Hero Rising Read online

  The two of them were lying in a bloody mess.

  Tommy and I didn’t even have to do anything and we had two men down. Or in this case, one man, one woman down. I was glad to see these frenemies do each other in. I hated hitting a woman. Most of the time, I just couldn’t even go there. I’d have to be very ticked off or caught by surprise to throw my fists out there for a woman. And definitely, she had to hit me first in a life-or-death battle.

  Now the insanity was in high effect. People were bleeding, and others were knocked out. This would get messy very fast if we didn’t start moving quickly along. We needed to push forward and find Hector, who was obviously in another room being held captive.

  Jacques foolishly pounced on Tommy. They were on the ground, wrestling. I could tell Tommy was just toying with him. He was play-snarling, the way he did with me, not that they knew that.

  “Tommy, we don’t have time to mess around,” I said out loud.

  Jacques looked at me with fear in his eyes. Then he looked back at Tommy. Suddenly, Jacques flipped up in the air and flew straight toward Tommy, with the intent of killing him.

  When Tommy suddenly sank his extra-long, silver-sheathed fangs into Jacques’ puny neck, he screamed in surprise and extreme pain. I could see the life drain out of him. I wanted the same fate for Nevil and I called to Tommy silently.

  I faced off with Nevil. “So, are you the ass-bite I have had the pleasure of talking to these past couple days?” I said, staring down Nevil.

  He snapped at me with sharp fangs, but I held my own.

  Nevil had yet to strike me. He had been hanging back. He knew who he was dealing with—Tommy and I were a dynamic duo of death incarnate. And now, Nevil knew about Tommy’s deadly silver fangs.

  The two of us were too much for him. He tried to get away, by transitioning into a black raven, but I had a hold on him and Tommy bared his teeth into Nevil’s tiny little, black raven neck. I looked at him slowly disappear, as did the others that were killed on this day.

  All of them disappeared, except for the young Asian kid. On the floor, he gasped for her last bits of air to fill his lungs. He looked up and then died. His body remained in the room. Confirming that he was indeed mortal.

  Ice was now gasping in pain. “Help me,” she said. “Please help me. I don’t want to die like this.”

  “Where is Hector?” I demanded.

  “In the room directly above this one. He is being held by many men. You can’t get past their security.”

  I looked at her and in my heart, I knew what the Triat was leading me to do. But not yet. I can’t get burned.

  “You’re going to have to trust me, Ice. I’ll be back for you. First, we need to save our friend.”

  I looked at Tommy. “Ready?” I asked him.

  Tommy grinned and answered silently, “I was born ready, bro.”

  Boy, did I know it.

  Tommy shot up the stairs howling and growling and he knocked the door right off its hinges.

  There were about eight vampires in the room and they were holding Hector up against a wall with a long, silver sword at his neck.

  I yelled out, “I wouldn’t do anything stupid. All the leaders of this outfit all have been terminated by us in a matter of minutes. If you think you can handle us, then fight on. If not, let my friend go and we will have no more bloodshed. We will leave peacefully and we all can go back to our lives.”

  “Kill him,” said one of the vampires.

  “No!” I shouted.

  They shoved Hector up against the wall, completely flattening out his body. They had the sword up against his neck. I could see blood from Hector’s neck start to trickle down. But they didn’t shove the blade home. They were working me and I knew it. Otherwise, Hector would already be dead.

  “Stop! I really don’t want to kill all of you,” I said. Dammit! These guys aren’t going to go easy. Why not? Maybe some diplomacy was in order.

  I yelled out to them, “If you kill him, none of you will live. None of you will ever fly again. Anyone who loves you—your kids, your lovers and spouses, they will lose you forever. Do you understand that? Your only chance of getting out here alive is letting him go.”

  “No!” the leader shouted.

  I was holding back my own fury. “The more blood I see from my friend’s neck, the more I’m going to make each of you pay. So, let him go. You’re not fighting for anything now. There is no money. You have no one in charge. Go back to your vampire thug lives and live to fight another day. Or go home to the people who care about you, if such a thing is possible.”

  We were now in a standoff for about three minutes. It was a long three minutes when no one is talking and there was just staring. I analyzed how they had Hector up against the wall. There was something I could do even from the across the room. I figured I could use my telekinetic ability and try to sweep the sword forward away from his neck. My only concern was myself. How much control did I actually have. What if I tried to move it and it ended up cutting off Hector’s neck?

  Once again, I tried diplomacy. “What are you fighting for?” I negotiated. “I already said I would let you go if you let him go. There is no money to fight over. You don’t know this man. He has done nothing to you or your family. Yet you keep him captive like a dog because you were told he had money and somehow, you were promised that all of you could get rich. That dream is over, guys. Over! There is no money, no leadership and no motive to kill this innocent man. It’s time to stop this madness. Let’s all just go home without blood on our hands and live with a much higher purpose.”

  I looked at all of them. From the pit of the goodness of my heart, I pleaded as I never had in a battle situation, “Let him go. No more of us need to die. There are much bigger and more meaningful causes for which to lay your life down. This isn’t one of them. A bunch of man killing one man is a cowardly act and it will haunt you always, if you do this terrible thing. In fact, you will be deeply ashamed. There will be many repercussions if you go through with this.”

  I sighed as I watched all of the men relax and give up. The man holding the sword seemed the most eager to continue, but even he finally let down the sword.

  “Now what?” asked the man with the sword.

  “We take our man home. You keep your lives. Fair trade.”

  They let Hector go and he walked across the room and stood with us. He looked at me and said, “Thank you, Josiah.”

  I nodded and the three of us exited down the stairs. I had a new friend that I needed to help.

  Chapter Twenty

  I hurried back to the room where we had left Ice and the Asian guy. I noticed the Asian guy had moved. He might still be alive, too, though barely so. I looked over at Ice. She was not doing too well. Tears were dripping from her eyes as she looked up at me.

  “I’m going to die,” she said. “I don’t want to die.”

  I knelt down next to her body and said, “This doesn’t always work, but I feel inspired by the Triat to do this. I didn’t cause your injury, so I am certain…” I reached down and touched her injuries. I imagined a spiritual surgeon rebuilding her neck injuries. “I am certain the Triat will heal its own.” I opened my eyes and she was completely healed.

  Ice reached for her throat and was amazed that she was no longer bleeding to death. She looked at me with tears in her eyes, but now, they were tears of gratitude. She said, “How did you do that?”

  As she said this I turned over the young Asian man’s body. His stomach’s blood had caused a giant circle of blood around his body. It was covered in his blood. Another vampire might have thought it would be heaven to be around so much human blood. Not me.

  I looked down. The guy looked to be eighteen or nineteen. He barely opened his eyes and he made eye contact with me. I heard his heartbeat. He told me, “Save me and I will live out my days making sure that justice is done. I will never do anything like this again, I swear.”

  I placed my hands inside his wound. He flinched and
I got a hold of him. Again, I imagined his body being pure of injury and disease. I imagined his wound closing up and his return to full health.

  I opened my eyes and my young friend was healed.

  “What’s your name?” I asked him.

  “My name is Ricky. Am I healed, or did you just stop the pain?”

  I looked at Ricky and smiled. “You are healed.”

  “How is that possible?”

  “Faith? Love. Hope.”

  “I am forever indebted to you.” Then Ricky looked at me and said, “I know who you are.”

  “If you do, Ricky, one way you can pay me back for healing you is to keep it all a secret…what happened here today has to be kept confidential, if my work is to continue. Never tell a soul.”

  “Never saw you. Never met you.”

  “Good man.” I turned and looked at Ice and said, “That goes for you, too, Ice. You cannot tell a soul what happened here today. Ever.”

  “Call me Sabrina.”

  “Is that your real name?”

  “Maybe.”

  “Great. You’re going to keep things interesting for me by keeping me guessing.” I paused and looked at Sabrina and smiled. “Truthfully, your help allowed us to find Hector as soon as we could. I thank you for that.”

  Sabrina looked at me and gave me a vulnerable smile. I’d seen that smile before. It was the smile women had right before they fell in love with me. This was not good. Not good at all.

  “If ever you need anything, get a hold of me. She handed me a small piece of paper that had about three phone numbers on it. I guess she really wanted me to get a hold of her. I was pretty sure Lena wouldn’t like it if I ever called her, but what was I going to do? I couldn’t say, “No, I just healed you. But I can’t have your phone number because I am married.”

  Maybe that’s how I rationalized it.

  Or just maybe I was flattered and wanted to help out a new friend. Regardless of the fact that she was born a woman, she was my friend. Without her, we could not have saved Hector in time.

  Everyone deserved redemption. Her time was now. I was glad to be a part of it.

  “I love you, bro,” Tommy whispered so softly that I almost didn’t hear it.

  I opened my arms and Tommy and Hector went into them and we had a big, three-way, man-hugging moment.

  “I’m getting out of here,” Tommy said, all choked up. “I’ve got to get my luggage and I have a flight to catch.”

  “I’m done with New York, for now,” Hector said. “I’m out of here, too.”

  “Thank you, Josiah and Tommy. Thank you with all my heart.”

  Tommy and Hector left together.

  I walked out of that building feeling utterly amazed by how everything had turned out.

  Chapter Twenty-one

  I decided to fly the whole way home under my own power. I wanted to be alone to reflect on what had happened in such a short period of time.

  In my white eagle form, I soared for hours above the clouds. I felt an excitement that I hadn’t felt since my mixed martial arts days. It was an excitement that sprang from triumph, confidence and fulfillment. Just like in my MMA days, I was owning my own existence, but now, it was even more than that. It was even better than winning an MMA title. It was peace and joy and love rising up and oozing out of my pores.

  What I had learned in such a short time was that saving the day meant a lot of different things to me now. Sometimes, it was about helping others. Sometimes it was about retribution, about inflicting pain and suffering on those who did bad things to innocent people. But sometimes, it was more about negotiation, as I learned to see the good in even the most evil people and give them a last chance to turn away from their terrible paths. I was capable of killing anyone, and yet, I felt stronger when I let someone live.

  Even more, this journey wasn’t just about me changing the world. It was about the world changing me, Josiah Reign, vampire.

  I had never liked killing, but getting rid of the bad people might have been my original calling, perhaps even the reason I was born. Or so the Triat had once influenced me, that my primary purpose was as a warrior, and indeed, it had been before we had made peace among the vampire factions.

  I refused to believe that, however, that once a warrior, always a warrior.

  I had changed. I had evolved.

  I had come to know the compassionate being inside myself and I liked this Josiah Reign very much. I think for a long time, I hadn’t liked myself, but now, I did. It was as if a great weight had been lifted from my heart.

  I flew tonight for one reason, one purpose and one truth. I soared above the clouds in deep contemplation. It came about because of one important revelation that was now completely unfurled. I realized that I had a sense of Self that was unlike any other time in my entire life.

  I now knew that there was a goodness in my mind, in my body and in my soul—a goodness that never seemed to get quenched by acts of mercy and kindness, no matter how many I did. That’s what drove me, the need to do more, to make a difference, and to sacrifice for others in a way that I never had before. I wanted to give more of myself to others. A lot more.

  That’s what kept me level, that selfless love for humankind, and for all creatures—human, as well as not human. That inner goodness that seeped out from my deepest self had let me know these three truths: who I am, and why I am and what I am.

  An old Bible verse crossed my mind. I had never understood this before: I am that I am.

  In understanding what that means, I was not elevating myself to the godly level, but it was the acknowledgment that hidden within me, all along, had been this innate capability to become more than I was on a surface level.

  It was profound, it was heartbreaking, and it was healing that I could finally feel that I could use well what had been given to me by the Triat.

  Instead of making war, I could magnify goodness and spread it throughout the world, not to call myself greater, but to connect at a core level with my capacity to love others as they needed to be loved, cared for and helped into a better life path.

  The goodness within was what made me become the best I had ever been. I knew there would be more adventures to come…and more goodness to share with the world. Life was more than beating up the bad guys. It was also about setting them on a better life path.

  I couldn’t wait to go home and tell Lena all that I had learned. I wanted to hug our boys and just glow with all that I now knew and breathed and lived. My path was so clear before me that it was shining.

  I had left home as the bored and discouraged vampire leader of an obscure island, but I would soon return home as the Vampire Superhero.

  The End

  To be continued in:

  Hero Unbound

  Secret Guardians #2

  by H.T. Night

  Coming soon!

  Also available

  Controlled Chaos

  Deadly Dreams #1

  by H.T. Night

  (read on for a sample)

  Chapter One

  4:00 p.m. Monday Evening

  “He’s not going to make it.” The doctor looked at me, and I thought I was going to throw up.

  “I can’t make a decision like this,” I said. I looked at my friend. He had put my name down as his power of attorney.

  “You need my signature for that?” I said.

  “Well, the copy we have has your signature.”

  The doctor pulled a paper out of Dave’s file and handed it to me. It was my signature. “I remember now; he had me sign something about a week ago. He said it was for some kind of new treatment. I didn’t realize the treatment he was referring to was death. I didn’t realize that was what I was signing. He did a switcheroo with me.”

  “Did he?” Dr. Gomez said to me. She was implying that my name was on there and that regardless of I said, I needed to step up to the plate. I needed to make a decision on behalf of my poor friend’s life. She didn’t care if there was a switchero
o, or hadn’t heard. She wanted me to be a humanitarian.

  “Where is Dave’s usual doctor?”

  “He’s on vacation.”

  “Vacation? That’s what Dave has been reduced to. A backup doctor asking his crisis manager if he should live.”

  “Weren’t you his good friend?” the doctor asked. “I knew he was your outpatient before he came in here two nights ago. He was always in the drug rehabilitation wing of the hospital. I used to take double shifts over there when I needed the extra money. Dave always talked about you. He always wanted us to call you. So please don’t call me a backup. I cared for Dave, just as you did.”

  “Then you make the decision,” I said.

  “I’m not his power of attorney. You are. And you have confessed to signing it. I’m sorry, Mr. Simon. It’s your call.”

  “Look, Dr. Gomez,” I said. “I might have taken a liking to Dave. But I was only Dave’s crisis counselor. Nowhere in my job description does it say I need to make a decision as important as this one. Dave Crenshaw was a drug addict, through and through. Heroin was his demon, and he couldn’t beat it. By the time he became my outpatient, he was so far gone with his addiction that there was very little I could do for him. ”

  “But, you managed to get close to him when it looks like no one else in this world was able to do that. Mr. Simon, your gift goes beyond being a mere crisis manager. You have compassion for the downtrodden. He knew you would make the right decision for his life.”

  “He wants me to decide if he’s to be killed or not.” Just saying the words out loud made me nauseous.

  The doctor looked at me with empathy in her eyes. “I know this is hard,” she said. “If it’s any consolation, you aren’t the one who is taking his life. His body’s rejection to the drugs has killed him. You’re just making a humane choice.”

  “Is it a humane choice? Or are you just trying to make room in the hospital?”