* * * * The Next Morning * * * *
"Heads up!" A voice shattered the silence of the room
like a baseball through a plate glass window. Which was a good
analogy to use considering that the boy had entered the library
through the large plate glass picture
window to begin with. Dozens of readers glanced up from their
books in irritation as a young black boy turned a sharp corner,
beating a hasty retreat out of the Mythology section, heading at
full tilt towards the card catalogue.
Several bespecticaled patrons of the Hobson's Corner Public
Library glared expectantly at the librarian on duty. Blushing
furiously, the woman patted down her hair and clumped over in her
pennyloafers. The boy ground to a hault at her feet and glanced
up into her dissaproving glare.
"Uh, sorry 'bout the books, Miss." He said
breathlessly. "I just kinda--" His eyes went wide as
hubcaps. "GET DOWN!"
"What?" She began to turn in an attempt to discover
what the boy was talking about. Before she could do so, however,
the boy was on top of her, pressing her against the floor.
"Young man!" She squalked and spluttered.
"Shut up!" He snapped.
Taken aback by his rude behavior, she struggled to free herself
from his grip, one that was amazingly powerful for a boy of his
age. If she were to guess, she'd imagine he was about 15 years of
age. "Excuse me! Have you no respect
for your elders?!"
"Just listen to 'im!!" Another young man appeared out
of the reference section, holding a weapon of some sort.
"Ma'am." He added, almost as an afterthought.
"I shall call the police and have you boys arrested!"
The librarian continued to admonish the youths, despite the fact
that they were no longer paying any attention to her. "Did
you hear me?! I'll call the authorities!"
One boy walked over to the broken window and began barricading
the gaping hole with stacks of books, shelves, whatever could be
best utilized as a blockage.
Rolling her eyes, the librarian sighed. "That does very
little good now. You've already made the hole you know. Plugging
it up isn't going to help you."
"She just doesn't know when ta shut 'er yap, does she?"
Boy number two shoved a bookcase into position as he spoke.
"Just push, Chain." The first was glancing out the
gaping opening in the wall anxiously.
"They couldn't 'ave followed us." The one who number
one referred to as Chain replied. "Them bloodsucks got hung
up over on Elm. They won't be around for awhile."
Just then a loud rapping on the door drew everyone's attention.
"Or not."
"DAMNIT!" The other boy reached down and pulled up his
pants leg to reveal a knife strapped to his leg, just below the
knee. Sliding it out silently, he slapped the dull side of the
blade into the palm of his hand."Everyone get out of
here."
"I will not stand for violence in this building, young man!
Why, for carrying a concealed weapon like that, you could easily
get six months behind bars!" The librarian reached for the
phone and started to dial. "I will NOT stand for such
things."
Chain shrugged and grabbed the woman around the waist, hoisting
her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "Alright.
Don't stand." He carried her out of the room.
The people who had, moments before, been completely engrossed in
their novels, were staring at the remaining boy in fear.
"It's alright." He walked over and kicked in a door at
the back of the room. "Duck down in there. There's a tunnel
that leads out to the streets. Go right home and don't look
back." He barked orders to the stunned crowd. When they
didn't immediately reply, he added, "Move!"
"Who are you?" A woman asked as she started down the
stairs.
"Not important. Just a friend." He smiled comfortingly
and closed the door behind the last person.
"Gunn. Wonderin' if you and yer... what is the word yer
usin' these days, 'posse'?.. would show." A voice cackled
from beyond the library threshold.
"Gonna just stand there an' make remarks all night long,
Ty?" Gunn tightened his grip on the knife handle. "You
should come in! Oh, wait. You really can't do that, can
you?"
The vampire chuckled. "Guess you've been doin' your book
learnin', huh? Well, sorry Einstein. Brownie points for knowin'
about the invite thing, but--" Ty stepped across the
threshold and bowed with a flourish. "-- this is a PUBLIC
buildin'."
"Oh man." Chain's knuckles turned white from his
choke-hold on the handle of the crossbow he had brought with him.
"Damn, Chain! I wanted you out with
the others!" Gunn bellowed. "You're just gonna get in
the way!" Gunn had other reasons for sending everyone else
away, but he wasn't about to tell Chain. Especially not infront
of the bloodsuck that had killed his best friend.
Ty blocked Chain's exit out the door by tossing a large bookend
statue of Beethoven after him. Smashing against the arch of the
doorway, Plaster of Paris rained down on Chain in large chunks.
"Leavin' so soon?" Ty next punched a hole in the wall
by his head and yanked out a fistfull of wiring. The main lights
went out, the room plunged into darkness.
Gunn's heart jumped into his throat. He had to find a light
source and fast. Vampires, unlike average-built fifteen year
olds, could see quite clearly in the pitch black. He groped
around with his hands, brushing against bookshelves, tables,
desks, lamps... but never finding something to be used as an
adaquet light source. He couldn't call out to Chain either, for
fear of giving away his position to his undead foe.
Too bad I didn't listen ta Ms. Brownin' when she said
ta eat those carrots. He mused with a small degree of
ironic humor. Of course, if eatin' carrots is all ya
need ta see well in the dark, rabbits must practically 'ave X-Ray
vision----
"I wouldn't want you ta leave without a goodbye kiss."
Ty took his opening and reached through the inky black, wrapping
one large hand around Gunn's throat, the other digging icy
fingers into Gunn's left shoulder. The boy struggled, but to no
avail. The vampire's vice-like grip was unbreakable. "Will
ya stop with that squirmin', already? Ya know yer not goin'
anywhere."
Alonna. The thought hit him before any
others for his own safety. What'll happen ta 'er if
this psychopath kills me? Or worse.. what if he turns me inta one
a'em? Makes me like Bullseye...
"Mmmm. Delicious." Ty ran his tongue teasingly along
Gunn's cheek. "The fear on you, kid... it's like vodka. So
cold, so intoxicatin'."
Revulsion joined together with fear as the demon's slippery
tongue migrated down towards Gunn's neck. He knew he should reach
up and knock the fiend upside the head with his fist, but the
strength had flown away from his arms, along with his
circulation. He dangled helplessly above the ground, trying to
prepare himself for the inevitable. Prehaps if he died quickly,
Ty wouldn't have a chance to turn him...
The light from a bank of computer monitors suddenly bathed the
room in an eerie, white glow. Out of the corner of his eye, Gunn
saw Chain sitting next to the master switch for the row of Compaq
IBM PC's. The Vampire roared, caught offguard by the sudden burst
of illumination. Gunn took the opening, bringing a knee up, and
driving it home, deep into Ty's diaphragm. Being dead for as long
as he was, Ty didn't need to take in breath, but such a sudden
shot to the midsection was quite painful.
"God bless Bill Gates." Gunn took in a sharp breath as
he was dropped and rolled free.
Chain grabbed up a desk chair and cracked it against the wall,
wood splintering in a thousand directions. "Gunn!" He
tossed one of the legs, splintered into a fine point, which Gunn
caught in midair and rotated in his hand, all in one motion, so
that it was facing Ty.
"Lucky. Again." Ty looked almost bored.
"Luck 'ad nothin' to do with it." Gunn replied,
relieved to find the balance of power had shifted in his favor.
"Remember who has the stake, bloodsuck."
"It was never your day to die anyway--- Remember what I
said, kid. You'll die alone. No one'll be around ta save ya. No
tagalong buddy with a computer master switch and pieces of a
wooden chair."
"Easy enough. I'll just never get caught alone."
"Oh you will." Ty appeared to melt away into the
shadows until only his voice remained to evidence his presence.
"You'll die alone."
