02. Playing With Fire by Derek Landy

Author:Derek Landy [Landy, Derek]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Juvenile Fiction, Action & Adventure, General, Horror & Ghost Stories, Humorous Stories, Mystery, Young Adult, Humour, Fantasy, Adventure, Childrens
ISBN: 9780062043863
Google: 62Pl08Ydz-QC
Amazon: 0061240907
Goodreads: 2157243
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2008-05-05T18:30:00+00:00

Nineteen

ON THE RUN

THIS IS SO STUPID, Valkyrie thought to herself as she ran.

Her foot hit a rock and she almost fell. She didn’t know where she was going or what she would do. She had no plan at all, whatsoever.

She ignored the trail and ran deeper into blackness. She could hear her pursuers now, the commands being shouted to the Infected.

She could hear the van, and when she looked over her shoulder, she glimpsed its headlights, bobbing like crazy over the uneven ground.

Then the world left her and she was falling.

She hit the side of the hill and started to roll. The ground leveled off and she hit a patch of briars that tried to get in at her through her clothes. The headlights came around the bend and she flattened herself, the briars tearing at her hands and hair. She dragged herself through as the headlights hurtled toward her.

Missing her by a handbreadth, the van roared by.

Valkyrie stayed a moment to catch her breath, then ripped the briars away and got up.

There were shouts from all directions. The Infected almost had her surrounded, and the only reason she was still free was because they hadn’t realized it yet.

She set off, limping slightly. There was a road ahead. If she could get to the pitch blackness on the other side, she might have a chance at escape.

But now there was another set of headlights. The black Jeep. She had to get across the road before she was cut off.

And then there was somebody standing in her way.

Dusk grabbed her and she tried to hit him, but he threw her down. “Finally,” he said, as though he was bored of a game. He was about to continue speaking, but she saw his face twitch, and his hand went to his belly. His fingers dipped into his coat, brought out a syringe.

This was her chance, and she couldn’t afford to mess it up.

Forcing the fear and the panic from her mind, Valkyrie splayed her fingers. The air shimmered and the syringe flew from his grasp, vanishing into the darkness.

He cursed, tried to run after it, but lost his balance and stumbled.

Valkyrie was up, already moving fast in the other direction.

“That was a mistake,” she heard him mutter. “That serum was the only thing keeping me under control. …”

She glanced back as Dusk took hold of his human form and tore it off, like a snake shucking its skin. The vampire beneath the flesh and clothes, the creature within the man, was bald and alabaster white, and its eyes were black and its fangs were jagged, and she knew Dusk hadn’t been lying. That had been a mistake.

Valkyrie sprinted, and the vampire bounded after her.

The Infected were all around her, and the black Jeep had picked her out with its headlights. Baron Vengeous could plainly see her, but she didn’t care. Vengeous would keep her alive until he decided it was time to kill her. The vampire, on the other hand, would rip her to pieces right there and then.

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