Twilight of the Dead

by David Bishop

  Suddenly one of the vampyr launched itself over the top of the others, diving full-length at Hans. He kept firing but his bullets missed the creature's heart and head. It fell on top of him, breaking the circle and scattering the rest of us. The remaining undead leapt forward, recognising their opportunity. I was pinned to the floor, my weapon knocked away, my arms held down by two of the fiends. One of them twisted my head sideways so I could see Hans dying, his neck ripped open, an arterial spray of blood turning the air above him pink.

  Ralf saw this too and howled with rage, somehow finding the strength to throw off his attackers. He got back to his feet and tore through the vampyr ranks, smashing the creatures aside with the butt of his weapon or firing point blank into their faces. Ralf raged across the room, screaming and bellowing like a madman. He got within a few metres of Constanta before he was swamped by vampyr and overwhelmed by sheer numbers. I twisted round on the floor, trying to see what had happened to the last of the convicts. He was already dead, his face awash with blood, creatures lapping at his neck wounds.

  I closed my eyes and thought of Mariya, picturing her face, her beautiful eyes. A sharp, stabbing pain invaded my mind and then all I knew was blackness...

  It was Ralf's screaming that brought me back to consciousness. I came to with the sound of his torment ringing in my ears; animal cries of pain echoing around the dungeon. The only corpses on the floor now were those of Hans and the five convicts. Diffuse light filtering in through the windows cast a queasy pallor across the room. I was chained to a wall, my wrists pinned over my head while my ankles were spread apart beneath me, the balls of my bare feet resting on the cold stone floor. My arms were cold and numb, suggesting that I'd been in this position for some time, perhaps an hour, maybe longer.

  A fresh cry of pain snapped my head to the right to see what was being done to Ralf. He was chained to the wall beside me, but his clothes had been stripped away, leaving his naked torso exposed and unprotected. Constanta was sat opposite us in a high-backed wooden chair that resembled a medieval throne, one leg folded across the other, his hands forming a steeple in front of his face. A metal canister rested across his lap. The vampyr lord watched appreciatively as Karl tortured Ralf by using the tip of a bayonet to gouge out chunks of flesh. Karl would flick the pieces of human meat on the floor where several of the undead waited on all fours like eager dogs. They fought each other for the morsels, fangs gnashing and voices growling.

  Karl stabbed the bayonet into Ralf's body, eliciting a fresh scream of pain, and then twisted the blade inside the wound to get another. Blood poured from every wound, forming a scarlet pool on the floor underneath the German soldier, mixing with the other fluids that dripped from his tormented body.

  "Tell us what we want to know, otherwise it will go the worse for you," Karl warned. "If you think this is pain, imagine if we choose to make you undead like us. Then I could come here and torture you every day for years, even centuries, if I wished."

  "I'll see you in hell first," Ralf spat out, blood dripping from his swollen lips.

  "You're already in hell," Karl replied. "Or hadn't you realised?" He gave the bayonet a fresh twist before pulling the blade free to lick it clean. "For a tough old bastard, you have the sweetest tasting blood. Quite exquisite."

  "There's nothing you can say or do that'll make me say what you want," Ralf vowed.

  "Perhaps not. So why don't I entertain you both with a story?" Karl asked.

  Ralf snarled abuse at the vampyr, but it didn't stop Karl from telling us about his betrayal and murder of Gunther in the Führerbunker. He rejoiced in describing Gunther's death, taunting Ralf with every last detail.

  "Your friend soiled himself before he died," Karl added, looking down at the stone floor beneath Ralf's legs. "Much as you've done."

  Ralf started screaming again, but this time he was also whipping his head from side to side, twisting it violently until I could hear the bones grinding against each other.

  "What are you doing?" Karl demanded to know. "Stop!"

  But Ralf ignored him, mania filling my comrade's eyes. He wrenched his head sideways towards me and something snapped inside him. Foam spat from his lips as the last breath left his lungs. Ralf's head slumped forward, all life gone from his broken body.

  Karl cursed in frustration, stabbing Ralf's corpse repeatedly with the bayonet and slicing the torso apart until severed intestines oozed out through ragged flaps of skin.

  "Enough," Constanta commanded, rising from his throne and holding the canister in one hand. He approached Karl and whispered something into his ear. The torturer nodded, smirking at me before marching from the dungeon, calling the other vampyr after him. They scuttled out of the chamber, still pretending to be animals on all fours.

  Then the only sounds that could be heard inside the dungeon were my terrified gasps for breath and the dripping of blood from Ralf's cooling corpse.

  Constanta regarded Ralf dismissively. "Impatience is never a virtue during torture. Still, that's why I always like to keep a spare."

  He moved sideways to stand in front of me. "You will tell me what your comrades are doing outside, or else I shall make what happened to your comrade seem like a blessed relief compared to your suffering." The vampyr lord smiled broadly. "I have lived for close to a thousand years. I am nothing if not patient."

  "I don't have any comrades outside," I said quietly.

  Constanta slapped me hard across the face, the movement so fast it felt like a whip crack. Once I'd recovered, he held the metal canister in front of my face.

  "I've no doubt you came here looking for this, the plans and blueprints for Rainer's weapon. Alas, this is as close as you'll ever get to them again." He bent down to retrieve the bayonet Karl had discarded. "A crude instrument of torture, but effective enough for this situation." He rested the tip of the bayonet against my throat, the metal cold to the touch on my skin. "I repeat: what are your comrades doing outside? Deny what we both know to be true and I will have the woman brought here to be violated in front of you until her body gives out. Is that the last thing you want to see before I have your eyes removed? Is that the last image you want imprinted on your brain for eternity?"

  I'd like to believe that I could have withstood torture as well as Ralf had, even denied my tormentors the triumph of ending my life. But somehow Constanta had seen through me and discovered my greatest weakness: my love for Mariya. Until that moment I hadn't even realised that I did love her. But now I knew I would sacrifice anything to save her, even my soul. Praying for a chance to redeem myself, I told Constanta what I knew about Eisenstein's plan.

  When I finished, he waited a full minute as if expecting to hear more. Eventually he realised that I'd told him the whole truth, at least as much of it as I knew. Constanta started laughing, his enjoyment making my admission all the more galling. I felt my heart sink further, if such a thing were possible. When his mirth had exhausted itself, the vampyr lord stepped close enough for me to smell his putrid, sickening breath.

  "I already knew about your ridiculous weapon. Did any of you fools honestly believe strangers could walk through my dominion without me being aware of it? Did any of you think I wouldn't notice such a device being assembled so close to my master? I've sent Karl there now with orders to attack at dusk. My brethren will annihilate your comrades."

  Constanta snapped his fingers and another of his kind appeared, clutching a set of heavy metal keys. The vampyr lord gestured towards me as he strode from the dungeon.

  "I am weary of this fool. Release him from those chains and then escort him from the castle. Let him run to his friends in the futile hope that he can save them. Let his cowardice be his companion!"

  Ten minutes later I was sprinting away from Castle Constanta. The fate of humanity rested on a hillside overlooking a lake of blood. Either Eisenstein's plan would defy the odds and destroy the Sire, or we would all be dead by nightfall. In the distance I could see the sun dipping towards the horizon, par
t of its circumference already behind the black, brooding peaks of the Transylvanian Alps. I prayed Constanta was wrong and I still had a chance to redeem myself.

  THIRTEEN

  Mariya, Eisenstein and Smirnov had reached their destination about the same time as we entered the tunnel. The trio had marched into the hills behind Castle Constanta, slowly making their way up to a rocky bluff overlooking a crimson lake. Waiting for them there was a single German scientist, nervously clutching a pistol.

  "God in heaven, where have you been?" he wailed. "Twice I thought I'd been discovered. A colony of bats flew overhead, circling the lake for several minutes before they went back towards the castle. It almost felt as if they were doing some sort of surveillance..."

  "Don't be ridiculous," Eisenstein said. "Bats are flying vermin, nothing more. Don't let superstitious nonsense distract you from the task in hand." He introduced the frightened man to Mariya. "This is Doctor Werner, a rocket scientist I discovered at the Gottow facility. He's in charge of our vengeance weapon, our Vergeltungswaffe, as the Germans like to call it. How's the masterpiece coming along, doctor?"

  Werner stepped aside, giving Mariya her first good look at what Eisenstein planned to use against the Sire. It was a Reichenberg, a piloted V1 missile identical to the flying rocket known as the Doodlebug but with a cockpit mounted atop the fuselage in front of the pulse jet engine. The weapon was impressive in size, stretching nearly eight metres in length from nose to tail with a wingspan of more than five metres.

  The Reichenberg was resting on the upslope of the bluff, its nose at the top of the cliff almost protruding over the edge. At the other end the missile was held in place by a metal trolley, a starter device attached to the fuselage. Werner quickly outlined how this provided the missile with pressurized air and electrical power prior to launch. When the time came, the Reichenberg would be catapulted into the air, igniting the jet pulse engine. The warhead contained close to a thousand kilos of high explosive.

  "Bojemoi," Mariya gasped. "When you described this thing, I thought it was a long shot at best. But this... Do you honestly believe anyone can fire this missile at the Sire with sufficient accuracy to destroy our enemy?"

  "We have to," Eisenstein said simply. He looked at the sun as it began a slow descent towards the Alps. "How long before this thing's ready to fly?"

  "I've made all the pre-flight checks," Werner replied. "All that's left is fitting the nose cone. I couldn't do that on my own because it weighs too much."

  "The nose cone?" Mariya asked.

  Smirnov pulled aside a tarpaulin painted with camouflage colours. Underneath was a pointed cone of gleaming metal. "It's pure silver, or as pure as we could make it in the primitive smithy we had to use for the job."

  The quartet spent the next two hours fitting the nose cone to the front of the missile, all the time nervously glancing towards the crimson lake stretched out below them. No birds landed on it and no fish broke the surface. The only movement came from gusts of wind creating brief ripples and a steady stream of bubbles rising in the centre of the lake. Nobody needed to speculate what was breathing inside the lake of blood. They knew all too well.

  Once the nose cone was fitted, Eisenstein became increasingly agitated. He marched back and forth at the foot of the bluff, his eyes scouring the surrounding hills for movement.

  "There should have been a signal by now... Some sort of indication that the others have penetrated the castle," he fretted. "Even if they've been taken, I'd expect Constanta to send some of his brethren here to capture or kill us. It'll be dusk soon. We don't want to be here when that comes."

  "How would they even know we're here?" Werner asked innocently.

  Mariya grimaced. "Nobody could survive torture at the hands of the vampyr for long. They would die or they would talk. It's that simple."

  Smirnov climbed to the top of the bluff for a better vantage point. "There's no movement at the castle." He turned back to the others and all colour drained from his face. "They're here!"

  A dozen vampyr were racing up the hill towards the missile and its guardian while another six appeared from higher ground. All wore hooded cloaks and gloves to protect themselves from the setting sun. Eisenstein was quickest to react, opening fire with his submachine gun. The first shots tore through the undead, exploding most of them into dust and ash. Mariya was almost as fast to pull the trigger, dealing with four more of the vampyr. Werner scrambled backwards towards the missile, his trembling hands unable to steady the pistol he was holding. Smirnov stayed where he was, using his elevated position as a vantage point to pick off the vampyr before they could get close to his comrades.

  "There's more coming!" He shouted down to Eisenstein. "I can see them swarming up the hillside!" Smirnov was so intent on his targets that he never saw Karl floating up behind him, his cloak fluttering in the breeze like the wings of a bat.

  "They're not the only ones," the traitorous German growled in his victim's ear.

  Smirnov spun round to shoot, but it was too late. Karl gorged himself on the Soviet convict who thrashed and flailed at his murderer. The convict's weapon tumbled away down the slope, forgotten in the slaughter. When he'd finished his feast, Karl tossed the corpse into the lake below. He studied the Reichenberg appreciatively, careful not to touch the silver nose cone.

  "Marvelous workmanship," he said snidely. "Such a shame you'll never get to use it."

  Mariya swung round, about to fire at Karl, but Eisenstein knocked her weapon aside. "Don't! If you hit the missile it could detonate the explosives inside!"

  It was Werner who fired the first shot at Karl, his shaking fingers finally locating the pistol's trigger. The bullet flew wildly by the vampyr as Karl marched down the slope towards the scientist.

  "Now, now, doctor, didn't you hear what the daywalker said? You should be more careful with that gun. It might hurt somebody."

  The other vampyr surged forward once more, forcing Mariya and Eisenstein to concentrate their fire elsewhere.

  Werner got off three more shots. The first two went harmlessly into the air but the third passed through the right side of Karl's collar. He stopped, glaring at the hole in his uniform.

  "I do believe you're finding your aim. A few centimetres to the left and you would have killed me." Karl smiled at his prey. "Now it's my turn."

  He flung himself at Werner, his talons closing round the scientist's neck, grinding the bones together until they snapped. Eisenstein heard what was happening but reacted too late to save Werner. Karl threw the body aside, his talons already reaching for their next target: Mariya.

  I saw the vampyr swarming up the hillside ahead of me but was too far back to intervene. I sprinted up the slope as fast as I could, watching as Mariya and Eisenstein slaughtered wave after wave of the undead. When I finally reached my comrades, less than twenty vampyr were left. I saw a discarded PPSh on the ground and was crouching down to grab it when I heard Mariya cry out. Karl was closing his hand round her throat, his lips drawing back to reveal his bloodstained fangs. I fired at the fiend, cold fury making my arm true.

  Half a dozen bullets punctured the vampyr, two punching holes through his skull. He staggered backwards, releasing Mariya from his grasp. She collapsed to the ground, choking and gasping for breath, her lips blue. Eisenstein and I finished off the remaining vampyr, each of the fiends turning to ash before our eyes. Once they were dead I tossed my weapon aside and ran to Mariya. She had stopped breathing and my trembling fingers could find no pulse. I pinched her nostrils shut, closed my lips over hers and blew hot air down her throat, willing her to come back to me. Again and again I repeated the action, intent on reviving her. Then, when I'd almost given up hope, she started coughing and choking. I rolled her sideways so she could breath easier.

  Eisenstein was dealing with Karl, his right knee pinning the vampyr to the ground, the barrel of his PPSh digging into Karl's chin. "How do we summon the Sire?"

  The German laughed at us, black liquid gurgling
from his mouth. "You don't summon the Sire. No one but Constanta can do that. He's the Sire's only surviving blood-spawn. But if you want to see the father of us all, you won't have to wait long..."

  "Why's that?" Eisenstein demanded. "Why?"

  Karl's eyes rolled back in his head, looking towards the Transylvanian Alps. "He will rise as soon as the sun sets. From tonight mankind will know only... darkness..."

  Karl's body burst into flame, scorching the grass beneath it before burning away to nothing.

  Eisenstein had hurriedly stepped away from the vampyr as it caught fire. He threw his weapon aside. "I won't be needing that anymore." He climbed the slope beside the Reichenberg, clambering up to the top of the bluff.

  "Zunetov! Come and look at this!" After ensuring Mariya was better, I scrambled up to see what Eisenstein was pointing at.

  The centre of the lake was alive with bubbles, steam rising from the surface as if something was heating the blood from below.

  "Bojemoi," I gasped. "It's coming, isn't it?"

  Eisenstein nodded, his face ashen. He glanced across at the mountain peaks where the last glimmers of daylight were fading fast. "We've got a few minutes at most. You have to get the missile flying. Werner showed me what to do as a contingency." We slid down to the starter device and Eisenstein hurriedly explained how to operate it. Twilight was falling with frightening speed and we had no time to lose.

  Mariya had recovered enough from Karl's attack to come and help. Between us we got the starter device activated. It began feeding pressurized air and electrical power into the Reichenberg; a humming sound growing louder as the missile grew ready. Eisenstein clambered up to the cockpit and got inside. Mariya and I climbed up on the wing to talk with him.