Companions Of The Night Part 4

Ethan didn't answer He stood, and this time he headed downstairs They made their way without turning on any lights Part of that could be thorough familiarity with the house, but Kerry was beginning to suspect that Ethan could see in the dark a lot better than she could, especially after he skirted a kitchen table that Kerry didn't sec till she collided with it He paused long enough to let her rub her bruised hip "Are there other vampires in Brockporl you need to warn?"

Kerry asked "Oh yeah " Ethan's sarcasm was thick enough to recognize without seeing the smirk on his face "Brockport, New York, is a regular hotbed of vampire activity"

She put that down as something to remember It might prove useful at a later date that Ethan and Regina could wellbe the only vampires in the area Or was that just what he wanted her to thmk'1 "So, what were you and Regina doing here?" she asked He was back to not answering "What about Rochester?" she continued "Any vampires there? Or in Buffalo?"

He pulled her around to look directly at her She could barely make him out in the soft glow that was all that reached them from the light now on in the living room "Don't," he warned in a soft and matter-of-fact voice, "make a nuisance of yourself"

"Sorry," she said "I don't know what I need to know to keep both of us alive" Not that Ethan was, strictly speaking, alive 76."You don't need to know about other vampires," Ethan told her "Right," she said And then again-because it couldn't hurt, "Sorry"

Vampifts in Rochester and Buffalo, she noted mentally Ethan opened a door that could have led directly into a blank wall for all she could make out in the dark But he took a step down, she could feel that "I can't see a thing," she said "If you've got the extra energy to keep me from tumbling down the bas.e.m.e.nt stairs, that's fine, but wouldn't it be easier on both of us if you just turned the light on?" She hoped she sounded as brave as she thought she did He stepped back onto the same level and reached behind her The light over the bas.e.m.e.nt stairs came on "Better?" he asked "Yes" Politeness couldn't hurt Even if it wasn't sincere"Thank you" Not that she liked the idea of going down there with him What can be do to me doum there, she tried to console herself, that he couldn't have dmt just as wll upstairs?

Besides bury my body when he's through?

But Ethan said, "Sometimes I forget," by which she took him to mean sometimes he forgot human limitations, which was probably as close to an apology as she'd get from him Just when she'd worked that out he added, "Don't become a smart aleck"

He tugged on her arm, the only warning she got before their hasty descent of the stairs The idea of burying didn't seem so clever when Kerry saw that the bas.e.m.e.nt had a dirt floor Were any of Regina's victims down here? she wondered Was Ethan planning on burying Regina?

The place was a mess It looked as though Regina had 77.gone through at least two sets of furniture for every room and piled all the extras down here Among all the other stuff, Kerry spied a moped, practically furry with dust That seemed to be what Ethan was heading for But he stopped just short of it, picking up instead a red-and-yellow can that sloshed when he shook it GusoliHt, Kerry's father would say, belongs in a !)arai)t or sM, it's dangerous m a house And ifbcrt's Dad now? she wondered "You're not going to-," she started He did He poured great dollops of gasoline on a green damask love seat with ta.s.sels "But what about the neighbors?" she demanded, not quite having the courage to grab his arm She couldn't have made him stop in any case, but she felt guilty for not making theattempt It was a five-gallon drum, and it had sounded )ust about full "What if the fire spreads?"

"Not likely, with a brick exterior," Ethan said "And it's necessary in any case I have no idea what she has here, what people could find Old pictures, papers Seeming anachro- nisms that might get someone thinking "

It was how vampires survived, Kerry realized people not thinking about vampires anymore, not believing, seeking ra- tional explanations Like a.s.suming that vampire hunters were crazies No wonder he was jumpy at the idea of a big old houseful of proof He still had hold of her hand, and he pulled her along as he kept on pouring gasoline all the way up the cellar stairs, across the kitchen, into the living room, and up the stairs to the second level The automatic light had come on in the guest bedroom closest to Regina's room. Kerry balked, but he dragged her along as effortlessly as a child with a pull toy 78.He pulled her into the room, carefully set down the gas- oline can, then shoved her against the tall antique armoire on the wall opposite from the bed "Little girls who hang around with vampires need to get used to dead things," he said, blocking her escape by leaning against the armoire with an arm outstretched on either side of her "In fact, little girls who hang around with vampires already are with dead things "

Kerry had no idea how to handle the sudden fierceness in his voice "I'm sony Regina is dead," she said, thinking that might be it Or that the acknowledgment of his possible grief might make up for her earlier mouthiness "Regina," Ethan said, "has been dead-" But he cut off whatever he had been going to say, evidently deciding that was something else about vampires she didn't need to know for a long time," he finished with a blatantly insincere smile "And I very much doubt any living soul is sorry"He shoved her toward the bed The sight wasn't as bad-and it was worse-than she'd antic.i.p.ated There was the hair, which Kerry recognized, but the body looked the way she imagined an unwrapped mummy might look charred, blackened, and withered, more like a hairless monkey than anything human Even the nightgown Regina had been wear- ing and the sheets beneath her were scorched Kerry glanced at the windows "Obviously opened at some point during the day," Ethan said vehemently "Then reclosed to look normal"

"What do you want me to do?" she asked, which-while not a safe course-was the least- likely-to-provoke -him thing she could think of to say "Open all the windows," Ethan replied, returning to his customary bland tone 79."Fine," she told him She had been afraid he'd want her closer to-perhaps even touching-that thing on the bed that had been Regina There were shutters She'd guessed right She flung them open and raised the windows, all the while aware of Ethan behind her, pulling loose all the sheets and bedcovenngs, and wrapping up Regina's body "Get the other windows on this floor," he ordered She considered making a break for it, but if his hearing was as good as his eyesight, he'd know before she made it past the first step She remembered how he'd stood in front of the house listening and had known something was wrong "What do you hear?" she'd asked "Nothing," he'd an- swered Was it that he couldn't hear Regina's heartbeat?

Her once-every-ten-or-fifteen-seconds heartbeat? And once they entered the house Kerry shuddered He'd started swearing as soon as he opened the door, and he'd gone right to Regina It could only have been the scent of her spilled bloodThere was no use trying to run Kerry had gotten five windows in three rooms open when Ethan called her "I'm not-," she started "That's all right"

She figured he knew exactly which windows she'd opened, and how hard she'd exerted herself for each one She'd never before been so conscious of her heart pounding in her chest, her blood flowing through her veins From the doorway, Kerry saw that Ethan had Regina and her bedding on the floor, rolled up in a quilt that he'd gotten from the quilt rack at the foot of the bed From the smell of gasoline, she realized he'd doused the mattress.

As soon as Kerry walked in, he struck a match and tossed 80.it onto the bed The fire started with a great whoosh, faster than she'd have imagined Her inclination was to run immediately, but Ethan handed her the matches 'Three more," he told her The first down the bas.e.m.e.nt stairs, the second in the living room, and the third tossed up the stairs right before you leave"

"Me?" Her voice came out as a squeak It was hard to concentrate with the room so hot already and the over- powering smell of the gasoline The book of matches sat in her hand, strangely heavy and incongruous It was obviously a wedding favor-silver bells on a white background, with the message "Steve and Beth, May 24, 1947"

"The first down the bas.e.m.e.nt stairs," Ethan repeated, "the second-"

"-in the living room," she finished, "and the third on the stairs" He was keeping her alive to help him, if she didn'tstart helping soon, he was bound to reconsider "Very good," he told her As she ran out of the already smoky room, she was aware of him picking up Regina's body easily and flinging it over his shoulder He was only a step behind when she veered off toward the kitchen She lit a match, thinking only at the last instant to make sure she wasn't standing in a puddle of gas- oline before she dropped it She lit the second match in the living room, but her hands were shaking too hard to get the third going The smoke was stinging her eyes, her throat felt as though she'd been drinking gasoline, and she thought, If he wants a third, he can do it himself Ethan was already sitting in the car, the engine going, when she slammed Regina's front door behind her She could scream She probably would have time for one Fire' or Vampire' or Help'

81.But only one.

She got into the car, very much aware of the bundle in the backseat, the decapitated body of a murdered vampire.

Very much aware of the living-more or less-vampire be- side her And very much aware, before they reached the end of the street, of the dark smoke filling the darker sky behind them 82.

CHAPTER EIGHT.

AFTER SEVERAL MINUTES of driving, Kerry roused herself enough to ask, "Where are we going?""Bergen Swamp," Ethan answered . "There's a swamp in Bergen?" The Bergen town line was about two minutes from Main Street, Brockpoit "I thought Bergen was mostly farms and student housing "

Ethan glanced at her "Well, it's hardly in the same cat- egory as the Florida Everglades. But, yeah, it's a swampy, wooded area Good for hunting "

For a moment Kerry thought he meant vampires hunted people there Then she realized he meant game hunters, after deer and rabbits. "Oh." She was unable to hide the relief in her voice.

83.He glanced at her again, and again what she was thinking must have been transparent He sighed, loudly, and shook his head Kerry looked around at the familiar countryside rolling by in the darkness fields and occasional houses Her heart did a quick nutter, but she tried to keep her voice casual "I hate to be the one to break the news to you, but you pa.s.sed through Bergen about five minutes ago "

He gave her one of those looks she was beginning to think of as a vampire-thinks-of-amusing-thought-that-is- amusmg-only to-other vampires look "1 thought we were talking about long-term goals," he said "We have a couple errands to run on the way "

"Such as?"

"You aren't going to like them, so I'd rather put off telling you " He saw her expression and laughed "But 1 doubt they're as bad as what you're thinking "

What she was thinking was that they were heading off toward Rochester to find a victim for him to feed on The awful, frustrating thing was that-even if that should turn out to be what he intended-when the time came, chanceswere there would be absolutely nothing she could do to prevent it She forced herself to think of alternatives Maybe he was telling the truth For once They were definitely going in the direction of Rochester, and there was little else between here and there except towns even smaller than Brockport Rochester It suddenly came to her He was going to enlist the help of other vampires Which probably significantly increased her chances of losing her own blood He was watching her, evaluating, still amused "Besides,"

he added, "we have time to kill"

S4.

And she was sure he was aware she could think of two ways to take that She intentionally ignored one of them "What about my family?" she demanded "Aren't you for- getting them?"

"Definitely not," he answered brightly "They're absolutely the only control 1 have over you "

It wasn't exactly the answer she'd antic.i.p.ated "Well?"

"Wtll what?"

"They're in danger Now, unless you know that they're being held captive in Rochester-and I don't see how you could know that unless-" She stopped Was Ethan involved?

Had he arranged for lan and her dad to be kidnapped as pan of some elaborate vampire scheme to But she couldn't work it out in any way that made sense at all Beside her, Ethan waited patiently for her to continue "Unless you know that they're being held captive in Roch- ester, we seem to be headed away from them ""1 have no idea where they're being held," he told her "Was that what you were asking?"

"1 was asking I was pointing out, because of the time involved Couldn't you do whatever it is you're going to do with a phone call?"

Ethan gave her a puzzled look and said, "No," in a tone strongly indicating she was wrong about the purpose of this tnp being to communicate with Rochester vampires She said, "What if whoever has Dad and lan " She needed a deep breath to continue " kills them while we're busy running your errands?"

"Kerry, I don't know who has your family But if they're still alive-now, at this moment-it doesn't make sense for whoever has them to kill them They're useless dead "

"Unless I don't know they're dead "

85."There is that," he acknowledged. "But there was n.o.body at your house I would have heard And i would have known"-he was saying this last part slowly, phrasing it carefully-"if your father and your brother were dead in the house If there had been a quant.i.ty of spilled blood, I would have known it."

Kerry spared a thought to be pleased that she had been right about that And if she could keep her wits about her, gather enough useful information, she just might be able to overcome Ethan, rescue Dad and lan, and come out of this alive Ethan was saying, "So they probably weren't dead at the house and it would be no advantage to take them away from the house and then kill them. Whoever is after me has invested a significant amount of time studying the situation He She . They aren't going to rush things now I'd sayyour family is safe enough for the next few days Their best hope is for us not to become overly hasty through misplaced concern"

Kerry tried to find the fiaws in his reasoning, besides the obvious one: that he had no concern for her family "That works out well for you." she finally said.

He just flashed a cold smile When he didn't volunteer any more information, she asked, "What are we going to do at the Bergen Swamp once we get there?"

Ethan stopped for a red light out in the middle of a country crossroad, no other traffic in sight. He rested his face in his hands "Get rid of Regina's body"

Kerry still hadn't been able to figure out what he felt about Regina's death: grief for a loved one, or annoyance because the circ.u.mstances were inconvenient, or something 86.else she couldn't begin to guess. Every time she settled on one, he did or said something that shifted the balance again.

Could vampires love?

The light's changed," she told him After a few more miles of silence she asked, "So she's truly dead?"

This time he couldn't seem to grasp what she was asking.

Before he was forced to state the obvious, that her head had been cut off, Kerry said, "1 mean, I thought the only way to kill a vampire was a stake through the heart."

He was looking at her as though she were crazy- The worst part was she wasn't sure why."I thought anything less than that, the vampire would recover from."

Though for the moment they still seemed centered in the correct lane, he hadn't glanced away from her to check the road for what seemed to be an incredibly long stretch.

"Like you recovered from your injuries," she said- "Would you please watch the road?"

"Cod," he said, Excuse me for my ignorance, she wanted to say / wasn't exactly sure what the term undead covered. Instead, she just said, "Well, I didn't know,"

"What, you thought her head would grow a new body?

Or her body a new head? Or the two pieces could just be stuck together, like-"

"Alt right, I'm sorry. 1 thought your recovery was just about miraculous"

"It wasn't anywhere near the same," he snapped.

"All right."

He cast a sudden worried look at her, which came a moment before she realized she had learned a potentially 87.valuable lesson Vampires were susceptible to a variety of deaths, if the injuries were severe enough She said, "All I was asking was if she'd be coming back"

"She won't be coming back," Ethan said There was no way to tell how much he suspected she guessed IT WAS ABOUT a forty-five-minute drive to Rochester Kerryasked herself about forty-five times if she was doing the right thing How far should she trust Elhan? That was an easy one not at all And yet-and yet-he had let her live, when all he had needed her for so far was to light the gasoline while he carried Regina's body to the car With an extra two min- utes he could have done that himself Yet why bring her to Rochester to kill her when he could have done it at Regina's house? Unless he didn't want her charred bones found in the wreckage of the house, for some reason she couldn't work out Or unless there were some sort of vampire hierarchy, and he planned to offer her as a gift to the chief or king or president vampire Which didn't make a whole lot of sense As they reached the suburbs, as they stowed from the fifty-five m p h speed limit and started having to stop for lights and traffic, Kerry wondered what were her chances of surviving should she throw herself out of the car and run screaming for help Not very good, she estimated Surely Ethan had taken into consideration that she might try some- thing of that nature No doubt he had confidence in his ability to stop her before she attracted attention But he was still taking a risk What could he possibly hope to gain?

Unless he had spoken the truth Unless he needed her help to get to Regina's killers If that was the case, escaping-even if possible-would doom Dad and lan 88.But how likely was it Ethan would let her live with all that she was seeing and teaming about vampires? Which brought her right back to- Was she doing the right thing?

Kerry had been hoping that whatever Ethan needed he could find in one of the outlying suburbs, but he drove right into the city Not only that, but into one of the sleazier parts of the city "Do you trust me?" Ethan asked"No" Kerry was amazed that he even had to ask He gave his soft, pleasant, insincere laugh "All for the best, I suppose, but that's going to make this more difficult Please don't do anything stupid"

He'd been looking for a parking s.p.a.ce and now he pulled over Even though it was eleven o'clock, this particular section of the city was brightly lit, at least those buildings that weren't boarded over and spray-painted were brightly, even garishly, lit Women-and some girls who looked not quite as old as Kerry herself-walked by in tight skirts and high heels De- spite the cold, most had theirjackets unb.u.t.toned or unzipped so they could be seen better The jacket of choice seemed to be rabbit with leather trim There were a few young men, too, though most of the men were in the cars that very slowly cruised down the street "What are we doing here?" Kerry demanded "Shopping"

She'd been right the first time He was looking for some- one to drain of blood, someone who wouldn't be missed Ethan tugged on her arm, trying to get her to come out the driver's door, obviously suspecting that if he got out first she might lock the doors behind him, which at the moment struck her as a very good idea Kerry clutched the door handle and dug in with her sneakers and her bottom 89.Ethan pulled, strongly enough to make her slide effort- lessly across the seats. "I asked you not to do anything stupid,"

he hissed into her ear Out on the street, the prost.i.tutes watched with mild in- terest, She was sure they thought she was one of them and they were wondering if he was through with her and going to trade her in. Even when it was apparent he wasn't going to let go of her arm, some of the women blew kisses or stoodwith their hands in their pockets, holding their jackets open, just in case She was concentrating so much on the people around them, she didn't realize until the last second that Ethan was leading her into one of the stores- She balked when she saw the sign.

LOVE, ETC.

books, videos, etc.

"Trust me," Ethan whispered, beyond all reason. "It's not as bad as you think."

The store was awful Lingerie with cutouts. Men's bikini briefs with peac.o.c.k feathers Posters of couples: men and women, men and men, women and women There was no place Kerry could look that she didn't sec something em- barra.s.sing. And she felt stupid because some of the stuff was embarra.s.sing even though she didn't know what it was. And then she felt stupid to feel stupid, because there was no reason for her to feel embarra.s.sed. The people who ran the store should be embarra.s.sed.

At least Ethan kept a tight hold on her hand while he spoke to the man behind the counter. Her hand was sweaty; his, as always, was colder than any living person's. For the moment she didn't mind what they looked like. She wanted 90.people to think they were together. Especially the other cus- tomer in the store, a scuzzy-looking man in a long coat. Kerry stared at her feet, sure that if she glanced up he was going to flash her.

She suddenly realized that what Ethan was buying were handcuffs. Which was bad, but probably not as bad as it could be- If he wanted to restrain her physically, he was strong enough to do it without handcuffs."Enjoy," the clerk said with a smirk in his voice Back at the car, they got in the same way they'd gotten out, through the driver's side Once settled, Ethan turned to her and asked, "Are you all right?"

As if he couldn't see that she was shaking. "Fine," she snapped, "How not?"

"If I intended you harm - ," he said with his mocking smile- "Well, I wouldn't need these. These are protection,"

So they were for her.

What was he waiting for? For her to acknowledge that he was doing her a favor?

"Compared to this," Ethan said as he started the engine and pulled away from the curb, "the next part will be a piece of cake."

After a while she couldn't take it anymore. "What's the next part?" she asked.

"We steal a car"

91.

CHAPTER NINE.

THEY PULLED INTO a car dealership on the outskirts of Rochester The place was closed, but the parking lot was well lit No doubt to keep people from doing exactly what Ethan was planning on doing "We already have a car," Kerry said miserably "Why do you need another one?"

"I don't want this one noticed anywhere near the Bergen Swamp"

What was worse was knowing he was right Every stepof the way, he kept making decisions that were right, and she kept getting pulled further and further into the wrong What would Dad say if he knew what she was doing? Dad had made her take a ring she'd found on the running track 92.at school to campus security-that was how honest he was How would he react to her stealing a car? Let me find out, she prayed She was willing to face anything if she could only know that she'd find Dad and lan alive on the other side of it Ethan made her get out in front of the big door marked SERVICE DEPT.

"You should turn off the headlights, shouldn't you?" she suggested "So we'll be less obvious?"

"I want to be obvious Here, lean on the hood, pretend to fill this out" He handed her a form he'd gotten from a metal container by the door "What are we doing?" she asked as he reached under the driver's seat and pulled out a flannel-wrapped package about the size of an envelope but a little thicker "And what's that^"

"Tbw are various-size lock picks And we are using the overnight drop-off service, in case the police drive by"

Kerry leaned on the hood and stared at the form Ethan was looking into the parked cars "If these cars are broken and need to be fixed," she asked, "how do we know the one we'll take won't have its engine fall out halfway there?"

"Well, of course we can't be sure," Ethan replied as he crouched down on the far side of a blue Shadow, presumably to fiddle with the lock, "though I do believe the manufacturer generally prefers the term serviced to fixed And I don't think a car is ever technically referred to as broken"

"Whatever," Kerry grumbledHe opened the door, and his voice became m.u.f.fled as he leaned to do something with the steering column "In this particular case, the car has just over a thousand miles, so it probably isn't broken at all, it's in for its thousand-mile warranty check And-special bonus at no extra cost-it's blue "