Page 98 of Starved Until Sunset

“Get ready,” Demetrius said.

Seconds later, they were swarmed by vampires. Demetrius pressed his back against the wall and shouted as he unleashed a stream of holy water. All along their line, he heard the others doing the same. The vampires tried to fight through the barrage, reaching for them with deadly claws and snapping their fangs, but the holy water did the trick. The vampires raced off into the night, hands over burned and smoking faces.

“I’m out,” Oliver said.

“Me, too,” Jugs said.

“Get your stakes and crosses ready,” Demetrius said. “More are on the way.”

“Where’s the big bad?” Agatha asked. “Xavier?”

“You called?”

The voice was smooth and seductive, coming from above them. Demetrius looked up in time to see Xavier hovering several feet overhead, wings outstretched, and a terrible smile displaying his deadly fangs.

“Oh, fuck,” Dave said.

And then Xavier struck.

Lucia and Tracey helped Cody up the stairs, all three of them grunting and cursing with the effort. His balance was way off center, and each step made his head swim with vertigo. Zenona had gone ahead and cautiously opened the door at the top, keeping watch in the garage beyond. When they were almost to the top, the music outside cut off suddenly, and they paused.

“Shit,” Cody said.

“Come on, hurry up,” Zenona said, gripping the edge of the door with one hand as she nervously looked between them and the garage beyond.

“It’s not easy getting a sasquatch with a closed head injury up a flight of steps, Doc,” Lucia said.

“Sasquatch?” Cody snorted. “Demmy and I fought off one of those, too.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Lucia said. “We’ve all read the blogs.”

They reached the small landing at the top of the stairs, and Lucia and Tracey practically shoved him at Zenona.

“Here,” Lucia said. “Take him for a minute. He’s killing my back.”

Shouting erupted from outside, followed by piercing shrieks that had to have come from vampires. Cody stood in place, Zenona holding him steady by one arm, and looked toward the back of the garage. One of the big snow plows had been in for repairs last week, backed in through the oversized roll up door in the rear wall. He recalled John and Bill working on it, and from what he could remember, it had been fixed and just needed to be driven back outside.

Well then, since he was an employee of the DPW…

“Who’s out there?” Tracey wondered.

“Demmy for sure,” Cody said. “And if I had to put money on it, I’d say Amelia, Eileen, Ollie, and my brother. Jugs and Agatha might be along for the ride as well.”

“You forgot someone.”

The voice was like sandpaper over gravel, and Cody thought it was the second best sound he would hear that night. Clarabell stood just inside the front entrance. She clutched a squirt gun close to her chest, and a man’s belt circled her narrow waist twice, wooden stakes stuck between the straps at intervals. The flying saucer decals on her Doc Martens glowed in the dark, because of course they did.

“Never thought I’d say it,” Cody said, “but it’s good to see you, Clarabell.”

“Right back at ya, Stretch. Though you look a little rough around the edges.”

“Edges, top, bottom, and in the center,” Cody said. “But I’m not going down without a fight. You guys have a plan?”

Clarabell held up the squirt gun. “Squirt guns with holy water, wooden stakes, and crucifixes. Eileen has a string of garlic around her neck, and gave us each a few bulbs. Other than that, Demetrius wanted to draw the vampires out with a distraction and have someone sneak in to get you guys free.”

“Well, cross that off your to do list,” Lucia said. “Have any more squirt guns?”

Clarabell pulled a smaller gun from a back pocket and handed it over. Lucia took it and headed for the front door. “I’m going to help.”