Immortal Creatures, page 15
part #1 of Blood Oath Series
Jason chuntered, “Good question, I’m not really sure. The ones I’ve known when they’ve died have died at the hands of either another immortal or by human hunters.” Taking a deep breath, he continued, “And that’s usually involved decapitation followed by fire. Or so I’ve heard, I’ve never witnessed it in all my years! But as far as I know ghouls don’t store their dead but times change, maybe they have, too. Perhaps with more people than ever being cremated, they’re working together. There are some very old cemeteries around the city, after we investigate the tunnel from last night, I think we should check those out.”
Eloise sighed, what she’d do for a night in, Netflix and pizza instead of chasing monsters, and if that wasn’t bad enough, they always, always stank. Now she’d been in some pretty stinky situations, Saturday night’s working in Bristol was all kinds of revolting due to the public’s inability to control their drinking but monsters, man...Sometimes she wondered if she’d die from their stench alone. And ghouls with their gross feeding habits, she wasn’t looking forward to this. Give her a Wendigo, or witch for that matter any day...
“So, how do we kill them?” She thought she knew the answer, but didn’t really want to know.
“Off with their heads, so something large and sharp should help!” Before Jason could say any more, there was a reply that made them both jump, “Well, sharp like my humour perhaps?” Hakon stood grinning by the open window, his eyes small as he surveyed them, a wry tight grin on his face as his surprise had worked.
“I’ve been meaning to ask you Eloise, is it exciting to you to sleep with a vampire? I only ask because,” his grin widened as he glanced around the room, “Well, I met this woman, she’s mortal and I’ve almost developed a liking of her. So, Jason is able to restrain his bloodlust?”
Thinking on her feet, not wanting Hakon to have more cause to invade on their privacy and before Jason could say anything, she replied, “Jason is a perfect gentleman and as such I’m not saying anything else.”
“Is he now?” Hakon roared with laughter, “So... you two haven’t slept together, that’s charming, it really is. Like high school sweethearts.”
“Is there a reason you climbed through the window Hakon?” She bit back.
“Yes, I have my sword, the one I took the wendigo’s head with. Darren will meet us later, I convinced him to join us. I’m eager to see these mutated skeletons though, so exciting!” He replied, his voice raised snarkily.
After getting dressed they piled out of Jason’s house and into his car. “An adventure of the macabre, Jason I’m glad you hooked up with El,” Hakon winked at her.
The tunnel was just outside the city, graffiti adorned the walls alongside rubbish, disused plastic bags, empty bottles and needles.
“Geez El, your species is filthy. I sometimes question why I feed on them!” Hakon mused as they made their way into the tunnel. “And a bloody sewer, you have to be kidding!” he sneered.
Jason turned to face him and snapped, “Look, are you going to bitch all night? If there were any ghouls in there, they’d be gone now with you shouting your mouth off. Yes, it’s a disused sewer, yes, there’s rubbish and our guess was it was used until recently by the homeless since it gives some protection from the weather. Stop spouting off about humans, our species are no better and without humans, we’d be dead.”
Hakon made a face of mock surprise, his mouth an oval and eyebrows raised. He got out his bright torch as Eloise got hers and they crept into the tunnel, the atmosphere deathly quiet except for the crushing of brittle bones under foot. Just inside they stopped, using brighter torches than yesterday so they could now view the full horror of the place.
Piles and piles of skeletons lay in front of them, no flesh on the bones, rather they seemed to be picked clean and brittle. A chill ran through Eloise and instinctively grabbed Jason’s hand. Hakon glanced at this, quickly and uncharacteristically stepped quietly forward to stand by her other side. His face held no expression as he scanned the tunnel, no one spoke and as they shone their torches on the skulls of these bodies it was becoming very clear that none of them were human.
Gulping, Eloise cleared her throat as quietly as possible and whispered, “I saw the mutated skeleton over there, I think. We'd moved further into this tunnel.”.
Hakon cocked his head, Jason’s jaw clenched and releasing his hand from hers, he splayed it just in front of her. “Wait here,” he whispered and he and Hakon crunched their way over the mass of bones.
Eloise crouched down and looked at the bones around her, skulls that were not attached to their bodies. Every mouth had those pointed incisors, the skulls of vampires. And there were dozens of them. Fear bolted through her and as she watched those two, wondered if they would be next.
Turning around Jason beckoned her over, reluctantly she walked forward looking for any tiny space on the ground to place her boots other than the bones that lay in a thick carpet.
Feeling her blood drain from her face, her lower lip trembled as she saw now with the brighter torches that thing that had plagued her mind since last night.
Half -beast, its legs like a giant dog’s, the body of a man but with massive arms and a peculiar head, an amalgamation of man and wolf...A werewolf then? Eloise wondered.
Murmuring, Jason answered her shocked face, “Yes a werewolf, killed in transition. Whatever did this is more powerful than I’ve ever seen. Hakon?”
Hakon’s eyes were transfixed, as if waking from a dream, he just replied, “We should go.”
Ghouls and Graveyards.
No one spoke as Jason drove them to a large ancient cemetery on the outskirts of the city, dating back to the beginning of the nineteenth century and packed with massive statues, grave sculptures and mausoleums, including underground vaults.
Set in an area over forty acres, Eloise didn’t relish the night ahead, especially after the werewolf bones and Hakon’s abrupt reaction to it, staring out of the window she wondered if this monster chasing would ever end.
Visions of growing old, grey haired and wiry spending all her life hunting down evil is not how she intended to spend her life, if she made it through the next few days.
Waiting just inside a side entrance Darren got out of his car, solemn faced, as if this was all too much, every movement a chore as he languidly strode towards them, she didn’t blame him.
“This place is bloody huge; how do you expect to find these creatures?” He muttered lighting up a cigarette.
Smoke swam around him, the cemetery was floodlit in places, light dancing off the faces of pious angels, their hands in prayer as if they held sympathy for Eloise and her undead friends.
“Ghouls smell, bad,” Jason answered, his voice flat.
“Look,” Jason went to the trunk of his car, grinning mischievously as he pulled out a sword, the blade caught the light and glistened, the curvature of it smooth and it almost hummed as he drew it from its scabbard.
“Well, good to see your weapon’s intact Jason, eh Eloise,” Hakon nudged her.
“Oh, it is intact and working well thanks,” Jason smirked.
Eloise rolled her eyes, men whether dead or alive, it always came back to one thing, their dicks.
She caught Darren’s eye, who also rolled his eyes, well, most of them, she thought.
Closing the boot, they wandered quietly into the place. “I think the mausoleum or the cellar should be the first places to look seeing it is huge, forty-odd acres but ghouls don’t tend to live underground, do they?’ Eloise asked.
“Sometimes they do, they dig elaborate tunnels underground but, that said their entrances are usually somewhere like a cellar, somewhere easy to access. They have to stay hidden from humans, your idea is good El, let’s check the mausoleum, then the cellar.”
The door was locked and Darren moved silently, his strong, powerful body shoved up against it, a pounding as his frame collided with the old, massive wooden door. It didn’t budge and Hakon, who grinned like a school boy opened his mouth to speak but Darren shot him a look, narrowing his eyes, then from his leather jacket pulled out a lock pick set.
“I never intended to break it, I was just weakening it,” he mumbled.
But Hakon insisted, his voice slightly raised, “Darren, if you don’t want to be here then leave. No one is forcing you to stay!”
Minutes later Darren shot Hakon a smug grin, his lips curving slightly, “Of course I don’t want to be here, but you need me, you know that!” Darren took the cigarette out of his mouth and stubbed it out with his boot.
“Ah, Darren, always the dramatic one!” Hakon muttered.
Long shadows flickered under the floodlit cemetery on the huge, worn wooden door, an air of malice made Eloise shudder. Suddenly her mortality seemed weak compared to the blood worn immortals surrounding her, Jason had survived with magic after being impaled by a dagger, his vampire blood giving him and the others a power that was now, in this eerie place, evidently stronger than she’d ever realised before.
Carefully Darren twiddled the lock picks into the old door lock, then clunk, he turned grinning before he pushed open the door, their torches lighting up the mausoleum, her body twitched, much smaller inside, almost claustrophobic, one huge sarcophagus stood sentry in the middle, the words carved on it almost indiscernible.
Grey stone mottled black with age and mildew over this tomb, the vampires hovered around it, whilst she tread lightly around the edges of the place, wondering if a secret door would be hidden in the walls, an entrance to the hiding place for the flesh-eating ghouls. But then if she found a secret door it would be locked. As Jason, Hakon and Darren heaved to move the lid off the sarcophagus, she went to the door they’d entered from examining it from inside. The sarcophagus hadn’t been used for eons by the looks of it, a perfect hideout for ghouls.
Raising her brows, it could be possible they had a key, but ghouls from what she read were usually creatures without much thought, then again underestimating her enemy last time had almost cost her and her undead friends their lives.
The faint scent of death pervaded the air once the lid was slid aside, but for the vampires, all three scrunched up their faces, their hands instinctively covering their noses.
She smirked, well good that her sense of smell wasn’t as acute as theirs then, she wandered over to peer in.
Bones, crumbled, grey and black lay in front of them, someone who was once something in life now reduced to almost dust, it seemed a mockery of life to her. Why do we hold such value on bones? Maybe as a paramedic she saw life differently. Mortals or immortals, she mused, never really appreciate life until it’s snatched away, but then again wasn’t that her, she’s here after all?
No, she was trying to stop the monsters that feed on the living.
“Well, that was pointless then,” she whispered.
“Not necessarily,” Jason answered her and bent his lean body into the sarcophagus to move the bones. Instinctively the corners of Eloise’s mouth turned down.
Dust scattered in thick particles as he moved the skeleton, but nothing was seen underneath.
“You expect a hidden passageway under there?” she asked. Standing back, the floor was stone, so she resumed looking around the walls, her eyes trained to see details that others missed, one hand holding the torch, another splayed and placed along the stone walls, applying slight pressure, looking for traces of lines that could indicate a secret passage.
Bored with the old bones, Darren joined her, a wry smile on his face and together they examined the interior of this ancient tomb.
Twenty minutes later, nothing.
“If they’re here then they’re exceptionally clever which doesn’t fit the M.O. for ghouls...” Eloise stated.
“True,” Jason agreed. “Cellars then?”
They shifted the stone lid back onto the tomb and wiping their hands on their jeans gave one final glance around.
“This place!” Jason muttered and shivered, putting his hand on her back, ushering her out gently, he said no more but it was enough to make the tiny hairs on the back of her neck tingle.
In silence they walked to the cellars, on the way glancing about for anything strange, but the only noises came from rustling animals, owls hooting and screeching and now and then bats flying around, looking for food.
The cemetery was a haven for bats, and its forty-five acres of land a sanctuary for many wild creatures in this city.
Now, though, serenity fell on Eloise as she breathed deeply, she felt a calmness, she’d never considered graveyards scary, but then she’d never known ghouls had existed.
A thought popped into her head, “If I was a ghoul and not very bright, I probably wouldn’t live here. It’s rare people get buried here, I mean they do, but surely a morgue, or even better a morgue close to a cemetery would be...easier?”
“Do they have a morgue here?” Hakon asked.
“No, the closest one is a few miles up the road, I can’t actually think of any close by,” Eloise replied.
“Well, let’s check around since we are here and if we come up with nothing, we’ll have a look online, good thinking though!” Jason answered.
There were several ways into the cellar, they left it to Darren to pick the lock and this time he didn’t throw himself into the door, the door from its look being used more frequently.
Inside was damp, earthy air filling their lungs as they stepped forward tentatively. The peaceful feeling completely left her now, a tingle of fear in her core with every step she took. Surrounded by vampires, something told her to be extra careful, her gut twisted and turned, instinctively shining the torch beam onto the floor around the edges of the room, strange that the floor was earthen, not stone and disturbed earth was scattered at the foot of one of the walls.
A faint smell emanated from the floor where the earth was disturbed. Her stomach tightened as she glanced at the others, Jason caught her eye and strode over quietly.
The others joined them, scouring the walls for a clue as to where those vile creatures might gain entrance, finding nothing she bent down, scraping away the earth from the floor beneath.
Nothing she could see but the smell was stronger.
Standing back up she said, “They must be here, what is that smell?”
“Bodies, but what also bothers me is why would they leave a trail of corpses in a disused sewer? Doesn’t make sense, unless we’re dealing with more than one group, which would be the logical reason,” Hakon stated, answering his own question.
“Why are we killing ghouls, I mean they are gross to be sure but it’s not our place, is it, who made us judge and jury?” Darren questioned.
“The bones, picked clean in the sewer, Darren, dozens of them, you don’t think that’s alarm enough? I mean they couldn’t have been there a long time, otherwise somebody would’ve reported it, and remember the skeletons were vampires and werewolves,” Jason replied.
“How did you come across them, is that what you two do, you know, instead of dating?” Darren smirked.
Jason flashed a smile at Eloise and she twisted her lips into a frown and answered Darren.
“A few nights ago, I was working, we- me and my colleague were tending to a homeless woman who’d been attacked on the streets. She was obviously suffering, shaking violently and she told me of the disused sewer, told me what she’d seen. Of course, I know, drugs but what you don’t know is many homeless are not drug addicts when they become homeless, it’s pushed on them by dealers and if they refuse, as she had, they beat the shit out of them.
“Now this woman is familiar to me,” Eloise breathed heavily and continued, “When we’re not tending, we’re often trying to help those like this woman, and no I won’t mention her name, not even to you. I managed to get her a place in a hostel outside the city, then I told Jason and we went to investigate, and by the way, Jason didn’t believe me either. Gut instinct, you know sometimes, most times you know when someone is telling the truth.”
Hakon rounded up Eloise’s summary, thinking aloud, his voice powerful, “And the homeless used that place because it afforded them some shelter from the elements and I guess, being away from the city centre, perhaps some protection from these drug dealers. Darren, sounds like a ripe supply of blood is coming our way and perhaps some role playing, yes, I can see myself playing the homeless man in order to lead these pushers to me though I suspect their blood tastes quite foul, bitter even. Still, if there is a way through this floor, which it seems to be, I can’t bloody see it.”
“What now?” Eloise asked.
Jason shrugged, crouched down and as Eloise had, brushed away the dirt with his hands, “I cannot see anything, unless...Maybe the entrance is somewhere else in here, this is a ceiling of sorts?”
Darren made a loud bored sounding sigh, “Well good luck! I’m not spending all night burrowing in the dirt. Again, our kin have succumbed to some greater evil, and again I say, so be it. Too many of them anyway.”
Turning fast he loitered to the door, before he left Hakon added, “I agree. We can’t spend all night in here scratching in the dirt, that’s insane and what if there are dozens of them down there!” His eyes wide and crazy, he grinned, “Eloise, I do not wish to be added to that pile of bones, had we come across a few that’s fine, but here,” he indicated to the floor, his words slow and deliberate, “A different matter. Come, young lovers, the night’s young and...”
He never finished his sentence, leaping in front of them like a jack in the box, four ghouls leapt from what appeared a trap door, between Darren, Eloise, Hakon and Jason.
Nearly stumbling over backwards in shock, Eloise cried out, Hakon yelled and Jason readied his sword. Tall, spindly creatures, lithe legs, clawed fingers that caught the light of the torches, they bent forward and hissed at the three in front of them, their mis-shaped heads, protruding like a canine, but humanoid face, naked, their slate-grey skin with wisps of black wiry hair scattered over their torsos, and mouths crammed full of sharp teeth, their tongues flicked out as they snarled towards Eloise, Hakon and Jason.
