Tomorrow's Dead: The Julia Poe Vampire Chronicles (29 page)

She cleared her throat and said to the halfdead, “If you pick up any signs that Nesbitt
is going to torture me, have someone break it off.  Otherwise I can’t promise to be
a good little prisoner.   I won’t be hurt again.”

“I won’t let that happen.  I’ll be at your side the entire time.”

Poe nodded.  “I think this is the beginning of a new friendship, Earl.  I like you,
so you better not turn against me.”

“Not me.  I like being half-alive,” he said with a grin.

***

When Poe, Sainvire, and their allies stole most of the human cattle from Downtown
Los Angeles, the world of the dead experienced an 8.0 earthquake within their pretentious
world of old lord and master statuses.  Fear gripped the master vampires that thought
themselves unshakeable with a lifetime pass because of their age, strengths, and bloodlines. 

Perla’s Plasmacore planted seeds of hope for the troubled.  Most didn’t want to drink
milked blood from emaciated, barely living humans.  Though dead or halfdead, they
still had their principles.  And as the cattle weakened, the nutrition from their
blood didn’t satisfy vampires.  They were constantly hungry.  So they turned to making
Plasmacore in secret.  The difference in satisfaction and power from a glass of Plasmacore
was palpable. 

Some could see far distances.  Many developed strength they never could have imagined,
and a lucky few could handle sunlight.  The best and very rare gift, decided those
who imbibed Plasmacore, was the gift of flight.

Poe determined that custodians were tired of looking after the dying, and sane vampires
who had consciences wanted nothing to do with cattle.  Leeches, the only contingent
with something to gain for the perks of unlimited drug use and rape, were against
the use of Plasmacore.  Most were afraid that if the food source changed, they would
have no role in the vampire realm.  They would be shoveling shit and burying the dead
like custodians.

As Earl drove, a sense of dread came upon Poe.  She and Sainvire were alone in a hostile
city.  Her gut was telling her to trek to the Mission District to meet Rufus.  Sainvire
was strong with unmatched skills and attributes like flight, the ability to carry
more than one passenger for long periods of time, rapid healing, and diamond-sharp
talons that could split a vampire in half.  He could withstand the sun and garlic
thanks to Perla’s painful experiments, and he retained other faculties that would
scare off any dead. 

They drove around the block to show Poe the white neo-classical building they would
enter.  About 20 heads had been lopped off and stuck on a spike, some so spoiled by
insects and birds that they were grotesque like the melting gruesomeness of the funhouses
that used to scare her as a child.

“There’s more.  Last time I was here there were four or five,” Earl said somberly. 
“Nesbitt is shaking in his boots and using these heads to pump up the fear.”

“Just make sure he doesn’t axe my head.  I don’t want to be the main attraction on
one of those sticks.  I don’t look good with plucked out eyes.”

“Promise.  I’ll be with you the entire time.”  He turned his head and waited for Poe
to look at him.  His blue eyes were jewels like Maclemar’s.  For a couple seconds
she hallucinated that her other love was pledging to protect her for life.  She nodded
and blinked away memories of the man who loved her so much he was willing to follow
her to the ends of the world.  And he died for it.

“Thanks, Earl.  Tell me again how many of the Council are left,” she changed the subject.

“Only my sisters and Nesbitt.  And his guards, of course, which are to be replaced
by Jane’s people.  His main collaborators are kaput like his beloved pupil, Trench. 
Your kill.”

Poe’s jaw began working.  Indeed, she’d killed Trench herself after he had tortured
her for over three months.  Nesbitt had stopped by a few times to watch her whipping
and her blood spooned for other vampires to partake.  She detested the vampire.  “Nesbitt
can’t fly.  He can’t handle the sun.  What the hell can he do?”

“Rumor is he’s as fierce as a lion and can conjure fire with his hands.  Some have
seen him with spikes twisting out of his arms,” said Earl.

“Fucking A.  I’m gonna have to beat him to it with my little wrist knives,” said Poe
with a half-smile.  She was ridiculous without her firepower. 

“Don’t worry.  Once the guards enter the room, we’re set.  My sisters will flank Nesbitt,
and the guards will arrest him.  You and Sainvire can do whatever you want with him
while we look on.  There’s that.  You can go back home, and we’ll rebuild this city
like you’ve done down south.  Custodians and human cattle will be compensated and
nursed back to life.  Like your city, we’ll have a new council represented by all
the different types of folks from San Francisco.  Life will be hard, but we’re looking
forward to starting over.”

“You can see how things are run at home.  You’re welcome to visit,” offered Poe. 

“I’m there.  Can’t wait for a well deserved vacation.”

They parked in silence.  Poe couldn’t shake the fluttering in her tummy. 
Please Mom, Dad, Sister Ann, Goss, Bruce Lee, Xena, take care of Sainvire for me. 
I’m headed for Nesbitt’s lair naked, and I’m not very happy about it.  Let me just
kill him and get this sham over with.  Sainvire and I need to make it to our plane
by dawn.  Take care of him.  Don’t worry about me, although it would be nice to survive
this, too.  

“Don’t cuff me,” said Poe when Earl brought out the handcuffs from the glove compartment. 
Her look of panic and anger took Earl aback.

Earl demonstrated by cuffing his own wrists then slipping out of the restraints. 
“These are gag cuffs.  Here’s the lever that gets you out quickly and without a hitch. 
I got it from the joke shop years ago.  Once you feel you’re in danger, just pop out
of the cuffs and ready your knives.  We gotta make this look like the real thing,
Poe.”

“Gotcha,” said Poe as she cuffed herself and pressed the levers, releasing a sigh
of relief when the cuffs fell to her lap.  She secured them once more and nodded at
Earl.  “This is pretty cute.  I hope you don’t use them for kinky stuff, and if you
do I hope you disinfected them.  But thanks.”

“No prob.”  He looked uncomfortable.  “Just be ready to protect yourself.  I’ll toss
you your guns as soon as everything’s in place.  Sanvire should be coming after you
soon, so let’s skedaddle.”  Earl, wearing a stodgy military uniform replete with blue
beret, looked entirely the mercenary tough.  Poe had no choice but to trust him and
hope his tongue wasn’t as smooth as a serpent’s. 

***

The vestibule of the building had more than 20 fierce-looking sentinels by Poe’s count. 
In reality there were more than 50 wearing dark-blue military clothing and blue berets. 
Their professional mien reminded Poe of the Third Reich.  She despised Nazis and the
morons that followed them.  Earl shoved her harshly across the gauntlet where each
guard threw shards with their eyes at her hippie-pimp look. 

“They don’t seem friendly to me,” said Poe in a whisper.  She didn’t dare turn around
to castigate Earl for the push.  She nearly slammed into one of the guards.

“Hell if I know.  Those are the regular guards Nesbitt employs plus the 20 in the
chambers.  Jane and Bradley are running a little late, I guess,” he whispered, uncomfortable
about speaking.  Certain vampires had sharp ears.

“You guess?  Shit.  Nesbitt can have me tortured and maimed before the cavalry comes
to the rescue,” Poe gritted.  “And believe me, I am over torture.  I’d just as soon
slit my throat than be Nesbitt’s revenge doll.”

“Don’t worry.  It’ll turn out,” Earl said almost enthusiastically.  “Sara can fly. 
Mina is as fast as a tornado.”

“And that will save me how exactly?”  In her experience flying vampires were weak
with their aim, and strength to carry a passenger was non-existent.  As for tornado
vamps like Joseph, they could whisk a person out of harm’s way or inflict major damage
by stabbing hearts or other weak spots in rat-a-tat succession.  But for some reason
Poe had no faith in the sisters’ abilities or sense of solidarity with the underground
movement.  She was relying solely on the word of a half-vamp she had barely met. 
Poe admitted to herself that if Earl had been repulsively ugly she wouldn’t voluntarily
be handcuffed.

Their conversation ended when two guards wearing black sweaters and black army pants
complemented by red berets opened the chamber doors.

Poe exhaled with indecision upon seeing Sara, Mina, and 20 steely-eyed red beret guards
that turned cautiously to her, ready to battle.  Nesbitt wasn’t in the room, and her
fears abated somewhat.  Mina, a short-cropped redhead, ordered her in a not-so-friendly
voice to sit at the interrogation chair in the middle of the chamber floor.  Sara,
blonde and also sporting hair like a boy, asked if she wanted a beverage.

“No thanks.  Someone will spit in it,” said Poe grouchily.

“You’re probably right about that,” answered Sara with amusement.  “These guards aren’t
your friends.  They’re under the command of me and the rest of the military force
in this building, so be glad that no harm will come to you.  Unless you put up your
Julia Poe berserker act.”

Poe’s nostrils flared.  Sara just about told her that the guards inside, red berets,
were no friends of hers.  The revolutionaries had screwed up.  Underground friendlies
hadn’t replaced the guards.  With only wrist knives for defense, she was surrounded
by enemies.

“Where can I find some friends?” Poe asked testily.

“If you’re lucky within the hour,” answered Mina in her smoker voice.  “For now try
not to jump out the windows or go into the vestibule to your left leading to the lavatories.”

“Will do,” Poe said, clearing her throat.  They were in the first floor of the building. 
Mina implied that she could jump out the window or go toward the lavatories where
a window or an exit door might be waiting for her. 
Good to know.
  Nesbitt was a sun-sizzler, and darkness was fast approaching.  The dictator was
coming out of his cubby hole.  Poe could feel it in her bones.

The vampire exterminator studied the guards with the red berets.  They were smallish,
even the men, but Poe had learned that size didn’t matter in the game of dead politics. 
Halfdead her size could toss tanks and derail trains.  But then again Nesbitt was
a megalomaniac who was as tall as his guards.  The lunatic didn’t want to appear the
dwarf in front of dignitaries because of his deranged pride.  Poe wondered about the
vampire’s true power.  No doubt about it, Nesbitt was intelligent, conniving, and
one hell of a strategist.  How many times had he advised Quillon Trench as to how
to annihilate Sainvire and his people?  He kept San Francisco under strict control
and had time to dabble in the politics of San Diego and Los Angeles.  The vampire
was a busy bee.  He was dangerous.

Poe turned her head to stare out the window.  Fog and darkness had set forth.  For
the first time in a long time Julia Poe felt the pang of fear.  Not since Trench’s
torture and Maclemar’s death had she experienced the dread of mortality.  The artily
crafted terra cotta cupids on the chamber pillars gave her a stomachache when she
leaned her head back to take a breath.  Even if she were able to jump out an open
window, her sight would have been limited.  She’d memorized the San Francisco streets,
but in the foggy night, she’d have been like an owl with cataracts.

The steady tap-tap of formal shoes pulled her from her murky thoughts.  Poe turned
to the small man with an immaculate tailored black suit with shiny leather patent
shoes.  Briefly she studied him, the master vampire that had been a bane in her life
since he tutored Quillon Trench in his excessively barbarous ways.  There was a smidgeon
of charisma to the vampire, but far from the qualities of Trench or Sainvire.  The
dead’s plain face, sour demeanor, and detachment destroyed any hope of complete love
from his people. 

Peter Nesbitt wore a plain gray tie.  “Nice tie,” Poe pointed out as the chamber door
closed and the vampire headed her way.  His shoes clanked down the marble floor. 
Poe itched. 

The vampire ignored her and spoke to Sara and Mina out of earshot.  Poe glanced at
Earl who stood posted near a window that dripped with caulking or some type of epoxy. 
He looked away. 
This better not be a set-up with Earl luring me into the enemy lair. 
Even with the easily removable handcuffs, she was outnumbered and outgunned.

Peter Nesbitt turned to her and watched her with cool contempt.  He walked behind
the podium and adjusted the metal-tipped microphone like in the Sun Studio days of
Elvis and spoke.  He twisted his diamond-encrusted cufflinks and straightened his
tie.  The master vampire gazed intently at Poe as he readied to speak.  His words
reverberated throughout the chambers, the grounds, and most probably all corners of
the Bay Area.  The vampire made it a point to speak to the public once in a blue moon
to spew out Big Brother doublespeak.  He had installed broadcast towers all over San
Francisco.

  His smooth, confident voice filled the night, and Poe couldn’t help but shudder. 

“Julia Poe, Public Enemy Number Two, has infiltrated San Francisco to cause havoc,
thievery, and death.  Yes, thievery.  She wants to steal your blood like she did in
Los Angeles.  She has murdered several of our esteemed Council members.  She has destroyed
most of our road vehicles, ferries, and air strips.  She is scouting because she wants
to take over San Francisco and its food supply and steal our custodians.”  The master
vampire sent her a withering look full of loathing.  She wondered if he knew that
Sainvire was also in San Francisco and he had damaged most of Nesbitt’s firepower. 

“She will not succeed.  Tonight we will eliminate her once and for all.  I encourage
everyone within the sound of my voice to make your way to City Hall.  Witness the
flogging and beheading of the so-called superwoman who is nothing more than a greedy
little child,” Nesbitt proclaimed in an old-fashioned staccato voice.