Whitby Vampyrrhic (20 page)

‘Sally, we must be mad to have agreed to this.' Beth's thighs burnt from exertion. ‘Who on earth wants to break into a cave at midnight?'

‘Proof,' Sally gasped. ‘Eleanor said we'd find vampires. Like the one that bit me.'

Beth glanced sharply at Sally. The woman's eyes gleamed. She seemed to have fallen under Eleanor's spell.

‘Tiw strikes again,' Beth murmured.

‘Pardon?'

‘Tiw strikes again. That's what the friend of Theo's used to utter when anything bizarre happened. Do you think Tiw's inside our brains, making us tramp up here at midnight . . . Uh . . . these steps – will they ever end?'

Sally giggled. Perhaps the excitement intoxicated her? ‘There are a hundred and ninety-nine steps from Church Street up to St Mary's. I've counted a hundred and twenty-two.'

At that moment, Beth felt that she alone retained a shred of sanity.
After all, can't we explore the cave by daylight? Why now? Is Eleanor drawing us into a carefully calculated trap? And what if we're caught
?
Surely, breaking into locked caves is illegal?
So how do you plead, Beth Layne?

‘I'm guilty of rash behaviour.' Her throat burnt from breathing hard. But still she climbed. She'd promised to look after her friend. And right now Sally was hell-bent on following the pair in front.

The others didn't pause for long to catch their breath. And nobody stopped to admire Whitby by moonlight, an eccentric cluster of buildings cut in two by the River Esk. Tonight its waters shone silver in the moonlight. Boats rested at anchor. No lights shone from either vessels or cottages. Once night fell, the town's population retreated into their homes, locked all doors and windows, and waited for sunrise. Did they fear those Vampiric creatures that were reputed to roam the streets?

‘Come on.' Sally tugged Beth's arm. ‘Haven't you got your breath back yet?'

‘I wish to God all of you had got your sanity back.'

‘This is so exciting. We're on a monster hunt!'

‘Tiw strikes again.'

‘Beth, why do you keep saying that?'

‘Because we're not acting normally, are we?'

‘If we find those vampires, we'll be famous.'

‘Yeah – dead famous.'

‘Hurry, Beth, or we'll be left behind.'

Despite her misgivings, Beth allowed herself to be guided by Sally along the moonlit path. At either side, ancient tombstones reared from the earth. To their left lay the bulk of St Mary's Church. Ahead, the tall, spindly ruins of Whitby Abbey. A cold breeze made Beth's eyes water. Sally kept their arms linked. This woman, so normally nervous of anything strange, and who yelled at the sight of a spider, now dragged Beth towards a cavern with a sinister reputation.
The war has sent us insane. It's the stress of all the air raids. The threat of invasion. Ye Gods, the world has been turned upside down. No wonder we're acting crazy.
Hundreds of tombstones surrounded them. Eroded into weird shapes, they formed an army of hunched figures in silhouette. Beneath them would be the tombs of generations of Whitby men and women. When she walked by, did skulls in the coffins turn to watch her feet pass above them? Did they beat their coffin lids with bone fists? Were they trying to warn her to go back? To flee from danger?
Or do they call out to me to join them?
Whitby's like that. A town where impossible events became a rock-solid certainty. In Whitby, even the dead don't lie quietly.

Dizzy from exertion, and from the strange thoughts washing through her head, Beth staggered.

‘Don't worry. I've got you,' Sally told her.

How long Beth had been in that trance-like state she didn't know. When Eleanor pointed at timber doors set in the grass, Beth had to shake her head to dispel a fog from her mind. She glanced back; already, they were some distance from the abbey ruin. Fortunately, they were also a good distance from the soldiers stationed at the anti-aircraft gun. With luck, the military wouldn't spot these four interlopers.

‘Tiw strikes again,' she blurted with a giggle.

The other three laughed. Their eyes were strangely wide. Their movements possessed a buoyant quality, as if gravity here on the cliff had weakened. The moon became unusually bright. Beth found herself seeing it as a glass porthole. One to a room that was brightly lit. A face appeared to press at it. Eyes watched the four humans dancing around the cave doors with malicious interest. Like a nasty old man watching a child wobble on a bike and knowing the child would soon fall – and
willing
the child to fall hard. Very hard, with bone snapping force.

‘Tiw! Tiw is watching!' Beth pointed at the moon.

Alec's good eye rolled up in astonishment. ‘So he is. The old Viking god has come to take a peek at us down below.'

Sally hugged herself and laughed.

Eleanor handed Alec a tool bag. ‘The crowbar's in there. Candles and a torch, too.'

‘You think of everything, my dear. You know we must get married. You are beautiful. Our children will be angels.' Alec moved to kiss her.

‘Ah, later, my handsome Gaelic prince.'

‘May I come to your room, Miss Charnwood, when we're done rummaging amongst your vampires in the cave?'

‘Hag's Lung.' Sally recited the name, savouring its sound. ‘Hag's Lung.'

‘Thank you for bringing us here, Eleanor.' Beth grinned, knowing that her grin was a vast, happy one.

‘Eleanor's very generous,' Sally gushed.

Alec pulled out the crowbar. ‘Very. Why! Before we left . . . she gave us all a glass of her finest brandy to keep out the cold.' He staggered a little. ‘Liquid magic it was.'

‘You get to work with the crowbar,' Eleanor told him brightly. ‘There are four padlocks. See how quickly you can break them.'

Alec chuckled. ‘I'd like to see how quickly I can strip you naked tonight.'

‘Padlocks first.'

Sally swayed. ‘I've never watched anyone make love.'

Alec saluted her. ‘Tonight will be a first, sweetheart. You'll watch me stroke the bare flesh of gorgeous Eleanor. Then I will immerse myself in her beautiful nakedness. Her cool thighs, silky breasts, smooth stomach; she will drench me with her long hair. Then I will drown myself in her beauty.' He pushed the crowbar into one of the padlock hasps. ‘The ecstasy I experience will reach Tiw, there in the moon – and it will set his veins afire.' He snapped the padlock.

Beth touched her lips. They were numb. The moon shone so brightly that each stalk of grass blazed with its own green light. Such green. She'd never seen anything like it. A big, juicy green that made emeralds appear dull.

‘Eleanor,' Beth said at last. ‘You put something in the brandy, didn't you?' Beth found herself grinning, yet her tone was deadly serious. ‘You drugged us.'

Sally and Alec laughed.

Eleanor smiled. ‘Just a little stimulant. A certain quintessence to keep you alert.'

‘You witch, Eleanor. You damn witch.' Beth tried to be angry; however, she started to chuckle.

As Alec broke the last of the padlocks, Beth whirled around, her arms outstretched. She felt so warm inside. So delicious. She longed to be kissed. She could imagine herself sinking back into the grass with a sigh of pleasure, as a bodily weight pressed down on her.

Giggling, Sally hugged herself. ‘Alec. When you've finished with Eleanor tonight, will you still have strength to love me, too?'

‘There'll be time for all the embraces you desire later,' Eleanor told them. ‘First we're going down into the cave.'

Six

They entered Hag's Lung. The cave had a high roof. Milk-white stalactites hung down over their heads – stone swords pointing at them. The cave covered the same area as a tennis court; not at all large. Beth had expected to find stagnant air, yet this had a fresh ocean scent, cold and sharp. Alec and Sally laughed. Their voices were overloud due to the narcotic in their bloodstreams. The immense, echoing din made Beth cover her ears.

Eleanor lit candles, then set them on a boulder; that done, she shone the torch round the cave. ‘There's the hole,' she said. ‘The one I put my arm through.'

Beth's mind had begun to clear. A sense of outrage burnt. ‘Eleanor? What made you put the drug in the brandy?'

‘Like I said, you all needed a pick-me-up.'

‘Pick-me-up? Whatever narcotic you used has sent us crazy. Just look at those two.' She pointed at Alec and Sally. They sang
lah-lah-lah
at the tops of their voices, as they linked arms to dance round and round in the centre of the cave.

Still twirling, Alec called, ‘Eleanor, show us your bloody vampires!'

Sally giggled. ‘Where are they? We want to dance with Dracula!'

‘You'll pay for this, Eleanor.' Waves of vertigo swept over Beth. ‘Spiking our drinks is wrong. It's illegal. It's
immoral.
You—'

‘Witch? That's the name you called me tonight. It's what the townspeople call me, too. Eleanor the Witch. Wicked Witch of the East.' Her eyes flashed. ‘But I've saved Whitby from the vampires in the past. I treat Theo and Victoria with Quick Salts every night, so they don't turn into monsters. And that's how I'm repaid! By name calling . . . by being scorned. You saw how people avoided me in the street! Whitby doesn't deserve this . . . but I'm going to destroy the vampires once and for all!'

Beth swayed. In her drugged state, those sword-blades of stone that were the stalactites appeared to stretch towards her, as if they'd impale her to the floor.

She shook her head, trying to dispel the fuzzy sensation. ‘But why have you waited for so long? You told us the attack on you and Gustav took place here nearly twenty years ago.'

‘For a long time, Gustav and his kind didn't bother us. They needed blood, but I suspect they took it from sheep in the hills, or even from rabbits in the fields.'

‘You are a spineless coward, Eleanor. You were afraid to go to the police because you were scared they'd call you names, too.' She laughed. ‘Mad Eleanor. Crazy Eleanor. Eleanor the nut; she believes vampires visit her hotel. That's what you thought they'd say.'

‘I'm not a coward!' She shoved Alec and Sally aside, as they still spun, arms linked. ‘What I needed were allies. When you and Sally and Alec arrived, I thought I could trust you.' Tears glistened. ‘But you're a shallow woman, Beth Layne. You only have faith in what you can see and touch. You believe in the lipstick you use, the red varnish on your nails. Oh yes, you're happy to make-believe in front of cameras with actor friends – but you refuse to believe in the battle I've fought in here.' She pressed her fist to her breast. ‘Twenty years, as near as damn it, I've lived with the secret – that my brother and my friends were attacked by Gustav after he was infected by those monsters. Yes, he is a vampire.' She bared her wrist to reveal the never-healing wound; those puncture wounds in a double row :::: ‘For some reason, the infection didn't take hold in me. But these wounds are always raw, they itch, they keep me awake at night. And they are a constant reminder that I can never marry. Because I'm terrified I will pass on some vile contagion.'

‘But you drugged us, Eleanor. That means we didn't come here of our own free will.'

Alec and Sally now held each other, chuckling insanely, kissing each other's faces. The breeze fluttered the candles: mad shadow-dancers swarmed the walls.

‘I did it in order to prove to you that the vampires exist.' Eleanor advanced on Beth, her eyes glittering. ‘Because I need your help, now I've made my decision.'

‘What decision?'

‘I've decided that I must destroy those creatures. Gustav and his pack of vampires. They were my friends. I loved them once. Now I have to watch them burn.'

‘Look at Alec and Sally. They're so full of your filthy drug that they can barely stand. In the morning, we'll find another place to stay.'

Eleanor lunged at her. ‘You want proof? Come with me!'

‘Eleanor—'

‘You asked for it.'

The woman had formidable strength. She dragged Beth across the cave floor. Sally and Alec still giggled away like dizzy sweethearts. The torch in Eleanor's hand sent giant, distorted shadows leaping madly. Beth struggled. The drug, however, left her disorientated; it seemed nigh impossible to coordinate her limbs, never mind actually fight the woman.

Eleanor seized the back of Beth's head so that she could force her face to the hole in the wall. Barely four inches across, it plunged deeply into the rock. For some reason it reminded Beth of an open mouth, which revealed the throat of a beast. A notion reinforced by air rushing through it. One moment, a chilling blast into her face. Then it sucked inward, pulling her hair into the orifice. The gusts carried rich odours of ocean, kelp, shellfish and a subtle organic odour. It was by no means a foul stench. It possessed intriguing notes that tugged at a nerve.

‘Look!' Eleanor hissed into her ear. ‘See it? That's where I pushed my arm twenty years ago. See the gouge marks around the opening? That's where Gustav tried to widen it with a crowbar – only, he got too close, and they turned him into one of their kind.'

‘
They?
'

‘Yes, they!' Eleanor forced Beth's face closer. ‘That little tunnel leads to the sump cavern. Fissures in the earth allow the sea to pour into it, but those cracks in the rock are too narrow to allow the creatures to escape into the outside world – for now.' Eleanor pushed harder. Cold lips of stone pressed against Beth's cheek; her eyes watered as air gusted into them.