Dominant Species (21 page)

Blood spatter cover
ed the resistance, as the council members were beheaded as one. The Priest’s eyes opened in horror. He had been promised eternal life, he knew if he were bitten by the Queen he could become one of them. Now he looked on and realised for the first time that he didn’t want to. The Queen’s voice brought him back to reality.

‘You know what?
I think the constitution has just changed.’

From
the shadows high above, Drameer watched. His eyes closed, trying to block out the horror below. The guards wiped their swords on the bodies of dead vampires and replaced them in their scabbards before stepping back. Drameer looked down to where Kathryn was kneeling and felt both pain and anger grew in his heart.

‘
It appears Keermit that we need a whole new Council’the Queen said with an ironic smile. ‘Hear me, all. Tomorrow we will swear in a new Council and, in true vampire tradition, we will seal their office by the drinking of the blood of our enemy.’

The Queen
turned to face the resistance leaders and smiled. As she did Drameer watched as the Priest carefully slipped away. She licked the blood from her hand and arm, her eyes glazing over. Focusing, she pointed to the guards.

‘
Prepare the humans for the ceremony. Oh yes and bring the Priest too. He may have been of some use to us, but he who turns against his own is, I think, one not to be trusted.’ She frowned. ‘Speaking of the Priest, where is he?’

The Captain of the Queen’s
Guard hesitated. The Queen’s arm moved like lightning, the impact sending the guard across the auditorium and completely through the wall.

‘Search the Building’ she screamed. Then s
he looked to her small pack of half-lings that sat, crouched at the back of the auditorium.

‘Kar! Dramare toono’ (A
ttack, find the Priest!) she yelled.

The f
our half-lings disappeared in pursuit.

The priest ran blindly and for his life, he slipped in the darkness, scrambled to his feet. Looking behind him he could hear nothing but the jack-hammer beat of his heart. He had to stop, out of breath, breathing hard. He leant back against the wall hands on his thighs, head bent over. It was then that he heard them; the drumming of distant feet. He stared into the darkness, his eyes wide, and ran.

The half-lings loped
along through the darkness, casting for a scent. They reached a T-junction with a corridor that ran to both the left and right. They paused, sniffed the stale air, and then exploded away in renewed excitement.

Ahead of them t
he Priest tripped and hit the floor hard. For fifteen yards he half ran, half scrabbled on all fours, before his feet finally gave way completely. Behind him the sound of his pursuers grew louder.

Father Matthew clutche
d his leg, pain seared across his face. He didn’t move, just listened. There was nothing but silence, then the first half-ling appeared around the corner. Its bloodshot eyes catching the little light there was, causing them to glow with a red tinged cast. The Priest felt it almost smiled as it lumbered towards him, sniffing the air.

B
ehind it the other three appeared, their mouths open, panting. As they closed he could see the drool dripping from their fangs in anticipation. He knew there was nowhere to run and suddenly something changed in him. As the beasts closed he knelt, ignoring the jagged pain in his thigh and looked up towards the ceiling.

‘
Dear Lord, what have I done? Please forgive me, for I have sinned.’ He then lowered his head. ‘I am so ashamed, I don’t deserve to live.’

He open
ed his eyes as the creatures closed. Suddenly above him there was a flicker, he glanced up as a shadow rippled across the ceiling. The first half-ling lunged and its decapitated body crashed, dead, in front of the Priest. The second beast tried to change direction as Drameer ripped its throat out expertly.

But the third was on him
before the second half-ling’s body had stopped convulsing on the floor, knocking the short sword from his hand, its teeth gnashing at his face in a bid for survival. Drameer drove his bare hand into the beast body. It roared. Drameer moved like lighting, rolling to the side as the forth half-ling attacked. It grabbed Drameer’s leg but was hit by the third beast as it lurched to one side before it remembered to die.

Drameer kick
ed the last half-ling hard in the face. Blood spattered across the wall in a long thin arc. It screamed, whether in pain or anger, Father Matthew did not know, and then it scrabbled for Drameer, clambering over the third beast, its nails scratching against the bare wooden floor. With a roar it pounced.

F
ather Matthew watched as Drameer pulled himself up to his full height, drawing a long silver bladed dagger from his boot. The blade slashed across the half-ling’s throat, but it didn’t even register the blow as it smashed onto Drameer’s chest.

Drameer
crashed helplessly into the wall under the force of the impact. Plaster tumbled down as they collided from one side of the corridor to the other. Father Matthew snapped out of his daze as Drameer and the beast struggled only a few feet in front of him. Only thirty seconds had passed, but it had seemed like an eternity. He began to crawl away.

Drameer pull
ed his head back as the beast tried to bite him. Its teeth closing on Drameer’s throat, saliva dripping onto his neck. He saw the priest trying to escape out of the corner of his eye.

‘Priest!’
He roared.

Father Matthew’s head rocket
ed round, his eyes wide.

‘
Stay where you are… or
I
will kill you,’ Drameer yelled as he struggled with the beast.

Father Matthew hesitate
d, and then defeated, slumped back against the wall. Satisfied, Drameer refocused on the last beast. With a demonic roar and unbelievable power he threw the beast off him. More plaster cascaded down as the creature hit the ceiling hard leaving a large hole of exposed joists. Undaunted it renewed its attack. Drameer slashed with his blade, it cut deep into the creatures shoulder, but the creature continued to charge, unfazed, knocking the blade from Drameer’s hand, ignoring any pain it may have felt in the process.

The blade clatter
ed across the floor towards the Priest. Drameer was strong, but beginning to tire. The beast simply would not stop, fuelled by an instinct to survive and to kill.

Drameer
’s elbow smashed into the creature’s face. Its head span away only to slowly turn back to face him, still snarling, teeth dripping saliva, undaunted. It pushed closer, closer. It’ teeth brushed the vampire’s skin.

It
was clear to the Father that Drameer was going to lose, that now would be his only chance to escape. But he chose a different course of action.

The creature
screamed as Father Matthew plunged the knife into its back. It reared backwards, trying desperately to pull the knife out. It twisted and turned, unable to reach the imbedded blade. In a rage the rounded on the Priest, who just stood there and held out his arms in submission.

‘I am ready.’

The beast lunged, but Drameer grabbed its leg. Confused, its brow creased with what was left of its reasoning capacity, trying to understand what was happening, it paused. Father Matthew watched as Drameer grabbed the knife, which protruded from the creatures back and using it for leverage he took his other hand and twisted the beast’s neck until he heard it snap. The creature jerked once then fell to the floor, leaving the vampire and the Priest facing one another.

‘
If you’re going to kill me, just get it over with,’ sighed the Priest quietly.

Panting, Drameer look
ed at him closely, his head slightly on one side. ‘Come with me,’ he said instead, although his tone did not suggest the Priest has a choice.

The Queen sat in Karick’s office
surrounded by her guards when Keermit entered, bowing low.

‘You called for me your majesty?’

‘Yes Overlord Keermit, is there any news of the priest?’

‘
Not yet my Lady, but the half-lings have a scent. It is only a matter of time.’

‘And what of Drameer?’

‘Nothing, as of yet.’

The Queen watche
d Keermit for a little longer than was comfortable, then stood and nodded. Turning her back she crossed the room, leaning her head on the window frame she gazed into the distance.

‘
You know Keermit. The human race is all wrong. On this planet the male of the species is physically the strongest. Yet in the case of its insect life, this planet is much closer to our own.

‘Your majesty?’

The Queen turned to face her new soon to be Overlord.

‘
The black widow, the praying mantis, it’s always the female that’s the strongest, just as it is with us.’

Keermit
felt the Queen’s eyes bore into her skull. She dropped her gaze.

‘
As it should be, don’t you think?’

Keermit Smile
d, bowed. ‘Yes my Lady. I am here to serve. Will that be all, or is there something else?’

‘
Serve me well, Keermit, serve me well.’ The Queen nodded, and then waved a dismissive hand. Keermit bowed again and left quickly. Behind her the Queen watched her go and ran one long nail over her tongue, in thought.

Trent
could almost taste the dankness, he couldn’t guess at the last time the cell had been used. They all sat huddled together in the middle of the old holding cell. Voices whispered all around. Jake, Kathryn and Megan were also there holding each other tight.

‘I
can’t believe Max is dead and I can’t believe Father Matthew betrayed us. I trusted him...’ Kathryn’s voice trailed off.

‘We all did, Kathryn,’ replied Jake
with a sigh, ‘but if life has taught me one thing it’s never to take anything for granted.’ He took her hand. At least I found you again, after all these years.

‘
What do you think will happen now?’ asked Megan.

‘
I don’t know. We tried our best. If we hadn’t been betrayed...’ Jake shrugged, who knows?’

A figure scramble
d over in the dark, it was Lano.’

‘
Jake, I’ve been talking to Trent and we’ve decide to fight, no matter what, you in?’

Jake nodded
.

‘
I promised Max it was to the end.’

‘Well i
f we’re going to die, we may as well go down fighting, even if we only manage to take one of those bastards with us,’ whispered Megan

‘They’re not all bad,’
said Kathryn quietly.

In the darkness she felt three pairs of eyes staring at her, the silence betrayed their feelings.

‘What?’ Lano finally hissed, ‘They’re nothing but killing machines, no feelings, no soul…’

‘
That’s not true.’ Kathryn protested. ‘I know of at least one who cares… that wanted things to be different. He…’

‘You mean the one that set us up?’

‘He didn’t,’ Kathryn almost screamed.

‘I
s he coming here to save you then?’ asked a rough voice from the darkness. Jake glared at Trent in the gloom.

‘
Enough,’ he said. ‘This isn’t helping anyone. There are better ways of spending this night than fighting amongst ourselves.’

In a
nother pitch black, dank and derelict room, this time on the Upper East Side of New York, Father Matthew was struggling to get accustomed to the darkness. Drameer had brought him to a disused apartment and sat him in the chair. He couldn’t see Drameer but he knew he was there. A soft French voice, right by his ear made him jump.

‘Have you any faith left Priest?

‘What?’

‘
Why did you lose your faith, Father? Explain it to me.’

‘Could
you light a candle of something? I can’t see a thing.’

‘
But, I can.’

F
ather Matthew felt Drameer’s breath tickle the left side of his face. ‘Why are you doing this to me? Why do you torment me so?’

Suddenly
Drameer spoke from his right, making the Priest’s head jerk round. ‘I’m not tormenting you. I asked you a question. I want to understand.’

‘
Okay, okay! You want to know why I lost my faith.’ He took a breath, trying to steady himself. ‘It started a long time ago, when I found out that Jake and Max had both been chosen as a gift by Rodan to be given to that evil bastard Roth. A gift, as if we are no more than a commodity to be traded.’ He took an audible breath, trying to calm himself. ‘Their parents came to me for help and…’ He closed his eyes; his mind transported back twenty years previous.

In the Church in the Madison Avenue, opposite the New York Palace a young Father Matthew stands in the darkness lighting candles. Suddenly the doors to his church burst open and he turns to see Jake’s Father running toward him, tears in his eyes.

‘What is it?’ asks a shocked Father Matthew.

‘Father, you must help us. They’re going to take Jake and Max.

‘Calm down,
what do you mean, who is?’

‘
Rodan, he’s decided to give them as a gift to Roth. You can’t let them. You have to help us, please!’

Father Matthew
directed Jake’s father to the back of the Church.

Drameer watched the tears running down the Priest’s face without a sound.

‘
…I was naïve; I thought I could save them. Through a contact I managed to get a message to the resistance.’

‘
And did you not consider how Rodan would react if they just disappeared?’

‘
Of course I did. But… but I...I thought my faith would give me the strength to face anything. After I’d helped Jake and Max to escape I felt invincible.’

There was a
movement more felt than seen, that made Father Matthew’s skin crawl.

‘Go on.’ Drameer’s voice was in front of him now, six to eight feet away.

Father Matthew’s head span towards the sound. He took another breath, his body ached, and he was visibly shaking and freezing cold. He fought to stop his teeth from chattering.

‘
I saw what they did to their parents.’

‘
Yes. Zidtool was, as I recall, very angry that his brother had been slain, and it all happened on Rodan’s patch, so he stirred up a real hornets nest.’

‘
I knew it was my turn next. I was given to Rodan as...as some sort of compensation. I though God would protect me but...’ He closed his eyes in the darkness, ‘... but I was forsaken by Him. That’s what I thought, now I realise that I just wasn’t strong enough. I tried blaming God for what had happened. But I know it was my actions that had caused the pain. It was my fault and mine alone.’

In the darkness Drameer
watched as the tears continued to run down Father Matthew’s face unabated.

‘
Why do you cry?’

Ignoring the question Father Matthew continue
d. ‘In the face of the torture I received, I gave up my God. Instead of asking God for strength, I begged Rodan for mercy and in doing so I turned my back not only on God, but on the human race as well.’

‘
Do you still believe in your God?’

Father Matthew look
ed as though he’d been slapped. Drameer watched very carefully as the Priest’s mouth opened and shut silently, as he thought about the answer. It was if he’d never asked that question of himself for over twenty years.’

In the darkness
Drameer saw the change in the Priest’s face and heard the deep breath that he drew. Then he watched as Father Matthew held his head up and stared into the pitch black of nothingness in front of him.

‘Yes
,’ he found himself saying and with a certain amount of surprise he realised that it was the truth.

The Queen’s personal guard, all female,
were laying out a magnificent gown on her bed when there was a knock at the door.

‘Who is it?’ purred the Queen.

‘Keermit, your highness,’ replied the voice from outside.

The queen nod
ded to one of the female vampires, who opened the door. Keermit entered; clearly uncomfortable.

In his cell,
Karick looked up, as the door flew open and the heavily chained figure of Rodan was brought in. Karick was unable to hide either his pleasure at the change in Rodan’s situation, nor his hate for the vampire as he watched him being chained to the opposite wall, fortunately for Rodan just out of reach.

‘
Upset the Queen already,’ he asked, his tone full of deadly amusement, ‘well that didn’t take long; it’s probably some kind of record.’ Then his smile disappeared completely and his eyes, as cold as ice, bored into Rodan’s. ‘You know you killed my best friend, don’t you?’ He paused and the power in his next words sent a shiver down Rodan’s spine, ‘I promise you Rodan, you will pay.’

A light flicker
ed in the corner and Father Matthew screwed his eyes shut, even though the illumination was weak. He sat against the wall holding his legs tightly. Drameer stood facing the opposite wall with his back to him.

‘
So, have you made your decision?’ asked Drammer. ‘You understand that it must be your choice, you have to prove to me that the human race is worth saving.’

‘Yes
…I agree.’

Drameer close
d his eyes, smiled and turned.

‘
And you’re sure?’

The Priest nod
ded. ‘On one condition… when it’s over, before... you know...if I’m still alive you’ll...’

The vampire
crossed the small room and placed his hand gently on the Priest’s shoulder and looking him in the eye and simply nodded.

‘I
have one more thing to do, Father Matthew, can you please wait here.’

In the holding cell of the police station some
of the prisoners tried to sleep, some sobbed quietly, whilst others lay staring through the bars into nothingness.

Suddenly
a whispered voice cut through the air.

‘Kathryn?’

There was no reply at first; the only sound that of someone crying softly in the corner.

‘Kathryn?’
the voice repeated. In the darkness a figure stirred. At the back of the cell a shadow raised its head.

‘Drameer
?’ Kathryn looked though the gloom towards the sound of the voice, wondering if she was dreaming. She saw a figure, just visible, but she still wasn’t sure whether it was real or just her imagination. Other people had woken and heads turned towards the sound. A scared voice called out, quietly.

‘Who’s there?’

‘Sshh! be quiet,’ whispered Kathryn as she quickly crossed the cell floor. She placed her hand against the bars, tears spilling down her face.

‘I knew you wouldn't leave me.’

Drameer grabbed her hand through the bars. ‘I haven't long. Tomorrow there will be a formal ceremony, to swear the new Council in. As part of this, and in line with the ancient Law, there will have to be a sacrifice… your resistance leaders.’

‘What?
But… you’re here to save us...Aren’t you?’

‘
There’s no way I can get you all out tonight, and...’ He hesitated, trying to keep control of his emotions. ‘And there is more at stake. This must end once and for all. The new Council must die, each and every last one of them… if not....’

He hear
d a slight sound, his head span round, his heightened hearing listening. When he was sure it was safe to continue he did, ‘Kathryn, we haven’t much time. Now my darling, listen to me. If you trust me, do as I say,
exactly
as I say. Tomorrow...’