A Crimson Eulogy

Lt. Colby’s body stares up at me lifelessly. I stumble against the wall, my hand against the searing wound under my ribs. The silver-plated knife he used sits on the ground next to him, tauntingly covered in my blood. The blood I drank from him wasn’t enough to fully stop my wound from oozing and I’m lightheaded. Smoke hangs in the air and I clumsily hobble out of the room, using the wall for support as I drag myself down the hall, leaving a streak of blood in my wake. I finally push myself out the door, my eyes assaulted by the sunlight and inferno of flames tearing down every structure of the camp. I feel numb as the scent of charred flesh meets my nose. Bodies lie everywhere from both Ezio’s flames and onslaught. No survivors, no witnesses.

“Alec!” His hurried whisper-yell I pick up from outside the camp walls snaps me from my daze. I’m losing too much blood. I walk over to another slain human body and bring it’s limp arm to my lips, trying to heal. Lt. Colby knew just how to make surviving him hard for me, it shows his training. Is this how all of human recon fights? “Alec! Get out of there!” Ezio barks at me again.

I remove my mouth from the stale taste, feeling over my wound again. Still hurts horribly but I’m not leaking nearly as much. “In a second,” I groan back to him, standing and wiping my mouth. I walk to the front gate, knowing I can’t climb like I normally can unless I want to fall.

“Fuck, Alec, it’s too late! Hide, now!” Ezio says now quieter, and for once in my life I hear a tinge of fear disguising itself as caution. Dread looms over me as I see what he’s afraid of through a gap in the burning gate’s frame: humans, but these aren’t the same human troops we were able to shred through with no issue. It’s human recon, what Lt. Colby referred to as the “apex predators” of the humans’ forces, and they’re gunning straight for the camp, armed to the teeth. I saw bows, likely with the same silver-tipped arrows that can kill us with one shot. I can’t run.

“Ezio, go. Now.” I say, under my breath, backing up, my eyes not leaving the gate.

“Are you insane?” Ezio asks, his voice nearly cracking, “Camari needs me to bring her brother back in one piece!”

“Yeah, well neither of us will make it back in one piece if you don’t go. I’ll catch up with you all when I can.” I respond, nearly tripping over scrap and a body.

Silence hangs for a moment and I hear him sigh, “Fine. Don’t make me regret this.” And with that I hear him leave through the woods.

I drag myself behind one of the burning buildings and slide to the ground, my hand on my side. Every throb of my wound feels like seconds counting down my impending death. I yank off the jacket of the human uniform I’m still in, using the fabric to keep pressure on my side. I hear a woman call out orders and the others spread out to check for survivors. I sure hope there aren’t any. I lean my head back against the wall behind me and close my eyes. They snap open a moment later and I see a pair of wide green eyes staring at me.

“Hello?” The girl squeaks out at me. She’s visibly shaken by the state of the camp, as shown by her trembling handgun. I know not to underestimate her due to her lack of uniform, she’s with recon. My eyes are wide as they flick over her cherubic face, trying to tell if she knows what I am yet, but I see almost no indication of it if she does suspect it. Can I kill her once she gets close? Will it buy me time to escape?

“Hello?” I respond in a similar cautious tone of voice.

“Are you injured?” She asks, drawing closer, concern evident in her eyes. Is she faking it?

“Yes,” I reply. She comes even closer. I count the beats in my head, waiting for the right time to strike. Each footstep has my muscles coiled like a snake, begging to strike. I shift forward onto my knees. I freeze.

“Sofi!” A voice barks out and past her a male turns the corner and rushes over.

“I found a survivor,” The girl responds, backing up. I meet the male’s hard stare beneath his hat. He’s armed with a high caliber rifle and a large knife at his hip, identical to the one that sunk into my ribs not too long ago.

“We’ve got a live one!” He yells over his shoulder, his eyes not leaving me for a second. “Are you bit?” I shake my head hurriedly, showing my arms. He doesn’t lower his gun but instead jerks the barrel, instructing me to get up, I obey, keeping pressure on my wound as I push myself to stand. My odds for taking both of them down aren’t promising.

“Gallo! Anders!” A female voice barks out, both soldiers snap to attention. The male steps forward and grabs me by my arm, pulling me with him as the soldiers take me to whoever called for them. We turn the corner and a woman stands with a sniper rifle in her arms. Her eyes are frigid steel grey and look me over. Her eyes narrow and I think I’m screwed until there’s a shriek from inside the closest building. Everyone’s attention turns to the door as a tall, dark-skinned woman shoves out the doors, tears are streaming down her face. She’s nearly heaving sobs and she looks to the woman who seems to be the leader. “Sgt. Riaz?” The steel-eyed woman asks.

“Wren, it’s Barnes,” the dark-skinned woman cries, “Inside- he’s…”

The steel-eyed woman takes off into the building, shoving past Sgt. Riaz. Something tells me they’re talking about Lt. Colby. Sgt. Riaz steps forward, covering her face with her hands, continuing to blubber. Another soldier seems to appear, startling me as she was virtually silent. She has a large bow that she drops to the ground when she sees Sgt. Riaz and quietly goes and wraps her small arms around the sobbing woman.

Two male soldiers exit the building, one throws up to the side and the other who is the size of a bear steps forward silently, staring into nothing. Finally, the steel-eyed woman returns, her eyes clouded over with an emotion I can’t place.

“Lt. Pryor,” the male with me murmurs. She puts up her hand.

“He’s gone, Weston,” She says, almost inaudibly. I see his knuckles go white around his rifle. Silence and the sound of fire crackling hang in the air for a moment as everyone is looking at the lieutenant. I almost feel sympathy for these pathetic creatures.

Lt. Pryor turns to me and I feel my blood run cold, she isn’t crying. “You’re going to tell me what happened here. And where the spineless ticks that did this went.” It’s not a request, it’s an order and I’m still dressed as a subordinate. I hesitate and the way she shows no emotion causes alarm to me. The rest of recon is looking at me like a pack of wolves, ready to tear me limb from limb. Calling my people ticks is enough to piss me off, but her stare was like truth serum.

“I-I don’t know what happened, all of a sudden I heard screaming. It was vampires, but they’re gone. I must be the only one left,” I give my explanation, my hand still over the wound on my torso. Lt. Pryor’s eyes flick over me but I still can’t read her. She turns away stiffly, swallowing hard. The main building is almost entirely collapsed, the flames reflecting in her eyes.

“We’re going back to Camp Delta,” she murmurs, dragging her gaze away and walking away towards the gate. The rest of the group remains still for a moment, exchanging looks I can’t read but eventually turning to follow. The one who was referred to as Sofi, the one who looks like a child waves for me to follow. A second goes by as I try to figure out what my move will be. But this is an opportunity I cannot pass up. It’s intel for me to bring back to my kind. I fall in line.

I can’t tell how long we’ve been walking for and my wound still has a throbbing pain to it. My thoughts have been mainly quiet until the group halts, I nearly walk into Sofi, who darts her arm out, stopping me in my tracks. I look ahead to see Lt. Pryor who has her rifle up, but her arms tremble. Nearly without sound, the smaller woman with Sgt. Riaz lifts her bow and aims it in the same direction. Less than a second later, an arrow whizzes through the air followed by a dull thud and a blood curdling shriek. My eyes focus and I see it, a vampire, hobbling away as a silver-tipped arrow protrudes from his leg, dark crimson blood soaking his pantleg. One would expect the group to snap into action to kill the stray vampire. It dawns on me, she wasn’t aiming to kill it. Lt. Pryor continues walking with the same pace as before.

“Again,” Lt. Pryor says, her voice low and quiet. I watch in horror as the small woman lifts her bow again and another whizz and scream, the vampire hits the ground as his other leg is shot. They continue the same walking pace as the vampire crawls away pathetically, not nearly fast enough. My mouth goes dry and my hands tremble as I see one of my own reduced to a sniveling mess.

“Wait- please!” The vampire cries out, his hands pulling him forward, digging up dirt and grass from the soft earth.

“Garrison,” Lt. Pryor speaks, motioning to the vampire. The hulking male soldier steps forward, grabbing the vampire. Lt. Pryor walks to a clearing a little way outside the trees. Mountains etch the skyline, the sound of the breeze dancing leaf to leaf would’ve normally brought peace, but not today. Garrison drags the vampire into the clearing, there’s a juxtaposition between the birds continuing to chirp and the wretched screams.

“Wren, please,” Sgt. Riaz pleads, grabbing Lt. Pryor’s arm. Lt. Pryor shoves her rifle into Sgt. Riaz’s hand, who just shakes her head and steps away, tears streaming down her cheeks.

The vampire tries to babble something, but I can see that the lieutenant isn’t listening. She doesn’t want an answer as to if this random vampire was the one who exterminated Lt. Colby’s camp. Whether he was or not doesn’t matter anymore. Her steel eyes soften as she looks down at the him, reaching in her bag where she draws a silver-plated knife, just like Lt. Colby’s. Upon closer look, I see my own blood on the knife. Pity isn’t in her stare, and I can finally read the emotion. Grief.

I turn away, knowing what is to come, and what message is going to be sent. Sofi covers her mouth as she cries next to me. I feel the vampire’s eyes on my back and I wonder if he senses it too. The sounds of what I refuse to witness tell a story. Two monsters face to face, one just happened to be too slow this time.