Authors: Regina Morris
Jackie bid her husband a loving good–bye and hung up the phone. Even now, with her home filled with children, the place seemed empty without him at her side. Her fingers caressed the cell phone as though she touched William’s hand. After fifteen years of marriage, he remained the only one she would ever love with all of her heart.
Thankfully, he’d be home tomorrow evening.
William, and most of the Colony vampires, had flown to California earlier this week with the president. During the president’s tenures as Commander and Chief, he promised to visit each state in the union. The tour had them in Oregon tonight, with the team flying back tomorrow. Every few months the president crossed off a couple of the states. Since this was his second term in office, he worked his second round of visits.
Jackie sighed as she left her bedroom and walked down the hallway to her children’s bedrooms. Her fifteen year old son, Sinclair, lay in his bed watching YouTube. The hour grew late, so after she told him for the second time to go to bed, she continued down the hallway to her daughter’s room.
Nicole slept soundly in her bed, her arm around her doll. Jackie entered the room and covered the child, which caused her to moan quietly and sink into the blanket for warmth. She was twelve but still on the small–side. She caressed the girl’s cheek, stroking her hair off her face, and left the room.
Jackie’s next stop was in the nursery. There her newborn baby, Hannah, quietly slept. Thank goodness she was finally asleep. Of all three of the children, Hannah seemed the most clingy, and the one most likely not to fall asleep (or stay asleep) at night. Jackie gave a slight sigh as she smiled at the sleeping babe.
Next, she tiptoed from the room and made her way to the kitchen where her friend Alex waited for her. Alex was new to the Colony group, and Jackie’s best friend. In the short time they had known each other, they had grown close, even commiserating when their husbands worked late at the White House or were away with the team. That is, if Alex did go with them. She wasn’t just married to a team member, she was an agent who protected the President as well — tonight being her night off.
Alex put her coffee cup down and smiled as Jackie entered the kitchen. “They all asleep?”
“Not all, but enough of them,” she said half jokingly. Before her friend could ask, she added, “William said the team was doing well. He said Raymond was with the President and would try to call you later, but said he wasn’t sure if it wouldn’t be too late.”
“We talked earlier this evening.” Alex waved her hand dismissively. “I’m sure he’ll call the first chance he gets.”
Jackie walked to the table, but instead of taking a seat next to Alex, she pushed in her chair. “Looks like we have the evening to ourselves again.” She picked up her coffee cup and set it in the sink. Then she went to the cabinet and pulled out a red chardonnay and two glasses. “Up for some wine and maybe a movie?”
“Wine, yes,” Alex said as she stood. “But, we watched a movie last night and the night before.”
The two entered the living room, and Jackie poured the wine. “Game night?”
Alex shot her a questioning look.
“Girl, it’s not like I’m suggesting strip poker,” she giggled and added, “I have everything from Chutes and Ladders to Call of Duty.” She sat on the plush couch and took a sip of her wine. “Don’t laugh. I’m a pretty mean ladder climber when I want to be.”
Shaking her head, Alex said, “I think I’ll pass.”
Jackie noticed Alex staring at the pendant she wore. “That’s lovely, Jackie. Is that new?”
Her hand reached for her necklace. “William gave this gift to me for our wedding anniversary last week.” As Alex admired the gift, Jackie explained, “It’s a crystal. William did research and found that to be the traditional gift for the fifteenth wedding anniversary.”
“You know,” Alex said as she let go the pendant and sat back into her seat,” I never heard the story of how you and William met.”
Jackie gave her a wry smile. “Within five minutes of meeting the man, I was yelling at him and calling him a mockery of the American dream.”
“No way!”
“Girl, I was awful to him. Said he had forged a system of lies for the American people and was spoon–feeding it to them.” She halfway laughed. “You know what? He ate my nasty attitude up and knew me to be the woman of his dreams!”
Alex took a sip of her wine. “Tell me the whole story.”
Jackie took a deep breath. “Well, our story began on a cold spring day…
Daniel surveyed the huge crowd with a cautious eye. The number of onlookers had more than doubled over the last hour, and people were beginning to push against the rope–line that marked off the safety zone. Concerned about a breach, posted agents were being forced to hold back the bulging mass.
Even though the crowd stood a good distance away, Daniel suspected it still posed a threat. The President had just finished his speech at a public auditorium. Daniel’s job was to get him safely to the Beast, the presidential limo which securely waited near the kitchen dumpsters out back. A second limo, with its own agents, protected a decoy president at another exit.
From the corner of his eye, Daniel could see the Beast, but he remained steadfast in the crowd watching. The President would be safe once inside the car with its bulletproof glass, reinforced armor, and anti–terrorist safety features. Daniel counted off the President’s footsteps. Four more steps and the human would be safe.
With his acute hearing, Daniel could hear a gun cock and a bullet entering its chamber from off in the crowd. Fearing for the President’s life, Daniel sprung into action. He was unsure which direction the bullet would come from, but he did know the exact location of the President, and that’s all that mattered. Daniel pushed past the two human Secret Service agents nearest the Beast and stood directly behind the President, sandwiching the man between the opened car door and himself.
A moment later, Daniel heard the shot and then a bullet streaking through the air. His sense of smell picked up the scent of gunpowder in the air as he towered over the President.
The crowd screamed. Agents quickly pulled their guns, surrounding the President.
Daniel stood tall, holding out his arms to protect the Commander and Chief. A bullet whistled past the outer line of defense and continued its deadly path. The hot lead missed its intended mark, but hit Daniel in the jaw where it traveled through his neck before lodging in his spine.
Pain caused Daniel to cry out. His purple blood sprayed from the wound covering one of the nearby agents, the cement sidewalk, and the inside of the still open car door. Involuntarily, his head flung back, removing any hope Daniel had of spotting the shooter.
A mass frenzy of human agents was able to jump the shooter as a second shot was fired. Daniel felt his knees grow weak. He took a step backwards, away from the President. In the earbud com unit, he heard frantic orders for the Beast to leave. Evacuate. Keep the President safe.
Daniel stumbled, then righted himself. He turned and pushed President Harriman into the vehicle. He noticed an agent from within the Beast grabbing the President, pulling him to safety, as well. The sudden tug caused Daniel to further lose his balance. A Secret Service agent, standing on the sidewalk and covered with Daniel’s blood, roughly pushed him in after the President in a desperate attempt to close the still open limo door as quickly as possible.
His head hit the President’s knee and caused more searing pain. Daniel lay on the floor of the Beast as it sped from the auditorium and entered the streets under police escort. Blood poured from his wound onto the President’s pants and soiling the floor. He detected two bullets, but didn’t know if the President was also hit.
The President pulled himself into one of the seats. “I’m fine,” he said repeatedly. The man’s face was white with fright and Daniel heard the man’s speeding heart rate. He heard every human heart beat in the car. His eyes blackened and his fangs extended to their full–length. He needed to feed. Feed, or die.
Daniel listened as the President continued to proclaim he was fine. Relief washed over Daniel. He had done his job. But if someone didn’t remove the President from within his reach, Harriman would be his next meal.
Sulie inspected the President and declared him healthy. She had been the President’s private physician for his entire tenure, just like she had been for all the presidents since Lincoln. She was another member of The Colony, a covert team of vampires who have protected presidents for well over a century. She was also a vampire, just like Daniel. She moved from the President and now sat next to her fallen team member on the floor. “Daniel,” she began, “I need you to look at me. Focus on me.”
Daniel’s initial aged appearance had been in his late sixties. His purple vampire blood pooled on the floor. The blood darkened, his body growing old before their eyes. In the moments since he had been shot, he had aged ten years.
Sulie leaned over, sealing the entry point in his jaw with a lick, but Daniel knew the wound was bad. The determined, yet sad, expression on Sulie’s face told him as much.
“You can see his jawbone,” Brandon the Colony Director said.
Daniel’s eyesight began fading, but he looked over to Brandon. He was human. He had blood in his body. Blood that Daniel needed.
“It will heal,” Sulie insisted. “The bullet is lodged in him. It’ll work itself out soon.”
Daniel counted the number of syringes of human blood Brandon injected into him. He felt the human red blood pouring out his wound and knew it was mixing with the dark purple pool on the floor.
“We need more blood,” Sulie cried out.
Weakness overpowered Daniel, and he could no longer see. Brandon injected another syringe of blood into Daniel’s thigh. The hiss of the syringe was slight compared with the sound of Brandon’s beating heart.
Before he lost consciousness, Daniel managed to say, “I really loved my life.”
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