The dockside warehouse was dark, the windows boarded up. The Vampire and his entourage moved to the table. The man on the other side lit a cigarette. The Vampire gracefully slid into the seat across from the man. They both nodded.

 

            “Thank you for coming on such short notice.” The man said.

 

            The Vampire looked around at the empty warehouse. “Such…luxury.” A broad grin drew across his face.

 

            Smoke hovered like a ghost above the table between them. It glowed bright from the lamp suspended above. The man laid his cigarette in the ashtray. He looked up at the man standing next to him. He put out his hand and was given a small leather satchel.

 

            “I’m sorry that better accommodations couldn’t be provided, Ambassador. This, as you can imagine, was put together swiftly.” The man said.

 

            The Vampire Ambassador folded his hands. “So, what is so important, and secret, that you felt compelled to meet here and now?”

 

            The man reached into the satchel and extracted a small jar. The clear contents inside gave little hope to the Ambassador. The man slid it across the table to his counterpart. The Ambassador studied it for a moment.

 

            “What is it?” The Ambassador said after a while.

 

            The man took a long drag. “It’s called Medreth. It’s a synthetic plasma. Straight from the oven. Our people, working with your scientists, finally isolated the components of blood that the Vampire physiology needs, the nutrients it draws, and their uses. They were then able to synthesize the components in the lab. Medreth is cheap and easy to produce.” The Ambassador continued to stare at the jar. “Go on, “ the man said, “try it.” 

 

            The Ambassador removed the lid. He sniffed the Medreth and then pulled it to his lips. He drank it. His aides stood shocked. He drank it without fear. The humans couldn’t be trusted. For centuries they had forced the Vampires into caves, killed them with wooden stakes. Spread lies and fear, saying that they were the undead spawn of evil. How could he drink it without thorough testing? Was he insane?

 

            The Ambassador put the jar down. It tasted bitter. Something had to be done about that. But the hunger was gone. The hunger that for ages had driven his people to drain livestock, vermin and …others. It lifted. The reign of blood was over. He looked up at his aides, who looked on in horror. He looked back at the man and smiled.

 

            “Can something be done about the taste?” he grinned. The man returned the smile and nodded. The Ambassador stood. “This is a great day, Mr. Johnson. A great day for all the world.”

 

            They shook hands.

 

Frank Johnson put his hat back on and lit another smoke. “Mr. Ambassador, I will talk to the mayor and prepare a press conference. The negotiations can begin immediately.”

 

The two groups parted company like thieves. Quietly. Each wearing its game face. But the joyous treble of history hung in the air. Peace was finally coming. Frank thought of the changes he had seen. The changes he had caused. His wife was soon going to give birth to his first child. He smiled at the thought that his child would grow up in a world where the fear of sorcery and Vampires would be a thing of the past.

 

Frank Johnson dropped his cigarette to the ground as he stepped into the limousine. His mind was full of only one thought.

 

‘I hope it’s a boy.’

 

BIG CITY

“APHERESIS”

by Eric Schwartz

 

 

Needless dropped from the window and bolted down the alley after the perp. As always, his Elven blood wanted to pick up speed, but the dense human muscle and bone kept him from reaching what he was sure was his top speed. Ahead of him, the perp reached the open street. Needless’ legs pumped harder.

 

As he emerged from the alley, he stopped for a moment to try and locate the suspect. His keen night vision was rendered nearly useless by the blaring headlights. The stopped traffic and blowing of car horns indicated that the man Needless was chasing had crossed the street. Without a thought Needless headed into the neon-lit, nighttime boulevard.

 

Stack Fury reached the car and hopped in. The engine roared to life and the tires squealed as he pulled away from the curb. He snatched the radio microphone and pulled it to his mouth.

 

“This is BC1138. The suspect is on foot, Sgt. D’Yen is in pursuit. I am following in the car. This suspect is armed, but MUST be taken alive. They are heading west on Prodane Blvd. We need infrared from the chopper. “

 

He threw the lights and siren on and barreled through Prodane to the next street that ran east and west. He rounded the corner. They had to take this guy. They had to take him alive. He was the first real lead to Manzetti yet. A mag pusher with a taste for Fleck and whores. Stack hoped that Needless could control himself.

 

Stack picked up his cell phone, pushed a button on its side,  and spoke to it. “Smiles.” He said. A hundred years of technological advancements dialed the phone.

 

A moment later the phone rang and a familiar voice came out. “Yeah.”

 

“It’s Stack. You get anything else?”

 

Across town, Smiles was icing his hand. He turned and looked across the dimly lit room at the goblin with a bloody nose, cuffed to the chair. “That’s all he’s got. He’s just a small time Fleck dealer. He doesn’t know anything else. But I’ll let you know if something comes up.”  Stack thanked him and hung up. Smiles closed the phone and put it back in his pocket. He walked back over to the goblin, called Vsar. He crouched down until he was eye level. “Hey! Vsar. Good news. Because you’re an idiot…you get to go free.”

 

Vsar’s eye was beginning to swell shut. He looked at Smiles and growled. Smiles chuckled. He stood and walked across the empty room toward the door, his foot falls echoing as he walked. Smiles pulled the cuff keys out of his pocket. He turned back.

 

“Vsar, thanks for all the information. I’ll make sure the word gets out that you squeal under pressure. I’m sure your clients will love that.” Smiles chuckled as he dropped the keys by the door. He turned and left the disgusting drug dealer alone in the empty room.

 

*

Paul Mest tried to fold himself into the dirt. The taste of Fleck still lingered in the back of his throat. His minded raced. His breath came in fits and he gritted his teeth. It must have been the bitch. She must have sold him out. He thought about slitting her throat. Sweat raced from his hair line into his eyes, stinging the homicidal thoughts from his mind.

 

He looked up as the helicopter began to hover above.

 

Across the park, Needless ran a line from his radio to his ear.

 

“Sgt. D’yen, this is Blue 14. If you copy, wave your arm.” On the monitor in the chopper, one of the luminous forms waved its arms. The other form sat perfectly still in some under brush on the far edge of the park, near a building wall. “All right Sgt. D’yen, the suspect is about 30 yards from you. Turn to your left.”

 

Needless extended his gun and peered into the dark, his night vision returning slightly. The voice in his ear returned. "He’s not moving. Approach with caution.” Needless rolled his eyes. Special Weapons loved their little toys. All the same, he was glad for the extra set of eyes. He stepped quietly toward the invisible suspect.

 

A block away, black and whites had started to seal the area. Stack came to a stop and stepped out of the car. He fixed the earpiece from his radio to his head. He crouched and made his way toward the park, behind his partner. “Blue 14, this is Sgt. Forray. I am entering the park. Does the suspect have a clear means of escape?”

 

“There is a break in the fencing about 20 feet to his right and a door at the far end of the building to his left, your right.”

 

Needless stepped closer and closer as he listened to Stack and the chopper discuss possible exit routes for the perp. As the lights began to slip behind the trees of the small park, Needless’ elven night vision returned, to a degree. He strained to make out the form of the guy through the dark. Nothing.

 

Stack slowed when the lights of the street began to go away. As things became clearer he could make out the form of his partner about twenty yards ahead.

 

“I’m right behind you.” Stack said quietly.

 

One thought seemed to fill Needless’ mind. ‘Know your limits.’ Kali’s words still haunted him. He needed to cool the human. This guy was too important to go Needless Action on. He froze in his spot and shut his eyes. He pulled the earpiece out and listened to the sounds. The chopper. The sirens. The distant drone of the city. Each individual sound began to blend into a hum of background noise. He waited for the subtle nuance of movement. The unexpected pulse. His breath became shallow. He cleared his mind and listened.

 

A twig broke. The bubble on the surface of the white noise.

 

Stack’s ears were filled with Blue 14. “He’s moving! He’s heading to the fence.”

 

Needless’ eyes snapped open and he bolted toward Mest, who burst from the foliage in a dead run. Stack also broke into run after his partner, praying that Needless didn’t shatter Mest’s neck.

 

Calm seemed to come over Needless. His breath never seemed to burn as he approached Mest. In a Fleck-addled bid for freedom, Mest dove for the fence. Effortlessly, Needless flung his leg around, catching Mest in the ribs. The crook flew back, winded. As he hit the ground, he rolled backward, climbing to his feet and extracting his gun.

 

Not allowing the split second it would take Mest to kill him or Stack, Needless leapt onto the criminal. He drove his skull into the bridge of Mest’s nose and pried the gun from his hand. Mest’s knees went weak and he dropped like some one had removed his skeletal structure. Needless pulled his radio to his mouth.

 

“The suspect has been…apprehended.” He chuckled into his radio.

 

Stack caught up a moment later, gun extended at Mest’s prone body. He looked at Needless, “You didn’t…”

 

Needless clicked his tongue. “Man. You have no faith.” He pulled a paper napkin out of his pocket and wiped a spatter of Mest’s blood from between his eyes. He smiled at Stack and chuckled as he walked back to the car.

 

Stack looked down at the suspect who was groaning quietly on the ground.

 

*

Smiles sat finishing another cigarette in the dim light and loud chatter of Tucker’s Tap. His fist still hurt from questioning Vsar. The shots of Glonish Hollow whiskey seemed to make the pain dull, but it eased his mind into thinking about Gina. It had been two weeks since he had been given the photos of Gina at the hospital. Someone was playing with him. Someone had arranged to put those pictures in his hands. The whole thing stunk of one of Manzetti’s mind-fucks, but still…

 

Four years had aged the girl in the pictures. She was still young. The hair was slightly different. Even though he didn’t have the pictures with him, he had committed every detail to memory. In the photos she was crossing the street, unaware that someone was taking pictures of her. Someone knew where she was. If this was Manzetti, it could be a threat. A threat against Gina, wherever she was. Either way, he couldn’t tell Stack.

 

Smiles took another drink. If this was Manzetti playing another round with Stack, Smiles couldn’t let him do that. Telling Stack is exactly what Manzetti would want. Smiles needed to look into this further before he told Stack anything. Especially if it was some kind of trap. He blinked slowly. The whiskey was affecting him quicker than normal. He chuckled because he was sure his mind was inviting the booze to take control. It needed the rest.

 

Smiles had become fairly aware of another presence at the table. He glanced over at the face smiling in amusement. Charlie chuckled.

 

“What are you chuckling at, boy?” Smiles monotoned.

 

Charlie nodded at the two cigarettes burning in the ashtray. “Heavy thoughts, old man?”

 

Smiles looked at the two cigarettes. “I swear. Not 2 minutes ago there was a buxom, red-headed elf girl sitting right where you are sitting now,” he deadpanned. “You should probably find another seat. She should be back any minute from the can.”

 

Charlie laughed and shrugged out of his coat. Smiles reached over and stubbed out the older of the 2 squares. A moment later, Stack and Needless appeared at the table. Smiles raised his glass. Needless half-nodded his greeting. Charlie and Stack clasped hands across the table.

 

“Nice work tonight.” Needless said to Smiles. Charlie looked over at Smiles quizzically. Smiles shrugged. Charlie glanced down and noticed Smiles’ gauze wrapped hand. Needless chuckled. “Your boss got some information for us.”

 

Smiles’ eyes drooped slightly as the corners of his mouth turned up. He raised his injured hand. “I cut myself shaving.” He looked back up at Stack. “So you get anything from him?”

 

Stack shook his head. “Nah. The guy is still detoxing from Fleck.  And,” he nodded toward Needless, “Harry the Head over here clocked the guy with a skull kiss. He’s a little out of it. We should be able talk to him tomorrow.”

 

“It’s a good thing I’ve been around you guys for a while. Other wise I would have no idea what you were talking about,” Laura said, flopping down in the chair next to Charlie.

 

The waitress they all knew as Bev put a pitcher of beer and a tray’s worth of glasses on the table. Needless looked up. “Bev. You know us so well. What would have happened if we all had decided to change our drink tonight?”

 

“Right,” Bev chuckled and moved on to some other patrons.

 

Charlie finished pouring the first round of drinks. As everyone took their glass,

 Smiles raised his whiskey.

 

“Hey! Here’s to a blow struck,” he said, offering a toast.

 

The others stared at him for a moment and burst into laughter.

 

“He’s been here a while,” Laura laughed.

 

“Yep,” Charlie nodded. “He’s bag bound.”

 

They all clinked glasses and took long drinks. As a few more “pathetic drunk” comments were flung at Smiles, Needless noticed Sioux enter the door at the far end of the bar. He stood and waved her over. She moved gracefully through the smoke and noise like she didn’t belong there. Her pale skin glowed red and green from the neon beer signs that lined the walls. Needless met her a few tables away. He took her hand and kissed her.

 

At the table the others looked at each other. It was unusual for Needless to let the machismo level drop. As they joined the table, the others all greeted Sioux warmly. They seemed to sense that this was Needless moving his relationship with Sioux to the next level without announcement. Sioux took the sixth place at the table.

 

*

It was a swirling, blue-purple vortex of sweat, flesh, smoke and sternum-pounding rhythm. The mass undulated and swayed, rising and falling until all individuality melted into a sea of youth. High above the Serenity dance floor the master of ceremonies, DJ Bzjau, listened with his left ear to the crowd and with his right ear, cued tracks with his headphones. He matched beats and set levels until the night had become a singular vision. A night-long orgy of sequencers, drum loops and low end bass.

 

No one knew that the phone lines had been cut. None of the myriad dancers noticed that the bouncer had been shot, or the management herded into a security office. As the black hooded figures began to surround the dance floor, no one panicked. There were forty in all who moved into positions around the room.

 

As a colorless nerve agent billowed into the room through the vents, the cloaked figures moved forward with precision, closing off all means of escape for the patrons. The beats of the night reached a fast-paced keen, the computer sequenced music flowing in and out of each other. As the jumping crowd worked themselves into a delirium, the nerve agent began to hit their lungs.

 

When the first patrons began to drop, several of the cloaked figures lowered their hoods and sank their teeth into the necks of whoever was near them. Those who were still aware of their surroundings screamed in absolute horror as the rest of the hooded figures closed the circle.

 

High above the carnage, Bzjau collapsed, tumbling down the flight of stairs to the DJ booth, his unconscious mind unaware of his neck snapping during the fall.

 

*

“Last call!” Tucker bellowed from behind the bar. As expected, half the patrons made a noise like they had never heard the words before. As though the concept of “last call” was completely new to them. Immigrants from a land where taverns never closed and liquor flowed free like a river.

 

Smiles threw his arm around Stack’s shoulders for support, the booze now firmly in control. Stack chuckled.

 

“You know you’re not driving home, right?”

 

Smiles nodded. “I’ll just sleep upstairs in the office. “

 

“You need help getting up there?”

 

Smiles shook his head. He reached into his pocket and extracted the keys to the office. He stood up. Stack and the late night street seemed to shift slightly. He smiled and patted Stack on the shoulder.  Then he silently moved to the side entrance to his building, fumbled for a moment with the keys, and entered. Stack watched the building for a moment. Several minutes later the light in Smiles’ office went on and promptly went off again.

 

Stack chuckled and turned back to the others who stood under a street lamp, saying their good nights. He was feeling good. Not so much from the capture of Mest, but for the general feeling of the evening. This was not a group notorious for getting along at all times. As the “elder statesman” of the group he watched his partner, hands intertwined with Sioux, and Laura, her arm through the curve of Charlie’s arm. He chuckled at how old he had started to feel. He never felt quite comfortable in forty. But it was beginning to grow on him.

 

“Well,” Stack said, putting his hands in his pockets. “I hate to be the old man here, but I have a perp to interrogate tomorrow and I should get off to bed.” The others nodded. Dad had just come into the room and reminded them that they had school the next day. He chuckled at the thought. “Okay. I’m off.”

 

Four pagers beeped to life. All but Charlie pulled out their pager and looked at the read out. They all stared for a moment and then looked at each other disbelieving.

 

“What?” Charlie asked.

 

*

Skion Avenue ran through some of the most expensive land in Big City. Six lanes lined with hotels, night clubs, upscale eateries and theaters. The normal late-night clubbing traffic was gone. Instead, the street was filled with hundreds of people. Cops, EMTs, the fire department, reporters and mortified onlookers crowded the streets. Dozens of police vehicles and ambulances surrounded the entrance of Serenity, a night club. Charlie and Laura stopped at the police tape as Stack and Needless continued on into what looked like a battle zone.

 

Charile looked the building up and down. The glass facade was intact. No sign of fire. Laura squeezed his hand.

 

“Sweetie, I have to get to work and find out what’s happened,” she said.

 

Charlie nodded wordlessly. He kissed her. “Be careful.” He said as he turned and left the scene. Laura pulled a tape recorder out of her purse and began to scan the crowds.

 

Inside the perimeter, Stack and Needless stepped into a crowd of cops who had formed around Lt. Avelo. He was talking with a Special Weapons officer. When the officer moved away, Avelo looked at the crowd.

 

“Okay. Here is what we have so far,” he yelled over the din. “At approximately 12:30 tonight, Bay Telephone received word of lines out on the 1200 block of North Skion. When a crew arrived around one o’clock, they found phone lines cut at sewer level. They immediately alerted their central control who contacted the police. At 1:20 several patrol units were dispatched the local businesses for signs of burglary. Officers found the doors to Serenity locked. After several attempts to contact the management, the fire department was called to the scene. At 1:45 FDBC broke into the club. Several officers and firefighters were attacked by an as yet unknown gas which rendered them unconscious. At present, Haz-Mat is clearing the building. The reports we are getting…” Avelo took a deep breath. “Haz-Mat is reporting mass casualties. Possibly in the hundreds.” A stunned silence fell over the cops. Stack and Needless looked at each other. “We are currently taking Parallels bookstore across the street as a command center. The Gold Rope night club two blocks away at Skion and Helchin is being set up as triage. Once Haz-Mat gives the okay, we will begin removing the casualties. Anything else any of you are working on is secondary. Finding the ones responsible for this is your number one priority. The people of this city will want answers. Do not talk to any reporters. Any information to the press will come from myself or Commissioner Bledsoe. Clear any findings through me. Any questions?”

 

A patrol officer raised a hand. Avelo looked at him. “Any idea at all who might have done this?”

 

Avelo looked at the ground. He sighed. “Yeah. Haz-Mat is reporting signs of neck injuries. Lacerations or bites. It is unclear at the moment. But we might be looking at a Vampire attack.”

 

The night squeezed in on Needless

 

*

Most of Big City slept. Only new parents, shift workers and criminals seemed to be aware of what was beginning to develop downtown.

 

On a quiet street near the coast, the night was still. The hills and trees protected the area from the noise of the city. Here on the Big City’s Diamond Coast only one television was going at this time of night. The young Vampire walked through the circular house, from one ring of rooms, eventually reaching the lavish central sleeping chamber.

 

The boy rapped on the lid of his father’s sleep box. A moment later, Venect slid open the box and blinked at his son. “What is it Shilo?”. The boy stumbled for words. Venect sat up and followed his son to the dining room. He sat on the couch and watched it all unfold on television.

 

Early reports, the reporter had said, indicated a massive Vampire attack downtown. As usual details were sketchy but the network promised to keep the viewer up to date as the story developed. The son looked at the father. Venect put his face in his hands.

 

*

Stack stepped on to the dance floor, his feet resting on the ground between two sets of legs. He couldn’t talk. He couldn’t hear. The only thing he was aware of was his breathing. His spine tingled and his vision hazed slightly like he was getting gas for some dental work. He closed his eyes and shook his head. Needless knew only that his gun rested in his holster. He wanted to shoot something. He wanted to put his fist through something. He became aware that his hands were shaking. The two looked at each other.

 

A sea of bodies surrounded them. Young. Beautiful. Piled on each other like lumber. The sheer horror was unfathomable. Neither of them had ever seen anything like it. They wished they hadn’t seen it at all. Stack heard his partner’s breath quiver and he looked over to see the eyes of the half-elf become moist. Needless sucked in his breath and swallowed what he was feeling. Stack put his arm around his partner’s shoulder. And they stood there together for a moment, as if trying to transfer strength to each other.

 

Nothing would ever be the same.

 

Needless broke away from the clutch and stormed out the front door. Stack turned and followed him.

 

As Needless broke into the fresh air his gaze shot ahead a thousand yards. He felt a rumbling in his chest. The rumbling grew until it became in inhuman roar of rage. He drove his fist through the passenger window of a dead patron’s parked car. He felt the pain. He felt the warm wetness of his blood. He didn’t care. He ripped Penny from her housing. He didn’t know where the bullet would fall. He didn’t care. Why did somebody do this?! Why did somebody make him see it. His gut knew that he would never get that image out of his head. The Really Big Gun shook in the cop’s grip.

 

Stack reached forward and grabbed his hand and directed Penny into the air. His other had wheeled Needless around and slammed him against the car. His eyes were met with the a growl from Needless who struggled to breathe. He wrestled Penny from her owner. Needless shoved Stack back. The older cop held tight to Needless’ lapel.

 

“Pull it together!” Stack barked. Needless shook his head in response. Stack dropped Penny and grabbed his partner’s other lapel. “Save it! John, save it!”

 

“Some motherfucker is gonna pay, man!”

 

“Lots of motherfuckers are going to pay, John. But later. Save it. We have a job to do.”

 

Needless’ muscles relaxed. He looked up into Stack’s face. The two looked at each other for a while as paramedics began to surge into the building.

 

*

The group of men jumped slightly as the young man entered, the door shutting behind him. The one they took orders from, the one they call The Mezo leaned on a pallet of dry goods. The young man approached The Mezo and dropped a set of keys in his hand. Whispers were exchanged. The Mezo nodded and looked at the waiting men. He lowered his hood and smiled.

 

“We are done.” A collective sigh was heard. “Go back to your families and homes. You will all be contacted shortly.” He nodded to the small group of individuals. “We would like to thank our Vampire brethren for their assistance. When our true cause is finally known, we will stand with you at the end.”

 

The vampire known as Kenvena stepped forward. “We are proud to be able to participate in this great cause. Finally, vampires and elves will stand shoulder to shoulder and face down the unclean. The tainted. Brothers again. As we were in our Gnuph bodies. Together we will work to wipe the human and goblin scourge from our city. And with them the tainted chosen…” Kenvena’s speech slowed and stopped as he watched The Mezo slip dark glasses on to his face. The other elves did like wise and circled around them. The small group of Vampires looked around.

 

“Kenvena, you’re right,” said The Mezo. “The tainted will be cleansed as will fulfill the requirements of our return to M’halasia. But…” The Mezo pulled a small metal ball out from under his cloak. He pulled out a pin. “…you first.”

 

The vampires scrambled but were contained by the elves. As The Mezo dropped the ball it burst into intense white hot light. Throbbing and pulsing in waves as it expelled its fuel.

 

The vampires shrieked as the intensity of the light and the ultra-violet radiation caused their skin to bubble. As the 30 seconds of burn time wore on, each began to bleed from the eyes. Their cries dried in their throats as their essential fluids evaporated. When the grenade was spent, the charred, oozing vampires dropped to their knees.

 

The air began freezing their burns, each one slipping into shock and quivering from the cold. The surrounding elves pulled out weapons and riddled their weakened bodies with bullets. The vampire conspirators fell dead to the ground.

 

*

Laura pushed her way into the crowd, her ever present digital recorder held aloft. This must have been important, Laura thought. Bledsoe was there. Janet stepped up to the microphone. She looked unwell. She took a deep breath.

 

“Ladies and gentlemen. Please excuse me. We will not be taking any questions at this time. Right now we have very few details. So far we have 47 confirmed dead. We have another 15 at this time who are listed in critical condition and are being rushed to area hospitals. Right now we are not releasing any names until the families are notified. Before you ask we have no suspects. We do believe this is an act of terrorism. At this time no group is claiming responsibility. We have confirmed that the gas used to neutralize the victims was Gowtrex. This did not kill the patrons, it was simply used to subdue them. We will let you know more when we have more information to give you.” Without a word Bledsoe and those with her walked back behind the police tape.

 

Laura stopped her recorder. She sighed and thought of Needless and Stack and what they must have been seeing. She found the nearest opening in the crowd and called the night editor.

*

 

It was like a gun-blast. Smiles bolted up on the green vinyl couch in his office. He became aware that it had only been the shades dropping in the window. He then realized that he was not alone in the room. Just as his eyes started to adjust to the dark, his desk lamp was switched on.

 

He was surrounded by Vampires. He looked around at the solemn faces. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his now half-crushed pack of cigarettes. He lit one and leaned back, fixing his best game face into place.

 

“Can I help you gentlemen?” He said waving his match out.

 

The central Vampire stepped forward. Smiles could tell from the cloak around his neck that he was high in the Vampire hierarchy. A cloak, from what Smiles could remember, was a sign of position. The Vampire spoke in a chilling calm.

 

“Do you know who I am, Mr. Johnson?”

 

Smiles exhaled his first cleansing lungful of smoke and coughed. He could still feel his buzz. He hadn’t been asleep long. He shook his head. “Can’t say that I do.”

 

“My name is Venect. I am the Vampire cultural advisor to the mayor.”

 

Smiles raised an eyebrow and flicked an ash. “Nice to meet you. What time is it?”

 

“It is nearly sunrise, Mr. Johnson. I am sorry to bother you at this hour, but this is the gravest of emergencies.”

 

Smiles finally stood. He walked behind his desk and sat down. “Well, what can I do for you?”

 

Venect motioned to the chair facing Smiles. Smiles nodded and the Vampire sat down. “Mr. Johnson about four hours ago the Serenity nightclub was attacked by terrorists. There are many dead. The police are now confirming that this was a massive vampire attack.”

 

Smiles blinked. “How many dead?”

 

“The number has now reached over 90. Several more survived the attack but have died in hospital. You understand that this is a terrible blow to the Vampire inclusion movement.”

 

“Of course.”

 

“There are factions in our society, Mr. Johnson, who don’t want to be a part of Big City or its laws. They feel that our race will be…” he paused, “muddied. They are a minority but there are enough in their ranks to commit this crime. We are making inquiries.”

 

Smiles snuffed out his cigarette. “So why do you need me? Further investigation? I’m sure the police are on top of it.”

 

“I have no doubt. I am actually here less for what you can do, than who you are,” Venect said. Smiles cocked his head. “In the next two hours, most of Big City will know of the Serenity tragedy. They will want answers. They will want justice. There will be riots. There will be violence against my people. I can’t allow this, Mr. Johnson. I need to show the people of this city that we are not monsters. That this was the act of a radical faction.”

 

Smiles shook his head. “I still don’t understand.”

 

“Mr. Johnson, I need you with me as the voice of your father’s legacy. His legacy of peace and the Vampire Inclusion Movement.”

 

Like a light switch was flipped off, the last thread of alcohol-induced euphoria left Smiles and the headache rose. He lit another smoke. He stared for a moment at his desk calendar. “Boy did you pick the wrong guy.”

 

“Mr. Johnson?”

 

Smiles chuckled. “Venect, you have no idea how tall an order this is.”

 

“I understand how difficult what I am asking is. But I need some one there. Some one who is not a Vampire like myself. Your father’s memory is still revered in this city. He is one of the great cultural heroes of the past century. People would accept his son. They would trust you as the caretaker of his legacy. As his voice.”

 

“This was Gina’s department. “ Smiles mumbled, rubbing his face. Venect looked quizzically at him. “My sister…if she was …still around, this would have been her thing. Look, I didn’t speak to my father for fifteen years before he died. I wouldn’t even know where to begin.”

 

Venect reached over and switched on the TV. The news showed helicopter shots of the scene at The Serenity. Smiles stared at the image. “Unfortunately,” Venect began, turning back to Smiles. “That decision has already been made.”

 

The first streaks of sunlight split the sky over the bay.

 

*

In Serenity’s upstairs office, power had been restored and the security computer had been brought online. Happy to be away from the carnage below, Stack and Needless sat in front and watched Tim Carnaby pound away furiously on the keyboard. Tim had been called out of bed and was putting in a rare field appearance. He leaned in close to the computer monitor as he typed. Finally he stopped and turned around.

 

“Okay,” he started. “There are 12 cameras total, each one shooting at 3 frames per second. Every fifteen minutes, the footage from the cameras is automatically compressed into an m-peg file and given a file number. The number indicates the camera, the day and the starting time code, based on a 24 hour clock. I have isolated files from that period.”

 

Needless looked back at Stack who seemed to have some vague understanding of what Carnaby was talking about. He rolled his eyes. “So? Do we have anything?” He said, avoiding the obvious ‘I hate computers’ banter.

 

Tim nodded and took a slug of coffee. “I’m not sure. Only five of the cameras really showed anything. About ten minutes before the attack, each one of the cameras was tampered with.”

 

Stack leaned up. “Tampered with?”

 

“Yeah.” Tim turned back to the computer. “I have isolated the 5 cameras, and have set them to run at the same time.” Stack and Needless watched as each camera went black. Tim paused the files. “We checked the cameras. Some were covered. Others unplugged. Some had big magnets attached to them, which screwed up the image.”

 

Needless scratched his head. “Did they catch anything before they stopped working?”

 

Tim shook his head. “Nothing conclusive. There were a few people who went in and out about fifteen minutes before. BUT, watch this.” He enlarged the front door camera. The angle showed part of the street, the sidewalk and the door.  The three watched a small group of kids walk down the street and stop to open the door to the club. One of the guys yanked several times on the door. It apparently wasn’t opening.

 

Stack took a sip of coffee. “When was this?”

 

Tim looked at him. “Thirteen minutes before the attack.”

 

Needless looked at Stack. “Almost a quarter of an hour before the attack started? What were they doing?”

 

An investigator from downstairs poked his head into the room. “Sgt. Forray? Sgt. D’yen? I think you should see this.”

 

Stack patted Carnaby on the back. “Good work Tim. See what else you can find.”

 

Tim nodded. “Some of the computer guys from downtown are going to be here soon. We’re going to transfer the hard drive and all the back up tapes to the lab. Check back with me there later.”

 

Stack and Needless turned and followed the investigator back down stairs, following a cordoned path across the dance floor. The investigator turned. “Okay it looks like all the attackers wore the same size shoe.”

 

Needless looked at him in surprise. “Really?

 

Stack looked at him and shook his head. “No. He means that all the attackers all WORE the same shoe size. They don’t all have the same size feet.”

 

Needless nodded in understanding.

 

The investigator nodded. “Exactly. It helped to hide their numbers. We’re still not sure how many there were. There’s a lot of blood and mess on the floor so we have tons of foot prints.”

 

“So what did you need us to see?” Needless asked.

 

“ Well three things. First is this.” He crouched down and pointed to a splash of blood on the ground. The blood had a curved line in it, roughly an inch wide and a foot long.

 

“What is it?” Stack said looking at it.

 

“We weren’t exactly sure. It didn’t match anything else. Until we found this…” He walked them along the sectioned off path to a section of wall. Part way up the club wall, about 12 feet, was another smear of blood .

 

Stack stepped up the ladder to look at it. “It’s about the same size,” he said. “But from the spatter it looks like it hit the wall.”

 

“Somebody threw something?” Needless asked.

 

“No. There was no place on the floor near it where anything hit.” The investigator replied.

 

Stack was already looking to the ceiling. High above, another 20 feet or so, tucked into the neon painted piping was a ventilation grid. He pointed up. “You guys check out that yet?”

 

“You think somebody pulled something up and it hit the wall on the way?” Needless asked, knowingly.

 

Stack climbed down the ladder. The investigator pulled a small plastic bag out of his pocket. “Way ahead of you. We pulled this off some of the grating. “ The two looked at it. “It’s a silicone shavings. Probably got pulled off when it was dragged across the grating.”

 

“A hose? Why would somebody bring a hose in here and then pull it out again?” Needless looked at Stack.

 

Stack shrugged. “The gas?”

 

The investigator shook his head. “No. We found condensation in the ventilation. That was pumped in another way. So looks like something was lowered from that grating, dragged out onto the dance floor and retrieved before they left.”

 

Needless looked at his partner quizzically. “What is going on?”

 

*

Smiles looked out of the heavily tinted windows of the limo and watched the early morning streets of Big City slide by him. Venect and his aides sat opposite him, talking to each other in hushed tones. He didn’t want to be there. He wanted to curl up in his bed with a carton of smokes and a bottle of Moonglow. He knew that what he had to do was important, but why him?

 

He hadn’t thought about his father since he’d gone to find Wyshock for Stack. How odd that this would come now, when he was so focused on his sister. The split between Smiles and his father had always been a bitter topic for Gina. It always hurt her. He could still her yelling at him the day they buried his father. She was furious that he didn’t go to the funeral. Even mom had gone. After everything he had done, his mother had still gone to the funeral. She even cried.

 

Venect quieted one of his aides and looked across to Smiles.

 

“You are thinking of your father?”

 

Smiles chuckled. “Yeah.”

 

“He was a great man, Mr. Johnson. You should be proud to be his son.”

 

Smiles looked at Venect. His brow furrowed. “Look, I am doing this for the good of the city and everybody in it. My relationship with my father is not the issue, and will not become the issue. He may have been a hero to this city, but I grew up with a completely different man.”

 

“I do understand.” Venect said. Smiles snorted, disbelieving. Venect looked closer at him. “It was my father who worked with your father to bring about The Movement. He was the Vampire Ambassador at the time. It was he that your father took the first sample of Medreth to. From that day forward my father was the prime mover of the Inclusion. He was rarely home. Until the day he died, I hardly knew the man. While our fathers changed the course of history, we suffered as their children. So please believe me when I tell you that I understand.”

 

Smiles turned and looked back out the. “That would have been wonderful. The problem wasn’t when he wasn’t there. It was when he was.” He looked back. “My father cracked under the pressure. He drank. He yelled. Eventually he took a lover and left my mother to raise my sister and me. And STILL I tried. I tried to live up to his expectations. The day I became a cop he told me I was the biggest disappointment of his life.” Smiles stopped and looked out the window. “Why was this shit city worthy of his love and attention, and I wasn’t?” Venect fell silent. “So please, let me do this for my own reasons. I don’t give a fuck about my father’s legacy. I understand that I will have to invoke his name during all of this, but I don’t have to like it.”

 

The car fell silent as it continued through the streets that were just beginning to come to life.

 

*

Sioux took a deep breath and looked down at the beautiful young girl. Her skin pale. Her lips ashen. Her eyes sunken. The contusion on the side of her head indicated that she was already unconscious when she hit the floor. The girl hadn’t even attempted to break the fall. The holes on her neck…vampire bites.

 

Sioux snapped on her latex gloves and started the autopsy. She swabbed around the bite wounds and dropped the swabs into a plastic dish for later examination. As she turned the dead girls head to get a closer look at the wounds, she noticed how puffy the wounds were. It was unusual, but not unheard of. She moved a magnifying screen over the area. All around the wounded area, small blood vessels had been pulled near to the surface. She took a scalpel and slit one of the bites. She noticed that the artery wall had collapsed.

 

She thought it odd, but didn’t have a chance to examine further.

 

The door to the examination room flew open and a short man in a suit and two police officers stepped into the room.

 

“Are you Dr. Sioux Vliss?” He asked.

 

Sioux stood up. “Yes?”

 

The man stepped forward. “I am with the office of the mayor. The mayor, the Coroner and The Commissioner have requested that you be removed from this investigation.”

 

“I beg your pardon?”

 

“It has been decided that the city wishes to avoid any appearance of impropriety or questioning of the evidence gathered and we ask that you stop your investigation as of this moment.”

 

“Sir, return to the Mayor and let him know that I am fully capable of conducting a fair and unbiased investigation, and I will do so.”

 

“Dr. Vliss, these officers have been instructed to remove you from the premises, by force if need be. I can assure you that you will be reinstated as soon as this investigation concludes.”

 

Sioux stood, stunned, her normal grace giving way to anger. She looked at the cops. A few of the other Medical Examiners had started to gather around the door and watch. She looked at the floor and chuckled in anger. She snapped off her gloves and removed her protective glasses. Regaining composure, she moved toward the door. On her way past the man she dropped her gloves and glasses in his hand.

 

Silently fuming she moved out into the hallway and left the building.

 

*

Stack and Needless were finally on their way back to the office. They smelled bad, were exhausted and didn’t speak. They were still reeling from the events of the last few hours. It was 7:30 in the morning and already they both needed a strong drink.

 

Things weren’t adding up. What had taken them so long at Serenity? It was obvious that most of the attackers had been inside the club most of the night. What was with the hose? And why gas them first? Reports were coming back that some of the survivors were beginning to come out of surgery. Both silently hoped to get to talk to them.

 

They pulled up at the station and crawled out of the car. They climbed the stairs to the office and stepped in. As they moved through the room to their desks they noticed that the others on the floor were watching them with a look of pity. They were met at their desks by Breen.

 

“Hey guys.” He half mumbled. “How is it?” They simply looked at him and sat down. “Look I’m sorry to hit you with this right now, but…” Breen stopped mid sentence and looked toward the door. Needless looked over his shoulder and saw Sioux enter the office.

 

“Shit.” He said. Not now, he though. He stood up and went to greet her. He could feel the glares of his colleagues as he met her. Normally, he would have said something. Normally, he would have defended her. Right now, he couldn’t blame them. He didn’t feel the same way, but he couldn’t find a compelling argument  against them. He was disgusted with himself, but he couldn’t stop it.

 

All he knew was that he loved her.

 

He was surprised to find she had been crying. He stepped up to her and took her hand.

 

“Sioux? What’s wrong?”

 

“John, I need to talk to you.”

 

Needless looked around and caught a few disapproving glances. He looked at Breen and motioned toward his office. Breen nodded. Needless moved her to Breen’s office and shut the door.

“What is it?” He asked closing the shades.

 

“They removed me from the investigation.”

 

“What?”

 

“The Mayor’s office asked me to step down until the investigation is over. I can’t believe this. I have never given them any reason to think I would do anything other than conduct a fair investigation.”

 

“Sioux, they are simply trying to avoid complications. You should try to understand.”

 

She stared at him. “John?”

 

“They’re trying to cover their bases. They want to make sure that nothing is compromised.”

 

“Compromised? Because I am a vampire I am more likely to lie about what I find? I might compromise the investigation?”

 

“That’s not what I meant.”

 

“It is what you said. Do you think it’s the right thing to do?”

 

Needless thought for a moment. He looked at her. “Yes Sioux, I do. Just for right now.”

 

She could only stare at him. He looked at her and finally looked at the floor. “I am a Medical Examiner. More importantly I am a citizen of this city. These killings are as repugnant to me as they are to all the non-vampires. Do you think we all stick together? Lie for each other?”

 

“No! I don’t. But I understand the decision. It’s an unfortunate fact that there are bigots out there who don’t understand.”

 

“So we cater to them. To save votes? To keep the peace? This city should stand behind us and show their support, NOW! Not when things are peaceful. Now. This is when we should be shown that we have the rights of all creatures. I…We need to be shown that I am worth the fight. They shouldn’t avoid the fight.” She pulled up the hood of her coat and moved toward the door. “And neither should you.” She stormed out.

 

Needless called after her, but she continued to walk until she was gone.

 

He was numb. He couldn’t think anymore. He walked back to Breen and Stack. “Well,” he said. “That didn’t go very well.”

 

Breen sighed. “Look. The mayor has asked us to ready the riot squads. There is almost certainly going to be some retaliation attacks. I need you to get briefed and get your assignment.” Needless nodded. Breen looked at Stack. “Stack I’m putting you with Callisto. He’s down with Tim Carnaby in the lab right now. Go fill him in. I’m sorry, you two. I know it’s been a long night. It’s going to be an even longer day.”

 

*

It had been years since Smiles had walked down the marble hallways of city hall. He and the vampires had avoided the press by parking in the underground garage and taking a private lift up to the Mayor’s floor. Venect led the way to the office. His steps were graceful and effortless, as were the steps of his aides. Years of bodily abuse had already started to wind the aging P.I. .

 

The Mayor’s assistant ushered them into the office with a polite nod from Venect.

 

“Mr. Mayor.” Venect said as he stepped into the room.

 

The Mayor rose and greeted Venect. The room was populated by advisors and aides to the Mayor. A map of voting districts was propped up on a stand. Smiles finally caught the eye of Janet Bledsoe. He smiled. Janet quietly stepped to him, her look one of amazement and distaste.

 

“What are you doing here?” She said in a low growl.

 

Smiles shrugged and smiled. A moment later Venect turned around a motioned to Smiles, who stepped toward the Mayor.

 

“Sir,” Venect said. “This is Robert Johnson, son of Frank Johnson. He has agreed to work with us to help keep the peace.”

 

A young aide piped up. “The two sons? That’s really going to play.” A quick look from the Mayor silenced him.

 

The Mayor reached forward and shook Smiles hand. “Thank you, Mr. Johnson. We need you right now. The city and I appreciate this greatly. Your father would be proud.”

            Smiles bit his tongue and smiled back at the Mayor. Behind him Bledsoe swallowed her gum.

 

*

The peace between vampires and the citizens of Big City had always been fragile. For hundreds, if not thousands of years, vampires were persecuted and driven underground. The myth was that they were the undead, risen with an evil purpose. Their misunderstood religion and ancient cultural magic made them feared and the target of hate.

 

Even after their physiology and culture were more widely understood, the mistrust continued. It was their need for blood, for nourishment, that caused others to not trust them. The more industrious of the vampire population bred “bleeding herds” and sold fresh blood to their kin and neighbors. Those less fortunate still fed off cattle and for some, there was the unthinkable horror of bleeding a “thinking creature”.

 

Medreth changed all that. The development of Medreth meant that the vampires’ reliance on fresh blood was a thing of the past. It was cheap to produce and easy to distribute. As the Vampire Inclusion Movement became a reality, the government rationed the Medreth. Within 10 years, Medreth production was privatized and the market was flooded with hundreds of vampire Medreth products. It was a malleable  substance, and could be mixed in with all types of products.

 

This allowed many vampires to move out of the caves under the city and into housing projects. Vampire housing above ground was generally circular. Rings of connected rooms for particular times of the day. The night rooms line the outer ring of the house with windows to look out on to the night. The kitchen, bathrooms and recreation areas made up the inner rings. The center point of the home was the sleeping chamber. This was a tradition in vampire culture. Family was the center of their society and families all slept in the same room, in protective boxes.

 

As the years of the Movement passed, many vampires also abandoned the traditional home for a more secular home. They began sleeping in beds and breeding with others. Other advances in technology allowed them to move about easily in the day.

 

And still some vampires wished to stay close to their culture. The accepted Medreth as a way of life, but continued to live in kintribes beneath the city. In the deep cave system that led from deep in the mountains to the rocky cliffs that lined the shore, thousands of vampire families lived and thrived.

 

But the fear and hatred never left; it only shifted. Many of Big City’s other creatures felt that the vampires got special treatment. Special night-time schools for children. Medreth subsidies for the poor. While the majority was accepting, or at least tolerant, the minority became more and more subversive and underground.

 

As news of the massacre spread, all those hushed conversations and silent thoughts rose to the surface. The hatred grew. By early afternoon, when the names of the dead, 178 in all, were released, the boil had started. The first rock was thrown by some teenagers.

 

They yelled “go home” and “sucker” until their throats were raw. They flung rocks at a traditionally built, circular vampire community that had stood for 30 years, a testament to the progress of The Movement. Their blind mistrust and anger drove the stones through the air. Soon more people began to join. By the time the police began to arrive to break it up, the group of stone-throwers was 40 strong.

 

It had started.

 

*

Callisto was younger than Stack and older than Needless. He was a good solid cop with no desire to advance. He just liked his job. A little thick around the middle and thinning on top, but still a good cop. Stack had never worked directly with him, but knew his reputation. A good man to have watching your back. A good man.

 

Earlier that morning Stack had briefed Callisto on what they knew and the two had returned to Serenity to see how things were progressing. Later in the morning the two had been called to a warehouse, where the bodies of seven vampires and a spent sunshine grenade were found. Stack wasn’t sure yet how it played into all of this; he was just sure it did.

 

Now they were heading back to the station to meet with Carnaby. He apparently had found something on the security footage. Stack and Callisto didn’t speak much. Callisto was also familiar with Stack’s reputation as a thinker and decided to not be the one to break his concentration with small talk.

 

By the time they arrived to the lab, Carnaby already had a some blown up photos waiting for them.

 

“I pulled this off of the front door security camera.” He handed Stack the photo. The photo was of a truck. The kind normally used by independent landscapers out in the ‘burbs. A flatbed fitted with a tank of fertilizer. Several hoses could be made out on the grainy photo, fitted to the side of the truck. “I noticed that about 20 minutes before the doors were locked, this turned off the street into the alley beside the Serenity. I didn’t think much about it at first, but then it struck me as odd. I enhanced the blow up and ran the plates. This truck was reported stolen two weeks ago from a landscaping company out in Mistwood Heights.”  He slipped another photo to him. Same truck on the open road. “This one was taken last night about 45 minutes after the doors were locked. The truck ran an on-ramp tollbooth on the southbound bypass. The booth security camera snapped this as it left. Notice anything different?”

 

Stack looked at them again. Callisto looked over at them. “The tank was empty when it got there. When it ran the toll, it had something in it.”

 

Stack looked at it.  Callisto was right. This particular type of tanker showed the level inside. There was something in the tank. Stack shuddered with a horrible thought. He looked at Carnaby. “You think it was heading down to Ironton?”

 

“Can’t be sure. Ironton is a good place to hide stuff.”

 

“Okay. Put out an APB to Ironton PD. Send them this picture. Callisto and I are heading down there. If they spot it, tell them not to go near it until I get there.” He looked at Callisto. “Let’s roll.”

 

Wordlessly, Callisto rose and followed Stack. He nodded to Tim Carnaby on the way out.

 

*

Smiles looked down at his notes. His hands shook slightly. What had he gotten himself into? In less than half an hour he’d be speaking to the entire city. He ran his fingers through his hair. He sat quietly in the bathroom stall smoking, dropping each butt into the toilet as he lit another one. The memory of his father was strong today. It tore him up. As he glanced over the words that had been written on the note cards, he could hear his father’s voice floating up at him. He leaned his head back against the cubicle wall and expelled a lungful of smoke.

 

He jumped at the sound of his cell phone. He shook his head at disgust with himself and opened the phone.

 

“Hello?”

 

“Smiles!” Charlie’s voice blared out of the phone. “Where are you, man? Emily and I have been worried sick. I’ve been trying to call.”

 

“Sorry. I just turned my phone on a little while ago. Look, I need you and Emily to take care of things today. Actually…I’m not sure, it might be a few days.”