Darkening Days

Chapter 31: Training

Tension surrounds me and everyone sitting at the meeting table. No-one has spoken for a while, not since this meeting was called. The only sound enveloping the room is that of the gargantuan media-surveillance machine, being operated by the same woman as before.

My attention is brought to the head of the table when the Sovereign speaks. "I, for one, believe that there is only one option left."

"What would that be?" I respond starkly.

"It's time to call in federal troops."

"No." I don't give it a second thought. We can't. "We don't want to start a war here."

"Krystal, but it has been a war since the very beginning."

"No, it hasn't. It's been nothing but a long battle of attrition, just a stalemate. We can't bring the attention, let alone the danger, to this town. Do you know how afraid everyone is already? And they don't even know what's going on. They're just stuck in their houses. We don't want them to know that there's a battle going on in their own town; just think about it- if they knew that there were federal troops in this very town, then they would for sure know that something's wrong, and they'll all freak out and go out on the streets, trying to escape! Then they would spread across the country in terror, telling everyone what's been happening, and then, soon enough, a real war would be waged."

"She has a point there" Meade butts in, backing me up.

"Then what, pray, would you propose we do?"

I take some time to think about this. I can't allow myself to be proven wrong when I may finally be able to contribute something useful to this meeting. I skim over my argument in my mind- then something I said finally gives me the answer. A battle of attrition...

"A battle."

"A battle?" One of the others at the table pipes up.

"Yeah. What if we can somehow get Lance to agree to have an actual, legit battle with us?"

"Do you want to get us all killed again?"

The word again stings me, but I let it slide, and I move past it. "He's got a twisted mind. Maybe he'd actually like fighting us, hand-to-hand. No magic or crap like that. No vamping out on us. He'd just love to play around with us. So if he wants a fight, let's give him a fight. If we get him to play by our rules, then, with all of us, and I mean the Sovereign's men and your men, we could trump him, if we can somehow manage to pull out a surprise on him, something he won't be expecting."

"What makes you think he'd 'play by our rules'?"

"Like I said, this sort of battle would be like a game to him. I'm thinking that he'd actually do this sort of thing for fun. Though, for this to work, we would have to trick him into thinking that we actually believe we can win without anything up our sleeve, that we're one-hundred percent confident that we can win just with our sheer numbers- which, by the way, combined with all the Sovereign's vampires, are huge- so that we can make him underestimate us, giving us the upper hand, you see?" I explain, winding myself.

I look around the table, watching everyone's faces stiffen as they comprehend my proposition.

"Okay, so what 'surprise' do you have in mind?"

I look to the Sovereign. "I know exactly what would throw Lance for a loop."

"Are you ready?" Meade says as he stops the Jeep where he had stopped it before at the start of my failed mission.

"Yeah." I fling open the car door, and step out. I give him the signal to move out, and he pulls away.

This time there are no wires strapped to my chest. Nothing but me and my poor ability to convince people. I begin walking forward, somewhat unsure of myself, apprehensive.