Dead Water (16 page)

We flew
side by side, me and the others stretched out across the sky. The
mountain peaks whisked past below us, and just like in my
nightmare, they were covered in snow. The sun was peeking over the
top of them, making the snow look orange in places. The air was
crisp, and the membrane covering my wings rippled like washing
hanging out to dry.

With the
town of Wasp Water looking like a faint smudge in the distance, we
swept towards it. Believing we had almost reached Wasp Water
without warning the wolves gathered there, the dawn sky suddenly
lit up with gunfire. A girl to my right yelled out in pain as her
wings became tattered with holes. She spiralled away towards the
ground at great speed, her wings beating uselessly on either side
of her. I snatched a glance over my shoulder to see three
helicopters sweeping in towards us like giant wasps.

I banked
immediately to the left and swooped down, away from the helicopters
which were now pursuing us.

“
We’ve got one right behind me,” I heard Meren yell.

I
twisted around in the air as another helicopter roared past, its
rotatory blades a thundering blur. The word POLICE was printed down
the side of its black metal body in white letters. Whoever the Wolf
Man was, he had anticipated the fact that we would fly into Wasp
Water, so he had the skies surrounding it patrolled. I shot
forward, then rolled into a three hundred and sixty degree spin. My
stomach lurched so violently, I thought for a moment that I was
gonna be sick. I was now behind the helicopter which was racing
after Meren. A Skin-walker leant from the inside of the machine and
fired wildly at her. All around me, I could see the other half and
half’s and Murphy scatter as the remaining helicopters buzzed after
them.

I
righted myself in the air, then flew alongside the helicopter. The
Skin-walker firing from the side of it had no idea I was there. He
wore a black flight suit, with a black helmet and visor. He fired
another volley of shots. The bullets thudded into the body of one
of the half and half’s, who then dropped lifelessly from the sky.
Perhaps I had been wrong about us controlling the skies after all.
We could easily outrun these helicopters, but what would be the
point? They had seen us now. If we brought them down, we might buy
ourselves a little more time to get in and out of Wasp
Water.

Then
over the roar of the rotary blades, I heard Peter shouting
triumphantly, “We got one! We got one!” as he yanked one of the
armed co-pilots from his seat and tossed him through the air. Alice
was holding onto the side of one of the helicopters, her wings just
a blur as they flapped behind her. With her claws buried in the
side of the machine, she hung from it, as if pulling it out of the
sky. The pilot turned the helicopter around in a full circle, as if
trying to shake her free. Peter scurried over the front of the
thundering wasp, and climbed inside. Blood splattered the front
window as Peter removed the pilot’s face with his fangs. He leapt
free, snatching hold of his sister as the helicopter spun out of
control as it raced towards the rocky ground below. It crumpled
into a seething ball of flames and black smoke as it collided with
the side of a mountain. A cheer went amongst us as we watched it
burn.

I heard
another volley of gunfire snake across the sky. The co-pilot in the
machine I was chasing was firing at Murphy as he soared through the
sky towards Meren. Suddenly, Murphy began to plummet out of the
sky, holding his side.

“
I hit him! I hit him!”
I heard the
Skin-walker say into his mouthpiece.

Meren
raced through the sky after her father.

I banked sharply to the left and swooped round to face the
helicopter.
The sky pulsated and exploded
with colour as gunfire and smoke lit up the dawn. The rotary blades
were whizzing around and around like a huge silver spinning top.
They spun through the sky as if slicing it open. The helicopter’s
surface was shiny as glass and lights flashed on its belly. In its
smooth black surface I could see my own reflection, my bright
yellow eyes and fangs were gleaming back at me as I raced towards
it.

I hit
the front portion of the machine like an arrow. The glass
windshield splintered and the whole helicopter seemed to shudder
and vibrate. The blades made a whining sound above me. The giant
black wasp-like machine went into a violent tailspin. Seizing the
moment, I reached for the co-pilot. With my claws buried in his
chest, the black visor covering his face smashed open, revealing a
drooling snout.

“
Oh no you don’t!” I roared over the rushing wind. I couldn’t
risk the Skin-walker changing into a wolf on me – not hundreds of
miles up in the air as I clung to the side of a helicopter. That
wasn’t good.

With my claws still buried in the Skin-walker’s flesh, I shot
upwards and away from the helicopter. The creature howled and
barked, its helmet splitting in two to reveal its huge skull. I
hovered over the spinning blades below and let go of the
Skin-walker. He clattered into them. The blades carved through him,
shredding him into thin ropey strips which flew away into the air.
Entrails became entangled around the blades and the motors that
propelled them. They made a
chugging
noise as the helicopter
began to lose altitude.

Throwing
myself into a nosedive, I raced after it and back towards the
ground. As I gathered speed, I felt a crushing feeling against my
chest and my cheeks began to pull tight across my face under the
sheer swiftness of my decent. My wings had tucked themselves in
against my body, so I tore through the sky like a
bullet.

I’m gonna have to pull up!
I yelled
inside, the ground racing up to meet me.

Hold her steady,
I told myself,
drawing level with the cockpit.

Another
rapid volley of gunfire tore all around me.

Reaching
into the cockpit, I ripped open the throat of the pilot as he
shouted frantic messages, I guessed, back to the police station
control room in Wasp Water.

With the
Skin-walker spraying blood from his throat, I pulled up sharply,
soaring upwards. My wings fanned out on either side of me, as I
flew just a few feet above the fields below. I felt a blast of heat
wash over me as the helicopter exploded just below.

I raced
back towards my friends. Meren was racing through the air, her
father in her arms. I could see the blood pumping through his
fingers which were clutched to his side. There was one helicopter
remaining, picking off the half and half’s. I scanned the sky and
could only see Alice, Peter, and Gayle left flying. I followed
their blazing wings as they raced towards the helicopter. Gritting
my teeth, I pushed forward. Coming up behind the machine, I roared
around and tore after it, as the co-pilot released another volley
of gunfire.

“
Peter, its right behind us!” Alice yelled, her eyes bulging
with fear.

Perhaps
Murphy had been right. Maybe these half and half’s weren’t ready to
fight yet. They didn’t seem able to move with speed and agility as
other Vampyruses. But then it had taken me time to learn how to
master the art of flying.

“
Try and shake it off,” Gayle hollered.

“
I can’t,” Alice screamed, as the co-pilot fired at will
again.

I rolled
sharply to the right, then to the left, dodging the gunfire as I
raced through the sky towards the helicopter. My wings beat
powerfully up and down, their claws snatching at the
air.

“
I can’t shake him!” Alice screamed as the helicopter thundered
after her.

Wave
after wave of gunfire lit up the morning sky, as I lurched from
side to side and up and down.

“
Alice, he’s right on you!” Gayle hollered.

The
helicopter hovered right behind Alice.

I looked
to the left and could see the pilot sitting in his cockpit. He
turned to face me and raised the visor on his helmet. His eyes
burnt red and orange in their sockets.

Then
over the sound of the roaring helicopter, I heard someone yell,
“Form up on my right! Form up!”

I looked
back over my shoulder to see Murphy and Meren racing through the
sky towards us. Murphy still had one hand pressed against his
side.

“
I’ve been hit! I’ve been hit!” I heard Alice scream as she
fluttered away, her wings in tatters.

Murphy
swooped alongside me, as did Gayle, while Peter shot through the
sky after his plummeting sister. “We’ve lost too many out here!”
Murphy roared at me. “We can’t afford to lose one more.”

Together, the four of us raced after the helicopter. Reaching
its tail, we split, Murphy and Meren one side, me and Gayle the
other. Reaching out with our claws, we took hold. Like black-winged
locusts, we scurried over the helicopter and towards the cockpit.
The pilot lurched the machine violently left then right trying to
shake us free. My stomach flipped over. Murphy went to work on the
other side of the helicopter, removing large pieces of the machine
with his claws. The engine made a whining sound as I reached the
cockpit. With one quick swipe of my arm, I reached inside, yanking
the co-pilot from his seat. I threw him screaming into the air.
Gayle plucked him out of the sky with her claws. She shook him all
over as she tore the Skin-walker in two. Both parts of him span
away towards the ground, entrails fluttering like kite
tails.

Then out
the corner of my eye, I saw the cockpit window blow inwards. I
snapped my head to the side to see Meren shove her face through the
opening she had made with her claw. Snapping wildly with her fangs,
she lunged at the pilot’s throat. With blood spraying from her
mouth, she threw her head backwards, ripping the pilot’s windpipe
free. She spat it out and wiped her lips with the back of one
claw.

“
Done?” I asked her.

“
Done,” she grinned.

“
Let’s get out of here then,” I smiled back at her.

We
fluttered away as the helicopter spiralled out of control towards
the uneven and rocky ground below.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Potter

Luke had
been gone just moments before several of the Skin-walker cops
entered the room. I stood up, but one of them forced me back into
my seat with a rough pair of hands. Surprisingly, Seth took a seat
beside me. I glanced right at Jack. He sat staring ahead with his
bright eyes, and his expression was unreadable – blank.

I looked
back at the cops. There were four of them. Snapping her head
forward, Lola barked at them as if prompting them to
speak.

One of
the cops was holding a clipboard. He stepped forward, and looking
at me, he said, “You have been found guilty of murder.”

“
Murder?” I laughed. “I haven’t murdered anyone. I haven’t even
had a trial.”

From the
clipboard, the cop took what looked like a piece of paper and
placed it on the table before me. I glanced down at it. It was a
photograph of me holding the dead wolf boy in the barn.

“
It is forbidden for a human to take the life of a wolf,” he
said.

“
I ain’t no human,” I smiled, glancing at Seth. I had him to
thank for setting me up so that photograph could be
taken.

“
You are also convicted for being a traitor...” the cop
continued.

“
Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard it before,” I said, trying to sound my
most cocky and arrogant, but deep in my heart, I didn’t have a clue
as to how I was going to get myself out of this mess.

I
glanced at Seth again. He stared ahead, and for once, his eyes
looked black and dead. The light had gone out of them. Quicker than
I believed a Lycanthrope could move, Seth had got up, the flesh
from his arms had gone and two meaty, fur-covered claws were raised
before him.

The cops
looked at one another, then realising they were in trouble, two of
them ran at him. I watched as Seth sliced his claws through the
air, tearing open the cops’ faces. Fur oozed from between the red
openings as they threw their hands to their faces and howled. The
remaining two cops leapt at Seth and I watched in amazement at what
I saw unfolding around me. Seth opened them up so quickly that if
I’d blinked, I would have missed all the fun. The skinwalking cops
dropped to the floor where they kicked and thrashed, clutching the
bleeding wounds Seth had opened in them. As they fought for their
lives, the human skins they had stolen fell away, and I looked in
disgust at their faces, which now lay bare. The cops’ heads were
misshapen – elongated – and they each had a criss-cross of open
wounds weaved about their skull. Their mouths were huge and gaping,
made of long fleshy lips that flapped in and out like giant gills.
Wispy lengths of wolf hair hung from them.

Even I
turned away in disgust as one of the dying Skin-walkers turned on
one of his own and began to devour him. The sound of slurping and
breaking bones was disgusting, and if my hands weren’t secured
behind me, I would have covered my ears.

The door
to the room crashed open and a fresh batch of Skin-walkers burst
in. Seth turned to face them, his claws held above his head. He
snarled, his thin twisted lips recoiling to reveal his pointed
teeth. Seth moved towards the cops with such speed, that he had cut
through four of them before they’d a chance to fire guns, which
they held in their hands. The others came at him, the sound of
their breathing deep and rasping as they started to change shape.
One of them managed to release off a volley of bullets, and the
room flashed bright white. Seth fell to the floor. At first I
believed he had been shot. Then spinning on his back like an
upturned turtle, he swiped away at the legs of the cops and brought
them crashing to the floor. No sooner had he knocked them over, he
was up again, leaping through the air at the remaining
cops.