Whitby Vampyrrhic (35 page)

Beth retrieved her satchel. ‘You said you'd devise a plan, Theo. Have you?'

‘It's got to be something that involves Hag's Lung Cave,' Sally ventured.

‘You are my favourite.' Theo took a firm grip of the gallon jar. ‘And I am falling in love with you.'

Beth started walking. ‘So it's the cave, then?'

‘I'll go first,' Theo told her. ‘We don't know what might be waiting for us.'

Fifteen

Searchlights stalked the night sky; rapiers of pure silver. The church on the headland tolled midnight. The sound ghosted over the graveyard and the ruins of the ancient abbey to die amongst the hills.

Seven of them walked across the meadow. The dog stayed close to Tommy. Maybe adrenalin gave her renewed energy. Beth could hardly feel the weight of those bottles of instant death in her satchel. She glanced at the faces in the dappling glow of those restlessly probing searchlights that skated the underside of the cloud layer. Everyone wore expressions of determination. White gusts of breath blew from their lips. Their eyes were locked tight on the low mound ahead that marked the entrance to Hag's Lung. Eleanor had recovered from her ordeal remarkably quickly. The bloody scratches on her face didn't appear to bother her. Then no doubt her veins were flooded with adrenalin, too.

‘The authorities might not have connected the disappearance of the soldiers with Hag's Lung Cave,' Alec told them. ‘If they have, they might have sealed it back up again, and we don't have any tools.'

‘We've got to get into that cave.' Theo hugged the gallon jar to him as he surged through the grass. ‘If it's the last thing we do.'

Beth knew that Theo's plan would be torn to pieces if they couldn't enter. Though she didn't know exactly what he planned, she figured it was connected to the ancient vampires trapped in the sump cavern that adjoined the cave.

Alec grunted. ‘Keep a look out for soldiers. There's still the curfew, remember.'

Sally asked, ‘Do you really think they'll shoot on sight?'

‘They'll know that some of their comrades have vanished hereabouts, so they'll be jittery.'

Eleanor's clear eyes regarded the mound. ‘We don't have to worry about the doors, anyway. Just take a look at them.'

Even in the unsettling, shifting glow of reflected searchlights, it was plain to see that the doors had been brutally torn open. Sections of timber a foot long and six inches wide had been ripped from those once formidable structures.

Theo crouched to examine the doors. ‘My plan also involves these being intact.'

Beth crouched, too. ‘The timber-work's taken a mauling, but they're still sound.'

‘And the lugs are in place, too.' He fingered the O-shaped iron work set in the planks. Through these heavy-duty loops an iron bar would be slotted before being padlocked. Amongst the debris, scattered about the turf, he found the bar. It even bore the teeth-mark of one of the vampires – a mark of its hatred of humanity and everything that belonged to it. He handed the bar to Alec. ‘Keep this safe. You'll need it later.'

‘Are you going to share your plan with us?' Alec asked.

‘Spill it, Theo,' Eleanor told him sharply. ‘We don't have time for your theatrical quirks.'

Sally added, ‘Stage Door Johnnies – that's what Theo told us would stop the vampires.'

Eleanor cocked an eyebrow. ‘Stage Door, Johnnies? Theo, are you
compos
mentis
?'

‘Absolutely. Never more so.' A grin flared. ‘And since that witch potion of yours leeched itself out of my body I've never felt so alive. Now, let's see if anyone's home.'

Eleanor stopped him. ‘You know this can't last. As soon as this is over, you will have to start taking the drug straightaway.'

‘I was afraid you'd say that.' An immense darkness seemed to flow into his eyes. He knew that he'd return to that comatose state he'd endured for the last two decades. He tried to dispel that melancholy expression with a shake of his head. ‘Each of you take out one of your bombs. You never know, there might be a welcome party waiting for us.' Theo appeared to have no need for illumination because he lightly ran down the steps into the shadows. Alec pulled the torch from his bag, switched it on, then followed the gaunt figure.

To Beth's relief she found the cave was empty. However, it had changed . . . and changed profoundly.

‘It's hot,' Sally exclaimed. ‘Can you feel the heat?'

‘I told you the vampires in the sump were getting excited.' Theo set the gallon jar down in a corner of the cave. ‘That's body heat you can feel. And smell that.'

Beth inhaled. ‘It's an animal scent. Tell me I'm wrong, but I think those creatures trapped in the next cave are in a different kind of heat.'

‘The heat of bloodlust.' Theo all but shouted the words. ‘That excitement of theirs! The knowledge they're going to break out and rampage through the town! It's contagious, isn't it?'

Even Tommy's eyes burnt; he sensed some great change in the air. Sam whimpered, his ears flat. He sensed danger, too. The dog's eyes were fixed on the hole in the rock that connected this vault with the sump cavern. When air gusted out from it, the heat made steam, like the exhalation from a whale's blowhole.

Eleanor grabbed her brother's arm. ‘Alright. Tell us why we're here.'

He held out his hand to Sally. ‘If I can have one of your bottles, my dear.'

She passed him one, its blue contents sloshed inside.

‘Listen up.' Theo sounded excitable. His eyes darted from the bottle to the blowhole in the wall. ‘My Stage Door Johnnie theory works like this. The vampires out there in the town are attracted to the ancient vampires imprisoned in the sump. More than that! They are obsessed. Gustav's pack broke in here, so they could soak up their scents. They crave to be close to them. They worship them. And they long for the day when the sump vampires break out. And, after years of inactivity, they are no doubt striving to do just that. Imagine them digging a route to the surface with their bare hands. No doubt that accounts for the generation of all that body heat you're feeling right now.' He carefully slipped the bottle into the five-inch wide hole in the wall. Then he picked up a long twig from the floor. ‘Now let's stir up some mayhem.'

Alec's eyes went wide. ‘You're going to kill the creatures on the other side of the rock?'

‘No, not kill, my friend . . . I plan to make them howl the place down.'

Beth nodded. ‘So the other vampires come running.'

‘Absolutely.' He used the stick to push the bottle further in. Yet he held off from shoving it through the mini-tunnel to the other side. ‘Please listen very closely.' His face became serious. ‘There isn't enough X-Stock in the bottle to kill every vampire in the sump. After all, there must be hundreds of the things. But it will hurt them – they'll call on their own kind for help.'

Alec said, ‘So, minutes from now, this cave will be flooded by very angry vampires.'

‘Indeed so.'

‘We can trap them in this cave.' Sally's eyes lit up. ‘Then we can use the bombs to kill them all.'

‘Almost.' A note of sadness flowed through Theo's voice. ‘What you must do is go to the steps. When I push the bottle through it will explode in the sump. The vampires will howl. The other vampires will hear, then they'll come running. By then, my friends, you will be outside, and in hiding. When all the vampires are in here that's when you close the doors. You, Alec, will use that bar I gave you to lock them shut.'

Eleanor's expression was one of pure shock. ‘Theo. Don't you dare.'

Sally's eyes filled with tears. ‘Theo, you're going to stay in here with the vampires, aren't you?'

‘You're smart,' he told her with a sad smile. ‘That's what's made me fall in love with you tonight.'

Beth's heart pounded. ‘This isn't a joke!'

‘No.' Theo's smile was grim. ‘No. At last, I'm deadly serious.'

Eleanor shook her head. ‘No, no, no. Give me a few minutes. I can come up with another plan.'

‘For one, dear sister, that new plan of yours puts me back in the cottage. Where I'll be under the spell of the drug for another twenty years. A husk. A half-man, existing like some poor prisoner. No, thank you. Tonight I'm alive . . . so alive I feel as if I can reach across the universe and play with the stars.'

‘That's lunatic talk.'

Calmly, Theo made this statement: ‘The gallon jar will be enough to kill the vampires in this cave. When they're dead, and it's safe to enter again, keep feeding those bombs of yours through that hole in the wall until all the devils in the sump cavern are dead, too.'

Alec was clearly appalled. ‘Theo, Eleanor's right. Let's talk about this. We can come up with another plan that doesn't involve any suicide missions.'

‘Thank you, Alec.' Theo smiled. ‘Only we've gone and run out of time.'

Before anyone could react, he drove the stick into the hole. It pushed the bottle through into the sump cavern beyond, where dozens of vampires clawed their way through the rock to the surface.

Exulting, Theo yelled to his friends, ‘Get back!'

Eleanor screamed. ‘Damn you, Theo. Damn you!' Yet she knew she had no choice other than flee to the far corner of the cave.

Her companions sheltered with her, as the bottle exploded somewhere down in the sump. Not only flames jetted through the narrow blowhole. With that leaping tongue of fire, came screams. And such screams. A nerve-stripping howl of anguish. It vibrated the ground beneath their feet. The screams of burning vampires rose with even more power than that air-raid siren had possessed earlier. The cry of the ancient vampires tore through the night sky. It echoed through the streets of the town. It shook windows. The cry of agony rolled in a wave across the harbour.

In her mind's eye, Beth saw the vampires that roamed Whitby. They'd instantly hear that outpouring of misery. And they'd know where it came from. And exactly who had made it. From wherever the creatures scuttled, whether alleyways, or in the undergrowth along railway tracks, or in hidden walkways beneath the harbour pier, they'd immediately race back to the cave.
Protect their own kind! Destroy the intruder!
That would be the imperative on their lips.

Theo was a whirlwind of energy. ‘Hear them scream? That will bring every one of those monsters back here!'

Alec shouted over howls of pain and fury, ‘We're staying to fight them with you.'

‘That's noble and loyal of you, Alec. What I need from you, however, is to lock those doors tight shut the moment the vampires are inside. That, and a handshake.' He extended his hand.

Alec shook it.

Eleanor's eyes bled sorrow. ‘I'll be with you, Theo.'

‘No, you won't. If a single one of you are in here with me, I won't be able to smash that damn flagon over their heads. Go!'

Tommy and Sam went first, scrambling up the steps to the night air. Sally flew at Theo, clasped his face in her hands, then kissed him on the lips.

Theo sighed. ‘Take care, my Sally, you sweet thing.'

Quickly, he hugged and kissed Eleanor and Beth. She felt the fire in his lips. This man was truly alive.

‘I wish there was another way,' Beth told him.

‘There isn't.' He smiled. ‘This, however, is perfect . . . for everyone.'

Tension put steel in Alec's voice. ‘The creatures will be here soon. We must go now.'

Sally took hold of Eleanor's arm and guided her up the steps. Beth followed. Outside, Tommy and Sam waited for them. Beth put her arm round the boy.

‘We must hide. Also, there will be an explosion, so be ready to reassure Sam.'

‘I'm not frightened any more.' Tommy spoke softly. ‘I know what's coming.'

Beth nodded. ‘Hide over there in the bushes. I'll join you in a moment.' As the boy and his dog walked across the grass that seemed to pulse emerald green in the reflected glow of the searchlights, his thoughtful sentence echoed inside her head
I know what's coming.
The child's tone possessed a haunting resonance.

‘Beth,' Alec called. ‘When the time comes, be ready to give me a hand with the doors. Until then, make sure you're out of sight.'

Beth adjusted the satchel's strap on her shoulder. Soon they'd need those home-made bombs of Eleanor's. She raised herself on her toes, so she could look across the meadow to the churchyard that lay beyond the abbey. Searchlights, striking the underbelly of low cloud, generated enough of a glow to make the gravestones clearly visible. In the main, they were upright slabs of dark stone by the hundred. They formed a bristling mass, somehow reminiscent of teeth jutting from a monstrous jaw. But those gravestones did something that defied God.

They were moving. Shapes darted over the churchyard wall. They sped towards the abbey ruin. A second later, they flowed around the shattered walls. How could tombstones move? What malignant power was at work here? Then her eyes adapted to the gloom.

‘They're here,' she yelled. ‘Hide!'

She glanced down the steps into the cave. Theo's eyes met hers. He was smiling.

Alec grabbed her hand. ‘Come on!'

Together, they rushed for the cover of bushes that sprouted from a scatter of boulders. Chest heaving, Beth had chance to reappraise what she'd interpreted as running gravestones.

No gravestones.

These were the vampires. Dozens of them. They rushed in nothing less than a wolf pack towards the cave. They'd heard their ancient brethren scream. Now they were here to protect them. And no doubt help free them from the sump cavern.