Part 22 (1/2)

'You can't.' He eased out the small blade that was sharp as a razor.

Trajan's stared at the glittering blade. 'What are you going to do?'

'Give her what she wants.'

Trajan turned to Elmo as if expecting the man to stop Ben.

Instead, he merely refreshed his grip on that sticky hair of April's in order to hold her head still. Ben turned his arm so he could choose a place on his bare forearm. Do it quickly, he told himself, before you change your mind.

Human skin is tougher than it looks. He pressed the edge of the blade into his arm as firmly as he could. Then he made a sawing motion. The keen steel edge generated a p.r.i.c.kling sensation as if a dozen needles had been forced into his flesh. At last the mouth of the wound opened to release a rush of blood.

'Don't go too deep,' Elmo told him. 'That's enough.'

'Hold her tight.' Ben moved to where they held April in the kneeling position in the centre of the cabin. By now she'd stopped struggling. Her eyes had become vast s.h.i.+ning disks as she stared at the blood running from the inch long cut. Ben stood so that his arm was directly above her.

'Don't let go of her, but take away the belt.'

When the belt was removed she tried to rise to her feet. With a supreme effort Trajan and Elmo managed to keep her kneeling. As the blood coursed down Ben's forearm in a thick rivulet of crimson he allowed his arm to dangle so his fingertips hung just inches above her face. The b.l.o.o.d.y tide sped down his wrist then followed the line of his extended fingers. A moment later his life-blood trickled from his fingertips as she opened her mouth wide to receive the nourishment. Ben could tell she wanted to clamp her mouth to the wound but the men held her down to prevent her drawing off more than he could safely give her.

In the doorway, Carter howled with envy as he watched the woman feed.

'Just permit her enough so she regains her sanity,' Elmo told him. 'Don't give so much you become ill yourself.'

With gasps of ecstasy April caught the ruby drops in her mouth. When she had close on a mouthful she swallowed with such an expression of grat.i.tude. The contorted face relaxed into a smile of bliss. With the second mouthful her body became almost limp. Hunger yielded to satisfaction.

'That's enough, Ben,' Trajan said.

'Please,' April begged. 'Just another mouthful.'

'Ben, no.'

With an effort Ben remained standing. 'I need to give her just enough to stop the craving. We need her to be able to function.' Then he added grimly, 'It's either this or she'll take what she needs from us anyway.'

With her face upturned her mouth became a cup that soon filled to the brim with what could have been a dark, red wine. This time when she closed her lips to swallow Ben moved back and clamped his hand over the wound.

'April? Do you understand me?' Elmo gently shook her by the arm. 'We're going to let go now. You know you mustn't attack us.'

She sighed. 'I'm fine. I won't hurt you.' Even so, her glance at Ben's b.l.o.o.d.y hand was one of infinite regret. How she craved to lick his fingers clean.

Trajan released his hold on April with a grunt as he rubbed his aching shoulder. 'Ben,' he said, 'there's a first aid kit on the shelf behind you. Bandage the wound before you do anything else. Oh, one more thing. I need your knife.'

Ben gave him a quizzical look.

Trajan nodded at the man who raged against his bonds. 'Carter needs some, too.'

As Ben handed Trajan the knife, April looked out of the pilothouse window. 'Be quick,' she warned. 'They're starting to come out of the water.'

Trajan and Ben emerged on deck, each with a bandage around their forearms. Elmo, Carter and April followed. For now the two vampires were functioning as human beings. Although Ben saw that the blood they'd drunk had failed to give them complete satiety. Their eyes still flashed with hunger. The little blood that the two humans had been able to spare wouldn't keep these creatures satisfied for long.

The boat had hit ground at low tide. Although the vessel leaned at an angle and most of the paint had been stripped away by its abrasive contact with the beach, at least it was intact. A mile or so across the moonlit water Ben could make out the oil refinery on the mainland. Yellow flames rose from the chimneys that burnt off excess vapours. As for the island, it didn't extend much more than a few acres. Most of it appeared to be covered by willow trees that rustled and shook; a herd of monstrous beasts that scented the arrival of fresh prey. Ben's imagination had reached a point where everything had become laced with danger.

'April's right,' Trajan agreed. 'Here they come.'

Emerging from the night-time river were dozens of crawling figures. While they'd been in the water the description Vampire Sharkz was apt. But now that they dragged themselves across the sh.o.r.e on their bellies, they adopted the same ominous manner as alligators. Their legs were limp as they pulled themselves forward with their arms. Most wore the remnants of clothes but a few were completely naked; their clothes had simply decayed from them. One factor they all shared was the way their heads were raised so they could watch the human beings on the boat with predatory eyes.

'One thing's for sure,' Ben said. 'We can't stay here.'

Trajan turned to Carter. 'How do you feel?'

'I can't thank you enough. My mind's clear again. You don't know what it's like when the hunger hits.'

'You said that when you were on the island you could maintain control of yourself. How?'

'We drank from the salt pools on the beach,' April said. 'After the estuary water began to evaporate the mineral content and salinity must have made it resemble blood. Certainly close enough to keep ourselves under control.'

Ben glanced at the things emerging from the river; one by one they rose slowly to their feet. 'Why are those things different to you? They've become mindless eating machines.'

'I found that drinking from the salt pools took the edge off the craving,' Carter said. 'It must have been a crucial state of transition from human toa' He shrugged. 'Whatever we are now. I think they were damaged through lack of food. They became mindless monsters - Berserkers, I call them. April and me escaped the worst of it.'

'Will it work again?' Trajan asked. 'If you drink the water from the pools?'

'It might.' April didn't sound hopeful.

'And it was only a short-fix,' Carter added.

Elmo spoke. 'We must find a permanent cure for their condition.'

'How?'

Elmo's hooded eyes regarded the creatures advancing up the sh.o.r.e toward them. 'The answer is here on this island.'

Ben gripped Elmo's arm. 'Tell us what it is.'

'That's just it. I don't know. It's for you to find out. I'm not being deliberately obstructive but you, Ben, must enter that Sea of Thought.'

'You can't be serious. You mean it's down to me to find the solution?'

'Yes.'

April tugged Trajan's sleeve. 'You can't stay here. They'll kill you.'

'Worse,' Carter grunted. 'If they catch you, you'll become one of them.'

In the moonlight, the figures appeared as silhouettes as the last ones rose from the sands to their feet. From each shadowy form a pair of eyes shone like splinters of gla.s.s. A baleful hunger blazed there.

'Come on.' Carter dropped from the deck on to the sh.o.r.e. 'It's you three they want. And April and me aren't safe, either. Those things will tear anything apart if they think there's even a drop of blood inside.'