Part 36 (1/2)

He remembered what the folks had told him earlier about vampires. The master vampire-or alien, as Dudu preferred to think of it-was supposed to be in the house, feeding on blood and building his strength. Dudu would wager that this was the creature's room. The faint, coppery smell of blood flavored the dank air.

Was the vampire lying in the bed, asleep?

His eyes had mostly adjusted to the darkness. He wanted to free his hands, so he balanced the flashlight on the floor. The funnel of light angled upward and provided decent illumination throughout the center of the room.

He moved to the foot of the bed. He grasped the end of the sheet. Aiming the gun at whatever lay on the mattress, he pulled down the blanket.

Three fluffy pillows lay on the bed. There was no one there. No alien, no vampire.

”c.r.a.p,” Dudu said. He released a pent-up breath. He'd been frightened out of his mind for nothing. There was a threat in his midst, but it was not in here.

You've got to be braver than this, Dudu, if you want to earn the t.i.tle of Earth's Defender.

He smiled a little.

Something warm dripped onto his arm. Frowning, he looked up.

A giant black man hung suspended against the ceiling like a monstrous spider, lips parted to reveal sharp fangs that dripped with saliva.

Dudu cried out and swung the gun upward. The man's long arm swooped like a scythe through the air. He swatted the revolver out of Dudu's hands. The gun clattered into the darkness.

Frantic, Dudu drew his nightstick out of its loop on his belt.

The man unpeeled his body from the ceiling and fluidly came to stand against the floor. He was huge-a whole head taller than Dudu, who stood six-four. He was as muscular as Dudu was skinny. He wore a ragged black s.h.i.+rt, jeans, boots.

The creature's eyes were black holes.

Blinking, Dudu stumbled backward.

For the first time in his life, he was face-to-face with an extraterrestrial. This wasn't a tabloid photograph. This was real.

He felt a warm gush running down his leg. He had urinated on himself.

”What ... what world are you from?” Dudu said. He was amazed that he had the presence of mind to ask such a question. ”You're not a vampire. You're an alien!”

Grunting, the creature lunged at Dudu. Dudu yelled a battle cry and swung the nightstick with all his strength. The creature seized the baton in midair and s.n.a.t.c.hed it out of Dudu's hands. It snapped the stick in half as though it were a pencil.

Weaponless except for his bare hands, Dudu began to throw a punch, but the creature clapped its hands over Dudu's shoulders and squeezed, pinning his arms to his sides. Dudu struggled, but it was like being trapped in a steel clamp. He couldn't get away.

The creature opened its wide, fang-filled mouth.

Last summer, a racc.o.o.n had become trapped in Dudu's chimney, and the stink of the dead animal had contaminated the entire house. The smell that roiled from this beast's maw was equally sickening: it was the stench of death.

The creature lifted Dudu in the air and drew him forward.

Dudu finally realized where this monster had really come from, and it was not Venus, Mars, the Andromeda galaxy, or any other galactic world.

It was from h.e.l.l.

David knocked on the door of Franklin's hospital room before he and Nia went inside.

Sitting at Franklin's bedside, Ruby looked up. She still wore her nurse's uniform. Her hair was frizzy, and her redrimmed eyes were puffy from crying.

David's heart ached. Ruby had undoubtedly been at her husband's side all night.

Franklin lay on his back, eyes closed, chest rising and falling slowly.

”How's he doing?” David said.

”He's been sleeping on and off,” Ruby said in a scratchy voice. ”Dr. Green came in earlier to check on him, and he still can't figure out what's wrong. They think it's a virus of some kind. They're waiting on blood test results.”

”Which might not prove anything,” David said. ”Of course, no one told his doctor anything about vampires.”

”Dr. Green would never believe a story like that,” Ruby said. ”I wouldn't believe it either, if I weren't living it.”

”I'm so sorry, Ruby,” Nia said. She rubbed the older woman's shoulder.

David stood near Franklin. Franklin looked so sickly, nothing like the man who had kindly greeted him when he moved into his father's house. That day seemed like a lifetime ago.

David held Franklin's hand. The man's fingers were cool. David was afraid to wonder how close Franklin was to changing.

Franklin opened his eyes, blinked groggily.

”I don't have much time left, do I?” Franklin said, in a weak voice.

”Oh, sugar” Ruby kissed Franklin's cheek. ”You have all the time in the world, we're going to make you better, you hear me?”

Franklin smiled, but it was a sad expression. ”Where are your crutches, David?”

”A lot has happened since we last saw you,” David said.

”Tell me, please,” Franklin said. He scooted up a few inches. ”I may be in my last hours as a man, but that hasn't diminished my thirst for a good story.”

Jahlil jumped into the patrol car and locked the doors.

Although he had a gun, he wasn't quick enough on the draw to drop three super-fast, monster mutts. Trying something like that would be crazy.

The vampiric dogs charged across the road. One of them leapt against the pa.s.senger door, angry snout mashed against the gla.s.s. Another pounced onto the hood.

The car rocked under the creatures' a.s.sault, metal creaking and buckling. The canines' relentless snarls hurt Jahlil's ears.

He grabbed the radio handset. ”Dad, where are you? You've gotta get up here now! The dogs have trapped me in the car!”

Dad's voice came over the airwaves, barely audible over the dogs' ferocious barks. ”On my way, son. Sit tight. You got the key?”

Jahlil looked at the ignition. The key dangled there. His terror had blinded him to the obvious.