A Grave Hunger Read online

  Reaching Finlay's door, I knocked and took a deep breath to steady my erratic heartbeat. He answered the door looking dishevelled. He ran his fingers through his unwashed hair as he invited me inside.

  "Looking a bit rough, Finlay. Hungover?" Even in the dull light I could see red blood vessels weaving through the whites of his eyes.

  "Hmmm, I think I may have overdone it last night." His voice sounded low and gravelly.

  Handing him a coffee, I entered and sat down on a chair beside the bed. He sat down opposite me and ran his hand over his stubbled chin.

  "So, last night...?" I let the unfinished question hang in the air.

  "What about last night? Everything is a bit hazy." He worked at keeping his voice level, but the deception showed in his eyes and blood-coloured his cheeks.

  "Was just going to ask if you sorted everything out with Robert?" I had decided just to play along. I would try to talk to him about us once I had worked out how I felt.

  "Yeah, we sorted it out. Life's too short to hold a grudge," he explained. "He phoned me this morning. Looks like he has a job for us."

  I smiled, pleased that he had taken my advice.

  "You want to go ‘round to Robert's just now. See what he's got for us?"

  "He's not at his house. Said he had some things to sort out." He ran his hand over his stubbled chin again.

  "Think this is going to be a big one. He asked us to bring our full arsenal."

  "That can't be good." A frown crossed my face.

  Why would he want us to bring all our weapons? A feeling of dread washed over me as I contemplated what Robert had in store for us tonight.

  CHAPTER 18

  The late night city traffic had begun to wane as we left the city and continued into the suburbs. After a long drive, Finlay finally pulled the car to a stop at the address Robert had given him.

  "What's the deal with this place?" I asked Finlay.

  "This place used to be a pretty profitable mining town about forty years back. Two thousand people worked here at one point. They made these buildings for the workers to stay," Finlay explained pointing to the two high rise buildings in front of us. "When the mine closed, they just left these buildings to rot."

  I looked out into the dark night, searching for movement, looking for Robert.

  "Did Robert say why we had to meet him here?" I asked.

  "Nope, he just said that something big was going down and that we should meet him here."

  Bright lights broke through the darkness as a car came over the hill. Robert's car pulled to a stop beside us, and Finlay and I got out to greet him.

  "Hey, Robert, what's with all the secrecy?" Finlay asked.

  "You want to tell us what we’re supposed to find here?" I asked Robert. My voice, sharper than I intended, echoed through the night. I looked up toward the buildings in front of me.

  "Watch the tone, Leah," Robert whispered with a point of his finger. "Now, I wouldn't bring you both out here if I didn't have a damn good reason to."

  "Sorry, Robert," I apologised. Robert had the power to make me feel like a disobedient child.

  The three of us walked forward toward the two apartment buildings. The buildings looked as though they had been abandoned for years. Good thing my boots were waterproof and almost knee high. I'd stepped into a large puddle, water splashing over my feet. Taking a few more steps ahead, I sniffed the air and gagged at the smell of rotting rubbish lying in the streets. The rats did not seem to mind the stench. They were foraging through the discarded remains, pulling out wet trinkets before scampering off through the darkness with their contaminated catch. Gazing toward the sky hoping to get a better outlook on the expedition, I could see nothing but the twelve story high buildings. The buildings felt as though they were closing in on me. I was starting to feel as if we made a bad decision coming out here.

  I knew the reason for coming out here must be something pretty big considering the arsenal that we were asked to bring. I wore a black body suit underneath a quarter length jacket. A machete hung from a shoulder strap inside my coat, and two .50 calibre semi-automatics were holstered at my lower back, with a dagger stuck inside each boot. Finlay's attire echoed mine: wearing all black, weapons holstered under his leather jacket. He appeared uneasy as he looked up and down the alley like someone with a bad case of Schizophrenia. He stared to the left for a few seconds, and then snapped his head to the right for a few seconds. Robert's damn good reason needed a damn good explanation before we went any further.

  "We came way out here with you. Don't you think it's about time we should know why?" Finlay said.

  "Okay," Robert said. "There have been a large number of deaths in the area, suggesting multiple vamps. I think there might be a nest hiding out here." He turned away and stared out toward the dark buildings. "I've asked Luke and Ryan to meet us here too. If the number of murders is anything to go by, we'll need the backup."

  My heart dropped. It must be a large number of vamps. Robert hadn't felt the need to call on Luke and Ryan since Finlay came back.

  "Why are you so sure the nest is here?" I asked.

  "This is the only place nearby big enough to house a nest the size we are looking for," Robert explained.

  "Right, so what's the plan? We split up and enter the building separately, surrounding them?" I reiterated the usual hunting plan.

  Robert's reply was a light chuckle. He cleared his throat and said, "It's not that easy, Leah."

  Finlay cut in. "There's a shit load of vamps in there, right?"

  I figured he'd thought that because of our weaponry.

  "There certainly is, but there's more. Luke and Ryan did recon on the place. Looks like they've some poor bastards up there. They are keeping them alive to drain them."

  Great. The job was always more difficult when hostages were involved. I wondered what state the prisoners would be in. God only knows how long the bastards had kept them prisoner, draining them of their blood. I just prayed it wasn't another child. I didn't think my nerves could cope with that.

  "What's the plan then?" I asked.

  "Luke and Ryan will cover us from the outside. We're going in there together," he said.

  He leisurely extended his right arm ahead of us and pointed at the building on the right.

  "Which room?" I asked, scanning the building. There must be hundreds of rooms in that tenement block.

  "Top floor. That's where they are," he answered.

  After a longer observation, I made out shadows on the top floor of the building. It resembled shadows of pacing people. At least four from what I could tell.

  It was the growing sounds of descending rocks and debris from behind us that caught my attention. With a snap of my head and a fastidious reach for the machete in my jacket, my eyes explored our surroundings for the source. The clattering caught Finlay and Robert's attention as well. They also turned to the noises.

  I looked upward. Sparks trailed the buildings' brick, growing as they neared. Too dark to identify the objects creating the friction, I unsheathed my blade, took a sizeable step back and stood guard.

  As my eyes adjusted to the sight in front of me, a gasp of shock came from my lips. Good God, dozens of vampires were descending the buildings. They were scuttling down, looking more spider-like than anything that even slightly resembled human. I had never seen them do that before.

  "We've been made!" Robert said. He reached into his jacket and produced a shotgun.

  Finlay rolled his shoulders back and his leather jacket dropped to the pavement. I would have never known he held a battle axe beneath his coat if he had not removed it. The axe had been bound at the handle with a thick twine the size of your average skipping rope. At the opposite end was a forked blade about nine inches in length. "Sure you don't wanna sit this one out, Scotland?" he said. I didn't get to answer.

  "Looks like we got here just in time for the party," Luke announced, appearing from out of the shadows with Ryan by his side.

  "
I'm glad to see you boys," Robert greeted them, never taking his eyes from the vampires steadily making their way toward us.

  The thought of the danger we were in quickly rushed through my head. I spun around, sinking as I rotated in a defensive form. I stopped with my knuckles to the gravel, a blade stretched sideways, the other clutched behind my back.

  This can't be happening. There's too many of them, at least twenty that I could tell. They were gathering in from the street, scurrying in our direction, clinging from the walls with aggravated snarls, sliding their nails across the buildings brick, taunting us with sparks and war cries. If they were the party goers, I was glad not to receive the invitation.

  "Any ideas, Scotland?"

  Great, he left it up to me. I didn't answer. I stood frozen, heart thundering in my chest, eyes gaping as I watched the horrifying scene if front of me. The vamps were closing in. Flashes of light and grinding noises led me to believe there were more creatures sliding down the brick walls.

  "Scotland, look alive!" Finlay's shout snapped me from my daze.

  Without a plan of action in mind, I acted on instinct, setting my sights to the dented metal door of the building; the one with the painted exit sign overhead. It was between us and the enemy. If we acted fast, we just might be able to beat them inside.

  "Follow me," I said, as I took off for the door from my crouched position.

  From the moment I took off, I could hear the many footfalls of both groups stampeding toward each other. I hurled my blade toward the door's ridge, and it lodged in the lock’s groove. A vampire near the door went down as Finlay precisely threw his axe, hitting it squarely across the neck. I jerked the handle of my lodged blade and the primitive lock popped open.

  I hadn't noticed another vampire behind me until Finlay's forked blade sailed by. I twisted my head to avoid the blood splatter, hearing the flicking sound the steel implement made as it entered its host. The battle axe whistled by me and both items retracted simultaneously. That one was down, but another raced toward me, riding the wall like a spider with the speed of a cheetah.

  Bang! Boom! Bang! Boom!

  "Robert? Quick!" I shouted. I looked behind me, just long enough to conclude that Ryan and Luke were using explosive ammo in their guns. A head shot would surely separate the heads from their bodies, and my eyes bulged as I visualised the damage.

  Lightning lit up the sky before thunder rumbled the land, giving the already terrifying scene a more macabre presence.

  "You owe me one," Finlay said as he'd caught his retracting weapons.

  I caught a glance of Ryan and Luke heading for the metal ladders of the fire escape. I sighed a breath of relief as I saw them climb to safety. The vampires took no notice of them; they seemed to be more interested in us. I focused my attention back to the situation at hand. I noted that Robert and Finlay were safely in the building, so I slammed the door closed. I cursed loudly as the door failed to latch. One of the bloodsuckers' head and arm were lodged in the door jam, its extra set of sharpened chompers snapping away like a rabid animal, its tongue lashing, nails clawing. What could I do? I pulled frantically on the door handle, but I didn't have enough strength to keep the vampire at bay. I reached down with the machete, and with a downward chop, I separated its arm and head from the body. I slammed the door shut and hammered the bolt lock through the latch. I turned to see we were in a stairwell.

  I took cautious steps back as the bloodsuckers on the other side of the door pounded relentlessly, the door slowly rumbling off the hinges. The shrill screams and gunfire were some of the most disturbing sounds that I have ever heard in all my years of life. I could feel the end.

  "Scotland, come on!" Finlay yelled. "We gotta get outta here."

  Robert was at the top of the steps, turning the corner. "Follow me," he shouted.

  Finlay waited for me at the foot of the steps. My protector. I adored the way he awaited my safety. As I brushed by him, he gave me an assisting nudge to help me along the way before taking his initial step up.

  We exited the stairwell on the third floor. Robert stood between me and Finlay in the hallway. We were welcomed by three soaking wet bloodsuckers that burst their way through a side window from a fire escape at the far end.

  "Well, there's our exit!" Robert exclaimed. "Let's not wait for their friends to join 'em."

  We charged. The vampires pounced. Two of them took to each of the walls, clawing their way toward us.

  With a twirling kick off the wall, I took my target down with a stiff kick to the jawbone. It tumbled and I straddled it, forcefully driving my blade through its neck. Standing to my feet with an about face, I was just in time to see Finlay's throw, snatch and grab technique. We had a straight shot to the broken window another twenty yards ahead.

  Robert stuck his head out the window. "Quick, out on the ledge!"

  I was the first out, and I looked below before climbing the rusted ladder. The remaining vampires were headed toward the ladders of the fire escape at ground level. The only glimpse I'd received was of their shadows.

  "Move it, Scotland!" Finlay said as he made his way out of the window.

  I ascended the ladder.

  "Hurry," Robert yelled as I reached the ninth level. "They're coming!" he cried.

  My bad feeling had gotten worse once I planted my feet on the ninth level balcony. My jaw dropped when I found myself staring down a vampire with his teeth bared, ready to bite its way through the glass. Before I had a chance to react, shards of glass distorted my vision as the monstrosity lunged through the window. I braced for the impact, eyes closed with my blades crossed, protecting my face. I stumbled against the guardrail waiting for the bite that would send me falling to my death.

  I heard the thump of flesh hitting steel and more steel, the fading sounds of a shrill scream, and then the solid splat of a body hitting the concrete.

  "Wake up, Scotland!" Finlay yelled. "Keep moving!"

  I didn't see what he'd done, but I was thankful for his presence.

  "Keep moving you two!" Robert called out from below.

  Finlay had just stepped onto the platform with me. I looked to the lower levels. Robert was two levels down. My heart was in my mouth as I saw what was happening below. Another one, two, three more vampires were out on the ledge from the third floor. I sheathed one of the blades, extracted a .50 calibre from the small of my back and trained my sights on the enemy. "Robert," I screamed. "Look out! They're below you!"

  There were far too many. His machete was useless against the sheer numbers, but my aim was true...

  "I'll hold 'em off," I called, firing my guns.

  The shots only hindered the vampires momentarily. Even with shots directly to the face, they proceeded to climb, leap, and finally grab for Robert.

  I continued to fire with every open shot, but they were gaining on him.

  A monster grabbed Robert by the ankle, and he sent a sharp kick into its jaw, which did nothing to release the tight grip it had on him. I shot at his dark rider just as he crashed against the steel of the guardrail. Two shots right in the cerebellum compelled it to release the grip and sent the animal on a downward spiral to a splattering defeat.

  The second crawler met the steel of Finlay's axe as it squeezed through the fire escape opening.

  Robert hoisted himself onto the platform. "Meet me at the top floor! You've got to get the hostages out of here!" he called out, shattering the window behind him with his elbow and climbing inside.

  The third vampire was still headed in our direction.

  "After you," Finlay said, egging me to climb inside the nearby window.

  The vampire roared as it came through the platform opening. Finlay froze, caught off guard by our new guest. I immediately aimed, fired, and sliced the vampire's wretched head off with a swing of my blade, sending the beast tumbling back to where it came.

  "Now we're even," I said, holstering my weapons.

  My heart battled the adrenaline rush from combat. Thunder co
ntinued to drone on. Flashes of lightning lit up the room in intermittent bursts, sending rats and roaches scurrying for cover. As we raced toward the stairwell, my only worry was for the safety of the others. I held a .50 in one hand and my machete in the other. Finlay twirled his forked blade between his fingers, anticipating his next kill.