Fall of the Mortals (Book 1) (5 page)

“Shit!” hollered Shaun, slamming the steering wheel. “The way back to the tower is completely blocked!”

“Are we gonna have to walk it?” asked Thai.

Shaun checked his watch. It was 5:58pm.

“We’ll never make it by nightfall,” said Shaun. “We got a half an hour.”

Shaun raced to the street in the car and headed northbound. He grew frustrated realizing he would have to drive for miles before he could find another route. He slammed on his brakes. The Ferrari spun around. The tires smoked. Shaun sat in his silent anger.

“We have one option,” said Yuri.

“I’m all ears,” replied Shaun.

“I notice small room back at basement pharmacy,” said Yuri. “It have strong metal door.”

“Are you saying we should hide in there overnight?” asked Thai. “With no protection?”

“You have better idea?” asked Yuri.

“We don’t have a choice,” said Shaun, speeding back to the hospital.

“Can we talk about this for a moment?” asked Thai.

“What’s the problem, Thai?” asked Shaun.

“I’m a little nervous here. A little claustrophobic too,” he replied.

“We’re out of options, Thai,” said Shaun.

“What if the door doesn’t hold? What if they rip it down and kill us? What

 If—”

“—Then we die!” hollered Shaun.

The three of them went silent.

“You’re spending the night in a confined space with two other grown men. It will be dark. They
will
try to kill us. Do you understand?” said Shaun giving Thai a glaring stare.

“Yeah. I get it,” Thai replied calmly.

“Good,” said Shaun.

The Ferrari pulled back into the Silver Lake Hospital parking lot. The three of them hopped out and rushed to the entrance.

“I hope they don’t trash the car,” said Shaun.

The sun was barely peeking over the horizon. They had minutes to get into the building and find a stronghold. 

***

In the basement, Yuri led them to a storage room. It was medium sized with one window with blinds. There were some boxes on a shelf with medical and office supplies along with blankets and bottles of water.

“Here it is. Quickly, get inside,” said Yuri.

The three of them got into the storage room. Yuri closed the door. They laid a metal beam across the mid-section of the door to reinforce the lock. Shaun noticed the ceiling light.

“Get the light,” said Shaun.

Thai flicked the switch. They were in the dark.

***

Outside, the last glimmer of sun fell behind the horizon. It was nighttime in Los Angeles. The howls from street level began as usual. Legions of vampires flew out of their dark resting places. They filled the air and were innumerable.

***

Harold and the others hunkered down in their blankets. The lights were off. They were full of fear. A large swarm of vampires flew around the windows. Damien came up to the window.

“You can’t hide in their forever,” said Damien in a scary voice. “Your blood belongs to me.”

Harold and the others stayed down under the blankets. Several vampires came up to the windows gnashing their teeth at them through the blinds. They shouted, “
Blood! Blood! Blood! Blood
!” in unison repeatedly.

“Don’t listen to them!” Harold shouted.

They tried smothering his ears under the blankets. It was no use. The vampire chanting continued. It was as if they determined to drive Harold and the others crazy by their chanting. It continued for several minutes.

“Do something!” hollered Betty. “Make them go away!”

Harold got up. He looked around. Vampires were at every window shouting, “Blood! Blood!” 

“Trang. Come with me,” said Harold.

He got up and followed Harold.

“Where going?” asked Trang.

“We’re gonna get rid of these bastards,” answered Harold.

Betty was scared. She got up and rushed after Harold.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“You want ’em gone? I’m gonna make ’em gone,” said Harold. “I’m going to Yuri’s lab. Be right back.”

She looked at the vampires plastered on the windows. They were all over, yelling at them. She rushed to the windows.

“Just get out of here, all of you!” she shouted.

“C’m ’ere, lady,” a vampire sneered. “Come closer.”

“Yeah. Stick your hand out the window,” another said.

Betty stood trembling in fear, staring at them. The vampires scared her. 

“Don’t just stand there, come closer to us,” another taunted her.

“Your blood smells delicious,” another said.

“Fresh!” another hollered.

“Harold!” Betty yelled.

“Harold!” another vampire mocked her, grinning at her obvious fear of them.

***

Harold approached Yuri’s lab. He knocked a few things out of the way. He pulled out a five gallon bucket from under the desk. The bucket was full of extra beads labeled
Soaked Beads
; used to cover the roof area of the tower. Harold poured the beads into two smaller buckets. He handed one to Trang.

“C’mon, Trang. Let’s get them out of here.”

***

Betty shouted at them to leave. They mocked her and growled at her. Harold and Trang returned.

“Look. The fat one is back,” a vampire hollered.

Harold threw a handful of the beads through the window. They landed on the vampire’s face and upper portion of his chest. His face and chest burst into flames. He screamed. Trang threw a handful out another broken window setting another one ablaze. It screamed and flew away. Harold and Trang continued to throw handfuls of beads at them causing many of them to catch fire in which they howled and hurled away from the tower. One of them fell to the street burning all the way down the side of the building. The rest of them scattered.

***

It was a few hours later. In the storage room, they sat against the wall in the dark. They felt powerless and hopeless. They could hear each other breathe. The sounds of massive crowds of vampires flying by the building were faintly heard in the background.

“They’re out,” said Thai, trying not to sound nervous.

“Yes they are,” said Shaun.

“Do you think they’ll find us down here?” asked Thai.

“I hope not,” replied Shaun.

“Try not to be nervous,” said Yuri.

“That’s easy for you to say, bud,” answered Thai, chuckling.

“Don’t be afraid,” said Yuri.

“I just don’t like being closed up like this,” said Thai.

“I meant to die,” said Yuri.

“Comforting, pal,” said Thai. “Very comforting.”

“Your claustrophobia is mental illness,” said Yuri.

“What?” asked Thai. “What are you talking about?”

“You’re allowing your fears to be bigger than you are,” said Yuri.

“I have a reason,” said Thai. “I’m locked in a dark room while an army of vampires fly around the building.”

“Why are you so afraid?” asked Yuri.

“Yuri. I don’t see you out there taking them on,” said Thai.

“If death finds me and there is no exit, I accept it,” said Yuri. “You should do the same.”

“Huh?” asked Thai.

“You’re living under the illusion of control,” said Yuri.

There was a loud crashing noise above them on the next level. The three of them stood up.

“What the hell was that?” said Thai, scared to death.

“Shh. They’re just moving things around up there,” said Shaun. “What time is it?”

Yuri took out a small flashlight and shined it on his watch.

“After two,” said Yuri.

“We still have a few hours,” said Shaun.

There were loud noises coming toward the basement area. Their breathing picked up. They were scared. Yuri quickly checked the metal bar and made sure it was secure. They stepped back against the wall of the storage room. Something hit against the wall outside the door. They began to pant.

“What is it?” a vampire said outside the door.

“I smell something,” said another vampire.

“What do you smell?”

“Something sweet.”

A loud inhaling was heard outside the door. The vampire growled. Yuri quietly unzipped his hoodie jacket. Shaun and Thai looked at him, wondering what he was doing. Yuri quietly stepped toward the door and placed his jacket at the base blocking any of their odors from seeping underneath the base of the door. He carefully stepped back to the wall. Shaun and Thai’s faces were sweating profusely. They tried not to breathe heavy.

“Huh!” exclaimed the first vampire.

“What?” asked the other vampire.

“The smell is gone,” said the first.

“Gone?” asked the other vampire.

“Gone!” shouted the first one.

“Well find it!” hollered the second one.

The first one screamed. Another loud crashing noise was heard outside the storage door. The two vampires flew away.

“They’re gone,” said Yuri.

Thai collapsed to the floor. He went into convulsions.

“Thai. Thai!” said Shaun. “C’mon man.”

Thai didn’t respond but continued in convulsions.

 “Yuri. The lights,” said Shaun.

The light flicked on. Thai’s eyes rolled back up into his eyelids. Shaun laid him on his back. He gently smacked him in his cheek repeatedly.

“Breathe Thai. Breathe,” said Shaun. “It’s okay you’re just having a panic attack.”

Thai began to calm down.

“Talk to me, Thai,” said Shaun.

“I … hate this r-room,” said Thai.

Yuri and Shaun were relieved.

“Don’t do that to me. C’mon, sit up,” said Shaun.

They propped Thai against the wall. Yuri obliviously moved his jacket partially away from the base of the door as they helped Thai. Yuri handed Thai a blanket and bottle of water off one of the shelves in the room. Thai wrapped himself in the blanket and took a drink.

“Thank you,” said Thai.

He felt small and weak next to Shaun and Yuri. He thought he was a tough martial artist. It turns out one small room and a couple vampires nearly took him down. It was humbling and embarrassing.

“Let’s try to get some sleep,” said Shaun. “It should be dawn in a couple of hours.”

Shaun and Yuri sat down with a blanket and dozed off.

***

A few hours later, dawn was drawing near. A large male vampire wearing a black hooded robe flew near the hospital building. He stopped and hovered over the building staring down at it. He smelled something. A sweet, delicious odor came from the building peaking his insatiable appetite for blood. He flew closer. The fragrance grew stronger. He flew into the building and landed in the lobby. He walked around, carefully scanning the area. The smell of blood entered his nasal passages and teased him with euphoria. He kicked the stairwell door off its hinges. The door flew down into the basement pharmacy area.

Shaun awakened at the loud sound. His eyes widened. He filled with terror. He knew another one was in the basement. He didn’t move nor did he awaken Yuri and Thai.

“Damn,” he whispered, keeping his eyes on the door.

The large vampire flew to the basement. He hovered over the base of the storage room door with his face near the crack at the bottom of the door. He inhaled the powerful fumes of fresh blood ascending from the base of the door.

Shaun panted quietly. His anxiety levels rose. The enemy was on the other side of the door.

The vampire lowered his hood. He was bald and had pierced ears. He inhaled deeply smelling the one thing they craved, the fragrance of blood. His feet landed and he stood at the door.

Suddenly, the vampire punched through the metal door. Shaun yelled. Yuri and Thai awakened and screamed. The vampire’s face gnashed his teeth and growled at them through the hole in the wall. His eyes were bright orange around the irises. He used both hands and ripped a wider hole in the door fighting at it like a jungle cat trying to get to small prey in a hole. He pushed his face through the hole and glared an evil smile at them.

“You are all mine,” he said.

Shaun pulled his pistol and fired at his head. One, two, three, four and five small holes appeared in his face and on his forehead. The vampire’s head sunk from the shots. Shaun stopped firing, breathing heavily. Yuri and Thai stood behind him frightened. The vampire looked up at them again. Shaun’s face of terror changed to being horribly astonished. The bullet holes slowly disappeared. The vampire grinned sinisterly at them again.