Dead of Winter (34 page)

  As she rode, Cora kept replaying the scenario in the kitchen over and over in her mind, trying to figure out exactly what might have happened. The tracks she found in the dust showed no sign of a fight, so Ben hadn't been jumped by a vampire. If she had read the signs right, there was someone else still alive in the nest. How they had managed to hide from the vampires was beyond her, but maybe they knew of a secret place protected with holy water or garlic. If that was the case, maybe they'd hidden there with Ben when she'd drawn the nest's attention. All they had to do was wait for her to return with Father Baez. Cora whispered a prayer as she urged Our Lady forward into the approaching night.

  By the time she flipped Our Lady's reins over a lowhanging branch in the farmhouse's front yard, the sun had already slipped behind the mountains. She glanced at the sky as she ran across the yard, cursing the evening stars for their eager arrival. Every minute that passed put Ben and his companion in greater danger.

  Cora crashed through the door of the house, hollering for Father Baez before she cleared the entryway. The priest emerged from the kitchen a moment later. Behind him, she could see the worried faces of the farmer and his wife.

  "What is it, Mrs Oglesby?" Father Baez asked.

  "You got to come quick, Father," Cora said. "Ben's trapped down in the nest someplace, and I can't get him out by myself."

  "Calm down, my dear, and tell me what happened."

  The priest motioned for her to join them in the kitchen, but she remained where she was, her hands on her hips. She recounted the events at the abandoned house, adding her theory about the mysterious survivor's hiding place. When she finished, Father Baez stroked his salt-andpepper beard.

  "A troubling situation, certainly."

  "Right," Cora said with a nod. She took a few steps toward the door, then looked back over her shoulder at the priest. "Well, what are you waiting for?"

  "I'm afraid I can't just abandon this family," Father Baez said. "The sun has already set, and they would be vulnerable if we both left."

  "But we're leaving to whip the vampires," Cora said. "Once we do, they'll be safe as a pair of bear cubs with their ma."

  "We may kill some of them, yes," the priest replied, "but there would be no guarantee that we would get all of them. This house is the closest to the nest, and the vampires have already attacked it the past two nights. You and Ben were able to fend off the attacks, yes, but these people can't hope to fight the undead by themselves."

  "They watched us do it enough to get the idea," Cora said, shifting her weight and glancing through the front door. They were wasting time that Ben might not have to waste. If Father Baez wouldn't leave, she would have to go back alone, and the odds would be against her.

  "I'm sorry, Mrs Oglesby, but I can't come with you," Father Baez said. "My place is here."

  Cora looked into his dark eyes, gauging his resolve. Finally, she nodded. "All right, then, I'm going back by myself."

  Surprise filled the priest's face. "You can't be serious. Nobody can hope to survive a vampire nest after nightfall."

  "Maybe I'm just that crazy," Cora said. "All I know is I ain't leaving Ben in that nest by his lonesome." Without waiting for a reply, she marched down the hall toward the door. Near the entryway, a staircase led to the second story of the house. Cora took the steps two at a time, then threw open the door to the guest room where she and Ben were staying. She pulled their traveling trunk from its place in the corner, undid the latches, and began digging through their supplies. She grabbed a spare crucifix and tucked it into her belt. A few more vials of holy water, a handful of garlic cloves, and she was ready.

  She snapped the clasps closed and shoved the trunk back toward the corner. Dropping the vials and cloves into her belt pouch, she turned and thundered back down the stairs. The outside air was cool on her face. She grabbed the mare's reins and swung into the saddle.

  As she turned Our Lady toward the road, a shape darted through the evening shadows toward the farmhouse door. More figures appeared, following the first with frightening speed. In the dim light, Cora could just make out the stooped forms of men on all fours. Before she could draw her pistol, they disappeared into the house.

  Screams and shouts began echoing from the interior. Cursing, Cora jumped out of the saddle and landed running. She drew her revolver as her boots pounded up the porch stairs and into the house. One of the vampires crouched in the hallway, hissing at something through the kitchen door. The big Colt's thunder filled the entryway. Charging through the cloud of smoke, Cora took aim at the vampire's head and fired again. The gray lips fell silent, and she rounded the corner into the kitchen, revolver at the ready.

  Father Baez stood a few paces back from the doorway, pointing a crucifix toward her. Behind him, the farmer and his wife stood with their backs to her, crosses pointing outward. Two small children clung to the woman's dress, their frightened eyes peering out from the protective ring of adults.

  "By the grace of God," Father Baez said, crossing himself.

  "I'm here, Father," she said. "Stay sharp. There's more vampires about."

  Father Baez nodded, his eyes searching the ceiling while Cora loaded fresh rounds into her revolver. The pounding of running feet began shaking the walls, the sound moving from over their heads toward the stairs. The clicking of the Colt's hammer was lost amid the cacophony, but the big gun's roar deafened them all when she opened up on the first monster that charged through the doorway. The silver bullet punched through the creature's skull, blowing it backward into the body of its fallen comrade.

  Behind her, she heard a shout from the farmer. She whirled around in time to see another vampire standing near the kitchen table, hissing at the raised crosses. Yelling at them to get down, she took aim at the creature's chest. The couple dropped to the floor, the mother grabbing her children and pulling them down with her. Another flame erupted from the revolver's barrel, and the vampire sprawled across the table, limbs dangling.

  The rumble of the gunshots faded, and the house fell into an uneasy silence. Sobs came from the youngest child, a girl no older than five, as she hid her face in her mother's dress. Father Baez placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. The farmer stood up, eyes searching every corner of the kitchen as he raised his cross.

  Cora's pulse pounded in her ears. She caught Father Baez's eye and nodded. The priest returned the nod, fingering his crucifix. Turning on her heel, she stepped into the hallway. Her free hand pulled the crucifix from her belt as she approached the staircase. Pointing the holy symbol toward the top, she began her ascent.

  Something stirred in the guest room. Cora pointed the crucifix toward the sound, followed by the revolver's barrel. Nudging the door open with her foot, she interrupted another vampire as it was nosing through the sheets on the bed. Its blue eyes locked on her as a hiss escaped its teeth. Cora's breath caught in her throat. The creature's face was gray and lifeless, but she recognized it. Another rush of air hissed out from beneath the vampire's familiar brown mustache as it bared short white teeth at her.

  Teeth that had once belonged to her husband.

  Cora backed into the hallway, shaking her head in disbelief. The monster inhabiting Ben's body followed her, using his arms and legs to creep along the floor in a halfcrouch. It was still wearing Ben's buckskin pants and button-up shirt, but his riding boots and hat were gone. Cora's foot slipped off the top step, and she almost fell head-over-heels down the stairs. Regaining her balance, she brought her gun back up and pointed the barrel at her husband's face, but she couldn't pull the trigger.

  "Ben," she whispered. "Ben, please stop."

  The creature didn't listen. Ben's graying knuckles came to rest on the top step as Cora backed down the stairs. Tears burned in her eyes, blurring her vision.

  "Ben, it's me," she said. "Don't do this, please."

  Cora reached the bottom of the stairs and continued backing out the front door. The savage hunger in her husband's eyes hypnotized her, stopping her from pulling the trigger. She couldn't shoot him. No matter what was inside him now, it was still his body, his face. She couldn't kill him.

  Her boot stepped on air where the porch ended, and she fell backward. The vampire lunged. Cora brought the crucifix up at the last moment, and the wicked face she loved twisted in pain. Ben's body backed away, beating the air with his arms.

  "Cora? Are you OK?"

  Father Baez's voice echoed from the kitchen. The vampire turned and sprinted toward him with the agility of a mountain cat. Cora pulled herself to her feet and ran after it as the priest retreated into the kitchen. She brought her Colt up again, but couldn't bring herself to fire before the vampire disappeared around the corner.

  Running after them, Cora entered the kitchen in time to see her husband's fingers clamped around the priest's collar. Father Baez beat against the vampire with his wrinkled hands, but the creature didn't flinch. Teeth bared, the head crowned with Ben's hair lowered itself toward the old man's neck.

  Cora kicked the vampire in the ribs as hard as she could and knocked it off balance. Before it could right itself, she kicked again, the toe of her boot smashing into Ben's face. She shoved the crucifix into his undead eyes as a scream welled up inside her. The vampire recoiled from the holy symbol, cowering against the cabinets. Cora kicked it again. It hissed and snapped at her with Ben's teeth. Squeezing her eyes shut against the oncoming tears, she brought her Colt up and pulled the trigger.

  The scream exploded from her lungs. She pulled the hammer back and fired again.

  The big revolver fell from her limp hand as she collapsed to her knees, her scream breaking down into sobs. A warm hand touched her shoulder, but she shrugged it off. She struggled to her feet and staggered down the hall in a near run. Her boots stumbled at the porch steps, but she managed to keep them under her until she made it to where Our Lady stood. The mare staggered as Cora crashed into her side. She pulled herself into the saddle and gave Our Lady her heels. Her vision swam in the growing darkness, and she squinted through it to point the mare down the right road.

  The night air dried the tears from her cheeks as she rode. Cora gave Our Lady her head, unable to focus on anything aside from staying in the saddle. In her mind, she kept repeating the same desperate creed, the words falling into rhythm with the horse's hooves. She hadn't just killed her husband. She hadn't just shot him in the head. She hadn't. She hadn't.

  Our Lady soon caught wind of Ben's horse and changed her course. Her easy gallop came to rest next to the other mare, who still stood faithfully outside the abandoned house. Cora rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand and dismounted. The front door of the vampire nest yawned open before her like the mouth to Hell itself. Whispering a desperate prayer, Cora plunged headlong into the darkness.

  Pale shafts of light from the windows cut through the darkness. Cora's footsteps echoed through the house as she made her way to the basement entrance. Pausing at the door, she took a deep breath, staring down into the absolute blackness. In the shadows, she thought she saw Ben's dead eyes staring back at her. His pale face floated like a phantom in the darkness, his mouth still curled in a savage, animal snarl.

  She shook her head to clear the image, her hand reaching for her revolver. Only when her fingers closed on air did she remember that she left it lying on the kitchen floor of the farmhouse. She pulled out her rosary instead, her knuckles white around the wooden beads. At the same time, her other hand pulled the silver dagger from its soft leather sheath. Another breath left her lungs as a prayer, and she began her descent.

  The darkness closed in around her, forcing her to take one step at a time. Holding the rosary in front of her, she felt her way forward. Her fingers touched cold earth at the bottom of the stairs. She turned to her right and took a cautious step forward. Meeting no resistance, she took another. The air beneath the house was cold and stale, and the scent of death seemed to seep from the walls. Her eyes strained against the absolute blackness. Swaths of color flowed across her vision like gleeful phantoms.

  In the stillness of the basement, the memories of the farmhouse wrapped around her mind with crushing black fingers: the hideous hissing of Ben's breath through his teeth, the inhuman hunger in his eyes, the gray shade of his face. That wasn't really him, she told herself. Her mind had been playing tricks on her. Ben wouldn't have threatened her like that, even if he had been turned. His gentle soul would have prevailed over the vampiric curse. No, Ben had to be down here somewhere, hiding with the other survivor.

  Her foot struck a metal object, sending it skittering across the floor. She followed the sound, patting the ground with each step until she felt something beneath her boot. She knelt down and reached forward, the rosary dangling from her wrist. Her fingers closed around a cold piece of metal. A sword hilt. Sheathing her dagger, she picked it up in both hands, feeling the length of the blade with her fingers. It was Ben's saber.

  "So that's where I dropped that."

  A small scream escaped her lips as she whirled around in the darkness, holding the saber out in front of her. Without thinking, she began backing toward where she remembered the stairs to be.

  "Where are you going?" the voice asked, and she paused. When it spoke this time, she heard it more clearly.

  "Ben?" she asked. "Ben, is that you?"

  "Sure is," the voice replied. "Can't you tell?"

  "Where are you? I can't see you." Cora felt a shock of excitement run through her like a gunshot. "Why are you still here?"