Tony had also retrieved some ammunition from the shed. He took some duct tape, laid his gun on the table, along with one of Sue’s sharpest long knives. Taping them together, so that the knife did not impede the gun barrel he made a very effective bayonet. However, now it was no longer easy to carry. He would put up with that.
‘Do you want to sort out those homemade flamethrowers you were talking about, Gary?’ he asked.
‘No, it would take too long. I would have to get to the back of my workroom for the stuff, then I have no petrol anyway. I would be roaming the streets, trying to get into every car’s fuel tank with a long pipe. Sucking all that out in the street. No, Tony. It’s definitely happening another day, that bugger. I need to get in my workroom for some more ammo’ for my nail gun too. That’s stuck at the bandroom, useless.’
Sue made them all a hot drink, then got to work on toast with beans and cheese on top. They all ate in Sue's living room. Carl still did not want to eat, but Bob had his appetite back. Now sitting in his own house, with his own stuff, he felt a lot more like himself. They sat planning for a while. They were really running into everything blind.
‘Ok. Enough plotting, we can’t pre-empt him. Back to reality, it is time to go,’ Gary said. This time they all had weapons handy. They knew this would be an awful fight. If the vampires were at the school, they did not know what else would be waiting for them. At least it was daylight, and they were full of energy after their lunch.
The friends reluctantly shuffled out of Sue’s house. Out of the warmth, comfort and the small amount of normality. Back into the cold snow. The problem so much bigger than this small group could handle.
The school was not a long journey. In summertime it could be reached in five minutes, from where they had just been. It had a very long drive. The rescuers stood at the gates, gazing towards the school in the distance. Blinking every so often as the sheer amount of glistening snow hurt their eyes. It would be pretty stupid for them to try and do this in the dark. There were so many places where vampires could hide.
Danny suggested that the vampires could even have burrowed themselves into the deep snow around the edges of playing fields. Under the hedges, it was surely dark with feet of snow, drifting up, caught in the spiky leafless bushes. They wouldn’t get cold or hypothermia. As soon as it was night, they could just spring out of the snow banks, freshly refrigerated.
The friends started to walk up the drive. It was turning out to be not too bad a day at all. The sun shone weakly out at them. They were hoping for a decent outcome. There was a low hedge that ran the length of the path, that the children used. They were following this hedge as a guide. It was natural. A couple of them had taken their children there over the years. Bob happened to look over to the left. Sometimes if the teachers weren’t watching, if a pupil was late, for instance, they would not follow the curve of the path, but run across the playing field. An as the crow flies approach. Bob had done this many times. Where he used to run, there were fresh footprints. Lots of them. Adult ones. They were here.
‘Guys, er……definitely be ready,’ Bob said.
‘What’s wrong?’ Sue said immediately.
‘Look, Mum,’ Bob replied. Pointing to the track across the playing field. Tony walked over to the footprints. He bent over examining them closely.
‘Yeah. These are fresh, very. Maybe a couple of hours old. There are even two sets of high heels in these prints. No guessing who one of those is. No kids ones though. I would say the smallest size is an adult size five or six.’ He trudged back through the snow.
‘Which means they are either not there, or if they are, they haven’t been out of the school since it last snowed,’ Danny said.
Continuing, their steps seemed to get slower and harder the closer they got to the school. It loomed over them. Larger and larger, like their fate. The closer Gary got, the more his hair stood on end. Goosebumps formed. The back of his neck tingled. He knew that they were in there. That there were surprises in store for them. His gut told him, he would play a crucial part in this. This was important.
The school hall had enormous windows and the curtains were shut on each and every window. They only usually used the curtains when school was showing a film. Sue remembered watching Mamma Mia here, years ago. They were proper blackout curtains. The rescuers could imagine why this unusual situation had occurred. The hall curtains were double blackout ones. They were used only for large film nights and the school plays. Each classroom had curtains too. Used for sunny days, to keep the heat out and for an occasional joyous educational program they watched. Every single curtain was shut. What was in every room?
Reaching the double entrance doors, they peered through the glass. It was certainly dark in there. There was not a glimmer of light a few inches past the doors. This was not a good place to be, but would be even worse at night. They had come here to do this. The time was now.
Gary pulled the door towards him, which of course was unlocked. They all started to file in. Liz caught her breath.
‘Listen, what if when we are in there, Michael comes up and chains the doors together, or something. You know he can wander around out here in the day. He could be anywhere,’ she said.
‘That’s true,’ said Gary, ‘what shall we do?’
‘I suggest me and Andy wait out here,’ she replied. ‘I know it is splitting resources, but it could save us. He might have made more like Michael, that could do this for him.’
‘Yes, that is right. It is a good idea for you to stay here. Hopefully we won't be long.’ Gary smiled. He was kidding no one.
Liz felt strong that day. Those antibiotics certainly were doing the trick. She wanted Michael to turn up. Liz had felt like she was not pulling her weight so many times. She would like a good go at Michael. Liz needed to do something for the group.
The remaining clan walked into the entrance hall. The door swung shut behind them. Danny had put his phone on charge in Our Doris's house. He now switched the torch facility on.
They walked past Reception, the Headmaster’s Office, the Staffroom. There was a gloomy light from behind them that graduated to blackness, as they got to the hall doors. These glass fire doors were shut too. They had their own black curtain the other side, which was of course closed. This was a real leap in the dark, unless they ran in and opened the curtains, the vampires would have the better of them. They became scared to move forward. Frozen to the spot. This was probably just full of vampires, in coffins, who would reanimate at their scent, once they got the other side of the door. Sue was hardly breathing. She had her fingers pressed into Bob’s shoulders. Then they heard a child cough inside and knew that there were living humans in there. These poor kids would be more scared than them. Gary whispered to himself, grow a pair Gary. Without thinking, he flung open the doors and they all stepped into the darkness.
Danny’s torch illuminated lots of little faces. They shone back at him, pale and tearstained. They were sitting cross-legged on the floor hugging one another. Lots of little children that were perfectly alive and well, squinting at Danny's light shining in their eyes. They heard a match strike and the light of a candle could now be seen coming from the stage. Sitting beside it on a high teachers chair was Adam, Bob’s friend.
He gave them an enormous grin. It was obvious from his colour that he was no longer human.
‘Hello mate,’ he said, ‘sorry to disappoint you. I aren’t full of the pumping red stuff anymore. But I am strong and confident and powerful. It’s nice to see you all here.’ Bob didn’t reply but his father did.
‘Adam, nice to see you again. We are not here for a chat with you. We are here to take these kids away,’ Tony said flatly.
‘Hmmm….I will only talk to Bob. What about that.’
‘Me?’ Bob said, ‘I am still normal. You know what I will do at one point. You know what I have to do. You’d do it in the same position.’
In the pale light from Danny's phone, they saw Adam scowl. Noise seemed to
come from all around them and door’s opened from several places at the sides of the hall, where different classrooms were situated. One or two vampires came out of each one.
‘Stand up kids, we’re going,’ Danny said. The kids did stand up, running toward the rescuers. They backed towards the double doors behind them, to the entrance hall.
Sue opened the door, so they could quickly make their escape. She heard a creak behind her. Norman Morgan seemed to glide out of the Headmasters Office. His head was tilted downwards and his eyes looked up, he smirked.
‘Back in the room, back,’ she said, ‘he is behind me!’ They rushed forward to make room for him, to get through the door. Now he gave them a full smile. His eyes constantly moved about them, examining them.
‘Fresh blood he said how lovely for me. I have three from Anne’s clutches, for my delectation,’ he laughed. ‘She isn't having you back. Oh no. She trust’s me far too much.’ A thought seemed to strike him. The smile left his face and it became angry. ‘Where are the others?’
‘They are outside!‘ said Gary. ‘We have two more outside, Liz and Andy. Just in case you think you are trapping us.’
‘There is more of you than that!’
‘Yes, not all of us have come back.’
‘What!’ he shouted. ‘I wanted all of you to come here! What use is part of you? You have just brought the vegetable one and her protector. You can still open your mouth and spoil it all for me. Where is the one that keeps thwarting me with her efforts?’
‘Who do you mean?’
‘The garlic smelling one. The small one. Old and Scottish? Is she still in Melden?’
‘Yes, she is still over there.’
‘No! That is the one I wanted to collect the most!’
‘Anne never told us, we all had to come. That’s not our fault!’ Norman looked at Gary whilst he thought. Gary could almost see the cogs whirring.
‘You can have these kids, when you fetch them back over here. All of them. The small one and the very big one that make a pair. The man with the stick too.’
‘We are taking these kids now!’ Sue said. ‘We have others outside. We will sacrifice ourselves. Shout for them to burn this place to the ground, if that is what it takes.’ Norman now examined Sue for a few moments. She could do that if she had a mind too, maybe he hadn’t thought this through as well as he imagined.
‘What about we negotiate. I settle for something that I would like, and in exchange you take the children away for at least a few more hours of their worthless lives. Try and keep them safe from my children. What about that? What about a trade of resources?’
‘What do you want for these kids?’ Danny asked.
‘I'll take him,’ Norman said, pointing to Gary. To say that they were crestfallen was an understatement.
‘I don't think so,’ said Tony, ‘think of something else.’
‘You can have me,’ Carl interrupted. ‘I have a bone to pick with you anyway. You can have me instead of him. I am staying here, let the kids go.’
‘How very gallant of you,’ Norman said amused. ‘I wonder what bone you have to pick with me. Perhaps I have stepped on your toes. Have I upset one of your family? It will be interesting to find out. I advise you though, there have been many with a bone to pick, but I end up picking theirs. In reply to your trade. No, I still want him. He is more of a threat than you. Without your two leaders, you will be running around like headless chickens. With one away in Melden, I have already won. I want the Scottish Sow and her friends.’
‘Stop calling her that,’ Laura said, ‘it's disgusting.’
‘Tell me her name then!’
‘No, I am not telling you her name. You have plenty of people here from band who can do that. I bet you already know. You just prefer to call her a sow.’
‘I will stay if you let every child go,’ Gary said. ‘That is fine. Deal done.’
‘Where are the rest of the kids,’ asked Sally. ‘This can't be the whole school, this is more like a class.’
‘This is your lot, my dear. For some are now my children. Some just got cast aside. I think there are some squirreled away with their mummies and daddies, but I will get to them don't you worry, my dear.’
‘Master, I want you to keep him here too,’ said Adam.
‘No not yet my child, we will get to that. And his family. I have done the deal now. I want all of them, not just one. Only that will satisfy me.’ Adam looked very angry at this and constantly stared at Bob. For one minute, Bob was actually thankful to The Master even though he never thought he would say that.
Liz and Andy stood at the front entrance, shivering and stamping their feet. They were constantly alert. Looking to the left, right, front and back of the school entrance. They did not speak, their eyes large with concentration. A great deal depended on their vigilance.
Out of the absolute silence of the snowy hill, they heard a car door shut. It seemed to come from the right of them and they turned in that direction. From around the corner, strode Michael Thompson. He was smiling. Rubbing his hands together against the cold. He indeed had a chain and padlock over his shoulder. After about six steps he looked up and was shocked to see Liz and Andy. He had parked the car in a way where he could see all the people coming up the drive, but could not see the entrance door.
‘Oh shit!’ he said.
‘I knew it,’ Liz said. ‘I knew you would turn up. That was how you were going to trap us all in there.’
‘No you didn't,’ Michael said, annoyed.
‘Why are we standing here then, if we didn't know that that was what you were going to do? There’s only you that could be walking round doing things like that. I know what kind of bloke you are.’ Michael lifted his head up, he had decided to act brave.
‘You are in a lot of danger. Lets just say that,’ Michael said.
‘It’s two against one,’ Andy said. ‘The thing is if we killed you then you can't make trouble for us anymore.’ All the bravery drained out of Michael, like air out of a balloon. He tried another tactic.
‘I will admit that a lot of things I do, I don't want to do,’ he said. ‘But I am stuck in this bloody situation, aren’t I?’
Liz thought for a moment about how she was infected the same as Michael. She had been supported and shielded from Norman getting to her, by Andy and her friends. Michael with his lonely life had needed to feel wanted. In his position, would she have slipped easily into being used as a pawn? She thought she might. Liz started to feel a little bit sorry for him.
Andy stepped towards Michael. He had a large knife plus the sticks of wood that had broken off the sideboard in the house.
‘I will have to use the knife, mate. The wood won't work for you, will it!’
In the school hall the trade was being made. Carl wanted to stay. Gary did not, but would stay for the release of the children. He thought the chance of the rest of his friends getting them away and safe was good enough for his sacrifice. Norman said he would release Gary when they bought him Wee Renee, Pat and Freddie.
‘Do you really think we are going to kill them?’ Norman said. ‘I have better plans than that. These people excite me. They were clever when they fought. They were the best of this Village. Why would I not want them for my own children? I will waste the useless, but these people are resourceful. Brave. It is not just about them getting out, raising the alarm, so that I am eliminated. It is about me having the strongest army. You come back with those people and I will not kill this man. You will all then become members of my flock. Whatever happens, I will be after you. So you have the chance of getting him back with you or not, that is up to you. As for the other one, I don't know what he is up to. I will not guarantee he will be here when you return. If you want that guarantee, you must persuade him to come with you now. I may have to defend myself and deal with him strictly.’ Carl stood proudly with his chest puffed out. His planted his legs firmly. He wasn’t going anywhere. He was finally going to find out what had happened to h
is wife and stand up for her.
‘So take these children now.’ Norman said. ‘They may have a few more hours of sitting in terror, waiting for one of us to get them.’ The Master said this very matter-of-factly. It was already written and gospel to him.
‘That is fine by me. I will take my chances. I will have them,’ Sue said. ‘Come on children, quickly!’
They started to get up walking towards Sue. She walked to the door and looked into the entrance hall. There were no other vampires.
‘Go outside. Wait for us. We have two friends outside.’ They pushed open the door hastily, walking, silently through the entrance hall, out of the door and into the bright daylight. They immediately began holding each other, crying.
Liz gathered them outside to wait for the other rescuers. Andy was around the corner near the car Michael had been sitting in. He had Michael up against the icy wall, with the knife up against his throat.
Sue waited until the last ones were gone, before herself and the other friends started to walk outside. Danny squeezed Gary's shoulder.
‘We will get you back. Don't you worry.’
‘Whatever happens, I have saved them. I am happy Danny. Forget about me. Think of the bigger picture. I am,’ Gary said solemnly.
The group exited the building, leaving Carl and Gary in the very dark room with the other vampires.
‘We are taking these kids somewhere safe now,’ Sue said. ‘Make sure he doesn't follow us. When you’ve done that, come and meet us,’ Sue pulled Liz to one side and whispered their destination in her ear. Liz nodded, smiling.
They walked away with the group of children. Andy did not release Michael until Liz told him the group was out of sight. They were under no illusion that Michael would not be able to follow their tracks, or that The Master wouldn’t smell them. But it would buy them a bit of time.
Liz and Andy looked at Michael. He stood against the wall with his eyes closed, rocking himself. Michael was a pathetic creature.
Silver Banned: Book 2 of the Saddleworth Vampire Series Page 23