by Philip Henry
Patricia shook her head in frustration. “I’m going to work.”
“No, you can’t leave yet. I called Father O’Shea and he’s coming to see you before you go to work.”
“Aw, mum, what did you do that for?”
“What do you know about working in a bar? You’re eighteen years old,” Dad naively asked between sips of tea.
“It’s not rocket science, dad. Look, I have some savings and I’ll always keep enough money in reserve so that I can come home if something happens.”
“What could happen?” her mother cried, clutching her rosary as if she could choke out an answer.
“Nothing’s going to happen, mum.”
“How do you know? You hear such stories about the things that go on in Europe. Murders and cults and people who smoke marijuana cigarettes, all kinds of nutters.”
“Yeah, and Northern Ireland’s just one big love-in.”
“You’re safer here than in a Godforsaken mud hut in the middle of nowhere. You’ll end up sold into the white-slavery trade. In a harem! Is that what you want?”
“Mum, I just want a little excitement in my life.” The door was knocked and Patricia prepared herself for all the same arguments from the priest. “Come in, join the fun!”
The door burst open and Kaaliz and Sin fell into the kitchen. Sin pushed Kaaliz at the dad and she grabbed the mum. Kaaliz bit into the struggling father as they both fell to the floor. Sin pinned the mother to the wall, holding the hand that held the rosary out of the way, and bit into her neck. Patricia was in the corner screaming as her parents were devoured. Patricia ran for the door and Sin punched her hard in the face, knocking her to the ground. Sin continued to drink from the mother while Patricia lay unconscious on the floor. When the mother was dead Sin turned to Kaaliz. He had finished with the father, too. The girl on the floor was starting to stir.
“You can have her, too,” Sin said.
“Not now, I’m full.”
As Kaaliz slowly got to his feet, Sin surveyed the house. “We should lock all the doors and close the curtains so no one can see in. It doesn’t look like there’s a basement; I think the attic would be the safest bet. We’ll take her up with us, you can have her later.” Kaaliz sat at the table as Sin moved around the house, upstairs and down, closing curtains and locking doors. She also found some duct tape and bound and gagged the daughter then carried her upstairs and threw her into the attic. The girl was now fully conscious and whimpering pathetically. She fell on the rafters awkwardly and cried in pain now, as well as terror and sorrow. Sin came down and helped Kaaliz up the stairs and into the attic. They closed the trapdoor and relaxed.
Sin sat beside Kaaliz and he leaned into her and put his arm around her waist. It was an unexpected gesture of affection – the first since she had met him. She reciprocated and put her hand on his hair, which was burned and bloody, and stroked it gently. He squeezed her tighter. He faced her and she saw just how badly he was hurt: his nose was smashed, teeth broken, face burned and covered with blisters, and the empty sockets where his eyes had been oozed dark blood. Sin thought back to Elvis’s eyes regenerating in a matter of seconds. She hadn’t told Kaaliz about the hand and what it could do because she didn’t know if she could trust him not to steal it and kill her. Now that some time had passed she got the feeling he liked her, so she thought she could tell him. She was about to speak when he clumsily lunged in and kissed her. He misjudged the distance and hit her face too hard but began kissing her hungrily. Sin ignored the grotesque face before her and kissed him back. It was the power that she was attracted to. Kaaliz had power even in this weakened state. Not just physical power, but the power to be true to his nature. To kill without remorse. To live without fear. She kissed him harder and he pulled her shirt open. She tore his burned rags from his body and he ripped the remainder of her clothes from her body. Without his eyes he used his hands to explore her body, gripping her roughly and kneading the flesh beneath his hands.
Patricia lay on her side with tears streaming from her eyes, forced to watch the two naked vampires violently having sex before her. Patricia heard the knocking of the front door. Father O’Shea had arrived. The vampires were making so much noise she felt sure he would hear them, but a few minutes later she heard his car start and trundle out of the driveway. Patricia cried harder and buried her face into the loft insulation.
Sin woke late in the afternoon. She glanced over and saw the girl, still bound and gagged. The girl’s trousers were wet where she had peed herself, either out of fright or just from being unable to go to the toilet for eight hours. Sin looked over at Kaaliz lying naked beside her. He still looked like Freddy Krueger’s stunt double – she thought the blood and rest might have regenerated him a little. Sin felt around the rags of her clothes and found the skeletal hand. She stood up and walked over to the trapdoor, tapping the fingers of the skeletal hand on her chin. She didn’t bother trying to put her clothes back on; they were ripped beyond repair. Sin turned to the girl. “You don’t mind if I rummage around in your wardrobe and find something to wear, do you?” The girl just made the same petrified mumbles she had been making all day. Sin smiled at her and dropped through the trapdoor.
She landed on the carpet and a shock of pain went up her body. The car smashing into her had really hurt. She was sure most of her ribs were broken and probably some important organs were a lot flatter than they had been. She walked across the landing to the bathroom but then decided to postpone her shower until afterwards – there might be blood. She walked down the stairs. It somehow gave her a feeling of territorial superiority to walk naked around this family’s house. She walked into the kitchen and stepped over the corpse of the father. There was hardly any blood on the floor because they had both been thirsty and drank deeply when they came in. Sin opened the kitchen drawer and took out the sharpest knife she could see. She sat down at the table and put the skeletal hand on the table before her.
Sin turned the knife on herself and touched the tip of it between her breasts and traced it lightly down under her ribcage. She had to do it quickly. She took three sharp breaths and plunged the knife into her chest and pulled it across. She slammed the knife down on the table and grabbed the hand. There was a six-inch gash running under her bottom rib. She put one hand on it and pulled it wide. Sweat was breaking all over her body and that was not normal for a vampire. She turned the hand palm up and pushed the bony fingers inside her and upwards. She could feel the power the hand had. She was starting to feel faint and her vision was blurring. She pushed the hand harder and screamed with the pain. The tip of one of the fingers touched her heart and she felt life engulf her. Her whole body tingled with electricity. She fell off the chair and lay on the ground as the awesome power filled her. She didn’t feel the pain any more. She wasn’t dizzy. In just a few seconds she was feeling like the most powerful creature on the planet. She pulled the hand out again and the gash below her ribs sealed almost immediately. She lay there for a few moments, drunk on the feeling.
When she stood up again there were no pains, not even slight ones, in her whole body. She wished she still had a reflection because she’d bet she looked damn fine. She took the knife, rinsed it off (force of habit) and lifted the hand. She went back upstairs. Kaaliz was still asleep so she took a shower and then went into the girl’s bedroom and poked around her wardrobe. She chose all black clothes: jeans, boots, nice little top, and a long coat. She dried her hair and marvelled at how it had gone from frizzy and unmanageable to the gorgeous silken sheen it now had. She imagined the advertisement: Ladies, you too can have Salon perfect hair, just drink the blood of a vampire and never worry about split-ends again.
Sin saw a PC sitting in the corner of the room and decided to let Kaaliz sleep a while longer. She got online and hacked into the Ministry’s email accounts. She had access to them all but chose to start with Kyle: the head of the Ministry. His emails hadn’t been accessed today so Sin got to read them before him. There were some fu
nny reports about sightings of she and Kaaliz. They had been spotted in Scotland, London, Dublin, Limerick, getting on the Eurostar, and standing in line for Riverdance. One caught her eye from a Brigadier Jones. She opened the email and had to hack two different passwords to open the attached document. It was worth the trouble.
To whom it may concern,
My name is Brigadier James Jones. Possibly you have heard of me, I have locked horns with the Ministry of the Shield on a few occasions. I’m sure you’re aware of the rivalry between the Army and Ministry over the years. You thought it should be up to you to deal with any supernatural threat and we thought it was our duty. Jurisdiction has fallen to you now because I am the last surviving member of Project Redbook. Operations were suspended many years ago and even our HQ was decommissioned over five years ago. It is an underground facility near the town of Coleraine in Northern Ireland. Detailed directions on its location and how to gain entry are contained at the end of this email.
I am giving you this information because there is something still in there. Something that I have been sole custodian of since my retirement. The Army didn’t know what to do with it and entrusted its fate to my discretion. I have been studying it in my spare time (some people grow vegetables) but now my health is failing and I fear that if it is not secured it might get loose and wreak havoc on this land I love. So I pass the torch to you.
This email was to be sent automatically in the event that I didn’t log on within seven days, so I am most likely dead or dying. My final duty is to pass on this information. What you find in there is yours to do with as you see fit. I am not calling it by name because we never did figure out what it was.
The following diary was found with it when we pulled it out of the Irish Sea but we never learned much from it. If the date on the diary is accurate it had been down there for one hundred and fifty-four years when we found it. We thought it was aquatic or at least amphibian but when we took it out of the water it didn’t show any signs of distress. We didn’t know what to do with it, which is why it was locked in an abandoned facility and forgotten. Maybe your people will fare better at discovering its secrets.
I wish you Godspeed. Good luck and be careful; it is very dangerous.
Regards,
Brigadier James Jones
Note: The diary document can be opened using the third password on the postcard I sent to you.
Sin was intrigued by the email and set about unlocking the diary document. It was a very complex password, a twelve-letter string of consonants. It took Sin almost ten minutes to open it. She could have done it faster if she’d had her own software with her. She opened it and read.
November 2, 1832
Left Dublin at six with the morning tide. Sailing was calm though the nature of my trip makes all my insides creep with foreboding. I received Dr Arnold’s telegram two days hence and have read it many times. He claims the animal in his care is unlike any in the known world. It walks like a man yet it is feral and untamed. He himself has witnessed it feed on a human being with no respect for God or the laws of our land. The animal has no language as far as he can discern but shows signs of cunning akin to a fox. I am a simple zoologist and I wonder if such a creature falls to my expertise. I fear a priest may be needed for this creature may have crawled from the bowels of Hell.
November 10, 1832
Arrived in Shrewsbury late in the evening. Dr Arnold is a gracious host and after I had suitably attired myself for dinner he explained the nature of the animal, as he best understood it. Dr Arnold believes that the creature is a hybrid of a man and an unnatural coupling with some beast. Until now the sciences have told us that such a union is not possible. Dr Arnold is excited about the prospect of us co-authoring a paper for the medical journals in London. He wishes to travel with the animal and give lectures on the grotesque nature of its being. I am anxious to see the animal.
November 11, 1832
The animal is not of this earth. To stand in its presence is to look into the depths of Hell. Never has such a creature looked so alien on God’s green Earth. It stands seven feet and one inch from the ground. It has only the most cursory resemblance to a man. It walks on two legs as we do. Its arms hang by the side, slightly disproportionate to its torso. Its face has caused many a lady to faint. It is not unlike that of a gorilla, with less pronounced features. I see how Dr Arnold came to his conclusion about man and beast combining but I cannot believe that God would allow such a creature to draw breath.
November 16, 1832
Our study continues. Some nights we work until the morning but I regret that we have made little progress. The animal is proving hard to examine because of its extremely violent nature. We cannot get close enough to study it in detail. Ether seems to have no effect on it, nor do several other tranquillisers and anaesthetics that we have experimented with. An interesting fact that I have not mentioned in this journal is the animal’s aversion to sunlight. When exposed, the epidermis actually burns as if a kettle of boiling water is being poured on it. We cannot use this to sedate the animal because we fear further exposure may result in its death. I believe it is God’s will that if this creature stands in the glory of His creation it will burn because it is not supposed to live. We worked until the morning again. We are both tired.
November 18, 1832
I am sailing home to Dublin. The animal is locked in the hold of the ship. The events of the last day are deeply troubling. Dr Arnold is most likely dead but not by the animal’s hand. Word reached the local clergy that Dr Arnold was harbouring a minion of Satan in his dwelling. The townspeople came with lighted torches and burned his home. He was arrested for heresy. I fear there will be no reprieve and he will hang from the gallows. It was only through the loyalty of Dr Arnold’s manservant that we learned of the fury of the locals and their plans to kill the beast. With haste Dr Arnold sent for a coach and gave me charge of his discovery. He begged that I should continue his work. I felt cowardice by my departure. The good doctor insisted that there was no need for both of us to have our necks stretched. May God welcome him into His kingdom.
November 19, 1832
I fear for my safety. I believe the coachman who brought me to this vessel told one of the crew the reason for my hastened departure. The crew look at me with suspicion. They talk of ‘the devil in the hold’. The ship’s boy warned me to lock myself in my cabin. The men are scared and it has been suggested that the creature and I should be thrown overboard. The captain has mercifully quelled their intent for now. I will not feel safe until my feet rest on Irish soil.
November 20, 1832
We have hit a storm unlike any I have ever known. The cabin boy came to me barely half an hour past and told me that the animal has killed one of the crewmen that dared to venture too close to its cage. The men believe the storm to be the wrath of God. They believe they are being punished for harbouring a devil. I have secured my door as best I can. I pray for this night and this storm to be over. I can hear the men outside my door.
Sin scrolled down the screen but that was all there was. She guessed that the unnamed writer of the diary had indeed been thrown from the ship. She was excited by the document that she had read. The Army hadn’t been able to identify the creature in all the years they had it, but Sin had a good idea already of what it was. If she was right it was something that hadn’t been sighted in over a hundred years.
Sin printed out the pages and then deleted the file from Kyle’s inbox and sent a virus to him, just to be sure he couldn’t retrieve the file.
“Playing Space Invaders?” Kaaliz said from behind her.
Sin turned and smiled. She could see the beginnings of eyes in his sockets but his vision must have been very blurry at best. He was still naked. “No, something better. How would you like to unleash Hell on Earth with me?”
Kaaliz shrugged. “Sure. Sounds like fun.”
“Great. Let’s get you healed first.” Sin stood up and took Kaaliz to the bed and they both sat dow
n. Sin took the skeletal hand from her pocket and set it on Kaaliz’s leg. “Let me tell you what this is.”
A short time later Kaaliz was putting on a black suit from the dad’s wardrobe. A white shirt hung loosely under it. Sin walked in and saw a vampire with a complexion so perfect he could have sold moisturiser to straight men. His skin was perfect and his body fully regenerated. After Sin had cut him under the ribs and stuffed the hand inside his chest he had felt the fingers curling around his heart. Sin had decided to leave it inside him, as it was as good a place as any to keep it. If she ever needed it they could just cut it out again. When he had fully regenerated, Sin found him irresistible and they had wrecked the girl’s room in the throes of passion. Now as they stood in the parents’ bedroom looking at each other they had to fight the urge to tear each other’s clothes off again. There would be time later.
Kaaliz flew up to the attic and a second later the girl’s bound body dropped onto the landing with a loud thud. Sin winced as the stench of sweat and urine hit her. The girl lifted her head, expecting death. Kaaliz dropped from the attic and knelt beside her. “Now, when I remove the tape from your mouth I don’t want to hear any pleas for mercy or curses or any of that defiant hostage shit. There is an organization in Portstewart called the Ministry of the Shield. Do you know of this group?”
The girl’s face was puffy and red and coated in tears. She nodded.
“Good. When I take this tape off you’re going to tell me where it is. Understand?”
The girl nodded again and Kaaliz ripped the tape from her mouth. The girl gasped air into her lungs and then said, “It’s on the Old Coach Road. The big grey building. But it’s deserted. This branch of the Ministry was disbanded as far as I know.” Her eyes were filled with questioning fear. Was he going to kill her now?
