Full Moon Rising - 02 (17 page)

“Okay, but when you say, ‘as far as our bodies are co
ncerned’…what’s the difference?” Jack asked.

“The difference being…you weren’t actually born with it.” Evan quipped.

Jack sighed.  “Look, doc, I need to know.”

“What difference does it make?” He asked.

“It just does.” Jack replied, staring the vampire down.  Apparently, being dead meant really not giving a flying fuck.  “It’s important doc.”

“I don’t guess I understand what it is you’re wanting to know?”

“What is the difference between me and a natural born werewolf?” Jack asked.

“Honestly?  The only difference is that you didn’t come out of a werewolf’s womb…”

“That’s it?”  Jack asked.  “That’s the only difference?”

“Yes!  Why?”  Evan asked.

Jack rubbed his chin in thought.  “You and I need to talk.  But now’s not the time.”

“Very well.  Perhaps later?” Evan asked.  Jack simply no
dded.

Mitchell stood again and went to the front of the room, “I have to admit, you boys are taking this a lot better than I had hoped.”

“So Colonel, did you undergo this ‘augmentation’, too?” Dom asked.  “I mean, you used to be an operator like us, right?  You were the Team Leader back in the day, but you’re still kicking.” He had a shit eating grin across his face.

Matt’s face dropped.  “Actually, no I didn’t.”  His face was solemn.  “I’m the reason our government even became aware of monsters in the first place.”  Matt stood taller and squared his shoulders.  “I was attacked and bitten by a werewolf while on vacation with my family about ten years ago.  I survived and
became
a werewolf.”  He noted their shock as soon as he stated it.  “My family…didn’t.”

There were mumbled apologies and condolences given that he barely heard as he tried to force his mind not to remember that night.  Instead, his mind focused on the blonde haired girl who shifted in front of him, whose face he saw in his dreams so many nights…the face that his wolf cries out for when it takes him.

“Okay, so you take this same antidote we do?” Spalding asked.

“Negative.”  Matt’s eyes were filled with sadness as he a
dmitted this next part.  “It’s too late for me, son.  No, once you actually shift and become a werewolf, then it’s too late.  You can take that stuff all you want and it won’t do any good.”

“I don’t understand, sir.” Apollo started.  “What do you do then?  Did you find a cure?”

Matt sighed heavily.  “I go below to the silver cells every full moon and shift there.  That’s why, if you think back, none of you ever had me as an Operations Officer for a full moon op.”  He watched as the veteran operators all looked at each other and the light clicked on for them.  There was a short murmur amongst the men before Matt continued.  “Yes, the XO knew and she vowed silence.  She and a handful of other officers filled in as Operations Officers for multiple ops when needed, and I can’t tell you how sorry I am that I couldn’t be there for you during those times.  But I did what I had to do.”

“Couldn’t you do the augmentation thing and just sort of…I dunno, do like a ‘master reset’ and
then
start taking the antidote?” Sanchez asked.

Matt gave her a smile.  “Trust me Maria.  If there was an
ything I could do, I would have done it already.  Or we would have tried it.”

“There is a weapon I’m working on that will be able to d
estroy
all
natural born vampires and…” Evan began

“Later, doc.”  Matt cut him off with his hand.   “This isn’t the place or time.  Matt made a quick decision to let the squads deal with everything on their own from there and dismissed them.  He ordered Laura to get the IT geeks in to fix the mon
itoring equipment and had Jack follow him to his office.  Once behind closed doors he poured a Scotch for the both of them.

He sat back in his chair and sipped the slow burning amber liquid.  “A little early in the morning, don’t ya think, Skipper?”

“I’m testing a theory.” He said with a smile.

“And that is…what?”

“Oh, that burns good.” He smiled warmly.  “Do you have
any
idea how long it has been since a Scotch has burned like that?”  Jack shook his head.  “Too damned long.”  He gave a loud ‘ahh’ and set the glass down on his desk.  “I’m telling you, if Tasha weren’t married, I’d kiss that damned woman.”

“I don’t think she’d mind, Skipper.” Jack mumbled.

“Okay.  On to business.”  Matt said, staring at Jack.  “You have a vampire you want me to have a sit-down with.”

“Yes, sir.  The sooner, the better.”

“Remind me what this meeting is about, please.”

“There are two groups of vamps, Colonel.  In a nutshell, one group feeds on humans and they’re the bad guys.  The other group feeds on critters like sheep and cows and they’re the good guys.  The bad guys are setting up the good guys to
look like
they’re the bad guys and making it so that
we
go after them and we end up killing them by mistake.  He wants to correct that.”

Matt stared intently at Jack, nodding his head.  Finally he sat back and sighed.  “Phoenix, you are one of the brightest, most intelligent men I’ve ever known.”  He picked up his Scotch again and took another pull, enjoying the flavor as it swirled in his mouth.  “I just wanted to preface what I’m about to say with that, okay?”

“Okay.  But I have a feeling you’re about to toss out a great big ‘but’, aren’t you?”

Matt smiled.  “
But
, have you considered for a moment that this vampire friend of yours is playing you?”

Jack nodded.  He knew where Mitchell was going with this.

“Jack, I’m not saying you’re wrong.  I’m not.  But let’s consider for just a moment, that what this vampire friend of yours is saying is true…”

“Rufus.”  Jack interrupted.  “His name is Rufus.  And he saved my life, Skipper.” Jack’s eyes were intense.

“Very well.”  Matt sighed.  “Let’s consider that
Rufus
is telling the truth about the bad guy vampires setting up the good guy vampires…if there really is such a thing.”  Matt offered.  “Who’s to say the whole thing isn’t just a way to pull us into some kind of blood-sucker pissing match?  Some kind of vampire turf-war?”

“Skip, just meet with him.  That’s all he’s asking.  A sit-down meeting.”  Jack pleaded.  “I think saving my ass is worth that, isn’t it?”

“Chief, I think the world of you, you know that…”

“What about Natashia?  If it hadn’t been for her, where would
you
be right now?” Jack interrupted.  “She is one of Rufus’ people.  You trust
her
don’t you?”  That comment obviously hit Matt square in the chest and he hadn’t seen it coming.

“That’s not the same.  She’s not a vampire, Jack.  She’s one of us.” He said.

“One of us?”  Jack asked, his brows raised.  “Since when do we identify ourselves with
any
of the ‘monsters’?” He used air-finger quotes when he said it.

“You know what I’m getting at.  We’re not blood suckers, Chief…”

“And he wouldn’t be if he didn’t have to be, Skipper.”  Jack explained.  “Look, Skip, human life to Rufus is sacred.  He fights to defend it, just like we do.  They are at
war
with those who don’t, just like we are.  He could be an ally.  A very powerful ally.”

Matt sat back and gave Jack a thoughtful look.  He spun back and forth in his chair as he thought about it. 

“It’s not a marriage, Skipper, just a meeting.” Jack joked.  “If we can reach some kind of accord, then great.  If not, then…at least you
tried
!”  Matt began to nod his head, but then sat up. 

“How do we know it’s not some kind of set up?  Get to the head of the Monster Squad and cut it off?” he asked.

Jack gave him a sideways smirk.  “Seriously?  This is the United States government we’re talking about.  I mean, I like you and all, but do you really think you’re irreplaceable?”

Matt sat back with a hurt look on his face.  Then he cracked a stupid grin.  “I guess I’m not exactly the president, am I?”

“Hell, we replace them every four years or so, don’t we?” Jack added.

Matt reached for his Scotch again.  “And that’s taking too long in most cases.”

“Oh hell yeah.  I’ll drink to that!”  Jack grabbed his glass and tossed it back.

15

The dark vampire that they called Sicarii lurked in the wavering shadows of the cathedral as the last vestiges of daylight slipped behind the hills of the city.  He still loved the colors of the sun as they played along the frescos of the wall and his heart longed to slip out and bathe in the warming rays.  His broken mind knew better though and he waited for twilight to dwindle and the last crescent of the sun to slip behind the horizon before he slipped out to watch the colors splash and splay up into the heavens.

He was standing in the open second story window observing the colors fade away as he always did when one of his enforcers entered the cathedral below him.  “Master, we are receiving the first recordings of the hunters now.”

The dark vampire gave a slight sigh, his twilight routine interrupted.  “Which ones have we received?”

“We have the Americans, the Brazilians, the English and the Africans, master.  We are still waiting for the Russians.”

“What of the French?” Sicarri asked, a wave of irritation coming from him.

“Apologies, master.  They could not be tested as they have not reformed their team yet.  They had only one team and when we killed them, they had nothing to fall back on.  They are still in training, master.” The heavily muscled enforcer bowed his head, his eyes lowered.

The Sicarri nodded, a slight smile tried to form at his mouth, but he didn’t allow it.  “Ah, yes.  The French.” He whispered.  “It seems that of late, they don’t have the fighting spirit they once had.” He turned his gaze back out the window to his city.  He often wondered why he called it
his
city when he never ventured out into it, but he knew why…Rome was his.  He didn’t need to set foot in it to claim it.

“Wait until all of the footage is in.  Make copies and have it sent to all of my generals.  I’ll study it once it’s together.”

“Yes, master.” And the enforcer left.

The Sicarii studied the skyline and pondered the many po
ssibilities.  His generals would easily be maneuvered into positions across the globe.  The human hunters would be fed the information they needed to lead into an ambush.  Once the hunters were taken out of the picture, the rest of the human military would be easily displaced as their governmental leaders were either killed or turned.  His generals would be put in positions of power directly at the right hand of presidents and kings, all of whom would bow to HIM.  Then he would have himself crowned King of the World and the populations of the world would become the very lifeblood for the rightful heirs to the world…vampires.

Warehouses and stock pens of people, breeding farms of o
nly the hardiest stock…farmers and ranchers would hone their art with their own kind.  He smiled as he imagined his new world coming to fruition.

Very soon the world would be bathed in blood.

Very soon indeed.

*****

Jack and Nadia went through his sparse belongings and packed up what little he owned.  He hadn’t realized just how lightly he lived until now.  He literally could pack his life away in his duffle bag and somehow that saddened him.  He felt that at his age, he should have something more than a body full of scars and a handful of souvenirs to show for it.  He looked around the small room that he shared with the other team leaders.  Nadia felt his pain, but she looked forward to having him stay at the island with her.  “I’m going to leave my uniforms here until I’m through with the teams.” He said.  “But this stuff can go ahead and go home.” He smiled at her.

She touched his face and he felt tingly inside.  His stomach had butterflies.  Newlywed flutters that he hoped never went away.  Her beauty captivated him in ways that he couldn’t put into words.  “Jack, you don’t have to do this yet.  Just because mother and I are returning now…”

“No.”  He interrupted. “I told you.  Where you go, I go.  You are my home.” He kissed her, softly at first, then pulling her tightly to him, the kiss deepened.  “I’m so sorry I left the way I did.”

She buried her head into his chest, inhaling his scent.  “You did what you felt you must.”  She whispered.  “I’m sorry I ca
nnot be a part of your world.”

“It’s okay.” He told her, squeezing her lightly. “I’m going to be a part of yours.” He sighed then lifted her chin to look into her eyes.  “I stopped taking the bane.”

Her shock was palpable.  “Non!  Jack you mustn’t!”

“It’s okay, Nadia.  It’s not like we thought.” He explained.  “Evan told me something that we weren’t aware of.”

“But Jack, you don’t understand…”

“Nadia, I’m like you.” He said, “I’m just like a natural born wolf.  It wasn’t like I was bitten.  It was genetic engineering.” He smiled at her.  “I’ll be able to shift at will like you do, and if you can shift before the moon makes you and keep control of your wolf, then…”

“Non!  Jack!  You still don’t understand!”  She cried.  “If you do this…”

“What?”  His face a mask of confusion.  “I don’t unde
rstand.”

“Not yet, Jack.  Please.”  She begged him.  “Keep taking the medicine they give you.  At least until the final battle is over.”

“Why, Nadia?  I don’t understand.”

She turned away from him, tears threatening her eyes.  “B
ecause the final battle takes place at a full moon.  Perhaps the next full moon, I do not know for sure.  But if you do not keep taking the bane and you are wrong, and you cannot shift at will as you hope, then you will be the beast… and your own men will be forced to put you down to save themselves in the heat of battle.” She cried.

Jack swallowed the lump that had formed in the back of his throat and nodded.  “Okay.  I can do that.  For you, I’ll keep ta
king it.”  He felt her nod under his chin and he held her tightly.  “But the moment the battle is over, and I’m home with you, no more bane.  Agreed?”

“Oui.  No more bane.” She sniffled.

“And if I’m wrong and I can’t shift at will like I think, and I’m stuck shifting once a month at the full moon, then…well, hell.  Just lock me up in one of your cages in the dungeon and you can poke me with a stick while I growl and drool all over myself, okay?” he teased.

She chuckled under his chin.  “Oui.  A sharp, pointy stick.”

He laughed.  “Oui.  A sharp, pointy stick.” He repeated.

“With many barbs.” She added with her lower lip stuck out, and poked him in the ribs to make him jump.

“If you say so, my love.”

“I do.” She laughed.

*****

Hank returned to base with a few surprise packages in tow.  As some of the squad members took a nap to recharge their ba
tteries, he had a pang of remorse for Mueller and the fact that he felt he could never try to rebuild his marriage with his estranged wife.  Hank went off-base and stopped at a bookstore off I-240 and hit the self-help section.  He picked through the section and found some things that he thought might assist the young soldier with accepting the loss of his marriage, and dealing with the grief. 

On his way back, he made two more stops, these dealing d
irectly with Sanchez, a wicked smile spread across his face as he entered the hangar.  His first stop was to find Robert, who was still curled up in his bunk.  Hank didn’t want to disturb him, so he let the man sleep.  He did pull a note card and jot a few lines on it, then left it atop the books beside his bunk for him.  If the man ever wanted to talk confidentially, Hank was available.  Then the Padre went in search of Maria.  He found her in the common room.  She had plopped onto the couch and she had just flipped on the TV.  She was channel surfing when Hank walked in.  “Gotcha something when I ran into town.” He said.

“Oh, yeah?  What’s that?” she asked, not really looking up.

“Cop food.” He said, with a smile.

“Cop food?” she asked, a slow grin spreading across her race then she noticed the box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts and the Starbucks coffee in his hand.  “Oh my god…that smells like
real
coffee…not that crap they have in the cafeteria.” She gasped.

“Caramel breve latte, with an extra shot.” He beamed.

The other squad members took note and started filing in to the break room with mutterings of, ‘do I smell real coffee?’ and ‘are those real doughnuts’ and ‘oh my god, Krispy Kremes!’

Maria jumped up from the couch and grabbed the box from Hank.  “Oh, no you don’t you vultures! Vamanos!”  She swung the fried fat pills away from the other operators and used her back as a blocker.  “These are mine!  They were a present!”

“They’ll make you FAT!” TD yelled playfully, as he tried to reach around her.

“You mean fat-TER!” Dom teased.  “Gimme those before your butt gets any wider!” he laughed.

“NO!” She said. “They’re cop-food.  Hank even said so.  You ain’t cops, you can’t have any!” she squealed, climbing over the couch and using it to try to block them.

“You ain’t a cop no more either!” Popo said.  “You’re a monster hunter, like us, bro, so pony up with the cream-filled.”

“I ain’t your bro,
puto
, so back off my doughnuts.”  She said, pointing her finger at him.  She turned to Dom, “And my ass ain’t fat, fucker!”

“Hey!  You told the big bird to treat you like one of the guys, ese.” Popo teased.

“And for the record, I meant it like P-H-A-T.” Dom smiled.  “You know, pretty hot and tempting!”

“Oh, no you didn’t.” she said.  Hank stood back and watched the grown men act like three year olds and simply shook his head.

“You know, there is a
dozen
in that box.” He said.

Sanchez turned to him, “So?” He laughed and shook his head.  “It’s COP FOOD.  You ain’t cops.  Shoo!”

“Aww, come on, Sanchez.  You can share…” TD whined.

Maria shook in frustration.  “Arrgh.  Okay!  One!  Just one!  And don’t you tell nobody cuz there’s like twenty of us and then I wouldn’t get any.”  She started to open the box then closed it quickly.  “And seriously, if there’s raspberry jelly filled in there and any of you even
think
of touching it, I’ll stick you, man.  I’ll seriously stick you.  Believe it.  I got a knife and I know how to use it…” she did her best to give them all the evil eye until they agreed.  “And I ain’t sharing the good coffee, either.”

The operators grinned, each grabbing a quick doughnut and scampering away, happy they got a prize.  Sanchez plopped back onto the couch propping her feet on the table in front of her and placing the box in her lap.  She began picking at the remains of the box and realized that they had taken all the chocolate and cream filled doughnuts.  She sighed and stuck her finger into the hole of a jelly doughnut, prying out the red goo.  “Heaven” she murmured as she stuck her finger into her mouth.

“Glad you like them.” Hank smiled.

Maria looked up at him and returned the grin.  “You should really smile more often, Hank.  It makes your eyes light up.” She told him.

Hank stiffened slightly, his smile fading, but still hanging at the edges of his mouth.  She patted the couch next to her.  “Join me.  I think there’s enough left for two.”

Hank glanced around the common room and noticed they were the only two left, and nodded.  He took a seat next to her, but stayed close to the edge of the couch as if ready to make a quick getaway.

“You can relax, Padre.  I don’t bite!” she laughed.  Then holding up a doughnut, she added, “Unless you’re made of sugar dough!”  Hank smiled and took the offered pastry.

“Thanks.”  He didn’t immediately take a bite though. 

“You brung em.  Thank
you
.” She said, taking a bite out of the jelly hole.  “Mmm.  Oh yeah.  Now that’s good stuff.”  She took a hit from the cup of coffee and savored the flavor.  “Oh yeah.”  She closed her eyes and swallowed slowly.  “I’m telling you, Padre, if there’s not coffee in heaven, I’m not sure I want to go.” She smiled.

Hank smiled back.  “For me, it would be a good steak and banana pudding.” He said softly.

Maria sat up a little straighter.  “Oh yeah?  Banana pudding?  I wouldn’t have thought that.”

“My grandmother used to make it when I was little.” He said softly.  “Most kids, it was cookies baking that remind them of home, but for me, it was my gram’s ‘nanner pudding’. 
That
would be heaven for me.” She saw his eyes glisten slightly.

“You were awful stand-offish for a long time when we first got here, Padre, but you’re really starting to open up.” She o
bserved giving him a light elbow.  “I’m liking it.”

Hank turned to face her, his face unreadable.  At first Maria thought she had said something she shouldn’t, but he slowly nodded.  “For the longest time, I distanced myself from ever
ybody.” He nodded toward the door where the other squad members had left. “Even my team mates.” 

Sanchez wondered if Hank was haunted by more than the vampire attack she knew of that had taken his village?  “What happened to you?”

“Apollo told you about my village, right?  The people who were killed?  The…the kids who were…”