Something of the Night (10 page)

Chapter
Seventeen

Daniel Harper stirred. His sleep had been broken and
troubled. His blanket had become so saturated with sweat that it had wrapped
itself around him like a shroud. The back of his throat felt like it was on
fire, and his body ached with every breath. He opened his eyes, and the weak
light from the corridor outside made his head throb with pain. The pillow his
head rested against was little more than a cotton wafer.

Daniel pulled himself away
from the damp mattress. He peeled the blanket from around his shoulders and let
it drop to the mattress. He waited for a minute until the room had steadied,
then pushed himself up and took a few unsteady steps away from the bed. His
bare feet slapped noisily on the hard rock.

He entered a makeshift
washroom. Then held his hand under a running faucet. Cupping his hands, he
splashed the cold water over his face. His face was a mask of heat and sweat.
He bent and gulped mouthfuls of water, until the fire in his throat had been
extinguished.

He stood back and a cracked
mirror revealed a frighteningly distorted image. His face was bleached of
colour. Just the seeping red scar maintained some clarity, and it throbbed
painfully at the side of his cheek.

An enormous cough escaped
from his lungs, spraying the mirror with specks of phlegm. He bent forwards and
found tiny dots of blood mixed in with the white spittle.

“Shit …” he croaked.

He turned away from the
mirror. Had he looked over his shoulder as he was leaving the room, he’d have
seen the reflection of a network of sores covering the entire plane of his
back.

The room he re-entered seemed
slightly less painful to his eyes. He turned to the corridor, and the light
appeared weak and pathetic. A slight frown creased his fevered brow. He’d felt
similar earlier. One minute weak and feverish, the next, fine. Still, he
decided that first thing tomorrow he would visit the new doctor and seek his
advice.

The pit of his stomach
grumbled.

He walked out into the
corridor in just his pants, and followed the tight twists and bends until he
entered the deserted canteen area. Rows of empty tables and chairs filled the
room, and a single light flickered, giving the room an eerie atmosphere. Like a
winged insect, he homed in on the fluorescent light. He found himself before a
large refrigerator. He lifted the lid and the cold escaped, dousing him in a
frozen vapour. The skin of his chest and abdomen tightened with the drop in
temperature. Inside the freezer was what remained of their pitiful food stocks.
Not a lot. A few frozen cuts of meat and faded packets of freeze-dried
vegetables.

For a second, Daniel had to
question the sense in burning fuel to continue the running of the freezer, yet
understanding how the Major worked, he guessed that any semblance of normality,
even a stupid near-empty freezer, helped to maintain a certain level of
humanity amongst them.

“It’s a bit late for
midnight
snacks,”
someone said from behind.

He spun around and the
freezer lid slammed shut with a hollow boom.

“Who’s there?” he called.

The shadows shifted slightly
and a woman appeared from out of the darkness.

“You?” Daniel said.

“Sorry, did I startle you?”
she asked. She stepped closer and her long hair caught a draught, making it
trail behind her like a living scarf.

Daniel recognised her as the
woman who had arrived earlier with the truck full of refugees.

“What are you doing up so
late?” he asked.

“I was about to ask you the
same question,” she replied.

“You should be in sickbay.”

“I feel fine,” Sarah replied.

As she drew closer, he
surprised himself by taking an unexpected step back.

“Don’t worry,” she said, “I
won’t bite.”

Daniel released a short
nervous laugh. “Listen, its cold down here and you really should be resting.
You’ve endured a lot recently. It ain’t too smart wandering around the complex
late at night on your own, either.”

“Don’t worry, I can look
after myself.”

The light from the flickering
fluorescent drew sharp angular shadows across her body. Her arms looked toned
and muscular, and the tight vest she wore moulded itself to her flat stomach
and slim waist. She had broad shoulders, but they remained feminine, curving to
the swell of her bosom. A pair of loose fitting combat pants covered her lower
half and stopped at her ankles to reveal bare feet.

Daniel looked down at his own
feet and found the skin pale and his nails grey from the cold. He looked back
to hers; they were pink and healthy,
inviting.

“We should be getting back to
bed,” he said.

“What’s the hurry?” she
asked.

She passed him and opened the
refrigerator. Another cloud of frost escaped, and Daniel shivered as the icy
tendrils caressed his bare chest and arms. Sarah reached down to scoop a
handful of ice from the bottom. A lustful groan of pleasure escaped from her
lips. She stood and held the ice tightly in her fist. Within moments though,
water began dripping through her clenched fingers.

Daniel watched as the
droplets fell to the floor. One or two fell onto her foot, then raced along her
flawless skin before dispersing between her toes.

Something stirred within
Daniel’s groin. He became instantly conscious of his semi-nakedness and, with a
cough of embarrassment, he turned to leave.

“Where are you going?” she
asked.

“To get some rest,” he called
over his shoulder.

“Wait,” she called, and
followed after him. Then, without warning, she caught a glimpse of his back,
and her breath stuck in her throat. The angry sores had joined together in a
weave of branches. It wasn’t the sores that surprised her, however, but the
unexpected familiarity of the condition.

“Wait ...!” she called again.

The urgency in her voice
forced Daniel to stop. “What is it?” he asked.

Her mind tried to quickly
work out what had been revealed. Did he know about the sores? Probably not,
considering he was walking around topless. Plus, although
she
could not
feel the chill, just the extremes of both fire and ice, she knew humans were
susceptible to hot and cold. The guy before her was undergoing a change: a
change in body, mind and soul.

“Wait.”

Daniel huffed in slight
irritation. “What is it?”

“The Major,” she said. “How’s
he holding up?”

Daniel’s eyes narrowed. “He’s
fine. Why?”

“It must have come as a great
shock to find out his daughter is still alive.”

“I guess,” he agreed.

“Maybe I should see how he
is? To reassure him Hannah is okay.”

He stepped closer to her. “We
don’t know she’s okay, not for sure.”

“But she’s the one who helped
me to escape from the breeding cells,” Sarah reminded him. The woman’s eyes had
twitched slightly, unable to hold Daniel’s gaze.

“That was weeks ago. Anything
could have happened,” he told her.

“Yeah, and that’s why we
should be making plans to get her out.”

“I’m sure Major Patterson
is
making plans. He’ll let us know when he’s good and ready.”

“But I could help him with
the internal layout of the camp she’s being held in,” Sarah insisted.

“The Major needs his rest. It
can wait till tomorrow,” Daniel advised.

His dismissive attitude
appeared to anger her. “Don’t you even care?”

“Of course I do, but not
everything can be done immediately,” Daniel said. “The Major’s waited this long
to find her and he won’t risk her safety with some half-assed plan.”

“Christ, it’s no wonder you
people...” She caught herself, before her words had done too much damage.

Still, Daniel understood some
of their intended meaning. “Go on.”

“It’s nothing,” she said. She
waited to see if he pushed the matter or not.

He did not.

Without further comment, he
began to walk out of the canteen area. She followed him, drawing up silently
behind. She got another glimpse of the red collage that decorated his back. She
stopped. Wait. Yes, the condition was unmistakable. She had seen it many times
before. And this surprising development could work in her favour. She backed
off and allowed Daniel to disappear into one of the dark passageways.

She would be seeing him
again, and soon.

Very soon.

Chapter
Eighteen

In a reversal of fortunes, the vampire now occupied
the cell. However, like earlier, he too was not enduring his incarceration
alone. Sitting cross-legged, the vampire leaned over and bit a large chunk from
his cellmate’s thigh. Mercifully, the prisoner did not feel a thing. Already growing
cold the dead wolf suffered its fate in silence. The vampire took another bite
as blood splattered across his ugly face.

“That’s disgusting,”
Lieutenant Hutson said.

“It could be worse. You could
be in there with him,”
Alice
commented.

“I guess,” Hutson agreed.

Both turned from the vampire
and moved away from the bars to join the rest of the group over by the windows.
All but Squirrel were standing around the open windows, watching for the return
of the dark horde. The mechanic seemed distracted as he attempted to clean
himself and Scratch. It was a battle lost. Both were covered in layers of dried
blood and gore, and nothing short of a monsoon was going to get either of them
clean.

“Okay, so what’s our plan?”
Captain Banantyne asked.

Pulling his attention away
from the malevolent shapes that loped around outside, Jacob Cain said, “Regroup
and make the journey back to base.”

“With all those things out
there?” the captain moaned.

“What would you rather do?
Spend the rest of your days in here with that thing?” Jacob asked, with a
gesture towards the cell.

Both men looked over at the
dining vampire. The captain fell quiet.

“I thought not,” Jacob
snarled.

“But we wouldn’t get ten
yards before
they
ripped us to pieces,” Banantyne said, his attention
back to the dark horde outside.

Jacob raised his handgun.
“You can bet I’d get further than ten yards.”

The captain released a heavy
sigh. “Okay, but if we’re gonna move then let’s make it quick. I’ve no desire
to stay here any longer than I have to.”

“We’ll be leaving as soon as
we figure out what to do with
that
,” Jacob said. His gun tilted towards
the incarcerated vampire.

“Let’s just shoot the dammed
thing,” Banantyne retorted.

“For once I’d like to agree,
but I’m not sure that’s the right solution.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know, yet”

“I thought you killed everything
you hated?” the captain asked.

“I haven’t killed you yet,
have I?”

The captain’s lips opened but
words failed to form. He spun on his heels and strode towards the mechanic and
Scratch. “Okay, Skunk, we’re moving out. Stop that … whatever it is and prepare
to leave.”

“It’s Squirrel, asshole,” the
mechanic spat.

Jacob grinned despite
himself. Just like old times, he thought. He felt a hand rest against his
shoulder. Elliot Harper appeared at his side.

“Are you okay?” the young
tracker asked.

“I’m fine. Why?”

“I know you have a hard time
with the Captain,” Elliot said.

“Don’t worry about me and
him, we’ll survive.”

Elliot nodded. “Let’s hope we
all do.”

A high-pitched
howl
pulled their attention outside. Shapes bounded about in the shadows - large
shapes. Earlier, the dead wolf that Squirrel had shot had been dragged away by
its brethren, torn to shreds, and devoured with ravenous glee. Now, the wolves
were getting hungry again.

Both trackers turned away
from the window to join Squirrel and Scratch over by the table.

“We’ll be leaving soon,”
Jacob said.

Squirrel stopped wiping the
terrier clean. “I’m not sure I like the idea of that.”

“Nor do I,” Jacob agreed,
sensing the mechanic’s unease. “But we can’t stay in here forever.”

The word ‘forever’ forced
Squirrel to look towards the vampire. “Why not? He seems to be doing just
fine.”

The vampire looked up and
found the three men staring. He raised a handful of bone and red flesh, and
offered the group a hearty toast. “Yum, yum.”

“Okay, maybe he’s not doing
quite
so well,” Squirrel corrected. “What are we gonna do with him anyway?”

Confronted with the same
question twice, in almost as many minutes, Jacob was eventually forced to voice
the vague
plan that had begun to form inside his head. “That depends on
what we can get out of him, or not,” he began.

“What do you mean?” Elliot
asked.

“He might come in useful.”

Elliot frowned. “How?”

“He might be able to get us
closer to Ezekiel.”

“How?” both Squirrel and
Elliot asked.

“I’m working on it,” Jacob
replied, with a roguish grin.

***

The group readied themselves. All had assembled around
the three open windows at the front of the jailhouse. Beyond the shadows, they
could still see the threat of movement. Standing together were Jacob,
Lieutenant Hutson and the vampire. With his wrists now tethered, the undead
fiend stood mute, ignorant of his immediate future. A strip of his own rotten
clothing had been used to gag his mouth. Under the protection of Elliot’s
rifle, Jacob had entered the cell and secured the prisoner. The vampire had
simply grinned and allowed his captor to place the restraints.

“Okay, are we ready?” Jacob
asked. His question was answered by a quick nod of heads. “Let’s go,” he said.
Pulling open the door, he stepped out into the gloom.

Jacob went first, followed by
the vampire and then Lieutenant Hutson. Next out were Captain Banantyne, and then
Alice
and Squirrel. Scratch was tucked safely into Squirrel’s jacket, and his little
furry head poked out from between two open buttons. Remaining inside, Elliot
trained the rifle into the darkness and waited for something to move. Nothing
did. He slung the weapon over his shoulder and joined his companions outside.

“Stick real close to each
other,” Jacob advised.

As one, the group descended
the stone steps to begin their journey. Quickly and in silence, they moved
through the streets. They retraced their steps, and after only a few minutes,
they had arrived at the abandoned Buick. Apart from the occasional howl or snap
of teeth, the wolves stayed hidden in the shadows. When the group moved closer
to the vehicle, the vampire became increasingly agitated.

“Mmmm – Mmmm,” he mumbled
from behind the gag.

Everybody stopped.

“Mmmm – Mmmm.”

“What’s gotten into him?”
Alice
asked.

“I’m not sure,” Jacob
replied.

He looked into the vampire’s
eyes and found a measure of excitement there. “What is it?” he asked. Again, he
was rewarded with another series of animated murmurs. He reached up and slipped
the gag carefully away from the vampire’s mouth.

“BEEP! BEEP!” the vampire
cried.

Everybody looked upon the
vampire bemused.

“BEEP! BEEP!”

“Enough of this,” Banantyne
said, taking a step further away.

Without warning, moving with
a speed unmatched, a large shape shot out from around the Buick to collide with
the captain. They fell to the ground in a flap of arms and legs. It was only
then when the group realised darker shadows had mixed in with the gloom.

Captain Banantyne threw his
arms in front of his face. Powerful jaws clamped together, snapping bones, and a
scream of agony burst from the captain’s lips.

Squirrel looked around him
and at the nightmare of fangs. For a second he froze. Then he heard the captain
scream and was forced into action. He stepped over to the wolf before pulling
his foot back and kicked out at the beast. His boot connected with the thing’s
ribs and he heard a sharp
crack
.

The beast spun to face him.

“Oh … shit,” he breathed.

The wolf’s powerful muscles
bunched around its shoulders. Its head dropped forward as it readied to strike.
Time froze as man and beast stood face to face. The wolf launched itself at the
mechanic in a blur of speed. Squirrel felt a cry of fear rise in his chest.
Instinctively, he squeezed his eyes shut. He heard a sharp squeal of rusted
hinges, followed by a loud, hollow thump. Opening his eyes, he found the door
of the Buick open and the wolf at his feet - bloodied and dazed.

“Inside!” Jacob ordered.

Squirrel turned his attention
away from the downed wolf and looked into flint grey eyes. “What?”

“Get inside, now,” Jacob
urged him. He stepped away from the open door and allowed the mechanic entry.
Squirrel was unceremoniously pushed onto the front passenger seat.

“Move over,” the tracker told
him.

He slid across the front of
the vehicle and took position behind the steering wheel. A few seconds later
Alice
appeared
at the open door. With Jacob’s help, she was quickly pushed into the safety of
the Buick. The vampire followed next as he was roughly pushed across the back
seat.

Jacob turned to Hutson. “You
too, Lieutenant.”

The young woman squeezed off
another series of shots. A short howl sounded. “I’m fine,” Hutson replied,
replacing her spent magazine. She chambered a round into the pistol and took
aim. The firearm cracked and another beast fell.

Jacob spotted countless
shapes materialise around them. He took hold of Hutson’s arm and pulled her
roughly towards the abandoned vehicle. “You’re no good to me dead. Now get
inside,” he ordered.

She spun to look at him, her
eyes ablaze with anger. However, as she looked past him, she saw a mass of dark
shapes closing in on them.

Jacob spun on his heels and
found three sets of crimson eyes staring directly towards him. He heard a brief
crack sound from behind. One of the red eyes blinked out. A painful howl came
from the downed wolf. The beast’s pain was then multiplied a thousand-fold, as
its brethren tore it to shreds.

“What about you?” Hutson
asked.

“Don’t worry about me.”

“Okay,” she replied.

She stepped over the dazed
wolf that had attacked Squirrel, popped open the rear door and climbed in.
Then, she cranked the window down, pointed her weapon at the beast’s head and
sent it to straight to hell.

Jacob dropped the nearest
shadow. Spun on his heels and quickly reached the fallen captain. He bent and
took Banantyne’s arm. Wrapping the guy’s bloodied arm around his neck, he
climbed to his feet. He shuffled awkwardly around to the front of the Buick.
There, he dropped the injured captain onto the hood of the car.

A guttural snarl sounded from
his right. He turned and blood-red eyes fixed him with their ferocious stare.
Peppered fur covered the huge beast in a coating of grey and brown. Danger hid
beneath the crimson eyes. Something else resided there too, an almost human in
its quality, intelligence.

For a second, both Jacob and
the wolf became transfixed by the other’s presence. Then the wolf’s jaws opened
wide. Jacob pulled his firearm from his waistband and took aim. The beast
stared back in defiance. The tracker’s finger pressed against the trigger. A
whisper brushed against his ear. Hannah? He spun and almost tripped over. Wind
whistled through the empty structures, speaking to Jacob in a chime
of
angelic voices.

Let it be
, one voice whispered. A voice that sounded somehow
familiar.

I am your saviour
, another said. This one sounded like that of an
innocent child.

Jacob shook his head and then
turned back to the wolf. It stood with its head held high. Its strange eyes
closed for a second, and Jacob believed the beast heard the same voices. When
the wolf’s eyes reopened, the look of malice had vanished. Now, a respectful
curiosity filled its eyes.

“Jacob, what’s the matter?”
Elliot asked, now at his uncle’s side.

The older tracker became
enraptured by the wolf’s strange behaviour. Elliot shook his arm. “What is it?”
he asked, and the hypnotic spell was broken.

“Nothing,” Jacob answered,
finding his senses.

“Jacob, what the hell?”
Elliot demanded.

“Wait,” Jacob warned, drawing
Elliot’s attention to the strange wolf.

Elliot turned towards the
grey wolf. The beast lifted its head and a long sorrowful howl filled the dark
sky. The attacking wolves froze.

The grey beast stepped
closer. It twisted its head from left to right and released two short, sharp
barks. The wolves on either side howled in disagreement. A series of growls and
grunts silenced the disgruntled horde. Next, unexpectedly, they slipped away. Almost
instantly they vanished back into the darkness. The trackers returned their
attention to the grey wolf. The beast moved around the stricken vehicle,
stopping just a few feet away. It snorted, as if voicing the truce.