it’s not so much the reality of the relics now, but more the perception of them that gives them their power. At least…to the people here.”

“Like the shroud of Turin?”

The Cardinal shrugged. “The jury is still out on that one, eh?”

Viktor patted his shoulder and for the first time since he left Thorn, felt that perhaps their side stood a fighting chance. “For what it’s worth, I believe it is real.”

“I do not care if it is real. I see what it does for the people. It strengthens their faith,” Sardelli said as the doors finally opened. “Anything that can strengthen the faith of the people cannot be bad, can it?”

Viktor thought about that for a moment. “As long as one doesn’t try to profit from it, then no.”

The Cardinal nodded. “I agree.” The two men walked back through the doors and the Cardinal signed them out of the vault log. Viktor never made eye contact with the Swiss Guard and the two men walked back to Cardinal Sardelli’s office. “This is where I say goodbye, my friend.”

“Thank you, Angelo.” Viktor reached for his hand, “I know this hasn’t been easy for you.”

Sardelli pulled him into a hug and kissed his cheeks. “It was good seeing you again.”

“And you,” Viktor replied emotionally.

“Next time, let’s just do lunch, okay? My heart cannot take such excitement.”

Viktor chuckled as he headed back to his rental car.

*****

Maxwell had tried to remain calm while Natashia recited the events that had taken place during his absence from the pack. He fought the urge to scream more than once and he noticed that Nadia seemed to be in a form of stupor as she lay back on the couch, drifting in and out of near sleep. Natashia tried to be brief, but he urged details from her about how his wife, Victoria had banished their son and his family, including his entire ento
urage from their pack and had given them over to serve as indentured servants to a
vampire
!

Maxwell had given up his desire to be a warrior and decided instead to follow a meeker path, a path of righteousness…a path that drove a wedge between his son and himself, but that did not mean that his son deserved to become a slave to a bloodsucker. He wanted to rush back to the pack and confront Victoria, but when he left, he put her in charge as she was his second, but o
nly until she felt that Viktor was strong enough to lead. That time should have come a long time ago. All this time he thought that his son was leading the pack, only to find out this…

Then Natashia told him the reason for them coming to him now. The threat of the Sicarii, the need to find this Roman guard, the first father of the werewolves, this Claudius Veranus. Ma
xwell’s eyes widened as she went on about how the vampire that her family served only fed on livestock and had entered into an agreement with these humans that hunt monsters to protect the world from supernatural creatures that would harm them. How the hunters just found out that the secret to their own strength came from a virus in the werewolves and that his own granddaughter was now mated to one of them.

Maxwell’s head was spinning as she went on and on, and he had to fight to keep up. Finally, he held up his hand to stop her. “So you’re here to find an ancient Roman guard? Claud
ius…somebody?”

“Yes,” she said, still averting her eyes from him. She didn’t feel worthy of speaking with him. He was still technically the grand master of the pack and they had been excommunicated. “Monsieur Thorn feels that he may well be the key to our vict
ory.”

Maxwell sighed. “Then you’re probably screwed.”

“How so?” she asked.

Maxwell shook his head. “He’s been dead for…centuries,” he said matter-of-factly.

Natashia gasped. “No! This cannot be!” She choked back a sob.

“I’m afraid so.”

“But, he is the father of all wolves. If he died, then all wolves would die with him.”

Maxwell shook his head. “No, that’s a misconception. If he had been
killed
, then…perhaps. Maybe. But he died of natural causes,” he explained. “Old age. I mean, come on…the geezer would have been over two thousand years old!”

“But…we do not age hardly at all over centuries and sur
ely…”

“Hey, sweetheart, we’re not immortal. You’re thinking of vampires. The reason they don’t age is because they’re
dead
. Dead flesh can’t age. But us? Hell, we still live. We age. We just age at a much slower rate,” he explained. “We are most definitely NOT immortal.”

Her eyes darted about as she considered his reasoning. Her breath came in short gulps as she realized that their best shot at stopping the monster was lost. Her eyes began to tear and she wiped at them as best as she could, but her vision continued to grow fuzzy.

Nadia awoke and sat up, shaking her head slowly. “What happened to me?”

“I think you got light-headed. Probably from the pregna
ncy,” Maxwell offered. “Would you like a drink of water or something?”

She looked at him and it took a moment for her to remember who he was. “You’re my grandfather.”

“Maxwell,” he corrected.

Then she remembered. “Oh yes. That’s right. The asshole.” She glared at him.

Maxwell glared back at her. “Excuse me?”