Part 2 (2/2)

I laughed out loud. Tubercular Jorge grumbled at me from his corner. ”I wasn't joking. She's a Hunter, and she's good, real good. On the business end, she does most of our contract negations, and she's a real expert when it comes to monster lore. On the operational side she's our team sharpshooter. I've seen her plug a lindwyrm through the eyestalk from a moving helicopter. And tell you what, she can run a pistol like you wouldn't believe. Anyways, I'm a lucky guy. Somehow I've got a Southern belle, sniper, art babe to fall in love with me. I don't know how I pulled that off.” That much was true. I still couldn't figure out exactly how a blundering schlub like me had managed to impress somebody like her.

Julie had been one of the first Hunters that I had met. She had come to my home to recruit me while I was still recovering from my initial monster encounter. It had been love at first sight. For me at least. Thankfully, she had come around eventually. All I had had to do was take on all the armies of evil and save the world to impress her.

”Sounds like you guys make a...interesting couple.” Steve sounded slightly nervous.

”In fact she's been doing this way longer than I have. The company is a family business, her grandpa is the CEO. They've been into this for over a hundred years now. She was born for it. Killing monsters is what the Shacklefords eat, sleep, live and breathe.”

”Sounds like you have some psycho in-laws.”

There was a long uncomfortable pause as I thought about what to say. I rubbed the huge welt on my forehead from the shotgun b.u.t.t. How would I describe my soon-to-be relatives?

”Oh, touched a nerve, I see.”

”You have no idea,” I muttered. If there was an international award for who had the worst mother-in-law, I would be a sure winner. ”Her parents used to be Hunters too, really good people from what I understand, but...ah h.e.l.l, you wouldn't believe me if I told you.”

”Oh come on, like I believe any of your c.r.a.p anyway.”

”Never mind them. Let's just say that they're pure evil now.”

”They can't be that bad. I'm sure over time you guys will be able to work out your differences.”

”I wouldn't bet on it,” I responded. I rolled over on my side as something that felt suspiciously like a centipede crawled between my shoulder blades.

The few remaining light bulbs flickered a few times then died. A murmur rose from the prisoners. ”Power's out again,” Steve stated the obvious. There was an electric wailing sound in the distance, high-pitched and whiny. It sounded three times and then died abruptly. ”Guess not. That's the alarm.” Steve rose from his cot and went to the bars. All the other men were moving as well. Anything that broke the monotony of Section Six was a major deal for them. ”Something's up.”

I sat up. ”What's going on?”

”I don't know, man.” He turned to rapid-fire Spanish and ordered the thugs to quiet down. They sullenly obeyed.

The room was very dark. I felt a tinge of fear. Maybe the shadow man had come back for me. There were only a few small windows set high in the walls of the large s.p.a.ce, but the moon was fat and bright tonight, so some pale light was spilling down in beams. I scanned the bars. I could see the movement of men in the other cages, stalking, curious, nervous.

Gunfire.

I stood. If I knew anything in this world, I knew guns, and that was the sharp crack of a high-powered rifle. Then another, and another, then the gun was silent.

”Somebody trying to break out?” Jorge asked as he absently scratched himself. ”Don't sound like he made it too far.”

It was quiet. Even the crazies who had been blubbering constantly had shut up.

”Man, n.o.body makes it over the wall here. Poor fool,” One Ear said.

More gunfire. Now there were other rifles, some of them crackling through long bursts of full-auto, and the thumping of shotguns. A flashlight briefly illuminated the cell and then swung wildly away as a guard sprinted past us. The prisoners began to yell at him, but he just kept running until the flashlight disappeared as he left the room.

Could it be Julie and my team, come to rescue me? No way. Not like this. We killed monsters. We tried real hard not to hurt people. If they knew I was here, the rescue would involve lawyers and bribery, not guns. Something else was going on. It had to be the guy from the hotel.

”Anybody got a light?” I shouted. ”A lighter, a flashlight, anything.”

”Huh?”

”Something that can make light. Sparks, fire, I don't care. Anything.”

Jorge held up a lighter. ”It'll cost you.” He smiled maliciously.

I was across the cell in an instant. He tried to move his hand back, but I locked onto his wrist. He tried to struggle so I wrapped my other hand around the precious lighter. I broke his thumb as I yanked it free. He squealed.

”Shut it!”I shouted. I turned to Steve. His eyes were very wide in the moonlight. ”Whatever happens, stay calm. If you see some freaky s.h.i.+t, stay calm. If a great big shadow comes to get me, use this.” I pressed the lighter into his hand. ”Wait 'til he comes in our cell. His attention will be on me. Just flick it on. Then I can hit him. Understand?”

”What are you talking about?” The gunfire was becoming more sporadic, as if there were fewer guards left able to shoot. There were several pops from a small caliber pistol, seemingly just outside in the hallway leading into Section Six. Somebody in the hall began to scream. I snapped my head in that direction. The scream tapered off into a gurgle and then nothing.

”Just do it.” I stepped back from Steve and oriented myself toward the entrance, preparing for battle. There was no way I was getting taken to the Old Ones. I rotated my head and cracked the vertebrae in my neck. My adrenaline was beginning to flow, my breathing unconsciously quickening, filling my blood with extra oxygen. My vision tunneled in on the gray shape of the door, and the sounds of the room seemed to become muted. Outwardly I was calm. Inside I was terrified. If the shadow man came for me here, I had nowhere to run.

The others were worried now. They knew that something was horribly amiss. I heard prayers coming from men who looked like they had not spoken to G.o.d in a very long time. The temperature began to drop. Section Six had been warm and humid. It came so suddenly that it took precious seconds for my mind to recognize the brutal, unnatural cold. My breath hissed out as steam in the moonlight. The other men in my cell began to unconsciously crowd in the corner away from the entrance.

The heavy iron door that secured Section Six creaked open on rusted hinges. A hush fell over the room. A lone figure stepped into the blue moonlight. High heels clicked on the concrete floor. I could make out a familiar feminine shape silhouetted in the faint light, and for a split second I thought it was Julie. Tall, perfectly proportioned, shapely, but the supernatural cold told me I was wrong. A larger figure entered the room behind the woman. A broad-shouldered man, almost as tall as me.

”Oh no,” I said with much greater volume than I intended.

”Owen, what the h.e.l.l's going on?” Steve was terrified, and he was hard to understand over the chattering of his teeth. The temperature had dropped to near freezing.

Approaching, they pa.s.sed directly under one of the windows. I was right. It was them them. The woman started toward my cell, walking delicately down the path between the cages. She was achingly beautiful, perfect. But s.e.x appeal to a vampire was like one of those deep ocean fish with the bioluminescent light bulbs dangling over their jaws, just an efficient way to catch their prey. The heels continued to click. The brute glided silently behind her. I didn't take my eyes off of the approaching pair. ”Remember when I told you about my in-laws?”

Steve nodded quickly in the dark.

”They're here.”

Some poor idiot who hadn't seen a woman in decades made a horrible mistake. Unable to control himself with the ethereal beauty pa.s.sing before him, he opened his big stupid mouth. The language was such profane slang that I couldn't have translated it even if I had been able to understand the lowest level of gutter Spanish.

Susan Shackleford paused before answering the man. ”You'd like that, wouldn't you?” Her Southern accent was obvious, her voice perfect. When she smiled I could see the white of her teeth. Chills ran down my spine.

”Yeah, puta, puta, I show you good time!” Some of his buddies whooped for him. These guys must have already forgotten the hundreds of rounds of gunfire that had just been expended. Well, it wasn't the cream of the intellectual crop that ended up in places like this. I show you good time!” Some of his buddies whooped for him. These guys must have already forgotten the hundreds of rounds of gunfire that had just been expended. Well, it wasn't the cream of the intellectual crop that ended up in places like this.

The big figure stopped. ”That's my wife you're talkin' about, a.s.shole.” In the poor light, it was hard to tell what happened next. The prisoner was standing in the center of his cell, well out of reach from the bars. Yet somehow Ray Shackleford reached through the tight barrier, grabbed him by the neck, and pulled the prisoner through through the bars. Iron bent and bones shattered. The man screamed in agony before his heart exploded as it was jerked through the two-inch gap. He ended up dangling a few feet above the ground, mangled top half in the alleyway, pelvis and kicking legs still inside the cell. A puddle began to widen under the twitching corpse. the bars. Iron bent and bones shattered. The man screamed in agony before his heart exploded as it was jerked through the two-inch gap. He ended up dangling a few feet above the ground, mangled top half in the alleyway, pelvis and kicking legs still inside the cell. A puddle began to widen under the twitching corpse.

”Thank you, honey. That was downright chivalrous.”

”You're welcome, dear.”

The population of Section Six exploded. Everyone surged against the far corners of their cells, pus.h.i.+ng against bars or chain link. Dozens of voices rose into the night air, panic, confusion, terror.

”Y'all be QUIET!” Ray bellowed. I involuntarily covered my ears as the shockwave hit. His voice shook the building. Dust fell from the ceiling.

Now there was only whimpering and crying. The prisoners knew that something terribly inhuman was in their presence. The vampires approached slowly. ”Owen. Good to see you again.” Susan smiled at me. Her eyes seemed to glow pale in the dark.

”Heya, kid. How's it hanging?” Ray waved.

”Susan...Ray...” I nodded at them. Every joint in my body ached with fear. I was a dead man, or worse. Much worse.

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