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As Malcolm and Melanie were taking the small children to safety, they came across something unusual. Melanie would need two trips for the one- and two-year olds because one had been injured with an untimely fall. Malcolm, who had stopped to get the child, saw the men gathering equipment from their truck. He made a note of the location so he could return and check their progress. As they made their second trip, they leaped through the trees with Nadia, Lila, and four others. The blast from the rocks shook the trees as Nadia was grabbing for her next tree. She fell to the ground, closer to the truck than to the men. When the other children had been gathered in one place, Malcolm instructed Melanie to take them all to safety; he would retrieve Nadia and arrive shortly.
Melanie disappeared ahead with the others, while Malcolm leaped to a nearby tree and climbed down as quietly as he could. Nadia had fallen sixty feet, colliding with branches on her way down; she now lay dazed on the cold ground. Malcolm, fearing the men had heard the noise, rushed toward her while scouting for the hunters with their rifles.
Nadia grimaced in pain. She shook her head several times and her eyes grew dark black as she lay back down for a moment to heal her wounds. She lay still on the ground as Malcolm approached her. When he came close, she turned her head quickly and looked at him through dark eyes. Malcolm held up his hand; her eyes returned to normal and she sat up. He came to her and held out his hand. She took it. He helped her to her feet and checked her for injuries. She complained about her left elbow and arm and he told her Lisa would help her when they made it to safety.
Nadia heard something and turned around quickly. She did not know what it was but Malcolm did. He took Nadia by the hand and they walked toward the sound.
The noise was static from a CB radio. They came to a truck. In the back, a man bent over, retrieving something. Malcolm pushed Nadia behind him in case the hunter had a gun. He kept his hand behind him on her shoulder, though it wasn’t necessary. He was in no danger from her – but the man in the truck would be.
“Hello there!” Malcolm said from a few feet away.
The hunter stopped searching and turned. It was John Henry. “Uh, hello there, yourself. What are you doing out here by yourself?”
“Oh, I am just out for a bit of a stroll, enjoying the fresh air.”
“Well you need to get to safety, mister. There are unsavory characters in these woods and we are out hunting for them right now.”
“Oh really, you don’t say? What are you going to do when you find the lot of them?”
“I’m going to put a hole in them and put them out of their misery, just like I did the last one.” John Henry laughed and cocked his rifle.
“You the one that shot that poor lass over at the Johnson place?”
“Lass? That whore was a freak; she was one of these monsters running around out here in the dark attacking people and livestock. I can’t wait to catch the rest of her freak show of a family.”
Despite his anger, Malcolm held his calm. Grinning sadistically, he brought Nadia from behind him. “You want to tell her why you killed the poor lass who was taking care of her?”
John Henry smiled and shook his head. He held up his gun. “Now are you telling me that this here little girl is one of them monsters?” He started laughing.
Malcolm laughed back at him. He took his hand off her shoulder and Nadia stood looking at the man, smiling at him. A tilt of her head and her fangs glinted. Her fingernails grew longer as she listened to the sound of his heart beating faster and faster. Her eyes grew, turning dark.
“I guess you found what you were looking for, eh, laddie?”
“No. No. No, you are not getting me!” John Henry reached up and felt the scar on the side of his face that he received from the boy. Fearfully backing up, shaking, he fired at Nadia – and missed. She lunged.
The next bullet hit her as she landed on him. He screamed in horror, fear and agony as she slashed with her long razor sharp claws. When the man stopped moving she bit on his neck and sucked blood from the man.
When Malcolm felt she had sucked enough to repair the damage to her from the fall and the gunshot wound, he pressed down hard on her shoulder. She stopped and looked up at Malcolm, blood dripping from her mouth. Hand in hand, they returned to the trees, before leaping from treetop to treetop all the way to the others and to safety.
Inside the tunnel, the men heard the shots and the screams. Mike Chambers turned around and started shouting, “John Henry! John Henry!” He received no answer back.
A shadow fell over the end of the tunnel; the men turned around fearfully and raced for its opposite end, tripping and screaming as they went. They forced opened the door with the Sheriff’s help, and shut it behind them. Breathing heavily, they sat on the floor, gathering their strength before moving on.
Bethany was in the control room watching the monitors. She saw the three men enter the tunnel.
Chapter 29
Cavers: A Vampire Tale Page 42
