[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

“I’d love to play, honey,” he reached for him
and kissed him hard on the mouth, “but it will
have to wait.”
“Are we in danger again?”
“If he doesn’t reach that statue, we are. Come
on, sweetie.”
“Can we fly?”
“I can levitate. You can’t. We’re driving and we
have a lot of catching up to do. Carden and Rory
are hours ahead. Come on.”
170
Apocalypse
* * * *
Carden didn’t tell him in words. He showed him
the entire thing in his mind. At the end, Rory was
gripping the dashboard. “Who…or what are
they?”
“Demons,” he said.
“And they could do what again exactly?”
“Corrupt the vampires and force them to revolt.
Draw enough power from them to dominate. It
would be a different world.”
“You were supposed to die. Oh my God,” Rory
put his face in his hands. “That’s where I’m lost.”
Carden kept his eyes on the road. “When I
destroyed Declen and his followers, I knew it was
the end for me. I did it willingly. Without my
power, the demons wouldn’t rise. It’s complicated,
all about the balance.”
“Okay, I get that.”
“To give them enough power to rise above, the
demons separated me from my power. By doing
that, they prevented my demise and allowed me
to exist, but to be impotent. They imprisoned my
powers in that statue. For a long time, I was
comatose. I assume the severing of my power
from my physical body created trauma. But the
demons want me to continue to exist. If I die, my
powers die and they will sink down under. You
get it?”
171
AJ Llewellyn and DJ Manly
Rory nodded.
“The last thing they want, however, is for me to
be restored to my former self, because I can defeat
them.”
“And Derek was one of them?”
“Merely a mortal servant, assigned to guard
me, feed me something which prevented me from
having any vampire symptoms so to speak.”
“They promised him something.”
“Um, I assume it was me.”
“Nice prize.”
“Not really, not if you realize that now, I crave
blood and I’m trying to keep it at bay, but soon I
will have to eat.”
“I’ll feed you.”
“No. I’d drain you Rory. My hunger is too
great. I’ll be all right as long as I don’t start
feeding. If I do, I’ll eat through a dozen.”
Rory sighed. “Can you hold out?”
“I’ll have to. Thiago and Dennis are on the
way.”
* * * *
They looked like bats and they were coming
straight at them, hitting the windshield and
blinding them.
Rory
was
terrified.
“God,
there’s
blood
everywhere.”
172
Apocalypse
“Good,” Carden announced, screeching to a
halt, “just in time for dinner.”
Rory hid his eyes as Carden grabbed one after
another of the bat-like creatures and bit into them.
This was a nightmare. And he wasn’t sure if
they’d make it out this time. Carden needs blood,
Rory. Feed him or he’ll die. Offer him your throat now.
Rory moved as if in a trance. He opened his
shirt. “Drink,” he said.
Carden looked up from where he stood, trying
to bite into the neck of that strange demon bat. His
teeth were that of an ordinary mortal, so the task
wasn’t easy. Rory looked enticing as hell, standing
there, his shirt undone, his hair lifting softly in the
wind.
“Come on, baby, drink,” he whispered.
Human blood would drive him over the edge.
He couldn’t. “What’s wrong with you? Rory,
you’re in a trance.” It was them, tempting him and
right now the blood from these creatures were not
doing it for him.
He licked his lips.
Rory was too close. “Drink and then fuck me.”
Fuck his dead corpse drained of blood, vampire.
NO!
He pushed Rory back. “Get in the truck.”
“Don’t you want me?”
“Rory,” he grabbed his arm, shook him, “Wake
up. Get in. Let’s go.”
173
AJ Llewellyn and DJ Manly
Rory seemed to wake from a dream suddenly.
They were moving. Carden’s gaze were on the
road and he was rolling ahead. “Are you all right?
What happened?”
“The demons got to you. Don’t listen to voices.”
“I’m sorry. I’m tired. Did I sleep?”
“You’ve been asleep for hours. We’re going to
stop soon.”
“No, we need to get there.”
“We’ll stop for a few hours in a hotel. I have
something I must do and I can’t do it on the road.
It will be all right.”
* * * *
Around midnight, government officials called an
emergency
meeting
in
Washington
about
midnight. They were concerned about the crowd
that had gathered around the Carden Adair
memorial. “Tonight,” a woman announced on the
news, “Carden will rise.”
“Who is this woman?” one of the president’s
aides demanded.
“Her
name
is
Willowmeena,”
the
press
secretary said. “She’s a powerful psychic.”
“She’s a nut,” the president replied. “We’ve
called the riot squad. Why haven’t they all been
arrested?”
174
Apocalypse
The press secretary looked pale. “They’ve tried.
It’s like some kind of a force field surrounding
them. They’ve linked hands around the statue. No
one can get near them.”
“Then pull the damn statue down,” the
president bellowed. “Get the army and bomb the
thing. It’s…evil.”
The reverend sat in the corner of the round
room. Suddenly, he stood. “Do it soon. We don’t
have much time.”
175
AJ Llewellyn and DJ Manly
Chapter Eleven
“H Dennis turned on the radio.
“Waiting where?”
“I don’t know yet, but we’ll be with them in
about two hours.”
Dennis was trying to get some reception on the
radio. Finally, he got something.
“…not to alarm the public, but army helicopters
are flying overhead.”
Thiago looked at Dennis. “It’s begun.”
“What? Damn it, Thiago. This vampire thing is
for the birds. Why don’t I know what you know?”
“Too young.”
“What’s happening?”
“Carden’s
power
is
in
that
statue.
The
government is controlled by the religious right
and they think that monument is somehow fueling
the evil. If they try and release Carden’s power,
176
e’s waiting for us,” Thiago said suddenly as
Apocalypse
demons will move to stop them. There will be a
blood bath in the street.”
“Shit.”
Carden? They are ready to destroy the statue. Where
in the hell are you?
* * * *
Rory sat on the bed while Carden stood in the
corner of the room, in front of the window. His
eyes were closed and he stood perfectly still. He
didn’t speak for what seemed like forever. Then
abruptly, he turned and looked at Rory. “She can
hold them back for now, but as soon as Thiago
and Dennis arrive, we have to leave.”
“She? You mean…”
He nodded. “They can’t touch her. She’s not
flesh, but she’s the only thing that stands between
them and destruction.” Carden moved closer.
Rory shuddered.
“It’s all right, Rory.”
“Hold me.”
Carden moved onto the bed. He pulled Rory up
into his arms, held him tight.
“Will things go back to the way they were.
You’ll be like you were before?”
“I don’t know.” He kissed Rory’s neck.
“Are you hungry?”
“Um,” he nodded and then released him.
177
AJ Llewellyn and DJ Manly
“I trust you. Carden, make love to me. There’s
time and it might be the last…” [ Pobierz caÅ‚ość w formacie PDF ]