His Vampyrrhic Bride (32 page)

Smoothly, quickly, and remorselessly, the creature scaled the tower. Tom looked down into the faces. He saw slack mouths tighten into something like grins of malicious pleasure. A myriad of white eyes glared up at him.

‘Come on then,’ he yelled. ‘See if you can take me!’ He knew this was wild bravado. He’d got nothing to fight this creature with. Helsvir would break his bones. He would become part of that gross body. Helsvir: the grim recycler. The cadaver weaver.

‘What is it? Why are we . . .?’ Nicola emerged from the trance. When she saw Helsvir, she stiffened.

For the first time, she saw Helsvir in all his morbid glory. The thing comprised of dozens of human bodies that had been fused together. Arms and legs had been woven like the interlocking weave of a wicker basket. Yet more arms and legs served as its limbs. And just as the carvings revealed on the walls of her house, the thing was covered in human heads – almost as scales cover a snake.

When she recognized the faces of Pug, Grafty and Nix, she screamed.

Helsvir suddenly stopped its climb. All heads turned to Nicola. The brute had heard its mistress cry out.

Then something bizarre happened. Tom realized what he witnessed now would be seared into his mind forever. Because, in a shocking moment of revelation, he knew what Helsvir reminded him of. This creature resembled a pack of dogs that looked expectantly at their mistress, waiting for a command.

If the multitude of heads could have pricked up their ears they would have done so. All faces turned to her. Every eye focused on Nicola’s face. Obediently, Helsvir paused there as it clung to the wall.
He’s waiting for orders
. Then the killing would start.

The order it expected didn’t come. Instead, Nicola yelled, ‘Go away! Never come back! Go on, make yourself scarce. Don’t come back here again!’

The faces were blank – a moment of bafflement. Then all the mouths snarled at once. The body rippled as its muscles tensed.

Nicola whispered, ‘It doesn’t obey me when I’m awake.’

She was right. Helsvir clawed its way up the stonework towards them, hissing from its many mouths – snarling, a creature of utter rage. The sheer menace of the thing made them both flinch backwards.

The weathered stone blocks provided great handholds. Helsvir found the climb easy. Tom knew he was just seconds away from the beast launching itself on him. Nicola should be safe . . .
should be
. . . but as for him? He knew he couldn’t fight this monster.

Helsvir’s profusion of hands grabbed the face of the church clock in order to scale the last few feet.

That was a mistake. Its weight was way too much for the glass dial, which shattered into a thousand fragments.

Dozens of hands clawed at the tower. They tried to find handholds. However, the creature didn’t move quickly enough. Tom watched as the huge body swung out from the wall. It turned end over end as it fell – then smashed into the flooded graveyard, tombstones exploded under the impact, and a ton or so of water blasted upwards into the night air. Tom didn’t expect the fall to have killed Helsvir, or even to have bruised its pallid flesh.
Helsvir will be extremely difficult to kill: maybe impossible to kill.

‘Come on!’ Nicola seized him by the hand.

Together they ran back into the tower. Quickly, he slammed the door shut before driving the bolts across.

‘What now?’ he panted.

‘We do something that Helsvir and the all the Viking gods don’t expect.’

‘And that is?’

‘We’re going to get married!’

He stared. ‘Married?’

‘You still want to?’

‘Of course. I’ll move heaven and earth to marry you.’

‘Then we’ll get married.’

‘When?’

‘Now.’

‘How on earth can we . . .? I mean . . .’ The words died on his lips.

‘We’re in a church, aren’t we?’ Her grin was amazing – wild and beautiful and outrageous all at the same time. ‘We have a priest. We even have my mother here. There’s no time like the present. What do you say?’

He grinned right back. ‘I say: let’s go get married.’

T
he response to the news that there would be a wedding was extreme, to say the least.

The people huddled in the church were exhausted; they were terrified of being torn apart by Helsvir. This announcement stirred most of them into nothing less than fury. Mrs Bekk, however, stayed perfectly motionless where she sat on a pew. Her eyes, however, were wide with shock. That shock was more than a result of suddenly finding out she was to become a mother-in-law. Tom knew that she feared that the marriage would unleash the vengeful anger of pagan gods. Those ancient beings had protected the Bekk family on the understanding that the Bekks would stick with the old Viking religion, and have nothing to do with what the gods saw as the plague of Christianity that had wickedly destroyed the old pagan way of life.

Phil stormed up to Tom. ‘Is this a joke? Have the pair of you gone mad?’

Even Chester looked riled. ‘Can’t you see the danger we’re in? And you’re talking about marriage?’

Bolter giggled. ‘We have breaking news for you. The wedding of the century has just been announced.’ The drugs made his movements twitchy as he paced the central aisle of the church. ‘We’ll be bringing you all the action as it happens.’

Joshua’s grave eyes regarded the couple. ‘I take it you’ve discovered that Nicola cannot fully control the beast?’

‘Not when she’s awake,’ Tom said, and he told them what had happened on top of the church tower.

Joshua nodded. ‘So you have both decided you should be married before it’s too late . . . because, Tom, I take it that you don’t believe you will survive the night.’

Phil’s face turned an even darker red. ‘I’m not going to watch these two play stupid little wedding games. Not while we’re in danger.’

Chester shook his head. ‘I agree with Phil. Whatever happens here tonight, Tom, you’re not marrying that woman.’

Mrs Bekk spoke up. ‘And if you do, everyone here will die.’

‘None of you can stop us,’ Tom told them. ‘Helsvir can’t stop us. We’re getting married. OK?’

Phil tried a different approach. ‘There’s almost a dozen able-bodied people here. See all those iron light-fittings and heavy candlesticks? If we arm ourselves with those, we can take the fight to that animal. All of us attacking it together will overwhelm it.’

‘You’ll never overwhelm Helsvir.’ Mrs Bekk shook her head. ‘It will consume you all.’

Phil snarled. ‘Fighting back is a damn sight better than watching these two lunatics parade about, pretending to get married. Look at ’em, they’re just a pair of stupid kids.’

‘They’re not.’ Rachel spoke with conviction as she sat with her arms protectively around the two children. They had silently watched the arguments with big frightened eyes. ‘You’ve decided to get married now in order to save us, haven’t you?’

Nicola nodded. ‘A marriage is the joining of two individuals. In effect, a transformation takes place. Two people become one. They’re bonded. A single unit.’

‘How does that help us stay alive?’ Phil’s eyes narrowed with suspicion. He suspected a trick was being played on him. ‘Or is marrying her, Westonby, just a way of you saving your skin?’

Tom said, ‘If we swear a bond between ourselves, it must change the relationship between Nicola and Helsvir.’

‘How?’

‘Think about it. Part of Nicola’s mind is linked to Helsvir. When she goes into a trance she can control it. I genuinely love Nicola, and planned to marry her anyway. If I marry her now, then it changes the dynamic between Nicola and the creature.’

And even if I can’t control it once we’re married
, Tom thought,
there’s a small chance that by replacing Helsvir as Nicola’s protector, the cursed creature will think itself unnecessary and leave of its own free will . . .
However small a chance it was, it was one worth taking.

Chester frowned. ‘How do you know this’ll work?’

‘We don’t. It’s a gamble.’

Phil snorted. ‘Too much of a gamble, if you ask me.’

Tom turned on the man. ‘Have you got a better idea to save our lives?’

Joshua moved into the middle of the group; the man’s presence made everyone turn their attention to him. They were waiting to see what the priest said . . . clearly hoping that he had figured out a way to save their necks.

Joshua thought for a moment, then spoke in that gentle way of his: ‘It seems to me that we have very few choices. After all, how do we escape from here? Our phones do not work. All the streets are flooded. We would be forced to use the boats. One thing for sure: we can’t outrun the monster in those flimsy, little craft. If the beast attacks the door again, it will quickly break through. We have no weapons other than fists and candlesticks. Ladies and gentlemen, we would not stand a chance.’

Rachel hugged her children close. ‘So let Tom and Nicola get married, if that’s the only chance we have to make that thing go away.’

Phil’s expression was sour. ‘What the result will be, is that Mrs Bekk and her daughter will continue to be safe from that animal attacking them. After all, it’s supposed to be their protector, isn’t it? And Tom Westonby will probably be safe as well, because he’ll be part of the stinking Bekk clan.’

Tom said, ‘There are no guarantees this will work. But there’s just the slimmest of chances that Helsvir will change its mind about attacking the church. Think about it: don’t weddings bring people together who are at the ceremony? We might be creating a good relationship between all of us. If we all become friends here tonight, Helsvir might decide there’s no need to kill anyone. Helsvir only exists to protect Nicola; once it knows she’s protected by us all, it might simply go away.’

‘Or you might just make it even angrier.’ Phil’s expression was grim. ‘I’m still against any mock wedding.’

‘It won’t be a mock wedding,’ Nicola protested. ‘Tom and I love each other. This is what we really want.’

Joshua rubbed his jaw as he worked through some weighty problems. ‘Of course, it won’t be a marriage ceremony that will be valid in the eyes of the law.’

Nicola’s voice rose. She sounded excited. ‘What does it matter if it’s not valid according to the letter of the law? We want it be valid in the eyes of those gods, ghosts – whatever they are! – that have made my family prisoners. I’m going to break this curse on my flesh and blood. I’m going to smash it into a million pieces!’

Mrs Bekk groaned. ‘You will trigger the curse, Nicola. This is where you face the greatest danger.’

Joshua’s gaze roamed across everyone there. ‘It will be an extremely unconventional ceremony, and that’s the opinion of this
extremely
unconventional priest, but I say the marriage goes ahead. I believe in taking bold risks. There is a chance that these two people being wed might spare us from that creature. Therefore, I am prepared to conduct the ceremony.’

‘I say it goes ahead, too.’ Rachel nodded. ‘I’m for anything that saves my children.’

‘You don’t have a ring,’ Chester pointed out.

‘Here.’ Rachel pulled a ring from her right hand. ‘This was my grandmother’s wedding ring. I only wear it because it looks nice. I want you to use this ring for what it was made for.’

‘Something borrowed.’ Nicola smiled. ‘Thank you.’

‘If this wedding gets my children out of here alive, then keep the ring with my blessing.’ She smiled back. ‘Consider that to be your first wedding present.’

Tom and Nicola nodded their thanks. Then Nicola handed the ring to Chester. ‘Usually, it’s the groom who invites someone to be the best man. But would you do us the honour, Chester?’

‘Maybe it’s time I started making amends.’ He sighed as he took the plain gold band. ‘And maybe we’ve deserve what’s coming to us.’

Nicola took hold of his hand. ‘Chester. You were always kind to me at school. You didn’t join in with the others when they were being cruel.’

He smiled. ‘I’ll be honoured to be best man. Thank you for asking me.’

Joshua beckoned them towards the altar at the far end of the church. ‘These are going to be the fastest preparations ever for a wedding. So, if the bride and groom would kindly follow me? Everyone else fall in behind.’ Clearly, the priest felt happier now that he could actually perform some useful task. The man became energized; his eyes sparkled behind the white-rimmed glasses. Show time. ‘Mrs Bekk, you come along, too. It’s not every day that a mother sees her daughter getting married.’

The procession might have been dishevelled, exhausted, and still frightened, but it was a procession nonetheless. Burning candles cast a soft golden light on the scene. Joshua went first, leading his party along the central aisle of the ancient church. Tom and Nicola went next, walking side-by-side. After them, there was Chester Kenyon. Following him, Phil, Rachel and her children, and then the rest of the survivors, including the white-haired man who’d taken refuge behind the tapestry earlier.

Mrs Bekk followed, too. Her expression was unreadable. Tom thought he’d seen a glimmer of hope in her eye – that maybe the ancient magic, which was both the Bekks’ curse and protection, could be broken.

Even Bolter tottered forwards, too – the last member of the procession.

All of a sudden, there was a piercing scream. Rachel pointed at one of the windows and shouted in panic.

Tom now realized that Helsvir hadn’t left them alone, after all. Because there, pressed against a stained-glass window that depicted a sun rising over a green hill, were dozens of heads. The centuries’ old panes distorted and blurred the faces. But the staring eyes were plain to see.

Helsvir had climbed up the side of the church. The protective steel mesh over the windows prevented it breaking in straightaway. Even so, it could still push itself forward against the stained glass.

‘It must have been there all along!’ shouted Rachel. ‘That thing’s been listening to what we’ve been saying!’

Joshua’s eyes remained so solemn and wise as he said, ‘Then Helsvir knows what we are intending to do. So this won’t come as a shock to him.’ Joshua went to stand before the altar, and as he turned to face the group he lightly touched his priest’s white collar. He seemed to find reassurance in its presence around his neck. With that small ritual of his accomplished, he took a deep breath, and when he spoke, his words rang out with absolute clarity and strength: ‘
My friends, we are gathered here tonight . . .
’