Alex Van Helsing The Triumph of Death - By Jason Henderson Page 0,6

ears. The vampire he’d chosen seemed to be banking a little, slower than the other, and Alex aimed for him.

Within a hundred yards Alex began to worry. If he struck the parachute he would wrap himself up and fall to the earth in a cloth cocoon. If he struck the vampire’s body with his head, he was pretty sure his neck would break.

He thought about flipping again and striking the vampire with his feet, but for a grisly millisecond he pictured hitting the vampire with such force, all located in his heels, that he would sail clear through the creature’s body and plummet toward the earth, torn to shreds by its jagged ribs as he passed through.

Hug the vampire, body to body. That had to be the way.

Alex had the vampire’s body in sight and prepared to strike. When he could see his face and shining eyes, Alex extended his arms wide, as if he were about to hug a tree.

The vampire looked up in shock just as Alex came rolling in at full speed. Suddenly Alex’s vision went out completely. Static roared in his brain like a lion, and for a moment it was as though he could see systems clicking on, sparks of electricity in his blacked-out vision kicking him awake once more. Alex heard the parachute lurch loudly as the vampire grunted.

His vision returned and he found himself hugging the vampire chest to chest. He grabbed on to the straps, and they began to spin.

The vampire moved quickly from shocked to confused to enraged. “Dudo! Idiot!” he heard the vampire cry as they spun, the parachute tilting this way and that as they swung. The vampire reared back his head and then lunged his teeth for Alex. He felt the press of fangs against the turtleneck and heard the sizzle of flesh and saliva against the silver lining. The pressure smarted, though, and Alex angrily butted the vampire in the head with his helmet. “Stop that!”

“This is my parachute!” the vampire yelled, though Alex could barely hear him over the sound of the wind and through the plastic visor. There was something insane and almost merry in his sparkling eyes.

“I’m joining you, and we can fight when we hit the ground!” Alex yelled.

“No,” the vampire shouted. “It’s too much weight! Which one of us do you think will survive hitting the ground, eh?”

Alex looked down to see a grassy field, barely visible in the moonlight. Even with the parachute, the ground was coming up fast. He understood now. The parachute had been prepared for just the vampire, who probably weighed less than Alex did, even with his muscular frame. Vampires were cat-like, fast and light.

The vampire tried to kick him away, and Alex held on, smashing him in the nose briefly before yanking back from the teeth once more.

They were hurtling toward the ground now. He judged he had another hundred yards to go. Alex loosed one of his hands and reached back to his go package.

“So we die together, no?” The vampire had an insane look in his eye.

“Nope,” Alex yelled.

“What makes you so sure?”

“I have something that you don’t have,” Alex answered, “and it’s going to give me some more time.”

“What’s that?”

Alex brought the Polibow to the vampire’s chest and pulled the trigger, feeling a solid thump as the bolt slammed between the creature’s ribs and into his heart.

“Hot air.”

The vampire roared and Alex dropped his Polibow and wrapped his elbows around the straps. He yanked up and away as far as possible, pressing his face against his forearms as a fireball erupted where the creature had been.

Alex saw the orange flash burst against his wind visor and cringed as the helmet heated up immediately. As he closed his eyes the flash blazed brilliantly for a split second. The wave of fire and hot air pushed in all directions, and Alex was yanked sharply upward as the parachute caught the air and rose a full twenty yards.

Alex opened his eyes and yelped; his leather jacket was on fire, and he started patting it down wildly with his free hand as he spun. For a moment he worried the parachute would catch fire, but like a hot air balloon, it merely expanded and rose with the sudden burst from the vampire.

Alex spun with the straps, hanging on for dear life, his legs churning wildly.

The parachute whipped and lurched as the earth came toward him once more, and Alex hit the soft grass running. Even so, he