Blood Song

Oliver noticed the change, and grinned at me before racing off after the fleeing blood drinkers. I was left standing alone in an ever widening space as they all made for the openings torn the walls earlier. The roar of an engine heralded the return of the armoured car, and this time it slowed and stopped on its usual path, and Hugo and Fergus climbed out, casually positioned themselves on top of the hot metal, and fired into the crowd until their weapons jammed or ran out of ammunition. One would duck back down and return with an armful of fresh assault rifles and magazines, and the extermination would be renewed.

I made my way towards that door, and the lethal wave that was spreading out from around it, travelling slowly through the seething crowd that surged past me. Occasionally one would reach out to attack me as they went by, and I'd kill them, but mostly we left each other alone.

I had made it three quarters of the way to the door when I felt an icy touch envelop my chest. My heart lurched and paused, and I felt myself falling, and then it lurched again and settled into its usual rhythm while the blood drinker next to me collapsed in a lifeless heap.

I stood for a few seconds, waiting, and then stepped over the last few bodies before stepping through the doorway.

More bodies littered the floor here, although there were proportionally more humans than there had been in the main section I'd just come from. A couple of doors were set in a prefabricated wall opposite where I stood. The one on the left gaped open to reveal a cramped, untidy room containing a cot and a chair that both smelled of Mark, and his blood. I saw the stains and the nails half buried in the wood. My pupils dilated as rage pulsed through me.

I turned to the second door, and kicked it down. It disintegrated with a satisfying crunch, and I stepped inside over the body of a female vampire that lay just within, face up, eyes wide and lifeless. I smiled grimly, and sensed Oliver's exultation as he too saw what I saw.

Anne was dead.

Mark

I heard the sounds of footsteps coming down the stairs, and then the bolts being drawn back. I was so focused on the death I was dealing out above me, my arms spread out palms up, my eyes closed, that I paid it little attention.

"I knew it was you all along," a voice grated behind me, vibrating with rage.

And that's when I realised that I'd made a mistake that would cost me my life. I slowly lowered my arms and turned to see Snake Eyes in the doorway, his hate filled eyes staring at me above the barrel of a black pistol held in a steady grip. I remembered too late that I hadn't found his skip rhythm heartbeat in the earlier chaos. As if he read my thoughts he nodded almost imperceptibly, a smug sneer taking hold of his face. His eyes narrowed as I shut my eyes and reached out toward him, and his finger tightened on the trigger. I saw the coruscating current skittering across his heart muscle briefly as the shot rang out.