Night Things: The Monster Collection

by West, Terry M.

  ***

  "Shit," Johnny said, digging out silver gauntlets and putting them on his large hands. "One of those things hit my penthouse. They are tough fuckers."

  Johnny turned and regarded his men. "Brace yourselves!"

  Gary watched as the rushing clouds tore through the zombies that were left and paused menacingly in front of Hor-Aha. The mummy chanted more words and sand erupted through the filthy subway gravel and struck the clouds. The gray clouds flickered and turned beige.

  "I relieve you of your obligation. Go back to your own dimension and feel free to take those who summoned you along," Hor-Aha said.

  ***

  Dracula watched with unbelieving eyes as the demons retreated back to the platform. He and Thomas had to jump aside as the funnel clouds rolled over Dracula's throne. They greedily gobbled up the gypsies who had summoned them and blinked out of existence.

  "We have to make Hor-Aha discharge all of his energy!" Dracula said to Thomas. "Hit him with everything we have! It is our only chance!"

  18.

  Holly Hack gagged loudly.

  "Breathe through your mouth and try not to think about what we're stepping through," Glass advised, as he walked quickly with the daughter of Gary Hack.

  "It's awful," Holly complained, strengthening her grip on Glass' hand.

  "As soon as we find an exit, we'll get you someplace where the air is sweeter," he promised, bouncing his flashlight on the walls.

  A loud rumbling and numerous hisses rang through the waste gutter. Glass stopped and turned back to his men. They were already scouting behind with their lights. Suddenly, a small army of scaly, green creatures rose from the darkness. They were piranha-faced, humanoid monsters. The creatures approached the men slowly. Their sharp teeth tested the foul sewer air and their webbed hands flashed large talons in the cracked glow.

  "Shit," one of Glass' men exclaimed. "Mermen! I had no idea these slimy fuckers were down here!"

  Another of Glass' men regarded his leader. "Go! Get her out of here! We will try to hold them off!"

  The light beams in the sewer began to bounce as shots rang out. The creatures screamed in pain. Glass scooped Holly up and ran. The shots behind him ended quickly. The men screamed in absolute horror and then the hisses of the creatures grew.

  "They're coming!" Holly warned, staring over Glass's shoulder.

  He looked back. Though it was dark, he could see a slight illumination coming off of their scales. Their hissing fish-faces turned him off of seafood for good.

  Glass increased his speed and looked for an exit. Finally, he saw a notch in the culvert and discovered iron steps embedded in the stone. He put Holly down, pulled his silver-loaded glock 19 and fired on the creatures. The silver was hurting them, but not putting them down.

  "Up!" Glass instructed gruffly. Holly climbed the stairs and Glass followed. He felt claws grabbing at his pant legs. He lashed out with his foot and heard the slimy bastards fall from the stairs. Sunlight peeked through a manhole cover. Glass climbed next to Holly, who was trying with all of her might to lift the cast iron lid. Glass reached up and pressed the manhole cover, praying they weren't at a busy intersection. Hisses followed them again.

  With great effort, he shoved the hot metal aside and he and Holly scrambled to the street. It was a dead intersection, no traffic whatsoever, and Glass praised the J-man. Monster hands emerged from the hole, and immediately began to smoke in the morning sun. The monsters hollered and shirked back down. Glass rolled the manhole cover into place and caught his breath.

  Holly looked apprehensively at the sewer entrance. "Wait, should you leave it open for your men?"

  Glass shook his head grimly. "No, baby girl. You don't trifle with mermen. My boys are fish food. But they knew what they was getting into."

  Glass stood, straightened and put a hand out for Holly. "Now let's get you someplace safe."

  19.

  To Gary Hack, it looked as if the gates of Hell itself had been shattered open by the hundreds of shadowy monsters that now bore down on Johnny Stücke's forces.

  Johnny's men dug in, gritting their teeth and waiting for the impact. What had to be a throng of shifters fired weapons toward Johnny's soldiers. A few of Stücke's men went down. Hor-Aha must have come to the same conclusion regarding the shifters as Gary for he spoke, "By Khonsu, God of the moon, let the beasts come forward!"

  Silver beams shot from Hor-Aha's hands. The silver rays splintered, sought out and struck every shifter on human side in the charging crowd. The creatures dropped their weapons, quaked, and turned into beasts. They immediately attacked the ghouls and vampires that they congregated with. It caused a break and a panic to Dracula's main concentration of soldiers.

  Gary had never seen a shifter at work before. It was a sight that froze him in fright and awe. He understood now why the other Night Things avoided conflict with the werewolves. They were ferocious savages intent on destroying anything they could bite.

  Several vampires misted and flew away from the chaotic slaughter, and Gary didn't blame them one bit. But then he realized that the red mist of death was heading his way, and his compassion dried up.

  "By the power of Ra, God of the sun," Hor-Aha declared. He flexed his hands again and this time pure golden light shot from them. He fired into the center of the mist, and screams emitted from the vampires who were struck. The leeches solidified and plummeted downward, their death cries ringing in the cold air as their burning bodies fell to the steel rail.

  "Abraham, follow me," Hor-Aha instructed. He lifted into the air and began to levitate toward the platform.

  The shifters were preoccupied with Dracula's army and not advancing, so Gary traded his silver weapon for the high-pressured water soaker that was tethered to his belt and filled with holy water. He readied himself and watched as Abraham ran quickly down the rail. He easily took down any night thing that either charged him or stumbled accidentally into his path. The Night Kopis blazed in the darkness and fed heavily in the frenzy. Abraham looked like a man possessed, and he probably was, Gary concluded.

  "They have to materialize to fight us," Johnny said, as the wave of red mist flew over Hor-Aha and Abraham. "Get ready, Gary Hack."

  A half a dozen vampires popped in between Gary and Johnny. Gary screamed and fired madly at them. They shrieked in pain and fell back. Johnny swung his massive, silver-clad hands and the vamps on him were unmercifully pummeled to the ground. Seven or eight more came and piled on Johnny Stücke, but Gary quickly fired on them, freeing his boss. Stücke grabbed the ones left on his back and put them to the ground, leaving bloodied, unrecognizable pulps in his wake.

  There was a respite for Gary and Johnny, though his men still fought brutally against the vampire horde.

  "Come on," Johnny said to Gary. "Hor-Aha evened the odds. Let's put Dracula away."

  Johnny moved through the bloodshed, occasionally downing a shifter or vampire with those gauntlets of his as he navigated through the gore on the cold steel. Gary stayed close to Johnny. His hands were clutched madly back to his silver gun, but every time he thought he might have to use it, Johnny beat him to the punch. The big man's gauntlets were stained crimson at that point.

  Ahead of them, Gary saw Abraham moving like a wild wind between the Night Things. Hor-Aha silently rode the air toward the platform in the distance.

  ***

  "Get them back under control!" Thomas said frantically to Dracula.

  The vampire king shook his head, looking lost and powerless. "I can't. They don't hear my thoughts through this massacre."

  Dracula saw Hor-Aha bearing down on him. He also spotted the human thrall with the Night Kopis. The well-conditioned black man was dispatching his children, who burned and died under the ancient weapon. "Find shelter, Detective Thomas," he advised. "You'll quickly fall to Horus the fighter and his slave."

  "What about you?" Thomas said.

  "I don't have it in me to flee. I will stand and fight, even if it means my e
nd. Stay near. I may need you," Dracula said. "Look for an opportunity to assist."

  Thomas dove into the darkness as Hor-Aha landed on the platform. Dracula could see that his old nemesis did not have much energy left. The vital pharaoh was now hunched and weakened. There was a darkening shadow of death about him. His face was gaunt and his left eye had evaporated. If Dracula could withstand this onslaught, he could turn this battle around.

  "Hor-Aha, for one who craves only eternal sleep, why do you interfere?" Dracula said, trying to push his will on the mummy. But he knew it wouldn't work. There were only a few Night Things who could evade his probe and power of suggestion. But Hor-Aha was one.

  "I guess I just don't care much for you, vampire," Hor-Aha said. "You were always so arrogant and irritating. I knew it would come down to me burning your sickness from this world. When you are ash, I can sleep without interruption this time."

  Abraham had finally reached the platform. He screamed and charged at Dracula. Dracula immediately turned to mist and moved quickly in circles around the howling chosen one. He laughed as Abraham panted angrily and cut the cold air with the Night Kopis.

  "Didn't you have time to train this one?" Dracula said.

  Abraham managed to catch a portion of the Dracula's mist form. The vampire screamed in pain and materialized. He grasped a shoulder that bled his black blood. Steam rose from the wound. Abraham charged in again. This time, Dracula caught the man with a heavy kick to his chest. Abraham fell back near Hor-Aha, who immediately turned his hands toward the vampire and fired the golden light.

  It caught Dracula and he cringed and smoldered. He sank to his knees and cried out painfully.

  "When I am done weakening you, Abraham here will sink the Night Kopis deep into your heart. Goodbye, my old adversary. May oblivion bring you peace," Hor-Aha said.

  In desperation, Dracula reached out with his mind. Suddenly, Abraham, his eyes looking possessed, turned and shoved the Night Kopis deep into Hor-Aha's chest. The light ceased and Hor-Aha gripped the blade. He withered to a mummified corpse and his dead form fell to the concrete.

  Abraham looked uncomprehendingly at Hor-Aha's carcass. Though blackened and weak, Dracula laughed triumphantly and stood high. "You must have night thing in your blood, my boy. Many humans do and are completely unaware."

  Abraham's lips curled and he pulled the Night Kopis back into the air. "You bastard. I am going to cut you to pieces."

  Dracula motioned with his hand. "No, but feel free to attack Johnny Stücke. You merely have to cut the strings and he'll just fall apart."

  Abraham looked back toward the continuing commotion on the rails, and then he grimaced and stared at Dracula again. "You can't control me," he said through gritted teeth. He marched slowly toward the vampire. The confident smile faded from Dracula's mouth and he steeled himself. He was too weak to maintain control on the man. He also felt too frail to mist, which meant he would have to endure a violent dance with this thrall. But his limbs felt heavy and his vision was blurry. He sat there, prepared to meet the darkness Hor-Aha was so fond of, and he let his mental tendrils collapse.

  Abraham, no longer held back by influence, clutched the Night Kopis over his head with both hands and charged Dracula. Just as he brought the blade down, Detective Thomas appeared from nowhere and stepped in front of it. The zombie cried out as the Night Kopis sank into his left shoulder and stopped at his rotted sternum.

  Dracula seized this opportunity. He punched first through Thomas' chest and then through Abraham's. The medicine man's body froze, his hands still attached to the Night Kopis. Then the fight and life fled from him and he dropped to the ground like heavy dead meat.

  Thomas continued to wail from the silver as Dracula pulled his gory arm free and gently lowered his sergeant to the ground.

  Heavy smoke issued from Thomas' body. He turned his agonized eyes to his king. "Pull it out. Please."

  "I can't, Detective Thomas," Dracula said, regretfully. "You are currently the stone that houses the sword. If I were to touch it, it might end me in my weakened state."

  "Then make it stop. Please master," Thomas said, his body tormented by the pain.

  "By your will," Dracula said. "There will be ballads sung about you, my most loyal."

  Dracula ripped Thomas' head off and crushed it flat against the concrete. He cleaned his hands on his robe.

  He needed strength. Dracula noticed Abraham's still body. He crawled over to the medicine man and sank his fangs deeply into his throat. Abraham's blood was still warm. Dracula swallowed what hadn't bled from the man. And then he licked more from the concrete.

  Dracula rose back to his feet. He was strengthened by the blood. He tasted the voodoo on it, and Abraham's life flashed before Dracula's eyes. The vampire king no longer felt the pain from the burns Hor-Aha had inflicted. He was renewed.

  Johnny Stücke had finally climbed up the platform.

  Dracula was ready and maybe even stronger now that he had ingested the blood of a voodoo prince.

  "Hello, my son," Dracula said softly. "It has been a very long time."

  "Yes it has, father," Johnny replied.

  ***

  Gary, a little out of breath, took the concrete steps and he saw the carnage that littered the platform. Abraham and Hor-Aha were dead. A headless Detective Thomas lay with the Night Kopis plunged in his body.

  Dracula took his attention away from Johnny for a second and regarded Gary, who was slinking behind the monster like a malformed shadow.

  "We will find your daughter, Mr. Hack," Dracula swore. "And she'll beg for my black blood when I am done with her."

  "I don't see that happening," Johnny said, his eyes blazing. "What's left of your army is already running for the shadows. It's over, Dracula."

  "I am much more powerful than you," Dracula said. "You haven't a chance."

  "Maybe. But you know what a determined fucker I can be," Johnny said. "Who I am."

  "Yes. Johnny Stücke," Dracula said, snidely. "The king of New York, peering out of the most expensive and tallest cave he can find. Because it is still a cave he occupies. He is too fearful and self-conscious to walk among his subjects. So he sharpens spears and warms lopsided hands on the hearth. Do you fancy your seafood still, Johnny-boy?"

  "I hate fish," Johnny said. "Haven't had it for a very long time."

  "Grew rather burnt on it, did you?" Dracula said with a sneer.

  Johnny spoke to Gary, but kept his eyes on the vampire lord, "This is between me and him, Gary Hack. No matter what happens, stay out of it."

  "I have absolutely no issue with that," Gary said, not concerned with a judgment against his courage. He sank back a few feet. He raised his water pistol, but it was spent. He grimaced and held it up for effect, anyway.

  Dracula and Johnny Stücke came closer together and began to circle each other like predators stalking a tough quarry.

  "I offered you everything," Dracula said. "You betrayed me. You could never control that murderous passion of yours."

  "I worshiped you. Loved you," Johnny admitted. "And you were just a genocidal psychopath looking to assassinate the living. You betrayed me and every night thing on this rock. You weren't interested in creating an Eden for the monsters. You wanted an army to carry out your black agenda. Well, the world don't scare that easily anymore, my friend. I have to stop you before every night thing on this earth is rounded up and destroyed. You've done enough damage."

  "Oh, I haven't even started," Dracula said, and he made the first lunge.

  He grasped Johnny by his shoulders and roughly threw him to the concrete. The impact was so great that the stone cracked beneath Stücke's body. Dracula sprang but Johnny rose and delivered two quick punches to Dracula's head. The vampire found the strength to mist and a third punch missed him.

  Johnny hauled his big body up quickly and his head whipped around. Dracula manifested behind him and he grasped Johnny's throat with both hands. "I'll twist your head off!"

  The bi
g man flipped the vampire over. Dracula landed hard against the ground and Johnny delivered a silver punch that made the vampire's face smoke.

  Johnny went for another punch but Dracula caught his descending wrist and jerked Johnny around. The vampire delivered his own blow as he stood, and Johnny sailed from the platform and into the darkness where his men were still pursuing the retreating Night Things. With violent purpose, Dracula's eyes turned to Gary.

  "I'll do you while he's down," he swore, moving slowly toward the frightened man. "I'll use your bones to fashion a new throne."

  Gary lifted his silver weapon and fired. Dracula moved so quickly that all Gary saw was a blur. Dracula snatched the weapon from Gary and smashed it against the floor. He grabbed Gary by the man's throat and lifted him into the cold underground air.