Accession of the Stone Born: The Vigiles Urbani Chronicles (35 page)

I didn’t see any obvious signs that Alexander and his people had arrived, but taking it on faith I made a quick perimeter check of Charity Hospital. The place was fucking massive. The gray cement walls jutted some twenty plus stories out of the broken and overgrown medical campus like a crumbling monolith. Everything about it gave off waves of pain and death. Even if Walter wasn’t here, there was enough misery in this place to fuel the nightmares of anyone near a state of sanity.

Thunder rolled through the sky above as a storm moved in. Just what I needed…rain and a cloudy day to boot. Whatever added benefit high noon was supposed to offer me was probably off the table now. On the other hand, the pouring rain and added darkness made it easier for me to cross onto the property, hopefully unseen.

Simply walking up to the Ambulance Only ramp, I found a metal door slightly ajar. Pulling the door just enough for me to duck inside, I was cast into utter darkness. The dark hall was hot and humid, and the air was stale. Sweat instantly made its way to the surface of my skin, coating me in a slick sheen of perspiration.

Swinging my pack around, I secured the swords before pulling out an LED flashlight. It took me a good forty-five minutes to sweep the vacant first floor. I heard a knocking sound that I first thought was some random piece of metal on the side of the building being caught in the wind. It didn’t take long for me to catch the rhythm of it.

Following the sound up and up, I cleared floor after floor in quick succession. The one thing I couldn’t shake about the place was the feeling of being inside a corpse. The building was dead and had been that way for many years. I wondered if it had a similar feeling prior to Katrina or if this was a recent addition.

On the twelfth floor I found a functioning server room with Internet access, along with a security station. Multiple cameras were trained all over the building, including a camera that would have caught my entrance. I didn’t need to rewind the tape to know that someone had seen me coming from a mile away. Fuck! Not only did this mean that I’d been seen, but someone was most likely waiting on me.

The note attached to the farthest monitor only confirmed my assumption. There on a bright yellow Post-it note was scrawled a message.

Please make your way to the 13th floor so we can be properly introduced.

W. P.

Well, that was just fucked up! He literally left me an invitation into his inner sanctum. All I could hope for was that Alexander and his men were in place by this point. I took the liberty of taking the servers offline and cutting the Wi-Fi and Internet access points, essentially blinding anyone watching elsewhere. Then I made my way up to the thirteenth floor of the middle tower. My mouth fell open as I took in the sight before me…row after row of stones much like the setup Andrew had at his house, but on a far grander scale. It looked as if someone had removed several walls in every direction to make this one giant room dedicated to trophies of the dead.

Walter sat at the end of the rows waiting for me to step out of the shadows. Getting to his feet, he smiled and waved me forward. “Glad you could make it.”

Chapter 28

Just fucking great! It was obvious he knew I was there, and staying in the shadows sweating my ass off wasn’t going to help. Even so, I kept stock, still looking around for any danger other than the obvious. Again, I took in the vast number of stones laid out in nice neat rows. Martha obviously hadn’t even scratched the surface of this madman’s antics.

Speaking of which, I watched as Walter pulled his cane out and slowly made his way to his feet. He took a couple of steps away from his makeshift throne before waving at me and shooting me the biggest shit eating grin I’d ever seen.

His laugh was dark, ragged, and much more chilling than a man of his stature should be able to command. “Come out of the darkness, boy. You look ridiculous standing there with your mouth hanging open.”

Closing my mouth, I stood upright and stepped into the lit room. With an exasperated look I cocked my head to the side. “Neat trick.” Thumbing back from the way I’d come, I said, “I’m guessing the camera’s downstairs gave me away.”

Walter’s cane tapped the floor and he gave me a knowing wink. “When it became obvious you were a professional I guessed you couldn’t miss them. With that being said, you did disconnect them and disable the Internet access?”

The fact that he wanted me to disable the cameras and cut off the Internet was disturbing in and of itself. The fact he was nearly insistent about it sent a chill up my spine. Still, I painted on the most confident expression I could muster and waved with a flourish. “But of course!”

Walter’s smile was dark and his thoughts seemed to turn introspective. His eyes focused on me again and his voice went flat. “Good. I didn’t really want to share this moment with the others.”

“Others?” I asked.

Walter waved a gnarled hand dismissively, turning his attention to the cases around the room. “Nothing to worry yourself with, boy.” When he turned his dark brown eyes towards me, they looked almost black in the lighting. “You’ve been a very costly misjudgment.”

Sarcasm at the ready, I said, “I aim to please.”

Walter made a side step with a loud click of his cane against the floor. His frustration level seemed to be growing. “When we first met I assumed you were human, but your resourcefulness tells me otherwise.” His expression turned almost pleasant. “I’m unsure what Andrew is paying you, but I’m sure I can more than match it. My budget has suddenly become flush with the loss of Chan, Timothy, and Marcus. Name your price and we can move forward as partners.” He shrugged off their loss easily. “What do you say?”

Trying to keep the astonishment out of my voice, I asked, “You’re offering me a job? I thought you’d be a bit more upset.”

Walter’s cackle was cut short and it turned into a ragged wheeze. “Kings don’t get upset about pawns.”

He obviously wasn’t lacking in the confidence department. Still it unnerved me. “King of what exactly?”

He puffed out his chest and gestured at the room. “Behold, my loyal subjects.” With a clack he moved closer to his chair. “Can you see them?” His voice dropped and he stared at me. “It’s Gavin, isn’t it?”

It appeared that Walter was well informed. Keeping my features serene, I stepped closer. “It is.”

In the most serious of tones, he asked. “Well, Gavin, are you interested in the job?”

Jesus Christ, this guy was out of his fucking mind! “I’m not sure I like the benefits package.” I shook my head. “I’ve got to know. When did you realize I was here?”

Walter huffed. “We can negotiate the perks, if that’s what interest’s you. As for when, you’re driving my old friend’s car around the neighborhood. Once you parked across the street it was only a matter of time before you wound up here.” He seemed lost to memories for a moment before speaking again. “I remember riding around town in the old girl.” His smile faded as he shook himself free of the memory. “That was a long time ago, with a man very different from the one that owns it now.” He looked at me curiously. “Why would you drive such an antique around town?”

Keeping a healthy distance, I shrugged. “It’s what I’ve got at the moment.”

I couldn’t help myself, my eyes fell on several of the cases between he and I. There were just so fucking many. Jesus Christ, how long had he been at this, and just how many people had he killed?

Walter followed my gaze and waved a gnarled hand out at the thousands of display cases. “Aren’t they beautiful?”

Following his hand, I finally took in the scope of the place. It was mind boggling and sickening. The number of people that had died for this man to have such a trophy room was staggering. The only thing I was sure of was the number of souls we’d removed from the earth would’ve made a healthy sized city.

I wasn’t able to keep the bile and anger out of my voice when I spoke. “Very impressive.”

He hobbled back to his seat, making himself comfortable with hardly a care in the world as to me being there. “It’s my turn for you to satisfy my curiosity. How did you find me?”

There wasn’t a point in lying to the man. It wasn’t as if it were going to make a difference in the long run. A chuckle escaped my lips as I realized the absurdity of the clue that led me here. “Believe it or not, it was a random note on the corner of a piece of paper that led me to the place on Congress.”

Walter made a derisive snort, his mood becoming foul. “Obviously my shit for a son didn’t clean up the house like he was supposed to.”

“Family. Whatcha gonna do?” I cut in.

Walter’s face twisted itself into a combination of disapproval and agreement. He growled. “I suppose you dispatched the creature guarding Aaron?” He snickered. “Or what was left of him anyway.”

Jesus, the guy really liked killing people. I maneuvered through the cases to the expansive middle aisle. My voice was flat and I gripped the wakizashi. “I’m afraid so.”

Walter clucked and shifted in his chair. I heard the puff of an oxygen machine as he leaned over and took a deep breath. “You haven’t said much about my offer,” he growled. “You’ve killed several of my employees, and one way or another you’re going to make that right.”

I had to give him credit for being a persistent, crazy bastard. Keeping my hand on the sword, I frowned. “I’ve already got a job.”

Walter snorted. “As one of Andrew’s sniveling servants?” He slammed his cane into the floor with a loud clack. “I offer you a chance to lead, boy! I offer you a place in what’s coming! You have no idea what’s about to happen. You better believe you want to pick the right side of the line to stand on.”

Holding up my right hand, I shook my head. “The job I was referring to was the one you relieved Martha of.”

Walter glared at me at the mention of Martha’s name. “You aren’t worthy to speak her name! Andrew wasn’t worthy of her! How dare you?!”

Deep down inside I was probably a bad person, because I felt an unyielding desire to poke the wound, just because I could. Raising my voice, I said, “And you were? Is that why you settled for the imitation version? Just what did you do to Mary all those years ago to make her lose her mind?”

Walter’s expression turned hard and he wheezed, anger filling him. “You are very well informed.” He shook his head. “She was a means to an end and gave me what I needed.”

“Kids?” I growled. “Kids you gave up? Well, at least the one.” I paused, glaring at the old man. “I’ve met Brad, and believe me I understand why you didn’t want him.” Waving a hand out at the stones, I let my anger flow through my voice. “Which stone belongs to your other son? The one you killed.”

He put his anger in check, and snarled. “What’s your last name? I need to know where to send the flowers.”

And that was confidence for you. Misguided as it may be, he was convinced that I was going to die there.

Allowing the Grim to take over my senses, I felt a calm come over me. “Randall.”

Walter’s eyes went wide and he nearly choked on his own tongue. “I should’ve known that Andrew had fucked around on Martha! The worthless bastard.” He glared at me. “Who’s your mother, boy? I want to know who to kill next.”

Anger threatened to overtake the calm at the thought of this man threatening my parents. Forcing it aside, I said, “You’re about thirty years late for that party.”

Walter’s features went blank at the news, then shock, followed by understanding, washed across him. “He’s your uncle. Wow, I have to admit I didn’t see that coming.” He paused, lost to a memory. “Zach and Jennifer’s kid. I hadn’t realized they even had a child.” He leaned his head from side to side, trying to size me up once more. “It’s obvious you’re not one of the filthy werebeasts, or even worse, a human. Care to clarify your species for me?”

Clucking my tongue, I shook my head. “I told you before that information is going to cost you.”

Walter sneered. “You’re always good for a laugh. It’s a shame that you’re about to die.” A wicked smile crossed his lips and he shook an accusing finger at me. “You are a very interesting man. I’ve consulted those beyond the veil, and I have it on very strong authority that you’ve been very busy.” He nearly crumbled to the floor when pain wracked his body. “Gods have mercy!” He gasped. “You dare judge me after the death you’ve brought to this world?” He cried out and fell out of his chair onto his knees, panting. “You arrogant, hypocritical bastard!”

I’d been constantly moving, making my way closer and closer to Walter. Now that I was midway, a familiar sensation flooded me as a cold power swept over me. The denarius growled out a warning that something was terribly wrong. Thing is, I was past caring.

My voice was hard as I felt the beast inside me begging to be set free. When I spoke next the words came out hard, flat, and in a voice not entirely my own. “I’m aware of my past sins, if that’s what you are referring to.”

Walter tapped the cane on the floor and the shadows all around us took shape. “All these years I thought I was a master of death, but compared to the lives you’ve taken, I’m a rank amateur.” He chuckled. “Of course, the ones I’ve slain can’t harm me.” Arrogance painted itself across his features and he waved a lazy hand in my direction. “A benefit of being one of the chosen, a necromancer.”

The way he said necromancer made my skin crawl. The fact that some asshole could call up the spirits of the dead to make them do his bidding was disgusting. It may have been more impressive if I hadn’t already seen this trick twice before.

Shaking my head slowly at the old man, I sighed. “Walter, I’m going to offer you a one-time opportunity to surrender. If you do so I’ll make sure your death is quick and painless.”

Walter’s snarl was apparent when he got to his feet. “And if I don’t?”

Pulling the wakizashi out, I stood there facing the man. “If you don’t, what happens next is entirely on you. What I will do to you in this place will become legendary, on earth and beyond the veil. In the end you’ll beg me for death.”

Walter’s anger faded, replaced by his own self-importance. He returned to his makeshift throne and shook his head. “You’re as arrogant as your uncle.” He waved a hand and I felt the power move through the room. “When I’m done here I’ll ship back pieces of you for the next hundred years, just to torment the bastard.”

Walter waved his hand again and the specters poured out of the darkness. As if God himself was conducting a symphony, thunder struck and the building rattled. The storm outside raged in rhythm with the swirling mass of souls before me. They closed in on all sides by the hundreds, and they all came seeking their pound of flesh and vengeance upon the man that had taken their lives…me.

I didn’t need to count them to know how many there were, at least in round numbers. If Walter had summoned them all there would be close to 6,600 of them, all wanting nothing more than to finish what I’d started nearly thirty years ago. Stepping into them, I brought the wakizashi down in an angular slash, destroying three of the broken souls.

Their power turned into tendrils of smoke, wrapping themselves around me in the death shroud of the Grim. I felt the power course through me as the tattered robes shot out in every direction, tearing the enslaved souls apart. My view of Walter was obscured by the mass of specters swirling between us.

Sweat stung me as hundreds of claws ripped through my back and chest, but the wounds closed almost as fast as they were opened. The power of so many specters pouring into me was intoxicating.

I wanted to lose myself to the Grim, but I knew instinctually that I couldn’t let that happen. I couldn’t lose control, but it became more and more difficult as they were torn asunder and absorbed. I knew that if I lost myself to the Grim, I’d become far worse than Walter.

With every soul I destroyed rumbles of thunder crashed against the building in rapid succession, creating a crescendo. The violent music flowed through the city, rocking its very foundation. I felt the souls of the living thrumming in the background as their pain echoed the battle all around me.

Slowly but steadily I worked my way through the horde of ever thinning specters, until I broke through the line separating me and Walter. By the look on Walter’s face he hadn’t seen my transformation, and now that he got a good look, he turned an impressive shade of white. Walter gathered himself up to his feet, hefted his cane like a baseball bat, and swung it at my head. He was surprisingly fast, and I barely ducked out of the way.