The Watcher, page 11
part #1 of Fleur de Lis Series
“He is here in New York,” Christian said. His eyes widened, and his mouth parted in shock.
“Where?” John asked.
“It's Grand Central. The last time I watched him was last night. I can't believe I missed him leaving,” Christian said.
“What the hell is he doing here?” Sebastian asked.
“Let's go find out,” Zachary said, and we quickly followed him to the garage. He opened the door to an armored truck. “Get in,” he demanded.
John and Sebastian sat in the front, and the rest of us entered the back. Sebastian opened the sliding glass window inside, to hear and see us.
Christian rubbed the dagger. “He is not alone. Five other Vamps are with him. They have entered the Graybar building on 43rd Street and Lexington,” he said.
“Hurry up, get us there quick,” Zachary said.
The truck had metal cabinets filled with all kinds of weapons and four seats attached to the walls. Zachary was strapping shurikens and daggers to his black vest and cargo pants. Gabriel grabbed a Tanto sword and concealed it inside his jacket. It had a sheath and a Velcro strap to hold it in place.
“Next time, I won't leave the house without any weapons,” I whispered to Christian.
I wasn't prepared to go into battle, and I preferred to use my own weapons.
“Me neither. I left my gun and my lucky khaki jacket in the apartment. All I brought with me was Bari's dagger and Aaron's ring,” he said.
I opened a cabinet and found two daggers with serrated edges. I placed them in their sheath and in the back of my fitted black pants. I overlapped my gray shirt and black leather jacket to cover them.
“Hold on tight,” Gabriel said.
“Sit down,” Zachary ordered.
Christian put Bari's dagger in his pants pocket and grabbed a handgun with a silencer from a cabinet. He checked to see if it was loaded and sat down quickly. He strapped the gun to a holster that he wrapped around his shoulders. He fixed his black sweater, tightened the leather strap and put an extra full clip in his pants pocket.
The truck sped up quickly out of the garage. The sound of the raindrops hitting the top of the truck sounded like bullets. It turned and bopped around hard. I held on tight to the sidebars next to my seat.
“Take the FDR Drive, it's quicker,” Zachary said.
John made a sharp right turn on Houston Street toward the FDR highway entrance.
Christian rubbed the handle of Bari’s dagger. “They are knocking on a door, 2908. The guy that opened the door is Nicholas Cangin's guard. The one you knocked out—with the bat,” Christian said in shock and looked at me.
“He's one of the guards I had to take down in order to steal the information on the flash drive,” I said and looked at Zachary.
“The guard invited them in, and two other guards are checking them for weapons. They have no guns,” Christian said.
“They don't need any,” Zachary said.
“The office has few people working in their cubicles and the vampires are following two of Cangin's guards. They enter a meeting room surrounded by glass walls. Nicholas Cangin, and an attractive Asian woman are eating dinner. They approach Nicholas and he seems surprised and looks concerned. He wasn't expecting them,” Christian said.
“This is bad. I think they are going to kill him,” I said.
Christian held on to his wide-open mouth with his right hand in shock. “One of the vampires just ripped his girlfriend's head off with his bare hands,” he said with a frightened look, slowly moving his hand away from his mouth.
“I told you!” I said and looked at Zachary and Gabriel.
Christian swallowed hard with a repulsive look. “The rest of the people are panicking and trying to get out, but they are being massacred,” he said.
“Don't throw up,” I told Christian.
His brows arched higher and his mouth slightly parted. He was struggling to stop himself from vomiting. “I'll try not to,” he said with an uncertain facial expression.
The truck stopped short. I held on tight to the sidebar. “C'est vraiment des conneries!” John yelled in French at a driver that just cut him off. (This is real bullshit.)
“I need to learn Aaron's language. I would have known what Bari and he were talking about last night,” Christian said.
“It's Latin. All the vampires speak it and some speak Archaic Latin that was spoken from the time of the Roman Kingdom. I can teach it to you,” Gabriel said and looked at my brother and I.
“Sounds like a plan. We speak Spanish, French, and Chinese. Latin shouldn't be a problem,” Christian said to Gabriel.
“We can begin tomorrow,” Gabriel said and looked at me like he just won a game of Poker with a hand of a Royal Flush.
I rolled my eyes at Gabriel and looked at Zachary. “Aaron must have found out about the flash drive, and they docked somewhere to let Bari and his men leave,” I said.
“It took them long enough. Nicho and his men have been dead for weeks,” Sebastian said.
“Bari arrived here quickly. He must have taken the helicopter. Aaron can't be far from New York,” Zachary said.
Christian smirked, rubbing the eagle ring on his finger. “I don't see Aaron anywhere near New York or land, but the yacht is not moving, and he is looking out the cockpit window with Madeline Granger. She is actually wearing a really short maids dress and no underwear.”
“Will you please focus,” I said, glaring at my brother.
“I am... I never noticed she had lavender eyes, and her hair is jet black. Aaron just loosened her hair bun, and he's kissing her,” Christian said.
“That doesn't surprise me. Aaron has always slept with his servant girls. I just didn't think he would have the balls to send Bari to New York, to do his dirty work,” Zachary said.
“They haven't dared step foot in New York in twenty-five years,” Sebastian said.
Zachary looked toward Sebastian and then at me with downward eyes, that turned dark blue. I wondered what happened twenty-five years ago.
Christian rubbed the dagger's handle. “Nicholas is trying to get away. Bari takes a handgun away from him and grabs him by the throat. He is trying to speak, ‘I didn't give any information to anyone. You can trust me...we can work this out,’ he said.”
“He isn't going to admit to Bari that anything was stolen,” John said.
Christian closed his eyes to focus. “Bari drags him along the floor to show him the body of his guard. He is torn to pieces. Nicholas is panicking. He looks frantically around the office and notices bloodier dead bodies,” he said.
“Who is with Bari?” Sebastian asked.
Christian answered and opened his eyes, “Four male vampires. One guy is dark as night, another looks like a young teenager, and the other two are huge muscle men. They are the ones tearing the people to pieces, but there is one missing that was with them in Grand Central. He must be somewhere in the building. He was short and had straight jet-black hair with a blonde streak on the side.”
“Great...this is going to be fun,” John said.
“Come on now!” Christian said with disgust. “Bari just picked up the guard's head and licked the blood off the severed neck. I don't think Nicholas realized he was making deals with vampires. He is crying in fear, and I think he just peed in his pants.”
“They are going to kill him. Hurry up!” Zachary said.
“We are almost there,” Sebastian shouted.
Christian looked at all of us and said, “Bari is taking him to the elevator, alone. He is pressing the 31st-floor button. The man is still crying and shaking. This is not going to end well.”
“Come on, move it!” John said to a driver that was too afraid to make a left turn on an intersection. Beep, beep! the sound of the horn was loud enough to scare the driver to turn quickly.
“They have exited the elevator and Bari is dragging him up the stairs to the roof,” Christian said.
“Hurry,” Zachary demanded.
“I am hurrying,” John gritted his teeth with frustration.
Christian rubbed the dagger softly. “They are outside by the large antenna. Bari is holding him by his ankle, off the side of the building. Nicholas is trying to hold on to something, and he's screaming,” he said.
We arrived in front of the Graybar building. “You and your brother need to stay here with Gabriel. We will be right back,” Zachary said and opened the back door of the truck. He turned to look at me one last time. “I mean it...stay,” he told me as if I was his pet dog.
Zachary put on his sunglasses and slammed the door shut. I looked out the side window to watch him. John and Sebastian, run inside the building. I wanted to go with them.
In just a few seconds the body of Nicholas Cangin landed ten feet away from the truck. His body splattered like a tomato. I jumped up, in sudden terror, and held my open mouth with my left hand.
“Don't look!” I told Christian as he approached the window.
Of course, he didn't listen. The rain was coming down fast and Cangin's blood drizzled down the street and into the gutter.
“That is gross.” he stared in shock at the bloody mess of Nicholas Cangin.
Christian's stomach started rumbling. He held on to his mouth tightly. It took a few seconds, but I knew it was going to happen…Christian threw up. The entire green tea latte erupted from his mouth, onto the counter.
“Oh, I knew it! I told you not to look,” I said, taking a few steps back.
“I couldn't help it,” Christian said as he tried to hold back more vomit.
“Here are some rags,” Gabriel said and handed them to Christian. “Stay away from the window.”
Christian was more concerned about the vomit that splashed on his blue and black retro sneakers than cleaning his face. He wiped the sneakers off with the rag. I took the smaller rag and wiped his mouth.
“Thanks,” Christian said.
“Can you get more rags?” I asked Gabriel as I tried to clean the vomit off the counter.
“Of course,” Gabriel said and turned to open up a cabinet.
This was the perfect opportunity to make my getaway and go help Zachary. When Gabriel was searching for more rags I quickly opened up the back door and ran toward the Graybar building. With all the people surrounding the dead body, I swiftly made my way into the lobby and the elevator. I noticed my brother and Gabriel following me as the elevators doors began to close. I held it opened.
“Get in,” I said.
“You need to go back inside the truck,” Gabriel demanded.
“No—they need us. These vampires are strong, and we can help them,” I said to Gabriel.
“She is right, they need our help,” Christian said and looked at him.
Gabriel contemplated for a second what to do then entered the elevator with Christian.
“You need to stay close to me. No wandering off. You don't want to end up like Nicholas and his guards,” Gabriel said.
“We will. Can you fight?” I asked Gabriel.
“Indeed, I can. Zachary is my maker. I was trained by him, even though I am not a Guardian,” he said.
I wondered what happened to Gabriel that made Zachary turn him. Was it the plague that killed Gabriel's sister, or did he asked Zachary to turn him?
Christian pressed the 29th-floor button. “Bari is back inside talking to one of the vampires on this floor, by the entrance of the stairs,” he said.
We needed to wait for an elderly couple that entered the elevator on the 5th floor. The elderly man had a walker, and his wife pressed the 12th-floor button.
Christian looked anxious and shook his head as he watched them exit slowly onto the 12th floor. “I don't want to get old,” Christian said as the elevator door closed.
“That's part of life,” I said.
“Gray hair is a crown of splendor and to some a symbol of honor,” Gabriel said.
“That's easy for you to say...you will never grow old,” Christian chuckled.
“Of course,” Gabriel said and smiled at Christian.
Gabriel's smile was lingering and beautiful. He had sensual lips and straight white teeth with slightly elongated fangs. I couldn't help but be attracted to him, even though he was the most conceited vampire that walked the Earth. He looked at me as I admired his features, and I quickly looked away.
“They have arrived...Sebastian is chasing Bari down the stairs. Let's get off here, on the 18th floor,” Christian said as he held on to Bari's dagger in his jacket pocket and pressed the 18th-floor button.
Christian must have quickly grabbed the jacket when he left the truck. It clearly didn't belong to him. It was three times his size and an ugly orange color, but it concealed the dagger well and his gun.
“Nice jacket,” I said to him as we walked down the hallway.
“Thanks, the color makes my eyes look pretty,” he said and batted his eyelashes at me.
I laughed quietly.
“Can we please be serious right now?” Gabriel said.
“I am being serious,” Christian said as Gabriel opened the door to the stairway.
“Let me go first,” I insisted.
Christian grabbed Gabriel's arm. “Trust her. She can save your life,” he said.
“Ladies first,” Gabriel said as he held the door open for me.
I pulled out both daggers from the back of my pants and took off their sheaths. We slowly walked up the stairs. I held the daggers in front of me. The sounds of heavy steps were a few floors above us.
Danger struck my soul, and I saw a vision...one of the muscle vampires lunged toward me. He was massive, wide and wore all black clothes. His eyes appeared to glow bright yellow. I swiftly jumped to the left side railing to avoid him. I tried to balance on the railing with my feet, but I fell over the banister. I dropped one of my daggers and held on tightly to the side rail with my left hand as my body dangled by the steps.
The vampire crashed into Gabriel, pushing him ten feet in the air, over Christian. Gabriel broke his neck at the bottom of the step. The vamp rushed toward Christian and punched his jaw, shattering it. My brother fell down the steps, unconscious.
I climbed back up, over the banister, and I chased him. I used the Parkour techniques to try and catch up to him, jumping from banister to banister, but Bari was the one who caught up to me from behind and tried to stab me in the heart. I turned and blocked his stabbing motion with my dagger, but he was strong and penetrated his blade into my left arm. The vision faded as the big vamp came closer.
I rushed up the stairs, knowing exactly what was going to happen. I stayed low, moved to my left side, and I sliced the big guy’s lower abdomen open with both of my daggers. He tumbled down the stairs in pain and quickly balanced himself back on his feet.
He swung a punch, with his large knuckles at Gabriel's face, but Gabriel ducked, and the vampire crunched his fist into the wall.
Christian put three bullets into his chest, but he kept on coming. This vampire was as strong as Mikael, bulletproof and fearless.
Gabriel gracefully swung his sword at his head. He blocked it with his strong arm, and with fury, he pushed Gabriel to the other side of the stairway. Gabriel hit the wall with a thundering crash and dropped his sword. He fell on the steps and looked disoriented.
This vampire was a beast, he rushed toward Christian.
“Move!” I yelled at Christian.
My brother dodged him by pushing off the wall with his feet. In midair, he aimed at the vamp's heart. He shot another three bullets and landed behind the beast. The bullets bounced off him.
The beast turned and planted an uppercut punch into Christian's stomach. His handgun fell. Christian held on to the side rails trying to avoid falling. The blow was too strong, and he fell six steps down, passing the beast.
“That's all you got,” the beast grunted and laughed as Christian tried to get up from the steps.
From the top of the stairs, I threw one of my daggers into the back of his neck. He turned to look at me with rage in his yellow glowing eyes. Blood dripped from the side of his mouth and the tip of the serrated blade penetrated through his throat. He quickly pulled out the dagger, but those few seconds of distraction gave Gabriel an opportunity to come around the banister with a striking force and decapitated him.
Gabriel's Samurai Tanto sword dripped with blood as he watched the vampire's body and severed head tumble down the steps. The color of the beast's skin started to change to grey, then in less than a second, his body and clothes turned dark red, like burning coals, and instantly into white ashes.
My brother tried to dodge it by jumping up, but his expensive Michael Jordan's sneakers landed right on top of it.
“Shit,” he grumbled as he observed his ashy sneakers and picked up the handgun on the floor that was covered in ashes.
I didn't let Bari get a chance to turn into our stairway. I came around fast and pushed off the stairway wall with my feet. I turned my body, facing his back, and threw the other dagger with great force into his kidney, penetrating his liver.
He didn't seem to feel any pain. He turned, grabbed my leg, and pushed me down the stairs. I did a forward flip, landing like a cat at the end of the steps. I quickly looked up at him.
Bari was of Arabic descent. His Mohawk was short and shaved on the sides. He looked in his thirties and wore grey clothes and boots. He knew I wasn't alone. I saw the fear in his golden eyes as he noticed Gabriel and Christian running up the stairs. He swiftly jumped over me, opened the 23rd-floor door and ran into the hallway.
“Are you alright?” Gabriel asked me.
“I'm fine,” I said and turned as I heard fast steps coming down.
“What are you doing here?” Sebastian said, looking at my brother and I. He arrived just in time.
“We came to help,” I said.
“You don't listen well to orders,” Sebastian said and glared at Gabriel.
“I had no choice in the matter,” Gabriel said.
“Where's Zachary and John?” I asked.
“They chased the other vampires to the other side of the building,” Sebastian said.
“We don't have time for this. Let's go,” Christian said as he held the door open for us to chase Bari.
