Devine Enquiries

Not the beginning

Where to start?
One

"My Master wants to hire you."

I sat in stunned silence for several moments. For so long that she leaned forward and said: "Did you hear me?"

"Yes," I replied softly. "Who is your Master?"

"Benson Rabbet" she said.

Again the thin, piercing wail tore through my heart, shredding my soul. The child was dying in agony, wordlessly begging for mercy, for life. But I could do nothing.

Still I ran, desperately searching for the child in the maze of dark and quiet streets, praying that I could stop the torture. I rounded a corner and there she was, across the road, her arms stretched out to me while malevolent darkness swirled around her.

A child of nine, perhaps ten years. Long, blond hair in tight bunches, fair skin dirtied by tears falling from brilliant green eyes.

I stepped forward and the road became a chasm and I fell into darkness forever.

Vampire War

The monsters of myth came out of the cupboard

One

The Vampire War had been going for about three years.

It was messy and dangerous and made worse by idiotic decisions from the Government but then no one expected parliament to make much sense. None of them had ever been on the front lines, none of them had raided a nest slaughtering vampires and watching your comrades get ripped apart.

So I wasn't too surprised when I was pulled off combat duty and sent to the barracks at what used to be Horse Guards Parade and told to wait for orders.

At least I had a comfortable bed in an empty barrack room.

I had just gone to sleep, Gizmo laying on the floor beside me when the first warning came.

Gizmo let out a very low growl.

"Danger!"

The room was totally dark. I couldn't see or hear anything but Gizmo obviously could so I connected with his senses.

When I connect with my dog it's not like "seeing" or "hearing" in the normal sense. Gizmo's senses of sight, sound and most importantly smell are merged together and I get something like a three-D radar screen.

What was, to me, a quiet, dark room changed instantly. The soldiers creeping through the barrack might as well have had neon signs pointing out where they were. Five men, all in full battle gear and night vision goggles crept slowly forward. Just as slowly I reached under my bunk, grabbed the hilt of my sword and silently withdrew it from its scabbard.

Gizmo stood up, fur bristling up from neck to tail, lips pulled back from his teeth. I tensed up, ready to leap off the bunk the moment Gizmo attacked.

The closest soldier stopped and held up his fist to signal the others to stop. He laid his rifle on the ground and crept forward again with his hands in the air.

"Devine" he whispered. "This is not an attack. We need you to come with us. Special orders direct from Her Majesty. Get your kit and meet us outside. Code alpha dog Gizmo. It's Dum Dum".

I knew Dum Dum or Sean Strathearn, we had worked together several times. His nickname came from the original hollow point bullets, designed for maximum damage.

Slipping quietly out of bed I collected my rifle, handgun, sword, boots and battle kit. Outside two full squads of SAS were waiting for me plus two more dog teams.