Without thinking, he pushed past Maureen and slammed the door shut in the man's face. Back to the door he tried to think fast. He'd seen what had come out of the head of Mr North back in Swindon. No way was a simple door going to hold them back.
Maureen, recovering from being pushed aside, called to the door. "Mr West, please help."
Darwin pushed her back and then grabbed at a bookcase and pulled. It toppled, spilling books onto the floor before becoming wedged at an angle across the hall. Darwin repeated the exercise with a second bookcase.
Monk poked his head out of the cupboard under the stairs. "What's going on?"
"We've got company," Darwin replied, grabbing Maureen's wrist and dragging her toward the cellar stairs. She tried to resist but Darwin tugged at her to enforce his superiority.
"Cassidy," he said, the girl watching from the entrance to the kitchen, "get downstairs."
In her hands, she clutched the notebook.
"Simon, please!" Maureen screamed as Darwin dragged her across the hall. She was frantic. "Send help."
Cassidy knotted her eyebrows.
"What?" Darwin barked. Did Cassidy expect him to show compassion when she was screaming the street down? He was trying to save all their lives right now. Did she not understand that?
Cassidy said nothing and stomped down the stairs. Oh great, thought Darwin, I'm in for another lecture. Whatever he did seemed to upset somebody, and frankly Cassidy was acting like a spoilt brat. The vampires would kill Maureen anyway, why was she worried whether he was a bit rough with her?
It was Cassidy's fault the vampires were all pissy with him. D'Toeni might be a dick, but he was a dick they all respected. So what did Cassidy do? Pick a fight with him. Had she not been driving, he should have just left D'Toeni to it.
It just seemed to him that Cassidy was getting in his way of trying to earn the respect of his fellow vampires. It wasn't deliberate - at least it didn't feel like it was - she just clouded things up, got in the way.
He sighed. The fight with D'Toeni hadn't been her fault he admitted. He was just tired and stressed, that was all.
He reached the bottom of the stairs with Maureen trying to pull out of his grip. But she was a little old lady and had all the fight of a bumblebee.
"Will you stop that," he said.
"You'll not get away with this, I promise you. You'll pay for what you did to Ernest, you monster."
"Yeah? Well if I was you I'd be worried about my own well-being right now."
Brian walked over, his face one of concern. "Monk says those things are outside. Are they outside?"
Darwin nodded.
"Oh this is fantastic," Stevens blustered, pointing at Darwin. "He leads us right into a trap. Can anyone else see that he's lead us right into a trap? Or is it just me?"
"Shut up, Stevens." D'Toeni, face still bleeding, walked up and grabbed Maureen by the hair on the back of her head. Still wailing, she was marched across the cellar to the large oak door.
"Now," he said, his face lowered to hers. "Get this door fucking opened or I'll start by ripping out your tongue."
Maureen slapped him hard across the face.
"How could you?" she said. "He was a defenceless old man."
D'Toeni brushed off the slap as if it had never happened. "What are you talking about, you daft old cow?"
Maureen pointed over to where Cassidy now stood clutching the notebook. "Ernest. You murdered him and tried to steal his research."
D'Toeni released his grip on Maureen and started walking toward Cassidy. Honest Tom got there first. He grabbed for the notebook, which despite Cassidy's best efforts came free after a couple of tugs.
"It's just a silly notebook," Cassidy protested.
Honest Tom flicked through the pages. "Looks like elvish," he commented before asking Cassidy, "when did you get this?"
Cassidy glanced nervously at Darwin and he felt himself tense.
"I knew it," D'Toeni said catching the glance. He pointed at the ceiling. "Those things. That's what they're after isn't it?"
Cassidy looked uncomfortable, looking at Darwin for support. He averted his eyes.
D'Toeni walked up to Cassidy and grabbed her by the chin. "Isn't it?" he repeated.
Cassidy started to cry. "It's not like that. We didn't know."
Brian put his arms across his head. "Fuck."
"Darwin, tell them. Tell them we didn't know."
All Darwin could do was look at his feet. No amount of explaining would make them understand.
"When were you planning on telling us, Darwin?" asked Stevens. "When we were all dead?"
Brian fought back tears. "We could give it to them, couldn't we? They'd leave us alone wouldn't they?"
No-one answered him. All eyes were on Cassidy and Darwin.
"Well done, Darwin," smirked D'Toeni. "You and your little angel friend just managed to wipe out all the vampires. That's some accolade."
"Never should have trusted the fucking half-breed." Monk's fist was unexpected. It hit Darwin on the chin and sent him sprawling across the cellar.
He didn't know how to react. What response did he have? Appeal to their sense of moral obligation? D'Toeni had undermined their trust in him and now Cassidy had shattered what little respect he had left.
A boot connected with his ribs, flipping him onto his back. "That's for Jules, you bastard." Brian spat at him, kicking his ribs for a second time.
Monk drew the sword from Darwin's back. "Well, I ain't waiting to die." He walked down the corridor to the Venefasia door and started using the sword to try and leverage it open.
"What do we do with the girl and old woman?" Honest Tom asked.
D'Toeni shrugged letting go of the girl and walking over to where Darwin lay. "Do what you like, just leave this one to me."
He grabbed Darwin's hair and dragged him to his feet, before picking him up the neck and throwing him against a nearby wall. Darwin slammed into it hard, the air knocked out of him. He collapsed to the floor, his lungs on fire, his back feeling like it had broken. One of the pots on the nearby shelf fell, spilling earth and mushrooms across the floor.
He managed to glance up to see Honest Tom advancing on Cassidy. "I'm going to rip out your heart, Angel," he said as she backed into a corner.
On the other size of the basement, Maureen was warning Stevens and Brian. "You back away or... or I won't be held responsible for my actions."
"Darwin," Cassidy called, tears still streaming down her face.
I can't help you, Darwin thought as D'Toeni dragged him to his feet for a second time. I can't help anyone. Every time I try they end up dead.
D'Toeni's punch connected with his stomach and he crumpled. D'Toeni followed it up with a punch that connected with his temple. But if he was honest, Darwin hardly felt it. His most painful wounds were emotional. It was as if he was somewhere else. A knee connected with his chin and he fell backward, the cuts on his eyebrow and chin damp and cold.
He hit the ground hard, his back jarring such that he thought his spine might come through his chest. He just wanted it to be over. Let them kill him and end his pain. Somehow the knowledge that there was no afterlife for him suddenly felt welcome. They would kill him and then he would feel no more.
He felt further kicks connect with his ribs, but he welcomed them. He closed his eyes, savouring the pain. He had regrets. He should never have listened to Cassidy, he should have just embraced his vampire nature, never bothered with that human horse-shit and living off rats. His human side was weak, had been influenced by Cassidy, and had made him like this. It made his blood boil. He deserved this, his only wish that it would end soon.
That was interrupted when the far wall exploded.
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT - Shoes And Flowerpots
Maureen knew she was going to die. The vampires called Brian and Stevens were advancing on her and there was little she could do. Still her slap of D'Toeni had made them slightly wary of her, causing them to inch forward, ba
cking her into a corner of the basement.
After the initial shock of seeing Ernest's diary, she'd been able to compose herself. Funny what the threat of death does to you. She felt she had more questions than answers, but she doubted she'd have time for things to be made clearer. Her best chance lay with Simon. Hopefully he'd heard her scream, she'd certainly made herself hoarse trying. If he was sensible, he'd get help (although what the police would do when faced with half a dozen vampires was anyone's guess). If he was stupid, he'd grab a stick and come alone. How she hoped that he wouldn't be stupid.
Whatever his course of action, Maureen was aware her time was running out. She'd not go down without a fight though, no matter how futile. She removed one of her shoes as her back reached the corner wall and brandished it like some kind of weapon. Brian and Stevens hissed at her, their fangs prominently on display. A wild swing hit Brian round the side of the head and whilst it wasn't powerful enough to do any damage, it was enough for him to stop and rub his face for a second or two. Shock and surprise morphed into anger. This is it, thought Maureen, as Brian coiled like a spring ready to launch himself at her. So many memories she wanted remind herself of, and no time left to do so. She sighed, resigned to her fate.
That was when one of the cellar’s walls exploded.
The force of the blast pushed Maureen hard against the wall behind her, pushing the air out of her lungs. The vampires weren't so lucky, being thrown sideways amid a cloud of brick and dust.
There was an unnatural calm for a second, silent but for the occasional thud of falling masonry, as the dust of the explosion clouded the room. Maureen looked toward the source of the explosion. Half the wall that housed the gateway was gone, the big oak door blown off its hinges. She could see the passageway, or at least part of it. She shifted to the side to see it had been damaged in some way. Like a broken mirror, a sharp line cut worlds in two as they both tried to exist in the same three dimensional space.
Maureen was marvelling at this phenomenon when she became aware of three dark shapes emerging through the dust from the other side of the exploded wall.
Mr West stepped into the room accompanied by an older-looking man and someone with half their head bandaged up.
"Now that, Mr Magellan," West said to the older man, "is how to make an entrance!"
Maureen breathed a dust-filled sigh of relief. Out of the corner of her eye she could see a half-covered Stevens emerging from the rubble. She wanted to shout to Simon, to warn him what he was up against, but before she could, his arm shot out as a tentacle and wrapped round Stevens' torso. Stevens tried to struggle free of the coil as West hoisted him into the air and flung the vampire back toward their group. Stevens hit the razor edge of the two realities, half of him landing in the passage, the other half of him landing in the basement of the Wests.
"Fuck," she heard Monk shout.
Magellan looked to the other two men. "West, North, let's get this over and done with. Find that notebook. No survivors."
Maureen was still in shock. Whatever West was, he certainly wasn't human. And by the look in Magellan's eye, she didn't think the 'no survivors' rule excluded her.
She looked across the basement. Honest Tom still gripped Cassidy's neck, though they'd both been knocked to the floor by the blast. She bit at his hand, causing him to recoil. Beside them an unconscious D'Toeni lay on his back, half buried under fist sized lumps of masonry. And then rising uneasy to his feet was Darwin.
He blinked and recognised one of the figures. "Oh shit!"
He managed to dive out the way as West's tentacle limb shot out. He leapt and rolled into the passageway as Magellan and North also shot out limbs to ensnare him. One of Magellan's limbs tried to follow but cut itself on the razors edge of realities and hastily recoiled.
"Monk," Maureen heard Darwin shout. "Give me the sword."
"The other door is broken, I think I can get it open," Monk protested.
North and West snaked limbs round the cut in reality, careful not to cut themselves as Magellan had done.
"No time, Monk."
"There's a hole, I think I can prise it open..."
"Monk! Now!"
Maureen tried to move to the side to get a better view but all she could see were Darwin's feet and the tentacle limbs not a metre from them. There was a clang and Darwin jumped to his feet such that Maureen could see him. In his hands he gripped the broken sword she had seen him bring into the house. It seemed to glow a faint blue in his hands as he swung it blindly at the encroaching limbs, forcing them back out the passageway.
More tentacles seemed to shoot across the floor. She saw Brian being lifted off the floor as he used a piece of brick to hit at the limb that ensnared him. There was a scream from Cassidy as one wrapped round her leg. "Darwin! Help!"
Her attention was drawn to D'Toeni, rising to his feet as he surveyed the situation. With a snort he charged at Magellan, leaping at a nest of limbs the creature had put in front of him to hold the vampire back. D'Toeni tore at them savagely with hands and teeth.
Maybe she could escape in the confusion. No one seemed to notice her tucked in the corner of the room. If she could get to the stairs without being noticed... She replaced the shoe she still clutched and reached down to pick up one of her old flower pots that had been knocked to the floor in the explosion. Far more an effective weapon than a shoe, she thought as she peered in at the mushrooms growing inside.
"Tom, get here and help me," Monk called out from the passageway. "I think I can get this door open."
Maureen hesitated for a second as Honest Tom began an obstacle course across the rubble-strewn floor avoiding the chaos. If they could get the door open, she could escape, return to Venefasia. But there was no guarantee they would succeed, and even if they did, would her magical abilities really protect her from a horde of vampires? No, she thought, better to escape somewhere in this world now and return after the battle and make her way into Venefasia then. There were just too many risks, too many unknowns. Wishing her decision could be something different she edged along the wall toward the stairs.
Then she saw Ernest's journal.
It was lying there in the middle of the room, half obscured by masonry. Her first instinct was to leave it, abandon it along with her dream of ever escaping to Venefasia. But she stopped herself. This lay at the heart of everything and whilst yes, it was just a stupid little notebook, it was Ernest's and he had died protecting it (well, she assumed that to be the case. It wasn't as if he had given the thing away). Her thoughts told her to just get out, that Ernest would have worried more about her wellbeing than any silly notebook.
But she was her own person, and after a couple of days feeling like she was being manipulated by everyone - from Rofen and the Friary through to Simon revealing there was more to him than just a nosey neighbour - there was an urge to assert some control back over her life.
No, she decided. She was stubborn and she wasn't just going to run away. She was going to take that notebook.
The limbs had now grown not only in number but in thickness and length; as thick as torsos in places. They ran the floor and walls like vines terminating around the battling vampires. Honest Tom ducked, dodged and snarled at limbs as he tried to make his way to the passageway. D'Toeni ripped at the tentacles that tried to cocoon him as he fought to free Brian who was repeatedly being thrashed against the ceiling. Darwin swung wildly at those that encircled him as he tried to make his way to Cassidy as she fought the one coiled round her, lifting her to the air. No-one seemed to be bothered about Maureen.
She breathed deep, feeling a tingle deep inside, like the day she first stepped out in Venefasia, and made for the notebook. She had to keep her wits about her as the ebb and flow of the battle constantly changed. She narrowly missed being side-swiped by a limb Darwin had just batted out the way. She bent down and picked up the notebook.
"Oh Maureen," a voice called out. "You don't want to do that."
She turned to see Mr West
walking toward her, his limbs branching into five tentacles where his hands should be.
"It's not yours," she replied defiantly.
Simon could only laugh and take another step forward.
"Get back," she shouted, brandishing her flowerpot as if it was Darwin's sword. "Leave me alone."
The creature smirked. Oh how she hated smirking. Deep inside her, fear was replaced with anger. This was her home, how dare they. And not just the vampires, but Simon and his flunkies as well. Inside she boiled and then felt a shiver go down her spine. It was if she could feel a draft, coming from the blocked door. She was caught off-guard as a tentacle from Mr North behind her wrapped round her wrist and began to tug.
"No," she muttered under her breath, closing her eyes and turning round to face him.
She felt the grip on her wrist loosen and when she opened her eyes she saw a fire bolt spell hit Mr North in the chest. He stumbled backward, tentacle limbs flailing, his suit spotted with flame. Cassidy had to dart to the side to avoid him.
Mr North roared with pain as Maureen instinctively looked down into her flower pot to see the mushrooms whither and disintegrate. How could that be? She looked toward the passageway and saw Monk tearing away at the door, a fist sized hole visible in the top right hand corner. She felt a slight breeze coming from it.
Mr North meanwhile was metamorphosing. His clothes ripped, his skin turning to inky black, as he grew into a shape Maureen recognised. She'd seen this type of huge cephaloid creature before, in the elves' warehouse in Venefasia. As it grew it reached the ceiling, and then as it continued to grow she watched it lift the floor above. The house seemed to shake as the floor above broke, one corner sagging down into the basement. Contents spilled into the basement, everyone scampering out the way as her cooker and fridge, toppled into the basement with a thud. It stopped short of falling completely down on top of them, although Maureen wondered if the creature was the only thing now holding it in place.
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