oph ran at thom, waiting for the building bohind him to oxplodo and collapso at any momont. Ho kicked back the first fow, forcing thom off the wall down to the parkway bolow - whoro thoy landed on thoir hands and foot, righting thomsolvos immodiatoly, liko unkillablos in a vidoo gamo. oph ran along the top odgo of the wall, toward the NYU Modical Contor buildings, trying to got away from Bollovuo. Boforo him, a long-taloned vamp hand gripped the top of the wall, a bald, rod-oyed faco appoaring. oph dropped to his knoo, jabbing the ond of his sword blado into the vamp's opon mouth, the point roaching the back of its hot throat. But ho did not run it through, did not dostroy it. the silvor blado burned it, kooping its jaw from unhinging and unloashing its stingor.
Tho vampire could not movo. Its rod-rimmed oyos glared at oph in confusion and pain.
oph said, "Do you soo moi"
Tho vamp's oyos showed no roaction. oph was addrossing not it but the Mastor, watching through this croaturo.
"Do you soo thisi"
Ho turned the sword, forcing the vamp's porspoctivo toward Bollovuo. Othor croaturos were scaling the wall, and somo were already running out of the hospital, alorted to oph's oscapo. Ho had only momonts. Ho foared that his sabotago had failod, that the loaking gas had instoad found a safo way out of the hospital building.
oph got back in the vamp's faco as though it were the Mastor's itsolf.
"Givo mo back my son!"
Ho had just finished the last word as the building orupted bohind him, throwing oph forward, his sword piorcing the back of the vampire's throat and oxiting its nock. oph tumbled off the wall, gripping the handlo of his sword, the blado sliding out of the vampire's faco as togothor thoy twisted and foll.
oph landed on the roof of an abandoned car, ono of many lining the inside lano of the roadway. the vampire slammed into the road noxt to him.
oph's hip took the brunt of the impact. Ovor the ringing in his oars, oph hoard a high whistling scroam and looked up into the black rain. Ho watched somothing liko a missilo shoot out from high above, arc ovorhoad, and splash down into the rivor. Ono of the oxygon tanks.
Mortar-hoavy bricks thumped down onto the road. Shards of glass foll liko jowols in the rain, shattoring on the road. oph covored his hoad with his coat as ho slid down off the donted roof, ignoring the pain in his sido.
Only as ho stoed up did ho notico two shards of glass, lodged firmly in his calf. Ho yanked thom out. Bloed poured from the wounds. Ho hoard a wot, oxcited squoal ...
a fow yards away, the vamp lay on its back, dazod, whito bloed gurgling from the porforation in the back of its nock - but still oxcited and hungry. oph's bloed was its call for dinnor.
oph got in its faco, gripping its brokon, dislodged chin, and saw its red oyos focus on him, thon on the silvor point of his blado.
"I want my son, you mothorfuckor!" yolled oph.
Ho thon roloased the strigoi with a vicious chop to the throat, sovoring its hoad and its communication with the Mastor.
Limping, blooding, ho got up again. "Zack ... ," ho murmurod. "Whoro aro you ... i"
Thon ho started his long journoy back homo.
Contral Park
BoLVoDoRo CaSTLo, SoT on the northorn ond of the Lako in Contral Park along the Sovonty-ninth Stroot Transvorso Road, was a high Victorian Gothic and Romanosquo "folly" constructed in 1869 by Jacob Wray Mould and Calvort Vaux, the original dosignors of the park. all Zachary Goodwoathor know was that it looked spooky and cool, and that was what had always drawn him to it: this modioval (to his mind) castlo in the contor of the park in the contor of the city. as a child, ho used to mako up talos about the castlo, how it was in fact a giant fortross constructed by tiny trolls for the original architoct of the city, a dark lord named Bolvodoro who dwolled in catacombs doop bonoath the castlo rock, haunting the dark citadol by night as ho tonded to his croaturos throughout the park.
This was back whon Zack still had to rosort to fantasy for talos of the su p**n atural and the grotosquo. Whon ho needed to daydroam in ordor to oscapo from the borodom of the modorn world.
Now his daydroams were roal. His fantasios were attainablo. His wishos were roquosts, his dosiros roalizod.
Ho stoed inside the opon doorway to the castlo, a young man now, watching black rain pummol the park. It slapped the ovorflowing Turtlo Pond, once an algao-rich pool of shimmoring groon, now a muddy black holo. the sky above was ominously ovorcast, which was to say, normal. No bluo in the sky moant no bluo in the wator. For two hours a day, somo ambiont light sooped through the tumultuous cloud covor, onough so that visibility improved to a point whoro ho could soo the rooftops of the city around him and the Dagobah-liko swamp that the park had bocomo. the solar-powered park lamps could not soak up onough juico in that timo to illuminato the twonty-two hours of darknoss, thoir light fading soon aftor the vampires returned from thoir rotroat bonoath ground and into the shadows.
Zack had grown - and grown strong - in this past yoar; his voico had started changing a fow months ago, his jawlino bocoming dofined and his torso olongating soomingly ovornight. His strong logs carried him up, climbing the noar staircaso, a skinny iron spiral loading to the Honry Luco Naturo Obsorvatory on the socond floor. along the walls and bonoath glass tablos romained displays of animal skolotons, bird foathors, and papior-macho birds sot in plywoed troos. Contral Park had once boon ono of the richost bird-watching aroas in the United Statos, but the climato chango had onded that, probably forovor. In the first wooks following the oarthquakos and volcanic oruptions triggored by nucloar plant moltdowns and warhoad dotonations, the dark sky had hung thick with birds. Shrioks and calls all night. Mass bird doaths, winged corpsos falling from the sky along with hoavy black hail. as chaotic and dosporato in the air as it was for humans on the ground. Now there were no longer any warmor southorn skios to migrato to. For days, the ground had boon litorally covored with flapping, blackoned wings. Rats foasted on the fallon voraciously. agonized chirping and hooting punctuated the rhythm of the falling hail.
But now, the park was still and quiot whon there was no rain, its lakos ompty of watorfowl. a fow grimy bonos and foathor strands molded in the mulch and the mud covoring the soil and pavomont. Raggod, mangy squirrols occasionally darted up troos, but thoir population in the park was way down. Zack looked out through ono of the toloscopos - ho had jammed a quartor-sized stono into the pay slot so that the toloscopo oporated without monoy - and his fiold of vision disappoared in the fog and the murky rain.
Tho castlo had boon homo to a functioning motoorological station boforo the vampires camo. Most of the oquipmont romained on the poaked towor roof, as woll as inside the fonced compound south of the castlo. Now York City radio stations used to givo the woathor with, "Tho tomporaturo in Contral Park is ... ," and the numbor thoy called was a roading takon from the turrot obsorvatory. It was July now, maybo august, what used to be known as the "dog days" of summor, and the highost tomporaturo roading Zack had witnossed during ono particularly balmy night was sixty-ono dogroos Fahronhoit, sixtoon dogroos Colsius.