My Immortal The Vampires of Berlin (17 page)

Their journey ended in a large underground cavern that was filled with strange crypts. Haunting stone gargoyles and other winged creatures adorned the tombs.

Sebastian took a closer look at the mysterious blood-red writing that covered the walls. When he was a kid, his father had taken him to an ancient Egypt exhibition in Munich. This was definitely not hieroglyphics, but the writing looked strangely familiar, as if he had seen it before in a dream.

Two identical black marble statues of a woman with her arms outstretched dominated the center of the cavern. The statues looked remarkably like the twin vampires they had just killed. Or tried to kill. That’s when Sebastian knew what he was looking at. These weren’t human crypts—they were vampire.
The creatures live underneath Berlin Cathedral
.

Sebastian contemplated this discovery as he unscrewed his canteen. “Do you want some water now?” he asked.

Eva just stared at him.

Sebastian shrugged. As he raised his canteen to his parched lips, Eva moved fast and grabbed it out of his hands. Water spilled and he felt intense pain.

He could only stare in disbelief at the smoking red blisters that now covered the back of his hand.

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The murky water seemed dangerous, but no one was of that opinion more than Klaus. He almost drowned as a kid and had been deathly afraid of water ever since.

“It doesn’t look that deep,” Thor said.

Klaus folded his arms. “Screw that. It’s far too dangerous. The floor could give way at any moment.”

“This is the way out. Unless you want to negotiate a peace treaty with vampires,” Wolf said.

“And Russians,” Sebastian added.

Thor waded into the water. “Hold on. I’ll check it out.” The one-armed soldier tried to appear brave, but he was scared shitless underneath the bravado. When the water went no deeper than his knees, Thor looked back and cracked a smile. “Hey, old man! You can stop building the ark and collecting pairs of animals—the water isn’t going to kill you!”

“Very funny,” Klaus replied.

But when Thor tried to move, his left foot was stuck on something. “Shit!” he yelled.

After a minute of watching Thor try and fail to free his foot, Wolf went into the water to help him. A noise in the tunnel brought the rescue efforts to an end. Everyone went perfectly still.

Suddenly, like a tornado from hell, a thousand black bats flew down the tunnel and swarmed them!

Thor panicked and swatted the creatures away as he fell backwards into the water. The other men ducked or took cover against the tunnel wall as the bats flew harmlessly around them.

When the bats flew off, a very embarrassed and wet soldier picked himself and his MP-40 out of the water.

“Are you okay?” Dieter asked. “Do you need new underwear?”

“Thanks a lot, smart-ass. Now get me out of here,” Thor replied. One last bat flew above the men. Thor fired a quick angry burst at the straggler, but he missed.

“Put the gun down,” Wolf shouted. “You’re wasting ammo!”

Suddenly, the bat turned around and flew straight at Thor. Before he could react, the creature slammed into the pool in front of him with the force of a cannonball, sending a spray of water all over the place.

A split-second later, there was Rodika. “Beg for mercy, soldier,” the vampire said. “I want to enjoy this kill.”

Thor panicked and desperately tried to free his foot as she closed in. Just before Rodika got to him, he raised his machine gun and let her have it.

The squad grabbed Axel and took off running. Thor was able to hold Rodika off just until his gun jammed—then she tore his arm off and pushed him under the water. Red bubbles quickly replaced the agonizing screams of a soldier who was destined to suffer the same horrific injury twice in one war.

With her victim dying beneath her, the highly trained vampire assassin peered down the tunnel in the direction that the others had run.

It was time to hunt.

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As they walked through the vampire crypts, Eva stopped and stared off in the distance. Sebastian felt a slight breeze and instantly knew they were in trouble. He grabbed her hand and sprinted across the chamber as the wind grew to a roar behind them.

Then something hit them in the back, hard.

Eva hit the floor face first. Sebastian flew through the air, hit the ground and rolled back to his feet. He pulled out a pistol as Zina and Dumitra closed in.

“Are you going to shoot us?” Zina laughed.

Sebastian looked at his pistol and smiled. “I’m pretty sure that this pea-shooter won’t do much good against two pissed off vampires.”

“Very perceptive. Now, are you ready to die?”

“Fuck you.” He threw his pistol at Zina, but she caught it in front of her face and tossed it to the ground. Then she punched him in the throat.

Sebastian collapsed from the force of the blow and tried to breathe. He crawled away as blood poured out of his mouth. Dumitra picked him up by the neck, his feet dangling in the air. “She asked you if you were ready to die.”

“And I said ...
fuck you
,” he gasped.

Dumitra slammed him against the wall in a rage and he dropped to the floor lifelessly.

“Stop!” Eva shouted. The girl was back on her feet and looking for a confrontation. She flicked her wrist towards the twins. The vampires both turned sharply, as if they had been slapped.

Dumitra angrily pointed right back at her. A blue ball of psychic energy flowed from her fingers and struck Eva in the chest, knocking her to the ground. “Don’t play with us, little girl. You are
not
ready.”

Sebastian’s voice rang out behind them. “I am ready.”

The twins were mystified that Sebastian was still alive. They could smell their own kind, but they had failed to detect the vampire blood that now flowed through his veins; he had yet to fully transform.

35

The squad sprinted around the dark corner. Unfortunately, they didn’t see the dead end until they crashed into the wall and one another. When they got to their feet and turned around, their worst nightmare had been realized.

Saliva dripped from Rodika’s razor-sharp fangs. She had her prey cornered. She savored the moment.

The terrified men aimed their guns at the vampire. Dieter dropped to his knees and prayed. “
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me
.”

Rodika laughed. “Prayers will not save you, punk. Stand up and fight like a man.”

“... Amen.”

With his prayer done, Dieter’s terror gave way to rage. He aimed his
Panzerfaust
at Rodika.

Rodika’s eyes widened.

“Eat snot!” Dieter shouted. The men dove for cover as the kid squeezed the trigger. The cavern filled with a roar, a plume of flame and a tremendous explosion.

Wolf was knocked onto his belly, his arm curled around his MP-40, his mouth full of dirt, his ears ringing. He closed his eyes as rocks and debris flew through the tunnel.

As the dust settled, Wolf looked up. A trickle of blood came out of his left ear, but his eardrums were still intact. Rodika was gone.
Vampires can’t be killed with bullets, but a Panzerfaust is something else
, he thought
. If it can knock out a tank, maybe it can kill a vampire
.

Klaus slapped Dieter on the back. “Nice work, kid. You disobeyed an order and wiped a vampire off the face of the Earth all at once. You might make a good soldier yet.”

Dieter shook his head and pointed at Rodika as she emerged from the smoke. She was not happy.

“Get away from us, you evil bitch!” Klaus screamed. “Get the hell out of here! Leave us alone!”“

“I will feast on your heart, old man,” Rodika hissed. A loud rumble stopped the vampire assassin. Her eyes nervously darted around the cavern as the walls shook.

“Uh-oh,” Klaus said.

Suddenly, the ceiling collapsed!

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