Part 55 (1/2)

Screams of pain and sounds of mayhem came from her house. The cacophony of furniture being overturned. Gla.s.s shattering. Guns boomed, too; many of the folks at the party carried pieces.

Emma wondered whether a gun would do any good against these demon fiends. In the movies, guns never killed vampires.

Hadn't they said something at the church about fire being lethal to those monsters?

She looked at the barbecue grill. Small flames danced in the charcoal pit, licking at the burned ribs.

She found a length of wood lying in the corner, left over from one of Blood's woodworking projects. She doused the end of the plank with lighter fluid, and dipped it into the wriggling flames in the grill. The tip of the wood lit up with a whoosh, the heat baking the sweat on her face.

”You know better than to play with fire, brown sugar.” It was Blood. He entered the garage through the kitchen doorway.

His fangs were fully exposed, rivulets of saliva running down his chin. Hunger gleamed in his eyes.

”You stay away from me, Blood,” Emma said. She waved the torch in front of her. ”I don't wanna hurt you”

Blood's gaze warily followed the flames. He was clearly afraid of fire. He circled her, slowly, and she turned to keep the torch between them.

Anguish twisted his face. ”I got to have you, brown sugar. Can't help it. I got to. I can't control it.”

”You ain't gotta do nothing but stay away from me ””

He growled, feinted at her. Emma thrust the torch toward his chest. He screeched as the flames seared his flesh-a horrible sound she had never heard him make, not even when he had once dropped his cane and tumbled down a flight of stairs. She felt guilty, just for an instant, and pulled back, and it was in her moment of weakness that Blood swung his arm, backhanding her across the face.

She had never been hit so hard in her life. She flew several feet across the garage and smashed into a wheelbarrow.

Roaring, Blood shambled after her. He fell on top of her.

Emma was a strong woman, stronger than many men, probably stronger than Blood when he was an ordinary man, but she was weak compared to this creature. She tried to wrestle from under him, but couldn't move him. She bucked her knee into his groin, and it made no difference. She tore her teeth into his forearm, and he didn't release his hold on her.

He dipped his head down to her neck so eagerly that his skull b.u.mped against her chin, making her bite her tongue at the same instant that his teeth pierced her neck. Warm blood spurted in her mouth.

He drank from her like a child suckling at a mother's breast, moaning.

Hmm ... this isn't so bad, she thought, and sighed. It feels good to let him suck from me. I don't think I've ever felt anything so good in my life.

That old heifer, Lillie, doesn't know what she's missing ...

Lillie Mae stood at the window, watching the happenings at her sister's place, until the monsters arrived.

When those blood-drinking demons lurked toward Emma's house, Lillie s.n.a.t.c.hed the curtains closed and stepped away from the gla.s.s.

”I told that old fool not to throw that party,” Lillie muttered. She drew on her cigarette. ”Mule-headed girl never wants to listen to me ””

Although her words were harsh, she was frightened. The devil was loose in town. She felt sorry for her sister and wished she could help her, but there was nothing she could do, not really. She was just an old woman with bad lungs and a toy dog whose bark was bigger than his bite.

She shuffled across the living room. A single candle glowed in a dish on the nightstand. She usually liked candlelight; it reminded her of when she was a child, at a time when the world was a kinder, more considerate place. But this candlelight only stirred her fear. The s.h.i.+fting patches of shadows in the room seemed to conceal threatening things.

Perched on the arm of the sofa, Rex whined softly. The dog picked up on her anxiety, as if they shared a telepathic bond. He watched her with his big, black eyes, his short tail thumping nervously. He suffered from what she called the ”Little-Big Dog” syndrome and tended to bark at everything that wandered into the yard, from squirrels to cats to fallen leaves, but tonight, he stayed on the couch, and he kept quiet.

The dog was no fool. It understood danger was near.

”We gonna be all right, little man,” Lillie said. She placed her thin hand on the dog's back, while her other hand picked up the phone off the nightstand. She was going to call the police. She could do something to help Emma and her boozing friends.

There was no dial tone. She put the handset back on the cradle.

She was not surprised. The devil was crafty, he sure was. Clipping the phone lines throughout the town would have been one of his first moves. Cut off the people from civilization and hope.

Sounds of terror reached her from next door. Banging, shouting, breaking, shooting, screaming.

She touched the crucifix that dangled on her necklace. She prayed that G.o.d would keep Emma and the other folks safe, but even as she prayed, doubts crept into her spirit. Emma never listened to anyone. This would be one time that her stubborn nature would get her into trouble. Lillie hated to think such thoughts, but she couldn't help it.

”Dear Lord, have mercy,” she said, and her words seemed loud in the silent house, so loud that she wondered if someone might hear her. Or something.

Rex stopped wagging his tail.

Lillie quietly extinguished her smoke in a tin ashtray.

Noise at the front window. Tap-tap-tap-tap. A brittle sound like a skeletal finger clicking against the gla.s.s.

She lived in an old house, and sometimes it creaked and made settling sounds, but this noise was nothing like that: it had purpose.

Someone was at the window. Someone with evil in his heart. A tangible malevolence seeped through the gla.s.s and into the house, like foul smoke.

Fortunately, heavy curtains covered the window. But she wondered whether the creature outside had the power to see through the fabric, and if it was watching her at that moment standing stock-still beside the couch with one hand on her dog and her other hand closed over her crucifix.

Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap.

She closed her eyes.

Please, Lord, send them away. Put a fence around me. Keep me safe.

Under her hand, Rex trembled. But the little dog kept quiet, though his heart throbbed in a frenzy.

She held her breath, praying fervently.

The wind soughed around the house, and it seemed to carry away the threat. The feeling that she was being watched pa.s.sed.

She exhaled. She didn't realize that she had been holding her breath.

The commotion continued next door. But she had been spared. Thank the Lord.

She was not going to take any more chances. She gathered Rex in her arms, picked up her Bible off the coffee table, blew out the candle, and went to the bas.e.m.e.nt.

It was a comfortable hideaway; her son had lived down there for a year after he graduated college. There were no windows, the walls were brick, and the door was thick and strong. An old refrigerator held bottled water, apple juice, cheese, bread, and Spam. She had stocked up earlier that afternoon, in preparation for a time like this.

She would remain down there until she received a sign that danger had pa.s.sed.

She lit another candle, and settled onto the old, sunken couch. Rex hopped onto the cus.h.i.+on beside her and snuggled up against her leg. She cracked open her Bible to the book of Revelations-in her opinion, the most frightening thing ever written, but an appropriate choice for tonightand began to read, picking up from where she had left off earlier in the evening.

” And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head was a blasphemous name ...' ”