by Tim O'Rourke
Standing in the middle of the cave, Melody made a deep woofing noise in the back of her throat. Ravenwood looked back and saw the wolf. He raised his claws, as if to attack. Over his shoulder I saw three guards. And just like Ravenwood and myself, their wings flapped behind them, fangs and claws glinting in the flickering torchlight.
“Kill them!” Ravenwood boomed.
The Vampyrus sprang into the room. I raised my crossbow. My first shot screamed across the room, burying itself in the forehead of the first Vampyrus. He flew backwards into the cave wall with such force that a shower of rock dust exploded into the air. I heard Melody howl. I glanced back to see her lunge at one of the Vampyrus guards. His wings were strong and powerful. As they beat up and down behind him, they filled the cave with rock dust. With one arm raised to protect my eyes from the swirling dust, I fired my crossbow again. I shot the second guard as he came toward me, claws raised. There was a thick gurgling sound, as I saw Melody tear the throat from the Vampyrus she had attacked. Blood splattered the walls of the cave in a wide arc, and the Vampyrus threw his hands to the gaping wound in his throat. He made a gargling sound, then slumped forward onto his knees, then his face. His wings beat feverishly, then fell still.
I looked at Ravenwood. He stood by the door, claws raised.
“You have to let us go,” I pleaded.
“I can’t,” he said.
I headed toward the open door.
“I’ll kill you if you step outside,” he warned me.
“No, you won’t,” I said, pausing to look at him. “Somewhere deep inside, you’re starting to remember. And when you do, tell the Vampyrus that their enemy isn’t the wolves, and it’s not Kiera Hudson. Tell the Vampyrus the only person they have to fear is Luke Bishop.”
Without looking back again, I raced into the tunnel and Melody followed. We hadn’t gone far when I heard Ravenwood screaming “Guards! Guards!” again at the top of his deep, booming voice.
Knowing the maze of tunnels would soon be full of Vampyrus, I yelled, “Run, Melody!”
I glanced back, and although Melody was bounding behind me, she was lagging and I could see she was limping on one of her back legs. I knew that she was still suffering from the gunshot wounds she had received while we’d been escaping the Skin-walkers above ground. And I knew that was going to be our next problem. The only exit from The Hollows I knew of in this world was the one Coanda had pulled us through. All the others had been sealed when the Elders had pushed the two worlds. There were others now – the exits the Vampyrus had been making through the cracks so they could attack the wolves at Wasp Water, but that was too far and too risky. Even if Melody was fit enough to travel such a distance, the Vampyrus there would soon figure out what she was, just like Ravenwood had. Our only chance of escaping the Vampyrus I could now hear thundering behind us was to go back to the crack that Coanda had pulled us through and hope that the Skin-walkers above had stopped searching for us and moved on.
I glanced back and could see Melody now hobbling behind me. Her orange eyes lit the narrow confines of the tunnels we ran through. Behind her I could see the black fluttering shadows of the Vampyrus’ wings as they gained on us. I slowed and ran alongside Melody.
“I’m slowing you down, Isidor,” she howled. “Leave me.”
“Are you nuts?” I smiled. “I’ve already told you, I’m never leaving you again.”
Ahead I could see the tunnel mouth widening into a clearing. It was the vast open area of The Hollows that Coanda had led me across as we had made our way to the medical caves. I knew the area would be full of the Vampyrus that were getting themselves ready for war with the wolves. But we would have to get across it somehow. Reaching the clearing, I felt my feet trample over the soft lime coloured moss that stretched away into the distance and back toward the Ageless Hill. Melody limped to a halt beside me. I glanced down at her and could see her long pink tongue hanging from the corner of her jaws as she panted for breath. I looked back into the tunnel and could see the approaching Vampyrus just feet away now, their eyes glowing red out of the darkness, the beat of their wings sounding like a frantic heartbeat. “Change, Melody,” I roared at her.
Howling and shaking her head from side to side, Melody sprang into the air, her body twisting and contorting, lengths of hair falling away like a wolf shedding its winter coat. And as the fur fell away in clumps, I could see the pink rose tattoos shining through as she once again took on her human form. With my arms open wide, I shot into the air and took hold of Melody. I pressed her against my chest and soared upwards. Looking down, I saw the Vampyrus fly from the tunnel and come racing after us. Twisting round and rolling over and over like a crocodile in the throes of a death roll, I propelled myself through the air and toward the tunnel on the other side of the clearing where I knew the exit to above ground was. I felt the warm air of The Hollows press against my flesh and wings as I raced faster and faster through the sky. Melody clung to me, her head buried against my chest. Glancing back I could see the Vampyrus racing toward us in thick, black streaks. They swept through the air at a terrifying rate, and I knew that I couldn’t go as fast as them, however hard I tried while I carried Melody in my arms. Ahead I could see stalagmites hanging from the rocky roof of The Hollows. From a distance they looked like mountains that had been turned upside down. I raced toward them, the Vampyrus within reaching distance of me and Melody now.
I banked sharply to my right, zipping around several of the stalagmites. I heard a thunderous crash, and watched large lumps of rock fall to the ground below as a Vampyrus approached the stalagmites too fast, not giving himself enough time to manoeuvre and crashing straight into them. I twisted left and right as the remaining Vampyrus chased me through the razor-sharp pointed stalagmites. They twinkled in the light that shone from the Light House deep within the heart of The Hollows. I darted forwards, always twisting, ducking, diving, and spinning to outrun the Vampyrus that chased me. My arms were beginning to tire and I was slowing as the Vampyrus were gaining. There was a large, jagged stalagmite ahead and I raced toward it. I swooped around, and hiding in the darkness of its shadow, I took Melody in one arm and raised my crossbow with the other. The Vampyrus appeared from the other side of the stalagmite and paused, hovering in the air as they searched for any sign of me. From my hiding place, I tore off a volley of shots at them. The bolts sliced into them. The ones that I hit hurtled toward the ground, kicking and wailing, wings fluttering as they raced to their deaths.
Drawing a deep breath, I shot forward, Melody still pressed to my chest as I made upwards and into the tunnel where the exit to above ground lay. I swooped into the tunnel, my wings humming beneath my arms. I raced toward the exit that I knew Coanda had filled in with earth. Reaching it, I placed Melody on the ground and began to frantically claw upwards at the earth. It showered down onto me, covering my hair, face, and tattooed shoulders. I could hear the Vampyrus enter the tunnel. I worked my claws harder and faster as I dug away at the earth. I scrambled up the walls, holding on with one claw while I sliced away with the other. Then my claws broke through the ground above. I felt cold air brush over them. I punched through the earth with my fist, and blinked into the pale winter light from above. With the sound of the Vampyrus growing closer still, I punched and clawed at the earth for my life. With the hole now big enough to escape through, I looked down at Melody.
“Hey, take my hand,” I yelled at her.
Pulling herself up, Melody reached out. Our fingers brushed. The Vampyrus rushed forward, and I pulled Melody through the hole. We were above ground! Swopping Melody up into my arms, I glanced left and right amongst the trees. In the distance I could see the pulsating flash of emergency lights and I knew then that Skin-walkers were still combing the woods for us. I felt a hand grip my ankle. I looked down to see a long, white claw. I tried to shake it free, but with Melody in my arms it was impossible to do so. Teetering, I fell backwards, falling onto my arse and spilling Melody from my arms. I heard the yap-yap
sound of Skin-walkers in the distance as they searched for me and Melody. I struck out at the claw gripping my ankle, but just couldn’t shake it free. The hole I had made suddenly broke apart as if caving inwards, and I saw that it was Ravenwood who had hold of me.
“Let me go!” I roared, driving the heel of my free foot into his face as it appeared out of the hole in the ground.
His hand loosened around my ankle and I made to scramble away. Lifting Melody once again, I started off through the trees. I had no idea where I was going. I seemed to be surrounded by danger on all sides. But I wouldn’t give up. Never. Kiera had told me that, and I knew I had to get to her and warn my friend that she was heading into a trap at Wasp Water.
“Isidor!” I heard someone call out.
Spinning round, I could see that Ravenwood had now cleared the hole. He was standing just behind me, glasses cracked where I’d kicked him in the face. Blood trickled from his nose and onto the white fur that covered his upper lip and chin.
“Don’t make me kill you,” I pleaded with him, cradling Melody tight.
Thunder crashed overhead, and I couldn’t stop myself from flinching.
“I remember now, Isidor,” he said. He shuffled forward, long, white feathered wings trailing in the snow that covered the ground. “Now that I’m above ground, everything seems clearer somehow.”
I glanced up through the branches of the trees at the cracks that still covered the sky. I remembered how I had angled the aerial on my radio at Melody’s cottage in the nearby mountains so we could listen to that song Heroes by David Bowie. Perhaps Ravenwood’s memories were seeping through the cracks just like that song had.
“What do you remember?” I asked him, wanting to know if he was trying to deceive me – to trap me.
“I remember your father, Lord Hunt,” he said thoughtfully. “He was my friend. I remember the half-breeds we nursed in a makeshift hospital in a place called Hallowed Manor. I remember your sister…what was her name…?”
“Kayla,” I breathed, suddenly excited that Ravenwood had started to remember. If he remembered everything, then perhaps he could tell Coanda and the Vampyrus. They might be able to stop this war that Luke was planning.
“What else do you remember?” I asked him, as the sky overhead suddenly grew dark, like a shadow had fallen over us.
Ravenwood opened his mouth to speak, but instead of words coming out, a jet of hot, black blood shot from his mouth and splattered the snow at his feet.
“No!” I roared as Ravenwood’s head was sliced from the rest of his body.
Chapter Six
Potter
I suspected that looking for Isidor was going to be one big fucking waste of time, but I knew Kayla was right. If there was a chance that Isidor was still alive, then we should go in search of him. But was Lake Lure the right place? I didn’t know. We’d probably have more chance finding him in the local library; after all, he always had his head stuck in a book if not up his own arse. But if he was still alive and Jack had swapped places, then it would be good to see him again. Although I would never admit this to anyone, fuck knows it was difficult admitting even to myself – I had missed Isidor. The team hadn’t been the same without him. But as I glanced sideways at Kayla and saw the cracks fast appearing in her flesh, I still couldn’t help but feel that searching for Isidor right now was a big mistake. We should be heading for the Dead Waters, finding Kiera and the others, then go looking for Isidor. I knew though, that if I hadn’t have agreed to Kayla’s demands, she would have just been in one big fuck-off sulk, and I couldn’t bear that.
I’d noticed that for the last few miles, Kayla had been losing altitude. I knew that as her body stiffened and turned to stone, her wings would become less supple until eventually she was nothing more than a giant stone. The sky was still purple and the cracks seemed to be growing in number and deeper with every passing moment. Some were so big that I could see right through them. It was fucking freaky because there didn’t seem to be anything on the other side. But there had to be something. There was always something – a colour at least. But there wasn’t. It was like staring headlong into the time and place before we were born. Was there even a place? If there was, I couldn’t remember it because it was nothing. Just an empty vastness. And that’s what looking through those cracks was like. No time. No space. No sense of feeling. It was like what was on the other side of those cracks hadn’t been created yet. It was just waiting to happen.
The thunder was so loud and violent at times that it seemed to go right through us, shaking our very core. I swooped in close to Kayla, and I could see just like the cracks in the sky were growing deeper, so were the ones now covering Kayla’s hands and face. I reached out with my hand and took hers as we soared over the patchwork of snow-laden fields way below us. Kayla’s hand felt cold and hard – almost brittle. I feared that if I squeezed too hard then her fingers might just crumble away into dust. She glanced sideways at me, when feeling my hand take hers. She smiled and I saw more of those cracks form around the corners of her red lips.
I knew that sooner or later I would have to take charge and insist that we turn back and head for the Dead Waters. Perhaps I would wait until the skin around her mouth went a little harder so I wouldn’t have to put up with her fucking nagging. I’d decided that we would give our search for Isidor just ten more minutes, when in the distance, I saw the sparkle of emergency lights. They were close to the trees that surrounded Lake Lure. I pointed in the direction of the police vehicles and Kayla nodded. We dropped out of the sky and swooped toward the lake. From above and through the leafless trees, I could see cops with berserkers on leashes. But they weren’t real cops, they were the wolves with stolen human skins – they were the Skin-walkers and the berserkers were their freaky fuck-ups at trying to match human kids with wolves. They seemed to be searching for someone, and I wondered who. Keeping high enough in the sky so as not to be seen, Kayla and I circled the woods and the lake from above. Then, tugging at my sleeve, Kayla pointed below.
“There’s Isidor!” she shrieked with excitement, a fine spray of dust leaking from the corners of her cracked lips.
I looked down, and could see Isidor on his back as he kicked at something that was trying to pull him back underground. There seemed to be a small bed of roses sticking up out of the snow beside him. The bright splash of pink looked like a splash of blood in the snow. As we raced toward the ground, I could see that the roses weren’t real at all but an intricate maze of rose tattoos covering a young woman from head to toe. Isidor had done what he had set out to do, and that was find the girl he loved – Melody Rose. I suddenly felt very proud of Isidor. It was a feeling I’d never felt before about him. But I feared that his success might be short lived as he tried to free himself from the pale claw that had hold of his ankle.
As we raced toward the ground, I saw Isidor break free, scramble to his feet and carry Melody away in his arms. Was she injured? I wondered. The creature that had had hold of Isidor broke free of the ground and I could see it was a Vampyrus. It went after Isidor. I glanced at Kayla, long red hair flying out behind her as she almost seemed to fall out of the sky. I looked down again to see that Isidor had stopped and was now facing the Vampyrus. He wouldn’t be able to defend himself while holding Melody Rose in his arms. I would have to do that for him.
In a blaze of fluttering black shadows, I shot out of the sky, slashing my claws across the Vampyrus’ throat. Rocketing upwards, I looked back to see the Vampyrus’ head spill from its body and drop into the snow at its feet. Banking hard to my right, I turned, raced back toward Kayla, both of us landing in the snow before Isidor.
Isidor stood opened mouth and looked at us.
“Surprise,” I grinned at him.
“What did you do that for?” he gasped.
“To save your life, numb-nuts,” I said. I couldn’t understand why he didn’t look pleased to see me.
He looked at the blood dripping from my claws. “That was Doctor
Ravenwood,” Isidor said, as if still in some kind of shock. “He was just starting to remember.”
“Remember what?” I said, popping a cigarette into the corner of my mouth and lighting it.
“That we were the good guys…” Isidor muttered, still holding Melody Rose in his arms. He looked down at Ravenwood’s head, then back at me.
“Did he try and kill you?” I asked.
“Well, yeah…but that was before he started to remember…” Isidor started.
“Okay, so I made mistake,” I shrugged.
“A mistake,” Isidor said. “You just killed him.”
“Look, I don’t have magic fucking claws,” I snapped, “It’s not like I can stick his fucking head back on. He’s dead. Get over it. He would’ve gotten over you if it had been you lying there without a head. So quit your bitching…”
“I thought you were dead,” Isidor cut in.
“I could say the same about you,” I said back. Then, nodding at the girl he still carried in his arms, I added, “Who’ the bit of skirt?”
“Melody Rose,” Isidor said, easing her down out of his arms and resting her against the trunk of a nearby tree. He untied his coat that hung about his waist and covered her with it to keep her warm.
I remembered Isidor telling me that she smoked. I offered my packet of cigarettes.
“I don’t smoke,” she half-smiled back at me.
“Not in this world perhaps,” I said.
“Isidor,” I heard a weak, fragile voice.
I turned to see Kayla, her face now like a slab of crazy-paving, before she collapsed.
“Kayla!” Isidor said, racing toward his sister, as if noticing her for the first time.
