Drake and his team had walked into a first-class cluster fuck.
“I knew you’d show,” said Ion. “You have an affinity for these creatures.”
“Let her go,” demanded Drake.
“What? No wise cracks? No banter? I’m disappointed.”
“I said, ‘Let her go’.”
Ion dropped the banality, his voice trembling with anger. “You are in no position to demand anything. You’ve been a thorn in the coven’s side since you arrived in Washington. Now it’s your turn to suffer.”
“Fine. But leave Jessica out of this. It’s me you want, not her.”
“What makes you think I don’t want her?” Ion glided along the supports to Jessica. He slid the back of his hand across her cheek. Jessica cringed. “She’s so young and beautiful. Once I’ve killed you and the rest of your pathetic little team, I intend to turn her into a master. She’ll make a fine mistress of a coven.”
“It’ll be hard to turn her if I rip off your head.”
Ion laughed heartily. “Such bravado. It almost pains me to kill you. Almost.
“And now, hunter. It’s time to die.” Ion walked back to the end of the platform. His voice bellowed throughout the pavilion. “My children. Kill the hunters and…”
Ion never completed his sentence.
HAVING MADE UP her mind not to die without a fight, and summoning every ounce of courage she could muster, Jessica released her grip on the center support chain and lunged at Ion. She slammed into his back, knocking him off the platform. Ion grabbed the outermost support chain. The shift in weight of both Ion and Jessica, plus the force of his fall, proved too much for the chains to handle. The two corner and central chains snapped. Ion plummeted into the orchestra section, smashing several seats.
Jessica reached out to grab onto something, but could not because her hands were tied together. As she slid off the platform, the rope binding her hands caught on a klieg light attached to the outermost support beam. The light bent a few inches then stopped. The jolt nearly yanked Jessica’s arms out of their sockets, but it saved her from falling to her death. Small comfort, she thought, as she hung fifty feet in the air like a human piñata.
“NOW WHAT DO WE DO?” asked Jim.
Alison quickly assessed the situation. “The switches to operate the platform are probably in the control box in the loge. You go and lower the platform. I’m going to make my way up top and see if I can rescue Jessica from there. And be careful. Whoever turned on the lights may still be in the control box.”
“What about Drake?”
“Don’t worry. He can handle himself.” Alison spoke the words without meaning them. She knew Drake was in big trouble, and desperately needed help. But she also knew Drake would want her to rescue Jessica first. She had a sinking feeling she would be honoring his last request.
EACH OF THE VAMPIRES stared at Ion, distraught that their leader had been taken down. For a few seconds, an unnatural silence fell over the pavilion. Then Ion opened his eyes. He morphed into a vampire, his face contorted in rage.
“Kill them!”
Toni gasped as Ion crashed into the seats, fearing the worst. She was about to run to his side when she spotted the huntress and the child across from her in the orchestra section. The huntress spoke to the child, then the two separated. She watched the huntress race back up the orchestra section, heading for the walkway that ran along the right side of the pavilion.
Toni turned to the vampires on stage with her. “You two, go after the child.”
Both creatures jumped off of the stage and ran after Jim.
Toni raced to the corner of the stage, climbed the speaker system that towered up its side, and jumped onto the walkway. The two vampires standing there looked confused.
“What do we do now, mistress?”
“Hide and wait for the huntress.” Toni pushed the vampires behind one of the support columns.
DRAKE TOOK ADVANTAGE of the precious seconds granted to him following Ion’s fall. Reaching into the bag, he withdrew the two bottles of Heaven’s Fire. Taking one in each hand, he pressed down on the detonator caps with his thumbs. He had only a few seconds before they ignited.
“Kill them!” Ion bellowed.
Drake had less time than he thought. Holding the first bottle by its neck, he lobbed it overhand at the pair of vampires blocking his escape. The glass shattered as the detonator cap ignited. Homemade napalm doused both creatures. The flaming detergent clung to their skin and clothes, charring flesh and searing through muscle, while the crystallized holy water melted and seeped into the wounds, causing unbearable agony. The vampires emitted an unearthly howl. Thrashing around, the female vampire tumbled over the railing, crashing into the seats below where it erupted into a cloud of ash. The remaining vampire gave out a final anguished cry and collapsed onto the walkway, its body dissolving into a pile of cinders that still burned from the napalm.
Drake saw none of this. The first bottle barely left his hand when he tossed the second at the pair of vampires at the other end of the walkway, both of which were already racing forward. It shattered against the first creature, covering it in flames. Tumbling to the ground, it writhed in pain as the fire consumed it. The second vampire escaped the brunt of the attack, though some of the Heaven’s Fire splattered into its face and eyes. It howled yet continued to charge. Drake pulled out a stake. When the vampire drew near, Drake stepped aside and plunged the stake into its heart as it passed by. The vampire disintegrated in a geyser of blood and a shower of dust.
Drake had taken out the four vampires surrounding him, but in the process traded the frying pan for the fire. Literally. Because of the Heaven’s Fire, both ends of the walkway were awash in flames, with Drake trapped in the middle.
THE DEATH WAILS of the four vampires incinerated by Drake ripped through the pavilion, slicing through the rest of the coven like daggers. And intensifying their bloodlust for revenge.
Of the two vampires Toni sent after Jim, the larger of them noticed Drake trapped between the burning remains of vampires. It stopped and grabbed the other one by its arm.
“What’s wrong?”
“Up there.” The larger vampire pointed to Drake. “The hunter has boxed himself in.”
“So?”
“You go after the child. I’m going to kill the hunter.” Without waiting for a response, the larger vampire lumbered off in the direction of the walkway.
RUNNING BACK UP the lawn seating section, Jim stopped to examine the pavilion. The stairs leading to the control room started halfway down the left walkway and ran along the pavilion’s outer wall. He bolted for the walkway entrance and raced down its length, then turned right and rushed up the stairs. An elevated catwalk thirty feet long extended at a ninety-degree angle from the top of the stairs and over the loge seating, connecting with the control room. Jim started down the walkway when the door to the control room opened. Bill stepped out, blocking Jim’s path.
“Look what we have here.” The words gurgled through Bill’s gaping throat. “The hunter sent a boy to do a man’s job.”
Jim’s first instinct told him to run, but he fought back the urge. He needed to rescue Jessica. If Drake and Alison could take on the rest of the nest, he could take on a single vampire his own age and size. Besides, Jim was tired of cowering, and would be damned if running would be the last thing he did in his life.
“Get out of my way,” Jim ordered. “Jessica’s going to die if I don’t save her.”
“Like I give a fuck. The bitch never even gave me the right time of day when I was alive.” Bill bared his fangs and growled. “You’ll have to kill me first.”
“That was my plan.”
Jim reached his right hand behind him and removed the crossbow from his belt. With his left, he pulled a bolt from his leg holster. He raised the crossbow into firing position, dropped the bolt into its grove, and aimed. Bill’s dead eyes focused on the pinpoint glare of the laser scope, and looked down to see the recticl
e centered directly over his heart. His face contorted with the realization of what was about to happen.
Jim squeezed the trigger. Thanks to the adjustments he had made, the bolt found its mark, punching through Bill’s chest and into his heart. Blood gushed from the wound. Bill looked up and began to mouth “Fuck” when his body disintegrated. Jim raced forward and entered the control room, kicking the pile of ash off the catwalk as he passed.
Inside the control room, Jim found himself completely outside of his element. He could build weapons to combat the undead, but had no clue as to how to operate the various systems inside the pavilion. Reading the controls did no good, for few of them were marked. With nothing else to guide him, Jim picked a switch and flipped it on.
The banks of speakers on either side of the stage emitted a deafening squelch.
Jim flipped a second switch. A kaleidoscope of projected images danced across the stage.
He flipped a third switch. One of the klieg lights on the platform came on. At least he was getting closer.
Jim tried the remaining switches until he found one that lit up a small green light just above a large black knob began. Jim turned the knob to the left. A loud metallic clang echoed through the pavilion. Looking through the control room window, Jim saw the platform begin a slow descent to the floor.
Jim heard the clanging of feet on metal. He looked up in time to see through the reflection in the window a vampire running along the catwalk toward him.
JESSICA HUNG FROM THE PLATFORM, the rope binding her hands hooked precariously over one of the klieg lights. She looked over her shoulder to see what caused the twin fires burning behind her. Twisting her body caused the klieg light to bend even further, threatening to drop her into the orchestra section. What an inglorious way to die.
Suddenly, one of the klieg lights on the opposite side of the platform clicked on for a few seconds, then went out. Two more off to her right and one off to her left did the same. Then the one she hung from. The glare blinded her, hurting her eyes. Thankfully, the light shut off after a second, though it would take some time before she could see again.
A jolt from the platform frightened Jessica. At first, she thought the remaining chains had given way. Rather than plummeting to her death, she felt herself being gently lowered. Thank God, she thought.
USING THE BACKS of the seats that were not damaged, Ion pulled himself into a standing position. His spine was fractured, restricting his movements. It would take a few minutes to heal. Ion could already feel his legs beginning to respond to his commands.
Ion watched with growing fury as, one by one, the coven succumbed to the hunter. Four of them in as many seconds. Undoubtedly, more of his children would fall before the night was over. No matter, for in the end the hunter would die. The human had trapped himself on the walkway, like prey in a cage. His death would be simple. Extraordinarily painful, but simple. This time, Ion would not waste time on melodramatics and give the hunter a chance to escape.
A rhythmic clanging above his head drew Ion’s attention. He looked up to see the platform descend with Jessica dangling helplessly. Before he killed the hunter, he would first feed off of his woman.
ALISON RACED UP the lawn to the entrance to the right-hand walkway. She discarded the goggles, but still clutched the stake in her right hand. By the time she arrived at the portion of the walkway overlooking the pavilion, Jim began to lower the platform. Right into Ion’s clutches.
Alison paused and keyed the talk button on her radio. “Jim, can you hear me?”
No response.
“Jim, this is Alison. If you can hear me, stop lowering the platform.”
Still no response.
“What’s wrong?” asked Drake from his radio.
“Jim’s lowering Jessica right into a master. I can’t get in touch with him. Can you?”
“I’m burning the candle at both ends here.”
“And I’m too far away…”
A powerful set of arms wrapped themselves around Alison from behind, pinning her arms. She dropped the stake. The attacker spun Alison to the right, away from the railing. A second vampire stood nearby, grinning maliciously. Toni stepped in front of Alison. “We have some unfinished business.”
Alison began to call for help, but Toni covered the huntress’ mouth with her hand. “First, a few rules. No talking during the performance.”
Toni ripped the radio off of Alison’s belt. She crumbled it in her hand, then tossed the fragments over the railing. “The use of cell phones and other electronic devices is prohibited.”
Alison tried to break free, but the vampire that held her was too strong. The harder she struggled, the tighter its grip became. She tried to move her arms, but could not. She tried to scream, but Toni’s hand remained clamped tightly over her mouth. Panic welled up inside Alison. Her nightmare was becoming reality.
Toni leaned over, putting her face close to Alison’s. “Now sit back and enjoy the show.”
Morphing into a vampire, Toni turned her head to one side and plunged her fangs into Alison’s neck.
FROM THE OPPOSITE WALKWAY, Drake watched the attack on Alison. He wanted to help but could not because he had problems of his own. A large vampire jumped onto the walkway on the opposite side of the flames, then darted forward. Its snarl became a shriek.
Drake saw his opportunity and took it. He stood in the center of the walkway ten feet from the burning corpses, faced the oncoming creature, and waited. When the vampire leapt to clear the flames, Drake pulled the twin Glocks from their shoulder holsters. He fired four rounds from each pistol into the vampire’s chest. Each of the rounds tore into the vampire’s chest, not only stopping its forward momentum but propelling it backwards so that it crashed into the flames. Rushing forward, Drake jumped onto the vampire’s chest, almost losing his footing as it thrashed around in agony, then emerged onto the other side of the flames. Spinning around, he emptied the remaining twelve rounds into the vampire’s head. Each round ripped a chunk out of its skull, effectively decapitating it. As the vampire disintegrated with a soulless wail, Drake popped out the empty magazines, inserted two new ones, and reholstered the Glocks. He raced off down the walkway to help Jessica.
ION HEARD THE MULTIPLE gunshots above him. Spinning around, he watched yet another of his children being slaughtered by the hunter. At least five of the coven taken down, and as yet not a single human had been banished to hell.
Even worse, the hunter was now free and posed a danger to them all.
Ion looked up. The platform had been lowered just over halfway to the floor. He would deal with Jessica later. Because of the aggravation she had caused him, she would suffer accordingly.
Spinning around, Ion set off to confront Drake.
WITHOUT REVEALING THAT he was aware of the danger, Jim carefully watched the approaching vampire in the reflection from the control room window. He had seconds to react. Reaching into his canvas bag for the bottles of Heaven’s Fire, he pressed down on the detonator caps with his right thumb, then gently slid the bag to the floor. Jim finished just as the vampire reached the door to the control room and leapt, hoping to surprise its prey.
Instead, Jim flattened himself against the side wall. The vampire slammed chest first into the control panel, momentarily dazed. Jim ran for the exit, slamming the door shut behind him. He heard the vampire snarl after him, followed immediately by the detonator caps igniting.
A massive fireball consumed the control room, blowing out the windows and flinging the door from its hinge, knocking Jim to the catwalk. He rolled over in time to see the vampire, in flames, jump out of the control room and pounce. Jim held up his arms in front of his face to ward off the attack, but instead was showered with embers.
Jim got to his feet and brushed himself off. As he coughed up the cinders lodged in his throat, he began to empathize with Alison’s complaint about the inadequate pay. He felt in his back pocket for the stake which, miraculously, had not fallen out during the melee.
Brandishing it in his right hand, he set out to help Jessica.
TONI’S FANGS HAD BARELY SUNK into Alison’s neck when the vampire howled in anguish. Releasing her bite, Toni fell back against the guardrail, her hand covering her mouth. The holy water Alison had splattered on her neck seared Toni’s lips and gums. Wisps of white smoke rose from the burnt tissue. She panted heavily.
“You bitch.” Toni slurred the words.
“Damn right.”
A sudden rush of adrenalin overrode Alison’s initial panic. She felt the grip around her arms weaken ever so slightly. Lifting her legs, Alison slid out of the vampire’s grasp and fell to the deck. She reached out, grabbed the stake, and rolled over as the vampire bent over for the kill. Alison shoved the stake up, plunging it into the vampire’s heart. Blood erupted onto her as its death throes began. Alison did not wait for the vampire to die. Jumping to her feet, she prepared for the inevitable attack.
The second vampire hesitated, uncertain whether to kill the hunter or help its master.
Toni leaned against the guardrail, tears streaming down her face. She removed her hand from in front of her mouth, revealing lips and gums horribly scarred and disfigured, and teeth burnt black by the holy water.
“Kill her!” Toni slurred.
The second vampire started toward Alison when the fireball tore apart the control room and shook the pavilion. The vampire hesitated, knocked unsteady by the explosion. Alison lunged forward, aiming the stake at its heart. The tip broke skin, but the vampire grabbed Alison’s wrist and prevented her from completing penetration. It bared its fangs and sneered. Alison placed her free hand on the hilt of the stake, then pushed with all her strength. The vampire stumbled back for several feet until it slammed into a vertical support beam. Alison shoved hard one final time, driving the stake through its heart. Ignoring its death throes, she quickly backed away and turned to confront Toni.
The Vampire Hunters: Book I of The Vampire Hunters Trilogy Page 22
