THE VAMPIRE UNDERGROUND

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

“Where does this go?” Brin said as they reached the top of the staircase. They started heading down another hallway, this one thinner and tighter than the previous one. Brin was tired of hallways. She wanted anything but hallways.

“Shh…” Paul said. “Don’t say a word.”

The cheering dissipated, and now a single voice echoed from down below.

As they reached the end of the hallway, where the only way to turn was to the right, Paul stopped.

“What?” Brin said, startled. “Why did we—”

“Shh!” Paul slammed his hand against her mouth, before bringing her down to the ground.

Brin faced the granite tile. The booming voice nearby stopped. For a moment she thought their whereabouts had been discovered.

But thankfully the loud voice continued. Even Paul let out an audible sigh.

She looked up at the vampire, who now had his entire left arm wrapped around her. He stared into her eyes for a moment, before he turned and pointed through a small slit in the wall before them.

Brin got on her knees, scooted forward, and peered through the slit.

Down below was a giant arena, one that looked like the interior of a circus tent. A bright light shined against a single pale-faced figure in the center of the circle, while the arena stands above housed tons of clapping, pale-faced creatures of the night.

“Oh my God,” Brin whispered. “There’s hundreds of them.”

“I know,” Paul whispered back. “There’s more now than ever before.”

“What are they doing?”

“Shh. Just listen.”

The tall vampire in the center of the arena, dressed in a tuxedo, a top hat on his head, waited for the applause to die down, before he continued with his speech.

“Welcome, my friends,” he said. “We have an extra special program tonight. I apologize for the delay, but we were in the midst of capturing some uninvited but very welcome visitors.”

The audience members all whispered quietly to each other, while the star in the center enjoyed the surrounding commotion.

Brin’s eyes widened.

This is bad, she thought. Really, really, really bad.

She turned to Paul. “Are they going to kill the people I came here with?”

“Yes,” Paul said, not looking at her. “But we’re not going to let them.”

“How are we supposed to save them sitting up here? There’s nothing we can do from here.”

“We have to wait,” Paul said. “The timing has to be right. Just watch, for now.”

She didn’t want to watch. But she knew she didn’t have a choice. “OK,” Brin said. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

He didn’t respond. He was already transfixed on the sight below.

“Let the show… begin!” the formally dressed creature shouted at the top of his lungs.

Hard rock music, the kind Brin tried to avoid whenever she browsed radio stations, started blasting through the auditorium, allowing Brin and Paul to raise their voices to each other without a cause for concern.