Chapter Sixteen
Revelations
Everett, Seattle
July 14, 2059
8:30 am
The church is cold. Dusty pews sit quietly bathed in sunlight from the partially restored windows. The stained glass casts a rich flow of colors as the sun's rays pass through. Most people would see it as beautiful.
For those who fear the sun the rays are a punishment. Specially for a creature of the night who suffers painful burns from the slightest contact of UV rays.
The heavy wooden doors open. A small, lithe figure steps inside. She trots casually down the deserted aisle. The light dances over her like a playful puppy. The light doesn't harm her youthful skin.
An old altar dominates the bullpit. The girl steps up to it. She has no concept what the builders of this temple intended for it to be. The concept of using this place as a means to worship a higher force is alien to her. A place for gathering and peace away from the troubles of the street.
"Imira?" Sand calls into the dark shadows. "I know you are here."
There is a rustling in the dark recesses that remain hidden from the tormenting sun.
"Imira?"
"I can hear you." The voice seems to come from no where. Almost like it too is afraid to venture into the light.
"I have a message from Barnabas."
"Why does he not speak it himself?"
"It is the middle of the day."
"So you are his messenger now? He's getting soft."
"He sends me to tell you that you have angered Darvish. He says that Darvish is displeased with your lack of progress and the expenses you have piled up. You have been removed from the purpose because you have failed Nightsky into the Order and have not taken Alona."
"She is my daughter. I will choose what is right for her."
Sand giggled. "I don't think so. Barnabas is in charge now. He's in his rightful place. I serve him, not you. Barnabas said that you have strayed from the Order's path. You have to prove yourself."
"What are you talking about?"
"Barnabas has Alona. You must prove your loyalty tonight be taking her. If you don't then Darvish will deny you access and pronounce you as a Heretic. Alona will die tonight if you do not come."
"You ungrateful wart! How dare you! How dare Barnabas take my daughter!" Imira burst from the shadows intent on unleashing her fury on the girl. She came to a sudden stop just outside the reach of the menacing sun.
Sand giggled louder. "What's the matter, Imira? Afraid of a little sunlight?"
Imira backed away, withdrawing to the safety of the shadows. "You know not what you are dealing with little girl."
"I serve my master." She said cheerfully. "I have conveyed his words to you. After you have been settled my master will deal with Nightsky. My master will fix the mess you have made."
"Insolent wart." Imira cursed.
"Whatever." Sand grinned. "You are to come to the old place tonight at ten. If you are late Alona will be killed."
Imira didn't respond. She sat brooding in the darkness.
Sand turned to leave, letting the rays of sunshine dance over her. She skipped merrily outside without any fear. The sun would protect her. It would hold back the fury and rage Imira wished upon her.
Trasher's Corner
Snohomish, Seattle
8:56 am
It's not cold. For once.
Warm, dry air. Air that sits so still that it turns stale and musty. The presence of so many scents add to the dim texture. Rotting wood. Fresh plastic. Carpeting. The tangy scent of paint thinner.
Alona's eye's snapped open. Her arms are tied to a cross. Her feet bound at the bottom. A look of confusion and shock fill her features. These are quickly replaced by the nagging itch of fear which is closely followed by a small sense of outrage. Who had done this do her?
The memories come flooding back. The townhouse. The knock on the door. Not her mother. Not her mother, but a trio of street punks.
"Hello."
Alona followed the sound of the voice. A man sat on a folding table. His hair pulled into a pony tail. The finely tailored suit looked to be sagging on his unusually lanky frame. A jaw that looked too wide made his head seem bigger than it was. There is no mistaking who this man is.
"Barnabas? What are you doing?"
Barnabas neatly crossed his legs, bracing his hands on the table. "You might say that I'm cleaning house. Your mother has been sloppy."
She gave a confused look.
"Oh, yes. That's right. Imira gave you a dose of MAO before she let you go last time." Barnabas smiled. "That's okay. Like her, I knew a few tricks in the arcane arts. It won't be long before you remember what's happened over the last few days."
Almost on que a series of fractured memories opened into Alona's mind. The church and her mother's hand. The coldness. Then the room with the candles. The gutterpunk who tried to accost her. Then she saw her mother rescue her from the punk.
"What's happening? I demand to know!" Alona felt uneasy. The memories were becoming a jumble.
Barnabas smiled. "Search your mind. You will know."
Alona started to object, but she listened to Barnabas's advice. The jumbled of images in her mind's eye started to fall into place. The punk and her mother. Her mother being stabbed, but not dying. The wound healed itself. Imira, not appearing any stronger than the punk, had beaten him to within an inch of his life. Suddenly Alona remembered demanding answers, but instead she only got a hazy voice in her head telling her everything was okay. A different set of images flooded her mind. Not memories, but pictures. Pictures that filled in the holes left in her history. Imira lead her into a small room and chained her to the wall. There were others there. A young girl who carried a gun and another chained on the opposite wall. Then there was violence. Shooting and screaming then shouts of defiance and aggression. It all fell together again into a jumbled mess.
"You should be able to put it together by now. You're a smart girl."
"I- I don't understand."
Barnabas snickered. "Come now. You were so close to discovering the truth about Imira. That's why she put the blocks in your mind. So you wouldn't know the truth. Look deeper. What do you see?"
Alona thought about what she had seen. "I see mom hurting some kid. The chained guy with the spiky hair. He shot mom, but she was okay." She looked at him. "She didn't die?"
"No."
"Why didn't she die? When she was shot? Or stabbed?" The questions filled her mind. "And she beat him up too."
"She is stronger than she looks. She also erased your mind. She made you see what she wanted you to see."
"How did she do that?"
Barnabas stood and approached her. He bent near her ear. "Because she's a vampire."
"A what?!"
"Vampire."
Alona shook her head. "Vampire's don't exist."
Barnabas let out a deep laugh.
"They don't! That's like middle age stuff!"
"You don't know much about the sixth world, do you?"
"I don't believe what I read in books and see in movies."
"Too bad. Maybe then you'd see that the vampires in stories aren't like the real thing. There are those who would say that vampirism is a disease. Indeed it is. It is caused by the Human-MetaHuman-Vampiric-Virus. The virus itself is magically active. It appeared after the awakening."
"Mom's a vampire?"
"Yes. This is quite real." Barnabas answered. "You still have questions, don't you?"
"Of course I do!"
Barnabas began to pace. "One of your questions would doubtlessly be why? Well, let's look back at your father."
"My dad? What's he go to do with this?"
"Imira killed him to get to you." Barnabas scoffed. "So that she could bring you to Seattle and get even with him for abandoning her years ago. It's a sweet business, revenge."
Alona was speechless.
"Don't worry. Revenge wasn't the heart of Imira's goals. If that were all she had in mind she would have never been allowed to come to Seattle. The job she was assigned was more complex than that. She was sent to convince a young man to join the Order. His name is Michael Curo. Your mother knew him several years ago. Before she was turned." Barnabas stopped in front of Alona. "She failed. Michael escaped. Now the powers that be have come to the conclusion that Imira embarked on this little quest with more than the Order's goals in mind. It is now thought that she had her own motivations for making the choices she has. Apparently she was planning on taking Michael and you and leaving the Order. Some twisted version of a normal life." Barnabas laughed again. "What Imira fails to understand is that once you are turned into the Order there is no leaving. It is a lesson that she has to be taught."
"What are you going to do to her?"
"I am going to clean up her mess. Starting with you."
"Why have you tied me up?" Alona clenched her teeth. "But what do you need me for?"
"Imira began this little folly by killing your father and adopting you. I'm going to make her choose between you and the Order. Her choice will determine her fate."
"You're going to kill me!?"
"Kill?" Barnabas shook his head. "No."
"What then."
Barnabas grinned. "I wouldn't want to ruin your fun."
Alona gave off a fearful look as she strained against the ropes.
"Once Imira, and you, have been taken care of I will put Michael in his place. Along with a certain unruly associate of his. Then all will be set straight." He gave a sinister grin. "And my Master will be pleased with my work."
Everett, Seattle
July 14, 2059
9:03 am
The Jackrabbit pulled to an uneasy stop as storm clouds became to gather of Pudget Sound. The rumbling engine was marked by the distant thunder that rolled in from the Pacific ocean. The street noise in this part of Seattle was unusually silent. It gave the scene an eerie feeling as well as a sense of anticipation. Two people sat in the small sports car. One was a veteran of the mean streets of the this city, having spent five years in gangs and another year working the twisted shadows of Seattle's underworld. He's calm, focused, and determined with a knife at his side and a gun in his pocket. The other is at the top of her class in school. She knows more about etiquette and the happenings in the world that any of her friends. It is her dedication to her friends that has brought her here. She's uncertain, scared, and fearful for the safety of those she cares about.
The other would say she's in over her head.
There was an unspoken reason he didn't want Linna inside. No matter how it appeared, Nightsky was still planning on walking into the church and killing someone. True, killing someone wasn't easy, but Nightsky had managed to do it before. It was still murder. A murder that Linna would witness.
"Is this it?" Nightsky motioned at the old church.
"Yes."
"You're sure, Linna?" Nightsky pressed. "This isn't a game."
"Look, I'm telling the truth! This is the place that Alona told me about. We went here a few times, but the place was so old and creepy we never went inside. Her mom was restoring it for some big company."
Nightsky thought about Linna's words for a moment. The sun still blazed brightly overhead. The clouds had yet to silence it. It was unlikely the war between the clouds and the sun would be won anytime soon.
"What makes you think Alona is in there."
"I didn't say I thought Alona was here." Nightsky replied.
"What?! I thought we were going to help Alona?"
"I said I was after Imira."
"You can't just forget about Alona! What if she's hurt or in trouble?"
Nightsky pulled an Ares Viper. The appearance of the menacing looking firearm quieted Linna down. "Linna, I'm sure you're really worried about her, but that's not what focusing on. I want Imira. She's the heart of the problem."
He placed the pistol into a holster on his hip before pulling a monosword from behind Linna's seat. Imira didn't wear any heavy armor last time Nightsky encountered her. The flechette rounds in the Viper would shred unprotected flesh while the sword, a more personal weapon from a magical stand point, had better chance of beating the vampire's regeneration. Nightsky also made sure his back up, a colt Manhunter, was loaded. He figured at the most he would be facing up to five foes. Barnabas and Imira being the most dangerous, but they would be weak in the daylight. The gutterpunks would likely be the first line of defense.
"I can't believe you're just going to forget about her!"
"I didn't say I was forgetting about her. I said I would deal with Imira and her lackeys first. After that you-" He stopped himself. "We will look for Alona."
Linna huffed, but she seemed satisfied with that.
Nightsky took a deep breath. "You don't want to see this. Stay here."
"Like drek I will!" Linna snapped. "You might go nuts in there and end up shooting Alona! Give me a gun. I'll go in with you."
"I'm just barely tolerating your presence in the car. There's no way in hell I'm giving you a gun!" Nightsky shook his head. "Besides you'll just be in the way."
"I'm going! At least I'll be able to look for Alona."
"No."
"I won't take no for an answer! I'm going in!"
"Linna, do you understand what's about to happen?" Nightsky snapped. "I'm going to walk in there and quite probably kill at least five people. Did you ever think that maybe I don't want you to see me do that? I don't want a witness after this is over!" He made it sound almost like a threat. "Now sit here and be quiet. I'll be back as soon as I can."
"But-"
"No buts." Nightsky cut her off.
Without another word he opened the door. The street was deserted. That was a little unusual for this time of day. Most of the buildings were ancient. Many were probably abandoned in anticipation of a restoration project.
He darted across the street in a casual sprint. Hoping on some level that he wouldn't come off as a gun carrying nut to any neighbors who might be watching. He pressed himself against the ancient stone walls of the church. The stained glass windows made it impossible to see inside.
Something brushed against the wall behind him. He whirled around, hand going for the Viper.
Linna stared right back at him.
"I told you to wait in the car!" He snapped.
"You're going to go in shooting and probably kill Alona by accident!" Linna retorted. "Least this way I can find Alona and get her out. She'll be out of your way at least."
Nightsky frowned, not wanting someone to look after. "I don't want to be responsible for you."
"Then give me a gun."
"Forget it." Nightsky said without thinking. Lenny had told him to never give a firearm to someone he didn't know. Specially someone that would be at his back. "Just keep back. Let me draw all the attention."
Linna slowly nodded.
"And if I say run for it just run." Nightsky added in afterthought as he tried to front door.
It was unlocked.
"Ready?"
"You bet!"
Nightsky pushed through the door without another word. He didn't bother to see if Linna followed. The instant he was inside he was searching for threats. The Viper appear in his hand as he leaned against a support pillar. The cold stone felt oddly comforting. Out of the conrer of his eye he saw Linna sneak through the door. She stood in the open for a moment. A sharp glance from Nightsky got her attention as she slipped behind a pillar.
The church looks deserted. Rows of pews stood empty. Sunlight glared through broken windows high of the walls. The center of the hall was bathed in light. The sides were hidden in shadows. Nightsky's eye's, being much sharper in low-light conditions than Linna's, pulled shapes out of the shadows. The Viper's barrel suddenly trains on a indistinct shape.
There! Someone's crouched in the corner!
Nightsky takes one last look around before sprinting towards the figure, but he makes sure to keep himself in the relative safety of the sunlight.
As he nears the person looks up. Long, flowing black hair drops to the floor in an unkept fashion. Eyes, once piercing and hard, are not big and puffy.
"So? Michael? You've come back." Imira sounds like she had been crying.
Nightsky glanced towards Linna. She was staying behind the pillar. A slight pause ran through him as he leveled the barrrel of the Viper on Imira. His thumb flipped the selector on the side of the weapon, setting it to burst mode. Inside the barrel a flechette shell sat ready to break the sound barrier and split into a dozen razor-sharp filaments.
"I didn't think you would come back?"
Nightsky snapped the scabbard off the monosword. It clattered on the hardwood floor.
"Oh." Imira laughed slightly. "Have you come to finish what Barnabas has begun? It doesn't matter anymore. Go ahead. See if you can finish it."
Nightsky stopped. A few moments ago he was ready to do whatever it took to put this whole mess behind him. Anything to slam the door shut on the perversion that Imira had become and the reminder she was of his previous life. A life that he had exchanged for another a long time ago.
Unfortunately that other life wasn't really better compared to the one he had.
"Why doesn't it matter anymore?"
Imira stood, looking sickly. "It doesn't matter because what I've worked so hard for the past two years on will never come true."
Nightsky frowned. "What are you talking about?"
Imira grinned. "You still don't know? After I offered it to you?"
"Maybe I'm just slow."
Imira hummed to herself. "You were always bright as a boy."
"People change."
Shen glanced at him, seeing the Viper ready to fire and the reflective end of the monosword. "Yes, they do."
"What did you try so hard to do?"
"You still care? After what you did? You started to whole breakdown of my dream."
"What dream?!"
"When I was changed I was lost for a long time. I did what Darvish told me because he was my master. I didn't know any better. I hungered and I hurt and I didn't know what to do about it. He gave me guidance." Imira paused for a second to sit on a small wooden chair. "It took a long time before my senses finally came back to me. I didn't like the life that I had after death. It's one thing to think about being a vampire. The reality is much worse. It's cold and lonely. Anything from the previous life is washed away. The emptiness it feels can eat away at someone. It's worse than dying. To know that there is a completely different life out there. The life that I once lived, but I can't have it.
"I'm tried of living like this, but I don't have a choice. I thought I could get some of it back by fixing the mistakes I had made. I got my daughter back after that bastard of a man took her away from me. I tried to get you back, to make up for abandoning you in Seattle. I thought that if I could get you and Alona to stay together we could be a family. Then I could leave the Order. I'd have somewhere else to go and real people to spend it with."
Imira suddenly laughed. There was no joy in it. It was empty and almost sarcastic.
"But you said no. You didn't want to be with me as a family again. You even said that you didn't need a family."
Nightsky felt the need to say something, but he had no idea what to say. There was no explanation he could offer. Well, there was one. He didn't want to admit it.
"I thought it would be wonderful. You, me, and Alona. A new beginning for all of us. I could do things right this time."
"I was afraid." Nightsky admitted.
"No." Imira shook her head. "I believe that I am the one who's afraid. Afraid to live my life like this. Afraid to be alone."
Nightsky nodded his head towards Linna before crawling onto a pew. He kept the Viper aimed at Imira. "Why did you keep me chained?"
"That wasn't my idea. It was Barnabas that made that call."
"Why?"
"Darvish is looking for you. He let me run my own path with the idea that I would eventually bring you into the fold. I thought Barnabas was to be my assistant, but that fiend has been keeping an eye on me. He has been reporting my activities to Darvish the whole time. I didn't want his path and I wouldn't have turned you over to him. If you had said yes I would have left Barnabas there. I already had suborbital tickets to Britain."
"You're telling me that Darvish sent you to find me, but you didn't plan to turn me over to him? How do you expect me to believe that? After what you tried to do?" Nightsky cursed.
"What I did? I could have found you without finding my daughter first. My daughter and I lived together for over a year before I found you because I wanted time with her before she met you. I thought I could show you how your life is now and how it would be so much better with the three of us together."
"You made me see some of the worst things I'd ever done damnit!" Nightsky screamed, gesturing with the Viper. "How the fuck do you think it felt to go through all of that again? Was it just some kind of game to you?"
Imira suddenly got real somber. "You did them didn't you."
Nightsky stared at her for a second. The barrel of the viper drooped. "Yeah."
"Then you should have known what to expect."
"It's not the same. It's one thing to make the choice, but its different having to relive it knowing what I know now."
"Are you saying that you would have acted differently?"
Probably not, Nightsky thought to himself. "I'm asking the questions, Imira. How did you find your daughter after all of these years?"
"This might surprise you, but many years ago I was married. Married to a wonderful man. We had a child together. She was the most beautiful thing. I named her Alona, using the a to mean without. Thus never alone." Imira sighed. "But that bastard was furious when he found out I wasn't a elf. I'm not an elf. What you see is the product of cosmetic surgery. Of course, that wasn't the point. This was Tir Tairngire. Being an Elf was everything. That son of a bitch threw me out and took my daughter from me. I ended up in California with you and your parents.
"When Darvish told me to find you, I finally had the resources to find my daughter as well. I used them. Her father wasn't exactly happy to see me again. There was no way he was going to let me have Alona back." Imira drifted off.
"So what did you do?" Nightsky pushed.
"I killed him." She admitted. "I killed him and I knew it was wrong, but I killed him anyway. I wanted my daughter back."
Nightsky suddenly forced a smile. "See? Looking back on mistakes hurts, doesn't it?"
Imira almost laughed, but the hint of tears held her back. "So? It's just the two of us." She glanced in Linna's direction. "And one other."
Nightsky stood. "What is Barnabas going to do with Alona?"
"He will make me come to him tonight. If I'm not there he'll kill her. Or infect her, whichever he's been told to do."
"And if you show up?"
"He'll make me choose between the Order and my daughter. If I choose the Order Alona will become infected or die. If I choose my daughter we will both die. Not that it matters. You're here now. That makes my whole choice moot."
Nightsky glanced at the viper in his hand. Then at the monosword.
"Why else would you have come here, but to close the door on the old chapter of your childhood?"
"Well," Nightsky thought for a second. The viper felt so comforting in his grip. The old monster, the blackness of rage in the back of his thoughts, stirred silently. It wanted to feast again. To feel the pure joy of revenge. Yes, the most wonderful glee was so close. It wanted to come out and play.
Nightsky shook his head, shushing the black thing.
"It doesn't matter anymore. Fate has stepped in." Imira spoke mainly to herself.
Nightsky sighed, lowering the pistol. "I've made enough mistakes for one lifetime."
Imira looked up with a surprised look on her face.
Nightsky's eye's were focused. The black monster was still in the corner of his thoughts, but chains of light held it back. "I'll make you this deal, Imira. I'll help you get Alona free. I'll help you kill Barnabas so he won't be able to follow the two of you. But you have to promise not to ever come looking for me again. Don't even try to contact me. Leave me alone. I don't want the life I had. I've got a new one path in front of me."
"Barnabas will have friends. We'll need more than those weapons."
"I have more and I'm willing to do this, but only if you agree. Once this is over take Alona and go. Never look back. Never think of me again."
"You can't be serious!" Linna suddenly burst out. "You can't trust her! She'll bite Alona and turn her into one of them!"
"Shaddup!" Nightsky snapped. "If she wanted to infect Alona she had a whole year to do it! Now be quiet! I told you I didn't want you along, so don't wear out your welcome."
Linna quieted down with those harsh words.
Nightsky turned his attention back to Imira, expecting an answer.
"Okay, Michael." Imira breathed. "I promise."