“Now, I’ll just go-ah take care of your friend,” Rachel heard Constantino say as his voice faded in the distance.
As soon as Constantino was out of sight Rachel turned to Sarah, but the girl had gone into a catatonic state and didn’t seem to be aware of her surroundings. She didn’t react or acknowledge Rachel in any way, her eyes glazed over as if seeing nothing. Rachel’s heart went out to the poor girl who now seemed to be in severe shock with the potential for paralysis. But without any immediate means of helping Sarah, Rachel shifted her focus to finding a way to escape. She noticed a sharp edge on one of the iron cell bars. She turned around and started working the leather straps that bound her hands behind her back and forth across it. Soon, the sawing action had cut through the straps on her wrists and they fell to ground. Rachel then began trying to untie the tight straps around her ankles…hoping to free herself before Constantino returned.
***
John Stanic lifted his head from the hard floor with images of the day’s horrible events flashing behind his eyes. He had to do something fast. His stomach twisted, ached and burned as he thought about Rachel. He ran his hand across the left side of his head and felt an open gash about four inches long. Blood covered his hands and face and pooled on the ground below his head.
The room was spinning, but he had to stand. He managed to get to his feet, staggering two or three steps toward the castle wall for balance, then leaned against the rough hewn stone for support. He squinted, opening and closing his eyes, trying to focus on the room as it spun by. He could see a silver dollar moon glowing brightly. It hung low in the sky, just beneath the dark, rolling thunderheads. The rain was falling harder and the wind had picked up, creating a deep and ghost-like moan that reverberated through the corridors.
The sky lit up with jagged veins of lightning and a booming snap of thunder followed, shaking the castle floor.
Stanic needed time to clear his head. He was dizzy, and his thoughts were clouded, but the last thing he remembered was hearing Rachel’s piercing cry for help. He stumbled toward the demolished trap door that led into the basement, panic seizing in his chest as he kneeled down and saw only darkness below.
***
Valentine held Anna’s hand as they made their way from her room in search of his friends. They had just passed her bedroom doorway when Valentine heard a booming explosion from somewhere in the castle below them. He led the way down the stairs and stopped in the enormous foyer, watching and listening for Constantino.
He looked out the large bay windows at the full moon shining through the wisps of passing clouds and felt his strength increasing by the second.
Anna let go of his hand and looked up at him with a peculiar look in her eyes. “I have something I need to tell you,” she said, showing obvious signs of urgency on her face.
“Yes, love?” Valentine whispered, darting a glance down the corridor for any sign of an approaching Constantino.
Anna opened her mouth, exposing long, pointed fangs dripping with saliva. “You shouldn’t have let me out…when the moon is full” Her black eyes gave away her intentions just as she dove onto Valentine’s throat.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Stanic needed to find Rachel…and fast. As he began to descend the spiral staircase, heading back into the cellar, his legs felt like rubber and his head throbbed in pain. He stumbled down the steep iron stairway, reached the bottom of the stairwell and walked into the torture chamber. He saw Rachel, now locked inside of the iron cell. His head wound was bleeding down onto his face, and the mixture of blood and sweat bit into his eyes…blurring his vision.
But not so much that he didn’t see Constantino rounding on him, charging out from the shadows.
Adrenaline spiked in Stanic’s body long enough to give him a much needed moment of clarity. He raised his right hand and pointed toward Constantino’s chest, felt the energy surge through his body and threw open his hand with fingers spread wide.
The bolt of energy connected with Constantino, blasting him off his feet and across the room. He landed on his back and slid backward across the floor until he collided hard with the castle’s wall.
The jolt of energy also caught Stanic off guard in his weakened condition, knocking him backward. His head made loud contact with the rock floor and everything went black again.
***
Rachel watched in horror as the thunder again shook the castle’s walls, rumbling the ground beneath her feet. She sensed the hatred that had consumed Constantino’s mind. She could also feel the pure love driving Stanic forward. She was, however, sensing a third person’s aggressive thoughts…from close by.
Both Constantino and Stanic lay unconscious on the castle floor, but she could still feel a growing rage.
She turned, an unsettling fear twisted in her stomach as she stared at Sarah. Suddenly, everything became clear.
Sarah stood in the corner, facing the cell wall and looking down at her feet. She jerked her head in Rachel’s direction, now looking over her shoulder. Long blonde hair wrapped across her face, then slid to the side revealing the rage that had overcome her. Her eyes locked onto Rachel’s like a wild animal…cornered and ready to strike.
Her mouth opened with sharp, white fangs creeping just into view. Rachel sensed the hatred and aggression amplify in the young girl’s mind. Then Sarah lifted her arms out in front of her and began to walk toward her across the small cell.
***
Valentine saw anger in Anna Stelino’s eyes right before she lunged for this neck. He turned sideways just in time, sending her falling forward and past him.
“You don’t understand.” she pleaded, straightening as she stared back at Valentine. Her eyes cold and steely with determination. “But you will!”
Anna charged again, this time from just a few feet away. But as she did, Valentine’s body flashed, veins of blue light encircled him just as he vanished into thin air.
Anna continued her attack, running right through the place he’d been standing, her head colliding with the castle’s uneven rock wall. She turned and looked back at Valentine, dazed, blood dripping down from the center of her forehead into her eyes and down the bridge of her nose.
Valentine pulled a stake from the long pocket on the back of his recon suit and, in one continuous motion pulled the mallet from his belt, raising it high into the air. He paused with the mallet held high above, looking down on Anna with sorrow and pain weighing on his broken heart.
Then he brought the heavy mallet down, full force, driving the stake deep into Anna’s chest.
She dropped to her knees, looking up at her love with tears sliding from her beautiful, brown eyes, and with blood spattered across her face and whispered, “I’m sorry...”
And then she turned to ash.
***
Rachel backed up against the cell wall, then pulled the crucifix from her recon suit and lifted it up toward the young girl’s eyes. She wasn’t sure what to expect, but Rachel watched in amazement as Sarah cowered back and then turned away. Rachel moved closer, pulling the wooden mallet from her belt.
The girl retreated as far as she could into the corner of the cell, and crouching down, she attempted to block the sight of the silver cross, shielding her eyes with both hands. Then she let out an ear-piercing shrill scream and sprung to her feet…and charged across the cell.
Rachel stepped to the side, kicking the girl’s legs out from under her, sending her flailing to the ground and landing flat on her back with a solid sounding thud. She pressed her boot onto the girl’s throat…then placed the post of the silver cross on Sarah’s chest and slowly drew the mallet back behind her.
But then Rachel paused. She lowered the mallet…unable to do the unthinkable. Sar
ah suddenly arched up and rolled to her side. The quick motion took Rachel by surprise as the girl broke away from her and retreated back into the corner of the cell.
Sarah wrapped her arms around her bare knees and curled her body into a tight ball. She sat shivering against the far wall, sobbing as if going back into a catatonic state. Rachel gripped the crucifix with both hands, holding it up high as she backed away into the far side of the cell, but as she gazed at the young girl, she recognized the fear and innocence in Sarah eyes.
Her power to “hear” the thoughts of others suddenly welled up again in her mind like huge ocean wave. Her thoughts sounded tinny and static laden, coming in and out of reception. She could sense Sarah’s mind shifting from anger to sadness…aggressive to passive… even vengefulness to thankfulness. The sounds of Sarah’s thoughts sounded choppy and distorted in Rachel’s mind but there was no misunderstanding the meaning behind them.
“Afraid…I don’t know what is happening to me…something pulling on my thoughts…never harm Dr. Moore…so glad she is here with me now….don’t want to be alone…”
Rachel understood her feelings and walked to her side without fear. “Sarah, I need to ask you an important question. Is that okay?” Sarah looked up, nodding in agreement.
“Have you been attacked three times?” she asked, eyes narrowing, jaw-line tightening into a deadly serious expression. A tear slid down Sarah’s face as she again nodded her affirmative answer. Then she said, “more than three times.”
Rachel’s heart slowly broke inside her chest as she held the girl in her arms gently stroking her hair.
“What does it mean?” she asked
“It means your life may be different.”
“You mean I’m a monster now! That I’ve become one of them! She sobbed. “Forever changed by those horrible animals? You’re saying my life is over even if we do make it out of this hell hole?”
“We don’t know what it means yet, but it’s going to be okay, honey, I promise,” she whispered. “It’s not your fault, baby…I’ve been attacked, too.”
Sarah jerked her head up to look at Rachel with shock showing in her eyes.
“Yes, I’ve been bitten as well, but you’ve suffered through so much more than I have…and that means our lives may be different. But it does not mean we are evil, not by a long shot. We can figure out a way through this together. Please believe me Sarah, the person you are inside will determine what it means. You have your own free will and you can choose your future. Now, we can choose it together.”
“I don’t want my parents to find out what I’ve become.” Sarah whispered in between sobs. “You have to promise me to keep this a secret….promise me.” Sarah’s eyes rolled back in her head, her shoulders going limp as she slumped to the side. Rachel realized the ordeal had been too much for the young girl and she had gone back into a catatonic state.
***
Constantino blinked several times as he regained consciousness. He looked around, still dazed, wondering what happened. He focused on the man’s unconscious body on the floor in the center of the room, then remembered the blast of energy that had come out of nowhere. He stood, staggered three steps to his left before catching his balance.
He heard the woman scream from inside the cell.
Constantino recalled the man had come back to save the girl but then he’d somehow been knocked unconscious.
He smiled, realizing the man’s futile attempt to save her had failed, then turned toward a row of cabinets along the far side of the room, taking his time to select a suitable instrument from the tools hung there. Finally, he chose an ancient-looking hammer and turned back, walking toward the unconscious man, a diabolical smile spreading across his lips.
“I don’t know how you did it, but it ends for you here tonight, eh.” He stood above Stanic, holding the hammer behind his back like a surprise bouquet of flowers. Then he raised the weapon into the air, bringing it down hard just inside Stanic’s right ear.
Thwack!
Blood splattered in a tight radius around his head.
Constantino looked at the blood-splattered hammer, studying the tool with great care. His smile grew wider as he turned it over, claws down, and raised it up again.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Rachel watched Constantino swing the hammer through the air, but couldn’t watch it connect with John’s head. But she felt the impact in her heart.
Oh, God no! She had to do something fast. Her gun…it had been knocked away in the fall down the stairs. She searched the pockets of her recon suit for the small jar of holy water Valentine had given her and feeling it in her jacket pocket, her pulse went into overdrive. She pulled out the vial, pried off the cork and flung it at Constantino just as he was lifting the hammer again. The jar of holy water landed on Constantino’s shoulders, splashing across the exposed skin on his neck and face.
Constantino screamed and dropped to one knee, grasping and clutching at the back of his head. The skin on his neck and face turned bright red, blistering and burning as thick white smoke rose into the air. The hammer fell from his hand as the blessed water boiled and sizzled like acid. Rachel knew the effect of the water was only temporary and she didn’t know how much time she would have. She pulled her last weapon, the stake from her recon suit, and held it in front of her like a sword. And from behind the thick iron bars of her cage…she waited.
***
Constantino stumbled to his feet, stunned and again trying to figure out what just happened. He saw the empty jar on the floor and realized it must have been holy water. He laughed at the plight of the foolish intruders. “HA! HAHA! HA!
He closed his eyes as new visions penetrated his mind. The swirling images that were previously cloaked or distorted by daylight were now vivid and crystal clear. He saw himself this time. He saw a wooden cross. He saw his body.
”What is this?” He cried. “No...It cannot be!”
Constantino felt the blood drain from his face, his mind flashed with fear, shock and disbelief as he tried to interpret the clairvoyant waves that predicted his own demise.
“I shall not let it come to pass!” he shouted. “Did you really think you could stop our coven so easily? You daft fools! Our syndicate has nests all across your insipid country. You’ll never stop us! Never!” His voice rose up against another blast of thunder. “They will hunt you down in the streets like the dogs you are! HA! HAHA! HAAAAA!”
Constantino’s staccato laughter echoed through the chamber. Then he looked down as if suddenly overcome with sadness. But only seconds later he snapped his head up, his eyes illuminating dark red. He picked up the hammer and walked toward Stanic once again. He stood over the man’s battered and unconscious body and smiled.
“I’m going to take my time,” he growled, then raised the hammer, arched his back and then swung the hammer straight toward Stanic’s right eye, claws down.
***
Valentine heard the screams coming from the cellar and sprinted toward the trapdoor, then bounded down the spiral staircase while still using his power of invisibility. Constantino was standing above Stanic with a hammer, so he charged at the man, bearing the agonizing realization that he may arrive too late. Just as Constantino raised the hammer, Valentine bolted toward the room and dove through the doorway, pulling his pistol and firing three rapid shots into Constantino’s chest.
Constantino looked up, shock and horror in his eyes, no clue where the shots had come from. The hammer fell from his hand and clanked against the floor.
Valentine had hit the ground rolling, still invisible, then bounced back to his feet. He saw Constantino’s confused expression as he scanned the room for the origin of the gunshots. Valentine took two powerful steps toward Constantino and leapt high into the air feet-first. He
collided with Constantino, kicking mule-hard with both feet, down onto his now bloody chest, sending him wheeling backward across the room toward the cell that held Rachel. Valentine then stood, pulled his remaining stake from his recon suit and stepped forward.
***
Rachel heard the shots that came out of nowhere and watched Constantino fly backward toward her cell. In the space of a second, she gripped the stake white-knuckle tight, pushing it through the bars of the cell. She braced it against the thicker iron support plate that ran horizontally across the cage just as Constantino flew backward against the bars. Constantino’s scream echoed through the chamber as the stake ripped through his clothes, penetrating his back.
Valentine suddenly materialized in front of Constantino, with veins of electrified blue light and his own wooden stake held high. He brought the sharp column down hard, driving it with all his strength into Constantino’s chest.
Both vampire hunters brought their mallets high up over their head with quick blurred motions, forward and down, both connecting with the wooden stakes in unison. Both stakes drove deeper into Constantino’s body, crossing at the center of his heart. His body began to vibrate, his flesh crackled and bubbled as if it were aflame. His back arched, muscles tightening to their limit as he writhed in pain, then slid to the ground, still up against the bars of the cell.
Constantino’s face transformed into a surreal mask of surprise and horror like a farm animal just after slaughter. The skin on his face burst into bright orange flames that roared like he’d been doused with gasoline. The fire grew hotter and the flames leapt higher, his body popped and sizzled, smoke poured out from both eyes. The skin and muscle tissue on his face began to fall away, exposing a gruesome, yellowing jawbone. The distinctive, pungent smell of burning flesh made Rachel gag, then dry-heave in rapid succession.
They watched as the remainder of Constantino’s skull became visible. The vertebrae at his neck under his chin began to show through, the awful transformation partially shrouded by wispy blue-gray smoke as it slowly drifted away, floating up to the ceiling and dissipating into the darkness.
Vampire Mafia: Santa Cruz Page 12