"Maybe we could burn the vampire," Mayor Tillis interrupted. "Find out where he lives and torch it. Or we could douse him with liquid nitrogen, freeze him."
"You're thinking of scientific solutions," Rich said, looking exasperatedly at Sue. "Listen to what she is saying. This is not something that obeys the laws of science. This thing has nothing to do with logic or reason. We need... I don't know, magic to right him. Sue just told you what you need to do to protect yourselves
"We can just drag him out into sunlight," a young man said. ""Let him fry and turn to dust."
"Whatever we do, we need to catch him firstl" Will Overbeck shouted. "I think we should set a trap. I'll donate a cow, Lem could kick in a goat, maybe some of the other ranchers would be willing to fork over some chickens. We could slaughter them all, spread the blood around, like they do for sharks, and then wait. When he comes to eat! you got him! got him."
Robert looked over Rich's shoulder at Sue, shook his head disgustedly.
"They're not listening to us," Rich whispered.
Dozens of people were speaking at once now, their competing voices worriedly anxious and, at the same time, defensively belligerent.
"This demon can only be fought with prayer," Pastor Wilkerson from the Lutheran Church was saying from his seat.
Mrs. Church, the librarian, vehemently shook her head. "I cannot sit idly by, praying for God to do something when I can do it myself. God gave us brains and free will so we could make our own decisions, so we could right our own fights. The Chinese girl said the vampire's afraid of jade instead of crosses, and I believe her. God has al lowed this information to be placed in front of us; now he is waiting to see what we do with it."
"Exactly," Robert said.
The mayor banged on his desk with a gavel. He stood and continued to bang until the room was silent. He looked slowly around the room. "I don't know if we've Succeeded in reaching an agreement on anything yet, but I do suggest that we proceed in a logical and orderly fashion. I am proposing that we adopt an emergency curfew, that we ban all children and adults from being on the street after dark until such time as this situation is resolved. Once the proposal is seconded, I will open the floor for discussion."
"Basha's is open twenty-four hours," Jim Kness, the manager of the grocery store said. "That's corporate policy. I can't change that.
I'm going to be arrested for doing my job and keeping the store open?"
"What about the movie theater?" someone said.
"I can't go shopping until after I get off work, and I don't get off until it's dark."
Robert raised his hands for silence. "We won't enforce any curfew." He looked over at the mayor. "Sorry, Al. But we do need to decide how we're going to deal with this."
Tom Moore, the Baptist preacher, jumped up from his seat and rushed into the center of the council chambers.
"Vampires," Moore announced loudly, "are the spawn of Satan. They are among us because we asked them here with our wickedness and our sinfulness. But Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, has returned to protect us, has offered us sanctuary from the adversary if only we dedicate ourselves to obeying the word of God." He turned slowly on his heel and raised his arm until he was pointing at Sue. "This heathen has asked us to adopt the ways of evil, to forsake the holy word of God--"
"Shut up," Robert said, facing Moore. "Just shut the hell up. This isn't your church, this is a town council meeting We're here as citizens of Rio Verde, not as individuals. We're here to draft a civil defense plan for our town, not to promote our own interests. If you have nothing to contribute beyond your racist bullshit, then stop taking up our time. We have work to do."
There was the sound of two hands clapping from the back of the now silent audience, and Buford stood, grinning hugely, hands high over his head, applauding. To the side of him, someone else began to clap. The applause grew. It by no means included most of the assembled people, but it was definitely close to half, and Rich felt proud as he looked at his brother, standing tall and proud against the preacher.
Moore turned without a word and walked out of the room, the crowd parting before him to let him through. Some people watched his departure with concern, still others hurried to join him, but most remained where they were,
Robert did not even wait until the preacher left the chambers. "We don't have time to play games here to night," he said. He looked around the room, and to Rich it seemed as though he had gained a stature he hadn't had a few moments before.
What a difference the perception of power made. "The important thing right now is that we get the word out and make people aware that there's a vampire loose in Rio Verde. He's already killed four people, maybe more, and God knows how many animals. He'll kill again. You can believe in the Chinese stuff or not, but make sure that you and your families and your friends and your coworkers stay indoors after dark.
If you have to go someplace, run to your car, run from your car, stay inside locked buildings as much as possible. All of the murders so far have taken place outside, in the open air. I don't know if it's true that a vampire has to be invited before he can come in"--he looked at Sue, who shook her headm'but he's not going into people's homes or places of business. So far. If we take precautions and don't act stupidly, we'll get through this."
The questions were again shouted chaotically, but they were more serious, more thoughtful, more specific. Many of them were addressed to Sue, and she and her father tried to answer them carefully and thoroughly.
"I am going to need volunteers!" Robert announced. "I want to establish patrol teams to watch for the vampire each night, and I don't have the manpower for it. You'll be in pairs, either patrolling the streets or stationed in appropriate locations, and you'll be outfitted with two-way communications devices. If that thing makes a move against anyone in this town, I want to know about it. We'll be on him so fast, he won't know what hit him. If anyone's interested, come up to me afterward. I have a sign up sheet here, and I'd be glad to have you aboard."
This time the applause was unanimous, erupting simultaneously throughout the members of the crowd.
"We got to them," Rich said to Sue. "They heard us." "Maybe."
"Maybe?"
She frowned. "Your brother made it sound as though jade is an option, like they can use jade or a cross; that it doesn't matter as long as they believe in the cup hugirngs's existence. But the creature doesn't care whether you believe in it or not. It exists, and jade and willow can ward it off. Crosses and garlic and the rest of those movie things do nothing."
"But they know that now. They heard you. They listened." "Maybe," she said again.
Robert had moved to the center of the council chambers and was surrounded by a clamoring group of men and women trying to talk to him.
Rich could see that a clipboard was being passed around. Apparently, there was no shortage of volunteers.
It was late, and it was dark outside--a fact that seemed to be just below the surface of everyone's mind. People kept glancing toward the door, toward the blackness beyond the exterior lights of the building.
The crowd outside had virtually disappeared, and it was not too long before the inside crowd began to thin out. Rich sidled up next to his brother. He saw the FBI agent, who had remained unmoving in his seat until now, stand and approach. Rossiter stopped in front of Robert.
"I need to talk to you," he said. "Where's Cash?"
"Cash is an asshole."
"You're noLW'
"I believe you about the vampire," Rossiter said. "I'm willing to support you on this. The FBI's behind you." He looked toward Sue, her father, and grandmother. "I'd like to talk to the Chinese girl."
"Sue Wing," Robert said.
"What?" "She has a name. Her name is Sue Wing."
"Right." Rossiter looked at his watch. "Finish this up and meet me in your office in ten minutes." He turned to leave without waiting for a response.
"Make it twenty," Robert said.
Rossiter did not tu
rn, did not seem to have heard him but continued walking.
Rich grinned. "I guess he'll just have to wait an extra ten minutes."
Robert grinned back. "I have a sneaking suspicion it'll be closer to fifteen." He turned back to the excited men and women in front of him ..... Rich leaned against the front counter next to Woods. The coroner was tired, and more than once had announced he was going home, but he continued to tough it out.
This was too important to miss.
Sue sat at Lee Anne desk, her father and grandmother in borrowed chairs next to her. Robert and Rossiter leaned against the desk opposite them. The FBI had been asking questions for over an hour, of all of them, but mostly of Sue and her grandmother.
"How much firepower are you going to need?" he asked Sue. "How many men should I have assigned to this case?"
She shook her head. "I told you. We don't need any of that."
"It can't hurt." ,
"Human weapons are of no use against the cup hugirng,s/. And, yes, it can hurt. We need seven men. Seven men to be chosen by my grandmother." "Because seven is a lucky number." "Right."
"But it just seems to me that it would be prudent to have some backup."
"Do you understand what I'm telling you? You can have nuclear weapons, and it won't make any difference."
A flicker of interest crossed the agent's features. "Now that would be interesting."
"Jesus."
"I think we've had enough here tonight," Robert said. "We're all tired; we're all a little cranky. Let's just go home and get some sleep." "No," Rossiter said. "I'm not finished here."
"We are." Sue stood. She said something in Cantonese to her grandmother and father, and the three of them rose. They walked around the desk and toward the gate in the front counter. She turned, looking over her shoulder, and smiled at the agent. "Keep in touch."
Rich grinned at her as she passed by on her way out:
Pastor Wheeler looked at his watch. It was midnight Exactly. He walked onto the makeshift platform and faced his congregation. They were seated before him on chairs, benches, boulders, and the hard ground of the vacant lot. Behind them, in its exquisite blackness, was the Church of the Living Christ.
In three days it would be completed.
In three days, the Second Coming would be upon them. Wheeler looked out upon his flock. There were easily two hundred people here tonight.
In the first row, he saw Bill Covey seated next to the Methodist pastor.
They were all coming around. Just as Jesus had said they would.
It was too bad that only forty of them would be chosen by the Lord to live, but, as the Savior liked to say, those were the rules of the room, love 'em or leave 'em. And, of course, those of the faithful who voluntarily sacrificed themselves on the altar or in the pits would be rewarded in Heaven and would not perish but would have everlasting life. The rest... The rest would get what they deserved, He felt exhilarated, and he breathed deeply, taking in the cold desert air.
After Jesus' rebirth, the Word would spread, and soon people from all over the state, all over the country, all over the world, would come to pay horn age to the Living Christ. And Jesus would pass judgment on them.
The preacher smiled upon his congregation. He began to speak. He spoke of the wickedness of the world and the goodness of God, and then he said what Jesus had told him to say. "Chinksl" he said, grinning fiercely. "The heathen Chinee! The Lord Jesus Christ has foreseen that the yellow race will try to prevent Him from accomplishing His goals and bringing to light a brave new worldl It is up to us, the servants of God, the Christian soldiers, to prove our love for Him by stopping this pagan plotI"
Wheeler looked upon the sea of rapt faces before him, pale blurs in the night. He lowered his voice, but it could still be heard clearly in the hushed stillness. "They will try to attack the church. They must be stopped. Go home tonight and get your guns, your knives, your axes, your hatchets. Anything that can be used to defend the house of the Lord. Bring them here to me." He grinned. "When they attack, we will be ready. And we shall overcome. We will hurt them and torture them and feed their bleeding yellow bodies to Jesus, and He will pick his teeth with their bones."
Heartfelt murmurs of "Amen" echoed throughout the crowd of men and women gathered in the darkness.
The preacher looked toward the church where, faintly, he could hear the sound of hammering.
Three more days.
It was going to be glorious.
Sue sat on the floor of her grandmother's room, her nostrils filled with the mingled scents of ginseng and chrysanthemum. It was nearly dawn. John and her parents would be up soon. Although she and her grandmother had been talking since they'd returned from the police station, Sue did not feel the least bit tired. In many ways, she felt more awake than she ever had.
She'd learned a lot this night. Legends and facts and the connective bridges between the two. The tales and truths her grandmother told her she would have dismissed two months ago, cringing with embarrassment at the old woman's uneducated backwardness. But, since then, her attitudes had changed, her mind was not as closed as it had been, and she knew that there was nothing her grandmother could say that she would not believe.
For the past two hours, the old woman had been lying on her bed, eyes closed, but now she sat up, turning to look at Sue. "Are you a virgin?" she asked.
Sue stared at the carpet, at her toes, anywhere but into the eyes of her grandmother. Her face burned with the heat of embarrassment, and she found that she could not answer the question.
"Have you had sex?" her grandmother asked gently.
Sue knew her answer must be important, knew that it had to have some relevance to the cup hugirngsi, but still she could not meet her grandmother's eyes. "Not really," she said.
"You have not accepted or tasted the seed of a male?" Tasted? Was this her grandmother speaking? Sue shook her head quickly, not looking up, wishing she was anywhere but here.
"Good," her grandmother said, touching her head.
"You are the second of the seven." "Who is the first?" Sue asked. "I am."
"And the others?
"I do not know. Perhaps the mirror man, perhaps the policemam" "Pee Wee and Robert? What about Rich, my editor?" Her grandmother's gaze darkened. "No."
A wave of cold washed over her. Sue nodded, wanting to ask why but not daring to question her grandmother's wisdom. "What about Father?" she asked. She felt guilty for the way her parents, her father in particular, had been pushed aside during this whole affair. It did not seem right, and she felt that despite the communication problems her parents had, both in their family and among other people, it was only right that they should share center stage with her grandmother and herself.
"No," her grandmother said.
Sue stared again at her feet, licked her lips. "Why is it important that I am... a virgin?" She had a tough time even saying the word.
"What if I had not been?"
"It would make no difference."
Now Sue looked up at her. "Then why did you ask?"
Her grandmother smiled slightly. "I just wanted to know."
Sue blinked dumbly, then started to grin. Tasted? In the midst of all the horror, in the middle of the craziness, this struck her as funny.
And for the first time since the beginning of this long, long night, she began to laugh.
Rich awoke to feel a hand on his penis, fingers firmly grasping his shaft as a thumb rubbed the sensitive area directly below the tip' trying to stimulate him" He pened morning," up his eyes, looked at Corrie, pulled away, out of her grasp.
"Not this he said. "I don't feel to it."
"Why?"
He shrugged. "I just don't. I'm not in the mood."
Corrie glared at him. "Who've you getting it from then, that Oriental slut?"
"What?"
"Has she been servicing you, your big white studlil'less?" "What the hell are you talking about? You're the one who never wants to do it anymore. You're t
he one who's been acting for a month like sex is something good Christians don't do."
"Yeah? Well, I want it now."
"Well, I don't."
"Why? Aren't you man enough?"
He rolled over, faced away from her. "I'm not going to listen to---"
"Or did little Miss Hong Kong Whore suck it all out of you last night?"
He sat up. "That's it. I've had enough of your bullshit."
"The truth hurts, doesn't it?" There was a malicious smile on her face, cruel derision in her eyes, and he thought to himself that this was not Corrie, this was a person he did not know.
Anna was already awake and watching cartoons, and he forced himself to put on a cheerful front as he made breakfast. Corrie came out, already dressed for work, as he was wiping egg yolk from Anna's face with a washcloth.
"Hi, Mommy," Anna said. There was a formality to her voice that seemed unusual, and Rich looked at her.
Corrie smiled at her daughter, pulled back her hair, kissed her forehead. "Morning, cutie"
Anna wiped off the kiss, frowned.
"I'll take you to school, but Daddy'll have to pick you up, okay?"
"I want to go with Daddy," Anna said.
"You go with your mother," Rich told her.
Ii
Anna said nothing.
Corrie straightened, fixed Rich with a flat gaze. "I may be late tonight. Don't wait up."
Rich tossed the washcloth in the sink, He looked at her, frowned. "I want you to be careful."
She appraised him coolly. "You don't think I can take care of myself?
"It's not that."
"What is it, then?"
"I'm worried about you. I care. I'm concerned." "Oh. So dictating what I do shows concern." "I just said be careful."
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