Alex Van Helsing Voice of the Undead - By Jason Henderson Page 0,37
it; his hands were up and faced toward them as though he were blocking access to the VIP section of a nice restaurant.
“He’s here because he wanted to see how Steven is doing,” Vienna said softly, as though talking to a child.
“We came to visit,” said Alex.
“Shut up,” Bill said as soon as Alex opened his mouth. “Shut up!”
“Why aren’t you in the room?” Vienna asked.
Minhi started moving down the hall and the other four followed, pushing past Bill without touching him, and Bill started backing up.
“Wait—” Bill said. Alex’s head filled with static. Alex looked sideways at Paul who held up his hands, as if agreeing with Bill. Alex headed for the door. Bill stepped in his way.
“What’s going on, Bill?” Alex said, and he felt his voice betraying the alarm going off in his head.
“Now’s a bad time,” Bill said. “Even you can understand that. Go back. Vienna, it’s a bad time. Get out.” Bill pointed at each of them, Alex, Sid, Paul, and Minhi. “Take him back, take him back, take him back, and take her back and GET THE HELL OUT.”
Alex watched Bill’s eyes—then ran for the room. He stopped in the doorway, looking through to see a doctor with his back to him, brown hair and a sterile blue cap on his head, blue scrubs at the shoulders. Then the doctor stepped away.
Alex now saw a room of four people dressed in scrubs and moving around the bed. Steven’s legs were covered in blankets. Two of the doctors were setting up a gurney next to the bed.
Behind them, crumpled in the corner, lay a man in blue scrubs with a stream of red flowing liberally down from his throat.
Alex started to turn when Bill grabbed him by the shoulder, spinning him around and then socking him in the face. Alex’s vision went thoroughly gaga for a second until he snapped back as Bill slammed him against the wall, his fingers around his collar.
“What are you doing?” Alex whispered to Bill, stunned. “Don’t you know what they are?”
Alex twisted away and ran for Steven’s door.
Bill grabbed him and dragged him. “Get out, get out, haven’t you done enough?” he shrieked.
Out of nowhere, Minhi stepped between them with her fists linked together, slamming her forearms down on Bill’s arm. Bill dropped Alex.
Two people in scrubs came out guiding a gurney with a white sheet over the form in it, followed by two more people. Alex could see Steven’s face at one end of the gurney, pale and waxy—but dead? It was impossible to tell. “They’re taking him!” Alex shouted.
Paul and Sid came running alongside Alex. One of the doctors with a blue cap over her head looked back, and Alex recognized Elle’s eyes in an instant. She started running with the gurney toward the elevator while the other three “doctors” squared off, blocking the boys’ path.
Alex, Sid, and Paul stopped as Minhi came up next to them, halting as well. The three vampires stood perfectly still. They folded their arms, three blue guards.
Alex spoke over his shoulder to Bill, who was behind him, near Vienna. “You can’t do this, Bill, you can’t let them take him. You have no idea what you’re getting into.”
“They’re not taking him,” Bill said, coming up and passing Alex, stepping through the line of doctors. The elevator chimed—hmm, so it wasn’t busted after all—and Elle pushed the gurney on. Bill got on the elevator as well. “They’re taking us.”
Alex said urgently, “Bill, they’ll kill him.”
Bill shook his head, and Alex wasn’t sure if Bill meant to say that Alex was wrong, or that Steven was dead already.
“Bill, stop!” Vienna cried, running now down the hallway toward Bill.
“I can’t believe you would bring him here,” Bill said to her, referring to Alex with scorn. “I thought you were our friend.”
One of the doctor-vampires grabbed Vienna, stopping her progress. Minhi sprang into action. Hung Gar kung fu always delivered powerful blows that could, in Sangster’s terms, “take your head off.”
Minhi jumped, bringing her leg up and down, coiling and uncoiling straight into the knee of the vampire on the right, who had grabbed Vienna. The knee folded back with a solid crunch and the vampire howled in anger, dropping Vienna and turning his attention to Minhi.
Alex reached for the stake hidden in his jacket and raised it, plunging it into the chest of the wounded vampire. An explosion of dust hit the air. The doors of the elevator closed.