by Amy Cross
“Your presence here is -”
“Go look after Izzy,” O'Malley replied. “That's what you want, isn't it? So go do it. I need to make a few calls.”
“Your presence here is -”
“My presence here is necessary,” O'Malley said firmly, before turning and making his way up the stairs. “Increasingly so, as it turns out.” Reaching the top of the stairs, he glanced back down at the Sentinel and saw that it was already making its way across the hallway. After a moment, however, he looked up at the ceiling and spotted something crawling through the shadows, and a faint smile crossed his lips. “When the subtle approach fails, perhaps it's time to be more direct.”
Chapter Forty
“Why did I get attacked in a shopping mall?”
Turning, John saw Izzy standing in the doorway, as if she wasn't quite ready to enter his office yet.
“Isobel, why don't I -”
“Just answer the question.”
He paused, as Rita stepped into view behind Izzy.
“Don't even think of asking her to leave,” Izzy said firmly. “She's my friend and she was attacked too, so she has a right to know.”
“Maybe this should be just you and him,” Rita whispered. “I can wait in the -”
“Stay,” she replied, keeping her eyes fixed on her father. “I want you here.” She paused for a moment. “Answer the question, Dad. Why were Rita and I attacked in the mall?”
He swallowed hard. “I honestly don't know.”
“Okay, let's try another one. Who attacked us? It looked like two girls from school, but their necks were broken and they didn't seem like themselves.”
“Most likely,” John replied, “they were killed earlier in the day and their bodies were used as proxies.”
“By who?”
“By...” He stared at her for a moment. “Isobel, there are some things you really don't need to know. Just -”
“Don't you dare!” she hissed, with tears of anger in her eyes as she stepped into the room. Looking at the desk, she saw a pile of books and other documents. “I can learn the rest later,” she told him, “but right now, I want to know what's happening here and now, to me. I want to know why my friend and I were almost killed at the mall, and I want to know why there's a tall thing with a glowing head following me about.”
“The Sentinel appears to have deviated from its programing,” John replied. “I asked O'Malley about it, and he's not sure what caused that to happen, but for some reason Sentinel N3 seems to have decided its primary objective is to keep you safe.”
“That's... nice of it,” Izzy muttered. “Is it, like, a robot?”
“Not really. Maybe.” He paused. “It's ancient vampire technology. The original Sentinels were created to observe wars, but eventually they rebelled and had to be destroyed. Against the advice of many, a second Sentinel program was initiated, creating a wave of Gothosian sentries. Think of a Sentinel as a robot made out of organic body parts.”
“Sounds like a normal person,” Rita pointed out.
“You want the truth?” John asked. “Fine. A Sentinel is basically created using dead warriors from the old war. Their corpses are reconditioned and repackaged, and their original brains are used as the basis for a new life-form. Elements of the original remain, but a Sentinel is effectively a war machine.”
“That's gross,” Rita said with a shudder. “Cool, but gross.”
“What's it doing here?” Izzy asked.
“There's a certain situation,” John replied. “The details are murky, even I don't know everything, but according to O'Malley, a powerful vampire is hiding somewhere near the town. The Sentinels have been tracking him for quite some time now, and they've finally cornered him here. Now they won't let any vampires in or out until they've neutralized the threat.”
“Neutralized?” Izzy asked. “You mean they want to kill someone?”
“I think it might be best to let them get on with things.”
“So who attacked us?”
John opened his mouth to reply, before making his way around the desk. “There are various possibilities, but -”
“Such as?”
He paused. “There's no reason why this vampire, whoever he is, would reach out and attack anyone. To do so would be madness. The Sentinels believe he's wounded, and that he's here because he wants to keep out of sight while he recovers. For him to then turn around and arrange any kind of attack is... Well, it beggars belief. Either he's lost his mind, or there's still something we don't know about him.”
“It sucks, doesn't it?” she asked, her eyes narrowing a little with anger. “Not knowing something, I mean. It's really frustrating.”
“Yes,” he replied. “It is.”
“Well, we were attacked,” she told him. “They kept asking us to go to a party. What does that mean?”
“If a vampire had taken control of their bodies,” he explained, “it would struggle to animate them, especially from such a distance, and especially if it was controlling two at once. To simplify matters, he'd most likely use words and phrases that were still fairly active in what was left of their brains. He might also have been trying to trick you, hoping you wouldn't realize something was wrong.”
“Violet and Annabel looked soulless at the mall tonight,” Rita pointed out, “and their eyes were dead and almost empty, like zombies. So yeah, actually it was kinda convincing.”
“They wanted me to go to the forest,” Izzy told her father.
“Then that would appear to be where the vampire is hiding.”
“But where in the -”
“The mines,” Rita said suddenly.
Izzy turned to her.
“Something's living in the mines,” Rita continued, taking a step forward and looking over at John. “I've seen them, they're not human. They're thin and bald, and their eyes are kinda dark and sunk into their skulls. They look like... I dunno, like cancer patients dressed up for Hallowe'en. At first I just figured they were having an orgy.”
“Cold-bloods,” John replied, as a shudder passed through his body.
“Explain,” Izzy said firmly.
“Right now, we just -”
“Explain!”
He sighed. “There are warm-blooded vampires, such as us and O'Malley, and then there are cold-blooded vampires. The cold-bloods tend to look less human. The two types of vampire usually don't mix very well, but it sounds as if this powerful vampire, whoever he is, has managed to enlist some help while he's in hiding. How many were down there?”
“Two,” Rita replied. “Or maybe...” She frowned. “The last time I was poking about, I didn't really see the thing properly. It seemed different, though. And when I got out of the tunnel, it stopped chasing me, like it didn't dare come outside.”
“There'd be no reason for a normal vampire to stop like that,” John replied ,”unless...” He paused for a moment. “Unless you actually encountered the master vampire itself, and it's too badly wounded to contemplate emerging fully from its hiding place.”
“You think I met the big boss?” Rita asked, her eyes widening with shock. “That's cool and horrible at the same time.”
“This is bad,” John muttered, heading over to the pile of books and sorting through them, searching for one particular title. “The fact that these vampires are being so active, almost drawing attention to themselves, is very troubling. Then there was...” He stopped for a moment, staring at the books. “The body of that man, the Daniels man, had two puncture wounds on the neck,” he added. “He must have stumbled into the mines and ended up having his blood drained to make the master vampire stronger.”
“Well,” Rita said with a faint smile, “not everyone can manage an ice-cool, skin-of-their-teeth escape.”
“But why would they want to take you, Isobel?” John asked, with fear in his eyes. “That part makes no sense at all. It's almost as if the cold-bloods are goading us, but for what purpose? Their master needs to rest, he needs to avoid drawing atten
tion to himself.”
“He's blown that,” Izzy pointed out.
“I need to confer with O'Malley,” John continued, hurrying to the door. “I need to -”
“I'm coming with you,” Izzy told him.
“No!”
“Dad, I -”
“Stay here!” he said firmly, stepping out into the hallway before turning to him. “I've told you as much as I know, Isobel, but now I have to go speak to O'Malley. He knows a lot more than I do, but it'll slow us down if we have to stop and explain everything to you. Wait in here, take a look at those books if you want to learn more about general vampire history, and I'll be back as soon as I know more!”
“But Dad -”
Before she could get another word out, he slid the doors shut, leaving Izzy and Rita alone in the office.
“Asshole!” Izzy hissed.
“He might have a point about slowing him down,” Rita replied, taking one of the heavy books and starting to flick through the pages. “This stuff seems kinda fascinating.” Stopping at one of the pages for a moment, she saw what appeared to be some kind of map, with place-names that made no sense to her at all. On the next page, she found a time-line along with various drawings of faces, although once again she had no idea what she was really seeing, and the text was written in a completely unfamiliar language. Turning to yet another page, she saw a picture of what appeared to be a vast, never-ending library. “It's like there's this whole other history,” she pointed out, “that's been hidden away from the rest of the world. I mean, you've gotta admit that it's kinda interesting.”
“I just want to know what's going on right now,” Izzy muttered, picking up one of the books and opening it for a moment, before setting it down with a sigh. “There'll be time for history later.”
“Do you know how to read this language?” Rita asked.
“Not a clue,” Izzy replied, heading over to the other side of the room and looking at the framed photo of her mother. “I wish I could ask her about it all. I get these flashes of insight sometimes, as if the race memory is kicking in, but it's not enough. I need more.”
“Yeah, well,” Rita said, looking at another page in the book before glancing over at her, “I get the feeling it's gonna take a while before -”
She froze suddenly, her eyes fixed on the shadows in the far corner.
“Before what?” Izzy asked.
Rita hesitated, before seeing it again. “That shadow,” she said cautiously. “It just moved slightly.”
Izzy turned to look. “Where?”
“There,” Rita replied, pointing. “I swear, something just -”
Before she could finish, she saw it again, and this time Izzy took a step back as they both spotted a figure slipping down from the ceiling, as if trying to stay within the shadow's confines.
“It's one of the things from the mine,” Rita stammered, with the heavy book still in her hands. “It's one of the orgy folk, or whatever the hell they are.”
“What's it doing in my house?” Izzy asked, trying not to panic.
“Let's go ask your father,” Rita replied, leading her toward the door. “We can just -”
Suddenly the creature lunged at them, hissing and baring its fangs as it emerged from the shadows. Instinctively, Rita swung the book toward the creature's face, sending it crashing against the desk.
Forcing the doors open, Izzy pulled Rita through and then slid them back again. As she held the handles, she felt the creature on the other side, furiously trying to get out. A moment later, however, something slammed into the door from inside the office, and the wood started to split.
“What the hell's going on down there?” John shouted, hurrying down the stairs.
“It's one of those things!” Izzy yelled, before letting out a faint cry as the door cracked again. Stepping back, she watched in horror as the door was battered from the other side, with the wooden panels starting to bulge from the frame.
“That's impossible,” John told her, while at the same time grabbing her arm to pull her away. “There's no way they'd be so bold as to attack us in our own home.”
“I saw them too,” Rita replied, stepping away from the door. “I think it might have dropped down from the ceiling.”
“No,” John said firmly, “you're wrong, both of you! There's no chance that -”
Before he could finish, one side of the door suddenly cracked down the middle, allowing the creature on the other side to lean through and start pulling the rest of the pieces away. Its dark eyes filled with fury, the cold-blood bared long, bloodied fangs as it snapped at Izzy and then slammed its shoulder once again into the door.
“Now do you believe us?” Rita asked.
“Go to your room,” John stammered.
“Dad -”
“Go to your room, Isobel! I can -”
Suddenly the creature burst through. Despite its thin, wiry limbs, the cold-blood vampire seemed to easily push the remains of the door aside as it lunged toward John, shrieking with its mouth wide-open. Biting at his neck, the creature missed by inches, and John immediately grabbed its shoulders and turned, slamming it against the wall even as if hissed and screamed.
“Run!” he shouted to Izzy. “Both of you! Get out of -”
His voice was cut off as the creature pushed back at him. Stumbling, John dropped to the floor and the creature landed on his chest, snarling and – in the process – revealing two long, sharp fangs that seemed to jut further than ever from its pale gums. Just as it tried to bite John's neck, however, Izzy grabbed the cold-blood from behind and tried hauling it back, and a moment later Rita grabbed its arm and tried to help.
The creature turned and hissed at them both, giving John enough time to reach up and grab its throat.
“It's at times like this,” John gasped, slamming the cold-blood down against the floor, “that I wish I'd kept my fangs. Maybe I -”
Before he could finish, a second creature slammed into him from behind, sending him crashing into the wall.
“Dad!” Izzy yelped, rushing to help but only managing a few steps before the second creature swiped her away. As she clattered across the floor and bumped into the bottom of the stairs, she let out a pained gasp, but she immediately got to her feet and looked back over to where John was being swamped by the two creatures.
“Take one of these,” Rita said, unhooking a knife from her belt and sliding it toward Izzy, before taking another knife. “I think -”
Suddenly the first creature lunged at her, spinning her around before she got a chance to use the knife. She let out a scream as the blade instead sliced into her own arm, and then she dropped down to the floor and let out a cry of pain.
“Rita!” Izzy yelled running over to her and seeing the knife's handle sticking out, just above Rita's elbow.
“Help your father!” Rita gasped, as they both turned and saw John fending off the two creatures.
“Get up here!” O'Malley shouted from the top of the stairs. “Izzy, hurry!”
Turning, Izzy saw him gesturing for them to join him, while the Sentinel was hurrying down to the hallway.
“The Sentinel can deal with them,” O'Malley continued, “but you have to get out of the way first!”
“Come on,” Izzy said, helping Rita up and leading her toward the stairs. After a moment she felt something hot on her hands, and she saw that there was a lot of blood leaking from Rita's wounded arm. “Are you -”
Before she could get another word out, she heard a hideous, shrieking scream from the other side of the hallway. She turned and saw the two creatures were now attacking the Sentinel, which had managed to grab one of them by the throat while repeatedly pushing the other back.
“Dad?” Izzy shouted, spotting John's crumpled form on the floor.
“He'll be fine!” O'Malley yelled from the top of the stairs. “Izzy, get up here right now! The Sentinel can hold them back so they can't get to you, but he can't kill them while you're so close! You have to move!”
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“Come on,” Izzy stammered, helping Rita toward the bottom of the stairs.
“Why are they so keen to get to you?” Rita asked, her voice sounding weaker now. “It's like they're obsessed with you!”
“I don't know,” Izzy replied, starting to push her up toward O'Malley, “but I need to get you out of the way. I have to go and help my father.”
“But you heard -”
“I don't care!” she hissed, helping her up a couple more steps. “I can't leave him there!” She supported Rita's weight and helped her to the top step, before pushing her onto the floor next to O'Malley and then turning to go back down.
“Izzy, wait!” O'Malley shouted, trying to grab her arm but not quite managing as she began to hurry down the stairs. “Let the Sentinel take care of it!”
“I can't leave him!” she yelled, seeing that her father still hadn't moved since the creatures had set upon him. “He might be -”
Suddenly she heard a scratching sound from above, and she looked up just in time to see a third creature dropping down from the broken window high above. Stopping halfway up the stairs, she froze for a moment, and the creature landed straight on top of her, sending her thudding down against the steps as she felt sharp nails digging into her neck.
“Help her!” Rita screamed, trying to push O'Malley down the stairs. “What's wrong with you?”
“Wait!” he hissed.
As the creature leaned toward her and bared its fangs, trying to bite her neck, Izzy reached up and grabbed its throat, trying to force it away. No matter how hard she pushed, however, the creature was too strong, and it finally shoved her arms out of the way and lunged at her neck.
Before it could bite, a foot slammed into the side of its head, knocking the entire creature against the wooden bannister that ran up the side of the stairs.
“Come on,” Rita said, grabbing Izzy's hand and trying to pull her up. “These assholes are now -”
Suddenly the creature lunged at them again, knocking Rita out of the way and landing on top of Izzy, who screamed and tried to cover her face. Turning, she felt a set of thin, sharp fingers grabbing her neck from behind. She looked around for some way to fight the cold-blood off, before grabbing one of the railings at the side of the stairs and pulling as hard as she could manage. After a moment, the railing snapped and came loose, and she immediately turned and used it to batter the vampire's face, while Rita tried kicking it from the side.