He dove at Johnny. Johnny dodged him. Max hit the cave wall.
“Take it easy buddy! I’m one of you now!” Johnny said.
Max turned, looking at him. He didn’t look like Johnny from
high school, but he didn’t look like a guy in his forties either.
“Fuck!” Max said, confused.
“You’re right,” Johnny said. “This is the fucking life!”
Max was astonished. “Well, what the hell are you doing down here?”
“Came to join the club. I could ask you the same thing.”
“Well, after you guys killed my crew, I had nowhere else to go really. I couldn’t sleep, so I’ve been wandering around.”
“I’m sorry about that br’ah.”
“You are?” Max said.
“Yeah man, I’d be running with The Dragons myself, if I’d known how good immortality felt.”
Max grinned maniacally, “So you’ve fed? Killed someone?”
“Yeah,” Johnny lied. It was easy. “Sweet little blonde pussy. Fucked her first, made her beg for her life. Then I drained her dry.”
“That’s awesome Johnny! Man, it’s good to have you back. Put her there fucker!” Max extended his hand.
“Fuck that shit!” Johnny said. “Give me a hug br’ah!”
They offered each other a massive back clapping Hurrah hug! Just as Max pulled away, he felt a sharp tearing in his chest. His mouth and eyes opened wide in shock.
“You’re still as stupid as you ever were… Max,” Johnny said.
Max pulled away. Johnny ripped the stake out of his chest, splattering Max’s coat, and leaving a trail of blood and gore stretching from the end of the wicked point.
Max made a gesture, as if to speak, but for once the dick had nothing to say. He took three fumbling steps backward, and collapsed on the rock floor.
John Winter felt no pain or remorse, only a sense of relief, and release, like he had finally severed the last thing holding him to a past he no longer wanted to remember.
“Good riddance.”
6
“Did you hear that?” Blake asked.
“What?” said Tony, who was next to him.
“A sound, like the shuffling of feet.”
“I heard it,” Eve said.
“Of course, you guys can hear it,” Myron said.
Staci thought, Says the two with the supernatural hearing, Johnny would have said.
“You think maybe someone knows we’re here?” Jeremy said.
“Maybe,” Blake supposed, “Or it might be someone is just up and about.”
“You’re saying there’s an insomniac vampire roaming the place?” Tony said.
“More than one,” Blake said.
Eve nodded. “I’m getting that too.”
“Maybe a dozen or more,” Blake added.
“Shit!” Jeremy cried.
“Anyway, we should prepare for anything.”
The next corridor they entered led them into another room. This one was wide and spacious, with three openings, leading to other tunnels in the far wall.
“Which one do we take?” Jeremy asked.
“None,” Blake replied, “Listen.”
They did. They could all hear it now. Definitely feet, coming toward them, from which tunnel they could not tell. But they were coming.
“Something’s here,” Blake said.
Myron shook his head. “I don’t like the sound of that.”
III
THE CHILDREN
“Guess our plan didn’t work,” Jeremy said.
“I think it did,” Eve disagreed, “But they’re onto us now.”
“Plan?” Blake questioned.
“I’ll explain later,” Eve said.
The first person to surface, from the tunnel on the right, was a curly haired girl no more than eight years old. From the one on the left appeared two boys, possibly around nine or ten. From the center tunnel emerged a girl that couldn’t have been more than six years of age.
They watched in amazement as more and more children emerged from each of the tunnels.
“Dear… God,” Blake whispered. They all understood what it meant.
“The entire town’s missing children,” Staci said, hopelessly. And they weren’t here to play.
“Those cowardly bastards!” Eve muttered under her breath.
The six of them stood there, shaking their heads in disbelief, and when the children were done assembling and facing them, they were standing side by side in three rows from front to back. There were at least two dozen, possibly as many as thirty, ranging from ages five through fourteen. They stared silent and ominously at them.
“What do we do?” Jeremy asked.
Blake sighed, bowed his head. Not because he didn’t know, but because he knew what had to be done.
As if someone had flicked on a switch, the solemn stares turned into slow grins, fangs sprouting out before their eyes. A sound like a soft murmur turned into a hiss, like a steaming kettle boiling over.
Staci, Tony and Jeremy pulled out their revolvers. Blake steadied his machine gun. Myron unsheathed his sword.
“Oh God,” Jeremy said, “Please don’t make me do this.”
“Not human,” Blake whispered, “They’re not human, not human,” over and over.
“How could they do this?” Staci said, “How could anyone do…”
The children charged at them. They opened fire. Blake’s machine gun took down half of the first row, the scene seeming to play out in slow motion. The rat-a tat-tat of the heavy artillery was followed by bloody holes appearing in their tiny frenetically thrashing bodies. Staci shot two little girls in the forehead, unaware that she was sobbing as she did so, shooting one after another; tears streaming down her cheeks. Jeremy cried out, a bestial cry that sounded like whimpering, screaming, and laughing all at once as he fired at them; a caveman cry churned up from dark recesses, a doorway away from complete insanity. It frightened the hell out of Myron, who stood beside him, and had to wait for the children to attack, up close and personal, before he swung his sword. He lopped off three of their heads, and puked.
Tony, who held the other revolver, picked them off one by one, appearing to be the steadiest, but looking into his eyes, one could see he wasn’t entirely there. He was far-away, stone faced, staring out into nothing. The children were random, colors, shapes, blurs that he shot at. Eve, having no weapon, simply waited for them to attack her, snapping their little necks, throwing them aside like rag dolls. It was not a task she cherished, or felt good about in any sense of the word, but something she forced herself to get through. Every now and then she muttered, “Forgive me,” not crying, but close. She had to make herself get through this.
Even firing from a distance, they were still in close quarters, and the ones that remained standing swarmed around them. One little girl sank her teeth into Tony’s arm, causing his fist to clench, firing a round into the floor. He cried out, reflexively batting her away with his free hand, and a closed fist, striking the girl squarely in the face, bloodying her nose. The look of shock and hurt on the girl’s face, no more than seven, was all too human. Tony let out an anguished, “Aaaah!” as he turned away.
They blasted and cut their way through, until the children’s bodies all lay squirming and twitching on the cave floor.
Blake set down his machine gun, and motioned for Tony’s
machete. “I have to finish them.” The word sounded dead and hollow.
Not kill them, but finish them. It sounded so clinical and detached.
They flinched and closed their eyes at the sound of the machete descending, pinging against the rock, as he went from body to body decapitating those not already dead. When he was done Blake let the machete drop to the ground with a loud clang, his body swaying.
The group looked on in horror at what they’d done, what they’d been forced to do. Blake walked off into a corner and vomited.
Staci sobbed and took off running into
one of the tunnels- the left, fleeing from the sight of the children’s bodies.
“Staci, wait!” Jeremy called after her, and ran into the tunnel behind her. The rest of them were ready to follow, and that was when another nightmare crawled out of the center tunnel.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
DANIELS IN THE VAMPIRE’S DEN
(2014)
1
After walking away from Max’s body, and through several long tunnels, the hunger struck again, big time. His stomach grumbled, and pain shot through his intestines all the way up into his esophagus, doubling him over. Johnny held onto the cave wall with one hand, the other cradling his mid-section.
Coming down here was a bad idea. Maybe the group didn’t make it after all, and he was alone, without food.
Blood, you might as well say it; without blood. It was the only thing that was going to make him feel better.
2
“Staci!” Jeremy screamed, “Wait!”
He chased after her. But she was already far-off, her flight response having kicked into overdrive. If she could distance herself from it, then she could erase the memory of what she’d done. She could forget the horror.
This tunnel wasn’t lighted. Only a dim glow reflected on the sides of the walls from the entrance, becoming muted the further along she went. So she didn’t see the body until she stumbled on it. It wasn’t at eye level, but neither was it completely on the ground. Whoever or whatever it was, was hunched over, and she nearly went face forward over the stooped body.
The person or thing rose. She had the presence of mind to switch on the flashlight, even as she was backing away. It shone right into his face.
Staci gasped. “Johnny?” It looked as if he were in pain.
“Johnny, I can’t believe it’s you. Are you okay?”
“Staci? Staci, get away from me.” His voice was part human, part growling animal.
“Johnny?” she questioned, backing off.
“Get away!” he howled, running at her.
Oh dear Lord. This was it, exactly as she’d envisioned it; Johnny attacking her. It had only been a glimpse, because it was dark, Johnny lit only by the glow of her flashlight.
He grabbed her by the shoulders. Then she saw his teeth. He was trying to bite her neck. Staci still held the revolver in her other hand, and she pulled the trigger, twice, shooting him in the gut. Johnny fell back against the sidewall.
“Staci,” he said. “Staci, I’m sorry. I’m so hungry.”
Staci nodded, still in shock. “I know Johnny. We’ll get you help. We’ll get you out of here.” Jeremy caught up with Staci.
He came to an abrupt halt, noticing she had stopped running, and then saw, “Johnny?”
“Yeah,” Johnny said. “It’s me. The good news is I found Max.” He pointed behind him, where Staci had been headed. “I killed him. The bad news is, I’m a vampire.” He laughed, a muffled laugh, baring his sharp fangs.
“You’re bleeding,” Jeremy said. He looked at Staci. “You shot him?”
“He attacked me,” Staci defended herself.
“Guilty as charged,” Johnny said. “I can’t hold on man, I’m starving.”
Jeremy echoed Staci, “We’ll get you out of here. We’ll find the person that turned you.”
“You don’t get it!” Johnny said. “I’m not going to make it. You have to kill me Jeremy.”
“No,” Jeremy shook his head, “I can’t.”
“Yeah, you can. Take the fucking stake, and kill me!” Johnny tried to shove the stake into Jeremy’s hand.
“I’m not going to kill you Johnny. You’ll have to do it yourself.” He dropped the stake to the floor. “And I have one of my own.”
“Come back with us,” Staci said, “We’ll figure this out.” She shook her head, and then whispered, answering herself, “No, I can’t go back there.”
“Staci?” Jeremy looked at her, concerned.
“I’m okay, just need to get myself together.”
Jeremy looked back. They’d gone through several twists and turns in the tunnel, and he’d taken a few forks in the road following Staci’s voice. “Speaking of, I’m not sure I know how to get back.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Johnny said. Jeremy saw that Johnny wasn’t going to give him a choice. He pulled out his stake. When Johnny moved to attack he pulled out his cross. His whip being looped about his side, he held up the cross in one hand, his stake in the other.
Johnny halted in his tracks. “Damn it Jeremy!”
“Show us Max’s body,” Jeremy said.
Staci looked confused, “Jeremy… what?”
“I know what I’m doing,” He said.
“What the fuck Jeremy?” Johnny said.
“Max’s body is still fresh, right?” Jeremy asked.
“Yeah, I guess,” Johnny said, and his eyes opened, “Fuck!!”
Staci got it too. “You can feed off of Max. He’s a vampire, so…”
“So he’s not feeding off a human,” Jeremy nodded. “So we can buy time until we find the vampire that turned him. Unless…”
“Unless what?” Staci worried.
“Unless it’s like some legends, where the vampire reverts back to human form, after its killed.”
“Shit,” Johnny said, “Well, how am I going to know?”
Jeremy shrugged. “Let’s go. It’s a chance.”
Johnny conceded. “Okay, gross, but… okay. Let’s just hurry. I can’t hold this hunger at bay for long.”
They found Max’s body. Jeremy inspected it. He couldn’t tell. Staci crouched down beside him, lifting Max’s wrist, feeling for a pulse. “It’s really weak, but he’s still got a pulse. He’s almost gone.”
“Let’s be sure,” Jeremy said. He parted Max’s lips with his
fingers. Max still had clearly delineated fangs. “Do it,” Jeremy told Johnny.
Johnny fed. Jeremy and Staci had to look away as he crouched over the body and sank his teeth in. The only thing that told them he was done was when the smacking sounds stopped.
“Okay,” Johnny said. “I’m done. God, that was gross. I almost puked a few times, but I feel much better now.”
“I see,” Jeremy said, grimacing at John’s bloody smile.
“Can we leave?” Staci said. “As much as I wanted to see him dead, I think I’ve had enough.”
And the real killing hasn’t even begun, Jeremy thought. “Continue forward?” Jeremy pondered.
“Yes, I think so,” Johnny said.
“I don’t think we can find our way back. It’s all my fault Jeremy. I’m so sorry,” Staci added.
“What worries me is that they didn’t follow us in here,” Jeremy commented.
“Do you think they could be in trouble?” she said.
“I hope not.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t be there for you guys,” Johnny said.
“Trust me; you wouldn’t have wanted to be there. Not after…” Jeremy trailed off.
“Not after what?” Johnny said.
Staci shook her head, her eyes welling up with tears again.
“That’s a story for another day,” Jeremy said. “Let’s go find the vamp that turned you, and maybe Eve’s and Blake’s too.”
“Blake?” Johnny said, astonished, “Blake’s here?”
“Yeah,” Jeremy smiled.
3
The thing that stepped out of the tunnel was neither human, nor Other, but somewhere in between. Its skin was a mottled gray. Instead of a bald head it had a receding hairline with long black hair
growing back away from its head. It had male characteristics. It was at
once long and lanky, but also muscular. Its face was contorted, an upturned pig-like nose that was mostly nostril jutted out of its face. It looked mostly human, but for the entirely black eyes, all pupil with no iris or whites. It was shirtless and barefoot, a pair of torn and dirt caked slacks covering its lower half. It had sharp teeth and talons, but no wings.
&nbs
p; Blake leveled his machine gun at it, and Tony his revolver. They’d barely squeezed off a few shots before the thing was on top of them. Jesus it was fast, Tony thought. Barreling through them, the holes in its chest and torso were visible for less than a second, before they were both knocked to the ground, shots spraying the cavern ceiling, raining rocks down upon them before the guns left their grip.
Myron jumped in, swinging his sword, cutting an inch deep gash into the creature’s back. It turned and snarled, backhanding him into the wall, where Myron fell among the dead children. Eve grabbed the thing from behind, by both arms, managing to pry it from her two friends. Blake punched it in the face, which now that he was a vampire, actually hurt the beast. Angry, it wrenched one of its arms loose from Eve, and seized Blake by the throat. Blake started to choke, and then Tony kicked the thing in the genitals, or whatever it had passing for genitals down there. It didn’t hurt it tremendously but enough that the grip on Blake’s neck loosened. Blake and Tony managed to slide out from under it. Eve, still grasping one of its arms, spun it around, and kicked it in the gut while it was still hunched over. The thing tore loose from her and backed away, the four of them facing it again.
4
“Still feeling all right?” Jeremy said, as they hiked through the next system of tunnels.
“Never better,” Johnny said.
“So you’re not going to try and eat us?”
“No. And I wouldn’t be eating, just drinking.”
“I’m worried guys,” Staci admitted. “How are we going to find our way back to the others?”
Jeremy frowned, “I don’t think we are. We just have to find our way out, and hope they do too.”
Johnny looked at him with disbelief, “And you’re usually the positive one.”
“Not going to lie to myself, or you guys. We knew coming in that we might not all make it.”
Staci was not only saddened by the statement but disappointed. Johnny was right.
Jeremy had always been her rock, always did everything he could to make her feel better, but this was different, and Jeremy was right. There was no point in deluding themselves.
The Pit in the Woods: A Mercy Falls Mythos Page 56
