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"Och, leave me the dirty job. Thank you so much." Robby peered into the ditch. "The spikes are about three feet apart. I should be able to levitate down between them."
"You'll notice if you miss," Mikhail muttered.
Carlos wondered if the Russian was joking. It was hard to tell with that stoic, rock-hard face.
"I'll help you," Zoltan offered.
As Robby and Zoltan lowered themselves slowly into the ditch, the rest of the Vamps teleported across, taking Carlos and Caitlyn with them.
Carlos glanced ruefully at the bloodstained stone floor where he'd died. "This way." He led Caitlyn and the Vamps through the narrow passage into the large burial room. He lit the torches, and all two hundred clay figures came into view.
"Holy cow!" Kyo exclaimed.
"The devil take it," Angus whispered.
Mikhail lifted a brow.
"I think we're alone, but just in case..." Angus drew his sword.
Mikhail and Kyo unsheathed their swords, too.
Caitlyn led them down the steps into the lower portion of the room. "At first I thought they were symbolic of a dead army, but Carlos broke a few open, and we discovered skeletons inside."
"We couldn't understand why a vampire would go to this much trouble to preserve a bunch of dead bodies," Carlos added as they walked across the room. "But when we found the soldier in a vampire coma, we figured Master Han may have been trying to put them all into vampire comas."
Angus looked about, frowning. "If that's true, then there could be others who survived."
"We'll have to check them all," Mikhail concluded. He handed the ice chest to Angus, then started down a row, cracking each clay shell with the blunt end of his sword to make sure only a skeleton lay beneath.
"I'll help." Kyo started down another row.
Going at vampire speed, the two Vamps moved quickly down the rows.
Caitlyn shuddered. "I keep imagining them all suddenly standing up and moving toward me."
Carlos wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "They can't hurt you."
Angus shook his head. "If Master Han had succeeded, he could have transformed all these men at the same time. He would have had an instant vampire army at his disposal."
Robby and Zoltan entered the large room, carrying Tanit's body. They placed him in a row of clay figures.
"This place is amazing." Robby strode toward them, his kilt swishing about his knees.
"Aye, but I can only be glad that Master Han failed," Angus added.
"How can you be sure?" Mikhail called from across the chamber as he finished cracking open the clay figures. "There could be other caves just like this."
That gave them all pause.
"Tanit said that Master Han has killed thousands," Caitlyn whispered. "There are only two hundred here."
"Kyo, I want you and your team in Tokyo to investigate this Master Han," Angus ordered.
"Hai." Kyo smashed the last clay figure with the end of his samurai sword. "These guys are all dead."
"Good." Angus turned to Carlos. "Show us the soldier."
"This way." Carlos led them up some steps and into the next room.
With no vampires in sight, the Vamps sheathed their weapons. Angus set the ice chest on the floor.
Carlos passed the first two altars where the clay figures housed skeletal remains. The third altar was just as they left it. Major Russell Ryan Hankelburg rested there in his green fatigues.
Kyo frowned at him. "He looks dead to me."
"He's not dead," Mikhail said. "He hasn't decayed."
"His muscles haven't withered," Caitlyn added. "It's like he's frozen in time."
Angus rested one hand on the major's chest, then lifted the eyelids to examine his eyes. "Aye, he's in a vampire coma."
"How long has he been like that?" Robby asked.
"We estimate about forty years," Carlos said.
Zoltan shook his head. "I've never heard of a person lasting so long."
"Aye." Angus drew his Highland dirk from his knee sock. "But he willna survive the night if his body rejects the transformation."
"He is strong," Mikhail said. "He will fight."
"We shall see." Angus sliced his forearm. As blood oozed from the wound, he placed it over the major's mouth.
Nothing happened.
Angus pulled the major's cap off and tapped his fingers against his temple. "Come on, lad."
Mikhail shook his booted feet.
"He's so far down in a black hole," Zoltan said. "He's probably forgotten which way is up."
Angus smeared blood on the major's mouth and nose. "Wake up, lad." He glanced at Caitlyn. "Maybe he'll respond to a female voice."
"Okay." She leaned close and placed a hand on his brow. "Russell, do you hear me? Russell, come back. Come back home."
The major's body jerked. His mouth opened with a gasp.
"That's it." Angus dripped some of his blood into Russell's mouth.
The major coughed.
"Ye have to drink it, lad." Angus drizzled more blood into Russell's mouth.
The major swallowed, then his body trembled. He grabbed Angus's arm and drank from the wound.
"Is that what causes the transformation?" Caitlyn asked. "He has to drink blood from a vampire?"
"Aye," Angus answered. "First he must be drained dry by a vampire. All his mortal blood must be gone, and he has to fall into a vampire coma. Usually, the coma never lasts longer than one night."
The major released Angus's arm and opened his eyes. His gaze shifted from Angus to Caitlyn, and he looked confused. Then his gaze drifted up to the top of the cave. His eyes widened with alarm.
"Russell Ryan Hankelburg," he croaked. "Major, United States Marine Corps. Serial number five-seven - "
"Lad, ye're no' a prisoner," Angus told him.
"We found you in this cave." Caitlyn smiled and patted his shoulder. "You're safe now. You're among friends."
He lifted his head to look at all the people. His gaze landed on Kyo and he gasped. "Charlie!" He struggled to sit up.
"What?" Kyo huffed with indignation.
Russell searched his uniform in vain for weapons.
"You think I look like Viet Cong?" Kyo cried. "I'm not commie bastard. I'm Japanese! Descendant from noble ninja warrior!"
"Relax, Kyo," Angus muttered.
Robby chuckled. "Yeah, tell us how ye really feel."
Russell eyed them all warily. He winced and rubbed his stomach.
"That's the hunger ye're feeling," Angus explained. He motioned toward the ice chest, and Mikhail removed a bottle of synthetic blood.
"Where am I?" Russell asked.
"A cave in Thailand," Carlos told him. "What do you remember last?"
"I was on leave in Phuket. I went into a bar and - " Russell grimaced, pressing a hand to his stomach. "I don't remember."
"Most likely, a vampire took control of yer mind," Angus said. "Then he teleported you here to feed off you."
"What?" Russell gave him an incredulous look.
"What year is it?" Zoltan asked him.
"Nineteen seventy-one." Russell's eyes narrowed with suspicion. "Why do you ask?"
"Lad, there's no easy way to tell you this," Angus said. "Ye've been in a coma for thirty-nine years."
Russell flinched. "Thirty-nine?"
"Aye." Angus nodded. "Ye'll find that the world has changed quite a bit."
Russell looked askance at him and Robby. "Men are wearing skirts now?"
The Scotsmen stiffened while the others in the room snickered.
"This is a kilt," Robby announced.
"Aye," Angus added. "'Tis a fine, manly tradition amongst the Scots."
"Right." Russell turned to Caitlyn and smiled. "And what's your name?"
"She's my wife," Carlos growled.
Angus chuckled. "And some things havena changed at all."
"Look, whoever you guys are - Agh!" Russell doubled over, holding his stomach. "Damn."
"'Tis the hunger." Angus accepted a bottle of synthetic blood from Mikhail, then offered it to Russell. "Here. Ye need to drink this."
Russell lifted the bottle to his nose. "Blood?" He threw the bottle aside and it smashed into a rock wall.
