Night Things: The Monster Collection

by West, Terry M.

  Gary didn't want to see it, but one of the women holding him twisted his chin and said in a breath that reeked of the grave, "Watch."

  It was often difficult to determine who or what someone had been when they joined the zombies. The one ripping Mike's throat open might have been an accountant, judging by the dirty gray suit he wore. The two tearing first through Mike's white button down shirt and then deeper into his skin might have been construction workers or truckers. It was usually a game to play when you passed them on the sidewalk but now these things that had once been taxpaying, law-abiding citizens were pulling Mike's guts out and feasting on them. And all Gary could wonder is what the dead bastard who was eating Mike's liver might have been when life heated his body. He wore a fast food uniform but the emblem was heavily caked with Mike's blood.

  The leader pulled the painful silver spike from his smoking flesh and grabbed Mike's jaws, like Kong with the t-rex, and he spread Mike's silently wet screaming mouth into a jack o lantern smile before ripping his head into two pieces. Those God damn sunglasses of Mike's stayed on, even as he witnessed his own demise. The cyclist zombie dug into Mike's skull through the upper jaw and pulled a gob of Mike's brain out and ingested it, though it seemed painful to swallow with the silver wound, on what Gary wagered was principle alone.

  Gary threw up.

  "Gross," one of his captors muttered.

  They released him and he fell to the floor, crying and hiccupping and afraid he might vomit again, though he had nothing to expel.

  He covered his face and listened to the sickening moans of satiation that came from the zombies. A hand gently squeezed his shoulder. He looked up.

  Anteia, the large frumpy Greek waitress who usually served him, looked down at him with lifeless eyes. Gary saw the bite taken out of her right shoulder. The wound was black.

  "Dracula will be contacting you very soon," she said through blue lips.

  ***

  Ella approached the quiet platform where her master rested on a throne of wet bones. The index and middle finger of his right hand touched his temple and he looked to be asleep or in deep thought.

  "Come forward, Ella," Dracula said. "I am merely resting old eyes, as there is daylight above."

  Ella climbed up the platform and approached her ruler. "Mike Cooke is dead," she reported somberly. "We caught him at the diner near Gary's apartment."

  "Good," Dracula said, opening his eyes and yawning. "But I sense sadness in your voice."

  "He was a friend for many years," Ella admitted. "And though I know he was a criminal and he deserved what he got, it is still hard for me."

  "You have a kind soul. I knew that the minute I tasted your blood. It was the only reason I converted you," Dracula said. "You were spared a hideous death because I knew you belonged with us. And because of that goodness, I see that you have taken to Holly."

  Ella nodded and smiled softly. "She is adorable. I always wanted a child."

  "You do realize we might have to kill her. Is this an issue?"

  "No," Ella said, reassurance broad in her tone. "If that is how it needs to be, then by your will. I am hoping to convince her to join our ranks."

  "It must be her choice," Dracula reminded his bride.

  "Of course," Ella said.

  Detective Thomas approached from the shadows.

  "Could you give me a moment, dear?" Dracula said to Ella.

  Ella nodded and left.

  "There has been a lot of talk among the people," Thomas said. "They are anxious to take the city."

  "I was a warrior many years before my blood turned black. We must all be patient. The time to strike draws nearer, but pieces are still missing from the board," Dracula explained.

  "Will we be storming Stücke's building again? I could take some of our best and eliminate him. Just give the word," Thomas said.

  "How did you perish originally, Detective Thomas?" Dracula asked.

  "I was killed in the line of duty," Thomas said.

  "How so?" Dracula inquired further.

  "We had an undercover officer in peril at a gang house," Thomas said. "I kicked in the door and tried to save him."

  "Did you?"

  "No," Thomas admitted, sourly. "They killed me and the undercover officer. I rose again. He didn't."

  "Did you learn anything from that experience?" Dracula said. "You are only here because of the zombie lottery that resurrects one in five. That life is over but you should still carry its lessons."

  Thomas nodded.

  "But back to your request- no. We won't have to take the battle to Stücke. He will be showing up here soon with his forces," Dracula confided.

  "What? Why? Do you think Hack told him?"

  "I was counting on it," Dracula said with a grin. "Stücke has spies everywhere. He no doubt discovered that Hack was taken in for questioning by you and your partner. That Hack isn't dead and still in one piece means that Stücke knows."

  "But Hack doesn’t know this location. They could spend weeks under here looking for us."

  "Stücke will find a way to track us. He is resourceful," Dracula said.

  "So, shouldn't we prepare for an onslaught?" Thomas said.

  "We have the numbers on our side," Dracula said confidently. "There are no Night Things at Stücke's call. He never brought them in to his inner circle because he knew that I would be able to sway them. The only advantage little Johnny has is a very powerful weapon hidden somewhere in that building of his. That is the reason we attacked him. He has the only item capable of destroying me and our cause. I want it, of course, to wield for the night. I have powerful peers that might oppose me or vie for my crown. And Stücke will bring it to me here- under the city. After that, I will end this. And then we will devour this little island and plant our flag upon this world. But in the meantime, we wait, Detective Thomas."

  Thomas bowed slightly and turned to leave.

  "Wait," Dracula said, before Thomas trailed off into the darkness. "Let a hundred or so zombies loose on the streets tonight. Tell them to cause some chaos. It is time to let Johnny Stücke know that he no longer controls this city."

  Thomas smirked and nodded. Dracula could tell the deceased police detective was pleased by this order. "They'll enjoy blowing off some steam. By your will."

  10.

  Galway, Ireland

  September 8, 1894

  Primul awoke to screams and smoke on the air. He painfully arched up out of the crater his heavy body had sculpted into the ground. He was in brush, not far from the main road that ran Galway.

  The orphanage was burning in the pre-dawn sky. People in their sleep attire watched sadly and helplessly. A line of men threw pails of water at the inferno to keep the blaze from transferring to the cottages near it. But the house and the delicate lives within it were lost.

  Primul could see small, burnt forms near the entrance. They smoldered beneath filthy sheets. His body quaked with an evil passion he had not felt in a very long time. He stood on unsteady feet and began a painful march to the rock. In the forest, he found a woodsman's axe embedded in a tree stump. He brought it along.

  ***

  They slept, nude and drunk on orphan's blood. They were entwined together on a grand rug that lay on the floor of the cathedral beneath a pulpit currently absent of faith.

  Their bodies were bloodied from the feeding orgy at the orphanage. The stained glass windows of the cathedral glowed in the morning light, but the sun did not reach the sleeping vampire brats.

  Primul went the window nearest to them and took the axe in his hands to it. Dracula's bastards startled awake. They were groggy still from their crimson indulgence and daytime hours always weakened them. They murmured small protests. Primul shattered the other windows, and soon they began to slowly blister in the sunlight.

  They shrieked and charged the heavy cathedral doors which Primul had barricaded with a heavy bolt, and then they must have realized that their escape would have them meet a larger dose of sunshine. T
hey instead scattered and scrambled for shadows in the room. There were none.

  The first Primul caught were Zachariah and Simon. They were trying to use one another as shield against the light. Zachariah perished first. Primul grasped the boy, bent his shoulders down and took his head in one swing. The body convulsed and Dracula's dark blood boiled on the floor.

  Primul snatched up Simon next. The vampire boy fought and hissed, but was too weak to offer much trouble. Primul stacked Simon's head near Zachariah's and moved on.

  Patsy and Ruth were after that. They hadn't been too preoccupied with the sun drenched room to notice the gruesome collection Primul was amassing. They fought harder than their brothers. He took Patsy's head with Ruth wrapped on his shoulders. When he was done collecting from Patsy, he easily flipped Ruth to the soaked floor. She landed on her back, tried to get up, but she splayed back to the messy ground. She seemed to give up after that.

  "Sod off, you bloody fopdoodle," Ruth said defiantly. "I hope you…"

  Primul interrupted her with the axe.

  Wilfred and Lenora were so worn down by the sun by the time Primul reached them that they offered their necks to end the roasting.

  All that was left was Lucian and Edwina. They had managed to drape a blanket over themselves and they cowered in the corner of the room.

  "Brother!" Lucian cried out, fearfully. "We are family, under the crest of Dracula. Why would you do this to us?"

  "I have killed family before, Lucian," Primul said. "I snuffed my uncle's life out though he was but a child. I smothered my step mother on her wedding night. I am a passionate slaughterer whose fuel is vengeance and you all have filled me to the limit!"

  He pulled Lucian from the blanket. The vampire wailed and his flesh began to burn more. As Primul put him into a squat on all fours, a pose that could have been mistaken for an impending sexual dance, Lucian turned his bleeding eyes up to Primul.

  "Father will destroy you for this," Lucian warned, his voice strained.

  Primul took his head.

  He advanced on Edwina, who shuddered and cried and smoked beneath her quilt.

  "Primul, please," she begged. "You love me, don't you, brother?"

  "Yes," Primul admitted.

  And then he fed the axe a last time.

  When it was done, he collected the heads and put them on the high crosses in the graveyard where they would continue to brown in the sun.

  After that final grim chore, he left the rock.

  11.

  Gary had arrived three hours early for his meeting. He was distraught and red-eyed from emotion. He had told Johnny about the ordeal at the Greek diner, and he had never seen a sentiment as close to sorrow on Johnny Stücke before that time. The big man stood in the greeting room of his penthouse after Gary had relayed the details of Mike Cooke's death. Johnny digested the facts with a grimace and shook his head.

  "Cooke was a valued employee. This is very distressing," he said, pulling a key from his suit jacket. "Let's go. It's time to wake someone up."

  Gary followed Johnny into the elevator. Johnny put the key into an ignition slot and pushed the red button below the basement plate.

  "Where are we going?" Gary asked, as the car descended smoothly.

  "Deep down," Johnny said, standing with his wrists crossed and facing the doors. "I have an elder night thing on ice. An ally. He is something that is cloaked from Dracula. And he is as powerful, if not more so, than that bastard leech. He prefers to sleep, so I watch over him. But he has sworn to oppose anyone or anything that threatens to upset the apple cart. He hates Dracula and he is my secret weapon."

  Gary was intrigued and another question began to form on his lips, but he decided to simply wait and see it for himself.

  The ride seemed to take forever. The car finally paused and the doors opened. A gust of cold air slapped them. Gary saw a cracked platform to a black stone stairway that fell into darkness. Johnny stepped out and grabbed a wooden torch that rested in a wall cradle. He dug out his lighter and lit its rope mound. He turned back to Gary and grinned, his face brightened by the flame.

  "You can take the boy out of the old world, but you can't take the old world out of the boy."

  They took the stairs. Gary slid his palms down either side of the cold stone walls and crept downhill slowly. The steps felt slick, and he didn't want to bust his ass in the dark. He waited for rats to run across his feet but, thankfully, none came.

  They finally came to a gray rock wall. Johnny gave it a tremendous shove, and the wall opened pivoted to the side. Johnny pushed the torch ahead and entered.

  Gary followed Johnny into what must have been a tomb. Johnny walked around the room, spreading flame to other mounted torches, and the dark space was soon revealed to Gary. The walls were engraved with Egyptian symbols. On a large stone altar in the middle of the damp room, a golden sarcophagus shaped in the form of a pharaoh rested.

  Johnny slid his torch into the wall and walked over to the sarcophagus. He ran his rough hands over it. "This is Hor-Aha," he explained. "Horus the fighter. He was the second pharaoh of the First Dynasty of ancient Egypt."

  "He's a mummy?" Gary said.

  "The most powerful one there is," Johnny said. "One of the baddest mother fuckers I have ever met."

  He pried the sarcophagus lid open.

  The heavy casket belched a cloud of dust into the air. A foul stench hit Gary and he covered his nose.

  "Morning breath," Johnny teased, waving the bad air away.

  Gary walked over and stood next to Johnny. A mummified corpse wrapped in brown linen cloth slept there. It's face was eyeless and large yellow teeth jutted from its gaping mouth. The flesh on its head was a dark and aged hide.

  Johnny walked away and pressed a section of wall. A segment waist high opened. Johnny reached in and pulled a small ornate golden box from it. It was adorned with carved symbols.

  Johnny set it on the altar and opened it. He reached in and pulled a hazel colored eye from the box. Johnny pushed his arm into the sarcophagus and gently pressed the eye into Hor-Aha's left socket. He then reached back into the golden box and retrieved another gory keepsake; a heart that beat in his hands.

  "Pry open the cloth on his chest," Johnny instructed.

  Gary reached in and separated the linen. He noticed a black gash where the heart should have been. Johnny reached down and shoved the heart into the dead thing's chest. Both of them arched back up and waited. An eerie yellow haze lit the mummy and Gary could tell the heart was warming the body. Suddenly, Hor-Aha bolted up. His mouth opened and he vomited slime and maggots at Gary.

  Gary fell back, horrified, and wiped the squirming insects from his face. A loud gag escaped his lips, but he managed to keep from barfing back at Hor-Aha.

  "Apologies," the mummy said. The spark of life in its eye grew from an ember to a full blaze and Hor-Aha turned slowly to Johnny.

  "What name do you go by these days?" it asked, cocking its head and cracking its neck.

  "Johnny Stücke."

  Hor-Aha stretched his arms upward and snickered. "Clever." His eye fell to Gary. "Who is the fat human?"

  "That's Gary. He is a friend."

  "Why have you woken me?"

  "Dracula. He's back."

  Hor-Aha sighed. "That childish bloodsucker. What is he up to now?"

  "Same old, same old," Johnny replied. "World domination. Death to all living."

  "I can't even close my eyes for a hundred years without this foolishness occurring," Hor-Aha said. "Is he aware you have been safeguarding my tomb?"

  "No," Johnny said. "No one is. Most think you are completely out of the picture."

  "Good. Then you have honored our bargain and I will help you defeat the king vampire. We will need the Night Kopis for this task. Do we have it as well as a chosen to carry it into battle?"

  "Yeah, I have it and I am working on a champion to wield it."

  Hor-Aha eyed Gary. "It isn't this one, is it?" he said to Johnny.
<
br />   Johnny laughed and shook his head. "Oh, hell no. No offense Gary."

  Gary frowned and shrugged. His skin felt slimy and he flicked the last visible maggot from his shirt. "I am here because Dracula has my daughter in the underground. He is below the city and will kill her if we don't stop him. And while I am glad we have someone as powerful as you and an ancient weapon for a chosen one to brandish, my only concern is how we are going to track Dracula down there."

  "The Night Kopis is a magical weapon of pure silver that was created solely for the purpose of destroying Dracula," Johnny explained. "It is connected to him and will pull us right to the bastard's camp. After we find a human strong enough to handle it. And, like I said- working on that detail right now. My boys are out there tracking down the only man in the city who can utilize it properly."