Tim Lebbon - 30 Days of Night - Fear of the Dark

“Which is why the vampires want it,” Francesco said.

“No,” Lee said. He sighed and half smiled at Rose. She did not return the expression, and he hated that she made him feel like a traitor. She was a fucking vampire, and she was making him out to be…

“A weapon for humans against vampires,” Rose said. “An ultimate weapon.”

“That sounds…” Francesco said, trailing off.

“Fanciful?” Rose asked.

“It’s what I know,” Lee said. “What I’ve read and heard. You need to understand something, Francesco. And I can tell you this here, because we’re surrounded by people and I know you’ll not harm me. Not just yet. You terrify me.” He stepped closer to the tall man, edging into his own fear, pressing against it, challenging. “You all terrify me, and always have. You might laugh at my garlic and crosses, but when it comes down to it, I know more about vampires than you. You’ve been one for a long time, but you’ve been a Humain for a long time too. Shut off from the world, and all the things going on. You visit me, pretending to be human, and we talk about the vampires and what they’ve been doing beyond your bubble in London. But I never told you everything. Because… I never trusted you. Not completely.”

“But you never believed I was a vampire,” Francesco said, and it was almost a question.

“No,” Lee said. “You fooled me on that one.”

“Stella Olemaun hinted at a lot of activity lately,” Rose said. “I tried to draw her on it, but she seemed more concerned with what’s going on here.”

“So, what do you propose?” Francesco asked. He’s almost treating me as an equal, Lee thought. The idea made him feel nauseous. He was way above the rat-feasting world of these Humains. But he had to swallow his revulsion. Even Rose, who he had used to harbor desires for and sometimes fantasized about… even she was nothing but a monster.

“I propose we work together to make sure these bastards don’t get the Bane,” he said. “And whatever comes next… that’ll be open for discussion.”

Francesco seemed about to say something, but Lee turned away and walked toward the museum. It took every ounce of courage he could muster not to turn back, and by the time he reached the bottom step, he was feeling pleased with himself.

“Wait,” Rose said softly. Lee paused, looking up at the façade and wondering how the hell they were going to get in. The two Humains joined him, silent, and they all turned at the sound of running.

Connie scampered across the steps, skipping like a little girl. She glanced briefly at Lee as she arrived, and he shrank beneath her derision.

“They’re here,” the girl said. “They’ve gone inside, back through a loading bay.” She looked at Rose. “Your brother’s with them.”

Lee saw Rose shift slightly, but she said nothing. She’s relieved, he thought. That’s almost human .

“So we need to find a way in,” Lee said. “They could search for weeks and never find it, but…”

“But they might know as well,” Francesco said.

“If the woman told Marty, yes,” Rose said.

“Patrick and Jane?”

“I haven’t seen them yet,” the girl said. Rose produced her phone and started dialing, and for a moment Lee thought she was calling Stella for help. I’m not sure you’d be her friend anymore, Rose had said of the American, and Lee had known from the beginning what this meant. Right then he didn’t really mind. Only later would he allow himself to question his own perception, and ask how the fuck he had been fooled by not only these vampires but one far distant as well. In a way, it was no surprise that someone so obviously immersed in the vampire world had been found and turned by them.

I survived, he thought. For now . He crossed his arms and held the pistol handles. They were Raging Bull 454s, imported via a contact in the States. Big guns, whose .454 cartridges were used to hunt big game. Lee’s modifications had made the ammunition even more effective at stopping something dead, or undead. And against all logic, in a world where there were vampires, they made him feel safe.

“Lee, you go with Connie,” Francesco said. “Rose, tell Patrick to meet them by the loading bay.” Rose nodded, muttering into her phone.

Francesco caught Lee’s eye and smiled, and for the first time Lee saw how the night suited this man. Shadows seemed drawn to him. Standing there motionless, he was almost invisible.

“What about you?” Lee asked.

“Distractions,” Francesco said. “Rose, Jane, and myself will enter the building wherever we can. We’ll make a noise, try and draw the vampires. Take them on. It’s up to you to lead Patrick and Connie to the Bane and bring it out together.”

Lee patted one of his guns. “Don’t you think with these I’d be better fighting them?”

“No,” Francesco said, as if talking to a small child, “I don’t. But keep them to hand.”

“They have two humans,” Connie said. “Armed. Probably the ones who did the police station.”

“There,” Francesco said. “You might have the chance to use your cannons after all.”

Lee wanted to object, but he saw the logic. Perhaps if he told them all what he knew of the Bane’s location… ? But that was a card he was keeping close to his chest. Lee wanted the Bane for himself. To destroy the vampires. The decoys were a way for him to get there, the guns were insurance. Really, facing a vampire before he possessed the Bane was the last thing he wanted to do.

He nodded, and before they parted, Rose came over to him. “Be careful,” she said. And if he didn’t know these bloodsucking fucking freaks better, he’d have thought there was a hint of affection in her voice.

Inside the loading bay, Marty discovered that it was not completely dark. Light filtered in beneath the rolling shutters where they did not sit flush with the floor, and somewhere at the back of the large bay, night-lights burned, maybe for security or just so that the guards could check the place without having to turn on the main lights. They gave only a gentle glow, but it was enough by which to make out the bulks of boxes stacked and piled around, and the vastness of the bay.

Marty cleared his throat softly, trying to judge the echo. Bindy grabbed his arm again, squeezing tight. Don’t! He hadn’t even realized she was beside him.

The pause gave him time to wonder what the hell he was going to do. He desperately held on to the one small deception he had managed in the face of pain and terror: reversing the room number Ashleigh Richards had told him. While Duval had pricked him with long fingernails, his mouth open so wide that Marty smelled the stinking depths of him, reducing the boy to a shell of the human being he was, Marty had spewed what the archaeologist had told him.

British Museum.

That’s a pretty big place. Where in the museum?

Basements.

Where in the basements?

Storage rooms… sorted and stored artifacts, research only…

Why?

Hardly anyone goes there, she said!

Where? What room? What number?

And then the vampire had grabbed Marty’s genitals, his creased and ancient hand curling its long fingernails inward and twisting hard, and Marty’s terror was usurped for a moment by disgust. Duval gave back control to the human boy without even knowing.

Room twenty-seven .

And when we get there, he thought now, and we don’t find the Bane? But though that was close in the future, it was far enough away for Marty not to agonize over yet. He planned on being away from the bloodsuckers by then.