by Amy Cross
“Yeah, well I had something even better than a nightmare,” Rita told her. “Remember how I said I was gonna go down and explore more of that mine? Well, I spent a couple of hours down there, and you'll never believe what I found!”
“More dynamite?”
“Better than dynamite!”
Hearing the jangle of metal, Izzy glanced down at Rita's belt and felt sure there were even more pieces of metal hanging from various hooks and pieces of string.
“More junk?” she asked.
“Better than junk.”
Allowing her mind to drift for a moment, Izzy thought back to the nightmare. Somehow she'd already begun to forget certain details, although she still remembered the huge spider tracking her down on the mountainside, and the house in the distance with its windows, and the name Gothos ringing through her head and -
“Woah! Stop!”
Feeling a hand on her arm, Izzy found herself dragged back to reality as a car flashed past, missing her by inches as it raced along the street.
“Make a habit of wandering into traffic, do you?” Rita asked, having pulled her back just in time. “Seriously, dude, I'm all for daydreaming, but you need to make sure you don't get flattened in the process. That would not have been cool.”
“Sorry,” Izzy muttered, pulling free and this time looking both ways before crossing. “I mean... Thanks.”
“So do you wanna know what I found in the mines?” Rita asked. “Like deep, deep in the mines?”
“I guess you'll tell me anyway.”
“A sex party.”
Reaching the other side of the street, Izzy turned to her. Facing the sun now, she held up a hand to shield her eyes. “A what?”
“I'm pretty sure that's what it was, anyway,” Rita continued, her voice filled with excitement. “There were these dudes, or I guess maybe dudettes, or maybe a mix of the two. Anyway, they were wearing all this really ridiculous clothing and make-up, and they were, like, skulking around in a chamber at the end of one of the tunnels. They weren't really too talkative, and I don't think they were very happy that I disturbed them, but I swear to God they were down there, prancing about in their crazy get-up. I didn't snatch a photo, unfortunately, so you'll just have to take my word on this for now, but I think I found where all the local pervs go at night!” She smiled. “I had been wondering.”
“You came across a sex party in the abandoned gold-mine?” Izzy asked, unable to hide her skepticism.
“What's wrong? Jealous?”
Izzy opened her mouth to reply, but no words came. Part of her even wondered if she was imagining the entire conversation.
“I'm 99% sure that's what they were up to, anyway,” Rita continued. “Maybe not so much a party, maybe more of a cult, but I'm convinced there was something sick and twisted about the whole set-up. Why else would you go to such lengths, and such depths, to get your freak on where no-one's gonna disturb you?” She frowned. “I feel kinda bad now. I hope I didn't, like, ruin the mood for them.”
“I think maybe there's some gas in those mines,” Izzy replied, turning and resuming her walk to school. Her belly was rumbling again, and she was worried she might be due for another bout of crippling pain before class. “You clearly hallucinated.”
“I clearly did not!”
Izzy rolled her eyes.
“I know when I'm hallucinating,” Rita continued, “and that's definitely not what happened last night. Those people were down there, cosplaying like crazy and getting into some kind of kinky shit. There's zero doubt in my mind about what I saw, and that was probably only, like, the cool-down or time-out room. The only question is, do I go back tonight? I'm thinking I should, but I'm also thinking I need to be a little more diplomatic. I mean, I have no problem with them doing what they want. Live and let live is my motto, so long as they're not hurting anyone, and it's not like I wanna join in!”
“Sure, but -”
“I mean, you've gotta let people get their kinks out, right? You never know if one day you'll be the one who suddenly has a lust for -”
“Fine,” Izzy said, interrupting her as they reached the school gate. “I don't really need to know more, and I -”
“But you're coming with me, right?”
“Why would I do that? I'm already -”
“Basic human curiosity, dude!”
“I'm already curious about plenty of other stuff,” Izzy muttered, making her way across the crowded yard with Rita still following. “I don't think I have time to -”
Before she could finish, she felt another flash of pain, although this time it felt different to before. This time, it seemed to be more on the surface of her skin instead of deep in her gut, and as she headed inside she figured she needed to go to the bathroom and steady herself before class. The pain seemed more like a burn.
“How about we meet at nine tonight?” Rita asked. “That way, we'll get to the mine just after dark. Bring any flashlights you can get your hands on, and I was thinking maybe something we can use for defense. I'm sure it won't come to that, but -”
“I'm not going down into the mines with you.”
“Dude, you have to!”
“I really don't.”
“So you're willing to let me go alone?”
As the pain began to build, Izzy reached the door to the bathroom and realized she was in danger of being followed all the way inside. She stopped in the doorway and turned to Rita, trying to think of some way to ask for privacy.
“It's gonna be an adventure,” Rita said excitedly. “You can't pass up an adventure!”
“I think I can. Do you mind if I go into the bathroom alone? I need to...”
“Need to what?”
“I need to go to the bathroom,” she said firmly, hoping against hope that finally Rita might get the message.
“Oh.” Rita frowned, before a rush of realization hit her face. “Right, sure. Listen, meet me at nine tonight, next to the railroad crossing at the edge of the forest.”
“No.”
“And bring a flashlight.”
“No.”
“And rope, if you can.”
“No,
“And also -”
“No!” Izzy shouted, overwhelmed by the torrent of words, before realizing some of the other girls in the corridor had glanced toward her. “I'm not doing it,” she continued, lowering her voice.
“Dude, you have to!”
“I'm not going out tonight,” Izzy replied, trying to stay polite even though the pain was getting worse.
“Oh, you're coming,” Rita said with a smile, nudging her shoulder. “Even if I have to drag you out, you're gonna -”
“Just leave me alone!” Izzy hissed, pushing her away with more force than she'd really intended. “We're not friends, okay? Just 'cause I happened to bump into you in the forest one time, that doesn't mean I want to hang out while you do more stupid stuff!” She paused, aware that she was being harsh, but desperately wanting to be alone for a moment. “Go find someone else to follow around. I'm sure there's some loser in this school who wants to waste their time in the forest, but leave me out of it!”
Rita opened her mouth to reply, before taking a step back.
“Okay,” she said with a trace of disappointment. “Sure, I mean... If that's how you feel...”
“It's how I feel,” Izzy replied. “Now if you don't mind, I'm going into the bathroom. Alone!”
Turning, she headed through the door and found to her relief that no-one else was at the sinks. Hurrying over, she felt another hint of pain around her belly, and she quickly began to pull her shirt up at the front. As soon as she saw the flesh around her navel, she felt a wave of shock. A patch of burned skin extended up one side of her belly, almost to the bottom of her ribcage, as if she'd come into contact with some kind of irritant.
With a growing sense of horror, she realized the pattern was in the same spot where the spider had drooled on her in the nightmare.
Chapter Sixteen
Peering closer at the burned body, John winced as he saw that the flesh had become dry and brittle, and had separated into distinct plates with whitish-pink guts visible in the cracks. He'd dealt with a lot of dead bodies over the years, but he always felt a little queasy when he had to prepare burn victims. Glancing along at the victim's head, he saw that the features had been almost completely burned away. There was barely even a face anymore. Instead, crusty black flesh had almost caramelized in a series of thick, uneven blotches that glinted slightly under the prep room's harsh electric lights.
“Poor bastard,” John muttered, turning and heading over to the counter, where he took a moment to arrange his tools. “Awake or not, that can't be a nice way to go.”
He selected a couple of scalpels and a metal bowl, and then he turned back toward the body.
Which was now sitting upright, staring at him with a pair of wide-open, reddened eyes.
“So you never answer your phone these days?” the corpse asked, with a strong Irish accent. “What's that about? Seriously, what's one vampire got to do to get another to pick up his goddamn phone?”
Too shocked to say anything, John dropped the scalpels and bowl, letting them fall clattering to the floor.
“You don't answer your emails, either,” the corpse continued, sounding a little irritated, “you don't accept friend requests on social media, you don't seem to notice tweets at all, you don't respond to snail mail. I mean, look at me!” He held his arms out at the side, causing his burned flesh to crackle and break in the process, sending black flakes raining down to the floor. “I had to go to all this trouble just so I could get close enough to talk to you! Is that reasonable?”
“O'Malley?” John said uncertainly. “Is... Is that you?”
“Who else do you think it is?” the corpse asked with a sigh. “Do you realize the lengths I went to? I set myself on fire, John. Literally. I mean, I thought about just knocking on your front door, but I figured you'd hide inside and refuse to answer. You know, another man would have been insulted. Fortunately, I'm a tad more persistent and I figured I had to find another way inside.”
Gasping a little, he swung his legs over the side of the slab. As he bent his knees, his burned flesh crackled again and charred flakes fell to the floor.
“Fortunately,” he continued, stepping down off the table and turning to John, “I know you pretty well, and I know that this is nothing personal. You're just being your usual cautious self, and I can deal with that.” He looked down at his charred chest. “It's gonna take weeks to recover from this. Do you have any idea how hard it was to douse my beautiful face in gasoline and light that match? Do you?” He sighed. “The things I do for you, John. You owe me big-time. Do you have any ice-cream?”
“O'Malley,” John said hesitantly, still shocked, “what the hell are you doing here?”
“I know you told me you never wanted to be disturbed,” the burned man replied, “and I respected your wishes until now. The problem is, that's no longer an option. I'm sorry, John, but I think your hiding days are over.”
***
“Nice place,” O'Malley said a short while later, as he sat at the dining table in the main part of the house. Looking around, he began slowly nodding. “Very nice. Very human, of course, but still nice. I can see why you decided to make a fresh start, John. Really, you've done well for yourself. You've blended in very well.”
“What do you want?” John asked, watching him from the doorway. “You can't just come barging in like this! This is not vampire country and I refuse to be bothered!”
“How's your kid? How's little Isobel? Is she still a baby? I'm not used to how fast children age.”
“She's sixteen years old.”
“So... Is she walking yet? Talking?”
“She's fine,” John replied, checking his watch. “She's at school, but she'll be home in a few hours. You have to be gone by then.”
“What about the elephant in the room?” O'Malley asked. “Has she -”
“No!”
“Huh. But has she started to -”
“No!”
“But she will, John.”
“And I'll deal with that when the time comes.”
O'Malley paused. “Does she know what to expect?”
“I will deal with that too,” John said firmly, “when -”
“When the time comes, sure,” O'Malley replied. He watched John for a moment, with a hint of suspicion in his burned eyes. “You haven't told her anything at all, have you?”
John sighed.
“Oh, man,” O'Malley continued, “are you serious? You've let her think she's a normal girl? You haven't even filled her in on the basics?”
“It never came up in conversation.”
“Does she not even know about yourself?”
“She does not,” John said firmly, clearly uncomfortable.
“Or about the fact that she's actually -”
“No!” John said firmly. “She doesn't no about any of it!”
“What about your fangs, man? Didn't they tip her off? No pun intended.”
John raised his upper lip, revealing a perfectly normal set of human teeth.
“You had yourself fixed?” O'Malley asked, his eyes widening with shock. “Are you so ashamed of where you come from?”
“I'm not ashamed of anything,” John muttered, checking his watch again. “I just don't want to be part of it anymore, and you know why not.”
O'Malley nodded. “Genevieve was a good woman, John. I can't imagine -”
“Please don't talk about it,” John said firmly. “There's really no need. It's in the past, and that's where it's going to stay. Along with everything else from that time.” He paused. “From that world.”
“Does Izzy ever ask about her mother?”
“Not often. All she knows is that she died.”
“But what about -”
“She doesn't need to know the rest. She doesn't ask often.”
“But -”
“And you won't tell her anything,” John added. “I swear, O'Malley, I will not let you or anyone else cause trouble here. I will let Isobel know what she needs to know, when she needs to know it, but until then I demand to be left alone! I came here and started this new life specifically so that Isobel and I would not be disturbed! If you were ever a true friend, you will respect my wishes and leave!”
Heading over to the sink, he paused and looked out the window for a moment, before turning back to see that O'Malley was still sitting at the table.
“Well?” he continued. “What are you waiting for?”
“Why did you come here, John?” O'Malley asked. “Why did you come to this specific town?”
“I don't have time for -”
“I know why. I can read you like a sodding book, man. You looked up the statistics, and you found that of all the towns in the entirety of the United States, Sobolton has historically had the lowest number of vampire incidents. In fact, no vampire activity has ever been reported within a hundred miles of Sobolton, which makes it perfect for anyone who wants to avoid vampires altogether.”
“A plan that was working perfectly well until you showed up,” John muttered darkly.
“Yeah, but you didn't think it through, did you?” Getting to his feet, O'Malley stepped around the table. His crispy body rustling in the process. “If you wanted to avoid vampires, John, this was the last place you should have come!”
“How do you figure that?”
“Because it should have occurred to you,” O'Malley continued, “that one day, someone else would also want to get away from other vampires, and would also check up on the statistics, and would also decide to come to Sobolton for the very same reason that you brought Izzy here.”
John paused, feeling a cold shudder of realization.
“Except,”
O'Malley added, “maybe this other person didn't come because he was mourning his wife and because he never again wanted to be around the creatures that caused her death. Maybe this other person has another reason to avoid vampires. Maybe he's hiding here because he really, really needs not to be noticed for a while, or because -”
“Get to the point,” John snapped, clearly annoyed. “You came to say something, so say it.”
O'Malley paused for a moment.
“Just say it, man,” John continued. “Why are you here?”
“Since the beginning of the year,” O'Malley replied, “three Gothosian Sentinels have been tracking a vampire through the southern states. They never got close enough to identify him, but they could tell that whoever he is, he's extremely powerful. Most likely warm-blooded, although the indicators were somewhat unclear. He might have cold-bloods with him too.”
“Impossible!” John snapped.
“Don't shoot the messenger.”
Sighing, John looked away for a moment. “This is insane,” he muttered under his breath.
“Eighteen days ago,” O'Malley continued, “after losing the trail for a while, the Sentinels picked it up again about sixty miles from here. The trail stopped in the forest just outside of Sobolton, and since then the Sentinels have taken up position to observe the area. They're certain this vampire hasn't left, and it would appear that he's decided to hunker down for a while, most likely to recover some kind of injury. The Sentinels detected traces of blood and certain hormones that suggest a recovery system in full swing. Whoever this vampire is, he's strong, he's dangerous, and he's wounded. That's not a good combination.”
“And he's here in Sobolton?” John asked cautiously. “Are you absolutely sure?”
“As sure as we can be. I'm sorry, John, I know this is the last thing you wanted to hear. However, facts are facts and sticking your head in the sand won't do any good. Another vampire has come to Sobolton, hoping to avoid other vampires. I guess it's turning into vampire country around here after all.”
Sighing, John headed over to the back door and looked out at the garden for a moment, before turning to O'Malley again.
