Minions

The Beginning

A cold wind ruffled my hair. I smiled and turned my face towards the glowing moon.  I savored the light. It was the closest thing to the sun I would ever see. I glanced away and saw Vincent scowling, as always. Damien was talking to our Master on his phone and smiling grimly. He didn’t speak for a while after he hung up. He sighed deeply and said “Boss wants us to do a recon mission,”

“Again?” Vincent grumbled. “We just got back a week ago from our last one.”

“Shut up, Vincent.” I snapped. Vincent growled and got in my face. He bore his fangs at me and hissed menacingly. Damien looked at us both nervously. Vincent was about to throw a punch when he pushed us apart. Vincent leaned against a tree, glaring at no one.

“You guys have to stop fighting. She really hates it.” Damien said, always the peacemaker. Vincent mocked him, repeating what he said in a high-pitched voice. Damien glared at him, challenging him. I looked away, not wanting to partake in the fight. There was a tense moment, in which I thought the two would start fighting, but Vincent sighed and all his determination seemed to drain out.

“So what’re we reconning this time?” I asked quickly, eager to change the subject. Damien grinned widely.

“She said it’s a potential new base. A huge warehouse downtown,” Damien practically shouted.

“Why do we have to recon then?” Vincent asked acidicly. I could see his point. I mean, what is the point of reconning a place we knew was vampire free? I held my breath, waiting if there would be another fight. Damien closed his eyes and let out a huge breath.

 “Well,” Damien began. “She checked it out earlier this week and thought she saw vampire activity. And the missing person list has tripled in the last six months.” I groaned inwardly. A classic sign of vampires. Damien noticed my dismay and grimaced as well. “She wants us to stop whoever’s there and send a message to any other blood-suckers in the area.”  Damien continued.

“I thought it was going to be a new base,” I said.

 “That too,” Damien smiled.

“Why can’t she do it herself? She’s stronger than the three of us combined!” Vincent complained.

  “She started a new experiment yesterday and has to observe it 24/7.” I answered. I turned towards Damien before Vincent could start preaching about how we have to do everything while our master just sits at home and does nothing. “When do we have to head out anyway?”

Damien looked sheepish. “Well,” he began. “She said we have to report back to headquarters in five minutes.” I stared at him uncomprehendingly.

“Damien, we’re at least two hours from base! Did you tell her we were within five minutes?” I said, trying to remain calm. Damien nodded ashamedly.

“Well we better get going then,” Vincent said brusquely. I was surprised at his eagerness to please Master but then I remembered he’d been out past curfew a lot lately and she had told him if it didn’t stop, consequences would follow.

   I climbed nimbly up the nearest tree. I glanced around and saw that the other trees near us seemed stable. This was the good thing about the Forest of Death, as the locals so endearingly named it. I hopped to the next limb, and the next. I was moving at speeds that racecar drivers could only dream about. I saw Vincent and Damien in my peripheral vision. I furrowed my brow. Vincent wasn’t hopping; he was flying. I shouted at him to stop flying. He stuck his tongue out at me and got a large bee stuck in his mouth. I laughed and glanced over to Damien.

“Wanna race?” he shouted over the rushing wind. I grinned wickedly and jumped faster. Branches slapped my face, giving me shallow cuts. I didn’t mind though. I was boss at tree jumping races. I glanced back and didn’t see Damien. He must have given up, I silently gloated. I slowed my speed to a calm run and turned my head to check on Vincent. He was pretty far back but not impossible to catch up.