The Vampire & the Rebel (Completed)

Part 3: Chapter 15

Early in the morning I, along with a force of human fighters, left New Haven by whatever vehicles were available. We drove for a few hours, before we neared our destination, another egotistical stone monstrosity rising up from the landscape as if to serve as a reminder of the bloodsuckers' dominance over humanity.

Today, that reminder would prove a lie. We grouped far enough away that we would hopefully not be detected. According to one of Tory's escaped slaves, they had little by way of tech and defenses beyond the physical fortress. Once we got in and subdued the human guards who were likely being controlled by compulsion, it would just be a matter of finding her resting place and killing her and her male while they were helpless at rest.

If we failed, we had brought along Marcel and a half dozen of Vienne's other new fledglings to help us take out the bloodsuckers at night, all carefully protected from the sunlight.

Marcel had been vocal about his interest in getting his turn, but I was itching to add more leeches to my kill list. It would be great if he woke up in transit on the way back, which was a nice added motivation for me.

We did not drive right up to the leeches' fortress, but left a fleet of vehicles guarded by a few fighters. We weren't a huge force, only about fifty people, but compared to what I had done before, it seemed like an army. We approached cautiously, in small groups, keeping out of the sight of the guards.

I had volunteered to be part of the six person vanguard who had been sent to get inside, but I had not been included. Still, I was fairly close to the front and would be one of the people pushing in and holding the line. I watched from my hiding spot as one of the female fighters, dressed in rags, went up to a well guarded rear entrance. She spoke with a guard, and the door opened for her. The other five fighters rushed out as soon as she was in and the fight began.

Wasting no time, the rest of our force rushed to the breach. The vanguard held the door, and enough of us got in that we were able to subdue anyone who came and challenged us, until everyone was inside.

The bloodsuckers' guards fought with a fervour that had to have been created by control on their minds, judging by their rough condition. Weak as they were, every human who tried to stand against us was easily incapacitated and we swept the building, looking for the bloodsuckers' resting places or for a human who could tell us where to find them.

I had almost given up hope when shouts came from a short distance away. I rushed over, followed by a stream of other humans.

"We've got them," came a shout. I entered the door in time to see a couple fighters holding a couple more thin human guards who struggled against their hold. One managed to break away, and I grabbed him. With help from the guard who had first held him, I wrestled him to the ground.

On an ornate bed, two vampires were still lying still as death. The female I recognized as Tory from the archives, and I could only assume the male beside her was her male partner. "Someone, stake them, and carry them outside if that doesn't do it," I said, since everyone seemed to have paused, maybe reluctant to attack a vulnerable enemy.

"Remember what they are, what they've done. They're not Vienne. These are the worst of the bloodsuckers, and their deaths should release these guards from the hold on their minds, right?"

After a moment longer than I wanted to wait, shoving my weight down onto the guard who was trying to buck me off, first one of the other fighters and then another came forward and plunged weapons into the leeches' chests. After multiple stabs, the male's flesh began to crackle and collapse in on himself, leaving black dust in the perfect shape of his body along with his clothes and the weapons that had been thrust into him on the silken blankets.