Van Dyne's Vampires Read online

  Van Dyne’s Vampires

  A Pierce Mostyn Paranormal Investigation

  CW Hawes

  Table of Contents

  Title

  Join the Team!

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Epilogue

  Get “The Feeder” for Free!

  Did You Enjoy Van Dyne’s Vampires?

  Nightmare in Agate Bay

  About the Author

  Also by CW Hawes

  Dedication

  Acknowledgements

  Copyright

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  1

  The moon was hidden behind the clouds. However, the parking lot and the grounds surrounding the building were bathed in yellow light from the high-pressure sodium lamps.

  Hunkered down in a grove of trees some distance away from the lot was Special Agent in Charge Pierce Mostyn, who studied the brightly lit area with his binoculars. Next to him was Special Agent Kymbra NicAskill, a new recruit for the Office of Unidentified Phenomena. She also had a pair of binoculars and was studying the building and surrounding area. Both were dressed in black jumpsuits.

  “What do you see, NicAskill?”

  “A lot of lights and a lot of security cameras. You, sir?”

  “The same.” Mostyn set his binoculars aside.

  “The lights and cameras will make it difficult to reach the building undetected.”

  Mostyn cast a sideways glance at NicAskill. Another recruit. He didn’t know how Bardon found them. However, he couldn’t help but think that sooner or later Bardon would run out of prospects. Lately, the OUP had suffered a higher than average attrition rate. The cosmic forces had been especially difficult and the agents too green. Unseasoned cannon fodder.

  NicAskill was an attractive woman. Difficult to see that through her battle dress. But in a skirt, blouse, and jacket, as he’d seen her the first time, she’d turn any man’s head. So why in God’s name was she with the OUP?

  He let out a sigh.

  “Sir?”

  “Nothing, NicAskill. The lights and cameras will be a problem, but the bigger problem will be the security personnel and the dogs. That’s why we have Bardon’s Folly along.”

  “Do you think it will work, sir?”

  “Probably work as well as any of the other OUP issued toys we get.”

  “Probably?”

  Mostyn shrugged. “Okay. Definitely.”

  “You aren’t helping things, sir.”

  “Haven’t you ever flown before?”

  “Not in a two-person blimp.”

  “Up until a week ago I hadn’t either. And here I am to talk about it. C’mon, NicAskill. Time to get airborne.”

  ***

  Rising off a grassy field ten miles away from the Van Dyne Corporation building was a black shadowy shape. SNOB 1. Mostyn loved the acronym for the Special Night Operations Blimp. He thought it fitting for what he called Bardon’s Folly. Dr Rafe Bardon was the director of the OUP, one of the most secret of the government’s secret agencies.

  One hundred twelve feet long and twenty-eight feet wide at its widest point, SNOB 1 was a two-man personal blimp the OUP had modified for special operational use. Powered by an electric motor for silent operation, it could be radio-controlled in the event the craft became crewless.

  The most novel part of the small airship was that it was inflated with a rare form of hydrogen, H3, to give it greater lift. Just slightly heavier than normal hydrogen, H3 is not flammable when mixed with air. If the gas wasn’t so expensive to produce, it just might revolutionize air travel.

  Mostyn piloted the silent craft across the New Jersey countryside, maintaining an altitude of fifteen hundred feet. NicAskill, meanwhile, double-checked their equipment.

  “Don’t you think we’re going in somewhat lightly armed, sir?”

  “What do you want, NicAskill, a howitzer? We have those thermite incendiary charges to lug down to the eighth and ninth floors. How much more stuff do you want to carry?”

  “I understand, sir. But we’ll be facing a small army of security people once we’re in the building.”

  “I wouldn’t be too worried about the people. It’s the other things we might find in there that I’m concerned about.”

  “That’s what I mean, sir. A pistol, combat utility knife, stun and smoke grenades, and the portable lightning generator. That’s not much, sir.”

  “You’ve trained on the M-88, right?”

  “Yes, sir. It’s an awesome weapon, but a bit slow for combat situations. I mean, fifteen seconds to recharge?”

  Mostyn grinned. “If there’s anything left to recharge for.”

  “Still…”

  Mostyn held up his hand. “Sumer Base, we are one minute to target. Do you read me?”

  “We read you, Mostyn. There’s a problem on our end.”

  “What kind of problem, Langston?”

  “Riley, here, Mostyn. They changed security codes on me. I’m doing my best to get in so we can fudge the security cameras for you.”

  Mostyn’s face showed concern. “Do you think they know we’re coming?”

  “No, I don’t think so,” Riley said. “I think they just ran a routine change.”

  “Let’s hope you’re right, Riley,” Mostyn replied.

  Langston’s voice came on. “If Riley can’t find a way into their system, we’ll abort.”

  “Roger,” Mostyn replied. “We are in position in five, four, three, two, one, now.”

  Mostyn turned the airship into the faint wind coming out of the south and set the engines to provide enough prop rotation to hold position.

  “Sumer Base are you ready to take control of the blimp?” he asked.

  “Not yet,” Langston said.

  “C’mon, Riley,” Mostyn muttered.

  “Okay, I’m in,” Riley said. “Now give me half a minute.” There was a pause, and then, “Okay, the code’s inserted. The cameras will read the pixels in your clothing and interpret the data as nothing. They won’t see you.”

  Langston’s voice came back on. “Sumer Base is taking control of your blimp. Now get down there and destroy some mutants.”

  “Roger that,” Mostyn replied.

  “Sir, I signed up to help defend the United States, but I don’t understand why we are attacking Americans.”

  “To be honest, NicAskill, this entire operation is a bit sketchy. Bardon didn’t provide a lot of background. From what he did provide and what I discovered doing a bit of snooping, van Dyne is connected to some pretty powerful groups. Groups that often function as shadow governments. The thought is that whatever he’s creating in his labs is going to be used to destabilize legitimate governments to allow all sorts of thugs to take over.”

  “Like the Mafia running the world?”

  “Something like that. Now cut the questions and let’s go.”

  The two OUP agents donned their bulletproof vests and equipment harnesses. NicAskill had already lowered the lines while Mostyn was talking with Sumer Base. They attached their descenders to the lines and abseiled the three hundred feet fro
m the blimp to the roof of the Van Dyne building.

  The summer night air was warm and slightly moist. The sky was overcast. All was quiet on the roof. Mostyn watched the lines retract into the blimp, and then the airship slowly motored off into the night.

  “Kind of bright up here, sir. We might not register on the cameras, but do you think our shadows will?”

  “Quit worrying, NicAskill, and find the door so we can get inside.”

  The roof was covered with asphalt, and mostly flat. On the south end was a structure that looked like three or four very large cardboard boxes thrown together. On the north end was a slightly raised rectangle. Surrounding the roof was a three-foot high wall.

  Mostyn pointed at the rectangle. “That will be the emergency exit from the rear stairwell. No outside access.” He pointed towards the cuboid structure and indicated NicAskill should follow him. He crouched next to the low wall and proceeded towards the structure.

  He was glad the wall was there. Not fond of heights, he wouldn’t want to creep along the roof edge with nothing between him and the ground below.

  They were fifty feet from the structure, when a large dark shape rounded a corner and rushed them. Even though Mostyn was in the lead, it was NicAskill who fired the three double-taps from her silenced pistol that finally dropped the thing.

  “What the hell is that, Mostyn?”

  “Looks to me like pictures of Cerberus.”

  “What?”

  “Cerberus. Greek mythology. The three-headed dog that stopped the dead from leaving Hades. And probably anyone alive from entering.”

  “My God, the thing’s huge.”

  “Yeah. Must be at least three hundred pounds.”

  “And three heads.”

  Mostyn pointed. “I think that’s the entrance point we’re looking for. And NicAskill?”

  “Sir?”

  “Welcome to Hell.”

  The look on her face showed she wasn’t too keen on the visit.

  They walked over to the door, which was illuminated by a low-watt bulb.

  “You have your contact in, right?”

  “I do, sir.”

  She keyed in the security code and let the retina scanner scan her right eye. There was a click, the light on the keypad changed from red to green, and NicAskill pulled the door open.

  Mostyn entered and pulled his night vision goggles over his eyes. In a soft voice he spoke into the mouthpiece of his headset. “We are in, Sumer Base. Activating body cam now.”

  Langston replied, “Any trouble?”

  “Minor. They’re breeding three hundred pound dogs with three heads. NicAskill just took one out.”

  “Just the one?”

  “So far.”

  Mostyn slowly descended the stairwell, which was illuminated by a few small globes that cast a greenish light. The walls appeared to be made of cinder blocks and were painted what Mostyn thought was probably an off-white, although the illumination made them look green. Behind him he heard NicAskill attach the stock and strap to the TACLIG M-88, the Tactical Lightning Generator.

  The M-88 looked similar to the old Mauser C-96 semiautomatic pistol. However, rather than shoot bullets, the M-88 shot a bolt of lightning. Making the small weapon very destructive. On the downside, the weapon was heavy for its size, slow to recharge, and there was the loud sonic boom accompanying the lightning bolt.

  They reached a landing. Next to the door was a placard with the number 15 on it. Mostyn pointed to it and signaled they’d continue their descent.

  He thought it odd the stairwell was so dimly lit, and try as he might he was unable to come up with an explanation that made sense. What he knew for certain was that it didn’t seem normal, and he didn’t like what wasn’t normal.

  Then again, in his line of work, Mostyn rarely came across what could be called “normal”. Take that three-headed dog, for instance.

  When they’d reached the tenth floor, Mostyn turned to NicAskill. “I don’t like this. It’s been too easy.”

  “I was thinking the same thing, sir.”

  “Keep your eyes peeled. We’ll go down to eight, plant the charge, go back up to nine and plant the charge there. Then we get out of here.”

  “Right, sir.”

  “Sumer Base, you copy?”

  “We copy, Mostyn,” Langston said. “The blimp will be waiting for you.”

  “Acknowledged, Sumer Base.”

  Mostyn signaled to NicAskill to follow him and down the stairs they went, passing Level 9 and going on to the eighth floor.

  “Okay, NicAskill, do your thing.”

  She typed in the security code and let the retina scanner scan her right eye. There was a click, and the light on the keypad moved from red to green.

  NicAskill slowly pushed the door open. In a moment they were looking at a large room filled with tables, glass cabinets, and shelves. The lighting was dim. Scattered nightlights near the floor provided the only illumination. It was, however, sufficient for Mostyn’s and NicAskill’s night vision goggles and they were able to see the room clearly.

  “What’s that in the center, sir?”

  “Looks like an operating theater.”

  “They create those three-headed dogs here?”

  “Probably do the initial whatever, then move them up to nine. Come on. Let’s plant the charge and get out of here.”

  “But what’s the point, sir? I guess I’m still in the dark as to why we’re here.”

  “We just follow orders. Remember?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “But to answer your question, NicAskill, I don’t know exactly. There’s that sketchy intel that van Dyne wants to sell his monsters to third world dictators, liberation army leaders, mobsters, anyone looking for an instrument of terror. In my instructions for this mission, Bardon didn’t say much. He intimated Van Dyne Corp is possibly intending to use these creatures to create situations of wide spread panic, allowing the thugs of the world to then take advantage of the resulting chaos. Which could possibly lead to the overthrow of the world’s legitimate governments, with a possible take over by van Dyne. However, it’s all really rather sketchy at this point. So who knows?”

  “Why are we here then, if nobody really knows what’s going on?”

  “Think of it as a pre-emptive strike. After all, you don’t want to come home from work one day and see your neighbor with a three-headed dog, do you?”

  She digested that for a moment, noticed Mostyn’s smile, and nodded.

  Mostyn heard Langston say, “Your body cam sensor is picking up a heat signature to your right. In that little ell.

  Mostyn gave NicAskill the hand signal that they had company and pointed in the general direction, just in case Langston’s voice hadn’t come through.

  Langston’s voice again. “Looks like one of those three-headed dogs from the heat outline.”

  “Great,” Mostyn whispered back.

  In his ear he heard, “We’ve patched the heat image through to your goggles so the two of you can see the thing.”

  “Thanks,” Mostyn replied. After a moment he said, “Ah, there it is. Right in that ell, hidden from view.”

  NicAskill whispered, “It’s just hunkered down in the corner. Looks like it’s listening to us. Funny it hasn’t attacked.”

  “Maybe three heads aren’t better than one. Give me your backpack. You watch that thing, while I set the charge.”

  She slipped out of the backpack and handed it to Mostyn.

  “It’s getting up, sir.”

  “Keep your eye on it, and shoot if you have to.”

  Mostyn started making his way across the room, when the Cerberus creature came around the corner; all three throats emitting a low-pitched growl. Mostyn set the backpack down and took his pistol from its holster. He flipped off the safety and pulled the hammer back.

  The beast crouch down and then ran towards Mostyn. Both he and NicAskill fired their silenced weapons at the thing, seemingly without effect. The huge three
-headed canine leaped into the air. Mostyn dropped to the floor, rolled onto his back, and continued firing at the thing as it sailed over him.

  The creature hit the floor with a soft thud, slid, and crashed into a glass cabinet, which set off an alarm.

  NicAskill ran up to Mostyn. “Are you okay, sir?”

  “I’m fine.” He got up. “We need to get out of here.”

  In his ear, Mostyn heard Langston’s voice saying the word, “Abort!”

  “Do any of these tables move?” Mostyn asked NicAskill.

  “Don’t know, sir.”

  Mostyn grabbed the backpack and set it against a row of glass cabinets. He opened a pocket, and pressed a button on the device.

  “Alright, NicAskill, let’s get the hell out of here.”

  In Mostyn’s ear Langston was repeating the order to abort the mission. Mostyn said nothing in reply and ran towards the door by which he and NicAskill had entered the room, she running with him.

  Before they got to the door, it slammed open and four guards stepped into the room, their helmet-mounted lights and rifle-mounted lasers sweeping the area before them.

  Caught in the lights, Mostyn and NicAskill ducked just in time to miss being the recipients of four streams of automatic weapons fire. A big boxy tabletop with drawers and cabinets underneath, provided cover.

  Mostyn tossed a stun grenade at them and the flash-bang gave the OUP agents momentary relief. As they got up to leave, a second contingent of security personnel stormed into the room. And once again, Mostyn and NicAskill ducked to avoid unwanted lead contamination.

  NicAskill raised the M-88 so the barrel was just over the tabletop and pulled the trigger. There was a brilliant flash of light, like a hundred suns had just appeared in the room, and a thunder boom that shook the floor and shattered glass.