Vampire Sunrise

Eddie Baker

The battle lasted less than 20 seconds, and to be honest, it went exactly like I hoped it would, except for Dominus disappearing. "Burn all the bodies," I commanded. Demonic fire engulfed the bodies as the demons followed my commands. The night was ours.

"God will smite you all!" Dean Frances raptured once Katie let him free of the binding spell.

"I'm not so sure of that; I think God played a big part in making this happen," I answered him.

I told the men of God to take a hike and get out of the square. They were all relatively unharmed, and none of them injured by the demons. I had no reason to kill frightened older men even if they were marked with the upside-down A on their foreheads, and after all, they did bring me, Dominus.

I was disappointed that I wasn't able to take him down. On the flip side, I knew what he looked like now, and that would make finding him very possible.

The storm from above started to intensify, and rain poured down on us. "At least the rain waited until our fight with the vampires was over." I thought.

Katie walked over and hugged me, then started to speak, "This has been a great night Alice, we really..."

A tiny metallic point appeared above Katie's left eyebrow. A trickle of blood streamed down her face, then Katie fell to the ground.

"NO!" I cried. At once, Angel and the other demons were at my side.

"Foolish demons prepare to be sent back to your prison, in pieces," a voice said.

"Imperious!" Anthelion yelled into all of our minds. We all moved into our natural rhythm to match their speed.

"Angel, take Chester out of here!" I commanded. At once, she moved to Chester and took him to the Decatur Blood Bank.

The storm above was not an ordinary storm; it was the energy produced when the Imperious used their magic to create a portal into this world.

In an explosion of activity, Imperious rained down from the sky, coming toward us in droves. They had multiple gateways open.

"Did you think you defeated us demon? Earlier was only a scouting party, and you only killed a hand full? We are going to kill you all tonight," the Imperious leader said in a mocking tone.

Unlike when they attacked us at Katie's coven, three types of Imperious were here. Some were foot soldiers, others were mounted on the four-legged beasts with the red fur strip, but one other type was also here, ones that flew. Maybe they all could fly, I didn't know.

Our numbers were not close to equal, but to me, all of the Imperious were the same, just shiny metallic candy. I was going to see how the juicy center tasted.

Flying minions took to the air, but our numbers were not enough. The three fiends being stronger and faster than regular demons took to the street, pairing off against the black metallic riders.

I moved like the fighting queen of the underworld should move. I was fast, so fast that the Imperious leader in front of me didn't react. I wasn't smiling or carefree. I placed my hands on his forehead and, with a crunch, made the sides of his head touch.

I am not to be trifled with by the likes of the Imperious or anyone else for that matter. I focused on Katie, my sweet Katie. I felt my cold aura turning into something else, darkness. I was hurting, fueled with thoughts of destruction. Time slowed entirely for me. I will end this now, on my terms.

I screamed out into the night calling the queen's blade to my hand. Everything went black for a split second; I couldn't see or hear anything, then time restarted.

All of the demons, minions, and witches went silent; the battle was no more. I looked up and saw falling bodies. The flying Imperious were falling from their great heights cut in half.

The beasts on the ground were cut so precisely that most were sliding to the street in cubes. All other Imperious were decimated, nothing but meat sacks pouring out onto the ground. I lowered my head.

Katie, how could Katie be gone? I wiped the blood tears from my face. I looked down and saw the queen's dagger fading in and out of my hand in its haunting rhythm.

Angel appeared by my side; she had a small cut on her arm but nothing serious.

"Angel, did you see what happened? I blacked out for a second; then, when I could see, the Imperious were all dead."

"Alice, I'm not sure. It all happened so fast. You turned solid black and split. It was like you were everywhere at once. You used the queen's blade and did this. I'm not sure, but at that moment, your tiara was visible, and red bones came from your back. I've never seen anything like it."

"I was flying? How did I kill the flying Imperious?" I asked

"No, it didn't look like you were flying, you just were everywhere at once, but it happened so fast. I could be wrong."

I shook my head and gathered my thoughts. "Nelda, did you see what happened?" I asked.

"Nope, I didn't see a thing; one second, Katie was falling to the ground. The next thing I saw was all of these things cut in half," she replied.

I was still in shock over Katie but had to pull myself together. Jackson Square was a complete blood bath; everything was red. Bodies and gore coated the streets.

"My queen, are you sure you're ok?" Angel asked.

"I'll be fine; I'm still in shock over Katie. I already miss her, Angel," I said with tears streaming down my face. Angel tried her best to comfort me for the next few minutes while the witches took care of Katie's body.

Before the witches started back to their coven houses with Katie, Nelda spoke up. "Alice, once we knew all the vampires were at the square, I sent two witches to activate the chastity spells. We activated the trap near the French Quarter Mansion and the one near the US Customs House. We didn't get all three, but we did activate the two if that means anything."

"Thank you, Nelda, it does, and it's worth a shot to see if we get lucky and find something that leads us to Dominus. Angel and I will go look for a trail." I gave the order for the demons to burn the Imperious. Better for the world to find ash instead of bodies.

A few minutes later, automobile wheels screeched to a halt. It was the Channel 3 news van. Eddie Baker bounced out, cigarette in hand.

"Why didn't that witch let me out of the blood bank sooner? I knew something was going on. What went on here? Holy shit, what are all these burning things? Good lord looks like it rained blood, and why are there ash piles everywhere? Somebody talk to me! Get this on camera," he said to the cameraman.

"Eddie, sugar, it's been a long few hours, and I have things to do. Could you just leave the witches alone? Maybe the priest at the St. Louis Cathedral can help you; looks like they're still up," I said.

"What are you wearing? Is that honest to god armor? Do you have a sword?" Eddie probed me.

"Eddie, we can talk another time, but I'm tired and not in the mood."

He turned and started over to one of the ash piles calling the cameraman to follow. The demons had all gone into their incorporeal state after setting our enemies ablaze except for Angel. Angel and I walked over to Katie. I kissed Katie on the forehead and told her goodbye.