Immortal Coil: A Novel (Immortal Trilogy Book 1) (16 page)

“I’m not good at it and will need to practice, but if I can astral project to the vampire’s next target, I could warn them, and at the same time tell you where he is going to strike.” She stopped suddenly as if her idea had blown itself out, like a match: one minute as bright as a flame, and then nothing but smoke.

“You look doubtful,” Antony said to Maggie.

“That’s because I am. The only time I can hone in on the killer is when he is in his full on frenzy. I can be there in an instant, but I can’t tell you where it is until I get there. I’ll have to come back into my body and tell you where to go.

“And we’ll be in the same boat as always. By the time we get there he will be gone and we will be too late.”

“Not necessarily,” Antony said. “You said you could warn the family. You could get them to leave before they are murdered.”

Maggie slumped in her chair. “I said I could try. I’ll have maybe two or three seconds to get them to leave before he arrives.”

“Try is right. Sounds impossible,’ said David.

“This is better than doing nothing,” said Antony. “Practice astral projection and if you think you can do it tomorrow night, send your projected self to the family. Warn them to leave. When he arrives, come back and tell me where he is. I will go there alone and confront him. All this could be over tomorrow night if this plan works.” They spent the rest of the night trying to work out the details of this new plan of attack.

              Just before dawn, Antony pulled Randal aside and crouched to face the boy at eye level. With a serious look that made the boy cringe, Antony said: “I was not fair to you.”

              “What do you mean?” Randal asked.

              Antony looked away for a moment then turned back to the boy. “When we first heard of your existence, I immediately feared the worst. I believed you to be an abomination that would have to be destroyed. It was Maggie that forced me to admit my ignorance. I am sorry I did not give you a chance to prove your worth.”

              “You have given it to me now,” Randal said. “The past doesn’t matter.”

              Antony smiled. “Yes, now is all that matters.” He ruffed up Randal’s already messy hair and they retired to their sleeping chambers.

Maggie practiced by first projecting herself to the other side of the room. Then she astral projected outside. When Maggie projected herself outward, her eyes closed, her head went back and her body went limp. David was afraid she would fall out of the chair so when she returned to her body after being gone for about three minutes, he asked her to move to the sofa.

“It’s like you’re having a seizure or something. I’m worried about you.”

She stretched out on the plush cushions. “Are you trying to have your way with me again?” She smiled at his reddening cheeks: so cute.

The training went on all day, and when night approached, she felt sufficiently adept enough to send her projection anywhere she wanted to go inside the perimeter of her powers.

When Antony woke, she informed him she was ready.

The group climbed into the Zephyr and headed out to the Pocono Mountains, the Houseguest Killer’s preferred hunting ground. When they reached the area most likely to be the killer’s next stop, David slowed the RV to a crawl and they made a sweep of one street, then another. Maggie relaxed on the bed and concentrated. No one disturbed her.

Antony and Randal had each taken a victim earlier in the night, But Antony would soon need another. There was time enough after the task was finished to feed. Antony hoped he would have time to take a victim, but when Maggie started to thrash, and then went limp, he knew time was up.

Sheila Beadle walked into the living room carrying the huge bowl of popcorn and frowned when she saw her son and her husband sprawled out on the sofa.

“You two better be planning on making room for me,” she said. Her husband smiled and moved over, patting the seat next to him.

“I was saving this one for you, my love,” he said using his most sincere inflection.

“Like hell you were.” She scowled suspiciously. “I don’t buy it.” She sat down and cuddled up next to her husband. “But you’re forgiven.”

“What are we watching?” her son asked.

Dad wiggled his fingers in front of his son’s face. “A ghost story.” The boy simply swatted his father’s hand away, annoyed by the lame attempt to scare him.

As Dad pressed the remote to start the movie, Maggie appeared directly in front of the television. After astral projecting to the family’s living room, it took her a few precious seconds to orient herself to the new surroundings. She focused on the family gathered on the sofa when the woman began to scream. A large bowl of popcorn tumbled to the floor.

“Please listen to me. You’re in danger. The Houseguest Killer… coming…to kill you.” Her warning was pointless by that time. The entire family was already in panic mode and racing for the back door. The man pushed the boy along, lifting him when he nearly fell. The woman cried in terror as she followed her family out of the house. Maggie watched them go, pleased with the result.

The front door burst open and the Houseguest Killer made his presence known with a flourish of his trench coat, and a toss of his staff. He appeared somewhat troubled by the sight of the family fleeing out the back door. He watched them leave then turned and saw Maggie standing in front of the television.

“And who are you?” He brandished the ivory head of his cane at her.

“I’m someone you’re going to wish you had never seen.” Maggie crossed her arms over her chest.

He used vampire speed and rushed toward her. She gasped at the speed of his movements, but remembered he couldn’t hurt her. He reached out for her neck to snap it, but his hand passed through her. She smiled, waved goodbye, and disappeared as he stood wondering what had happened.

“He’s at 236 Church Street,” Maggie said upon returning to her body in the Zephyr. Antony needed no explanation. He burst from the Zephyr in a rush of air. The door banged against the frame. After several seconds, Randal, too, disappeared in a whoosh of crackling air. “Randal, no!” Maggie reached for the child vampire, but it was too late.

Antony rushed through the door the Houseguest Killer had not bothered to close. He was still in the house staring dumbly at the spot where Maggie had vanished. Antony now stood not ten feet from the vampire he had spent the last several weeks chasing. He was tall, strong and old. This one was older than Antony. How much older, Antony could not tell for sure but he had spent many thousands of years terrorizing mortals.

“You are an abomination,” Antony said to the dumbfounded vampire.

“Who are you and why did you chase away my meal? And who was that girl? She is human but she disappeared. What kind of sorcery is that?”

Then Randal appeared.

The vampire’s amused smile faded as he glanced down at the boy who had once been his pet, and then looked back at Antony. He snarled.

“You stole my pet. He’s mine.”

“Hello, Dark Father.” Randal spat the words out like poisonous seeds.

“You should not have come.” Antony shoved the boy behind him but never took his eyes off the killer vampire.

The Dark Father could not focus on Antony. Randal was the one that got away, roped no more. He would have his little pet back. The new pet was nice but he was not the roped boy. He could have both pets: the beautiful little roped boy, who was perfect in every way, and the hideous corpse boy. They were brothers, after all.

“You lost your rope. I’ll get you a new one.” He reached into his coat.

Antony attacked. He flew at the killer and drove him back into the 60-inch plasma TV, breaking it into pieces. The offending vampire fought back, pushing Antony across the room to the opposite wall. The vampire glanced over at his lost pet, and Antony used the momentary distraction to break his attacker’s hold and forced the vampire to the floor. Even as Antony struggled to rip out the vampire’s heart, the other couldn’t stop looking for his roped boy. He tried to squirm out of Antony’s grip but could not break the hold. He fought again, just long enough to prevent Antony from plunging a fist through his chest, and then again tried to reach out to the boy. He felt Antony’s bite and yelped.

Antony had opened a six-inch gash in the killer’s neck. The killer yowled like an injured wolf and tried to bite Antony, but Antony dodged all his attacks easily. Antony took another big bite out of the killer’s neck. He spat the glob of flesh, and even as it left his mouth, the flesh turned to ash. Then the fight intensified.

The killer moved with lightning speed and pushed Antony away. Antony flew up and tumbled over backward. He instantly pounced up on his feet. The killer flew at Randal. The boy had just enough time to lift his arms to block his face as he was struck by the Dark Father. Randal flew into the wall behind him.

Antony was on the killer in an instant, driving him onto his hands and knees. Antony wrapped an arm around the killer’s neck and squeezed. He attempted to remove the head from the body. Randal thought they looked like high school wrestlers in a match for the championship. They twisted and squirmed in each other’s grip, but both seemed to be matched strength for strength and neither could get the upper hand.

But then the killer rose up and slammed Antony on his back. The killer stood over Antony victoriously. He reached for his staff, intending to bring down the massive ivory bobble to crush Antony’s head. Antony moved just as the skull crushing blow came, and rose up behind his adversary. He used his fists to pound the killer back down to the floor. The ferocity of the blows kept the vampire pinned to the floor, and once again the staff skittered away from him and out of his reach. Antony continued to hammer the killer’s back driving him down.

But then the fight turned again.

As Antony continued to hammer the weakened and heavily damaged killer vampire to the floor, he didn’t hear the Zephyr pull up outside. David entered the house and searched frantically for a weapon to help in the fight. Maggie entered and pulled Randal out of the house.

“David, go. I have this.” Antony averted his eyes, just for a second.

This distraction was what the killer vampire needed to recover. He flipped onto his back, shoved Antony into the far wall and leapt to his feet. Weakened, but still stronger and faster than any human, the killer moved with super speed and grabbed David by the neck…

And yanked.

Something snapped.

The killer tossed him like a ragdoll and flew from the house. He then retrieved his staff and flew from the house in a crackling gust of wind.

Antony moved to chase the killer, but stopped when he saw the heap on the floor that was David’s body.

In the distance, sirens blared.

Antony didn’t hear them. He stared down at David. His preternatural hearing could detect the faint heartbeat coming from David, but it was an elusive thing. The slightest wrong move of David’s head, could stop his heart.

He could do it. He could give David the everlasting life, but no. He couldn’t risk creating another Bane. He couldn’t make another mistake like that.

Maggie touched Antony’s arm. “Go,” she said. “It’s over. You can’t be seen here. I will take care of this.”

Antony looked up. His eyes were red. He needed to feed.

But David was dying.

Antony howled and flew from the house as the EMT’s entered through the crushed front door.

Tears streamed down Maggie’s eyes as she directed the rescue team to David.

David lay under a pristine white sheet. The smell of Lysol disinfectant and other antiseptic cleansers permeated the hospital room. Tubes and wires drooped and hung all around David’s still frame. A tube aspirated David and a machine breathed for him. Another machine monitored his heart rate and blood pressure. He sported a neck brace. David had gone into cardiac arrest twice before the doctors were able bring him back to a normal sinus rhythm.

The family didn’t know who Maggie and David were, or why they had shown up when they did, but the family was grateful for their efforts. The family had just missed being the next victim of what the media was calling the Houseguest Killer. The family didn’t know what had taken place inside the house after they left, but they understood David had risked his life trying to save them and bring the Houseguest Killer to justice.

David now lay fighting for his life, surrounded by humming pumps; and sucking, gasping machines that had replaced David’s lungs. Maggie cried. She had been crying the whole time since all this happened. She had something important to tell David, and now she didn’t know if she would ever get the chance.

Sobs overtook her.

Maggie stayed by David’s side the whole first night. After having fed, Antony and Randal visited David. As Antony stood at the foot of David’s bed and studied the still frame lying there, Maggie turned to Antony with a resigned look that Antony recognized right away. He knew what she was going to say before she spoke.

“His spinal cord was severed at the C2 Axis, the doctors say. He has no ability to breathe on his own. He never will. He cannot eat on his own. Of course this is all academic since the doctors don’t expect him to ever come out of the coma, or for that matter, live out the week.”

Antony looked at her but said nothing.

“Would turning him fix all these conditions?”

“Yes,” Antony said.

“Then you have to do it. Turn him and bring him back to us.”

“I will not curse him to this hellish existence. You know about my failure with Bane. I will not be forced to kill another progeny.”

“You must know David is nothing like Bane. If you don’t do this, he will die. You’re telling me you will let him die?”

“Yes,” Antony hissed. “This existence is worse than death, and I will not put this curse on him. I will let him die!”

Maggie gaped, horrified by his admission.

Antony had taken an aggressive stance when voicing his cruel decree, but softened as Maggie sank back in her chair, defeated.

“If I turn him, his love for you will be gone. He will never feel human affection for you again. His only desire will be for the blood. You think you will be okay with that but you will see it for the curse that it is. I will not put that burden on you.”

“Don’t you dare try to put this on me. If you let him die that’s on you.”

Antony turned and disappeared in a gust of antiseptic wind. Maggie gaped at the spot where Antony had been standing. She was going to lose David. Tears coursed down her cheeks as she cried soundlessly.

Randal moved into Maggie’s arms, releasing her from her shock. As she hugged him, Randal looked up into her glistening eyes. “If I could I would,” he said.

She hugged him and cried harder.

They stayed with David for the rest of the night, but as morning approached Maggie walked Randal back to the Zephyr. She found Antony preparing the stainless steel compartment for the morning slumber.

As Maggie helped Randal into the sleeping chamber, it occurred to her that this compartment fit Antony and Randal comfortably but there was absolutely no possible way it could hold another adult male. There was no place for David to sleep as a vampire. This caused more tears to flow. Antony climbed in beside Randal without acknowledging Maggie and closed the lid. She heard the click of the lock and Antony was down for the morning. The possibility that David would be dead when he rose again was very probable.

Maggie returned to David’s side.

David received many visitors on the last day of his life. The family he had saved brought flowers and good wishes. The police came by to check on David’s condition and to ask Maggie a few final questions, and to wrap up the loose ends. Maggie told them what she could, made up some stuff to fill in the gaps for whatever she couldn’t tell them, and managed to placate their curiosity enough to send them away without raising any red flags or further inquiries. Maggie believed the taller of the two investigators seemed to suspect Maggie wasn’t being completely truthful, but he didn’t linger. He left satisfied that they had learned all the facts that pertained to the investigation. Possibly he believed that whatever Maggie was hiding was not relevant to the case at hand. In any case, they did not plan to return and she was happy for that small victory.

What Maggie was hiding: that Randal, the survivor of a previous attack by the Houseguest Killer; and that the group traveling in the Zephyr was actually hunting the killer, needed to stay out of the investigation.

Maggie slept.

Night came.

Antony and Randal did not come to visit when she expected them to. Maggie held David’s cold hand and tried to warm it. His lips were pale and dry. The machine monitoring his vitals blinked and beeped indifferently as it breathed for its patient. Seconds before it began to happen, Maggie had the vision of David’s heart monitor flat lining, and the nurses and technicians entering the room, disconnecting the wires then began their resuscitation attempt. Her vision ended before she could see the outcome of their latest effort. Maggie was jolted out of the vision as David’s code blue alarm brought a swarm of nurses and doctors in to flutter and scurry around his bed. Maggie left the room to allow them to do their work.

Maggie heard someone say: “We lost him.” Then she heard another voice say, “Okay, I’m going to call it.”

Maggie looked at the time. It was 10 minutes till sunrise.

Maggie thought she was going to be sick. She turned to look for something in which to throw up. The vomit caught in her throat, however. As she turned, she felt a hot breeze brush by her and the crackling sound of air being parted with supersonic speed. When she turned around, the doctors and nurses and technicians were standing around an empty bed.

She was as confused as they were…what had just happened?