Authors: Heath Stallcup
6
“This place doesn’t look too vampy to me,” Jacobs whispered as he observed through binoculars. Cars zipped past on the nearby freeway and trash blew past his location as he studied a small mission style church.
“It’s supposed to be empty but the spotter reported comings and goings and he verified fresh prints.” Lamb pulled the binoculars from Ing’s hand and stared at the Spanish style stucco building. “Add the recent increase in missing people and Bob’s your uncle.”
From another vantage point Spalding and Sullivan watched the west side of the church building. Spalding stared at the building through his scope while Sullivan counted the minutes to sundown, watching the orange orb steadily glow to a darker red as it sank deeper on the horizon. Spalding tapped Little John’s shoulder. “Is that movement at your 3 o’clock?”
Sullivan pulled his rifle up slowly and peered through the scope. “Negative. Civilian outside the fence.” He continued to observe the dog walker and added, “Unless the vamps have started using poodles as a ploy to throw us off the scent.”
Spalding keyed his radio, “Bravo Four. Sitrep.”
“All clear from the eagle’s eye, Bravo One.” Donovan shifted his position to get a better angle. Atop the nearby tower, he would be shooting nearly straight down into the courtyard of the church if anything came out. “You have clear access to both entrances.”
“Roger that.” Spanky hit the button on his shoulder making his throat mic hot and linking it to the OPCOM. “Bravo units, converge on target. Maintain radio silence until bingo.”
A series of clicks verified that all of Second Squad copied the order. From his peripheral vision, Spanky could just make out Jacobs and Lamb working their way through the knee high grass toward the front entrance while he and Sullivan worked their way to the rear of the church.
It was slow going closing on the church through so much open terrain, but they wanted to maintain their element of surprise. Both teams had closed the gap by half when Sullivan raised a closed fist, halting Spalding. Spanky whispered into his radio, “All units hold.”
Sullivan slowly brought his rifle up and peered through the scope. “What the—”
Spalding didn’t wait for Sullivan to explain. He came to one knee and brought his own weapon to bear. Looking through the scope, he saw what appeared to be a person dressed from head to toe in black moving swiftly and silently across the rooftop, a sword strapped to their back. Whoever it was moved quickly, their face covered by a black hood.
“Who the fuck is that?” Lamb whispered through the coms.
“Bravo One, report.” OPCOM demanded.
“Wait one, sir,” Darren whispered as he watched the black-clad figure do a silent front flip and land deftly on the rear porch. Placing their hands on the edge of the porch, the acrobat did a hand stand, kicked out and swung out then in toward the rear door, kicking it in and rolling into the church in one deft move.
“All units converge, now!” Darren ordered.
Lamb and Jacobs ran for the front door and knocked it out of its frame as both men hit it with their shoulders, tucking and rolling into the darkened interior. Rolling to their feet again, they flipped the lights on their rifles as soon as they were up and in the ready position.
Spalding and Sullivan heard muffled screams and banging as they ran past the side of the church near the rear door. Darren stacked on the left and John entered in a low crouch. Sweeping left and right, they found black blood splattered on interior walls and ashed vampire remains still smoking on the floor as they slowly made their way through the smaller rooms of the rear.
A loud scream broke the near silence and a burning body shattered through a wall near John who turned and put two silver rounds into what was left of the dying vampire. He stepped to the side and looked through the jagged hole the body had been thrown through. He saw the black clad person expertly swinging a sword while simultaneously fighting off four vampires. As the swordsman sliced and diced, flames and ash sparked from the bodies of his opponents.
“We have a bogie,” John announced into his coms.
“Who is it?” Jacob’s voice came through his earpiece.
“Can’t tell. They’re dressed like a ninja, but they can damned sure use a sword.” John jumped back into the hallway and pushed his way forward. As he was about to step into the open room where the four vampires were fighting the ‘ninja’, a body hit the wall of the hallway and exploded in a sparking pile of ash.
Spalding grabbed him by the neck of his uniform and pulled him back just as the vampire erupted into a fireball and John stared at the embers slowly rising into the darkened room. Growling low in his throat, Little John took a long step and jumped the still burning remains and rolled into the room, his carbine coming to bear on the lone occupant standing in the middle, sheathing his sword. “Halt!”
The black-clad swordsman froze in place then slowly turned. John couldn’t see the man’s face and barely had time to react before the spinning roundhouse connected a foot with John’s jaw. As he fell, the smaller and quicker figure jumped to the side, kicked off the wall and landed deftly on John’s shoulders, essentially riding him to the ground.
Little John hit the hardwood floor and rolled, taking his attacker with him. His hand shot up and grabbed the swordsman by the tunic and pulled him off balance as he continued his roll and ended with John on top of him, his pistol shoved into the man’s face. “Who the fuck are you?” he growled as he jerked the hood away.
John saw long dark hair fall to the side but the face was still covered with a black wrap. He grabbed it and pulled it away just as a fist came up and caught him in the solar plexus. With the wind knocked out of him by surprise, the swordsman brought a hand up to knock the pistol from his grip then caught his arm in an arm bar hold. Rolling over the top of him and pulling him off balance, John was essentially pinned by his own weight.
He looked up through narrowed eyes and gritted teeth to see… “Brooke?”
The swordsman froze then glanced down at him. “Dad?”
Her grip lessened just enough for John to pull her over him and to the side, freeing his arm. As she rolled back to her feet, she came up and stared at him, her eyes wide. “This isn’t possible…”
“No, Brooke, it’s okay.” John stammered.
“No!” she screamed, her foot jutting out and catching him across the chin before she launched herself out the window and into the cool night air of El Cajon.
“Was that who I think it was?” Spalding asked as he held a hand out to John.
John took his hand and pulled himself to his feet. “Yeah, it was.”
Lamb and Jacobs stepped into the room. “We only found three.” Lamb stated as he looked around at the ashed vampires. “Looks like you hit the mother lode.”
Spanky watched Sullivan as he stared out the window, searching for the black form in the night. “It wasn’t us.”
Jacobs rested his arms on his carbine and gave him a cautious look. “The ninja looking dude that was hauling ass across the roof?”
Spanky nodded. “Except it wasn’t a dude. It was Little John’s sister.”
“No way. Dude…” Lamb shook his head. “Of all the places.” He paused and nodded toward John. “Wait. If she’s
killing
vamps, do you still want to hunt her down and…well. You know?”
Spalding shrugged. “We have no idea what her purpose was here. She could be removing competition from her territory. She could be doing the dirty deeds of her master. She could be…anything.”
Jacobs nodded. “The way she was dressed, I’d think assassin.”
“It doesn’t matter.” John pulled his head back in from the window. “She’s gone. I guess I’ll never know.”
“Dude, you don’t even know if she was turned. She could still be human.”
John shook his head. “She still looks eighteen. I have no doubts what she is.” The disappointment painted across his features was impossible to miss. “Still, I wish I could have just asked her why?”
Donovan’s voice crackled across their earpieces. “Do you want me to keep tracking her?”
*****
“Sun’s setting, Chief.” Jimmy plopped down in the sand next to him and handed him a beer. “You got your stuff ready to go?”
Jack nodded solemnly. “This isn’t going to be easy.” He glanced back over his shoulder. “I know it’s only been a few months, but this place had become home.”
Robert finished coordinating with the wolves that were staying behind and then approached the pair. “Those who are staying are going to try to rebuild this mess.”
Jack took a long pull from the long neck and planted it into the sand. “What about Barbara and Bobby? Are you going to leave them here or bring them with you?”
Robert rubbed at the back of his neck and stared off across the ocean. “Honestly, Jack, she wants me to stay.” He noticed that Jack didn’t seem surprised. “I’m thinking…well…maybe I should stay here. You know, just in case Thorn returns.”
Jack chuckled to himself and nodded. “That sounds like a hell of a plan to me, Bob.” He pulled himself to his feet and stuck his hand out, grasping Robert’s. “I understand completely. Trust me.”
Robert turned sad eyes to his boss. “Do you really? Because I’ll be honest, Jack. I’m feeling like I’m leaving you hanging out to dry.”
“No, buddy, you brought your family out here so you could be a wolf and if Barbara got infected…well, the two of you could do your own thing. I get it.” Jack motioned to the island with a sweep of his hand. “This place is perfect. You’re surrounded by other wolves, nobody to try to hunt you. A safe place for Bobby when folks shift. You need to stay here.”
Robert glanced over his shoulder and saw Barbara pull Bobby closer to her, her eyes glued to the three men on the beach. “You sure? I mean…if you really need me, I can always…”
“Bob, stay here. You’re family comes first.” Jack pulled the man into an embrace and slapped his back. “You made a great second. Now go be a great husband.”
“If you end up needing me, call,” Robert made him promise.
“If I need you, trust me, I have your cell.” He pushed him toward Barbara. “Now go. And tell Barbara not to worry.”
“Thanks, buddy.” Bob gave him a wink as he turned.
Jimmy took a long pull from his beer. “You two should rent a room.”
“You’re going to look real funny walking around with my foot shoved up your ass.” Jack sat back down next to him. “When’s our ride supposed to be here?”
Jimmy shrugged. “After dark. Apparently there’s a mission so the duty officer was vague.” Jimmy stretched out in the sand and happened to see a gargoyle spread his wings in the darkness. “Fuck me.”
Jack spun his head around and saw the giant creature step from the roof and glide to the ground. “Impressive, aren’t they?”
“Hell yeah.” Jimmy sat up and turned to better see the three mythical monsters. “I wouldn’t mind having one on my team.”
Jack snorted. “They’re coming back with us, so that may not be out of the question.”
“Be still my beating heart,” Jimmy laughed. “I wonder what a gargoyle acts like after a few beers?”
“Let’s not find out.” Jack leaned over and poured his into the sand. “I watched Grim pick up a crashed helicopter and throw it into the ocean. With that kind of strength, a drunken gargoyle is not something I’d want to have to deal with.”
Jimmy looked at his own beer and quickly poured it out as well. “Have you decided where to start searching for Thorn?”
Jack nodded. “I was his Second. I have access to all of his papers. That includes all of his properties.” He hooked his chin back over his shoulder. “I packed them all. He owns a lot of different places but it shouldn’t take too long to search them.”
Jimmy sat and stared at the waves crashing on the shore. “What about the teams, Jack? You plan to come back for good or what?”
Jack shrugged. “I don’t know, TD. I figure I’ll talk with Mitchell and see what he thinks. I figure, at worst, I can give him the intel I have and he’ll say ‘thanks, now beat it’. If that happens, I guess I can search for Thorn on my own.”
“You know he won’t do that. You were his number one operator.” TD stood and offered Jack a hand up. “You just might want to tell him if your return is temporary.”
Jack exhaled hard and stared toward the water. “I honestly don’t know if he’ll have me back, Jim.”
“Why? You’re a Tier One operator, Jack.”
Jack nodded. “Once upon a time. But you have to know something.” Jack turned and faced him, his eyes solemn. “I stopped taking the bane months ago. I’m a shifter now.”
*****
“Here’s a change of clothes.” Paul tossed the clothing to Rufus and fell into the chair again. He did his best to appear bored as he picked at his nails.
“Do you have a plan for once I’m finished healing?” Rufus asked as he pulled his burnt and blood covered clothing from his body.
Paul shot him a glance and laughed. “Me? I thought you were the brains of this outfit.”
Rufus paused as he was pulling his shirt on. “You were the one with the foresight to drag me to safety. You knew to trust Marco. You knew that human blood would get me back on my feet. Why would I not trust your judgment now?”