by Stead, Nick
“Just answer the damn question.”
“My nephew,” she spluttered. I released my grip a second time, in shock now. “He was my nephew.”
“No,” I said. “No, he can’t have been your nephew. You idolised him. You never stopped talking about him, about how proud you were of him, how good at English he was.”
“Yes, and then he was bitten,” she spat. “Cursed for eternity to be undead like the rest of you. He died a long time ago. That thing you found was not my nephew. I gave it over to our scientists for research and in that it proved most useful, enabling us to kill off the rest of your wretched kind. And just when we thought we’d exterminated them all, you surfaced.
“He was the last free survivor, the werewolf who bit you, and after we’d hunted him down, we thought it was over. I could not believe the curse lived on. For decades we have been employing midwives to test newborn babies for the presence of the wolf genes. Every child that tested positive we killed. It was hard to keep what we were doing from the world, but we managed. We had to hide the bodies in lorries, where they could be taken to be incinerated. You were a mistake. You should never have been allowed to live. How you passed us by unnoticed I’ll never know. I should have killed my nephew too, but I had hoped the wolf would never be awoken within him with werewolf numbers on the decline.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. She’d tortured her own nephew! I didn’t care if she said it was in the name of science, it was still torture. And all the babies she’d killed! I tried not to imagine a lorry full of tiny corpses being sent to burn to ashes. What had they told the parents? How had they got away with taking the bodies from them? I decided I didn’t want to know. Besides, I had more pressing questions, questions that needed answers. Flames were rising higher around us. They’d spread to some paperwork that lay scattered on the floor, eating their way through months of research. Time was running out.
“Why did you take him and not me? He was your own nephew! I’m nothing to you. Why didn’t you take me when you had the chance? And why take Lizzy?”
She sneered at me and I was about to beat the answer out of her like she’d tried to do to Lizzy, but a door burst open on the other side of the room that I hadn’t even noticed was there. More guards poured through it, opening fire and hitting something else that was flammable, creating a ball of flame. The fire raged to a greater inferno, given new life. And still the guards fired, more afraid of me than the flames.
Reluctant as I was to leave, I couldn’t risk Lizzy getting killed by either a stray bullet or the fire. Why I didn’t finish Aughtie I’ll never know. A quick blow to the head and it could have been over, at least for her. I knew a battle was probably inevitable but it might have bought us time if they had to find a new leader. Killing her would have been the smart thing to do, but I suppose it was my worry for Lizzy that caused me to jump straight up, leaving my enemy alive and with nothing more than a bruised throat.
I ran to grab Lizzy. She was semi-conscious as I picked her up, shielding her with my body and running from the room.
Bullets followed me out into the corridor, but no one came through. I heard them retreating but didn’t look back. My eyes were stinging and I began to wonder just how much of the base was flammable. God only knew what they kept in their laboratories, and if it burned hot enough it might even eat through all the metal.
Smoke snaked beneath a door further down the corridor. I was running blindly now, aware of it forming a cloud along the ceiling, thick and deadly. If the smoke was anything to judge by, the fire was indeed spreading, and time was running out. I tried not to think about the vampire I’d seen chained to the operating table, still alive but not for long. There was no time to save him.
I kept running until finally I came to a staircase leading upwards. The faint smell of fresh air reached me at the top and I felt a wave of relief. The exit couldn’t be too far ahead.
Another staircase and I came to a trapdoor in the ceiling. If I’d been human I’d have needed a ladder to reach it, but in my current form that wasn’t a problem. Lizzy stirred as I put her down a second time and her eyelids fluttered, but she had yet to completely regain consciousness. Maybe she was vaguely aware of what was going on, maybe not. I didn’t think she’d remember any of this later on.
Jumping as high as I could, I was able to dig my claws into the ceiling and pull myself up, pushing the trapdoor open with my feet. I swung back down and slung Lizzy over my shoulder, using one arm to hold her there and the other to pull us up towards freedom. There I lay, panting and shaking from the exhaustion beginning to creep in.
The hunger was back and the loss of blood had started to take its toll, now the anger and the adrenaline was wearing off. It took the last of my strength to stand and walk away, carrying Lizzy to the hospital and setting her down just outside the entrance.
I sensed it was late at night, and had to knock on the windows to get the staff’s attention. A nurse came out to investigate and I watched from the shadows as Lizzy was rushed inside. Once I knew she was safe, I crawled away, pushing my body to the last of its limits. Somehow I reached the cemetery, and I thanked God Lady Sarah was home. Then I collapsed, exhausted.
CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT
Betrayal
I floated between sleep and the waking world, feeling at peace for the first time in months. Why was that? It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered except the need to sleep. Or at least not until someone forced my jaws wide enough to pour something warm and salty down my throat.
My eyes snapped open, the blood jolting me back to reality. The full force of the hunger hit and I latched onto the chunk of meat dangling in front of my snout, almost taking Lady Sarah’s hands with it.
“Nick?” she asked, uncertain.
Her face was full of unmasked concern. I remembered her warning not to stay in wolf form too long – she must have thought the wolf was taking over.
“Nick, you have to shift back to human. Can you do that? You need to heal your wounds.”
“Don’t worry, I’m still in here. The wolf hasn’t won yet,” I growled, and struggled to do as she said. The lump of meat hadn’t been nearly enough to replenish all the energy my body had spent on shifting, and then there was the wolf, fighting to take the transformation the other way, to hunt. In the end I won. Bullets and the two blades fell to the ground as my body returned to its original shape. Even my eye returned to its normal colour.
She nodded her approval, relieved as far as I could tell. “What happened?”
I gave a quick run through of my stay with the Slayers, as much of it as I could remember.
“You’re lucky to be alive,” she said when I’d finished. “You’re even luckier to have kept your sanity. Most undead would not have survived the torture of starvation with their minds intact.”
“Lucky, that’s one word for it. So how long was I gone?”
“Just over a week – nine days to be exact.”
Nine days! It had taken only nine days for my mind to reach near breaking point. It had felt like longer. Nine days. How was I going to explain being missing for so long to the human world, and most of all to my family? “Okay. So where are we at with raising our army? Now the Slayers’ base is up in flames we should strike. Let’s hunt them down for a change!”
All the emotion drained from her face and I guessed she was hiding her pain over losing Vince. I noticed she was careful not to mention his name or the fact she’d had to reach out to other undead in his absence. “There are those who will fight – wraiths who seek revenge on the Slayers and ghouls hungry for carnage, but I warn you now, ghouls are impossible to control. They are an animalistic race, driven by a base desire for flesh, both of the living and the dead. Once lost in their bloodlust they will attack anything, and they could just as easily turn on us.”
“So they’re like zombies in a way, only they’re not raised and bound by a necromancer’s will. Awesome.”
“In the circumstances I belie
ve the risk is worth it, as you yourself pointed out. We will still be outnumbered as it is. Ghosts are more of a problem – I only know of one psychic, and she was out of town when I went to find her. As for other vampires, they were considerably harder to persuade. Most will not hear of meeting the Slayers in open battle, deeming it suicide. I convinced a handful to at least hear us out, and we can only hope they are persuaded to fight once they learn of the horrors you have witnessed. Of their scientists I knew, but not the nature of their research. I am certain many would find it preferable to die in battle than meet that particular fate.”
“And what about the zombies, will you raise them?”
“I will try, but I cannot promise you what the result will be. They present just as big a risk as the ghouls,” she warned.
“If there are too few of us we’ll die anyway. What do we have to lose?” I tried to make it sound confident.
In truth, I was uneasy knowing the chaotic force we were gathering could just as easily destroy itself as the army of humans we were supposed to be making a stand against. But even with all our supernatural powers, the humans would have the advantage through sheer numbers, especially if the Slayers had chance to call on their forces from the closest base to the one I’d destroyed. That was a possibility that couldn’t be discounted. We had to assume we’d be facing hundreds of Slayers, so we needed every undead creature we could find, no matter the dangers.
“I will do what I can,” she promised.
“Okay, so where do we meet and when?”
“There is a place on the outskirts of this town where fields meet woodlands. Do you know it?”
Images flashed through my mind of Fiona dying in a pool of her own blood. I nodded. “I know it.”
“Then we will meet there. It is just on the border between territories, thus it was the only place the vampires would agree to come to. Three nights from now – be ready.”
Three nights? That felt far too long. I opened my mouth to argue but she held a hand up before I could say anything.
“It was the best I could do. And if we can persuade them to help, let us hope we catch the Slayers unprepared and still recovering from their losses. Then we will hunt them down, until we have cleansed this town of their evil.”
I nodded, though I couldn’t help feeling by then it would be too late. My gut told me we had to strike sooner if we were to catch the Slayers off-guard and weakened. Still, what could they do in three days? Their base lay in ruins, their numbers down. They needed time to recover and three days wouldn’t really make that much difference, would it? I hoped not.
Lady Sarah looked up at the sky.
“Dawn is coming,” she said. “Will you be strong enough to walk home on your own?”
“Yeah, I’ll manage, thanks.”
I took my leave, mind racing with lies to tell my family, each more unbelievable than the next. At least I was able to dress so I wouldn’t have to explain being naked on the streets again – my clothes were still there in the deserted part of the town where I’d shifted the night I’d been captured. It was practically light when I knocked on our door.
“Nick!” Mum cried. Tears of relief filled her eyes as she pulled me into a big hug.
“Mum!” I complained, squirming in her arms.
“We’ve been so worried. Where have you been?”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you. I’ve been so mad at Dad that I felt like running away, so I went to stay with mates. I know I should have told you, but I was just so angry.” That was maybe the weakest story I’d come up with since being bitten, but it was all I could think of.
As it turned out, Mum was too relieved to have me back to ask for any details. She didn’t even ask which mates I’d been staying with.
“Don’t you ever do that to us again, young man!” she said, finally letting go and trying to give me a stern look. It didn’t really work with the relief shining through, but I put on a show of acting sheepish.
Even Dad looked relieved when we went inside. “Nick? Thank God. Come here, son.”
I found myself pulled into another hug. When he let go, I was shocked to see tears in his eyes too. Did the bastard care about me after all?
A metallic clanging sounded overhead as Amy clambered down her bunk bed, then she was rushing down the stairs to hug me as well. “Oh my God, I thought you’d been eaten by the rogue wolf or abducted by a psychopathic murderer or something!”
I tried not to laugh. “No, you won’t get rid of me that easily, sis.”
As for Lizzy, the hospital had called her family shortly after they’d found her. I don’t know what she’d told them, but I hoped she didn’t try the truth. Her version of events wouldn’t be as insane as mine, but there was a chance she’d remember the beast I’d been standing over her. If she described a werewolf to them she’d find herself in the same mental hospital I’d been taken to.
Then there was the dream. So far it had been true. The room where she’d been held had been just as I’d seen it in my vision. That’s why it had been vaguely familiar to me when I came upon it in the complex. And if the first part had been true, there was a good chance I was going to die in three nights’ time. I had to try and see Lizzy before then and settle things with her. And I’d make an effort not to argue with Dad. I didn’t know if my family could survive losing me a second time – the least I could do was leave them with happy memories of our final days together.
In a way, I supposed I was lucky. Most people don’t know when they’re going to die, but at least I knew when it was coming, and I had chance to tie up all the loose ends in my life. In that respect, I felt I was luckier than most.
Night wrapped itself around the world, tight as a snake squeezing out the light. There were no street lamps to give the illusion of lasting daylight, and no natural light with the clouds overhead. There was only the impenetrable blackness, so thick you could choke on it.
A faint breeze stirred the grass, ghosts whispering in the wind. Mice scurried through it in their search for food. One of them found its way onto the tarmac cutting through the countryside – a long forgotten road, rarely used and deserted. Wary, it sniffed the strange surface and crept along, freezing as something new reached its ears.
The roar of an engine and the glare of headlights sliced through the darkness, a huge lorry disturbing the night. The driver stared at the road ahead with grim determination, wanting only to deliver his cargo and go home. It had been a long day, but it wasn’t a bad job. They paid him well, and the actual cargo itself didn’t bother him. He had no conscience, the very reason why he was so valuable to them, him and the other men in this business. He knew what he was carrying, even if he didn’t know why. It wasn’t his job to ask questions.
But the cargo in that dread lorry would have made any sane person sick with horror. Tiny carcasses lined the inside of the vehicle, too many to count, their eyes glassy and lifeless as a doll’s.
Somewhere in the stinking heap there was a lone survivor. It was too weak to cry, barely strong enough to move, but some instinct drove it to crawl its way to the top. It should have been crushed by the press of bodies around it, suffocated by the stench of the rotting shells. But by some miracle it lived on.
The lorry stunk of death, old and new, each carcass in different stages of decay. It didn’t mean anything to the survivor, too young to understand what was going on around it. It continued to claw its way to the top, until it lost the strength to go on and finally it too died, as if its life had never been.
I was jolted into the waking world, the gruesome images still playing in my mind. And the worst thing was, I knew it was all true. Out there somewhere, at that very moment, there could be a lorry like the one in my dream. Or maybe there were too few of us left for that – maybe I really was the last of the wolf descendants. There certainly weren’t any survivors once they were thrown into the lorry, all those potential new werewolves exterminated long before the curse could take hold.
It occ
urred to me my family ought to carry wolf blood in their veins too, on one side or the other. My wolf blood had to come from somewhere. But the wolf had never attempted to bite them so I had to assume for whatever reason they didn’t have a high enough percent of wolf DNA. Not that I wanted to bring them into this cursed life.
There were a few hours of darkness left, and I still had this one night before the battle I was fated to die in. I didn’t feel much like sleeping after the nightmare and I still needed to talk with Lizzy. So I climbed out of bed and dressed, knowing the hospital probably wouldn’t be allowing visitors but determined to at least try. It was better than returning to the nightmares.
I stood outside the hospital, wondering how to find Lizzy and how I was going to get onto her ward without being stopped by anyone. Finally I decided to just creep in and see what happened. If they threw me out I’d come back later that day, no big deal. More than anything I just needed something to do to keep me awake.
It turned out to be much easier than I was expecting. All I had to do was follow her scent and slip inside her room when no one was looking. Luck was on my side, and I managed to avoid all the staff on the night shift floating about. Only the smell of blood presented any real challenge, overwhelming in places and calling to the wolf, but I fought to keep my urges under control and made it to Lizzy’s bed without any problems.
