“Why didn’t you do that before?” I asked her.

“Kicking vampire butt was way more fun,” she grinned at me. Potter had a lot to answer for.

Within an instant, Kayla was heading back towards the trucks, which we had earlier used as cover. I sped after her. Sticking her head beneath the truck, she said to Seth and Nik, “I wouldn’t lie under there if I were you!”

“Why not?” Seth snapped.

“Because, I’m going to be moving it!” Kayla said as she climbed up the side of the truck, yanked open the door to the drivers cab and climbed in behind the wheel.

“What’s with the sirens?” Nik howled, and covered his ears with his paws.

“I think Kayla blew our cover,” I said, as the truck’s engine rumbled into life. Snatching a spade and pickaxe from two of the mindless humans who were digging away at the rocks, I looked at Isidor as he landed beside me and said, “Get in the truck!”

Nik shot out from his hiding place and Seth followed. Over his shoulder I could see a crowd of vampires racing towards us at an incredible speed.

“Look behind you!” I shouted.

Nik spun around, his giant tail almost whipping me across the face. Seth looked back, and seeing the approaching vampires, he tore the flesh from his body in a series of quick movements. Within moments, he was no longer the emaciated figure that towered over me, but a giant wolf that bounded into the air and sunk his colossal jaws into the nearest vampire he could find. Turning back to the truck, I stopped and my heart leapt into my throat. On the other side of the crater, I could see another truck. Climbing into the back of it was my mother, Phillips, and Sparky. But there was another. This person’s head was covered with a long, flowing hood which hid their face.

“Elias Munn!” I breathed. Throwing the pickaxe and spade into the drivers cab, I climbed in.

“Do you know how to drive one of these things?’” I asked Kayla, as she sat behind the steering wheel.

“No! Why, do you?” she asked.

“Why did you climb in here if you don’t know how to drive?” Isidor yelled at her.

“How hard can it be?” Kayla asked, as she yanked at the gear stick and stamped on the pedals with her feet.

The truck lurched forward and I slammed into the windscreen, smashing my head against the glass.

“You’re gonna kills us!” I roared.

“Hang on!” Kayla shouted, as she pressed her foot hard against the accelerator and we sped forward.

“Kayla, when Potter told you to toughen up a bit, I don’t think he meant to get yourself killed!” I yelled at her over the roar of the truck’s engine.

“Where are we going?” Isidor shouted.

“After that truck!” I hollered, pointing through the windscreen at the vehicle I’d seen Elias Munn climb into.

Kayla swung the truck violently around and started to race towards a large gate that had been erected on this side of the crater. She pulled and twisted the gear stick and the truck shook and shuddered as it made agonising grinding noises.

On seeing us approach, the two Vampyrus guarding the exit began to slide the gate closed, shutting off our escape. Kayla pushed down harder on the accelerator and we sped towards the diminishing gap.

As we drew closer, the two Vampyrus let the truck with Elias Munn inside slip through, then raced to shut the gate. The gap now seemed too narrow for the truck to squeeze through.

“Kayla, we’re not gonna make it!” Isidor shouted.

But on we sped.

“Kayla, stop the truck!” I yelled.

Faster and faster we went towards the closing gap.

“Kayla….!” Isidor roared and threw his hands over his eyes.

With an ear-piercing sound of scraping metal and a flurry of sparks, we tore through the opening and out into the night. I looked over at Kayla in disbelief, only to find her chuckling to herself.

“You’re insane!” Isidor shouted and we began to laugh along with her.

Chapter Forty

We raced through the night, the windscreen wipers squeaking as they swept away the snow. The back end of the truck swung out as we skidded on the frozen road beneath us. The taillights of the truck in front of us glowed like two hot coals. The searchlights were sweeping frantically backwards and forwards. The siren was screaming and I couldn’t ever recall feeling so alive. Then I heard the sound of thumping coming from the rear of the truck. There was a hatch in the cab that slid open so you could see into the cargo hold. I snapped it open, and a corpse-white hand shot from the back of the truck and clawed at my face.

“We’ve got vampires!” I shouted at Kayla, who seemed oblivious to the hand that was waving wildly about at us through the open hatch. Isidor ducked out of its way and screamed. Kayla glanced at it quickly, taking her eyes off the road and the truck lurched sideways, then righted itself.

I rammed the hatch closed against the vampire’s wrist. An agonising scream followed, then the hand withdrew back into the darkness. With the hatch closed and fastened, I turned in my seat and as I did, something reflected back at me from the wing mirror. Staring into it, I could see a vampire hanging from the side of the truck. It was inching its way towards the cab.

“Kayla, there’s a vampire hanging onto the side of the truck – and it’s coming towards us!” I yelled over the roar of the engine and the wailing of the sirens.

“Hang on!” Kayla shouted, yanking the steering wheel from left to right, sending the vehicle swerving violently across the road.

I turned to look in the wing mirror, praying that Kayla’s erratic driving had thrown the vampire free. But to my horror, it was already at the passenger window and reaching in at me.

It screamed, only inches away from my face. I could see its waxy lips rolled back, revealing a set of yellow-brown fangs which protruded from its crimson gums.

Reaching down between my legs, I snatched up the spade I’d grabbed during my escape. Holding it firmly with both hands, I began to repeatedly hit the vampire with it.

It screamed over and over again as I bashed it over the head.

The truck continued to lurch from side to side, as Kayla wrestled with its steering. We continued to speed along the road. I hit the vampire again and again until it lost its footing. It swung like a kite from the side of the truck as it desperately held on. Then, from over my shoulder appeared the tip of Isidor’s crossbow. The vampire’s head snapped backwards as a stake slammed into the fleshy skin between its eyes.

It screeched one last time and disappeared from beside me and under the wheels of the truck. The vehicle shook as its wheels rolled over it.

I sat back in my seat and then all three of us screamed at the top of our voices. From out of nowhere, a vampire swung down from the roof of the cab and spread itself across the windscreen. Like the others, its face was hideous, a patchwork of purple and blue veins. The vampire looked at the three of us with its burning eyes and grinned. Its tongue then slithered from between its lips as the vampire licked the windscreen in one long, drawn-out movement.

“That’s so gross,” Kayla shouted and slammed on the breaks.

The truck lurched forward, catapulting the vampire from the front of the vehicle and into the night. Kayla then threw the vehicle forward again as she hammered on the accelerator with her foot.

The truck zoomed forward across the rough, uneven ground as we chased down the truck with Elias Munn inside. I knew that my mother was in there too, and the thought of seeing her again scared me. But I had to tell myself that she wasn’t my mother anymore. Just like those half-breeds in the facility, she was just a rough sculpture of the woman she used to be. Then ahead, I saw two giant granite rocks sticking out of the ground. I doubted that Kayla had seen them. The truck ahead swerved around them, almost tipping up on two wheels to do so.

Kayla raced towards them, refusing to slow down.

“Kayla we won’t make it! Kayla, stop the truck!” Isidor roared.

Kayla sat rigidly behind the steering wheel, her eyes fixed on the rocks ahead and her foot pressed firmly on the accelerator.

“Kayla, stop!” I hollered. The rocks loomed up before us and got closer and closer with every passing second.

Just as I thought we were going to smash straight into them, Isidor leaned over and yanked on the steering wheel, causing the rear of the truck to spin out. Then everything was upside down and I was being crushed against the roof of the cab as the truck flipped over and rolled across the ground.

Everything seemed to swim hazily past my eyes, as I shook my throbbing head. I looked up and could see the passenger door of the cab above me. Then there was the sound of moaning. At first, I couldn’t place where it was coming from. Gradually, I realised it was Isidor who was groaning, he was crushed beneath me.

I hoisted myself up, using the back of the seat and the dashboard for leverage. Leaning down, I took hold of Isidor’s arm and pulled at him.

“Isidor, we’ve got to get moving!” I shouted, my voice full of urgency. I looked up through the windscreen that was now facing me vertically and I could see a line of vampires running towards the truck. Glancing around the cab, I searched for Kayla but couldn’t see her anywhere. I pulled at Isidor again. “Get up!” I roared.

Isidor groaned and opened his eyes. I grabbed hold of the spade and pickaxe, and pushed my feet against the dashboard. Manoeuvring myself out of the passenger door window, I leapt off the side of the truck and rolled into the snow. It was then a strong smell of petrol forced its way into my nostrils. Realising that it must be leaking from the vehicle, I turned to look for Isidor. He poked his head from the side window.

“Hurry!” I screamed at him, fearing that the truck was going to explode at any moment.

Isidor tried to force his way through the window. “I’m stuck, Kiera!”

From above me, something swooped out of the sky so fast that it was just a blur. Then Isidor was being lifted out of the truck, as Kayla soared up into the sky with him in her arms. I watched as Kayla released Isidor, and then spreading his own wings, they both swooped back towards the ground.