The Hybrid Series | Book 4 | Damned

by Stead, Nick

  An amused smile lifted the corners of Selina’s lips as she opened a drawer. Sharp points glinted within. “There are weapons to be had in the modern home, if you know where to look.”

  Lady Sarah folded her arms, unimpressed. “What use are knives when we can slice a man open with our teeth and nails? I should have kept hold of one of the swords from the dungeon – a real weapon with greater reach than our bare hands.”

  “Well it’s too late for that now,” Selina answered. “What I could really do with is some chicken bones and incense. At the very least they should have some candles here.”

  I took a deep breath, filtering through the various scents in the house. “I smell no incense.”

  “Your nose is clouded by blood. I would rather trust our eyes on this occasion, if it’s all the same to you. No offence.”

  I didn’t voice the thought but if I was about to be proved correct this would all be a massive waste of time. Though I grudgingly admitted to myself she could be right. It wouldn’t be the first time the exciting scents of fresh death had made me blind to all other smells.

  “Quickly then,” Zee said. “We still have a lot of ground to cover before we reach the coast and it may take a few nights to secure a ship. Time is of the essence.”

  Selina nodded and abandoned her meal to root through more drawers and cupboards. I assumed she’d already looked for chicken in the fridge and freezer and found none, so I joined in the hunt for candles. But all we came across in the kitchen was a box of matches.

  Zee did find a stash of alcohol. He refilled his hip flask with more rum and placed the rest of the bottle by the sandwiches to take with us. “Anyone else want some? It will be a long voyage and I have yet to find anything better for the spirit than rum and ale.”

  Selina gazed over at the booze in the same way we looked at human prey. Lady Sarah shot her a look filled with both warning and disapproval. I thought back to what the witch had told me of her life as a human. Did she miss those carefree days of her drunken youth?

  “Count me in,” I said. Then to save Selina from answering, I added “Might as well bring as much as we can carry so we’ve got plenty. Better to have more than we need than not enough, right?”

  “A wolf after my own heart,” Zee grinned, adding to the supplies on the table.

  “How long a voyage will it be exactly?” I asked. “What route are we taking to reach Canada?”

  “If you can find a map or chart in here, I’ll show you.”

  My eyes found Selina’s again. We shared a brief look of despair and our bond grew a little stronger still.

  “They probably don’t have a map, ’cause modern families have this thing called the internet,” I said. “Don’t you remember hearing about it from Gwyn?”

  “Of course I’ve heard of it. I just don’t trust these modern inventions.”

  “Humans are far too trusting in their technology,” Lady Sarah hissed.

  I shook my head and found myself missing Gwyn even more. No doubt he’d have had plenty to say about how stuck in the past the vampires were.

  “They are,” Selina agreed. “But it does have its uses.”

  “Yeah, they’ve definitely made life easier for themselves compared with when you two were human,” I said. “The one thing this house will definitely have is a computer. I could find you a digital map, Zee.”

  He shook his head. “We don’t have the time to search something as vast as the internet. If there’s nothing more of use to be had here, then we should go.”

  I might have pointed out that searching the internet would probably be quicker than going through the entire house looking for a map, if Selina hadn’t beaten me to answering him.

  “Let me check upstairs first,” she said. “Some fresh clothes wouldn’t go amiss while I’m up there, in case we have to pass as human.”

  “Then we will help search the rest of the house, but as soon as you have the clothes you need we must be off, whether we’ve found candles or not,” Zee replied. “There will be other places we can raid for tools you can use.”

  Selina nodded her agreement again and we hurried upstairs. The witch headed straight into the master bedroom and a moment later there came the sounds of her rummaging through drawers and cupboards. I amused myself with the thought of the Slayers catching us because she couldn’t decide what to wear while I searched the study. It turned out they did have a world atlas. I grabbed it to look over with Zee whenever the next quiet moment came along.

  Selina proved to be quicker than my mum or sister had ever been at selecting an outfit. I’d only just finished searching the study when she called “Okay, ready when you three are.”

  I returned to the kitchen to find her freshly clothed. She’d also found a backpack which she used to store another change of clothes in, along with the sandwiches and drinks, both soft and alcoholic, and the torch. Lady Sarah stood with her. Zee was already at the door with Varin and I sensed his growing impatience to resume the journey.

  “Still no candles?” she asked.

  We each answered no.

  She sighed. “So be it. I think we have everything else we need. Food, clothes and a blanket, and all the cash I could find. Money always has its uses. I grabbed some of the boy’s clothes for you as well, Nick. Just in case you need to pass as human over the next few days.”

  “Thanks.” I handed her the atlas. “Stick that in there too. They did have a map we can use after all.”

  The moon was still hidden behind the clouds when we emerged from the house of the dead we’d created. Selina climbed back onto her familiar and we resumed our journey, the vampires running effortlessly on their two legs while I loped on all fours in my hybrid form, with Varin alongside me. We made an odd pack but I found myself more grateful for their company than ever, even Lady Sarah. Maybe it was because we’d been through so much just to reach that point. Our enemies kept trying to end our unnatural existence once and for all, but together we’d fought and saved each other from the Reaper’s scythe time and again. And together we would find new paths, to the future I was beginning to think I’d been promised, and the peace I might know in the wilds of Canada. Together we were unstoppable.

  “Just don’t forget me, bro,” Gwyn whispered in my mind. He’d been part of the pack too and where was he now? Guilt stirred again and my thoughts refused to move on to anything else.

  The approach of dawn forced us to stop and find another shelter. We seemed to have covered more distance than the night before but our progress still felt frustratingly slow. It didn’t help that we couldn’t just run across the most direct route to the Pembrokeshire coast. We had to keep on evading humanity as best we could, in the hopes it would at least slow any Slayers on our trail, even if we had no chance at losing them completely. I knew all that, but it still made it no less frustrating.

  There was an old, uninhabited farmhouse suited to our purposes that day. It still had some furniture inside, rotting and of little use to humans now, but luxury compared to what we’d had to cope with most days. A wine cellar provided the perfect shelter for the vampires, while me and Selina found a bed each. She pulled a fleecy blanket out of the backpack and soon slipped into a deep sleep, her breathing calm and measured, her heartbeat steady and her face peaceful. I stayed in my hybrid form for warmth. I was going to have to change back soon if I didn’t want to risk beginning to lose myself in my instincts, but I wanted to keep my fur for the day. The chill of winter was already creeping into the air and even with the clothes Selina had grabbed for me, I didn’t fancy lying there as a human.

  I almost said something to the others before we each settled down to sleep. A part of me wanted to tell them about how Gwyn had come to me in the dream, and seek their advice on the matter. Mostly I wanted them to take the decision out of my monstrous hands as we discussed it amongst ourselves, and they no doubt agreed our plight was more pressing. I was fairly certain that would be the outcome. Gwyn himself had said to do what we had to, and o
nly come back for him when we could. So why did I feel so bad about leaving him behind?

  In the end I kept it to myself, maybe because I didn’t want to trouble the others with my doubts when I couldn’t even be sure the dream was anything more than my imagination. I did slip into an uneasy sleep after a while, but if I dreamt that day I don’t remember it. For once, it was not the nightmares that disturbed my slumber.

  A rustling of more than just the wind jolted me awake. Something was moving through the overgrown grass, drawing me to the window where I peered into the late afternoon sun. I squinted down to see a figure walking toward us. At first it appeared to be human from the way it moved upright on its two legs, but then it dropped to all fours and I caught the unmistakable stench of death. My eyes adjusted to the glare and I beheld the grotesque form of another ghoul, its wasted body too skeletal to tell it apart from all the others I’d crossed paths with. I couldn’t even tell if it had been male or female in life, and I had no way of knowing if it was the same one from the caves. But I thought it might be.

  There was a glint of metal from around the creature’s neck and my eyes picked out some kind of a gold pendant or locket hanging there. I’d not noticed any jewellery before but that didn’t mean it wasn’t the same ghoul. It was possible I’d just not seen such small details in the darkness, especially with the shock of finding myself face to face with the creature.

  I could also make out the tattered remains of what were once trousers clinging to its legs, and old boots falling apart around its feet. It was naked from the waist up.

  The ghoul looked out of place in the sunlight. This was the first one I’d seen moving around in the daytime, something I’d never really expected. Like the vampires, I’d thought they belonged to the night and would hunt only under cover of darkness, hiding away in graves and old burial mounds during the day. But I didn’t remember anyone ever telling me ghouls couldn’t move around in sunlight. This one didn’t seem to be affected by it at any rate. It wasn’t even rushing to take cover from the sun again, crawling towards us like an animal come to explore something of interest, but wary of what it might find.

  I debated whether to wake Selina but decided against it for now. She wasn’t much help without the tools of her craft and besides, there was only one. Now we were above ground and I could see it coming, I was confident I could kill our rival without any help. And there was always Varin to back me up if it came to a fight. The shadow beast might not have seen the ghoul as a threat in the caves the day before, but if there was any kind of a physical struggle he would surely recognise the threat to his mistress, if not her companions. There was no way the creature would walk away from a werewolf AND a barghest, if it came to it.

  The ghoul never once looked up while I stood by the window. My mind made up, I slipped away and slunk down the stairs with a lightness on my feet I’d never been able to find as a human. I didn’t know how effective the ghoul’s ears might be but I moved so quietly I doubted it would hear me coming, giving me the advantage this time. It had yet to creep through the door and I moved into position, ready to ambush it the moment it did.

  My heart was steady as I waited there, my nerves calm. Without the total darkness of the caves, the creature failed to unnerve me. I’d seen far worse things in my time as a werewolf, and it wasn’t like facing a vampire where I’d always be outmatched. This was a fight I could win, and I was going to enjoy my moment of triumph when it came in a spray of rotten blood as I tore the creature’s heart from its ribcage. The ghoul didn’t stand a chance.

  I tensed as the door began to creak open, ready to pounce. But something must have given me away, the ghoul sounding another of its sinister laughs and dodging to one side. My gaping jaws snapped around nothing but air. Rage blazed up as I landed on all fours and turned, locking my sights on my adversary and lunging again. The ghoul was a fraction too slow this time and my muzzle should have closed around its scrawny throat. But something else crashed into me and the ghoul ran.

  Our momentum sent us tumbling across the floor in a ball of tangled limbs and slavering jaws. Confused, I rose to my hind legs to find it was Varin who’d attacked.

  “What the hell are you doing?” I roared at him. The shadow dog kept his eyes on me but didn’t even growl, his lips slack and the muscles in his face relaxed. His fangs were not bared in the usual bestial warning he’d have given in a fight, unlike my own.

  Since his body language showed no signs of aggression, I turned away from the barghest and started after the ghoul. But I’d barely gone through the doorway when Varin leapt again, pinning me to the ground.

  “For fuck’s sake! It’s getting away, you dumb mutt!”

  I wriggled beneath the spirit’s paws but he was the stronger of the two of us, and my struggles proved futile. There was nothing I could do other than watch the ghoul flee the grounds. But I’d seen it off at least. If it was frightened enough then maybe it would abandon this hunt in favour of easier human prey.

  Only when the ghoul had disappeared from sight did Varin let me up.

  “Dumb mutt,” I growled again. “What did you do that for? I could have taken it. Now it’s free to feed on whatever else it fancies. What if the Slayers trained it to do their dirty work for them, killing vampires while they sleep and the like, huh? What then?”

  The barghest snorted and turned away, padding back up to the room where Selina slept. I had to admit, the idea that the Slayers might be weaponising ghouls seemed pretty far-fetched, and I wasn’t really sure where it came from. But there was something weird going on. If that was the same ghoul from the caves then it was following us for a reason. And I was certain it was nothing good.

  That night, we made another kill before continuing on, taking more animals in a bid to keep out of the Slayers’ sights. I stayed in my hybrid form while we hunted, revelling in my lupine might a little longer. It was with great reluctance that I returned to my human shape.

  Grisly bits of the cow surrounded me like a bloody ritual circle, fuelling the transformation as my fur receded and my muzzle ground back into my skull. Then I gorged myself, replenishing my energy and storing enough for the trials that lay ahead.

  “That ghoul was back,” I said, the moment I’d swallowed my last, juicy mouthful.

  “The same one? How can you be so sure?” Zee asked.

  “I can’t,” I admitted. “But my gut tells me it’s the same ghoul I saw yesterday.”

  “A ghoul out in the day?” Lady Sarah frowned. “That is unusual for them.”

  “That’s what I thought. I figured they were like vampires and did all their hunting at night.”

  “They are not bound to the darkness as we are, but they do prefer it to sunlight.”

  “And what did the ghoul do this time?” Selina asked. “Did it attack?”

  “It looked like it was about to so I ambushed it from in here, but then your crazy familiar decided to attack me!”

  Selina nodded. “Whatever the ghoul wants from us, it’s more than just flesh. I think we’ll see it again before this journey’s through.”

  “Probably,” Zee said. “But there is nothing more to be done about it tonight. Let us be on our way.”

  I wasn’t happy leaving it there. If I’d been on my own, I’d have tried to track down the ghoul myself and force it to give me some answers. But I wasn’t on my own and Zee wasn’t about to lose sight of the quest he’d been given. It looked like nothing was going to distract him from smuggling me out of the country, no matter the obstacles we faced along the way. And deep down I knew he was right. I just didn’t like leaving another potential foe at large, regardless of whether the others considered the ghoul a threat or not.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  A Ghoulish Warning

  It was in fact two more days before the ghoul turned up again. Zee assured us we were only one more night away from reaching the coast when we stopped to rest that morning, though I’d yet to sense any proof of that.

  We’d fo
und another empty building isolated from the rest of the human world, but this one was in better shape than the farmhouse and a ‘for sale’ sign proclaimed mankind hadn’t completely given up on this property. They obviously still thought it had some worth, despite the length of time it had been on the market. A strong smell of damp indicated it had been years since the place was lived in, and beneath that was the scent of stale blood and death. Something terrible had happened there.

  The vampires were wary of people coming back to the house while the sun was up, so we made do with one of several outbuildings as shelter from the sun. It was dry enough for the two of us with living bodies to sleep in and would keep us out of the elements, and the ground outside was soft enough to dig temporary graves for Zee and Lady Sarah. If any potential buyers did come to look round they were likely to view the house itself first, giving us more time to slip away and return to the vampires later.

  Lady Sarah’s upper lip raised with distaste at the hole we’d dug. “Are you sure there are no alternatives?”

  “None that are likely to be undisturbed all day,” Zee answered. “This is the best we’re going to get.”

  “Very well,” she said. “But it had better be only this one day. If we have to sleep in the ground again, I want a coffin to keep the soil off.”

  “I can’t say I’ve ever been keen on the feel of it in my mouth or nostrils either, but it’s a necessary sacrifice. Would you rather the Slayers found us?”

  “Of course not,” she hissed, climbing into the grave. “I have suffered my share of discomforts over the years. No one can say I have ever placed lives or safety above my own personal needs. Do you take me for a selfish fool?” Icy orbs glowered up at him.

  I held my breath, expecting Zee to lose his temper again. But he surprised me with a bow of his head. “My apologies, Lady. I meant no offence.”

  She didn’t deign to answer. I tried to catch Selina’s eye but she was careful to avoid my gaze this time. She probably didn’t want to risk doing anything to cause a full-blown argument, and I wondered if there was still an echo of sibling rivalry between them. I thought I saw a hint of anger and disapproval in her eyes, like she was annoyed with her sister for complaining about a situation that was less than ideal for any of us, but I couldn’t be sure. Maybe it was just my imagination.