by Philip Henry
‘Are you travelling alone?’
Tom nodded reluctantly.
‘Do you mind if I sit next to you?’
‘No, that’s fine.’ Actually the trip hadn’t proved to be as bad as he thought. Molly was full of stories and got the whole bus talking by the third hour on the road. Tom now knew everything about everyone on the bus; who they were, what they did, why they were going to the North Coast and who had a granddaughter around his age. The only one who had managed to remain a mystery was Molly herself.
‘What do you think I look like?’ she asked Tom as she forced another toffee into his hand.
Tom smiled and shook his head. ‘A school teacher?’
‘Oh, come on, you can do better than that. All old ladies look like school teachers but very few are.’
‘You got to give me a clue, Molly.’
The wrinkled face grinned. ‘OK. Let’s see. It’s a job you never really retire from.’
‘Something you never retire from? So you must be self-employed.’
‘Why?’
‘Well, if you worked for someone else they’d make you retire. You must be an artist or a writer.’
‘Nope.’
Tom kept trying, periodically, when another possibility occurred to him, but by the fifth hour on the bus he still hadn’t guessed. They were getting close to Portrush now, so he didn’t have much time left.
This road had been the same one he had left by all those years ago. He remembered the rockface on one side of the road and the sheer drop to the sea on the other. When he had walked out of this town with his mother the sea was blue, now, as he returned, it was black, except for the reflection of the full moon.
‘I suppose you’re going to Portstewart to meet some pretty girl,’ she asked with a playful tickle of his ribs.
‘Yes,’ Tom answered without thinking. ‘I mean no. I mean, yes, but that’s not why I’m going.’
‘Tell me all about her.’
‘There’s not much to tell,’ Tom answered. Molly’s eyes widened and she gave him a single nod. He knew right then that she wasn’t going to be dissuaded. ‘I’m going back to Portstewart…’
‘Back?’
‘Yeah, I was born there and lived there for the first ten years of my life.’
‘So she’s a childhood sweetheart?’
Tom couldn’t help but smile. ‘I suppose she is, yeah.’ He had actually been dying to talk to someone about her but his male friends wouldn’t have understood and his mum, well, his mum definitely wouldn’t have understood. His thoughts drifted back to her now. She would know he was gone by now. Would she have the Garda looking for him or would she do as his note had instructed and wait for him to come back? His mum wasn’t really the waiting type. And even though he hadn’t told her where he was going, he felt that she was probably hot on his trail.
‘They say those are the ones that last,’ Molly said, snapping him back to reality.
‘What?’
‘Childhood romances. They say they have a better chance than most of staying together. I’m inclined to agree. I met my husband when I was fourteen. We married when I was nineteen and had fifty-one wonderful years together.’
‘My mum and dad were together… a long time too.’ A hundred and sixteen years to be exact, but Tom didn’t want to explain that to Molly.
He had trouble remembering his father now. He stared at photographs but never really remembered what sort of a man he was. His mother told him stories of their decades of adventures as vampires, but they were told from her point of view; a woman totally in love with her husband.
The only family he had really known was the distant relations (ancestors actually) of his mother’s that they had been living with for the last ten years in Dublin. As they continued along the coast road he began to get a strange feeling in his chest. He was going back to where his father had died. He didn’t know how he had died. Tom just hoped he hadn’t travelled all this way for history to repeat itself.
Seeing the sadness in his eyes, Molly changed the subject. ‘You play hockey?’
‘Hockey?’
‘I saw you put the long bag up in the overhead storage. It’s a hockey stick, right?’
‘Hurling, actually,’ Tom said. ‘You don’t miss much. I don’t suppose this elusive occupation of yours is Private Investigator?’
Molly laughed and shook her head. ‘Nope.’
Everyone lurched forward in their seats as the bus braked suddenly. Tom checked Molly was OK then looked to the front of the bus. The driver got out and hurried into the beam of the headlights, where Tom lost sight of him.
‘My husband went like that near the end. It’s the prostate.’
‘I don’t think he’s going out there to pee, Molly. I think something’s wrong. Can you…?’ Tom gestured. Molly turned her knees out into the aisle and he squeezed past her and made his way to the front of the bus. The driver was kneeling on the road about twenty yards ahead. Tom walked down the steps and outside.
‘Hey. You all right?’ The driver didn’t turn. All Tom could see was his more than ample backside and the soles of his shoes. Tom started to walk towards him. He noticed the driver was twitching. Then he began to rise, but he wasn’t standing up of his own accord, he was being lifted. Someone, crouched in front of him, was standing up. The driver was now illuminated in the bus’s headlights and Tom saw his throat had been ripped out. His limp body flew through the air and over the edge of the cliff. Tom imagined him plummeting towards the dark water beneath.
Where the driver had knelt a skinny, pale faced woman now stood. She was short; barely five feet tall. Her brown hair was in pigtails. Her eyes were completely white apart from a small circle of black in the centre. She was clothed in a patchwork coat made of children’s clothes; brightly coloured bunnies, teddy bears, rainbows and the like were at odds with the thick black stitching holding it all together. Tom knew at once that she had taken a piece of clothing from every child she had killed and made her jacket from the scraps.
‘Me knows who you are,’ she said as she started circling him. ‘You’re the little boy that everyone’s scared of. But you’re just a baby. Tommy baby want to play with Jacqui? Jacqui wants to play with you.’
The vampire flew at him as fast as she could. Tom met her face with his fist and stopped her momentum immediately. The vampire picked herself off the ground quickly, pushing her jaw back into place. Tom braced himself for attack. The vampire clicked her jaw and smiled. ‘Me told him I could take you myself… but he insisted I bring others.’ Tom spun round as three male vampires dropped to the ground behind him.
Jacqui took a baby rattle from her pocket and shook it by her ear. ‘Master said we couldn’t have any fun with you.’ She put the rattle away again. ‘Just kill you,’ she almost sang the words. ‘Kill the baby.’ She turned her back.
The three male vampires flew at him at once. Tom grabbed the closest and turned him into the attack of the next one. He pushed the two of them away as the third reached him. The vampire opened its mouth and lurched at Tom’s neck. Tom grabbed him by the top of the head and under the chin and twisted his head until he heard it crack. The vampire dropped to the ground and tried to twist his head back into place. The other two were on him in an instant. Tom threw punches and drove his elbow into any opening he could see. Thirty seconds of frantic fighting ended with Tom tossing the two vampires to either side of him.
Tom was breathing heavily. This was the first time he had ever fought vampires. His mother had trained him well and told him what to expect, but now that he was here he realised the practical reality of fighting them was a lot harder than he imagined.
Jacqui turned back to them, gently singing a lullaby to herself. She looked at the three vampires, one at a time, and then skipped towards Tom. ‘Baby Tom is strong… but is he wise?’ Jacqui and one of the vampires attacked Tom again while the other two ran off towards the bus. Tom tried to see what they were doing but was too busy landing and blockin
g lightning-fast punches.
The two male vampires grabbed the bus; one by the front bumper and one by the back, and lifted it off the ground. They started to walk it back towards the cliff edge. The passengers started screaming. Tom threw the male vampire against the rockface as hard as he could and put Jacqui in a headlock and squeezed. He looked around for the other two and saw them carrying the bus towards the cliff edge.
‘No,’ he screamed. The male vampire was just getting his senses back at the rockface when Tom threw Jacqui at him. He didn’t wait to see if he had managed to hurt her but ran for the bus.
Inside, on the steps of the bus, he saw Molly standing, looking out the open door.
‘No,’ he shouted. ‘Stay inside, Molly!’
Molly jumped from the bus and fell awkwardly. Tom noticed she was clutching his hurley bag in her arms. The vampire at the back of the bus dropped his end and ran at Molly. The old woman shakily got to her feet and unzipped Tom’s bag. The vampire was almost upon her. She drew the sword from Tom’s bag and lopped his head off when he was close enough. The vampire grabbed for its missing head for a few seconds before dropping to the ground. Molly spat on the decapitated body and said, ‘Take that you godless motherfucker.’
The vampire holding the front of the bus gave it a push and dropped his end. The back of the bus started to slide over the cliff edge. Tom bolted towards it and slid like a baseball player towards home base under the bus. He grabbed it by the axle. He held on and scrambled frantically, trying to get his trainers to grip on the damp grass verge. Molly walked around to the front of the bus and held out the sword towards the three remaining vampires, who were approaching slowly.
‘Grandma was supposed to be eaten by the big bad wolf,’ Jacqui said shaking her head. ‘Me doesn’t like this story.’ The vampires advanced on Molly.
A motorcycle roared around the corner and skidded to a stop. The vampires and Molly all looked towards the motorcyclist. It was obvious she was female even before she took her helmet off. Sarah set the helmet down on the bike’s seat and strode towards the vampires.
Jacqui closed her eyes and exhaled. ‘No one else is allowed to play,’ she said through gritted teeth.
One of the male vampires charged at Sarah. She pulled a stake from the waistband of her trousers at the last second and drove it into his chest. The vampire’s body shrivelled and collapsed. Sarah continued towards the other two. The bus gave a sudden lurch forward and its front wheels once again safely gripped the road. Tom scuttled out from under it, and ran towards Molly. The vampires turned and saw Sarah was dangerously close now. Tom’s blade silently sliced the night air and the last male vampire found himself without a head.
Jacqui walked backwards away from Tom and Sarah. She was smiling. ‘Master was right. This little boy is strong.’ She took a stuffed animal from her pocket and held it up to her ear. She nodded at the toy’s advice then put it back in her pocket. ‘Me has to go tell him what you did. You is going to be in big trouble. Both of you.’ She giggled and rose into the night sky. Tom and Sarah watched after her as she disappeared into the night, her laughter still echoing off the rockface.
Tom turned to Sarah. She smiled at him. She was beautiful. She stepped towards him and threw her arms around his neck. Tom dropped his sword and wrapped his arms around her waist. They clung onto each other tightly, each feeling the other’s gunning heartbeat. They released their embrace slightly and looked into each other’s eyes. Tom wanted to kiss her right there and then, but thought it might be too soon, even though he was sure she would kiss him back. Finally they released each other. Tom looked at her from head to toe; the woman he had known as a girl. More beautiful than his dreams could imagine.
‘A’hem!’
Tom turned and saw Molly standing by the bus. Inside, the passenger’s faces were all stuck to the windows like novelty toys. Tom and Sarah laughed at their own self-absorption. Tom walked over to Molly.
‘You weren’t a Ministry agent back in the day, were you, Molly?’
‘About time you guessed it. I gave you enough clues.’
‘So they never let you retire?’
Molly took out a hip flask and took a swig. ‘When you get too old for the fist and swords work, they ask you to use your eyes and ears. Just keep a lookout in your area for signs of vampire activity. Sometimes they give us low-risk assignments.’
Tom winced. ‘And who thought my coming back to the North Coast was a low-risk assignment?’
‘Tom, this assignment was not sanctioned.’ She took a deep breath and hung her head for a moment. ‘The official Ministry line on prophecies is to ignore them until they bite you on the arse… or neck, as the case may be. But there are some of us who believe you are the one spoken about in The Book of Days to Come. You and young Sarah, here. We believe. And we know what’s at stake. What you do in the next few days will affect the whole world. You must destroy them for the time is near when they will come out of hiding and become the dominant species on Earth.’
After a moment to let the gravity of the situation sink in Tom said, ‘We won’t let you down, Molly,’ with more confidence than he felt.
‘I know you won’t,’ she said with a dentured smile.
‘Think you can drive this bus?’
‘No problem. I once drove an Alvis FV107 Scimitar tank into a nest of vampires. I think I can handle this buggy. You’re not coming?’
He turned to Sarah. ‘I think I’ll catch a ride, if that’s OK?’
Sarah nodded. Molly smiled. Tom retrieved his backpack from the bus and re-sheathed his sword in its bag. They watched the bus trundle off towards Portrush, then turned to each other. Tom couldn’t help it; he just couldn’t stop looking at her.
‘That’s a pretty cool sword you’ve got,’ she said, eventually.
‘It’s my mum’s. She’ll probably blow a gasket when she realises I’ve taken it. You’re just using stakes? You should get yourself a sword.’
‘They’re not actually that easy to come by. I mean, I’ve tried Argos but…’ They both laughed. Tom stepped forward and took her hands in his.
‘Sarah, I’ve…’
‘Isn’t this a picture?’ Sarah and Tom turned and saw Hal walking towards them. ‘That’s my girlfriend you’ve got your fuckin’ paws on, Ford.’
Tom let go of her hands and stepped back. He looked closer at the approaching figure. ‘Hal?’
‘Ex-girlfriend, Hal,’ Sarah shouted. ‘I thought I made that clear to you earlier on today.’
‘You’ll be mine again. I love you and we’re meant to be together.’
‘Oh, give it a fuckin’ rest. Are you following me around now? You think the stalker approach is going to endear you to me?’
‘Just wanted to see the boy-wonder.’ Hal was just a few feet away now and stopped. ‘I never liked you, Ford. You were always a weirdo.’
Sarah took Tom’s arm and pulled him gently towards the motorcycle. ‘Come on, Tom. Let’s go.’
‘You think you can take me, weirdo? You wanna try right now?’
‘Grow up, Hal!’ Sarah tugged again on Tom’s arm and this time he let himself be led. Tom put on his backpack and put the hurley bag through his arm and over his head.
‘Running away again, Ford?’ Sarah put her helmet on and got on the bike. It started on the first kick. Tom climbed on behind her and put his arms around her waist. Hal ran over to the motorcycle and stood in its path. He stared into Sarah’s eyes then took a few steps back. ‘I’ll see you again,’ he said, nodding. Hal floated several feet into the air. Sarah jumped back in her seat. Tom grabbed for his hurley bag. Hal pointed down at them. ‘I’ll see you both again, real soon.’ With that he flew off into the night.
sleepers
Sarah spread out the spare duvet on the sofa and threw all the cushions to one end. They had picked up some Chinese food on the way home and she was giving it a quick blast in the microwave while Tom gave himself a wash. He stepped into the living room wearing just a T
-shirt and jeans. He rubbed at his damp hair with a towel. He sat down on the sofa and stretched his feet out towards the roaring fire.
‘Your house is just the same as I remember it.’
‘Really?’
‘Yeah. You have a few less Barbies now, but apart from that…’
Sarah laughed. ‘Hey, remember the time my mum told you off because your Action Man had stripped my Barbie naked to give her a physical.’
Tom nodded, smiling. ‘I tried to explain to her that it was standard military procedure but she wasn’t having any of it.’
‘You were lucky you weren’t here for the teenage years.’
‘I don’t know if lucky’s the word I’d use.’ Tom met her eyes and that urge to kiss her swelled within him again. She didn’t look away. ‘So,’ Tom said, changing the subject, ‘isn’t your mum going to freak out if she comes home in the middle of the night and sees some stranger lying on her sofa?’
‘No. It’ll be dark. Just snore loudly and fart occasionally – she’ll think it’s Hal.’
That took the fun out of everything. The elephant in the room had been mentioned. ‘I guess you guys were pretty close.’
Sarah shrugged. ‘We went out a few times. Had some laughs.’ She stood up and turned towards the window. Tom could hear her voice cracking when she said, ‘And now he’s a vampire and I might have to kill him someday.’
‘Sarah…’
Beep-Beep-Beep
Sarah turned and brushed the tears from her cheeks. ‘I’ll get the food.’
Half-an-hour later they were sitting on the sofa by the light of the fire, their bellies filled with curry, fried rice and prawn crackers. Sarah was obviously tired. Her phone whistled for her attention. She read the message and put the phone down.
‘Mum’s spending the night at Aunt Chloe’s.’ Tom said nothing. She snuggled up close to him and rested her head on his shoulder. ‘Where did you go when you left here?’