From nowhere, an ear-splitting siren erupted. The few vampires milling near us froze for a second then they began to run as if the hounds of hell were after them.
‘Oh fuck,’ Gloria whispered. Her vicious expression had been replaced by terror. Suddenly I knew exactly what was happening.
‘The maze monster,’ Justin said. ‘It’s on its way.’
Robert shook his head. ‘No.’ His voice was laden with doom. ‘It’s already here.’
And then it really was.
Chapter
Twenty-Four
Ihad envisaged many things when I’d learned of the vampires’ nemesis but my imagination had not conjured anything remotely close to the truth. This was a creature born of darkness, hatred and bed-wetting nightmares.
It was large, matching the likes of Dusty in terms of size, but this was no benign worm. Its body was vibrating with malevolence. It wasn’t furry like a cat, but neither was it scaly like a reptile; from a distance, it appeared to have a tough hide like that of a bovine animal.
Its skin was a dull-orange colour, as if it had lain beneath a sunbed that had gone wrong. That didn’t look so bad, I decided; it should be easy to pierce with the right weapon. Then a vampire rushed towards it with a gleaming blade and threw it forcefully at the beast’s flank. The weapon bounced off uselessly. Ah.
The monster screeched, doubtless from annoyance rather than pain, and its high-pitched scream reverberated around the cavern walls. Although it had bounded out of the tunnel on four legs, it raised itself onto its hind quarters and thundered first one way then another.
I noted the clumps of matted hair on its head, the black-stained teeth that looked sharp enough to gnaw through bone, and the dark flashing eyes that promised blood and violence. The irises appeared to be ringed with red. Hmm. I checked the monster’s teeth again; they looked like fangs. Had this thing once been a normal vamp?
There was a rush of air from behind me: William had burst out of the Bureaucratic Suite. Magic fizzed around him as he cast the same spell he’d used to render me helpless. I held my breath as I waited to see if it would work – I certainly felt the enchantment as it flew through the air. But there was no sign it even tickled the monster, and it didn’t bother the damn creature in the slightest.
‘Impervious to magic,’ I muttered under my breath. Extraordinary.
There was a fluttering sound to my right. I looked across and saw six vampires, each holding identical crossbows. The monster saw them too and started to charge. The vamps released the bolts. All six hit their target – and all six bounced off the beast and fell away.
Nothing worked, but everything and everyone had a weak spot and it was simply a matter of locating it. My gaze travelled down the monster’s body…
‘Take these chains off!’ I yelled to Gloria who was literally paralysed by fear. Goddamnit. I turned to Justin and Robert but they were no longer there. The pair of them had fled. ‘William!’ I shouted. ‘Get this crap off me! I’ll take it on. Let me…’
I didn’t get the chance to finish my sentence. The monster huffed dark puffs of smoke from its nostrils, turned and charged. It wasn’t coming for me or the archers, though: it had chosen a different target. My stomach dropped. Oh no. OH NO.
Penelope was in the same place she’d been in when she’d waved at me, and she faced the stampeding monster head on. Iknew that she was tough but I doubted any vampire would be tough enough to deal with this.
I screamed again at William to remove my bindings and tried to hop, shuffle and rush towards her. Thomas also reacted by raising his hands and running at the beast. It slammed into him and knocked him aside; much like a cat, it had selected its prey and nothing and no-one would knock it off course.
It all seemed to be happening in slow motion. From six metres away the monster launched itself at Penelope and clamped its jaws around her neck. I tried to reach her but the fucking ropes and chains were hampering me. Long before I could get anywhere near, the beast – and Penelope – had vanished into the same tunnel from whence it had appeared.
Thomas gave a low, keening wail of despair. The other vampires sagged, some with horror and some with hopelessness. One or two glanced at me and I felt their burning glares of censure that suggested it should have been me. If I’d played the role of sacrificial lamb, Penelope would still be here. Instead, there was nothing left on the spot where she’d been standing a moment earlier.
‘It’s over,’ William said dully. ‘It won’t return for another month at least. We’re safe for now.’
Safe? For fuck’s sake. ‘William,’ I began.
He raised his hands. ‘No. I don’t want to hear it. Nothing has changed. It’s time for you to leave the Understream, Ms McCafferty. Don’t come here again.’ He gazed after the departed monster. ‘Not if you value your life.’
My escorts might have been thirstingfor my blood before Penelope was taken but afterwards they didn’t have the energy to care. Neither did I, for that matter. The four of us ploddedsilently through the tunnels and onto the first worm we saw. I paused to scratch the worm’s sweet spot and received a sharp elbow from Gloria for my efforts. Other than that, our journey was silent, unremarkable and very, very sad.
The vampires unchained me when we reached the foot of the ladder that lay beneath the Glebe clocktower then watched while I ascended. I emerged blinking from the gloom and considerably disoriented.
Although the sky was dimming, it wasn’t yet night. As I stepped into the cool dusk, I tilted my head to gaze at the stars and sucked in the fresh air. My soul felt heavy, as if a terrible weight were pressing down on me from above.
I stayed where I was for several minutes thinking about what had happened, then I rubbed the back of my neck, shook out my limbs and set off for home.
I moved slowly, unable to find the energy to walk quickly. The relief was overwhelming when I finally turned onto my narrow, cobbled street and I made short work of the last fifty metres. And when I saw who was waiting in my little front garden, my heart lightened for the first time since the maze monster had appeared.
