London Under Midnight

  'Keep her back!' Trajan fought for the wheel.

  Carter sprang to his feet. With both hands he gripped April's wrist and pulled it back.

  Elmo turned to April. 'Child, come with me. You can talk to me about the miracle. Just leave Trajan to steer the boat.' He spoke soothingly. 'Tell me what happened to you. I am interested, believe me. No, don't hurt Trajan. Please try to remain calm.'

  Carter and Elmo managed to move her a couple of paces back from Trajan at the wheel. Without having to kill the speed he quickly got the boat under control.

  By now Elmo and Carter held April between them by her arms. As her chest rose and fell from the exertion of the struggle her eyes fixed on Ben with such an expression of longing his heart began to pound.

  'What is it?' Elmo asked her. 'Do you want to tell me what happened to you?'

  She shook her head.

  'What, then?'

  'Hungry,' she hissed. 'I need it.' She groaned. 'Carter, it's starting again. I'm hurting. Please get me some food.'

  Carter renewed his grip on her as she began to struggle. 'It's taken hold of her; she won't be able to control herself now.'

  'What's wrong with her?' Ben asked.

  Carter shot him a grim look. 'She wants your blood. She longs to fill her belly with it.' He grimaced. 'And so do I.'

  The throb of motors seemed over-powering in the confines of the pilothouse. Ben saw how Carter's eyes gleamed as his lips drew back to expose the teeth with the gold tips. In the river water, heads broke the surface. From the banks men and women slithered down the mud into the Thames with the menace of crocodiles in pursuit of prey. Vampires gathering for the kill.

  'Remember who you are,' Elmo urged. 'Carter Vaughn. What is your profession?'

  Carter's eyes clouded, dampening the fires that blazed there. 'I'm… a community worker.'

  'You save people?'

  'Rehabilitation. Addicts. Young offenders.' He took a deep breath as his eyes focused. 'Oh, God.'

  'You're back with us,' Ben told him. 'Now stay with us!'

  'Ben's right,' Trajan called back from the wheel. 'We need you to get us to the island.'

  Carter shook his head. 'I won't be able to hold it together much longer.' He grunted. 'I'm feeling it, too. It's more than hunger, it burns. You feel as if you're on fire.'

  April struggled. 'Carter, I've got to eat. Let me eat for pity's sake.' Her words rose into a scream. 'I can't stand this pain. It's killing me. Let go of me!'

  Carter maintained his grip on her arm. 'April, listen to me. There's been no miracle. This New-Life that seemed so important to us - it's an illusion. We're not superhuman; we're monsters. Don't you understand?'

  'You bastard! Let go of me!'

  'We're monsters, nothing but disgusting monsters. We only make ourselves feel good by destroying other people's lives. This man is right. We are vampires. We need human blood to make us well again.'

  'Give me…' She grunted. 'Give me some…' She fixed Ben with that incandescent glare of hers. 'C'mere, Ben… c'mere. You'll kiss me, won't you?'

  By now Elmo and Carter had to struggle to prevent her breaking free. As well as grasping the writhing woman, Carter struggled with himself. His expression fluctuated between concern and a greedy leer. And yet through sheer will power Carter maintained his self-control. 'You've got to move this boat faster. I'm hungry now… all I can think about is…' He gritted his teeth.

  'We need you to show us the way,' Trajan told him. 'You're not like the others. You know who you are and what you're doing.'

  Sweat beaded on Carter's forehead. 'Believe me, it won't last. It's like holding on to a rope that's covered in grease. I'm trying hard but it's running away through my fingers. I can feel it… uh… it's starting to hurt.'

  Elmo called out, 'We can't hold them both. Ben, help me get April into the next cabin. We'll lock her in there.'

  'What about Carter?'

  'I'll help as long as I can,' Carter replied. 'Only I can't promise you'll be safe. I might hurt you… I won't be able to stop myself. I don't want to but…' He licked his lips. 'When this starts… It's like acid in your veins. You burn so much you… uh… eat… it's blood you want. All that red… I can taste it. I want-'

  'Hurry, Ben. Take hold of April's arm. Carter, stay here. Keep repeating your name, your mother's name, anything that reminds you of your identity.' Elmo nodded to Ben, indicating he should take April's arm. It had begun to flail. 'Now isn't the time to be gentle. Hurry!'

  April lunged toward Ben. Just an inch from the bare skin of his face he heard her teeth snap shut as she tried to bite him. The air from her lungs was the same as when you open an oven door; the heat scorched him, making him flinch.

  'Hold on tight,' Elmo warned.

  Carter howled. 'Hurry. I can't hold on much longer!'

  A step led down to the door of the salon. As the boat bucked over waves Ben and Elmo bundled April through the door. She cursed them as she tried to struggle free. 'I'm going to hurt you,' she screamed. 'If you don't let go of me, you'll wish you'd never been born!'

  'If we let go of you,' Elmo said, 'that's when we will regret being born.' Then to Ben, 'Lock the doors to the deck and put the key in your pocket.'

  As Ben ran across the heaving floor Elmo forced April down until she lay on a sofa. Even so, she tried to turn her head back to bite his forearms. When the doors were locked Elmo nodded at the door to the pilothouse. 'Take the key from that door… no, don't go yet. See how those curtains are tied back? Take two of the velvet cords with you. Good… in a moment I will release April. Be ready to close the door after me when I come through. Understand?'

  Ben grabbed the plush velvet tie-backs from the curtains, then when he reached the door he shouted, 'Okay, ready when you are!'

  Elmo moved like a cat. In seconds he was through the door to the pilothouse. Ben slammed the door shut after him, turned the key. A second after that April's face slammed against the glass in the door. He saw how the eye pressed there to glare her fury at them as she pounded the panel with her fists.

  'Toughened glass,' Trajan told them. 'It'll hold.'

  'Hurry.' Carter's voice was a howl of agony now. 'I can't hold on. I can feel it slipping away… me slipping away. Something else is taking over. Uh…'

  Elmo took one of the velvet cords from Ben. 'Carter. Listen to me. I'm going to restrain you with this. It's for our safety. Do you understand?'

  'Yes.' He grunted the word through clenched teeth. 'Do it… C'mon, faster!'

  Trajan coaxed the man. 'Keep it together, buddy. We need you now. You've got to take us to the island.'

  'I'm trying…' Carter panted. 'God knows…'

  'Remember who you are,' Elmo said as he tied the cord around his wrist. 'Know your name. Think about your days at school. Who were your best friends?'

  'Mathew… Josh… his family had dogs, lots of dogs…'

  As Carter grunted the mantra of past friends, Elmo worked fast. At either side of the doorway, which opened on to the rear deck, were cleats that fastened lines to where a sun awning would be extended to provide shade on hot days. Elmo tied one of Carter's arms to the right cleat, then the other arm to the left. Within moments the vampire was held there in the open doorway in a crucifixion pose, arms stretched out by the cords. Behind him was the aft deck with the wake stretching out behind the boat.

  Odysseus tied to the mast, Ben thought. Only instead of Sirens trying to entice him it's the blood in our veins.

  He glanced back at the door to the salon. April still gnashed her teeth while she slammed her fists at the glass panels. Smears appeared there as she broke the skin across her knuckles. She didn't feel a thing. All that mattered to her now was hunger.

  'We must be close,' Trajan shouted as he scanned the way in front of them.

  For the first time in what must be thirty minutes Ben looked out at the moonlit scene. The banks of the river had receded into the distance now. The boat bucked across waves that had more in common with t
hose of the ocean than inland waters. Then again the Thames this far downstream had the appearance of open sea. Vehicle lights on dry land appeared to be a vast distance away. A wave exploded against the prow in a surge of spray; the nose lifted before smacking down to the surface again.

  'I'm not slowing down,' Trajan shouted over the engines' roar. 'She's just going to have to take the punishment.' Then he glanced at Carter. The man's eyes rolled in his head as he stood there as if nailed to a cross. 'Carter. Can you give me any help?'

  'Only if you can give me some of your blood.' His face took on the aspect of a drunken leer. 'Just a bit… just a taste.'

  Elmo shook him by the arm. 'The island. Do you know if we're close?'

  Carter aimed a bite at the man's hand. Only Elmo saw it coming and withdrew quickly.

  Ben spoke softly. 'Carter. We need you. Hang on. Can you see it yet?'

  With an effort he forced himself to look through the windows. After a struggle he managed to whisper. 'You're too far away from the south shore. Get closer. When you can see the big oil refinery you're close.' A moment later that look of hunger roared back into his eyes again. 'Give me just a little to keep me going… just a taste.'

  Trajan leaned forward. 'I can see the vapour burn-off.'

  'There's more than one refinery in the estuary,' Ben told him.

  'We've no choice. We're going to have to search this stretch of river first.'

  As April pounded the door and Carter lunged against the restraining cords, trying to snap at them like some rabid dog, Trajan powered the vessel toward the oily flame rising into the sky.

  THIRTY-TWO

  April Connor howled her rage at the locked door. How can they do this to me? Don't they know what I've discovered? This miracle will change everyone's life! I've brought them the promise of heaven on earth! And with those thoughts came a hunger that seared every atom of her being. Why did the old man talk about vampires? His accusation's disgusting. I'm not a vampire. I'm New-Life. A miracle of evolution.

  She pounded at the glass panels. 'I want to help the world! I'm going to make it a better place! I know the secret!'

  Beyond the unbreakable glass Ben stood with his back to the cabin wall. He stared at her as if she howled incomprehensible gibberish at him. But to her the words had a beautiful clarity. So why couldn't he understand?

  'Ben, let me out. I'm not talking about cannibalism. This can be measured in a rational way. All we need do is calculate how much blood we can share between us. If you ingest human blood it empowers you. Blood is the elixir of life. Ben, you have to bring scientists and doctors together to debate this. We need to share the good news through you; you're my key to the media.' Her voice was clear, lucid, as bright as a newly cast bell. She had become a prophet for New-Life.

  As the boat sped toward the south shore Ben found he couldn't take his eyes from April. Her eyes bulged as she screamed. Although she seemed to be making some effort to frame words not so much as one syllable was understandable. At that moment, he didn't see her as April Connor, the woman he'd privately cherished for months. Instead, he saw a monster that raged and howled for human blood. Elmo Kigoma had described her as a vampire. That's exactly what she was.

  Meanwhile, Carter Vaughn writhed as the ropes held his arms out by his sides. There was an expression close to martyrdom on his face as he panted out directions. 'Not so close to the bank. About a mile off shore. A low island… covered in willow.' He fought against the craving that wracked his body; a losing battle for sure.

  Elmo caught Ben's eye. 'It won't be long now. But there's a new crisis coming. You will have to make decisions that will affect more lives than yours.'

  Meanwhile, April's wordless screech attained a banshee intensity.

  ***

  With her bare feet April kicked at the locked door. Why on earth couldn't she make Ben understand what she said? He merely stared at her with a mixture of bafflement and disgust. What had gone so wrong with him to make him look at her like that?

  The hunger blazed through her. More than once she found herself rolling on the floor in agony. Dear God, if only she could eat; if she could fill this searing void inside her body she'd be able to think clearly again. Desperately, she tried to hang on to her vision of helping humanity. Again and again she tried to visualize herself sitting beside Ben at the computer as they worked on her extraordinary story together. The miracle of how a vicious attack evolved into the most wonderful discovery of modern times.

  For a moment she mouthed her story as if dictating to Ben. 'I was walking beside the River Thames with my fiance when we were attacked. Who was our attacker? Oh, just some thug. It's what happened after that's important. I was washed up on an island that must possess miraculous properties…' But it wasn't like that was it, April? The change didn't begin with your arrival on the island. The man who attacked you tore open your dress. Then he bit through the skin on your waist…

  She opened her eyes. Somehow she'd stumbled on to bare boards. In surprise she looked round. Above her, the moon shone as bright as a blow torch. The wind blew her hair. She saw a window to the salon was open wide. My God, I climbed through it without realizing. I'd been thinking about what happened to me. The man who bit me sucked blood from me into his body then regurgitated it into the wound.

  The image came with shocking suddenness. She scrambled on to her feet then stood there on deck, clinging to the rail that ran along the flank of the boat. Open water stretched into the distance. And constantly the moon that was brighter than the sun blasted its silver light down on the world. She tried to think about her mission to make the planet a better place. But her entire mind, body and soul focused on one thing. Hunger. It burned inside of her. The hunger began to consume her own flesh from within. If she didn't eat soon she would die. And when she did picture food she imagined a vast wound in a living body that pumped an endless stream of crimson into her mouth.

  With her last grasp on sanity gone she raced to the stern of the boat. Carter had been strung across the doorway with his wrists tied to the frame. His head rolled from side-to-side as he howled with hunger. Beyond Carter were three living vessels filled to the brim with pure nourishment. Saliva ran from her lips as she pushed by Carter into the little pilothouse where Trajan steered the boat. With a howl of glee at having so much food for herself she leapt on the three men.

  ***

  Elmo Kigoma warded off the bite directed at Ben. April's teeth crunched through Elmo's skin on the back of his hand, ripping away a shred to expose raw flesh beneath. Ben pushed her back by the shoulders as she sucked the scrap of skin into her mouth to squeeze the traces of blood out on to her tongue. Her howl gave way to a moan of pleasure.

  Even though the pain of the bite must have been considerable Elmo Kigoma merely grimaced. 'You've got to hold her, Ben. Don't let her bite you.'

  Ben tried but her strength was uncanny. She pushed him back so hard he cannoned into Trajan. In turn, Trajan bounced against the craft's wheel; then he fell back to the floor clutching his chest. Ben struggled to keep the boat on course with one hand, while holding back April who fought him like a wild animal. Her entire body became a blurred flurry of movement. Her mouth darted at his face. Behind her, Elmo had hold of her hair, impeding her but not stopping her. And, behind the old African, Carter had succumbed to his vampire nature. He struggled against his bonds. If he should break free…

  Trajan had been badly winded. Between gasps he shouted, 'Ben! I saw the island… directly in front of the boat… try and hold a course toward it…'

  'I can't do both!' He meant he couldn't steer as well as hold back this raging typhoon of a creature, even with Elmo's help. Nevertheless, he glanced out through the window and saw a moonlit island to his right. Little more than a few acres in the vastness of the Thames estuary, it appeared alive with willow trees that shifted restlessly in the breeze as if they anticipated dangerous times ahead.

  Fingernails raked his cheek forcing him to exert more strength to t
ry and push April away from him. The vampire's strength was formidable. He couldn't hold her back much longer. How close were they to the island? It couldn't be far now. He risked a glance back. From the willows that formed a swarming mass of shadows he glimpsed the roof of a house.

  'Carter,' he called, 'is that the island?'

  Carter howled, 'Let me go!' His eyes rolled as saliva trickled from the corner of his mouth. The velvet cords had begun to fray. How long before they snapped? The pair of vampires would tear the mortal men apart in seconds.

  As April opened her mouth and jutted her face forward an object slipped between them. Ben realized that Elmo had managed to remove his belt and had dragged the leather strap into April's mouth like a bridle. Insanely, eyes blazing, she tried to gnaw through it. Elmo tugged her back with the looped belt.

  Trajan struggled to his feet. 'Knock off the power!' he directed. 'You're heading straight for it!'

  Ben turned away from Elmo battling with the crazed woman to see the island directly in front of him. One moment the boat skimmed across the water, plumes of spray jetting up into the air, the next a series of collisions threw Ben back against the wall. Beneath the keel came a deafening scraping sound. When he managed to look out of the window again he saw the mass of trees. Then there came a tremendous jolt. Instead of water being hurled up by the prow suddenly there was a geyser of yellow material that could only be sand. The nose of the boat flipped up until it seemed as if the boat stood on its stern then it crashed back down on to solid ground.

  THIRTY-THREE