Dead by Dawn (3 page)

Chapter 4

Darkwood military base, WA - July 1st

              Major General Smith was quite the intimidating figure in his uniform. With his strong posture, angry scowl and piercing eyes, he could make even the most confident man squirm.

Dr. Bennet sank back from his gaze. He felt a small ping of nervousness and fidgeted in his chair.

The office they were in was small and made him feel trapped. He was beginning to dream for the moment when he would be free to go back out into the air.

What the hell am I getting myself into?
he wondered.

“By signing this paper you agree that everything you see while at this facility is strictly top secret. Therefore, you may not at any time or for any reason discuss the things you see here.” Smith slid a piece of paper across the desk.

Dr. Bennet cracked his fingers and then signed it. He silently prayed he wasn’t signing his life away.

“Very well,” said Smith, standing up from his desk. “If you will be so kind as to follow me, I’ll take you to where you need to be.”

Bennet tucked his reading glasses into the pocket of his dress shirt and stood up to follow the General. The man was holding his office door open and waiting. When Bennet got close, Smith turned and took the lead.

It was warm and muggy outside and the grass between the buildings was wet from it raining all morning. The sky was still cloudy and on the verge of opening up again. The base was an easy place to get lost in. Every building was made out of the same gray bricks and lined up in no particular order. On foot, it felt like the place went on forever. Only the barbed wire a ways off on their left reminded Dr. Bennet that there were boundaries. It helped keep him grounded as they walked through the maze of buildings.

Every soldier who walked by saluted Smith before they moved on. At first Dr. Bennet was saluting back, but eventually he felt foolish and stopped. Their salutes were for the General, not him.

They went three blocks before Bennet mustered the courage to speak. “Why exactly am I here…uh, Sir?”

“Because we have a job that requires your specific expertise.”

“Right, I understand that, but what is it that you need done exactly?”

Smith glanced behind them. “You’re perhaps the only Cryptozoologist with any credibility to your name. In your medical book, the Science of Myth you explain in detail how it could be possible for certain aspects of mythical creatures to exist in the physical world. Your explanations and drawings of these creature’s anatomies are detailed to say the least. Also, your comparisons to known living creatures are extremely thought provoking.”

“You’ve read my book?”

“Yes, your comparisons between dinosaurs and dragons were quite interesting to me.”

Dr. Bennet’s foot caught on a crack in the sidewalk and he stumbled to keep from falling. “But still,” he said, regaining his balance. “What relevance does a book of fiction have to do with this place?”

“In a world where myth blends with reality,” said Smith. “I imagine you would be a pretty handy man to have around.”

Smith turned towards one of the buildings and had to flash an identification badge to get inside. The guard eyed Dr. Bennet, but let him pass without further inspection.

Inside was a small waiting room with a fully decorated female soldier sitting behind the receptionist’s desk. She stood and saluted the moment she saw Smith.

“At ease,” said Smith. “Are they ready for us?”

“Yes sir, they’ve been waiting.”

Smith went to the elevator and pressed the call button. The button lit up in a blue halo.

Bennet cleared his throat as they waited. He didn’t have to cough, but his nerves told him he had to do something.

A few seconds later the elevator pinged and the doors slid open.

“This way Dr. Bennet.”

Bennet gave a nod of thanks to the receptionist before getting on the elevator with Smith.

As soon as the doors closed, the feeling of claustrophobia crept in. He was thankful that there were no mirrors inside. Being able to see the intimidating General out of the corner of his eye was bad enough.

“Relax Doctor, we’re on the same side.”

Bennet brushed away a bead of sweat that was running down his forehead. He wondered how bad he must look.
Will it cost me the job?

Bennet felt their momentum slow before the elevator doors opened.

They were standing at the entrance to a long hallway. As they began to walk, he could see rooms on both sides. Glass windows allowed him to see inside. They appeared to be different types of laboratories. There were men and women inside working in lab coats.

Dr. Bennet was disturbed to see soldiers in full gear standing at the doors.

Who are they waiting to shoot?
He wondered.

At the end of the hall was a heavy door that required Smith to crank a wheel in order to open. The door took them into a small, pressure sealed room. On the right wall was a bunch of plastic, white, jumpsuits that they were required to put on before continuing.

Dr. Bennet didn’t like the jumpsuits. They made him feel even more claustrophobic than he already was.

Once in full dress, Smith took them through another pressure sealed door.

They came out into a curving hallway that was made entirely out of glass. The hallway wrapped around the outer wall of a large laboratory. It circled the entire room, offering a 360-degree view of the lab.

Fluorescent light bulbs cast gray light down on a random assortment of equipment. There was a metal desk with a computer on it. Not far from that was another metal desk. On top of this one was a random assortment of microscopes. Bennet spotted a small cart with scalpels and saws spread out across its surface. His eyes were drawn from there to the very center of the room, where he saw a metal operating table. Atop the operating table, draped under a white sheet, appeared to be a body.

Dr. Bennet felt a chill run through him that had nothing to do with the cold.

“Is that a dead body?” asked Dr. Bennet.

Major General Smith opened the one glass door at the far end of the room, allowing Dr. Bennet to step inside.

“Something like that,” said Smith.

The only reason Dr. Bennet entered the large room was because he was afraid of what might happen if he pissed off Smith. If it were up to him, he would turn tail and run for daylight.

“Do you remember the recent story of Jonathan Q. Harbor?”

Dr. Bennet thought for a moment before shaking his head. “I can’t say that it rings a bell.”

“He claimed his dead son was visiting him in the night.”

“Oh yes, I remember that. They said he had footage that showed a vampire.”

“More importantly,” said Smith. “Jonathan went missing the night that video was uploaded.”

“Yes, which was odd because the video showed his son diving through the window to attack him. That meant he was attacked and then uploaded the video, only later disappearing. Which I personally think backs up the vampire story. He would’ve had some time before turning.” He stopped, realizing he was probably beginning to sound crazy. “Which is just a fun musing considering the circumstance.”

“Anyway,” said Smith. “We found him.” He grabbed the sheet that was draped over the body and yanked. The sheet flew off, revealing the man underneath.

His arms and legs were locked to the table by silver straps. His neck, waist, chest and forehead were as well. There was a muzzle strapped over his mouth. He was so pale that Dr. Bennet would have thought him dead. At first he did, but then his dark red eyes parted and began shifting back and forth.

“What the hell!” Bennet yelled, stumbling backwards. He kept going until his back hit the wall, jarring him to a stop.

Smith didn’t even flinch. “Using various documents pertaining to the myth of vampires, one of which was your book, the CIA was able to devise a trap. They used pure silver and were able to capture and contain the former Jonathan Q. Harbor.”

“What the hell!” Dr. Bennet repeated, still not moving away from the wall.

“They sent him here to be studied, so we can understand just what exactly the hell is going on.”

“Why is he strapped down like that?”

“Because he's a vampire Dr. Bennet.”

“No.”

“Yes. And if you would calm down you would see it.”

“This isn’t right, you can’t keep him down here.”

Smith crossed his arms. “We can.”

“He has rights. This is against the constitution.”

“He lost those rights when he died.”

“What? I, I… I can’t breath.” Dr. Bennet was beginning to wheeze.

“Pull yourself together Doctor.”

He tried, but his heart was already pounding out of control. He felt like he was dying, he was sure of it.

“Get me out of here, I have to get out of here.”

“Doctor.”

“Get me out of here now!”

Smith closed his eyes and sighed before leading Dr. Bennet back into the pressure-sealed room. Dr. Bennet felt like his skin was crawling and his heart might explode.

“Here is fine,” said Bennet when they reached the other side of the door.

They were in the white hallway again. Dr. Bennet sat on the ground and leaned against the wall. Smith stood over him, looking down.

“Better?” he asked.

Dr. Bennet took a deep breath to steady himself. He was shaking.

“What did I just see General?”

The General stood there for a moment, letting some silence fall between them.

From the sounds coming from the adjacent rooms, and what Bennet could see from the floor, it appeared they were still setting everything up.

How long has this place been here?
Now that he thought about it, he could smell raw construction materials.

“Like I said before, you saw the former Jonathan Q. Harbor.”

“Who is now a vampire?”

“We believe so, yes.”

Dr. Bennet let out a laugh that did not look too appreciated by Smith.

“Or rather, we believe something strange and unnatural has happened to Mr. Harbor. We can’t say exactly what it is. That’s why we’ve contacted you. What we do know is that he appears to have fangs, and incredible speed and strength. Also, the only thing that can hold him is silver, and on the night he disappeared he claimed to have been visited by his dead son. Also, That son was caught on one camera, the only camera that didn’t use mirrors. You draw your own conclusions Doctor.”  

Smith reached into his back pocket and pulled out a bunch of photos. He dropped them in Dr. Bennet’s lap. Bennet pulled out his reading glasses and began shuffling through them.

“That’s one of the only tests we’ve run so far.”

Every photo was of the operating table in the other room. There were ten photos and nine of them showed the table as empty. In only the tenth photo could he see Jonathan Q. Harbor.

“Each photo was taken on a different camera,” said Smith. “Only one, the Canon EOS-M Digital Camera was able to capture Mr. Harbor. Do you know why?”

“Because the camera didn’t have a mirror,” said Bennet, fascinated by the photos.

“Because the camera didn’t have a mirror,” repeated Smith.

“And this is one of the only tests you’ve run so far?”

“That’s what I said.”

“And the silver? How did he react to it?”

“It irritated and burned his skin, but he got used to it. The less he pulls against his restraints, the less it burns. At this time they aren't leaving much more than a rash.”

“Amazing,” whispered Dr. Bennet.

“I assure you, it is.”

“What of the boy, his son, have they found him?”

“As far as I’ve been told, they have not.”

“Have they discovered any others?”

“No.”

“That’s troubling news General,” said Bennet.

“Do you want the job or not Doctor?”

Dr. Bennet reached out a hand and Smith took it, pulling him up to his feet.

“You’re asking me to dissect a vampire?”

“Your country is asking you to
study
a vampire. You will be in charge of the project therefore it’s up to you as to how you want to go about it. Within reason of course.”

“Of course,” said Bennet.

“We believe there might be more of these things out there and if that’s the case, we want to know everything there is about them. You’ll be leading a highly qualified team. We have the countries top Cytologists, Epidemiologists, Ethologists, Geneticists, and we can get whomever else you might request. All you have to do is ask.”

“You have my attention General, but I still have one question.”

“And that is?”

“It’s more of a hypothetical dilemma. Let’s say you’re the number one predator in the world. You’ve lived for hundreds, maybe even thousands of years. All this time you’ve lived in secrecy, because your preferred prey is the smartest living organism on earth. One day you wake up to find that your prey has discovered your existence.” Smith looked impatient, but kept quite. “You also learn that your prey has captured one of your own, presumably to gain insight into your kind’s weaknesses.”