Jekyll & Hyde Inc.

Daniel forced down a rising sense of panic, as vicious fingernails ripped through his clothes and scored the skin beneath. He could feel the blood trickling down his skin. Vicious teeth snapped together, coming closer and closer to his face and throat. It helped that there were so many of them that they got in one another’s way, and Daniel found he could use that to distract them. He used one vampire to shield him from another, until they turned on each other in flurries of teeth and claws. He plunged his stake into one vampire chest after another, their inhuman forms offering no more resistance than smoke, but he was slowing down as he tired, and the vampires weren’t.

He couldn’t even look around to see how Tina was doing, because he didn’t dare turn his gaze away from the hideous forms that seethed around him. He’d only lasted this long because the vampires were afraid enough of his stake to keep them at arm’s length; but that was all he had, and there were just so many of them.

Finally one vampire darted in under Daniel’s extended arm, avoiding the stake, and went for Daniel’s wrist. The sharp teeth were within an inch of piercing the skin, when the vampire suddenly jerked its head back, hissing and screeching as it smelled the garlic Daniel had smeared there earlier. The vampire broke off and fell back, just as another vampire discovered Tina was protected in the same manner; and just like that the whole gathering was retreating back down the platform. Daniel and Tina slowly lowered their stakes and leaned tiredly on each other, breathing harshly. Their clothes were torn and ragged, and sharp nails had gouged deep wounds into their flesh. Blood spattered down onto the platform, slowing as the Hydes’ wounds healed themselves. The vampires studied them carefully, milling and stirring as the scent of fresh blood called out to them; but still they stayed where they were.

“So,” said Tina, drawing in a great breath of air and then coughing harshly as she inhaled some floating dust. “Are you having a good time, Daniel?”

“I’m keeping busy,” said Daniel, wiping the sweat from his forehead with a ragged sleeve. His arm was so tired it ached just to raise it. “They really don’t like the garlic, do they?”

“We have to hold their attention,” Tina said quietly. “We can’t let them run and scatter. We might never have a chance like this again.”

“We came here to annoy them,” said Daniel. “And I think we’ve made a good start. All we have to do now is infuriate them so much that they’ll chase us wherever we lead them.”

“How are we going to do that?” said Tina? “Call them bad names and insult their dress sense?”

“Leave it to me,” said Daniel. “You head for the tunnel mouth. No, don’t argue. I need you to go first and clear the way. Trust me, I will be right behind you as soon as I’m done.”

Tina looked at him steadily. “You’re not about to do something heroic, are you?”

Daniel smiled. “I have something more practical in mind.”

Tina grinned back at him. “Don’t keep me waiting.”

She jumped lightly down from the platform and onto the rails, and sprinted for the tunnel mouth. Daniel quickly took a step forward, to hold the angry stares of the vampires. He smiled insolently at the gathering, radiating confidence, and they snarled back, confused and wary in the face of a challenge they didn’t understand. They weren’t used to such casual defiance. They could tell Daniel was planning something, but they couldn’t understand what.

Daniel reached inside his shirt, and brought out the silver crucifix on its chain. The vampires flinched, and some turned their faces away. But the cross only had an impact when Daniel thrust it at a particular vampire; the moment he moved on, the cross seemed to lose its power. Or perhaps it just didn’t mean enough to Daniel. He’d always suspected the power lay in the faith behind the cross, rather than the symbol itself. Though Daniel had to admit that standing face-to-face with so much evil was starting to make a believer out of him. He put the crucifix away.

“You’re all just a bunch of cowards,” he said loudly, piling on the contempt. “Tina and I crashed your party, killed all your victims, staked a whole bunch of you . . . and then drove you off with our garlic cologne! Once we get out of here, we’re going to tell everyone that there’s nothing special about you. That you’re all nothing but leeches with delusions of grandeur.”

He turned around, dropped his trousers, and showed his arse to the Vampire Clan. He didn’t look back to check their response, just hauled up his trousers, jumped down from the platform, and ran like hell for the tunnel. He passed two dead guards along the way, lying crumpled on the rails with their necks broken. Tina had been busy. Daniel joined her in the tunnel mouth, and the two of them disappeared into the darkness, following the jumping glare of her flashlight.