Drown Under Earth - Shadows of the Night 3

Chapter 24

Hi!

Certain things are hitting the fan in this one, and we're heading to a part of this book I absolutely love. Acutally I'm a little obsessed about it. I hope you'll like it as much as I do! Read, vote, comment - please let me know what you're thinking!

Lara

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Chapter 24

My new style of driving, which had made it into the category of recklessness, not to say madness, brought me into the area in less than eight minutes. I parked in a side street close to the Jolterhead. Before leaving the confines of my Ford, I dug out my sunglasses from the depths of my bag and slipped them into my jacket. It was a weak camouflage, but it would have to do.

I strapped on my shoulder holster, complete with gun. My jacket would hopefully conceal enough of the weapon to not raise suspicions in case I did encounter someone. It was the Sig Sour S280. The gun was specially designed for silver ammunition and fit my hand like a second glove. Or should have, according to the manufacturer.

If I had to use it, it would mean that the night was deteriorating. By the three great witches, I hoped it wouldn't come to that.

Pulling the hood of the jacket over my head, I crept to the corner to the main street, the one leading to the Jolterhead. Sure enough I could make out a flashy green sign reading just the same. It was the club.

I was about 140 feet away from the building. I looked up and down the street. The area looked as abandoned and forsaken as rumors had it.

I closed my eyes. Second sight slammed into me like a sledgehammer, and I gasped. It had come faster and clearer than ever before. I hugged the wall, my hands reaching out for support, and, who knew, maybe I was hoping to find a sense of comfort in the cold concrete.

I straightened myself and embraced what my senses had gifted me with. The world looked like something out of a TV show in the forties. A flickering black-and-white film that shifted and danced in front of my eyes. Moving in a concentric circle, my vision stretched from the point I was standing at to the next street lamp. I willed it to move outwards and widen.

The dark auras of nothingness shimmered into existence, my awareness shaken by their sheer number.

Vamps.

There had to be at least three dozen in the immediate vicinity. They were on the street, up and down, and even in the houses. No humans. No magical folk. It took me a moment, but I did the math. That meant that most of the buildings had to be abandoned, or business ventures that were unoccupied during the night. Or maybe, they only served as cheap living quarters of the undead. It would explain the seemingly uninhabited houses.

Shit.

I had no clue if this applied to the whole area, this street, or only around the center which I was approaching.

Still in second sight, I started moving forward, abandoning the safety of the side street. I let the tips of my fingers brush over the walls of the buildings by the sidewalk. Seeing and moving was more difficult than I liked to admit. I was dragging my circle of awareness with me, new dark auras popping up on its edges, while others left my sensual sight. Once in a while I could even feel one or the other human aura inside one of the buildings.

I wish I could say it strengthened my resolve.

I stopped just in time before the outer edge of my radar hit the Jolterhead. Fascination with what I had been doing – for this was the first time I was using second sight in such a way and in such a wide range – had made me forget where I was.