The Night the Vampires Came

Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Outside the terminal, we found an abandoned luggage mover. Jack got into the driver's seat, and Holly and I climbed into the back. Sitting on the cold, uncomfortable chairs, Holly reached over and took my hand in hers. She squeezed my fingers.

"If what he's saying is true, we should do as he says," Holly whispered to me while Jack's back was turned. "He got us into the airport, and he's going to get us out of Miami. That's the most we can hope for right now."

"Does it matter that he lied to us? He lied since the second he met you at the train station."

"He didn't tell the whole truth. But even if I didn't keep in touch with Jack, my parents know his aunt. She comes to our restaurant every Sunday. I just can't make myself believe that he's a bad person. I don't think he's trying to get us killed."

"Oh, now you two are getting along?" I marveled. Holly reached out and placed her hand over my knee. I noticed her purple nail polished was chipped now. Holly was finally losing it. Although I had seen her periodically touch up her lips with her strawberry lip gloss that she carried in her ever-present Coach bag, at this point in time that was the only make-up she wore.

That's how you know the world is ending when even Holly stops putting on eyeliner. She finally looked tired as she leaned back into the seat. As the luggage mover drove relentlessly into the night, Holly wrapped her blue sweater close around her shoulders like a cape.

"I would rather not spend my time with a nerd like Jack Fayer, but I also like being alive," Holly whispered as we stared at Jack's back. He was in the driver's seat and he appeared to know exactly where he was going. In the distance, I saw an outline of a small plane with blinking lights along its wingspan.

We were the only evacuees in this entire airport.

That plane was waiting for us.

I felt a knot growing in my throat. Who was it that was awaiting us on that plane?

"Did you suspect anything?" I pondered out loud to stop myself from imagining what horrible fates awaited us.

"Yeah," Holly whispered, her eyes also fixed on the plane in the distance. "While we were waiting for you to get back from those white tents back South Beach, Jack got a call on his cellphone. He said it wasn't a real call, just the cell phone acting up because of the satellite disruption, but I saw it was a Manna City number. If there's one thing I know from working at Tiffany's all those years, it's all the variations of area codes from Manna City."

"He's playing us."

"Yeah," Holly replied. "We can't trust Fayer. Or anyone he works with. We should try to get away from him as soon as we can."

"I would rather deal with vampire Grace than him and his friends." I leaned into Holly's ear. "Whoever Jack is working for is interested in me. Only me. Maybe you still have a chance to get away."

"No," Holly hissed back. She caught my chin and vigorously shook her head. "We're in this together. Until the end."

*

We got out of the luggage mover at the far end of the runway. The sun was just about to slip below the horizon. Without a second's hesitation, Jack herded us toward the small jet parked at the end of the runway.

"Is this safe? I thought the satellite system wasn't working," I muttered resentfully.

"No, but ours is," Jack said. "Don't worry, Ailith, between myself and our military-trained pilot; we'll keep the plane in the air. He could pilot us to safety in the middle of armageddon."