“Thanks for that,” I breathe in relief. “He was just about to hurl the rock at me.”
“I saw,” Ethan replies in a furious voice. He gives me a quick kiss on the top of my head and takes my hand. “Come, things are bad. We must prepare for a battle.”
“A battle?” my voice comes out high-pitched.
“Yes. While you were seeing your father safely to the airport, your slayer friend received reports of vampires coming over the river and attacking civilians. Apparently the human population on the south side is going just as mad as those on this side. Whitfield has given his vampires free reign to murder as many humans as possible. I think he might be using this as a smoke screen so that he can advance on Pamphrock and take him out while the city is running amok.”
“That sounds about right,” I say, nerves shooting through my system.
Everybody has gathered inside. Gabriel is casting a spell over Finn and Alvie in order to prevent the mist from infecting them, since they’re both human. Delilah, Lucas and Ira are gathering weapons. I ask about Rita, but apparently she’s still locked tight inside her RV. Ethan and I go out to try and get her to open the doors, but this time all of the curtains are pulled, so I can’t even see in. Needless to say, she doesn’t respond to our calls.
Rita would probably have been the best person to have at our side right now, but there’s no way I can force her to come out. I run upstairs and put on my best jeans and my hardiest boots, before zipping myself into my camouflage green army jacket. I place my razor in one pocket and a stake in the other. I close my eyes and feel my magic zinging through me, just waiting for me to call on it. Yeah, I’m prepared for whatever fight is ahead of me.
Finn locks up the house and I help to carry a mind boggling array of weapons to the DOH van out the front. We all hop in the back and Finn slides into the driver’s seat. Ira has changed into his animal form and is sitting on the passenger side. It’s like he’s Finn’s second in command, the scary canine version. He’s certainly got a pair of fangs on him to rival any vampire’s.
I sit with Ethan on one side of me and Alvie on the other. Delilah, Gabriel and Lucas sit across from us. Ethan places a hand on my thigh, as though in comfort, but he doesn’t speak – nobody does. Finn’s driving us to Emilia’s house, because that’s where Pamphrock had been when news broke of the vampires invading slayer territory. He’s called everyone there to convey his orders.
Beside me I can feel poor little Alvie shaking like a leaf. I don’t think he’s built for so much danger. I take his hand into mine.
“You’re going to be fine,” I tell him, putting as much sincerity into my voice as I can muster.
He smiles at me weakly. “I wish Rita were here. I always feel safer when she’s with us.”
“I know, me too. We’ll just have to watch out for each other, okay?”
He nods and squeezes my hand tighter.
“Well my friend,” says Lucas, addressing Ethan. “I never thought I’d see the day when you and I rushed to take orders from Pamphrock.”
There’s humour in Lucas’ statement, the kind of humour that only comes with a long life that has seen him witness the impossible many times over. Ethan smiles at him fondly. “No, friend, nor I.”
“This life is full of unpredictable turns,” Lucas goes on.
Ethan inclines his head in acknowledgement. “No matter who we fight with, first and foremost we fight for ourselves, for our own lives.”
“One’s own life is as good a cause as any,” Lucas agrees, just as we pull to a stop. I’m glad of the interruption; I was afraid they were going to start hugging each other and reminiscing about old times or something.
We climb out and walk towards the gathering of slayers. They’re all listening to Pamphrock as he stands on the roof of a van and calls out orders. I can’t be sure exactly, but I’d estimate that there’s well over three hundred of them altogether. They stand in orderly lines, all wearing their DOH blacks.
Emilia’s home is located on a long, wide avenue where lots of expensive private residences are located. They’re more mansions than houses, really. Directly behind Pamphrock is a beautiful one with high walls all around it. Electricity not dissimilar to my sparks crackles along the surface of the walls, preventing anyone from getting close. The others have gone to listen to Pamphrock, but my attention lays solely on the house.
I can’t believe this is where my mother grew up. Granted, I never knew her, but if this is where she was born then she might as well have been a princess. My eyes roam over the place before stopping at a large window on the second floor. It has a shutters on the outside and reminds me bizarrely of the Pope’s window in Rome, where he comes out to address the people. There ain’t no Pope at this window though. Emilia stands and watches Pamphrock intently, looking like some kind of black widow in her immaculate dark clothing. I can just about make out her hateful expression. It certainly looks like she means business.
From this distance she must not be able to hear what Pamphrock is saying. I imagine she thinks he’s giving
orders about how they’re going to breach her spell, rather than about how they’re going to take on the vampires who are running wild on this side of the city.
Cupping my hands around my mouth, I make the not so bright decision to shout up at her, “Hey Grandma, why don’t you come down here and face us instead of standing up there on your perch like a snooty coward?”
She regards me coldly, and with a sweep of her hand causes the sparks surrounding the walls to span out and knock me on my behind.
“Huh, very civilised,” I mutter to myself.
It’s beginning to irritate me that she cares more about a little girl who is no relation to her whatsoever than her actual real life granddaughter.
Getting to my feet, I look back up at her. If only I could get close enough to speak to her then maybe I could make her see sense, but there are more important things at hand. Like say, the fact that I’ve just spotted six eerily tall individuals walking down the empty road beyond Emilia’s house. Whoever’s in the middle is skipping along like an excited child, and seeing child-like movements on an adult is just plain weird. Above their heads is the cloud of black chaos mist, seeping downward from the sky like a crow shaped ink stain.
Once they’re within seeing distance I recognise it’s Theodore who’s skipping like a child. Marcel is on one side of him and Michael Ridley is on the other. The remaining three I remember from the ritual Marcel performed in the cave. With my heart pounding, I rush through the gathering of slayers toward Pamphrock, calling out, “Theodore’s headed this way, look!”