Promethean Read online

  “We’ll be back, later. Perhaps we could spend that time tomorrow, if other work doesn’t interfere?”

  He waited, figuring that Warren Oaks would be upset with that. Instead of yelling or acting aggressive, the being smiled at him. It was warmer than the other such things he’d noticed from the man.

  “That would be wonderful. Yes. Here, tomorrow, at… Call it seven in the evening? I have some work to see to before that. We might have a guest with us, if that’s all right?”

  The man didn't say who, or give him time to change his mind, simply turning and walking away, quickly. It was a subtle move, coordinated and flowing, while a little rough on the turn, as if it truly was difficult for the man to keep his balance.

  Liam drove then, being very careful to follow all the rules correctly, watching constantly for potential problems. He had to get directions, and ended up stopping about an hour and a half later, at a large farm. They were met by a group of people when they pulled into the gravel driveway. All of them were fairly short. Even compared to his own five-four.

  When he climbed out, one of the men, Robert Mobley, walked forward, his right hand coming out, to shake.

  “Dr. Frankenstein! Mr. Warner! To what do we owe the pleasure?”

  Rather than bury the tale under niceties, Liam simply spoke, his voice soft enough that several of the people there had to close with him so that he could be heard.

  “We need to invite you to a meeting in four days, which you have to tell everyone you are going to, then you can’t go. It’s a trap. For some of the FBI. The ones who killed their own people. We need word to get to the SAU though, so you need to tell people, post it online and all that. Only the part about the meeting though, not that you won’t be showing up.”

  Mitchel looked at the small crowd of people, and winced a little, as if they might not be trustworthy. That simply wasn’t the truth. One of them, a girl who was just over two feet tall and who was probably no more than ten, nodded.

  “Are we going to fight them? The people in the trap?” She seemed rather innocent about it. Also, as if she were asking something else. Not about fighting, but about killing. Which was what you did to things in traps, most of the time.

  He shook his head.

  “Not now, if we can help it. We’re going to lure them in, then have the vampires compel them. Take over their minds, and have them turn themselves in for other crimes. Things they can’t get out of. If that doesn’t work… Then we need to move to harsher methods. It isn’t my first choice though.”

  Everyone else standing there, all seven of them, simply nodded.

  Then Rob waved at them.

  “Come on in and repeat that for the rest? Grand-mother will want to hear about this in person.”

  It seemed right, like what a polite person would do with their friends, so they went. It didn’t take long, thankfully.

  Chapter thirteen

  There had been a time, not too long before, when Liam would have figured that planning something carefully enough would mean that it worked out perfectly, most of the time. He reflected on that concept, understanding now that he was older by several months, that his thinking on that topic had neglected an integral factor. Other people. Particularly human beings.

  The vampires were willing enough to send some people in to capture and question the SAU, as it turned out. Especially since there was a nice distraction planned to take place. An illusion so complete that even knowing it wasn’t real, Liam couldn’t tell the difference as he watched it from only a few feet away. The Sarrena who were doing the work were out in the back of the place, being guarded by Oaks and as it turned out, his daughter. Lissette.

  That part had been strange for Liam, since it made little sense to him for her to have come from France, just to meet with him. The woman was nice looking though, and seemed very nearly human, even compared to himself. She had smooth dark skin, lovely brown eyes and a gentle expression on her face all the time. Her voice was normal sounding and even sweet. She also had an accent. One that he was told was French. That was a language that Liam hadn’t learned yet, but luckily she also spoke English, which had allowed them to communicate well.

  What she wanted, if anything at all… Was for him to be family to her.

  Which, oddly, was a thing he roughly knew how to do, having had a mother and then, later, friends. That part was a bit strange though, really, since Oaks wasn’t truly doing that poorly in regards to such. It had, in the past, been an issue, as far as he could tell.

  When Lisette had found out about their plan, she’d agreed to help them with it almost immediately. Meaning that Oaks and herself were planning to kill the SAU, if they got away from the vampires that had come in. Even if they figured an attack by ten people would be incoming that evening, only three of the undead were tasked to the event.

  Sondra, Nicodemus and a younger vampire man, called Darryl. Liam had met him before. The man had taught him how to fight, if roughly, just before they battled with several werewolves, in fact. His moves at the time hadn’t been skillful at all, mainly being rapid flailing in a repeated pattern. Darryl had helped him though and it had made a real difference at the time.

  Those three were off in the woods to the side of the mansion. The thicket wasn’t large, but the idea was that the SAU would, in part, come from that area. At least if the vision that Liam had wasn’t just his mind playing tricks. Even if it was, the humans would, hopefully, show up to attempt some murder. Otherwise Mary would have gotten three plump corpses in for no particular reason.

  On the far side of the place, Sanchez stood, dressed all in black, with a hood on, which should approximate what the bad men would be wearing, allowing him to blend in. Brenner wasn’t there at all, having been sent away for the evening, since someone needed to be outside of the fight, in case they failed for some reason.

  Liam was inside though, acting as part of the bait. That was due to the fact that no one thought he was a good person to put outside, ready to murder people, if they couldn’t be captured, combined with the idea that he wasn’t going to easily die in the attack. It wasn’t the best idea in the world and certainly hadn’t been his. One of the vampires had come up with it, actually. They’d presented it as a group, making it hard to figure out which one of them wanted to risk his life for no apparent reason. It was, he had to figure, some kind of political move. A thing meant to show that the people being helped were willing to do their part, even if it was going to end in pain for them.

  So, he stood there, walking around and acting like he was talking to people, waiting for the fighting to start. The loud noises and rockets that would set the world itself to shaking.

  At nine exactly, according to the grandfather clock that ticked rhythmically along the far wall of the large room he was in, there were exactly five shots. Then the world went silent. He waited, since that wasn’t what he’d expected to happen. The illusion of people all around him simply went still. Then, after two minutes or so of him standing and watching, they all simply vanished.

  Leaving him there alone. Simply waiting.

  Fifteen minutes later a line of people walked into the house, with Sondra speaking to them softly the whole time. It was a rather long line of people, humans dressed in matching black. They didn’t have any face masks on at the moment. Interestingly, Sanchez and Rich Simpson were in the back, behind the vampires, both holding rifles of some sort. Those were pointed at the ground, rather than at the threat in front of them.

  Instead of nine others being there, of the expected ten, there were only six. A thing that Liam hadn’t counted on at all. The faces were familiar, even if he didn't have names for all of them. Just the one-woman, Ginger House. The rest were probably expected, of course.

  Before he could ask what was going on, Oaks and Lisette came in through the back. Both of them seeming fairly well pleased. The giant man was in a dark suit, one that looked highly tailored to fit his strange form. The woman was, interestingly enough, in a very short
skirt, with stockings that showed at the top and a shirt that flashed the red of her brassier to the world when she moved. She was a bit taller than Liam, by a few inches, though just as thin.

  Nicodemus, who was glowering at the line of humans, spoke first.

  “You wished to question them? Then the plan is to have them admit to crimes that will have them locked away for a very long time. Shall we do that now? We don’t benefit from waiting too long. People have been known to escape from such compulsion, if they have enough time to work on it and struggle. Normally days or weeks, but some can manage it faster, so care is desirable.” He sounded annoyed and tense, rather than relaxed or even angry about it all.

  As if escape might actually be a problem.

  Sanchez stepped forward then.

  “Rich has already been cleared. He has video of them making the attempt on the house here, which is a good starting point, since it will be admissible in court, if nothing else works. Now… One by one, I want a full admission of your crimes.”

  They didn't speak, not until Sondra moved forward and touched the woman on the arm, gazing into her eyes as if trying to push her away with the force of her regard. After a moment, Ginger House started to nod.

  Instead of a litany of wrong doing, which was what had been asked for, she started to tell a story. One about herself.

  “About two years ago, I was approached by Offed here. At first, I thought he was trying to get me set up as his side piece. He kept asking me to do things with him and then the other guys. We went to the range, which was fine, being part of the job. Drinking on the weekends. Dinner about twice a month, with the whole crew. Then, over time, they pointed out that people have a right to know about what else exists in the world. That and all the evil things that some of the strange groups do. Not just to each other, but to humans. I mean, vampires eat and kill human beings all the time. They almost never have to answer for that. We, the FBI, all of us, have to look away when we find it and even cover it up for them.” She stopped, pausing only to take a breath of air.

  Then she went on, unbidden.

  “It started slowly. We just harassed some of the vamps and wolves at first. You know, we’d rough them up a bit and let them know that killing people wasn’t allowed in our area. We traveled for that, after a while. Then… We killed some of them. They all deserved it. They were murderers. When Ridley found out, she went ballistic. She threatened to have us all killed, to prevent a war. So we came up with the plan. To frame the vampires for her death. The others were mainly collateral damage. We did take out the worst of the team though. Except Brenner and Sanchez. That was too risky. We needed to make it seem like they were involved, so we held them in place with a fake attack, while the rest of it happened. That didn't work at all.”

  The woman did have more than that, most of it about having acted out of fear for her life. That and of others. No one in the room responded to what she was saying. Her words were blank and rather matter of fact, rather than a plea for her continued existence.

  Then Sondra moved to one of the men. He was very fit seeming. Lean in a way that was similar to what Liam had going on. Lighter in coloration, with much shorter hair. He was also taller. When he spoke, he gave his name as Marcus Kinney. His words were similar, if a bit rougher sounding than the woman’s had been.

  “We have to kill the monsters. It’s our job and we aren’t doing it. Not really. Half our energy is spent running errands for them, practically. Sucking their dicks. Literally, at times. The FBI turned us into their bitches, instead of fighting the evil right in front of us. If we don’t kill them all, they will destroy us.” He seemed to believe what he was saying.

  Oaks caught Liam’s eye and tilted his massive head a bit, as if suggesting that this one human represented them all. At least in spirit. Liam wasn’t certain of that at all. Even if the others there all rather admitted to the crime of murder and in one case, rape, before they were done. Then, with a small smile on her face and an outstretched hand, her words dramatic, Sondra spoke to them all.

  “You will leave this place and go directly to the police. There you will, as a group, admit to your crimes, providing proof that eliminates any sign of vampires or other beings from your words or what can be found out. Then you will ask for the longest prison sentence possible, to atone for your misdeeds. Do you understand?”

  Her stern gaze was nodded at, with most of the people in black responding.

  “Yes.” There were five voices, one man having only nodded a little, not actually saying the word. Liam pointed at all of them.

  “We need to know who was behind this. Who their leader was.” That made sense to him, anyway.

  Sondra nodded, and asked the question then, focusing it seemed on Ginger, the woman in the group. There seemed to be no special reason for that, other than she was the one physically closest to Sondra at the moment.

  “Offed was it for us. He had a contact, higher up. We weren’t told who that was. That way we can’t tell, if we’re captured. Like this.” She seemed shaken then, causing Darryl to step in and slap her gently, then grab her face, to force eye contact between them.

  After a moment she went still. Very much so, in that she stopped breathing for nearly half a minute.

  Sondra didn’t wait, touching Offed next, the man seeming generic for the group, instead of distinct in any way. Bland, nearly.

  “Who was your contact? Tell us!”

  There was a long pause, then a smile and a head shake.

  “I never knew. I got information over the phone and voice scrambler was used each time. I can’t even tell you if it was a man or a woman. What I can tell you is that you haven’t won. We’re only one single group. In one organization. There are hundreds of us at least. Each group ready to die to protect the others. You can’t stop us.” He seemed certain of that, even being under compulsion.

  Even with hours of questioning after that, very little else was found out. Interestingly, after telling them what to do again, Sondra and Nicodemus sent the men and women back out into the night, to find their transportation vehicles. They did it easily, feeling very certain that they had won.

  Liam understood the basic premise, but shook his head as they left. Darryl snorted at him a bit, which had half the room looking at them.

  The younger vampire man smiled.

  “You see something we missed?”

  Liam nodded, even if he didn’t really know for certain.

  “Possibly. If they are that organized then they’ll probably all be killed before they get to the police to confess. Maybe not, if they can’t check in first. It depends how deep this whole thing goes. I doubt that they live to see prison for it.”

  The words had the vampires nodding and interestingly, Oaks as well. Simpson and Sanchez both looked troubled by the idea. Lisette merely walked over to him, and patted him on the shoulder.

  “Oui, mon frère. That seems most sensible. The question then is, do we care if they die? They are killers. Monsters in their own right. That we seek to allow them mere punishment, instead of torture and death at our own hands is, perhaps a sign that we, those they would label as beasts and devils are, perhaps, the better people. That is enough, is it not? Do we do battle with invisible, perhaps even non-existent threat for them? Can we do so, even if we desire to protect them now?”

  Those were good points, so Liam shrugged and smiled at the woman. His older sister, after a fashion.

  “We’ve probably done what we can, really. At least on that side. The… Well, if our friends here are willing, we should probably compel all of the FBI Agents we can find and check to see if they are involved in any of this. We can start with Agents Sanchez and Simpson?” His words were soft enough that they lacked authority. Then, everything about him did. Except for the fact that his idea wasn’t a bad one.

  Sondra let her head tilt down and then smiled at him, locking eyes in a way that was probably meant to be flirtatious.

  Then she spun.

  “Gr
ab them!” No one moved though. Except Sanchez who simply walked over to her.

  “Fine. I swear, if you make me cluck like a chicken we will be having words about this. Go. Clear me so we can move to the next thing.”

  It didn’t take long, the man actually being innocent like he was. Even Simpson went again, though that was only to prove to Liam that he was clear. The vampires vouched for him being so, having already done the work. No mention was made of the man caring about anyone else or what they thought, which was interesting.

  When he was under, Liam waved a bit, at the female vampire. She smoothed her dress back, with her right hand and gave him a concerned look when he motioned to her. Then whispered.

  “Ask if he thinks Kim could be involved.” That was Liam’s theory.

  When the question was asked though, the compelled man shook his head.

  “No. She loves everyone. Everyone but me. There’s no way she’d be involved in murder. We need to clear her anyway, but no.”

  He nodded then and the other man was released from the compulsion to tell the truth. He was still going to have her and everyone else at the FBI they could get to checked out, as soon as possible. Then, when they found the right person…

  Well, the obvious thing was to use them to work up the ladder, until they found everyone involved. What they did with them then, he didn’t know. It would, probably, have to be death for them all. Short of telling the world what they’d been up to there would simply be no way to handle that many people. Not if it was hundreds of groups as had been claimed.

  Liam waved his hand a bit.

  “Clear me now. I’m innocent, but…” The truth was he didn't know if Oaks was at all. Lisette, either. If they were in on such a thing, then he doubted that the people in the room would be able to stop them. He waited for the others to be killed, while he battled his own family. Then he’d lose, most likely. Instead Sondra walked over to him, touched his arm and looked deeply into his eyes.