CIA Safe House #11
Tehran, Iran
June 15, 1:07 p.m.
“Vampires…”
I repeated the word, trying to see how it fit in my mouth. It didn’t. Not in this context.
“Wait,” cut in Rudy, “are we talking actual monsters here?” I could only hear his voice, but I could imagine the way he’d look right now. Face tight, eyes dark and unblinking, his hand touching the middle of his tie, right over the spot where he wore a crucifix under his clothes.
“Dr. Sanchez,” said Church, “I don’t have the kind of answer you and Captain Ledger would like. Vampires exist, yes.”
“Perhaps you misunderstand my question,” said Rudy. “I’m asking if these vampires are-”
“Yes, Doctor, thank you for explaining the obvious to me,” said Church coldly. “I do understand the question. Are we talking about supernatural monsters or something else? Frankly, I don’t know. My tendency, as you well know, is to look for the scientific explanation.”
“The rational answer,” offered Rudy, but Church cut him off.
“Rational? You are a devout Catholic, Doctor. Is faith in an invisible God and invisible saints rational? Is it supernatural?”
“It’s religion,” replied Rudy. “It’s faith. And it’s not trying to kill my friend.”
“Do you believe in ghosts, Doctor? That is, I believe, a requirement of Catholics, as it is of most religions. Ghosts, spirits, demons, all manner of creatures that cannot be quantified.”
“ Yo! ” I shouted into the phone. “Can we save this for some time when I’m not standing in a house full of dead people?”
There was a brief silence, and Mr. Church said, “Quite right. To the point then. We have known for some time that the Red Knights either are, or pretend to be, some kind of vampire. We know that they are unusually strong and fast, which are qualities ascribed to most species of vampires in folklore. We know that they have unusual dentition, specifically they have sharp teeth and pronounced canines.”
“Yup,” I said. “I can testify to all of that. Fucker didn’t turn into a bat, though.”
“That’s not part of the vampire legend,” said Circe, joining the conversation after what I can only assume was a shocked silence. “There are a lot of legends of vampires transforming into different kinds of things. Mist and fog, swarms of flies, birds-mostly black ones-and even balls of light. But bats aren’t on the list. It was made up for fiction.”
I heard Rudy mutter. “I can’t believe we are having this conversation.”
“The knight I fought didn’t transform into anything but dead meat after Violin put a bullet in his head. Maybe I watched the wrong movies, but I thought stakes were how you killed a vampire. Bullets in the head are zombies, and we’ve pretty much done zombies. And, I might add-they were the products of science, not black magic.”
“The stakes are questionable,” said Circe. “In most legends the vampire hunters use sharpened poles rather than stakes, and they don’t kill the vampire. The stake was used to hold the vampire down, pinning it to the ground or to its coffin, so that the full Ritual of Exorcism could be performed.”
“Dear God,” said Rudy, “what’s that?”
“They cut the vampire’s head off, fill its mouth with garlic, turn it backward in the coffin, then drive iron nails into the arms and legs of the vampire and rebury it. Or cremate it.”
“I’m here to tell you, Circe,” I said, “a bullet in the brainpan does a spiffy job of dropping your modern-day vampire.”
“I have found that a bullet in the brain works on most things,” Church said dryly, and I couldn’t argue with that.
“So, are we talking about something nonsupernatural?” asked Rudy. “If he could be shot and killed, doesn’t that mean-?”
“It means we know how to kill it,” said Church. “It doesn’t mean that we understand its nature.”
“Surely it’s more likely that this is some kind of genetic aberration,” insisted Rudy, “or at most an evolutionary sideline. We know that there were many kinds of human species evolving at once.”
“It’s very possible,” agreed Church. “And it’s the working premise I’ve maintained for many years. If these Upierczi are vampires, then we will want to ascertain whether that is a subspecies or separate species.”
“Wait, roll back a sec. You said ‘many years’?” I asked. “How long have you known about these Red Knights?”
He paused. “For quite a long time. I first encountered them in Europe, but that’s a story that we don’t have time for now, and it may not be relevant.”
“Getting back to the whole ‘stakes’ thing,” I said. “These jokers tried to use them on me.” I described the general size and design. “Each one has the same thing written on it. It’s Latin, so bear with me.” I pulled the stake from my belt. “ Sancte Michael Archangele, defende nos in proelio; contra nequitiam et insidias diaboli esto praesidium- ”
“Ah,” interrupted Circe, “it’s the prayer to Saint Michael created by Pope Leo XIII in the late nineteenth century. The whole translation is, ‘Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in the battle, be our safeguard and protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil: May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all evil spirits who wander through the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.’” She paused. “An interesting choice, considering the scope of this situation.”
“Interesting in what way?” Rudy asked, beating me to the question.
“The archangel Michael has a dual nature. His name is a symbol of humility before God and at the same time he is regarded as the field commander of the Army of God.”
“Ah, so we’re talking militant psycho vampire hunters,” I said. “Groovy.”
Church added, “Michael is also one of the very few angels venerated by Jews, Christians, and Muslims.”
“Did Michael have problems with vampires? If so, I missed that in Sunday School.”
“Not likely,” answered Circe, “but as the leader of God’s army he would naturally be the enemy of all evil. Going on the assumption that vampires are evil.”
“The Red Knights get my vote for being evil. So are these vampire hunters,” I reminded her. “Krystos and his asswipes tortured innocent people and were quite willing to kill me. Oh, and here’s another thing to throw into the mix. Krystos said that he was with the Holy Inquisition. Even had their motto tattooed on his forearm.”
There was a silence.
“No,” I said, “that wasn’t a joke. Say something.”
“How does one respond to that? I… thought that had been disbanded a couple of hundred years ago,” said Rudy.
“Sure, and vampires were myths,” I pointed out.
“Ah,” he conceded.
“It’s always good to keep an open mind,” Church said quietly.
“Are we tracking any groups whose symbology includes a vampire motif?” I asked. “Some weird cult? Anything like that?”
“Only two,” said Church. “The Red Knights and another group that may be the same as your Inquisitors.”
“Let me guess… the Saturday People?”
“What?” asked Circe. “They’re Sabbatarians?”
I said, “According to Krystos.”
“Sabbatarians,” she repeated, “are people born on Saturday.”
“So what?” I asked. “So was my nephew. He doesn’t run around stabbing people with pointy sticks.”
“No, in folklore the Sabbatarians are monster hunters. The old beliefs come mostly from Greek legends, but it’s found in other places, too. People born on the Sabbath are supposed to have special powers. They can see evil spirits and they are empowered by God to oppose supernatural evil.”
“Were they connected with the Inquisition?”
“I can check, but I don’t know. That’s not to say they weren’t. We’re paving a lot of new ground here,” Circe admitted. “I have a colleague, Jonatha Corbiel-Newton, she’s probably the world’s top scholar on vampire legends. I’ll call her and pick her brain. Covertly, of course.”
Rudy sighed. “Until five minutes ago I thought we were looking for nuclear weapons. Now we’re hunting vampires.”
“Yeah, about that,” I said. “This is definitely one case, but don’t ask me how they relate. We came into this wa-a-a-y too late to make sense of it without a guidebook.”
“So it seems,” said Church. “Here’s the rest. Vox is definitely connected with this matter at several points. Some of that intel comes from a source connected to the woman, Violin. When you have more time I’ll give you a more complete briefing, but for the short term, Violin is considered a friendly.”
“She saved my life, so I’ve got some fuzzy bunny feelings for her.”
“She is part of a deep-cover special ops group operating independently of any government. Their code name is Arklight. They have no political or national affiliation and very few friends. Their story is a long and very sad one. If the situation requires it I’ll have Aunt Sallie give you a briefing. Their leader uses the code name Lilith. She’s fierce, highly dangerous. Underestimate her at your peril.” And then he filled me in on what he knew of the Red Order, the Scriptor, the Tariqa, the Murshid and, saving the best for last, he dropped the bomb about Nicodemus.
“That’s it,” I said. “I quit.”
Church ignored me. “A lot of what we know is in bits and pieces. Let me make some calls and see if I can get more useful information. In the meantime, Captain, get what you can get out of Krystos, but don’t take too long with it. You eliminated their team, but it doesn’t mean they don’t have backup. Unless Krystos has direct knowledge of the nukes, he is a distraction rather than a pathway to a solution. Find out what he knows and then get out of there. I’ll call around and when I can verify a genuinely safe safe house, I’ll text the information to you.”
“Good. Before I go… where are we on the flash drive and the nukes?”
Circe and Rudy gave me the bullet points of what they’d found. Church wrapped it up by saying that field agents were working to verify the four known targets, and to remind me that Echo Team was already inside Iran and heading my way.
“First good news I’ve had all day,” I said, and disconnected. I pocketed my phone and leaned against the wall for a moment.
“Vampires,” I said aloud. There was no doubt in my mind that, as Rudy observed, this was probably some freak of genetics. I believed in God, but, contrary to what Mr. Church said, I didn’t much believe in angels, demons, or monsters. Ghosts? Maybe. Vampires of the supernatural kind? Nope; and the word still didn’t fit right in my mouth.