Operation (12 page)

“Kacianik,” he said. “That is interesting. We too are from that area. When did they find you?”

“That part we don’t understand,” she said as her face contorted with a frustrated look of the inability to answer the question.

“Perhaps if you try and explain it.” Dimitri suggested, trying to keep his voice calm while his mind demanded answers.

 “I don’t think it was that long ago.”

“What do you mean?”

“The last thing from home that we remember—it was late in the afternoon and we went to pick berries and we lost track of time. We knew our father would be angry, because he had insisted that we get home before it got dark, but we were having so much fun and it was such a pretty day. It was nearly sunset when we started on our way back home. On the road home, we met a man. He said he was lost and needed directions. We talked for a bit and then he asked us if we knew Idriz Lauki, because he had something to deliver to him. We were surprised at first, but told the stranger of course we knew who that was—he is our father.”

“Lauki?” Dimitri asked. He felt his head swooning with the revelation. His mind wanted to refuse what she was going to tell him next—wanted her to stop. “Idriz Lauki was your father?”

“Yes. You know him?”

“Go on, tell me what happened next?” Dimitri asked avoiding answering her question. He had to control the shock and amazement in his voice. It was true—yet he did not want to believe. How unimaginable that only a few days ago they had wondered what evil thing would take two girls and punish them by turning them into vampires at such a young age. The evil thing—the creature had been none other then his friend and fellow vampire—Josip.

It never ends…
Dimitri thought.

“I don’t know,” she continued on. “We remember talking with this man and then it goes—I don’t know how to explain it—it just goes black. The next thing we remember is waking up in a strange place with people we didn’t know and being…different. We had changed into what we are now—these creatures.”

Creatures…
Dimitri thought,
the honesty and innocence of a child.

She continued, “We don’t like being these creatures. They explained to us that we were different and that if we wanted to live we had to do what they told us to do or they would kill us.”

“They are evil,” Dimitri agreed.

“Can you make us back the way we were?” she asked.

Dimitri wondered how he should answer her question. Should he lie? Should he give her false hopes? For an instant, he almost thought he would lie to them—give them some hope—but that would only make it harder to accept later on.

“No. I cannot.” Dimitri said. “I’m sorry.”

She looked away from him—her face reflecting anger and sadness as she gazed out of the window and into the darkness of the night.

Seeing her look, Dimitri continued, “This is a different life—but it
is
life,” he said, hoping that he would sound convincing to her.

Not answering, she continued to stare out the window. Dimitri thought from the way she had spoken that she was already changing, losing aspects of being a child and being forced to become an adult much too soon in what would be a long life—if she could adjust. But, he wondered, would her anger corrupt her mind? Would she become full of hatred and loathing at what Josip had done, and what she had been forced to do by her human captors?

There was even a bigger problem to consider. Would they hate their own kind? Would they feel anger and hatred, knowing that they would never grow into women? And that is was because a creature just like them had taunted and then killed their father—how would he make them understand all of this?

Dimitri sensed the presence of Andre and Iliga trying to tap into his thoughts. They had obviously listened to the discussion and wanted to know how he would handle this—would he tell them the truth or would he lie in an attempt to hide the truth from them under the guise of trying to protect them?

I have been your leader and your friend for many years,
he said in his thoughts to them
. You have trusted me to guide you, yet I have made a costly mistake. I did not think that Josip would do something as evil as this—to punish innocent children. It is my fault. I will handle this in my own way and in my own time. The past has come once again to haunt us. Our only hope is to save these two children—some way. I don’t know how. For now, let us finish what we must tonight—there will be no further discussion on this topic. Leave me be.
 

Chapter Nine

“You know the way?” Dimitri asked, as he peered cautiously out of the window. He forced his thoughts away from his earlier conversation with the child and concentrated on finishing what they needed to do tonight. There would be time later to figure out what he would do. 

“Yes,” Andre said.

“Good. It will be getting light soon. This would not be a good time to get lost,” Dimitri said.

“It’s about fifteen minutes away, twenty at the most,” Andre replied.

“And all is prepared?”

“I saw to it personally.”

“Good,” he said, placing his hand on Andre’s shoulder. “Very good.”

“You seem distracted.”

“More concerned than distracted,” Dimitri said, exhaling strongly. “I fear we have opened a hornet’s nest. As soon as the girls are discovered missing, they will cordon off the area and begin the search.” 

“And they will find nothing.”

“But they will suspect much,” Dimitri added. “We will worry about that later.” He turned toward the back of the van where the two girls sat with the silent Iliga. “Iliga, is it safe to remove the collars?”

Iliga looked at his watch and then back to Dimitri. “Yes. The solution they drank should be in their blood stream by now.”

The elixir—designed to ward off his own kind—the vampire.

Dimitri’s thoughts wandered through the history of the elixir. He did not know when it was created, but it had been passed down through generations. A mixture of ingredients, when ingested by vampires, produced an immediate and painful death. Ironically, the parents and grandparents of the two little girls had used the substance to overcome two members of Dimitri’s own team. Now, here they were, the descendents of those same people, facing the same poison if the neutralizing agent didn’t work.

After the team’s initial escape from captivity, Dimitri preserved a sample of the elixir from their collars. He felt having a precaution against recapture, a solution to neutralize the effects long enough to escape, was well worth the large financial investment. They had the sample analyzed quietly and a neutralizing agent created which temporarily prevented the elixir from killing. Dimitri hoped the first actual test on a subject was as successful as the laboratory testing. It was a risk, but they had no choice. If they waited too long to initiate the release of the elixir and the neutralizing solution wore off, or if their captors activated the collars remotely, the two girls would die a horrible death. Dimitri was sure they would activate the collars soon. Time was running out and there was really no choice.

“Do it then,” Dimitri said. He turned toward the girls. “The solution we gave you earlier to drink is something to prevent the substance in your collars from harming you. However, we cannot remove the collar without causing the activation of the device. You will feel a slight sting at your neck and there may be some discomfort when the collar activates. Do not be alarmed. Are you ready?”

The two sisters nodded. They nervously clung together. Dimitri could see their trembling even in the limited light that filtered into the van. Dimitri thought it was such a shame to be taken so young…they have not even had the chance to experience a full, normal childhood. He had, for a while been normal. Given a choice between life and death, he had chosen life. These girls were not given that chance. And if the elixir failed, they may perish with only childhood memories. He wondered if perhaps it would be better that way...better than what the future holds.

Iliga placed his hands around the collar at Ishma’s neck. With a quick jerk, he ripped the connection apart. As soon as the seal of the collar was broken, the sound of the tiny injectors whirled and hissed as they released the elixir into her bloodstream. The collar design worked perfectly—any attempt to remove them meant the release of the elixir and death.

Dimitri carefully watched the reaction on Ishma’s face. At first, she looked confused and scared, which he considered perfectly normal considering the circumstances. Then her face started to distort into a painful expression. She slumped back into her seat, releasing her embrace of her sister. Her eyes closed and she clenched her hands tightly. Her body convulsively shook.

“Ishma!” her sister called. “Ishma!”

“Stay away from her,” Dimitri said. “Iliga—hold her back!”

Iliga restrained the younger sister, holding her firmly out of reach.

Dimitri left his position in the front seat and moved closer to Ishma. He sat next to her and held her body steady even though he knew he was placing himself in harm’s way if the elixir activated and she burst into flames. Dimitri felt the girl’s elevated body heat and feared the worst. Had they miscalculated? Would she burst into flames before them?

“Hold on,” he said softly. “Hold on, Ishma.”

Slowly her convulsions reduced in intensity and the high temperature began to drop off. She opened her eyes and looked at him.

“It was so…so hot,” she said.

“How do you feel now?” Dimitri asked.

“Strange. It felt like it got warm inside of me. It hurt for a bit, but now it feels like it’s getting better.”

“Good,” Dimitri said and he smiled. Ishma smiled weakly back at him. He turned to Iliga. “Get her collar off,” he said, indicating the other girl. “Can you help him?” he said to Ishma.

“I think so.”

“Talk her through it,” he said.

“I will,” she said and then reached out for her sister. Crema immediately leaped into her arms. “It’ll be okay,” Ishma said, as she stroked her younger sister’s hair. “It only hurts for a little while. It will be over before you know it.”

Dimitri nodded to Iliga to go ahead and begin the process. When it was completed, Dimitri exhaled a sigh of relief as he returned to the passenger seat up front.

“It is done,” he said to Andre. “It worked.”

“That is good news,” Andre answered. “Very good.”

Dimitri fell silent for a few seconds as Andre drove them toward their destination for the completion of their mission. Dimitri sat and let the strobe affect of the passing streetlights lull him into a moment of peace.

“There is someone who would help us,” Andre said, driving Dimitri back from his momentary haven of solitude.

“What did you say?” Dimitri asked.

“What we were talking about earlier. When the military discover the escape and become suspicious of our methods. There is someone who might be able to help us.”

Dimitri turned his gaze to Andre. Andre had always been the trusting one of their group. He believed that everyone was inherently good. What surprised Dimitri the most was that after all they had been through since they left their home, that Andre would still think that there was the possibility of outside help for them.

“I know. But we cannot go to him,” Dimitri finally answered.

“Why not? We are so close. He helped us before. He understands the burden that has been placed upon us.”

“Andre, my good and trusted friend,” Dimitri said slowly with gentle words. “You forget that Commander Reese orchestrated our removal from our home. I do not believe he can be trusted. Our release was his…atonement, so to speak, for his own conscience. This situation is something different.”

“How is this so different?”

“Why did he not tell us about the girls? He kept it from us.”

“Perhaps he did not know.”

“Perhaps,” Dimitri began slowly, “but I believe he did. He was their so-called expert. It only makes sense that they would have consulted him again on such a matter.”

The van slowed as it turned right onto Chesapeake Boulevard.

“Not much further,” Andre said.

“Good.”

“But I thought you and he spoke afterwards?” Andre asked, resuming the conversation without looking at Dimitri.

“We did,” Dimitri answered. “I thought I owed him that much. He is a haunted man. He knows not what he wants from the world.”

“I don’t understand.”

“It is something we sometimes forget as well. Our kind has learned to live without—a requirement or reason for survival.”

“And that is?” Andre asked.

“Purpose of existence,” Dimitri said. The words hung in the air, demanding further explanation, but Dimitri knew it would not be now. He was in no mood for philosophical discussion. “I do not wish to debate this now, Andre. We have to finish this tonight…how much further?”

“There,” Andre said, as he pointed to a brick ranch home. “9301 Stephens Lane.”

By the light of the streetlamp, Dimitri surveyed the home. It was an older home—probably built in the 1940s. It was tucked away on a small side street and away from the mainstream traffic; the type of location you wouldn’t see if you weren’t looking for it. A large stockade fence circled the property, allowing only a limited view through dense shrubbery by any curious people. With the exception of the one street light, there were no other lights either in the home or outside of it. In front of the home was a white sign with prominent letters of “For Sale,” with a large sticker across it annotated with one word, “Sold.” 

“They were not suspicious?” Dimitri asked. “The realtor?”

“Cash has a way of curing even the deepest reservations,” Andre said, as if it was a simple matter of fact.

The van pulled into the driveway and turned off the lights.

“Let’s go,” Dimitri said. “Iliga, bring the girls inside.”

In the waning darkness, the three men and two young girls entered into the home.

As Dimitri entered the first room, he was surprised to find that it was completely furnished. He proceeded into the other living areas and saw the same result.