by Philip Henry
Kaaliz sneered at her. “Hey, honey, I’m home. I hope you don’t mind that I brought my friend Risk for dinner?”
“Leave now, Kaaliz.”
Kaaliz chuckled. “You can’t bluff me, Claire. I know that you’re human now and if you’re half as easy to kill as Xavier, I won’t even get out of breath.” Kaaliz shifted a distracted glance to the chapel. Risk was staring at the doors, too.
Claire felt like her heart had turned to lead. Xavier dead? Kaaliz was lying or he was wrong. She knew it. Kaaliz may well have left Xavier for dead but he wasn’t dead yet. He couldn’t be.
Kaaliz turned his gaze back to Claire as if waking from a trance. “That kid of yours…” Kaaliz was confused inside his head. He felt like he had just drank the sweetest blood after a long spell of drought. He was exhilarated. His bloodlust was going crazy. He was energized. He needed the blood of Claire’s son. He turned to Claire again and said, “Why don’t you tell him to come out and play with his Uncle Kaaliz?” Kaaliz didn’t wait for her response and turned back to the doors of the chapel.
Claire didn’t know what was going on but saw an opportunity and used it. She drew the sword from her back and swung at Kaaliz’s head. Kaaliz saw the blade too late and it sliced deep into his neck. He fell backwards and put his hands over the blood flow. He stared at Claire. Claire ran forward to finish him and Risk charged at her. She leapt to the side and Risk hit the wall. She was on her feet again in a second and lunged forward with the sword at Risk’s back. The sword barely made it past his outer layer of skin. Only the tip of the sword penetrated. She pushed forward trying to drive it deeper into his dense flesh. The sword would not move forward. It was almost like a shell under the skin. Risk turned and whacked the sword from her grasp and sent it skidding down the corridor. He grabbed Claire around the throat with one hand and lifted her from the ground. Claire heard horrified gasps and looked down the corridor. To her left and right crowds had gathered, a safe distance away, and were watching with astonished horror. Risk’s hand tightened around her throat and she reached out a hand to the crowd, begging for help.
“OK, that’s enough,” Kaaliz said. Risk turned to him with a questioning look. “Let her down, Risk. The kid’ll come out if she tells him to.” Risk reluctantly dropped Claire and she fell to the ground holding her neck and fighting for breath. Kaaliz knelt next to her. Claire looked up and saw his neck was totally undamaged. How could that be? Had she only grazed him or imagined the blood? Kaaliz had lifted Claire’s sword from the ground and now put the point of it below her chin.
“Call him out, Claire.”
“Never,” Claire hissed angrily.
Kaaliz smiled and turned to the chapel doors. “Hey, kid! I think your mom needs your help.”
Claire tried to shout but Kaaliz clamped his hand over her mouth. She wriggled and hit his arms but he was incredibly strong.
“She’s hurt, kid. Maybe I should just let her die. What do you think?”
Tom appeared at the small window in the door. Risk charged at the door. Tom ran back a few steps. Risk slammed into the doors and was repelled. He punched and kicked at the wood and the doors shattered beneath his fists. Kaaliz pulled Claire to her feet and dragged her with him over to Risk.
“Stop,” Kaaliz shouted at Risk. “You’re just scaring him. He has to come out. We can’t go…”
Risk turned and swung his arm and sent Kaaliz and Claire skidding down the corridor twenty feet. Kaaliz had let go of the sword. Claire grabbed it and got to her feet. She put both hands on the hilt and drove it down into Kaaliz’s chest. She felt it hit stone and assumed it was the floor. Kaaliz smiled and pulled the sword from his chest and tossed it aside. Claire took a couple of steps back and began to tremble. Why wouldn’t he die? What the hell was he now? Claire turned and saw Risk had annihilated the doors to the chapel and was now pounding on the invisible barrier separating him from his prey. Claire snatched the sword from the ground again and held it up before her. Kaaliz got to his feet and brushed himself off. He turned to Claire and looked at the sword.
“Haven’t you worked it out yet? You can’t kill me. You can’t even hurt me. But I can hurt you, and I mean to.” He took a step to her and turned his glance to Risk still pounding on nothing with all his strength. “Give us the kid and I’ll make it quick.”
“While there’s still flicker of life in my body, I will fight you! You are never, NEVER, getting your hands on him.”
Kaaliz took another step towards her. “If that’s the way you want it. I’ll make you suffer to get to him.”
Kaaliz took another step forward. Claire readied herself with the sword. A crossbow bolt entered the side of Kaaliz’s head and buried itself six inches into his skull. He was looking at Claire and his gaze turned from malice to utter confusion. Kaaliz fell to his knees and collapsed on his side. His hand moved to the arrow and he tried to pull it out. Claire swung around and saw a man and a woman – Ministry agents by the look of them – had emerged from the crowd. The man lowered his crossbow.
Nicholl charged at the thing that was pounding the chapel doors while Rek dug in to the weapons bag and loaded another bolt into his crossbow. It had its back to Nicholl when she reached it. She took aim at the base of its neck and drew her sword back. The creature never heard it coming. Nicholl’s blade hit the its neck with all her force and embedded itself about a quarter of an inch. It didn’t even bleed. It turned and sized Nicholl up. She swung again at the same spot. The wound didn’t seem any worse. The creature hit her with a backhand punch. Nicholl was launched into the air and came down against the opposite wall of the corridor. Rek shot a bolt at the creature’s head and was amazed when it bounced off its skull and dropped to the ground. The creature looked over its shoulder and gave Rek a casual glance. It didn’t consider him a threat and resumed pounding on the invisible barrier.
Nicholl’s forehead was bleeding and she got unsteadily to her feet. She staggered over to the weapons bag, dropped her sword, pulled out the Uzi 9mm and cocked it. She grabbed the spare magazine from the bag and tucked it in the waist of her trousers.
Rek turned and saw her. “Bullets won’t kill it!”
Nicholl had been winded by the impact on the wall and was breathing heavily. “We need to get through the outer layer of skin. If I can make a hole, you put an arrow in it.”
Rek put another bolt into his crossbow and took aim. He was impressed how confidently Nicholl walked back to the creature. She stopped five feet away from it and gave a short, sharp whistle. The creature turned and Nicholl began firing at its chest. The air was filled with thin smoke and the smell of cordite. She emptied the whole magazine into its chest and when it clicked empty she stepped back and turned to Rek. He was standing with his finger on the trigger of the crossbow trying to see through the smoke. The creature ripped off the remains of its Epic Void T-shirt. Rek only saw a few minor burns on its sickly-grey chest. Nicholl followed Rek’s gaze and was amazed to see the bullets had had no effect. The creature took a step towards Nicholl and she slapped in the fresh magazine and raised the Uzi. She fired again, this time aiming at the creature’s head. The second magazine clicked empty and the creature was still unhurt and still coming towards her. She started moving back slowly. Nicholl saw a sword tap the creature on the shoulder from behind. The creature turned and Claire was standing there.
Risk screamed at her and Claire thrust with all her might. Her sword went into his mouth and out the back of his skull. He howled in pain. Claire looked behind him and shouted at the female Ministry agent to grab the other side of the sword. The sword had gone in with the blade facing down. Nicholl ran forward and jumped up, landing with both hands pushing down on the blade. Claire pulled down hard on the hilt of the sword. They were see-sawing up and down using Risk’s jaw as a pivot. His bottom teeth shattered quickly and the edge of the sword was grinding down on his jawbone. He put both of his hands on the blade and tried to pull it out but the women were exerting too much of a downward
force. He swung his upper torso, trying to shake them off. Claire and Nicholl were lifted off their feet and were being tossed around from left to right. They held on and yanked down when they could.
The police showed up and ran to the fight looking scared and confused. They drew their guns and aimed at the bizarre trio. “Hold it right there. You’re under arrest,” one of them shouted. Rek ran to the policeman closest to him and snapped the gun from his grasp. He approached the front of the creature and jumped up on its shoulder. He wrapped his left arm around its neck and held on. He brought up the gun with his right hand and stuck it in the creature’s mouth. He turned the barrel facing upwards and fired three times. The creature lost some of its strength and dropped to its knees, putting his attackers feet on the ground. Rek fired three more times and the gun was empty. Blood trickled from the creature’s mouth. None of the bullets had come out the top of the head, though. Nicholl released her grip on the sword and came to Rek’s side. Rek took his arm from around the creature’s neck. Claire was still holding her sword tightly. The sword slid out of Risk’s mouth as he fell backwards to the ground. The three of them looked down at Risk, each tensed and ready to react if he moved.
It was Rek that noticed, from the corner of his eye that their troubles were not over. “Aw, shit.”
Nicholl and Claire turned and saw Kaaliz with the bolt that had been in his head, now in his hand. He looked really pissed off.
The two frozen policemen looked at each other. “I don’t think this is part of our job,” one said.
“No, this is definitely Ministry business,” the other agreed. “We don’t want to step on anyone’s toes, do we?”
“No. And I’ve got a wife and kids.”
“Yeah, I got a wife and kids, two girlfriends and a bit on the side that’s pregnant.” They looked at each other again and immediately struck a silent agreement. They turned and ran for the lobby.
In a few seconds Nicholl had reclaimed her sword and Rek had reloaded his crossbow. The two Ministry agents joined Claire and the three of them formed a line: Nicholl in the middle and Claire and Rek flanking her. Kaaliz was ready for them. Nicholl strode forward and Rek and Claire followed. The three stopped just a few feet from him.
Nicholl took a deep breath and said, “Now, Rek!” As soon as Nicholl and Claire heard the crossbow’s trigger click they attacked Kaaliz. Kaaliz swung a fist and deflected the incoming arrow. Nicholl drove her sword deep into his exposed side. Claire’s blade caught him on the side of the head and cut him deeply. Nicholl pulled her sword from his side and brought it down hard. Kaaliz saw it coming and instinctively put up his arm. Nicholl’s blade hit the bone of his forearm and she twisted it. Rek had loaded another crossbow, he fired and it caught Kaaliz in the chest. That should have been the end of it, but Kaaliz barely noticed it. Claire ran behind him and got in position to take his head off. Claire drew back, ready to throw the sword forward with every bit of strength in her body, when the sword was pulled from her grasp. She turned and saw the redheaded vampire holding the sword while hovering above them. The redhead kicked Claire hard under the chin and sent her flying across the corridor.
Nicholl pulled the sword out of Kaaliz’s arm and began a forward thrust. Sin dropped on her, knocking the sword from her grasp and knocking Nicholl to the floor. Nicholl looked up at the attacking vampire and rasped, “Sheridan.” Nicholl lunged at Sin’s throat but Sin pinned her to the ground easily. Kaaliz, left with only one problem to deal with, flew at Rek and bit his neck. Claire was lying unconscious against the wall. Rek was struggling to release Kaaliz’s grip. Nicholl saw him as she used her last remaining strength to hold Sin’s bite away.
At the far end of the corridor a window smashed just a second before Xavier flew past Claire and grabbed Kaaliz and Sin around their necks. Rek and Nicholl dropped to the ground. Xavier held fast to the vampires and carried them down the corridor at unbelievable speed with Kaaliz in his right hand and Sin in his left. He turned left at the bottom of the corridor and flew into the lobby, towards the electric doors. He didn’t have time to wait for them so he flew through the windows at the side so fast that the shards of glass appeared to hang in the air for a moment before deciding to drop.
Xavier had flown across the car park in a flash. When he reached the outer wall he lowered his two captives and increased speed. Both of them hit the wall head-first and so hard that the top three layers of bricks were demolished. Kaaliz and Sin were dazed. Everything had happened so fast that they didn’t know what was going on. Just as they were getting their bearings they had been quickly introduced to a brick wall and everything had got muddled again. Xavier caught up with a lorry on the road and managed to kick open the latch to its back door with his foot. The door swung open and he threw his passengers inside and relocked the doors. He hovered above the road for a second and watched the lorry continue on its way. Xavier turned and headed back to the hospital.
Claire was just coming around and panic hit her. She got up and ran on rubber legs to see if Tom was still in the chapel. She saw the two Ministry agents getting up as well, but there was no sign of Kaaliz or the redhead. She staggered over and looked inside the chapel. She saw Tom sitting on the ground facing the doors with his hands folded on his lap. He saw Claire and smiled. He gave her a silent wave and then asked, “Is it safe to come out now?”
Claire was so relieved that he was all right. She held up a hand that told him to stay where he was and she would check. Claire turned back out to the corridor and saw the female agent holding a rag to the other agent’s neck. What had happened while she was knocked out? If these two had killed the vampires where were the bodies? She looked to the lobby where some of the braver souls were daring to peek around the corner and see if it was over. Then a fresh swell of screams came from the lobby and the rubber-neckers fled, for over their heads a vampire was flying back to the scene. Claire felt unreality fill her mind as Xavier approached and landed beside her. He said nothing as icy spiders crawled up Claire’s spine. Her mouth was open but there were no words coming out. Eventually she started crying and Xavier held her.
Xavier turned to the two agents and said, “You best get him up to Casualty. I threw those two in the back of a lorry but it won’t hold them for long. It would be best if you weren’t here when they got back.” Nicholl propped Rek against a wall and gathered up their weapons, always keeping an eye on Xavier. The last thing she lifted was Claire’s sword. She considered it for a moment and then threw it back to Claire. Claire caught it and slid it back into the hockey bag on her back. Nicholl collected Rek and walked slowly up the corridor with him.
“Where’s Tom? I have to get you two as far away from here as…”
Tom ran from the chapel with his arms outstretched to his dad. “Here I am, daddy.” Tom jumped up and Xavier held him. “You feel cold, daddy. Are you sick?”
Something was wrong with Xavier. Something beyond being the walking dead. Something was clouding his mind. He didn’t feel like himself. Something was growing inside his mind and tainting all his thoughts. Making him think things. Making him want to do things. Making him want to kill. Wanting to kill. Wanting to kill Tom. He didn’t hear Tom saying that he was holding him too tight. He didn’t hear the boy say that his fingernails were hurting him. He felt a pulsing excitement in his chest. He remembered the feeling of needing to feed but never did he remember it being so powerful. Images of the bloodied boy flashed in his mind, enticing him to do it. To kill the boy. To kill his son. He saw the concern on Claire’s face and saw her lips moving but couldn’t hear the words. All he heard was a primal instinct inside his head telling him to do it. Do it now! Xavier fought the urge and dropped Tom from his grasp and pushed him into the chapel again. Xavier shook off Claire’s touch and walked down the corridor a little. He fell, exhausted against the wall and slid to the ground.
Claire was next to him. “Xavier, what’s wrong with you?”
“I don’t know,” he gasped. “I wanted to kill
Tom. Something inside me just…I don’t know.”
“I think something’s going on, Xavier. Vampires are changing somehow.” She pointed to Risk’s body. “That thing was almost indestructible and when I staked Kaaliz he just laughed at me. Something is happening. It all reminds me of the stuff in the Book of Days to Come. All that stuff about ‘the vampyres strength will be threefold during the last days, and many men of the age will be cut down before the battle is won.’ Maybe it’s all coming true. Who did you feed on to get Made?”
“Me and you,” Xavier said.
“You kept a bottle,” Claire said in a whisper of disbelief.
“Don’t be mad. Just a precaution in case this day ever came. I put some in a hip flask before I set out to find him, which was a good thing because he beat the shit out of me and then crucified me. I’d be dead now if I hadn’t drank, Claire. You know why I did it, don’t you?”
“Of course,” Claire answered softly.
Xavier saw Tom peering out of the chapel and his insides began to tremble again. “Claire, you have to get him away from me. I don’t know if I can keep fighting this. Go, and don’t tell me where.”
“But when can we…?”
Xavier stood up and tried not to look at the chapel. “Can’t think about that now. You two have to get somewhere safe.”
Claire was just about to speak when something on the ground caught her eye. She recognized it immediately as a Ministry necklace. A last resort locket, she had heard them called. It must have fallen off one of the agents during the fight. A lot of vampires had been incapacitated and ultimately killed thanks to the little vial of poison contained in the teardrop-shaped glass pendant Ministry agents wore. It got its name from the fact that if a Ministry agent was dying they could poison their own blood with this and incapacitate any vampires that fed on them. The last resort locket would kill the agent, too, guaranteeing that they couldn’t be Made. She picked it up and put it in her pocket. There was a groan behind her. She turned and saw Risk stirring on the ground. “Oh, you’re fucking kidding me!”