Lycanthropic (Book 4): Moon Rise [The Age of the Werewolf]

by Morris, Steve

  ‘Even so,’ said Helen. ‘We need to watch them.’

  ‘They are being watched.’

  As the full moon drew closer, more symptoms began to develop. Light sensitivity among the patients became more common. Some developed the yellow sheen and mucous covering that Chanita was familiar with, and that Professor Wiseman had documented. Several refused to eat fruit and vegetables. But none had become aggressive. And all of them had recovered from whatever illness had been afflicting them.

  ‘None of this should surprise us,’ said Chanita. ‘James shares the same symptoms, and more besides.’

  ‘But what’s our long-term game plan?’ Helen asked her.

  ‘Long term? My long-term plan is to make it through to the end of today,’ said Chanita, looking exhausted. ‘Seriously, long term sounds like a luxury. Half of the patients would already be dead by now from measles or pneumonia if we hadn’t acted. Anyway, it’s not the patients I’m most concerned about. We’ve succeeded in stopping the spread of infectious disease, but we still don’t have enough food coming in. The rationing is leaving people hungry and angry. It’s not the patients who are becoming restless and violent, but ordinary people. Colonel Sharman is having to work hard to keep trouble to a minimum. And my current biggest concern is whether the enemy will attack the camp when the full moon comes next week. So long term? Forget that. We’ll take matters one day at a time.’

  ‘And what if things go seriously wrong with the patients?’

  Chanita returned her question with a level gaze. ‘Colonel Sharman has his orders.’

  Chapter Fifty-Six

  Gatwick Airport, West Sussex, waxing moon

  Drake felt Aasha shaking him roughly awake in the middle of the night. ‘Eh?’ he groaned. ‘Whassat?’

  ‘It’s time,’ she whispered, dragging him out from under his sheet.

  They’d agreed to get up at two o’clock in the morning to go vampire hunting. He had only just managed to get off to sleep, if you could call it sleeping. It was more like a brief blink in and out of oblivion, between semi-permanent rounds of exhaustion. It was impossible to sleep properly now the baby was born. Midnight feed. Three o’clock feed. Six o’clock feed. The madness never stopped.

  He grabbed the wooden stake he’d sharpened in readiness, and struggled to his feet. Then he slipped out of the hotel room as quietly as he could, so as not to wake any of the others.

  ‘Don’t wake the baby,’ warned Aasha.

  ‘Don’t wake the baby? Are you crazy? That’s like saying, don’t sting the wasp.’

  Were all babies like this? No wonder parents were so totally messed up.

  ‘Promise me,’ he said to Aasha as he stumbled down the darkened corridor, ‘that if we stay together, we’ll never have one of those.’

  ‘A baby?’ she asked, looking worryingly interested by the possibility.

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘Totally,’ she said. ‘Unless of course I change my mind.’

  They made their way downstairs to the hotel lobby where Vijay and Mihai were already waiting. They looked as bad as Drake felt, Vijay’s eyes red and half open, Mihai’s shoulders slumped. ‘I didn’t sleep a wink,’ said Vijay. ‘That baby just doesn’t stop crying.’

  ‘You boys are like babies,’ said Aasha. ‘Stop whingeing. Imagine how tired Samantha must feel.’

  ‘Is easy to imagine,’ said Mihai. He pointed to his bloodshot eyes. ‘Is just like this.’

  Aasha’s eyes were shining brightly in the dimness of the hotel lobby. She didn’t look the least bit tired, but seemed massively excited by the prospect of creeping around the airport at night. She gave Drake a quick kiss on the lips, which was something she hadn’t done for a while. ‘You should have just told me that you were trying to catch a vampire, right from the beginning,’ she said. ‘This is the most fun I’ve had since we came here.’

  ‘Fun, oh yeah. I forgot about that part,’ said Drake. ‘You’d better keep reminding me.’

  ‘Don’t forget that it’s dangerous,’ whispered Vijay. ‘This vampire is a cold-blooded killer. You saw what happened to Liz on the night of the full moon. She came really close to ripping someone’s throat out.’

  ‘Cheers,’ said Drake. ‘Now my happiness is complete.’

  The mood of the group changed once they left the relative safety of the hotel. Outside the air was crisp, almost sharp. Although it was April and the days were growing warmer and sunnier, there was still frost on the ground some mornings. Drake felt his senses heightened as the cold brought him back to life, banishing all thoughts of babies and sleep. The vampire was out here somewhere. Maybe it was stalking its next victim even now.

  He tightened his grip on the wooden stake. He was the only one who’d thought of bringing one. It would have been better if they were all armed with some kind of weapon, but it was too late for that now. In any case, the others weren’t really up to fighting. If things turned nasty, Vijay would be more hindrance than help. Mihai was a tough kid, but only ten years old. Aasha never took any crap from anyone, but she was just a girl. In an emergency, Drake couldn’t trust any of them to step up. He would have to do it himself.

  ‘Come on, then,’ he said, moving to the front. ‘Let’s go.’

  The plan was simple enough. Sneak inside the terminal building, split up and take positions around the building. Then wait and watch. If the vampire came hunting for another victim, they wouldn’t try to catch it, but would raise the alarm and try to get a good look. If they could identify the vampire, Liz could make an arrest later.

  It had seemed like a good idea when they’d talked about it up on the rooftop in the light of day. Now, with the blackness of night pressing in on all sides, he wondered if they were making a big mistake. It was too late to turn back though. Mihai had already slipped away, creeping off on his own into the darkness. The kid had balls, there was no question about that. And if he could do it, so could Drake.

  Aasha gave him another kiss and crept away in another direction. Now it was just him and Vijay.

  ‘You gonna be all right, mate?’ he asked his friend.

  Vijay nodded.

  ‘Why don’t you just stay here near the entrance?’ Drake suggested. ‘I’ll go and take a look around inside.’

  Vijay nodded gratefully, and Drake slipped inside, walking stealthily through the terminal building. A few lights glimmered in the darkness, turning to shine on him as he walked. Other people were staying awake, probably doing the same as him. Keeping watch over friends and neighbours. Watching for danger. That was sensible. In that case, the chances that the vampire would show were slim. And yet it had killed on three occasions already. It would be sure to kill again. If the vampire tried to kill someone tonight, Drake would surely spot it.

  He crossed the central floor area, past the check-in zones, stepping carefully between sleeping families, and climbed up the escalators to security. There were not so many people sleeping up on this level. He passed a café and a restaurant, both closed now, and wandered into the security lanes, where passengers had once queued to have their hand baggage searched. He had only ever flown once, on a cheap holiday to the Costa del Sol with his mum and one of her boyfriends. He had memories of sun, sea and sunburn. He had tried a beer for the first time, and hadn’t much liked it. But that wasn’t the point, was it? The point was fooling yourself that the beer tasted good, that life was on the up, and that things could only continue to get better. He had been fooling himself his whole life, he supposed.

  No one was going on holiday anywhere now. They probably never would again, and this entire airport was nothing more than a human warehouse, and not a very comfortable one at that.

  There were no windows on this level. In the enclosed darkness he could just make out the hulking shapes of the metal X-ray machines. There was no one around and the big space felt creepy.

  He was about to turn round and go back down to the lower level when he heard a sound.

  Chapter Fifty-Seven
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br />   Drake ducked down behind one of the silent X-ray machines. He stilled his breathing as much as he could, and listened hard.

  All he could hear was the thud-thud-thud of his own heart, but he knew he had heard a sound. His heart felt like it was pushing its way up and out through his throat. The blood pumping in his ears was almost deafening.

  But despite the din from his own body, he heard the sound again.

  Scratch.

  That single sound in the dark, silent space felt ominous. That was not the creaking of the building. It was not the quiet sound of a mouse. He didn’t know what it was.

  Scratch.

  His heart was galloping so wildly, he could hardly bear to stay still, yet he forced himself to sit with his back glued to the metal of the X-ray scanner. The machine was huge, easily big enough to shield him from view if someone was there in the security hall.

  Why was he thinking “if”? Of course there was someone there. The temptation to peek was strong, but he resisted it. All he had to do was stay out of sight and very soon the –

  Scratch.

  It was even closer this time. An unmistakably inhuman noise, even scarier because it was so quiet and stealthy.

  Was this the vampire coming for him? Was he going to be the next victim? Another mysterious murder? Now he felt stupid that he had told Vijay to stay near the entrance. Whose idea had it been to split up in the first place? That was a rookie mistake. If the vampire knew he was here, on his own, he was as good as dead. He could try shouting for help, but that might simply secure his fate good and proper. No, just stay still and be silent, that was the best policy. But get ready to run. Get ready to run like mad.

  He clutched the wooden stake tightly. If the vampire came near, he would lunge at it and stick it through the heart. He had done a bit of knife fighting in the past, so he knew how to do it. He just hoped the wooden point would be sharp enough.

  A black shape glided through the thick darkness toward him.

  He yelped in fright, his arms frozen at his side, not even able to think, the wooden stake useless in his hand.

  So much for fight or flight. His arms and legs wouldn’t move. All he could do now was gibber with terror.

  The shape slid closer, unhurried, unafraid.

  ‘Who is it?’ blurted Drake. ‘I know there’s someone there.’

  Were those the stupidest last words ever?

  The black thing came right up to him and pushed against his arm. He shrieked. The feel of it was horrible. Thick, smooth fur, rubbing against his skin, tickling the hairs that stood tall all over his arms. It pressed against him, then turned its head. Two green eyes stared into his face. They were huge.

  He screamed and leapt to his feet, holding the wooden stake ready to strike.

  The green eyes looked up at him, puzzled. He looked down at them and realized that their owner must be about a foot tall.

  Meow.

  It was a black cat.

  ‘Bloody hell,’ gasped Drake. ‘You scared me to death.’

  The cat licked its paws calmly, its eyes still fixed on him. It meowed again.

  He sank back to his feet in relief. His legs and arms were shaking now. The cat turned and rubbed itself against him again, mewing hopefully.

  ‘Are you hungry? I bet you are.’ The animal felt thin and bony. It must be living here in the terminal building, scavenging for leftover food. By the looks of it, it hadn’t found much. ‘I know how you feel,’ said Drake. ‘Life could have been kinder, yeah?’

  The cat allowed him to stroke its back. It paced back and forth, purring gently, its green eyes lighting its movement, pressing its warmth against him. Slowly, his heart returned to something like normal speed.

  Suddenly the cat stopped and arched its back. Its purring came to a halt and instead it hissed.

  A cold feeling of dread crept up Drake’s spine. He couldn’t hear anything, yet somehow he sensed another presence. He laid a warning hand on the cat’s head and raised a finger to his lips. He had no idea if the cat understood his meaning, but it stayed quiet, not moving an inch.

  Drake strained to listen. He was almost certain he could hear the soft tread of footsteps.

  Every hair on the cat’s back stood to attention. The animal padded forward silently, stepped across Drake’s outstretched legs and slipped around the corner of the X-ray machine. Drake watched it go in fear.

  The footsteps came to a halt and the silence deepened so much he could imagine that time itself had stopped. He could almost hear the echoes of the silence. For a long minute nothing happened. Eventually he could stand it no longer. He slid along the floor, the way the cat had gone, until he reached the corner of the scanning machine. He held his breath and poked his head around it.

  A figure was standing in the middle of the hall, its limbs frozen mid-movement in a strange, unnatural position, like a statue. Only its head was moving, slowly turning through the darkness, left to right, right to left, like a searchlight sweeping the room. Its eyes glowed yellow.

  Drake ducked back.

  The footsteps started again, treading softly across the floor. Which way were they heading? It was impossible to tell for sure, but they seemed to be drawing closer. Drake looked left and right, but there was no obvious way of escape. If the vampire caught him here, he’d have nowhere to run.

  The footsteps continued on their slow, hesitant path. That was no normal walking. That was the sound of someone creeping quietly, stealing stealthily like a thief. Or a killer. Or a vampire. And they were definitely coming nearer. Oh yes.

  He clutched the wooden stake so hard it felt like it might snap. If the vampire reached him, would he have the courage to stick the stake in its chest? Could he kill someone? A vampire? He would find out soon. The footsteps were very close now, just a few yards away.

  A sharp hiss cut through the air and the steps came to an abrupt halt.

  Drake waited a moment, but couldn’t stand the suspense. If he was going to die, he at least wanted to know how. He stuck his head out to see what was happening.

  The vampire had paused just the other side of the scanner, and the cat was arching its back again, hissing even louder than before. It showed its teeth and scratched at the floor with its claws. The hissing grew louder and then the cat was spitting at its foe, hairs bristling, ready to attack.

  The vampire watched the cat, a slow malevolent grin spreading across its face. It was a para, one of Major Hall’s men. Drake was sure of it.

  Then the para spun on his heel and marched out of the security hall, leaving Drake and the cat alone again.

  Chapter Fifty-Eight

  Overton Hill, Wiltshire, waxing moon

  They had nearly come to the end of the Ridgeway, and Chris was growing increasingly apprehensive. Just as Ryan had promised, the old road had led them west, away from the urban hinterland around London, to the green fields and forests of the countryside.

  They had passed many ancient sites on their route, including the prehistoric stone circle of Avebury. Chris had marvelled at the huge stones planted in the ground like the teeth of some gigantic dinosaur. Josh and his friends had thrown empty beer cans at them, and the guy with the flute had climbed on top of one of the stones, performing a drunken dance beneath the stars.

  Now they were approaching Overton Hill, the very end of the old chalk road, and it would be time to turn north and travel on to the promised land of Hereford. But Josh and the new guys were still insisting on going to Glastonbury.

  Chris thought that he could depend on Rose and Ryan to back him up, but Seth was another matter. Seth had become a turncoat, a traitor. His ankle was still no better, and he actually seemed to enjoy being carried everywhere like a maharaja in his palanquin. He even treated the new guys as his best friends, laughing at their jokes and encouraging them to talk about their stupid ideas.

  ‘I can’t imagine a world without the internet,’ he was telling them now. ‘Except that, wow, this is it.’

  ‘I know
,’ said Josh, who was leaning on a stout walking stick fashioned from a branch he had picked up en-route. ‘Crazy, right? But you know what? It’s because of the internet that we’re so well prepared for survival. Did you ever watch those videos showing you how to survive by, you know, drinking your own urine?’

  ‘Ugh, gross,’ said Seth. ‘But yeah, I watched so many zombie shows on Netflix, I reckon I could survive anything now.’

  ‘Totally. We must remain alert at all times, and be combat-ready,’ said Josh, adopting a karate-style pose with his stick. ‘Keep a clear mind, and always have an escape route planned.’

  Chris snorted in derision. These people knew nothing about survival. They had come to the wilderness with no proper equipment, no food, no knowledge even of how to light a fire, how to cook, how to hunt. They had barely been able to open a tin can. Chris had shown them how to make sparks using a flint he had found on the Ridgeway. He had taught them how to light a fire from dry kindling. Without him to show them what to do, and Rose and Ryan to go on food missions, they would probably be dead already.

  Seth was the worst of all, the most inept survivalist Chris knew. Clueless and dumb, he was so ignorant he didn’t even know how stupid he was. Yet ironically he had somehow managed to develop the looks of a rugged pioneer. Without a razor to tend to his facial hair, his goatee beard had grown thick and matted. His hair was now so long it permanently covered his eyes. He looked like a low-rent Thor who had lost his Stormbreaker hammer and forgotten to keep up his strength training.

  ‘Glastonbury, here we come,’ said Seth as they reached the top of the hill. ‘Can we see it from here?’

  Chris laughed mirthlessly. Glastonbury was still miles away. But there was no point explaining that to Seth. He had entirely lost his grip on reality.

  Josh turned to him. ‘You got something you want to say, Chris?’