The Dead Game (20 page)

Chapter 30

W
ith Todd in the lead, they sped through town and up the narrow mountain road. Driving up End House’s gravel path, they were faced once again with the gloomy and foreboding house. There were no lights on or any sounds of life in the house: only dark, soulless windows quietly watching their approach.

Pulling up to the house, Todd sprinted from his car, leaving his car door hanging wide open. He was in the house before the others had even exited from their cars.

“How did Todd figure out where they were hiding?” Shana questioned Sam as they followed Todd through the main floor to the dreaded staircase leading down to the basement.

“I don’t know…let’s just follow him, since he seems to know where he’s going,” replied Sam.

“He mumbled something about returning to where the whole Dead Game began,” quickly added Linda. “I can’t believe that we’re trudging down these basement steps again.”

David vehemently agreed. “I don’t want to return to that awful basement.”

“If you remain up here, then you’ll be all alone,” warned Mike. “It will fare much better for you if you stick close to the others.

“But David,” added Mike, “if you really want to remain upstairs by yourself, you can wait here until we return.” 
That is, if you’re still alive when we come back and don’t get eaten alive by vampires
, kidded Mike to himself. 
No great loss; there will be other cowardly lions to take his pathetic place
.

“No way am I waiting alone upstairs. Wait for me—I’m coming!” shouted David, quickly joining the others.

The group descended the narrow staircase, down to the basement of End House. The basement was cold and drafty. The one light bulb seemed to be broken. They were forced to climb down the long flight of slippery stairs in total darkness.

At the bottom they were faced with Father John—or a facsimile of Father John with glowing green eyes. He was elevated a few feet off the floor, eerily floating in space over a huge roaring fire dug deep into the ground.

Linda questioned him, “Why are you here, Father John? It’s not safe for humans to be here. It would be much safer for you at the church.”

Great question
, thought Mike, his temper fraying to its bitter end. He was astonished at how stupid humans could be.

Instead of directly responding to Linda’s question, Father John unhurriedly lifted up his right arm and began to throw one flaming ball of fire after another in their direction. The balls never hit them, since Todd had simultaneously lifted up his owns arms to block the fiery barrage. The red-hot balls were left suspended in air between them and the priest.

His arms extended out in front of him, holding the balls in place, Todd yelled out, “I can’t hold off these things forever!

Dashing behind the priest, Sam placed his palms on either side of the Father’s temples and closed his own eyes. As the priest slowly lowered his arms, the extinguished fire balls began to drop—one by one—in slow motion to the floor. Father John followed soon after: falling unconscious to the ground where the fire had been raging just moments before.

“Where did Father John get the power to control fire? I had thought he was human and a good man,” asked an agitated Linda. “No brains” constantly had to have things carefully explained to her. Couldn’t these people ever think for themselves? 
That’s why we’re always getting into trouble
, decided Mike.

“The Father is still good, but he’s being controlled: he’s being used as a vessel. He doesn’t even fully understand what’s going on,” explained Todd. “Look! He’s waking up! Let’s see if he remembers anything!”

Father John stood up and groggily looked around. He mumbled uncertainly, “What am I doing here? The last place I remember being was at church. How did I get here? Did I hurt someone?”

No, Father, we just had a party and you were the clown
, Mike answered silently.

While Todd helped him to his feet, he explained to the priest that he had been used as a vessel of The Dead to frighten them away but luckily, no one had been hurt. The Father couldn’t recall anything that had happened to him; the last thing he remembered was being alone in the church.

“What should I do now? I could join you in battle against the evil vampires,” offered the priest.

“Father John, the best thing for you to do would be to return to the church and pray for all the lost souls down here and all the innocent souls who’ve gotten themselves unwittingly involved in this crazy situation,” suggested David.

The priest told everyone how sorry he was for trying to hurt them, and then hurried back to church.

All that praying is certainly going to help us in this situation
, Mike thought sarcastically. 
Maybe Todd and Sam will be more practical than his silly friends and be able to wipe out The Dead—before anyone else gets hurt or killed.

Chapter 31

A
long dark hall loomed ahead of them at the same spot where the basement wall had just stood a few seconds ago. Now a huge metal door stood closed at the far end. Todd suspected that this door was actually much closer than it appeared—vampires were obviously toying with reality again.

He pointed out the door to Sam. “They’ll be waiting for us beyond that door. Keep everyone close behind us as we enter the room.” Turning to the others, he cautioned, “Remember that nothing will be what it seems. Reality is going to be extremely twisted and distorted, so it will be difficult for us at times to distinguish the truth from the fiction. Just quietly follow my lead.”

They began walking down the long hallway, with Mike and David lagging behind. As Todd cracked open the door, a blinding green light flowed out from the room, violently hitting him in his eyes. “Don’t worry,” he shouted, “we can successfully fight this illusion and any others if we refuse to let our minds believe in them.” Once he entered the room, the glaring green light swiftly disappeared. They followed him into a circular empty chamber with a large raised stage at its center.

Todd’s eyes traveled up the solid brick walls, unhappily noticing that they extended far upward into the great emptiness above. 
Great
, Todd thought, 
another illusion to frighten our already frazzled group.

The center platform began to turn, slowly revealing four people in hooded black robes. The stage ceased turning once the robed figures were directly facing the newcomers. In unison, they pulled back their hoods to reveal their true identities. The group was shocked to be staring at the faces of Shirley, Hank, Minnie, and Frank—people that they had assumed were their friends.

Todd smiled at the new players and congratulated them on a very well-executed deception.

Shana ran over to Sam. “Are you also with them, like Todd?”

“Todd isn’t with them; he’s just being sarcastic,” clarified Sam as he held her close.

Turning to face Shana, Todd explained, “I’m not at all surprised that these human vampires are the new leaders of the militant group. I’ve eliminated all the other possibilities in town: Hayden has proven himself to be faithful to his species; Gregg, Judy, and Ryan are only followers and never would be viable leaders; Sam has always been my best friend and my most trusted ally; Reece, Leanne, and Diane are true leaders, leading vampires peacefully for centuries, never once straying from the true cause. That only leaves the four silly human vampires in town, who have overplayed their assigned roles.”

“What do you mean they’ve overplayed their roles?” questioned a still-stunned Linda.

Todd promptly clarified, “Once we were old enough, the elders explained to each of us what being a human vampire entailed. We’d each been given a specific role to play in society. However, in recent years, the way those four had acted out their assigned roles has seemed to be a bit over exaggerated to me. Shirley and Hank have either acted too nice or too cheerful, never showing true human emotions. On the other hand, Minnie and Frank have acted aloof and unfriendly, refusing to socialize. They don’t even have a baby, but had created an illusion of one for their cover. I’ve never understood the reasoning behind the fake baby.”

“I do,” observed Linda. “By having a crying baby, they were able to use it as an excuse from socializing with other people and a reason to stay at home all the time. I’ve always been curious about why their baby cried whenever I visited their store.”

“I see. The crying baby forced you to leave the store, so that they would be free to play out their wicked and lewd games with the other evil vampires,” agreed Todd. “Now it finally makes sense.”

Shirley abruptly rose from her chair, loudly chastising Todd. “Be quiet already! We already know who’s really in charge here, so let’s get this over with. It’s time to rid the world of all the spineless vampires and their useless human friends. Vampires should be able to rule the world without the annoyance of these unimportant groups. We’re ready to take our rightful place as conquerors of the world. If Hayden and the elders refuse to join us, then we’ll do this on our own.”

“So silly Shirley is the leader of this rag-tag group. Where are Judy, Gregg, and Ryan? Are they too afraid to appear?” sneered Todd.

As Shirley regally waved her hand, a huge metal cage descended before them, suspended from the unseen ceiling on a long metal chain. Inside the cage were Judy, Gregg, and Ryan, firmly chained together with their mouths gagged and taped.

“They’ve been loyal to you to the bitter end. Why are you so surprised, Todd? They’re your sniveling followers. We’ve cleared out their rooms to make their apartments resemble vampires’ lairs. You fell for that deception so quickly and easily. I guess you’ve never really trusted your own people; but a leader is only as good as his followers. It’s just you and Sam now—and whatever humans you’ve managed to pick up along the way,” Shirley leered back.

“And don’t bother looking around for your loyal deputy, sheriff—he’s standing right behind Todd’s girlfriend, holding a sharp knife to her lily-white throat,” snickered Hank.

Todd spun around to find Carl holding a long serrated knife against Linda’s exposed throat. He began to rush over to her, but Carl evilly chuckled as he drew a line of blood through her skin. “I wouldn’t move any closer if I were you—that is, if you care at all for your girlfriend.”

“Why have you joined with the evil vampires that prey on humans? What was so wrong with your life before that has led to this depraved end? Are you now also a vampire?” Sam questioned Carl.

“I grew tired of always being just second in command. I wanted to make my own decisions and not have to bow down to you any longer,” responded Carl.

“I’ve always been more than fair to you. Whenever you needed time off, I’ve allowed you to take extended leaves of absence.”

“What do you think I’ve been doing during those times? I’ve been closely following The Dead on their missions and getting ready to become a vampire,” remarked Carl haughtily.

“So that means that you’re not even a vampire yet and can still be killed with a knife to the back,” shouted Louise, triumphantly stabbing Carl through the back with a kitchen knife. Carl collapsed slowly to the ground with blood spurting out through his back wound. Linda broke free from his dying body to run into Todd’s waiting arms.

David anxiously raced over to Louise. “I’ve been so worried about you after the gazebo event. I called you every day. I checked on both your store and your apartment, but I couldn’t find you anywhere.”

“I became extremely paranoid after the hanging—trusting no one. I began paying closer attention to what was really going on in town. Then I finally remembered the face that I’d briefly glimpsed that evening at the gazebo: it was Shirley’s face under one of the black hoods. I then began to follow Shirley and her group around town. One night I found them meeting secretly with Wolf and Carl on the beach. I didn’t know who to tell, so I just followed Carl here tonight. I hope I made the right choice by killing Carl,” confessed Louise, wringing her hands together.

“You mean that you’ve been running around town, surreptitiously following demons, with only a kitchen knife for protection?” David’s mouth hung open. “I can’t believe how courageous you’ve been!”

“You must admit that the knife came in extremely handy. And now I’m here to help.”

“That just means that I have another human to dispose of,” cackled Shirley wickedly.

Shirley was determinedly marching toward them with a crazed look of naked hunger in her eyes that Todd had seen before only in newly turned vampires, who were desperately starving for their next human meal to assuage the intense hunger racking through their bodies. Her eyes were glowing red and her fangs were prominently exposed, protruding from her other teeth.

Noticing Hank and Frank creeping closer behind Shirley, Todd sternly commanded his own group, “Run through the tunnel while Sam and I hold them off!”

Pushing Shana toward the dark tunnel, Sam insisted, “Run as quickly as you can! Todd and I will follow as soon as we finish up here.”

“No! I won’t leave you!” Refusing to move away from him, Shana held her ground.

“You must bring your friends to safety while we vanquish these creatures!” Sam shouted back.

Shana nodded her head in compliance, turning to lead Linda, Louise, Mike, and David farther down the deep, dark tunnel.

Chapter 32

I
ntense feelings of claustrophobia began to overwhelm Shana in the narrow, confined space. The air was becoming heavier and thicker. Thrusting her hand in front of her, she could feel the air: it felt thick and spongy. Then when she tried to move her arm back down, she found that it was being held firmly in place. She was being sucked into the unyielding darkness, she moaned, where some unnatural force was lying in wait for them.

Then she felt a slight shift in the air—possibly even a slight breeze. The darkness slowly lifted and loosened its hold on her arm. She turned to flee, but her hasty escape was interrupted by a high-pitched, blood-curdling scream. What now? What else could be in store for them? She looked ahead into the darkness and spotted Louise, standing as still as a statue with her huge blue eyes wide open in horror as she stared at the far end of the tunnel.

Edging closer to Louise, the group watched the bizarre scene that was being played out in front of them. In the complete darkness of the tunnel, a light was being projected on one small area. In this subdued light sat a woman in rocking chair, calmly rocking a baby in her arms while humming a sweet lullaby. To Shana, the scene looked very peaceful and serene—which didn’t at all fit with Louise’s terrified reaction.

She asked Louise, “Why are you so afraid? Who is that lady with the baby?”

Louise sorrowfully replied, “It’s my mother holding me. I’ve seen this scene numerous times in old pictures. My mother had died when I was only a baby.”

“The scene was obviously recreated from you own imagination. Before our minds are toyed with any further, we must turn around and leave! Right now!” Louise obeyed, while grabbing Shana’s outstretched hand to meekly follow her back through the tunnel.

Upon their return to the main chamber, they made another sad discovery. Todd and Sam were tied up, back to back, on top of a tall pile of wood. The newly turned vampires were happily dancing around the mound, adding more wood to the increasing pile.

“I’m very happy that you’ve finally decided to join us. I’m about to make myself some dinner. I’ll now be able to have some dessert: humans make such a sweet delicacy,” hooted Shirley with unsuppressed glee.

“You must think very highly of yourself to laugh at your own stupid jokes,” Shana retorted nastily.

Simmering with latent rage, Shirley raised her arm and lifted Shana high up into the air. Then she promptly lowered her hand to soundly plop her down alongside Todd and Sam, on the tall bonfire that Hank and Frank were busy building.

Shana fearfully looked down at her friends. The height and the smell of smoke were making her nauseous. This time Sam wouldn’t able to bring her down to safety. He was straining at his ropes, but she seriously doubted whether he would be able to free himself in time.

Linda shouted up to Todd, “What should we do now? We have no one left without you and Sam!” She watched in horror as the roaring fire ate up the wood at the bottom of the pile and was slowly making its way up to the top—where Todd, Sam, and Shana helplessly waited.

“You have powers! What can’t you make the bonfire disappear like you did with the tunnel at End House?” she continued.

Staring down at Linda, he replied, “I can’t override a vampire’s power. She is holding the bonfire in place. At End House the illusion was created earlier, and not held in place by a vampire.”

Linda refused to give up. “What about your mighty power of suggestion? Make her do something!”

“I can’t! I can’t control a vampire in any way! Leave this scene immediately! Run out of the house to safety!”

“I’m not leaving you!” she persisted, knowing in her heart that they were all doomed. Turning around, she saw that Mike, David, and Louise were standing behind her, also refusing to leave them.

“Everyone has conveniently forgotten about me again,” announced Hayden, materializing dramatically before them. “You’re becoming very tiresome, always getting in the way of the true course of events,” he soundly scolded Shirley.

“Do you really believe that you will be able to save these humans when I have all my vampires to back me up?” inquired Shirley, arrogantly lifting her arms. A large group of vampires dressed in black hooded robes appeared behind her.

Once they pulled back their hoods, Linda was stunned to see that they were tired, middle-aged men. However, upon closer inspection, she noticed that their fangs were extended and their eyes were burning red hot.

“What a fine group of vampires: consisting of the old and infirm,” exclaimed Hayden, slowly waving his hand to make the whole group of geriatric vampires go up in flames.

“Now you have no followers,” commented Hayden. Waving his hand once more, Shirley, Hank, Minnie, and Frank were lifted up and thrown against the wall. They hung suspended while Hayden informed them of their fate. “I’m sending the four of you down to burn in hell so that you can forever lament over the choices you’ve made that have sealed your fate for all eternity.” With that said Hayden turned his hand slightly and vanquished them forever from this world.

The bonfire sizzled and died out. Todd and Sam, whose shackles suddenly clicked open, helped Shana down from the tall mound of burnt wood. Linda was thankful that they only looked black from the smoke of the bonfire, but not hurt. She threw herself into Todd’s arms despite his disheveled and burnt appearance, holding him tight. Brushing feather-like kisses across her face, he crushed her against his body.

Judy, Gregg, and Ryan discovered that they were also free and hesitantly stumbled out of their cage. Immediately, they ran over to Todd to plead for his forgiveness. Todd responded, “I’m the one who should be sorry for ever doubting you. You’ve always been loyal to me in the past and I never should have believed the charade that Shirley and her group created to confuse us. Please forgive me.”

“We have nothing to forgive. Shirley had messed with everyone’s minds until we didn’t know who to trust any longer. At one point, we were even afraid that you had switched sides,” admitted Gregg.

“I’m thrilled that everyone is happy again,” remarked Hayden sarcastically, “but we must now return to the business at hand. We must make sure that all the evil has been totally eradicated from this town.”

“We’ve made sure of that,” declared Leanne as she appeared with Diane and Reece beside her. Linda noticed that they weren’t dressed in their black robes, but this time they wore regular clothes. They didn’t look any different from the humans standing around them.

“We have a proposal for you, Hayden,” began Reece. “We would like you to be the new leader of the world’s vampire population. We trust you. You have proven yourself by successfully saving this group on numerous occasions.”

“I agree. You would make the best leader for us: you’re both strong and smart,” added Todd.

“I think I would like that. That way, things would be done correctly the first time around and wouldn’t need to be fixed afterward. I accept your offer,” replied Hayden magnanimously.

Leanne laughingly remarked to Hayden, “A little humility would go a long way.”

“I’ll think about that too,” responded Hayden with a slight smile on his usually sullen face.

Leanne turned to face Todd and his group. “We‘ll be leaving to clean up the rest of the revolution, subsequently leaving you the task of putting your lives back together. If the human vampire experiment is found to work well here, then it can be tested out in other locations around the world.

“We firmly believe that vampire and man can live peacefully side by side. The merging of vampire and human will serve only to enrich lives if done correctly. Hayden is the right leader for us. He’ll lead us in the right direction for the future.”

The elders vanished before their eyes. Linda couldn’t get used to the strange way vampires had of entering and leaving rooms. She was annoyed that her group always had to be the ones to ferret out the bad vampires. Of course, Todd and Sam had helped. The elders hadn’t helped at all: it had been Hayden who had come to their rescue again. She was slowly beginning to realize that it might be a good thing for everyone if Hayden became the leader of the vampires. He was much more aggressive than the elders, since they were pretty much useless without him.

Hayden hastily informed Todd and Sam, “I’ll be keeping in touch. If you have any more problems, you know where to reach me.” Then he was gone.

Mike couldn’t believe how everything had been resolved with minimal bloodshed—extremely disappointing for him. Once again, Hayden had stepped in at the last minute to save everyone. His own life hadn’t been changed in any way: he was still living the same boring life in the same boring town. But now he had some new options to mull over: to remain a human, to become a human vampire, or even to become a vampire.