Something of the Night (17 page)

A long pause followed before
the vampire leader spoke. “Our legions will not worry about my intentions once
they receive their meal tonight.”

“Meal?” Thalamus asked.

“Fifty miles is a long way to
march on empty stomachs, with little or no energy. Our troops will not function
if they are incapacitated from hunger,” Ezekiel said.

They found themselves within
the open courtyard.

“But we have no food,”
Thalamus remarked.

“Yes we have,” Ezekiel
responded confidently.

“Where?”

“There,” he said, and pointed
to a mass gathering. About forty or so prisoners had been rounded up and held
to one side.

“The northern prisoners?”
Thalamus asked, and his stomach twisted with the thought of hot, fresh food.

“Indeed,” Ezekiel said.
“Indeed… ”

Chapter Thirty

Both sets of footsteps dwindled to a light patter. The
cardboard box tilted upwards and a pair of beady eyes appeared at the bottom.
Scratch sniffed around. All clear. He crawled from under the box and padded
over to the entrance. His nose twitched for a second time. Their unwelcome
guests had gone. His ears tweaked, and a click of a switch further ahead
plunged the tunnel into darkness. The single bulb inside the utility room cast
a weak light onto the wall of the tunnel.

Yap
!
Yap
!

The box rose, then tipped
over to one side. Rebecca stood and stretched her back and legs.

They’d stayed hidden during
the conversation of the two infiltrators and the speaking device. Now, they had
to warn Major Patterson of his immediate danger. But where would they start?
The underground was a huge maze of long corridors, tunnels and open caverns,
and the Major’s habit of changing his quarters made him elusive. He could be
anywhere!

Scratch returned to Rebecca’s
feet. She stepped over him and poked her head cautiously through the doorway.
The tunnel was silent and Rebecca feared she would not have the courage to make
it through the darkness. Twice in the same day she’d had to hide from something
evil and twisted.

Scratch yapped before diving
head-first into the pile of junk.

“This is no time for games,”
Rebecca told him.

He stopped and gave her a
quizzical look.

“Oh yes – the rainbow,” she
said.

She joined the mutt in the
clutter of boxes and rubbish and continued with her search. After a couple of
minutes, her foot connected with something and a chime of glass sounded. She
bent down and there it was, lying on its side. She reached down to retrieve the
object. The colours flashed to life. Decorating the walls in beautiful
colourful patterns. She caught her breath. The magic of the thing made her
heart beat faster, and her fear of the dark passage seemed less somehow. She
held it to her chest and then returned to the tunnel.

“Okay, Boy, are you ready?”
she asked.

The mutt appeared at her
feet. He was ready to go. Rebecca took the first step into darkness, closely
followed by the small dog. Together, they felt their way through the dark
tunnel and began their urgent search for Major Patterson.

***

The mutt jumped onto the bed and his head slipped
underneath the sheet. Rebecca heard him sniffing around for a moment, then his
head reappeared and he jumped to the floor. He raced to the other side of the
room before plunging his nose into a pile of dirty laundry.

Rebecca stood at the entrance
to one of Patterson’s dwellings, looking nervously from left to right. “Hurry,”
she said. “What are you looking for, anyway?”

Scratch ignored her and
continued to bury his head in the pile of socks, underwear and other worn
clothing. He stepped away from the laundry and cleared his nose. Then he
dropped his head down and began to systematically trace out the area of the
floor. After a couple of minutes he stopped and joined Rebecca at the entrance.

“What now?” she asked.

He turned left. Followed the
passageway for a couple of yards. Then worked his way back. He passed Rebecca
and tracked the floor in the opposite direction.

Yap
!

He pushed his nose to the
floor, picked up the Major’s scent and began to trace the invisible line of
Patterson’s passing. Rebecca stepped away from the Major’s old sleeping
quarters and quickly followed the dog.

The mutt was racing ahead,
his nose close to the floor and his little legs a blur of motion. Rebecca
trailed behind by nearly ten yards. She saw him disappear around a bend and
called out. “Wait!” She heard the patter of claws and his head appeared at the
end of the tunnel.
Woof! Woof!
She caught up. Her small lungs heaved
with a need for cleaner air.

“Okay, I’m alright. Let’s
go,” she said, once she’d regained her breath.

Scratch was already on his
way. He sniffed along the floor, and the trace of Major Patterson led him to a
split in the tunnel. He was left with the choice of either continuing onwards
or taking a right turn. He stopped. Both had the Major’s scent. In fact, nearly
the entire underground contained a hint of the man, and it had taken great
skill for Scratch to identify the route, which had been taken most recently.
This time, however, both scent trails were equally strong.

“Which way?” Rebecca asked.

Scratch huffed. Not sure
which way to follow. He followed the tunnel to the right and the scent remained
constant. Now he worked his way back. Again, a strong smell led him into the
darkness. He became confused then, and for one crazy moment he spun in a circle
as he chased his tail. The moment of madness passed. Embarrassed, he sat on his
hunches, pink tongue visible, panting out an apology.

“Well?” Rebecca asked, her
arms held out.

He stood and attacked the
right-hand passage with his nose. Okay, Major Patterson and possibly two other
people. He returned to the main tunnel and repeated the process. Major
Patterson, the same two others and … wait, something else. The same dreadful
scent he’d smelt in the utility room.
YAP
!
YAP
!

Scratch tore down the main
passageway. Rebecca gave chase. Her hand tightened around her treasure.

“Wait… ” she called. Scratch
had left her behind. She heard a distant yap that seemed to come from miles
away. A teardrop born from fear dripped from the corner of her eye.

“Please wait… ” she called
again.

The dark tunnel only mocked
her with silence.

“Please, Boy, where are you?”

She heard a sudden scratching
noise from behind. She spun around and a pale hand reached out towards her. Her
feet became entangled with each other and, with a heavy thump, her shoulder
collided against the harsh rock. Her teeth clicked painfully together. The
girl’s pain provoked a heartless bout of laughter from the darkness.

“Who’s there?” she managed to
mumble.

The laughter came again.

Rebecca’s heart threatened to
give.

The gloom parted and a face
devoid of compassion fixed her with its terrible stare.  “Hello again,” the
face said. The hand reached out, and this time there would be no escape for
Rebecca.

The trap had finally closed
on its prey.

Rebecca reared back, the hand
almost around her throat. She nearly tripped over, but terror kept her on her
feet. The hand began to close. A colossal roar sounded from directly behind.
The fingers froze half open, and Rebecca seized her chance. She spun on her
heels and plunged headlong into the darkness. As her legs pounded along the
hollow rock, she caught a glimpse of something small and furry.

Scratch.

The little mutt had returned.

He waited until Rebecca had
passed him, and then jumped forward in protection. A second later, a pale face
broke through the gloom. The face looked surprised to find the small dog before
it.

“What are
you
supposed
to be?” Sarah questioned. Her initial look of surprise quickly became one of
annoyance. How dare this pathetic thing get in the way of her prize!

“Move, before I lose my
temper,” Sarah ordered.

Scratch stood defiant.
Yap
!
Yap
!

“This is your last chance,”
Sarah warned.

Yap
!

***

Rebecca dashed through the tunnel, her heart pounding
rhythmically with each step. She followed the passageway as it bent to the
left. Not once daring to look back. Fear and the tight, claustrophobic walls
sucked the air from her lungs and she struggled to replace it with quick,
shallow breaths. Her chest felt only half its normal size, incapable of
inhaling enough oxygen. The tunnel swam out of focus and her head spun crazily.
She reached out, using the narrow walls to guide her to safety. The tunnel
righted itself. Her senses returned for a second. From the opposite end of the
tunnel a dark object rushed towards her.

She stopped.

She squinted.

Out of the shadows came a
demented beast. Its arms flailed about it in a billow of black cloth.
Silver-white eyes burnt twin holes in the darkness. The ghastly visage drew
nearer and Rebecca now recognised the face. Instinctively, she understood that
the figure before her had succumbed to an overwhelming lust for blood. A squeal
of fear burst from her constricted chest. She spun around and tore back the
other way. The tunnel forced her to the right and in the next instant she found
herself back with Scratch.

A low, guttural growl of
warning rumbled out of the mutt like distant thunder. Then a sharp crack
pierced the thunder as Sarah laughed out loud at the foolish act of bravery.

“Enough of this,” she said,
and took a step towards the mutt.

Scratch snarled at her.

She opened her own mouth and
even though her canines had been reshaped, the grimace carried the same degree
of malevolence. A hand shot out of the darkness, which caught the mutt off
guard. He was pulled off the floor as his little legs back-pedalled through the
air.

Rebecca skidded to a halt,
inches away from him. “NO!” she cried, as the woman’s jaws opened impossibly
wide.

The girl’s plea momentarily
halted Sarah’s strike.

The noise of footsteps from
behind grew louder. She chanced a look back, and the ashen face of the beast
replaced the dark void. The beast’s mouth opened and cruel fangs dripped with
saliva.

Father reached out and his
unclean hands closed around the girl’s throat. On impulse, Rebecca hit out. The
punch landed squarely on his chin. The shock jolted Father out of his bloodlust
for a moment. His eyes opened wide and for a second he appeared to regain his
senses.

“What ...? What is this?” he
said.

The strange shape of his
teeth had turned the question into a rasping hiss. He reached up to feel at the
fangs. “Dear Lord,” he breathed, and quickly dropped his hand away. He shook
his head, the last twenty-four hours a mystery. What could he remember? Nothing
really, except a burning fever and a long, vivid nightmare. He looked beyond
Rebecca and his gaze fell upon the woman. A memory stirred within him. She had
visited him a couple of nights earlier. Something about needing solace, she’d
said. “Come in, my child,” he’d replied. She crossed the threshold of his room,
and then what?

“What are you waiting for?”
the woman asked him.

Father frowned. “What is
this?”

“This is your awakening,”
Sarah responded.

“From what?”

“From Man’s blindness.”

Sarah stepped closer and
offered him the terrier. “Take it. Call it an appetiser.”

Father reached out to take
the dog. The weak light caught his hand and he saw that it was covered in a
layer of dried blood. “How?” he gasped. His nostrils flared and his heart beat
faster with the scent of blood. A dreadful hunger gnawed away in the pit of his
stomach. Two long rivulets of saliva ran down his upper canines, which dripped
onto the toe of his boot.

Rebecca watched as the
spittle landed, and she recognised the boots instantly. They were the same pair
used to crush the rat dead. She watched as the hand moved towards Scratch.

“No!” she cried.

The talisman in her hand
burnt at her palm. She opened her hand and the crystal vial shone in a bright
blue incandescence. The water at the centre a glow of pure white light, the
beams exploded outwards, dousing all in a radiant blue.

Father screamed and his eyes
rolled into the back of his head. Another scream sounded from behind. Rebecca
found Sarah cowering away, one arm thrown over her eyes. Released from the
woman’s grip, Scratch fell to the floor, landing safely on all four paws. He
shot forwards and tugged the hem of Father’s gown. With a thud, the holy man
fell onto his behind.

Rebecca remembered the blue
light from the woods, the one that Jacob Cain had used. Somehow, the
magnificent light had sufficient power to harm the vampires. Although she did
not understand it, the light offered her protection. She spun full circle and
the blue rays held the vampires to the rock: Father on his back and Sarah
pushed up against the tunnel wall. Agonised moans escaped from their
blasphemous lips.

Scratch scampered to
Rebecca’s feet to take refuge in the canopy of light. For a few seconds,
Rebecca found herself trapped between the two vampires. She looked into the
whites of Father’s eyes and knew her chance of escape lay in his direction. She
stepped over his writhing form.