Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
With each step, the aged floorboards groaned beneath me, and as I reached the landing, I feared I might plummet through to the kitchen below.
I took a left and found a room with a bunch of windows on one side.
One was shattered, letting in the wind and rain, and the floorboards beneath it were warped and rotting from years of exposure to the elements.
A large, antique chest sat in the center of the room, surrounded by an array of broken plastic toys and moldy stuffed animals.
A colorful mat depicting a quaint town with winding roads and storybook houses was spread on the ground.
I looked at one of the papers that had fallen off the wall, and it was a child’s drawing of a rainbow with four poorly drawn people beneath it.
In an almost illegible scrawl were the letters D-A-N-N-Y.
A slow breath escaped my lips as I pictured Danny and his family in the photos downstairs. What happened to them? Did they turn into vampires? Did they find their way to Silvertown? Or did they flee and possibly get caught by the Dogs? Whatever happened to them, I wish I could’ve helped somehow.
I pursed my lips together and moved to the next room, which was bathed in hues of an aged pink, almost white.
A crumpled blanket lay discarded on the bed, a contrast to the otherwise perfectly ordered room.
A purple stain spread across the white dresser, a small, overturned bottle of nail polish lying nearby, its sticky residue clinging to the wood.
Opened drawers revealed a jumble of mismatched items: cheap plastic earrings, heavy gold bangles, and stiff makeup brushes.
A beautiful, jewel-toned box on the dresser made my eyes light up.
Years dulled the paint on its outside to a dim hue, but the box was adorned with finely carved leaves circling its top, complemented by murky stones.
As the mirrored lid clicked open, my reflection appeared, a perfect copy staring back from the polished surface.
A faint, slightly off-key melody, barely audible, drifted from the depths of the antique music box, its notes softened and blurred by time.
“Shh!” a voice sounded from the doorway.
In a panicked jump, I slammed the lid shut. I turned to look and saw Eleven standing silently in the dimly lit hallway, her eyes fixed on me.
“What’re you doing?”
“I dunno.” I shrugged. “Getting a feel for who used to live here. Reminiscing of times before everything went to shit, I guess.”
“I wish I knew what that was like,” she admitted wistfully, her fingers tracing the worn wood of the doorway.
A sudden, sharp crash downstairs caused us to freeze, our muscles tensing. The shattering of glass sent a sharp, high-pitched ring through the air, followed by a monstrous bang—like the front door had been blown off its hinges by a cannon. Loud, angry voices started booming from the floor below.
“Who da fuck is in ma house? Ya’ll fangers?”
A woman’s voice, sharp and shrill, cut through the air with a shout. “Git outta here!”
I looked to Eleven, and she put a finger to her lips, her body tense as she flattened herself against the rough-textured wall.
“Fangers ain’t welcome here!” With that, a gunshot pulsed through the silent house, the sound bouncing off the walls.
“We aren’t vampires.” I heard Jude attempt to explain to the intruders. “We’re human.”
The sounds of rapid gunfire echoed from below, a jarring cacophony that shook the ground beneath our feet.
Eleven’s grip was firm as she pulled me across the hall and into the primary bedroom.
A huge bed took up most of the room, and next to it lay two nightstands, their drawers hanging open and contents spilled across the floor.
The blankets lay in a haphazard heap, tossed aside in a rush.
“What the hell is happening?” I asked as she closed the door.
“Uncivilized humans, I guess.” She shrugged, looked under the bed, and rifled through the closet as gunshots and screams rang downstairs. “I knew I should’ve brought a weapon with me, fuck.”
The last gunshot echoed, then a heavy, unnatural silence fell over the house. Was everyone dead down there? I watched Eleven, her movements as silent as a shadow, tiptoeing toward the door, careful not to creak any floorboard.
I examined the wall and floor near the bed, noticing the fine spray of blood droplets scattered across the surfaces. Someone here must have had brETH. Maybe that’s why they left so abruptly.
From downstairs, Three’s voice, a low murmur at first, then rising to a call, cut through the quiet of the house. “Roll call.”
“Vincent and I are fine up here,” Eleven yelled as she sidled down the staircase.
“I’m here,” Twelve’s voice shouted.
“Oh shit!” Eight shouted. “We’re fucked! Grab your weapons!”
What about Jude? Why didn’t he answer during the roll call? I heard the frantic patter of feet running back upstairs, which only added to the suspense I felt. I braced myself as the door burst open, revealing Eleven, her eyes wide with fear.
A thunderous bang shook the house, originating from downstairs, and then the horrifying screams of several men pierced the silence.
There were gunshots, but even scarier, there were barks.
The girl next to me was trembling, and her head stood at attention with every growl emitted from the Dog. “How many are there?”
With a shrug, she tightened her grip on two knives clutched in her fist. Her chest heaved, shallow gasps escaping her lips as her body shook uncontrollably.
“We need to help.”
The girl next to me shakily grabbed my wrist. “W-we c-can’t.”
“What are we going to do? Stay in this room until the Dogs find us and die like the family that lived in this house? Not me. I’m going to help as best I can or die trying.
” I would’ve gone down when the humans ambushed us, but there wasn’t enough time before guns started blazing. These were beasts I knew.
I eased the bedroom door open and peered outside—the coast was clear. I took one step, and a floorboard creaked beneath me. With a shake of my head, I knew the creaks of the old house would give me away.
A screen door at the bottom of the staircase hung slightly ajar, revealing two glowing red eyes in the inky blackness beyond.
They turned right in a slow, deliberate motion, then left, before finally locking onto me.
The Dog, accompanied by some friends, let out a bone-chilling howl before bounding inside.
I had nothing to defend myself with. What was I thinking going into this blind?
I watched as the Dog’s eyes flashed from a furious, bright red to a cold, hard white as it bared its teeth in a menacing snarl.
The next thing I heard was a whimper, a tiny, pathetic sound, as two blades whistled through the air behind me, sinking into the creature’s eye sockets with a sickening thud.
I swung my body to look behind me. “Thank you.”
Eleven shrugged. “I couldn’t just let you die.”
“No?”
Before she could answer, more yells rang through the house. “Get outta here, you filthy animals!” My heart inflated—that was Jude’s voice. He was safe, and I needed to get to him. He needed my help.
The house shook with the renewed barrage of menacing barks and gunshots.
With a whirring of hydraulics, a Dog turned its head towards me and its mechanical legs carried it swiftly up the stairs.
Using both hands, Three clasped the metal tail and heaved backward with all his might, launching the Dog into the air.
With a ferocious snarled response, the creature twisted its neck and sank its teeth into the large man’s face, the sounds of tearing flesh and desperate cries echoing in the air.
Three’s lifeless body slumped to the floor in defeat.
With blood dripping from its metal mouth, the robotic Dog sprang into the air toward the staircase.
As the beast soared through the air, I leaped beneath it, feeling the wind rush past me as I pounded down each step.
Three’s body broke my fall, and all I saw was Eleven’s ghostly pale face.
I didn’t pause to think as I reached for the gun on Three’s shoulder, firing five shots until it shared the same fate.
“Th-thanks,” Eleven breathed.
“We’re even. Let’s go.”
A deep scream from Eight sounded from the kitchen, and together, we ran to see where we could help.
With a foot hanging out of its mouth, the Dog stood on the cracked tile floor, while the large man’s face reddened as he clutched his leg.
The beast twisted its head with a snarl, spitting the appendage out, and then thrust its paws against Eight’s chest, pinning him against the wall.
It surprised me that the metal animal could push back such a large man, but I suppose, without a leg, what more could he do?
In a flash, the Dog’s claws tore across Eight’s body, tearing fabric and flesh before he fell limply to the floor.
Eleven had her jacket around her shoulders and reached into a pocket. The whoosh of a dagger as it flew from her palm missed my ear by mere inches. The blade tore through the Dog’s pixelated eye, a distorted yelp echoing as it fled into the dark snow outside.
A weak moan came from the man at our feet. Kneeling, I supported Eight’s massive head, feeling his breath’s frantic, shallow rhythm against my hands. Gashes lined his body, deep claw marks oozing blood, soaking into his shirt; the crimson stain pulsed with each new bubble of blood.
Every exhale Eight breathed was filled with blood, and his internal injuries were rushing to the surface. His eyes, wide and glistening with unshed tears, turned to me in fear. Spitting out a mouthful of blood, he was able to croak, “Run.”
My nose twisted, and my brows furrowed, scrunching my face.
Was I about to cry? Rarely did vampires cry—maybe these humans were rubbing off on me.
This was all too much. Where’s Jude? I turned to Eleven, who stood frozen beside me, her eyes wide with a silent shock from the night’s events. “We need to find your sister.”
Racing outside, we saw a crimson trail in the pristine snow, leading directly to the van. Two silhouettes huddled in the front seats, barely visible in the car’s weak interior light. Dogs circled the van, biding their time and looking for a way inside.
Eleven’s breath hitched, a ragged plume of icy air escaping her lips. “Jude and my sister are in there.”
I nodded. “We need to create a diversion to lure the Dogs away so we can get in and leave.”
Pulling the last two knives from her belt, Eleven held them between her fingers. “I’ll do it.”
“You’re coming with me; there has to be a way,” I pleaded. “I refuse to let more people die tonight.”
She shook her head. “With all this activity, the Dogs likely notified their pack, so more will be here momentarily. This is the only way. Tell my sister I love her.”
My mouth opened to argue with her again, but I knew she was right. Cool wetness enveloped my eyes as I closed my mouth, nodding to her.
A nervous twitch played on her lips, her pale face a mask of fear. With an audible gulp, she fled around the side of the house, far from the parked van, her lungs releasing a high-pitched shriek which cut through the night. “Here I am, you mother fuckers! Come get me!”
Their ears pricked up, heads swiveling to pinpoint the source of the unfamiliar sound. With eyes blazing red, the Dogs bolted toward the girl, who vanished into the blanket of darkness and snow.
With a rush of adrenaline, I scurried to the van, my hands slick with sweat as I yanked on the heavy metal sliding door. Inside, Jude and Twelve’s frightened, pale, and strained faces turned toward me.
“What—” The girl in the driver’s seat began to stutter.
“Go!” I yelled, throwing myself in the van. “We need to go! Everyone’s dead.”
Without a second thought, Twelve slammed her foot on the gas, the engine roaring as the van lurched forward, accelerating to maximum speed in a blur.
We haphazardly sped down the road with nothing but our heavy breaths to cut the silence.
The snowfall was heavy, and the wind swirled each snowflake into a blurry white blanket across the windshield.
The weak beams of the headlights barely cut through, offering little more than a hazy white expanse in the deepening darkness.
Gazing at the swirling snow through the windshield, a sense of déjà vu settled in, and I held my breath.
Sixty-five years of memories resurfaced, and I was back in my dad’s car, fleeing our house.
A loud, jarring knock clanged from outside, rattling the van as it sped along.
Peering out the window, three Dogs with glowing red eyes were chasing us.
“What do we do?” Jude’s voice cracked. “They’re running beside us, trying to hit us off the road.”
The impact of the Dogs sent us sliding wildly across the slick, icy road, our bodies shifting from left to right. We all stared at each other in silence, unsure what to do, hoping the Dogs would get tired and leave us alone.
I knew that wasn’t a possibility.
Our eyes were glued to the road in front of us when a flash of red caught our eye.
A large Dog stood ahead, its teeth bared, attempting to block our path.
Twelve yanked the steering wheel, and the van swerved sharply, tires screaming against the asphalt.
A slick patch of ice, unseen beneath a dusting of snow, sent us skidding wildly out of control.
None of us had it in ourselves to scream as we slammed into the thick trunk of a tree, and a swirl of red lights surrounded us.