The Vampire Hunters (Book 2): Vampyrnomicon (42 page)

Removing the last canister from the bag, Reese armed it and tossed it down the stairwell. It landed by the door on the first floor, spewing tear gas. By the time Reese caught up with Jessica, she had reached the door leading out onto the roof.

“Did it work?” she asked.

“Like a charm.” Reese took back the Bible and opened the door to the roof. “Let’s go.”

The roof was split into two levels—an inner, lower level that overlooked the central courtyard, and a second, raised level that ran along the building’s outer wall. Knocked down scaffolding poles and a pile of wooden planks stacked six feet high sat on the upper roof near the southeast corner, the remnants of recent renovation work. A ladder lay propped up against the southern wall between the two levels. Reese held the latter with his free hand while Jessica climbed to the upper roof. He followed, having to climb one rung at a time because he still clutched the Bible.

The two surveyed the area. Nearly a dozen police cars and ambulances clogged Independence Avenue, with two pairs of squad cars each blocking the avenue at 12 Street and 9 Street. The best sight, however, was the eastern horizon where red and orange spotted the horizon, signaling an imminent sunrise.

“We’ll be safe in a few minutes,” Reese said confidently.

“Don’t be so sure.” Jessica reached into her pocket for her cell phone and sorted through her address book.

“Who are you calling?”

“Drake.” Jessica pressed the button that dialed his number.

The ringing of
his cell phone caught Drake off guard. He pulled it out of his pocket to check the incoming number. When he saw it came from Jessica, he answered the call.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

“For now. We’re on the roof. Two vampires are trying to get us. Reese took one down with the tear gas, but there’s at least one still out there. Can you help us?”

Drake looked at the rest of the hunters, torn between his friends in possible danger and a badly wounded comrade.

Alison saw the conflict in his face. “What’s wrong?”

“Jessica and Reese are stuck up on the roof with at least one vampire trying to get to them.” As he spoke, his gaze remained focused on Jim.

“Go,” suggested Alison. “There’s nothing you can do for Jim. We’ll take care of him.”

Drake still hesitated.

“Hurry,” Alison told him.

“I’ll be right there,” Drake told Jessica, then rushed out of the exhibit hall.

Chiang Shih stormed
into the employee lobby, rushing past Melinda. The sudden appearance of the Mistress startled her.

“What’s going on?” asked the young master as she fell in behind the Mistress.

“The professor and the reporter are on the roof. They have the Bible.”

“Good. We’ve got them now.”

“I’ll take care of them.” Chiang Shih did not break her stride. “It’s almost sunrise. Find the others and get out of here while you can.”

“What about you?”

“I’ll be fine. We’ll meet later tonight at your hotel. Now go.”

Melinda turned and headed back for the lobby.

Chiang Shih continued down to the stairwell, kicked open the door, and ascended toward the roof. The holy water-laced tear gas enveloped her. Ten seconds later, she emerged from the cloud onto the landing that led out to the roof, unaffected by the tear gas.

Melinda reached the
upper lobby to find Walker and the others hovering half way down the marble stairs, watching the police outside. She started to speak but stopped, stunned by the extent of the wounds on her fellow masters. Never had she seen so much carnage wreaked upon her own kind. Outside, the humans had noticed them huddled on the stairs and were surging closer to the building or taking up firing position behind their cars. Escape would not be easy. Even worse, considering the brightness of the eastern horizon, the time left for them to make their move could be counted in minutes.

“What are we waiting for?” she asked.

“Are you blind?” Walker snapped at Melinda, venting on her his frustration with the rapidly deteriorating situation. “We can’t fight our way through them. Not in our condition.”

“And we can’t stay here.”

“What do you suggest?”

“That we make a break for it. The humans can’t stop us.” Melinda pointed to the brightening sky. “Unless you just want to stay here and die.”

“You’re right.” Walker straightened, reinvigorated with confidence. “Listen everyone. We have to make it to the van and get out of here as quickly as possible. Ignore the humans and concentrate on escaping. Understood?”

The others nodded or grunted their understanding.

“Then let’s move.”

Hoisting Toni over his left shoulder, Walker ran down the steps, pulled open the door, and exited the museum. Treja and Melinda followed close behind, while the hooker and one-armed vampires brought up the rear. One of the humans ordered them to stop, but they ignored him. The voice yelled out a second warning, which again went unheeded. When Walker reached the bottom of the stairs, the voice yelled, “Fire!”

A hail of bullets slammed into them, most striking Walker. They tore into his chest and arms. By itself, any one shot would not be very damaging. Together, the pain was agonizing, especially in his weakened condition. His legs wobbled, and for a moment he thought he would stumble. Still, he pushed on, closing the distance between himself and the van.

When more than a hundred bullets failed to slow the vampires’ advance, two cops moved in for a better shot. They would live to regret their move. One raced out from behind the line of squad cars into Walker’s path, aiming his revolver and ordering the master to stop. Walker backhanded the cop across the face with his right hand, breaking his jaw and sending him somersaulting into the bushes. The second cop emerged from behind one of the pedestals at the bottom of the stairs and blocked Treja, firing his shotgun. Twelve-gauge rounds tore into the master’s chest, but had little effect. Treja grabbed the weapon in his left hand and slammed his right palm into the cop’s chest, cracking the body armor nearly in half and fracturing half a dozen ribs. The cop collapsed to the sidewalk, rolling around in pain. Treja continued toward the van, only now he used the shotgun to fire back at the police.

The return fire from Treja produced the desired results. Most of the police ducked behind their squad cars for cover, giving the vampires a precious few seconds to reach the van unmolested. As Treja stepped up to passenger door, he pumped the last three rounds into the squad cars blocking 12 Street, dropped the shotgun, and climbed into the van. Walker slid open the side door and tossed Toni inside. The others climbed in and closed the door behind them. Walker circled around to the driver’s door. Although the surrounding buildings momentarily shielded the street from its rays, he saw the sun reflected off of the windows on the eastern facade of the Department of Agriculture building. Their time had run out. He had to reach the portion of 12 Street that ran beneath the Mall. At most, they had seconds left.

As Walker climbed into the van, a young gung-ho cop ran up behind him and attempted to bring him down. Walker did not have time to fuck around with this human. Grabbing the human by his face, Walker slammed his head into the side of the van with such force that the cop’s skull dented the metal. He flung the human aside and crawled into the van. The remaining cops resumed their gunfire. Scores of bullets pummeled the van, punching through metal, shattering glass, puncturing tires. Walker ignored the pain as the rounds thudded into his body. He started the engine, shifted into drive, and slammed his foot on the accelerator. The van lurched forward, heading for the two squad cars blocking 12 Street. The cops behind the vehicles fired off a few desultory rounds before diving out of the way. Although not going very fast, the van crashed into the left front fender of the nearest squad car with enough force to push it out of the way, allowing them to break through.

The rays of the sun flowed down 12 Street and filled the front of the van, falling across Walker’s hands and left cheek. His skin sizzled. He turned the steering wheel to the right and raced down the ramp until it merged into the shadows. Walker looked at his hands. The tops of the fingers and knuckles were seared black, and flakes of burnt skin had begun peeling off. At least the pain subsided. When Walker glanced into the rearview mirror, he saw the line of sunlight creeping down the ramp. At street level, two squad cars maneuvered through the wreckage left by their busting out. He needed to hurry.

Walker brought the van to a halt by a drainage sewer at the bottom of the ramp. He jumped out, ran over to the metal grate, and yanked it off. The opening measured only two feet square, but provided enough room for them to escape through. The others climbed out of the van and gathered around. Melinda went through the drain first, followed by Treja and the two vampires. Walker passed Toni through to them and followed.

By the time the two squad cars arrived at the opening to the storm drain, the undead had disappeared into the depths of the sewers to mend their wounds and hide out until darkness fell once again.

Drake reached the
first-floor door to the stairwell just as all hell broke loose outside. He surmised it probably had something to do with the masters that had retreated from the exhibit hall. He hoped they would not make it very far.

Whipping open the door, he noticed holy water-laced tear gas filled the stairwell. He couldn’t wait for it to dissipate. Taking a deep breath, Drake ran into the stairwell and climbed the stairs two at a time.

From their perch
on top of the museum’s roof, Jessica and Reese were so enthralled with watching the battle play out before them that neither noticed Chiang Shih emerge from the stairwell onto the lower roof. With a single, effortless leap, she jumped onto the outer roof, landing with a heavy thud. Startled, the two humans jumped back.

“Who are you?” asked Jessica.

“I’m Chiang Shih.” She walked toward them. “Give me the Bible and I’ll let you live.”

Reese glanced over to the east. The sun already had risen, but still remained hidden behind the Department of Energy building across Independence Avenue.

“Don’t count on the sun, human. It won’t help you.”

Jessica pulled out her stake and attacked the master, aiming for her heart. Without breaking stride, Chiang Shih grabbed Jessica’s wrist in her right hand, wrested away the stake with her left, and shoved the human to one side. Jessica tumbled off the edge of the roof and fell onto the lower level, hitting the cement face first. She lay there, unmoving.

Chiang Shih quickened her pace. Reese backed away, trying to escape while keeping an eye on the approaching master, and nearly stumbled over the pile of scaffolding poles. Chiang Shih used that opportunity to rush forward. Reese ran backwards and slammed into the stack of wooden planks. Before he could react, Chiang Shih lunged. Clutching his neck in her right hand, she pinned him against the wood and tightened her grip.

“You should have given me that Bible when you had the chance.” She squeezed hard, causing Reese to gasp. “Now I’m going to kill you.”

“Don’t count on it.”

Still pinning Reese to the planks, Chiang Shih spun around. Drake stood beside the stack of poles. He clutched one in his hands, holding it horizontally and aimed at her chest. Drake charged. Chiang Shih tossed Reese to one side and tried to stop the attack, but was not quick enough. The end of the pole struck her in the chest, piercing through the skin and penetrating the heart. Drake continued pushing, driving Chiang Shih back into the planks. The shock nearly knocked the pole out of his hands. With a final burst of strength, he shoved the pole deeper until it became imbedded between the wood. Chiang Shih could not move.

At that moment, the sun crested over the Department of Energy building, flowing across the roof of the Freer Gallery and washing over Chiang Shih. She arched her back and opened her mouth. Drake anticipated an anguished howl to accompany her death throes.

Instead, she laughed. A deep, hearty laugh.

Even more startling, the sunlight had no effect.

Chiang Shih walked forward. Her imbedded torso moved along the pole until it slid free. Instantly, the wound healed over. Drake attempted to back away, but the master surged forward. She lodged her right hand under his neck and squeezed, closing his larynx and cutting off his supply of oxygen. She pulled Drake close until their faces were only inches apart.

“I’m going to enjoy watching you die,” she hissed.

“Daywalker.”

Chiang Shih looked over her shoulder. Reese stood along the northern edge of the roof. In one hand he held the Bible by its binder and, in the other, a lighter. He flicked on the lighter and placed the flame against the Bible’s bottom edge. Wisps of white smoke welled up from the pages, the edges of which began to char. The flames leapt from the lighter to the book and burned their way along the cover. Chiang Shih hissed at Reese.

“Your choice,” said Reese as he switched the lighter to the Bible’s other corner, setting it on fire, too. “The hunter or the
Vampyrnomicon
.”

Releasing her grip, Chiang Shih let Drake fall to the roof, where he gasped for air. She charged at Reese. He waited until she had closed to within a few yards, then flung the Bible off the roof so it would land in the memorial garden beside the museum. Reese dropped down to present a smaller target, though he didn’t need to. Chiang Shih’s attention was focused on the Bible. She jumped off the roof, caught the Bible in mid-air, and landed in a crouch in the garden below. Patting down the Bible, it took only a few seconds to extinguish the flames. The edges were burned and most of the pages singed, but when she opened it she could still read the text.

When Drake and Reese stepped up to the edge of the roof and looked over, Chiang Shih glared up at them with a hatred the intensity of which made Drake’s blood run cold. For a second, he feared she might come after them. Fortunately, the police closing in from the front and rear of the museum threatened her possession of the Bible. She spat a defiant hiss at the two men and disappeared into the garden. Within seconds, she disappeared from sight.