Night School Book 2: Vampire Legion Page 13

  He snapped his arms down to his sides with a blade in each pointing at Norman. He crouched, loading his legs with potential energy. Then he screamed. However, it was a scream of pain. He fell forward. As his chest thudded to the ground, Norman saw Felicia ride his back all the way down. She yanked her silvery knife from his spine.

  “I felt you,” she said.

  Norman's own progeny. She would always know his fear. “Move!” shouted Norman. He darted past her, grabbing her arm. He practically dragged her out of the warehouse as the sounds of boots hitting the ground thudded from behind them.

  He picked Matt up off the ground and threw him over his shoulder. He looked over at Elijah across the street. “Plan B,” he shouted.

  A barrage of barking sounds exploded from behind Norman as he fled to the alley where the vampires waited. He arrived and slumped Matt to the ground. He peered around the corner at the scene that unfolded behind him. Thirty wolves leapt onto the vampires as they streamed out of the warehouse. They tore and bit into their flesh like it was nothing. The vampires fought awkwardly as too many of them attempted to maneuver in a small area in front of the door. As they tried to spread out, more streamed through the door, making it impossible to establish any kind of combat formation.

  Norman knew this situation wouldn’t last. There were only thirty werewolves. Ten times that number of invincible vampires would soon fill the street. Norman looked to Bronte. “I think this is the part where we all die.”

  “I don’t know about you, Teacher. But I intend to die fighting,” she replied.

  Norman looked to the Nymphs. Once again it seemed he had no other options before him. There was nowhere he could hide from these things. And all his allies were about to die. Norman desperately wanted to protect his Nymphs. But it was beyond that now. A last stand was happening. There was no choice but to stand with them. “I’m sorry,” he said. “Let’s move.” The entire contingent of reserve vampires moved out into the street and headed directly into the fighting and their own destruction.

  13

  Catacombs

  Bronte smashed into the fray first, effortlessly flinging two enhanced soldiers off of Rufus. Together Rufus and Bronte bounced and twisted in fast motion acrobatics about the street. Each time they landed one or more enemies fell to the ground clutching some part of their body spurting blood.

  The enemy vampires still attempted to organize themselves into some type of combat formation, but more kept streaming into the street getting in the way.

  The wolves dug into flesh and tore huge hunks out of one enemy after another. A few would get their footing and start fighting. Rufus and Bronte would knock them back down almost instantly. They may not have had the numbers, but they’d managed to get the initiative. It wouldn’t last.

  Norman and the other vampires joined the carnage. Slashing and stabbing with whatever weapons they had. His Nymphs leapt in without hesitation, putting their training and weapons to use.

  Tyreese slashed and jabbed with his spear. The wolf tooth tip seemed to rend the enemy flesh with little resistance. Tyreese tore through the first few vampires he encountered, leaving them clutching their chests on the road. Blood lust filled his eyes as he pushed his way into the horde of enemies. He didn’t notice the soldier who’d grabbed him from behind.

  Norman dashed into the nucleus of the fight as the soldier lifted Tyreese over his head. Norman slammed into him. The three of them tumbled to the ground knocking over another soldier and two friendly vampires. Tyreese quickly lifted his spear and jabbed his former attacker in the face. The tip pierced the vampire soldier’s eye and punctured through the back of his head. He gave Norman a nod before leaping up and rejoining the battle.

  Norman stood as well, but before he could get his bearings, he felt the splintery slicing of wood pierce his leg. One of the soldiers on the ground had slashed out with his knife. Norman’s leg buckled and he fell to one knee. Wood hurt so much more than metal.

  The soldier stood up to finish the job. Norman raised an arm over his head to try to block the blow. It never came. When Norman lowered his arm to look, he saw Rufus hurling the vampire at the stream of soldiers coming through the door, knocking them down and obstructing the others.

  Rufus lifted Norman from the ground. “You need to get out of here. In a minute, this will all turn bad.”

  Norman thought it already had.

  Rufus shouted over the sounds of combat. “Get as many vampires and wolves as you can. Bronte and I will stay and cover your exit.”

  “Rufus,” shouted Norman. “You need to run.”

  “They’ll follow,” Rufus shouted back. “Your only chance is to hide. Now go.”

  Norman knew Rufus was right, but he thought he might have a better idea. He scanned the fray to get his bearings. A soldier spotted him and ran, a knife in each hand. Norman focused on the soldier’s eyes. The rumble of sounds became distinct. Norman heard every groan, each tear of flesh. He saw the enhanced vampire’s orb floating toward him. He allowed the orb to fill his concentration. He felt his smooth tendrils slipping along those of his enemy who kept advancing. Norman continued reaching, seeking traction. All he felt was slipping. He wished he’d practiced this. The enemy drew closer and stopped just short of him. Norman reached deep to find an anchor point somewhere in the will of the soldier.

  “Brave,” said the soldier standing in front of him, puzzled by Norman’s lack of reaction. “Too bad you’re about to die.” He raised a knife above his head, poised to bring it down into Norman’s chest. The muscles in his arm tensed as he began to drive the knife down. An explosion of blood splattered Norman's face as a tooth-tipped spear burst out of the soldier’s chest. The soldier grabbed at the point, but it sliced open his hand. He fell to the ground, gripping his chest in pain. Behind him, Tyreese pulled his spear out of the soldier and drove it down again into his head.

  “If you get their brains, they stay down longer,” said Tyreese.

  Good to know.

  Looking around the fray, Norman saw the vampires and wolves fighting their inevitable loss. If we lose, we die. We need time. To think. To Plan. Norman stood paralyzed for an instant. Not here. Not now. “We’ve got to get out of here,” said Norman. Grab as many as you can and get to the rendezvous.

  Tyreese nodded. He quickly turned and stabbed another soldier who was dangling a wolf by the neck. “Time to go,” he said to the wolf.

  Norman felt Felicia. She was all rage and strength. He felt her feel him. She’d know what to do. He searched the mob for the others. He saw Declan and a soldier with their hands around each other’s throats. Declan’s club was on the ground. He had become strong. Very strong. But he’d lose this one-on-one.

  Cindy leapt in from nowhere and thrust her samurai sword through the soldier’s back. He groaned and fell to his knees, but did not release his grip. Cindy slid the knife back out and brought it down in a blur, slicing off one of the soldier’s arms. It dropped from Declan’s neck. He wouldn’t let go with the other. So, Cindy sliced it off as well.

  Norman shouted, “Cindy, Declan, time to go.”

  They nodded. Declan picked up his club and began to run.

  The side of Norman’s head exploded in pain as a fist cracked his skull. He fell to the ground.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” said a soldier who stood above him.

  “Back off,” shouted a voice from behind Norman. It was Darius.

  “A gun?” said the soldier. “I’ve always hated guns.”

  “Oh you’ll like this one,” said Darius.

  A high-pitched whine followed by a crack, sounded form Darius’s weapon. A hole appeared in the soldier’s chest. He stepped back with the momentum and looked down at the smoking hole. “Interesting.”

  Then light exploded from the puncture. Norman and the Nymphs brought up their arms to shield their faces. The soldier grabbed his chest and fell to his knees. Smoke began to emanate from his body orifices. His voice grumbled in pain
.

  “He’s down for now,” said Darius.

  Norman gripped Darius and Tyreese by their jackets and pushed them along. “Move, move, move! Before he gets back up.”

  The Nymphs and Norman ran for the alley around the next building. Several vampires and werewolves followed. Once in the alley, Norman peeked back around the corner. He saw his allies flee in all directions as the initial confusion began to wear off and the enemy soldiers sorted themselves out. Rufus and Bronte continued their acrobatic combat, focusing on the greatest threats as they emerged. However, the threats came too quickly. There were too many of them. Norman would use what time they had left.

  “Into the sewers,” shouted Norman.

  Norman looked back over his shoulder as his soaked feet slopped through the muck of the city’s underbelly. They all trudged forward with their eyes on the ground. So much for their preemptive attack. The enhanced Corps. V soldiers had emerged from their tubes ahead of schedule.

  “It seemed like they knew we were coming,” said Norman.

  Matt Barnes replied without looking up. A large welt had formed on his forehead. “Who knows? Chip’s been recruiting quickly. He’s probably picked up a mole or a sympathizer. He’s building the party back from a fractured remnant. Hard to sort them out sometimes.”

  “I wonder how many made it out.” Norman looked back again and counted fifteen vampires and eight werewolves. The wolves strode naked in human form. “We’ll need to get them some clothes.”

  “Chip should be able to take care of that,” replied Matt.

  Norman stopped at a connecting fork. He looked to the left and then straight ahead several times.

  Matt pointed to the left. “It’s this way.”

  The group rounded the corner and continued their solemn march. The underside of human civilization always seemed to be the places where people like Norman retreated to. It was their lot, their nature to exist in the dark, hidden places of humanity.

  Norman recognized the two vampires that strode along just behind him. Georgios and MacManus seemed deep in thought. “Tell me more about mushrooms, Georgios.”

  Both men looked up from their meditations.

  “Some things eat plants. Others eat animals. Some, like humans, eat both,” replied Georgios. “But mushrooms feed on the dead. They eat the rotten things of the earth. They grow in the darkness.”

  “Sounds like some vampires I know,” joked Norman.

  Georgios did not share in the humor. “Most see the little buds sticking out of the ground and think that’s what a mushroom is. But it’s not. The mushrooms extend for vast distances with a network of underground arms and tentacles. The mushroom organism can be huge. When the conditions are right, it puts up the buds. They turn dead flesh into food.” Georgios looked forward now. “They are old. Older than trees. They share a deep connection with the earth and the dead that sleep in its soil. They are more like us than you may think. We thrive on the night. But we’ve abandoned our connection to the Earth, preferring our comfortable houses and human night jobs in place of coffins in the dirt. Sometimes I tend to my garden and wonder what we’ve become.”

  “I didn’t know that about mushrooms,” replied Norman. Norman had never put that much thought into mushrooms or sleeping in the earth. Perhaps he'd understand his kind more if he hadn't isolated himself so much for all those years.

  “Plus, they’re absolutely delicious!” said Georgios lightening the mood.

  “I did know that,” said Norman.

  “I prefer steak,” said MacManus. “Nice and bloody.”

  Norman recognized the juncture up ahead. “We’re almost there.”

  Norman led the group past the next few winds in the sewers and arrived at the spot where they’d entered the parallel set of catacombs through the breach in the wall. However, instead of an opening into the de facto vampire headquarters, Norman found freshly masoned stone sealing up the entry.

  “Damn it,” said Norman. “I didn’t know Chip was repairing this.”

  “He didn’t mention it to us either,” said MacManus. “Politicians.”

  “We’re going to need to find another way in,” Norman announced to the group.

  The whole contingent slumped to the floor in exhaustion.

  “After a little rest, maybe,” added Norman.

  Norman sat as well. He didn’t know the next time he’d get a break.

  Felicia approached and sat down next to him. “I can feel them.”

  Norman looked up into her eyes. She was so young. There was a lot a new vampire needed to know. Norman lamented that he would not be able to give the Nymphs all they’d need to get through this ordeal. Most of all he felt for Felicia. She was his progeny. His connection to her was eternal. He’d always know her feelings. With time, she’d learn to recognize Norman’s…if she ever got that time. “You feel them because you share blood.”

  “Sometimes I think I can almost hear you in my head,” she said. “But with them, just feelings. I can barely tell which is which.”

  Norman shifted to teacher mode. “They’re new at this, too. Their emotions and thoughts go out raw. They’ll learn to focus them eventually, just as you’ll learn to listen.”

  “Can you feel them, too, Mr. Bernard?” she asked.

  “A little. Not as strongly as you do. I’m once removed,” replied the teacher.

  “Sometimes I wish I’d never made them,” said Felicia.

  “I didn’t want to ask until you were ready to talk.” Norman sat up straighter. “I didn’t understand why you did…other than Declan.”

  “This life… Jesus, vampires.” Felicia shook her head as the improbability of her own words came into stark relief. Norman sensed the mind of her former self emerge from the ether for a moment. For a brief instant, she saw the world as she used to. An in that world, there are no such thing as vampires. Then her new reality phased back into focus.

  Norman felt the battle between worlds within her. He remembered being a Nymph and struggling to reconcile his old world with the new. In the end, he had realized, they all realized, there was really only one world. And it was terrifying.

  “I guess it’s no worse than before,” said Felicia. “I was always afraid. We all were. Only, no one was afraid of me. A small Latina. What chance did I ever have? I talked as big as I could. It’s the only thing I could do big.” She looked away in reflection. “My mom was like me once. But she gave up. She gave her power over to one boyfriend after another. They were all strong. But they came after her eventually. And me, too…when I tried to stand up for her. Or when they got tired of her. They were monsters. They’d beat her. They’d beat me.” Her eyes began to water. “And worse.”

  Norman put an arm around the closest thing he’d ever have to a child. He felt her fear welling up. All he wanted was to absorb it, to make her feel warm and safe for once in her life. “It’s okay.” He kissed her on the top of the head. “It’s okay.”

  She looked up into his eyes. “No, Mr. Bernard. It’s not okay.” Her lips quivered displaying a frailty she’d kept hidden from him all this time. “But at least it’s better. Now I’m the monster. I’ll never have to give away my power like she did. I’ll rip the throat out of anyone who tries to take it away from me.” Her sensitive eyes hardened into rage.

  Declan came over and slid down the wall next to Felicia. “Hi, Mr. Bernard.”

  Felicia extended a hand to him. “Come here you racist piece of shit.”

  Declan put an arm around her, unfazed by the insult. Felicia was an atom bomb of rage and ferocity wrapped inside a diminutive female body. Declan was all brute strength and raw force, but Felicia had exposed something soft and innocent deep within him. It was as if long ago, a four-year-old Declan hid away his heart from the ravages of the world and left it there, wrapped in muscle and ignorance, never to be touched or harmed. Felicia had finally exposed that heart and Declan seemed glad of it.

  “Anybody know another way in?” asked Norman.
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  “I do,” replied Matt. “They made me memorize the map”

  14

  Truffles

  Hours later, Norman had led the survivors through a variety of muck-filled passages and down rusty ladders deeper into the abyss of the sewers. Two members of the group had flashlights that helped them see their way. Matt Barnes stopped them at a juncture in the tunnel. “We’re close. I can’t remember which way to take here.”

  Miguel and Roberto moved to the front. Norman found it difficult to get used to the naked werewolves among them. Their smell. Their movement. Everything about them said dog. He wondered if he'd ever get used to them, if this alliance was too unnatural to hold.

  “What’s the hold-up?” asked Miguel.

  “We’re not sure which way to go from here,” replied Matt.

  Miguel pointed to the right. “It’s that way.”

  “Are you sure?” asked Norman. Did they feel the same about him? How far should he trust them?

  Miguel tapped his nose and began to walk down the passage to the right. The rest of the group followed.

  This passage was long and different than the rest. It got narrower the further they moved along it.

  “I feel like these walls are closing in,” said the oversized Declan.

  Matt barns sized up the passage. “Yes. That’s to make it harder for attackers. Keep them single file.”

  “How do you guys know all these things about vampires?” asked Norman. “I didn’t even know you existed until I met Naseem.”

  Matt became sheepish. “Sorry, Mr. Bernard. They told me I’m not allowed to tell anyone.”

  “Even me?” asked Norman.

  “Especially you,” replied the former student.

  Norman wondered if Matt would keep his secrets if pushed, where his loyalty really lay.