A Grave Hunger Page 17
He smirked. "Yup, you're right. It is, but that's the way it's going to be."
I stared at him, trying to read him. There was no hint of indecision in his face. He had made up his mind. He brushed a stray strand of hair from my face and leaned forward, kissing me gently.
"I love you, Leah. Look after yourself."
Then he was gone. I begged and screamed after him as he left, frantically battering the metal bed frame with my hand until it was red and bloody.
It was no use.
He had made his decision.
He wouldn't be back.
PART 2
FINLAY
Chapter 31
I felt strangely calm as I drove to my inevitable death. I had always accepted that my life had a short expiration date compared to other people. All hunters did. It was part of the job. But what I couldn't accept was Leah dying today. She was too good for this life, had too much to offer the world. It felt as though a weight had been lifted from me when I made the decision that she wouldn't be part of today's fight. I would have done anything to protect her, and that included giving up my own life. She had been right when she’d said I was being selfish leaving her behind, but I couldn't watch her die. A small smile played on my lips as I realised that she would be safe, hopefully to lead a normal life, away from hunting.
I snapped myself from my thoughts, realising I had reached my destination. Pulling my car to a stop, I scanned the outskirts of the forest, looking for signs of movement and seeing none. I felt a small sense of relief. This was the perfect place for a battle. Quiet and off the beaten track, we wouldn't need to worry about any civilians stumbling into the warpath. My mind flickered to the child hostages. I could only imagine the terror they must be feeling. An intense anger clawed through my chest. I savoured it. I would need it for what I had to do.
Reaching over to the passenger seat, I grabbed a range of weapons and sheathed them, clicking them into place under my jacket. It was then that I heard the rumble of a car engine. My head snapped around to see Ryan's beat up pickup truck round the corner and come to a halt beside me. The brothers looked sombre as they climbed from the car and strode towards me.
"You ready for this?" Luke greeted me.
"As ready as I'll ever be."
"Where's Leah?" Ryan asked, peering into the window of my car looking for her.
"She's not coming."
"Her decision or yours?" Luke inquired astutely.
I smiled at his perceptiveness. "Mine. I cuffed her to the bed."
Both brothers laughed, breaking the tension. I knew they would understand my actions, knowing how I felt about Leah. They were both as protective of Leah as I was, and I didn't think they would mind Leah staying away from the action, even if it meant one less hunter in today's battle.
I led the way across the gravel path towards the forest. Luke and Ryan followed close behind, trees and shrubbery growing thicker as we travelled. I slashed my way through the dense thicket with my machete, hacking larger branches from our path. However, small branches and twigs still lashed at my face and pulled at my hair. The sun had begun to set as we made our way deeper. The dull early evening sunlight filtered through the foliage in sporadic bursts, the shafts of light breaking up the dim light of the dense forest. With our eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary, we cautiously stepped over downed trees and large branches, hoping to avoid the possibility of being bears caught in snares.
Squirrels hustled up trees while woodpeckers jabbed their beaks into bark. The songs of birds faded with the rising of owls' hoots, and the howls of wolves off in the distance, beyond our sight.
"So what's the plan then?" Ryan asked, looking pass Luke and over to me.
"The plan is get the children out of here, no matter what. You two hold off the bastards, and I'll try to get the kids out." I responded, holding back my aggravation. "I can't imagine what they'll do to them if we don't reach them in time."
It was in my mind, the illusive acts of the enemy, turning the children into blood lusting savages. They would be the worst kind of predators to face in combat. I mean, who would relish the act of having to kill children, even if they had been turned into monsters with a craving to spill blood across the land? But more than that, they would be the ones in larger groups that would most likely slip under the radar to slaughter more and more innocent lives.
We were coming up on a clearing. At the other end, about a half mile out, were more trees and brush. My heart beat erratically and my adrenaline increased.
"Be ready," I whispered.
Though I couldn't see them, I could feel the stares of the many eyes surrounding me. I felt the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. I looked to Luke, who stood beside me, his hand on the trigger of his 20 round magazine-filled SIG 716 tactical rifle. He had begun to build up beads of sweat on his forehead. I tapped him lightly on the arm, and he snapped his head over in my direction. I pointedly looked to his trembling trigger finger, and nodded my head. He caught my drift and released the trigger, took a couple deep, relaxing breaths, and wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead with his camouflaged bicep.
"I'm all right," he said nervously. His back was tense, eyes scrutinising the area for signs of danger.
We were all decked out in black camouflage clothing, our jackets and trousers worn over bullet-resistant armour. We had an arsenal of weapons on each of our persons. Holstered semi-autos, survival blades, and strapped assault rifles. Ryan even had a Katana blade sheathed across his back. Him being a seasoned mixed martial artist, he was definitely qualified to use it. I had a couple fine instruments of decapitation of my own, which I brought out for the fight.
But one of our most valuable assets was the newly developed, stainless steel collars, forearm bracelets and leg guards.
Robert had developed the protective steel before he had died. They were lightweight but exceptionally durable. I felt a pang of grief in my chest as I thought of him. He'd never had an opportunity to put his creation to the test. The old man was known for coming through on new gear. I knew they'd all pan out just fine. That is, as long as the vampires hadn't somehow spawned steel piercing fangs.
But who knew?
Ryan sniffed. He whispered, "I can smell 'em. They're near."
"Yeah, I know," I said, in the same manner, as I took a step forward. "Let's keep moving."
I'd gazed down to the grass ahead of us, into the clearing. Tire tracks? I pointed them out, and we hustled toward them. They were tire tracks all right. And they were fresh. The school bus?
The tracks circled a few times before leading to the other side.
"Looks like a dirt road or path up ahead," Ryan said.
I squinted, "Yeah, maybe?"
Luke took a deep breath, and reached around his belt for the binoculars. He gazed through the lenses. "Yeah, it's a small path," he said, looking straight ahead. He panned a bit to the right. "It looks like there could be some type of rock structure. Maybe just cover for something else. It could be where they're set up. Could be the kids?"
"Lemme take a look," I said.
"Sure," Luke said, handing me the binoculars. "It's just off the path to the right."
It was a rock structure all right. Man-made from what I could tell, about thirty yards into the wooded area. The rocks had been strategically placed with branches and leaves covering some parts of it. It was about ten to twelve feet high and about ten feet in length.
As a cold wind brushed by, I caught a glimpse of something moving on the left. It moved with such speed it could have been leaves or debris. Whatever it was vanished with the darkness. As I lowered the binoculars from my eyes, the night had taken control of our daylight.
The moon's light shined upon the clearing. A mist had begun to form before us and I lost sight of the structure.
"It's time," said Ryan, unsheathing his Katana blade.
Luke's trembling index finger faintly tapped over the trigger.
I didn't see anything.
I did.
From the structure emerged a darkness that I'd never seen. It started with the moving of the mist, swaying up and down the empty space. It soon developed into waves. I blinked a few times, trying to focus my eyes. No way, I thought anxiously. Hundreds of vamps were emerging from the structure. It had begun.
Luke pulled the trigger on his assault rifle, Ryan tossed a grenade, and I armed myself with two 10 mm Delta Elites pistols. I took a step back, under the moonlight. "Move into the opening!" I yelled as I fired three shots from each gun into the darkness.
Luke and Ryan moved in sync.
The grenade exploded.
As the forest lit up, I could see a mass of images. It was something straight out of a horror movie; the vampires were a gruesome picture of animals with human faces.
"Here they come!" Luke yelled.
I looked toward the stone structure. I still couldn't see it. Instead, what I did see was a horde of vampires in its place. They just stood there, unmoved. "They're everywhere," I said as I turned back, firing into the darkness.
Three vampires dropped in place.
Luke ceased firing, and backed into the opening. "There's no way we're getting out of this."
"Calm down, Luke. We'll figure out something," I said, looking around for something, anything we could use to our advantage. "What are they up to? We are outnumbered, if they wanted us dead, they could have easily done it by now." Something wasn't right.
"Yeah, what are they up to?" Ryan said, flipping the sword, taunting the enemy. A thought just out of reach lingered in my mind. Some forgotten detail nagged at me. Was there something more going on here than just wanting us dead?
I was still pondering this theory when one of them appeared no more than ten feet ahead of us.
He looked as though he was the ring master. A hoard of vampires flanked him, awaiting their next order. He reminded me of a demonic raven, his sharp, slanted jawline plunging downward into a point. His angled nose gave the appearance of a beak. Long, black hair swept back severely in a knot at the back of his head, finishing off the look. He let out a shrieking welcoming, and showed us some teeth. I scoffed at his attempt to intimidate us. As if this was our first time running across a vamp in his rankings. Were we supposed to run off? Frightened, like some 12 year old school girl who'd just encountered the creepy old man in a van with a handful of candy? That shit scared no one.
I raised both my guns and contemplated putting a couple slugs in his cranium, while giving Ryan the order to behead him.
"You gentlemen are just in time," he said.
"Let the kids go. You've got us here. They are of no use to you now."
"Now where is the sport in that?" he said, his bird like appearance becoming more pronounced as he smiled.
I looked to Ryan, who had already looked as if he'd wanted to answer that question. He lightly nodded his head, and turned to this mystery vampire. "Yeah, and what is the sport?" Ryan asked.
"What are the rules?" Luke added.
We all looked to the sky when a siren echoed throughout the night. It was loud and war-like. It reminded me of an air raid siren from war movies. When the vamp heard it, he slid backwards through the air. He hissed like a snake, and backed away with his group near the structure’s location.
"Who do you think it is?" Ryan asked.
"Other hunters?" I hoped it was. We certainly needed the back up. "Whoever it is scared off the ring leader," I said, pointing to the retreating vamp. "Come on, the kids are that way."
"I don't think the ring leader was backing off," Ryan said, pointing ahead of him.
I looked down the field to see that his front line had charged.
"Here goes nothing fellas," I said. "Stay close!" I called out as the roars from the approaching enemy grew loud. I took aim at the closest vamps and fired.
For every one of them that dropped there were two more to replace it.
Luke took the lead with his assault rifle, reloaded and fired. Ryan mutilated and decapitated everything that came within range. There were two vamps in particular that leaped through the air like cats. They pounced straight for his face. With two upward-downward swings of his blade, they both split into an 'X,' splattering blood over our protective clothing. I holstered one of my guns and used my free hand to unsheathe a machete, which was strapped across my back. I caught the oncoming hordes in front of us with explosive heads, before slicing a few with the tip of my machete. I took out at least ten of them with each shell. But we were still in a losing battle.
Through all the gunfire, slicing and methodical screams, I heard a familiar, throaty voice. I looked up into the clear night. And down from the blackness came someone I never thought I would see again in all my days alive.
"I knew a hunter such as you wouldn't pass up the chance to become a real hero," said Calhoun as he landed beside me. Calhoun and I had hunted together several times over the years. An old friend of Robert's, he had been around a lot as I was growing up. He was a proficient hunter, who had saved my ass several times. I was glad Ryan had contacted him about the fight. If I could choose anyone to join me in this battle, it would be him. He had retired from the life a few years ago due to a near fatal explosion whilst hunting. I was glad he had decided to come out of retirement for this night. We could use all the help we could get. He was accompanied by a swarm of followers, a least a hundred that I could tell. Now the odds were in our favour.
"I've never been so glad to see someone," I said as I reloaded. "Now let's get the kids and head home."
Calhoun had a reputation for being slightly eccentric, a quality that was accentuated by today's attire. He was dressed as a cowboy from head to toe: cowboy hat, denim clothing and boots. He wore spiked bracelets specially made to fit from the wrist to just below the elbow, matching the spikes on his boots. Although his face was in the cover of darkness, I could still see the glimmer of his disfigured eyes, and the ailing complexion of his dead, 3rd degree burned skin.
"Agreed," said Calhoun.
"I second that," Ryan entered.
"I third," Luke said.
We pushed and shoved our way toward the structure.
Somewhere between the slashing and barrage of gunfire, I felt an excruciating pain burst through my skull. I fell to my knees and grasped my head, feeling the thick liquid ooze from my skull. I fought against the darkness that threatened to overpower me, but then everything went black.
*****
My lids felt heavy as I struggled to open my eyes. A wave of nausea flooded through me, and I squeezed my eyes shut. I heard a faint dripping coming from some place behind me, and the whimpers of children. A lightening flash of pain erupted in my head as I opened my eyes. Everything was a blur. I could make out three shadows, the shapes of people. They were lined up. The one in the centre was rolling up his left sleeve. As my sight cleared, I only had one thought:
I was in the enemy's lair.
The leader shoved its claw into the flesh of its forearm and slid it downward, stopping at the wrist. Its tainted blood leaked to the rubble, and as it approached me, it said, "And now for the Pièce de résistance."
I wanted to lunge at the beast. But I couldn't. I found myself being bound to two wooden posts that had been dug snugly into the ground. My arms and legs were spread eagle. I was defenceless. I struggled against my restraints, the action sending harpoons of agony firing through my body. I looked to my right and saw my gear and weapons on a stone carved into a flat surface. To my left was the school bus. I could see the children, but only their heads, as they remained seated. They were probably bound to the seats. My senses were beginning to come back. I heard the gunshots and screams of the battle. I sniffed the air. The dripping noise was not water. It was gas. Infuriated, I yelled out, "So your plan was to kill them? Innocent children? Are you serious!" Anger made my cheeks burn.
"Of course not. The game is to see if your friends can rescue them in time." The vampire cocked its head to the s
ide and grinned. "While they are distracted with the kids, you're going to turn the hunters. Quite genius if I do say so myself," the game warden said as he made his way to stand in front of me.
I laughed mirthlessly. "Clever. Turn hunters into vampires, and get them to do your dirty work for you." I suppressed the fear rushing through my body. As far as dastardly plans went, this was a good one. Hunters were a close knit group. What better way to kill someone than to get an ally to do it. No one would suspect anything until it was too late.
It smiled menacingly, teeth glistening in the darkness. The monster looked me in the eye as it raised an arm that was dripping with blood. The smile grew wider as I furiously shook my head to avoid even taking the slightest bit of it into my mouth. "Hold his head steady," it ordered the two henchmen.