Demonspawn (38 page)

“Hello?”

“Victoria, it's me.” I heard a lot of noise
in the background. She wasn't at her house, but out on the streets.
“Listen, Bachner took the feral to Camden Yards. They somehow got
it in. The game actually just went off the air.” My heart sank as I
remembered. “Leese is
there
. My sister's at the game.”

“Calm down, Alex. I'll call back in one
minute.”

That one minute felt like an eternity. Bill
stood there behind the couch, watching us. Cindy grabbed me by the
shoulders to stop me from pacing.

“What is going on?” she asked gently.

“They're trying to make more vampires,” I
said. “Why the fuck would they do that?”

“Vampires? Like people even more white than
you, but with longer teeth?”

I told Cindy everything about me, but nothing
about vampires. There was so much she didn't know.

“Is Leese okay?” she asked.

“Yeah. I'd sense it if she wasn't. But I
gotta get over there.”

“Get over there? You're not doing anything
stupid.”

The phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Alex, it's me. Containment's gonna start
real quick.”

“Containment? What-”

“
Listen
. This virus will spread
through that stadium
fast
. One vampire will turn into two,
two into four, you get the idea. We've gotta go and help however we
can. Are you with me?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. I'll meet you there.”

“How am I gonna find you?”

“I'll be the one killing vampires.”

She hung up.

I took a deep breath. I wasn't ready for
this. But I had to get moving. I grabbed Cindy's hand so she could
see Bill once again.

“Bill, can you get to the stadium?”

He looked embarrassed. “Well, yeah, but it
took me a while to get here. I'm not an expert on
ghost
moving
yet.”

“Okay. Get there however you can. Look for me
or Victoria.”

“Well, how are
you
gonna get
there-”

My wings shot out of my back before he could
finish. Cindy gasped. She knew I had them, but it was her first
glimpse of them.

“Holy shit.”

I looked at her. She squeezed my hand a
little. A part of me was still afraid she was gonna take off and
run. Instead, she gave me a soft smile.

“You okay?” I asked her.

She nodded. “What do you want me to do?”

“Stay here.”

“The hell I am.”

She was serious. I grabbed her shoulders.
“Cindy, we really are dealing with
vampires
here. We have to
stop them before they bust out of Camden Yards.
Please
, stay
here. Lock the door and all the windows and just lay low.”

She didn't look away. Slowly, she nodded her
head.

I let her go and clipped the cell phone to my
belt. I gave Bill a look.

“Okay, Detective. I'll see you there.”

I opened the sliding glass door to my
balcony. Before I could step out I felt a hand on my wing. Cindy
spun me around and surprised me with a deep kiss. She rested her
forehead against mine.

“
Don't
get hurt.”

“Don't worry. I won't.”

She smiled, and actually stroked my wing. I
hate to say it, but it felt good.

“I still want a ride.”

I smiled back and turned around toward the
balcony. I climbed on the railing and jumped off. I sank for only a
second, until my wings started to lift me up.

I flew as fast as I could. I tried to take
shortcuts and avoid following the roads. But I had to keep the
highway in sight some of the time, as I didn't know how to get to
the city otherwise. I made good time. I can fly pretty damn
fast.

As I got closer, the shit started to hit the
fan.

Traffic started to bottleneck maybe a mile or
so outside the city limits. That wasn't anything surprising. What
was surprising was the military that was suddenly everywhere. It
looked like a war zone. Jeeps, hummers, soldiers standing tall at
intersections. As I got closer to Camden Yards, I could finally see
what Victoria was talking about. Maybe it wasn’t obvious down on
the ground. But from the sky it was clear.

The military was setting up a quarantine
around the stadium.

Camden Yards has a large fence surrounding
the whole thing. At every gate, every single turnstile, I could see
soldiers keeping people inside. They also kept people from getting
in. The very sight scared the hell out of me. How far would the
military go? Was Victoria responsible for all of this?

I hovered far above the stadium, so no one
could see me. I could see people running around, though, and even
heard what sounded like gunshots.

I heard a helicopter, and had to spin to see
where it was. It was heading right for me. I can only imagine how
many bullets they'd put in me if they got close enough. A half
naked guy flying in midair was certainly going to attract
attention.

I dived downward. As Camden Yards grew
closer, I could really see what was happening. Just pure chaos. I
saw bodies now, in the stands with pools of blood forming under
them. People running and screaming, trampling each other. Feral
vampires were leaping and attacking. I saw one pin a woman to the
ground from behind and sink its fangs into her neck. A group of
four attacked a group of teens.

We were too late. It was spreading.

I also saw vampire hunters.

It was a group of three of them, moving
through a crowd away from the playing field. They were laughing as
they gunned down a few vampires, then drove a stake though their
hearts.

I landed on top of the lights high above home
plate. I really didn’t know what was going on. I didn’t know why
Bachner spread the virus, yet now had his men killing vampires. I
didn’t know what the military was planning.

I had a flash in my head. I almost lost
balance for a second. I had to grab the light structure to keep
from falling.

It was Alicia. I was inside her head, seeing
what she saw.

She was in danger.

Hell,
everyone
was in danger.

She was running down the corridor with a
group of people. Arms were flailing around and there were screams.
I couldn’t tell where she was at all. A vampire that used to be a
hotdog vendor dove at her feet. He barely missed her and bit the
man running next to her. I caught a quick glimpse of Donna, her
friend from school, pulling her by the hand.

“We have to get out of here!” she
shouted.

I shook the vision off as best I could. I
needed to be in my own head. I yanked the cell phone out and called
Alicia. I didn’t know if she’d answer or not. But I had to try. If
she saw it was me calling, she would answer.

I was right.

“Alex, please help,” she said. I could hear
the panic in her voice. “There’s something fucking crazy going on
at the stadium!”

“I'm here now. Where are you?”

“I don't know! Shit. We just passed section
two-thirty.”

“Alright, listen. You can't get out, we're
all locked in. Find someplace and barricade yourself. Just hide.
You hear me? Then text me when you're safe and let me know where
you are.”

“Okay.”

I hung up. Time to find section
two-thirty.

I heard a scream beneath me. There was a man
running across the field. Two vampires were chasing him. He only
had maybe a few seconds before they were on him.

I folded my wings and jumped off the light
rack. I wouldn't be able to fly to him in time, so I let myself
fall straight down. Ten feet before I hit the ground I threw my
wings out and beat them a single time as hard as I could, then
landed on one knee near home plate. Still hurt a little.

The two vampires tackled the man just past
second base near the outfield.

“Hey!” I shouted at the top of my lungs.

They both looked up right at me. The two
vampires used to be ushers. Blood ran down their orange and white
uniforms and from their new fangs. I could see the red glow in
their eyes.

They ran at me. Behind them I could see the
man they attacked get up and run away. He certainly wasn't going to
help me.

I took a few steps back as the vampires
quickly closed the gap. I was afraid, but shoved it aside. I could
easily vanish and let them pass right through me. But I had to
fight them. I had to stop them from hurting anyone else, or worse,
biting
anyone else.

I lashed out with my wing as the closest one
got near. It actually knocked him to the ground, surprising the
hell out of me. But then the other was on me.

He tackled me hard. I fell back and my head
bounced off the ground. Pain shot through me and I started seeing
stars. I had enough sense to throw my arms out, and I caught him
under the chin, barely holding him back from taking a bite out of
my face.

He snarled and pushed against my face with
his hand. Out of the corner of my eye I could see the other one
rising to his feet.

There was nothing I could do. I vanished. The
vampire fell through me and jumped to his feet. He looked at the
other one before they both ran off together.

I stood up slowly, still breathing hard. I
was all by myself, invisible to the world. I was so angry. I had
all these amazing powers. But there was really nothing I could do
against a creature so much stronger than me.

As I once again faded back into the world of
the living, my cell phone beeped. It was a text message from
Alicia.

Ruby Tuesday near section 240. Come fast.

I flew straight up, then soared over the
stadium seats. Most of the outside was empty. I could see dead
bodies, and newborn vampires rising up. Most of the people were in
the corridors, trying to escape. I looked at the section markers
and finally found section two-forty.

I vanished before I even hit the ground. I
ran through everything in my way. I tried not to look too hard at
the massacre around me. Men and women being devoured. Blood
everywhere. I saw a group of maybe eight or so vampires at the
front door to the Ruby Tuesday's. I could see people inside
frantically blocking the door and every window. I ran through the
mob of vampires to get inside.

There were four people. Alicia was there with
her friend Donna. A Ruby Tuesday waiter with a name tag of Chris,
probably around Alicia's age. An older guy who looked like a
business executive. White shirt, dress pants, black tie. They all
worked together to put as much crap as they could in front of the
place. Tables, chairs, carts.

“I knew it. All along I knew it,” Chris said
as he pushed another table near the front door. “It's right on the
web. Vampires have always been real.”

“Chris, would you shut the hell up?” Donna
said. “They're trying to get in here!”

“Okay, okay. After this, we’re gonna have to
start a fire.”

“Mister Johnson! Slide that cart over here!”
Alicia said.

He did so. “Please, call me Sam.”

I appeared behind everyone.

“Is everyone okay?” I said.

They all turned. I didn't think about how I
looked. A shirtless guy, appearing out of thin air, with a huge
pair of wings sticking out of his back. Sam and Donna took a step
back. Chris surprised me. He grabbed a broken table leg and jumped
in front of Alicia.

I gave him a look. Thin looking guy. Kind of
nerdy looking with short black hair and thick glasses. But he was
facing down a demon with a table leg. I was impressed. It was
obvious he liked my sister.

“What the hell are you?” Chris asked.

“Relax,” Alicia put a hand on his shoulder.
“He’s my brother.”

“Your brother is a vampire?”

She walked around him and gave me a quick
hug. She stared at my wings. I just gave a sheepish shrug.

“We’ll talk later,” I said.

A noise came from the front. The vampires
were slowly pushing the doors open, even with everything in the
way.

“Come on! Get more up there!”

I started helping. We tossed everything we
could get our hands on in the pile. I pushed with all my strength.
The group of vampires was slowed, but it wouldn’t last forever. I
could hear them scratching and tearing at the tables. The windows
were already broken. I saw a hand reach through and almost grab Sam
by the hair.

We all leaned against the mess we’d made.
Donna was crying now. Alicia looked at me, fear in her eyes. I
grabbed my cell phone.

It took forever for Victoria to answer.

“Alex, I’m a little busy here.”

“We’re trapped. Ruby Tuesday’s near section
two-forty.”

“Trapped? How the hell can
you
be
trapped?”

“Come on, hurry up. I’m with my sister and
some others. They’re breaking their way in.”

She hung up.

“Help is coming.”

The table I pushed against split apart. A
vampire had simply kicked it. They were slowly pushing their way
in. One barely missed raking his hand across my face.

“Okay, everybody back up,” I said. “Get a
weapon, anything you can use. We need fire.”

“The kitchen’s in the back,” Chris said.

I looked to the rear of the place. None of us
could run back there and make a fire of some kind before the
vampires were on us. I didn’t see it happening.

“Donna, Alicia, get to the back and
hide.”

“No,” Alicia said while grabbing a broken
cart leg.

Chris smiled. “I like her.”

She smiled back at him.

We all backed up in a line, just waiting.
They thrashed like wild animals as they punched through the tables
and carts we put in their way.

“Go for the heart, okay? Like in the
movies.”

The first one broke through. I lashed out
with a wing and gouged out one of his eyes. He howled in pain and
fell. Two others tripped over him. Chris and Alicia jumped on the
two that had fallen, clubbing them with table legs and trying to
jab their broken weapons in their hearts. But moving targets
weren't easy to hit.