He glided under cover to a place where he could peer down into the thicket. Moreau was already away and almost out of sight going around a bend. Ian followed, hoping that one of his companions would see him moving again.
In a quarter of an hour, they had fallen in behind Ian who had followed Moreau to a large stucco home. It was in the countryside, with no visible neighbors. A sizeable two-story building, it had numerous outbuildings behind it. There was a barn but no livestock, and behind it a caretaker’s house boarded up completely except for a single window over the porch. He waited until the others had crept up to his location, and pointed to the caretaker’s house as the others nodded. It was an all too familiar vampire technique. He had Li and Sophia stay there while he and Henri circled the place to explore it. Ian saw a long network of rabbit hutches which was over half full of rabbits. Henri had seen nothing. The main house didn’t appear to be boarded up like other vampire coven houses they had seen.
Ian said “There are a sizeable number of rabbits in hutches out back. More than at the chateau, if that means anything. What do you think about Li and I staying here and keeping watch?”
“Should we just get our clothing and weapons then?”
“Yes. If Judge Hoffmeister isn’t there when you get back, we may have to do this thing ourselves. Tonight might be our night, especially if there are hostages in the caretaker’s house.”
It was agreed on and the three departed then. Li and Ian settled in, becoming as still as two stones in typical vampire fashion. They let their hearing magnify everything all around to better monitor the place.
In the later afternoon they both saw Moreau walk out of the back door and he was carrying a box that looked like the one with the produce he had bought earlier. He looked carefully around and then in a bound was atop the porch and through the window in a flash. Emerging in only three or four minutes he bounded down after again looking around carefully. He went back into the house and there was no further sign of life.
It was dusk when Ian heard someone approaching carefully. He and Li silently slipped their short swords out and positioned themselves for an attack. It was Henri and there were others behind him. Marie and Sophia were accompanied by Wilhelm and a husky looking young vampire who he called Deiter. Ian motioned everyone to move farther out into the woods away from the house. When they had moved off around two hundred feet, Ian reached out to shake Wilhelm’s hand
“Ian, I am so glad that you came. I am a little surprised to see two women in this group.” Marie snorted “Oh, Willy! Ian and Li have taught us to fight very well, thank you.”
“You may be even more surprised when you see them fighting, sir.” said Ian.
“Well I’m past five hundred years old, but I can still learn something new.” I couldn’t find anyone else who is reliable on short notice. My other fighters are in the Balkans.”
“We’ll make do, sir. Weapons?”
“Deiter, tell him what we brought.”
“Yes sir. We brought two blunderbuss long guns, four pistols, a saber and an axe.”
“An axe? Hmmm. There are one or more hostages in the building out back. I’d like to go in to get them first and get information from them. They might know how many there are, for one thing. Any ideas?”
“What would you do with them then?”
“We’d take them a good way away from here and leave them there. If we take them to the river, they can find their way back to the city. I think the river is no more than a mile from here. Once they’re away from here, we can finish this. Or, we can ignore them until we finish and then get them away from here. Talk about it among yourselves. Li and I will go see what we can learn.”
Ian and the others separated and changed their clothes at vampire speed and soon he and Li were bounding away toward the house. They edged up close and split up, silently gliding around it listening. They met in back and neither had heard a thing. Ian pointed up and Li nodded. Up they went, silently scaling the rough stucco walls using windowsills and other architectural features. Ian could see through the windows dimly and there was no sign of life inside. He silently crawled all over the side of the building like a spider peering and listening as Li did the same on his side of the house. They covered all windows and never got a sighting. Ian went to the attic window on the rear gable. It was locked and the interior was dark so he couldn’t make out a single feature inside. He took a chance and pushed his elbow against the glass until it cracked quietly. Picking out two pieces of glass he reached in to unlatch the window, raising it to test it for noise and then slowly closing it.
On the ground he met Li and they flitted back to rejoin the group.
“We can’t hear a thing. I broke into an attic window in back. It opens and closes quietly. We could split our group and some come in that way and the others breach a door or window on the first floor. What do you think?”
“We want to get the hostages out now and take them just a short distance away. That way we’ll be at full strength when we go in.”
“I’ll take you and Sophia in to get them, Marie. They’re less likely to be afraid of women. Let’s take our weapons just in case though.” They quickly armed themselves and bounded away into the dark. Ian bounded up silently onto the porch roof of the caretaker’s house. He opened the window and glided into the darkness, and in seconds he beckoned the other two to join him. Inside they glided out of the room where they entered and into a hallway that led to the stairs. Shortly they were at the basement stairs and had silently opened the door.
He crept down the steps to the dirt floor and let his vampire eyes adjust to the blackness. Seeing a little light coming from around a corner, he glided to that and peeked around. There was a boy and two girls tied to a thick post that served as a support for the floor above. Ian signaled to the other two to take off their hoods, so they did and walked into the room.
Marie spoke German and said “Peace, little ones. Don’t fear. We’ve come to set you free. Be quiet now and come with us.”
“Who… who are you?”
As she bent to cut their bonds, she said “We’re enemies of those inside. We came to free you.” The bonds cut, Marie scooped up the smallest one. Sophia got the next smallest one and Ian picked up a boy about maybe 8 years old.
“Don’t make a sound lest those others hear us.” Ian led them up and out of the caretaker’s house. When all three were on the porch roof together, Ian spoke again whispering “Not a sound now.” He bounded off with his burden and the other two followed. In only seconds they were with the others.
“We’ll take these three off a little way and return.” He bounded away and streaked through the woods and leaped a small creek. They got around a quarter mile away and stopped by a large rock formation, taller than the trees nearby. Ian thought they would be able to find it in the dark later. The three put the children down and Marie told the boy “You’re the oldest and you are in charge of these two. Stay here and stay silent. We’ll return later and take you home after that. Do you understand?”
The three children nodded. Marie and Sophia each hugged all three and then Marie said “If we don’t make it back here, wait until daylight.” She took the boy by the shoulders and pointed to the road saying “That way is the road to the city. Just turn left and follow it into Vienna. We must go now. Goodbye.” The little girl she had carried came to Marie and hugged her saying “You are our angels.”
Chapter 67
The group was now all together in the dark outside of the farmhouse. Ian asked “Do any of you have a pocket clock?”
Wilhelm and Henri both nodded and handed them to Ian.
He set one to match the exact time of the other.
“We can divide our forces and strike from two directions at the same time. I can take half with me through the attic and Li can bring half in through the front door or through those two front windows at once. That will real
ly confuse them what with an attack coming from two directions at once. They’ll think that our number is greater than it really is. Does anyone have any other ideas?”
“What will they do, Ian?” asked Wilhelm.
“They’ll fight like hell, but we’ll take them down. What are the chances that they’re armed and ready? Aim for their brain if possible. A brain wound can immobilize any vampire for a while. Shoot and drop your pistol and grab another and shoot another target. We’ll finish them off with sabers and short swords.”
Henri spoke up then “All of you beware of Moreau. He is a crafty one and is big and strong. He’s killed many vampires in his time.” Wilhelm vouched for that. Ian said “Li, Deiter or I will try to get him early on then. If we can get a chance, we’ll try to save one for questioning.”
Ian took the time to go to Deiter and Wilhelm to inspect their weapons and how they were secured. He made two minor adjustments on Wilhelm’s sword scabbard. Wilhelm complimented the family on their night suits and both he and Deiter were particularly fond of the twin shoulder-holsters. Marie got out the four extra hoods she had made at the last minute at the chateau and gave Deiter and Wilhelm a pair of them. “These are in case one of them gets away. He won’t know who did this, and can never identify you. Just tuck the hem inside your shirt collar.”
They agreed to attack at 9:30 exactly which was about a quarter hour away. Just then Ian said “I hear a carriage coming. Four horses I think. Listen, this will give me a chance to get into the house without them hearing me. I’ll take Marie and Henri through the attic. These new arrivals will distract those inside when they enter. Surprise and better weapons are on our side. This will go well, trust me. Remain cool and hit what you are shooting at.” He shook hands with Li, Wilhelm, and Deiter and hugged Sophia. Other hugs were exchanged and then Ian beckoned to Henri and Marie. They flashed to the back of the house and like three spiders they crawled up the rear wall and melted into the blackness of the attic.
The carriage drew up to the door and four men got out. The driver tied the team to a hitching post there and joined them. The five zipped to the front door in the blink of an eye so Li and the other three knew there were no humans in that group. They glided to the carriage and knelt behind it.
“Aldric, it’s us. I hope you haven’t started yet.” Several of them laughed as they entered the front door.
At this moment Ian, Henri, and Marie were descending the attic stairs to the upstairs hallway. They glided down the back steps into the kitchen and waited in the dim light there, grouped in a corner that was near a hallway leading to the front of the house. Those in the foyer or parlor were talking and had made perfect cover for the three to enter. They were inside now and just watching the pocket watch. Ian signed to Marie and Henri to draw and cock their first two pistols. They did so timing it with laughter and conversation from the front of the house. They waited unmoving in typical vampire fashion, while Ian stared alternately at the pocket watch and the hallway leading to the front of the house. It got to thirty seconds and Ian glided forward. None of the three noticed that the door to the cellar was slightly ajar as they filed silently past it.
“You said the man who wanted the girls died in a fire?”
“Yes, and I’m still unsure about that event.”
“Why?”
“I’m not sure. Something about it isn’t right. Anyway I have no buyers. I have a plan to solve your problem though.”
“We knew you would, Aldric.”
“You idiots are lucky is all I can say. Your activities can bring a hell-storm down on yourselves. There are very important vampires who notice things like this and will send a team of killers to deal with the offenders.”
“What? I want to know more about that.”
“I’ve told you more than I should you fool. I’m one of those who they send, fortunately for you idiots. You brought my money?”
“Yes Here it is, as promised. You say that there are vampires who care about things like this? And they send killers after who, vampires like us?”
“Yes you idiot, they send people like me in groups to stop this sort of thing before it becomes publicly known.”
Undeterred, a young vampire spoke up then “Let’s get that little girl tonight. I like it when they finally realize what is happening and piss their pants. I don’t know which I like better, their eyes bulging, their whimpering, or them pissing on themselves.” Laughter followed as Moreau grumbled “You idiots are more trouble than you are worth!”
Ian sensed Marie tensing up behind him and Henri restraining her. There was the sound of more laughter and of a box being put on a table as another voice said “Here’s your money Aldric.”
They must be in the dining room thought Ian as the second hand neared the time. He put the watch in a pocket and glided forward, the other two following him.
Proceeding through into the dining room instead of coming through the foyer he saw the front door open and saw Li and Sophia rapidly gliding in from their direction, pistols raised. Ian fired and shot two of them between the eyes and had his next two pistols leveled seeking targets before the empty ones hit the floor. Henri fired at Moreau and hit his shoulder while Marie hit another in his throat. Li hit Moreau in the chest even as he tried to leap to one side. The parlor window shattered inward as Deiter and Wilhelm came through it.
Sophia fired her pistol and hit one squarely in the chest knocking him back onto another. Moreau streaked for the foyer with Ian after him. He fired just as the severed head of one flew from its owner to hit his arm just hard enough to spoil his aim. He failed to get another shot off due to Li and an opponent moving in between them. Then he had a clear shot at Moreau only to have his pistol misfire, so he pulled his sabre and rocketed after him. As he closed in he was attacked from his left by the driver trying to escape. He turned to kick the driver squarely in his chest and drove him backwards across the dining room table. Feeling a sudden hot pain as Moreau sunk a dagger into his side, Ian ignored the pain, gritting his teeth and spinning, he drove his right elbow smashing into Moreau’s nose splattering it all over his face and temporarily blinding him. He quickly stepped one leg behind Moreau and threw him over. Moreau rolled with it and came up in a crouch and drove back only to have Ian kick him in the teeth, shattering his jaw. Ian closed in and drove a thumb into Moreau’s eye and twisted his wrist lightning fast. The eye popped out and dangled from its socket attached by only the optic nerve. Moreau roared with rage and swung a pile driving punch and hit Ian squarely in the chest knocking him back. He didn’t resist it but rolled and came up with his dragon pistol, discharging it point blank into Moreau’s face. Moreau roared like a bear in his pain and rage and Ian drove in fast with his dagger, ripping upward from the gut where he had sunk it. He drove Moreau back and they both crashed into the far wall of the foyer.
Ian never gave even a split second of reprieve and began to rain telling blows, one of which shattered Moreau’s larynx and crushed his windpipe. He drew up his leg and delivered a front kick to Moreau’s chest and ripped his short sword from its scabbard and stabbed Moreau through the throat, the floor beneath stopping his blade. Stamping down on Moreau’s face as hard as he could Ian drew back and took his head off with a single blow. Kicking it to a corner he whirled to leap back to the center of the fray in the dining room.
Marie was stabbing the one who made the remark about the little girl. She was behind him with her legs locked around his waist and her arm a blur as she reduced his face and throat to shreds of meat with her dagger. The vampire blindly thrashed, screaming in panic, but couldn’t dislodge her. Sophia and Li were finishing off another one, and Deiter had just cut the head off of the third one with his axe. Wilhelm lay in a corner. It turned out that three of them had swords and one had cut his hand off. Ian drew Marie’s last pistol and jamming it into her opponent’s mouth he shot, taking the back of his head completely off and
covering Marie with gore.
The place got quiet then. Ian started looking around for a survivor to question. There were none. He called out “Who else is hurt besides Wilhelm?” No answer. “Marie?”
“No.”
“Henri?”
“Just two small cuts.”
“Li?”
“No, Sophia is hurt though.” He was supporting her. She had a sword sticking from her chest which Li drew out and flung away. He picked her up and went out through the front door.
“Deiter?”
“Yes.”
“Are you hurt?”
“Nothing serious. Wilhelm has lost his hand.”
“Help me find it then.” said Ian as he began to look. While searching he drank half of a flask and immediately he could feel the familiar rapid healing of his wounds accelerate. They looked for a while and neither of them could find Wilhelm’s hand. Ian noticed a window on the side of the house broken and quickly went out and began to look intently in the dark. He finally located it some minutes later after they’d given up looking inside. Deiter had helped Wilhelm to get out to where they had left their rucksacks. Most were there already, taking nourishment. Ian walked up to Wilhelm and said “Here sir. I think you lost this along the way.” He knelt down and fitted the hand against the stump of his wrist and held it until Wilhelm took hold of it himself. It began to knit itself back together even as Ian took a flask from his ruck sack and held it to his lips while he drained it.
“Thank you Ian.”
“You’re welcome, sir. We did well here tonight. Too bad we didn’t get to question anyone.”
“Oh, who cares? And you may call me Willy from now on, Ian.”
“Thank you, Willy.”
“No. Thank you Ian.” Ian clapped him on a shoulder and walked out onto the porch where Li sat holding Sophia. She was draining her third flask.
“Li? Sophia?”
“I’m better now. I should be able to travel in ten more minutes. You’ve been stabbed too!”
He grimaced a bit and then laughed a bit shaking his head as he started back inside saying “Moreau got me, but it was just a knife, not a sword.”