Sylvie

Chapter 17 – A book, a ledger, and diary.

Making their way out of the abandoned three-story building, Sylvie took a moment to see the sunlight in Casey’s eyes. “Sparkles…” She contently whispered and scooped Casey into her arms, kissing her and then setting her down on her motorcycle.

“Ohh…” Casey started to exclaim when the kiss was pressed to her. Responding without hesitation, when she was once placed on the seat, she purred contently from her chest. “Sparkles?” She raised one of her chestnut eyebrows in question. “My eyes right?” Casey winked and caressed Sylvie’s cheek for a moment, “My dream-lover. Come on before we get naked in this parking lot.”

Closing her eyes and leaning into the soft touch of her partner, Sylvie lost herself in the simple touch until Casey mentioned her eyes. “Yes, your eyes. They sparkle all the time….though..” She felt the finger leave her cheek, “I should have said radiate. You have the gold of the sun in your eyes, its…so…” Sylvie shivered and had chills run the length of her arms.

“Why Miss Miakoda, I do believe that you like me.” Casey winked.

Jumping on the back of her bike, Sylvie started the engine and spoke into the microphone. “I more than like you, I happen to love you my strawberry-shake.” Sylvie paused when she heard Casey giggling lightly. “We head north, into Richmond. It should take us about an hour to reach Haley Grant’s home. “Code, the quickest route to Haley Grant’s home.”

“Public record shows one Haley Grant. 780 Madison Circle, part of the Stratton Lake development. Most efficient route will appear on the HUD. Querry?” The Ai went quiet as it popped up an orange line for Sylvie to follow.

Kicking the motorcycle into gear, Sylvie patted Casey on her leg. “Hang on, I think you will like this.” She laughed, “An hour my ass…”

Interrupting her girlfriend, Casey pushed Sylvie softly to get her attention. “What a fine ass it is. I can’t wait to sink my fangs back into it.” She purred.

“I…I…” Sylvie lost her train of thought for a few seconds with the image of Casey and her back in their bed. “Temptress.” She shook off the thoughts and managed to refocus the conversation. “I meant that we will get there much faster, since I don’t plan on doing the speed limit.”

Laying her head on Sylvie’s back, Casey pulled herself tightly to the elder vampire. “At least this time, I won’t feel sick going that fast. Coming home from the beach, I thought my stomach was going to revolt.”

Within a few minutes, Sylvie had gotten the bike onto the interstate and opened the engine to its near max, going well over one hundred miles per hour. “Like I was saying before, we are headed to Richmond. I have mentioned the warring going on there, right?”

“Yep, though I didn’t quite understand. Why are vampires warring?” Casey inquired as Sylvie seemed to push the machine even faster. “Aren’t you worried about the poli…” She cut herself off before she finished the question. “So, why are you telling me this? Won’t the highway take us around the warring parts of the city?”

Sylvie slipped her motorcycle through slower traffic, following the orange line just below her vision. “No, not really. If we were headed to Washington, sure. We are going to the suburbs of Richmond, so we have a few places where we cross close to the warzone.”

Watching the blurs of cars whiz by, Casey thought about how cumbersome the adventure that she begged to do, had gotten. “Sylvie?” She quietly questioned. “I am starting to wonder if all this is worth it.” Casey forced herself up and rubbed her lover’s shoulder. “I mean what is the point in the veil, if in Richmond it’s already broken?” She took a deep breath, “I mean if this is as bad as you say, then there’s nothing left to hide.”

Tilting the blue-gray Indian to the right, Sylvie took the first exit and wrapped around the cloverleaf until she connected to a westerly highway and once more gunned the finely tuned engine. “There is still a veil council that keeps the whole mess out of the news as a war. It’s blamed on drug violence.” She sighed and looked at the distance numbers on the HUD diminishing. “You’ve heard it, I’m sure. Bodies are found all the time down in the oldest part of Richmond, where the businesses dried up and the industry left for newer locations.”

“It can’t possibly be all drug-related.” Casey added, “How the hell did all this start anyway?”

Noting that the green and white signs showed Richmond about twenty miles away, Sylvie offered Casey the best answer she could. “I’m not real sure anymore. It’s been going on as long as I can remember. It morphed into the mess it is now, but it intensified just after World War One. If the rumor is true, then it started from a betrayal of some kind within the city veil council.” Sylvie slowed down briefly when the HUD indicated a police car about a mile ahead. “Now it is a bunch of smaller cartels fighting over something. Some say it’s vampire blood, others say it's just the Hatfields and McCoys in vampire form.” Once they were safely past the sleeping police officer, Sylvie opened the engine wide again and almost sailed down the highway. “Whatever the case, they have staked out claims on sections of the lower parts of Richmond and some of the suburbs.” She paused, “The worst part is that the vampires are made just to fight and be sacrificed to the blood-thirsty cartel leaders.”

“Sounds lovely.” Casey mocked. “Okay, so we are going into a snake's den. Nothing excites me more.” Casey sighed and put her head on Sylvie’s back once more. “How do we fight back? Honestly, I am only as old as the ones you are saying are sacrificed nightly.” She shivered, “Resurrected to be used as a tool and discarded, sounds awful.”

“I agree.” Sylvie offered softly, “We are close to an older battleground, Amos brought me in here in the fifties. It was fairly brutal then, and that was a time where there was better respect for others overall.” Sylvie took an exit labeled sixty-six and slowed to a normal pace until she saw the sign for ‘James River Nature Park’. She turned the bike onto the small paved road and shut off the headlight on her bike. “I am not sure I want to take the motorcycle to the parking lot.” She pulled off to the side and killed the engine. “Okay, You stand guard while I hide the bike, What you are looking for are sets of red-yellow eyes. If you see more than a single set, we are in a bit of trouble.” Sylvie focused on Code, “Pause trip, Code. I need clear vision while here.”

“Trip paused and saved for future use, second-level vampiric vision enabled.” Code affirmed and went quiet.

Without warning, Sylvie’s vision got brighter and more detailed than she’d ever seen. Little blips echoed in her ears as the contacts targeted every living thing bigger than an insect and announced what it was. ‘Rabbit den, twenty feet. Seventeen count. Red-tailed fox, fifty feet north. One buck and four doe, total of five deer by the river, currently drinking.’ Sylvie easily kept up with the information as it passed into her head for easy recovery. “Code, target silently unless we see other vampires.”

“Quiet mode engaged. Query?” The AI complied and asked its normal question.

Sylvie patted Casey on the shoulder, “Hey there, spacy-Casey…you with me?”

“I’m here, Sylvie.” Casey pulled off her helmet and handed it to her partner. “I have to say, you’ve managed to scare the devil out of me. If these folks are as battle-worn as you say they are, I ask again, how do we fight back?”

Emerging from the trees where she’d parked her Indian, Sylvie handed Casey a couple of thick branches with points she’d whittled in a few seconds. “These. With luck we won’t have to fight long, and can run.” She pointed towards a little grove of trees. “Just about a football field into that woodline is an old farm that is on this trail. The farm used to be an egg and milk farm, long since abandoned. The trail goes around it and shows life back then.” She shrugged and twirled the stake in her hand. “Let’s see if the area is just as popular as before.” Sylvie started walking towards the grove of trees when Casey pulled on her hand. “What is it?” Sylvie looked perplexed as her eyes shifted to half-full moons.

“Let’s not just walk in, let's change to birds or something.” Casey nearly begged. “Get high up and get a bird’s eye view.”

Grabbing her girlfriend tightly, Sylvie hugged Casey and kissed her neck. “Casey…” She paused, “...They will be flying too. Scouts.” Sylvie cupped one of Casey’s cheeks, “ If we are seen up there, we can’t do anything, we’d be unable to fight. At least like this we have a chance to stab a few and run. The challenge will be getting to the motorcycle and have it started before they catch up.”

“Bypassing key lock for engine start.” Code spoke up and flashed the schematics for the bike in Sylvie’s vision. “Rerouting sequence complete. Engine is capable of remote start. Querry?”

Casey snickered, “You have to appreciate Kody at this point, my little blueberry-tart.” Casey smiled as her mood improved. Casey offered her hand once more and trailed behind Sylvie as she pulled her quietly through the woods. “Why did you say yellow-red eyes, Sylvie?” Casey inquired as she gripped her stake tightly in her other hand.

“Most of the time we don’t think about it.” Sylvie whispered. “We usually don’t think about it, but we always see the yellow. The red is, as you know, hunger.” Sylvie looked behind her and had an errant thought. “Remember the last time I pulled you through the woods?”

Casey pondered the concept of yellow eyes for a second and blinked, confused. “Um…I don’t see your eyes as yellow ever.” Casey felt her heart jump thinking about Sylvie’s soft moon-glowing eyes staring into her. “I…I…” Casey heard the last question and nodded slowly. “I do. You were all dressed like a soldier..I loved your eyes even then.” Casey focused beyond the moons and caught the yellow Sylvie mentioned briefly. “Oh! I saw the yellow.” Casey purred, “I recall something about me being the only human and becoming a snack.”

Chuckling lightly at the older memory, The couple of vampires doused their melancholy mood and made their way to the edge of the woods, where the old farm stood. Eerily covering the lush grass where blood fed the ground, a fog swirled and shifted almost as if it were magically controlled. Quiet darkness was slowly replaced by unnatural crow calls, and matched by eagle screeching. Where the trees had been still due to the windless night, the tops began shaking and crackling as though being strained and would topple over.

Sylvie crouched and hid behind a particularly thick oak, then pointed up to the sky. Unwilling to speak, Sylvie just frantically pointed at the flying objects for Casey to see.

A large flock of crows dove from above and caught the small band of eagles off guard, at least three crows to every eagle. The impact of the birds hitting each other and hitting the ground was as though the sound barrier had been broken, and left indentations in the ground where the groups landed. Seconds later the crows seamlessly turned into a flurry of fangs and claws, tearing at the eagle that was forced back into its own vampire form. Three to one, the dark-haired vampires held tightly to the one light-colored vampire and pulled out a few modified syringes the size of a turkey baster and plunged it into the holes their claws made, exsanguinating their captive until the one disappeared in a cloud of dust. Covering the battlefield, both sides managed to capture blood as they won sections of the ground.

Cat calls from both sides of the field came out loud enough so that Casey and Sylvie covered their ears. Moments later a flurry of crossbow bolts flew in all directions, with about ten hitting the tree that kept Sylvie and Casey safe. The vampires caught in the open were hit in the legs and arms, seemingly paralyzed by the arrows, even though they didn’t all hit them in the chest. What scouts were left, scrambled for the protection of the trees and howled in rage.

As though on que, the cat calls calmed down and the ground started to shake from Sylvie’s left side. “Casey, I don’t recall it being like this when Amos brought me. The blood stealing is new to me.” Sylvie turned and laid flat against the tree, “Vampire blood stealing, this is pretty bad.” She looked at Casey. “The cartels have to be using it to empower and get the younger vampires addicted.”

Huddling close as she could to Sylvie, Casey reached up and pulled a bolt from a tree and sniffed it. “Coated in vampire blood?” Casey tossed the vile arrow to the ground. “Maybe they know how to change their blood like I do, or one does?”

“Making it lethal to vampires?” Sylvie peeked from behind her tree and watched what occurred next. Groups of two or three vampires covered in what appeared to be body armor made of Kevlar and link chains sprinted into the field with large SCUBA-like tanks on their backs. Plastic tubing had been affixed to the backside of their arms. With a clear view of the battle, Sylvie sat frozen with what happened next. Once the squads reached the wounded and crawling vampires, they stabbed them with stakes in the chest. Immobile and unable to fight back, the black squad members pulled a single bolt from the wounded vampire and then pressed a button on their wrist. A hydraulic hiss echoed through the woods and a long metal needle punched into the hole that the arrow had made. While one member of the squad turned on the pump the other two members squatted and held off the enemy ‘drainers’ the best they could. While a few of the squads made it back with full tanks, a majority of them died right there on the field, their bodies turning to dust and mixing with the fog. Sylvie and Casey heard one of the leaders close to them. “Grab the damned tanks! Send another four squads, covering fire and let’s see where we are on blood before we press the attack. Come on get out there, we could take the other bank and ravage the suburbs. Push on!”

Casey rolled back to the safety of the large oak tree, and closed her eyes. “Sylvie we need to get the fuck out of here, these little sticks won’t do a fucking thing against those metal darts. If the arrows are poison to us, we will be part of that fog.” Spotting that Sylvie hadn’t moved from her spot, Casey pulled her mistress back to the cover of the tree and shook the vampiress. “Sylvie, we need to get the fuck out of here, babe.”

Her eyes cycled slowly through to the black irises of new moons before Sylvie nodded, “Last time I saw this, they were only slaughtering each other and occasionally leaving the wounded for the sun to get. I was not aware they were blood farming.” She put her hands in her face and cried lightly. “Why..why Casey…why doesn’t Vivienne stop this horror? She could end the fighting in one evening.”

Unwilling to sit around any longer to witness more gore, Casey picked up Sylvie and began running through the woods back where they’d come from. “Code, If you can hear me…please please, start the engine.”

Sylvie looked up from her hands and heard Casey’s request, and sent the same order through her contact lenses. “It should be running when we get there.” Sylvie crawled over Casey’s sprinting body and held onto her back, watching their escape. “I have a bad feeling, this is too easy.” Sylvie felt Casey come to a complete stop and she looked over her partner's shoulder. “I had to say something.” She hopped down and looked at the lone vampire soldier covered in crimson Kevlar armor.

Sniffing the air, the soldier pulled off her helmet and let her long hair drop to the base of her shoulders. “You two aren’t from here. Your blood isn’t diluted like the others.” She licked her lips and wiped a bit of saliva from the corners of her mouth. She pointed to the battlefield, “Those are vampires in the smallest of terms. They serve because they have no choice.” She laughed. “You two would be a great addition to Master Keenan.” She rubbed her chin for a few seconds, “I don’t think he’d mind if I purified my own blood with a little of yours.” She began walking and drew a metal stake with wires that seemed to curl around the metal and into the stake itself. With her other hand, She lifted a small crossbow and fired a tiny bolt where it pierced Casey’s leg, and the newborn dropped to one knee, crying in pain.

Sylvie’s third eye opened in record speed as it had done in many prior battles when she was much younger and less wise. Back then she attacked on instinct and her vision alone. These days, she waited for the meaning, like she did with the dog tags during the Crow Farm encounter. Sylvie saw what the Crimson guard was going to do a fraction of a second before she did it. The aggressor reached for the button on the metal stake, and Sylvie thought to Code.

-Drain the battery.-

Sylvie heard the baton-stake power down as soon as she pressed the button. Sylvie side stepped a lunge that would have driven the point with perfect accuracy into her heart.

-Come on, show me a weakness. She’s a battle-hardened soldier now.…I haven’t fought for ages.-

Sylvie sensed the vampire recover and spin, hoping to catch the older woman unaware of the weapon headed for her face. Sylvie crouched and spun her leg out, catching the soldier lady off guard, sending her to the ground in a loud thud.

Sylvie didn’t second think about the situation and pounced quicker than a panther on her prey. Her vision highlighting the Crimson woman’s jugular, Sylvie’s fangs locked in place and she drove them true.

Yelping in pain, the soldier swung up with her hard kevlar fist and hit Sylvie as hard as she could squarely in the face. When the punch landed and broke her hand, she screamed even louder. “Wh…what? I can’t be hurt…”

Sylvie spit the blood that she’d collected in her mouth all over the ground. “You're tainted, your blood is useless, almost useless to you..” She balled up her fist and punched the woman in the face breaking her jaw with ease. Sylvie’s vision faded as the short battle completed. “You are about ten years old…and know nothing except nightly killing.” Sylvie grabbed the woman and shook her, “Age, you dumb bitch. Age, that is why I can do this.” Sylvie reached down and pulled the woman’s kneecap from her body and tossed it into the trees.

Pushing the arrow through her leg, Casey managed to get the little dart free and began regenerating immediately. “I will be okay, Sy-” She stopped in time to see the yellow-red in her lover's eyes and witnessed the brutality firsthand. Next thing Casey knew she heard an old war cry emit from Sylvie. She watched her lover paint her face in patterns with the girl's blood and grabbed a handful of the woman’s hair, digging her claws into the screaming soldier's scalp and yanking a strip of flesh and hair from the screaming vampire. Once her scalp had been revealed, Sylvie peeled away the bone and exposed her enemy's brain. Casey guessed that the cries that Sylvie started were her ancient spirit calls. “Taini, Here’s the stake, Taini.” Casey handed the metal-covered wood to her partner and stood back.

Taking the stake, Sylvie hammered the point into the woman soldier’s chest with one fist. Sylvie stopped chanting long enough to produce a lighter and jam little sticks into the woman at different points. “The air spirits judge you, unworthy.” Sylvie lit the kindling and dropped the woman’s scalp on her chest, then looked to her partner. “Let’s leave before I have to do that again.”

Moments later the two had gotten back to a running motorcycle and took off, leaving the wretched site behind them. Casey adjusted her microphone and spoke softly to her shaken girlfriend. “You asked back there why Vivienne doesn’t stop that?” Casey heard the engine rev louder as Sylvie nodded. “I think you know that answer, my angerball.” Casey waited for a reaction from Sylvie that came in the form of a grunt. “Vivienne wouldn’t stop it because it is in line with her vision. She doesn’t care. She’d get involved if it messed with her ability to function, or if Faye wanted her to.”

Shifting the bike into its highest gear, Sylvie pushed the engine close to its redline. “Casey, they are farming blood. The only good thing is the blood is so weak, there is not much value in it.” She paused, “It’s almost a closed blood pool.”

Thankful that she didn’t see anyone following them either on the ground or in the air, Casey sighed a breath of relief. “Alright. I have seen that terrible thing, let’s focus on the ledger and the diary. Do you have any thoughts on the matter, angel-dove?” Casey snickered.

Enjoying the rush of the cool autumn air flowing over her body, Sylvie smiled and spoke gently into her microphone. “Angel-dove? Is that the best you have now? Tisk-tisk.” She revved the engine for more speed, and saw the exit sign for Stratton Lake. “We have ten more miles, my carmel-apple.” Sylvie made sure to lick her lips loud enough for Casey to hear.

When her heart pattered for a second, Casey felt a warm tingle bounce all over her body. “Mmm, thinking of you bobbing for my apple…my word…” Casey took a baited and shaky breath, “...I have never been this horny in my life. See what you do to me, my cupid-cutie.” Casey tapped Sylvie on the shoulder, “I was just warming up. So I had one lame pet name.” Taking a moment to rub her lover’s shoulder Casey again asked, “What’s the plan? You didn’t answer that, but managed to get me riled up.” Casey moaned and pushed her claws lightly into Sylvie’s shoulder. “Tease.”

“Amos said she was ready for any attempt to steal the items back, which to me suggests that something is on a sort of drop switch and will send the data all over. Fighting that should be the top priority.” Sylvie took the exit for Stratton Lake and called up Code. “Code, did you hear what I was just saying? If so, is there anything you can do to interrupt services while we are onsite?”

“Affirmative, All speech is recorded for possible future use, unless turned off. The area is controlled by a single company and I do not detect any satellite uplinks in the area. More will be known as we approach 780 Madison Circle. Querry?” Code went silent and resumed the route on Sylvie’s HUD.

Upon seeing the little question pop up on her screen again Sylvie finally asked the AI, “Why are you spelling query incorrectly, Code?”

“Unable to process, stand by.” Code responded flatly.

Ignoring the ongoing confusion from Sylvie’s tiny computer, Casey spoke up. “Alright, so you think the only preparations are about getting the data out? What are the odds she is sitting in there with holy water and maybe a few stakes, or even a crossbow like we just witnessed?”

Slowing down to a normal pace for the area, Sylvie followed the little orange line into a wooded subdivision. “I would guess pretty good, given she knows Amos and the whole deal with Phantas. I wouldn’t be surprised if Amos had threatened Miss Grant.”

“Lovely.” Casey quipped. “This sounds similar to the attack on the Flying Cannibals that Vivienne and I did to rescue Faye, except I am a little less prepared.”

“What do you mean?” Sylvie watched the lines of red still circling where Code was still thinking. “I don’t know much about how they met or what you all did before we came to the manor.” Sylvie blinked her half-moon eyes, “I think I broke Code, this is a bad thing.”

“Give it time, all computers are a bit weird at times.” Casey offered. “What I meant was, I was armed to the teeth back then…” Casey suddenly had a flashback of Vivienne breaking her flesh with her long fangs and drinking from her with such care that she barely felt the blood loss. “...I-um…yes, ar-armed to… oh my Sylvie…this memory needs to stop.”

When her HUD showed five hundred feet, Sylvie found a little nook and pulled to the side, and killed the engine. Flipping down the kickstand, She took off her helmet and helped Casey with hers. “What memory are you referring to?” Sylvie asked politely.

Once freed from the constraints of the helmet, Casey jumped off the motorcycle and hugged Sylvie tight. “I feel like my mind just cheated on you.” She mumbled and wished the memory hadn’t surfaced. “I was recalling the night we saved Faye, and I remembered a…closeness with Vivienne, that made me react.”

Blinking with a look of confusion in her full moon and reflective white eyes, Sylvie placed the helmets on the bike and took Casey’s hand into hers. “How do you feel about Vivienne, right now..this moment?” Sylvie squeezed her partner’s hand, “I don’t mean how the memory made you feel, I mean right now.”

Stumbling behind as Sylvie pulled her along, Casey nearly tripped on a loose rock but managed to save herself somewhat gracefully. “I honestly don’t feel anything for her right now. Respect? She took care of me for nearly a year and I made the decision to leave.” Casey righted herself and kept up with Sylvie. “I might have loved her at one time, but it’s not the same now.” Casey felt her blood rise and color her cheeks to a deep red rose. “Sorry. I will try not to do that again.”

Without a shred of warning, Sylvie stomped her foot and came to a complete stop. She turned to face a guilty-looking Casey and warmly spoke. “Love. My love. You are your memories. They are what shaped you into the lovely woman that I adore completely. You can’t cheat on me with your memory.” Sylvie took a moment and knelt to pick up a rock. “This is real, in the moment and solid.” Lifting her thin claw to Casey’s temple, Sylvie continued. “That memory is just a shadow, it isn’t real any longer. It’s time is past.” Crushing the rock in her hand, Sylvie blew the dust into the air where it disappeared. “Just like that, the rock is history. Our memory.” Smiling widely, she added a final statement. “We are creating memories together, we are together…” Sylvie pressed a light kiss on Casey’s heart-shaped lips. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Casey.”

Suddenly recalling the four scars on her neck where she’d asked Vivienne to leave them, Casey reached over to the small holes and rubbed them. “I will do my best to get these removed, Sylvie.”

Peering over to see the fang marks that she’d seen a few times before, Sylvie laughed. “Why now? I have seen them for a while now. Before you left and most recently in our lovely bedroom. Don’t get weird about them now.” She winked and resumed walking to Haley’s home. “Enough, we can delve into your guilt later.” Cackling lightly to herself as they made a decent pace, Sylvie added, “Depending on how guilty you feel when we get home…I might just have one hell of a great time. Folks tend to work harder when they think they’ve been bad. My creamy-pop.”

Suddenly seeing herself drenched in whipped cream, Casey felt her temperature again rise through her body, making her nipples visibly hard. “You are a devil, Sylvie.” She laughed and tugged gently on one of her partner’s cornrows. “I really want to get this over with now.” Casey purred and skipped beside Sylvie still enjoying the exciting thought. “Are we close enough for Code to interrupt whatever is going on around here?” She held her hands up and spun in place playfully. “What about that satellite internet company thing? Comet-link or some nonsense?”

“Code just came back online with all green lights.” Sylvie followed suit and spun once with her progeny. “You wait until you have your own interesting AI.” Sylvie got serious and spoke to Code. “Okay we are within three hundred feet of the house. What are you detecting? Can you reroute any data things until we are done? Or even eliminate them completely?”

Blinking with green lights around the edges of Sylvie’s vision, Code finally responded. “Anomaly, detected. Rerouting memory addresses, secondary CPU online. Primary…primary…primary…c-c-cpu error.” Code started spilling out random numbers and letters for a couple of seconds then answered Sylvie. “780 Madison Drive has three reporting access points to the internet. Cable connection, Satellite service on the rooftop and two different mobile units. Shutdown imminent.”

“Fuck.” Sylvie exclaimed and sat down somewhat defeated.

Casey squatted beside Sylvie and gently pushed on her girlfriend, “My line, darling-dove. I am sure Code will be back online in a few seconds, don’t give up. Maybe use some blood?”

Holding out her hand for Casey, Sylvie stood up and hugged her partner. “Great idea.” Sylvie summoned her blood to flow throughout her eyes, staining the full moons to make them appear like a pair of harvest blood moons. Roughly ten seconds later the HUD reappeared and the lights once more began lighting green one at a time. “It seemed to have worked, Casey. I see it coming online now.” She hopped excitedly for a second, “See, I keep telling you that this life was made for you. Blood IS everything, you’ve learned it better than me and I have been around over two-hundred and seventy years.”

“What a lovely compliment.” Casey squeezed Sylvie’s hand. “When we brag about this later, I will say I saved the mission.” She stuck her tongue out at Sylvie for a second. “Someone should take care of the dish on the roof, that would solve one thing for Code.” Furling her eyebrows, Casey posed a question. “Does that count as us splitting up, since we are in the same place?”

Still waiting for Code to come completely online, Sylvie tilted her head and nibbled on her lower lip briefly. “I wouldn’t say that counts. We are doing stuff together with the same mission.” She nodded, “Yeah, the dish would make it easier for Code, and it appears I shouldn’t push the computer too hard at this point.” Sylvie tapped her chest. “I will go take care of the dish, that way I can program Code directly after. I will come in the back door after. Maybe we will catch Haley in the middle.”

“So you want me to go barreling through the front door?” Casey laughed and raised her eyebrow. “Seems really risky. There could be a trap at the door.”

“Ha ha, a trap door.” Sylvie shook her head, “You can spider-woman inside. You have my permission.” She giggled.

Suddenly aware that the command was embedded in her mind and body, Casey smiled and shook her head. “You didn’t need to officially do it…” She pulled Sylvie into her arms, “So domineering.”

Code bleeped and sent up its normal question. “Querry?”

Casey spoke first, “Thank fuck.” She kissed her partner. “I can’t have you habitually using my words.”

“Code, what do you remember about the jamming or stop data request?” Sylvie carefully asked the glitchy AI. She gave a sly wink to her partner, “Your words are so fun though.”

“Memory addresses confirmed, recalling last recorded message.” Code started spinning the lights once more and after a few seconds stopped and replied to Sylvie. “Three potential locations for internet access. Querry?”

Sylvie motioned for Casey to follow. Quietly Sylvie gave Code its instructions. “I will handle the satellite dish, and take it offline. That should make it easier on you to jam outgoing messages. I would like you to find the data. I am sure it is stored somewhere, with that failsafe.”

Code blipped a few times and a few blue lights appeared in Sylvie’s display. “Secondary CPU performing all coded functions, Primary CPU performing jamming using 256-bit encryption enhanced beyond 1028 due to blood addition. Scanning for files…scanning…” Code went silent.

Spotting the split-level house nestled in a few trees and back from the main road, Sylvie let Casey’s hand go and shapechanged into her Bluejay form, and flapped her wings enough to lift off and get to Casey’s shoulder. Rubbing her tiny blue feathered head on Casey’s neck, Sylvie chirped once and took off for the rooftop.

“I guess that is my signal. Good luck babe.” Casey crouched and crawled as close as she could to the front door and focused for a second, turning herself into a small black widow spider. She noticed that Haley’s home had a huge bay window that had a thick set of blinds to keep the sun out at certain points of the day. Right of the window contained the two floors where Casey assumed the bedrooms to be based on the smaller evenly placed eight-pane windows. Crawling to and under the heavy steel door, she noted that the house was dark and like no one was home. Skittering along the wall and up to the ceiling she turned and looked around the main room.

-I guess Haley is a little paranoid. Emergency shelters all over the room, like one of us is going to invade her mind.-

Casey thought to herself as she worked her way around the circumference of the room.

-Isn’t the aluminum supposed to be on the person's head to work?-

Casey asked herself and dropped the issue since she didn’t know the details of that amount of paranoia. Casey let herself fall to the floor and started slowly prowling for the woman of the house.

-Where are you hiding, Haley Grant? Make this easy…-

Casey wished to herself and made her way to the soft sofa and climbed up.

—

Circling the gray shingled roof for evidence of cameras, Sylvie was interrupted in her scouting by Code. “All cameras on a timed loop, recording nothing. Cable data stream stopped. Wireless stopped at the source and all devices set to airplane mode. Only remaining source Satellite…sat…satellite..” Code stopped speaking and its green circle went orange, yet the blue sections pulsed quietly in Sylvie’s vision.

-Perfect.-

Sylvie thought and quickly changed into her normal form and found the uplink cable for the dish, and severed it with one swipe of her claw. She walked to the dish and yanked the arm free that allowed transmission, causing a small spark as it died. “That’s finished, Code. I am headed to the back door.”

Sylvie no sooner dropped the part of the dish, when she heard Casey screaming as though she was in severe pain and suffering. “NOOooo….Casey!” Sylvie screamed, forgetting any idea of stealth and broke through the backdoor and experienced firsthand what Casey had been screaming about. Sylvie found herself standing in a living room with emergency foil blankets lining all four walls. Placed strategically throughout the room were heavy laser pointers that contract builders used, all aimed at a central bottle in the middle of the room causing whatever was in it to radiate green. Complementing the room, high capability ultraviolet lights that were typically used for reptiles, had been turned on and adjusted in a way that took full advantage of the reflective wall surface.

Haley Grant stood in the center of the room and clapped with joy when Sylvie dropped to her knees on the plush tan carpet. “I think this deserves a lovely song to compliment this moment.” She spun on her heels to see Casey with little wisps of smoke coming from her body. “That’s right, use that blood to fight it…” She clicked a little remote control and the music Haley referred to began. “I think Katrina and the Waves fits the theme well. Their song "Walking on Sunshine.”

“…And I just can't wait till the day when you knock on my door,
Now everytime I go for the mailbox, gotta hold myself down,
'Cause I just can't wait till you write me you're coming around,
I'm walking on sunshine, wooah
I'm walking on sunshine, woooah
I'm walking on sunshine, woooah
And don't it feel good!
Hey, alright now,
And dont it feel good!
Hey yeah!...”

Haley did spins and little jumps in the middle of the floor, bopping her head enough that her long brown hair bounced across her face, obscuring her equally brown eyes. “Yes, indeed..my two blood-sucking friends, don’t it feel good?” She stopped the music and walked over to Sylvie and started dragging her so that she was beside Casey. “I told Amos not to come, so he sent a couple of his besties. Or is that beasties?” Haley laughed and squatted down beside the two helpless vampires. “I took a bit of a risk, I didn’t know if this would work.” She pointed around the room, starting with the blankets. “Those are for reflection only. That way I could cover the entire living room. A simple internet search on the composition of sunlight gave me two of its biggest factors. Ultraviolet light and gamma radiation.” She giggled and looked at her watch. “I don’t have long enough to stand here, so I will make this a little shorter.” Haley tied her long hair into a ponytail and pointed to the UV lighting, “That is high-intensity lights used for aquariums. Very easy to get. Then scattered in the room in every conical direction are leveling lasers that are all aimed at the Potassium-40.” She laughed and pushed Casey over onto her back and poked the young vampire to get her to open her eyes. “It needed a heat source, you see? Oddly, Potassium is an isotope that is sold freely on the open market.” She knelt and pressed a kiss into Casey’s lips, “Think about it…artificial sunlight.” Haley stood up and took a deep breath, “The best part is it dropped you two like a stone.” Haley started whistling and went outside the blanket barrier and deeper into her home.

Casey fumbled around and finally found Sylvie’s hand. “S-Sylvie…Sorry, I-I…” Tears of blood flowed down her cheeks, “...I didn’t have time to say anything…this pain…” She pulled Sylvie’s hand to her lips and kissed it. “Know that I love you, please..” Casey sighed and closed her eyes.

-Rivers, you are one day out of being human and are laying on this floor giving up.-

More of Casey’s memories flooded her vision and saw the few times that Sylvie pulled her from certain death.

-She assisted in killing Brian, she caught you as you were about to fall down into the center of the Earth, and most recently killed two vampires in a cemetery, after riding ninety miles to rescue you.-

Casey squeezed Sylvie’s hand without response. “Fuck.” Casey muttered and had the last flash of memory, where Casey covered Sylvie with a blanket to stop holy water from destroying her. “Thank you! Rivers, you have a plan.” From the moment she was reborn, the sun had been Casey’s friend. Always warm and inviting, her eyes shone like twin suns and she had no darkness within her to tempt her from a path of her choosing. “Blood is everything.” She summoned most of her blood and felt her body cool down and her limbs began working flawlessly. “Sweetheart, I covered you before, I am going to do it again.” Casey summoned all the strength and speed she could and launched herself to the first wall she could see and on her way to rip down the emergency blanket, destroyed one laser and two UV lights. bundling the crinkly blanket in her arms, she rushed back and tossed it over her partner and creator. “Come on babe, if it reflects it should shield you like that.” Casey dashed across the room and ripped into the horrific devices to weaken the trap they’d walked into.

About that time, Haley walked back into the room carrying a few large vials of water, with a cross emblem on them. “How the hell?” Haley pondered for a second, and launched the first bottle at Casey, missing her by a wide margin.

With most of the artificial sunlight damaged in some way, Sylvie began to groan from under the blanket Casey draped over her. “I feel like I was hit by a truck.” Sylvie peeked her head out of the blanket just as the first bottle of holy water bounced off her head and splattered on the floor. Quickly shuffling to avoid the enchanted water, Sylvie grimaced and made her way to the sofa, pulling herself up. “How does a precog not see something like THIS?” Sylvie rubbed her arms and sent blood to seal up the minor holes that the light had caused.

Breaking the bottle in the center of the room, Casey sent the potassium flying all over the room in a white cloud. “Can we focus on the visions later? This chick needs to go down.” Casey dropped into a fighting crouch and flicked her claws out. Focusing her twin suns on the tall and fit reporter, Casey’s fangs locked into place. “I would really like to know where the diary and ledger are. I can make this painless or make you suffer more than we did burning on your floor.” Casey’s gold eyes slowly rimmed with red as she circled the reporter.

Finishing up sealing her body against the artificial sunlight, Sylvie threw off the protective blanket and froze in place, her third eye showing the mystic the truth standing before her. “Casey..Love..Don’t drink her blood.” Sylvie’s eyes shifted into blank pools of black-rimmed red as well. “If I see this right, Miss Grant is not who you think she is.” Sylvie’s vision pierced the illusion that hid the Shadewraith under the woman’s skin.

Taking a careful step back, Casey heeded the words of her maker and looked around for an alternate means to fight the woman holding a single bottle of holy water. “Got any ideas? I mean we can’t just leave this thing free, right?”

A deep hollow laugh came from Haley and her eyes shifted to bright white diamonds. “Talented Nightstalker. You’ve been graced I see.” The Shadewraith grunted and applied horrific pressure on what was left of the real Haley’s persona. “Every little twist I do to her, makes this sack of blood cry out in pain…” It tilted its head, “Feed..ing…me, little bloodsuckers.”

Sylvie ran beside Casey in a flash and put herself between her lover and the Shadewraith. “Casey, I don’t know how to fight these…” Sylvie paused as a realization hit her. “...I have an idea.”

Remaining in her crouched position, Casey kept an unmoving watch on the Shadewraith known as Haley Grant. Initially ready to jump if the creature made a move towards Sylvie, Casey let out a little gasp when she witnessed the body peel off from the Shadewraith in layers, hitting the floor in little pieces of rotten skin, muscle and bone. Casey felt fear creeping up from her chest as Haley’s eyes rolled her skull in a bloody mess and then it hit her that the monster wanted the two vampires to be scared of the little act. “Sylvie..” Casey gulped and fought back her fear, replacing it with anger so she could protect Sylvie. “It mentioned that it got stronger as it tortured the woman…” Casey furled her eyebrow and let the rest of the gruesome scene wash over her. “...So don’t give it any extra power by being scared.”

A second later, what was left of Haley’s body hit the floor, as though a heavy wet sponge had been tossed casually to make the worst sound possible. Screeching and laughing, the Shadewraith spun little circles and floated above the two vampires, morphing its form into various shapes and sizes. It dove with lightning speed towards Casey with six arms and wispy hands at the ready.

Protecting Sylvie had become the sole focus in Casey’s mind as the Shadewraith plummeted from the ceiling. She pushed her mistresses away from her and leapt from where she felt the ghostly creature would land. Not anticipating that the creature could expand just as fast as it could fall, Casey felt six fingers dig into her ankle and pull until she fell flat on her face. “Owww, Fuck!....” Casey howled in pain. “Let…go…you..” Casey tried to kick the beast with her other foot, and sadly watched her foot go through the shade harmlessly. “Your idea would be lovely right now…” Casey winced in pain as she felt herself getting dragged into the air.

Holding Casey upside down by her foot, the Shadewraith used another one of its ghastly hands and gripped her throat. “It would seem, little blood thief, that Archaios Enas is correct about this brood. You will come to anything where it seems your little illusion could be broken.” It laughed maniacally. “Inhabiting you will be such a pleasure, open up little vampire…” The Shadewraith used another hand and pressed Casey’s cheeks until her mouth opened against her will. “We are going to have such a good time…” Glowing orange for a split second, the Shadewraith’s eyes focused on its captive and pressed part of its form into Casey’s mouth intent on taking over the young vampire. From its right side, the evil wraith heard the crunch of something solid and turned to look just in time to get a face full of bloodstone dust blown into its face.

Standing with a simple smile on her face, Sylvie held another three stones in her hand. “What now, you beast?” She smashed the three stones in her hand and smeared them all over her arms before shifting into her ghost form. Spinning up in the air like a small tornado, Sylvie flung her amorphous form at the Shadewraith, pummeling it back through the living room wall and outside into the starlit treeline.

Quickly shoving blood to her numb foot, Casey stomped the feeling back into it and ran for the backdoor. “You could have told me before it nearly took me over, ladyface.” Casey looked up into the trees where the two were still locked in combat, the Shadewraith doing very little to stop Sylvie’s advance. Casey pulled the one bloodstone Sylvie found for her at the lake and tucked it safely in her palm. Scrambling up a thick tree, Casey reached where the two were spinning in a desperate attempt to gain the upper hand. Crushing the small stone and manipulating her closed fingers so that the rock would end up a fine powder, Casey clapped her hands together, producing a heavy chalk-like cloud of bloodstone and let the air carry it right into the Shadewraith.

Emitting a heartstopping screech, the Shadewraith pulled away from its combat and disappeared into the woods without a trace for the vampires to follow.

Dropping to the floor of the forest, Sylvie’s ghost shifted back to her human form and collapsed from exhaustion. “C…Casey…” She breathed heavily out of habit, “You are my savior again. I couldn’t hold that form much longer. It…it..”

Casey landed on a small bed of pine needles, crushing them and releasing its scent between the couple. “We saved each other, Sylvie.” She knelt and pulled the helpless vampire into her lap. “It’s gone, you drove it off.” Casey felt blood-stained tears stream down her cheeks, “You did it, love…you found their weakness.” Casey punctured holes in her wrist and pushed it to Sylvie’s lips. “Drink, please Sylvie. You need something until we have the strength to…to…” Casey lost her words and pointed to the other houses in the subdivision. “Heaven help me, I love you.” Casey cooed and moved Sylvie’s little cornrows from her eyes and watched as Sylvie opened her eyes and blinked her full moons to Casey. “Hi there.”

Drinking for a few seconds, Sylvie pulled away and kissed Casey’s wrist. “Hello, yourself.” Sylvie reached up and held her head. “How is it that I have a headache?”

Hunger welled up inside Casey, and it caused her eyes to rim red. “Is it possible to get a headache?” Casey asked and helped Sylvie to her feet. “My sweet-potato, I am ravenous.” Casey squeezed and kissed Sylvie’s hand one more time and dashed off to the house across the street.

Brushing herself off, Sylvie partially stumbled into Haley’s home and looked around until she found the paper versions of the ledger and the diary. “Got them. That was a pain in the ass.”

“Systems indicate there is still one form of the items left in the house, connected to the computer upstairs.” Code spoke flatly.

Curious about what the little AI was referring to, Sylvie made her way upstairs and looked into the various bedrooms until she found the computer in question. She walked to the back of the tiny tower and pulled the plug from the power supply. “There we go. It should be offline now, Right?” Sylvie asked and then happened to see a small USB device connected in the front of the computer. “Was the item a flash drive Code?”

“Affirmative. All tasks complete, repair mode activated.” Code went silent and the lights dimmed.

Sylvie yanked the little drive free and crushed it into plastic powder and wiped her hands clean. “That should take care of that.” Making her way back downstairs, Sylvie opened the front door as Casey arrived with a man with the look of love in his eyes. “Thank you.” Sylvie leaned into the older man and drained a little more than she intended, but did not kill the guy. “I am good now, let him have a lovely evening and a better morning.”

Nodding slowly, Casey grinned wide. “I didn’t kill any of them.” She pointed to the wreck of Haley’s house. “I figure the police will have enough of an issue with this.” She started to carry the man back to his home and stopped. “How will they explain her body as a puddle?”

“That is for the Richmond Veil Council to deal with.” Sylvie chuckled, “We have our own problems.” She pointed to the smitten man, “Get him home, then we go home. Mission accomplished.” Sylvie patted the two books and smiled.