“Why didn’t he come get us himself, then?” Jack thumbed one of the stakes on his belt. “If he’s that strong.”
Frank didn’t turn around, but for the first time, he seemed scared. “You don’t know Dracula, lad. He doesn’t do anything unless he has to. He always has some lackey sticking around to do it for him because he’s lazy and only moves when it’s necessary. It’s become necessary now, though, because his little army just got killed.”
“Well, let’s not keep him waiting.” Claire walked past Frank and over to the platform. She grabbed the top, then used her legs to push herself up. She turned around as the rest of the crew came. “Frank, how are you going to get up here? You’re too short.” She grinned as she spoke.
“I won’t even honor that with a response.” Frank crouched, then jumped. He landed next to Claire. “Ye humans are a rude bunch, I swear.”
Next came Marissa. Claire grabbed her hand and helped pull her up. Finally, they got Jack onto the platform, and the group stared into the shadows.
“Left or right?” Jack asked, turning his head in both directions.
The voice came down the hall to the right, deep and loud. “This way, children. This way...”
Claire shivered. Without some kind of bullhorn, no one should sound like that.
“I guess that answers that question.” Jack shrugged and glanced at Claire. “Go on, fearless leader. You first.” He nodded toward the dark hall.
“Yes, fearless leader. Come. Bring your friends. Everyone come in. No one will be leaving.” The voice mocked them as it spoke, half-laughing, half-daring them.
Frank looked over his shoulder at Claire. “He’s a cocky bastard. Let’s go take care of this nasty business so I can get meself to a bar.”
Claire was quiet. She unclipped her Impaler and grabbed her Nova, then walked past Frank and led the way down the hall, seeing her group’s headlamps light up the way as they fell in line.
“Yes, yes,” the voice mocked. “This way. That’s right. Keep coming.”
Claire stopped. She’d learned her lesson about not having a plan back at the club. She wouldn’t do it again.
“It’s the room on the right down there. That’s where he is.” She pointed. “I’ll open it and turn on the Nova. I’m going to duck and hide behind the door. Frank, you go in first. You’re the fastest. Jack, cover him with your Impaler. I want you to take a few of my stakes since you’re almost out. Marissa, once Frank is in, you and I will slip past Jack. You’re on water duty. I’ll set the Nova on the floor so it’ll still shine and go after him with my stakes. Everyone got it?”
“Got it,” Jack answered, his voice firm.
“Got it,” Marissa whispered.
Frank unclipped his Impaler. “Aye, I’ll go in first, but this is going to cost ye some serious beer when we get back.” He reached into his back pocket and took out a small flask. He unscrewed it with one hand and tilted the thing up, draining it in one chug.
“What the hell, Frank?” Claire asked as she looked over her shoulder.
Frank put the flask back in his pocket, then wiped his mouth with his arm. “Thirsty, lass.” He nodded, psyching himself up. “Okay, let’s go.”
Claire went forward, unsure of what to expect. All she knew was that this was the end of the line. Everything would be over very shortly.
She reached the door and looked back at Frank. He nodded in return. Ready. She nodded back, then grabbed the doorknob. Silence reigned in the hallway, the deep voice no longer speaking.
Claire pulled out the Nova with her free hand and raised it. She put three fingers up while holding it, and slowly folded each one down.
Three.
Two.
One.
She twisted the knob and shoved the door open while lighting up the Nova. It burned brightly as she knelt and threw it into the room.
Frank darted past with his Impaler raised.
Claire caught a quick glimpse of the creature inside. Old. Black hair. A face that looked worn but regal.
The face of a king, she thought before she realized what was happening. He’s not hiding from the light!
Dracula smiled at her and flicked his fingers toward the wall. Her Nova was yanked from her hand by an invisible force much stronger than she ever dreamed of. It flew across the room and slammed into the concrete wall, shattering. The light died, and the dead technology fell to the ground.
“GO!” she shouted, understanding Frank was in real trouble. She shoved past the door with her Impaler in the air, ready to fire. Marissa and Jack came next. Jack moved toward the wall, his back to it so that he could fire without getting ambushed.
Claire took in the room with one glance. A single light burned overhead, and three people who looked human sat in the far corner. The room was otherwise small and empty.
Frank flew toward the vampire, his leprechaun speed in full display. He leapt off the floor, stake bared.
He’s got this, Claire thought, even as she rushed to his defense. No way can anyone stop him.
Inches away, Frank froze in the air. He was almost nose to nose with Dracula, the stake aiming right at his heart.
What the fuck? Claire wasn’t able to move either, not even her eyes. She was frozen stiff. Everything inside her kept trying to push forward, to reach the vampire and kill him, but she couldn’t move an inch.
“This is who you send?” Dracula asked, his European accent thick. “This is the best you have to offer? A tiny green midget and three children?”
Frank’s mouth didn’t move but his words were clear enough. “Stop with the magic and let me cut you down to size.”
Dracula rolled his eyes, an insanely creepy thing coming from such an ancient creature. “Begone.” He flicked his hand again, and Frank flew through the air like the Nova had. He smacked into the wall hard and slid down to the ground, falling sideways as he landed.
Dracula turned his attention to the others in the room. “The kiddies. Ah, yes. How cute.” He stepped into the middle of the room. “You are having trouble moving, yes? Did you think you could come here and simply attack me with your gadgets, and I would fall down like those weaklings you got through?”
He shook his head and looked at the floor, smiling.
“I have lived for centuries, children. Centuries. Here, there, wherever you want to put me, I cannot die. I am the undead. Gadgets and weapons will not stop me. You are no Van Helsing. You are no savior. You...” He paused, looking at all three now. “You are simply food.”
He raised his palms up into the air as if to say, “What can I do?” After a moment, he lowered them and turned to the humans in the chair. “You three. You see now why you cannot be equals? Why you will at best be lowly servants in a world I dictate? You are as they are. Nothing but food.”
Dracula smiled and turned his attention once more to Claire.
“I hear your thoughts, girl. I hear them loud. I let your green friend talk because I wanted to hear his boast. I will not let you talk, though. Your thoughts...they are enough. You want to kill me, yes? You think you can if I simply let you go. Your confidence, it would seem, knows no limits.”
Claire forced her mind to go silent. No thoughts. She just stared at the undead creature.
“Would you like a go, little girl?” the vampire asked. He raised his hand and gestured between the two of them. “Would you like to try to kill me? I’ll let your friends here watch, and then they can decide whether to join me or die. How does that sound?”
YES! Claire shouted in her mind before silencing herself again.
The vampire nodded. “Very well, then.” He raised his hands and touched his fingertips together, then dropped them quickly.
Claire’s control of her muscles come back to her. She nearly fell over but caught herself, straightened, and went still.
“What would you like to use?” the vampire asked with a smile. “Would you like to spray me with holy water?”
“How about this for starters?” C
laire whipped the Impaler up and pressed the back; the stake flew from her hands like a missile, aimed right at the creature’s chest. She reloaded again immediately.
When it was twelve inches from him, Dracula raised his right hand and slapped it away as he might a gnat. Claire didn’t pause. She fired another, reloading at the exact moment it was free of her chamber.
Another slap. The stake clattered to the floor.
The vampire shrugged. “These are nothing, poor girl. Nothing.”
Fine, then, she thought. Hand to hand it is.
Claire went forward, her feet as light as feathers, her stake raised. She took out the Holy Mace and started spraying, slashing forward with her stake as she did. The aerosol spray hit the vampire’s face as her stake came down on him. He smiled and raised one hand to wipe it off and another to fend off her attacks, hardly paying attention to her.
“AGH!” she screamed as she brought the stake up again and again, only to have it batted away each time like it was nothing. As if it didn’t exist.
Dracula slammed his palm out into Claire’s chest. She was flung backward, arcing into the air before hitting the ground. Her head slammed into the floor and stars appeared in her vision. She blinked hard, immediately climbing to one knee before faintness nearly made her fall again.
She looked up, breathing hard.
Dracula smiled at her. “It’s all about belief, poor girl. That holy water? You don’t believe. It was blessed by a priest who believed, but you? You have as much faith in holy water as you do in Mt. Olympus. Yes, it worked on those weaker vampires since they didn’t understand how weak your faith is. They do not understand anything, but I do. And now you do as well, don’t you?”
Claire’s mind was still despite the pain tearing through her body.
Dracula cocked his to the side, considering her with narrowed eyes. “Would you like to join me, Claire? Would you like to walk this world forever?”
“Fuck you,” Claire grated.
“No, I didn’t think you would.” Dracula straightened his head. “You are much too stubborn to join, so now you’ll die.”
He started forward, and Claire knew with cold certainty that she couldn’t stop this creature in hand-to-hand combat. She couldn’t use blessed water or machines that slung stakes. He was too powerful. He was too old. He was too strong.
She either acted now, or she died.
Her mind finally spoke once again, unable to hide its true intentions. Dracula was seven feet from her, but he paused.
He finally saw the thought she’d managed to keep hidden.
Claire’s hand whipped to the cargo pocket in her pants and she yanked the Immolator out. “Let’s see you dodge fire.”
She squeezed the ball as Mitchen had told her and threw it at him. Everything seemed to move in slow motion.
Dracula’s mouth dropped open. He was able to read her thoughts now and understood fully what she’d been hiding. The ball flew through the air, its mist spraying outward, and flames quickly followed.
Dracula’s hand moved, trying to telekinetically swat the ball out of his path, but it was too late. The flames had emerged, and he couldn’t move those.
The accelerant covered him first and the fire next. It washed over him like a purifying light, orange and yellow flowing across his entire body.
Whoosh.
Claire felt the heat rush out from Dracula as the flames stretched up and down, turning him into a human…no, her mind corrected, a vampiric torch.
His screams filled the room, echoing off the walls in a cacophony of pain.
Jack and Marissa stepped up next to Claire. The heat was growing strong on her skin. They would need to leave. The creature stumbled back into the wall and turned to the other three humans.
“Ah, hell,” Claire grumbled. “I forgot about them. You got them, Marissa? Jack, you’re going to need to grab Frank.”
Both nodded, hardly able to stop staring at the stumbling vampire, who was now banging into walls.
One of the men stood and tried to bolt. Jack’s hand snapped out and caught him in the temple as he passed. The man fell in a heap.
“One of you is carrying him,” Marissa yelled over the vampire’s slowing screams. She glanced at the people against the wall. “Because we’re not.”
“Come on,” Claire told them. “Let’s get out of here. The FBI can come get whatever’s left.”
Chapter Twenty-One
They made it out of the tunnel without seeing another vampire. Perhaps the fact that they were leaving showed the others they’d killed Dracula. Or maybe the vampires simply didn’t want to mess around with the Nova anymore since the pain was far too great.
Either way, with Jack carrying Frank over his shoulder, the group walked their prisoners all the way back to the manhole.
It was nighttime, and a street light cast a glow above them.
“You jokers still up there?” Jack called.
Remington stuck his head into the manhole, cutting off some of the light. “We’re here. What about you? Are you all okay? We’ve got medics up here waiting.”
That was smart, Claire thought, and she was also grateful for it. They couldn’t come down in these tunnels with her, but they’d been prepared for when they got out. “Frank’s unconscious, but other than that, I think we’re okay.”
“Who are they?” Remington asked, nodding at the three newcomers. The one Jack had knocked out had regained consciousness, although from his moans, he had a splitting headache.
Claire grinned as she looked through the manhole. “That’s your glorious cult. The ones causing all the problems.”
Remington’s face looked surprised. “You got them?”
“No!” Jack shouted. “We found some homeless people and are bringing them up to you. Jesus, just help us get out of here! Frank is heavy!”
Remington stepped back from the manhole, and after a few seconds, the rope ladder dropped.
The EMTs came down and took Frank up first. They took the cult members next, and finally the three schoolmates made their way back to the surface.
Cuffs were slammed on the three strangers, and agents Claire had never seen before read them their Miranda rights.
“You three okay?” Remington asked, stepping away from the commotion of the ambulance and the arrests.
“I’m exhausted,” Claire answered. “How are we getting home?”
Remington glanced at Lance as he walked up. “They need to rest. We can start the debrief tomorrow.”
Lance nodded as he scanned the three. “That’s fine with me. The EMTs are going to want to check you out in that ambulance over there. When they’re done, they’ll take you back to the university.”
Claire looked over her shoulder, having not even seen the second ambulance. She didn’t want to be checked out by anyone, but she imagined it was standard procedure. Plus, she was too tired to argue about it.
Finally, when all their vitals had been checked and their necks looked over for bite marks, the three classmates were loaded into the ambulance and driven home with the lights on but the sirens off.
Claire slept for hours and hours. She dreamed some of the time, and other times it was peaceful. She woke up a couple of times during the dreams, unable to remember what they’d been about. She’d look around the room but decide she wasn’t nearly ready to be awake yet and fall back asleep.
No one came for her, not for a while, at least.
Finally, she heard an Irish voice.
“Lass, that’s enough. You’ve been sleeping longer than Rip Van Winkle, and I know the joker. Snores like a freight train. I guess it’s a small blessing that you’re not a snorer.”
Claire slowly opened her eyes, an annoyed frown forming on her face. “Go away, Frank. I’m tired.”
“That may be, me dear, but Frank does not care. Ye have slept for two days straight, and I can no longer let this continue. You’re ruining your education and making me look bad.” He shoved a thumb into his chest.<
br />
“Look bad?” Claire groaned and rolled over on her other side so she couldn’t see him.
Frank nodded. “Yes. Those FBI agents keep referring to you as my friend and asking when you’re going to get up? I won’t have it, I tell ye. My reputation will not be sullied by the likes of ye and ye lazy ways. Up!” He grabbed the corner of the blanket and yanked it off her.
Claire sat up, her eyes wild. “Frank! What if I’d had no clothes on?” Luckily, she was wearing pajamas, but still.
Frank rolled his eyes. “You’re not on my level as far as dating, lass. I go for higher-caliber ladies.” He moved his eyebrows up and down. “Like Marissa.”
Claire leaned over and looked at her roommate’s bed. “Where is she?”
Frank glanced at it for a second, then turned back to Claire. “She is up like a normal, productive person in society. You are the only one still sleeping. I got knocked out—while acting valiantly, might I add—and I am up before you.”
Claire rolled her eyes. She stood slowly and stretched her arms high above her head, pushing up onto her tiptoes while she yawned. “What’s the rush? We saved Boston. The school is still intact, and Remington has the cult members. What else is there to do except sleep?”
Frank’s face grew quizzical. “Did Dracula bump yer head when we were down there? What else is there to do except sleep?”
“No, Frank. He bumped yours when he tossed you across the room like a ragdoll.” Claire mimicked Dracula’s hand gesture. “I killed him. But for real, why are you barging in here like this? Why are you here at all? Don’t you need to be drinking in a bowling alley somewhere?”
Frank turned around and threw his hands in the air in mock exasperation. “First the lass begs me to help her. Pleads. Promises me her firstborn children, if Frank will help them stop the vampires who were threatening Earth. Now, when Frank has vanquished these creatures, beat the hordes back with his bare hands, she asks why I’m here? Why I’m not drinking like some common miscreant? Gods! Help your poor servant!”
First Semester Page 21