The Book of Death (Bourbon Kid 4)

again. No one had seen them. At least, she hoped no one had.
    ‘What now?’ she asked.
    ‘Take your clothes off,’ said
the Kid.
    ‘What?’
    ‘Get your clothes off.’
    ‘Are you just obsessed with
seeing my ass?’
    ‘Get your clothes off,’ he
repeated. He pointed at the dead Panda on the floor. ‘Put hers on. You need to
look like her . ’
    ‘Oh right,’ said Flake. ‘Sorry.’
    ‘I’ll see you upstairs when
you’re done. Don’t be too long.’
    ‘How will I know where to find
you?’
    ‘I’ll kill everyone I see on my
way there. You can follow the trail of dead bodies.’
    With that, the Kid headed over
to a door at the far end of the room and disappeared through it.
    Flake placed The Book With No
Name down on the floor and began stripping the clothes off of the dead Panda.
Then she pulled her own clothes off in a hurry, hoping not to be interrupted by
any fleeing vampires that might pass through.
    The vampire’s clothes fitted her
almost perfectly. She slipped on the red baseball cap and tucked her hair back
underneath it as the vampire had done. Did she look convincing though? She
really wasn’t sure how she looked, which made her a little nervous. She needed
to check out how she looked, but she had to make her way up to the main hall as
the Bourbon Kid had instructed.
    She picked up The Book With No
Name and hurried out of the room through the door that the Bourbon Kid had
disappeared through. The long narrow corridor outside had at least ten doors on
either side. She grabbed the handle on the first door on the right. It opened
easily enough. She just hoped that there was a mirror inside and not a gang of
vampires.
    She peered around the door. It
was a fairly small bedroom. In the corner was a door, most likely for a
bathroom. There was no sign of a mirror in the bedroom so the bathroom would be
her best bet, if indeed vampires had mirrors in their homes. She tossed The
Book With No Name onto the bed in the middle of the room and hurried over to
the door. She tried the handle. It was locked. Someone must be inside. Sanchez
possibly?
    The sound of a toilet flushing
inside confirmed that it was a bathroom. Flake backed away from the door,
unsure what she was about to be confronted by. She reminded herself that she
looked like a vampire (hopefully), so she had nothing to fear.
    ‘Who’s in there?’ she called out
tentatively.
    A few seconds passed before the
bathroom door opened and Sanchez strolled out nonchalantly.
    ‘All done,’ he said. Flake
stared amazed at him. He seemed so casual. Before she could speak he began
waving his hand in front of his nose. ‘I wouldn’t go in there for a while if I
was you,’ he added.
    Flake was relieved to see him
alive, but noticed that the satchel he was carrying over his shoulder looked
empty. Had he given Jessica The Book of Death already?
    ‘Your satchel’s empty!’ she
gasped. ‘Where’s the book? What have you done with it?’
    Sanchez stared hard at her, a
look of puzzlement on his face. ‘Flake? Is that you?’
    ‘Yeah.’
    ‘Are you a vampire?’
    ‘No, numbnuts. I’ve come here to
save your ass!’
    Sanchez frowned. ‘Oh, wow.
Thanks.’ He pointed into the bathroom. ‘The Book of Death is in there,’ he
said. Glancing over her shoulder, he spotted the identical looking black book
on the bed. ‘What’s that book then?’ he asked.
    Flake grabbed him by the hand.
‘We’ve got to go help the Bourbon Kid,’ she said, picking up The Book With No
Name in her other hand. ‘Come on, I’ll explain on the way.’
    Sanchez held back. ‘Can’t you
explain here?’

 
    Fifty-Three

 
    Sanchez followed Flake back out
into the corridor. Although he was extremely keen to go home, or even lock
himself back in the bathroom, he had a feeling he’d be better off with Flake.
Before leaving the bedroom, she had briefly explained her plan to him, a plan
she claimed to have concocted with the Bourbon Kid who she said was “an all
right guy” in spite of the fact he had shot William Clay in the face when he
had dropped by the police station. Sanchez listened intently until she had
finished explaining the plan and his part in it. He mulled it over for a while
before voicing his thoughts.
    ‘It’s a shitty plan,’ he
declared as he hurried along the corridor behind her. She stepped over the
decaying corpse of a recently murdered clown and then turned back to face him.
    ‘You got a better one?’ she
snapped.
    ‘Yeah. Let’s