Blood of Gold (29 page)

It was possible the vampire he had called might arrive first, but since the huge, creepy vampire only seemed interested in three girls––or two, now––that was OK. Maybe, if Butler could get a free shot at them, he’d take them down when they left.

He opened the glove box and pulled out the small binoculars he kept in there for hunting. He examined the boarded-up building. Even now, his eyes wanted to slide off it. It was as if there was a powerful glamour emanating from the structure.
Don’t look here,
the aura seemed to say.
There is nothing here.

But now that he was focused on the motel, Butler found he could ignore the warning impulses. And he was absolutely certain it was infested with vampires. For one thing, the parking lot was streaked with tire tracks, as if cars were arriving and leaving all the time. Butler put down the binoculars and looked around. Sure enough, there were a number of vehicles parked along the coastal highway, even though there didn’t appear to be any beachcombers at the moment. It was too dark and windy, and a little too chilly. So who did the cars belong to?

It soon became a moot point. As he watched, a caravan of cars, vans and motor homes pulled into the parking lot. A whole crowd of people poured out of the vehicles and milled around as if waiting for instructions. The last motor home pulled in, and the newcomers gathered around it. The door opened and a beautiful redhead emerged. A tall, rugged-looking man got out of the driver’s side and joined her, putting his arm around her.

Butler held his breath. His instinctive vampire radar had been tingling even before he saw the tall man. It was Robert Jurgenson, the police officer who had first trained Butler and most of the other Crescent City cops.

And then another tall man emerged, dark-haired, handsome, but not someone Butler normally would’ve looked at twice on the street. But something about the way he held himself, as if he was aware––but trying
not
be aware––that he was special, made Butler recognize him. Unless he was very much mistaken, this was the legendary Terrill, the oldest vampire in existence, it was said. The bounty on him had been in the millions the last time Butler had checked.

The door to the motel restaurant opened and about fifty more vampires emerged. Butler had never heard of so many vampires congregating in one place. He had always assumed they were solitary, because the few times any of them had been caught, they were almost always alone. These vampires acted tentative, uncertain, looking up at the sky as if they expected the sun to come out at any moment, peering nervously up and down the highway as if they expected the vampire hunters to descend on them.

Now that he thought about it…
Where are the damn vampire hunters?
Butler wondered. A little backup would be nice, though even Callendar and Jeffers would think twice about taking on this crowd. Butler pulled out his phone, but hesitated. He’d get credit, he supposed, in a bureaucratic sense: some sort of plaque or medal, but if he officially reported this conclave, he’d get none of the monetary reward.

He put the phone back in his pocket and pulled his gun instead. He ducked down under the dashboard, letting only the top of his head and his eyes show, and raised the binoculars again. The two crowds of vampires weren’t mingling. Indeed, they seemed to be keeping their distance from each other. The vampire he guessed was Terrill was standing in front of the vampires who had emerged from the motel, and he was saying something important, if his gesticulations meant anything.

#

Terrill wasn’t getting through to them. “You don’t understand,” he said insistently. “You must join us; you must take the blood of gold!”

“But didn’t you just say it kills anyone who isn’t pure of heart, or something like that?” This came from a mousy, skinny vampire who had her arm around a beautiful younger-looking girl.

“Are you Patty?” he asked.

She stepped back in surprise, almost stumbling. The smaller girl caught her and helped her stay steady. “How could you know that?”

“We were contacted by someone named Rod. He told us about three vampires who had been held captive: Patty, Laura and Simone.”

“I’m Simone.” Another vampire girl stepped out of the crowd, followed by a human Terrill guessed was Rod.

“You are all victims,” Terrill said, pointing at each of them. “You didn’t wish to become vampire, nor did you choose this life. I’m offering you a chance to turn away from evil, from killing.”

“But that’s just it, mister,” a little girl vampire said, stepping forward. “We’re vampire.” She was grimy from top to bottom, her blonde hair ratty and snarled, but she had a confidence beyond her apparent years. “Hoss told us to wait for him here, and that’s what we’re doing. We’ve been abiding by the Rules of Vampire, which I always heard you created, Terrill. What’s wrong with that?”

“It isn’t enough,” Terrill said.

“Did I hear Rules of Vampire?” a voice said. From the beach side of the motel, a teenage boy emerged, followed by several other vampires.

“Hoss!” the little girl cried, running to him.

“Hey, Charlotte,” Hoss said, lifting her up. “Keeping everyone in line and safe, are you?”

“Trying to, Hoss,” she pouted. “They don’t always follow my instructions.”

“Well, no one likes taking instructions from a six-year-old, even if she’s the smartest girl in the world,” Hoss said. He dropped his smile and turned toward Terrill. “You’d better get ready, Terrill. The Shadow Vampires are on their way. I warn you, they are powerful; more powerful than you can believe. And the Master––I do believe he is evil incarnate. I’m not sure even you can withstand him, Terrill. How many Golden Vampires do you have here? Twenty? Thirty? The Master has three times as many followers, if not more. You might want to get out of here and fight another day.”

“No,” Terrill said. “Today is the day. Today all of you need to decide, once and for all: will you renounce your killing and turn to the light? Will you continue to be vampire, or will you allow yourself to be turned into something even worse?”

Hoss looked stubborn. “I refuse to choose any of those options,” he said. “I believe it is up to each of us to decide our own fate. If you force us to choose, you’re no better than the Master.”

#

Butler couldn’t believe they were just standing there, nearly a hundred vampires, all in plain sight, and during the day, albeit a cloudy one.

He put down his binoculars and looked up and down the highway. Vehicles were stopped and backed up for what looked like miles. No one wanted to drive down this stretch of road right now. Butler saw the lights of police cars in both directions down the highway, about a quarter mile away, blocking the way.

And here he was in the middle of it all. He fumbled with his phone and checked the charge. About fifty percent. Well, no help for it. He’d record as much as he could. He put his binoculars and gun on the seat and started recording.

He heard sirens going off to the north and turned his head to look. It looked like some big SUVs were breaking through the cordon. He turned his camera to catch the action.

#

Feller drove the lead SUV because, other than Kelton, who was now the voice of the Master, he was the only one who knew where the motel was located. He started running into heavy traffic and soon had his hand on the horn almost continuously. Most vehicles pulled over, getting out of his way, though he had to bump a few in the fender to get the message across.

He saw the police cars blocking the highway and had to make a quick decision. It wasn’t a serious roadblock, the kind the cops put up when they really wanted to stop someone. It was more like a courtesy stop, the kind they put up when they had to direct traffic around accidents.

He plowed right through a gap in the roadblock, hitting the back end of a couple of cruisers and spinning them off the road. He looked back and saw that the other SUVs had had no trouble following.

He saw the crowd in front of the motel and slowed down.
What the hell is this?
he wondered. He’d thought they’d have to wait for the Golden Vampires, root them out, maybe even send them a challenge, yet here they were, conveniently waiting. He put his foot back on the gas and sped toward them.

#

Butler kept recording as the second wave of vampires arrived, their vehicles sliding to a stop. All thought of reward had left his mind. He wasn’t even worried about being seen, sensing that none of the vampires cared about little old him. There was some kind of vampire Armageddon going on, some final confrontation, and he was watching it all from a few hundred feet away.

The new arrivals piled out of their SUVs.

Butler put down his phone for a second and stared at them. There was something different about them. It was as if they carried the night with them. That was it––they were surrounded by darkness, even though it was still daytime. A huge vampire took the lead, and it was as if he trailed a black cloak, hundreds of feet long, behind him. The other vampires seemed to gravitate toward that darkness.

As Butler picked up his phone to start recording again, he recognized the hulking vampire as the one who had been looking for the three girls. There was something different about him. He didn’t lumber or loom or bluster, the way Butler remembered him doing. No, he seemed to almost float on a shadow. Butler also recognized Feller, the FBI agent, who he’d heard was dead. He followed the dark vampire with his camera.

#

“You must choose now!” Terrill cried as he saw the Shadow Vampires arriving. “Drink of our blood and join us!”

No one stepped forward, and Terrill almost jumped amongst them, ready to make them drink. He felt a strong hand on his shoulder and turned to see Robert shake his head.

And then it was too late.

The giant vampire approached, sheathed in black. He moved slowly, like the encroaching darkness of night. From the crowd of vampires from the motel, Terrill heard someone cry, “It’s him! The Monster!” He stopped in front of Terrill. Behind him was the FBI agent, Feller, and a vampire who looked like a young woman.

“Laura!” cried the same voice that had yelled “Monster.” Terrill saw that it was Simone, one of the girls who had been held captive. “Why are you with him? Come over to us!”

Laura gave a mirthless grin. “Why should I join you? You’re all going to die.”

The voice that emerged from the Monster was loud, as if it was coming from a loudspeaker, and yet it also seemed to come from far away. It was cold, pitiless, devoid of human sympathy or understanding.

“Terrill is right,” the voice said. “You must choose.”

Terrill was stunned when he heard the ultimatum, so much like his own. And at that moment, he understood that he’d been wrong. It was not for him to compel faith. He’d been brought here to protect these vampires, to give them a chance to decide for themselves what path they wanted to take.

Most of the vampires were running, some back into the motel, others toward the beach. Some even risked running toward the lights of the police cars. Hoss and his followers didn’t join Terrill, but stepped to one side as if to say,
We will fight for neither of you.

Only the Golden Vampires stayed to fight.

They were outnumbered two to one. Terrill fixed his eyes on the huge vampire in front of him, whom he now understood to be the manifestation of the Master of Shadow. Terrill didn’t know how he could defeat the Shadow, but he could destroy the huge vampire who represented that Shadow. If he could defeat the leader, perhaps all the others would flee or give up.

But even as he moved forward, he feared he might not be strong enough.

Chapter 28

The Shadow Vampire stood waiting for him, not even raising his claws in defense. Terrill ripped out the giant vampire’s throat with one swipe and dug into his chest with another blow. Almost instantaneously, the shadow that surrounded the Monster swirled and flowed into his wounds, black blood replacing torn flesh, and soon it was as if the wounds had never been there.

Terrill felt himself flying backward, and only in midflight did he feel the pain from the giant gash in his shoulder. He landed with a thud, then glanced down at the wound and saw that it wasn’t knitting together instantly like the Shadow Vampire’s wounds had. No band of light came out of nowhere to counteract the darkness and heal Terrill. It was going to take a long time to recover from a wound this severe, and meanwhile, his left arm was useless.

The Shadow Vampire was still standing in the same spot, a small smile on his face. Terrill staggered to his feet. Vampires were fully engaged in battle all around him. He saw Robert trading blows with Feller, heavy blows fueled by all the hate and anger they possessed toward each other. Jamie was fending off the chubby little vampire, Laura, who moved like a swirl of black smoke, there for a second, then gone. A swipe from Jamie gusted the smoke away; then she staggered forward as the smaller vampire materialized behind her and attacked.

Terrill approached his opponent cautiously and tried to lift his damaged arm. To his surprise, it moved. He swung his nearly useless claws at the Shadow Vampire, who batted Terrill’s arm away. Terrill followed up with a blow from his good arm that, had it landed, would have taken his foe’s head off. The Shadow Vampire blocked the swipe, but only at the last second, as if he hadn’t anticipated Terrill’s speed.

Terrill backed away, feeling a surge of hope. So the Shadow Vampire wasn’t going to let him simply tear away chunks to be replaced by the black cloud. That must mean such repairs weren’t as easy as they looked. Instead, the vampire had chosen to block his attack this time. Not only that, the defense had come just in the nick of time.

Terrill’s enemy grunted and lumbered forward as if suddenly compelled into action, and right before he reached Terrill, he glided into the air, the black void lifting him. Then he was directly over Terrill and striking downward with all his force. Terrill dodged to one side and felt the swoosh of air from his opponent’s vicious strike whizz past his ear.