I motioned them to keep moving, and I ran toward the angelic statue, found the large stone book on the ground and picked it up. While she and Father hurried farther away from the gargoyle, I carried the book and walked upon the gargoyle’s back between its wings. It fought to pry its foot free from the sinkhole but it was wedged tightly in the ground. I lifted the book over my head and brought it down, hammering the top of its head.
It roared, shuffling its wings, rocking back and forth. I almost lost my balance, but I brought up the book and struck its head again and again. The solid stone book chiseled at the back of its head, chipping away bits of the skull until larger fractures appeared. Several more hammered thrusts dislodged thick hand-sized chunks of stone. I kept striking and expected the stone book to shatter, but it didn’t. After finally busting its head to pieces, the creature stopped moving altogether.
I dropped the heavy book and sighed. My shoulders slumped. I lowered myself and sat upon the gargoyle’s back, panting. Aches ran through my body. Every abrasion, bruise, and cut magnified, but at least we were all alive.
Father and Penelope limped to me.
Thomas came up and patted my shoulder, smiling.
“After I catch my breath,” I said. “I’ll crush the other gargoyle.”
Father looked at me with a sense of pride and smiled. Penelope leaned her head against my chest and wrapped her arms around me. Enjoying her warmth and closeness, I embraced her, resting my chin atop her head.
“Thomas,” I said. “See if you can dislodge the gem on this beast’s chest.”
He nodded.
***
After several minutes of holding Penelope and catching my breath, I slipped away, took the book, and decapitated the other gargoyle. We collected the three large gems that had somehow functioned like their hearts and placed them inside her pack. A search of the other two crypts proved fruitless.
No vampire.
Father frowned with disgust and leaned his back against the crypt wall. “No vampire? So why the ruse of offering a reward? Nothing but undead creatures and gargoyles.”
I walked to where Philip lay unconscious on the ground. Blood leaked from his nose and mouth. His back had been flayed open where the gargoyle’s huge talons had slashed into him, but if he were like me, I expected he’d heal fast and survive. He still had not awakened. With how he had been staggering and shaking his head before the gargoyle attacked him, I wondered if the thorns that had snagged him were also poisonous.
“What do we do with him?” Penelope asked.
I shrugged. “He’s breathing but there isn’t any way we can carry him through the thorny passageway. It was difficult enough keeping our own awareness of our surroundings.”
Thomas nodded. “I thought I was going to die in that tunnel. I almost did. The vines lashed out at us but I managed to avoid them. One vine wrapped around his arm and tried to pull him into them.”
“That’s why his arm is bleeding?”
“Yes. I made it to the end of the tunnel, but he somehow freed himself and caught up to me before I stepped into the cemetery.”
I knelt beside the Hunter and examined his wrists. Dark bruises encircled them from where I had restrained him with the ropes. As raw as his skin was and the deepness of the surrounding bruising, he must had fought against the tight ropes until he finally broke free. But he wasn’t healing.
“If you leave him here, son, he’s going to keep coming for you.”
I flicked my gaze toward him. His haunted expression detailed his concern for my wellbeing. “I don’t know about that. None of his previous injuries are healing, and I think the vines must have poisoned or weakened him. I’m not going to kill him, but I don’t have any rope to tie him, either.”
Penelope fished through her pack until she brought out a tied bundle of rope. “I do.”
She handed me the rope. Father shook his head. “Let me do it this time, son. I can guarantee he won’t get free of my knots. I’ve worked on ships before you were born. A sailor has to learn a vast variations of knots.”
I handed him the rope and chuckled. “We don’t want him to lie here and starve to death.”
Father brought the Hunter’s huge hands around behind his back. He frowned. “I don’t want him killing you, either. If you still refuse to hand over the child, he’s not going to give up his pursuit.”
“He’s right, Forrest,” Penelope said.
“None of us can predict the future. We don’t actually know what Varak will become, but I’m not certain this Hunter has been telling us the truth.”
“Why do you say that?” she asked.
“It’s just a feeling that came over me when he threatened to kill Thomas.”
“Hunter instinct?” Father asked.
“Could be,” I said with a shrug.
Father finished tying the knots and strained to stand. I extended my hand toward him, he took it, and I pulled him to his feet. He shook his head. “I can’t believe there wasn’t a vampire here.”
“Other than us digging up the graves, we’ve checked all the possible places. But if the vampire was actually in the ground, the dirt on the surface would be fresh and loose. No new graves have been dug here in a long time.”
Thomas nodded.
“So no bounty?” Father said with disappointment.
I smiled. “We have the gems from the gargoyles. I say we return to that shop and find out what’s really happening.”
“You think they’ll buy these gems?” he asked.
“I don’t believe they expect us to return.” I grabbed my Hunter box and my crossbow.
Penelope picked up her father’s hat and held it close to her chest while she scanned the cemetery one last time. Her eyes didn’t moisten with tears, but her jaw tightened with determination. The bright sparkles in her eyes were ablaze. She glanced toward me with a slight smile, reaching for my hand. I took it and we walked side by side to the tunnel entrance. We each had a lot of burning questions that we intended to find the answers for.
Chapter Eighteen
The four of us made our way through the tunnel unscathed. The oddest thing about our exit was how the thorny vines retreated from us. Some of the climbers had wilted. Shed thorns had fallen to the path as well like leaves after the first frost. The large magical vine seemed to be dying. The whispering sounds that had plagued my mind before were now silent.
Father wore his anger on his face. He didn’t have to verbally express why he was angry. It had to do with the fake bounty when he knew we needed the funds for traveling. He had been that way when I was growing up. If ever he was shorted in a trade that was when he grew the most hostile. He pinched pennies, but when you lived in a war-torn country that’s under government oppression, you kept a watchful eye over every single cent because it was necessary to survive. A thief was a chief enemy, regardless of the sum he had stolen.
Father’s hostility finally got the better of him. “Why would they do this, Forrest?”
“They are the only ones who can tell us the exact reason for what they’ve done. But my speculation is that they were sending gullible bounty hunters to feed the gargoyles and ghouls. And if that’s the case, I don’t understand why they’d do that.”
“It could explain why all the people on the outskirts have vanished,” Penelope said.
The wind whipped and whistled through the trees as we passed beneath them. Our coach was within sight. A man dressed in a drab suit stood admiring the horse. Unlike the others we had met in this rundown section of town, he appeared to have better fortune and possibly a fair amount of money.
“Can I help you?” I asked when we came closer.
He turned with a start and his eyes widened for a moment. “Ah, I am looking over this fine horse and coach. The elderly couple at the shop across the square offered to sell them to me at such a reasonable price. How old would you say this horse is?”
Thomas stepped to the horse, placed a hand on the bridle, and glared at the st
ranger. “This horse is not for sale, sir. Neither is the coach.”
The man was taken back. “They clearly expressed that it is and so is the coach. Don’t attempt to move in and swoop up the offer.”
“The couple is mistaken,” I said. “The horse and coach belong to this man. We’ve traveled with him for weeks.”
The man turned with a fierce glare. “What scheme are the lot of you working here? They suggested the price, and I shall meet their offer.”
“They cannot sale what they do not rightfully own,” I said, stepping up to the man and staring down at him.
He studied me for a few minutes and took a couple of steps back. “Then why would they make such an offer?”
“They’re deceitful people,” Father said.
“If there’s any schemes, it’s been on their part. We plan to find out what they’re doing,” I said. “I suggest you move along.”
He opened his mouth to reply but noticed my harsh frown and nodded, turning quickly away.
I placed my Hunter box inside the coach and loaded the crossbow. Father stood beside me with a look of concern. “Father, stay here with Thomas. Penelope and I will go to the shop.”
“Stay? But I want to go with you.”
“Thomas might need your help in case that man comes back.”
“It’s doubtful he’ll return. You scared him quite good. I think I should accompany the two of you. I want answers.”
“We all do.”
“But we put our lives on the line and were betrayed.”
“I know.”
Father shook his head with a scoured expression on his face. “Very well, but if you’re not back in a quarter of the hour, I’m coming to make certain the two of you are okay.”
I smiled.
Penelope placed her father’s Hunter hat upon her head and grinned. Her long wavy hair flowed to her shoulders and some strands covered her eyes.
“Suits you,” I said, brushing her hair from her eyes.
She wrapped her right arm around my left and pressed against me to keep weight off her hurt ankle while we walked. “Is your father always so overly concerned about you like that?”
I offered a shrug and chuckled. “He’s my father.”
“He treats you like a little child sometimes.”
I could only nod.
She shook her head. “My father sent me into the dark woods to hunt by myself when I was ten years old. He taught me to be independent and allowed me to work out my problems, not that you’re not independent or—”
I smiled down at her. “We lost Momma not even a year ago. He has a difficult time … letting go.”
Sadness came to her eyes, and she looked at the cobblestone. “I’m sorry, but I didn’t mean you’re not independent.”
“It’s okay. I understand what you were trying to say.”
“You’ve been quite resourceful in keeping us alive,” she said with a broad smile.
I squeezed her hand.
Once we reached the outside of the shop, I pulled the three gems from her pack and dropped them inside my coat pocket. I turned the doorknob with my left hand and held the crossbow to my side so it wasn’t noticeable when we first entered.
The door hinges creaked as the door widened. Karl looked up from what he was working on at the counter. His wrinkled brow rose, and he adjusted his glasses, looking again in sheer disbelief. He glanced toward his wife who was sewing a piece of cloth to a quilt. “Abigail, we have company.”
“Who?” she asked with a near growl.
“The Hunter,” he said nervously.
“Which Hunter?”
He whispered, “The one who was here earlier.”
“I told you something was wrong,” she said in a stern whisper.
Karl forced a smile in an attempt to hide his nervousness. “Can we sell you more wares? Or—”
I leveled the crossbow and aimed at his head, walking straight for him. “No, we want to know why you sent us after a vampire that doesn’t exist.”
His face reddened. Sweat beaded his brow. His feeble hands shook. “Whatever do you mean?”
“You offered us a bounty to kill a vampire in the local cemetery, remember? No vampire was there,” I said.
“Maybe you didn’t follow the map’s directions properly,” Abigail said with a harsh scratchy voice. She coughed up phlegm and spit on the floor. “Do you even know what a cemetery is?”
“We followed the directions perfectly,” Penelope said, raising her bow at the woman. She studied the old woman more closely than the previous time we had visited.
“How dare you raise a weapon at me!” the old woman hissed. “Come into our shop, threatening our lives. It’s not our fault you probably got lost, or perhaps you’re both seeking money without actually having to kill a vampire. We’ve had cowards do that before.”
“How long have you been deceiving folks and sending them to their deaths?” I asked. “How many people have died?”
“You know not whom you’re messing with,” Abigail said, rising from her chair and pointing her crooked finger at me. Her voice strained. “Be on your way before you soon find out.”
Karl became uncomfortable, swallowed hard, and tugged at his shirt collar.
I balanced the crossbow and placed my finger on the trigger. “Why did you offer to sell our horse and coach to a man?”
Karl paled. Sweat beads trickled down his aged brow.
My jaw tightened and I took a step closer. “You didn’t expect to see us return, did you?”
His Adam’s apple bulged. His breath grew more ragged.
“And what about the bow I’m holding? The man who crafted it was an acquaintance of mine. He builds weapons for Vampire Hunters. The only way you’d have this weapon is if that Hunter is dead. We Hunters never part with any weapon Roy makes for us. True justice for the Hunter would be for me to pull the trigger and fire an arrow through your head. That’d square up the deal nicely.”
Karl shook his head. His trembling hands slammed onto the countertop, so he wouldn’t fall.
“I’ve warned you Hunter,” Abigail said. “Put down your weapon or your doom falls upon you.”
I chuckled. I didn’t know why the threat coming from a tiny bent woman had seemed so funny, but I suddenly burst into laughter.
“Only fools laugh before their demise,” she said. “And you’re an enormous fool.”
I stood across the counter from him, reached into my pocket, and brought out the three gems, setting them on the counter. Karl looked at them and his eyes narrowed. He glanced toward his wife. “He killed them.”
Abigail stepped out from behind the quilting table. Her eyes fastened upon the gems. “What?”
“He killed the protectors.” Karl’s voice still sounded old and weary, but it flowed with a tinge of surprise and hope.
“How?” she asked.
I glanced toward her. “We were at the cemetery, as you now can see.”
“You will suffer for this, Hunter,” she said with a scowl.
“Like the other victims?”
“Worse.”
“How could you betray Hunters who are trying to protect cities and villages from the undead scourge?” I asked. I raised the crossbow and turned toward Abigail.
Penelope tapped the hat on her head. “What became of my father?”
An odd smile curled on Abigail’s lips. She flashed her teeth. “Like the two of you, he managed to escape the cemetery.”
“Did you kill him?” she asked, pulling the bowstring back.
The old woman sneered. “And what if I—”
Karl shook his head and waved his hands, stepping between Abigail and Penelope. “No. No, we didn’t. He headed south. Please, don’t shoot her.”
“Don’t grovel like a whiny little child, Karl. Show some backbone. The charade’s over. They’ve no doubt discovered the ghouls and fled.”
“The ghouls are dead,” I said. “We killed them.”
“You lie!�
�
I smiled evenly. “We stuffed them inside a coffin and roasted them.”
The old woman’s eyes hollowed. Her face drew slack. Her lower jaw trembled and her mouth moved but no words came out.
I grabbed Karl by the collar and yanked him toward me. “It was all one big trap, wasn’t it? Lure in Hunters or your own neighbors to collect a bounty for a vampire that didn’t exist, just so you can feed the ghouls and gargoyles?”
“My children,” Abigail said in a pitiful small voice. Her eyes were vacant. “You killed my children.”
“They were ghouls,” Penelope replied.
Karl’s eyes moistened with tears. “Yes, now. But once they had been Abigail’s children before ghouls infected them during the last war. She couldn’t kill them, even though they had become these vile creatures, but she … we couldn’t keep them in our home, you understand. They’d have infected us, too. But we couldn’t let them roam the streets. There’d be a mass infestation within a few weeks. So we bound them to the cemetery, gave them protectors—”
“But they needed food,” I said. “So you set an elegant trap to snare unsuspecting humans and Hunters?”
“Yes-s-s,” Abigail said. Her eyes darkened and shifted toward us.
“Forrest,” Penelope said. “Maybe we should work our way back toward the door?”
“Why?”
“Just a feeling,” she said, scrunching her nose.
“What type of feeling?”
“I suppose like when you get your instinct premonitions. Please, Forrest, step aside. She’s a demon.”
Chapter Nineteen
The old woman glanced toward me. Her dark eyes widened. I sensed evil permeating around her, dark and spiteful. Her venomous voice grew raspier. “You killed my children.”
“They were already dead,” Penelope said, keeping her aim on the old woman. “Undead.”
“The magical thorn barrier. How’d you accomplish that?” I asked Karl. “That was part of the snare. Who created it?”
His eyes grew fearful. He shook his head.
Abigail pushed herself to Karl’s side. “When it comes to protecting my children, there’s no limit to what I’d do.”
Forrest Wollinsky: Predestined Crossroads (Forrest Wollinsky: Vampire Hunter Book 3) Page 12
