Page 54 of Missing Moon
“True.” Tammy raises her arms a little and lets them fall against her sides. “So, what gives, Ant?”
“Grandma wasn’t supposed to get stuckoutsideher body. To fix that, I’m being led to the vampires.”
“Led by who?”
“Don’t you know that angels are everywhere?”
“I’m getting that impression.”
“They don’t always help—and there are reasons for that—but in this case, the natural order here is so thrown off that it needs to be stopped.”
I nod. “Angels are helpful.”
“Don’t suck-up, ma. They’re already helping us, and no, they likely won’t help in traditional missing person cases, though there are always exceptions.”
I huff. “Fine. Lead the way, kiddo.”
We keep walking for a while, and I tell the kids about my vision the other night, watching Mom get attacked by a vampire of the normal variety. Between that and what Mack’s ghost told me, it sure sounds like Elizabeth is ultimately responsible for Mom’s condition.
“There,” says Anthony, distracting me from being happy that bitch is dead and gone.
We’ve emerged from the trees onto a small dirt road. My son is pointing down the road at a collection of small, gray industrial style buildings by a cliff face. As soon as I look at the place, I get a strong feeling of gloom. Yeah, supernatural energy is all over it. Bingo.
I take the lead, hurrying down the road to the front gate of what appears to be a tiny mining operation. Like the farm behind us, this place doesn’t look like it’s been in official operation in decades. Never knew it existed in all the years I lived in this area. Three buildings: a smallish office, a little warehouse, and a collapsing garage sit in the shadow of a fairly high cliff. Rust spots cover the three buildings. An opening into the cliff appears to lead underground. The remains of steel rails for an ore cart track are mostly buried in the dirt at the entrance. All manner of bones litter the area inside the compound, some of which seem pretty recent—and most look human.
Tammy shakes her head. “Not even trying to hide the remains.”
“No one comes out this way,” I say. “They’re already hidden.”
Anthony stoops over a pile of debris, lifting a utility belt with a holster and handcuffs on it. “Guess this is why the sheriff didn’t do much about those missing people.”
I tighten my jaw. “Damn.”
“Now what?” asks Tammy.
“Now, we go inside.” Anthony heads for the mine entrance.
I tighten my grip on the ice sword and follow.
Chapter Twenty-two
The Head of the Beast
Anthony walks into the mine like he’s worked there every day for the past ten years.
Between his size and confidence, it’s sometimes easy to forget he’s still only sixteen. The passageway isn’ttoocramped. Dusty air carries the earthen smell of minerals mixed with the rot of decomposition. The reek isn’t bad enough to knock me over, though Iamglad to have missed breakfast.
This straight passageway leads inward for about a hundred feet and probably descends a story and a half before we reach the first chamber. The space is littered with bodies, some more intact than others. I’ve found nauseating proof that what Max told me is likely true: these particular vampires not only drink their victims’ blood, they devour the flesh as well. I’ve seen some horrible things in my day but the sight of human corpses with human bite marks out of them, stripped down to the bone in places, is a new ‘highlight.’ It makes me wish that little device fromMen In Blackwas real so that I could wipe this from my own memory.
Something grunts.
One of the corpses sits up.
Without a word, Anthony whips his fiery broadsword around.
I jog over to the one who sat up and chop his head off. He promptly explodes into a dust cloud.
I pounce on the next nearest body, which turns out to simply be a dead victim.