Created (Book 1 of the Created) (29 page)

The GV6 stopped walking when he heard the noise he was
making. I delicately eased around the family to block the beast's angle of
attack. The creature would have to come down the hall then go through me to get
to the family I was shielding. A soft, inaudible to human ears, thump
reverberated through the sub flooring. To the humans behind me, the lone sound
was a scattering of broken glass that was still hard to hear because of the
steady torrent of sobs from Mandy. The Hunter resumed his progress. The GV6 had
jumped clear of the broken glass. So much for stealth ability, I laughed to
myself to calm myself down.

He smelled of rancid meat. The odor was strong. The odor was
not his natural smell. The Hunter hadn't been blessed with the GV16s ability to
emit pleasant, intoxicating scents, but the other vampires were a mixed lot.
Mainly the vampires had no scent, no body odor. A few would emit the scent of
dead flowers, some a clean chemical smell. The Hunter had been feeding
recently. The rancid smell was something I couldn't place. He was still hungry.
His body chemistry told me everything I needed to know. Size, strength,
whatever I desired to investigate.

My abilities were sharpening with the intensity of my
concentration. When my senses were combined, it seemed I could see his outline
through the wall. Inside the room was a red shape standing before the door,
waiting. The Hunter was an inch taller and twenty pounds heavier than me with
long light colored hair. I knew if I could sense him, then he could also me.

I stayed close to the family as the Hunter reached for the
door. Tension filled my being. Inadvertently, I phased into my alternate self.
Fangs and teeth exposed, I was ready. Rotating my fingers in half circles then
drawing them into my palm, I cracked my knuckles as I readied for battle.

The door knob turned silently then a low click. The Hunter
had not calculated the hinges of the door being squeaky. The monster eased the
door open to the sound of screeching. Comically, the GV6 would stop the opening
of the door then try again to the same result. Four attempts and the door
was
only partially opened. The monster had not figured for
such a simple mechanical hindrance giving away his intentions. The snapping and
splintering of wood resonated down the hallway as the door was kicked from its
hinges, followed by the crashing of the door through the wall across the
distance.

The Hunter bounded down the hallway in two steps. I crossed
the remaining living space, cutting the bulging vampire off before he could
explode into the room. Launching into the GV6, the contact carried us both
through the sliding glass door, mangling the aluminum frame and shattering the
glass. We ended up on the covered rear porch. We landed on a wooden Adirondack
lawn chair crumbling the brightly colored item into broken wooden shards. I
pinned the Hunter to the concrete flooring of the porch as he twisted and
fought.

The GV6 was grotesque. The long, blonde hair was thin and
the head was overly large for the body. The fangs were wider and jagged. The
skin a paler gray than I had seen previously on the Farm. The musculature was
similar to my own.

The GV6 screamed with a voice that was scratchy, "Get
off of me! Get off of me!"

His claws were wide and long, stretching to seven inches
when fully extended. One of the sharp talons ripped opened my back as the
Hunter squirmed free enough to cast me aside. The Hunter was upon of me in the
instant it took me to recover from the searing pain of my wound. I was bleeding
profusely.

I found myself on my side with my left arm pinned beneath me
attempting to fend off the GV6. The beast tore at me with the claws tearing
small strips of flesh from my arm and legs. Kicking at the Hunter, I was able
to gain enough of a gap in fending off his attack that I freed my arm. The
creature lunged at me before I could scramble to my feet. I caught the vampire
in the chest with my right foot and used the night stalker's momentum to force
him into the yard. Rushing to pursue the GV6, I snatched a piece of broken
chair from the porch. The GV6 met me before I could clear the roofline of the
covered porch.

His speed was amazing and ferocity was relentless. The
monster was driven by a desire to fulfill his mission at all costs. The passion
with which he tried to obey his directive was the reason I could not easily
defeat him. Mindlessly, he flailed once he was within an arm's length. I ducked
then swung the two foot long splinter of wood. The blow made contact in the
vampire's stomach shattering the shaft in my hands. The force of my swing
hurled the vampire back into the yard, landing on his back. A few pieces
embedded deep into the stomach of the GV6 did not deter the vampire. The Hunter
sprung to his feet.

He stared at me as he spoke, "Why do you stand in my
way?
Or we not the same?
Move aside, and I will let
you live."

I did not reply initially. I had been foolish playing to the
GV6s strengths. It was time to play to mine. I had to erase the thoughts of
protection and go on the offensive.

Stepping into the yard I was prepared to do what I had to
do. I chided the Hunter, "If you want to kill me, here I am come and get
me."

The Hunter ran then bounded toward me. I caught the vampire
in mid leap then smashed him into the wooden column thrice. The column was
obliterated after the repeated pounding of the Hunter into the thick treated
lumber which had been wrapped in aluminum.

The vampire was broken and bleeding to the point he was
almost non responsive, but even in his state of near unconsciousness, he kept
snapping at me as I lifted him from the ground by the scraggily hair. "I
have had enough."

I thrust my hand into the chest of the Hunter, ripping out
his heart then shoved it into his open mouth. Dropping the vampire to the
ground, I tore loose the head by stepping on the throat to hold the torso in
place. I towered over him as I pulled the head apart from the body. I stared
into the ugly, lifeless face. In my anger, I punched the deceased vampire hard
enough to crush the cheekbones into dust.

Phasing into my human appearance, I turned to deal with the
fallout of my truth escaping. There was a new odor in the air, several
actually. Moving into the house through the broken door, I found the family
except for
Sunnie
laid out in front of the couch
unconscious with Chloe kneeling beside Mandy.
Sunnie
was seated on the couch in an induced catatonic state.

The rest of my group lined the far window of the room
including Veronica. "We will discuss what happened here when we return to
the base. Chloe is implanting new memories in the minds of the family members.
To them, this will have been the perfect night with the exception of an
accidental electronic burst of unusual size. The story will help explain the
damage."

She motioned for Logan and Liam to get the body of the GV6
into the van in the yard. "The government wants its property back. The
leadership believes that you were so driven to find the escaped Hunter series
GV6 that you risked blowing your cover to peruse the escapee."

I asked, "Why does the government believe that to be
the case?"

She snapped at me, "Because I fucking told them that it
was the reason. They think you are some kind of hero. Don't worry we, your
family, know the truth. By the way, your selfishness is starting to become a
pain in my ass."

As I passed Darby in order to step closer to Veronica, I
could tell she had been crying. "Thank you Veronica."

She shrugged and pushed past me to check on the progress of
Logan and Liam. Darby mirrored her actions.

Logan and Liam had wrapped the body of the Hunter in old
sheets they had procured from an overturned box near where the sliding glass
door had once stood. Neither of them made eye contact with me as they schlepped
the body parts from the freshly completely dismembered body through the living
room.

Chloe had finished reprogramming the family and had silently
left the house to join the guys in the van.

Veronica shot a look to Darby that prompted her to leave as
well.

I walked up to Veronica, who still stood with her back to
me. She was crying again. "Veronica, I couldn't let an innocent die. She
is not a mission. She is a friend."

"A friend huh?
Do you risk
everything for a friend?" Her attitude was bitchy.

I said sternly, but cautiously, "I think you know I do
because I have for you."

There was a frantic wiping of her face then Veronica spoke,
"She hasn't been reprogrammed, but we can if you want that. You can start
over. We all can. She doesn't have to know the truth, but that choice is
yours."

I sat down beside
Sunnie
on the
couch. Her vitals were normal. She was fine except for the white glaze that hid
her true eye color.

Veronica saw me sit down over her shoulder. She shook her
head as if she couldn't believe that I had taken a seat. The scantily dressed
vampire started to walk out the door. Her face was framed by beams of moonlight
as she paused before opening the glass door.

"Veronica, will she just wake up if I leave?" I
asked.

She answered coldly, "If you leave, this night will
have never happened for her. She will never know that you were here. The story
as told to her by the rest of the family will be the only one
Sunnie
will know. Chloe has limited her ability to discuss
the events with anyone except us if needed."

"And if I stay?" I was afraid to hear Veronica's
reaction.

"If you stay?
If you stay all
you have to do is kiss her and she will awaken to know the monster that you
are. Remember, either choice is yours so choose carefully."

I felt the sting of her eyes as I contemplated my next move.
Veronica pushed through the door and seconds later the van could be heard
pulling from the yard.

There was no question in my mind about what I should do and
what I wanted to do. Those were clearly two different paths. Taking either
would mean there was no way back. The longer I mulled the decision, the easier
it became.

Soon her family would awaken and the moment would be gone.
Sunnie's
semi-catatonic body was unyielding as I pulled her
to me. Adjusting her head to face me properly, I offered a small kiss upon her
lips then felt her hands embrace my face as a steady torrent of tears began to
fall from us both.
 

She removed her lips from mine and wiped at the tears
flowing down my face then at her own. Her attention shifted to her family in
the floor. "Oh God, Ethan, are they alright?"

Sunnie
wanted to go to them, but I
held her tightly in my arms. She tried again then relented. "They are fine
Sunnie
. The rest of my team arrived to help dispose
of the Hunter while easing the minds of your family. Any trace of tonight's
events has been removed, including the fact that I was here."

I could tell by the look in her eyes there were too many
questions than I had time for since any second her family could awaken. Her
confusion became recognition as her fingers traced the lines of my face.
"Your face looked so different earlier. I never got a very good look, but
I could have sworn...I could have sworn you had fangs." Her tiny hand
grabbed mine.
Sunnie
inspected my hand. "And
there were claws." Again she plied at my face in an effort to string
together what occurred. "Maybe I was so upset about the man that broke
into the house that I saw those things. My mind had to be playing tricks. You
said dispose....is he dead? Did you kill him?"

She was longing for me to fill in the blanks. The promise I
had made to me was never to lie to her unless it put her life in jeopardy. In
this world of humans, the truth would sound insane even against the events of
tonight.

I kissed her gently allowing our lips to barely touch. The
kiss ended, but we lingered, nose to nose and lips to lips. I drew her lower
lip into my mouth then held her back from me before I lost my courage. "
Sunnie
, the limited story I am about to tell you is true
and fantastical. There will be a time during the telling of the story that you
will think I am making it all up, but I promise that I need you to believe what
I say. Do you understand?"

Sunnie
was scared. "I guess
so."

"Okay,” I sighed. "I will tell you what I can.
When your family awakes, the story that they will believe took place tonight is
that an accidental electromagnetic pulse occurred causing the damage. No matter
had adamant you try to tell them otherwise, the family will never agree. It
will be on the news, their reality has been altered."

"Okay?" I asked.

She sat there confused, but acknowledged my question.
"Okay. How is that possible that their minds could be erased of the events
of the night? Will mine?"

Proceeding to the hard part of the story, I held her hands,
rubbing the backs of them with my fingers. "The government has created
special individuals with extraordinary abilities that can do things such as
mind resets."

I paused to check for her understanding. Her eyes grew wide
if to imply I should go on with the story. "We are part of a larger
program designed to protect the U.S. from its enemies."

"You have these abilities then?"

I answered, "I have other abilities, though I am not
entirely sure what those are fully. I have not been in the program that long, and
I am still learning. So before you ask, yes the things you saw tonight are part
of me. I do have fangs and claws when I need them."

She relocated herself further away to the far end of the
couch.
Sunnie
was shaking as she curled her legs to
her chest. "So the Hunter, as you called him, wasn't a man in a mask then.
That was his real face. He was a living, breathing monster that was sent to
kill my family. If he was like that and you have claws...you have fangs...I
remember your eyes being so black...what are...what are...then you are a
monster."