Hidden (Marchwood Vampire Series #1) (52 page)

‘
It may be a trap,’ he said. ‘They may have turned off the
chemical rays to lure us out again.’

‘
No,’ she replied. ‘It’s not a trap. I didn’t tell you before,
but I bought some insurance with me.’

Alexandre
frowned.

‘
You’ll see,’ she said. ‘Come on, we have to go back to the
viewing gallery.’

They hurried
along the long corridor, terrified the ultraviolet would come back
on at any moment. Scorch marks smeared the walls and great chunks
of carpet were burnt, still smouldering and smoking. It was a
miracle the whole place wasn’t on fire.

They crowded
up the steps which led to the gallery and as Alexandre approached
the door, someone opened it and ran straight into him.
Vasey-Smith.

The solicitor
looked shocked, like he was running away from something, but when
he saw Alexandre’s furious expression, his shoulders sagged.
Alexandre grabbed him by the arm and dragged him back into the
gallery.

The room was a
mess. Smoke billowed and an enormous great hole had been blasted
into the control console. Mini fires burned and electrical sparks
showered and fizzed. Alexandre heard a woman coughing. Some of the
smoke cleared and he saw Winston Blythe standing stock still, with
the muzzle of a twelve bore shotgun pointed at his head.

Holding the
weapon, Alexandre recognised the ruddy-cheeked countenance of
Morris Foxton, wearing his usual attire of checked shirt and worn
tweed jacket. Esther stood next to him, brandishing another
shotgun. Her bobbed hair swayed manically around her face.

‘
Hello, Alexandre, love,’ she said. ‘You alright?’

‘
Yes thank you, Esther. I am now. And may I say it is quite
wonderful to see you both.’

‘
Did we do alright then?’ Esther asked her young boss, who had
just walked in with the others.

‘
Esther,’ Madison replied, her heart filling with gratitude.
‘You and Morris are a couple of life savers. Thank you.’

‘
What d’you want us to do with this one?’ Morris asked
Alexandre.

‘
I will deal with both these gentlemen.’

The other
vampires were rapidly gathering their strength and their wits and
suddenly didn’t look quite so weak and shocked anymore. Their
other-worldly beauty was evident and Madison’s attention was being
pulled in all directions. Her eyes flitted from them, to Blythe and
Vasey-Smith, then back to her beloved amazing Alexandre.

‘
Take a seat, gentlemen,’ Alexandre said, pointing to two
swivel chairs. They did as they were told, remarkably cool,
considering the dangerous predicament they now found themselves in.
‘Talk to me,’ Alexandre continued. ‘I wish to know all about this
evening. Why you found it necessary to revive my companions and
then attempt to kill us. And I would also like to know why you have
a room full of sleeping vampires downstairs.’

‘
Very well,’ Blythe replied. ‘Robert, why don’t you tell
Alexandre what he wants to know.’

Vasey-Smith
turned from Blythe to Alexandre.

‘
Well?’ Alexandre prompted.

‘
We are a specialised firm of solicitors,’ Vasey-Smith began.
‘Most of our clients are like you.’

Alexandre
looked perplexed.

‘
Most of our clients are vampires,’ said
Vasey-Smith.

‘
You are a firm of solicitors who work for vampires? Why would
they need solicitors?’

‘
Why not? You still live in this predominantly human world.
You want to live in houses and ensure your interests are looked
after. You need to rely on people you can trust. Our clients trust
us. We can do things for them they can’t do themselves. We can
ensure their needs are met.’

Alexandre gave
a short laugh. ‘Trust!’ he said. ‘You are the least trustworthy
miserable excuses for human beings I have ever come across.’

‘
I beg to differ. Our clients did well to place their trust in
us. It is because we are safeguarding their interests that we had
to eliminate you. They are extremely powerful; wealthy beyond
anything you can imagine. They do not tolerate fledgling
vampires.

‘
But there is a problem - They’ve been unconscious for over
two hundred years. They have the sleeping disease. Their systems
have shut down. We don’t know what caused it, but we’ve been trying
to find a cure for the past two centuries, to no avail. All we know
is it doesn’t affect humans, but is highly contagious to all
vampires. Up until tonight, you were the only one to come out of
it.’

‘
So now you want to wake all the others?’ Alexandre
asked.

‘
Yes, we will revive them.’

‘
And then what?’

‘
And then we will continue to look after their
interests.’

‘
And what about those in the storage room downstairs? Why do
you have them here? I know the one on the table and I know he
cannot possibly be a client of yours.’

‘
You
know
him?’ Blythe said, surprised. But we have only just had him
and his companions transported here. They were discovered very
recently.’

‘
Ha! Not as recently as you would think,’ Alexandre gave a
bitter laugh and continued talking. ‘Gentlemen, you have no idea
what you are dealing with. Those creatures you have stored
downstairs are nothing like me or my family. They are cold,
passionless killing machines. Ancient beings who do not care for
argument or reason. They are beyond humanity; it is dead to them.
Perhaps they never even
were
human. All they understand is blood and their
need to survive at any cost. Even though they lie on their
sickbeds, they are still so dangerous you cannot fathom it and if
you revive them, I promise you it will be the last thing you ever
do.’

‘
That’s very dramatic, Alexandre,’ said Blythe who looked as
though he was enjoying himself.

‘
No, not dramatic, just honest.’

‘
I think we have it under control. You have seen our security
system. It runs throughout the facility.’

‘
It did not stop us and it certainly will not stop
them.’

‘
Well, you can let us worry about that.’

‘
Tell me something else,’ said Alexandre. ‘Your great
grandfather, I suppose he was fictional?’

‘
Oh, Alexandre,’ the old man said. ‘I am afraid so. And I am
truly sorry to have lied. I am also sorry it was necessary to
eliminate you. But even if
we
don’t manage to do it, you can be certain our
clients will finish the job when they wake.’

‘
The only thing you should be sorry about, is that you are
about to die a horrible death and I shall enjoy being the cause of
it,’ Alexandre said.

‘
No, Alexandre,’ Blythe said calmly. ‘That is not going to
happen.’

As Blythe had
been speaking, Vasey-Smith had leant across and put a small black
revolver to Madison’s temple. He stood up, pulling Madison to her
feet.

‘
Go,’ Vasey-Smith said to Blythe. The old man nodded, stood up
and left the room unimpeded. Once Blythe had escaped, Vasey-Smith
spoke again:

‘
We all know you are powerful creatures, but are you really
willing to risk a bullet in her brain?’

The Marchwood
vampires stood and began to walk towards the solicitor.

‘
Tell your family to back off, Alexandre.’ Vasey-Smith stood
and jerked Madison up off her chair.

Alexandre felt
an icy rage. This man had dared to threaten his beloved. He had
sealed his fate. He looked into Madison’s terror-filled eyes,
willing her not to be afraid, wanting her to know he would never
let anything harm her.

She stared
back, momentarily losing herself in his gaze. He kept his eyes on
her pale face as he spoke to Vasey-Smith with cold hatred in his
voice.

‘
The thing you have to ask yourself is, am I fast enough to
reach her before you pull the trigger? Am I quicker than the speed
of that bullet as it travels down the barrel? Can I stop it before
it so much as warms her skin?’

Madison
suddenly felt fear and the imminence of death. Her head swam and
her knees buckled. Vasey-Smith jerked her upright, tightened his
grip on the revolver and pressed it harder into her skull. ‘If you
were quicker than that, then you would already …’

As the
solicitor spoke, Alexandre moved so fast, only the other vampires
could track his trajectory. He was between Madison and the revolver
before Vasey-Smith had finished his sentence. Before the solicitor
had even thought about pulling the trigger, he was dead. His neck
snapped like a wishbone. Alexandre dropped him onto the floor
without a twinge of remorse.

He held
Madison’s face in his hands. ‘Maddy, you are safe. I would never
allow you to come to harm. Not ever. I love you. You are my life
now, Madison.’

She was too
shaken up to answer.

He sat her
down on a chair and motioned to Esther to come over. ‘Please take
care of her. I have to get Blythe. Wait here.’

*

Winston Blythe
left the room and jogged to the lift. When Alexandre had first met
him on Stinchcombe Hill, Blythe had carried a walking stick, but
that was also part of the fiction like everything else. For Blythe
was fit and healthy with no need of a walking aid. The corridor was
deserted and when he reached the lift, he pressed the button
several times, looking over his shoulder. He was under no
illusions. If Alexandre caught up with him, he would kill him. In
fact, Blythe was convinced Vasey-Smith was already dead.

Finally the
lift door opened and he stepped in, pressing the button. As the
doors closed, he felt a sudden presence. Blythe looked behind him
and saw Alexandre. The vampire had caught him up and entered the
lift without him noticing. He had vengeful fire in his eyes and he
stepped closer towards the solicitor. Their faces were only
millimetres apart.

‘
Your vampire clients will shortly be following you to hell,’
Alexandre said, his hand approaching his neck.  Blythe cringed
backwards, but there was nowhere for him to go.

Then, with a
ping, the lift doors opened and Blythe’s fear instantly evaporated,
for just outside the doors stood more than half a dozen men with
guns and UV lamps which they shone into the small space. Alexandre
sank to his knees, his hands in front of his face to ward off the
rays. Blythe dusted himself down, squared his shoulders and stepped
into the corridor which led out to the car park.

‘
Finish him off,’ Blythe said to the men and walked into the
safety of the car park without a backward glance.

Four of the
men entered the lift which contained the cringing hunched form of
Alexandre. They held the lamps out in front of them and moved in
closer as his hair singed and his flesh charred. The lift door
closed and they descended. Alexandre doubled up in pain, but his
anger overrode everything. Expanding and hardening, it bubbled up
from his core and he felt as though his hatred would explode out of
every burning pore.

He gave a roar
and jumped up onto the elevator ceiling. He kicked downwards into
two faces at once and then smashed the other two heads together.
The lamps banged to the floor and the lift door opened. Alexandre’s
body was already healing itself. But the UV had taken its toll. He
was mentally exhausted and needed a few moments to gather his
strength.

Alexandre
ground his teeth and shook his head. He would have to let Blythe
go. There was no time to pursue him now. But one day soon, he would
track and destroy him. He had no doubt in his mind about that.

As he stepped
out of the lift, the ultraviolet in the corridor flickered on and
off erratically. This place was not safe for him and his family. He
had to get them out. He went straight to the viewing gallery where
the others waited.

‘
Alexandre, you’re okay.’ Madison said. ‘Did you stop
him?’

‘
No. But there is no time. We have to get out of here. The UV
lights could come on at any minute.’

‘
I know,’ Madison said. ‘They were flickering down there a few
seconds ago.’ She pointed into the operating theatre.

Alexandre
checked on the others. Still dressed in their robes, they seemed
less dazed.

‘
How are you?’ he asked. ‘Do you feel strong?’

‘
Yes.’ Leonora replied. ‘But we are ignorant about so much.
When will you tell us what is going on? Madison has told us some of
it and that much is a shock. I am finding it hard to take it all
in. And my father … my father is ...’

‘
I am sorry,’ Alexandre said. ‘I am truly sorry and I will
tell you everything very soon. But for now, we must leave this
place. It is not safe. There are men with UV lamps and guns in the
car park. They may come after us.’

‘
Don’t worry. We’ve got another way out,’ Maddy replied.
‘Esther and Morris didn’t
drive
to London. We planned a different sort of exit.’
She turned to Morris. ‘We need to leave now.’

‘
Right,’ he said. ‘Follow me.’

Morris took
them a different way. Down hallways, through a large conference
room and past laboratories until they reached a huge service
elevator. As they made their way along, the UV lights flickered,
threatening to come on at any moment. Their intermittent rays
randomly scorched the vampires like vicious spluttering lasers,
uncaring of their aim.