London Under Midnight

by Simon Clark

The silence following after the boat crashed ashore was profound; for Ben it possessed a menacing resonance all of its own. Even April and Carter were stunned by the impact. At the third attempt Ben managed to scramble to his feet. Beyond the windows lay a beach of sand that was a mixture of greys and yellows in the moonlight. Willow trees formed black, beastlike shapes at this time of night. As the breeze passed through them they wriggled as if they were primeval animals that shook their backs as they began to wake.

  In the doorway, Carter struggled to break the velvet cords that held his arms out straight in that crucifixion pose. His jaws worked as if he tried to chew lumps out of the very air around him. He'd lost all self-control now; his eyes had become two fiery orbs of pure insanity. Ben turned his attention to April who'd fallen to her knees. Elmo Kigoma still managed to keep the leather belt in her mouth so it held her jaws apart. Trajan had recovered enough to help restrain her threshing limbs. Even so, the men were weakening. Exhaustion obliterated all expression on their faces. Soon April would break free.

  Ben pulled a penknife from his pocket. 'Hold her still!'

  Trajan recoiled in shock. 'No, Ben. We can hold her.'

  'You can't.' He eased out the small blade that was sharp as a razor.

  Trajan's stared at the glittering blade. 'What are you going to do?'

  'Give her what she wants.'

  Trajan turned to Elmo as if expecting the man to stop Ben.

  Instead, he merely refreshed his grip on that sticky hair of April's in order to hold her head still. Ben turned his arm so he could choose a place on his bare forearm. Do it quickly, he told himself, before you change your mind.

  Human skin is tougher than it looks. He pressed the edge of the blade into his arm as firmly as he could. Then he made a sawing motion. The keen steel edge generated a prickling sensation as if a dozen needles had been forced into his flesh. At last the mouth of the wound opened to release a rush of blood.

  'Don't go too deep,' Elmo told him. 'That's enough.'

  'Hold her tight.' Ben moved to where they held April in the kneeling position in the centre of the cabin. By now she'd stopped struggling. Her eyes had become vast shining disks as she stared at the blood running from the inch long cut. Ben stood so that his arm was directly above her.

  'Don't let go of her, but take away the belt.'

  When the belt was removed she tried to rise to her feet. With a supreme effort Trajan and Elmo managed to keep her kneeling. As the blood coursed down Ben's forearm in a thick rivulet of crimson he allowed his arm to dangle so his fingertips hung just inches above her face. The bloody tide sped down his wrist then followed the line of his extended fingers. A moment later his life-blood trickled from his fingertips as she opened her mouth wide to receive the nourishment. Ben could tell she wanted to clamp her mouth to the wound but the men held her down to prevent her drawing off more than he could safely give her.

  In the doorway, Carter howled with envy as he watched the woman feed.

  'Just permit her enough so she regains her sanity,' Elmo told him. 'Don't give so much you become ill yourself.'

  With gasps of ecstasy April caught the ruby drops in her mouth. When she had close on a mouthful she swallowed with such an expression of gratitude. The contorted face relaxed into a smile of bliss. With the second mouthful her body became almost limp. Hunger yielded to satisfaction.

  'That's enough, Ben,' Trajan said.

  'Please,' April begged. 'Just another mouthful.'

  'Ben, no.'

  With an effort Ben remained standing. 'I need to give her just enough to stop the craving. We need her to be able to function.' Then he added grimly, 'It's either this or she'll take what she needs from us anyway.'

  With her face upturned her mouth became a cup that soon filled to the brim with what could have been a dark, red wine. This time when she closed her lips to swallow Ben moved back and clamped his hand over the wound.

  'April? Do you understand me?' Elmo gently shook her by the arm. 'We're going to let go now. You know you mustn't attack us.'

  She sighed. 'I'm fine. I won't hurt you.' Even so, her glance at Ben's bloody hand was one of infinite regret. How she craved to lick his fingers clean.

  Trajan released his hold on April with a grunt as he rubbed his aching shoulder. 'Ben,' he said, 'there's a first aid kit on the shelf behind you. Bandage the wound before you do anything else. Oh, one more thing. I need your knife.'

  Ben gave him a quizzical look.

  Trajan nodded at the man who raged against his bonds. 'Carter needs some, too.'

  As Ben handed Trajan the knife, April looked out of the pilothouse window. 'Be quick,' she warned. 'They're starting to come out of the water.'

  ***

  Trajan and Ben emerged on deck, each with a bandage around their forearms. Elmo, Carter and April followed. For now the two vampires were functioning as human beings. Although Ben saw that the blood they'd drunk had failed to give them complete satiety. Their eyes still flashed with hunger. The little blood that the two humans had been able to spare wouldn't keep these creatures satisfied for long.

  The boat had hit ground at low tide. Although the vessel leaned at an angle and most of the paint had been stripped away by its abrasive contact with the beach, at least it was intact. A mile or so across the moonlit water Ben could make out the oil refinery on the mainland. Yellow flames rose from the chimneys that burnt off excess vapours. As for the island, it didn't extend much more than a few acres. Most of it appeared to be covered by willow trees that rustled and shook; a herd of monstrous beasts that scented the arrival of fresh prey. Ben's imagination had reached a point where everything had become laced with danger.

  'April's right,' Trajan agreed. 'Here they come.'

  Emerging from the night-time river were dozens of crawling figures. While they'd been in the water the description Vampire Sharkz was apt. But now that they dragged themselves across the shore on their bellies, they adopted the same ominous manner as alligators. Their legs were limp as they pulled themselves forward with their arms. Most wore the remnants of clothes but a few were completely naked; their clothes had simply decayed from them. One factor they all shared was the way their heads were raised so they could watch the human beings on the boat with predatory eyes.

  'One thing's for sure,' Ben said. 'We can't stay here.'

  Trajan turned to Carter. 'How do you feel?'

  'I can't thank you enough. My mind's clear again. You don't know what it's like when the hunger hits.'

  'You said that when you were on the island you could maintain control of yourself. How?'

  'We drank from the salt pools on the beach,' April said. 'After the estuary water began to evaporate the mineral content and salinity must have made it resemble blood. Certainly close enough to keep ourselves under control.'

  Ben glanced at the things emerging from the river; one by one they rose slowly to their feet. 'Why are those things different to you? They've become mindless eating machines.'

  'I found that drinking from the salt pools took the edge off the craving,' Carter said. 'It must have been a crucial state of transition from human to…' He shrugged. 'Whatever we are now. I think they were damaged through lack of food. They became mindless monsters - Berserkers, I call them. April and me escaped the worst of it.'

  'Will it work again?' Trajan asked. 'If you drink the water from the pools?'

  'It might.' April didn't sound hopeful.

  'And it was only a short-fix,' Carter added.

  Elmo spoke. 'We must find a permanent cure for their condition.'

  'How?'

  Elmo's hooded eyes regarded the creatures advancing up the shore toward them. 'The answer is here on this island.'

  Ben gripped Elmo's arm. 'Tell us what it is.'

  'That's just it. I don't know. It's for you to find out. I'm not being deliberately obstructive but you, Ben, must enter that Sea of Thought.'

  'You can't be serious. You mean it's down to me to find the solution?' />
  'Yes.'

  April tugged Trajan's sleeve. 'You can't stay here. They'll kill you.'

  'Worse,' Carter grunted. 'If they catch you, you'll become one of them.'

  In the moonlight, the figures appeared as silhouettes as the last ones rose from the sands to their feet. From each shadowy form a pair of eyes shone like splinters of glass. A baleful hunger blazed there.

  'Come on.' Carter dropped from the deck on to the shore. 'It's you three they want. And April and me aren't safe, either. Those things will tear anything apart if they think there's even a drop of blood inside.'

  The group ran across the sand toward the willows. At least Carter knew the way; in seconds he'd found a path that led through the thicket of trees.

  Ben thought furiously. What did Elmo mean? Why must it be me who finds the cure for April's condition? Where do I begin to look? There are only trees here.

  Then a revelation struck him. He caught the African by the elbow. 'Elmo,' he panted. 'You knew something like this would happen, didn't you?'

  'I've been warning of the dangers that humanity faces all my life.'

  'No, it's more than that. When we first met, when you were still in that boat, you knew I'd be confronted with this, didn't you?'

  A breeze whispered through the branches. Above them, the moon beamed its light on to Elmo's face as his gaze met Ben's. 'I saw something,' he agreed. 'Destiny. Fate. Inevitability. Whatever the description you apply, I saw in my mind's eye.' He touched his temple. 'You were to fight in a great battle. The city of London depends on you. You are its protecting warrior.'

  'No. You can't expect that from me. What the hell do I know about fighting those monsters?'

  'Nevertheless…'

  'You've picked the wrong man.'

  'The gods of my village and my ancestors think differently.'

  'You're mistaken. Do you know what I do for a living?' Ben's voice rose in anger. 'I write articles for a magazine. Frivolous bits of text that editors use to fill the spaces between advertisements. I'm no more a warrior than any other guy who sits at a computer from nine till five!'

  The others continued through the trees. Carter paused to call back. 'Come on. It's too dangerous to stay here.'

  That was the moment when a figure leapt out of the bushes on to Carter's back. The vampire launched its frenzied attack; its mouth open wide as it tried to rip Carter's face from his head. Ben darted forward. He saw what would once have been a woman of around thirty. She wore the remains of a tight red dress. Her eyes blazed down at Carter with sheer ferocity as she struggled to sink her teeth into him.

  When Ben reached the pair he didn't stop running. He leapt as if jumping into a swimming pool with legs outstretched, his feet in front of him. It knocked the woman backwards into the undergrowth. With a roar of frustration she sprang to her feet. Even though Ben's footprint revealed itself on the bare skin of her upper chest she wasn't fazed; didn't even show any sign of hurt. Her jaws opened again in readiness for biting whatever flesh came close. The mad light in her eyes increased its intensity. A Berserker. Carter's name for this breed of vampire said it all. This ferocious creature is berserk through and through and through…

  Carter wouldn't be on his feet fast enough to outrun the creature, so Ben searched the ground for something he could use as a weapon. The only thing that came close was a fallen tree branch that was nearly as long as he was tall. In a second he'd scooped it up as the vampire launched itself from the ground in a muscular leap. As it flew at Carter, its jaws wide, Ben drove the end of the branch into that gaping mouth. The branch was as thick as a wrist, yet he aimed it with such accuracy it passed between the creature's teeth to slam into the back of its throat. With all his strength he followed the attack through by pushing so hard that the creature fell backwards. He didn't let up the pressure. He positioned himself so he rammed the branch down with enough force into the vampire's mouth to stop it from rising. There it lay on its back; the end of the branch filled its mouth. The Berserker erupted into nothing less than a maelstrom of furies: it writhed, bare legs kicked, arms reached up to try and claw at his hands as they gripped the branch, and all the time it roared out its rage at him.

  Damn, the thing was strong. Even from that position, with Ben bearing down on the tree limb with all his body weight, the monster lifted its head from the earth. Its upper lip curled back as it sank its teeth into the dry wood. Another moment and it would break free. His heart pounded in his chest as perspiration blurred his eyes.

  Then Carter was at his side. The man gripped the branch and helped force the Berserker back down to earth.

  Ben panted, 'Give it everything you've got! One, two, three - push!'

  Together they exerted as much force as they could. The branch creaked as the downward pressure grew. The creature that had once been a woman choked in agony as the blunt end of the branch broke the flesh at the back of its throat, then sank through the muscle to burst through the skull at the back.

  'It's still alive!' Ben shouted. 'Keep pushing!'

  They continued to force the branch through the mouth, through the back of the head, and into the soil. They only stopped when it couldn't penetrate the ground any deeper. But by then it must have embedded itself more than two feet deep. Now the vampire was effectively pinned to the earth. Even though it was still alive - kicking its legs, flailing its arms, jerking its hips - it couldn't rise.

  'Good work, Carter,' Ben said as he patted the man on the back.

  Man? This thing is a vampire. In another ten minutes that wild look might return to its eye and it'll try and kill me.

  At that moment, however, Carter grinned back. The gold tips of his teeth shone in the moonlight. 'Come on, Ben, this place will soon be swarming with those things.'

  When they rejoined the others they quickly made their way through the trees in the direction of a ruined house.

  Elmo ran alongside Ben. 'I saw what you did to the vampire.'

  'It wasn't pretty. But needs must.'

  'You told me you were no warrior, Ben Ashton. Are you still so certain?'

  THIRTY-FOUR

  They ran toward a house that had been abandoned years ago. The garden had merged with the forest. In the chaotic growth that had once been the front lawn were the remains of lobster pots and a rowing boat. The door of the house gaped open with all the grim promise of an entrance to a tomb. Ben's mind whirled. Clearly Elmo Kigoma expected a mighty deed from him, and to fight evil just as Elmo's warrior ancestors had done. Ben still didn't know how. Okay, so he'd managed to pin down one of the vampires using a tree branch. But there were dozens of the creatures - those Berserkers - swarming all over the island. He couldn't stake down every single one of them, could he? So how was he expected to save not only their lives but the entire population of London?

  As they raced through a tunnel of greenery toward the door of the house Carter called back, inside there are men and women. 'They won't harm you.' At the door he paused to beckon them through. 'Hurry! They're here!'

  Ben glanced back. Pale shapes swam through the shadows with all the menace of hungry sharks. The vampires moved so smoothly and so rapidly it reinforced the notion that those creatures somehow glided through the night air rather than ran. But that illusion of grace soon evaporated when a pair of creature burst through the undergrowth in an explosion of leaves.

  For a moment the group stood gasping for breath in the hallway as Carter slammed the broken door shut in the vampires' faces. 'Help me!'

  All four ran to the door to hold it shut as a barrage of fists pounded at the timbers. Then the Berserkers began to push. Hinges creaked. A panel split with the sound of a pistol shot.

  Elmo said desperately, 'We need to barricade the entrance.'

  'It won't give you long,' Carter shouted above the hammering. 'They'll find a way in!'

  April cried, 'The downstairs windows are boarded. They'll hold for a while!'

  'Keep holding the door closed,' Carter told them. 'I'll bri
ng whatever I can to build the barricade.' Moments later he hauled a dresser from the kitchen. It was little more than a wreck that sprouted blobs of orange fungi but as a piece of furniture it was a heavyweight. With April's help he tipped it against the door. 'That's the best we've got.'

  Trajan pointed. 'They're inside the house!'

  Ben saw the figures of men and women standing on the staircase.

  'Those are Misfires,' April explained.

  'Misfires?'

  'The ones that never made the change from human to vampire completely. Don't worry, they're harmless.' That's when the revelation struck. Her eyes widened in horror. 'Not like me. Trajan, I'm one of those monsters, aren't I?' She gulped and a frantic searching expression came into her eyes. 'Oh, my God. I've done terrible things. I've attacked people and drank their blood. The worst thing is I know I'm going to do it again.' She clenched her fists. 'And soon. I can feel the hunger. Trajan, you can't be near me when it comes over me. I'll hurt you.'

  Ben watched Trajan smile fondly at her as he lightly stroked her cheek. 'We're fighting this together now. I'm not going to give up on you.'

  That hungry, searching expression faded as she smiled back at him. The tenderness in her smile sank a knife into Ben's soul. That secret hope of being with April as a couple shriveled in on itself and died.

  Ben glanced at Elmo. The old man's dark, soulful eyes met his. Elmo knew what had just gone through Ben's mind. And the rhythm of the pounding on the door quickened. The vampires wanted in. They were hungry. They wanted blood. Craved blood. It energized them with this berserk power; an incredible strength that would allow them to claw through solid stone given time. From the back of the house more fists beat the boards covering the windows.

  Carter had become edgy. His appetite was returning, too. Nevertheless, he took a deep breath and said, 'We should think about retreating upstairs.'

  He indicated the way up the staircase with its strange, immobile cargo of those things he termed Misfires. Ben appreciated the description. With all the clamouring outside the Misfires hadn't moved; they didn't even appear to notice that the house had new occupants. Four men and three women stood on the steps where they faced the front door. They could have been a still from a film. Their skin possessed a bluish tint, their hair glistened with the same sticky substance as April's. Little more than scraps of mildewed cloth, all that remained of their clothes, hung from those motionless bodies. A spider had even spun a web from the ear of a young woman to her shoulder. Ben avoided touching the sentinels as he passed by them to the upper floor. Their faces could have been cast from resin. A total absence of expression. Eyes part open, apparently seeing nothing. Once he reached the upper landing he followed the others into what had been a bedroom. There, lank shreds of wallpaper hung from the walls, while five women and a man in a business suit guarded nothing in particular. Again that statue-like immobility. Carter peered out through a gap in the planks that had been nailed across the window. Ben joined him. Outside, in the moonlight, vampires surged through the trees to join the other creatures that were now tugging at the boards on the windows downstairs. The pounding on the door became faster. A dark heartbeat that seemed to be propelling the entire world toward a crisis of nightmarish proportions. From down below came a crash.