5 - Wake The Dead

Council of the Supernatural and Shadow Warrior’s Headquarters

~Mid May~

~Godfrey’s Point of View~

“Oooh wake the dead!! This is my favorite game,” I squeal, clapping my hands together. 

The three faces staring back at me are stern and not impressed. But oh who cares what those losers think! I’m allowed to be excited!

“Godfrey, this is a mass murderer with a God complex that is completely unpredictable. He was punished with a thousand years in a box for a good reason! It's only been about eight hundred years and we are not equipped or prepared to deal with setting him free. This is NOT a game,” Dina says, huffing in my face.

I narrow my eyes at the fairy, unphased. We voted on this, she was overruled. SORE LOSER!

“I’m thinking of changing my vote,” I hear, and turn to stare at Angel. 

“Too late little witch! That’s not how we do things! I have already declared that the vampire will be under my watchful eye. Any misstep and I’ll take his head myself,” I say, and push past all the whiners. 

I mutter quietly as I storm through the dark tunnel, past various crypts and others who are serving sentences. It brings me great comfort … law and order. I myself am the ultimate redemption story and I’ll be damned if I don’t get that with Luc Payne. Vampires were once human, we were once… sane and maybe normal.

Ohh except my sister. Diana was never a normal anything. That tramp!

“Ahh! This one,” I shout in triumph, when I come to a wall. 

It looks like any other, but that’s by design. The founders of our illustrious council were very clever indeed. I pull out the necessary medallion from my pocket and thrust it into the locking mechanism. My fingers push and crank it, and I hear the wall begin to move. 

“Wake the dead!! You old bag of bones welcome to the future,” I whisper, with absolute glee. 

“Godfrey, I’m really uneasy about this,” Angel says, just over my shoulder.

I scoff and twirl my wrist in the air.

“Modern problems require modern solutions. You’re supposed to be the best witch there is, conjure up… something or other to help and stop being a wet blanket,” I mumble, as I pull the medallion from the wall with great effort. I spin on my heel and hone in on the very tomb that I need. 

“Bringing back a thirteen hundred year old vampire who wanted nothing more than to watch the world burn… ahead of his sentence being final is hardly a solution to our-” 

“Hush! I require silence while I work,” I snap, though Dina’s voice is just about to make my ears bleed. 

“How well did anyone actually read his file,” Quinn asks, as he shuffles some papers.

“It was written in French, a thousand year old French at that, who could understand it,” Angel retorts. 

I could, that’s who. And I did read it three times. It only made me want to wake this monster up even more. I’m a persuasive little bugger when I get an idea. This creature is one of the most superior beings on the planet; he could have ruled it if he hadn’t been caught. I am desperate to hear that story as well.

If I’d only met the vampire back in his heyday, I shudder to think what kind of pair we’d have been. But I also know how rewarding my life is now, and I want that for him. Since I can’t have actual children of my own, Luc Payne will be my greatest triumph. 

“With all the bad press the Shadow Warriors and council have had as of late-”

“Shhush! I’m working here,” I snap at Dina. 

She’s not wrong though. We’d been under intense scrutiny for over a decade, with calls from all corners of the globe for us to be replaced. Or taken out. But that’s why the supernatural community needs us now more than ever.

To keep the peace, law and order.

We do need some good press damn it! The werewolves of course are barking louder than most but their community is dealing with rampant issues that need a true iron fist. Annoying mutts!

I grunt as I attempt to turn the crank, but when it finally clicks, I let out a very human sigh of relief. I then take the medallion and lock into place to begin the final mechanism.

“Ugh this is going to smell so nasty,” Angel whines.

“Death always does,” I whisper, as I put my fingertips together and wait with giddy anticipation. 

When the tomb finally opens, blackened bones covered in chains are revealed. They haven’t been seen by anyone or anything in over eight hundred years. Completely frozen in time. There’s also a ton of hair that’s grown from both his head and face. His nails are disgusting. I nearly wait for someone to question it, but no one does oddly enough. A normal vampire wouldn’t have had any growth. But these people have never woken the dead, they’re clueless.

“Ohh, Goddess,” Angel cries, as she runs out of the space to heave. 

“Tsk, witches are just too … human,” I mumble as I carefully assess the chains. 

“Your bag councilor,” I hear, as I turn to pat my assistant Jeeves on the head. He’s an elf fae and incredibly ugly. But obedient to a fault. I adore him and he smells divine.

“Finally! Someone who showed up ready to work,” I grin, as he nods and begins to lay out some tools. I quickly put on some heavy gloves to keep the silver chains from burning me.

“Now then… who’s a good boy! You’re a good boy, or at least you will be you know… once you have skin and all that,” I coo, as I begin to try and break the chains.

~Two Months Later~

“How is the patient this fine evening,” I question, as I eye the one and only Luc Payne, now recognizable. 

“You mean the science experiment? Progressing well, but you already know since you drag me in here constantly to check his condition. Obviously this is the first time I’ve literally raised the dead but it seems like it’s going to take years,” the doctor snarls. 

I ignore him. I’ve brought skeletons back to life more times than I can count. We did everything by the book, it has to work. You’d think an actual vampire doctor would know more but alas, he’s only two hundred years young.

“His color is looking good. Skin has filled in well. He’s actually a rather handsome male, obviously was quite young when he stopped aging. Hmmm… Brain activity,” I ask, hopeful.

Dr. Henricks makes a face and shakes his head. I frown and lean over the corpse. It can sometimes take six months to complete the process but I’ve done everything possible to accelerate things. Still, it's no guarantee of success.

“Wakey wakey you devil you, time to finish out your sentence,” I taunt.

“Yes, because being tied to you for the next few hundred years is indeed a punishment,” I hear, and turn to see the werewolf councilor, Ash Black.

“Your daughter doesn’t seem to think so,” I provoke, nearly giddy over the jibe. I’d been ribbing old Ash like this now for nearly three decades and it never gets old. I laugh so loudly that if I could hurt my stomach I’d be cramping.

“Grow up,” he retorts, knowing he has no real argument. I am in fact mated to his oldest daughter and we’re so madly in love.

“Fat chance of that,” the doctor adds. I ignore him as we all stare at the body.

I catch the faintest new noise in the room, but just as soon as I try to chase it, it's gone. I get even closer to Luc’s face and poke his cheek merely because I can. I then lay my ear on his chest.

“It’s very dangerous for you to be in here, Councilor Black,” the doctor states. 

“Because he’s a muuuuuutt! Isn’t there a butt you need to sniff wolfie,” I say, in a sing-song voice. The look on his face says he’d love nothing more than to stake me. I exist for those looks!

“Because I have a heartbeat, I’m aware of that doctor. But this couldn’t wait. We have more young dead shifters on our hands, and Alphas demanding answers today Godfrey. Waiting for your little boy toy to wake is futile. Stop fucking around and let’s get to work on a real solution,” Ash bellows, in the best authoritative voice he can muster. 

No one, and I mean no one outside the council would dare speak to me that way and I don’t appreciate him doing it in mixed company! 

“And who exactly are your little mutt and pussycat friends blaming for those deaths hmm,” I question.

Ash sighs and rubs the back of his neck, knowing I’m right. Vampires are to blame and it needs to be vampires that fix this. Of course I’ve already been doing all I can. But we need a grand gesture! We also need to find the real culprits because vampires wouldn’t be dumb enough to kill off humans and leave their blood. But when humans panic, you can’t reason with them.

Before I know it Ash and I are in each other’s faces, both poking our fingers into each other’s chests like teenage boys in a pissing contest. It’s hardly the first time it's happened but I’m just grateful our mates aren’t here to witness it.

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

“Now you listen here you dead jerk…” Ash shouts, as I continue to try and talk over his petty insults.

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

“How dare you?! I will have you tarred and feathered and hung in the square to be picked by the vultures--”

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEEEEEEEP

“My wolf will tear your body apart limb from limb and eat you for breakfast you dead freak--”

A crash breaks me out of my ego trip as the doctor shouts. A roar unlike anything I’ve ever heard rips through the room, literally shaking everything not tied down. 

There’s no need to look for the cause, and there’s little time to react. My body moves on its own, ready to protect Ash. I pick up the large werewolf human and quite literally toss him out the door before he can even blink. I slam the door shut and barricade it with my body. 

If Luc was 100%, he might actually be an equal match to overpower me. But right now? Not a chance. The moment he throws himself at me, I waste no time grabbing him by the throat. It isn’t his fault he’s starving…well actually it is. 

The squeaks of a cage full of raccoons and weasels being let loose by the doctor in the back room distracts the zombie from the human blood bag he’s desperately seeking. I release my grip enough for him to jerk away from me. I watch as the critters pour into the room. 

Luc dashes around at snail’s pace but bless his dead heart he tries. It takes nearly an hour for him to catch the critters and get his fill. But that’s just a mini appetizer for a vampire whose thirst cannot be quenched. The doctor and I wait patiently and let nature run its course.

It's as if he hasn't already had hundreds of human blood bags in the months that we've been trying to rouse him.

When I’m near the point of irritation, poor Luc passes out in a heap on the floor, having expended all his energy. I can only sigh as my own nose wiggles at the smell of fresh blood. But I can control myself. 

The poor bastard couldn’t even open his eyes yet. Just moved on instinct and likely sound since a vampire’s ears are one of his best friends. He heard the heartbeats.

“We have our work cut out for us. But he’s somewhat awake, that was hardest part,” I say, with a heavy sigh.

“What’s the rush anyhow,” the doctor inquires.

“He has to be ready to attend school in the fall. All a vampire craves is power, attention. What better way to take him down a peg or two than to put him in a human high school,” I grumble. 

“School? School for what? What are you talking about,” the doctor furthers.

“High school. We need him to attend high school and help us get to the bottom of all these shifter deaths. For whatever reason teens seem to be the main target. Luc is going to require Shadow Warrior advanced training. Going to cram centuries of history and two years of intensive Shadow tutelage in him over the next few weeks,” I say, as I attempt to pick up the dead weight and wrangle him back on the bed.

“High school? Have you lost your damn mind? He can’t be anywhere close to the public, probably for a century! You want to put him in a building full of pups?? It’ll be a slaughter,” the doctor shouts, in shock. 

“Oh he can handle it and he will. He’s our secret weapon,” I say, with a grunt as I drop the body on the bed with a thud. 

“Have you also managed to forget he’s a vampire?? They’ll smell him a mile away. Not to mention we don’t know if he can even go out in the daylight the way you’re able to. What is he about a third your age,” Dr. Hendricks persists.

We both stare at Luc for a long minute, when suddenly, the faintest little flicker of life hits my ears. 

THUMP THUMP 

THUMP THUMP

My eyes shoot the doctor, who has a look of utter shock on his face. Rightfully so. I let a small grin of satisfaction creep across my lips.

“It’s not possible! He’s been without food, water and blood for so long…” he whispers, as the thumping gets a bit stronger.

I back up to the wall and prop my foot against it. I had no idea if it would work, I knew at minimum we could wake the vampire in him.

But whether or not we could wake the werewolf side of him, that… was a mystery. 

“It’s the magic of the supernatural. Never say never,” I whisper.