“No!” I shouted as fire coursed through me, bringing movement back to my limbs. Desperate to save Amy, I ran over and tried to wrestle the vampire away from her. But the second I got near him, the monster reached out with lightning speed and grabbed me by the throat, his grip like a vise as he carried on feeding. I resisted, of course, hammering down on his arm, trying to pry his icy fingers from my throat, but it was no use. For more seconds than I care to mention, I had no choice but to remain in the vampire’s grip as I watched him suck the blood from my poor Amy, the smacking and sucking sounds he was making churning my already sickened stomach. When he was finally finished, he unclamped his mouth from Amy’s neck and stared at me with eyes that seemed to be as red as the blood spilling out of his open mouth.

  “I gave you a chance,” the vampire growled like some feral animal and he suddenly pulled me close to him. So close I could smell the blood on his breath. “Now it’s your turn.”

  When his fangs penetrated my neck, I gasped at their sharpness. And even though I struggled like a rabbit in the jaws of a fox, there was nothing I could do to escape the vampire’s bite. As my precious blood got sucked out of me, my eyes fell upon Amy. For what seemed like the longest time, we stared at each other as the vampire continued to drain me of my life fluid. Amy’s eyes were deep pools of sadness and regret, but I was still glad she was the last person I would get to see before I died.

  And I was going to die. There was no doubt about that. Death’s icy presence had infiltrated me, and my body was growing colder and colder, my consciousness drifting farther and farther away, until all that was left of me was a lifeless bag of flesh and bones.

  Strangely, as I lingered in that small space between life and death, all I could really think was: Who is going to look after Snarf when I’m gone?

  But the thought soon faded away along with my life force, and before it was all gone, I refocused on Amy, wanting her beautiful face to be the last thing I saw before death finally claimed me.

  Before the vampire bit down harder and ripped out my throat, I managed to mouth the three words to Amy that I never could before.

  “I… love… you…”

  Chapter

  Five

  Tumbling out of the darkness like a newborn entering the world for the first time, I took a huge breath to fill my lungs, gasping like I’d just been given a huge adrenaline shot to the heart. Then I screamed when a monstrous face came forward and bit down on my neck, sinking vicious white fangs into my tender flesh.

  “Ahhh! Oh, God!” I sat up immediately as I put a hand to my neck, immediately feeling the wetness there, and the bite-sized hole where my flesh used to be. “Oh, God. Oh, God… Amy!”

  As the memories of what had happened came flooding back, I soon realized where I was. Still in the dark alley, but lying on the damp, stinking ground. Painfully turning my head to the side, I saw the fire escape under which the vampire had held Amy, but there was no one there now. Not the vampire. Not Amy. “Amy? Amy? Where are you?”

  “She’s gone,” said a voice to the other side of me, and I screamed as I twisted my head around to see a shadowy figure standing there, leaning against the wall.

  “What?” I said, thinking it was the vampire. “What have you done with her, you monster?”

  “I didn’t do anything with her,” the person said, and I realized now that this person’s voice was different to the vampire’s. This person had an English accent, and he didn’t sound so full of himself as the vampire did.

  “Where is she then? Where’s Amy?”

  “I imagine the vampire who killed you took her away,” the strange man said. “Most likely to turn her, if he hasn’t turned her already. He seemed to take a shine to your little girlfriend. Vampires do that, you know. They like to have their little playthings.”

  “Playthings?” I said, unable to comprehend what was happening. And did he just say the vampire had killed me?

  “Like kids with a new toy, before they get bored and throw them away.”

  “Throw them away?”

  “Kill them. Or turn them out on their own if they’re lucky.” The stranger stepped forward slightly, but he was still too shrouded in shadow for me to see what he looked like. “Anyway, enough talk about your girlfriend—”

  “Amy isn’t my girlfriend,” I said, my heart sinking, despite the circumstances.

  And just what were the circumstances? What the hell was happening here?

  “Who is she then?”

  “Just my friend. My best friend.”

  “Oh, I see. It’s like that, is it?”

  “Like what?”

  “Secretly in love with your best friend.”

  “It’s not so secret, not anymore.”

  “Upset her, did you?”

  “Yeah, a bit, I guess—” I stopped and shook my head, my neck unusually stiff, which I guess was expected when a vampire had torn a chunk out of it. “Who the hell are you? What’s going on here?”

  The stranger finally stepped out of the shadows, revealing himself to be little more than a shadow himself. His body was covered up in a dark overcoat and black gloves, and on his head he wore a black fedora hat, similar to the hat my creepy, busybody neighbor wore. But where the stranger’s face should’ve been, there was nothing. Nothing except for two small yellow eyes that glowed like orbs in the darkness of his non-face. “The name’s Flintlock,” he said, lifting his hat slightly. “Victor Flintlock. At your service.”

  “What is going on here? I’m really confused now. Am I dead? Is that what’s happening here? Are you like the Ferry Man or whatever, come to take me away? Oh, shit, you’re not a demon, are you? Because I don’t want to go to Hell. I really don’t.”

  Flintlock chuckled to himself as he walked in front of me, his hands buried deep in his overcoat pockets. “I’m none of those things,” he said, his voice sounding like he smoked three packs a day. Speaking of which, I could’ve killed for a cigarette.

  “Then why don’t you have a face?”

  “You shouldn’t be worrying about my face,” he said as he crouched down so his yellow orbs were looking right at me. “Right now, Zackary, you should only be asking yourself one thing: Do I want to live?”

  I stared at him. “What does that mean?”

  “It means, sonny boy, that you’re technically dead.”

  “Dead?”

  “I’m the only thing keeping you alive right now. That vampire tore a chunk out of your neck. He drained all of your blood. He killed you.”

  I shook my head as my confusion mounted to astronomical levels. “Then why am I still… awake?”

  “I told you. I brought you back to life after you died over an hour ago.”

  “I died an hour ago? Holy shit.” I stared at him, unable to read his blank face or his empty, faintly glowing eyes. “Why would you do that? Why would you bring me back to life?”

  “Because,” he said, “I’m a businessman, and I’m here to offer you a deal.”

  “What kind of deal?”

  “A deal where you go on living. You want to go on living, don’t you, Zackary?”

  “Yes. How do you know my name?”

  “I know a lot of things, Zackary. For instance, I know how you can save your pretty little girlfriend.”

  “She’s not—never mind. How?”

  “All you have to do is sign a contract, and I’ll give you all the power you’ll need to defeat the vampire who killed you and rescue your little… friend.”

  “A contract? So you are a demon. I knew it. I’m not selling you my soul, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

  “Oh, really?” Flintlock said, standing up straight as he thrust his hands back in his coat pockets. “So, you’d rather just be dead then?”

  “No, I... I don’t know.” I tried to stand up myself then because I was sick of sitting on the ground. But when I tried to get up, my legs didn’t work properly. My entire body felt stiff and cold, as if I’d been half-frozen. “What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I move?”

  Flintlock sighed patiently. “I told, you’re dead. Rigor mortis has set in. That’s why your body is so stiff. Plus, your carotid artery has been torn out and you don’t have any blood left. Very little, anyway. You’re fucked, mate.”

  He was right. I existed within a lifeless husk, my body reduced to a hunk of dead meat. Sighing, I stopped trying to get up. “I can’t believe this is happening. I should’ve just stayed in my apartment.” Something punched my gut for saying it. I wasn’t the only one suffering, after all. If Flintlock was to be believed, Amy was now a vampire, or on her way to becoming one. I had no idea what kind of life a vampire led, but I doubted it was a life that Amy would’ve chosen, given the choice. Now, she had no choice but to live with it, and she had no one that could even help her. Except me, that is. It was on me to help her. I loved her too much not to. And that’s if she even could be helped.

  Looking up at Flintlock, I said, “What are you offering?”

  Although Flintlock had no face to speak of, I sensed he was smiling now. “I’m glad you asked,” he said. “I’m going to offer you the deal of the century that will not only see you brought back to life, but you’ll be practically immortal as well, and have the power to make every dream you ever had come true. I’ll take the pennies from your eyes and show you a whole new world of wonder.”

  “And in return, I have to give you my soul?”

  “Yes, you do, but let’s not talk about that right now. Let’s talk instead about your choices, shall we?”

  “My choices?”

  “Yeah. As I see it, you have two choices really. You can finish dying and take your chances in the afterlife, that’s the first one. And I feel I should tell you that the afterlife is… complicated. If you think you’re gonna go straight to some heavenly realm that’s all fluffy white clouds and eternal bliss, you should probably think again. You could just as easily end up somewhere different, somewhere less… fluffy.”

  “Like Hell, you mean?”

  “That’s just one possibility out of thousands. It’s a lottery, really. I recommend putting that one off as long as possible.”

  “Okay. And my second choice?”

  “Well, your second choice is you get to go on living.”

  “But how if I’m already dead?”

  “One word: magic.”

  “Magic?”

  “Magic.”

  “Like, magic magic?”

  “Christ, kid, magic, yeah. How many times do I have to say it? Real fucking magic.”

  I sat nodding for a second. Given what I’d seen already, I suppose it only made sense that magic existed. “So, you’re going to give me magic? How does that even work?”

  “Magic is everywhere, kid. It’s woven into every fiber in the universe. You just need the ability to tap into it. And this is why it’s your lucky day, because most people have to be born with this ability, but I’m going to give you this god-like ability right now if you want it. And believe me, once you have magic, there’s no limit to what you can do.” He waved his hand dramatically across himself. “No limits.”

  “Well, that does sound interesting.”

  “Interesting?” Flintlock laughed like he couldn’t believe what I’d just said. “Fucking hell, kid. I’m offering you the world on a fucking platter here, and the best you can say is, ‘Oh, that sounds interesting?’ This isn’t some small-time investment opportunity, this is fucking big-time! This is the chance of a lifetime! You know how many people out there would kill to be in your position? You know how many would gladly offer me their soul and the souls of their loved ones for what I’m offering you? Interesting.” He tutted and shook his head. “Honestly, I should’ve just passed you by tonight. There was another guy a few blocks away who got stabbed in a mugging. I should’ve gone to him instead. In fact, you know what? Maybe you’re just not the right person for this, after all. I thought I saw something in you, kid, but maybe I was wrong. I’m just going to let you go now. Goodbye, Zackary.”

  Turning around, he went to walk away until I stopped him in a panic. “No! Wait! Don’t go! Please! I don’t want to die! I need to save Amy! I need to feed my cat!”

  Flintlock stopped, pausing for a second before turning around and walking back over to me. “So, you’re committed now? No ifs, no buts? We have a deal?”

  I nodded, or tried to. My head didn’t move much anymore. “Yes, we have a deal.”

  Again, I sensed his smile. “That’s my boy. Let me just get the contract and then we can finalize things.”

  This is nuts.

  I watched Flintlock reach inside his coat and pull out what looked like a rolled-up piece of parchment paper. It was all happening so fast, and the things he was talking about just sounded so crazy, and yet so… enticing. “What happens to my soul after I sign the contract?” I asked.

  “Nothing,” Flintlock said. “Nothing at all.”

  “So, what do you get out of this deal then?”

  “Me?” he said as he unrolled the parchment paper, which fell all the way to the ground. “This and that. I also get your soul after you die. But don’t worry, that’ll be a long time coming, since after you sign, you’re gonna live for a very long time as long as you use your magic wisely.”

  “And what if I don’t use it wisely?”

  “Then bad things will happen.”

  “What bad things?”

  Flintlock sighed. “Well, I don’t know, do I? It’ll be entirely up to you how you use your magic. I can’t decide that for you.”

  “Well, can I at least read the contract first?”

  “Sure,” he said, handing me the parchment. “Here you go.”

  Staring at the parchment, all I saw were thousands of lines of tiny printed letters I could barely even make out in the darkness. “I can’t see. Is this even in English?”

  “No, but don’t worry about it because most of it doesn’t concern you, anyway. It’s just boring legalese. The only thing you need to concern yourself with is signing at the bottom. In blood.”

  “In blood?”

  “Yes. That’s what binds you to the contract. Here.” He handed me a quill. “Dip that into the hole in your neck. There’s still some blood pooled in there. It should be enough to sign your name with.”

  Jesus, I can’t believe I’m doing this.

  “I don’t like signing things I haven’t read,” I said. “There could be anything in this contract.”

  “God’s sake,” Flintlock said. “Just bloody sign it, will ya! I can’t keep you alive forever, you know. In fact, I’d say you only have a few minutes left before your soul departs your body, and then it’s adios and away you go. And who’s gonna save Amy then, huh? No one, that’s who. She’ll be a stinking, bloodsucking vampire for the rest of eternity, or until someone puts her out of her misery. I’m sure you don’t want that, do you, Zackary?”

  “No,” I said, before dipping the point of the quill into the gaping hole in my neck. “I don’t want that at all.”

  “There you go then. Now sign. I don’t have all night.”

  After dipping the quill, I checked to see if there was blood on the end. When I saw the quill was wet, I went to sign my name at the end of the contract.

  But just as I was about to sign, a voice from behind me said, “I wouldn’t sign that if I were you.”

  “Oh, bloody Christ on a stick, look who it is,” Flintlock said. “Who the hell invited you to the party, Kasbiel? Bloody nobody, that’s who. Piss off, this is none of your business.”

  Frowning, I tried to turn around to see who was behind me, but my neck was too stiff, so I had to wait for this newcomer to walk around the side of me and stand next to Flintlock. The newcomer was a man with a gaunt face and hooked nose, appearing to be in his sixties, his wispy hair slicked back to reveal a face that suggested to me he never smiled or partook in anything resembling pleasure. In his dark pinstripe suit, he looked like the type of man who would be happy to sit behind a desk crunching numbers all day long. “Who are you?” I asked the man.

  “He’s no one,” Flintlock said before Kasbiel could answer. “A bloody interfering busybody who needs to mind his own business. Ignore him. Just sign the contract before your soul goes bye-bye.”

  “Flintlock,” Kasbiel said drolly, shaking his head. “You know this sort of thing is forbidden, don’t you? Of course you do. How many times do you have to suffer before you learn you can’t go against the wishes of the—”

  “Don’t even mention those high and mighty bastards, sitting up there thinking they know better than everyone else,” Flintlock said. “It’s my right to do what I do. A man has to make a living, doesn’t he?”

  “But you aren’t a man, Flintlock, are you? That’s not even your real name.”

  “It isn’t?” I said, not really surprised. “What is your real name then?”

  “Never mind that. Just sign the bloody contract.”

  “I’m not sure if I should now,” I said, looking at Kasbiel. “Why don’t you want me to sign?”

  “You’ll be risking your eternal soul, for starters,” Kasbiel said. “It is also forbidden for Mundanes to have access to magic, especially like this.”

  “Why not? Who says so?”

  Flintlock chuckled. “You tell him, kid.”

  Kasbiel clasped his hands patiently in front of him. “I’m not authorized to explain the ways of the world to a Mundane. Just know it is forbidden, and if you go ahead with this deal, there will be consequences.”

  “Consequences?” I said. “What consequences? How could I be any worse off than I am now?”

  “Don’t listen to him, kid,” Flintlock said. “He’s just trying to scare you. He knows there’s nothing he can do to stop this deal from happening. He’s just a petty bureaucrat, nothing more.”

  Ignoring Flintlock, I asked again, “What consequences?”

  “Well,” Kasbiel began. “Aside from the risk you pose by having access to powers that are far beyond your control and understanding, you will also be hunted down by some very ruthless individuals whose job it is to keep order in the Tri-Worlds.”