The Vampire Council: Case File:1 (6 page)

Katie pulls herself together and turns to walk towards Vaelen and Will. But as she turns Vaelen stands solid with arms folded now right in front of her.

‘I’m sorry.’ Katie couldn’t think of anything else to say.

Vaelen looks into Katie’s eyes for a moment in silence. Unfolds his arms and turns back to the direction they were walking where Will is laid on the ground shaking.

‘Help him down these stairs as I unlock the door.’ Vaelen points to a set of stairs in front of Will as he sets off past Will and down the stairs.

Katie rushes over to Will and begins to help him to his feet.

† † † † † † † † † † † † † † † †

             
A door swings open into a dark room. Vaelen enters first and pulls out a lighter which he uses to light a touch hanging on the wall opposite the door. The dim light reveals a wooden table and chair at the other end of the room. The damp on the cold stone walls glisten in the light.

‘Bring him in and sit him on the chair.’

Katie struggles slightly as she drags Will through the door. Vaelen takes over and points towards the chair. Katie rushes over and pulls out the chair as Vaelen lowers Will onto it carefully.

‘Right I need to go get something. Stay here but keep your distance.’ Vaelen heads out of the door but before he has the chance to close the door Katie stops him and joins him outside.

‘What do you mean keep my distance?’ Katie inquires.

‘He’s in pain. Could be dying from internal injuries as we speak. He needs blood to help repair his body.’

‘That still doesn’t answer my question.’ Katie raises her voice but quickly cowers as Vaelen folds his arms and pushes out his chest.
I hate dealing with rookies.
He quickly lets out a sigh.

‘You haven’t changed yet have you? I know this as our friend upstairs smelt you straight away. Once you’ve become a vampire you can immediately smell the blood of a mortal and then the cravings begin. You saw how matey upstairs acted at the smell of you; we don’t want Will to do the same because he could rip you apart. And once he has this bit of blood I’m about to get him, he will not be able to control his hunger.’

‘And attack me.’ Katie looks down to the ground at the slightest thought of the idea.

‘You can leave at any time, you don’t have to stay and watch if you’re worried about that.’

Katie raises her head and looks Vaelen dead in the eyes. ‘I want to witness feeding first hand.’

Vaelen can see in her eyes that she is serious.

‘Ok. Go back inside make sure he isn’t dead. I’ll be back in a second.’ Vaelen heads down yet another long corridor.

Katie re-enters the room and freezes with the sight she is confronted by. Will motionless slumped over the table.

‘Will?’ Katie’s voice trembles as she hesitates to walk over to him as she fears the worse.

Cluck!

Katie jumps out of her skin as loud clucking echoes down the corridor through the door. Vaelen enters holding a live chicken in his left hand swinging it back and forth by its legs.

‘Dazes the chicken. Don’t want it flapping around when I’m trying to cut its head off.’

Vaelen lets out a little chuckle as he pulls out a huge knife with his free hand.

‘I think we may be too late.’ Katie turns her head towards Will’s body.

Vaelen runs over and slams the unconscious chicken and the knife on the table. He lifts Will up until he’s leaning backwards on the chair with his head tilted backward. He lifts Will’s eyelids one at a time. Then takes off his jacket and throws it at Katie.

‘Hold!’

He rolls up his shirt sleeves as he positions the chicken on the table where he wants it then progresses to picking up the knife. With one swoop of the arm the chickens head comes clean off as blood begins to squirt across the room.

‘There’s still time, he’s not dead yet. This is the gross part; you may want to look away.’

Katie takes no notice and continues to stare at what is happening.

Vaelen opens Will’s mouth then proceeds with lifting the chicken over it and letting the blood pour out into his mouth.

Suddenly Will’s eyelids open wide revealing the darkness behind them. Vaelen spots this and drops the chicken on the table. Will springs to life as he starts to rip into the chicken, blood all over his face as his canine teeth rip into the meat before sucking out every drop of blood he can get to. Katie gasps in horror.

Will quickly turns his head, his pitch black eyes staring directly at Katie. Katie is frozen solid with fear.

‘Get out of here.’ Vaelen whispers across to Katie as he begins to walk in the way of Will’s eye line.

Katie nods and reaches for the door handle. Just as her hand touches down on the handle Will leaps from his chair towards her. Vaelen quickly changes to his vampire form and grabs his arm and continues to throw him over the table.

‘Leave now! Lock the door behind you and do not open until I say so.’ Vaelen screams at Katie as she opens the door and takes one final look at Will. She could see the bloodlust in his expression and it scared her to the bone. As Will leaps back to his feet towards Vaelen, Katie gets out and shuts the door behind her. Exhausted from the events of what had just happened and the rest of the day she collapses against the door and begins to cry.

CHAPTER 9:

BEGINNING OF THE END

A
s the early morning breeze begins to flow through the air and the sun begins to rise from behind a row of expensive looking apartment buildings, a black stretch limo pulls up outside one of them. The driver opens his door and steps out onto the pavement. He straightens his tie as he walks towards to back of the limo and opens the passenger door. From the darkness of the backseat out steps Dirk. The driver bows as he holds the door open. Dirk takes a deep breath of the fresh air as he reaches into his inner jacket pocket. The driver starts to shake and cower behind the door. Dirk notices and smirks to himself.

‘Why so scared?’  Dirk questions the driver leaving his hand in his inner pocket.

‘I just…’ The driver’s voice quivers.

‘You just what?’

‘I just know who you are sir.’ The driver looks into Dirks eyes but in fear looks back at the ground quickly.

‘Oh do you now? Tell me please.’ Dirk loves dwelling in the knowledge that his name is like royalty among the vampire community.

‘You’re the Rank A vampire that works directly for The One. One of the most strongest and powerful vampires there has ever been.’

‘Nice to know my reputation is well known.’ Dirk smiles. He loves the attention. But this sweet satisfaction quickly turns sour as the driver carries on with his description.

‘You were also trialled for high treason against The One but were let off on lack of evidence.’

Dirks smile vanishes and is replaced by hatred.

‘So answer me this, do you think I’m innocent? And answer with the truth; don’t be scared, I won’t hurt you.’ Dirk switches his hand to the other inside pocket of his jacket.

‘To tell the truth I believe the accusations.’ The moment those words slipped from the drivers’ mouth he knew he had made a massive mistake. Before he could correct himself Dirk had pulled out a gun and pulled the trigger. A sharp burning sensation began to spread through the drivers’ body. ‘You promised.’

Dirk puts back his gun and grabs the driver by his jacket collar and pulls him till they are face to face.

‘I promised not to hurt you. Didn’t say anything about killing you.’

Before the driver had a chance to fight back and escape Dirk had changed to vampire form and with this strength kicked the drivers’ knee. The driver screamed in agony as his leg snapped in the opposite direction causing him to lose balance and fall to the ground. Dirk grabs his arms and pulls forcing them to pop out of their sockets. The driver screams and screams for help. But as it’s so early in the morning no one is about to witness what is happening. Unknown to the driver the apartment building they are in front of is completely owned by Dirk so it has no residence. Screaming was not going to help him save his life. Unable to move or fight back Dirk lifted the man’s head in position of the door. The driver knew this was the end and decided to stop his screaming and close his eyes. Dirk proceeded to slam the door shut on the man’s head. As the door bounced back Dirk pulled the man out and laid him on his back on the cold pavement.

‘I feel sorry for you. Laying there bleeding to death as your pleads for help got you nothing. Don’t you see? The council are useless; they believe they have their fingers on the pulse of everything that happens in the world of vampires. But truth is they know nothing. You were right to have your assumptions about me. You didn’t see what was coming and neither will the council.’

The driver sheds a tear as he stared up into the barrel of Dirks gun. The trigger was pulled.

             
Dirk made his way to the main entrance of the apartment building whilst straightening his suit. He presses the buzzer indicating the apartment at the top of the building. The ring barely rings once before the buzz indicating that the door is open begins to fill the street with noise. Dirk opens the door and enters the apartment building and walks to the elevator. After pressing the up button next to the elevator door, Dirk starts to check himself out in the reflection of the doors. He winks to himself and smiles just as the doors begin to open. Inside the elevator in the back left corner there is a table set up with a bottle of whiskey and glasses placed on top. Dirk pours himself a glass then presses the button to the top floor. As the doors close Dirk necks back the entire glass.

             
On the top floor opposite the elevator stands Max. Max stands at six foot three with a body builder’s physique. Dressed in tight suit trousers and a tight white shirt to accentuate his muscles. His well-oiled face and gelled hair shows that this is a man who looks after himself, maybe a little too much. Behind him is the door to the apartment.

As the elevator pings signalling it’s reached its destination Max pulls out a gun just in case. As the doors open Max puts his gun away as he knows Dirk is alone in the elevator.

‘What’s with the gun?’ Dirk asks as he steps out of the elevator.

‘Just a precaution sir.’ Max replies in a monotone voice.

‘So I take it they’re all here?’

‘Inside sat around the table like you asked.’

‘Right then Max, lets head in, don’t want to keep our guests waiting.’

Max opens the door and allows Dirk to enter before he does. The entire apartment is plain. The walls painted white, no paintings or pictures hanging on the walls. No electronics or essential living products throughout. Situated in the centre of the open living space is a large wooden table. Around the table are sat five people. Dirk and Max take the two empty seats on the left hand side of the table. Next to Max on his left sits a well-groomed male standing out with a flamboyant suit jacket. In front of him sits a name plate with Stanton carved onto it. Continuing around the table next to Stanton sits another male. Again wearing a suit but a plain black one, with a white shirt and salmon pink tie. His name plate states Charles is his name. Next to Charles and directly in front of Dirk sits the first female with dyed blonde hair and a typical female business suit her name plate has Stephanie carved into it. To her left is another female again in a typical female business suit but with long flowing red hair. Her name plate states Jennifer is her name. And finally in between Jennifer and Dirk is sat another male. The male is Chinese wearing an Asian style suit. His name plate reveals his name to be Renu.

‘Thank you all for joining me tonight.’ Dirk stands up and addresses his guests. ‘As you possibly all know by now, cracks are beginning to show within the council.’

‘The cracks only began to show after you were let off for treason.’ Stephanie pipes up whilst staring at Dirk.

‘Maybe, but do you have proof of this?’ Dirk replies.

Stephanie looks away as she has none.

‘I didn’t think so. But even if it was it wouldn’t matter. You’re here for the same reason as everyone else. You’re willing to be part of the Ana Programme.’

Charles stands and addresses Dirk. ‘Speaking of the Ana Programme, you’ve been very vague on the details.’ Charles takes his seat.

‘The full plan is on a need to know basis. Meaning me and Max here knows and you don’t need to just yet.’

Jennifer rises from her seat. ‘I don’t feel too comfortable entering into a plan in which I don’t have all information.’

Renu also rises. ‘I agree.’

‘Look. There are a few things I’m hiding from you yes. But it’s for your own good. If this goes south and we all get caught, I want you all to be able to plead some deniability. We’ll be killed; you’ll get off with a warning. Is that Ok with you?’ Dirk starts to get a little annoyed. Jennifer and Renu retake their seats.

‘As you all know the Ana Programme will bring down the inner workings of the council and allow us the power to over throw The One.’