The Tale of the Blood Diamond (27 page)

“Jatorn…”

“Xzion…”

“Speak.” Xzion glared at Sahee as he waited for his nemesis to begin.

“I am certain you are relishing in the fact that your people are destroying mine at an exponential rate. However, you do realize that we will gain the upper hand once more of us descend upon that planet and bring others with us. We outnumber you, we won’t cease, and we now have five alliances.”

“You know damn well that’s not true.” Xzion laughed and shot a look over at the half standing corpse before him. “You won’t win this. Your plan is to wear us down, drag it out. In regards to the alliance, I have no idea if that is true or not either, nor do I care.”

“Oh, you do.” Jatorn laughed. “You see, you have a soft spot for Earthlings, and now…I know
why
.”

The pregnant pause gave birth and left a little boy in her wake…named Zachary.

Xzion glanced upward; the stars twinkled against the snowy backdrop of the velvety darkness, covering a pre-Christmas scene of death.

“Unfortunately, the creation has left Earth prior to my knowledge. However, once he arrives in our hemisphere, I would like to have him. What wonders! A half Earthling and Zarkstormian child, amazing! In exchange for your child, Xzion, I will call off the war. You and your human concubine can stay safe.”

Xzion sniffed and looked back over at Sahee who was growing paler by the minute as he lost more and more blood, the silvery liquid pooling around him.

“He is not for sale, and nothing you offer will change that.”

“A half Zarkstormian and half human child…amazing!” Jatorn repeated, as if he, too, needed to hear it again. “I suspected you were in fact
fucking
that human. Matter of fact, I told my constituents. I can’t say that I blame you…they are quite delicious, aren’t they? I’ve had a few as of late as well.” He laughed. Xzion twisted his lips then yawned. “Interesting creatures indeed. But to actually procreate with one? Why, that seems medically impossible. I am truly astonished. Tell me, was this a planned pregnancy or an
oops!
Surprise?” Jatorn laughed.

Sahee suddenly turned away to glare at the end of the alleyway.

Xzion’s eyes were already at the same location. He immediately hung up on Jatorn. His heart raced as the camera in his eye zoomed in and out. A shriek of terror roared out. Racing as if jet fuel were under his feet, he zoomed past Sahee, knocking his frail body to the ground, and looked down the way. His heart practically burst out of his chest. What had begun as secret murders with a high body count, was now war being waged in the streets. Two police officers struggled with Yuledrakes that hissed and bit while a Zarkstormian, Rizya, snuck up behind. The tangled mess of five ensued, and in that moment, Xzion felt something he’d never experienced before: pity.

He needed this to stop…

The humans could never defeat the Yuledrakes. The Zarkstormians would defeat the damned Yuledrakes, but as more and more came, with more Morphitians and Lyalts, it would become increasingly harder and time consuming. The Earth would withstand everlasting effects, stolen diamonds being the least of the global problems. Jatorn had one thing right — they outnumbered them by leaps and bounds. The Zarkstormian population had dwindled so badly over time, due to the over-heating crisis, that they still hadn’t recovered despite the recent population boom. Once he saw Rizya snap the Yuledrakes’ necks and the police officers look at the big 6’5 Warrior in astonishment, he knew something had to give. Before he could turn away, Rizya looked at him from afar. The man’s eye glowed and a look of complete exhaustion was stamped on his face. He’d been killing all damn night, yet, he had to keep on.

Xzion disappeared back into the darkness of the alley and stepped over Sahee’s listless body. Based on the smell, Sahee would be deceased in less than five minutes.

He walked back over to his car and leaned against it, removing his cell phone from his pocket.

“Jayme…”

“Yes…”
Fear.
His mate stood beyond the gate of terror. He had no idea what she’d seen and endured this evening, but whatever it was, it was now lodged in her throat and keeping her heart hostage.

“I’ve devised another plan.”

She swallowed, definitely keeping whatever had her worked up to herself.

“I hope it’s a good one.”

“Well, there has been a new development, and…we are going to use it to our advantage. Before I get into that, I need you to tell me if you are all right. You don’t sound all right.”

“I am in disbelief as to what I’ve been seeing. These…
things
are working so fast, and I haven’t seen one murder, not one! But the bodies…the bodies are all over the place.”

“That is how we conduct ourselves, Jayme. We don’t want to be discovered and we are good at killing fast and not leaving much, if anything, behind. Alien life forms have been on your planet since it existed. We are covert. This is why you all have little proof of our existence and the proof you
do
have is explained away by your government and intellectuals. The only reason the murders are public knowledge is because the Yuledrakes wanted it to be so, in order to get me off the planet so they could conduct their plans without interference. They took a risk; it is not our protocol to do things like this.

The military, the CIA, the FBI and every world leader across the globe know we are here but even they are blind to the magnitude of the situation. Humans walk past us every day, none the wiser. By us, I mean aliens in general. I’m the first Zarkstormian to be able to live here for any extended period of time, but other alien life forms fit in, just like you. They have jobs, families and everything, just like you all. The only difference now, baby, is that there is a war — and you all are the prize…”

Jayme was quiet for quite some time on the other end.

“Two of your officers just met Rizya. I’m certain you understand that that didn’t end well. He saved their lives, but they are taking him into custody. He killed two Yuledrakes right in front of them.”

Jayme sighed. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“I’m afraid not. He had no choice. The Yuledrakes were attacking the officers. So now, he will be held for two murders. I need him out of there, immediately. He is one of the best we have. If he is off the streets for too long, things will only get worse.”

“I’ll take care of it. It won’t be easy, but I’ll find a way for him to slip away

…Xzion?”

“Yes, baby?”

“My men are confused, Xzion. All they know is that people are attacking other people, bodies are adding up, and they fear they are next. I’ve had three officers quit on me in the last week…
the last week
, Xzion! There is nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. But, I don’t want to hide, I want to fight, yet how can I kill something I can’t even find?!” She didn’t wait for him to respond, she just kept on going, the emotions finally spilling out like the blood in the streets. “I need our child back home. I know what’s going on, and I will do whatever I can but…I can’t do this without him… He’s too far away. I miss him so much. He gives me strength.

She gave a slight whimper, which tore him up inside. “I work as hard as I do for
him
now, so he can be safe. I know he is half of you, but he is
still
a little boy, Xzion! If I can’t protect my own child, what good am I?” His heart tugged harder as he heard Jayme fighting back tears. He had to tell her. It was time to come clean about what he knew, what he had cooking in the background. He knew in advance she may be angry about the whole deal once he revealed the truth, but, she needed to know because for God’s sake, he was doing it — it was actively happening, and he’d be damned if he felt okay keeping her away from such a thing.

“I don’t know how long we can do this, and we just started!”

“I know.  I’m working on it, and that is in fact what I called you about. You gotta minute?”

“If it concerns Zachary, I have all the minutes known to man, Yuledrakes and Zarkstormians alike…”

*
***

Jayme reeled at the news, at Xzion’s revelations. However, she had no time to absorb it. She immediately went back to the precinct and walked into utter chaos. Her first order of business was a call to her brother, friends and parents. Without an explanation, without so much as an offer of justification, she warned them to stay indoors for the night, and not leave under
any
circumstances. Once in her office, she grabbed more of her private stash of ammo and headed back out into the streets, now slick with partially melting snow. She suspected she was getting a cold, but this was no time for lying about in the bed with a steamy bowl of chicken noodle soup.

She marched up the path knowing that tonight, she’d have a chance to practice her aim. She heeded her husband’s explanations that she wouldn’t see the sons of bitches but now, she was looking, waiting. Rather than take the car, she walked down a litter-cluttered sidewalk like a foot soldier, the cement blocks pushing up from the ground from a water main break over a month ago. Each car that drove past, each person walking she stared at them, wondering if they were who they seemed to be. For over an hour, all was quiet minus the occasional argument bellowing from the front of a liquor joint.

“Shit!” she shuddered, the cold so mean it beat her about the lips, drying them within seconds. She pulled her scarf up higher, surveying her surroundings until something caught her eye…

Several feet away, a man in a green windbreaker with shoulder length white hair stood in the middle of the road. His skin was the color of the damned snow. It was winter though, many of the Caucasians had lost their tans; hell, even some of the blacks looked bleached out, but the way he was standing there, just staring, rubbed her the wrong way and made her internal antennae stand at attention. She dug at her side and gripped her gun, while making her way towards him. He simply remained there, staring at her, his dark blue eyes shining oddly by the burst of Christmas lights from a nearby pub.

“Hey, is there something wrong? Why are you in the street here?” she asked as she slowly approached him.

He just stood there, smiling. The creepy bastard reminded her of some pale-faced jester, only, nothing was particularly funny. Just then, out from the pub poured another, then another. Her heart seemed to grow deep within her, the beating an internal pounding that bordered on painful. Before she knew it, there were over fifteen in the street, staring at her — all huddled together like a gang from the West Side story. She swallowed and stood still.

Shit!

She had no idea if she’d have time to reload. They were too damn close and worse yet, they were faster than her. Of this, she was certain of. She looked around; the street was almost dead, minus the pub that appeared disconcertingly quiet.

“I am telling you all right now, turn around and go home.” She made sure her voice didn’t reflect her trepidation. Her soul told her loud and clear what the fuck they were: Yuledrakes. Some had dark hair, some slightly yellowed skin, but they shared a similar ‘look’, one that if you are searching for the shit, you can connect the dots. They began to approach her, so she raised her gun, darting it around the slowly moving mass descending upon her like a melting jelly mold on a slope.

Around her, a few people were digging the scene, just standing there taking it all in.

“GO!” she yelled out to them, showing her badge. They scattered away, yelling a few expletives but heeded her order. When she turned back front and center, the sons of bitches were that much closer.

“Stop!” She continued to move the gun around, and then in the distance, she heard feet pounding in her direction.

“Jaaayyyymmmme!”

She knew that voice, Xzion was close, but from the sound of it, not fucking close enough. When she focused back on the Yuledrakes, their faces showed they’d recognized the voice, too. They stopped moving towards her, but still hung out there, as if they didn’t give a shit that they may die. Just being there, making her squirm, was enough. She had no fear of shooting the damned things, but the apprehension emerged from knowing that once she shot at the first one, the others would move so fast, she may not live to tell the tale. She took a deep breath, said a silent prayer, pointed the gun to one in the front, right at its damn ribcage and sprayed that fucker with two well-placed bullets. The damned thing shrieked, and just as she suspected, they descended towards her, their faces morphing and tearing back — disengaging from their jaws, exposing those horrid fangs.

She kept shooting and shooting, her nerves fucking her up, but not so bad that her aim was affected. Soon, she felt the slight-heat from a familiar form pressed hard against her back and his eye lit up that damn road better than any Christmas display she’d ever witnessed. She emptied her gun on another while he took the rest down like the sacks of shit that they were. When it was all over, silence filled the area. She looked at the dead aliens and realized, they were way more than she initially thought. It was as if they had been standing behind one another, still, like perfect nutcracker soldiers, doubling and tripling their numbers before her eyes.

“You did good, baby.” Xzion exhaled, then moved towards the pub. She couldn’t revel in the compliment or even take it in. Instead, she followed close behind him, reloading her gun on the way. There was no telling who or what was in there, so she’d be ready. As soon as they walked inside, they were met with a blood bath. Brown bar stools toppled over, and a juke box played ‘Friend In Low Places’, by Garth Brooks. The bartender and several patrons lay around, their throats gouged and blood smeared here, there and everywhere as if someone had finger-painted in their remains. The sight was a vomit-inducing torn page from a horror book.