The Falstaff Vampire Files (22 page)

I was shaking again, but a large part of it was anger. I hate to prejudge any creature. But they had almost killed Vi and now they were back to finish the job. I gazed at the curtain. On the other side of it the vague shapes were hovering, bumping against the window gently. Red light flickered around the edges of the door as they explored the cracks.

Vi said looking at them made them stronger, but it was hard to turn my back. I made my way back to the bedroom and closed the door to the hall. Suddenly I went from hyper alert to exhausted. I had a lot of questions for Vi—if we both survived the night.

Chapter 59

Kristin Marlowe’s typed notes

August 27th continued

I awoke to full daylight
with a start, looking around for some kind of attacker. The morning was quiet, wrapped in fog. I put on a terrycloth robe and crept to the front window, unpeeled the duct tape and looked out into the garden. The only eyes that met mine in the cold gray light of dawn were the two feral cats waiting for their morning handout.

I got dressed and grabbed the shoulder bag where Vi kept food and water for them. Meanwhile, in the house, Vi’s cats had come out of hiding. All five of them, including the shy mother and kitten sat in the window. When I went into Vi’s kitchen they all clustered around my feet loudly demanding breakfast. I found a note from Vi taped to the cupboard where I couldn’t miss it.

Dear Kris, I think the Others might kill the cats. I can’t protect them much longer. Please get all of them out of here now. Don’t feed them till you get them in the carrier.

Call Pamela and explain you have to move the house ferals. She’ll lend you a trap.

They’re taking my words, Kris. I don’t know how long before they take my self. Kiss my babies for me. Tell them I loved them as long as I could. I know you will take care of them.

There was a faint red blot on the page, as if from a blood-tinged tear.

Moving the cats
took hours.

I started with Ariel. Vi had once told me he was so smart he would hide the minute he knew what was up. I ferried him across the garden to my bedroom and closed him in there.

Hamlet tried to resist going into the biggest carrier, but he was so terrified that he just froze and I hefted him in and locked the door before he could back out. He was heavy enough that I had to use both hands and brace the carrier against my thighs crossing the garden.

Sly accepted the relocation with only a few despairing mews on the trip across the garden.

Then I brought over all but one of their litter boxes, food and water bowls. I called Pamela about borrowing the trap, but she was out for the day, and it began to get closer to dark. The female cats would have to spend one more night at Vi’s. I left a tiny amount of food and some water for them and went to comfort the other cats.

The office where I saw my clients seemed too close to the Others outside. I hauled the carriers back to my bedroom at the back of the house. It had heavy curtains over the window, and that put two doors between us and the silent horde. I opened the carrier doors and there was a pause. Each cat exited his carrier the same way, belly to the ground, eyes wide, looking for a place to hide. The bed was close and they sneaked under it and hunkered down. I put out food and water, installed a litter box on some newspapers.

The first of the Others came swooping across the sky as I left a brief note for Vi. I was not going out again that night. Neither was Vi, evidently. She was going to stay and protect the girl cats.

I lay on the bed, but there was no sound from the cats underneath. It was going to be a long night for all of us. I found myself touching the scar on my neck. Where was Sir John when we really needed him?

The phone rang. It was Vi.

Chapter 60

Hal Roy’s spoken notes

silver flash drive/voice recorder

August 26th

I got into Washington, D.C.
late in the day on the 25th. It was dark by the time I checked into my hotel. I tried not to think about leaving Mina alone with those hordes of monsters. Until the night before I had assumed she was safe because she couldn’t see them. I could only hope she would follow my instructions and be okay.

As unpacked my suitcase, I heard a knock at the door. I looked out the peephole, half expecting a hotel employee or messenger, and saw two official-looking men, one African American, one Asian. They wore dark suits. The black man held up a photo ID. “Mr. Roy, I’m Agent Fowler,” he said through the closed door. “This is Agent Park. We need to speak to you.”

“What’s this about?” My first thought was a security check for my next assignment but the ID didn’t seem quite right. I kept the chain on the door. “What agency are you with?”

“We’re with the FVIA, sir. The Federal Vampire Investigation Agency.”

“Is this some kind of joke?” I was totally lost. Such a practical joke made no sense. I had never breathed the word “vampire” to anyone Washington. The only people I’d ever told about Jack were my friends in San Francisco and since we’d encountered the Others, any hint of playfulness was gone.

“May we come in?”

I had wanted to meet other vampires. Maybe they could help. I unchained the door and stepped back. They waited. They appeared to need an invitation.

“You two gentlemen can come in.”

Agent Fowler stepped in and Agent Park followed him and closed the door. The hotel room had a table and chairs and an armchair. I sat in the armchair and gestured to my two visitors to sit. They ignored the invitation and continued to stand.

“We have reason to believe that you are responsible for an infestation of alien vampires into the San Francisco area. We need to ask you some questions about that.”

I wondered if they could tell that my guts clenched up like a fist. I waited for a couple of long breaths. Took a few breaths. I didn’t see any evidence that they were breathing. “You say you’re a federal agency, but I’ve never heard of a vampire branch of the government.”

Agent Fowler smiled. “We’re not listed in any official directory. But many secret services could make that same statement. We report to a different authority, but we are just as real as they are. Secrecy insures that we are free to get information in any way we choose. Answer the question, Mr. Roy.”

“I think I need to call my lawyer.”

“Edgar Morford?” This time when he smiled I saw the fangs. “He is one of us. He knows we’re here. He knows what you did.” His eyes were cold as black stones.

“Mr. Morford is worrying about saving his own skin at this point,” Agent Park said.

An icy shiver went down my spine.

“We’d like you to come in with us now. We have some questions.”

“Much as I’d like to help you boys out, it’s late and I have appointments first thing in the morning.”

“Not anymore. We’ve cleared your schedule,” Agent Fowler said. “Cooperating with us just might result in your survival.”

I went with them.
Didn’t have a choice, really. They seemed to know about the Others in general terms—they just wanted all the details. The first night I answered hundreds of questions. One thing they didn’t ask was why I did it. Maybe it didn’t matter anymore.

Chapter 61

Mina Murray’s journal

red digital voice recorder

August 27th

I packed my overnight bag
and some clothes in a shoulder bag. As I faced the door I wrapped a scarf around my head, as if that could shield my eyes.

“Don’t look at them,” I kept repeating as I headed out the door, car key in hand. They bounced along, swarming around but never quite touching me. I looked at the ground. When I got to the car, I slipped in and slammed the door, half expecting them to try to get in as well, but they did not.

I started the engine and suddenly my windshield was full of gray bodies, massing around the outside of the car, staring in. I made it a point to look anywhere but in their eyes, peering out between the arms and legs and faces that writhed around the car.

None of the other cars on Geary noticed the swarm that covered my car. Clement Street was crowded, but people going to and from the restaurants gave no sign that they saw a horde of red-eyed monsters closing ranks around me when I parked the car, got out and started walking down the sidewalk.

The gray things followed as I walked. I looked at the pavement, ignoring them, peering between their bodies as I slowly made my way to ring the buzzer at Kristin’s gate.

Chapter 62

Kristin Marlowe’s typed notes

August 27th

I brought the phone into the front part
of the house and looked out the window, careful to look between the creatures that swarmed over Vi’s house and the cottage. Vi stood at the window. Did her eyes have a faint red tinge, or was that my imagination?

“Be careful, Kris.”

“Don’t worry. I called Morford and he told me you should have learned how to protect yourself.”

“I’m learning. But Morford doesn’t know they killed me.”

I hesitated. “I told him about those things, but not about how you met them before you died.”

There was a long pause. “Maybe it was . . . a bad idea to tell him.”

“Someone has got to help us. Sir John has done a disappearing act. Morford said he’d be in touch.”

“I got your note about the trap. I’m staying in tonight to protect the girl cats. Please trap them and bring them to your place tomorrow. I’m sorry to ask, but it’s too dangerous here.”

“I’ll do it. Don’t worry.”

“I don’t know how long I can hold out.” She hung up. It was full dark now, and the red in her eyes was bright as neon. Why hadn’t I seen it before?

There was a spark of red behind her. She did not turn. But over her shoulder I could see the impassive face and round red eyes of one of the Others.

They were in the house with Vi now.

I jumped at the sound of the front gate buzzer.

As it buzzed, my phone rang again. I answered the phone first, thinking it might be Vi.

It was Mina. “Kristin, I’m at your gate. I’m in trouble. Please buzz me in.”

After I pressed the button to open the gate, I watched her carefully pull it closed behind her. It would have swung closed, but I was glad to hear it click shut.

Mina walked down the path with her head bent down, as if dodging a heavy rainstorm.

“Hi.” I opened the door and pulled her in without ceremony, terrified that inviting her in would bring in the Others.

She didn’t hesitate. The minute I closed the door we looked at each other. I almost didn’t have to ask. “Do you—?”

“You see them too, don’t you?” She looked around, her eyes settling on the duct tape.

I sighed with relief. “Yes, I do.”

“Hal’s house is covered with them. They followed me to my apartment and then here.”

“Let’s go in the office. We can talk there.”

Mina laughed a shaky laugh. “You’re right. It would make me feel safer not to see them, even though I know they’re out there.”

We instinctively took our places as if for a therapy session, myself in my chair, Mina on the sofa, but this time both of us were sitting forward, leaning close. Her fear had come home to inhabit me. “What can we do, Kris?”

I was still clutching my cell phone. “I’m going to try calling for help.”

“Who could help?”

“Maybe the local vampire organization.”

“Wow, Kris. When I first told you, I wasn’t sure you even believed me about the vampires. Now you’ve got their phone number.”

“It seems like forever ago.” We both laughed. “I just hope they’ll help us.”

Morford answered the phone on the first ring. “Edgar, it’s Kristin. I spoke to Vi earlier. She was bit by the Others before Sir John brought her over. She’s afraid they might get into her house.”

“Is she planning to invite them in?”

“No! Of course not. But I think you should help us.”

“What you’ve told me indicates that our contract may have been breached, and we may be forced to terminate our arrangement.”

“Thank you so much—I’m glad to hear that your first priority is your contract. If you just let them kill us, won’t they come for you next?”

“You are most persuasive.” Morford’s voice was cold as dry ice. “We have one expert on this. It’s too late to reach him tonight. I will speak to him tomorrow night. I’m sure he’ll want to talk to you both.”

“How about some ideas about how to survive this night?”

“I’ve told you as much as I know. All vampires can see these creatures, but we cultivate mental skills to remove our attention from them. Some vampire-bitten humans see them and feed them, and then it is very hard to eradicate them. I have never seen a horde so large as you describe. This is most—disturbing. We will be in touch tomorrow night. Distract yourself till dawn, don’t go near them, and try not to talk or think about them too much. It makes them stronger.”

“I guess we’ll see you tomorrow night then—assuming we’re still alive. Do you know how to contact Sir John?”

“You would know that better than I, since he fed from you.”

“How would you suggest—hello?” I put the phone down and looked at Mina. “The bloodsucking bastard hung up on me.”

Mina laughed. “I’ve never heard you swear.”

“I’m having a bad night.”

She laughed again. “Me too.” Then her face grew solemn.

“You might want to wait here. I want to check on my friend.” I approached the window cautiously, unpeeled the tape and peeked around the corner of the curtain. The mass of Others who covered Vi’s house were seething, concentrating on windows and doors. Could they really get in? The windows had a rosy glow that seemed as if lit by a red light bulb. I didn’t like the look of that.

A couple of Others popped up on the other side of my window glass, and smacked gently at the window.

I slammed the curtain shut, resealed the duct tape and turned my back on them. Back in the office, I closed the door behind me firmly.