Dear John,
By the time you get this I will be gone with Dimitri and the others on our trip back to our home. I pray that all has gone well and you are safe. Everything happened so fast and there was no time for us to talk after Dimitri did what he thought was right—he knew that you were plagued with the nightmares of losing your humanity and he sought to make you see the truth that you tried to conceal from yourself. It was necessary, John, so that you could be yourself again. You need to be a mortal human and not some tortured soul that lies between the worlds of human and vampire.
As much as I wanted to stay and to be with you, I couldn’t do it. Dimitri says we are from two different worlds and the gap that divides them is too far apart. Is he correct? I don’t know. All I do know at this time is that I need to finish discovering what I am and what I can become. For too long I have allowed myself to wallow in the quagmires of anger and revenge. Being with you opened the floodgates of emotion and I can feel again. I can feel and now I can love. The feelings are both exhilarating and terrifying and the decision I need to make is one that I must do on my own. Will there be a later for us? I do hope so.
For now I am needed by Ishma and Crema to help them adjust to what they are now. We will be a family for a while John, working together for the sake of my race to ensure that we live on in the place that God or whoever has ordained for us to occupy. This time will allow me to think of a future as well as remember the past.
I am a selfish person, John. I could not leave without taking a part of you with me. I now have something that I will treasure for always. It will allow us to exist together in our dreams if not in our realities.
I do love you.
Forever yours,
Christina
After Reese read the letter several times, he let it fall from his hands and drift to the floor. He walked closer to the mirror and looked at his face. He could see the trace of the tears that had flowed down his face as he had read her words. He wiped at them with the back of his hand. Slowly he turned his head to the side and allowed his fingers to continue along the side of his neck. His hand passed over the rough stubble of beard and then came to the marks that he suspected would be there; two small punctures in the skin. She had taken a part of him. She had taken his blood.
He let his hand drop from his neck as he continued to look at his face in the mirror. He wasn’t sure what he saw or what he was feeling at this very moment. Had he changed? Had all of this changed his feelings about mortality? The image of his reflection didn’t offer any suggestions as to what these answers might be. He turned from the mirror and the questions that remained unanswered. As he headed toward the shower, he wondered what his dreams would be like tonight.
He turned the water on and listened to the sounds as it splashed off the tub floor. He felt a thin smile try to force its way upon his lips. The smile was associated with the message that had been on his answering machine - the one about the trip to Disney World and his chance to escape into a world of fantasy where the rules of reality no longer applied. Yes, he would take a trip, but not to Disney World.
Perhaps he could finally find that fantasy world of his dreams and live in it; now more than ever, he thought he was ready.
A
BOUT
THE
A
UTHOR
Tony Ruggiero has been publishing fiction since 1998. His science fiction, fantasy, and horror stories and novels have appeared in both print and electronic mediums. His published novels include:
Book I of the Team of Darkness Declassified Files. The US military has developed a new weapon to be added to its arsenal—the creatures known as vampires. Tony uses his naval experience to write this dark fantasy thriller about vampires being used by the Navy SEALs. Ground breaking and fast paced, the novel is a characteristic mixture of the vampire lore of Anne Rice and the clandestine secrets of the military found in Tom Clancy novels.
Book II of the Team of Darkness Declassified Files. Commander John Reese struggles with the decision he made to free the vampires, code name Team of Darkness. Unbeknownst to Reese, his efforts to stop the operation was undermined by the action of General Stone who secretly secured the bodies of two young girls who have now turned into full fledged vampires ready to be trained to become killers for the General’s personal ambitions. However, General Stone is suddenly murdered in his home—his assassin is a female vampire, Christina, who has been controlled and used by a U.S. secret government organization, known as the Agency, to murder selected targets since her arrival in the United States over sixty years ago. Nothing is as it appears…nothing. Your whole life you think you understand who and what you are and then one day you learn that it is all a lie. So what do you do? You have lunch with the leading candidate for President of the United States…you and your alien friends.
Alien : Death has many meanings. For some it is an end, while for others it is a beginning. Yet, for one human/alien hybrid, it is a way to have one final chance to try and save his home, Earth, a son he has never seen, and find an enemy that just won’t stay dead. The exciting conclusion to Alien Deception. Aliens, Satanic Creatures, and other alternate life forms have gathered together to make a stand for literary fairness. Move over pesky human…a change is coming. An anthology of short stories where the center character is not human; includes the award winning story, Lucky Lucifer’s Car Emporium, as well as Electronic Bliss, Invasion or Subversion, and Going Up?
Tony is also a contributing author to from Dragon Moon Press. The Companion picks up where The leaves off. takes on more advanced topics of writing, such as incorporating horror, incorporating mystery, developing a story in your favorite RPG universe, and exploring alternative cultures for world building. Tony’s contribution is a
Chapter on the effective use of horror in fantasy. Other collaborative work includes Volumes I and II, Breach the Hull and So It Begins.
Tony retired from the United States Navy in 2001 after twenty-three years of service. While continuing to write, Tony teaches at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA, Saint Leo University and the University of Phoenix.
For more information, please visit www.tonyruggiero.com.
O P E R A T I O N: E N D G A M E
C
HAPTER
O
NE
Reese slowly awoke in a gray haze to the sound of banging. It sounded like a hammer banging on a piece of wood. His surroundings began to slowly come into focus as the sound became clearer. It wasn’t a hammer, but rather a gavel being banged on a desk. He looked around and saw that he was in a large room. The seats were full of military personnel in uniform. He was in some kind of a military courtroom.
“What the hell…” The room was full of conversational murmurs and combined along with the gavel banging, made Reese’s head ache.
From what he could surmise, he was being court-martialed for something. He sat at a small table in the center of the room. He was wearing his dress blue uniform, the one he referred to often enough as the suit and tie outfit. The seat next to him, which he guessed would be for his attorney, was empty. He tried to move his hands and feet and found that he was shackled with chains. Reese wondered where his attorney was or if had he not been allowed to have one.
In the front of the room was a long table. Its occupants included three Navy officers, all of whom Reese recognized and all of whom he knew were dead.
The first on the left was General Stone, followed by Commander Scott and then Lieutenant Johnson. Stone and Scott’s throats had been slashed, the gaping tear extending from ear to ear in the flesh clearly in view. There was no blood though, the wounds were clean. Johnson’s wounds were less graphic; his body was full of bullet holes. Reese thought he could actually see light through some of the holes.
General Stone banged the gavel one more time and then laid it down. “I will have order in the courtroom,” Stone said, his voice sounding coarse and scratchy - the way a man whose throat was slashed should sound - yet maintaining a tone of command. He turned his eyes toward Reese and that was when Reese saw the eyes, or rather the lack of eyes. The General’s eye sockets were empty.
It’s not real… Reese thought. It’s a dream…that’s all it is. I don’t have any more bad dreams.
“Commander John Reese,” Stone began, “you are charged with crimes against humanity; specifically in that you aided and abetted the creatures known as vampires, codename Team of Darkness; to wit you disobeyed orders and lied to superior officers on numerous occasions which led to the death of innocent victims all for your own benefit and amusement. Further, your actions have directly led to the deaths of Commander Scott, Lieutenant Johnson, Agency operatives Samantha and Mr. Smith and untold innocent civilian casualties. Oh, and also myself,” he added with a wry smile. “That is the charge. How do you plead?”
“What’s going on here?” Reese said, his voice sounding tiny and unsure in the courtroom venue. “This is absurd. It’s nonsense. You’re all dead. Dead by your own…”
“Commander Reese, I asked you how do you plead?” Stone demanded.
“I’m not going to plead anything. This isn’t a real court!”
Stone slammed the gavel down abruptly. “Commander Reese! This is the last time that I will ask you. If you fail to respond accordingly, then I will enter a plea of guilty and have you sentenced immediately.”
The audacity of Stone’s comments struck a chord in Reese, even if it was a dream. “This is such bullshit. You can’t do that! This is a military court of law,” Reese said and then realized that he was arguing with someone in a dream. He knew it was useless and silly but still he went on with the first thing that popped into his head, “For starters, that’s against the article of the code of military justice.”
“Well, like you said, Commander Reese,” said Stone. “To make matters somewhat easier and to streamline the entire affair, I decided to dispense with some of the specifics of the code. As you yourself said, this is a dream and we can pretty much do what we damn want in it—can’t we?” Stone’s empty eye sockets appeared to stare at Reese.
Reese felt his world turned upside down as he stared at General Stone. He didn’t know what to say to that assertion. In fact he wasn’t sure of very much at all right now. Dream or not—this was getting very weird and he did not like it.
He suddenly felt panicky and the urge to run to get away in his own dream. As absurd as the concept sounded, he felt he had to do it and now. He stood up abruptly, pulling the chains taut against his skin and having the strangest sensation. Pain.
It had hurt and hurt a lot. The shock that he had actually felt pain resonated not only where he had been shackled at his wrists and ankles, but in his head while trying to figure out how this could be possible. You can’t feel pain in a dream. He looked at his wrist where the steel had been pressed against the skin, it was red and he could see the broken blood vessels just under the surface of the skin.
“Are you satisfied to the authenticity of these proceedings now, Commander Reese?” Stone said.
“I don’t understand,” Reese said. “How can this be?”
“The answer is simple. You have brought this upon yourself,” Stone said his voice sounding cynical. “There’s no one to blame. There’s no one to try and protect you from what you have done. You will finally be held accountable for your actions. Your selfish and self-centered ways have caught up to you. There is nowhere to hide. No chance to manufacture another story to tell. This is your last chance to tell your story to this court. So how do you plead, Commander Reese?”
“I don’t even have a lawyer,” said Reese absently as his mind struggled to understand what was happening. He looked at the empty chair to his right and then turned back to General Stone.
“For the last time, Commander Reese, how do you plead?”
“Not guilty,” the voice next to Reese said.
There was a sudden murmur of voices in the courtroom. Reese turned to his right and saw Dimitri standing next to him. “My client pleads not guilty,” Dimitri reiterated.
“Not guilty,” Stone confirmed in a voice that sounded with disgust, “And a reminder councilor that you need to be on time in my court.”
“Of course, General. My apologies,” said Dimitri”.
“Dimitri, what the hell is this?” asked Reese.
“Not now,” said Dimitri to Reese and then turned his attention to General Stone. “General, may I have a few moments with my client?”
“Granted, let’s take a ten minute recess.”
“Thank you, General,” Dimitri said.
“You do realize it won’t make much of a difference,” said Stone and then he banged the gavel.