Full Moon Rising - 02 (30 page)

“Can you point a gun and pull the trigger?” he asked, unable to hide his frustration.

“Hell yeah, I can!” Jake answered.  Dom handed him the a
ssault rifle and ran around the back of the van and got in behind the wheel.  As soon as he got in and put the key in the ignition, Jake pressed the barrel of the gun to Dom’s neck.  “I think this is far enough.”

“What the fuck are you doing, kid?  We’re
this
close to being out of here!” he yelled.  Dom glanced through the windshield and saw about forty others strolling through the archway now, weapons leveled on him.  His eyes shifted toward Jake who reached up and pulled the fake beard off his face.

“We wanted to see just how good you were, even injured.” He said, his voice sounding much more self confident and a
ssured.  “You didn’t disappoint.”  Jake pressed the barrel against Dom’s neck.  “Out!  Slowly, and hands where we can see them at all times.  The Sicarii would like a word with you.”

Dom closed his eyes and wished this were all a bad dream.

*****

Jack had taken Tufo through all of the squad’s drills and was surprised at how quickly the Gunnery Sergeant had picked up everything.  It was as if he had a photographic memory, and when they turned to the live fire exercises, it didn’t matter what firearm Jack put in Mark’s hand, it became a natural extension of his body.  Whatever Tufo wanted to hit, he hit.  Jack watched the man go through the drills and swore that half the time, he didn’t even aim the gun, he simply
willed
the bullet to go where he wanted it to.

Neither man knew it at the time, but while they drilled, First Squad and Third Squad observed them both from the railing near Colonel Mitchell’s office.  “Anybody actually know who this guy is?” Lamb asked.

Donovan leaned over and whispered, “Captain Gregory said that he’s one of the field guys.  Used to be a hunter back in the day with Mitchell.”

Spalding watched with a cautious eye.  “He looks a bit…old to be coming back in the game, don’t you think?”

“Age ain’t nothing but a number.” TD said with a grin.  “Look at the Colonel.  He’s still got fight in him.”

“Colonel’s a wolf though.  He won’t age.”  Spalding added flatly.  “This guy?” he pointed to Tufo, “He’s a hundred percent human.  You can smell it on him.  He sweats too much.  It takes too much out of him.  He gets winded too easily.” Spalding didn’t like the idea of Tufo being there with the Monster Squads.  “He obviously isn’t augmented like the rest of us.”

The Padre had stood silently observing the two below.  “I don’t care.  He has skills.”  He looked at his team leader stoically.  “We’re going to need everybody we can get our hands on that has skills.  I can assure you of that.”

Spanky tried to stare him down.  “Really?  Would you want him to cover
your
back, Hank?”

The Padre turned again and gave the two another once over.  When he turned back and addressed Spalding, he actually had a smile on his face.  “Absolutely.”

Spalding grunted his disapproval.  “Well, it’s a good thing he’s on Phoenix’s team and not ours.”

Down below where Jack and Tufo went through the drills again, Tufo finally stopped Jack.  “Chief.  I got it.  You only have to show me once.”

“I need to know that you have these down, Gunnie.” Jack replied.

“Look, Jack, no disrespect to your younger generation, but I’m not ADD.  I can remember shit the first time you show me.” He stated.  “Let’s move on.”

“Really?”  Jack answered unbelievingly.  “Fine.”  He glanced up and saw his team standing at the rail and motioned them down.  “Gear up for entry drills.”  He turned to Tufo.  “You have point.”

Tufo smiled at him.  “Gladly.”

As the team was about to gear up, Mitchell stepped to the railing and yelled out to Jack, “We have company.  Get topside.”  Jack cracked a smile because he knew that it would be Nadia.  He really didn’t care about the rest of the visitors.  Nadia was his world and the short time they were apart had seemed a lifetime.

“Roger that, Skipper.”  Jack turned to go when Tufo grabbed him. 

“Hey, what about this all-important training?” he asked.

“Later.  This is more important.”  Jack took off and headed for the elevators.  He caught up with Mitchell just as he was boarding.  “Are they here already?”

“About to land.  I sent the Pave Hawk to pick them up at the airport.  I’m guessing Thorn has a private jet?”

“News to me.” Jack said, somewhat impressed. 

“Well, he said we need to discuss a few things before his ‘second’ has to leave for Vatican City.”

“Vatican City?” Jack was puzzled.  “Any idea what that’s about?”

“I’m hoping they’ll explain.” Matt said as the doors opened and they made their way across the hangar.  “You know, with all the activity we’ve had around this part of the base lately, we’re going to have to come up with a better cover story.”

“Screw ‘em.  Nobody knows what any of these buildings are actually for anyway.” Jack quipped.  “As long as most of these guys can find the PX, the enlisted club and the Burger King, they’re happy.”

The chopping sound of the helicopter’s blades slicing through the air could be heard as it made its approach.  The HH-60 Pave Hawk swooped low and hovered above the landing pad just outside the hangar before settling in and shutting down.  As the engines whined down and the rotors slowed their spin, the side door slid open and Nadia shot out, running for Jack’s open arms.  Mitchell couldn’t help but crack a smile as he watched the two embrace as though it had been months since they last saw each other rather than only a couple of days.  He next watched Tasha step from the helicopter and the wind from the rotors lifted her skirt somewhat showing off her shapely thighs.  Matt felt a familiar tightening in his loins and tried to ignore it.  He didn’t know what it was about the woman, but she had an effect on him that he refused to admit.  He saw Viktor step out and he gritted his teeth.  Tasha’s husband was a large man who cast an imposing presence wherever he went.  Following him was Rufus Thorn, the vampire who would lead a vampire army against the evil vampires who wanted to destroy the world.

As these thoughts ran through Matt’s mind, he chuckled at the irony of it all.  Vampires and werewolves fighting alongside each other to bring down a common menace to save mankind.  A mankind that didn’t know that the others even existed, and if they ever found out, would cry out for their immediate and pe
rmanent erasure. 

“What a world we live in.” he muttered.

Rufus approached the Colonel and extended his hand, “Colonel, good to see you again.” 

Matt grasped his cold hand and shook it.  “Good to see you again, Mr. Thorn.  I hope you had a safe flight?”

“Of course.” Rufus said, gesturing to go inside.  As they turned to enter, he paused at the doorway waiting for an invitation.

Matt paused and then turned back to look at him.  Rufus simply raised his eyebrows.  “Oh!  Um, please, do come in.  You are welcome here.” He said.

“Merci beaucoup.” Rufus replied. 

“I wasn’t aware that vampires couldn’t enter without an i
nvitation.  I thought that was another wives tale.” Matt said.

“Oh, it is a wives tale.”  Thorn replied.  “But it is also bad manners to enter someone else’s home without a formal invit
ation.” He smiled.  Matt paused and studied Thorn for a moment then slowly a smile formed. 

“You played me, didn’t you?”

“A joke, oui?  Only to lighten the mood before we speak of much more grave matters, I assure you.”

“Speaking of which, I think we may have come up with a couple of strategies that may be workable.  I’ll have to pull a lot of strings with some powerful people in Washington to make it happen, but the results should be quite effective.”

“I look forward to hearing these plans.” Rufus said.  “Is there anything I can do to expedite matters?”

“We’ll need to compare notes and figure that out.” Matt said as he lead Rufus and his party to the elevators.  “We have a few logistical problems that we just aren’t sure about.  But the main thing is that we are trying to bait this Scabary…Scarbad…”

“Sicarii.” Thorn corrected.

“Sicarii.  Yeah, we need to bait him and his people to one centralized location in order to set off a trap.”

“I assumed as much.”  Thorn stated.  “To try to combat him across many different battlefields would not be wise.”

“I agree.  Plus we have a weapon that we think will be quite effective.” Matt informed Thorn.

“Yes?  What could this weapon be?”  Thorn asked, truly curious.

Matt smiled at him.  “We’re going to turn night into day.”

*****

Damien held the cold lifeless body of his angelic faced bride-to-be.  Panic was rising in him as he pulled her closer to him.  He patted her face, willing her to suck in her first breath as the undead, to open her eyes and gaze upon him with undying affection for giving her life everlasting.  He pulled her to his face and what was left of the withered muscle he called a heart sha
ttered as a sob escaped him.  It was hours after sunset and she had yet to rise.

He ran through everything in his mind, replaying it over and over again, and he knew…he
knew
he had done it correctly.  He had almost drained her, then he sliced his own wrists and poured his own blood into her mouth and he watched her swallow it!  She should RISE now and be his!

He didn’t know what was wrong, but he lifted her into his arms and felt her body was stiff with rigor.  He could smell the rot from within and could see her abdomen swelling with gases and tears began to burn at his eyes.  He held her close to him and staggered from his meager quarters towards Foster’s chambers. 

“Master!” he cried out, not caring who else heard him, or who might judge him or who might say what behind his back anymore.  He needed to know how to fix this.  The panic was eating at him and for the first time since being a vampire, he didn’t feel that he had any options.  “Master, help me!”

The guards outside Foster’s chamber saw Damien carrying the corpse towards Foster’s private chambers and closed their ranks to block the door, but Foster had heard the cries, could feel the pain and passion in Damien’s plea and opened his door to see what the emotional plea was for.  He was not prepared for what his eyes showed him.  Damien carrying a body that was stiff with rigor, his eyes red with unshed tears, panic in his terror stricken voice as he staggered across the concrete floor towards him.

Paul pushed through the guards and approached him, Damien could barely see his lord and master through the tears in his eyes, sobs stuck in his throat.  “What is wrong, child?  What have you done?” Foster asked, knowing exactly what happened, but needing Damien to tell him in his own words.

“She won’t wake up, master.  Please, make her wake up.” He cried.  He bent low and lay her gently on the ground at Fo
ster’s feet.

“What did you do, Damien?” Foster asked, placing a hand on Damien’s head.

“I tried to turn her.  I needed her to be mine.  She was going to be with me forever.” He whispered softly as he stroked her hair and tucked a stray strand behind an ear.

“My poor child.” Foster soothed.  “You cannot turn a h
uman yet.” Foster informed him.  Damien turned his reddened eyes toward him, not understanding.  “You are not old enough.  Not strong enough to turn another.”

“I don’t understand, master.” Damien croaked.

“Your blood is not strong enough to turn another.” Foster tried to explain.  “
You
simply aren’t strong enough yet.”  Foster tried to sooth the hurt in Damien, but he was shaking his head in denial.  “You are still far too young.”

“How can that be?  Your blood runs through my veins, ma
ster.  I am of you.” He whimpered.  Damien turned his eyes back to the body on the floor.  “Can you fix it for me?”  He begged, reaching out and grabbing Foster’s hand.  “Please master?  I promised her life everlasting.   With me…with ME!” he sobbed.  “Please…she’s my angel.  I need her to be with me.”

Foster pulled Damien to him.  “I fear it is too late my child.  She is too far gone.”

Damien shuddered under Paul’s embrace and sucked in a great amount of air then blubbered out in a huge sob.  “I fear that the best you could hope for would be a mindless zombie, and even then, she would rot and fall apart quickly.” Foster stated.  “Perhaps if you had come to me first…”

“Why didn’t you tell me?!” he screamed and tried to pu
mmel Foster about the chest with his fists.  At first Foster let him vent his frustrations but after a few blows, his bodyguards grasped Damien by the wrists and hauled him back. 

“Put him in the silver lined trailer.” Paul said softly.  “I fear his mind is damaged by this perceived…’loss’.” He said di
smissively.  The guards began to haul Damien away, but he screamed for his beloved.  “Wait!” Paul shouted above Damien’s shrieks of protest.  “Throw the corpse in with him.  Maybe it will bring him a little peace to be with it for a short time.  At least until he comes back to reality.”  One of the guards took Damien by the wrists while the other grabbed the Mexican girl by the ankle and dragged her unceremoniously to the silver lined trailer that Foster used as a jail or for punishment.  Both were tossed in and the doors sealed.