Doorways (A Book of Vampires, Werewolves & Black Magic) (The Doorways Trilogy - Book One) (11 page)

Chapter 18

As soon as the airplane
’s wheels screamed across the tarmac, Zach released his seatbelt and jumped up.

‘
Somehow we’ve got to get off this plane or that’s the end of our journey,’ he hissed at his friends.

‘
Why?’ William barked.

‘
Why?’ Zach said exasperated. ‘Because that lady has gone to tell the captain about us, and he will now be radioing the control tower who will be calling the cops to meet us on our arrival.’

Cops?
’ Neanna asked.

Zach sighed and said,
‘peacekeepers.’

‘
About time someone with some authority turned up. The peacekeepers won’t harm us,’ William said with a misguided confidence.

‘
I don’t think they’re gonna be like the peacekeepers in Endra,’ Zach warned him. He then looked at William and Neanna and said, ‘God knows what they’ll make of you two!’

‘
What’s that supposed to mean?’ Neanna said, unfastening her seatbelt.

‘
I don’t think they’ve ever been called to deal with a werewolf and a vampire on a flight before. Drunken football fans, yes. But not a werewolf and a vampire!’ Zach said, crouching and following the emergency lighting up the aisle.

Leaping from his seat, William sauntered up the aisle behind
Zach, his large white fluffy tail swaying from side to side like a stick of candy-floss. Bending almost in half, her back hunched as if she were concealing something under her coat, Neanna followed. Passing the ends of the aisle, they were spotted by some of the other passengers.

‘
There’s a giant dog on the plane!’ a man said.

‘
Where? Where?’ a female shouted.

‘
Oh my god! He’s right! There’s a wolf on the flight!’ somebody else shrieked.

Then other passengers began to release their seat belts and stand so they too could get a look.

‘What’s she hiding under her coat?’ a young man said, pointing at Neanna who was crawling on her hands and knees up the aisle.

‘
It’s a bomb!’ a female screamed so loud that Zach thought his ears were going to bleed.

‘
A bomb?’ one of the cabin crew yelled.

‘
There’s a bomb!’ another crew member cried, running to the nearest toilet cubicle and locking himself inside.

Seeing this, other passengers began to scream and climb over their seats to the back of the plane to be as far away from Neanna as possible. Within a matter of moments
, the plane erupted into sheer chaos and panic.

The pilot barked a series of orders at the air traffic controllers via his radio. The plane continued to taxi up the runaway as the air traffic controllers closed all of the gates, and ordered the pilot to steer the plane away from the south terminal and to the end of the runway.

Reaching one of the exit doors, Zach peered through the little oval window out into the darkness. In the distance he could see the red and blue flashing lights of police and fire engines as they raced towards them.

Turning, he slumped against the door and slid to the floor. Looking at William and Neanna, he said,
‘I don’t know how we’re gonna get out of this one!’

‘
Pull yourself together Zach Black!’ Neanna shouted, ‘that door can be opened!’

Looking up, Zach could see a list of instructions stuck to the inside of the door, which started:

In case of emergency…

With the help of Neanna, Zach followed the instructions and with a
whoosh
of air they forced the door open. The plane was still moving and, almost losing his balance, Zach teetered on the lip of the doorway as the runway speed past below. Grabbing hold of his jumper, Neanna pulled him back into the cabin.

‘
What now?’ Zach roared over the sound of the engines. ‘We’re way too high to jump!’

Beneath the sound of the screaming engines and the roar of the wind that howled past outside, Zach could just about hear the sound of tearing. Looking at Neanna, Zach could see her coat begin to rip apart up the back. As the fabric began to fall away in strips, William and Zach stared in wonder as a pair of black wings unfolded from beneath Neanna
’s coat.

‘
Whoa!’ Zach said, ‘How I didn’t see that one coming!’

Each wing seemed to have a long bony shoulder and arm that was about six feet in length. Beneath this arm hung the wing, which was a see-through and stretchy looking membrane.

Shaking from head to foot, Neanna unraveled her wings. She looked from side-to-side and up at them.

‘
I have wings!’ she said. ‘
I have wings!
’

Throwing his head back, William howled in approval.

Neanna turned to face the passengers that had now pressed themselves together at the back of the plane.

‘
See I don’t have a bomb. I have wings!’ she scolded them. Scooping Zach and William up into her arms, Neanna swept out of the doorway and into the night.

The stewardess in her mustard uniform stared in disbelief as Neanna
’s big black wings fluttered through the doorway. That was the last thing the stewardess saw before her legs buckled beneath her and she fainted in the aisle. 

Swooping over the runway, Neanna beat her wings up and down. But she began to lose height and spiral out of control towards the ground.

‘
You’re too heavy!’ she shouted at Zach and William, holding them tight against her. ‘I’m gonna have to land!’

Fanning her wings out like two giant sails, Neanna headed for the runway. Hitting the ground running, she released Zach and William from her arms. Tumbling onto the runway, Zach and William rolled over and over. William yelped as the pads on his paws skidded over the tarmac. Staggering to his feet, Zach looked at the police vehicles that were fast approaching. Their emergency lights sending shadows across the airfield in flashes of blue and red.

‘Run!’ he roared, heading towards the lights of the terminal.

Bounding after him, William’s claws
‘clacked’ against the surface of the runway. Soaring a few feet above them, Neanna pounded her wings up and down like a bird of prey.

The police vehicles veered off the runway and chased them across the grass, their sirens wailing and lights throbbing.

‘Did you see that?’ one of the police marksmen asked the driver of the armored vehicle.

The driver shook his head as if shaking away cobwebs and said,
‘I saw something fly from that plane but I’m not sure what it was!’

‘
It looked like some kinda giant bat,’ the police marksman shouted over the din of the squealing sirens.

‘
Look there they go,’ the driver yelled, speeding after them.

‘
It looks like that lad is being chased by a wolf and that bat-thing,’ the marksman roared, releasing the safety on his gun.

The three of them raced towards a stationary plane, diving under its giant wings. Zach glanced back over his shoulder as a synthesized sounding voice came from the pursing police cars.

‘
STOP!’ the voice ordered. ‘ARMED POLICE! STOP OR WE WILL SHOOT!’

‘
They can’t shoot,’ William howled, ‘they’re peacekeepers. We’ve done nothing wrong!’

‘
I keep trying to tell you, they’re not peacekeepers – they’re
cops
!’ Zach panted, running towards a hanger that had trailers full of luggage being driven into it. 

‘
But we’re the
good guys!
’ William barked.

‘
Somehow I don’t think they will see it like that!’ Zach shouted as the synthesized voice came again.

‘
THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING! STOP OR WE WILL OPEN FIRE!’

Neanna soared towards the entrance of the hanger and Zach and William raced along beneath her.

Clack! Clack! Clack!

The air exploded with the sound of
gunfire as the pursing cops opened fire.

‘
You weren’t kidding,’ William howled, a stream of bullets whizzing above his head.

‘
About what?’ Zach gasped in fright.

‘
They’re nothing like peacekeepers. They’re a rotten shot!’ William barked, bounding into the hanger.

Screeching to a halt, streams of smoke billowed up from beneath the tires of the police vehicles.

‘
Alpha-Echo control! Alpha-Echo control from Whisky-Four-Five,’ one of the cops roared into his headset.

‘
Go ahead,’ a voice from the control room crackled in his ear.

‘
Subjects have decamped into the luggage store. I repeat the subjects have decamped into the luggage store.’

‘
Alpha-Echo control to Whiskey-Four-Five, seal the area, seal the area. We will contact the on-call negotiator.’

Looking at his colleague in disbelief, the police marksman said into his mouth piece,
‘Whiskey-Four-Five to control…that’s a negative. I repeat that’s a negative. I don’t think a negotiator is going to be able to help. Perhaps you should call the nearest zoo.’

There was a pause from the operator in the control room. Then the voice crackled in his ear,
‘Alpha-Echo control to Four-Five, repeat your last message.’

Sighing, the marksman said into the mouth piece,
‘the hostiles appear to be a wolf of some sort and a giant bat!’

The operator in the control room didn
’t respond for some considerable time.

Chapter 19

‘
Hey! You’re not allowed in here!’ a bearded man in overall’s shouted at Zach as he came charging into the hanger. ‘This is a restricted…’ then he saw Neanna and the giant wolf and his mouth clamped shut.

Snarling at the baggage handler, William
’s lips quivered around his powerful jaws.

‘
This way!’ Zach shouted, spying a conveyer belt that led up into the dark. The belt was ferrying hundreds of suitcases, prams and rucksacks out of the hanger and up into the terminal.

Diving on to it, Zach lay on his stomach as he was whisked upwards. Shrugging her shoulders as she walked towards the conveyer belt, Neanna’s wings folded away beneath what was left of her coat. Climbing on, she was joined by William. His sharp claws screamed against the metal surface like nails being scraped across ice.

They were carried upwards through a maze of conveyer belts that stretched high above them like crisscrossing motorways. Ahead, Zach could see a curtain of black rubber slats that brushed aside as the luggage passed through them.

At first there were
‘oohh’s’
and
‘aarrhh’s’
from the passengers at the sight of Zach appearing on the conveyer belt as they waited for their luggage. Then the sounds of curiosity were soon replaced by screams as William and Neanna appeared from out of the darkness.

Brandishing his huge teeth, William snarled and Neanna shrugged her shoulders again as she unfolded her wings. Passengers fled backwards as William bounded from the belt and Neanna swept up into the air.

Outside on the runway the police officers radios began to crackle and fuzz as frantic and garbled messages began to be transmitted.

‘They now seem to be in the baggage area!’ said one hysterical controller.

‘
What terminal?’ said the voice of a police officer.

‘
We believe it’s the north terminal,’ came another radio operator.

‘
Can we confirm the north terminal?’ the police officer said again, his voice bubbling with frustration.

‘
No, I think they’re in the south terminal,’ another voice cut over the rest.

Realising that no one had the faintest idea of where the hostiles were or what was going on, the fleet of armored police vehicles split. One squad headed for the south terminal and the other headed to the north, their sirens and lights blazing as they hurtled along the runway.

All around them
, people dived out of their way as they raced through the terminal. Screams of terror could be heard in all directions as William howled through fear and confusion rather than to scare the passengers. William had never seen a place like this. Everything was so garish and lit with neon lights. The floor and walls looked artificial as if made from some shiny material and his snout was bombarded with the smell of cheap meat and sweet-things.

Fluttering overhead,
Neanna beat her wings, throwing-up abandoned newspapers and hamburger wrappers. Seeing the sign for customs ahead of him, Zach realised that this was the way out. He doubted very much if he would be asked if he had anything to declare, but then again, he wondered what the punishment would be for trying to smuggle a werewolf and a vampire into the UK.

The custom officers in their crisp, white shirts and starched trousers heard the screaming before they even saw the boy, the wolf and the giant bat-thing. Their radios had been humming with news of them for the last ten minutes and some officers had wondered if it were not some kind of joke. But as Zach raced through the customs
area followed by the biggest wolf and bat they had ever seen, they all dived for cover beneath the x-ray machines and search tables.

Zach raced towards passport control. The area looked pretty void of life except for a few border control officers who sat in little glass booths. 

Border Control officer Tom Smith shouldn’t have even been working that day. It was Christmas week and he had been on leave, but when his supervisor had called him at home and offered him ‘double-bubble’ overtime to cover a colleague who had gone sick, he had been unable to refuse. However, when he saw the giant wolf come bounding towards his little booth, he wished he had never answered the phone to his supervisor.

He can stick the money!
he thought to himself, pulling down the blind on his booth and curling up in the corner. Through his fingers, he watched the shadow of the wolf go bounding past and a large black shape go streaking overhead. To his shame, Border Control officer Tom Smith felt a damp patch form in his trousers. In that moment, he vowed that he would never answer his phone while on leave again.

Zach and his two odd looking friends tore through the terminal.

Where now?
Zach thought to himself, looking around. He knew that they would have to get far away from the airport and quick. Spotting a sign for the ‘Gatwick Express’, Zach roared at William and Neanna to follow him.

Racing down the escalators two at a time, Neanna hovered behind him. Zach reached the platform to find a train waiting in the station. Looking up at the departure board, Zach could see that it was destined for
London Victoria. Landing on the platform, Zach watched as Neanna shrugged her shoulders again and her wings folded away like the soft-top-roof on a sports car.

‘
You’re getting good at that,’ he told her, boarding the train.

Ignoring him, Neanna said,
‘where’s William?
’

Zach looked along the platform but couldn
’t see William anywhere. He then heard a pitiful yelping sound come from the top of the escalators. Following the sound, Zach looked up to see William cowering at the top.

‘
What’s wrong?’ he asked the oversized wolf.

‘
I’m scared,’ William whimpered.

‘
Scared? Scared of what?’Zach asked.

‘
I’ve never seen moving stairs before.’

‘
I don’t believe this,’ Zach sighed under his breath, making his way back to the top.

Taking hold of the fur around William’s neck, Zach tried to pull him down the escalators. Below he could hear the
‘bleeping’
sound as the doors of the train prepared to close.

‘
C’mon you big hairy coward,’ Zach screamed at him. ‘We don’t have time for your fun and games!’

Working his way behind William, he placed both of his hands against the wolf
’s huge back legs and began to force him down the escalators. Howling, William skittered on his long claws, lost his grip and tumbled to the bottom. Jumping over him, Zach darted between the closing doors of the train. Sticking out his arms between them, he fought to keep the doors from closing.

‘
C’mon!’ he yelled at William, who lay looking dazed and confused in a heap at the foot of the escalators.

The doors
‘beeped’
as they struggled to close.

‘
William, please!’ Neanna said.

Shaking his large head, William rolled onto all fours and leapt towards the closing doors. Zach stooped as William bounded over him and into the carriage. Releasing his grip on the doors, Zach lept backwards as they hissed shut. Then the screaming started all over again.

Zach raced up the carriage as people curled up in their seats desperate to keep out of the way of the
massive wolf-thing. The train listed from side to side as it sped over points and raced towards London.

The three of them ran through the carriages until they reached the first class compartment at the front of the train. This carriage was quieter and occupied by just one passenger who lay slumped asleep
in one corner listening to his ipod.

‘
It’s not going to take them long to figure out what happened to us,’ Zach told William and Neanna.

‘
How will they know the way we are heading?’ William barked.

‘
CCTV! That’s how!’ Zach snapped, peering out of the train windows into the darkness.

‘
CCTV?’ Neanna asked, gripping the handrail as the train lurched this way and that.

‘
Yeah, they’re cameras that watch everything you do,’ he said, sensing neither William nor Neanna had the slightest idea of what he was going on about. ‘They’re kinda like mechanical eyes that watch what’s going on. It’s for security. It makes people feel safer. But then again, it just makes you feel like you’re being spied on!’

‘
Mechanical eyes,’ Neanna gasped. ‘And I thought Endra was full of magic.’

‘
It’s not magic,’ Zach said.

‘
Can I take some of these magical eyes back to Endra for my dad?’ William asked.

‘
No you can’t! They’re not magical and they don’t work like that,’ Zach said, peering out of the window again.

‘
What do you keep looking for?’ Neanna asked.

‘
I want to see if we are slowing down…to see if they’ve worked out what has happened to us. They might stop the train and then we’ll be trapped.’

‘
What sort of beast pulls this
train?
’ William asked.

Rolling his eyes, Zach gasped,
‘look nothing is pulling this train. It doesn’t work like that. We haven’t used animals to pull vehicles for years!’

‘
So how does this huge beast move at such an incredible speed?’ William pushed.

‘
It’s not a beast!’ Zach cried exasperated. ‘It’s a machine like the big flying bird we were on. It has an
engine!
’

Zach didn
’t mean to lose his temper with William, and deep in his heart he understood what William and Neanna were going through. They were just as confused and bewildered by this strange new world as he had been when stepping through the doorway into Endra. But now wasn’t the time for questions. Just like the time hadn’t been right for the questions he had pestered William with as they had raced towards the Howling Forests on the stagecoach. Looking at the world through William’s and Neanna’s eyes, Zach guessed that Earth was just as magical as Endra. It was a different kind of magic that was all.

‘
Can I take one of these
engines
home?’ William began, ‘they sound incredible. What do you feed them on?’

Zach put a finger to his lips.
‘Shhh! We’re slowing down!’

The train gave off a
hissing
sound as the driver applied the brakes and the train slowed. Pressing his hands against the windows, Zach tried to see what was happening ahead. To his relief, he could see the lights and the many platforms of Victoria railway station.

The train rolled to a halt and Zach went and stood by the doors. As soon as they had parted, Zach peered along the platform expecting to see it teaming with Transport Police, but there was no one.

Stepping onto the deserted platform, Zach ushered his two friends to join him, leaving the sleeping passenger unaware that he had just taken a ride with a werewolf and a vampire.

‘Something isn’t right,’ Zach whispered.

‘
What do you mean?’ Neanna asked, doing that thing with her shoulders again and releasing her wings.

‘
This is a busy commuter station in the heart of our biggest city. It should be teaming with people and look; no one else has got off the train.’

‘
Maybe they know something we don’t,’ William barked.

‘
That’s what worries me,’ Zach said, leading them onto the huge desolate concourse.

‘
We should keep to the sides,’ Neanna whispered.

‘
Why?’ Zach asked her.

‘
We’re less easily seen that way.’

Following her instructions
, the three of them made their way around the edges of the concourse pressed against the shop windows. They had made it about halfway round when somebody shouted at them through a loudhailer.

‘
THIS IS THE POLICE. STAY WHERE YOU ARE!’ the voice commanded, echoing off the floor and walls of the station. ‘PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR SO WE CAN SEE THEM!’

William looked down at his paws and then at Zach.
‘These cops of yours are far too dumb to be peacekeepers.’

There was a moments silence then the voice came again.

‘MOVE INTO THE CENTRE OF THE STATION CONCOURSE. KEEP YOUR HANDS WHERE WE CAN SEE THEM. ANY PERCIEVED HOSTILITY WILL BE MET WITH LETHAL FORCE!’

‘
Neanna can’t you
blink
your way out of this?’ Zach asked.

‘
I don’t seem to have that ability in Earth,’ she said. ‘I think it has been replaced with my wings.’

Before Zach could say anything else,
Neanna was swooping up into