B00724AICC EBOK (29 page)

A car beeped his horn at a 12-year-old boy driving in the middle of the street and was given the finger for his effort, although the kid did get out of the way. The boy’s head jerked to the right when he saw Keith. Aiden looked back at the obese fellow and immediately started to laugh, and circled around again to approach him. The kid was from a broken family and had pretty much raised himself. “What the hell did you have for lunch? A Rhino.”

Keith scanned the area and saw a few people. He was considering whether to eat the brat or not. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll get the hell out of here.”

“
If I were you mister, I wouldn’t go over the Brooklyn Bridge, it’ll never hold your fat ass. It’ll cost a shit load of money to put it back up.”

The vampire scrunched his face and threw bad vibes at the boy. The kid rode for a bit on one wheel to show off his skills. Keith could kill him with a single blow but decided to be patient. He wasn’t there for the brat. He would most likely be doing the same thing if the roles were reversed. “This is your last warning kid.”

“
I wouldn’t want to have your grocery bill. You probably buy hamburger by the cow. Your toilet is probably the Grand Canyon!”

Keith showed the boy his fangs and that was sufficient, he peddled out of the area as fast as he was able. Aiden was so scared that he wasn’t sure if his heart would ever slow down. He never considered the possibility that the guy was a vampire, but in the future he would take that into account. Who knew that someone so fat could be a vampire?

Two elderly ladies were heading towards Keith from down the sidewalk, both with rather large red handbags. They were approaching eighty but continued to be excited by the future. They walked every day as long as it wasn’t raining too hard. One was shuffling along and so the other had to adjust her gait. Both were dressed in similar flowery dresses, with winter coats too big for them as well. The vampire saw them approaching from quite a distance and rolled his eyes when they waved to him. It was obvious that they were going to engage him in conversation, and he’d sooner poke his own eyes out than occupy them with their witless banter. They were probably lonely and seeking entertainment. The closer they got to him the bigger their smiles. He had visions of ripping their skin off and tossing it into the street. But Keith had to steady himself as he wanted those officers.

“
Young man,” said Stella. “I’m Stella and this is Carol. We’re sisters don’t you know. Do you see a resemblance?”

Keith slowly shook his head. “You look like two old crows to me.”

Carol was hard of hearing but Stella was used to it. “What did he say?”

“
He’s a comedian dear; he said we look like two old crows!”

Carol thought on it and she closed her umbrella as it had stopped raining. “How much does a comedian get paid? It is by the hour?”

“
That’s right, five peanuts an hour.”

Stella actually clapped at the statement. “That is so funny. When is your next show?”

Keith rolled his eyes and wanted to smash them but didn’t. He glanced at the restaurant but no sign of the officers. The day was turning out to be unpleasant but the taste of the officers would turn it around.

“
He should come to the apartment and put on a show for us.”

“
You’re a big fella. How does a person get to be your size? Do you eat too much? I have a relative and she’s the size of an elephant, but she’s big boned don’t you know.” Stella continued to check out Keith’s girth.

“
Is this the Subway sister?” Carol was looking up the building, way past the sign.

Keith felt like slapping himself in the forehead, just like in the cartoons. “Can you do me favor ladies?”

“
What did he say?”

“
As long as we don’t have to lift something too heavy. The older we get the weaker we get. I couldn’t even get the top off the jam jar this morning. Carol had to hit it with a hammer, broke it don’t you know.” Stella shook the rain off her red umbrella and it went into Keith’s face.

“
Could you kill me? Ladies, could you do that for me?”

“
What did he say?”

Keith could stand it no longer, and so he blurred out of the area and would never return to John Street. In less than a minute both officers exited the restaurant not realizing how close they had come to death.

“
Sister, he must have left something on the stove.”

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

STEPHEN, LUKE, AND NOAH were in Alexandria, situated on the western bank of the Potomac River, and only about six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C. They were in a rental house awaiting the arrival of a colleague with information of how to handle the dagger. The idea was to thrust into Dracula’s heart, but was there a ritual or something else to follow beforehand? Stephen hadn’t slept much in the last several days, having dreadful nightmares of attacking Dracula and it going terribly wrong. He was worried though he kept that to himself. It wasn’t out of the realm of possibility that they got their heads all torn off and discarded like so much junk.

The living room had a large black sectional sofa with two black reclining chairs to match. On both sides of the sofa were tiffany style stained glass lamps. A large flat screen LG television hung on the wall. A huge area rug showed Arabian scenes took up a large portion of the floor. They stared down at the impressive Hithroma on the coffee table and continued to wonder if it was the genuine article or not. By the look that had been on Philo’s face, Stephen guessed that it was in fact genuine.

The smell of fresh popcorn permeated the air. Luke sat at the end of the sofa as he dug into the large white plastic bowl and took a handful of popcorn and ate it. Stephen watched him as he chewed like a camel. He was a loud eater and at times it could become annoying. Luke then shook dried flakes of blood out of a small green container that had at one time held white cheddar seasoning onto the popcorn as he filled his mouth with more, because without the added blood his stomach would not have been able to tolerate it.

It was a Monday night but with the excitement of having obtained the dagger it felt like Friday. All three were simultaneously excited and worried. The act of actually plunging it into Dracula’s chest was not without risk. They weren’t positive of what would happen, even though Stephen pretended to be certain of the outcome. They were also aware that the big guy might just shred them for the hell of it. Would it be possible to obtain the element of surprise with Dracula? They would not be happy if upon using the weapon every single vampire on the planet perished, including themselves.

Noah drank down his blood filled beer stein that was adorned with bats. The moment he saw the antique stein he knew he had to purchase it. It was just under a foot tall. He wiped his mouth, leaving blood behind on his hand. “I still can’t believe we got it.” He was prone on the black leather recliner but couldn’t take his eyes off the dagger. “Are you gonna just walk up to him and plunge it into his chest or what?”

Stephen shrugged. “We’ll see what Bordon has to say about it. He’s the so-called expert on these sorts of things. He’s a low level wizard you know.”

Luke placed his stein down on the end table near the lamp. “Can he be trusted? We’ll have everyone chasing us if they discover that we have Hithroma. It’ll be like in that old movie with the mob chasing the Beatles, except it’ll be vampires chasing us.”

Stephen once again picked up the dagger and judged its weight. Hithroma felt twice as heavy as it should have felt for its size, and he hoped that it was a good sign. Until he plunged it into the Master’s chest he couldn’t be sure that they really had Hithroma. He ran his fingers over the diamonds and the red ruby and continued to be impressed. He threw it and it stuck in the wall next to Luke’s head.

Luke belched. “If that’s the real thing, I imagine that we’ll end up in the history books. Should you be throwing it around like that? What if you break it?”

“
It’s a knife, not a carton of eggs. Perfectly balanced for throwing.” Stephen thought that perhaps he shouldn’t be throwing it around but said nothing more on the fact that it could perhaps be broken, although knives were usually sturdy things. But with his luck who the hell knew if it could be broken or not.

Luke put down the popcorn and pulled the knife out of the wall. “It’s hard to imagine that this thing could change everything.” He placed the weapon back on the coffee table.

Stephen stood up and made his way to the living room window and peered out. There was no sign of Bordon. He stood there for several minutes as he imagined how the tide would turn when he was in charge. He visualized that perhaps millions of humans would have to be eaten before they finally surrendered to his will, and their screams would be exciting. If it turned out that he could control all vampires it would make things a lot easier, otherwise there would be war. The opposing vampires would have to be tracked down and dispatched. Blood would indeed run in the streets.

“
I’m bored,” said Noah. “Let’s go eat someone.”

“
Not going anywhere until we talk to Bordon. Luke, where is he now?”

“
Bordon? Oh, you mean the Master. He’s been travelling more lately. He was in Orlando for a while but he’s back in Moncton.” Luke cocked his head and zeroed in on Dracula’s location. “Yup, he’s still in Moncton. I went there once to watch some curling.”

Stephen shook his head at the thought of curling. “That is one boring sport. At least in hockey they try to kill one another. Football too. They should have vampire football.”

In less than a half hour they were all dozing. A pounding at the door made all their eyes pop open. Bordon stood out on the steps nervously scanning the area. Helping anyone to plot against Dracula felt a lot like treason. He was a tall fellow with hair like a young Art Garfunkel. The door opened and he was invited into the living room. He sat on the sofa and they all stared at one another with awkward silence.

Stephen had enough. “Shit, we didn’t bring you all the way here just to look at us. Tell us about Hithroma.

Bordon scratched his head. “The house is not being watched is it?”

“
No.”

Bordon picked up the dagger and appeared enthralled by it, running his hand gingerly over its surface. His expression was enchanted by the weapon, as if he held the Holy Grail. He was going to touch its sharp point but then didn’t dare. “The rumors are factual in this case. There are several Blood Books, but I’ve had a look at the original while the Master was at my side. In the copies things and words are changed and manipulated. Anyway, Hithroma will kill Dracula, and the killer will usurp his power, and I believe it’s simply the natural order of things. Vampires have been keeping it away from him for quite some time, just in case it does destroy everyone, which I can assure you it won’t.”

Stephen was happy to hear it. “Can you tell us for sure if that is the genuine Hithroma?”

Bordon continued to stare at the dagger. “Never thought I’d actually hold it. It is absolutely magnificent. I don’t know if you know this but the rumors are true, Dracula is suicidal and so he’s liable to permit you to just walk up to him and plunge it into his heart. I can’t be sure if it’s genuine, but I am getting weird vibes from it.”

Suddenly, there was a pounding at the back door. Bordon’s eyes widened. “Whoever that is must be killed! No one can know I’m here.”

Stephen, Noah and Luke rushed to the back door, only to find no one. When they returned to the living room Bordon was gone and so was the dagger.

“
I’ll kill him! He’s dead! I’m going to pull out his intestines and force him to eat them before I cut off his head! Son-of-a-bitch!”

They all blurred out the front door only to find a fog that had never been so thick. They all started to cough and their heads to pound. They lost consciousness and awoke just over an hour later with Bordon’s trail too cold to follow.

“
I hate wizards,” said Luke. He then vomited up his popcorn.

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

MICHAEL HAD HIS THREE SUITS lined up on his bed, and stared down at them. He had tried them all on twice and yet he couldn’t decide which one was more appropriate for his date with Lauren. Standing in his black Ellen underwear scratching his head, he was very well proportioned with the body of an athlete. It was almost as if he was determining the fate of the world instead of simply deciding on what to wear. Was he choosing the fate of the relationship by wearing the right suit? Again he put on the charcoal 3 piece suit with the blue woven plaid tie and modelled it in the large mirror. He was undecided but thought that he should just go with it as time was passing much too fast, until he noticed a small stain on the cuff. He took it off with such vigor that he ripped it in two, tossing it over the bed and into the corner.

“
No, I like that suit. Damn it.”

He sighed as he put on the black suit with the black tie. Michael stood in front of the mirror. He liked it but was it sufficient for a first impression? Did he resemble a mafia hit man in it? Well, it wasn’t exactly a first impression anyway. She would say that he cleaned up good or something to the effect, but there was something about the suit that he didn’t like. Perhaps he was just a little on the anxious side. Lauren wouldn’t be at all pleased if he was late. The last suit was put on and it was nice enough when he noticed a patch of hair sticking straight up. He fought with it and finally got the best of it when he noticed the time.