by Cat Thomson
On the upper level, in Collingwood and Grenville, the humans put their hands to their ears as the pitch of Nikolas's vampires' screams rose to an intolerable level, and retched as the sulphuric stench emitted by the innumerable vampires touched by the crucifixes permeated the air of the shelter.
Two of Helmut's coveners entered James's sleeping chamber and cornered Daniel and Sarah, who screamed as they waved their arms about in a futile attempt to ward off the crucifixes. Black smoke rose up from Sarah's forehead as one of the crucifixes branded her there, then she became inert, her body gradually shrinking until it was no more than a desiccated heap on the ground. Soon Daniel's body had the same corpse-like appearance.
Meanwhile, James, too, had reacted to the presence of the crucifixes, and was wailing and wildly gesticulating. When Helmut's coveners saw his suffering, they immediately exited the chamber.
"We're going to systematically search the entire shelter to see if there are any others," one of them called out to Katie from the tunnel. "I've left a crucifix near your chamber for your protection, just in case."
Katie closed the door of their sleeping chamber to prevent the crucifix's close presence from overpowering James and she knelt beside him. He soon regained his composure, and while he and Katie waited for Helmut's coveners to return from their inspection of the shelter, they watched as the withered bodies of Daniel and Sarah began to rejuvenate.
"If this is happening to them, it'll be happening to the others as well," Katie whispered with horror. "I'm going to get help."
She stood up.
"But you risk being attacked," said James.
Katie kissed him.
"That's a risk I must take," she said.
She left James, picking up the crucifix that had been left near their sleeping chamber, before beginning to run. There was an eeriness about the tunnel and it felt to Katie as though she had plummeted out of reality and into a horror movie. When she reached Collingwood, she found the humans there sitting in rigid, stunned silence.
"What's happening, Katie?" Jonathan asked.
"Helmut's coveners used the crucifixes on the intruders and are now checking to see if there are any others still concealed elsewhere in the shelter. The thing is, the ones they attacked with crucifixes are already beginning to regenerate."
"According to Martin, the crucifix alone is not enough," said Tom.
At the mention of Martin, Katie put a hand to her mouth.
"What is it, Katie?" said Tom.
"Where's Martin?" she said.
"He wasn't with you and James?"
"No, we didn't even think about him, not with all that chaos going on around us."
"The holy water's still in Grenville, isn't it?" said Alex as he grabbed a crucifix from where several were stacked against a wall.
Tom nodded.
"Who's coming with me?" Alex asked, and he quickly strode off without waiting for a reply.
***
Alex and the rest of them accompanied Katie back to Parry, where the vanquished vampires were still lying inert, scattered about, but had almost all already fully rejuvenated.
Tom ran to a vampire and pressed a crucifix against its forehead at the very moment that it opened its eyes. "Hurry the fuck up!" he called out to the others as he sprinkled holy water on the vampire and watched it writhe and scream, before turning to dust.
Katie ran into her and James's sleeping chamber and dragged the bodies of Daniel and Sarah from it, shutting the chamber's door behind her to protect James from the holy paraphernalia out in the tunnel.
The humans moved quickly from one recumbent vampire to the next, carrying out the same procedure on each one with the crucifixes and holy water. Matt moved on, further down the tunnel, to where a solitary vampire lay. He stopped just before he reached the vampire and put his crucifix down on the ground to get his cannabis vape pen from his pocket. His back was turned towards the vampire as he inhaled.
"Look out, Matt!" someone shouted.
The vampire had suddenly risen up from the ground and flown rapidly towards Matt. Katie saw that it was the same vampire that had broken into her flat and would have killed her if she hadn't been wearing her grandmother's necklace. She momentarily forgot her fallibility as she sprinted to where the vampire now held Matt captive, his mouth already pressed against Matt's neck.
"Let him go," she said.
The vampire sneered as he lifted his head to shift his focus onto Katie.
"And why would I want to do that?" he said.
Katie slowly drew nearer to the vampire, who watched her with amusement while Matt struggled to extricate himself from his grip. When she reached him, he let Matt go.
"Perhaps you would make for a more enjoyable experience than him," the vampire said to her as he looked contemptuously at Matt. "But then of course, you wouldn't be quite so delectable, dhampir."
Katie smiled as she caressed the vampire's cheek with her fingertips. Then, unexpectedly, her teeth tore deep into the flesh of the vampire's neck. He fell, his hand clutching at his neck. Alex and Tom began to run towards them.
"You bitch," the vampire hissed as he rose back up again.
But before the vampire had a chance to retaliate, his body began to singe as droplets of holy water thrown by Tom and Alex fell upon him. He howled and fell to the ground, where he lay supine. Alex thrust his crucifix against his chest.
When the vampire had finally disintegrated, Tom looked at Katie. He was shocked at what he had just witnessed her do. But Katie was just as shocked as he was. That is, until she recalled the memory of the soldier she had enticed when she had escaped from Dr Patel's lab - what she had done then had been a precursor to the violence she had just inflicted on this vampire.
The humans - and Katie - looked around them at what remained of the enemy vampires. They had all been reduced to nothing more than heaps of dust on the ground.
"There are no others."
Everyone was startled by the sudden, unexpected intrusion, but relaxed when they realised that it was Helmut who had spoken. He and his coveners were nearing them; they had evidently completed their search of the shelter.
"Have you seen Martin?" said Katie when Helmut reached her.
"No. Is he not here?" said Helmut.
***
Location: London
Friday, 22 January 2027
Sunrise: 07:53
Sunset: 16:32
Nikolas flung Martin into Charlotte's coffin.
"This is where Charlotte spent her time when she sojourned with me recently," Nikolas said to Martin, who watched with horror as Nikolas slowly brought the coffin lid down towards him until absolute murkiness enveloped his surroundings.
"Get me out of here!" Martin screamed as panic began to overwhelm him.
His plea to be released was acknowledged by the sound of Nikolas's muffled laughter.
"Enjoy!" he heard Nikolas call out.
Martin was claustrophobic and the lack of visibility within the coffin only exacerbated his phobia. But then a banging started up intermittently along the length of the coffin's edges and terror struck Martin as he realised that Nikolas was hammering nails into the coffin's lid. He began to push forcefully against it, but to no avail. He could feel droplets of perspiration begin to trickle down his face; his chest grew constricted. He began to kick and punch against the coffin's confines repeatedly, screaming for release as he did so. He had to get out of this hellish box.
Nikolas lay on his downy bedding, smiling as he listened to Martin's exertions within the coffin. Gradually, though, they grew less and less frequent until Martin fell asleep from exhaustion. As Nikolas imbibed the welcome silence that now reigned in place of Martin's futile banging, the absence of Michael - his favourite - loomed at the forefront of his mind. It would soon be sunrise and yet none of his coveners had returned from their attack of the shelter. Rage began to build up within Nikolas as he contemplated that tonight's attack may have been a failure.
Nik
olas had been preternaturally quick in finding the dhampir who had planted the camera in his hotel room, and had flitted through the deserted lower level sub-shelters with ease before finally reaching Parry, where the scent associated with the hidden camera had been strongest, and so he had exited the shelter with Martin while his coveners were still entering it. He didn't yet know that his slave Brian had been caught, on the night he had first arrived at the shelter, before he had managed to venture far enough within its tunnels for his button hole camera to reveal the ruthless presence there of Helmut and his coveners.
Nikolas stood up and approached the coffin; he placed a hand on top of it. He was incensed that Charlotte - his mate - had taken up with this human-dhampir who had planted the hidden camera. Not only that, the scent of the vampire slayers had been clearly evident at the shelter that Charlotte now considered to be her home. Charlotte's was a manifold betrayal.
Nikolas felt an almost irresistible urge to rip Martin to pieces. But he had abducted him with a specific purpose in mind, when he had seen Charlotte make her escape tonight. Not only would Charlotte want Martin back and come in search of him, but so, too, would his loyal human friends, if any of them survived tonight's attack. And Nikolas would be waiting, ready to slaughter them, when they came.
***
Part 3: Fusion
Location: London
Saturday, 23 January 2027
Sunrise: 07:52
Sunset: 16:34
Tom recalled how the sky had looked this morning, its cloudless, blue expanse sullied only by the long, white tails trailing behind the planes that crossed it. He wondered if he would live beyond tonight, to see the pure simplicity that made the beauty of such a skyscape again.
At this moment, he was cautiously making his way through London's dark central streets with Katie, Helmut and his coveners, and many of Ed's crew, followed by a short distance by James and Charlotte. Ed had held a meeting in the shelter shortly after sunrise today to announce that they would confront Nikolas tonight.
As they now walked, Tom recalled the news headlines he had listened to on the shelter's plasma screen earlier today: the Defence Secretary had announced that there would be immediate cuts to the nightly presence of soldiers and military vehicles on London's streets due to a reduced threat level, which maybe explained why there were fewer vehicles and soldiers than usual roaming the streets tonight. It had also been announced that Clapham South deep-level shelter would remain unavailable as a government night-time refuge because it was apparently in too far gone a state of disrepair. So Ed still had contacts with power and influence within the ranks of government and at least, for now, the Defence Secretary's plans to take possession of the shelter had been thwarted.
They only had a couple of blocks to go before they reached Old Compton Street, where Charlotte had said Nikolas would undoubtedly be waiting for them; she knew he had abducted Martin as bait to entice them there. Helmut now signalled with a raised hand for James and Charlotte to separate themselves from the group, and this they did. Then he and his coveners, Katie, and Tom and the other humans revealed the crucifixes they were carrying and continued moving forward with these upheld.
Helmut's coveners were at the forefront of the group as they turned into Old Compton Street. Nikolas's vampires were there, waiting for them, but as soon as they saw the crucifixes, they rapidly retreated, screeching.
"Run, humans!" Helmut suddenly shouted. Although Nikolas's vampires had retreated, his human slaves had remained where they were, and Helmut now saw that they were armed with guns.
Katie and Tom and the other humans quickly dispersed, and gun shots began to resound against the dense metropolitan mass of buildings. Helmut and his coveners sped towards Nikolas's slaves, their supernatural speed and eye sight enabling them to duck and dive to avoid the countless bullets hurtling towards them, as though the bullets were merely suspended in mid-air. They soon converged where the slaves stood, annihilating those of them that did not immediately run away.
At that moment, the engines of army vehicles came to life nearby, and Helmut and his coveners disappeared, leaving Old Compton Street a deserted, silent witness to the strewn, lifeless bodies of Nikolas's defeated human slaves.
***
James and Charlotte had turned off Dean Street and continued on towards Soho Square when Helmut had given them the signal, but when they heard the silence of the premature end to battle, they rapidly made their way to Old Compton Street to investigate.
No sooner had they arrived there than Nikolas jumped into their path. His hand gripped James's neck and he lifted him off the ground, flinging him effortlessly across the street. James's body hit a cafe window in its flight, and the windowpane smashed into tiny fragments. Nikolas strolled into the cafe and over to where James was now positioned on his knees, brushing myriad shards of glass off his clothing.
James stopped what he was doing and looked up at Nikolas, and when he read the intent in Nikolas's eyes, he said, "If you destroy me, Katie will die."
"I really don't give a damn what happens to your dhampir, James," said Nikolas.
James stood up and flitted across the cafe, but immediately found himself confronted by Nikolas once again.
"Join us, James," Nikolas said as his fingers gently, lingeringly brushed splinters of glass off James's unscratched face. "Even if you and your little Resistance army do succeed in destroying me, you can't destroy what I've started. We're already an imposing worldwide force, and almost every coven in every nation has been galvanised to take up my fight for vampire world dominance. You have no hope of survival without me or my army, James. If you don't join us, I will destroy you."
But James had long ago decided that he was willing to be destroyed by Nikolas for refusing to conform to his new world order. Hunting may have become more of a thrilling challenge, now that humans barricaded themselves away at night, but it nonetheless felt in some ways like it had also become no more than the practical satiation of hunger. He missed the loudness, the excitement and colour, that once filled the streets of London, and which resonated with his love of hedonistic pursuits. He did not wish to live in the bland, soulless world that Nikolas was in the process of creating.
James shut his eyes and waited for his demise - it would be clear to Nikolas now that he had no intention of ever joining him. But at that moment, the army vehicles reached Old Compton Street. James opened his eyes and turned to watch as one of the vehicles passed the cafe. Suddenly, a machine gun began to fire. James was quick to dive down to the floor, but as he landed there, Nikolas lurched forward and fell on top of him - he had been shot!
James eased himself away from him and stood up. He saw that Charlotte, who had entered the cafe when the army vehicles had arrived, now stood behind the cafe counter. He joined her there. Artillery fire echoed in the street beyond the cafe, but James and Charlotte stood transfixed by the sight of Nikolas's inert body and the gnarled fissure in the centre of his back where he had been shot.
Nikolas suddenly twitched. James and Charlotte retreated warily towards the gaping cafe window, their eyes never leaving him. When they reached the window, they crouched down and watched the drama unfolding outside, looking for an opportunity to flee undetected by the soldiers, and as soon as that opportunity presented itself to them, they took advantage of it, and disappeared.
***
Nikolas slithered across the debris-strewn floor until he reached the cafe counter, then eased himself behind it and listened to the artillery fire which now continued unabated outside. Boots crunched against the splinters of glass from the shattered window - a lone soldier had entered the cafe. Nikolas waited; the soldier was walking in his direction. At the opportune moment, Nikolas's hand appeared from behind the counter and grasped the unsuspecting soldier's leg. He swiftly pulled the soldier towards him, and the gun he had been holding at the ready went off in his hands, the impact of the spray of bullets causing a mirror on the wall to crash to the floor.
N
ikolas sank his teeth deep into the soldier's neck and drank until the soldier became limp, before flinging him aside. He looked down at the splayed, torn fabric of his coat and shirt, just below his defunct heart, and ripped the clothing wider open. He watched as the blood of his soldier-victim permeated his damaged body and his chest began to repair itself.
Minutes later, a man in soldier's uniform strode out of the cafe, gun in hand. The street was in turmoil now, with soldiers running up and down the pavements in search of the culprits of tonight's slaughter of the humans that had been Nikolas's slaves. Shouting mingled with the thick dust that had been stirred up by the destruction brought about by bullets, and it was with ease that the incognito soldier approached a tank and ran up its side at breakneck speed, unnoticed, before ripping its hatch open and slipping inside.
***
Katie and Ed's crew and Helmut and his coveners had managed to return safely to the shelter after their battle in Soho.
"James and Charlotte aren't back yet," said Katie.
"They've probably forfeited the safety of returning here in order to find Martin. Don't stress, Katie, they'll be okay," said Tom.
"But you have to admit it, it was pretty scary out there tonight," said Sharon, and her hand moved slowly across her face as she yawned. She was exhausted."It's actually a miracle that we all returned in one piece when you think about it. I'm sure those vampires were following us from the second we ran from Old Compton Street right up until when we reached the vans; they were so obviously hoping for a chance to attack. But I kept my crucifix held high; my arms were killing me."