The bigger of the two nodded. His lips spread into a smile as he let his fangs elongate, and broke into a run, followed closely by the other.
Vlad said, “That won’t be enough.” Em glared at him, and he met her gaze with equal intensity. Vlad shook his head, overwhelmed by the enormity of his situation. “There are more Slayers coming. Joss has to kill me or everyone will die.”
Vlad moved forward, eyeing Em with certainty. “You include.”
“Vlad, don’t.” Tomas reached out a hand to stop his son from moving toward the oldest vampire in existence, but was unable to restrain him. Two more of her cronies exited the woods and moved protectively in front of Em. Vlad stopped just short of them, his eyes locked on Em. “My life will end, just as you want it to. The only difference is that Joss will be the one to kill me.”
Em said, “That eager to die, are we?” Vlad wasn’t sure how, but it seemed that each time Em smiled she looked even more evil. “Your chance will come. For now my attention is on your father. Once I have dispatched him, I will take my sweet pleasures with your.”
One of Em’s henchmen grabbed Vlad by the shoulders and turned him around to hold him in place. Em’s gaze fell on Tomas. She was going to make Vlad watch his father die.
Vlad swallowed hard. It couldn’t happen. It wouldn’t.
From the corner of his eye, he watched as Abraham and Joss slinked away. Abraham practically had to force Joss from the clearing, but Vlad was glad he went.
When her bodyguards started to go after the Slayers, Em merely smiled. “Let them go. We’ll hunt them later. It’ll be entertaining.”
“Em, aren’t you forgetting something? Tomas has yet to have a trial.” Otis flicked his eyes from his brother to Em, as if hoping that this loophole might buy some time for Tomas, and for him to come up with a plan.
“We’re not really concerned with the formalities anymore, dear Otis. There is no question of his guilt. The proof of it is standing there.” Em’s head motioned to where Vlad was being held, though her eyes never left Tomas. “Now, all that is left is to watch joyously as the life drains from his eyes.”
The remaining vampires in Em’s entourage moved forward to restrain Tomas as Em pulled an ornate dagger from her long black coat and began to walk slowly toward him.
“Aww, to hell with this.” Something told Vlad that Otis hadn’t meant to speak his thoughts out loud.
Throwing his coat off his shoulders, Otis ran forward like a lightning bolt. If killing Em was the only way to stop this madness, then so be it. The speed at which he moved made him appear as a blur to all eyes around him. Vlad had never seen his uncle move so fast before.
A hand stretched out from nowhere and met Otis’s face at full speed. The crunch of bone breaking made Vlad wince. Otis flipped over backward in the air, landing on the back of his neck and crumpling into a heap at the vampire bodyguard’s feet. He had hit the ground before his coat had a chance to fall in the place he had left it standing.
Em leaned down to where Otis lay. “Now that wasn’t very smart was it?”
She put her fingers into the blood that was dripping from his wounds and cleaned them off in her mouth, much like a child who just finished a chocolate bar on a hot day. “And I was going to let you live. Oh well, I guess you just got in line after your nephew.”
She stood with a twinkle in her eye.
“But first,” Em raised the dagger above her head, “Goodbye, Tomas Tod.”
An arrow carved from a single piece of wood, tipped in silver embedded in Em’s shoulder. The dagger fell to the ground as she screamed. Figures, cloaked in shadow, surrounded the clearing. Stepping into the light in front of Em, Abraham had a smug look on his face. “That was just a warning. But I’m glad that arrow was fired by one of our first years, Em. I was hoping I would be the one who got to kill you.”
“You have no idea that you just volunteered your little group for extinction, Abraham.” Em grasped the arrow and, with a yelp, pulled hard, yanking it free of its fleshy quiver. The wound began to heal almost instantly; her eyes held the ferocity of a cornered tiger. “This battle has been looming for centuries. This war has gone on for too long. Today it ends when I feast on the blood of the last Slayer.”
35
THE CLEANSING
T
HE OPPORTUNITY THAT OTIS HAD been hoping for had presented itself, and he’d be damned if he was going to let it pass him by. The vampire who was holding Tomas had released him and gone to the aid of his puppeteer. Otis stood next to his brother, his face already healed. The only evidence of the injury stained the front of his shirt red.
Otis put a hand on Tomas’s shoulder, “Come on, let’s help Vlad.”
“I don’t think we need to.” Tomas was smiling as he nodded toward his son.
Apparently Otis wasn’t the only one who had heard the telltale knock of opportunity’s fist. Vlad stood above the vampire who had been holding him. The vampire’s wrist was twisted in Vlad’s hand, his thumb sticking painfully out onto the air. Vlad’s foot was on the back of the man’s neck, pushing his face into the ground.
Tomas looked on with an air of pride, Otis with a gasp of amazement.
Vlad smirked. “What? Henry’s brother, Greg, was also on the wrestling team. He taught me a couple of moves.”
“And you learned them very well, son.” Tomas leaned down to the vampire on the ground. “I’d tell you to pick on someone your own size, but I don’t think it really matters in this case.”
Otis shook his head in amazement. “Come on, you two. Let’s get out of here.”
Vlad released the vampire he was holding and started to follow his uncle out of the clearing. There was a loud thump behind them. When they turned, Tomas was picking himself up off of the ground, kicking away the hand that had tripped him. The vampire that had just been bested by a teenager didn’t want to give up his quarry so easily.
“You guys go ahead, I’ll handle this.” Tomas’s eyes darkened as his fangs shot out in anger. Vlad saw his dad deliver a kick to the face of the fallen vampire before Otis grabbed Vlad’s shoulder and led him out of the clearing and into the streets of Bathory.
“Uncle Otis, where are we going?” They walked at a hurried pace, occasionally breaking into a jog.
“Back to Nelly’s house. We have to get you out of here.” Otis spun around to avoid being hit by the car that was barreling down the street. “What in the world is going on?”
He turned to look up the street, then down. Cars were everywhere, lights beaming down on them, horns sounding. Vlad followed his gaze. The scene reminded him of every disaster movie he’d ever seen. The people of the peaceful, midwestern town were fleeing for their lives, and they didn’t care who they trampled on their way out.
“Oh non.” Vlad’s face fell. What color there had been in his cheeks was now gone. “They’ve started the cleansing.”
Vlad broke into a run.
Otis called behind him, “Where are you going?”
“I have to find Joss!”
In a flash of vampiric speed, Otis was in front of him, blocking his path. “Vlad, can’t you see that it’s too late for that now. If the cleansing has begun the only way to stop it is to annihilate the Slayers. Your friend Joss, included. He could be compromised. He could be on their side. He may have lied.”
“Joss didn’t lie, Otis! And it looks like Em’s cronies have already started.” Vlad pointed to the intersection a block in front of them. There were at least twenty Slayers locked in full combat with an equal number of vampires. Stakes flew, fangs were bared, Vlad could smell the garlic from where he stood. It made him sick to his stomach. Bodies on both sides fell like oak leaves on an autumn day, lifeless and red.
Otis looked worried. “Come on, Vlad, we need to go.”
“Yeah ... yeah, right behind ya.” Vlad turned again to follow his uncle. They backtracked and turned down a different street to avoid the battle. As they rounded the next corner on their way back to Nelly’s house, they came face-to-face with another small battalion of Slayers.
There were probably twelve or thirteen of them, Vlad couldn’t be sure. He and Otis stopped in their tracks as one of the Slayers began to speak.
“Well, well, well, now there’s a face I recognize. Vladimir Tod, isn’t it?” The man smirked as he drew a silver-tipped stake from his pocket. Vlad had no idea who this man was or how he was able to recognize him. “Yes, Joss has kept us well informed. He may not be much of a Slayer, but he is an excellent spy.”
Otis and Vlad began to back away slowly, not in retreat, but enough to give them time to take in their plight.
“Boy, your skills in combat have been improving in the past couple of years, but if you do have any special powers in there, this would be a good time to figure out how to use them.” Instinctively Otis and Vlad moved until they were back-to-back as the Slayers moved to encircle them.
In his mind, Vlad could hear Otis’s voice,
“They’ll be coming from all sides, but they’ll only be one deep. This is actually good for us
. ”
“Got it.” In the heat of the moment, Vlad forgot that he could speak telepathically.
“
I know how hard this is for you, Vladimir, but you have to aim to kill. Otherwise, we’ve already lost this battle.
”
Vlad stopped for a moment. He knew what had to be done, but thought he could still deny that fact to himself. That is until his uncle put it into words. There was no way around it. Vlad would have to kill if he were to survive. There was a Slayer coming right at him.
There was no time to think, only time to act.
Vlad ran with incredible speed, moving from Slayer to Slayer, snapping necks as he moved. They didn’t have time to react. They didn’t even have time to blink. By the time he slowed his movements, he realized they were surrounded by several dead bodies. Roughly half of the Slayers that had been about to attack were lying before him, lifeless.
Vlad felt a wave of nausea almost knock him down.
And guilt. Horrible guilt.
He’d killed. He’d killed them all.
Otis squeezed his shoulder, breathless. “Vladimir, where did you learn to fight like that? I know it’s not something that Vikas taught you. You moved so fast.”
Vlad shook his head. He was assuming it was a Pravus thing, but it scared the hell out of him to lose himself like that. “There’s no time to explain now, Otis. I have to go find Joss. He’s the only one who can put a stop to this.”
“Vladimir, I told you. It’s too late for that. Besides, if you think I’m going to let you walk out there and volunteer to get staked, you’re crazy.”
“It’s not like that, Uncle Otis. You’re right, it’s too late for that. But if I don’t do something, then everyone will die.” Vlad’s chest felt tight, like he might start hyperventilating at any moment. “Don’t worry I can handle myself. You need to get Nelly to safety.”
Otis looked at him, as if gauging his sincerity. Then he sighed and offered Vlad a nod. “All right, but we’re not leaving town without you. Do what you have to do and meet us at the high school.”
Vlad nodded and took off as fast as he could.
To where, he had no idea.
36
COMING OUT OF THE COFFIN
M
ANEUVERING THROUGH THE STREETS of his small town, Vlad could hardly recognize where he was. It looked more like one of the battlegrounds that he saw on the news rather than the place he had grown up. Police lights and sirens blared as they sped through the streets. Fires burned in trash cans and on wrecked or abandoned cars. There were bodies lying all around, vampire, Slayer, and innocent bystander alike.
As he passed the lifeless body of Principal Snelgrove, Vlad lost his composure as well as his lunch. Sure he hadn’t liked the guy, but he deserved better than this. Maybe he was right to not have liked Vlad all these years. After all, look where Vlad had led him, led the whole town for that matter.
Vlad grew angry. Angry at Joss. Angry at Abraham. Angry at the Slayers and the vampires. But most of all, angry at himself. This was all his fault.
But he was past that now and there was no going back. Vlad had chosen this path and he had to prove, to himself more than anyone else, that he was man enough to walk it.
Turning the corner, Vlad spotted another battle raging in front of him, but there was something different about this one. Vlad didn’t see any vampires fighting. The townspeople were fighting back. And what’s more, they were doing a pretty good job.
Vlad smiled; maybe the people of Bathory were a little more than the Slayer Society had expected.
After two more battles blocking his path and one fight of his own, involving three Slayers who would certainly feel it when they woke up in the morning, Vlad decided to take to the top of the trees. He had to find Joss and Abraham and there was only one place in Bathory where one could survey the whole town at once. Vlad had to get to the belfry.
As Vlad rounded the corner of the school he spied a familiar sight. The goths were assembled on the steps of the school.
“Guys!” Vlad hurried over to them, almost breathless, full of panic. “Have you guys seen Joss?”
“Yeah, I did.” Sprat jumped up and pointed toward the middle of town, “Some old guy was draggin’ him around by the arm, over by EAT, but that was like twenty minutes ago.”
“Vlad,” October had a worried look in her eyes, “have you seen Henry? He’s not answering his phone.”
Vlad’s heart ached for her. October was clearly very worried. “I’m sure he’s fine. In fact I know he is. I’d have felt it if something had happened to him.”
“Felt it? Boy, I guess you guys
are
really close friends, aren’t you?” The sarcasm flowed in Kristoff’s words.
Ignoring him, Vlad turned to the others in the group, “Look, guys, I need your help. But first I have to tell you something. Something ... well ... about the truth. My truth, that is.”