Something of the Night (35 page)

“What?” Jacob asked.

“Over there,” Ezekiel
repeated. His finger drew the tracker’s attention to a third tank, its tracks
cutting up the earth as it lumbered towards the line of refugees. A gout of
fire leapt from its snout. A second later one of the transports was reduced to
a twisted heap of molten metal. Mercifully, the truck’s occupants had seen the
tank coming and fled before the missile hit. Still, the humans’ plight was
rapidly becoming desperate.

Jacob took a fleeting look
upwards.

“What are you looking for?”
Ezekiel demanded.

“I’ll let you know as soon as
I see it.”

The tank beside them sprang
to life again. The right tracks rolled backwards, tearing a deep rut into the
earth, and the cannon cut to the right, homing in on the human convoy. They
heard the now familiar
clunk
of a shell being loaded.

“I’ll take care of this one,
you that one.” The vampire gestured quickly to another tank. Jacob took a long
look upwards. “Hurry!” Ezekiel warned, as the tank furthest away climbed
towards the line of refugees.

“We should stick together,”
Jacob said.

“There’s no time. Go!”

Jacob took one last look
upwards before darting away from the vampire. He zigzagged his way to the rear
of the next tank, slid to a stop, and found himself sharing his cover with
three other cowering vampires.

“Find your own cover,” one of
the vampires said, having been unexpectedly pushed closer to open air.

“Hey, no sweat,” Jacob
responded.

His hand moved like lightning
and, suddenly, the vampire found himself with a hard growth protruding from
under the collar of his uniform. The smoke grenade bulged underneath the
vampire’s jacket, giving the soldier a large hunchback. In the next second the
unwanted growth began to release a thick cloud of caustic smoke.

Choking, the vampire cried,
“HELP ME! HELP ME!”

Jacob did just that. He spun
the vampire around and then fixed the toe of his boot up into the seam of the
soldier’s rear. With arms flailing, the vampire fell away from the tank and
directly into a barrage of bullets. He spun full circle, like a ballet dancer,
and then toppled to the ground. The remainder of the smoke continued to billow
out. In a stroke of good luck the thick cloud blew back towards the tank,
obscuring the battlefield from those inside.

One of the remaining vampires
took a swing at Jacob. The tracker blocked the attack and then landed a punch
squarely on the other’s chin. The soldier dropped instantly to the floor. The
other soldier disappeared into the darkness, screaming for help as he did so.

Under the cover of the smoke,
Jacob moved around to the front of the tank. It wasn’t long before the cover
began to thin. He looked up and saw the scattered line of refugees trapped on
the trail above. The Major’s army was desperately trying to hold ground. More
and more soldiers climbed towards them, weapons blazing.

The tank growled maliciously.
The tracks at his side turned into a dangerous blur. Jacob felt the earth at
his feet shift as a wave of soil threatened to bowl him over. Somehow, he kept
to his feet and managed to stay clear of the mass of metal. The tank shuddered
to a stop, the centre of the human convoy in its sights.

Thinking quickly, he pulled
the pin from the last smoke grenade and held it out at arm’s length. The
cylinder sputtered, threatening to fail. Then, with a cough and splutter, it
began to release a thick plume of white gas. The wind caught the smoke and it
began to spread thickly, blinding all those around. As if caught in indecision,
the tank jerked from left to right, unable to pinpoint its intended target.
Jacob seized his chance. Jamming his free hand into his jacket, he retrieved
the last frag grenade. The pin sprung free with a metallic ping. He climbed up
onto the turret then yanked the access panel open. Two crimson eyes looked up,
full of surprise.

“Hi there,” Jacob said. He
grinned, and the tank driver’s surprise turned to irritation.

“What the hell are you doing?”
the vampire asked, thinking Jacob was one of his own.

“Delivering this,” answered
the tracker, raising his hand.

“What’s that?”

“Your doom… ” Jacob dropped
the grenade.

With surprisingly quick
reflexes, the vampire caught the small cylinder and then looked at the letters
stencilled along its side. Fear replaced irritation in a heartbeat. The vampire
looked up, his arm tensing, ready to launch the grenade to safety. A clang of
metal sounded as the grinning face above disappeared from view.

Jacob jammed his boot over
the access panel, counted to five, picked the softest spot he could find, and
then launched himself clear. He hit the earth and rolled onto his feet. Like an
oversized pressure cooker, the turret popped open and a wisp of thick smoke
wafted quickly upwards.

For a second, Jacob watched
as the dark tendril climbed towards the sky. Then, he caught sight of a deeper
darkness cutting its way towards him. His heart skipped a beat. The discharge
of weapons broke for a moment and the sudden clatter of rotor-blades drifted
towards him.

Black Bird!

Chapter
Fifty-Two

The woods swelled in all around Elliot. He stared
open-eyed, trying to draw in as much light as possible. He shivered, the injury
to his left side drawing the cold to it like an elemental magnet.

Isaac watched as the human
struggled to remain conscious. The boy that was clutched in his hand twitched
and thrashed. Isaac stepped back as Elliot crumpled to the floor. Seeing the
human’s rage was spent, Isaac turned his attention back to the boy. Flint-grey
eyes, threaded with green and brimming with terror, stared back at him. The
vampire’s mouth twisted itself into a frightful smile, cold-bloodied and
dreadful.

“Fear not, child. I will be
quick,” Isaac promised.

The boy jerked back in an
attempt to escape.

Feebly, Elliot kicked his leg
out, but the limb felt as if it weighed a hundred pounds.

“Let… him… go… ” Elliot
managed to say.

The vampire shook his head.
“Too valuable a prize. I have spent too long dining on the pitiful scraps that
Ezekiel has thrown my way. Now, I will taste blood that is unadulterated.”

“Bastard,” Elliot cursed.

Isaac laughed.

The darkness pushed heavily
against Elliot. He felt the last threads of strength snap and, unable to keep
his eyelids open, he succumbed to the deep abyss of unconsciousness.

Isaac’s attention returned
instantly to the boy. Effortlessly, he drew the child closer, young flesh
inches away from cruel fangs.

A sudden noise, deep within
the woods, halted the vampire’s fangs. They stayed pressed dangerously against
the boy’s throat. Isaac’s eyes shifted to the left, where something dark and
fleeting had moved just within his field of vision. The snap of a twig brought
his head up. He squinted and the darkness retreated, drawing back into the
tangle of trees. More movement. From both the left and right.

“Show yourself,” the vampire
demanded. His free hand rose and the pistol appeared as an extension to his
arm.

A willowy figure broke
through the trees. Fire from nearby explosions reflected brightly off its head.

Pet cleared the line of trees
and stopped abruptly. The helmet on his head continued to flicker with red and
orange phantoms, leaping and dancing as the night continued to burn. Pet
offered Isaac a crooked smile, his lips still held fast by the tight chinstrap.

“What are you doing here?”
Isaac asked. His lust for blood and this unexpected intrusion had turned him
sly and defensive.

Pet stood rigid, and the
crooked grin continued to play across his face.

Anger and irritation formed
Isaac’s features into a ghastly, stretched mask. “Be gone with you,” he
snapped.

Pet just stood there,
grinning foolishly. Isaac squeezed off a shot but it missed by a mile, cutting
a branch in two, somewhere high above Pet’s head.

It was then when Isaac sensed
something circling around him, drawing up silently from behind. A low rumble
sounded and its resonance reminded Isaac of something untamed. He spun around
and was confronted by a large, muscular body. The shadows shifted slightly and
the peppered wolf materialised. Open jaws dripped with saliva. More shapes
appeared, all around him, some slipping out of darkness from around Pet. They
ignored him and instead closed in around Isaac.

“Wait… ” Isaac said
foolishly. Their intentions were apparent. Three wolves took up position to his
left and a dark mass swelled in on his right.

Teeth snapped together.

Isaac trained the pistol on
the dark bulk to his right. His finger tightened around the trigger. A searing
pain sent a shiver of agony through his body. His finger sprang away from the
trigger and he turned to find jaws clamped around the wrist of his other arm.
Like the teeth of a saw, the wolf’s jaws hacked through flesh and bone. The
appendage came away. A bright jet of blood turned the night red. The rest of
the pack became intoxicated by the rich stench as they darted in. Pulled under
by a tide of fur and razor-sharp fangs, Isaac began to drown under a sea of
writhing bodies. A cry for mercy struggled to surface, but the plea was washed
away by the sickening sound of tearing flesh.

Within seconds the vampire
lieutenant had been reduced to scraps of tattered material and splintered
bones. The large peppered wolf tilted its head back and a chunk of red flesh
disappeared inside its powerful jaws. Taking two bites only, the wolf devoured
the vampire’s heart.

Pet took a few anxious steps
forwards, fear and trepidation making his legs move slowly and with caution. A
bright red muzzle turned towards him and he spun, ready to bolt back the way he
had come. For although the pack had been willingly led to this place, Pet was
now fearful that they would turn upon him and reduce him to little more than a
plate of scraps. Hoping to go unnoticed, he took a few wary steps away. A snap
of jaws halted his escape. The large peppered wolf drew away from the feasting
horde. It took a couple of steps towards Pet and then dropped its bloodied
muzzle into the undergrowth. With surprising gentleness the wolf nudged at the
young boy’s shoulder. Small eyelids fluttered and the boy awakened. He reached
out with one hand and caressed the beast’s head. The wolf released a woof of
acceptance. Pet moved closer, surprised by the show of affection.

An unexpected noise forced
the wolf to spin around, its hackles raised high.

“Get away from him,” Elliot
managed to say. A weak plume of breath bled from between grey lips. He reached
out and his hand found the rough edges of a rock. He pulled the lump of granite
onto his blood-soaked chest. Then, using the last of his strength, he raised
the rock above his head. As if it weighed fifty or more pounds, it wavered for
a second before falling back to earth with a slight thump. Exhausted now,
Elliot slipped back towards unconsciousness.

The wolf moved to intercept.

“No! No!” the boy cried,
springing to his feet. He jumped between Elliot and the wolf. “No,” he
repeated, wagging his finger in front of the beast’s nose. The wolf dropped its
head and looked back submissively. “Stay,” he instructed. Then turning he fixed
his attention onto the mortally wounded man.

Pet stepped closer. “No
hope,” he commented, with a mournful shake of his head.

“No,” the boy said.

At first, the vampire thought
the boy had voiced a concurrence, but then, seeing his small brow furrow, he
realised he had actually spoken in disagreement. “No,” the boy repeated, this
time with an additional shake of his head. He dropped to his knees and leaned
closer to the injured tracker.

Elliot’s chest heaved up and
down in short, shallow breaths. With gentle fingers the boy began to work
Elliot’s jacket higher. It peeled away from the tracker’s pallid flesh like a
bloodied layer of dead skin. Now freed from the tight material, the bullet-hole
began to spurt with blood. Hurriedly, the boy clamped his hand – palm flat –
over the wound. Rivulets of blood leaked out from around the boy’s spread
fingers. Using his other hand, he pushed down over the back of the first.

Pet moved closer, cautious to
avoid the large grey wolf. As he sidestepped the beast, a distant burst of
explosive fire turned the woods orange. Something metallic glinted at his side.
He bent and found a small pistol, its stock smeared with a glistening of blood,
half-buried in Isaac’s remains. He plucked it free.

The boy began to examine
Elliot’s wound more closely. Just a small hole really, which belied the severity
of the tracker’s internal injuries. Another spray of blood arced over the boy’s
shoulder. Quickly, he jammed his index finger into the wound, temporarily
halting the flow. His face turned into a mask of grim determination and his
finger disappeared deeper. Elliot shuddered, but remained mercifully
unconscious. The finger delved deeper, now almost as far as the second knuckle.
Now, the fingertip met solid resistance. Forming his finger into a hook, the
boy began to work the bullet free. It slipped and he was forced to try again.
For a second time he dug at the embedded slug. He relocated it and again hooked
his fingertip around it. He pulled and the lump of twisted lead came free. With
an audible
pop
it appeared, caught within the crook of his finger. A steady
pulse of red spray beat from the open wound. The little boy looked up at the
vampire and his eyes were filled with expectation.

Pet understood exactly what
needed to be done. He raised the weapon above his head. With a series of loud
claps, the weapon fired up into the night sky. Pet pulled the trigger until the
entire clip had been emptied. Then, wasting no time, he bent forwards and
plunged the red-hot muzzle into the open wound. Blood and flesh sizzled as the
intense heat began to cauterise the injury. The little boy began to clap his
hands enthusiastically as the gunmetal slowly withdrew from the charred hole.
Dark wisps snaked out of the wound, followed by watery red pus. The pistol came
away and a small blob of red gore fell from the end of the barrel.

Elliot coughed and his chest
rose as his lungs filled to capacity. Colour spread from around the wound,
quickly replacing the pallid greyness of his flesh with a healthy red tinge.
His lips became engorged as the rerouted blood began to find its way through
veins and arteries.

“Saved,” the boy said,
beaming happily.