The Children Of The Mist (13 page)

One of the guards let out a howl of triumph and launched himself like a galleon in full sail. This seemed to act as a general invitation. Soon she was squashed like an upturned bug beneath their collective weight. The smell was unbelievable. Was that a butt in her face? She could make out muffled conversation and someone pounding on the door.

The guards carefully peeled themselves away, all hands on her deck. Morven's killing rage had not subsided, and the sight of Blondie advancing on her with a large syringe wound her up another notch. For a moment she went limp. And closed her eyes, her chin sagging onto her chest. She managed a couple of crocodile tears and sniffed sadly.

‘That's more like it, Morven,' said Blondie smugly. ‘Just a little prick.'

Morven's eyes snapped open. ‘I wouldn't say that,' she hissed.

And then the door behind her exploded. Something black and angry stalked into the room.

Everyone present went very still and very quiet.

Morven grinned, bemused but thrilled. ‘Hey, Dog, how you doing?'

Dog padded slowly over and stopped, his muzzle millimetres from the neck of one of the guards. The guard turned the sickly hue of buttermilk. A deep, menacing rumble emanated from the dog's broad chest. His lips peeled back, exposing healthy pink gums and brilliant teeth. Big, bitey, white teeth.

Morven chuckled as the terrified guard caught her eye. ‘All the better to eat you with, my dear,' she said.

The other guard slowly slid a hand down to his boot. When he withdrew it he held a large black gun. ‘Just keep very still, everyone,' he said carefully. He shifted his weight a fraction, slowly raised the weapon and pointed it between Dog's brown eyes. ‘Let's see how you like this, you ugly great cur,' he said.

Dog snarled and began to move slowly around toward him. Morven felt a sudden wave of panic. ‘Dog, don't!'

The guard kept a steady hand. He licked his lips. ‘If you have the medication, I won't need to shoot the dog.'

‘I really wouldn't advise that.'

Morven's heart leapt. While she couldn't see behind her, she knew that voice alright. ‘Zest, what took you?'

‘Morven, sorry I'm late. Had to make a small diversion. Had to see a man about a dog.' Zest strolled through the doorway, looking around as if he were genuinely interested. ‘Good evening, Morven, ladies, gentlemen,' he said cheerfully. ‘I think your business is concluded. Please let the little lady go.'

The armed guard seemed unsure. The gun flickered from Dog to Zest and back again. ‘Who the hell are you?' he said.

‘I,' said Zest politely, ‘am Zest. Who are you?'

‘Ralph Fletcher. Security.'

Zest nodded. ‘Pleased to make your acquaintance, Ralph Fletcher Security. And, while I'd normally love to hang around for a yarn, time, as they say, is of the essence. It appears that half the police force is currently speeding in this general direction. So, I repeat, most politely, please let the lady go.'

Blondie butted in urgently. ‘Fletcher. Don't you dare. I don't know how he knows the police are on the way, but he's right. Just keep him in your sights, we have the advantage.'

Morven could also hear that which Zest could hear. The distant whine of police sirens. Someone had called the code. What a pain. Blondie's words had a certain amount of truth about them. It did seem that they were at something of a stalemate.

Zest however seemed unperturbed. He moved slowly around the room until he was finally just inside Morven's range of vision. Despite Morven's preoccupation with the general unpleasantness of the moment, she could not help but notice that Zest was looking pretty good. Was it her imagination or had he filled out — a lot? And he was taller. But maybe that was just because of her humiliating position on the floor. And there was something else, a kind of aura of energy that pulsated invisibly around him. All in all, it was most distracting.

And then he smiled down at her, his emerald green eyes glinting with familiar mischief. ‘Won't be long, Morven, hang in there.'

There was a loud click. Several heads turned and stared at the gun, primed and ready for action. Ralph aimed the gun at Zest. ‘Call the dog off or I'll shoot him, and then you.'

Zest's smile vanished. ‘Be my guest,' he said, in an odd flat tone.

Morven sensed that the guard really meant business. She let out a rebel yell and went bananas, writhing and kicking, trying to throw him off target.

Zest reached down to his waist and in a movement so rapid Morven could scarcely follow, he flicked out a long shiny coil. At first Morven thought it was some sort of rope but it seemed to be made of metal. It sparkled in the artificial light. Whatever it was, Zest struck out with it almost casually. There was a faint metallic zing and the gun flew up into the air. Like a set of synchronised swimmers, both guards leapt up and surged toward the airborne weapon. They slapped together in a bone-crunching collision. And landed, empty handed.

Zest reeled the gun in on the end of his coil and caught it neatly in his spare hand. ‘Excellent,' he said. ‘I think the advantage is mine, don't you?'

It was a moot point. One of the guards said something very rude. The rest of the watching party were silent, but their expressions seemed to echo the sentiment. Zest, coil in one hand and gun in the other, glanced briefly at Morven who was peeling herself off the floor. ‘Let's go,' he said.

Morven shook her head. ‘I'm not going out looking like this.'

Zest's eyes opened until the whites were exposed. His expression was incredulous. ‘You're kidding, right?'

Morven lifted a fine black eyebrow. ‘Never been more serious.'

Zest opened his mouth, and then closed it again. He turned to the outraged audience and pointed the gun at Blondie. ‘Undress. Quickly.'

For a moment Morven thought the young doctor was going to object. But then Dog let out a menacing growl and eyeballed him. Blondie dropped his daks in double quick time.

‘You can keep the underpants,' said Zest kindly. ‘Okay, throw ‘em to the lady.'

Blondie threw them with a poor grace. Morven dragged the white shirt and pale grey pants on over her hospital gown, and pulled on the white coat. ‘How do I look?'

Zest grinned. ‘Gorgeous.'

There was a small wave of subtle communication between the hospital staff. Morven knew the source of their excitement. They too could finally hear the approaching police cars. She looked at them all. ‘I wish I could say it's been a pleasure…' She turned to Zest. ‘Let's get the fluck out of here.'

Zest held the baddies at bay while she backed out the door. Dog backed out after her. A split second later they were racing down the corridor. Dog's tail waved wildly. Morven knew exactly how he felt.

Morven crashed into Zest's back when he came to an abrupt halt. Although Morven would have rather been slow roasted in camel dung than admit it, it was not an entirely unpleasant experience. ‘What's up?' she said, peering over his shoulder. But as her eyes followed his green ones out of the wide window, she was already up to speed. The car park below was lit up with blue and red lights. Voices echoed down the corridor behind them. Zest was quiet for a moment. Morven restrained her impatience, aware he was thinking hard.

‘Okay,' he said. ‘At the end of the corridor there's a window that looks out over another building. We'll go that way.'

Morven didn't argue. She nodded and raced down the tiled floor. She skidded to a halt. Zest pulled out the gun and shot the pane of glass. For a moment nothing happened, and then the glass around the tiny round hole turned to crazy paving. Zest lifted one booted foot and smashed it in. Shards of glass shot in every direction. Morven sincerely wished she had some shoes. But with a posse of irate staff yelling abuse in one direction and the encroaching armed forces in the other, there was no other choice.

Without hesitation she leapt through the gap. Despite the tension and the high risk of capture, Morven let out a yell of joy as her body soared, lighter than air, up and through the gap. To her relief Dog landed almost simultaneously on the old tin roof beside her. The roof subsided slightly as Zest landed.

‘Follow me,' he said.

As they sped across the creaking, groaning roof, Morven realised that Zest was moving at an unnatural speed as well. It was impossible to suppress the belief that he too was Vampyre and that in Zest she had found her natural counterpart. How else could things be explained? Zest had known, even before she had, what she was. It just made sense in a world that had tilted on its axis. And as the three of them progressed from roof-top to roof-top, her conviction grew. No wonder she was so attracted to him. They were the same. She couldn't wait to sit down and talk. There was so much to say, so much to ask. So much to know.

The pace didn't slow until they reached a long, flat concrete roof. Vents steamed hot air out into the night. In the shadow of a tall chimney stack Zest finally paused. It was as quiet as a church. Only the soft hiss of air and the muted sound of sirens broke the silence. It seemed they were in the clear. Dog licked Morven's hand and she bent down and gave him a hug. It was only then that it occurred to her that Dog had performed rather well, even for a Belgian shepherd. Despite the headlong flight, Dog seemed pretty relaxed. He wasn't even panting. Weird.

She looked at Zest and found him watching her. For a moment she forgot her curiosity as she swam in the deep emerald currents of his eyes. ‘What now?' she said.

He looked out into the dark landscape. ‘We gotta get some wheels. Your mum and dad are waiting for us at my place. If we go down here, and cut through the gardens we should be about on track.'

Morven was astounded, delighted and deeply scared all at once. Mum and Dad. They must be alright. At least they weren't locked up at the police station. How she ached to see them. But still, she and Zest would probably be on Australia's most wanted list by now. If
she went to them they'd be in deeper doo doo than they were already. Much as she wanted to go to them, it seemed a bad idea.

‘Zest, we can't do that. They'll be in such trouble.'

Zest laughed. ‘Not half so much trouble as I'll be in, if you're not with them by morning.'

‘But — ‘

‘No buts. I promised, Morven. They'll go off the deep end if they don't see you. Besides, you have to talk to them. It's important.'

Morven wasn't utterly convinced, but Zest's insistence and her natural desire to be reunited with them tipped the scale. And besides, Zest was right. She did need to talk to them. The time for secrets was in the past. ‘Okay,' she said.

Zest looked relieved but didn't say anything. He went to the edge of the roof and peered cautiously over the low edge. ‘Good a time as any,' he said. Without another word, he jumped. Morven watched him land, light as a cat. He looked briefly around and then stepped back, craning his head back to look upward.

Morven took a deep breath and followed. Wind whistled through her ears and filled her over-large shirt with air. She felt almost weightless and as her feet hit the hard concrete path the impact was minimal. It was almost like flying. Briefly she recalled her last wild ride on her board. No matter what, she just had to get her hands on another. She felt strangely naked being out at night with Zest without her wheels. And besides, she really wanted to find out what Batgirl was capable of. It was a tantalising thought.

A loud whine pierced the air. Morven looked up. Dog walked up to the edge of the wall like a black phantom. He stopped, peered over the edge and whined again. Filled with anxiety, Morven looked at Zest, but her friend seemed unperturbed.

‘Come on, Dog, don't be a pussy,' he said softly, ‘you can do it.'

Dog stopped again, his eyes burning red in the dark as he gazed unhappily down at them.

Zest put a hand into the long pocket at the front of his pants. There was a soft rustling and then he withdrew his hand and put something in his mouth. The pungent, sweet smell of aniseed flowed through the still night air.

Above them Dog whined again. And then, just as Morven began to feel panicky, he broke into a run and launched himself into the air. When he hit the ground, he skidded a fair distance before coming to a stop.

‘Pretend you didn't notice,' Zest whispered as he casually strolled over to the canine.

Dog picked himself up, shook and sat primly down. Zest threw him an aniseed ball which he crunched between his large jaws. With one last glance around, Zest gave them the nod and they raced across a car park and over a timber paling fence, into an untidy backyard. A kitchen window spilled yellow light over a small pond and a shaggy group of bushes. Morven could hear the TV on. Silent as wraiths they slipped down the garden path, past the bins and out into the street. Zest led the way unerringly up the road and then stopped beside a huge black car.

‘This is it,' he said.

Morven looked at the vehicle in surprise. ‘Whose is it?'

Zest grinned. ‘Mine. Well…let's say I borrowed it.'

Morven realised that it had no regular number plate but instead had car yard plates. Zest had taken it from his workplace. She rounded on him. ‘You stole it! You
stole
the car.'
Her indignation notched up another ratchet as something else occurred to her. ‘You don't even have a licence!'

Zest scooped a set of keys out of his back pocket. ‘What can I say? The devil made me do it?'

He did not look even the teensiest bit sorry. Morven scowled. ‘Well, I'm not getting in that thing. It's illegal. I mean — can you actually drive it?'

Zest snorted with laughter. ‘Oh…I see…case of double standards here. Alright for Morven to break out of the loony bin…but bad for Zest to borrow a car.'

‘It's not the same, and you know it.' Morven poked him in the chest. The flesh beneath was as hard as steel.