Aymun’s eyes widened, and it looked like he might topple over. “He… He is…” He crumpled to the floor, wheezing. Hannah yanked him into a sitting position against the fridge and tried to keep him from passing out. Blood stained his shirt, and when she lifted it, his bandage was soaked through. “Shit. You’re bleeding.”
“I think, perhaps, that I was not done resting.”
A sound outside startled them both. Hannah looked out through the door’s glass panels and saw something that shocked her—a demon staring right back at her. Unlike the others she’d encountered, this one did not attack. In fact, it seemed alarmed and confused. A healing wound glistened on its horrendously burned chest right beneath its collarbone.
A gunshot wound.
This was the one that had got away.
I knew I shot four of you ugly bastards.
Hannah gripped her rifle and sprang to her feet. The demon’s alarm turned to full-blown terror, and it bolted. She’d never seen a demon leg it, and it gave her the confidence to give chase. But Aymun grabbed her leg and kept her from leaving. “Vamps…” he said in a rasping voice. “He-He is deceiving you. He is not who he says he is. Your friends are in terrible danger.”
Hannah looked down at him, not quite comprehending his words—her heart beat too loud in her temples. “I… I need to get that demon before it reaches its friends. It’s seen our camp. It’ll bring an army.”
Aymun shook his head, groaning in pain. “You must return to your camp now. Before it’s too late.”
Hannah kicked him away and threw open the door. She aimed her rifle at the fleeing demon and fired. The demon stopped dead in its tracks, then turned around with its hands on its head like a bank hostage. The rifle shook in her hands, and she stared into its eyes. The demon seemed too… human. It was terrified. “David!” the creature said in a pained and hopeless voice. “David run!”
Hannah pulled the trigger by instinct, but she’d missed her chance. A cottage window shattered behind the demon, and it dashed into a side alley that led to the property’s rear gardens.
“Damn it!” She went to take off after it, but Aymun shouted at her from the Post Office. “Your friends,” he pleaded. “They are in danger. The Red Lord will kill them all.”
Hannah didn’t know what to do.
29
DR KAMIYO
Kamiyo entered the room he now considered the ‘main ward’ and found Vamps sitting on a chair with his head slumped. His breathing was unsteady. Kamiyo took a quick visual account of the sleeping patients in the room, then hurried to check on him. “Vamps, are you okay?”
He looked up at Kamiyo, making it clear he wasn’t okay at all. His face gleamed with sweat, and his eyes were puffy and red. Fever. “You shouldn’t have let Hannah leave the camp,” he said in a voice like crisp leaves underfoot. “She’ll come back to find you all dead.”
Kamiyo frowned at the oddness of the statement. “Everyone here is ready to fight, Vamps. The castle will keep us safe. We have plenty of weapons.”
Vamps shook his head and spoke from vocal cords that sounded covered in mucous. “Sticks and stones. You have no hope of defending yourselves.”
“Against whom?”
Vamps leapt out of the chair and seized Kamiyo by the jaw. “Against me!”
Kamiyo ducked and escaped Vamps’ grab before it was fully locked in. He suspected his escape might be because the young man allowed it. The way Vamps stalked Kamiyo now, swaying side to side, and humming a merry tune, made it seem like he intended to toy with him.
Vamps’ eyes turned black, revealing a horrid realm beyond.
Kamiyo tried to run, but his attacker rushed in front of him and kicked his legs out from under him. He crashed onto his face and struck his chin on the floorboards. Spencer, the boy suffering from Lyme disease, woke at the noise and started calling for help. It woke the others, and they all joined in.
But no one came to help. Kamiyo feared the cabin was empty but for the sickened children. He tried to get to his feet, but Vamps stamped on his hand. He felt at least one delicate bone splinter. Maybe more. He cried out in agony.
“I am trapped inside this festering bag of flesh,” said Vamps in a wet, clicking voice, “but it allows me to saviour mankind’s suffering firsthand. I shall stalk this earth, slicing your throats one by one, watching you bleed out. Soon, I shall grow fat on your suffering and consume existence itself.”
“Vamps!” Kamiyo yelled as loud as he could, clutching his broken hand against his chest. “Vamps, wake up. It’s me, Dr Kamiyo.”
“Vamps hangs above the inferno from hooks in his eyeballs. Soon, you shall join him.”
Kamiyo placed his uninjured hand on the floor and tried to push himself up. Vamps stomped on it, and he screamed again. Now, he had two broken hands, and was forced to shuffle along on his side like a slug.
Vamps resumed his merry humming.
In the corner of his eye, Kamiyo spotted Spencer and the other sick children running for the door. They made it and slipped out of sight. Once again, Kamiyo was alone with this vile, ancient creature, defenceless and at its mercy.
Kamiyo cowered. “You are the Red Lord?”
“I am existence itself. An existence painted red. Worship me mortal and earn your damnation.”
Kamiyo shuffled onto his butt and nodded enthusiastically. “I do worship you, Lord. Please, let me go. I shall worship you.”
“Only in death may you worship me. To live is to serve Him.”
“Please! Let me go.” Kamiyo tried to get up and reach the doorway.
Vamps blocked his path, but then began to writhe and contort. The blackness drained from his eyes, and they widened in confusion. “D-Doc? Is that you?”
Kamiyo gasped. “Vamps, is that you? Are you in there?”
“Doc, I… I don’t feel right. I… I feel like I want to see you… bleed.”
Kamiyo groaned. “W-What?”
Vamps shrieked with delight. His eyes turned black once more and his outstretched fingers lengthened into claws, bloody nail beds erupting. His lower jaw distended like a serpent’s. The monster became even more monstrous. And it was done playing games.
Twang! Zip!
An arrow struck Vamps in the leg, embedding itself in his thigh. The impact sent him tumbling backwards. Kamiyo scurried away on his butt, unsure what was happening but using the opportunity to escape.
Eric appeared and grabbed Kamiyo beneath the arms. Nathan stood in the doorway, notching a second arrow into a bow.
“No!” Kamiyo shook his head at the lad. “We need to get out of here.”
Nathan didn’t seem happy to comply, but Eric grabbed his bow and pulled him along. Together, the three of them raced out onto the cabin’s upper landing, then hurried down the stairs. Jackie and Philip waited anxiously in the reception area below.
“Outside!” Kamiyo roared at them. The pain in his broken hands added fury to his words. “Outside now! Don’t let it corner you.”
Jackie shook her head. “What is it? We heard screams.”
“Vamps has gone bad again. The monster has taken over.”
“He’s gone full-on Vlad the Impaler,” Eric shouted hysterically.
Jackie blew air out of her cheeks and groaned. “Oh no.”
“I knew this would happen,” said Philip.
Kamiyo heard no footsteps pursuing them, but somehow that was more frightening. The monster was not rash or impulsive, not a wild animal. It was a monster that took its time—that broke hands when it could just as easily have broken a skull.
Kamiyo made it outside, greeted by the dusk. There was no longer a campfire beside the lake, so it was difficult to see, objects already losing their detail in favour of shadow. The pain in his hands further added to his disorientation. But he could see Spencer and the other sick children racing up the hill to the castle. At least they were safe.
“What do we do now?” asked Jackie, her voice quivering.
Nathan notched an
other arrow. “We kill him.”
“I don’t think it’s a him,” said Kamiyo. “It’s a what.”
“Yeah,” said Eric. “That thing was not human.”
“We kill it then,” Nathan rephrased.
Jackie touched the lad’s shoulder. “You need to get back to the castle with the other children, Nathan.”
“No way! I already hit the target once. You need me.”
Eric tried to help Jackie. “Nathan. This isn’t a game. Get up in that castle where it’s safe.”
“No fucking way!”
“Nathan!” Jackie snapped.
Kamiyo sighed. “Just let him stay. Everyone, grab whatever you can.”
“Why isn’t it coming out?” Eric was trembling. “I don’t like that at all.”
“It’s coming,” said Kamiyo, knowing it to be true. “Just be ready.”
Philip stomped over to the weapons pile beside the stairs and picked up a sharpened stick. He gripped it in both hands and glared at Kamiyo. “We should’ve put this guy down the moment he attacked Jackie.”
“He attacked me too,” said Kamiyo, then held up his mangled hands. “Twice now.”
“Then you need to stand back and let us handle this, because you clearly can’t.”
Eric put a hand on Kamiyo’s chest and eased him back. “He’s right. You’re hurt, Doctor. Let us take care of this.”
The rest of the adults grabbed weapons while Nathan stood with his bow drawn. The only sound was the swaying branches of the forest. Kamiyo eyed the tree line, fearing a thousand demons would suddenly burst forth and consume them.
They waited.
And waited.
“He isn’t coming out,” said Eric, his dark skin turning pale. “I’m gunna piss myself if it don’t come out soon. Freaking me the hell out.”
Jackie was licking her lips. “S-Should we go in?”
Kamiyo barked a warning. “No! Anything but that. Our best chance is out in the open.”
“Wait!” Philip held his homemade spear in front of him while he cocked his head to listen. “I hear something.”
Kamiyo did too. The clod-clod-clod of heavy footsteps on wood. There was also a low, whistling sound. A twisted melody. A dirge that weakened Kamiyo’s bladder just hearing it.
Vamps appeared at the top of the cabin’s steps and surveyed them all like he was about to give an address. But it wasn’t really Vamps. Stood before them was an abomination.
Nathan loosed another arrow, and once again the boy’s aim was uncanny. The shaft buried itself in Vamps’ stomach, a wound that should kill a man, yet he yanked the arrow out and threw it to the ground like a crushed mosquito. He resumed whistling that dreadful tune.
Nathan notched and released another arrow. This time, Vamps caught the shaft in mid-air and snapped it in his fist. All the while, he carried on whistling. Whistling a tune of damnation—an ode to Hell.
Kamiyo felt terror rising in his chest, and he wanted more than anything to run into the safety of the forest. They were all going to die here, but his sense of duty made him stay. A doctor did not flee people in need of help.
Vamps leapt the steps and landed in the grass before them. He hissed at them, tongue tearing free from his throat and lashing at the air.
“Oh, hell no!” Eric had a shovel, and he swung it at Vamps. Vamps stepped aside so quickly he became a blur. He trapped the shovel in his armpit and yanked Eric towards him. Eric abandoned his grip on the shovel and tried to grab Vamps in a headlock.
Kamiyo yelled out in horror. “No! Get away from him, Eric.”
Vamps embraced Eric like an old friend, but then he shoved the man hard enough to launch him into the air. Eric’s guts unravelled as he flew backwards, held in place by Vamps’ outstretched fist. He hit the ground, dead, a massive hole in his torso. Vamps held up his bloody hand, clumps of intestine sloughing off it, and carried on whistling his tune. He tossed Eric’s guts into the grass.
Philip teetered on the spot, eyes rolling grimly in his head. Kamiyo thought he might pass out or make a run for it, but instead, Philip flung his sharpened stake at Vamps like a javelin.
Vamps knocked the spear aside and strode towards Philip, whistling louder in a high-pitched screech that caused them all to cover their ears. Jackie sobbed, her typical resolve evaporating. “We have to get to the children. I need to protect them.”
“We let him get away and we’re all dead.” Kamiyo stared her hard in the eye, trying to keep her mind present and focused. “Even if he doesn’t get inside the castle, he’ll bring other demons. he knows we’re here, and he won’t stop until we’re dead.”
“He’s right,” said Nathan. “We have to take this prick down.”
“We can’t,” cried Jackie.
“We stay and fight,” said Kamiyo.
Philip shoved Kamiyo towards Vamps. “You stay and fight. I’m not ending up like Eric.”
Nathan fired another arrow, and it struck Vamps in the shoulder. He pulled it out like all the others and threw it to the ground. It was useless. There was no way to hurt this thing. The Red Lord was invincible.
“He won’t die,” said Nathan, backing off towards the lake while notching another arrow.
Philip and Jackie backed away too. Kamiyo tried not to flee quite so readily, but he had two busted hands and no idea how to help. Vamps stopped his whistling and sneered at each of them in turn. “None of you shall live to see another sunrise.”
Kamiyo shoved Nathan with his elbow. “Run, kid!”
Everyone bolted, but Vamps moved like a leaf in a gale and was in front of them before they even realised he moved. Nathan stumbled right into his outstretched claws.
“Nathan!” Kamiyo barged the boy out of the way, which meant Vamps grabbed him instead. Kamiyo bellowed in pain as razor-sharp claws hoisted him off the ground by his shoulders.
“A noble sacrifice.” Vamps snarled in his face. “One you will regret.”
A shot fired, and Vamps released Kamiyo to the ground. He turned around slowly, blood spurting from his neck. Three figures emerged from the darkness. Hannah was one, flanked by Frank and another man Kamiyo didn’t recognise.
Frank shouted. “We’re here, kidda. We’re here!”
Hannah knelt behind her rifle and let off another shot. It struck Vamps in the throat, sending him spiralling onto his knees. Blood spurted into the air and he clutched at his throat like he was trying to keep it from falling apart. He sputtered and gurgled, trying to curse at them through the blood.
Nathan notched another arrow and aimed, but Kamiyo shook his head at the boy. There was no need, Hannah had it handled. She hurried over to them now, with Frank brandishing a sword and struggling to keep up with her. The other man, the stranger, stood where he was, seemingly mortified as he stared at Vamps.
Kamiyo faced Hannah. “You’re back! Why?”
“Long story, but I knew you were in danger. Is everyone okay?”
Jackie wailed, as all of her emotions gushed out at once. She pointed at Eric’s eviscerated corpse. Frank shook his head and swore.
Kamiyo let his head drop. “Not everyone.”
Hannah ground her teeth. “Damn it! I was too late.”
“It would have been worse without you.”
Without reply, she pointed her rifle at Vamps who remained on his knees, still fighting to keep the blood in his neck. “I should have put a bullet in you two weeks ago. I don’t care whatever big-shot demon you think you are, you picked on the wrong group of people.”
Vamps glared at her, trembling as blood continued pumping from his neck. Gradually, his breathing came to a stop, and he teetered back and forth on his knees like he was about to fall flat on his grave. Hannah pointed her rifle at his head, ready to deliver the mercy shot.
Nathan yelled. “Do it!”
“Let the bastard ‘ave it!” Frank cried.
Vamps removed his hands from his neck and held them out to his sides like Christ. Blood dripped from his fingertips on
to the grass and gushed down the front of his shirt. “Deliver yourselves from evil,” he said mockingly.
Hannah sneered—“Amen!”—and pulled the trigger.
Vamps rose to his feet, arms still held out like Christ. “I am the red thunder, the flame of consumption, the spark of creation. Behold, and I shall make things anew.”
Hannah fired again. The shot tore through Vamps’ chest, but he sold no injury. He snatched Hannah’s rifle, breaking the strap around her neck, and flung it high into the darkening sky.
As if in reply, it started to rain.
Hannah had the presence of mind to launch herself into an evasive roll before Vamps could grab her, and she joined the others. No one moved, stunned into inaction by what they were seeing. This monster couldn’t be killed. Not with fists, spears, or bullets.
There was no hope.
The strange man Hannah had brought along now stepped forwards. Twilight made his features appear grey and featureless, but Kamiyo thought the man was Middle-Eastern. He muttered something in a strange language and held out an arm to Vamps. His wide, hanging cuffs made him look like a wizard. Vamps placed all his attention on the stranger, snarling like a wolf. He took a swipe, but the small man dodged aside, still speaking his foreign tongue.
Kamiyo leant against Hannah, for comfort more than anything else. “Who is that guy?”
“His name is Aymun. He knows Vamps, and about what’s going on.”
“Makes one of us,” said Frank, waving the sword that Hannah had returned to him.
Aymun continued dodging, putting himself in danger by further enraging The Red Lord. Whatever he said was getting a passionate reaction.
“We have to get out of here,” said Philip. “We have to gather everyone and leave the forest.”
“No,” said Hannah. “This place is ours.”
Philip shook his head. “We can’t win this.”
Aymun tripped in the dark, falling down on one knee. Hannah yelled at him to get out of the way. Kamiyo groaned, realising this strange man would not be their saviour either, just as powerless as the rest of them—and about to die.
Hell On Earth Box Set | Books 1-6 Page 99
