Shadow Born: Book 1 of the Shadow-Borne Chronicles (26 page)

Silas was frustrated to say the least.
 
All of the staff had been questioned and re-questioned.
 
None of them had been approached by anyone regarding any sort of nefarious deeds and no one had seen the five victims talk to anyone questionable, nor had they exhibited signs that anything was out of the ordinary.
 
That is until questioned by Dorn and Schubert and then all four of the victims had instantly dropped into a stupor and admitted they had been told to kill Alec.
 
Even compelled, Doctor Schubert couldn’t get any straight answers about who sent them or why.
 
All four said they had been sent by the Devil but wouldn’t say who the Devil was or what it meant.
 

Thus far, Silas’s researchers had come up with nothing in regards to the Devil or any sort of sect or cults, human or vampire that could explain or even begin to enlighten them about what was going on.
 
Schubert was going to try questioning the four again, this time using a combination of drugs and compulsion.
 
Maybe together somehow he could get past whatever barrier was locking the information inside the minds of the four victims and he could find some answers.
 
He didn’t hold out hope and was upfront about the suspected outcome, but it was the only thing he had left to try.

Alec wondered, not for the first time, about the symbolism behind the Devil.
 
Satan was also known as the Adversary, and that word certainly applied here, he or she was an unknown adversary stalking Alec for who knew what reason.
 
“The Devil” as he was now called was a fallen angel.
 
He had been the most beautiful of them but when he rose up against God he was cast from Heaven.
 
Were they looking for an outcast, or someone who was shunned by the vampire society?
 
Alec raised that question with Silas, but was told that vampire punishment didn’t include casting someone out.
 
It was more along the lines of killing someone for their transgressions, like Clarissa, or burying them alive for several hundred years.
 
That thought made Alec sick to his stomach.
 

The Devil was also known as the tempter of men and sought dominion over their souls.
 
He also made pacts with humans in order to fulfill some longing or desire that was unattainable and in return they sold their soul to him for all eternity.
 
This line of thinking was really getting Alec nowhere but he had to do something to keep from feeling helpless.
 
He might be on the wrong path completely but at least he had the feeling that he was doing something productive, even if it was only academic.

An attendant was ushered through the doors by the guards and whispered quietly to Hisashi, who turned and walked over to a large flat screen television on the wall.
 
He flipped it on and instantly the screen was filled with scenes of police cars and a crowd surrounding a building, crying people with their hands over their mouths and a young female reporter talking quickly into a microphone.
 

The attendant found the remote control and turned up the sound on the chaotic scene.

“Again, Tom, we just arrived on scene to find the hostage situation already taking place,” the young blonde reporter said in her no-accent voice.

“We have been told by the police that a gunman entered into the Hillman-Hines Hotel, seen behind me and opened fire at approximately eight PM this evening.
 
It’s unclear as to whether or not there are any casualties or deaths at this time.
 
Several passers-by heard the shots and saw several people run out of the building from the front.
 
The gunman has yet to make any demands and it’s unclear how many hostages he has.
 
Again, we are standing here at the Hillman-Hines Hotel in Chicago, Illinois where there is a developing hostage situation…”

Hisashi took the remote from the attendant and turned the sound down.
 
Silas checked his watch.
 
It was around eight forty-five.
 
A commotion on the screen broke out and the blonde reporter stepped out of frame as the camera blurred and tried to focus behind her on the hotel.
 

“Turn the volume up!” Silas barked loudly and Hisashi hit the button so that they could hear.

“It’s now believed that the gunman has Senator Mark Taylor’s son Christopher Taylor as a hostage inside of the hotel.
 
If you look closely at this footage,” here they replayed a blurry clip of an image of a young dark haired man with his hands up and something strapped to his bare chest and then the fuzzy image froze as the reporter kept talking, “you will see what appears to be a man with a device of some sort strapped to his chest.
 
It’s unclear whether or not this is some sort of bomb or explosive device, but it does seem to be strapped on the man.
 
Wait… wait…” the reporter said and was quiet a moment.
 
“It has just been confirmed that Senator Taylor’s son Christopher Taylor was inside of the Hillman-Hines Hotel when the gunman entered.
 
It’s unclear whether or not Christopher Taylor was the gunman’s intended target but we have confirmation that the man we just saw in the image was indeed Christopher Taylor.
 
We are also getting confirmed reports that what we saw strapped to him is indeed a bomb of some sort…”

“Turn it down,” Silas said pulling out his cell phone.
 
As he did so, it began to wring.

Alec wasn’t sure exactly what was going on, but whatever it was, Silas did not look happy.
 
He spoke quietly into the phone, answering in short sentences or one-word answers and looked at his watch again.
 

“We can be there in a little over an hour,” he said and then, “I understand,” and hung up the phone.
 

“Hisashi I apologize but I am going to have to cut this visit short.
 
Marcus, Alec, pack your things and meet back here in five minutes or less.
 
We are flying to Chicago.”
 

The flight to Chicago was pretty much uneventful, except for the fact that they learned that the hostage taker was demanding to speak to the vampires.
 
This was just what the council needed, more problems.
 
Silas was on the phone with various people during the flight.
 
Alec wasn’t sure who he was speaking to or why.
 
For that matter he wasn’t sure why they were flying to Chicago in the first place.
 
What role did Silas play in the big scheme of things?
 
Alec had been tempted to listen in but knew that Silas wouldn’t have appreciated it.

Now that they knew the hostage taker was demanding to speak to the vampires, Alec figured that Silas, as a council member, was perhaps responsible for dealing with the situation.
 
But shouldn’t it fall to the Distract Protectorate until he or she requested the council’s help?
 
The Protectorates seemed to be very independent and didn’t like meddling from the others until their assistance were requested.
 

It didn’t make sense to Alec.
 
They had gotten on the plane to fly to Chicago
before
they found out the hostage taker was requesting to speak to a vampire representative.
 
There was something else going on here but Alec wasn’t sure what.
 
He had enough on his plate without adding this weird mystery so he tried not to think about it too much.
 
He did wonder though.

When they arrived at the airport there was a dark, unmarked car with tinted windows waiting for them.
 
They sped quickly down the interstate with blue lights flashing in order to clear a path for their progress.
 
In no time, they were in front of the Hillman-Hines Hotel.
 
People were escorted out of the way and barricades moved in order for their car to progress.

Silas had advised Alec to remain silent and not ask questions or say anything at all while they were there.
 
He had wanted to send Alec on to the Protectorate’s Mansion here, but no one was supposed to know Alec had left Tennessee, and he didn’t want the young man to get too far away.
 
Alec was Silas’s responsibility and he planned on making sure the young man remained safe.

Alec was taking in the sights of the Hillman-Hines hotel as they were led through the throng of people that were needed in a hostage crisis.
 
The hotel itself was a huge hulking structure with a brick facade and two large statues of women holding vases of water that poured out on either side of the walkway into large pools.
 
The water had been turned off so that the sound didn’t interfere with the crisis.
 
The hotel looked magnificent with its double doors trimmed in stainless steel and a large portico held up on either side by three twisting flame-like columns.
 
Alec would bet anything the place was expensive.

Alec realized there was a conversation going on and tuned back in to what was happening around him.
 
The cop introduced Peter Fells as the FBI agent in charge of the operations and then turned to leave.
 
The FBI agent studied them warily for a moment.

“I’m Silas Montgomery and this is Marcus Roma,” he said in that authoritative voice of his.
 
Silas and Marcus then did something very odd and both pulled some sort of leather wallets from their pockets and flashed them to the FBI agent who instantly looked annoyed.
 
He looked back at Alec, questioningly but they didn’t bother to explain who he was.
 
It was all very weird and mysterious.

“What can I do for you gentlemen?” Agent Fells asked.
 
His voice was gruff and deep; Alec assumed he smoked from the way it sounded.
 
Fells looked like he hadn’t slept in a while; his brown hair unkempt, with lines around his eyes, dark circles underneath and his brown suit hadn’t seen an iron in at least twenty-four hours or longer.
 
He looked exhausted.

“What do we know about the situation and the hostage taker so far?” Silas asked.

Fells sighed.
 
“Not much.
 
We know he entered the hotel around seven thirty PM and shots were fired.
 
We also know that Christopher Taylor is inside with some sort of bomb device strapped to him.
 
We don’t know how many hostages there are or how many people are in the building.
 
We got ahold of one of the managers of the hotel and had her remotely access the hotel’s computer to see which rooms were occupied so that she could call the guests and tell them to stay in their rooms with the doors locked until further notice.”

“Good idea,” Silas murmured.

“We isolated the main phone line and made a call into the hotel.
 
The only demand the man had was that he wanted to speak to the vampires and then he slammed the phone down.
 
He’s refused to answer the phone since.”
 
Fells shrugged.

A younger looking man in a dark blue suit popped his head out of a black van that was parked to their left.
 
He waved to detective Fells and then mimicked holding a phone to his ear and pointed inside.

“He’s on the phone again,” Fells said rushing towards the van.

Silas, Marcus and Alec followed quickly behind.
 
Alec noticed that Marcus and Silas had their heads cocked to one side listening to something.
 
Alec attempted to burn blood and surprisingly it worked on the third try.
 
He focused his hearing and suddenly he could hear the FBI agent and the conversation going on over the phone.
 
He could hear both sides of it.

“…and I’ve given you an hour to get ahold of the vampires.
 
I want one of them in here in twenty minutes or I’m shooting a hostage.
 
And make sure and tell them I am carrying silver crosses on me, so they can’t try any funny business.”
 
He sounded angry.

The hostage negotiator on the phone listened quietly and then said, “Calm down sir.
 
We are doing everything we can to get ahold of a representative for the vampires.
 
They aren’t easily tracked down.
 
We need more time.”
 
He shrugged and made a face.

“You have twenty minutes.
 
I’ll call you then.”
 
The phone was slammed down and the conversation ended.
 

“We have twenty minutes to produce a “vampire”.
 
We are dealing with a loose cannon here,” the negotiator said shaking his head. He detailed what the man had said and his demeanor.

Alec looked a question at Silas and then nodded his head towards the phone, showing that he had questions about what the man had said.
 
Silas looked surprised but walked a little ways away and pulled Alec with him.

“Do the FBI know about vampires?” Alec asked very quietly.

Silas shook his head.
 
“No, they don’t.”

“Then what?
 
Is this guy just a fruit bat?”

Silas shook his head and sighed.
 
“We don’t know.”

A tall man in an immaculate grey pinstriped suit and red tie walked up to Silas and stopped, followed by an older, distinguished looking man.
 
The older man Alec recognized from television as Senator Taylor.
 
He wasn’t sure who the tall guy was.