Brian looked over at me before answering, “Well, it turns out that our vampire works nights as a security guard down at the warehouses.”
“That’s exactly what I mean. He’d have access to the warehouses to dump the bodies in.”
“Leave it out, Jack, for God’s sake. He told us that the police have been to ask him questions and they thanked him for his cooperation, don’t you think it’s time to drop this nonsense? We should be concentrating on trying to find Stella and Megan.”
I was about to say ‘no, I am not dropping it’ when Kelly sat next to me and put her hand on mine. “Brian is right, Jack, we must look for the girls.” I was still mad but I couldn’t get angry with Kelly so I half-heartedly nodded.
Later, as the night crept in and the fog became thicker, I walked down Greenstone Street to our flat. I had been to Gemma’s, a friend of Stella and Megan’s, to see if she had heard from them. She hadn’t. Panic for them was now setting in. Brian had gone to see some other people who knew them and Kelly was ringing the police. I entered the building and went up to my flat.
“Hiya, Kel, what did the police —” My heart almost stopped, the flat had been ransacked, chairs overturned, crockery smashed, the TV on its face still playing. I checked everywhere and Kelly was gone. I rang Kelly and Brian’s mobiles but got no answer. I went into my room and got a baseball bat and shoved a knife down my belt; I then made my way downstairs, sweat trickling down my brow.
I knocked on Brian’s door — no answer. I was about to try the handle but the smell was so overpowering that I hesitated. It seemed to be coming from below in the basement flat. I changed my plan and, using the spare key, I went and opened the door to the girls’ flat.
The smell hit me; it was like rotten eggs and warm, rotting meat. I had to stop myself throwing up. Flies buzzed in front of my face. With my hand clamped firmly over my mouth I went deeper into their flat. I looked around but I couldn’t see anything. The smell was ripping at my nostrils. I was about to leave when I remembered the little closet door that led to a makeshift wine cellar. I could feel my chest pounding as I reached out for the door. I slowly turned the handle. I paused. Then, with one deep breath, I pushed it open and entered.
I dropped to my knees, my body heaving. There, on the floor, was the white, twisted body of Stella, her long, blonde, blood-soaked hair covering her face. In the distance was Megan, her body practically in half, her organs everywhere, her ginger curly hair in pieces and her head almost ripped off. I ran out only stopping to be sick.
I took a long deep breath and steadied myself. My fear was turning to anger as I knew now that Mark had deceived me and could have already killed Kelly and Brian. I was filled with hope though at the idea that they might still be alive.
I ran upstairs, got to Mark’s door, took out the knife and went in. It was dark. I went to turn on the lights but they wouldn’t work. Instead, I opened the curtains but because of the thick fog outside this was of little help.
I crept into Mark’s front room. On his table was his work torch. I grabbed it and took a breath, finding my courage. With the knife in my left hand, torch in my right, I burst into his room.
I dropped the knife on the floor at the sight that met my eyes. Mark’s bed was covered in blood, his naked body on top of it, his throat ripped open. I rushed into the hall, trying to gather my thoughts. I was so confused. Then, from below, I heard a scream which sounded like Kelly’s. I couldn’t believe it, how could I have been so stupid? Brian had deceived us all.
I picked up the knife and ran down the stairs. Brian’s door was unlocked. I made my way in, hoping I was not too late. I rushed into the front room and there was Brian’s drained, white body in the arms of Kelly, whose fangs were feasting on his neck.
Depressing/Depressed Again
Robert Hood
It was June 2014 and England had been in a state of despair ever since John Prince had become Prime Minister; which raised an a eye of suspicion right from the start.
People of all classes were disappearing; some were thought to have been locked away, others killed for resisting Prince’s plans. People were losing their jobs and the poor, who couldn’t afford anything as Prince had abolished the benefits system, were becoming homeless. Prince wanted worldwide domination; he thought of himself as being similar to Hitler in that he too wanted to build a superior race.
Prince had managed to trick his way into power by promising the things people wanted to hear. His original policies had included stopping all immigration, making a better future for the working man, having the NHS deliver on its promises and ultimately giving England back to England to turn it into an empire once again.
Upon starting his rule his view had been that the poor and weak be discarded while the rich, who could pay his high tax demands, would live well under his protection. If you didn’t play by his rules you were bound in prisoner camps or, in some extreme cases, even disposed of. Some of the forces (police, army) had tried to stand up to him but they had been captured or killed, while many more had joined up with his madness. More and more MPs were coming over to his side too now they had realized that it was foolish to do otherwise.
Prince, alongside his dodgy chancellor, Gary Gisbourne, had struck up a deal with Russia as their corrupt leader, Peshiniv, shared much of Prince’s vision for his own country. Peshiniv had been promised one hundred and twenty million pounds plus some land in England; a promise that Prince had no intention of honouring. Together they had assembled an army of Russian soldiers combined with mercenaries from all over the world and willing members of the British army and service personnel, including the police. It was an army that had come to be known as the Black Death Military; at least four hundred thousand strong and growing. The Black Death’s only desire was to follow Prince’s every whim. Dressed in black jackets, trousers and boots they were a formidable looking foe and this was enhanced by the positioning of a skull badge, emblazoned with the word ‘death’, on their right chest pockets. They had belts around their waists that carried water bottles, handcuffs, phones and ammunition. They wore black, full faced helmets with a silver face plate and black glass eye slots covering their real eyes. They had various knives on them including a three foot machete type sword and each of them carried a 656 AR machine laser rifle, black and silver in colour, with an eight inch bayonet attached. A button on the side of the laser rifle released a flexi-net, a sticky membrane like a spider’s web that could snare a target. They had been drilled by their generals in hours of training to show no compassion.
Prince had by now managed to corrupt various members of all countries’ governments with sham promises and the fact that when he finally took control of the world they would be able to rule alongside him, which ultimately meant power. America wasn’t getting involved at this point in time as it was trying to sort out its own country’s unrest. Civil war was upon the world.
England was falling fast and in London Prince was stood on the balcony of Buckingham Palace with his aides; they had just completed their operation to remove the royal family. That morning the Black Death had stormed the palace and were met with little resistance from the Queen’s security detail. It was amazing how little power the Queen suddenly had when faced with a Prime Minister who could threaten the lives of her staff’s family. Broadcasts of the Palace’s seizing were being shown on the only channel in operation by order of Prince. Footage of the royals, Charles, William and Harry among them, being led away was being played on a loop. Not long ago Prince had received a phone call informing him that the family were now all securely locked away, under close watch, at Balmoral. Also being shown on the TV channel were Prince and his generals ripping the badges off the chief of police’s uniform and taking medals off other senior security personnel and anyone with rank who would not play ball with him. It then showed them being led away to one of the camps. People looked on in horror as London was brought to her knees.
Prince stood looking out from the balcony at the masse
s of people, some supporting him, some not, who were booing and shouting obscenities at him. The sun was still shining as the Black Death and police jostled with the crowds. He was now deep in thought with a sly grin on his face. It wasn’t long ago that he had been a happy family man and just a simple Conservative MP for Kensington. His policies had been fair: lower taxes, get the best out of the NHS, tackle immigration fairly, but he had started to get disillusioned with the Prime Minister. As he travelled the country he began to notice the ever increasing immigration, loss of jobs, the NHS struggling to deliver what it promised, more people begging, more out of work and some having no intention of getting work but just feeding off the benefit system.
The last straw had been when his wife had become ill and died suddenly a month later from mistakes made at the hospital. Prince blamed the Prime Minister for this as he believed he had let the NHS come to ruin. Prince decided to run for office himself and his campaign and ideas were met with a positive response. Prince eventually won the election and became Prime Minister; it helped that the previous Prime Minister had been murdered by a down and out heroin user who belonged to a hoodie gang. He had waited in a dark alley, near Downing Street, for the PM to return from an evening engagement. The man wore a greyish hoodie top to hide his face and, holding a handgun, he shot the two security guards then the Prime Minister in the face. As the murderer had gone to leave the scene one of the security guards, who was still alive, shot the hooded man in the leg; he was eventually given a lethal injection for his crime.
The events of his wife’s death and the murder of the PM at the hands of a low life chav troublemaker had finally snapped him. He blamed the system and certain spineless people in the government for this; for letting people do what they wanted and get away with it. In his eyes, he wanted to stop giving benefit hand-outs that cost the economy billions and create jobs for these people instead. He believed if everyone worked and earned money, crime, such as robbery, would slowly disappear. His belief had been that if people wanted to keep their homes then they would find jobs to pay for them or join him instead so that he could put them to work as part of the Black Death.
The royals had backed Prince’s leadership at first but had started to realize the change in Prince and his power mad plans, but they never fully realized what kind of man he would become. He started to corrupt the MPs by turning a blind eye to tax fiddles and money bungs. He relieved MPs of their duties if they didn’t believe in him or his policies, while those that were faithful were rewarded with Prince turning a blind eye to their tax fiddles.
He then formed the Black Death army. He abolished the benefit system and made people pay for treatment at hospitals. He wanted to build a race with dignity and honour and for everything to run like clockwork. Immigrants were not allowed in unless they could pay and the ones that were here already and couldn’t pay were being forced back to where they came from. Those that had nothing were eagerly volunteering to join the Black Death or other parts of Prince’s bandwagon.
Prince looked down at the masses, knowing he was achieving his dream and people were beginning to toe the line. In fact, no one could now stand up to Prince and those that tried quickly disappeared. Times were desperate; who would stand up to him?
*
The answer lay in the city of Nottingham, which, at present, was a shell of its former self. Buildings and cars had been abandoned, violence and crime, especially theft to survive, was the new plague of this great city. It mirrored how it had all happened in London. John Prince had seemed to set out to have one elite rich society with no chavs or what he considered to be riffraff. Any areas that had opposed him had now become rundown and, in most cases, Prince’s plan to make things better was, in fact, making them worse; England was riddled with crime as people tried to survive. It was now Nottingham’s turn and other cities in England were also facing the same fate.
The police, not the ones that had joined Prince’s armies but the honest ones that opposed him (what was left of them), were doing what they could to help their towns and cities by trying to keep order and help people where they could. Some were trying to set up task forces to try to stop Prince, but there were too few to make a difference. Quite a lot of the shops and homes were in ruin in places like Sneinton and St Ann’s, areas close to Nottingham’s city centre. Some shops, such as McDonalds, all the travel companies and estate agents such as Martin & Co and Frank Innes, were trashed from people breaking in to see if there was anything worth taking. Some properties were now even boarded up.
Walking through the city centre of Nottingham, heading towards the river, was a man who was observing and thinking about his city. He was thirty years old with short, brown hair and a thin goatee beard. This former soldier stopped and looked at the boarded up Major Oak pub that he used to drink in. Robert shook his head at the sight and good memories of this pub filtered through his mind. He glanced up at the sky, thinking he felt a drop of rain, before carrying on his way.
With his job gone and the dire situation England was in he found himself wondering where his destiny would now lie. He didn’t realize that soon England’s destiny would be in his hands. This man was Robert Hood. He was wearing a grey/green Adidas hoodie top; he liked to wear these and wore it a lot with the hood up. It always made Robert smile when people referred to him as a chav and a no hoper when the truth was the total opposite. Robert cared about his fellow man and wanted to help; he would rather be dead than serve Prince.
In fact, he used to be a Marine and had served and fought all over the world, picking up numerous accolades along the way. However, all had changed two years back when he saw a mate get killed. He killed the murderers but had then had to go through a court system to justify his actions; he had felt like he was on trial. This had all made him angry towards the governments he had fought for and so he left the army. That was when he came back to his home town of Nottingham and found himself work in a garage as a mechanic for a while; that was until the reign of Prince had forced the garage to close, leaving Robert unemployed.
He couldn’t believe what was happening to his home town; he shook his head at the rubbish that littered the square. Once-thriving shops were now either empty with no customers or shut down. The Black Death took poor people, who were begging, away. Robert was overpowered with anger as he watched well-off people sneer and ignore the needy. How could this be better for the people of England?
He made his way by a well-known public house that was built in the fourteen hundreds called the Bell Inn. This once well-maintained city landmark had now ceased trading and was boarded up and covered in graffiti. Over the past week Robert had been to a few areas in Nottingham and he couldn’t believe the contrast he had seen in different places. Sneinton was a mess and Robert had stood in shock as he saw houses that were uninhabitable, burnt out cars littering the streets, dogs running wild and shops that had been robbed down to their last item. After seeing Sneinton he had made his way to Arnold and Mapperley, which seemed to be bearing up OK. There had been a handful of beggars and boarded up properties, but, on the whole, life had still been going on as normal as most people were in work and abiding by Prince’s rule.
A couple of days ago, Robert had been to the areas of West Bridgford and The Park, which were both flourishing. Robert had observed that the people in these places were rich, sucked up to Prince and were ignorant as to their poor fellow man’s fate. People were shopping and driving around in the best expensive cars; it was a world away from other areas. The rich and important such as Ian Sheriff, the MP of Nottingham and one of Prince’s top aides, had now taken up residence at The Park, a top, expensive, residential area in Nottingham which was full of the rich and Prince’s followers. It was rumoured that Sherriff himself lived in an eight bedroom mansion. The Park now had a wall around it and was guarded by the Black Death military.
Robert was deep in thought as he made his way by Nottingham Castle, avoiding the gaze of the Black Death soldiers who stood guard all around it, he d
idn’t want any unnecessary attention from them. The castle was now being used by Prince and his army as a communications post. This once beautiful historic landmark had been turned into a games room; years of history had been destroyed or thrown into storage in the smallest room in the castle. People said it was now all full of screens, computers and all the top gadget wizardry which was operated by trained army personnel to keep eyes and ears on what was happening not just in London and England but all over the world.
Robert, avoiding an oncoming rich couple in an Audi convertible, had passed Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem, the oldest pub in England, which had now ceased trading and was used by the Black Death for storage and their own alcoholic ends. Robert shook his head as he couldn’t believe that a national historic artefact was being abused in this way. He crossed the road, witnessing a scuffle between some soldiers and a couple of men that had tried to rob a passing woman, then made his way down to the river.
After walking for a few minutes along the river he headed towards a couple of old, abandoned warehouses on the riverbank. They had once been thriving businesses but now they housed the homeless of Nottingham. On his arrival he was met with excited screams of “Rob!” as a handful of dirty, undernourished children, consisting of teenagers, younger children, toddlers and even some babies, cried out to him. The children that could ran up to him accompanied by some smiling adults. Robert smiled and cuddled the children but found it hard to contain his anger as he looked around at the homeless, which were becoming more every day. These people had all escaped, for the moment, from being taken to prison camps. These were people that had had to leave their homes as they had been repossessed because work and benefits had ceased.
Champagne & Lemonade Page 16
