Mercer’s body went rigid, his eyes finding mine immediately across the room.The fragile accord between us shattered in that instant, replaced by a cold fury that transformed his features into something barely human.
“Every sailor?”Mercer’s voice was deceptively soft.
“All hands lost,” Gallow confirmed.“The message indicates that the German vessels rescued surviving U-boat crew members before they engaged our ships.They reported to their rescuers being attacked by...”
“Vampires.”Mercer shook his head.
“Not explicitly,” Gallow clarified.“The phrase the General used, presumably translating from the German communication they intercepted, is ‘unnatural forces.’”
Mercer crossed the room in three swift strides, stopping mere inches from where I stood.His fist slammed against the bulkhead beside my head with enough force to dent the metal, the sound reverberating through the command room like cannon fire.
“Your mercy has compromised everything!”he shouted, his control finally breaking.His face contorted with rage, fangs partially descending despite the strict discipline he typically maintained.“Now the German High Command knows not only of our advantage, but something of our nature.You’ve exposed us all!”
I stood my ground, refusing to flinch despite his towering anger.“I made a choice consistent with our principles—“
“Principles?”He spat the words as if they tasted of poison.“This is war, Alice!Those men you saved killed Americans.And now their testimony puts our entire mission—our entire kind—at risk.”
“And what would your approach have accomplished?”I challenged, my voice remaining steady despite the fury radiating from him.“Massacred sailors and a blood-soaked submarine?How long before our troops lost control completely?Would we have returned as monsters?How many more American lives might be lost, then?”
Mercer’s jaw clenched, the muscle there twitching violently.“You fail to understand what’s truly at stake.This isn’t about salvation—it’s about survival.I am doing what I’m doing to prove that our kind need not be relegated to the shadows.We can contribute to the preservation and defense of the American way of life.”
“I understand perfectly,” I replied.“You seek approval from the very humans who would destroy us if they truly knew what we are.But redemption comes through faith, not government sanction.”
His eyes narrowed dangerously.“Faith didn’t bring us here, Alice.Utility did.And your actions have just made us considerably less useful.”
Dr.Gallow cleared his throat, interrupting our confrontation.“There’s more,” he said, tapping the transcribed message.“General Gantry has ordered an accelerated deployment.We are to disembark, and you must prepare for your first mission immediately upon reaching shore.”
“Immediately?”I turned to face him fully.“That’s impossible.We were promised a week of preparation, time to acclimate to the front, establish proper protocols—“
“Circumstances have changed.”Gallow’s tone suggested he found our dispute tiresome.“The German High Command’s awareness of ‘unnatural forces’ has forced the General’s hand.We must be deployed before they can develop countermeasures.”
Mercer’s rage transformed into cold purpose.“Gather your flock,” he ordered me.“Full combat readiness.We make landfall at midnight.You will have a single day to prepare.Our first mission will begin the next sunset.”
I wanted to protest further, but the damage was done.Instead, I turned and left the command room, my steps measured despite the storm of emotions churning within me.I made my way through the narrow corridors of the ship to where my flock had been quartered, finding them already alerted to the change in plans.
The scene that greeted me spoke volumes about the fractures forming within our unit.Thomas knelt beside his bunk, rosary beads slipping through his trembling fingers, his whispered Latin prayers fracturing into desperate, half-formed syllables.His shoulders hunched forward as if bearing an invisible weight, and each time the ship creaked, his eyes—eternally seventeen, yet ancient with suffering—darted toward the door.Sweat beaded along his hairline despite the cold, catching the red-filtered light like droplets of blood against his alabaster skin.
In stark contrast, Ruth moved with eager efficiency, checking her weapons with the enthusiasm of a predator anticipating the hunt.Her eyes held a gleam I had worked for years to temper at the convent—the hunger not just for blood but for the violence that accompanied it.
“Sister Alice,” she acknowledged me with a broad fang-bearing smile.“Is it true?Are we deploying immediately?”
“Yes,” I confirmed, watching her carefully.“But this is not a cause for celebration, Ruth.We face grave dangers, both external and internal.”
She seemed barely to hear me, returning to her preparations with unsettling eagerness.Across the chamber, Desiderius maintained rigid discipline among his monks, his voice a low, steady cadence as he reminded them: “Your thirst is temporary, but your soul is eternal.When blood calls to you on the battlefield, hear instead the voice of your Savior.Each moment of restraint is a penance that cleanses.Remember, brothers—we fight not for victory in this war, but for redemption in the next life.”His methods differed from mine, but we shared a message.I agreed with everything he said.
In the corner of our quarters, Rebecca had gathered those struggling most with the aftermath of our submarine mission.I approached quietly, listening as she led them in prayer.
“Though our bodies crave what we must not have,” she intoned, her voice steady despite the blood tears that had dried on her cheeks, “fill our spirits instead with Your grace.When the hunger rises, remind us of Your sacrifice.”
I recognized Bishop Harkins’ words from the prayer manual he had given me, adapted slightly in Rebecca’s voice.The small circle of vampires knelt with heads bowed, hands pressed together in prayer.
Rebecca met my gaze over their bowed heads, her eyes conveying what her words could not—concern for those whose control had been most tested by our first taste of combat, fear of what awaited us on the front lines of a war unprecedented in human history.
I nodded to her, then addressed the room at large.“Prepare yourselves, brothers and sisters.We make landfall at midnight, and deploy the night thereafter.”I paused, choosing my words carefully.“Remember who you are and why we walk this path.The battlefield will test not just your courage but your faith.Hold fast to both.”
As I moved among them, offering guidance and reassurance where needed, I felt the weight of my locket against my chest—a physical reminder of Bishop Harkins’ trust, of the mission that had become so much more complex than either of us had anticipated.We had sailed to war as spiritual beings caught in a temporal conflict, and now that conflict threatened to engulf the very souls I had sworn to guide toward redemption.
The ship’s bell rang six times, marking the hour.Six hours until landfall.Six hours to prepare my flock for a war that might consume us all.
