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39.1: DUST-UPS (part 1)

In which Rupert's past catches up with him.

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If there is anything more terrifying than a one-hundred-and-fifty-pound, muscle-bound vampire hunter hurtling towards you with a crossbow in his hand and murder in his eyes, Rupert would rather you didn't mention it to him at that particular moment because he was quite terrified enough, thank you very much.

Dimly, he heard Harriet scream "Run!" and his brain agreed that running was indeed a very sensible idea. Unfortunately his legs didn't seemed to concur, for they remained frozen in place as the vampire hunter bore down on him. Then a hand grabbed his.

"Come on!" Harriet yelled.

Rupert's legs finally started moving as Harriet dragged him away from the fairy-dust. Rupert caught a glimpse of Eugenia's face as they shoved past her. She had a bemused smile on her face as she stumbled back, as if to say A chase? How lovely! Rupert missed that blissful ignorance as he contemplated the indisputable fact that a large man had appeared out of nowhere and was, for no apparent reason, now intent upon staking him. This contemplation took the form of an interior monologue that went something like this: ohNightohNightohNightohNightohNIGHT! WHAT IN THE SHADES IS GOING ON?!

Luckily, Harriet seemed to have retained more control of herself. Stumbling after her, Rupert realised she was pulling him towards the giant wheel. Inside, the unicorn turned its head to stare at them. At any other time, this would have been enough to make Rupert turn around and run very fast in the other direction. Now, however, even his fear of the unicorn's malformed body was overridden by the heavy footfalls behind him and the vampire hunter's furious roar of "I have you now, Nightspawn!" Gustav punctuated his shout with a crossbow bolt, which shot past Rupert's shoulder to thud into the factory wall. The fairies sent up a louder buzz as the weapon fired. Rupert glanced up, hoping they might turn on the intruder. But the fairies had risen to the ceiling and were only hovering there, watching, seemingly content to let this little scene play out below.

Harriet screamed as the bolt ripped past her, but kept running.

"What are you-" Rupert yelled, then stopped. Because he saw where Harriet was heading. The top of the giant wheel reached up to the web that stretched beneath the hole in the ceiling. His heart lifted. That girl was a genius! If they could get hold of the wheel, it would carry them up to the web and from there they could climb out onto the roof. The opening was too narrow for the vampire hunter's broad shoulders, so it would buy them some time to make their escape.

Another crossbow bolt zipped past them, this time thudding into one of the wheel's wooden struts.

"Go!" Rupert yelled.

Harriet didn't need to be told twice. Reaching the wheel, she did an admirable job of ignoring the abomination of a unicorn inside and instead leapt up, clinging onto the wheel's face. Rupert leapt and caught hold as well. He and Harriet were borne upwards as the unicorn continued to plod along, clearly unperturbed by two creatures flinging themselves onto its wheel. Then again, if Rupert looked like that he didn't suppose he'd be perturbed by anything much either.

Unfortunately, though, it turned out that there was something that could perturb a unicorn. That thing was having a one-hundred-and-fifty-pound, muscle-bound vampire hunter shoulder-barge said unicorn clean off its hooves and out of the wheel, leaving it sprawling on the floor. Rupert and Harriet's ascent came to a juddering halt as the mechanism stopped moving. At this, the fairies' buzzing intensified. They began to drift down towards the vampire hunter, clawed hands tensed at their sides.