Stake

ONE

A dusting of early-season snow covered the gray shoulders of Pikes Peak, and aspens splashed gold along the Front Range to the west of Colorado Springs. The clear blue sky was bursting with sunlight.

Perfect conditions for killing a vampire.

Just after noon, the Serenity Hedge apartments felt subdued, with most people off at their day jobs. Preschoolers played on the courtyard swing set or rode plastic Big Wheels along the sidewalk, while their mothers chatted.

No one noticed him as he approached with practiced nonchalance.

Simon Helsing knew how to stay invisible. For centuries, vampires had used similar techniques to move unseen through everyday society. At this time of day, a vampire’s powers would be at their lowest point, but nosy observers could also pose a great threat.

Helsing wore a gray plumber’s shirt and a Colorado Avalanche cap over his long brown hair. His battered metal toolkit held weapons rather than plumbing tools. Carrying fake work orders he had produced on a public printer down at the library, he walked with a casual confidence that told the world he was supposed to be there.

Helsing climbed the concrete exterior steps to the second floor of the apartments, glanced again at the paperwork as if to double-check the address, though he knew full well that the creature’s lair was in #220. A hand-lettered index card permanently taped to the door said Quiet! Do Not Disturb.

He pantomimed a polite knock, but made no noise. At the height of day the vampire would be in a deep sleep, likely having fed well the night before, and a simple knock wouldn’t wake him, but Helsing didn’t like to take chances. The job was risky enough as it was.

After waiting an appropriate time for an answer, he got out his picks and smoothly unlocked the door, as if the building manager had given him access. He slipped into a dark, sinister apartment that reminded him of shadows and blood. After closing the door behind him, he no longer worried about being seen, but was in danger nevertheless. He froze for a moment, assessing the threat inside. His skin tingled as he sensed the brooding evil here. Yes, this was the place.

He had adopted the name ‘Simon Helsing’ when he embraced his new mission, and it fit him like a calfskin glove. He lived entirely off the radar in Colorado Springs; it was important to maintain a quiet profile so he could do his work. Even though the members of the Bastion offered him support, and their leader Lucius shared the same mission of saving the human race, Helsing did his bloody work alone.

After hunting the lampir – the Bosnian word for vampire – in secret for years, he had decided to change tactics. No longer did it serve his purpose, or humanity’s, to hide his crusade. People needed to know that real monsters lived unnoticed among them …

He waited for his eyes to adjust to the apartment’s dark interior. The curtains were made of a heavy opaque fabric, a significant upgrade from the flimsy dishrags usually found in cheap dwellings. The inhabitant had added light-blocking window shades to prevent any purifying sunlight from seeping through.

The front room held minimal furniture – sofa, chair, coffee table, end table, lamp – austere basics that had probably come with the apartment. No pictures on the walls, little of the clutter he would have found in any normal human home.

The place was silent as a tomb except for the faint ticking of the stove clock in the small kitchen. Helsing remained still as he peered through the gloom, discerning the door to a hall bathroom and a second mostly closed door – the room where the vampire slept during daylight.

Before moving forward, he rested his toolkit on the sofa and opened the latch with only a muffled click. He raised the metal lid and withdrew a mallet and the wooden stake he had sharpened.

Helsing had surveilled the target, studied his background. Mark Stallings worked as a night-time clerk in a convenience store on North Academy Drive. He had filled the night shift for three years straight and never once, as far as Helsing could tell, worked during daylight hours. More telling, according to public records, ‘Stallings’ had not existed before he moved to Colorado Springs. No previous addresses, no tax returns, not even a driver’s license in any other state. No siblings, no parents, no wives, ex or otherwise. He was alone, a cipher who drew no attention to himself so he could feed without being caught.

Over the past three years, four separate tenants in the Serenity Hedge apartments had mysteriously vanished without giving notice or leaving a forwarding address. Helsing was convinced that Stallings had killed them and discreetly disposed of their bodies. Or maybe the victims were among the unidentified corpses burned by members of the Bastion to prevent them from turning into lampir.

Drawing a deep breath, Helsing strengthened his resolve to move forward with his terrible work. From the kit he removed a plastic bottle of holy water filled in St Mary’s Cathedral downtown. As if it were sacred cologne, he dabbed the moisture on his face and neck, then slipped the cross on its chain over his head and adjusted it. He wasn’t sure how effective such religious trappings were, and he was not religious himself, but centuries of folklore had to have some basis in fact. The peasants near Sarajevo knew what worked, and he would accept any protection the cross might provide.

He pulled on a pair of latex gloves and crept to the vampire’s lair with the mallet and stake in hand.

As soon as he pushed open the bedroom door, he could smell the creature’s animal odor, possibly even rank blood from a recent victim. Stallings lay flat on his back, sound asleep in the darkened room, an indistinct silhouette under a rumpled sheet. The convenience store uniform shirt hung on a chair in front of a cheap build-it-yourself desk. Clothes lay strewn around a hamper in the corner, most of them on the floor rather than inside it.

Stallings was utterly quiet, not snoring, sleeping as if dead. Vampires needed to breathe less than normal humans. The creature had a beard and reddish-brown hair matted with sleep. He wore dark flannel pajamas with the shirt unbuttoned, conveniently exposing his chest. His head was turned on the pillow, eyes closed.

Three silent steps took Helsing to the side of the bed, where he loomed over the lampir. Stallings didn’t stir.

Helsing positioned the tip of the stake directly above the sternum, and gripped the mallet like a carpenter about to pound a nail into the two-by-four. He let the sharpened point just touch the vampire’s skin. ‘You’ll never hurt anyone else,’ he whispered.

When the wooden point touched his chest, Stallings started, blinked his eyes. ‘What—?’

Helsing raised the mallet high and brought it down using all his strength. The point punched through the breastbone and pierced the vampire’s heart with a spurt of hot blood.

Even before the monster began to twist and jitter, as they always did, Helsing pounded a second time with a loud crack, driving the wood all the way through the back. The stake pinned the body to the bed so that it could never again rise from the dead.

TWO

Alexis Tarada stared at the headline for a long moment before posting it to her website.

BIGFOOT RAPES WOMAN IN PIKE NATIONAL FOREST

It was by no means the most unlikely story she had run on HideTruth.com. Some would ridicule her for it, but there was a kernel of veracity, so she opted to include it for the possibility, however small, that it might be true.

One of these days, I’m sure to be right, she thought. By now it was practically a mantra. She tucked a lock of brown hair behind her left ear in a fidgety habit and kept researching the details.

The assault in the woods was undeniable, even if the Forest Service downplayed the sensational aspect of the story. The hiker had been attacked in the Front Range just west of Colorado Springs. Since the mystery was right in Lexi’s backyard, it caught her attention.

The details of the incident were sketchy, which left room for interpretation. A single young woman, Holly Smith, age twenty-four, had been backpacking alone on the Ring the Peak Trail deep in the national forest. Several days after she was expected home, her sister had reported her missing. Word of the vanished hiker had sparked a flurry of stories on the local news.

Lexi had seen the reports, but assumed the hiker had gotten lost or injured out in the forest. When three hikers accidentally came upon Smith on an isolated part of the trail, she was bloodied and bruised, hungry, terrified. She insisted that Bigfoot had kidnapped her, held her prisoner in his lair, and raped her repeatedly. The hikers brought her to safety and shared her wild story, although the victim herself had refrained from comment.

The Bigfoot claim had piqued Lexi’s interest, though, and she dug more deeply into the case. According to police records and the appended medical report, Smith had suffered numerous scrapes, scratches, and contusions, all of which signified rough treatment. Her wrists showed ligature marks where she had been bound by a rope. Her fingernails and clothing were torn from clawing her way free. A rape kit showed evidence of recent sexual intercourse, while vaginal tearing and pubic bruising strongly suggested rape, which corroborated the woman’s story. Long, brown hairs from her assailant had been found on her; the strands would be tested for DNA evidence with the hope of searching for possible matches in the sexual predator database.

A Forest Service spokesman downplayed the idea of Bigfoot and deflected further questions. Journalists were reluctant to ridicule or shame a victim of sexual assault. Smith had given no public statement about the sighting or the attack. In fact, the young woman’s identity would have been kept quiet, except that her name and photograph had been spread all over the news after she went missing and volunteer search parties were organized.

Lexi herself had hiked in the nearby Pike National Forest, but only on day outings. Since she worked at home from her rental house, she could go on a weekday hike whenever she liked. The scenery of the Rockies was a far cry from her native Dubuque, Iowa.

With all the information she could find, she posted the story to her site with a satisfying click and sat back in the chair in her home office, leaving the comments field open, knowing she would soon have a host of theories, supporting evidence, debates, skeptics, and with the vibrant traffic, a few more donations would appear in the tip jar.

At twenty-six, Lexi was driven and independent with a small frame and straight, shoulder-length hair, currently strawberry blond. Blair, her housemate, kept suggesting she switch the color to auburn, but he thought about her hair color more often than she did.

Before long, comments about her post began to roll in, and she tried to maintain a sense of decorum, which was sometimes difficult with the passionate HideTruth audience. Her followers claimed to be open-minded, yet often demonstrated extreme defensiveness when anyone expressed skepticism.

As background for the Bigfoot discussion, she called up old threads about Sasquatch, a perennial favorite, especially here in Colorado. With countless outdoor enthusiasts, hikers, hunters, and backpackers out in the wilderness, anecdotes and sightings were legion, particularly in the mountain communities around Pikes Peak. Many locals believed that something lived in the forest, but they put up with it, just as they had a live-and-let-live attitude toward it, just as they did with bears or mountain lions.

She had found persistent reports of abandoned fire circles, remnants of large camps deep in the wilderness, stories about feral homeless groups hiding from society. Were these rumors a way to explain Bigfoot sightings without invoking any fantastical elements? One of these days, I’m sure to be right.

As she watched, someone posted a blurry photo of what looked like a low, dark tree that had a vaguely humanoid shape. ‘Proof that Bigfoot was in my backyard!’ said SkyWatchr1. Many of the commenters in the HideTruth forum preferred avatars and screen names; few used their real identities.

Though she was dubious, Lexi allowed the blurry photo to remain on the site. No harm done. SkyWatchr1 was a prolific poster, endlessly hopeful, even gullible. He or she had also posted pictures of odd oil stains on the driveway, speculating that the patterns meant something. PencilNeck posted an audio clip of what sounded like rushing leaves and some kind of gruff animal undertone deep in the background, claiming it, too, was proof of Bigfoot.

Though fascinated by fantastic stories, Lexi didn’t consider herself to be on the fringe. She was perfectly happy to accept evidence that debunked any wild theory, but she didn’t automatically scoff at strange notions either. The world held some things that couldn’t be explained … yet.

Back in Iowa, her parents had said she possessed an overactive imagination, but Lexi called it a sense of wonder. She felt humility in accepting that she didn’t know every answer to every question about every aspect of the world. Her mission statement on HideTruth said, plainly, ‘There are still discoveries to be made and questions to be answered.’

Two years ago, bored with her regular online work and unwilling to admit her lack of friends – before Blair had moved in – Lexi started HideTruth to find like-minded people, interesting new friends, to discuss the unknown. She was curious to make connections, to see what kind of interesting debates she could have. She chose the site name as a kind of reverse psychology to elicit exactly the opposite response. On her website, she had no intention of hiding the truth. Would the readers?

If every curious person pulled together in a concerted search for the truth, what might they uncover? After all, a network of amateur astronomers pooled their resources to search the night sky for new asteroids; others had combined their personal computing power to run SETI searches for extraterrestrial signals. Why not pool the knowledge and resources of countless truth seekers who wanted to explain the world’s unsolved mysteries? Lexi was deeply interested in the answer, for her own reasons.

She had no idea what a can of worms she was opening.

HideTruth took on a life of its own, and Lexi found some of the speculations, connections, and obscure facts to be thought-provoking (although some were admittedly silly). The more popular her site became, the more her fans donated to keep her going. And the more donations Lexi received, the more bills she could pay, and the more bills she could pay thanks to HideTruth, the fewer hours she needed to waste on regular jobs. One of these days …

Through the half-open door of her bedroom/office, she could smell the exotic spices of whatever Blair was making for dinner – Indian food maybe – and she was sure it would be delicious. He always took care of her.

The commentary about the Bigfoot assault would pick up after dinner as more users got online. While waiting, she browsed other pages on the site, individual forums that covered a wide range of mysteries and speculations. Most of it wasn’t true, she knew that, but anything was possible. She read it eagerly, looking for the precious kernels of truth, or even a deeper mystery. That was what kept her spark burning. Even if only one bizarre theory proved to be valid, that would change the world. And she would know.

Monster sightings, classified as ‘cryptids’ by the true believers, generated less interest than conspiracy theories – dire warnings about vapor trails and microwave manipulations. The vampire thread remained particularly active, as always. Vampire legends were remarkably persistent and endlessly interesting. She had presented many such claims, feeling an affinity for the passionate die-hards, rather than the curious goth blood drinkers and over-exuberant Twilight fans. She knew how to tell the difference.

She saw that one of the most earnest vampire believers had posted again. Despite his sometimes disturbing intensity, Stoker1897 also offered careful, rational compilations of subtle evidence. He was quite convincing.

‘We can’t let down our guard,’ Stoker1897 had posted that morning. ‘Vampires are smart and devious. They know how to manipulate our beliefs, our doubts, and our fears. Don’t let them fool you into thinking they’re just a superstition. That’s what they want you to believe. That is how they’ve remained unnoticed in human society as they feed on us. I have seen them. I have investigated their vulnerabilities.’

Lexi knew the rant would go on for a dozen more postings. No, not a rant – a sermon. This man wasn’t irrational. Unlike many others, Stoker1897 provided documentation, connecting dots in ways that no one else had seen. By tracking detailed inventories of blood bank supplies, studying expiration dates and disposal records, he presented a convincing pattern of lost receipts as well as untraceable paperwork that reduced hospital blood stockpiles for no apparent reason and no indication of where the supplies had gone. He also flagged suspicious suicides in which bodies were drained of blood that conveniently went down the sink. Or had it? The answers were impossible to ascertain, leaving only questions.

Stoker1897’s conclusions banked on an uncomfortable number of coincidences, yet there was a chance he was on to something, however small. When she started HideTruth, Lexi had dedicated herself to giving that ‘small chance’ a real chance. Let the users decide.

As she read Stoker1897’s latest series of posts, she heard pots banging in the kitchen, and delicious smells wafted through the air. She knew not to ask when dinner would be done. Blair insisted that a good meal took as long as it needed to. Who was she to complain? Pop-Tarts, Top Ramen, and Checkers Pizza got boring after a while. She drew in a deep breath now, trying to identify the scent. Vindaloo?

‘You need to be ready. We all need to be ready,’ Stoker1897 had posted that morning. ‘Here is a list of tried-and-true methods to slay a vampire, which I have compiled despite a great deal of misinformation spread by vampires themselves. If you want to save humanity, you will need to use these techniques if you should encounter a real vampire.

‘Pound a wooden stake through the heart. Everyone knows that. Alternatively, cut off the vampire’s head and stuff its mouth with garlic. This can be messy, but it leaves no doubt as to its effectiveness. Vampires can be burned, or drowned in running water. Though reputed to be effective against werewolves, thanks to Hollywood disinformation, silver bullets are deadly to vampires and are particularly useful because they can kill a vampire from a distance.

‘Keep your eyes open to the danger around us. I am willing to do what is necessary, but I must not be alone in this.’

Lexi frowned. Alone in this?

He concluded with, ‘I know that some of these methods work, because I have killed vampires myself.’

THREE

The Rambler Star Motel was a known sanctuary that members of the Bastion could use. Helsing noted the hidden mark on the low brick planter in front of the office and knew he would be welcome here. He needed a safe place.

In an older part of Colorado Springs on South Nevada Avenue, the Rambler Star was one of several nondescript motels with 1950s architecture. The ancient sign boasted Color TV and Air Conditioning as selling points. The red shake shingle roof was faded, and the turquoise color of the doors to the outside rooms was more unsettling than cheery. Despite the half-empty parking lot, the flickering neon light insisted there was No Vacancy.

Helsing knew that wouldn’t apply to him.

As darkness fell, the motel office shone with garish fluorescent lights. He lurked outside long enough to make sure there were no other customers before he went inside. The bitter smell of old coffee roiled from a glass urn on a hot plate, and a game show droned at low volume from a TV in the lobby.

The night clerk sat behind a high desk that served as a barricade against disgruntled customers. The nameplate said Daniel Gardon, Manager. He was a thin man in his late forties with black hair and Asian features. He barely looked up when Helsing entered. ‘No rooms available. Sorry.’

Helsing walked to the desk. ‘Not even for the Bastion?’

The manager’s demeanor changed. He looked up, met Helsing’s eyes as if double-checking what he had heard. Without further comment, he reached into the cubbyholes in front of him and removed a key. ‘Room forty-one is always available. Take what you need. People usually don’t stay more than a day.’

‘That’s long enough.’ He accepted the brown plastic fob. ‘I’m familiar with the process.’ He didn’t thank Gardon or make additional eye contact, simply melted back out the door.

Room 41 was the last in the line of turquoise doors, offering extra privacy at the end of the building. An old tow trailer was propped up on a cinderblock in the adjacent parking spot, which kept other cars away from the last room. Gardon had taken care of everything. The Bastion helped its own.

Most of the people lived in a main camp out in the national forest and they moved often, like gypsies and ghosts. The million acres of remote wilderness was a safe haven right on the doorstep of Colorado Springs. Members of the Bastion were off the grid and covered their tracks, and with their resourcefulness and ingenuity the group would survive the coming apocalypse.

Though the Bastion camp was self-sufficient, from time to time members made trips into the city for food, clothing, specialized tools, medicine, or other supplies. Some of the new generation had never even seen civilization and were rightfully terrified of it. Others, though, chose to make occasional visits to remind themselves of what they had left behind, and why. Many of them blended in with the homeless population in the city, people who tended to be invisible, which was what the Bastion liked. Their leader, Lucius, had worked for years to establish a secret support network at strategic spots throughout Colorado Springs. The Rambler Star Motel was one such place.

Helsing opened the door with a creak. Drawn drapes darkened the room into a safe haven, and he flicked on the light to reveal low shag carpeting, two double beds, a round laminate table, and a desk with a large old computer and a laser printer. The air held a faint undertone of old cigarette smoke, cleaning products, and air freshener. He turned up the thermostat, and the wall heater hummed loudly as the fan kicked in. This place would be perfect for his needs.

He locked the deadbolt and hooked the chain, just in case. It was dark outside, and the lampir might be out. He didn’t think the creatures knew who was hunting them, but he always kept his guard up.

Helsing stripped out of his clothes and sorted the ones that needed washing. The bloodstains that marked the sleeve of his plumber’s shirt might not entirely wash out, but who would notice a few extra stains on a plumber’s shirt? Other spots of Stallings’ dried blood covered his arms and neck, and he was anxious to scrub it off, never certain just how contagious vampire blood might be.

He ran the shower so hot it steamed up the bathroom, and when he emerged afterward, he felt fresh, energized, ready to continue the fight. Helsing had known it wouldn’t be easy, but someone needed to fight for the human race. Vampires were everywhere.

After he dried off with the bleached white towel, he opened the closet to find shirts of all sizes – long sleeve, short sleeve, sweaters – along with a selection of women’s clothing and even some children’s clothes. Eight pairs of shoes were neatly lined up on the floor. The dresser drawers contained socks, underwear, bras. Stacks of pants, mostly jeans, were ordered by size.

In the bottom drawer, a Tupperware container held neatly rolled twenty-dollar bills, almost a thousand dollars. On the lid a handwritten note said: ‘Take what you need.’ Helsing peeled off sixty dollars. The Bastion had plenty of resources, but its members were not greedy nor extravagant.

Next to the microwave he found a selection of canned chili, stew, and soup, and he heated chicken noodle in a plastic bowl. While the microwave hummed, he found underwear and socks, pulled on his old jeans again, and chose a warm flannel shirt.

This refuge was exactly like other Bastion sanctuaries he had used before. When the manager at the previous motel began to recognize Helsing after frequent visits and even tried to chat with him, he knew it was time to go somewhere fresh.

The Rambler Star manager was a former member of the Bastion who had decided to go back to the city. Lucius insisted that Daniel Gardon was trustworthy, and Helsing had no reason to doubt the assessment. Sometimes, new Bastion members just didn’t adapt well to the forest, but they could still serve the overall cause. In a sense, the manager was working undercover deep within enemy territory – like Helsing was. They each had their job to do.

Through careful analysis and observation, pulling together scattered details that normal people wouldn’t notice, Helsing had concluded that a powerful and manipulative king vampire resided in the city. Surprising, since Colorado Springs was the headquarters for numerous Christian organizations and missionary training centers. But vampires thrived on misdirection, and a king vampire might have chosen the Springs exactly because no one would expect to find such creatures here.

He turned on the old monitor and computer, waiting for them to warm up. Going online, he went directly to the HideTruth site, which was another sort of community for him. Helsing had an affinity for these people and their exuberant, if often irrational beliefs. It was a place where he could speak the truth, and some would even embrace what he said. But he doubted he could ever dispel the fog of confusion spread by the lampir. For centuries, the underground secret society of vampires had spread insidious misinformation, rumors, and ridicule, and humanity had swallowed it up.

In the earliest days of his fervor, Helsing had studied a variety of vampire exposé websites, but most were sensationalist garbage. There, vampire lore devotees shared their stories as if telling tall tales in a bar, and Helsing easily spotted the poseurs. HideTruth was different, and the site administrator accepted possibilities so long as some evidence backed them up. He saw HideTruth as a way to recruit other crusaders, or at least open a few minds.

Today he ignored the threads on UFOs, alien abductions, and an