The Switchers Trilogy Part 25

'They keep themselves. And rats. The animal food attracts them, and all the rubbish the visitors leave. Nothing you can do about them.'

There was a dozy pause, then Jeff said, 'Whose go is it?'

Beneath their feet, Tess and her team were waiting for the other tunnels to be ready. To be sure of working, the attack had to be coordinated properly. A constant stream of visual messages pa.s.sed between the members of the rodent army. They were almost ready.

Jeff and the guard swung round, instantly alert, as a half-dozen holes opened in the ground beneath the phoenix and pebbles began to pour into them. Jeff leapt to his feet and jumped for the main light switch. Cards fluttered across empty s.p.a.ce as the guard threw down his hand and grabbed for the pistol he carried beneath his jacket.

Then the floor of the cage disappeared as a flood of rats welled up like a spring from below. Before Jeff could disentangle the key of the cage from the handkerchief in his pocket, the rats had streamed up the foliage and were beginning to take leaps at the perch where the phoenix still sat. In the nick of time he spread his wings, rose into the air and hovered there, just below the ceiling.

'Get help!' yelled Jeff.

The security guard, who had become glued to the floor at the sight of so many rats, needed no second bidding to get out. He raced for the main door, threw the bolt, and disappeared into the darkness outside.

Against the gla.s.s wall of the cage, Tess sat and watched as Jeff Maloney unlocked the door and slid it open. He was the one who had caught the magnificent bird, and despite his horror of the swarming rats, he had no hesitation in going to its rescue. He strode into the cage, oblivious to the outraged squeaks of the rats beneath his feet and, kicking clear a s.p.a.ce for himself, stood on the edge of the tallest plant pot. From there he took a lunge at the perch, making it swing so violently that it dislodged the rats who were squirrelling up its suspension chains in their efforts to get at the floating phoenix.

The bird was still too high for Jeff to reach. With a Tarzan-like leap, he grabbed the perch and swung himself up, grabbing the phoenix by its three-toed foot before the chain links snapped and he dropped back to his feet on the carpet of rats, breaking several backbones.

Tess pushed her way through the throng as Jeff leapt out of the cage and raced across the building. She was at his heels, but others were there before her, climbing up his clothes, swarming all over his body and up the arm he was holding above his head with the phoenix at the end of it.

The bird flapped desperately as the rats reached it and the first set of teeth sank into its leg. Jeff struck out frantically with his free hand, but he was losing the battle. He was up to his knees in rats, wading through a sea of them, and as quickly as he could knock them from his clothes and face, they were being replaced by others.

Outside, the security man had failed to find help and was running back towards the building. He arrived just in time to see Jeff give in and let go of the phoenix in a desperate attempt to save himself. Through a gap in the clawing and clambering madness, Tess saw the phoenix dart out through the open door and soar away above the zoo.

Both Jeff and the guard were far too busy with the rats to notice a small, dark bird emerging from their midst and setting off in pursuit of the phoenix. They were thrashing and kicking around them like a pair of windmills. But to their surprise, as soon as the phoenix was out of sight, the rats did a complete about-face and vanished back into the ground, leaving the dead and the dying behind.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.

THE PHOENIX SWEPT UP and out over the park, each beat of its small wings giving it height, so that it appeared to move in a series of great bounds. Tess's swallow wings worked at double speed as she tried to keep up. The easiest way would have been to become a phoenix herself, but the human part of her mind could see that would be a foolish move. The other bird had become dim enough by now to be difficult to see, even above the relative darkness of the park, but Tess a.s.sumed that if she became a phoenix she would be as bright as ever and would draw attention just when they needed to shake it off. The phoenix took another upward leap and the swallow flapped after it. A few minutes more would be enough. They were almost over the middle of the park now, and would soon be too high for anyone to see. Then Tess could Switch into phoenix form and become comfortable. After that, once they were safely clear of the city, they could rest and decide what the future might be.

Once more the phoenix leapt skyward. Once more, Tess drove her small wings to the limit. It was enough, surely. Below them, the park was a black island of emptiness in the middle of a lake of orange light. Even if someone down there did spot her now, they were surely beyond any danger.

But even as she prepared for the Switch, visualising the form she was about to take and remembering how it felt, a dark shape appeared out of nowhere and collided with the phoenix, knocking it off balance and sending it tumbling down towards the earth.

Tess closed her wings and dropped like a stone. Beneath her, the phoenix flapped and turned in the air, slowing its descent and finally recovering control. It began to climb again and Tess swooped beneath it, struggling to stay close. Out of the darkness the shadow reappeared and this time Tess could see that it was a huge bat, its wings stretched taut as it glided with deadly accuracy straight into the phoenix.

Again the phoenix fell, righted itself, began to ascend. Again the huge bat took aim and slammed into it. Tess fluttered wildly, first up and then down, her only objective being to stay as close to the phoenix as she could.

The battle was hopeless. Each time the bat hit the phoenix, the bird lost more height and, Tess thought, as it got closer to the trees below, it seemed to lose heart as well. Eventually it gave up and spread its wings to glide down between the branches and come to rest, sitting on the air a few feet above the ground.

Tess plunged after the phoenix, banking and twisting through the trees. Even before she had quite landed, she Switched back into human form, desperate for the full use of her human mind to work out what was going on. She stumbled as she landed, and found herself face down in the cool, damp gra.s.s. The wind was still waffling round in the trees and for a long moment Tess lay still where she had fallen, breathing in the damp scent of the earth and wishing she could stay there for ever. But out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of movement as the dark shape of the bat flitted into the copse, its leathery wings purring through the air. As it landed, it seemed to expand, and by the time Tess stood up it was the vampire that stood there, pale face set into a grin of satisfaction.

'He's a pushover,' he said.

'No!' Tess found herself standing between the two adversaries, just a few feet from each of them. The phoenix made no further attempt to escape, but hung in the air, his feathers casting a pale glow over the group.

'No?' said the vampire. 'But why not? You were so certain that Humpty Dumpty could put himself back together again. Are you not so sure now?'

'Of course I am! That's not the point.'

'What is the point then, Tess?'

The voice was soft as sleep, reaching out to her, drawing her in. With a tremendous effort of will she wrenched her attention away from it and fixed her eyes on the phoenix. It was still floating above the ground, unaffected by the strengthening gusts of wind that blew through the copse. Its eyes were on a level with hers, its gaze steady and fearless. Which way, Tess?'

Her eyelids drooped. Her gaze lost its focus, then shifted back to rest upon the vampire as he spoke. 'You have to make up your mind, you know. Come with me willingly and I'll leave your friend alone to go back to the chicken coop. How's that for a deal?'

It seemed reasonable, especially when she looked into the deep, soulless eyes and remembered the night they had hunted together, the entire city theirs for the taking. She was tired of struggling for what seemed to be right all the time; There was no reward for that, in the end. She had lost her best friend, and the creature that hung in the air beside her wasn't him, even if it once had been. Why shouldn't she become a vampire? What was the point of resisting? But as she began to turn, her attention drifting towards that dark, eternal power, the phoenix seemed to brighten for a moment, and the glow which emanated from him was reflected in the vampire's eyes, which glowed like a cat's in a car's headlights. The connection broke. Tess gasped and turned back to the phoenix. It continued to hang on the air, silent and motionless. As Tess opened herself to its influence again she began to feel warmth and life flowing through her, as though some lost flame had been rekindled within. Without knowing why she did it, she lifted her right arm and stretched out her hand towards the phoenix.

'No, Tess,' came the rich, silky voice of the vampire. 'Think again. Is that really what you want? All that twinkle, twinkle, little star stuff? Come with me, come on. Before it's too late.'

He was holding out his hand. All she had to do was take it. Her left hand reached out.

The wind came straight at her like a slap in the face, sobering her, bringing her, for a moment, back to reality. She was standing in the woods like a scarecrow, one hand stretching towards a golden light, the other towards perpetual darkness. It was like a crazy dream, where the only thing that was real was the wind in her face, carrying the fresh flavours of all the places it had been, reminding her how alive she was right now.

To either side, eternities were pulling at her and she was stretched between them, standing on a razor's edge. She needed help, and cast around for some of those words of wisdom she was forever being crammed with in her religion cla.s.ses. But the only words that came to her were Lizzie's.

'Trust yourself, girl. You'll know what to do when the time comes.'

'But I don't!' she yelled at her mind's image of the old woman. The two forces were working against each other now, so powerfully that Tess could no longer tell whether she were being torn apart or crushed between them. The dark shadow of the vampire was expanding, looming above her. On the other side, the phoenix was brightening, its light growing all around it until the two seemed about to meet over her head. And at that moment, Tess felt her left hand grasp the vampire's fingers and her right catch hold of the phoenix's three-toed foot.

A charge like an electric current went through her body and numbed her brain as the two forces met within her, on equal terms now, and began to do battle. Wild fantasies played through her mind as the protagonists took shapes for themselves, using the raw material of Tess's imagination. Angels and demons fought there, armies of light and dark, red and blue, good and evil. Characters came forward and spoke to her, each taking one side or the other, each as persuasive as the one before.

In the midst of it all, Tess swung from one allegiance to the other. One moment she was certain that the phoenix was the better choice and the next there seemed no doubt that the vampire was. What was it Lizzie had said about choice? 'It's not always what we are that needs changing, but the way we thinks.' What was that supposed to mean? How on earth could it help her?

The struggle worsened. The opponents seemed to be tearing at her sense of herself, destroying her confidence. If she did not choose soon, one way or the other, she would surely be damaged by the conflict. But what could she do? What was wrong with the way she was thinking?

As if in reply, one strong, clear thought began to emerge. Throughout the whole of the struggle she had not once had the impression that either the vampire or phoenix cared about her; about Tess, the individual. All either of them wanted was to attain superiority, even if she was sacrificed in the process. Suddenly she knew what Lizzie meant. Tess was burdened by choice only because she felt that she must choose one or the other. But the truth was that she didn't have to be either. If she could just rise out of this turmoil and feel the wind on her face once again, it would be worth all the fears and the pains and the longings of being merely mortal.

A new determination entered Tess's heart. She was part of the light and the dark and their struggle, but they were a part of her, too. She would not be vampire and she would not be phoenix. Later, if and when life made sense again, she would worry about her fifteenth birthday. But for the moment she could only deal with the present. She took a deep breath and, with a mighty effort, she gathered all her forces together and broke free of the grips on her hands. 'I just want to be human!' she yelled.

Jeff Maloney heard that extraordinary shout as he plunged into the copse where he was sure he had seen his precious bird descending. What he saw was totally unexpected. There were three teenagers in there on the gra.s.s: two boys and a girl, all of them strewn around the glade as though they had just been dropped from a height. For a moment Jeff was so surprised by the sight that he forgot what he was looking for.

'h.e.l.lo?' he said, shining his torch on them, one after another. The girl looked exhausted, as though she had just survived some horrendous ordeal, and Jeff might have suspected the boys of some savagery towards her if they had not looked as dazed as she did. One of them, a mousy-looking fellow, was looking around him as though he was seeing the planet for the first time. The other, red-headed, was as white as a sheet, like someone who has just been in an accident.

'What's going on?'

Tess screwed up her eyes against the flashlight. 'Who's there? she said. Beside her, Kevin was shielding his eyes with his arm and looking over at Martin, who had buried his face in his hands. They looked odd, all three of them, but Jeff could see that they were all right, and his mind went back to his search. He turned his flashlight off and looked up into the trees.

'Anyone seen a bird come to land here? A golden one?'

The girl and one of the boys shook their heads solemnly. The other boy seemed not to hear, but let out a sudden shout. 'Dad! I'm sorry, Dad. I didn't mean it!'

Tess struggled to her feet and went over to Martin. He was crying now, his whole body shuddering.

'I didn't mean it,' he gasped between sobs. 'I was going to go for help but I couldn't. The cow was in the road, heaving about the place. The stupid cow!'

Tess rested a hand on Martin's shoulder, frustrated by her helplessness in the face of his pain.

'I didn't mean to kill him, Tess.'

'You didn't kill him. It was an accident.'

'I did. I did kill him. I wished he was dead and he died. I killed him.'

He broke down again and Tess fell silent, knowing that words were useless.

Jeff Maloney was glued to the spot, torn between concern for the boy's distress and the urgent desire to search for his bird.

'Has there been some sort of an accident?' he said to Tess, quietly. She shook her head.

As Jeff lingered, still unsure what to do, two of his colleagues from the zoo ran up. They had been following the light of his torch for some time. Their arrival solved his dilemma.

'The bird is around here somewhere,' he said. 'I saw it come down. Will you keep on searching?' He nodded towards Martin and Tess. 'I'm not sure what's going on here, but I want to get this lot home.'

The others agreed and Jeff approached the huddled figures on the ground. His voice was friendly and rea.s.suring.

'You're all right now. Tell me where you live and I'll drive you home. My car's parked on the road just back there.'

As Jeff spoke, Martin became silent and tense beneath Tess's hand. It was one thing to reveal his pain to her, but quite another to be caught, vulnerable, in front of a stranger. Before Tess knew what was happening he was on his feet.

'Leave me alone,' he yelled at Jeff. Then he raced away between the trees.

Tess set off in pursuit. There was barely light to see by, but she could just make out Martin's slight figure weaving through the tree trunks. He was fast, but as Tess ran after him she knew that she was, too. It was as though the resolution of that dreadful conflict had made energy available to her that she hadn't known she possessed. And every ounce of it had to be used in making sure she didn't lose her friend in the darkness. Because he was a friend, now. She had held her own ground, pulled the opposing forces together instead of allowing them to pull her apart, and in doing so she had not only made herself whole, but the others as well. Kevin, she knew, could look after himself, but she wasn't so sure about Martin; not now that his defences were down and he was exposed to all that old pain. He had closed off his feelings when his father was killed, safe within the vampire's cold sh.e.l.l. But now he would have to experience all that shock and fear and sorrow as though the accident had just happened. He was in danger, not only from the stress itself but from the possibility of reverting to the familiar protection of the vampire existence. It was vital that Tess should stay with him.

Ahead of her, he dodged left and right around a tree stump, heading for open ground. With renewed confidence, Tess made straight for the stump, certain that she could jump it and gain ground. She timed her run perfectly and jumped well clear of the decaying wood, but as she landed, her feet went from under her and she came down hard, flat on her back.

The wind was knocked right out of her and for a few moments she found herself gazing at the blank face of the starless sky, wondering if her end had come. Then, just as it seemed she could hold on no longer, her chest relaxed and she pulled in a long, cool breath.

'Are you all right?' It was Kevin, leaning over her, his face filled with concern. He must have been right behind her. She tried to smile but there were more urgent priorities and for another minute she had to gasp for air, until her breath caught up with itself.

Kevin looked out across the park, but it was already too late. By the time Tess recovered sufficiently to sit up, Martin was long gone into the darkness.

'I landed on something,' said Tess, still panting. 'It slid along the ground and I skidded.'

Kevin kicked around in the gra.s.s, then bent and picked something up: a flat disc the size of a dinner plate. Tess reached out and took it from him.

'My frisbee!' she said. 'My useless, flaming frisbee.'

CHAPTER NINETEEN.

IT WAS TEN PAST eleven, according to Tess's wrist.w.a.tch, and the first rain was just starting to dampen the breeze. Kevin reached out a hand and helped Tess to her feet. It was the first chance she'd had to get a good look at him and she found herself grinning with delight.

'You haven't changed a bit,' she said, tugging at the lapel of his faded khaki jacket.

'Not on the outside, maybe,' he said, tossing back his long, wispy fringe with a familiar shake of the head. 'But I've changed an awful lot on the inside.'

He looked around him and, from the expression of wonderment on his face, he might have been standing at the foot of the Himalayas. 'I never thought it could happen. I wanted it to ... you've no idea ... but I never dreamt it could.'

'It probably wouldn't if it hadn't been for Martin.'

'I suppose so. There had to be an opposite. But if it hadn't been for you ...'

Tess shuddered, remembering more than she wanted to about the battle that had been waged inside her mind. Whatever else might happen to her in life, she didn't want to go through that again.

'We shouldn't stand around, though,' she said. 'It mightn't be over yet.'

'What do you mean?'

'It's Martin's fifteenth birthday tomorrow. There's no guaranteeing that he'll stay the way he is now. It might all be too much for him; he might decide to become a vampire in spite of everything that's happened. And if he does ...'

'If he does, what?'

'Come on. I'll tell you as we go.'

Tess looked around to get her bearings, then they set off, walking as fast as they could in the direction of Phibsboro. Here and there, torches flashed among the trees and desolate voices drifted on the wind as the zoo staff continued to hunt for the phoenix.

'Tough on them,' said Tess, but Kevin just laughed until he choked. By the time he had recovered his composure they had reached the city streets and, as they walked along, Tess told the whole story and explained about the vampire's method of spreading its influence.

'So you see,' she concluded, 'if he does become a vampire, then I will, too, when I'm dead.'

'You could still opt for the phoenix.'

'I might, if it came with recommendations. But you don't seem to have any regrets about being human again.'

'No, I don't,' said Kevin. 'The phoenix was glorious. I don't have to tell you-you know how it feels. But it was too ... I don't know how to describe it. Too perfect, or too high and mighty or something. Too lonely.'

There was an awkward silence as they both became aware of the personal meaning in his words. Kevin coloured with embarra.s.sment, but made no attempt to retract what he had said. They had missed each other more than either of them cared to admit, yet neither was prepared to reveal their fondness. In the end, Kevin changed the subject.

'So, if he does go vampire, we'll only have one option, won't we?'

That word 'we' was one of the finest sounds that Tess had ever heard. She realised how lonely she, too, had been over the past months.

'What's that?' she said.