The Division of the Damned (16 page)

"What the
—
" muttered Muntner to himself, but they were the only words voiced. They felt no fear for they were in friendly territory but the strangeness of the situation was hard to comprehend in one go. They stared open-mouthed and dispassionate at the crouching shadows above them.

After at least a minute, Rasch broke the silence. “It will soon be dawn, Your Excellency. Do you wish to pick a volunteer?”

"Of course.
"
He clicked his fingers and one of shadows jumped down to where they were. He fell slowly from a height of twenty meters and landed like a feather. An audible gasp arose from Von Struck’s
squad and Rasch angrily turned on him. "Didn’t you brief your troops as I ordered you to?”

Von Struck was shaken but he didn’t need to let Rasch know it. He stared at him for a second as if he
were
mad and then, "Of course I didn’t, Rasch. They would have thought I was as touched in the head as you are.”

Meanwhile the squad had collectively unslung their rifles. It was dark and they were suddenly nervous. The wrongness of what they had just seen had struck home and Von Struck knew that if they were left to act on their own they would soon be firing.

"Easy now, men."
H
e turned to them
.
"These are our allies. I know it seems strange but don’t forget that they’re on our side …
" He
went on placating them until one-by-one they pointed their weapons down to the ground. They muttered among themselves, loudly whispering questions and listening to his hushed replies.

The c
ount looked on in obvious amusement.

"Just think, Herr Doctor, if that is the effect my soldiers have on our allies,
imagine
what effect they have on the enemy.”

"Indeed,
Your
Excellency." Rasch could hardly contain his anger and was already writing up his report on what had happened in his head. Nevertheless, he affected
a casual air and turned to the
c
ount’s
volunteer. "Shall we proceed?”

It was dressed in the black parade uniform of the Waffen SS. The tunic was bare except for the SS runes on the collar and a thin armband with 'Vampyr' stitched along its length. Powerfully built and tall, it wore no headdress a
nd it
s
white,
shaven head seemed tiny in comparison to its massive shoulders. Its eyebrows were equally bare. The ears were big and pointed, as was its nose, and it studied them with the cruel intelligent eyes of a cat studying a nest of mice. Its hands were
large and the nails long and
it smiled slowly at Von Struck’s squad so that they
all saw the mouth full of razor-
sharp incisors.
On its belt hung a scabbard, but no sword.

"Someone should tell him the nail-file is for his nails and not his cakehole,” whispered Rohleder to nobody in particular.

Rasch studied it unashamedly, trying to place it on the tree of humanity. "Amazing," he whispered to himself. "Are all your, err, soldiers so formed?" In his eagerness to study the beast he had forgotten his usual obsequious demeanour.

"Yes, Herr Doctor. When they become one of mine, the change is complete and lasting. Only on my death will they revert to their former selves. The metamorphosis is painful but quick. About an hour all told.”

"Fascinating
…”
Rasch trailed off.

"I see that you find them as beautiful as I do, Herr Doctor." It was Maria. She had kept to the back the whole time but now came forward
to where they stood. "The perfect soldier,” she croon
ed while caressing its shoulder.
"A
nd the perfect predator.
Strong, fit, fearless and, above all, loyal.” She turned to Von Struck
.
"Isn’t that the quality the Waffen SS admire most
, Standartenführer?
Loyalty?
”
S
he half-
smiled
.
”Meine Ehre heißt Treue
…”

"That is our motto, yes, but I prefer competence to loyalty. It aids in survival." He smiled coolly but his insides squirmed like a bag of maggots.

"It truly is awe-inspiring. You say that he is one hundred per cent committed?”

Rasch wanted to discuss
the specimen in depth but the c
ount cut him off. "Herr Doctor, sunrise nears and I wish to see t
he fruits of your labours.” The c
ount ushered him on. Rasc
h nodded and they followed the c
ount to a door at the other end of the hall.

As they walked the length of the hall, Von Struck’s squad raised their weapons again. Their steps echoed on the tiled floor and the volume of the echo only served to disturb them even more.

"What the hell is all this?" Henning whispered to Rohleder.

"I don’t know, but right now I’d sooner be in the East facing Ivan than here with our ‘allies
.
’”

"Me too," echoed Muschinski.

"What’s gotten into Markus?" Henning hissed
.
"I don’t like this at all.”

"Me neither. He’s drooling over that bloody woman like a damn rapist. I hope he doesn’t fuck this up for the sake of his dick,” Rohleder lamented.

They muttered their discontent until they came to a set of double doors at
the other end of the hall. The c
ount swung them open and led them into a large courtyard of about three hundred meters square. It was surrounded on all sides by ten meter high walls and had another double door at the opposite end to where they now stood.

"We’ll conduct the tes
t here, Herr Doctor,” said the c
ount. "I’ll wait inside for the results which I’m sure will be positive." He was straight-faced and businesslike.
"Report to me when it’s finished.”

"Of course, Your Excellency," and then to Von Struck, "Standartenführer, would you form the men up somewhere out of the way?”

They moved off in a rabble to the wall on the left, flapping their arms and stamping their feet against the pre-dawn chill. Von Struck wanted to go with them but he knew that Rasch would see it as a sign of weakness, so he stayed where he was.

Rasch opened up his modest doctor’s case and set about preparing the syringe. Von Struck stared at the vampire who seemed oblivious of the men. It was staring straight ahead at the halo of red that hung above the wall, the soft glow on the clouds signifying the coming of the
new dawn and possibly his death.

Rasch injected him and stood back. "No need to worry. All will be over soon." He smiled at the vampire. "Nothing will happen. Just stand there, there’s a good fellow.”

He sounded almost kindly and Von Struck was shocked at the compassionate tone from the normally sterile doctor.

Rasch noticed his expression and quietly explained. "As I conducted my experiments in the camps, I found the test subjects easier to deal with if I affected a soothing tone of voice. Inane platitudes breed hope in even the most tragic of the lost, Markus."

Von Struck nodded as if that explained everything and turned away from Rasch in loathing
to observe
the creature. It was agitated and although it stood stock-still and silent, they could both make out the turmoil of fear in its eyes. Slowly, as unhurried as the blooming of a flower, the sun’s rays crept ever outwards. The vampire now looked around as if searching for some form of cover, but the snow-decked courtyard had only the shadows of the walls for protection. And yet, despite its’ growing panic, it didn’t move from its place. Rasch examined it as its fear
of the sun and its fear of the c
ount inwardly fought
for control. "Fascinating,
" he muttered.

Von Struck turned in disgust.

"Don’t you want to watch, Herr Standartenführer?" The lilt of mockery in Rasch’s voice almost turned him but he carried on walking towards where the men now lined the wall.

"What’s happening, Boss?" It was Henning who put voice to their expectant faces.

"An abomination, that’s what’s happening. Rasch h
as made a serum to protect the c
ount’s vampires from the sun’s rays. This is his first test. This is why we’re here, to watch that sick bastard do his experiments."

No
one said
a word. They had all seen the c
ount’s soldiers. They knew with what the
y were dealing but until now no
one had used the word ‘Vampire’ to describe what they were seeing.

"Holy Mother of God," whispered Muntner.

"The Undead,” echoed Grand.

Henn
ing shook his head in amazement.
"Soldiers of the night
—
”

"Exactly.
Soldiers of the night," Von Struck confirmed for them.

"What if it doesn’t work?" asked Muschinski. "What then?”

"We’ll soon find out, Muschi," Rohleder answered him. "The sun’s up.”

He was right. The shadows behind the wall were slowly draining away as the sun’s rays solidly advanced on the test subject. Though still decked in shadow, it radiated terror like a lighthouse beacon, and despite the fact that it was a vampire, the squad now found a waxing pity for it. Rooted to the spot, it pathetically held up its arms to protect
itself from the dazzle.

Reflected off the snow, the light was blinding, and like a cleansing sword it swathed its brilliant curtain into the square. With almost a glint it struck the vampire’s head and moved down its face and tunic. They all held their breath as the night was beaten back. No one knew what would happen. Finally, it was completely bathed in the brilliant dawn of the winter daybreak. They still held their breath as it slowly let its arms drop and turned to look at them.

Any compassion that they may have felt for it now fell like a cannonball as it turned and, like a gloating python, smiled at them. All inwardly shied away in horror from that reptilian sneer. It looked around to find Rasch and deliberately nodded its head to him.

Von Struck looked on as it opened its arms to greet the now fully-formed sun.

"My God, what have you done, Rasch?” Von Struck whispered to himself.

Rasch was ecstatic. "Look, Von Struck. Look at
him. I’ve done it, I’ve done
—
" But his words fell dead in his throat. Von Struck looked at Rasch who had suddenly stopped raving. Rasch’s face had dropped and he stood ther
e gaping, half-pointing at the c
ount’s man.

The tunic of the vampire was smouldering, but from the inside. The vampire stood motionless, looking at its hands that were turning black and starting to peel. Blisters appeared on its face and it threw back its head to scream. Rasch flinched at the unholy shriek that was let loose. It was the scream of rage and agony, of panic and confusion. Rasch turned white and sprayed vomit onto his highly polished boots. The men lined up against the wall stood numb and silent at the sight of the immolation. Although they were used to death in all its many forms, they were still traumatised by what had happened.

Its once white head was now burnt black and then it burst into flame. It made no sound or movement after the first scream and stood immo
bile and burning like a Celtic w
icker
man. Its eyes burst with an audible pop and slowly it started to crumble and break up. The legs snapped first and, as it hit the ground, the charred and still flaming head came off. The light given off from the fire was now so intense that it was impossible to discern what was burning.

Rasch chanted to himself, "Oh my God, oh my God," over and over again.

The fire now raged around the body and the heat forced Rasch to take a step back. It took about ten minutes to burn out, and in those ten minutes only Rasch made a sound.

Finally, it was
over. All that was left of the c
ount’s soldier was a carpet of ash. Rasch, wild eyed and hysterical, looked to Von Struck
.
"What do we do now?”

Von Struck had no answer. He shrugged and turned to the men. "Put a round in the chamber. It could get uncomfortable now.”

Rifles were unslung and cocked.

"Rasch, I think
you’d better go tell the c
ount.”

The doctor stiffened with indignation and, resigned to the facts, dropped his shoulders and nodded." Yes, you’re right. Will
you
…
”
he hesitated to ask but forged on, "will you accompany me, please, Markus?”

There was a pause as Von Struck looked at the doctor and then to the charcoal patch in the snow. He nodded and said, "Of course, Herr Doctor, that’s why we’re here
." A
nd then to the men, "Let’s go.”

Surrounded by his bodyguard, Rasch went forward and timidly knocked. The door opened and once again they entered the darkened lair.