The Book of Death

by AnonYMous

  The Kid spoke first. ‘Where’s Beth? What the fuck has happened here?’ He looked Sanchez up and down, then added. ‘And why the fuck are you wearing a gay cop outfit?’

  Sanchez was somewhat baffled by the questions. Clearly the Kid must know more about what had happened in this apartment than him? After all, he must have done the killing, right?

  ‘Why are you asking me?’ he asked. ‘I mean, I’m guessing you killed all of those people out there? And Jessica too? What have you done with her?’

  The Kid looked confused. ‘What?’

  ‘Jessica. Where is she? She came up here before me, but when I got here she was gone and there were all those dead people on the floor. What have you done with her? And why do you keep trying to kill her?’

  The Kid lowered his gun. ‘Jessica was here?’ he said.

  ‘Well, yeah. Didn’t you see her?’

  ‘I killed her during the eclipse last year. She’s dead.’

  ‘No,’ Sanchez protested. ‘I nursed her back to health after you shot her. She’s okay now. Or, at least, she was. Can’t find her now though. She must be here somewhere.’

  The Kid raised his gun again, pointing it at the end of Sanchez’s nose. ‘Where the fuck is Beth?’

  ‘Mental Beth?’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Beth Lansbury.’

  ‘Yeah, Beth Lansbury. Where is she?’

  Sanchez shrugged. ‘I dunno. She wasn’t here when I got here.’

  The Kid lowered the gun again and walked back out of the bathroom. He headed for the bedroom at the end of the hall.

  ‘There’s nothing in there,’ Sanchez called out. ‘I just checked.’

  He heard the Kid open the bedroom door to take a look for himself. Sanchez lowered his arms and walked to the door. He peered around it to see what the Kid was doing. A second later the Kid reappeared from inside the bedroom and came storming back down the corridor towards him. Sanchez retreated back into the bathroom. The Kid rushed past the door and back into the living room area. Fortunately it looked as if killing Sanchez wasn’t high on his list of priorities. And it also seemed as though the Kid had no idea about what had happened to Jessica. Sanchez could only guess that she had seen the Kid and escaped through the open window.

  Watching his step, he crept back into the living room, making sure he made no sudden movements. The Bourbon Kid was at the window, peering out into the snow-covered streets below. He turned around and looked at Sanchez.

  ‘Did you open this window?’ he asked.

  ‘No,’ Sanchez replied, raising his hands in surrender again. ‘It was already open when I got up here. Anything out there?’

  ‘Just some footprints in the snow.’

  ‘I guess Jessica got away from you again.’

  The Kid shook his head. ‘And she’s got Beth with her.’

  ‘They both escaped, huh?’

  The Kid pointed at the bodies strewn across the floor. ‘Who d’ya think killed all these fuckers?’ he asked.

  Sanchez wondered if it was a trick question. ‘I’m guessing you did?’ he ventured.

  ‘How fuckin’ dumb are you? Jessica will have killed them all.’

  ‘That’s ridiculous.’

  ‘No it ain’t.’

  ‘Okay.’

  The Kid peered out of the window again at the streets below and reached into a pocket on his jeans. He pulled out a cell phone and dialled a number. This was just the opportunity Sanchez needed. There was still a second dead cop on the floor, one who might have a gun somewhere about his person. With the Kid distracted and staring out of the window, Sanchez crept over to the body and reached down to see if he could pick the guy’s gun out of his holster without drawing attention to himself. An almighty loud clap of thunder from outside startled him. It was followed by a flash of lightning and the sound of hailstones landing on the metal stairs outside the window. The Kid remained unfazed by it as he stared out of the window with his phone pressed against his ear.

  Sanchez reached down to the pistol in the cop’s holster. It came out smoothly. This was his chance. He could feel his heart beating fast and his hands trembling. Was he really about to do this? To shoot the Bourbon Kid in the back? And save Jessica from his wrath once and for all? He took a deep breath and raised the gun, pointing it at the back of the Kid’s neck. Before he had a chance to squeeze the trigger he heard a beeping noise behind him. Someone’s cell phone had gone off.

  The Kid spun around to see where the beeping sound had come from. He ignored Sanchez and walked briskly past him. On the floor by the sofa was a cell phone. The Kid picked it up. He still didn’t seem to have realised Sanchez had a gun. The tubby bartender-cum-replacement cop once again pointed it at the back of his neck and readied himself to fire. The Kid was reading a text message on the phone. Whatever it said, it riled him up. He threw the phone across the room and it smashed against a wall. Without looking at Sanchez he spoke.

  ‘Put the gun down, you fat bastard.’

  Sanchez lowered the gun, but didn’t drop it. ‘Whose phone is that?’ he asked the Kid.

  ‘Beth’s. She’s gone. She’s fucking gone.’ He turned to face Sanchez, his face revealing a look of desperation. ‘Next time you decide to nurse someone back to health, try checking to see if they’re a vampire first, you dumb fuck.’

  ‘Huh?’

  ‘Give me the gun.’

  Sanchez held out the gun and the Kid snatched it from him and checked to see if it was loaded. Something Sanchez hadn’t done. After checking the barrel and noting that it was indeed loaded he looked back up at Sanchez. ‘Where does Jessica live?’ he asked.

  Sanchez shrugged. ‘Don’t know.’

  The Kid pointed the pistol at his head.

  ‘She lives in Cinnamon Street.’

  ‘Last chance.’

  ‘Casa de Ville. She said she was staying at the Casa de Ville.’

  The Kid lowered the gun and shoved Sanchez hard in the chest, knocking him back against the wall. He headed for the window and began to climb through it.

  ‘Where are you going?’ Sanchez called after him.

  ‘Where d’ya think?’

  The Kid vanished through the window and out into the snowy streets below. Sanchez breathed a sigh of relief as he looked around at the dead bodies in the apartment. There was no way Jessica could have killed these people. Nor could she possibly be a vampire as the Kid had intimated. It had already been reported that a man had killed Silvinho, so the only logical explanation was that he had killed the others too. And now he was going to kill Jessica.

  Sanchez would have to warn her. And get The Book of Death back to her.

  Twenty-One

  When the flashing blue lights on the ambulance outside Remington Tower came into view up ahead, Dante steered the stolen police car off the main road and down a back alley. He parked up next to some industrial sized wheelie bins and turned off the engine.

  ‘Why are we parking here?’ Kacy asked.

  ‘Discretion.’

  Kacy gasped loudly and grabbed his hand. ‘Oh my God. You’re like Skynet!’

  ‘What?’

  ‘You’ve become self aware.’

  ‘What are you talking about?’

  ‘You’ve learned to be discreet. You couldn’t possibly believe how proud of you I am right now.’

  ‘You’re taking the piss aren’t you?’

  ‘A little bit.’

  He pulled his hand away from hers and climbed out of the car. By the time Kacy had jumped out of the car too, he was at the end of the alley staring around the corner into the street. Kacy caught up with him and peered over his shoulder.

  There was a crowd of people loitering around by the ambulance outside Remington Tower, although there was no sign of any actual ambulance crew.

  ‘What d’ya think?’ Kacy asked. ‘Is it worth a look?’

  Dante didn’t answer. He was staring across the street at something. Kacy looked at where he was staring but could see
nothing unusual.

  ‘What is it?’ she asked.

  Dante stepped out of the shadows provided by the alleyway and pointed at a car across the street. ‘That’s the Bourbon Kid’s car,’ he said. ‘He’s here somewhere.’

  ‘That would explain the ambulance then,’ said Kacy. ‘He’s probably killed someone.’

  ‘I hope so. If he’s back to his old self and killing innocent people again then he might be a really useful ally to have. Let’s go check out his car. I’ll see if I can break in to it.’

  Kacy was unsure of the benefits of breaking into the car, but she knew Dante just loved doing it. He headed over to the black car and grabbed the door handle on the driver’s side. Kacy followed on behind, checking to see if anyone had noticed them, knowing full well that Dante would have the door open in a matter of seconds. Sure enough he did. He climbed in and reached over to the passenger door, unlocking it. Kacy opened it and climbed in to find he was already in the process of hot-wiring the car.

  ‘Why are you starting the car?’ she asked.

  ‘If we can hide his car from him he can’t jump in and drive off without us.’

  ‘Would he do that?’

  ‘Let’s just say his track record ain’t good.’

  ‘What if he comes back and catches you?’

  ‘He’ll be okay about it. I think.’

  Kacy pulled the car door shut. The snow outside was still falling hard. Had she not been a vampire she suspected she would be feeling the cold. ‘Hurry up will you?’ she urged. ‘I don’t wanna get caught.’

  A second later the car’s engine burst into life. ‘Listen to that,’ said Dante. ‘This is a fuckin’ beautiful car.’

  A figure appeared at Dante’s window. The driver side door swung open.

  Kacy screamed. ‘LOOK OUT!’

  Dante turned to see who had opened the door. Before he could speak, a large hand grabbed him by the hair and dragged him out of the car. Kacy opened her door again and jumped back out into the street. She raced around the car and found Dante on his backside on the sidewalk, at the feet of the man who had dragged him out of the car.

  Dante looked up at her. ‘Kace, this is the Bourbon Kid.’

  The Kid ignored Kacy and instead grabbed Dante’s hand. ‘What the fuck are you doin’ tryin’ to steal my ride?’ he asked, hauling him up from the sidewalk.

  ‘We been kinda looking for you, man,’ said Dante dusting himself off.

  ‘Why? What do you want?’ The Kid took a step back and took a long hard look at both Dante and Kacy. ‘And when in the fuck did you become a vampire?’ he asked.

  ‘Last night,’ Dante replied. ‘Right after you ditched me and drove off.’

  ‘What happened?’

  ‘I got bit by a fuckin’ vampire. You were supposed to come with me to rescue Kacy from the fuckin’ Secret Service guys, remember?’

  The Kid shrugged. ‘Sorry, man. I had other places to be.’

  ‘Yeah, well we’re both stuck as fucking vampires now. Unless we can get the Eye of the Moon back from this Rameses Gaius guy.’

  ‘Rameses Gaius?’

  ‘Yeah, some kinda mummy. He’s running the show around here now. He’s planning to take over the city, then the world. He’s amassing a huge undead army.’

  ‘How do you know all this?’

  ‘We were summoned to the Casa de Ville this morning. That’s where he’s staging all this from.’

  ‘The Casa de Ville?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘Fuck. And there’s a whole army of vampires there?’

  ‘Yeah. And they’re getting the werewolves in on it too.’

  The Kid looked rattled. ‘Didn’t I kill all the fucking vampires yesterday?’

  ‘Evidently not. You got most of the Shades, Pigs and Dreads, but there’s fucking loads of these Pandas and Black Plague dudes around.’

  ‘I fucking hate Pandas.’

  Kacy butted in, hopeful of an answer to Dante’s earlier question. ‘So can you help us get the Eye of the Moon back from Gaius?’

  The Kid frowned. ‘How the fuck did a Mummy get his hands on the Eye of the Moon?’

  ‘They got it from Peto,’ said Dante.

  ‘The monk?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘And where’s he now?’

  ‘They cut his head off.’

  ‘Good,’ said the Kid. ‘That monk was a cunt anyway.’

  Kacy asked again. ‘Can you help us or not?’

  ‘I got problems of my own. My girlfriend is either dead or about to be dead. If she is alive, she’s at the Casa de Ville,’ he started moving towards his car then added, ‘and from what you’ve just told me, the place is gonna be a fucking fortress.’

  Dante stepped aside to allow the Kid to get to his vehicle. ‘It’s a bitch when someone’s holding your girlfriend hostage, ain’t it?’ he remarked.

  ‘Guess it is.’ The Kid climbed into the driver’s side of his car and reached out to the pull the door shut. Dante grabbed a hold of it.

  ‘Hold on a minute,’ he said. ‘You want a hand rescuing your girlfriend?’

  ‘No.’

  Kacy stepped forward and leaned into the car. ‘If we help you, can you help us get the Eye of the Moon back from this mummy?’

  The Kid looked up at them both and was obviously pondering their offer. After a few seconds he spoke up. ‘You ain’t getting that Eye back. Ain’t no way that Gaius character is gonna let you anywhere near it.’

  ‘Then we’ll have to kill him, won’t we?’ said Dante.

  ‘Good luck with that,’ said the Kid, tugging at the car door to pull it shut. Dante kept a firm grip on it much to his obvious annoyance. ‘Let go the fucking door, man!’

  ‘Pull it shut,’ Dante challenged him.

  The Kid pulled hard at the door. It didn’t budge. Dante was stronger than him and continued to hold it open with ease.

  ‘See,’ said Dante. ‘You need us as much as we need you. You ain’t the hardass you once were. Remember using the Eye of the Moon to make yourself into a regular guy last night?’

  ‘Let go of the door.’

  ‘I’m stronger than you now. And I’m guessing so is Kacy. You want to get your girlfriend back, you’re gonna need our help. And in order to kill Rameses Gaius, we’re gonna need yours.’

  The Kid looked somewhat irritated at the suggestion that he was no longer the hardass he once was. Once he came to terms with the fact Dante wasn’t going to let him shut the door he stopped pulling at it. ‘Get in,’ he said.

  Kacy didn’t need a second invitation. She raced back around to the passenger side of the car. ‘Shotgun on the front seat,’ she called out.

  The Kid nodded at Dante. ‘Your chick’s pretty sharp, huh?’

  Kacy stood patiently waiting by the passenger door, snow settling on her hair as she held the door open for Dante to climb into the back seat. He climbed in and she slipped into the front seat closing the door behind her.

  The Kid pulled the car away from the sidewalk and out into the icy street, then sped off down the middle of the road. The heavy sleet, snow and some traces of hailstones crashed against the windscreen, making visibility of the road ahead virtually impossible. Kacy made a snap decision to put on her seatbelt.

  After they had driven for a couple of minutes, she made a polite observation. ‘Isn’t the Casa de Ville back the other way?

  ‘Yeah. We gotta stop off at a bar first.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘I need a drink.’

  Twenty-Two

  Police work was proving to be quite tiresome. Sanchez had spent a further hour in Beth Lansbury’s apartment explaining to another officer exactly what he believed had happened there. A camera crew from the local news station had also turned up to report on the murders. He gave them a quick interview explaining how the Bourbon Kid had murdered everyone but fled when he had burst in and scared him off. Everyone seemed quite impressed and Sanchez was looking forward to seeing himself hailed as
a hero on the evening news. It was about time he received some recognition for his public services.

  It was early evening when he arrived back at the police station to find Flake still alone in the reception area. She was sitting behind the reception desk reading a book. She didn’t notice him arrive and it wasn’t until he was only a few yards from the reception desk that she looked up.

  ‘Hey Sanchez, how did it go?’ she asked.

  He took his Stetson hat off and wiped some sweat from his brow. Even though it wasn’t very bright in the station he kept his sunglasses on because, well, they made him look cool. He fanned himself with the hat a few times and rolled his tongue around in his mouth to build up some tension before relaying the tales of his adventures to Flake. Eventually when he was convinced she was desperate to hear what he had to say he began to tell her about his action packed afternoon. ‘Well, I lost Jessica, bumped into the Bourbon Kid and saw a whole load of dead bodies. You know, the usual shit.’

  Flake looked impressed. ‘Are you being serious? Who’s dead? And what happened with the Bourbon Kid?’

  Sanchez perched his ample butt cheeks on the edge of her desk. ‘The ambulance crew and a couple more cops were dead as well as the guy with the pink hair.’

  ‘Oh God. Really?’

  ‘Yeah. I had to put in a call for some more ambulance people. Then I had to give an interview to the press, y’know, ’cause they think I’m a hero an’ all that.’

  ‘Wow. Are you gonna be on the news tonight?’

  Sanchez shrugged. ‘Maybe.’

  ‘Cool. I hope you’ve remembered all the details. And don’t forget you’ll have to file a report for the Captain.’

  ‘You think?’

  ‘That’s protocol isn’t it?’

  ‘Well, a guy from forensics turned up eventually and I left him to clear up the mess. He’ll probably do the report. I’ll do one if Captain Harker asks me to, but it’s an open and shut case. The Bourbon Kid killed everyone there and fucked off out the window when I arrived. I scared him off I think.’