World Game by Terrance Dicks

Author:Terrance Dicks [Dicks, Terrance]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Tags: Science-Fiction - Doctor Who
ISBN: 9780563486367
Publisher: BBC Books
Published: 2005-11-28T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eighteen

Vampire

The ferocious speed of the vampire’s attack knocked the Doctor over backwards. The vampire landed on top of him, sharp bony knees in his stomach, clawlike hands tearing open his collar, fangs seeking his throat…

Breath knocked out of him, the Doctor gasped…

The creature released him and retreated hissing.

As the Doctor scrambled to his feet it sprang forward again, and the Doctor lashed at it with the long driving whip. It fell back, but only briefly.

Vampires feel little pain.

For a moment they circled each other, the vampire poised for another spring.

The trouble with vampires is that since, in a sense, they’re already dead, they are very hard to kill. Decapitation is effective, or the traditional stake through the heart. What he needed, thought the Doctor, was an axe, or a nice sharp stake – neither of them easy to lay your hands on in a crisis.

He hadn’t even got a crucifix.

Suddenly he realised – the solution was in his hands.

As the vampire sprang high in the air, the Doctor grasped the hickory shaft of the whip with both hands and broke it with savage force, snapping it off near the hilt. Casting aside the whip part, he lunged up at the descending vampire thrusting the jagged stump into its chest.

There was a crunch of splintering bone. The vampire gave a high scream and collapsed onto its back, clutching at the protruding hilt.

A fountain of blood gushed from the creature’s shattered chest, its limbs twitched spasmodically and then it was still.

The Doctor turned to Serena, who stood statue-like, frozen with fear, staring down at the remains of the vampire. He put an arm around her shoulders. ‘It’s all right, it’s over.’

She shuddered. ‘Is it dead?’

The Doctor nodded. ‘The poor thing was never really alive.’

‘I’m sorry, Doctor, I should have tried to help. I was so frightened I couldn’t move.’

Awkwardly the Doctor patted her on the back. ‘That’s all right, I understand. For a moment I was pretty paralysed myself.’

Not many things frighten Time Lords – but vampires do.

The legends of the long-ago vampire wars, when they fought the Great Vampire’s swarming hordes with bow-ships, had implanted an atavistic fear.

‘It had you by the throat, Doctor, then it let go,’ said Serena wonderingly.

‘I wondered about that myself… yes, of course!’ The Doctor leaned forward, breathed gently into Serena’s face and she smelt the spicy tang.

‘It was the garlic!’ said the Doctor. ‘The stuff you objected to at the reception. Vampires hate it for some reason. I was saved by Napoleon’s chicken pies!’

The Doctor began singing softly to himself. ‘Who ate all the pies? You ate all the pies!’ He smiled. ‘And a good thing too, in this case.’

Serena was staring down at the vampire’s body. ‘Look, Doctor!’

The twisted, bloodstained figure was slowly fading away.

Seconds later it had completely disappeared, leaving only the bloodstained whip hilt on the ground.

‘I thought they were supposed to crumble away into dust,’ said Serena.

‘So they do, usually,’ said the Doctor thoughtfully. ‘I think there was something very peculiar about this particular vampire.

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