Vampire Hunt (Kiera Hudson Series #3)

by Tim O'Rourke

“But on the T.V…I saw you…” he blustered as he glanced fearfully at Potter.

  “Hasn’t anyone ever told you not to believe everything you see on T.V?” Potter asked, as he lit another cigarette.

  Seeing this, I couldn’t help but wonder why Potter had to be so difficult. Then realising that he might be of some use, I said, “Potter, take off your coat.”

  “Easy, tiger,” Potter grinned. “This isn’t the time or the place, sweet-cheeks, maybe later -”

  “Just take it off!” I yelled at him.

  “I never had you down as the dominant type…” he started.

  “Just do it!” I shouted again. Then turning on the rest of them, I shouted, “All of you!”

  Without question, Murphy, Potter, Luke, and Isidor, began to strip to the waist. As their coats and shirts fluttered to the floor, their giant black wings unfurled from the backs of their pale bodies.

  Then I heard Potter say, “I don’t think she meant you, dude.”

  Following Potter’s stare, I turned around to see that Kenner was unbuttoning his shirt too, his oversized belly spilling into his lap like a pile of white dough.

  “What are you getting undressed for?” I asked him, shaking my head from side to side.

  “You said we all had to take our shirts off,” Kenner replied, his lower lip trembling. “You’re not all…you know…kinky, are you?”

  “Kinky!” Potter barked as if he had just been deeply insulted. “Who are you calling kinky? I’m not kinky!”

  “Oh please!” I groaned. “I wasn’t talking to you, Mr. Kenner. And they’re not kinky, as you like to put it, they are Vampyrus.”

  “Vampyrus?” Kenner asked, buttoning up his shirt and looking past me at my friends who now stood before him. “What’s Vampyrus?” Then, seeing them standing there with their long black wings trailing behind them, and Isidor’s wings hanging between his arms like the webbing between a ducks toes, he started to scream all over again.

  “Now look what you’ve gone and done,” Potter snapped at me.

  “I just wanted to show him that you were monsters – but good monsters if you understand that,” I said, hoping that I hadn’t hurt their feelings.

  “You’re a monster too,” Isidor said pulling his shirt and coat back on. “Don’t forget that, Kiera.”

  How could I? I thought to myself. Then turning on Kenner, who sat quivering in the armchair, I said, “Well?”

  “Well, what?” he mumbled.

  “As you can see, these guys here are…different from you…but they never killed those people on the London Underground,” I told him. “and they’re not going to kill you.”

  “But how can I believe you?” Kenner whimpered, unable to take his eyes off them.

  “If they were going to kill you, wouldn’t they have done so by now?” I said. “They’ve had plenty of time and reason, what with you waving that shotgun around. And let’s face it – you’re pretty remote all the way out here – I mean who’s going to hear you scream?’”

  “Can you see now that we are not the enemy?” Luke asked, standing by the fire. The light from it made the scars on his chest and face glow. Flapping his wings gently, as if to show Kenner that they were real and not some party-trick, he came forward and said, “Kiera is right, we are different…monsters, if you like, but that doesn’t mean we are killers. We are in as much danger as you and your family are.”

  “Danger?” Kenner asked his eyes wide.

  “We don’t have time to explain now, but leave this place,” Luke told him, pulling his coat back on. “Go to your wife and child and get as far away from here as possible…and don’t come back.”

  “But why?”

  “Look,” Murphy said, buttoning his shirt, “Your race is in danger and we are the only ones, at this moment in time, who can help you. It’s those who you see and hear calling us killers who are the real enemy. We don’t intend on harming any human. We just want to leave here and continue with our mission. So do we have your word that as soon as we are out of the door, you won’t go calling…?”

  “It’s too late for that,” Kenner said sheepishly. “I called the police as soon as I saw that you had broken into my home!”

  And no sooner had those words left his mouth, we heard the sound of sirens and the thunder of helicopters as they approached in the distance.

  “I’m sorry,” he said.

  “Yeah, so am I,” Potter said, heading straight to the window, where he twitched back the curtain and peered out into the night and across the fields.

  “We’ve got company and lots of it,” Potter said without the slightest trace of fear in his voice. He closed the curtain and looked at Murphy, who in turn looked at Luke, Isidor, and me.

  “Get your stuff, we’re getting out of here,” he said, his voice full of urgency.

  Isidor slung his backpack over his shoulders, and I looked up at the ceiling as the sounds of several helicopters screamed overhead.

  Leaping from the armchair, Kenner shouted, “Follow me!”

  He raced into the hallway and flung open a door which sat beneath the staircase. “Get down there. You’ll find a tunnel which runs for a couple of miles underground. It leads to a disused well. My grandparents used it during the war.”

  We piled in and hurried down a set of rickety old stairs. At the bottom, I glanced back and could see Tom Kenner standing in the doorway.

  “Good luck!” he hollered and waved.

  Then I heard the sound of breaking glass from above. Kenner slammed the door shut and I heard him shout at someone.

  “You’re too late! They left about five minutes ago…they headed east across the fields!”

  There were more sounds of smashing and crashing from above. Then I heard him shouting again. “Get back! Get back or I’ll shoot!” Then the night seemed to explode with the sound of his shotgun firing. The air was immediately filled with the ear-piercing screams of those vampire-cops shrieking and gnashing their razor-sharp teeth together. This was followed by the sound of bones snapping and breaking, and the hideous noise of slurping and sucking. My mind swam with pictures of those vampire-cops feeding on Kenner and I knew what he would soon become.

  “This way, Kiera. This way!” someone shouted at me. Breaking my trance, I turned to see Luke yanking me towards the entrance of the tunnel, which led into a well of darkness.

  From over my shoulder, I heard the door above us explode inwards in a shower of rough splinters as those cops appeared at the top of the steps.

  “Run!” I screamed, darting into the tunnel behind the others.

  Chapter Nine

  Murphy took the lead and illuminated the tunnel ahead with the Zippo lighter he used to light his pipe. We raced down the tunnel as several of those cops poured in behind us.

  “Faster!” I screamed, almost tearing my throat raw. “They’re right behind us!”

  Looking back over my shoulder, I could see them racing towards us. Shoving me behind him, Isidor aimed his crossbow, and with lightning, speed fired off a volley of shots into the dark. Through the blackness, I watched several of those finely-sharpened stakes slice into the chests of some of the cops who raced after us. They flew backwards, clutching their chests as they went slamming into the walls of the tunnel and exploding into a spray of white ash. Again Isidor fired, shot after shot with such speed and agility that his arms were just a blur in the darkness as he reloaded the crossbow. Again those cops flew backwards into the dark, screaming, hissing, and spitting as they went. One of their heads made a sickening thud as it bounced off the stone wall, then disintegrated. The vampire-cop collapsed to the floor and the others charged over him as if he wasn’t there.

  Racing forward again, I followed the light from Murphy’s lighter, even though I didn’t need it to help me see in the dark.

  “This way!” Murphy kept shouting back over his shoulder at us.

  The sound of the vampire-cops breathing grew ever louder from within the darkness as they made up ground
and got closer to us. Glancing back over my shoulder again, I was horrified to see that they were now only feet away. Isidor fired off another volley of shots, sending the cops in a shower of dust back down the tunnel.

  Then one of them saw the wooden stakes slicing through the air at him and he leapt against the wall of the tunnel. To my amazement, it gripped hold of the wall and scurried along it like a huge spider. He crawled up the wall and came at me along the ceiling of the tunnel. Its face looked wizened as if contorted through pain. Its eyes burnt red as it lunged at me. Then, I felt an arm snake around my waist and drag me backwards. Looking back, I could see that it was Potter who had taken hold of me, and he pressed me against him. Images of what had happened between us in the gatehouse at the Hallowed Manor flashed across my mind. Before I’d had the chance to shove those memories of him away, Luke flew over my head and clattered into the vampire-cop that had lunged at me.

  “Get off me,” I hissed at Potter as he held me close, and I could feel his unshaven face against mine. In the darkness, I could see his eyes and they were staring at me. Their intensity was almost frightening – but in his arms the fear didn’t last long and my feelings began to soften.

  “This isn’t the time,” I said, looking back into his eyes. “Please, just let me go.”

  And he did. There were no wisecracks. He just let go of me and that just confused me even more, and I think he knew that. Breaking our gaze, I looked away, to see Luke clawing and biting away at the cop, who only moments before, had nearly been upon me. Then I saw Isidor go down in a flurry of beating arms and legs, as he was swamped by a mass of vampire-cops.

  Without looking at Potter, I said, “Help him!”

  But instead of flying forward in defence of Isidor, Potter hesitated. Turning to face him again, I said, “Please, Potter. I know you don’t really like him, but do it for me!”

  Then he was gone, and he moved so fast it was almost as if he had just disappeared before my eyes. Spinning around, I saw him dive through the air, slicing through the approaching cops as easily as if they were made from paper. I’d seen Potter lose his temper before, but today he seemed almost savage as he hacked, bit, and ripped at the approaching cops with his claws and fangs. Luke showed as much ferocity, but he moved with more precision as he hacked and bit, as if his anger, unlike Potter’s, was controlled.

  Another vampire-cop broke free and scurried above me, throwing itself through the air. I ducked and it shot over my head clattering into the floor of the tunnel. Jumping over him, I raced towards Luke who was lunging down at one of the vampire-cop’s upturned faces. The tunnel was filled with the sound of screaming and it hurt my ears. Another sprung at Luke and I saw him topple over. With my heart racing, he looked back and I saw his eyes wide and green staring at me from out of the darkness. I reached for him and as I did, I could feel the burning sensation of hot breath against the back of my neck. Looking back again, I saw a hand reach out of the darkness and grab hold of my shoulder. I screamed and pushed out at the vampire with both of my hands. Then it was gone, flying backwards down the tunnel. At first, I wasn’t sure of what had happened and I half-expected to see Murphy standing in the place where the vampire had stood. But he wasn’t there. Then, I felt something warm and hot sliding through my fingers. I looked down to see that my right hand was covered in blood. I shook my hand and the vampire’s blood splattered against the tunnel wall.

  How had that gotten there? my confused mind wondered. Had I really thrown that vampire so far down the tunnel? I couldn’t have done, right? Where had that sudden burst of strength come from?

  Then from further down the tunnel I heard a voice.

  “C’mon Kiera! Run!” Murphy roared at me, the flame from his Zippo bobbing to and fro.

  He turned his back and raced away from me. In shock from the realisation that I had somehow launched that vampire down the tunnel with a shove of my hands, I stood rooted to the spot. I was unable to move.

  What was happening to me? Was this the start of my changing?

  Then I was shoved from behind, and it was Luke as he forced me up the tunnel. I looked at him, and his usual pallor was now crimson, splashed with the remains of the vampires he had just slaughtered.

  “Move it!” he hollered at me, snapping me from my trance-like state.

  “Potter?” I said, sounding confused and disorientated. “We can’t leave without -”

  “Thanks for the concern,” I heard someone say as they rushed past me like a breeze. Spinning round, I saw Potter half-dragging Isidor up the tunnel towards Murphy.

  “Run, Kiera! Run!” Luke roared.

  Then turning, I clambered down the tunnel with Luke at my heels. We veered to the left and dashed around the bend. I could see Murphy standing at the foot of a wooden ladder that led up out of the tunnel.

  “Run! Run!” Murphy ordered as the vampires that chased us were now frantically scurrying all over the tunnel walls and dropping through the air like giant spiders.

  “Up the ladder!” Murphy yelled.

  Without needing to be told twice, I took hold of the rungs and began to race up the ladder with the others close behind me. As I made my ascent, I could hear Murphy’s fangs snapping and slicing as he fought off the approaching vampires.

  I reached the top of the well and clambered out, falling into a muddy, sodden field. Isidor was next to climb out over the edge of the well and clatter to the ground. Then Potter appeared, followed by Luke and Murphy.

  The head of one of those vampire-cops loomed over the edge of the well and Murphy took it off with one quick swipe with his claws. In the light of the moon, I could see the creamy-white skin of the vampire’s head, knotted and twisted with blue-green veins, wither and crumble away into a pile of ash.

  There was a strong looking bolt attached to a wooden lid that covered the mouth of the well. Swinging it closed, Murphy forced the bolt into place, sealing the well closed.

  Without pausing to take a breath, Murphy was charging across the remote field we now found ourselves in. He headed towards a line of trees that stood in the distance. We raced behind him as he shouted over his shoulder, “This way! This way!”

  Reaching the knot of trees, we found ourselves in a deeply wooded area. The trees stretched up tall around us, and the moon cast silver streams of light through the branches. Leaning against a tree, Murphy caught his breath.

  “Take two minutes,” he said, “but that’s all. It won’t take long for them to smash through that well.”

  Dropping to my knees, I sucked in mouthfuls of cold night air. Then I noticed those streaks of black blood on my hand. Almost gagging at the sight of it, I snatched up handfuls of fallen leaves and begin to wipe my hand clean.

  Luke crouched beside me and said, “Are you okay?’”

  “No, not really,” I told him, wiping the last of the blood from my fingers.

  “Do you want to talk about it?” he asked, gently knocking the fringe from my brow.

  Standing, I folded my arms around him. Then kissing him softly on the cheek that still showed the scars from The Ragged Cove, I whispered, “Later.”

  As he stood and held me, I noticed Isidor tear a piece of cloth from the inside of his coat and tie it around his hand which was bleeding. He had a large scratch across his forehead, which bled into his eye. Wiping the blood away with his sleeve, he went to Potter who was slouching against a tree and smoking.

  Holding out his good hand towards Potter, Isidor said, “I just wanted to say thanks for what you did back there.”

  Looking down at the hand of friendship that had been offered to him, Potter said, “What did I do?”

  “Saving me like that,” Isidor said, his hand still held out before him. “I was hoping, you know…perhaps we could just get along with each other from now on?”

  Drawing deeply on the cigarette that dangled from the corner of his mouth, Potter said, “Don’t go getting any funny ideas, kid.” Then, blowing smoke in Isidor’s face, he added, “I didn�
�t do it for you, I did it for somebody else.” Then glancing over at me, Potter flicked the cigarette away, barged past Isidor and headed towards Murphy.

  Chapter Ten

  We ran all night, Murphy our guide in the dark. Occasionally, he would find another path, one which led away from towns and main roads. Most of our escape was spent clawing our way through undergrowth, snaking between trees. At one point, we walked for miles upstream to hide our tracks from any of the vampires that may still be hunting us.

  Most of our journey was spent in silence, each of us lost in our own thoughts. My own mind was filled with doubt and feelings of betrayal.

  Why had my mum been with Phillips and Sparky on the T.V.? Was she working for this invisible man? She couldn’t be!

  But if she were aligned to him, what part did my mum play in all of this? Then I remembered the tiny body of the boy lying in the woods at The Ragged Cove, his tiny hand clutching hairs from my mum’s head. Had she killed that boy? Never! Knowing my mum like I remembered her – she would never get involved in anything that would harm another person. Maybe she was pretending to be a part of it – perhaps to save her own life. That had to be it – or perhaps she didn’t realise the danger she was in.

  My head throbbed and I felt sick. I felt as if I no longer knew myself, either. In my mind’s eye, I saw that vampire flying backwards down the tunnel beneath the well. I knew I had done that, but how? Was this the Vampyrus coming out in me? Was I at last changing? But what did that mean? Would I, too, grow fangs like the others? Would those wings with their wriggling black fingers work their way out of my back? I shuddered just thinking about it. And then a thought hit me like a freight train. Would I start thirsting for blood?

  I desperately needed to know. So as we waded up stream, the icy cold water numbing my toes through my boots, I caught up with Luke.

  “Do you think my mum is a part of all of this?”

  “I don’t know, Kiera. I really don’t know what to think,” he said gently.