The House of Vampire

Chapter 3

Instantly they were on their feet and sprinting towards the direction of the sound. She got there ahead of Shi, easing into the darkened room, her gun out and lowered, a round in the chamber. A darkened form was crouched over a body.

It turned, amber eyes flashing, bright in the darkness. Fangs protruded from a gaping maw, blood dripping from the yellowed teeth. Chandre didn't remember firing, but suddenly her magazine was empty and the creature was gone.

Shaking, she lowered the gun, staring about her. Shi shoved past her to kneel by the girl, touching her neck.

"Dead," he growled.

Chandre shuddered, and turned as people stormed up the stairs, alerted by the gunshots. Quickly she tucked the gun into her shoulder holster, zipped up her jacket and circled the room, looking for where the monster could have gone. There were no trap doors she could see, no hidden exits behind walls, nothing. It was like he had vanished into thin air.

"Shit," Shi muttered, as the group charged inside.

One of the girls—or maybe it was a guy—screamed, and Anie and the bus driver charged forwards. "What the hell are you doing?" Anie shrieked, falling beside Shi.

"She's dead," he said tonelessly. He pointed towards the corpse's neck. "Something attacked her. See the bite marks? Most of the blood was sucked from her body, the rest bled out." Chandre suddenly noticed that he was kneeling in a pool of the girl's blood. His knees were wet, his left pant leg stained. The scent of death hung in the air, cloying at the back of her throat.

Stepping around it, she circled the corpse, looking up, looking down, looking everywhere and sensing . . . nothing. Growing irritated, she stalked towards one of the windows, testing the shutters and ledge. It was locked from the inside.

"What the hell is she doing?" one of the men asked. "Is she nuts?" Chandre ignored him, and went to the huge armoire, the one thing in the room she hadn't tested over and over.

"Did you see anything?" Anie asked. "Did you see what attacked her?"

Shi shook his head. "No. It was gone before I got here."

"And the gunshots?" the bus driver asked. "Who the hell is insane enough to bring a gun on a tour?"

"I shot the gun," Chandre replied from the open armoire. She clambered inside, shoving the garments away. In the back there was an opening, and her lip curled. Bingo.

Stepping back and looking annoyed, she stared at the bus driver, who had come close enough that she could see his nametag. Scott.

"At what?"

"At the thing that attacked her," Chandre replied calmly. "I missed."

Shi stood up and fingered the far wall, scanning it in its entirety. No bullet holes. "No. You hit something."

"Why the hell were you carrying guns?!" Anie shrieked.

Shi whipped out a fake badge, flashing it in the dim light. "IGIB," he said. "We're investigating the . . . things that happen at the Cooper Mansion."

Chandre nodded. It was a good thing he could think fast. "Everyone had better go down to the main hallway with the fireplace. Does anyone know how to use a gun?" The bus driver raised his hand. Pulling out her pistol, she loaded a fresh magazine of silver bullets and handed it to him, along with another mag. Shi rummaged through his backpack and gave Anie two cartons of salt.

"The bullets won't stop it," Chandre said, "but they'll hurt like a bitch and they should slow it down. Put yourselves in a circle of salt, and don't step out. If you make it wide enough you can sleep in it."

"What are you fighting?" Lana asked, incredulous.

"The vampire of Cooper Mansion," Shi replied, a growl in his throat. He appeared feral in that moment, his teeth a touch longer than normal, and Chandre realized that the Change was slowly happening. With all this blood, and so close to the full moon—she had to get him out of there.

"We'd better try upstairs again," Chandre told Shi. Luckily it was dim, or everyone would notice the fur sprouting along the back of his neck. She could see his claws growing longer, hidden a little by the blood.

"What about the body?" Anie asked.

"Leave it," Chandre said. "You won't want it downstairs."

"Don't you need help?" someone asked. It was one of the younger males, brawny and cocksure despite the recent death.

"No." Grumbling, the tourists trooped down the stairs, leaving them in the darkness once again.

Shi licked the blood off his hand, slowly, savoring the taste and moaning slightly. "Change, you idiot," Chandre hissed, and he cracked an eyelid, peering at her with his cold grey eyes. "It'll just hurt worse."

"I'll eat it," he whispered, but it came out as a growl as the shape of his mouth changed, growing longer.

Chandre helped him out of his clothes when his fingers crunched and elongated, unbuttoning his pants and removing his boots, and he fell to all fours, doubling over. She turned away and dragged the body into one of the closets, hoping that he wouldn't get into it there. Shi was controlled, but sometimes the urge took over, and he had to be starving. They hadn't eaten since breakfast, and she could see no food in sight. Aside from her and the body.

A growl startled her and she turned back to see him stalking forwards, hackles raised. Shutting the door, she stood before it and him, watching as the golden wolf prowled about the room, finally stopping in front of her, sniffing.

Shi whined once, and turned towards the armoire. She opened the door for him and let him wander up the hole, knowing that Changed he was stronger and more resistant to magic.

While he searched, she removed her backpack, shoving it and Shi's into a corner of the room. Keeping her sword on her back, she rummaged through her backpack, searching for anything that might work. The garlic was no use—they had tried that stuff before. Neither was the distilled water. The chalk wouldn't be helpful either, and she had only a tiny baggie of salt left, enough for one person. If only she had running water at least an elbow deep or wild briar roses . . . but no. Nothing. Only her sword, some silver bullets, a couple daggers, and Shi. Not even sunlight.

Of course, she could try to stake the monster, as she had a couple yew and rowan stakes, but it was almost impossible to get the thing up underneath the breastplate as the vampire attempted to claw itself to freedom.

Something golden streaked out of the armoire, and Shi licked her cheek, excited. "Did you find it?" she asked. He shook his head, but nudged her. Hard. He'd found something. "Okay, I'll follow."

He wagged his tail and gave her a sloppy dog-kiss.