“A girl should always be prepared.”
“Shut up,” said Melody.
She was even more thorough, and rougher, with Erik. His pile of weapons and assorted weird shit turned out to be even bigger than Natasha’s. Including several guns, three knives, a full surgeon’s kit, a whole bunch of arcane items that Melody was careful to handle only with her fingertips and at arm’s length, and an Aboriginal pointing bone.
“Oh goody,” said Happy. “I’ve always wanted one of those.”
“Hands off, man,” JC said sternly. “You know very well you’re not allowed killing tools.” He nodded to Melody, and she tucked the bone away in one of her inside pockets. She then searched Erik again, and when she finally gave up and stood back, he turned around and smiled at her.
“Thank you. A little rougher next time, perhaps. Still, was it good for you, too?”
Melody kneed him briskly in the groin and walked away. Erik bent painfully forward.
“I do wish people would stop doing that.”
“You’re weird,” said Happy. “And I know weird.” He looked at the pack on Erik’s back. “Melody . . .”
“He can keep his cat computer,” said Melody. “I don’t want anything to do with the nasty thing.”
“Maybe you should take a few pills, Happy,” Natasha said sweetly. “Oh yes, we know all about your little adventures in chemistry. You should really be working for us. We don’t have to hide our vices, at the Crowley Project; we glory in them. They make us stronger.” And then she looked at JC, and Kim. “Although there are limits. What is that doing here, JC?”
“She’s with me,” said JC.
“With you?” Natasha looked like she wanted to spit. “And you have the brass balls to look down on us? Such relationships have always been strictly forbidden! You know that! The living and the dead cannot join together! It’s . . . unnatural!”
“So it’s all right to eat ghosts,” said JC. “But not love them?”
“Yes! Exactly!” said Natasha. “Pervert!”
“Ectophile!” said Erik. “I may puke.”
“That’s enough,” said JC, and immediately Natasha and Erik looked away, unable to meet his gaze, even muffled behind sunglasses.
And then everyone on the platform looked round sharply, as the sound of something large and heavy approaching blasted out of the far tunnel-mouth. The deafening roar drew steadily nearer, building and building until the platform itself began to shake and tremble beneath their feet.
“What the hell . . . ?” said Melody.
“It’s not a train,” said Happy. “Doesn’t sound even a bit like a train.”
“Could be another hell train,” said JC, again moving automatically to put his body between Kim and danger.
“I don’t think so,” she said.
And then a great dark tidal wave of crimson blood slammed out of the tunnel-mouth, pouring into the station and swamping the rails. More blood gushed out of the other tunnel-mouth, and when the two crimson waves met in the middle of the station, they pounded together so hard the blood flew up to slap the ceiling. More blood came pouring in, blasting out of both tunnel-mouths at once as though it was under tremendous pressure, forced on by more behind. Gallons and gallons of the dark red blood poured in, as though an ocean of blood had found an opening into the everyday world. The stench was appalling, filling the air. The level of the blood rose quickly, lapping against the side of the platform. By the time they had all gathered their senses enough to start backing away, the blood had already overrun the edge of the platform and spilled across the yellow safety line. And still more blood came rushing in, from both sides at once. JC turned to the exit, only to step quickly aside as a great rush of blood surged through the archway, spilling across the platform. Everyone backed quickly away.
Kim hovered in mid air, keeping her feet well above the rising level of blood; but the others had no such escape. The blood was already up to their ankles and rising fast. The spoiled-carrion stench of the stuff was overpowering. Melody glared at Happy.
“Is this real? Or another illusion?”
“Of course it’s real, it’s already past my ankles! Can’t you smell it? This is extremely real blood; though I hate to think where it’s all coming from.”
“Not just blood,” said Erik. He dipped a fingertip into the rising blood and sucked it thoughtfully. “This is human blood.”
“How can you be so sure?” said Melody.
“Trust me,” said Natasha. “You really don’t want to know.”
“I think you can forget about rescuing any of those poor lost commuters,” said Erik. “I wonder what it’s done with the bones . . .”
“Look, this blood really is rising very quickly,” said Happy. “If we don’t find a way out of here soon, we’re going to be swimming in the stuff. Until it reaches the ceiling . . .”
JC looked at him, then at Natasha. “You’re telepaths. Our enemy has to be behind this, controlling the blood. So, working together, could you disrupt his control?”
“Not a hope in hell,” said Happy. “We have to find a way out of here!”
“Keep calm, man,” said JC. “Panic never solved anything.”
“It’s always worked for me!” said Happy.
JC produced his monkey’s paw and activated the Hand of Glory. The others stared at the thing, fascinated.
“Where the hell did you get that?” said Melody, genuinely shocked.
“Yes, JC,” said Natasha. “Where did a Goody Two-shoes like you get hold of a forbidden artefact like that?”
“Could you get me one, too?” said Erik.
“A Hand of Glory can reveal hidden doors and exits,” said JC, waving the Hand this way and that. “But unfortunately . . . it seems there aren’t any. What you see is what you get; and they’re all full of blood.”
“I need some of my pills,” said Happy.
“Could I have some, too?” said Erik.
Melody lost her footing and fell, slipping under the rising blood. Happy surged forward, blood splashing up against his chest. He thrust an unerring hand beneath the surface, grabbed Melody, and hauled her back up onto her feet again. She clung to him, hacking and coughing, soaked in blood. Happy held her until she got her second wind, then she pushed herself away from him, and he let her go.
“Thanks,” she said roughly.
“Try not to be so sentimental” said Happy. “Oh God, I’m going to smell of this blood for months, I know it.”
“Hold it!” Natasha said abruptly. “Listen . . .” They all stood very still, listening. The roar of the inrushing blood seemed to swamp everything else.
“What is it?” said JC.
“There’s something in here with us,” said Natasha, looking quickly around her. “Can you feel it, Happy?”
“Yes,” he said slowly. “There’s something . . . in the blood. Something hungry.”
They all turned this way and that, but the dark red surface of the blood was all but impenetrable. JC bent forward and stuck his face right next to the surface. And perhaps it was his new eyes, but he thought he saw large dark shapes, moving in the blood . . .
“Get back-to-back!” Erik yelled suddenly. “Don’t let them sneak up on us!”
“What is it?” said Melody. “You think we’re under attack by sharks?”
“No! Vampires! There are vampires swimming in the blood!”
As though in answer to his naming them, several of the creatures leapt out of the blood, showing themselves to their new prey. The vampires of the blood ocean had shape-shifted into a new hunting form, long sleek shapes with all of a shark’s brute power. They had great lashing tails, pale grey scales, and two long arms with clawed hands, to stuff food into the wide mouths that took up most of their blunt heads. They had flat black eyes, without a single human emotion in them, and their mouths held row upon row of cruel, jagged teeth.
One went for JC, and he hit it in the head. It immediately sank back into the blood and disapp
eared. Melody opened fire with her machine-pistol, and the heavy bullets blew great chunks out of the vampire nearest her; but the wounds healed almost immediately. The vampire sharks drew back a little, considering, as they circled the small knot of people. They swam easily through the blood, as though they’d been born to it, and JC wondered briefly where the Intruder had found such foul creatures. In what bloody alien sea were such things spawned . . . ?
“Before anybody asks, yes, they are quite definitely real!” said Happy. He seemed to be on the edge of hysteria. “I can feel their bloodlust in my head. I’m getting brief flashes of their thoughts, and I do wish I weren’t. They were brought here from Somewhere Else by the Intruder. It’s another sign of how powerful it’s becoming.”
“It’s planning something,” said JC. “And it must see us as a real threat to its purposes if it’s trying this hard to stop us.”
“Really,” said Happy. “How about that? Colour me surprised. Bloody do something!”
A vampire shark reared up out of the blood, its mouth stretched wide, its clawed hands reaching for Melody. It was almost upon her before she brought her pistol to bear and opened fire. Once again, the bullets slammed into its flesh, blowing whole chunks away. But this time the wounds didn’t heal, and the creature fell helplessly back into the blood, thrashing wildly as more bullets tore into it. Others of its kind surged forward to attack the wounded creature and feast on its flesh. The bloody sea churned and frothed. It was past everyone’s waist now, and still rising.
“Wooden bullets,” said Melody, breathlessly. “I changed magazines. I’ve always believed in being prepared, too.”
“How many wooden bullets have you got?” said JC.
“That was most of them,” Melody admitted.
Another vampire shark reared up, exploding into the air and splashing blood right into Natasha’s face. The creature’s clawed hands slammed down onto her shoulders, the mouth opening wide enough to bite off her whole head. JC spun round and punched the thing in the side. Ribs cracked and broke under the blow, and the creature fell back from Natasha. JC hit it again, in the head, and felt as much as heard the vampire’s thick skull collapse under the blow. The vampire fell back, mouth stretched wide in agony, and Happy deftly tossed a handful of pills into its mouth. The vampire’s jaws snapped closed automatically, then the whole long body convulsed, and it thrashed helplessly in the blood, as the other vampires turned on it. Natasha shot JC a grateful smile.
“You saved my life . . .”
“I helped,” said Happy.
“You saved me, JC. I won’t forget that.”
Kim sensed a moment coming on and quickly intervened. “Hello? Still lots of vampires all around you, and the blood is rising! Get away, you. Shoo.”
A vampire snapped at her foot, dangling directly above the blood, and its jaws slammed harmlessly together.
JC glared about him, thinking hard. The vampire sharks were still circling, though at a slightly wider radius, made wary by their failures. Why were they so determined to attack?
“Happy, these vampires are swimming in blood. Any idea why they’re so keen to taste ours?”
“Apparently there’s nothing like the real thing,” said Happy. “The need to hunt and feed from the source is built into them at the genetic level. I really think we need to get out of here, JC.”
“I’m working on it!”
JC’s gaze fell upon the far tunnel-mouth, three-quarters full of blood. No way out that way . . . but it did give him a sudden inspiration.
“Listen,” he said urgently. “I fought and banished a whole army of demons on a hell train, and once it was empty, the train let Kim and me off at this station. The train then disappeared. Vanished. It could still be out there, somewhere in the Underground system . . . If we could summon it back here, maybe we could use it to escape!”
There was a pause, as everyone considered that.
“Have you got any other ideas?” said Happy.
“It could work!” said JC.
“Yeah, and monkeys could fly out of my butt writing Shakespeare’s plays as they went!” said Natasha.
“It’s our only chance to get out of here,” said JC.
“It’s a great idea!” said Erik. “I love this idea! I want to marry this idea and have its babies! But could we please get a move on because the blood really is getting very close to my chin now!”
“Serves you right for being such a short-arse,” said Melody. “JC, how the hell are we supposed to control a hell train? One that presumably works for, and takes its instructions from, the same Intruder that’s trying to drown us all in blood?”
“I’d bet Happy’s and Natasha’s minds against a hell train any day,” said JC.
The two telepaths looked at each other.
“Might work,” said Happy.
“Agents of the Institute and the Project, working together in common cause, against a common enemy?” said Natasha. “If word of this ever gets out, I’ll never hear the end of it. Still, needs must when the Devil vomits in your shoes. Let’s do it. But I want a piece of the Intruder just as badly as you do. If we get out of this alive, we go after it together. Fair shares for all. Yes?”
“Works for me,” said JC.
Happy and Natasha forced their way through the blood, to stand facing each other. The vampire sharks were still circling, drawing steadily closer as hunger drove them on. Erik stabbed at one of them with his pointing bone, and the creature immediately rolled over onto its back and sank beneath the waves. Blood churned and frothed around it as the others moved in. Melody gaped at Erik.
“How did you get that bone out of my pocket?”
“Heh-heh,” said Erik.
“We can call the hell train,” Happy said to Natasha. “But will it come? I don’t think we have the power to compel it, even working together.”
“You want power, I got power,” said Erik. “Or rather, my marvellous machine does. Excuse me . . .”
Another vampire shark blasted up out of the blood, rising high into the air to crash down on the group from above. Erik shot it down with his pointing bone, and it was already dead in mid air when JC backhanded the body away. It landed some distance away, and several of the creatures went after it.
“How can they still be hungry?” said Melody.
“Flesh is good, but it doesn’t satisfy,” Happy said absently. “They want blood. Our blood. Hot and spurting, right from the source.”
“We’ve killed enough of them! Why don’t they take the hint and go away?”
“Feel free to ask them,” said JC. “Erik, get your damned machine out.”
“Way ahead of you,” Erik said smugly.
He eased the cat-head computer out of his back-pack. The pack was soaked in blood, but the machine was untouched. Erik held it carefully out before him, above the surface of the rising blood, and turned it on. The three Institute agents watched with varying degrees of horror and disgust as the cat head opened its eyes wide and howled miserably.
“It’s crying,” said Happy. “The whole thing, not only the cat head. It’s alive and crying all the time.”
Erik smiled modestly, as though he’d been paid a compliment.
“I do good work. Now, pay attention. Happy, Natasha, reach out with your thoughts and locate our elusive hell train, and the computer will boost your strength, for a time. Make you powerful enough to compel the train to come here and pick us up. But don’t take too long, or you’ll burn out the box. Or yourselves. We’re working in unknown territory here. Come on, come on, shake something useful. You don’t want the nice cat head to explode, do you?”
“Ignore him,” said Natasha. “I do, as much as possible.”
The two telepaths leaned forward until their foreheads were almost touching, and their thoughts jumped out and meshed together, joining with the cold machine thoughts to form a single gestalt consciousness, far greater than the sum of its parts. The wildly moving parts of the machine blazed up, blinding
ly bright, and Happy and Natasha and the cat head howled together like a crazed animal. Erik looked thoughtfully at his machine and wondered if he truly understood what he’d created.
Three minds in one reached out through the miles of underground tunnels and quickly found the hell train, hiding in a side tunnel that didn’t properly exist. It screamed briefly as they took hold of it, and pulled, and the hell train erupted out of the far tunnel-mouth, pushing a great bow wave of blood ahead of it. Vampire sharks made harsh grunting sounds as the train ran them over and crushed them under its great weight. The hell train ploughed more of them under as it slammed though the blood, finally slowing to a halt beside the platform. The blood rose half-way up the cars, steaming and boiling where it touched the steel sides.
The car doors nearest the telepaths jerked open. Blood immediately gushed into the empty space. JC led the way forward, broaching the still-rising blood with his chest, forcing his way through the sheer weight of it. The others pressed in close behind him. Kim drifted above the surface, murmuring encouraging words and keeping an eye out for attacking vampires. By the time all of them had struggled through the doors, Erik carrying his computer on top of his head, the car was half-full of blood. The doors moved jerkily forward, tried to close, then stopped abruptly. JC and Melody grabbed a door each and forced them together. One last vampire shark threw itself against the closed doors, and they shuddered under the impact. The vampire fell away, still snapping its great jaws. The blood surged up, rising above the door, as though angry at being cheated of its prey.
JC turned to Happy and Natasha. “Right, we’re all in. Get us the hell out of here!”
The train surged forward, throwing them all off-balance. The blood in the car rolled heavily back and forth. And then the train picked up speed, driven on by the three joined minds. The blood finally filled the station, but the train was off and moving, plunging into the tunnel, through the blood and out into the darkness beyond.
* * *
The train roared on through the dark, the car lurching heavily from side to side as the blood slowly drained away. The five agents waited until the seats reappeared, then collapsed onto them and relaxed as best they could. Happy and Natasha sat shoulder to shoulder, the same radiant expression on their faces. Melody watched them warily, her machine-pistol on her lap. Erik cuddled his computer on his lap and spoke comforting nonsense to the cat head, which ignored him. Kim couldn’t actually sit down, as such, but she did her best, floating a few inches above the seat next to JC. He smiled, to show he appreciated the effort. They were all soaked in blood, to varying degrees, and the smell was appalling. Melody frowned suddenly.
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