The Eternity Cure Page 4

Chapter 4

 

  The rabids were back, milling around the perimeter, but Azura showed us a tunnel that led from the house to an empty building beyond the fence. She wasn't sad to see us go, but provided us with maps, thermoses of blood and the reluctant offer that we could return if we absolutely had to.

  "The subway is several blocks in that direction," Azura told Jackal, pointing to a spot on the half-open map. "It's the quickest way to get to the nest, but remember, once the sun rises, the tunnels will be crawling with rabids when they return underground to sleep. I suggest that you hurry. And try to stay off the streets. Use the rooftop-the rabids rarely think to venture off the ground. "

  "Thanks, darlin'," Jackal said, giving her a suggestive smile. "Maybe I'll drop by again someday, and we can 'reacquaint' ourselves when we have a little more time, eh?"

  "Yes, just let me know when you're coming. " Azura gave a tight smile. "I'll try to remember to turn the fence off for you. "

  "Minx. " Jackal grinned, and Azura closed the door, shutting us out.

  The city that lay beyond the fence was dark and eerie, overgrown with trees and bramble, as if a forest had grown up and smothered everything beneath. It was easy enough for two vampires to climb to the top of the nearest building and pick our way over loose shingles and gaping holes. Sometimes, where the space between buildings was too far to jump, we had to drop to ground level, but only until we could get to the next building and scale the walls. On the rooftops, the path was fairly clear, the moon lighting our way as we traveled above the streets, following Azura's map.

  Below us was a different story.

  Rabids roamed the tangled streets, skulking between cars, climbing out of windows, loping along crumbling sidewalks. They snarled and hissed at each other, blind in their rage and driven mad by the Hunger. There didn't seem to be any humans beyond the fence; I wondered if the ones in Azura's fortified house were the only humans left. An unfortunate cat tried scurrying across the road and was instantly pounced on by a rabid, who shoved the feline's head between his jaws and ripped it in two. The smell of blood drew several more rabids to the area, and a vicious fight erupted, with the rabids screaming and tearing at each other for the remains of the animal.

  "You're not very talkative. "

  I ignored him, keeping my gaze straight ahead. Jackal strode easily next to me, sometimes glancing at the map as we traversed the rooftops.

  "Nothing to say?" Jackal went on. "That's a surprise. You were so verbose the first time we met. I must admit, I've killed a few siblings, but you're the first one I actually thought I could get along with. " He sighed. "But then, of course, you killed my men and ran off with those humans I worked so hard to acquire. You and that boy. " His voice took on a slight edge. "What was that kid's name again? The old preacher's son, the one the humans kept crying over, thinking he was dead? Something biblical, wasn't it? Jeremiah? Zachariah?"

  Ezekiel, I thought, as my stomach went cold. And there's no way I'm ever telling you about Zeke. I shouldn't be here, helping you. I should take my sword and shove it through your sneering face.

  "So, whatever happened to your humans?" Jackal inquired after several more minutes of tense silence. "Did they leave? Run away? After you went through so much trouble to get them out of my city?" He grinned. "Or did you wind up eating them all?"

  "Shut up," I finally snapped, not looking at him. "They're safe. That's all you need to know. "

  "Oh?" I could feel his sneer, sense the gleeful smugness as we continued over the broken rooftops. "Got them to Eden, then? How very charitable of you. " He grinned at my sharp glance. "What? Shocked that I know about Eden? Don't be. I always knew it was out there-a city with no vampires, just a bunch of fat little humans scurrying around, pretending to be in charge. I knew that old man was looking for it, too, and that, eventually, he would slip up and land right in my lap. He and his little band couldn't run from me forever, I just had to be patient. And it paid off-we finally got them. Everything was going to plan. " His eyes narrowed. "Or, it was, until you showed up. "

  "Yeah, sorry to ruin your plans to take over the world. "

  "That is not true," Jackal said, sounding affronted. "I was trying to find a cure for Rabidism. "

  I snorted. Any living thing bitten by a rabid would Turn rabid itself, but that wasn't the only way to create one. Vampires, through the result of the mutated Red Lung virus, were all carriers of Rabidism, as well. Just biting or feeding from a human wouldn't Turn them, but for most of our kind, attempting to create a new vampire through the exchange of blood would birth not a vampire, but a rabid. Only the few Masters, the Princes of the cities, could spawn new offspring anymore, and even then, they were just as likely to spawn a rabid. Kanin, our sire, was a Master himself, but I was still very lucky to have made the transition to vampire instead of rising again as a monstrous, mindless horror.

  "That old human was the key," Jackal went on, glaring at me now. "He had all the information we needed. The results the scientists had on the plague, the tests they ran, how the rabids were created, everything. I was trying to save our race, sister. I came so close, and you ruined it all. "

  "You were trying to cure Rabidism so you could turn your raider pets into a vampire army and take over everything," I shot back. "Don't even try to sell me the saint act. You're nothing but a scheming, bloodthirsty killer who's out for power. And by the way, where is that raider army of yours? Did they finally turn on you once you couldn't promise them immortality anymore?"

  "Oh, don't worry, they're still there. " Jackal's smile was not friendly. "It's fairly easy to govern a city that has no rules- the minions do what they please, and I don't stop them. But, with that old human dead, I had to come up with a new plan. That's when I thought you and I needed to have a little talk, and I certainly couldn't do that with a raider gang following me about the country. " He shrugged. "They'll be there when I get back, with the cure. You haven't stopped anything, sister. You've just delayed things a bit. "

  "If there is a cure. We don't know if this lab created one or not, even a partial one. "

  "I would have shared it with you," Jackal said, sounding angry and hurt at the same time. "You and me, sister, we could've had it all. We could've had everything. "

  "I didn't want everything. " I glared at him. "I didn't want your city, your minions, your schemes for power, any of it. I just wanted to get my friends to safety. "

  "Uh-huh. " Jackal raised an eyebrow. "And how did that turn out? I don't see any of your 'friends' here now. Where are they? Back in their Eden, I suppose? Why didn't you hang around, if you're such great pals?" He snickered and went on before I could answer. "Here's what I think happened. You got the little bloodbags to Eden, like you said you would, but oh, they couldn't let a vampire into the city, now could they? That would just cause a panic, having a wolf walking among the sheep. So they either turned you away or drove you off. And your little friends, the humans that you rescued from the big bad raider king, the people you stuck your neck out for, they didn't do anything. Because they knew the others were right. Because you're a monster who kills humans to live, and no matter how much you tell yourself otherwise, that's all you'll ever be. "

  "Tell me again why I'm helping you?"

  Jackal laughed. "You know I'm right, sister. You can deny it until the sky falls down, but you're only fooling yourself. "

  "You don't know me. " He snickered again, and I whirled on him. "And another thing. Stop calling me 'sister. ' We're not related just because Kanin sired us both. I have a name- Allison. Start using it. "

  "Sure thing, Allison. " Jackal bared his fangs in a sneer. "But we both know the truth. Vampire blood is stronger than human ties-our blood links us together in a way they can't even imagine. Why do you think you could sense where I was, where Kanin is? Because you're getting stronger, and the stronger the vamp, the easier it becomes to know where the members of your particular family are at any time. That's
why most covens are all members of the Prince's family, the ones he sired himself. He can sense where they are, and sometimes even what they're thinking. Makes it hard for them to turn on him. But the tie goes both ways. "

  "That's why we've been able to sense Kanin. "

  "Yep. " Jackal looked off to the west as we started walking again. "And each other, to a lesser extent. But the strongest pull is toward our sire, or at least, it was until he went into hibernation. It doesn't work as well if the vampire is close to death, but it's still there. "

  "Why?"

  "Because, in some small, subconscious way, Kanin is calling for us. "

  A couple hours later, we were no closer to finding the subway entrance than when we first started.

  "Hmm. " Jackal stopped at the edge of a roof, the open map in both hands, turning it this way and that. "Well, damn. There's supposed to be an entrance to the subway somewhere on this street, but how the hell are you supposed to read a map if there are no damn signs?"

  I let him fiddle with the map in silence and watched the pale forms of the rabids slipping through the shadows below. "Why would Sarren be looking for this laboratory?" I mused, softly so my voice didn't alert the monsters under our feet. "What do you think he wants?" Jackal gave a distracted grunt.

  "Don't ask me. I'm not a psychotic maniac. " He paused. "Well, not as much of a psychotic maniac. Okay, there's the Foggy Bottom metro entrance. . . Where the hell is the tunnel?" He glanced down at the street and sighed. "Maybe he's searching for the cure to Rabidism, too," he tossed over his shoulder. "Oh, but wait, you don't care about that, do you?"

  A large group of rabids slid from between two buildings, directly below Jackal. He ignored both them and me as he studied the map. For a moment, I had the murderous thought of shoving him over the edge, letting him fall into the group of rabids, seeing if he could survive. The monster within approved of this plan, urging me to step forward, to attack when he wasn't looking. Yes, it whispered. Do it. Jackal would, and he will someday. As soon as he doesn't need you anymore, he'll hit you from behind without a second thought.

  But that would make me just like him, wouldn't it?

  The opportunity passed before I had a chance to decide. The rabid pack moved away, and the moment was lost. I watched them skulk across the street, hissing and snarling. . . and then vanish beneath a rubble pile.

  I blinked. "Hey," I said, and Jackal lowered the map, watching as I walked to the edge of the roof and crouched down. "I think I found it. "

  We dropped carefully into the street, glancing around for rabids lurking behind cars or around buildings. Warily, we crossed the road and examined the spot where the pack had disappeared. The building next door had partially fallen, and the ground was strewn with broken glass, steel and cement. But beneath a collapsed overhang, a tiny, nearly invisible hole snaked down into the darkness.

  Jackal grinned at me, hard and challenging. "Ladies first. "

  I bristled. The tunnel entrance sat quietly, like the open gullet of something huge and evil, waiting to swallow me whole. I crouched down and peered inside. Darkness greeted me, thick and eternal, difficult to pierce even with my vampiric night vision. Cold, dry air wafted from the crack, smelling of dust and rot and decay.

  "What's the matter?" Jackal's smug voice echoed behind me. "Scared? Need your big vampire brother to go down first?"

  "Shut up. " Scowling, I reached back and drew my sword, sending a faint metallic rasp into the darkness. If something came leaping at me out of the black, I wanted to be prepared. Holding the hilt backward so that the flat of the blade pressed against my arm, I crouched down, rabid style, and slid into the hole.

  My fingers touched rock and cold metal and, when I straightened, I found myself at the top of a long flight of stairs leading down into the unknown. The stairs, partially buried under earth and stone, were metallic, uneven and had a strange rippling effect to them, as if they hadn't been firmly grounded. If you looked at them a certain way, you could almost imagine they had once moved.

  Jackal slid in behind me, feetfirst, dropping to the stairs with a grunt. "All right," he muttered as he straightened. Unlike me, he had to bend over slightly to avoid scraping his head on the ceiling. Being small did have its advantages sometimes. Shaking out the map, he squinted at it in the dark. "So, according to this, we have to take the red line North to get to the nest, which will be somewhere around this area. . . . " He tapped the paper with a knuckle, looking thoughtful.

  "Where, exactly?"

  "Doesn't say. "

  "So we're going in blind. Searching for a lab that may or may not be there. In the middle of a nest of rabids who will trap us underground if we can't find a way out. "

  "Exciting, isn't it?" Jackal grinned and folded the map again. "It's moments like this that really make you appreciate immortal life. Don't you love it, sister? Doesn't it make you feel alive?"

  "I'll pass, thanks. " Sheathing my sword, I started down the stairs. "Right now, I'll settle for finding the lab and getting out of here in one piece. "

  The staircase descended deeper underground, opening into an enormous tunnel. The familiar rails lined either side of the platform, once having shuttled metal cars back and forth between stations, now quite empty. The ceiling of the huge domed tunnel was strange-a motif of concrete squares, some fallen in large chunks to the platform, stretching all the way down the corridor.

  Jackal walked to the edge of the platform and dropped to the tracks, peering down the tunnel. "No sign of rabids," he muttered. "At least not yet. " He glanced at me over his shoulder. "You coming or not?"

  I leaped onto the tracks behind him. "What's the matter, Jackal?" I sneered, wanting to repay him for that last quip. "Need me to hold your hand every time we go down a dark hole?"

  He laughed, the sound bouncing off the domed roof of the ceiling, surprising me. "See, this is why I like you, sister. You and me, we're exactly the same. "

  I'm nothing like you, I thought, but his words continued to haunt me long after we entered the tunnel.

  "Man, these things go on forever, don't they?"

  I winced as his voice echoed loudly in the looming silence, a wave of noise traveling down the endless corridor. "Mind keeping it down?" I growled, listening for the shuffle of feet or the skitter of claws over rock, rabids alerted to our presence. We'd encountered a few of the monsters already, and I had no desire to cut my way through another wave. The dark subway tunnels reeked of them, their foul stench clinging to the walls. Nothing else moved here, not even rats. Sometimes, we encountered bodies of rabids, ravaged corpses torn apart by their own kind. Once, we came across what we thought was another dead body, only to have it leap at us with a shriek, swiping at us with its one remaining arm. Jackal seemed to enjoy these encounters, swinging the steel fire ax hidden beneath his duster with vicious force, crushing skulls and snapping bones with a savage grin on his face. I was far less enthused. I didn't want to be in this underground labyrinth of death, with this vampire I didn't like and certainly didn't trust. Because watching him fling himself at the rabids, grinning demonically as he tore them limb from limb, reminded me too much of myself. That thing that I kept locked away, the beast that goaded me into raw animal rage and bloodlust. The part that made us dangerous to every human we encountered.

  The part that kept me from ever being with Zeke. My blood brother grinned at me, swinging his bloody fire ax to his shoulder. "Aw, sister. Don't tell me you're scared of a few rabids. "

  "A few rabids is one thing. A massive horde in a narrow tunnel is another. And dawn is just a couple hours away. " I glared down the crumbling cement tube in frustration. Old D. C. 's underground was a never-ending maze of tunnels and pipes and corridors that snaked and twisted and stretched away into the darkness. The night was waning, and the tunnels just went on and on, forever it seemed. We'd even stumbled into what looked like an underground mall, with ancient stores crumbling to rubble, strange items rottin
g on nearempty shelves. I'd once thought the sewers beneath New Covington were confusing; they were nothing compared to this. "Where is this stupid lab?" I muttered. "It feels like we've been walking in circles all night. "

  Jackal started to reply but suddenly paused, a slight frown crossing his face. "Do you hear that?" he asked me.

  "No. What is it?"

  He motioned me to be quiet, then crept forward again. The cement tube that we were walking down narrowed, and then I did hear something-something that raised the hair on my neck. If the low growls and hisses didn't rouse my suspicions, the dead, rotting stench that slithered down the tunnel confirmed it.

  Weapons out, we eased forward, silent as death. Ahead of us, the tunnel abruptly ended in open air, and a rusty, narrow catwalk stretched out over nothing. Gripping my weapon, I followed Jackal to the edge of the catwalk and peered down, into the darkness.

  "Shit," Jackal murmured, sounding faintly awed.

  We stood at the edge of a massive round chamber, the walls soaring up a good fifteen feet above us. The narrow metal bridge, stretching to another tunnel on the opposite side, had to be at least two hundred feet across. The railings had rusted away completely, and the mesh floor had disintegrated in spots, but that wasn't what worried me the most.

  Below us, about twenty feet down, the cement floor was a shifting, roiling carpet of pale bodies and jagged fangs. Rabids filled the chamber, growling, hissing, moving about the room like a swarm of ants. There were hundreds of them, maybe thousands, coming in from various tunnels and pipes near the ground. I hissed as their scent wafted up from the pit-blood and rot and decay and wrongness-and took a step back from the edge.

  "Well," Jackal mused softly, watching the rabid swarm with vague amusement. "I think it's safe to say that we found the nest. " He shook the catwalk experimentally. It creaked, rust and metallic flakes drifting down to the horde below. Thankfully, they didn't notice. "Doesn't seem very sturdy, does it? This is going to be interesting. "

  "You can't be serious. "

  "Do you see any other way across?" Jackal crossed his arms, shooting me a challenging smirk. "I thought you were so anxious to find the lab. "

  I smirked back. "Fine. After you, then. "

  He shrugged. Stepping onto the narrow bridge, he carefully eased out over the sheer drop, testing for weakness. The catwalk groaned but held, and he grinned at me. "Afraid of heights, sister? Need me to carry you across?"

  "Yeah, why don't you save the smart comments until you're on the other side?"

  He rolled his eyes, turned, and began walking across the gap, moving with unnatural grace. Despite that, the catwalk creaked and groaned horribly under his weight. It shuddered and swayed, and I bit my lip, certain it would snap at any second and Jackal would plummet to his death.

  Beneath us, the rabids had noticed the vampire trying to cross the bridge, and their shrieks and snarls rose from the pit as they surged forward, gazing up hungrily. Some of them began leaping for the catwalk, swiping at it with their claws, and though they couldn't quite make it, some of those leaps came frighteningly close.

  After several long, tense moments, Jackal finally reached the other side. The hisses and screams from the rabids were deafening now, echoing through the chamber, as Jackal turned and beckoned me across with a grin.

  Oh, dammit. Swallowing hard, I stepped to the edge and peered down again. The rabids saw me immediately and began flinging themselves at my end of the catwalk, slashing at the air. Trying to ignore them, I stepped onto the rickety metal walkway, feeling it shake and shudder under my feet. The end of the bridge seemed an impossible distance away.

  One step at a time, Allie.

  Keeping my gaze straight ahead, I started across the catwalk, putting one foot in front of the other as lightly as I could. There were no railings to grab hold of; I had to make my way across on balance alone. The bridge swayed and groaned as I neared the center, carefully stepping over the gaping holes in the mesh floor. Through the gaps, the rabids churned below me, glaring up with dead white eyes and gnashing their fangs.

  As I was nearing the end, trying to move faster but still keep my steps light, a rabid leaped up from the floor, lashed out, and struck the bottom of the catwalk with a metallic screech that lanced up my spine. The walkway jerked to the side, nearly spilling me off, then let out a deafening groan as one side of the bridge shuddered and twisted like paper.

  Fear shot through me. I gave a frantic leap for the edge of the tunnel, just as the catwalk snapped and plummeted into the hordes below. I hit the wall a few inches from the edge and clawed desperately for a handhold, my fingers scrabbling against the smooth wall as I slid toward the wailing sea of death below.

  Something clamped around my wrist, jerking me to a stop. Wide-eyed, I looked up to see Jackal on his stomach, one hand around my arm, his jaw clenched. His face was tight with concentration as he started to pull me up.

  A reeking, skeletal body landed on my back, sinking claws into my shoulders, screaming in my ear. I snarled in pain, ducking my head as the rabid tore at my collar, trying to bite my neck. I couldn't do anything, but Jackal reached down with his other hand, drew the katana from its sheath on my back, and plunged it into the rabid. The weight clinging to me dropped away as the rabid screeched and fell back into the mob below, and Jackal yanked me into the tunnel.

  I collapsed against the wall, staring at him as he glared down at the rabids. He. . . had just saved my life. Stunned, I watched him approach and hold the katana hilt out to me.

  "So. " His gold eyes shone as he gazed into mine. "I think I'm entitled to a smart comment or two now, don't you think?"

  I took the sword numbly. "Yeah," I muttered as his smug look faded into something that wasn't completely obnoxious. "Thanks. "

  "No problem, little sister. " The leer returned, making him look normal again. "Comment number one-how much do you weigh to snap the bridge like that? I thought you Asians were supposed to be petite and dainty. "

  Okay, moment over. I sheathed my blade and glared at him. "And here I almost thought you weren't a complete bastard. "

  "Well, that's your mistake, not mine. " Jackal dusted his hands and gave the edge of the tunnel a rueful look. "Shall we continue? Before our friends start climbing each other to get to us? If that's the nest, the lab should be around here somewhere. "

  A clang from the pit below drew my attention. Walking to the edge, I peered out, just as a rabid landed on the tunnel rim with a snarl. As I snarled back and kicked the thing in the chest, sending it toppling back into the hole, I saw that the catwalk had fallen against the wall of the pit, and that rabids were scrambling up to leap into the tunnel. I drew my katana, slashing another out of the air as it flew at me, howling, but Jackal grabbed the back of my coat, yanking me away.

  "No time for that! The whole nest will be up here in a second. Come on!"

  The wails and shrieks intensified as more rabids entered the tunnel, snarling and baring their fangs. I spun, shrugging free of Jackal's grip, and we bolted down the passage, the screams of the monsters close behind.

  A few miles from the nest, we didn't seem to be any closer to the hidden lab.

  "You're just guessing now, aren't you?" I snapped at Jackal, who shot me an annoyed look over his shoulder as we ran.

  "Sorry, I didn't see the big X with the words Top Secret Government Laboratory on the map, did you?"

  A rabid dropped down from a breach overhead, hissing as it landing in front of us. Jackal whirled his ax, striking it under the jaw and smashing it aside, and we continued without slowing down. I could still hear the horde in pursuit, their screams echoing all around us, reverberating from everywhere. We had definitely poked a stick into a wasp nest, stirring them into a frenzy. We were in their world now, and they were closing in.

  I snarled at the vampire's retreating back. "Yeah, well maybe you'd like to get that map out so we know where the hell we're going!"


  We ducked through a door frame into yet another narrow cement corridor, rusted beams and pipes lining the walls and ceiling, dripping water on us from above. Jackal yanked the map from his coat and shook it open with a rustle of paper, scowling as the shrieks of the rabids echoed behind us.

  "All right, where the hell are we?" he muttered, squinting at the map in the darkness, eyes narrowed in concentration. I glanced nervously at the hall we'd just come through, hearing the rabids draw closer, their claws skittering over the cement. Jackal began walking down the corridor, weaving around fallen beams and pipes, and I followed.

  "You know they're right on our tail. "

  "First you want me to look at the map, now you're rushing me along. Make up your mind, sister. " He walked by a tall square pillar that jutted out of the wall; two sliding doors stood half-open in the front, and a cold breeze wafted out of the crack. "Okay, there's the subway tunnels," Jackal muttered, walking a little faster now, holding the map close to see it in the dark. "And there's the entrance we came in. . . wait a second. "

  He stopped and half turned in the corridor, looking back the way we'd come. I followed his gaze, but saw nothing except empty hallway and rusty pipes, though I could still hear the rabids, getting closer.

  "Um, where are you going?" I asked as Jackal began walking again, back toward the approaching horde. "Hey, wrong direction! In case you didn't know, we usually want to move away from certain death. "

  Jackal stopped at the long, square pillar jutting from the wall. "Yeah, I thought so," I heard him mutter. "This isn't on the map, and there shouldn't be anything down there. Get over here and look at this. "

  Against my better judgment, I jogged over to where Jackal stood, staring at the doors. Cold, dry air billowed out of a gap that ran down the center, and Jackal gave a snort.

  "He's been here. "

  "What? Sarren?"

  "No, the boogeyman. Look. " Jackal pointed to the sliding doors. The metal was crumpled along the edges, as if something had slipped ironlike fingers into the seam and pried them open.

  I peered through the gap, following the narrow shaft as it plunged into the dark. It was a long, long way down.

  A howl rang out behind us, and rabids spilled into the corridor, a pale, hissing flood. They screamed as they spotted us and charged, hurtling themselves over beams and around pipes, their claws sparking against the metal.

  "Move, sister!" Jackal's voice boomed through the shaft, making my ears pound, and something shoved me through the opening. I leaped forward, grabbing thick cables as I dropped into the tube, catching myself with a grimace. Jackal squeezed through the doors and, instead of grabbing for the metal ropes, swung himself onto a rusty ladder on one side of the wall. He glanced over his shoulder and grinned at me.

  "I'll meet you down there. "

  "You're lucky I can't reach you right now. "

  Jackal only laughed, but at that moment a rabid slammed into the door frame, hissing and gnashing its fangs across the gap separating us. With a shriek, it sprang forward, soaring through the air, grabbing the cables next to mine. Claws slashed at me, and I yelled, kicking at it as it we hung there, the metal ropes shaking wildly. Curved talons sparked off the cables, and I swung myself around the ropes, out of its reach.

  The rabid shimmied through the cables like a grotesque monkey, lunging at my face with fangs bared. With a snarl, I threw up my arm, letting jagged teeth sink into my coat and skin, and then yanked it to the side, ripping the monster off the cables into empty air. It snatched desperately for another rope, missed and plummeted down the shaft, screaming. It was a long time before I heard the faint thud at the bottom.

  More rabids crowded the door frame, their empty, dead eyes locked on me, but these seemed reluctant to take that leap. I looked around and saw Jackal already several yards below me, descending the ladder at shocking speed. Muttering dark promises under my breath, I began climbing down into the darkness.

  The shaft went down at least a couple hundred feet, a pitch-black, claustrophobic tube that seemed to descend into the center of the earth. Even with my vampire sight, which turned complete darkness into shades of gray, I couldn't see the bottom or the top. It made me feel like I was dangling over a bottomless pit. I was relieved when I finally heard Jackal hit the bottom, sending a metallic thump up the shaft.

  I slid down the remaining length of rope, landing on a square metal platform that swayed slightly under my weight. Gazing around, I discovered the platform wasn't attached to the walls of the tube; it appeared to be a large metal box at the bottom of the cables. A pale, broken body lay in the crack between the wall and the box, its skull smashed open on the corner.

  Jackal stepped up, smirking, and I fought the urge to kick him in the shin. "Looks like we're on the right trail," he stated, pointing to a hatch in the center of the box that had already been pulled open. "After you. "

  Pulling my sword, I dropped through the hatch, landing inside the rectangular box, finding these doors shoved open, as well. Beyond the opening, a long hallway ended at two thick metal doors.

  Jackal hit the floor beside me, his duster settling around him, and straightened, giving the entrance a shrewd look. "All right, you bastard," he muttered, walking forward. "What were you looking for down here?"

  We went through the doors together, pushing them back, and stepped into a dark, chilling room. At first, it reminded me of the old hospital where Kanin and I had stayed in New Covington. Beds on wheels sat against the wall, sectioned off by rotted curtains, or lay tipped over on the ground. Shelves of strange instruments were scattered about, and bulky machines sprawled in the middle of the floor or in corners, knocked down and broken. Glass clinked under our feet as we maneuvered the maze of rubble and sharp objects, I looked closer and saw that most of the beds had leather straps dangling from the sides, thick cuffs to restrain wrists and ankles. Pushing aside a moldy curtain, I jumped as a skeleton grinned at me from a bed, rotten leather restraints hanging on bony wrists. My stomach turned as I stared at the naked bones. What had happened here?

  Jackal had already moved on, searching the hidden corners of the room, so I continued along a wall until I found another door. Unlike the others, this one didn't swing open at my touch. Why was it locked when none of the other doors had been? I braced myself and then lashed out with a kick, aiming for just beside the doorknob. There was a sharp, splintering crack, and the door crashed open.

  It was an office, at least, it looked like one from the shelves and metal cabinets and large wooden desk in the corner. Unlike the rest of the lab, this one looked fairly clean and intact; nothing looked broken, and the furniture, though old and covered in dust, was still standing.

  Except, there was a suspicious-looking dark spatter on the wall behind the desk and, when I walked around, I discovered a skeleton slumped in the corner, the threads of a long, once-white coat still clinging to him. One bony hand clutched a pistol.

  Wrinkling my nose, I turned around and noticed a single book lying in the middle of the desk. Curious, I walked over and picked it up, examining the cover. It didn't have a title, and when I flipped it open, messy, handwritten pages sprang to light, instead of neat rows of typing.

  Day 36 of the Human-Vampire experiment, the top line read. All power is being redirected to keeping the lab up and running, so I am writing down my findings here, in case we lose it all. Then, if something happens to me, perhaps the project can continue from the notes I will leave behind.

  We continue to lose patients at an alarming rate. Early tests with the samples from the New Covington lab have been disastrous, with our human subjects dying outright. We have not had a single patient survive the infusion of vampire blood. I hope the team in New Covington can send us samples we can actually work with.

  -Dr. Robertson, head scientist of the D. C. Vampire Project

  I shuddered. So, it sounded like the scientists here had been working with the New Covingto
n lab, only they'd been experimenting on humans instead of vampires. That couldn't be good. I flipped a couple more pages and read on.

  Day 52 of the Human-Vampire experiment,

  The power grid in the city has gone down. We are running on the emergency backup generators, but we might have had our first breakthrough today. One of the patients that we injected with the experimental cure did not immediately die. She became increasingly agitated and restless minutes after receiving the injection, and appeared to gain the heightened strength of the vampire subjects. Interestingly, she became increasingly aggressive, to the point where her mental capacities appeared to shut down and she resembled a mad or rabid animal. Sadly, she died a few hours later, but I am still hopeful that a cure can be found from this. However, some of the younger assistants are beginning to mutter; that last experiment rattled them pretty badly, and I don't blame them for wanting to quit. But we cannot let fear hinder us now. The virus must be stopped, no matter what the cost, no matter what the sacrifice. Mankind's survival depends on us.

  We're close, I can feel it.

  A chill crawled down my spine. I turned the page and kept reading.

  Day 60 of the Human-Vampire experiment,

  I received a rather frantic message today from the lead scientist at the New Covington lab. "Abort the project," he told me. "Do not use any more of the samples on human patients. Shut down the lab and get out. "

  It was shocking, to say the least. That the brilliant Malachi Crosse was telling me to abandon the project.

  I'm sorry, my friend. But I cannot do that. We are close to something, so very close to a breakthrough. I cannot abandon months of research, even for you. The samples that came in yesterday are the key. They will work, I am sure of it. We will beat this thing, even if I have to inject my own assistants with the new serum. It will work.

  It must. We are running out of time.

  I swallowed hard, then turned to the very last entry. This one was blotched and messy, as if the author had written it in a great hurry.

  The lab is lost. Everyone is dead or will be dead soon. Don't know what happened, those monsters suddenly everywhere. Malachi was right. Shouldn't have insisted we go through with the last experiment. This is all on me.

  I've locked myself in my office. Can't go out, not with those things running around. I only hope they don't find a way back to the surface. If they do, heaven help us all.

  If anyone finds this, the remaining samples of the retro-virus have been placed in freezer number two in cryogenic storage. And if you do find them, I pray that you will have better success than I, that you will use them to find a cure for Red Lung and for this new monstrosity we have unleashed.

  "Hey. " Jackal appeared in the doorway before I could finish the entry. He jerked his head into the hall, serious for once. "I found something. And I think you'd better see this. "

  Taking the journal, I followed him, already suspecting what I would find. We swept through another pair of metal doors, into a small, bare room with tiled floors and walls. It was colder in here; if I were a human, my breath would be billowing out in front of me and bumps would be raised along my skin. Looking across the room, I saw why.

  Four large white boxes stood along the back wall. They looked like bigger versions of normal refrigerators, except I'd never seen a working one before. One of the doors was open, and a pale mist writhed out of the gap, creeping along the ground.

  Silently, I walked up to the door and pulled it back, releasing a blast of cold. Inside, rows of white shelves greeted me. The shelves were plastic and narrowly spaced, and tiny glass vials winked at me from where they stood in tiered holders.

  Jackal stepped behind me. "Notice anything. . . missing?" he asked softly.

  I scanned the shelves, and saw what he meant. Near the top, one of the layers was gone, as if it had been pulled out and never returned.

  Jackal followed my gaze, his eyes darkening. "Somebody took something from this freezer," he growled. "None of the others are touched. And that someone was here recently, too. Now, who do you think that could be?"

  I shivered and stepped back, knowing exactly who it had been. As I shut the door, my gaze went to the simple, hand-drawn sign taped to the front, just to confirm what I already knew.

  Freezer 2, it read in faded letters.

  Sarren, I thought, feeling an icy chill spread through my veins. What the hell are you planning?

  "Well," Jackal muttered, crossing his arms. "I will say I am officially more disturbed than I was when we first started. I don't know what was in that freezer, but I can hazard a pretty good guess, which just seems all kinds of bad news. " His voice was flippant, but his eyes gleamed dangerously. "There's no cure here, that's for certain. So, I guess the million-dollar question is-what would a brilliantly insane psychotic vampire want with a live virus, and where is he taking it now?"

  Sarren had the Red Lung virus. The thought was chilling. What did he want with it? Where was he going? And how did Kanin figure into everything? At a loss, I looked down at the forgotten journal, at the unfinished entry on the last page.

  I pray that this can be stopped. I pray that the team in New Covington is already working on a way to counter this. The lab there was designed to go into stasis if anything happened. It may be our only salvation now.

  May God forgive us.

  And I knew.

  The journal dropped from my hands, hitting the floor with a thump. I felt Jackal's eyes on me, but I ignored him, dazed from the realization. If Sarren wanted to use that virus, there was only one other place he could go. The place I'd sworn I would never return to.

  "New Covington," I whispered, as the path loomed unerringly before me, pointing back to where it all began. "I have to go home. "