The Book of Death

by AnonYMous

  ‘Hurry up, man, there’s not much time!’ he yelled.

  The Kid was securing the lid onto the front of Gaius’s tomb, imprisoning him once again for all eternity, or until the fire got to him, whichever came first. He looked back at Dante and waved him away.

  ‘I got one more person to kill,’ he yelled back.

  ‘What? Who?’

  ‘Elijah Simmonds. He’s around here somewhere.’

  ‘Are you nuts? He’ll be long gone by now. There’s not enough time for that. You’ll burn in here!’

  The Kid took one last look at the Mummy’s Tomb, checking it was closed. He turned back to Dante and pulled the hood on his coat up over his head.

  ‘There’s always time to kill one more.’

  Fifty-Nine

  It had been a pretty great day all round for Elijah Simmonds. After killing the local Police Captain he’d spent twenty minutes packing all the cash from Cromwell’s safe into a pair of suitcases. As he sat contentedly at Cromwell’s old desk in his new office drinking a large brandy he contemplated his options. He could stay on as manager of the museum, a job he had always coveted, or simply skip town with all the cash. Life was good.

  He’d had two large glasses of brandy already as he waited for James the security guard to call and let him know when Rameses Gaius had finished the job of mummifying Dante and Kacy in the hall downstairs. It was almost midnight when his desk phone rang. He allowed it to ring three times before casually answering it.

  ‘Hello.’

  ‘Hi boss, it’s James.’

  ‘Is it done?’

  ‘No. Things have gone all to shit down there.’

  Simmonds let out a deep sigh. ‘Oh fuck. What’s happened?’

  ‘Gaius and his vampire buddies are toast. The Bourbon Kid just wasted them all. And the place is on fire.’

  Simmonds sat up sharply in his black leather chair. ‘What?’

  ‘They’re dead. I saw it all on the monitors here in front of me. I say we get the fuck out of here, boss. That fire is spreading. And I’ve lost sight of the Bourbon Kid.’

  ‘Shit. Call the fire department. And then get your ass down here!’

  ‘Are you kidding? I’m getting the fuck out of here! See ya later. And good luck.’

  James sounded panicky. Hardly surprising really. He’d already had his nose broken by the Bourbon Kid on their only previous meeting. He probably wanted to be as far away from him as possible.

  ‘James, don’t hang up!’ Simmonds yelled. ‘I’ve got a hundred grand in cash up here for you. Just come down here. Don’t leave without me. We can leave together. We’ll be safer that way. James? Jimmy? You still there? Jim?’

  The line went dead. He hoped James had heard him. Surely a hundred grand was enough of an incentive to come down to the office?

  Simmonds glanced over at the dead body of Captain Dan Harker on the floor to his left by a wall of bookshelves. He’d had the guts to blow Harker’s brains out. The evidence was still all over the wall to prove it. Could he kill again if he had to? He opened the top drawer on his desk and reached into it. The gun he had used to kill Harker was still there. He pulled it out of the drawer and checked the chamber. It still contained four bullets.

  He tucked the gun in the back of his suit trousers and picked up the two suitcases full of cash from the floor by the desk. Both cases were heavy. He placed them down on the desk in front of him. This was quite a dilemma. If he carried both cases he wouldn’t have a free hand to carry the gun. His mind was racing as he tried to figure out the best thing to do. The smart thing would be to leave one suitcase behind and walk out with the gun primed and ready to fire.

  As he was contemplating what to do, he heard a knock at the door. He pulled his gun out and pointed it at the door, his hand trembling.

  ‘James?’ he called out. ‘Is that you?’

  From the other side of the door he heard James’s voice. ‘Yeah. You seriously got a hundred grand in there for me?’

  ‘Yes. Shit yeah. Come on in!’

  Simmonds kept his gun pointed at the door and watched as the handle twisted. The door clicked and opened slowly inwards. Standing in the doorway was James. He looked nervous.

  ‘Here,’ said Simmonds, gesturing to one of the cases he’d plonked onto the desk in front of him. ‘Grab one of these.’

  James looked down at the case on the desk. He looked like he was about to cry. Nerves or a conscience had clearly gotten the better of him. Simmonds put his gun down on the table and grabbed a case. He tossed it over to James. It landed at the security guard’s feet.

  ‘Come on, Jim. We haven’t got much time!’

  James swallowed hard and stared down at the case at his feet. Then he slowly leaned forward. At first it looked like he was leaning down to pick up the case. It soon became evident that he had no intention of picking it up.

  He couldn’t.

  He fell to his knees, landing with a gentle thud on top of the case full of money. Blood trickled from his mouth and he gazed up at Simmonds for a moment. Then his upper body fell forwards and his face crashed into the floor. Sticking out of the middle of his back was a large bone handled knife. Simmonds stared hard at it for a moment, the shock of it paralysing him.

  He slowly looked back up. Standing in the doorway right behind where James had been stood was the dark shadowy figure of the Bourbon Kid. Simmonds’s jaw dropped.

  ‘Hey, it was nothing personal,’ he said, nervously.

  The Kid did not respond He stepped into the room and leaned down to retrieve his knife from James’s back. He didn’t seem to have seen the gun on Simmonds’s desk.

  The museum’s manager needed no second invitation. While his intruder was busy pulling the knife out of James’s back, he reached for the gun.

  Sixty

  Clutching the Eye of the Moon tightly in his left hand, Sanchez charged out through the front doors of the museum and onto the snow covered steps outside. The dark clouds above were breaking up and shafts of blue light from the moon were beginning to shine through. The demise of Rameses Gaius would have far reaching effects, the first of which would be a rapid change in the weather.

  Flake poked her head out of the back of the police squad car where he’d left her. Behind her, Beth’s feet were sticking out over the end of the back seat. Flake called out to him. ‘Sanchez, hurry!’

  He looked down at the icy steps and decided it would be easier to throw the blue stone to Flake, rather than risk slipping on the ice.

  ‘Here, catch!’ he yelled to her.

  He tossed the Eye through the air to Flake. He overthrew it slightly, but she reacted like a short stop and reached up, plucking it out of the sky. The years she had spent catching the tips that were thrown at her in the Ole Au Lait had clearly paid off. She ducked back inside the car and set about working out how to use the Eye to cure Beth’s gaping neck wound.

  Sanchez hung back at the top of the steps for a while, bent over and trying to get his breath back. He began to realise just how tired he was from all the running.

  Flake called up to him. ‘Sanchez, give me a hand here. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to be doing!’

  ‘Coming.’

  He trudged down the last few steps and then over to the car. A feeling of dizziness had come over him. To stop himself from collapsing he steadied himself by resting his hand on Flake’s butt which was conveniently poking out of the back door of the car.

  He peered over her shoulder to see what was going on. She was leaning over the body of Beth, wiping the other woman’s brow with one hand and pressing the glowing blue stone into her chest with the other.

  ‘Come on Beth,’ she whispered. ‘Hang in there.’

  From what Sanchez could see, not a lot seemed to be happening. Beth’s eyes remained closed and it was hard to tell if she was breathing or not.

  ‘Try pressing the stone into her hand,’ he suggested.

  ‘Is that how it works?’

  ‘I think so.�
��

  Flake grabbed Beth’s right hand and pressed the blue stone into her palm. At first nothing much seemed to happen, but after a few seconds the stone began to glow a light blue colour from within. The glow intensified with each passing moment and gradually some colour returned to her face. She opened her eyes and smiled up at Flake and then looked over at Sanchez and smiled at him too.

  ‘Where am I?’ she asked.

  ‘Back seat of a car,’ said Sanchez.

  ‘A police car,’ Flake added, brushing Sanchez’s hand away from her ass. ‘You’re safe now.’

  Beth took a short sharp breath. A worried look washed over her face. ‘I was kidnapped,’ she said. ‘They were going to kill me. That’s about all I can remember.’

  ‘It’s all okay now,’ said Flake, stroking her face. ‘They’re all dead.’ She turned to Sanchez. ‘Aren’t they Sanchez?’

  He nodded. ‘Oh yeah. They’re very dead.’

  ‘See,’ said Flake turning back to Beth. ‘No one can hurt you now.’

  Flake’s calming words seemed to have the desired effect because the look of panic on Beth’s face softened a little.

  Sanchez considered his part in all the events. He’d done pretty well. ‘I knew it would all be okay,’ he said, casually. ‘I wrote the names of the bad guys in The Book of Death the other day. It seems that if you write someone’s name in that book then pretty soon they’re history. I should get a medal for this.’

  Beth didn’t seem to hear what he said, rather annoyingly. She gripped Flake’s hand tightly. ‘What about JD? Did he come for me? I don’t remember.’

  ‘Who’s JD?’ asked Flake.

  ‘The Bourbon Kid.’

  Flake smiled at her. ‘Oh yeah. He came after you in a big way. There’s a lotta dead people thanks to him.’

  A tear appeared in the corner of Beth’s left eye. ‘He killed more people?’ she half stated, half inquired.

  ‘Shot one guy in the dick,’ said Sanchez.

  Flake stroked Beth’s head again. ‘They all deserved it,’ she added. ‘He did it for you.’

  ‘I know,’ said Beth, wiping away the tear in her eye. ‘It’s just, you know…’

  ‘Hard to take in?’ Flake suggested.

  ‘No, it’s not that. I feel kinda goofy saying this. You’ll think I’m nuts.’

  ‘Everyone in this town is nuts,’ said Flake.

  Beth finally smiled. ‘I just love him when he kills people,’ she said.

  Flake grinned. ‘He killed a hell of a lot of people, so he must really like you, too.’

  The ground beneath them suddenly shook and a deafening booming noise filled the air. It sounded like a bomb had gone off inside the museum. The loud boom was followed by the sound of glass shattering. A sudden rush of heat burst from the building. It caused Sanchez to reel back. Smoke was now billowing out of the windows on the ground floor.

  ‘Holy shit! That fire spread quick,’ he said, raising a hand to cover his eyes.

  Flake took a step towards the front entrance. ‘Oh God. Who’s still in there?’ she asked.

  Before Sanchez could answer, Dante and Kacy came rushing out of the front entrance and down the steps to the street. They both looked shell-shocked. Their faces were covered in black soot. And Kacy still wasn’t wearing any pants.

  Sanchez nudged Flake. ‘They look worse than you.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘I mean their faces are covered in black stuff, you know, bit like yours, but worse.’

  Flake sighed. ‘How do you stay single?’ she muttered.

  Before Sanchez could respond, Kacy screamed out. ‘Shit! My back is on fire!’

  The back of her sweatshirt had caught fire and the flames were flickering dangerously close to her hair. Dante reacted quickly and dragged her to the ground. He rolled her over in the snow to put the flames out. Flake rushed over to help him pat out some small flames that were flickering underneath the arms on her sweatshirt.

  Kacy screamed out. ‘Get it off me. It’s burning!’

  Sanchez hurried over to help Flake and Dante pull the sweatshirt over Kacy’s head. Fortunately before he got there they had succeeded in ripping the sweatshirt off and throwing it to one side. Black smoke still poured from it as it lay simmering in the snow. Kacy was left lying in the snow in just her underwear.

  ‘You okay?’ Dante asked. ‘Any burns anywhere?’

  Flake hauled Kacy up into a seated position and brushed some debris from her back. Kacy began rubbing her arms. ‘I think I’m okay,’ she said. ‘It’s a good job I’m not feeling the cold.’

  Dante kissed her on the forehead. ‘You look hot, always.’

  Once they’d come to the conclusion that Kacy had escaped unscathed from the flames, she stood up and dusted herself down. Dante slipped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her in tight, brushing some snow off her chest. Sanchez noticed that her underwear had gotten rather wet in the snow and was now looking decidedly see-through. Out of politeness he chose not to mention it.

  Flake looked over at the entrance. ‘Where’s the Bourbon Kid?’ she asked.

  Dante shrugged. ‘He went after the museum’s manager. Had a score to settle with him, I think.’

  Beth poked her head around from the back seat of the car. ‘He’s gone after Elijah Simmonds?’

  Dante nodded. ‘Yeah. He’ll get him, don’t worry.’

  ‘But what about the fire?’

  Another loud explosion from inside the museum drowned out everything. Some windows on one of the upper floors shattered and glass fell down onto the street not far from where they were gathered.

  Dante grabbed Kacy by the arm and pulled her out into the road, away from the falling debris. ‘Look,’ he said pointing to the sky. ‘There’s a blue moon coming out through the clouds.’

  Kacy looked up. ‘Does that mean we can go back to being human?’ she asked.

  Dante nodded. ‘Yeah. We should do it now. Where’s the Eye?’

  Flake pointed over to the car. ‘Beth should have it back there.’

  ‘Is this it?’ said Beth, holding the blue stone up.

  ‘Yeah,’ said Dante. ‘Mind tossing it over here?’

  Beth tossed the stone over to him. He caught it in his free hand and planted a kiss on Kacy’s forehead. ‘You ready to do this babe?’

  ‘Sure. What we gotta do?’

  ‘Stand under the moonlight and hold it up. It kinda lights you up real bright so everyone can see you for miles around. After a while you just go back to being human, I think.’

  Kacy gave him a gentle dig in the ribs. ‘Can we do it somewhere a little more private then? I already look kinda naked here. Not sure I need to be lit up for everyone to see.’

  The sound of a distant fire engine approaching with its siren blaring made the decision an easy one.

  ‘We’re getting the hell out of here,’ Dante announced. ‘Shall we all meet up somewhere later?’

  Flake looked to Sanchez. ‘How about we all go for a drink at the Tapioca? We can work out what story we’re gonna tell the Captain.’

  Sanchez shrugged. ‘Fair enough. Although, I usually just make the story up as I go along when the cops question me about anything.’

  ‘How do you get away with that?’ Flake asked.

  ‘I’m renowned as a bullshitter. They expect it.’

  ‘So it’s settled,’ said Dante, interrupting their trivial aside. ‘We’ll head there once we’ve fixed ourselves up?’

  ‘Sure,’ said Sanchez. ‘See you there in about an hour.’

  Dante and Kacy hurried off across the street and down a back alley, disappearing out of sight just before the fire engine pulled up at the scene. As the firemen started preparing to fight the fire Sanchez made a suggestion to Flake.

  ‘We should really get out of here,’ he said. ‘We should probably get Beth to a hospital after all she’s been through.’

  Beth called out from the back of the car. ‘Can’t we wait to see if JD is all right? I’
m feeling okay now.’

  Flake walked over to Beth and leaned down to take a closer look at her. ‘Have you seen yourself in the mirror?’ she asked.

  ‘No,’ Beth replied tentatively. ‘Do I look bad?’

  Flake smiled. ‘That scar you had on your face, it’s gone.’

  Beth swallowed hard. ‘What?’

  ‘Take a look in the rear view mirror. You look beautiful.’

  Sanchez peered over Flake’s shoulder to see if she was telling the truth. Beth’s scar had indeed vanished courtesy of the healing powers of the Eye of the Moon. ‘She’s right,’ he said, agreeing with Flake. ‘You look gorgeous. It’s a shame about all that blood on your top though. Spoils the look a bit.’

  Beth took a look at her reflection in the car’s rear view mirror. She ran her fingers across her cheek where her scar had once been.

  ‘I don’t believe it,’ she whispered. ‘After all this time, it’s gone.’

  She was so overjoyed at the sight of her new reflection that she barely heard the sound of a gunshot from within the museum.

  Sixty-One

  Special Agent Richard Williams had seen some bullshit during his twenty years in the FBI, but the report he’d just read about the events in Santa Mondega bordered on farcical. A former colleague of his, Detective Miles Jensen, had been assigned to this same shithole town a year earlier and had vanished without trace amidst rumours of supernatural activity. Williams had kept an open mind about the whole thing, but now as he sat in the Captain’s glass walled office with two halfwit cops who had filed a report on the latest of the city’s many massacres, he was convinced someone was having a joke at his expense.

  ‘Is this a joke?’ he asked.

  The two cops sitting opposite him looked like halfwits. The first one, Sanchez Garcia, was proudly wearing a highway patrolman’s outfit, with the sunglasses and Stetson hat still on. The other, Officer Flake Munroe, clearly took herself seriously as a cop, but looked too inoffensive for it. She answered Williams’s question soberly. ‘That’s the events exactly as they happened,’ she said.

  Williams forced a fake smile. ‘Right,’ he said leaning back in his chair. ‘Let me just summarise this out loud, so I can be sure I’m getting it right. According to you, this city was taken over by a mummy who created an army of vampires and werewolves to carry out his plot to take over the world.’