Vampire's Key
Chapter Twelve
Scarred rock face shot past as Adrian was lifted vertically. Above him, huge mammalian wings came together, creating an up-draught that pulled him away from the cave floor far below. The vampire bat swept across the roof of the cavern, its talons skewering his bleeding shoulders. It screeched and spun around, swinging Adrian like a rag doll in its wake. Adrian reached up to its thick skin in an attempt to free himself. It was tough and rubbery, and tightened its grip. He winced at the sharp stabbing pain that cut through him, forcing him to let go.
Another creature swept in behind him, its elongated wings oscillating over the air-current as it approached. The vampire slashed at Adrian, slicing into his flesh as it stripped him of his main weapons. They fell into the emptiness below, followed by droplets of blood that oozed from his open wounds. Adrian checked his webbing. *One chance,*he thought, as his fingers ran over the sonar repellent. *It’d better work.*The second vampire slashed at him again, then screamed in delight, invigorated by the scent of fresh blood.
Adrian let his arms drop to his sides, conserving energy and doing his best to avoid drawing any attention to his one remaining weapon. The vampire that had him pulled sharply to the left, heading into a new chamber. Adrian gasped at the sight of the giant well far below. Jutting out on a rocky outcrop and surrounded by a deep chasm, it was illuminated by shafts of light that descended through gaps in the earth high above.
The vampire swooped down towards a wide, smooth ledge, where the crone, Nell, emerged from a black cave. She shuffled forward, her bony fingers clutching the nape of a naked man’s neck, forcing him towards the edge of the well. The man was tall and slim and shook uncontrollably. Luminescent water surged far below, smashing against jagged rocks that spiked upwards like hungry teeth.
Nell’s mouth opened. Adrian didn’t hear a sound from her, but the vampire that held him hissed, swooped low to the ground and cast him towards her.
Adrian grunted as he hit the hard surface. He got to his feet quickly, uncertain of his chances against the Matriarch. He checked his webbing, relieved to find the sonar repellent still in place. Withered feet, grey-green from decay, shuffled towards the edge, pushing the terrified man before her. Nell stared blankly through glazed eyes set deep in oversized sockets.
Resisting the desire to run, Adrian forced himself to move closer.
“Kill her,” the man gasped. His eyes were fixed straight ahead, his toned body glistening with sweat. His scrotum sat tight beneath a shrivelled penis, withdrawn into his body for protection from the cold — a suitable companion to the crone’s aged vagina. “Or she’ll kill us both.”
Nell staggered slowly forward. Her grey-white skin sagging over her body like an ill-fitting suit.
“Where are the others?” Adrian shouted, glancing up at the two vampires who soared high above. “What have you done with them?”
Nell’s leer offered a putrescent mouth of sharp black teeth.
“Where are they?” Adrian asked, as he visualised the process of retrieving and igniting the repellent.
The man shook his head. “There are none.”
Nell’s eyes snapped right.
‘Help me,’ the man mouthed.
Nell’s grip on the man’s neck tightened.
“Leave him be, Nell,” Adrian warned.
“Did the eunuch send you, Stake?” she hissed.
“Eunuch?”
Her boney fingers squeezed the man’s neck. “You know I cannot be stopped,” she said. “The gate—”
“Will stay closed,” Adrian retorted. He ripped the thin canister from his webbing, depressing the nozzle. A blast of high pitched sound echoed around the chamber. Nell clutched her ears, screaming at Adrian, who rushed towards her. Above him the two vampires smashed into the cave walls as they tried to evade the disorientating and invasive noise.
“Damn you!” Adrian shouted as he barged towards Nell. A sharp crack of bone preceded the man’s chaotic tumble into the well. Nell side-stepped Adrian’s charge, clasped his back and flipped him into the deep watery chasm.
Vampire’s Key
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