My Immortal The Vampires of Berlin (30 page)

Hitler embraced his wife one last time. He didn’t love the woman; she simply fulfilled his need for companionship in a brutal world of his own creation where he could trust no one. Nonetheless, Eva Braun had been faithful to him to the very end. As her reward, Hitler decided that he would be the one to take her life. “Goodbye, my love,” he said as he raised the pistol.

Eva Braun smiled and closed her eyes.

Bang!
Hitler shot her dead.

As his wife crumpled to the floor, Hitler knew in his cold, black heart that his fate now rested in the hands of the Romanian peasant girl who he had named Eva in her honor. When Operation Tristan was complete, his soul and consciousness would be channeled into her body; the immortal body of a vampire. His own vessel had aged and suffered considerable damage since the assassination attempt at
Wolfsschanze
and he was ready to move on to something more permanent. “Get it over with,” he ordered.

“As you wish.” Goebbels took the pistol out of the
Führer’s
hands and put it to his head.

General Krebs panicked. “What the hell is going on? Hold on a second! This is Tristan? You’re going to shoot him? Hold on a second! This is not—”

Bang!
Hitler’s blood and brains sprayed onto the wall a millisecond after Goebbels pulled the trigger. His body fell to the floor with a thud.

Krebs was in shock. “Oh my God! Oh my God! You killed Hitler! You just fucking killed Hitler!” he screamed.

“The heart of Germany has ceased to beat—but only for a moment,” Goebbels replied. His hand trembled as he put the gun down, betraying his cool, calm and collected exterior. “Help me with the body, Adalgar.”

Krebs watched in stunned disbelief as the two men dragged Hitler’s body onto a small metal alloy bed. Once the body was in position, they carefully aligned the diamond and sapphire pyramids that sat on small platforms on the top of each bedpost. Operation Tristan was ready.

A few hours after Adolf Hitler died for the first time, Admiral Karl Dönitz was appointed the new
Reichspräsident
of Germany. Hitler intended Dönitz to hold that office just until Operation Tristan was complete and he could return to power. Then, the
Führer
would utilize his newfound power to commence the first phase of World War III—the complete annihilation of the Soviet Union.

69

Wolf hit the floor as the heavy door slammed shut behind him. He jumped to his feet and screamed through the tiny window. “Let me out of here, you filthy apes!”

When he got no response, he kicked the door. He kicked it again and again and again until he thought his foot was broken.

“You’re too late,” came a faint voice behind him.

Wolf froze. It never occurred to him that someone else might be in the cell with him.

He turned around slowly. There was a gaunt, hairless and pale vampire chained to the floor.
The pathetic creature looks starved,
he thought.
He is dying.

“The Nazis have won the war,” Vlad said quietly.

“That is not possible,” Wolf replied.

“It is already so.”

Wolf closed his eyes and tried to calm himself. “We can not allow that to happen. We must stop them.”

“I can do nothing. Heydrich injected me with garlic serum. I will be dead within the hour.”

Wolf’s head was spinning. He sat down on the floor and tried to make sense of the unfolding chaotic situation. “What do they want with Eva?”

“The creature they call Eva is the last reincarnation of a vampire goddess, destined by prophecy to rule our kind for 700 years. Heydrich learned of the vampire prophecy before the war; that evil wizard Adalgar helped him ascertain the location and birth date of the chosen one. The Gestapo searched the Romanian countryside for two years until they found her. Until I found her for them.”

That sudden realization sent a chill down Wolf’s spine. “You helped them. Why?”

“Hitler made a very tempting business proposal. The vampire elders realized the true nature of whom they were dealing with and wisely turned him down. I was not so perceptive. I sold my soul to the devil for my own greedy purposes ... the balance of nature was affected.”

“This has nothing to do with the balance of nature,” Wolf said bitterly.

“This has everything to do with the balance of nature. Vampires and humans have coexisted in Europe for centuries. We only took what we needed and your senseless wars affected us no more than did the rain. That equation changed when the Nazis deciphered the prophecy.”

Vlad coughed and wheezed. “At first, the war that began in Poland seemed like all of the other European wars that preceded it. But the Nazis were different—they killed for the sheer sport of killing. They
needed
to kill. The problem is that Adolf Hitler’s thirst for blood will not be quenched until all life is extinguished. The Nazis are the embodiment of true evil—their very existence is a crime against the Earth.”

“We can fight them,” Wolf replied.

“Now that they have Eva, they are invincible.”

“She won’t help them.”

“Her free will is of no consequence,” Vlad replied. “After Hitler’s death, they will utilize an ancient Teutonic rite to channel his soul into Eva. When the prophecy is fulfilled, Hitler will control legions of vampire warriors throughout Europe. The English Channel won’t save Britain this time. It won’t even slow them down.”

Wolf was stunned. By bringing Eva to Prague, they had doomed humankind to centuries of terror and death at the hands of the Nazis. The senseless killing wasn’t going to end—it was about to get much, much worse. He dropped to his knees.

The vampire that the terrified Romanian villagers named
Vlad the Impaler
over 600 years ago pitied the man who prayed and wept in front of him. His race was doomed.

“Eva...” Wolf cried.

“Is the Tristan weapon,” Vlad said, finishing his sentence for him.

70

General Weidling entered the situation room and was stunned by the bizarre sight. Hitler’s body was on the table; he had obviously been shot in the head. Goebbels and Adalgar worked feverously to align the diamond and sapphire pyramids—something was not quite right with the flow of electromagnetic energy between them.

“What the hell is going on here?” Weidling asked.

“Get against the wall, general,” Goebbels ordered. “We’re almost ready to commence the operation. Just a few more adjustments.”

Weidling froze, his mind unable to comprehend the scene of madness that was playing out in front of him.

“Hans!” General Krebs called out. “It’s alright—get over here.” Weidling nervously stood against the wall as Goebbels hung a silver pentagram pendant around Hitler’s neck and sprinkled a crimson potion over his body.

The sorcerer then opened a leather-bound spell book and recited the ancient incantation.
“I command thy Evil one. Come forth. When blood comes not, Demons come not. Thou Evil one, come forth, I command you.”

The generals were astonished. Muffled explosions rang out above as the Soviet artillery strikes on the city center increased in intensity. It was quickly growing obvious to everyone that they did not have much time.

“I command thy Evil one. Come forth. When blood comes not, Demons come not. Thou Evil one, come forth, I command you,”
Adalgar chanted.

A large explosion shook the bunker and a chunk of cement fell from the ceiling.
“I COMMAND thy Evil one! Come forth! When blood comes not, Demons come not! Thou Evil one, COME FORTH!”
Adalgar shouted.

Suddenly, Hitler’s leg kicked!

General Krebs jumped into the air like a rabbit shot out of a cannon; Weidling almost passed out and had to lean against the wall. “Don’t be afraid,” Goebbels said as he wiped a sweat bead from his rat-like nose. “We’ve been preparing Operation Tristan for years.”

That’s nice
, Krebs thought,
but I just saw dead Hitler make a goddamn football kick.

A bright light engulfed Hitler’s body. Then Hitler rose from the bed and levitated in the air in front of them.

“Oh my God,” General Krebs said. Weidling covered his eyes and shook like a leaf.

Goebbels stuck his right arm out in the Nazi salute as a thin wisp of black smoke emanated from the
Führer’s
body. The apparition rose into the air and dissipated into the ether. Hitler’s evil soul had left the building.

The body floated back down to the bed and the aura faded. Adalgar closed the spell book. No one said anything for a moment. They didn’t fully understand what had just happened, but the levitation proved that everything Hitler had ever told them about a supernatural weapon was true.
It exists
.

Then, what it all really meant suddenly dawned on General Krebs. “The tide has turned!” he screamed. “Germany is going to win the war! We’re going to win! We have a supernatural weapon! Ha-ha-ha-ha!”

As Krebs and Weidling hugged and wept with joy, Goebbels shook the sorcerer’s cold bony hand. “Thank you Adalgar,” he said. “Your unparalleled skill in the dark arts has brought
Final Victory
to Nazi Germany.”

“You’re welcome,” the sorcerer replied as he conjured up the image of the horse stable that he was going to build over the smoldering ruins of Buckingham Palace.

Then Goebbels pulled out a knife and put Adalgar’s shiny happy plans to re-do the English landscape on hold. “Unfortunately, my dear wizard, your services are no longer required by the Third Reich,” he said.

Adalgar backed away, his eyes fixated on the blade. Goebbels’ amused expression told him that he had made a terrible mistake. “I don’t understand, Joseph. I helped you ... I helped you win the war. I risked my life for Operation Tristan.”

“And I said thank you.” Then Goebbels plunged the knife into Adalgar’s chest. No one moved as the wizard crumpled to the floor and died quietly in a pool of blood. They all wondered who was next.

“Don’t be scared,” Goebbels told them. “This pathetic money-grubbing wizard had to pass on—the ritual is not something that we can afford to have repeated during our lifetime. Nonetheless, the first phase of the operation was successful. Nazi Germany will win this war.”