Dawn of Darkness (Daeva, #1) (12 page)

"Have you
ever killed one?" Brad asked.

"I've met
more than my fair share. Only killed a handful of them though. The
scariest thing about a vampire isn't their strength, their speed,
or their abilities. It's their lack of humanity."

I could
see Sergeant Locke's face tense up. Sweat was beginning to form on
his brow.

"Seventeen years ago, my squad and I were assigned to locate
a group of scouts operating near what we call the Dead Pass, who
went missing after a bad storm. We found a series of caves,
figuring they might have taken shelter from the storm and were
unable to report in because of it. What we found at the back of
those caves was something straight out of a nightmare."

Sergeant
Locke paused again. There was an eerie silence in the air, despite
the noise of the Wisent's engine humming and groaning.

"We found
corpses... so many corpses. They were nailed to the walls of the
cave with iron spikes. Their eyes and mouths were sewn shut. Their
bodies were naked and shaved. We couldn't see the cave walls for
them. Even the ceiling was covered."

I
shuddered at the thought. The unease in the vehicle hung around us
like a heavy shroud. Looking outside, I noticed the sky had turned
grey and it was starting to snow.

"Some of
the corpses were nothing more than husks, tattered flesh and bones.
Then there were those that were only partly decomposed. But the
worst were the fresh ones. I still see their faces sometimes. We
never did identify most of them."

"My God,
that's awful," said Katiya.

"Did you
find the vamp?" Lucas asked.

"He found
us. Took out one of our men and wounded another before we got him.
We found the scouts alive, locked in tiny wooden cages, bound and
stripped. All except one. They never returned to active duty after
that. Every day, I pray to God you kids never have to witness
anything like what we saw that day."

I hoped
so too.

"Why are
you telling us this now?" asked Ash.

"Because,
I want you to be afraid. I want you to know what they are capable
of, so that when the time comes, you do not hesitate to kill them.
If you do, then you'd better pray they kill you, because they can
do so much worse than just take your life."

We sat
mostly in silence for the remainder of the journey, contemplating
the Sergeant's words. Fear. It's a natural response to the unknown,
an innate safety mechanism meant to help keep you alive. But it can
also paralyse you, and if that happens, you've already
lost.

*****

We
arrived after two hours of driving. The Wisent was parked amidst a
cluster of rolling hills, blanketed in a layer of snow, where the
ruins of Montargis sat ominously in the distance.

"Beyond
this hill is the entrance to the bunker. Remember, the vampire will
sense you coming. It may already know we're here. Your first task
will be to locate the enemy," Sergeant Locke told us. "Good luck,
and I'll be praying for your safety."

The snow
crunched beneath our boots. From the top of the hill we could see
for miles around us. There wasn't a whole lot of life. There were
no trees, no bushes, just endless plains of white and crumbling
ruins. Sure enough, we found the bunker's entrance protruding from
the other side of the hill. The doors were jammed shut, half buried
beneath the dirt. Fortunately, there was a hole in what little was
visible of the wall, large enough for us to fit through.

Inside
was pitch black, save for the light that spilled through the hole.
An incessant dripping could be heard in the distance. We activated
the flashlights on our helmets, and awaited our orders.

Ash was
crouched, his eyes closed, head tilting every now and then as he
reached out with his mind, listening to things the rest of us could
neither see nor hear. We waited patiently, keeping an eye out for
any enemies, with our lights penetrating the darkness. The path
before us sloped down, heading deeper into the dark underground.
Nothing came.

"That's
weird," Ash said. "There's like a dead zone, or
something."

"What do
you mean?" Katiya asked.

"It's
like there's something there, but it's empty... devoid of any
emotion. Hang on, I'll see if I can–" Ash's body flew backwards,
slamming into the wall behind him, as though he were thrown by some
invisible force. He fell to the floor, landing on his hands and
knees. Katiya and Brad, who were closest to him, rushed to his
side.

"I'm
fine," he said, waving them off and reaching for his headset.
"We've got maybe a dozen Renfields on one side of the bunker. The
vampire is near the centre with a single human, possibly Fifth
Covenant judging by his emotions."

"Good
work," Sergeant Locke's voice crackled over the radio. "Hart and
White, you know what you have to do. The rest of you, eliminate
those Renfields and make sure they don't reach the
vampire."

"You
heard the man," Ash said, picking himself up off the floor. "We'll
head down together, and I'll point you in the right
direction."

We began
our descent into the darkness with Ash taking point. Occasionally,
he would stop to sense the direction of the enemy, and we followed
blindly, trusting his ability. Katiya stopped in front of me,
causing me to bump into the back of her. She shrieked.

"It's
just me," I mocked her. She was looking around wide-eyed. "Ash,
something's wrong."

He took
hold of Katiya's shoulders and shook her, but she backed away into
the nearest wall.

"We need
to get out of here," said Brad. He was visibly
trembling.

Ash took
a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Are you projecting fear?" he
asked.

"No."

"Are you
sure? Because this feels exactly like your ability."

"It's not
me," I snapped. "Can't you trace it?"

"Yeah,
give me a sec."

"Can't
you hear the voices?" said Lucas. "They're everywhere... in the
walls, in the air. They're coming for us."

"Shit.
It's the vampire. We need to get these guys out of here before they
lose it. Think you can counter it long enough?"

I nodded
and dropped my shields. Even lowering them a little, I could feel
the vampire's magic drifting through the air like a cold breeze. I
reached out with my magic, letting it flow over the others. It's
hard to describe how my ability works, but it feels like a wind
emanating from my skin. When the wind touched the others, they
began to settle down, the fear chased out of them. But the vampire
wasn't going to give up easily. I felt its power breathe through
the passageway like a dam had been opened. I staggered as the first
wave hit me, buckling my knees. Slowly, but surely, the vampire was
going to undo my magic and regain control.

"I can't
hold it."

"Okay,
let's get going," Ash said, grabbing hold of Katiya and pulling her
to her feet. As we reached the bottom of the ramp I felt the power
subside, like stepping out of a pool of water.

Ash
reported the situation to Sergeant Locke over the radio.

"Did you
sense any movement from the Renfields?"

"No,
Sir."

"Good,
then the vampire is probably cocky enough to feel he doesn't need
them. You and Hart will have to go in and destroy the vampire
first, so the rest of the squad can join up with you."

"Understood, Sir." Ash looked at me and I nodded, letting him
know I was ready to go.

We
descended once more, taking a different path to the heart of the
bunker. The vampire's power still lingered in the air, though it
wasn't quite as thick as before. I thought about what Ash had said,
that it felt exactly like my ability. The thought raised a lot of
questions. Did I have a vampire's ability? How did I get it? Was it
the same for the other Daeva? I couldn't answer any of these
questions, so I pushed them to the back of my mind. I needed to
focus on staying alive and completing the mission. Questions could
come later.

Up ahead
we spotted a flickering light, dancing across the walls from around
a corner. Ash turned his flashlight off, and clicked the safety off
his handgun. I followed suit. We approached the corner and Ash
peered round.

"Well,
don't keep me waiting," a voice called from the room. "I do very
much despise being kept waiting."

Ash
charged into the room, and I followed close behind. A large fire
sat in the centre of the room, crackling away. Behind it stood a
tall, skinny man with short brown hair. He could have passed for a
human, were it not for the ghostly pale skin and two long fangs on
display. Before him kneeled one of the Fifth Covenant squad, bloody
and bruised, barely conscious.

The
vampire smiled as we entered, taking the soldier's head into his
hands. "Too late." He laughed manically. A loud snap echoed off the
walls and the body slumped to the floor. We both fired, but in a
blur the vampire was gone.

"You
know, I was getting tired of feeding from that worthless bunch of
ingrates I call servants," the voice came from above. He was
standing upside-down on the ceiling, watching us with a bemused
look. "But then five tasty snacks walked right into my new abode."
We fired again, and he disappeared faster than our eyes could
follow.

"And now
it seems dessert has arrived too." He was kneeling by the corpse
this time.

Ash
whispered to me, "He's toying with us. Keep him talking and buy me
some time."

"Please,
give me some credit. I am a vampire, after all," he wearied. "I
suppose you're wondering why I haven't killed you yet."

"I was
wondering when you might shut up," I replied.

"Feisty.
I like it." The vampire licked his lips. "You both smell so
delicious. You're not quite human, are you?"

"I don't
know what you mean."

"Of
course you do. So tell me, which of you was it who was able to push
back my magic?" He looked over at Ash, who was circling around the
fire.

"Me," I
said, hoping to draw his attention back to me. I swallowed hard, a
lump forming in my throat. "It was me."

"Then
that would make your friend here the empath." He waved a hand,
seemingly disregarding Ash. His eyes were focused entirely on me
now. Whether or not this was part of Ash's plan, I wished he would
hurry up. "I could teach you so much more about your power. You
could be so much more than you are now."

"I don't
care about any of that." That was only a half-truth. I wanted to
know about my ability, and more specifically, where it came from.
Were humans more related to vampires than we knew? Why were these
abilities only showing themselves in humans now? There were so many
questions, but as I looked at the vampire, I knew he had no
intention to answer them. We were prey, something to toy with.
Nothing more.

The
vampire sighed. "A shame that such power must go to waste, but I
shall enjoy sucking you both dry. And then I'll drain your friends
too."

"You
won't get the chance," said Ash.

The
vampire snorted. "And what makes you think you can stop me,
Empath?"

Ash
smirked. "It's like the Sergeant said. You get cocky, and it's
over. Well, you got cocky."

The
vampire threw his head back and laughed. "Cocky? I think it is you
who is cocky. Did you hope you could distract me and sneak around
to shoot me in the back? Tch. Perhaps, I'll save you until last, so
you can watch as your friends die."

"I never
planned on shooting you."

The
vampire's eyes widened and he looked to the ground, letting out a
blood-curdling shriek as he realised what was happening. Ice
snapped at his feet, encasing them and rooting him to the ground,
steadily rising up to capture his legs.

"You
stopped seeing me as a threat the second you learned I was an
empath. Big mistake."

The ice
grew upwards, and I could see the strain on Ash's face, the way he
gritted his teeth and his eyebrows furrowed. The vampire smashed
frantically at the ice in an attempt to free himself.

"Too
late," I said, firing three shots into his chest. His eyes grew
wider still as the bullets hit. A second later there were more
shots. The vampire's head exploded in an eruption of blood and bone
where the bullets exited his skull, and he fell lifeless to the
floor.

I walked
over to the body, keeping my gun aimed at him, just in case. The
body was still twitching. I fired the rest of my clip into his
head, leaving nothing but a bloody mess.

"Target
is down," I reported to the rest of the group.

"Good
work," Sergeant Locke replied. "Any sign of the Fifth
Covenant?"

"We have
one corpse," Ash said. "No sign of the others yet."

"Okay, I
want you to scout the rest of the bunker, clear out those
Renfields, and check for survivors. We'll bring the Wisent round to
the entrance. Once the place is clear, you are to bring our
soldiers out with you, dead or alive."