MicroHorror

Maxwell Von der Stadt was making the cross-Atlantic journey in the cargo hold, his coffin escorted by Klaus Heinrich. Both had been hand-picked by Hitler to travel to the United States, where Von der Stadt would assassinate President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Hitler’s hope was that the murder would throw the U.S. government into chaos, smoothing the way for his New Order and world domination.

William Sandifer was making the same trip across the Atlantic, but with an entirely different mission. He was charged with ensuring that Von der Stadt never set foot on American soil. He found it difficult to believe that Von der Stadt was a vampire, but he had his orders, and he would carry them out.

Heinrich kept close guard on Von der Stadt’s coffin. So close that it wasn’t until the very day that they were due to arrive in the U.S. that Sandifer finally got his chance to take Von der Stadt out.

Sandifer followed Heinrich to the railing, where the German joined other passengers to watch as they approached land.

Sandifer moved quickly to the cargo hold and located the coffin. It was covered with a red flag with a white circle and a swastika in the center. Sandifer yanked the flag off the coffin and tried the lid. It wouldn’t budge. He looked around, and spotted a crowbar nearby. Sandifer grabbed the bar and wedged it beneath the lid. Putting all his weight on the bar the lid creaked and finally cracked open a few inches. Sandifer pulled the wooden stake from his inside coat pocket and lifted the lid the rest of the way. Inside, Von der Stadt lay with his hands crossed over his chest. He wore a tuxedo, his skin chalky white. Sandifer took the stake in both hands and raised it over his head. Von der Stadt’s eyes flew open and his face turned toward Sandifer. The vampire’s mouth opened, revealing long fangs. Von der Stadt hissed, causing Sandifer to hesitate. A gunshot rang out from behind him, and Sandifer turned to find Heinrich, a smoking Luger in his hand. Sandifer dropped the stake, and it clattered away on the floor. He could feel the life draining from the hole in his back, but as he fell to his knees he found the strength to reach into his pocket for the incendiary grenade he had only planned to use as a last resort. Von der Stadt and Heinrich shared identical looks of terror as Sandifer pulled the pin and let the handle fly. A moment later fire filled the cargo hold, consuming everything in its path.

Licks of flame appeared in the giant airship’s skin. The fire spread quickly, burning through the name written on the side: HINDENBURG. As the ship’s glowing skeleton settled to the ground a reporter wept into his microphone, lamenting the loss of human life. What he couldn’t know was that humanity had been spared the horrors of world war, if only for a few years.