Dark Corner (59 page)

"And I will be. But in the end, sweetheart, it's going to
come down to you, and you know it. Make the promise, for
both of us, for our future together."

"I promise I'll get us through this."

"Thank you" She kissed him deeply. "Thank you"

He leaned back in the chair, holding her hand. He never
wanted the moment to end. But it was inevitable. They had
work to do.

"We have to talk about our next move," he said. "I think
we should leave soon"

She nodded. "I thought about that. We can't help Jackson
ourselves, and we're putting Pearl in danger by staying here."

"Exactly. I want to take Jahlil with us. But I know he
won't want to leave behind his dad."

"Let's pray that Pearl can heal the chief," she said. "But if
it doesn't happen soon. . .-

There was no need for her to finish the sentence. Their
path was clear. With or without Jackson, they would have to
leave. Soon, the vampires would be coming.

Van Jackson floated into consciousness, awakening into a
gray, blurry, unfamiliar world that was like somewhere in a
drug-induced dream.

He couldn't feel his body-his body was numb-but he
thought he was lying down. Some alert part of him, deep in his mind, told him that he lay on someone's bed. But he couldn't
see the walls of the room; they were fuzzy and black. It was
so quiet in there that he might have been lying inside a
sealed coffin.

Was he in a hospital? He'd been hurt bad, he remembered.
He recalled the pain tearing through his chest, and the blood.
So much blood.

Was he dead?

Faintly, he heard a voice.

Dad, are you awake? You blinked; I saw you blink.

His son, somewhere nearby. His boy's voice was threaded
with worry and cautious hope.

More than anything in the world, Jackson wanted to sit up
and put his arms around his kid. He had never been an affectionate man, but he wanted to squeeze Jahlil in his arms so
tightly that he would feel his boy's heart throbbing against
his chest. It was his son, dammit, a precious human being
born of his own flesh and blood. He didn't want to leave this
world without holding his child, and experiencing the enduring reality of him, one more time.

But he couldn't feel his own limbs, much less move. His
muscles would not obey his commands.

Pearl, my Dad's waking up! Hurry up and come back in
here!

So were they at Pearl's house? Made sense. The hospital
was gone to hell, after all.

Jackson tried to speak a word of reassurance, to tell his
son that he heard him, but his lips would not move. His
tongue was like a block of wood.

I didn't die earlier, but I'm dying now

The thought slipped inside his mind with the terrible ease
of a splinter sinking into soft flesh. It lodged in his brain and
would not go away. It was true. He was dying.

He was not angry at God for allowing this to happen. He
felt only ... regret. He'd wasted so much time working, du tifully serving the public, and had failed to serve his own
family. The bond that he had experienced with Jahlil earlier
that night had come far too late to appease his guilt.

He heard more voices hovering around him. Female voices,
a man who sounded like David, and his son. But he could not
see them, or touch them. He floated in a gray haze.

Wake him up again! Jahlil cried. I saw him blink. Do
something to wake him up!

Tense, anxious voices followed Jahlil's outburst.

I gotta talk to my boy, Jackson thought. He felt that he was
drifting away, as though he lay on a rubber raft bobbing gently across a sea. He struggled to resist the pull. He wasn't
ready to pass away, not yet. He had to force open his lips to
speak his final words to his child. But it was so hard that his
lips might have been sewn together with wire.

But at last he parted his lips, drew in a breath, and formed
words.

Sitting on the bed, Jahlil cradled his father in his arms. He
would not accept that his dad might be dying. Dad couldn't
die. He was too young, he had years and years of living ahead
of him, he had to be around to see Jahlil graduate from high
school, go to college, start a career, get married, have kids of his
own, and be a granddad to Jahlil's children. This was not the
way it was supposed to be. This could not be happening. This
was not real. He had already lost Mom. He could not lose Dad.

But Dad had blinked, only once, and when his eyes slid
closed, again, they did not open. His chest rose and fell with agonizing slowness.

Jahlil, with one arm cradled around his father's shoulders,
reached down and squeezed his father's hand. His skin was
dry, and frighteningly cool.

"I'm not letting you die, Dad. No way. I'm gonna pull you
through"

Pearl, David, and Nia huddled around the bed. They were
talking, probably trying to calm him, but their words were a
meaningless babble to him. He could not focus on what they
were saying. He could only hold his father and concentrate
on willing him to live, as if his own desire to save his dad
could thwart God's plan to take him away.

"I ain't letting you die, Daddy." He pressed his ear against
his father's chest, near his heart. It was beating so slow, too
slow. He had to make Dad's heart beat faster, or else he
would lose him forever.

"I ... love ... you" Whispered words, spoken so softly
Jahlil could barely hear them.

Jahlil raised his head and stared at his father. Dad's eyes
were closed, but his lips formed a melancholy smile.

"No, Dad. No"

Dad's hand squeezed Jahlil's fingers. Then his grip slackened.

"No!" Jahlil pressed his ear against his father's chest.

Dad's heart had stopped beating.

"No!"

Hot tears blinded Jahlil. Comforting hands rested on his
shoulders, people trying to take him away from his father.
He didn't want them to take him away, he wanted to wrap his
dad in his arms and will his heart back to life. But he was too
weak to struggle, and so sick that he thought he was going to
throw up. He allowed them to peel his arms from around his
dad. Someone carried him, and put him in a chair. Then someone embraced him; a woman, Pearl, judging from the scent
of her. She hugged him and whispered in his ear, "Your daddy
loved you, Jahlil, always remember that, sweetheart. He loved
you and he'll always be with you. Always."

Jahlil squeezed her close, and wept.

Our worst nightmares are coming true, David thought.
Jackson, gone. Could it get any worse?

He felt as though someone had slugged him. He staggered to a chair. Across the room, Jahlil desperately clutched
Pearl in his arms, as though being torn away from her would
sweep him away into oblivion. He felt sorry for the boy. He
had lost both of his parents, and he was only a teenager. It
was so terribly unfair.

I'm responsible for him from now on, he thought. Ipromised
Jackson that I would be there for his son. I've got to keep my
word.

Nia came into the room with a fresh towel. She gently
wiped Jahlil's face.

Jahlil is in good hands, David assured himself. Between
myself and Nia, we 71 take care of him and make sure he has
everything he needs.

On the bed, Jackson lay still. He was a good, courageous,
honest man. There weren't enough men like him in the world.
Now, he was gone. His prone body had a strange emptiness
to it, like a soulless wax figure. The essence of the spirit that
was Van Jackson had vacated its earthly vehicle for another,
better place.

Despair gripped David. He was convinced that they were
engaged in a fool's game. They couldn't win. Franklin was
dead. Jackson was dead, too. There were dozens of vampires
on the prowl, and perhaps hundreds more to come in the
next day. Why continue this pointless fight? Why not find a
way out of town and put it behind them for good?

You can't quit, a nagging voice told him. William Hunter
didn't quit. Neither can you. Besides, do you think running
will solve anything? Diallo and Kyle want you, most of all.
Wherever you go, they'll find you.

He wished he could silence the voice of his conscience,
but it spoke the truth. They could not run away. There was no
escape. The only course of action was to do their duty.

He sighed, heavily. The burden of responsibility weighed
upon his shoulders like a heavy barbell. Standing up was
like rising out of a three hundred-pound squat.

A noise suddenly reached him that sent a shiver of fear
through his bones.

Dogs, outside. Barking.

The vampires had found them.

t the barking of the hounds, David looked at Nia. He nodI Ided slightly, the only indication necessary to communicate to her that they were no longer safe.

Tension clenched his gut.

"They've found us," Nia said. She looked at Pearl. "How?"

"Diallo," Pearl said. She slipped out of Jahlil's arms. Jahlil,
blinking slowly, appeared to realize what was happening, for
his gaze sharpened. "Remember when I explained the risks
of slipping into Diallo's mind? How it could form a dangerous psychic doorway? That is what happened. Just as I secretly entered his thoughts, so he was able to do the same
with me. I'm only surprised that he has taken so long to arrive."

"He and his son have probably been out there painting the
town red," David said. "Pardon the pun. They've gotten bored
and are ready for us ""

"Fuck this." Jahlil angrily wiped his eyes and shot to his
feet. "I'm gonna kill all those motherfuckers. Everyone stay
out of my way." He stormed across the room to where their
bags and firearms lay on the floor.

David stepped in front of Jahlil.

"Hold on, Jahlil. I'm not letting you go out there like
Rambo. We can't do it that way."

Jahlil's glare could have melted glass. "Get out of my
way, man. I'm for real."

He tried to shove David aside, but David held his ground.

"I know you're angry," David said. "You're furious about
what they did to your dad. I understand. But I promised
Jackson that I'd look out for you, and I mean to stand by my
word. There's no way I'm letting you run out there. That
would be suicide."

"I don't need you to look out for me, all right? Will you
get the hell out of my way?" His nostrils flaring, he attempted to push David out of his path.

David grabbed the boy's arms, held them tight.

Jahlil trembled. David was about three inches taller than
the kid and outweighed him by maybe twenty pounds, but
Jahlil was so charged with anger that David was not sure he
could hold him back. The skin of his arms was hot to the
touch.

"You've got to chill out," David said. "This isn't the time
to lose your cool, understand? You're a tough kid, but you
aren't crazy. You know you don't stand a chance in hell
against those monsters"

"All right." Jahlil's eyes were red and fatigued. He shrugged
off David's hands. David let him go.

"So you're the big boss man," Jahlil said. "What do you
want us to do? Stay in here and wait to be slaughtered?"

David checked outside the rain-smeared window. He could
not see the bloodsuckers yet, but the dogs' barks steadily
grew louder.

Jahlil, Nia, and Pearl watched him anxiously.

"We have to go on the run," David said. "The vampires
own the night, and there are too many of them for us to handle. We have to lie low until daybreak. Then, we can catch
them in their lair, wherever that is."

"How do we get away?" Nia said. "It sounds like they're
coming from the direction of the road. We can't go that way."

"There's a dirt trail at the back of my property," Pearl
said. "It begins near the tool shed. The path leads through
the woods, then cuts through a marsh and eventually ends at
a road in town. But there is no light to guide you, and the
swamp is full of water moccasins. My brother was bitten by
one as a child and nearly died."

"Shit," Jahlil said. "I ain't messing with no snakes, man.
Forget it."

"We'll take my truck," David said. "We'll stay on the trail
and won't have to set foot in the water."

Nia looked out the window. "Then if that's the plan, we
better get moving. They're getting closer, guys"

David grabbed his duffel bag. Jahlil and Nia hurriedly
picked up their belongings, as well.

Pearl solemnly drew the blanket across Jackson's body.

"I am staying here," she said. Her eyes were tranquil. "I
will watch over Chief Jackson"

"Good idea," Jahlil said. He swallowed. "I don't want to ...
leave my dad here, alone, you know?"

"Are you sure, Pearl?" David said. "The bloodsuckers are
after us, and me, especially, but what if they break in here?
It's not safe for you to stay behind."

"Nowhere is safe for me so long as Diallo is alive," she
said. "I have violated the sanctity of his thoughts, an unforgivable trespass to him. If I were to come along with you, it
would only fuel his determination to destroy us all. I am
staying here"