Vampire Boys Of Summer (Completed!)

Episode 71: Devil's Hole

It was apparent the two vamps had seen us long before Luhan had said anything, but him addressing them without fear must have made their hackles rise. They got up, and the first thing I noticed were how tall they were. They could have been on the high school basketball team. First football jocks, now dribblers, what was next , guys carrying hockey sticks? Girls armed with tennis rackets?

Despite their height, they were new vampires. It was easy to tell by the starving look in their eyes. Maybe they didn’t feed the new ones right away. Perhaps they had to earn their keep before getting their first victim. If so, this made them more dangerous. Hunger and desperation do not mix well together.

One of the guys laughed. “This is what everyone is afraid of? A kid, a hottie, and two lovebirds?”

The other cracked his knuckles as if he preparing to step into a boxing ring. “Only one of them looks tough.” He eyed Chi up and down, lingering on her tight leather pants. “Tough in a I-want-your-sex kind of way, that is.” He took two steps up to her. She drilled two fists into his face.

It was so sudden, nobody had any time to react. Even the other guy was caught off guard. Even more so when Chi gave the second guy a roundhouse kick to the solar plexus. All the wind went out of him, and as he went down, he somehow ended up with a ladies’ bootprint on the back of his head.

There was a rustling sound behind us, and the three thugs who had been flanking us came running out of the brush. Haru turned to face them. These three weren’t vampires, but human servants hypnotized to protect the entrance. He met the first one with a flurry of moves to make a Kung fu instructor throw up his hands and run. This guy didn’t run, but he did fall pretty hard.

Haru ushered me to get behind him, and I noticed Luhan and Chi weren’t coming to help. They were clearing the brush and boards camouflaging the entrance to Devil’s Hole. Once cleared it looked just like I’d imagined: an ominous black hole in the ground, a shaft leading into darkness with no ladder or ropes to hang on to. How in the hell do you get down there, I thought.

Just then, Haru grabbed the second assailant, spun on his heel, and tossed him towards the hole. Luhan made sure he went in. The guy’s screams were horrible and only faded when he hit bottom, which seemed to take some time.

The third attacker tried to get around Haru to grab me. I guess he thought if he could put his hands on the potential queen, he would have some leverage. Leverage maybe, fingers no. When I bit his hand he screamed like I took them all off at the nub. He jerked his hand back and then Haru made him forget his fingers by breaking his nose. He fell backwards, his eyes swimming up in his head. When he landed on the ground I kicked him in the ribs. After all, I knew him. His name was Greg Park and he took my Barbie doll and burned her up with matches back in the fourth grade. Payback may take awhile sometimes, but it eventually catches up.

Chinatsu surveyed the area, making sure for one, the kids back at the cove hadn’t heard the commotion, and two, no one else was coming to investigate or attack. We all gathered around Devil’s Hole. I really didn’t want to go down there the way Haru’s attacker did, but sure enough I didn’t see anything to hold on to. No rungs carved into the rock, or steps leading down, just a dark passage in which you couldn’t see the bottom. You just had to hope it was there.

I sensed Haru beside me, and I turned to him to address my fears. “Don’t worry, “ he said. “Hold on to me.”

I did.

“Don’t look down. Keep your eyes on mine.”

I did.

Then he jumped into the blackness.

Any other time, I would have been screaming, but with my eyes locked on his beautiful dark orbs it felt as if I was just falling further in love and not into a dark pit. I don’t know how long we were in freefall. It was probably just a few moments, but for me it was as if I were falling forever, lost in my lover’s eyes and feeling his protective arms around me. I wrapped my legs around his waist and wished we were home in bed, rather than on a dangerous mission to save my friend and town. His eyes told me so much as we fell. They said he loved me more than anything, greater than anyone, and that I would never have to worry about losing him to someone else. His devotion was forever, just as endless as…We touched ground.

The jolt of Haru landing flat footed jostled me in his arms and his knees buckled briefly before he rose to his full height again, his eyes having never left mine.

“Nora, I want you to know something. If anything should…”

I kissed him. I didn’t want to hear what he was going to say. I knew it was bad and instead wanted to drown myself in all the love and affection I ever wanted from a boy.

“I hate to break up this impromptu make out session,” Chi said in a quiet tone, “But you’re not exactly alone here.”

Both Chi and Luhan had landed beside us, but it wasn’t themselves they were talking about. We were in a tunnel. Dimly lit by candles imbedded in crevasses in the wall. The flickering flames led the way forward. But the candles, nor the tunnel itself, wasn’t much concern. The line of new vampires on either side however were. They stood there motionless, a gauntlet we had to walk through on our way to wherever they wanted us to go. Our plan to catch them by surprise was an obvious failure. They had been waiting for us, and for the time being we were at their mercy.

None of us said a word, but walked down the vampire corridor, Haru and I first, Luhan in the middle, and Chi picking up the rear. I should have been afraid but I wasn’t. Even with the large number lining the walls, I lost count at about forty, I still felt protected from all things. Maybe Haru was creating this calm through some kind of mental process that reinforced my courage because all I knew was that if he weren’t here I would be a wreck and shaking in my shoes.

The corridor took us around a bend and up a slight incline. I could see a brighter light ahead, making me think of near death experiences and how those that had them saw a bright light beckoning them to peace. Of course, I knew peace wasn’t waiting for us. I didn’t know what we would find when we came into that light, but I was willing to bet it wouldn’t be pleasant.