He remembered what the folks had told him earlier about vampires. The master vampire-or alien, as Dudu preferred to think of it-was supposed to be in the house, feeding on blood and building his strength. Dudu would wager that this was the creature's room. The faint, coppery smell of blood flavored the dank air.

Was the vampire lying in the bed, asleep?

His eyes had mostly adjusted to the darkness. He wanted to free his hands, so he balanced the flashlight on the floor. The funnel of light angled upward and provided decent illumination throughout the center of the room.

He moved to the foot of the bed. He grasped the end of the sheet. Aiming the gun at whatever lay on the mattress, he pulled down the blanket.

Three fluffy pillows lay on the bed. There was no one there. No alien, no vampire.

"c.r.a.p," Dudu said. He released a pent-up breath. He'd been frightened out of his mind for nothing. There was a threat in his midst, but it was not in here.

You've got to be braver than this, Dudu, if you want to earn the t.i.tle of Earth's Defender.

He smiled a little.

Something warm dripped onto his arm. Frowning, he looked up.

A giant black man hung suspended against the ceiling like a monstrous spider, lips parted to reveal sharp fangs that dripped with saliva.

Dudu cried out and swung the gun upward. The man's long arm swooped like a scythe through the air. He swatted the revolver out of Dudu's hands. The gun clattered into the darkness.

Frantic, Dudu drew his nightstick out of its loop on his belt.

The man unpeeled his body from the ceiling and fluidly came to stand against the floor. He was huge-a whole head taller than Dudu, who stood six-four. He was as muscular as Dudu was skinny. He wore a ragged black shirt, jeans, boots.

The creature's eyes were black holes.

Blinking, Dudu stumbled backward.

For the first time in his life, he was face-to-face with an extraterrestrial. This wasn't a tabloid photograph. This was real.

He felt a warm gush running down his leg. He had urinated on himself.

"What ... what world are you from?" Dudu said. He was amazed that he had the presence of mind to ask such a question. "You're not a vampire. You're an alien!"

Grunting, the creature lunged at Dudu. Dudu yelled a battle cry and swung the nightstick with all his strength. The creature seized the baton in midair and s.n.a.t.c.hed it out of Dudu's hands. It snapped the stick in half as though it were a pencil.

Weaponless except for his bare hands, Dudu began to throw a punch, but the creature clapped its hands over Dudu's shoulders and squeezed, pinning his arms to his sides. Dudu struggled, but it was like being trapped in a steel clamp. He couldn't get away.

The creature opened its wide, fang-filled mouth.

Last summer, a racc.o.o.n had become trapped in Dudu's chimney, and the stink of the dead animal had contaminated the entire house. The smell that roiled from this beast's maw was equally sickening: it was the stench of death.

The creature lifted Dudu in the air and drew him forward.

Dudu finally realized where this monster had really come from, and it was not Venus, Mars, the Andromeda galaxy, or any other galactic world.

It was from h.e.l.l.

David knocked on the door of Franklin's hospital room before he and Nia went inside.

Sitting at Franklin's bedside, Ruby looked up. She still wore her nurse's uniform. Her hair was frizzy, and her redrimmed eyes were puffy from crying.

David's heart ached. Ruby had undoubtedly been at her husband's side all night.

Franklin lay on his back, eyes closed, chest rising and falling slowly.

"How's he doing?" David said.

"He's been sleeping on and off," Ruby said in a scratchy voice. "Dr. Green came in earlier to check on him, and he still can't figure out what's wrong. They think it's a virus of some kind. They're waiting on blood test results."

"Which might not prove anything," David said. "Of course, no one told his doctor anything about vampires."

"Dr. Green would never believe a story like that," Ruby said. "I wouldn't believe it either, if I weren't living it."

"I'm so sorry, Ruby," Nia said. She rubbed the older woman's shoulder.

David stood near Franklin. Franklin looked so sickly, nothing like the man who had kindly greeted him when he moved into his father's house. That day seemed like a lifetime ago.

David held Franklin's hand. The man's fingers were cool. David was afraid to wonder how close Franklin was to changing.

Franklin opened his eyes, blinked groggily.

"I don't have much time left, do I?" Franklin said, in a weak voice.

"Oh, sugar" Ruby kissed Franklin's cheek. "You have all the time in the world, we're going to make you better, you hear me?"

Franklin smiled, but it was a sad expression. "Where are your crutches, David?"

"A lot has happened since we last saw you," David said.

"Tell me, please," Franklin said. He scooted up a few inches. "I may be in my last hours as a man, but that hasn't diminished my thirst for a good story."

Jahlil jumped into the patrol car and locked the doors.

Although he had a gun, he wasn't quick enough on the draw to drop three super-fast, monster mutts. Trying something like that would be crazy.

The vampiric dogs charged across the road. One of them leapt against the pa.s.senger door, angry snout mashed against the gla.s.s. Another pounced onto the hood.

The car rocked under the creatures' a.s.sault, metal creaking and buckling. The canines' relentless snarls hurt Jahlil's ears.

He grabbed the radio handset. "Dad, where are you? You've gotta get up here now! The dogs have trapped me in the car!"

Dad's voice came over the airwaves, barely audible over the dogs' ferocious barks. "On my way, son. Sit tight. You got the key?"

Jahlil looked at the ignition. The key dangled there. His terror had blinded him to the obvious.

"If you got the key, drive the h.e.l.l away from there," Dad said.

"Got it," Jahlil said.

"Drive away, but don't go too far. I'll be there in a couple of minutes."

"Okay, Dad"

Shaking, Jahlil twisted the key.

The engine coughed, but did not start.

"Oh, no, no, no!" Jahlil hammered the steering wheel. "Don't do this to me!"

The third dog bounded onto the roof. The ceiling wailed under the animal's weight.

The hounds' ceaseless barks mangled his nerves.

He turned the key again.

The engine caught and turned over.

Thank you, G.o.d.

He punched the accelerator. The car rocketed forward, throwing the dogs off balance, and Jahlil realized, too late, that because the deputy had parked the vehicle on the downward slope of a hill, he had angled the tires toward the curb. The burst of acceleration launched the car off the shoulder and directly into a deep, muddy ditch.

Cursing, Jahlil jacked the gear into reverse and pressed the gas.

The tires spun uselessly, spitting up gravel. He was stuck.

The monster hounds roared and attacked the car.

Chapter 15.

Chief Jackson had stopped thinking about himself. He focused on one person: his son.

Never in his life had he been so determined to see anyone safe. He would not lose his son, not to those dogs, not to a vampire or whatever it was, not to anyone. His son was all he had left in the world.

The car's engine shrieked as he accelerated up the steep hill leading to Jubilee.

Anger pressed on his heart. Someone should've burned down that G.o.dd.a.m.n house a long time ago. When this was all over, he just might do the deed himself.

At the crest of the hill, he veered onto Mason Road, tires screaming.

He saw the deputy's cruiser ahead, lodged in a ditch. The spinning tires threw a shower of dirt in the air.

Three big dogs swarmed on the vehicle, like wolves eager to tear apart a lame deer.

Jackson loved animals, but he itched to blast these hounds to h.e.l.l.

He skidded to a stop in the middle of the road. He grabbed his Remington twelve-gauge shotgun.

Hunched atop the car, the canines glowered at him.

He remembered seeing these h.e.l.lish things when he'd visited Jubilee earlier. They weren't dogs anymore. He could blow them away with impunity.

He banged open the door and braced his arms in the crevice between the door and the car.

A dog jumped off the cruiser and ran at him.

You might be mad, mutt, but you ain't half as mad as I am.

Jackson always had been a crack shot, having lived around guns all his life. This time was no exception. He pulled the trigger and drilled the dog in the chest. The hound squealed and rolled backward across the asphalt like a tumbleweed blown in the wind.

One down, two to go.

The other two animals were undeterred by their fallen mate. They leapt off the car and raced across the road after Jackson.

Jackson squeezed off two more shots, hitting the animals squarely in the chest. They flopped to the ground, squirming and howling. Their cries of agony touched him for a moment; they sounded so much like ordinary dogs.

But they aren't, and they were gonna rip my kid to shreds, he reminded himself.

The creatures stopped moving, and fell silent.

Jackson lowered the smoking shotgun.

"All clear, son!" he shouted.

The cruiser's door flew open. Jahlil staggered out of the vehicle. He fell to his knees, doubled over, and vomited in the gra.s.s.

Jackson rushed to him.

"It's all right." Jackson patted the boy's back. "Those mutts are dead"

"I've never been so scared," Jahlil said, gasping. He wiped his mouth with his shirt. "They scared the s.h.i.t out of me. Sorry."

"h.e.l.l, I'm the one who should be apologizing. I was something less than a man back there at the station, and I'm sorry. My fault you got into this. You were being brave"

Jahlil shrugged. "Someone had to help the deputy." He looked at the mansion. "I don't know where Dudu is. I haven't heard anything else from him."

Jackson spat on the ground. Fear of what awaited them inside the house chewed at him, but he pushed it away. He was not going to be stopped again. "We got to go in there and get him."

"h.e.l.l, no," Jahlil said. "Sorry, Dad, but that's nuts. Dudu told me that he saw one of those vampires watching him through the window-he saw the tall guy who's always wearing black. I know vampires are supposed to stay in their coffins during the day, but he wasn't asleep."

"Son, I can't leave my deputy to die, like I couldn't leave you"