The Traveling Vampire Show

Though my shirt was wet, it took some of the slipperiness off my hands. I used it to dry the protruding shaft. Keeping the shirt around my hands, I once again compressed Valeria’s breast to make space for two hands on the arrow. Then I clutched the shaft with both hands, put most of my weight on her chest, and pulled with every ounce of my strength. The shirt, I think, gave me the extra friction that was needed.

I felt a force under my shoe as if Valeria were trying to sit up, but my weight kept her down.

The arrowhead, embedded in God-knows-what, suddenly let go. I glimpsed her breast stretching upward, pulled into the shape of a tall cone. Then the arrow leaped out like Excaliber, flinging blood. I held it high in both hands as I stumbled backward.

I slammed into Lee. She grunted, but stayed up. So did I.

“You okay?” she asked.

“Guess so.”

“Good work.”

“You too,” I said, knowing that she must’ve thrown herself in my way on purpose to stop me from falling.

We stood there, back to back. The quiver was in the way, but I could feel Lee’s rear end against mine.

Under the bleachers in front of me, a shape flitted across the headlights of the hearse. It was hunched low and carrying a spear.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“They’ve got us pretty much surrounded,” Lee said. “But they’re staying back. So far.”

“What’re they waiting for?”

“No idea. Maybe they’re just afraid of catching an arrow.”

“I’ll get the last one,” I said, feeling very powerful and brave now that I had retrieved the breast arrow.

“Better leave it,” Lee said.

“Huh?”

“Just in case.”

I thought about that for a moment. “Because it’s the one in her heart?”

“She’s probably not a vampire, but ... I don’t know, everything’s so crazy. I don’t know what to make out of all this, but... I’d hate to be locked in this cage if she suddenly comes to life.”

“You and me both,” I said.

“I know she won’t, but... I don’t want to stake my life on it.”

“That arrow’s probably broken anyway,” I said. “It went all the way through her and she fell on it.”

“Might’ve just buried itself in the dirt. But let’s leave it. For now, anyway.”

“Okay.”

“If we start to run out.

... if we last that long, I thought.

“... I’ll try to get it out of her later.”

Chapter Sixty-one

“I’ll make you a deal!” Stryker shouted.

Lee whirled, drawing back the bowstring.

I saw a dark shape hunkered by the front door of the bus.

“That him?” Lee asked.

“Not sure.”

Lee called out, “What sort of deal?”

“We’ll let you and the kids live if...”

Her arrow flew, hissing through the rain.

“Fuck!” Stryker yelled.

The arrow must’ve come close, but it missed him. Lee shook her head, then turned and handed the bow to me. “You’d better do the shooting.”

As I got ready with the arrow I’d plucked from Valeria, Stryker shouted, “Don’t do that again or I’ll have you writhing on lances, screaming your lungs out. ”

Lee yelled, “Chuck you, Farley!”

“Just listen to my offer! Do you want to die in that cage? Do you want the kids to die?”

Kids? He meant me, of course, but who else? Rusty and Slim? Bitsy?

Though I took aim at the shape that was probably Stryker, I didn’t release the arrow. At this distance, I’d be lucky to hit him. So I lowered the bow.

“You said you’d let Rusty go if I went up against Valeria,” Lee shouted. “So where is he?”

“You weren’t supposed to KILL her.”

“Fortunes of war, buddy. ”

“Here’s the new offer.

”

“You didn’t keep the OLD offer. Screw you. ”

“Would you like a demonstration?”

I didn’t like the sound of that.

Suddenly, Stryker blew his whistle. It shrilled through the night like the sound of an angry track coach.

For a few seconds, nothing happened.

Then spears were flying out of the darkness toward our cage. Lee threw me to the ground and shielded me with her body. I heard a clamor as if something had struck a bar and bounced off. Then came the wet thunking sounds of spears punching into the mud.

Lee climbed off me. Raising my head, I saw six or seven spears sticking out of the ground. They formed a rough circle around us.

We got to our feet. I still held the bow, but it didn’t seem like much of a weapon after the storm of spears. And I’d lost the arrow.

“Next time I blow the whistle, ” Stryker yelled, “they won’t miss. Interested in hearing my offer?”

“What is it?” Lee asked.

“You killed our sole attraction.”

“Not me, ” Lee said.