The Regulators - 02 (34 page)

The thing is, I could never in a million years even conceive
of betraying one of my friends. It’s just something that I could never do. To
me, my friends are my family. That means something to me. Unfortunately, it
doesn’t always mean something to other people.

“What do you mean?” Dudley asked.

“I mean that Kingsley is a resentful bastard,” Nick
answered. “I could practically see the resentment drip from his mouth every
time he said something.”

“He did seem sort of nervous when we came back into the
city,” Georgie added. “I just can’t believe that he did what he did.”

“I think he’s fundamentally weak as a man,” Javie said. “He
wasn’t man enough to let anyone know that he was too chicken shit to come back.
It was easier for him to just blame Jaxon for all his problems.”

“The only problem with that bullshit,” Dudley said. “Is that
Jax did a lot of shit for that traitor. Seriously, where the hell would
Kingsley be if it wasn’t for Jax? He’d be dead, that’s where he’d be. Think
about it. Kingsley doesn’t possess the drive or will to have survived the
outbreak.”

“You got that right,” Georgie added. “He was even starting
to come a bit unglued before we led everyone out of the city. I remember the
way he started drinking and the angry comments he would make. We should have
seen this coming. Kingsley was just too weak to be a member of this team.”

“It’s just unfortunate that Nick is his replacement,” Dudley
said.

Everyone began to laugh. Well, everyone but Nick.

“Seriously,” Dudley said as he offered me his hand to help
me up. “You were good to him, Jax. You were a great friend. You saved his life.
The villain in this story is Kingsley. The hell with him, all right?”

“Yeah,” I answered. “The hell with him.”

I think it was the support that snapped me out of it. I was
still hurt. I still felt betrayed, but I realized that I had done nothing
wrong. I mean, it’s not like I’m a mind reader. To start resenting me because
he was too afraid to speak up for himself, well, that kinda seems to be more of
his problem than mine.

“Hardin,” I said after tapping my earpiece. “Send in one of
the helicopters for an extraction.”

“Good idea,” Hardin answered.

Everyone was looking at me once again.

“We need to get those survivors out of here, boys,” I said.
“We have some vampires to hunt.”

Everyone began to cheer. Even Georgie, which was a bit of a
surprise. I would have been less shocked if he would have sucked his thumb and
pissed his pants.

It wasn’t long before we heard the sound of a chopper above
our heads. Georgie had led all of the survivors into the living room to await
their extraction. The plan was to just lead them to the helicopter and then hop
into the Jeeps once it was back in the air.

As soon as the house began to vibrate, which meant that the
chopper was descending, we led the survivors out to the front yard. We wanted
to make the extraction as fast as possible. There may not have been any zombies
in sight, but we weren’t about to take chances.

Everyone was looking up as the helicopter lowered itself
from the sky. The pilot was going to bring her down right in the middle of the
street so all of us hung back in the front yard in order to give it plenty of
space.

Something black streaked through the sky.

“Did you see that?” Javie asked.

I’m pretty sure everyone saw what he was referring to. It’s
just that nobody was exactly sure of what it was. To me, it looked as if a
black shape zipped through the sky and landed inside the helicopter.

It was only a few moments after that when I had figured
things out. The helicopter began to spin around wildly. The nose of the craft
was lifting up and down in an erratic pattern. Then things got even worse as
the chopper did a nosedive straight into the asphalt.

Right before it crashed into the street, I saw the black
shape shoot from the helicopter and streak across the sky to the rooftops of
the houses further up the road.

I was amazed that there was no explosion, but the crash was
deafening regardless. The sounds of tearing metal as the body of the aircraft
crumpled against the ground was grotesque. The blades of the helicopter sliced
into the street and sent chunks of metal and asphalt straight towards our
group.

I took down at least four of the survivors and covered them
with my body. Dudley was on the ball as well, and he shielded the ones I
couldn’t grab. I could hear him grunt as he was pelted by debris.

When things finally settled down, I ran to the chopper. I
knew it would be a wasted effort on my part, but if there was even the
slightest chance that the pilot or crew were still alive I was going to help.

Nick was right behind me. He was telling me to be careful.
He was worried that the broken remains would explode. I climbed over the
wreckage and investigated the bodies. The pilot was dead. I knew it before I
even checked his pulse. Two of the soldiers were also gone, but the third
soldier, he died in my arms.

I was pissed.

“
It was a vampire that
attacked the helicopter, wasn’t it
?”

It was and that was the scary thing. The vampire children
that we put down in the hotel were pretty tough, but we managed. The female
vampire that had been stalking me was about a hundred times more difficult to
put down, and we barely managed. Whatever took out that helicopter was nothing
I wanted to mess with.

Nick tapped me on the shoulder and pointed up the street. I
took a look and saw that two female vampires were standing in the middle of the
road about a block away. Reluctantly, I looked down the road in the opposite
direction. I saw two male vampires, also about a block away and they were
slowly walking towards us. I cast my gaze towards the park on our side. There
were another four male vampires walking through the overgrown grass in our
direction.

“Dudley,” I said after tapping my earpiece. “Get everyone
back into the house immediately.”

“Gotcha,” Dudley said.

“I don’t see Kingsley with any of them,” Nick said.

“I doubt you will either,” I answered. “He’s apparently not
exactly big on fighting.”

Nick laughed at my comment and the two of us slowly backed
away from the wreckage of the helicopter to the front door of the house. We
took our time. I didn’t want to run and give them a reason to chase after us.
That wouldn’t have been good at all because they probably would have caught us.

I was the last one inside. My eyes were trained on the
vampires the entire time. They all came together on the street in front of the
house just as I closed the door. We were effectively trapped once again.

I had some bad news to deliver, but while I made myself
ready to let everyone know just how bad our situation was, I realized that
nobody was even looking at me. Instead, they were staring down the main hallway
which branched off into the living room: a room that none of them seemed very
keen upon entering.

I smelled fire. Someone had lit a fire in the living rooms
fireplace. We had company, and judging from everyone’s expression, it wasn’t
the good kind of company.

I walked past the huddled group and poked my head into the
living room.

There was a man in a black suit stoking the fire. His suit
was immaculately pressed and so was the white shirt underneath. I found that
rather odd because the suit was old and worn. It had small tears in the pants
and jacket. The edges of the sleeves were frayed. Yet, there it was nice and
pressed.

The man wearing the suit had pale, grayish skin. He had the
face of a man in his mid-forties, but his dark grey hair made him seem just a
little bit older. His lips were black and his chin had smear marks from what
seemed to be a constant wiping of his mouth. Even the ends of his white sleeves
which peeked out of his jacket were stained by the black drool.

The worst thing about him was his eyes. They were white and
filmy. If I had seen a human with those eyes, I would have assumed that he was
blind and in need of medical attention. No such luck with this vampire though.
I knew he could see. It was the way in which his eyes darted around the room.

“Come in, Guardian,” the vampire said with a motion of his
clawed hand.

I moved my body into the room. Everyone else stayed more or
less behind the wall. Yet the team was ready for action. I could hear them
adjusting their weapons as I moved closer to the vampire.

He finally looked at me.

For what seemed like an eternity we simply sized one another
up. Then with a smile and a sigh he began to speak.

“I felt her passing just as I began my slumber. It was as if
my heart were breaking into a thousand pieces. I didn’t want her to go. I was
against the idea from the very beginning, but my daughter was a hunter:
probably one of the very best hunters to ever walk amongst us. She knew things,
even modern things like explosives and weapons. She loved the hunt. She loved
to toy with her food. She used her knowledge of all things modern when she
hunted, but I would imagine that you already know that don’t you?”

I just stared at him.

“She had always wanted to hunt a Guardian. It was her dream,
but I had always refused her. The last Guardian was much too experienced for
her. It would be too dangerous. That was the excuse I used, but then you came
along. A brand new and inexperienced Guardian, she begged me to let her hunt
you. She came to me with tears in her eyes and begged me for the ultimate hunt.
I could refuse her no longer. It was my mistake.”

I just stared at him.

“Once upon a time I would have had no problem letting her
go. We vampires always killed Guardians. Your kind is nothing more than a pest.
Even a young vampire is stronger than a Guardian, but times have changed.
Weapons have improved. A Guardian can pose a threat in this day and age, and
she was so young, my beautiful daughter. So very young and all her hunters
skill proved inadequate. Tell me, did she die well?”

I just stared at him.

“ANSWER ME HUMAN!” he screamed in a voice so loud that I
heard someone back in the hallway whimper.

“She died screaming,” I answered finally.

The vampires face contorted in fury. His clawed fingers dug
into his palms causing the black blood to ooze. The black drool began to leak
from his mouth. And then, he was under control again. His face was calm, almost
serene. He smiled at me politely and nodded his head in respect.

“Forgive me,” he said. “I rarely lose control. I am almost
ashamed of myself.”

I just stared at him.

“I’m going to kill you,” the vampire said. “I want you to
know that. I don’t want the fact that you are going to die to come as a
surprise. I want you to be fully prepared. I am going to kill you.”

I just stared at him.

“I could have my followers end your life, but that would
cause me to lose respect. Vampires are by nature a rather violent species. The
ones outside this home are under my control. They obey me, and I in turn allow
them to exist in my territory, and this beautiful land has been my territory
for a very, very long time. I claimed this land for myself after I destroyed the
previous Master in battle, and I’ve held it ever since. Such is our way.”

I just stared at him.

“So you see,” the vampire said. “If I fail to avenge my
daughter’s death, the others will see me as weak and will eventually attack me.
I have no doubt that I can destroy each and every one of them. That isn’t the
problem we’re facing at all. It’s much simpler than that. You see, I actually
want to kill you. I want to end your life. I want your death to be slow. I want
you to suffer and most importantly, I want all of the humans around you to see
you suffer. I want your death to have an audience. I want the humans to know
what happens when they cut down an immortal.”

I just stared at him.

He gazed back at me, and the black ooze began to drip from
his lips again. He slowly wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, but he
never took his eyes off of me.

“Excuse me,” the vampire said. “The fluid aids in our
digestion and it tends to flow heavier when our hunger is at its worst or our
emotions are at their strongest. It probably seems rather revolting to you.”

I just stared at him.

“You are a warrior,” the vampire said. “That much I can
tell; you aren’t afraid of me. You know that you can’t possibly win, but still,
you want to attack.”

My eyes narrowed.

“What are you waiting for little Guardian?”

With the speed of a demon I freed my tomahawk and let it fly
at his face. It was a perfect motion. There were no slips or stutters. The
action was so fast that no living, breathing person on the face of this earth
could have survived.

The vampire caught the weapon in mid-air. It reminded me of
what I did to his daughter.

Then he moved. He was fast. He was unbelievably fast. He
crossed the room in the blink of an eye and grabbed a hold of me. The team
poured into the living room and took up positions. I could hear Merrick
growling. He threw me into the lot of them.

I crashed and tumbled and hit my head against the wall. The
vampire was still moving. By the time I had gotten to my feet and had my mp7
pointed in his direction I realized he had incapacitated the entire team. Even
worse, he held Georgie by the throat in front of him.

I didn’t have a shot.

Everyone was pretty banged up, but they were slowly coming
back to their senses.

“That was almost impressive little Guardian,” the vampire
said. “Ultimately it was a futile gesture, but it was nonetheless impressive.”

“Squeeze any tighter on my buddy’s throat and I’ll blow your
mind,” I snarled.

“Have no fears about that, Guardian,” the vampire said. “Our
time is not yet ripe. Like I said before, I want your death to have an
audience. Tonight I simply wanted you to have a sample of the power you will
soon be facing. Enjoy your stay of execution. Use the time to prepare for your
final battle, but I warn you make no attempts to leave this house, for if you
do, my revenge will be terrible.”