The Depths of the Hollow (Mercy Falls Mythos Book 2) Read online

  “Who are you? What is this?” the mayor demanded.

  The man in the jeans and black T-shirt slapped him again, this time more roughly.

  “Drink Mayor, or I’ll make you drink!”

  He chose to scream instead. First just “Aaaaah, aaaah!” at the hopelessness of the situation he now found himself in, and then “Help, help!!” his voice loud and booming within the cavern walls, seeming to reverberate for miles.

  While screaming, the man shoved the drink into his open mouth. It tasted awful and cut off his screams in an instant as vast quantities were poured down his throat at once. He gagged, nearly choking on it, but it slid down completely of its own volition. He realized he had just tasted blood and came close to vomiting it up.

  “No one can hear you scream down here Mayor. You are quite alone and far from civilization. Down here in the pit we are our own society, and very soon you will play an important role in it.”

  “You’re sick!” Mayor Charles Tremont said. “Who the hell do you think you are?! I’m the mayor! People will come looking for me!”

  “I assure you they will not. And you shall remain mayor still. In a week give or take, you will make a miraculous reappearance, and reclaim your title as Mayor of Mercy Falls. You will, however, no longer serve its people, but you will serve us.”

  “You’re mad! Who do you think you are?!” he

  repeated.

  “What I am is a vampire. What you will serve as is familiar to our kind, a daylight liaison who will help recruit others to the fold, and reassure the town’s collective mind that nothing is awry when the disappearances begin anew.”

  “Get me out of here! You’re fucking crazy!”

  “Oh, one might think that, but soon the ingestion of our blood will lead you to believe in our cause. We once were a powerful force in this town, and will one day be again. Although our numbers have dwindled, we will one day rise from the ashes like the great phoenix, and reclaim this territory. Mercy Falls will learn fear again, and you shall be its propagator.

  

  In the night new beings rose beneath the earth and ventured out to claim new victims- some to be killed, and others to be turned into more “enlightened” beings, but all to be fed upon. These were quiet abductions, taken one by one from shadowy alleyways and underground parking lots, 24-hour Laundromats at three a.m. and lonely back road gas stations with one attendant. Not like the mayor’s town hall event. That had been a special event, a onetime chance to capture the mayor, with some begrudging assistance from The Others. Neither wanted their ranks to die off. There was some risk of exposure, and they did not manage to kill off or turn all of the witnesses, but enough so that it could be written off as mass hysteria. It would be doubly so with the mayor’s surprise re-emergence, and his new detailed accounts of what “really” happened. Once he got a taste of the true power they were providing him along with

  his office, turning him over to their side would be easy.

  

  They sat outside The Coffee Cup, at one of the white steel mesh tables with matching chairs in a grape and vine motif; the same coffeehouse that Vivien Blake and her friends had visited some eighteen years ago, right before her abduction. There had been no outside seating then. The tables had attached umbrellas, which were currently closed. The day was warm and the sun did not fall on them directly. A nearby tree which also had not been there eighteen years ago created a pleasant dappled sunlight effect, the shadows of leaves skirting Stephanie’s face, adding to her already pixieish quality, her blue eyes standing out like jewels.

  Sarah watched her carefully, making sure she was okay, as she took a nibble of her Panini and sipped her coffee.

  Stephanie was carefully examining her pastry as she

  brought her fork to it, breaking off a piece, her latte barely touched.

  “So how you holding up?” Sarah said.

  Stephanie managed a hint of a smile. “I’m doing okay.” She seemed shy, withdrawn, not like Steph at all, who was normally the bubbly, perky type. But that was understandable given the circumstances.

  “Yeah? You know I’m your friend Steph, right?”

  “Of course you’re my friend,” Stephanie said, raising the cup of latte to her lips, shaking ever so slightly.

  “Good,” Sarah said, “And you know I’m here for you.”

  “Yeah,” she said. “Can we... not talk about this now?”

  “Of course,” Sarah said, “Whatever you want. I was just offering, if you wanted to...”

  “Okay. Right now I want to enjoy the day, and my dessert,” Stephanie said.

  “Okay,” Sarah nodded, and smiled. They sat for a time in silence, and Sarah decided to break it. She pointed toward the window in the coffeehouse, trying to point out something inside. “What do you think of the waiter? Cute hey?”

  Stephanie looked.“Ya, I guess.”

  “C’mon, he’s got a rugged bad boy look to him, if you take away the white apron, add a little more stubble, and maybe tousle his hair a bit.”

  Stephanie giggled. “Sure, I can see that.”

  “So we should order something else. Get him to come over.”

  “I’m not really hungry,” Stephanie said, shaking her head with an I don’t know look.

  “Who cares? I could use some dessert when I’m done with this sandwich, maybe a refill on our coffees,” Sarah offered.

  Stephanie shrugged. This was going to be harder

  than Sarah thought. She waited until the server was looking their way, and then motioned him through the glass. He caught Sarah waving and nodded, holding up a finger- one moment. He went somewhere and came back with drinks for a table inside before he went outside to greet them.

  “Yes, may I help you?” he said.

  Oh Lord, Sarah thought. By the effeminate lilt in his voice and the way he carried himself she could tell he was gay. Her idea was not just to order but also to chat him up about Stephanie, but now there was no point. “Never mind,” Sarah said.

  The server looked utterly displeased and frustrated at being called outside for no purpose, and was about to storm off when Sarah stopped him.

  “I’m sorry, I’d like a refill on my coffee, and a... a blueberry scone please.”

  “Coffee and a blueberry scone,” he nodded, happy

  to do something, “Got it.” He looked toward Stephanie.

  “And for the other lady?”

  She shook her head, only one side of her mouth turning up in a smile, “Nothing, thank you.”

  He nodded, his neck rigid, military like, and turned back toward the shop, his arms swinging severely at his side as he sauntered off.

  Stephanie and Sarah looked at each other for a moment, and then laughed.

  “I’m so sorry,” Sarah said.

  Stephanie smiled, the first genuine smile in days. “That’s all right, that was pretty funny.”

  They talked about clothes and movies and the great weather; everything but Lindsay. There would be time enough for that later, or so they thought. Day turned to dusk until the sun was just a yellow line on the horizon, the sky deepening to a darker indigo.

  “Well, I think maybe we should head back,” Sarah said, getting up.

  “Yes,” Stephanie said. “Thank you for this Sarah.”

  Sarah grinned. “You’re welcome.” They went inside and paid, leaving a tip under the coffee cup, and walked to the parking lot to Sarah’s car. It was there, halfway to her car that something grabbed a hold of Sarah. It couldn’t have been someone, but something, because it didn’t grab her from behind, but from above.

  Stephanie screamed as a thing grabbed Sarah and plucked her off the asphalt with a loud beating of wings. It happened so suddenly, with a violent rapidity that it was hard to be sure Sarah was ever there, except that her shoes lingered behind. She had been sucked right out of them. They stood upright on the pavement like the old magician’s trick of pulling a tablecloth off a table without disturbing the glasses and plates
on the table itself. Except, of course, neither had anything to do with magic.

  “Sarah!!” Stephanie screamed. Sarah’s own screams

  echoed through the air as she and her abductor quickly

  became tiny shadows in a distant sky.

  

  The mayor’s return a week later was heralded as a miraculous event. It was all the local news channel could cover in that first twenty- four hour cycle, and all the local networks frequently interrupted regular programming for the same breaking update.

  He was holed up somewhere by shadowy men wearing black ski masks. He had been tied to a chair, bound and gagged, and occasionally fed. For what purpose, he did not know. They wanted information he didn’t have. They spoke to him in mangled English. They spoke to each other in what appeared to be Arabic. Even in a pre 9/11 world, it was still easier to believe in terrorists than in vampires. The brutality with which the victims were murdered, and then partially devoured (a fact left out of all the major newspapers and networks) remained unaccounted for. As well as the fact that many of the victims were still missing; and no he hadn’t seen them- he assumed they were dead. Then there was the fact that he showed no outwardly signs of torture, to which the mayor answered by revealing some healing bruises about his neck and ribcage which the vampires had provided for show, and which seemed to appease the masses.

  Questions and doubts would arise later. For now the town was pleasantly surprised the mayor was alive and well. For many, by the time their doubts were addressed it was already too late.

  

  Stephanie could not tell the police exactly what she saw. Her friend had been snatched, that was all. She was crying, in hysterics. She didn’t know how to say her friend was taken into the sky. She had no description. Sarah’s car was still in the lot, but the keys were with Sarah. Both her friends were taken under unusual circumstances. After a night of interrogation that only left her feeling weary and depressed, an officer drove her home.

  

  It wasn’t a proper burial to say the least. She was not in a casket, but she was interred under three feet of dirt, which she now found herself clawing her way out of.

  Sarah did not die. She knew this as she came up

  through the ground coughing and sputtering, spitting out earth, but she was changed somehow.

  She had brief flashes of the monster that took her, bit her, and drank her blood. Sarah had the idea that this was a joke. The creature could have easily killed her. She may as well call it what she knew it was- a vampire. Instead, it sliced open a vein at its wrist with one of its sharp talons, letting the blood flow and pour into her mouth, as she lay weak and helpless in its arms, nearly drained of her own. It got a kick out of this. She knew this, sensed it somehow, instinctively, because its blood coursed through her; and as she pushed herself up through the earth onto more solid ground she wept, because she knew what she was becoming. She had to see Stephanie before that happened. Had to let her know she was okay.

  Sarah felt watched. She wondered if the vampire was looking at her from a distance, hidden. She feared the changes that would come, but she no longer feared It, the creature. It would not harm her. But Sarah was alone now. With this knowledge, she stood up, fearful, but not broken. She would have to find her way, and either accept it and adapt, or fight it with every fiber of her being. She no longer knew if she had the strength to fight.

  

  The knock at her door came a little after ten p.m. She was on the sofa, watching TV, but not really watching it- more like looking through it. Stephanie had more or less spent the last few days in a haze, doing things by rote, with no real energy or concentration.

  The knock startled her out of her current reverie, her head darting up like a deer startled by the crunch of leaves and branches potentially signaling a predator.

  “Who is it?” Stephanie asked, bewildered. She wasn’t expecting anyone.

  “It’s me Steph.”

  “Sarah?” Her eyes opened wide.

  “Yeah Steph. Open up please.”

  She jumped up and ran to the door. Sarah stood outside, dirt on her face and clothes. The same clothes she wore the night of the abduction.

  “Oh my God,” Stephanie said, “Come...”

  “NO!” Sarah shouted, raising her hand. “Don’t invite me in.”

  “What? I don’t understand.”

  “Trust me. It’s safer for you if you don’t, for the future. Just come outside.”

  “All right,” Stephanie said, perplexed. She stepped out, looking at Sarah briefly before she threw her arms around her and hugged Sarah to her.

  “I missed you.”

  Sarah cried, “I missed you too.”

  Stephanie looked at her in wonderment. “Everyone’s been looking for you.”

  “I know.”

  “I didn’t know what to tell the police. I just told them someone grabbed you and ran off. I said I had my back turned, that I was headed back inside because we forgot to leave a tip, except we did.”

  “That’s good,” Sarah said. “They wouldn’t believe what really happened.”

  “W-w-what did happen? What are those things?”

  “Vampires.”

  “Vampires?” Stephanie mulled it over. She could not exactly disbelieve after everything she’d already seen.

  “And I’m one of them now,” Sarah said, “Which is why you can’t tell anyone you’ve seen me. Why everyone must believe I’m dead.”

  “No no,” Stephanie shook her head wildly. “It can’t

  be! You can’t be!”

  “It is,” Sarah said calmly. “I’m not the same person.

  I’m a danger to you and everyone around me. But I had to see you once to tell you I’m okay, before the big change. I had to say goodbye.”

  “Goodbye?” Stephanie said. “But you just got back. You can’t say goodbye, not you too. Pleeeaassse.”

  “Steph, I love our friendship, and I’ll cherish it always, as long as there’s humanness inside me, but I don’t think I can hold onto it for long. I’m weak.”

  “You’re not. No, you’re not. Don’t say that,” Stephanie cried.

  “I’m sorry Steph.” Sarah began to back away. “It has to be this way.”

  “No!” Stephanie shouted, tears streaming down her cheeks. She ran to Sarah, balling her hands into fists and pounding on Sarah’s chest. “You can’t leave me! You can’t leave me too! It’s not fair!”

  Sarah hissed at her, exposing a row of needle sharp teeth. She bore no anger or malice toward Stephanie, but it had its intended effect. Stephanie backed off, fearful. Sarah adopted a more hospitable approach, her face turning serious, but calm, her teeth retracted.

  “Goodbye Steph,” she said at last.

  Stephanie did not follow, only looked on in sadness

  as Sarah turned and walked off into the misty night.

  Stephanie bowed her head.

  “Goodbye,” she whispered.

  

  All she knew was that she didn’t want to hurt anyone, least of all Stephanie, but she was already feeling the hunger. She could smell the blood when she was near people. She had wanted to bite Stephanie when she’d hugged her. Sarah knew she would have to stay away. She didn’t believe that was an option. If she could feed off animals like they did in the movies sometimes... She looked down over Mercy Falls, crouched on the rooftop of the City Hall. The lights looked beautiful from up here, but she could take no solace from them. Lord, she was so hungry.

  It was past midnight and the streets were empty, empty except for... she saw an old man walking across the slate tiled courtyard in front of the City Hall, the clacking of his shoes echoing in the silence, his shadow dragging long behind him under the streetlamps. What he was doing out this late she had no idea. The white haired gentleman did not look homeless. Neither rich nor poor. Perhaps this was his nightly constitutional; his way of exercising, keeping the old heart ticking.

  All Sarah knew was that she
was hungry, and the sight of him, like a fresh piece of meat dangled in front of a tiger, caused her to salivate. A thin line of drool extended from the corner of her lips, her teeth sharpened, and she issued a low feral growl. She quickly snapped to.

  No! Get control of yourself Sarah. You’re not a monster. You are human.

  I’m not human, another voice told her. Not any longer. I’m not sure what I am anymore. Alive. Dead. Undead. Reborn. Half-breed. Who am I?

  Vampire, another voice whispered. That’s all you are.

  That is all you will ever be. From now until eternity.

  “No, who am I?” she whispered to herself. “What am I?”

  She answered herself. “Damned,” she cried, the last tear she might ever cry. “Oh dear God, please help me. I’m damned.”

  

  The old man survived that night. What to Sarah was an old man, at any rate. That old man was fifty-eight, and it might have been a good thing that Sarah was able to resist her hunger that night, for she might have been the one to get the surprise. None other than Fulton Blake, the vampire hunter, walked those empty streets, unaware of the prowling presence above, but prepared for anything, as usual, beneath his long coat.

  

  Sarah found shelter in an old stone crypt in the town cemetery, as day began to break. Of course she knew what happened to vampires if exposed to direct sunlight through movies and books, and guessed that would be her fate if she chose to face that. But she also felt it in her blood and in her bones- a natural aversion to sunlight. She wasn’t sure she was susceptible to it yet, or if she would be, but she was not taking any chances.

  Her sleep on the hard concrete was restless, plagued by nightmares and hunger. She wasn’t sure what the next day would bring, the beginning of night now become her new morning, but she knew it couldn’t be anything good.