by K A HAMBLY
‘Oh fuck, I see. It wasn't me though, I've been at the apartment, and so has Draven for the last day or two.’
‘Then what the fuck is this? Jyrki, is he turning into a vamp?’
‘No, the transformation won't take place unless he's almost drained. I'm more concerned with who done it at the moment.’
‘Want me to call Draven?’
‘Yes, tell him what we've just found and ask him what’s the best thing to do. This poor guy looks like he's in deep shock; we'll need to bring him around quick. Go and get him some coffee whilst you're on the phone will you?’
‘Sure, I'll be back in a minute.’
‘Come on dude; come back to the real world,’ I said, gently slapping his face.
The guy lifted his head up and looked at me.
‘He bit me, a vampire, but there's no such thing as monsters,’ he mumbled.
‘Listen, I know you can hear me, ok. You're going to be alright, just hang in there. Can you remember what this...thing looked like that attacked you?’
The man looked at me sorrowfully.
I knew instantly he was not lying.
‘He...he was tall, dark hair. A bit like you, but, oh I’m sorry I couldn't really see to be honest with you, it was too dark and it all happened so quickly.’
‘That's okay. My friend has gone to get you something to eat. I think you should see a doctor though to check out that wound.’
The man shook his head.
‘No, no they’ll throw me in the nut house. I've been on the streets for thirty years and I've never known anything like this.’
‘Jyrki, what the fuck has gone on?’
‘Stride, this guy was bitten by a vampire.’
‘What vampire? You?’ He pointed at me.
‘No, not me, use your head, we've been with you for the last couple of days. He said this happened last night.’
‘Here's his coffee,’ Blaze said
Stride knelt down beside him and looked at his neck.
‘Listen mate, you best get that neck cleaned up before you get an infection or something. Can I take you to the doctors?’
‘I've just told your friend, no! Absolutely not. I'm fine, I'm sure it wasn't a vampire, could've been an animal.’
‘An animal? Well if you remember anymore, can you please contact me? I’ll give you my address ok,’ he said as he took a small black notepad from his jacket pocket.
‘Oh look and here's ten dollars, go and get some food ok?’
‘Ah thank you, very kind of you.’
‘Jyrki, come on,’ Stride said as he pulled me away.
‘That’s it? We can't just leave him there?’ I said
‘Jyrki, the guy is unsure himself of what he saw, let him believe it was an animal ok. We know different. Now to work out where in hell this has come from.’
‘What does Draven think it is?’
‘He has no idea either. He wondered if it could've been Jimmy, in wolf form, but seeing the wound on the guy’s neck now, I am certain it's a vampire bite mark.’
‘Do you think Jimmy is up to something?’ Blaze asked
‘I do indeed. This has his name written all over it.’
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
I was feeling rather restless and fed up of hanging around the apartment all the time. It would not have been so bad if it weren’t for Blaze interviewing me at every turn. I could appreciate he was fascinated by the revelation of vampires being real, but it was becoming borderline ridiculous. I mean, he even asked if I knew the real Count Dracula one night whilst we were watching some late night horror movies.
I had not, but I knew of him.
I suppose if I had, it would have been a highly amusing conversation.
I guess by now we were all feeling a little tense and nervous, more so, Blaze than any of us. Draven and myself had to contend with the fact there was something unimaginable going to take place and soon. We had no solid evidence of who, what, why or when. Just some words written on an Ancient scroll we could not really decipher.
The door opened and in walked Stride clutching a plastic bag.
‘Where have you been?’ Blaze asked.
‘Back to my place to get their lunch. Here Blaze, put this in the fridge will ya?’
‘What is it?’
‘What do you mean ‘what is it?’ It’s blood, what else do you think they drink?’
Blaze took the bag, much to his dismay and walked into the kitchen.
‘Don’t make faces like that lad, it’s better than having them bite you,’ he laughed.
Stride sat down on the sofa then proceeded to pull his glasses from the inside of his jacket pocket.
‘Right lads, let’s all come up with a plan on getting April back safe, and sound eh?' he said, sounding a little drunk.
‘Stride, you do know there’s much more to than this than saving April don't you? I said as I got up from the windowsill.
‘Of course, but first things first all right. I know you're worried.’
‘Worried? I feel like I'm going out of my mind here,’ I said, pacing around.
‘Just calm yourself down, go and have a drink ok. Oi Blaze! Get that laptop thingy and find us a map of the area.’
It was not that I did not care for April; I knew instinctively they would not hurt her. My mind was so preoccupied with finding out where I was supposed to go and for whatever reason. I did not know anything, and that was the worrying part. I could not even pick up anything intuitively. Draven and Blaze sat down beside me and under the dimly lit reading lamp; we conceived a plan of action.
‘Get us a map and some pictures of the hotel,’ Stride ordered.
‘According to the information, the penthouse where Jimmy is staying is five floors above ground,’ Blaze said.
I was about to suggest climbing up the outside wall, as I knew I had the strength to do so. Which was only when I was fully shifted.
‘How about I take them by surprise? I'll climb up the wall?’
‘Fucking hell, you're Spiderman now are ya?’ Stride scoffed.
‘You're fucking kidding; there are innocent people at the hotel,’ Blaze blurted out.
Draven jumped to my defence.
‘I am certain Jyrki can control it now Stride, and it isn’t half a bad idea. It will take them unawares if he’s changed, plus it will give us ample opportunity to grab April and the scroll and get out of there.’
Stride tutted, and mumbled something under his breath, I think it went something along the lines of ‘I don't know why I bother.’
‘Well, what’s the next thing,’ Blaze asked. ‘Y'know, what Draven found out from the scroll...That there's something going on with the prophecy...?’
‘We're not sure about that yet, here's hoping it will be mentioned in the missing piece and we find it before anything does happen.’
‘You mean like an apocalypse…or something?’ Blaze asked worriedly.
Draven and I looked at one another.
I think our expression said it all.
It was going on for 2am. We decided that we would take Draven's van and park it further up the street from the hotel, in case Jimmy had anyone on watch. The atmosphere was tense but with an air of excitement. I guess it was the adrenaline rush, but I was sure to have an even bigger rush in the next few moments.
‘Don't worry Stride, I can control it,’ I tried to assure him.
Although I was not as hopeful as Draven.
‘Right, okay when you're ready then,’ he said unconvincingly, and walked away.
‘Thanks for the vote of confidence.’ I did not waste any time in saying.
Blaze kept a lookout on the hotel security from the van. We were waiting until the security was due to change shifts. Once he had given us the signal, Draven and Stride would make their way to the hotel to go in.
The rain was beating down, which was no surprise.
I pulled the hood of my hoody over my head, and Stride tossed me a pocketknife.
‘You're sure about this?’ Blaze asked.
I was certain.
‘Don't worry, I have it under control. No-one will see me.’
‘Ok, best of luck then.’
Blaze could not bear to turn around and look at me.
He stood with his hands in his pockets and kept a firmly fixed glare on the hotel doors. I knew it bothered him, but there was not much I could do right now.
Draven and Stride walked to the hotel whilst I stood waiting for the signal from Blaze. It did make me wonder why they would choose such a public place to meet, perhaps they did not expect me to arrive in vampire mode.
I really hope so.
I stood motionless behind the van and sucked in some of the damp air. The street was quite deserted apart from an odd taxi passing by.
‘Right, let's do this,’ I said to myself, rolling up my sleeve.
My hand began shaking again as I placed the knife over my forearm.
As the blade touched my flesh, I paused. For some reason I had to check for the Ankh.
‘Oh my fucking God! The Ankh has gone.’
I dropped the knife on the floor and stood against the van unable to move.
‘I had it at the flat,’ I fretted; perhaps it had fallen off in the van.
Nah, It’s not supposed to leave me. Draven had heard me yelling and came running back up the street with Stride.
‘It's gone!’
‘What has?’ Draven said looking concerned.
‘The Ankh, here, look,’ I said as I pulled down my T-shirt.
Draven shook his head in disbelief.
‘It’s not possible; sure you can't have dropped it?’
‘Seriously, the thing hasn't left me in years, why now, when we have this to face?’
‘Fuck knows, but we got to get in there, man, I don't know what else to fucking do.’
I was in pieces.
An Ancient relic cannot just disappear, not one of this calibre.
Stride wiped his forehead of the sweat.
‘We know that thing has powers beyond our comprehension, let's just go with that right now and hope for the best and we’ll deal with this later, after we get April.’
Reluctantly I agreed, although the idea of shifting only a few hours before dawn was not my idea of a good night out. I took the pocketknife and rolled up my sleeve again. I hated to do this but it was the only way. The blood I had earlier was still in my system, so I had to entice the demon out somehow. It was the safest way. Even though it was frowned upon.
I craned my neck slightly to the left and caught sight of Blaze pacing up and down the pavement.
I just had to go for it, cut my arm and hope for the best...well, after a small countdown. I screwed my face up and kept my eyes closed as I reached the number three in my head, then trying not to focus too much on the what if's I promptly made a small incision on my arm.
Almost in an instant, it felt as though I had shut myself off in my head. The small jolt at the base of spine made me screech in agony as the demon squirmed around in joy. My face was next. I felt the rise in pain as the fangs cut through the gum. I gripped onto the mirror of the van and regrettably, I saw the transformation from my own eyes that were so very far away from the reality of now.
I was becoming a monster.
A disgusting leech that preyed on the innocent. Amongst the demonic chatter that plagued my brain, I managed to regain some of myself back. I had to focus on the task ahead and not fall prey to its demands.
Blaze whimpered and backed away from me.
‘You don't have to fear me,’ I said to him, covering half my face with the hood. ‘You must trust me now, we have to work together. Just see past this face...please?’
‘I'll try, er; I think you'd better go check out those two, looks like there's a problem,’ he said as he pointed towards the hotel doors.
I walked a few yards down to the hotel and peered through the glass doors. I could see Draven and Stride having an argument with the woman on the reception desk.
‘Oh no,’ I could not just walk in there and cause alarm.
‘Do you have a reservation?’ She kept asking. I heard Stride mumble something in Gaelic and then promptly slammed his fist down on the desk. Draven tried to calm the situation down and I heard him ask for a room.
‘Well, if it gets the job done,’ he whispered to Stride.
‘Blaze, go and park the van by the hotel doors and keep the back of the van open for us,’ I whispered
‘Sure, just get April out of there safe, please.’
‘You can count on me, ok.’
I waited by the window until I saw them walk into the elevator. It was now time to finally sort this shit out.
. I sprinted towards the edge of building and began climbing, gripping virtually onto the wall with my fingernails. We were now running late and Jimmy was expecting Stride at any moment.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
I was feeling rather restless and fed up of hanging around the apartment all the time. It wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't for Blaze interviewing me at every turn. I could appreciate he was fascinated by the revelation of vampires being real, but it was becoming borderline ridiculous. I mean, he even asked if I knew the real Count Dracula one night whilst we were watching some late night horror movies. I hadn't, but I knew of him. I suppose if I had, it would’ve been a highly amusing conversation. I guess by now we were all feeling a little tense and nervous, more so, Blaze than any of us. Draven and myself had to contend with the fact there was something unimaginable going to take place and soon. We had no solid evidence of who, what, why or when. Just some words written on an Ancient scroll we couldn’t really decipher.
The door opened and in walked Stride clutching a plastic bag.
‘Where have you been?’ Blaze asked.
‘Back to my place to get their lunch. Here Blaze, put this in the fridge will ya?’
‘What is it?’
‘What do you mean ‘what is it?’ It’s blood, what else do you think they drink?’
Blaze took the bag, much to his dismay and walked into the kitchen.
‘Don’t make faces like that lad, it’s better than having them bite you,’ he laughed.
Stride sat down on the sofa then proceeded to pull his glasses from the inside of his jacket pocket.
‘Right lads, let’s all come up with a plan on getting April back safe and sound eh?' he said, sounding a little drunk.
‘Stride, you do know there’s much more to than this than saving April don't you? I said as I got up from the window sill.
‘Of course, but first things first alright. I know you're worried.’
‘Worried? I feel like I'm going out of my mind here,’ I said, pacing around.
‘Just calm yourself down, go and have a drink ok. Oi Blaze! Get that laptop thingy and find us a map of the area.’
It wasn't that I didn't care for April; I knew instinctively they wouldn't hurt her. My mind was so preoccupied with finding out where I was supposed to go and for whatever reason. I didn't know anything, and that was the worrying part. I couldn’t even pick up anything intuitively. Draven and Blaze sat down beside me and under the dimly lit reading lamp we conceived a plan of action.
‘Get us a map and some pictures of the hotel,’ Stride ordered.
‘According to the information, the penthouse where Jimmy is staying is five floors above ground,’ Blaze said.
I was about to suggest climbing up the outside wall as I knew I had the strength to do so. Which was only when I was fully shifted.
‘How about I take them by surprise? I'll climb up the wall?’
‘Fucking hell, you're Spiderman now are ya?’ Stride scoffed.
‘You're fucking kidding; there are innocent people at the hotel,’ Blaze blurted out.
Draven jumped to my defence.
‘I am certain Jyrki can control it now Stride and it isn’t half a bad idea. It will take them unawares if he’s changed, plus it will give us
ample opportunity to grab April and the scroll and get out of there.’
Stride tutted and mumbled something under his breath, I think it went something along the lines of ‘I don't know why I bother.’
‘Well, what’s the next thing,’ Blaze asked. ‘Y'know, what Draven found out from the scroll...that there's something going on with the prophecy...?’
‘We're not sure about that yet, here's hoping it will be mentioned in the missing piece and we find it before anything does happen.’
‘You mean like an apocalypse…or something?’ Blaze asked worriedly.
Draven and I looked at one another. I think our expression said it all.
It was going on for 2am. We decided that we would take Draven's van and park it further up the street from the hotel, incase Jimmy had anyone on watch. The atmosphere was tense but with an air of excitement. I guess it was the adrenaline rush, but I was sure to have an even bigger rush in the next few moments.
‘Don't worry Stride, I can control it,’ I tried to assure him. Although I wasn’t as hopeful as Draven.
‘Right, okay when you're ready then,’ he said unconvincingly and walked away.
‘Thanks for the vote of confidence.’ I didn't waste any time in saying.
Blaze kept a lookout on the hotel security from the van. We were waiting until the security was due to change shifts. Once he had given us the signal, Draven and Stride would make their way to the hotel to get in.
The rain was beating down, which was no surprise. I pulled the hood of my hoody over my head and Stride tossed me a pocket knife.
‘You're sure about this?’ Blaze asked.
I was certain.
‘Don't worry, I have it under control. No-one will see me.’
‘Ok, best of luck then.’
Blaze couldn't bear to turn around and look at me. He stood with his hands in his pockets and kept a firmly fixed glare on the hotel doors. I knew it bothered him, but there was not much I could do right now.
Draven and Stride walked to the hotel whilst I stood waiting for the signal from Blaze. It did make me wonder why they would choose such a public place to meet, perhaps they didn't expect me to arrive in vampire mode. I really hope so. I stood motionless behind the van and sucked in some of the damp air. The street was quite deserted apart from an odd taxi passing by.