Something of the Night Page 29

  Jacob had almost wept with relief on seeing his son. He’d kept his emotions in check, though, for the boy’s safety was paramount, and under no circumstances must Ezekiel find out the truth. Knowledge was power, and the vampire already had his fair share of that. Jacob had done his best to avoid looking at the boy, but had found himself continually drawn to his young, innocent face though. The little boy had stared back, a look of confusion on his face.

  Ezekiel had ordered the thin vampire, Brother Franklin, to take the young boy by the hand and lead him outside. Then, thankfully, the burnt vampire had followed, yet the stench of overcooked meat still hung thickly in the air.

  As for Pet, he’d simply disappeared. And Jacob guessed it would not have been too difficult for a vampire to hide out amongst thousands.

  The vampire leader sat behind a table, a handgun nearby. Only Brother Trask remained standing, and he rocked and swayed in unconscious synchronisation with the trailer.

  Ezekiel gave Jacob an answer to his question: “You have nothing to fear from me.” He nodded, adding sincerity to his words.

  This surprised Jacob and he fell quiet for a moment, trying to understand his enemy. “If I’ve nothing to fear, then why am I bound?” he asked finally.

  Ezekiel laughed again, but this time it was sad and pitying. “I said, ‘you have nothing to fear from me.’ I didn’t say you had nothing to fear.”

  Jacob frowned. “Say what’s on your tongue, vampire.”

  Trask grabbed a handful of Jacob’s hair. He yanked the tracker’s head back and spat, “Show my master some respect, or I’ll be forced to cut your tongue from out of its blasphemous head.”

  Ezekiel stood, then moved around the table and laid his hand on Trask’s shoulder. “It’s okay, Brother. We shouldn’t punish them for being merely bad-mannered.”

  Trask growled in Jacob’s face before releasing him. He leaned against the side of the trailer and fixed the tracker with a deadly stare.

  Behind the vampire, most of the inside wall was covered by patches of dried blood. The black Frankenstein had punched the trailer back into shape with its bare fists, doing little more to itself than venting its anger and bloodying its knuckles. It was once the dark monstrosity had left that Jacob realised that most of Ezekiel’s inner circle was either nervous or edgy, and deeply troubled. He expected them to be pumped up and ready for battle, like the soldiers outside, and not apprehensive.

  What were they afraid of?

  “I’m sick of their stupidity,” Trask moaned.

  “It’s not their fault they’re uneducated. You have to remember, they’ve been hiding underground like rats for many years, and have unwittingly adopted a few irritating habits,” Ezekiel explained.

  The stocky vampire grumbled a concurrence and the moment of tension slipped away unnoticed.

  Jacob understood that if he got the chance, Trask would happily cut his throat and dance in his blood as he lay dying. Ezekiel, on the other hand, was a completely different story. Something other than hatred or bloodlust was driving him, but what? He was smart, but so was Jacob. The tracker realised instantly that Ezekiel’s comment about rats had been more aimed at pacifying Trask than a direct insult to him. The vampire’s reign appeared fragile and he was pulling out all the stops to keep those around him in order.

  They fell quiet for a moment, and the slight squeal of the suspension and the drum of rain above filled in the silence. They felt the sway of the trailer lessen. Eventually the Airstreamer drew to a halt. A moment later an urgent thud sounded. Trask opened it to find an anxious-looking foot-soldier standing outside. The soldier – no more than a teenager – offered the stocky vampire a respectful salute, then looked past him and towards Ezekiel.

  “I bring grave news,” he said, tension clear in his voice.

  “What news?” Trask asked.

  The soldier shuffled from one boot to the other.

  “Speak!” Trask said, his fragile patience about ready to crack.

  “Perhaps we should speak in private.” The young man’s eyes darted towards Jacob and Elliot.

  Ezekiel caught the look. He moved beside Trask. “Come in, son, and tell me your news.”

  The vampire paused for a second then climbed inside. He shook his overcoat and rainwater pooled around his feet.

  “What is it?” Ezekiel asked.

  The soldier looked towards the prisoners for a second time.

  “It’s okay,” Ezekiel said. “You can speak with them present. It seems they’ve been given the same path as us to follow.”

  The soldier frowned, unsure of his master’s comment.

  “C’mon, soldier, speak before I die of old age,” Trask growled.

  Taking a breath, the soldier said, “It appears we have a problem.”

  “Problem?” Ezekiel asked.

  “Bara,” the soldier said, with trepidation. “Her truck has been abandoned on the highway.”

  The vampire leader visually tensed. “Where is she?” he asked.

  The soldier shrugged. “I-I’m not sure.”

  “Damn that idiot,” Trask spat. “She’s become a liability.”

  Ezekiel looked physically pained. “And her cargo?”

  “Gone also,” the soldier replied, unable to hold his master’s gaze.

  “NO!” Ezekiel snapped.

  The soldier reared back, but not fast enough to avoid Ezekiel’s hand. The vampire leader clutched at the other’s throat. “How did this happen?”

  “I’m not sure… ” the soldier croaked.

  “Fool!” Ezekiel roared, and pushed the vampire against the trailer. His jaws opened wide and he readied to strike.

  “Please … It wasn’t my fault,” the teenage vampire cried.

  “Then whose?” Ezekiel demanded.

  The soldier’s eyes darted towards Jacob and Elliot. “Theirs?”

  All three vampires turned towards the two captives. Ezekiel reached out and took the handgun from the table. He took two strides and knelt beside Jacob. “Is there any truth in this?” he asked.

  Jacob just grinned back silently.

  Ezekiel pressed the weapon against the tracker’s skull. “Well?”

  No response came.

  “You have no idea what you’re jeopardising,” Ezekiel said.

  Jacob said nothing. The weapon moved away from his head and instead rested against Elliot’s. The young tracker moaned as he battled towards consciousness.

  “Now let’s try again. Do you know where my transport’s gone?”

  Unwilling to put Elliot’s safety at risk, Jacob answered, “No.”

  “What about him?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “But you do know who he is?”

  Jacob nodded.

  “Good,” Ezekiel said.

  The vampire reached out and pulled Jacob’s lip upwards to reveal the artificial fangs. He laughed bitterly, genuinely impressed. “I’ve a feeling those would be unlikely to go unnoticed.” He paused for a moment, his mind working out certain possibilities. “And I believe only one of high stature would be given such a task, to masquerade as one of my own.” The vampire remembered what name the other human had used, and said, “Who are you, Jacob? A leader of men perhaps?”

  Jacob’s eyes narrowed with suspicion. “You think you know me?”

  Ezekiel shook his head. “No… but I will.” The vampire stood and the handgun disappeared into his waistband. He returned to the table and leafed through a stack of papers. He found the list of names that corresponded to Bara’s cargo. Twelve names made up the list. Each of the prisoners had a number beside their name, which related to the amount of time they had spent in captivity. Most had been imprisoned for at least three years, some as many as five. Ezekiel sat for a moment in silence, his mind working overtime. Three to five years was a long time for humans. Many would have died, either in battle, from hunger or from illness, and the prisoners’ loved ones may have perished a long time ago. His gesture of goodwill might ha
ve been nothing more than freeing prisoners to a band of strangers, and a total waste of time. Yet this Jacob, well, he may just turn out to be the pivotal point in this whole encounter.

  Trask stepped forward. “Maybe we should send out a search party to see if we can relocate Bara’s cargo? They can’t have gone far. We could set up camp, and wait until they’ve been found.”

  Ezekiel looked up and stared at Jacob. “No,” he responded. “We must push on. If the humans flee, then all is lost.” He stood and returned to the centre of the trailer. He fixed Jacob with a stare and his canines glinted as he grinned. “I don’t want our friends to arrive late for their reunion. Not even by a second.”

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Jacob felt the trailer bounce and sway violently. With sickening certainty, he knew they were close to the underground. Very close. The tracker pulled against his bonds. It was pointless. They were painfully tight. At his side, Elliot slipped in and out of consciousness. Trask and the young vampire had left earlier and had not returned. Ezekiel sat on his own now, arms folded across his chest. He was staring openly at his captive.

  “What?” Jacob asked, bothered by the vampire’s continual interest.

  “Nothing,” Ezekiel replied.

  “C’mon, you’ve got my attention. What is it?”

  “Okay,” the vampire said, ready to engage in conversation. “You.”

  “Me?”

  “Yes.”

  “What about me?”

  “There’s something very familiar about you,” Ezekiel said.

  Jacob dropped his head. No matter what, he must not allow the vampire to discover his true identity. “I’m nobody,” he replied quietly.

  A soft, knowing chuckle escaped from the vampire’s crimson lips. “On the contrary, you could prove to be everything.”

  Jacob cursed his own arrogance. Why had he forced this conversation? He sat silent.

  “Only a brave man would have attempted what you did. To have killed me would have surely resulted in your own death.”

  Jacob looked back at the vampire. “It would have been worth the price.”

  “Are you sure of that?”

  “Damn right I am.”

  Ezekiel shook his head sympathetically. “Your desire for revenge is deeply depressing.”

  “I’m glad to hear it,” he retorted, anger creeping into his throat. “Your lust for blood is utterly devastating.”

  The vampire nodded – that was undeniable. “It seems you and I have reached an agreement.”

  “What agreement?” Jacob asked.

  “That our … differences are costing us both dearly.”

  “Really?” Jacob said sarcastically.

  “Both our peoples are struggling to survive,” Ezekiel continued undeterred. “And yet there is a simple solution to all our problems.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yes, Jacob. There is.”

  The vampire’s use of his name made the tracker feel surprisingly uneasy and vulnerable. “Get to your point, vampire.”

  “My point is we could end this war of ours. Once and for all.”

  “And how do you propose to do that?”

  Ezekiel paused for a moment. This would be the first time he had voiced his plans of an alliance to its intended audience. “That we end this bloodshed and make way for peace.”

  Jacob stared back, and only his hatred towards the vampire stopped him from howling with uncontrollable laughter. Still, his face must have turned comical.

  “What is it you find amusing?” Ezekiel asked.

  “Amusing … no. Pathetic, yes.”

  The vampire frowned. “You think the chance of peace pathetic?”

  “Peace? How would you implement such a bold gesture? Have us crawl onto your platter and cut our own throats freely?”

  Ezekiel shook his head. “Not exactly, no.”

  “Then what?”

  “We set up a depository and you… donate freely.”

  “Depository?” Jacob echoed. “You make it sound almost civilised.”

  “Then what would you call it?”

  “At best, a cattle farm.”

  “No – no,” Ezekiel disagreed. “That isn’t my intention.”

  “Then what are your intentions?”

  Ezekiel stood and walked around the front of the table. He sat at its edge, remaining silent for a moment, gathering his thoughts. “My intentions are to offer you and yours peace and prosperity. And protection from extinction. Don’t you see? We can make the future a better place for both you and yours and me and mine!”

  “All I see is an army of undead marching with nothing but hunger and lust in their eyes. Are you telling me your men feel only passion for the return of their lost brothers?”

  “No,” Ezekiel admitted. “Not all have been told of our plans for a united alliance.”

  “Why?” Jacob asked, then immediately answered his own question. “Perhaps not all your men would freely offer their hand if they knew their only reward was one of blissful harmony.”

  The vampire surprised Jacob when he nodded in agreement. “Yes, you are right. My men wouldn’t be so … eager to march knowing what lies ahead. But they will adhere to my command and they must understand what sense it makes. My men are all too familiar with how hunger feels. A chance of sustained rations will not be quickly dismissed.”

  “That’s what we are … rations?”

  Ezekiel’s hands rose in front of him. “Sorry, bad choice of word. But you understand its meaning. I need you and you need me. It’s that simple.”

  “I … We don’t need anything from you.” Jacob said.

  Ezekiel grinned malevolently. “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Then how do you intend on surviving what Raphael and his southern clans throw at you?”

  “We’ll fight, as we always do.”

  “And how many men do you stand at?”

  At long last the laughter came. Jacob roared with bitter amusement. “What am I, a fool? Do your own intelligence.”

  Ezekiel frowned, unsure about Jacob’s reaction.

  “Shall I tell you of all our weaknesses, too?” Jacob said.

  Ezekiel understood. “No – no, you misunderstand. I’m not trying to determine what level of threat you pose, but merely trying to make you understand that fighting will be the end of your people. You can’t possible win against so many.”

  “Then I guess it’ll be the end of us both if Raphael decides to wage war. Unless he can offer better protection,” Jacob said. His last comment was meant to be sarcastic, but it made the vampire look back with concern deep in his eyes.

  “You’d swear allegiance to him?”

  Jacob laughed again, bitterly. “Never. Not to him. Not to you. Not to any vampire’s banner.”

  An uncomfortable silence fell upon them. The trailer seemed to be slowing, in an attempt to navigate around deeper holes and fissures. It drew to a slow, gradual halt.

  Ezekiel stood and opened the door. Outside, soldiers and transports whipped by as they took up position. The vampire took a deep breath, clearing his mind of the troubles that resided there. He turned back to Jacob, said, “I hope for all our sakes the rest of your people think differently than you. Or this may be the beginning of the end for both our peoples,” then he took the handgun from the tabletop before stepping outside and slamming the door behind him.

  The air felt heavy outside, and Ezekiel could not be sure if it was from the oppressive weather conditions or tension itself. He strode purposefully away from the trailer and towards the front line of his army. His men were quickly taking up positions at the base of the hill, behind a long line of transports, already parked in a tight semicircle that stretched for a half-mile and was three vehicles deep.

  The first line of vehicles consisted of eighteen-wheelers and other trucks or wagons. All had been emptied of their valuable cargo. At least fifty or so prisoners stood huddled together, surrounded by a platoon of soldiers. The
trucks were spaced apart by one truck length each, and only darkness filled in the spaces, for now. The second line of vehicles looked more menacing. Most were either bristling with automatic weapons or fixed spikes, or constructed from armour-plating, but all were sufficiently small or nimble enough to quickly fill the gaps left by the eighteen-wheelers. If need be, Ezekiel could close his ranks within seconds. The third row comprised an endless column of soldiers. Some of them stood around fixed artillery. Others were already taking up positions around the armoured vehicles. The rest stood back in an endless wave of foot-soldiers. From the outside, his army would look no more menacing than a convoy of trucks. In reality it was a rotten swell of death and destruction. Capable of smashing any human resistance it encountered.

  “Master, we are ready.”

  Ezekiel turned to find Brothers Trask and Franklin standing behind him.

  “We are ready,” Trask repeated. He had his rifle at his side, and the nails hammered through its stock glinted with the same eagerness for bloodshed, as did the stocky vampire’s eyes.

  “Good,” Ezekiel said. He looked through the steady flow of vampires in an attempt to find Thalamus and the boy. “Where is Brother Thalamus?” he asked.

  “He’s taken the boy to the safety of the trailer,” Franklin replied.

  Ezekiel’s heart skipped a beat. For some unknown reason he felt uneasy about the boy being near the humans. Especially Jacob. But why? Both had warm blood pumping through their veins and a soul in their hearts.

  “The humans pose no threat,” Trask said, reading his master’s concern. “I’ve tied them up good and tight. They aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.”

  Ezekiel nodded. “Good.” The thought of Thalamus guarding the boy was comforting, and the huge vampire’s appearance would only serve to unnerve the rest of the prisoners. For now, it was better for them both to remain safely hidden from the immediate situation and its unpredictable possibilities.

  “Follow me,” Ezekiel said, and moved towards the throng of prisoners. They look terrified, huddled together in one tight group. The vampire leader moved closer and the soldiers guarding them parted to allow him access.