Red Serpent: The Falsifier (9 page)

Jarad ran to John and said, “John, what the hell is going on here?”

“I have no idea,” John said, “But I think it isn’t going to be pretty.”

“But—”

“Listen, Jarad, just get ready to fight if it comes to it.”

John lifted Alex up and supported him on his shoulder. The boy was completely unconscious.

Nikolas and the vampires touched down on the ground. He walked towards John. “Give him to me,” he said. John did as he was told. Nikolas laid Alex on the ground. He put his hands on Alex’s head and closed his eyes. A blue flash of light flickered in his palm and it radiated outward, centering on Alex’s forehead. All around them, the blue light shone brightly encompassing everything. Everyone around, vampire and human, looked at the healing in awe.

With tears in her eyes, Angel asked John, “Mr. Howe, what’s he doing?”

John smiled, “It looks like Alex hasn’t told you yet.”

“What? What did he have to tell me?”

“I think it would be better if he told you himself,”

Alex stirred and moaned slightly. He opened his eyes and saw Nikolas. He bolted up. “What?”

“Easy...easy, Alexandros,” said Nikolas.

“General Gareng?”

“That’s right. I am General...well I was a general once. But I am still Nikolas, your father’s old friend and cousin.”

“How’d you know it was me?”

“I can sense his blood in you.”

“What are you doing here?” Alex asked, getting slowly onto his feet.

“That’s what I want to know, Nick.” said John. He gave Alex a hand.

“I thought you’d know. I knew this day would come,” Nikolas bared his fangs, “didn’t you?”

“You mean...”

“Exactly. They’ve used us for this purpose.”

Jarad gestured to his men, “Kill them!”

“No!” yelled John, but it was too late. The vampires opened fire on civilians. The human reinforcements returned their blasts with lasers and rocket launchers.

“What’s the matter with you?” John yelled, running to the Egyptian councilman.

“Obviously they want a battle, don’t they?” Jarad said.

“I wanted you to order an evacuation, goddamnit. I’ll handle the rest.” John held Angel by the shoulders. “Angel, you better go home. Don’t worry about anything.”

“But, Mr. Howe—”

“Just go!”

“Uncle John!” yelled Alex, “what’s going on?”

Nikolas said, “Alex, you’ll be safe, don’t worry.” He grabbed Alex tightly around his right arm.

“What are you doing?” Alex pulled away.

John commanded his driver, “Get my sword!” The driver tossed it to him. John caught it and, in a flash, pointed it at Nikolas. “Listen Nick, you can’t take Alex with you.”

“It’s the Council’s orders, John. Listen to me.”

“I can’t believe what you’re doing! You’ve joined them!” With one quick move John grabbed Alex and pulled him towards his side. He moved the sword up to Nikolas’s neck.

“You’re misunderstanding me.” Nikolas said and backed away.

“I understand you completely!” John slashed at Nikolas but the vampire dodged the blade.

Alex dashed to the limo. His only thought now was to contact Angel. He pressed a button on the side of his watch and the chain around his neck broke apart and morphed into a headset that attached itself to his ear. He pressed the earpiece that served as a nanophone. There was no clear reception.

John and Nikolas fought like never before. They felt invigorated even though they were fighting each other. Nikolas flew upwards. “Come down here, Nick, and face me!” John shouted.

“Listen to me old friend!” Nikolas said.

“Don’t call me that! You were supposed to keep your promise, Nick! And now you break it?”

“I need him!” Nikolas said.

“For what?”

“I can’t tell you yet but I want you to take this.” He threw a silver canister towards John.

John caught it but threw his sword at Nikolas. Suddenly a silvery substance engulfed Nikolas’s body like mercury, transforming him. The sword simply bounced off his hard metallic body. It fell to the ground, tip first, and stuck there.

Meanwhile the two armies continued to fight it out. Lasers and silver nitrate bullets flew everywhere, damaging stores, restaurants and cracking glass. One of the Imperial soldiers levitated a piece of concrete with his will and flung it at some civilians, crushing them. Nikolas threw a large red energy ball towards the debris, disintegrating it.

“What’s wrong with you?” he yelled at the soldier, “This was supposed to be a simple mission.”

The soldier smiled bitterly, activating the restraining choker and Nikolas fell to the ground with a thud. John hurried to the limo where Alex was sitting. He got in beside his nephew and opened the container. He took a scroll out of the canister, unrolled it and scanned it quickly.

“What’s happening?” Alex asked, ogling the scroll.

“Nikolas is here to kidnap you,” said John. Alex was about to speak, but John gestured to let him finish. “It says here that Nikolas’s plan was to take you. And my guess now is that after seeing us with weapons, the vampire government is going to take action. They will see it as an act of aggression and try to attack us. By the time they do, we will have prepared our ultimatums and hopefully be able to avoid war by diplomatic negotiation. But before that can even happen, we will come to rescue you. Nikolas will take good care of you and he will tell you more than I know about the vampire history. So don’t worry.”

Alex said, “I’m going to be a prisoner of war for the vampires?”

“For the time being, yes. Trust me, Alex. I would never let this happen if I didn’t think Nikolas had the situation under control. I am also very confident that we can rescue you later.”

John waited for a reaction, but Alex gave none. His eyes were closed as he tried to ready himself. Finally he sighed and said. “Alright. I’m ready.”

Outside, Nikolas returned from silver to flesh. He glared at the soldier who attacked him. He ran to the limo and yelled his orders to the soldiers. “Hold your fire!”

John got out with Alex, commanding his own troops to do likewise. Alex embraced John and turned to the Rebel. Nikolas gave him a comforting look. Then he took a pair of handcuffs and bound his wrists. “Come, Alex. Don’t worry about anything. You won’t be harmed.”

“I know,” He said and added, “Uncle Nick.”

Jarad chased after them and as Nick and Alex both went to the rocket, he yelled, “After them!”

“No! Wait!” John said, clutching Jarad’s left shoulder. “Hold your fire, boys!”

Jarad eyed John with suspicion. “What are you up to?”

“You’ll see.” He smiled.

The human soldiers stood still as they watched their enemies retreating to the ship. It flew out of the Regnum and set a course for Earth.

John opened a bottle of pills and shook out two into his hand. He popped them both into his mouth and swallowed them without sipping anything. In the ten years since he’d been diagnosed with stomach ulcers, he’d had a lot of practice swallowing pills like this.

He eyed the container Nikolas had given him. It was beautifully decorated. The silver was exquisitely carved with various designs. One image which caught his eyes was the Emblem of the Red Serpent, the imperial insignia of King Anaxagoras XXIX. The cross glittered in the light, engraved in onyx and the serpent in a bright ruby color.

Jarad interrupted John’s appreciation of the jeweled container, bombarding him with curses. “What the hell have you done? You just handed your nephew over to the vampires! You know what this will mean? It will mean war!”

John looked at him calmly. “You just answered your own question.”

Jarad turned a slight shade of red in anger and embarrassment. The soldiers regrouped and reported to the two generals.

John glanced at them, fifty in all. “Go back, boys,” he said, “This is but a taste of what the vampires are. Prepare yourselves for the real thing. We may be in a full-scale war soon enough.” The soldiers saluted the generals and dispersed.

Jarad opened his mouth to talk but John interrupted him, “I did say
may be.
”

John had ordered Angel to go somewhere safe, but she didn’t want to. She wanted to be with Alex, to comfort him and to support him. Her fear during the battle was nothing compared to the fear she felt for him now. Nevertheless, she did as Mr. Howe told her and went home to her parents.

“Angel!” her mother yelled from the kitchen window the moment she saw her daughter walking towards home. She put down the dishes she was cleaning and ran out to hug her daughter. “What’s happening over there?” she asked, her face drenched in tears. “Come inside.”

“Is Alex alright?” asked Mr. Stone as his daughter entered the house. He got up and embraced her. “We saw the news. Alex was taken by the vampires!” Ken turned on the holoTV. With a press of a button from the remote, a floating screen emerged seemingly out of nowhere. The TV switched to channel 610, RNN, the Regnum News Network.

“What!” Angel gasped. “I thought he would be fine.”

“I’m so sorry, dear.” Her mother said, wiping away her tears. They sat on the sofa, watching for any more news about Alex.

“What do you know about it?” Angel asked, tears swelling up in her eyes.

“He chose to go, Angel,” Ken said. “He went without a fight.”

“And Mr. Howe?” Angel asked, seeing him on the screen, moving into his limo, followed by a pack of reporters.

“John did nothing. In fact he ordered his troops to hold their fire.” Ken’s eyes darted to the screen, watching John’s face with irritation. Angel watched her father’s expressions, afraid to say anything more. She wondered whether her father’s anger was just about John or whether there was something else bothering him. “We don’t know what’s next,” Ken continued. “It’s all over the news. People are cross with John’s decision and for good reason.”

Angel remained silent and continued to look blankly at the screen. Martha went into the kitchen to prepare some tea.

A reporter at the scene of the battle started to speak as the camera panned to see civilians being treated and carried away on stretchers by medical personnel. The reporter said, “And Leader Howe has refused to comment on the fact that his nephew has taken off with the enemy.” The reporter scurried to get an interview with Jarad, who was walking towards his car. “Oh wait. It seems Mr. Hameed is available for some comments.” The reporter rushed to get a closer view of Hameed fighting his way through other reporters and floating robotic cameras. Finally, he managed to ask the Council Member a question, “Mr. Ha-meed. How are you presently dealing with the situation and what are your comments on Leader Howe’s actions?”

“Well,” Hameed spoke slowly, “It seems General Howe has decided on a rescue mission for Alexander Howe. However, I am strictly against it. Council Leader John Howe’s actions have been questioned long enough and it seems fair to say that he must step down!” At this, several reporters started mumbling amongst themselves. “In fact I think both he and his nephew, if he is to be rescued, must be ostracized from the world of politics!”

“What the hell?” Mr. Stone yelled. “So this is it? That’s all he wants!” He slammed his fist on the armrest of his chair.

Another reporter quickly and loudly asked, “Are you accusing John Howe of treason?”

“The truth is, citizens of Regnum, John Howe is a threat to the very existence of the human race. He has had contact with the vampires till now! He has been in power for too long. If we are to have a man like John Howe who sides with the enemy stay in power, it will spell doom for all of us.”

Ken looked at Angel. “This is insane,” he said. “It’s obvious now that these reporters are probably on his payroll.”

Angel nodded silently. Her mind was hazy. She tried to make sense of what she had just seen on TV.

Mrs. Stone came in with three hot cups of tea and placed them on the coffee table. “What’s happening?” she asked her husband.

“It looks like there’s a really huge scandal going on with the Howe family,” Ken said. “A scandal in the Howe family!” he repeated with sarcasm. “Imagine that. It’s nothing but a damn act.”

“But I’m sure Alex isn’t involved in any of this,” Angel said, wanting to defend her man no matter what.

“...and,” continued Jarad on the television, “If we must, we will arrest Howe and charge him with treason and acts against humanity, since he must have been aware of this whole operation. We, the Council as a whole, think it better if John Howe were to be exiled from the Regnum. He should not be allowed to stay with us in our society.”

Another reporter interrupted him, “But do you have any actual proof, Mr. Hameed? Is this not a matter for the Supreme Court and also for the people?”

“Yes—”

“And,” the reporter added, “what about the nephew? Shouldn’t he be rescued before these procedures?”

“Such an act will definitely provoke war with the vampires, and I’m sure Regnum would never want that. As I was saying, the...”

Angel paid no attention to the holoTV and went to her room, silently praying in her heart for Alex’s safety. The realization that he had been kidnapped was now fully sinking in. She sobbed into her pillow.

When John came home his mother was waiting for him in the hall. “What’s this I see,” she asked him. “Why did you let him go?”