The Forever Song (34 page)

I opened the door, and a body tumbled out of the refrigerator, landing at my feet with a gasp of pain.

Chapter 17

“Dr. Richardson!” Zeke exclaimed, hurrying forward. I backed up as Zeke pulled the human away from the fridge, sitting him against the counter. He was an older human, with hair as white as his lab coat and sharp black eyes. His skin was pale, his lips blue as he gasped and coughed, sucking in deep, shuddering breaths. Zeke knelt beside him, waiting patiently until the fit had passed, and the human looked up at him in surprise.

“Mr….Crosse?” the man wheezed, staring at Zeke as if he couldn’t quite believe it. Zeke gave a faint smile, and the human shook his head. “You’re back. When…did you get here?”

“A couple days ago,” Zeke answered and leaned forward. “I came as soon as I could. Dr. Richardson, what happened here? Where is Sarren?”

“Sarren?”

“The vampire,” I supplied. “Tall, bald, scarred-up face?”

Wants to unleash a supervirus to destroy the world?

“Sarren.” The scientist’s face, though pale, drained of its remaining color. “So that’s the demon’s name.” His eyes glazed over, unseeing, as he stared at the wall. For a moment, I thought he might faint. “God help us all.”

“He was here, then,” Zeke prodded, and the human nodded, still in a daze. “Where is he now?” The man didn’t reply, and Zeke leaned forward even more, his voice calm but firm.

“Doctor, there’s no time. Please, tell us what you know.” “He never told us,” the scientist whispered. Abruptly, he turned and grabbed Zeke’s arm, his expression pleading, almost wild. “He never told us anything,” he insisted, “except what he wanted us to do. When we finally realized what was happening, what we were helping him create…” The man shuddered so violently the back of his head hit the counter, but he didn’t seem to notice. Zeke gently pried the hand off his arm, his gaze intent.

“What was he creating?”

“We tried to stop him,” Richardson said, still staring at nothing. “We tried to resist, to get him to see reason, but he was insane, raving mad. He…he started killing people, civilians, that he took from the city. Said he would torture and kill someone every hour, and make us watch, unless we agreed to help.” Dr. Richardson covered his face with his hands. “What could we do?” he moaned. “There were children in the group.”

Zeke went motionless, his eyes and expression dark. I knew what he was thinking, and hoped, desperately, that it was not the case.

“Dr. Richardson,” Kanin said, his voice low and deliberate, “you have been through much, but we need to know. What, exactly, were you helping with? What was Sarren creating?”

“Requiem.”

The word was a whisper, barely audible. But it sent a cold lance through my insides, freezing everything around me. I remembered. I could see Sarren, looming before me with bright, mad eyes, his voice a slow croon.
The requiem has started, and when the last melody plays, the only applause will be sweet, eternal silence.
Dr. Richardson’s voice echoed dully, seeming to come from far away. “He called it…Requiem.”

For a moment, there was quiet. Then Kanin’s voice came again, low and calm, as the Master vampire stepped forward. “And what is Requiem?”

Dr. Richardson slumped against the counter, rubbing his eyes. Dropping his hands, he took a deep breath, as if steeling himself for a confession.

“It’s a virus,” the scientist said, confirming what we all knew. “A mutated strain of the original Red Lung virus.” He seemed to regain his composure; his expression became less wild and staring, though his voice remained grave. “I’d never seen it before, but somehow, this version has mutated so that it affects both live and dead cells. So, not only is it fatal to humans…”

“It affects vampires, as well,” Kanin finished, and the scientist nodded wearily. “Was anything changed? Did Sarren mutate it further?”

Dr. Richardson wiped his brow, then continued in an overly clinical voice. “There are a lot of technical terms and scientific jargon, but I’ll try to explain this as simply as I can,” he said, glancing at me, as if I wouldn’t understand if he used a lot of big words. I bristled, but kept silent as he continued.

“The mutated strain the vampire brought in could be transmitted via airborne pathogens,” Dr. Thomas began, “much like the original Red Lung virus, or the common cold. That’s how Red Lung spread so quickly sixty years ago. But the mutated virus could not be transmitted from a live host to an undead one except through internal consumption of the host’s blood.”

“Meaning, the vampire would have to bite the infected human to get sick,” I said.

“Yes,” Dr. Richardson agreed, looking impressed that I was following along. “Vampires can’t catch a cold—they don’t breathe or cough or share toothbrushes. And the fact that they are, technically, dead makes it impossible for diseases to incubate. A virus needs living cells to survive. But Sarren changed that. First with the mutated Red Lung virus, and then with Requiem.”

“What did he do?” I asked when the human paused. Dr. Richardson swallowed hard.

“You know that the mutated virus already attacks vampires.” He gazed around at all of us, his expression grave. And I realized that he knew what we were. Maybe not Zeke, but he had definitely guessed that the three dark strangers looming over him were vampires. “Well, Sarren took it a step further. I don’t know what he was thinking, but the madman infected the rabids.”

“Yeah, we kinda figured that out,” Jackal broke in impatiently. And, though his words were mocking, his voice was tight, as if he was in pain. Alarm flickered through me as he put a hand to his neck, wincing. “On account of the damned things running around in the halls. You’re not telling us anything useful, bloodbag.”

The human’s eyes widened. “They’re out there?” he breathed, sounding horrified. He scrambled to his feet, and Zeke grabbed his arm to help him up. “Were you bitten?” the human asked, staring around at all of us. “Were any of you bitten?”

Jackal’s gaze narrowed, and he went very still. “Why?”

The man stumbled away from us, one hand to his mouth, the whites of his eyes showing above his fingers. “You have to leave,” he said, still backing up frantically. “Now. You must go, you can’t be here—” He hit the wall, then trailed off, dropping his arm from his face. “Oh, what does it matter?” he whispered, sinking to the floor. “We’re dead. Everyone is dead. There’s no stopping it now.”

Jackal stalked up, grabbed the man by the collar and dragged him to his feet. “I don’t feel particularly patient right now, doctor bloodbag,” he growled, baring his fangs as the rest of us started forward. “Wanna tell me exactly what you mean by that?”

The human stared at Jackal wearily, seemingly unconcerned with the fangs inches from his face. Brazenly, he reached out and grabbed the vampire’s shirt collar, pulling it away from his neck.

My stomach twisted as Jackal’s pale skin was bared to the light. The puncture wounds at his throat had darkened, the flesh around them turning a familiar, decaying black. Black veins were crawling up his neck from where the rabid had bitten him, spreading across his jaw like inky spiderwebs.

“You’re infected, vampire,” Richardson stated in a flat voice, and looked past him at the rest of us. “That’s what Sarren changed. Requiem can be spread between undead creatures and living beings alike. If an infected rabid bites you, you get the virus. If you feed from an infected human, you get the virus. If an infected vampire feeds from a human, that
human
contracts Requiem, which can then be spread to other humans via airborne pathogens, just like the common cold.” The scientist gave a short, slightly crazy laugh. “Oh, and the most interesting fact? The virus spreads between rabids and humans in the same way. So, if one rabid contracts Requiem…”

“They all do,” I whispered.

I felt dazed, the ground unsteady beneath my feet. So, this was how Sarren was going to end the world. With a virus so devastating, nothing would be alive when it was done. If Requiem got off the island, if Sarren unleashed it on the outside world, it was over. For everyone, vampires, rabids, and humans alike. No one would survive that plague. Eventually, we would all be dead.

Jackal gave a vicious, almost desperate growl and shook the human in his grasp. “What about a cure?” he snarled. “There has to be a cure. You meatsacks worked on this virus right beside Sarren. You have to have made something to counter it.”

“There is no cure,” Dr. Richardson whispered, shaking his head. “No cure. We tried. When Sarren wasn’t looking, we tried to develop something to counter it. But we didn’t have enough time.”

“What about him?” Jackal demanded, jerking his head at Zeke. “He survived Sarren’s first plague. Whatever you gave the little bloodbag seemed to have worked.”

“It’s different now,” the human said. “The virus is different, much stronger. If we had more time…” He closed his eyes. “But it’s over. Sarren destroyed the experimental cure and all the research we had accumulated—everything we’d learned up until now is gone. We were so close,” he choked out. “So close to finding a cure. The vaccines we gave Mr. Crosse were almost successful. If we only had vampire blood… that was the only thing we were missing. But it’s too late.”

“Are you blind, meatsack?” Jackal said, still baring his fangs. “You have four vampires standing right here.”

“There’s no time!” Dr. Richardson burst out. “The research is gone! Everything we learned, wiped clean. Sarren left a few minutes before you showed up, with the virus! And once Requiem hits the world, it’ll be over. It’s done, vampire. This is the end.”

Jackal snarled and hurled the human away. He flew across the room, struck the computer desk on the far wall, and slumped to the floor, moaning.

The monitor on the desk suddenly flicked on. As Zeke hurried over to help the scientist, I stared at the computer and the image that appeared on the screen. For a second, I watched it move, puzzled at what it could mean. When I figured it out, my blood ran cold.

“Kanin,” I whispered as the Master vampire turned, his gaze narrowing. The screen was dark, except for a set of tiny red numbers in the very middle, counting down.

2:46.

2:45.

2:44.

“Huh,” Jackal muttered as the whole room realized what was happening all at once. “That clever sonofabitch.”

Kanin spun on all of us. “Everyone, move!” he roared, and we scrambled to obey. Zeke paused to drag Dr. Richardson to his feet, looping an arm over his neck, but Kanin swept up, plucked the human from Zeke’s grasp, and tossed the semiconscious man over one shoulder as easily as a grain sack.

“Go,” he ordered, and Zeke went, joining me as I waited impatiently for them both at the door. Together, we fled, following Jackal out of the room and into the maze of hallways, before Zeke took the lead. I hoped we would not run into rabids while fleeing for our lives, but apparently that was too much to ask.

A rabid appeared at the end of the hall, its face a mess of blood and gaping wounds, one eye clawed from its socket. Seeing us, it gave a shriek that echoed off the walls and sprang forward, jagged, infected teeth going for my throat.

I didn’t slow down. Drawing my katana, I met the rabid head-on, slashing through its bony chest even as we collided and it sank curved talons into my shoulder. It clung to me, ripping and clawing even though its lower half was gone. Snarling, I threw it off and kept running. More rabids blocked our passage, and we cut our way through, ignoring the claws that ripped at us, dodging the teeth snapping at our necks. A rabid sank its fangs into my sleeve, barely missing my skin, and I tore it free impatiently, pausing only to slice the thing’s legs out from under it. Infections and viruses be damned; if I was bitten I’d worry about that once I got out of here.

Bursting through the lower level doors, we fled up the stairs, the screams of rabids echoing behind us. We didn’t look back or slow down. The entrance loomed at the end of the foyer, thick metal doors that were probably locked or sealed shut. Jackal and Zeke hit them at the same time, driving their shoulders into them, and the doors flew open with a bang. We leaped the steps and tore across the empty lot…

…and a tremendous
boom
erupted from the lab behind us, the shock wave slamming into my back, knocking me off my feet. An intense wave of heat followed, and bits of glass, rubble and flaming wood showered me as I rolled, trying to keep my head covered. Finally, I pushed myself to my knees, avoiding the glass and bits of fiery debris scattered around me, and looked back at the building.

Not surprisingly, it was demolished. The roof was gone, the windows blown out, and the remaining walls were blackened to a crisp. Flames roared through the windows, sending black smoke into the sky, as the last hope for a cure burned with the laboratory.

Wincing, I looked around for the others. A few yards away, Zeke lay on his stomach, and Jackal was struggling upright. Kanin, already on his feet, walked over to examine the body of Dr. Richardson, lying on his back on the pavement.

Wincing, I crawled over to Zeke, praying he wasn’t badly hurt, but he groaned and pushed himself to a sitting position, staring bleakly at the burning lab.

“Zeke.” I put a hand on his shoulder, peering at him carefully, searching for wounds. “Are you hurt? Were you bitten?”

“No.” He shook his head numbly. The firelight danced in his eyes, casting flickering shadows over his face as he gazed at the inferno. “That’s it, then,” he whispered. “The research is gone. There’s no hope for a cure. No hope for anything now.”

No.
A growl rumbled in my throat, and I grabbed his arm, dragging us both to our feet. Anger and determination burned hotly in my stomach as I turned him to face me. “Sarren is not going to win,” I said, making Zeke blink. “I am
not
giving our forever to that sick bastard. This isn’t over yet.”

A groan echoed nearby, as Dr. Richardson shifted and struggled to a sitting position, Kanin looming over him. He tried to get up, but gasped and grabbed his left arm, cradling it to his stomach. The elbow was soaked with blood, and something sharp poked out from beneath his lab coat.