Mina and the Undead by Amy McCaw

Author:Amy McCaw
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Vampires, Fantasy, mystery, thriller, vampires, 90s, New Orleans, YA Horror, Myster/Thrillers
ISBN: 9781912979707
Publisher: UCLan Publishing
Published: 2021-04-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

High, wheezing breathing joined the thump of heavy feet. I conjured up hot, foul breath tinged with the stench of rotten meat and an assailant who lunged from behind.

“Dinnertime!” A huge man with a fierce beard and a chef’s knife leapt into the room, letting out a shrieking cackle. He slashed and stabbed the air.

We swerved around him and raced towards the front door. Fear pounded round my body, as I heard the dragging thud of his boots. The bloody-mouthed waitress lurched into our path, dead-eyed and cackling. She had no irises, only black pinpricks in blank eyes.

A few younger kids hovered outside the door, and Libby gave them a thumbs-up. “Good luck!”

We were all breathing hard and I had to admit, the adrenaline gave a serious high.

“They’re doing great so far,” Libby said. “Fancy clues and plenty of scares. Thandie will be pissed off. Not sure what it has to do with the vampire festival, but it’s fun.”

“So I guess we put these together.” Jared held out a hand for the piece of paper Libby found on the fridge.

He placed the sheet over the map we got at Empire, and we huddled around it.

“That’s weird,” Lucas said.

The overlay was mostly translucent with some opaque patches. “Where do we go next?” Libby asked.

“Some words are blocked out,” Jared said, pointing. The labels about key locations in New Orleans were mostly covered by the overlaid sheet. Only scattered words were exposed.

“It’s a message,” I said. I read the visible words aloud, feeling like Mouth from The Goonies. “Your journey begins where archaic drugs are dispersed. Tread with care or else be cursed.”

“Guess we’re heading to the Pharmacy Museum.” Jared removed the overlay and pointed out the location. I’d planned to visit the museum, and this was my opportunity.

We took our time walking there, watching the blue drain from the sky. New Orleans went through an odd shift around this time. The day tourists with children, ‘I heart New Orleans’ T-shirts and disposable cameras vanished. The evening crowd surfaced as the daylight faded, and they were much more fascinating. They wore tiny top hats, veils made of black lace and punishing corsets. One woman even wore a ragged, black wedding dress.

We found Della waiting outside the Pharmacy Museum. “Hey, you guys were fast,” she said.

The museum had severe bars round two floors of balconies. It was an old-fashioned shop, with forest green window frames divided into panes. There was no sign of its past as a place where people bought poisons, thinking they were medicine, or had their skin cut to let out the ‘bad blood’.

There was a queue outside the door, and they let us inside a few at a time. The group behind us were also doing the Horror Quest, arguing quietly about the map. While we waited, I peered into the windows. The displays were jammed with glass bottles full of murky liquids, bunches of dried herbs and candles. There was a leering model of a jester called a ‘gaper’ with its tongue stuck out.

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