Full Moon Rising - 02 (18 page)

“Yes.” She answered softly.  She reached her hand up and held his hand softly.  He didn’t pull away.

“It changed me.”  Hank said slowly.  “It made me more like I used to be.  Before I gave my life to God.”  He turned to look her in the eye again.  “After that attack, I asked myself, ‘how could any God allow such creatures to do what they did to innocent children?’  It truly shook my faith.”

“And now?” she asked, not sure that she really wanted to know the answer.

“Now, I know that it wasn’t God’s hand in the killing of those children.  But it
is
His hand in directing me toward finding this group and helping to wipe them off the face of His creation.” He said firmly.  “I was a bit shaken when I found out that they had infected us with a monster…virus, or gene or…whatever it is.  But if it doesn’t affect our soul and allows us to be better warriors, then I am not opposed to it.”  Sanchez nodded as he spoke.

“I agree.” She said softly.

“And,” he added a bit more cheerfully, “I noticed you.  And you seemed like you could use a friend.” He smiled.

“Oh, really?” she said, raising her brows.

“When you stepped into a shower full of nude men and not only challenged one, but threatened him?  With a bar of soap, no less?” his smile returning.

Sanchez laughed.  “Yeah, well, he pissed me off.” She chuckled.

“Indeed.”  Hank deadpanned.  “You felt the need to prove that you were just one of the guys, correct?”

“Yeah.” She said, realizing that he had read her right.  “I did.”

“The others still see you as ‘a girl who can fight’.” He watched her reaction and saw that she knew this was true.  “I see you as another warrior.  A kindred spirit.  Someone who
also
needs to rid the world of evil.”  He watched her patiently to see if he had indeed read her correctly.  “Or was I mistaken in my assessment?”

Maria’s eyes narrowed as she studied him.  “I think you hit the nail squarely on the head, Padre.”

A slow smile spread across his face.  “I thought I was right.  And I’m glad I was.”  He patted her hand.  “It’s good to know that I’m not alone here, after all.”

“I spent my life watching monsters prey on people weaker than themselves ever since I was big enough to realize what was going on.”  She said.  “Now, I know that there are monsters even worse than the human monsters I hunted as a cop.” The muscles in her jaw ticking as her anger grew.

“Birds of a feather.” The padre stated.  Sanchez simply nodded, a tight smile crossing her features.

After a short moment, she turned to him.  “Teach me.  Please.”

Hank gave her a puzzled look.  “What could I possibly teach you, Maria?  You’re an accomplished fighter, a world-class shooter, a…”

“The blade.  When I was on that ridge and the vamps a
dvanced on me…I almost ran out of ammo.  I damn near panicked, Padre.”  He could see the fear begin to rise in her eyes again as she relived the moment in her memories.  “When I saw you coming up through their rear, your blades slashing through them, I knew…
that
was a weapon that never ran out until the operator ran out.”  Hank was nodding in agreement.  “But I know nothing but basic hand to hand with small blades.  I want to be
deadly
with a blade.  Like you.” She said her eyes growing dark.

Hank gave her a lopsided grin.  “You will not learn ove
rnight.  It took me many years to master the long blades.”

“When can we begin?” she asked, desire burning within her.

“As soon as we finish these doughnuts.” He said with a smile.

16

The dark vampire finished viewing the recordings and secured the laptop computer.  He was not pleased.  The tests that had been set up for the human hunters were not nearly strong enough.  He needed to know their
true
strengths.  He needed to know their resources.  He needed to know what they were truly capable of.  He called for his messenger and the little vampire appeared almost immediately.  “Puppet, I need more than what these recordings show me.  I need to interrogate a hunter
personally
.”

“Master?” the little messenger questioned, uncertain what exactly the dark lord wished for.

“We need to capture one.  Alive.” The Sicarri stated quietly.

“Forgive me, master, I wouldn’t know how…” he sta
mmered.

The dark vampire gazed away from the quivering messe
nger.  Of course he wouldn’t know how.  He was little more than an errand boy, and barely capable of that.  “What resources do we have near the hunters?”

“T-the emissaries are inbound, we h-have…um, we have a few groups who might be able to…um…rather, they might be brazen enough to…”

“Please, Puppet.  Just spit it out.  Do we have
any
groups within range of any of the hunters capable of capturing one and making them available to me?”

“I’m unsure, my lord.”  The small vampire had prostrated himself to the ground, trembling, awash in the waves of power emanating from the powerful dark one.

“Enforcer.” The dark lord spoke, his voice barely registering.  The overly muscled, and very old vampire stepped out of the darkness, sending the trembling messenger into fits of shaking.  “You viewed the recordings?”

“Yes, master.”

“Which of the hunters did you find to be the largest threats?” he asked.

The enforcer thought momentarily then spoke with author
ity.  “The American and the Britain teams.”

“My thoughts as well.”  The dark one stated.  “Do we have any groups in either area that you feel could perhaps capture one of them
alive
, so that I could interrogate them?”

“Alive?”  The enforcer pondered the thought for a moment.  “It’s still daylight in the Americas, but we have one group in the Ohio area that might be able to pull it off.  They have familiars that could establish the need then their masters could pull it off at nightfall.”

The dark one smiled inwardly.  “Send word.  Immediately.  Make it so.”

“As you will, so mote it be.” The enforcer stated.

*****

Rufus had received word that Natashia was returning with Nadia, Jack and his Commanding Officer in tow.  He was in the midst of making ready for formal guests and his people were quickly preparing the dining room and his study to receive the guests when Viktor came back to the island.  Nadia’s father had been gone for some time seeing to Rufus’ holdings and was truly looking forward to seeing his wife and daughter again. 

His confusion at seeing such hustling and bustling in the castle was compounded when one of the kitchen staff informed him that Nadia and Natashia were returning with the human hunters.  Viktor was well and truly dumbfounded and could find no one who could stop long enough to inform him of just what the hell was going on.  The staff seemed too nervous and excited at what was about to happen and his fears and imagination were about to get the better of him.

He left the kitchen area in search of Rufus.  Surely he could tell him what was happening before his world turned completely upside down. 

Viktor went first to the study, then to the greeting room.  He could find plenty of the staff preparing the rooms, but nobody knew where Rufus was.  Finally he decided to check his private chambers.  He found Rufus dressing for guests and bowed gracefully when he saw Rufus slipping on his riding boots.

“Forgive me, m’lord.”  Viktor announced after barging in.  “I should have knocked.”

“Viktor!”  Rufus seemed happy to see him, and didn’t seem alarmed at the intrusion.  “Please, do come in.”

Viktor entered and seemed somewhat disturbed.  “Please forgive the intrusion, but I’ve heard that Tasha and Nadia are
returning
with the human hunters?”

“Oui!  They should be arriving shortly.  By helicopter, I b
elieve.”  Rufus didn’t seem too concerned to elaborate.

“M’lord?”  Viktor hoped that he might explain a bit more.  “Please forgive my ignorance, but…”

Rufus looked up at him absently for a moment.  Then the realization struck him. “Oh, Viktor!  My dear, dear, Viktor.  I am so sorry.  Nobody has kept you abreast of what has happened in your absence?”

“No, m’lord, they haven’t.” he stated solemnly.

“So much,” he stated, “I barely know where to begin.”  Rufus pulled the other boot on and stood.  “In short, your Natashia saved one of the hunters from the Lamia Humanus, we nursed him back to health and he agreed to take word of our plight to the other hunters.”

“Really?”  Viktor was so shocked that the humans would be willing to even listen to their side of the story that he was almost beyond words.

“And the best part…”  Rufus paused.  “well, perhaps, I should choose my words more wisely.”  He turned and approached Viktor and held him firmly by the shoulders, staring him in the eye.  “My friend, please prepare yourself for a moment.  I have some rather shocking news.”

Viktor had a moment of horror streak through him where he feared something terrible may have happened to one of his fam
ily during his absence.  Perhaps the hunters were holding one of them until after they met with Rufus, or they had threatened them or…

“They are not entirely…
human
.  They are ‘wolves’.”  Rufus said slowly.  “And the wolf that Natashia saved for us?”

“Yes?” Viktor answered slowly.

“He has mated with Nadia.” Rufus answered slowly.

Viktor felt his legs go weak and shaky.  His daughter is mated to a hunter?  It couldn’t be.  The Fates could not be that cruel, and yet, here stood Rufus looking him in the eye and tel
ling him that it was.  The room slowly grew taller and he felt Rufus’ grip grow stronger on his shoulders as he realized he was being directed to a chair in the room.  He found himself sitting in the chair, his breathing labored.

“Please, my friend.  He is a good man.  And his name is Jack.  Jack Thompson…and Nadia loves him deeply.”

“A good
man
?”  Viktor mumbled.

“Well, a good wolf.  And a good man.”  Rufus stated as he turned to finish dressing.  “And he’ll be here shortly.  You’ll get the opportunity to meet him.” 

Viktor had the uncanny urge to rip his throat out and he had yet to meet the man.  “How could she mate with him if she just met him?”

“It was destined.”  Rufus said as he tied his tie.  “She a
ssumed the form of the wolf in his presence.”

Viktor’s eyes grew wide.  “It can’t be.  He’s not a true wolf.” He stated.

“I do not pretend to understand how these things work my friend.  I only know that she did and they are.”  He donned his jacket.  “And Natashia has accepted him.”

Viktor’s jaw dropped.  “Never.  She would never accept a human hunter as our only daughter’s mate.”  He stated.

“And yet…she has.”  Rufus glanced at the clock on his bedside table.  “Come.  They shall be here shortly.  Are you prepared to meet your new son-in-law?”

Viktor paled at the thought, and yet, he found himself stan
ding and following Rufus out into the hallway.  If his daughter has not yet sealed her fate, she may soon find herself a widow.

*****

Laura went through the daily reports while First Squad escorted Mitchell to the island to meet with the vampire that arranged for Jack’s rescue.  When she got the two-way report that the Pave-Hawk had lifted off and that the team would contact her upon their departure from the island, she made a note in the duty log then went back to the drudgery of her daily administrative duties.

A knock at the door brought her attention away from the r
eports and she looked up to see Evan standing there.  “Busy?” he asked.

“Same stuff, different day.  You have something?”

“Actually, I wanted to take a break from my weapons research and see if you had eaten?” He asked her.  Although he never fed in front of her, he liked to escort her to meals and hold conversations while she ate.  It gave his mind a distraction and allowed her a break that she often needed.

She glanced at the clock.  “Wow.  I totally missed supper, didn’t I?”  She sat her folders down and stretched from behind the desk.  “I wonder if there’s anything left in the cafeteria?”

“Even if there’s not, I bet we could whip you up something.” He offered.  He held out his arm and she graciously accepted it.  “What would you like, madam?  Cold cuts on stale bread, cold soup or moldy cheeses on soggy crackers?” he quipped.

“Oh, the selections sound divine, but I’m wondering if there might be any bruised fruit or perhaps overly processed boxed items that are woefully out of date?” she laughed, mocking his slight accent.

As they headed toward the cafeteria, one of the young captains approached her.  “Ma’am?  We have a primary that just came in from Ohio from one of our established field agents.”

“Okay, Captain, just put it on my desk.” She said, still smi
ling from her banter with Evan.

“That’s just it ma’am.  Something isn’t right about it.” The Captain noted.

Laura and Evan both stopped, ready to find out more.  “Explain.”

“Like I said, ma’am, this came in from one of our exper
ienced field agents, an ex-Marine and an experienced zombie hunter.  Everything sounds normal in the call-in until you get to the end…the last digits.  They’re
completely
off.  As you know, the first digits are the classification code, then the state, the next is a county code, the next is a GPS, and next is a
time
and finally, the initial
sighting date code
, correct?  Well, everything falls into place perfectly until you get to the sighting date code.” He said.  “According to the numbers he gave us, the sighting date code would be in the year 2128.  And that just isn’t right.”

Laura took the initial report and looked it over.  She looked over everything and it seemed as if everything appeared in order, except the sighting date code.  “The call is still on the hard drive, right?  It wouldn’t be archived yet?”

“No ma’am.  It just came in.  We don’t archive anything for at least three days.” The captain replied.

“And you recognized his voice, correct?”  Evan asked.

“Oh yeah, doc.  I’ve dealt with Mark a number of times over the years.  Gunnie and I go back quite a while.  It was him, alright.”

Laura kept scanning the document, reading over the nu
mbers.  They used numerical code so that should anybody intercept the call, they wouldn’t know what the call was about.  It wasn’t necessarily a code, per se, but a series of numbers giving the type of threat, the location, time and date.  Mark had done this long enough that he knew better than to screw up something as simple as a date.  “Did you request clarification, captain?”

“Protocol dictates a secondary dictation, ma’am to ensure that the numbers were recited correctly.  He ensured me that they were, indeed, correct.  He stood firm that the report was a
ccurate as filed.”

Laura breathed deeply as she looked the captain firmly in the eye.  “Okay then.  Either we have time travelling…” she looked at the report again for clarification.  “time travelling ‘zombies’ in west central Ohio.  Or Mark Tufo is trying to send us a message.”

“My vote is that he’s trying to send a message.” Evan agreed.

“Did he seem under duress at all?” she asked.

“No ma’am.  As casual as ever.” The captain answered.

Evan snapped his fingers.  “If he was, I know how to tell.” He motioned for them to follow him.  “To the Batcave!” he smiled.  Laura and the young captain shrugged and followed him to his lab.  He pushed some papers and folders out of the way and took his seat behind his computer.  After logging in he b
egan accessing his personal files.

“I discovered some software at your old place of business one day when I couldn’t sleep and decided to relieve them of a copy…”

“You mean you stole it?” Laura asked.

“Well they weren’t using it at the time.” Evan proffered.  “It’s not like they could track it back to me.  They get hacked all the time, Laura.  Usually by kids or reporters or…anyway, I found this little gem and thought it might come in handy one day.  Lucky for us, it may very well be what we need.”  He punched in a few keys and a program appeared on his screen.

“What is that?” she asked.

“It’s a voice stress analyzer.”  He answered.  “Basically it’s a ‘lie detector’ for use over a telephone or during normal conve
rsation.  It analyzes people’s speech patterns and detects stress levels to determine if someone is being less than totally honest.” He grinned.  “Perfectly harmless, I assure you.”