The Cross (25 page)

Chapter Forty-Eight

Moments later, the helicopter was hovering steadily over Bal Mawr’s courtyard – then began to settle groundwards, the hurricane from the rotor blades tearing at the hawthorn bushes on the walls. The chopper’s skids flexed under its weight as it touched down, and the deafening screech of the turbine instantly began to dwindle to a howl, then to a roar. The blazing white light suddenly faded to darkness.

Inside the library, Chloe looked at Dec. Dec looked at Chloe, and then at Knightly, whose jaw had dropped open.

And Joel was rushing towards the door before Dec could finish yelling ‘Where are you g—?’

As Joel burst out of the library and into the hallway, he could hear the sound of footsteps outside. Three sets of feet, running, approaching fast.
Too
fast – the kind of speed that was beginning to feel uneasily familiar to him now. He braced himself for what was about to happen next.

And he wasn’t surprised when the heavy front door crashed open with a violence that tore it half off its hinges.

Joel stood and stared as, one by one, the three black-clad figures stepped in through the wrecked doorway and returned his gaze. Of the two males, one was blond and handsome, the other short, ruddy and swarthy. The third was a female, fierce-looking and muscular, with a shaved head. Tribal tattoos ran down either side of her neck. Her eyes burned with hate.

They weren’t from the coastguard. Joel knew what they were even before he noticed the swords dangling from their belts. He could smell it, taste their presence. Vampire sensing vampire.

The female was the first to draw back her lips to reveal her white fangs, fully extended for attack. Joel felt a twinge behind his lips as his own vampire teeth responded to the sudden threat. His hunger-weakness was completely forgotten.

‘What do you want here?’ he shouted.

‘We want you,’ the female spat, pointing at him. ‘Federation traitor!’ Before Joel could reply that he had nothing to do with the Federation, she’d whipped out the piratical cutlass from its scabbard and was advancing on him, swishing the short, curved blade through the air with a grin.

‘Cut him, Elspeth,’ laughed the blond male.

Joel backed away. The blade came slicing towards him; he bent his knees and launched his body into the air out of the path of the blow. Landing lightly on a sideboard he reached up lightning-fast and grabbed the antlers of the enormous stuffed moose head that was mounted on the wall above it. He tore it away and brought it crashing down on the heads of the three vampires. The one called Elspeth slashed wildly at him, but the antlers blocked her blade and chips of bone went flying.

With all the strength he could muster and a brutality he’d never known before, Joel bludgeoned her repeatedly, keeping up his frenzied counter-attack until he had all three pinned back against the wreckage of the door.

Behind him, Knightly and Dec had burst out of the library and were standing gaping in the middle of the hallway. Chloe was peeking around the door with a look of terror. Joel glanced back at them, waving frantically for them to get back – taking his attention off the three vampires for just a fraction of a second too long. Elspeth’s cutlass hilt smashed into his face and he was sent sprawling on his back. He heard Chloe scream.

Then the blond vampire was leaping at him, fangs bared in a lunging bite. Not to drink his blood – Joel knew that – but to tear out his throat and then twist his head off.

Weakened and half-starved as he was, Joel knew there was no way he could take on another vampire in hand-to-hand combat – let alone three of them, armed and well-fed and plainly very angry. He lashed out with a wild punch, felt it connect, heard the grunt of pain and the snap of the vampire’s teeth as they closed on empty air. He scrabbled to his feet, narrowly avoiding another furious swipe of Elspeth’s cutlass.

Up the hallway, the three humans were still standing there as if paralysed. ‘Run!’ Joel screamed hoarsely as he sprinted towards them.

The first to break out of his trance, Dec grabbed Chloe’s arm and hauled her bodily out of the library doorway.

‘Go! Go!’ he yelled, breaking into a mad dash and shoving Knightly on ahead of him. Joel raced after them. ‘Faster!’ Knightly let out a keening blubber as he ran, his face turning from ashen grey to purple.

The three vampires were right behind them and gaining with every leaping bound up the passageway. Joel picked up a little gilt ornamental side table and hurled it back over his shoulder. It smashed apart over the swarthy-looking vampire’s head but barely slowed him down. All three had drawn their blades now, holding them out in front of them as they pursued their prey.

A few yards ahead, Dec skidded around the corner of the salon doorway and emerged a second later with Knightly’s flintlock pistol in his hand, still clutching Chloe’s arm in the other. ‘Joel, out of the way!’ he yelled at the top of his voice.

What the hell was the kid doing? Instinctively Joel flattened himself against the wall. With a look on his face that Joel had never seen before, Dec aimed the heavy pistol at the pursuing vampires and pulled the trigger. The gun roared and a tongue of orange flame spat through the billowing white smoke that engulfed Dec from head to foot and filled the passage. Joel ran on blindly through it to where Dec was standing blinking and coughing with the discharged pistol in his hand.

‘
Move!
’

They sprinted on, slipping on polished wooden floors and tripping over Knightly’s antique Persian rugs. Through the dissipating smoke came the three vampires, all still very much animate, swishing their swords. Elspeth had a big round bleeding hole in the middle of her chest and her eyes burned with even more ferocious hatred than before.

Dec threw a disbelieving glance back over his shoulder. ‘It didn’t fucking
work
!’ he screamed. Chloe grabbed his sleeve and tugged him onwards, pressing a hand into Knightly’s back at the same time to make him move faster.

The vampire hunter’s breath was coming in great wheezing gasps. ‘It’s not happening!’ he panted. ‘It’s not happening!’

They went dashing round a corner, Knightly almost crashing headlong into a bookcase. Up ahead was the circular hallway dominated by his ancestor, Sir Eustace, astride his rearing charger. Urging the three humans to keep moving, Joel slowed his pace, grabbed the towering horse by one of its legs and jerked with all his strength.

Close on two tons of glittering steel plate came toppling down with a resounding crash. The horse went sprawling on its side; saddle and armour broke loose and cannoned off the wall. The knight fell apart as his mount collapsed under him. Shield, breastplate, pauldrons, codpiece, chainmail and the knight’s great plumed helm all spilled clattering to the floor in a chaos of debris right in the path of the running vampires. The blond one tripped over a tumbling arm-guard and took Elspeth with him as he went down – but the swarthy-looking one made it over the heap of collapsed armour, scrambled over the side of the fallen horse and launched himself at Joel.

Joel twisted out of the way of the slashing blade and it embedded itself with a crunch in the wall. Spotting the fallen mace, he kicked away the knight’s gauntlet that was still attached to it and snatched up the weapon. Only the strongest of medieval warriors could have swung the spiked iron ball on its thick chain, but to a vampire, even a vampire dangerously close to starvation, it felt like a pumpkin on the end of a rope.

Joel swung it at the swarthy vampire’s head and caught him a massive blow in the shoulder as he tried to dodge out of the way. The vampire was sent spinning violently back into the debris, knocking Elspeth over again just as she’d been getting to her feet and reaching for her fallen cutlass. She let out a howl of rage, shoved her battered companion aside and came running, sword flailing.

By then, Joel had already dropped the mace and turned and bolted after the fleeing humans, just in time to see Dec haul Knightly through an archway up ahead and bundle him through a huge riveted iron door, closely followed by Chloe. He raced through the door after them and crashed it shut with his shoulder. Dec was instantly at his side, slamming home the sturdy deadbolts and wedging shut the door with a short length of scaffold pole.

‘That’ll hold the fuckers,’ he said, dusting his hands.

‘Not for very long,’ Joel replied doubtfully. He looked around him. ‘What is this place?’

‘Armoury room,’ Dec said.

Knightly was leaning heavily against the wall, bent double with his hands on his knees, wheezing loudly. Chloe’s face was pallid.

‘You all right?’ Dec asked her softly. She nodded. He touched her arm tentatively, then turned and strode over to the rack of weapons. He reached for one of the crossbows, grabbed a handful of silver-tipped bolts and began to stuff them into his belt.

A heavy thump seemed to shake the walls. The vampires had reached the armoury door.

‘We don’t have a lot of time,’ Joel warned.

‘What
are
those things?’ Chloe said in a whisper.

‘What do you think they are?’ Joel asked her sharply.

She couldn’t say it.

‘Vampires,’ Dec grunted as he cocked his crossbow. ‘That’s what the fuckers are. And we’re going to frigging murder them.’

Knightly hadn’t spoken a word until now. His face had turned grey and he spoke in a quaver. ‘Wha—wha . . .
real
vampires? But it’s impossible . . . They weren’t invited in . . . How could they cross running water . . . get past the hawthorn . . .?’

‘You told me that silver ball would work, Errol,’ Dec said, fitting a bolt to his bow. ‘I got the bitch right in the heart. What’s going on?’

‘I . . . I don’t know,’ Knightly stammered. ‘Perhaps the silver wasn’t pure enough . . .’

Another crash, louder this time, brought a shower of plaster down from the ceiling. A long crack appeared between the blocks in the wall by the door. The scaffold pipe that Dec had wedged into place clanged noisily to the flagstones.

‘Dec, there needs to be another way out of here, right now,’ Joel said urgently.

‘I say we stand and fight them,’ Dec said, slinging the loaded crossbow over his shoulder and grabbing the spray gun with the holy water canister. ‘We’ve got all this stuff.’

‘Bad idea,’ Joel said. ‘And that stupid thing’s not going to work, either.’

‘What do you mean, it’s not going to
work
?’ Knightly roared indignantly, forgetting his fear for an instant.

‘Trust me,’ Joel said. ‘I know.’

‘I believe in it,’ Dec insisted, clutching the spray gun. ‘It’s holy water, Joel. Blessed by a priest.’

Crash
. They all turned. The armoury door had begun to buckle. An iron rivet fell to the floor. The cracks in the wall had widened a quarter of an inch.

‘Suit yourself, kid.’ Joel grabbed a pair of katanas from the sword rack and tossed one to Knightly, who fumbled and almost dropped it.

‘What about me?’ Chloe said. ‘I know how to use a sword.’

‘You need to take the head off,’ Joel told her, tossing her another katana. ‘Swing hard and hope the blade’s sharp.’

‘They’re silver,’ Knightly croaked.

‘Fuck silver,’ Joel said, but his words were drowned out by another crashing impact against the door, louder than before.

The vampires were using the medieval mace. One more blow like that, and they’d be inside.

Chapter Forty-Nine

The armoury door was battered off its top hinge and there was an eight-inch gap between its upper edge and the stone-work. A hand darted through the gap, groping for the lock. Dec quickly aimed the crossbow and fired. The hand withdrew as the bolt whanged harmlessly into the wall. There was no time to reload.

‘We have to go, Dec,’ Joel said. He unsheathed his katana and tossed the scabbard away. He wouldn’t be needing it.

Dec dropped the bow. ‘Fuck it, I think you’re right. This way! Through the archery range. There’s another door.’

Joel grabbed Knightly’s arm and yanked him away from the wall. ‘
Move! Move!
’

Seconds after they evacuated the armoury, Joel heard the final devastating crash as the iron door gave way to the power of the mace and the vampires came roaring inside.

Dec led the way. Nobody spoke as they hurried onwards. Through another door, along another passage, around another bend.

And suddenly they were facing a fork in the road. The passage divided between two flights of stone steps, one leading up and the other leading down.

‘Where does that go?’ Joel asked Knightly, pointing at the downward staircase.

‘Cellars,’ Knightly mumbled. His whole body was trembling. ‘I think.’

‘No good.’ A cellar was a deathtrap, even if the door held. Down below ground, the vampires could happily besiege them for eternity while all four of them starved.

That was if Joel didn’t find an alternative food source among his human companions that would enable him to outlast them. He couldn’t let that happen.

‘What about that one?’ he asked, pointing at the other stairway. ‘Quickly.’

‘That leads up to the old servants’ quarters,’ Knightly blurted. ‘Right at the top of the house.’

There wasn’t a lot of choice. ‘Okay, that’ll do,’ Joel said. Chloe bounded up the stairs, Dec behind, Knightly following. Running up behind them, Joel could hear the vampires giving chase.

The staircase curled into a tight spiral as it took them higher. It smelled of rats and mould. Plaster was falling off the walls and the only light came from the occasional dim bulb, crusted with dead moths and old spiders’ webs.

The humans were getting tired. So was Joel.

But the vampires racing up behind them weren’t slowing down.

‘I’ve had enough of this,’ Dec said suddenly. ‘Get back, Joel.’

‘What are you doing? Keep moving!’

‘I want to give them a dose,’ Dec said. The fierce look Joel had seen in his eyes before was back again. He turned on the stairs and brandished the holy water spray gun.

‘Dec, I told you. That thing’s not—’

But Dec wasn’t listening. As the thundering footsteps of the vampires drew nearer and their shadows appeared on the spiral wall, he squeezed past Joel and trotted down two steps, ready to fire. Elspeth was the first to appear around the corner. She saw Dec standing there and her fangs parted in a grin.

‘Ready to bleed?’

‘You ready for this, bitch?’ Dec let loose with the spray gun. ‘
Yaaaaa!
Die, you bastards!’ he yelled triumphantly as the strong jet of water shot down the steps, splashing everywhere.

Elspeth screamed and started clawing wildly at her wet skin.

For an instant, even Joel began to think it was working. Until Elspeth threw back her shaven head and began to laugh. ‘Fooled you.’ Moving faster than the human eye could track, she lashed out and tore the spray gun out of Dec’s hands. Crushed it into pieces. Emptied the canister down her throat and tossed it away with a giggle. ‘Refreshing. But that wasn’t what I’m thirsty for.’

She lunged again to grab Dec, but this time Joel got there first. He chopped the blade of his katana through her arm – and this time her scream was for real. The severed limb flopped to the floor, its fingers clawing against the steps. Elspeth toppled backwards in shock, sending the blond vampire and his swarthy companion tumbling down a dozen steps.

‘Go!’ Joel roared, pushing Dec violently upwards. Chloe was screaming, ‘Come on! Come
on
!’

‘I don’t believe it!’ Dec yelled at Knightly as he ran. ‘Errol! Fucking
dissolves
them, you said!’

Knightly made a helpless gesture. Chloe kicked him. ‘Keep moving, asshole!’

Then, suddenly, they’d reached the top of the stairs. They found themselves on a narrow dingy landing with ancient creaky floorboards that stretched away into the shadows. A rat scuttled off at their approach. To their left and right were peeling old doors. Joel booted one open and flicked on a light switch, revealing a damp-streaked servant’s bedroom that had obviously been unused for the past several decades.

‘Great,’ Chloe said. ‘Where to now?’

‘That way,’ Knightly said, pointing to a rusty metal ladder leading to a cobwebbed hatchway in the ceiling. ‘The roof. You three can jump into the moat.’

Joel pointed at Dec and Chloe. ‘You’re crazy, Knightly. There’s no way a h—’ He’d almost said ‘human can jump that height’. ‘There’s no way a height like that can be jumped.’

He could hear the footsteps on the stairs. The vampires were approaching. Taking their time. They must have sensed that their victims were cornered.

Dec stared at Knightly. ‘What do you mean, “you three”? What about you?’

Knightly seemed suddenly, strangely composed. ‘I’m staying here,’ he said quietly. ‘I’ll hold them off while you escape.’ Reaching behind his neck, he slipped the chain of the big silver crucifix he wore over his head, gripping the stem of the cross with a determined set to his jaw.

‘I’m going to make you suffer
soooo
badly,’ Elspeth’s voice echoed softly across the landing. The vampires had reached the top of the stairs and stood silhouetted in the dim light. Elspeth was still clutching her cutlass in her remaining hand.

Joel wearily raised his katana. He’d been lucky a moment ago. He knew he wouldn’t be lucky again. This would be the final standoff.

‘They’ll kill you,’ Dec said to Knightly, looking at the crucifix and understanding what the man intended to do.

‘It doesn’t matter any more.’ Knightly gripped Dec’s shoulder tightly. ‘Listen to me. I have to tell you something. Jill – you saw her picture, Declan – Jill left me. Because . . .

because I can’t have children. There. I said it. I’ve never told anyone else before.’

Chloe wasn’t listening. She quietly unsheathed her katana and held her breath as she watched the three vampires step closer. She closed her eyes. Saw her dad’s face in her mind. Thought one last time about the man who had murdered him.

‘I so much wanted a child of my own,’ Knightly went on, blurting it all out while he still had time. His eyes were filling with tears. ‘A son, who could be everything I could have been. A real vampire hunter. Not a pathetic phoney like his father. Yes, yes, I admit it.’

The vampires were approaching slowly down the hallway. The scrape of a blade being dragged along the damp plaster. A low chuckle. A glimmer of fangs and the glint of a blade.

Chloe opened her eyes and tightened her grip on the katana’s hilt. She was ready now.

‘Take the money in the chest, Declan,’ Knightly hissed. ‘Everything. The house. It’s yours. Use it. Be what I could never be. Now go, while you still can.’

‘Don’t talk crazy,’ Dec said. ‘Come on. We can all make it.’

‘Take care of Griffin,’ Knightly whispered. With a last wild stare at Dec, before Joel could stop him, he took off down the landing towards the three vampires with his crucifix raised.

‘Errol, you stupid eejit!’ Dec yelled. ‘Get away from them!’ But Knightly was beyond recall. His voice echoed down the stairs as he cried out ‘Get back, ye foul creatures of darkness! Back to the shadow whence ye came. Return to your coffins. Begone, I say!’

‘Shut your stinking hole, human,’ Elspeth said, and with a stroke of her cutlass Knightly’s head toppled from his shoulders, went bouncing back across the landing and bumped into Chloe’s feet. She screamed. Knightly’s decapitated body staggered backwards a few steps, still clutching the crucifix; then his knees buckled under him and he collapsed twitching to the bare floorboards.

‘That’s shut him up,’ the swarthy-looking vampire said. ‘We haven’t seen one like that for a long while,’ said the blond one.

‘Got to give him credit for trying,’ Elspeth chuckled. She pointed the bloodied cutlass at Joel. ‘Enough amusement. Now it’s payback time.’

‘Come and get us,’ Dec said through gritted teeth. ‘Let them go,’ Joel said, stepping in front of him and Chloe. ‘You can do what you want with me. You’ll be doing me a favour.’

The three vampires burst out laughing. ‘Not quite what we had in mind,’ the blond one said. ‘First the humans die,’ said Elspeth. ‘Then we deal with you. Then we wait for the other one. Gabriel’s orders.’

Dec stared confusedly at Joel. ‘What does she mean, “the humans, then you”?’

Joel ignored him. ‘Which other one?’ he asked Elspeth. That was when a familiar voice spoke from the head of the stairs.

‘
This
other one.’