A Town Called America (31 page)

A blast of energy blew off the entire roof of the cage, knocking down both M.M. soldiers in the wave of heat and energy that radiated for fifteen feet.

Just as the cage was falling off the oil platform, Chris jumped from her kneeling position straight up through the open roof, thirty feet into the air. She grabbed a rope with both hands as the cage hit the water far below. In an instant she landed on the deck and, without making physical contact, pointed at one of the soldiers, who was now trying to stand. As Chris raised her hand, the soldier flew over the side of the platform into the water below.

Chris was now looking at the second soldier, who stood in utter shock and fear. Not having to speak, she merely thought the words, and the soldier did as her mind commanded. He pulled out his pistol and shot himself in the head; he was dead before his body hit the deck.

As Chris ran to the nearest cage in an attempt to open it and free the vampire inside, a sharp pain shot through the back of her neck. She fell to her knees, dizzy and confused. She grabbed at her neck and
pulled out the tranquilizer dart that had been protruding from her flesh. Dropping the dart, Chris fell to the platform, unconscious. Her last thought was
How could this happen a second time?

When she awoke she was in a small room, strapped to a bed by the wrists and ankles. The room had a steel door and one single light affixed to the wall just above it. It was windowless, dark, and damp, and the only other thing she could see was a closed-circuit TV camera in the corner near the ceiling.

With all her strength, she tried to free herself, but the thick leather straps were too strong. The door then opened with the sound of rusty metal. Chris watched as a tall man in a black suit entered.

“After all this time, we finally meet,” he said. “I do apologize for the circumstances, but you must understand certain precautions must be taken in order to ensure our safety. I know all about you,” he continued. “In fact I’ve been a fan of yours for a very long time. Even when you were a human, you were something special to watch. But then, after you received the gift of being a vampire, you became even more astounding. I’ve allowed you to live this long in part because it’s been entertaining and also because to destroy you would be like destroying a fine work of art. Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Mr. Magnus.”

“Well, I’m glad I could be so entertaining for you,” Chris said, “but if you think I won’t kill you, you’ve surely underestimated me.”

“Chris, please, there’s no need to be hostile. I’m here to help you understand, and you’ll understand more than you think.”

“Screw you,” Chris shot back.

Mr. Magnus walked over to Chris and stood next to her as she fought to free herself, hissing at him and displaying her sharp teeth.

“I’ve been here for a millennium, and I’ve yet to see someone as young as you wield so much power. As vampires age we do grow stronger, but what you possess is remarkable. May I ask what your secret is?”

“Like I said, go screw yourself.”

His fingers were as cold as ice as he placed his right hand on Chris’s cheek. A wave of pictures flowed through her mind, just as when she had first transitioned into a vampire. As each image flashed before her eyes, she saw and felt everything Mr. Magnus ever had experienced.

“I won’t alter your mind,” he said, “nor will I try to influence you in one way or another. I simply must show you what I know to be true because then you’ll understand why the M.M. must remain in place.”

When he removed his hand from Chris’s cheek, he knew she understood what he was trying to accomplish. No words needed to be spoken, as she knew his every thought.

When Chris opened her eyes and looked at Mr. Magnus, it wasn’t with spite or desperation; for the first time, she actually knew that what the Nine was doing was necessary. Although she didn’t agree with their tactics or what they’d done to so many towns and innocent people, she realized they’d had no other choices and must protected at all costs.

Mr. Magnus smiled at Chris as he reached into her pocket and removed the small leather book.

FORTY FOUR

A
fter Chris told her story, everyone sat silently at first, each waiting for someone to speak, but for a short time, the only sound was that of rainwater running off the tent. Rick sat at the head of the table with Billy on his left and Chris and Robbie on his right.

Finally Chris broke the silence. “What I’m going to tell you next will make you all angry. You won’t agree with me at first, but I need you to promise you’ll hear me out.”

“Chris, what did you do?” Rick asked, alarmed.

“I haven’t done anything. It has nothing to do with me.”

“What is it, Chris? You know we’ll support you no matter—”

“Slow down, Rick. Please hear me out before you say you’ll support me. It’s about the M.M. and the Nine.”

She took a deep breath and tried to focus. “OK. Here it is in a nutshell. If you allow the Nine to survive and destroy the M.M., it won’t do any good, as the Nine will rebuild any losses. The one thing the Nine have is time.”

“So we kill them?” Billy said. “Let them burn in the sun or throw their bodies into the ocean?”

“I’m afraid not. We must not kill the Nine. None of them can die—not now or ever.”

“You’re out of your mind,” Rick said. “What do you think we’ve been planning this whole time? We have to kill them, as well as the
M.M. Otherwise all of this will have been for nothing.” Trying to keep his cool, he looked sharply at Chris and calmly placed his hands on the table.

“Rick, let me explain. The Nine have used the M.M. to destroy towns, murder people, and take slaves. I don’t agree with it, and I don’t like it, but—”

“That’s why we have to destroy them. I’m sorry, but I agree with Rick,” Robbie interjected.

“If you destroy the Nine, there will be no one to keep the vampire population under control. They’ll breed, take humans for blood, and change the rest into vampires. Within a few decades, the vampire population will outnumber humans ten to one. Shortly after that, there won’t be enough humans left for the vampire population to sustain itself. The Nine have a code; they use the Ghosts to hunt down and kill all other vampires in order to maintain balance. The other vampires don’t follow that code. Our killing the Ghosts was a mistake.”

“Chris! Stop now!” Rick said, slamming his fist on the table. “I don’t know what they did to you, but I know this isn’t you talking. Think of how much they’ve done to us and to innocent people. You’re wrong, Chris. We will fight! We will kill the Nine and destroy the M.M.! There’s no discussing it. I never thought I’d say this to you, but you’ll either support us, support our enemy, or get the hell out of the way. I’ve always loved you Chris, but this? This is too much.”

“Rick, you told me to leave!” Chris nearly shouted. “You want to make this personal? Fine. I lied to you—yes, I get that—but you just threw me out, and now you tell me you’ve always loved me?”

“I didn’t tell you to leave, Chris. I told whatever it was that you actually were—or are—to leave.”

“Oh, yes, Rick. You’re right. I wasn’t the same girl you met in that El Camino. And for the record, I didn’t ask for this shit—it just happened—and that’s why I didn’t tell you. I knew you’d do exactly what you did! But I didn’t expect you to leave me alone with our child!”

“
No, Chris
! You carried our child without telling me what the hell you actually were. Really? A vampire? Come on. What was I supposed to do?”

“Hey, hey, hey…you both need to pull it together fast. You can’t change the past,” Billy said, trying to keep the peace.

“Soldiers! Get in here, and get this…
thing
out of my sight and off my base,” Rick yelled abruptly.

“Rick, you’re making a mistake. I won’t let you kill the Nine.
We need them
!” Chris yelled, as two men pulled her out of the tent and into the rain.

Chris glared at the soldiers escorting her from the area. “I could kill you both in a instant,” she said. She smiled, revealing her fangs, as her eyes turned black. The soldiers instantly released her, stumbling backward in the mud in an awkward attempt to get away from her as fast as they could.

Inside the tent Billy went over to the small wood stove and poured himself a cup of coffee and lit a cigarette. “I can’t say I understand what she’s trying to do, but I’ll tell you this,” Billy said. “We’ll proceed with your plan, Ricky. But no one will touch Chris under any circumstances. She’s off limits. Ricky, you know I love and respect you, and I try to stay out of your personal business, but if you ever talk to my daughter like that again, you and I will have a problem. You’re human, and I promise you I’ll give you something you won’t heal from.”

Billy placed his coffee cup on the table and his cigarette in an ashtray. After putting on his black cowboy hat, he picked up his cigarette and inhaled deeply, staring at Rick the entire time, before he abruptly left the tent.

What Chris was unable to explain to Rick, Billy, and Robbie was that she had struck a deal with the Nine. They had ensured her that if she could convince Rick not to undertake any further military actions, the M.M. would stop looting and destroying towns for the time being. In Chris’s mind that would at least buy them some time to figure out what to do next.

Chris had spoken with all eight remaining members of the Nine and agreed to take a council seat to ensure they’d hold up their end of
the deal. She knew it wouldn’t make up for all the murders and crimes against humanity the Nine had allowed their army to commit, but it was the only way she could guarantee a way to save the human race.

Giving up her friendships with Billy, Rick, and Robbie was perhaps the hardest thing she’d ever done, and she felt truly empty after making that decision. Repeatedly she asked herself whether there was an alternative, but she honestly couldn’t find another answer.

The oil rig was the same as it had been when she had left it a week earlier: cold, dark, and ugly. There was nothing Chris found appealing about the place, and she just hoped she’d be able to do something to protect her friends as well as the Nine in the upcoming weeks.

Chris stepped out of the helicopter that had picked her up from the Georgia coast and taken her to the oil rig. During the trip she kept asking herself whether she had made the right decision.

“Chris, I see you’ve returned, hopefully with good news,” Mr. Magnus said.

“Mr. Magnus, I do have news.”

“Well, let’s go into the conference room, where we can all discuss it.”

The meeting took place in the same room where the Nine had been seated the last time Chris was on the oil rig. The other seven members were seated as Mr. Magnus and Chris entered the room and took their seats.

“The war won’t be called off,” Chris began. “That’s as bluntly as I can put it. I spoke with Rick, and he won’t back down.”

“In other words you failed?” Mr. C. said in a condescending tone. “Now why exactly does she have a seat at our table?”

“Mr. C., she has a seat at our table because I chose her. Is that a problem?” Mr. Magnus asked.

“No, sir, it’s not. I just fail to see what she brings to the table.”

“Mr. C., stop talking!” Mr. Black whispered to him in a harsh tone.

“You idiots spread our army too far west,” Mr. Magnus bellowed, “and now we’re vulnerable to attack. Lest you forget, it was I who restored power to our new capitol, returned our helicopters to working order, and found
The Gem of the Seas
. I myself set this operation up, formed our military, and began production of weapons, ammunition,
and other resources. I trusted you all to take the reins, so to speak, when I was unavailable, and you all failed! And now you have the audacity to question my actions? Do you swim, Mr. Black?”

“No, sir. I do not. I apologize, Mr. Magnus.”

“Fine. Chris, what can you tell us about their army? How many soldiers do they have? Are they all in one place? Anything you can tell us will be much appreciated.”

Chris hesitated before she spoke. She had seen this moment coming, and she’d thought she would be better prepared for it than she was. She knew the words she was about to speak would betray her friends, and it was killing her inside. She also knew she couldn’t lie, as the other vampires would know her thoughts. With tears in her eyes, she told the council everything she knew.

Chris spoke of Rick’s army. She didn’t know numbers or how the soldiers would be strategically placed, but she did know he was planning a preemptive strike on the M.M.; she just didn’t know exactly when.

After Chris was done speaking, she didn’t ask permission, nor did she ask for any feedback. She just stood and headed to the door. Then she stopped and turned toward the group. “I’ll tell you all the same thing I told my family—and yes, they’re my family. I told them I wouldn’t let them bring harm to any of you. Now I’ll tell each of you that I won’t allow you to harm any of them. I don’t like being in the middle, but it was you who put me here.”

“I understand,” Mr. Magnus said, and “that’s why we must ensure your safety and also ensure that you won’t do anything to compromise our operation. You’ll be treated fairly, I assure you.”