by Tim O'Rourke
“No!” I hissed to myself. “That’s the coward’s way out!”
“What?” Luke suddenly said, looking back at me.
“What?” I said.
“You said something,” he smiled, looking bemused.
“Did I?”
“It sounded like you did.”
“Must have been the wind,” I smiled and glanced back again at Potter. This time he wasn’t looking down, but directly at me. I looked away.
Ahead, Sparky slowed, then came to a stop. The path had come to a sudden end and it led to a sheer drop down into the crater below.
“Is this some sort of a joke?” Seth asked, peering from beneath his snow-covered baseball cap.
“He’s tricked us,” Kayla spat, and yanked hard on Sparky’s leash.
“No, no,” Sparky winced as his head snapped forward as the noose was pulled by Kayla. “Look over there.”
We all looked in the direction Sparky was now pointing. Opposite was another mountain, and carved into the side of it was a doorway. It looked odd and out of place, a nondescript-looking wooden door set into the side of a mountain with no path, steps, or ladder leading to it.
“That leads down into The Hollows and that crater. See, I didn’t let you down. Not this time, Kiera,” he said staring at me with a pitiful look in his eyes.
“How do we get over to it?” Isidor asked, looking over at the door.
“What do you think God gave you wings for?” someone cut in, and we all looked back to see Potter had caught up with us.
“But I can’t,” Seth said, scowling at Potter.
“Not my problem, Seth,” Potter snapped. “Perhaps you should go back down the mountain and ask the good vampires down at that hole if they’ll let you in the front door.”
Ignoring Potter, Seth looked at Luke somewhat embarrassed, and said, “Would you carry me?”
“Why do you want to come with us anyway?” Luke asked back. “This is as far as you come. I’m not taking a Lycanthrope down into The Hollows.”
“Not unless I’m in handcuffs, eh?” Seth barked. “You didn’t mind dragging me down there when you thought you had captured your killer.”
“Oh, change your tune for fuck’s sake,” Potter groaned. “You’re getting on my tits now. You’re a killer, your entire race is nothing more than a bunch of mindless killers. You may not have killed those women – you now say it was your son – but you’ve killed plenty in your time. Now, do us all a favour and piss off back to those caves beneath the fountain of trolls or whatever it is you call it.”
“Souls!” Seth barked.
“Whatever,” Potter growled back.
“I’m sorry, Seth…” Luke started.
“Don’t be sorry, Luke, for crying out loud,” Potter shouted. “He led us into a trap back at that lake and that’s what got Murphy killed. When are you going to stop putting your trust in this scum? We’ve just followed the pizza-boy halfway up a mountain to some doorway set into a mountainside, and we don’t know what’s on the other side of that door!”
“Pizza-boy?” Sparky whimpered.
“I think he’s talking about those spots on your face,” Isidor said. “Get used to it, he says that sort of shit to me all the time.”
“I’ve told you the truth,” Sparky howled at Potter.
“Truth?” Potter stammered in disbelief. “Your kind wouldn’t know what the truth was if your pathetic little lives depended on it.” Then turning to Kayla, he added, “Cut the mutt loose, we go on without the werewolves.”
“You can’t do this,” Seth barked. “I have the right to get revenge for the death of my son.”
“What about Eloisa?” I suddenly cut in, looking at Seth then quickly at Potter.
“What?” Seth said.
“Well Potter ripped her heart out. Don’t you want to avenge her death?” I asked him.
“I’ve many lovers, Kiera Hudson,” Seth half-smiled at me, his eyes glowing. “She was okay, but let’s just say I don’t like my lovers to be so willing – I like a woman who will offer some resistance – you know, play the victim.”
Looking into his crazy spinning eyes, I said, “You really are an animal, aren’t you?”
“Jeez, at last the penny has dropped!” Potter sighed. “What do you think I’ve been trying to tell you?”
Turning to face Potter, I said, “And you’re no better. You ripped her heart out just so you could get back at Seth – and he doesn’t even give a crap.”
Hearing my words, Potter almost seemed to flinch as if I’d slapped him hard across the face. He looked as if he wanted to say something, but before he had the chance, I’d turned my back to him to find Seth ripping the skin from his own face.
It fell away in fleshy strips and his snout sprung out, white foamy saliva spraying from his jaws.
“If I don’t go,” he snarled, “None of us go!” Pulling his chest apart, revealing a mass of bristling black fur, he rolled his head back and began to howl.
Chapter Six
Seth’s deep booming roar reverberated off the mountainsides like thunder. The whole mountain shook, sending rocks spilling down onto us from high above. The breath from his giant mouth was hot and blew my hair off my face.
Looking over the edge of the cliff, I could see the vehicles below stop; in fact, everything stopped as the vampires and Vampyrus below looked up to investigate. Within moments, there was an ear-splitting squawking noise as the Vampyrus launched themselves into the air and came racing up the side of the mountain towards us, their wings beating so loud that it almost masked the sound of Seth’s continuous roar.
Peering over my shoulder at the advancing Vampyrus, Potter said, “We’ve got company!”
No sooner had the words left his mouth, Jack Seth’s howls became a scream as Potter disappeared from beside me, only to reappear an instant later hovering in the air. If I’d blinked, I would have missed it, but with one mighty swoop of his claw he knocked Seth from the mountainside. The wolf spun away into the air, and before it had disappeared into the cloud, it had taken human form again, and I was sure that Seth’s yellow eyes were staring at me.
Sweeping around in the air, Potter watched Seth bounce helplessly against the jagged mountainside and disappear
“Now that was for Murphy, you piece of shit!” Potter said grimly.
Seeing one of his own die so suddenly and fearing he would be next, Sparky took the rope that was fastened to him and yanked at it. Loosing her footing, Kayla slipped on the snow-covered edge and went toppling over. She clung to the rope and Sparky cut through it with his claw.
“Luke!” Kayla screamed as she was snatched away from the side of the cliff face by one of the Vampyrus that had raced up towards us.
Tearing his crossbow from his back in a flash of movement, Isidor had released two arrows which sliced straight into the head of the Vampyrus who had his sister. Somersaulting from the edge of the cliff, Isidor was in the air snatching Kayla away from the now dead Vampyrus.
Launching himself through the air, his shirt flying away as his wings shot from his back, Luke took hold of Sparky’s ears. With a quick flick of his wrists and a hideous tearing noise, Luke had torn Sparky’s head in two. Lumps of brain splattered the cliff face like pools of hot, grey jelly. Sparky’s body slumped onto the ledge, where it twitched and jerked uncontrollably. Swooping out of the sky, Potter kicked out at it and I watched it roll down the mountainside.
Winking back at Luke, Potter said, “Just like the good old days. There’s nothing better than killing Lycanthrope!”
Smiling back at his friend, Luke agreed and said, “Just like the old days!”
Shocked at the speed and apparent heartlessness in which they had just slaughtered Seth and Sparky, I gasped and shouted, “You two are unbelievable!”
“Thanks, sweet cheeks,” Potter beamed, and it was the first time I had seen him smile since returning from the zoo with Luke.
“That wasn’t a compliment!” I screamed at hi
m over the sound of the approaching Vampyrus.
Swooping past me so close that his face brushed against mine, he whispered in my ear, “I know, but secretly, you just can’t get enough of it!” Then he was gone, rocketing away and biting and clawing at the Vampyrus that were rapidly filling the sky all around us.
I looked at Luke who said, “I don’t know how we’re going to get out of this one!” Then he too was gone, spiralling through the air so fast that all I could see was a streak of black, like after burn coming from a jet fighter.
Throwing off my coat and rolling back my shoulders, I ran towards the edge of the ledge and dived into the air.
Please let my wings open! I prayed and shut my eyes.
Instead of falling, I felt myself soaring, and it was exhilarating. I could feel the cold air rush past me at an incredible speed. Opening my eyes, I looked down and had to stop myself from screaming. I didn’t know how high I‘d climbed but the crater now looked like a pinprick in the earth below. Tilting slightly forward, I started to plummet downwards, but I still didn’t feel confident in my ability to fly. Looking back at my wings as they rippled on either side of me, I knew it was something I would have to master quickly or I would soon be killed by the two Vampyrus who were racing after me.
Rolling to my right, I cut through the sky and the two Vampyrus sped past me. Looking back I could see them momentarily disappear into a grey mountain of cloud, then come screaming out of it towards me. Flipping around, I angled my wings backwards and dropped through the sky. The air hit my chest like I’d just crashed into a brick wall and I feared that the pressure of it would break my ribs. My cheeks rippled and I felt as if I couldn’t breathe. But I knew I had to, so breathing through my nose, I felt the icy cold air sting the back of my throat. Faster and faster I raced back towards the ground, and with every second I lost altitude, I feared I would never be able to stop. How had I done it before? Had I arched my back somehow? Pushing out my chest and locking my arms tight beside me, I arched my back and at once, as if I’d stepped on an invisible set of brakes, I slowed.
The Vampyrus that were behind me rushed past, as if taken by surprise by my sudden stop. One of them had sharper reflexes and swooped away before smashing into the rocky ground below. But the other wasn’t as quick, and I watched as it dive-bombed into a razor-sharp outcrop of rock. Its severed arms and legs bounced back into the air in a crimson spray of blood. Hovering, I watched as several vampires that had been forcing the humans to dig the crater, race over and begin to fight over the bloody remains of the Vampyrus.
It was then, as I raced back up into the dawn sky, that I saw the rest of the Vampyrus which had been protecting the crater soar up into the sky. As the Vampyrus raced amongst the clouds, the clouds changed colour. They were no longer reflecting the colour of the rising sun; they were turning grey, dark grey, charcoal, then black. Then suddenly, they began to separate as if falling apart into smaller pieces. These then broke up into smaller pieces, and then into black wispy fragments as the Vampyrus swarmed out of them and back towards us.
I saw Potter fly away from a Vampyrus he had just sliced the wings from, and it plummeted away through the sky. Banking, I raced towards him.
“Look! They’re coming out of the clouds!” I shouted over the roar of the wind.
“There’s hundred’s of them!” Potter yelled back.
The Vampyrus that had swept from the clouds swarmed around in the air as if preparing to attack. Then, to my horror, they came racing towards us. And as they came, they made those hideous squawking sounds that pierced the air. Their cries of hatred and anger seemed to penetrate right through me, making my heart thunder in my chest. I could see that their bodies were black, hairy and bloated. Although they closely resembled giant vampire bats, they had bony-looking legs and a set of wings that were transparent and covered in bristly hair. Just like I had seen Luke in his true Vampyrus form at Hallowed Manor, these creatures no longer resembled human beings, but giant winged creatures. Noses turned up, long pointed ears, and jaws full of razor-like fangs.
The Vampyrus were nearly upon us and as they drew within range, Potter banked violently, rolled to the left and sharply lost altitude. I felt my stomach leap into my throat as I banked and raced after Potter. Ahead, I could see Isidor, and Potter was racing towards him.
I caught up in time to hear Potter shout at Isidor. “I’m not usually one for retreating, kid, but we’d better get out of here!”
“To where?” Isidor roared back.
Then, as if from nowhere, Luke swept up beside us and pointing back towards the mountain, he bellowed, “Look! Over there!”
Turning in the air, we stared in the direction he was pointing. The doorway we’d seen earlier was now open and a winged man hovered before it. Raising an arm in the air, he beckoned us towards him.
“Who’s that?” Kayla asked as she came racing towards us.
“Felix Coanda, if I’m not mistaken,” Luke said peering ahead.
“Then what are we waiting for?” I said, looking over my shoulder at the approaching Vampyrus. “Let’s go!”
Curling my claws into a fist, I punched forward and soared back towards the mountain and the open doorway. Was this it? Was I really going to finally enter The Hollows?
Chapter Seven
I swept towards the door where Felix Coanda hovered in front of it. His wings were mottled-looking, like something you would find sticking out of the back of a moth. His skin, just like Potter’s and Luke’s, was corpse white. He had pale blue lips and a set of fangs that looked as sharp as knives. His hair was black and wiry and stuck out in thick clumps, giving him the appearance he had just crawled out of bed. His eyes shone a fierce blue and they kind of reminded me of Murphy’s. He was older than Luke and Potter; I guessed about forty-years-old. He was stripped to the waist, but his upper body, although slim, was muscular. Black hair covered his chest and spread over his shoulders and down his arms, like a fine coat of fur. I had only ever seen one other Vampyrus have such a thick coating of hair even though they were in human form, and that was Ravenwood, but his hair had been snow white.
“Quick!” Coanda shouted, coaxing me forward with his giant claws. “Faster! Faster, I tell you!”
As I raced towards him, I could see that he was glancing nervously past me. Looking back, I could see Potter and the others racing behind me, followed by a mass of screaming Vampyrus. They clutched at them with their claws. Kayla streaked forward, her red hair gleaming in the morning sun, giving her the appearance of being on fire.
“Faster!” Coanda roared again, and I flipped round to see him holding the door open for us, and beyond it all I could see was darkness. A doorway hundreds of feet above the ground set in the side of a mountain, leading to a world hidden hundreds of miles beneath the Earth. Was I ready for this? I knew I had to be, as I shot through the open doorway and into a world of darkness.
The others rushed in behind me into the narrow passageway that, just like Sparky had said, had been gouged into the mountainside. Looking back over my shoulder, I saw the oblong shape of daylight disappear as Coanda slammed the door shut on the approaching Vampyrus. But almost immediately there was light again, just the faintest chinks at first. Then they grew longer and wider, as the Vampyrus on the other side of the door ripped it to pieces with their claws.
“This wasn’t part of the plan!” Coanda shouted as he raced past me, his wings brushing against my face.
“What do you mean?” I called after him.
“Couldn’t you lot use the front door like everybody else?” he snapped over his shoulder. “I heard you were all a bunch of mavericks, but this takes the piss!”
“You mean there’s a front door?” I breathed, looking back at the one that was now being ripped to splinters by the Vampyrus who flew about outside.
“There ain’t no front door, sweet cheeks,” Potter answered as he flexed his claws, readying himself for the Vampyrus that were breaking their way into the tunnel. “The g
uy’s an arsehole!”
“I didn’t think you knew him?” I asked.
“Never met him,” Potter snapped as he faced the door. “But I’ve heard he’s meant to be some hotshot flying ace – all the women love him, apparently!”
“They’re breaking through!” Luke roared, as the first of the Vampyrus stuck its hideous-looking snout through the gaps in the doorway.
“Then run!” Coanda shouted, as he made his way down the tunnel.
“Hotshot my arse,” Potter growled, as he lunged at the Vampyrus’ colossal head as it poked through the door, removing its eyes with his claws. The creature screamed, thrashing its head from left to right as if it had become stuck. Flicking its eyeballs from the tips of his claws, Potter looked at Luke, and grinning he said, “That should slow them down!”
Then he was gone, racing away down the corridor behind Coanda.
“Go! Go! Go!” Luke urged us, and without any further hesitation, Kayla, Isidor, and I fled into The Hollows.
The tunnel spiralled downwards, deeper and deeper it went. It was dark, so dark that even I had trouble seeing through it. But ahead I could hear Coanda drawing breath as he raced onwards. The others tripped and stumbled behind me, and a couple of times I had to stop and help Kayla up as she fell in the dark.
“Take my hand,” I told her. Gripping it, we raced forward.
Then from behind, I heard the sound of screeching and squawking, and in the confines of the tunnel the sound was deafening and terrifying. Hearing those sounds, I knew the Vampyrus had managed to break down the door and were now racing through the tunnel in pursuit of us. With my heart pounding, we raced on, faster and faster, navigating the twists and bends in the narrow tunnel. How far we had travelled down into the earth I couldn’t be sure; we had raced at such speeds that I didn’t know the distance we had gone.
