Vampire Shift (Kiera Hudson Series #1) (7 page)

I looked at the girl and I could see that she wore a filthy-looking dress. I guessed that once it had been white; but it was now covered with earth and dirt. Her hair was long and matted in filthy clumps to the side of her ashen face. Her fingernails had earth beneath them and her bare feet and ankles were splashed with mud.

“Are you okay?” I asked her. I know that was a dumb question but I couldn’t think of anything else to say.

“Mummy,” she said. “Where’s my mummy?” and her voice sounded deep and hollow.

Starting to back away, I reached for my radio, wanting to call for Luke.

The girl came towards me, her steps long and slow.

“Kristy?” I said, fumbling for my radio. “You are Kristy, aren’t you?”

“I want my mummy,” she said again. “I’m hungry.” And she sniffed the air and licked her lips with a dry-looking tongue.

“I’ll find your mummy for you,” I told her, leaning my head towards the radio.

Sensing that I was going to call for help, she reached for my radio with one filthy hand, and I could see that her fingers were long – more like claws. Stumbling backwards, I yelled into my radio, “Luke if you’re receiving this, I need backup right now!”

The radio crackled and hissed, and the girl covered her ears and screamed as if the noise was unbearable. Then over the sound of the wind and the rain, I heard a tearing noise. It sounded wet and moist – like flesh being ripped from bone. The girl jerked backwards and her back arched. Rolling her head back on her shoulders, she opened her mouth and screeched as if in agony.

Her whole being seemed to ripple and contort in front of me and I shouted into my radio again.

“
Luke! Luke! I need urgent assistance right now!”

Again there was only static.

The girl lowered her head and looked at me. Her eyes glowed like hot coals as if they were on fire. She opened her mouth and her two front incisors were now long and razor-sharp. She came towards me, and for a moment, I seemed unable to move – captivated by her frightening beauty.

All the while she moved towards me, working her way between the gravestones, her hair now bellowing in the wind. The girl rolled her shoulders back as if shrugging and I could hear her bones twisting and stretching beneath her skin. The sound of it shook me from my trance. Focusing on the creature that was approaching me, every survival instinct that I had was screaming at me to
run
!

Spinning round, I raced as fast as I could away from the girl. My legs felt like jelly, and I willed them not to buckle beneath me and send me crashing to the ground. Weaving my way between the rugged gravestones, white plumes of breath squirted from my nose and mouth and disappeared into the cold, black night. From behind me, I could hear the sound of feet fast approaching. Not being able to help myself, I glanced back over my shoulder to see the girl within reaching distance of me. She pounced into the air.

Dropping to the ground, I rolled over onto my back to see the creature go soaring over me. Realising that she had missed, the girl landed and came rushing back. She moved at an incredible speed, her hair bellowing out behind her like a mane. Kristy’s hands looked like talons, and she grabbed for me. Taking a deep breath, I rolled away, her claws snagging at my jacket. Not looking back again, I got to my feet and ran towards the gate in the wall. With my heart feeling as if it were going to burst in my chest, and my arms working like pistons by my sides, I ran for my life.

Reaching the gate, I yanked it open. Sliding over the bonnet of the police car, I pulled open the door and climbed into the driver’s seat. Hitting the automatic lock with my fist, I screamed into my radio one last time.

“Luke! Luke! I need urgent assistance.
Please help me!
”

Nothing.

Finding the key swinging in the ignition, I turned it and the car rumbled into life. Gripping the steering wheel, I looked ahead to see the girl pouncing out of the night sky straight towards the windscreen. Throwing the car into reverse, I started to back down the narrow lane. But she was too quick. Within an instance, the creature had slammed into the windscreen. Cracks started to appear in the glass and they spread across it like a spider’s web. Punching her long talon-like fingers into the bonnet of the police car, they cut through the metal like it was made of cardboard. Then throwing her head back, she smashed it repeatedly into the already cracked windscreen. It broke, showering me in splinters of glass.

“Get away from me, you bitch!” I screamed at her, throwing the gear stick into drive. The creature shot forward, her head coming through the hole in the glass, her razor-sharp teeth snapping just inches from my face. Foam flew from them and spattered me. Slamming down on the brake, the girl flew backwards off the car and crashed into the stone wall that circled the graveyard. I shot forward too, my face smashing into the steering wheel. My nose started to gush blood and I could feel it hot and sticky as it ran over my lips and off my chin.

With my head pounding, I looked up to see the creature lying stunned on the ground against the wall. Stamping on the accelerator, I shot the car forward, my plan to crush her against the wall with the front of the police car. But just before striking her, she looked up, saw the danger that she was in and sprang away into the dark. With no time to react, the front of the police car crumpled against the wall, and again I shot forward in my seat. Sticking out my arms, I managed to absorb much of the impact. Screaming in pain, I heard a thud as something landed on top of the car.

Looking up, I could see the roof begin to buckle inwards as the creature pounded her claws into the top of it. Dazed and confused, I tried to focus as I searched for the emergency lights and sirens. Finding the right switch, I punched it and the night lit up in strobes of luminous blue and red. The sirens started and above them, I heard the sound of screaming. Twisting in my seat, I looked out of the window and upwards, to see the creature, her claws pressed against her ears.

Seizing the moment, I threw the car into reverse again and could have yelled in joy, as despite the damage to the car, it rumbled into life and started to roll backwards. With one hand on the wheel, and looking back over my shoulder, I tried to call for help again.

“Luke! Luke!” I shrieked into my radio. “If you can hear me – please, I need you!’”

Nothing.

With the night sky throbbing blue and red and the w
hoop! whoop!
sound of the sirens breaking apart its silence, I raced the car backwards, the monster wailing and banging above me. I found a gap in the road and spun the car around so it was facing away from the church and back towards town.

I pressed as hard as I could on the accelerator. Blood continued to gush from my nose and it tasted coppery in my mouth. With the back of my sleeve, I wiped it away, and as I did, I saw Kristy scrambling from the roof of the car and onto the hood. With her eyes burning red and her mouth wide open in a scream, she launched herself at me through the broken windscreen. Losing control of the car, it crashed into a ditch, stopping dead in its tracks, lifting me from my seat and bashing my head against the roof. Everything started to turn black, and I fought to stay conscious, knowing that if I didn’t, I would be dead. Climbing onto the crumpled bonnet, the girl crawled towards me.

“Keep away from me,” I cried, reaching for my Taser. Then, at the very last moment, changing my mind, I stuck my hand inside my jacket.

“Hungry,” the girl hissed, climbing into the car via the broken windscreen. Licking her lips with a bright red tongue, spit swung from her jagged teeth.

I looked into her eyes, and they seemed ablaze, as if her brain were on fire.

“Hungry!” she screeched, lunging forward.

“Suck on this!” I screamed and stabbed the tiny silver crucifix into her tongue. Almost at once, the girls eyes grew fat and wide and the brightness within them seemed to fade. Throwing her hands to her mouth, she gagged as if choking on glass. White foam began to ooze through her fingers, her mouth frothing like a rabid dog. Shrinking back from me, Kristy slid down the bonnet as if being dragged by her ankles. Screaming, a gush of milky-looking liquid shot from her mouth. It splattered over the bonnet of the car, blistering the paint. Covering my eyes with my arm, I watched as she shot backwards into the sky, disintegrating in an explosion of ash and dust.

Sensing that the danger was over, I lent back in my seat. My chest was pumping up and down as I tried to gasp in air. Every part of me trembled, adrenaline racing through my body. Then, just when I thought it was all over, I heard the sound of footsteps racing towards the car. Glancing into the wing mirror, I could see a pair of black booted feet coming towards me. With trembling fingers, I reached for my Taser, but as everything around me started to fade, and I lost consciousness. The last thing I saw was Luke’s terrified face looking in at me through the shattered car window.

When I woke, it was dark. I was lying on something soft. Although I felt disorientated and confused, I knew that someone was close. “Who’s there?” I asked, my voice sounding croaky.

“It’s me, Luke,” he said.

“Where am I?’”

“Back in your room.”

My head hurt and my face felt bruised. “Am I okay?” I asked, feeling drowsy.

“You’ll be fine,” he said from the darkness. “Just some cuts and bruises. You were in a nasty car crash.”

“It was a car crash?” I mumbled, consciousness fading again. “There was a vamp -”

“Shhh,” he said, moving away. “We can talk about it tomorrow.”

“Don’t go,” I whispered.

“What?”

“Stay with me,” I said.

“Why?” he asked, coming back towards me in the dark.

“I don’t want to be alone,” I told him.

Then without another word, he climbed onto the bed next to me. Wrapping my arms around him and resting my head against his chest, I slipped back into unconsciousness.

Chapter Eight

It was light when I woke. Dull grey sunlight seeped in through my window, making my room look like an old black and white photograph. My head felt sore, as did my nose, and my mouth felt as if I’d been sucking on sandpaper all night. I was lying on top of my bed in just a T-shirt and knickers and I wondered how I’d gotten here and who had undressed me. Then I remembered Luke had been in my room last night and a vague image of me holding him came flooding back. Blushing, I pulled the blankets over me and called his name. I couldn’t see him, but the bathroom door was closed and I wondered if he might be in there.

Getting no reply, I swung my legs over the side of the bed, and winced at the pain inside my head. In fact, my whole body ached and throbbed and I felt as if I’d been in a car wreck. Then as if being punched in the face, the memories of what had taken place the night before came rushing back. Like a waking nightmare, I could remember everything. Climbing into the open grave, finding the scratch marks on the underside of the coffin lid, Luke disappearing and not answering my calls on the radio, the girl Kristy Hall turning into a vampire and chasing after me as I tried to escape in the police car. Shuddering, I remembered how I had stabbed the crucifix into her tongue, then watched her explode in a pile of dust.

Had all of that really happened? In my head, I tried to tell myself that it couldn’t have, but in my heart I knew that it had, and the realisation made me want to throw up. Hobbling to the bathroom, I knelt over the toilet and heaved. Once I’d been sick, I lent against the bath. What was happening to me? What was happening in The Ragged Cove?

Feeling bruised and battered, I turned on the taps and started to fill the bath with warm water. Shuffling back into my room, I searched for my mobile phone. Holding it up into the grey dawn light, I groaned at the sight of the red signal bar flashing on the screen.

“What is wrong with this place?” I hissed. “It’s like it’s shut off from the rest of the world.”

I desperately wanted to call Sergeant Phillips and tell him what had happened to me and what I’d seen. Whether he would believe me or not, I didn’t know. But I needed to let him know that not all was well in the sleepy town of The Ragged Cove.

The town seemed to exist in its own little universe. None of the telephones worked, the police radios didn’t seem to transmit – even my car radio didn’t want to pick up a signal. Realising that I hadn’t actually listened to any music since my radio went dead in my car two days ago, I pulled my iPod from my case and took it with me into the bathroom.

Easing myself down into the water, I stretched out. Closing my eyes, I popped the earphones into my ears and turned on the iPod. Rihanna started to sing
‘
Only girl in the World’
,
I did feel like the only girl in the world – the
world
I now found myself trapped in.

Closing my eyes, I turned the volume up and rested my head against the back of the bath. Over and over again the memories of what had happened the night before kept playing out in my mind. Could those murders have been committed by vampires? But weren’t they just in movies and books? If I hadn’t been attacked by one, then I would have said yes, but now I wasn’t so sure. Was the boy Henry Blake killed by them? But that sort of thing just didn’t happen. Like my father had been, I was only interested in facts. But I could remember him telling me that once you had studied all the evidence and had dismissed all the theories and rumours, whatever you were left with, however unlikely, was the truth.

Okay, so let’s just say that the murders and disappearances were the work of vampires – who were they? Did they live among the town’s folk by day and kill by night? Were they all gathered together in some secret location? And how many were there?

With so many questions racing around my mind, my head began to hurt all over again. But there was one question that just wouldn’t go away: Where had Luke disappeared to last night? Where had he been when I’d needed him?

Climbing from the bath, I toweled myself dry and brushed my teeth. Pulling on a pair of jeans, T-shirt, and jumper, I tied my hair into a ponytail, and checked out the cuts and bruises on my face in the bathroom mirror. I had a green-blue bump on my temple, my top lip was spilt and I had a graze just beneath my chin. What with the gash on my wrist, I’d never had so many cuts and bruises in such a short space of time.