Chapter 20

It was indeed a live skeleton hanging onto the rails for dear life. He was completely naked, his stomach  sunken so badly, his ribs poking through sickly, yellow skin. Skin was plastered with hideous, oozing sores.

The man was struggling for air, fighting for each precious breath as he fought to stay on his feet.

“God man! What have they done to you!? “ The skeleton lifted his head and Richie yelped as he dove backwards.

Flecks of hair clung loosely to the boney head, his eyes were lifeless and sunken deeply into his eye cavity, it was as if Richie was staring at a monster straight from a Steven King movie.

Extensive fangs protruded from almost non- existent lips, filthy unkept hands curled around the bars, displaying clawlike nails.

Richie shuddered in horror, pity welled up in his stomach like a mist from a dark lake, fear prevented him from breathing a single word.

“Help me…please…pain..terrible…pain.” his soft whisper floated towards Richie.

“Please end this….I want no more.” One bony arm pushed through the bar, surrendering an arm coated with puncture marks and greenish veins, pumping lethargic under the discolored skin.

The light was gone from his eyes, only death lurked there ...death and pleading.

“I can’t help you man! What is this?! Why is this happening to you?”

The living carcass turned and lay down on the bed again, cradling his frail, dying body as he hunched into a fetal position.

 A nightmarish tour followed. Half of the cells were occupied. Some appeared to be normal and some in stages of serious ill health. Another door loomed in the distance and swallowing down his dinner, he walked closer.

The door opened to a blinding light, the sterilized environment blurted the fact that this was the professor’s lab.

Bubbling fluids in glass containers filled the working stations, microscopes, glass shelves , all sorts of equipment Richie knew absolutely nothing about took up residence.

Treading softly as to not be exposed to anyone, he investigated, realizing more and more the danger he was in and about to put Jon in too.

Richie turned his head and felt his heart plopped into his boots. A long table stood to one side but it was what was on the table that had his teeth chattering.

A bluish tarp was stretched out to cover something that resembled a body.  Cursing himself for being so damn nosey, he lifted the tarp.

It was a body alright, or something that reminded him of something that used to be a living soul.

The mass before him was black…as if it had been burned to a crisp. The lips were absent, revealing elongated fangs, the face was scrunched up in pain, the arms were coiled tightly to its chest. The stomach-churning smell of death and scorched flesh proved too much to Richie and he stooped over to empty the contents of his stomach that had been threatening to boil out of his throat the whole evening.

Enough was enough! He swooped out of there as quickly as his rubbery legs would allow, refusing to listen to the begging, growling, howling calls of agony as he rushed past.

As he reached the last rows of hell he saw the one cell door swing open.

Crouching low and thanking the dim light, he barely suppressed a gasp as he saw Ksenia turn the lock on the door, walking a few steps closer and entering another one. The slam of the lock had him on his feet again.

Adrenalin was coursing through his veins.

Taking baby steps towards the cell, he heard a soft whisper rushing from Ksenia’s  lips as she quickly spoke in her mother tongue. As if he suddenly grew wings on his feet he found himself in front of the dark cell.

Playing before him was a scene threatening to haunt him for the rest of his days.

Standing before a fanged creature, Ksenia’s back to the vampire, facing Richie, she stood as if totally enthralled. Her eyes were shut, her arms hung to her sides, her neck slightly sagged to one side, she stood there…waiting…offering.

A soft snarl and a flick of the head, the vampire’s fangs grew and grew, just before he sank his teeth into her exposed flesh, his eyes flashed into Richie’s, dark burning coals of evil, glittering from the dark depths of the cell.

As if he drew immense pleasure from it, he kept his eyes trained on the mortal, staring in horror at the feeding ritual.

The crunching sound as fangs sliced through flesh didn’t bring so much as a sigh from Ksenia and Richie felt his hands gripping the cell tighter as comprehension dawned.

The dirty, old bastard used this innocent girl as bait! How many more was there?

Shaking at the bars, he yelled.

“NO!”

The vampire’s eyes took on a darker hue, the mouth plucked into a mocking grin. Grabbing the girl by the shoulders he steadied her as she jerked out of oblivion. His feeding only becoming more brutal and greedier as she struggled against him, her huge eyes focusing on the stranger she met only hours before.

“That’s enough!” her authoritive voice seems to do its job and the vampire snarled, licking the wound, he broke contact with her, moving into the darkness of the cell.

“What are you doing here?! Do you want to get yourself killed?”

She closed the gate behind her. Swinging towards Richie, she suddenly felt lightheaded and grabbed at his biceps, steadying her.

“Sorry, I’m just a bit lightheaded.”

Richie snorted sarcastically.

“Gmmff..ya think? What kind of sick bullshit is this anyway? Offering yourself to them?” Richie felt a quiver as two red coals shone from the darkness, a sinful laugh pouring from the creature’s lips. “Fuck you! You sick fuck!”

Wide baby blue eyes stared at him.

“You hate them so much, why do you want to help your friend then?” She laced her arm in his and led him away.

The patients were getting restless, hearing Richie’s hate filled words.

“He is not the same as them…he just isn’t.”

 “It’s none of my business but he is a vampire, they are all the same.”

Seeing her intention he grabbed her hand, stopping suddenly.

“I want to know what the hell is going on here. I’m not a child to be taken to his room and lulled to sleep.”

Staring at the man before her, she flicked a glance at her wristwatch.

“I’m going to get killed for this but we have about three hours to do this before the professor comes back. But I need your solemn promise, after this you will take your leave and never come back here.”

He nodded but she wasn’t satisified.

“I NEED to hear you say this.” Her insistent voice hummed in his ears.

“Ok..I promise.”

“Ok lets go.” She changed direction, walking towards the laboratory where he just lost his dinner.

With a sweep of the hand did she explain.

“This is where the professor creates the potion.” Searching his face she knew he wasn’t interested in the obvious side of the research. His eyes were glued to the body.

“That wasn’t clever! If he found this he would know, you were here.” She clucked at him, turning away she filled a bucket with warm water and disinfectant. Sweeping up the vomit with disposable towels, she knelt down to wash away the last evidence.

Richie blushed ferociously.

“Please let me do it. I made the mess it’s only….”

Her smile was gentle as she looked at him.

“I’ve done worse that this…much worse…” her smile wavered.

“What happened to him.” Richie nodded towards the corpse.

“The experiment didn’t work on him.”

Richie gaped at her.

“You mean the potion , did that to him? Holy God! The man is a maniac!”

“That he is but it wasn’t the potion that killed him, the fact that it didn’t work, killed him.”

She stood up, lifting the tarp she stared at him. Richie wasn’t sure but he saw compassion in her eyes as she stared down at the human coal. She sighed, letting the tarp slip from her fingers.

Emptying the bucket she invited Richie towards yet another door.

Sliding it open, he was overwhelmed with the stench of burned flesh and he gagged, bringing his hand up to his nose and mouth.

In the middle of the room was a gurney fitted with thick leather straps. Richie had a bad feeling about this.

Ksenia flicked a switch and Richie reared back as a blinding light flashed through the room.

“You see? He didn’t pass the first test, immunity to sunlight.”