God Touched - 01 (29 page)

Chapter 19

I awoke abruptly, no gradual rise to consciousness, but more of a jarring slam to full alertness.  It was dark, I was face down on cold, wet metal, my nose full of the fishy, salty stench of the New York harbor.
My skin felt like it was covered in cobwebs and when I tried to brush my face off I found my hands were bound behind my back.  At least three pairs of handcuffs by the feel of it.  I rolled to my back and wrenched myself to an upright sitting position. Taking stock, I found no major wounds or broken bones, the result no doubt of being exposed to Tanya’s blood. But the mother of all headaches was living behind my eyes and the cobwebby feeling persisted and even my vision seemed to be gauzy.  Immediately, additional odors begged for attention, the predominant one being the sour body odor of
long unwashed humans, along with
rat piss and diesel fuel.  The sound of water lapping at solid surfaces hit my ears
as did
a whisper of cloth
that was
coming closer.  Sitting up I found the room wasn’t fully dark, a small puddle of light coming from the open metal door, which suddenly screeched open to admit the hulking form of Vadim.  His entrance let in more light, enough for me to see that I was inside a shipping container. Following him was a slender silhouette that resolved into the dapper form of Anton.  Cold icy blue eyes surveyed me with immense satisfaction, a small smirk on his face.

“Ah, see Vadim.  Tanya’s human blood cow is awake right on time.  Meals taste so much better warm and awake, don’t you think.”  The big man said nothing, ignoring me to cross to the rear of the container and retrieve a sheathed two handed sword from a small table in the corner.  Anton chuckled coldly to himself.

“Our pragmatic warrior is more interested in being prepared than savoring your admittedly succulent blood, Mr. Blood Cow.  Or should I call you ‘American Cow boy’,” he said, laughing again.  I grimaced. 

“
Handcuffs
too tight?” he asked, noting my expression.  “Or is it the after effects of the little cocktail you received?”

“None of the above, it’s the pain of your crappy jokes,” I said.

Vadim snorted quietly, earning him a glare from Anton before the lean vampire turned back to me.

“Very well Gordon.  But I should think you would want to go to the grave knowing your part in tonight’s drama.  Your continued interference in preventing our
partners
from getting their hands on my daughter’s blood has forced this rather precipitous action.”

“You’re telling me that you’re in bed with the Hellbourne at the expense of your own daughter?” I asked.  I tried to churn up some aura or chi or anything, but all I got was nauseated.  Whatever had been in that syringe was blocking my abilities.

“Bah, that ignorant, ungrateful twit should be honored to donate to the cause.  Imagine a street drug made from Tatiana’s potent blood.  A thousand times stronger than the stuff made from Vadim’s contribution.  And you are the bait to bring her here.  After you ruined that last demon, we were forced to grab you and run.”

“Well, I gotta say, your secret lair for world domination smells like rat piss and dead fish, couldn’t you afford something a little better?”

“Actually, you might be surprised to find out just how much we paid for it.  Our shipping company rents this entire section of the waterfront, and we have free rein to emplace these containers as we choose.  The result is a perfect place to trap Tatiana.  When she gets a lock on your meager brain, she will come straight here, moving much faster than the rest of the coven.  We’ll overwhelm her with the last of the Hanced humans and Vadim will take her down.”

When she gets a lock?  Didn’t he know that she always has a lock and it covers more than two miles? 
I allowed a tiny amount of hope to sprout inside me.

“Tell me, how did you keep all this from Nika?” I asked.

“Bah, after two hundred years of age, most vampires can block even the best mind reader.”

“So, you’re providing the demons with vampire blood, they’re twisting it with their own vile essence and then it’s going to unsuspecting humans?   What in God’s name could you gain from that?” I asked.

“Everything,
Officer
Gordon, everything.  The time is long past when vampires, the preeminent lifeform on earth, should hide in the shadows and skulk like rats.  Vampires, not pathetic cattle like humans, belong at the top of the food chain, ruling the planet.”

“And Hance will help you get there?” I asked.

“Hance was just an experiment.  But a new drug, based on Tanya’s proteins will be exponentially more addictive, spreading through the human population like wildfire, causing the confusion and chaos our partners crave and giving us the opportunity to seize the reins of power.  Humans are weak, but their science is progressing too rapidly, you see.  Their weapons are growing more powerful with each passing month.  Man portable laser based weapons will soon be a reality, and
that
would pose a real threat to our kind.”

“And you think you can accomplish this against the will of the Elders?” I asked.

A different voice spoke from the doorway. 

“Idiot, of course they have the support of an Elder.  As the only Elder fit to rule, it falls to me to bring this about.”

Fedor looked tiny next to Vadim’s mass, but he exuded menace and power.  A gust of wind blew in through the open door, swirling some papers across the floor.  I watched the debris float into the darkness while I thought about their plan. 

“So what do the demons get from this?” I asked.

Fedor didn’t answer, having settled into an eerie stillness.  After a moment, Anton spoke up.

  “I already told you.  Weren’t you listening?  They get the chaos and anguish they feed on.”

I snorted, but didn’t say anything.  Both Anton and Vadim looked at me. 

“You think you know different?” Anton asked.

“Demons only crave negative emotions to get stronger.  They only get stronger to bring more demons into our world,” I said.  “Riddle me this, Batman.  What happens to Hancers that overdose?” I asked, having a pretty good idea of the answer.

“They go insane,” Anton said.

  All three vampires were paying attention to me now.

I nodded.  “Do you know where most of the empty meat shells come from that demons inhabit?” I asked.

None of them said anything, so I went ahead and answered.

“People that have lost themselves on drugs, alcohol and depression.  Sounds like you’re creating meat shells in huge numbers while providing the chaos and fear they need to bring their own kind over.  So you will have your reign of power for what?  Maybe a day?”

They all went still, then suddenly I was suspended from Fedor’s hand, his razor sharp fingernails buried deep in the muscles of my chest.
I never saw him move.
The pain was unlike anything I had felt before.  Like five red hot pokers buried an inch deep in my pectorals. His face was inches from mine, his eyes glowing with insane fury and he smelled, oddly enough, like a leather jacket.

“Thank you for the warning.  I have to admit certain…..suspicions regarding my partners intentions.  Now I have ample time to prepare and adjust my plan.  Maybe a delayed poison mixed with the Tatiana’s blood?”

He flicked his hand and I smashed into the steel wall of the container, hitting my head and wrenching my bound arms.

“But this changes nothing regarding Tatiana’s fate.  As if
I
would ever allow an infant to rule me.  Senka grows more addled with every decade that passes.”

Now my headache was keeping company with the large knot on the back of my skull, but I suddenly realized that the cobweb feeling was gone.  I tried looking with my Sight and was rewarded with a brief flash of their auras, before it flicked off like a faulty television.

I also got the feeling that Tanya was near.  I needed to stall.

“What makes you think that Vadim can take Tatiana?”

“Because, while Vadim has taught her everything she knows, he hasn’t taught her everything he knows.  Vadim was fighting Swedes for Prince Nevsky in Russia eight hundred years ago.  You really think a twenty year old anything can match his experience.  And he will have a measure of my much older blood to lend him an extra edge.  Not to mention that when I drain you dead, she will most likely go catatonic. ” 

He pulled up the sleeve of his dress shirt and motioned Vadim to his exposed wrist.  Two handed sword slung over his shoulder, the big vampire dropped gracefully to his knees and reverently brought Fedor’s wrist to his mouth.  My kernel of hope was collapsing under despair.  Anton and Fedor both raised their heads and a moment later my slightly less sensitive ears picked up the sound something rushing over hollow metal. 

“She’s here!  Much sooner than we expected,”  Fedor said.  He yanked his wrist from Vadim’s clutch, and pointed to the doorway.  “Get out there now!”

Vadim vanished in a rush of air and Fedor turned to me, his eyes expectant. I tried pooling my aura, but the results were weaker than I had hoped for.  Still, it was all I had to work with, so I prepared to use it as best I could.

“She’s just gonna run over the top of the containers and avoid all your pets,” I said.

“These steel shipping boxes are stacked five and six deep, with an unusual cross stack pattern.  She has no choice but to approach on our terms,” Fedor said.

He turned to Anton and issued orders. “Get out there and control those mutants of yours.”    The dapper vampire left in blur.  The papers that had floated up when Vadim left were still swirling in a mini tornado, behind Fedor.  It expanded in size and the kernel of hope flared back.

“Now then, you’ve had enough time to distract me.  Or didn’t you think I was aware you were trying to get me talking?” he said.

“It’s called monologuing, and of course I was trying to get you to do it.  That would give my rescuers a chance to get here in time.”

His smile was pure malice. “I’m afraid none of your fans will make it in time, as I’m tired of waiting and frankly, you smell delicious.”  He started in my direction.  

At that moment the front of the box suddenly disappeared in a shriek of twisted steel.

“Actually I think one of them is already here,” I said.

The container door and much of the surrounding metal was gone, torn away like tissue paper.  But nothing was there, just a pile of shredded metal and a broken light pole, the still shining bulb swinging in the eerie quiet.  I never saw Fedor turn around, he was just suddenly facing the empty space outside the container.  When nothing happened, he took a slow predatory step forward.  I tried my Sight again, and was rewarded with the giant green, red and purple form of Okwari just as he slammed his two dinner platter sized paws together on Fedor’s torso.  I have no way of telling for sure how much power was involved, but I’m guessing it had to be similar to two thirty millimeter cannon shells slamming together head on.  Fedor did a remarkable impersonation of a caterpillar being crushed under a bike tire.  Blood, brains and gore spattered the ceiling, the floor and me.    

Vampires are reported to be hard to kill, particularly the old ones.  However, when the crushed husk that had been Fedor fell over, I had absolutely no doubt  he was dead and gone.  I would have liked to wipe the gore from my face, but my arms were still secured behind my back.  “Thank you Okwari,” I said to the not-so-empty space in front of me. In fact the air was blurry across most of the opening.  A mental image of me pulling his collar off and of me stepping in front of Lydia flashed through my head. 

“Yes, we certainly are friends.” I responded to the theme of the message. “You don't know anything about handcuffs do you?” I asked, wistfully.

A picture of me turning around to present my secured arms popped into my mind.   Doing as told and hoping for the best, I spun in place and held my arms as far from my body as possible. A talon that felt the size of a banana gently moved between my arms and with an effortless motion parted the handcuff links.

“Thank you again.  Now I have to find my mate and help her,” I said, using my Sight to see him.

He woofed in
agreement
then backed out of the opening and swung his whiskey barrel sized head to look in the direction of the fighting noises, which had suddenly started. 

The corridors formed by the seemingly haphazard placement of containers were long, dark and confining.  Just as they had been intended to be.  I raced down the one leading in the direction of the fight, pausing just long enough to snap the head off a heavy duty broom I found, giving me a weapon.  The ground shook behind me as more than a ton of prehistoric spirit bear followed me.  I didn't know if Okwari would fight alongside of me or not, but just his massive presence would be a boon.  Invisible or not, the acute senses of the vampires would make them aware that something was in their midst.  The sounds of close quarters combat grew louder as I ran through the tunnels and alleys formed by the stacked shipping containers. Rounding a lefthand turn, I found myself at one end of a large corridor, the other end full of screaming Hancers.  Vadim and Anton stood with their backs to me, watching a blurry form in black leather spin glittering blades of steel through the closely packed addicts like a weed wacker through crabgrass.  Body parts were flying everywhere and after a brief glance in my direction, Vadim flowed forward to meet Tatiana's arrival.