Chapter 63: Deadly Encounters

June 1999

The last thing I expected to see was a vampire staring at me as I came up through the false bottom of a bathtub. The vampire was a member of the black clan, as it was dressed in the traditional robes of its clan. The vampire was startled, something that one does not usually see. However, all the vampires, to include the red as well as the black clans, had their powers stripped because the Queen and the Prince were now dead. They were vulnerable as any human. I quickly pulled my MP-5 around from behind my back and pointed it at the hapless creature. It was ugly and appeared frightened as well as confused. It had never known such weakness, nor had it been in such a fragile state since it was alive and human.

“Mercy, Master Malcolm! Mercy, I beg you! Please don’t kill me!” begged the frightened shell of a being. Apparently, it had been hiding in the secret room it had found to escape attacks by members of the red clan. I could show no mercy now for I was beyond that. This creature of evil would have easily, upon the order of the Black Prince that I had helped slay earlier, fed my children to me and then drowned me in the blood of my beloved wife. “I don’t understand what has happened. Why is everything so different?”

I had no time to answer questions, for there may be more inside the room hiding. I pulled the trigger, firing a short burst into the chest of the vampire. It screamed a hideous yell of pain and anguish and toppled over onto the floor. It immediately began to decay. This one must have been an old vampire, I thought to myself. I got out, and then turned the knobs. The water began to fill the bath again, hiding its false bottom.

I then went to check the rest of the room. There were no other vampires in this room, but I could only guess what might lie outside this room. All the remaining vampires must have been in a state of confusion, as they no doubt realized their vulnerable state. I readied my MP-5, knowing that regular ball-type ammunition was lethal as any to these confused creatures. The advantages now lay with me, just as I had planned. By this time, the Red Clan vampires had killed a great many of the Black Clan vampires. However, those left were now on an even playing field, as the Red Clan vampires were in the same predicament. The vampires were only as good as their cunning would let them be at this point as their supernatural powers were now only a mystery and memory to them. They were vulnerable as well because Tayla was now at rest. I had interrupted the source of their supernatural power and I was determined to beat them to the sundial.

Killing the lights in the room, I opened the secret door, peering out into the corridor. There was little light, and the cold air seemed to sting my face. It was much warmer in the secret parlor that Tayla would retreat to for private moments. I could hear struggling down the hall, screaming and shouting at intervals, interrupting the sounds of scuffling and blades smacking against each other. Clearly, a battle was in effect down the hall towards the throne room. Red and Black were engaged in a deadly struggle, each side reluctant to call a truce. How was I to get past this fight without any of them noticing me?

My mission was not to kill all vampires on site but to get to the surface in one piece, alive, to place the ring on the sundial. This symbolic act signified the victory of light over darkness.

Symbolism played a major part of the vampire phenomenon.

I thought about the UV lights I had pre-positioned. When I found them in the throne room, I decided here was a perfect chance to use them. Moon and Leech had placed the generator that would power them such as I would be able to get to them easy enough. I found a Red clansman lying on the floor, still panting from his wounds inflicted by his enemy. He recognized me, asking me “Master Malcolm, what has happened? I do not understand! We were winning, and now this!”

I put my hand to my lips, indicating to him to be silent. I pulled my boot knife from its sheath attached to my left boot and thrust it into his heart. Blood appeared at the corners of his mouth, and then he became silent, forever. Decay set in immediately. As it did, I quickly removed his robes from him, to disguise myself as a clansman, in my effort to get to the generator. I had also installed a failsafe system to prevent predicaments like this from happening again. My plan was to get to the switch that would start all the generators powering all the UV spotlights all at once. That would allow me to get to those passages allowing access to the surface. At least it would give me a fighting chance. The vampires still had one certain advantage, which was numbers. I could not get them all. They had another, which was familiarity with the caverns. I only had a computer with a three-dimensional guide that I had not really tested yet.

With the robe over my overcoat and equipment, I was able to move closer to the generator site, which was located close to the throne itself. As I moved up the stairs, something grabbed my robe and turned me around. It was a black robed female with a saber in hand, in position to strike. I leaped away from her, rolling across the floor. I knew she would be on me in an instant, but fortunately, I had strapped my MP-5 to my body, so I was able to bring it up before she was able to strike her deadly blow. She fell backwards after a short burst. This drew the attention to me that I had wanted to avoid. I now had less than a full magazine, after dispatching two of the creatures.

Some of the vampires had stopped fighting, their attention diverted. As they did, I wasted no time getting to the generator, pulling the cord that would start the power. As the generator powered up, the UV lights began to glow their purplish light of doom upon the hapless and vulnerable creatures. I realized that though the weakened creatures had lost much of their powers, they still were vulnerable to the same and usual methods of containment and destruction.

As the light shone upon them, they began to scream, desperately searching for a way to get out of the Hall of Skulls altogether, while others were running down the hall back towards the secret room. I did not know where that hall went, nor did I care at this point. Later, I would.

I followed them out of the Hall of Skulls” throne room, with my UV lantern at the ready. It was small but it had come in handy, having the same effect as Mace spray would against a potential attacker. A red-cloaked vampire stopped out on the stairs beyond the front doors. Thinking he was safe, he turned to fight as he saw me behind him. As he did, I raised the UV lantern to eye level, shining its violet glow into his face. He screamed, while his skin began to smolder, indicating the burning effect it had upon his flesh. He ran away into the shadows. Now, they began to know of the phenomenon of fear, vulnerability, and confusion.

I entered the familiar hallway to the coliseum. From there, I could plot a course to get to the surface. I saw many bodies as I made my way to the arena of death. The UV lights were on inside the coliseum. Dread and I had preplanned this, as he knew this would clear the way for me to get to the stables to enable me to get to the service elevator. If not, then I would have to find my way through the long way that Tayla had shown me when she first introduced me to the Lower Estate. The coliseum appeared ghostly pale and frightening in the purplish light, as bodies littered the entire stadium. The dark, red blood of the undead pooled upon the white sands. Maybe this was what the beaches of Normandy looked like that fateful day, or perhaps the bloodied fields at Cold Harbor, or Gettysburg. Nothing stirred in here. If there were anyone here, he or she would surely not come out of the shadows, unless he or she was a familiar. Then none of the lights would have any effect.

No sooner had that idea crossed my mind, I heard the clicking of shoes upon a marble surface. I turned to see four black-robed figures running in my direction. I quickly turned my MP-5 in their direction, firing a short burst. One of the lead figures fell forward, rolling over several times. The other three pulled out pistols and started to level them at me. I fired a longer burst at them, after they had grouped themselves closer together. This time, by some miracle, I hit all of them. They all fell in a heap together. Turning, I immediately looked around for more. Not seeing any immediate threat, I made my way out into the middle of the sands.

Here I felt safer, as I could see anyone approaching me.

I pulled out the computer navigation tool to chart several courses along the route I intended to take, so no matter where things went wrong, I would be able to take an alternate route at pre-designated points along the route if I could not get out through the service-elevator. This took about thirty minutes to do. While I did this, I kept a sharp lookout for any familiar, red or black, which might wander inside the coliseum. My watch showed 0515 hours. Currently, anyone, except for Rachel was a potential enemy. I wondered about where she might be, was she safe, or had a vampire, or if a familiar had turned on her?

I checked the magazine to my MP-5. Only a few cartridges left in this magazine, so I changed magazines. No doubt, I would need them once I left the sanctuary of the coliseum. I took a drink from the camelback drinking reservoir strapped to my back. The cold air had dried my mouth, so the water was very refreshing to my throat. I had been so busy with the events of the evening; I had not really thought about how thirsty I was.

After checking my equipment, I readied my submachine gun. With my UV lantern strapped to my waist belt, I began my exit of the coliseum. Stepping over the decayed bodies of slain vampires and those of familiars, I could not help but step in small pools of blood. Once I had made my way into the smaller cavern, I knew I was in the most dangerous position I could be. It was very dark in the small passageway; therefore, these creatures could be waiting for me behind many of the rocky outcroppings, ready to jump out when I would least expect it. I saw more bodies lying inside; most of them were members of the Black Clan. The Red Clan vampires had wreaked havoc on them, annihilating those caught up in this small place. There was not much of a chance to escape from here. I realized that also would apply to me.