Under a Ghostly Moon (Jerry Moon Supernatural Thrillers Book 1) (34 page)

Rurik
's victims began to take on more solid forms as Moon channelled their stolen energy back into them.  At his left Sonia released an astonished gasp.  "I see them!" she whispered with startled awe.

Moon wished he could explain what was happening but
he could not allow his concentration falter.  Even this slight distraction loosened his hold on Rurik and he felt the flow of energy reverse for an instant. 
"Not on your life, you bastard!"
the silent yell of an unknown spirit reverberated through Moon and the joint fury of his invisible allies fed him with white hot power.  With the slightest hint of extra concentration he regained control of the flow and Rurik howled with frustration.  If what now stood pinned between the unyielding gnomes could still be called Rurik.  Its form had diminished to merely human proportions, the great wings had almost dissolved into the, now pasty, flesh and that terrible face was fast losing its demonic aspect.  Moon was beginning to recognize those features from somewhere…

A sudden rush of elation, mixed with a touch of deepest gratitude, flowed through him accompanied by a wonder-filled
cry of recognition: "Mary! My Love!" as Connor O'Flynn finally passed happily into the Light, leaving nothing but an echo of peace behind him.

One by one, others began to pass over
.  The psychic backwash of their passing was intoxicating and almost too euphoric to bear.  Sonia and Avril embraced each other and wept freely.  Uri had gathered his ladies to him in a sort of shell-shocked huddle and Moon realised that his own face was drenched with tears.  "Ha!" Rurik's laugh was a bark of abhorrence, cutting across the epiphanous atmosphere like a jagged knife.  "Weaklings! Look at you, so clogged with sentiment! You disgust me!"

"
No, not weakness," said Uri quietly, raising his head to regard his enemy with pity.  "This is what you and those like you cannot understand." He raised a hand, to indicate his companions and the remaining ghosts.  "This..." he choked slightly on his emotion. A single crimson stained tear ran down his cheek.  "This is what makes us human.  When we stand together against evil, this is our greatest strength.  And it will be your downfall."

"
Yes!" agreed Moon gently, and the remaining spirits' voices took his affirmation and transformed it into a word of power, which ripped the remaining energy out of Rurik.

"
No!" The word echoed out of the vampire lord's mouth, a final wailing denial of his defeat that hung in the air as his body dwindled further until all that remained was the unimpressive figure of the pale-faced ringleader, who had tried to run Moon down with his Toyota.  He was also unmistakably very, very dead.  Moon considered attempting CPR.  Did his nurse's duty of care extend to murderous arseholes? "Oh bugger!" he whispered under his breath, it probably did.

"
Many come,"
vibed the leader of the gnomes. 
"We must leave."

"
Thank you for your help,"
replied Moon with a grateful nod.

"
Farewell,"
replied the gnomes, who gathered up their broken limbs before they merged back into the bedrock.

"
Goodbye," said Moon and the others who had heard their words.  He turned to Uri.  "That'll be Inspector Whatley and his men on their way.  I think you'd better make yourselves scarce."

Inspector Whatley arrived in the underground complex with his squad of police officers to find Moon, Sonia, Avril and Ellie surrounded by the dazed and bemused remnants of Rurik's cult.  Several of the cultists lay wounded or unconscious on the shattered linoleum.  However, the last remaining progeny of Rurik's fresh brood of vampires were showing signs of rapid recovery.

Moon was performing CPR on the cult leader, which confused several of the officers so much that they dragged Moon away from the body and had him in handcuffs before the girls had a chance to argue his innocence
.  It was Whatley's timely entrance through the, now shattered, doors of the old canteen that saved Moon from further rough treatment.  "Ease off, lads! I know he looks like trouble but you can't arrest anybody for doing a bad Alice Cooper impersonation, he's still on our side."

Moon raised his fingers to his face and they came away black at the tips
.  The tears that had recently coursed down his cheeks must have spelt ruination for the girls' make-up job.  The gods alone knew what he must look like.  A quick glance at Sonia's mascara-stained features confirmed that 'Alice Cooper' was probably quite accurate.  "Hello, Inspector, what kept you?"

"
Now, Moon, we came as quickly as we could.  Any chance of you explaining what's been happening?" He glanced around at the wrecked floor and the groaning bodies of Rurik's supporters.  "Did you do all this… just you and these three little girls?"

"
It's amazing how much strength you can muster when your life's in danger, Inspector," quipped Sonia.

Whatley
turned towards her and used the movement to mask a surreptitious wink in Moon's direction.  "I suppose so, Miss Crest, but the law will require a fuller explanation than that. I think we'd better all adjourn to the station so we can take your statements." He waved to a woman police constable and pointed to Ellie, who had wrapped herself in a mouldering tablecloth, which barely hid her nakedness.  "Constable Ingles, could you find this young lady something to wear, please."

Moon handed Constable Ingles his jacket
.  "Here this might help."

There was a sudden strangled scream from the back of the
room.  A policeman was struggling in the grasp of one of Rurik's vampiric offspring.  The wretched creature had probably once been a clerical worker, judging by his grubby, ill-fitting two piece suit and burgeoning paunch, but his eyes were now slits of glittering red as he looked up from his victim's throat, a river of crimson coursing down his chin.

"
Help him, lads!" yelled Whatley angrily as several uniformed figures converged on the vampire and his victim.  "Round up the rest and don't be too dainty with your truncheons." He shook his head.  "This is a rum bunch and no mistake.  God alone knows what they're cranked up on!"

The remaining vampires gave the police a bit of a run for their money but greater numbers and expert use of truncheons shortly had them cuffed, subdued and dragged off to a riot van
that was waiting by a long concealed entrance near the Downs' water tower.

"
I'll take these people to the station in my car," Whatley told his remaining officers.  "Mr Moon is the consultant who helped us with the 'vampire killer' case.  He was the one who alerted me to this business and we have a few things to discuss - like how we're going to explain all this away without mentioning ghosts and vampires!" he added under his breath as the officers left the canteen.  "You've handed me a tough one, Moon."

"
I know," replied Moon as they made their way back to the surface.  "There's no way we're going to be able to tell the truth about all this." He looked grimly back down the tunnel.  "I'll tell you one thing though; you ought to get a squad to search this place thoroughly right away.  I hope I’m wrong but I think the body count for this one's going to be huge."

Whatley
's gaze followed Moon's to where the police torches reflected off the mouldering Government Issue paint work.  "Oh shit! I hope not.  It took me an age to get anyone from the MOD to admit that this place even exists.  It's still classified 'Top Secret'."

"
Well, I don't think it will be much longer..."

Moon
's comment was cut off by an urgent cry. "Sir! Over here... Oh, God!" The sound of someone being noisily sick on concrete followed shortly afterwards.  A faint whiff of corruption mixed with vomit wafted up from below.

"
It looks like you're right, Moon." Whatley's face was pale in the torchlight.  "I think I'll let my sergeant and the Scene of Crime boys handle the rest of this.  Let's get back to the station."

Moon thought their trip to the police station must have been one of the oddest on record, with a senior police officer and four witnesses using the time available to fabricate a tale believable enough to fool the criminal justice system.  By the time they reached their destination Moon and the three girls were word perfect in every detail.

Moon woke to the sound of a fist pounding on Sonia's bedroom door.  The flashing display on her digital alarm clock read 1:32pm.  Sonia groaned and tossed around irritably on the other side of the bed.  "What the fuck do you want?" she yelled, poking her face, bleary-eyed, out from under the duvet.  They had arrived home at around five in the morning after their statements had been taken and they had all been checked over by the medics and pronounced fit to leave.

"
Sonia, it's me, Ellie.  My train goes at two-thirty and I thought you'd at least want to say goodbye after nearly getting me raped and eaten by vampires!"

"
Oh, hang on!" Sonia wrapped herself in the duvet and stumbled over to the door, leaving Moon suddenly naked on the bed.  He swiftly grabbed Sonia's teddy bear, which was bright red with devil's horns and a cape, and managed to cover the worst of his nakedness before Sonia opened the door.  "God, Ellie, I'm sorry," Sonia apologised through a tangled veil of bed hair.  "You know, this hasn't been a typical Bristol weekend." She paused, obviously realising how absurd this statement was.  "Are you okay?"

"
I'll survive and it'll be something to tell the grandchildren.”  Moon was impressed by Ellie’s resilience.  There was definitely more to her than her ‘fluffy bunny’ appearance might lead you to believe.  Her blue eyes brightened.  “What interesting lives you live over here.  I'd be tempted to move here if I thought I could survive the excitement! That guy Rufus is very cute." She and Sonia grimaced simultaneously and nodded… "Intense, yeah? ... But cute.  That's the reason why I ended up going off with that other bloke, you know, Rufus came on to me so strong in the pub it left me desperate for something quick and uncomplicated.  But I wouldn’t mind giving him another chance, and I'd love the opportunity to experiment with the Goth scene a bit too.  It seems to be a lot cooler than I thought it was." She looked over Sonia's shoulder.  "Oh, hi Moon, nice... teddy!" Moon smiled resignedly and waved.

"
We don't normally have to fight off plagues of vampires," said Sonia reassuringly.  "Why don't you pop up here for a few weekends and see if Rufus is worth the effort.  That way you can play at being a weekend Goth at the same time."

"
I might just try that.”  Ellie nodded then glanced at her watch.  “Well, I'll see you downstairs.  Don’t take too long or I’ll miss my train…  I'd keep the bear Moon, it suits you." The offending toy thumped off the back of the door as Sonia closed it.

"
Hey! Be careful with that, they don't make them any more."

Moon and Sonia managed to get up and ready in time to join Ellie, who had abandoned her borrowed Goth finery for an outfit in her signature powder blue, for the two bus journey to the station.  Moon often wondered why Bristol's Temple Meads Station was so far from the city centre.  He supposed that it was probably because the city of Bristol had been so well established by the time of the coming of the railways that there was no room for it any further in.  They said goodbye to Ellie at the ticket barriers with the usual promises to keep in touch.

Ellie surprised Moon by hugging him hard and saying shyly,
"Thanks for coming to get me.  Sonia told me it was you who worked out where to find me."

"
Just doing my job," Moon shrugged.  "If the local 'Fairy Mafia' are right about me, that is."

"
I think they are," Ellie laughed.  "There's a real sense of destiny about you, you know."

"
Oh, God, I hope that doesn't mean there's going to be more of this crap!" moaned Sonia.  "One big bad nasty trying to take over the world is enough for one lifetime."

"
We can but hope," observed Moon absent-mindedly as he watched a ghostly Victorian couple wander nonchalantly through one of the walls of the W H Smith kiosk, followed by a red-faced porter pushing a loaded trolley.  He wondered briefly if they were left over victims from a nineteenth century rail tragedy or were just frequent travellers having fun reliving a past trip.  "But I don't think the Spirit World's done with me yet."

"
Well, let me know what happens," cried Ellie as she passed through the ticket barrier.  "And if you ever need any help..."

"
We know..." joked Sonia.

"
Call someone else!" the three of them chorused.

"Do you think we'll have any trouble from the Law about all this?" asked Sonia on the bus home.  The subject had clearly been bothering her.

"
Well, we came up with the most plausible story that we could, given the circumstances."

"
Yeah, but it's a bit 'News of the World', isn't it? 'Crazed Drug Cult in Satanic Sacrifice Shocker!' sort of thing.  Doesn't sound real to me somehow." Sonia shrugged noncommittally.

"
No, not if you put it that way.  But the evidence is all there.  Nearly forty people found dead in suspicious circumstances demands an explanation.  I think the public will probably swallow anything they're told as long as they're sure those responsible are out of circulation.  I guess we'll be seeing the first headlines in a couple of days.  I just hope the press don't connect us with it.  The last thing we want is reporters invading our lives."

"
Oh, God, no! And what about poor Ellie, if they find out she was nearly their final vict..."

Debbie Harry
's voice burst into song from Moon's mobile phone and he stopped her in mid 'hang...' by pressing the receive button.  "Hi, Moon? I hope this isn't an inconvenient moment but I just had to tell someone about this before they start tapping my phone."  Inspector Whatley sounded sickened and more than a little afraid.

"
What's wrong, Art? You sound terrible?" Moon raised his eyebrows at Sonia, who mouthed a silent question.

"
I was called in early for the night shift because three of our suspects mysteriously dropped 'dead' at sunrise."

"
Oh, I see..." said Moon.  They should have expected this but Moon and Sonia's only previous experience of vampires had been Uri and the girls, who were old enough and powerful enough to resist daylight.  It seemed that fledgling vamp underlings were not so resourceful.

"
That's not the half of it.  When we started shipping them out to the morgue one of them got partly exposed to direct sunlight.  Talk about instant revival, she was up off her trolley and laying into our guys like a wildcat as she tried to get back into the shade.  Then she spontaneously combusted.  Poor old 'Hammer' Harris and Jimmy Pearce both had to go to the sick room with second degree burns and Sally Handley had both cheeks gashed by that thing's claws."

"
Poor girl," said Moon, remembering the pretty young woman police constable from the night before.

"
Yeah, she won't be able to sit down for weeks!"

Whatley
's voice was shaking with raw emotion and his concern for his comrades but Moon could detect something else.  "What was all that about someone tapping your phone?" Sonia's eyes widened with surprise.

"
Yeah, I was just getting to that.  When they called me in I was thinking: 'Well there goes our cover-up,' but by the time I was back behind my desk this ministry type in a pin-stripe suit was ushered into my office.  Very expensive pin-stripe suit, you understand?"

"
He was someone high up?"

"
Stratospheric, I reckon.  The report of the incident had gone up the line like a bloody rocket and this guy was the result.  I guess the Secret Service connection with those tunnels might have drawn last night’s happenings to their attention but they were still far too quick to pick this up.  They must have a system in place to identify reports of this kind of thing and feed it in their direction."

"
So he was Secret Service?" Moon was whispering now and checked their fellow passengers to make sure no-one was listening too closely, but they all seemed to be preoccupied with their own concerns.

"
I don't know.  He said he was with ‘S Branch’, but what they're a branch of he didn't say.  I asked if he was sure there was just one 'S' but he didn't seem to get the joke.  All I know is that they took custody of the remaining suspects, the 'corpses', all the evidence and paperwork and bundled everything into a grey, unmarked truck.  They downloaded everything off our system as well, and then made us wipe all we had relating to the case off our hard drives.  All 'in the interests of national security'.  Made us sign extended versions of the Official Secrets Act as well, which is why I'm hoping this gets through their net before they can catch it.  They'll probably visit you next anyway.  I guess it depends on how well your statements stand up to scrutiny, eh?"

"
Thanks for the warning, Art.  I'll find some way to let you know if you're right."

Moon made Sonia wait until they got home before he told her the whole of Whatley's story.  "Looks like a good thing Uri, Roanne and Charli split when they did," observed Sonia.  "If these S Branch types are interested in collecting vampires I think we ought to warn them, don't you."

"
Yes, I do.  And if they do turn up on our doorstep we need to stick rigidly to our original story.  It might not just be vampires they're interested in.  I'm not keen to end my days in a hidden government bunker having my brain dissected to see how I talk to the dead."

"
We need to warn Ellie somehow too.  Perhaps we could risk a phone call before they get onto us."

So Moon phoned Uri
's home and left a message that they needed to meet as soon as possible ‘to discuss some important developments from last night', and Sonia called Ellie via her mobile and explained as obliquely as possible that Ellie may receive some unexpected visitors who would be asking questions about her ordeal with Rurik and that she needed to 'get the facts right'.

"
I think Ellie understood," said Sonia with a sigh.  "I’ve arranged to go up and visit her tomorrow.  She was a bit taken aback but I'll explain everything when I get there." She looked up at Moon.  "I'll be throwing a sickie so you'll have to cover for me if the boss calls."

"
Okay.  So all we need to do now is pop round to Uri's this evening and clue them in."

"
God, this suddenly seems so cloak-and-dagger! I hope it turns out that we're worrying about nothing."  Sonia sighed.  “I thought it would all be over after last night.  Where did all this James Bond crap suddenly appear from?”

Moon shook his head.  “No idea.  Perhaps this sort of thing is happening all the time and the Government covers it up to stop us all from complaining about it.”

"
So, you think this S Branch could be a branch of the Secret Service whose job is to handle anything supernatural?" asked Uri.  "That may be…  I have suspected for some time that there must be something like this in operation.  The Church certainly used to have something of the sort as part of its military arm; and one would expect, in such increasingly secular times, that the Government would inherit the function."

"
But what's the point of keeping that sort of thing secret?" asked Sonia.  The five of them were sitting in the comfortably messy lounge of the vampires' private apartments in the Maddocks' house.  The piles of magazines and books and the pile of DVDs by the TV hinted at something with which Moon was all too familiar; the long hard struggle to avoid the boredom you can experience when your lifestyle is several hours out of step with that of the people around you.

"
This is the age of reason, sweetheart," explained Roanne, running a long finger down the back of Sonia's hand.  She seemed to be amusing herself by coming on to Sonia, having seen how freaked she had been when she and Charli had propositioned them in the club the night before.  "You can't build a civilization on science and rational thought when people are still scared about the monster under the bed.  So I guess they feel it's worth expending the effort to sweep any inconvenient evidence under the carpet to maintain the status quo."

"
Don't tease Sonia, darling," reprimanded Uri.  "If she doesn't want to play it's impolite to labour the point." Roanne wrinkled her nose and rolled her eyes as she pointedly removed her hand from Sonia’s.

"
Anyway," said Moon quickly.  "Roanne may be right but I was thinking they could be more interested along the lines of possible military and espionage applications.  Ghost-speak would be a really useful talent for a spy to have, for instance, or what about using ghosts as surveillance agents."

"
Whatever they're interested in, we don't want them focusing that interest on us, no thank you very much!" said Charli, shaking her head.  "Is there anything we can do to put them off track?"

"
A few of our family members hold some very high up positions in the government.  Perhaps if we ask them they could throw a few spanners in the works," suggested Uri.  "If we alert them to the possibility they could keep an eye open for anything that points suspicion in our direction.  One or two of them might even be able to get transferred into the S Branch itself."