Shining in Crimson: Empire of Blood Book One (A Dystopian Vampire Novel) (15 page)

He watched as Simon inhaled and exhaled peacefully. He wondered if he would awaken at all. For the first time since Simon bit him, he wondered just how much blood the former Mediator took from him. If he survived, he would be something to contend with for sure. With that thought, Ishan turned and went for the door. Once he was out of the room and back in the hall, he addressed the guard.

"Who sent you?"

"Rachel, sir," he answered.

"Rachel?" Ishan asked.

Terrance nodded.

"Good. Now, I know it's not normal procedure, but I need you to clear your schedule for the foreseeable future and guard this door at night. At least, until I tell you otherwise."

"Yes, sir," Terrance said, nodding again.

Ishan decided now was the time to put Rachel's loyalties to the test. He’d known for a long time that she was sympathetic to Peter's "cause." But he wasn’t yet sure how far she would be willing to go for it. Or which side she would choose if a division was ever made. It was a test. She knew Ishan would have Terrance guard the room, if he trusted her. It was imperative that he not show any signs of doubt. Besides, if Simon survived, he would be more of a threat than any of the others would expect, having consumed some of Ishan's blood. He thanked Terrance and began walking back toward the main lab.

* * *

The door opened with a loud ear-splitting screech causing Hank to jump and almost fall out of his seat. He looked up, relieved to see Ishan coming through the door. Hank could tell that Ishan was aware of the tension building in him by the amusement showing on the ancient vampire's face. Hank couldn't help find it amusing as well now that, along with Ishan, his sense of logic returned. It was especially laughable when he realized if any of them were going to kill him they would have as soon as Ishan left the room. He knew how fast they could move. He had seen several more examples of their speed and precision of movement.

"Come with me. I have someone I would like you to meet," Ishan said in a welcoming voice.

Hank stood at once, wiping the sweat from his forehead. He followed as Ishan led the way toward the wall to the left of where he’d been sitting. Hank long ago lost his sense of direction within the tunnels that brought them here. The door Ishan opened, a thick white door with a single silver lever pointing downward, led into the room with the African vampire he noticed earlier. As they entered the room, the tall man turned to face them. When he recognized Hank for what he was, a flash of hunger showed on his face. It disappeared just as quickly as it came as he centered his attention on Ishan.

"What gives me the privilege, sir?" he asked politely as he slowly nodded.

"First of all, let me introduce you to my friend. Hank this is Isingoma, Isingoma this is Hank."

As he introduced them, Isingoma nodded and Hank made a slight waving gesture with his hand.

"Hank, in his short time in our city, has made a breakthrough worth our attention."

Isingoma's posture changed.

"What is this breakthrough?" he asked.

Ishan explained what he could and what he didn't know he had Hank fill in. When they finished explaining, Isingoma stood frozen, looking at Hank with a new expression of amazement on his face. It might have been dumb luck that brought about these circumstances but Hank got the impression Ishan and Isingoma felt it wasn't quite that simple.

"This is all very extraordinary. We will have to run some tests and see what is going on in his body while he’s under the influence of the blood. I will call for Kato. I'm sure he will be interested in this development and we will get everything ready. The equipment is very delicate, so it will probably take us an hour or so to have everything set up," he said and then left the room in a flash.

"Meanwhile, if you want, Hank, I can take you somewhere where you can rest if you like?" Ishan asked.

"Thanks. I don't know if I can sleep in this place, but I'll sure as hell try," he said, stretching his body.

Ishan smiled and then opened the door for Hank. The two walked along the edge of the room.

"So, when should I expect to find anything out about Toby?" Hank asked.

Ishan looked thoughtfully for a moment.

"I will send word to find out where he is tonight. Once I know that, we can decide what the next move will be. I have people on the outside
who
will do just about anything I want that they can get away with. If we need to, I can set it up so one of them adopts your son and have him turn up missing."

"Wow, is it really worth that much to you? I mean, how do I know you won't just kill us both when you’re done with me?"

"Well, I don't suppose you do. I have given my word. If that is not enough for you, all I can tell you is that I introduced you truthfully to Isingoma. You have gained my respect. Albeit in a much shorter time span than any one man has in the past, whether he
be
of your kind or mine," he said. "You have shown an unimaginable will to survive," he added.

"I suppose," Hank said, fighting back the river of anguish dammed within him. It was that same will to survive that went against every reflex in his being. In his sweetest dreams, Toby didn't need him to stay alive and he could release himself from the heavy burden of living. They arrived at a door much like the one Ishan took Simon through. Hank couldn't tell if it was a different door or the same one. It had a chair exactly like he’d sat in earlier. They entered the door, Ishan first, and walked into a silver hallway that reminded Hank of a vault. They followed the hallway to a circular intersection that met up with three others in a slanted X pattern. They followed the far right hallway as it curved to the left. Hank noticed many other short hallways, with vault-like doors at the end of each, branched off of the hallway they followed. He wondered what those strange rooms contained. After a while, they reached the end of the hallway and Hank was, by that time, not surprised to find yet another round solid steel door with an electronic number pad in the middle of it.

Ishan tapped numbers on the keypad, his fingers blurring with speed as Hank watched in awe. Then about a second afterwards, there was a loud metal click. It sounded like a deadbolt the size of a tree being unlatched and then the door became slightly ajar. Ishan pulled it open and gestured for Hank to enter.

"Are you sure this is necessary?" Hank asked.

"Well, there is just one small thing I haven't told you yet."

Hank didn't like the sound of that.

"Peter is still alive. And although, as I said, we are not friends, he does hold a seat on the high council of my people. He probably won't much longer, but he may be a threat to your life."

"But I cut him in half. How could he have lived?"

"There is not much that can actually kill my kind, Mr. Evans."

Hank wondered if he made the right choice after all.

"In the meantime, enjoy my quarters. Get some rest and I will come for you when we are ready for you." he said, reminding Hank of every waiting room he had ever been in.

Hank walked toward a humble bed at the far end of the small room. He heard the large door close behind him as he kicked off his shoes. He looked around trying to find the light switch. He was relieved to find it was conveniently located on the wall by the bed. He turned off the light and sighed with relief as he closed his eyes while collapsing down onto the bed. He
lay
there, eyes staring up at the darkness.

Chapter 12

The Challenge

H
ank woke up to the sight of a dark-skinned, hungry-looking vampire trying to shake him awake. He became conscious enough to recognize the face floating above him was the face of Isingoma.

"What is it, Ising...uh," he tried to pronounce the foreign name in his half asleep stupor.

"Isingoma?
No, I am Kato. I have been instructed to wake you. Ishan has been challenged. You must come," he shouted as he continued to shake Hank.

"All right, all right.
I'm waking up. Why is it so urgent to wake me up?" he asked, looking over the vampire that looked identical to Isingoma. Judging by his sense of manners, he was obviously not him.

"So, uh, Kato, is it?"

"Yes."

"Okay. Kato, are you and Isingo-whats-it twins then?"

"You figured that out all on your own, did you?" Kato asked.

Before Hank could give him a dirty look or a snide reply, Kato picked him up from the bed and set him down on his feet.

"Ishan's leadership has been challenged because of you," Kato said, grabbing Hank by the arm and pulling him toward the open doorway.

"Why me?
What did I do?" Hank asked as they entered the hallway.

"By protecting you, Ishan is taking great risks. He is risking his leadership, his life, and with what you know, he is now also risking all of us, especially the ancestors," Kato said as he led Hank down the silver corridor. "Since Ishan is being challenged because of you, you are at risk now as well. As part of his Challenge, Ishan must protect you. It is our way that if one of our kind is willing to risk another of his own for the likes of one of you," Kato said with contempt, "then he must be challenged and willing to protect your life and his own. In Ishan's case, protecting his life also means protecting his place as leader of the council. If he should lose and the one who challenged him takes his blood, then they will take his place. If that happens, Peter would then offer your blood to the ancestors as a sign of loyalty."

As Kato said this, Hank thought of Toby and began to struggle while still being held by Kato's arm.

"You have no choice, human. You must come with me," Kato said as he held steadfast to Hank's arm.

Hank tried again to struggle, but Kato's arm was locked on him like a steel vise. He dragged Hank by the arm until they came to the main laboratory. The lab was completely empty. He walked across the silent lab until he came to an out-of-place-looking elevator door. He typed in a code on a number pad in a blur, his fingers moving too fast to even darken the glowing buttons. The elevator door opened and Kato pushed Hank in hard and blocked the doorway in a flash. It was hardly needed as Hank was lying on the floor with the wind knocked out of him.

He lay on the floor gasping for air as Kato stood facing the closed elevator doors whistling an unfamiliar tune. A sharp pain in Hank's chest told him he was on the verge of pulling in some oxygen right as the elevator made a "ding" sound. The doors opened to reveal the inside of a parking garage. Hank sucked in a large gush of air right before Kato picked him up like a sack of potatoes. Then, Kato burst forward in a speed faster than Hank had ever endured before. He could hear a fast movement of feet hitting concrete at the rate of machine gun rounds. He tried to watch where they were going, but could only see a dull gray blur for a few seconds. It became a dark mass with streaks of white Hank assumed were either the stars or the lights of the city. Just as soon as he could see the darkness, he felt a strong wind and the feeling of falling.

When Kato landed, Hank heard a loud crack and felt
himself
slip slightly. Then, he sensed painful stings as several chunks of something hard burst into his legs like shrapnel. The next thing he knew, he could only feel wind and the feeling of unreal momentum. He tried to breathe but found it nearly impossible. After a few seconds, he felt himself slipping from reality. A few more seconds and he went unconscious.

When he woke up, Hank's sinuses were dry with the smell of desert and his head throbbed with anguish. Soft, warm sand contoured around the shape of his body. He lifted his head and heard the sound of sand sliding from his hair. He then looked up to see a pair of Ishans standing over him, surrounded by two large crowds of vampires, each Ishan holding a hand out to him. He reached out with his left arm for one of the hands and watched as his hand went through the phantom Ishan's hand. Then, he smacked himself in the forehead with the same hand, shook his head back and forth, and took another look. As he focused in on the two hands, they moved into each other until at last they became one. Hank then reached for the solitary hand and Ishan helped him up.

Once he was up on his feet, Hank could tell there had really only been one crowd all along, just like Ishan.

"You don't seem to have taken the trip well," Ishan said, smiling at Hank.

Hank gave him a dark look.

"It's okay, you have the easy part. All you have to do is run like hell. But I have to keep the both of us safe in a much more proactive way," he said, nodding at Hank.