The Book of Death

by AnonYMous

  ‘Looks like no one’s here,’ said Sanchez. ‘Maybe we should go home?’

  Flake grabbed his arm and pulled him into the huge hall with her. She pulled the door shut behind them, making it even darker than before. Sanchez groped around on the wall inside the doors to see if he could find any lights. His hand quickly settled on some switches and he flicked them all at once. The room lit up brightly. Several sets of chandeliers hanging from the ceiling breathed light into the room. And it immediately became evident that they weren’t alone. Coming down a wide flight of stairs at the other end of the hall was Jessica and a big soldier guy that Sanchez recognised as Razor, one of four military guys who had dropped by the Tapioca on Halloween. Razor had a firm grasp on a rather distraught looking lady in a blue dress. Sanchez recognised her too. It was Mental Beth.

  Flake grabbed Sanchez by the arm again and pulled him away from the light switches then she shoved him forward towards the centre of the hall. She really was treating him like a prisoner. “How degrading,” he thought. He was about to tell her to ease up on the shoving when Jessica called out to them from the far end of the hall.

  ‘Is that The Book of Death you’ve got there?’

  Flake nodded. ‘Yeah. This guy brought it with him.’

  Jessica reached the bottom of the stairs and stepped onto the marble floor. She hissed at Sanchez. ‘So, you found my book. How good of you, Sanchez.’

  He shrugged. ‘Well, it was nothing really. Perhaps you could just give me the reward and I’ll be on my way?’

  ‘Why the rush?’ Jessica asked, a mischievous grin breaking out on her face. ‘Why don’t you stay a while? We’re having a party. Your friend the Bourbon Kid is here too. He’s about to show himself to us any second now.’

  It suddenly became glaringly obvious to Sanchez that Jessica was an evil vampire bitch. He couldn’t fathom how he’d never spotted it before. Maybe he’d been blinded by his infatuation with her. Either way, he didn’t feel like hanging out with her any more. ‘It’s okay. I’ve got places to be,’ he said, attempting to turn back towards the door. Flake shoved him hard in the back again pushing him even further into the hall.

  Jessica walked through the middle of the hall towards them, looking all around her, no doubt waiting for the reappearance of the Kid. Behind her, Razor and his hostage Beth followed on tentatively.

  Flake shoved Sanchez once more, a little harder than was necessary. Then she called out to Jessica again. ‘He wasn’t planning on giving you the book at all,’ she said. ‘He found out you’re a vampire and had a change of heart. When I found him he was cowering in a bathroom and trying to hide the book.’

  ‘That sounds like typical Sanchez all right,’ said Jessica scornfully. ‘We’ll deal with him later. For now I think it’s maybe time to call out our mystery guest.’ She stared all around the hall, looking once more for sign of the Kid, then she called out loud. ‘Very well then, Razor, kill the girl.’

  “What a bitch,” Sanchez thought inconsequentially.

  ‘WAIT!’ It was the Bourbon Kid. Sanchez recognised the gravelly tone immediately. He spotted the mass murderer step out from the shadows behind the large staircase.

  For the next twenty seconds or so, the Kid exchanged insults with Jessica and Razor and tried to persuade them to give up Beth. Sanchez prodded Flake in the arm and nodded at The Book With No Name which she had tucked under her arm.

  ‘You gonna do it now?’ he whispered.

  Flake grimaced. ‘Not sure. I’m waiting for some kind of signal.’

  ‘Like what?’

  ‘I don’t know. The Kid said I’d know when the time came.’

  Sanchez’s eyes opened wide as he saw some action up ahead. ‘SHIIIIT!’ he yelled instinctively. ‘He just shot that guy in the dick!’

  The Bourbon Kid had fired a silver dart from a miniature crossbow and it had hit Razor right in the privates, doubling him over and taking him out of the equation completely.

  In the confusion, Beth made a break for it. It was a futile attempt because Jessica grabbed hold of her before she’d taken barely two steps. The Vampire Queen wrapped one of her long bony hands around Beth’s neck. Her fingernails had lengthened into rather unpleasant looking claws, razor sharp ones.

  ‘Do you think that was the signal?’ Flake whispered.

  ‘It could be. You’re gonna have to do something pretty quick, or she’s gonna kill Mental Beth.’

  Up ahead, Jessica and the Kid continued to trade insults. Jessica seemed to be calling all the shots though because the Kid dropped a crossbow from the sleeve of his coat. It clattered onto the floor. Maybe he was surrendering?

  ‘Got any other weapons?’ Jessica asked. ‘Because now’s the time to drop them.’

  The Kid opened his coat. Underneath it he wore a simple black T-shirt and black combat trousers. ‘I have nothing else. Now let her go.’

  ‘Take off your coat and get on your knees,’ Jessica ordered.

  ‘You’ll let Beth go?’

  ‘Get on your knees.’

  The Kid took off his coat and tossed it onto the floor. But instead of dropping to his knees he made a swift movement with his right arm. He reached behind him and whipped out a gun that had been strapped across his back. He pointed it at Jessica’s head, its red laser sighter aimed at the centre of her face. Jessica was lightning quick though. As the Kid was about to squeeze the trigger she yanked Beth’s head into the line of fire. For several seconds the Kid continued to re-aim the gun at Jessica. Each time he did she moved a part of Beth into the line of the red sighter.

  In the middle of all this the guy on the floor with the silver dart in his nut sack let out a gentle groan. It distracted the Kid who took his eye off Jessica for a second and took aim at the stricken soldier on the floor.

  BANG!

  The guy’s head exploded as a bullet flew through his forehead. Blood and brains splattered out onto the marble floor behind him. It created an almighty mess. “That’ll stain if it doesn’t get cleaned up soon,” Sanchez thought, remembering a similar incident that had taken place in the Tapioca once.

  The Kid turned his attentions back to Jessica and tried once more to line up a clean shot at her. He had no success. Jessica was just too damned quick. But all the while he had Jessica distracted it allowed Flake to edge ever closer to her, brandishing The Book With No Name. As Flake tiptoed almost to within touching distance, the Kid lowered his gun and addressed Jessica once more.

  ‘You’ve got no intention of letting her go, have you?’ he said.

  Jessica smiled. ‘I want you to watch this,’ she said. ‘I’m going to make your darling Beth into a vampire. She’s going to be my new bitch. And you can be her first victim, unless you choose to kill her of course. You know, like you did with your mother?’

  ‘And like I did with Archie Somers. Shoulda heard him scream. What a bitch.’

  Jessica tightened her grip on Beth’s neck. The claws on the end of her fingers were on the verge of drawing blood. ‘I’m going to enjoy this,’ she hissed.

  The Kid seemed unfazed. ‘I knew it would come to this. Quit stalling and do it now. What are you waiting for?’

  Flake stopped creeping towards Jessica and literally charged at her.

  Sanchez watched on in horror as Jessica, the woman he had been infatuated with for the best part of six years, opened her mouth wide, revealing a set of huge vampire fangs, thirsty for blood. She plunged them deep into Beth’s neck, right at the moment Flake ploughed The Book With No Name into her back.

  Jessica and Beth both screamed out in pain at the same time. It was hard to tell how far Jessica had managed to dig her fangs into Beth’s neck, but as soon as Flake hit her with the book, the Vampire Queen reeled back. Flames erupted all around her back where Flake was pressing the book up against her. These were big fucking flames too. Sanchez could feel the burning heat from them back where he was. In a matter of seconds Jessica had erupted into one giant fireball. Flake too was caught up in it.


  Sanchez felt his blood run cold when he heard Flake join in the screaming. He rushed forward and grabbed her, wrapping his hands around her waist. He tugged hard at her and succeeded in pulling her free from the flames and the book, which had glued itself to Jessica’s back. Pulling Flake free hadn’t been easy and the recoil caused Sanchez to fall back, dragging her onto the floor on top of him.

  The Bourbon Kid dragged Beth clear of the flames, although unlike Sanchez he didn’t lose his footing. He laid Beth down on the marble floor and then once again took aim with his gun. This time he had a clean shot. Jessica had nothing to shield herself with. He fired off a succession of shots. They rang out so quick that Sanchez couldn’t be sure exactly how many times he fired. But every shot seemed to plough right into Jessica’s chest as she writhed around in agony within the ball of flames. The final bullet flew into her face. Her screaming stopped and her body seemed to implode. The flesh all but disappeared from her body in one quick flash of light. The Kid stepped back away from the flames and Sanchez watched in awe as what remained of Jessica slowly crumpled to the floor, her bones crumbling away into ash as she fell.

  And then she was gone. Forever, this time.

  The flames where she had once stood flickered lightly on the floor before extinguishing themselves completely, leaving nothing more than a pile of grey ash. Behind the dissipating smoke Sanchez could see the Bourbon Kid. He was crouching over Beth who was slumped in a heap on the floor at the bottom of the stairs. Blood was dribbling from a large bite-mark in her neck.

  Flake freed herself from Sanchez’s vice like grip and stood up, racing over to the Kid’s side. Sanchez slowly climbed to his feet.

  ‘How’s Beth?’ Flake asked. ‘Was I too late?’

  Sanchez couldn’t get a good look at Beth to see what kind of state she was in. The Kid summed it up for him.

  ‘She’s either about to die, or turn into a vampire,’ he said.

  ‘Oh God,’ said Flake. ‘Is there anything we can do?’

  The Kid leaned down and picked Beth up in his arms. He had one arm under her knees and another beneath her shoulders. Her head hung back limply over his arm. Sanchez could see that she was either unconscious or dead.

  The Kid looked down at Beth, his face showing some genuine concern. ‘We’ve got to get her to the museum,’ he said.

  ‘What’s at the museum?’ Flake asked.

  ‘Not much,’ said Sanchez. ‘I went once. It’s mostly paintings and old statues. Crap really.’

  The Kid ignored Sanchez and headed towards the double doors at the end of the hall, carrying Beth in his arms. ‘The Eye of the Moon is at the museum,’ he said. ‘I’m gonna need your driving skills, Flake. You coming?’

  Flake picked up The Book With No Name from the floor, brushing some of the remains of Jessica from its cover. ‘You bet,’ she said, hurrying after him.

  ‘Me too!’ Sanchez called out, making sure they hadn’t forgotten about him.

  He took one last look at the pile of ash that had once been Jessica. How had it come to this? Jessica was dead and now he was heading off to a museum with the Bourbon Kid.

  Fifty-Four

  It took Kacy less than twenty minutes to race across town to the museum. By the time she arrived she was in a state of panic. Dante still hadn’t replied to her text. She’d even tried calling him as she raced through the deserted streets, but his phone was switched off. In desperation she had also called the Bourbon Kid’s cell phone. He hadn’t answered either, so she had left him message, a rather garbled, stupid and incomprehensible message by all accounts, but she hoped the general gist of it had gotten through. She needed him to get his ass to the museum as soon as possible.

  When she reached the museum she scoped the area outside for any sign of the Kid’s car. It was nowhere to be seen, and there was no trail of bodies leading up to the museum entrance, which was a likely indicator that he hadn’t arrived yet. She was on her own.

  Her legs felt weak with nerves as she raced up the steps to the front entrance. The double doors were open. She peered through them into the reception area and saw that it was empty. At least, it looked empty from the outside, but as she stepped inside she saw a body lying flat on its back at the far side of the reception hall. She recognised it immediately. It was Vanity.

  After first checking both ways for any lurking enemies, she hurried over to him. Someone had worked him over real good. His face was bloodied and bruised, his once handsome looks gone forever. His eyes were closed and very badly swollen. In a strange kind of way Kacy hoped that Dante had inflicted this beating on the leader of the Shades clan. But somehow she doubted it. Her gut instincts were telling her that regardless of what had happened to Vanity, Dante was in trouble. If he was still alive.

  She reached down and prodded Vanity in the chest to see if he was conscious. As her fingertips touched his chest she felt sure she saw him breathe in, ever so slightly.

  ‘Vanity,’ she whispered tentatively. ‘Are you alive?’

  He didn’t respond so she nudged him in the chest again, a little harder this time. His eyes snapped open and his left hand reached up and grabbed hers, grasping it tightly. It startled her momentarily, but once the shock of it had subsided she reminded herself that he was practically dead and in no condition to be a threat to her.

  ‘What happened here?’ she asked. ‘Where’s Dante?’

  Vanity’s mouth opened slightly. His teeth were covered in blood, mostly his own by the looks of it. A great deal more blood was stuck in his chin beard, drying rapidly. He stared up at her, his eyes almost lifeless.

  ‘Kacy?’ he croaked.

  ‘Yes. Where’s Dante?’

  Vanity coughed up a little blood and it dribbled out onto his chin. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘Gaius has him.’

  ‘Where? Where did they go?’

  ‘Downstairs.’ He swallowed a mouthful of blood, before spluttering out a few more barely audible words. ‘They’re burying him in a tomb.’

  Kacy started to stand up, ready to rush downstairs to find Dante, but Vanity (with every last ounce of strength he had) kept a grip on her hand and pulled her back down.

  ‘Wait,’ he croaked. ‘There’s too many of them. You’ll need this.’ He pressed a small solid object into Kacy’s hand. Then he released his grip on her and let both his arms fall to his side.

  ‘What am I supposed to do with this?’ Kacy asked.

  Vanity swallowed hard once more. His time was coming to an end. He took in a short sharp intake of breath and muttered two words. ‘Use it...’

  ‘Use it for what?’

  He took another short breath. As he exhaled he coughed up a few more words. ‘Use it to…’

  ‘To what? Use it to what?’

  ‘Use it to…’ He couldn’t muster up the rest of the sentence. Instead he exhaled one last time and then his head slid to one side. Kacy squeezed his cheeks and turned his head to face her.

  ‘Use it to what?’ she pleaded. ‘What’s it for?’

  Vanity didn’t respond.

  ‘What’s it for?’ she repeated. ‘Vanity! Vanity! Use it for what?’

  It was no use. Vanity was no longer breathing. He was dead. Who or what had killed him she wasn’t entirely sure, but she had neither the time nor the patience to stop and worry about it. Instead she climbed to her feet and hurried over to the stairs that led down to the lower floor and the Egyptian Mummy’s Tomb.

  As she made her way down the stairs, she felt her cell phone vibrate in her pocket. She pulled it out and checked the display.

  NEW TEXT MESSAGE

  She opened the message. It was from the Bourbon Kid. It was only four words long, but it was exactly what Kacy needed to hear.

  I’m on my way.

  She breathed a sigh of relief. The feeling of respite, however, lasted only momentarily. When she reached the bottom of the stairs she saw Rameses Gaius. He was stood with his back to her in the middle of the giant hall. In front of him were
four vampires from the Black Plague clan, dressed from head to toe in black ninja style outfits. On the floor in the middle of them was Dante. It was clear that he was either unconscious or dead. The ninjas had managed to wrap him in bandages from his feet up to his waist. His clothes had been stripped off and thrown to the floor by the tomb entrance. Vanity had been right, they were preparing to bury him alive, all bandaged up like a mummy.

  None of them had seen her arrive and she quickly concealed herself behind a large statue of Napoleon Bonaparte. She had to decide what to do quickly. Was there time to wait for the Bourbon Kid? What could she do on her own? As she was mulling over her options she heard the voice of Rameses Gaius. He hadn’t even looked around, but he’d become aware of her presence.

  ‘Miss Fellangi, how good of you to join us!’ he called out to her.

  She pretended not to hear him and stayed concealed behind the statue. The four ninja vampires looked around. None of them spotted Kacy spying on them from her spot behind the statue.

  Gaius called out again. ‘Please come out from behind Napoleon.’

  The game was clearly up. Kacy stepped out from her hiding place behind the statue. Her only option was to try and stall Gaius long enough for the Bourbon Kid to arrive and hopefully fix things.

  ‘Is Dante alive?’ she asked.

  Gaius turned around slowly and faced her. He took off his dark sunglasses and tucked them into the breast pocket on his silver suit jacket. Kacy got a good look at his right eye. In its socket was the Eye of the Moon. So much for taking it out to have it polished. While she stared at his eye, Gaius raised his right arm. The palm on his hand was glowing a bright blue colour and it was aimed at her. She sensed something bad was coming her way and darted back behind the statue.

  A blue laser bolt from Gaius’s palm blasted into the floor right where she had been standing. After striking the ground, it ricocheted up and disappeared out of sight up the staircase behind her. His face showed signs of irritation. He redirected his aim, pointing his hand at the statue of Napoleon. Another laser bolt flew from his palm and crashed into the head of the statue. The sheer force of the bolt knocked it off its concrete stand. The statue tumbled down onto Kacy. She tried to dive out of the way but Napoleon’s hat butted her on the side of the head, knocking her to the floor.