The Book of Death (Bourbon Kid 4)

that case, I guess I’ll see you in Hell!’

Thirty-Six

 
    The terrified troop of
Sunflower Girls were racing through the snowy streets of Santa Mondega
screaming for all they were worth. No wonder. Vampire clowns were picking them
off one at a time and dragging them kicking and screaming into darkened side
streets. The girls had set out for the day as a group of thirty but now only
around fifteen remained. After the horror of seeing Santa Claus burned to death
by a fat cop, their day had only got worse. Their troop leader had been one of
the first to be picked off as she fought in vain to protect them.
    As the remaining girls
neared the church hoping to find solace there from the undead, one of the
clowns, a particularly vile sort wearing a red and white striped romper suit
and a bright red wig launched himself into the air and swooped down onto the
back of one of the stragglers. The young girl, aged no more than ten, crumpled
to the ground beneath him. Her face was thrust into the snow leaving her
incapable of screaming for help.
    The clown sat astride
her as two of his comrades raced past in pursuit of the remaining Sunflower
Girls. Ignoring them, he turned the young girl over to get a good look at her
terrified face. He ran a long bony hand down her cheek, feeling the warmth of
the blood flowing through her.
    ‘Hello my pretty,’ he
crowed. ‘You have lovely skin.’ He pulled a hairband out from her long blonde
hair and brushed some stray hairs away from her face. ‘This will only hurt for
a minute.’
    He opened his mouth
wide, revealing a set of huge vampire fangs. The girl closed her eyes and
screamed.
    SMACK!
    Dante arrived in the
nick of time. Just as the clown was leaning in to take a bite of the girl’s
neck, he ploughed into the side of him with the speed and power of an express
train. He and the clown rolled through the snow. Dante had the element of
surprise on his side so he was able to gain the upper hand. Behind him he saw
Kacy grab the small blonde girl and pick her up from the ground. Then from out
of nowhere Vanity appeared. He raced past Dante in pursuit of the other clowns
that were chasing the girl scouts up to the front doors of the church.
    Dante wriggled on top
of the clown he had knocked down. His enemy’s red wig slipped off, revealing a
short crop of brown hair beneath it. Unfortunately Dante hadn’t thought too far
ahead with his plan to come to the rescue of the Sunflower Girls. He had acted
on a rush of blood as usual. He knew he’d done the right thing; he just wasn’t
entirely sure what to do next. The clown had been taken by surprise and had a
look of fear in his eyes, so Dante raised his right fist above his head and
then ploughed it down into the clown’s face. A loud crack followed and Dante
winced at the sharp pain in his knuckles from the punch.
    He heard Kacy’s voice
call out something from up ahead. He looked up and saw her shepherding the girls
in through the front doors of the church. Behind her, Vanity had successfully
knocked two other clowns to the floor and was doing his best to keep them both
down.
    The clown who was lying
flat on his back underneath Dante spoke out in an anguished voice. ‘Ow,’ he
groaned. ‘You broke my nose.’
    Dante looked back down
at his prisoner and saw that the red plastic nose he had been wearing had
snapped in half, revealing a large warty nose beneath it. There was only one
thing to do in the circumstances and that was to punch the clown in the face
again and break his real nose. But as he was about to throw a second punch, the
clown pulled his right hand out from by his side. He was holding a gun. He
pointed it at Dante’s face.
    Dante watched
open-mouthed as the clown squeezed the trigger. It made a gentle clicking sound
and a burst of warm water squirted out into Dante’s his eyes. Typical clown,
carrying a water pistol for comic effect. Not waiting for a second prank, Dante
punched him in the face again, much harder than before. This time there was a
much louder crack as the clown’s real nose broke. Blood sprayed out over his
face and left him looking suitably dazed and possibly concussed too. He was
certainly in no state to fight back. Dante climbed back to his feet and charged
towards Vanity and the two other clowns.
    Vanity had bashed one
of them into a state of unconsciousness. The other was clambering to his feet,
looking to fight back. Dante charged over and ploughed into him the same way he
had ploughed