It had only been a few weeks since Lindsey Kate McIntosh had, for reasons unknown to her friends and family, suddenly changed her career and moved to Aviemore. Whilst she had a great deal of affection for the idyllic highland town, (she used to spend every New Year there when she was just a child with her family.) Sadly it wasn't because of childhood nostalgia as her family believed as to why she had returned. During her recent stay in Wigtown in the Galloway region, Lindsey had become involved in the never ending war between humanity and the vile vampire horde. It all began one night when she was coming home from her favourite pub, The Smoking Fish. She and her friend were suddenly set upon by the bloodsuckers who had become more bold in their attacks over the last few months.
Little did Lindsey or indeed even any members of Scathach, an organisation designed to hunt down paranormal creatures across all of Scotland know, vampires of many different breeds were all working together for a far greater purpose. The resurrection of their former king, the Blue Devil who legend stated would one day restore them to glory.
Despite her and the more experienced hunters' efforts, the undead demons were successful in bringing the Blue Devil back, with Lindsey herself witnessing, and barely surviving his return to our world. Even though she hadn't exactly come across as the most fearless vampire killer during the ordeal. Lindsey found she couldn't go back to her old life after knowing what was really out there. She believed she had to confront the supernatural evil that had almost claimed her life or she would never know peace.
After a short time training and a few vampire hunts, Lindsey was sent to Scathach's main base of operations near Aviemore. The organisation subsequently supplied her with both income and accommodation (in a chalet on the outskirts of the town.)
Things were very quiet at first which Lindsey wasn't too upset at, as it gave her a chance to revisit some of her favourite old haunts. From Loch Morlich to Santa Claus Land to the Cairn Gorns, for the most part Aviemore was just as enchanting as always to Lindsey. Eventually however she did grow impatient and even scared that something had perhaps happened to the Aviemore office and that soon the vampires would overrun the area, but just when it seemed as though it would never come, Lindsey was finally given the call by the Aviemore offices. Its head Daniel Winn, (one of the most experienced and skilled vampire hunters of all time.) Wanted her and all the hunters in the local area to attend the HQ for a meeting.
Scathach's office in the Highlands was located beneath Fort George, which Lindsey had also visited regularly as a child. In fact every New Year's day the family would go there. Lindsey used to refer to it simply as the Spooky Fort.
When Lindsey arrived at George still in the daylight hours, she saw a young woman smoking just outside the passageway that she was told to go down from the courtyard. (One of the few places in the Fort that naturally wasn't open to the public.)
The young woman was dressed in a white tank top, and had jet black hair styled into a towering beehive, whilst her already striking green eyes were highlighted by a thick, black, cat like eyeliner. Lindsey thought she looked like Ronnie Spector albeit with a nose six times the size of anyone she'd ever met, never mind Ronnie.
When she spoke however the aspiring Ronnette had a very thick cockney accent.
"I take it you're one of us? If not, the Fort is closed, sorry." She said whilst puffing away,
Lindsey didn't know what to say. In spite of the fact that Scathach were short of men and women, she felt that she was only here on tolerance due to her lack of experience. Clearly whoever this woman was, she was important.
"You awright darling? Don't be scared, Daniel's a nice guy when you get to know em." She continued.
"Eh thank you, I'm sorry I'm just a bit nervous. Never been to HQ before, I'm rather excited". Lindsey said awkwardly.
The beehive topped woman smiled.
"Nice to see someone who is enthusiastic about doing the right thing. Most people here are on a vengeance crusade or so bitter they don't care anymore. It's just a job to them." The beehive topped woman said before putting her cigarette out on the floor.
"I'm Carlene". She continued.
"Lindsey and thank you, though I'll be honest I'm also scared. Not just of the vampires, but what they'll make of me in there. I haven't exactly had the most prolific career in this profession. Not sure I'm cut out for it to tell you the truth, and maybe this eh Daniel guy will think the same."
Carlene laughed.
"I don't know, I think maybe you'll find your niche. Anyway let's get in. Don't want to be late. Typical of Daniel not letting me smoke in there. He can be a tight git. He's bothered more by me being a smoker than being undead."
That last line troubled Lindsey. She couldn't be a vampire surely? Lindsey's past experiences with vampires suggested that if they had taken over HQ then she would have known about it by now. The bloodsuckers weren't known for their restraint after all. Maybe Carlene was a Zombie, though she was far too gorgeous to be one Lindsey thought to herself, but then again the vampires in her experience hadn't been as attractive as the movies had made out, so maybe the same was true in reverse of Zombies?
In the end Lindey assumed she just had to be joking. Maybe the undead remark was a reference to the fact that she was wearing such outdated clothes? They walked a few feet down the corridor which suddenly changed from a damp, dark crumbling hallway into a bright modern looking if slightly drab carpeted hallway with multiple doors on either side. Carlene told Lindsey that without the blessing of the HQ, a person would simply continue to walk down the hallway of the fort until they reached the end. Lindsey didn't quite understand it, but she didn't have too.
They continued down several more halls until they finally reached the main room. It looked rather small with all the agents cramped together in fold out chairs. Daniel stood ahead of them with a projector and a white board. Overall it looked like the type of meeting you'd expect in the civil service, not a secret organisation of vampire hunters. To be fair though this was the first meeting of vampire killers Lindsey had been a part of, so she didn't have much of a reference. Carlene however later told her it was actually always pretty lowkey and crap in Scathach compared to other organisations. Apparently she used to run her operations from the Dakota building in New York in the 1970s, but that's a story for another time.
Daniel ran through a brief history of the Blue Devil and his accomplice, the respectable Lord McKensie for the newcomers, some of whom had joined after Lindsey. Daniel also explained that the vampires had been raiding the hideouts of old necromancers who once made Inverness their main base of operations in Scotland. Clearly the vampires wanted to resurrect someone or something, and whilst Scathach sadly didn't have any intel at the moment, Daniel had isolated all of the graveyards where the corpses of sorcerers, demons and allies of the vampires were buried, (with very few of the scoundrels being given the luxury of a burial. Only those whose true crimes were hidden from the rest of the world and were like Lord McKensie respectable figures of society on the surface, were buried.)
Daniel wanted people from Scathach to place a magical lock around every single graveyard in the nearby area, preventing any resurrection spells for the time being. He also wanted them to scan for any traces of resurrection magic to try and locate which if any body had been revived. (The vampires would obviously cover their tracks and Scathach didn't have the time nor the influence to go around digging up every grave nearby.)
Normally Scathach wouldn't waste resources on what would be such a difficult spell to maintain, but Daniel was desperate, though he didn't look it. On the contrary he was quite jokey with his team. He instantly put Lindsey and many of the others at ease with his laid back approach, though when it came to the mission he became very serious, and some of the more experienced members there including Carlene questioned his decision to use their magic to try and seal the graveyards. Daniel however quickly shut Carlene down, by pointing out that her "friend" was supposed to be here last week with the extra supply of magic. Carlene assured Daniel that he would be here tonight but he wasn't convinced.
"I know many of you are just starting out. Believe me I'm eternally grateful that you're all here." Daniel said to the crowd.
"I'm not going to lie though, I'd rather not send a lot of you out into the field this early to deal with the Blue Devil's forces. Vampires from all over the world are arriving to be his army. There are breeds that none of us have seen before, well apart from me, but still. We're low on magic, resources and people and so I'm afraid we'll all have to do our part to stop the Blue Devil. Ready or not."
The hunters were soon split up into groups made up of newcomers and the most experienced hunters. Carlene insisted that she go with Lindsey which Daniel despite their differences agreed to instantly. Lindsey meanwhile was still a little bit unsure about Carlene who almost seemed like she was hiding something, but at least she wasn't alone with her. Three other hunters, including another experienced one named Elle and two novices accompanied Carlene and Lindsey.
Carlene and her team were sent to Achtor Cemetery by Daniel that contained the largest amount of demons and supernatural creatures in the area. Carlene was not only deemed the most experienced hunter, but she also was acquainted with some of the locals there too.
Achtor had already seen three zombie outbreaks since the 1970s, though fortunately Scathach had been able to contain them before they spread out into the local towns and villages.
When they arrived in the cemetery the hunters saw there were already several open graves and broken mausoleums and crypts. The entire graveyard in fact had been abandoned since the 1950s, but Scathach still contained a list of the graves that had been broken into or had become zombies, which Carlene kept.
Two of the hunters performed the ritual, whilst Lindsey and another novice helped Carlene carry out a locator spell. The magics however disrupted some of the nearby ghosts, who soon came floating out of the ground in all directions. The spirits looked as though they came from many different eras. Everything from a 70s mod to a regency era twit, to a Pict warrior headed in the hunters direction. There were at least over 40 ghosts in total, though Carlene said there were hundreds more underground.
Scathach had offered to help these spirits cross over many times, but the spectres actually preferred it here. They had built a nice little community beneath the graveyard (made up mostly of spirits that weren't actually buried here) and generally didn't want to be disturbed, which was okay with Scathach. However any time the hunters were caught sniffing around the cemetery the ghosts were scared Scathach were going back on their word and were trying to exorcise them.
Fortunately Carlene quickly put the spectre's fears at ease. She regularly spent her downtime with the Ghosts. (There were even rumours about a relationship between her and the Pict warrior, but Carlene insisted that they were just friends.)
The leader of the ghosts was an old posh Scottish Lord from the 18th century named Duncan. He had specialized in the black arts when he was alive, and ironically had helped many spirits cross over into the afterlife. He had a great command over ghosts and resurrection spells as a result in general, which allowed his spirit to stick around after death and ultimately create the haven for ghosts under the graveyard, that was for spirits all over Scotland that either hadn't crossed over or had been dragged back here by the occult. As to why he didn't cross over, well Duncan was rumoured to have made some sacrifices in order to gain his power over ghosts that might not make him eager to visit the other side. Even if he did somehow use his skill to cheat and get into a better afterlife there are plenty of people he wouldn't want to see there.
"Carlene, how nice to see you again old girl. I take it this isn't a social call? If it is, well I'm afraid your friends can't join us. I'm sorry but nobody living can enter our lair." Duncan said.
Lindsey was a little bit disturbed by that implication, but Carlene carried on anyway.
"I'm afraid not, though don't worry I'll still be here for poker night next Tuesday. Sorry I've missed the last few darlin, but I've been caught up in this Blue Devil palaver, which is why we're here. Apparently his goons have been looking into a way to bring back the dead. We'd like to know who and well the cemeteries are a good place to look."
The Ghosts went silent for a bit before Duncan spoke.
"You know we don't like to get involved, Carlene. This is neutral ground, and many of the Blue Devil's minions can harm us too. Still we do owe you. How about a deal? You tell your goons here not to place their little lock around the cemetery, which could be problematic for us in preventing new recruits, and I'll give you some information on the Blue Devil." He said.
Carlene thought for just a few seconds before agreeing though only if the information was useful. Whilst she still didn't entirely trust Duncan, she did know that his claim about neutrality was true and that if was even considering getting involved to this extent, then the Blue Devil must have scared him.
"A few days ago, some vampires arrived here. None of us were exactly eager to take them on well apart from your boyfriend" he said which made Carlene roll her eyes. "Still we kept an eye on them for a short while at least before they chased us away, but James later said he saw them carrying a coffin out from the mausoleum of none other than Bruce Norman." Duncan explained.
The others were shocked to hear that except for Lindsey who asked after an awkward silence who Bruce was?
Some of the hunters and even the ghosts were appalled that she didn't know, but Carlene explained it.
"It's alright love, you're not local. Neither am I you might have guessed from the accent and well, everything, but I've been ere a lot longer than you. Bruce Norman was possibly the greatest vampire and demon slayer of the Highlands. He saved this world from being sucked into hell in the 1970s. According to the story he sacrificed his own soul to do so and was sent into that hell dimension in its place. He was honoured as a hero throughout the Highlands, even by demons who weren't too eager to go to that hell dimension either. I can't imagine why the Blue Devil would want to bring him back though? Either way we have to check it out." Carlene said.
Duncan wished her luck. Even though he still wasn't prepared to find out what the bloodsuckers wanted with Bruce, he and many of the other ghosts there were still disgusted at the idea of the Blue Devil disrupting his final resting place. (Whilst Bruce's soul had been pulled into hell, his body remained.)
On the way to Bruce's tomb, Carlene, Lindsey and the others saw many other strange and unusual sights. Among them included what looked like an open grave that when Lindsey got a little closer too she saw was actually a mouth filled with sharp teeth. Carlene pulled her out of the way when the grave's tongue that must have been over seven feet long reached out like a whip and nearly grabbed Lindsey.
"That's new?" Carlene said. "I mean I know what it is. It's a grave for black magics and dark spells that couldn't be dissipated, so Scathach just dumped em in there. Over the years they've merged together and created eh, quite a few anomalies as you can see. Last time I was ere it was just damned souls moaning. This is well it's different I suppose." Carlene continued as she led them away.
They also came across James who was revealed to the others to be a Zombie. He was the only survivor of the latest Zombie epidemic. In fact he was something of a hero as it had only been through James regaining control of his faculties that Scathach were able to defeat the Zombies. Afterwards he decided to stay watch over the zombies curse that wasn't completely gone to make sure they couldn't come back. Like the Ghosts he had actually built a rather comfortable home in one of the Mausoleums. In fact he was very good friends with the Ghosts and Carlene too. They bonded over a shared love of Alex Harvey.
Sadly however when James heard they were looking for Bruce's tomb he quickly went back into his Mausoleum. Despite the role he had played in stopping the Zombies, he still wasn't a warrior and would prefer to keep out of trouble if he could.
Among the other inhabitants of the cemetery included a pack of Pterodactyls, some of whom had built a nest in the largest tree at the edge of the river at the end of the cemetery. Lindsey saw one briefly fly towards a moat in the middle of the cemetery for fish. (Which brought back some unpleasant memories from Galloway.) There was also a living house that rather than windows and doors had a face with burning eyes and a mouth. They passed by it briefly, with the house insisting that Carlene owed it 12 quid. She promised she'd pay on her next visit.They also saw what looked like a female zombie, though she was in actual fact a Frankenstein's monster carrying a bag that was filled with enchantments she had picked up from a nearby warlock to shield her crypt. Carlene waved to her and she briefly waved back but otherwise didn't really acknowledge the hunters. She didn't like people looking at her, not surprisingly. The monster looked completely misshapen, with one arm drastically shorter than the other, a body that looked far too tall for her legs, and a head that looked like it was made from two different skulls stitched together in a diagonal direction.
Lindsey learned from Carlene that old Victor Frankenstein not only existed, he had created many monsters. There were in fact two of them in the local area, a male and a female. Sadly the male had joined the side of the vampires, not long before the Blue Devil's return. His sister meanwhile it seemed wanted a more quiet life and was content to hang around with the ghosts. (She and James were also a thing for a while according to Carlene, but sadly James just couldn't commit.)
When they finally arrived at the mausoleum where Bruce's corpse was interred, they could see that it had been broken into. There was also the stench of broken magic in the air that had been used to protect Bruce's tomb for years, and had saved his corpse from being revived as a zombie.
When they went in however the actual coffin was still locked. Carlene could still sense there was something wrong with the coffin. She tried to stop the others from getting too near, but sadly one of them, Elle who had never really liked Carlene (and always resented her being put in charge) didn't listen. To be fair she also found the whole business of checking Bruce's tomb most distasteful and wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible. As soon as she started to wrench the coffin open, a large blast threw everyone there off their feet and broke the coffin open. A strange, gangly creature with a pale face, green eyes and long white talons then stepped out of it. The beast was far thinner than any humans could possibly be, though as Carlene and the others were about to learn it was still incredibly strong.
The creature was a vampire, specifically of the breed known as Zherdyai. They were exceptionally rare, having never been sighted in Scotland before now. They came from Eastern Europe. Carlene had heard of them, but had never enjoyed the pleasure of their company until now. Zherdyai were among the most feared vampire breeds, but they also were not the brightest. Surprisingly when the creature roared its cold breath was visible in the air.
Carlene pulled a copper knife out of her beehive, which she remembered was a weakness of this breed and started to slash at the gangly vampire. Unfortunately however it was able to move its slight frame as though it had no bones and literally alter its mass to evade her. After dodging several of Carlene's strikes, it then slashed her across the stomach and the face with its talons. One of the hunters tried to intervene but a quick scratch sent him tumbling to the ground. Carlene told the others to keep back as her wounds instantly healed over and her eyes went red and her teeth grew into fangs. It was obvious what she really was from the start, but Lindsey was still shocked to see Carlene was a vampire. Whilst she was willing to be cordial with the ghosts and Zombies of the graveyard, it would take some getting used to being around a vampire. Still at least for now she was more focused on surviving. Carlene meanwhile was able to outwit the slender, sleek vampire by striking at it with one copper knife, which it easily dodged, only to bring a second one out of her beehive which she brought down in the direction it was moving towards, impaling it through the torso to the ground.
The vampire let out a scream, but it did not give up and continued to dodge Carlene's attacks despite its torso being impaled, with its upper half still moving too quickly for Carlene to land a hit at its neck.
Meanwhile the hunter that had been scratched was struggling to breath. His face soon turned pale and he started to actively choke. This breed of vampire had a power to literally eat its victims breath, with just one scratch being able to choke its victim slowly and painfully.
The only way to stop it was to kill the vampire before its victim choked. Elle called on Carlene to help, allowing the gangly creature to pull its copper blade free and stab Carlene in the shoulder with it. Fortunately however the beast let its guard down when Carlene screamed, thinking it had her, allowing Carlene to thrust her copper knife into the monster's neck, mortally wounding it. The monster let out a final scream, before what looked like a whirlwind emerged from the vampire's mouth and its body literally deflated to the floor and then melted into a puddle.
The agent got their breath back after which they all quickly ran out of the mausoleum, only to be confronted with many more vampires of several different breeds. The Blue Devil had obviously placed his minions in numerous graves and other spots around the cemetery as a precaution in case any of his enemies found out what he was doing with Bruce's corpse, they would be activated to deal with them. He had also evidently placed a spell that covered the cemetery in darkness, blocking out the sun which also kicked in as soon as Bruce's tomb was disturbed and allowed all of the vampires to attack. The blood suckers all bared their fangs, hissing and snarling, but Carlene didn't back down and even started to mock them, casually lighting a cigarette and smoking it in their presence before they attacked. She effortlessly dusted three of the vampires that attacked, staking one with a wooden stake that she pulled out of her beehive, slicing the neck of another with her copper knife until she was able to part its head from its shoulders and burning another with her zippo.
The vampires all backed away, with Carlene even feeling a bit cocky, for a few seconds until the largest and most powerful there, a Turok Han (actually not a vampire strictly, but a related species) attacked from behind. It jumped over the crypt Bruce had been buried and landed on Carlene, knocking her stake and knife out of her hand. Carlene managed to push the Uber vamp back and bravely put up a good fight, but not only did the other vampires jump in and distract her, she was no match for the Turok Han's speed and strength anyway. The Uber Vamp delivered a series of incredibly fast and brutal punches and kicks until it eventually sent Carlene crashing down a nearby hill away from the other hunters, with a few more vampires joining the Turok Han in pursuit as she fled.
Lindsey and the others bravely stood their ground and tried to hold off the vampires with their weapons. One of the monsters however, a hairy troll-like creature that had piercing red eyes and a long, fork-like tongue and was over 10 feet tall soon emerged from the ground rather than any of the graves and charged through several graves and even trampled some of the lesser vampires until it reached them. It tossed Lindsey aside when she tried to stab it, and lifted two of the hunters up with either hand. This breed was a true rarity. They were giant humans infected with a particularly nasty strain of vampirism. As giants were all but extinct in the modern world, then so was this breed, but evidently one at least had survived and had arrived here as part of the Blue Devil's coming.
Elle fired several rounds into the hairy vampire's chest, but it didn't even flinch, and the beast soon clamped its jaws around one of the hunters it held's legs, crushing them. Before the brute could tear them off however, the beast suddenly dropped both of its victims and collapsed, with a golden arrow in its back. It had been attacked by the female Frankenstein monster, who then ran towards the hunters and hoisted the wounded hunter, a young man over her shoulder.
"Well come on, do you want to take all 30 of them on or do you want to follow me?" She said as she sped off in the opposite direction from the vampires who began to regroup after the troll had scattered them.
The hunters ran blindly after the Frankenstein's monster. They only barely managed to keep ahead of the mob of vampires behind them, and Elle was soon caught off guard by a flying vampire that seemingly came out of nowhere and scooped Elle up in its claws and carried her away. Lindsey almost ran back the way, but another of the hunters pulled her forward by the arm. Sadly Lindsey did nothing to fight against him as there was clearly nothing she could do for Elle.
They finally reached a small crypt which the vampires for some reason could not enter.
"It's warded against intruders" Mariane said as she placed the young man down on the dusty crypt floor and used magic to scan his leg to make sure he wasn't infected.
"Don't worry you'll be okay" she said as the magic also stitched his leg back together.
"Th, thank you miss eh?" The young man asked.
"Marianne Frankenstein. I'm afraid I'm not used to guests, but don't worry the warding will keep those bloodsuckers out for a short while at least." She replied.
"How short?" Lindsey asked.
"Honestly I don't know? Lots of vampire breeds have a greater immunity to magic, and there are a few species out there I've never seen. It could be half an hour for the spell to wear off, could be minutes." She said.
"I hope you didn't just bring us here to die? Not that I'm not grateful but" Another one of the three surviving hunters named Eddie said before Marianne interrupted.
"No, don't worry. Just to be clear I don't like any of you Scathach types much, but unlike some of the other idiots in this graveyard, I know what the vampires are capable of. The only town I ever felt accepted in was ripped apart by those monsters in 1878. Feels like only yesterday" she laughed bitterly.
"Unlike everybody else here I objected to the Blue Devils mooks being allowed to have any business on this site, but sadly there was nothing I could do, that is until now. You don't exactly look like fearless vampire killers to me, but if you're here with Carlene well there's a chance you can get out and warn the others. I'm not sure what the Blue Devil wants, but I know it is to do with the Scale of Khastran. Bruce was the last person to see it and reportedly buried it somewhere in the Highlands. By my guess, the Blue Devil wants to summon him from hell and torture him into telling him where it is." She said.
"How can he do that? Even if he could summon him, how do you torture and break a man who has spend decades in hell?" The formerly wounded soldier asked?
"Trust me the Blue Devil can do that. I was lucky enough never to meet him, but some of the ghosts I've got to know who did?" Marianne replied to the other's horror.
"Don't worry we'll make sure he never gets that, whatever it is. The last thing we want is for that ghoul to create more vampire breeds. You can count on Scathach." Eddie tried to awkwardly boast with even the other hunters looking embarrassed.
"Thanks, but I think you'll need more than some inexperienced teenage from the looks of you hunters." Lindsey seemed rather flattered ironically at the suggestion she looked so young, though maybe she didn't mean her.
"Anyway that's not why the Blue Devil wants it. The vampires went to a huge effort to bring the Blue Devil back from the grave for something far beyond that." Marianne said.
"I know I was there." Lindsey replied.
"Whatever the Blue Devil needs the scale for it is clearly something only he can do with it. I don't want to find out." Marianne explained.
Just then the door began to shake as one of the vampires was finally able to strike against it, having clearly broken through the first part of Marianne's warding.
The Frankenstein's monster then ran towards a coffin at the back of the crypt and threw the lid off. Inside was a staircase that led to a large system of tunnels. Marianne explained that at the end of the tunnels was a gateway to another crypt that led to the back of the river that in turn finally led to the exit of the cemetery.
Marianne warned them that not only were there creatures in the river, the Pterodactyls had a nest at the end of the river bank. The creatures were a recent infestation that the ghosts were working on, but even they were scared of them.
Still as the door was almost ripped off its hinges after another strike from one of the vampires, the hunters realised they had no choice and headed down the coffin's stairs. Marianne did not follow them however.
"You'll have a better chance if I hold them off, go now." She insisted.
"Those bloodsuckers will rip you apart." Lindsey protested only for Marianne to laugh.
"Trust me, the fact that they can't kill me is the worst thing. Go!" Marianne said as she almost pushed Lindsey down the stairs.
The first vampire soon broke its way in and as a result of its interference the entire crypt's forcefield broke down, allowing the others to come in after. Marianne held the monsters for a few minutes, but as soon as another Turok Han arrived, she proved to be no match for the creature that easily swatted her aside, allowing the other vampires to swarm and restrain Marianne.
Below Lindsey and the other two hunters heard Marianne scream for just a few moments, before it went quiet, after which they heard the roars and hisses of the horde of vampires descending the staircase. As horrible as it was they had no choice but to leave Marianne and move down the dark gloomy tunnels ahead.
"This is pointless. We have no idea where we are going?" Lindsey said as she started to panic.
"I mean how do we know we won't turn a corner and run into those bloodsuckers? Poor Marianne died for nothing. We'll die for nothing." She said and there was nothing the other hunters could say to reassure her or themselves.
As they made it down another corridor beside a large river, they were suddenly confronted with the spirit of a young man who, in contrast to the other ghosts of the cemetery, looked genuinely lost and confused.
"Why isn't he with the others? I thought Carlene's poker buddies said all the ghosts were safe and protected in his crypt?" Lindsey thought to herself.
"What is there down here that could keep this ghost here and what for."
Just then she was interrupted from her thoughts by the sound of the formerly wounded soldier screaming as a large tentacle emerged from the murky river and wrapped itself around his formerly broken leg which was still weak. A large, green head with yellow disc like eyes and no other features then emerged part way out of the murky river. Lindsey and Eddie did their best to help their comrade, but it was no use as the monster's strength was too great and in less than a minute he was pulled under the black water. A few seconds later however he appeared to emerge again and Lindsey even reached out to try and pull him out, only for her hand to go straight through his, after which he was pulled under a second and final time.
The river monster was a species of demon known as the Kanvee, who feasted primarily on the flesh of their victims, but also if need be would eat the souls of their prey too. Unlike vandals however who consume the soul entirely, the Kanvee only consumes a part of the soul's energy at a time and therefore can essentially eat the soul dozens of times before it fades completely. It is said that virtually no ghost can escape their grasp.
These monsters were among the most common centuries ago in the Highlands. (It is believed they may even have been bred by sorcerers and exorcists to deal with the Highlands unusually large spectre population.) Fortunately Scathach had hunted most of their horrors, but evidently a small colony had set up shop in this area due to its ghosts and had been able to snatch a few stray spirits to get by such as the young man they saw and now their former comrade.
As Lindsey and Eddie moved cautiously by the water to avoid alerting any more Kanvee they were suddenly forced to flee by the sound of the vampires charging down from the other end of the corridor. The entire area was like a maze, with both the vampires and the hunters having no idea where they were going
After a few more minutes which very nearly saw them run into more vampires, Lindsey and Eddie finally reached the exit of the tunnels which was at the end of the corridor with the river. The exit was a hatch at the top of a step ladder, seemingly 60 feet above the ground.
As they prepared to climb it, with Eddie, ever the gentlemen insisting on Lindsey going first, danger came from above. The Turok Han had made it to the exit first, whilst its vampiric brethren were lost and clung to the ceiling just above the room with the ladder with its claws, and then jumped on top of Lindsey.
Eddie desperately tried to fight it off but the monster threw him into the river with one swat of its hand, before clawing at Lindsey relentlessly, slicing large chunks of her flesh off in the process. Eddie tried to swim to safety, but the head of the same monster that had eaten his team mate emerged from the black water in front of him. Its tentacle wrapped itself around his throat and his screams soon drew the attention of the Turok Han that in turn seemed to make the Kanvee back down a little. The Uber vamp was somewhat confused by the sight of this strange demon before letting out a roar, which caused the Kanvee to wrap its tentacle around the Turok Han's throat, letting Eddie go in the process. The demon pulled the Uber vamp into the water. There was a brief struggle before both sank below the waves. Eddie quickly crawled out of the water and helped the wounded Lindsey up. Again he put her first and together they crawled as quickly as they could up the ladder. When they almost reached the top however, the Turok Han emerged from the water, with the Kanvee's tentacle in its mouth. The severed head of the demon also began to flow by in the black water, some of which had turned green with the Kanvee's blood.
The Turok Han only had a few sucker marks around its face and neck which quickly healed, after which it spat the Kanvee's tentacle out and roared loud enough to attract almost all the vampires in the nearby tunnels. The beast then grabbed onto the ladder, but rather than climb it, the uber vamp wrenched it off of the wall. Lindsey had only just managed to reach the hatch and pull herself out when the Turok Han ripped it off the wall. Sadly Eddie was just a few feet below. The Turok Han tried to shake Eddie off, but Lindsey, despite being weak from her wounds, reached down and grabbed onto Eddie's hand as the vampire shook the ladder around. However as she tried to pull him up, the ladder struck Eddie causing him to lose hold of Lindsey's grasp. He fell head first 60 feet onto the ground below dying instantly. The Turok Han then threw the ladder to the side and climbed up the wall using its claws, with several of the other vampires that arrived soon after following suit.
Lindsey wisely didn't stick around and quickly bolted out of the crypt. Outside was a small woodland, near the river, with the large gates of the cemetery being only 30 or so feet away. Despite the vampires below Lindsey tread carefully so as not to alert the Pterosaurs. As she came within about 5 feet of the gates, something emerged from the woods to drink from the river in front of her.
It was a Dimetrodon, a prehistoric reptile that existed from before the time of the Dinosaurs. As Lindsey had learned during her adventure in Galloway, contrary to what modern science would have you believe, many prehistoric creatures thought extinct still walked the earth thanks to necromancers and sorcerers who had brought them back from their bones. This graveyard had become something of a dumping ground for a few species across the Highlands.
Dimetrodon's were roughly 25 feet long and 3 tons in weight. They were four legged creatures that had squat theropod like heads, and a large sail along their backs. They were obligate carnivores, in fact the Dimetrodon over 200 million years ago was the apex predator on earth.
Fortunately for Lindsey the beast, as evidenced by the blood smeared all over its mouth, had just fed. Still as it drank from the water it blocked the way out of the cemetery. Before Lindsey could even figure out how she was going to get by it without being known, the Turok Han and the rest of the vampires soon came charging from the direction of the crypt. The Dimetrodon was instantly alerted to them and crawled by Lindsey in an awkward, but still fast way to confront the blood suckers. They all except for the Turok Han backed away somewhat, with the Uber vamp in contrast jumping straight at the Dimetrodon, that in response reared up on its back legs to over 25 feet in the air and landed on top of the Turok Han when it came back down.
The Turok Han however was not crushed and started to push the Dimetrodon back, though the reptile continued to claw at the vampire's face.
Lindsey meanwhile seized her chance and tried to escape with the vampires pursuing her.
At the other end of the cemetery meanwhile, Carlene had managed to escape from the other Turok Han and the vampires, having managed to take refuge in a small mausoleum. It didn't take long for the vampires to track her by scent, with the Turok Han again leading the charge. However as soon as they broke into the crypt they saw that Carlene had fled through a small window behind and left a grenade that she had kept in her beehive along with her other weapons. The Turok Han picked the grenade up, not sure what it was, whilst the other vampires tried to run back, but they weren't quick enough as the entire mausoleum was engulfed in an explosion.
Only the Turok Han itself survived the blast, though it was very weakened and burned, and was only barely able to crawl out of the ruins of the crypt.
The rest of the vampires were drawn to the explosion, and spotted Carlene who was perched on a nearby gravestone. However she didn't flee when the vampires approached and instead lifted out her hairspray which along with her lighter she used as a makeshift flamethrower. She managed to burn up three more vampires and scatter several more. Still not all of the vampires were vulnerable to fire, forcing Carlene to jump off of the gravestone which she then picked up and used to smack several of the vampires away, before smashing it over the largest bloodsuckers head.
In the distance Carlene could see the flying vampire carrying Elle who was still struggling in its claws. Fortunately Carlene knew this breed and its weaknesses and she pulled out a silver knife which she threw straight into the vampire's chest, from over 40 feet away. The bloodsucker instantly crumbled into dust mid flight, with Carlene only barely managing to catch Elle in time. The remaining vampires soon surrounded the hunter and the reformed vampire, including the Turok Han whose burned flesh had almost all completely healed by this stage.
The two women stood side by side, both brandishing weapons and ready to fight, when suddenly the dark cloud that had covered the cemetery began to fade. Most of the vampires fled as the sun returned, including the Turok Han, but they weren't fast enough and burned into nothing but piles of ash. A few of the vampires survived as sunlight was not lethal to all breeds (with Carlene's for instance being impervious.) Carlene and Elle dealt with most of the survivors, though the last two vampires were soon dispatched by a flying saucer that emerged from the other side of the cemetery and burned them both up with its ray. Elle tried to flee at the sight of the craft, but Carlene stopped her and within a few seconds the saucer not only flew over them, it abducted both women in a tractor beam before it flew to the other edge of the graveyard.
The other Turok Han had managed to overpower the Dimetrodon and was just about to snap the great reptile's neck when the sun reappeared. Like the others it tried to flee back to the crypt but even its speed could not help it and the Turok Han burned into a small pile of ash.
Only four of the vampires that were pursuing Lindsey were left, and she dealt with two using her gun that was loaded with silver bullets, whilst the last two were dealt with by the flying saucer that then abducted Lindsey who had just made it outside the cemetery as easily as it did Carlene and Elle.
The inside of the craft was fairly dull and metallic, that at the other end of the room was a control panel, and a scanner below. Elle stood near it and looked every bit as shocked as Lindsey did whilst Carlene stood behind it, hugging a small blue skinned, bald headed alien.
"Lam darling, what took you so long? You were supposed to be ere last week?" Carlene said.
"I know, I'm sorry Carlene I was caught up dealing with a huge vampire nest near Camden. It seems like the bloodsuckers are acting up all over the world now that their messiah is back." The alien responded as he piloted the ship back the way.
"Lindsey, glad you made it. Lam was thorough in getting all the bloodsuckers, good thing he can trace em. What about the others are they." Carlene asked. Sadly she could see from the look of horror on Lindsey's face as she remembered the sight of Eddie's skull smashing on the ground and the other operative whose name she didn't even get time to learn being pulled under.
"I'm sorry" Carlene said as she gave Lindsey a hug. Once the fledgling vampire hunter regained her composure, Lindsey told Carlene about Marianne, stating that it was a longshot, but there was a chance she might be alive.
The saucer flew to Marianne's crypt, which Carlene knew, having had spent the night there to comfort Marianne after her break up with James. Sadly just outside the crypt, they could see on Lam's scanner that Marianne's head had been placed on top of a gravestone, whilst her arms, legs and torso were scattered around, with her torso also having been ripped open.
"I'm, I'm sorry. She was a hero. She died saving me and". Lindsey's eulogy was suddenly interrupted by the sight of Marianne's arms crawling towards her torso, which they not only reattached themselves too effortlessly, but they then dragged towards her head.
"Don't worry darling, she can't die. Old Frankenstein wasn't just a scientist you know love. He was quite the sorcerer in the end." Carlene explained.
"Shouldn't we eh, help her?" Elle asked.
"Oh no, no, she gets very precious about that. Insists you don't know how to put her back together again. Trust me, just leave her to it." Carlene insisted, after which the saucer sped off.
"Well thanks for the rescue Carlene, but can you maybe tell me what is going on? I just got over vampires, then I had to deal with Dinosaurs in the 21st century and now aliens?" Lindsey asked.
"My name is Lam, and whilst it might be a cliche, I come in peace." The alien said before giggling, though none of the others were in the mood, since they had just seen their partners die.
"Sorry about that, but trust me I'm here to help. I know a fair bit about magic. That's how I was able to find you. I could sense the spell that was blocking out the sun over that graveyard and I destroyed it. The Blue Devil had buried it in one of the graves. I should have known you'd be here Carlene. At least it saves me a trip." He said.
"Not that I'm not happy to see you Lam, but I hope you brought what you said." Carlene said.
"Yes, don't worry it's here" the little blue alien said as it lifted a sphere out from under its console.
"What is that?" Lindsey asked.
"Hopefully it will allow us to break into the Blue Devil's high command. In Tulloch Moor." Lam replied.
To Be Continued.