Tale of the Dead Town (8 page)

Presently, she stood before the fresh grave. Brushing her cheek against the mounded
dirt so it rustled against her skin, she then got to her feet again. Hunching over,
with a frightened expression and a chilling grin, she began digging into the fresh
grave. With every movement of her hands, a vast quantity of earth was thrown behind
her. In no time she had made a small mountain of dirt. Even though the soil was loose
from the recent burial, the sheer volume of it was extraordinary.

When the lid of the wooden box could be seen at the bottom of the hole, the woman’s
lips twisted in an expression of sheer delight. What a blackly evil smile it was.
The hole was ten feet deep. The woman stared at the box. The sun had already sunk
beyond the edge of the plains. Nothing but the white street lights threw any illumination
on the woman’s deeds.

Slowly the coffin began to rise. As if pushed up by the earth itself it ascended,
not the least bit unsteady as it approached the lip of the hole. Anxiety and rapture
intertwined in the woman’s countenance.

Rising clean out of the grave, the coffin stopped level with the woman’s chin. The
lid of the box opened from the inside, pushed open by a pale hand. With the same gingerly
pace at which the box had risen from the grave, the dead man sat up. Still seated
in the coffin, he turned to the woman and smirked. Pearly canines jutted from his
mouth. His eyes gave off a red glow. With a look from him, the woman was completely
stripped of her freedom. She smiled back at him. With strangely stiff movements, the
man climbed down to the ground. The coffin stayed right where it was.

The man came closer. Saying nothing, the woman waited. For the first time it dawned
on her that in life this man had been in love with her. There was a short, soft whistle,
and at that point something stuck in the nape of the man’s neck. A thin needle of
unfinished wood.

“Sorry to say this, but that’s as far as you go,” a low voice said. To the man’s right
there was a rustling of tree branches. The man was at a loss for words. “And since
you’ve risen again, I take it you know what the person who did this to you looks like.
Tell me.”

Even if the man had wanted to answer, he was still pierced through the throat. Needle
stuck in his neck, the man leapt back a good six feet, and at the same time the woman
crumpled to the ground.

“You must be destroyed,” D said coldly. “But before you go, you should leave the world
of daylight something. How about it?”

The man reached for the end of the needle with his right hand. He had no difficulty
pulling out the wooden shaft D had hurled at him. A stream of blood squirted from
the wound. The man pursed his lips.

D raised his left hand. Holding it flat and straight like a knife, he moved forward.
The red stream that issued from the man’s mouth was split down the middle by the edge
of the Hunter’s hand, and both halves vanished in the darkness. But D sensed white
smoke rising from the ground where the man’s blood had fallen.

“Quite a strange power you have there,” the Hunter remarked. “But now the end is at
hand.” Not giving the man a second chance to purse his lips, D covered him completely
with his coat. The moment it opened again, the man fell to the ground unconscious
as if jerked down by ropes. Looking down at the man, D said softly, “I’ve taken care
of him. Come out now.”

“Thanks a bunch.” There was the sound of branches shaking in a thicket some fifteen
or twenty feet away, and then a fairly limber figure appeared. “So, you’ve got a trick
that can knock a Noble’s underling out in one shot? When you’ve got a little time
to kill, I’d love to see how you do that.” Punctuating his last comment with a burst
of cackling laughter was none other than John M. Brasselli Pluto VIII.

“Why are you out here?” D asked.

“Aw, don’t get all tough with me, partner.” Pluto VIII smiled at the Hunter, his expression
intimating they’d been friends for ages. “I knew he was bound to come back to life,
so I was just waiting around for it. I tell you, that was a hell of a fight you gave
that critter. I’m impressed. Very impressed!”

“What are you after?” D asked softly.

“Not a thing,” Pluto VIII replied, shaking his head in earnest. If he was tortured
to the point where he could no longer speak, he could probably get by on that gesture
alone.

“It doesn’t matter. Just stay out of the way.”

“Yes, sir.” It was hard to tell just what was going through Pluto VIII’s head, but
for some reason he gave the Hunter a round of applause, then said, “By the way, were
you by any chance planning on taking this creep back with you and making ’im spill
his guts?”

“What are you talking about?”

“It’s pretty obvious, ain’t it? You aim to find out just who went and made this character
like this. After all, he lost all that blood but doesn’t have a scratch on him. How
weird is that?! You’ve gotta look into what’s causing this.”

“You’re exactly right.” Easily carrying the fanged man on one shoulder and the unconscious
woman on the other, D turned away.

“Hey, hold on! Wait just a minute,” Pluto VIII cried out excitedly, scampering after
the Hunter. “Let me carry the lady. I tell you, I can’t believe how tough it is trying
to crack the gals in this here town. I can talk myself blue in the face, but they
won’t give me the time of day. I should take this opportunity to make a reputation
for myself.”

While it wasn’t quite clear whether the Hunter was dumb-founded or not, as D stood
there Pluto VIII basically pried the woman away from him and cradled her body in his
arms. “Buddy, do you seriously think this character is just gonna tell you everything?
I mean, after all, he’s a freaking vampire!”

D said nothing.

“I’ll let you in on a little secret. I can get him to spill his guts for you. I’ll
let you ask him whatever you want, just let me get some questions in, too.”

D stopped in his tracks. As he slowly turned, Pluto VIII must’ve sensed something
in the Hunter’s face, and, giving a cry of surprise, the biker leapt back a good ten
feet. “Didn’t I tell you not to look at me all serious like that? Just thinking about
that mug of yours gives me a powerful urge to jerk off, you know. At this rate, I’m
liable to fall in love with you if you don’t watch it.”

“Just what are you up to?”

“Not a blessed thing.”

“Should I talk to the mayor and have him toss you out of town?”

“Won’t do you a bit of good,” Pluto VIII chortled. “I figured you might try something
like that, so I found myself a new hideout. Besides, you can’t even find where the
vampire’s holed up. You know, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if you wound up with another
one on your hands.” What Pluto VIII said was right on the mark. “So, what’ll it be?
Stop looking so grim and make up your mind already.”

“Okay,” D said softly with a nod.

-

Where Pluto VIII finally led D was to an abandoned boarding-house next to C Block
in the industrial sector. “What do you think? Pretty great, huh? Got myself three
rooms here. Can cook up my grub wherever I please. You’re looking at the lord of the
manor,” Pluto VIII said pompously. “It don’t matter to me if you tell anyone else
where to find me. Given five minutes, I can move myself into another hideout, you
know. I’m a slipperier eel than any vampire.”

“What are you really after?” asked D.

“Who do you think you’re dealing with here?” Pluto VIII said, settling himself into
a plastic chair. He invited D to do the same, but the Hunter wouldn’t sit down. The
woman from the general store had been left lying next to a street that saw a lot of
pedestrian traffic in a place where someone was sure to find her right away. Anyone
summoned by a vampire’s power, as she had been, wouldn’t remember a single thing that
had happened while under the vampire’s spell. Pluto VIII had set the unconscious vampire
down on a large bed of rather simple tastes. Fingering the fiend’s extended canine
teeth with morbid curiosity, he said, “Well, now. Let’s see if we can’t get him to
answer two or three questions. Okay, now watch closely.”

Saying that, he clambered onto the bed and over to where he’d put the vampire, then
laid down on his back right next to the other man. D saw him squeeze down on the vampire’s
hand. Pluto VIII closed his eyes. As he did so, all trace of expression vanished from
his face. At the same time, the vampire began to tremble all over and his eyes opened
wide.

“Pretty slick, eh?” the vampire said in Pluto VIII’s voice. While the face was still
clearly that of a farmhand, the expression had taken on an indefinable fullness, and
through the eyes and mouth it bore a distinct likeness to Pluto VIII. This little
stub of a man actually had the ability to possess other bodies. “Damn, it’s cold,”
he groaned. “Inside this guy’s head and all through his body it’s just one great big
winter wonderland. On the other hand, being in here I know everything he’s thinking.
Now, according to him, he got turned into a vampire by . . . wow, by no one at all.
All of a sudden he got cold and fell to the ground in front of that factory. And that’s
about the size of it, it seems. Ain’t that the damnedest thing!”

“Is the illness contagious?”

To D’s question, Pluto VIII replied, “I don’t know. What I can tell you is he’s got
a powerful thirst for blood. That’s it.” Suddenly Pluto VIII’s voice became muddled.
Malevolence flooded into his normally amiable expression. His face now that of a demon,
he leapt to his feet. The human who’d possessed this vampire had been overthrown with
remarkable ease. Imitation vampire or not, the mental powers that condition endowed
the victim with were certainly formidable. Slowly, the demon headed toward D—and then
he suddenly grinned from ear to ear, just like Pluto VIII. “Sorry about that,” he
laughed in the biker’s voice. “Didn’t mean to alarm you—not that you budged an inch.
Well, I guess that’s D for you. So, that’s the only question you’ve got?”

“No, I have another. What in the world were they researching in that house?”

“Can’t say,” Pluto VIII replied indifferently. “He’s probably got the information,
but everything related to it is in a fog. Guess that means no answer.”

Nothing from D.

“Looks like our plan has run awry.”

D gave a slight nod.

One of the paranormal phenomena that often linked the bloodsucker to its prey was
a transference of memories. Often the memories of a vampire were copied into the brain
of his or her victim. In most cases what was transferred was only a small portion
of vampire’s recollections, but there were some victims who wound up with all of a
Noble’s memories. By sending his consciousness into the other man’s body, Pluto VIII
had hoped to access any memories that might’ve belonged to whoever made him.

Not saying a word, D slung the undead body over his shoulder.

“Hey, what’re you doing?!” the corpse—or rather, Pluto VIII—shouted.

“If we’re through with him, I have to get him back in his grave. If you want to get
out of him, better be quick about it.”

“What a selfish little ingrate you are,” the man sneered, and then all stiffness left
his body. At the same instant, Pluto VIII’s body got up from where it’d been lying
on the bed. “I’ll have you know it takes a good deal of mental preparation to leap
from one body to another. Oh, I think I’m gonna be sick—”

D left the biker’s room without making a sound.

-

As it moved forward, the town seemed to be glaring down at the brown plains. A group
of shepherds and merchants looked up at it enviously and waved. Offering them nothing
in return, the town continued its remorseless advance. But one had to wonder if it
was actually making any progress. The town went on diligently, headed straight for
the sun as it shone down with a strangely spiteful hue.

-

The next day, D called on the twenty or so men listed on the mayor’s sheet as being
involved in boarding up the Knight family’s home. All of them gave him the same reply.
No one had seen or heard anything strange while they were moving things out of the
house. The mysteries of that abode remained shrouded in fog. As D was getting ready
to call on the last person on the list, Sheriff Hutton, someone behind him called
out his name. It was Dr. Tsurugi. Turning around, D asked, “How did it go?”

“His condition remains unchanged. I wasn’t able to learn anything from the corpse.”
He was referring to the man who’d risen from his grave the previous night. D had carried
the body Pluto VIII had occupied to Dr. Tsurugi and had him subject it to a second
medical examination. “It’s certainly my opinion this was caused by some sort of viral
infection, but at the moment I can’t seem to put my finger on the culprit.”

“There’ll be trouble if you can’t.” That was all D said.

Realizing just what kind of trouble the Hunter was talking about, Dr. Tsurugi used
the back of his hand to wipe away the sweat he’d just realized was pouring from him.
Cold sweat.

“I’ll see you later,” D said, turning his back.

“Wait a minute,” the physician called out to him.

“What is it?”

The young physician shyly scratched at his head, which seemed to be a habit with him.
“If you don’t mind, do you think you could pay a visit with me? To Lori Knight, I
mean. She’s been acting a bit strangely.”

“Strangely?”

“Yes. Ever since she was attacked by this weird, shadowy character yesterday, her
behavior’s been rather unusual.”

“My going to see her wouldn’t change anything.”

“Well, by not going you certainly won’t do her any good.”

“Then you’ll have to wait until I’ve taken care of one bit of business,” D said, and
began to walk away. Twisting and turning through a number of streets and back alleys,
he arrived at the law enforcement bureau. Pushing his way through a cracked glass
door patched together with strips of heavy tape, he made his way inside.

Sitting behind his desk with his feet up while he joked with a couple of his deputies,
the giant developed a sudden twitch in his face as soon as he caught sight of D. “What
brings you here?” he asked. “You still got two days left. Don’t tell me you want off
already?”