Taints were continually evolving, and the swab would give the team a chemical blueprint of their current stage of development. It would probably be bad. It usually was with Taints.
“Right then, let’s get this back to base.” Yolanda nodded towards the exit, and Micky, Colby and Gary set off at a brisk walk towards the stairs, dropping instinctively into the standard staggered two-two formation, even in this supposedly ‘safe’ environment. It was hard-wired into their DNA through years of training, operations and that overriding instinct to stay the fuck alive. So far, it had worked rather well.
Colby paused and turned, aware that Yolanda had dropped back. She was still standing in the middle of the platform, a puzzled frown creasing her forehead. “Yol?” He walked back towards her and laid a hand on her arm. “You’ve got that ‘look’ again. ‘Sup?”
Yolanda turned and looked behind her. At the far end of the platform, and right in the CCTV’s blind spot stood a massive figure. It ignored the commuters that flowed around it. Unusually for Londoners, they didn’t jostle or push past, but gave the looming figure a wide berth, repelled from making actual physical contact with him by some internal survival instinct. Colby snorted a laugh and shook his head. “Damn, that dude’s bigger than Gary!” He looked at Yolanda. “Yol? Hey, c’mon, you’re starting to freak me out. You okay?”
“Yeah. Big lad, isn’t he? Now look closer, Flynn.” Yolanda’s gaze never left the figure at the end of the platform. “Remind you of anyone?”
Colby looked at the hulking figure and frowned. Then a look of recognition finally spread across his face. “Oh, hell no!”
Yolanda nodded. “Yep. And there it is…”
Colby reached for his Glock in one smooth, flowing move.
Yolanda grabbed his wrist and shook her head. “Stand down, Flynn.” For a split second she battled with him. “I said, stand down!”
Colby glared at her. “He’s right there, Yol! He’s right fucking there!”
“And so are god-knows how many civilians! We start shooting now, all hell breaks loose, we are royally burned, and people die. And if two blocks of C4 in Tokat couldn’t take the bugger out, do you honestly think a single clip of organo jackets’ll do the trick? Now, stand down!”
Colby relented, but didn’t take his eyes off the figure at the end of the platform. “Okay, but we need to bang out of here sharpish and call in a lock-down team. Now.”
“Not until I know that every civvy in here is out safely. We wait.”
“Are you actually kidding me? I am not just standing here playing platform chicken with that son of a bitch!”
“I said, we wait!” Yolanda’s gaze never left the brooding figure in front of her. She clicked the Bluetooth. “Micky. Find the station manager. Close the station. Now. Then call in containment. I want all trains on this line stopped immediately. Usual ‘suspect package’ or ‘major emergency engineering works’ bullshit, you choose. Gary, get your arse back down here. FUBAR. FUBAR like you wouldn’t bloody believe. I need you and your bag of tricks here. Move.”
Two voices responded in sequence: “Copy that.”
Yolanda refocused on the figure in front of them. It wasn’t just the size that was so intimidating. It was the way that his mere presence seemed to suck the very light out of the air. And those teeth. Man, those teeth! He smiled slowly, revealing a mouthful of dazzlingly white and needle-sharp dentistry.
Vlad.
In London.
In the middle of the morning rush hour, on platform two of Archway Underground station.
One of the most savage and evil monsters ever to walk the face of the earth was currently standing casually on a London underground platform as if it were the most natural thing in the world, dressed in normal clothes, and looking every inch like a bog-standard commuter. A hidden horror, right there, in plain sight. And nobody except the two soldiers had the faintest idea what ancient evil had wandered, unseen and unchallenged, slap-bang into the normalcy of everyday London life.
Tinted glasses masked his distinctive golden eyes from the gaze of his human fellow travellers. But nothing could hide who he really was to Colby and Yolanda. And he was about as welcome as finding a scorpion in your boot.
He stood there, a snarling smile taunting the two soldiers.
Then, from the same carriage stepped another figure. Almost as tall as Vlad, he was lithe and wiry, not as muscular but certainly a contender for ugliest Northern Line commuter of the day. He stood slightly behind Vlad, subservient to the monster. Yet there was a quiet, confident menace that permeated from the creature. He had authority. He had standing. He had a connection with Vlad that went beyond that of a mere ‘foot soldier’. This was a Taint of some importance.
Colby glanced at Yolanda. “Like father like son?”
Yolanda’s eyes didn’t leave the two figures. She shook her head. “More likely one of his Lieutenants. Remember, Col, this bastard may be a monster now, but he was a military man once. And a great one at that. He’ll have his own chain of command.”
Colby scowled. “Great. So we’ve got a second tango to deal with. This day just keeps getting better and fucking better, doesn’t it?”
“Focus on the primary, Col. If the secondary advances, engage and shoot the fucker in the face. And keep shooting until it goes down and stays down.” Yolanda’s hand tightened around the grip of her Glock.
Okay.
So this could go either way…
Vlad glanced sideways as a pretty blonde, wrapped in her own little commuter-world full of bland pop music, LOL texts from ‘Angie’ and wearing the standard-issue officeware of white blouse, dark pencil skirt and cheap, clattery high heels, tried to squeeze past. He sensed Colby and Yolanda holding their breath as they watched his fingers flex and ripple.
Motionless and still smiling, Vlad gazed at the woman, sensing every fluttering beat of her heart as she manoeuvred past him.
Then her perfume hit him.
Like a storm surge, it sent a wave of ancient memories crashing into his mind, overwhelming him for a second. He didn’t care about the insignificant life of this woman. He had taken thousands — hundreds of thousands — of lives over the centuries. One more wouldn’t make him any more evil than he already was. Sparing her would not redeem him either.
But that perfume…
It was the scent of lilacs on a soft, summer evening. It was the scent she had worn, all those centuries ago.
Brief seconds slowed to the speed of dripping molasses. Vlad watched the girl move past him in slow motion and took in every detail. Her red lips. Her silken blond hair. But above all, that dizzying perfume that had the power to stir such a fire in his blackened heart. She turned and looked at him, and for a split second he could have sworn the girl’s face transformed into her face. His love. His sweet love.
Taken from him by soldiers.
Soldiers who had wanted to make sure his dark legacy ended at Tokat. There would be no more children. No more sons. They had gutted her like a fish. Soldiers had butchered his love in front of him. Soldiers had tainted the sweet scent of lilacs with the coppery tang of her blood.
And now, this vapid… child, tottering past him on ridiculous heels, had the audacity to wear the same perfume as she did? Vlad’s mind reeled and insanity roared inside him. It warped and twisted that brief flutter of clarity — of light, of beauty — and morphed it back into a black, blood-soaked chasm of hatred. How dare she walk on this earth, while his love rotted in the ground! How dare she!