by I D Johnson
“Aren’t they using the larger opening, the ones the speakeasy patrons use?” Hannah asked, folding her arms.
“They are now,” he replied, “but when they first entered the cave, back in the 1870s, they did it the same way the dog who discovered it entered—through that crawl hole.”
“I still don’t understand why we can’t use the big opening over there,” Janette said, gesturing in the opposite direction. Since the cave, which was originally known as Knox Cave had recently changed hands, it was well known that the new owners were using it to sell illegal moonshine.
“Because they’ll know we’re coming,” Jordan replied, gesturing for Hannah to go back the way she’d come.
“They’ll know we’re coming when I fall through the hole and land on my face,” Janette argued, “or get stuck in the hole and have to be wedged out.”
“In that case, you’ll go last,” Jordan teased his wife, “and that way we’ll make sure that you keep them from escaping.”
Janette pushed him hard enough to send him flying a good foot, but he wasn’t hurt, and the Leader was laughing as he picked himself up off of the ground.
“And how do we know they won’t just go through the other exit?” Jamie asked, legitimately concerned.
“Now that Christian has found the opening, we’ll send him back over there,” Jordan explained. “And Maryann.”
Maryann was behind him, and Jamie turned to take a look at her. She gave him a sheepish smile, like she wasn’t sure she’d be much help, and he nodded at her in assurance. Her hair was cut in a pageboy, and she was waif thin. In a way, she reminded him of Vanessa, though she wasn’t nearly as fast, but then no one was.
“All right, good job,” Jordan said to Christian, who was standing in front of the aforementioned crawl space. “Take Maryann and go cover the speakeasy entrance.
“Take Maryann?” Christian repeated, and even in the dim light, Jamie could see Christian’s face go pale.
“Yes,” Jordan nodded, turning and putting his hand on the girl’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. She won’t bite. Much.” He laughed, but Christian looked at her as if he thought she might be a Vampire, and not the kind he could easily dispatch. Awkwardly, he began to walk off in the direction of the other entrance, and Maryann followed behind him without saying a word.
“You sure you don’t want me to go with Christian?” Janette asked.
“No, you’re coming with me,” Jordan said, shaking his head at her. Technically, she was his equal and could do whatever she chose, but she knew he preferred to work with her.
Janette let out a sigh much louder than any of their whispers. “I better take my axe off before I try to crawl through there.” She took off her weapon of choice and dropped it next to the opening.
“Ladies first,” Jordan said, but he was gesturing at Hannah, and without another thought, the thin strawberry-blonde woman disappeared through the opening.
Jamie was next, and while he didn’t particularly like small spaces, nor dark ones, thanks to his experience in the alley, he reminded himself, short of Janette and Maryann, nothing nearby could hurt him. He went feet first and was relieved to find there wasn’t much of a drop on the other side. Falling down a dark abyss into a sea of nothingness didn’t sound too appealing to him, even if he knew he wouldn’t die. He wiggled his hips through the opening and felt Hannah’s hands on his ribcage as he headed for the ground.
“Thanks,” he said quietly, trying to get his eyes to adjust to the light. There was none, save a sliver coming from the hole, and it almost hurt to stand there in the dark.
“Jamie!” he heard Janette whisper rather loudly. “Axe!”
He reached back the way he came and took the handle of the weapon from her and then heard another loud sigh before she began to come through. She said a few choice words as she made her way down, and both Jamie and Hannah helped her find her footing. They all took a step out of the way as Jordan followed.
“It’s darker than hell down here,” he muttered.
“No kidding,” Janette responded. “Do you have a light?”
Jordan felt around in his pocket for a moment and then pulled out a thin flashlight. “I didn’t want to alert them to our presence,” he said as the narrow light shined off of the rocky walls only a few feet in front of them.
“Well, it’s either that or take a stalagmite to the head,” Janette replied as they began to slowly walk forward, listening for any noise at all that might indicate which direction they should go.
“No, stalagmites grow up; stalactites grow down,” Jordan corrected.
“Stalagmite, stalactite, either one isn’t gonna feel good,” his wife said, clearly losing her patience.
Jamie tried not to laugh and walked along beside them, near enough that he could sort of see the ground in front of him. “Be careful,” Jordan warned. “I’ve heard there are some pretty sudden and deep drop offs.”
Janette muttered under her breath, clearly unhappy about this particular hunt, but the team moved on. Off in the distance, Jamie was fairly sure he could hear some sort of noise echoing around in the cave, though he couldn’t be sure what it was. For all he knew, it could be a drip of water, a bat flying around, or a Vampire.
“We have it on good authority that, once the speakeasy closes for the night, these two finish up the meal of whomever they’ve claimed and fall asleep back there in the far reaches of the cave,” Jordan explained. This wasn’t the first time they’d gone over his reasoning for choosing this particular time. “This thing goes on for at least a half a mile.”
“I don’t like it,” Janette muttered. “It’s slick and smelly, and there’s absolutely no way to see anything.”
Jamie had been working with Christian on a way to improve night vision, but so far, they hadn’t come up with anything solid. This might be just the inspiration they needed to figure something out. He envied his new friend, standing over by a wide opening with ample light and a pretty girl.
“What’s the plan when we find them?” Hannah asked. “Is Janette going in first?”
“Not under the circumstances,” Jordan muttered. Normally, a Hunter would go in first since technically, they would be the ones to attack whereas a Guardian was there to protect, but Janette had made her position rather clear. “You and I will go in,” Jordan said, still talking to Hannah. “We’ll keep Janette in reserve, and hopefully Jamie won’t have to do anything but stand around and be handsome.”
He was suddenly glad it was dark since that comment brought a tinge of red to his face. He knew Jordan liked to give the younger guys a hard time whenever he could and that Jamie was overly-sensitive about his appearance.
Thinking about appearances made him wish he could see the cave. While there was no way for him to tell at all, it seemed like the cavern they were in was expansive, like the ceiling was soaring above him and that the walls were fairly far out. However, just as he was about to become more comfortable with being in an enclosed place underground, the room seemed to narrow, and before he knew it, they were forced to walk in single file.
“This is the opening to the speak easy,” Jordan whispered. “We’ll pass through a tight space with pretty sheer drop-offs on either side, and then we’ll walk into a pretty large room again.”
“Wonderful,” Janette mumbled, falling into step behind Jordan. Hannah went next and then Jamie took up the rear, cautiously placing each foot before he put enough pressure down that he might fall if the there was no solid ground beneath him.
This space made the alley seem like a wide-open prairie. At one point, he had to turn his shoulders to get by, and he was not a large man. Even though Hannah was between them, he heard Janette complaining that there was little room for someone with “childbearing hips.” When Jamie felt like he couldn’t take it much longer, they came out on the other side, and even though he could still see very little, he got that impression again that there was a large void around him.
And Vampires.
> He couldn’t tell exactly where they were, but up ahead, in the distance, there were most certainly Vampires, and he wouldn’t have been surprised if there weren’t more than two.
“I think someone may have gotten their estimate wrong,” Janette whispered, and Jamie was sure, since she was a highly experience Hunter, her gut was telling her even more solidly that they were not alone.
“Maybe they’ve turned some of their victims,” Jordan reasoned, stopping in the middle of what Jamie could now see looked like a saloon, though the floor was made of rock and the ceilings above them were not where light could reach.
“You know, it might be a good idea for Jamie and me to stay here,” Janette said, her hands on her hip, her axe moved slightly out of the way. “If you’re sure there’s no other way out, they won’t be able to get through that narrow passage without coming right through here, should they get away from you and Hannah.”
Jordan mulled it over. “I think that’s a good idea. We only have one light, though.”
The thought of standing in the pitch black waiting for a Vampire to come flying at his face was not a pleasant one. “Maybe there’s a lantern or something over by the bar?” Jamie suggested.
“Good idea.” Jordan headed in that direction, and as he took the light with him, Jamie stood very still, hoping not to fall off an unforeseen ledge, though the ground looked solid and hole-free here.
A few minutes later, Jordan made an “ah-ha” sound and came back with a lantern. “There are several, but I think one should be sufficient. Don’t wanna let ‘em know too far in advance that we’re standing here.”
“What about the other entrance?” Hannah asked. “Is there a way to get to that without going through this narrow passage?”
“Not that I know of,” Jordan replied. “It splits off back there a ways.” He indicated back the way they’d all come.
“But there might be?” she pressed on. “So we’ll have to be ready for that.”
“I suppose so,” Jordan admitted. “But if they’re going that way, then they should run into Christian and Maryann.
No one made a single comment as to whether or not they thought the pair would be sufficient in holding off a couple of Vampires, though Jamie thought they would be, so long as it wasn’t more than two or three.
“Any other questions?” Jordan asked, looking at each of their faces.
Jamie and the others shook their heads, and Jordan set the now lit lantern down on the ground and headed off, Hannah behind him. Janette scooped it up and carried it to a pole, which Jamie now assumed was made for that purpose, that seemed to be strategically positioned between where the Vampires should be coming from and where the two of them would be stationed.
Both of them instinctively dropped back to stand between the potential approaching Vampires and the narrow walkway behind them. It was more difficult to see here, but it also meant the Vampires might be less aware of their presence. Jamie listened intently for any sort of noise off in the distance that might let them know that Jordan and Hannah had found their marks, but so far, he’d heard nothing, and Jordan’s light had long since faded into the darkness.
“So that Maryann’s a cute gal, isn’t she?” Janette asked, casually, as they stood awaiting potential nightmares flying in their direction. She had her axe in her hands, tossing it around like it was a toy, and Jamie decided it might be a good idea to pull out his weapon of choice as well. Despite how far they’d come in perfecting the silver bullet, Jamie still chose to carry an eight-inch long serrated knife, made of solid silver and blessed by several different priests and preachers with Holy Water. He unsheathed it and took a few steps away from Janette, just in case she got a little too overzealous with the axe.
“Uh, I guess so,” he finally said in response to her question. “Seems like a nice girl.”
“How come you haven’t dated anyone since Kit?” Janette asked in an accusatory tone a mother might use.
“I have,” Jamie replied. “Just nothing serious.”
“Well, I think this new girl is cute. I’ll try to talk Jordan into letting her stick around if you want to ask her out.”
He’d be lying if he said it hadn’t crossed his mind, but he really didn’t think now was the time to discuss it. “I’ll consider it,” he said. “But, what if I ask her, and she says no?”
“Like that would happen,” Janette said in a sappily cheery voice. “Then, we’ll send her to Siberia.”
That made Jamie laugh, but his merriment was cut short by the sound of movement up ahead of them. There was a whistle, almost like a projectile parting the air, and then shots, which Jamie couldn’t understand. Both he and Janette braced themselves, weapons at the ready, when a streak of white and black, came flying at them. The Vampire was moving so quickly, Jamie could hardly even make out its form, though it reminded him a bit of the mists he’d seen in Dracula’s castle. He knew from experience there how to defeat that kind of Vampire, but he also needed to see it, and as the Vampire went flying past the lantern, everything went dark.
“Where the Hell did it go?” he heard Janette ask.
Jamie was surrounded by pitch black. His eyes searched through the thick veil of darkness, trying to pick up on any light at all, but there was none. His pulse quickened, his breathing was uneven and ragged as he began to wonder if he was even facing the right direction. Noises to his left had him spinning in that direction, and he felt for the wall behind him, next to the passage, but found nothing. He took a step backward, still no wall. “Janette?” he whispered.
Leaning forward in the direction he expected the Hunter to respond from, Jamie strained, trying to use his other senses to compensate for his lack of hearing. The only sound he could hear was the rhythmic dripping of water somewhere off in the distance. All alone with only the darkness, he felt as if he might pass out from the weight of the inky blackness.
Where was Janette?
More importantly at the moment, where was the Vampire?
“Janette?” he whispered again, and in response, a roar burst forth, less than an inch from his face. Illuminated from its own eerie glow, the Vampire rushed at him, pale skin, red gaping gums, dripping with blood, teeth protruding, its breath stinking of putrid, rotting meat.
Jamie screamed in terror, the kind he hadn’t felt since he was a six-year-old boy walking home from his friend’s house. He swung the blade forward and caught the Vampire in the shoulder, but as quickly as the face was lightened before him, the monster was gone, and then Jamie heard the sounds of battle next to him as either the same Vampire who had just engaged him or another was tied up with Janette.
In the dark, being unable to see his partner, Jamie couldn’t take the risk of trying to help her for fear he could become injured. Instead, felt behind him for the wall that certainly hadn’t been there a moment ago, and his fingers felt the comfortable solidity of the structure. He made his way along to the left, toward the opening, and felt for it. Eventually, he was able to find the narrow opening and he wedged himself into it, his knife held firmly in front of him. “Janette, he can’t get out this way!”
“I sure hope you’re right,” she said, “because I don’t know where he went!”
At that exact moment, the ghoulish face was back in front of Jamie, and the Vampire ran straight into his protruding blade. Jamie braced himself against the narrow wall the best he could, but this particular Vampire was unbelievably strong, and he began to plow into Jamie pushing him backward as Jamie did his best to slash upward, trying to get his knife to cut through the sinewy innards and connect with the beast’s heart.
Jamie continued to slide backward as the monster let out a menacing screech much like they do when they are dying, though Jamie assumed this shout was out of anger and not death, not yet anyway. The further into the passage Jamie was pushed, the more his footing wavered until his feet began to alternate sliding off of one surface and then the other.
Afraid he might plummet off the side, Jamie decid
ed it was time to switch tactics. He could no longer see the Vampire but he knew it had to get past him to get out or turn back around and face Janette, who likely couldn’t see well enough to help him. There was no time to think about where the rest of his team might be. Jamie let go of his blade and felt upward, trying to find the Vampire’s neck. His first attempt got his thumb bit, nearly off, and Jamie screamed out in pain, thankful he could heal himself. Though trying again seemed risky, he decided this needed to be done, so he felt for the beast’s neck one more time, and connected. He began to twist and pull, hoping for decapitation, when the Vampire spun around sideways. Jamie had realized he was strong but had no idea he was capable of this. It was as if the monster’s will to survive had given him even more strength than normal.
The knife was still sticking out of the Vampire’s gullet, and when he turned, it was forced even further inside of him. He attempted to shriek again, but with Jamie’s hands around his neck, he could get nothing out. Jamie braced himself against the wall with his back, trying to get traction on the other wall with one leg, enough to slow the creature down. He felt the wall behind him suddenly fall away as the Vampire continued to drag him, and then the ground beneath the one foot he still had on the ground also came free, and for a moment, Jamie dangled in the air, his only tie to solidity his grasp on the Vampire’s head.
Which promptly came off.
Jamie was falling.
There was no ground beneath him, nothing around him but the rush of air and pitch black. He stuck his arms out, reaching for something solid, anything, but felt nothing. Below him, he could sense the ground rising up to meet him, though he couldn’t see it, and he thought he heard the rush of water. “Oh, God, not a river!” he exclaimed as his shin came into contact with something unbelievably solid, and he bounced backward, hitting another hard object before finally coming to a stop against solid stone.
Luckily, he wasn’t injured, though he was sure that was partially due to his ability to heal himself. Not only were Guardians and Hunters more durable than humans, so he might not have broken any bones if he wasn’t a Healer, he was able to regenerate even more quickly. His tailbone and shin ached, as did the back of his head where he’d struck it on what he could only assume was some sort of a rock formation before he’d landed.
