Dracula: Hearts of Fire (Dracula Heart's) (48 page)

     Zacharia now sounded angry. “See, now the stupid cat wants me to take a nap. Right here, right now. Well I won’t do it so shut up you stupid cat!
I’m going to bang its head against the wall if it doesn’t stop.
”

    “What do you suppose would happen if I gave you some catnip?”

    “Are you
trying to be funny
?
”

   
Again a period of silence consumed them.
Piers turned an
d looked down at the Siamese,
it had curled itself in a ball a
nd gone
to sleep; he smiled at the sight of it.
He smelled the air and could smell burnt popcorn from over two miles away, and for some reason it was making him hungry.
Burnt popcorn covered in flakes of dried blood.
There was b
urnt popcorn and an all meat pizza.
He could also smell the nearby flower baskets.
The cat jumped up with a distressful meow and
a low growl
.

    “What is it?”

    “Someone’s in the zoo. I can feel him and he’s up to no good. Come on.”

    They both jumped over the fence and blurred to the black bear enclosure. A man stood with both hands o
ut as he pulled green energy from one
of
the bears. The streaks of moss-
green
light
left the animal and entered him. He turned and showed them his fangs as a warning.

    “I’m in his mind,” said Zacharia. “He’s the one that killed the humans.” The cat jumped in his face and dug
in;
the wizard screamed and let loose with multiple
black balls the size of marbles
that went all over the place, ricocheting off tress and fences, with one striking Piers
in the temple
and knocking him out.
Each time a ball hit s
omething it sounded like it
was full of sand bursting with the contents trickling out.

    Wang was a Chinese wizard just passing through Moncto
n on his way to Halifax,
meeting another wizard there to exchange some spells. He was wearing what Zacharia thought to be some sort of kung fu suit.
Piers slowly
returned to consciousness,
he
also disco
vered that he was
unable to move his arms or legs
.
He was
being carried through the paths of the zoo
over Wang’s shoulder
like an old rug
, wishing that he had refused the
Master’s request, but rejecting
Dracula wasn’t an easy thing to do
. Moon Diamond was nowhere to be seen. Then the author lost consciousness once again.

    
A half hour passed of unconscious oblivion
w
hen Piers awoke
;
he was hanging upside down from a tree with Moon Diamond lying motionless on the ground
in front of him
. Now he wa
s able to move but the
rope stopped him from escaping.
He swung at the wizard but missed
, causing his upside down self to swing.
Wang was searching through spells in his small red book. The cat awoke and
shook its head
,
climbed up the
back of the wizard’s legs,
with each of its nails causing excruciating pain. Zacharia forced the cat to wrap itself around the wizard’s neck so that he could take his head off. In a panic Wang dropped his book and fought for his life, sending arcs of blue light through the animal. The wizard pulled the cat’s tail so hard that it came off but another grew in its place. He did it again and again until there was a half dozen tails that littered the path.
He pounded on the cat with both fists.
Wang smashed into a tree and then fell to the ground; he quickly got up but felt that he couldn’t endure much more.

    “Get him Zacharia!” Piers punched the wizard in the head when he staggered near enough
and was surprised that the blow crushed his skull, but unfortunately it regenerated.

    Wang finally managed to get the cat off and flung it towards a tree, but Moon
Diamond landed gracefully
, definitely not what the
wizard expected. The sorcerer
blurred as he simultaneously pulled a machete and held it to the author’s neck, wanting the cat to surrender or else. The Siamese blurred o
ff the tree and grabbed the small book in his mouth
, threatening
to shred it with
his
very sharp claws. The look on Wang’s face told b
oth of them that the book was extremely
important to him
.
The book
c
ontained a lifetime of spells,
not everyone was fortunate enough to get their hands on a genuine Blood Book. The little red book was his equivalent.
He had tried several times in the past to put a protective spell on it but for whatever re
ason the book wouldn’t take it, and so he could only assume that a spell within wouldn’t allow it.

    “
Put the book down. Look, cat, I’m pulling away from your friend. You give me the book and I’ll let your friend live. Throw me the book.
I won’t ask again.
”

    Moon Diamond looked through several pages and halted at one with several check marks.
The cat flicked its tail with interest.
It was in Chinese
so he wasn’t able to read it. The cat
ripped the page out of the book and ate it. The wizard screamed as it had taken him over a century to track down that spell and now it was gone. Zacharia found another spell, this time with four checks on it. He threatened to shred it with his claws. The wizard blurred for the cat but each time he did so Moon Diamond ended up in a different location
; the cat was too fast for him
.
He swung the machete at the Siamese as if he was attempting to chop wood.

    Wang stood with his right hand in the air and a look on his face that could kill; he was drawing embers into his hand seemingly out of nowhere, out of the night sky.
He definitely would not be the same wizard without that book.
When his hand started to smoke both Moon Dia
mond and Piers looked worried.
Again the cat threatened to destroy the page and then suddenly was struck with a boomerang-like piece of light. Moon Diamond toppled
to the ground
as if it had no bones.

    Zacharia’s soul exited from the cat and as he
lo
oked down at the lifeless Moon Diamond
he was saddened by the turn of events.

CHAPTER
FIFTY-TWO

   
D
EW COVERED THE WILDFLOWERS
in the
forest;
its sweet fragrance merged with the morning fog
and was diluted
. Shadows in the mist were gray and deceptive. A rabbit listened for intruders but heard nothing. Dawn was still until the sounds of birds gave music to the area
, like paint to an artist’s canvas
.
It was the birth of another day
in the Finger Lakes National Forest.

   
Sharpton and Oblivion walked the perimeter of the camp
as they discussed the results
of the attack
. Sharpton was satisfied with the fact that twenty-seven humans had been killed by Alonzo and Bennet
but he had hoped for more
.
The red sheriffs had dispatched them a little too quickly but that was okay. It was yet another story of vampires making news around the world.
It was a baby step that
he hoped
would turn into monster strides.

    Oblivion glanced
at a crow in the tree and was suspicious of it. The bird was quiet as it stared
down
at them
from the pine tree
.
It appeared to cock its head and
listen.
The wizard pretended that he didn’t notice the bird.
“So
what do you think our chances are? Realistically speaking.”

    Sharpton adjusted his dark suit. “On
ce we kill a thousand humans
they
’ll
see they can’t stop us and then
t
hey will have to
consider giving
New York C
ity over to the vampires.
I couldn’t guess at
the odds of success, but i
magine
New York
with no humans
,
to finally have a place to call our own
.
Vampir
es from all over the world will
flock to the city
where
they’ll not on
ly have to pay to get it but
agree to follow my orders, and with some of that magic they’ll
be receptive
.
I have other wizards on the way that will s
pell the city and they won’t be able to touch us,
their troops will burst into flame if they attempt to enter the city’s boundary.
The city of vampires will only be a starting point.
Humans need to be realistic about their place in our society.
Since when do the feeble command the superior?
”

    Oblivion again glanced
at the crow as it made its way across a branch. “That would make the whole world nervous. The United States of Vampires has a nice ring to it.
I know it could take centuries but still.
”