The Blood Order (Fanghunters Book Two) (8 page)

"Yeah, I can count, Vincent," Dom informed him.

"That's good news, young man. You'll be able to count how many vampires you can drop in a minute." He nodded his head. "Yes, much more effective than the traditional methods of slaughter. Quiet, fast acting, and they give us perfect control over who lives and who dies. We put humans to sleep, we put vampires down." He placed the dart gun back down and plucked up a nearby dart from the counter. There was a small canister attached to the end of it containing a blue liquid. He held it up to the light and gave it a gentle shake. "Dimethylpolypropamine, or what we prefer to call it: holy water. I believe you're already acquainted with this stuff."

Dom glanced back at Trixie. "Yeah," he replied. "Would've been nice of you to have given me some of that stuff when you sent me to face Drake." Dom gave Vincent a peeved look as he spoke.

Vincent sighed. "Ah yes, apologies for that. But, I couldn't reveal my identity at that stage. This is an extremely dangerous business where you could quite easily lose your life. I had to test you out, make sure you're a survivalist. Which is what you need to be in this game."

Dom flipped his hand on the air. "Yeah, whatever, it don't matter now. So what exactly is that stuff anyway?"

"A formula we've spent years developing. To humans
,
it's harmless--apart from the injured party suffering a severe case of diarrhea. But, to vampires, this stuff is deadly. It interacts with their blood in a specific way."

"How so?"

Vincent held a finger in the air. "Very interesting. You see the manna alters their blood during transmutation. Holy water is a hemotoxin, specifically designed to target the manna existing within the blood structure of the vampire--"

"You just had to start him off didn't you..." lamented Trixie with a shake of her head, her eyes glazed.

"Once inside the bloodstream," Vincent continued, "it attacks the heart of the vampire, stopping it dead. The vampire enters spasmic overload, effectively suffering a fatal heart attack. And hence, death."

Dom stared on with an open jaw.
Man, I didn't get any of that.

Dom cleared his throat. "Fascinating," he said, not wanting Vincent to see his bemusement.

"Indeed it is, young man. This substance has made things a lot easier than they used to be let me tell you that for nothing. A lot less messy than hammering stakes through hearts as well. Now we can get the exact same effect from a safe distance."

"Who designed that stuff?"

Vincent straightened his back. "I did. Well, my lab people at Sun Enterprise at least."

"So they know about the vamps too?"

"Of course. They're manna recoveries who have a penchant for all things science. They, like you, want to make a difference, but they wouldn't last two minutes out in the field. Nerds, I think is the term you'd use to describe them."

"Aren't you afraid they'll talk?"

Vincent gave him a grave stare. "I pay them very well, Dom. Very. Well. And their identities remain anonymous. So, it's a two
-
way deal."

"And the non-disclosure clause he gets em to sign helps too," Trixie added in an offhanded manner.

Vincent gave her a sheepish nod. "Well, that does help as well, yes."

"You got everything covered, huh?" Dom noted.

Vincent gave him a sure nod. "Absolutely."

Dom picked up a holy water dart and turned it over in his hand. "Ever tried just cutting their head off?" he asked Vincent still staring at the dart
.

Vincent pondered. "Never had the chance. Decapitation is a rather difficult operation to perform while engaging in battle with a vampire. Besides, I don't believe that would ultimately vanquish them. You see, after transmutation, the human being actually dies and is reanimated by manna. The heart is resuscitated and kept artificially alive where it slows to just a few beats per day, usually after the vampire has fed. They steal the oxygen from the blood they've slaked, once their heart pumps it through the veins in order to nourish the other organs, keeping them running smoothly."

Dom just stared at that dart.
Man, I've no clue what this guy's on about.

"Therefore," continued Vincent, "with or without their head, as long as the heart beats, these ghastly creatures remain alive, or as alive as they can be. 'Alive undead' is probably the best phrase to describe them."

Dom put the dart back down. "What about garlic? Garlic's good against vamps right?"

"Now you're just being silly," Trixie said, her head cocked to the side.

Vincent chuckled. "Young man, garlic is good for the heart; we want to
destroy
their hearts." He gave Dom a wicked grin. "So, no, garlic is out of the question. As are bullets, they just soak them up like a sponge. No, a jolly good holy water dart will suffice." He clapped his hands. "Now, you'll be using plenty of holy water while on the job. But also a lot of tranqs. We have a strict policy to not kill humans, Dom. Ever. Only vampires, those who've been transfigured beyond hope. We put them to rest in the kindest possible way. Holy water acts almost instantaneously. The vamp suffers minimal pain, and that's how we want it. They were once human, and we must respect that. Any humans you encounter, no matter how far down the line they are towards total transmutation must not be killed, under any circumstances. You have to show mercy at all times; to humans
and
to vampires. Put vampires down immediately with holy water, and neutralize any human threat using the tranqs. The stuff we use is fast
-
acting and strong. They'll be incapacitated within seconds. When it wears off and they wake--hopefully with the vampire enslaving them dead--their destiny is in their own hands. Some will, unfortunately, seek out more manna; others go back to normal life, their stories of vampires falling on deaf ears."

Dom recalled all the messages posted on that website; they were a mix of what Vincent just described. "How many have you killed?" Dom then asked.

Vincent lowered his head; his eyes became shadows. "Many, Dominic. Many..." he said with a regrettable nod.

Silence took over for a second, or two. A shiver danced up Dom's spine. The old guy came across as harmless
,
but he had a ruthlessness about him that Dom was seeing on full display. He was a hunter; an adept killing machine allied with all the tricks and gadgets to compliment his battle-hardened character. The old guy exterior was his cover, his disguise.

Like an elderly Bruce Wayne type. Dom watched him in trepidation.

Vincent then clapped his hands. "Now, what else do we have." He strode alongside the counter, staring over the various items strewn across it. "Ah, yes, we have radio walkie-talkie thingys, erm, various types of flash bang grenade, smoke grenades, knives, although I don't recommend those, they're just for last
-
ditch attacks. Erm, ah, here's something interesting." He picked up a small silver and black cartridge. "This is a sound weapon we've been working on. I call it the 'sonic boom'."

Dom stared at it, his eyes brimming with intrigue. "What does it do?"

Vincent cleared his throat. "It emits an irritating, high-pitched noise in the ultrasonic range of hearing, which humans cannot hear, but we believe vampires can. From what we understand, manna transmutation alters the upper range hearing capabilities of vampires. They have the same hearing levels as a dog, or a bat, which is most intriguing. Must be some kind of survival aspect they develop."

Vincent looked it over for a second. "Now where's the..." His eyes lit up. "Ah, here!" He flicked a button on the sonic boom; an abrupt, harsh screech bolted out of the top of it.

"Argh!" Dom screamed, throwing his hands up to his ears. A hot pain erupted in his inner ear. Through the haze of pain, he could see Vincent's mouth moving, but couldn't hear the words he was speaking above the noise.

Vincent then flicked the button once more and the sound grew more intense. Dom shouted in pain, clasping his hands tighter to his ears.
My eardrums are gonna burst!

Vincent continued speaking regardless, obviously unaffected by the noise.
Could he even hear it?
With glazed eyes, Dom watched Vincent point to a glass beaker he'd placed on the counter. It was trembling under the pressure, a perfect reflection of how Dom's ears felt. After a second, it exploded into hundreds of tiny fragments. Vincent flinched back before he then thankfully shut off the device. The insane screeching sound showed Dom mercy and let him go; he almost fell to his knees in relief.

"...And as you can see, it has this effect on glass," he heard Vincent say through the aftermath of pain.

"Are you okay?" Vincent then asked, staring at Dom with concern.

Dom got back to his feet in stages. His head spun. Vincent grabbed hold of him to steady him.

"I'm okay, Vincent," he managed. He turned his head to watch Trixie remove some plugs from her ears.

"I
really
should have warned you about that before he turned it on," she said with a mischievous grin. "
He
can't hear it. Me and you can though."

Dom frowned. "Me and
you
can?"

"That's right."

Dom glanced from her to Vincent, then back again. "You mean, you were a fanghead? When? How?"

"Let's not go there," Trixie replied. "Okay?"

Vincent cleared his throat. Dom whipped his head around to meet him. "Apologies, Dom. I'm unaware of how bad the sound is."

Dom rubbed his ears. "Trust me, it's bad."

"Well, imagine what it's like for a vampire!" Vincent stated. "
And
I only had it on its lowest setting." He then nodded slow and morose . "Yes, I indeed had to save Trixie from manna. But, like you, it's made her a fierce enemy of theirs, which is to
our
benefit."

Dom frowned in bemusement before looking at Trixie. She rolled her eyes away from him. Dom got the message. He turned his head and stared at the items on the metal desk instead.

So, Trixie used to be a venom addict?
Man, that's a turn-up. The daughter of the world's leading vampire hunter is a fanghead. Who'd have thunk it?

A wry grin played out across his face. He glanced back at Trixie, who saw and read that grin. "Can we just get back to vamp killing one-oh-one please?" she said in an exasperated tone. "Thanks."

Vincent cleared his throat. "Indeed, my dear." He clapped his hands. "Yes, so that's the sonic boom, which is still in its testing phase."

"What do you do about the icing?" Dom then asked. "Trixie gave me a pair of glasses to wear when she saved my ass the first time. They were blue or something like that."

Vincent's eyes lit up. "Ah yes. Curious. For some reason, the color blue inhibits the effects of vamp hypnosis."

"Vamp hypnosis?" Dom echoed.

"Hmm. An extremely annoying facet of their feeding habits, wouldn't you say?"

"Yeah, I
would
say that, Vincent."

"This icing you refer to can be negated while wearing glasses with blue lenses. The problem there is the glasses can easily be lost in combat or even broken. They also tend to darken the surroundings, not favorable when entering the unlit environments vamps tend to frequent. So, we developed a special type of contact lens, which can be worn while on the job. They're clear but have a special reflective coating which neutralizes the effects of vamp hypnosis, in the same way blue tint does. We'll get a batch of them made up to fit your retina size."

Dom shrugged. "Well, that's that problem handled."

"Young man, we've got all bases covered. You wouldn't know the problems I've had with that wretched vamp hypnosis over the years before the use of blue lenses were discovered."

"How did you discover it?"

"That's another story. But, there was one time when I managed to break into a nest of a rather ferocious vamp by the name of Barlowe. Yes, he broke away from the Blood Order and was spreading his germs around, creating havoc in downtown Charleston. I expected to find him on his own but was alarmed to discover he had five vampire companions. Vampires usually tend to live alone with their brood close by for easy feeding, not in amongst one another in this fashion." He chuckled. "Anyhow, there I was caught in the basement of an abandoned apartment block by these five vamps, all attempting to hypnotize me at the same time..."

"This is a great story and all, but can we move on," Trixie said in a listless tone.

Vincent nodded. "Yes, yes, I do tend to ramble when I get into my past conquests."

Dom showed Trixie his palm. "Hold on, I wanna hear how this ended."

"Trust me, you don't," Trixie retorted. "You'll still be here tomorrow morning."

"Trixie's right, Dominic. We better get moving, there's plenty more we need to discuss." He clapped his hands. "Right. Ah, over here. There's something I need to show you." He led them both over to the door in the far wall. There was a panel on the wall adjacent. "This is Vincent," he said into it in a serious voice this time. The red light blinked and the door popped open.