Vampires in Devil Town by Wayne Hixon Read Free Book Online Page A

him.
  “Zack,” Ernst said.
  He stood up, unfolding his tall, thin figure. He wore a suit that looked like it had once belonged to an undertaker, formfitting, filthy and moth eaten. His skin was very pale and his knotty black hair hung down to his shoulders. His golden eyes gleamed at Zack.
  “Have you brought anything for us today?”
  “No.”
  “Of course,” he said, almost sadly. “Ilya and I are hungry, Zack.”
  “I know you are. I will bring something, I promise.”
  “Why do you wait so long?”
  “Because I want it to be something you enjoy. I brought you a taste.”
  Zack approached the daunting height of Ernst. The man reached toward his face and, with the chipped fingernail of his index finger, flaked away a piece of dried blood from the corner of Zack’s mouth. Then he leaned down and placed his mouth over Zack’s, his tongue rubbing against Zack’s teeth, scraping away whatever essence remained of Charlotte’s blood.
  “Mmmm,” he said, a disturbing smile curving the corners of his mouth. “That is good. Ilya, come and taste this.”
  The woman stood up from the couch. She smoothed her long black skirt, brushed her blond, almost-white hair from her shoulders and approached Zack. She was as short as Ernst was tall. She stood in front of Zack and plaintively extended her head toward him. He bent down and let her kiss him. With Ilya, he kissed back, putting his tongue in her mouth, tasting the murky bitterness of death. She never protested, so absorbed in sucking this flavor from Zack.
  “Mmmmm. That is nice. When will you bring her to us?”
  “Soon.”
  “‘Soon’ will not do,” Ernst said. “We are starving. All of our captives are going just to feed the Fire. We watch as their blood is boiled away inside their bodies. And I don’t know how long that idiot is going to last before he gets caught. He can’t be expected to feed both us and the Fire. That would get him caught for sure.”
  “Yes, I know.”
  “So when are you going to bring us this girl?” Ernst said. “It is a girl, isn’t it?”
  “Yes. I will bring her to you when you are ready to make me one of you.”
  “I’m afraid it is not that easy.”
  “So you’ve been lying to me.”
  “No. Not at all. We can turn you into a Devil. That is not hard. I could kill you right now and, just by dying at my hand, you would become a Devil. But only time can make you what Ilya and I are. Time and training.”
  “I know I have to start somewhere.”
  “So why don’t you start with this girl? Bring her to us and we can all share and you can feel death and when you wake up she will be the first thing you taste. You will feel, in death, her blood come alive on your tongue and dance in your mouth. Is that what you want?”
  “Very much so. That is the only thing I want.”
  “Then you shall have it. Tomorrow. We cannot go another night without sustenance. If you can’t do it then we will have to find someone who can. The Idiot is working on his own project or I’d have him bring us some meat and leave the fire to suffer.”
  Zack nodded his head. “It will be done.”
  “We have to leave you now,” Ernst said.
  “Until tomorrow,” Ilya said, her lips curling up in the same creepy smile as Ernst’s.
  They walked to one of the back rooms of the house and Zack knew they were going below. While he had been allowed below the house, he had never been farther than the first room. He had never been allowed into the Low Church, where the Dark Fire burned. He had been tempted to go down several times when he knew Ernst and Ilya would either be asleep or away but he knew they would still be able to see him, to see what he was doing. Sometimes he could feel them in his head, behind his eyes, processing the information he took in. He knew they already knew Charlotte’s name, what she looked like, what she felt like and, after tonight, they now knew