Vampire Shift (Kiera Hudson Series One #1)

Vampire Shift (Kiera Hudson Series One #1) Page 21

I was struck by how bony and repulsive the priest looked. His body was sickly white and sinewy looking. The skin that held his bones together looked waxy and taut. The wings that arched from his back were black and leathery. They looked torn in places and the membrane was tattered and frayed. With his arms around me, he dragged me upwards, through the freezing night air. Snow pelted my face like ice cold pellets.

"What do you want from me!" I screamed over the howl of the wind.

"You're unique," he roared, his eyes, bright and knowing.

"How?" I yelled, as we swooped left and right.

"Like your mother!"

"Where is she?"

Father Taylor grinned, opened his mouth as if to answer, then screamed in anger. Before I'd realised what was happening, I was falling, rushing down through the night, my clothes rippling and my hair fluttering wildly. Spinning over and over, I caught a glimpse of what had caused the priest to release me. Murphy had dived in towards Taylor, and punched through his wings. Losing control and altitude, the priest spiralled back towards the graveyard, his wings looking broken and limp.

Screaming, I fell behind him, the pressure of the wind crushing my chest. The church's steeple came into view and I raced towards it. With every second it got bigger and bigger until at the very last minute, I felt two powerful arms snaking around my waist. Looking round, I could see that it was Luke who had me. Soaring away from the steeple, Luke smiled down into my face, his fangs gleaming.

"Okay?" he asked, holding me tight, making me feel safe at last.

"I've been better," I said, looking into his face. "I thought you'd been banished?"

"Not exactly," he said, banking right, sending my stomach into a series of somersaults. "We knew that if I went away, it would flush Phillips out. He wouldn't have come for you with me hanging around."

"Why does everyone keep using me as bait?" I shouted over the wind.

"It must be those pretty eyes," he smiled back at me.

"So where did you go that night," I asked. "when I was calling for back-up?"

"At the graveyard?"

"Yeah."

"I saw Taylor fall on the way back to the church," he explained. "I was just about to go and help, when I saw Phillips step from the dark. Not believing that it could be him, I went to take a closer look. Then I heard all hell breaking loose, so I came back to help and that's when I found you in the car wreck."

Pressing my face against his chest, I felt safe, and those intense feelings that I'd experienced the night we had shared together came flooding back. My whole being seemed to tingle. I felt this sudden urge to tell him that I loved him, but I couldn't, it would have sounded stupid right? No one falls in love so quickly, especially not me. But deep down, in that place where you go at night - the place where you keep your inner most feelings, I knew that I did.

Swooping to a sudden stop, Luke hovered by the branches of a tall tree. Lifting me gently into them, he said, "Stay here, you'll be safe."

"Don't leave me," I said, not wanting to let go of him.

"I'll be back for you," he smiled, then leaned in and kissed me.

Reaching for him, I ran my fingers through his hair, and pressed my lips tight against his.

Easing himself away, he said, "I've got to go and help my friends." Then looking into my eyes, he said, "Wait for me." Then he was gone, corkscrewing up into the night like a jetfighter.

"I've got nowhere to go," I breathed as I watched him speed towards Murphy, who was soaring after Rom.

From the treetop, I saw Luke and Murphy race after Rom in a flicker of black shadows. Like the night that Luke had first saved my life, the both of them moved so fast through the sky that they seemed to blur out of existence. Looking ahead, I could see Potter and Phillips tumbling over and over through the air as they fought with each other. Holding my breath, I watched as they plummeted towards the church roof, then through it. Roof slates, chunks of masonry and stone exploded up into the night. Within seconds, the door of the church burst outwards in a spray of splinters as Phillips came crashing through it and into a nearby gravestone, which cracked in half under the force of him colliding into it.

Potter appeared in the church doorway, and wasting no time, he launched himself at Phillips who lay momentarily stunned in the snow. Just as he was about to get up, Potter was on him, his wings shimmering in the candlelight shining from within the church. Potter thrust his head forward and I could hear his teeth tearing and biting at Phillips who lay screaming beneath him. Potter's attack was frenzied, black jets of blood pumping from wounds on Phillips' face and neck. The snow all around them started to turn crimson and I looked away. Even though Phillips had lied to me and had something to do with my mother's disappearance, I still didn't want to watch him die, being ripped to shreds in a bleak and barren graveyard.

Then, I saw them, the remaining vampires, speeding amongst the gravestones towards Potter who had his back turned to them. Knowing that they were only seconds from him, I screamed, "Potter! Get out of there!"

Potter drew away from Phillips and looked up, the lower half of his face dripping with blood. Seeing the approaching vampires, he sprang into the air, leaving Phillips lying lifeless in a crimson mound of snow. Potter looped in the air, then came racing back towards the vampires. But like Potter, some of the vampires had heard my scream from up in the tree and this had drawn their attention to me. Splitting, three of them raced towards the foot of the tree and started scrambling up the trunk towards me. They climbed like spiders, the sound of their long fingernails scratching against the rough bark. Within seconds they were clawing their way over the snow laden branches and scuttling towards me. Reaching into my pocket for the crucifixes and bottles of holy water, I nearly fell from the tree, when I realised that they had gone.

"Where are they?" I cried. "Please, please, please, let me find them!"

I patted both pockets to make sure, but both were empty. Realising they must have fallen out while falling through the sky, I frantically backed away up the branch from the approaching vampires.

Hissing and spitting, they came forward, their eyes glowing red and orange. Leaning back, I kicked out at one of them.

"Get the fuck off me!" I screamed.

The heel of my boot smashed into the jaw of the lead vampire. There was a cracking sound as his jaw broke and stuck out at an odd angle. With a crooked smile, he snapped his jaw back into place.

"Is that the best you can do?" he screeched and continued forward, sniffing the air like an animal on the scent of its prey.

With nowhere left to go, I prayed that perhaps one of the Vampyrus would come and save me. But as I said my silent prayer, I heard the roar of Luke and Murphy's wings as they screamed past me in pursuit of Rom. I glanced down, and through the branches of the tree, I could see that Potter was enthusiastically ripping to pieces the vampires that had gone after him.

Knowing that if I were to survive, it would be down to my own wits and courage, I had an idea. Reaching out, I ripped two solid-looking branches away from the trunk. Both were about twelve inches in length and were splintered and ragged at each end. Placing one over the other, I made a cross. Holding it out, I waved the makeshift crucifix desperately in front of the vampire's face. It recoiled as if in fear, its lips rolling back and revealing its fangs.

"It works," I whispered with relief.

Then the vampire looked at me and gave a knowing smile as if it had been tricking me all along. "It hasn't been blessed," the vampire spat and lunged at me.

Recoiling in horror, I pulled my arms against my chest to protect myself, the branches jutting out from my hands. The vampire landed on top of me, its teeth snapping inches from my neck, its breath hot against my flesh. It jerked violently against me.

"No!" it spat, and lurched back away from me, the glow in its dead eyes fading. Then looking down, I saw one of the branches that I'd been holding, protruding from a bloody hole in its chest. The vampire looked down at the jagged piece of wood sticking from it. Sensing its fear and revulsion at the sight of the makeshift stake, I dared to lean forward, and gripping the branch, I drove it further into the vampire's heart.

"Away!" it screamed, clutching frantically at the branch with its claws.

"Just die!" I screeched, and twisted the piece of wood deeper into the red pumping wound. Almost at once, its claws began to turn grey, then crumble like the ash on the tip of one of Potter's cigarettes. The vampire's fingers seemed to snap and break, the wind snatching them away in small, broken particles.

Looking down at its dissolving fingers, the vampire howled, "Look what you've done to me!"

Then reaching out, I thrust the branch with the heel of my hand, so far into its heart, that the piece of wood disappeared.

Just like its hands, its face began to crumble away, like smashed plaster. First its jaw went and its swollen black tongue rolled down onto its chest. It made a disgusting flopping sound and I turned away. Covering my face with my hands, I peeked through the fingers that still held the second branch. Within moments the vampire had disintegrated into a pile of smoking ash that swirled away on the snow.

Undeterred, the second vampire came forward, scuttling along the branch towards me. I brandished the ragged piece of wood at it and screamed, "Come on then!"

Crazed by its lust for blood, it lept through the air at me. Steadying myself against a fork in the branches, I rammed the makeshift stake into its chest. Shrieking in pain, it shot backwards out of the tree, its claws clutching at the air. As it fell, it hooked its ivory-coloured fingernails into the hem of my jeans and dragged me out of the tree with it.

"Please don't let me die!" I screamed, wrapping my arms around a branch, and clenching my teeth. Looking down, I could see the vampire swinging from my leg.

"LET...GO...OF...ME!" I screeched. And in between each word, I kicked out, desperate to shake the vampire loose. It wailed in agony, and with its free hand it tried to pull the stake from its chest. But as it did, the vampire's fingers started to fall to pieces in little powdery chunks.

Bit by bit, the vampire slowly began to disintegrate like a sandcastle being swallowed up by a wave. The hand that was holding onto my leg separated from the vampire's wrist and it fell from the tree, smashing into a powdery mess against a gravestone below. Kicking out my leg, I shook the vampire's hand free and it blew away.

"Thank you God," I breathed.

Hoisting myself back up into the tree, the third vampire came scuttling towards me through the branches. But my heart ached and tears welled in my eyes, when I saw it was Henry Blake looking back at me. Those flash bulbs popped behind my eyelids again, showing glimpses of that crime scene. His tiny broken body, neck and torso ripped apart. Then they were gone again, as quickly as they had come.

"Henry," I whispered.

Ignoring me, he advanced, his eyes burning red, lips twisted up into a snarl baring his pointed teeth.

"Please, Henry," I whispered again. I just couldn't bring myself to destroy him. Still he came forward, and I knew in my heart that he wouldn't show me the same compassion that I wanted to show him.

Then he was upon me, knocking me back into the branches of the tree where I became entangled. I twisted beneath him, trying to keep my neck and face away from his lunging bites.

"No, Henry!" I screamed, but he was deaf to me.

Then he was gone, flying backwards through the branches, his tiny hands snatching for anything to take hold of. He seemed to dangle in the air. Then Potter came into view. He was holding the kicking and spitting boy out at arms length.

"Going soft, Constable Hudson?" he said in his cocky manner.

"He's just a child," I said back.

"He's a monster," Potter said, this time his voice was low and serious.

"I can't watch," I told him.

"Don't then," he said.

I looked away, and even though I covered my ears, I could still hear the screams of the boy - monster - as Potter ended it for him.

"Are you coming or are going to play around in this tree all night?" I heard Potter say once he'd finished with the boy.

Looking back over my shoulder, I could see Potter hovering on the other side of the tree branches. His wings flapped steadily up and down, his arms down by his sides, his stomach muscles taut.

Shame about the personality, I thought to myself as I looked at him. Then, placing one hand over the next, I climbed towards him. Lifting me into his arms, he held me close as we raced back towards the ground. Potter was travelling so fast that it didn't seem like he'd given us enough time to stop and land safely.

"Slow down!" I shouted, my heart in my throat as the ground raced up to meet us.

Then opening his giant black wings, we slowed and landed as gently as a feather upon the ground. Seeing that he had shaken me, Potter smiled and said, "There's no need to get excited."

Pulling myself free of his grasp, I looked at him and said, "I can promise you, Potter, that there is nothing that you could ever do that would excite me."

Smiling, he produced a cigarette from a pack in his trouser pocket, lit it, and blew smoke up into the night. Then with the cigarette still dangling from the corner of his mouth, he winked at me and was gone, soaring back up into the sky. I watched him go as he headed towards Luke and Murphy, who were struggling with Rom.

From behind me, there was a noise. Spinning round expecting more vampires to be rushing me, I saw Father Taylor come limping from the shadows of the church. The tips of his battered wings were trailing in the snow. Crouching down behind a gravestone, I watched him approach Phillips' broken and bleeding body. Kneeling beside him, he leant over and seemed to study his friend's injuries.

Part of me wanted to step from my hiding place and ask him what he had meant when he had told me that I was 'unique'. But more than that, I wanted to ask him what had happened to my mother. But before I'd the chance to muster up the courage, there was the sound of beating wings above me. Looking over my shoulder, I could see Luke, Murphy, and Potter dragging Rom between them from the sky. Taylor must have heard them too, because as I looked back, he had lifted Phillips into his arms, then with a struggle, he flapped his wings in a series of jerky movements and flew away into the night.

Stepping out from behind the grave, I approached the others who now had Rom captured between them. He struggled, but it was pointless. Looking at them he said, "Just get it over with, but know, there are others like me."

"Who?" Luke snapped.

Rom just smiled at him. Coming closer, Murphy saw me and said, "Kiera, go away, this has nothing to do with you."

"It has everything to do with me," I told him. "He knows what happened to my mother." Then going face to face with Rom, I looked into his eyes and said, "Where is she?"

Looking back at me, Rom smiled and said, "If you can't see her, then I'm real sorry about that."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Look and you will see, Kiera. But be careful of what you look for - you might not like what you find!" he said, lowering his head, resolute to his fate.

I knew that he would say nothing more. It was as if his final pleasure would be to torment me. Taking me by the shoulders, Luke looked deeply into my eyes and said, "Kiera, you don't need to see this."

"But -" I started.

"He can't be changed or cured," Luke said. Then turning away from me, he spread his wings, along with Murphy and Potter, to shield me from what they were about to do.

Turning away, I could still hear the sound of biting, ripping, and tearing.